We studied the orbit of an electron revolving around an infinitely massive nucleus of a large classical Hydrogen atom subject to an AC electric field oscillating perpendicular to the electron's circular orbit. Using perturbation theory in geometric algebra, we show that the equation of motion of the electron perpendicular to the unperturbed orbital plane satisfies a forced simple harmonic oscillator equation found in Lorentz dispersion law in Optics. We show that even though we did not introduce a damping term, the initial orbital position and velocity of the electron results to a solution whose absorbed energies are finite at the dominant resonant frequency $\omega=\omega_0$; the electron slowly increases its amplitude of oscillation until it becomes ionized. We computed the average power absorbed by the electron both at the perturbing frequency and at the electron's orbital frequency. We graphed the trace of the angular momentum vector at different frequencies. We showed that at different perturbing frequencies, the angular momentum vector traces epicyclical patterns.


According to Edholm's law, the demand for point-to-point bandwidth in wireless short-range communications has doubled every 18 months over the last 25 years. It can be predicted that data rates of around 5–10 Gb/s will be required in ten years. In order to achieve 10 Gb/s data rates, the carrier frequencies need to be increased beyond 100 GHz. Over the past ten years, several groups have considered the prospects of using sub-terahertz (THz) and THz waves (100–2000 GHz) as a means to transmit data wirelessly. Some of the reported advantages of THz communications links are inherently higher bandwidth compared to millimeter wave links, less susceptibility to scintillation effects than infrared wireless links, and the ability to use THz links for secure communications. Our goal of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of wireless sub-THz and THz communications.


Word embeddings improve the performance of NLP systems by revealing the hidden structural relationships between words. Despite their success in many applications, word embeddings have seen very little use in computational social science NLP tasks, presumably due to their reliance on big data, and to a lack of interpretability. I propose a probabilistic model-based word embedding method which can recover interpretable embeddings, without big data. The key insight is to leverage mixed membership modeling, in which global representations are shared, but individual entities (i.e. dictionary words) are free to use these representations to uniquely differing degrees. I show how to train the model using a combination of state-of-the-art training techniques for word embeddings and topic models. The experimental results show an improvement in predictive language modeling of up to 63% in MRR over the skip-gram, and demonstrate that the representations are beneficial for supervised learning. I illustrate the interpretability of the models with computational social science case studies on State of the Union addresses and NIPS articles.


Various states and other local jurisdictions have enacted laws intending to reduce predatory and abusive lending in the subprime mortgage market. These laws have created substantial geographic variation in the regulation of mortgage credit. This article examines whether these laws are associated with a higher or lower cost of credit. Empirical results indicate that the laws are associated with at most a modest increase in cost. However, the impact depends on the product type. In particular, loans with fixed (adjustable) rates are associated with a modest increase (decrease) in cost.


The insistence on improving the quality of education always emerges, particularly from the government. Almost in every opportunity and meetings, the central government always urges all parties, particularly the providers of education, to improve the quality of education. Simultaneously, public also pleads the central government to act quickly in this matter. There are strong behavior and response from each party showing that quality improvement is necessary and urgent. In reality, even though this issue has been encouraged for many years, the quality of education is still poor anywhere. This study aims to find out the reason and its solution. Integrated Quality Management (IQM) is one of the alternatives to overcome this issue. The IQM encourages "continuous improvement" and the mindset of continuous improvement. Keywords— Education; IQM; Continuous improvement; Implementation of quality practices.


This article draws on substantial ethnographic data among Ugandans in Britain and Uganda. It takes a migrant-centred approach to its discussion to reflect the relationship between assumptions of integration and institutional, socio-cultural and socio-economic dimensions. This highlights colonial transnational practices that continue to inform migrants' everyday lives. The article shows how migrants' understanding of education as a vital component of social mobility and status is attributed to the legacy of British colonial administration. This means that, for Ugandans, the process of adaptation in the UK comes with a different set of connotations, as this heritage remains of key significance to migrants' expectations. Important dimensions to the interfaces between transnationalism and integration are shown to be labour-market participation and immigration status. Place and identity emerge as points of intersectionality where the negotiated nature of transnationalism and integration processes is revealed.


A considerable part of the success experienced by Voice-controlled virtual assistants (VVA) is due to the emotional and personalized experience they deliver, with humor being a key component in providing an engaging interaction. In this paper we describe methods used to improve the joke skill of a VVA through personalization. The first method, based on traditional NLP techniques, is robust and scalable. The others combine self-attentional network and multi-task learning to obtain better results, at the cost of added complexity. A significant challenge facing these systems is the lack of explicit user feedback needed to provide labels for the models. Instead, we explore the use of two implicit feedback-based labelling strategies. All models were evaluated on real production data. Online results show that models trained on any of the considered labels outperform a heuristic method, presenting a positive real-world impact on user satisfaction. Offline results suggest that the deep-learning approaches can improve the joke experience with respect to the other considered methods.


How autonomous are autonomous weapons? Do they exist in reality? And in what ways do  fictional characters like the Terminator shape how we think about this technology? These  questions were at the centre of the HIIG conference Autonomous Weapon Systems –  Realities and Imaginations of Future Warfare. Christoph Ernst (University of Bonn) and HIIG  researcher Thomas Christian Bächle give an overview of what we can learn about technical  autonomy from looking at these weapons systems.


We propose a new model of pulse propagation over a linear dispersive optical channel and use this model to comprehensively analyze the performance of spectral amplitude encoding optical code-division multiplexing (SAE/OCDM) systems under the impact of group velocity dispersion (GVD). We quantitatively discuss the impact of GVD on various aspects of SAE/OCDM system performance, including the number of supportable users and the maximum transmission length and power penalty. We also investigate the system performance with several types of optical fibers, such as single-mode fiber (SMF), dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF), and nonzero DSF. In addition, we discuss techniques to compensate for GVD so that the performance of SAE/OCDM systems can be improved.


ABSTRACT This study examines the role that emotional memories – memories connected to or describing emotions – played in the recollection of events, while also becoming powerful rhetorical and didactic tools in the process of history-writing. Emotional memories, which were shaped through both oral and written transmission, helped to situate images from the past within wider personal and historical frameworks. King James I of Aragon (r. 1213–76)'s Llibre dels fets, regarded as the first secular chronicle-autobiography attributed to a Christian King in medieval Western Europe, is a thought-provoking example of this. The differences between emotional values and emotional experiences emerge clearly in the narrative of James I's life and military deeds, throwing light on a thirteenth-century belief that although emotional reactions belonged to the biological sphere, they originated from – and therefore could be managed by – culturally driven models of behaviour. Following this line of thought, this study also scrutinizes anger and its management, as they were at the core of most medieval "emotional regimes" promoted by contemporary rulers. Preserving memory, including memories of emotions, was conceived as an ethical mission attributed to the King, as well as to those in charge of writing history. These ideas influenced both historiographical and autobiographical writings, and are therefore key to understand the rationale behind the structural, narrative and thematic choices of both authors and commissioners. Emotions have been an important locus for subjectivity in Medieval Studies and the analysis of sources such as King James I of Aragon's chivalrous autobiography through this lens will certainly open new and interdisciplinary lines of enquiry.


Epidural anaesthesia (EA) is a widely used method for medical pain treatment. An important prerequisite for a successful EA procedure is the correct placement of the needle in the epidural space. The 'whoosh' test has been recommended as a guide for successful epidural needle placement in humans. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the 'whoosh' test and the epidural pressure waves measurement (EPWM) in dogs. The intraoperative need of analgesics served as a control. Eighty dogs undergoing elective surgery were included in the study. Epidural anaesthesia (EA) was performed under general anaesthesia with dogs in lateral recumbency. The epidural needle was placed in the lumbosacral space. After placing the epidural needle, two ml of air were injected whilst a stethoscope was placed immediately cranially to the needle. If a 'whoosh' sound was identified the 'whoosh' test was judged positive, if not negative. Thereafter the EPWM was performed. Depending if a wave was identifiable or not, the EPWM was recorded as positive or negative. The 'whoosh' test showed a sensitivity of 74% and a specifity of 50%. Sensitivity of the EPWM was 44%, specifity 100%. In laterally recumbent dogs, the 'whoosh' test was more sensitive but less specific in identifying the epidural space than EPWM. Nevertheless would the 'whoosh' test be a simple and quick method to add information to the clinical impression of correct epidural needle placement.


This study examines interactional patterns between English language learners from different first language backgrounds on a collaborative speaking task from the Business English Certificates, a standardized test often used to screen prospective employees for their English language proficiency at international companies. Peer interactions of 84 international engineering graduate students, categorized using Galaczi's (2008) interactional typology, were examined in relation to individual interlocutors' target language use in daily life, oral proficiency level, and perceptions of their performance on the task. Results showed that collaborative pairs were the most positive overall about the quality of their interactions. Conversely, dominant members of unevenly matched (asymmetric) pairs rated their interactional success and their ability to understand and be understood by their partner most negatively.


This socio-legal study of town and country planning draws upon
the examples of the Israeli system and its predecessor of Mandatory
Palestine, and studies them in the light of the British parent
system.
The underlying thesis is that statutory planning functions as a
special component in a complex system of social control. Beyond its
immediate concern with regulating the utilisation of the physical
environment, statutory planning is designed and implemented with the
aim of supporting the prevailing social order.
The application to statutory planning systems of the concept of
social control - which elucidates the regulation of behaviour in
society and the phenomenon of social order - leads to the
identification of three inter-related roles. These can be classified
loosely as: 1) political role, to serve as a tool for effective
government; 2) economic role, to utilise scarce resources
efficiently; 3) social role, to advance human welfare. Their
cumulative exercise contributes to the maintenance of the prevailing
social order. This analysis shows that the social order throughout the
history of Palestine and Israel. 1917-1980's was in constant flux.
It is claimed that the Mandatory system, motivated by colonial
ideology, attached excessive importance to statutory planning's
political role in order to establish the authority of the British
government over Palestine's rival communities. Planning's economic
and social roles were relegated to secondary importance.
During the Israeli system's formative stage, this political
role, which suited the prevailing perception of representative
democracy, was important in establishing and legitimising the new
government. However, the social and economic roles were of paramount
importance due to the prevailing ideology of collectivism. This led
to a unique process of social engineering through physical planning.
The current Israeli system reflects some new trends towards
participatory democracy in planning organisation and individualism in
the planning process and provisions, and a move away from narrow
physical land use perceptions towards an integrated
physical-economic-social outlook. Nevertheless, the basic principles
of the early 1920's can Still be seen in the system of the 1980's.


While plagiarism of others' work is universally condemned, authors' reuse of their own words and data (so-called 'self-plagiarism') is a far more contentious issue. The recycling of one's own text, in particular, polarizes opinion: some consider it unacceptable, whereas others don't see anything wrong with it at all. This being so, it is unsurprising that there are no widely adopted guidelines outlining which (if any) and how much text may be recycled. My aim in writing this article is to briefly introduce the different types of self-plagiarism; to present the views of journal editors and other interested parties and describe ways in which the former are combating abuses; and to highlight some of the steps authors can take to avoid trouble.


Component-based software structuring principles are now commonplace at the application level; but componentization is far less established when it comes to building low-level systems software. Although there have been pioneering efforts in applying componentization to systems-building, these efforts have tended to target specific application domains (e.g., embedded systems, operating systems, communications systems, programmable networking environments, or middleware platforms). They also tend to be targeted at specific deployment environments (e.g., standard personal computer (PC) environments, network processors, or microcontrollers). The disadvantage of this narrow targeting is that it fails to maximize the genericity and abstraction potential of the component approach. In this article, we argue for the benefits and feasibility of a generic yet tailorable approach to component-based systems-building that offers a uniform programming model that is applicable in a wide range of systems-oriented target domains and deployment environments. The component model, called OpenCom, is supported by a reflective runtime architecture that is itself built from components. After describing OpenCom and evaluating its performance and overhead characteristics, we present and evaluate two case studies of systems we have built using OpenCom technology, thus illustrating its benefits and its general applicability.


In order to investigate the effects of anisotropy in a VSP survey, the multi-component VSP data for observing the qP-, qSH- and qSV-waves were collected with two different source-to-well offsets in an elastic transversely isotropic medium (TIM) with a horizontal symmetry axis (HTI). The traveltimes of the events were then computed using two different algorithms: first with elastic constants of the medium, and second with "isotropic velocities". Comparing the traveltimes of computations with the recorded data, a very clear and important consequence can be derived. For strongly anisotropic media (the anisotropy for the qP- and qS-waves are 25% and 29%, respectively, in our laboratory work), the effects of anisotropy increase with increasing source-to-well offset. As the source-to-well offset is small compared with the depth of the receiver (offset/depth ≦ 0.2 in our work), the effects of anisotropy can be ignored. However, in processing a large source-to-well offset VSP survey (offset/depth ≧0.35 in this study), special attention must be paid on the effects of anisotropy.


This book tackles three puzzles of pacted transitions to democracy. First, why do autocrats ever step down from power peacefully if they know that they may be held accountable for their involvement in the ancien re gime? Second, when does the opposition indeed refrain from meting out punishment to the former autocrats once the transition is complete? Third, why, in some countries, does transitional justice get adopted when successors of former communists hold parliamentary majorities? Monika Nalepa argues that infiltration of the opposition with collaborators of the authoritarian regime can serve as insurance against transitional justice, making their commitments to amnesty credible. This explanation also accounts for the timing of transitional justice across East Central Europe. Nalepa supports her theory using a combination of elite interviews, archival evidence, and statistical analysis of survey experiments in Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.


The proportion of T-cell receptor gamma/delta+ cells and the CD4/CD8 ratio relative to all CD3+ intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) were determined by immunofluorescence in duodenal mucosa of late-stage (mostly CDC IVC1/D) subjects (n = 21) infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The gamma/delta fraction (median, 14.2%; range, 1.7 to 59.8%) was increased (P < 0.03) compared with that in HIV- controls (n = 11; median 2.8%; range, 0.3 to 38%). Also, the number of gamma/delta+ IEL per mucosal unit was increased (P < 0.05) in the HIV+ subjects (median, 11.1/U) compared with the controls (3.2/U). Approximately 100% of the gamma/delta+ IEL were CD8-, and most expressed the Vdelta1vJdelta1-encoded epitope (median, 90.9%). The total number of CD3+ IEL tended to be lower than in the controls (67.4 versus 72.9/U). Both the epithelium and the lamina propria contained mainly CD8+ T cells, the median ratios of CD4+ T cells being 1 and 7.6%, respectively. This result accorded with the reduced CD4 cell number in blood (median, 18 X 10(6)/liter). The HIV+ subjects had increased serum levels of neopterin and beta2-microglobulin (both P < 0.0001), probably reflecting immunostimulation. Serum neopterin and beta2-microglobulin were inversely related to duodenal gamma/delta IEL, particularly in the premortal group (r = -0.97 and r = -0.58, respectively). The increased gamma/delta IEL might reflect enhanced intestinal protection in late-phase HIV infection. Short survival expectancy (<7 months) was associated not only with high levels of neopterin and beta2-microglobulin but also with a reduced number of duodenal gamma/delta+ cells (P < 0.03).


The growth of new compounds, chalcones has revealed that they acquire a wide variety of biological activities viz., antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor and antimalarial etc. Chalcones having an α, β unsaturated carbonyl group are versatile synthons for various chemical transformations. The chemistry of chalcones has taken an important place in organic chemistry; the research in this area is encouraged because of development of bacterial resistance to widely used antibiotics of this type. The present paper describes the synthesis and antibacterial activity of novel chalcone derivatives derived from 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy-acetopheneone.


Language Politics and Language Survival: Yiddish among the haredim in post-war Britainra" outlines the history and development of the Yiddish language as it is used among Ultra-Orthodox Jews in contemporary Britain. The language policies of these communities are analysed and placed within the greater socio-historical and religious context of rabbinic justifications for the use of Jewish languages, and of Yiddish in particular. Reasons for the general abandonment of Yiddish outside of the la"haredira" world are also summarized and placed in juxtaposition with the Yiddish language of loyalty of the la"haredimra". Yiddish language and corpus planning in la"haredira" schools is analysed using communal documents and newspaper articles, educational assessments of Jewish schools compiled by la"Her Majesty's Inspectorsra", a number of interviews with communal educators, tape recordings of lessons given in Yiddish, and observations made during my own visits to la"haredira" educational institutions. A significant part of this book is dedicated to the analysis of the Yiddish language itself as it is currently used in Britain. The analysis of spoken Yiddish is based on recordings of speech patterns collected in the course of field work in la"haredira" schools in London and Manchester and focuses primarily on dialectal usage based on religious sect and the geographic region within Britain. A brief sociological analysis of la"haredira" literature in Yiddish is provided in order to demonstrate the ideological function of Yiddish language texts in contemporary Britain, and in the la"haredira" world in general. The primary materials used for this are texts produced by, and published within, the la"haredira" communities of Britain.


The main idea behind this paper is that social capital is not, as generally suggested by the socio-economic literature, an individual attitude towards something which does not imply privately appropriable economic benefits. Actually, SC might and should be interpreted as a public component of an investment which implies private and public benefits entangled with each other. In order to put forward this idea, a dynamic theoretical model that assumes social capital as the public component of the impure public good R&D is developed. It shows that the 'civic culture' of the district area in which the firm works is not sufficient as an incentive to increase its investment in social capital, because this investment strictly depends on the economic convenience of investing in the impure public good. Social capital /networking dynamics might positively and complementarily evolve only if the opportunity cost of investing in innovation is sufficiently low. We consequently focus our attention on a specialized industrial district located in the Emilia Romagna region – the biomedical district of Mirandola (Modena) – characterised by a strong pattern of innovative activity. Using a proxy for innovative activity as dependant variable, we observe that R&D and networking/social capital arise as complementary driving forces for innovation outputs. When empirical evidence confirms that this complementarity plays a key role, and consequently strong links exist between market and non-market dynamics relating to firms, the role for policy actions targeted to social capital is larger. The policy effort should be targeted toward both market and non-market characteristics taken together, rather than solely to the production of (local) public goods (social capital) or innovation inputs as independent elements of firm processes. The input of SC alone is not sufficient to ensure innovation and growth: economic incentives matter. On the other hand, whenever SC dynamics are crucial for R&D private investments, the effect of economic incentives depends on the presence and degree of their complementarity.


In forensic science, facial reconstructions are used to stimulate public interest as a last resort when unidentifiable craniofacial remains are recovered. It is a common misconception that facial reconstruction will produce an exact likeness: A resemblance is the best that can be achieved. Variables such as obesity, age, ethnicity, and sex of the individual can ultimately be estimated only from the skeleton. Any individual skull could, in principle, generate a multiplicity of facial reconstructions, all being equally valid outcomes.

Research at the University of Sheffield is aimed at developing a computer system for facial reconstruction that will be accurate, rapid, repeatable, accessible, and flexible. Average tissue-depth measurements collected from a small number of landmark sites on the face are being eliminated in favor of volume data collection from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment. Virtual reality modeling language (VRML) and the Internet are being used to increase the versatility and accessibility of facial reconstructions.

Research on data collection from the MRI and prototype VRML interpolation models simulating obesity, aging, and ethnicity is described. Some strengths and weaknesses of the models and the potential for application of these models in forensic science and human rights abuse investigations are discussed.


This paper introduces a new approach for acquiring high-fidelity 3D facial performances with realistic dynamic wrinkles and fine-scale facial details. Our approach leverages state-of-the-art motion capture technology and advanced 3D scanning technology for facial performance acquisition. We start the process by recording 3D facial performances of an actor using a marker-based motion capture system and perform facial analysis on the captured data, thereby determining a minimal set of face scans required for accurate facial reconstruction. We introduce a two-step registration process to efficiently build dense consistent surface correspondences across all the face scans. We reconstruct high-fidelity 3D facial performances by combining motion capture data with the minimal set of face scans in the blendshape interpolation framework. We have evaluated the performance of our system on both real and synthetic data. Our results show that the system can capture facial performances that match both the spatial resolution of static face scans and the acquisition speed of motion capture systems.


Visual surveillance finds increasing deployment for monitoring urban environments. Operators need to be able to determine identity from surveillance images and often use face recognition for this purpose. In surveillance environments, it is necessary to handle pose variation of the human head, low frame rate, and low resolution input images. We describe the first use of gait to enable face acquisition and recognition, by analysis of 3-D head motion and gait trajectory, with super-resolution analysis. We use region- and distance-based refinement of head pose estimation. We develop a direct mapping to relate the 2-D image with a 3-D model. In gait trajectory analysis, we model the looming effect so as to obtain the correct face region. Based on head position and the gait trajectory, we can reconstruct high-quality frontal face images which are demonstrated to be suitable for face recognition. The contributions of this research include the construction of a 3-D model for pose estimation from planar imagery and the first use of gait information to enhance the face extraction process allowing for deployment in surveillance scenarios.


One of Zimbabwe s major rivers the Save is now just a sea of sand. This is happening to many of our rivers and is due to serious loss of top soil and deforestation. A lot of these problems are the result of inappropriate methods of land husbandry in conventional agriculture, which is less and less viable in terms of profitability and sustainability. Children should be taught to think about these issues at an early age and learn what alternatives exist. That does not only concern agriculture, food security and income but also how your environment looks and how it can be maintained.

SCOPE started in 1994 with one primary school and one secondary school in each of Zimbabwe s nine provinces. The programme is quite straightforward. Two teachers of each participating school are trained in the principles of organic agriculture or permaculture. These can be science teachers or even interested English or mathematics teachers, since agriculture is not a compulsory subject at school. Besides we aim at integrating permaculture in the entire curricula and not treating it as a separate subject. It is meant for the entire school and does not only include gardening or greening the school; it may also involve water harvesting, improvement of health and nutrition, income generation for the school, constructing or growing windbreaks around fields or teachers houses. Furthermore, I see the programme also as an entry point into the communities. What the pupils learn is brought home to their families and villages. Parents are more sceptical of new ideas. They, as well as agricultural officers, go back to what they learned at school when they were young. Children are more adaptive and responsive. Besides, the youth are the future farmers. However, we involve parents and local extension officers.

No preconceived plan

Representatives of parents, pupils and staff attend a week-long ILUD (Integrated Land-Use Design) workshop at their school, facilitated by SCOPE. The trained teachers then start to discuss the programme with the other pupils, parents and other staff and a plan is made. We do not have a preconceived plan but work on the basis of different designs for different environments at individual schools. The participants together make a situation analysis, which addresses questions like what are the major problems and what are the available resources. We then ask the group the broad question of how they feel the school should look like in 20 years time. That gives a good inventory of interests and wishes. Some want to see fruits, others a garden, more shade on the school grounds or simply a beautiful place. The next step is the actual plotting of the ILUD map and finally a concrete plan of tasks is drawn up: what class could take up which tasks and when should these be finished. The implementation of this design involves contributions by parents and school staff. Parents for instance can supply seedlings of local plants and in turn learn from what is taught to their children and put this into practice. It is amazing what can be achieved in a couple of year s time and what differences emerge between schools.

Banana Republic

The Chireka primary school in Bindura is now nicknamed the Banana Republic because the school is almost hidden in a wood of banana trees. Bananas are sold to the children during breaks at a much lower rate than on the market. St Vincent Secondary school in Ruwa decided to focuses on ornamental plants like flowers and flowering shrubs.

Besides the usual exceptions, the programme caught on well and we now have 54 participating schools, 3 primary and 3 secondary in every province. In 1997, the programme strengthened its partnership with the Minister of Education. They now select the schools, teachers and facilitate finding funds. The government is an important partner, because if you want to change the curricula, you inevitably need to change the workbooks as well as adapt the exams.

In that respect the programme is of course not all roses yet. Some teachers find it difficult to deal with permaculture and conventional agriculture in the same time. I think it is actually a good idea to try both out and have the students compare them. A bigger problem is that parents get different messages. On one hand, permaculture through their child s schools, whereas on the other hand the village agricultural extension worker still focuses on conventional agriculture. Farmers depend on the latter for instance for obtaining farmers certificates. Agricultural education and extension receives substantial sponsorship from agro-chemical companies. That gives us a new objective. Besides expanding the current programme to at least one primary and one secondary school in each of the 63 districts, we also want to include permaculture training in teachers and agricultural colleges, where future staff and extension workers are being trained.

This programme can be implemented in other countries as well. We were involved in a three-week workshop in Zambia to explain our programme and get a similar initiative started.

[caption to illustration]

Mugove Walter Nyika is coordinator of SCOPE (The Schools and Colleges Permaculture Programme), part of the Zimbabwe Institute of Permaculture (ZIP). A geographer by training, Nyika left secondary teaching in geography when he became aware of the value of permaculture as a viable alternative to conventional agriculture. Permaculture permanent culture is an ecological design science: a way of understanding and using the many ways the parts of living systems interact, without bringing them off balance.

The opinions expressed in Viewpoint are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CTA.


Groundwater pumping for irrigation has exploded across India since the 1970's largely due to a proliferation of cheap pump sets and highly subsidized energy. In much of Western and peninsular India, aquifers have been overexploited with substantial decreases in water tables leading to even higher amounts of energy used for pumping. As solar irrigation pumps become more effective and affordable, the prospect of uncontrolled solar pumping further exacerbating the unsustainable use of groundwater has led to calls by some for the government to buy back excess electricity generated on farms. Under such a scheme, the buy-back price would have to be high enough to make selling the power more profitable than using it for further irrigation, yet not as high as the price that is charged for electricity from the grid lest an opportunity for arbitrage be created. The correct value for the buy-back price will thus depend on the marginal profitability of water use on the farm with the possibility that the value of water to the farmer may be too high to make the scheme feasible. In this paper, estimates of water and electricity demand are derived for Punjab state and used to inform what an effective buyback scheme might entail.Results indicate that a buy-back price differentiated by season and location might be an affordable way to promote groundwater conservation.


Owing to the high costs involved in increasing the current client base, one of the main goals of banks and other financial services providers, which operate through the internet, should be to develop customer loyalty in order to improve their results. To achieve this aim, these companies face most vital challenge in providing and maintaining service quality. Service quality is an input of customer trust which becomes satisfaction and lead to loyalty as an output. But the research in the development of e-loyalty is scarce and partial. This paper attempts to accumulate literature in order to understand the overall structure of the formation of e-loyalty. The literature reviewed provide underlying patterns of relationships between ebanking loyalty and its influencing factors. Such understanding is relevant for academicians and researchers for furthering the work in this field. The insights into the previous studies, considered for this paper, are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided. Keywords-e-banking; e-loyalty; satisfaction; structural equation modeling; website quality


In the year following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March, 2011, the renewable and clean energy industries have faced significant turmoil – from natural disasters, to political maelstroms, from the Great Recession to U.S. debt ceiling debates. The Department of Energy's loan guarantee program, often a target since before it ever received a dollar of appropriations, has been both blamed and defended in the wake of the bankruptcy filing of Solyndra, a California-based solar panel manufacturer, in September of 2011, because of the $535 million loan guarantee made by the Department of Energy ("DOE") to Solyndra in 2009. Critics have suggested political favoritism in loan guarantee awards and have questioned the government's proper role in supporting renewable energy companies and the renewable energy industry generally. This paper looks beyond the Solyndra controversy to examine the origin, structure and purpose of the DOE loan guarantee program. It asserts that loan guarantees can serve as viable policy tools, but require careful crafting to have the potential to be effective programs. It concludes that the DOE loan guarantee program did not have consistent or achievable legislative directives nor did it have a reasonable timetable to implement its loan guarantee program. Overall, the DOE loan guarantee program projects supported to date are likely to remain a relatively low-risk portfolio of performing projects (notwithstanding Solyndra and several outliers). However, this risk profile reflects a failure by the DOE to meet some of its statutory goals, because of the DOE had competing and contradictory Congressional directives, dooming its loan guarantee program's ability to succeed. This paper has six sections. First, the paper examines the ambiguous language commonly used to describe renewable energy, green energy, clean energy and industries associated with these terms. It then defines two terms: the Renewable Energy Industry ("REI") and the Renewable Energy Electrical Generation Industry ("REEGI"). Second, the paper examines the state of the market for REEGI and various challenges that face this industry. Third, the paper summarizes the origin and structure of the DOE loan guarantee program and initial assessments of this program prior to the Solyndra scandal. Fourth, the paper examines the details concerning Solyndra's loan guarantee and bankruptcy and asserts that Solyndra's failure was based on market conditions and the company's business model not on shortcomings in the DOE loan guarantee program, and few other DOE loan guarantee recipients will follow in Solyndra's wake. Fifth, the paper analyzes the DOE loan guarantee program and asserts that the program's contradictory legislative guidance limited the effectiveness of the program, ensuring the program would face criticism from all sides no matter which projects it supported. The paper also examines the common arguments made against the DOE loan guarantee program specifically, and loan guarantees generally. Finally, the paper concludes that loan guarantees can be viable policy tools, but their effectiveness depends on both legislative authority and implementation. In the case of the DOE loan guarantee program, its competing legislative purposes and lack of specificity hampered the program's effectiveness.


We present observations made with the VLA at 1.5 and 8.4 GHz of the nearby FRI radio galaxy 3C296. The most recent models of FRI radio galaxies suggest that substantial deceleration must take place in their jets, with strongly relativistic velocities on parsec scales giving place to at most mildly relativistic velocities on scales of tens of kiloparsecs. The region over which this deceleration takes place is therefore of considerable interest. By considering the side-to-side asymmetries of the jets of 3C296, we constrain the region of strong deceleration in the source. Our observations show evidence that the jets have slow edges surrounding faster central spines. We discuss the implications of our observations for models of the magnetic field structure in these objects.


Iron tetraboride (FeB4) is attracting increasing attention due to its attractive electronic and mechanical properties (e.g., superconductivity and superhard). Using particle swarm optimization (PSO) combined with first-principles calculations, we systemically studied the structural phase and properties of FeB4 up to 1 TPa. Our results revealed, unexpectedly, that pressure stabilizes two hitherto unknown I4/m (420–542 GPa) and Imma (>542 GPa) structures. Under compression (0–1 TPa), for the first time, we identify that the structural phases of FeB4 transform initially from Pnnm to I41/acd, I4/m, and finally to Imma. During these transformations, the evolution of a boron framework is from a graphene-like layer to a tetrahedral B4 cluster, one-dimensional B4 cluster-chain, and interconnected graphene-like network, where the number of B–B bonds for each B atom gradually increases from 3 to 4, 5 and 6, respectively. Among these phases, a remarkable feature of the Fe atoms is that their coordination number changes from an 8-fold coordination to unexpected 12-fold coordination with increasing pressure. By the analysis of electronic structures, a feature is revealed that the electrical properties of FeB4 evolve from those of a superconductor to a semiconductor, and a conductor in the range of 0–1 TPa. Moreover, the mechanical property calculations indicate that these phases of FeB4 all exhibit excellent mechanical behaviors and are expected to be superhard materials. These results expand the knowledge of FeB4 and stimulate further interest in exploring it from a high pressure perspective.


The performance of a variable speed wind turbine using a direct-drive permanent-magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) as well as a PMSG with single stage planetary gearbox is compared for two grades of electric steel applied for the generator stator core lamination. A ring type, radial flux PMSG is modeled. For a fixed mechanical power input, the geometry of the generator is optimized for each turbine systems and two materials to maximize the annual efficiency of the generator. The annual efficiency is calculated based on the power curve of the generator and the probability density function of the wind speed. This function is approximated by the Weibull distribution function for a site with average wind speed of 7 m/s. For both generator systems, the annual efficiency of two optimized generators using different steel grades differs around 1%. The difference depends on a mass of active material of the generator.


Glossy surfaces reflect a mirror image of the environment. The perceived gloss depends (a) on the blurriness of this mirror image, which is a function of surface roughness, and (b) the strength of the mirror reflection, which, according to Fresnel's equations, is a function of the material's refractive index and the angle of the incident light. Investigations on gloss perception often used simplified reflection models, e.g., the Ward model (Ward, 1992), which do not correctly account for Fresnel effects. Here, possible perceptual consequences of this simplification are investigated in three experiments, in which the gloss impression produced by a physically more plausible reflection model (Fresnel-bidirectional reflectance distribution function [BRDF]) is compared to the gloss produced by two variants of the Ward model under identical conditions. The results show that it is, in general, not possible to match the gloss impression elicited by a Fresnel-BRDF with a Ward-BRDF. Furthermore, compared with the Ward-BRDF, the gloss impression produced with the Fresnel-BRDF under identical conditions is, in general, stronger, more vivid, and more realistic. Gloss constancy is also improved, i.e., the gloss impression depends less on the type of illumination, the presence and properties of a floor, and surface shape. These differences are especially evident with relatively homogeneous illuminations. The results of a fourth experiment, which tested gloss constancy under changes in illumination and shape with a matching task, confirm an improved gloss constancy with a Fresnel-BRDF. Together, these findings suggest that Fresnel effects are used as a cue in gloss perception.


Part I. STRATEGIC INPUTS. 1. Strategic Management and Competitiveness. 2. The External Environment: Opportunities, Threats, Competition, and Competitor Analysis. 3. The Internal Environment: Resources, Capabilities, Competencies, and Competitive Advantages. Part II. FORMULATION OF STRATEGIC ACTIONS. 4. Business-Level Strategy. 5. Competitive Rivalry and Dynamics. 6. Corporate-Level Strategy. 7. Strategic Acquisition and Restructuring. 8. Global Strategy. 9. Cooperative Implications for Strategy. Part III. IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC ACTIONS. 10. Corporate Governance and Ethics. 11. Structure and Controls with Organizations. 12. Leadership Implications for Strategy. 13. Entrepreneurial Implications for Strategy.


Intracerebral cell transplantation is increasingly finding a clinical translation. However, the number of cells surviving after implantation is low (5–10%) compared to the number of cells injected. Although significant efforts have been made with regard to the investigation of apoptosis of cells after implantation, very little optimization of cell preparation and administration has been undertaken. Moreover, there is a general neglect of the biophysical aspects of cell injection. Cell transplantation can only be an efficient therapeutic approach if an optimal transfer of cells from the dish to the brain can be ensured. We therefore focused on the in vitro aspects of cell preparation of a clinical-grade human neural stem cell (NSC) line for intracerebral cell implantation. NSCs were suspended in five different vehicles: phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium (DMEM), artificial cerebral spinal fluid (aCSF), HypoThermosol, and Pluronic. Suspension accuracy, consistency, and cell settling were determined for different cell volume fractions in addition to cell viability, cell membrane damage, and clumping. Maintenance of cells in suspension was evaluated while being stored for 8 h on ice, at room temperature, or physiological normothermia. Significant differences between suspension vehicles and cellular volume fractions were evident. HypoThermosol and Pluronic performed best, with PBS, aCSF, and DMEM exhibiting less consistency, especially in maintaining a suspension and preserving viability under different storage conditions. These results provide the basis to further investigate these preparation parameters during the intracerebral delivery of NSCs to provide an optimized delivery process that can ensure an efficient clinical translation.


It is widely accepted that the costs of under-pricing energy are large, whether in advanced or developing countries. This paper explores how large these costs can be by focussing on the size of the external effects that energy subsidies in particular generate in two important sectors – transport and agriculture – in two MENA countries, Egypt (transport) and Yemen (agriculture). Our focus is mainly on the costs associated with congestion and pollution as well the impact of under-priced energy for depletion of scarce water resources including through crop selection. Quantifying the size of external effects in developing countries has received relatively little analytical attention, although there is a significant body of literature for the advanced world. By building on earlier research, as well as employing the UN ForFITS model we are able to provide indicative estimates of the external costs of energy subsidies, as manifested in congestion and pollution. Our estimates using simulations indicate that these costs could be materially reduced by elimination or reduction of energy subsidies. We are also able to describe the impact of energy subsidies on water consumption in a region where water resources are particularly limited. As such, our findings provide further evidence of the adverse and significant consequences of subsidising energy.


The morphology and three-dimensional organisation of the internal reproductive system of Archegozetes longisetosus is described, using a combination of conventional microscopic methods and the non-invasive technique of synchrotron X-ray microtomography. The reproductive system is described at various points of its development and the differentiation of its components observed. The genital duct forms during tritonymphal stage close to the ventral body wall from different precursors. Previtellogenesis and the differentiation of eugenital lobes start prior to the last moult. Flap-like structures separate the oviducts from the uterus and the uterus from the vagina in the adult stage. We propose a nomenclature for the subdivisions of the ovary.


We propose a quantum pump mechanism based on the particular properties of graphene, namely chirality and bipolarity. The underlying physics is the excitation of evanescent modes entering a potential barrier from one lead, while those from the other lead do not reach the driving region. This induces a large nonequilibrium current with electrons stemming from a broad range of energies, in contrast to the narrow resonances that govern the corresponding effect in semiconductor heterostructures. Moreover, the pump mechanism in graphene turns out to be robust, with a simple parameter dependence, which is beneficial for applications. Numerical results from a Floquet scattering formalism are complemented with analytical solutions for small to moderate driving.


There is a critical need for research into the use of digital technologies to support the assessment of performance on complex tasks in schools. This paper reports on a component of a pilot study aimed at investigating the use of digital forms of performance assessment, manageable within schools, with high levels of reliability and capable of being scaled up for statewide implementation. Student practical performances were represented in digital files, placed in an online repository and marked using both a standards‐reference and comparative pairs method. It was found that the short performance tasks exam was readily implemented and the work easily marked. The resulting scores were shown to be highly reliable and well correlated when compared with the other case studies and suitable for ranking students. However, the limitations of the tasks, time and scaffolding of the tasks reduced the study's validity in assessing student capability in the course. Overall the results were encouraging and provide a basis for a larger and longer study that has commenced.


Delay tolerant network (DTN) routing provides a communication primitive in intermittently disconnected networks, such as battlefield communications and human-contact networks. In these applications, the anonymity preserving mechanism, which hides the identities of communicating parties, plays an important role as a defense against cyber and physical attacks. While anonymous routing protocols for DTNs have been proposed in the past, to the best of our knowledge, there is no work that emphasizes analysis of the performance of these protocols. In this paper, we first design an abstract of anonymous routing protocols for DTNs and augment the existing solution with multi-copy message forwarding. Then, we construct simplified mathematical models, which can be used to understand the fundamental performance and security guarantees of onion-based anonymous routing in DTNs. To be specific, the delivery rate, message forwarding cost, traceable rate, and path and node anonymity are defined and analyzed. The numerical and simulation results using randomly generated contact graphs and the real traces demonstrate that our models provide very close approximations to the performance of the anonymous DTN routing protocol.


In the present study investigates the effect of bio-ethanol on the performance and emissions of a biodiesel blend fueled compression ignition engine. The experiments are conducted using pongamia biodiesel blend B20 (20% pongamia biodiesel +80% diesel) with 5, 7.5 and 10% (v/v) of bio-ethanol on a four stroke single cylinder diesel engine. The tests are conducted at different load conditions. Performance and emissions characteristics are investigated for different bio-ethanol compositions. The results show that the brake thermal efficiency is maximum for B20E7.5 blend with a minimum brake specific fuel consumption. Carbon monoxide emission is minimum for B20E7.5 blend and NOx emission decreases as the bio-ethanol percentage is increased from 5 to 7.5%. The study reveals that 7.5% bio-ethanol with B20 pongamia biodiesel blend results better performance and emission characteristics.


There is no single 'great' commodity frontier whose exploitation under current socio‐technical conditions could fuel capital accumulation at the global scale. According to Jason Moore, this represents the 'end of Cheap Nature' and signals a terminal crisis for capitalism as we know it. In this article we complicate this assertion by showing how, in the context of global environmental governance frameworks of carbon control, a diverse range of actors situated at multiple scales are intensifying the use of cities and their hinterlands for the production/transgression of localized commodity frontiers. We draw on scholarship on uneven geographical development, state‐led restructuring and eco‐scalar fixes to present two case studies from different segments of the carbon cycle in the global South. The first case demonstrates how the introduction of waste‐to‐energy technology in Delhi facilitated the generation of 'carbon credits' while waste matter itself became a commodity. The second discusses attempts by the Brazilian state of Amazonas (Amazonia) aspiring to shift from rainforest exploitation to financialized conservation supported by the 'green global city' functions of metropolitan Manaus. These cases demonstrate that although the global carbon‐control regime may enable accumulation, implementation remains speculative, and localized commodity frontiers provoke social resistances that jeopardize their durability.


The objective of the present paper is to perform an accurate numerical simulation of the high-speed water jet impinging on a Pelton bucket. To reach this goal, the Finite Volume Particle Method (FVPM) is used to discretize the governing equations. FVPM is an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method, which combines attractive features of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics and conventional mesh-based Finite Volume Method. This method is able to satisfy free surface and no-slip wall boundary conditions precisely. The fluid flow is assumed weakly compressible and the wall boundary is represented by one layer of particles located on the bucket surface. In the present study, the simulations of the flow in a stationary bucket are investigated for three different impinging angles: 72°, 90° and 108°. The particles resolution is first validated by a convergence study. Then, the FVPM results are validated with available experimental data and conventional grid-based Volume Of Fluid simulations. It is shown that the wall pressure field is in good agreement with the experimental and numerical data. Finally, the torque evolution and water sheet location are presented for a simulation of five rotating Pelton buckets.


Coral reef ecosystems around the world face a number of threats, including ocean acidification, increased ocean temperatures due to anthropogenic global warming (AGW), increased disease outbreaks, crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, terrestrial sedimentation, eutrophication, pollution, and fishing pressure. At the same time, coral reef ecosystems provide valuable direct and indirect economic and social benefits to millions of people worldwide. However, the intensity and spatial distribution of threats are likely to change with increasing human population and economic development, and thus understanding how multiple stressors may interact and affect coral reefs – particularly in the face of incomplete knowledge about these stressors – is an issue of pressing importance.

This thesis aims to explore and advance the understanding of interactions between multiple stressors and their effects as they pertain to coral reefs generally and the Great Barrier Reef specifically. I review several of the components that are integral to this issue, including: stressors and stress ecology, research to date on the issue of multiple stressors and coral reefs, the multiple threats from climate change to coral reefs, and approaches to modelling and managing multiple stressors.

The overall aim of this thesis is to quantitatively evaluate the importance of multiple stressor interactions to coral reef ecosystems and to assess alternative management approaches to mitigating the effects of potentially increased prevalence and severity of these stressors. I do this through both assessing the state of existing knowledge as well as by using new approaches to model stressors and stressor effects within the context of the GBR. In addition, I seek to provide an example of how these effects can be conceptualized and managed more effectively in the face of uncertain knowledge and incomplete data.

The specific research objectives of my thesis are as follows:

1. To synthesize the available knowledge of multiple stressors on coral reefs;

2. To use the occurrence of bleaching and disease in the GBR as a case study to determine the spatial and temporal overlap of these stressors;

3. To use expert knowledge to identify key uncertainties and knowledge gap(s) regarding multiple stressor interactions on coral reef systems;

4. To apply expert-elicited knowledge about stressors and stressor interactions on the GBR to map potential threats to reefs under a variety of different climate change and management scenarios.

Chapter 2 addresses research objective 1 by using a formal literature search to provide the foundation for a qualitative and selected quantitative meta-analysis of multiple-stressors as they pertains to coral reef ecosystems, and by examining the evidence for the prevalence of synergistic, antagonistic, and additive interactions between stressors. Here I investigate stressor interactions in two ways: first by examining stressor interactions with other stressors, and secondly by looking at potentially synergistic effects between two or more stressors on a response variable (where stressors interact to produce an effect that is greater than purely additive). For stressor-stressor interactions, I found 176 studies that examined interactions between at least two stressors. Applying network analysis to analyse relationships between stressors, I found that pathogens were exacerbated by more co-stressors than any other stressor, while sedimentation, storms, and water temperature directly affected the largest number of other stressors. Pathogens, nutrients, and crown-of-thorns starfish were the most-influenced stressors. In terms of responses to multiple stressors, I found 187 studies that examined the effects of two or more stressors on a third dependent variable. The interaction of irradiance and temperature on corals has been the subject of more research than any other combination of stressors, with many studies reporting a synergistic effect on coral symbiont photosynthetic performance. Second, I performed a quantitative meta-analysis of existing literature on the interaction between temperature and irradiance. Although the sample size was small, I found that the mean effect size of combined treatments was statistically indistinguishable from a purely additive interaction. This chapter provides evidence that considerable gaps remain in our knowledge regarding numerous stressor interactions and effects, and that the available evidence is inconclusive on whether synergistic effects are widespread in coral reef systems.

Chapter 3 addresses research objective 2 by using data from the AIMS Long-term Monitoring Program (LTMP) to examine the spatial and temporal overlap of bleaching and disease in the GBR. Coral bleaching and disease have often been hypothesized to be mutually reinforcing or co-occurring, but much of the research supporting this has only drawn an implicit connection through common environmental predictors. I examine whether an explicit relationship between white syndrome and bleaching exists using assemblage-level monitoring data from up to 112 sites on the reef slopes spread throughout the GBR over 11 years of monitoring. None of the temperature metrics commonly used to predict mass bleaching performed strongly when applied to these data, and the inclusion of bleaching as a predictor did not improve model in predicting white syndrome outbreaks. Conversely, the inclusion of white syndrome as a predictor did not improve models of bleaching. Evidence for spatial co-occurrence of bleaching and white syndrome at the assemblage level in this dataset was also very weak. These results suggest the hypothesized relationship between bleaching and disease events may be weaker than previously thought, and more likely to be driven by common responses to environmental stressors, rather than directly facilitating one another.

Chapter 4 addresses research objective 3 by exploring the use of Bayesian Belief Networks (hereafter BBNs) in conjunction with expert elicitation to determine the degree of expert consensus about the greatest threats to the GBR, and assessing the degree of confidence that experts have about the effects of various stressors both alone and in combination. BBNs are finding increasing application in adaptive ecosystem management where data are limited and uncertainty is high. I used a formal expert-elicitation process to obtain estimates of outcomes associated with a variety of scenarios in the GBR that combined stressors both within and outside the control of local managers. Among consulted experts, there was much stronger consensus about certain stressor effects - such as between temperature anomalies and bleaching – than others, such as the relationship between water quality and coral health. In general, models generated from the mean responses from experts predicted that climate change effects could potentially overshadow the mitigating effects of management actions to reduce local stressors.

Chapter 5 addresses research objective 4 by implementing the model developed in Chapter 4 in a spatial way through the use of several scenarios. Coral reefs are one example of an ecosystem where management of local stressors may be a way of mitigating or delaying the effects of climate change. In this chapter, I use a combination of an expert-elicited BBN and empirical, spatial environmental data to examine how hypothetical scenarios of climate change and local management would result in different outcomes for coral reefs on the GBR. I also assess whether reefs within the existing protected area network differ in their predicted probability of decline from reefs outside the protected area network. Parameterizing the BBN using the mean responses from my expert pool resulted in predictions of limited efficacy of local management in combating the effects of climate change; however, there was considerable variability in expert responses; thus, I also examine the effect that using optimistic versus pessimistic expert responses has on the model predictions of coral cover decline on the GBR. Many reefs within the central GBR appear to be at risk of further decline, but further parameterization of the model as data and knowledge become available will improve predictive power. This approach serves as a proof of concept for subsequent work that can fine-tune parameters and explore uncertainties in predictions of responses to management.

My thesis thus addresses two critical elements that are often missing from studies examining the conservation implications of multiple stressors (especially on coral reefs): interactions between stressor/stressor effects and assessing the effect of different management options on these interactions.


Finding a constraint network that will be efficiently solved by a constraint solver requires a strong expertise in Constraint Programming. Hence, there is an increasing interest in automatic reformulation. This paper presents a general framework for learning implied global constraints in a constraint network assumed to be provided by a non-expert user. The learned global constraints can then be added to the network to improve the solving process. We apply our technique to global cardinality constraints. Experiments show the significance of the approach.


This paper presents a framework for modeling the dependability of hardware and software fault-tolerant systems, taking into account explicitly the dependence among the components. These dependencies can result from: (a) functional or structural interactions between the components or (b) interactions due to global system reconfiguration and maintenance strategies. Modeling is based on GSPN (generalized stochastic Petri net). The modeling approach is modular: the behavior of each component and each interaction is represented by its own GSPN, while the system model is obtained by composition of these GSPN. Composition rules are defined and formalized through clear identification of the interfaces between the component and interaction nets. In addition to modularity, the formalism brings flexibility and re-usability, thereby allowing easy sensitivity analysis with respect to the assumptions that could be made about the behavior of the components and the resulting interactions. This approach has been successfully applied to select new architectures for the French Air Traffic Control system, based among other things, on availability evaluation. This paper illustrates it on a simple representative example, including all the types of the identified dependencies: the duplex system. Modeling of this system showed the strong dependence between components.


Problems that require multiple agents to follow non-interfering paths from their current states to their respective goal states are called cooperative pathfinding problems. We present the first complete algorithm for finding these paths that is sufficiently fast for real-time applications. Furthermore, our algorithm offers a trade-off between running time and solution quality. We then refine our algorithm into an anytime algorithm that first quickly finds a solution, and then uses any remaining time to incrementally improve that solution until it is optimal or the algorithm is terminated. We compare our algorithms to those in the literature and show that in addition to completeness, our algorithms offer improved solution quality as well as competitive running time.


ABSTRACT Prior research shows that special needs educators (SNEs) have had problems defining their occupational roles and jurisdiction, particularly regarding inclusive education. There are two occupational groups of SNEs in Sweden, namely special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) and special education teachers. In this paper, we use the collective name SNEs to refer to both groups. Here, results from a total population study of Swedish SNEs are presented (N = 3367, response rate 75%). The aim is to explore differences in SNEs' interpretation of school difficulties and if these differences are influenced by SNEs' employment in different parts of the school organisation. Statistical cluster-analysis was used to categorise SNEs into five distinct groups based on how they view the problems of pupils in school difficulties. Key concepts employed in the analysis are, primarily organisational vs occupational governance in relation to professional jurisdiction. Findings suggest that SNEs are less unanimous in their views of school problems, than prior research indicates. The variance is partly due to where they work in the school organisation, but we also find indications that different groups of SNEs experience different forms of governance with regard to their professionalism. The results are important due to the scope of the data and method of analysis as well as the illustrated variance of professional values and situations of SNEs and the potential consequences for the development of inclusive education.


Rapid technological progress in the recent years has allowed the high-throughput interrogation of different types of biomolecules from single cells. Combining several of these readouts into integrated multi-omic assays is essential to comprehensively understand and model cellular processes. Here, we report the development of Expanded CRISPR-compatible Cellular Indexing of Transcriptomes and Epitopes by sequencing (ECCITE-seq) for the high-throughput characterization of at least five modalities of information from each single cell: transcriptome, immune receptor clonotypes, surface markers, sample identity and sgRNAs. We demonstrate the use of ECCITE-seq to directly and efficiently capture sgRNA molecules and measure their effects on gene expression and protein levels, opening the possibility of performing high throughput single cell CRISPR screens with multimodal readout using existing libraries and commonly used vectors. Finally, by utilizing the combined phenotyping of clonotype and cell surface markers in immune cells, we apply ECCITE to study a lymphoma sample to discriminate cells and define molecular signatures of malignant cells within a heterogeneous population.


JANE WILKINSON President & CEO ALLISON ADAMS Group Publisher Although studying investor overreaction to economic events has been a popular research topic in finance, far less attention has been given to investor overreaction to certain firm characteristics during economic events. We open our Summer issue with Wang, Meric, Liu, and Meric, who use data from the 2008 stock market crash and demonstrate that large firm returns respond faster after an event but also lead small firm returns in the downward direction. This is followed by Cornell who presents an alternative interpretation of regressions of future returns on dividendprice ratios in predicting expected returns of common stocks. Volpert examines the record of long-term interest rates predicting stock market returns and whether this is just chance. Rao, Tang, and Chandrashekar respond to the question of whether corporate cash holdings predict stock returns concluding that this matters more in dramatic upswings. In Japan, management forecasts can provide important information about companies' future earnings. Xu discusses investors' reactions to this information. Klonowski examines the public equities markets in Poland in comparison to other emerging markets and concludes it to be an important consideration for investors due to the strong returns and favorable economic conditions. Next, Kaushik analyzes actively managed U.S. domiciled funds that invest in international stocks, focusing on their performance and provide trading strategies for retail investors who would like international fund exposure. McKeon focuses on the actual returns investors receive from trading options. Our special section in this issue is on quantitative risk management. We feature Melamed, Labuszewski, and Ro's perspective on financial risk in the modern world, Hallerbach and Houweling's discussion of the f laws in the default premium. De Santiago and Estrada's assessment of the effects on expected, observed and simulated performance when maximizing a portfolio's geometric mean and Zhao and PagetBrown's examination of idiosyncratic risk and hedge fund performance. As always, we welcome your submissions. We value your comments and suggestions so please email us at journals@ investmentresearch.org.


The advising process plays an essential role in the success of a student's academic life, and should include mentoring and counseling offered by faculty advisors. Unfortunately, the limited advising time available is often spent on routine tasks such as course advising and approvals. In addition, faculty advisors spend a large proportion of advising time answering the same questions for multiple students. Nontraditional students and distance education make it more difficult for student and faculty advisor to find an agreeable time to meet. While universities have implemented webbased advisor systems for routine tasks, most of these systems make static, non-personalized materials such as catalogs available and offer email communication between student and advisor. Moving beyond this approach, we seek to provide a means by which a student may engage in interactive dialogues with a "Virtual Advisor" that possesses current, reliable knowledge and offers personalized advice. VAT (Virtual Advisor Technology), is an intelligent knowledge-based system being developed as a multi-university, multi-departmental team design project. The intent of this online advising system is to assist students in planning semester schedules and degree plans. VAT uses rule-based reasoning to generate degree plans, check scheduling conflicts, and recommend personalized advice based on student preferences.


The goal of this dissertation research was to characterize the spermatozoal transcript profile of bovine cryopreserved spermatozoa. The main goal was to sequence the complete transcript profile from a population of sires across a wide fertility range utilizing RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq). Sequencing was then conducted to compare the spermatozoal transcript profiles of higher and lower fertility sires in an effort to determine the presence or absence of spermatozoal transcripts that may aid in improving fertility testing in sires. In addition to RNA-Seq analysis, other semen parameters such as morphology, DNA fragmentation, and RNA amount were analyzed for relationships with fertility. The first chapter of this dissertation is a literature review detailing the artificial insemination industry, male fertility, spermatogenesis, spermatozoal RNAs, and RNASeq high-throughput sequencing. The review details what is currently known about the spermatozoal RNA population as well as the potential application of RNA-Seq to advance the knowledge of this spermatozoal RNA population. The second chapter is a manuscript that was published in the journal Biology of Reproduction in January 2013 and was co-first-authored by Elizabeth Anderson. This manuscript was the first study to sequence the spermatozoal transcript profile using RNA-Seq for any species. RNA-Seq analysis of pooled semen from multiple sires sequenced a bovine spermatozoal transcriptome consisting of 6,166 transcripts, including several previously identified and novel candidate transcripts for further functional study. The third chapter of this dissertation is a manuscript being prepared for submission to the Journal of Dairy Science. In this manuscript, the spermatozoal transcript profiles of higher and lower fertile sires was sequenced. Target fertility candidate transcripts were selected on the basis of expression differences between the two populations and then correlation of these spermatozoal transcripts with sire fertility was examined. Appendix 1 consists of unpublished data examining the relationship of sperm RNA amount with semen parameters such as morphology, DNA fragmentation index, motility, and sperm RNA quantity. Sperm morphology analysis was performed by the Parrish lab while DNA fragmentation index analysis was performed by the Evenson lab. This sperm RNA isolation method is the same procedure as described in Appendix One and therefore I was unable to validate this transcript population. Appendix 2 reports an unpublished initial RNA-Seq study done with spermatozoal RNA isolated with a column based method and mRNA amplification that differs from these protocols reported in Chapter 2. I was unable to validate the spermatozoal transcript profile generated with these RNA isolation and amplification methods leading to the development of a second RNA isolation procedure that is reported in Chapter 2. Through this work it is evident that there was much we did not know about the bovine spermatozoal transcript profile but the use of RNA-Seq in this study has helped us understand the population more. This new technology has allowed us to sequence the entire transcript profile while determining what transcripts are full-length. Not only were we able to sequence a general population but we compared lower and higher fertility populations and found many differences between the two. Utilizing all of our data we were able to identify four individual transcripts that have correlations with sire fertility that may prove useful as alternatives for in vitro fertility tests.


The existence of generic medicines promotes the availability of medicines at a price lower than the original product. Pharmacological studies have only to prove that the generic product is bio-equivalent to the original medicine before registration and no clinical trials to prove efficacy and safety are required. Once a generic medicine is registered, the price will be determined by market forces, which may drive down the price of similar products, including the innovator medicine.
Several new generics were launched in 2008, some of which were the first generic for the original product. The policy on generic substitution requires the dispenser to inform the patient of the availability of a generic alternative where the originator product has been prescribed, thus all dispensers must be aware of the existence of these new generics. This review looks at the first generics for originator products launched in 2008. Prices quoted are the single exit price inclusive of VAT, taken from Mims October 2008.


Concrete is a most necessary material in human life because almost all civil engineering structures are constructed with concrete. In transportation generally rigid pavements are laid by concrete. Because of its rapid usage many number of researches are taking place to improve the properties of concrete & to suggest replaceable materials for concrete. This report emphasis that by using locally available materials like sugar & jaggery, can improve the properties of concrete. The admixtures (sugar & jaggery) are added into concrete at the dosage levels of 0,0.025,0.05,0.1% and check the properties improvements in concrete. And also sugar cane ash which is the waste released from sugar industries during preparation of sugar can be used as replaceable material for cement. At different proportions like 5.10,15, 20, 25% Ash is replaced with cement and suggested that it is replaceable up to 15% to improve the various properties of concrete. Purpose: The main purpose of this report is to suggest the locally available materials (Which are well known to people like sugar, jaggery & sugar cane ash ) to improve the properties of concrete & to reduce the cost of construction. Properties improved during


A seminal work on the power of nonviolent action, this classic book outlines, in a systematic way, the elements involved in successfully opposing military dictatorships by passive means. This work shows how nonviolent action grows from the fact that all governments depend on the cooperation, or at least the general compliance, of the people they govern and in particular on the loyalty of key institutions. From there, it discusses how, if a government's base of support in society is eroded, it becomes increasingly difficult for it to govern, to the point where it can no longer rely on these crucial institutions of administration, persuasion, and coercion. This edition also considers historical evidence, insists on the importance of advance planning and preparation, and identifies key factors to be taken into account in devising sound strategies and tactics. Tactics and strategies that may be adapted for various circumstances are also included.


Consider a large collection of objects, each of which has a large number of attributes of several different sorts. We assume that there are data attributes representing data, attributes which are to be statistically estimated or predicted from these, and attributes which can be controlled or set. A motivating example is to assign a credit score to a credit card prospect indicating the likelihood that the prospect will make credit card payments and then to set a credit limit for each prospect in such a way as to maximize the over-all expected revenue from the entire collection of prospects. In the terminology above, the credit score is called a predictive attribute and the credit limit a control attribute. The methodology we describe in the paper uses data mining to provide more accurate estimates of the predictive attributes and to provide more optimal settings of the control attributes. We briefly describe how to parallelize these computations. We also briefly comment on some of data management issues which arise for these types of problems in practice. We propose using object warehouses to provide low overhead, high performance access to large collections of objects as an underlying foundation for our data mining algorithms.


Enduring doubts about the value of IS investments reveal that IS researchers have not fully managed to identify and to explain the economic benefits of IS. Three research tasks are essential requisites on the path towards addressing this criticism: the synthesis of knowledge, the identification of lack of knowledge, and the proposition of paths for closing knowledge gaps. This paper considers each of these tasks by a) synthesizing key research findings based on a comprehensive literature review, b) identifying and unfolding key limitations of current research, and c) applying a decision-theoretic perspective, which opens new horizons to IS business value research and shows paths for overcoming the limitations. The adoption of this perspective results in a decision-theoretic foundation of IS business value research and includes the proposition of a consistent terminology and a research model that frames further research.


In the last few decades, the Modern Conservation Movement has developed from European-limited practices into a global movement with universal common views and practical measures for managing heritage resources in different cultural contexts. As an innovative idea of this movement, the Historic Urban Landscape approach aims to protect and manage historic urban environments with respect to both the fundamental principles in the international doctrines and the local social/cultural/historical contexts. It recommends local authorities to use the HUL toolkit to identify, conserve and manage the overall landscape of their historic cities.
In the case of China, who is an old civilization, a modern nation and a socialist country at the same time, the conservation practice needs to follow the basic and common conservation principles in the international doctrines, and meanwhile, it shall make its initiatives based on the actual social, cultural and political situations. The establishment of Historically and Culturally Famous City (HCF City in short) system is a positive attempt for such a purpose. The system manages various urban elements relating to the city's historical and cultural features under a comprehensive notion of HCF City. However, the system is not prefect because it depends excessively on the top-down management of local governments, and also because it overlooks the spatial and spiritual relationships among the protected elements...
The thesis provides a big picture of architectural and urban conservation practices in China. It introduces the forming process and the characteristics of historic urban fabric, as well as the history of urban conservation. Then, it takes a deep look at the existing HCF City system, including its basic ideas, structures and mechanism. It analyses the system's initiatives and deficiencies. Finally, it provides feasible advices to improve the current system by using the HUL toolkit.


The purpose of this article is to explain how to introduce high school students to the issue of declining amphibian populations by reading the book, Tracking the Vanishing Frogs: An Ecological Mystery (Phillips 1994) and playing a game based on concepts introduced in this book. In this article we present a teaching/learning activity in which high school biology and environmental science students practice both reading comprehension and graphing skills, important skills stressed by recent educational reform efforts (NRC 1996). The National Science Education Standards suggest actively engaging students in inquiries that interest them and relate to current science topics (NRC I996). The issue of global decline of frog populations has proven both interesting and important to our students. Engaging in the activities suggested in this article presents an opportunity to enhance students' understanding of possible outcomes of human disturbances in the natural environment, the interdependence of organisms, and the nature of scientific inquiry.


The hydrodynamics and mass transfer characteristics of a concurrent downflow contactor (CDC) are studied in this work in order to investigate the viability of this bubble column as a catalytic reactor for the hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes. Oxygen/water was used as the system throughout. In order to obtain reproducible results, a very effective gas-liquid separation method was conceived and developed after much trial and error work. Shutdown and deadleg gas holdup measuring methods were compared and it was found that the shutdown method is more reliable than the deadleg method. The hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde using both in-house-prepared and commercial palladium, platinum and ruthenium catalysts was carried out in stirred tank reactors and cocurrent downflow reactors in order to study the kinetics and mass transfer characteristics and the selectivity towards the corresponding desired product, hydrocinnamaldehyde or cinnamyl alcohol. When palladium catalysts were used the desired product was hydrocinnamaldehyde. The effects of homogenous reactions, type of solvent, catalyst loading, temperature, pressure, reactant concentration and the effects of promoter or poison on the selectivity towards hydrocinnamaldehyde were investigated systematically. Aldehyde acetals were produced in polar solvents, but not in non-polar solvents. Two methods can be used to obtain hydrocinnamaldehyde selectivity without reduction of the carbonyl double bond: (1) by using non-polar solvents such as toluene; (2) by incorporating poisons or promoters into the reactant solution or onto the surface of the catalysts. 97% selectivity to hydrocinnamaldehyde was achieved. The effects of the solvent, temperature, pressure, catalyst loading, promoters, and reactants concentration on the kinetics were studied and the following reaction kinetics are proposed for the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde over non-modified palladium/charcoal catalysts in propan-2-ol and in toluene: Ra = kC\(_{Cat}\)C\(_{H2}\)C\(^0_{CAL}\) The apparent activation energy varies with themperature range in propan-2-ol and is 65\(\pm\)5 kJ.mol\(^{-1}\) in toluene.


The Paleoproterozoic Thompson nickel belt, a segment of the northwest margin of the Archean Superior craton in Manitoba, is one of the largest nickel-producing regions in the world and the second largest Ni-Cu-PGE (platinum group elements) mining camp in Canada after Sudbury. The nickel sulfide ores are hosted in or associated with ultramafic sills of komatiitic affinity that were emplaced into sulfur-rich metasedimentary rocks of the Ospwagan Group and subsequently strongly deformed and metamorphosed (amphibolite to granulite facies) during the Trans-Hudson orogeny. A U-Pb zircon age of 1880.2 ± 1.4 Ma for a metaperidotite (olivine orthopyroxenite) from the upper part of a boudinaged ultramafic sill at the Pipe 2 deposit is interpreted as the age of crystallization of the intrusion, the first age from an ultramafic sill containing mined nickel sulfide in the Thompson nickel belt. This age confirms a direct petrogenetic relationship between Ni-Cu-PGE mineralization and widespread mafic-ultramafic magmatic activity (Molson igneous events) at ca. 1.88 Ga along the Superior province craton margin (e.g., Thompson nickel belt, Fox River belt, Cape Smith belt, New Quebec orogen). At the south pit of the Thompson mine, a U-Pb zircon age of 1860.7 ± 0.7 Ma for a composite mafic intrusion (garnet amphibolite to layered metagabbro) identifies a new age of mafic magmatic activity in the Thompson nickel belt that is unrelated to nickel sulfide mineralization. The thermal effects of the Trans-Hudson orogeny are recorded by a range of zircon dates and ca. 1760 Ma metamorphic titanite from the South pit intrusion and are consistent with interpretations that regional metamorphism occurred as a single progressive event. The results of this study open up the possibility of using the high-precision U-Pb geochronology of mineralized ultramafic rocks to precisely constrain the duration of mafic-ultramafic magmatism in the Thompson nickel belt and assess potential age differences between ultramafic sills across and along strike of this world-class nickel metallotect.


Due to a preoccupation with periods of large-scale social change, nationalism research had long neglected everyday nationhood in contemporary democracies. Recent scholarship, however, has begun to shift the focus of this scholarly field toward the study of nationalism not only as a political project but also as a cognitive, affective, and discursive category deployed in daily practice. Integrating insights from work on banal and everyday nationalism, collective rituals, national identity, and commemorative struggles with survey-based findings from political psychology, I demonstrate that meanings attached to the nation vary within and across populations as well as over time, with important implications for microinteraction and for political beliefs and behavior, including support for exclusionary policies and authoritarian politics. I conclude by suggesting how new developments in methods of data collection and analysis can inform future research on this topic.


The 20 September 1899 Menderes earthquake was the most damaging event that has occurred in the Büyük Menderes graben in the last 100 years. The earthquake involved normal faulting along the northern margin of the Büyük Menderes graben from west of Aydin to Nazilli. A detailed investigation along the northern margin of the graben showed the presence of faults cutting actively depositing graben floor deposits in the foot of Neogene hills. Along an E–W trend east of Aydin, a normal fault was located having an observable length of at least 3 km and a maximum vertical displacement of about 3.5 m. A stream entering to the graben changed its cause due to this fault. Field evidence suggests that, in addition to south-side down-throw by as much as 2 m during the 1899 event, there was also at least 1.5 m opening along the surface break. Field evidence also showed that the 1899 surface break follows a pre-existing break which might have ruptured during the 26 (or 25) BC and 22 February 1653 events; again south-side down-thrown by at least 1 m and 1.5 m, respectively.


**SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE** 'A masterpiece' Guardian Discover a timely mystery about the loss of every day existence by one of Japan's greatest writers that featured in the Entertainment Weekly 'Quarantine Book Club'. Hat, ribbon, bird, rose. To the people on the island, a disappeared thing no longer has any meaning. It can be burned in the garden, thrown in the river or handed over to the Memory Police. Soon enough, the island forgets it ever existed. When a young novelist discovers that her editor is in danger of being taken away by the Memory Police, she desperately wants to save him. For some reason, he doesn't forget, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for him to hide his memories. Who knows what will vanish next? The Memory Police is a beautiful, haunting and provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, from one of Japan's greatest writers. 'One of Japan's most acclaimed authors explores truth, state surveillance and individual autonomy. Echoes 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and 100 Years of Solitude, but it has a voice and power all its own' Time Magazine 'A quiet dystopia of loss and confusion rather than repression, perhaps better suited for a world of misinformation and environmental degradation than the Big Brother nightmares of last century' Slate


ABSTRACT Bacterial conjugation is a mechanism of horizontal DNA transfer. The relaxase TrwC of the conjugative plasmid R388 cleaves one strand of the transferred DNA at the oriT gene, covalently attaches to it, and leads the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) into the recipient cell. In addition, TrwC catalyzes site-specific integration of the transferred DNA into its target sequence present in the genome of the recipient bacterium. Here, we report the analysis of the efficiency and specificity of the integrase activity of TrwC in human cells, using the type IV secretion system of the human pathogen Bartonella henselae to introduce relaxase-DNA complexes. Compared to Mob relaxase from plasmid pBGR1, we found that TrwC mediated a 10-fold increase in the rate of plasmid DNA transfer to human cells and a 100-fold increase in the rate of chromosomal integration of the transferred DNA. We used linear amplification-mediated PCR and plasmid rescue to characterize the integration pattern in the human genome. DNA sequence analysis revealed mostly reconstituted oriT sequences, indicating that TrwC is active and recircularizes transferred DNA in human cells. One TrwC-mediated site-specific integration event was detected, proving that TrwC is capable of mediating site-specific integration in the human genome, albeit with very low efficiency compared to the rate of random integration. Our results suggest that TrwC may stabilize the plasmid DNA molecules in the nucleus of the human cell, probably by recircularization of the transferred DNA strand. This stabilization would increase the opportunities for integration of the DNA by the host machinery. IMPORTANCE Different biotechnological applications, including gene therapy strategies, require permanent modification of target cells. Long-term expression is achieved either by extrachromosomal persistence or by integration of the introduced DNA. Here, we studied the utility of conjugative relaxase TrwC, a bacterial protein with site-specific integrase activity in bacteria, as an integrase in human cells. Although it is not efficient as a site-specific integrase, we found that TrwC is active in human cells and promotes random integration of the transferred DNA in the human genome, probably acting as a DNA chaperone until it is integrated by host mechanisms. TrwC-DNA complexes can be delivered to human cells through a type IV secretion system involved in pathogenesis. Thus, TrwC could be used in vivo to transfer the DNA of interest into the appropriate cell and promote its integration. If used in combination with a site-specific nuclease, it could lead to site-specific integration of the incoming DNA by homologous recombination.