This thesis will focus on resource consumption models of productivity, cost of quality, and cycle time, to describe and select preferred configurations as a function of the system and operating parameters. Consider a production system which consists of workstations or machines that can be arranged in different configurations, where each configuration can affect the performance of the system. This thesis will model and analyze four main configurations, namely serial, parallel, and serial-parallel with and without crossover. In a production system, parts are processed at each workstation or machine, where a value is added to the part. Inspection is performed to classify a quality characteristic of a part at each workstation or machine to be accepted, reworked, or scrapped. The short term probability of accept, rework, and scrap are utilized to model the long term probabilities using an absorption Markov Chain methodology. Each configuration will result in unique long term probabilities depending on the number of processes, order and location of each process. The long term probabilities and process flow are used to develop the resource consumption models for each alternative. At first, a two process production system is analyzed using pure serial and parallel configurations, and their performance is evaluated using sensitivity analysis. Then, a four process production system is analyzed using the four configurations, and the performance of each alternative is evaluated using a numerical example. Finally, general models for the resource consumption of an n-process production system are developed for the serial , parallel , and serial-parallel without crossover. Mathematica® is utilized to develop the matrix calculations and equations for the n-process models. A case study of a biopharmaceutical company is used to apply the proposed models. All required data for three production systems are collected then analyzed to be used in identifying the productivity, quality cost, and cycle time for different configurations. It is shown that there is a relationship between system configuration and its performance measured by productivity, quality cost, and cycle time. The proposed methodology in this thesis can be used to select the preferred configuration, where production systems with different parameters can result in different conclusions. The selection of the best configuration can be done by evaluating the resource consumption models for each possible alternative considering the different operating constrains, where the models in this thesis allow the manufacturer to select the best alternative based on specific performance targets. The developed models can also be used in discrete and continuous manufacturing systems, such as the biopharmaceutical industry case study. Acknowledgments I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Valerie Maier-Speredelozzi for her help and support. I also would like to thank all who supported this research from XY Biopharmaceutical Company by providing me with all the tools and access to their production plant and data.


Rising nonfinancial corporate business leverage, especially for riskier "high-yield" firms, has recently received increased public and supervisory scrutiny. For example, the Federal Reserve's May 2019 Financial Stability Report notes that "growth in business debt has outpaced GDP for the past 10 years, with the most rapid growth in debt over recent years concentrated among the riskiest firms." At the upper end of the credit spectrum, "investment-grade" firms have also increased their borrowing, while the number of higher-rated firms has decreased. In fact, there are currently only two U.S. companies rated AAA: Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft. In this post, we examine recent trends in the issuance of investment-grade corporate bonds and argue that the combination of increased BAA issuance and virtually nonexistent AAA issuance both reduces the usefulness of the BAA–AAA spread as a credit risk indicator and poses a financial stability concern.


The effect of formazan of benzaldehyde (FB) on the corrosion of mild steel in acidic media (1 M HCl and 2 M HCl) has been investigated using weight loss measurements, electrochemical studies and surface analysis. These studies have also shown that formazan of benzaldehyde is a good inhibitor for mild steel in 1 M HCl and 2 M HCl acid solutions at room temperature in 2 h. In 1 M HCl the inhibition efficiency was high when compared to 2 M HCl acid solutions. The surface analysis also confirms the corrosion inhibition of the mild steel by the inhibitor (FB).


The Pebble Cu-Au-Mo deposit in southwestern Alaska, containing the largest gold resource of any known porphyry in the world, developed in a tectonic setting significantly different from that of the present-day. It is one of a series of metalliferous middle Cretaceous porphyritic granodiorite, quartz monzonite, and diorite bodies, evolved from lower crust and metasomatized lithospheric mantle melts, which formed along much of the length of the North American craton suture with the Peninsular-Alexander-Wrangellia arc. The porphyry deposits were emplaced within the northernmost two of a series of ca. 130 to 80 Ma flysch basins that define the suture, as well as into arc rocks immediately seaward of the two basins. Deposits include the ca. 100 to 90 Ma Pebble, Neacola, and other porphyry prospects along the Kahiltna basin-Peninsula terrane boundary, and the ca. 115 to 105 Ma Baultoff, Carl Creek, Horsfeld, Orange Hill, Bond Creek, and Chisna porphyries along the Nutzotin basin-Wrangellia terrane boundary. The porphyry deposits probably formed along the craton margin more than 1,000 km to the south of their present latitude. Palinspastic reconstructions of plate kinematics from this period are particularly difficult because magmatism overlaps the 119 to 83 Ma Cretaceous Normal Superchron, a period when sea-floor magnetic data are lacking. Our favored scenario is that ore formation broadly overlaps the cessation of sedimentation and contraction and the transition to a transpressional continental margin regime, such that the remnant ocean basins were converted to strike-slip basins. The basins and outboard Peninsular-Alexander-Wrangellia composite superterrane, which are all located seaward of the deep crustal Denali-Farewell fault system, were subjected to northerly dextral transpression for as long as perhaps 50 m.y., beginning at ca. 95 ± 10 Ma. The onset of this transpression was marked by development of the mineralized bodies along fault segments on the seaward side of the basins. Geochemical and radiogenic isotopic data for igneous rocks associated with the Pebble porphyry deposit suggest continuous melt derivation from enriched lithosphere of a recently metasomatized mantle. These geochemical characteristics, coupled with the arc-continent-related collisional setting, suggest that lithospheric thickening and postcollisional lithospheric melting are the most likely cause of the ore-related magmatism. Subsequent to translation of the Alaskan margin terranes and early Tertiary oroclinal bending of Alaska, the northernmost Kahiltna basin and the Pebble deposit, as well as the other porphyry systems, reached their present-day locations along southern Alaska.


ABSTRACT Tigecycline is a glycylcycline antibiotic active against multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens. The objectives of our study were to examine the potential of the Tet(A), Tet(K), Tet(M), and Tet(X) tetracycline resistance proteins to acquire mutations causing tigecycline resistance and to determine how this affects resistance to earlier classes of tetracyclines. Mutations in all four tet genes caused a significant increase in the tigecycline MIC in Escherichia coli, and strains expressing mutant Tet(A) and Tet(X) variants reached clinically relevant MICs (2 mg/liter and 3 mg/liter, respectively). Mutations predominantly accumulated in transmembrane domains of the efflux pumps, most likely increasing the accommodation of tigecycline as a substrate. All selected Tet(M) mutants contained at least one mutation in the functionally most important loop III of domain IV. Deletion of leucine 505 of this loop led to the highest increase of the tigecycline MIC (0.5 mg/liter) among Tet(M) mutants. It also caused collateral sensitivity to earlier classes of tetracyclines. A majority of the Tet(X) mutants showed increased activity against all three classes of tetracylines. All tested Tet proteins have the potential to acquire mutations leading to increased MICs of tigecycline. As tet genes are widely found in pathogenic bacteria and spread easily by horizontal gene transfer, resistance development by alteration of existing Tet proteins might compromise the future medical use of tigecycline. We predict that Tet(X) might become the most problematic future Tet determinant, since its weak intrinsic tigecycline activity can be mutationally improved to reach clinically relevant levels without collateral loss in activity to other tetracyclines.


Certain fragments of DNA shed by tumours into the bloodstream can potentially be used to non-invasively screen for early-stage cancers, monitor responses to treatment and help explain why some cancers are resistant to therapies. For most tumours, a tissue biopsy is quite challenging in that it is costly, painful, or potentially risky for the patient. All these are good reasons to learn about cancer through blood and to get excited about the possibility of carrying out liquid biopsies. The development of non-invasive methods to detect and monitor tumours continues to be a major challenge in oncology.


Objectives To project the number of people aged 45–64 years with lost productive life years (PLYs) due to diabetes and related costs (lost income, extra welfare payments, lost taxation revenue); and lost gross domestic product (GDP) attributable to diabetes in Australia from 2015 to 2030. Design A simulation study of how the number of people aged 45–64 years with diabetes increases over time (based on population growth and disease trend data) and the economic losses incurred by individuals and the government. Cross-sectional outputs of a microsimulation model (Health&WealthMOD2030) which used the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers 2003 and 2009 as a base population and integrated outputs from two microsimulation models (Static Incomes Model and Australian Population and Policy Simulation Model), Treasury's population and labour force projections, and chronic disease trends data. Setting Australian population aged 45–64 years in 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030. Outcome measures Lost PLYs, lost income, extra welfare payments, lost taxation revenue, lost GDP. Results 18 100 people are out of the labour force due to diabetes in 2015, increasing to 21 400 in 2030 (18% increase). National costs consisted of a loss of $A467 million in annual income in 2015, increasing to $A807 million in 2030 (73% increase). For the government, extra annual welfare payments increased from $A311 million in 2015 to $A350 million in 2030 (13% increase); and lost annual taxation revenue increased from $A102 million in 2015 to $A166 million in 2030 (63% increase). A loss of $A2.1 billion in GDP was projected for 2015, increasing to $A2.9 billion in 2030 attributable to diabetes through its impact on PLYs. Conclusions Individuals incur significant costs of diabetes through lost PLYs and lost income in addition to disease burden through human suffering and healthcare costs. The government incurs extra welfare payments, lost taxation revenue and lost GDP, along with direct healthcare costs.


Existing localization algorithms for mobile sensor networks are usually based on the Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) method. They either suffer from low sampling efficiency or require high beacon density to achieve high localization accuracy. Although papers can be found for solving the above problems separately, there is no solution which addresses both issues. In this paper, we propose an energy efficient algorithm, called WMCL, which can achieve both high sampling efficiency and high localization accuracy in various scenarios. In existing algorithms, a technique called bounding-box is used to improve the sampling efficiency by reducing the scope from which the candidate samples are selected. WMCL can further reduce the size of a sensor node's bounding-box by a factor of up to 87 percent and, consequently, improve the sampling efficiency by a factor of up to 95 percent. The improvement in sampling efficiency dramatically reduces the computational cost. Our algorithm uses the estimated position information of sensor nodes to improve localization accuracy. Compared with algorithms adopting similar methods, WMCL can achieve similar localization accuracy with less communication cost and computational cost. Our work has additional advantages. First, most existing SMC-based localization algorithms cannot be used in static sensor networks but WMCL can work well, even without the need of experimentally tuning parameters as required in existing algorithms like MSL*. Second, existing algorithms have low localization accuracy when nodes move very fast. We propose a new algorithm in which WMCL is iteratively executed with different assumptions on nodes' speed. The new algorithm dramatically improves localization accuracy when nodes move very fast. We have evaluated the performance of our algorithm both theoretically and through extensive simulations. We have also validated the performance results of our algorithm by implementing it in real deployed static sensor networks. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to implement SMC-based localization algorithms for wireless sensor networks in real environment.


This Article examines the thesis according to which the practice of giving reasons for decisions is a central element of liberal democracies. In this view, public institutions� practice�and sometimes duty�to give reasons is required so that each individual may view the state as reasonable and therefore, according to deliberative democratic theory, legitimate. Does the giving of reasons in actual court practice achieve these goals? Drawing on empirical research carried out in a French administrative court, this Article argues that, in practice, reason-giving often falls either short of democracy or beyond democracy. Reasons fall short of democracy in the first case because they are transformed from a device designed to �protect� citizens from arbitrariness into a professional norm intended to �protect� the judges themselves and perhaps further their career goals. In the second case, reasons go beyond democracy because judges� ambitions are much greater than to merely provide petitioners with a ground for understanding and criticizing the decision: they aim at positively�and paternalistically in some instances�guiding people�s conduct. The discussion proceeds by drawing attention to social aspects that are often neglected in theoretical discussions on reason-giving. A skeptical conclusion is suggested: one can rarely guarantee that any predetermined value will be achieved by the giving of reasons. The degree to which individuals are empowered by the reasons given to them is dependent on the way in which decision-givers envision their reason-giving activity, and this representation is itself conditioned by the social setting of the court.


The present preliminary study aimed to develop and examine the psychometric properties of a new sport-specific self-report instrument designed to assess athletes' and coaches' attachment styles. The development and initial validation comprised three main phases. In Phase 1, a pool of items was generated based on pre-existing self-report attachment instruments, modified to reflect a coach and an athlete's style of attachment. In Phase 2, the content validity of the items was assessed by a panel of experts. A final scale was developed and administered to 405 coaches and 298 athletes (N = 703 participants). In Phase 3, confirmatory factor analysis of the obtained data was conducted to determine the final items of the Coach-Athlete Attachment Scale (CAAS). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed acceptable goodness of fit indexes for a 3-first order factor model as well as a 2-first order factor model for both the athlete and the coach data, respectively. A secure attachment style positively predicted relationship satisfaction, while an insecure attachment style was a negative predictor of relationship satisfaction. The CAAS revealed initial psychometric properties of content, factorial, and predictive validity, as well as reliability.


Unlike laboratory experiments, real-world visual search can contain multiple targets. Searching for an unknown number of targets creates a unique set of challenges for the observer, and often produces serious errors. We propose a Bayesian optimal foraging model to predict and describe behavior in such search scenarios, and investigate whether people adapt their search strategies based on complex statistics of target distributions. Separate groups searched arrays drawn from three target distributions with the same average number of targets per display, but different target-clustering properties. As predicted, participants searched longer when they expected more targets to remain and adjusted their expectations as searches unfolded, indicating that searchers are sensitive to the target distribution, consistent with both an optimal foraging framework and an ideal Bayesian observer. However, compared to the ideal observers, searchers systematically under-adjusted to the target distribution, suggesting that training could improve multiple-target search in radiology and other crucial applications.


Background In team sports lower extremity injuries account for over 50% of all injuries, indicating the importance of early detection of athletes at risk. Objective Investigating the predictive value of ankle stability and landing technique at baseline for ankle and knee injury occurrence during the consecutive season in indoor team sport athletes. Design Prospective longitudinal cohort study. Setting (Sub-)elite level basketball, korfball or volleyball athletes. Participants Out of 58 athletes 42 athletes (age: 22.2±3.9 yr, height: 184.5±11.8 cm, mass: 79.0±15.2 kg) met the inclusion criteria; being ≥18 years, performed baseline measurement and completion of season. Risk factor assessment Athletes performed the Single-Leg Jump-Landing (SLJL) test and the Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) Jump at baseline. SLJL test resulted in a dynamic stability index (DSI) in medial-lateral (ml), anterior-posterior (ap) and vertical (v) direction for frontal, diagonal and lateral jump direction. High DSI indicates poor stability. The LESS determines an athlete's landing technique; high score represents poor landing technique. Main outcome measurements Ankle and knee injuries were registered according to the FIFA registration system. Results 9 ankle injuries and 7 knee injuries were reported. Athletes that reported an ankle injury scored a significant (P≤.05) higher DSI compared to non-injured athletes in diagonal ap (0.072±0.01 vs 0.066±0.01), diagonal v (0.350±0.06 vs 0.305±0.05) and lateral ap (0.057±0.01 vs 0.047±0.01) direction. Athletes that reported a knee injury scored a non-significant higher LESS score (7.46±1.38) compared to non-injured athletes (6.20±2.0). Conclusions Athletes who sustained an ankle injury during the season showed higher DSI at baseline. Athletes with a knee injury showed tendency toward poorer landing technique. Both tests seem feasible to screen athletes at baseline giving insight in high-risk athletes. Prevention programs could be implemented preventing these athletes from sustaining an injury.


The study aims to understand the response of Christian AIDS organisations to HIV/AIDS related conflicts in Bulawayo-Zimbabwe. Many criticisms have been levelled against these organisations mainly because of their delayed, uninformed and reluctant response to HIV/AIDS issues. The intent of this research is not to criticize but to improve the effectiveness of organisations in responding to conflicts related to HIV/AIDS by suggesting possible responses or interventions. Building on conflict resolution theories, the research tried to explore the issues of HIV/AIDS motivated conflict, explain their causes, their form and nature and identified them among the people living with HIV/AIDS in Bulawayo using the focus group technique. Data was also collected from support group supervisors and organisations. The results suggest that there is a possible link between HIV/AIDS and interpersonal conflict and that HIV/AIDS conflict do occur in Bulawayo and they take many forms. People living with HIV/AIDS are the most affected because they suffer from both the disease and the damage to relationships. It still needs to be proved how destabilisation of relationships contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS in Bulawayo. The results also suggest that there is no formidable response by organisations to HIV/AIDS related conflicts because they refer cases to other institutions. The paper also identifies many issues hindering the resolution of conflicts and some of them include: lack of knowledge on resolution, lack of awareness and lack of relevant skills among many. The study suggests that conflict resolution should be mainstreamed into HIV/AIDS intervention measures in of Faith-based organisations in Bulawayo. However, awareness and further studies of HIV/AIDS related conflicts are needed if meaningful intervention is to be achieved.


With the AIDS and STD epidemic on the rise, the concern for young people?s risky
behavior in sexual situations becomes a crucial issue. Numerous studies have found that alcohol
influences risky sexual behavior, but other factors seem to play a role as well. The current study
examines participants? perceptions of different partner types (new, casual and steady) and
alcohol consumption on the likelihood of condom use in hypothetical situations in vignettes. In
addition, participant self-reports of alcohol consumption and their scores on impulsivity scales
were correlated to condom use self-efficacy scores and self-reported condom use. A 2x3
MANOVA was conducted using two levels of alcohol (alcohol/no alcohol) and three levels of
sexual partner types (new, casual, steady) in a vignette randomly assigned to female college
students. Perception of risk, importance in condom use, and likelihood of the characters to
suggest the use of a condom were rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Two regression equations
were also conducted with the first one measuring the participants? history of alcohol use in the
past three months, level of impulsivity and condom use self-efficacy. The second equation
included these three scales as well as participant-reported actual condom use in the past three
months. A significant main effect in the alcohol condition was found in the MANOVA as well
as a main effect in partner type. A significant interaction was also found in the MANOVA.
Specifically, a univariate analysis revealed a main effect in partner type for the vignette question
rating the participants? perception of the situation risk; participants perceived a situation to be
higher in risk when the male is a new partner than when he is a steady partner. The univariate
analysis also revealed a main effect in the alcohol condition as well as an interaction in the
vignette question measuring the participants? expectation of the female character suggesting the
use of a condom. Participants reported lower expectation for the female character to suggest the use of a condom when drinking across all partner types. The interaction revealed that the new
and casual partner conditions responded similarly while drinking but the steady partner condition
was significantly different in that participants expected the character to suggest a condom
regardless of alcohol condition. The first regression equation revealed that impulsivity, though
not alcohol use, was a significant factor in condom use self-efficacy. The second regression
equation showed that impulsivity, alcohol use, and condom use self-efficacy all were significant
predictors in participants? self-reported condom use. Consequences of alcohol intoxication and
the risk in all partner types are imperative issues that young adults need to understand. The
results suggest that increased harm reduction education and health education on disease risk with
all types of partners are particularly needed in this population.


In this paper we describe the application of Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) for analysis of data tables with different types of attributes. FCA represents one of the conceptual data mining methods. The main limitation of FCA in classical case is the exclusive usage of binary attributes. More complex attributes then should be converted into binary tables. In our approach, called Generalized One-Sided Concept Lattices, we provide a method which deal with different types of attributes (e.g., ordinal, nominal, etc.) within one data table. Therefore, this method allows to create same FCA-based output in form of concept lattice with the precise many-valued attributes and the same interpretation of concept hierarchy as in the classical FCA, without the need for specific unified preprocessing of attribute values.


The Kirova mine with its 3 Mt production in 2019 is one of the coal mining leaders in Russia. The available mining equipment has the potential to significantly increase the output, however, gas is a limiting factor on the way to this. The customary approaches to coal seam degassing have already been petered out. The miners and mine science are facing a challenge to validate and test an alternative technology to ensure effective in-seam gas drainage prior to vigorous mining. This article gives an account of the improvement track record of the in-seam gas drainage technology used to pre-treat coal seam for intensive and safe extraction. This technology suggests, at the first stage, hydraulic slotting of the target coal seam through wells drilled from the surface (SHS), then hydraulic fracturing of the coal seam through the boreholes drilled from underground development headings, followed by methane extraction from the created high-permeability coal-gas reservoir through standard in-seam gas dranage underground wells. Presented in this paper are the results of field testing of improved SHS technique. Findings are presented on the effective parameters of the hydraulic fracturing technology. Methodological recommendations are offered for selecting viable in-seam gas drainage technology.


Dust and microorganisms are associated with poultry confinement facilities. Since, microorganisms in general are carried by dust particles, this provides an excellent vector for horizontal disease transmission between birds. An electrostatic space charge system (ESCS) was investigated in its effectiveness on reducing airborne dust, microorganism and horizontal disease transmission in pullet and lay facilities. The ESCS was designed to reduce airborne dust and bacteria by inducing a strong negative electrostatic charge on airborne particulates and to collect these particulates on the grounded surfaces. Dust concentrations in each room were logged at 10-minute intervals and airborne bacteria levels were measured using media plates exposed to the air. Airborne dust levels were significantly reduced in the pullet and lay facility. Reducing airborne dust particulates, significantly reduced overall bacteria and reduced horizontal transmission of an inoculated Salmonella enteritidis. The ESCS was an effective means of reducing dust, bacteria and disease transmission between birds.


Sediment-laden turbulent flows occur in nature and through man-made hydraulic structures. Our current understanding of this two-phase flow phenomenon is incomplete, and many important questions remain open. In this paper, an approach that accounts for the effects of the dynamic coupling between the flow and the sediment in suspension is presented. The analysis is based on the Boussinesq approximation for the fluid-sediment mixture momentum equation and the simple notion that a sediment-laden turbulent flow is a perturbed clear-water turbulent flow. The adopted approach, while establishing a viable framework for further study of the dynamics of turbulent sediment-laden streamflows, sheds additional light on the physics of this complex phenomenon.


We investigate the phase-space dynamics of a general model of local systems of biological neurons in order to deduce the salient dynamical characteristics of such systems. In this article, we present a detailed exposition of an abstract dynamical system that models systems of biological neurons. The abstract system is based on a limited set of realistic assumptions and thus accommodates a wide range of neuronal models. Simulation results are presented for several instantiations of the abstract system, each modeling a typical neocortical column to a different degree of accuracy. The results demonstrate that the dynamics of the systems are generally consistent with that observed in neurophysiological experiments. They reveal that the qualitative behavior of the class of systems can be classified into three distinct categories: quiescence, intense periodic activity resembling a state of seizure, and sustained chaos over the range of intrinsic activity typically associated with normal operational conditions in the neocortex. We discuss basic ramifications of this result with regard to the computational nature of neocortical neuronal systems.


People are often attracted to unique natural environments, but what makes them continually return to these locations, especially when considerable time and effort are required to get there? This paper discusses the methods and findings of a research project aimed at identifying and exploring how visitors develop an attachment to the remote Ningaloo Marine Park in north-western Australia. This Marine Park attracts a high percentage of repeat visitors (55%) and in order to determine the complex aspects contributing to this attachment, photo-elicitation was employed. Photoelicitation is a qualitative technique where participants are asked to take photographs relating to the concept under study, and these are then used as triggers for underlying memories and feelings during a subsequent interview. For this study, participants were provided with digital cameras to take photographs of why they like visiting the Ningaloo Reef and what it was that made them return. Given this remote location and the inability to get photographs developed in reasonable timeframes, digital cameras were used instead of the disposable cameras more commonly used in this type of study. After a few days, the cameras were returned, and photographs uploaded on the researcher's laptop computer with interviews conducted while viewing the photographs. Over a period of four weeks, during the peak visitor period, 30 participants took over 200 photographs and provided over 15 hours of interview recordings. Key aspects contributing to place attachment included the beauty of the physical environment, reef and marine based activities, social bonding with family and friends and enjoying a challenging though rewarding experience. By using a technique familiar to people on holidays, i.e. taking photographs, a method was invoked that people could engage with easily without the research impinging on their holiday experience.


We reported a case of depression who was noted of increased writing activity in an unusual writing style. And the condition improved dramatically after the prescription of antidepressants and low dose antipsychotics.The handwriting may be one of the most complicated components of human mentality. We consider this report not only intriguing but also instructive. Before this, increased writing activity had been reported in several neuropsychological conditions but never in the status of depression, nor did the correlated treatment having been reported. Our case is the first depressive patients to present this condition and dramatically changed after treatment.


Spain, from a general perspective, conforms a primary urban network which highlights the urban region of Madrid, which has generated an extremely important economic and social space along with a demographic polarization in the center of the country. To this fact we have to add its diverse geographical features that create a complex reality in water supply. Where the analysis of water consumption becomes especially relevant, due to the importance of this resource for the social, economic and environmental development of the region. Over the last years, we have developed conceptual and methodological tools for this purpose, as the sustainability metabolic index known as water footprint. Specially in a context of global environmental change which shows projections with reduced water availability for southern Europe, such as those of the IPPC or the European Environment Agency. We must not forget that water has unique characteristics compared to other resources being human demand for water in direct competition with the water the environment needs to maintain its ecological functioning.


ABSTRACT This article centres on the recent Higher Education and Research Act 2017 in England and the consultation documents leading to the legislation. I will start by arguing that the reform promotes consumerist understanding of students. Guided by Fairclough's critical discourse analysis, I will further explore the ways in which five students' unions from England and their sabbatical officers understand and respond to the consumerist policy discourses. The unions' official responses to the government's consultation demonstrated a strong opposition to the reform, particularly against the tuition fee increase and metrics used to measure teaching quality. The follow-up interviews with sabbatical officers, however, highlighted that this opposition can often be fragmented by consumerist counterarguments. The interviewees emphasised consumer rights as benefiting students and the unions. The differences between the written and verbal discourses will be discussed, and the reasons for a lack of consistency in the participants' discourses questioned in relation to their relationship with the university management and wider student population they represent.


Cannabis is the illegal substance most commonly used in all countries of the European Union. The increased use of cannabis during the past decade has increased the profile of the drug. Used mainly by young adults, but also by many schoolchildren, cannabis is a drug consumed by individuals during their formative years, at a time when they may be more vulnerable to the long-term harmful effects of drug use. Comments in the media and elsewhere of a large increase in the potency of cannabis have raised concerns that the drug now available is much stronger than that available in the past.

To establish a scientific basis on which to advise policymakers and practitioners in the drugs field, the EMCDDA commissioned an investigation into cannabis potency in Europe. The results of this study are presented here.

Table of contents
• Analytical aspects
• Trends in cannabis potency in Europe
• The cannabis market in Europe: potency consideration
• Trends in cannabis potency in other countries
• Identification of information gaps, priorities for future research and recommendations


: Research on provenance, which focuses on different ways to describe and record the history of changes and advances made throughout an analysis process, is an integral part of visual analytics. This paper focuses on providing the provenance of insight and rationale through visualizations while emphasizing, first, that this entails a profound understanding of human cognition and reasoning and that, second, the special nature of spatiotemporal data needs to be acknowledged in this process. A recently proposed human reasoning framework for spatiotemporal analysis, and four guidelines for the creation of visualizations that provide the provenance of insight and rationale published in relation to that framework, work as a starting point for this paper. While these guidelines are quite abstract, this paper set out to create a set of more concrete guidelines. On the basis of a review of available provenance solutions, this paper identifies a set of key features that are of relevance when providing the provenance of insight and rationale and, on the basis of these features, produces a new set of complementary guidelines that are more practically oriented than the original ones. Together, these two sets of guidelines provide both a theoretical and practical approach to the problem of providing the provenance of insight and rationale. Providing these kinds of guidelines represents a new approach in provenance research.


Legal culture is defined as a way of describing relatively stable patterns of legally oriented social behaviour and attitudes. Adapting legal culture is possible, while the adapted legislation makes a shift in the social reality, especially in transition to democracy. As social behaviour depends on other elements, such as historical and cultural backgrounds of a society, the reaction for the legal adaption may differ from one country to another. So, the legislation in two countries may be the same; but the interpretation and the implementation of the law may be different. As tax norms also have an economic aspect, factors effecting the results of the tax law adaption may be historical, cultural and also economic. Adapting legal culture is more comprehensive than transplanting legal mechanisms and importing other legal systems, it is not only translating legislation but also creating a differential fitness; a different aspect of rights and principles of law design. As tax law includes social norms as well as financial norms and is a multidisciplinary branch of law, the adaption of tax law needs justification of perceived fairness and common understanding of basic law principles and rights. If the perception of law is different, the interpretation of law may create a sui generis version of the adapted law. In this article, the question to be answered is how the historical, cultural and economic factors differ adapted tax systems in practice by the interpretation of law.


ABSTRACT This article considers the features of intergovernmental relations (IGR) on immigrant integration in Belgium and critically examines the dynamics that shape them. The characteristics of IGR on immigrant integration in Belgium are shown to vary over time and differ across regions and sub-policy areas (immigrant reception policies and anti-discrimination). The comparative case study indicates that the primary traditional theses of the international comparative IGR literature, namely classical institutionalism and party politics, do not provide insights into the nature and mechanisms of IGR on immigrant integration in Belgium. Less established variables like European integration and sub-state claims for distinctiveness constitute key explanatory variables. While European integration explains the increase of IGR over time, notwithstanding the appearance of party incongruence, sub-state claims for distinctiveness enlighten the more conflictual nature of IGR with Flanders, even in cases of more party congruence than for Francophone authorities.


The research is conducted aiming at analyzing the physical, chemical, and sensory qualities of goat cheese with different temperatures and storage duration. The research materials are goat milk and L. plantarum TW14 and L rhamnosus TW2 isolates, and its equipments include a set of cheese production tools, colorimeter, and SEM. The variables analyzed are cheese's physical quality (color and structure), chemical qualities (total titrated lactic acid) and sensory qualities (texture, flavor, aroma and likeness). The treatment consists of 2 factors, namely the first factor including: storage temperature (freezer and refrigerator) and the second factor: storage duration (0; 15; 30; 45 and 60 days) with 3 replicates. The obtained results indicate that storage temperature does not influence the cheese's brightness level (L*), a* value (redness) and b* value (yellowness) and sensory qualities (texture, flavor, aroma and likeness), yet storage duration influences the cheese's L* value (P<0.01). Storage temperature has significant influence (P<0.01) on the cheese's lactic acid content, while storage duration has insignificant influence (P>0.05) on it. The cheese's structure shows protein aggregate, void and lactic acid bacteria. The conclusion is that frozen-stored goat cheese still has good physical, chemical, and sensory qualities.


The Latin American and Caribbean region has pursued a variety of policies with respect to slum upgrading and prevention, but the available literature does not provide a description of these experiences and their outcomes. This book examines the policies of three countries in the region, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia, which are notable for the breadth of their policy interventions and their diversity. These three countries have taken different routes but together provide a strong representation of the panoply of choices. The policies share a common feature of emphasizing access to housing of slum residents, but de-emphasizing other key issues related to slums, including fundamental issues of urban development. While this characterization of the region's policies is well known, the design and diversity of the policies that led to these outcomes are not. A key lesson of this book is that there are many methods to upgrade slums by improving the supply of housing for the poor, including slum clearance combined with resettlement and new housing developments without slum clearance. However, by failing to address broader issues that promote the emergence of slums, they may not leave slum residents any better off than they were before.


This study investigates the relationship between administration of merit pay systems and work outcomes. For data collection purposes, self-administered questionnaires were used on the administrative staff of a Malaysian public research university. The analysis of the Smart PLS path model exhibits three important outcomes: first, the implementation of communication and the assessment of performance are important factors that motivate employees to enhance work satisfaction. Second, the implementation of communication is not an important factor that motivates the employees to enhance organisational commitment . Third, the performance assessment is an important factor that motivates employees to enhance organisational commitment . The results in general, corroborate with previous literature, however, the empirical evidence on the effective communication within the organisation is not an important factor in determining organisational commitment . In addition, this paper provides a clear guidance for managers to administer merit pay system in gaining positive work outcomes. This paper goes on to discussion and implications and is thereafter concluded with conclusion therein.


This study was performed to compare the effect of five mixtures of anesthetic protocols in thirty adult domestic ducks of local breed. The birds were randomly divided into five groups; six ducks for each group. In group1; a combination of medetomidine and ketamine (M-K), (100 µg and 20 mg/kg) drugs were used. While in group 2; a combination of xylazine and ketamine (X-K), (5 mg and 20 mg/kg) were used. For group 3; a combination of acepromazine and ketamine (Acp-K), (2 mg and 20 mg/kg) were used, and in group 4 and 5, combinations of xylazineketamine-diazepam (X-K-D) (5 mg; 20 mg and 5 mg/kg), xylazine-ketamine and acepromazine (X-K-Acp), (5 mg; 20 mg and 2 mg/kg), respectively were used. All the used drugs combinations were given via intramuscular route at the pectoral muscle. The time onset of loss of righting reflex was (2.6±0.5 mins), (1.6±0.5 mins), (1.1±0.3 mins), (1.0±0.1 mins) and (1.8±0.3 mins), respectively for a mean duration of time (51.3±7.5 mins), (55.0±2.0 mins), (48.8±7.5 mins), (56.3±4.3 mins) and (53.8±3.8 mins), respectively. While, the sedative effect started within (1.5±0.3 mins), (1.3±0.3 mins), (0.6±0.2 mins), (0.8±0.1 mins) and (1.3±0.3 mins), respectively. All the anesthetic combinations varied in producing proper anesthesia in the experimental ducks. The palpebral reflex was not abolished, and the eyes remained opened throughout the course of anesthesia with almost all the anesthetic combinations. Additional disadvantages accompanied administration of all 5 combinations were; persistent pedal movement, during the whole course of anesthesia. Muscle relaxation in the anesthetized birds in all 5 groups was poor, as seen clinically by the twisted necks and the contracted pedaled legs. A statistical difference (p < 0.05) was found in the onset of loss of righting reflex between group 1 (2.6±0.5), compared to group 3 (1.1±0.3) and group 4 (1.0±0.1). The combination of M-K (group 1), produced good analgesia that was found to be significantly better than with the other combinations. Variable differences at respiratory rate indices at the scheduled time were found between treatment groups. But, the respiratory rate of the birds in all anesthetic protocol groups was significantly decreased from the corresponding base line values (time 0), except in K-X-D combination (group 4), in which the decrease was only at 30 minutes after injection. In conclusion the domestic ducks ( Anas platyhynchos) was considered as difficult patients for anesthesia by the investigated anesthetic combinations given by intramuscular route, because none of the anesthetic regimen was effective for production of adequate anesthesia and analgesia in this species of the domestic birds.


Objective: To discuss the establishment and stability of passive Heymann nephritis (PHN) in order to provide help for experimental study of membranous nephropathy (MN). Materials and Methods: We used 20 male rats of Sprague-Dawley weighing 120 to 150 g to prepare renal antigen Fx1A based on hypotonic lysis, Ca 2+ aggregation of contaminants and differential centrifugation and used six male New Zealand white rabbits for preparing anti-serum which was injected to SD rats to establish the model in different dosages (1 mL/100 g and 0.5 mL/100 g). The proteinuria of six model making rats were tested after 1st Week and then sacrificed and studied by direct immunofluorescence (IF) for deposition of rat IgG and electron microscopy (EM) in different time (1 st week and 7 th week ) with or without a booster injection. Results: After 7 days (1 st week) of model making, all six rats showed proteinuria (higher than 100 mg/dL). IF and EM study showed a typical pathological features of PHN (MN) but the intensity of IF intensity and electron dense deposits decreased in the rats without a booster injection. Conclusions: A PHN model could be successfully prepared according to the method we reported while a spontaneous remission may appear several weeks after the model making.


The field of peace and conflict studies is characterized by certain boundaries: In general terms, researchers differentiate between normative and analytical approaches as well as between structuralist, culturalist and actor oriented concepts. These different perspectives are typically indicated by different notions of conflict and violence, thereby often leading to an analytical separation between conflict analysis and conflict resolution. Lars Schmitt's working paper takes this constellation as a starting point to develop a new perspective for the analysis and transformation of conflicts. His analytical heuristic, the so called habitus-structure conflicts, attempts to overcome these oppositions which are considered untenable from an epistemological viewpoint. Based on the socioanalysis of Pierre Bourdieu, this heuristic is presented as a hermeneutic circle indicating the interrelation of social inequality and power relations on the one and conflicts on the other hand. Symbolic violence can be seen here as a functional principle of society: It allows society to reproduce itself by keeping conflicts at a latent level. Depending on their respective group affiliation, the chances of individuals at securing decent standards of living are unequally distributed. Yet this inequality is unlikely to erupt into (direct) violence. This applies for at least two reasons. First, habitus and structure are inherently linked to each other. Individuals internalize inequality at an early stage (habitus); as a result, they tend not to conceive of situations in which inequalities materialize (structure) as illegitimate. Second, the unequal distribution of chances to secure a decent living is mediated by symbols and "naturalized" during that process. Individuals realize that hierarchies exist; due to the plurality of symbols and the possibility to choose between them, however, they perceive them as naturally given, as based on merit, as just. As a consequence, the social genesis of inequality remains unacknowledged and potential class conflicts are transformed into individualized competitions in social fields, intrapersonal psychic conflicts or violence against scapegoats. The key concept of habitus-structure conflicts is able to frame these different conflicts within a society and to relate them to the underlying symbolic violence. In the conclusion, Lars Schmitt illustrates that uncovering the hidden mechanisms of power may not only lead to emancipatory effects at the individual level, but is also a prerequisite for mediating intercultural conflicts.


The growing need for a trustworthy Future Internet demands evolutionary approaches unfettered by legacy constrains and concepts. The networking community is calling for new network architectural proposals that address the deficiencies identified in present network realizations, acknowledge the need for a trustworthy IT infrastructure, and satisfy the society's emerging and future requirements. Proposed architectures need to be founded on well-articulated design principles, account for network operational and management complexities, embrace technology and application heterogeneity, regulate network-inherent emergent behavior, and overcome shortcomings attributed to present network realizations. This dissertation presents our proposed clean-slate Concern-Oriented Reference Model (CORM) for architecting future computer networks. CORM stands as a guiding framework from which network architectures can be derived according to specific functional, contextual, and operational requirements or constraints. CORM represents a pioneering attempt within the network realm, and to our knowledge, CORM is the first reference model that is bio-inspired and derived in accordance with the FunctionBehavior-Structure (FBS) engineering framework. CORM conceives a computer network as a software-dependent complex system whose design needs to be attempted in a concern-oriented bottom-up approach along two main dimensions: a vertical dimension addressing structure and configuration of network building blocks; and a horizontal dimension addressing communication and interactions among the previously formulated building blocks. For each network dimension, CORM factors the design space into function, structure, and behavior, applying to each the principle of separation of concerns for further systematic decomposition. In CORM, the network-building block is referred to as the Network Cell (NC), which represents CORM's first basic abstraction. An NC's structure and inherent behavior are bio-inspired, imitating a bacterium cell in a bacteria colony, thus it is capable of adaptation, self-organization and evolution. An NC's functional operation is defined by CORM second basic abstraction; the ACRF framework. The ACRF framework is a conceptual framework for network-concerns derived according to our interpretation of computer network requirement specifications. CORM networks are recursively synthesized in a bottom-up fashion out of CORM NCs. CORM addresses the multi-dimensionality of computer networks by modeling the network structure and behavior using a network structural template (NST), and an information flow model (IFM), respectively. Being developed according to a complex system paradigm, CORM refutes the long endorsed concept of layering, intrinsically accounts for emergent behavior, and ensures system integrity and stability. As a reference model, CORM is more typical of conventional engineering. Therefore it was validated using the FBS engineering framework. However, the behavior to be realized in CORM-based networks was substantiated and evaluated by deriving CellNet, our proposed CORM-based network architecture. CellNet-compliant protocols' behavioral adaptation and modification were illustrated and evaluated through simulation. CORM will have a profound impact on the operation and behavior of computer networks composing the Internet. By introducing awareness adaptability and evolvability as network intrinsic features, CORM-based Internet will proactively respond to changes in operational contexts, underlying technologies, and end user requirements. A major direction in CORM future work would be to detail the IFM component.


Dysphoria is associated with persistence of attention on mood-congruent information. Longer time attending to mood-congruent information for dysphoric individuals (DIs) detracts from goal-relevant information processing and should reduce working memory (WM) capacity. Study 1 showed that DIs and non-DIs have similar WM capacities. Study 2 embedded depressive information into a WM task. Compared to non-DIs, DIs showed significantly reduced WM capacity for goal-relevant information in this task. Study 3 replicated results from Studies 1 and 2, and further showed that DIs had a significantly greater association between processing speed and recall on the depressively modified WM task compared to non-DIs. The presence of inter-task depressive information leads to DI-related decreased WM capacity. Results suggest dysphoria-related WM capacity deficits when depressive thoughts are present. WM capacity deficits in the presence of depressive thoughts are a plausible mechanism to explain day-to-day memory and concentration difficulties associated with depressed mood.


For a system of spinless fermions in a disordered mesoscopic ring, interactions can give rise to an enhancement of the persistent current by orders of magnitude. The increase in the current is associated with a charge reorganization of the ground state. The interaction strength for which this reorganization takes place is sample dependent and the logarithm averages over the ensemble are not representative. In this paper we demonstrate that the Hartree-Fock method closely reproduces results obtained by exact diagonalization. For spinless fermions subject to a short-range Coulomb repulsion U, we show that plots of phase sensitivity versus U exhibit sharp peaks associated with significant charge reorganization. Their positions are highly sample dependent and they disappear upon ensemble averaging. Having established that the Hartree-Fock method works well in one dimension, we present corresponding results for the phase sensitivity in two coupled chains. [S0163-1829(99)04435-5].


We test a New Economic Geography (NEG) model for U.S. counties, employing a new strategy that allows us to bring the full NEG model to the data, and to assess selected elements of this model separately. We find no empirical support for the full NEG model. Regional wages in the U.S. do not respond to local wage shocks in the way predicted by the model. We show that the main reason for this is that the model does not predict either the migration patterns induced by local wage shocks or the repercussions of this migration for regional wages correctly.


Causal inference from observational data can be biased by unobserved confounders. Confounders—the variables that affect both the treatments and the outcome—induce spurious non-causal correlations between the two. Without additional conditions, unobserved confounders generally make causal quantities hard to identify. In this paper, we focus on the setting where there are many treatments with shared confounding, and we study under what conditions is causal identification possible. The key observation is that we can view subsets of treatments as proxies of the unobserved confounder and identify the intervention distributions of the rest. Moreover, while existing identification formulas for proxy variables involve solving integral equations, we show that one can circumvent the need for such solutions by directly modeling the data. Finally, we extend these results to an expanded class of causal graphs, those with other confounders and selection variables.


Abstract Nests provide essential ecological services to breeding birds, and the location and architectural characteristics of nests may vary to maximise reproductive success. We investigated variation in nest-characteristics within a breeding population of Superb Lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae) in south-eastern Australia over 14 years. Lyrebird nests consist of a bulky, domed chamber built on a supporting platform of sticks. A total of 292 nests successful to the nestling stage was measured. The orientation of nests differed from random, with nests predominantly facing downslope, and the volume of the internal chamber (a surrogate of the size of nests) was smaller in high nests (≥2 m above ground). Mean width of the nest-wall (per year) and median height above ground (per year) were positively correlated with rainfall during the nest-building period (March—June) but not with temperature, suggesting that water resistance rather than thermal insulation is a stronger influence on nest traits. Variation in nest-characteristics between individuals was identified, indicating particular styles of nest in the population. For the Superb Lyrebird, flexibility in location and architecture of the nest, within and between years, is likely to represent a mechanism to respond to variation in environmental conditions and predation risk, which may affect reproductive success.


I. INTRODUCTION Although most people are familiar with the term `black market goods,' few can readily define the `gray market.' So-called `gray goods' are neither legal nor illegal. They have not been smuggled or stolen; rather, they have been placed in a particular market without the approval of the company or individual who owns the copyright.1 For example, when a clothing designer wants customers to associate her product with exclusivity, she will try to prevent it from being sold at low-end discount retailers. If the clothing somehow ends up at such a retailer against her wishes, the clothing has become gray market goods. For example, when Christian Dior's Poison perfume, which has been marketed as a luxury item, is sold in a Dutch supermarket next to "Fantasie Panties," one can presume that the supermarket obtained the perfume on the gray market. As Dior would (and did) argue, the product's placement-- both initially in the supermarket and then next to tacky novelty items-undermined years of exhaustive marketing efforts and ruined the perfume's reputation.2 Examples aside, a federal District Court in California has defined gray goods (also called `parallel goods') in the United States as "goods that are intended to be sold outside the United States but which are imported into this country without the consent of the owner of the United States trademark or copyright associated with the good."3 In Europe, the term `gray market' applies to goods sold outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and then reimported against the wishes of their copyright holder.4 The gray market has the potential to harm more than just the reputation of the goods being sold, although that particular harm has served as the basis for copyright holders' arguments.5 When a manufacturer sells goods to distributors abroad, it often does so at prices far cheaper than those in its own country (or in the EEA, as the case may be), based on the differences in the two markets.6 An overseas distributor can then sell the goods back into the United States at prices that remain much lower than those at authorized retailers, while still making a large profit.7 This practice forces manufacturers into competition with their own products and restricts their ability to control discounts within the United States or the EEA.8 During 1998 the gray market in both the United States and Europe received a great deal of attention as the result of two landmark court decisions intended to clarify rules regarding the importation of gray goods. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Quality King Distributors, Inc. v. LAnza Research International, Inc.9 was a victory for gray marketers, while the European Court of justice (ECJ) decision in Silhouette International Schmied GmbH & Co. KG v. Hartlauer Handelsgesellschaft mbH10 worked to the benefit of trademark holders. In each case, the courts' holdings turned on their interpretation of the "first sale" doctrine,11 or the European equivalent, "exhaustion of rights."12 These two decisions have spawned endless discussion regarding the positive and negative effects of the gray market. More importantly, they have created a sort of experimental laboratory whereby legal scholars can see which path-that of the U.S. Supreme Court or that of the ECJ-has a net positive effect on the respective rights of manufacturers and parallel importers. This Note argues that the European Court's decision was fairer and wiser. The Discussion section explains the legal doctrines forming the backdrop for the two pivotal 1998 court decisions: the first-sale doctrine and the exhaustion doctrine. In addition, the discussion summarizes the facts and opinions of each case as a foundation for the Analysis section. The analysis moves beyond the cases themselves to examine some of the expected effects of the Quality King and Silhouette decisions on consumers, copyright holders, and parallel importers. In the end, these expected consequences support the conclusion that restricting the gray market, as the European Court of Justice did in Silhouette, is the best course of action for both the United States and Europe. …


John Hite attended the Perse Boys School in Cambridge. His history exercise book contains his second year work, covering English history from 1066-1485. The work consists of neatly-written notes and is illustrated with colourful maps, diagrams and accurate drawings, such as the excerpt from the Bayeux Tapestry. The tasks include some designed to encourage historical thinking, such as the page setting out the evidence for William Rufus's murder as against an accidental death. The curriculum follows the traditional pattern, with the Norman and Plantagenet kings, Magna Carta, early parliaments and sections on the life of the castle and the monastery as well as the Crusades and the 'War against Scotland'. The final third of the book consists of a detailed history of Cambridge, noting the city's involvement in national events and reminders of its past in the local geography and architecture, such as the university colleges, churches and monuments.


In recent years, many countries with mandatory defined benefit pay-as-you-go ("PAYG") systems have modified their systems to include individual accounts for financing retirement pensions. In most of these countries, a portion of the mandatory pension system's contribution rate has been "carved-out", and contributions earmarked by the carve-out are channeled into retirement accounts. Upon reaching retirement age, the contributions and accumulated interest in an individual's account are used to finance all or part of that individual's total retirement pension. Although an individual account may be a useful vehicle for financing retirement income, it may not prove sufficient for financing disability benefits. In a pension system that depends solely or partly on individual investment accounts, individuals who become disabled at a young age might lack sufficient capital in their individual accounts to finance adequate disability pensions. Generally, therefore, the implementation of "carve out" accounts for financing retirement benefits will necessitate changes to the financing mechanism for disability benefits. A wide range of policy options exists for adapting disability benefits to operate in a pension system with carve-out retirement accounts. The purpose of this paper is to examine how countries with carve-out individual retirement accounts have approached disability reform, and to assess the applicability of these approaches in the United States.


The ongoing global push for sustainable food production has motivated both the greenhouse horticulture and aquaculture sectors to explore the potential of geothermal energy for heating as an alternative to fossil fuels. Greenhouses and fish farms experience distinct heat demand fluctuations throughout the year and therefore do not make consistent use of geothermal wells. Geothermal wells on the other hand, need to operate close to full capacity year-round to be profitable. An opportunity to improve the economic feasibility of geothermal heating infrastructure is to use circular food production systems, such as aquaponics, which can be operated as a thermal treatment network in order to increase heat extraction from geothermal well installations. The EU funded GEOFOOD project aims to analyze in detail how to optimise the design and operation of geothermal aquaponic facilities. To quantify the potential benefits, a predictive model was developed which simulates the heat balances present throughout the aquaponic-based thermal treatment network. The inputs include the relevant climate parameters of the location, the type of greenhouse/building for both facilities including climate control equipment, as well as crop and fish species. For a scenario considering a 5-ha Dutch tomato greenhouse it is found that geothermal heat extraction can be increased with 31% by combining it with an indoor pike-perch fish farm of 6544 m2, without the need of alternative energy sources during peak demands.


The socio-economic status of families plays an important role in shaping parenting behavior and children's activities. Research shows, for example, that parents with higher socio-economic status spend more time reading to children whereas children from lower socio-economic backgrounds watch more television. These differences in so-called highbrow and low-brow activities are often cited as one of the reasons underlying the disadvantages in academic achievement and educational attainment observed for children from families with lower socio-economic status. Nonetheless, the immediate consequences of these activities, particularly of watching television, for children's cognitive and behavioral development are still the subject of controversial scientific and public debate. In this paper, we used data on children living in Scotland and born between June 2004 and May 2005 to address three questions: (1) Are there differences in the growth of children's weekly television consumption from age two to age four depending on their parents' education? (2) Is early television consumption associated with differences in vocabulary, reasoning ability, and behavioral problems at age 5? (3) Does this association differ by parents' education? Our analyses showed that television consumption was indeed higher for children of parents with lower education and also grew faster over time. But in the sample under study, we found no associations of television consumption with cognitive and language development and only very small ones with conduct problems and prosocial behavior. These associations with behavior were slightly larger for children whose parents attained lower secondary education or less. Given that we were able to account for many important drivers of both television consumption and child development, these results suggest that the impact of TV consumption on children's development is less pronounced than often assumed and may not play a major role in explaining socio-economic differences in children's academic achievement and educational attainment.


A coherent method to measure the effectiveness of a monetary policy improves the monetary authority's management capacity and renders the possibility of applying sound policies prior to and during a crisis. The trend in employing complicated and ambiguity-bearing unconventional monetary tools in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis has increased the value of such a method. The aim of this article is to introduce a coherent and consistent monetary policy evaluation method for Turkey. Accordingly, we suggest that innovations in the spread between overnight interest rates and Treasury auction interest rates are informative for exchange rate, output, and prices. Empirical evidence for this identification reveals that positive innovation in spread (implying a tight monetary policy measure) decreases output temporarily, permanently decreases prices, and appreciates local currency. This result is also robust to alternative specifications.


What is the best way for a company to innovate? That's exactly the wrong question. The better question: How can organizations get the maximum possible value from their innovation investments? Advice recommending "innovation vacations" and the luxury of failure may be wonderful for organizations with time to spend and money to waste. But this book addresses the innovation priorities of companies that live in the real world of limits. They want fast, frugal, and high impact innovations. They don't just seek superior innovation, they want superior innovators. In The Innovator's Hypothesis , innovation expert Michael Schrage advocates a cultural and strategic shift: small teams, collaboratively--and competitively -- crafting business experiments that make top management sit up and take notice. Creativity within constraints -- clear deadlines and clear deliverables -- is what serious innovation cultures do. Schrage introduces the 5X5 framework: giving diverse teams of fiv people up to five days to come up with portfolios of five business experiments costing no more than $5,000 each and taking no longer than five weeks to run. The book describes multiple portfolios of 5X5 experiments drawn from Schrage's advisory work and innovation workshops worldwide. These include financial service approaches for improving customer service and addressing security challenges; a pharmaceutical company's hypotheses for boosting regulatory compliance; and a diaper divisions' efforts to give babies and parents alike better "diapering experiences" with glow-in-the-dark adhesives, diagnostic capability, and bundled wipes. Schrage's 5X5 is enterprise innovation gone viral: Successful 5X5s make people more effective innovators, and more effective innovators mean more effective innovations.


Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the etiology, prognosis, and associated neurological and ophthalmologic findings of pediatric cortical visual impairment (CVI) at a tertiary care center in South India. Methods: Records of 120 patients visiting either directly or referred by pediatrician and pediatric neurologist during 2006–2012 at a tertiary eye care hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Ninety children were diagnosed with CVI. The diagnosis of CVI was based on an ocular examination that revealed poor visual function bilaterally that could not be accounted by age, ocular examination findings, optic atrophy, or high refractive error and neuroimaging results were correlated. The modification of the six-level scale was used (graded on a scale of I to VI) for visual acuity. Results: The mean age at presentation was 19 ± 17.21 months (range 2–96 months). The mean age at follow-up was 29.05 ± 25.61 months (range 8–108 months). In this study, 79% of the patients at initial presentation had Level I or level II vision acuity. The most common etiology was perinatal hypoxia (29%), followed by prematurity (26%), and structural abnormalities (22%). Forty-one children (46%) had some neurological manifestation, and 34% had ocular deficits. The most common findings were ischemic encephalopathy (31%), periventricular leukomalacia (28%), cortical and subcortical atrophy and structural malformations (22%). Conclusion: The major risk factors for pediatric CVI are perinatal hypoxia, premature birth, and structural abnormalities. Most patients have associated neurological and ophthalmologic abnormalities. The majority of children with CVI showed some recovery, but visual function tended to be poor in most children.


The economic recovery in the euro area remains moderate. While several sentiment indicators have improved considerably over the past few months, and therefore suggest that the recovery might gain some momentum, this has not yet been reflected in hard data, in particular not in the quarterly GDP growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2016. So far, there is a lack of striking evidence for a sustained acceleration of the recently recorded moderate pace of economic recovery. Meanwhile, political uncertainty will remain elevated over the forecast horizon due to upcoming elections in four out of five of the biggest member states, negotiations with the United Kingdom on terms and conditions for leaving the EU, and possible changes in trade policies triggered by the new US government. Nevertheless, the euro area economy is set to continue its recovery - unemployment continues to decline, numerous early activity indicators point upwards, fiscal policy is expected to be mildly expansionary over the forecast horizon, and the recovery is continuously supported by low interest rates and the low external value of the euro.


Surra is a disease caused by Trypanosoma evansi haemoparasit [1]. The parasite was first discovered by Griffith Evans, a British veterinarian, who described T. evansi on horse and camel blood in India in 1880. The disease is characterized by anemia, weight loss, intermittent fever, and death in various domestic animals, such as horses, cows, buffalo, and camels. Recently T. evansi has been successfully isolated from animals (carnivores) at zoos in Pakistan [2]. The disease can be transmitted vertically and horizontally. Transmission horizontally through the bite of a fly (Tabanidae and Stomoxis) acting as a mechanical vector [3].Surra is present in North Africa, The midle east, Asia and South America. The disease is endemic in India, China, Shouteast Asia, Northen Africa, The Middle East, South America, Philippines, Bulgaria and Indonesia [4]. T. evansi have entered Southeast Asia through imported livestock from India [5], and began attacking the horse population on the Indonesian island of Java in 1987 [5]. Since it was first discovered, the disease continues spread to various regions and become endemic in some provinces in Indonesia.                Sumba Island East Nusa Tenggara Province is one of the islands declared a free area of Surra until 2009, when Surra entered the island due to livestock traffic. Historically Sumba Island has a horse Sandelwood (germplasm) with high economic and social cultural value, and one of Indonesia's livestock producers with high livestock population.                Surra infected livestock of Sumba islands due to traffic of livestock from endemic area such as Bima, The outbreak in Sumba Barat Daya occurred in July 2010 and spread Sumba Timur on August 2010. The outbreak resulted in the death of 44 horses (2010), 381 horses  and 20 water buffaloes (2011) and 328 horses and 129 water buffaloes 2012 (The Livestock Service of East Sumba Report).                Horses, water buffaloes and cows for Sumba society not only as a fulfillment of protein needs but also as social symbols and customary animals are very important for the life of the people of sumba. Surra poses a threat to people's lives both economically and socially. Surra influenced by several factors such as geographical condition, vector existence, rearing system and physiological condition of animal [6]. The aim of this study are to analyze correlation of environment factors with Surra outbreak.


Abstract. The computational efficiency of symbolic generation was at the root of the emergence of symbolic multibody programs in the eighties. At present, it remains an attractive feature of it since the exponential increase in modern computer performances naturally provides the opportunity to investigate larger systems and more sophisticated models for which real-time computation is a real asset. Nowadays, in the context of mechatronic multibody systems, another interesting feature of the symbolic approach appears when dealing with enlarged multibody models, i.e. including electrical actuators, hydraulic devices, pneumatic suspensions, etc. and requiring specific analyses like control and optimization. Indeed, since symbolic multibody programs clearly distinguish the modeling phase from the analysis process, extracting the symbolic model, as well as some precious ingredients like analytical sensitivities, in order to export it towards any suitable environment (for control or optimization purposes) is quite straightforward. Symbolic multibody model portability is thus very attractive for the analysis of mechatronic applications. In this context, the main features and recent developments of the ROBOTRAN software developed at the Universite catholique de Louvain (Belgium) are reviewed in this paper and illustrated via three multibody applications which highlight its capabilities for dealing with very large systems and coping with multiphysics issues.


Crown land is unique to the Commonwealth and better represented in British Columbia than anywhere else in the Commonwealth (95% of the land base). Through tradition and common law, British Columbians have come to define Crown lands as publicly owned lands that belong to all residents and to expect governments to shepherd them for the benefit of all. Social licence to operate on this land requires approval from the local community and other stakeholders. The concept of Crown land makes every British Columbian a potential stakeholder and has led to more drama and noise around social licence than occurs elsewhere. The four main reasons for failure in past applications for social licence have been a lack of respect, assuming economics is a sufficient framework, appearing to bully, and hiding or obscuring information deemed relevant. Recent events in the province suggest the provincial and federal governments, and some companies, have learned little from past failures. Energy development faces particular challenges because location counts and impacts are both intrusive and extensive, but the errors described here are avoidable. W. Edwards Deming reputedly observed, "Learning is not compulsory… neither is survival." Some companies have learned.The topic is addressed under six headings: (1) Whose land is it?; (2) What the public has said; (3) Defining social licence; (4) Lessons from exploring social licence; (5) Lessons and energy development; and (6) What's next?


The overall objective of this thesis is to develop, validate and assess a probabilistic collision damage model to support ongoing work by the Society of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (SNAME) Ad Hoc Panel #6 and IMO working groups. It is generally agreed that structural design has a major influence on tanker oil outflow and damaged stability in grounding and collision, but crashworthiness is not considered in present regulations. The proposed methodology provides a practical means of considering structural design in a regulatory framework, and when implemented would improve the safety and environmental performance of ships. This dissertation continues the development and applies a Simplified Collision Model (SIMCOL) to calculate damage extent (transverse, vertical and longitudinal) and oil outflow in ship collisions. The primary contribution of this dissertation is the development and validation of a theory for the determination of energy absorbed in longitudinal extent of damage, and the implementation of the theory within SIMCOL. SIMCOL is sufficiently fast to be applied to thousands of collision cases as is required for a probabilistic analysis. The following specific tasks were completed using SIMCOL in support of this project: • Completed the development of SIMCOL Version 3.0 including: 1) Deformable Bow sub model 2) Implementation and validation of theory for the determination of energy absorbed in longitudinal extent of damage. • Developed the capability to model collision events using LSDYNA. • Validated Virginia Tech LSDYNA ship collision modeling procedure. • Validated SIMCOL using real collision data, and probabilistic collision data for penetrating collision


Although systems for licensing professionals are far from perfect, and their problems and costs should not be ignored, they are justified as a necessary means of protecting innocent people's vital interests. Licensing defends patients from inept doctors, pharmacists, and physical therapists; it protects clients from unqualified lawyers. We should protect people who are highly vulnerable to those who are supposed to serve them, those with whom they have a special relationship. Requiring professionals to be licensed is the most plausible way of doing that. Given the overwhelming support for the licensing of these professionals, I find it odd that so many people categorically reject proposals to license parents. Although the relationship between a parent and her children is different in some respects, it is also relevantly similar to that between a professional and those she serves. To defend these claims, I show how and why the rationale for licensing parents parallels the rational for licensing professionals. I then ask whether such a program could be justifiably implemented. Finally, I describe and reject what I see as the flawed view of the relationship between parents and their children.


In January 2007, the Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research was
indexed by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI). This paper
reviews the research that has been published since 2007 by using
records extracted from the Web of Science database. The papers
published were mostly affiliated to researchers from Chile, and six out
of the ten most-contributing countries were from Latin America. The
analysis by institutions showed Universidad de Concepcion as the most
prolific, although this result is not valid. A lack of standardization
in the manner the Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA)
subscribed its address on each paper caused a disaggregation of the
information. This was proven by the manual curation of each record that
was affiliated to any of the centers belonging to INIA. The journal has
a self-citation rate of 19.3%, value that is relatively high if
compared to other journals from the same subject category listed on The
Journal Citation Reports 2010. Finally, this work should be considered
a bibliometric snapshot of the current situation of the journal that
will serve as a benchmark when new evaluations are made in a few-years
time.


The paper focuses on the consequences that the metaphorical use of the concept of capital can generate on research on Intellectual Capital. Consequences here analysed refer to: 1) the understanding of IC as being composed of homogenous and separable units; 2) those that are assets; 3) those expected to be under the proprietorship of someone; and 4) those expressible in monetary terms on the balance sheet. The analysis of consequences also offers some insights into overcoming the capital metaphor in favour of a sharper differentiation between the concepts at the basis of the traditional notion of capital, and the ones at the basis of IC.


Lake Fidler is situated adjacent to the lower Gordon River in the Franklin Lower Gordon Wild
Rivers National Park of south west Tasmania It is the only stable meromictic lake in cool
temperate rainforest in Australia and facets of its unique biology, phycology and limnology have
been abundantly published in over 20 scientific papers. This study uses palaeolimnological
techniques to place existing knowledge in the context of the long term history and evolution of
Lake Fidler. This has allowed an assessment of the impact of modifications to the hydro-dynamics
of the river, by a dam further upstream, on the declining meromictic stability of the lake. The study
comprises two parts. The first part describes the use of remote data loggers to monitor the hydrodynamics
of the lake and river and the ectogenic mechanism which maintains meromixis through
periodic incursions of brackish water. This has resulted in reconunendations for a management
strategy to prevent the further decay of meromixis. The second part, a palaeolimnological study,
reconstructs the history of meromixis and the palaeoecology of the lower Gordon River region. A
17 metre sediment core, datmg back 8000 years, was analysed for fossil diatoms and pigments.
Fossil diatoms provided specific information on the genesis of the lake from a brackish riverine
backwater to an autonomous meromictic lake with a fresh water mixolinmion dominated by
Cyclotella stelligera. The ultimate stability of this freshwater mixolimnetic assemblage is
interpreted as the time at which the lake became permanently stratified. The development of
biological communities associated with meromixis was also studied using fossil pigments. The
most diagnostic pigments were the bacteriochlorophylls of the anaerobic green phototrophic
sulphur bacteria, Chlorobium limicola and Chlorochromatium aggregatum, which obligately
require the conditions of the chemocline to maintain their abundance. The establishment of these
organisms concomitant with the development of permanent stratification also confirms the onset of
meromictic conditions. The palaeolimnological studies, in tandem with studies of fossil pollen,
have additionally provided information on the Holocene palaeoecology and palaeoclimatology of
south west Tasmania during the later phases of Aboriginal occupation. This included the possible
evolution of a wanner and wetter climate and the development of a mature cool temperate
rainforest in floristic refugia that have remained undisturbed since the last ice age.


How much could farm water management interventions increase global crop production? This is the central question posed in a global modelling study by Jägermeyr et al (2016 Environ. Res. Lett. 11 025002). They define the biophysical realm of possibility for future gains in crop production related to agricultural water practices—enhancing water availability to crops and expanding irrigation by reducing non-productive water consumption. The findings of Jägermeyr et al offer crucial insight on the potential for crop water management to sustainably intensify agriculture, but they also provide a benchmark to consider the broader role of sustainable intensification targets in the global food system. Here, we reflect on how the global crop water management simulations of Jägermeyr et al could interact with: (1) farm size at more local scales, (2) downstream water users at the river basin scale, as well as (3) food trade and (4) demand-side food system strategies at the global scale. Incorporating such cross-scale linkages in future research could highlight the diverse pathways needed to harness the potential of farm-level crop water management for a more productive and sustainable global food system.


This paper describes the use of the Delphi method as a means of incorporating study participants into the processes of data analysis and interpretation. As a case study, it focuses on perceptions about use and non-use of the social media site Facebook. The work presented here involves three phases. First, a large survey included both a demographically representative sample and a convenience sample. Second, a smaller follow-up survey presented results from that survey back to survey respondents. Third, a series of qualitative member checking interviews with additional survey respondents served to validate the findings of the follow-up survey. This paper demonstrates the utility of Delphi by highlighting the ways that it enables us to synthesize across these three study phases, advancing understanding of perceptions about social media use and non-use. The paper concludes by discussing the broader applicability of the Delphi method across CSCW research.


In the present study, multiscale nanosilica/E-glass/epoxy anisogrid composite panels were investigated for flexural properties as a function of nanosilica loading in the matrix (0, 1, 3 and 5 wt.%). The surface of the silica nanoparticles was firstly modified with 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (3-GPTS). The fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed that the organic functional groups of the silane were successfully grafted on the surface of the nanoparticles. It was illustrated that flexural properties of the composite panel loaded from the skin side can be significantly enhanced by incorporating silica nanoparticles. The use of 3 wt.% nanosilica was the most effective in increasing the load bearing capacity and energy absorption value, while the specimen containing 5 wt.% nanosilica demonstrated the highest flexural stiffness. From the results obtained for the anisogrid panels loaded from the skin side, it was found that these structures displayed excellent damage resistance which is represented by their energy absorption capability. Moreover, a significant portion of energy absorbed after the primary failure at the peak load. Finally, the results correlated well with the observation of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) micrographs where the nanocomposite panels exhibited higher degree of fiber-matrix interfacial strength and also enhanced matrix characteristics, imparted by the incorporation of surface modified silica nanoparticles.


Water governance exerts an impact on the socio-politic life of Honduras. For instance, the new legal framework changes institutions. New water organisations are created, and new processes and proceedings are proposed. These times when strategies from developed countries are transferred to developing countries, such as water governance, the need for an evaluation is desirable to disentangle the problems and to look forward at opportunities and find alternatives. The journey from government to governance describes the change from the traditional government behaviour towards new governance. In countries like Honduras, as in developing countries, this change describes a complex process in which the imported strategies are conflicting with existing established socio-political patterns. The new water management approach as applied in Honduras needs to take into account the socio-political reality and the availability of resources, if the water governance process would gain relevance. Honduras is a relatively new democratic country after many years of military regime, thus the government needs also to be part of the governance process. This doctoral thesis studies and highlights the characteristics of the traditional Honduran government approach, and the effects that the new governance approach has posed in the country. The difficulties emerging from this shift of approaches are discussed, and explored. The research finds support in the exploration of Honduran political and institutional sociological history to elaborate the causes and motives for current governmental attitudes. The research relates to concepts of development strategies, institutionalism and regulation modes. This thesis argues that governance has achieved a pseudo empirical implementation in Honduras, and that new mechanisms need to be devised to balance the suggested governance mode using new notions of regulatory space, and the theoretical meta-governance approach, in order to balance between the imported measures and the reality. New governance theoretical notions are exposed to encourage and explore new alternatives for the water governance in the Honduras context. It is necessary to realise that institutional changes occur in a long-term adjustment period in order to build trust among actors and water authorities. Moreover, this thesis deems it pertinent that the government as the voter-elected entity should take the decisive lead of the governance approach.


Mrazek et al. [25] proposed a unified approach to curve estimation which combines localization and regularization. Franke et al. [10] used that approach to discuss the case of the regularized local least-squares (RLLS) estimate. In this thesis we will use the unified approach of Mrazek et al. to study some asymptotic properties of local smoothers with regularization. In particular, we shall discuss the Huber M-estimate and its limiting cases towards the L2 and the L1 cases. For the regularization part, we will use quadratic regularization. Then, we will define a more general class of regularization functions. Finally, we will do a Monte Carlo simulation study to compare different types of estimates.


Porous media such as tissues, soil materials, porous rocks, and concrete become darker with increasing water content. Most methods used to quantify this behavior are based on statistical models. Physical models have rarely been used for this purpose. In this study, we implemented a radiative transfer model to analyze the measured reflectance and transmittance of prepared moist soil slabs, accounting for the physical processes of light reflection, refraction, and absorption. We calculated the trace of numerous beams in the image of vertical slab cross sections. This image represents the spatial distribution of the solid, water, and air phase in the soil slab. We implemented this model to test how the arrangement and optical properties of the water phase influences the reflectance. To validate the model assumptions, we qualitatively compared the calculated reflectance and transmittance with measurements. We concluded that reflectance and transmittance depend not only on the amount of water but also on the spatial distribution of water within the pore space of the porous medium.


We all know that good health is important; that it is important for women (and men) to stay fit, to exercise, to eat the right foods, to have coping mechanisms for stress, and to see a doctor for regular checkups. We may also know that women have "special health needs" because of pregnancy, menstruation, and menopause. But how do we know? What counts as good health? How is it decided? Who makes the decisions? What passes as health information, and who has access to it? When we say "women's health," which women do we mean? What notion of health "counts"? How do we recognize ill health? How do we adopt practices of wellness? Are women's health needs "special?" If so, why and how are they special; if not, why not and how do we know they are not? Who benefits from these various decisions, who does not, and why? These are political questions about knowledge, power, and control; and the ways in which they are answered can have important political and health consequences. Recently, the Department of Women's Studies at the University of South Florida changed the title of the upper-division undergraduate course that addresses these issues, Woman's Body/Woman's Mind, to Politics and Issues in Women's Health, a feminist course about women and health-mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, social, economic, and political. Of course, feminism does not mean only one thing; however, it does mean, in part, a perspective that values women's experience as a featured consideration. Given this, the course structure and material contain elements that address the multiple concerns of class, race, ethnicity, gender, age, physical ability and sexual preferences as vital points for discussion. Course Description In an exploration of current issues and concerns in the conceptualization and delivery of health information and health care for women from a feminist perspective, with a special emphasis on ways in which we can inform and help ourselves, the materials and discussions in this course pose questions about what has and has not been asked in the past; what has counted as fact and fiction; and who and what has been accepted as natural, normal, and abnormal, and why. In short, the course provides information about women's health issues and examines how our own health knowledge is shaped. Overview of Course Content and Requirements Topics about the politics and issues of women's health cover a large terrain and change over time; therefore, the structure of each class results from my past experience and student response in previous courses as well as an assessment of the current resources available. Generally, however, specific course content in any given semester is fashioned through attention to a mix of six flexible and interrelated domains. 1. Discussing the history of, and need for, the women's health movement; some of the ways in which health care is defined as a system; a few of the issues that the health care system addresses; and some of the images it uses and promotes 2. Addressing a variety of topics, including self-help, mental health, disability, contraception, childbirth, violence against women, aging, caregiving, nutrition, AIDS, and body images 3. Emphasizing the politics of health care, including the medicalization of women's bodies, cultural stereotypes, women's access to health care, women as providers and consumers of health care, and alternatives to standard health care 4. Challenging purely biomedical definitions of women's health and drawing attention to social, cultural, and behavioral elements that are crucial to a broader understanding of issues 5. Focusing particularly on how race, class, gender, ability, and culture shape and in turn are shaped by treatment options and health care 6. Considering women's health not only in terms of women's bodies but in terms of the public health of entire communities and, therefore, reaching out to individuals and to the community for examples of healthy practices The flow of the course extends from the introduction of basic notions of feminism and health care and a history of women and the health care system, to a series of more specific women's health care topics and, eventually, to individual student presentations. …