All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. --Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1 (United Nations, 1948) Human rights are defined as "the rights one has simply because one is a human being" (Donnelly, 1989, p. 9). Embedded in the concept of human rights are notions of basic entitlements to freedom--by virtue of birth--to live without persecution, to express oneself, and to have opportunities to develop (such as through education, health care, and basic economic security). Social workers, thus, are called to protect and promote human rights in the course of their professional duties. One of the most widely recognized types of human rights is termed "integrity of the body and security of the person." Included in this category are the rights to be free from torture, arbitrary detention (detention based on some arbitrary element, such as race, ethnicity, country of origin, or religion), and extrajudicial killing (execution without prior judicial review) (Vincent, 1986). Although the NASW Code of Ethics does not explicitly address integrity of the body and security of the person, it does state that "social workers should respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person" and should "seek to resolve conflicts between clients' interests and the broader society's interests in a socially responsible manner consistent with the values, ethical principles, and ethical standards of the profession" (NASW, 2000, pp. 4-5). Human rights also include political rights and civil liberties. These rights are commonly associated with democracies and include voting, protest, and freedom of expression (Donnelly, 1989). The NASW Code of Ethics calls on us to support political rights and civil liberties by facilitating "informed participation by the public in shaping social policies and institutions" (NASW, 2000, Section 6.02, p. 27). Social and economic rights are also human rights, although they are rarely presented as such in Western democracies. The notion is that all human beings have the right to social and economic fundamentals, such as education, employment, basic subsistence, and health care (Donnelly, 1989). The Code of Ethics asks us to "engage in social and political action that seeks to ensure that all people have equal access to the resources, employment, services, and opportunities they require to meet their basic human needs and to develop fully" (NASW, 2000, Section 6.04(a), p. 27). HISTORICAL INVOLVEMENT IN HUMAN RIGHTS In the United States, social work began with a strong grounding in human rights. Jane Addams (1860-1935), one of the founders of U.S. social work, was an advocate for the full range of human rights. Through both her actions and her writings, Addams sought to promote peace and end violence in both domestic and international arenas. She worked for the protection of African Americans who were the victims of lynching and mob violence (National Negro Committee, 1909a). As a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Moon, 1969; National Negro Committee, 1909b), she signed the famous 1909 "Call" for a national conference to discuss the lack of protections for the rights of African Americans. Part of the focus of the Call was the "lawless attacks upon the negro ... often accompanied by revolting brutalities" (National Negro Committee, 1909a, p. 3). In addition, Addams vigorously protested against the use of war in international disputes. As president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and 1931 Nobel Peace Prize recipient (Stroup, 1986), Addams believed that "we are not obliged to choose between violence and passive acceptance of unjust conditions for ourselves of others ... on the contrary, that courage, determination, moral power, generous indignation, active good-will, can achieve their ends without violence" (Addams, 1945/1972, p. …


This paper compares the residental satisfaction of the public rental housing for the lowest-income households by using Structural Equation Modeling(SEM) - the one is "National Rental Housing(hereafter NRH)" and the other is "Multi-family Rental Housing(hearafter MFH)". The former is constructed in the form of APT on the suburban area and the latter is purchased in multi-family house on the urban area. In terms of factor structure of residential satisfaction, there is a meaningful distinction between "NRH" and "MPH". While the "NRH" seems to be more satisfactory in the physical aspect, the "MPH" is more acceptable in the economical point due to low rent. Locational effect, which is expected in the "MPH", is not statistically significant because it is already internalized in that most of the tenants have been living at the same district area. For the success of "MPH" program, it is needed to improve quality of physical character of housing. It is important that the "MPH" is more satisfactory in the social relationship rather than "NRH" concentrated in a place. It is, therefore, suggested that the "NRH" program should also be interested in the renters' community activity to increase the favorite neighborhood spirit.


Abstract A field-emission-gun scanning electron microscope (FEG SEM) has been fitted with a back-scattered electron detector in order to image dislocations by the electron channelling contrast mechanism. By using an efficient detector, optimizing its orientation with respect to the specimen and the incident beam, and applying an image-enhancement technique, it has been possible to image and characterize dislocations near the surface of bulk samples of a number of materials without the need of an electron-energy filter in front of the detector. Examples are presented of preliminary studies of dislocations in Si and Ni, Ga; the image widths are typically 20 nm, and the normal g·b = 0 invisibility criterion for screw dislocations applies. By dispensing with the electron-energy filter used by Morin et al., the design and operation of the system become very simple, and the technique should become available in commercial FEG SEMs. This non-destructive technique is likely to have wide applications to situations ...


We show that in high-index-contrast nanoscale waveguides counter propagating waves can posses distinct spatial near-field profiles. Using transmission-based near-field scanning optical microscopy (TraNSOM), we identify and map the unique near-field intensity distributions of these counter-propagating modes in a single-mode silicon waveguide. Based on this phenomenon, we design and simulate an integrated device 45 µm in length that selectively attenuates reflected light with an insertion loss of -3.6 dB and an extinction of greater than -20 dB.


The lexical approach towards second language (L2) teaching focuses on developing learners' proficiency with lexis, or words and word combinations. Language teachers and researchers are cognizant of the significant role of vocabulary in different pedagogical tasks and of the fact that mastery of vocabulary is an essential component of L2 learning (Mohseni-Far, 2008). An important aspect of L2 vocabulary learning is the capacity to comprehend and produce lexical phrases. This explorative study investigated the role of (Automated Response System) ARSkeepad technology as a pedagogical tool in the second language classroom for L2 vocabulary recognition tasks, and examined whether the technology could be used to utilize a higher level of interaction in the classroom and permit vocabulary comprehension to be assessed in real-time. Studies by cognitive scientist, Pinker (2000) assert that principles of language acquisition can be compared to a branch of theoretical computer science called Learnability Theory, which acknowledges the role of environment in language learning. This premise posits that an interactive instructional environment could play an important role in language learning including vocabulary development. A social learning theory such as the Constructivist theory is also explored in the study to explore whether ARS-keepad technology can promote a higher level of interaction among learners. Initial results from the study illustrate that the knowledge gains, through the use of ARS-keepad technology came firstly from the almost instantaneous feedback from learners to the instructor that facilitated development of relevant vocabulary learning tasks. It further assisted measurement of comprehension through well-designed questions, and by getting each learner to respond. The use of emerging technologies like ARS- keepad in the classroom allows for veering away from traditional teaching paths and learning practices and encourages a more integrated and participative engagement of learners.


Indigenous Australians have long understood sustainable hunting and harvesting, seasonal changes in flora and fauna, predator–prey relationships and imbalances, and seasonal fire management. Yet the extent of their knowledge and expertise has been largely unknown and underappreciated by non-Aboriginal colonists, especially in the south-east of Australia where Aboriginal culture was severely fractured. Aboriginal Biocultural Knowledge in South-eastern Australia is the first book to examine historical records from early colonists who interacted with south-eastern Australian Aboriginal communities and documented their understanding of the environment, natural resources such as water and plant and animal foods, medicine and other aspects of their material world. This book provides a compelling case for the importance of understanding Indigenous knowledge, to inform discussions around climate change, biodiversity, resource management, health and education. It will be a valuable reference for natural resource management agencies, academics in Indigenous studies and anyone interested in Aboriginal culture and knowledge.


A disordered system of interacting particles exhibits localized behavior when the disorder is large compared to the interaction strength. Studying this phenomenon on a quantum computer without error correction is challenging because even weak coupling to a thermal environment destroys most signatures of localization. Fortunately, spectral functions of local operators are known to contain features that can survive the presence of noise. In these spectra, discrete peaks and a soft gap at low frequencies compared to the thermal phase indicate localization. Here, we present the computation of spectral functions on a trapped-ion quantum computer for a one-dimensional Heisenberg model with disorder. Further, we design an error-mitigation technique which is effective at removing the noise from the measurement allowing clear signatures of localization to emerge as the disorder increases. Thus, we show that spectral functions can serve as a robust and scalable diagnostic of many-body localization on the current generation of quantum computers.


This book review article probes present anthropological engagement with the environment through the prism of political ecology, placing political ecology in conversation with newer work in environmnetal anthropology. In situating this conversation, the reviewer draws on four recent anthropological monographs that, in one way or another, deal with aspects of 'nature'. The four monographs are Tania Murray Li's (2014) Land's end: Capitalist relations on an indigenous frontier; Marianne Elisabeth Lien's (2015) Becoming salmon: Aquaculture and the domestication of fish; Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing's (2015) The mushroom at the end of the world: On the possibility of life in capitalist ruin; and, lastly, Marisol de la Cadena's (2015) Earth beings: Ecologies of practice across Andean worlds. As I suggest, political ecology requires a radical remake, perhaps a political ecology 2.0, which brings in nature in a new way and makes the category of the political more inclusive.


From role-plays with street gangs in the USA to Beckett in Brixton; from opera productions with sex offenders to psychodrama with psychopaths, the book will discuss, analyse and reflect on theoretical notions and practical applications of theatre for and with the incarcerated. Theatre in Prison is a collection of thirteen international essays exploring the rich diversity of innovative drama works in prisons. The book includes an introduction that will present a contextualisation of the prison theatre field. Thereafter, leading practitioners and academics will explore key aspects of practice e problemitising, theorising and describing specific approaches to working with offenders. The book also includes extracts from prison plays, poetry and prisoners writings that offer illustrations and insights into the experience of prison life.


An essential stage in the release of an avalanche is the propagation of a fracture through a weak snowpack layer. As the fracture propagates, the slab looses its support and comes into contact with the bed surface. In the area of contact, the sliding motion of the slab is constrained by frictional forces. This particular friction process has received little experimental attention until today. Studies on sliding friction have mainly been performed on snow samples composed of small rounded grains in direct contact. In the present study we determine the friction coefficient of weak layers by analysing video records of snow samples sliding down-slope after a weak layer had fractured. The slab and the bed surface are then in indirect contact as the interface consists of the collapsed weak layer. The experiments were carried out in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada, and in the mountains around Davos, Switzerland , between 2002 and 2009. Assuming Coulomb-type friction the initial acceleration of the snow sample is used to determine the friction coefficients. The measurements show an initial friction coefficient on the order of 0.6 and the tendency to decrease thereafter. This is accompanied by the gradual erosion of the interface between the slab and the bed surface.


Abstract [Zn-Al] layered double hydroxides (LDH) with cationic molar ratios of R = Zn/Al 1-5 were synthesized by the coprecipitation method at constant pH = 10. The samples synthesized and their derived forms obtained after calcination at 500°C and at 900°C (denoted Zn-Al-R, Zn-Al-R-500 and Zn- Al-R-900, respectively), were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasmamass spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and nitrogen physisorption at -196°C. The XRD study showed: (1) the presence of accessory ZnO with the LDH in samples synthesized with R ≥ 3; and (2) the lamellar structure was destroyed at 500°C which made room for a poorly ordered ZnO phase, while calcination at 900°C yielded well crystallized ZnO and ZnAl2O4. The photocatalytic activity of the calcined and the unheated samples was evaluated for the decolourization of methylene blue. The photocatalytic activity was dependent on the cationic ratio R and on the calcination temperature. The sample Zn-Al-3 displayed maximum photocatalytic activity. Calcination at 500 and 900°C improved the photocatalytic activity of LDH synthesized at R = 1 and 2.


Surface (0--40 cm) soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics were studied beneath four switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) field trails in the southeastern US. Soil organic carbon was partitioned into particulate organic matter (POM) and mineral-associated organic matter (MOM). Most (75--90%) of the SOC at each study site was affiliated with MOM (<0.053 mm). Changes in stable carbon isotope ratios were used to derive carbon inputs to and losses from POM and MOM at each site. Inventories of existing SOC and new C{sub 4}-derived SOC beneath switchgrass decreased with increasing soil depth. Approximately 5 yr after establishment, 19 to 31% of the existing SOC inventories beneath switchgrass had been derived from new C{sub 4}-carbon inputs. Calculated turnover times of POM and MOM ranged from 2.4 to 4.3 yr and 26 to 40 yr, respectively. The turnover time of SOC in the POM fraction increased with decreasing mean annual temperature. A simple, two-compartment model was parameterized to predict the potential for soil carbon sequestration under switchgrass. An example calculation with the model indicated a measurable and verifiable recovery of soil carbon (=12% increase) on degraded lands through one decade of switchgrass production. The potential to sequester carbon through switchgrass cultivation will depend onmore » initial soil carbon inventories, prevailing climate, soil types and site management.« less


Isoprenoids are functionally and structurally the most diverse group of plant metabolites reported to date. They can function as primary metabolites, participating in essential plant cellular processes, and as secondary metabolites, of which many have substantial commercial, pharmacological, and agricultural value. Isoprenoid end products participate in plants in a wide range of physiological processes acting in them both synergistically, such as chlorophyll and carotenoids during photosynthesis, or antagonistically, such as gibberellic acid and abscisic acid during seed germination. It is therefore expected that fluxes via isoprenoid metabolic network are tightly controlled both temporally and spatially, and that this control occurs at different levels of regulation and in an orchestrated manner over the entire isoprenoid metabolic network. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge of the topology of the plant isoprenoid pathway network and its regulation at the gene expression level following diverse stimuli. We conclude by discussing agronomical and biotechnological applications emerging from the plant isoprenoid metabolism and provide an outlook on future directions in the systems analysis of the plant isoprenoid pathway network.


The United States needs to build better infrastructure. The current repairs and replacements are disorganized and patchwork, resulting in unsafe, costly, and inequitable roads, bridges, dams, sidewalks, and water systems. A strategic, smart infrastructure plan that integrates digital technology, sensors, and data not only addresses these issues but can mitigate risks and even improve the conditions and structures that shape our daily lives. By applying data analysis to intelligent infrastructure, which integrates digital technology and smart sensors, we can identify issues with the country's roadways, buildings, and bridges before they become acute dangers. First, by identifying infrastructure weaknesses, smart infrastructure systems can address decades of deferred maintenance, a practice that has left many structures in perilous conditions. Sensors in pavement, bridges, vehicles, and sewer systems can target where these problems exist, allowing governments to allocate funding toward the neediest projects. From there, these sensors and other smart technologies will alert leaders to changes or issues before they pose a danger—and often before a human inspector can even see them. The many infrastructure emergencies in the U.S. cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars each year, so identifying and fixing these issues is a pressing security issue. Further, as the changing climate leads to more extreme weather and natural disasters, the safety and resiliency of the country's infrastructure is an immediate concern. Sensor systems and other intelligent infrastructure technology can identify and mitigate these problems, saving money and lives. In addition, intelligent infrastructure can be layered onto existing infrastructure to address public health concerns, like monitoring sewer water for COVID-19 and other pathogens or installing smart sensors along dangerous interstates to automatically lower speed limits and reduce accidents. It can also be used to improve materials, like concrete, to reduce the carbon footprint of a project, ultimately contributing to better health and environmental outcomes. Finally, addressing inequities is a major reason to utilize intelligent infrastructure. Research shows that people of color in the U.S. are exposed to more pollutants, toxic chemicals, and physical danger through excess car emissions, aging water pipes, and poor road conditions. The implementation and funding of these intelligent infrastructure projects must consider where—and to whom—harm has traditionally been done and how building back better can measurably improve the quality of life in marginalized and vulnerable communities. While there are challenges to implementing a sweeping intelligent infrastructure plan, including upfront costs and security concerns, all levels of government play a role in achieving a safer society. At the federal level, with infrastructure funding bills being debated at this moment, the government must look beyond roads and bridges and consider that intelligent infrastructure is a : upheld, connected, and integrated by data. Through grants, incentives, and authorized funding, the federal government can effect monumental change that will improve how all residents experience their daily lives. At the state level, budgeting with intelligent infrastructure in mind will encourage innovative approaches to local infrastructure. And on a municipal level, cities and towns can invest in comprehensive asset management systems and training for local workers to best utilize the intelligent infrastructure data.


The role of language in science learning is coming into focus for science education researchers
from a number of perspectives. With a constructivist paradigm dominating the field, language is
being explored for its role in facilitating and assessing learning and in understanding complex
interactions related to science teaching and learning. This paper, by opening a window onto a
variety of techniques, methods, and approaches to the analysis of one short discussion between
several elementary students, presents the opportunity to continue and enhance the dialogue about
ways to research and understand children's discourse during science activities. The purpose of
this paper is to clarify issues relating to the interaction between language and science learning
and to relate these issues to different theoretical perspectives. From this "discourse about
discourse" the authors identify and share avenues for further research, including methodological
approaches and implications for the classroom teacher. The researchers examine a two-and-one-
half minute videotape of three boys constructing a tower of plastic drinking straws as part of a
unit called "Engineering for Children: Structures" which was presented in a mixed fourth- and
fifth-grade class.


Experiments were conducted to determine the chilling temperature and length of time required to break dormancy in red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.). Five weeks of 7 °C with no light was sufficient to break dormancy in 'Autumn Britten', 'Nova', 'Polana', and 'Tulameen', while at least 8 weeks were needed for 'Titan'. Comparisons with various chilling unit models allowed a model to be developed that could account for the observed chilling variation. In this model, each chilling hour was weighted as follows: below 5.6 °C = 1; 5.7 to 8.0 °C = 0.5; 8.1 to 11 °C = 0; 11.1 to 13 °C = -0.5; and >13 °C = -1. Plants of 'Nova' and 'Tulameen' chilled before flower initiation occurred, broke dormancy, and the resulting lateral branches remained vegetative. When the plants were fruited in the greenhouse, we were able to produce a second crop on the fruiting canes when the lateral branches that had fruited were removed. These experiments show that raspberries can be manipulated so that plants chilled in mid-September in the Northern Hemisphere can be induced to fruit by the beginning of January.


While the importance of molecular linkers to design functional polymers and adjust their performance has been acknowledged, their role in thermogelling polymers is still unclear. Herein, we demonstrate that the di-functional positional isomers as the coupling agents in the middle of polymer chains greatly affect the microscopic conformation and macroscopic properties of thermogelling polymers. To enable such an examination, we synthesized BAB-type triblock copolymers methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(D,L-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid)-b-methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG-PLGA-mPEG) linking with different coupling agents. All the polymers were soluble in water at ambient temperature and the polymer solutions underwent a sol–gel transition upon heating. After replacing hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI), a conventional coupling agent, with positional isomers of phthaloyl dichloride (o-PC, m-PC and p-PC), the polymer/water system exhibited lower sol–gel transition temperatures and larger gel moduli due to the phenyl rigidity of PC. We revealed that the polymer coupled with o-PC had a smaller coil size owing to its 60° linkage. This spatial conformation difference further resulted in a reduced thermal gelation temperature and an increased gel modulus of the polymer/water system compared with the copolymers linking with m-PC and p-PC isomers. In addition, the formation of a percolated micelle network via micellar aggregation was responsible for their sol–gel transitions with increasing temperature. The present work offers more insight into the relationship between the molecular structure of polymer chains and the thermogelation behaviors of polymer aqueous solutions.


Food policy action on the state and local levels is necessary and important for at least two reasons. First, the complexity and breadth of our nation's food system requires layered policy and regulation: the system's functioning needs both national uniformity and local distinctions. Second, there are crucial gaps in national regulation that provide rich opportunities for state and local action. These gaps, in areas such as the regulation of antibiotics in animal feed and the oversight of food additives, are not priorities of the federal agencies that oversee food. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made nutrition policy a priority for 2018, the current administration's explicitly anti-regulatory agenda makes it unlikely that it will address these previously under prioritized areas.


Calculations of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of estimates of the power spectra of spatially varying random processes, such as stellar speckle patterns, usually include realizations that contain less than two detected photons. It is shown in this paper that if these cases are excluded from the analysis procedure either implicitly or explicitly, then under the usual definition of SNR, the overall SNR of an estimate can increase by up to a factor of N¯−1/2, where N¯≪1 is the average number of detected photons per realization.


There is increasing concern about potential adverse effects of caffeine in children. Our understanding of caffeine intake relies on studies dating to the late 1990s. This article synthesizes information from national studies since then to describe caffeine consumption, its association with sociodemographic factors, key dietary sources including caffeine-containing energy drinks (CCEDs), and trends in caffeine intake and sources among US children. Findings from the Kanter Worldpanel (KWP) Beverage Consumption Panel and the NHANES showed that caffeine consumption prevalence was generally consistent across studies and over time; more than one-half of 2- to 5-y-olds and ∼75% of older children (>5 y) consumed caffeine. The usual intakes of caffeine were 25 and 50 mg/d for children and adolescents aged 2-11 and 12-17 y, respectively (NHANES 2007-2010). Caffeine consumption correlated with age and was higher in non-Hispanic white children. The key sources of caffeine were soda and tea as well as flavored dairy (for children aged <12 y) and coffee (for those aged ≥12 y). The frequency of CCED use varied (2-30%) depending on study setting, methods, and demographic characteristics. A statistically significant but small decline in caffeine intake was noted in children overall during the 10- to 12-y period examined; intakes remained stable among older children (≥12 y). A significant increasing trend in CCED and coffee consumption and a decline in soda intake were noted (1999-2010). In 2009-2010, 10% of 12- to 19-y-olds and 10-25% of caffeine consumers (aged 12-19 y) had intakes exceeding Canadian maximal guidelines. Continued monitoring can help better understand changes in caffeine consumption patterns of youth.


Summary. The degree to which male sage grouse select lek sites and females select nesting sites to maximize proximity to the other sex was examined by contrasting male dispersions with the dispersions and movements of females in the months preceeding incubation. Wintering females exhibit highly overlapping ranges due to shared use of central refuging areas. In late winter and early spring, females move an average 9 km from wintering areas to select nest sites and males begin occupying leks. Pooled evidence suggests that females select nest sites independently of male dispersion whereas males adjust lek occupation so as to maximize proximity to females. Relevant observations include females visiting nest sites before leks, moving further to select a nest site than to select a lek, and increasing their distance to leks as a result of selecting nest sites. In addition, males avoid leks until females have moved to within 5 km of the arenas, abandon early season leks as local female densities drop, and exhibit dispersions in which mean ratios of females/male are similar across leks. Contrasts between predicted and observed dispersions of males showed that hotspot settlement models are adequate to explain male dispersions on very coarse scales (2 km or greater); on finer scales, habitat preferences of males and tendencies for males to cluster tightly must be invoked in addition to hotspots to explain specific lek sitings.


The James Bond books and films are routinely held up as a significant contributor to, and symptom of, imperialism, sexism, Orientalism, class hierarchy, and jingoism-even as the first form of mass pornography (Baron 1994,69-70; Bold 1993; Drummond 1986,66-67; Moniot 1976, 29; Denning 1992, 225). And so they are. But frequently in a chaotic manner that is more complex and contradictory than teleological accounts of a phallic, hegemonic hero will allow. In this chapter, I follow up some previous work on men and culture, using methods that are comparatively rare in screen studies but are available in both popular culture (Cohen 1999; Paley 1999) and social theory (see Miller 1995; 1998, 101-40; and 1993, 49-94; for anthropology, see Beidelman 1997; for film, see Lehman and Hunt 1999 and Lehman 1998). These methods are not beholden to the unsaid, the repressed, or the hermeneutic turn. Instead, they are mundane, positive knowledges that work with conventional public truths as commonsense ways of making meaning. I will contend that (a) far from being the alpha of the latter-day Hollywood macho man, as per Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Wesley Snipes, Bond was in the avant garde of weak, commodified male beauty; (b) we can see this in the history of his penis; and (c) psychoanalysis doesn't help us to do so.


While the Jewish studies in Russia include many publications devoted to the history of Jewish population beyond the Pale of Settlement, the historiography on the Jewish cantonists is rather limited. Most studies are based almost exclusively on the negative experiences and sad memories of the cantonists themselves. This article aims to reconstruct the environment in which the Jewish soldiers lived when serving in the Orenburg Line Battalion No. 8 housed in Yekaterinburg between 1843 and 1858. We have based our research on administrative records of the battalion stored in the State Archive of the Sverdlovsk Region. Thorough analyses of the newly discovered documents permits quite balanced view on the Jewish conscripts' fate in the Urals. The newly discovered and analyzed documents have allowed us to reconstruct the soldiers' everyday life: what they were doing; what they ate; what opportunities they had for maintaining Judaism and how they adapted to the new conditions. The study has revealed that Jewish soldiers were often involved in work unrelated to military service; many took their opportunity to learn new crafts of military musicians, shoemakers, tailors, and barbers. During their years of service in Yekaterinburg, many Jewish soldiers received awards, regular military ranks, some got married and fathered children. Jewish soldiers had the opportunity to preserve their ethno-religious identity: they could gather on Saturdays for collective prayer, celebrate major religious holidays, conduct life cycle rituals, and follow main religious prescriptions. Former cantonists were not barred from contacts with their relatives and other Jewish residents of the Ural-Siberian region. At the same time, they actively contacted the urban Orthodox population, which sometimes entailed conversion to Orthodoxy. This could have been prompted by such factors as unfavorable personal circumstances and desire to radically change their fate. Baptism could provide opportunity for extraordinary promotion, it enabled them to marry Orthodox girls, to obtain the status of a city dweller, to join one of the Orthodox parishes in Yekaterinburg, and to obtain legal residence in the city. According to our calculations, about 20% of the Jewish soldiers converted to Orthodoxy during their stay in Yekaterinburg. The study has allowed us to detail the situation of Jewish soldiers and to assess the Yekaterinburg period in the cantonists' life with regard to preserving traditional religion and to integration into the urban community as well. How unique was the Yekaterinburg 15-year episode in the life of former cantonists can only be ascertained after studying similar documents from other battalions.


Re-licensing requirements for professionals that move across borders are widespread. In this paper, we measure the returns to an occupational license using novel data on Soviet trained physicians that immigrated to Israel. An immigrant re-training assignment rule used by the Israel Ministry of Health provides an exogenous source of variation in re-licensing outcomes. Instrumental variables and quantile treatment effects estimates of the returns to an occupational license indicate excess wages due to occupational entry restrictions and negative selection into licensing status. We develop a model of optimal license acquisition which suggests that the wages of high-skilled immigrant physicians in the nonphysician sector outweigh the lower direct costs that these immigrants face in acquiring a medical license. Licensing thus leads to lower average quality of service. However, the positive earnings effect of entry restrictions far outweighs the lower practitioner quality earnings effect that licensing induces.


Online Material: Tables of statistical indexes; figures comparing displacement solutions.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has been repeatedly proven to be a powerful tool to estimate coseismic displacements and waveforms, with accuracies ranging from few millimeters to few centimeters. These promising results were achieved following two main strategies: differential positioning (DP) and precise point positioning (PPP; Bock et al. [1993], Kouba [2003], Larson et al. [2007], Larson [2009], Ohta et al. [2012], Xu et al. [2012], and Hung and Rau [2013]). In particular, both the modeling of fault rupture and the seismic moment estimation could benefit from GPS‐derived displacements, because GPS is not affected by the saturation problems experienced by seismometers located near the epicenters of strong earthquakes. Thanks to the robustness of the GPS‐derived displacement waveforms, in the last years some authors (Bock et al. , 2000; Langbein and Bock, 2004; Blewitt et al. , 2006; Bock and Genrich, 2006) addressed the problem to retrieve them in real time, with accuracies of a few centimeters, from GPS high‐rate observations (1 Hz or more). In this context, the Variometric Approach for Displacements Analysis Standalone Engine (VADASE) has been proposed (Colosimo et al. [2011a], Colosimo [2013]). The approach is based on time single differences of carrier phase observations continuously collected using a standalone GPS receiver and on standard GPS broadcast products (orbits and clocks) that are available in real time. Therefore, one receiver works in standalone mode and the epoch‐by‐epoch displacements (equivalent to velocities) are estimated. Then, they are summed over the time interval when the earthquake occurred to retrieve displacements. Because VADASE does not require either additional technological complexity or a centralized data analysis, in principle, it can be embedded into the GPS receiver firmware and therefore can work in real time. Moreover, differently from DP and PPP, …


Environmental DNA (eDNA) has the potential to provide more comprehensive biodiversity assessments, particularly for vertebrates in species-rich regions. However, this method requires the completeness of a reference database (i.e. a list of DNA sequences attached to each species), which is not currently achieved for many taxa and ecosystems. As an alternative, a range of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) can be extracted from eDNA metabarcoding. However, the extent to which the diversity of OTUs provided by a limited eDNA sampling effort can predict regional species diversity is unknown. Here, by modelling OTU accumulation curves of eDNA seawater samples across the Coral Triangle, we obtained an asymptote reaching 1531 fish OTUs, while 1611 fish species are recorded in the region. We also accurately predict (R² = 0.92) the distribution of species richness among fish families from OTU-based asymptotes. Thus, the multi-model framework of OTU accumulation curves extends the use of eDNA metabarcoding in ecology, biogeography and conservation.


We report the results of our observations of H I absorption towards the central region of the rejuvenated radio galaxy 4C29.30 (J0840+2949) with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. The radio source has diffuse, extended emission with an angular size of ~520 arcsec (639 kpc) within which a compact edge-brightened double-lobed source with a size of 29 arcsec (36 kpc) is embedded. The absorption profile which is seen towards the central component of the inner double is well resolved and consists of six components; all but one of which appears to be redshifted relative to the optical systemic velocity. The neutral hydrogen column density is estimated to be N(HI) = 4.7 x 10 21 (T s /100)(f c /1.0)cm -2 , where T s and f c are the spin temperature and covering factor of the background source, respectively. This detection reinforces a strong correlation between the occurrence of H I absorption and rejuvenation of radio activity suggested earlier, with the possibility that the redshifted gas is fuelling the recent activity.


After a recent increase in Chinese import competition, European firms increased innovation. We present and rationalise these patterns using 'trapped factors' at the micro level within a stylised equilibrium model of product-cycle trade and growth. Trade integration of the magnitude observed between the OECD and low-wage nations as a whole can considerably increase the long-run growth rate and welfare. In the short run exposed firms devote trapped factors to increased innovation, leading both to increased innovation at these individual firms as well as to a small amount of extra transitional growth overall. China accounts for half of the dynamic trade gains.


Vesicular horizons are common at the surface of arid and semiarid soils and play a critical role in regulating infiltration. Most methods for examining pore morphology in the vesicular horizon involve physical sectioning of the sample and individual measurement of pores, which is time-consuming and provides an incomplete view of the pores. The objectives of this study were to (i) develop methods for the classification and characterization of pores in the vesicular horizon using high resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT) and (ii) use these methods to examine the distribution of pores within vesicular peds. Three intact peds were scanned by HRXCT and examined using Blob3D software. A subset of pores from the first scan were observed and used to develop a classification tree model based on quantitative parameters of pore shape. Five major pore classes were found: equant vesicles, non-equant vesicles, individual vughs, connected vughs, and planar voids. All pore types decreased in size with increasing depth in the samples; however, the trend in quantity of pores with depth varied between pore types. In the ped with the least vesicular porosity, there was an increase in size and decrease in number of all pore types between the ped interior and exterior, a pattern which was reduced in the peds that were more dominantly vesicular. The application of HRXCT in this study shows how pore shape and size can be quantified within the vesicular horizon and reveals considerable variation of these characteristics within and between peds.


This paper discusses how law is increasingly being used to attack religious associations under the guise of "equality" advancement and "non-discrimination" restrictions. I explore two important insights: first that the concept of "transforma-tion" has been distorted, to shelter approaches to law that fail to respect properly associational diversity. When misused, "transformation" seeks to change the moral viewpoints or religious beliefs of religious associations by force of law. Second, the paper discusses the expansion of law so that it becomes a threat to associations. The "goods of religion" and the "limits of law" need to be more widely recognized and understood both by religious communities and by those involved in law, politics and the media. These insights demonstrate how "equality activists" employ a rhetoric of "equality" to produce inequality, "diversity" to produce homogeneity and "non-discrimination" to discriminate against religious communities and religious beliefs. Several solutions for identifying these errors and resisting them are outlined in brief.


This thesis on observational astronomy focuses on the highly variable near-infrared source Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) at the center of the Milky Way, associated with the central super-massive black hole. It is divided in two parts: a comprehensive data description of Ks-band measurements of Sgr A*, covering the last seven years of observations with the Very Large Telescope and the state-of-the-art instrument NAOS/CONICA, and an effort in polarimetric instrumentation, the calibration of the instrumental polarization properties of NAOS/CONICA in the Ks-band.
In the first part I characterize the statistical properties of the near-infrared variability of Sgr A*, the electromagnetic manifestation of the Galactic Center super-massive black hole, and find the flux density to be power-law distributed. I cannot confirm the evidence of a two state process with different flux density distributions behind the variability, as reported in other publications. I find a linear rms-flux relation for the flux density range up to 12 mJy on a timescale of 24 minutes. This and the power- law flux density distribution imply a phenomenological, formally non-linear statistical variability model with which I can simulate the observed variability and extrapolate its behavior to higher flux levels and longer timescales. I can show that a bright outburst within the last 400 years, that has been discussed as the possible reason for the X- ray emission from massive molecular clouds surrounding the Galactic Center, can be expected as an extreme value of our statistics without the need for a cosmic event. I give arguments, why data with our time support cannot be used to decide on the question whether the power spectral density of the underlying random process shows more structure at timescales below 100 min compared to what is expected from a red noise random process, as discussed in the context of orbiting hot spots in the accretion flow of the black hole.
In the second part I report on the results of calibrating and simulating the instrumental polarization properties of the Very Large Telescope adaptive optics camera system NAOS/CONICA (NACO) in the Ks-band. Here my goal was to understand the influence of systematic calibration effects on the time-resolved polarimetric observations of Sgr A*. I used the Stokes/Mueller formalism for metallic reflections to describe the instrumental polarization. The model is compared to standard-star observations and time-resolved observations of bright sources in the Galactic Center. I simulated the differences between calibration methods and tested their influence on three examples of polarimetric Ks-band light curves of Sgr A*. I find the instrumental polarization to be highly dependent on the pointing position of the telescope and about 4% at maximum. I report a polarization angle offset of 13.2° due to a position angle offset of the λ /2-wave plate with respect to the data-header value that affects the calibration of NACO data taken before autumn 2009. With the new model of the instrumental polarization of NACO it is possible to measure the polarization with an accuracy of 1% in polarization degree. The uncertainty of the polarization angle is ≤ 5° for polarization degrees ≥ 4%. For densely sampled polarimetric time series I find that the improved understanding of the polarization properties gives results that are consistent with the previously used method to derive the polarization of Sgr A*. The difference between the derived and the previously employed polarization calibration is well within the statistical uncertainties of the measurements, and for Sgr A* they do not affect the results from our relativistic modeling of the accretion process.


Lipases are defined as triacylglycerol acylhydrolases (EC 188.8.131.52) and are involved in the hydrolysis of fats and oils to yield glycerol and free fatty acids. A bacterial strain, isolated from the soil contaminated with diesel oil exhibited lipolytic activity on tributyrin agar plate with remarkable zone of clearance. The isolated strain was identified as gram positive, rod shaped bacteria, while the biochemical result showed that the isolate was catalase, urease, citrate utilization and methyl red positive; VP test was negative. The bacterial strain was found to produce extracellular as well as intracellular lipase. Maximum extracellular lipase activity in the culture supernatant was found to be 28.5 U/ml and the maximum intracellular lipase activity obtained from pellet was 5.6 U/ml upon enzyme assay. Lipase was partially purified using ammonium sulphate precipitation and the maximum lipase activity was recorded in the fraction precipitated by 30-60% saturation. Protein content in purified lipase was measured by lowry method and was found to be 0.5 mg/ml. Partially purified lipase showed fairly appreciable thermostablity activity up to 5560oC but a marked decrease was observed in the activity above this temperature. The lipase activity remained stable in the pH range of 2.0–10.0. The effect of detergents were studied after incubating the purified lipase with 1% detergents like tween-20, tween-80 and SDS. Addition of detergents, like tween-20, tween80 did not alter the lipase activity, while SDS resulted in the loss of enzymatic activity. Incubation of the isolated lipase with organic solvents like isopropanol, toluene, hexane, ethanol, methanol and xylene, showed that 90% activity remained even after 12 hrs incubation; thus indicating its chemically stable nature. The isolated strain was found to esterify oleic acid with ethanol resulting in the formation of ethyl oleate which was confirmed by thin layer chromatography


Learning discrete representations of data is a central machine learning task because of the compactness of the representations and ease of interpretation. The task includes clustering and hash learning as special cases. Deep neural networks are promising to be used because they can model the non-linearity of data and scale to large datasets. However, their model complexity is huge, and therefore, we need to carefully regularize the networks in order to learn useful representations that exhibit intended invariance for applications of interest. To this end, we propose a method called Information Maximizing Self-Augmented Training (IMSAT). In IMSAT, we use data augmentation to impose the invari-ance on discrete representations. More specifically, we encourage the predicted representations of augmented data points to be close to those of the original data points in an end-to-end fashion. At the same time, we maximize the information-theoretic dependency between data and their predicted discrete representations. Extensive experiments on benchmark datasets show that IMSAT produces state-of-the-art results for both clustering and unsupervised hash learning.


In entity matching, a fundamental issue while training a classifier to label pairs of entities as either duplicates or non-duplicates is the one of selecting informative training examples. Although active learning presents an attractive solution to this problem, previous approaches minimize the misclassification rate (0-1 loss) of the classifier, which is an unsuitable metric for entity matching due to class imbalance (i.e., many more non-duplicate pairs than duplicate pairs). To address this, a recent paper [1] proposes to maximize recall of the classifier under the constraint that its precision should be greater than a specified threshold. However, the proposed technique requires the labels of all n input pairs in the worst-case.
 Our main result is an active learning algorithm that approximately maximizes recall of the classifier while respecting a precision constraint with provably sub-linear label complexity (under certain distributional assumptions). Our algorithm uses as a black-box any active learning module that minimizes 0-1 loss. We show that label complexity of our algorithm is at most log n times the label complexity of the black-box, and also bound the difference in the recall of classifier learnt by our algorithm and the recall of the optimal classifier satisfying the precision constraint. We provide an empirical evaluation of our algorithm on several real-world matching data sets that demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach.


This thesis examines the links between economic time-series innovations and statistical
risk factors in the UK stock market using principal components analysis (PCA) and the
general-to-specific (Gets) approach to econometric modelling.
A multi-factor risk structure for the UK stock market is assumed, and it is found
that the use of economic 'news' (innovations), PCA, the Gets approach, and different
stock grouping criteria helps to explain the relationships between stock returns and
economic variables.
The Kalman Filter appears to be more appropriate than first-differencing or
ARIMA modelling as a technique for estimating innovations when applying the Gets
approach. Different combinations of economic variables appear to underpin the risk
structure of stock returns for different sub-samples. Indications of a possible influence of
firm size are found in principal components when different stock sorting criteria are used,
but more definite conclusions require simultaneous sorting by market value and beta.
Overall it appears that the major factor affecting the identification of specific
explanatory economic variables across different sub-samples is the general economic
context of investment. The influence of firm size on stock returns seems in particular to
be highly sensitive to the wider economic context. There is an apparent instability in the
economic underpinnings of the risk structure of stock returns (as measured by principal
components) that might also be a result of changing economic conditions.


The work carried out in this thesis was conducted to investigate thermomechanical aspects of a steel-aluminum cold roll bonded material. The objective was to study different production parameters related to ageing of an AA6082 aluminum alloy, combined with IF steel, through a cold roll bonding process. Three different sequences of solutionizing, ageing, and cold roll bonding of the materials were tested. Sheets of steel and aluminum, measuring 30 x 120 mm, were used to produce the samples. Each sheet measured roughly 1 mm in thickness, and were stacked together to form a three layered composite, with aluminum in the middle and steel on either side. The sheets were prepared by scratch brushing, and were roll bonded at pre-heat temperatures of 150, 200, & 300 C. Three different sequences were used for heat treating the aluminum; The BSA samples were roll bonded, followed by solutionizing and ageing to T6. The SBA samples were solutionized, roll bonded, and then aged to T6. The SAB samples were solutionized and aged to T6, followed by roll bonding. The three sequences were meant to determine the optimal way of producing a precipitation hardened structure in the aluminum, while still achieving a good bond to the steel. The cold roll bonded samples were cut into sections and studied through several microstructural and mechanical characterization methods. Optical and scanning electron microscopes were used to study the aluminum grain structure, and the roll bonded interface. A peel testing rig was designed and built to allow for peel testing of the composites with at 90 degree peeling direction. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was used to study the resulting fracture surfaces, to determine the amount of residual material left on each surface. In summary, the SAB samples were found to produce the greatest bond strengths, followed by the SBA samples, and the BSA samples. The achieved bond strength values were overall fairly low compared to what others have achieved. The solutionizing step caused the aluminum in all samples to recrystallize, and the BSA samples, which were solutionized after roll bonding, developed an intermetallic layer roughly 1 μm thick. This layer was found to severely impact the bond strength of the composite. No intermetallic layers were found for the two other sample sequences. Roll bonding after solutionizing was not found to have any negative effects on the ageing potential. The bonding mechanism was found to be consistent with the film theory.


Abstract Many developed and developing countries are now faced with an increasing pressure to meet the challenge of an increasing ageing population. Among the many aspects of the challenge, the provision of financial security in the form of a basic pension or a social security at subsistence, as well as finding adequate caregivers, are of more concern to countries in the Asia Pacific region. Depending on the governance philosophy and economic situations of each country, two streams, namely the social insurance and the multi-pillars models or their hybrids, have been adopted. No matter which pension scheme is adopted, the cost burden on governments to satisfy the demands made for caring the elderly population which is increasing both in number and in frailty, is becoming non-sustainable. One of the alternatives to alleviate the burden is to enhance people's own ability to care for themselves and for their neighbours, at free or low charges. Thus, how to prepare for ageing is a big issue for the governments in the 21st century; in this regard, Hong Kong has taken some measures towards such challenges and therefore is used as an example for other countries in the region.


The Neogene Meyer Desert Formation, Sirius Group, at Oliver Bluffs in the Transantarctic Mountains, contains a sequence of glacial deposits formed under a wet-based glacial regime. Within this sequence fluvial deposits have yielded fossil plants that, along with evidence from fossil insects, invertebrates and palaeosols, indicate the existence of tundra conditions at 85°S during the Neogene. Mean annual temperatures of c. −12 °C are estimated, with short summer seasons with temperatures up to +5 °C. The current published date for this formation is Pliocene, although this is hotly debated. Reconstructions produced by the TRIFFID and BIOME 4 vegetation models, utilizing a Pliocene climatology derived from the HadAM3 General Circulation Model (running with prescribed boundary conditions from the US Geological Survey PRISM2 dataset), also predict tundra-type vegetation in Antarctica. The consistency of the model outputs with geological evidence demonstrates that a Pliocene age for the Meyer Desert Formation is consistent with proxy environmental reconstructions and numerical model reconstructions for the mid-Pliocene. If so, the East Antarctic Ice Sheet has behaved in a dynamic manner in the recent geological past.


Chronic hepatitis B is a worldwide public health challenge. Knowledge of natural history of chronic hepatitis B is important for the management of the disease. A community‐based prospective cohort study was carried out to evaluate the risk predictors of progression of chronic hepatitis B in Taiwan. A total of 23 820 participants were enrolled in 1991–1992 from seven townships in Taiwan. Their serum samples were collected at study entry and tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and e antigen (HBeAg), antibodies against hepatitis C virus (anti‐HCV), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and α‐fetoprotein (AFP). A subcohort of 3653 male and female participants who were seropositive for HBsAg and seronegative for anti‐HCV was included in the Risk Evaluation of Viral Load Elevation and Associated Liver Disease/Cancer‐Hepatitis B Virus (REVEAL‐HBV) study. Newly developed cases of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were ascertained through follow‐up examination and data linkage with profiles of the National Cancer Registry, National Health Insurance Database and Death Certification System. The incidence of both HCC and cirrhosis were significantly associated with serum HBV DNA levels in a dose‐response relationship from < 300 (undetectable) to ≥ 1 000 000 copies/mL. The biological gradients remained significant (P < 0.001) after adjustment for age, sex, habits of cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking, HBeAg serostatus, and serum ALT level at cohort entry. A significant association with risk of cirrhosis and HCC was also observed for HBV genotype, precore G1896A mutant and basal core promoter A1762T/G1764A double mutant. Nomograms have been developed for the long‐term risk prediction of cirrhosis and HCC for patients with chronic hepatitis B. Inactive carriers of HBV have an increased HCC incidence and liver‐related mortality than HBsAg‐seronegative controls. Serum HBV DNA level at study entry is a major predictor of spontaneous seroclearance of HBeAg, HBV DNA and HBsAg. These findings may inform the effective and efficient management of chronic hepatitis B.


Chaos and complexity theories provide a new perspective on curriculum design and application, especially in the area of Teaching English as a Second Language. Since language learning is a fluid process, teachers need to be able to react in real time to factors beyond their control. Rather than seeing these factors as interruptions to a closed system, teachers can make decisions about what to focus on and what to gloss over, when to pick up the pace and when to slow down, finding a natural rhythm that helps to create a symbiotic relationship with the students, the classroom and the university or school structure. Time and identity figure largely in the ESL classroom, and as each semester progresses, an essential layering process occurs and narrative structures are built. As language skills develop and as the classroom takes form, personalities are defined and redefined not only for the students but for the class as a whole. This paper attempts to make new science theories more accessible to ESL teachers with the hope that they can describe and discover ways to allow for necessary classroom flexibility while also respecting conventional curriculum standards and outcomes.


In this work the multi-factor, non-linear dependencies between main (tangential) FC (N) and normal (radial) FN (N) cutting forces and eight machining parameters by sawing simulation of wood of Pinus sylvestris L. were evaluated. The relationships are graphically illustrated and discussed. Evidence of several contradictions was found relative to results from available literature.


The steady-state analysis presented in this report provides a basis for
assessment of dissolved oxygen in the New York Bight, particularly in the
apex area. The analysis indicates that the discharge of carbonaceous and
nitrogenous wastes does not materially affect the dissolved oxygen levels
through bacterial oxidation. Furthermore, the discharge of solids (sludge
disposal, dredge spoils and construction debrisj do not influence these
concentrations on a bight-wide scale. The localized sludge disposal area
is evidently affected in this regard, but this area is restricted to a
relatively limited extent. On the other hand, the depression of dissolved
oxygen, particularly in the hypolimetic waters, is affected by phytoplankton
respiration and decay and the vertical transport structure. It is probable
that the discharge of wastewater from the treatment plants and urban runoff
has some effect on the growth of phytoplankton and the subsequent decay
tbrough the inorganic nutrient route. The degree to which water quality
conditions are affected by these inputs may be quantified by the development
and validation of a model defining these kinetic interactions. The analysis, developed in this second phase, will be extended to incorporate the kinetic
routes, relating the growth and decay of the phytoplankton to the nutrient
concentrations resulting from these wastewater inputs. Thus, the effect; of
the discharges will be defined, providing a basis for areawide water quality
planning, particularly with respect to the relative influence of the point
sources from treatment plants and the distributed sources from urban runoff
by contrast to the effects of other inputs such as the disposal practices
and atmospheric inputs.

The present analysis is directed to the definition of a transport
structure in accordance with the original contract to provide the Brookhaven
investigators with a reasonable transport field for summer conditions.
The transport equations included advective and dispersive terms in a multi--segmented horizontal system with two vertical layers. The advective terms were developed by a minimum energy principle, which yield the general observed flow pattern in the Bight. The overall transport field also included consistent values of the various disperation coefficinents. It is recognized that advective-dispersive models of this nature do not necessarily
result in a unique solution for the transport. However, its validity to
represent average summer conditions is demonstrated by its ability to reproduce
the salinity distribution for the two years. The analysis further indicates that the dissolved oxygen concentration
in the hypolimnetic waters is particularly sensitive to the respiration and
decay rates of the phytoplankton and the vertical dispersion coefficients.
Relatively small changes of these paremeters, within the range of measured
values, cases significant changes in the dissolved oxygen levels. Thus, from both a transport and kinetic viewpoint, the present analysis
reasonably reproduces observed water quality conditions and permits assussment
of the effect of wastewater inputs. In view of the potential significance of
these aischarges on dissolved oxygen and other water quality parameters this
analysis had indicated the analytic direction on which to proceed and provide
a valid basis for the more definitive time variable analysis.


Large equity grants, the hallmark of 1990s executive compensation, allegedly contributed to the 1990s stock bubble by making managers especially sensitive to stock performance and leading them to inflate earnings. Regarding these heretofore untested claims, we show that earnings are inflated before insiders sell stock, and both insider selling and earnings management surged during the bubble. Furthermore, a firm's return over the 30 months after the market's peak is negatively associated with its cumulative abnormal accruals during the bubble. More specifically, firms in the top quartile of abnormal accruals during the bubble experience an average monthly stock price correction of about –1.44% (i.e., an average cumulative abnormal return of about −35.4%) over the 30 months of the correction period, relative to a benchmark portfolio of firms matched on size, book-to-market, and return momentum. Moreover, the association between abnormal accruals and post-bubble abnormal returns is significantly stronger for firms whose insiders were stock sellers during the bubble than for firms whose insiders were buyers.


Rapidly changing ore deposit types in the Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary in the Southeastern Anatolian orogenic belt in east-central Turkey, from Baskil on the south to Divrigi on the north, broadly reflect shifting tectonic environments in an evolving collisional orogen, a part of the extensive Tethyan orogen. Late Cretaceous (~83–79 Ma) subduction-related arc magmatism in the Baskil arc was followed by extension that exhumed the metamorphic basement, unroofed the obducted ophiolites, and filled basins with Maastrichtian to Paleocene subaerial and submarine sedimentary rocks. Calc-alkaline (Divrigi pluton, ~76–73 Ma) and alkaline igneous rocks (Hasancelebi and Keban districts, ~76–74 Ma) accompanied post-Baskil arc extension. In the early to middle Eocene, shallow and locally voluminous intrusions of intermediate composition (Copler, Kabatas, Bizmisen-Calti, Dedeyazi-Polat, Karamadazi, and Horoz), localized mainly along major strike-slip faults, formed during closure of the Neotethyan Ocean. These intrusions are dated between ~50 and 44 Ma, peaking at 48 Ma.

Geochemical data from a suite of igneous rock samples across the transect reflect temporally based changes from arc-type to late orogenic environments, as demonstrated by Late Cretaceous rocks in the Baskil area on the south and the more deeply eroded Late Cretaceous plutons in the Divrigi area on the north (Divrigi). These magmatic products were followed in the Eocene by calc-alkaline magmatism related to either incipient slab-rupture or crustal-scale faults that cut from northeast (Copler, Kabatas, Bizmisen-Calti, and Polat-Cavuslu) to southwest (Karamadazi and Horoz) obliquely across the transect. The multielement patterns for the Late Cretaceous magmatic rocks resemble the patterns for magmas generated in enriched source regions compared to primitive mantle and mid-oceanic-ridge basalt. Locally, at Divrigi-Hasancelebi and Keban, the geochemical characteristics are suggestive of the influx of low field strength elements into the mantle source regions from a subducted slab, and an arc to postcollisional to late-orogenic setting for their generation. Eocene magmatic rocks display similar geochemical characteristics regardless of the geographic setting and associated hydrothermal system. Their characteristics favor a subduction zone enrichment that was inherited either from an older event, or from an older slab, or from a mantle wedge contaminated by a contemporaneous subduction component.

40Ar/39Ar and U/Pb geochronology on biotite, zircon, K-feldspar, hornblende, and sericite from a suite of magmatic rocks and alteration zones defines three magmatic-related metallogenic events in the Southeastern Anatolian orogenic belt between 78 and 44 Ma. The oldest metallogenic event between ~78 to 74 Ma is related to arc-type calc-alkaline magmatic rocks (83–79 Ma) intruded into the Bitlis-Poturge and Malatya-Keban metamorphics and overlying Komurhan-Ispendere ophiolites of Tauride platform. Uneconomic porphyry-type Cu-Au systems formed at Topalkem-Baskil (Elazig) and Ispendere-Sisman (Malatya). A second metallogenic event, between ~74 and 69 Ma, is contemporaneous with postcollisional exhumation and extension-related magmatism. During this event, calc-alkaline followed by alkaline magmatism (76–73 Ma) was accompanied by formation of iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) systems at ~74 to 73 Ma at Divrigi (Sivas). Alkaline magmatism at ~76 to 74 Ma is associated with IOCG systems at Hasancelebi (Malatya) and porphyry Cu-Mo and Pb-Zn veins at Keban (Elazig). The youngest metallogenic event between ~50 and 40 Ma is represented by porphyry Cu-Au deposits associated with calc-alkaline intrusive complexes at Copler and Kabatas and Fe skarns at Karamadazi, Horoz, Dedeyazi, and Bizmisen-Calti.


A tipping point presents perhaps the single most significant threat to an ecological system as it can lead to abrupt species extinction on a massive scale. Climate changes leading to the species decay parameter drifts can drive various ecological systems towards a tipping point. We investigate the tipping-point dynamics in multi-layer ecological networks supported by mutualism. We unveil a natural mechanism by which the occurrence of tipping points can be delayed by multiplexity that broadly describes the diversity of the species abundances, the complexity of the interspecific relationships, and the topology of linkages in ecological networks. For a double-layer system of pollinators and plants, coupling between the network layers occurs when there is dispersal of pollinator species. Multiplexity emerges as the dispersing species establish their presence in the destination layer and have a simultaneous presence in both. We demonstrate that the new mutualistic links induced by the dispersing species with the residence species have fundamental benefits to the well-being of the ecosystem in delaying the tipping point and facilitating species recovery. Articulating and implementing control mechanisms to induce multiplexity can thus help sustain certain types of ecosystems that are in danger of extinction as the result of environmental changes.


The compartmental hypothesis of neurodegeneration proposes that the neurone, long recognized to consist of morphologically and functionally distinct compartments, also houses distinct degeneration mechanisms for the soma, axon and nerve endings. Support for this hypothesis is provided by the phenomenon of the Wld S (for Wallerian Degeneration, slow) mouse, a mutant in which axons survive several weeks after transection, rather than degenerating within 24-48 hours as in wild type mice, by virtue of expression of a chimeric Nmnat1/Ube4b protein. In this thesis I used the Wld S -mouse to re-examine and extend the theory of compartmental neurodegeneration by focusing specifically on sensory axons and endings; and finally by considering a fourth compartment, the dendrites. The first part of this thesis reports that Ia afferent axons and their annulospiral endings are robustly protected from degeneration in Wld S mice. Homozygous or heterozygous Wld S mice crossbred with transgenic mice expressing fluorescent protein in neurones were sacrificed at various times after sciatic nerve transection. Fluorescence microscopy of whole mount preparations of lumbrical muscles in these mice revealed excellent preservation of annulospiral endings on muscle spindles for at least 10 days after axotomy. No significant difference was detected in the protection with age or gene copy-number in contrast to the protection of motor nerve terminals, which degenerate rapidly in heterozygote and aged homozygote Wld S mice. In an attempt to explain the difference in motor and sensory protection by Wld S , examination of three hypotheses was undertaken: a) differences in protein expression, tested by western blot and immunohistochemistry; b) differences in the degree of neuronal branching, tested through examination of γ-motor axons and endings which have a degree of branching intermediate to motor and sensory neurons; and c) differences in the activity in the disconnected stumps, through primary culture of the saphenous and phrenic nerve, selected because they comprise largely pure sensory and motor axons respectively. The data suggest that none of these hypotheses provides a sufficient explanation for the difference between sensory and motor protection by Wld S . The last part of this thesis attempts to extend the theory of compartmental degeneration. I examine a system for investigation of Wld S -mediated protection of dendrites. In preliminary experiments retinal explants from transgenic mice expressing YFP in a subset of retinal ganglion-cell neurones were cultured. The dendritic arbours of these cells were shown to be amenable for repeated visualization and accessible to injury and monitoring of degeneration. Overall the data in this thesis suggest that the level of Wld S -mediated protection conferred to an axon or axonal endings varies between different neuronal types. This has implications for the potential applications of Wld S research to clinical problems. Specifically, the data imply that sensory neuropathies may benefit more than motor neuropathies from treatments based on the protective effects of Wld S . These findings in sensory neurones also challenge some of the assumptions made about Wld S mediated protection of neurones, for example the extent of the age-effect on axonal endings. Further investigation of Wld S -mediated protection in the CNS could give renewed impetus to attempts to discover targets for treatment in common neurodegenerative diseases. Finally, a system for investigation of dendritic degeneration has been piloted, suggesting that molecules involved in the degeneration of dendrites or in protection from this degeneration may be amenable to investigation in this system, prospectively extending the compartmental hypothesis of neuronal


The results of two experimental studies are presented in this document. The first was an investigation on the transient response of plain orifice liquid injectors to transverse detonation waves at elevated pressures of 414, 690, and 1,030 kPa (60, 100, and 150 psia). Detonations were produced using a predetonator which utilized hydrogen andoxygen or ethylene and oxygen as reactants. For injectors of identical diameter, an increase in length correlated with a decrease in the maximum back-flow distance. A preliminary study using an injector of larger diameter suggested that for injectors of the same length under the same pressure drop, the larger injector was more resistant to back-flow. Refill time of the injectors was found to be inversely-proportional to detonation pressure ratio and injector stiffness, and a curve fit was produced to relate the three parameters.The second experimental campaign was the hotfi?re testing of an RP-2-GOX rotating detonation engine. Total engine mass flow rates ranged from 0.8 to 3.5 kg/s (1.7 to 7.7 lbm/s) and static chamber pressures between 316 and 1,780 kPa (46 and 258 psia) were produced. In a majority of tests, between four and six co-rotating detonation waves were observed. Using an array of 36 embedded thermocouple probes, chamber outer wall heat fluxes between 2.8 and 8.3 MW/m2 were estimated using an inverse heat transfer method of calculation. Performance of the RP-2 injector was assessed by relating to the information obtained in the prior injector response study.


The Uganda-based NGO Raising Voices has been exploring and experimenting with community-based primary prevention methodologies that seek to shift attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate violence against women. This article shares some of the lessons learned from this process in East Africa over the last six years. It begins by setting forth a rationale for engaging in primary prevention efforts at the community level. It argues that comprehensive community mobilisation is essential if we are to see meaningful, sustained change on the issue of violence against women. It also describes the theoretical underpinnings of the approach and illustrates how these come to life in day-to-day programming in communities.


A new approach is described for the design of stud shear connectors, in composite steel and concrete beams that are subjected to vehicular loads, which allows for the interaction between the strength of the shear connection and the fatigue loads that are applied to the shear connection. The new procedure can be used in a design mode, in which case the strength of the shear connection required to resist the static loads has to be increased to allow for reductions in strength due to fatigue loads. The procedure can also be used in an analysis mode, in which case the residual strength of the shear connectors in an existing structure can be determined.


Since the 1990s, Inuit traditional knowledge (Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit ) has taken on a substantial role in polar bear management in the Canadian territory of Nunavut through its direct use in quota-setting procedures. A co-management conflict has arisen from an increase of hunting quotas in January 2005 for Inuit living in the Baffin Bay and Western Hudson Bay polar bear population areas. The quotas were based on Inuit observations and their conclusion that these polar bear populations had increased. Scientific information suggests that climate change has concentrated polar bears in areas where humans are more likely to encounter them, but that the populations are in decline as a result of overhunting and climate-change effects on demographic rates. During consultations with wildlife managers and through other interviews in 2005, Inuit indicated their lack of support for quota reductions. Discussions with Inuit reveal two categories of problems that, though couched in the polar bear management issue, involve the co-management system and the integration of Inuit and scientific knowledge more generally. The first relates to direct observations of the environment by both Inuit and scientists and the synthesis of such information. The second relates to Inuit conceptualizations of human-animal relationships and the incorporation of scientific studies and management into that relationship. These problems reveal that differences between Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and scientific knowledge are not fully understood and accounted for within the co-management system and that the system does not effectively integrate Inuit cultural views into management.


Abstract Recently, historians of the international system have called into question the significance of the Treaties of Westphalia in 1648 as the moment when the international system formed. One of their primary arguments is that the non-intervention norm typically associated with Westphalian notions of sovereignty developed much later. This paper will examine the early 17th-century debates over the right of the Pope to depose monarchs in the defense of spiritual matters. I read Part III and Part IV of Hobbes' Leviathan in its intellectual context to see how his theory of sovereignty was partially developed to support a theory of non-intervention. This reading leads to two important contributions to current political science debates. First, it refutes the growing consensus that non-intervention developed as an aspect of sovereignty only in the late 18th and early 19th century. Second, the paper addresses current attempts to assert a right of humanitarian intervention. By exploring similarities between these recent debates and those between Bellarmine and Hobbes in the 17th century, I offer a fresh perspective on what is at stake in current claims to international community.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is a clonal expansion of CD5+B cells that accumulate due to their uncontrolled growth and resistance to apoptosis. We have previously shown that up to 50% of blood CD4+ T cells in B-CLL patients have a cytotoxicity-related CD28- CD57+ phenotype and high content of both granzyme B and perforin (PF). In this study we investigate the cytotoxic potential of these cells against autologous B-CLL cells.

DESIGN AND METHODS
Blood CD4+ or CD8+ T cells were positively isolated from B-CLL patients and cultured under a range of conditions with autologous purified B-CLL cells and with bispecific [anti-CD3 x anti-CD19] antibodies. Apoptosis of labeled B-CLL cells was assessed using the change of mitochondrial membrane potential with the fluorescent dye DiOC6 and confirmed by annexin V binding.

RESULTS
There was time- and dose-dependent killing of B-CLL cells by both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells and this ranged from 6.6 - 68.0% for CD4+ cells and 6.4 - 57.8% for CD8+ cells. Almost complete inhibition by concanamycin A suggests that CD4+ T cells like CD8+ T cells induced apoptosis through a perforin-mediated pathway, but not via Fas/FasL (as indicated by lack of blocking with brefeldin A), tumor necrosis factor alpha or TRAIL.

INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that blood CD4+PF+ T cells enriched in B-CLL patients, are able to kill autologous B-CLL cells ex vivo, through bispecific antibodies via a perforin mediated mechanism.


When Hitler published Mein Kampf in 1924, he held up a foreign law as a model for his program of racial purification: The U.S. Immigration Restriction Act of 1924, which prohibited the immigration of those with hereditary illnesses and entire ethnic groups. When the Nazis took power in 1933, they installed a program of eugenics-the attempted "improvement" of the population through forced sterilization and marriage controls-that consciously drew on the U.S. example. By then, many American states had long had compulsory sterilization laws for "defectives," upheld by the Supreme Court in 1927. Small wonder that the Nazi laws led one eugenics activist in Virginia to complain, "The Germans are beating us at our own game." In The Nazi Connection, Stefan Kuhl uncovers the ties between the American eugenics movement and the Nazi program of racial hygiene, showing that many American scientists actively supported Hitler's policies. After introducing us to the recently resurgent problem of scientific racism, Kuhl carefully recounts the history of the eugenics movement, both in the United States and internationally, demonstrating how widely the idea of sterilization as a genetic control had become accepted by the early twentieth century. From the first, the American eugenicists led the way with radical ideas. Their influence led to sterilization laws in dozens of states-laws which were studied, and praised, by the German racial hygienists. With the rise of Hitler, the Germans enacted compulsory sterilization laws partly based on the U.S. experience, and American eugenists took pride in their influence on Nazi policies. Kuhl recreates astonishing scenes of American eugenicists travelling to Germany to study the new laws, publishing scholarly articles lionizing the Nazi eugenics program, and proudly comparing personal notes from Hitler thanking them for their books. Even after the outbreak of war, he writes, the American eugenicists frowned upon Hitler's totalitarian government, but not his sterilization laws. So deep was the failure to recognize the connection between eugenics and Hitler's genocidal policies, that a prominent liberal Jewish eugenicist who had been forced to flee Germany found it fit to grumble that the Nazis "took over our entire plan of eugenic measures." By 1945, when the murderous nature of the Nazi government was made perfectly clear, the American eugenicists sought to downplay the close connections between themselves and the German program. Some of them, in fact, had sought to distance themselves from Hitler even before the war. But Stefan Kuhl's deeply documented book provides a devastating indictment of the influence-and aid-provided by American scientists for the most comprehensive attempt to enforce racial purity in world history.


Aflatoxin (AF) is polysubstituted bifuranocoumarins that are secondary fungal metabolites produced by parasiticus/flavus group of the genus Aspergillus. AF is hepatotoxic, nephrotoxic, mutagenic, teratogenic, genotoxic, and immunotoxic, so the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified AF as class I human carcinogen. AF-mediated cell injury may be associated with the release of free radicals, and these radicals initiate lipid peroxidation and a damaging process in biological systems since all cell membranes contain the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which are substrates for such a reaction. One of the causes for AF-induced toxicity is the oxidative stress, which leads to the improved generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the oxidative DNA damage. Lycopene, a naturally occurring carotenoid, has drawn a particular attention in recent years because of its high antioxidant activity and free radical scavenging capacity and has been shown to be effective against oxidative stress due to AF. Lycopene blocks Phase 1 metabolic enzymes of AFB such as 3A4, 2A6, and 1A2.


Objective: The aims of this study were to determine the effectiveness of group music therapy for improving depression and delaying the deterioration of cognitive functions in elderly persons with dementia. Method: The study had a prospective, parallel-group design with permuted-block randomization. Older persons with dementia (N = 104) were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group. The experimental group received 12 sessions of group music therapy (two 30-min sessions per week for 6 weeks), and the control group received usual care. Data were collected 4 times: (1) 1 week before the intervention, (2) the 6th session of the intervention, (3) the 12th session of the intervention, and (4) 1 month after the final session. Results: Group music therapy reduced depression in persons with dementia. Improvements in depression occurred immediately after music therapy and were apparent throughout the course of therapy. The cortisol level did not significantly decrease after the group music therapy. Cognitive function significantly improved slightly at the 6th session, the 12th session, and 1 month after the sessions ended; in particular, short-term recall function improved. The group music therapy intervention had the greatest impact in subjects with mild and moderate dementia. Conclusion: The group music intervention is a noninvasive and inexpensive therapy that appeared to reduce elders' depression. It also delayed the deterioration of cognitive functions, particularly short-term recall function. Group music therapy may be an appropriate intervention among elderly persons with mild and moderate dementia.


These stories explore the trials of life from youth to old age: the idealism of young people, the stresses of marriage, the anxieties of parenthood, and the loneliness and fears of older people. The wide variety of writing styles includes black humour, satire, and compassionate and realistic observation of the follies and foibles of humankind. This collection contains stories by Evelyn Waugh, Roald Dahl, Somerset Maugham, Saki, Frank Sargeson, Raymond Carver, H.E. Bates, and Susan Hill.


SCHOLARLY WRITING AND TRAVELS - This paper will examine the relationship between the geographic discourse on place and the experience of otherness, or alterity. Through the enunciation dimension of discourse, one can find signs in texts that indicate the degree to which the discourse is open to otherness. The openning of discourse to alterity offers to geographic discourse the possibility of integrating different meanings to place and therefore presenting more complex representations.


The spectral characteristics of cross-phase modulation (XPM) in multispan intensity-modulation direct-detection (IM-DD) optical systems are investigated, both experimentally and theoretically. XPM crosstalk levels and its spectral features are found to be strongly dependent on fiber dispersion and optical signal channel spacing. Interference between XPM-induced crosstalk effects created in different amplified fiber spans is also found to be important to determine the overall frequency response of XPM crosstalk effects. XPM crosstalk between channels with different data rates is evaluated. The crosstalk level between higher and lower bit rate channels is found to be similar to that between two lower bit rate channels. The effect of dispersion compensation on XPM crosstalk in multispan optical systems is discussed and per span dispersion compensation was found to be the most effective way to minimize the effect of XPM crosstalk.


Allylation of aldehyde and imine substrates was achieved using easily available allylacetates and diboronate reagents in the presence of catalytic amounts of palladium. This operationally simple one-pot reaction has a broad synthetic scope, as many functionalities including, acetate, carbethoxy, amido and nitro groups are tolerated. The allylation reactions proceed with excellent regio- and stereoselectivity affording the branched allylic isomer. By employment of commercially available chiral diboronates enantioenriched homoallyl alcohols (up to 53% ee) could be obtained. The mechanistic studies revealed that the in situ generated allylboronates react directly with the aldehyde substrates, however the allylation of the sulfonylimine substrate requires palladium catalysis.


The study examines profit efficiency and its determinants in broiler production in the context of profit maximization as an incentive for optimum production. The study uses the stochastic frontier approach with the application of the Cobb – Douglas profit function. A cross sectional data was obtained from one hundred poultry producers in Greater Accra Region using a multistage sampling method. The results of the study indicated that price of labor significantly reduced profit but the price of day old chick increased profit. The result further revealed that broiler producers were able to realize 54% of their frontier profit on the average. Number of years of experience in broiler production was found to reduce inefficiency whilst farms owned by sole proprietors were less economically efficient. The study recommends that the inputs should be made available to farmers at competitive prices and the quantity of labor use should be declined because the current level is uncompetitive. Training should also be provided to less experienced farmers to enable them adopt the best poultry farming practices.


The iterative decoding threshold of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes over the binary erasure channel (BEC) fulfills an upper bound depending only on the variable and check nodes with minimum distance 2. This bound is a consequence of the stability condition, and is here referred to as stability bound. In this paper, a stability bound over the BEC is developed for doubly-generalized LDPC codes, where variable and check nodes can be generic linear block codes, assuming maximum a posteriori erasure correction at each node. It is proved that also in this generalized context the bound depends only on the variable and check component codes with minimum distance 2. A condition is also developed, namely, the derivative matching condition, under which the bound is achieved with equality. The stability bound leads to consider single parity-check codes used as variable nodes as an appealing option to overcome common problems created by generalized check nodes.


We propose a novel scheme of OTDM utilizing pulse position modulation, where optical null headers (ONH) are inserted between the signal pulses periodically to allow channel identification. The ONH also achieves in-band clock distribution through the generation of high contrast pilot tone on the signal power spectra, enabling baud-rate flexible clock recovery. Using the novel scheme, clock recovery with a timing jitter of less than 200 fs is achieved at different baud rates up to 344 Gbaud. We demonstrate stable clock recovery with channel identification in 344-Gb/s OTDM transmissions over dispersion managed 3-km SMF.


A procedure to analyze interaction in an experimental roll-to-roll system that uses a decentralized control strategy is presented in this paper. A Perron root based interaction metric is employed for the analysis. Experiments conducted on a roll-to-roll system are used to evaluate the interaction between different subsystems of the roll-to-roll system. To minimize interaction between subsystems of the roll-to-roll system, a procedure for designing pre-filters based on the Perron root of the system is also discussed in the paper. Experimental results with and without pre-filter clearly indicate the effectiveness of the pre-filter in minimizing interaction. Discussions regarding the roll-to-roll application, stability considerations and insights on using the Perron root based interaction measure for decentralized control applications are also given.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


Abstract: This paper presents the case of bazaars in Odessa, a major Ukrainian port on the Black Sea where some of the most important regional bazaars are found, to engage with the current debates on informal or diverse economies. Our aim is to show that the survival of the bazaar, and the niche it has been earning in post-1991 Odessa, is not only due to its low prices but also to their capacity to provide different demand-driven goods and to respond to cultural and spiritual needs (by giving a sense of continuity to tradition and culture) as well as offering socialisation and networking opportunities.  Our case studies are drawn from what we deem the two most representative bazaars in Odessa. 7-oj Km, located seven kilometers outside the city and Privoz, located in the city centre, both of which have seen the volume of their activities increase despite increasing competition of Western-style supermarkets after 1991. The article is informed by several focus groups and informal interviews integrated by participant observation and framed in a historical analysis of bazaars, and their evolution, in the city of Odessa. We conclude that bazaars, as institution and as space, are likely to continue playing a central role in the life of Odessans for some time despite stiff competition from other, possibly more comfortable and low-price, alternatives. Keywords : Bazaar, Informal Economy, Informality, Odessa, Postsocialism, Ukraine


ABSTRACT Vymazalováite, Pd3Bi2S2 is a new platinum-group mineral discovered in the Komsomolsky mine of the Talnakh deposit, Noril'sk district, Russia. It forms small (from a few μm to 20–35 µm) inclusions or euhedral grains in intergrowths of polarite, sobolevskite, acanthite and unnamed (Pd,Ag)5BiS2 in aggregates (up to ~200 µm) in galena and rarely in chalcopyrite. It occurs with telargpalite, cooperite, braggite, vysotskite, sopcheite, stibiopalladinite, sobolevskite, moncheite, kotulskite, malyshevite, insizwaite, Au-bearing silver and the newly described mineral kravtsovite (PdAg2S) in association with pyrite, chalcopyrite and galena in vein-disseminated mineralization in skarn rocks. Synthetic vymazalováite is brittle; it has a metallic lustre and a grey streak. In plane-polarized reflected light, vymazalováite is creamy grey and appears slightly brownish against galena in the assemblage with chalcopyrite. It exhibits no internal reflections. Average reflectance values in air for natural and synthetic vymazalováite are (R natural, R synthetic in %) are: 46.35, 45.7 at 470 nm, 47.65, 47.45 at 546 nm, 48.5, 48.2 at 589 nm and 49.5, 49.0 at 650 nm. Seven electron probe micro-analyses of vymazalováite give an average composition: Pd 40.42, Bi 49.15, Ag 0.55, Pb 1.02, S 7.77 and Se 0.26, total 99.17 wt.%, corresponding to the empirical formula Pd3.05(Bi1.89Ag0.04Pb0.04)Σ1.97(S1.95Se0.03)Σ1.98 based on a total of 7 atoms per formula unit. The simplified formula is Pd3Bi2S2. The mineral is cubic, space group I213, with a = 8.3097(9) Å, V = 573.79(1) Å3 and Z = 4. The density calculated on the basis of the empirical formula and cell dimensions of synthetic vymazalováite is 9.25 g/cm3. The strongest lines in the powder X-ray diffraction pattern of synthetic vymazalováite [d in Å (I) (hkl)] are: 4.15(32)(200), 2.93(78)(220), 2.40(100)(220), 2.08(53)(400), 1.695(34)(422), 1.468(35)(440) and 1.252(31)(622). The structural identity of natural vymazalováite with synthetic Pd3Bi2S2 was confirmed by electron back-scatter diffraction measurements on the natural sample. This new mineral honours Dr Anna Vymazalová of the Czech Geological Survey, Prague.


Combined analysis of paleoenvironment, 13C, 15N, and 14C in bone, including paired dating of human bone and terrestrial materials (herbivore bone, wood, charcoal, and textile) has been performed on many samples excavated from Russian kurgan graves. The data can be used for dietary reconstruction, and reservoir corrections for 14C dating of human bone. The latter is essential for an accurate construction of chronologies for the Eneolithic and Bronze Age cultures of the Caspian steppes.


The determination of Δ 33 S values in conjunction with δ 34 S values provides an effective means of evaluating the importance of S derivation from Archean country rocks in magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE ore genesis, particularly where δ 34 S values of potential S source rocks are near 0‰ and similar to most S of mantle derivation. However, Δ 33 S values of sulfides in some Archean rocks may also be near 0‰; care should be taken in the evaluation of S derivation from Archean rocks based solely on this parameter. Although anomalous Δ 33 S values are found primarily in Archean rocks, rare occurrences of nonzero Δ 33 S values have been identified in sulfides from younger rocks, and hence knowledge of the multiple S isotope composition of potential contaminants is essential for an accurate assessment of S contamination of mantle-derived magmas. Restricted ranges in Δ 33 S values may be characteristic of particular Archean formations, and when used in conjunction with mixing calculations may fingerprint a distinct S source rock. Spatial variability in Δ 33 S values within different types of mineralized systems may be caused by the emplacement of isotopically distinct magma pulses, by locally variable mixing proportions, and the addition of secondary sulfide to the primary assemblage. In the case of conduit-type deposits in the Midcontinent rift system, three-component mixing calculations show that both high and low Δ 33 S values in some units that are similar to end-member values in the Archean country rocks must be a function of assimilation of primarily Archean S even though Proterozoic carbonaceous sedimentary country rocks contain in excess of 1 wt % S and are particularly viable S source rocks.