Treatment of urinary tract infections is today a challenge due to the increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant ESBL-producing uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). There is an urgent need for new treatment strategies for multidrug-resistant UPEC and preferably with targets that have low potential for development of resistance. Carbon monoxide-releasing molecules (CORMs) are novel and potent antibacterial agents. The present study examines the transcriptomic targets of CORM-2 in a multidrug-resistant ESBL-producing UPEC isolate in response to a single exposure to CORM-2 and after repeated exposure to CORM-2. The bacterial viability and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) were also examined after repeated exposure to CORM-2. Microarray analysis revealed that a wide range of processes were affected by CORM-2, including a general trend of down-regulation in energy metabolism and biosynthesis pathways and up-regulation of the SOS response and DNA repair. Several genes involved in virulence (ibpB), antibiotic resistance (marAB, mdtABC) and biofilm formation (bhsA, yfgF) were up-regulated, while some genes involved in virulence (kpsC, fepCEG, entABE), antibiotic resistance (evgA) and biofilm formation (artIP) were down-regulated. Repeated exposure to CORM-2 did not alter the gene expression patterns, the growth inhibitory response to CORM-2 or the MIC values for CORM-2, cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim. This study identifies several enriched gene ontologies, modified pathways and single genes that are targeted by CORM-2 in a multidrug-resistant UPEC isolate. Repeated exposure to CORM-2 did not change the gene expression patterns or fold changes and the susceptibility to CORM-2 remained after repeated exposure.


The presence of large transport infrastructure and motorized traffic may limit the mobility of older people, as concerns about collisions and feelings of fear and general unpleasantness due to the exposure to traffic may be a deterrent to walking to nearby places. The resulting effects on social networks have been identified in the landmark study of Appleyard and Lintell in a North American city, while the effects of social networks on health and mortality are also well-demonstrated, but no studies have focused on the relationships between the reduction in social contacts and the health conditions and wellbeing of individuals in communities affected by traffic or transport infrastructure. This paper introduces the Street Mobility and Network Accessibility project, an ongoing research project developing practical tools to enable policy-makers, urban designers and community groups to identify and overcome barriers to walking among older people. The project, based in the UK, is funded by three research councils (EPSRC/ESRC/AHRC) and adopts a multidisciplinary approach, involving researchers from the fields of public health, epidemiology, statistics, economics, transport geography, planning, space syntax, anthropology, and participatory action research. The first part of the paper describes how the methods used by the different disciplines are being integrated and related to strategies for stakeholder and community engagement. The performances of the road and street networks are assessed using video surveys of pedestrian behaviour, auditing of pedestrian infrastructure, and space syntax analysis. Local residents also map their patterns of movement and barriers to mobility in community workshops. A questionnaire was developed to capture individuals' social networks in their neighbourhood, existing travel behaviour, and suppressed demand due to barriers to mobility. A separate stated preference survey measures the economic benefits of reducing those barriers. The results of the analyses are then discussed with the community and local stakeholders The second part of the paper describes the attributes of the problem in two of the neighbourhoods used to develop the tools, both in the Greater London area. In the first case study (Woodberry Down), the limitations to mobility arise because the neighbourhood is surrounded by physical barriers on all sides, including roads, a canal, and water reservoirs. In addition, the neighbourhood is divided by a busy road with a limited number of formal pedestrian crossings. The potential for walking is also limited by the small number of shops and other services within the area, while social networks are affected by the ongoing regeneration of the neighbourhood, creating a divide between the older, less affluent, original residents, and the younger, more affluent new residents. In the second case study (Finchley Road), the limitations to mobility arise from the presence of a busy road with guard rails and height differences separating pedestrian pavements from the carriageway. Mobility is also restricted by the hilly terrain on one side of the road. These barriers limit the access of local populations to local shops but noise and air pollution appear to be a greater disincentive .


Abstract. Indoor mapping is gaining more interest in both research as well as in emerging applications. Building information systems (BIM) and indoor navigation are probably the driving force behind this trend. For accurate mapping, the platform trajectory reconstruction, or in other words sensor orientation, is essential to reduce or even eliminate for extensive ground control. Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is the computation problem of how to simultaneously estimate the platform/sensor trajectory while reconstructing the object space; usually, a real-time operation is assumed. Here we investigate the performance of two LiDAR SLAM tools based on using indoor data, acquired by a remotely controlled robot sensor platform. All comparisons were performed on similar datasets using appropriate metrics and encouraging results were obtained as a consequence of initial test studies yet further research is needed to analyse these tools and their accuracy comprehensively.


Background Fine needle aspiration (FNA) is the modality of choice in the initial characterisation of subcutaneous swellings. The site, distribution, number and clinical association of such swellings determines to a large extent the clinical diagnoses rendered in these cases. Aims and Methods 15 unusual cases of subcutaneous cysticercosis, diagnosed by FNA, which clinically simulated diverse aetiologies, are reported. Results Three cases occurred in patients with known malignancies which were thought to be metastatic deposits. In another nine cases the clinical diagnoses included lymphoma, squamous cell carcinoma, neurofibroma and lipoma. Two cases strongly mimicked tubercular lymphadenitis, while one case occurred in a renal transplant recipient. Conclusions FNA may help diagnosis of a parasitic aetiology in cases where malignancy or tuberculosis is a clinical probability. Cysticercosis should be an integral part of the differential diagnosis of all subcutaneous swellings, regardless of the clinical setting. Helpful cytological clues are discussed.


The HIV epidemic has spawned a scientific effort unprecedented in the history of infectious disease research. This effort has merged aspects of clinical research, basic molecular biology, immunology, cell biology, epidemiology, and mathematical biology in ways that have not been seen before. In The Evolution of HIV Keith A. Crandall brings together researchers from these disciplines to present perspectives on both the molecular biology and molecular evolution of HIV. The book is organized into three sections: "Introduction to HIV" explores the fundamentals of the virus's molecular biology and its global diversity. "Molecular Methods for Studying HIV Diversity" looks at such topics as HIV phylogenetics, modeling the molecular evolution of HIV sequences, the use of phylogenetic inference to test an HIV transmission hypothesis, and coalescent approaches to HIV population genetics. The third section,"Case Studies of HIV Evolution" examines the levels of diversity within and among host individuals, the phylogenetics of known transmission histories, and HIV evolution and disease progression via longitudinal studies. The book will be of interest to researchers and clinicians working on HIV, as well as scientists studying molecular evolution, population genetics, and evolutionary biology. Contributors are John M. Coffin, Keith A. Crandall, Joseph Felsenstein, Walter M. Fitch, Brian Foley, Esther Guzman, Paul H. Harvey, David M. Hillis, Edward C. Holmes, Marcia L. Kalish, Bette T. M. Korber, Julia Krushkal, Carla L. Kuiken, Gerald H. Learn, Thomas Leitner, Wen-Hsiung Li, Francine E. McCutchan, Spencer V. Muse, Oliver G. Pylons, Allen G. Rodrigo, Raj Shankarappa, Richard W. Steketee, Alan R. Templeton, Donald M. Thea, Raphael P. Viscidi, Steven M. Wolinsky.


Food webs as representations of who eats whom are at the core of community ecology. Incorporation of tools from network theory enables assessment of how complex systems respond to natural and human-induced stressors, revealing how harvesting may degrade the properties and resilience of food webs. We present a comprehensive, coastal marine food web that includes 147 taxa cooccurring on shallow subtidal reefs along the highly productive and exploited Humboldt Current System of central Chile. This food web has connectance of 0.06, link density of 1204 and mean chain length of 4.3. The fractions of intermediate (76%), omnivorous (49%) and cannibalistic (8%) nodes are slightly lower than those observed in other marine food webs. Of the 147 nodes, 34 are harvested. Links to harvested nodes represented 50 to 100% of all trophic links of non-harvested nodes, illustrating the great impact that fishery pressure can have on the food web. The food web was compartmentalized into 5 sub-webs with high representation of harvested taxa. This structure changes if the fishery node is removed. Similarity analyses identified groups of harvested species with non-harvested nodes, suggesting that these tropho-equivalents could be sentinel species for the community-wide impacts of coastal fisheries. We conclude that fishing effects can be transmitted throughout the food web, with no compartments completely unaffected by harvesting. It is urgent to establish monitoring programs for community-wide effects of fisheries and assess whether resilience of these highly productive subtidal food webs has al ready been compromised, thereby identifying essential nodes that require stronger fisheries regulation.


Abstract : Process improvement teams are often created and tasked to make complex changes in an organization, but are not provided with the tools necessary for success. This report describes what one team did to successfully install a software testing process in an organization. The principles of a turbo-team approach are introduced and a defined process for working in teams to introduce a new software technology is adapted from the prototype Process Change Guide developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Artifacts of this effort are included and described as examples for other teams to reference. Successes and lessons learned are described.


A plasma device was developed showing high potential for a pesticide-free treatment of pediculosis. As a first safety assessment of the device was presented earlier, this present paper focuses on the damage introduced to human hair during a plasma treatment for pediculosis control. Therefore, human hairs were treated repeatedly to assess the possible occurring damage developing with increasing treatment durations. To analyse the inflicted changes on human hair examinations using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS/ESCA), scanning nearfield optical microscopy (SNOM) and scanning electron microscopy were conducted, to compare the modifications of surface chemistry and mechanical alterations. The investigations revealed a mild impact on the surface chemistry (XPS/SNOM), while more distinct morphological changes on the hair surface could be observed. The authors conclude that an effect of the plasma comb device on the hair during a real-life treatment is negligible, due to the very short contact times during a standard combing procedure for pediculosis control.


ABSTRACT Recent publications have demonstrated that the protease caspase-1 is responsible for the processing of pro-interleukin 18 (IL-18) into the active form. Studies on cell lines and murine macrophages have shown that the bacterial invasion factor SipB activates caspase-1, triggering cell death. Thus, we investigated the role of SipB in the activation and release of IL-18 in human alveolar macrophages (AM), which are the first line of defense against inhaled pathogens. Under steady-state conditions, AM are a more important source of IL-18 than are dendritic cells (DC) and monocytes. Cytokine production by AM and DC was compared after both types of cells had been infected with a virulent strain of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and an isogenic sipB mutant, which were used as an infection model. Infection with virulent Salmonella led to marked cell death with features of apoptosis while both intracellular activation and release of IL-18 were demonstrated. In contrast, the sipB mutant did not induce such cell death or the release of active IL-18. The specific caspase-1 inhibitor Ac-YVAD-CMK blocked the early IL-18 release in AM infected with the virulent strain. However, the type of Salmonella infection did not differentially regulate IL-18 gene expression. We concluded that the bacterial virulence factor SipB plays an essential posttranslational role in the intracellular activation of IL-18 and the release of the cytokine in human AM.


Passage of the replication fork through telomeric repeats necessitates additional DNA processing by DNA repair factors, to regenerate the terminal 3'-overhang structure at leading telomeres. These factors are prevented from promoting telomeric recombination or fusion by an uncharacterized mechanism. Here we show that Rad5, a DNA helicase and ubiquitin ligase involved in the DNA damage tolerance pathway, participates in this mechanism. Rad5 is enriched at telomeres during telomere replication. Accelerated senescence seen in the absence of telomerase and Rad5, can be compensated for by a pathway involving the Rad51 recombinase and counteracted by the helicase Srs2. However, this pathway is only active at short telomeres. Instead, the ubiquitous activity of Rad5 during telomere replication is necessary for the proper reconstitution of the telomeric 3'-overhang, indicating that Rad5 is required to coordinate telomere maturation during telomere replication.


From the 1970s onwards, public debates on the history of the anti-homosexual prosecution during the Second World War gained in intensity in the Netherlands. Representatives of homosexual organisations challenged the national government to recognize the Dutch victims of anti-homosexual Nazi-persecution. The Dutch government opposed such recognition without proof of anti-homosexual persecutions during the occupational years. Dutch historians were greatly influenced by these debates. Against the background of the literature on the horrendous fate of homosexuals in the Third Reich, Dutch publications were primarily concerned with similarities between the Dutch and German histories in the Nazi-era. The statistics, which showed a stagnation – and not an intensification – in the numbers of anti-homosexual prosecutions during the occupational years, sat uneasily with this tendency in historiography. Guilty Sex rewrites the history of homosexual prosecution in the 1940s Netherlands in two respects. First, Guilty sex focuses on the differences between the German and Dutch stories, placing the stagnation in anti-homosexual court cases firmly within the Dutch history of homosexuality. Secondly, contrary to the existing body of Dutch war-literature, Guilty sex approaches 'homosexuality' as a variable rather than a given – in the tradition of Michel Foucault and David Halperin. This research analyses the daily practices of police officers, legal officials and forensic experts in the court district of The Hague during the pre-war years, the occupational period and the post-war years. Within these daily practices the main focus lies with the ways in which 'homosexuality' was conceptualised by the different agents involved in the legal proceedings against the defendants of homosexual sex crimes. Guilty sex shows that the German concept of 'homosexuality' – inscribed in the German anti-homosexual verdict VO 81/1940 criminalising sex between all men – never governed the daily routines in the court district of The Hague. In The Hague the Dutch concept of 'homosexuality' – criminalising same-sex sexual relations between adults and persons under the age of 21 years (article 248 bis of the Dutch Criminal Code) – guided legal investigations into homosexual sex crimes, even during the years of the German occupation. Whereas the German verdict enabled the police to bring a case against the youth, the officers within the court district of The Hague were accustomed to envisioning homosexual sex offenders as older men, who seduced and corrupted younger men. They were blind to, even resistant to, the image of younger men actively seeking homosexual relations with other men. Although the literature on homosexuality in the twentieth century in the Netherlands has marked off the years of the occupation as an era of discontinuities, Guilty sex aims to revise this reading. The post-war years are indicated as the era of symbolic changes, not in the least because of the emergence of a self-assured and confident mode of speaking on the part of the defendants. Remarkably, from the late 1940s onward, defendants began claiming human rights in the legal proceedings against them. Guilty sex contributes to a new understanding of the twentieth century history of homosexuality.


Throughout the animal kingdom, larger males are more likely to attain social dominance. Several lines of evidence suggest that this relationship extends to humans, as height is positively related to dominance, status and authority. We hypothesized that height is also a determinant of authority in professional refereeing. According to the International Football Association Board, FIFA, football ("soccer") referees have full authority to enforce the laws of the game and should use their body language to show authority and to help control the match. We show that height is indeed positively related to authority status: referees were taller than their assistants (who merely have an advisory role) in both a national (French League) and an international (World Cup 2010) tournament. Furthermore, using data from the German League, we found that height was positively associated with authoritative behavior. Taller referees were better able to maintain control of the game by giving fewer fouls, thereby increasing the "flow of the game". Referee height was also positively associated with perceived referee competence, as taller referees were assigned to matches in which the visiting team had a higher ranking. Thus, height appears to be positively related to authority in professional refereeing.


In this paper we propose an equilibrium model that allows to analyze subsidization schemes to affect locational choices for generation investment in electricity markets. Our framework takes into account generation investment decided by private investors and redispatch as well as network expansion decided by a regulated transmission system operator. In order to take into account the different objectives and decision variables of those agents, our approach uses a bi-level structure. We focus on the case of regionally differentiated network fees which have to be paid by generators (a so called g-component). The resulting investment and production decisions are compared to the outcome of an equilibrium model in the absence of such regionally differentiated investment incentives and to an overall optimal (first-best) benchmark. To illustrate possible economic effects, we calibrate our framework with data from the German electricity market. Our results reveal that while regionally differentiated network fees do have a significant impact on locational choice of generation capacities, we do not find significant effects on either welfare or network expansion.


This Article proposes a new theory of religious liberty in the United States: it hypothesizes that a person's religious freedom is dependent on their political power. Following the Supreme Court's 1990 decision of Employment Division v. Smith, the legislature has sole control over the enactment of accommodations and exemptions from laws of general application for religious adherents. This Article argues that post-Smith accounts of religious liberty and pluralism fail to systematically analyze the relationship between religious liberty and legislative exemptions. To this end, the Article proposes a unique public choice model that hypothesizes that legislative accommodations and exemptions may result from a complex process in which legislators weigh the gains derived from the prospective exemption or accommodation - in terms of constituent voting support - against the costs borne. By modeling legislative accommodations as the result of benefit-maximizing behavior, the Article is proposing a significant paradigm shift that postulates a new, and unasked, question: whether the legislature is overly responsive to majoritarian interests at the expense of minority religious liberty.


Since its launch in December 1999, Terra MODIS has been making continuous Earth observations for more than seven years. It has produced a broad range of land, ocean, and atmospheric science data products for improvements in studies of global climate and environmental change. Among its 36 spectral bands, there are 20 reflective solar bands and 16 thermal emissive bands (TEBs). MODIS TEBs cover the mid-wave infrared and long-wave infrared spectral regions with wavelengths from 3.7 to 14.4 . They are calibrated on-orbit using an onboard blackbody (BB) with its temperature measured by a set of thermistors on a scan-by-scan basis. This paper will provide a brief overview of MODIS TEB calibration and characterization methodologies and illustrate onboard BB functions and TEB performance over more than seven years of on-orbit operation and calibration. Discussions will be focused on TEB detector short-term stability and noise characterization and changes in long-term response (or system gain). Results show that Terra MODIS BB operation has been extremely stable since launch. When operated at its nominal controlled temperature of 290 K, the BB temperature variation is typically less than 0.30 mK on a scan-by-scan basis, and there has been no time-dependent temperature drift. In addition to excellent short-term stability, most TEB detectors continue to meet or exceed their specified noise characterization requirements, thus enabling calibration accuracy and science data product quality to be maintained. Excluding the noisy detectors identified prelaunch and those that occurred postlaunch, the changes in TEB responses have been less than 0.7% on an annual basis. The optical leak corrections applied to bands 32-36 have been effective and stable over the entire mission.


We report experimental results on magnetic properties of our fabricated nickel nanodot arrays studied with magnetic force microscopy (MFM) and magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE). Arrays of nickel dots with different size and periodicity were fabricated by electron-beam (E-B) lithography and lift-off processes. 50 nm thick arrays (200 nm × 200 nm) of nickel dots exhibit that the magnetization occurs independently in terms of the direction of applied field, while smaller arrays (120 nm × 80 nm) with thicknesses ranging from 12 nm to 35 nm show the effect of size and configuration of arrays whose magnetic responses are different. Thinner dots in such array seem to assume single domain state with a preferential easy and hard axis in the array, but thicker dots show a vortex type remanent magnetization. We ascribe the existence of the preferential magnetization axis to a dipolar-dipolar interaction due to small separation of single domain dots.


This paper provides new empirical evidence on delinking trends concerning emission-related indicators in Italy. We discuss methodological issues regarding the analysis of delinking and examine the related Environmental Kuznets Curves (EKC) literature to explore and assess the most value added research lines after more than a decade of intensive research in the field. The main contribution of the paper is in providing EKC evidence exploiting environmental-economic merged panel datasets at a decentralized level exploiting long time series and rich cross section heterogeneity at both sectoral and provincial level. This crucially augments the unsatisfactory outcomes deriving from cross country analyses, which are less informative for policy purposes since they provide averages for environmental-economic relationships. Two panel datasets: 1990-2000 emissions at province level; and sectoral disaggregated NAMEA emissions sources for 1990-2001 are analyzed. We find mixed evidence supporting the EKC hypothesis. Some of the pollutants in the NAMEA data, such as CO2, CH4 and CO, produce inverted-U shaped curves with coherent within range turning points. Other emission trends for the period under consideration show monotonic or even N shaped (SOX, NOX, PM10) relationship. Other emissions show relatively less robust results, with mixed evidence arising from different specifications. This partially confirms some of the criticisms directed to EKC empirical investigations. However, our analysis shows that probably there is no single EKC dynamic, but rather many EKC dynamics, differing depending on (i) period of observation; (ii) country/area; (iii) emissions/environmental pressures; (iv) sectors. Sectoral disaggregated analysis highlights that an aggregated outcome should hide some heterogeneity across different sectors. Services tend to present an inverted-N shape in most cases. Manufacturing industry shows a mix of EKC inverted- U and N shapes, depending on the emission considered. The same is true for industry (all industries, not only manufacturing): though a turning point has been experienced, N shapes may lead to increased emissions with respect to very high levels of the income driver. The analysis of provincial data shows that inverted-U shaped curves are present for some of the emissions in the SINAnet- APAT database, such as CH4, NMVOC, CO and PM10, with coherent within range turning points. Other emission trends show a monotonic relationship (CO2 and N2O), or in some cases an inverted-N shaped relationship (SOX and NOX). This kind of analysis at macro sector and/or specific sector level appear to be the most promising and robust field of future research for the assessment of EKC dynamics. National studies grounded in geographical heterogeneity, rather than regional/international analysis, and focused on sectoral trends, are more informative for policy making. The implementation of such investigations needs larger datasets than are currently available. We thus point to the need for increasing and continual effort on constructing integrated environmental/economic statistical accounts.


Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). While the etiology of MS is still largely unknown, scientists believe that the interaction of several endogenous and exogenous factors may be involved in this disease. Epidemiologists have seen an increased prevalence of MS in countries at high latitudes, where the sunlight is limited and where the populations have vitamin D deficiency and high melatonin levels. Although the functions and synthesis of vitamin D and melatonin are contrary to each other, both are involved in the immune system. While melatonin synthesis is affected by light, vitamin D deficiency may be involved in melatonin secretion. On the other hand, vitamin D deficiency reduces intestinal calcium absorption leading to gut stasis and subsequently increasing gut permeability. The latter allows gut microbiota to transfer more endotoxins such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS) into the blood. LPS stimulates the production of inflammatory cytokines within the CNS, especially the pineal gland. This review summarizes the current findings on the correlation between latitude, sunlight and vitamin D, and details their effects on intestinal calcium absorption, gut microbiota and neuroinflammatory mediators in MS. We also propose a new mechanistic pathway for the initiation of MS.


The development of the district of the Eixample started in 1860. During 90 years of
construction, the repeatable model that gives the characteristic homogeneity to the district was improved and perfected. As a result of this process, the Eixample district is today, without any doubts, the most representative of the central part of the city of Barcelona.
The district of the Eixample has the second highest population density in Spain and nearly 70% of its buildings have a structural system that consists of unreinforced masonry bearing walls. During post-earthquake surveys performed on different historic European towns with this typology of buildings, collapse mechanisms that involve only localized portions of the building and not the entire structure have been identified. In this study, a seismic analysis of local collapse mechanisms is performed on a building that represents well the typology found in the district. The selected building corresponds to the "band" building plan configuration, located at the sides of the square blocks that conform the district.
The capacity spectrum method for local collapse mechanisms proposed by the Italian
Normative DM-14-01-08 is used in this study to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of the
typical unreinforced masonry buildings of the Eixample district. In this methodology the
capacity curve is determined based on the equilibrium limit analysis, in particular the
kinematic approach (Heyman, 1966). The seismic hazard is characterized by the demand
spectra formulated by the Eurocode 8, the Spanish normative NCSE-02, and by demand
spectra developed for the city of Barcelona by Irizarry (2004) using probabilistic and
deterministic approaches. As part of the study a strengthening intervention is proposed.
The results of the analysis indicate that the safety of out-of-plane mechanisms is not verified when the NCSE-02 types III and IV, and the Probabilistic Zone I spectra are considered. In several cases, the instability of the floor framing system due to the loss of support of the beams on the bearing walls controls the safety verification. Conversely, the in-plane
mechanisms are safe for the seismic scenarios considered. The results of a parametric study
reveal that the actual support length of the beams on the walls has a significant impact on the safety verification of the mechanisms, especially when frictional restrain forces are considered. The proposed intervention using steel ties effectively restrains the development of out-of-plane mechanisms and ensures the stability of the floor framing system. The study highlights the considerable seismic risk of the masonry buildings of the Eixample district.


From 1211 until its loss to the Ottomans in 1669, the Greek island we know as Crete was the Venetian colony of Candia. Ruled by a paid civil service fully accountable to the Venetian Senate, Candia was distinct from nearly every other colony of the medieval period for the unprecedented degree to which the colonial power was involved in its governance. Yet, for Sally McKee, the importance of the Cretan colony only begins with the anomalous manner of the Venetian state's rule. Uncommon Dominion tells the story of Venetian Crete, the home of two recognizably distinct ethnic communities, the Latins and the Greeks. The application of Venetian law to the colony made it possible for the colonial power to create and maintain a fiction of ethnic distinctness. The Greeks were subordinate to the Latins economically, politically, and juridically, yet within a century of Venetian colonization, the ethnic differences between Latin and Greek Cretans in daily material life were significantly blurred. Members of the groups intermarried, many of them learned each other's language, and some even chose to worship by the rites of the other's church. Holding up ample evidence of acculturation and miscegenation by the colony's inhabitants, McKee uncovers the colonial forces that promoted the persistence of ethnic labeling despite the lack of any clear demarcation between the two predominant communities. As McKee argues, the concept of ethnic identity was largely determined by gender, religion, and social status, especially by the Latin and Greek elites in their complex and frequently antagonistic social relationships. Drawing expertly from notarial and court records, as well as legislative and literary sources, Uncommon Dominion offers a unique study of ethnicity in the medieval and early modern periods. Students and scholars in medieval, colonial, and postcolonial studies will find much of use in studying this remarkable colonial experiment.


The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study is a study of the effects of a high-quality preschool program for children born in poverty. Randomly assigning 123 children to program or no-program control groups, the study has had little attrition on a variety of measures from age 3 to age 41. It found evidence of preschool program effects on children's readiness for school and their subsequent educational success, economic success in early adulthood, and reduced number of criminal arrests throughout their lives. These benefits add up to a large return on public investment. This study combines with the Abecedarian Study and the Chicago Child-Parent Centers Study presented in this session to provide strong, robust evidence of the lasting effects of high-quality preschool programs on young children living in poverty. The continuing challenge is to take such programs to scale so that all preschool programs for young children living in poverty have similar effects.


Geochemical identification of Mount Mazama ash in the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) ice core gives a calendrical age of 7627 ± 150 cal yr B.P. (5677 ± 150 B.C.) for the eruption, thus providing a more accurate early Holocene stratigraphic time line than previously available. The GISP2 record of volcanically derived sulfate suggests a total stratospheric aerosol loading between 88 and 224 Mt spread over an ∼6 yr period following the eruption of Mount Mazama. Taking into account the likelihood of some tropospheric aerosol transport to Greenland, realistic estimates of the resulting atmospheric optical depth range from 0.6 to 1.5. These values may have produced a temperature depression of ∼0.6 to 0.7 °C at mid to high northern latitudes for 1–3 yr after the eruption. These results indicate that the 5677 B.C. eruption of Mount Mazama was one of the most climatically significant volcanic events of the Holocene in the Northern Hemisphere. We also calculate a maximum stratospheric Cl − release of 8.1 Mt by the eruption, which may have led to substantial stratospheric ozone depletion.


The chronology presented was constructed in the hope of answering two specific questions. It was intended to assess the potential of dendrochronology in an area where no previous investigations had taken place. In addition it was necessary as a step towards assessing the cross agreements between different areas within the British Isles. The resulting 1030 year chronology has shown the potential usefulness of the method in Scotland and allowed the suggestion of larger tree -ring areas within the British Isles than have previously been supposed.


Mobile banking represents an important addition to retail banks' digital banking channels and a salient tool for servicing both current and future customers. However, given the cybernetic nature of mobile banking, there is a certain degree of uncertainty and perceived risk associated with the use thereof. This uncertainty and perceived risk elevate the importance of trust in fostering mobile banking adoption. The Generation Y cohort, which encompasses today's youth, represents an important current and future banking segment and their adoption of mobile banking channels could have a significant effect on the cost of servicing members of this cohort. Understanding the factors that positively contribute to the Generation Y cohort's trust in mobile banking will help retail banks to better market their mobile banking channels to members of this cohort and thereby foster greater adoption of such channels. The study reported in this article considers the influence of the perceived integrity of the bank and the perceived system quality of mobile banking on Generation Y students' perceived trust in mobile banking in the South African context. Data were gathered from a convenience sample of 334 students registered at three public South African university campuses using a self-administered questionnaire. The gathered data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and bivariate regression analysis. The results of the study suggest that Generation Y students' perceived integrity of a bank, together with the perceived system quality of mobile banking, has a significant positive influence on their perceived trust in mobile banking.


Determination of soil particle-size distribution (PSD) by sieving, hydrometer, and pipette methods as well as by laser diffraction (LD) suffers from inherent flaws, mainly due to the difficulty in defining the size of irregularly shaped particles. Therefore these methods yield only estimates of PSD. The objective of this study was to determine whether a functional relationship exists between the PSDs obtained by the combined sieve-pipette method and those obtained by LD. Samples from 42 California soils were analyzed. For the LD measurements a Beckman-Coulter LS-230 apparatus with a 750-nm laser beam that measures particles in the range of 0.04 to 2000 μm was used, employing the Mie theory for the PSD calculations. Values of 1.5 and 0.2 for the real part and the imaginary term of the refractive index (RI), respectively, gave satisfactory results for the optical model calculations. Volume percentage of the clay-size fraction obtained by LD was generally lower than mass percentage of the clay fraction derived by the pipette method. The opposite trend was noted for the silt-size fraction. Coefficients of determination for the regression equations for the day, silt, and sand fractions determined by the two methods were 0.702, 0.689, and 0.821, respectively. Good agreement between measured and calculated LD values for one size class was accompanied by poor agreement between measured and calculated values for the other. The LD method provides a continuous PSD curve, which enables a detailed data analysis and a flexible application of different particle-size dependent classification systems.


The work presented in this thesis outlines our efforts to synthesize alkaline earth metal coordination complexes that could potentially serve as gas storage and synthetic precursor materials. The properties of these complexes are heavily influenced by factors such as the propensity to aggregate and the absence of energetically available d-orbitals which provide directionality. These often pose a challenge in obtaining suitable, stable compounds. Some challenges in the crystallization of alkaline earth coordination complexes involve the precipitation of insoluble aggregates. Thus, a great part of the work focused on studying suitable reaction conditions towards the formation of X-ray quality crystals for structural elucidation. Slow concentration and hydro/solvothermal techniques, amongst others, were prime crystallization methods in this work. The bulk of this thesis is divided in two parts. The first part details our attempts to synthesize metal organic frameworks (MOFs) of Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba. Our ligands of choice were the p, m, o-pyridinecarboxylic acids which provide two different binding sites. These consist of an N-donor and an anionic carboxylic acid, the N-donor located at different positions in the pyridyl ring depending on the isomer. These are also of low cost and soluble in different organic solvents. The use of pyridinecarboxylic acids resulted in the systematic isolation of five magnesium coordination complexes, three of which exhibit open-framework character and remain stable after removal of guests, and two of which are hydrogen bonded networks. Further, systematic work with the heavier metals resulted in three fully 3-dimensional complexes based on Ca, Sr and Ba and one hydrogen-bonded Ca complex. A pattern is observed when using the linear p or angular m-pyridinecarboxylic acid in the presence of MeOH/DMF mixtures, in which 3-dimensional motifs with open-framework (p) and dense (m) character (Mg, Ca and Sr) are displayed. The dimensionality decreases in the presence of water or strongly coordinating donors, leading to the formation of hydrogen bound or 2-dimensional complexes. The second part of this thesis involves the isolation of crown stabilized alkaline earth tosylates. The work resulted in the isolation of four new crown stabilized alkaline earth tosylates. Trends observed include an increase in coordination number as the size of the metal increases. Variation of crown:metal stoichiometry was also studied and resulted in two different calcium species displaying fully separated (1:1) and contact separated (1:2) ion association modes. For Sr and Ba, (1:1) stoichiometries resulted in hydrogen bound contact species. This thesis provides a selection of alkaline earth metal coordination complexes. The preparation of these complexes has led to the elucidation of their synthetic routes. Full characterization of the complexes is also provided. Coordination polymers of the alkaline earth metals for applications in synthesis and gas storage By: Peter Josué Rosado Flores Department of Chemistry, Syracuse University M. Phil. in Chemistry, Syracuse University


English has become the dominant language for internet users throughout the world and the internet has had its own impact on the English language. The main aim for this essay is to compare and contrast different online discussion forums and other related online discourses in order to show how meaning is created and to identify any differences that may exist depending on the forum. To do this, I have chosen specific features of language and analyzed their use in a number of different online sources.The research has shown that most of the language features commonly used in everyday speech are also present online. There is a difference in which features are used, where, and how frequently they occur, but the determining factor differs depending on the feature; the use of some features depends on the topic while the use of others depends on the website.The overall conclusion of the research is that the language on the websites used as primary data is not at all simplified in comparison to spoken language. The same language features and conventions are still used and understood in the same way as spoken language.


The Smart Grid security ecosystem is complex and multi-disciplinary, and relatively under-researched compared to the traditional information and network security disciplines. While the Smart Grid has provided increased efficiencies in monitoring power usage, directing power supplies to serve peak power needs and improving efficiency of power delivery, the Smart Grid has also opened the way for information security breaches and other types of security breaches. Potential threats range from meter manipulation to directed, high-impact attacks on critical infrastructure that could bring down regional or national power grids. It is essential that security measures are put in place to ensure that the Smart Grid does not succumb to these threats and to safeguard this critical infrastructure at all times. Dr. Florian Skopik is one of the leading researchers in Smart Grid security, having organized and led research consortia and panel discussions in this field. Smart Grid Security will provide the first truly holistic view of leading edge Smart Grid security research. This book does not focus on vendor-specific solutions, instead providing a complete presentation of forward-looking research in all areas of Smart Grid security. The book will enable practitioners to learn about upcoming trends, scientists to share new directions in research, and government and industry decision-makers to prepare for major strategic decisions regarding implementation of Smart Grid technology.Presents the most current and leading edge research on Smart Grid security from a holistic standpoint, featuring a panel of top experts in the field.Includes coverage of risk management, operational security, and secure development of the Smart Grid.Covers key technical topics, including threat types and attack vectors, threat case studies, smart metering, smart home, e- mobility, smart buildings, DERs, demand response management, distribution grid operators, transmission grid operators, virtual power plants, resilient architectures, communications protocols and encryption, as well as physical security.


From the Publisher:
The key to client/server computing.
Transaction processing techniques are deeply ingrained in the fields of databases and operating systems and are used to monitor, control and update information in modern computer systems. This book will show you how large, distributed, heterogeneous computer systems can be made to work reliably. Using transactions as a unifying conceptual framework, the authors show how to build high-performance distributed systems and high-availability applications with finite budgets and risk.

The authors provide detailed explanations of why various problems occur as well as practical, usable techniques for their solution. Throughout the book, examples and techniques are drawn from the most successful commercial and research systems. Extensive use of compilable C code fragments demonstrates the many transaction processing algorithms presented in the book. The book will be valuable to anyone interested in implementing distributed systems or client/server architectures.


Here we show that the transport properties and electrochemical performance of polyelectrolyte membranes are improved through the dispersion of chitosan-wrapped carbon nanotubes, for direct methanol fuel cell applications. Methanol permeability is reduced via improving the interfacial interactions and the solubilization of CNTs in the Nafion matrix, as well as inducing the formation of long-range oriented conduction pathways in the vicinity of the decorated one-dimensional nanostructure. The improved membrane selectivity results in a considerably enhanced fuel cell efficiency (16% vs. 11%) and a power generation capacity more than two times higher (110 mW cm−2vs. 47 mW cm−2) in a concentrated methanol solution (5 M), in comparison with the commercial Nafion®117 membrane.


Abstract The production of cylindrical targets involves numerous steps. These steps are shared in common with many other types of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) targets but no other single target encompasses such a wide range of fabrication techniques. These targets consist of a large number of individual parts, virtually all fabricated from commercially purchased raw material. As an example, the polystyrene used is synthesized in house from purchased monomer material. This material must be polymerized, purified, characterized and put into solution before it is even first used in the making of a target. Because virtually every manufacturing and assembly process we currently use is involved in the production of these targets, this paper is written as a way documenting the methods used.


Macabea cattle are the only Bos taurus breed that have adapted to the wet tropical conditions of the Amazon. This breed has integrated into the culture of the indigenous Shuar-Asuar nations probably since its origins, being one of the few European zoogenetic resources assimilated by the deep-jungle Amazon communities. Despite its potential for local endogenous sustainable development, this breed is currently endangered. The present study used molecular genetics tools to investigate the within- and between-breeds diversity, in order to characterize the breed population, define its associations with other breeds, and infer its origin and evolution. The within-breed genetic diversity showed high values, as indicated by all genetic parameters, such as the mean number of alleles (MNA = 7.25±2.03), the observed heterozygosity (Ho = 0.72±0.02) and the expected heterozygosity (He = 0.72±0.02). The between-breeds diversity analysis, which included factorial correspondence analysis, Reynolds genetic distance, neighbor-joining analysis, and genetic structure analysis, showed that the Macabea breed belongs to the group of the American Creoles, with a Southern-Spain origin. Our outcomes demonstrated that the Macabea breed has a high level of purity and null influences of exotic cosmopolitan breeds with European or Asiatic origin. This breed is an important zoogenetic resource of Ecuador, with relevant and unique attributes; therefore, there is an urgent need to develop conservation strategies for the Macabea breed.


Abstract. This short paper presents phase and coherence data from the cross-wavelet transform applied on longitudinally separated very high frequency (VHF) equatorial ionospheric scintillation observations over Christmas Island. The phase and coherence analyses were employed on a pair of scintillation observations, namely, the east-looking and west-looking VHF scintillation monitors at Christmas Island. Our analysis includes 3 years of peak season scintillation data from 2008, 2009 (low solar activity), and 2011 (moderate solar activity). In statistically significant and high spectral coherence regions of the cross-wavelet transform, scintillation observations from the east-looking monitor lead those from the west-looking monitor by about 20 to 60 (40 ± 20) min (most frequent lead times). Using several years (seasons and solar cycle) of lead (or lag) and coherence information of the cross-wavelet transform, we envisage construction of a probability model for forecasting scintillation in the nighttime equatorial ionosphere.


This is the first volume of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff's "Safety Evaluation Report Related to Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Wastes in a Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada." It documents the NRC staff's review and evaluation of general information the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provided in its June 3, 2008, license application, as updated on February 19, 2009, that seeks an authorization to begin construction of a repository at Yucca Mountain. In subsequent volumes of the report, Volumes 2-5, the NRC staff plans to present its review and evaluation of the Safety Analysis Report included in DOE's license application. Consistent with NRC's requirements for the general information, the NRC staff reviewed the following: (i) a general description of the proposed repository, (ii) proposed schedules for repository activities, (iii) a description of security measures, (iv) a description of the Material Control and Accounting Program, and (v) a description of work done to characterize the site. On the basis of its review and specified DOE commitments, the NRC staff concludes in this volume that DOE has provided information that satisfies the requirements of 10 CFR 63.21(b)(1)-(5) of the NRC's regulations.


With their ability to reach and influence a large number of people, community radios wield immense power in shaping the course of political discourse and contestations. Although many examples of the media's negative contribution to escalation of violence and conflicts exist, fair and accurate journalism that builds confidence and counteracts misperceptions has the potential to transform and prevent political violence. Migori County is listed by the National Commission on Integration and Cohesion(NCIC) as one of the political violence hotspots in Kenya. The aim of this study was to investigate both programme genre and broadcast content of three community radios in the region. The objectives of the study were: To establish whether Milambo Radio 103.8 FM, Radio Tarumbeta 90.4 FM and Radio Rameny88.3 FM have programmes designed for promoting peaceful political campaigns in Migori County; to determine the extent to which such programmes are used in promoting peaceful political campaigns and to explore strategies through which the programmes may be made more effective in promoting peaceful political campaigns. The study used face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. Agenda Setting Theory supported by the Media Effects Theory were used.


Early childhood education is significant stage of life span of children's developments. This study investigates and examines children art in drawing through children's artistic character based on four items of drawing: flowers, toys, candy and cartoon. Through the four items, children can portray their environment and their knowledge, and it aims to gain insight into child behaviour and develop an appreciation of the complex and varied ways in which children grow and develop. The objective of this study is to perceive children understanding of art through artistic character, based on the 4 item: Flowers, toys, candy and cartoons and to explore a new concept can be developed by children in Malaysia at the ages 5 to 7 years old. Therefore this study reports the results of a study conducted among selected preschool in Wilayah Persekutuan and Selangor with regard to the children
development in art and the perceive of children's in the 4 themes given. Children drawing at the age of five to seven were analyse, and conversation interview were also collected as data. The different approaches and perception would be discussed in the light of developmental of the stage of symbol making stages, preschamatic stage and pictorial stage. The analysis of data were presented based on cognitive development, their attitudes and children art developmental based on the evident collected. In brief, the findings are obtained based on new concepts in foundation of artanddevelopmentalof children stage. This study, concludes with the discussion of potential and relevance of children's developments through art, therefore this study can inculcates awareness amongst educators and institutions for improving children education.


This study investigates the role of noticing in improving written accuracy. The noticing hypothesis focuses on the need to enhance learners' awareness of target language forms in order to convert input into intake and to subsequently internalise input as part of interlanguage. This study also takes into account the comprehensible output hypothesis that proposes that output
can promote noticing as it encourages learners to become aware of the gap between their interlanguage and the target language usage. These concepts together with elements from the process approach to writing have been translated into three types of feedback techniques for ESL learners' written output. The techniques are Enhancement, Reformulation, and the Sequential technique. All three techniques function as a means of enhancing learners' awareness of past time forms and are, therefore, form-focused in nature but do not involve explicit explanations of those target forms. The study has adopted a mixed approach design that is both confirmatory and interpretative. A quasi-experiment that tested the effects of the instructional techniques involved 81 matriculation (post-secondary) students from three groups. Qualitative procedures included the collection of think aloud protocols which were administered to investigate learners' cognitive responses to the instructional techniques. A content analysis of written output identified the learners' patterns of past time form acquisition. An attitude survey gauged the learners' affective perceptions of instruction. Respondents in the Enhancement group tended to produce non-metalingual reponses during the think aloud procedure. On the other hand, the respondents from the Reformulation group produced more metalingual responses. Results suggest that noticing is influenced by the types of learner responses to the techniques. The analysis of the think aloud protocols and the essays of the Enhancement group indicate that the respondents may have corrected errors while responding to the treatment, but failed to do so in the subsequent essays. Similarly in the Reformulation group, awareness of why a form is corrected may not result in corrected forms in the second essay. In other words, correct responses to treatments do not necessarily ensure subsequent correct usage of the forms. There is also evidence that the structural features of a target form influence the success of the form being noticed. The simple simple past from was easily noticed than the more complex present perfect form with its auxiliaries and past participles. Statistical results obtained through the applications of pairedsamples t tests and ANCOVA suggest that all three instructional techniques were successful in enhancing noticing and in increasing learners' written accuracy. The learners who participated in the study perceived the instructional interventions favourably. The study indicates that form-focused techniques should be incorporated as part of ESL course syallabuses and that the techniques should be included in writing courses. Instruction should also include output-based input that can authentically point out to ESL instructors individualised accuracy-related problems in their students' written work. The complex tense-aspect temporal references to the past is an area of the English language system that would need more focus at the post-secondary level. This study has managed to further refine the concept of noticing in SLA. It shows that the types and effectiveness of noticing are influenced by the nature of input, stimuli, selection of target forms and learner backgrounds. Noticing is, indeed, an important process in an ESL learner's journey to acquire linguistic items. Instructional interventions that try to enhance noticing in relation to written accuracy should effectively help students as they continue to develop their interlanguage.


Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been approved as first or second line therapy in a large group of cancers. However, the observation of potentially long-lasting responses was restricted to limited subset of patients. Efforts have been made to identify predictive factors of response to ICIs in order to select eligible patients and to avoid exposing non-responding patients to treatment side effects. Although several biomarkers have been identified, their predictive potential remains unsatisfactory. One promising emerging approach is to focus on dynamic biomarkers to directly characterize the response and, more importantly, to identify those patients presenting an immune response failure. Several studies have shown a strong correlation between specific circulating immune cell subsets and tumor immune infiltrates. Moreover, liquid biomarkers including soluble immune checkpoint molecules have potential in predicting the modulation of the immune response under immune checkpoint blockade. In this chapter, we will discuss current advances in the study of circulatory and intra-tumoral dynamic biomarkers as predictors of responses to ICIs therapy in cancer.


Rigorous two-dimensional vector-diffraction patterns of a focused beam incident on an optical disk, specifically, a digital versatile disk (DVD), are examined both in the near field and in the far field. An efficient finite-difference frequency-domain method is developed for calculating the electromagnetic fields in the neighborhood of subwavelength dielectric and metallic structures. The results of vector-diffraction theory are compared with those of scalar-diffraction theory for pressed DVD features that consist of pits or of bumps. The sum (data) and difference (tracking) signals from a split photodetector are also calculated for different disk features and for different polarizations. The subwavelength features of a DVD result in considerable vector-diffraction effects both in the near-field profiles and in the detector signals, depending not only on the polarization of illumination but also on whether the features are pits or bumps. This paper provides important insight into the vector-diffraction effects encountered in high-density optical data storage systems.


The only certainty concerning predictions for the future of the environment is that most of them are likely to be wrong. This is illustrated by the fate of past predictions, such as those contained in Paul Ehrlich's Populations Bomb, Gregg Easterbrook's A Moment on the Earth, and Bjorn Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist. While it is difficult to guess at the future of the environment, predictions concerning environmental law are even more hazardous because they turn in large part on the future of politics. After reviewing current political gridlock over environmental concerns, this Article considers contemporary forecasts of the fate of the planet (including those contained in Al Gore's The Future and the 2052 Report) and the role of technological change in creating opportunities for environmental progress.


A procedure for the diagnosis of intermittent faults in combinational circuits is suggested. This procedure employs a probabilistic model for intermittent failures and presumes that a detection experiment has been run. The circuit is assumed to be irredundant and to possess a single fault out of n possible ones. The approach suggested is based on the repeated application of tests that test for these faults had their effect been permanent. A subset of the test set is selected and is repeatedly applied until a failure is observed. Similar subexperiments are then run with appropriate test subsets until the highest diagnostic resolution is obtained. The expected length of the diagnosis experiment is guaranteed to be finite. This is shown by proving that the expected length of each subexperiment is finite. The diagnosis experiment can be terminated, when any preset time limit is exceeded, compromising the obtained diagnostic resolution. Local symmetry of the fault table is found to be the necessary and sufficient condition for maximum diagnostic resolution.


Lode gold deposits commonly consist of pyrite and lesser amounts of lead and zinc sulfides accompanied by quartz and calcite. Their exact origin remains controversial mainly because of the scarcity of reliable geochronological data. Here we present direct Rb-Sr dating of pyrite from a lode gold deposit and propose the method as a useful geochronological technique for gold mineralization for which age data are poor. A positive correlation between present-day 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and 87 Rb/ 86 Sr ratios of pyrite (FeS 2 ) subsamples from the Linglong gold mine of China corresponds to an age of 122–123 Ma, which dates the age of gold mineralization. The Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic compositions of pyrites and the associated rocks suggest that the hydrothermal fluids responsible for the pyrite and gold mineralization were probably derived from a mixed source (i.e., degassing of mafic magmas and meteoric water that had leached the country rocks).


The focus of the environmental policy-making has shifted noticeably during the last decade. From having played a fairly insignificant role in the 1980s and earlier, product-related environmental problems have attracted an ever-increasing interest from policy-makers, especially in industrialised countries in North-Western Europe. Considerable attention has been devoted to the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR) and today this concept is spread to most OECD countries and also outside this group of countries.

This dissertation shows how the concept was developed, presents a model for various types of responsibilities and defines the EPR concept as a policy principle for environmental improvements of products and product systems. Experiences from existing EPR systems are studied and complemented with an analysis of proposed system implementations. The results are combined with a model for how an EPR system can be developed in order to give the incentives for change to the relevant actors. Conclusions concerning how the details of EPR systems should be organised are presented, as well as a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages with involving various actors in the policy development process and the role of these actors in the implementation of the system.


This article explores the implications for, and development of, private property law in the PRC and its connection to the growth of the nascent Chinese human rights system. It evaluates the vitality of newly emerging human rights trends, reviews their historic, legal, and social backgrounds, and discusses how the introduction of private property in China has fundamentally altered its civil society. Drawing upon a comparative examination of international authority and statutory analysis, and evaluating them from the perspectives of both Chinese and Western scholarship, this article analyzes the trends behind improving democratic structures by reviewing the self-governance of condominium owners associations and the human rights improvements they have spawned. It also examines evolving statutory law governing property expropriation and newly developing rights to property in the PRC. Such progressive trends are counteracted by local corruption, lack of enforcement, and inadequate judicial review. These negative factors have traditional and historic underpinnings, which are currently being addressed by the Chinese legislature. This article will review this relevant legislation and offer predictions for the future of the Chinese private property system as it begins to nurture budding human rights reforms. Finally, it suggests initiatives to maximize those reforms through efficient legislative drafting and other efforts designed to nurture the sensitive and sometimes volatile free market.


Inline Water Quality Monitoring System (IWQMS) is a system that performs scheduled testing for the water quality in the infrastructure pipes without human interventions. This system was designed to monitor the water quality based on the working area requirements and the user's aims. It is supposed to observe water in power plants working by steam, biomedical systems, pharmaceuticals production lines, food factories, desalination plant, water wall, and laboratories. However, water quality depends on the physical and chemical parameters of the water. Two of these parameters are concentration of salts in the water or total dissolved solid (TDS) and electrical conductivity (EC). IWQMS uses these two parameters to determine the water quality by measuring the electrical waves in the tested water sample. It consists of three designed subsystems operating together; these subsystems are mechanical, electronic and software. The mechanical subsystem is designed to automatically collect water samples without human intervention from the pipes. The electronic subsystem is used for controlling and sensing. Sensing is performed using a sensor especially designed to be used for IWQMS. This sensor measures two important parameters TDS and EC. The software subsystem is used to process the collected data, arrange the operations, and store the obtained data for the operator or send it through wireless sensor network. Many iterations and tests were performed on the system and it produced satisfactory results with very small error variation compared with laboratories testing devices.


1. The keeled form of Paludestrina jenkinsi is described and its distribution discussed. 2. The keel is found to be non-heritable through three parthenogenetic generations. 3. The evidence for the ( a ) environmental and ( b ) autogenous origin of the keel is analysed. The result is a presumptive case in favour of the former, though such a keel is not among the structural modifications which have been proved, either by experiment or otherwise, to be produced by environmental factors. 4. The various modifications of the keel show that, if of environmental origin, a more complex structural system is produced than is usual in such cases. 5. It is suggested that, as the keel (or one of its derivatives) is found as a fixed character in another species of the same genus and in allied genera, it is deprived at present of the means of attaining genetic stability in P. jenkinsi .


the poor save? Data collected with the Management Information System for Individual Development Accounts (MIS IDA) in the American Dream Demonstration (ADD) show that they can. About half of participants had net IDA savings of more than $100, and monthly savings averaged $16.60. While participant characteristics were linked with IDA savings, no single characteristic (such as receipt of welfare or very low income) precluded saving. More relevant for policy is that several aspects of IDA design—including the match rate, match cap, time limits, use of automatic transfer, financial education, and restrictions on unmatched withdrawals—were strongly linked with saving. Overall, it seems that institutions for saving, when offered to the poor, work much like they do for the non-poor.


BACKGROUND
With an increased focus on native AV fistula creation in hemodialysis patients, a transposed brachiobasilic fistula (tBBF) is becoming an increasingly utilized option. This study describes the outcomes of tBBFs in a chronic hemodialysis population. In particular, we focus on the incidence and location of stenosis, and review the impact of angioplasty on these lesions.

METHODS
A retrospective cohort study using all patients with a tBBF created between January 2001 and December 2004.

RESULTS
Of the 543 fistulas created during the study period, 93 were tBBFs. The mean age of patients was 65 years, 56% were male and 55% were diabetic. Stenosis occurred in 54% (46/85) of fistulas; the location of stenosis in the majority (74%) was at or near the area of basilic vein transposition and 50% of fistulas with stenosis in this location required three or more angioplasties. Primary (unassisted) patency was 42% at one year in this cohort. Secondary patency was 68% at 1 year and 58% and 53% at 2 and 3 years respectively.

CONCLUSION
In a cohort of hemodialysis patients who received a tBBF, we describe a reasonable primary and secondary patency rate and a high rate of stenosis at the point of transposition of the basilic vein. Such stenosis usually requires multiple percutaneous or surgical interventions to ensure or reestablish conduit patency. Further study is required regarding the optimal surgical technique, monitoring, and treatment of stenosis of this fistula type including the utility of repeat angioplasty.


As the Online Social Networks (OSNs) amass un-precedented amounts of personal information, the privacy concerns gain considerable attention from the community. Apart from privacy-enabling approaches for existing OSNs, a number of initiatives towards building decentralized OSN infrastructures have emerged. However, before this paradigm becomes a serious alternative to current centralized infrastructures, some key design challenges, often conflicting with each other, have to be addressed. In this paper, we explore such design objectives concerning various system properties, namely availability, replication degree, user online times, privacy, and experimentally study the trade-offs among them based on real data sets from Facebook and Twitter. We introduce different mechanisms to model user online times in the OSN from their activity times. We demonstrate how different profile replica selection approaches significantly affect the system performance.


A new technique based on rotor magnetic field space vector orientation is presented to diagnose broken-bar faults in induction machines operating at steady state. In this technique, stator currents and voltages are used as inputs to compute and subsequently observe the rotor magnetic field orientation, which has a more significant "swing-like" pendulous oscillation in case of broken-bar faults than in healthy operation. It is shown here that the range of this "pendulous oscillation" is a function of the number of broken-bars. Also in this technique, it was found that an inter-turn shorted stator-winding fault, which exhibits similar pendulous oscillation, could be distinguished from rotor broken-bar faults through the use of a variance index. In order to validate this method, experimental evidence is given here for several broken-bar cases in a 2-hp, 3-phase, 2-pole, squirrel cage induction machine.


It has been 15 years since the last wave of democratization. But as a region, North Africa and the Middle East were noticeably devoid of popular democracy movements—until the early months of 2011. Democratization movements had existed long before technologies like mobile phones and the Internet came to these countries. But with these technologies, people sharing an interest in democracy built extensive networks and activated collective action movements for political change. What might have made regimes more susceptible than others to these uprisings, and what might explain the relative successes of some movements over others? What role does information technology have in the modern recipe for democratization? Weighing multiple political, economic, demographic, and cultural conditions, we find that information infrastructure—especially mobile phone use—consistently appears as one of the key ingredients in parsimonious models for the conjoined combinations of causes behind regime fragility and social movement success. To understand the successes and failures of contemporary political protests, we must also assess how civil society leaders and authoritarian security forces treat communication technologies as democratically consequential.


Rapidly rising medical malpractice premiums have become an issue of increasing concern for physicians, policy makers, and the general public. Premiums rose by an average of 15 percent between 2000 and 2002, according to the Congressional Budget Office, while physicians in certain medical specialties and geographic areas experienced far greater increases — for example, premiums for general surgeons in one Florida county rose by 75 percent, to nearly $175,000 per year. Some policy makers and interest groups have called for tort reform measures, such as caps on non-economic damages in malpractice suits, to limit the growth of premiums. The growth in malpractice premiums has the potential to profoundly affect the health care system. Premiums may influence physicians' decisions to join and leave the labor force, their choice of a medical specialty, and their decision of where to locate, creating the potential for underserved patient populations in certain specialties or geographic areas. Rising malpractice premiums may also encourage physicians to practice "defensive medicine," performing more tests and procedures than necessary in order to reduce exposure to lawsuits. Both rising malpractice premiums and defensive medicine practices may contribute to the increase in health insurance premiums. In The Effect of Malpractice Liability on the Delivery of Health Care, (NBER Working Paper 10709), Katherine Baicker and Amitabh Chandra explore the relationship between the rise in malpractice costs and the delivery of health care along these dimensions. Using various sources, the authors assemble annual state-level data on malpractice premiums, payouts from insurers for malpractice claims, the number of practicing physicians, and the frequency of various medical treatments. The authors' strategy is to examine whether the change in premiums between 1993 and 2002 is related to changes in these other variables over the same period. One advantage of this approach is that it controls for any unobservable characteristics of states that might affect both premiums and the other variables of interest, so long as their effect is unchanged over the period. The authors first explore one potential cause of rising malpractice premiums, escalating payments from insurers to malpractice claimants. They find that while premiums do respond to increases in payments, they do not increase dollar for dollar. This suggests that other factors may also be important in explaining the recent jump in malpractice premiums, such as a less competitive insurance industry or a decline in insurers' investment income. The authors then turn to the consequences of increasing malpractice premiums, looking first at their effect on the size and composition of the physician workforce. They find no evidence that changes in malpractice premiums are linked to changes in either the total number of physicians or the number of physicians working in obstetrics/gynecology, surgery, or internal medicine. There is weak evidence that the entry decisions of young physicians and the exit decisions of older physicians may be affected by malpractice premiums. However, there is stronger evidence that rural physicians are sensitive to change in premiums — a 10 percent increase in premiums results in a 1 percent decrease in rural physicians per capita and a 2 percent decrease in older rural MDs. The authors also explore the effect of rising malpractice premiums on the frequency of various medical treatments. Although there is no change in the frequency of most treatments, there is increased use of mammography, suggesting that physicians may increase the use Issue No. 9, FALL 2004


The basic question that this paper tries to answer is, is it possible for the values of different ?often contending- religions in a single country to be the basis for the nationhood? Or, can the values of a single religion in a country where different religions exist be the basis of the state? The answer that this paper propagates is certainly no. But another question arises. What then the values ?assuming that values are a must in a society or country as a term of moral reference- that must be adopted by all? It is toward answering this question that this paper is aimed at. It argues that religious values are universal and meaningful for human kind. They can serve as the basis for human benefit and well-being. But these values ?often originated from different religions- must not only be accommodated but also be reconciled. And the reconciling concept cannot be a religion, for that would mean that we support one religion at the expense of others. Hence this paper proposes that what has commonly been known a civil religion be the common ground -the sacred canopy as it were- in which various religious values can be integrated. It is in other words, the integrating mechanism for different religious values, which in turn can bring the social and political harmony for all citizens. The paper will discuss particularly this notion by referring to the concept of the Nahdhatul Ulama (NU) on nationhood and national identity.


California needs new, responsive, demand-side energy technologies to ensure that periods of tight electricity supply on the grid don't turn into power outages. Led by Berkeley Lab's Mary Ann Piette, the California Energy Commission (through its Public Interest Energy Research Program) has established a Demand Response Research Center that addresses two motivations for adopting demand responsiveness: reducing average electricity prices and preventing future electricity crises. The research seeks to understand factors that influence "what works" in Demand Response. Piette's team is investigating the two types of demand response, load response and price response, that may influence and reduce the use of peak electric power through automated controls, peak pricing, advanced communications, and other strategies.


The growing use of autonomous agents in practice may require agents to cooperate as a team in situations where they have limited prior knowledge about one another, cannot communicate directly, or do not share the same world models. These situations raise the need to design ad hoc team members, i.e., agents that will be able to cooperate without coordination in order to reach an optimal team behavior. This paper considers problem of leading N-agent teams by a single agent toward their optimal joint utility, where the agents compute their next actions based only on their most recent observations of their teammates' actions. We show that compared to previous results in two-agent teams, in larger teams the agent might not be able to lead the team to the action with maximal joint utility. In these cases, the agent's optimal strategy leads the team to the best possible reachable cycle of joint actions. We describe a graphical model of the problem and a polynomial time algorithm for solving it. We then consider the problem of leading teams where the agents' base their actions on a longer history of past observations, showing that the an upper bound computation time exponential in the memory size is very likely to be tight.


Blockchain, the foundation of Bitcoin, has received extensive attentions recently. Blockchain serves as an immutable ledger which allows transactions take place in a decentralized manner. Blockchain-based applications are springing up, covering numerous fields including financial services, reputation system and Internet of Things (IoT), and so on. However, there are still many challenges of blockchain technology such as scalability and security problems waiting to be overcome. This paper presents a comprehensive overview on blockchain technology. We provide an overview of blockchain architechture firstly and compare some typical consensus algorithms used in different blockchains. Furthermore, technical challenges and recent advances are briefly listed. We also lay out possible future trends for blockchain.


ABSTRACT Sifiso Mzobe's Young blood (2010) generates much of its energy, this article will argue, through its representation of social and physical mobility and its articulation of space with modes of consumption in post-apartheid South Africa. The novel is set chiefly in the township of Umlazi, the city of Durban and some of its middle- class suburbs. The chief protagonist, a young car thief, moves between township, city and suburb with ease in stolen cars. The open space of the highway separates township and suburb, but also connects them. The novel shows how the spatial arrangements of power and control associated with apartheid are increasingly undermined and reconfigured by new practices of everyday life. Young blood suggests that a certain style of driving can offer new ways of inhabiting the South African city and of bringing its disparate parts together. The ability to move between places in the novel provides opportunities for upward mobility and also enables new forms of symbiosis, trade and consumption. Stealing and driving cars enable Sifiso and his friends to bridge the divide between township and suburb and turn the distance between the two places into a domain of attainment and performance. But the rapid upward social mobility that high-level criminal activity allows is exposed as uncertain and ephemeral by the end of the novel, and the slower route offered by education to self-improvement and class mobility is proffered in its place.


DNA barcoding – sequencing a region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 gene (cox1) – promises a rapid and accurate means of species identification, and of any life history stage. For sharks and rays, it may offer a ready means of identifying legal or illegal shark catches, including shark fins taken for the profitable shark fin market. Here it is shown that an analysis of sequence variability in a 655 bp region of cox1 from 945 specimens of 210 chondrichthyan species from 36 families permits the discrimination of 99.0% of these species. Only the two stingarees Urolophus sufflavus and U. cruciatus could not be separated, although these could be readily distinguished from eight other congeners. The average Kimura 2 parameter distance separating individuals within species was 0.37%, and the average distance separating species within genera was 7.48%. Two specimens that clustered with congeners rather than with their identified species-cluster were noted: these could represent instances of hybridisation (although this has not be documented for chondrichthyans), misidentification or mislabelling. It is concluded that cox1 barcoding can be used to identify shark and ray species with a very high degree of accuracy. The sequence variability characteristics of individuals of five species (Aetomylaeus nichofii, Dasyatis kuhlii, Dasyatis leylandi, Himantura gerrardi and Orectolobus maculatus) were consistent with cryptic speciation, and it is suggested that these five taxa be subjected to detailed taxonomic examination to confirm or refute this suggestion. The present barcoding study holds out great hope for the ready identification of sharks, shark products and shark fins, and also highlights some taxonomic issues that need to be investigated further.


Understanding gene regulation is a fundamental step towards understanding of how cells function and respond to environmental cues and perturbations. An important step in this direction is the ability to infer the transcription factor (TF)-gene regulatory network (GRN). However gene regulatory networks are typically constructed disregarding the fact that regulatory programs are conditioned on tissue type, developmental stage, sex, and other factors. Due to lack of the biological context specificity, these context-agnostic networks may not provide insight for revealing the precise actions of genes for a specific biological system under concern. Collecting multitude of features required for a reliable construction of GRNs such as physical features (TF binding, chromatin accessibility) and functional features (correlation of expression or chromatin patterns) for every context of interest is costly. Therefore we need methods that is able to utilize the knowledge about a context-agnostic network (or a network constructed in a related context) for construction of a context specific regulatory network. To address this challenge we developed a computational approach that utilizes expression data obtained in a specific biological context such as a particular development stage, sex, tissue type and a GRN constructed in a different but related context (alternatively an incomplete or a noisy network for the same context) to construct a context specific GRN. Our method, NetREX, is inspired by network component analysis (NCA) that estimates TF activities and their influences on target genes given predetermined topology of a TF-gene network. To predict a network under a different condition, NetREX removes the restriction that the topology of the TF-gene network is fixed and allows for adding and removing edges to that network. To solve the corresponding optimization problem, which is non-convex and non-smooth, we provide a general mathematical framework allowing use of the recently proposed Proximal Alternative Linearized Maximization technique and prove that our formulation has the properties required for convergence. We tested our NetREX on simulated data and subsequently applied it to gene expression data in adult females from 99 hemizygotic lines of the Drosophila deletion (DrosDel) panel. The networks predicted by NetREX showed higher biological consistency than alternative approaches. In addition, we used the list of recently identified targets of the Doublesex (DSX) transcription factor to demonstrate the predictive power of our method.


The continental crust that dominates Earth's oldest cratons comprises Eoarchaean to Palaeoarchaean (4.0 to 3.2 Ga) felsic intrusive rocks of the tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) series. These are found either within high-grade gneiss terranes, which represent Archaean mid-continental crust, or low-grade granite-greenstone belts, which represent relic Archaean upper continental crust. The Palaeoarchaean East Pilbara Terrane (EPT), Pilbara Craton, Western Australia, and the Barberton Granite-Greenstone Belt (BGGB), Kaapvaal Craton, southern Africa, are two of the best exposed granite-greenstone belts. Their striking geological similarities has led to the postulated existence of Vaalbara, a Neoarchaean-Palaeoproterozoic supercraton. Although their respective TTG domes have been compared in terms of a common petrogenetic origin reflecting a volcanic plateau setting, there are important differences in their age, geochemistry, and isotopic profiles. We present new zircon Hf isotope data from five granite domes of the EPT and compare the geochemical and isotopic record of the Palaeoarchaean TTGs from both cratons. Rare >3.5 Ga EPT evolved rocks have juvenile εHf(t) requiring a chondritic source. In contrast, younger TTG domes developed via 3.5 to 3.4 and 3.3 to 3.2 Ga magmatic supersuites with a greater range of εHf(t) towards more depleted and enriched values, trace element signatures requiring an enriched source, and xenocrystic zircons that reflects a mixed source to the TTGs, which variously assimilates packages of older felsic crust and a more juvenile mafic source. EPT TTG domes are composite and record multiple pulses of magmatism. In comparison, BGGB TTGs are less geochemically enriched than those of the EPT and have different age profiles, hosting coeval magmatic units. Hafnium isotopes suggest a predominantly juvenile source to 3.2 Ga northern Barberton TTGs, limited assimilation of older evolved crust in 3.4 Ga southern Barberton TTGs, but significant assimilation of older (Hadean-Eoarchaean) crust in the ca. 3.6 Ga TTGs of the Ancient Gneiss Complex. The foundation of the EPT is younger than that for the oldest components of the Eastern Kaapvaal. Although the broader prevailing Palaeoarchaean geologic framework in which these two cratons formed may reflect similar a geodynamic regime, the superficial similarities in dome structures and stratigraphy of both cratonic terranes is not reflected in their geochemical and age profiles. Both the similarities and the differences between the crustal histories of the two cratons highlights that they are formed from distinct terranes with different ages and individual evolutionary histories. Vaalbara sensu lato represents typical Palaeoarchaean cratonic crust, not in the sense of a single homogeneous craton, but one as diverse as the continents are today.


The residue number system (RNS) is suitable for DSP architectures because of its ability to perform fast carry-free arithmetic. However, this advantage is over-shadowed by the complexity involved in the conversion of numbers between binary and RNS representations. Although the reverse conversion (RNS to binary) is more complex, the forward transformation is not simple either. Most forward converters make use of look-up tables (memory). Recently, a memoryless forward converter architecture for arbitrary moduli sets was proposed by Premkumar in 2002. In this paper, we present an extension to that architecture which results in 44% less hardware for parallel conversion and achieves 43% improvement in speed for serial conversions. It makes use of the periodicity properties of residues obtained using modular exponentiation.


We consider the weak convergence of numerical methods for stochastic differential equations (SDEs). Weak convergence is usually expressed in terms of the convergence of expected values of test functions of the trajectories. Here we present an alternative formulation of weak convergence in terms of the well-known Prokhorov metric on spaces of random variables. For a general class of methods, we establish bounds on the rates of convergence in terms of the Prokhorov metric. In doing so, we revisit the original proofs of weak convergence and show explicitly how the bounds on the error depend on the smoothness of the test functions. As an application of our result, we use the Strassen‐Dudley theorem to show that the numerical approximation and the true solution to the system of SDEs can be re-embedded in a probability space in such a way that the method converges there in a strong sense. One corollary of this last result is that the method converges in the Wasserstein distance, another metric on spaces of random variables. Another corollary establishes rates of convergence for expected values of test functions assuming only local Lipschitz continuity. We conclude with a review of the existing results for pathwise convergence of weakly converging methods and the corresponding strong results available under re-embedding.


ABSTRACT Bulk density and water content are defined and then related to one another and to void ratio by 7 polynomial regression equations based on 1680 measured bulk density and water content values of water-saturated sediments from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and other areas. Theoretical relationships between bulk density, water content, and void ratio for specific gravities between 2.30 and 2.85 are demonstrated. The average specific gravity of 2.72 found for the data presented compares favorably to similar values reported in the literature. Use can be made of the regression equations to compute e log p sedimentation-compression curves entirely determined from the bulk density of water-saturated sediment measured nondestructively by laboratory or in situ nuclear transmission densitometers. In an example showing the consolidation of a fine-grained calcareous sediment from the Exuma Sound, Bahamas, the all-nuclear laboratory method compares favorably with the conventional, non-nuclear method of constructing e log p curves. The combination of suitable regression equations and the all-nuclear method is equally applicable to other fine-grained water-saturated sediments.


Proponents of the Linguistic Relativity Principle has maintained that the language we use modulates our thinking and that our thinking also shapes or determines how the language is parsed and understood. Existing research has provided compelling evidence for the above relativistic view in monolingual speakers. Recently, a growing number of studies have also started to investigate the relativistic view on language and thought in L2 learners. These L2 studies have yielded evidence regarding the cognitive constraint of an early-learned language (e.g. L1) on the later-learned language (e.g. L2). Despite this vigorous research effort, much remains unknown about whether the cognitive development in the later-learned language would modulate how the early-learned language is parsed (lower-level processing) and understood (higher-level processing). To fill the gap, this study drew on the self-paced reading experimental paradigm to study linguistic relativity effects on advanced L2 learners' reading of L1 (Chinese) counterfactual statements – a concept encoded differently in these learners' L1 and L2. The participants' online response time and offline accuracy data were both the foci of the analyses; while the analyses of the response time data were suggestive of the participants' initial lower-level parsing of the L1 counterfactual statements, the analyses of the accuracy data shed light on how the concept of counterfactuality is represented and understood in the L1. Throughout these analyses, this study intends to address the following questions: Does L2 acquisition impose any cognitive constraint on bilinguals' lower-level L1 parsing and/or on their higher-level L1 processing? If so, in what way and to what extent? Furthermore, the study also intends to empirically establish whether the cognitive constraint as stipulated by the Linguistic Relativity Principle would be modulated by different onset age of learning the L2 (early vs. late). Findings of this study are discussed vis-a-vis the Linguistic Relativity Principle, L2 processing mechanism, and L2 literacy instruction.


The derivation of the dependence of the deflection of a planart statically determinate truss on the number of panels under the load of force in the middle of the span is given. To solve this problem, we use the method of induction and the system of symbolic mathematics Maple. We compose and solve recurrent equations for the coefficients of the formula obtained in solving a sequence of problems on the deflection of a truss with a different number of panels. The forces in the rods are found by the method of cutting out the knots, the displacement by the Maxwell-Mora formula. It is assumed that the rigidity of all rods is the same, and the supports are not deformable.