ABSTRACT Limestone concretions in the Blue Hill Member of the Carlile Formation (middle Middle Turonian) exposed in the Lake Pueblo State Park, Colorado, U.S.A., range in size from 20-cm-diameter, approximately spherical forms to flattened spheroids >2 m in width and >1 m in height. The earliest matrix and septarian calcite cement, with 13C and 18O values ranging mostly from -18o/oo to -8o/oo (PDB) and -3o/oo to -8o/oo (PDB), respectively, precipitated from diluted seawater during shallow burial where sulfate reduction largely controlled pore-water bicarbonate composition. In contrast, the latest septarian cements exhibit very depleted 18O values (-16o/oo) with 13C values approaching values of -1o/oo to -3o/oo, reflecting a strong meteoric-water component to pore fluids. Overall, 13C and 18O values are inversely covariant. Concretion matrix calcite and septarian cements precipitated from mixtures of modified marine and meteoric fluids. Pore-water reversals resulted from sea-level fluctuations leading up to and associated with the formation of a sequence boundary, or possibly the development of parasequences near the top of the Blue Hill Member. Relative sea-level falls caused pore-water freshening as the coastal mixing zone migrated seaward. Similarly, modified marine-derived pore waters replaced fresher pore fluids accompanying subsequent marine flooding. Carbonate cements precipitated during this active hydrologic history recorded the isotopic characteristics of their parent fluids. Negative 18O values of the meteoric end-member calcite compositions suggest derivation from high-altitude precipitation in the Sevier highlands to the west. Septarian cements in concretions, despite their enclosure in relatively impermeable host sediment, can act as sensitive indicators of relative sea-level fluctuations.


This chapter explores how an environment of persistent low returns influences saving, investing, and retirement behaviors, compared to what in the past had been conceived of as 'normal' financial conditions. Using a calibrated life cycle dynamic model with realistic tax, minimum distribution, and social security benefit rules, we can mimic the large peak at the earliest claiming age at 62 that is seen in the data. Also in line with the evidence, our baseline results show a smaller second peak at the (system-defined) Full Retirement Age of 66. In the context of a zero-return environment, we show that workers will optimally devote more of their savings to non-retirement accounts and less to 401(k) accounts, since the relative appeal of investing in taxable versus tax-qualified retirement accounts is lower in a low return setting. Finally, we show that people claim social security benefits later in a low interest rate environment.


Current disk arrays consist purely of hard disk drives, which normally provide huge storage capacities with low cost and high throughput for data-intensive applications. Nevertheless, they have some inherent disadvantages such as long access latencies and energy inefficiency due to their build-in mechanical mechanisms. Flash-memory-based solid state disks, on the other hand, although currently more expensive and inadequate in write cycles, offer much faster random read accesses and are much more robust and energy efficient. To combine the complementary merits of hard disks and flash disks, in this paper, we propose a hybrid disk array architecture named hybrid disk storage (HIT) for data-intensive applications. Next, a dynamic data redistribution strategy called performance, energy, and reliability balanced (PEARL), which can periodically redistribute data between flash disks and hard disks to adapt to the changing data access patterns, is developed on top of the HIT architecture. Comprehensive simulations using real-life traces demonstrate that compared with existing data placement techniques, PEARL exhibits its strength in both performance and energy consumption without impairing flash disk reliability.


Extracellular Matrix Proteins (ECM) are the major protein component of the aortic valve. ECM proteins ensure the normal function of the valve by sensing and transducing mechanical stress signals to the Interstitial Valve Cells (VICs). The fibrosa, spongiosa, and ventricularis are the three layers making up the aortic valve. Each layer in the AV has a distinguished ECM composition. Indeed, the fibrosa is mainly composed of collagen type I and III. In contrast, the spongiosa is composed of Proteoglycans (PGs) and Glycosaminoglycan (GAG). Finally the ventricularis is composed of elastin. A disturbance in the ECM matrix may subsequently affect valve cell signaling and promote valve calcification. The use of proteomic approaches have helped to identify differences in expression levels of ECM proteins in the different layers of the aortic valve. This review will discuss the role of changes in the composition of ECM proteins in aortic stenosis and explore the latest findings regarding the ECM network in valvular heart disease.


In prior literature it has been argued that there exists a tension between balancing investments in Exploration for new organisational knowledge against the Exploitation of current stocks. It is argued that over time firms tend towards an ever increasing focus upon Exploitation to the exclusion of investments in Exploration. It is argued that this bias is in part due to the causally complex feedback loops between Exploration activities and financial performance. The tendency for Exploitation to drive out Exploration activities over time is argued to pose a serious threat to firm's long term prosperity and survival. This thesis first reviews and interprets the diverse literature on the tension between Exploration and Exploitation. This interpretation of prior work highlights that Exploitation is not a single process, but rather two: incremental Development of current stocks of knowledge and Appropriation of a return from those stocks through use and sale in the marketplace. It is argued that the classic tension between Exploration and Exploitation is intermediated by the process of Devlopment, which seeks to convert new organisational knowledge into forms amenable to appropriation of a financial return, in addition to making incremental improvements to current stocks of organisational knowledge. It is argued that the tension between these three processes only exists in the short term. In the long term the success of each process is dependent upon the other two. It is argued, however, that in the long term it is difficult sustain individual efforts to extend the firm's knowledge stocks through Exploration, Development, or efforts to Appropriate a return through use, due to the existence of three antagonistic processes that impede each of these three processes individually. These antagonists are Core Rigidities, Slow Rate of Learning and Imitation by competitors. Through the literature review insights are offered into how management can suppress these antagonistic processes. Chapters Three and Four empirically study the phenomena of Exploration and Exploitation of organisational knowledge in the context of the UK therapeutics biotechnology sector. In Chapter Three an in-depth case study of a leading firm, Ceiltech, is undertaken. From this case it is argued that contrary to prior literature it is possible for a firm to maintain a balance between Exploratidn and Exploitation beyond the short term. It is shown that Ceiltech's Exploration activities can be linked directly to the financial renaissance of the firm between 1990 and 1998. Insights are offered into how management sought to maintain this balance and ensure that the long term complementary relationship between the processes of Exploration, Development and Appropriation was not undermined by short-term actions. Based on the experiences of Ceiltech and other biotechnology firms key quantifiable outputs of the processes of Exploration, Development and Appropriation are devised. Using an event study methodology, announcements of these key outputs, by all publicly quoted UK biotechnology firms between December 1995 and January 1999, are analysed. It is found that contrary to prior theoretic suggestions the outputs of both Exploration and Exploitation activities generate observable financial valuations in the stock market. Announcement of positive progress in Exploration and Development activities are found to coincide with increases in share price over and above either the past performance of the firm or the contemporary performance of market indices. This suggests that contrary to theoretical arguments in the literature the causal feedback loop between Exploration and Development activities and financial performance can be quite direct. It is also found that alliance formation plays an important role in value creation. It is argued that the increase in market capitalisation that formation of alliances generate is not fully explained by the sharing of resources and capabilities alone. It is argued that formation of an alliance with a firm that has a high scientific and commercial reputation within the stock market has a knock on reputational effect upon the valuation of its biotechnology partner. The alliance offers uncertainty reduction information to shareholders about the likely success and value of Exploration and Development projects undertaken by the biotechnology firm, resulting in an increase in the value of the firm. The concluding chapter of this thesis highlights major implications that the findings of this study may have for both the pharmaceutical sector and industry in general.


In its recommendations for the protection of people living in long-term contaminated territories after a nuclear accident, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) emphasizes the effectiveness of directly involving the affected population and local professionals in the management of the situation, and the responsibility of authorities at both national and local levels to create the conditions and provide the means favouring the involvement and empowerment of the population. In this perspective, ICRP initiated in the fall 2011 a dialogue between representatives of the Fukushima Prefecture, local professionals, local communities and representatives of Belarusian, Norwegian and French organisations to find ways to respond to the challenges of the long-term rehabilitation of the living conditions in the territories affected by the Fukushima nuclear power plant. After a first series of twelve "ICRP Dialogue" meetings between 2011 and 2015 closed by an international workshop, a group of local stakeholders took over and organized a new series of eight "Fukushima Dialogue" meetings between 2016 and 2018. The article gives an overview of the dialogue meetings initiated by ICRP in Japan after the Fukushima nuclear accident.


Packed beds have many industrial applications and are increasingly used in the process industries due to their low pressure drop. With the introduction of more efficient packings, novel packing materials (i.e. adsorbents) and new applications (i.e. flue gas desulphurisation); the aspect ratio (height to diameter) of such beds is decreasing. Obtaining uniform gas distribution in such beds is of crucial importance in minimising operating costs and optimising plant performance. Since to some extent a packed bed acts as its own distributor the importance of obtaining uniform gas distribution has increased as aspect ratios (bed height to diameter) decrease. There is no rigorous design method for distributors due to a limited understanding of the fluid flow phenomena and in particular of the effect of the bed base / free fluid interface. This study is based on a combined theoretical and modelling approach. The starting point is the Ergun Equation which is used to determine the pressure drop over a bed where the flow is uni-directional. This equation has been applied in a vectorial form so it can be applied to maldistributed and multi-directional flows and has been realised in the Computational Fluid Dynamics code PHOENICS. The use of this equation and its application has been verified by modelling experimental measurements of maldistributed gas flows, where there is no free fluid / bed base interface. A novel, two-dimensional experiment has been designed to investigate the fluid mechanics of maldistributed gas flows in shallow packed beds. The flow through the outlet of the duct below the bed can be controlled, permitting a rigorous investigation. The results from this apparatus provide useful insights into the fluid mechanics of flow in and around a shallow packed bed and show the critical effect of the bed base. The PHOENICS/vectorial Ergun Equation model has been adapted to model this situation. The model has been improved by the inclusion of spatial voidage variations in the bed and the prescription of a novel bed base boundary condition. This boundary condition is based on the logarithmic law for velocities near walls without restricting the velocity at the bed base to zero and is applied within a turbulence model. The flow in a curved bed section, which is three-dimensional in nature, is examined experimentally. The effect of the walls and the changes in gas direction on the gas flow are shown to be particularly significant. As before, the relative amounts of gas flowing through the bed and duct outlet can be controlled. The model and improved understanding of the underlying physical phenomena form the basis for the development of new distributors and rigorous design methods for them.


We investigated the effects of cultural eutrophication on the coupling between pelagic primary producers and benthic consumers in Lake Tahoe. Spatial and temporal changes in zoobenthos energetics were documented by measuring >40 yr of change in pelagic primary production through 14C incubations, reduction in clarity by Secchi and light measurements, and sedimentation rates. Effects on zoobenthic primary consumers (oligochaete and chironomid) and an obligate benthic secondary consumer (Catostomus tahoensis) were determined by comparing δ13C values of historical and contemporary samples. A model that considers primary production (benthic or pelagic) contributions and their respective δ13C signals was used to examine the factors contributing to zoobenthic energy shifts. Spatially, zoobenthos exhibited a strong positive relationship between lake depth and pelagic isotopic signals. For depths at which ambient 1% light levels have shifted with time (50–85 m), pelagic primary producer and zoobenthic consumer coupling was positive. Historically, zoobenthos from this depth zone obtained 27% of their energy from phytoplankton sources. After 43 yr of eutrophication, they obtained 62% from pelagic sources. A simple model indicated that increased pelagic production and resultant export of matter combined with the loss of benthic primary production contributed to the change in zoobenthos energetics. This change was passed on to higher consumers, with the benthic fish Tahoe sucker (Catostomus tahoensis) now deriving ~21% of its energy from pelagic primary production sources. This study demonstrates how lake eutrophication increases the coupling between pelagic and benthic habitats.


Abstract Internet resources are proliferating at an ever more rapid pace. Currently, Internet access is one method of quick information retrieval for abled persons using a conventional keyboard. However, a conventional keyboard is prohibitive to a person whose hand coordination and dexterity are impaired by such ailments as muscle atrophy, cerebral palsy, and other severe handicaps. To assist disabled participants in sharing the resources of the Internet, we have designed and implemented an easy-to-operate input interface. Morse code, with an easily operated two-switch input device, was selected as the adaptive communication tool. Experimental results show that a 14-year-old user with cerebral palsy could easily gain access to the Internet after 2 weeks' practice on the proposed system.


Abstract. Quantifying the impact of rotational-Raman scattering (RRS) on the O2 A- and B-bands is important as these bands can be used for cloud and aerosol characterization for trace-gas retrievals including CO2 and CH4. In this paper, we simulate the spectral effects of RRS for various viewing geometries and instruments with different spectral resolutions. We also examine how aerosols affect the amount of RRS filling-in. We show that the filling-in effects of RRS are relatively small, but not negligible, in these O2 absorption bands, particularly for high-spectral-resolution instruments. For comparison, we also compare and contrast the spectral signatures of RRS with those of terrestrial chlorophyll fluorescence.


Break-up–related extrusive magmatism, imaged in reflection seismic data as seaward-dipping reflectors (SDRs), extends symmetrically along the volcanic margins of the Atlantic Ocean. Recent research found distinct along-margin variations in the distribution of SDRs, and abundance of volcanic material was found to be spatially linked to transfer fault systems. These segmented the propagating rift that later developed into the ocean, and are interpreted as rift propagation barriers. Based on these observations, we develop a numerical model, which shows that rift-parallel mantle flow and locally enhanced rates of volcanism are the result of delays in rift propagation and segmented opening. Our model suggests that segmentation is one of the major factors in the distribution and localization of riftrelated extrusive magmatism. We conclude that in addition to mantle temperature and inherited crustal structures (e.g., weaknesses from previous rift episodes), rift propagation delay plays an important role in the distribution of extrusive volcanism at volcanic passive margins by controlling the mantle flow beneath the rift axis.


Large-scale Internet services require a computing infrastructure that can beappropriately described as a warehouse-sized computing system. The cost ofbuilding datacenter facilities capable of delivering a given power capacity tosuch a computer can rival the recurring energy consumption costs themselves.Therefore, there are strong economic incentives to operate facilities as closeas possible to maximum capacity, so that the non-recurring facility costs canbe best amortized. That is difficult to achieve in practice because ofuncertainties in equipment power ratings and because power consumption tends tovary significantly with the actual computing activity. Effective powerprovisioning strategies are needed to determine how much computing equipmentcan be safely and efficiently hosted within a given power budget.
 In this paper we present the aggregate power usage characteristics of largecollections of servers (up to 15 thousand) for different classes ofapplications over a period of approximately six months. Those observationsallow us to evaluate opportunities for maximizing the use of the deployed powercapacity of datacenters, and assess the risks of over-subscribing it. We findthat even in well-tuned applications there is a noticeable gap (7 - 16%)between achieved and theoretical aggregate peak power usage at the clusterlevel (thousands of servers). The gap grows to almost 40% in wholedatacenters. This headroom can be used to deploy additional compute equipmentwithin the same power budget with minimal risk of exceeding it. We use ourmodeling framework to estimate the potential of power management schemes toreduce peak power and energy usage. We find that the opportunities for powerand energy savings are significant, but greater at the cluster-level (thousandsof servers) than at the rack-level (tens). Finally we argue that systems needto be power efficient across the activity range, and not only at peakperformance levels.


Germ cell tumors (GCTs), rare malignancies that occur in a wide range of locations and display variable histologic patterns, may pose diagnostic challenges. Glypican 3 (GPC3), a membrane-bound heparan sulfate proteoglycan, has been shown to be a novel diagnostic marker in testicular GCT. However, GPC3 expression in ovarian and extragonadal GCT has not been reported. We evaluated GPC3 immunoreactivity in GCTs from 63 patients (57 children and 6 adults), including 14 ovarian and 20 extragonadal primary GCTs and 8 metastases along with 21 primary testicular GCTs for comparison. All 33 yolk sac tumors (YSTs) and both choriocarcinomas were immunoreactive for GPC3. In contrast, a minority of immature (4/10) and mature (4/35) teratomas were positive. No positivity was seen in 6 embryonal carcinomas or 5 germinomas. GPC3 is differentially expressed in ovarian and extragonadal GCTs, with expression predominantly observed in YSTs and choriocarcinoma.


There has been an increasing tendency to implement criminal IP provisions into UK law. Much of the pressure for this has come from the European Union, since the majority of its member states have existing IP systems which incorporate criminal IP provisions. The use of criminal provisions in the UK has not been as widespread, and so care needs to be taken in implementing such systems in the UK because the fundamentals of the IP systems are different. Continental European systems focus around the inherent rights of authors, and thus are based around Kantian and Hegelian notions about the development of the person, whereas the UK system is based around economic rights that can be transferred to, among others, publishers. This paper proposes that the current UK law should not be reformed so as to have increased criminal penalties. This is particularly so in the information age where the UK system of economic IP rights is becoming increasingly conflated; where recipients are gradually becoming users of content, and where convergence of technologies may lead to overlapping and unexpected legal complexities. It is important to work towards certainty in an environment of legal uncertainty and increasing criminal penalties should not be considered unless the legal situation is more certain. However, it is submitted that increasing technological convergence will mean such certainty will never be forthcoming, and so increasing criminal penalties will never be desirable if content recipients and content users are to utilise technological convergence in order to become more involved within the information age.

 Keywords: criminal; copyright; human rights; penalties; certainty


A novel two-section integrated mode-locked laser diode (MLLD) with a separate ultrafast uni-traveling carrier (UTC) saturable absorber section and semiconductor optical amplifier gain section is demonstrated. The UTC absorber is composed of a thin p-InGaAsP absorbing layer and an intrinsic InGaAsP collecting layer. By confining the photoexcitation process to the thin highly doped absorbing layer, the diffusion-limited hole extraction process is greatly enhanced. The investigated MLLD produces 600 fs uncompressed optical pulses at a 42 GHz repetition rate.


This study covers the history of Sino-US trade relations with a particular focus on the past decade, during which time each has been a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Providing a brief history of 19th and 20th century economic relations, this paper examines in detail the trade disputes that have arisen between China and the United States over the past decade, giving dollar estimates for the trade flows at issue. Each country has partaken in their share of protectionist measures, however, US measures have been characteristically defensive, protecting declining industries, while Chinese measures have been characteristically offensive, promoting nascent industries. We also cover administrative and legislation actions within each country that have yet to be the subject of formal complaint at the WTO. This includes an original and comprehensive quantitative summary of US Section 337 intellectual property rights cases. While we view the frictions in Sino-US trade a logical consequence of the rapid increase in flows between the two countries, we caution that each country work within the WTO framework and respect any adverse decisions it delivers so that a protracted protectionist conflict does not emerge. We see the current currency battle as one potential catalyst for such conflict if US and Chinese policymakers fail to manage it judiciously.


The present study describes the embryonic development and early ontogeny of Amphiprion ocellaris from fertilization to post hatching. Anemonefish spontaneously spawned at 27–28°C. The newly laid eggs were orange in colour and elliptical in shape (1.8×0.8 mm). Melanin appeared as a black mass situated at the vegetal pole in mature eggs. This is rarely seen in eggs of other fish species. We documented developmental times at 27–28°C to egg activation (0.5 h), cleavage (4 h), blastula (11.5 h), gastrula (20 h), neurula (24.5 h), somite (28.5 h), turnover (72 h), blood formation (113 h) and internal ear and jaw formation (144 h). Hatching occurred 152 h after fertilization. On day 4, the eye buds were pigmented and melanophores formed on the ventral surface of the embryo. Internal ear and gill formation were completed on day 5 and coincided with movement of the opercula and pectoral fins. The mouth formed on day 6 and the digestive tract appeared on day 7. By day 10, the yolk was fully absorbed and a substantial amount of food was observed in the gut. Dark and orange pigments were dispersed and aggregated through muscle contractions by day 14, but red pigments did not appear until the fish were three months old. This study contributes to a further understanding of the embryology and the early ontogeny of damselfish and may help improve the culture of coral reef fish.


This first edition of Strategic Innovation Management is an exciting new addition to the established bestselling texts Managing Innovation and Innovation and Entrepreneurship written by Joe Tidd and John Bessant. Aimed at students taking courses in business studies and management, as well as non-specialist courses in other disciplines, this book provides a practical and accessible evidence-based approach to managing innovation in a wide range of contexts, including: manufacturing, services, small to large organizations and the private, public and third sectors.


Attributed graphs, which contain rich contextual features beyond just network structure, are ubiquitous and have been observed to benefit various network analytics applications. Graph structure optimization, aiming to find the optimal graphs in terms of some specific measures, has become an effective computational tool in complex network analysis. However, traditional model-free methods suffer from the expensive computational cost of evaluating graphs; existing vectorial Bayesian optimization methods cannot be directly applied to attributed graphs and have the scalability issue due to the use of Gaussian processes (GPs). To bridge the gap, in this paper, we propose a novel scalable Deep Graph Bayesian Optimization (DGBO) method on attributed graphs. The proposed DGBO prevents the cubical complexity of the GPs by adopting a deep graph neural network to surrogate black-box functions, and can scale linearly with the number of observations. Intensive experiments are conducted on both artificial and real-world problems, including molecular discovery and urban road network design, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the DGBO compared with the state-of-the-art.


We present a high-resolution record of water-soluble ion chemistry from a 121 m ice core spanning about 800 years. The core is well dated to 2/3 depth using cycle counting and reference horizons and a simple but close fitting model for the lower 1/3 of the core. This core suffers from modest seasonal melt, and so we present concentration data in decadal running means to minimize percolation effects. Sea-salt ions (Na+, Cl−, Mg2+, and K+) account for more than 70% of all ions. In general, sea-salt ion concentrations are rather variable and have no clear association with climatic variations. Sulfate, with 74% being from non-sea-salt sources, has higher concentrations than seen on Vestfonna ice cap but lower than in Ny-Alesund aerosols, suggesting central Spitsbergen receives more marine (westerly) air masses than Ny-Alesund but more sulfate enriched (easterly) air masses than Nordaustlandet. Clear anthropogenic impacts are found for sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium (and probably excess chloride) after the mid twentieth century, with sulfate showing a significant rise by the end of the nineteenth century. Sulfate and methanesulfonate concentrations correlate well during the twentieth century, and it is clear that most of the preindustrial sulfate is of biogenic origin. Terrestrial component (Ca2+) has the highest concentrations in the coldest part of the Little Ice Age, suggesting more windy conditions, transporting local terrestrial dust to the ice cap. All ion concentrations decrease at the end of the twentieth century, which reflects loss of ions by runoff, with non-sea-salt magnesium being particularly sensitive to melting.


Anecdotal evidence suggests that, amongst the Eucharistic Prayers in the Roman Catholic liturgy, the laity find the Second Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation the most attractive. This article attempts to address the question: what is there about this Prayer that is so appealing and why? The focal point is the first thing people hear in this Eucharistic Prayer, namely, the Preface. There seems to be something special, if not unique, about the Preface to EP RII. This article will focus mainly on the Preface of EP RII in terms of its theme, tone, tempo and as a template. In preparing to examine the language and structure of the Preface, some key ideas on moral conversion and the formative role of Liturgy are outlined. Lonergan's models of conversion together with William Spohn's approach to moral transformation are then used as hermeneutical lenses for a reading of the text of the Preface. What emerges is that the Preface of EP RII may go some way in offering a basic framework for the process of moral transformation as ideally effected in the Liturgy. Some final observations close the article.


ABSTRACT Ceriporiopsis sp. strain MD-1, isolated from forest soil, produced several extracellular enzymes that decolorized human hair melanin. Among them, three enzymes (E1, E2-1, and E2-2) were purified to homogeneity and characterized. The enzymes required hydrogen peroxide in their enzyme reactions and, typical of other fungal peroxidases, oxidized various phenol compounds such as guaiacol, but not 3,4-dimethoxybenzyl alcohol. The spectra of the three enzymes showed an absorption maximum at 406 nm, indicating that they were heme proteins. However, the A406/A280 values of the enzymes were below 0.4, which was lower than those of other peroxidases. E2-1 and E2-2 were similar to each other in their molecular and catalytic properties, and they possibly represent products of posttranslational modifications and/or allelic variants of the same gene, mdcA. The corresponding cDNA was cloned and sequenced; the deduced amino acid sequence showed high identities to the manganese peroxidases from other microorganisms. The specific activities and Km values of E2-1 and E2-2 for synthetic and human hair melanins were much higher than those of Phanerochaete chrysosporium manganese peroxidase and lignin peroxidase.


A framework and method is presented for developing a cyclic task schedule in a multifunction radar. Rather than assuming the task dwell time to be a fixed value when building the schedule, the task dwell time is modeled as a fuzzy set to allow for increased radar schedule flexibility. An optimization model is developed for the scheduling problem and a heuristic method for its solution is proposed. The heuristic method exploits the fuzzy set model in order to intelligently adjust the task dwell times. This adjustment allows for accommodation of more tasks on the radar timeline, thereby resulting in fewer dropped tasks. Computational results are presented to assess the behavior of the proposed scheduling method.


Heterogeneous multicast is an efficient communication scheme especially for multimedia applications running over multihop networks when multicast receivers in the same session require service at different rates commensurate with their capabilities. In this paper, we address the problem of resource allocation for a set of heterogeneous multicast sessions over multihop wireless networks. We propose an iterative algorithm that achieves the optimal rates for a set of heterogeneous multicast sessions such that the aggregate utility for all sessions is maximized. We present the formulation of the multicast resource allocation problem as a non-linear optimization model and highlight the cross-layer framework that can solve this problem in a distributed ad hoc network environment with asynchronous computations. Our simulations show that the algorithm achieves optimal resource utilization, guarantees fairness among multicast sessions, provides flexibility in allocating rates over different parts of the multicast sessions and adapts to changing conditions such as dynamic channel capacity and node mobility. Our results show that the proposed algorithm not only provides flexibility in allocating resources across multicast sessions, but also increases the aggregate system utility and improves the overall system throughput by almost 30% compared to homogeneous multicast.


Testosterone and estradiol levels were determined in 85 male patients aged between 23 and 52 years with: coronographically diagnosed coronary arteriosclerosis (20 with the instable and 37 with stable coronary disease), and in 28 healthy volunteers serving as a control group. Testosterone concentrations in the instable coronary disease (13.6 +/- 1.7 nM/l) were significantly lower than in the stable form of the disease (18.56 +/- 1.1 nM/l) and in healthy volunteers 20.9 +/- 1.0 nM/l, p less than 0.02 and p less than 0.001 respectively. Estradiol concentrations in male patients with instable coronary disease (228.3 +/- 22.8 pM/l) and with stable form of the disease (157.0 +/- 12.6 pM/l) were significantly higher than in healthy volunteers, p less than 0.02 and p less than 0.001 respectively. The obtained results indicate gonadal disorders in male patients with coronary arteriosclerosis.


BACKGROUND: The patient perspective on fecal incontinence can only be captured through the use of participant-reported measures. There are few psychometric evaluations of such measures, and these evaluations have reported some problems with existing measures. OBJECTIVE: This study clinically evaluated the new Revised Faecal Incontinence Scale which was developed to provide a short, psychometrically sound measure for epidemiological and evaluative research. DESIGN: A sample of consecutive patients was recruited and administered a questionnaire pre and posttreatment (Continence Advising, Physiotherapy and Surgery). SETTINGS: The study was conducted at 6 incontinence clinics across Australia. PATIENTS: The sample included 61 people with fecal incontinence at baseline and 38 at follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Measures included the Revised Faecal Incontinence Scale, the Wexner Continence Scale, and the St Mark's Incontinence Score. Additionally, patient and clinician ratings of severity and improvement were collected. RESULTS: The internal reliability of the Revised Faecal Incontinence Scale had a Cronbach's &agr; = 0.78 compared with 0.65 for both the Wexner and St Mark's scales. Test-retest reliabilities were 0.80, 0.74, and 0.68. All 3 instruments were similarly responsive to change at follow-up. Correlations with other fecal incontinence measures were high and significant. LIMITATIONS: The small sample size, particularly at posttreatment, provides limitations concerning generalizability and subanalyses that could be undertaken. CONCLUSIONS: The Revised Faecal Incontinence Scale possessed evaluative discrimination between different levels of incontinence severity. In this sample it had superior internal consistency and test-retest reliability to the Wexner and St Mark's Incontinence Scales. It was at least as responsive as the Wexner and St Mark's in detecting change in incontinence status following treatment. Although ongoing clinical validation is required, these findings suggest it is a short, reliable, and valid scale that could be considered for use by researchers, epidemiologists, and clinicians.


Despite the attention given to New York City as a source of the poetic imagery and
democratic energy in Walt Whitman9s poetry, the space of mid-century New York has
never fully been explicated as a site of convergence for Whitman9s conflicting allegiances
to a local working-class urban subculture, the global community, and the
United States itself. The reason for this critical lacuna stems in part from a tendency to
focus on Whitman9s private lyrics rather than on the type of poetry that is necessarily
connected with a specific geographic space-namely, public occasional verse. In "A
Broadway Pageant" (1860), the only occasional poem that Whitman wrote after publishing
the first edition of Leaves of Grass in 1855 and before the outbreak of the Civil
War, New York City is presented as a site where city workers and international merchants
converge during a moment of national celebration. Originally published in the
New York Times to commemorate a parade held for the Meiji Japanese ambassadors
who had come to Manhattan in 1860 to ratify a trade agreement with the United States,
"A Broadway Pageant" demonstrates how the requirements of occasional poetry allow
Whitman to articulate the local and global framework within which his otherwise nationalist
poetics operates.


In this paper will be discussed different types of scenarios and the aims for using scenarios. Normaly they are being used by organisations due to the need to anticipate processes, to support policy-making and to understand the complexities of relations. Such organisations can be private companies, R&D organisations and networks of organisations, or even by some public administration institutions. Some cases will be discussed as the methods for ongoing scenario-building process (Shell Internacional). Scenarios should anticipate possible relations among social actors as in the Triple Helix Model, and is possible to develop strategic intelligence in the innovation process that would enable the construction of scenarios. Such processes can be assessed. The focus will be made in relation to the steps chosen for the WORKS scenarios. In this case is there a model of work changes that can be used for foresight? Differences according to sectors were found, as well on other dimensions. Problems of assessment are analysed with specific application to the scenario construction methods.


This paper addresses the problem of optimizing space vector PWM (SVM) for interleaved, parallel-connected, three-phase voltage source converters to reduce total harmonic distortion (THD) of the total line current. A systematic approach is presented for designing hybrid SVM schemes involving multiple sequences, including those based on active state division, and different phase shifts to reduce current ripple. First, the effect of different phase shifts on the current ripple is investigated and it is shown that using standard phase shifts yields performance close to optimal. Second, a zone-division plot is generated based on all sequence-phase shift combinations. The plot shows spatial regions within a sector where a certain sequence-phase shift combination results in the lowest rms current ripple in one switching period, and thus represents the optimal hybrid scheme. Lastly, simplified, easy-to-implement quasi-optimal SVM schemes are derived from the zone-division plot based on specific application requirements, and their performances are compared with the optimal scheme. The application of the proposed approach to a two-converter case is discussed in detail. A simple, quasi-optimal SVM scheme is proposed for grid-connected applications with analytical and experimental results confirming significant reduction in current THD. Finally, extension to three- and four-converter cases is discussed.


The tissue microarray (TMA) technology provides the means for high-throughput analysis of multiple tissues and cells. The technique is used within the Human Protein Atlas project for global analysis of protein expression patterns in normal human tissues, cancer and cell lines. Here we present the assembly of 1 mm cores, retrieved from microscopically selected representative tissues, into a single recipient TMA block. The number and size of cores in a TMA block can be varied from approximately forty 2 mm cores to hundreds of 0.6 mm cores. The advantage of using TMA technology is that large amount of data can rapidly be obtained using a single immunostaining protocol to avoid experimental variability. Importantly, only limited amount of scarce tissue is needed, which allows for the analysis of large patient cohorts 1 2. Approximately 250 consecutive sections (4 μm thick) can be cut from a TMA block and used for immunohistochemical staining to determine specific protein expression patterns for 250 different antibodies. In the Human Protein Atlas project, antibodies are generated towards all human proteins and used to acquire corresponding protein profiles in both normal human tissues from 144 individuals and cancer tissues from 216 different patients, representing the 20 most common forms of human cancer. Immunohistochemically stained TMA sections on glass slides are scanned to create high-resolution images from which pathologists can interpret and annotate the outcome of immunohistochemistry. Images together with corresponding pathology-based annotation data are made publically available for the research community through the Human Protein Atlas portal (www.proteinatlas.org) (Figure 1) 3 4. The Human Protein Atlas provides a map showing the distribution and relative abundance of proteins in the human body. The current version contains over 11 million images with protein expression data for 12.238 unique proteins, corresponding to more than 61% of all proteins encoded by the human genome.


Surveillance is a central organizing practice. Gathering personal data and processing them in searchable databases drives administrative efficiency but also raises questions about security, governance, civil liberties and privacy. Surveillance is both globalized in cooperative schemes, such as sharing biometric data, and localized in the daily minutiae of social life. This innovative Handbook explores the empirical, theoretical and ethical issues around surveillance and its use in daily life. With a collection of over forty essays from the leading names in surveillance studies, the Handbook takes a truly multi-disciplinary approach to critically question issues of: surveillance and population control policing, intelligence and war production and consumption new media security identification regulation and resistance. The Routledge Handbook of Surveillance Studies is an international, accessible, definitive and comprehensive overview of the rapidly growing multi-disciplinary field of surveillance studies. The Handbooks direct, authoritative style will appeal to a wide range of scholars and students in the social sciences, arts and humanities.


This paper examines the welfare implications associated with different degrees of diversity or similarity between migrants and natives under both migration and trade. We use a general equilibrium model of migration, human capital and social capital and find that there are three equilibrium solutions: an internal one with half the population of each country migrating to the other country, and two corner solutions where everyone ends up in one of the two countries. The internal solution is unstable and is unlikely to be reached under different levels of human capital across the two countries. The corner solutions are stable and will be reached under most circumstances. If there are human capital differences across the two populations, everyone ends up in the country with the highest initial level of human capital. Welfare under any of the equilibrium solutions rises with the diversity in human capital and decreases with the diversity in social capital between migrants and natives. Trade and both migration solutions reduce inequality between the populations of the two countries by the same amount. In addition, trade and migration are not equivalent if social capital is present: the highest welfare is obtained with migration under the corner solution, the second highest welfare is obtained with trade, and the lowest welfare is obtained with migration under the internal solution. The first two solutions (third solution) raise (may raise or reduce) welfare relative to the no-migration case.


IN HIS ESSAY "On Fairy-Stories," Tolkien identified himself as one of Andrew Lang's intended audience (39)--he was born in 1892, in the same year as The Green Fairy Book, the third in Lang's series of 12 "color" anthologies of fairy tales. In part, this reference to Lang was not much more than a courtesy, for the essay originated as the "Andrew Lang Lecture." (It was given at the University of Saint Andrews in March 1939, when he had already begun work on The Lord of the Rings.) Tolkien disliked much in Lang's work, and was by no means a follower of Lang, especially in 1939, when he was trying to write The Lord of the Rings as a story for adults, and so particularly resented the assumption that fairy tales were necessarily children's literature. But in part the reference was a genuine tribute, not just a courtesy, for although Tolkien might rebel against much of what he found in Lang, he also found much to admire and use. Being one of the Green children was an important part of his growth as a writer. His use of Lang's anthologies in "On Fairy-Stories" was thorough-going, citing not only Lang's Green preface, but also the Blue, Violet, and Lilac prefaces, and discussing in some detail Lang's choice of contents for the Blue and Lilac volumes; he also commented on The Chronicles of Pantouflia, two of Lang's own fairy tales. Lang was thus for Tolkien both an important example to follow--and to defy. He blamed Lang for not taking his own interest in fairy tales seriously, and for feeling compelled to apologize for it, as something not appropriate for modern adults to like, except as a matter of scholarship, and as something not to be taken seriously, but available to modern writers only as a vehicle for wit and satire (as in the stories of Pantouflia). For Tolkien, the satiric side of Lang's Pantouflia stories--and of the French (1) models Lang drew on--was detrimental. He admired the joyous moment in Prince Prigio when the dead knights come to life, but complained that "the main bulk of the story [...] is in general more frivolous, having the half-mocking smile of the courtly, sophisticated Conte [tale]" ("On Fairy-Stories" [OFS] 69). And it was these Contes that dominated Lang's first color collections and remained a large proportion of their contents throughout the series. The French fairy tales that Lang chose were, at first, not only a large proportion of the total, but were largely chosen from the literary fairy tales (2) of the eighteenth century, not from "folk" tales. These literary fairy tales did not try to record folktales directly (as the Grimm Brothers tried to do in the early nineteenth century), nor did they take the emotions that could be roused by a "wonder tale" seriously, as the Romantics of the early nineteenth century did (and as their descendants did--such writers as George MacDonald, Oscar Wilde, or Lang himself in some moods--and as Tolkien intended to do). Rather, they took fairy tales as a satiric form, well adapted to social criticism and instruction. This emphasis, although little to Tolkien's taste, was popular in its time, and many of the stories that resulted have remained popular ever since. Translations and re-tellings keep coming out of the fairy tales of Charles Perrault (e.g., "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty," "Little Red Riding Hood" (3)), Mme. D'Aulnoy (e.g., "The White Cat"), Mme. de Beaumont or Mme. de Villeneuve (who both wrote versions of "Beauty and the Beast"). Tolkien--perhaps a little grudgingly--said that it was a just choice "in some ways" (OFS 11) for Lang to have selected so many French fairy tales for The Blue Fairy Book (the first of the color collections). They did not quite make up a majority of the contents, but they had a plurality. Of the 37 stories, 15 were French, including all the French authors and stories mentioned above. There were also six Grimms, four Scandinavian tales, three from the Arabian Nights, and one Arabian story recorded by a modern collector, three English, two Scottish, two with no sources mentioned, and one Greek myth, the story of Perseus, the only story in the book retold by Lang himself. …


Environmental issues are a priority, since global environmental problem has become perceived as a threat to humanity's existence. The necessity and timeliness of conceptual marketing approaches revision are dictated by the formation of new economy sector of ecological goods and services, and the environmentally responsible marketing concept is being formed. The purpose of the work is to substantiate the environmental factor influence on consumer behavior motives and formation of consumer demand for environmental products within the frame of environmentally responsible marketing. Changes in the external marketing environmentlead to changes in the internal environment of the market entity, causing its environmental development. The recorded tendencies and changes in the marketing environment form the marketing ecological imperative, which takes into account the environmental factor in marketing activity of the market player. The research allows to determine the position of ecologically responsible marketing as a basic marketing concept that defines the philosophy and technology of marketing management by socio-economic systems regardless the sphere of the market entity activity in conditions of ecological imperative. The analysis shows that the modern Ukrainian society began to strive not only to purchase and consume desired products, but also to improve and to preserve the ecological situation. In a market environment, the specific marketing activity feature, which changes under the influence of the factor of ecological situation quality deterioration, adds new tasks, concomitant to main classical. The development of the enterprise environmental management system will promote the implementation of environment-oriented goals: formalization of the environmental products concept, environmental products market development, certification programs development, preservation of the environment quality, formation of ecologically oriented consciousness of the society. Considering the understanding of the needs, the motivational aspects of ecologically oriented consumer behavior in the market are stated in the form of the system based on the need for the security. Through the development of eco-responsible marketing tools and their step-by-step introduction into enterprise activity, it becomes possible to develop the ecological products market through the implementation of proactive environmental activity and satisfaction of individual consumer demand.


Increasing frequencies of drought coupled with increasing populations are requiring more water for irrigated agriculture. As global populations approach 9 billion by 2050, even more water will be required to produce an estimated 60% to 70% more food (McKenna 2012). Production of these greater quantities of food require, at current water use efficiency rates, 50% more water (Clay 2004). Consequently, the growing demand for food and fiber combined with dwindling water supplies (in terms of both quantity and quality) available for agricultural irrigation require new soil technologies that conserve water. In the United States, the Ogallala Aquifer supplies 30% of groundwater for irrigated agriculture, and water supplies are being rapidly exhausted, especially in the southern regions (Steward et al. 2013). In other regions, reduced snow cover and surface water supplies are unable to sustain traditional irrigated agriculture, and severe drought is experienced more often (Clay 2004). Construction of large reservoirs along international and continental rivers is threatening natural water flow to communities and nations downstream. More frequent droughts with longer-term severity cause uncertainty in commodity prices and global food supplies. During this last century, global freshwater withdrawal increased more than six-fold, from 579 to 3,750 km3 y−1 (900 mi3 yr−1),…


We take advantage of a quasi-natural experiment to assess the impact of European funds on firm dynamics in regions that, while not having their status changed, saw their neighbours increased access to European funds. Causality is established in a difference-in-differences intention to treat setting, using a rich dataset that considers the universe of Portuguese mainland municipalities from 2003 to 2010, and controlling for socio-economic, political and demographic variables. Our findings suggest a causal impact of between 1 and 2 percent in private sector firms' entry and net entry rates, while we find no impact on firm exit rates. We consider time and space placebos to assure the reliability of our estimates. Our findings suggest that EU regional funds have a greater impact in times of distress, such as the world economic crisis, as far as entry rates are concerned. The analysis of the cross-section of firm demonstrates it is domestic owned micro firms in the primary and tertiary sectors that are most impacted by regional funds.


Illinois StreamStats (ILSS) is a Web-based application for computing selected basin characteristics and flood-peak quantiles based on the most recently (2010) published (Soong et al., 2004) regional flood-frequency equations at any rural stream location in Illinois. Limited streamflow statistics including general statistics, flow durations, and base flows also are available for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamflow-gaging stations. ILSS can be accessed on the Web at http://streamstats.usgs.gov/ by selecting the State Applications hyperlink and choosing Illinois from the pull-down menu. ILSS was implemented for Illinois by obtaining and projecting ancillary geographic information system (GIS) coverages; populating the StreamStats database (StreamStatsDB) with streamflow-gaging station data; processing the 30-meter digital elevation model (DEM) for Illinois to conform to streams represented in the National Hydrography Dataset 1:100,000 stream coverage; and customizing the Web-based Extensible Markup Language (XML) programs for computing basin characteristics for Illinois. The basin characteristics computed by ILSS then were compared to the basin characteristics used in the published study, and adjustments were applied to the XML algorithms for slope and basin length. Testing of ILSS was accomplished by comparing flood quantiles computed by ILSS at an approximately random sample of 170 streamflow-gaging stations computed by ILSS with the published flood-quantile estimates. Differences between the log-transformed flood quantiles were not statistically significant at the 95-percent confidence level for the State as a whole, nor by the regions determined by each equation, except for region 1, in the northwest corner of the State. In region 1, the average difference in flood-quantile estimates ranged from 3.76 percent for the 2-year flood quantile to 4.27 percent for the 500-year flood quantile. The total number of stations tested in region 1 was small (21) and the mean difference is not large (less than one-tenth of the average prediction error for the regression-equation estimates). The sensitivity of the flood-quantile estimates to differences in the computed basin characteristics are determined and presented in tables. A test of usage consistency was conducted by having at least 7 new users compute flood-quantile estimates at 27 locations. The average maximum deviation of the estimate from the mode value at each site was 1.31 percent for the 100-year flood quantile after four mislocated sites were removed. A comparison of manual 100-year flood-quantile computations with ILSS computations at 34 sites indicated no statistically significant difference. ILSS appears to be an accurate, reliable, and effective tool for flood-quantile estimates.


We review empirical studies that evaluate the resilience of various PIN entry methods against human shoulder surfers. Conducting such studies is challenging because adversaries are not available for study and must be simulated in one way or another. We were interested to find out whether there is a common standard how these experiments are designed and reported. In the course of our research we noticed that subtle design decisions might have a crucial effect on the validity and the interpretation of the outcomes. Getting these details right is particularly important if the number of participants or trials is relatively low. One example is the decision to let simulated adversaries enter their guesses using the method under study. If the method produces input errors then correct guesses may not be counted as such, which leads to an underestimation of risk. We noticed several issues of this kind and distilled a set of recommendations that we believe should be followed to assure that studies of this kind are comparable and that their results can be interpreted well.


Summary: Task analysis is a staple of ergonomics, neuroergonomics, human factors, and experimental psychology inquiry, and often benefits from granularity beyond the task level to the subtask level. The concept and challenge of identifying the subcomponents of tasks are neither new, nor solved. Practitioners routinely identify individually internally consistent and yet conflicting subdivisions. The challenge of producing reliable, valid subtask data across efforts recommends a unified framework for identifying consistent subtask divisions within tasks. A framework is here forwarded, based upon universal "antiphony" turn-taking behavior in human-human interaction, but adapted to address the highly scripted vocabulary of human-machine interaction. Practical application to a real-world vehicle interface is demonstrated, an example discussed in the light of research design, applied use, and future improvement.


OBJECTIVE
To partially characterize the cDNA, amino acid sequence, and tertiary structure of feline myeloperoxidase, describe its cellular location in mature granulocytes, and determine whether hyperthyroid cats have anti-myeloperoxidase antibody.

SAMPLE POPULATION
Bone marrow RNA and whole blood from cats of various sources and feline serum samples submitted for measurement of total thyroxine concentration from September 2006 to July 2007.

PROCEDURES
Feline myeloperoxidase cDNA was amplified from bone marrow RNA; presumptive splice sites were determined by comparison with human sequences. Intracellular localization of myeloperoxidase in granulocytes was determined by use of immunofluorescence and electron microscopy, and molecular weight and partial tertiary structure were determined by use of immunoblotting of granulocyte lysates. Anti-human myeloperoxidase (hMPO) antibody was detected via ELISA.

RESULTS
A 2,493-bp sequence encompassing the 2,160-bp cDNA with presumably the same number and size of exons as hMPO was generated. Translation predicted 85% homology with hMPO. Feline myeloperoxidase was localized to neutrophil primary granules, and immunoblotting revealed heavy and light bands with molecular weights similar to those of hMPO. The prevalence of anti-hMPO antibody did not differ between nonhyperthyroid and hyperthyroid cats or among hyperthyroid cats subclassified by treatment modality.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Moderate homology existed between feline myeloperoxidase and hMPO cDNA and protein. Although findings suggested a similar tertiary structure and function for the 2 proteins, they also suggested that inability to detect a high prevalence of anti-hMPO antibody in hyperthyroid cats may be attributable to antigenic differences between the human and feline proteins rather than a lack of autoantibody.


For U.S. annual data that include WWII, the estimated multiplier for temporary defense spending is 0.4-0.5 contemporaneously and 0.6-0.7 over two years. If the change in defense spending is "permanent" (gauged by Ramey's defense-news variable), the multipliers are higher by 0.1-0.2. The estimated multipliers are all significantly less than one and apply for given average marginal income-tax rates. We cannot estimate reliable multipliers for non-defense purchases because of the lack of good instruments. Since the defense-spending multipliers are less than one, greater spending crowds out other components of GDP, mainly investment, but also non-defense government purchases and net exports. Consumer expenditure on non-durables and services has only a small response. In a post-1950 sample, increases in average marginal income-tax rates (measured by a newly constructed time series) have significantly negative effects on GDP. When interpreted as a tax multiplier, the magnitude is around 1.1. When we hold constant marginal tax rates, we find no statistically significant effects on GDP from changes in federal tax revenue (using the Romer-Romer exogenous federal tax-revenue change as an instrument). In contrast, with revenue held constant, increases in marginal tax rates still have a statistically significant negative effect on GDP. Therefore, tax changes seem to affect GDP mainly through substitution effects, rather than wealth effects. The combination of the estimated spending and tax multipliers implies that balanced-budget multipliers for defense spending are negative.


Generating the periodic structure of stable materials is a long-standing challenge for the material design community. This task is difficult because stable materials only exist in a low-dimensional subspace of all possible periodic arrangements of atoms: 1) the coordinates must lie in the local energy minimum defined by quantum mechanics, and 2) global stability also requires the structure to follow the complex, yet specific bonding preferences between different atom types. Existing methods fail to incorporate these factors and often lack proper invariances. We propose a Crystal Diffusion Variational Autoencoder (CDVAE) that captures the physical inductive bias of material stability. By learning from the data distribution of stable materials, the decoder generates materials in a diffusion process that moves atomic coordinates towards a lower energy state and updates atom types to satisfy bonding preferences between neighbors. Our model also explicitly encodes interactions across periodic boundaries and respects permutation, translation, rotation, and periodic invariances. We significantly outperform past methods in three tasks: 1) reconstructing the input structure, 2) generating valid, diverse, and realistic materials, and 3) generating materials that optimize a specific property. We also provide several standard datasets and evaluation metrics for the broader machine learning community.


Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (nicknamed "The Trocks") have been performing "serious" ballets en travesti since 1974. Acclaimed worldwide, the Trocks are on tour forty weeks a year. Last time they performed in New York, Time Out New York listed them as "pick of the week," in three categories simultaneously: best dance performance, best gay & lesbian event, and best children's activity (Chung). What does all this popularity mean, politically? Is it necessary to concede that the Trocks are merely another lovably harmless manifestation of drag, just as well assimilated as Mrs. Doubtfire and Dame Edna, or can we trace from their double heritage - edgy 1970's gay performance tactics, and those monumentally iconic Russian prima ballerinas - an underlying political strategy of activism and cultural relevance? In this article, I will argue that political motivation is embedded in each of these traditions, in a number of different ways. The strategies of resistance employed by the Ballets Trockadero draw on each of these inherited histories in order to mount a camp performance that confronts the tenets of gender identity, of classical ballet, of issues of race and class in the performing arts, of enforced theatrical illusion - and even of drag itself.


Co-location is a process that involves bringing the constituents of a project together in a shared space with the intent of enhancing team effectiveness. When used with the design-build delivery method, formal communication barriers are circumvented. However, do all the project constituents perceive the same value from co-location? This research examines the benefits of co-location when used for a design-build project and includes the perceptions of 101 Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) design practitioners. Within the responses, communication, collaboration, and team chemistry were the most highly ranked benefits with this group. However, the open-ended feedback indicated that project size and complexity, disruptions to intra-organizational collaboration, organizational structure incompatibility for co-location, the absence of the owner and the use of technology were found to be barriers against the use of co-location. Analyzing these perceptions and the barriers shed awareness into a process that may be perceived differently among its constituents – allowing for focus on ways in which to improve co-location.


We present the design of a polarisation maintaining, resonantly and cladding pumped, large mode area holmium-doped fibre. We describe the operation of this fibre in a pulsed amplifier configuration. The amplifier produced pulses with energy of 2.25 mJ and duration of 20 ns at a repetition rate of 20 kHz and average power of 45 W. The holmium-doped fibre provided >10 dB of gain at 2.09 µm and the polarisation extinction ratio was >11.5 dB. The beam quality of the output (M2) was 1.6. To the best of our knowledge this is the highest pulse energy achieved from any singly holmium-doped fibre by an order of magnitude.


We investigate in this paper the astrophysical false-positive configuration in exoplanet-transit surveys that involves eclipsing binaries and giant planets which present only a secondary eclipse, as seen from the Earth. To test how an eclipsing binary configuration can mimic a planetary transit, we generate synthetic light curve of three examples of secondary-only eclipsing binary systems that we fit with a circular planetary model. Then, to evaluate its occurrence we model a population of binaries in double and triple system based on binary statistics and occurrence. We find that 0.061% +/- 0.017% of main-sequence binary stars are secondary-only eclipsing binaries mimicking a planetary transit candidate down to the size of the Earth. We then evaluate the occurrence that an occulting-only giant planet can mimic an Earth-like planet or even smaller planet. We find that 0.009% +/- 0.002% of stars harbor a giant planet that present only the secondary transit. Occulting-only giant planets mimic planets smaller than the Earth that are in the scope of space missions like Kepler and PLATO. We estimate that up to 43.1 +/- 5.6 Kepler Objects of Interest can be mimicked by this new configuration of false positives, re-evaluating the global false-positive rate of the Kepler mission from 9.4% +/- 0.9% to 11.3% +/- 1.1%. We note however that this new false-positive scenario occurs at relatively long orbital period compared with the median period of Kepler candidates.


Problems in this thesis is about women, because of discrimination against women, there were resistance can be seen from the main character in the play A Doll's House and his struggle to obtain equality between women and men. Because women do not have to live forever under the pressure of men and not women may not work forever and forever no woman should take care of the children and her husband, like the main character Nora who willingly broke the law for the sake of getting the equality between men and women.
This research method is a method of data collection, data analysis methods while the author does a systematic procedure with an understanding of the drama. Engineering data collection using the technique of qualitativ in finding relevant data with subject and author data analysis techniques using structural engineering by way of analyzing the drama based on the elements that shape it. In analyzing this drama author using psychology approach discusses the human personality which is the theory of Sigmund Freud includes the id, ego, superego man.
Research results from the play A Doll House, the authors have found that the presence of the Suppression of freedom 1) inside the Doll House, 2) the existence of discrimination on the main character Nora in a doll's House, 3) as well as the struggle to be free from discrimination that had befallen him.


The biomechanics of in vivo heel pads has been investigated for more than 30 years, but unfortunately numerical results from the many individual investigators cannot be compared due to the different methodologies used, and the sometimes modest number of subjects investigated. The overall aim of the present thesis is to obtain a thorough understanding of the mechanical properties of in vivo human heel pad by studying the anatomical and physiological structure of healthy and diseased tissue, and to develop quantitative methods for diagnosing injuries. A compression device was built in order to record load-displacement curves from in vivo heel pads. To ensure applicability also for pathological feet, the device uses force levels lower than those needed to reproduce the physiological conditions of walking. One hundred twenty seven healthy volunteers were enrolled for compression tests and ultrasound investigation of heel pad thickness, so that three biomechanical parameters could be investigated: Heel Pad Compressibility Index (HPCI), Elastic modulus (E), and Energy Dissipation Ratio (EDR). Statistical analysis, based on linear regression models, showed that intrinsic subject factors such as age, weight, height and gender did influence HPCI, E and EDR, and that there was a significant statistically difference between males and females in E, but not in EDR and HPCI. In order to attempt a verification of the method used above, compression tests and ultrasound investigations on artificial heel pad models were conducted in two additional studies. In vivo experimental tests were used to validate a numerical 3D subject-specific heel pad model subjected to an external compression, and to further investigate the visco-elastic nature of the heel pad. Ultrasound distance measurements were compared with corresponding distance measurements with MRI and true values in order to assess its reliability in heel pad thickness measurements. The latter study confirmed the need to investigate the real speed of sound for the heel pad tissues, in order to obtain realistic measurements when dealing with human heel pad. ix


This lively new collection from one of America's leading sociologists covers a wide range of theoretical problems of interest to radical social scientists and political activists. The book opens with a fascinating autobiographical essay exploring the challenges and benefits of being a Marxist scholar in the present era. Following this is a discussion of various issues of class analysis, with particular attention being paid to two overarching themes: class and inequality, and the relationship between class and power. The second section of the book engages the problem of socialism as a possible future to capitalism. Wright attempts to clarify the conceptual status of socialism and discusses why certain reforms such as basic income grants may ultimately require introduction of some for of socialism for their full realization. Interrogating Inequality concludes by examining the general problem of Marxism as a tradition of radical social theory. Three issues in particular are discussed: the central principles of Analytical Marxism as a strategy for reconstructing Marxism as a social scientific theory; the relationship between Marxism and feminism as emancipatory social theories; and the prospects for Marxism in the aftermath of the collapse of communist regimes.


This paper explains the increasing popularity of social entrepreneurship and analyzes its company law consequences. Faced with tight budgets, governments are looking to the private sector to develop businesses that serve the interests of the public. Social entrepreneurship is gaining momentum as it enables people to make a living while pursuing an objective that adds meaning to their lives. Social enterprises are confronting two key challenges. First is the need for funding. The emergence of a social investment sector requires a long-term commitment from government agencies. Second, social enterprises must balance the interests of investors with the social mission.Legislators in many countries are creating specific legal entities to cater to the need for legal entities in which the dual purpose of social enterprises is regulated. A worldwide trend is for company law to provide a means of addressing problems relating to the dual purpose by defining the rights and obligations of directors and shareholders. Furthermore, a sufficiently flexible 'new company-law product' offering a pre-negotiated set of rules tailored for social enterprises can reduce incorporation costs for entrepreneurs structuring their businesses. A special legal entity for social enterprises also enables entrepreneurs to carry out their mission by giving them their own legal entity and allowing them to use their legal entity as a marketing tool and a competitive advantage. Accordingly, new legal entities improve the options open to entrepreneurs structuring their social businesses.


The aim of the thesis is to develop technology for producing cellulose fatty acid esters that later will be used to produce fibrous materials by means of electrospinning. Main material of the study is cellulose-stearate which is a polymer synthesised by reaction between stearoyl chloride and cellulose. The experimental part consists of synthesis of it by chemical modification of cellulose using ionic liquid as a reaction media. In addition, ionic liquid is also synthesised from the beginning.
Various syntheses are carried out in order to obtain polymers with different degree of
substitution because it is known that it affects solubility a lot. Three ratios cellulose: stearoyl chloride are tested as well as the use of catalyst or not. Those tested are 1:1, 1:3 with and without catalyst and 1:5 with and without catalyst too. Moreover, high purity reagents for producing IL and CS are purchased (methylimidazole and stearoyl chloride) in order to compare its use in CS obtention. The synthesis chosen for repeating is 1:5 without catalyst.
All samples are characterized by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC),
infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) with ATR accessory and saponification method for
determining the degree of substitution.
As expected, as bigger the ratio is, bigger is the DS obtained but one important point is
that the results found are all under 1 what means that the DS is really low. Using
catalyst or not does not affect to DS and it does not modify the properties so it is better to use it because reaction time becomes half (1,5h). The method for determining that is a manual test based in a saponification reaction and a back titration.
From the calorimetry test it is observed that the main impurity remaining in the samples after washing them with methanol is stearic acid. Separate it from CS is difficult because this compound may not be enough soluble in this organic solvent.
The FTIR spectra are a useful technique to control if the reaction is being done or not.
In the cellulose stearate graphs obtained, the typical peaks from ester (1740 cm-1 for
C=O and 1240 cm-1 for C-O-C) can be found but they cannot be found in cellulose
spectra, as expected. Comparing cellulose spectrum and a derivative one it can be seen
that the peak corresponding to bond C-O from the hydroxyl groups (1000-1100 cm-1) ecreases while the other ones from ester mentioned before increases. With these
observations it can be said that the reaction has taken place, thus the polymer has been obtained.
Another important point is to find appropriate solvent or solvent mixture and spinning conditions for obtaining the fibrous materials with controllable parameters. The technique used for producing fibres, called electrospinning, is nowadays an important field of research and it is being developed for future applications related with nanoscale fibers diameter. It is based in the obtention of fibers by applying a difference of voltage between mixture supplier (syringe) and the collector.
The attempts with this method have not been successful at all so no fibers have been
obtained (some more experiments are required for finding the optimum electrospinning
conditions). Anyway, while doing these tests two suitable solvents for the polymer have
been found, toluene and chloroform. The fact that they are highly volatile makes
electrospinning more difficult. The range of polymer concentration in the mixtures has
to be between 11-13%, more than that makes the mixture become jelly and less makes it
not enough viscous.
Definitely, using high purity reagents (especially pure stearoyl chloride) makes DS
increase a lot. Testing the solubility of the polymers obtained with these conditions
showed that are highly soluble in a lot of organic solvents. This result leads to think that DS is much more bigger in polymer obtained with high purity reagents than in technical ones. It is more important that stearoyl chloride is high purity one than the IL reagents.
All in all, this polymer, as well as electrospinning technique, should be further studied in order to obtain the fibers expected.


The septal crossbar graft is a surgical technique used to correct crooked nose and solve the associated functional and aesthetic problems. Described for the first time in 2003, it combines staggered septal incisions with a spreader graft in the dorsal septum on the concave side of the deviation. The method has proved particularly useful in straightening the septum and ensuring postoperative results of lasting stability. Clinical experience over the last few years and the identification of some snags in the procedure have prompted modifications of the technique that should be regarded essentially as evolutionary stages. This article provides a detailed description of all the surgical phases of the technique in the light of these developments and discusses its strengths with respect to the specific problems of crooked nose. Attention is drawn in this connection to both the functional effect on the internal nasal valve and the aesthetic effect of reshaping the upper lateral cartilage.


Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) fiber variability at the bale level is a composite of fiber properties contributed by individual bolls. Environmental conditions, crop management and genotype have an impact on fiber property variability at the boll and seed level. Cotton plants (DPL 51, 1995; NuCOTN 33B, 1996) were grown under rainfed (RF) and centre-pivot irrigated (IR) conditions at Perthshire Farms, Gunnison, MS. Plants were mapped prior to harvest. Fields were spindle picked and grab samples were taken pre and post ginning. Fiber samples from individual bolls and representative samples were analyzed using the Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS). In 1995 cotton plants (RF, I) showed similar boll distribution patterns with 50% of the bolls located at the first position on fruiting branches. Fiber length and micronaire (micronafis) varied with mainstem node location. Composite fiber properties were similar for rainfed and irrigated cotton (1995). Boll distribution patterns were different for rainfed and irrigated plants in 1996. Composite fiber length properties were similar but micronaire (micronafis) was lower for irrigated cotton (1996). Lint cleaning (one lint cleaner) did not increase short fiber (<12.7 mm) percentages. A main contributor to fiber property variability at the bale level was variability at the boll level rather than ginning procedures.


"Family, Work, and Household presents the social and occupational life of a late medieval Iberian town in rich, unprecedented detail. The book combines a diachronic study of two regionally prominent families—one knightly and one mercantile—with a detailed cross-sectional urban study of household and occupation. The town in question is the market town and administrative centre of Manresa in Catalonia, whose exceptional archives make such a study possible. For the diachronic studies, Fynn-Paul relied upon the fact that Manresan archives preserve scores of individual family notarial registers, and the cross-sectional study was made possible by the Liber Manifesti of 1408, a cadastral survey which details the property holdings of individual householders to an unusually thorough degree. In these pages, the economic and social strategies of many individuals, including both knights and burghers, come to light over the course of several generations. The Black Death and its aftermath play a prominent role in changing the outlook of many social actors. Other chapters detail the socioeconomic topography of the town, and examine occupational hierarchies, for such groups as rentiers, merchants, leatherworkers, cloth workers, women householders, and the poor."--


Smearing method can be used as a simple and convenient sampling method for detection of trace explosives using a portable ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) in the field such as for security checks. A testing method for efficient estimation of solid state explosives transfer and IMS detection using the smear matrix was established. Furthermore, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane (RDX) were used as model explosives, and stainless steel mesh, cellulose paper, and cotton fabric were employed as smear matrices. Samples of solid state explosives were prepared by dropping the solutions on a poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) sheet, and the solid state explosives deposited on the PTFE sheet were then transferred to the smear matrix using a stainless steel roller. The explosive material transferred to the smear matrix was directly measured using IMS. The minimum amounts of the explosives deposited on the PTFE sheet to detect with IMS (amount of threshold, AOT) were analyzed. The AOT(TNT)s (500 ng) were nearly the same irrespective of the smear matrix types, while the AOT(RDX)s (100–500 ng) varied according to the smear matrix types. Order of the transfer and detection efficiencies of TNT and RDX was cotton fabric > stainless steel mesh > cellulose paper. Difference in the AOTs was explained by the abilities for trapping and desorption of explosive materials.


The climate during the Plio-Pleistocene was deeply influenced by the so called Milankovitch cycles (Zachos et al.,2001). These are combinations of different astronomical phenomena involving the variation of the Earth's orbital eccentricity, the axis obliquity and precession. The first phenomenon was estimated to occur every 400-100 Ka, whereas the others occur over a time period of 41 and 23-19 Ka, respectively. These astronomical variations influenced the Earth-Sun distance and the angular incidence of solar rays with a net effect on the global climate change (Zachos et al., 2001).
The Early Pliocene was characterized by a decrease of the global temperature, a trend that began during the Late Miocene. The measure of the mean 16O/18O values indicates a trend of warmer climate until 3.2 Mya, the latter that represents the onset of a new temperature cycle. During these cycles the ice sheet expanded and contracted according to the variation of the mean global temperature. Indeed, in the Middle Pliocene, the ice sheets began to cover the Northern Hemisphere, an event indicated as NHG (North Hemisphere Glaciation) (Shackleton et al., 1998; Maslin et al., 1998; Zachos et al., 2001).
At ~2.5 Mya the oscillations of the temperature became quite a regular pattern determining the alternation between warmer (Interglacials) and cooler (Glacials) time periods, that were to characterize the Pleistocene.
Some 1 May (period coincident with the Jaramillo Event of Earth's Magnetic Field inversion) the time interval of a complete climatic cycle changed its duration from the 41-23-19 Kya., to a new longer cycle of 100 Kya, probably determined Earth's orbital eccentricity variation. With the increase of the duration of the cycles the mean global temperatures reached more extreme values and there were stronger climate ranges between warm and cold periods. Moreover, the measures of the oxygen isotopes ratios confirm a net decrement of mean temperature values recorded from the Late Pliocene to the Recent (Zachos et al., 2001).
The strong oscillations of the temperatures during the Plio-Pleistocene deeply influenced the faunas of the whole world. These environmental changes determined local or mass extinctions in some cases or migration events in other cases (Lister, 2004). In particular, during the Glacials, the species adapted to warmer climates migrated southward, while, during the Interglacials, the species adapted to low temperatures migrated northward (Vrba, 1995b). There are many demonstrations of the influence of the climate changes on the evolution of mammals faunas, also at the community level (Vrba, 1995a,b; Alroy et al., 2000; Fortelius et al., 2002, 2006; Barnosky et al., 2003; Bobe and Behrensmeyer, 2004; Rodriguez et al., 2004; Raia et al., 2005; Barnosky and Kraatz, 2007; Meloro et al, 2008).
Starting from these considerations on the evolution of mammal faunas, the aims of this doctoral thesis were focused on the detection of the paleocommunities of large mammals that lived since the Late Pliocene to the Early Holocene in the Western Eurasia and on their macroecological investigations in the light of climatic change. After collecting a great deal of data (811 Local Faunal Assemblages, LFA, and 220 large mammal species) the paleocommunities (here called EA PCOM) were detected using new statistical methods that avoid any subjective criteria in selecting the LFAs. Moreover, considering two recent articles (Alroy, 2000; Fortelius et al., 2006) a statistical-based time ordination of the collected fossil localities was obtained.
As for their well defined temporal and geographical resolution, the EA PCOMs were discussed from the point of view of the distribution of the included LFAs. These analyses showed the presence of both spatial and temporal patterns, useful for inferring dispersal events of mammals in response to the environmental changes. From this point of view, EA PCOMs provide a paleontological framework for evolutionary and ecological investigations.
All the collected LFAs were then used to perform statistical analyses to detect macroecological patterns that usually characterize the living mammal assemblages. At first, there were the reconstruction of the body masses and of the duration of both species and genera of the considered taxa. Then, the fossil mammal faunas were investigated to draw the occupancy and the range size trajectories over taxa life span, both at the species level and at the genera level. To this aim the occupancies and the range sizes were computed in different moment of taxon life time. Further, the data provided by occupancy and range size values were used to draw general models that decribe the most frequent coarses in both species and genera time life span. Some other statistics were computed over occupancy, range size and body size and, then, used to infer on their possible influences on the taxon duration. In addition, the data of the species occurrences were used to build the species-time, the species-area and the species-time-area relationship (STAR), that are all patterns typically recognized in living species. Moreover, the latter model (the STAR) was investigated for the first time in fossil species.
The interdisciplinary approach of this doctoral thesis also involved the use of modern phylogenetic techniques to seek any relationships in all the measured traits between closely related taxa. To this aim, the phylogenetic trees of all the considered species and genera were reconstructed using data provided by genetic, morphologic and evolutionary studies. A second step was to combine the phylogenetic trees and all the other computed measures to infer about the models of evolution followed by the traits characterizing the large fossil mammals.
All the computed results were used to draw possible evolutionary scenarios concerning the Plio-Pleistocene mammal faunas.


U.S. rough (unmilled) rice exports have grown sharply since the mid-1990s, and account for about a third of annual U.S. rice exports, double the share of a decade ago. Growth in U.S. rough rice exports has partially offset a loss of market share in the global milled rice trade to lower cost Asian exporters, primarily Thailand, the world's largest rice-exporting country. While the U.S. is the fourth largest rice exporter, behind Thailand, Vietnam, and India, the U.S. share of global trade of all rice dropped from 20 percent two decades ago to 13 percent in 2006. About half of the U.S. crop is exported annually, making exports critical to the economic well-being of the U.S. rice sector. The U.S. is the only major rice exporter that ships rough rice. None of the Asian exporters allow rough rice to be exported, preferring to keep the value added from milling. Rough rice accounts for just 4 percent of global rice trade, with the United States accounting for nearly all shipments. Mexico and Central America, the largest markets for U.S. rough rice, purchase long grain, the dominant class of rice grown in the United States. These countries typically account for more than 90 percent of U.S. rough rice exports, with the United States supplying nearly all of their imports. Shipments to these markets have substantially increased since the mid-1990s. Importers in these countries prefer rough rice to milled rice because tariff rates are much lower on rough rice. None of these countries has the ability to significantly boost production. Mexico's rice production is less than half the level harvested 20 years ago, and production has declined in much of Central America as well, primarily due to policy changes that have reduced import protection and lowered domestic support and to more profitable cropping options. Mexico and Central America have substantial excess milling capacity as well, further boosting the incentive to import rough over milled rice. Energy costs and global trade policy are two sources of uncertainty facing the U.S. rice sector. First, the U.S. may not remain competitive in the global rice market if energy prices do not fall. Rice is a high-cost crop to grow in the U.S., primarily due to much higher expenses for fuel—to operate irrigation facilities— and more fertilizer than is required for other field crops. Second, a more open global trading environment would increase market access for U.S. producers because rice is a highly protected commodity, especially in Northeast Asia. However, any trade agreement that results in reduced producer support would have negative impacts on U.S. rice producers because government payments account for a much larger share of rice producers' income than for most other U.S. program crops.


Traditionally, a simulation-based optimization (SO) system is designed as a black-box in which the internal details of the optimization process is hidden from the user and only the final optimization solutions are presented. As the complexity of the SO systems and the optimization problems to be solved increases, instrumentation - a technique for monitoring and controlling the SO processes - is becoming more important. This paper proposes a white-box approach by advocating the use of instrumentation components in SO systems, based on a component-based architecture. This paper argues that a number of advantages, including efficiency enhancement, gaining insight from the optimization trajectories and higher controllability of the SO processes, can be brought out by an on-line instrumentation approach. This argument is supported by the illustration of an instrumentation component developed for a SO system designed for solving real-world multi-objective operation scheduling problems


Narratology does not usually distinguish between original and translated fiction and narratologicai models do not pay any attention to the translator as a discursive subject. Since the 1990's, the visibility of translators in translated narrative texts has been increasingly discussed and researchers like Schiavi (1996) and Hermans (1996) introduced the concept of the translator's voice, which attempts to recognise the 'other' voice in translation, i.e. the presence of the translator. Corpus-based studies have also focused on recurrent features of translated language (see, for example. Baker 1993, Kenny 2001; Laviosa 1997; Olohan and Baker 2000), and corpus techniques and tools are being employed to identify the translators' 'style' in their translations (Baker 2000). The present thesis seeks to explore the nature of the translator's discursive presence by investigating certain narratologicai aspects of the relation between originals and translations. Until recently comparative analysis between originals and their translations have mainly relied on manual examinations; the present study will demonstrate that corpus-based translation studies and its tools can gready facilitate and sharpen the process of comparison. My work uses a parallel corpus composed of two English novels and their French translations; Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse (1927) and its three translations (Promenade au Phare, 1929, translated by Michel Lanoire; Voyage au Phare, 1993, by Magali Merle; Vers le Phare, 1996, by Francoise Pellan), and The Waves (1931), and its two translations (Les leagues, 1937, translated by Marguerite Yourcenar and Les agues, 1993, translated by Cecile Wajsbrot). The relevant texts have been scanned and put in machine-readable form and I study them using corpus-analysis tools and techniques (WordSmith Tools, Multiconcord). My investigation is particularly concerned with the potential problems involved in the translation of linguisdc features that constitute the notion of point of view, i.e. deixis, modality, transitivity and free indirect discourse, and seeks to determine whether and how the translator's choices affect the transfer of narratologicai structures.


Question: Habitats are characterized by their plant species composition. Therefore, climate change impacts on habitats can be assessed by two complementary statistical approaches: either directly by modelling the climate envelope of the habitat, or indirectly by modelling the habitat in terms of its plant species. How do these approaches differ in their projected habitat distribution? What are the consequences for nature conservation?

Location: Europe.

Methods: Potential climate change impacts on the distribution of European protected Natura 2000 sites were modelled for five natural and semi-natural grassland habitat types, defined by the EU Habitats Directive, using data from the Atlas Florae Europaeae and reports on Natura 2000 sites. We used random forests (RF) and logistic regression (GLM) to model current and potential future distributions for 2050.

Results: All habitats are projected to lose between 22% and 93% of their range in the 'no dispersal' scenario. In the 'unrestricted dispersal' scenario, almost all habitats gain suitable climate space, between 5% and 100% of their current range. In the direct habitat approach, both model algorithms have high discriminatory performance on test data and are well calibrated. In the indirect species approach, only GLM shows high model performance; RF models are overfitted. Projections of occurrence probabilities differ more strongly between model approaches ('direct' versus 'indirect') than between model algorithms (GLM versus RF).

Conclusions: Habitats are complex entities. Because of their dynamic nature, particularly in the face of climate change, we suggest modelling the future distribution of habitat types not exclusively based on their current definitions and mapped distributions, but also based on their constituent elements, and in particular their characteristic plant species.


It is widely acknowledged that electronic commerce presents a
significant opportunity for Small- Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
to compete alongside larger enterprises. For SMEs in the developing
world in particular, the opportunities afforded by electronic commerce
for competing in a global marketplace, are also attractive. However,
it has also been observed that electronic commerce poses a
considerable challenge for SMEs, particularly with regard to the
decisions that must be made about which of the available electronic
commerce applications to adopt and to integrate into existing
business operations.
A number of studies have been conducted to investigate the adoption
of electronic commerce by SMEs. These studies have tended to
view electronic commerce adoption in terms of a dichotomous
outcome: either e-commerce is adopted, or it is not. Such studies
give little indication of the diffusion, or extent of usage, of individual
e-commerce applications. The aim of this study was to address this
gap in existing research by investigating both the level of adoption
and extent of usage of e-commerce applications. In so doing, the
study draws on research in the area of innovation diffusion theory.
The focus of the study is on manufacturing SMES in Malaysia, and
considers their use of B2B (Business-to-Business) e-commerce.
The specific objectives of the study were to measure and
characterise B2B e-commerce adoption and extent of usage among
manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia; to identify factors associated with
the adoption of B2B e-commerce in Malaysian SMEs; and to
determine the impacts of that adoption. (Continues...)