A pot experiment was conducted in the experimental field of the University of Ghana, Legon to examine the effectiveness of dry Azolla as N source in flooded rice field. The treatments included incorporating fresh Azolla (FA at 90 kg N/ha), dry Azolla (DA at 90 kg N/ha), dry Azolla  + Ammonium sulphate  (DA at 45 kg N/ha + AS at 45 kg N/ha), fresh Azolla + dry Azolla (FA at 45 kg N/ha  + DA at 45 kg N/ha), ammonium sulphate (AS at  90 kg N/ha) and a control (C at 0 kgN/ha). The treatments were applied 8 days after transplanting rice. Results showed that the DA + AS treatment, that is, the treatment where dry Azolla + ammonium sulphate were used to fertilize the rice had the highest dry weight and total N yield followed by the treatment AS. Total N for the DA + AS treatment was 36.67% over the control whilst that for the AS was 25% over the control. Dry Azolla has the potential for supplementing for the nitrogen requirement for irrigated rice.

 Key words: Azolla, tiller number, total N.


External trade affects the internal spatial structure of an economy, promoting growth in some cities or regions and decline in others. Internal adjustment to these changes has often proved to be extremely slow and painful. This paper combines elements of urban and international economics to draw out the implications of trade shocks for city performance. Localisation economies in production of internationally tradable goods mean that cities divide into two types, those producing tradables and those specialising in sectors producing just for the national market (non-tradables). Negative trade shocks (and possibly also some positive ones) reduce the number of cities engaged in tradable production, increasing the number producing just non-tradables. This has a negative effect across all non-tradable cities, which lose population and land value. Remaining tradable cities boom, gaining population and land value. Depending on the initial position, city size dispersion may increase, this raising the share of urban land-rents in national income and reducing the share of labour.


Since there is currently a lack of data on the natural history and feeding ecology of Odorrana chapaensis, which was listed in the IUCN Red List (2019), we herein provided the feeding ecology of this amphibian species is virtually lacking. We herein provide data about the diet of O. chapaensis based on the results of our field work in Ngoc Chien Commune, Muong La District and Xim Vang Commune, Bac Yen District, Son La Province, Vietnam. We used the stomach-flushing method to obtain the stomach contents of 85 individuals at two survey sites. A total of 20 prey categories with 334 items, comprising 299 items of invertebrates and 35 unidentified items, were found in the stomachs of O. chapaensis. The dominant prey items of O. chapaensis were Araneae, Polydesmida, insect larvae, Blattodea, Coleoptera, Dermaptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, and Orthoptera. The importance index for these categories ranged from 3.5% to 32.5%. Coleoptera was the category with the highest frequency of prey items; its representatives were found in 45 stomaches.


Deficits in conversational skills of children with ASD are persistent and are particularly evident in settings where there are greater opportunities for social and peer interaction (MacKay, Knott, & Dunlop, 2007). These deficits pose difficulty in these children's learning and developing social relations and interactions with other peers/ individuals (Loveland & Landry, 1986). The present study examined the role of motivation on the acquisition of conversational skills in three children with the diagnosis of autism. All the participants possessed good imitation skills but had difficulties in asking or responding to questions, initiating and maintaining conversation. Intervention used the procedure of scripts and script fading. Scripts were based on the participants' preferred and non-preferred items. The results of the study indicated that the role of motivation was mixed. For the majority of the hypothesis, the participants did not show an increase in initiation, increase in scripted conversation, faster learning or better generalization in the high motivation conditions when compared to the low motivation conditions. However, motivation did seem to play a role in the unscripted conversation and the participants showed an increase in unscripted conversation in the high motivation conditions when compared to the low motivation conditions.


This paper is based on early reflections from the ongoing work with my Masters thesis about the present digital terms of accessibility. Libraries have throughout their history shared a common objective; to make information accessible. This basic activity has been connected to a variety of arguments in different historical situations. But how does one argue (ideologically) for accessibility to information in our present digital surroundings. Based on some earlier research I found that this question has rarely been dealt with or discussed amongst librarians in a substantial manner. In the thesis I therefore examine argumentation in a selection of modern texts that discuss access to digital information within an open access perspective. The texts originate mainly from four fields of practice; the Free Software movement, the Open Source movement, Creative Commons and the Libre Society. Digital information implies a way of mass-distribution and an extensive culture of sharing that raises some fundamental questions on the terms of access. My research objects and agents are taking action in the middle of an on-going struggle, between forces that seek to get and maintain control over information in digital formats and forces that seek a continuous process of accessibility and openness. The agents have in common that they suggest different and alternative regimes for licensing intellectual property, but differ in their argumentation on such practices. With a discourse analytical approach I try identify these agents stands regarding digital terms of accessibility. In this paper I will present the contextual framework of my thesis.


Determining the role of different precipitation periods for peak discharge generation is crucial for both projecting future changes in flood probability and for short- and medium-range flood forecasting. In this study, catchment-averaged daily precipitation time series are analyzed prior to annual peak discharge events (floods) in Switzerland. The high number of floods considered – more than 4000 events from 101 catchments have been analyzed – allows to derive significant information about the role of antecedent precipitation for peak discharge generation. Based on the analysis of precipitation times series, a new separation of flood-related precipitation periods is proposed: (i) the period 0 to 1 day before flood days, when the maximum flood-triggering precipitation rates are generally observed, (ii) the period 2 to 3 days before flood days, when longer-lasting synoptic situations generate "significantly higher than normal" precipitation amounts, and (iii) the period from 4 days to 1 month before flood days when previous wet episodes may have already preconditioned the catchment. The novelty of this study lies in the separation of antecedent precipitation into the precursor antecedent precipitation (4 days before floods or earlier, called PRE-AP) and the short range precipitation (0 to 3 days before floods, a period when precipitation is often driven by one persistent weather situation like e.g., a stationary low-pressure system). A precise separation of "antecedent" and "peak-triggering" precipitation is not attempted. Instead, the strict definition of antecedent precipitation periods permits a direct comparison of all catchments. The precipitation accumulating 0 to 3 days before an event is the most relevant for floods in Switzerland. PRE-AP precipitation has only a weak and region-specific influence on flood probability. Floods were significantly more frequent after wet PRE-AP periods only in the Jura Mountains, in the western and eastern Swiss plateau, and at the outlet of large lakes. As a general rule, wet PRE-AP periods enhance the flood probability in catchments with gentle topography, high infiltration rates, and large storage capacity (karstic cavities, deep soils, large reservoirs). In contrast, floods were significantly less frequent after wet PRE-AP periods in glacial catchments because of reduced melt. For the majority of catchments however, no significant correlation between precipitation amounts and flood occurrences is found when the last 3 days before floods are omitted in the precipitation amounts. Moreover, the PRE-AP was not higher for extreme floods than for annual floods with a high frequency and was very close to climatology for all floods. The fact that floods are not significantly more frequent nor more intense after wet PRE-AP is a clear indicator of a short discharge memory of Pre-Alpine, Alpine and South Alpine Swiss catchments. Our study poses the question whether the impact of long-term precursory precipitation for floods in such catchments is not overestimated in the general perception. The results suggest that the consideration of a 3–4 days precipitation period should be sufficient to represent (understand, reconstruct, model, project) Swiss Alpine floods.


We demonstrate surface soliton arrays at the interface between a homogeneous medium and an optically induced two-dimensional semi-infinite photonic lattice. These are nonlinear Tamm-like surface states localized in one but extended periodically in the other transverse dimension. Both in-phase and staggered out-of-phase soliton arrays are observed, and the experimental results are corroborated by numerical simulations.


Dr. Philip Liebson from the Rush University Medical Center moderated the topic "Contrast Echocardiography and Carotid Vascular Ultrasound" with Drs. Steven B. Feinstein from Rush University Medical Center, and Michael Main from St. Luke's Mid America Heart Institute participating. The discussion focused primarily on: (1) the development of various contrast agents, (2) use of contrast agents for evaluation of shunts, (3) the Valsalva maneuver, (4) December 2010 ICAEL standards, (5) the use of contrast agents to improve technically difficult echocardiograms, (6) the routine use of contrast agents in post-MI patients, (7) using contrast agents in stress testing, wall motion and myocardial perfusion, (8) impact of contrast agents in drug management, (9) using contrast agents in evaluating carotid arteries, and (10) contraindications for contrast agents. (Med Roundtable Cardiovasc Ed. 2011;2(1):15-21) ©2011 FoxP2 Media, LLC


Sampling of Latris lineata (n= 334) was conducted with commercial fishers on the east coast of Tasmania between May 1990 and May 1992. Relationships between fork length and weight, and age and fork length are presented for Latris lineata. Macroscopic descriptions of the stages of gonad maturation for male and female Latrislineata are verified from histological studies. A gonad index (GI = gonad weight (g)/fork length (cm) x 105) is used to show that the spawning season of Latris lineata extends from September to October. A critical GI value of approximately 25 is proposed to distinguish female Latris lineata in advanced stages oocyte development prior to spawning. Analysis of frequency distributions of the diameters of developing oocytes shows that three distinct batches of developing oocytes can be distinguished in the ovaries of Latris lineata approaching spawning. This information indicates that female Latris lineata spawns multiple batches of eggs, which develop in a group synchronous manner. Female Lairislineata mature earlier (5 years; FL = 43.8 cm) than males (8 years; FL = 53.4 cm).
A study in 1990 suggested that intra-peritoneal injection of 0.5 ml/kg b.w. of Ovaprim® (Salmonid gonadotropin releasing hormone (sGnRH)with domperidone) could induce ovulation in Lairis lineata. An investigation in 1991 compared interperitoneal (i.p) injection of Ovaprim R with i.p. injection of lutenizing hormone releasing hormone analogue (LHRHa) at dosages of IORg/kg b.w., 2514/kg b.w., and 50ii.g/kg b.w. No significant difference (P> 0.05) between treatments was shown. Females with initial oocyte diameters of 600 pm or greater were induced to complete final oocyte maturation. Two experiments conducted in 1992 investigated the effect of monthly (July-September) intramuscular implantation of cholesterol (90%) and copha (10%) pellets containing LHRHa and 17a-methyltestosterone (17a-MT) on circulating levels of 17t3-estradiol and testosterone. One experiment found no significant effect (P> 0.05) of a high and low dose LHRHa+17a-MT implant regime, on mean oocyte diameter. Only one hormone implanted fish ovulated a batch of eggs in this investigation. No significant effect (P> 0.05) on mean serum 170-estradiol and testosterone due to implant treatment dosage was shown. Mean serum levels of 17f1-estradiol showed no significant (P> 0.05) change at 24 hr following implanting, for any treatment, at any month. For high dose hormone treatment fish, mean serum testosterone had decreased significantly (P 0.05) change in either mean oocyte diameter or mean serum levels of 17f3-estradiol or testosterone were found between hormone implanted and control fish, at any month. Mean serum 1713-estradiol was significantly (P< 0.05) higher in the 2 implanted fish, than control fish, at the time of the first (July) and second (August) implants. A significant (P< 0.05) decrease in mean serum testosterone of hormone treated fish was recorded at 144 hr after implanting in July, while a significant (P< 0.05) increase in this steroid was recorded at 144 hr following the August implant.


The doctrine of viewpoint neutrality is central to First Amendment jurisprudence. It requires the state to not treat speech differently based on a speaker's political or philosophical opinions. The doctrine has recently come under attack, however, for protecting hate speech and other views inimical to liberal democracy. Critics note that most democracies outside of the United States have rejected the doctrine of viewpoint neutrality, while still endorsing a right to free speech. In stark contrast to these critics, Martin Redish has offered a clear and robust defense of this doctrine, which he grounds in an account of "epistemic humility." In contrast to these positions, my theory of "value democracy" suggests a new approach to viewpoint neutrality. I suggest the doctrine rightly protects rights of people to make up their minds and speak while keeping them free from the threat of coercive punishment. I add, however, that the state has an obligation to use its expressive capacities to defend the values that underlie these rights and to criticize expressions of hate that oppose them. Value democracy therefore highlights two aspects of free speech. First, it develops an account of how the values of free and equal citizenship — autonomy and equal respect — ground the doctrine of viewpoint neutrality. To respect the equal autonomy of citizens, the state should not coercively ban hate speech. Second, it articulates an expressive role for the state in defending the values of free and equal citizenship. The state should defend these values by criticizing hate speech and other viewpoints that seek to undermine the freedom and equality of citizens. Using its expressive capacity, the state can respect rights at the same time that it checks the spread of illiberal viewpoints, thus avoiding complicity with the hates speech it protects. I suggest, moreover, how value democracy can help us to rethink the First Amendment doctrines of the "limited public forum" and "state speech," as presented in Bob Jones University v. United States, Rust v. Sullivan, National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley, and Christian Legal Society Chapter of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law v. Martinez.


This study follows Chipotle's innovative strategy of using branded entertainment and satire to enhance its brand image and positive consumer perceptions, while negatively portraying an entire industry. The study explores audience reactions to Chipotle's satirical Farmed and Dangerous program, part of the company's broader "Food with Integrity" campaign. Increasing agricultural literacy and understanding among the general public is a priority (Doerfert, 2011). Yet marketing communication campaigns—and responses or reactions to those campaigns—that simplify issues into distinct "sides," or focus on attacks, prevent deep discussion of the complexity of our food system and efforts to collaborate on solutions. Research presented uses a case study, supported by focus group methodology and in-depth survey responses of YouTube commenters, to examine consumer and stakeholder reactions to Chipotle's content. Findings reveal sharply divided reactions and significant anger and frustration within the agricultural community toward Chipotle for its satirical portrayal of the food production industry. Findings also reveal generally positive attitudes toward Chipotle from those without agricultural experience, and clear perceptions of "sides" in the food debate. Discussion of Chipotle's marketing strategy explores whether the negative sentiment the company has generated among agricultural stakeholders through efforts like its Farmed and Dangerous webisode series is worth it for the brand, considering the broader positive image the company has gained among much of the general public, as well as related implications for the company linked to more recent struggles with food safety issues and attacks from political groups.


The understanding of athletes' physical capacities in collective modalities during the training stages is important in the organization of sports preparation. So points up, the skeletal muscle adaptation capacity to systematized training is resulting mostly by neuromuscular alterations. The present study aims to evaluate the effects of a training program on neuromuscular variables, in volleyball athletes, in differents periodization stages. Participated of the study 12 women volleyball athletes, with 18.92±0.76 years, at least two years staff volleyball participation. The total training period was 40 weeks and after initial evaluation clinic and anthropometric, the volunteers were submitted to speed resistance test protocol to determined maximum, average and minimum power, using Forward-Backward (Borin et al, 2003) test, in different moments of periodization: Preparatory stage (M1); Pre-competitive (M2); Competitive-I (M3) and Competitive-II (M4). The collected data were kept in computational bank and produced information in descriptive way (measures of centrality and dispersion) and for inferential (variance analyses for the model with a supplemented factor with the test of multiple comparisons of Tukey). With respect to average power, there was a increase from M1 (53.95±6.85 w) to M2 (61.16±10.32 w), and then a decrease in M3 (58.98±8.64 w); finally a increase in M4 (61.84±7.14 w). The results indicate that there were positive changes in the average power during the training, pointing to the highest values in important stages of the periodization, the competitive phase.


Abstract. First long-term observations of South American biomass burning aerosol within the tropical lower free troposphere are presented. The observations were conducted between 2007 and 2009 at a high altitude station (4765 m a.s.l.) on the Pico Espejo, Venezuela. Sub-micron particle volume, number concentrations of primary particles and particle absorption were observed. Orographic lifting and shallow convection leads to a distinct diurnal cycle at the station. It enables measurements within the lower free troposphere during night-time and observations of boundary layer air masses during daytime and at their transitional regions. The seasonal cycle is defined by a wet rainy season and a dry biomass burning season. The particle load of biomass burning aerosol is dominated by fires in the Venezuelan savannah. Increases of aerosol concentrations could not be linked to long-range transport of biomass burning plumes from the Amazon basin or Africa due to effective wet scavenging of particles. Highest particle concentrations were observed within boundary layer air masses during the dry season. Ambient sub-micron particle volume reached 1.4±1.3 μm 3 cm −3 , refractory particle number concentrations (at 300 °C) 510±420 cm −3 and the absorption coefficient 0.91±1.2 Mm −1 . The respective concentrations were lowest within the lower free troposphere during the wet season and averaged at 0.19±0.25 μm 3 cm −3 , 150±94 cm −3 and 0.15±0.26 Mm −1 . A decrease of particle concentrations during the dry seasons from 2007–2009 could be connected to a decrease in fire activity in the wider region of Venezuela using MODIS satellite observations. The variability of biomass burning is most likely linked to the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Low biomass burning activity in the Venezuelan savannah was observed to follow La Nina conditions, high biomass burning activity followed El Nino conditions.


The developing field of academic analytics seeks to turn data from educational systems into actionable intelligence for the improvement of teaching and learning. This paper reports on the implementation of analytics in a new medical school with an integrated curriculum and clinical focus. Analytics addressed two challenges in the curriculum: providing evidence of appropriate curriculum coverage and assessing student engagement and equity while on clinical placement. This paper describes the tools and approaches used, and outlines the lessons learnt. These lessons include the risk of a simplistic use of visualisations, their potential to generate important questions, the value of a flexible approach to tool selection, the need for relevant skills, and the importance of keeping the audience central. Although there is much further potential for the school to realise, academic analytics have already been a critical enabler of educational excellence.


Globalization and technological transformations have triggered novel changes in both the developed and developing countries. Technology and entrepreneurship are vital tools used for national economies towards 21 st century requirement and growth. Technology based enterprises are specifically smart to policy-makers because of their higher prospective for job creation and wealth-generation through business development as well as their lower disappearance rates compared to non-technology based firms. New technologies are often developed in R&D institutions. This initiative of providing incubation facilities to transfer these new technologies to the market is adopted by all growing institutions. A comprehensive review of the literature on the Technology innovation and SME's are carried out. This study specifically examines the drivers of technology adoption in SMEs and their impact on SMEs' performance - profit, growth and market share. In the developed countries technology development drives the incubator movement. Keywords: Technology business incubators, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME's), Emerging economies.


Background: Mental health conditions are highly prevalent in the U.S. and are associated with physical health problems. Federal initiatives recognize mental health as a public health priority, and local health departments (LHDs) have been identified as partners to promote population mental health. Little is known, however, about the extent to which LHDs address mental health or how LHD officials perceive mental health as a public health concern. Purpose: To describe the cumulative level of LHDs' engagement in activities to address population mental health and explore how LHD officials perceive their roles in promoting it. Methods: Module 2 of the 2013 National Profile of Local Health Departments Study (N=505) was used to develop a cumulative measure of LHD engagement in mental health activities. Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed to describe LHDs' level of mental health activity and identify associated LHD characteristics. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 LHD officials, audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results: Over half (55.8%) of LHDs performed ≥1 mental health activities, and 21.2% performed ≥4. LHDs that provided primary care services were most engaged in mental health activities, with 30.4% performing ≥4 and 18.2% performing ≥6. LHD officials perceived mental health as a public health issue and felt community pressure to address it, but encountered barriers related to resources and organizational boundaries. Implications: LHDs might benefit from quality improvement and information sharing resources focused on population mental health promotion. Research should examine LHDs relationships with behavioral health departments and roles within broader social service systems.


This paper proposes an active fault-tolerant control (FTC) scheme for robotic manipulators subject to actuator faults. Its main objective is to mitigate actuator faults and maintain system performance and stability, even under faulty conditions. The proposed FTC design combines the robustness and finite time convergence of non-singular terminal synergetic control with the optimization properties of an interval type-2 fuzzy satin bowerbird algorithm. System stability is established via the Lyapunov stability criteria. An adaptive state-augmented extended Kalman filter is implemented as the fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) module, to provide the controller with necessary information about faults in real time. This FDD scheme is based on the simultaneous estimation of the faulty parameters and system states. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is assessed using a simulated two-degree-of-freedom robotic manipulator subject to various faulty scenarios.


Models of windblown pollen or spore movement are required to predict gene flow from genetically modified (GM) crops and the spread of fungal diseases. We suggest a simple form for a function describing the distance moved by a pollen grain or fungal spore, for use in generic models of dispersal. The function has power-law behaviour over sub-continental distances. We show that air-borne dispersal of rapeseed pollen in two experiments was inconsistent with an exponential model, but was fitted by power-law models, implying a large contribution from distant fields to the catches observed. After allowance for this 'background' by applying Fourier transforms to deconvolve the mixture of distant and local sources, the data were best fit by power-laws with exponents between 1.5 and 2. We also demonstrate that for a simple model of area sources, the median dispersal distance is a function of field radius and that measurement from the source edge can be misleading. Using an inverse-square dispersal distribution deduced from the experimental data and the distribution of rapeseed fields deduced by remote sensing, we successfully predict observed rapeseed pollen density in the city centres of Derby and Leicester (UK).


This article constructs a new framework for the study of games as sites of social rationalization, applying Feenberg's critical theory of technology. We begin by making the case for a consideration of games as systems of social rationality, akin to other modern systems such as capitalist markets and bureaucratic organizations. We then present a conceptualization of play as a process through which the player focuses attention away from the undifferentiated action of everyday life toward a differentiated sphere of playful activity. This approach reveals how the experience of play changes as it becomes rationalized through the technological mediation and widespread standardization that occurs as games become large-scale social practices. We propose a theory of the rationalization of play (ludification), which outlines the key components of socially rationalized games, which we then apply to the specific example of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs).


Recent advances in genome sequencing are improving our better understanding of
genetic variation. However, the investigation of the genotype-phenotype relationship
is still challenging, especially for the interpretation of the myriad of discovered
genetic variants that weakly relate to disease.
Recently, researchers have confirmed that disease causing genetic variants typically
occur at functional sites, such as protein-protein or protein-ligand interaction sites.
Giving this observation, several bioinformatics tools have been developed. This
thesis first details VarMod (Variant Modeller), an algorithm that predicts whether
nonsynonymous single nucleotide variants (nsSNVs) affect protein function.
The recent Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa demonstrated the potential for the
virus to cause edipdemics and highlighted our limited understanding of Ebola virus
biology. The second part of this thesis focuses on the investigation of the molecular
determinants of Ebolavirus pathogenicity. In two related analyses knowledge of
differing pathogenicity of Ebolavirus species is used. Firstly, comparison of the
sequences of Reston viruses (the only Ebolavirus species that is not pathogenic in
humans) with the four pathogenic Ebolavirus species, enabled the identification of
Specificity Determining Positions (SDPs) that are differentially conserved between
these two groups. These SDPs were further investigated using analysis of protein
structure and identified variation in the Ebola virus VP24 as likely to have a role in
determining species-specific pathogenicity. The second approach investigated
rodent-adapted Ebola virus. Ebola virus is not pathogenic in rodents but it can be
passaged to induce pathogenicity. Analysis of the mutations identified in four
adaption studies identified that very few mutations are required for adaptation to a
new species and once again the VP24 is likely to have a central role. Subsequent
molecular dynamics simulations compared the interaction of Ebola and Reston virus
VP24 with human karyopherin alpha5. The analysis suggests that Reston virus VP24
has weaker binding with karyopherins and we propose that this change in binding
may reduce the ability of Reston VP24 to inhibit human interferon signaling.


In the highly productive Northern Humboldt Current System, 3 seabird species, the Guanay cormorant Phalacrocorax bougainvillii, the Peruvian booby Sula variegata and the Peruvian pelican Pelecanus thagus, commence breeding in austral spring, coinciding with the lowest availability of their prey, the Peruvian anchovy Engraulis ringens. This strategy ensures the matching of increased prey availability when young achieve independence in summer. This pattern was observed during the last decade when anchovy was abundant. However, over the last century, the abundance of anchovy has varied widely due to contrasting interdecadal regimes in oceanographic conditions and fishing activity. We hypothesized that these regime shifts affected the abundance and availability of prey and may have conditioned the breeding seasonality of seabirds. We examined the timing and magnitude of the onset of breeding using dynamic occupancy models and related these parameters to the seasonality of oceanographic conditions, abundance of anchovy and fishing pressure. During a regime of lower anchovy abundance (1977−1990), cormorants showed the highest flexibility, adjusting the timing of breeding from spring to winter and skipping reproduction in the worst conditions. Boobies showed the lowest flexibility, maintaining the same magnitude and timing of onset of breeding in spring. Pelicans showed intermediate flexibility, foregoing breeding during the worst conditions, but maintaining the onset of breeding in spring. The 3 species used sea surface temperature as a cue for the initiation of breeding. Furthermore, given their better diving abilities, cormorants could monitor prey availability changes associated with the reversion in the seasonality of the oxycline depth.


In flowering plants, the male gametophyte, the pollen, develops in the anther. Complex patterns of gene expression in both the gametophytic and sporophytic tissues of the anther regulate this process. The gene expression profiles of the microspore/pollen and the sporophytic tapetum are of particular interest. In this study, a microarray technique combined with laser microdissection (44K LM-microarray) was developed and used to characterize separately the transcriptomes of the microspore/pollen and tapetum in rice. Expression profiles of 11 known tapetum specific-genes were consistent with previous reports. Based on their spatial and temporal expression patterns, 140 genes which had been previously defined as anther specific were further classified as male gametophyte specific (71 genes, 51%), tapetum-specific (seven genes, 5%) or expressed in both male gametophyte and tapetum (62 genes, 44%). These results indicate that the 44K LM-microarray is a reliable tool to analyze the gene expression profiles of two important cell types in the anther, the microspore/pollen and tapetum.


Authentication and identification are critical to information security systems. Traditionally, these processes are achieved with the use of secret keys that are stored in electronic memories, or with difficult-to-clone systems (e.g., fingerprints or holograms). The persistent development of technology, however, means that the barrier to cloning such systems is becoming lower. Moreover, counterfeiting, device spoofing, and identity fraud are formidable problems in all markets. The ideal solution, therefore, would be to produce a nano-fingerprint from the atomic arrangement of a structure embedded within a device. By shrinking down to the atomic scale, the challenge of cloning the system becomes as difficult as possible, i.e., the density of secure information is maximized and the number of resources required to read the fingerprint is minimized.


This work discusses the sociohistorical origins of Anguillian, the English-lexifier Creole spoken on the Caribbean island of Anguilla. It focuses on the earliest period of colonization (1650–1700) because creolists have suggested that social dynamics in this 'formative period' are key to understanding the emergence of Creole languages throughout the region. Responding to Arends' call for "historical correctness", the author draws from archival sources to describe language contact, social relationships (including relationships between enslaved Africans and their European masters), and indirect evidence of linguistic variation. He offers a critique of creolists' interpretations of the Founder Principle and their assumptions about patterns of social interaction, questioning Chaudenson's claim that 'Robinsonian conditions' prevailed in the seventeenth century.


The problem of this study is that the building of foundation by stones at the present time leads to develop cracks in the superstructure. Therefore, the solutions and the right manner were suggested for building the stone in the small and big structures. This paper studies using and properties of stones in building of foundations, that the stone is rigid and stiff in the same time very cheap for building, especially in the regions wealthy with stone. The models were taken for analyzing, firstly experimentally in the field site and secondly by Plaxis Program using the Finite Elements with the same properties of the soil and calculate the vertical displacement, vertical strain, factor of safety and bearing capacity. It can be concluded that the using of the reinforced columns in the small foundation in addition to the beam and stones will reduce the vertical displacement and strain to lower values, maintain high value of bearing capacity and increase the factor of safety that makes the structure becomes safer. Also for the big structures like bridges another models were used with higher loadings and the same above parameters were calculated, the stone with special requirements approved to improve and treat the soil parameters even for the big structures.


Received: 20 May 2019 Received in revised: 13 July 2019 Accepted: 2 August 2019 Available online: 30 October 2019 DOI: Synthesis and characterization fluorine-doped tin oxide thin film using spray pyrolysis were coated on a glass substrate by varying the atomizing voltage. The XRD analysis was carried out and the results showed that the deposited films are polycrystalline in nature having the characteristic peaks of tetragonal structure of SnO2. The observed peaks are (110), (101), (200), (211) and the preferential growth was found to be (110) direction. The I/V plots of the material deposited with 3.8 kV, 4.0 kV and 4.2 kV, which represent sample FT1-FT3 showed a non-linear plot and observed to be a non Ohmic semiconducting material. It was also noticed that as the atomizing voltage of the depositing material increases the thickness of the films increases. The resistivity of the material deposited increases and decreases at 4.0 kV as the atomizing voltage and thickness of the films increases. The electrical conductivity of the material deposited increases with respect to the atomizing voltage and thickness, respectively. It was observed that as the optical absorbance and reflectance decreased the wavelength of the incident radiation and transmittance enhanced as the wavelength of the incident radiation increased and the band gap energy of the films were observed to be at the range of 2.70-3.10 eV.


From the Publisher:
Computer hardware maintenance: An Is/It Manager's Guide presents the full scope and understanding of how the PC hardware maintenance function should operate and be managed in an organization, including steps for containing costs, keeping records, and planning the integration of a help desk.
In today's IS department too often the PC hardware maintenance function is treated as a 'necessary evil', with the understanding that eventually all equipment will have some degree of mechanical or electrical failure. This book discusses scenarios where keeping the maintenance function internal is most viable and where having it external, from a depot service, pickup and delivery, or on-site service, is most viable. Computer Hardware Maintenance concludes with brief descriptions of available third-party systems and how emerging trends in PC hardware configuration as proposed by the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF) will have a major impact on the PC hardware maintenance function in the future. TOC: Introduction to the hardware maintenance function Considerations on the installed base of PC hardware Approaches to the maintenance function Personnel and motivation under internal maintenance management Steps in choosing an external maintenance source Managing the external maintenance function Integration of the Help Desk, asset tracking and hardware maintenance call management systems The maintenance management information systems Listing of third-party computerized maintenance support packages Implications of the proposed Desk Top Management Taskforce (DTMF) Standard on managing a PC installed base and maintenance management Computerized maintenance management system evaluation check list.

About The Author:
Senior Director of Information Technology, MW Houck Inc., USA


The geometrical fit of the continents now separated by oceans has long been discussed in relation to continental drift. This paper describes fits made by numerical methods, with a 'least squares' criterion of fit, for the continents around the Atlantic ocean. The best fit is found to be at the 500 fm. contour which lies on the steep part of the continental edge. The root-mean-square errors for fitting Africa to South America, Greenland to Europe and North America to Greenland and Europe are 30 to 90 km. These fits are thought not to be due to chance, though no reliable statistical criteria are available. The fit of the block assembled from South America and Africa to that formed from Europe, North America and Greenland is much poorer. The root-mean-square misfit is about 130 km. These geometrical fits are regarded as a preliminary to a comparison of the stratigraphy, structures, ages and palaeomagnetic results across the joins.


Arguably for many 2015 was the year when the tragic events in Syria became a very real home crisis too, particularly with the Charlie Hebdo massacre; the beach killings in Tunisia; the bombing of the Russian airliner from Sharm el Sheikh; the Paris atrocities and the ongoing refugee crisis.1 Alongside this the CCTV footage of three London schoolgirls at Gatwick airport thought to be en route to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State terrorist group was a shocking depiction of an increasing threat to UK children2. Despite the government's Prevent strategy launched in 2011 which aims to "challenge extremist ideology, help protect institutions from extremists, and tackle the radicalisation of vulnerable people"3 and imposes a new duty on "specified authorities" including local authorities, schools and NHS trusts through s26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 to have "due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism", a number of cases involving the radicalisation of children were heard by the family courts in 2015 which demonstrate the crucial role of the courts in safeguarding vulnerable young people. Speaking in The London Borough of Tower Hamlets v M & others, two cases brought by local authorities concerned that a number of minors in their areas were at risk of leaving the UK to travel to Syria, Hayden J stressed that this is a new area for the family courts: "The family court system, particularly the Family Division is, and always has been, in my view, in the vanguard of change in life and society. Where there are changes in medicine or in technology or cultural change, so often they resonate first within the family. Here, the type of harm I have been asked to evaluate is a different facet of vulnerability for children than that which the courts have had to deal with in the past."4 This article will focus on some of the leading wardship cases concerning the radicalisation of children heard in 2015 and will consider the guidance issued by Sir James Munby in respect of such cases.5


In recent years, local Chinese firms have begun to join global production networks and leverage their local network to enlarge their manufacturing industry. As Chinese firms expand their production networks, their performance may improve due to their innovative use of such networks to diffuse information/knowledge. However, a survey of 171 Chinese firms found that simultaneously pursuing both central and intermediate network positions creates conflict even though both positions positively affect performance. Innovation orientation and environmental dynamics are the areas in which network position affects performance. In highly dynamic environments and for firms with innovation orientations, an intermediate position can improve performance. Conversely, central positions can improve performance for high innovation orientations in less dynamic environments. These results indicate that firms should consider the fitness of the various network positions, innovation strategies and environmental dynamics when expanding their production networks.


Herbicide resistance in weeds is a phenomenon threatening sustainable cereal production in the winter rainfall region of South Africa. Every possible weed control measure that may be used to complement chemical weed control measures should be investigated. The effect of aqueous leaf extracts of the aromatic shrub African wormwood (Artemisia afra) on germination of selected crop and weed species were investigated. The selected plant species included wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), herbicide resistant and non-resistant ryegrass (Lolium spp.), canola (Brassica napus) and lucerne (Medicago sativa). Various dilutions were investigated and the original extract was the most effective in inhibiting seed germination as compared to the inconclusive results from further dilutions. The original extract that completely inhibited seed germination in canola, had no significant negative effect on seed germination of wheat and lucerne. The reduction in seed germination of both the resistant and non-resistant ryegrass was highly significant, although there was no significant reduction in rate of germination. The different seed germination responses of the test species to an aqueous leaf extract of African wormwood raises the possibility of developing a bioherbicide from the extract.


As the twentieth century comes to a close, class actions are hot. Whether reading academic journals or leafing through the lay press, one cannot avoid seeing some reference to a threatened or actual filing of a proposed class action lawsuit. The United States Supreme Court has begun to pay increasing attention to the class action device, and Congress has recently enacted, or is considering, several pieces of legislation that would regulate class actions. The class action is an increasingly popular and necessary tool in today's legal system, helping to address the claims of mass tort victims and to abrogate the injustices of civil rights violations. The class action, however, is not without its critics, and calls for changes in its structure abound. At present, Rule 23 requires the trial court to certify, or approve of, the class before a case can proceed as a class action. The rule contains various provisions that instruct the court on which factors to consider in its determination. The court's decision, which is made as early as possible in the litigation, can control the parties' litigation strategy for the balance of the case, as a practical matter. As a result, the certification orders of the trial court often are targeted for appeal by the parties adversely affected by them. Waiting until the end of the litigation, however, before contesting the court's decision on class certification, is often not a viable option. Unhappy litigants may want to pursue an immediate interlocutory appeal of the class certification decision. Until recently, parties seeking interlocutory relief have had few options. Due to the restraints of the final judgment rule, which permits appeal only at the end of the litigation, courts have not been very receptive to attempts to appeal interlocutory orders. Moreover, the exceptions to the final judgment rule that do exist have stringent requirements that restrict their application to a limited set of circumstances. Thus, it has been extremely difficult for litigants to gain an immediate appeal of a class certification order. In response to these constraints, the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure promulgated an amendment to Rule 23 that would provide litigants an additional means by which to seek an interlocutory appeal. This provision has the potential to open broad new avenues of interlocutory review of class certification decisions in the federal courts. To date, Rule 23(f) has received little scholarly attention. Indeed, the burgeoning literature on class actions has devoted relatively little discussion to the role of appellate courts in general and, in particular, to interlocutory review. This Article aims to fill in some of the gap by addressing the appellate courts' new power to grant a discretionary appeal of class certification decisions. Under the new rule, appellate judges now must decide how to decide whether to hear such appeals. This Article focuses on how Rule 23(f) came to be, and how United States Courts of Appeals should exercise the discretion granted to them in the rule.


Damage to the primary visual cortex removes the major input from the eyes to the brain, causing significant visual loss as patients are unable to perceive the side of the world contralateral to the damage. Some patients, however, retain the ability to detect visual information within this blind region; this is known as blindsight. By studying the visual pathways that underlie this residual vision in patients, we can uncover additional aspects of the human visual system that likely contribute to normal visual function but cannot be revealed under physiological conditions. In this review, we discuss the residual abilities and neural activity that have been described in blindsight and the implications of these findings for understanding the intact system.


The regulation of technology is an important and topical area of law, relevant to almost all aspects of society. Technology Law: Australian and International Perspectives presents a thorough exploration of the new legal challenges created by evolving technologies, from the use of facial recognition technology in criminal investigations to the rise and regulation of cryptocurrencies. A well-written and fascinating introduction to technology law in Australia and internationally, Technology Law provides thorough coverage of the theoretical perspectives, legislation, cases and developing issues where technology and the law interact. The text covers data protection and privacy, healthcare technology, criminal justice technology, commercial transactions, cybercrime, social media and intellectual property, and canvasses the future of technology and technology law. Written by leading experts in the field, Technology Law is an excellent resource for law students and legal professionals with an interest in the area.


Objective: The prevalence of allergic rhinitis and allergic diseases has been reported to be higher in urban than in rural areas. Studies in Turkey have yielded different results for different regions. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of allergic rhinitis among the collage students in Kayseri, Turkey. Materials and Methods: We recruited 1214 collage students who are boarding in the dormitories, that have low socio-economic situation, partly belonging to families from different areas of Kayseri and administered the questionnaire of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). Results: According to the results of the questionnaire, 99 (15.68%) male and 83 (14.27%) female students had allergic rhinitis symptoms, and the difference was not statistically significant (p> 0.05). The rate of lifetime rhinitis was 24.24% (n= 153) in males and 25.25% (n= 147) in females. The rate of allergic rhinitis that was doctor diagnosed and treated were 4.03% (n= 49/1214). Conclusion: This study on the epidemiology of allergic rhinitis performed among the students in Kayseri. In this study, the prevalence of allergic rhinitis in students who are boarding in the dormitories, have low socio-economic situation and belong to families from different areas of Kayseri was documented. Further prevalance studies using a standardized methodology for allergic rhinitis in Turkey are needed to facilitate making comparisons within and between countries.


Background: Obesity is a global issue, and its prevalence is a major public health concern. To help resolve this obesity epidemic, we propose an education program for positive behavior change. This program incorporates diet and exercise behaviors at the individual level.
Objective: To demonstrate the effects of a new approach for treating obesity by improving individual selfmanagement through investigating, i) behavior modification in the treatment of obesity, ii) the change of obesity states and physical performance capacity, and iii) the risk factors to be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.
Design: Twenty-four men during the 2011 and thirty-three men during the 2012 intervention contributed to the
current study. Over 12 weeks, a total of 57 subjects participated in individual self-management education program.
Results: For a short-term program, in both the years 2011 and 2012 subjects showed a decrease in daily energy intake (-30.1% and -27.7%) accompanied by an increase in daily energy expenditure (+5.7% and +5.9%), suggesting an ability of individuals to keep obesity under control through behavior therapy. Subjects also showed a marked change in obesity states and physical capacity such as decreased body weight (-12.1% and -13.6%), and higher VO2max (+22.0% and +21.4%). Further, our comprehensive protocol led to a improvement in components for metabolic syndrome; reduction in waist circumference (-10.4% and -11.7%), blood pressure (systolic: -12.9% and -9.8%; diastolic: -14.6% and -9.6%), fasting plasma glucose (-8.6%, -7.6%), and triglyceride (-60.6% and -46.7%) along with an increase in the levels of HDL-C (+16.5% and +10.5%) was seen.
Conclusion: Under our protocol, subjects achieved optimal results for treating obesity during two consecutive years. We recognize that these results are due to an acquired ability like broader perspective and greater acumen about individual obesity management. Therefore, the methods and delivery of our new public approach are useful to the general public.


This paper contextualizes and analyses the policy proposals of new "left populisms" (Mouffe 2018) for the regulation and reform of the "platform capitalism" (Srnicek 2017) that increasingly organizes digital communication. The era of the 2008 crash and subsequent recession saw the emergence in North America and Europe of new left-wing electoral initiatives, either as new parties or fractions within older parties. These include, in the USA, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Democrats; in the UK, Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party; in Spain, Podemos; in Germany, Die Linke; in France, La France Insoumise. While many of these groupings might be described as socialist, or democratic socialist, they often also distinguish themselves from older socialist or social democratic formations; so, for lack of a better term, we call them left populisms. Left populisms are connected in contradictory ways to the appearance of platform capitalism, a corporate model exemplified by Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Uber, deploying proprietorial software as a launch-point for user activities accessing commodified or advertising-driven goods and services. The rise of left populism correlates with the ascent of platform capitalists. Left populist parties emerged from the anti-austerity movements (Occupy in the USA, the Indignados in Spain, student campus occupations in the UK) organized with the help of social media platforms. However, it is also the failures and scandals of platform capitalism have been important to left populism. Edward Snowden's revelations of ubiquitous surveillance and the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica-Russian hacker imbroglio around the 2016 US election have fuelled a "techlash" against giant digital corporations that is now an important component of left populist sentiment. Drawing on policy documents, manifestos, speeches, position paper, this paper analyses the policy platforms in which left populist parties confront platform capitalism around issues of content regulation; concentration of ownership; the rights of digital workers; alternative ownership models; and proposals for a hightech driven transition to "postcapitalism" (Mason 2016). It considers the similarities and difference between and within left populist parties on these issues; the extent of their departure from neoliberal policies; and their differences, and occasional erratic similarities, with right-wing populisms, such as that of Trump. It then reviews critiques of left populism made from Marxist and ecological anti-capitalist positions, with particular reference to technological issues. The paper concludes with a summary of the opportunities and problems for a left wing "data populism" (Morozov 2016) in the current political conjuncture.


Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between nurses' knowledge and performance for the prevention of intravascular catheter-related infections (ICRI) according to the strength of recommendations in evidence based guidelines (EBG). Methods: The total participants were 144 nurses working for medical·surgical unit and intensive care unit. Data were collected from July 12 to July 30, 2010 and analyzed by one way ANOVA and Pearson's correlation analysis. Results: The knowledge and performance mean scores were 0.80±0.17 and 3.04±0.31 for peripheral venous catheter (PVC) management, and 0.83±0.17 and 3.00±0.30 for central venous catheter (CVC) management respectively. The items of category IA had the highest knowledge score (F=44.70, p<.001) and the items of category II had the highest performance score (F=47.09, p<.001) in PVC management, while the items of category IA had the highest knowledge (F=20.04, p<.001) and performance scores (F=18.20, p<.001) in CVC management. Knowledge and performance scores were significantly correlated in CVC management (r=.24, p=.004), but not in PVC management (r=.03, p=.753). Conclusion: EBG for the prevention of ICRI was not fully implemented in clinical settings. These findings emphasize that clinical professions need to develope strategies to enhance nursing practices with evidence based guideline.


Behaviors evolved in simulation are often not robust to variations of their original training environment. Thus often researchers must train explicitly to encourage such robustness. Traditional methods of training for robustness typically apply multiple non-deterministic evaluations with carefully modeled noisy distributions for sensors and effectors. In practice, such training is often computationally expensive and requires crafting accurate models. Taking inspiration from nature, where animals react appropriately to encountered stimuli, this paper introduces a measure called reactivity, i.e. the tendency to seek and react to changes in environmental input, that is applicable in single deterministic trials and can encourage robustness without exposure to noise. The measure is tested in four different maze navigation tasks, where training with reactivity proves more robust than training without noise, and equally or more robust than training with noise when testing with moderate noise levels. In this way, the results demonstrate the counterintuitive fact that sometimes training with no exposure to noise at all can evolve individuals significantly more robust to noise than by explicitly training with noise. The conclusion is that training for reactivity may often be a computationally more efficient means to encouraging robustness in evolved behaviors.


This paper takes as its starting point an analysis of three inscriptions dating from the second quarter of the 2nd century BC, related to matters of international politics within the micro-Asiatic Hellenistic world: the treaty of alliance between Pharnakes I and the polis of Chersonesos (IOSPE I2 nr. 402), the treaty of alliance among Plarasa-Aphrodisias, Kibyra and Tabai (Milner 2007), and the (possible) foundation act of the Kibyratic Tetrapolis (I.Kibyra I nr. 2). What is most interesting about these major political agreements is that all the contracting parties make a common commitment not to undertake anything contrary to the Roman decrees or interests; in addition to this, they set it as a condition for the validity of the acts and express it by using much the same wordings. These texts are not addressed to a Roman audience; notwithstanding, they betray a common need to display an undisputed loyalty to the Roman cause. Accordingly, there is a strong case for supposing the action or the presence of the Roman Senate behind them. Indeed, it is telling a comparison to some Roman inscriptions dated to the 2nd century BC, whereby similar phraseologies figure in the words of the Romans themselves. Such coincidences demonstrate the sharing of a highly codified language by different political actors and can be related to the stress put by the ancient narratives (notably, the Histories by Polybius) on the necessity to obey Roman orders in the aftermath of the Third Macedonian War. Thus, we can recover an element of the script of the philo-Roman diplomacy in a specific historical and geopolitical context; it reflects the manner the Romans looked at their own imperium after Pydna, when a radical shift took place in the power relationships within the Hellenistic world.


Waveform Tomography, combines starting models from traveltime tomography with tomographic waveform inversion. This approach to inversion recovers a "best fit" velocity model by iteratively minimizing the misfit between the observed, frequency-domain waveform data and modelled, synthetic waveforms. The method is both computationally efficient and an improvement over ray-based tomographic methods. Synthetic benchmark studies and experiments with long-offset, 2-D, exploration seismic field data, demonstrate that Waveform Tomography can yield accurate, high resolution velocity models, vital in seismic exploration for hydrocarbons. I first present an application of Waveform Tomography to long-offset, 2-D, synthetic marine seismic data using the 2004 BP velocity benchmark. Due to the importance of refracted energy, the limited offset of marine seismic streamers limits the depths tomographic techniques can accurately image. Using data simulated with a multi-ship acquisition, providing maximum offsets up to 32 km, I show that Waveform Tomography of long-offset data can, potentially, accurately delineate top-salt, image shallow, low-velocity anomalies, and determine sub-salt velocity structures in marine seismic exploration. In thrust-fold belt tectonic settings, such as the Canadian Foothills, conventional exploration seismic processing is inadequate, given the effects of steep dips, rough topography, and near-surface weathering. Depth imaging is often necessary, requiring an accurate estimation of the macro-velocity model. Long-offset data, acquired in these areas to "undershoot" steeply dipping faults and a severely weathered near-surface, may provide the necessary input for successful Waveform Tomography. To investigate this, synthetic data were generated in a geologically realistic model from an area of the Foothills in northeastern B.C. Using this dataset, I demonstrate the ability of Waveform Tomography to accurately reconstruct the velocity model and the complex geological structures contained within. If the data do not contain frequencies below 3 Hz, the results are severely degraded. Finally, using seismic field data recorded with an appropriately designed long-offset survey, I develop pre-conditioning and inversion strategies which effectively increase the low-frequency content of the data while mitigating the effects of ground roll. I apply these strategies to 2-D field data from southern Alberta, demonstrating that Waveform Tomography, using 4 Hz data, can produce complex velocity models containing geologically interpretable structures, correlatable with results from pre-stack time migration.


Problems in fault-tolerant distributed computing have been studied in a variety of models. These models are structured around two central ideas: 1. Degree of synchrony and failure model are two independent parameters that determine a particular type of system. 2. Failure and faulty component (i.e., the component responsible for the failure) are necessary and indissociable notions for the analysis of system behaviors. In this work, we question these two dogmas and present a general computational model, suitable for describing any type of system with benign failures, that depends only on the notion of transmission failure. In this model, computations evolve in rounds, and messages missed at a round are lost." Only information transmission is represented: for each round r and each process p, our model provides the set of processes that p "hears of" at round r (heard-of set) namely the processes from which p receives some message at round r. The features of a specific system are thus captured as a whole, just by a predicate over the collection of heard-of sets. We show that our model handles all types of benign failures, to be static or dynamic, permanent or transient, in a unified framework. Using this new approach, we are able to give shorter and simpler proofs of important results (non-solvability, lower bounds). In particular, we prove that in general, Consensus cannot be solved without an implicit and permanent consensus on heard-of sets. We also examine Consensus algorithms in our model. In light of this specific agreement problem, we show how our approach allows us to devise new interesting solutions.


The track regularity of a permanent-magnet guideway (PMG) is an important issue to ensure the riding comfort and running stability of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) maglev vehicles. Compared with defects of typical railway tracks, similar defects on PMG could affect the magnetic field at the levitation height and then influence the running performance and the riding comfort of the maglev system. In this paper, the influence of four kinds of Halbach PMG defects on magnetic field distribution was investigated by a finite-element simulation method. According to the calculation results, it is found that the sensitivity of the magnetic field inhomogeneity varies with each kind of defect. The vibration experiments found that the magnetic field inhomogeneity does bring vibration to HTS maglev vehicles. The results could provide significant references for future PMG design in the HTS maglev system.


E-print archives (electronic preprints) have become the first choice of many researchers for current research, breaking scientific discoveries, and keeping up with colleagues (and competitors) at other institutions. The citations being received to e-prints are evidences of the above stated importance of the archives. Impact Factor and Immediacy Index devised by Thomson Scientific Inc. (formerly Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), Philadelphia) are two parameters based on citations to evaluate traditional journals. These parameters for nearly 6000 scientific journals from all over the world are published yearly as Journal Citation Reports (JCR). As a case study, the present work has made an endeavour to calculate impact factors and immediacy indices of archives uploaded in the Physics categories of arXiv.org of Cornell University, USA by treating them as individual journals. The Physics e-prints uploaded in arXiv.org are classified into twelve sub-categories: viz. AstroPhysics (astro-ph); Condensed Matter (cond-mat); General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc); High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex); High Energy Physics - Lattice (hep-lat); High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph); High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th); Mathematical Physics (math-ph); Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex); Nuclear Theory (nucl-th); General Physics (Physics); and Quantum Physics (quant-ph). Calculated impact factors and immediacy indices reveal that Nuclear Experiment has made good impact among the categories and followed by High-Energy Physics classes of arXiv.org (High Energy Physics – Theory; High Energy Physics – Lattice; High Energy Physics – Experiment; and High Energy Physics - Phenomenology). The citation trackers like Scopus and web-tools like 'Google-Scholar', 'Citebase', 'Citeseer' etc. will further strengthen the concluded impact of the archives.


Modeling and analysis of large-scale complex adaptive systems (CAS) is critical to understanding their key properties such as self-organization, emergence, and adaptability. These properties are difficult to analyze in real-world scenarios due to performance constraints, metric design, and limitations in existing modeling tools. In our previous work, we proposed the Complex Adaptive Systems Language (CASL) and its associated framework. In this paper, we introduce CASL-SG, a Semantic Group extension for large-scale modeling using relational hierarchies. CASL-SG permits large-scale simulations to be executed on modest hardware by enabling simulations to contain approximately twice as many agents. This achieves a 356% runtime improvement for a Game of Life model with 4 million cells. CASL-SG also enables designers to model behaviors of collectives that drive the system and entities towards self-organization and adaptability.


Data from Polar and Geotail spacecraft are combined to investigate the relationship between locations of active auroras and the magnetotail plasma sheet region where reversed fast plasma flows are generated during substorms. Using the magnetospheric magnetic field model, it is shown that at the beginning of the tailward fast flow the ionospheric footprint of the spacecraft measuring the flow tends to be located poleward of the auroral bulge. The spacecraft within the earthward flow is mapped equatorward of the poleward edge of the auroral bulge. We conclude that a source of the fast plasma flows is conjugated with the poleward edge of the auroral bulge. Analysis of the behavior of the plasma and the magnetic field in the vicinity of the source of the diverging flows allows us to conclude that the source region, interpreted as the magnetic reconnection site, coincides with the region of the cross-tail current reduction, and the tailward propagation of the region is associated with the tailward propagation of the current disruption front.


Imaging Raman spectroscopy based on tunable filters is an established technique for detecting single explosives particles at stand-off distances. However, large light losses are inherent in the design due to sequential imaging at different wavelengths, leading to effective transmission often well below 1 %. The use of digital micromirror devices (DMD) and compressive sensing (CS) in imaging Raman explosives trace detection can improve light throughput and add significant flexibility compared to existing systems. DMDs are based on mature microelectronics technology, and are compact, scalable, and can be customized for specific tasks, including new functions not available with current technologies. This paper has been focusing on investigating how a DMD can be used when applying CS-based imaging Raman spectroscopy on stand-off explosives trace detection, and evaluating the performance in terms of light throughput, image reconstruction ability and potential detection limits. This type of setup also gives the possibility to combine imaging Raman with non-spatially resolved fluorescence suppression techniques, such as Kerr gating. The system used consists of a 2nd harmonics Nd:YAG laser for sample excitation, collection optics, DMD, CMOScamera and a spectrometer with ICCD camera for signal gating and detection. Initial results for compressive sensing imaging Raman shows a stable reconstruction procedure even at low signals and in presence of interfering background signal. It is also shown to give increased effective light transmission without sacrificing molecular specificity or area coverage compared to filter based imaging Raman. At the same time it adds flexibility so the setup can be customized for new functionality.


Designing an oral drug such that its estimated dose to humans is both efficacious and safe is challenging. During the early design stage, where in vitro or preclinical species in vivo safety data are limited, heuristic-based criteria often related to physicochemical properties are used for guidance. The causal relationship between a compound's log P and its human in vivo toxicity is considered. With respect to designing efficacious oral drugs that potentially have reduced toxicity liabilities, an alternative heuristic-based criterion is proposed based on the amount of compound in the body at steady state. In humans, a threshold for the amount of compound in the body at steady state of 0.5 mg kg-1 is suggested. The criterion is based on the minimum toxic blood-plasma concentration that produces clinically relevant side effects or symptoms in humans for 242 oral drugs. It can be used to estimate a therapeutic window against which a compound's estimated in vivo plasma levels for a particular dose size and frequency can be assessed. The relationship between this criterion and acceptable oral dose sizes for different charge types with different in vivo plasma clearances is discussed.


Present use of computers in civil engineering is largely devoted to numeric, algorithmic calculations. This mode is not appropriate for the empirical, heuristic, ill-structured problems of civil engineering practice. The paper reviews recent work in Artificial Intelligence and Expert systems addressing these latter issues, identifies the distinctive features of engineering knowledge based systems, the roles of such systems, and attempts to predict their evolution.


Context. Software systems, becoming larger and more complex day-by-day, have resulted in software development processes to become more complex to understand and manage. Many companies have started to adapt distributed software engineering practices that would allow them to work in distributed teams at different organizations and/or geographical locations. For example, model-driven engineering methods are being used in such global software engineering projects. Among the activities in model-based software development, consistency checking is one of the widely known ones. Consistency checking is concerned with consistent models; in particular, having a consistent group of multiple models for a whole system, e.g., multiple models produced by distributed teams. Objectives. This thesis aims to find out how 'Global Consistency Checking (GCC)' can be utilized for exploring inconsistency problems between distributed models; particularly among UML class diagram relationships (in terms of consistency), as well as how GCC can be scaled with large number of models and relationships. Thereby, these inconsistencies are also aimed to incrementally resolve in our approach. Methods. We made a review in distributed software development domain and model management, in particular, methods of consistency checking between 'Distributed Models (DM)'. Next, we conducted two case studies in two problem domains in order to apply our 'consistency checking methodology'. We concurrently constructed and implemented new consistency rules, most of which are gathered from literatures and brainstorming with our coordinators. Generally, the method contains implementing different models of the case studies with a tool support and trying to figure out overlaps, merging models and checking the merged model against the consistency rules, and evaluating the results of GCC. We mainly addressed issues focused on consistency checking of individual models and the mapping between them e.g., pair-wise consistency checking (PCC), which are incapable of fully addressing problems against any consistency rules encountered in distributed environments. Results. We have identified seven types of inconsistency, which are divided in two groups named 'Global inconsistency' and 'Pair-wise inconsistency'. In the first case study, we have 94 global inconsistencies and 73 pair-wise. In the second one, 14 global and 25 pair-wise inconsistencies are resulted. During 'Resolution approach', we followed six steps as a 'systematic procedure' for resolving these inconsistencies and constructed new merged model in each iteration. The initial merged model (inconsistent model) as an input for the first step has 1267 elements, and the consistent merged model (the output) from the sixth step has 686 elements. 'time duration' and 'required effort' for checking consistency against each 'consistency rule' were recorded, analyzed and illustrated in Sections 4.1.5 and 4.2.4. Conclusions. We concluded that GCC enables us to explore the inconsistencies, inclusive of resolving them and therefore, refining the relationships between different models, which are difficult to detect by e.g., a pair-wise method. The most important issues are: The number of model comparisons conducted by PCC, The inability of PCC for identifying some inconsistencies, Model relationships refinement and classification based on PCC approach will not lead to a final consistent DM, whereas, GCC guarantees it. Consistency rules application, inconsistency identification and resolving them could be generalized to any UML class diagram model representing a problem domain within the fields of consistency checking in software engineering.


In an age when partisan politics has reached a deafening-and arguably impotent-pitch, how does the real work of politics get done? This book opens the door on backroom politics and gives readers an insider's perspective on the efforts of policymakers from three presidential administrations to get past the naysayers and effect real and lasting policy changes. The editors take a comparative approach, offering a thorough overview of policymaking during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, with further discussion of President Obama's successful and failed attempts to build coalitions and get past no. The contributors, a national network of prominent political scientists, reveal the sausage-making of politics and policy. Readers can almost see the political players in the proverbial smoke-filled room, shirtsleeves rolled up and BlackBerrys in hand, developing the strategies and hammering out the compromises designed to hold the party base while winning over independent voters. Combining an insider's perspective with actual case studies, the volume examines the policymaking behind such programs as: No Child Left Behind; tax cuts; Social Security privatization; Medicare prescription drug reform; education and immigration reform; environmental policy; judicial politics; and, national security. Covering all major areas of policymaking, "Building Coalitions, Making Policy" gives instructors in political science, public administration and policy, American government, and American presidential studies plenty of provocative examples for classroom debate.


While the contemporary landscape of sociological and psychological literature boasts nuances that account for many cultural identities, there exists a paucity in research pertaining to the lived experiences of Middle Eastern-American (MEA) members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, or Intersex (LGBTQI) community within the United States. Researchers have investigated the experiences of LGBTQI-identifying individuals and those of MEAs, but the idiosyncrasies that occur at the intersection of these identities is still a largely unexplored terrain. Narrative accounts suggest that this group faces a high risk of adverse quality of life outcomes directly resulting from persecution along axes of race, gender expression, and sexual orientation. Moreover, this persecution is bolstered by post-9/11 American societal views, heteronormative Middle Eastern values, and non-MEA members of the LGBTQI community. Anecdotal evidence also indicates promise in exploring interventions, such as community building to curb psychosocial pathways that could otherwise result in self-injurious behaviors (including suicide) amongst Middle Eastern-American individuals who identify as LGBTQI. Unfortunately, the lack of research on this topic acts as a barrier to both understanding this extremely vulnerable group and providing its members with culturally competent support. This review will synthesize information germane to the experiences of LGBTQI MEAs in order to illuminate gaps in literature and indicate areas which further research could better inform social service practices on behalf of this group.


The runtime performance of modern SAT solvers on random k-CNF formulas is deeply connected with the 'phase-transition' phenomenon seen empirically in the satisfiability of random k-CNF formulas. Recent universal hashing-based approaches to sampling and counting crucially depend on the runtime performance of SAT solvers on formulas expressed as the conjunction of both k-CNF and XOR constraints (known as k-CNF-XOR formulas), but the behavior of random k-CNF-XOR formulas is unexplored in prior work. In this paper, we present the first study of the satisfiability of random k-CNF-XOR formulas. We show empirical evidence of a surprising phase-transition that follows a linear trade-off between k-CNF and XOR constraints. Furthermore, we prove that a phase-transition for k-CNF-XOR formulas exists for k = 2 and (when the number of k-CNF constraints is small) for k > 2.


Nowadays, a major issue in the field of construction is the deterioration of reinforced concrete structures due to chemical and mechanical attacks. This deterioration directly impacts construction safety and serviceability, as well as the cost of maintenance. For the purpose of maintaining safety and serviceability, it is necessary to evaluate the durability of existing structures accurately, in order to predict the structure's deterioration and its future strength. In this study, an experiment was conducted in which the electrolytic process was carried out for several levels of corrosion. Next, a static loading test was adopted to assess the structural performance and obtain the ultimate strength of the beam. In addition, continuum damage mechanics were utilized in the analysis of damage caused by chemical and mechanical effects. Within the framework of this method, chemical damage caused by the corrosion of steel bars was considered. Then the coupling effects of chemical and mechanical damage were calculated by introducing two independent scalar damage variables into the constitutive equation. To calculate the chemical damage evolution, we carried out a diffusion process of chloride ions that impact the corrosion of steel bars in concrete, and an evaluation was conducted on an affected cross-sectional area of a steel bar. The proposed method was found to validate the experiment's results and could predict the ultimate strength under various exposure conditions. Moreover, the proposed orthotropic conditions may be carried out as an alternative to isotropic analysis in order to identify the worst-case scenario of the structure .


Abstract. We evaluated distributed and semi-distributed modeling approaches to simulating the spatial and temporal evolution of snow and ice over an extended mountain catchment, using the Crocus snowpack model. The distributed approach simulated the snowpack dynamics on a 250-m grid, enabling inclusion of terrain shadowing effects. The semi-distributed approach simulated the snowpack dynamics for discrete topographic classes characterized by elevation range, aspect, and slope. This provided a categorical simulation that was subsequently spatially re-projected over the 250-m grid used for the distributed simulations. The study area (the upper Arve catchment, western Alps, France) is characterized by complex topography, including steep slopes, an extensive glaciated area, and snow cover throughout the year. Simulations were carried out for the period 1989–2015 using the SAFRAN meteorological forcing system. The simulations were compared using four observation datasets including point snow depth measurements, seasonal and annual glacier surface mass balance, snow covered area evolution based on optical satellite sensors, and the annual equilibrium-line altitude of glacier zones, derived from satellite images. The results showed that in both approaches the Crocus snowpack model effectively reproduced the snowpack distribution over the study period. Slightly better results were obtained using the distributed approach because it included the effects of shadows and terrain characteristics.


As lawsuits targeting the press continue to rise in response to today's political climate, local news outlets are more likely to find themselves facing unexpected legal expenses. Although the national news media can generally weather the costs of libel lawsuits and subpoena requests, smaller news outlets have gone bankrupt or barely escaped such a fate while paying off legal fees, even when these outlets have ultimately been successful in their legal battles. Because local news outlets serve a critical role in underserved communities and are powerful agents of positive social change, they ought to be protected against fatal legal expenses. This article examines the important functions of local journalism, explains the recent legal challenges that local news outlets have been facing and their resulting impact, and exposes the problematic gaps of statutory frameworks that fail to adequately protect local news outlets from fatal legal expenses. In so doing, this article argues that enacting strong state anti-SLAPP statutes and reporter's shield laws is necessary to combat the costly attacks against the press as of late and to preserve the vitality of the local media.


This special issue describes exciting papers contributed to the International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease issue on microglia in Alzheimer's disease (AD). It has been well recognized that neuroinflammation is an early event in the pathogenesis of AD, in which microglia is a major player. A core theme of the articles presented in this special issue is the dichotomous role played by the microglia—the context-dependent neuroprotective and neurotoxic functions. Recent insights regarding molecular mechanisms that regulate the diverse microglia responses are summarized. The understanding of these molecular pathways would lead to targeted therapies aimed at modulating microlgial behavior toward neuroprotection, as exemplified by approaches targeting the microglial KCa3.1 potassium channel, scavenger receptors, or complements, for example. Microglia also play critical roles in comorbidities of AD, such as diabetes and traumatic brain injury.

The first paper I would suggest the readers to read is R. E. Mrak's neuropathological survey of microglia in Alzheimer brain. Thanks to the pioneer observations by neuropathologists about two decades ago, microglia emerged into the scene of AD research. Although our view of microglia in AD has since substantially changed, mostly based on studies using rodents as models, human neuropathology still provides a "golden standard" or reality check for what is relevant and important to AD. Interesting sets of data presented by R. E. Mrak suggest that microglia actively influence the pattern of development of amyloid plaques as well as neuronal tangle formation in AD brains, rather than simple associations with these lesions. In addition, plaques of different stages, perhaps reflecting different pathological stages of AD, are associated with activated microglia with different morphology or immunohistochemical phenotypes. The readers can consult the article by D. M. Wilcock for a synopsis of various states of microglia that may serve different functions. In principle, microglia possess all the response repertoire of peripheral macrophages; therefore the established classification system for the inflammatory state of macrophages, based on defined sets of molecular markers, can be applied to microglia. D. M. Wilcock further provides a summary about how the microglia inflammatory state can be altered by specific sets of stimuli, how different states influence amyloid load, and how passive immunization with anti-Aβ antibodies alters the microglia inflammatory state prior to significant reductions in amyloid deposition. Again, this line of evidence supports an active role of microglia in the development and dissolution of amyloid plaques. However, how the microglia inflammatory phenotypes related exactly to the pathologies of AD appears to be complex and remains to be explored.

In this issue, M. Noda and A. Suzumura provide a comprehensive review of the molecular players in the quintessential functions of microglia—chemotaxis and phagocytosis. They point out that the lack of microglial phagocytosis worsens the pathology of AD and induces memory impairment. In addition to the well-known players such as phosphatidylserine receptors, scavenger receptors, and complement factors, M. Noda and A. Suzumnura also discuss a less publicized but highly interesting phagocytosis modulator expressed in microglia—γ-secretase, which in neurons is certainly the center of attention for its role in generating Aβ. One novel phagocytosis modulator relevant to AD reported in this special issue is the high mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1). HMGB1 is a nonhistone chromosomal protein that is released from cells undergoing necrosis and acts as an inflammatory mediator. K. Takata et al. report evidence to support that microglial Aβ phagocytosis dysfunction may be caused by HMGB1 that accumulates extracellularly on Aβ plaques.

When it comes to the effect of microglial phenotypes on neurons, microglia serve a biphasic role in AD—they are either neurotoxic or neuroprotective. In this issue, T. Mizuno reviews the molecules that trigger and execute the neurotoxic actions of microglia in AD, as well as those able to induce microglia neuroprotective properties. However, the interwoven molecular pathways and the dichotomous behavioral pattern of microglia make it difficult to provide a clear answer regarding if a microglia action is beneficial or harmful. A synthesis of the complex clinical and experimental literature encompassing the debate of "good" and "bad" microglia (and, of course, without excluding the possibility of microglia playing no role in AD) is provided by T. M. Weitz and T. Town. They conclude that an understanding seems possible when considering context—the conditions under which microglia encounter AD-like pathological lesions. Specifically, a model emerges where microglia mount different types of activated responses depending on whether they encounter particular species of misfolded protein (Aβ or tau) and whether this innate recognition occurs early on or after pathology is well established, an insight that echoes the neuropathological observations reviewed by R. E. Mrak.

A group of well-studied and highly significant molecules in microglia is scavenger receptors (SRs), reviewed by K. Wilkinson and J. El Khoury. Although the roles of several members of SRs in AD are diverse and complex, convincing evidence shows that SCARA-1-mediated microglia interactions with Aβ are beneficial and promote phagocytosis and clearance of Aβ, whereas CD36-Aβ interactions are harmful and together with TLR-4 and TLR-6 lead to the production of neurotoxins and proinflammatory molecules. The other group of molecules reviewed in this issue is complements. H. Crehan et al. review evidence indicating that the ability of microglia to adopt the "good" or "bad" role in AD is influenced by complement factors. Furthermore, microglia appear to be a major player in the dysregulated complement cascade in AD, in which microglia are aberrantly activated by disruptive complement signaling and Aβ to enhance their secretion of cytokines, which can lead to further complement cascades.

Along this line of research on "good" and "bad" microglia, I. Maezawa et al. actually propose a molecular target that is ready for manipulation by pharmacologically well-characterized small molecules. They provide evidence that targeting the microglia potassium channel KCa3.1 could harness calcium signaling resulting from microglia activation, thus "fine tune" the microglia response toward neuroprotection—phagocytosis of Aβ with reduced release of harmful inflammatory mediators and oxidative species. Because the pharmacology of KCa3.1 has been well studied and highly selective inhibitors are available and safe, targeting KCa3.1 may hold promise as a specific anti-inflammatory therapy for AD.

Also included in this special issue are two articles discussing the microglia link in two significant comorbidities in AD: traumatic brain injury (TBI) and type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). R. C. Mannix and M. J. Whalen point out that Aβ, which is elevated acutely after TBI, may be a key mediator of microglial activation in TBI. TBI-induced Aβ alters long-term microglial function and Aβ-clearance and could therefore contribute to the development of AD. In this regard, the advancement of drug discoveries in the field of TBI, such as sex steroids or Apoe mimetics which alter both microglial function and Aβ metabolism, may have potentially important roles in TBI as well as AD. Microglia-mediated neuroinflammation appears also to provide a shared mechanism between AD and T2DM. L. F. Lue et al. review evidence supporting that T2DM could accentuate microglial activation, neuroinflammation, and vascular inflammatory/oxidative injury in AD brains through mechanisms mediated by RAGE and other pattern recognition receptors and the cascade of cytokine and chemokines. Because a wide range of inflammatory mediators and receptors are involved in these two diseases, it is important to characterize the patterns of microglial activation in AD patients with T2DM and AD patients without T2DM for future anti-inflammatory approaches. One interesting difference pointed out by L. F. Lue et al. is that complement activation is a prominent feature in AD, but not in T2DM.

In summary, common themes emerge in the articles presented in this special issue. Microglia response is highly complex in AD and is context dependent. Aging, the most significant risk factor for AD, and other risk factors such as TBI and T2DM may contribute to the development of AD via altered microglia-mediated neuroinflammation (microglia dysfunction). The task ahead is to be able to manipulate microglia responses to therapeutic advantage. Further understanding of the triggers and molecular pathways of various microglia responses will help us to design microglia-targeted therapies to enhance the neuroprotective or the "good" behavior and at the same time dampen the neurotoxic or the "bad" behavior of microglia.

Lee-Way Jin


Summary Balanced cross sections and their palinspastic reconstruction in structurally simple external zones of folded belts suggest that a limited amount of continental lithosphere was subducted (Ampferer or A-subduction). This process appears to be associated with preceding or synchronous basement remobilization. Therefore, the rigid or ductile nature and the timing of basement deformation remain as some of the most important orogenic problems. Decoupling and ductility contrasts within the lower continental crust and within the overlying sedimentary sequences are responsible for varying structural styles in mountain ranges. Gravity gliding as an important factor for mountain building is examined in some detail. Soft sediment gravity tectonics on passive continental margins are dominated by listric normal growth faults. This style contrasts with observed styles of deformation in folded belts. Gravity tectonics induced by stretching of the underlying basement area is commonly observed during the rifting phase of passive continental margins and in episutural basins associated with orogenic systems.


This thesis describes studies directed towards the preparation of new transition metal species containing multiple bonds to nitrogen, with a view to learning more about the structure and reactivity of metal bound nitrogen: Chapter 1 highlights areas of transition metal nitrido and imido chemistry of relevance to the general theme of the thesis. Chapter 2 describes the use of silyl amines and amides for convenient solution syntheses of half-sandwich imido complexes of niobium and tantalum of the type CpM(NR)Cl(_2) (R = Me, Bu, 2-6-(^i)Pr(_2)C(_6)H(_3)). In addition, the preparation and characterisation of alkyl, phenoxide and alkoxide derivatives are presented. The bis-neopentyl derivative, CpNb(N(^t)Bu)(CH(_2)CMe(_3))(_2), is found to possess two a-agostic C- H interactions. Finally, attempts to prepare a bis imido species of the type [CpNb(NR)(_2)] are discussed. Chapter 3 employs Fenske-Hall quantum chemical MO calculations (FHMO), to learn more about the nature of the imido bonding in CpNb(NMe)Cl(_2), and compares this class of compound with Group 4 metallocenes (CP2MX2) and complexes of the type Cp*Ta(η(^2)-CHPMe(_2))X(_2). Chapter 4 describes a search for metal-nitrogen complexes exhibiting the unusual phenomenon of bond-stretch isomerism. Modified preparations of molybdenum and tungsten nitrido starting materials have been developed and their reactions with tertiary phosphines examined. Attempts to prepare M(N)Cl(_3)(PMe(_3))(_3) led to the isolation of the phosphiniminato species [Mo(NPMe(_3))Cl(_2)(PMe(_3))(_3)]Cl, which converts under mild conditions to the binuclear nitrido complex [(PMe(_3))(_2)Cl(_3)MoNMoCl(_3)(PMe(_3))(_2)][Me(_3)PNPMe(_3)]. The X-ray structures, reactivity and bonding of these unusual species are discussed. Other attempts to isolate bond-stretch isomers, from tungsten and rhenium nitride starting materials, resulted in nitride complexes such as W(N)Cl(_3)(PR(_3))(_2) (PR(_3) = PMe(_3), PMe(_2)Ph, PPh(_3)) and Re(N)Cl(_2)(PR(_3))(_n) (n = 3, PR(_3) = PMe(_2)Ph; n = 2, PR(_3) = PMePh(_2)). Chapter 5 presents a detailed analysis of the 0x0 bonding in the isomers of Nb(O)Cl(_3)(PMe(_3))(_3) arising by lengthening of the metal-oxygen bond (bond-stretch isomers). The bonding has been analysed over a range of metal-oxygen distances and destabilising anti-bonding interactions found at shorter Nb-O bond lengths. These observations are compared with the results of calculations on the hypothetical nitride species Mo(N)Cl(_3)(PMe(_3))(_3). Chapter 6 gives experimental details for chapter 2-5.


Global interconnect design for threedimensional integrated circuits is a crucial task. Despitethe importance of this task, limited results related to global issues have been presented. Challenges in reliably distributing power, ground, and the clock signal within a multi-plane integrated system are discussed in this paper. The design of two 3-D test circuits addressing these issues is described. Candidate 3-D topologies for both power and clock distribution networks are also presented. Design implications due to the different design approaches are discussed. Experimental and simulation results of the 3-D clock and power distribution architectures, respectively, are provided. Both of the test circuits are fabricated by the 3-D fabrication process developed at MIT Lincoln Laboratories (MITLL). The design of the clock and power distribution networks is discussed