We report a theoretical study on the nature of scattering polar molecules in the presence of an electric field in their absolute ground state. Most important is the illustration that the s-wave scattering length does not parametrize the scattering at low energies even when the electric field is non-zero. Furthermore we show that a simple semi-classical scattering cross section can be used to estimate the total cross section accurately for particular field and energy values.


The aim of this paper is to extend the Solow model in a way that permits to endogenize unemployment. Starting from a Neoclassical growth model, as the Solow model, we introduce a mechanism that allows us to determine the Keynesian unemployment, i.e. unemployment that is caused by the weakness of the aggregate demand. Using our base model, that works as a Keynesian demand-driven model, we find that an increase in the aggregate demand (due to a reduction in the saving rate or to an increase in public expenditures) reduces unemployment and stimulates the GDP. Then, we modify the investment function in order to take into account for the crowding-in/crowding-out effect on investments. This allows us to build a model which is between Neoclassical supply-driven models and Keynesian demand-driven models.


Often, multiple IMAP (RFC 3501) clients need to coordinate changes to
a common IMAP mailbox. Examples include different clients working on
behalf of the same user and multiple users accessing shared mailboxes.
These clients need a mechanism to efficiently synchronize state
changes for messages within the mailbox. Initially defined in RFC
4551, the Conditional Store facility provides a protected update
mechanism for message state information and a mechanism for requesting
only changes to the message state. This memo updates that mechanism
and obsoletes RFC 4551, based on operational experience. This
document additionally updates another IMAP extension, Quick
Resynchronization, which builds on the Conditional STORE extension to
provide an IMAP client the ability to fully resynchronize a mailbox as
part of the SELECT/EXAMINE command, without the need for additional
server-side state or client round trips. Hence, this memo obsoletes
RFC 5162. Finally, this document also updates the line-length
recommendation in Section 184.108.40.206 of RFC 2683.


Renewables Information provides a comprehensive review of historical and current market trends in OECD countries, including 2010 preliminary data.
An Introduction, notes, definitions and auxiliary information are provided in Part I. Part II of the publication provides an overview of the development of renewables and waste in the world over the 1990 to 2009 period. A greater focus is given to OECD countries with a review of electricity generation and capacity from renewable and waste energy sources. Part III of the publication provides a corresponding statistical overview of developments in the world and OECD renewable and waste market. Part IV provides, in tabular form, a more detailed and comprehensive picture of developments for renewable and waste energy sources for 34 OECD member countries, including 2010 preliminary data. It encompasses energy indicators, generating capacity, electricity and heat production from renewable and waste sources, as well as production and consumption of renewables and waste.
Renewables Information is one of a series of annual IEA statistical publications on major energy sources; other reports are Coal Information, Electricity Information, Natural Gas
Information and Oil Information.


This article investigates the popular periodicals for juveniles Our Boys, Fianna, Young Ireland, and St. Enda's, which were cherished by Irish nationalists as home-grown substitutes for the alienating British story papers in the Ireland of the early twentieth century. With Ireland still under British rule, these periodicals were concerned about the role of youths in the context of nation-building and my contention is that the people involved in such editorial enterprises viewed them as potentially transformative forces of society, which not only harnessed the power of the idea of political upheaval, but also forged the agents who were to build the envisioned free Irelands. Contributing to the definition of an appropriate 'post-independence' national identity, they thus offered to the young visions of the future nation that predicated its legitimacy upon an appeal to the past and the appreciation of traditions. At the same time, young readers were presented with exemplary models of Irish citizenship drawn from Irish heritage of myths and histories. Hence, through the close scrutiny of primary texts from the crucial 1914–23 years, my objective is to show how the future Irelands first imagined and narrated in the periodicals would find their roots in the past and draw energies and strength from the nation's cultural heritage.


A scientific and legal exploration into the big question in rights law today: Where do we draw the line?. }One of those rare books that can change the reader's view of our position in the world and within the animal kingdom, Unlocking the Cage is a landmark both in its scientific insight and in its challenge to the law. As Steven Wise continues his exploration of animal cognition along the evolutionary spectrum--from apes to dolphins, parrots, elephants, dogs, and even honeybees--he finds astonishing answers to the big question in animal rights today: Where do we draw the line? The law has firm criteria for personhood and Wise shows how certain non-human animals meet those criteria.Readers will be enthralled as they follow Wise's firsthand investigations of the work of the world's most famous animal experts: in Kenya with Cynthia Moss and the touchingly affectionate elephant families of Amboseli, in the mountains of Uganda with Richard Wrangham and the chimpanzees of the Kibale Forest, at MIT with Irene Pepperberg and her amazing and witty gray parrot, Alex, and in the California sanctuary where Penny Paterson has spent two decades learning about the skills and vivid personality of Koko the gorilla. In many cases, Wise was even able to sustain an extended conversation with these extraordinary creatures. Steven Wise is the world's foremost expert on the legal rights of animals and has devoted his life to litigating, writing, and working on their behalf. No one with a shred of curiosity about animals, about rights, or about justice will want to miss this book.A Merloyd Lawrence Book }


New markets segments are a common setting for studies in technology strategy. These studies generally assume that new segments already exist, or have formed following the introduction of a product innovation by an entering firm. Thus, theory on the role of established firms in the emergence of new market segments is underdeveloped. This study informs current research by explaining the product innovation decisions of established firms during the emergence of a new market segment. The results of a case study on the development and commercialization of the minivan at Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors between 1970 and 1985 indicate that existing theories based on managerial cognition, firm capabilities, economic incentives, and organizational structure are insufficient to explain the decisions. This article develops theory based on the interrelationship of these four mechanisms.


The extended network span of next-generation long-reach passive optical networks (LR-PONs) results in extremely long propagation delays that severely degrade the performance of centralized bandwidth allocation algorithms. This is because these algorithms are based on bandwidth negotiation messages frequently exchanged between the optical line terminal (OLT) in the central office and optical network units (ONUs) near the users, which become seriously delayed when the network is extended. To address this problem, we propose a decentralized media access scheme for emerging LR-PONs to make the performance independent of the physical length between the OLT and ONUs. We also maintain centralized control over the network, usually missed in conventional decentralized schemes, to support and manage quality of service according to user service level agreements. The scheme thus combines decentralized media access with centralized control to meet the special requirements of emerging LR-PONs. We investigate the performance of the proposed scheme in contrast with centralized schemes under worst case conditions. We also explore various approaches to further enhance the performance of our scheme. Simulation results show that the average upstream packet delay can be decreased by 60% while also maintaining a high throughput.


Effective treatment for maternal depression improves overall maternal functioning and prevents the negative infant outcomes associated with maternal depression (Verduyn et al., 2003). Despite the clear benefits associated with treatment for perinatal depression, less than one third of depressed women seek any form of treatment (Flynn et al, 2006). The Health Belief Model (HBM) has received some support for other health-promoting behaviors, but its relevance for explaining mental health help-seeking has not been adequately tested. This study adds to the literature by simultaneously providing a more comprehensive and adequate test of the HBM in predicting mental health treatment for depression while also further explicating predictors of treatment use among perinatal women, a particularly vulnerable and important population. Mental health treatment-seeking has traditionally been defined as a visit to a mental health professional or physician; however, it is likely that many women engage in more informal treatments for their depressive symptoms. Thus, in the current study, we expanded this view to include both formal treatment-seeking, as traditionally defined, as well as informal treatment-seeking such as reading a self-help book, searching for information online, or speaking with a trusted friend or family member. Current use of informal and formal treatment interventions was assessed to determine how perceptions of depression and its treatment predicted treatment-seeking for depression in pregnancy. Participants were recruited from urban and suburban obstetric clinics in southeast Michigan. A total of 459 pregnant women were initially screened for elevated depressive symptoms. Within this sample, 110 participants reporting elevated depressive symptoms were administered a survey regarding their perceptions of depression and its treatment based on the HBM. It was hypothesized that five factors of the HBM


In consequential decision-making applications, mitigating unwanted biases in machine learning models that yield systematic disadvantage to members of groups delineated by sensitive attributes such as race and gender is one key intervention to strive for equity. Focusing on demographic parity and equality of opportunity, in this paper we propose an algorithm that improves the fairness of a pre-trained classifier by simply dropping carefully selected training data points. We select instances based on their influence on the fairness metric of interest, computed using an infinitesimal jackknife-based approach. The dropping of training points is done in principle, but in practice does not require the model to be refit. Crucially, we find that such an intervention does not substantially reduce the predictive performance of the model but drastically improves the fairness metric. Through careful experiments, we evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach on diverse tasks and find that it consistently improves upon existing alternatives.


Since 2014, U.S. immigration courts have expedited the cases of many children and families fleeing persecution in Mexico and Central America. This Article conducts an empirical and legal analysis of this policy, revealing that reasonable time between immigration court hearings is necessary to protect the statutory and constitutional rights to legal representation. A large majority of immigrants facing deportation— including those part of the recent surge of children and families from Central America and Mexico—appear at their first deportation hearing without a lawyer, often because they cannot afford one. When an immigrant appears without a lawyer and does not expressly waive his or her right to counsel, the immigration judge (IJ) must grant a continuance that allows a reasonable period of time for an immigrant to search for and retain counsel. Yet existing law does not specify what period of time is reasonable, and the courts of appeals disagree over how closely to scrutinize an IJ's decision to deny a continuance. In this Article, we use schedule data from the Executive Office for Immigration Review to show that the length of a continuance has a large effect on immigrants' likelihood of finding counsel, of appearing at subsequent hearings, and of eventually avoiding removal. Our analysis demonstrates that shorter continuances for unrepresented children and families prevented many from finding counsel and avoiding deportation. In light of these findings, we examine the due process and statutory consequences of an IJ's decision to deny a continuance or to grant an overly short continuance. We conclude by recommending that initial continuances of fewer than ninety days should be presumptively invalid.


Luminescence measurements of Tranquillity samples indicate that energy efficiencies for excitation by protons and ultraviolet are in the range 10-6 or below; natural and induced thermoluminescence is even weaker. If these samples are typical, lunar surface luminescence cannot occur at reported levels. Comparison of proton luminescence spectra from the exterior and interior of rocks and fine fragments provides evidence of solar wind impingement on the moon's surface. Spectral reflectance and albedo measurements of fresh rock powders before and after both laboratory proton irradiation and fusion indicate that vitrification may be an important mechanism of lunar darkening.


Studies on the Mauthner cell (M‐cell) of goldfish, Carassius auratus, have facilitated our understanding of how sensory information is integrated in the hindbrain to initiate C‐type fast startle responses (C‐starts). The goldfish M‐cell initial segment/axon hillock is surrounded by a composite axon cap consisting of a central core and a peripheral zone covered by a glial cell layer. The high resistivity of the axon cap results in "signature" field potentials recorded on activation of the M‐cell, allowing unequivocal physiological identification of the M‐cell and of its feedback and reciprocal inhibitory networks that are crucial in ensuring that only one M‐cell is active and that it fires only once. Phylogenetic mapping of axon cap morphology to muscle activity patterns and behavior predicts that teleost fishes that have a composite axon cap, like that of the goldfish, will perform C‐start behavior with primarily unilateral muscle activity. We have chosen to study these predictions in the northern sea robin, Prionotus carolinus, a percomorph fish. Although sea robins have a very different phylogenetic position, body form, and habitat compared with the goldfish, they display the correlation of axon cap morphology to physiology and C‐start behavior. Differences in response parameters suggest some evolutionary trade‐offs in sea robin C‐start behavior compared with that of the goldfish, but the correlations in morphology, physiology, and behavior are common features of both otophysan and nonotophysan teleosts. The M‐cell will continue to provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the evolution of a neural circuit in the context of behavior. J. Comp. Neurol. 519:1979–1998, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Today the World Wide Web has become one of the most powerful tools for business promotion and social networking. As the use of websites and web applications to promote the businesses has increased drastically over the past few years, the complexity of managing them and protecting them from security threats has become a complicated task for the organizations. On the other hand, most of the web projects are at risk and less secure due to lack of quality programming. Although there are plenty of frameworks available for free in the market to improve the quality of programming, most of the programmers use ad hoc programming rather than using frameworks which could save their time and repeated work. The research identifies the different frameworks in PHP and .NET programming, and evaluates their benefits and drawbacks in the web application development. The research aims to help web development companies to minimize the risks involved in developing large web projects and develop a metrics of appropriate frameworks to be used for the specific projects. The study examined the way web applications were developed in different software companies and the advantages of using frameworks while developing them. The findings of the results show that it was not only the experience of developers that motivated them to use frameworks. The major conclusions and recommendations drawn from this research were that the main reasons behind web developers avoiding frameworks are that they are difficult to learn and implement. Also, the motivations factors for programmers towards using frameworks were self-efficiency, habit of learning new things and awareness about the benefits of frameworks. The research recommended companies to use appropriate frameworks to protect their projects against security threats like SQL injection and RSS injection.


Diffractive optical elements (DOEs) have recently drawn great attention in computational imaging because they can drastically reduce the size and weight of imaging devices compared to their refractive counterparts. However, the inherent strong dispersion is a tremendous obstacle that limits the use of DOEs in full spectrum imaging, causing unacceptable loss of color fidelity in the images. In particular, metamerism introduces a data dependency in the image blur, which has been neglected in computational imaging methods so far. We introduce both a diffractive achromat based on computational optimization, as well as a corresponding algorithm for correction of residual aberrations. Using this approach, we demonstrate high fidelity color diffractive-only imaging over the full visible spectrum. In the optical design, the height profile of a diffractive lens is optimized to balance the focusing contributions of different wavelengths for a specific focal length. The spectral point spread functions (PSFs) become nearly identical to each other, creating approximately spectrally invariant blur kernels. This property guarantees good color preservation in the captured image and facilitates the correction of residual aberrations in our fast two-step deconvolution without additional color priors. We demonstrate our design of diffractive achromat on a 0.5mm ultrathin substrate by photolithography techniques. Experimental results show that our achromatic diffractive lens produces high color fidelity and better image quality in the full visible spectrum.


BACKGROUND
Pelvic exenteration is an extensive surgical procedure performed for locally advanced cancers in the pelvis.

AIMS
The twenty-year experience with this procedure at the Cancer Institute has been analyzed for morbidity, failure pattern and survival.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN
The case records of all the patients who had undergone pelvic exenteration between 1981 and 2000 at Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai were retrieved from Tumor Registry and were analyzed.

METHODS AND MATERIAL
Forty-eight patients underwent Pelvic Exenteration from 1981 to 2000 at the institute. Twenty-nine of them had rectal cancer, 15 had cervical cancer, 3 had bladder cancer, and 1 had ovarian cancer. There were 43 women and 5 men with a median age of 45 years.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
The survival rates were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method using EGRET statistical software package.

RESULTS
The operative mortality and postoperative morbidity were 10.42% and 62.50% respectively. The 5-year overall survival for the patients with Ca rectum and Ca cervix were 54.2% and 77.6% respectively. All 4 patients with Ca bladder or Ca ovary survived for more than 5 years. On multivariate analysis, nodal involvement and number of positive nodes emerged as significant prognostic factors for patients with Ca rectum. Although no factor reached statistical significance for patients with Ca cervix, those with adjacent organ invasion had a trend towards poorer survival.

CONCLUSIONS
For carefully selected locally advanced cancer in the pelvis, pelvic exenteration may provide the opportunity of long-term survival.


In working towards a sustainable society, recycling and recovery of products together with handling of scarce resources must be considered. The growing quantities of sludge from wastewater treatment plants and the increasingly stringent restrictions on landfilling and on agricultural use of sludge are promoting other disposal alternatives. Sludge fractionation, providing sludge volume reduction, product recovery and separation of toxic substances into a small stream, has gained particular interest. In this thesis, the potential for phosphate release and recovery from treated sewage sludge is investigated as an alternative for agricultural use in urban areas. Leaching and recovery experiments were performed on sludge residue from supercritical water oxidation, ash from incineration and dried sludge at different temperatures. Results showed that acid or alkaline leaching is a promising method to release phosphate from sewage sludge treated with supercritical water oxidation, incineration, or drying at 300°C. The leaching is affected by a number of factors, including how the sludge residue has been produced, the origin of the sludge residue, the quantity of chemicals added and the presence of ions in the leachate. The implementation of any particular sludge treatment technology would depend on cost, environmental regulations, and social aspects. The results of this thesis may be beneficial for minimizing the use and cost of chemicals, and give increased knowledge for further development of technology for phosphate recovery.


This study explores China's green credit policy from a credit risk perspective. Green finance has been growing rapidly in China since the government issued its Green Credit Policy. The objective of this study is to explore whether green loans are less risky than non-green loans. Based on a five-year dataset of 24 Chinese banks, we used panel regression techniques, including two-stage least square regression analysis and random-effect panel regression to examine whether a higher green credit ratio reduces a bank's non-performing loan ratio (NPL ratio). The results suggest that allocating more green loans to the total loan portfolio does reduce a bank's NPL ratio. We conclude that institutional pressure by the Chinese Green Credit Policy has a positive effect on both the environmental and the financial performance of banks. The study contributes to the literature on the correlation between green lending and credit risks, as well as to the literature on the impact of institutional pressure on environmental and financial risks.


Let X be a finite set, X the free semigroup (without identity) on X , let M be a finite semigroup, and let φ be an epimorphism of X upon M. We give a simple proof of a combinatorial property of the triple (X ;φ;M), and exploit this property to get very simple proofs for these two theorems: 1. If φ is an epimorphism of the semigroup S upon the locally finite semigroup T such that φ 1(e) is a locally finite subsemigroup of S for each idempotent element e of T , then S is locally finite. 2. Throughout 1, replace "locally finite" by "locally nilpotent". The method is simple enough, and yet powerful enough, to suggest its applicability in other contexts.


This essay sets out an approach to parallelism in verbal art as a semiotic phenomenon that can operate at multiple orders (or levels) of signification. It examines parallelism in the sounds through which words are communicated, in language communicated by those sounds, in symbols or minimal units of narration communicated through language, and then in more complex units of narration communicated through those symbols or units. Attention is given to how these different levels of parallelism interrelate and may diverge, while revealing that parallelism at all of these levels reflects a single semiotic phenomenon.


With female ferrets subjected to different degrees of intensity of light irradiation as measured by placing them at different distances from a 1000 W. lamp, the acceleration of the oestrous cycle, generally speaking, was correlated with the degree of intensity. There were, however, individual exceptions. The distances between the ferrets and the lamp varied from 1 to 22 ft. Female ferrets subjected to ultra-violet irradiation usually remained on heat until much later in the year than those submitted to light irradiation. With male ferrets ultra-violet irradiation caused descent of the testes in December and the testes remained descended until the autumn. Irradiated female ferrets (both with light and ultra-violet rays) went off heat shortly after being put with males and probably as a result of copulation (which, however, was not always observed), but pregnancy did not supervene. This may have been due to the animals not being in a state for ovulation. Feeding vitamin D to anoestrous ferrets did not result in accelerating the cycle, the ferrets not coming on heat until the normal time. The treatment, however, resulted in their becoming abnormally fat. Vitamin D was given in a commercial preparation which also contained vitamin A. Sections through the ovaries of irradiated oestrous ferrets showed large ripe follicles and other follicles in varying degrees of development. Some apparently unruptured degenerate follicles were also seen. There were no cystic follicles in any of the ferrets9 ovaries observed. Typical interstitial cells were present usually in great abundance. In a ferret that had been submitted to ultra-violet irradiation the ovaries contained a quantity of old luteal cells, the presence of which suggested that some of the follicles had become lutealized without rupturing. The uterus in three of the irradiated ferrets was somewhat congested and showed signs of glandular activity, being, generally speaking, similar to that of normal ferrets which have been on heat a long time. The uterus of a female ferret, in which the ovaries contained old luteal cells, presented the appearance of one belonging to an animal that was coming on heat again after pregnancy or pseudo-pregnancy.


Thick Devonian clastic sequences accumulated in fault-bounded basins in W Norway at the close of the Caledonian orogeny and mark the beginning of a phase of crustal extension. Traditionally, the eastern boundary fault to the Devonian basins has been regarded as a thrust but cross-sections based on the use of a branch-line reveal it to be an extension fault. There is clear omission of structural section across the boundary and by matching up metamorphic rocks in the hanging- and foot-walls of the boundary fault, over 40 km of extensional dip slip can be measured at the N end of the fault. The boundary fault is a flat-lying listric fault with rollover anticlines in the hanging-wall. The fault also cuts up and down section along strike to form lateral ramps parallel to the movement direction. These ramps appear as wrench faults in outcrop. The ramp-flat geometry of the fault may have been inherited from a precursor Caledonian thrust fault which reversed its sense of slip in early Middle Devonian times to form the basins. Over 25 km of onlapping sediment accumulated in the largest basin during faulting in 14 Ma, with an average slip rate on the fault of 3 mm yr-1.


Recovering from roof cavities on the longwall face is an endemic aspect of longwall mining and this is especially the case today as longwall faces are wider and higher than they have ever been, yet powered support ratings are effectively technology constrained. There is little doubt that the ever-increasing dimensions of longwall faces are consequently increasing the likelihood of major roof falls occurring, especially in those more challenging geotechnical environments containing poor immediate roof conditions at depths of cover greater than 250 m. As a result, the efficiency and safety of longwall roof cavity recoveries is being given increased attention and is more relevant than ever to the success of the coal industry. This has led to the now almost universal use of cavity fills during the recovery of major roof falls on the longwall face, albeit that there is industry discussion regarding what constitutes ideal properties for cavity fill material. The paper discusses the geotechnical reasons why it is believed that major roof falls on longwall faces are becoming more likely with time and defines a conceptual geotechnical model for the cavity recovery process and the inherent ground control problems involved. Furthermore the paper considers the needs of mine operators during the cavity recovery process and how these can be best achieved. Specifically the paper contrasts foaming cements and phenolic foams as the two main generic types of cavity fill and ranks them according to such parameters as strength, foaming properties, rate of cavity fill, material cost, effectiveness, safety and overall cost effectiveness. The paper concludes that on a holistic basis, phenolic foams are the more suitable means of cavity filling on the longwall face, accepting that foaming cements are also an effective medium. However in the final analysis neither type of cavity fill is cost effective when compared to the benefits of preventing such cavities occurring in the first place through layout design, equipment maintenance and good operating practices and this is the major point of the paper.


This paper examines the role of banks in the financial restructurings of Norwegian offshore companies following the steep fall in oil prices starting in June 2014. Developing the work of Torstensen and Rasmussen (2017), we delve into the resolution of financial distress in 11 OSV companies from 2015 to 2018, aiming to understand the role of banks as main creditors in financial restructurings. Further, based on insight from key stakeholders, we discuss the outlook for bank behaviour in future restructurings. Analysing the restructuring outcomes, we show how bank debt is practically unchanged from the level prior to the restructurings. Instead of nominal reductions, the banks have opted to amend and extend current loan terms. Although partially compensated through debt converted to equity and cash redemptions, bondholders have seen their claims being greatly reduced. Moreover, in most cases, equity infusions came in form of private placements from the largest existing owners, significantly diluting other shareholders. As such, banks have favoured large existing shareholders at the expense of other unsecured claimholders, violating the assumption of absolute priority. As we believe the current decline in the OSV industry is just as much a structural crisis as it is a cyclical downturn, we argue that it is essential that banks opt for scrapping of vessels and enhanced industry consolidation when resolving financial distress in the future. Nevertheless, recent restructurings provide indications of banks being neither prepared nor willing to address the fundamental issue of overcapacity in the market.


Abstract We hypothesize that greater economic policy uncertainty (EPU) leads to increases in unhealthy behaviors by lowering individuals' impulse control. Based on 6.1 million interviews over 22 years, our analysis reveals a positive relation between EPU and the propensity to make poor lifestyle choices, including higher rates of alcohol consumption, a larger number of drinks consumed, and greater binge drinking. EPU has long-lasting effects on drinking behavior, consistent with habit formation. Moreover, the relation is stronger for younger individuals whose habits are more malleable. We find similar results when using smoking rates to measure unhealthy choices.


In this paper we demonstrate a distributed coverage control method for a network of mobile agents moving in one dimension along a scalar information density field. The method requires each agent to take a finite number of measurements of the density field in the interval between its two neighbors and calculate its next position in order to drive the network nearer to the configuration for optimal coverage. We derive several results relating to the equilibrium properties of the sensor network and the convergence properties near fixed points. We illustrate with simulations of the algorithm.


With the advancement of the World Wide Web, opinion sharing online has gained a lot of popularity. These opinions are utilized for decision making, market analysis, as well as other applications. The need to harness these opinions, and the motivation behind this need has led to the development and subsequent advancement of the field of Sentiment Analysis. Various issues have arisen from these, such as difficulty in locating these opinions in a body of text, as well as determining the sentiment/polarity of these opinions. To tackle the issue of opinion polarity determination, a number of classification approaches have been developed. These approaches have focused on opinion classification at various levels, such as document, sentence and aspect levels. Most document level approaches treat documents as a bag of words during the classification process, and hence classify them as a whole. The problem with this is that there could be a mixture of opinions directed towards various aspects, within a document. It is therefore imperative to utilize a classification approach which takes into account these constituent opinions. This is the focus of classification approaches which work at the aspect level. Another important factor in the issue of sentiment/polarity classification is the choice of the classification approach. This can be machine learning, lexical/lexicon-based, and more recently, hybrid. The machine learning approaches have the benefits of carrying out classification with high accuracies, and efficiently handling large feature sets, which makes them a favourite choice where high accuracies are desired. They however also have the drawback of difficulty in adaptability, due to the domain dependency of sentiment words. The pure lexicon-based approaches do not achieve the accuracy of the machine learning approaches, but are said to offer more explainable results and take into consideration the information in lexicons.
In this work, we present a novel hybrid approach, which incorporates information from lexicons in a machine learning classifier, and takes as features various linguistic knowledge sources. Our novel hybrid approach utilizes transitive dependencies to incorporate the opinions expressed towards different aspects of a document in determining the polarity classification of the whole document. The domain dependency of sentiment words is also addressed through the use of composite features and a domain specific lexicon created in this work. It was found that the use of transitive dependencies in an aspect-focused classification is a promising area, which has the potential of improving aspect based classification once the aspects have been properly determined. It was also found that although using composite features does not necessarily improve the classification accuracy, it gives rise to context rich classifiers, and the domain specific lexicon generated performed on par with the widely used generic lexicon, SentiWordNet.


Iran has an active interest in developing, acquiring, and deploying a broad range of ballistic missiles. This was spotlighted in mid-July 2008 when Iran launched a number of ballistic missiles during military exercises. This report seeks to provide an overview of the reported or suspected variety of Iranian ballistic missile programs. Because there remains widespread public divergence over particulars, however, this report does not provide specificity to what Iran may or may not have, or is in the process of developing.


AIM
Hyperglycemia commonly seen in liver transplantation (LT) has often been attributed to the dextrose in the storage solution of blood transfusion products. The purpose of the study is to compare the changes of the blood glucose levels in transfused and non-transfused patients during LT.

METHODS
A retrospective study on 60 biliary pediatric patients and 16 adult patients undergoing LT was carried out. Transfused pediatric patients were included in Group I (GI), those not transfused in Group II (GII). Twelve adult patients were not given transfusion and assigned to Group III (GIII); whereas, four adult patients who received massive transfusion were assigned to Group IV (GIV). The blood glucose levels, volume of blood transfused, and the volume of crystalloid infused were recorded, compared and analyzed.

RESULTS
Results showed that the changes in blood glucose levels during LT for both non-transfused and minimally transfused pediatric groups and non-transfused and massively-transfused adult groups were almost the same.

CONCLUSION
We conclude that blood transfusion does not cause significant changes in the blood glucose levels in this study.


OBJECTIVE: The goal was to explore the association between parenting style and driving behaviors. METHODS: The 2006 National Young Driver Survey gathered data on driving safety behaviors from a nationally representative sample of 5665 ninth-, 10th-, and 11th-graders. A parenting style variable was based on adolescent reports and separated parents into 4 groups, (1) authoritative (high support and high rules/monitoring), (2) authoritarian (low support and high rules/monitoring), (3) permissive (high support and low rules/monitoring), and (4) uninvolved (low support and low rules/monitoring). Associations between parenting style and driving behaviors and attitudes were assessed. RESULTS: One half of parents were described as authoritative, 23% as permissive, 8% as authoritarian, and 19% as uninvolved. Compared with teens with uninvolved parents, those with authoritative parents reported one half the crash risk in the past year (odds ratio [OR]: 0.47 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.26–0.87]), were 71% less likely to drive when intoxicated (OR: 0.29 [95% CI: 0.19–0.44]), and were less likely to use a cellular telephone while driving (OR: 0.71 [95% CI: 0.50–0.99]). Teens with authoritative or authoritarian parents reported using seat belts nearly twice as often (authoritative: OR: 1.94 [95% CI: 1.49–2.54]; authoritarian: OR: 1.85 [95% CI: 1.08–3.18]) and speeding one half as often (authoritative: OR: 0.47 [95% CI: 0.36–0.61]; authoritarian: OR: 0.63 [95% CI: 0.40–0.99]) as teens with uninvolved parents. No significant differences in crash risk or seat belt use were found between permissive and uninvolved parents. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should encourage parents to set rules and to monitor teens' driving behaviors, in a supportive context.


The scope of the exception for taxpayers engaged in a real estate trade or business from the harsh consequences of Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 163(j) remains uncertain, even in the aftermath of the issuance of proposed regulations under that section. In particular, the scope and definition of what constitutes "real estate trade or business" remains unclear, and the reference to the same definition under IRC section 469 [which is unrelated to section 163(j)] is equally unhelpful. This article lists several activities that have been previously treated by courts and the IRS as "real estate trade or business" under section 469, and thus should equally apply to section 163(j).


High-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma of the salivary glands is a rare malignancy that can be difficult to distinguish from metastatic neuroendocrine (Merkel cell) carcinoma of the skin, which often occurs on the head and neck and may metastasize to lymph nodes in or adjacent to salivary glands, particularly the parotid gland. As the 2 tumors have morphologic and immunophenotypic overlap, additional diagnostic tools may be clinically useful. Merkel cell carcinoma is known to harbor Merkel cell polyomavirus in up to 80% of cases. However, the presence or absence of this virus in salivary gland neuroendocrine carcinomas has not been investigated. We evaluated 7 primary salivary gland high-grade neuroendocrine carcinomas (all from the parotid) for the virus by both immunohistochemistry (CM2B4 clone) and real-time polymerase chain reaction directed against the conserved small T antigen. Five of the tumors had small cell morphology, and 2 had large cell morphology. All were either chromogranin and/or synaptophysin positive. Four of the 5 small cell (80%) and 1 of the 2 large cell (50%) carcinomas were cytokeratin 20 positive. All but 1 case had cervical lymph node metastases at presentation. Merkel cell polyomavirus T antigen was not detected in any of the 7 tumors, either by immunohistochemistry or by polymerase chain reaction with adequate controls. These observations suggest that primary parotid high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma arises from a biological pathway that is different from that of cutaneous Merkel cell carcinomas. Furthermore, viral testing may aid in distinguishing the 2 tumor types, as a positive result would favor a metastasis.


The effect of Aloe vera gel on paracetamol induced liver injury in rats was studied using male Wistar rats divided into four groups. Group 1 (control) received 50% sucrose orally twice daily for 2 days. Group 2 (paracetamol) received a single dose (2.5 g/kg BW) of paracetamol dissolved in 50% sucrose. Groups 3 and 4 (A. vera 100 mg and 300 mg, respectively) received a single dose (2.5 g/kg BW) of paracetamol dissolved in 50% sucrose followed by 100 or 300 mg/kg BW of A. vera gel twice daily for 2 days. Blood was collected to determine alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) enzymatic activities. Liver tissue samples were collected for hepatic glutathione, hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA), and histopathology. The results showed that the serum levels of ALT, AST, and hepatic MDA increased significantly in the paracetamol group compared to that of the control group. The liver histopathology in the paracetamol group revealed vacuolization, cell swelling, and mild infiltration of inflammatory cells around the central vein. Necrosis was observed predominantly around the centrilobular and midzonal regions. There were no differences in hepatic glutathione levels between groups and no difference in hepatic MDA levels between the paracetamol group and A. vera gel treated groups. This study concluded that neither 100 nor 300 mg/kg BW of A. vera protected rats from the liver damage induced by a high dose of paracetamol.


The design, construction and early performance of a 1.6 km long continuously reinforced concrete (crc) overlay on trunk road A3 at Horndean are described. The existing road was a 200 mm thick concrete pavement constructed in 1946-7. Most of the slabs were reinforced and a section of the road had been used as an experiment investigating the relationship between reinforcement weight and joint spacing. Because of faulting and spalling at transverse joints and a reversal of the traffic flow, the riding quality was unacceptable. For these reasons and also to extend the life of the road a widening and overlay were necessary. Two contiguous section of crc overlay were laid, one 110 mm thick and the other 130 mm thick. Reinforcement weighing 7.05 kg per square metre was used throughout both sections giving longitudinal steel percentages of 0.71 for the 110 mm thickness and 0.60 for the 130 mm thickness. Wide-flange beam joints were installed at the ends of the crc overlay. Construction was by slip-form paver which laid the 9M wide slab in one operation. A control section consisting of a 0.2 km length of 100 mm thick hot rolled asphalt was also laid. The crc overlay was constructed in September 1979 and the road was reopened to traffic in October 1979. Cracking occurred very early in the life of the section and there is closely-spaced cracking above the transverse joints in the old pavement. Reflective cracking has occurred above the longtitudinal joint of the old pavement and also over the joint between the widening and the old slabs. A 5M length was replaced during the maintenance period as a trial of repair techniques and many cracks have been sealed by a "banding" process. The experiment is being inspected at regular intervals. (Author/TRRL)


The timing of trap formation in relation to the timing of source rock burial and maturation are important considerations in evaluating the hydrocarbon prospectivity of onshore parts of the forearc basin in central Hawke's Bay. We describe here aspects of the Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene paleogeography for the area based on detailed field mapping and lithofacies analysis, to help constrain petroleum systems evaluations. Key conclusions are: • Most deformation of the forearc basin fill appears to be relatively young (i.e. post-2 Ma). This deformation has occurred after a major phase of Late Miocene to Pliocene sediment accumulation, and is particularly significant along the northwestern and southeastern margins of the basin. • The axis of the forearc basin in central Hawke's Bay appears to have undergone little structural deformation. Gentle force and reverse faults in the subsurface may be suitable traps. • The most widespread potential reservoir beds are Miocene sandstone beds. • Potential hydrocarbon source rocks are mostly absent from western parts of the basin due to significant Neogene uplift and erosion. They are, however, probably still widely preserved beneath central parts of the basin where uplift and erosion have been much less pronounced. • Miocene structures within the axis of the basin, buried by the Late Miocene to Pleistocene siliciclastic succession, are likely exploration targets. The forearc basin has been substantially inverted along its western side since the latest Pliocene, resulting in erosion of older sediments, including potential source rocks, down to basement in ranges flanking its western side. The stratigraphy along the eastern margin of the forearc basin, and particularly the outcrop pattern of westward-younging Plio-Pleistocene limestones, records the development of faulting and folding associated with the elevation and growth of the inboard part of the accretionary wedge. Parts of the forearc basin succession have become involved in the accretionary wedge, which has migrated westward through time. Uplift of the inboard margin of the accretionary wedge since the latest Miocene helped to cause an interior seaway to develop to the west during the Pliocene. Distinctive coarse-grained bioclastic carbonate sediments of the Te Aute lithofacies were deposited along both margins of the seaway, which was most extensive during the Late Pliocene (Mangapanian). Although significant volumes of siliciclastic sediment were supplied to the basin during the Pliocene, strong tidal currents periodically swept much of these sediments northeastward. Tidal connections existed during the Pliocene into Wanganui Basin in the vicinity of Kuripapango and Manawatu Gorge. By the latest Pliocene (lower Nukumaruan), the interior seaway became closed in the south with uplift of the Mount Bruce block in northern Wairarapa. Potential reservoirs within the map area include both shelf and redeposited sandstone beds in the Miocene to Early Pliocene Tolaga Group. Thick, coarsegrained, variably cemented Plio-Pleistocene limestone lithofacies in the Mangaheia Group are widespread along the margins of the basin, and have been the targets for several past exploration programmes. However, drilling has shown that the attractiveness of the Pliocene limestone facies as reservoir beds is limited because they quickly pass laterally into siliciclastic mudstone away from the margins of the basin.


The selection of spawning depth by Eurasian perch Perca fluviatilis was investigated in an experiment using artificial substrata in Lake Constance during the spawning season of 2007. The experiment compared spawning behaviour at substrata between 0.5 and 15 m depth at two sites exposed to different regimes of ship-generated wave action. The total abundance of egg ribbons did not differ significantly between the two sites, but the preferred spawning depth was deeper at the wave exposed site (5 m) compared to the sheltered site (2 m). While water temperatures could not account for the observations, differences in wave exposure may explain the different spawning depth preferences. At both sites, large egg ribbons were generally found in deeper water, and large egg ribbons occurred more frequently at the sheltered site. Because the egg ribbons of perch are likely to have a size-dependent susceptibility to hydrodynamic stress, large females may be expected to select deeper spawning locations where the effects of surface waves are considerably attenuated. W. N. Probst, S. Stoll, H. Hofmann, P. Fischer, R. Eckmann Limnological Institute, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany, Alfred-Wegener-Institute für Polar and Marine Research, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Helgoland, Germany


A UK epidemiologist and Cochrane Collaboration researcher is suing the drug company Roche in the US, claiming that it defrauded federal and state governments by falsely claiming that its antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) could be a powerful tool in mitigating a flu pandemic.

Tom Jefferson, a frequent contributor to The BMJ , is suing as a private whistleblower for $1.5bn (£1.1bn; €1.4bn), roughly the amount that US public health authorities spent building up their pandemic stockpile of oseltamivir. The stockpile is still maintained today, though recent purchases have involved generic versions, as Tamiflu's main patent expired in 2016.

Should Jefferson win, he would be awarded up to 30% of any monies recovered, while the rest would be returned to public coffers.

Jefferson's Cochrane acute respiratory infections group was engaged by the UK government to undertake a major review of the effectiveness of oseltamivir in 2009, after an outbreak of virulent type A influenza H1N1 made headlines worldwide. …


The literature has documented a positive effect of foreign ownership on firm performance. But is this effect due to a one-time knowledge transfer or does it rely on continuous injections of knowledge? To shed light on this question we focus on divestments, that is, foreign affiliates that are sold to local owners. To establish a causal effect of the ownership change we combine a difference-in-differences approach with propensity score matching. We use plant-level panel data from the Indonesian Census of Manufacturing covering the period 1990-2009. We consider 157 cases of divestment, where a large set of plant characteristics is available two years before and three years after the ownership change and for which observationally similar control plants exist. The results indicate that divestment is associated with a drop in total factor productivity accompanied by a decline in output, markups as well as export and import intensity. The findings are consistent with the benefits of foreign ownership being driven by continuous supply of headquarter services from the foreign parent.


From its origins in the LGBTQ community, coming out has become a narrative genre describing the experiences of recognizing and disclosing a variety of other stigmatized positions, including that of male perpetrators of intimate partner violence. Drawing on interviews with forty-four partner-violent men in Sweden, this paper explores how closets and outcomes are both discursively and spatially produced. It analyses the affective spaces of men's coming-out stories, particularly how and where they disclose their violence, and how friends and others respond to their abuse. Violent men's coming-out stories have similarities with those of other stigmatized groups. Since they experience their violence as shameful, they find it difficult to share their experiences with others and are careful not to be seen when seeking therapeutic help. At times, rumours about their violence circulate in their workplaces and cities, which affects the men's feelings and movement in urban space. Their narratives have some unique aspects. While disclosing their violence, the men distance themselves from being categorized as violent men and their coming-out stories are not narratives of embracing a fixed identity.  In addition, their narratives obscure their abuse and oppression of their victims.


BACKGROUND
Among adults with hypertension, obesity independently contributes to cardiovascular disease. Weight loss and hypertension control are critical to reduce cardiovascular events. The purpose of this study was to evaluate rates and predictors of achieving weight loss among adults who achieved hypertension control within 1 year of developing incident hypertension.

METHODS
Retrospective electronic health record analysis was performed of ≥18 year olds with a body mass index ≥30.0kg/m(2), who received regular primary care from 2008 to 2011 and achieved hypertension control. Exclusions were less than 60 days follow-up, prior hypertension diagnosis, prior antihypertensive prescription, or pregnancy. The primary outcome was clinically significant weight loss (≥5kg); the secondary outcome was modest (2.0-4.9kg) weight loss. Multinomial logistic regression identified predictors of achieving weight loss (≥5 or 2.0-4.9kg) compared to no significant weight loss (<2kg).

RESULTS
Of the 2,906 obese patients who achieved hypertension control, 72% (n = 2,089) did not achieve at least 2.0kg weight loss. Overall, 12% (n = 351) achieved ≥5kg weight loss. Young adults (18-39 year olds; odds ratio (OR): 2.47, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.63-3.47), middle-aged adults (40-59 year olds; OR: 2.32, 95% CI: 1.59-3.37), and patients prescribed antihypertensive medication (OR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.07-1.76) were more likely to achieve clinically significant weight loss and hypertension control. Age remained a significant predictor for 2.0-4.9kg weight loss.

CONCLUSIONS
Despite achieving hypertension control, the majority of obese patients did not achieve clinically significant weight loss. Effective weight loss interventions with dedicated hypertension treatment are needed to decrease cardiovascular events in this high-risk population.


Thousands of websites providing an array of diversified online services have been the crucial factor for popularising the Internet around the world during last 15 years. The current model of accessing the majority of those services requires users to register with a Service Provider - an administrative body that offers and provides online services. The registration procedure involves users providing a number of pieces of data about themselves which are then stored at the provider. This data provides a digital image of the user and is commonly known as the Identity of the user in that provider. To access different online services, users register at different providers and ultimately end up with a number of scattered identities which become increasingly difficult to manage. It is one of the major problems of the current setting of online services. What is even worse is that users have less control over the data stored in these providers and have no knowledge how their data is treated by providers. The concept of Identity Management has been introduced to help users facilitate the management of their identities in a user-friendly, secure and privacy-friendly way and thus, to tackle the stated problems. There exists a number of Identity Management models and systems, unfortunately, none of them has played a pivotal role in tackling the problems effectively and comprehensively.

Simultaneously, we have experienced another trend expanding at a remarkable rate: the consumption and the usage of smart mobile devices. These mobile devices are not only growing in numbers but also in capability and capacity in terms of processing power and memory. Most are equipped with powerful hardware and highly-dynamic mobile operating systems offering touch-sensitive intuitive user-interfaces. In many ways, these mobile devices have become an integrated part of our day-to-day life and accompany us everywhere we go. The capability, portability and ubiquitous presence of such mobile devices lead to the core objective of this research: the investigation of how such mobile devices can be used to overcome the limitations of the current Identity Management Systems as well as to provide innovative online services.

In short, this research investigates the need for a novel Identity Management System and the role the current generation of smart mobile devices can play in realising such a system.

In this research it has been found that there exist different inconsistent notions of many central topics in Identity Management which are mostly defined in textual forms. To tackle this problem, a comprehensive mathematical model of Identity and Identity Management has been developed. The model has been used to analyse several phenomenons of Identity Management and to characterise different Identity Management models.

Next, three popular Identity Management Systems have been compared using a taxonomy of requirements to identify the strength and weakness of each system. One of the major findings is that how different privacy requirements are satisfied in these systems is not standardised and depends on a specific implementation. Many systems even do not satisfy many of those requirements which can drastically affect the privacy of a user.

To tackle the identified problems, the concept of a novel Identity Management System, called User-controlled Identity Management System, has been proposed. This system offers better privacy and allows users to exert more control over their data from a central location using a novel type of provider, called Portable Personal Identity Provider, hosted inside a smart mobile device of the user. It has been analysed how the proposed system can tackle the stated problems effectively and how it opens up new doors of opportunities for online services.

In addition, it has been investigated how contextual information such as a location can be utilised to provide online services using the proposed provider. One problem in the existing Identity Management Systems is that providers cannot provide any contextual information such as the location of a user. Hosting a provider in a mobile device allows it to access different sensors of the device, retrieve contextual information from them and then to provide such information. A framework has been proposed to harness this capability in order to offer innovative services.

Another major issue of the current Identity Management Systems is the lack of an effective mechanism to combine attributes from multiple providers. To overcome this problem, an architecture has been proposed and it has been discussed how this architecture can be utilised to offer innovative services. Furthermore, it has been analysed how the privacy of a user can be improved using the proposed provider while accessing such services.

Realising these proposals require that several technical barriers are overcome. For each proposal, these barriers have been identified and addressed appropriately along with the respective proof of concept prototype implementation. These prototypes have been utilised to illustrate the applicability of the proposals using different use-cases. Furthermore, different functional, security and privacy requirements suitable for each proposal have been formulated and it has been analysed how the design choices and implementations have satisfied these requirements. Also, no discussion in Identity Management can be complete without analysing the underlying trust assumptions. Therefore, different trust issues have been explored in greater details throughout the thesis.


As institutions not founded to "serve" Latina/o students, Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) are criticized for solely being "Hispanic-enrolling," with access and graduation rates being hypothesized as indicators of an organizational identity for HSIs. Drawing from a case study with 88 participants, the purpose of this investigation was to complicate what it means to be Latina/o-serving by listening to the way students, faculty, and administrators at a four-year HSI construct their Latina/o-serving identity. Findings show that members made sense of their organizational identity through an expression of values and processes for sustaining and enhancing the culture and education of Latina/o students.


The `generational contract' is the most important and also the most contentious dimension of contemporary welfare systems. Much of the debate on how to reform it is still truncated, however, by focusing on its public dimension only, especially on pensions and health-care provisions. For a full account, the transfer of resources between adult generations in the family needs to be included as well. So far, research on family transfers has almost exclusively been limited to single-country studies. In this article, we present a comparative study of financial transfers and social support in ten Western European countries based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) conducted in 2004. Our results confirm, at the European level, the existence of a common transfer pattern. There is a net downward flow from the older to the younger generations, both by inter vivos financial transfers and by social support. Transfers from the elderly parents to their children are much more frequent and also usually much more intense than those in the opposite direction. The positive balance decreases with age but even those over the age of 70 clearly remain net givers. Our results also demonstrate that country-specific transfer patterns follow the typology of welfare regimes. Transfers from parents to children are less frequent but more intense in the Southern European countries than in the Nordic ones, with the Continental European countries being somewhere in between the two. This welfare regime effect still holds after controlling for the most relevant characteristics of the parents.


A few relevant sections  from the Strategicon of Mauricius are analyzed in order that Byzantine military tactics  be further clarified: the meaning of the word σχολ ὴ ; contagion (epidemic) and starvation (famine) threatening the soldiers when gathered together; and the potential scouting mission of heralds. Additionally certain facts provided by the treatise regarding specific military subjects are presented together, so that they can be effectively elucidated; the length of both the bowshot and the long bowshot; the exact function of the multi trenches of the 'fossaton' military camp; touldos (the baggage train: composition - function - etymology/origin); depotatoi (the unarmed units: recruitment – equipment - size - mission). Finally speculation on the composition of the text attempts to draw attention to the use of former treatises by the author and to the degree of his personal contribution.


South America was isolated during most of the Cenozoic, and it was home to an endemic fauna. The South American Native Ungulates (SANUs) exhibited high taxonomical, morphological, and ecological diversity and were widely distributed on the continent. However, most SANU fossil records come from high latitudes. This sampling bias challenges the study of their diversity dynamics and biogeography during important tectonic and biotic events, such as the Great American Biotic Interchange, the faunal exchange between North and South America after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. We describe new SANU remains from the Neogene of the Cocinetas (northern Colombia) and Falcon (northwestern Venezuela) Basins. In the Cocinetas Basin, the middle Miocene fauna of the Castilletes Formation includes Hilarcotherium miyou sp. nov. (Astrapotheriidae), cf. Huilatherium (Leontiniidae), and Lambdaconus cf. L. colombianus (Proterotheriidae). The late Pliocene fauna of the Ware Formation includes a Toxodontinae indet. and the putative oldest record of Camelidae in South America. In the Falcon Basin, the Pliocene/Pleistocene faunas of the Codore and San Gregorio Formations include Falcontoxodon aguilerai gen. et sp. nov. and Proterotheriidae indet. We provide a phylogenetic analysis for Astrapotheriidae and Toxodontidae. The new data document a low-latitude provinciality within some SANU clades (e.g., Astrapotheriidae, Leontiniidae) during the middle Miocene. This contrasts with the wide latitudinal distribution of clades of other mammals recorded in the fauna, including the sparassodont Lycopsis padillai, the sloth Hyperleptus?, and the proterotheriid Lambdaconus cf. L. colombianus. The Pliocene/Pleistocene tropical faunas from northern South America are characterized by the predominance of native taxa despite their proximity to the Isthmus of Panama (fully emerged by that time). Only one North American ungulate herbivore immigrant is present, a cf. Camelidae indet. The Pliocene and early Pleistocene faunas suggest that environmental changes and biotic interactions affected the diversity dynamics and biogeographic patterns of SANUs during the Great American Biotic Interchange.


Abstract: This essay addresses the pioneering biblical scholarship of Archibald Alexander (1772–1851), the founding father of Princeton Theological Seminary, in the contexts of biblical criticism and the academic Bible that were being discussed and created at German universities. Alexander was among the first nineteenth-century American Presbyterian professors to interact with innovative research emerging from Europe, especially the work of Johann David Michaelis (1717–1791). He is worthy of research attention for establishing a central position for Princeton Theological Seminary in the field of biblical studies, as well as for interacting with the creators of the Enlightenment Bible while defending Calvinist theology and epistemology. KEYWORDS:


Myxozoans are an economically important group of microscopic metazoan parasites of fish. The myxozoan species Thelohanellus filli infects commercially important freshwater fish both in wild and in cultured habitat. This parasite causes gill hemorrhagic disease and significant damage to the respiratory surface of the infected fish. In the present study, the 18S rDNA gene sequence of morphologically identified T. filli infecting the gill lamellae of the Indian major carp, Labeo rohita , was characterized. This revealed that we are actually dealing with a species complex containing T. bifurcata , T. jiroveci and T. seni . Phylogenetically, T. filli clustered with other myxozoan parasites, with the species most closely related to T. filli having 96 to 97% sequence similarity. The intraspecific variation demonstrated in this study points towards the importance of newer approaches to facilitate reassessment of taxa and detecting species complexes and cryptic species.


Summary This case illustrates the exceedingly rare phenomenon of transient diabetes insipidus, in association with pre-eclampsia, occurring in the post-partum period following an in vitro fertilisation pregnancy, in an otherwise well 48-year-old lady. Diabetes insipidus can manifest during pregnancy, induced by increased vasopressinase activity secreted by placental trophoblasts and usually manifests in the third trimester. This presentation elucidates not only the intricate balance between the physiology of pregnancy and hormonal homeostasis, but also the importance of post-partum care as the physiological changes of pregnancy still hold pathological potential in the weeks immediately following delivery. Learning points: Diabetes insipidus (DI) is a rare complication of pregnancy occurring in 1 in 30 000 pregnancies. It is associated with excessive vasopressinase activity, secreted by placental trophoblasts, which increases the rate of degradation of anti-diuretic hormone. It is responsive to synthetic desmopressin 1-deanimo-8-d-arginine vasopressin as this form is not degraded by placental vasopressinase. Vasopressinase is proportional to placental weight, which is increased in pregnancies conceived with assisted reproductive techniques including in vitro fertilisation. Vasopressinase-induced DI is associated with pre-eclampsia.


Author(s): Emery, Sara E | Advisor(s): Mills, Nicholas J | Abstract: This dissertation focuses on three different aspects of the biotic and abiotic effects on pest management and community structure in agricultural systems, at a local level for a specific insect pest, at a landscape level for an insect community and in mesocosm experiments to examine the effects of predation on indirect interactions. Agricultural crops and pastures cover approximately 38% of the available land surface globally, and the intensity of agricultural production has continually increased over the past 300 years. The intensification of management practices in agricultural ecosystems, from pesticide applications to simplified rotations, have had wide-ranging consequences, from a rise in secondary pests to negative effects on native species and the efficacy of biological control from generalist natural enemy assemblages.The walnut husk fly, Rhagoletis completa (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a secondary pest that has become more problematic in California walnut orchards with the decline in use of organophosphates, and a seasonal emergence pattern that is not well understood. To more effectively manage R. completa the factors that affect the timing of adult emergence were examined using both field data and mechanistic laboratory studies. A phenology model was developed for R. completa using a large historic data set to more accurately predict the timing of the flight period and optimize management decisions. The relationship between cumulative trap catch and degree-day accumulation for R. completa in California was modeled to predict thermal requirements for the start and mid-point of the flight period. Latitude, walnut cultivar leaf-out time, orchard age and year all contributed significantly to explain deviations from model predictions. The negative relationship between year and accumulated degree days at the start of the flight period corroborates grower observations and concerns that R. completa is emerging earlier in the season than it was 18 years ago. A series of laboratory studies were conducted to further examine the effects of incubation temperature, pre-chill and chill durations, latitude, cultivar and size on the post-diapause development of R. completa puparia. The thermal requirement and developmental thresholds for adult emergence were estimated. Patterns based on sex were also examined in relation to puparial weight and post-diapause development. Percent adult emergence declined at both higher and lower incubation temperatures. Chill and pre-chill duration affected the thermal requirement, survival and synchronization of emergence for R. completa, with climate change implications for the future. Latitude and plant host species also affect the thermal requirement. The effects of these environmental factors on the post-diapause development of R. completa are discussed in relation to observations from other Rhagoletis species.Insect pests and natural enemies respond to land-use intensity at varying scales. As agricultural production has intensified on the local scale over the last century, landscapes have also become increasingly homogenized. The effects of land-use intensity at both landscape and local scales on pests, generalist predators and sorghum yield were studied in Uruguay. Greater landscape intensity increased densities of pest species and provided evidence that they may interact indirectly through apparent commensalism leading to a decrease in the abundance of the generalist coccinellid community. In contrast to many field studies that have evaluated effects of local intensity on organic agriculture, in this study a multi-year rotational system was compared to continuous agriculture. Crop-grazing rotational systems resulted in lower coccinellid species richness, winter crop cultivation caused a higher proportion of non-native coccinellid individuals, and insecticide-use increased pest density. The use of path analysis provided a robust approach to examine the effects of land-use intensification on insect communities in a lesser known multi-year management system and an under-studied geographic region.Generalist predators are increasingly recognized as important contributors to the reliability of conservation biological control. In addition, indirect interactions between prey species sharing a common predator are increasingly recognized as drivers of community dynamics. Consideration of how indirect interactions between prey species affect biological control potential is critical. Cage experiments with Acyrthosiphon pisum and Aphis gossypii were performed with varying levels of predation by adult Hippodamia convergens as well as varying levels of habitat complexity. Across predation pressure the early growth of A. gossypii appears beneficial to the net change in abundance of A. pisum over the course of the experiment, however the early growth of A. pisum provides no explanatory power for the net change in abundance of A. gossypii. Both increasing predation pressure and decreasing habitat complexity appear to change the sign and strength of indirect interactions between A. gossypii and A. pisum as predicted by ecological theory.The negative impacts of agricultural intensification are wide-reaching and insect communities respond to the changes in their environment at multiple levels. Sustainable pest control strategies must consider long-term data sets, whenever possible, take into account environmental, local and landscape variables and evaluate patterns in the context of community ecology.


Since 2001 a number of campaigns have been launched, with the aim of heightening public awareness and drawing attention to media representations of refugees. Awareness campaigns have aimed to raise public consciousness of the reporting of forced migration. And, partly influenced by the World Trade Center attacks, a number of initiatives have aimed to help improve media coverage of the Developing World. The paper investigates the nature of the visual representation of refugees and the factors, such as 'compassion fatigue' and 'stereotypical' disaster imagery that may contribute to high levels of public response to humanitarian disasters. Apart from the demand for dramatic pictures, which can mean that disasters which do not generate sensational images do not reach a wide audience, public awareness of the crisis can often depend upon individual journalists championing a cause. On the other hand, European news media organizations have become subject to budget cuts in overseas reporting and an increasing dependence upon the 'mobile phone images' produced by 'citizen journalists' has put a new range of dramatic images into circulation with a new kind of immediacy. The paper reflects upon a 'good practice' case study to trace the refugee story "From the Crisis to the Screen". It makes a comparison between media image and the 'real life' situation; NGO policy, editorial processes & publication; media take-up and the outcomes of fundraising campaigns to provide research-based practical guidelines for those working to relieve humanitarian crises.


Following the American Revolution, it was a cliché that the new republic's future depended on widespread, informed citizenship. However, instead of immediately creating the common schools--accessible, elementary education--that seemed necessary to create such a citizenry, the Federalists in power founded one of the most ubiquitous but forgotten institutions of early American life: academies, privately run but state-chartered secondary schools that offered European-style education primarily for elites. By 1800, academies had become the most widely incorporated institutions besides churches and transportation projects in nearly every state.In this book, Mark Boonshoft shows how many Americans saw the academy as a caricature of aristocratic European education and how their political reaction against the academy led to a first era of school reform in the United States, helping transform education from a tool of elite privilege into a key component of self-government and citizenship. And yet the very anti-aristocratic critique that propelled democratic education was conspicuously silent on the persistence of racial and gender inequality in public schooling. By tracing the history of academies in the revolutionary era, Boonshoft offers a new understanding of political power and the origins of public education and segregation in the United States.


In the process control, many PID loops are primarily devoted to rejecting load disturbances, and some of them are crucial for the quality of the overall plant operation. In such a scenario, automatic tuning is highly desired. However, load disturbance rejection calls for strong feedback up to quite high frequencies with respect to the dominant plant dynamics, on which most tuning rules are centered. As such it is difficult for a rule to yield good and, above all, uniform results in the face of all the various process structures it can be confronted with. In this paper, we propose an explicit model-based PID tuning rule specifically targeted at the problem just evidenced. The rule minimizes the magnitude of the nominal disturbance-to-output frequency response, at the same time preventing that magnitude to exhibit a peak or a plateau around its maximum. This characteristic, together with tuning the PID derivative filter, leads to sharp disturbance rejection without incurring in an excessive control sensitivity to high-frequency measurement noise and mitigates the problems caused by heterogeneous process dynamics. The proposed approach is assessed by comparing the rule with selected counterparts, on a literature benchmark with different process structures. A laboratory experiment is finally presented to show that our rule can withstand real-world operating conditions.


Erbium doped oxyfluoride glass was synthesized from the molar composition 10.1% Na2CO3 −20.2% PbO −33.7% GeO2 −33.6% TeO2 −2.4% ErF3 by melt quenching technique. The Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters were estimated as Ω2 = 10.8 × 10−20, Ω4 = 1.17 × 10−20, and Ω6 = 4.32 × 10−20 cm2. Radiative transition probabilities and lifetimes were also calculated. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used for thermal analysis of the sample. Nanocrystals were induced in the glass by heat-treatment. Strong room temperature upconversion emissions were observed at 415, 540, 554 and 667 nm from Er3+ doped sample under 972 nm Ti-sapphire laser excitation. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements revealed the presence of NaErF4 crystallites 35 nm in the glassy matrix. The concentration of nanocrystals is found to be low in the middle of the sample and higher close to the surface. Time correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) was used to measure Er3+ lifetimes.


We present a paper abstract writing system based on an attentive neural sequence-to-sequence model that can take a title as input and automatically generate an abstract. We design a novel Writing-editing Network that can attend to both the title and the previously generated abstract drafts and then iteratively revise and polish the abstract. With two series of Turing tests, where the human judges are asked to distinguish the system-generated abstracts from human-written ones, our system passes Turing tests by junior domain experts at a rate up to 30% and by non-expert at a rate up to 80%.


New series of 3-substituted heterocyclic compounds containing bridge head nitrogen were synthesized through multi-step reactions. In order to prepare the starting 2-substituted heterocyclic compounds of pyridine, a known procedure was used by condensation of 2-amino pyridine with (4-bromo phenacyl bromide). Carbaldehyde group was introduced at position-3 of prepared 2-substituted imidazo / pyridine rings by Vilsmeier-Haack reaction. 3-Carbaldehyde derivatives underwent Claisen condensation with different aryl ketons to give unsaturated ketones of these derivatives, which on cyclization with urea and thiourea afforded 3-cyclic oxopyrimidines and thiopyrimidines derivatives of imidazo / pyridine rings. In addition, 3-carbaldehyde derivatives was reacted with hydrazine, semicarbazide and hydroxyl amine hydrochloride to yield new hydrazone, semicarbazone and oxime derivatives of imidazo / pyridine rings. All prepared compounds were characterised via FT-IR spectroscopy, some of them were characterised by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. These new 3-subistituted derivatives of imidazo /pyridine rings were tested in different species bacterial and fungi. Some of tested compounds showed strong activity while the other showed moderate against. Interestingly, All these new prepared compounds showed high activity against fungi.


How often do we see a committee collapse due to lack of succession planning? In all voluntary organisations we see it often. In most workplaces it also happens, but due to the nature of the workplace, competent (or not-so-competent) personnel can be instructed to step in and rescue the situation. This however does not mean that they do not feel the impact of the collapse!


The AJCC Patient Care Page is a service of the American Journal of Critical Care and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Designed to elaborate AACN practice guidelines based on content in select articles, this page may be photocopied noncommercially for use by readers in their workplace, in continuing education programs, or for distribution to colleagues, patients, or patients' families. To purchase bulk reprints, call (800) 899-1712.


We introduce and explicitly solve a novel class of optimization problems which are motivated by load assignment issues in crossbar switches with output queueing. The optimization criterion is given in the majorization ordering sense. The solution to these problems indirectly provides solutions to a large class of convex optimization problems under a linear constraint.


Background: Workplace violence is defined as incidents where staff are abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances related to their work, including commuting to and from work, involving an explicit or implicit challenge to their safety, well-being or health. In healthcare setting, it can bring serious consequences to the workers, organization and quality of patient care. Educational training is one of the methods to reduce the incident and prepare the workers in order to face this challenge. This manuscript aims to analytically analyse educational intervention on workplace violence among health workers. Materials and Methods: Systematic review was conducted via Pubmed and ScienceDirect, using keywords of (aggression OR violence) AND healthcare workers) AND (education OR training). A total of 1914 articles from search engines and other sources were obtained. After screening, 12 articles were included in this manuscript. Result: There are 12 studies in this review including two randomised controlled trials (RCTs), five quasi-experimental design and five before-after experimental design. Studies were conducted across various healthcare organizations and most of these were hospitals. Most of the studies include multiple modules including de-escalating techniques, assessing risk of violence, communication skills, workers responsibility, notification and post incident procedure, and legal aspect of workplace violence. Studies showed improvement in knowledges, attitude, confidence and coping. Conclusion: Majority of this evidence were weak and more high-quality research is needed in this area of study. Sound methodology and controlled study design to avoid biases should be done to prove the effectiveness of educational learning in workplace violence. Keywords: workplace violence, educational, intervention, review


Co-customizations are collaborative customizations in messaging apps that all conversation members can view and change, e.g. the color of chat bubbles on Facebook Messenger. Co-customizations grant new opportunities for expressing intimacy; however, most apps offer private customizations only. To investigate how people in close relationships integrate co-customizations into their established communication app ecosystems, we built DearBoard: an Android keyboard that allows two people to co-customize its color theme and a toolbar of expression shortcuts (emojis and GIFs). In a 5-week field study with 18 pairs of couples, friends, and relatives, participants expressed their shared interests, history, and knowledge of each other through co-customizations that served as meaningful decorations, interface optimizations, conversation themes, and non-verbal channels for playful, affectionate interactions. The co-ownership of the co-customizations invited participants to negotiate who customizes what and for whom they customize. We discuss how co-customizations mediate intimacy through place-making efforts and suggest design opportunities.


This thesis is entitled "Does Leadership Influence Organisational Culture: A Case Study". The main objective of this dissertation it to attempt to prove the hypotheses referred to in the title - does leadership influence organisational culture?

The research takes the approach of a case study, based on the organisation in which the researcher is employed. The organisation in question is a family owned retail business with eleven department stores throughout Ireland which has been trading for over one hundred years.

The researcher chose this area of study as she believes culture plays a huge part in the running of the organisation; both positive and negative. However the literature and existing research does not give a clear understanding about how a leader can alter the culture, or indeed if this is even possible. As a result, the researcher attempted to establish whether a leader can influence culture.

The methodology used to achieve the objective was a combination of examining the secondary data available on both leadership and culture, then researching the leadership and culture in the organisation. The main research methodology chosen was a case study approach and the process was qualitative and the logic was inductive.

The main findings from the secondary data were many and varied however there was no conclusive proof in the literature as to whether leadership can influence culture.

The research from the primary data centred on identifying the culture and the leadership in the participating stores. A stratified research strategy was adopted testing the three main employment categories in the stores - Senior Management, Middle Management and Staff. The participants were able to provide the researcher with detailed information on the leaders in the store.

The literature was unable to establish whether a leader can influence culture; however it is this researcher's belief, on completion of the primary research, that a leader can have an impact on the culture of an organisation. It must be noted though that this was a study conducted on three leaders in one organisation and therefore for the hypothesis to be proved or disproved conclusively further research, on a larger scale, must be conducted.


Abstract Molecular analyses have consistently evidenced the phylogenetic heterogeneity of Orthotrichum Hedw., and suggested the need to segregate the species with superficial stomata in a separate genus. A recent proposal has been made to accommodate the monoicous species with such stomata in the genus Dorcadion Adans. ex Lindb., which is, however, an illegitimate name according to the current Code of nomenclature of algae, fungi and plants. Consequently a new name is required, and the generic name Lewinskya F.Lara, Garilleti & Goffinet is proposed. New combinations are made for all the species included in the new genus. Given the long history of the genus Orthotrichum and the similarities between this genus and Lewinskya, the morphological and geographic circumscriptions of both genera are provided to define them accurately. The taxa remaining in Orthotrichum s.str. are also listed.


This seminar will present the main findings of a study which explored the employment-related experiences of three groups of migrant health and social care professionals (doctors, social workers and nurses) before and after migrating to the UK. The emphasis will be on the findings emerging from the narrative interviews conducted with migrant doctors and migrant social workers.

Most studies on the experiences of migrant health and social care professionals examine the challenges these groups face as they try to join the British workforce and their adverse workplace experiences. However, it is also important to explore the resources these professionals activate for coping with these challenges and difficulties and in particular, exploring how they utilise their cultural capital both in its formal form (for example, educational credentials and professional qualifications) and in its informal form (such as their work ethics).

Our analysis will highlight not only employment-related problems but also how individuals effectively deal with professional challenges. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the study's findings.


With forewords by Professor Tanya Byron and Octavius Black, Educating Ruby: what our children really need to learn is a powerful call to action by acclaimed thought-leaders Guy Claxton and Bill Lucas. It is for everyone who cares about education in an uncertain world and explains how teachers, parents and grandparents can cultivate confidence, curiosity, collaboration, communication, creativity, commitment and craftsmanship in children, at the same time as helping them to do well in public examinations. Educating Ruby: what our children really need to learn shows, unequivocally, that schools can get the right results in the right way, so that the Rubys of tomorrow will emerge from their time at school able to talk with honest pleasure and reflective optimism about their schooling. Featuring the views of schoolchildren, parents, educators and employers and drawing on Guy Claxton and Bill Lucas' years of experience in education, including their work with Building Learning Power and the Expansive Education Network, this powerful new book is sure to provoke thinking and debate. Just as Willy Russell's Educating Rita helped us rethink university, the authors of Educating Ruby invite fresh scrutiny of our schools.


The power system has to deal with three main sources of uncertainty: demand uncertainty and load prediction errors, failure of power plants and uncertainty of wind. The growing share of wind and other intermittent generation sources in the European supply increases the uncertainty about power production in day-ahead and longer-term predictions. As EU member states increase the deployment of wind power and other intermittent renewable energy sources, the intraday and balancing market will gain more interest, as additional demand for reserve and response operations is needed. Hence, it becomes relevant to analyse the effect of wind power forecasting errors on intraday power prices. A higher forecast error will increase the need of intraday markets to balance out the oversupply or deficit of wind power on an hourly basis. This oversupply or deficit can be corrected though flexible hydropower plants; however the power price is highly influenced by the fluctuations in the reservoir level (Huisman et. al [2013]). In this paper, we question to what extent hydropower a stabilizing effect has on the impact of wind forecast errors on NordPool intraday prices. To do so, we examine the peak and off peak imbalance power prices for the Scandinavian market (ELBAS) from 2011 until 2013 with a Markov regime-switching model in periods with low and high hydro reservoir levels. Results indicate that under wind forecast error, the use of hydropower capacity in intraday markets is proven to be an effective volatility control mechanism. However, the price stabilizing effect of hydropower capacity does not take place at all times.


Theory has often been regarded in early modern studies as an irresponsible guest at best, and, at worst, an unwelcome intruder. While early modern cultural production has served theorists well as they explore their own projects, theory is sometimes ungrounded in historical specificity. Though early modern art history has been especially resistant to theory, strong theoretical voices have emerged, including Svetlana Alpers, Mieke Bal, Michael Fried, Hanneke Grootenboer, Maria Loh, Lyle Massey, and Itay Sapir. Not all of them employ theory explicitly, but their approaches indicate a strong theoretical subculture in art history that successfully navigates the terrain between history and theory. These critics show that the best theory is historically grounded, and can tell us much about how works are inherently theoretical, philosophical, theological, or theo-philosophical in their historical context. Part of what I hope to demonstrate in this essay is that traditional art history and more theoretical approaches are complementary, despite the obvious antagonism between them. Just as traditional art historical concerns (such as provenance, patronage, and influence) are essential to a responsible theoretical interpretation of an image, theory--even "high" or French theory, particularly reviled by traditionalists--can illuminate aspects (such as philosophical ones, as I will argue here) that traditional methodologies might ignore. James Elkins has articulated the divide between art history and aesthetics, concluding that art history ultimately does not ask the same questions as aesthetics does, nor does it even see the same issues as questions (48). Similarly, Jorge J. E. Gracia argues that "[o]ne of the greatest sources of misunderstanding concerning interpretation is the belief that all interpretations have, or should have, the same aim" (158). The problem goes even further than that, since the questions and approaches are often not as purely parsed as the different disciplines maintain. Gracia explains that not only do interpreters rarely only pursue one kind of interpretation but they are often also vague about what their aims are. Some interpretations seek the "meaning" of an object, which could be conceived variously: significance, reference, intention, ideas, and use. Other interpretations are "relational" in that their goal is to understand the relation of an object, or its meaning, to something else (165). In the antagonism between art historical and philosophical interpretations, I maintain that we can find some common ground in acknowledging that: (1) both camps engage in relational as well as meaning interpretations; (2) what constitutes a relation or how meaning is defined often differ; and (3) these differences of approach do not invalidate each one or make combination unproductive, but the contrary. The question that I wish to address in this essay, then, is how a philosophically-driven, theoretical methodology, such as that employed by Michel Foucault, might attune us to ways in which art enacts philosophy as part of its meaning--not anachronistically, but in a manner consonant with its historical moment in relation to contemporary discourses. As W. J. T. Mitchell argues in his book Picture Theory, "there are no 'purely' visual or verbal arts"; "all media are 'mixed media'" (5). Mitchell's goal is not to develop a "'picture theory' (much less a theory of pictures), but to picture theory as a practical activity in the formation of representations" (6). Mieke Bal proposes that if "visual art makes any sense at all beyond the narrow domain of beauty and the affective domain of pleasure, it is because art, too, thinks; it is thought. Not the thought about it, or the thought expressed in it, but visual thought, the thought embodied in form" (117). I would like to ask what it might mean to picture philosophy or theology by looking at the case of Diego Velazquez and the reception of his most famous work, Las Meninas (1656). …


Mobilizing Against Inequality: Unions, Immigrant Workers, and the Crisis of Capitalism is an edited volume that provides case studies of unions organizing immigrant workers in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The book, edited by Lee H. Adler, Maite Tapia, and Lowell Turner, contains details of cases where unions have allied with community organizations and other social movement partners to expand union access or political rights to immigrant workers. The authors draw lessons from the best case scenarios. This book also serves as an example of the kind of work labor studies scholars and institutes are pursuing.


A novel fast convergent algorithm to extract arbitrary unknown phase shifts in generalized phase-shifting interferometry (PSI) is proposed and verified by a series of computer simulations. In this algorithm an error function is introduced and then the unknown phase shifts are found by an iterative tangent approach. In combination with the statistical method, this algorithm can give the most exact results in the fewest iteration steps. It can be used for generalized PSI of arbitrary frames for both smooth and diffusing objects and can usually reach the exact phase shifts with only four or five iterations for three- or four-frame PSI.


This invention relates to the manufacture of coated substrates, and particularly, but not exclusively, to the deposition of multi-layer coatings in the manufacture of interference filters consisting of multiple thin films. An object of the invention is to allow accurate control of the deposition of a succession of layers having good uniformity, for example during the manufacture by vacuum evaporation of multilayer interference filters for use with infrared radiation of particularly long wavelength, using a method which is self calibrating and which avoids the repetitive use of individual control layers.