The aim of this chapter is to outline experimental media archaeology as an alternative method to a sense and object-oriented technology and media historiography. The epistemological potential of an object and sense-oriented experimental access to the field of the history of media and technology will be discussed here on the basis of experiences in the history of science and historically informed music performances. The heart of the chapter is formed by a discussion of a series of media archaeological experiments executed by the authors in search for alternative ways to draft historical statements on past media practices. In these experiments, they focus on the materiality of past-media devices, beyond their function as sign and evidence of the past, and on the heuristic possibilities offered by an experimental approach to these devices.


This monograph offers an in depth investigation of nominalization processes across languages e.g. Greek, Germanic, Romance, Hebrew, Slavic. Adopting and extending the view that category formation does not involve any lexical operation (recently put forth within the framework of Distributed Morphology), it shows how the behavior of nominals as opposed to that of verbs follows from general processes operating in specific syntactic structures, and is linked with the presence or absence of functional layers (T, D, Aspect, v). It further defines criteria on the basis of which the organization of nominal functional structure can be determined. Moreover, it demonstrates how nominals split into several types, across languages and within a language, depending on the number and the type of functional projections they include. Furthermore, it substantiates the hypothesis that aspects of the syntax of DPs of nominative-accusative languages are strikingly similar to aspects of the syntax of ergative languages and discusses aspects of the syntax of the perfect. The book targets researchers in theoretical linguistics, comparative syntax, morphology and typology. It can also be used as a foundation book on the morpho-syntax of nominals, argument structure and word formation.


The propagation of nonreturn-to-zero pulses, composed by a superposition of two exact shock-wave solutions of a complex-cubic Ginzburg–Landau equation linearly coupled to a linear nondispersive equation, is studied in detail. The model describes the distributed (average) propagation in a dual-core erbium-doped fiber-amplifier-supported optical-fiber system where stabilization is achieved by means of short segments of an extra lossy core that is parallel and coupled to the main one. The linear-stability analysis of the two asymptotic states of the shock wave in combination with direct numerical simulations provide necessary conditions for optimal propagation of the nonreturn-to-zero pulse. The enhancement of the propagation distance by at least an order of magnitude, under a suitable choice of the parameters, establishes the beneficial role of the passive channel.


Significance Twister is a small self-cleaving ribozyme similar in size to the hammerhead ribozyme but uses an orthogonal fold for a similar catalytic rate constant. However, the mechanistic source of the catalytic rate increase generated by twister was unknown. We present crystal structures of twister from Orzyza sativa as well as a twister sequence from an organism that has not been cultured in isolation and identify RNA nucleotides that are vital for self-cleavage, suggest their catalytic roles, and update twister's conserved secondary structure model. Twister is a recently discovered RNA motif that is estimated to have one of the fastest known catalytic rates of any naturally occurring small self-cleaving ribozyme. We determined the 4.1-Å resolution crystal structure of a twister sequence from an organism that has not been cultured in isolation, and it shows an ordered scissile phosphate and nucleotide 5′ to the cleavage site. A second crystal structure of twister from Orzyza sativa determined at 3.1-Å resolution exhibits a disordered scissile phosphate and nucleotide 5′ to the cleavage site. The core of twister is stabilized by base pairing, a large network of stacking interactions, and two pseudoknots. We observe three nucleotides that appear to mediate catalysis: a guanosine that we propose deprotonates the 2′-hydroxyl of the nucleotide 5′ to the cleavage site and a conserved adenosine. We suggest the adenosine neutralizes the negative charge on a nonbridging phosphate oxygen atom at the cleavage site. The active site also positions the labile linkage for in-line nucleophilic attack, and thus twister appears to simultaneously use three strategies proposed for small self-cleaving ribozymes. The twister crystal structures (i) show its global structure, (ii) demonstrate the significance of the double pseudoknot fold, (iii) provide a possible hypothesis for enhanced catalysis, and (iv) illuminate the roles of all 10 highly conserved nucleotides of twister that participate in the formation of its small and stable catalytic pocket.


The straight field line mirror (SFLM) hybrid reactor studies aim to identify a concept where the safety of fission power production could be enhanced. A fusion neutron source could become a mean to achieve this. The SFLM studies address critical issues such as reactor safety, natural circulation of coolants, steady state operation for a year or more and means to avoid too strong material loads by a proper geometrical arrangement of the reactor components. A key result is that power production may be possible with a fusion Q factor as low as 0.15. This possibility arises from the high power amplification by fission, which within reactor safety margins may exceed a factor of 100. The requirements on electron temperature are dramatically lower for a fusion hybrid compared to a stand-alone fusion reactor. This and several other factors are important for our choice to select a mirror machine for the fusion hybrid reactor studies.


The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of motion compensation by non-rigid registration combined with the Karhunen-Loeve Transform (KLT) filter on the signal to noise (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of hybrid gradient-echo echoplanar (GRE-EPI) first-pass myocardial perfusion imaging. Twenty one consecutive first-pass adenosine stress perfusion MR data sets interpreted positive for ischemia or infarction were processed by non-rigid Registration followed by KLT filtering. SNR and CNR were measured in abnormal and normal myocardium in unfiltered and KLT filtered images following non-rigid registration to compensate for respiratory and other motions. Image artifacts introduced by filtering in registered and nonregistered images were evaluated by two observers. There was a statistically significant increase in both SNR and CNR between normal and abnormal myocardium with KLT filtering (mean SNR increased by 62.18% ± 21.05% and mean CNR increased by 58.84% ± 18.06%; p = 0.01). Motion correction prior to KLT filtering reduced significantly the occurrence of filter induced artifacts (KLT only-artifacts in 42 out of 55 image series vs. registered plus KLT-artifacts in 3 out of 55 image series). In conclusion the combination of non- rigid registration and KLT filtering was shown to increase the SNR and CNR of GRE-EPI perfusion images. Subjective evaluation of image artifacts revealed that prior motion compensation significantly reduced the artifacts introduced by the KLT filtering process.


This article analyses the operation of unilateral option arbitration clauses (UAC) in the European context. The approach to UACs varies between the Member States of the European Union (EU). This has led to significant uncertainty. This uncertainty is attributable partly to the recent amendments in the recast Brussels I Regulation (hereinafter 'Recast Regulation') which came into force on 10 January 2015. Under the Recast Regulation, the substantive validity of jurisdiction clauses is governed by the law of the chosen forum. After an introduction (section 1) and a discussion of the typical wording and use of UACs (section 2), section 3 sets out the framework applicable to the assessment of jurisdiction clauses in the EU. Section 4 submits that the framework relevant to the assessment of the law applicable to UACs is provided by the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 and discusses the operation of this Convention in the context of UACs. Section 5 provides a comparative assessment of the approach to the validity of UACs in the United Kingdom, Germany and France.


BACKGROUND
The current rate of cesarean delivery in the United States is 31 percent. Previous studies have suggested that exercise during pregnancy may be associated with a lower risk of cesarean delivery, but sample sizes were small and methods often inadequate. This study examined whether or not an association exists between prenatal exercise and delivery mode using data from the 2004 and 2005 North Carolina Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) survey.

METHODS
PRAMS postpartum questionnaire responses about frequency of exercise during the last 3 months of pregnancy for 1,955 women without a prior cesarean delivery were linked to birth certificates.

RESULTS
Among 1,342 women delivering at term, exercise was not associated with delivery mode in this data set: compared with women exercising less than once a week, neither women exercising one to four times per week nor those exercising five times or more per week had an altered risk of cesarean (risk ratio [RR] [95% confidence limit] [CL] 0.89 [0.69-1.15], 1.04 [0.66-1.64], respectively, adjusted for parity, gestational age, hypertension). Among 613 women delivering preterm, the results were also not statistically significant, but a compelling trend toward a protective effect could be seen (RR [95% CL] 0.65 [0.38-1.13], 0.62 [0.29-1.33]).

CONCLUSIONS
Maternal self-reported frequency of exercise during pregnancy was not associated with a reduced risk of cesarean delivery. Larger studies with better exposure ascertainment may provide a more definitive answer.


IN THE SECOND QUARTER of 1974, real gross national product stood 2.2 percent below its peak rate of the fourth quarter of 1973, reflecting one of the sharpest two-quarter declines in the postwar period. Yet, between these two quarters, the unemployment rate rose only 0.4 percentage point, from 4.7 to 5.1 percent, an unusually small rise against the background of historical experience and analytical expectations. In the third quarter, the rate moved up further, to 5.5 percent; but it stili displayed puzzling sluggishness since, according to preliminary estimates, real GNP fell further in that quarter. This paper will focus on the behavior of unemployment in relation to output between 1973:4 and 1974:2.


Systematic sampling is a widely used technique in survey sampling. It is easy to execute, whether the units are to be selected with equal probability or with probabilities proportional to auxiliary sizes. It can be very efficient if one manages to achieve favourable stratification effects through the listing of units. The main disadvantages are that there is no unbiased method for estimating the sampling variance, and that systematic sampling may be poor when the ordering of the population is based on inaccurate knowledge. In this paper we examine an aspect of the systematic sampling that previously has not received much attention. It is shown that in a number of common situations, where the systematic sampling has on average the same efficiency as the corresponding random sampling alternatives under an assumed model for the population, the sampling variance fluctuates much more with the systematic sampling. The use of systematic sampling is associated with a risk that in general increases with the sampling fraction. This can be highly damaging for large samples from small populations in the case of single-stage sampling, or large sub-samples from small sub-populations as in the case of multi-stage sampling.


This paper focuses on the macroeconomic consequences of demographic differences between lower- income, less developed countries (the "South") and higher-income developed countries (the "North"). The analysis emphasizes the likely implications in the two regions for aggregate saving- investment imbalances, exchange rates, and the resulting net capital flows between North and South. An optimistic view of asymmetric demographic transitions among Southern and Northern economies suggests that the North can run a current-account surplus sizable in relation to the Northern economy, thereby transferring large net amounts of financial capital to the South. This paper argues that the optimistic view is a plausible summary of demographic influences on North-South capital flows in the historical period between 1950 and the mid-1970s. For historical decades after the 1970s and for the initial decades of the 21st century, however, the analysis suggests instead that asymmetric demography between the South and the North operates to reduce rather than increase the net flow of Northern savings to the South as a proportion of the Southern and Northern economies. This conclusion holds broadly for a range of alternative assumptions about the speed of the South's demographic transition. It also appears to hold regardless of whether Southern productivity growth is vigorous or sluggish, and regardless of whether cross-border goods substitutability is moderate or strong. Substantial research remains to be done to refine the paper's analytical framework and to test the robustness of this conclusion.


Reactions of Hg(SeRf)2 (Rf = CF3, C2F5, C3F7) with Et2AlI or AlI3 in octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane produce the unstable RfC(Se)F [I; Rf = CF3 (II), C2F5 (III), CF3Se]. The Se compds. are very reactive and polymerize to rubberlike products. On heating, the polymers decomp. almost quant. to the monomers or dimers. In CFCl3 soln. I dimerize at 20 Deg in sunlight to the corresponding cis/trans-1,3-diselenetanes IV. The structure of IV (R = R2 = CF3, R1 = R3 = F) is detd. by x-ray anal. With cyclopentadiene, II and III react to form the [4 + 2] cycloaddn. products. Halogen exchange reactions take place between IV and BCl3. The cis isomers react much faster than the trans isomers to give a mixt. of cis- and trans-IV (R = R2 = Cl, R1 = R3 = Rf; R = R3 = Cl, R1 = R2 = Rf). Fluorine abstraction with formation of 1,3-diselenetan-2-ylium ions is accomplished by reactions of IV with AsF5 in SO2.


Advanced market economies are characterized by a continuous process of creative destruction. Market forces and technological developments play a major role in shaping this process, but institutional and policy settings also influence firms' decision to enter, to expand if successful and to exit if competition becomes unbearable. In this paper we focus on the effects of financial development on the entry of new firms and the expansion of successful new businesses. Drawing from harmonized firm-level data for 16 industrialized and emerging economies, we find that access to finance matters most for the entry of small firms and in sectors that are more dependent upon external finance. This finding is robust to controlling for other potential entry barriers (labour market regulations and entry regulations). On the other hand, financial development has either no effect or a negative effect on entry by large firms. Access to finance also helps new firms expand if successful. Both private credit and stock market capitalization are important for promoting entry and post-entry growth of firms. Altogether, these results suggest that, despite significant progress over the past decade, many countries, including those in Continental Europe, should improve their financial markets so as to get the most out of creative destruction, by encouraging the entry of new (especially small) firms and the post-entry growth of successful young businesses.


The shameful state of contemporary federal grand jury practice has attracted the attention of many scholars. Today's grand juries (especially at the federal level, but no less so in most states) offer little or no check on government power, and no longer protect Americans from improper or unnecessary prosecutions. Although a number of reforms have been suggested over the years, the author suggests that none of them would wholly restore the institution to its constitutional role, design and purpose. This article advocates a bold reformation of Rules 6 and 7 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure so that prosecutors would be barred from participating in grand jury investigations except when expressly invited by a grand jury to do so. This proposal would be most consistent with grand jury practices of the Founding period and the original intent behind the Fifth Amendment's Grand Jury Clause.


PURPOSE
To compare the accuracy of an edge-preserving filter to the standard Gaussian filter for PET image post-processing through a phantom study.

METHODS
A phantom was used, consisting of four different spheres (diameter 1-4 cm, filled with a solution of 11-C) that were mounted inside an acrylic cylinder (filled with a solution of 18-FDG) to generate a time-varying signal to background ratio (SBR). To mimic lung and liver lesions, SBRs were chosen to range from 2 to 30 and 2 to 5, respectively. The edge-preserving filter used was the bilateral filter, which weights pixels based on both spatial distance and intensity difference. Reconstructed 3D-PET images were separately smoothed with the bilateral filter and Gaussian filter. A commercially available gradient-based technique was used to segment images and measure sphere volumes. Results were evaluated by the ratio of measured to true volume (RMT) of spheres. Paired two-tailed t-tests were applied to test for statistical significance.

RESULTS
In the lung case, RMT differences were not statistically significant across all sphere sizes. In the liver case, statistically significant differences were obtained for the 3 cm and 4 cm spheres, with average RMTs of 1.14 (bilateral) and 1.11 (Gaussian). However, these differences did not amount to a clinically significant level. For the 2 cm sphere, the differences were not statistically significant; for the 1 cm sphere, RMT differences were statistically, and potentially clinically, significant: 0.66 (bilateral) vs. 1.31 (Gaussian). However, it should be noted that volume segmentation of the 1 cm sphere was not fully reproducible on a case-by-case basis.

CONCLUSION
This work indicates that the bilateral filter has a comparable accuracy to the Gaussian filter in volume measurements of 3D-PET images. The commercially available gradient-based segmentation algorithm is reasonably correct for spheres greater than 2 cm, but further studies are needed for smaller spheres. NIH R01 CA096679.


This article analyzes the peculiarities of the unitary state structure model entrenched in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania in 1992. The author first analyzes the features of the unitary state structure and the principle of state unity. The choice of unitary state structure has been determined by the historic experience of the state of Lithuania. According to the nature of territorial structure, two subtypes of the unitary state structure could be distinguished: a. Purely unitary state; and b. Unitary state with  certain autonomous features. Lithuania is a pure unitary state in accordance with the Constitution. This is certified by the totality of the following features: in Lithuania, there is one Constitution, one legal system, one state authorities' scheme, one organisation of courts, one division of the territory into administrative units with equal status, one citizenship, one state language, and one state budget. These features allow identifying the form of pure unitarism. The history of late XX – early XXI centuries confirms that this Lithuania's choice is justified. The form of the unitary state structure has strengthened integration of the civil society and statehood of Lithuania. The further direction of the model's development is strengthening of decentralisation.


This paper studies some of the fundamental challenges and opportunities associated with the network-layer broadcast and multicast in a multihop multirate wireless mesh network (WMN). In particular, we focus on exploiting the ability of nodes to perform link-layer broadcasts at different rates (with correspondingly different coverage areas). We first show how, in the broadcast wireless medium, the available capacity at a mesh node for a multicast transmission is not just a function of the aggregate pre-existing traffic load of other interfering nodes, but intricately coupled to the actual (sender, receiver) set and the link-layer rate of each individual transmission. We then present and study four alternative heuristic strategies for computing a broadcast tree that not only factors in a flow's traffic rate but also exploits the wireless broadcast advantage (WBA). Finally, we demonstrate how our insights can be extended to multicast routing in a WMN, and present results that show how a tree-formation algorithm that combines contention awareness with transmission rate diversity can significantly increase the total amount of admissible multicast traffic load in a WMN.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the alternative conceptions held by Thai first year science students. A total of 334 first year science students have been tested before the regular first year university instruction on the thermal physics topic began. The first open-ended question for investigating students' conceptions on term temperature, heat, latent heat, specific heat capacity and thermal equilibrium. The second open-ended question for investigating level of students' conceptions of heat conduction. Students' conceptions in each concept were identified into different categories and levels of understanding. The study showed that students' written responses have some common specific misconceptions and different levels of understandings. Most students were unable to offer a correct reason for their answers. The results of this study may imply the teaching style in Thai high schools that may be problematic. In addition, the students' misconceptions found could be used as a guide for developing proper teaching methods on the introductory physics course especially in the topic of thermal physics.


Since the public corporation first evolved as a business form, there has been a lively debate over whether its proper purpose always is to maximize shareholder wealth, or whether directors sometimes can consider the interests of creditors, employees, and other corporate stakeholders. This article reviews why two of the arguments traditionally used to justify strict shareholder primacy - that shareholders own the corporation, and that shareholders are the sole residual claimants of corporations - are bad arguments, in the sense that they are demonstrably incorrect from both an economic and a legal perspective. The article then explores a third and better argument for shareholder primacy: that requiring corporate directors to serve only shareholders is the best way to keep directors from imposing excessive agency costs on firms. This agency cost argument recognizes that in an ideal world, directors would take account of the interests of both shareholders and other stakeholders. Indeed, allowing this can provide ex ante benefits to shareholders by encouraging nonshareholder groups to make firm-specific commitments to corporate team production. Nevertheless (the argument goes), a rule of strict shareholder primacy remains preferable, because it permits corporations to monitor and reward director performance according to a single easily-observed metric: stock price. While plausible in theory, the agency cost argument for strict shareholder primacy suffers from a serious weakness. In practice, the business world displays a strong revealed preference for corporate governance rules that grant directors discretion to serve stakeholder groups, even at shareholders' ex post expense. What's more, this pattern is observed when firms are first incorporated and brought public, a time when corporate promoters have every incentive to cater to shareholder interests. Such observations suggest that business participants believe the ex ante benefits of allowing directors to consider stakeholder interests outweigh the ex post harms in terms of greater agency costs. They also raise serious questions about the empirical strength of the agency cost argument for ex post shareholder primacy.


A novel mode analysis method and differential mode delay measurement technique for a multimode optical fiber based on optical frequency domain reflectometry has been proposed for the first time. We have used a conventional OFDR with a tunable external cavity laser and a Michelson interferometer. A few-mode optical multimode fiber was prepared to test our proposed measurement technique. The differential mode delay (DMD) of the sample fiber was measured to be 16.58 ps/m with a resolution of 1.5 ps/m. We have also compared the OFDR measurement results with those obtained using a traditional time-domain measurement method.


In earlier work \cite{Lepetit04b}, we proposed to treat wide baseline matching of feature points as a classification problem and proposed an implementation based on K-means and nearest neighbor classification. We showed that this method is both reliable and faster than competing methods, but still too slow for real-time implementations. Here we show that using decision trees instead speeds up the computation greatly, while increasing the robustness. This allows point matching under large viewpoint and illumination changes that is suitable for accurate object pose estimation at 25 Hz on a standard Pentium IV PC. Most of the previous methods rely either on using {\em ad hoc} local descriptors or on estimating local affine deformations. By contrast, we treat wide baseline matching of keypoints as a classification problem, in which each class corresponds to the set of all possible views of such a point. Given one or more images of a target object, we train the system by synthesizing a large number of views of individual keypoints and by using statistical classification tools to produce a compact description of this {\it view set}. At run-time, we rely on this description to decide to which class, if any, an observed feature belongs. This formulation allows us to use decision trees to reduce matching error rates, and to move some of the computational burden from matching to training, which can be performed beforehand. We will show that our method is both reliable and fast enough to detect and estimate in real-time the 3D pose of an object in the presence of occlusions, illumination changes, and cluttered backgrounds.


We study a large-scale French reform that provided generous downside insurance for unemployed individuals starting a business. We study whether this reform affects the composition of people who are drawn into entrepreneurship. New firms started in response to the reform are, on average, smaller, but have similar growth expectations and education levels compared to start-ups before the reform. They are also as likely to survive or to hire. In aggregate, the effect of the reform on employment is largely offset by large crowd-out effects. However, because new firms are more productive, the reform has the impact of raising aggregate productivity. These results suggest that the dispersion of entrepreneurial abilities is small in the data, so that the facilitation of entry leads to sizable Schumpeterian dynamics at the firm-level.


Analysisof particle size distribution (PSD) is one of the methods used for calculating fractal dimensions. The PSD of soils has been determined by sedimentation methods for many years. Newer laser diffractometry PSD measurement techniques were developed during the past few decades. Whereas sedimentation methods can differentiate between a few (usually eight) particle sizes, laser diffraction methods produce many more fractions (tens or even several hundred). The aim of this paper is to answer the question of whether or not the number of size fractions and intervals between them determine the value of the fractal dimension when it is calculated on the basis of PSD. The conclusion is that the number of fractions and the way in which they are divided does affect the calculated fractal dimension, and that therefore the calculation procedure should be standardized.


The law of deception is the body of laws that address acts and omissions that wrongfully cause others to hold false beliefs. So, defined, the law of deception cuts across traditional doctrinal boundaries. It encompasses the torts of deceit and defamation, false advertising laws, labeling requirements, securities fraud and disclosure regulations, criminal fraud, perjury statutes, and a host of other generic and more targeted laws. This essay suggests that the law of deception constitutes a coherent body of law, and identifies four salient questions about it.
The questions are these: First, within the law of deception one finds several different approaches to interpreting potentially deceptive communications. These include highly contextualist approaches (e.g., the tort of deceit), more restrictive literal-meaning rules (federal perjury law), and occasionally default legal meanings (the FTC's reasonable basis rule). One set of questions concerns when and why which interpretive approach is appropriate. A second set of questions concerns legally salient harms. Laws of deception can be designed to protect those who might be deceived (e.g., negligent misrepresentation), those about whom a lie is told (defamation), honest competitors (false advertising laws), and credible communication more generally (as the Stolen Valor Act attempted). A theory of the law of deception should disaggregate these distinct purposes and evaluate the justifications for and design implications of each. A third set of questions concerns the relationship between deception and consent. Although deception sometimes vitiates consent (in the torts of battery and trespass, in contract law, in fourth amendment searches, and in rape law), it does not always do so. And the line between vitiating and non-vitiating deception shifts across different laws. This too demands explanation. Finally, sometimes the law permits parties to contract out of liability for deception (e.g., "big boy" letters), effectively consenting to what would otherwise be deceptive behavior. A theory of the law of deception should also provide an account when, why and how parties are able to contract out of laws of deception.
These are not the only interesting questions one might ask about the law of deception. Nor does this essay attempt to answer them. The goal is to make the case for thinking about the law of deception as a whole, and to suggest some directions for further research.


An autonomous robot must decide a good strategy to achieve its long term goal, despite various types of uncertainty. The Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDPs) is a principled framework to address such a decision making problem. Despite the computational intractability of solving POMDPs, the past decade has seen substantial advancement in POMDP solvers. This paper presents our experience in enabling on-line POMDP solving to become the sole motion planner for a robot manipulation demo at IEEE SIMPAR and ICRA 2018. The demo scenario is a candy-serving robot: A 6-DOFs robot arm must pick-up a cup placed on a table by a user, use the cup to scoop candies from a box, and put the cup of candies back on the table. The average perception error is ∼3cm (≈ the radius of the cup), affecting the position of the cup and the surface level of the candies. This paper presents a strategy to alleviate the curse of history issue plaguing this scenario, the perception system and its integration with the planner, and lessons learned in enabling an online POMDP solver to become the sole motion planner of this entire task. The POMDP-based system were tested through a 7 days live demo at the two conferences. In this demo, 150 runs were attempted and 98% of them were successful. We also conducted further experiments to test the capability of our POMDP-based system when the environment is relatively cluttered by obstacles and when the user moves the cup while the robot tries to pick it up. In both cases, our POMDP-based system reaches a success rate of 90% and above.


Accurate use of grammar and writing is an essential aspect of any writing. Today various online grammar spelling checker tools are available for improving writing quality. The popularity of these platforms is increasing among researchers and academicians every day. Aim of the present study is to know the opinion, use and satisfaction level among the users of Grammarly - online grammar and spelling checker tool subscribed by the Health Science Library, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal. Structured questionnaires were distributed among the registered users of Grammarly tool at the Health Sciences Library. The study observed that almost all the users were aware that the Health Science Library is subscribing to Grammarly tool. More than half of the users used this tool because of the limitation of Microsoft word as found in the study. It is also found from the study that the majority of the respondents who participated in the study were using Grammarly for Microsoft Office. The study also observed that users are using Grammarly tool for different purposes like writing research papers, dissertations, theses, books, reports, and course papers. From the present study, it is also observed that most important advantages of Grammarly are - it improves the writing skills, catches contextual spelling and grammar mistakes, integrates with Microsoft Office, shows definitions and synonyms via doubleclicks. Grammarly is one of the tools subscribed by the Health Sciences Library to boost up academic writing, research, and publication of students, faculty members, and research scholars of MAHE, Manipal.


In perfectly frictionless and rational markets, spot markets and futures markets should simultaneously reflect new information. However, due to market imperfections, one of these markets may reflect information faster than the other and therefore may lead to the other. This study examines the lead-lag relationship between stock index and stock index futures, in terms of both price and volatility, by using 5 minute data over 2007-2010 period. The findings of this study indicate that a stable long-term relationship between Turkish stock index and stock index futures exists, however stock index futures do not lead stock index and there is a two way interaction between them. Therefore either of the markets is dominant over the other one in the price formation process.


Many studies have shown that the tropical circulations (Walker and Hadley circulations) will weaken in a warmer world. This is sometimes attributed to changes in the tropical mean water cycling rate (driven by convective mass flux), which does not increase as fast as boundary layer water vapour in the tropics. However, this theory is only valid for the large scale upward convective mass flux in the tropics, not necessarily to the local circulations, which are not as energetically constrained. Here, we show that there is also a potential regime in which this argument does not hold by simply changing the convective scheme in a climate model. This regime is one in which the tropical mean convective mass flux can actually increase with warming, provided the precipitation efficiency decreases significantly. Our work supports the theory that the uniform tropical mean static stability increase is the physical driver of the weakening of the tropical circulations with climate change, which is mainly driven by the tropical mean SST increase, regardless of the change in strength of convective mass flux. The local changes in tropospheric diabatic heating from heating are shown to influence the magnitude of the weakening of the Walker circulation. We find that the precipitation efficiency decreases in an increased sea surface temperature AMIP-type experiment using the CAM4 AGCM with an alternate convective scheme using a unique mass flux closure, leading to a plausible scenario where tropical mean convective mass flux may increase, while the large-scale tropical circulations still weaken. While large-scale upward motion and convective mass flux are closely correlated spatially, the nature of this relationship can change in a warmer world if the precipitation efficiency changes. A decrease in precipitation efficiency can allow for increased upward convective mass flux, but the same tropospheric heating rate response, as the increased rate of condensational heating is offset by increased evaporational cooling. A decrease in precipitation efficiency leads to a lower heating rate per unit of upward mass flux due to a compensating increase in evaporation. The large tropical mean evaporation response seen with this scheme allows for stronger tropical mean convective updrafts, especially of the shallow variety, to balance where the evaporational cooling response is maximized.


The simulation of runoff in Alpine catchment areas is essential for the optimal operation of high-head storage hydropower plants (HPP) under normal flow conditions, but also in case of flood events. A semi-distributed conceptual numerical approach has been developed, combining hydrological modelling and operation of hydraulic works. Routing System allowed runoff generation, simulation of the operating mode of complex HPP and the impact on the downstream river network for different scenarios. An overview on the hydrological modelling approach and its application for the upper Aare River catchment in Switzerland, where about half of the area is operated by a complex hydropower scheme, is given. The retention effect of the reservoirs and their management, including preventive turbine operations, on flood routing in the Aare River upstream of Lake Brienz is presented for the 2005 historical flood event.


This article presents an historical retrospective of the efforts of the United Nations to deal with — rather unsuccessfully — the global environment.Today, as in the late 1970's and the 1980's, the success of transnational environmental programs cannot be measured within an isolated prism; but, rather, with a realization of resource interdependence. There is no over-arching principle of shared responsibility among the states which acknowledges an obligation for them to compromise sovereignty in the name of promoting the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). The UN's global protection plan, as it emerged from the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment and was amplified in the 1982 Nairobi Environmental Conference, remains largely aspirational rather than fully operational.No definitive solution exists to resolve the on-going environmental dilemma of conserving natural resources while promoting growth. Rather than being burdened with complex regulatory processes promoted by the UNEP, a more informed position would curtail the outreach and work of the UNEP and return to the member states of the United Nations, the inherent responsibility for determining — on their own initiative — both the nature of environmental issues within their respective jurisdictions, and the extent to which action will be pursued in order to meet those concerns. In the final analysis, economic realities — rather than Geopolitics — shape ultimate responses to issues of environmental protection.


The criteria for effectiveness of drug delivery liposomes (DDLs) are structural stability, site specific targeting, and lifetime in the bloodstream. Often to increase the lifetime in bloodstream DDL is coated with poly ethylene glycol (PEG). Although it helps to improve the lifetime, there exists plenty of room for improvement in bloodstream lifetime efficacy. The search for an alternative to PEG is a very active field of research, but to apply rational design to this, a knowledge of the mechanism through which PEG functions in a superior fashion to other superficially similar polymers must be determined, and currently our understanding of this is incomplete. We have used molecular dynamics simulation of a set of PEGylated membranes in varying conditions to gain insight into this. We have also performed MD simulation with the Cholesterol as a formulation component of DDL at its effect on stability of PEGylated DDL. Lastly we looked at the factors in the targeted delivery of the novel targeting moiety identified with phage display experiments. The moiety couldn't increase the efficacy of DDL when tested invitro and invivo. By MD we could identify the factors responsible for this by investigating surface structure of DDL.


Scaling of earthquake faults is important not only for earthquake physics but also seismic hazard assessment. There have been many studies about this topic. It is significant to compile, review, and discuss those studies. This work reviews the observations and modeling of scaling of fault parameters, including the fault length (L), fault width (W), fault area (A), average displacement (Do), maximum displacement (Dmax), seismic moment (Mo), and static stress drop (Δσ). Major issues for reviewing in this work are: (1) assumptions of constant Δσ, of earthquakes and self-similarity of faults; (2) the Land W-models; (3) the L-Do and L-Dmax scaling relationships; (4) the Mo-Do and Mo-Dmax scaling relationships; (5) the Do-A scaling relationships; (6) the Mo-A scaling relationships; (7) the L-W scaling relationship; (8) the Mo-L and Mo-W scaling relationships; and (9) modeling of the Mo-L scaling based on the onedimensional spring-slider model in the presence of velocity-weakening friction. Article history:


Objectives To estimate, overall and by organism, the incidence of infectious intestinal disease (IID) in the community, presenting to general practice (GP) and reported to national surveillance. Design Prospective, community cohort study and prospective study of GP presentation conducted between April 2008 and August 2009. Setting Eighty-eight GPs across the UK recruited from the Medical Research Council General Practice Research Framework and the Primary Care Research Networks. Participants 6836 participants registered with the 88 participating practices in the community study; 991 patients with UK-acquired IID presenting to one of 37 practices taking part in the GP presentation study. Main outcome measures IID rates in the community, presenting to GP and reported to national surveillance, overall and by organism; annual IID cases and GP consultations by organism. Results The overall rate of IID in the community was 274 cases per 1000 person-years (95% CI 254 to 296); the rate of GP consultations was 17.7 per 1000 person-years (95% CI 14.4 to 21.8). There were 147 community cases and 10 GP consultations for every case reported to national surveillance. Norovirus was the most common organism, with incidence rates of 47 community cases per 1000 person-years and 2.1 GP consultations per 1000 person-years. Campylobacter was the most common bacterial pathogen, with a rate of 9.3 cases per 1000 person-years in the community, and 1.3 GP consultations per 1000 person-years. We estimate that there are up to 17 million sporadic, community cases of IID and 1 million GP consultations annually in the UK. Of these, norovirus accounts for 3 million cases and 130 000 GP consultations, and Campylobacter is responsible for 500 000 cases and 80


The community is one of the foundations of our modern society. Community represents an important context that is unique from other leadership settings. Although there are an abundance of context agnostic theories and models within the leadership literature, a theoretically-based model specifically intended for community leadership remains notably absent. The purpose of this article was to address this gap by proposing a theoretically-based model of community leadership. The proposed model expands upon previous recommendations in the literature and specifically identifies 20 areas within five superordinate factors. The community leadership conceptual model should provide leadership educators with a robust framework for developing contextually appropriate leadership curriculum.


Abstract In the forest sector of Cameroon, policy strategies such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) have the potential to contribute to global climate mitigation efforts. Similarly, forests support the adaptation of populations and economies dependent on climate-sensitive sectors including agriculture, fisheries, and energy. The article investigates the strategies of policy actors in building synergies between the priority for adaptation and the opportunity of REDD+, and vice-versa. Theoretically, the article combines the concepts of policy integration, institutional interaction, and interaction management. It draws from extensive documentation of national discussions on climate policy and in-depth interviews with state and non-state actors involved in the policy processes. The article concludes that synergetic interaction occurs in sharing of ideas and knowledge to promote inter-institutional learning; and in cooperative behavior and communicative actions. A prominent example of managing interactions is the establishment of l'Observatoire national sur les changements climatiques as an overarching institutional framework for policy implementation.


Half of the Argentine grapevine growing area is cultivated with local varieties generically called "Criollas". These materials differ in morphology, physiology and enological aptitudes from traditional European varieties. To discriminate among them, we used morphological markers to evaluate the genetic diversity and phenetic relatedness of 9 Criollas, 6 European and 1 American varieties and compared with AFLP markers. Three AFLP primer combinations generated a total of 111 scorable fragments. Dendrograms obtained with morphologic and AFLP markers agreed in clustering the "Criollas" separately from the European and American varieties assayed, except for Muscat d' Alexandrie and Tempranillo which clustered with Criollas in the case of AFLP. Comparison of UPGMA dendrograms of morphological and AFLP markers using the Mantel test indicated a  not significant correlation of r = 0.33. Nevertheless, AFLP and selected morphological characters appear as useful and complementary techniques for grapevine identification and for evaluation of genetic diversity. Among the "Criollas", AFLP similarities ranged from 76 to 98% (Dice coefficient), indicating an important source of genetic diversity that can be exploited in future breeding programs. To our knowledge, this is the first report using AFLP markers to assess genetic variability on these materials.


Extracted from text ... Weaning
The weaning period is defined as the progressive transfer from
breast milk or infant formula to the usual family diet. Exclusive
milk feeding will not meet the qualitative (e.g. iron) and
quantitative nutritional needs of the infant during this period.
Weaning is therefore the process of gradually letting the infant
become accustomed to a full adult diet. The introduction of
weaning foods is in addition to breast milk or infant formula,
but does not serve as a replacement for either. By the end
of their first year, infants should be accustomed to
eating a variety of foods. During the ..


This thesis addresses a gap in current cognitive work on fictive motion by exploring the factors involved in the production of fictive motion rather than the standard approach of investigating fictive motion processing.Part 1 of this study consists of an experimental study of the production of coextension path fictive motion (such as the ravine ran beside the trail) in language used by hikers as they move along a trail through a complex terrain.Part 2 is an ethnographic study of the wayfinding strategies recruited by American tourists in Paris in the production of general emanation path fictive motion (such as the museum overlooked the courtyard). The major findings in this work suggest 1) that the role of compression in conceptual blends is a facilitating force in the production of fictive motion, and 2) this facilitating force motivates a semiotic typology of fictive motion that refines Talmy's original analysis.


This guide is intended to help you cite sources, avoid plagiarism, learn about citation styles and available citation tools, and more.


It is generally assumed that violent conflict has a negative effect on social capital, and war zones are considered to be 'zones of social capital deficiency'. This article challenges this position, and attempts to develop a more nuanced understanding of the status of social capital in the context of Sudan's civil war. The empirical findings clearly question any simplistic assumption that conflict erodes social capital. While it is true that certain types of social capital have been a casualty of civil war, the opposite is the case in other communities. The article explains this difference by drawing a distinction between 'endogenous' and 'exogenous' counter-insurgency warfare. Communities in southern Sudan that were exposed to endogenous counter-insurgency warfare experienced a loss of social capital, but where exogenous violence dominated, there has been a deepening and strengthening of bonding social capital among and within communities.


Following Hannah Arendt's work on totalitarianism, the first part of the paper gives an account of the historical advances of the republican nation state that was born during the constitutional revolutions in France and America at the end of the eighteenth century. This state has organised an efficient solidarity among strangers by means of democratic legislation. The European nation state was particular and universal at once. As Arendt could demonstrate on the Dreyfus affair, republicanism of a specific people was based on the Jacobean patriotism of universal human rights. In the second part an explanation is laid out for the destruction of the European nation state during the first fifty years of the nineteenth century. Beginning with Arendt's thesis on the imperialist society that blurred the borders of state, this thesis is revised with reference to the sociological theory of modern society (Luhmann, Habermas). The last part then turns to the rebirth of the nation state after World War Two and the postimperialist development of globalisation at the same time. Again progress in globalising human rights and civil society is threatened by the uncontrolled expansion of capital and power. The lasting problem is to find any regional or global functional equivalent for the democratic rule of law that for so long only worked on the level of the nation state.


m-toluic acid (MTA) is widely used in manufacturing of dyes, pharmaceuticals, polymer stabilizers, and insect repellents. The aim of present study was to evaluate the impact of biofield treatment on physical, thermal and spectroscopic properties of MTA. MTA sample was divided into two groups that served as treated and control. The treated group received Mr. Trivedi's biofield treatment. Subsequently, the control and treated samples were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area analyser, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. XRD result showed a decrease in crystallite size in treated samples i.e. 42.86% in MTA along with the increase in peak intensity as compared to control. However, surface area analysis showed an increase in surface area of 107.14% in treated MTA sample as compared to control. Furthermore, DSC analysis results showed that the latent heat of fusion was considerably reduced by 40.32%, whereas, the melting temperature was increased (2.23%) in treated MTA sample as compared to control. The melting point of treated MTA was found to be 116.04°C as compared to control (113.51°C) sample. Moreover, TGA/DTG studies showed that the control sample lost 56.25% of its weight, whereas, in treated MTA, it was found 58.60%. Also, Tmax (temperature, at which sample lost maximum of its weight) was decreased by 1.97% in treated MTA sample as compared to control. It indicates that the vaporisation temperature of treated MTA sample might decrease as compared to control. The FT-IR and UV-Vis spectra did not show any significant change in spectral properties of treated MTA sample as compared to control. These findings suggest that biofield treatment has significantly altered the physical and thermal properties of m-toluic acid, which could make them more useful as a chemical intermediate.


Abstract. We present results of recent observations of meteor-head echoes obtained with the high-power large-aperture Jicamarca 50MHz radar (11.95°S, 76.87°W) in an interferometric mode. The large power-aperture of the system allows us to record more than 3000 meteors per hour in the small volume subtended by the 1° antenna beam, albeit when the cluttering equatorial electrojet (EEJ) echoes are not present or are very weak. The interferometry arrangement allows the determination of the radiant (trajectory) and speed of each meteor. It is found that the radiant distribution of all detected meteors is concentrated in relative small angles centered around the Earth's Apex as it transits over the Jicamarca sky, i.e. around the corresponding Earth heading for the particular observational day and time, for all seasons observed so far. The dispersion around the Apex is ~18° in a direction transverse to the Ecliptic plane and only 8.5° in heliocentric longitude in the Ecliptic plane both in the Earth inertial frame of reference. No appreciable interannual variability has been observed. Moreover, no population related to the optical (larger meteors) Leonid showers of 1998-2002 is found, in agreement with other large power-aperture radar observations. A novel cross-correlation detection technique (adaptive match-filtering) is used in combination with a 13 baud Barker phase-code. The technique allows us to get good range resolution (0.75km) without any sensitivity deterioration for the same average power, compared to the non-coded long pulse scheme used at other radars. The matching Doppler shift provides an estimation of the velocity within a pulse with the same accuracy as if a non-coded pulse of the same length had been used. The velocity distribution of the meteors is relatively narrow and centered around 60kms -1 . Therefore most of the meteors have an almost circular retrograde orbit around the Sun. Less than 8% of the velocities correspond to interstellar orbits, i.e. with velocities larger than the solar escape velocity (72kms -1 ). Other statistical distributions of interest are also presented.


Emergent narratives are dependent on the behaviour modelling of agents in the storyworld. Typical approaches to behaviour modelling, however, overly encourage individual goals and needs, ignoring the dynamic interpersonal relations needed to create rising and falling conflicts. In this paper, we present a force dynamic agent model, in which relations and goals are modelled as forces, with the state of an agent treated as a physical object within an abstract space representing narrative tension. Building off previous work, we implement a test-bed and scenario in the Unity Game Engine. We show, through experimentation, that the dynamic force-based model causes the emergence of conflict curves mirroring traditional narrative perspectives. We conclude that an abstract physical modelling of narrative agents is able to embed several desirable properties for emergent narratives, namely, continuous conflict, dynamic interpersonal relations and temporal and strength modelling of the impact of individual actions.


Due to the phenomenal growth in the transport sector as a part of rapid urbanization, especially in the Indian sub-continent where transportation of goods and people are essentially done through the existing road associated with production of tyres and to identify the grey areas in which enough network, tyre industries have seen a rapid growth. In view of this, it is important that sustainability of tyre industry is maintained without its adverse effect on the environment. The objectives of this particular study are to identify and quantify the potential environmental impacts scope is there for further improvements. Life cycle assessment is a tool to evaluate the environmental impacts of any product or a process. In this work, life cycle assessment has been used to identify the environmental impacts associated with the tyre manufacturing process. The gate-to-gate approach has been used for this study of tyre production. The detailed data required for this study were obtained from MRF Industries, Usgao, Goa, India. Computations of the life cycle impact assessment results are achieved using SimaPro software with IMPACT 2002+ method. From the results it is noted that there is a significant impact on the environment due to emissions from the generation of electrical energy and steam in the plant under study along with emissions due to various operations in the tyre production process. The major environmental impact categories which are affected due to these processes are respiratory inorganics, aquatic acidification, terrestrial acidification/nitrification and to some extent aquatic eutrophication. Further, it is also observed that there is significant emission of particulate matter from the Banbary section of the tyre production process. This study reveals that the emissions of particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide from tyre production process are significant. The life cycle assessment results obtained for the MRF tyre are compared with the life cycle assessment results of the Tweel tyre invented by Michelin, Bridgestone tyre, Goodyear tyre, Nokia tyre and comparative life cycle assessment results for a conventional tyre and a guayule rubber-based tyre. From a comparison among all above mentioned case studies, it is observed that major environmental impacts of tyres depend primarily on product design and usage. Significant reduction in environmental impact due to tyre production is possible if the source of electricity is nonconventional. Reduction in weight and rolling resistance of the tyre will also lead in significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions during its use.


A single-cell-gap transflective display using a polymer-stabilized blue-phase liquid crystal is proposed. The periodic right triangle electrodes whose hypotenuses parallel to each other are formed. In the transmissive (T) region, the legs of the right triangle electrodes are opposite, which leads to a strong horizontal electric field. In the reflective (R) region, the hypotenuses parallel to each other, which results in a strong horizontal field component, which is uniformly distributed across the entire R-region. By optimizing the device parameters, well matched voltage-dependent transmittance and reflectance curves are achieved. This device exhibits low operating voltage (<;10 V), wide viewing angle, and high optical efficiency in both T- and R-regions. The potential application of the proposed device is emphasized.


We propose hybrid-virtualization that combines paravirtualization and hardware-assisted virtualization. It can achieve equivalent or better performance than software-only para-virtualization, taking the full advantage of each technology. We implemented a hybridvirtualization Linux with para-virtualization, which required much fewer modifications to Linux, and yet achieved equivalent or better performance than software-only XenLinux. The hybrid-virtualization employs para-virtualization for I/O, interrupt controllers, and timer to simplify the system and optimize performance. For CPU virtualization, it allows one to use the same code as in the original kernel. The other benefits are: One, it can run on broader ranges of VMMs, including Xen and KVM; and Two, it takes full advantage of all the future extensions to hardware including virtualization technologies. This paper assumes basic understanding of the Linux kernel and virtualization technologies. It provides insights to how the para-virtualization can be extended with hardware assists for virtualization and take advantage of future hardware extension.


This article deals with the coherence of the model given by the Cohen-Lenstra heuristic philosophy for class groups and also for their generalizations to Tate-Shafarevich groups. More precisely, our first goal is to extend a previous result due to E. Fouvry and J. Kluners which proves that a conjecture provided by the Cohen-Lenstra philosophy implies another such conjecture. As a consequence of our work, we can deduce, for example, a conjecture for the probability laws of $p^j$-ranks of Selmer groups of elliptic curves. This is compatible with some theoretical works and other classical conjectures.


Introduction Two published randomised controlled trials (RCTs)1 2 have reported that surgical drainage of the pancreatic duct was more effective than endoscopic drainage for patients with chronic pancreatitis. The objective of this analysis was to assess the cost-effectiveness of surgical vs endoscopic drainage in obstructive chronic pancreatitis. Methods This analysis was conducted mainly based on one RCT1, from a UK National Health Service perspective, and over a 24-month time horizon for the base-case analysis (median follow-up time in the trial). A lifetime horizon was used in the sensitivity analysis. The health outcome was the Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY), which was generated using EQ-5D data collected during the trial. Also collected were details of the use of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, time in hospital and the treatment of pancreatic exocrine and endocrine insufficiency. This resource use was combined with UK unit costs. Key elements of resource use, such as complication rates and conversion to surgery were varied in sensitivity analyses. The trial reported one death in the endoscopy group (5%), which was not clearly related to the intervention. For the base-case analysis, we assumed no mortality in either group and applied a mortality rate of up to 2% to surgical drainage in the sensitivity analysis. Results The result of the base-case analysis was that surgical drainage of the pancreatic duct dominated endoscopic drainage, being both more effective and less costly. The sensitivity analysis showed that the surgical option remained dominant in a majority of scenarios. When compared with a threshold of £20 000 per QALY gained, all analyses indicated that the probability that surgical drainage is cost-effective compared to endoscopic drainage exceeds 95%. Conclusion In patients with obstructive chronic pancreatitis, surgical drainage is highly cost-effective compared to endoscopic drainage. This economic analysis was developed from a UK perspective, but given the magnitude of the improvement in quality of life, the substantial cost savings and the robustness of the results to sensitivity analyses, it is likely that this conclusion can be generalised to other healthcare systems.


Primary production in incubations is compared with daily changes in water column oxygen inventories and particulate organic carbon (POC, and estimated from the beam attenuation coefficient) at a station in the northeast Atlantic (the Marine Light-Mixed Layers (MLML) site) in the spring of 1991. Drifters were followed over three periods. The first is characterized by a bloom of Phaeocystis pouchetii. Prior to the second and third deployments, there were storms that mixed the water column to >150 m over a period of 3 days, and consequently, the Phaeocystis bloom dissipated. After deployment of the third drifter, the water column restratified, followed by high rates of primary production. All incubation experiments for carbon assimilation were greater than that calculated from changes in oxygen or POC. The 14C estimates agreed with the prediction of a bio-optical model for primary production. During the early days of the cruise, 14C estimates were high, while water column changes indicated negative net community production. In addition to the usual overestimate of net primary production by the 14C estimates, the differences are ascribed to mixing losses for the first part of the cruise, and to grazing losses after restratification.


The Nepalese government is piloting agricultural projects that are described as taking a value chain approach to development. Although consumer value lies at the core of value chain man-agement principles, none of these projects adopts a consumer perspective. This is an example of a more widespread gap in both the literature and practice as to how consumer perspectives can be used in the development of agrifood value chains in developing countries. This paper addresses this gap by surveying consumers of tomatoes in Nepal, segmenting them using cluster analysis and demonstrating how consumer segmentation can provide strategic direction for value chain development. The research identifies four distinct segments of tomato consumers in Kathmandu. The high value consumer segment, which is also the largest segment, places most importance on credence-based attributes that cannot be ensured unless a whole-chain effort is employed, indi-cating that developing value chains would be necessary if this need is to be met, and that such effort would pay off. An analysis of existing supply chains shows discrepancies between con-sumer expectations and the delivery of value, suggesting improvement opportunities to develop these chains.


The present study
 describes the isolation, identification and screening of fungal
 strain Rhizopus oligosporus var. microsporus (Saito) Schipper
 Stalpers, (1984) for the production of extracellular lipases. One
 hundred and sixty seven cultures of fungi were isolated from
 different environments such as soil, air, milk, pickle, oily bread,
 destroyed fruits and vegetables by serial dilution method. The
 strains were initially selected qualitatively on Tween 80-Agar
 plates and were shifted to the slants of PDA (Potato Dextrose Agar)
 for maintenance and storage at 4oC. Quantitative screening for
 extracellular lipase production by isolated strains was carried out
 in shake flasks and the most potent strain, IIB-63 producing 3.20 ±
 0.003 U mL-1 of enzyme was selected. The strain was then identified
 on the basis of standard morphological measurements and was assigned
 the code IIB-63.
 The selected strain was then subjected to physical (UV and Gamma
 radiations) and chemical mutagenic (NA, EtBr, MNNG/NTG) treatments
 in order to improve its lipolytic potential. During the treatment
 mutants were qualitatively and quantitatively selected and
 IIB-63NTG-7 was found to be the mutant showing highest lipases
 production (10.37 ± 0.06a U mL-1) with a zone size of 12.3 mm on
 Luria-Bertanitributyrin agar plates. This mutant showed an overall
 325% increase in activity over its parent strain for the production
 of extracellular lipase.
 The fermentation experiments for the production of extracellular
 lipases by wild and mutant strains were carried out in 250 mL
 Erlenmeyer flasks and laboratory scale 5L stirred fermenter. The
 cultural conditions were optimized for both wild and mutant strains
 of R. oligosporus.
 Seven different culture media were tested for the production of
 extracellular lipase by both wild and mutant strain of R.
 oligosporus in shake flask fermentation. Of all the media evaluated
 M5 (gL-1 Peptone: 20, Glucose: 10, K2HPO4:2.0, MgSO4.7H2O: 0.12,
 NH4Cl: 1.0, Yeast Extract: 2.5, pH: 7.0) gave highest units of
 extracellular lipases 3.16 ± 0.02a U mL-1 (W) and 10.99±0.02a U mL-1
 (M). Other culture media gave lesser production of enzyme by both
 wild and mutant strains. The
 production of enzyme was found to be highly significant ( in
 media M5.
 The effect of incubation temperature (15 -45oC), initial pH
 (4.0.-10.0), inoculum size (0.5-3.5 mL) and volume of the medium
 (25-150 mL) on the production of extracellular lipase by both wild
 and mutant strains was investigated in shake flask. The rate of
 fermentation was also studied and found maximum extracellular lipase
 was obtained after an incubation of 48 h by both wild and mutant
 strains.
 Various agro industrial by-products (CSM: cotton seed meal, SBM:
 Soybean meal, WB: Wheat Bran, WF: Wheat Flour, SFM: Sunflower meal,
 AM: Almond meal, RB: Rice Bran) were tested for their effect on
 lipases production. In the presence of SBM (0.4%) the maximum
 lipolytic activity was 5.09 ± 0.008a U mL-1 (W) 16.43 ± 0.005a U
 mL-1 (M) which was approximately 1.27 (W) 1.42 (M) times higher
 than that in the absence of additive.
 Different additional carbon sources was added to basal medium with
 the aim of improving extracellular lipases production. In the
 present study effect of different carbon sources such as lactose,
 maltose, sucrose, xylose, dextrose, glucose, starch and Tween 80
 were evaluated for the production of extracellular lipases by wild
 and mutant strains of Rhizopus oligosporus. Of all the carbon
 sources tested, Tween 80 showed considerable increase in lipases
 production by both wild (5.52 ± 0.005a U mL-1) mutant (19.13 ±
 0.005a U mL-1) strains as compared to others.
 Marked increase in the productivity of the enzyme has been observed
 upon addition of some nitrogen additives compared with the
 non-supplemented medium. Different organic nitrogen sources such as
 peptone, p-nitrophenol, casein, nutrient broth, urea, yeast extract
 and corn steep liquor were independently added to the fermentation
 medium. Maximum extracellular activity of lipase 5.85 ± 0.01a U mL-1
 (W) 28.32 ± 0.01a U mL-1 (M) was obtained when 0.8 % of casein was
 added in the fermentation medium as an organic nitrogen source.
 Different Inorgaic salts used are ammonium chloride [NH4Cl],
 ammonium sulfate [(NH4)2SO4], ammonium nitrate [NH4NO3], ammonium
 acetate [NH4CH3COO], ammonium ferro (II) sulfate 12- hydrate [(NH4)2
 Fe (SO4)2.12H2O], hydroxyl ammonium chloride [HONH3Cl], Ammonium
 oxalate [(NH4)2C2O4] and ammonium molybdate [(NH4)6MoO24]. Maximum
 extracellular production of lipases 8.31 ± 0.01a U mL-1 (W) and
 34.34 ± 0.01a U mL-1 (M) were observed when 0.8 % (NH4)C2O4 was
 added in the substrate as an additional inorganic
 nitrogen source.
 The rate of fermentation by extracellular lipases by both wild and
 mutant strains of R. oligosporus var. microsporus was investigated
 in stirred fermenter. It was found that the growth and lipases
 production was increased gradually and reached its maximum 9.07±
 0.42a U mL-1 (W) 42.49 ± 3.91a U mL-1 (M) after 30 h of
 fermentation for both wild and mutant strain. There is overall
 increase of 109% (W) and 124% (M) in the production of extracellular
 lipases as compared to shake flask. Another significant finding of
 the present experiment is that the fermentation period is reduced to
 30 h in case of wild and 23 h in case of mutant from 48 h in shake
 flask studies.
 Effect of different sizes of inoculum was investigated for
 extracellular lipases production by both wild mutant strains of R.
 oligosporus var. microsporus IIB-63 in stirred fermenter. The size
 of the vegetative inoculum was varied from 1-5% and fermentation was
 carried out. It was observed that lipases activity of the both wild
 (13.76 ± 0.99a U mL-1) and mutant (46.34 ± 3.05a U mL-1) strains was
 gradually increased with the increase of inoculum size and reached
 its maximum at 3% of inoculum.
 The initial pH of the fermentation medium was varied from 7.0 to 9.0
 and was controlled throughout the fermentation process however the
 experiment with uncontrolled pH was also carried out. The production
 of extracellular lipases was found maximum 30.39 ± 2.58 U mL-1 (W)
 50.42 ± 4.37 U mL-1 (M) when the pH of the medium was maintained at
 8.0. However in the experiment with uncontrolled pH there is no
 remarkable increase in the production of enzyme.
 The rate of the agitation was varied from 150-300 rpm. Maximum
 enzyme production by both wild (27.30± 1.98 U mL-1) and mutant
 (54.01± 4.54 U mL-1) strains was obtained when the agitation speed
 was maintained at 250 rpm. Change in the rate of agitation resulted
 in decreased enzyme production. The rate of aeration was varied from
 0.2-1.0 vvm. Production of enzyme by mutant strain was found maximum
 i.e., 59± 4.88 U mL-1 when the aeration rate was set at 0.8 vvm
 while wild strain gave maximum lipase units (28± 1.97 U mL-1) at 1.0
 vvm.
 The enzyme produced after optimization of the cultural conditions
 was subjected to ammonium sulfate precipitation for salting out the
 proteins. 60% ammonium sulfate showed the enzyme activity of 11.45 U
 mL-1 by wild and 28.2 U mL-1 by mutant strain of R. oligosporus var.
 microsporus. While in 80% ammonium sulfate the enzyme activity by
 both the wild (13.14 U mL-1) and mutant (29.5 U mL-1) strains
 increased which indicates the partial purification of enzyme.
 Desalted enzyme was subjected to DEAE-cellulose column for ion
 exchange chromatography. Wild strain shows 206.73 fold purification
 and 82.56% recovery while the mutant strain shows 407.34 fold
 purification with 62.83% recovery. Sephadex G-100, is a cross-linked
 polymer used for gel filtration chromatography, which is used for
 differentiating the molecular size. There is 446.19 fold (W) and
 710.02 fold (M) purification of enzyme which shows that most of the
 contamination proteins are removed.
 The effect of pH, temperature and metal ions was also investigated
 on the activity of purified lipases. It is evident from the results
 that the maximum residual activity by both strains 81% (W) and 100%
 (M) was observed in the reaction mixture of pH 8.0. The results
 showed that lipases retained 80% of its activity at 25oC-30oC by
 wild and 100% of its activity at 20oC-50oC by mutant strain of R.
 oligosporus var. microsporus. Mn++ stimulated the activity of
 lipases by the wild while it has inhibitory effect on lipases
 activity of mutant strain. Other ions Like Ca++, K+, Mg++, Cu++ and
 Na+ stimulated the activity of lipases by both wild and mutant
 strains. Both wild and mutant strains showed the same response of
 inhibition of enzyme activity in the presence of Hg++ and Fe++.


ERK2 phosphorylates RNA polymerase II in embryonic stem cells. In undifferentiated embryonic stem cells (ESCs), the promoters of many developmental lineage-specification genes exist in a "poised" transcriptional state indicated by the presence of a "bivalent" chromatin mark [histone H3 trimethylated on Lys4 and Lys27 (H3K27me3)] and Ser5-phosphorylated RNA polymerase II (RNAPII). Whereas the transcription factor II H (TFIIH) kinase complex generally phosphorylates Ser5 of RNAPII bound to transcriptionally active genes, Tee et al. found that ERK2 (extracellular signal–regulated kinase 2) phosphorylates Ser5 of RNAPII on poised genes. In murine ESCs exposed to an inhibitor of MEKs, kinases that activate ERKs or those with a genetic deficiency for ERK1 and ERK2, the promoters of developmental genes showed reduced H3K27me3 and decreased association with proteins of the polycomb repressive complex (PRC2), which catalyzes H3K27me3. These effects were reversed by overexpression of ERK2 in ERK-deficient ESCs. ESCs in which ERKs were inhibited maintained expression of pluripotency genes and repression of developmental genes, suggesting that they remained in an undifferentiated state. Genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses revealed that ERK2 bound to the promoters of developmental genes at sites that overlapped with those bound by a PRC2 protein but not a component of the TFIIH complex. Sequence analysis and mobility shift assays showed that ERK2 bound directly to DNA to a motif similar to that bound by PRC2 proteins. ERK-deficient ESCs and ESCs exposed to the MEK inhibitor, but not a TFIIH inhibitor, showed reduced association of RNAPII phosphorylated at Ser5 with the promoters of developmental genes. ERK2 phosphorylated Ser5 of RNAPII in vitro and coimmunoprecipitated with RNAPII from lysates of ESCs. Overexpression of ERK2, but not a kinase dead mutant of ERK2, in ERK-deficient cells partially restored the association of RNAPII phosphorylated at Ser5 with the promoters of developmental genes. Experimentally induced differentiation of ESCs reduced the binding of ERK2 to the promoters of development genes. Thus, ERK2 is a DNA-binding RNAPII-directed kinase that acts to keep development genes in a poised transcriptional state in undifferentiated ESCs. W.-W. Tee, S.S. Shen, O. Oksuz, V. Narendra, D. Reinberg, Erk1/2 activity promotes chromatin features and RNAPII phosphorylation at developmental promoters in mouse ESCs. Cell 156, 678–690 (2014). [PubMed]


College counselors can play an important role in implementing brief strategies that will motivate students to stop smoking cigarettes. The authors provide an overview of motivational interviewing, a specific protocol that can be applied to college student smoking. The authors also present preliminary evidence of the success of this approach in promoting abstinence from smoking and a desire to change among college smokers. Each day, more than 5,000 people smoke their first cigarette (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 1998). Of these individuals, more than two thirds (more than 3,000) are teenagers who are not even old enough to legally purchase cigarettes (CDC, 1998). Even for those who are only experimenting with cigarettes, the risk of addiction is overwhelming. According to the CDC (1998), 55% of individuals who smoke more than 100 cigarettes will continue smoking until the year of their death. Despite known health risks, smoking prevalence remains high across all age groups. At least 23% of adults in the United States smoke cigarettes (CDC, 1998). Moreover, a recent report issued by the CDC (2000) indicated that the smoking rate among high school students had risen from 27.5% in 1991 to 34.8% in 1999. Similarly, from 1993 to 1997, the smoking rate among college students increased from 22.3% to 2 8.5%. This increase was seen across all student subgroups regardless of gender, race/ethnicity, and year in school (Wechsler, Rigotti, Gledhill-Hoyt, & Lee, 1998). Although there have been advances in smoking cessation treatment during the past decade, treatment success rates remain discouragingly low. Even comprehensive, multimodal treatment approaches yield 6-month abstinence rates of 40% or less (see Ockene et al., 2000, for a review of treatment approaches). One bright spot regarding treatment innovations has been the success of time-limited interventions in helping people alter substance use patterns (see Bien, Miller, & Boroughs, 1993; Bien, Miller, & Tonigan, 1993; Miller, 1995). Brief interventions have been among the most promising treatments for reducing problematic substance use, including alcohol and smoking, among college students (Borsari & Carey, 2000; Marlatt et al., 1998). In a recent study, for example, Borsari and Carey investigated the efficacy of a one-session intervention in reducing substance use among binge drinkers. Compared to a no-treatment control group, participants who received the one-session intervention reported a lower number of drinks consumed per week, fewer drinking occasions per month, and fewer binge drinking episodes at 6-week follow-up. Borsari and Carey concluded that the 1-hour intervention significantly reduced both the frequency of drinking and the amount of alcohol consumed. Brief interventions may also help to reduce cigarette smoking among adults and adolescents (Colby et al., 1998; Rollnick, Butler, & Stott, 1997; Rollnick & Heather, 1992). Rollnick et al. (1997) described, but did not evaluate, a promising brief motivational interview that was designed to reduce smoking among adults in a general medical practice. Similarly, Colby et al. reported some success in administering a single motivational interview to adolescents in a hospital setting. Twice as many participants in the treatment group reported abstinence at 1-month follow-up, as compared with participants who received brief advice to quit smoking. However, the effect was small (effect size [ES] = .28), and no other comparisons were significant. The researchers concluded that motivational interviewing warrants further investigation as a treatment for reducing smoking among adolescents, a conclusion echoed in a recent meta-analysis of motivational interviewing outcome studies (Burke, Arkowitz, & Dunn, 2002). In addition to studying brief motivational interventions, finding ways to disrupt the common progression from teenage experimentation to lifelong cigarette smoking holds promise for reducing societal smoking rates (McNeill, 1991). …


Gaussian decomposition is used as a theoretical infrastructure with which Z-scan experiments are analyzed. This procedure is extended here to the interesting, from a practical point of view, case in which the laser beam used is not perfectly Gaussian. We follow a perturbative approach to obtain the far-field pattern of the beam after the beam passes through a nonlinear sample. The procedure is based on the decomposition of the electric field at the exit plane of the sample to a linear combination of Hermite–Gaussian functions. To a first-order approximation, each mode of the incident beam is decomposed to a linear combination of different-order modes that do not exceed the order of the original mode. Finally, the effects of the simultaneous presence of first and higher-order refractive nonlinearities or first-order refractive nonlinearity and nonlinear absorption are studied.


Aim/Purpose: The complexity of today's organizational databases highlights the importance of hard technical skills as well as soft skills including teamwork, communication, and problem-solving. Therefore, when teaching students about databases it follows that using a team approach would be useful.

Background: Team-based learning (TBL) has been developed and tested as an instructional strategy that leverages learning in small groups in order to achieve increased overall effectiveness. This research studies the impact of utilizing team-based learning strategies in an undergraduate Database Management course in order to determine if the methodology is effective for student learning related to database technology concepts in addition to student preparation for working in database teams.

Methodology: In this study, a team-based learning strategy is implemented in an undergraduate Database Management course over the course of two semesters. Students were assessed both individually and in teams in order to see if students were able to effectively learn and apply course concepts on their own and in collaboration with their team. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected and analyzed in order to determine if the team approach improved learning effectiveness and allowed for soft skills development. The results from this study are compared to previous semesters when team-based learning was not adopted. Additionally, student perceptions and feedback are captured.

Contribution: This research contributes to the literature on database education and team-based learning and presents a team-based learning process for faculty looking to adopt this methodology in their database courses. This research contributes by showing how the collaborative assessment aspect of team-based learning can provide a solution for the conceptual and collaborative needs of database education.

Findings: Findings related to student learning and perceptions are presented illustrating that team-based learning can lead to improvements in performance and provides a solution for the conceptual and collaborative needs of database education. Specifically, the findings do show that team scores were significantly higher than individual scores when completing class assessments. Student perceptions of both their team members and the team-based learning process were overall positive with a notable difference related to the perception of team preparedness based on gender.

Recommendations for Practitioners: Educational implications highlight the challenges of team-based learning for assessment (e.g., gender differences in perceptions of team preparedness), as well as the benefits (e.g., development of soft skills including teamwork and communication).

Recommendation for Researchers: This study provides research implications supporting the study of team assessment techniques for learning and engagement in the context of database education.

Impact on Society: Faculty looking to develop student skills in relation to database concepts and application as well as in relation to teamwork and communication may find value in this approach, ultimately benefiting students, employers, and society.

Future Research: Future research may examine the methodology from this study in different contexts as well as explore different strategies for group assignments, room layout, and the impact of an online environment.


This thesis concerns the development and application of time resolved fluorescence which yield new and detailed information on molecular order and motion in both isotropic and ordered systems. Polarised fluorescence studies involve the photoselection of a non-equilibrium distribution of excited state probe orientations whose relaxation is monitored by time resolved fluorescence anisotropy. Chapter 1 introduces the basic concepts of probe photophysics and orientational photoselection. Chapter 2 combines photoselection with single and multiple laser pulses to provide a full description of probe alignment dynamics in the nematic phase of 5-cyanobiphenyl (5CB). In isotropic media the cylindrically symmetric and asymmetric alignment relaxation times are necessarily equal. However, in 5CB, this was seen to correlate strongly with equilibrium order parameters, indicating the need to quantify fully the probe orientational distribution function. In Chapter 3, single and two-photon time resolved fluorescence anisotropy measurements are used to determine the hitherto unmeasured (ground state) K=6 moment of P. The final chapters concern the development of the next generation of photoselection techniques where an excited state population is engineered by stimulated emission depletion (STED). In Chapter 4 STED following two-photon excitation (PUMP) has been demonstrated in a range of well established single photon probes and two recently developed quadrupolar chromophores. Saturation of the DUMP transition due to excited state re-pumping was investigated, and from a two level rate equation model stimulated emission cross-sections and ground state vibrational relaxation times were determined. In Chapter 5 the polarisation properties of STED are investigated; orientation-selective depletion was shown to yield highly polarised excited state arrays. Polarisation resolved STED measurements were shown to circumvent spontaneous emission selection rules (which forbid the measurement of excited state moments of rank K>2) allowing the first measurements of hexadecapole (K=4) orientational relaxation in two fluorescent probes.


OBJECTIVES
Relatively few hospitals in the United States offer high-technology cardiac services (cardiac catheterization, bypass surgery, or angioplasty). This study examined the association between race and admission to a hospital offering those services.

METHODS
Records of 11,410 patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction to hospitals in New York State in 1986 were analyzed.

RESULTS
Approximately one third of both White and Black patients presented to hospitals offering high-technology cardiac services. However, in a multivariate model adjusting for home-to-hospital distance, the White-to-Black odds ratio for likelihood of presentation to such a hospital was 1.68 (95% confidence interval = 1.42, 1.98). This discrepancy between the observed and "distance-adjusted" probabilities reflected three phenomena: (1) patients presented to nearby hospitals; (2) Blacks were more likely to live near high-technology hospitals; and (3) there were racial differences in travel patterns. For example, when the nearest hospitals did not include a high-technology hospital, Whites were more likely than Blacks to travel beyond those nearest hospitals to a high-technology hospital.

CONCLUSIONS
Whites and Blacks present equally to hospitals offering high-technology cardiac services at the time of acute myocardial infarction. However, there are important underlying racial differences in geographic proximity and tendencies to travel to those hospitals.


Introduction: It is well-recognized that exercise has a significant impact on the GH/IGF system but less is known about the effects of HIIT on this axis. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of ten weeks of HIIT on plasma levels of GH and IGF-I in healthy men. Methods: Twenty young men (age 23.34 ± 2.56 weight 72.47 ± 12.01 height 174.10 ± 5.75) recruited and randomly assigned into control (n=10) and HIIT (n=12) groups. HIIT protocol was started with 4 cycles. Then, every two weeks one cycle was added to the previous ones. Finally, it was to 8 cycles/ session in tenth weeks that lasted 16 minutes. Blood samples were collected prior to and after HIIT program for all subjects and IGF-I and GH levels were measured. Result: HIIT subjects showed a signiA¯Â¬Âcant increase in IGF-I (P=0.002, F=12.38). However, no significant change was shown in GH levels (P=0.716, F=0.62). Discussion and conclusion: Our A¯Â¬Ândings indicate that the HIIT caused increase in circulating levels of IGF-I independently from GH levels. Both hormones may contribute to positive effects of anabolic conditions.


Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are sensible targets for high profile attackers and advanced persistent threats, which are known to exploit USB thumb drives as an effective spreading vector. In ICSes, thumb drives are widely used to transfer files among disconnected systems and represent a serious security risks, since, they may be promiscuously used in both critical and regular systems. The threats come both from malware hidden in files stored in the thumb drives and from BadUSB attacks. BadUSB leverages the modification of firmware of USB devices in order to mimic the behaviour of a keyboard and send malicious commands to the host. We present a solution that allows a promiscuous use of USB thumbs drives while protecting critical machines from malware, that spreads by regular file infection or by firmware infection. The main component of the architecture we propose is an hardware, called USBCaptchaIn, intended to be in the middle between critical machines and connected USB devices. We do not require users to change the way they use thumb drives. To avoid human-errors, we do not require users to take any decision. The proposed approach is highly compatible with already deployed products of a ICS environment and proactively blocks malware before they reach their targets. We describe our solution, provide a thorough analysis of the security of our approach in the ICS context, and report the informal feedback of some experts regarding our first prototypes.


An understanding of the behaviour of financial assets and the evolution of economies has never been as important as today. This book looks at these complex systems from the perspective of the physicist. So called 'econophysics' and its application to finance has made great strides in recent years. Less emphasis has been placed on the broader subject of macroeconomics and many economics students are still taught traditional neo-classical economics. The reader is given a general primer in statistical physics, probability theory, and use of correlation functions. Much of the mathematics that is developed is frequently no longer included in undergraduate physics courses. The statistical physics of Boltzmann and Gibbs is one of the oldest disciplines within physics and it can be argued that it was first applied to ensembles of molecules as opposed to being applied to social agents only by way of historical accident. The authors argue by analogy that the theory can be applied directly to economic systems comprising assemblies of interacting agents. The necessary tools and mathematics are developed in a clear and concise manner. The body of work, now termed econophysics, is then developed. The authors show where traditional methods break down and show how the probability distributions and correlation functions can be properly understood using high frequency data. Recent work by the physics community on risk and market crashes are discussed together with new work on betting markets as well as studies of speculative peaks that occur in housing markets. The second half of the book continues the empirical approach showing how by analogy with thermodynamics, a self-consistent attack can be made on macroeconomics. This leads naturally to economic production functions being equated to entropy functions - a new concept for economists. Issues relating to non-equilibrium naturally arise during the development and application of this approach to economics. These are discussed in the context of superstatistics and adiabatic processes. As a result it does seem ultimately possible to reconcile the approach with non-equilibrium systems, and the ideas are applied to study income and wealth distributions, which with their power law distribution functions have puzzled many researchers ever since Pareto discovered them over 100 years ago. This book takes a pedagogical approach to these topics and is aimed at final year undergraduate and beginning gradaute or post-graduate students in physics, economics, and business. However, the experienced researcher and quant should also find much of interest.


Higher Learning Institutions (HEIs) have an important role to play in the promotion of respect for fundamental human rights and other constitutional imperatives. This article will demonstrate that the design and administration of student discipline at HEIs qualifies to be administrative action. As such, the article will identify the constitutional and other legislative principles which can help student discipline to be aligned to the requirements of just administrative action, which are lawfulness, procedural fairness and reasonableness. The article will explore challenges faced by student discipline and proffer recommendations and suggestions for improved regulation and practice.


The main theme of this application is to provide an algorithm color image watermark to manage the attacks such as rotation, scaling and translation. In the existing watermarking algorithms, those exploited robust features are more or less related to the pixel position, so they cannot be more robust against the attacks. In order to solve this problem this application focus on certain parameters rather than the pixel position for watermarking. Two statistical features such as the histogram shape and the mean of Gaussian filtered low-frequency component of images are taken for this proposed application to make the watermarking algorithm robust to attacks and also AES technique is used to provide higher security.


Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas and therefore it is considered as the main contributor to global warming. However, CO2 is recognised as an abundant, cheap, recyclable and non-toxic carbon source and thus its utilisation for the production of value-added chemicals is extremely beneficial for the chemical industry. Styrene carbonate is a non-toxic, biodegradable and a valuable chemical of great commercial interest. Styrene carbonate is an excellent precursor material for the production of polycarbonates. Styrene carbonate can be used as a solvent for lithium battery because of its high polarity property. Several reaction routes have been attempted for styrene carbonate production, which was phosgene, oxidative carboxylation, direct synthesis using homogeneous catalyst and direct synthesis using a heterogeneous catalyst. The latter being the most attractive route due to the inexpensive raw material, ease of catalyst recovery and the avoidance of corrosive reagents, such as phosgene and dimethyl formamide. The research study is aimed at catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to value added chemicals as to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in order to prevent global warming. The utilisation of carbon dioxide will not only offer one of the means to prevent global warming but also offer a mean of value-added chemicals such as fuel additives, substitute for various chemical reagents, organic solvent and green reagents. The synthesis of organic carbonate through cycloaddition of carbon dioxide to epoxide in the present of the heterogeneous catalyst using high-pressure reactor is known to be a 'Green Processes'. Heterogeneous catalyst of metal oxides such as magnesium oxide, cerium oxide, zirconium oxide, lanthanum oxide, lanthana doped zirconia, magnesium oxide and cerium doped zirconium oxide ceria lanthana doped zirconia was used to synthesised styrene carbonate through cycloaddition of carbon dioxide to styrene oxide in a batch high-pressure reactor under different reaction conditions. Among other catalysts ceria lanthana doped zirconia catalyst showed good activity and selectivity for styrene carbonate without additional organic solvents. The optimum reaction conditions for the synthesis of styrene carbonate in the presence of ceria lanthana doped zirconia catalyst system was at 408 K, 75 bar, 20 h and 300 rpm with the corresponding yield of 52% and conversion of 84%.