What role do contracts play in long-term relationships? Very little, if any, according to the relational contract literature. It is not the contract that induces promise-keeping but the imposition of (or threat of imposing) relational or informal sanctions, such as suspension or termination of trade. Yet, in reality, parties in long-term relationships write elaborate contracts enforceable through litigation (often with vague, open-ended clauses such as "best efforts") or set up dispute resolution mechanisms that mimic formal adjudication process. Why go through all that trouble if formal mechanisms are to be used rarely? This paper attempts to answer these questions. The paper argues that formal sanctions have two important advantages that informal sanctions often lack. First, with formal sanctions, parties can design the remedy (e.g., liquidated damages) and even the adjudication process (e.g., arbitration), and such flexibility allows them to decouple the deterrence benefit of the sanction from the cost of its imposition in achieving a better deterrence cost-benefit ratio. With relational sanctions, by contrast, both the deterrence benefit and the imposition cost are largely dictated by the value of future relationship: the more valuable the future relationship, the larger the deterrence benefit from threatening to terminate it, but also the larger the cost of carrying out that threat. Second, the formal adjudication process often uncovers evidence that parties and other market actors can use to better tailor relational sanctions. In fact, the desire to generate more accurate information can explain why contracting parties use vague, open-ended standards, such as "best efforts." Recognizing these benefits but wary of inducing too much litigation, the most effective means for deterring breach of contract will often combine relational and legal sanctions, an approach commonly observed in the real-world. The paper also shows how various empirical findings are consistent with the theoretical predictions and how the findings can inform courts in interpreting "good faith" obligations.


In relation to some of the 24 labour law cases decided by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), in 2008, ILJ readers already have the good fortune to have excellent free-standing analyses. This analysis is intended to complement analyses such as these, highlight the interest of other cases and provide a map of broader patterns in labour law decision making at the Court. I start by setting the Court's labour law record in 2008 within the context of the last five years. I identify important trends in the case law as well as changes in case management at the Court. The subsequent sections then examine in more detail the Court's labour law record in 2008. Four key themes in the case law are identified and explored. I conclude by considering some case-management issues and by considering the importance of the Court of Justice in EU labour law today.


Rates of return to investments in schooling have been estimated since the late 1950s. In the 60-plus year history of such estimates there have been several attempts to synthesize the empirical results in order to ascertain patterns. This paper presents unified estimates of the latest available surveys and patterns using the same specification and estimation procedure and data from 131 economies and 545 harmonized household surveys. This effort to compile comparable estimates addresses issues in the literature, such as: (i) the definition of the dependent variable; (ii) the variables used as controls; (iii) sample definitions; and (iv) the estimation method. The study holds constant the definition of the dependent variable, the set of control variables, the sample definition, and the estimation method for all the surveys in the sample. The results show: (i) private rates of return to schooling across a range of countries are more concentrated around the mean than previously thought; (ii) the basic model used is more stable than one may have expected; and (iii) private returns are higher/lower in the higher/lower schooling levels.


Abstract Deuterium trapping in beryllium oxide films irradiated with 400 eV D ions has been studied by Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy (TDS). It has been found that for thermally grown BeO films implanted in the range 300–900 K the total deuterium retention doesn't depend on irradiation temperature whereas TDS spectra are temperature dependent. For R.T. implantation the deuterium is released in a wide range from 500 to 1100 K. At implantation above 600 K the main portion of retained deuterium is released in a single peak centered at about 1000 K. The similar TDS peak is measured for D/BeO co-deposited layer. In addition we correlate our implantation data on BeO with the relevant data on beryllium metal and carbon. The interrelations between deuterium retention and microstructure are discussed.


In Morocco it is still the king who defines the boundaries of political discourse and action. The palace is increasingly placing obstacles in the path of its strongest adversary, the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD). This was seen most recently in the difficult and protracted coalition negotiations following the October 2016 parliamentary elections. At the same time, pressure on civil society critics is steadily intensifying. The inherent promise of political reform in Morocco's comparatively inclusive model is increasingly eroding and gradually substituted with the promise of economic modernisation, potentially undermining the very bases of the kingdoms domestic stability. It is thus also in Europe's interests for Morocco to uphold the progress it has achieved through the political reforms of recent decades.


Abstract Contrary to the geological stereotype of pure-carbonate reef platforms, approximately 50% of shallow shelf area in the Tropics is accumulating siliciclastic and mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments. Taphonomic characterization of these settings is thus essential for assessing variation among major facies types within the Tropics, as well as for eventual comparison with higher-latitude settings. Our grab samples and dredge samples of bivalve death assemblages from nine stations in five subtidal habitats in a large marine embayment of Caribbean Panama (Bocas del Toro) provide the first actualistic information on the taphonomic condition of shells in Recent tropical siliciclastic sediments. Focusing on unambiguous damage to bivalve shell interiors, we found that the quality of shell preservation in fine-grained siliciclastics is superb: commonly <10% of specimens are affected by encrustation, boring, edge-rounding, and fine-scale surface alteration via dissolution, microbioerosion, and maceration. Pure-carbonate and mixed siliciclastic-carbonate environments containing hard substrata (patch reefs, Halimeda gravelly sand, mud among patch reefs) contain higher numbers of more severely damaged shells (generally >25%) and also higher diversities of fossilizable encrusters and borers. Disarticulation and fragmentation are pervasive across all environments and are probably related to predation rather than to postmortem processes. As in other shallow subtidal study areas, the taxonomic compositions of death assemblages have not been homogenized by postmortem transport but show high spatial fidelity to the distribution of living species. Assemblages from the five sedimentary environments have distinct taphonomic signatures, but the strongest differences are between the two fine-grained, exclusively soft-sediment siliciclastic environments on the one hand and the three environments containing hard substrata on the other. Experimental tests for rates and agents of damage, still in progress, indicate that the most critical environmental variables are exhumation cycles and burial rate. Bivalve death assemblages from Bocas del Toro demonstrate that damage levels in tropical fine-grained siliciclastic environments are much lower than in closely associated reefs and algal sands, and suggest a less filtered record of biological information.


This paper intends to propose a novel handover algorithm to balance the load of the layers in a multi-reuse scenario. Each layer works independently from each other and it has its own scheduling process, coverage and mobile stations attached. The algorithm proposed balances the resources among layers by moving mobile stations from one to another layer according their QoS requirements and channel condition. Results show that it can increase the cell coverage and still keeping a satisfactory quality for the VoIP calls. Effective spectral efficiency also increased when comparing with single tri-sectorized reuse 1 scenario. The algorithm is also prepared to avoid ping-pong handovers and to work for any number of layers.


In mid-September 2009, a 22-year-old critically ill Soldier was medically evacuated from a treatment facility in southern Afghanistan to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. Despite the efforts of the team at Landstuhl, this patient died and became the US military's first known victim of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF). CCHF is caused by a virus, which bears the same name. Because a vaccine is lacking, as well as an effective antiviral treatment, prevention is key.


On the basis of till fabric analyses, glacial striations, the distribution of tills and block fields in this region the vertical and horizontal extension of the continental ice sheet is discussed. The glaciation model indicates that the Late Weichselian ice sheet covered the entire area. The ice ftow was to the north northwest and only to a minor extent inftuenced by the local topography. The ice sheet extended to the continental edge west of the Nordmøre region. During the retreat of this Late Weichselian ice sheet a re-advance probably occurred. Nunataks were forrned and the marked boundary for the block fields was developed as an erosional limit along the surface of the ice sheet. The block fields themselves, however, were probably forrned before the last glaciers covered the area and have thus survived beneath the ice sheet


This work studies religious change through the archaeology of death and burial. In the period after the fall of Rome and before the Vikings, Scotland became a Christian society, but there are few historical documents to help understand how this happened. The process of conversion to Christianity in Scotland has long been a contentious issue, but until recent years, there was simply not enough reliable archaeological evidence to test the accepted narrative of conversion by missionaries from Ireland and Gaul. A number of key excavations over the last two decades have created the opportunity to reassess the evidence and test existing models. The earliest inhumation cemeteries in Scotland emerge in the period c. AD 400-650, and a large number of radiocarbon dates from these sites now provide a sturdy chronological framework for studying the effects of the conversion to Christianity. This is the first full-length study of the early medieval burial evidence from Scotland, and the first comprehensive revision of the archaeological evidence for early Christianity since the work of Charles Thomas in 1971.

A review of the latest historical research suggests that Christianity arrived in Scotland from at least the 5th century AD, which coincides with the emergence of inhumation cemeteries. In order to contextualise this material, a database of all burial evidence from Scotland in the first millennium AD was constructed to trace changes in ritual practice over the long term. A multiscalar analysis of this data – from individual graves, to 'family plots', to entire cemeteries – revealed new insights into funerary rituals and significant corrections of previous studies. Covering all of Scotland but keeping this in its wider northwestern European context, the theoretical framework adopted here follows the latest research on Anglo-Saxon England and early medieval Ireland, and analyses the material for what it can tell us about people's memories, hopes and fears rather than the usual political and economic narratives.

The Scottish burial evidence takes on a wide variety of forms, from long cists and log coffins to square barrows and cairns, generally placed away from settlement. New radiocarbon dates show conclusively that these burial rites predate Christianity in Scotland, and this study includes a crucial new review of pre-Christian funerary practices. Sequences of radiocarbon-dated burials from early Christian sites of the 5-7th centuries provide new evidence for what can and cannot be construed as a 'Christian' burial. Throughout the radical changes taking place in this period, including the origins of the Picts, Scots and Anglo-Saxons, funerary rituals helped create new social relationships, and mediated the tensions these could create, during times of upheaval. Rather than reflecting the arrival of Christianity, this complex network of social practices reveals the way Christianity was accommodated within Iron Age societies, and the way it was continually reinvented throughout the early medieval period into the Viking Age.

In adapting the new religion to existing lifeways, Christianity itself was 'converted', and this is the key to understanding changes in the archaeological record in Scotland and beyond. The Scottish evidence should now be seen as a crucial dataset for the study of the wider transformations of the post-Roman world. Recommendations for further research were proposed, including the need to expand research beyond the modern Scottish border. To promote continuing research, the burial database will be made available online.


This bibliography, with annotations, consists of almost 1380 citations derived from libraries in Berkeley, California, notably at the University of California. Most of the articles and books listed are in Armenian, but items in English, French, German, and Russian are also included. This book covers an area of study not often presented in substantial length and should be of interest to folklorists throughout the world.


In serum-free medium, TGF-beta, in a wide range of concentrations, stimulated DNA synthesis. A similar effect was achieved with insulin even after relatively short times. When TGF-beta and insulin were present simultaneously, the mitogenic effect was stronger than the effect achieved by either one separately, but without synergism. The PDGF, which is not mitogenic by itself in this cell line, did not increase the response to TGF-beta. In the presence of fetal bovine serum TGF-beta and insulin DNA synthesis was not stimulated. Two of the most important mitogenic growth factors for L-cells present in serum could be insulin and TGF-beta. Adenosine did not modify the mitogenic response to TGF-beta and insulin. However, in the presence of adenosine PDGF stimulated the growth of L-929. The results suggest that TGF-beta does not stimulate the growth of L-929 via an autocrine production of PDGF-related peptides in a serum-free model. TGF-beta blocked the inhibitory response to estradiol at high concentrations, but it did not affect the inhibitory response due to glucocorticoids. Insulin and TGF-beta caused an enhancement of beta-NGF and c-myc RNA expression. This effect appears much earlier with insulin. This difference suggests that mRNA accumulation provoked by TGF-beta is mediated by other factors. Fetal bovine serum had little effect on the expression of those two mRNAs.


Radical right parties have firmly established themselves in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since 1989. However, their support has waxed and waned more than that of their counterparts in Western Europe. This paradox, Bartek Pytlas argues, in a comparative study of Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, can be explained by the fact that ideological boundaries between radical outsiders and mainstream parties are more blurred. Conservative nationalists (Hungary, Poland) and social populists (Slovakia) provide stiff competition for the CEE radical right but can also legitimise radical right themes and offer it a route into coalition government (Poland, Slovakia). Competition between radical right parties and the mainstream 'near radical right', Pytlas argues, should be studied not just in spatial or directional terms (as in conventional party competition theory) but also in discursive terms: how parties frame and interpret radical nationalist narratives that are widely resonant in CEE. Radical right success cannot simply be read as a backlash by 'transition losers' against post-communist socio-economic modernisation. Pytlas uses Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis (CAQDA) of newspapers and party programmes supplemented by polling and expert survey data to pick out the key nationalist frames in the three states – for example, Poland as a 'bulwark of Christianity' or 'Gypsy crime' in Hungary – and to establish their resonance and 'ownership'. Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), the author then identifies how these patterns combine into 'synergy frameworks' which can explain the undulating electoral fortunes of the radical right. Radical Right Parties in Central and Eastern Europe is a methodologically bold and sophisticated fusion of party competition theory, notions of political opportunity structures, and ideas about framing. Its thoroughly argued analysis generates conclusions that are both credible and original. The book's key finding is that the radical right parties succeed where they have ownership of resonant frames on salient issues. Mainstream competitors can block off the rise of the radical right either by keeping the nationalist issues it owns off the political agenda or – if it cannot – by taking over these frames, albeit at the risk of mainstreaming them. The book's main weaknesses are arguably an over-focus on the discursive, screening out a raft of organisational and social factors and the many unresolved questions about why the discursive agency of far-right parties varies. It is unclear, for example, why Hungary's Jobbik party successfully created the 'Gypsy crime' frame while, with similar levels of public anti-Roma prejudice, the radical right in Slovakia did not.


Abstract A methodology, to quantify the reliability of passive safety systems, proposed for use in advanced reactor design, is developed. Passive systems are identified as systems that do not need any external input or energy to operate and rely only upon natural physical laws (e.g., gravity, natural circulation, heat conduction, internally stored energy, etc.) and/or intelligent use of the energy inherently available in the system (e.g., chemical reaction, decay heat, etc.). The reliability of a passive system refers to the ability of the system to carry out the required function under the prevailing condition when required: The passive system may fail its mission, in addition to the classical mechanical failure of its components, for deviation from the expected behavior, due to physical phenomena or to different boundary and initial conditions. The present research activity is finalized at the reliability estimation of passive B systems (i.e., implementing moving working fluids, see IAEA); the selected system is a loop operating in natural circulation including a heat source and a heat sink. The functional reliability concept, defined as the probability to perform the required mission, is introduced, and the R-S (Resistance-Stress) model taken from fracture mechanics is adopted. R and S are coined as expressions of functional Requirement and system State. Water mass flow circulating through the system is accounted as a parameter defining the passive system performance, and probability distribution functions (pdf's) are assigned to both R and S quantities; thus, the mission of the passive system defines which parameter values are considered a failure by comparing the corresponding pdfs according to a defined safety criteria. The methodology, its application, and results of the analysis are presented and discussed.


The Constitution of India envisages three types of emergencies: A national emergency; a state emergency (in the federal setup, regions are called states in India, and the central government has the power to impose an emergency if there is a breakdown of law and order in that state); and a financial emergency. The problem the State faces is how it can respond effectively to exceptional situations without casting its adherence to the rule of law into question." Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde offers a set of solutions within a model structure anchored in constitutional laws. The model structure, which applies at the federal level, advocates a separation between the authorizing agency—the political wing—and the implementation agency, as well as creating a distinction between a "law" and a "measure," and between a most extreme and a merely difficult situation. By focusing on the actions of the higher judiciary in India, this Article tests whether the safeguards in Böckenförde's model structure function at the sub-national state level in a very different geography and context. The results highlight the concern that the dynamics of democracy and the reality of how political power is garnered in a federal Westminster style framework effectively stymie the procedural innovations introduced by Böckenförde's model by creating conditions, not for fair play, but for subverting the spirit of the law. Even the procedures outlined by Böckenförde—such as an emphasis on making the agent who holds the emergency powers a political, and not merely an administrative organization—accentuates, rather than mitigates, this problem.


Two types of temporal variation in the radiation belts are studied using low altitude data taken onboard the DMSP F7 satellite: those associated with the solar cycle and those associated with large magnetic storm effects. Over a three-year period from 1984 to 1987 and encompassing solar minimum, the protons in the heart of the inner belt increased at a rate of approximately 6% per year. Over the same period, outer zone electron enhancements declined both in number and peak intensity. During the large magnetic storm of February 1986, following the period of peak ring current intensity, a second proton belt with energies up to 50 MeV was found at magnetic latitudes between 45 deg. and 55 deg. The belt lasted for more than 100 days. The slot region between the inner and outer electron belts collapsed by the merging of the two populations and did not reform for 40 days.


Abstract:The recent spate of coups and coup attempts—six successful and three failed attempts in the span of twelve months—is not an indication that coup activity will return to the high levels seen during the Cold War. There is no evidence of a contagious wave; what we are seeing is simply the coincidence of already coup-prone countries (mainly in Africa) having coup attempts in the same period. These attempts were also not driven by increased insurgent activity or by western training of these militaries. However, this flurry of coup activity has revealed that post–Cold War norms against coups have eroded and will likely continue to get weaker, making a return to post-Cold war levels of coup activity unlikely.


Digital educational platforms are widely used in improving the quality of language learning, blended education and managing distance teaching. There are different types of digital platforms which are aimed at specific aspects of language teaching: opened, partly opened and closed. Knowledge of potentials, advantages and disadvantages of these platforms helps to organize the educational process. Many usual methods of teaching can be computerized. Most work that we conduct during language teaching includes reading, writing, listening and grammar exercises can be conducted with the help of digital environment. This technology provides access to the resources any time, makes them available any place and expands opportunities of language learning. Platforms individualize language learning tuning the interface of exercises, speed of work and offering many various tasks with different types of check. They assist students' communication all over the world and make international exchanges possible. Platforms have similar core but each one has some specific features to attract users. Some of them are accessible only for authorized teachers and students. They are closed platforms with strict plan of course and without possibility of change. Partly opened platforms with opportunity of uploading necessary additional materials. Both these platforms are paid but provide participants with course, materials and support. Opened platforms are free and any concerned user can create the course. These platforms are suitable exactly for teachers with much educational material and wish to collect it on one contemporary resource for fast access and updating. Most platforms require different skills and of computer knowledge for manipulating smooth uninterrupted educational process and achieving the aims.


Engineering mechanics is a core course for mechanical engineering university students. In recent years, the lecturers of a second-year undergraduate engineering mechanics course faced many new challenges arising from ever-increasing class sizes, as well as evolving learning styles and expectations of new generation students due to advances in technology. This paper describes the evolution of a mechanics course in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of New South Wales using blended learning. Significant changes were implemented to (a) reduce the administrative burden associated with the large number of students, (b) maintain student interest and engagement throughout the semester, and (c) successfully deliver the learning outcomes. Student participation was observed to increase with integration of additional information and communication technology, as well as implementation of online assessments into the course structure. Surprisingly, implementation of the blended learning did not improve student academic performance in the summative assessments. This paper reflects what we have learned in the development of this blended learning mechanics course.


"Politeness" appears to be connected to a quite disparate set of related concepts, including but not limited to, "manners," "etiquette," "agreeableness," "respect" and even "piety." While in the East politeness considered as an important social virtue is present (and even central) in the theoretical and practical expressions of the Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist traditions, (indeed politeness has been viewed in these traditions as central to proper education) it has not featured prominently in philosophical discussion in the West. American presidents Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington all devoted discussion to politeness within the broader ambit of manners and etiquette, as too did Erasmus, Edmund Burke and Ralph Waldo Emerson but on the whole sustained philosophical engagement with the topic has been lacking in the West. The richest source for philosophical investigation is perhaps afforded by the centrality of the concept of respect in Immanuel Kant.However in this paper we will instead draw on the writings of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas to defend the centrality of "politeness" as an important and valuable moral virtue. Starting with an analysis of the broader Aristotelian arguments on the virtues associated with "agreeableness," namely, friendliness, truthfulness and wit I will argue that "politeness" should be thought of as an important moral virtue attached to social intercourse (and by extension the vice of impoliteness). I then move to identify an even broader and more important account of politeness, drawing on the work of Aquinas, as intimately connected to the notion of pietas (piety) as a fundamental part of the virtue of justice.


We present a new approach for parallel massive graph analysis of streaming, temporal data with a dynamic and extensible representation. Handling the constant stream of new data from health care, security, business, and social network applications requires new algorithms and data structures. We examine data structure and algorithm trade-offs that extract the parallelism necessary for high-performance updating analysis of massive graphs. Static analysis kernels often rely on storing input data in a specific structure. Maintaining these structures for each possible kernel with high data rates incurs a significant performance cost. A case study computing clustering coefficients on a general-purpose data structure demonstrates incremental updates can be more efficient than global recomputation. Within this kernel, we compare three methods for dynamically updating local clustering coefficients: a brute-force local recalculation, a sorting algorithm, and our new approximation method using a Bloom filter. On 32 processors of a Cray XMT with a synthetic scale-free graph of 224 ≈ 16 million vertices and 229 ≈ 537 million edges, the brute-force method processes a mean of over 50 000 updates per second and our Bloom filter approaches 200 000 updates per second.


Despite their increased popularity in Latin America, Africa and Asia, truth commissions have remained an overlooked solution to coming to terms with the recent human rights abuses perpetrated in communist Europe. Since the start of the democratization process in the early 1990s, only Germany, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Romania have employed truth commissions as methods to reckon with communist crimes. These five commissions share important similarities and differences in terms of their organizational structure, goals, activity, and efficacy. The scarcity of truth commissions in post-communist Europe is explained by the nature of communist repression, the legitimacy of the communist regime as a home-grown versus an externally-imposed political set of institutions and practices, and the use of lustration and access to secret files as methods to obtain truth, justice and reconciliation in post- totalitarian times.


A survey was conducted with 521 undergraduate health sciences students from the Federal University in Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil. Lifetime alcohol consumption was reported by 87.7% students, as compared to 30.7% for tobacco, with the latter reported more frequently by males (39.7%). The most common illicit drugs were solvents (11.9%), marijuana (9.4%), amphetamines and anxiolytics (9.2% each), cocaine (2.1%), and hallucinogens (1.2%). The main reason for illicit drug use was curiosity. Lifetime use of anabolic steroids was reported by 2.1% of the students. Alcohol abuse in the previous 30 days was reported by 12.4% of the students. Events following drinking included: fights (4.7%), accidents (2.4%), classroom absenteeism (33.7%), and job absenteeism (11.8%). Another important finding was that 47.3% of students drove after drinking. Opinions on drug abuse and patterns agree with those from similar studies in other regions of Brazil.


The studies in this thesis aimed to improve our understanding of cognitive and affective mechanisms involved in the development of reading fluency, both in Dutch typical and dyslexic readers. In typical readers we investigated the timing of orthography-phonology integration. Time course analyses of priming effects showed that adult readers could quickly translate orthographic representations into phonological representations. In contrast, developing readers in 2nd – 6th grade could access orthographic representations increasingly early throughout development, but could not yet activate phonological representations during the early lexical access stage of word reading. This suggests that although orthographic representations become increasingly automatized, phonological processes are not yet automatized in elementary school. In dyslexic readers we investigated phonological processing skills and uncertainty. Diffusion model analyses showed that dyslexics' word reading disfluency resulted mainly from phonological processing deficits, but uncertainty seemed to exacerbate the fluency impairment. This suggests that the heightened levels of uncertainty that children with dyslexia experience are not only a consequence but also a cause of their reading difficulties. Finally, we studied word reading fluency development in different foreign languages. Results indicated that although some of the underlying skills are universal, the skills that contributed most strongly depend on the language's orthographic transparency and writing system. Learning to read in a transparent alphabetic orthography mainly calls upon native language reading skills, whereas reading acquisition in an opaque orthography requires the involvement of broader linguistic and reasoning skills, and reading acquisition in a morphosyllabic orhography depends mostly on visual and nonverbal skills.


On a spring morning in 1914, in the stark foothills of southern Colorado, members of the United Mine Workers of America clashed with guards employed by the Rockefeller family, and a state militia beholden to Colorado's industrial barons. When the dust settled, nineteen men, women, and children among the miners' families lay dead. The strikers had killed at least thirty men, destroyed six mines, and laid waste to two company towns."Killing for Coal" offers a bold and original perspective on the 1914 Ludlow Massacre and the "Great Coalfield War." In a sweeping story of transformation that begins in the coal beds and culminates with the deadliest strike in American history, Thomas Andrews illuminates the causes and consequences of the militancy that erupted in colliers' strikes over the course of nearly half a century. He reveals a complex world shaped by the connected forces of land, labor, corporate industrialization, and workers' resistance.Brilliantly conceived and written, this book takes the organic world as its starting point. The resulting elucidation of the coalfield wars goes far beyond traditional labor history. Considering issues of social and environmental justice in the context of an economy dependent on fossil fuel, Andrews makes a powerful case for rethinking the relationships that unite and divide workers, consumers, capitalists, and the natural world.


At the end of World War II, the United States emerged as a world leader, putting into place international institutions based on its own liberal economic philosophy. Since then, the world has witnessed an increasing interconnectedness among states, with economic relationships continually blurring the distinction between domestic and international, as well as between state and societal forces. Much of the world associates this increased interconnectedness with human suffering around the globe. This dissertation seeks to test the effects of economic globalization on personal integrity violations within a state, on the whole. Specifically, I examine three aspects associated with globalization, trade openness, investment and IMF funding within a state. Liberal economic theory suggests that economic relationships should foster positive gains. Particularly, economic relationships engender economic prosperity, diffusion of norms and idea, as well as the growth of a middle class which increasingly demands respect for its political and civil rights. Consistent with the liberal paradigm, I find that open trade and investment lead to improved personal integrity rights. In addition, investment which originates from the hegemon is especially likely to increase a state's respect for personal integrity rights. Conversely, IMF funding is likely to provoke protests from people in recipient countries, which often leads to increased repression by the state. To the extent that the IMF chooses to place importance on human rights, future attention should be paid to the practices of recipient countries. Overall, this dissertation suggests overall support for the liberal paradigm, that open economic policies are most likely to lead to improved levels of personal integrity rights.


A comprehensive literature review was conducted to examine the current state of knowledge regarding passive piles which specifically focused on the recently adopted design methods for landslide prevention. Of all the publications compiled and reviewed for passive loading on piles, numerous efforts were found starting from over the last three decades, where major emphasis was placed on the various approaches ranging from theoretical and analytical to finite element methods. These methods have been adapted to predict the response of the piles, which also incorporates the influence of group interaction factors. Although research on passive piles subjected to lateral soil movement seems to be recent, there seemed to be a missing gap in research for pile groups used as landslide stabilizing piles. The authors believe that all of these state-of-the-art methods are widely accepted as it is supported by comparison with both field and laboratory data. Based on the review, the authors would like to highlight that further three dimensional (3D) modeling would offer another excellent alternative to study the response of those piles for landslide mitigation purposes.


Purpose: To assess the results of 1-minute and 5-minute Schirmer's test (ST) when the eyes are open (STo) and closed (STc) in normal participants. Methods: In a comparative, observational case series study, 34 normal volunteers were included in the study. Inclusion criteria were normal ophthalmologic findings except for refractive errors, no use of contact lenses, no history of previous medical or ophthalmic problems, and no current use of medications. STo and STc in 1 and 5 minutes time were performed separately for all subjects with an interval of at least 24 hours using Whatman No. 41 (5x60 mm) with bended end of the paper inserted into the lateral side of the lower conjunctival fornix. Results: There were 19 females and 15 males with a mean age of 20.8 years (range: 18-23). Mean value of STc was significantly less than STo in both 1 minute and 5 minute tests. One-minute STo and STc showed a significantly less wetting than 5-minute test. Normal distribution was observed for all values. A significant correlation were found between 1-minute and 5-minute tests in both STo and STc; therefore, two equations were proposed to calculate the 5-minute from 1-minute ST. Statistical analysis did not provide a reliable equation for calculating the standard ST (5-minute STo) from the most comfortable state (1-minute STc). Conclusion: Faster and more comfortable ST (1-minute) is a reliable test to calculate the 5-minute ST in both open and closed eye, using the provided equations. The 1-minute STc is not a reliable test to calculate the 5-minute STo.


The United States and Canada have found a solution to their century long "salmon war" over how many salmon can be taken by each side's fishing fleets from the once-bountiful Pacific salmon runs. Each country felt entitled to an "equitable" portion of the salmon, but no agreed means existed to calculate the shares. Canada felt that the prodigious U.S. fleet often caught more than its share. Substantial peace first came under the 1985 Pacific Salmon Treaty, but dwindling salmon populations, the expiration of the original management regimes, and flaws in those regimes threatened to doom the 1985 Treaty by the mid-1990s. The lack of harvest agreements left each country scrambling for the fish, putting unsustainable pressure on an already delicate resource. After half a decade of infighting and argument, Canada and the United States signed a new agreement under the treaty in 1999. On the surface, the genius of the new Agreement lies in the new "Abundance Based Management" scheme and the multimillion dollar Endowment Funds earmarked for conservation. The flexible, resourcebased management programs considered the yearly strength of the salmon runs before and during the harvest season. These new regimes, and the 1999 Agreement as a whole, were subject to review under the Endangered Species Act, completed by NMFS in 1999. The Endowment Funds provided a financial base to undertake substantial conservation initiatives. With the understanding that an imperfect agreement was better than no agreement, the Canadians effectively set aside their longstanding equity demands to achieve consensus. As part of the overall compromise, the United States agreed to fully finance the Endowment Funds for a total of (U.S.) $140 million. The sea change in Canadian negotiation posture reflected a renewed emphasis on resource conservation and a willingness to pioneer new avenues for success.


The aim of the present study was to identify the importance of performance indicators to predict shooting effectiveness in basketball according to match status. The sample was composed by 510 shots corresponding to n=10 games randomly selected from the FIBA Basketball World Cup (Turkey, 2010). The effects of the predictor variables on successful shots according to match status were analysed using Binomial Logistic Regressions. Results from balanced match status context allowed identifying significant interactions with shooting zone and previous action zones. On the other hand, results from unbalanced match status context allowed identifying interactions with passes used, shooting zone, and possession duration. The results showed no interaction with game period situational variable. The present findings allow improving coaches' plan and tasks that involve game constraints of the identified game scenarios.


Research interest in CO2-driven ocean acidification has been centered on certain groups of calcifying marine organisms, but knowledge on the possible impacts of ocean acidification on fish is limited. Our survey of the existing literature on the effects of increased pCO2 on fish (total of 116 papers) revealed that few studies were conducted under pCO2 conditions relevant to the future scenarios of ocean acidification. Information is nearly absent on reproduction, early development, and behaviour of marine fish. The short experimental durations of these studies preclude forecasting of how mortality and growth of marine fish would be affected by future increases in seawater CO2. Fish have been shown to maintain their oxygen consumption under elevated pCO2 conditions, in contrast to declines seen in several marine invertebrates, in spite of possible additional energetic costs incurred by higher pCO2. Impacts of prolonged CO2 exposure on reproduction, early development, growth, and behaviour of marine fish are important areas that need urgent investigation. There is also a need to rapidly advance research into possible acclimation of marine fish to high pCO2 environments, endocrine responses to prolonged CO2 exposure, and indirect influences through food availability and quality on fish growth, survival and reproduction. Useful guidance could be gained from the rich literature on the effects of freshwater acidification.


Most works in learning with differential privacy (DP) have focused on the setting where each user has a single sample. In this work, we consider the setting where each user holds $m$ samples and the privacy protection is enforced at the level of each user's data. We show that, in this setting, we may learn with a much fewer number of users. Specifically, we show that, as long as each user receives sufficiently many samples, we can learn any privately learnable class via an $(\epsilon, \delta)$-DP algorithm using only $O(\log(1/\delta)/\epsilon)$ users. For $\epsilon$-DP algorithms, we show that we can learn using only $O_{\epsilon}(d)$ users even in the local model, where $d$ is the probabilistic representation dimension. In both cases, we show a nearly-matching lower bound on the number of users required. A crucial component of our results is a generalization of global stability [Bun et al., FOCS 2020] that allows the use of public randomness. Under this relaxed notion, we employ a correlated sampling strategy to show that the global stability can be boosted to be arbitrarily close to one, at a polynomial expense in the number of samples.


Abstract. Elemental ratios in benthic foraminifera have been used to reconstruct bottom water temperature and carbonate saturation (Δ[CO32−]). We present elemental data for the long-ranging benthic foraminifera Oridorsalis umbonatus from sediment core tops that span a narrow range of temperatures and a wide range of saturation states. B/Ca, Li/Ca, Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios exhibit positive correlations with bottom water carbonate saturation. The sensitivity of individual element/calcium ratios to bottom water Δ[CO32−] varies considerably, with B/Ca being most sensitive and Sr/Ca the least sensitive. The empirically derived sensitivity of B/Ca, Li/Ca, Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca to bottom water Δ[CO32−] are 0.433 ± 0.053 and 0.0561 ± 0.0084 μmol mol−1 μmol kg−1 and 0.0164 ± 0.0015 and 0.00241 ± 0.0004 mmol mol−1μmol kg−1, respectively. To assess the fidelity of these relationships and the possibility of applying these relationships to earlier periods of Earth history, we examine the mechanisms governing elemental incorporation into foraminiferal calcite. Empirical partition coefficients for Li and Sr are consistent with Rayleigh fractionation from an internal pool used for calcification. For O. umbonatus and other benthic species, we show that the fraction of Ca remaining in the pool is a function of bottom water Δ[CO32−], and can be explained by either a growth rate effect and/or the energetic cost of raising vesicle pH at the site of calcification. Empirical partition coefficients for Mg and B may also be controlled by Rayleigh fractionation, but require that either the fractionation factor from the internal pool is smaller than the inorganic partition coefficient and/or additional fractionation mechanisms. O. umbonatus element ratio data may also be consistent with fractionation according to the surface entrapment model and/or the presence of discrete high- and low-Mg calcite phases. However, at present we are limited in our ability to assess these mechanisms. The new X/Ca data for O. umbonatus provide constraints to test the role of these mechanisms in the future.


The high school exit exam (HSEE) is rapidly becoming a standardized assessment procedure for educational accountability in the United States. I use a unique state-specific dataset to identify the effect of failing the HSEE on the likelihood that a student drops out early based on a Regression Discontinuity design. It shows that students who barely fail the exam are more likely to exit than those who barely pass despite being offered retest opportunities. The discontinuity amounts to a large proportion of the dropout probability of barely-failers, particularly for minority and low-income students, suggesting that the potential benefit of raising educational standards might come at the cost of increasing inequalities in the educational system.


African American men are rarely viewed, either in academic literature or in the popular media, as central to, or deeply embedded within, their families (Cochran, 1997; Gadsden and Smith, 1995; Madhubuti, 1990; Mirande, 1991; Rutherford, 1988; Staples 1986). Of late, an increasing number of studies have attempted to rectify this situation by looking at married or cohabiting black men within two-parent families (e.g. Ahmeduzzaman & Roopnarine, 1992; Allen 1981, Bowman, 1993, Bright and Williams, 1996; Fagan, 1998; J. McAdoo, 1981, 1988a, 1988b, 1993; McAdoo & McAdoo, 1994; Mirande, 1991; Taylor et al., 1988; Wade ,1994) with respect to their child-rearing values, provider role, or gender relations. Nevertheless, these are outweighed by studies (Barnes, 1987; Christmon, 1990; Furstenberg, 1988; Furstenberg and Harris, 1993; Hawkins and Eggebeen, 1991; Hendricks, 1981; Lerman, 1993a and 1993b; Lerman and Ooms, 1993; Marsiglio, 1987, 1991; Miller, 1994; Mott, 1990; Rivara, Sweeney, and Henderson, 1986 and 1987; Robinson, 1988) focusing on non-resident fathers, particularly teen fathers, who have come to epitomize what we mean when we say "black fathers." Following the trend, a burgeoning number of government programs on "responsible fatherhood" as well (Johnson and Sum, 1987; Pirog-Good, 1993; Savage, 1987), have focused on single black men who are nonresident fathers--or, more colloquially, "absent fathers." This is not to say that this image of black dads as predominantly "absent" is entirely an effect of smoke and mirrors. High rates of divorce, cohabitation, and teen and non-marital births among African Americans have lent substance to this image as well. (1) However, the findings from a number of studies on nonresident fathers (Danziger and Radin, 1990; Seltzer, 1991; Stier and Tienda, 1993; Taylor et al. 1990; Wattenberg, 1993) show that the lack of marriage or co-residence with the mother and child does not necessarily indicate non-involvement as a parent, as might be inferred from the term "absent." Apparently, black non-resident fathers have a higher rate than white and Hispanic non-resident fathers of visiting their children and partaking in primary care duties. In addition, they are more likely to give child support payments, though the payments tend to be lower. However, no study has looked at single African-American men who parent full-time. One might think such men are nonexistent, but most data indicate that they have been increasing over the past two to three decades. Eggebeen et al.'s 1996 study of National Survey of Families and Households data indicates that single-father families represented 15.5 percent of all single-parent families with children and that single-father families are increasingly formed by fathers who are young, have never been married, have low incomes and have fewer children. In each decade from 1960 to 1990, they found nonwhite children more likely than white children to reside in father-only families. Eggebeen et al.'s reading of census data indicated that by 1990, 3.3 percent of white children were in father-only families, while 5.6 percent of black children were. However, 1992 Census data indicated a smaller racial difference in black and white single fathering. That data indicated that 3.4 percent of black children 17 years old or younger lived in father-only households, compared to 3.3 percent of their white counterparts (Statistical Bulletin, 1993). While the percent of single-father families is small among all races, the proportion of African American single-father families seems to be at least as high as, or higher than, that of white single-father families. Nevertheless, an increasing number of studies continue to focus on the parenting experience of white fathers. See Barker, 1994; Chang & Deinard, 1982; DeFrain and Eirick, 1981; DeMaris & Greif, 1992; Greif, 1982, 1983, 1985a, 1985b, 1990, 1995; Greif & DeMaris, 1989, 1990, 1995; Hanson, 1986a, 1986b, 1988; Hipgrave, 1982; McKee & O'Brien, 1982; Risman, 1986; Robinson and Barrett, 1986; Rosenthal & Keshet, 1981; Smith & Smith, 1981; and Tedder et al. …


The class of multiple attribute decision making (MADM) problems is studied, where the attribute values are intuitionistic fuzzy numbers, and the information about attribute weights is completely unknown. A score function is first used to calculate the score of each attribute value and a score matrix is constructed, and then it is transformed into a normalized score matrix. Based on the normalized score matrix, an entropy-based procedure is proposed to derive attribute weights. Furthermore, the additive weighted averaging operator is utilized to fuse all the normalized scores into the overall scores of alternatives, by which the ranking of all the given alternatives is obtained. This paper is concluded by extending the above results to interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy set theory, and an illustrative example is also provided.


The aim of this systematic review was to comprehensively study the physical fitness test and batteries used by military and security forces. Our ultimate goal was to propose a physical fitness test battery to be used in military and security forces based on the currently available evidence. A literature search was conducted using four electronic databases; MEDLINE, SCOPUS, SPORTDISCUS and PUBMED and two search platform; OVID and EBSCOhot. Four categories of search terms were identified: assessment, tool, fitness and organization. Titles and abstracts were reviewed to determine whether the studies met the inclusion criteria. The electronic search strategy produced 5,492 studies. After applying the inclusion criteria, we identified a total of 193 studies. One hundred fifty-six studies (80.83%) assessed cardiorespiratory fitness, 133 studies (68.91%) assessed muscle skeletal fitness, 16 studies (8.29%) assessed motor fitness and 124 studies (64.25%) assessed body composition. The test that has been used the most included the 2.4 km run, sit-ups and pull-ups tests as well as body mass index, percentage of body fat measured by skinfold thickness and body weight and fat free mass. Meanwhile more evidence is accumulated in military and security forces, these tests should be included when assessing physical fitness in this population setting.


This paper reports on an exploratory study of perceptions of the effects of the impact of technology on the way mobile workers work and live. Narrative enquiry was used to gather stories from people using technology enabled mobility tools, and grounded theory was used to analyse the data. Narrative enquiry allowed participants to tell the stories that they perceived to be important and grounded theory permitted emergence of a meta-narrative that revolved around the transformative effects of technology on the way the participants work and how technology transforms the participants and their relationship to work. Key sub-themes are presented which detail these transformations. We frame these transformations through Kakihara & Sorensen's [1] theory of the three interrelated dimensions of mobile- human interaction: spatial, temporal, and contextual. Although exploratory in nature, implications for research and practice are suggested.


Bandstructure engineering of intersubband optical transitions has led to a new class of quantum cascade lasers (QCL) that simultaneously emit multiple wavelengths by suitable tailoring of the gain spectrum of identical cascaded active regions or by cascading of different active regions. Using the larrer approach the first super continuum semiconductor laser has been demonstrated. Bidirectional QCLs as well as preliminary results on intracavity nonlinear optical generation will be discussed.


A new method, based on hydrogen-bonding organocatalysis, was developed to achieve living ring-opening polymerization of N-carboxyanhydride of α-amino acids using aminoalcohols as initiators in the presence of N,N′-bis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]thiourea (TU-S). The thiourea provides, through hydrogen bonding, simultaneous activation of NCA monomers/reversible deactivation of polymer chain-ends/silencing of the tertiary amine and thus allows the polymerization to proceed in a highly controllable mode. For example, by using N,N-dimethyl ethanolamine (DMEA), as an initiator in the presence of TU-S, a series of well-defined linear polypeptides with differently designed Mns (3.01 × 104–18.10 × 104) and low PDI values (1.02–1.05) were successfully synthesized. This general strategy was also extended to the synthesis of well-defined di- and multi-armed polypeptides by using di-, tri-, or tetra-aminoalcohol initiators (methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), triethanolamine (TEA) or N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediamine (THEED)) in the presence of TU-S.


In drilling operations, non-Newtonian drilling fluid is continuously circulated in a closed loop. One of the ways to monitor and regulate drilling operations is by accurately measuring the flow rate of circulating drilling fluid before entering and after returning from the wellbore. The circulating fluid flows in an open channel on the return path from the wellbore. This work investigates the use of Venturi constriction to estimate the non-Newtonian fluid flow in an open channel. Based on the specific energy principle, a relation between volumetric flow rate and critical depth is developed, which is used to estimate the flow rate based on the measured critical depth. To measure a critical depth for a given flow rate, it is necessary to locate a critical depth position in the Venturi flume. In this study, the critical depth position is located using specific energy diagram (at a minimum specific energy within the Venturi constriction) and Froude Number approach (at a Froude Number equals to 1). Based on the identified critical depth, the flow conditions (subcritical, critical or supercritical) along the Venturi flume are observed. The location of the critical depth in the Venturi section is found by performing experiments at 350 [kg/min] flow rate of the fluid. Further, the developed critical depth flow model is tested for randomly varying flow rates (250-500 [kg/min]) with the identified critical depth location. The flow estimations of the model were within the acceptable limit. However, it is found that the estimates for 350 [kg/min] are comparatively more accurate, which proves that the critical depth and critical depth position depends on the flow rate and rheological properties.


Physically active lifestyles and other health-enhancing behaviors play an important role in preserving executive function into old age. Conversely, emerging research suggests that executive functions facilitate participation in a broad range of healthy behaviors including physical activity and reduced fatty food, tobacco, and alcohol consumption. They do this by supporting the volition, planning, performance monitoring, and inhibition necessary to enact intentions and override urges to engage in health damaging behavior. Here, we focus firstly on evidence suggesting that health-enhancing behaviors can induce improvements in executive function. We then switch our focus to findings linking executive function to the consistent performance of health-promoting behaviors and the avoidance of health risk behaviors. We suggest that executive function, health behavior, and disease processes are interdependent. In particular, we argue that a positive feedback loop may exist whereby health behavior-induced changes in executive function foster subsequent health-enhancing behaviors, which in turn help sustain efficient executive functions and good health. We conclude by outlining the implications of this reciprocal relationship for intervention strategies, the design of research studies, and the study of healthy aging.


Most of Australia's sheep rangelands are enclosed by a dingo-proof fence. Within these rangelands, where dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) are rare, red kangaroos (Macropus rufus) are considered to be food limited because their numbers respond to fluctuations in pasture biomass that are driven by highly variable rainfall. Outside this region, where dingoes are common, kangaroo densities are generally substantially lower, suggesting that dingoes are an important limiting factor. However, it is unclear whether dingoes can regulate kangaroo populations. In this study, red kangaroo and emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) numbers were monitored for varying periods during 1978–92 by aerial survey on both sides of the dingo fence in three areas in the north of the South Australian pastoral zone. Densities of red kangaroos and emus were lower outside the fence, although the disparity varied between areas and over time. The similarity in the environments on both sides of the fence and the marked step in kangaroo density at the fence are consistent with dingoes strongly limiting these prey populations. In the north-east of the pastoral zone, where kangaroo and emu densities are greatest, the contrast in density across the fence was most pronounced. Furthermore, the trends in density over time differed across the fence. Outside the fence, red kangaroos and emus remained at low densities following drought as dingo numbers increased. Inside the fence, red kangaroo and emu populations showed a 'typical' post-drought recovery. The data therefore suggest that, in some situations, dingoes may not simply limit red kangaroo and emu populations, but also regulate them. For this to occur, predation rate would need to be density dependent at low prey densities. The availability of alternative prey, and the reduction in the numbers of all prey during drought may provide the mechanism.


Application of data mining methods as a decision support system has a great benefit to predict survival of new patients. It also has a great potential for health researchers to investigate the relationship between risk factors and cancer survival. But due to the imbalanced nature of datasets associated with breast cancer survival, the accuracy of survival prognosis models is a challenging issue for researchers. This study aims to develop a predictive model for 5-year survivability of breast cancer patients and discover relationships between certain predictive variables and survival. The dataset was obtained from SEER database. First, the effectiveness of two synthetic oversampling methods Borderline SMOTE and Density based Synthetic Oversampling method (DSO) is investigated to solve the class imbalance problem. Then a combination of particle swarm optimization (PSO) and Correlation-based feature selection (CFS) is used to identify most important predictive variables. Finally, in order to build a predictive model three classifiers decision tree (C4.5), Bayesian Network, and Logistic Regression are applied to the cleaned dataset. Some assessment metrics such as accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and G-mean are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed hybrid approach. Also, the area under ROC curve (AUC) is used to evaluate performance of feature selection method. Results show that among all combinations, DSO + PSO_CFS + C4.5 presents the best efficiency in criteria of accuracy, sensitivity, G-mean and AUC with values of 94.33%, 0.930, 0.939 and 0.939, respectively.


Advances in ubiquitous computing have resulted in changes to the way we access and use everyday applications, e.g. reading mail and booking tickets. At the same time, users interact with these applications in a variety of ways, each with different characteristics, e.g., different degrees of bandwidth, different payment schemes supported and so on. These are highly dynamic interactions, as some of the applications might become unavailable (either temporarily or permanently) or their behaviour may change. As the user has to deal with a large number of proactive and dynamic applications every day, he will need a personal assistant that possesses similar characteristics. The agent paradigm meets this requirement, since it exhibits the necessary features. As a result, the user will provide its personal agent assistant with a goal, e.g. I need a smartphone which costs less than three hundred pounds, and the agent will have to use a number of applications offering information on smartphones so that it finds the requested one. This, in turn, raises a number of issues regarding the organisation and the degrees of access to these services as well as the correctness of their descriptions.

In this work, we propose the organisation of applications around the concept of artificial agent societies, to which access would be possible only by a positive evaluation of an agent's application. The agent will provide the Authority Agent with the role it is applying for and its competencies in the context of a protocol, i.e., the messages that it can utter/understand. The Authority Agent will then check to see if the applicant agent is a competent user of the protocols; if yes, entry is granted.

Assuming that access is granted, the next issue is to decide on the protocol(s) that agent receives. As providing the full protocol will cause security and overload problems, we only need to provide the part required for the agent to play its role. We show how this can be done and how we can repair certain protocols so that they are indeed enactable once this role decomposition is performed.


The formation of elemental carbon (diamond or graphite) via the carbonate-silicate interaction in MgCO 3 -SiO 2 , CaMg(CO 3 ) 2 -SiO 2 , and MgCO 3 -(SiO 2 +Al 2 O 3 ) Systems has been experimentally studied at 5.2–7.5 GPa and 1200 to 1800°C. A special high-pressure cell in which a source of hydrogen (TiH 1.9 ) was placed outside the Pt-capsule containing a carbonate-silicate mixture, was used. As the result of the carbonate-silicate interaction, carbon of carbonates was converted into diamond in association with enstatite+coesite+magnesite, forsterite+enstatite+magnesite, coesite+diopsite+dolomite, and magnesite+coesite+pyrope. The main parameters governing the process of diamond formation via the carbonate-silicate interactions are the temperature, the pressure, and the oxygen fugacity. Depending on the temperature, diamond and graphite crystallized in either subsolidus fluid or melt. According to the gas chromatographic data, fluid composition during diamond crystallization varied from almost pure CO 2 to aqueous. Under the experimental conditions corresponding to the field of thermodynamic stability of diamond, the increase in the temperature caused evolution of the processes of carbon formation, from crystallization of metastable graphite to nucleation of diamond.


This paper focuses on hotel restaurant staff shift scheduling problem. Personnel costs make up a high percentage of the total operating costs at hotels and hotel restaurants, so keeping those costs down is a critical management issue for these managers. We developed the Total Shift Scheduling Model (TSSM) as a method for creating restaurant shift schedules that can maintain service quality while cutting costs (by keeping personnel costs to a minimum). The TSSM simultaneously delivers quality customer service while considering employee tasks, as it is designed to calculate the optimum number of personnel needed. More specifically, the TSSM (1) forecast the number of likely restaurant customers by looking at past operational history and accommodation trends, (2) calculates the number of workers needed by looking at what employees do on the job and how duties are assigned at the restaurant, (3) calculates workload by looking at what services employees provide and operational trends in the restaurant, and (4) creates an employee shift schedule. With these steps, the TSSM is able to produce shift schedules designed to level out employee workloads and improve customer service, thus reducing overall labor costs. We then make use of the insights gained through this process to verify the effectiveness of the TSSM, and obtain the desired results. Keyword— shift scheduling, restaurant service, employee workload


As millions of individuals face the complex challenge of adopting prohealth behavior as a core lifestyle attribute, there is an ever-increasing need to take an opportunistic approach to practicing and internalizing such behavior. Time constraints, prioritization, and time mismanagement widely contribute to the perceived inability of individuals to adhere to prohealth behavior. Given vocation as a demand that constitutes approximately one third of daily life activity, the organizational setting has emerged as a context that can potentially offer a vast array of viable workplace wellness (WW) opportunities. Such initiatives go beyond framing organizations as vehicles for health behavior promotion—instead, the workplace is an institution that has the power to redefine corporate culture through the implicit indoctrination of prohealth ideals. As organizations increasingly acknowledge the critical linkage between healthcare costs and employee performance, there emerges an exigent call for the incorporation of health and wellness as foundational cornerstones of the organizational mission statement. However, the extant literature fails to provide a comprehensive model that elucidates the motivational foundations of WW initiatives. The following paper proposes a triadic model that consists of social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954), need theory (McClelland, 1951, 1961), and self-actualization (Maslow, 1954, 1970)— social cognitive theories that serve to highlight the motivational drivers of WW participation and elucidate how participation could potentially motivate individuals to affect change at the community level. Discussion concludes with perspectives on the extent to which WW participants can internalize collaboration, common purpose, congruence, commitment, and citizenship as core values and elements of social change agency.


Promoting physical activities that involve both parents and their children would be very useful to the improved health and well-being of families, yet coactivity interventions have been particularly unsuccessful in past research. The purpose of this study was to elicit the salient parental beliefs about coactivity framed through theory of planned behavior in order to inform future intervention content. A representative sample of Canadian parents (N = 483) with children aged 6 to 14 years completed belief elicitation measures of theory of planned behavior, as well as coactivity and program preferences. Analyses included content theming by physical activity belief and preference through tallies of the percentages of parents endorsing each belief. Exploratory analyses of differences in endorsed themes were conducted by parent (mother, father), age of child (6-10 years, 11-14 years), and sex of the child. The results showed that behavioral beliefs about health, interpersonal and educational/learning opportunities and control beliefs about lack of time, various incompatible parent/child factors, parental health, and bad weather were dominant themes. Most of these themes did not vary in endorsement by parent and child characteristics. By contrast, preferences for various activities varied by parent and child characteristics, yet parents overwhelmingly desired the activities to be outdoors, close to home, after work, and originally delivered from community health professionals via Internet or face-to face means. Overall, the findings provide several considerations for specific targets to improve future physical activity intervention approaches among parents and their children.


Abstract. The effects of changing the amount of silica in the cell wall of diatom prey, on the production, decomposition rate and sinking velocity of fecal pellets of the calanoid copepod, Calanus sinicus, were examined. Using different light intensities to control the growth of the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii also led to the accumulation of different amounts of biogenic silica. Copepods were then fed either low ( ∼  1600 cells L−1) or high ( ∼  8000 cells L−1) concentrations of this diatom. Copepods fed a high concentration of diatoms with high-silica content exhibited a lower grazing rate and lower fecal pellet production rate than those fed a high concentration of diatoms with low-silica content. However, there was no difference in either the grazing or fecal pellet production rates at low prey concentrations with high- or low-silica content. The size of the fecal pellets produced was only affected by the prey concentration, and not by the silica content of prey. In addition, the degradation rate of the fecal pellets was much higher for copepods fed a low-silica diet than for those fed a high-silica diet. Significantly lower densities and sinking rates only occurred in the fecal pellets of copepods fed a low-silica diet and a low prey concentration. Calculating the L ratio (the ratio of degradation rate : sinking rate) for each group indicated that the fecal pellets produced by copepods fed highly silicified diatoms are likely to transport both biogenic silica and organic carbon to the deep layer, whereas those produced following the consumption of low-silica diatoms are likely to decompose in the mixing layer.


Ninety-five percent of patients with palmoplantar pustulosis are smokers at onset of the disease. The aim of this study was to determine whether these patients have serum antibodies to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR ab) and if their sera induce a specific immunofluorescence in normal palmar skin. Sera from 45 patients with palmoplantar pustulosis and 23 patients with chronic hand eczema were analysed for muscle nAChR ab, and immunofluorescence was performed on healthy palmar skin. Forty-two percent of the patients with palmoplantar pustulosis but none of the eczema patients had raised levels of nAChR ab. Immunofluorescence showed staining on endothelial cells in the papillary dermis in 47% of all sera from patients with palmoplantar pustulosis and in those with nAChR ab in 68%. On palmar skin from smokers there was also a staining of the sweat duct. Sera from patients with chronic hand eczema were negative. Our findings indicate that palmoplantar pustulosis is an autoimmune disease, possibly induced by smoking.


Adults' Perceptions of Children with Mental Illness Labels Who Tell Truths and Lies by Jessica McCurdy Advisor: Angela Crossman This study examined whether children's truthand lie-telling is perceived differently by adults when the children have mental illness labels (MIL). Participants (N = 432) read a vignette and watched a video from each of four veracity/motivation (i.e., prosocial truth, antisocial truth, prosocial lie, antisocial lie) and child label (i.e., control, ADHD, depression, asthma) conditions. After each video/vignette combination, participants rated their impressions of and responses towards the child. Participants also completed measures of their implicit and explicit attitudes towards mental illness. The results indicated participants had more negative perceptions of children they rated higher on dangerousness and lower on control. Children without mental illness labels were rated as more in control than children with mental illness labels. However, while diagnoses did impact perceptions of the children, they did not predict perceptions of their lie-telling, with one exception. Children labeled with depression who made antisocial statements were rated more negatively than children labeled with ADHD. Overall, participants rated children who made antisocial statements, told lies, and older children more negatively than children who made prosocial statements, told truths, and younger children. They rated antisocial lies worst and prosocial truths most positively, with antisocial truths and prosocial lies equivalent. Participants with high implicit and explicit biases rated children with mental illness labels more negatively than participants with high implicit and low implicit biases and low explicit and implicit biases. However, participants with low implicit and explicit biases were unique in rating males more positively than females. Implications of these findings for future research on the socialization of truth– and lie-telling in children with mental illness labels are explored.


In the last generation, American parenting norms have shifted strongly in favor of Intensive Parenting, placing particular emphasis on protecting children from risks of harm. Recently, a backlash to this trend has emerged. "Free Range" parenting is based on the concern that coddling children through overprotection inhibits the development of their independence and responsibility. Indeed, a growing body of literature suggests that parental overreaction to remote and even illusory risks of physical harm is exposing children to far more serious risks to their well-being and development. But the powerful influence of media has sensationalized the risks to children, skewing popular perceptions of the genuine risks children face and of what constitutes a reasonable or appropriate response to such risks. Consequently, individuals who do not buy into Intensive Parenting norms, including those from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, may be subjecting themselves to criminal prosecution for child neglect and endangerment. The criminal statutes are, for the most part, very vague, leaving these prosecutions — which amount to little more than one person's second-guessing the parenting choices of another — in the discretion of prosecutors, who bring the charges, and of juries, who render verdicts. If prosecutors and jurors share the media-fed misperceptions of risk, overprotective parenting becomes the de facto legal standard of care. To counter this possibility, it is necessary to define criminal child neglect with far greater specificity and to allow defendants to introduce expert testimony to put the actual risks to children, as well as the downside risk of the precautions themselves, in perspective. Absent such changes, fear of prosecution may effectively force parents to conform to the overprotective parenting norm, to the detriment of society, families, and the children themselves.


Abstract. We present a case study of tropospheric aerosol transport in the eastern Mediterranean, based on airborne measurements obtained south of Greece on 7 June 1997. Airborne observations (backscattering lidar at 0.532 m m with polarization measurements, in situ particle counters/sizers, and standard meteorological measurements) are complemented by monitoring with Meteosat visible and infrared images and a ground-based sun-photometer, air-mass back-trajectory computations, and meteorological analyses. As already observed from ground-based lidars in the Mediterranean region, the vertical structure of the lower troposphere appears complex, with a superposition of several turbid layers from the surface up to the clean free troposphere which is found here above 2 to 4 km in altitude. The aircraft observations also reveal an important horizontal variability. We identify the presence of depolarising dust from northern Africa in the most elevated turbid layer, which is relatively humid and has clouds embedded. The lowermost troposphere likely contains pollution water-soluble aerosols from eastern continental Greece, and an intermediate layer is found with a probable mixture of the two types of particles. The column optical depth at 0.55 m m estimated from Meteosat is in the range 0.15-0.35. It is used to constrain the aerosol backscattering-to-extinction ratio needed for the backscattering lidar data inversion. The column value of 0.017 sr -1 is found applicable to the various aerosol layers and allows us to derive the aerosol extinction vertical profile. The aerosol extinction coefficient ranges from 0.03 km -1 in the lower clean free troposphere to more than 0.25 km -1 in the marine boundary layer. Values are -1 in the elevated dust layer but its thickness makes it dominate the aerosol optical depth at some places.


Young's modulus, hardness and fracture toughness of highly ordered nanoporous alumina (PAA) were measured by nanoindentation and Vickers microindentation. A finite element model that accounts for the anisotropy and the pores was developed to extract the Young's modulus and hardness values from the experiments. The measured Young's modulus of 140 GPa was not affected by a heat treatment at 650 degreesC. However, the same heat treatment causes the hardness to increase from 5.2 to 6.3 GPa, while the fracture toughness sharply decreases from 3.4 to 0.4 MPa-m(1/2). When the indentation is made on the top surface of the membrane, nanopore collapse in shear bands rather than crack formation was observed around the indent. This suggests that the pores greatly improve the toughness of the porous alumina in the transverse direction. X-ray diffraction shows no sign of crystallization of the amorphous alumina after annealing at 650 degreesC. However, FTIR spectra show that the heat treatment significantly reduces the OH content of the amorphous structure. Thus it appears that the sharp reduction in the fracture toughness after annealing can be attributed to changes in the amorphous structure due to the loss of water.


In the South-Western part of the Netherlands the Delta project is being carried out consisting inter alia of k main dams closing k large inlets (fig.1). Through the four tidal inlets to be closed about 1800 million cubic metres of water run into the Delta area during flood tide and flow out again during ebb tide. This means about 7000 million cubic metres daily. The bottom of the inlets and the sea-bottom consist of fine sand (deQ = .100 - .2500 mm), which is in constant movement. During the past centuries considerable changes in the bottom contour have taken place. Yearly many millions of cubic metres of sand are moved by the water. The bottom is a very complicated system of gullies and sandbanks which has evolved down the centuries and is ever changing. It is evident that the dams under construction will out off the tidal flow into and out of the area and that this will result in a considerable change in the sand movement. The underwater estuary extending as far as 20-25 km seawards from the dams will probably have to adapt itself rather suddenly, i.e., within a few decennia. This can be dangerous for the Western extremities of the islands. The whole combination of phenomena concerned has to be studied and watched very carefully. Basic information concerning the sand movement and its consequences is given by soundings. A long term of frequent and accurate soundings with very good repeatability i3 required for the entire coastal area of the estuary. However, the meteorological conditions for sounding are such that good conditions only obtain on about 20 days a year, because good visibility and a quiet sea must occur simultaneously. Moreover, there is a serious shortage of landmarks and at distances seawards of less than 10 km from the shore visual location is impossible. The only solution is to make the location independent of visibility. For these reasons it was decided that a system of radio-location should be devised. We were advised by an independent expert to adopt the Decca survey system. With such a system it is possible to make frequent soundings with very good repeatability and with a reasonably low number of launches, because many more suitable days (and nights) become available. This system of radio-location is called the Delta chain. The system is also used for special purposes (velocity and sand transport measurements).


Ten years after Nielsen wrote about the "next generation interface" [1] we are still largely confined to WIMP [2] interfaces in design computing. A big question that lies ahead is 'Does the integration of computing technology through Augmented Reality help the formal design investigation process?' There are several suggestions that the conventional desktop metaphors are counter-intuitive for understanding spatial relationships [1, 3, 4]. Main concern is the mismatch in mapping of presentation and interface. Looking at other research areas, one can see that the application of Augmented Environments (AE) can enhance the speed of decision making [5] or creates better understanding of complex spatial arrangements [6] due to the fact that information is displayed where it occurs. Obviously, the representation and interaction is crucial for perceptive performance in design sketching as it is in AEs. This article will discuss a software prototype called sketchand+ and the implications of Augmented Reality for digital design.


For centuries architects have carried out shape computations by hand, using informal procedures and the simplest of tools. Over the last two decades, however, they have made increasing use of more formal procedures executed by computers, a development that raises challenging questions of architectural theory and perplexing issues for those concerned with the future of architectural education. In four parts - theoretical foundations, electronic media in the design studio, information delivery systems for design, and knowledge based design systems - this book frames those issues and provides a diversity of perspectives on them."The Electronic Design Studio "contains over thirty extensively illustrated contributions that discuss the experiences of universities in the United States, Europe, Japan, Israel, Canada, and Australia with computer-aided architectural (CAAD) design, articulate current theoretical and practical concerns, provide criticism of media and methods, and suggest directions for the future. Architectural educators and architects concerned with the effect of computer technology on the design process will find this book an indispensable reference. As a current review of the state of the art of CAAD and an overview of the major issues, this is the most comprehensive source available.


Consider the dynamics of a thin film flowing down a heated substrate. The substrate heating generates a temperature distribution on the free surface, which in turn induces surface-tension gradients and corresponding thermocapillary stresses that affect the free surface and therefore the fluid flow. We study here the effect of finite substrate thermal diffusivity on the film dynamics. Linear stability analysis of the full Navier-Stokes and heat transport equations indicates if the substrate diffusivity is sufficiently small, the film becomes unstable at a finite wavelength and at a Reynolds number smaller than that predicted in the long-wavelength limit. This property is captured in a reduced-order system of equations derived using a weighted-residual integral-boundary-layer method. This reduced-order model is also used to compute the bifurcation diagrams of solution branches connecting the trivial flat film to traveling waves including solitary pulses. The effect of finite diffusivity is to separate a simultaneous Hopf-transcritical bifurcation into its individual component bifurcations. The appropriate Hopf bifurcation then connects only to the solution branch of negative-hump pulses, with wave speed less than the linear wave speed, while the branch of positive-single-hump pulses merges with the branch of positive-two-hump pulses at a supercritical Reynolds number. In the regime where finite-wavelength instability occurs, there exists a Hopf-bifurcation pair connected by a branch of periodic solutions, whose period cannot be increased indefinitely. Numerical simulation of the reduced-order system shows the development of a train of coherent structures, each of which resembles a stationary positive-hump pulse, and, in the regime of finite-wavelength instability, wavelength selection and saturation to periodic traveling waves.


Through the birth of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the development of an agreement for standards of trade-related intellectual property rights and an increasingly coercive approach by the United States, the world is moving towards a uniform, global system of intellectual property protection. By considering the development of the TRIPS Agreement and the mechanisms by which it is enforced, this paper identifies the effects of the evolving system of protection for developing countries. The emphasis is on the practical operation of the system – particularly the role of the United States in enforcing levels of protection in line with, and in addition to, TRIPS – and the results which have so far been achieved. The implications of the emerging system and the arguments for and against comprehensive protection of intellectual property in developing countries are then considered and some recommendations offered.


The avoidable risk of patient harm from a complication in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory (cath lab) remains too high. The causes are often multifactorial, reflecting the complex interaction between operator, patient, team and procedure. Adverse events are typically preceded by missed opportunities for recognition and prevention by members of the team. Safety in the airline industry has been revolutionised by understanding the importance of human factors, encompassing team leadership, structured communication and resource management. Addressing the role of human factors in the cath lab has the potential to improve safety and clinical outcomes.

Adverse events affect approximately 10% of acute inpatients.1 Repeated analyses indicate that errors are rarely a failure of technical ability, but occur due to breakdown of teamwork and communication. In the surgical operating theatre, there is a relationship between the frequency of communication errors and the incidence of adverse events.2 Safety checklists and team briefing are proven interventions to support communication in safety-critical situations.

The safety checklist was developed after the Boeing Model 299 crashed on its maiden test flight in 1935, due to a simple pilot error. It acts as a safeguard against lapses in concentration, a reminder to actively review safety-critical steps. The first systematic study of a healthcare checklist was performed in 2004: implementation of a care bundle which included a checklist dramatically reduced the rate of central line infection in the intensive care unit.3

WHO's Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) was a landmark checklist in medicine.4 Introduction of the checklist was associated with a reduction in surgical complications and mortality.5 The UK National Patient Safety Agency mandated use of the SSC for patients undergoing a surgical procedure from 2009 onwards, and a number of specialties such as interventional radiology have since produced adapted versions.

The reason for the efficacy …


Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is considered a global threat, and novel drug discovery needs to be complemented with systematic and standardized epidemiological surveillance. Surveillance data are currently generated using phenotypic characterization. However, due to poor scalability, this approach does little for true epidemiological investigations. There is a strong case for whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to enhance the phenotypic data. To establish global AMR surveillance using WGS, we developed a laboratory implementation approach that we applied within the NIHR Global Health Research Unit (GHRU) on Genomic Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance. In this paper, we outline the laboratory implementation at four units, in Colombia, India, Nigeria, and the Philippines. The journey to embedding WGS capacity was split into four phases: Assessment, Assembly, Optimization, and Reassessment. We show that onboarding WGS capabilities can greatly enhance the real-time processing power within regional and national AMR surveillance initiatives, despite the high initial investment in laboratory infrastructure and maintenance. Countries looking to introduce WGS as a surveillance tool could begin by sequencing select Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) priority pathogens that can demonstrate the standardization and impact genome sequencing has in tackling AMR.


The present compiled dissertation explores culture jamming as a social movement in late capitalist information society. Culture jamming embraces groups and individuals practicing symbolic protest against the expansion and domination of large corporations and the logic of the market into public and private life. The central aim is to understand the meaning of culture jamming; its "model" of collective identification, and its protest and mobilizing strategies. International social movement research mostly focuses upon well established movements that are traditionally organized and directed against conventional political institutions. Studying culture jamming as a social movement therefore entails implications for social movement theory and research. For instance, concepts must be adjusted to cover emerging "individualized" forms of collective action and the effects of cyberspace on collective identification. Furthermore, attention is directed to emotions in culture jamming. It is thereby also argued that social movement research generally may have a lot to gain from incorporating emotion theory.Data consists of texts and visuals from the organization Adbusters Media Foundation, and seven interviews with culture jammers. The groups represented in the interviews are Institute for Applied Autonomy, Reverend Billy's Church of Stop Shopping, New York Surveillance Camera Players, Bureau of Inverse Technology, Rtmark, and the French Casseurs de Pub. The method of analysis is "abductive" qualitative text analysis inspired by hermeneutic qualitative analysis and the epistemological and ontological foundations of discourse theory and post-structuralism.Analysis is carried out in five separate studies presented in text I-IV (previously published) and in chapter eight. Text I maps the Adbusters Media Foundation (AMF) along the lines of narrative, organization, ends, means, and strategy. Text II offers an analysis of the various nodal points in the AMF discourse and discusses the tensions inherent to the AMF effort to "hegemonize" the meaning of culture jamming. Text III offers an analysis of culture jamming as political activism from the thematic perspective of culture, place and identity, based on four of the interviews. In text IV the AMF visuals are analyzed from the perspective of emotions and social movement mobilization. Chapter eight brings together the seven interviews and the AMF material into an analysis of emotions in culture jamming.


Abstract. The effect of relative humidity (RH) on secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from the photooxidation of isoprene under initially high nitric oxide (NO) conditions (i.e., isoprene/NO ~3) was investigated in a dual outdoor smog chamber. Based upon particle volume concentration measurements and the detailed chemical characterization of isoprene SOA using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and ultra performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization high-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-HR-Q-TOFMS), enhanced SOA formation was observed under lower RH conditions (15–40 %) compared to higher RH conditions (40–90 %). 2-methylglyceric acid (2-MG) and its corresponding oligoesters, which have been previously shown to form from further oxidation of methacryloylperoxynitrate (MPAN), were enhanced in the particle-phase under lower RH conditions. In addition, an abundant unknown SOA tracer likely derived from the further oxidation of MPAN was detected and enhanced under lower RH conditions. In contrast, the 2-methyltetrols, which are known to mainly form from the reactive uptake of isoprene epoxydiols (IEPOX) under low-NO conditions in the presence of acidified aerosol, did not substantially vary under different RH conditions; however, isoprene-derived organosulfates were found to be enhanced under high-RH conditions, indicating the likely importance of the aqueous aerosol phase in their formation. Based upon the detailed chemical characterization results, particle-phase organic esterification is tentatively proposed to explain the observed enhancements of isoprene SOA mass under lower RH conditions. Alternative mechanisms explaining the enhancement of 2-MG and its corresponding oligoesters cannot be completely ruled out. This is one of only a few chamber studies that have examined the effect of RH on isoprene SOA formation. In comparison to our recent results obtained from aromatic SOA formation, the effect of RH on isoprene SOA formation is reversed. The results of this study highlight the importance of elucidating the key reactive intermediates that lead to SOA formation, especially since RH likely affects their ability in forming SOA. Furthermore, ignoring the effects of RH may significantly affect the accuracy of both regional and global SOA models.