Many fields have explored the nature of mental life from psychology to psychiatry, literature to linguistics. Yet no common "framework" where each of these important perspectives can be honored and integrated with one another has been created in which a person seeking their collective wisdom can find answers to some basic questions, such as, What is the purpose of life? Why are we here? How do we know things, how are we conscious of ourselves? What is the mind? What makes a mind healthy or unwell? And, perhaps most importantly: What is the connection among the mind, the brain, and our relationships with one another? Our mental lives are profoundly relational. The interactions we have with one another shape our mental world. Yet as any neuroscientist will tell you, the mind is shaped by the firing patterns in the brain. And so how can we reconcile this tension-that the mind is both embodied and relational? Interpersonal Neurobiology is a way of thinking across this apparent conceptual divide. This Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology is designed to aid in your personal and professional application of the interpersonal neurobiology approach to developing a healthy mind, an integrated brain, and empathic relationships. It is also designed to assist you in seeing the intricate foundations of interpersonal neurobiology as you read other books in the Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology. Praise for Daniel J. Siegel's books: "Siegel is a must-read author for anyone interested in the science of the mind." -Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships "[S]tands out for its skillful weaving together of the interpersonal, the inner world, the latest science, and practical applications." -Jack Kornfield, PhD, founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Center, and author of A Path With Heart "Siegel has both a meticulous understanding of the roles of different parts of the brain and an intimate relationship with mindfulness . . . [A]n exciting glimpse of an uncharted territory of neuroscience." -Scientific American Mind "Dr. Daniel Siegel is one of the most thoughtful, eloquent, scientifically solid and reputable exponents of mind/body/brain integration in the world today." -Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, author of Wherever You Go, There You Are, Full Catastrophe Living, and Coming to Our Senses


The past decade has been marked by the coming to prominence of social policy doctrines at the centre of which sits the idea that poverty reduction is best achieved through increased levels of labour market participation. A major reference point in the debate is the Netherlands, where a radical policy shift from passive benefit adequacy towards boosting labour market participation was initiated around the late 1980s and where it has been vigorously pursued since. The Netherlands is routinely praised for achieving a meteoric rise in employment, while maintaining extensive social protection and low levels of poverty and inequality. This article shows that unprecedented employment growth during the 1980s and 1990s went accompanied with comparatively small reductions in absolute poverty and a rise in relative poverty among the working-age population. These developments are linked to the main features of Dutch economic and social policy. The article also draws out some general lessons.


Education changes the brain. The purpose of this meta-review is to afford teachers access to the most upto- date research regarding principal neuro-processes of adolescent development and behavior to improve students' well-being and motivation in the classroom. This includes facets such as emotional, social, risk and reward mechanisms, stressors, technology, and learning. Understanding the scientific basis behind processes, such as learning and memory, empowers teachers with the knowledge to quantify the effects of their teaching on the brain, to facilitate successful learning, and to contribute to the present as well as future health and well-being of their adolescent students.


Scholars engaged in empirical legal research have long struggled to balance the methodological demands of social science with the normative aspirations of legal scholarship. In recent years, empirical legal scholarship has increased dramatically in methodological sophistication, but in the process has lost some of its relevance to the normative goals that animate legal scholarship. In many empirical studies, the phenomena that are readily measured have a complex relationship with the values that are relevant to legal reform, yet empirical scholars often neglect to explain how their positive findings relate to normative claims. Although some empirical studies offer prescriptions, they often rely on normative premises that are clearly untenable or simply fail to explain how they purport to derive an 'ought' from an 'is.' Other empirical studies avoid prescription altogether, reporting results without clarifying how they are relevant to meaningful questions about law or legal institutions. Using as examples three types of measures commonly used to evaluate judges and institutions — citation counts, reversal rates, and inter-judge disparities — this Article describes widespread flaws in efforts to connect the 'is' and the 'ought' in empirical legal scholarship. The Article argues that normative implications should not be an afterthought in empirical research, but rather should inform research design. Empirical scholars should focus on quantities that can guide policy, and not merely on phenomena that are conveniently measured. They should be explicit about how they propose to measure the goodness of outcomes, disclose what assumptions are necessary to justify their proposed metrics, and explain how these metrics relate to the observable data. When values are difficult to quantify, legal empiricists will need to develop theoretical frameworks and empirical methods that can credibly connect empirical findings to policy-relevant conclusions.


Based on the supply chain collaboration literature and electronic collaboration literature, this paper introduces the term 'electronic supply chain collaboration'. It further introduces and studies the role that an organization's collaboration climate plays in the perception of the impact of e-marketplace participation and adoption of electronic supply chain collaboration in parallel to external pressures. While the role of external pressures has been extensively studied in the pertinent literature, the role of company collaborative climate-culture has been rather ignored in this context, despite the fact that focus groups with experts within the framework of the presented research identified culture as a key determinant. A field survey is conducted with 81 respondents among users of electronic supply chain collaboration services through e-marketplaces in order to identify the effect of collaborative climate and the role of the perception of the impact of e-marketplace participation, using Institutional pressures as a "control variable" for the validity of this work. The first results indicate that the collaborative climate construct explains an organization's intention to adopt electronic collaboration linkages that require human intervention and collaboration. It is suggested that e-collaboration climate, based on culture theory, should be included in the research as a formative construct composed by internal collaboration, technology orientation, innovativeness and other cultural concepts. Further research is required in order to better understand these findings.


Abstract. Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) observations at Sodankyla, Finland (67.4° N, 26.6° E) have been performed since early 2009. The FTS instrument is participating in the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) and has been optimized to measure abundances of the key greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Sodankyla is the only TCCON station in the Fennoscandia region. Here we report the measured CO2 time series over a 7-year period (2009–2015) and provide a description of the FTS system and data processing at Sodankyla. We find the lowest monthly column CO2 values in August and the highest monthly values during the February–May season. Inter-annual variability is the highest in the June–September period, which correlates with the growing season. During the time period of FTS measurements from 2009 to 2015, we have observed a 2.2 ± 0.2 ppm increase per year in column CO2. The monthly mean column CO2 values have exceeded 400 ppm level for the first time in February 2014.


What explains the sharp divide among European publics over the Grexit? We explore this question using original surveys from four of the largest European economies. We contend that differences in citizens' own economic interests, as well as the often-mentioned chasm between supporters of mainstream and extremist parties, provide little insight into the public divide over the Grexit. Instead, we show that the key factor is the split between the left and right. We then develop and test a set of theoretical explanations for this cleavage. We find that the left-right divide over the Grexit is not driven by differences in attitudes on redistribution, levels of empathy, or general EU support. Instead, we find that the primary mechanism is that left and right voters have different expectations about the impact of a Grexit on the European economy as a whole. These expectations largely reflect differences in core beliefs about the promise of a free-market approach.


Herbert George Wells was perhaps best known as the author of such classic works of science fiction as "The Time Machine and War of the Worlds". But it was in his short stories, written when he was a young man embarking on a literary career, that he first explored the enormous potential of the scientific discoveries of the day. He described his stories as "a miscellany of inventions," yet his enthusiasm for science was tempered by an awareness of its horrifying destructive powers and the threat it could pose to the human race. A consummate storyteller, he made fantastic creatures and machines entirely believable; and, by placing ordinary men and women in extraordinary situations, he explored, with humor, what it means to be alive in a century of rapid scientific progress.


Following the Euro changeover in January 2002, consumers across the Euro Area perceived a sharp rise in inflation, in contrast to official figures. Several theories have been advanced to explain this apparent economic illusion, but they struggle to account for its striking scale and persistence. We offer an alternative account, based on the premise that the currency changeover increased consumers' perceptual error when assessing the value of monetary amounts. Under plausible assumptions, this would lead them to experience a loss of purchasing power. We confirm two empirical hypotheses in support of the theory: (1) the extent of overestimation of inflation was strongly associated with subjective difficulty using the Euro; (2) there was a simultaneous downward shift in expected inflation. Our results imply that currency changeovers are not simple matters of numerical conversion.


In guided urban automated transportation systems, the maintenance of a high-quality broadband train-to-wayside communication at all locations along the track poses a major problem. Several techniques are currently used. However, to achieve sufficient rates, a communication frequency range of 2-6 GHz is widely in use. At these frequencies, the natural propagation in tunnels usually works efficiently, but the communication through a leaky waveguide that is continuously laid along the track has several advantages. Over the required communication ranges of several hundred meters, between stations, such waveguides provide low longitudinal attenuation and remain of reasonable size. They also provide predictable communication ranges that could offer significant advantages over the natural propagation approach. This paper will theoretically and experimentally describe such a technical solution. Using ray-optical modeling of the radio propagation in a railway-type tunnel, the radiation characteristics of such a system will be evaluated. At the same operating frequencies, it will be compared with a conventional base solution using antennas separated a few hundred meters apart. An example of a recently operational implemented system will be presented.


What explains California? To a large extent, as Philip Fradkin's rich, exuberant portrait makes clear, it's the multiple landscapes and the different states of mind that best define America's most populous, diverse, and fabled state. Fradkin divides California into seven distinct ecological and cultural provinces - from the hot deserts and high peaks to the rich agricultural Central Valley, the redwood forests of the north and sandy beaches of the south. Describing geographical regions based on their emblematic landscape features, Fradkin intertwines natural and social history.


In the social care area, advocacy refers to an intervention that informs service users of their rights and choices and supports them in resolving issues that have a great impact on their lives. Research at PSSRU funded by the School for Social Care Research investigated some of the costs and outcomes of advocacy provided to parents with learning disabilities who were at risk of losing their children into care. Parents with learning disabilities are a group affected by multiple disadvantages and experience a higher risk of not receiving the support they need. In our research we explored some of the economic consequences of advocacy interventions for parents with learning disabilities. Our research is part of a larger study being carried out by the Personal Social Services Research Unit at LSE and funded by the School for Social Care Research. This wider study examines the economic case for a selected but diverse range of social care interventions that have previously been identified as, or accepted/argued to be effective in achieving well-being or other social care-related outcomes for adults. Partners who were actively involved in this research included Norah Fry Research Centre at Bristol University, Voiceability, Family Rights Group, Advocacy in Greenwich, Action for Advocacy and Dorset Advocacy. We employed a range of methods: first, we ran workshops with representatives of advocacy projects to assess the scope for gathering existing data; we then conducted a survey which asked project representatives to provide a range of outcome- and cost-relevant information from their case records and some additional information about characteristics of projects and resources that went into running them; third, we searched the literature for the unit costs of child safeguarding activities, care proceedings and provision as well as for economic evidence on outcomes for parents and their children; finally, we used simple decision modelling techniques to combine the different data sets. The analysis identified the costs of the advocacy intervention and the value of the potential cost savings and benefits associated with outcomes linked to advocacy. We present findings with some threshold values which reflect the number of good practice cases (similar to the ones we looked at) required on the caseload of an advocacy project in order to offset costs.


D eve l op m e n t Center for Appropriate Technology (DCAT) is a research institute that has a role to develop and implement Appropriate Technology (AT) in accordance with the needs of rural communities in Indonesia. In practice, the application of AT can not be carried out in the sc h e m e of top-down intervention, but rather requires a participatory community development m e t hod s . Rural livelihoods, especially in the peasant community, have complex issues, ranging from land tenure, the means of production, waste pollution and management, production capacity, degradation of land, water and irrigation, information of technology, and marketing constraints of agricultural products. Therefore, it is necessary to create community development planning to determine the priority of the AT that is required. This paper will describe the steps of community development planning to introduce the Integrated Farming System (IFS) to the rural community. The setting and case study is the business development group of cattle and rice farmers in Sukatani Village, Subang, West Java, which is expected to be a pioneer of IFS within communities. K ey w o r d s : community planning, appropriate technology, integrated farming system, Subang, Indonesia


The application of submerged multiport diffusers for the discharge of degradable liquid wastes and of heated cooling water from electric power generation forms an important aspect of coastal zone management. Previous buoyant jet models for submerged diffuser discharge have been developed for the limiting case of discharge in unconfined deep water in the form of rising buoyant jets. These models can be used for sewage diffusers, but are not applicable for diffusers in shallow receiving water with low buoyancy, the type used for thermal discharges ("thermal diffusers"). A multiport diffuser will produce a general three-dimensional flow. Yet the predominantly two dimensional flow which exists in the center portion of the three-dimensional diffuser can be analyzed as a two-dimensional "channel model". Theoretical solutions for diffuser-induced dilutions are derived for the two-dimensional case and verified experimentally. Furthermore, the theory can be applied to the three-dimensional situation by requiring equivalency of far-field effects, that is the frictional resistance governing the diffuser-induced motion at larger distances from the diffuser line.


abstract This Article uses the political ethics of care and feminist gerontology as theoretical frameworks to examine ageing and intergenerational care within a life course perspective. A brief review of research on caregiving across the generations, but specifically focusing on care and the elderly is presented. The Article draws on data on family care from a South African study in which women as grandmothers are seen to be both caregivers and care receivers. There are similar patterns in this data and studies on them in the United States (US) as care receivers, where younger family members show resistance to the idea of placing older relatives in long-term care institutions. An ethics of care and feminist gerontological perspective point to the importance of social work practitioners and social welfare policy makers challenging gender-based expectations of care.


There is a lot of community acceptance of speeding and the kinds of justifications that are given centre around people regarding themselves as good enough drivers to decide what speed to travel at for themselves. There is an evident lack of acceptance of speed limits. It seems that no matter how much better roads are and with speed limits up to 110 km per hour, there remains a strong desire to exceed speed limits. The level of acceptance of speeding is fairly widespread and besides the problems this causes amongst experienced drivers it sets a very bad example to young drivers. Many drivers of all ages experience being 'pushed along' in traffic above what they are comfortable with, which is typically exceeding speed limits. Many drivers exhibit a great deal of impatience with drivers travelling at or near the speed limit and can become quite aggressive. On highways where there are 60 km/h zones these are often ignored by drivers who either fail to notice what speed they are doing and the change in acceptable speed limit, or simply choose to ignore speed limits in these areas. This paper explores the culture of speeding that appears to be an implicit part of acceptable driving practice.


Michael Longley has remarkable powers of reinvention. Certain themes remain constant - the natural world, war, violence, love, friendship, art, death - but they also keep changing because the forms and genres of his poetry never stand still. In A Hundred Doors a sinuous short line complements his variations on pentameter and hexameter. And Longley's interlacing of individual lyrics, so that a diverse collection seems a single poem, intensifies in the shadow of mortality. A sequence about his grandchildren's births is counterpointed by elegies, including Longley's continuing elegy for the Great War dead. The Mayo townland, Carrigskeewaun, with its cast of leverets, otters, swans, wrens, lesser twayblade and bird's-foot trefoil, also takes on fresh guises. Longley is among Europe's foremost 'ecological' poets. Yet Carrigskeewaun is ultimately symbolic, a microcosm, a 'soul-arena'. A Hundred Doors roams in time and space. The title-poem evokes the oldest Byzantine church in Greece: Our Lady of a Hundred Doors on the island of Paros. The remains of a Greek temple 'ache' beneath its floor. Wild orchids, which crop up in Greece and the Italian Garfagnana as well as Ireland, are among the collection's multiple 'doors'. Others are music and paintings, 'cloudberry jam from Lapland', a Shetland pony. This is work of power, precision and delicacy: poems that 'bend and magnify the daylight', poems by a master craftsman.


Abstract The microgastrine braconid wasps recovered up through 2007 by the NSF-sponsored rearing project "Caterpillars and Parasitoids of the Eastern Andes in Ecuador" are summarized in terms of their host specialization and faunistic uniqueness. Two hundred fifty eight rearings of caterpillars resulted in records of Microgastrinae, distributed among 14 genera (Apanteles Förster, Choeras Mason, Cotesia Cameron, Diolcogaster Ashmead, Distatrix Mason, Dolichogenidea Viereck, Exix Mason, Glyptapanteles Ashmead, Hypomicrogaster Ashmead, Papanteles Mason, Parapanteles Ashmead, Protapanteles Ashmead, Sathon Mason and Venanus Mason). Eleven records of hyperparasitoids of Microgastrinae are also summarized; Mesochorus Gravenhorst (Ichneumonidae) and Perilampidae are both recorded. The results are compared to those recovered by surveys in other parts of the world, especially by the Janzen-Hallwachs survey of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) in Costa Rica. An annotated list of microgastrine genera not yet recorded at Yanayacu, but which we expect to eventually find there based on extrapolation from their known geographic distributions, is provided.


This essay focuses on the recurrent metaphor of a painstaking journey in Bruno Latour's An Inquiry into Modes of Existence and the ways in which it can be deployed as a reading of the world. I use this metaphor to scrutinize the transmission, in manuscript Chantilly, Musée Condé 653, of Antoine de la Sale's Le Paradis de la Reine Sibylle, a fifteenth-century account of travel to, and myths associated with, the Monte della Sibilla in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. From a Latourian perspective, Chantilly 653 attests to the agency of a mountainous landscape and the myths that inhabit it, as well as to the ways in which myths solicit representation in material form. In this instance, material form is a medieval manuscript, one that can be read, through a Latourian lens, as a set of category crossings that bring together points in space and time. Those points are not organized as historical periods but rather as modes of understanding the world.


Members of the South African Academy of Family Physicians, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour and privilege for me to deliver my report to the 27th annual general meeting (AGM) of the academy. Let me begin by offering my apology to you for the delay in convening this AGM because of our auditor's inability to complete and provide us with the financials in time for the last planned AGM. This resulted in a postponement not only of the AGM, but also of the elections for the new council of the academy.


Within few years before, the urge to implement the marine spatial planning is due to increasing numbers of marine activities that will lead into uncertainties of rights, restrictions and responsibilities of the maritime nations. Marine authorities in this situation that deal with national rights and legislations are the government institutions that engage with marine spatial information. There are several elements to be considered when dealing with the marine spatial planning; which is institutional sustainability governance. Providing the importance of marine spatial planning towards sustainable marine spatial governance, the focus should highlight the role marine institutions towards sustainable marine plan. The iterative process of marine spatial planning among marine institutions is important as the spatial information governance is scattered from reflected rights, restrictions and responsibilities of marine government institutions. Malaysia is one of the maritime nations that conjures the initial step towards establishing the sustainable marine spatial planning. In order to have sustainable institutions in marine spatial planning process, it involves four main stages; planning phase, plan evaluation phase, implementation phase and post implementation phase. Current situation has witnessed the unclear direction and role of marine government institutions to manage the marine spatial information. This review paper is focusing on the institutional sustainability upon interaction of marine government institutions in the marine spatial planning process based on Institutional Analysis Framework. The outcome of the integration of institutional sustainability and marine spatial planning process will propose a framework of marine institutional sustainable plan.


In This study the result of investigation through simulation of unprotected loss of flow accident (ULOF) for 300 MWth MOX fuelled small Pb-Bi Cooled non-refuelling nuclear reactors (SPINNOR) are discussed. The two dimensional diffusion calculation combined with transient thermal hydraulic analysis has been employed. The reactor is tank type Pb-Bi cooled fast reactors with steam generator included inside reactor vessel. The simulation begin with steady state calculation of neutron flux, power distribution and temperature distribution across the core, hot and cool pool, and also steam generator. The accident analysis begin with the loss of pumping power. The sequence of analysis is then the transient flow calculation across the core, the core temperature distribution, hot pool and cool pool fluid dynamic calculation and temperature change simulation, and the transient flow and temperature calculation across the steam generator. Then the reactivity feedback calculation is conducted, followed by kinetic calculation, and then the sequence repeated. The results show that the SPINNOR reactor has inherent safety capability against this accident.


How will worldwide changes in population affect pressures for international migration in the future? We contrast the past three decades, during which population pressures contributed to substantial labor flows from neighboring countries into the United States and Europe, with the coming three decades, which will see sharp reductions in labor-supply growth in Latin America but not in Africa or much of the Middle East. Using a gravity-style empirical model, we examine the contribution of changes in relative labor-supply to bilateral migration in the 2000s and then apply this model to project future bilateral flows based on long-run UN forecasts of working-age populations in sending and receiving countries. Because the Americas are entering an era of uniformly low population growth, labor flows across the Rio Grande are projected to slow markedly. Europe, in contrast, will face substantial demographically driven migration pressures from across the Mediterranean for decades to come. Although these projected inflows would triple the first-generation immigrant stocks of larger European countries, they would still absorb only a small fraction of the 800-million-person increase in the working-age population of Sub-Saharan Africa that is projected to occur over the coming 40 years.


Mitochondrial dysfunction is responsible for the toxicity of a number of drugs. Current isolated mitochondria or cellular monoculture mitochondrial respiration measurement systems lack physiological relevance. Using a tissue engineering rather than cell- or mitochondria-based approach enables a more physiologically relevant detection of drug-induced mitochondrial impairment. To probe oxygen consumption and mitochondrial health, we assayed the bioenergetic profile of engineered three-dimensional human skeletal muscle myobundles derived from primary myoblasts. Through experimental and computational techniques, we did not find external or internal oxygen transport limiting the engineered myobundles in the commercial O2k system to measure oxygen consumption. In response to the complex I inhibitor rotenone, myobundle basal respiration decreased dose dependently with an IC50 of 9.24 ± 0.03 nM. At a 20 nM concentration of rotenone, myobundle maximal respiration decreased by 44.4% ± 9.8%. Respiratory depression by rotenone suggests that cultured myobundles rely heavily on the complex I pathway for ATP synthesis during times of both basal and increased energy demand. To address whether these decrements in mitochondrial function corresponded to alterations in physiological muscle function, we determined fatigue susceptibility that revealed a 46.0% ± 7.4% depression at 20 nM rotenone. The bioenergetic health index, which is a measure of normal oxidative mitochondrial function, was inversely correlated with the extent of fatigue. The human myobundles reproduce normal muscle metabolism under both basal and maximal energy demand conditions enabling the detection of drug-induced mitochondrial toxicity.


Business process improvement (BPI) methodologies play an important role in increasing a business's performance and its competitiveness. Since World War II, a number of these methodologies have been developed. Each of these held to a different philosophy as to what drives process improvement. Therefore, each focused on a seemingly unique aspect or parameter of business processes. These leverage points included, amongst others, process cycle time, quality, process efficiency, on-time delivery and error rates. The methodologies were delineated from one another not only by these focal points but also the terminology, structure and emphasis used by their creators. The result was a spectrum of seemingly unique approaches. This spectrum was enlarged by practitioners (consultants and businesses) who tweaked the base methodology so as to make their product offerings stand out. This palette of business improvement approaches was further augmented by certain techniques, tools and methods being presented as complete methodologies. The result was that business managers are confronted with a seemingly confusing array of ostensibly unique options.
The author, being a business process improvement consultant, felt that these options were not as unique as they might appear. He believed that beneath these individualistic exteriors lays a common set of factors that enable the methodologies to bring about sustainable improvements. Therein lays the theoretical framework of this thesis. The author further felt that identifying these common key factors and their respective importance to business process improvement would contribute significantly to both knowledge and practice. Upon completing the research, it became evident that the contribution was not just limited to the enlightenment regarding composition, commonality and efficacy. It also involved ways of delineating targets such as methodologies from a chaotic population. Most importantly, a significant contribution to knowledge was made by showing how to synthesize information out of a set of seemingly unique data points. This uniqueness having been created by the different terminologies structures and emphasises found in the evidence.
In the thesis, four unique challenges were encountered. The first was to identify the current, core business process improvement methodologies out of the total field of offerings. The subsequent challenge was to analyse these methodologies for possible common constructs and components. The third challenge involved evaluating the efficacy of these common key factors. The final challenge was to characterize these key factors in the context of a theoretical, model-based methodology. The intended result was to create a holistic perspective of process improvement practices with justification at the constituent level.
A lengthy literature review was required in order to identify the current methodologies. Surprisingly, the sources normally rich in research evidence such as journals and articles did not give a comprehensive overview of business process methodologies. The candidates had to then be further researched via books and other lengthy publications. The end result was that six unique and sustaining families of methodologies were identified during the systematic literature review. Each of these had been developed by a different business improvement innovator using a different orientation associated with the methodology's core philosophical position. It appears that, for marketing reasons, each had strived to develop unique selling points and intellectual property that set their methodology apart from the others. As a result, the language, style and emphasis applied in each methodology were seemingly distinctive. These conditions made further analysis for commonality of key factors amongst the six methodologies difficult and time-consuming.
Further research involved analysing the six BPI methodologies and synthesizing qualitative evidence in order to identify the key factors common amongst those methodologies. Again, journals and articles played only a minor role in this activity. For the most part, these sources focused more on application than on composition. In addition, those dealing with application of the methodologies tended to avoid justifying applicability in terms of critical composition factors. Other sources such as books provided a framework for the composition analysis but with significant voids and confusing entries. Therefore, in addition to the series of literature reviews, interviewing intellectual property owners and BPI practitioners from both business and consulting firms was necessary. Once the interviewing process had closed the gap and provided clarification of entries, a research method had to be found which could extract the common factors and make them apparent. The appropriateness of various research, analysis and synthesis approaches were reviewed and evaluated. As a result of this ancillary literature review, a form of reciprocal translations was viewed as the best means of dealing with the research evidence as well as the issues of languages, styles, cultures and subjectivity. The final results of the synthesis, after a follow-up round of literature reviews and interviewing, showed that 12 common key factors existed amongst the six BPI methodologies.
Research into the efficacy of these 12 common key factors required yet another series of literature reviews and additional interviewing. Due to the nature of the topic, interview respondents outside of the business process improvement community also had to be included. Those respondents included individuals from human resource and industrial psychology disciplines. The result of this descriptive research enabled characterization of the key factors' efficacies independently as well as holistically in the context of a theoretical, model-based methodology. These characterizations indicate that the 12 key factors appear to form the backbone of BPI methodologies in general.
The research process and its findings have contributed to both knowledge and practice. It has provided insight into using a holistic approach in delineating targeted elements of a mixed population. It also contributed to the understanding of how to apply the reciprocal translation technique to qualitative evidence outside the field of ethnography. Additionally, it enables improved business practices by demystifying the various methodologies and furthering the understanding of their value adding components.


Incommensurate structure of Hexamethylenetetramine suberate (C6H12N4)(HOOC-(CH2)6-COOH) has been solved from single crystal x-ray diffraction data. A molecular dynamics simulation of this system was carried out from 15 K to 580K. A second-generation consistent forcefield (CFF) and a compensating pressure tensor field were used to describe the interactions between atoms and to account for deficiencies in the forcefield. Starting from the experimental 298K structure, the phase transitions were investigated over an extended temperature range. A high symmetry commensurate structure exists at temperatures between 410K and 290K. For temperatures lower than 290K, a new periodicity appears in the structure. The system reaches a low symmetry lock-in phase at about 150K. An incommensurate structure appears between the high and low symmetry phases between 290K and 150K. The new periodicity associated with the incommensurate modulation is due to the appearance of additional long range ordering of the carbon chains. The present simulation not only reproduces well the experimental x-ray diffraction results but also gives new insight into the origin of the incommensurate behavior.


This paper evaluates the factors on which depends the appearance in literature of the articles that treats the survey interviewer characteristics topic. For this purpose we do a bibliometric analysis. Our research is based on 234 articles which were published during 1949-2010, which approaches the topic of the survey interviewer characteristics and which can be find in the online articles databases. We aim to estimate the association of factors that can influence the appearance of an article on this topic in prestigious journals and to evaluate the influence of those factors. In the data analysis we used data association analysis and logit regression model. Data were processed in the statistical programs R. The results of statistical analyses have shown that, for the analyzed articles, the time period when the articles had been elaborated and the geographical area where the author is from are factors influencing the publication of the studied articles in a prestigious journal.


The methodology for designing state-of-the-art microprocessors involves modeling at various levels of abstraction. In the pre-synthesis phase, this can range from early-stage (microarchitectural) performance-only models to final-stage, detailed register-transfer-level (RTL) models. Hierarchical modeling requires the use of an elaborate validation methodology to ensure inter- and intra-level model integrity. The RTL model, often coded in a hardware description language (e.g. Verilog or VHDL) captures the logical behavior of the entire chip: both in terms of function and cycle-by-cycle pipeline flow timing. It is this model that is subjected to simulation-based architectural validation prior to actual "tape-out" of the processor. The validated RTL specification is used as the source reference model for synthesizing the gate- and circuit-level descriptions of the processor.


This paper studies the potential effects of vertical integration on downstream firms' incentives to innovate. Interacting efficiently with a supplier may require information exchanges, which raises the concern that sensitive information may be disclosed to rivals. This may be particularly harmful in case of innovative activities, as it increases the risk of imitation. We show that vertical integration exacerbates this threat of imitation, which de facto degrades the integrated supplier's ability to interact with unintegrated competitors. Vertical integration may thus lead to input foreclosure, thereby raising rivals' cost and limiting both upstream competition and downstream innovation. A similar concern of customer foreclosure arises in the case of downstream bottlenecks. Jel Codes: L13, L41, L42.


With a simple model, scaling laws are obtained for self-compression in the limit of a large soliton number. Numerical results for Gaussian and hyperbolic-secant initial pulse shapes and various initial amplitudes are used to verify the approximate analytic result and to determine accurate scaling constants. Self-decompression (self-dispersion) is also treated in the same fashion.


Abstract. The global carbon cycle is part of the much more extensive sedimentary cycle that involves large masses of carbon in the Earth's inner and outer spheres. Studies of the carbon cycle generally followed a progression in knowledge of the natural biological, then chemical, and finally geological processes involved, culminating in a more or less integrated picture of the biogeochemical carbon cycle by the 1920s. However, knowledge of the ocean's carbon cycle behavior has only within the last few decades progressed to a stage where meaningful discussion of carbon processes on an annual to millennial time scale can take place. In geologically older and pre-industrial time, the ocean was generally a net source of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere owing to the mineralization of land-derived organic matter in addition to that produced in situ and to the process of CaCO3 precipitation. Due to rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations because of fossil fuel combustion and land use changes, the direction of the air-sea CO2 flux has reversed, leading to the ocean as a whole being a net sink of anthropogenic CO2. The present thickness of the surface ocean layer, where part of the anthropogenic CO2 emissions are stored, is estimated as of the order of a few hundred meters. The oceanic coastal zone net air-sea CO2 exchange flux has also probably changed during industrial time. Model projections indicate that in pre-industrial times, the coastal zone may have been net heterotrophic, releasing CO2 to the atmosphere from the imbalance between gross photosynthesis and total respiration. This, coupled with extensive CaCO3 precipitation in coastal zone environments, led to a net flux of CO2 out of the system. During industrial time the coastal zone ocean has tended to reverse its trophic status toward a non-steady state situation of net autotrophy, resulting in net uptake of anthropogenic CO2 and storage of carbon in the coastal ocean, despite the significant calcification that still occurs in this region. Furthermore, evidence from the inorganic carbon cycle indicates that deposition and net storage of CaCO3 in sediments exceed inflow of inorganic carbon from land and produce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. In the shallow-water coastal zone, increase in atmospheric CO2 during the last 300 years of industrial time may have reduced the rate of calcification, and continuation of this trend is an issue of serious environmental concern in the global carbon balance.


Suppose that $\chi_\lambda$ and $\chi_\mu$ are distinct irreducible characters of the symmetric group $S_n$. We give an algorithm that, in time polynomial in $n$, constructs $\pi\in S_n$ such that $\chi_\lambda(\pi)$ is provably different from $\chi_\mu(\pi)$. In fact, we show a little more. Suppose $f = \chi_\lambda$ for some irreducible character $\chi_\lambda$ of $S_n$, but we do not know $\lambda$, and we are given only oracle access to $f$. We give an algorithm that determines $\lambda$, using a number of queries to $f$ that is polynomial in $n$. Each query can be computed in time polynomial in $n$ by someone who knows $\lambda$.


The majority of empirical papers in the literature on school quality finds no or only small effects of class size and other school quality measures on students' outcomes. This paper analyses the effect of achievement heterogeneity and therefore the effect of the composition rather than the pure size of the class on student achievement. In this endeavor, individuallevel data from an internationally conducted standardized test, the PISA 2000 study is utilized. For the case of US schools the influence of a student's peer group is estimated in a pure endogenous effects model and a model also allowing for contextual effects. The potential endogeneity of peer group formation is addressed in an instrumental variable approach. It turns out that heterogeneous peer groups have a strong detrimental impact on individual achievement. Moreover, it becomes transparent that contextual variables are important for the extent of peer group effects and the endogeneity of peer group formation.


In recent years, in China, the logistics park has proceeded very far. At the same time, there are also many problems, such as investment and financing structure is irrational, the logistics park vacancy rate is high, profit means single etc. Therefore, it has practical significance to study the operation model of logistics park to solve the above problem. This paper researched the operation mode of Collaborative Logistics Park, and made specific analysis of the characteristics of logistics park operation mode, Firstly, the paper established the game model of logistics park resource sharing in collaboration mode, and then constructed the cooperative game model of operation cost allocation of logistics park, Finally, based on the collaborative operation mechanism of logistics park, the paper put forward the development strategy of logistics park in operation mode.


Abstract. This paper describes an updated configuration of the regional coupled
research system, termed UKC3, developed and evaluated under the UK
Environmental Prediction collaboration. This represents a further step
towards a vision of simulating the numerous interactions and feedbacks
between different physical and biogeochemical components of the environment
across sky, sea and land using more integrated regional coupled prediction
systems at kilometre-scale resolution. The UKC3 coupled system incorporates
models of the atmosphere (Met Office Unified Model), land surface with river
routing (JULES), shelf-sea ocean (NEMO) and ocean surface waves (WAVEWATCH
III®), coupled together using OASIS3-MCT
libraries. The major update introduced since the UKC2 configuration is an
explicit representation of wave–ocean feedbacks through introduction of
wave-to-ocean coupling. Ocean model results demonstrate that wave coupling,
in particular representing the wave-modified surface drag, has a small but
positive improvement on the agreement between simulated sea surface
temperatures and in situ observations, relative to simulations without wave
feedbacks. Other incremental developments to the coupled modelling capability
introduced since the UKC2 configuration are also detailed. Coupled regional prediction systems are of interest for applications across
a range of timescales, from hours to decades ahead. The first results from
four simulation experiments, each of the order of 1 month in duration, are
analysed and discussed in the context of characterizing the potential
benefits of coupled prediction on forecast skill. Results across atmosphere,
ocean and wave components are shown to be stable over time periods of weeks.
The coupled approach shows notable improvements in surface temperature, wave
state (in near-coastal regions) and wind speed over the sea, whereas the
prediction quality of other quantities shows no significant improvement or
degradation relative to the equivalent uncoupled control simulations.


Abstract Earth's earliest known metazoan ecosystems are represented by a handful of globally distributed fossil assemblages, collectively referred to as the Ediacara Biota. Although a number of these deposits have been extensively studied, a large proportion of Ediacaran diversity remains uncharacterized. As a result, our understanding of community structure during this important stage of early metazoan evolution is largely incomplete. Moreover, it is only by examining these deposits from a taphonomic perspective that we can hope to decipher these enigmatic forms and fully reconstruct the Ediacaran community. Using this approach, we describe the anomalous preservation of a distinct, prolific, and previously undescribed Ediacaran biogenic sedimentary structure, informally known as "mop," from the Ediacara Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite in South Australia. Morphological resemblance, spatial association, size distribution, and examination of intermediary forms indicate a shared origin with the holdfast form genus Aspidella and convergence with Pseudorhizostomites. We interpret mop to have been formed by the dragging or uprooting of a Charniodiscus-like frond through a microbially bound substrate by unidirectional currents. Like a freeze frame, mop captures the momentary interaction of organisms and their physical and biotic environment. Detailed characterization of morphological and sedimentological features suggests that variability of mop and associated forms is due largely to taphonomically controlled factors. A better understanding of problematic structures like mop may elucidate the still-enigmatic Ediacaran substrate and the non-actualistic taphonomic processes at work in the preservation of Ediacaran deposits.


ChildrenNow is a national organization for people who care about children and want to ensure that they are the top public priority.


We examine how the constructor of the world's first repository for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel in Eurajoki, Finland, aims to shape lay understanding of the facility's risks and to tame the nuclear fears of the local community by producing positive associations, imagery and tales. Our empirical material consists of the constructor's newsletters targeted mainly at the local residents. In the narrative analysis, we identified a storyline where the construction of the repository is linked into the "continuum of the good" in the municipality of the construction site and the surrounding areas. The storyline consists of five different themes all emphasizing the "continuum of the good" in the area: cultural heritage, well-being, developing expertise, natural environment, and local families. Our study contributes to the literature on pro-nuclear storytelling by showing how the inclination is towards narratives that are constructed around local symbols, cultural landmarks, and institutions.


With the ever-increasing large amount of digital information available, the need for advanced information retrieval (IR) systems increases. this wealth of digital information presents a major data-analysis challenge for us. How to manipulate, analyze and understand large quantities of complex data becomes extremely important. Over the past decades, significant progress has been made in IR. However, many challenges remain. First, most Web search engines take a short text query as input and output a ranked list of documents. The retrieval decision is made primarily based on the current query and document collection. Web search engines generally treat search requests in isolation. The results for a given query are identical, independent of the user or the context in which the user makes the request. However, it is unlikely that different users are so similar in their interests that one standardized way of retrieving information fits all needs. Different users may have different information needs. They may use the same query to search for different kinds of information. Moreover, even the same user may use identical queries to express different information needs. For example, a person may use ldquoIRIXrdquo to mean information retrieval in context at one time, but IRIX operating systems at another time. It is impossible for the current Web search engines to distinguish these two cases because the userpsilas search context is not considered. Second, IR is, in general, an interactive process. A userpsilas information need is rarely satisfied with just one iteration of search. With the current document-centered retrieval paradigm, interactive retrieval is treated as a sequence of independent simple retrieval decision-making steps. The information about search history is ignored, which makes the retrieval performance of existing IR systems inherently non-optimal. However, it has been brought into attention that analysis of task-oriented user sessions provides useful insight into the query behavior of the users. Third, most of present IR systems including general search engines (e.g. Google and Yahoo) and scientific literature search engines (e.g. PubMed and ACM Digital Library) use keywords to query and index documents. However, this traditional keyword-based IR model provides little semantic context for the understanding of user information needs. For example, a keyword usually has several senses and its meaning is ambiguous without context. In addition, one meaning can be expressed by many keywords. Thus, the integration of semantic context according to the userpsilas information need and the userpsilas understanding of the documents in the collection into IR systems will definitely improve the IR performance.


Two-color laser systems based on a semiconductor laser device and spectrally filtered feedback are studied. By use of a broadband numerical simulator and realistic active-structure optical responses, various two-color lasing configurations are investigated. Five characteristic dynamic regimes are observed and classified as semicoherent, coherent, multimode, chaotic, and multimode chaotic. Practical implications for gigahertz or terahertz signal-generation applications are discussed.


OBJECTIVE
To compare aesthesiometer-determined corneal sensitivity between diabetic and nondiabetic dogs and to investigate the correlation between corneal sensitivity and duration of diabetes or status of glycemic control, as estimated by use of glycated blood protein concentrations.

ANIMALS
23 diabetic and 29 nondiabetic normoglycemic dogs.

PROCEDURE
A Cochet-Bonnet aesthesiometer was used to measure corneal touch threshold (CTT) in 5 corneal regions of each dog. At the time of ocular examination, duration of diabetes mellitus was estimated from the history, and blood was drawn for assessment of blood glycosylated hemoglobin and serum fructosamine concentrations.

RESULTS
Median CTT for central, nasal, dorsal, temporal, and ventral corneal regions in nondiabetic dogs (1.6, 2.3, 2.8, 2.8, and 5.1 g/mm2, respectively) was significantly lower than in diabetic dogs (2.8, 4.0, 5.1, 5.1, and 6.6 g/mm2, respectively). Median regional CTT in diabetic dogs was not significantly correlated with estimated duration of diabetes mellitus or blood glycated protein concentrations. No significant difference was found in regional CTT between eyes of normoglycemic dogs with unilateral cataracts.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Diabetic dogs have significantly reduced corneal sensitivity in all regions, compared with nondiabetic normoglycemic dogs. Regional variation in corneal sensitivity is similar in diabetic and normoglycemic dogs. Neither glycemic control nor duration of diabetes, as estimated, is significantly correlated with corneal hyposensitivity. Corneal nerve dysfunction may be associated with recurrent or nonhealing ulcers in diabetic dogs for which no other underlying cause can be found.


Hurricane Katrina and its effects are often talked about in terms of what has been made visible, as if the hurricane swept through and stripped away our structural blinders along with the levees, revealing social disparities within. Here, we focus instead on whom and what Katrina and its aftermath have rendered invisible. We are concerned with how the seen and the not seen have influenced the ways the purported tabula rasa of New Orleans has been (re)constructed and marked since 2005. We engage with recent debates in political science about power, agency, structure, and culpability, arguing that efforts to prioritize the pursuit of culpability over critique in power analyses, such as the approach advocated by Steven Lukes, risk perpetuating structural violence. We employ the concepts of an ocular ethic and social triage to understand why the storm of the century that was supposed to reveal all has in the end left much concealed, with shocking levels of human devastation unaddressed. Only through careful excavation of the ruins can we begin to comprehend the sedimented inequality and layers of vulnerability that structure violence.


When reengineering large systems, software developers would like to assess and compare the impact of multiple change scenarios without actually performing these changes. A change can be effected by applying a tool to the source code, or by a manual refactoring. In addition, tools run over a model are costly to redevelop. It raises an interesting challenge for tools implementors: how to support modification of large source code models to enable comparison of multiple versions. One naive approach is to copy the entire model after each modification. However, such an approach is too expensive in memory and execution time. In this paper we explore different implementations that source code metamodels support multiple versions of a system. We propose a solution based on dynamic binding of entities between multiple versions, providing good access performance while minimizing memory consumption.


All monetary objects – credit cards as much as bank notes and coins – are material things that can be considered as 'economic devices'. The success of the particular transactional object depends on the security and predictability of its relations with a diverse and complex range of associated actors, both human and non-human. Yet monetary devices themselves can shape the course of economic action. This chapter focuses on objects at the 'frontline' of many forms of consumer credit enabled economic exchange: the plastic cards that smooth so many people's passages through consumer spaces are a recognizable part of our everyday lives. It argues that not enough attention has been paid to how monetary mediums might be important in shaping social and economic life. It focuses on historical emergence of the plastic card in the United States, showing the way in which plastic and its specific socio-material affordances have, in different and changing ways, mattered in the history of the payment card and in creditors' engagements with users, including playing a key role in accelerating the first major credit card boom. The chapter then moves to the United Kingdom, exploring the role of the card not in moments of borrowing, but at times of default – that is, when consumer credit borrowers, for whatever reason, are unable (or unwilling) to meet their obligations to repay. In these situations, as the chapter shows, the cards themselves can become the targets of micropolitical forms of protest, directing attention towards what usually goes unremarked: that the accumulation of billions of dollars of consumer credit debt not only depends on, but has been stimulated by, the accumulation in so many everyday lives of millions of superficially unremarkable plastic cards.


Abstract In order to investigate the effect of nickel saturation on the corrosion of Type 316L stainless steel (SS 316L) by Pb-17Li, a SS 316L test capsule was fabricated and filled with Pb-17Li along with some Ni chunks. The system was maintained at a temperature gradient of 923 to 623 K for 3200 h. Characterization of SS 316L tube samples from various temperature locations by an electron probe microanalyzer revealed that dissolution of Ni from the steel matrix could be effectively suppressed in this manner, though leaching of Cr and Fe could not be prevented. No nickel depletion from SS 316L was observed in the tube at the higher temperature (923 K), even after 3200 h, whereas nickel encrustations were found in low-temperature areas. The saturation of Pb-17Li by the added nickel had possibly prevented Ni dissolution from the SS 316L surface, and thereby, the formation of a porous corroded layer could be avoided.


In this systematic literature review, we evaluate the effectiveness of financial-literacy education programs and interventions for children and adolescents. Furthermore, the key characteristics of the design of a successful financial-education curriculum are described. The evidence shows that school-based financial-education programs can improve children's and adolescents' financial knowledge and attitudes. Studies that assess the intention to practice good behavior and studies based on self-reported behavior also report positive effects. However, studies that assess the effects of financial education on children's and adolescent's actual financial behavior are scarce, and show hardly any effect. A promising method to teach financial literacy to children and adolescents in primary and secondary school is "experiential learning." In college, the focus should be on specific "life events" of students. The findings may be useful for designing an effective school-based financial education program.


As a result of ageing societies, the prevalence of dementia, and accordingly the need of care is increasing rapidly. Here, the use of ICT-based technologies may facilitate and promote a self-sustaining life-style for people with dementia and their caregivers. The presented poster describes early findings from the project MobiAssist and outlines the ICT-based training system. The system aims to increase the physical and cognitive capabilities of people with dementia, relief the caregivers and improve wellbeing of involved parties.


The objective of the paper is to introduce a comprehensive approach to the emergence of the
European Union's security and defence policy (ESDP) in 1998/9. In particular, the - direct and
indirect - impact of the United States is the focus of the examinations. It is demonstrated that the
prominently promoted Realist emphasis of structural power conditions, such as unipolarity and
German reunification, is misleading. More importantly, the conceptual lenses of (soft) balancing
against and bandwagoning with power cannot grasp the differentiated nature of ESDP and
provide, therefore, a flawed approach.
In contrast, the paper argues that liberal-institutionalist thought and 'transaction costs economics'
offer a heuristically promising point of departure. More specifically, it focuses not only on
uncertainty and the resulting risks of opportunism, but also on the specificity of those assets that
the ESDP has ultimately created. Empirically, it is argued that Britain and France were
increasingly confronted with high risks of opportunism within NATO to provide European
security. The American commitment to all kinds of security problems had suffered credibility
and, therefore, the medium powers had searched for another institutional option to perform this
task on a long-term basis. While this assessment of ex post transaction costs triggered the initial
establishment of ESDP, ex ante transaction costs were responsible for its more specific design.
After all, the superpower and most influential NATO member would not stand aside to watch
the creation of a competitor to the Alliance. Hence ESDP had to be compatible with NATO, which
was assured by all participants and was subsequently incorporated into the EU's agreements.
General, and thus redeployable, military assets represented the institutional solution to the
conflict between European autonomy and NATO's primacy.


Based on summarising and analyzing the research status of policy research and the technology of concept description, this paper proposes an effective mining method of recessive lineage relationship between policies. This method introduces the theory of factor space and gives a method for decomposing concept factor. We introduce the recessive gene as a new "synonym" and calculate the fitting degree of policy texts to reveal the recessive lineage relationship, which cannot be reflected through the direct calculation of similarity. Finally, we use the articles of law as the set of policy texts to carry out a large number of experiments. The comparison and analysis of the experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Prior studies in patients following bariatric surgery have demonstrated an associated reduction in lean muscle mass concomitant with total weight loss. Less described are any changes of skeletal muscular strength following bariatric surgery and if changes in strength are propmiional to total weight loss. Purpose: To describe changes in upper and lower body strength following weight loss surgery. Methods: Seven subjects (age (yr) = 48 ±13; weight (kg)= 137.4 ± 5.4; BMI (kg/m2 ) =50 ±5) who underwent laparoscopic bariatric surgery at Henry Ford Hospital (6 Roux-en-Y bypass and 1 vetiical sleeve) were assessed. Within 30 days prior to surgery upper and lower body strength were assessed, respectively, by performing a one repetition max test on an isotonic chest press (CP) machine (Cybex) and a single-leg knee extension (KE) using an isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex). Strength tests were repeated three months following surgery. AN OVA tests were used to compare differences in strength between baseline, three months, and six months. Results: At three months there was a 20% weight loss (p < 0.001), and 25% reduction of BMI (p < 0.001). Overall strength was reduced at three months. The absolute decrease in strength was significant only for peak torque at 120° · sec·1 • All other strength measures trended towards significance. However, when body weight was controlled for, relative strength for all tests were no different before and after bariatric surgery. Conclusion: This preliminary data shows reductions in absolute strength following weight loss surgery, are related to total weight loss. Future studies should examine if these changes persist beyond three months post surgery as well as if a post-operative strength-training program can minimize this impact. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Health Promotion and Human Performance First Advisor Christopher Herman Second Advisor Dennis Kerrigan


The purpose of this paper is to describe a design methodology for a converging-diverging nozzle concept that takes advantage of the ejector effect. Incorporating the ejector effect into the nozzle design may be able to provide a more economical means for space transport as thrust increases so fuel quantity can be reduced. Methodology for the proposed nozzle requires three cross sections to be constrained in the diverging portion of the nozzle. The throat maintains axisymmetry with a choked flow condition. A gate is placed between the throat and outlet on the outer perimeter of the nozzle through which the nozzle geometry must pass; however, the shape is given freedom so that it does not have to remain axisymmetric. In doing so, a cutout can be created for air entrainment as the exhaust flow is restricted to flowing through the gate. Finally, the outlet is set to obtain desired rocket exhaust conditions. Viscous effects are accounted for by implementing Edenfield's experimental displacement thickness correlation for turbulent boundary layers.


Height estimation of objects can be implemented both for soft-biometrics and as an object tracking feature. In first case we can eliminate some possible subjects having considerably different height than the observed one, and focus on determining more distinctive remote identification features, like colour, face or ear, and search for similar subjects in a smaller set of possible candidates. For object tracking it can be used for temporal and spatial correspondence analysis as well or simultaneously for both in case of having different cameras. In this thesis we propose a novel method for automatic estimation of height using an uncalibrated camera. Nowadays such cameras can be found in any corner for different purposes like as for security reasons. A crucial moment in height estimation is finding vanishing points. In the method we use RANSAC to estimate best vanishing point from several estimated candidate points. The method has the new advantages that from different frames and their respective height estimations, automatically determines certain reasonable heights depending on height measurements distribution. With spreading of camera implementation in common applications, we believe this new software can be widely applied in as many fields as it can be imagined.


Taking organic emitter apodization calculated from electromagnetic theory as input, the angular luminance enhancement of a microlens-array-film (MAF) attached OLED (organic light-emitting device) can be further evaluated by ray-tracing approach. First, we assumed artificial emitters and revealed that not every OLED with MAF has luminance enhancement. Then, the OLEDs of different Alq(3) thickness were fabricated and their angular luminance measurement validated simulation results. Mode analyses for different layers were performed to estimate the enhancement potential of the MAF attached devices. In conclusion, the organic emitters with higher off-axis-angle luminous intensity cause lower out-coupling efficiency but gain higher enhancement after the MAF attached.


Polymer fibers are used for a wide range of materials in contact with the human body. Since bacterial contamination may cause diseases, it is desirable to provide fibers with antimicrobial properties. This work investigates the ability of silver-tricalcium phosphate nanoparticles (Ag/TCP) to build a reactive system when incorporated in polyamide fibers. In the presence of bacteria, the TCP carrier particles are biodegraded and trigger the release of silver. For this work, Ag/TCP nanoparticles (1.3 wt% silver) were produced by flame spray synthesis and subsequently processed with polyamide 6 to fibers (125-μm thick, containing 260 ppm silver) with the aid of extrusion and melt-spinning for subsequent antibacterial testing. The fibers were contaminated with the clinically relevant strains Escherichia coli or Streptococcus sanguinis, respectively. The reactive fibers demonstrated significantly reduced plate count within 24 h (the number of colony forming units was reduced by 99.999% with E. coli and 99.6% with S. sanguinis compared with pure PA6 reference fibers). These reactive properties of easily integrated antibacterial silver suggest an implementation of intelligent fibers to a wide range of applications.


Abstract This paper explores the experiences of migrant women from Northeast India who work in retail stores in malls in Delhi and Gurgaon, and the conflicting discourses of modernity and marginality which they negotiate at work and outside work. Managers of high-end retail stores in malls view these women as 'modern', 'global' and reflective of the aesthetic sensibilities of the brands they are hired to sell. For this reason, north-eastern women's bodies and identities are 'valued' and 'sought after' by retailers and recruiters. Yet, outside, especially on the streets of Delhi, the same women whose aesthetic and modern attributes are valued at the workplace are subject to racial and sexualised stereotyping that labels them as 'promiscuous', 'provocatively dressed' and lacking in sexual respectability. This paper describes the spatial practices of north-eastern migrant women as inscribed by the shifting landscapes of modernity and marginality that they must negotiate as they reconcile their different public identities in the city.


A 61-year-old man presented with diffuse myalgia and arthralgia. The physical examination showed diffuse musculoskeletal tenderness and joint stiffness without the presence of synovitis or arthritis. Nerve conduction study showed combined mild axonal degenerative and demyelinating change. Muscle biopsy analysis showed unspecific mild muscle atrophy with myopathic changes found on electromyography. A diagnosis of isolated adrenocorticotropic hormone deficiency was made on the basis of endocrinological evaluation. The widespread musculoskeletal pain resolved as a result of administration of physiological dose of hydrocortisone replacement. In a patient with unexplained rheumatic symptoms, adrenocortical insufficiency should be considered in the possible aetiology.


. The formation of superimposed ice at the surface of high-Arctic glaciers is an important control on glacier mass balance, but one which is usually modelled in only a schematic fashion. A method is developed to predict the relationship between the thick ness of superimposed ice formed and the mean annual air temperature (which approxi mates the ice temperature at 14 m depth). This relationship is used to investigate the dependence of the proportion of snowpack water equivalent which forms superimposed ice on changes in mean annual temperature and patterns of snow accumulation. Increased temperatures are likely to reduce the extent of the zone of superimposed-ice accumulation and the thickness of superimposed ice formed. This will have a negative effect on glacier mass balance. This is true even if warming occurs only in the winter months, since near-surface ice temperatures will respond to such warming. ForJohn Evans Glacier, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada (79°40' N, 74°00' W ), a 1°C rise in mean annual air temperature due solely to winter warming is predicted to reduce the specific mass balance of the glacier by 0.008 m a- I as a result of decreased superimposed-ice formation. Although such a response is small in comparison to the changes which might result from summer warming, it is nonetheless significant given the very low specific mass balance of many high-Arctic glaciers.


Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of incorrect assessment of mortality risk factors in a group of patients affected by acute coronary syndrome, due to the lack of hazard proportionality in the Cox regression model. One hundred and fifty consecutive patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and no age limit were enrolled. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazard analyses were performed. The proportional hazard assumptions were verified using Schoenfeld residuals, χ2 test and rank correlation coefficient t between residuals and time. In the total group of 150 patients, 33 (22.0%) deaths from any cause were registered in the follow-up time period of 64 months. The non-survivors were significantly older and had increased prevalence of diabetes and erythrocyturia, longer history of coronary artery disease, higher concentrations of serum creatinine, cystatin C, uric acid, glucose, C-reactive protein (CRP), homocysteine and B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and lower concentrations of serum sodium. No significant differences in echocardiography parameters were observed between groups. The following factors were risk of death factors and fulfilled the proportional hazard assumption in the univariable model: smoking, occurrence of diabetes and anaemia, duration of coronary artery disease, and abnormal serum concentrations of uric acid, sodium, homocysteine, cystatin C and NT-proBNP, while in the multivariable model, the risk of death factors were: smoking and elevated concentrations of homocysteine and NT-proBNP. The study has demonstrated that violation of the proportional hazard assumption in the Cox regression model may lead to creating a false model that does not include only time-independent predictive factors.


Abstract.
 Recent morphometric analysis revealed a juvenile (meraspid) axial growth gradient in the trunk of the ∼429 Myr old trilobite Aulacopleura koninckii that resulted from growth control based on positional specification, as is common among extant organisms. Here we explore axial growth gradients in the more anterior body region, the cephalon, and in the cephalon and trunk during subsequent development in the holaspid period. We detected an axial growth gradient in the cephalon in the meraspid period, flatter and opposite in direction to that of the trunk, which also persisted during the holaspid period. We also found an holaspid trunk growth gradient, with a different distribution of growth rates among segments than that of the meraspid period. These newly observed growth gradients are compatible with the mechanism of growth control inferred for the meraspid trunk. Thus, the same kind of growth control may have operated in both body regions and during thewhole ontogeny of A. koninckii. This study, alongwith others on the same species that preceded it, show that morphometric analysis of appropriate data sets can address questions of high interest for evolutionary developmental biology using data fromfossils. By revealing developmental features at deep nodes of the phylogenetic tree, these studies will elucidate both how developmental processes evolved and how they themselves affected the evolution of organismal body patterning.


Trust has become a major issue among online shoppers. This underresearched subject will predictably determine the success or failure of e-commerce vendors. The lack of face-to-face interaction, the inability to inspect goods and services prior to purchase, and the asynchronous exchange of goods and money all contribute to the perceived risk of purchasing online and the resulting need for trust. Trust is particularly critical for small and new Internet ventures confronted by the liability of newness (Stinchcombe 1965). Lacking, among other things, a name that is readily recognized in the marketplace, entrepreneurial Internet ventures require trust if they are to succeed. The research presented in this article addresses this issue by building on the work of McKnight and colleagues and considering the effects of propensity to trust on trusting beliefs. Specifically, the author predicts that propensity to trust will significantly affect perceived ability, benevolence, and integrity but only for those individuals with limited direct experience. Based on a sample of web survey participants, the author found that propensity to trust significantly impacted perceived ability and benevolence for individuals with limited direct experience only. No statistically significant results were found for the effects of propensity to trust on perceived integrity.


Tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBAH) and other quaternary ammonium hydroxides catalyzed the cycloaddition of CO2 to epoxides under solvent-free conditions to give cyclic carbonates. When TBAH was exposed to CO2, TBAH was converted into tetrabutylammonium bicarbonate (TBABC), which was a catalytically active species. A D-labeled epoxide and an optically active epoxide were used to study the reaction mechanism, which invoked three plausible pathways. Among them, path A seemed to be predominant; the bicarbonate ion of TBABC attacks the less hindered C atom of the epoxide to generate a ring-opened alkoxide intermediate, which adds to CO2 to give a carbonate ion, and the subsequent cyclization yields a cyclic carbonate. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations successfully delineated the potential energy profile for each reaction pathway, among which path A was the lowest-energy pathway in accordance with the experimental results. The tetrabutylammonium (TBA) cation carries the positive charges on the H atoms, but not on the central N atom, and the positively charged H atoms close to the central N atom form an anion-binding site capable of stabilizing various anionic transition states and intermediates.


Purpose This study assessed the prevalence of convergence insufficiency (CI) with and without simultaneous vision dysfunctions within the traumatic brain injury (TBI) sample population because although CI is commonly reported with TBI, the prevalence of concurrent visual dysfunctions with CI in TBI is unknown. Methods A retrospective analysis of 557 medical records from TBI civilian patients was conducted. Patients were all evaluated by a single optometrist. Visual acuity, oculomotor function, binocular vision function, accommodation, visual fields, ocular health, and vestibular function were assessed. Statistical comparisons between the CI and non-CI, as well as inpatient and outpatient subgroups, were conducted using &khgr;2 and Z tests. Results Approximately 9% of the TBI sample had CI without the following simultaneous diagnoses: saccade or pursuit dysfunction; third, fourth, or sixth cranial nerve palsy; visual field deficit; visual spatial inattention/neglect; vestibular dysfunction; or nystagmus. Photophobia with CI was observed in 16.3% (21 of 130), and vestibular dysfunction with CI was observed in 18.5% (24 of 130) of the CI subgroup. Convergence insufficiency and cranial nerve palsies were common and yielded prevalence rates of 23.3% (130 of 557) and 26.9% (150 of 557), respectively, within the TBI sample. Accommodative dysfunction was common within the nonpresbyopic TBI sample, with a prevalence of 24.4% (76 of 314). Visual field deficits or unilateral visual spatial inattention/neglect was observed within 29.6% (80 of 270) of the TBI inpatient subgroup and was significantly more prevalent compared with that of the outpatient subgroup (p < 0.001). Most TBI patients had visual acuities of 20/60 or better in the TBI sample (85%; 473 of 557). Conclusions Convergence insufficiency without simultaneous visual or vestibular dysfunctions was observed in about 9% of the visually symptomatic TBI civilian population studied. A thorough visual and vestibular examination is recommended for all TBI patients.


—This paper presents cyclostationarity-based spec- trum sensing algorithm implementation for detection of OFDM signals. The detector utilizes two distinct autocorrelation delays and introduces compensation of the phase difference between the two cyclic autocorrelation functions. This improves detection sensitivity (or alternatively reduces detection time) compared to other similar algorithms while maintaining the constraint on false alarm rate. The phase compensation can be performed without requiring any new information about the signal properties. Furthermore, incorporation of the phase compensation reduces overall computational complexity of the algorithm and therefore leads to simpler implementation that uses fewer logic gates and consumes less power.


The current situation of depletion of energy resources and population growth makes feasible the use of the remaining potential in power plants already built and in operation. A recent research trend is the study of performance of photovoltaic- hydroelectric hybrid energy systems with PV modules installed on the reservoir surface. The hydroelectric power plant of Guarita was launched in 1953 and has an installed capacity of 1.86 MW, with 40 m height. This study assesses the feasibility of utilization of the residual flow of 370 l/s in a machinery house placed 12 m below the water level of the dam, operating in conjunction with PV modules installed over the surface of the water reservoir. The study was conducted based on simulations with well-known HOMER software, Legacy version. The hydroelectric potential will be deployed with low-cost alternatives such as the use of centrifugal pumps as turbines. The photovoltaic potential will be exploited with modules installed on floating structures. The optimization space obtained with HOMER indicates feasible solutions with the combination of 34.8 kW hydro and 30 kW PV. Lower costs of PV modules can make viable some solutions with 60 and 90 kW PV. This work also indicates useful conclusions in the design process and implementation of the hybrid system under study.


INTRODUCTION Currently, New Guinea Stegonotus with 17 scales at midbody and divided subcaudals are identified as S. modestus. But this will not account for the disparity in dentition within "S. modestus", nor the colour differences even at one locality, nor that in East and West Sepik Districts there are three quite distinct "S. modestus": (1) a large form with high ventral count and high tooth count; (2) a small form with low ventral count but high tooth count; and (3) a medium-sized form with high ventral count but low tooth count (fig. 1). The material in the British Museum and American Museum of Natural History indicates that scale count does not correctly identify the species, and that such features as dentition, form of the palatine bone, scale pits, size, and coloration are more reliable. GENERAL FEATURES OF NEW GUINEA STEGONOTUS New Guinea Stegonotus are very closely related to the Oriental genus Dinodon; the supposed dental differences between these genera do not hold and the maxillary dentition of (for example) Stegonotus diehli more closely resembles that of Dinodon orientale than it does that of Stegonotus cucullatus. I find only one character that will separate New Guinea Stegonotus from Dinodon: in Dinodon, the membranous dorsal wall of the trachea is expanded as a large and simple sac continuous with the lung 1); but in all New Guinea Stegonotus, dorsal tracheal perforations lead into a series of separate membranous sacs, as described by Brongersma (1957). Stegonotus and Dinodon show a general similarity in form and a sexual dimorphism in ventral count with males exceeding females (the reverse of the usual dimorphism). The pattern of the head of juvenile S. diehli


Delay-based congestion control algorithms provide higher throughput and stability than traditional loss-based AIMD algorithms, but they are inherently unfair against older connections when the queuing and the propagation delay cannot be measured accurately and independently. This paper presents a novel measurement algorithm whereby fairness between old and new connections is preserved. The algorithm does not modify the dynamics of congestion control, and runs entirely in the server host using locally available information.


This article analises the powerful influence of the feminist thought during the long period of criminal reforms iniciated in Spain in the late 80s and still going on today. The complexity and diversity of points of view inside the feminist movement have contributed to a deep debate on the suitability of criminal law for offering solutions to the violence suffered by women. The perverse effects generated by the growing complicity of a certain feminist sector with the governmental powers, in a shared punitivist obsession that appears to have no end, warns about the need to support and keep working on an alternative ideological discourse, less authoritary, more realistic and more sensible with the priorities of women in their fight against discrimination and gender violence.


This chapter adds to the understanding of Melanesians conceptions of self and the structure of narratives in Melanesian Oceanic languages and Vanuatu cultures. In the early years of the 21st century a cyclone devastated much of the eastern seaboard of Malakula, Vanuatu. In 2007, the author collected narrative accounts of cyclone Ivy from members of the Auluan community. Examining the way the events of the cyclone and its aftermath are recounted and the positioning of the narrator and the community as characters we should be able to identify the characteristics of the notion of self within the Aulua speaking community. The shared theme of the narrative also provide a unique opportunity to witness a community narrate itself in one of its most difficult periods in recent times.


Commissioned to mark the centenary of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 2004, The Burial at Thebes is Seamus Heaney's new verse translation of Sophocles' great tragedy, Antigone - whose eponymous heroine is one of the most sharply individualized and compelling figures in Western drama. Faithful to the 'local row' and to the fierce specificity of the play's time and place, The Burial at Thebes honours the separate and irreconcilable claims of its opposed voices, as they enact the ancient but perennial conflict between family and state in a time of crisis, pitching the morality of private allegiance against that of public service. Above all, The Burial at Thebes honours the sovereign urgency and grandeur of the Antigone, in which language speaks truth to power, then and now.


Context. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) generate an afterglow emission that can be detected from radio to X-rays during days, or even weeks after the initial explosion. The peak of this emission crosses the millimeter and submillimeter range during the first hours to days, making their study in this range crucial for constraining the models. Observations have been limited until now due to the low sensitivity of the observatories in this range. This situation will be greatly improved with the start of scientific operations of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Aims. In this work we do a statistical analysis of the complete sample of mm/submm observations of GRB afterglows obtained before the beginning of scientific operations at ALMA. Methods. We present observations of 11 GRB afterglows obtained from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) and the SubMillimeter Array (SMA), as well as the first detection of a GRB with ALMA, still in the commissioning phase, and put them into context with a catalogue of all the observations that have been published until now in the spectral range that is covered by ALMA. Results. The catalogue of mm/submm observations collected here is the largest to date and is composed of 102 GRBs, of which 88 have afterglow observations, whereas the rest are host galaxy searches. With our programmes, we contributed with data of 11 GRBs and the discovery of 2 submm counterparts. In total, the full sample, including data from the literature, has 22 afterglow detections with redshifts ranging from 0.168 to 8.2. GRBs have been detected in mm/submm wavelengths with peak luminosities spanning 2.5 orders of magnitude, the most luminous reaching 10 33 erg s −1 Hz −1 . We observe a correlation between the X-ray brightness at 0.5 days and the mm/submm peak brightness. Finally we give a rough estimate of the distribution of peak flux densities of GRB afterglows, based on the current mm/submm sample. Conclusions. Observations in the mm/submm bands have been shown to be crucial for our understanding of the physics of GRBs, but have until now been limited by the sensitivity of the observatories. With the start of the operations at ALMA, the sensitivity has improved by more than an order of magnitude, opening a new era in the study of GRB afterglows and their host galaxies. Our estimates predict that, once completed, ALMA will detect up to ∼98% of the afterglows if observed during the passage of the peak synchrotron emission.


ABSTRACT Background: Individuals' right to be involved with decisions regarding their health and social care is the cornerstone for modern patient-centred care. Decision-making is a complex process that involves multiple cognitive and linguistic abilities. These are often challenging for people with aphasia (PWA). The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) Code of Practice (2007) recommends that speech and language therapists (SLTs) support capacity assessments for individuals with communication problems, such as PWA. To date, little is known regarding SLTs' involvement in the UK for supporting decision-making and capacity assessment for PWA. Aims: This research provides data to document when, how, and the extent to which SLTs are being used in capacity assessment for PWA in England. We also determined SLTs' training and resource needs in capacity assessments, and their role in inter-professional training. Methods & Procedures: 56 SLTs working with PWA from a wide range of clinical settings in England were recruited; they completed a secure questionnaire using the online survey tool Survey Monkey. The questionnaire collected information in the following areas: knowledge and awareness of the MCA; current involvement of SLTs in capacity assessments and decision-making; inter-professional understanding of SLTs roles in capacity assessments; and training needs of SLTs. Outcomes & Results: The SLTs who participated in this survey indicated that they were not regularly involved to support capacity assessment for PWA. Moreover, they also reported that other professionals on the care team did not fully recognise or utilise their skills in supporting capacity assessment for PWA. Moreover, SLTs were not solicited to train professionals regarding communication difficulties in aphasia and its impact on capacity assessments. SLTs wanted profession-specific training to fulfil the role of supporting PWA in capacity assessments more effectively and reliably. Conclusions: Healthcare professionals have an ethical duty to ensure that judgements of capacity are unbiased and accurate. SLTs have an important contribution to make but their skills and knowledge are not fully recognised or utilised. These findings highlight an important need to raise the profile of SLTs' skills and expertise amongst professionals through education and/or inter-professional communications. This would enable SLTs to be regularly and effectively utilised in capacity assessments and decision-making for PWA.


Introduction: Asthma as we know has multiple etiologies and risk factors. Among the noncommunicable diseases, asthma remains a global giant, a disease that has numerous predictors some proven and some under scrutiny. Linking diet with asthma has been crucial and treacherous for long. With all the studies that have been undertaken, some clearly state the protective effects/adverse effects of certain foods, while others deepen the dilemma. This study has been undertaken in order to enlarge the spectrum of studies performed in this regard. The study evaluates the dietary habits (vegetarian and nonvegetarian) as a whole of 554 school going children and categorizes them into asthmatics (along with allergic disorders) (both physician diagnosed) and nonasthmatics. Aims and Objectives: The aim was to establish the correlation between diet and physician diagnosed asthma (and allergic disorders) in school going children. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire inspired by the International study for Asthma and Allergy in Children questionnaire was used to evaluate the dietary habits and disease status of the 554 school going children of urban areas of Jaipur. The children had to fill the questionnaire under parental/teachers′ guidance. Results: Asthma and allergic disorders were found to be more prevalent in those consuming a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet (odds ratio [OR]: 0.289, P - 0.004). Junk food was also significantly correlated (OR: 1.643, P - 0.004), as well as a positive family history (OR: 0.585, P - 0.002). Conclusion: Although studies linking a vegetarian diet to be protective against asthma are numerous, our study shows a different picture. The school of thought that considers vegetarian diet to be protective may lay its basis on the high antioxidant levels in the blood, which according to a new hypothesis, on the contrary may be related to increased risk of allergies too.


© Academy of Management Learning & Education. Abraham Maslow's theory of motivation, the idea that human needs exist in a hierarchy that people strive to satisfy progressively, is regarded as a fundamental approach to understanding and motivating people at work. It is one of the first and most remembered models encountered by students of management. Despite gaining little support in empirical studies and being criticized for promoting an elitist, individualistic view of management, Maslow's theory remains popular, underpinned by its widely recognized pyramid form. However, Maslow never created a pyramid to represent the hierarchy of needs. We investigated how it came to be and draw on this analysis to call for a rethink of how Maslow is represented in management studies. We also challenge management educators to reflect critically on what are taken to be the historical foundations of management studies and the forms in which those foundations are taught to students.


14109 Background: At the moment of establishing the diagnosis, in approximately 50-60% of the patients with esophageal carcinoma only palliative treatment is possible due to either a locally advanced tumour growth or due to distant metastases. While adenocarcinomas of the esophagogastric junction are increasingly treated like gastric carcinomas, no palliative standard regimen is established for advanced squamous carcinomas of the oesophagus. The question should be answered whether the AIO regimen plus Irinotecan may achieve similarly positive results in esophageal carcinomas as in gastric carcinomas.

METHODS
Prospective phase II trial, patients: n=20, trial start: 03/2003, chemotherapeutic regimen: Irinotecan (80 mg/m2 i.v. as 1h-infusion; d 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, qd 57) as well as folinic acid (500 mg/m2 i.v.) together with 5-Fluorouracil (2000 mg/m2 i.v.; d 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, qd 57) as 24h-infusion via port catheter.

RESULTS
n=16 (adenocarcinomas: n=8, squamous epithelial carcinomas: n=8); median age: 59,3 (44-72) years; men/women: 13/3; ECOG 0/1/2: 4/11/1; chemotherapeutic applications: 314. Evaluable in terms of toxicity: n=16. Higher grade toxicity: grade III diarrhea: n=2, grade III hyponatremia: n=1, thrombosis of the vena subclavia: n=1, grade III stomatitis: n=1, ischemic lesion of the brain stem: n=1. Two patients died after 2 chemotherapeutic applications with known peritoneal carcinomatosis and high tumour burden. Evaluable in terms of response: n=13. PR: n=7 (54%), SD: n=4 (31%), PD: n=2 (15%).

CONCLUSION
The AIO regimen plus Irinotecan is excellently manageable on an outpatient basis in a multimorbid patient group and shows high efficacy in both adenocarcinomas and squamous epithelial carcinomas of the oesophagus. Final results, however, particularly in terms of median survival, still remain to be seen. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


Nowadays, due to increasing the complexity of IC engines, calibration task becomes more severe and the need to use surrogate models for investigating of the engine behavior arises. Accordingly, many black box modeling approaches have been used in this context among which network based models are of the most powerful approaches thanks to their flexible structures. In this paper four network based modeling methods are used and compared to model the behavior of an IC engine: neural networks model (NN), group method of data handling model (GMDH), a hybrid NN and GMDH model (NN-GMDH), and a GMDH model whose structure is determined by genetic algorithm (Genetic-GMDH). The inputs are engine speed, throttle angle, and intake valve opening and closing timing, and the output is the engine brake torque. Results show that NN has the best prediction capability and Genetic-GMDH model has the most flexible and simplest structure and relatively good prediction ability.