chemical capacitors based on electrodes made of transition-metal nitride nanoparticles are undergoing development. Transition-metal nitrides (in particular, Fe3N and TiN) offer a desirable combination of high electrical conductivity and electrochemical stability in aqueous alkaline electrolytes like KOH. The high energy densities of these capacitors are attributable mainly to their high capacitance densities, which, in turn, are attributable mainly to the large specific surface areas of the electrode nanoparticles. Capacitors of this type could be useful as energy-storage components in such diverse equipment as digital communication systems, implanted medical devices, computers, portable consumer electronic devices, and electric vehicles. Although the desirable properties of the transition-metal nitrides were known prior to the present development, realization of the inherent electrochemical stability of these materials and of the large specific surface areas and high electrical conductivities needed for high-energy-density capacitors was prevented by side effects of processing: • Synthesis of these materials involved thermal conversion at temperatures so high (>600 °C) as to cause nucleation of larger particles from smaller ones, with consequent reduction of specific surface areas. • The nature of the synthesis was such as to yield oxynitrides and oxides in addition to the desired pure nitrides. As a result, electrochemical series resistance (ESR) values were excessive. • Unlike the nitrides, the oxynitrides and oxides are not sufficiently chemically stable in alkaline electrolytes. The present development effort follows a multifaceted approach in addressing the aforementioned issues as well as others. In this approach, transition-metal nitride nanoparticles are synthesized at room temperature under conditions that exclude oxygen and thereby prevent the formation of oxynitrides: A synthesis according to this approach involves radio-frequency-plasma-assisted conversion of a nanoparticulate precursor material (e.g., iron acetate, titanium hydride, or titanium chloride) in the presence of anhydrous ammonia gas flowing at a suitable low pressure. Current collectors for the electrodes of the developmental capacitors are made of films of an electrically conductive composite material that consists mostly of TiN nanoparticles in an elastomeric matrix. To ensure highly electrically conductive interfaces with the electrode materials, thin (250-Å thick) coats of TiN can be sputtered onto the surfaces of the currentcollector films. Capacitors designed and fabricated according to the present approach have been characterized in a variety of tests (for example, see figure). A specific capacitance in excess of 150 Farads/gram (F/g) or 800 F/cm2 has been observed. Capacitors of this type, containing both anodes and cathodes made of transition-metal nitride nanoparticles, have withstood potentials >1.75 V. Tests of single-cell and multiple-cell stacks have yielded encouraging results, and significant improvements are expected in future efforts. This work was done by Matt Aldissi of Fractal Systems, Inc., for Glenn Research Center. For further information, access the Technical Support Package (TSP) free online at www.nasatech.com. Inquiries concerning rights for the commercial use of this invention should be addressed to NASA Glenn Research Center, Commercial Technology Office, Attn: Steve Fedor, Mail Stop 4–8, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44135. Refer to LEW-17083.


Despite theoretical advances, measurement issues have impeded empirical research on aspirations. We quantify political aspirations in a developing country by estimating individuals' willingness to trade-off family size for political candidacy. Utilizing quasi-experimental variation in legal fertility limits on village council members in India, we find that at least 2.21% of married couples of childbearing age altered their fertility to remain eligible for council membership. This implies that returns to local leadership in low-income democracies are potentially high. Poorer, less educated, and lower-caste families display strong political aspirations, thereby lowering the extent of elite-capture at the local level of governance.


This work was devoted on quantum mechanical ab initio study on hydrophobicity 6-amino-4-phenyltetrahydroquinoline derivatives as antagonist for FSH- receptor. The electronic structures were optimized based on general interaction properties function. Family descriptors of electrostatic potentials, localized ionization energies and carbon chemical shifts descriptorswere computed using the Gaussian98 software.Multiple linear regression was used to achieve a reliable QSPR model to predict the hydrophobicity of 6-amino-4-phenyltetrahydroquinoline derivatives within average absolute errors of 3.22%. The accuracy of developed model was confirmed using different types of internal procedures. It was found that quantum mechanical source of dispersion forces have less contribution on hydrophobicity of 6-amino-4-phenyltetrahydroquinoline derivatives, whereas the intra-molecular charge transfer interactions, surprisingly, show major impact on their hydrophobicity properties.


Abstract. Research on glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) – specific low-frequency, high-magnitude floods originating in glacial lakes, including jokulhlaups – is well justified in the context of glacier ice loss and glacial lake evolution in glacierized areas all over the world. Increasing GLOF research activities, which are documented by the increasing number of published research items, have been observed in the past few decades; however, comprehensive insight into the GLOF research community, its global bibliometrics, geographies and trends in research is missing. To fill this gap, a set of 892 GLOF research items published in the Web of Science database covering the period 1979–2016 was analysed. General bibliometric characteristics, citations and references were analysed, revealing a certain change in the publishing paradigm over time. Furthermore, the global geographies of research on GLOFs were studied, focusing on (i) where GLOFs are studied, (ii) who studies GLOFs, (iii) the export of research on GLOFs and (iv) international collaboration. The observed trends and links to the challenges ahead are discussed and placed in a broader context.


Building large and complex systems continues to be a significant challenge for today's systems engineers and integrators. This tutorial sets forth new ways of thinking that could lead to improvements in how systems engineering and integration are carried out. In particular, nine new perspectives are suggested for "thinking outside the box". Examples are provided for each, along with a discussion of their potential benefits. In addition, thinking in groups as well as historical thinking suggestions are examined. A summary provides an overview of notions that represent departures from current mainstream approaches.


This paper implements the time-state preference model in a multi-period economy, deriving the prices of primitive securities from the prices of call options on aggregate consumption. These prices permit an equilibrium valuation of assets with uncertain payoffs at many future dates. Furthermore, for any given portfolio, the price of a $1.00 claim received at a future date, if the portfolio's value is between two given levels at that time, is derived explicitly from a second partial derivative of its call-option pricing function. An intertemporal capital asset pricing model is derived for payoffs that are jointly lognormally distributed with aggregate consumption. It is shown that using the Black-Scholes equation for options on aggregate consumption implies that individuals' preferences aggregate to isoelastic utility.


The purpose of this study was to examine structural, academic, and personal factors affecting the transition of African American males to high school by giving voice to the participants. A qualitative dominant explanatory mixed methods design (Creswell, 2005) was used to collect data. In the qualitative phase, a questionnaire was administered to 16 African American male students who had completed the first semester of their freshman year. For the qualitative phase of the study, eight of the 16 participants were chosen to participate in individual and focus group interviews. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data. Analysis of the questionnaire data informed development of the individual interview protocol; analysis of data from the individual interviews informed development of the focus group interview protocol. Qualitative data were analyzed using Creswell's (2005) content analysis coding procedures. Eight themes related to structural, academic, and personal factors emerged; (a) School Size Is Not A Problem, But... (physical structure), (b) Hangin' With My Friends In Class: Missing the Interdisciplinary Team Structure (academic structure), (c) Teachers Think We Can't Do the Work (teacher expectations), (d) This Is Harder Than I Thought It Would Be (academic expectations and academic assistance), (e) My Friends Save Me: Camaraderie of the "Brothers" at School (relationships with peers), (f) Teachers: Friend or Foe? (relationships with teachers), (g) You're Not There to Take Up Space: Great Expectations of Parents/Guardians and Community (home and community.


This study was carried out with the main objective of establishing a plant
regeneration system through somatic embryogenesis in Musa spp cv. Rastali. The
study included induction of embryogenic callus and somatic embryos from immature
male flowers, initiation of cell suspension cultures from the embryogenic callus and
somatic embryos, proliferation of somatic embryos from the embryogenic cell
suspension followed by embryo maturation and germination.
In the study on embryogenic callus induction from immature male flowers of banana
cv. Rastali, the effect of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and different flower
cluster positions on the embryogenic callus formation was determined. Various
concentrations of 2,4-D (0, 1, 2 and 4 mg/L) were incorporated into M1 medium
consisting of MS medium, 1 mg/L IAA, 1mg/L NAA, 30 g/L sucrose and 7 g/L
agarose. The levels of 2,4-D affected the embryogenic callus initiation and somatic embryo
formation in cv. Rastali. The highest percentage of embryogenic callus formation
(53.9 %) was obtained on treatment with 2 mg/L 2,4-D in cv. Rastali for all flower
cluster positions assessed.
The effect of flower cluster positions on percentage of embryogenic callus formation
showed the highest percentage (48.4 %) was from flower cluster position 8 in cv.
Rastali. Interaction between the different flower cluster positions and 2,4-D
concentrations produced the highest percentage of embryogenic callus formation
(83.8 %) from flower cluster position 8 on treatment with 2 mg/L 2,4-D in cv. Rastali.
After six months on the callus induction medium, calli varying from yellowish,
creamy to white were formed. A positive embryogenic response was shown by the
appearance of individual somatic embryos amongst the callus produced on 2 and 4
mg/L 2,4-D and this indicated an ideal callus.
The initial phase of cell suspension establishment comprised of a mixture of cell
aggregates and heterogenous cells that varied from embryogenic cells, nonembryogenic
cells and elongated cells. The suspension cultures were refreshed
monthly to improve the suspension quality and to obtain homogeneous embryogenic
cell cultures. After a duration of one month, with agitation of the suspension culture, attached
embryogenic cells broke free from the cell aggregates. Cells stained with fluorescein
diacetate (FDA) fluoresced bright green when observed under a microscope with UV
attachment indicating the cells were viable. It offers a quick visual assessment on
percentage of cell viability. Meanwhile, Evan's blue staining was also used to check
the cell viability to complement the FDA assesment. When cells were treated with
dilute (0.025 %) solution of Evan's blue, intact and viable cells remained unstained
whilst damaged cells took up the stain.
The growth of suspended cells in S1 and S2 media over five subcultures showed a
sporadic pattern. S1 medium consisted of half strength MS macronutrients, MS
micronutrients, Dhed'a Vitamins, 10 mg/L ascorbic acid, 1.1 mg/L 2,4-D, 0.25 mg/L
zeatin and 20 g/L sucrose, while S2 medium consisted of MS medium, 1 mg/L biotin,
1 mg/L 2,4-D, 99 mg/L glutamine, 100 mg/L malt extract (Sigma) and 44 mg/L
sucrose. Cell growth was determined by counting cells using a haemocytometer.
Highest cell count of 77 per ml was attained at subculture 2 in S2 medium while in
S1 medium cells reached their highest growth rate of 75 per ml at subculture 5.
Microscopic observation of the cell suspension in liquid S1 medium at the third
subculture showed cells with small, distinct and voluminous nucleus as well as dense
cytoplasm. In the meantime, closely attached cells with compact cytoplasm; mainly
composed of embryogenic cells were observed in liquid S2 medium before sieving at
the second subculture. Sieving out the elongated and vacuolated cells generated
uniform and single meristematic cells in the medium, producing embryogenic cell suspensions that were less heterogeneous. After three months, with sieving and
subculture, Musa sp. cv. Rastali produced a very fine, light yellow embryogenic
suspension culture most suitable for embryo maturation and germination study. In
the final stage after the fifth subculture, the embryogenic cell suspensions were
transferred into MS liquid medium without hormone and showed formation of
globular somatic embryos.
Within one month after placing 1 mL of embryogenic cell suspension (ECS) onto a
filter paper placed on M3 medium containing SH salts, MS vitamins, 1 mg/L biotin,
0.05 mg/L zeatin, 0.1 mg/L kinetin, 45 g/L sucrose, 10 g/L lactose, 100 mg/L
glutamine, 230 mg/L proline, 0.2 mg/L NAA, 0.14 mg/L 2iP, 100 mg/L malt extract
and 3 g/L phytagel, clusters of smooth globular to polar shaped somatic embryos
creamy white in colour appeared. Such clusters of globular somatic embryos with
hyaline protuberances formed many cell lines that allowed the selection of high
quality lines. The creamy-like globular structures were transferred in clumps onto
M4 germination medium consisting of MS macronutrients, MS micronutrients, MS
Fe EDTA, Morel and Wetmore modified vitamin, 0.2 mg/L IAA, 30 g/L sucrose, 2
g/L phytagel and supplemented with different concentrations of BAP (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.5
and 2.0 mg/L). After a duration of two months on the M4 germination medium,
radicles and hairy roots emerged from the somatic embryos. A month later,
development of the whitish radicles from the globular somatic embryos became
prominent followed by the formation of greenish plumules. The radicles elongated
into roots and the greenish plumules developed into shoots. Treatment with 0.5 mg/L BAP gave the highest regeneration percentage of 8.9 % compared to the control at 2.3
%. BAP concentrations of more than 0.5 mg/L resulted in stunted growth of plantlets
and a decrease in the regeneration percentage.
Plantlets obtained were transferred to hormone-free MS medium and placed in light
condition for formation of chloroplasts and further growth of the shoots and roots.
Histological study clearly showed the shoot and root development from somatic
embryos of Musa sp. cv. Rastali. The shoot arised from in between the leaf primordia
that were attached to the mother tissue. The shoot apex arrangement could be clearly
seen through lateral section of the same specimen. The root portion was easily
detached during sectioning nevertheless it was clearly evident in a separate
histological section. The presence of shoot and root poles in the histological
observation confirmed the bipolar nature of the somatic embryos.


This essay provides a review of 25 years of maternal mortality reduction policies proposed by international bodies under the Safe Motherhood Initiative(SMI), and explores the relevance of cultural preferences for birth care in maternal death reduction policies. This review is significant for public health because it addresses the public health mission of ensuring quality and effective health care for mother and child. From a global health perspective this essay provides a general view of the maternal death reduction interventions attempted, and of the successes and problems encountered in different areas of the world. This knowledge is a necessary step for preparing effective programs that build on previous experiences. As such the information contained here can be seen as an intervention history on which future programs can be tailored. Additionally it presents the case of maternal mortality reduction interventions in Peru. The articles included in this essay were obtained through a systematic search of academic online databases, and online and in print publications from international policy and advocacy bodies. Articles come from peer reviewed publications and have been published in the last twenty years. Database searches yielded 139 unique records; 90 of these articles, reviews and reports were directly related to the purposes of this essay. The selected publications which refer to policy strategies and interventions to reduce maternal deaths fall into four broad intervention categories: community level interventions, interventions in medical facilities, policy level interventions, and those related to a global policy change to skilled birth attendants. The results indicate that the most effective interventions focus on more than one intervention level. Furthermore they indicate an uneasy relationship between maternal death education strategies and the cultural preference for home birth care. The development of intercultural birthing in bio-medical facilities, as part of recent maternal mortality reduction efforts in Peru, provides a renewed perspective of cultural preferences in birth care. It also calls attention to the growing importance of cultural awareness in Latin America, and the increasing importance of cultural concerns in public health policy more generally.


Wound repair involves many processes including cell migration, provisional matrix deposition, and remodeling. All of these processes are likely to be affected by matrix-modifying enzymes. Members of the matrix metalloproteinases family are physiologic mediators of the extracellular matrix degradation. Within this matrix metalloproteinases family, stromelysins can degrade many components of the extracellular matrix. We therefore tested the hypothesis that stromelysins could be produced by human surface respiratory epithelial (HSRE) cells repairing a wound. Experimental wounds were created in vitro in HSRE cell cultures and in situ in human bronchial mucosa maintained in organ culture. Stromelysin production was measured by casein-gel zymography in cellular protein extracts derived from repairing migratory and nonrepairing stationary cells of wounded HSRE cell cultures. Stromelysin-producing cells present in cell and tissue cultures were localized and characterized using immunofluorescence techniques. Zymographic and immunofluorescence techniques showed that stromelysins were produced exclusively by the migratory HSRE cells. Zymogram analysis showed that stromelysins were overexpressed and overactivated during the wound repair process, with the maximal production observed at wound closure. Using an anti-cytokeratin 14 antibody, we identified stromelysin-3-producing cells as basal epithelial cells. Moreover, most stromelysin-3-producing cells expressed the mesenchymal marker vimentin. Similar to stromelysins localization, vimentin-positive HSRE cells were exclusively located in the wounded area, and they were also positive to cytokeratin 14. In conclusion, stromelysins are suggested to be involved in HSRE cell migration and extracellular matrix remodeling during wound repair. Furthermore, stromelysin production by repairing HSRE cells is linked to the acquisition of a mesenchymal phenotype. HSRE cell migration may then be associated with the shift from an epithelial to a mesenchymal phenotype.


P-wave velocity information obtained from vertical seismic profiles (VSPs) can be useful in imaging subsurface structure, either by directly detecting changes in the subsurface or as an aid to the interpretation of seismic reflection data. In the shallow subsurface, P-wave velocity can change by nearly an order of magnitude over a short distance, so curved rays are needed to accurately model VSP traveltimes. We used a curved-ray inversion to estimate the velocity profile and the discrepancy principle to estimate the data noise level and to choose the optimum regularization parameter. The curved-ray routine performed better than a straight-ray inversion for synthetic models containing high-velocity contrasts. The application of the inversion to field data produced a velocity model that agreed well with prior information. These results show that curved-ray inversion should be used to obtain velocity information from VSPs in the shallow subsurface.


The public green spaces in Baghdad city have an obvious shortage and doesn't fulfill and meet the needs of the population and the required open space criteria, moreover these green spaces are disjointed, disconnected and does not function as a unified system, that is why it suffers from neglect which contributes to deterioration of the city's environment and increasing air pollution.
    Human beings depended on nature into providing clean air and good health, with the growth of the population and the urban areas, there has been negative influence on the natural environmental system. A new term lately appeared "Green Infrastructure"especially in the developed countries (USA, UK and other countries in Europe), as one form of solutions to conserve the natural environmental system of green and open spaces. Consequently this thesis depended on this new green space approach to solve the green spaces problem in Baghdad city and suggested new sites in different locations in the city to be a new green spaces connected to the existing green spaces in Baghdad. This will increase the public green space areas, accessibility to these areas and social cohesion, it will also contribute to the improvement of the city's environment by reducing air pollution and reducing air temperature especially during the long summer season. Other economic benefits could be achieved by planning for a connected network of green spaces in Baghdad city as well.


Background: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of primary health-care (PHC) physicians on diagnosis and management of ADHD. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study included 340 PHC physicians in Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on personal characteristics, knowledge, attitude, and practice of the diagnosis and management of ADHD. Results: Nearly 47.6% of the PHC physicians were aged <30 years, 60.3% were male, 79.1% were Saudi nationals, and 84.1% had completed MBBS. Only 13.2% had attended continuing medical education courses on ADHD, 63.2% had read about ADHD; Internet was the main source of information (30.7%). Participants' attitude toward ADHD was mainly positive, while 32.1% had poor knowledge and 17.6% had diagnosed ADHD cases in the last year, but 73.3% had referred the diagnosed cases to specialists. Participants' knowledge differed significantly according to their age, gender, and nationality. Conclusions: PHC physicians' knowledge about ADHD was suboptimal, but they had a positive attitude toward their role with regard to ADHD. PHC physicians should focus on the clinical and diagnostic aspects of ADHD. Awareness and interest of undergraduate medical students and newly graduated physicians in ADHD should be raised. The Ministry of Health should encourage attendance at extracurricular courses and workshops.


Earnings functions form the basis of numerous labour market analyses. Non-response (particularly among higher earners) may, however, lead to the exclusion of a significant proportion of South Africa's earnings base. Earnings brackets built into surveys intend to maintain response rates. Econometric tools to incorporate brackets vary from "simplistic" imputation to interval regressions. Coefficient differences are investigated here to establish reliable remedies. Monte-Carlo simulations suggest that "simple" methods fail only under extreme skewness and when a substantial number of right-censored observations appear in the sample. Testing procedures applied to LFS data reveal that in practice coefficients are virtually invariant to the proposed methods. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author; Journal compilation (c) Economic Society of South Africa 2007.


This paper presents new frequency domain and time domain architectures for the digital block of a hardware simulator of MIMO propagation channels. This simulator can be used for 802.11ac applications. The hardware simulator facilitates the test and validation cycles by replicating channel artifacts in a controllable and repeatable laboratory environment, thus making it possible to ensure the same test conditions in order to compare the performance of various equipments. After the description of the general characteristics of the hardware simulator, the new architectures of the digital block are presented and designed on a Xilinx Virtex-IV FPGA. Their accuracy and latency are analyzed. TGn channel model E tests are given in details. Lastly, results for all TGn channel models are presented.


This viewpoint introduces the broader purpose and conceptual premises of the larger research project that makes up this special issue. It starts off from two emerging strands in the international climate policy debate – i.e. (1) the notion that climate change action may be driven by other development priorities; and (2) the growing skepticism regarding the UN system's capacity to deliver effective climate policies – and raises the broader question as to whether development-driven climate action could be incentivized through an internationally agreed upon mechanism within UNFCCC. The concrete objective of the project is to identify the opportunities and challenges of a future Sustainable Development – Policies and Measures (SD-PAM) mechanism, the latter being a precursor for National Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA). To achieve this objective the project holds the following traits. First, it introduces intervention theory as the guiding theoretical framework for all empirical studies. Second, it combines an analysis of the suggested SD-PAM mechanism with selected case studies of potential national SD-PAM projects in Brazil (bio-energy), China (transportation and biogas production) and Mozambique (agriculture). The broader ambition is to identify the circumstances under which development policies may serve as a vehicle for effective climate change mitigation and adaptation.


Political tolerance and commitment to egalitarianism have long been examined as possible contributors to attitudes toward LGBT+ people and policies. Since the 1970s, American attitudes toward LGBT+ issues have changed drastically. During this period, public policy and measures of public opinion toward LGBT+ rights have focused on a variety of areas, such as nondiscrimination laws, gay military service, and family matters such as adoption and marriage. Interestingly, although support for equality has remained the same in the United States, individuals have become rapidly more supportive of LGBT+ people securing equal rights in a variety of domains. There are three primary reasons for this shift: elite messaging, attributions of homosexuality, and contact with members of the LGBT+ community, both direct and indirect. These factors have led to an environment in which the value of equality is more readily applied to LGBT+ issues, therefore increasing support for these rights over time.
 Elite messaging has played a key role in this shift. Across LGBT+ issues, equality frames are often countered with moral traditionalism, thus leading to an increased propensity for individuals to associate LGBT+ issues with these values. The effectiveness of equality frames has been bolstered by the growing belief that homosexuality is a fixed rather than chosen trait, which yields a greater reliance upon egalitarianism when evaluating LGBT+-related issues. At the same time, both direct and indirect contact with the LGBT+ community increased following the Stonewall Riots of 1969. Americans were first introduced to gay characters on television in the 1970s. LG characters gained more prominent roles throughout the 1990s on shows such as The Real World and Will and Grace. Following Stonewall, LGBT+ activist organizations also advocated that members of the community "come out of the closet" and reveal their sexual orientation to the people in their lives. Thus, the chances of Americans knowing—or at least feeling like they knew—an LGBT+ person increased. Consistent with Allport's Contact Theory (1954) and Zajonc's work on "mere exposure effects" (1968), affect toward LGBT+ individuals has generally grown more positive with greater interaction and familiarity. These various factors interacted with underlying predispositions to drastically move public opinion in favor of greater equality for LGBT+ people.


As early as 1934 Graham and Dodd conjectured that excess returns from value investment originate from a tendency of stock prices to converge towards a fundamental value. This paper confirms their insights within the evolutionary finance model of Evstigneev et al. (Econ Theory 27:449–468, (Evstigneev et al. 2006)). Our empirical results show the predictive power of the evolutionary benchmark valuation for the relative market capitalization and its dynamics in the sample of firms listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index in 1981–2009.


Deaf children are more vulnerable to mental health problems and this includes the presence of Autism. However autism like symptoms can also been found in deaf children without fulfilling a whole diagnostic Autistic Spectrum Disorder category. Deaf children can show delays in theory of mind development due to early communication problems and this can manifest into deficits in social skills, anger, frustration and a need for routine. In this case study the author describes a young girl presenting with autistic traits. A referral to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) is initiated by her GP (General Practitioner) as a consequence of concerns voiced by her parents, and an educational psychologist. After a lengthy assessment including gold standard diagnostic instruments and input from two deaf aware members of the team, the conclusion was that this young person did not fulfil the criteria for a diagnosis of Autism. A combined plan with National Deaf Services was agreed to arrange therapeutic support for this young person with recognition of emotional vocabulary, social skills training, and behavioural management to be delivered from her new deaf boarding school. Further assessment indicated that some of the behaviours and difficulties described previously were greatly improved after gaining access to a deaf milieu in her new school. This case illustrates the importance of helping young deaf individuals to access peers, and how access to the milieu can increase deaf children self-esteem and social skills.


K2's Campaign 9 (K2C9) will conduct a ∼3.7 deg2 survey toward the Galactic bulge from 2016 April 22 through July 2 that will leverage the spatial separation between K2 and the Earth to facilitate measurement of the microlens parallax π E for ≳ 170 microlensing events. These will include several that are planetary in nature as well as many short-timescale microlensing events, which are potentially indicative of free-floating planets (FFPs). These satellite parallax measurements will in turn allow for the direct measurement of the masses of and distances to the lensing systems. In this article we provide an overview of the K2C9 space- and ground-based microlensing survey. Specifically, we detail the demographic questions that can be addressed by this program, including the frequency of FFPs and the Galactic distribution of exoplanets, the observational parameters of K2C9, and the array of resources dedicated to concurrent observations. Finally, we outline the avenues through which the larger community can become involved, and generally encourage participation in K2C9, which constitutes an important pathfinding mission and community exercise in anticipation of WFIRST.


Twenty-seven children with early-onset (< 4 yr) diabetes (EOD), 24 children with late-onset (> 4 yr) diabetes (LOD), and 30 sibling controls were compared in their performance on tests of intellectual functioning and school achievement. The results indicated that children with EOD, particularly girls, scored lower than the other groups of diabetic children and siblings on tests of visuospatial (P < .05) but not verbal ability. Many of the girls with EOD were also having difficulty at school, and several were receiving special education. Children with EOD had more hypoglycemic convulsions than those with LOD. Both convulsions and age of onset were associated with poorer performance on spatial tasks. Girls with EOD had lower spatial test scores regardless of convulsion history, whereas boys with EOD scored lower only if they had had a convulsion.


For a century or more, nearly all technological advances have depended on our ability to produce and manipulate the vast variety of materials that nature has given us. Nowhere is that dependence more evident than in the field of electronics. From a smorgasbord of semiconductors, polymers, and metals, we've been able to create a dazzling array of circuitry that now underpins pretty much every aspect of modern life. So now imagine what we could do if we weren't limited to the materials found in nature. Researchers have long believed that it would someday be possible to produce artificial materials, or "metamaterials," and that they would bring about some stunning, otherworldly technologies-the sort that have figured in science fiction tales for years. These innovations include invisibility cloaks that could mask the presence of objects or their electromagnetic signatures, "unfeelability cloaks" that could mechanically mask the tactile feel of an object, superlenses that could resolve features too small to be seen with ordinary microscope lenses, and power absorbers that could capture essentially all of the sunlight hitting a solar cell.


Abstract—Decision making on the true planning of the public transportation systems to serve potential users is a must for metropolitan areas. To take attraction of travelers to projected modes of transport, adequately fair overall travel times should be provided. In this fashion, other benefits such as lower traffic congestion, road safety and lower noise and atmospheric pollution may be earned. The congestion which comes with increasing demand of public transportation is becoming a part of our lives and making residents' life difficult. Hence, regulations should be done to reduce this congestion. To provide a constructive and balanced regulation in public transportation systems, right stations should be located in right places. In this study, it is aimed to design and implement a Decision Support System (DSS) Application to determine the optimal bus stop places for public transport in Istanbul which is one of the biggest and oldest cities in the world. Required information is gathered from IETT (Istanbul Electricity, Tram and Tunnel) Enterprises which manages all public transportation services in Istanbul Metropolitan Area. By using the most real-like values, cost assignments are made. The cost is calculated with the help of equations produced by bi-level optimization model. For this study, 300 buses, 300 drivers, 10 lines and 110 stops are used. The user cost of each station and the operator cost taken place in lines are calculated. Some components like cost, security and noise pollution are considered as significant factors affecting the solution of set covering problem which is mentioned for identifying and locating the minimum number of possible bus stops. Preliminary research and model development for this study refers to previously published article of the corresponding author. Model results are represented with the intent of decision support to the specialists on locating stops effectively.


Baig, M. B. and F. aldosari, 2012. an investigation into the vanishing biodiversity: implications for rural extension. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 18: 403-409 Being rich in biological diversity, Pakistan represents at least three distinct bio-geographical regions, namely Pale-arctic, Ethiopian and oriental. The country is blessed with a varied climate, dry and cold regions, tropical, subtropical, plains, des erts, estuaries and marine ecosystems. A huge variety of flora and fauna exist in their preferred habitats. However, the coun try has witnessed many ecological changes due to several factors, which include heavy biotic pressure, unsustainable use of biological resources, urbanization, deforestation etc. These pressures and exerting factors have resulted in the loss of suitable habitats and consequently extinction of several valuable species. The article presents an account of the factors responsible for the current losses of biodiversity. A review of the conservation measures is also presented in the article. However, the greater emphasis has been placed on the great potential role of extension


Acoustic wave propagation is sensitive to many rock properties including fluid content, porosity, and pore structure, among others. Pore structure is one of the important parameters in controlling both seismic wave velocity and permeability in sandstones and carbonate rocks. For a given porosity of two similar rocks with different pore structure, their acoustic wave speeds can differ 2 km/s and permeability can span nearly six orders of magnitude from 0.01 mD to 20 D in both sandstones and limestones. In this paper, we introduce a two-parameter velocity model defined by porosity and a new pore structure parameter called as frame flexibility factor. Using this model, we define three pore structure types (PST) to quantify the pore structure effects on elastic properties of sedimentary rocks. These three PSTs have their distinct characteristics on synthetic shot gathers and common midpoint gathers. This study indicates that it may be feasible to use this new concept and method to detect pore structure variations in reservoir rocks from field seismic data. This study also helps explain why analysis of amplitude variation with offset (AVO) in some cases fails for fluid detection: pore structure effect on seismic waves can mask all the fluid effects, especially in carbonate rocks.


Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is one of the most challenging techniques for robot designers due to the limited size of access points, the high miniaturization level, and the dexterity needed for performing surgical tasks. Conversely, only a few microfabrication technologies are currently available for developing such small-sized systems, which allow safe operations in human bodies. In order to match these challenges in MIS, both design and integration of actuation systems should proceed in parallel with an identification of most effective transmission mechanisms and kinematics. In this paper, an origami parallel module that generates two rotations and one translation is integrated with a twisting module and a compliant gripper to form a novel four-degree-of-freedom grasper. The rotational motion leads to the pitch and yaw motion of the gripper, while the translational motion is converted to a roll motion of the gripper via the twisting module that is stacked on top of the parallel module. In light of plane-symmetric properties of the origami structure in the parallel module, both inverse and forward kinematics are resolved with a geometric approach, revealing a unique joint space and a kinematic mapping of the parallel module, leading to the design of two sets of on-board actuation systems. During the analysis, bending motion of a central spring and static properties of the compliant gripper are modeled using finite-element methods. The structure of the twisting module for motion transmission of the grasper is designed and fabricated using origami folding techniques. Gripping forces of the compliant gripper are evaluated in experimental tests. Further analyses of the system performance are addressed in accordance with the scaling ratio of miniaturization and the scalability of the system is demonstrated by a millimeter-sized origami parallel module produced by the smart composite microstructure fabrication process.


Forensic activities related to footwear evidence may be broadly classified into the following two categories: (1) intelligence gathering and (2) evidential value assessment. Intelligence gathering provides additional leads for investigators. Assessment of evidential value, as practiced in the United States, involves a trained footwear examiner evaluating the degree of similarity between a known shoe of interest (together with its test impressions) and footwear impressions obtained from a crime scene, by performing side‐by‐side visual comparisons. However, the need for developing quantitative approaches for expressing similarities during such comparisons is being increasingly recognized by the forensic science community. In this paper, we explore the ability of similarity metrics to discriminate between impressions made by a shoe of interest and impressions made by close non‐matching shoes. Close non‐matching shoes largely share the same design and size. Therefore, the ability to effectively discriminate between them requires considering, either explicitly or implicitly, not only design and size, but also wear patterns and, to some extent, individual characteristics. This type of discrimination is necessary for assessment of evidential value. The similarity metrics examined in this paper are correlation‐based metrics, including normalized cross‐correlation, phase‐only correlation, AvNCC, and AvPOC. The latter two metrics are based on features obtained from a convolutional neural network. Experiments are performed using Everspry impressions, FBI boot impressions, and the West Virginia University footwear impression collection. The results show that phase‐only correlation performs as well as or better than the other metrics in all cases for the datasets we considered.


The paper examines the patterns of internal migration and population change in France over the recent decades at departement and commune scales. Regional population change is controlled by both natural increase and internal migration. There are two differing patterns of natural increase: north and east France has higher natural increase and south and east has lower. The geographic pattern of internal migration has changed substantially over the last 50 years, most dramatically in the Ile-de-France, which showed the highest gains between 1954 and 1962 but the highest losses between 1975 and 1982. Urban growth, which was strong in the 1950s and 1960s, reversed in the 1970s favouring small towns but recovered slightly in the last 20 years.
Migration gains and losses show a quite complicated pattern of depopulation of city centres combined with slow suburbanisation and advanced periurbanisation. Periurbanisation is evident in Paris region and in nearly all large urban agglomerations. Most other cities show suburbanisation or periurbanisation at various stages of development.
Out-migration shows a clear division of the country into a northern part with higher rates, and a central and southern part of the country with lower out-migration. This simple pattern is modified by higher out-migration from some cities such as Lyon or Clermont-Ferrand and from isolated rural communes scattered all over the country. Out-migration also has a regional dimension: there are shifts towards more attractive areas, in particular Alpine region and Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts.
Analysis of migration between size bands of rural and urban units shows a significant deconcentration process, and a similar pattern characterises migration between population density bands. The general movement is down the urban/density band hierarchy, from higher to lower urban/density bands. Deep rural areas are not attractive and excluded from the process of counterurbanisation. In addition, unemployment was found to have a strong and very efficient impact on migration behaviour.
Analysis for 1990-1999 leads to slight modification of this picture: a slow recovery of central parts of the largest urban agglomerations and less differentiated patterns than in the 1980s. Deconcentration of the French population continues but is less powerful.


This paper analyses the extent of technological capability of foreign subsidiaries located in East Germany, and looks at the determinants of foreign subsidiaries' technological sourcing behaviour. The theory of international production underlines the importance of strategic and regional level variables. However, existing empirical approaches omit by and large regional level factors. We employ survey evidence from the "FDI micro database" of the IWH, that was only recently made available, to conduct our analyses. We find that foreign subsidiaries are above average technologically active in comparison to the whole East German manufacturing. This can be partially explained by the industrial structure of foreign direct investment. However, only a limited share of foreign subsidiaries with R&D and / or innovation activity source technological knowledge from the East German innovation system. If a subsidiary follows a competence augmenting strategy or does local trade, it is more likely to source technological knowledge locally. The endowment of a region with human capital and a scientific infrastructure has a positive effect too. The findings suggest that foreign subsidiaries in East Germany are only partially linked with the regional innovation system. Policy implications are discussed. COMMENT: Holger Graf


The construction industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is experiencing rapid development and sharp expansion due to recent changes in socio-economic development policies. The performance of construction contractors is an essential and critical part of project success; however, there is a lack of skilled manpower and lack of experience in managing major projects within KSA. Appropriate tools to evaluate, measure and monitor construction contractor performance are also required. As a result of the changes in the KSA construction market needs, the nature of the competition, the cost of failing public construction projects and the importance of the quality of product in the final project, awareness of the need to select an appropriate though effective contractor performance selection framework has been highlighted.
This doctoral research project analyzes and evaluates current techniques for monitoring contractor performance, and identifies the most appropriate techniques that could be adopted in KSA. This was achieved by performing critical analyses of literature and conducting preliminary interviews with practitioners in KSA. The main outcome of the literature review and preliminary interviews was used to articulate a number of questions which were subsequently posed in a questionnaire and in interviews with a number of Saudi professionals working within the public sector.
The findings of this initial research have been used to establish a novel framework to help in measuring contractor performance prior to selection. The framework was tested through focus group workshops resulting in positive feedback and some alterations. The main findings of the study include the lack of an appropriate construction contractor performance evaluation framework in SA, and the identification and exploration of criteria and sub-criteria for a selection framework. The research provides recommendations for best practices in the construction industry, as well as for further research in the field.
Keywords: contractor performance - evaluation technique Saudi Arabia


Equations are developed for the rate of penetration of a substance into (or egress from) the zone included between two coaxial cylinders. In the most general case the penetrating substance is assumed to engage in diffusion, a chemical reaction of the first order and a zero-order reaction (e.g. metabolism). The rate of elimination of nitrogen from the tissues into the blood capillaries is considered as an example of diffusion alone, without any accompanying chemical reactions. Application of the simplified equations to this case strongly supports the view that the rate of elimination of nitrogen from the body when breathing oxygen is not conditioned by diffusion factors, but depends only on the volume of the various systems of the body and the rate of blood flow through them. The rate of passage of carbon monoxide from the blood to the myoglobin of red mammalian muscles is next considered as an example of diffusion accompanied by a first-order chemical reaction velocity. Calculations for resting and active muscles indicate that in the latter case certainly, and in the former case probably, the rate of uptake of carbon monoxide by the red muscles should be fast enough to affect appreciably the measurement of blood volume by the carbon monoxide method. Millikan's experiments on the rates of change of oxymyoglobin concentration in the resting soleus muscle of the cat are used as an example of the most general case, in which diffusion and chemical reactions, both of first order and zero order, are all involved. The application of the equations of this paper to his data are shown to lead to reasonable conclusions as to the number of open blood capillaries in the resting soleus muscle. Similar equations, with examples, are also developed for the case of a cylinder suspended in an infinite medium and for a sphere suspended in an infinite medium.


Background and Objectives Reliability of responses between partners was used as a surrogate to examine the validity of self-reported sexual histories in two samples with different risk and demographic profiles and different intensities of contact with study staff. Study Design Retrospective self-report data were compared between partners and between samples. Results Despite differences between the two groups, reliability of the sexual history data was comparable. Conclusions Further study is needed to examine other methodologies for collecting sensitive data. Intensive contact and rapport building may not be necessary.


Lymphatic tissues (LTs) are structurally organized to promote interaction between antigens, chemokines, growth factors, and lymphocytes to generate an immunologic response and maintain normal-sized populations of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. Inflammation and tissue remodeling that accompany local innate and adaptive immune responses to HIV-1 replication cause damage to the LT architecture. As a result, normal populations of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells cannot be supported and antigen-lymphocyte interactions are impaired. This conclusion is supported herein following LT sampling before and during anti-HIV therapy in persons with acute, chronic, and late-stage HIV-1 infection. Among seven individuals treated with anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and four individuals deferring therapy we found evidence of significant paracortical T cell zone damage associated with deposition of collagen, the extent of which was inversely correlated with both the size of the LT CD4(+) T cell population and the change in peripheral CD4(+) T cell count with anti-HIV therapy. The HIV-1-associated inflammatory changes and scarring in LT both limit the ability of the tissue to support and reestablish normal-sized populations of CD4(+) T cells and suggest a novel mechanism of T cell depletion that may explain the failure of ART to significantly increase CD4(+) T cell populations in some HIV-1-infected persons.


The Heidelberg Catechism courageously mentions that Christians participate in the work of Christ as the eternal king. This means that, during their life on earth, Christians fight against sin "with a free conscience". These words anticipate the call for human rights in the French Revolution. Although the Catechism uses the word "free" only at this point, the text shows the context in which we have to understand "freedom". It instructs us that we have to understand the word not as a freedom "from" and, therefore, not as freedom only for myself, but as freedom "for" a life with others. The reason for this is that real freedom is founded in the gift of the divine liberator, who loves us only along with our neighbours. We are free in relation to God and our fellow human beings.


This document defines a MIB module for the management of printer
finishing device subunits. The finishing device subunits applicable to
this MIB are an integral part of the Printer System. This MIB applies
only to a Finisher Device that is connected to a Printer System. This
memo provides information for the Internet community.


Background: Stakeholder opinions on the implementation of a particular virtual patient application might prove important for decision-making and implementation efforts in general. This study aimed to capitalize on experiences originated from two post-implementation settings of Web-based Simulation of Patients (Web-SP). Method: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of stakeholder opinions (39 students, teachers, course directors, and university leaders) on the implementation and use of Web-SP in Colombia and Sweden, using a mixed method approach. Results: The respondents did not show equal preference in rating the ranking of the order of importance included in the variables (Friedman's Chi square: 26.5 to 115.1, df = 6, p < 0.001, Kendall's coefficient of concordance ranging from 0.11 to 0.50). The answers provided as free comments supported the statistical findings on the importance of end-user customization, need for authenticity in software design, and use of virtual patient simulations in a curricular context, for clinical reasoning development. Conclusions: Virtual Patient design should allow extensive editing, support case authenticity and enhance clinical reasoning abilities, in an effort for ensuring accountability and sustainable development of the field.


It could be argued that Canadian intelligence has been negligent toward the impact of globalisation when assessing the security threat of right-wing extremism (RWE), specifically with the advent of the internet and the significant reduction of the influence of state borders on national policy objectives, and therefore has exposed itself to the potential of intelligence failure. This paper is focused on the state of right-wing extremism in Canada through which it addresses the security question: How is Canadian intelligence exposed to the impact of globalisation? The results of this paper are informed by an in-depth analysis of peer-reviewed articles from Canada, the United States (US), and Europe, as well as Canadian government documents, and newspaper articles, as well as the completion of a key assumptions, check to address bias and better evaluate the evidence found. This paper concludes that it appears likely that Canadian intelligence may not be assessing RWE threats through the lens of globalisation. It could be argued that this creates the potential for intelligence failure. However, there remains one significant caveat. It can be interpreted in Public Safety Canada's latest update that RWE may soon be considered a type of terrorism. If this is the case, the evidence proves that Canadian intelligence may in fact be considering the impact of globalisation in the context of terrorism and therefore would likely implement the same consideration for RWE.


Now available in a three-volume set, this updated and expanded edition of the bestselling The Digital Signal Processing Handbook continues to provide the engineering community with authoritative coverage of the fundamental and specialized aspects of information-bearing signals in digital form. Encompassing essential background material, technical details, standards, and software, the second edition reflects cutting-edge information on signal processing algorithms and protocols related to speech, audio, multimedia, and video processing technology associated with standards ranging from WiMax to MP3 audio, low-power/high-performance DSPs, color image processing, and chips on video. Drawing on the experience of leading engineers, researchers, and scholars, the three-volume set contains 29 new chapters that address multimedia and internet technologies, tomography, radar systems, architecture, standards, and future applications in speech, acoustics, video, radar, and telecommunications. Emphasizing theoretical concepts, Digital Signal Processing Fundamentals provides comprehensive coverage of the basic foundations of DSP and includes the following parts: Signals and Systems; Signal Representation and Quantization; Fourier Transforms; Digital Filtering; Statistical Signal Processing; Adaptive Filtering; Inverse Problems and Signal Reconstruction; and TimeFrequency and Multirate Signal Processing.


De-identification, which is defined as the process of removing or concealing personal identifiers or replacing them with surrogate personal identifiers to prevent direct or indirect identification of a person, is recognized as an efficient tool for protection of a person's privacy that is one of the most important social and political issues of today's information society. The chapter "De-identification for privacy protection in biometrics" aims to review the progress of recent research on the de-identification of biometric personal identifiers. The chapter covers de-identification of physiological biometric identifiers (face, fingerprint, iris, ear), behavioural biometric identifiers (voice, gait, gesture), as well as soft biometrics identifiers (body silhouette, gender, tattoo) and discuss different threats to person's privacy in biometrics.


The 2011 Census in India reported that nearly 17 million children between the ages of 10 and 19 –6% of the age group – are married with girls constituting the majority (76 per cent) although there has been a significant relative reduction in the marriage of girls under 14. The aim of this paper is to better understand the individual household and community factors that explain the different pathways to marriage among Young Lives children drawing upon both descriptive statistics from the household survey as well as in-depth qualitative research with the study children. The paper finds that secondary education not being involved in paid work at age 12 high aspirations among mothers and daughters towards completing higher education and parental education levels are all factors that are associated with delaying child and early marriage. On the other hand poverty caste and rural location emerge as factors that are drivers of teen marriage. Girls from the poorest wealth tercile were 2.4 times more likely to be married by 19 than girls from least-poor families and girls in rural areas 2.3 times more likely to be married than girls in urban areas. Patriarchy and gendered social norms remains one of the drivers of early marriage and dowry was paid by all families with 40 per cent paying more than one lakh Rupees (100000) leaving the girl's family burdened with loans. It is critical that stakeholders such as the Ministry of Women and Child Development work with statutory bodies such as the Integrated Child Protection Scheme to ensure detection and prompt referral of cases of girls who require care and protection. Together they must work towards implementing the 2013 National Strategy on the Prevention of Child Marriage. This will require close collaboration with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Human Resource Development and as well as with legal institutions such as Child Protection Committees and most importantly local communities. Unless a multi-pronged approach to address persisting practices such as dowry as well as gender norms that devalue girls are not addressed girls from the poorest and socially disadvantaged households will continue to be left out of the development agenda and be prevented from attaining their full potential


The geographic patterns of genetic variation in a wide variety of quantitative traits were studied in Eucalyptus globulus ssp. globulus and its intergrades, leading to a revised racial classification. The analysis was based on 35 traits assessed in five field trials in northern Tasmania from approximately 500 open-pollinated families, encompassing 49 collection localities in native stands. There were significant differences between the collection localities for most traits. While growth and survival traits exhibited weak spatial structuring, there were clear regional patterns in bark thickness, wood basic density, flowering precocity and some aspects of juvenile leaf morphology. There were a number of significant correlations between trait locality means, but few simple correlations between the regional patterns observed and climate. Multivariate analyses indicated that the localities could be effectively amalgamated into larger, geographically concordant races. A hierarchy of five major groupings of 13 races and 20 subraces is proposed to account for most of the quantitative genetic variation while allowing for outliers and intermediate populations. Some areas of the distribution may need further sampling to more accurately elucidate their racial affinities, especially those with traits of high economic importance.


Molecular chirality of amino acids is linked to bacterial recognition by mammals to modulate IgA for bacterial symbiosis. Organisms use l-amino acids (l-aa) for most physiological processes. Unlike other organisms, bacteria chiral-convert l-aa to d-configurations as essential components of their cell walls and as signaling molecules in their ecosystems. Mammals recognize microbe-associated molecules to initiate immune responses, but roles of bacterial d-amino acids (d-aa) in mammalian immune systems remain largely unknown. Here, we report that amino acid chirality balanced by bacteria-mammal cross-talk modulates intestinal B cell fate and immunoglobulin A (IgA) production. Bacterial d-aa stimulate M1 macrophages and promote survival of intestinal naïve B cells. Mammalian intestinal d-aa catabolism limits the number of B cells and restricts growth of symbiotic bacteria that activate T cell–dependent IgA class switching of the B cells. Loss of d-aa catabolism results in excessive IgA production and dysbiosis with altered IgA coating on bacteria. Thus, chiral conversion of amino acids is linked to bacterial recognition by mammals to control symbiosis with bacteria.


The research explores the current and future conservation regime, and local population ecology of globally threatened water bird Sarus Crane ( Grus antigone antigone ) in Rupandehi, and Kapilvastu districts of Nepal. The study strongly recommended to declaring certain areas of these districts as a Sarus Crane Conservation Area (SCCA) for its future better management regime. A total of 168 Sarus Cranes were recorded in the area (100 in Rupandehi and 68 in Kapilvastu district). Overall population density of Sarus Crane was 9.3 individual/100 km 2 . Seventy percent of Sarus Cranes were using farmland while 30% using wetland as a regular habitat. Current threats to the Sarus Crane population are habitat loss and degradation, high electrical cable line, sugar cane cultivation surrounding the Sarus crane habitat, dam and cementation in water canal, water pollution due to nutrients and chemical leakage in water bodies, environmental contamination and other anthropogenic causes. Key words: Sarus crane, threatened, low land, wetlands DOI: 10.3126/jowe.v3i0.2224 Journal of Wetlands Ecology , (2009) Vol. 3, pp 1-11


"The Death Ray" is the story of teen outcast Andy, an orphaned nobody with only one friend, the obnoxious-but-loyal Louie. They roam school halls and city streets, invisible to everyone but bullies and tormentors, until the glorious day when Andy takes his first puff on a cigarette. That night he wakes, heart pounding, soaked in sweat, and finds himself suddenly overcome with the peculiar notion that he can do anything. Indeed, he can and as he learns the extent of his new powers, he discovers a terrible and seductive gadget - a hideous compliment to his seething rage - that forever changes everything. "The Death-Ray" utilizes the classic staples of the superhero genre - origin, costume, ray-gun, sidekick, fight scene - reconfiguring them in a story that is anything but morally simplistic. With subtle comedy, deft mastery and an obvious affection for the bold Pop Art exuberance of comic book design, Daniel Clowes delivers a contemporary meditation on the darkness of the human psyche.


Previous work has had difficulty generating household saving behavior that makes the distribution of wealth much more concentrated than that of labor earnings, and that makes the richest households hold onto large amounts of wealth, even during very old age. I construct a quantitative, general equilibrium, overlapping-generations model in which parents and children are linked by accidental and voluntary bequests and by earnings ability. I show that voluntary bequests can explain the emergence of large estates, while accidental bequests alone cannot, and that adding earnings persistence within families increases wealth concentration even more. I also show that the introduction of a bequest motive generates lifetime savings profiles more consistent with the data.


Here, alphabetically listed, are addresses useful to MLA members in their scholarly and professional activities. Acronyms, or, in the case of publishers, preferred shortened forms, are given in brackets following the full name of the organization. Learned and professional societies, a selected list of book publishers, and all those university presses known to be interested in books on modern literatures written by extramural scholars are included. (Write to the manager or director, giving full details, before sub mitting scholarly MSS for consideration.) Journals and periodicals are not included; the Directory of Journals and Series in the Humanities is available from the Publications Center of the Modern Language Association.


The discovery of rapidly variable Very High Energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) γ-ray emission from 4C +21.35 (PKS 1222+216) by MAGIC on 2010 June 17, triggered by the high activity detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) in high energy (HE; E > 100 MeV) γ-rays, poses intriguing questions on the location of the γ-ray emitting region in this flat spectrum radio quasar. We present multifrequency data of 4C +21.35 collected from centimeter to VHE during 2010 to investigate the properties of this source and discuss a possible emission model. The first hint of detection at VHE was observed by MAGIC on 2010 May 3, soon after a γ-ray flare detected by Fermi-LAT that peaked on April 29. The same emission mechanism may therefore be responsible for both the HE and VHE emission during the 2010 flaring episodes. Two optical peaks were detected on 2010 April 20 and June 30, close in time but not simultaneous with the two γ-ray peaks, while no clear connection was observed between the X-ray and γ-ray emission. An increasing flux density was observed in radio and mm bands from the beginning of 2009, in accordance with the increasing γ-ray activity observed by Fermi-LAT, and peaking on 2011 January 27 in the mm regime (230 GHz). We model the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 4C +21.35 for the two periods of the VHE detection and a quiescent state, using a one-zone model with the emission coming from a very compact region outside the broad line region. The three SEDs can be fit with a combination of synchrotron self-Compton and external Compton emission of seed photons from a dust torus, changing only the electron distribution parameters between the epochs. The fit of the optical/UV part of the spectrum for 2010 April 29 seems to favor an inner disk radius of


A comprehensive program of indicator mineral and geochemical sampling of both oxidized and unoxidized till at the glaciated Blackwater Au-Ag deposit in the interior of south-central British Columbia, Canada has provided key insights into glacial and post-glacial dispersal patterns that can be used to explore other glaciated regions more effectively. The Blackwater deposit is located on the northeastern slope of Mount Davidson and is completely covered by till that was deposited by NE-flowing ice. Only the sulphide-depleted supergene cap of the deposit was exposed to the ice. Indicator mineral sampling of C-horizon till on the mountain slope identified a 1.3 km wide gold grain dispersal train that extends c. 3 km glacially down-ice and 200 vertical metres down-slope from the deposit. The till within this train contains from 10 to 641 gold grains, dominantly of 25 µm size, per 10 kg of its <2 mm matrix. As well, the 0.25 – 0.5 mm fraction contains up to 25 000 grains per sample of spessartine garnet derived from the hypogene alteration envelope of the Blackwater deposit, increasing the probable detectable length of the train to 10 km. Geochemically, in the <0.063 mm fraction of the till, the detectable length of the train is reduced to <1 km, with the best indicator elements being Au and Zn. In drill holes, the host till is oxidized to a depth of 2 – 5 m. It thickens markedly downslope from a few metres to c. 100 m. The gold-spessartine dispersal train thickens sympathetically to nearly 30 m and also ascends progressively within the till section. Gold grain and spessartine levels in the unoxidized till at depth are similar to those in the oxidized till at surface but the unoxidized till also contains up to 60 000 grains per sample of metal-rich pyrolusite derived from supergene cap of the Blackwater deposit.


Peter DeMarzo, Ilan Kremer, and Andrzej Skrzypacz (2005) analyzed auctions in which bidders compete in securities. They show that a steeper security leads to a higher expected revenue for the seller, and also use this to establish the revenue ranking between standard auctions. In this comment, we obtain the opposite results to DKS's by assuming that a higher return requires a higher investment cost. Given this latter assumption, steeper securities are more vulnerable to adverse selection, and may yield lower expected revenue, than flatter ones. (JEL D44 )


Reading is limited by three sensory factors: resolution (letter acuity), mislocations (uncertainty about spatial arrangement of letters), and crowding (the deleterious interference of nearby letters on target identification). Previous studies found a negative impact of flanker complexity on letter identification. Here we investigated whether the modulatory effect of complexity is restricted to crowding. Eight subjects identified single letters or the middle letters of trigrams presented at 10° to the left or right of the fixation point. Flankers were always duplicate letters, either identical or different from the middle target letter. Averaged across subjects, identification accuracy was 98.6% for the single-letter condition, 83.4% for the identical target-flanker condition, and 57.4% for the nonidentical condition. Multiple linear regressions were performed to assess the effect of letter complexity. In single-letter identification, higher complexity was associated with more errors. In the nonidentical condition, flanker and target complexities played opposite roles on performance with stronger influence from flankers. Higher flanker complexity led to more errors while higher-complexity targets made identification easier. Given the stronger effect of flanker complexity, we expected and indeed found that for the identical target-flanker condition the average effect of complexity (across target and flankers) on performance was negative (i.e. poorer performance for higher complexity). For the nonidentical condition, we teased out mislocation and crowding errors and found that mislocations depended on target complexity (r< 0) whereas crowding errors correlated with flanker complexity (r>0). Our findings demonstrate a general impact of letter complexity on reading-related sensory constraints. The effect of flanker complexity on crowding is consistent with the view that crowding may be due to compulsory averaging of target and flanker features or flanker substitution. However, substantial crowding under the identical condition indicates that change in target appearance in this case may be attributed to a process other than assimilation and substitution. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


This is a glorious 25th anniversary reissue of this classic book. Illuminating & fascinating, it covers the classic art techniques perfected by 16th and 17th century masters. These include Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Titian & Reuben, all enhanced with full-colour demonstrations.This illuminating and fascinating book, reissued for the 25th anniversary of its publication, covers the techniques perfected by 16th and 17th century masters, studying protraits by Titian, Caravaggio, Reubens and Rembrandt and many more. In this unique book, Joseph Sheppard, a leading contemporary painter, shows you in detailed, full-colour demonstrations the variety of oil painting techniques perfected by the old masters. The techniques Sheppard describes cover the full spectrum from the direct painting (alla prima) of Rubens and Hals to the elaborate underpainting and glazing methods of Rembrandt and Titian. Each chapter is devoted to a different master covering his background, style and techniques.


The development of academic writing skills in English has recently become a global priority. However, these courses, where they exist at all, usually adopt an out-dated approach. This paper seeks to redress this by giving an example of a research program, where current linguistic theory was blended with an awareness of local conditions to good effect in terms of student outcomes. In this case what is known as genre theory was applied to the teaching of basic scientific report writing to final year science students at Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University. According to genre theory, as interpreted by the Australian School of Genre, it is argued that students will learn to write after first listening to and/or reading authentic samples of the target text type or genre. It is only then that they will see how the purpose of the text is conveyed in the overall organisation and features of the language. Thus the grammar and vocabulary are related to the meaning of the genre and not seen as isolated aspects. Finally this holistic approach helps students write their own text, something that is not usually possible with the separate sentence method most frequently used. The researcher, Dr Karmolnad Malakul, in developing this model compared two separate genrebased courses, one of which followed the genre theory more closely than the others. In both cases, however, students were advantaged by this new approach. Details and examples of how she analysed and taught the five micro-genres of the science report will be given, concluding with the optimistic view that this approach can be adapted for much wider use.


The article analyzes recent, innovative state responses to the phenomenon of predatory lending as a case study for evaluating the oft-cited justification for federalism, most famously framed by Justice Brandeis: encouraging the states to act as laboratories of experimentation in matters of public policy. The article first attempts to provide the most comprehensive understanding of the complex and shifting predatory lending phenomenon to date. The article begins by locating the dangerous practice within the broader and otherwise generally desirable subprime lending market - a market that lends to traditionally underserved borrowers. It then analyzes the complex dynamic of changing consumer credit demand and increasingly securitized mortgage lending supply, which has driven the explosive subprime lending growth, and attempt to identify core practices that can be classified as predatory. It next demonstrates why existing legislative remedies and traditional market forces are insufficient deterrents to predatory lending, and documents the devastating impact predatory lending has had on low-income and minority communities. Second, the article charts the recent, but remarkable, response to predatory lending occurring among the states and demonstrates why, despite looming threats of preemption, state experimentation in the predatory lending area should be encouraged as a paradigmatic social laboratory, consonant with Justice Brandeis' federalist ideal of producing innovative, responsive and effective public policy. In so doing, this article also attempts to answer a recent challenge by prominent scholars to identify a real, measurable value of federalism, by providing a model of how our federal system can best respond to a variety of social and economic policy problems.


BACKGROUND
More than one quarter of all cardiovascular surgical patients are re-admitted to hospitals with postoperative complications experienced during the first three months of recovery.

AIM AND METHOD
The purpose of this discursive paper is to review the literature pertaining to a self-management coaching intervention that is currently being evaluated using a randomized controlled clinical trial.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
A discussion of how to integrate coaching into clinical practice is presented. The use of coaching in the clinical setting has implications for nurses in that it can be used to assess behaviours, knowledge, and learning needs; provide individualized education that is reflective of a patient's identified learning needs; collaborate with patients in setting goals; identify barriers and engage in problem-solving to overcome barriers; and create a specific plan for follow-up.


The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 4 May 2016. It will become applicable on May 25, 2018. The GDPR comprises a new right to data portability for individuals, which requires data controllers to ensure that they can hand over the personal data that has been provided by the data subject himself/herself, in a structured, commonly used and transferable format. This paper critically examines the right to data portability and suggests that in order to ensure comprehensive data portability that reaches out to all relevant stakeholders, including businesses, the provisions in the GDPR need to be analysed by taking into account EU competition rules. It suggests that lessons can be drawn from EU competition law to limit the potential adverse consequences of the right to data portability particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. It also asserts that EU competition rules, especially Article 102 TFEU and the essential facilities doctrine, can complement data portability by facilitating mandatory access to specific data. Keywords: The General Data Protection Regulation; article 20 of the GDPR; article 102 TFEU; data; data controller; the right to data portability; API; controller to controller transfer; competition law; essential facilities doctrine; network effects; Data Protection Directive


Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is recognized as one of the viable fabrication techniques of carbon nanotubes. The outstanding advantage of PECVD is that free-standing, vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes (VA-CNTs) are synthesized due to the electric field normal to the substrate. This feature draws intense attention for the fabrication of nanoelectronic devices such as high-resolution scanning nanoprobes, interconnects, and field emission devices. However, carbon nanotubes synthesized in PECVD are overwhelmingly carbon nanofibers (CNFs) or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) with measurable structural defects. Tremendous interest in the preparation and characterization of vertically-aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (VA-SWNTs) and related applications had not been realized in the scope of PECVD until recently. Here we present a fabrication technique of high-purity vertically-aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes using atmospheric pressure plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. By now, we have developed the atmospheric pressure radio-frequency discharge (APRFD) for this purpose. Although densely mono-dispersed Fe-Co catalysts of a few nanometers is primarily responsible for VA-SWNT growth, carbon precipitation was virtually absent in the thermal CVD regime at 700°C. On the other hand, high-yield VA-SWNTs were grown at 4 μm min by applying the atmospheric pressure radio-frequency discharge. The results proved that cathodic ion sheath adjacent to the substrates, where a large potential drop exists, also plays an essential role for the controlled growth of SWNTs, while ion damage to the VA-SWNTs is inherently avoided due to high collision frequency among molecules in atmospheric pressure. In this paper, operation regime of APRFD and tentative reaction mechanisms for VA-SWNT growth are discussed along with optical imaging of near substrate region of APRFD.


Bilinear structures are able to represent nonlinear phenomena more accurately than linear models, and thereby help to extend the range of satisfactory control performance. However, closed loop characteristics are typically designed by simulation and stability is not guaranteed. In this reported work, it is shown how bilinear systems are a special case of the more general state dependent parameter (SDP) model, which can subsequently be utilised to design stabilising feedback controllers using a special form of nonlinear pole assignment. To establish the link, however, an important generalisation of the SDP pole assignment method is developed.


In an earlier work, we proposed the chromatic dispersion monitoring technique of non-return to zero (NRZ) signal based on clock-frequency component (CFC) through numerical simulations. However, we have not yet shown any experimental demonstration or analytic derivation of it. In this paper, we show an experimental demonstration and analytic derivation of the proposed chromatic dispersion monitoring technique. We confirm that the experimental results and the analytic results correspond with the simulation results. We also demonstrate that monitoring range and accuracy can be improved by using a simple clock-extraction method.


eleed, Iss. 8 - Second Life (SL) is an ideal platform for language learning. It is called a Multi-User Virtual Environment, where users can have varieties of learning experiences in life-like environments. Numerous attempts have been made to use SL as a platform for language teaching and the possibility of SL as a means to promote conversational interactions has been reported. However, the research so far has largely focused on simply using SL without further augmentations for communication between learners or between teachers and learners in a school-like environment. Conversely, not enough attention has been paid to its controllability which builds on the embedded functions in SL. This study, based on the latest theories of second language acquisition, especially on the Task Based Language Teaching and the Interaction Hypothesis, proposes to design and implement an automatized interactive task space (AITS) where robotic agents work as interlocutors of learners. This paper presents a design that incorporates the SLA theories into SL and the implementation method of the design to construct AITS, fulfilling the controllability of SL. It also presents the result of the evaluation experiment conducted on the constructed AITS.


Although physical confinement and chemical adsorption have been adopted for trapping sulfur species within cathodes, there still exist some drawbacks, including low charge/discharge coulombic efficiency and unsatisfied cycleability in terms of the slow kinetic process of polysulfide conversion. Herein, we propose a KB@Ir-modified separator with a catalytic layer to facilitate the redox reaction of polysulfide intermediates and to achieve improved electrochemical performance in lithium sulfur batteries. The iridium nanoparticles not only exhibit strong chemical interaction with the polysulfides, but also efficiently accelerate the kinetic process for polysulfide conversion, especially for the reduction of soluble polysulfides towards insoluble Li2S2/Li2S. A high initial capacity of 1508 mA h g−1 along with 90.0% utilization of sulfur could be achieved under a charge/discharge rate of 0.2C. Also the cell showed a low capacity decay rate of 0.105% per cycle over 500 cycles at 1.0C. This strategy from the point of view of electrocatalysis is expected to be effective for achieving high-energy lithium–sulfur batteries with excellent electrochemical performance.


If we date the origins of molecular epidemiology (defined as the reliance on tools of molecular biology in epidemiology, in particular, but not only, to assess exposures) to the publication, in 1993, of the book carrying this title,1 then this research field could be considered as having now reached the age of adulthood. While this young adult has some achievements already and has developed real strengths and recognition, many challenges lie ahead. The article by Lenters et al 2 offers an opportunity to discuss one of the most promising challenges, namely, the one related to the application of the Exposome concept.

The Exposome encompasses lifetime environmental exposures from the prenatal period onwards.3 Although sometimes limited to exposures that can be assessed through biomarkers (the 'internal Exposome)', the Exposome should consider all exposures regardless of their most relevant mode of assessment, including lifestyle factors and factors assessed through questionnaires, environmental measurements and models. Consequently, this notion extends beyond the borders of molecular epidemiology. A first embodiment of the Exposome concept is the literature on biomonitoring, which provides a description of the levels of biomarkers of exposures to as many as several hundred environmental contaminants in population samples from some areas of the world, as illustrated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the USA.4 This research vein can allow identifying patterns of co-varying exposures or behaviours, as is already carried out in dietary studies with the grouping of individuals sharing specific dietary patterns (eg, Mediterranean diet or fast-food type eating behaviours). It offers the perspective of identification of population subgroups simultaneously exposed to numerous adverse exposures, and of studying if these correlate with sociodemographic factors; to this extent, this research vein is connected to the issue of environmental equity,5 in which the focus is …


There are many problems still unresolved by modern medicine. In the field of voiding disorders, interstitial cystitis (IC) remains a representative disease yet to be conquered. The exact pathophysiologic mechanism of IC is not understood. Although several hypotheses have been proposed, including leaky epithelium, mast cell activation, and neurogenic inflammation, no theory has been clearly established yet [1]. IC may have multiple causes and may represent a final common reaction of the bladder to multifactorial etiology. Most researchers believe that the mast cell plays a key role in the common pathophysiology of IC.

Despite many efforts to clarify the etiology of IC, our knowledge is insufficient for useful insights into effective treatments [2]. The current therapeutic goal is the improvement of quality of life, and not curative treatment. It is believed that histamine, which is secreted from mast cells, causes specific symptoms of IC such as pain, hyperemia, and fibrosis. Therefore, antihistamine treatment to adjust mast cell activation is considered a scientifically robust and rational therapy for IC. However, results using antihistamines in clinical practice were disappointing. Sufficient evidence does not exist to conclusively state that antihistamines effectively regulate the activation of mast cells in the bladder [3].

In this issue of the International Neurourology Journal, we have published an article reviewing new perspectives on mast cell regulation [4]. It was confirmed in other organs that interleukin (IL) 33 can modulate allergic inflammation. IL-33 is closely related to mast cell activation, which is considered the core of IC pathogenesis. Therefore, it may be possible to regulate mast cell activation by inhibiting IL-33. Promising results have been reported in a number of studies. However, because the reaction of the anti–IL-33 could vary in different organs, we have many challenges to overcome before systemic administration of anti–IL-33 as a therapeutic agent can be implemented. Nevertheless, this is valuable work as it presents a potential therapeutic target for an incurable disease yet unconquered by modern medicine.

The most important message of this review for urologists is included in the last sentence of conclusion: "co-operative research among allergologists and urologists could yield more meaningful conclusions about the pathophysiologic mechanism and treatment strategies for interstitial cystitis" [4].


We here present a two-dimensional (2D) micro/nano-fluidic technique where reactant-doped liquid-crystal films spread and mix on micro- and nanopatterned substrates. Surface-supported phospholipid monolayers are individually doped with complementary DNA molecules which hybridize when these lipid films mix. Using lipid films to convey reactants reduces the dimensionality of traditional 3D chemistry to 2D, and possibly to 1D by confining the lipid film to nanometer-sized lanes. The hybridization event was observed by FRET using single-molecule-sensitive confocal fluorescence detection. We could successfully detect hybridization in lipid streams on 250 nm wide lanes. Our results show that the number and density of reactants as well as sequence of reactant addition can be controlled within confined liquid crystal films, providing a platform for nanochemistry with potential for kinetic control.


This paper is a revision and update of the recommendations developed following the 1st (Vienna) and 2nd (Prague) International Symposia on Concussion in Sport. 2 The Zurich Consensus statement is designed to build on the principles outlined in the original Vienna and Prague documents and to develop further conceptual understanding of this problem using a formal consensus-based approach. A detailed description of the consensus process is outlined at the end of this document. This document is developed for use by physicians, therapists, certified athletic trainers, health professionals, coaches and other people involved in the care of injured athletes, whether at the recreational, elite or professional level. While agreement exists pertaining to principal messages conveyed within this document, the authors acknowledge that the science of concussion is evolving and therefore management and return to play decisions remain in the realm of clinical judgement on an individualised basis. Readers are encouraged to copy and distribute freely the Zurich Consensus document and/or the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT2) card and neither is subject to any copyright restriction. The authors request, however that the document and/or the SCAT2 card be distributed in their full and complete format. The following focus questions formed the foundation for the Zurich concussion consensus statement:


The general purpose of this presentation is to discuss how alternative forms of learning strategies in exclusively designed contexts may strengthen the development of musical, social and personal competences. Research in music education has confirmed that how knowledge in music is created is highly correlated with context qualities, as for example the organization of musical learning and social interaction. Still, it is difficult to free the practice of learning in music from conservatoire tradition and didactic "hidden curricula's". Formal learning situations means benefiting from experienced teachers and mentors, but music institutions all too often suffer by institutionalization and a levelling of cultures. On the other hand informal music learning is largely characterised by co-creating and peer learning. By not paying sufficient attention to learning processes within smaller groups, the great opportunities for powerful growth in personal and social skills, are also passed over. In the autumn of 2005, a completely new curriculum in music education – BoomTown Music Education (BTME) – was born within the School of Music in Pitea but as a branch of the municipal music project BoomTown in Borlange. The educational baseline is resting on scientific theories and previous research dealing with informal learning strategies. Peer learning and playing by the ear is here acknowledged and strongly supported. The philosophy of BTME opens up to a wider musical, social and ethnic variety and is supported by a mixture of guest musicians, artists, innovators etc. Several research projects are started, and data is already collected by observations during rehearsals and concerts. An interesting body of knowledge will also come from student's diaries and written reflections, collected since the start. Research results will in time contribute with important knowledge about how learning in music is affected by the organisation and design of learning contexts.


There are a number of controversies surrounding the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Africa. Critics have charged it with neo-colonial meddling in African affairs, accusing it of undermining national sovereignty and domestic attempts to resolve armed conflict. Here, based on 650 interviews over 11 years, Phil Clark critically assesses the politics of the ICC in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, focusing particularly on the Court's multi-level impact on national politics and the lives of everyday citizens. He explores the ICC's effects on peace negotiations, national elections, domestic judicial reform, amnesty processes, combatant demobilisation and community-level accountability and reconciliation. In attempting to distance itself from African conflict zones geographically, philosophically and procedurally, Clark also reveals that the ICC has become more politicised and damaging to African polities, requiring a substantial rethink of the approaches and ideas that underpin the ICC's practice of distant justice.


Freedom of religious and belief is a recognized right in international law. In order to understand, interpret, develop and implement this right, it is important to go back and analyse the fundamental reasoning behind this right. Freedom of religion and belief is a contradictory right: a freedom for self-constraint. It is a double-sided right, a right of expression and a right of identity, two aspects related to individual and group perceptions of this right. Therefore, this right must be understood through a conflict between competing conceptions of individual and group rights. International law should protect the religious freedoms of individuals, and should protect groups only as derivative from the rights of individuals, and never in contravention of them, and generally does so. Current tendencies towards recognising group rights raise concerns, highlighting the importance of this determination. The conceptual analysis of the right serves as a critical tool for discussion of specific conflicts of rights regarding religious freedom, in different area of legal regulation. Different state constitutional structures concerning religion have important implications for analysis of the group/individual conflict. A categorization of constitutional arrangements shows that each presents problems for guaranteeing religious freedom. The constitutional analysis shows religions have public characteristics, and so must abide by human rights norms. The recognition of group rights compromises state neutrality, central to liberal theory. Whatever their constitutional arrangement, states must allow participation in religious communities while protecting individual rights. Particular conflicts are analysed: A conflict between group and individual rights exists between community religious autonomy and women's rights. While international law has been decisive in mandating supremacy of individual rights in this conflict, it has not addressed some of the root causes undermining women's individual rights. Children's religious freedom, in conflict between state, religious group, family, and child, has not always been amply protected in international law, due to absence of differentiation between group and individual interests. Lastly, use of speech by individuals directed against, or in conflict with, religious groups, such as blasphemy, proselytism or hate speech, is addressed. Discussion of these conflicts examines difficulties created, and shows that although some states, based on their respective histories, religions, and cultures, protect the group over the individual, ultimately only an individualistic approach of international law is a coherent way of protecting religious freedom as a human right.