Background: Clinical studies suggest that inhaled corticosteroids reduce exacerbations and improve health status in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, their effect on mortality is unknown. Methods: A pooled analysis, based on intention to treat, of individual patient data from seven randomised trials (involving 5085 patients) was performed in which the effects of inhaled corticosteroids and placebo were compared over at least 12 months in patients with stable COPD. The end point was all-cause mortality. Results: Overall, 4% of the participants died during a mean follow up period of 26 months. Inhaled corticosteroids reduced all-cause mortality by about 25% relative to placebo. Stratification by individual trials and adjustments for age, sex, baseline post-bronchodilator percentage predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second, smoking status, and body mass index did not materially change the results (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.73; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.55 to 0.96). Although there was considerable overlap between subgroups in terms of effect sizes, the beneficial effect was especially noticeable in women (adjusted HR 0.46; 95% CI 0.24 to 0.91) and former smokers (adjusted HR 0.60; 95% CI 0.39 to 0.93). Conclusions: Inhaled corticosteroids reduce all-cause mortality in COPD. Further studies are required to determine whether the survival benefits persist beyond 2–3 years.


Michael Hart, a former Canadian trade official, holds the Simon Reisman Chair in Trade Policy in the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University and is a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Trade Policy and Law at Carleton and the University of Ottawa. His most recent book is A Trading Nation: Canadian Trade Policy from Colonialism to Globalization (Vancouver: UBC Press 2002).CANADA HAS ALWAYS BEEN A TRADING NATION. From their earliest days, Canadians have pursued their livelihood on the basis of exports to bigger and wealthier markets and have benefited from a wide array of imported goods, services, capital, and technologies. Not surprisingly, trade policy, that is, federal and provincial measures to govern and influence the flow of exports and imports, has figured prominently in Canada's development as a nation.Over the past half century, as a result of successful multilateral, regional, and bilateral negotiations, a rules-based international trade order has become a universally accepted part of both intellectual and intergovernmental discourse. The success of that order in integrating national economies into a global economy poses a new series of challenges that require new policies and an expanded regime capable of extending the concepts of national governance to an increasingly integrated global economy.The full impact and ramification of the global economic changes that are driving the demand for new thinking are, of course, only now emerging. For Canada, deepening bilateral integration with the United States provides a second dominating theme confronting Canadian trade policy practitioners. Addressing these challenges will require some appreciation of the road Canadians have traveled over the past century and a half and the lessons they have learned along the way. It is more than a cliche that those ignorant of the past are bound to repeat its mistakes. The past informs the present and makes it both more intelligible and easier to accept. With a firm understanding of the past and a realistic appreciation of the present, the challenges of the future are less daunting.Good trade policy does not come naturallyFor a relatively small economy dependent on trade with larger economies, it is not difficult to identify the hallmarks of 'good' trade policy. Canada's history, however, suggests that good trade policy may be easier to describe than to implement. As in so many areas, the conjunction between good policy and good politics has often proved narrow and difficult to find and to implement. The result is a history rich in lessons for the future.As most practitioners would describe it, good trade policy involves the careful integration of economic, business, legal, and political ideas and values into a coherent set of laws, agreements, regulations, policies, and practices, attuned to the circumstances of the moment but broad enough to endure. From an economic perspective, good trade policy finds ways to move towards more open markets. Government policies that distort the efficient allocation of resources are likely to lower national and global welfare while the removal of such barriers is likely to raise them. Competitive markets and consumer choice are critical contributors to national and individual prosperity and are among the most widely shared values in economics. They are also critical to the goals of the global trade regime. Unfortunately, the benefits of an open economy are all too often apparent only in the long term. To endure, therefore, good economic policies need to be reinforced by political, business, and legal goals.Governments, of course, pursue more than economic objectives. Policies that distort market efficiencies may serve other important societal goals. Efforts to ensure consumer safety, national security, cultural identity, sustainable environments, or distributive justice may affect the operation of the market and the flow of goods and services across national borders. …


The World, due to Over-consumptions, Mounting Wastage, and basically, Reckless Exploitations, by a small section of population, has, imputably, been shrinking in Resource and Biodiversity – the very multi-lineal & multi-lateral symbioses spawned by the evolution over 3 billion years. The very Ethics, Humaneness & Propounds derived out of Scientific Logic Rationalities & Scenario, and overall Balance those build the Civilization, are being ruthlessly stampeded. According to one estimate, humans have been consuming 40% more than what the Earth can sustain. The increase in Fossil Fuel Emissions from Car, Aircraft, Industry, Coal, Firewood, & other sources, as also other Pollutions from Sewages, Refuses, & other Toxins, have been multiplying imbalances in the Ecosystem, - its shrinking apart, and contributing to the Ecological Destructions. According to some Scientists, we have just 10 years –reckoned from 2007, to save the World. The Topic, in the ebb & flow of fashion, - encouraged by Political Economy, has been frequently, featuring in the Media, Seminars & Conferences, whereas the speedy tangible & time bound programs those are needed to resist the multi-lineal destructions of the Nature, & consequential threats, and to nurture Recourses for Biological Regenerations, as also to reestablish the multidimensional symbioses that made the Earth habitable, are somehow, remaining far away from commensurate momentum needed.. The Offshoots of Carbon Trading, Selling Nature to save it, payments for ecosystem services etc are only examples of Sophistry & Professionalism and will only exacerbate the Ecological Destructions.


This introductory chapter outlines what a cycle is, what kinds of cycles are generally accepted, and how the contributions in this book fit the various cycles. Uncontroversial cycles are the negative, future, modal, and determiner cycles; these will be referred to as micro-cycles. More controversial are macro-cycles, i.e. cycles that shift a language from analytic to synthetic and from synthetic to analytic. These cycles are controversial partly because of the use of the terms analytic and synthetic, which will be discussed briefly. The introduction also includes a section on recent work, issues of debate, and on future directions.


Introduction: Simultaneous etching of enamel and dentin using the novel generation of adhesive systems with contracted operational steps, has shown a good clinical efficacy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microleakage of composite restorations using the V and VII generations of adhesive systems on primary teeth. Methods: This study was performed on 45 human intact extracted primary teeth. Following class V cavity preparation, the samples were randomly divided into three groups included 15 teeth based on the type of bonding agent; Single Bond 2, Clearfil S3 Bond or G Bond. After applying the bonding agents, the teeth filled with composite Z250. The microleakage values of incisal and gingival margins were separately scored by 2% basic fuchsine staining based on a 0-3 ordinal ranking system. The data were analyzed by using Kruskal Wallis and Mann_whitney U tests. Results: In overall, the score of microleakage at incisal (0.58±0.94) and gingival (1.06±0.19) edges did not have significant difference. Also, there was no significant difference between incisal and gingival microleakage considering the different types of bonding. Conclusion: Regarding to less operational steps and lower risk of salivary contamination, the VII generation of dentin bonding agents can be applied for filling the class V cavities of primary teeth.


Binaural systems measure instantaneous time/level differences between acoustic signals received at the ears to determine angles λ between the auditory axis and directions to acoustic sources. An angle λ locates a source on a small circle of colatitude (a lamda circle) on a sphere symmetric about the auditory axis. As the head is turned while listening to a sound, acoustic energy over successive instantaneous lamda circles is integrated in a virtual/subconscious field of audition. The directions in azimuth and elevation to maxima in integrated acoustic energy, or to points of intersection of lamda circles, are the directions to acoustic sources. This process in a robotic system, or in nature in a neural implementation equivalent to it, delivers its solutions to the aurally informed worldview. The process is analogous to migration applied to seismic profiler data, and to that in synthetic aperture radar/sonar systems. A slanting auditory axis, e.g., possessed by species of owl, leads to the auditory axis sweeping the surface of a cone as the head is turned about a single axis. Thus, the plane in which the auditory axis turns continuously changes, enabling robustly unambiguous directions to acoustic sources to be determined.


[1] Canadian Aerosol Module (CAM) has been developed to simulate the atmospheric cycling of principal aerosol species, with the Third Generation Canadian Climate Center General Circulation Model (CCC GCM III) as its climatological driver. Adding an aerosol optical module to this modeling framework, the optical parameters of aerosols are simulated and compared to Sun photometer (AERONET) and satellite (MODIS) observations, as well as lidar observations of aerosol vertical profiles. The model captures well the global distribution and seasonal variation of aerosol optical parameters, showing seasonal maxima of optical depth and absorption over desert and biomass-burning regions. For most sites and months, the modeled optical depths are within MODIS and AERONET means and standard deviations, and modeled single-scattering albedo (SSA) and asymmetry factor are within 10% of AERONET retrievals. Fairly good agreement is found between modeled and observed optical depths over tropical oceans, where most models show significant underestimation. The model's overestimation of observed optical depths over parts of Europe by about 0.1 is most likely due to overestimates by older emission inventories. Modeled optical depths and SSA above observed means and standard deviations over areas and at sites within Central Africa and Central and South America suggest overprediction of organic carbon contribution by the model. Common to other models, however, our simulations underestimate the strength of the tropical biomass burning season. Modeled aerosol vertical profiles show better agreement with lidar observations at European sites than at an East Asian site, and more so at upper than at lower altitudes.


Abstract. In 2000–2001 Ulysses passed from the south to the north polar regions of the Sun in the inner heliosphere, providing a snapshot of the latitudinal structure of cosmic ray modulation and solar energetic particle populations during a period near solar maximum.  Observations from the COSPIN suite of energetic charged particle telescopes show that latitude variations in the cosmic ray intensity in the inner heliosphere are nearly non-existent near solar maximum, whereas small but clear latitude gradients were observed during the similar phase of Ulysses' orbit near the 1994–95 solar minimum. At proton energies above ~10 MeV and extending up to >70 MeV, the intensities are often dominated by Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) accelerated near the Sun in association with intense solar flares and large Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). At lower energies the particle intensities are almost constantly enhanced above background, most likely as a result of a mix of SEPs and particles accelerated by interplanetary shocks. Simultaneous high-latitude Ulysses and near-Earth observations show that most events that produce large flux increases near Earth also produce flux increases at Ulysses, even at the highest latitudes attained. Particle anisotropies during particle onsets at Ulysses are typically directed outwards from the Sun, suggesting either acceleration extending to high latitudes or efficient cross-field propagation somewhere inside the orbit of Ulysses. Both cosmic ray and SEP observations are consistent with highly efficient transport of energetic charged particles between the equatorial and polar regions and across the mean interplanetary magnetic fields in the inner heliosphere. Key words. Interplanetary physics (cosmic rays) – Solar physics, astrophysics and astronomy (energetic particles; flares and mass ejections)


In this study, the chloroplast (cp) genome sequences from three early diverged leptosporangiate ferns were completed and analyzed in order to understand the evolution of the genome of the fern lineages. The complete cp genome sequence of Osmunda cinnamomea (Osmundales) was 142,812 base pairs (bp). The cp genome structure was similar to that of eusporangiate ferns. The gene/intron losses that frequently occurred in the cp genome of leptosporangiate ferns were not found in the cp genome of O. cinnamomea. In addition, putative RNA editing sites in the cp genome were rare in O. cinnamomea, even though the sites were frequently predicted to be present in leptosporangiate ferns. The complete cp genome sequence of Diplopterygium glaucum (Gleicheniales) was 151,007 bp and has a 9.7 kb inversion between the trnL-CAA and trnV-GCA genes when compared to O. cinnamomea. Several repeated sequences were detected around the inversion break points. The complete cp genome sequence of Lygodium japonicum (Schizaeales) was 157,142 bp and a deletion of the rpoC1 intron was detected. This intron loss was shared by all of the studied species of the genus Lygodium. The GC contents and the effective numbers of co-dons (ENCs) in ferns varied significantly when compared to seed plants. The ENC values of the early diverged leptosporangiate ferns showed intermediate levels between eusporangiate and core leptosporangiate ferns. However, our phylogenetic tree based on all of the cp gene sequences clearly indicated that the cp genome similarity between O. cinnamomea (Osmundales) and eusporangiate ferns are symplesiomorphies, rather than synapomorphies. Therefore, our data is in agreement with the view that Osmundales is a distinct early diverged lineage in the leptosporangiate ferns.


Under the Australian Constitution, matters relating to communications are a national responsibility. However, until recently, there had been a broad consensus across the political parties about most communications policies, with the major exception of the privatisation of the former incumbent, Telstra. This consensus no longer holds. One of the issues raised by all sides in the recent election period was 'broadband', and there is no doubt that, now the election results are clear, Australia may actually be on the way to developing a broadband policy. This article reviews the background to the recent policy debate, and provides some comment on the issues that have been raised in the Election Campaign.


The conservation of our heritage buildings is a European wide policy objective. Historical buildings are not only works of art, but embody an important source of local identity and form a connection to our past. Protection agencies aim to preserve historical qualities for future generations. Their work is guided by restoration theory, a philosophy developed and codified in the course of the 19th and 20th century. European covenants, such as the Venice Charter, express shared views on the conservation and restoration of built heritage. Today, many users expect a building with modern comfort as well as a historical appearance. Moreover, new functionality is needed for building types that have outlived their original function. For example, how to reuse buildings such as old prisons, military barracks, factories, or railway stations? These new functions and new demands pose a challenge to restoration design and practices. Another, perhaps conflicting EU policy objective is the reduction of energy use in the built environment, in order to reach climate policy goals. Roughly 40% of the consumption of energy takes place in buildings, either in the production or consumption phase. However, energy efficiency is especially difficult to achieve in the case of historical buildings, because of strict regulations aimed at protecting historical values. Recently, there has been growing interest in energy efficient restoration practices in the Netherlands, as is shown by the 'energy-neutral' restoration of Villa Diederichs in Utrecht, the 'Boostencomplex' in Maastricht and De Tempel in The Hague. Although restoration of listed buildings is obviously focused on the preservation of historical values, with the pressing demands from EU climate policy the energy efficiency of historical building


This paper arises from a doctoral thesis comparing the impact of alternative installer business models
on the rate at which microgeneration is taken up in homes and installation standards across the UK.
The paper presents the results of the first large-scale academic survey of businesses certified to
install residential microgeneration. The aim is to systematically capture those characteristics which
define the business model of each surveyed company, and relate these to the number, location and
type of technologies that they install, and the quality of these installations.
The methodology comprised a pilot web survey of 235 certified installer businesses, which was
carried out in June last year and achieved a response rate of 30%. Following optimisation of the
design, the main web survey was emailed to over 2000 businesses between October and December
2011, with 317 valid responses received. The survey is being complemented during summer 2012 by
semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of installers who completed the main survey.
The survey results are currently being analysed. The early results indicate an emerging and volatile
market where solar PV, solar hot water and air source heat pumps are the dominant technologies.
Three quarters of respondents are founders of their installer business, while only 22 businesses are
owned by another company. Over half of the 317 businesses have five employees or less, while 166
businesses are no more than four years old. In addition, half of the businesses stated that 100% of
their employees work on microgeneration-related activities. 85% of the surveyed companies have
only one business location in the UK. A third of the businesses are based either in the South West or
South East regions of England.
This paper outlines the interim results of the survey combined with the outcomes from additional
interviews with installers to date. The research identifies some of the business models underpinning
microgeneration installers and some of the ways in which installer business models impact on the rate
and standards of microgeneration uptake. A tentative conclusion is that installer business models are
profoundly dependent on the levels and timing of support from the UK Feed-in Tariffs and Renewable
Heat Incentive.


The important problem in analyzing the paired RNA-seq data is that current methods cannot account for the dependence between the paired groups. Moreover, the Poisson or Negative Binomial distributions used in most methods may not fit the data with biological replicates as assumed. Thus, a novel idea of RNA-seq study is in need to help capture new data characteristics. By modeling the change between two groups with the homogenous birth and death process, we propose a new method (a birth and death model) to detect differentially expressed genes. To make our model more appropriate for the real data, we generalize the original model to a mixed birth and death model. The usefulness and advantages of our approaches are demonstrated on simulations and three real datasets. Index words: RNA-seq, Birth and death process, Differntial expression detection A Birth and Death Model for RNA-Seq Data Analysis


We introduce a method for approximate smoothed inference in a class of switching linear dynamical systems, based on a novel form of Gaussian Sum smoother. This class includes the switching Kalman 'Filter' and the more general case of switch transitions dependent on the continuous latent state. The method improves on the standard Kim smoothing approach by dispensing with one of the key approximations, thus making fuller use of the available future information.

Whilst the central assumption required is projection to a mixture of Gaussians, we show that an additional conditional independence assumption results in a simpler but accurate alternative. Our method consists of a single Forward and Backward Pass and is reminiscent of the standard smoothing 'correction' recursions in the simpler linear dynamical system. The method is numerically stable and compares favourably against alternative approximations, both in cases where a single mixture component provides a good posterior approximation, and where a multimodal approximation is required.


The paper discusses changes that have occurred in the Czech pension system since 1996 in terms of their gender impact. The pension system is considered in a broader socio-economic context. I take into account different working careers of men and women and their unequal share in unpaid care work. I analyse individual steps of the reform (the criteria for entitlement to a retirement pension, changes in the mechanism for calculating pension benefits, and the newly established private second pillar) and show the impact of these changes on women and men in retirement. I conclude that although the reform is presented as gender-neutral just because it maintains the same conditions for both sexes, it ultimately brings significant deterioration in women's retirement situation as compared to men's. An increase in the level of equivalence—and therefore the increasing dependence of the pension entitlement on previous income from paid work—means that, in the logic of the pension system, unpaid work associated particularly with childcare is valued less and less and gender inequalities in the labour market are reproduced.


PROBLEM ADDRESSED
Family medicine residents require more exposure to all aspects of care of the elderly in the community, including care in long-term care (LTC) homes.

OBJECTIVE OF PROGRAM
To provide a framework for the development of integrated LTC rotations in family medicine programs.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Clear objectives for residents and clinical preceptors provided the foundation for the program. Rotations of 4 half days per year in LTC homes were integrated into core family medicine blocks. Residents worked with family physician preceptors providing LTC in the community. Teaching was case based and aligned with the core competencies set out in the CanMEDS (Canadian Medical Directives for Specialists) framework for medical education. The program was strongly supported by the university's administration, clinical preceptors in the community, and LTC homes.

CONCLUSION
All the residents rated their LTC rotations as useful or extremely useful in preparing them to provide LTC in their future practices. Long-term care homes realized that investing in training medical residents in LTC could help improve care of the elderly in the community.


When matched with Asian mega trends in culture, demographics and economics, BioScience products provide huge potential for exploitation and value creation in the coming years. This potential will be further enhanced by the declining capacity of the world's oil reserves to provide hydrocarbons for fuel and materials, and plants will become more important as bio-factories for basic ingredients to sustain human societies. Successful business models have been developed to harness the potential of BioScience to meet the demands for food, feed and organochemicals based on value creation and value capture mechanisms. These mechanisms are described in the book with real world case studies. As BioScience applications become more basic in nature, product development has increased in its complexity and requires special attention to obtain "freedom to operate". Controversy about novel gene technologies threatens to derail the BioScience Revolution as public concern about safety issues and bioethics are fuelled by opposition groups to the new biology. This book describes communication techniques and messages to address such concerns and shows how early education programs can have high payoffs for companies that invest in novel products.


We investigate the impact of corporate board meetings on corporate performance for a sample of 169 listed corporations from 2002 to 2007 in South Africa (SA). Our findings suggest a statistically significant and positive association between the frequency of corporate board meetings and corporate performance, implying that SA boards that meet more frequently tend to generate higher financial performance. A further investigation indicates a significant non-monotonic link between the frequency of corporate board meetings and corporate performance, suggesting that either a relatively small or large number of corporate board meetings impacts positively on corporate performance. Our findings are consistent across a raft of econometric models that control for different types of endogeneities and corporate performance proxies. Our results provide empirical support for agency theory, which suggests that corporate boards that meet more frequently have increased capacity to effectively advise, monitor and discipline management, and thereby improving corporate financial performance.


BACKGROUND
The target enzyme of pyrimethamine is dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), but little is known about allelic variants of dhfr in Plasmodium vivax populations. Still less is known about associations between specific alleles and the failure of sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (S/P) to clear the erythrocytic stages of P. vivax in vivo.

METHODS
We studied P. vivax dhfr mutations in 24 patients who received S/P therapy in Papua or Central Java, Indonesia, and we measured the resistance of the alleles in vitro in a dhfr yeast expression assay.

RESULTS
Fourteen (58%) of 24 patients had an inadequate therapeutic response. Two of 6 alleles that were identified were novel. One allele that expressed 4 point mutations (57L+58R+61M+117T) correlated with a high risk of therapeutic failure. The 9 patients infected by P. vivax carrying this allele proved 23 times more likely to experience early therapeutic failure, compared with patients infected by P. vivax carrying other alleles (P=.003; 95% confidence interval, 2-450). This allele also conferred high levels of pyrimethamine resistance in vitro. The experimental antifolate WR99210 inhibited the allele in this system.

CONCLUSIONS
The present study identified a strong correlation between specific mutations in P. vivax dhfr and S/P treatment failure. Our results suggest that WR99210 could provide effective therapy for S/P-resistant P. vivax.


In addition to its medical and hygienic effects, toothpaste should also ensure a pleasant sensation in the mouth during cleaning. Foam formation plays a key role for both purposes: it is important for the distribution and cleansing effect of the toothpaste and is generally perceived as pleasant – provided not too much foam is formed. So optimizing the foamability and consistency of the foam formed is an important step in the development of toothpaste recipes. Whereby the number of expensive and time-consuming test group studies can be reduced if foam formation is tested in advance using suitable measuring methods. Equally important for quality assurance during production are meaningful analyses. As part of an assessment of methods, we carried out a series of measurements on three toothpaste formulations using suitable measuring methods in order to compare their foaming behavior objectively. These involved reproducibly foaming diluted samples with a software-controlled stirrer in order to subsequently quantify their foamability and foam structures. The results enabled a clear identification of the differences between the various recipes.


The input to soils made by pollen and its subsequent mineralization has rarely been investigated from a soil microbiological point of view even though the small but significant quantities of C and N in pollen may make an important contribution to nutrient cycling. The relative resistance to decomposition of pollen exines (outer layers) has led to much of the focus of pollen in soil being on its preservation for archaeological and palaeo‐ecological purposes. We have examined aspects of the chemical composition and decomposition of pollen from birch (Betula alba) and maize (Zea mays) in soil. The relatively large N contents, small C‐to‐N ratios and large water‐soluble contents of pollen from both species indicated that they would be readily mineralized in soil. When added to soil and incubated at 16°C an amount of C equivalent to 22–26% of the added pollen C was lost as CO2 within 22 days, with the Z. mays pollen decomposing faster. For B. alba pollen, the water‐soluble fraction decomposed faster than the whole pollen and the insoluble fraction decomposed more slowly over 22 days. By contrast, there were no significant differences in the decomposition rates of the different fractions from Z. mays pollen. Solid‐state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) revealed no gross chemical differences between the pollen of these two species, with strong resonances in the alkyl‐ and methyl‐C region (0–45 p.p.m.) indicative of aliphatic compounds, the O‐alkyl‐C (60–90 p.p.m.) and the acetal‐ and ketal‐C region (90–110 p.p.m.) indicative of polysaccharides, and the carbonyl‐C region indicative of peptides and carboxylic acids. In addition, both pollens gave a small but distinct resonance at 55 p.p.m. attributed to N‐alkyl‐C. The resonances attributed to polysaccharides were lost completely or substantially reduced after decomposition.


This study investigated fostering political development (as defined in the report) through an integration of adult development, public issues analysis, and structured public discourse. Entitled The Integral Process For Working On Complex Issues (TIP), that multi-session discourse methodology includes issue analysis and framing, deliberation, and organizing systemic action. Its issue-framing template helps users generate multiple approaches to issues that reflect different levels of complexity and incorporate the conceivable human and institutional perspectives and environmental life conditions. The small group used the discourse process to select a public issue of concern and to begin to address it. It was about how to change the community's adversarial political culture. They conducted a deliberative action inquiry into their own tones and intentions toward that issue as the starting point to address it, and did deliberative decision-making on that basis. The political reasoning and culture of the group developed during the study, evidenced by the group's work and changes that participants experienced. The study is the first of its kind in several respects, which are: (a) to use this public discourse process as part of the research methodology, (b) to perform this kind of empirical research on public discourse and deliberation, and (c) to foster political and adult development while addressing complex issues. This extended length research report departs from traditional journal article formats not only by its length but also by integrating its report of findings with analyses of the processes that resulted in the findings. It is complemented by a shorter article in this issue of Integral Review, which describes the steps of the process and the major themes evident in participants' experience.


Rather than allowing urban water prices to reflect scarcity rents during periods of drought-induced excess demand, policy makers have mandated command-and-control approaches, primarily rationing the use of water outdoors. While such policies are ubiquitous and likely inefficient, economists have not had access to sufficient data to estimate their economic impact. Using unique panel data on residential end-uses of water in 11 North American cities, we examine the welfare implications of urban water rationing in response to drought. Using estimates of expected marginal prices that vary both across and within markets, we estimate price elasticities specific to indoor and outdoor water use. Our results suggest that current policies do target water uses that households, themselves, are most willing to forgo. Nevertheless, we find that rationing outdoor water in cities has costly welfare implications, primarily due to household heterogeneity in willingness-to-pay for scarce water. We find that replacing rationing policies with a market-clearing "drought price" would result in welfare gains of more than 29% of what households in the sample spend each year on water.


A haptotaxis-dominated model of cell invasion is considered for small cell diffusion and fast protease adjustment to the cell-collagen matrix interaction. A simplified limit model has travelling wave cell invasion profiles that are blunt, that is end with a `shock-like' step, and that evolve stably from initial data that lie to one side of some initial plane. In common with diffusion-dominated systems, the travelling wave which evolves from such initial data has the minimum wavespeed permissible in the model. This minimum wavespeed is not, however, determined by the local stability of the steady states in the travelling wave phase plane, but by a novel combination of singular behaviour within the phase plane and hyperbolic shock conditions. It is shown that more accurate models including the detailed fast dynamics of the protease require small amounts of diffusion (of the same order as the fast dynamics timescale) in order to remain stable. However, small diffusion and fast protease adjustment then give physically relevant and interesting solutions that evolve from semi-compact initial data and stably invade at speeds well predicted by the simple model.


Coaching is a growing industry focusing on helping individuals perform better at work and in their lives. Coaches specialize in facilitating a conversational, relationship-based process that assists individuals in attaining meaningful personal and professional goals. As clients work side by side with coaches, they may experience varying degrees of internal psychological, and emotional barriers. As a result, courage for the client has often been discussed in popular coaching literature (Kimsey-House, Kimsey-House, Sandahl, & Whitworth, 2011), and is considered an important aspect of the client's success much of the time. However, during a review of the psychological literature on courage it was determined that, compared with the client, courage of the coach is something that has been explored much less, or not at all. More precisely, the internal psychological or emotional barriers coaches often face, and whether or not courage is seen as an important aspect of a coach's ability to deliver high quality coaching are concepts that appear to have no empirical foundation. The objective of this study is to better understand the experience of leading coaches. Specifically, the following qualitative interview-based research aims to explore opinions and attitudes regarding common professional obstacles, primarily centered on the emotion of fear. This series of structured interviews asked participants to report on their own professional experiences and to articulate steps they have taken in facing and overcoming fear within their professional role, and throughout the course of their coaching development. Additionally, the interviewers inquired as to whether or not participant coaches perceived the construct of courage as an important factor in the professional development of coaches, in delivering high quality coaching, and ultimately in achieving mastery as a coach. Keywords Coaching, mastery, courage, fear, bravery Disciplines Other Psychology This thesis or dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/mapp_capstone/76 Running Head: COURAGE, AND COACHING MASTERY What are coaches afraid of? An exploration of courage and the path to coaching mastery Joshua Steinfeldt University of Pennsylvania A Capstone Project Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Positive Psychology Advisor: Robert Biswas-Diener COURAGE, AND COACHING MASTERY 2 What are coaches afraid of? An exploration of courage and the path to coaching mastery Joshua Steinfeldt email@example.com Capstone Project Master of Applied Positive Psychology University of Pennsylvania Advisor: Robert Biswas-Diener August, 2015


This text argues that water resources decision-makers have traditionally made policies that favour development and economic efficiency over "noneconomic" principles such as fairness, environmental protection and concern for future generations. The result has been short-term economic gains for some regions at the expense of long-term economic benefits and ecological stability for society in general. Combining policy analysis, political theory and relevant cases in environmental history, this book challenges governments, interest groups, party platforms and elected officials to implement public policies that are truly ethical and rational.


The relationship between knowledge sharing and organizational performance for high technology start-up companies is not well understood. Using game theory and the concept of competitive advantage through human resource management, I examine employee perceptions of the employment game relating to cooperative knowledge behavior and firm performance as an entry point into researching organizational knowledge utilization. I draw upon classical game theory to develop four measures of perceptions critical to game playing and apply these to organizational situations via a survey instrument. I propose that perceptions of the employment game held by organization members are determinants of cooperative knowledge sharing and subsequently firm performance. I analyze survey data gathered from hightech workers using both regression and path analysis techniques. The results from this study offer new insights into methods for measuring both the connections between knowledge work and firm performance and the perceptions critical for fostering collaborative knowledge work in high tech firms. Results of the study show a significant relationship between the game theory construct of reciprocity, knowledge building behavior and firm performance. The mediation model was weakly supported but shows potential usefulness for further research in the field of strategic human resource management.


This paper extends the class of stochastic AK growth models with a closed-form solution to the case where there are two capital goods in the model. To be precise, we consider the Uzawa-Lucas model of endogenous growth with human and physical capital. The extension holds, even if an external effect in the use of human capital in goods production occurs. Using the "guess and verify" method, we determine the value function of the social planner in the centralized economy and the value function of the representative agent in the decentralized case. We show that the introduction of income taxes on wages and of a subsidy on physical capital earnings is able to help the decentralized economy in reaching the social optimum, while keeping the policy maker's budget balanced. Then the time series implications of the model's solution are derived. In Appendix to the paper the uniqueness of the value functions is proved by using an alternative method.


Abstract The Kingfisher Field is located in the South Viking Graben, Block 16/8a, with a minor extension into Block 16/8c. Block 16/8 was initially awarded in June 1970 to Shell and Esso, with the Kingfisher discovery well 16/8-1 spudded in 1972. The well tested high H2S oil at marginal rates from Upper Jurassic Brae Formation sandstones. Subsequent appraisal well 16/8a-4 (1984) tested gas/condensate from better quality Brae Formation sandstone reservoirs. This well also discovered the deeper Middle Jurassic Heather Formation sandstone gas/condensate accumulation at near-HPHT conditions. The Brae and Heather Formation sandstones contain stacked hydrocarbon accumulations in separate combinations of stratigraphic and structural traps. Production by natural aquifer drive commenced from a sub-sea satellite to Marathon's Brae B platform in 1997, initially from the Brae reservoirs. To date, three production wells have been completed and a fourth well is planned to be on stream in 2000. The Brae Formation sandstones at Kingfisher are interpreted as distal deposits of the Brae/Miller fan-apron system and range in quality from excellent to very poor across the field. The Heather Formation reservoir consists of medium quality sands deposited within a submarine incised valley. The most recent volumetric estimate (1998) for the total field predicts an ultimate recovery of 41.2 MMBBL of pipeline liquids and 280 BCF of dry export gas. Regional reservoir architecture and connectivity as well as hydrocarbon composition are key to understanding the production performance of the critical gas/condensate below dewpoint. Advances in sub-sea and horizontal drilling technology have enabled field development.


Today, companies called service providers enable communications and control the related infrastructures. However, with increased computing power, advanced wireless technologies and more standardized terminals, users in the future will be able to take more control of communications. In this paper, we define and discuss a disruptive communication model called user-assisted communications (UAC), which allows users to assist other users to establish communications, and propose a method for managing trust and security, which are the most challenging variables in UAC and must be addressed before UAC can be implemented successfully. A social network based trust establishment (SN-TE) is proposed for UAC implementation.


Iron binding mechanisms of proteins are riveting studies because of the great importance of iron molecules for the metabolism of humans and other organisms. Organisms have developed different mechanisms to catch iron from the environment. Although it is known that this mechanism is rapid and efficient, there is lack of kinetic rate data under different environmental conditions to explain the details of the mechanism. In this dissertation, a microfluidic device was designed and developed to measure iron binding constants in ferric binding proteins of humans (Transferrin) and bacteria (Haemophilus Influenzae Ferric Binding Protein (FBP)), to assess the effect of different environmental conditions on the kinetics of iron – protein association. This study aims to contribute the field by providing a cheap and efficient experimental setup that measures reaction rates of iron binding proteins. Firstly, a microfluidic chip housing an effective mixing component was designed and fabricated by using PMMA and PDMS as a material. Both designs were tested by using bromocresol green – acetic acid reactions, where the color change from blue to green and from green to yellow can be observed by lowering the pH. The reaction was monitored with high resolution camera. Color changing property of the reaction was used to illustrate total mass transfer in the mixing chamber to determine dead time. Using ANSYS Fluent software these geometries were modified and improved designs were suggested. Secondly, because the bacterial FBP is not commercially available, it was expressed and purified by using recombinant DNA technology for monitoring iron binding dynamics in the microfluidic device as future work.


The purpose of my study is to examine how four preschool teachers go about using the term play in children's early mathematical development. In order to fulfill the purpose of this study, I have the following questions:How the preschool teachers visualize mathematics in children's play?What reflections have the preschool teachers about the importance of play for children's mathematical learning in preschool?How do the preschool teachers see on their own role in the children's play?In this study, I have conducted a semi-structured qualitative interviews based on the interviews with four preschool teachers from various departments in a preschool. I have also conducted some observations to complete my study. Whereas in my analysis of the researched material, I have used Vygotsky's theory.The survey shows that the preschool teachers are aware of the use of mathematical language and concepts in children's different activities which were conducted daily in the preschool. The preschool teachers are aware that the children learned and developed mathematical concepts by playing. They are also aware that materials are a resource that supports the children's opportunities to learn mathematic. The preschool teacher's role in children's play is to be present and observant, which means that they are receptive to children's needs during their playtime. It is also by being a cautious preschool teacher and by not interrupting the children's play, that the teachers be able to expand further the children's play.My research is relevant because it addresses the importance of play in children's early mathematical development. I have noticed that the preschool teachers have different opinions regarding their way at visualize mathematics in children's play, their own role in the children's play and the importance of play for the children by learning mathematics.


Eukaryotic cells contain large RNA-protein assemblies referred to as RNP granules, whose assembly is promoted by both traditional protein interactions and intrinsically disordered protein domains. Using RNP granules as an example, we provide evidence for an assembly mechanism of large cellular structures wherein specific protein-protein or protein-RNA interactions act together with promiscuous interactions of intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). This synergistic assembly mechanism illuminates RNP granule assembly, and explains why many components of RNP granules, and other large dynamic assemblies, contain IDRs linked to specific protein-protein or protein-RNA interaction modules. We suggest assemblies based on combinations of specific interactions and promiscuous IDRs are common features of eukaryotic cells.


This study is carried out through the case study method which uses multiple sources of evidence to investigate post-election violence in Nigeria's second republic. The main thesis of the study is anchored on the contention of Gana (2000) that the media in a democracy should "promote the culture of peace, development, people's participation, positive virtues as well as promoting a stable polity" (p. 11). Across centuries, normative theories of politics have been anchored on an assumption that modern representative democracies thrive in an information environment in which the citizens learn and consequently carry out certain obligations. According to Carpini (2004), "the citizens learn about pressing issues of the day, follow the actions of elected and government officials, and communicate their views to these officials" (p. 395). However, theories of direct democracy have established a scenario of richer communication environment that helps provide citizens with motivation, ability and opportunity to participate in on-going political activities through diverse ways. According to North (1967), "politics could not exist without communication, nor could wars be fought" (p. 301). The reason behind this assertion was provided by Deutsch (1963) who stresses that "it is communication, that is, the ability to transmit messages and react to them that makes organization" (p. 77). Isaak (1981) equally makes a similar assertion. He points out that "it is through communication that a political system relates to and copes with its environment" (p. 292). The study is a critique of selected political programmes of radio stations and TV in Nigeria during the elections. This is a period when politically articulate citizens are eager and, in some cases, anxious to know the latest about the on-going elections. Due to the sensitive nature of politics, it is expected that every piece of information that is aired is thoroughly investigated and authenticated to guard against any thing that could induce violence. When this is not done, violence will surely occur. Through a qualitative research method with emphasis on a case study, the study arrived at the conclusion that the post-election violence which erupted in the Old Ondo state was due to non-adherence to the broadcasting code, partisanship and the unprofessional conduct of media men.


The diversity of institutions of higher education, educational, teaching modalities, duration of programs, different content on programs with the same name, subjects with the same nomenclature with different purposes or vice versa, with educational programs and inflexible and bureaucratic regulations; they're some of the drawbacks that has to face the student or teacher who decides to take an academic stay in an institution other than his own, inside or outside the country. The revalidation or equivalence studies have complex procedures, which in most cases the affected resources at your institution choose, studies abroad. One option that saves and solve this problem is to work on the approval of educational programs, this article proposes a procedure for the approval of the educational program of the Bachelor of Agribusiness Management in the northwest region of Mexico, this proposal is based on various official documents and programs to regulate, guide or encourage the educational programs approval processes: the Agreement Number 286, published in the Official Journal of the Federation, lays down the guidelines that determine the rules and criteria that revalidation and studies' equivalence must be adjusted and, the Integral Program for Institutional Strengthening (PIFI), which guides and encourages the actions of approval, the certification processes of educational programs that establish the Inter-Institutional Committees for Higher Education Assessment (CIEES), and various documents prepared by the National Association of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education (ANUIES).


Project management is intimately associated with the production of detailed plans, charts and schedules, constantly re-affirming Antoine de Saint-Exupery's belief that "a goal without a plan is just a wish." Planning is generally considered to be a higher-level process concerned with 'how to initiate and execute the set of objectives'. Plans provide simulated maps of the unfolding future which act as baselines against which reality is assessed and expectations and achievements are monitored. Plans thus provide mechanisms for reasoning about actions independently of implementation. Projects rely on static plans to overcome the inherent uncertainty and novelty associated with completing a task, with the underlying assumption that if planning can be done 'properly', the rest of the project will be easier to manage. Plans are therefore used to anticipate and predict circumstances allowing an organised deployment of resources.The sixth edition of the APM Body of Knowledge positions planning as a key area under integrative management, explaining that "planning determines what is to be delivered, how much it will cost, when it will be delivered, how it will be delivered and who will carry it out".The APM Body of Knowledge clarifies that following approval from senior management, the detailed documentation, referred to as the project plan, is prepared during the definition phase. This detailed documentation provides comprehensive answers to the following questions related to the delivery of the project: Why? What? How? Who? When? How much? Where?The agreed management plan incorporating answers to the full set of questions provides the baseline, thereby forming the basis for gate reviews designed to assess the continuing validity of the work.


We report observation of the supernova remnant (SNR) IC 443 (G189.1+3.0) with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Large Area Telescope (LAT) in the energy band between 200 MeV and 50 GeV. IC 443 is a shell-type SNR with mixed morphology located off the outer Galactic plane where high-energy emission has been detected in the X-ray, GeV and TeV gamma-ray bands. Past observations suggest IC 443 has been interacting with surrounding interstellar matter. Proximity between dense shocked molecular clouds and GeV–TeV gamma-ray emission regions detected by EGRET, MAGIC, and VERITAS suggests an interpretation that cosmic-ray (CR) particles are accelerated by the SNR. With the high gamma-ray statistics and broad energy coverage provided by the LAT, we accurately characterize the gamma-ray emission produced by the CRs accelerated at IC 443. The emission region is extended in the energy band with θ68 = 0.°27 ± 0.°01(stat) ± 0.°03(sys) for an assumed two-dimensional Gaussian profile and overlaps almost completely with the extended source region of VERITAS. Its centroid is displaced significantly from the known pulsar wind nebula (PWN) which suggests the PWN is not the major contributor in the present energy band. The observed spectrum changes its power-law slope continuously and continues smoothly to the MAGIC and VERITAS data points. The combined gamma-ray spectrum (200 MeV


In this paper, we examine the ways in which the phenomenon of entrepreneurial agency has been represented in the transitions literature with particular reference to purposive sustainability transitions. The aim of the paper is to encourage critical reflection on the relationship between transitions and entrepreneurship research. We present provisional findings from a content analysis conducted on sample publications, covering historical transitional and contemporary purposive transitions. We find that while entrepreneurial agency is clearly evident in both conceptual and empirical works, there are a number of limitations regarding: i) the role of context in relation to the dynamics of entrepreneurial agency; ii) differences in the types of entrepreneurs engaged in socio-technical transitions and the ways in which they interact with other key actors; iii) the predominantly individualistic interpretation accorded to entrepreneurship in the literature. We also review recent developments in entrepreneurship research, including work on: entrepreneurial opportunity, dynamic capabilities, networks and institutions, and indicate how these ideas might be integrated into transitions research, with reference to two sample studies. In the concluding remarks, we suggest ways in which a closer engagement with entrepreneurial agency might contribute to future transitions research and policy-making.


Anglo-American Legal History can be a very difficult subject to teach because of its scope. This article is a pedagogical piece discussing how I structure my Anglo-American Legal History seminar around the various digitized primary sources available to law students. During this seminar we examine the history of lawyers and judges from the late Anglo-Saxon period (tenth century) through the twentieth century, generally at the clip of one century per week. We do spend extra time, however, on the English Inns of Court and the rise of the American law school. The final two weeks of the semester are devoted to a series of student term paper presentations with accompanying feedback sessions. Term papers may deal with any topic, but the argument must be largely based on primary sources.


This thesis focuses on literary road narratives published since 1970 by contemporary American woman writers to examine how the trope of female mobility, which is often viewed as a liberating and empowering experience, calls for a realistic re-evaluation such that it is interpreted as an act of tremendous courage and resilience. The trope of female road travel in American fiction, while examined by some researchers in the past as quest romances and emancipatory sagas, remains considerably unexplored with regard to the hardships and dangers that befall female travelers; and hence seeks scholarly intervention. In addition, an exploration of how fictional travelling women by crafting female alliances, adopting roles of nurturers, and resorting to emotional strength surmount the challenges posed by the road has surprisingly eluded critical attention. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to examine select American road novels which represent female mobility as acts of both subversion and identity formation and underscore how wayfaring women while exploring and expanding their consciousness also challenge and often survive the perils they face on the road.
Divided into four thematic chapters, this study begins by outlining the emergence of the female wayfarer in American fiction. Having historicized the advent of the independent female quester in the road genre, this study critically examines three defining road novels published through the feminist seventies, namely, Fear of Flying, Earthly Possessions and Heading West which vocalize the emancipatory rhetoric characterizing America's gender revolutions and advocate female mobility while also highlighting the vulnerabilities of women travelers. The discussion then proceeds to examine novels such as Housekeeping, Anywhere but Here, The Bean Trees and its sequel Pigs in Heaven that represent nurturing wayfarers and female bonding, and attest to the conservatism and maturing feminist consciousness of the eighties and nineties while showcasing the female experience of the road. Finally, this thesis examines three post-millennial road novels, namely, The Lovely Bones, Rape: A Love Story, and So Much Pretty which, while celebrating female mobility, also stridently criticize the dangers that beleaguer solo female travelers. In conclusion, this study, with the help fictional road narratives, reiterates that female journeys are not simply blissful endeavors toward deliverance but entail sacrifice, persistence and resilience.


Engineering Solid Binding Proteins for the Biofabrication of Environmentally Friendly Multi-functional Quantum Dots Brian James Fullerton Swift Chair of the Supervisory Committee Dr. François Baneyx Chemical Engineering Methods that emulate Nature's remarkable ability to synthesize chemically and structurally intricate architectures are of considerable interest for the fabrication of industrially-relevant materials and systems. In this work, we design and engineer solid-binding proteins that drive the formation and assembly of multi-functional nanomaterials. We first describe a method to biomineralize Mn-doped ZnS immuno-quantum dots with a minimized protein and study how such protein-coated nanocrystals are taken up by, and impact the physiology of the model bacterium Escherichia coli. We next design and build ZnS-binding derivatives of Green Fluorescent Protein to mineralize nanocrystals that combine inorganic and organic fluorescence properties and combine these with DNA aptamers and silica phases to create small-molecule sensors. Finally, we demonstrate that solid-binding proteins can be used to solubilize carbon nanotubes and to selectively label their ends. Collectively, our results emphasize the power of protein engineering for the environmentally friendly synthesis of functional nanomaterials.


Ultraspectral resolution infrared (IR) radiances obtained from nadir observations provide information about the atmosphere, surface, aerosols, and clouds. Surface spectral emissivity (SSE) and surface skin temperature from current and future operational satellites can and will reveal critical information about the Earth's ecosystem and land-surface-type properties, which might be utilized as a means of long-term monitoring of the Earth's environment and global climate change. In this study, fast radiative transfer models applied to the atmosphere under all weather conditions are used for atmospheric profile and surface or cloud parameter retrieval from ultraspectral and/or hyperspectral spaceborne IR soundings. An inversion scheme, dealing with cloudy as well as cloud-free radiances observed with ultraspectral IR sounders, has been developed to simultaneously retrieve atmospheric thermodynamic and surface or cloud microphysical parameters. This inversion scheme has been applied to the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). Rapidly produced SSE is initially evaluated through quality control checks on the retrievals of other impacted surface and atmospheric parameters. Initial validation of retrieved emissivity spectra is conducted with Namib and Kalahari desert laboratory measurements. Seasonal products of global land SSE and surface skin temperature retrieved with IASI are presented to demonstrate seasonal variation of SSE.


Peer review systems such as conference paper review often suffer from the issue of miscalibration. Previous works on peer review calibration usually only use the ordinal information or assume simplistic reviewer scoring functions such as linear functions. In practice, applications like academic conferences often rely on manual methods, such as open discussions, to mitigate miscalibration. It remains an important question to develop algorithms that can handle different types of miscalibrations based on available prior knowledge. In this paper, we propose a flexible framework, namely least square calibration (LSC), for selecting top candidates from peer ratings. Our framework provably performs perfect calibration from noiseless linear scoring functions under mild assumptions, yet also provides competitive calibration results when the scoring function is from broader classes beyond linear functions and with arbitrary noise. On our synthetic dataset, we empirically demonstrate that our algorithm consistently outperforms the baseline which select top papers based on the highest average ratings.


Abstract Background: The phenomenon of review manipulation and fake reviews has gained Information Systems (IS) scholars' attention during recent years. Scholarly research in this domain has delved into the causes and consequences of review manipulation. However, we find that the findings are diverse, and the studies do not portray a systematic approach. This study synthesizes the findings from a multidisciplinary perspective and presents an integrated framework to understand the mechanism of review manipulation. Method: The study reviews 88 relevant articles on review manipulation spanning a decade and a half. We adopted an iterative coding approach to synthesizing the literature on concepts and categorized them independently into potential themes. Results: We present an integrated framework that shows the linkages between the different themes, namely, the prevalence of manipulation, impact of manipulation, conditions and choice for manipulation decision, characteristics of fake reviews, models for detecting spam reviews, and strategies to deal with manipulation. We also present the characteristics of review manipulation and cover both operational and conceptual issues associated with the research on this topic. Conclusions: Insights from the study will guide future research on review manipulation and fake reviews. The study presents a holistic view of the phenomenon of review manipulation. It informs various online platforms to address fake reviews towards building a healthy and sustainable environment.


While previous studies in environmental equity found positive relationships between tree canopy and socioeconomic/demographic status of neighborhoods, few examined how changes in tree canopy are associated with changes in socioeconomic/demographic status. This study confirms that the relationship between them in Atlanta is changing and the hypothesis of inequitable distribution of tree canopy concerning demographic attributes cannot be fully supported beyond 2000. In addition, the proportion of African Americans can have different effects on the estimated tree canopy as poverty rates vary. Planning to mitigate environmental inequities through tree plantings requires more careful analysis that goes beyond the socioeconomic/demographic attributes of the population.


In a feat worthy of a laboratory conceived by J.K. Rowling, MIT researchers and colleagues have turned a "magic" material composed of atomically thin layers of carbon into three useful electronic devices. Normally, such devices, all key to the quantum electronics industry, are created using a variety of materials that require multiple fabrication steps. The MIT approach automatically solves a variety of problems associated with those more complicated processes.


This paper examines the emerging global phenomenon of mobile leapfrogging in Internet access. Leapfrogging refers to the process in which new Internet users are obtaining access by mobile devices and are skipping the traditional means of access: personal computers. This leapfrogging of PC-based Internet access has been hailed in many quarters as an important means of rapidly and inexpensively reducing the gap in Internet access between developed and developing nations, thereby reducing the need for policy interventions to address this persistent digital divide. This paper offers a critical perspective on the process of mobile leapfrogging. Drawing upon data on Internet access and device penetration from 34 countries, this paper first shows that while greater access to mobile technologies suggests the possibility of a leapfrog effect, the lack of 3G adoption suggests that mobile phones are not yet acting as functionally equivalent substitutes for personal computers. Next, this paper puts forth a set of concerns regarding the limitations and potential shortcomings of mobile-based Internet access relative to traditional PC-based Internet access. This paper illustrates a number of important relative shortcomings in terms of memory and speed, content availability, network architecture, and patterns of information seeking and content creation amongst users. This paper concludes that policymakers should be cautions about promoting mobile access as a solution to the digital divide, and undertake policy reforms that ensure that communities that rely on mobile as their only gateway to the Internet do not get left further behind.


Here we describe progress on the development of a RosBREED-led international collaboration to collate data on sweet cherry individuals (breeding progenies, selections, and cultivars) that have been phenotyped for traits of interest (maturity date, fruit size, firmness, acidity, and sweetness) and genotyped using the Illumina Infinium 6K cherry SNP array. Our hypotheses are that: i) individuals evaluated at various sites can be utilised to sample the phenotypic response of genome-wide alleles to varying environments, and ii) SNP array data can be used to characterise variation in QTL alleles as well as minor-effect alleles (genetic background) such that data from these different environments can be combined into a multi-environment analysis. This approach is an extension of genomic selection methods and exploits replication among environments at the allelic level, such that clonal replication of individuals among environments is not required. Collaborators have provided access to SNP array data for 762 unique individuals and phenotypic data for these individuals from 19 locations (1 USA, 13 France, 1 Italy, 1 United Kingdom, 1 Switzerland, 1 Greece, 1 Australia). The data were used in genome-wide selection models to demonstrate that rankings of individuals for fruit maturity among 2 locations in France, 1 in Italy, and 1 in the USA are very stable, and thus performance of individuals tested in only a single location can be predicted across other locations (e.g., USA to Europe). We will genotype several hundred additional individuals in 2017, and welcome additional partners to help widen the extent of environmental variation sampled. The larger the phenotypic dataset from environments and individuals, the greater the opportunity to identify genotype-by-environment patterns of QTL and polygenetic effects, generate and test hypotheses of factors driving those patterns, and predict the performance of individuals in multiple environments. We invite additional collaborators to join this international effort.


This article argues that pedagogy may help us respond to the precarity of higher education by reclaiming the forms of provisionality, accident, and exposure endemic to collaborative learning. Putting kinship theory into contact with studies of contagion, I suggest that the classroom's contingency, temporariness, and interpersonal exposure yield a form of queer kinship that is contracted rather than intentionally developed. This kinship, a social iteration of the unintentional, symbiotic collaborations that anthropologists have described as "emergent ecologies," burgeons in the wake of harm and helps us respond collectively to the precarity that constitutes our (experience of the) world. Ultimately, I argue that in a moment when the changing climate of higher education inspires (and perhaps even requires) paranoia, such a pedagogical practice constitutes a significant reparative gesture, enabling us to reckon with the ways in which higher education has abandoned us without requiring us, in turn, to abandon it.


Malicious software installed on infected computers is a fundamental component of online crime. Malware development thus plays an essential role in the underground economy of cyber-crime. Malware authors regularly update their software to defeat defenses or to support new or improved criminal business models. A large body of research has focused on detecting malware, defending against it and identifying its functionality. In addition to these goals, however, the analysis of malware can provide a glimpse into the software development industry that develops malicious code.
 In this work, we present techniques to observe the evolution of a malware family over time. First, we develop techniques to compare versions of malicious code and quantify their differences. Furthermore, we use behavior observed from dynamic analysis to assign semantics to binary code and to identify functional components within a malware binary. By combining these techniques, we are able to monitor the evolution of a malware's functional components. We implement these techniques in a system we call Beagle, and apply it to the observation of 16 malware strains over several months. The results of these experiments provide insight into the effort involved in updating malware code, and show that Beagle can identify changes to individual malware components.


We geometrically describe a canonical sequence of modular blowups of the relative Picard stack of the Artin stack of pre-stable genus two curves. The final blowup stack locally diagonalizes certain tautological derived objects. This implies a resolution of the primary component of the moduli space of genus two stable maps to projective space and meanwhile makes the whole moduli space admit only normal crossing singularities. Our approach should extend to higher genera.


This paper is a constructed narrative of 4 voices, brought together in the form of a conversation to highlight their different experiences, perspectives and beliefs about Physical Education, learning and school life. An aim behind this dialogue
format is to promote a relaxed and accessible text but with powerful messages for change which may be all the clearer for this tactic in presentation style. The exchanges are from reflexive work in current PhD research projects, observation field notes and assorted personal reflections relevant to the themes in the title.
The paper concludes with a warning to PE to reconsider how it evidences its contribution to learning in school: 'that whilst improvements in pupils' physical fitness, health and wellbeing would be a happy concomitant to PE, the argument here does not suggest a lack of a 'physical' in Physical Education, but rather a lack of 'education', and a perilous one at that'.


Cells call upon the transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) to alter gene expression in response to stressful conditions. Although cytoskeletal reorganization is a normal and dynamic process, disruption of microtubules correlates with increased NF-κB activity as well. Jung et al. report that this correlation can be further linked to increased expression of the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α). HIF-1α activity is regulated by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Hypoxic conditions prevent its destruction, allowing HIF-1α to enter the nucleus and activate genes that promote cell survival. When a variety of mammalian cells were treated with microtubule-depolymerizing agents (MDAs), NF-κB activity and HIF-1α protein expression increased. Inhibition of NF-κB with drugs or by expression of a repressor protein blocked this effect, and other transcription factors did not mediate the effect of MDAs on HIF-1α. A cell line that is resistant to the disrupting effect of MDAs displayed normal NF-κB activity but was unable to raise HIF-1α expression in response to MDA treatment. Transcription inhibitors also blocked the effect of MDAs on HIF-1α expression, indicating that this nonhypoxic signaling pathway between microtubules and the gene targets of HIF-1α is distinct from the hypoxia-induced pathway that regulates HIF-1α stability, and could participate in cytoskeletal remodeling during normal and tumorigenic processes. Y.-J. Junh, J.S. Isaacs, S. Lee, J. Trepel, L. Neckers, Microtubule disruption utilizes an NFκB-dependent pathway to stabilize HIF-1α protein. J. Biol. Chem. 278, 7445-7452 (2003). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Thick-film materials are very advantageous for piezoresistive pressure and force sensors because of ease of processing, reliability and low cost. However, their applications are restricted because standard thick-film materials require processing temperatures around 850°C, which essentially restricts them to ceramic substrates. In this work, we examine the processing and properties of thick-film dielectric and resistor compositions designed to sinter at lower temperatures, making them compatible with high-strength stainless steel alloys (<700°C). Both dielectric and resistor materials are based on a lead borosilicate glass matrix, with suitable filler materials such as SiO2 (quartz) and Al2O3 for the dielectrics and RuO2 for the resistor. The materials were investigated X-ray diffraction, mechanical and electrical testing. During firing, the thick-film materials undergo liquid-phase sintering through the glass matrix. Glass-filler chemical interactions are significant in the case of SiO2 filler, and very small with Al2O3 or RuO2. By adjusting the fillers, the glass composition and the processing parameters, we can obtain suitable thick-film materials for piezoresistive sensors with low processing temperatures, compatible with high-strength steel substrates.


Since 1979 the UK has experienced the most decisive break in the providing style and
underlying principles of welfare provision since 1944 to 1948, or perhaps ever. This
thesis provides an historical overview of the succession of Acts in regards to state
education, health and housing. It looks at the effects of, and reasons for, the reforms in
these areas, showing how these have changed each sectors' operational style and
ethos. A close insight into the reforms is provided by surveys of head teachers of Grant-Maintained schools, chief executives of NHS trusts, directors of local government
housing departments and chief executives of housing associations and of Local
Government. The questionnaires investigated issues such as, finances, changes in their
functions, effects upon staff and external relations and highlights benefits and
disadvantages. In general these sectors have experienced the introduction of a quasi-market, via the separation of the provider, purchaser and enabler roles. The aim has been
to increase competition and consumer power in the state sector. In reality, competition
is expanding, but these welfare markets have been subjected to increased scrutiny and
control from Central Government. The market ethos is spreading across the nation,
and although many people who are living through it are unaware of the rapid changes,
this period may be looked back upon in history as being the most radical and far-reaching alteration of British economic, social and political structures.


An increasing proportion of the largest corporations in the world are majority publicly owned; a growing proportion of the biggest national economies have higher levels of public ownership than the North Atlantic economies that dominated the twentieth century. The Cold War contest between purer forms of capitalism and communism has given way to a more vibrant competition among different capitalist-socialist hybrids. The most successful economies in the twenty-first century will be those that are most strategic about when to privatize and when to opt for public ownership. The most fertile legal systems will be those that enable both strategic privatization of the public and strategic publicization of the private. That includes strategic privatization of the law itself, policing, prosecuting, judging and strategic publicization of self-regulation. Crises create the key opportunities for recalibrating varieties of capitalism by change agents who are in a more Rawlsian original position as a result of crisis.


Prostitution and Trafficking in Nevada addresses the scope of the sex industry in Nevada, including human rights violations against women in the Nevada legal brothels. The book describes how the multibillion-dollar illegal sex industry in Las Vegas works. Sex trafficking from within and outside of the US, advertising for prostitution, political corruption, pornography, organized crime and the constant demand of men for paid sex - all contribute to prostitution and trafficking in Nevada.


The global emergence of market liberalism marks an effort to decouple the link between citizenship and the welfare state and to rearticulate people's identity as homo economicus, as independent citizens having the right to property and the freedom to choose in the marketplace. Confronting this phenomenon, this paper reviews neoliberal and libertarian understandings of educational equality and democratic education and interrogates the rationale for the justification of markets in education. In the process, I criticise the notion of possessive individualism as a principle of democratic education on the grounds that such a notion explains human action only at the individual level, as a matter of free will, and not as a part of the cultural and political struggle for nondiscrimination. I also provide reasons why the claim to equal respect and recognition needs to be given more importance in education and argue for the social responsibility to secure not only students' educational opportunities, but also their opportunity to reflectively consider what counts as equal value.


The collection of kinematic data is routinely required for the biomechanical analysis
of human movements. Available methods for obtaining kinematic data can be categorised
into (a) direct methods, which are often limited by bulky instrumentation, and (b) imagebased
methods. Current image-based methods generally necessitate the use of artificial
body markers to aid the identification of body parts.
A model-based method for the automatic tracking of human movement without the
aid of body markers was developed. The approach constructed a three-dimensional (3D)
computer graphics human body model that was customised to individual subjects via
incorporation of subject-specific anthropometric data and appropriate colouring of model
segments. Video image sequences of human movement were collected from multiple
synchronised camera views. The environment from each camera view was simulated so
that computer-generated model images containing the human body model could be
matched to the associated video images. The human body model configuration was
optimised through iterative adaptation of the model configuration in order to minimise the
RGB colour difference between the model images and video images. A number of
synthetic and video movement sequences were analysed using the tracking method.
Synthetic image sequences of rigid and articulated motion were tracked with good
accuracy. The tracking estimates obtained from video data of aerial movements were
compared to estimates obtained via established procedures to provide an indication of the
accuracy of the proposed approach. Movements that were successfully tracked returned
estimates with errors comparable to manual digitising estimates. More complex twisting
movements were tracked but with larger errors on all variables. The robustness of the
tracking system was investigated through examination of tracking results following
systematic perturbations made to selected tracking parameters. On both synthetic and real
data the tracking estimates were found to be relatiyely robust to perturbations in camera
and lighting parameters and reduced colour contrast.
It was concluded that the tracking system presents a viable method for marker-free
human movement tracking without representing a final solution to the problem.


The finite element method is a powerful complement to polycrystal plasticity theory for modeling the non-uniform deformation of crystalline solids. Polycrystal plasticity provides a micro-mechanical model for slip-dominated plastic flow and serves as a constitutive theory for deformation simulations (Kocks et al. 1998). The finite element method offers a numerical means to solve partial differential equations, such as the field equations of elasticity or plasticity (Zienkiewicz et al. 1989). The two can be combined in different ways depending on the goals of a modeling effort.

### Length scales

Finite elements and polycrystal plasticity may be applied to the detailed modeling of a collection of grains that represent a sample of the material. In this case, there are one or more finite elements discretizing each grain and balance laws for momentum and mass are applied at the level of individual crystals. A second combination of finite elements and polycrystal plasticity is to embed polycrystal theory within a finite element formulation for physical systems that are far larger than the dimension of a grain. Polycrystal plasticity serves as a constitutive theory in essentially the same way as continuum elastoplasticity models. Balance laws are applied at the larger continuum scale. We refer to these as small-scale and large-scale applications, respectively. Care must be exercised in assuring consistency between the macroscopic material element volume and the polycrystal dimensions.

With respect to characterizing these applications, it is useful to define a geometric parameter, ζ , as the relative sizes of a finite element and a crystal. Allowing h to be a characteristic dimension of an element and d to be the representative grain size the parameter ζ simply is h / d . Here, large ζ implies large numbers of crystals in each element; small ζ implies many elements within each crystal. For small-scale applications, there is a …


From the beginning of their inception, Student Loans have been a powerful and many times necessary tool to allow middle and low-income families to send their children to college despite the increasingly higher costs (Collier, D. A., & Herman, R., 2016). These loans are highly regulated by the government under different policies that have changed over time based on the needs of the borrowers and government officials involved. The concern, however, is that the debt is becoming harder for some borrowers to pay causing defaults and other household burdens (Archuleta, Dale and Spann 2013).

There is significant importance to understanding the history of the student loan industry to learn the best way to manage student loan debt. There is much debate about which options are the most advantageous and the government has gone to great trouble of adding the new Income Driven Repayment programs to help assist in repayment. These programs came about due to the vast number of borrowers defaulting on their student loans because of a limited number of options. Unfortunately, Student Loan debt is the only debt that has extremely strict rules all but excluding bankruptcy causing some borrowers to default (Mohr, 2017). Consolidation options for borrowers also changed FFEL programs ended in 2007 taking away borrower benefits like 1% rate reductions after so many timely payments. Income Driven Repayment has been filling the gap and assisting in those who cannot afford a standard payment to make lower payments but also shown in Figure 1, only 28% of borrowers are taking advantage of the options. It is suggested the low participation is due to a lack of knowledge about the programs (Collier, D. A., & Herman, R., 2016).

My analysis is to shed light on the history of the industry, the current policies in place and how regulations and changes to regulations affect borrowers and the overall U.S. debt load. If we can take a good look at how some regulations have been ineffectively curtailing the debt boom we may be able to find more effective ways to manage student loan debt. I will be also discussing seven key effects causing the higher debt and default rates within the industry:

• The monopoly of having only The Department of Education in charge of disbursing and servicing Federal loan debt leaves no competitive advantages for borrowers
• The ineffective results of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which was once under Dodd-Frank and was created to help alleviate decisive practices against consumers including student loan borrowers
• The continued lawsuits against government hired servicing companies who are supposed to have the best interest of the borrower but rather have allegedly mislead borrowers purposely into higher payments and more debt. "The CFPB alleges that, among other allegations, Navient [one of the leading student loan servicing companies] 'systematically and illegally [failed] borrowers at every stage of repayment'…" (Friedman, 2018)
• The lack of information provided to borrowers to make an informed decision about their options
• The higher Federal interest rates on student loan which do not coincide with the Libor or Prime rates that continue to be at a considerably lower rate than student loans
• The drastic increases in tuition costs at both public, private and for-profit school

Before tackling the problem, it is vital to understand the history of the problem and how we got here. There are many changes we can see that have occurred throughout history that started off with the hopes of bridging the gap between high income families and low-income families being able to get a higher education. From what can be seen the government shifted from grants and scholarships which provided for the social good of our society to a loan dominant scheme with huge reliance's on student loans for an education (Collier, D. A., & Herman, R., 2016).


The question of whether or not all languages have a word for 'want' (as in 'I know what you want, I want the same') is far more important than many linguists appear to realize. Having studied and debated this question for many years, we welcome Olesya Khanina's (2008) paper "How universal is 'wanting'?", which, we believe, addresses a question of fundamental importance. Our own view — which we have sought to substantiate in a large number of publications, over many years (cf. Wierzbicka 1972, 1996; Goddard 1991, 2001; Goddard and Wierzbicka eds. 1994, 2002; Peeters ed. 2006) — is that WANT is a universal semantic prime, i.e. an indivisible unit of meaning with a lexical exponent in all languages. In the present article, we argue that although Khanina has produced valuable results about cross-linguistic patterns in the polysemy of exponents of WANT, she has failed to demonstrate her concluding point, namely, "that 'want' is not a universal semantic prime in the sense of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage … [and] that the inclusion of WANT in this list [of semantic primes] is indeed false" (p. 848). Briefly, we will argue that Khanina's conclusion depends, first, on an a priori decision not to recognise the existence of polysemy; and second, on a misunderstanding of the NSM position on what it means to be a lexical exponent of a semantic prime. We will also argue that 'wanting' constitutes an indispensable conceptual building block in human communication and cognition, and in linguistic and psychological theorizing about communication and cognition.


Many decision problems exhibit structural properties in the sense that the objective function is a composition of different component functions that can be identified using empirical data. We consider the approximation of such objective functions, subject to general monotonicity constraints on the component functions. Using a constrained B-spline approximation, we provide a data-driven robust optimization method for environments that can be sample-sparse. The method, which simultaneously identifies and solves the decision problem, is illustrated for the problem of optimal debt settlement in the credit-card industry.


High-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) is used to decrease respiratory motion during atrial fibrillation ablations; however, the patient safety and efficacy of HFJV has not been evaluated during routine electrophysiology (EP) studies with radiofrequency ablation. This is a retrospective chart review of consecutive patients who underwent EP studies and ablations for supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias while using HFJV. Any EP studies performed using HFJV where ablation was attempted were included for analysis; EP studies where no ablation was performed were not included. Patients underwent induction of general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation using intermittent positive pressure ventilation with sevoflurane in the EP laboratory prior to vascular access. HFJV was then provided by a commercial system with initial settings: ventilation rate at 100 cycles/min and driving pressure at 20-25 psi. Total intravenous anesthesia was then provided with dexmedetomidine and propofol as well as fentanyl and rocuronium titrated to bispectral index (Bis) score ,60. The overall mean age of patients (n572) was 55i18 years (range518-84 years). The mean creatinine (mg/dl) was 1.0i0.3, the mean ejection was 0.58i0.08, and mean post-EP study length of stay was 1.4i0.9 days (range 1-5 days). There were no intraprocedural or major complications. There was a 6.9% rate of minor complications (n55). There was a 97.2% overall ablation success rate (70 of 72 ablations). Ablations were successful in all subjects except for one left atrial flutter and one right atrial tachycardia. Only one of 72 (1.4%) procedures required discontinuation of general anesthesia and HFJV to induce arrhythmia (right ventricular outflow tract ventricular tachycardia). No patient experienced procedural awareness and the mean Bis score was 40i5.3. This report provides further evidence the routine use of jet ventilation in the electrophysiology laboratory is safe, well tolerated, and efficacious, with ablation success rates similar to traditional sedation/ventilation techniques with a variety of arrhythmias.


We use micro data from the European Social Survey to investigate the impact of "culture of leisure" and taxes on labor force participation and hours worked of second-generation immigrants who reside in 26 European countries. These individuals are born in Europe, and they have been exposed to institutional, legal and labor market structures of their countries, including the tax rates. Fathers of these individuals are first-generation immigrants who migrated from 81 different countries. We construct measures of "taste for leisure" in the country of origin of each immigrant father. We employ average and marginal taxes for each country of residence, and control for a large set of individual characteristics, in addition to attributes of the country of residence and country of ancestry. The results show that for women, both taxes and culture of leisure impact participation and hours worked. For men, taxes influence labor supply both at the intensive and the extensive margins, but culture of leisure has no impact.


Hüfner, Katharina, Fabio Caramazza, Evelyn R. Pircher Nöckler, Agnieszka E. Stawinoga, Paolo Fusar-Poli, Sanjeeb S. Bhandari, Buddha Basnyat, Monika Brodmann Maeder, Giacomo Strapazzon, Iztok Tomazin, Ken Zafren, Hermann Brugger, and Barbara Sperner-Unterweger. Association of pre-existing mental health conditions with acute mountain sickness at Everest Base Camp. High Alt Med Biol. xx:xxx-xxx, 2022. Background: Mental health disorders are common, but limited data are available regarding the number of people with a past medical history of psychiatric diagnoses going to high altitude (HA). It is also unknown whether mental health conditions are associated with an increased risk of acute mountain sickness (AMS). Methods: We analyzed data from a previous study at Everest Base Camp. Participants self-reported their past medical history and history of substance use and had a brief history taken by a physician. AMS was assessed using the self-reported 2018 Lake Louise AMS Score. Results: Eighty-five participants (66 men and 19 women, age 38 ± 9 years) were included. When questioned by a physician, 28 participants reported prior diagnoses or symptoms compatible with depression (23%), anxiety disorder (6%), post-traumatic stress disorder (1%), and psychosis/psychotic experiences (9%). The prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses in the past medical history was much lower in the self-reported data (2/85) compared to data obtained via physician assessment (28/85). Increased risks of AMS were associated with a past medical history of anxiety disorder (odds ratio [OR] 22.7; confidence interval [95% CI] 2.3-220.6; p < 0.001), depression (OR 3.6; 95% CI 1.2-11.2; p = 0.022), and recreational drug use ever (OR 7.3; 95% CI 1.5-35.5; p = 0.006). Conclusions: Many people who travel to HA have a past medical history of mental health conditions. These individuals have an increased risk of scoring positive for AMS on the Lake Louise Score compared with people without a history of mental health conditions.


The mode of vibration of a noisy disc brake is always diametral with a noise frequency marginally less than the free mode of vibration of the disc. Wheel speed does not affect the frequency but if brake pressure is altered then the noise frequency changes accordingly~an increasing pressure resulting in an increasing frequency over a specified range. Such observations have been made of a variety of different disc brake designs from single piston sliding fist type calipers to four piston opposed rigid calipers with it being possible to relate the noise frequency to the free mode of vibration of the disc in all cases. If the characteristics controlling this behavior can be identified then the same principles and criteria may be used to predict the noise propensity of any brake at the design stage.

The paper proposes, and shows, that the preferred frequencies of excitation of any disc brake system may be related directly to the free mode frequency of the disc. In addition it is shown that the interface geometry of the pad, the effective rubbing diameter of the disc and the effective working length of the pad are all important features regarding the frequency generated. It is demonstrated that this relationship allows the probable instability frequencies of a disc brake to be predicted and shows that the frequency will vary over a computable range as a result of the brake pressure. The principle is successfully extended to consider a braking system arrangement employing two calipers working on one wheel. The proposal suggests that brake noise be as much a basic design problem as a material selection problem and answers questions such as why chamfers on pads changes the propensity of a noisy brake to generate noise.

A case study of a heavy vehicle using a four opposed piston caliper on the rear and a pair of four opposed piston calipers on each front wheel goes some way to validate the proposal. The study and tests show that angular positioning of the front wheel caliper pair has a significant influence on the propensity of the brake to generate noise and the frequencies that were subsequently emitted


Late 90's have met with increasing interest to nano-bio systems in basic and applied research, but researchers were limited in their ability to visualize structures and processes on nanometer scale. Stereonic LLC develops a nanometer-scale-resolution fluorescent microscopy technology that can be used in a number of different areas of research, diagnostics, quality assurance etc. The technology is based on patented photoactivation-excitation-registrationdepletion principle that can be applied for a wide range of fluorescent dyes including caged fluorescein- and rhodamine- based dyes and photoactivatable proteins. The talk will give an overview of the state of art in the industry, our current developments and share an experience of transferring science to business.