Purpose
This paper aims to contribute to theory concerning collaborative innovation through stakeholder engagement with reference to Glasgow City Marketing Bureau's (GCMB's) management strategies, which represent UK best practice in events procurement, leveraging and destination branding.

Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts a case study design to facilitate an in-depth evaluation of the destination marketing organisation's (DMO's) critical success factors. Multiple perspectives on GCMB's collaborative innovation are achieved through semi-structured interviews with senior managers from the bureau, key stakeholders and other DMOs.

Findings
GCMB's success results from long-term, extensive, collaborative engagement, a unique institutional structure and sustained political and financial support through to transformational leadership, strategic event selection and targeted marketing through "earned" distribution channels.

Research limitations/implications
The study takes a single case study approach and focusses on GCMB's event-led branding strategy. Given the importance but relative neglect of long-term inter-personal relationships in collaborative innovation, future research should focus on the development of social capital and adopt a longitudinal perspective.

Practical implications
The paper provides insights into the collaborative innovation process with a range of stakeholders, which underpins GCMB's events strategy and its leveraging of the city brand. In particular, the study highlights the need for entrepreneurial leadership and the development of long-term relationships for effective engagement with stakeholders.

Originality/value
Previous research has focussed on outcomes and neglected pre-requisites and the process of collaborative innovation between destination stakeholders. This study examines this issue from the perspective of a successful DMO and presents a conceptual framework and new engagement dimensions that address this gap in knowledge.


A Y-00 transceiver for quantum encryption communication systems employing the Yuen-2000 protocol based on optical intensity modulation, which utilizes the quantum effect of coherent light has been developed and tested in field experiments. These experiments involved repeated transmission over a 192-km line on an existing commercial optical communication network with a bit-rate of 2.5 Gb/s based on STM-16 or OC-48. In addition, the affinity of the developed system for existing networks and communication protocols (Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel) was examined. Subsequently, three optical fiber amplifiers were inserted as intermediate repeaters to give a non-repeated transmission distance of 48 km. The bit error rate after 192-km transmission was 10-12 with an optical power of -19.4 dBm at the receiving end. In addition, it was confirmed that if an eavesdropper increased the received optical power, the bit error rate converged to about 5 × 10- 1 and the identification of the true signal levels was virtually impracticable. These experimental results confirmed the high affinity between the Y-00 system and existing optical commercial networks and protocols used in the fundamental experiments. It was also apparent that the realization of highly secure optical communication networks was feasible. The performance of the Y-00 transceiver can be expected to improve to meet the strictest security evaluation.


of a thesis at the University of Miami. Thesis supervised by Professor Soyeon Ahn. No. of pages in text. (55) The current study examined the perceived social support of people who are HIV positive. The study compared whether perceived social support differed by the source of social support (i.e., family [mother, father, sibling], friend, and significant others). . A total 46 effect sizes extracted from nine primary studies (i.e., 8 published manuscripts and 1 unpublished dissertation) were used in the current meta-analysis. The primary effect size was the odds ratio (OR), which quantified the difference in the odds of perceived social support level between two sources of social support. Studies reporting sufficient information computing Cohen's d or Correlation Coefficient were converted to OR. The current meta-analysis first estimates the overall OR comparing the level of perceived social support between different sources of social support (i.e., family, friend, significant others) for people who are HIV-positive. Further analyses examining the differential effect of moderators on the overall ORs were also conducted. Moderators used in the current meta-analysis were gender, ethnicity, type of social support, and publication type. Results indicated that there are some significant differences as to whom people who are HIV-positive are more likely report receiving social support. Specifically, higher levels of overall perceived social support were found from friends in comparison to mothers and fathers separately. Gender, ethnicity, and type of support were found to be significant moderators, especially for male participants and Hispanic participants and White participants. In particular, friends provide more perceived, emotional and HIVspecific social support compared to parents for these subgroups. These findings are helpful for medical professionals and psychologists to help tailor treatments to include these source of social support accordingly. Limitations and suggestions for future research are also included in the discussion section.


The lack of understanding on how to integrate ecological issues into so-called social- ecological natural resource management hampers sustainability in tropical forest landscape management. We build upon a comparison of three cases that show inverse gradients of knowledge and perceptions of the environment and human pressure on natural resources. We discuss why the ecological dimension currently lags behind in the management of tropical forest landscapes and to what extent participatory development can enhance the fit among ecological, socio-cultural, and economic systems. For each case study, socio-cultural and anthropological aspects of society and indigenous knowledge of the environment, the distribution of natural resources, classification, and management are documented in parallel with biophysical studies. Our results confirm that the ecological dimension remains weakly addressed and difficult to integrate into development actions when dealing with tropical forested landscape management in developing countries. We discuss three issues to understand why this is so: the disdain for traditional ecological knowledge and practices, the antagonism between economy and ecology, and the mismatch between traditional and modern governance systems. Participatory development shows potential to enhance the fit among ecological, socio-cultural, and economic systems through two dimensions: the generation and sharing of information to understand trends and the generation of new coordination practices that allow stakeholders to voice environmental concerns. In the absence of a "champion," institutions, and financial resources, the expected outcomes remain on paper, even when changes are negotiated. Future research in natural resource management must emphasize better integration at the interface of ecology and governance. Finally, we identify three challenges: the design of operational tools to reconcile ecology with social and economic concerns, the creation of governance systems to institutionalize collaborative and integrated resource management, and the design of enabler organizations close to local communities.


Derris indica, a Thai medicinal plant, contains biologically active substances such as flavone, flavanone, chalcone, and rotenoid compounds. Many compounds from this plant show antitumour, antihyperglycaemic, and anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, eleven compounds including six flavonoid and five chalcone compounds were isolated from the seed of D. indica. Their structures were established on the basis of NMR spectroscopic data. Desmethoxykanugin showed 100% inhibition to acetylcholinesterase, being about two fold stronger than the standard, tacrine, but cytotoxic against normal cells. Fortunately, pongaflavone and (2R,3R)-3-hydroxy-5-methoxy2′′,2′′-dimethylpyrano[7,8:5′′,6′′]-flavanone displayed around 50% inhibition to AChE as compared to the standard and they were inactive against normal cells. Thus these compounds could be developed to treat Alzheimer's disease. In addition, candidone, pongamol, obovatachalcone, derrischalcone, and tunicatachalcone showed cytotoxic activity against KB cell line with IC50 values ranging from 8–18 μg/ml.


OBJECTIVE: The catechol-O-methyltransferase enzyme catalyzes the methylation of the catechol estrogens, 2- or 4-hydroxyestrogen, to 2- or 4-methoxyestrogen. Both the hydroxy estrogens and methoxy estrogens were shown to modulate the effects of estrogen. Because catechol-O-methyltransferase activity controls levels of these metabolites, it may help regulate the cellular estrogenic milieu. In this study, we examined the regulation of catechol-O-methyltransferase expression in human myometrial cells. METHODS: Catechol-O-methyltransferase expression was assessed by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, and luciferase assays in human myometrial cells after treatment with estrogen or progesterone. Catechol-O-methyltransferase expression was measured in cells after treatment with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF&agr;) alone or with lactacystin, a proteasome inhibitor. Luciferase assays were also conducted using human myometrial cells containing an estrogen response element–luciferase reporter gene to measure levels of estrogen-mediated transactivation after treatment with estrogen and increasing concentrations of 2-hydroxestrogen. RESULTS: Catechol-O-methyltransferase expression was down-regulated by progesterone or estrogen. Tumor necrosis factor alpha upregulated catechol-O-methyltransferase expression, whereas cotreatment with lactacystin attenuated this response, suggesting that TNF&agr; activated nuclear factor kappa B to induce catechol-O-methyltransferase expression. Increased concentrations of 2-hydroxyestrogen attenuated estrogen-mediated transcription in the myometrial cells. CONCLUSION: Catechol-O-methyltransferase expression may be regulated in the myometrium to control the local action of estrogen. Low levels of catechol-O-methyltransferase in the myometrium would result in an accumulation of 2-hydroxyestrogen and may antagonize the local effect of estrogen. High levels of catechol-O-methyltransferase in the myometrium would result in lower levels of 2-hydroxyestrogen and may increase sensitivity to estrogen.


Thin film and thin film transistors (TFTs) and logic circuits based on zinc oxide (ZnO) and related materials, such as zinc tin oxide (ZTO), are designed, fabricated and characterized in this Ph.D. dissertation. ZnO as a metal oxide semiconductor provides many advantages such as non-toxicity, environmental stability, and transparency. Its wide band gap, high displacement threshold energy and large free-exciton binding energy make it a viable candidate for spacebased radiation-hard electronics and optoelectronics. Therefore, it is meaningful to study and optimize the process of ZnO TFTs fabrication. Focused on this work, most ZnO TFTs have been produced by low cost, simple set-up and high throughput sol-gel spin-coating. Temperature dependent IV measurement as a convenient and precise method for localized subgap density of states (DOSs) extraction has been applied to ZnO (especially sol-gel derived ZnO) transistors for the first time. According to the DOSs distribution calculation, the influence of annealing temperature on ZnO sol-gel derived transistors has been determined and gave a glean of optimizing ZnO TFTs fabrication process. Sol-gel derived ZnO TFTs always have a negative threshold voltage, while RF magnetron sputtered ZnO TFTs are usually normally off. Besides that, the field effect mobility of RF magnetron sputtered ZnO is also larger than that in sol-gel derived ZnO TFTs. With the limitation of p-type ZnO and ZnO TFTs stably produce, sol-gel derived and RF magnetron sputtered n-type ZnO are combined to fulfill the basic function of logic circuits. Based on ZnO radiation-hard characteristics, gamma-ray irradiation effect has been investigated. After the different doses of radiation, ZnO TFTs survive but show various degradations. ZTO, which is a ZnO related material, was first carried out to overcome the low field-effect mobility of sol-gel derived ZnO TFTs. Compared to ZnO TFTs, ZTO TFTs with proper fabrication process demonstrate extremely high stability in gamma-ray irradiation.


The placebo effect of caffeine has been poorly investigated in endurance exercise. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the placebo effect of caffeine on 4 km running performance in amateur runners. Twenty-two healthy and recreational male runners (25.5 ± 8.4 yrs; 75.0 ± 7.1 kg; 173.7 ± 6.3 cm) underwent a deceptive experimental design consisting of three different sessions: a) control (CON) in which participants did not ingest any substance; b) placebo (PLA) in which participants ingested a capsule filled with maltodextrin but they were informed that they would receive caffeine; c) caffeine (CAF) in which participants were informed that they would receive caffeine and actually received caffeine. After 60 min for substances absorption, participants performed a 4-km test and they completed the distance as fast as possible. The time employed to cover the distance was lower in PLA (17.4 ± 1.5 min) and CAF (17.4 ± 1.4 min) than CON sessions (18.6 ± 2.8 min; P<0.05). There were no differences in the 4-km times between PLA and CAF (P>0.05) and no differences were reported between treatments for RPE (P>0.05). In conclusion, there was a placebo effect of caffeine on a 4-km maximal running trial which entailed that believing to have ingested caffeine improved performance to a similar extent than actually receiving caffeine. Therefore, the expectancy induced by caffeine may be one of the mechanisms behinds the ergogenic effect of this stimulant on endurance exercise.


Skewness and kurtosis are adopted by many statisticians as the contraventions of parametric statistics. Therefore, using nonparametric tests would give more proper results for skewed and kurtic series. Many observations also suggest that skewness provokes the loss of power for statistical tests. This paper aims to investigate the impact of skewness on statistical power. For this purpose, the paper takes hold of nine different distributions on Fleishman's power function when skewness measures are 1,75, 1,50, 1,25, 1,00, 0,75, 0,50, 0,25, 0,00, -0,25 and kurtosis measure is 3,75, simultaneously. The investigation concentrates on Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample test and considers the significance level (I±) as 0,05. This paper runs totally 32 representative sample size simulation alternatives, involving four small and equal; twelve small and different; four large and equal; and twelve large and different sample sizes. The Monte Carlo simulation study takes standard deviation ratios as 2, 3 and 4 under the precondition of heterogeneity. According to the results of equal sample sizes, no significant change are observed on the possibility of Type I error for Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, when the skewness measures decrease from 1,75 to -0,25. For both small and large small sizes, the power of the corresponding test decreases when the coefficient of skewness decreases.


This paper builds on earlier reviews by the author of the changing roles and identities of contemporary professional staff in UK higher education (Whitchurch, 2004; 2006a; 2006b), and describes an empirical study that was undertaken between 2004 and 2007. It progresses the argument that the generic terms 'administration' and 'management' no longer do justice to the activities of these staff, and uses the concept of identity to develop four categories of bounded, cross-boundary, unbounded and blended professionals. Via these categories it is shown how individuals are not only interpreting their given roles more actively, but are also moving laterally across boundaries to create new professional spaces, knowledges and relationships. The paper goes on to introduce the concept of third space as an emergent territory between academic and professional domains, in which unbounded and blended professionals, particularly, are likely to work. It considers the implications of these developments for both institutions and individuals, and makes some comparisons with parallel groups of staff in Australia and the United States. Finally, it proposes that third space working is suggestive of future trends in professional identities, which may increasingly coalesce with those of academic colleagues who undertake project- and management oriented roles.


Consideration of both rationale and process suggest that the criminal sanction, society's ultimate threat, inflicting as it does a unique combination of stigma and loss of liberty, should be resorted to only sparingly in a society that regards itself as free and open.' The sanction is at once uniquely coercive and, in the broadest sense, uniquely expensive. It should be reserved for what really matters. It is the thesis of this paper that this advice as to the proper criterion of forbiddenness has not been followed in the area of obscenity law. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the problems that confront the legislators and courts in their attempt to enforce morals in obscenity legislation through the utilization of the instrument of criminal sanction. Our study will consist first (by way of introduction) of a brief summary of the classic philosophical debate as to the cogency and viability of legislating morality in general and obscenity in particular; secondly a statement as to the current statutory and common law form of obscenity law in Canada; thirdly, a philosophical critique of obscenity law with a view to assessing the 'legality' of such legislation using the analysis promulgated by Lon Fuller; fourth, from an institutional perspective we will examine the practical difficulties encountered by the adjudicative process in its Sisyphean labour of applying obscenity law as it is currently formulated, with some discussion as to the impropriety of such an enterprise; fifth, a brief analysis as to the cost of enforcing obscenity law, and sixth, conclusions.


The head louse with the scientific name of pediculus capitis (Anoplura: Pediculidae) is one of a global public health concern. A descriptive-analytic cross-sectional research performed on school students in urban and rural areas of Asadabad region in Iran from 2015 October to 2016 June. A total of 16438 subjects including 7712 (46.9%) school girls and 8726 (53.1%) school boys were selected for current study. The prevalence rate of Pediculus capitis among these subjects was separately studied in three various seasons and the obtained results showed that the total prevalence rate of 1.7% (828 students), which was more common among girls (n=718, 3.1%) than boys (n=110, 0.4%). Temporal distribution of the disease showed 400 (2.4%) of cases recorded in autumn, followed by winter 253 (1.5%) and spring 175 (1.1%), respectively. Totally the maximum pediculosis incidence was observed from preschool (n=55, 2.2%) followed by elementary school (n=564, 1.9%), middle school (n=170, 1.6%) and high school (n=42, 0.7%), respectively. The maximum head lice infestation rate was related to students of the urban area in autumn (n=269, 2.7%) and the lowest rate was also in urban area in spring (n=67, 0.7%). Totally the infection rate of pediculosis was 516 (1.7%) in urban area and 312 (1.6%) in rural area. There was not a significant difference between residence in urban/rural areas and infection (P=0.430). The results of current study indicated the reason of perpetuating this condition in school students has been the lack of knowledge about the importance of head lice infestation as well as the opposition for applying drugs of pediculosis capitis.


History and collective memory can be maintained through heritage building conservation because collective memory can be represented through an architectural object. It is important to preserve the whole story of the building, the architectural form, and the memory related to the building as well as the society so that all of those aspects can be passed down to the next generation. The conservation of both tangible and intangible characters of a heritage building is a key aspect to attain a sustainable city and society. When a heritage building is physically destroyed, the connection among people, the building, the collective memory of the building is also vanished and this condition can be considered as an example of terror in architecture. This paper discusses terror in architecture, especially when the building is slowly destroyed, and the memory that people have about the building is being attacked. The aim of the paper is to investigate whether there is any linkage between the physical changes of the building and collective memory of the society. This study appoints Pasar Johar Semarang as a study case since it is a heritage building that experienced some changes and misfortunes such as fire incident in 2015. In order to do so, this paper will connect some theories on heritage building conservation, collective memory, and terror in architecture. This paper concludes that Pasar Johar encounters terror in its architecture because the building is slowly damaged by physical intervention, ignorance from the authority and fire incident, at the end those situations cause the collective memory of society for the market slowly disappears.


Introduction: Recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) administration studies involving transcriptomic approaches have demonstrated a gene expression signature that could aid blood doping detection. However, current anti-doping testing does not involve collecting whole blood into tubes with RNA preservative. This study investigated if whole blood in long-term storage and whole blood left over from standard hematological testing in short-term storage could be used for transcriptomic analysis despite lacking RNA preservation. Methods: Whole blood samples were collected from twelve and fourteen healthy nonathletic males, for long-term and short-term storage experiments. Long-term storage involved whole blood collected into Tempus™ tubes and K2EDTA tubes and subjected to long-term (i.e., ‒80°C) storage and RNA extracted. Short-term storage involved whole blood collected into K2EDTA tubes and stored at 4°C for 6‒48 h and then incubated at room temperature for 1 and 2 h prior to addition of RNA preservative. RNA quantity, purity, and integrity were analyzed in addition to RNA-Seq using the MGI DNBSEQ-G400 on RNA from both the short- and long-term storage studies. Genes presenting a fold change (FC) of >1.1 or < ‒1.1 with p ≤ 0.05 for each comparison were considered differentially expressed. Microarray analysis using the Affymetrix GeneChip® Human Transcriptome 2.0 Array was additionally conducted on RNA from the short-term study with a false discovery ratio (FDR) of ≤0.05 and an FC of >1.1 or < ‒1.1 applied to identify differentially expressed genes. Results: RNA quantity, purity, and integrity from whole blood subjected to short- and long-term storage were sufficient for gene expression analysis. Long-term storage: when comparing blood tubes with and without RNA preservation 4,058 transcripts (6% of coding and non-coding transcripts) were differentially expressed using microarray and 658 genes (3.4% of mapped genes) were differentially expressed using RNA-Seq. Short-term storage: mean RNA integrity and yield were not significantly different at any of the time points. RNA-Seq analysis revealed a very small number of differentially expressed genes (70 or 1.37% of mapped genes) when comparing samples stored between 6 and 48 h without RNA preservative. None of the genes previously identified in rHuEPO administration studies were differently expressed in either long- or short-term storage experiments. Conclusion: RNA quantity, purity, and integrity were not significantly compromised from short- or long-term storage in blood storage tubes lacking RNA stabilization, indicating that transcriptomic analysis could be conducted using anti-doping samples collected or biobanked without RNA preservation.


The thesis of this dissertation is that extending a general-purpose operating system with a general, heterogeneous scheduling hierarchy is feasible and useful. A hierarchy of schedulers generalizes the role of CPU schedulers by allowing them to schedule other schedulers in addition to scheduling threads. A general, heterogeneous scheduling hierarchy is one that allows arbitrary (or nearly arbitrary) scheduling algorithms throughout the hierarchy. In contrast, most of the previous work on hierarchical scheduling has imposed restrictions on the schedulers used in part or all of the hierarchy.
This dissertation describes the Hierarchical Loadable Scheduler (HLS) architecture, which permits schedulers to be dynamically composed in the kernel of a general-purpose operating system. The most important characteristics of BLS, and the ones that distinguish it from previous work, are that it has demonstrated that a hierarchy of nearly arbitrary schedulers can be efficiently implemented in a general-purpose operating system, and that the behavior of a hierarchy of soft real-time schedulers can be reasoned about in order to provide guaranteed scheduling behavior to application threads. The flexibility afforded by HLS permits scheduling behavior to be tailored to meet complex requirements without encumbering users who have modest requirements with the performance and administrative costs of a complex scheduler.
Contributions of this dissertation include the following. (1) The design, prototype implementation, and performance evaluation of HLS in Windows 2000. (2) A system of guarantees for scheduler composition that permits reasoning about the scheduling behavior of a hierarchy of soft real-time schedulers. Guarantees assure users that application requirements can be met throughout the lifetime of the application, and also provide application developers with a model of CPU allocation to which they can program. (3) The design, implementation, and evaluation of two augmented CPU reservation schedulers, which provide increase scheduling predictability when low-level operating system activity steals time from applications.


For applications in optical systems it is often necessary to represent a circular aperture in a pixellated form. An objective parameter is introduced that is a measure of how well an approximate circle can be generated from a small array of square pixels. Both filled circles (disks) and rings are considered. Arrays with a width given by an even number of pixels can also be used to generate quadrants of a circle. Rings with outer and inner profiles given by optimum circles or quadrants can be summed to fill a complete circle or quadrant.


We present new records of Hoary Fox, Lycalopex vetulus (Lund, 1842), and Pantanal Cat, Leopardus braccatus Cope, 1889, from a Cerrado-Caatinga-Atlantic Forest ecotone, Brazil. Records are based on three roadkilled specimens (two Hoary Foxes and one Pantanal Cat) from Vitória da Conquista, southern Bahia. Although highly anthropized, the region still holds a mosaic of Cerrado savannas and Caatinga seasonally dry forests. Our records expand the distribution of both species eastwards to southern Bahia and suggest that Leopardus braccatus may occur marginally in the Caatinga.


That basic information on fishers, catches, craft and gear, fishing effort, prices and
markets is of fundamental importance in marine fisheries governance and planning is
a well recognized fact. Also required are information on landings, trends, species ratio
and compositions, size at capture, length frequencies, catch per unit effort, yield per
recruit, mortality rates and host of other parameters which also contribute to
development of appropriate fisheries management interventions. Occasional census
(frame surveys) and sample based fishery surveys conducted at regular intervals are
to be viewed not as an end but as an important source for a wide range of activities
which include estimation of total production, estimation of total value of fish production,
price at landing, fishing effort, number of active fishers, human and financial resources
etc. Thus fisheries census acquires a role as important as that of human population
census, a fact well recognized by all countries who are concerned about managing
their fishery resources based on knowledge based information system.


ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: The benefits of physical activity in reducing morbidity and mortality are well-established, but the effect of physical inactivity on direct medical costs is less clear. OBJECTIVE: To describe the direct medical expenditures associated with physical inactivity. DESIGN: Cross-sectional stratified analysis of the 1987 National Medical Expenditures Survey that included US civilian men and nonpregnant women aged 15 and older who were not in institutions in 1987. Main outcome measure was direct medical costs. RESULTS: For those 15 and older without physical limitations, the average annual direct medical costs were $1,019 for those who were regularly physically active and $1,349 for those who reported being inactive. The costs were lower for active persons among smokers ($1,079 vs $1,448) and nonsmokers ($953 vs $1,234) and were consistent across age-groups and by sex. Medical care use (hospitalizations, physician visits, and medications) was also lower for physically active people than for inactive people. CONCLUSION: The mean net annual benefit of physical activity was $330 per person in 1987 dollars. Our results suggest that increasing participation in regular moderate physical activity among the more than 88 million inactive Americans over the age of 15 might reduce annual national medical costs by as much as $29.2 billion in 1987 dollars—$76.6 billion in 2000 dollars.


We compared the accuracy of cutaneous pressure perception-threshold measurements with that of other sensory-threshold measurements for detecting diabetic foot ulcer patients. Three hundred fourteen non-insulindependent diabetic patients were studied, of whom 91 had either a current foot ulcer or a history of foot ulceration. Foot ulcer patients had much higher pressure perception thresholds at the hallux than those without foot ulcers (mean ± SE 4.63 ± 0.05 vs. 3.54 ± 0.04 U, P < 0.001). The magnitude of association was higher than that for vibration thresholds and markedlygreater than those for cool and warm thresholds. Pressure thresholds were highly accurate for identifying foot ulcer patients. At a threshold level of 4.21 U, the sensitivity was 0.84, with a specificity of 0.96. At similar sensitivities for vibration and thermal thresholds, specificities were lower. Foot ulceration and cutaneous pressure perception threshold are strongly associated. Pressure-threshold measurements are extremely accurate and perform atleast as well as other quantitative sensory tests in identifying foot ulcer patients. Assessment of the foot pressure threshold may have promise as a simple and inexpensive method for detecting diabetic patients at risk for footulcers.


Approximately 2 billion adults, just below half of the world's adult population, are financially excluded. They lack access to formal or semi-formal savings, credit, and insurance services. The vast majority of these adults live a hand-to-mouth existence in the developing world. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development takes a rather unambitious approach to financial inclusion (FI). It recognizes its importance in advancing several sustainable development goals (SDGs), but it does not include it as a stand-alone goal. This paper criticizes this approach and claims that the new agenda has been a missed opportunity to focus efforts on finding ways of meeting the financial needs of the global poor. We analyse three of the main reasons for not including FI as a sustainable goal: namely, the instrumentality argument, the free market argument, and the veil argument.


This article presents the Cultural Self-Exploration Questionnaire, which was designed to assist counselors, counselors-in-training, counselor educators and supervisors develop self-awareness of their personal culturally-based prejudices, assumptions, and biases that may impede their work with culturally diverse clients. According to multicultural counseling literature, counselor self-awareness of personal prejudices, biases, stereotyping, values and assumptions that may be used in working with culturally diverse clients have been emphasized insufficiently. Counselors often evaluate the behavior of others based on their own cultural perspectives. One's cultural paradigm can influence diagnosis and treatment issues in situations when an understanding of client behavior does not include the cultural context in which the behavior takes place. It is imperative, therefore, that counselors develop awareness of their own stereotypical beliefs in order to avoid harming culturally diverse clients (e.g., Atkinson, Morten, & Sue, 1993; Baruth & Manning, 1999; Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 1998; Petersen, 1997; Sue & Sue, 1999). Sue and Sue (1999) suggest that only "enlightened, nondefensive, open, and skilled" counseling professionals can understand minority group experiences and the issues involved in working with culturally diverse populations. A systematic attempt to identify characteristics of the culturally skilled therapist has been slow in developing. Recently, however, a set of proposed multicultural competencies has been developed (see Sue & Sue, 1999) and subsequently endorsed by several divisions within the American Counseling Association (ACA).-- According to the proposed multicultural competencies, one foundational goal of culturally competent counselors involves the process of becoming aware of their own "assumptions about human behavior, values, biases, preconceived notions, personal limitations, and so forth" (Sue & Sue, 1999). Thus, the initial multicultural competency addresses "Counselor Awareness of [His or Her] Own Cultural Values and Biases" (Sue & Sue, 1999, p. 225). A significant portion of the proposed competency states that culturally competent counselors "are aware and sensitive to their own cultural heritage and to valuing and respecting difference... are aware of how their own cultural backgrounds and experiences and attitudes, values, and biases influence psychological processes...and have specific knowledge about their own racial and cultural heritage and how it personally and professionally affects their definitions of normal ity-abnormal ity and the process of couns (Sue & Sue, 1999, . 225). Given that cultural understanding begins by looking at oneself, the use of guided self-assessments can help both counselors and counselors- in-training gain insight into how their personal experiences and societal interactions have influenced their worldview, beliefs, and values (Ancis, 1998). Developing the skills necessary to work with culturally different clients begins with a thorough understanding of self. Baruth and Manning (1999) have stated that: Self-awareness is the consciousness a person has of specific events that influence her or his psychological, social, emotional, and cultural attributes. It includes identity (what one thinks of oneself), and one's sense of identity as influenced by the perception of self and others. Identity includes many factors such as race, ethnicity, and gender. (p. 33) Ideally counselors should develop an awareness of their own cultural heritages and how these heritages influence what they believe and value, with special attention given to how these beliefs, attitudes, and values pertain to culturally different individuals. For a counselor, the process of developing cultural self-awareness should begin with exploration of one's culture and how it affects personal psychosocial development. Counselors should pay particular attention to factors that impacted the development of their ethnic identity in childhood and adolescence. …


A graph model of software evolution is presented. The author seeks to formalize the objects and activities involved in software evolution in sufficient detail to enable automatic assistance for maintaining the consistency and integrity of an evolving software system. This includes automated support for propagating the consequences of a change to a software system. The evolution of large and complex software systems receives particular attention. >


It is a challenge to upscale solute transport in porous media for multispecies bio‐kinetic reactions because of incomplete mixing within the elementary volume and because biofilm growth can change porosity and affect pore‐scale flow and diffusion. To address this challenge, we present a hybrid model that couples pore‐scale subdomains to continuum‐scale subdomains. While the pore‐scale subdomains involving significant biofilm growth and reaction are simulated using pore‐scale equations, the other subdomains are simulated using continuum‐scale equations to save computational time. The pore‐scale and continuum‐scale subdomains are coupled using a mortar method to ensure continuity of solute concentration and flux at the interfaces. We present results for a simplified two‐dimensional system, neglect advection, and use dual Monod kinetics for solute utilization and biofilm growth. The results based on the hybrid model are consistent with the results based on a pore‐scale model for three test cases that cover a wide range of Damköhler (Da = reaction rate/diffusion rate) numbers for both homogeneous (spatially periodic) and heterogeneous pore structures. We compare results from the hybrid method with an upscaled continuum model and show that the latter is valid only for cases of small Damköhler numbers, consistent with other results reported in the literature.


While population increases, so do the demand for products and the freight traffic to deliver them. The increase in truck traffic creates many negative effects including increased traffic congestion, illegal parking and resting, incessant idling, and greenhouse gas and local pollutants emissions. Recently, many initiatives have been promoted to address this problem. The event presented cross-disciplinary perspectives on urban logistics using electric vehicles (EV) and other vehicles as a sustainable mobility transportation solution. Presentations at the event reflected various perspectives, as speakers represented the public and private sectors and academia, including public officials, community leaders, transit community members, academia, consultants and the interested public. The multi‐disciplinary team was from the United States and Europe. The event provided a forum that gathered experts and sustainability advocates to focus on the actions that can be taken immediately to meet the environmental challenges and take advantage of the business opportunities presented by such dense city areas, namely with the use of small sized mobility solutions.


Evidence from experimental models of epilepsy support that
prolonged seizures (status epilepticus, SE) promote pathological hippocampal
synaptodendritic remodeling which contributes to the development of seizures
and cognitive decline. One potential mechanism underlying the SE-induced
sequelae is microgliosis.

Evidence from models of experimental epilepsy supports a
significant spatiotemporal correlation between SE-induced decreases in the microtubule
associated protein 2 (Map2) loss and microgliosis in the hippocampus. In
addition, pharmacological suppression of microgliosis after SE with the drug
rapamycin attenuated the losses of Map2 and the dendritic ion channels Kv.4.2
and HCN1 in the hippocampus. This microglia suppression paralleled a recovery
of the SE-induced recognition and spatial memory deficits. Based on these
studies, we hypothesized that the inhibition of microgliosis during
epileptogenesis will attenuate the SE-induced hippocampal dendritic and
cognitive pathology. To further investigate the role of microgliosis in the
SE-induced dendritic pathology, we tested the efficacy of a more selective
inhibitor of the survival and proliferation of microglia,
PLX3397, using the pilocarpine model of SE and acquired epilepsy. PLX3397 binds
to colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) on microglia and inhibits the
downstream signaling responsible for survival and proliferation of these cells.

To test this hypothesis, we induced SE in male rats with
pilocarpine (280-300mg/kg) while and controls (Ctrl) received
saline. Rats were randomly assigned to a diet of either chow alone
(vehicle; Veh) or chow with PLX3397 (50mg/kg) for 20 days post-SE. At two weeks
post-SE, rats were subjected to novel object recognition (NOR) and Barnes maze
(BM) to evaluate hippocampal-dependent recognition memory, and spatial learning
and memory, respectively. Following the behavioral assessments, rats were
sacrificed for brain analysis at 20 days post-SE. We used histological analysis
to determine the amount of microgliosis with IBA1 and dendritic stability with
Map2. We used western blotting to measure the protein levels of molecules
involved in the crosstalk between microglia and astrocytes: GFAP, IL-6, C3, and
iC3b. We also measured the protein levels of the dendritic ion channels Kv4.2
and HCN1, and the synaptic marker PSD95.

NOR showed that the Ctrl+Veh and Ctrl+PLX3397 groups spent
significantly more time exploring the novel object (p < .05), while the SE+Veh and SE+PLX3397 did not. Similar
results were observed in the BM test, Ctrl+Veh and Ctrl+PLX3397 groups had a
faster latency to find the target compared to the SE+Veh and SE+PLX3397 groups
(p < .05). These data suggest that
recognition and spatial memory deficits induced by SE were not attenuated by
treatment with PLX3397. We found that the PLX3397 treatment significantly
decreased microgliosis in Ctrl+PLX3397 rats compared to Ctrl+Veh rats (p < .05). As expected, we found a
significant increase in the number of microglial cells in hippocampi of SE+Veh
rats compared to Ctrl+Veh rats (p
< .05). Interestingly, in the PLX3397-treated SE group, we observed two
distinctive groups which we categorized as responders and non-responders when
compared to the SE+Veh group. The SE+PLX responders had significantly decreased
microgliosis compared to the SE+Veh group (p
< .05). The SE+PLX non-responders had higher levels of microgliosis compared
to the SE+Veh group (p < .05). We
found levels of GFAP were increased in the SE+Veh group compared to the
Ctrl+Veh group (p < .05).
Treatment with PLX3397 in the SE group reduced these levels compared to the
vehicle treated SE group (p <
.05). We also found increases in C3 and iC3b following the induction of SE
compared to Ctrl+Veh group (p <
.05), and these levels remained similar in the SE+PLX3397 group compare to the
SE+Veh group (p > .05). There was
a reduction in Map2 immunoreactivity as well as the protein levels of Kv4.2 and
PSD95 in the SE+Veh group compared to the Ctrl+Veh group (p < .05). We found that treatment with PLX3397 recovered the
SE-induced loss of Map2 labeled dendrites compared to SE+Veh group (p < .05). However, treatment with
PLX3397 did not recover the SE-induced reduction Kv4.2 and PSD95 (p > .05). In
parallel, we found that a group of SE+PLX3397 animals did not have reduced
microgliosis compared to the SE+Veh group (p < .05), and therefore
was categorized as a non-responder group.

Our findings are the first to show that blocking
CSF1R signaling with PLX3397 suppressed microgliosis in the hippocampus, partially
recovered the SE-induced decline of Map2 immunoreactivity in the hippocampal
CA1 region but had no effect in the recognition or spatial memory deficits.
These data suggest that while hippocampal microgliosis may play a role in the
disruption of dendritic structural stability in the hippocampus it does not seem
to critically contribute to the memory decline that occurs during
epileptogenesis.


Crop productivity is greatly influenced by various environmental stresses, of which insect herbivory-induced biotic stress assumes much significance. As a consequence of insect herbivory, a number of plant biochemical processes involved in the tolerance mechanism are affected. Different studies have demonstrated a diverse functional role of various plant oxidative enzymes in protecting plants against biotic stress induced by insect herbivory. Comprehensive profiling of stress-associated plant oxidative enzymes is most relevant to successful molecular breeding of stress-tolerant crop plants. Thus, better understanding of the biochemical basis of plant defense mechanisms is imperative, not only from a basic science perspective, but also for biotechnology-based pest control practice. In this review, we emphasize the potential role of various oxidative enzymes in plant defense against insect herbivory.


Why are the subfamily relationships of Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) important?-This question is really two: Is Triatominae a phylogenetically valid monophyletic subfamily; and, if it is, to what other reduviid subfamilies is it most closely related? If the answer to the first question is Yes, then what one knows about one member of Triatominae may be true for other members; if the answer is No, then no such prediction can be made. Because many members of Triatominae are of medical importance, such predictions are vitally (literally) important. For the same reason, knowledge of the subfamily relatives of medically important triatomines is important: For here too predictions about one related member can be based on knowledge of others. These points are discussed here, and the evidence for and against (especially against) monophyly of Triatominae is also discussed. The status of Linshcosteus, the only Old World genus of Triatominae, is also discussed.


Several of the remarks and articles presented in this symposium have addressed conflicts of interest arising during the provision of legal counsel to individuals who are elderly, including specific conflicts of interest implicated by estate planning, retirement planning, and long-term care planning. Topics examined thus far include conflicts of interest with respect to the application of rules of confidentiality within state rules of professional conduct to elderly clients with impaired decision-making capacity; conflicts of interest involving representative payees for Social Security benefits; conflicts of interest in distributions when parents enter into marriages that are unprotected by law; and conflicts of interest inherent in powers of attorney, among others. This article will diverge slightly from the prior articles and focus instead on conflicts of interest present in the involvement of individuals who are elderly with impaired decision-making capacity in clinical and experimental medicine when legal counsel and advanced health care and research participation planning have not taken place. More specifically, Parts I and II of this article will identify conflicts of interest that arise in the contexts of clinical medicine and human subjects research when an elderly patient with impaired decision-making capacity has not executed an advanced health care directive, an advanced biomedical or behavioral research directive, or other similar document, and for whom a guardian has not been appointed. Parts I and II also compare and contrast illustrative state approaches for identifying and managing these conflicts to determine whether one state's approach to managing such conflicts is preferable to another. Part III of this article compares and contrasts approaches taken by illustrative state rules of professional conduct for managing conflicts of interest in the context of legal representation. Part IV compares the approaches used in legal representation to the approaches used in clinical medicine and human subjects research. One purpose of these comparisons is to identify options for managing conflicts in different professional settings and to determine whether the approach of one professional setting is superior to another. Part IV finds that the law imposes more stringent duties on attorneys regarding the identification and management of conflicts of interest with respect to their clients as opposed to physicians with respect to their patients and researchers with respect to their human subjects. Part IV also finds that the conflicts of interest that can arise due to the lack of advanced health care and research participation planning are as substantively concerning, if not more so, than the conflicts of interest that arise during the provision of estate planning, retirement planning, and long-term care planning. For these reasons, this article joins the already robust law review and other literatures that urge advanced health care and advanced research participation planning to minimize conflicts of interest that could arise when a surrogate, in the absence of a formally appointed agent or guardian, would like to consent to the administration, withholding, or withdrawal of treatment or consent to research participation on behalf of an elderly individual with impaired decision-making capacity. As such, this article hopefully serves as a nice capstone to the other pieces in this symposium by providing yet another reminder that legal planning, even with the conflicts of interest identified by the other authors in this symposium, is almost always superior to the lack of planning. This article also, however, proposes a novel solution for health care and research-related conflicts: state laws governing conflicts of interest in clinical medicine and human subject research should consider borrowing approaches to conflicts management that are set forth in state rules of attorney professional conduct.


During centuries, modern cities and societies were sustained upon technological infrastructures. Our cities depend on these networks in a way that we can't imagine them without highways or railroad networks, airports, municipal water and sewer systems, telephone, electricity and most recently internet or communication networks. Today these infrastructural networks have a vital role just the same as sun, plants and fresh air for us. These infrastructures affected our cities and our relation with our environs more than any other achievements in the industrial era. From late 20th century by entering post-industrial era in developed countries, by the emergence of ecological hazards which led to the rise of environmental concerns since 1970s, the crises and erosion in the engineered infrastructure networks since the first decades of 21st century, beside the disability of modern technological infrastructures to response to new multi-dimensional needs of postindustrial societies, coming into focus the necessity of redefinition in the current approaches to infrastructures. By revisiting the concept, features and crises in the field of urban infrastructures, this essay puts into question the expected aspects of post-industrial infrastructures. Also by historicalinterpretation study on the notion of landscape this paper examines the capacity of landscaping approach in planning and managing infrastructures in the 21st century. Finally, analyzing these two concepts showed that the solution to overcome the industrial infrastructures toward post-industrial one is to employ the more multi-dimensional and holistic approaches. Approaches that allow the multi-faceted integration between infrastructure and ecological, social and economical aspects of cities and point the end to the more than a century of civil engineering authority that shaped rigid and mono-dimensional infrastructures in the modern era. It noted also that the discipline of landscape which simultaneously with the great changes in modern philosophy, passed conceptual revolution, due to its inherent traits of being mediance and trajection that is not reduced to the objectivity and monodimensionality, allows us to overcome the object-oriented approaches in planning urban infrastructures. Thus the result of this short recall of two notions of infrastructure and landscape shows that the utilization of landscaping approach in planning the infrastructures is one of the solutions allows us to pass the inflexibility and solidity of modern engineered infrastructures.


Thought experiments are frequently vague and obscure
hypothetical scenarios that are difficult to assess. The paper
proposes a simple model of thought experiments. In the first
part, I introduce two contemporary frameworks for thought
experiment analysis: an experimentalist approach that relies on
similarities between real and thought experiment, and a
reasonist approach focusing on the answers provided by thought
experimenting. Further, I articulate a minimalist approach in
which thought experiment is considered strictly as doxastic
mechanism based on imagination. I introduce the basic
analytical tool that allows us to differentiate an experimental
core from an attached argumentation. The last section is
reserved for discussion. I address several possible questions
concerning adequacy of minimalistic definition and analysis.


To date, most genetic association analyses of smoking behaviors have been conducted in populations of European ancestry and many of these studies focused on the phenotype that measures smoking quantity, that is, cigarettes per day. Additional association studies in diverse populations with different linkage disequilibrium patterns and an alternate phenotype, such as total tobacco exposure which accounts for intermittent periods of smoking cessation within a larger smoking period as measured in large cardiovascular risk studies, can aid the search for variants relevant to smoking behavior. For these reasons, we undertook an association analysis by using a genotyping array that includes 2,100 genes to analyze smoking persistence in unrelated African American participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. A locus located approximately 4 kb downstream from the 3′-UTR of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) significantly influenced smoking persistence. In addition, independent variants rs12915366 and rs12914385 in the cluster of genes encoding nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits (CHRNA5–CHRNA3–CHRNB4) on 15q25.1 were also associated with the phenotype in this sample of African American subjects. To our knowledge, this is the first study to more extensively evaluate the genome in the African American population, as a limited number of previous studies of smoking behavior in this population included evaluations of only single genomic regions. Cancer Prev Res; 4(5); 729–34. ©2011 AACR.


A linear link between S&P 500 return and the change rate of the number of nine-year-olds in the USA has been found. The return is represented by a sum of monthly returns during previous twelve months. The change rate of the specific age population is represented by moving averages. The period between January 1990 and December 2003 is described by monthly population intercensal estimates as provided by the US Census Bureau. Four years before 1990 are described using the estimates of the number of 17 year-olds shifted 8 years back. The prediction of S&P 500 returns for the months after 2003, including those beyond 2007, are obtained using the number of 3 year-olds between 1990 and 2003 shifted by 6 years ahead and quarterly estimates of real GDP per capita. A prediction is available for the period beyond 2007. There are two sharp drops in the predicted returns - in 2007 and 2009, and one strong rally in 2008. Equivalently, S&P 500 index should drop in 2007 and 2009 to the level observed one year before. Potential link between S&P 500 returns and 9-year-old population is tested for cointegration. The Engle-Granger and Johansen tests demonstrate the presence of a long-term equilibrium (cointegrating) relation between these variables. This makes valid standard statistical estimates. Correlation between the predicted and observed indices, including RMS difference, linear regression, and VAR demonstrate good prediction accuracy at two-year horizon, when the prediction uses 7-year-olds instead of 9-year-olds. The RMS difference between the observed and predicted returns for the period between 1992 and 2003 is only 0.09 with standard deviation of the observed series for the same period of 0.12 and the naive (random walk) RMS deference of 0.18.


In the former Eastern Bloc countries, one of the most important, and most difficult, aspects of the transition to democracy has been the establishment of constitutional justice and the rule of law. Herman Schwartz's wide-ranging book is the first to chronicle and analyze the rise of constitutional courts in this changing region. Beginning with a brief history of the courts prior to 1989, Schwartz draws on his expertise as a constitutional scholar and long-time adviser to many of these countries to compare their jurisprudence with relevant American and West European law. He then focuses in detail on the relative success stories of Poland and Hungary, where the courts faced little opposition, and the more problematic situations in Russia, Slovakia and Bulgaria, where the courts' independence and very existence were threatened by both old-line communists and new-style authoritarians. With a wealth of historical and other information, backed up by a massive array of research, the book is a remarkably rich, yet accessible, source for anyone interested in the ongoing struggles of post-Communist Europe.


Temperature programmed reduction (TPR) is one of the techniques for obtaining information about phases or bulk species in heterogeneous catalysts. Information from TPR analysis can give insights about phase-support interaction and extent of reduction of the phases at different temperatures. TPR technique is a common tool in the characterisation of cobalt based Fischer-Tropsch (FT) catalysts. However, interpretation of TPR profiles of γ-alumina supported cobalt FT catalysts had been characterised with different views on the nature of phases and reduction processes involved. In this report, we use reduction behaviour of unsupported Co3O4 to gain insight for more explicit analysis of TPR profiles of γ-alumina supported Co3O4 catalysts. The transition Co3O4 → CoO → Co in γ-alumina supported catalysts prepared with wet impregnation with aqueous cobalt nitrate and calcined at temperatures ≤ 350°C gave reduction peaks at 300 to 350°C. Reduction peaks at 500 to 600°C were due to Co-Al mixed oxide phases; most likely Co2AlO4 and probably routes formation of the mixed oxide were also discussed. Consideration of tendency of dissolution of γ-alumina during the impregnation of metal salt is instructive toward achieving higher reducibility of Co3O4 in the design of cobalt based Fischer-Tropsch catalysts.

 Key words: Temperature programmed reduction (TPR) profile, calcinations, Co3O4, γ-Al2O3, Fischer-Tropsch catalyst.


Critical analysis about Italian experiences and experimentations so called "Strategic Planning" - This work focuses on benefits deriving from strategic planning especially due to the interaction between different subjects and different institutional levels. A particular attention is reserved to the important role of strategic planning in city marketing communication. The author suggests some critics about Italian strategic planning regarding actors involved, aims e results gained. Finally the attention is on the relationship between strategic planning and urban planning in the Italian experience.


The economics of a future rail transit project are analyzed. Pro forma financial statements are constructed to the year 2002. A number of financial ratios are examined to assess the project's impact on the transit authority's financial position. Monte Carlo simulation is applied to find the downside and upside financial risk. Sensitivity analysis is used to identify the variables most and least important to financial outcome.


OBJECTIVE
Neutrophil leukocytes and macrophages represent professional phagocytic cells. When appropriately stimulated, they undergo dramatic physiological and biochemical changes resulting in phagocytosis, chemotaxis and degranulation with the activation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production known as the respiratory burst.

DESIGN
In this study we analysed the effect of a crystalline complex fraction of four N-feruloyl-serotonin isomers isolated from the seeds of Leuzea carthamoides on the mechanism of oxidative burst of human neutrophils in vitro.

RESULTS
N-feruloyl-serotonin (N-f-5HT) inhibited dose-dependently oxidative burst of human whole blood and isolated neutrophils in vitro stimulated with phorbol-myristate-acetate (PMA) as measured by luminol/isoluminol enhanced chemiluminescence.In isolated neutrophils stimulated with PMA, N-f-5HT was effective against extracellular as well as intracellular reactive oxygen species. Western blot analysis documented that N-f-5HT in concentrations of 10 and 100 µM significantly decreased PMA-induced phosphorylation of protein kinase C alpha/beta II.

CONCLUSION
The results suggest that N-f-5HT represents an effective naturally occurring substance with potent effect on the oxidative burst of human neutrophils and could be further investigated for its pharmacological activity against oxidative stress in ischaemia-reperfusion, inflammation and other pathological conditions.


Abstract. Despite the particular management practices and climate characteristics of the Mediterranean regions, the literature dealing with N budgets in large catchments subjected to Mediterranean conditions is scarce. The present study aims to deepen our knowledge on the N cycle within the Ebro River Basin (NE Spain) by means of two different approaches: (1) calculating a global N budget in the Ebro River Basin and (2) calculating a series of detailed regional budgets at higher geographical resolution. N inputs and outputs were spatialized by creating a map based on the most detailed information available. Fluvial and atmospheric N export was estimated together with N retention. The Ebro River Basin annually receives a relatively high amount of new N (5118 kg N km−2 yr−1), mostly in the form of synthetic fertilizers (50%). Although it is a highly productive catchment, the net N input as food and feed import is also high (33%). Only 8% of this N is finally exported to the delta zone. Several territorial units characterized by different predominant uses (rainfed agriculture, irrigated agriculture and pastures) have differentiated N dynamics. However, due to the high density of irrigation channels and reservoirs that characterize Mediterranean catchments, N retention is very high in all of them (median value, 91%). These results indicate that problems of eutrophication due to N delivery in the coastal area may not be too severe but that high N retention values may instead lead to problems within the catchment, such as pollution of aquifers and rivers, as well as high atmospheric emissions. The most promising management measures are those devoted to reducing agricultural surpluses through a better balanced N fertilization.


Decades of research and policy interventions on biodiversity have insufficiently addressed the dual issues of biodiversity degradation and social justice. New approaches are therefore needed. We devised a research and action agenda that calls for a collective task of revisiting biodiversity toward the goal of sustaining diverse and just futures for life on Earth. Revisiting biodiversity involves critically reflecting on past and present research, policy, and practice concerning biodiversity to inspire creative thinking about the future. The agenda was developed through a 2‐year dialogue process that involved close to 300 experts from diverse disciplines and locations. This process was informed by social science insights that show biodiversity research and action is underpinned by choices about how problems are conceptualized. Recognizing knowledge, action, and ethics as inseparable, we synthesized a set of principles that help navigate the task of revisiting biodiversity. The agenda articulates 4 thematic areas for future research. First, researchers need to revisit biodiversity narratives by challenging conceptualizations that exclude diversity and entrench the separation of humans, cultures, economies, and societies from nature. Second, researchers should focus on the relationships between the Anthropocene, biodiversity, and culture by considering humanity and biodiversity as tied together in specific contexts. Third, researchers should focus on nature and economies by better accounting for the interacting structures of economic and financial systems as core drivers of biodiversity loss. Finally, researchers should enable transformative biodiversity research and action by reconfiguring relationships between human and nonhuman communities in and through science, policy, and practice. Revisiting biodiversity necessitates a renewed focus on dialogue among biodiversity communities and beyond that critically reflects on the past to channel research and action toward fostering just and diverse futures for human and nonhuman life on Earth.


To clarify the effects of Super Rapid Induction Heating and Quenching (SRIHQ) on fatigue properties of Ferrite Ductile Cast Iron (FDI), rotational bending fatigue tests were carried out on specimens treated with four types of heating cycle. Results showed that; (i) the SRIHQ process generated a thin dark gray area around the graphite. This dark area was composed of a martensite structure (ringed martensite). (ii) The ringed martensite generated a compressive residual stress field at the surface hardened layer. Two types of compressive residual stress generative mechanisms were observed. One was a microscopic residual stress generative process due to the formation of ringed martensite and the other was a macroscopic residual stress generative process due to the expansion of the surface hardened layer. (iii) The fatigue strength of SRIHQ treated FDI specimen was higher than that of the untreated one. This was because the compressive residual stress field generated by the ringed martensite suppressed initiation and propagation of fatigue cracks.


The study set out to determine the role played by country of origin, marketing orientation and brand affordability in influencing the perceived brand quality of pharmaceuticals in Uganda. In a sample of 317 doctors selected through a stratified random sampling, statistical analysis revealed significant positive relationships between the variables, that is; Country of Origin, pharmaceutical marketing orientation, brand affordability and perceived brand quality. Regression results confirmed that country of origin image, brand affordability and marketing orientation were strong predictors of perceived brand quality. Overall, the independent variables explained 30.7 % of the variance in perceived brand quality. It is therefore suggested that the pharmaceutical companies should analyze the country of origin image in detail and recognize the capacity of the country within different product categories. However, given the continuous globalization of markets, it is possible to neutralize the effect of country-of-origin on the evaluation of product quality and the influence on purchasing decisions. Evidence from the literature revealed that if other forms of product quality attributes were highlighted during the product's promotion and marketing campaigns, country-of-origin would have low effect on consumers' perception of product quality in the pharmaceuticals.


Student feedback ratings are becoming an increasingly utilised means of measuring the
quality of the student learning experience in U.K. universities. Despite this there has
been little published statistical analysis on student feedback ratings using U.K. data.
The research explores whether lecturers should have confidence in the validity of the
student feedback ratings they receive. Guidance in the presentation and interpretation of
the data is offered. This is intended to facilitate a more sophisticated understanding of the
data, allowing decisions based on it to be made on a more informed basis. The research
used the student feedback data collected on all taught modules (both undergraduate and
postgraduate) in the Business School at Loughborough University over two academic
years (October 1996–June 1998). This consisted of 305 modules and 13813 individual
student feedback forms.
The thesis contributes to the literature in the following ways: (1) Through illustrating the existence of heterogeneous groups of students in many
Business School modules, which reflect the presence of different learning styles being
utilised by Business School students, and discussing the consequences of this for:
(a) the use of factor analysis on student feedback data;
(b) the appropriateness of reporting the results of student feedback in the form of
class averages.
(2) Through illustrating the effects on student feedback ratings specific to modules taught
by more than one lecturer. Two variables not previously reported in the student
feedback literature are shown to influence the ratings that lecturers receive, namely:
(a) the proportion of lecturing hours undertaken by a lecturer on a particular module;
(b) the ratings of the lecturer(s) with whom a lecturer teaches alongside on a
particular module.
(3) Through examining the impact of external factors on the ratings lecturers receive.
Regression analysis is used to model the influence of a set of nine predictor variables
on student feedback ratings. Lecturers' ratings are shown to be significantly
influenced by the level of the module, the class size and the subject area of the
module. Characteristics of the lecturer, namely, the lecturer's age, rank and
experience are shown to significantly influence lecturers' ratings for some aspects of
lecturing.


Gasoline prices experience volatility often credited to fluctuations in the crude oil market, but gasoline is subject to its own supply and demand pressures. Cyclical trends such as seasonal changes in refining costs, production adjustments, and changes in demand contribute to gasoline price movements over a typical year. Recently, however, market developments not influenced by seasonal fluctuations have affected prices. From 2010 to 2014, increased access to cost-advantaged domestic sources of crude oil has expanded domestic gasoline production, and evolving consumption patterns in the United States and abroad have altered both import and export demand. Between January 2005 and September 2008, the producer price index for gasoline trended generally higher. (See chart 1.) The onset of the Great Recession pressured producer prices lower in the fourth quarter of 2008, a 67.8-percent drop, before prices started to rebound in early 2009. By mid-2011, prices reached prerecession levels and remained in a tight range before dropping more than 50 percent in the latter half of 2014 and early 2015. This Beyond the Numbers article examines the many factors that contributed to shifting producer gasoline prices from 2005 through 2014.


The development of reliable methods for upscaling finescale models of elastic media has long been an important topic for rock physics and applied seismology. Several effective medium theories have been developed to provide elastic parameters for materials such as finely layered media or randomly oriented or aligned fractures. In such cases, the analytic solutions for upscaled properties can be used for accurate prediction of wave propagation. However, such theories cannot be applied directly to homogenize elastic media with more complex, arbitrary spatial heterogeneity. Therefore, we have proposed a numerical homogenization algorithm based on multiscale finite-element methods for simulating elastic wave propagation in heterogeneous, anisotropic elastic media. Specifically, our method used multiscale basis functions obtained from a local linear elasticity problem with appropriately defined boundary conditions. Homogenized, effective medium parameters were then computed using these basis functions, and the approach applied a numerical discretization that was similar to the rotated staggered-grid finite-difference scheme. Comparisons of the results from our method and from conventional, analytical approaches for finely layered media showed that the homogenization reliably estimated elastic parameters for this simple geometry. Additional tests examined anisotropic models with arbitrary spatial heterogeneity in which the average size of the heterogeneities ranged from several centimeters to several meters, and the ratio between the dominant wavelength and the average size of the arbitrary heterogeneities ranged from 10 to 100. Comparisons to finite-difference simulations proved that the numerical homogenization was equally accurate for these complex cases.


Abstract. The Nepal Ambient Monitoring and Source Testing Experiment (NAMaSTE) characterized widespread and under-sampled combustion sources common to South Asia, including brick kilns, garbage burning, diesel and gasoline generators, diesel groundwater pumps, idling motorcycles, traditional and modern cooking stoves and fires, crop residue burning, and heating fire. Fuel-based emission factors (EFs; with units of pollutant mass emitted per kilogram of fuel combusted) were determined for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), inorganic ions, trace metals, and organic species. For the forced-draft zigzag brick kiln, EFPM2.5 ranged from 12 to 19 g kg−1 with major contributions from OC (7 %), sulfate expected to be in the form of sulfuric acid (31.9 %), and other chemicals not measured (e.g., particle-bound water). For the clamp kiln, EFPM2.5 ranged from 8 to 13 g kg−1, with major contributions from OC (63.2 %), sulfate (23.4 %), and ammonium (16 %). Our brick kiln EFPM2.5 values may exceed those previously reported, partly because we sampled emissions at ambient temperature after emission from the stack or kiln allowing some particle-phase OC and sulfate to form from gaseous precursors. The combustion of mixed household garbage under dry conditions had an EFPM2.5 of 7.4 ± 1.2 g kg−1, whereas damp conditions generated the highest EFPM2.5 of all combustion sources in this study, reaching up to 125 ± 23 g kg−1. Garbage burning emissions contained triphenylbenzene and relatively high concentrations of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Sb), making these useful markers of this source. A variety of cooking stoves and fires fueled with dung, hardwood, twigs, and/or other biofuels were studied. The use of dung for cooking and heating produced higher EFPM2.5 than other biofuel sources and consistently emitted more PM2.5 and OC than burning hardwood and/or twigs; this trend was consistent across traditional mud stoves, chimney stoves, and three-stone cooking fires. The comparisons of different cooking stoves and cooking fires revealed the highest PM emissions from three-stone cooking fires (7.6–73 g kg−1), followed by traditional mud stoves (5.3–19.7 g kg−1), mud stoves with a chimney for exhaust (3.0–6.8 g kg−1), rocket stoves (1.5–7.2 g kg−1), induced-draft stoves (1.2–5.7 g kg−1), and the bhuse chulo stove (3.2 g kg−1), while biogas had no detectable PM emissions. Idling motorcycle emissions were evaluated before and after routine servicing at a local shop, which decreased EFPM2.5 from 8.8 ± 1.3 to 0.71 ± 0.45 g kg−1 when averaged across five motorcycles. Organic species analysis indicated that this reduction in PM2.5 was largely due to a decrease in emission of motor oil, probably from the crankcase. The EF and chemical emissions profiles developed in this study may be used for source apportionment and to update regional emission inventories.


The current Mobile IPv6 and NEMO specifications support IPv6 only.
This specification extends those standards to allow the registration
of IPv4 addresses and prefixes, respectively, and the transport of
both IPv4 and IPv6 packets over the tunnel to the home agent. This
specification also allows the Mobile Node to roam over both IPv6 and
IPv4, including the case where Network Address Translation is present
on the path between the mobile node and its home agent.


The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison Jeffrey Reiman 2016-11-10 For nearly 40 years, this classic text has taken the issue of economic inequality seriously and asked: Why are our prisons filled with the poor? Why aren't the tools of the criminal justice system being used to protect Americans from predatory business practices and to punish well-off people who cause widespread harm? The Rich Get Richer shows readers that much that goes on in the criminal justice system violates citizens' sense of basic fairness. It presents extensive evidence from mainstream data that the criminal justice system does not function in the way it says it does nor in the way that readers believe it should. The authors develop a theoretical perspective from which readers might understand these failures and evaluate them morally—and they to do it in a short and relatively inexpensive text written in plain language. New to this edition: Presents recent data comparing the harms due to criminal activity with the harms of dangerous—but not criminal—corporate actions Presents new data on recent crime rate declines, which are paired with data on how public safety is not prioritized by the U.S. government Updates statistics on crime, victimization, wealth and discrimination, plus coverage of the increasing role of criminal justice fines and fees in generating revenue for government Updates on the costs to society of white-collar crime Updates and deepened analysis of why fundamental reforms are not undertaken Streamlined and condensed prose for greater clarity


SUMMARY Checkpoint inhibitors have substantially improved the prognosis for patients with advanced malignancy. Treatment with immunomodulants has the ability to reactivate the immune system against tumor cells, but can also trigger the development of immune-related adverse events that reflects a loss of tolerance of the immune system for self-antigens. Regarding the endocrine system, thyroid and pituitary are the most frequent glands involved; in particular hypophysitis is commonly observed with anti-CTLA4 with a variable impaired anterior pituitary dysfunction (mainly ACTH and TSH dysregulation) while a posterior pituitary dysfunction has been rarely described. A 68-year-old man with a diagnosis of metastatic mesothelioma started in September 2016 first-line treatment with tremelimumab and durvalumab. After 3 cycles he presented sudden onset of polydipsia and polyuria without other symptoms. Diagnostic work-up, including a water deprivation test, established a diagnosis of central diabetes insipidus. Patient started sublingual desmopressin 60 mcg three times a day, that was subsequently increased up to 480 mcg/die. At magnetic resonance imaging the posterior lobe of pituitary gland did not show high signal intensity on T1-weighted images. After regression of diabetes insipidus symptoms under desmopressin, patient restarted cancer treatment and received additional 10 doses without worsening of endocrinological toxicity or further treatment-related toxicities, maintaining the same desmopressin dosage. Posterior pituitary dysfunction has been rarely observed in patients treated with immunomodulants. To our knowledge, this is the first observation of permanent central diabetes insipidus in patients treated with combined immune checkpoint inhibitors (tremelimumab and durvalumab).


The research aimed to explore if the information in the Australian Bill of Quantities (BOQ) was presented in a manner that could be utilized effectively by the end user. Populations surveyed; contractor, subcontractor and quantity surveyor, agree that the BOQ is a document that should be retained and would be used if produced. The adequacy of information was found to be in question by the users of the BOQ. The locational information is not adequate for its purpose. The quantities are neither located in the structure nor broken down into zones so useful for material ordering, daily work production management and cost management tasks. This information provided was requested to be supplemented by the inclusion of drawings, drawing numbers and the zonal breakdown of quantities in a smaller number of BOQ items. End users concluded that the current information contained within the BOQ is efficient but not effective. Not one participant — quantity surveyors, contractors and subcontractors — believed they were adequately consulted or represented in production of the latest Standard Method of Measurement (SMM). It is concluded that there is a need for end-users such as contractors and subcontractors to have greater input into the design, development and implementation of the Australian SMM. The resultant "consensus document" could then be an effective communication tool that is used for estimating, planning, purchasing and site management.


The paper discusses a number of issues related to the treatment of trade credit internationally, a priori (treatment by banking regulators) and a posteriori (treatment by debtors and creditors in the case of default), which are currently of interest to the trade finance community, in particular the traditional providers of trade credit and guarantees, such as banks, export credit agencies, regional development banks, and multilateral agencies. The paper does not deal with the specific issue of regulation of official insured-export credit, under the OECD Arrangement, which is a specific matter left out of this analysis. Traditionally, trade finance has received preferred treatment on the part of national and international regulators, as well as by international financial agencies in the treatment of trade finance claims, on grounds that trade finance was one of the safest, most collateralized, and self-liquidating forms of trade finance. Preferred treatment of trade finance also reflects the systemic importance of trade, as in sovereign or private defaults a priority is to treat expeditiously trade lines of credits to allow for such credit to be restored and trade to flow again. It is not only a matter of urgency for essential imports to be financed, but also a pre-condition for economic recovery, as the resumption of trade is necessary for ailing countries to restore balance of payments equilibrium. The relatively favourable treatment received by trade finance was reflected in the moderate rate of capitalization for cross-border trade credit in the form of letters of credit and similar securitized instruments under the Basel I regulatory framework, put in place in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, as the banking and regulatory communities moved towards internal-rating based and risk-weighted assets systems under the successor Basel II framework, a number of complaints emerged with respect to the treatment of trade credit particularly in periods of crisis. Issues of pro-cyclicality, maturity structure and country risk have been discussed at some length in various fora, including in the WTO at the initiative of Members. Part of the issue was that Basel II regulation was designed and implemented in a manner that, in periods of banking retrenchment, seemed to have affected the supply of trade credit more than other potentially more risky forms of lending. With the collapse of trade in late 2008 and early 2009, the regulatory treatment of trade credit under Basel II clearly became an issue and was discussed by professional banking organizations, regulators and international financial institutions. A sentence made its headway into the communique of G-20 Leaders in London in April 2009, calling upon regulators to exercise some flexibility in the application of Basel II rules, in support of trade finance. As the issue of removing the obstacles to the supply of trade finance spread became part of the public debate, discussions with respect to the regulatory treatment of trade finance in the context of the making of Basel III rules are now raising political attention.


The increased use of technology in legal practice requires law schools to provide students with effective learning opportunities to prepare them for future practice. Clinical legal education (CLE) provides a suitable framework within which to introduce students to the increased demands of legal practice in the technology age. Skills such as familiarity with online systems and resources, as well as coding skills may prove desirable in future law graduates and could be incorporated successfully within a clinical framework. CLE also provides an opportunity for students to learn about digital disruption in the legal industry and new models of legal practice affecting access to justice. Advances in technology have increased opportunities to provide members of the community with solution centred access to justice initiatives. Awareness of these products and initiatives can add value to law clinics by incorporating technology-based tools to enhance access to justice. This article investigates the current focus on legal technology in Australian CLE programs and considers how legal technology may be incorporated into existing clinical structures at universities in order to: firstly, prepare law students for technology-based practice requirements after graduation; and secondly, to enhance access to justice for clients or partners of university law clinics.


The 'passion for the real' is a concept that appears in Alain Badiou's 2005 book The Century, a broad synoptic account of the central problems that defined the twentieth century in the realms of politics, art, science, and sexuality. For Badiou, this is the defining passion of the century, its abstract logics identifiable across various disciplines and historical contexts. It has two particular modes: 'purification' and 'subtraction'. In this thesis, I adopt this typology to explore what might be called a 'Ballardian century'. While Badiou focuses predominantly on the ideological conflicts of the early twentieth century and the high drama of the European avant-garde, I use J.G. Ballard's work to survey the passion for the real within a distinctly post-war British context. I trace the purificatory logic expressed in the countercultural politics of figures such as R.D. Laing, in the aesthetics of Brutalism, and in philosophies of science. The thesis examines the use of the word 'real' in Ballard's oeuvre in dialogue with its deployment in these contemporaneous discourses. The philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and the psychoanalysis of Jacques Lacan are introduced so as to provide two comprehensive theories of 'subtraction'. I examine the complex interrelations between these theorists and compare their respective claims pertaining to the basic nature of reality. I go on to explore how their theoretical production and Ballard's literary production is often framed by similar problems, notably the task of providing a psychoanalytically-inflected account of the relationship between intra- and inter-subjective dynamics, or libidinal and political economy. I show how Ballard's writing is expressly concerned with investigating the themes of purification and subtraction in ways that are often remarkably consistent with Deleuzean and Lacanian models. The thesis uses Ballard's fiction to dramatise and scrutinise their concepts, and to provide the basis for a broader political analysis.


The infrared spectral absorptance of HCl was measured experimentally at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 1200°K. The measured spectral absorptance was compared to that calculated from band model theories and from a simple isolated line model. Agreement between calculation and theory was good. The band model calculation fit the data best at high temperature; at low temperature, where the band model theory was less successful, the isolated line theory gave an excellent fit.


The lack of trust and collaboration between Quantity Surveyors (QSs) with other project stakeholders, is impeding their ability to create value and minimize wastes in construction processes. Precisely, the adversity that exists between the client & contractor's quantity surveyors (PQS/CQS) and the rest of the key stakeholders has allowed 'self - interest' to thrive to an extent that it hinders the practicality of achieving true collaboration in practice. Traditionally, QSs within the UK system are popularly known for their commercial management functions i.e., contract advice and cost related roles. But, prevailing customer practice has brought about a 'duality' in the construction model where now QSs functions are separated from that of the project production team (client, designers, constructors). Accordingly, a recent industry report (Modernize or Die), cautioned that the UK industry need to transform to a much higher-level model i.e., manufactured led construction–delivering in a more integrated system (ideally through collaboration). Furthermore, the report also calls on the QS professionals to revalidate their core competencies for the industry to modernize. This shows that many of the QSs functions acting on either side, that amount to multiple transactional interfaces needs to disappear. Through a literature review and in-depth interviews, the study contributes by examining QSs position in a collaborative production setting, revealing how they might collaborate with other stakeholders in construction. In addition, it also revealed an example of practice that shows how QSs can challenge and improve their current position going into collaborative practice.


As a consequence of their size and fragility, small groups depend on cohesion. Central to group continuation are occasions of collective hedonic satisfaction that encourage attachment. These times are popularly labeled fun. While groupness can be the cause of fun, we emphasize the effects of fun, as understood by participants. Shared enjoyment, located in temporal and spatial affordances, creates conditions for communal identification. Such moments serve as commitment devices, building affiliation, modeling positive relations, and moderating interpersonal tension. Further, they encourage retrospective narration, providing an appealing past, an assumed future, and a sense of groupness. The rhetoric of fun supports interactional smoothness in the face of potential ruptures. Building on the authors' field observations and other ethnographies, we argue that both the experience and recall of fun bolster group stability. We conclude by suggesting that additional research must address the role of power and boundary building in the fun moment.


Past efforts to identify areas with higher than average indoor radon concentrations by examining the statistical relationship between local mean concentrations and physical parameters such as the soil radium concentration have been hampered by the variation in local means caused by the small number of homes monitored in most areas. In this paper, indoor radon data from a survey in Minnesota are analyzed to minimize the effect of finite sample size within counties, to determine the true county-to-county variation of indoor radon concentrations in the state, and to find the extent to which this variation is explained by the variation in surficial radium concentration among counties. The analysis uses hierarchical modeling, in which some parameters of interest (such as county geometric mean radon concentrations) are assumed to be drawn from a single population, for which the distributional parameters are estimated from the data. Extensions of this technique, known as random effects regression and mixed effects regression, are used to determine the relationship between predictive variables and indoor radon concentrations; the results are used to refine the predictions of each county's radon levels, resulting in a great decrease in uncertainty. The true county-to-county variation of geometric mean radon levels is found to be substantially less than the county-to-county variation of the observed geometric means, much of which is due to the small sample size in each county. The variation in the logarithm of surficial radium content is shown to explain approximately 80% of the variation of the logarithm of geometric mean radon concentration among counties. The influences of housing and measurement factors, such as whether the monitored home has a basement and whether the measurement was made in a basement, are also discussed. The statistical method can be used to predict mean radon concentrations, or applied to other geographically distributed environmental parameters.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the effects of aerobic training, resistance training, and combined training on mood, body image, and self-esteem in adolescents with obesity.

METHOD
After a 4-week prerandomization treatment, 304 postpubertal adolescents (91 males, 213 females) with obesity ages 14-18 years were randomized to 1 of 4 groups for 22 weeks: aerobic training (n = 75), resistance training (n = 78), combined aerobic and resistance training (n = 75), or nonexercising control (n = 76). All participants received dietary counseling, with a daily energy deficit of 250 kcal. Mood was measured using the Brunel Mood Scale. Body image was assessed using the Multiple Body Self-Relations Questionnaire, and physical self-perceptions and global self-esteem were measured using the Harter Physical Self-Perceptions Questionnaire.

RESULTS
Median adherence was 62%, 56%, and 64% in aerobic, resistance, and combined training, respectively. Resistance and combined training produced greater improvements than control on vigor, and resistance training reduced depressive symptoms. All groups improved on body image and physical self-perceptions, but combined showed greater increases than control on perceived physical conditioning, while only resistance training showed greater increases than controls on global self-esteem. Both combined and resistance training demonstrated greater increases in perceived strength than control. Psychological benefits were more related to better adherence and reductions in body fat than changes in strength or fitness.

CONCLUSION
Resistance training, alone or in combination with aerobic training, may provide psychological benefits in adolescents with overweight or obesity, and therefore could be an alternative to aerobic training for some individuals in the biological and psychological management of adolescent obesity.


The history of Colonial Bluefields Bay diverges from the widely accepted model of eighteenth-century histories of the British Caribbean and imperial Jamaica. The society in Bluefields was not based on sugar because local planters were not wealthy enough to grow or refine it. Nor did the bay thrive as a bustling commercial port like Port Royal but instead simply served as a rendezvous for naval and commercial convoys. Because of its size remoteness and irrelevance to the Imperial economy we might expect to finding in Bluefields Bay a landscape free of Imperial influence. This however was not the case. In 2009 the author conducted a Phase I non-invasive archaeological survey of the bay's seafloor and coastline. This survey revealed the location of an eighteenth-century or early nineteenth-century shallow water anchorage likely used by British ships-of-the-line and relocated and examined remnants of the bay's coastal fortifications and economic centers. Surprisingly this examination of the bay's landscape revealed that the patterns of use types of structures erected and commercial products produced in the region all allude to the prevalence of an Imperial culture in Colonial Bluefields Bay.


Estimating the cardinality of unions and intersections of sets is a problem of interest in OLAP. Large data applications often require the use of approximate methods based on small sketches of the data. We give new estimators for the cardinality of unions and intersection and show they approximate an optimal estimation procedure. These estimators enable the improved accuracy of the streaming MinCount sketch to be exploited in distributed settings. Both theoretical and empirical results demonstrate substantial improvements over existing methods.


The spatio-temporal pattern of Munida rutllanti distribution in the north-western Ionian Sea has been studied. Data were collected during 14 experimental trawl surveys conducted from 1997 to 2010 as part of the international MEDITS project. The hauls were carried out during day-light hours between depths of 10 and 800 m in the spring season. A progressive increase in the abundance index (N/km 2 ) of M. rutllanti was observed from 2000 to 2008, then a sharp decrease was shown in the last two years. The greatest and lowest abundance indices were observed in the Apulian and central Calabrian sub-areas, respectively. The species was collected between 107 and 795 m in depth, with a significant increase and decrease over time in the maximum and minimum depth of finding, respectively. A highly significant increase over time in the mean carapace length was also observed in the whole study area. The widespread occurrence and increasing abundance of this species in the Ionian Sea could be related to the increase in temperature and the variation in hydrographic conditions which occurred in the Ionian basin during the EMT-BiOS phenomenon.