Building on a theoretical framework of integrated entrepreneurial competencies with substantial literature supported by Baron and Ensley (2006), Bartlett and Ghoshal (1997), Karra, Nelson and Tracey (2008), Man, Lau and Chan (2002), and McGregor et al. (2000), this study conceptually interpreted a framework of entrepreneurial competencies in microenterprises through conducting a multi-case qualitative method. By collecting and analyzing related documentation, reviewing literature, and observing researchers' observations and participants involved the study identified six key entrepreneurial competencies in microenterprises i.e., opportunity exploration competencies, opportunity exploitation competencies, organizing competencies, strategic competencies, relationship competencies, and commitment competencies. As a result, the researchers provided the structure for further research for the practice and advancement of micro-entrepreneurship.


Open educational resources are largely a phenomenon of the Web, although they can be used as offline resources. We have provided a rough guide to the OER world, and OpenLearn in particular in the case study, highlighting the thinking that lay behind the transformation of educational resources for open publication and exemplified by real examples accessible on or from OpenLearn and as discussed in key publications written by members of the OpenLearn Team.
We expect the case study to give sufficient information and pointers to online sources for readers to begin to explore the issues involved, while we expect you, as an instructor, to highlight ways in which you can get your students to actively explore and use an OER as a learner and educator in order to use their own experiences to better understand and address the issues. However, you may want to suggest that your students also do some preclass reading of a selection of papers from the bibliography in addition to the case study itself.


The objective of the present study is to examine the behaviour and interaction of international stock markets. The validity of an earnings based valuation model is assessed using data from seventeen developed countries around the world over the last sixteen years. The estimation process employed involves a two–step Engel–Granger procedure where cointegrating relationships between market indices and their fundamentals are analysed. Cointegration appears mainly in large markets, while the presence of an error correction representation implies the existence of the reversion force towards the fair value obtained from the cointegrating regression. Further, the error correction model, enriched with other variables identified in previous research, seems to capture the short–run dynamics quite well. The coefficients of the variables in both the cointegrating regression and the error correction representation have the correct signs and are consistent in size. Granger causality tests do not particularly support the hypothesis that smaller markets are being influenced by external factors, since causality seems to run both from large to small markets and vice versa.


Many studies have shown that phonological awareness is related to the acquisition of alphabetic scripts. However, alphabetic scripts are not faithful to their phonological basis and to acquire orthographic patterns children need to be aware of other levels of language structure. Recently, researchers have turned their attention to the role played by syntactic awareness. A study with British children have shown that syntactic awareness is related to children´s progress in the acquisition of morpho-syntactic rules in spelling. The present study investigated this relationship in a sample of 46 Brazilian lower-middle class children. The children were evaluated in metalinguistic awareness in the beginning of the first grade and for spelling at the end of the first and second grades. The results indicated that syntactic awarenesss is specifically related to the acquisition of morpho-syntactic rules in spelling while phonological awareness contributes to the acquisition of contextual rules involving grapho-phonic analyses.


Human asthma is a heterogeneous disease characterized by the expression of both Th2 and Th17 cytokines. In vitro and in vivo studies have shown a reciprocal regulation between Th2 and Th17 pathways, suggesting a potential induction of neutrophil-promoting Th17 inflammation in the absence of a Th2 response. Alternaria alternata is a clinically relevant allergen that is associated with severe and fatal asthma exacerbations. Exposure to A. alternata is characterized by a predominant Th2 response, but can also induce the production of factors associated with Th17 responses (e.g., CXCL8) from epithelial cells. Using a mouse model, we found that wild-type mice develop an eosinophilic Th2 airway disease in response to A. alternata exposure, whereas IL-4–, IL-13–, and STAT6-deficient mice exhibit a primarily neutrophilic response. Neutrophilic asthma in STAT6−/− mice was accompanied by elevated lung levels of TNF-α, CXCL1, CXCL2, and CXCL5, and was steroid resistant. Neutralization of Th17 signaling only partially reduced neutrophil numbers and total airway inflammation. Airway neutrophilia developed in RAG-deficient and CD4-depleted BALB/c mice, suggesting that the suppression of neutrophil responses is dependent on Th2 cytokine production by T cells and that airway neutrophilia is primarily an innate response to allergen. These results highlight the importance of combination therapies for treatment of asthma and establish a role for factors other than IL-17 as targets for neutrophilic asthma.


There is a broad consensus that successful real estate management requires the ability to think interdisciplinarily and across the borders of the stakeholder systems involved in the process of this management. Such thinking is also the fundament to take into consideration that real estate management has to be oriented to the demand of sustainability with its three dimensions of economy, ecology and the socio-cultural context. The implementation of these principles in the field of practical real estate education is complicated. This paper presents and discusses the concept of and the experiences with feasibility studies as strategic element of real estate education in the Real Estate Management (REM) Masters` Course at Technische University Berlin (TUB). This master course addresses to professionals with a diploma (Dipl., Ms., BA) mainly in the field of architecture and planning and with several years of practical experience. Today REM TUB can look back on experiences of 7 semesters with 10 projects in 4 courses. In the curriculum of TUB¥s REM Course case studies in form of feasibility studies play a strategic role. They are defined as iback bonei of the interdisciplinary course and should prove as ilitmus testi for a successful learning process. To do this they must face a number of demands and conditions examplified and discussed in the paper and described in short as follows. During the whole two-years-course there are three projects according to the following system: 1. semester: iex posti analysis of a project which has been already realised or at least decided (e.g. iEastgatei mall in Berlin-Marzahn, partner ECE); 2. semester: Feasibility study (iex antei) with focus on site and project development (e.g. former power plant area Berlin Charlottenburg Nord, partner Vattenfall); 3. semester: Feasibility study (iex antei) with focus on project realisation (e.g. former Post Station Berlin, partner Deutsche Post Immobilien). The integration of the project work into the context of the semester curriculum seems easy but has proved itself a very complicated procedure. Particularly in the first semester students have to understand, that not all the stuff that is necessary for project work can be presented by systematic lectures in advance or at least parallel. These problems can only be reduced by a tough coordination and communication of teachers. In reality this means at least three meetings of teachers per semester, which means a hard challenge for German university faculty. The projects are coached by a project coordinator assisted by a project tutor. Thus it is possible to accompany the work of the students with high intensity, to organise meetings with the site owners or developers/investors and to organise also special lectures to issues that are relevant for the project work. In general the teachers ofthe main disciplines have to act as an expert panel for the project teams. As methodology is concerned students are trained to systematical work with benchmarks. Particularly in the field of urban design, architectural and infrastructural planning this method leads to fast and realistic solution finding and decision making. Students are obliged to work in teams of 4-6 members, each of them responsible for certain thematic dimensions of the project. Although the teams should be mixed with regard to the professions of their members these have to choose issues that are not identical with their home profession. To enhance their soft skills students are trained in presentation techniques and have to present the results of their work in a session open for representatives of the site owners, developers, investors and invited real estate companies. The experiences within the framework of REM TUB have encouraged TUB to start an initiative for similar project work in inormali courses of architecture and planning schools in those universities that are members of iagenda4i. Since 2005 an annual students¥ competition is organised for these 11 universities in cooperation with and sponsored by prominent real estate companies (2005 aurelis; 2006 IVG and RWE). Of course the project work in this competition cannot have the same professional standard as described for REM TUB. But the substantial conditions of the working process are similar and the results of the first run in 2005 are encouraging: 44 teams with about 300 students participated. One can expect that this initiative is an outstanding contribution for the widening of real estate related contents in the education of architects and planners in Germany and thus for the improvement of this education towards more sustainability in real estate management.


3037 Background: Pancreatic cancer has a poor prognosis. Tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) can be activated in vivo by dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccination. However, clinical responses to the immunotherapy with DC vaccination have only been observed in a minority of patients with solid cancer. Combination with other treatment modalities such as chemotherapy may overcome immunoresistance of cancer cells. It has been shown previously that gemcitabine as well as S-1 sensitises human pancreatic carcinoma cells against CTL-mediated lysis. In the current study, the clinical efficacy of the DC vaccine pulsed with the peptide derived from pancreatic cancer-associated antigen in combination with gemcitabine/S-1 has been evaluated in the patients with advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer.

METHODS
Thirteen patients with advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer refractory to standard treatment were entered the study. DCs that were generated from CD14+ monocytes from leukapheresis by 6-day cultivation with granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin (IL)-4 were matured by OK-432, a streptococcal agent, and were pulsed with the pancreatic cancer-associated antigen. These DCs (1 x 107) were intradermally administered 5 times at 14-day intervals concomitantly combined with gemcitabine and/or S-1.

RESULTS
Of the 13 patients, complete response (CR) was observed in 2 (15.4%), partial response (PR) in 7 (54.8%), stable disease (SD) in 2 (15.4%), progressive disease (PD) in 2 (15.4%). Response rate was 69.2%. Survival rate, quality of life, and performance status were markedly increased. Severe side effects of more than grade 3 that were assessed in accordance with NCI-Common Toxicity Criteria v.2.0, were not observed.

CONCLUSIONS
It was strongly suggested that the DC vaccination pulsed with cancer associated-peptid in combination with gemcitabine and/or S-1 was safety and effective in the patients with the inoperable pancreatic cancer refractory to standard treatment. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


Maths which is very important in students' lives and presenting how they use their ability while doing the job during controlling the lesson are quite necessary by means of making the aims of the Maths lessons real in a higher level for students and motivating the primary school teachers. Qualitative model has been used in the study. The study has been done with 23 primary school teachers working in Selcuk district of Izmir. During the study, datas have been gathered with open-ended written survey to the teachers. These datas gained by openended written survey from teachers have been assessd by analyzing the datas descriptionally. Descriptions have been classified by categorizing as "positive","negative" and "neutral".According to the findings of the study, primary school teachers described mostly "negative" for the attitudes of the education supervisors controlling the Maths lessons and their ability to control the lesson.


The osteocyte is believed to act as the main sensor of mechanical stimulus in bone, controlling signalling for bone growth and resorption in response to changes in the mechanical demands placed on our bones throughout life. However, the precise mechanical stimuli that bone cells experience in vivo are not yet fully understood. The objective of this study is to use computational methods to predict the loading conditions experienced by osteocytes during normal physiological activities. Confocal imaging of the lacunar–canalicular network was used to develop three-dimensional finite element models of osteocytes, including their cell body, and the surrounding pericellular matrix (PCM) and extracellular matrix (ECM). We investigated the role of the PCM and ECM projections for amplifying mechanical stimulation to the cells. At loading levels, representing vigorous physiological activity (3000 µɛ), our results provide direct evidence that (i) confocal image-derived models predict 350–400% greater strain amplification experienced by osteocytes compared with an idealized cell, (ii) the PCM increases the cell volume stimulated more than 3500 µɛ by 4–10% and (iii) ECM projections amplify strain to the cell by approximately 50–420%. These are the first confocal image-derived computational models to predict osteocyte strain in vivo and provide an insight into the mechanobiology of the osteocyte.


As a boy he preferred reading sea stories to doing homework and, at age 16, became an apprentice seaman. Subsequently, Ernest Shackleton's incredible journeys to the South Pole in the early 1900s made him one of the most famous explorers of modern times. His courage in the face of dangerous conditions and unforeseeable tragedies reveal the great leader that he was. His historic 1914 journey aboard the Endurance has all the drama of an action movie.


Involvement of Fibrinogen(Fg) and fibrin during various pathologies associated with neuroinflammatory diseases associated with memory reduction are well known. Elevated level of Fg, called hyperfibrinogenemia (HFg) (e.g. ≥ 4±0.1 mg/ml of plasma during inflammation vs.~2±0.1 mg/ml of normal plasma [1]), accompanies inflammatory diseases such as stroke [2,3], hypertension [1,4], diabetes [5] and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) [6-9]. Blood level of Fg increases during inflammation in general [10].


Learning is doing--which means you're guaranteed to expand your skill set exponentially as you work your way through the 18 project-based tutorials that form the core of this volume on Macromedia's Dreamweaver MX 2004. With its powerful combination of visual layout tools, application development features, and code editing support, Dreamweaver MX 2004 really is a Web designer's dream, and Macromedia's official guide shows you how to transform your dream projects into real-life success stories by creating and maintaining Web sites in an environment that integrates both visual editing and code editing. By re-creating the book's sample Web site, you'll learn the skills and techniques necessary to create your own widely accessible sites. In addition to the basics of creating a Web page that incorporates text, graphics and tables, you'll learn about all that's new in Dreamweaver MX 2004: dynamic cross-browser validation, improved CSS support, built-in graphics editing, and more. The companion CD-ROM contains all of the lesson files as well as a free trial version of Dreamweaver MX 2004.


Past work on personality detection has shown that frequency of lexical categories such as first person pronouns, past tense verbs, and sentiment words have significant correlationswith personality traits.  In this paper, for the first time, we show that fine affect(emotion) categories such as that of excitement, guilt, yearning, and admiration aresignificant indicators of personality.  Additionally, we perform experiments to show thatthe gains provided by the fine affect categories are not obtained by using coarse affectcategories alone or with specificity features alone.  We employ these features in five SVMclassifiers for detecting five personality traits through essays.  We find that the use offine emotion features leads to statistically significant improvement over a competitivebaseline, whereas the use of coarse affect and specificity features does not.


BRG1 is a conserved subunit of the SWI/SNF family of ATP dependent chromatin remodeling complexes. These complexes play an important role in the transcription of various genes by making promoters accessible to the transcription machinery. Mutations in BRG1 have been connected to various cancers. In addition, a BRG1 knock-out in mice is lethal at the periimplantation stage, while BRG1 heterozygote mice are predisposed to exencephaly and tumors of epithelial origin, showing the importance of BRG1 in normal development and disease.
In this study, I used Xenopus laevis to study the role of BRG1 because this system allows manipulation of endogenous protein levels by the use of antisense oligonucleotide mediated knock-down as well as interference analysis at early stages of development by overexpression of wild type and dominant negative protein variants. Since BRG1 is conserved among all vertebrates, I initially studied the role of BRG1 in Xenopus development by overexpression of wild type and dominant negative human BRG1. Overexpression of dominant negative human BRG1 gave a ventralized phenotype suggesting a role of BRG1 in dorsal-ventral patterning. The specificity of phenotypes was confirmed by using wild type human BRG1. On the other hand, overexpression of wild type and dominant negative variants of human BRM showed no developmental phenotypes.
Prompted by these results, a frog brg1 cDNA was cloned by searching the Xenopus laevis EST database, using human BRG1 as a query. In addition, monoclonal antibodies specific to xBRG1 were raised and characterized. The expression pattern of Xbrg1 was found to be ubiquitous until gastrula stage and is tissue specific from neurula stage onwards. A Xenopus homologue of INI1, a subunit of SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex, was cloned using database search. The expression pattern of Xini1 was found to be similar to Xbrg1.
Using site directed mutagenesis, a dominant negative construct of xBRG1 was made by mutating the conserved lysine into arginine (K770R). Loss and gain of function studies showed that BRG1 is involved in AP axis formation during Xenopus development. The gain of function studies were done by overex-pressing wild type and dominant negative xBRG1, while loss of function studies were done using highly specific antisense morpholino oligos. Specificity of morpholino treatment was further proven by the rescue of ventralized phenotypes of morphant embryos by overexpression of human BRG1. It was found that BRG1 knock-down affects several tissues as assessed by in-situ hybridization using tissue specific markers.
To determine the molecular explanation for these pleiotropic effects, several genes involved in early patterning of Xenopus embryo during organizer formation were analyzed. The analysis was done using whole mount in-situ hybridization, revealing the spatial gene expression pattern. This analysis revealed that BRG1 mostly affects WNT signaling dependent genes required for dorsal mesoderm formation while leaving pan-mesodermal genes unaffected. Furthermore the genetic interaction of BRG1 with the WNT pathway was confirmed by epistasis experiments showing that overexpression of β-CATENIN can rescue the xBrg1 antisense morpholino oligos dependent ventralized phenotypes as well as formation of secondary axis by overexpression of β-CATENIN could be prevented by BRG1 knock-down.
Since the whole embryo represents a complex situation whereby many signaling pathways interact with each other and influence the outcome, the animal cap system was used to analyze the effect of BRG1 on various signaling pathways by analyzing corresponding direct target genes. Animal cap assays showed that the effect of BRG1 is signal specific. Moreover, among the affected signaling pathways, BRG1 knock-down affected only specific genes. These results showed that the BRG1 effect is gene and signal specific.
The importance of WNT signaling has also been shown in cancer as well as in haematopoietic and embryonic stem cell self renewal. Given the importance of the WNT signaling, the role of BRG1 on the WNT signaling pathway was further investigated. Treatment of animal cap cells with various doses of Wnt8 mRNA showed the differential requirement of the WNT signal for maximal stimulation of direct target genes. The direct target genes of the WNT pathway showed various degrees of reduction in their maximal stimulation upon BRG1 protein knock-down. The requirement of BRG1 for proper stimulation of the WNT target genes was further confirmed by overexpression of xBRG1 under sub-optimal conditions of WNT stimulation.
A major conclusion from these experiments is that BRG1 protein defines signaling thresholds for WNT-mediated activation of target genes. This implies that chromatin remodeling complexes are part of the machinery, which translates inductive signals into spatial gene expression domains.


We introduce the asprilo framework to facilitate experimental studies of approaches addressing complex dynamic applications. For this purpose, we have chosen the domain of robotic intralogistics. This domain is not only highly relevant in the context of today's fourth industrial revolution but it moreover combines a multitude of challenging issues within a single uniform framework. This includes multi-agent planning, reasoning about action, change, resources, strategies, etc. In return, asprilo allows users to study alternative solutions as regards effectiveness and scalability. Although asprilo relies on Answer Set Programming and Python, it is readily usable by any system complying with its fact-oriented interface format. This makes it attractive for benchmarking and teaching well beyond logic programming. More precisely, asprilo consists of a versatile benchmark generator, solution checker and visualizer as well as a bunch of reference encodings featuring various ASP techniques. Importantly, the visualizer's animation capabilities are indispensable for complex scenarios like intra-logistics in order to inspect valid as well as invalid solution candidates. Also, it allows for graphically editing benchmark layouts that can be used as a basis for generating benchmark suites. Under consideration for publication in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP)


Congressional overrides of prior judicial interpretations of statutory language are typically defined as equivalent to judicial overrulings, and they are presumed to play a central role in maintaining legislative supremacy. Our study is the first to empirically test these assumptions. Using a differences-in-differences research design, we find that citation levels decrease far less after legislative overrides than after judicial overrulings. This pattern holds true even when controlling for depth of the superseding event or considering only the specific proposition that was superseded. Moreover, contrary to what one might expect, citation levels decrease more quickly after restorative overrides—in which Congress repudiates the prior Supreme Court decision as incorrect—than after overrides intended to update or clarify the law. This suggests that ongoing citation of overridden precedents, what we call shadow precedents, may be driven more by information failure or ambiguity than by ideological disagreements between the branches of government.


This research was a survey method to 'Puskesmas Besuki Situbondo', titled "Analysis of Consumer Satisfaction to the Service Quality at Puskesmas Besuki Situbondo'.
This research aimed to find out the consumer satisfaction to the quality of 'Puskesmas Besuki Situbondo' service.
Analytical tool used in this research was Consumer Satisfaction Index (IKP – Indeks Kepuasan Konsumen) to find out the consumer satisfaction and also to show the indicator rank of service quality and rank of service quality variable according to the consumer's wish, importance and company's performance using cartesius diagram analysis.
Index determination was 0,66 or IKP < 1, which mean that the consumer didn't satisfy about the service given by 'Puskesmas Besuki Situbondo'.
The result from analysis tool cartesius diagram, there found that reliability variable by importance rate for 4,11 and performance rate average 2,98 ; receiving variable with importance level 4,05 and performance rate for 4,05 and performance average 3,11 ; located in B quadrant, which meant, three of the variable was considered as important variable by the consumer and the service should be maintained. Empathy variable with importance rate for 3,86 and performance rate 2,47 located in C quadrant, which meant the variable was considered as un-important and did averagely by 'Puskesmas Besuki Situbondo' ; physical evidence variable with importance rate 3,75 and performance rate 2,88 located in D quadrant, which meant the variable considered as un-important and it was done well by 'Puskesmas Besuki Situbondo'.
The writer suggest that for reliable variable, respond and guaranty, management need to increase their ability, skill, and efficiency of their employee to help the consumer, especially the division who gave direct health service by following scheduled course and continued education, whether formal or informal. For empathy variable, to increase their ability, to create loyal consumer and person to person advertising. In physical evidence, management need to check all facilities used by consumer, so that could be proved that the facility was safe to be used.


This review explores the role of digital inclusion in women's health and well-being in
rural communities. This involves reviewing existing research that focuses on the information
experiences of women, specifically those who were digitally excluded or limited users of the
Internet, who have benefitted from the support of digital inclusion initiatives and technology.
There is a global gender digital divide where more women than men often lack access to
information and digital skills, particularly in rural areas. Digital inclusion initiatives are
attempting to close this divide and to enable women to make informed decisions about their
health and well-being and their families. The review also identifies that digital inclusion is a
complex situation of enquiry; there is limited, fragmented research where the concepts of
information literacy and digital inclusion have been brought together; and significant tensions
and contradictions exist within digital inclusion practice. The review also highlights the
opportunity for further research and theory development.


Piezoceramic foams made of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and lithium sodium potassium niobate (LNKN‐6) containing an open porosity >75 vol% are manufactured with varying cell size from 1369 to 265 μm and accordingly, strut size from 346 to 46 μm by replica method. Pore size distribution and strut thickness are determined by X‐ray micro tomography investigations of PZT foams with 10, 30, 45, and 80 pores per inch (ppi). Fracture strengths σb between 0.29 and 1.52 MPa (PZT) and 0.04 and 0.07 MPa (LNKN‐6) are determined by compression test and compared to Gibson and Ashby's model of open‐ and closed‐cell foams and in dependence of the cell size. The longitudinal and transversal coupling coefficients d33 and d31 decrease in a range of 38 to 178 pCN−1 or −13 to −100 pCN−1 compare to dense reference material. In dependence of the cell size, the values of the coupling coefficients change about 79–93%. The relative permittivity decreases 93% by decreasing the cell size of the PZT and LNKN‐6 foams.


The broad health effects of fuel poverty include both the physiological and psychosocial effects of exposure to adverse indoor temperatures. Fuel poverty poses a greater risk to groups spending more time at home, including older people, people with disabilities or chronic illness, and families with young children. To date, fuel poverty research has focused on the first two of these groups, while few studies have specifically explored the outcomes of fuel poverty for children. Very little fuel poverty research has been undertaken with children or youth living in cold homes. This paper outlines the literature describing the effects of fuel poverty and cold housing on children and young people and presents new statistical analysis supporting the targeting of fuel poverty policy on households with children. We introduce current research investigating the effects of living in, or living at risk of, fuel poverty on children and youth in New Zealand. We argue that proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act need to be strengthened and should include current standard insulation, which is proven to be a cost-effective measure in terms of health, particularly the health of children and young people.


The use of the DEEP development environment to analyze parallel program performance is described. The full integrated environment contains tools for the creation, analysis and debugging of parallel programs. All information is related back to the original parallel source code. This paper describes the program analysis portion of DEEP, with examples of its use on data parallel programs (HPF and Data Parallel C) and shared memory parallel (SMP) programs.


The epigenetic mark 5‐hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) is a cytosine modification that is abundant in the central nervous system of mammals and which results from 5‐methylcytosine oxidation by TET enzymes. Such a mark is suggested to play key roles in the regulation of chromatin structure and gene expression. However, its precise functions still remain poorly understood and information about its distribution in non‐mammalian species is still lacking. Here, the distribution of 5hmC was investigated in the brain of adult zebrafish, African claw frog, and mouse in a comparative manner. We show that zebrafish neurons are endowed with high levels of 5hmC, whereas quiescent or proliferative neural progenitors show low to undetectable levels of the modified cytosine. In the brain of larval and juvenile Xenopus, 5hmC is also detected in neurons, while ventricular proliferative cells do not display this epigenetic mark. Similarly, 5hmC is enriched in neurons compared to neural progenitors of the ventricular zone in the mouse developing cortex. Interestingly, 5hmC colocalized with the methylated DNA binding protein MeCP2 and with the active chromatin histone modification H3K4me2 in mouse neurons. Taken together, our results show an evolutionarily conserved cerebral distribution of 5hmC between fish and tetrapods and reinforce the idea that 5hmC fulfills major functions in the control of chromatin activity in vertebrate neurons. J. Comp. Neurol. 525:478–497, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


This paper describes the spatial data infrastructure (SDI) used by the LaMMA Consortium - Environmental Mod elling and Monitoring Laboratory for Sustainable Developm ent of Tuscany Region for sharing, viewing and cataloguing (metadata and related information) all geospatial data that are daily proc essed and used op erationally in many meteorological and environmental app lications. The SDI was develop ed using Open Source technologies, mo reover the geospatial data has been imp lemented through protoco ls based on ogc (Open Geospatial Consortium) standards such as WMS, WFS and CSW. Geoserver was used for disseminating geospatial data and maps through OGC WMS and WFS protoco ls while GeoNetwork was used as the cataloguing and search po rtal through also the CSW protocol; eventually MapStore was used to implement the mash-up front-end. The innovative aspect of this po rtal is the fact that it currently is ingesting, fusing and disseminating geospatial data related to the MetOcfield from various sources in near real-time in a comp rehensive manner that allows users to create add ed value visualizations for the support of operational use cases as well as to access and download underlying data (where app licable).


The Canadian federal government, shut out of meaningful post-World War Two diplomacy by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, found few avenues to assert its separate Canadian identity in the immediate postwar era. The Canadian psychological warfare program for German POWs--influenced by pent-up official frustration (1)--was an attempt by the government of Prime Minister Mackenzie King to register its mark on thousands of German prisoners of war who lived in Canadian-operated POW camps during and after the war. Astounding is the fact that some POWs, intentionally cut off from the outside world, asked on 8 May 1945 which side had won the war. (2) The United States and the United Kingdom sought to influence the thinking of the Germans following World War Two, especially because of German confusion about the causes of their defeat in World War One. In fact, Adolph Hitler promoted the deceptive "stab-in-the-back" theory that blamed Germany's democratic leaders for betraying a supposedly undefeated German army by surrendering in 1918. Since German militarism quickly reasserted itself after World War One, Allied postwar treatment of Germany's World War Two POWs brought home the message that the German nation had been defeated on 8 May 1945. Canada added its own dimension by implementing a psychological warfare program based on a similar American initiative. Colonel Henry Faulk, head of the British reeducation program, held that Canada undertook a "limited re-educational effort" that was far too "intellectual" to affect the rank and file of the POWs. (3) His harsh estimate of Canadian curriculum grew out of the POWs' strong expressions of Nazi loyalism when the Canadian-held POWs arrived in Britain in 1946-47 to begin an indefinite period of reparation labor. Faulk, who was quick to fault the Canadian reeducation program, did not consider that the Canadian-held POWs, just as those held by the U.S., resented their indefinite delay in Britain to such an extent that they briefly reasserted their adherence to Nazism in defiance. (4) This study explores the psychological factors affecting the POWs' postwar ideology by asking fundamental pedagogical questions about Canada's reeducation program: How did the military educators attempt to achieve the desired de-programming outcomes, and what factors impeded the prisoners' learning process? Was the entire program a useful exercise? Why did the Western Allies undertake a reeducation program that involved the indoctrination of POWs? The Mackenzie King government expended a significant military investment on the psychological warfare through an intense bombardment of "accurate" and "uncensored" Allied information. Canadian officials, looking at reeducation efforts in the United States, embraced John Dewey's pedagogy of "learning by doing" to liberate of the POWs' minds from Nazi control. Final interrogations of POWs in 1946 revealed that most prisoners abandoned aggressive Nazi tenets but refused to abandon Nazism in its entirety. Their bunker mentality and their lingering insecurities probably made them cautious students of an Allied world view. Psychological surveys in 1947 verified that POWs leaving Canada failed to embrace democratic principles. 8 May 1945 stood as a great divide in Allied reeducation efforts. Indeed, the historical context of the two periods plays a key role because only in the aftermath of the war did the Allied powers establish a victors' role over the vanquished POW enemy. Allied foreign policy goals also came into play, because the Allies sought to discredit Nazi ideology and German militarism. Canada, too, imposed strict military measures that involved withdrawing wartime POW privileges. Canadian influence on German POW matters grew out of Canadian acceptance of thousands of British-held prisoners of war. In May of 1940, just as Germany prepared to attack Britain, and Nazi U-boats menaced Canadian shipping in the Gulf of St. …


Flies reveal that HIF1α mediates toxic effects of mitochondrial impairment in neurons. Mitochondria communicate information about redox potential and bioenergetics status to the nucleus through a process called retrograde signaling. Cagin et al. investigated mitochondrial retrograde signaling using a Drosophila model with neuronal-specific mitochondrial dysfunction by inducing the overexpression of the mitochondrial transcription factor TFAM, which stimulates expression of mitochondrially encoded genes and functions in mitochondrial DNA replication. Overexpression of TFAM in motor neurons reduced adult lifespan and climbing ability and caused defective wing inflation. The number and gross morphology of motor neurons were not different in the TFAM-overexpressing flies compared with that in wild-type flies, but the number of sites of neurotransmitter release and mitochondria at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) was reduced. Transcriptional microarray analysis of the larval central nervous tissue from flies overexpressing TFAM in all neurons showed that expression of 371 genes was significantly changed. Although, unsurprisingly, most of the affected transcripts were encoded by genes associated with the mitochondrial retrograde response, there was a significant overlap with genes regulated by hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α). Indeed, manipulation of Sima, the Drosophila ortholog of HIF1α, abundance in the motor neuron–specific TFAM-overexpressing flies indicated the involvement of HIF1α in responding to compromised mitochondrial function. Although flies overexpressing both Sima and TFAM in motor neurons exhibited reduced climbing ability, flies overexpressing TFAM and Sima-targeted shRNA motor neurons exhibited improved climbing ability and wing inflation compared with the TFAM-overexpressing flies. Sima knockdown in motor neurons rescued the reduced life span of the motor neuron–specific TFAM-overexpressing flies and restored the number of sites of neurotransmitter release in the NMJ to those present in wild-type flies. In addition, Sima knockdown in Drosophila models of mitochondrial or Parkinson's diseases rescued the phenotypes of defective wing inflation and reduced climbing ability. Thus, this study suggests mitochondrial retrograde signaling in neurons stimulates the hypoxic response, which contributes to impaired function of neurons with damaged or nonfunctional mitochondria. U. Cagin, O. F. Duncan, A. P. Gatt, M. S. Dionne, S. T. Sweeney, J. M. Bateman, Mitochondrial retrograde signaling regulates neuronal function. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 112, E6000–E6009 (2015). [PubMed]


The Aquatic Warbler is the only globally threatened passerine bird species in Europe. Around 1900, it was one of the most abundant birds in European fen mires. The population severely decreased as a consequence of extensive wetland drainage. In recent years, it has been rather stable in key breeding sites but has decreased sharply in its westernmost occurrence Pomerania. Conservation of the Pomeranian birds is of key importance for conserving the intraspecific diversity of the species. Throughout 2004–2006 we studied all current breeding sites of the species in Pomerania. Two areas have been studied in more detail: Rozwarowo Marshes, the largest breeding site in Pomerania, and Lower Oder Valley National Park, the last breeding site in Germany. Data on vegetation composition and height, water level, site conditions, and land use were analysed. The sites near the coast and in small river valleys are characterised by sparse and low Phragmites australis stands with a well-developed lower sedge and herb layer. The sites in the Lower Oder Valley are more nutrient-rich and dominated by Carex acuta, Phalaris arundinacea, and other meadow grasses. In Rozwarowo Marshes, the birds inhabit sparse, short Phragmites australis and Thelypteris palustris vegetation that is maintained by winter reed cutting. In the Lower Oder Valley National Park, Aquatic Warblers shifted from Caricetum gracilis to other plant communities that continued to be mown frequently. Similar to the Lithuanian Aquatic Warbler habitats in the Nemunas Delta and in contrast to the predominantly mesotrophic habitats of the core population, the Pomeranian habitats are eutrophic and more influenced by inundation. Various rare and threatened plant communities occur here. The Aquatic Warbler can be regarded as an umbrella species for mesotrophic and slightly eutrophic peatlands for which this bird is a specialist. Conservation activities should focus on a site-specific management and the prevention of further eutrophication.


A state monopoly on customary international law formation was once required and acceptable, given the status states enjoyed as the sole subjects of international law. Since the drafting of the most commonly cited doctrinal sources of customary international law, legal personhood has been extended to individuals. During this same time period, individuals have come to participate in treaty-making in some key areas of international law, including human rights. The customary international law of human rights, no less than treaty law, has direct effects on individuals. It sees them as the subjects protected by those provisions that have attained the status of customary law. Unlike treaty law, though, there is no space in the traditional customary international law doctrine for individuals to participate in the law-making process. As a result, there is currently a disjuncture in customary international law; individuals are its subjects but are not seen as legitimate participants in its formation. Uncomfortable with this state of affairs, this Article seeks to investigate whether the participation of individuals in customary international law formation is desirable. First, it takes note of a prior observation of legal scholars that individuals do, through various mechanisms, already play an active role in customary international law formation despite the doctrinal insistence that only States play such a role. Second, this Article develops theoretical justifications for the inclusion of individuals in customary international law formation. Finally, calling on established legal institutions as well as on social science tools for assessing individuals' practices, beliefs and expectations, the Article proposes methods by which individuals might participate in the customary international law formation process.


The extraordinary role of viruses in evolution and how this is revolutionising biology and medicine. Darwin's theory of evolution is still the greatest breakthrough in biological science. His explanation of the role of natural selection in driving the evolution of life on earth depended on steady variation of living things over time - but he was unable to explain how this variation occurred. In the 150 years since publication of the Origin of Species, we have discovered three main sources for this variation - mutation, hybridisation and epigenetics. Then on Sunday, 12th February, 2001 the evidence for perhaps the most extraordinary cause of variation was simultaneously released by two organisations - the code for the entire human genome. Not only was the human genome unbelievably simple (it is only ten times more complicated than a bacteria), but embedded in the code were large fragments that were derived from viruses - fragments that were vital to evolution of all organisms and the evidence for a fourth and vital source of variation - viruses. Virolution is the product of Dr Frank Ryan's decade of research at the frontiers of this new science - now called viral symbiosis - and the amazing revolution that it has had in these few years. As scientists begin to look for evidence of viral involvement in more and more processes, they have discovered that they are vital in nearly every case. And with this understanding comes the possibility of manipulating the role of the viruses to help fight a huge range of diseases.


We present a novel nonparametric algorithm for symmetry-based disentangling of data manifolds, the Geometric Manifold Component Estimator (GEOMANCER). GEOMANCER provides a partial answer to the question posed by Higgins et al. (2018): is it possible to learn how to factorize a Lie group solely from observations of the orbit of an object it acts on? We show that fully unsupervised factorization of a data manifold is possible *if* the true metric of the manifold is known and each factor manifold has nontrivial holonomy -- for example, rotation in 3D. Our algorithm works by estimating the subspaces that are invariant under random walk diffusion, giving an approximation to the de Rham decomposition from differential geometry. We demonstrate the efficacy of GEOMANCER on several complex synthetic manifolds. Our work reduces the question of whether unsupervised disentangling is possible to the question of whether unsupervised metric learning is possible, providing a unifying insight into the geometric nature of representation learning.


The research presented in this manuscript introduces an independent structural health monitoring (SHM) system capable of performing impedance-based testing and detecting shifts in resonant frequencies. This independent structural health monitoring system incorporates a low power wireless transmitter that sends a warning signal when damage is detected in a structure. Two damage detection techniques were implemented on the SHM system and successfully used for evaluating structural damage. The first impedance-based technique is used to detect a gouge introduced to a composite plate. The second technique is a modal parameter technique that analyzes shifts in natural frequency; this technique was used to detect structural changes in an aluminum cantilever beam. In additional to the above test structures, an aircraft rib provided by the United States Air Force was also tested. This test was performed using the HP 4192A impedance analyzer so that the advantage of high frequency impedance-based tested could be demonstrated. Insight is given into the power characteristics of SHM systems and the need to incorporate power harvesting into these SHM devices is addressed. Also, a comparison between digital signal processors and microprocessors is included in this document.


Oral cancer accounts for 2.3% of malignancies in the U.S. and has one of the lowest five-year survival rates. An examination of oral cancer in Appalachia was motivated by the high incidence of lung and bronchial cancers in Appalachian states, the risk factors for which overlap with those for oral cancer. The incidence and mortality rates for oral cancer in 13 Appalachian states and the relative frequency of presumptive risk factors were examined and compared with national rates, using data from the National Program of Cancer Registries, Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and the National Health Interview Survey. Combined incidence rates for oral cancer were higher in six of 12 Appalachian states, and mortality rates higher in 10 of 13, compared with the national average. Smoking was more prevalent than the national average in nine of 13 states, whereas alcohol consumption was the same or less in 11 Appalachian states. Only five of 13 states averaged fewer than the recommended five or more servings per day of fruits and vegetables.


Many homeowners are unaware that they face the prospect of crushing personal financial liability if they default on their mortgage loans. While owners may appreciate that they can lose their homes to the lender if they fail to make payments in accordance with their loan terms, many do not fully comprehend that the exposure they have under such circumstances does not end with relinquishing the financed property. In what are known as recourse states, if the lender forecloses and the foreclosure sale does not yield an amount sufficient to cover the borrower's outstanding debt balance, the lender may file for a deficiency judgment against the borrower to make-up the difference. Whereas in the past, in many jurisdictions, lenders have resorted to this remedy, sparingly, there are signs that this lax approach is being abandoned. First and second mortgagees and private insurance companies are increasingly opting to aggressively pursue foreclosed homeowners for fear of leaving money on the table. To make matters worse, even in those situations where lenders determine that it is not economical for them to follow-up on collecting the debt from mortgagors where a deficiency exists, they are selling the deficiency judgment or the claim to debt collectors for pennies on the dollar. Looking at a representative sample of mortgage laws and practices in California, Illinois, and Florida, this paper argues for the prohibition of deficiency judgments in the residential mortgage loan context. The article also offers a proposal for anti-deficiency legislation. Homebuyers and lenders are not equal players in the mortgage loan transaction. The disadvantages of homeowners are particularly apparent in times of severe economic crisis, like the current great recession. Excising the option of deficiency judgments from the loan negotiation will help to address the glaring inequities between parties.


We show a nearly quadratic separation between deterministic communication complexity and the logarithm of the partition number, which is essentially optimal. This improves upon a recent power 1.5 separation of Goos, Pitassi, and Watson (FOCS 2015). In query complexity, we establish a nearly quadratic separation between deterministic (and even randomized) query complexity and subcube partition complexity, which is also essentially optimal. We also establish a nearly power 1.5 separation between quantum query complexity and subcube partition complexity, the first superlinear separation between the two measures. Lastly, we show a quadratic separation between quantum query complexity and one-sided subcube partition complexity.

Our query complexity separations use the recent cheat sheet framework of Aaronson, Ben-David, and Kothari. Our query functions are built up in stages by alternating function composition with the cheat sheet construction. The communication complexity separation follows from "lifting" the query separation to communication complexity.


Increasing application requirements have placed heavy emphasis on building overlay networks to efficiently deliver data to multiple receivers. A key performance challenge is simultaneously achieving adaptivity to changing network conditions and scalability to large numbers of users. In addition, most current algorithms focus on a single performance metric, such as delay or bandwidth, particular to individual application requirements. We introduce a two-fold approach for creating robust, high-performance overlays called adaptive multimetric overlays (AMMO). First, AMMO uses an adaptive, highly-parallel, and metric-independent protocol, TreeMaint, to build and maintain overlay trees. Second, AMMO provides a mechanism for comparing overlay edges along specified application performance goals to guide TreeMaint transformations. We have used AMMO to implement and evaluate a single-metric (bandwidth-optimized) tree similar to Overcast and a two-metric (delay-constrained, cost-optimized) overlay.


Are voters' choices influenced by parties' position-taking and communication efforts on issues during a campaign? And if so, do voters' reactions to issues differ across parties? This article outlines a research design for the statistical identification of party-varying issue reactions within the established paradigm of the Spatial Theory of Voting. Using a special feature of conditional logit and probit models – i.e. the estimation of alternative-specific coefficients instead of fixed 'generic' issue distance effects – it is possible to detect asymmetrically attached issue saliencies at the level of the voters, and hence at the demand-side of politics. This strategy opens a new way to systematically combine insights obtained by saliency approaches with the Spatial Theory of Voting. An application to the German parliamentary elections from 1987 to 2009 demonstrates that it is predominantly parties taking polar positions – and, more specifically, niche parties taking polar positions – that induce such asymmetric issue voting.


STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) education has gained popularity in schools, colleges, universities across the United States, Europe, parts of Asia, recently raised in Vietnam. Despite its attraction and preparation for the 21 st- century skills, little empirical research and good implementation exists to guide the STEAM program design process as well as effective instructional practices, and even less is known about the challenges associated with individual assessment aiming to expected learning outcomes of the modules developed in the STEAM program. This paper will present a study on the design process and implementation of a CDIO-based STEAM program. In which, the CDIO framework, standards and syllabus are embedded and aligned with the STEAM program in two aspects: in most of the stages of the continuous improvement process of program development and implementation, and in lesson syllabus structure. The research concludes with implications for educational researchers and educators to consider that it is very potential to apply CDIO principles for an integrated curriculum with a project-based method for STEAM education, especially with the CDIO-based STEAM syllabus. The initial satisfaction survey which was taken on more than a hundred students has been carried out and obtained a high score of satisfaction, revealing the suitability in both curriculum and teaching-learning activity design. The CDIO-based maker space reflects its superior advantages of supporting innovative learning environments. Therefore, good practices on CDIO implementation are recommended for further discussion by the STEAM community.


The casino industry is one of the most stringently regulated industries in the United States. State governments and their regulatory agencies control almost every aspect of the industry. However, U.S. casino regulation has not received much research attention. We examine the five most applicable economic theories of regulation. Since relevant empirical data of regulatory changes for casinos are sparse, we examine trends of the key variables to evaluate these theories. We categorize and examine trends in state and industry characteristics to determine if any one of these theories best explains the regulation of casinos. Based on our review of the state-level data, we conclude that the legalization and regulation of casinos best conform to a Leviathan theory of government in which the primary policy goal is to maximize government revenues.


A glimpse into the world of Voodoo, this companion to a documentary by Wim Wenders presents photographs and film stills by celebrated photojournalist, Alberto Venzago. In 1988, Albert Venzago set out to cross Africa on a Vespa. After miles in the blistering heat, it broke down in a remote village in Benin. There he encountered Mahounon, one of the most influential voodoo priests of West Africa. Abandoning his planned trip, Venzago set out instead on an odyssey through the world of African voodoo, to which he and his camera gained extraordinary access. Venzago followed Mahounon with his camera for nearly ten years, filming secret Voodoo ceremonies and sacrificial rituals. He witnessed Mahounon's extraordinary search for a successor to lead the cult, and he watched as the anointed eleven-year old boy, Gounon, was schooled in black and white magic, rituals, and the intricate workings of the Fa, or Voodoo oracle. Venzago's camera evokes the religious ecstasy of these ceremonies as well as their otherworldly atmosphere. His photographs illuminate this mysterious and potent Voodoo culture and religion.


Some of the largest unit discharge flood peaks in the stream gaging records of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have occurred in Puerto Rico. Many of these flood peaks are associated with tropical cyclones. Hurricane Georges, which passed directly over the island on 21–22 September 1998, produced record flood peaks at numerous USGS stations in Puerto Rico. The hydrology and hydrometeorology of extreme flood response in Puerto Rico are examined through analyses of rainfall, based on Weather Surveillance Radar–1988 Doppler (WSR‐88D) radar reflectivity observations and USGS rain gage observations and discharge from USGS stream gaging stations. Peak rainfall accumulations of more than 700 mm occurred in the central mountain region of the island. The largest unit discharge flood peaks, however, were located in the eastern portion of the island in areas with smaller storm total rainfall accumulations but markedly larger rainfall rates at 5–60 min timescale. Orographic precipitation mechanisms played an important role in rainfall distribution over the island of Puerto Rico. Amplification of rainfall accumulations was associated with areas of upslope motion. Elevated low‐level cloud water content in regions of upslope motion played an important role in the maximum rainfall accumulations in the central mountain region of Puerto Rico. The largest unit discharge flood peaks, however, were produced by a decaying eye wall mesovortex, which resulted in a 30–45 min period of extreme rainfall rates over the eastern portion of the island. This storm element was responsible for the record flood peak of the Río Grande de Lóiza. The role of terrain in development and evolution of the eye wall mesovortex is unclear but is of fundamental importance for assessing extreme flood response from the storm. Hydrologic response is examined through analyses of rainfall and discharge from five pairs of drainage basins, extending from east to west over the island. These analyses point to the importance of short‐term rainfall rates for extreme flood response. The hydrologic response of Puerto Rico is compared with two other extreme flood environments, the central Appalachians and Edwards Plateau of Texas. These analyses suggest that the high rainfall environment of Puerto Rico is linked to the development of a hydraulically efficient drainage system.


By the end of 1990s when China initiated a 10-year mangrove reforestation project, the mangrove forest area had decreased from 250,000 to 15,000 ha. Over 80% of current Chinese mangroves are degraded secondary forests or plantations. As an initial restoration and reforestation effort, Sonneratia apetala, a native of India, Bengal and Sri Lanka, was introduced in 1985 to Dong Zhaigang Mangrove Nature Reserve in Hainan Island from Bengal. It has then been introduced into other places since 1991. However, the further use of the species is becoming increasingly controversial as there are emerging signs that it may become invasive in certain locations. A comprehensive evaluation of the species' condition in China regarding benefits and risks is critically needed. Here, we map the introduction and dispersal routes and monitor the growth of S. apetala in China from 1985 to 2006. S. apetala grows fast and performs well in the introduced 2300 ha muddy beaches area. It greatly improves the soil fertility and shows a suite of suitable characteristics as a pioneer restoration species. Currently, no natural invasion of S. apetala has been observed in the northern mangrove area. However, invasion into natural forests does occur in southerly locations such as Shenzhen, Zhanjiang and Dong Zhaigang. In these locations, S. apetala exhibits invasive characteristics such as overgrowth and high spreading ability that evidently affects local mangrove ecosystem structure and function. While the species clearly offers some benefits at some locations where it cannot naturally invade, it appears harmful to other native mangrove species, posing a major practical problem to both ecologists and land managers. This situation will be similar to previously imported non-native and invasive , Spar


In arid and semiarid regions, dust storms are common during windy seasons. Strong wind can blow loose sand from the dry surface. The rising sand and dust is then transported to other places depending on the wind conditions (speed and direction) at different levels of the atmosphere. Considering dust as a moving object in space and time, trajectory calculation then can be used to determine the path it will follow. Trajectory calculation is used as a forecast supporting tool for both operational and research activities. Predefined dust sources can be identified and the trajectories can be precalculated from the Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) forecast. In case of long distance transported dust, the tool should allow the operational forecaster to perform online trajectory calculation. This paper presents a case study for using trajectory calculation based on NWP models as a forecast supporting tool in Oman Meteorological Service during some dust storm events. Case study validation results showed a good agreement between the calculated trajectories and the real transport path of the dust storms and hence trajectory calculation can be used at operational centers for warning purposes.


A major challenge in the design of wireless networks is the need for distributed scheduling algorithms that will efficiently share the common spectrum. Recently, a few distributed algorithms for networks in which a node can converse with at most a single neighbor at a time have been presented. These algorithms guarantee 50% of the maximum possible throughput. We present the first distributed scheduling framework that guarantees maximum throughput. It is based on a combination of a distributed matching algorithm and an algorithm that compares and merges successive matching solutions. The comparison can be done by a deterministic algorithm or by randomized gossip algorithms. In the latter case, the comparison may be inaccurate. Yet, we show that if the matching and gossip algorithms satisfy simple conditions related to their performance and to the inaccuracy of the comparison (respectively), the framework attains the desired throughput.It is shown that the complexities of our algorithms, that achieve nearly 100% throughput, are comparable to those of the algorithms that achieve 50% throughput. Finally, we discuss extensions to general interference models. Even for such models, the framework provides a simple distributed throughput optimal algorithm.


"Dr. Cloud will show you how to produce the results you are looking for in your work and personal life." -Dr. Phil McGraw, #1 New York Times bestselling author From Dr. Henry Cloud, the million-copy selling author of Boundaries and Integrity, comes The One-Life Solution, an essential handbook that demonstrates how establishing a successful, happy, and rewarding business career can be achieved by setting physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual boundaries. Anyone who finds the chaos of the workday spilling over into their personal and family time-everyone who has ever wanted to have more control over the work and home aspects of their life-will find valuable answers in The One-Life Solution.


Computerized databases are ubiquitous and play an important role in many software projects. The efficiency of these systems are crucial in applications they support. Data indexing is the key to efficient data retrieval in database systems. This dissertation considers three data application domains and operations in which data indexing can greatly improve the turnaround time of request operations. The first part is the study of multi-dimensional and multi-criteria skyline computation. Skyline is a subset of data records that are the best in a data set, where best is defined by user criteria and preference. In our technique, we first create an index using the R-Tree structure. We then propose a greedy algorithm that utilizes the R-Tree index to aggressively prune the search space as the index is traversed. Experimental evaluation shows that our algorithm performs better than previous algorithms. In the second part of this dissertation, we consider the efficiency of querying hierarchical data in a relational database (hierarchical relational database). The relational database model is known to efficiently store and retrieve data stored in flat tables; however, it was not designed for hierarchical data. Due to this limitation, many operations – such as answering membership on a hierarchical data – require recursion or iterations. In this study, we propose an index structure based on the nested-sets model. With this index, we can eliminate recursions and allow database engines to perform hierarchical operations with index scans. In the last part of this dissertation, we consider storage and retrieval of point-based spatial data (POIs) in the Geo-Store RDF Triple Store. When we first started this study, spatial data management in RDF was still a fairly new research area and there were no standards for query spatial data using SPARQL. In this work, we designed an index scheme using the Hilbert SpaceFiling Curve (HSFC). Leveraging the spatial locality of HSFC, we are able to efficiently evaluate


Natural interaction is gaining popularity due to its simple, attractive, and realistic nature, which realizes direct
Human Computer Interaction (HCI). In this paper, we presented a novel two hand gesture based interaction
technique for 3 dimensional (3D) navigation in Virtual Environments (VEs). The system used computer vision
techniques for the detection of hand gestures (colored thumbs) from real scene and performed different navigation
(forward, backward, up, down, left, and right) tasks in the VE. The proposed technique also allow users to
efficiently control speed during navigation. The proposed technique is implemented via a VE for experimental
purposes. Forty (40) participants performed the experimental study. Experiments revealed that the proposed
technique is feasible, easy to learn and use, having less cognitive load on users. Finally gesture recognition
engines were used to assess the accuracy and performance of the proposed gestures. kNN achieved high accuracy
rates (95.7%) as compared to SVM (95.3%). kNN also has high performance rates in terms of training time (3.16
secs) and prediction speed (6600 obs/sec) as compared to SVM with 6.40 secs and 2900 obs/sec.


Recent projections to stay within 2°C and especially 1.5°C rely upon both more aggressive emissions cuts and larger scales of "negative emission technologies" (NETs). Yet not only are NETs' actual development and scalability still uncertain, the technologies would present social and environmental risks of their own. Despite the growing realization of NETs' necessity, their international politics and policies remain amorphous and emerging. The relevant issues are complex. NETs will function across a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, affect many interrelated natural and social systems, and involve multiple sectors of society, government, and the economy. Understanding their politics and governance requires not only a diversity of perspectives, but their integration into interdisciplinary conversations and research. I organized a workshop that brought together 25 international experts to discuss the politics and governance of NETs. Its objective was to bring together diverse scholars in the social sciences to deepen the understandings of the challenges and opportunities of NETs' research, development, and possible implementation. This editorial introduces the resulting special collection of articles in Global Sustainability.


Person-centred care is a concept often referred to in healthcare. However, it is unclear how it applies to everyday clinical practice. This qualitative study aimed to explore how the concept was understood and achieved in an acute medical ward setting in order to identify potential areas for development related to research, education and practice. The research design was influenced by an interpretive approach with the aim of accessing the meanings that participants assigned to the phenomenon of person-centred care and making this evident to others. A purposive sampling strategy identified 21 participants. These consisted of seven registered nurses, four student nurses, three healthcare support workers, three allied health professionals, two professional development co-ordinators and two nursing lecturers, who all took part in either individual or paired semi-structured interviews. Gathering data from this range of practitioners adds new perspectives to the body of knowledge on person-centred care. Data were analysed using Framework Analysis, which resulted in a model of person-centred care being developed iteratively as a result of data analysis, a priori knowledge of the researcher and the findings of the literature review. The study findings emphasise that all elements of the model; organisational culture, the philosophy of the care environment, characteristics of relationships, personal qualities of staff and principles of person-centred care interlink with each other to indicate what needs to be in place for person-centred care to be achieved. The model also provides a possible structure to inform the planning of future development within education and practice.The study outcomes identify potential areas for development within research, education and practice These include, working towards a shared vision of person-centred care in the study setting by using work based activities in order to identify ongoing development needs; the testing and evaluation of the use of the model of person-centred care in practice and education and the investigation of the feasibility of conducting a health economic study to explore the cost-benefit of providing person-centred care in acute care settings.


Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in the study of optimal monetary policy under uncertainty. This book provides a thorough survey of the literature that has resulted from this renewed interest. The authors ground recent contributions on the 'science of monetary policy' in the literature of the 1970s, which viewed optimal monetary policy as primarily a question of the best use of information, and studies in the 1980s that gave primacy to time inconsistency problems. This broad focus leads to a better understanding of current issues such as discretion versus commitment, target versus instrument rules, and the merits of delegation of policy authority.


Maltotriose is the second most abundant fermentable sugar in wort and, due to incomplete fermentation, residual maltotriose in beer causes both quality and economic problems in the brewing industry. To identify genes that might improve utilization of maltotriose, we developed a library containing genomic DNA from four lager strains and a laboratory Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain and isolated transformants that could grow on YP/2% maltotriose in the presence of 3 mg/l of the respiratory inhibitor antimycin A. In this way we found a gene which shared 74% similarity with MPH2 and MPH3, 62% similarity with AGT1 and 91% similarity with MAL61 and MAL31, all encoding known maltose transporters. Moreover, the gene shared an even higher similarity (98%) with the uncharacterized Saccharomyces pastorianus mty1 gene (M. Salema‐Oom, unpublished; NCBI Accession No. AJ491328). Therefore, we named the gene MTT1 (mty1‐like transporter). We showed that the gene was present in four different lager strains but was absent from the laboratory strain CEN.PK113‐7D. The ORF in the plasmid isolated from the library lacks 66 base pairs from the 3′‐end of MTT1 but instead contains 54 bp of the vector. We named this ORF MTT1alt (NCBI Accession No. DQ010174). 14C‐Maltose and repurified 14C‐maltotriose were used to show that MTT1 and, especially, MTT1alt, encode maltose transporters for which the ratio between activities to maltotriose and maltose is higher than for most known maltose transporters. Introduction of MTT1 or MTT1alt into lager strain A15 raised maltotriose uptake by about 17% or 105%, respectively. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Ostension is bodily movement that manifests our engagement with things, whether we wish it to or not. Gestures, glances, facial expressions: all betray our interest in something. Ostension enables our first word learning, providing infants with a prelinguistic way to grasp the meaning of words. Ostension is philosophically puzzling; it cuts across domains seemingly unbridgeable -- public--private, inner--outer, mind--body. In this book, Chad Engelland offers a philosophical investigation of ostension and its role in word learning by infants. Engelland discusses ostension (distinguishing it from ostensive definition) in contemporary philosophy, examining accounts by Quine, Davidson, and Gadamer, and he explores relevant empirical findings in psychology, evolutionary anthropology, and neuroscience. He offers original studies of four representative historical thinkers whose work enriches the understanding of ostension: Wittgenstein, Merleau-Ponty, Augustine, and Aristotle. And, building on these philosophical and empirical foundations, Engelland offers a meticulous analysis of the philosophical issues raised by ostension. He examines the phenomenological problem of whether embodied intentions are manifest or inferred; the problem of what concept of mind allows ostensive cues to be intersubjectively available; the epistemological problem of how ostensive cues, notoriously ambiguous, can be correctly understood; and the metaphysical problem of the ultimate status of the key terms in his argument: animate movement, language, and mind. Finally, he argues for the centrality of manifestation in philosophy. Taking ostension seriously, he proposes, has far-reaching implications for thinking about language and the practice of philosophy.


When animals explore an environment, they store useful spatial information in their brains. In subsequent visits, they can recall this information and thus avoid dangerous places or find again a food location. This ability, which may be crucial for the animal's survival, is termed "spatial learning". In the late 1940s, theoretical considerations have led researchers to the conclusion that rats establish a "cognitive map" of their environment. This spatial representation can then be used by the animal in order to navigate towards a rewarding location. In 1971, researchers have for the first time found direct evidence that the hippocampus, a brain area in the limbic system, may contain such a cognitive map. The activity of neurons in the hippocampus of rats tends to be highly correlated with the animal's position within the environment. These "place cells" have since been the target of a large body of research. Apart from spatial learning, the hippocampus seems to be involved in a more general type of learning, namely in the formation of so-called "episodic memories". Models of hippocampal function could thus provide valuable insights for the understanding of memory processes in general. Insights from animal navigation could also prove beneficial for the design of autonomous mobile robots. constructing a consistent map of the environment from experience, and using it for solving navigation problems are difficult tasks. Incorporating principles borrowed from animal navigation may help building more robust and autonomous robots. The main objective of this thesis is to develop a neural network model of spatial learning in the rat. The system should be capable of learning how to navigate to a hidden reward location based on realistic sensory input. The system is validated on a mobile robot. Our model consists of several interconnected brain regions, each represented by a population of neurons. The model closely follows experimental results on functional, anatomical and neurophysiological properties of these regions. One population, for instance, models the hippocampal place cells. A head-direction system closely interacts with the place cells and endows the robot with a sense of direction. A population of motor-related cells codes for the direction of the next movement. Associations are learnt between place cells and motor cells in order to navigate towards a goal location. This study allows us to make experimental predictions on functional and neurophysiological properties of the modelled brain regions. In our validation experiments, the robot successfully establishes a spatial representation. The robot can localise itself in the environment and quickly learns to navigate to the hidden goal location.


Abstract Reactor noise in accelerator-driven systems (ADSs) is different from that in critical or radioactive source-driven subcritical systems because of the periodically pulsed source and its non-Poisson character. In two earlier papers, we developed a theory of ADS reactor noise, incorporating these features. The non-Poisson character of the source does not permit the use of the forward Kolmogorov equation or the Bartlette formula, two commonly used techniques in traditional noise theory. The method used in these papers was a probability-generating function combined with the linear character of the reactor noise in zero-power systems. In this paper we develop the Langevin approach to reactor noise in ADSs. Apart from being simpler, the Langevin approach allows treatment of feedback effects arising in ADSs with significant power as well as other noise sources, if any. We demonstrate that it is possible to obtain the correct expressions for various noise descriptors using this approach. The method is then applied to treat correlated non-Poisson pulsed sources with a finite pulse width including delayed neutrons. The present paper complements and expands our earlier discussions of ADS reactor noise.


Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical cause of acute abdominal pain in children. Perforated appendicitis is the major complication of acute appendicitis with incidence in children of 30-40%. Perforated appendicitis should be operated immediately along with the administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics. The aim of this study isto analyze the microbiological profile and determine the antimicrobial susceptibility in children with perforated appendicitis at Dr. Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.We analyzed the pus from the perforated appendicitis patients who underwent surgery at Dr. SardjitoGeneral Hospital from January 2005 to September 2009. Escherichia coli (43%) was the most common aerobic bacteria found in children with perforated appendicitis, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (26%), Klebsiellapneumonia (11%), Streptococcus (11%), and Proteus mirabilis (3%).The most sensitive antibiotics were imipenem, phosphomycin, amikacin and netilmicin, followed by the 4th and the 3rd generation of cephalosporin, amoxicillin, ampicillin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference in terms of resistant and sensitivity between the 4th generation cephalosporin compared to phosphomycin, netilmicin, or imipenem (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the most common bacteria found in perforated appendicitis in Dr. Sardjito General Hospital is E.coli. The administration of the 4th generation of cephalosporin might be appropriate for the children with perforated appendicitis.


Much recent work in strategy and popular discussion suggests that an excessive focus on "managing the numbers" --delivering quarterly earnings at the expense of longer term investments--makes it difficult for firms to make the investments necessary to build competitive advantage. "Short termism" has been blamed for everything from the decline of the US automobile industry to the low penetration of techniques such as TQM and continuous improvement. Yet a vigorous tradition in the accounting literature establishes that firms routinely sacrifice long-term investment to manage earnings and are rewarded for doing so. This paper presents a model that can reconcile these apparently contradictory perspectives. We show that if the source of long-term advantage is modeled as a stock of capability that accumulates gradually over time, a firm's proclivity to manage short-term earnings at the expense of long-term investment can have very different consequences depending on whether the firm's capability is close to a critical "tipping threshold". When the firm operates above this threshold, managing earnings smoothes revenue with few long-term consequences. Below it, managing earnings can tip the firm into a vicious cycle of accelerating decline. Our results have important implications for understanding managerial incentives and the internal processes that lead to sustained advantage.


Abstract. The formation, abundance and distribution of organic nitrates are relevant for determining the production efficiency and resident mixing ratios of tropospheric ozone (O3) on both regional and global scales. Here we investigate the effect of applying the recently measured direct chemical production of methyl nitrate (CH3ONO2) during NOx recycling involving the methyl-peroxy radical on the global tropospheric distribution of CH3ONO2 and the perturbations introduced towards tropospheric NOx and O3 using the TM5 global chemistry transport model. By comparisons against numerous observations, we show that the global surface distribution of CH3ONO2 can be largely explained by introducing the chemical production mechanism using a branching ratio of 0.3%, when assuming a direct oceanic emission source of ~0.15 Tg N yr−1. On a global scale, the chemical production of CH3ONO2 converts 1 Tg N yr−1 from nitrogen oxide for this branching ratio. The resident mixing ratios of CH3ONO2 are found to be highly sensitive to the dry deposition velocity that is prescribed, where more than 50% of the direct oceanic emission is lost near the source regions, thereby mitigating the subsequent effects due to long-range and convective transport out of the source region. For the higher alkyl nitrates (RONO2) we find improvements in the simulated distribution near the surface in the tropics (10° S–10° N) when introducing direct oceanic emissions equal to ~0.17 Tg N yr−1 . In terms of the vertical profile of CH3ONO2, there are persistent overestimations in the free troposphere and underestimations in the upper troposphere across a wide range of latitudes and longitudes when compared against data from measurement campaigns. This suggests either a missing transport pathway or source/sink term, although measurements show significant variability in resident mixing ratios at high altitudes at global scale. For the vertical profile of RONO2, TM5 performs better at tropical latitudes than at mid-latitudes, with similar features in the comparisons to those for CH3ONO2. Comparisons of CH3ONO2 with a wide range of surface measurements shows that further constraints are necessary regarding the variability in the deposition terms for different land surfaces in order to improve on the comparisons presented here. For total reactive nitrogen (NOy) ~20% originates from alkyl nitrates in the tropics and subtropics, where the introduction of both direct oceanic emissions and the chemical formation mechanism of CH3ONO2 only makes a ~5% contribution to the total alkyl nitrate content in the upper troposphere when compared with aircraft observations. We find that the increases in tropospheric O3 that occur due oxidation of CH3ONO2 originating from direct oceanic emission is negated when accounting for the chemical formation of CH3ONO2, meaning that the impact of such oceanic emissions on atmospheric lifetimes becomes marginal when a branching ratio of 0.3% is adopted.


This project prioritised thirteen biological indicators of soil quality which showed
high current potential for deployment in a national-scale soil monitoring scheme.
These indicators met a range of scientific and technical criteria that related soil
functions and feasibility within large-scale surveys. The priority indicators with
associated methodologies are:
- Eight soil microbial groups [ammonia oxidisers, denitrifiers, fungi, bacteria,
Archaea, methanogens, methanotrophs and actinomycetes] identified from
TRFLP fingerprinting
- Soil microbial community structure and biomass characterised from PLFA
profiles
- Multiple substrate induced respiration (MSIR) derived by GC or MicrorespTM
- Multi-enzyme profiling via microplate fluorometric assay
- Nematode community structure from Baermann extractions
- Microarthropod community structure from Tullgren dry extractions
The selection process was robust, repeatable and auditable. A structured framework
denoted a 'logical sieve' was developed to support the incorporation and analysis of
a large number of assessments against a wide range of technical and scientific criteria
relevant to national scale soil monitoring. This enabled a consistent synthesis of
available information and the semi-objective assessment of 183 potential biological
indicators identified from the literature. Stakeholder priorities for technical criteria
were identified through consultation, with the UK-SIC and the expert reviewers, and
incorporated into the final prioritisation phase of the logical sieve. The power of this
approach is that it provides a clear audit trail on the decision-making process and
would allow the inclusion of further indicators into the framework.
The process was initially reviewed by experts familiar with biological indicators and
soil monitoring and then assessed at a two-day expert workshop. Comments and
discussions on the relative importance and robustness of potential indicators and
future research priorities proved invaluable to the final selection. As a consequence,
the logical sieve was modified to prioritise biological indicators for all three soil
functions rather than simply biological indicators with the highest universal scores.
The final priority indicators were selected by reviewing the outputs from the logical
sieve. Each priority indicator, with associated method, was assessed for relevance to
ecological services, obvious surrogacy, the range of indicator indices produced and
practicalities of use. Each priority indicator was reviewed and outstanding issues
relating to deployment identified.
Statistical analyses of existing field survey/experimental data for PLFAs, soil
invertebrates and community-level physiological profiling of the soil microbial
community (BIOLOGTM) highlighted generic technical, policy-related and scientific
issues which were considered in the recommendations for a field evaluation of the
priority indicators.


We present a framework for building and evaluating P2P systems in simulation, local execution, and distributed deployment. Such uniform system evaluations increase confidence in the obtained results. We briefly introduce the Kompics component model and its P2P framework. We describe the component architecture of a Kompics P2P system and show how to define experiment scenarios for large dynamic systems. The same experiments are conducted in reproducible simulation, in real-time execution on a single machine, and distributed over a local cluster or a wide area network. This demonstration shows the component oriented design and the evaluation of two P2P systems implemented in Kompics: Chord and Cyclon. We simulate the systems and then we execute them in real time. During real-time execution we monitor the dynamic behavior of the systems and interact with them through their web-based interfaces. We demonstrate how component-oriented design enables seamless switching between alternative protocols.


Due to the popularity and intensive usage of Online Social Networks, more and more companies try to get in touch with existing as well as potential customers and to market their brands and products within these networks. Especially Facebook provides an extensive user base and the opportunity to implement fan pages, which allow companies to leverage a broad range of technical features and media types to interact with users. However, the success of company fan pages varies and is by far not guaranteed. Therefore, it is necessary to measure whether a company's efforts to stimulate user activity on fan pages are successful or not. Hence, we deduce and hypothesize factors influencing the number of active users on fan pages and take different technical features and media types companies can use into account. To test our hypotheses empirically, we draw on publicly and non-publicly available data of a global insurance company's fan page within Facebook. The results suggest that based on the number of current fans companies can particularly stimulate user activity and engagement by using company wallposts with its different media types as well as by commenting on already existing wallposts. Finally, both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.


This study analyses how consumer perceptions on the quality of products are influenced by the marketing appeals of multinational firms and by the country-of-origin effects. It presents findings derived from the results of country-of-origin effect, corporate image, its brand image and purchase intention survey conducted in Almaty, Kazakhstan, one of the CIS countries that are considered as developing countries and transition economies. The findings suggest that while attitudes of consumers towards country-of-origin and corporate image exert a great deal of influence on their perceptions of product quality and purchase behaviour, the effects of certain country image appeals on products purchase behaviour are moderated by the broad socio-demographics and national cultural characteristics. Finally, this study highlights the importance of global brands building associated with corporate image and how they can be further improved by global marketing appeals.


Bare soil and high drainage densities are common characteristics of intensive agriculture land. The couplings of these characteristics lead to high runoff and eroded soil volumes leaving the field or the orchard via the local drainage system into the fluvial system. This process increase flood risk due to massive deposition of the coarse fraction of the eroded soil and therefore reduces channel capacity to discharge the increase volumes of concentrated runoff. As a result drainage basin authorities are forced to invest large amount of money in maintaining and enlarging the drainage network. However this approach is un-sustainable. On the other hand, implementing cover crops (CC) and modification to current agricultural practices over the contributing area of the watershed seems to have more benefits and provide sustainable solution. A multi-disciplinary approach applied in commercial potatoes fields and orchards that utilize the benefit of CC shows great success as means of soil and water conservation and weed disinfestation without reduction in the yield, its quality or its profitability. The results indicate that it is possible to grow potatoes and citrus trees under CC with no reduction in yield or nutrient uptake, with more than 95% reduction in soil loss and more than 60% in runoff volumes and peak discharges.


Copy number profiling and whole-exome sequencing has allowed us to make remarkable progress in our understanding of the genetics of autism over the past ten years, but there are major aspects of the genetics that are unresolved. Through whole-genome sequencing, additional types of genetic variants can be observed. These variants are abundant and to know which are functional is challenging. We have analyzed whole-genome sequencing data from 510 of the Simons Simplex Collections quad families and focused our attention on intronic variants. Within the introns of 546 high-quality autism target genes, we identified 63 de novo indels in the affected and only 37 in the unaffected siblings. The difference of 26 events is significantly larger than expected (p-val = 0.01) and using reasonable extrapolation shows that de novo intronic indels can contribute to at least 10% of simplex autism. The significance increases if we restrict to the half of the autism targets that are intolerant to damaging variants in the normal human population, which half we expect to be even more enriched for autism genes. For these 273 targets we observe 43 and 20 events in affected and unaffected siblings, respectively (p-value of 0.005). There was no significant signal in the number of de novo intronic indels in any of the control sets of genes analyzed. We see no signal from de novo substitutions in the introns of target genes.


The field of MultiSector Dynamics (MSD) explores the dynamics and co‐evolutionary pathways of human and Earth systems with a focus on critical goods, services, and amenities delivered to people through interdependent sectors. This commentary lays out core definitions and concepts, identifies MSD science questions in the context of the current state of knowledge, and describes ongoing activities to expand capacities for open science, leverage revolutions in data and computing, and grow and diversify the MSD workforce. Central to our vision is the ambition of advancing the next generation of complex adaptive human‐Earth systems science to better address interconnected risks, increase resilience, and improve sustainability. This will require convergent research and the integration of ideas and methods from multiple disciplines. Understanding the tradeoffs, synergies, and complexities that exist in coupled human‐Earth systems is particularly important in the context of energy transitions and increased future shocks.


Solar-sail mission analysis and design is currently performed assuming constant optical and mechanical properties of the thin metalized polymer films that are projected for solar sails. More realistically, however, these properties are likely to be affected by the damaging effects of the space environment. The standard solar-sail force models can therefore not be used to investigate the consequences of these effects on mission performance. The aim of this paper is to propose a new parametric model for describing the sail film's optical degradation with time. In particular, the sail film's optical coefficients are assumed to depend on its environmental history, that is, the radiation dose. Using the proposed model, the optimal control laws for degrading solar sails are derived using an indirect method and the effects of different degradation behaviors are investigated for an example interplanetary mission.


In "Imagining Robert", Jay Neugeboren told the sad, deeply personal, often harrowing story of one man and one family's struggle with chronic mental illness. Now, he presents an overview of the entire field: a clear-eyed, articulate, comprehensive survey of our mental health care system's shortcomings and of new, effective, proven approaches that make real differences in the lives of millions of Americans afflicted with severe mental illness. A book for general readers and professionals alike, "Transforming Madness" is at once a critique, a message of hope and recovery, and a call to action. Filled with dramatic stories, it shows us the many ways in which people who have suffered the long-term ravages of psychiatric disorders have reclaimed full and viable lives.


Considering traits that facilitate and inhibit evolutionary diversification can best be done with traits where the genetic and developmental basis is known. My PhD. research has focused on the evolutionary implications of larval development in molgulid ascidians. Ascidians or sea squirts, are a group of tunicates, which phylogenomic evidence suggests is sister-group to the vertebrates. Most ascidians develop as tadpole larvae that have an eyespot, gravity-sensing otolith, and a notochord, which converges and extends to form a tail that is used for dispersal. In molgulid ascidians, there have been 15 species described from at least four separate evolutionary origins that have lost the eyespot, otolith, and tail in their larval stage. Using transcriptome data for a species with normal tadpole larval development, a species with tailless larval development, and their hybrid, I have found that molgulid ascidians express genes normally expressed at metamorphosis early in development, and hypothesize this early expression is driving the tailless phenotype. Additionally, using molecular phylogenetic comparative methods in ascidians, I found species with the derived, tailless, less-dispersive larvae have lower speciation rates and smaller geographic ranges. Lower speciation rates in lineages with the derived, less dispersive larval development is in contrast to speciation rates estimated from molecular phylogenies in gastropods, and from fossil gastropods and echinoderms, and this difference suggests that the demography of species with different larval development may be important to consider.