In addressing enterprise integration problems, a diversity of technologies such as CORBA and XML were promoted, yet no single integration technology solves all integration problems. As a result, a new generation of software called enterprise application integration (EAI) is emerging to addresses many integration problems by combining a diversity of integration technologies (e.g. message brokers, adapters, XML). Since EAI is a new research area, there is an absence of literature discussing issues like its adoption, evaluation and implementation. This paper, examines the application of two frameworks for the evaluation of EAI packages in the practical arena. In doing so, the authors use case study strategy to investigate integration issues. Empirical data derived from the case study suggest additions to the two evaluation frameworks. Therefore, the authors revised and extend previous works by proposing a evaluation framework for the assessment of EAI packages. The proposed framework makes contribution at two levels. First, at the conceptual level, as it incorporates criteria identified separately in previous studies as evaluation criteria. The proposed framework can be used as a decision-making tool and, supports management when taking decisions regarding the adoption of EAI. Additionally, it can be used by researchers to analyse and understand the capabilities of EAI packages.


Background/Aims: The causes of ulcerative colitis are unknown, although it is plausible that dietary factors are involved. Case-control studies of diet and ulcerative colitis are subject to recall biases. The aim of this study was to examine the prospective relationship between the intake of nutrients and the development of ulcerative colitis in a cohort study. Methods: The study population was 260,686 men and women aged 20–80 years, participating in a large European prospective cohort study (EPIC). Participants were residents in the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Germany or Italy. Information on diet was supplied and the subjects were followed up for the development of ulcerative colitis. Each incident case was matched with four controls and dietary variables were divided into quartiles. Results: A total of 139 subjects with incident ulcerative colitis were identified. No dietary associations were detected, apart from a marginally significant positive association with an increasing percentage intake of energy from total polyunsaturated fatty acids (trend across quartiles OR = 1.19 (95% CI = 0.99–1.43) p = 0.07). Conclusions: No associations between ulcerative colitis and diet were detected, apart from a possible increased risk with a higher total polyunsaturated fatty acid intake. A biological mechanism exists in that polyunsaturated fatty acids are metabolised to pro-inflammatory mediators.


The purpose of this project is to develop a web based application that can
help buyer to make their decision when they wanted to purchase a house. This
application will allowed buyer to make their decision based on certain criteria of
house they intent to buy and comparison on homeloan package. Problem
now days
are buyer have to spend plenty of time going to the site showroom to seek
information about a house without knowing whether the house suite them of not an
also went to bank just to know information about homeloan package. With this web
based application buyer can save much of their time because they can do all this
thing by just login to this web based application. They can make a house booking
and apply homeloan package through this application. Beside, this project will be
implement an application with e-commerce environment involving 3 layer user that
is buyer, housing developer, end-financier and web master as it architecture
design.This project is develop using combine model and Cold Fusion as it method
and programming language. With this project, hopefully can intergrate a 3 layer
architecture design as a e-commerce environment.


The purpose of this work is to estimate the degree of uncertainty inherent to a given four dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) imaging modality and to test for interaction of the investigated factors (i.e., object displacement, velocity, and the period of motion) when determining the object motion coordinates, motion envelope, and the confomality in which it can be defined within a time based data series. A motion phantom consisting of four glass spheres imbedded in low density foam on a one dimensional moving platform was used to investigate the interaction of uncertainty factors in motion trajectory that could be used in comparison of trajectory definition, motion envelope definition and conformality in an optimal 4D-CT imaging environment. The motion platform allowed for a highly defined motion trajectory that could be as the ground truth in the comparison with observed motion in 4D-CT data sets. 4D-CT data sets were acquired for 9 different motion patterns. Multifactor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed where the factors considered were the phantom maximum velocity, object volume, and the image intensity used to delineate the high density objects. No statistical significance was found for three factor interaction for definition of the motion trajectory, motion envelope, or Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) conformality. Two factor interactions were found to be statistically significant for the DSC for the interactions of 1) object volume and the HU threshold used for delineation and 2) the object velocity and object volume. Moreover, a statistically significant single factor direct proportionality was observed between the maximum velocity and the mean tracking error. In this work multiple factors impacting on the uncertainty in 4D data sets have been considered and some statistically significant two-factor interactions have been identified. Therefore, the detailed evaluation of errors and uncertainties in 4D imaging modalities is recommended in order to assess the clinical implications of interaction among the various uncertainty factors.


The characteristics and the bioassay of controlled release formulations (CRFs) of etofenprox which has been used for pest control using a nano-sized chitosan carrier to control the released amount of the active ingredients were evaluated. The CRF was prepared in three types, ENC1 (M.W. 3000, 0.3%), ENC2 (M.W. 30,000, 0.1%) and ENC3 (M.W. 30,000, 0.3%), according to a difference in release patterns by adjusting the molecular weight and concentration of chitosan. After the release properties of the active ingredients and biological activities of the 3 formulations were evaluated, the ENC2 type was selected. A shape of the ENC2 type was taken by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and it was confirmed that the ENC2 type had a polygonal shape and ENC2 particles with various sizes of 800 nm or less were mixed. The release of the ENC2 type in a CRF began after it reacted with a solvent, and the ENC2 became smaller, and the shape of ENC2 nanoparticle was changed. However, in the ENC2 type formulation, de-encapsulated active ingredi- ents of etofenprox exhibited initial insecticidal effects, and thus the ENC2 type was modified to be prepared as an ENC2A formulation in which all the active ingredients of etofenprox were encapsulated. The ENC2A formulation exhibited the properties of CRF in the release properties of the active ingredients and the effec- tive activity against Spodoptera litura. These results suggest that such CRF is considered to be used as a method of preventing loss of active ingredients of chemicals and increasing the activity of the chemicals against a target pest, thereby decreasing the use of the chemicals.


Nearby clusters and groups of galaxies are potentially bright sources of high-energy gamma-ray emission resulting from the pair-annihilation of dark matter particles. However, no significant gamma-ray emission has been detected so far from clusters in the first 11 months of observations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. We interpret this non-detection in terms of constraints on dark matter particle properties. In particular for leptonic annihilation final states and particle masses greater than ∼ 200 GeV, gamma-ray emission from inverse Compton scattering of CMB photons is expected to dominate the dark matter annihilation signal from clusters, and our gamma-ray limits exclude large regions of the parameter space that would give a good fit to the recent anomalous Pamela and Fermi-LAT electron-positron measurements. We also present constraints on the annihilation of more standard dark matter candidates, such as the lightest neutralino of supersymmetric models. The constraints are particularly strong when including the fact that clusters are known to contain substructure at least on galaxy scales, increasing the expected gamma-ray flux by a factor of ∼ 5 over a smooth-halo assumption. We also explore the effect of uncertainties in cluster dark matter density profiles, finding a systematic uncertainty in the constraints of roughly a factor of two, but similar overall conclusions. In this work, we focus on deriving limits on dark matter models; a more general consideration of the Fermi-LAT data on clusters and clusters as gamma-ray sources is forthcoming.


In this paper, the optimal growth conditions during the physical vapour transport of bulk AlN crystals are evaluated with regard to significantly increased deep UV transparency, while maintaining the high structural quality of the AlN crystals which are grown on N-polar c-facets. We show that carbon concentration [C], oxygen concentration [O], and the ratio between both concentrations [C]/[O] have a significant influence on the deep UV transparency. At 3[C] < [O] with [C] + [O] < 1019 cm−3, deep UV transparent AlN single crystals with absorption coefficients at around 265 nm (α265nm) smaller than 15 cm−1 can be prepared. These conditions can be achieved in the N-polar grown volume parts of the AlN crystals using growth temperatures in the range of TG = 2030–2050 °C and tungsten and tantalum carbide as getter materials for carbon and oxygen, respectively. Deep UV transparent AlN substrates (α265nm < 30 cm−1) ≥10 mm in diameter and of high crystalline perfection (rocking curve FWHM < 15 arcsec) are shown for the first time.


A novel statistical angle-of-arrival (AOA) model for indoor geolocation applications is presented. The modeling approach focuses on the arrivals of the multipath components with respect to the line-of-sight (LOS) path which is an important component especially when indoor geolocation applications are considered. The model is particularly important for indoor applications where AOA information could be utilized for tracking indirect paths to aid in precise ranging in harsh and dense multipath environments where LOS path might be blocked due to obstructions. The results have been obtained by a measurement calibrated ray-tracing (RT) tool.


ABSTRACT Swimming costs (SCs) for fish have been shown to be affected by turbulence. However, this idea has not yet been implemented in habitat models, which often represent hydraulics using water velocity averaged over time and space. In this study, we analysed the habitat selection of individual juvenile Atlantic salmon Salmo salar (L. 1758) in relation to predicted SC in the turbulent flow of a large outdoor flume. We used a previously published SC model parameterized using mean velocity, turbulence intensity, water temperature and fish mass. Results showed that 86% of fish chose locations with significantly lower predicted SC than expected at random. Position choice was negatively related to predicted SC, mean velocity, spatial velocity gradient, and Reynolds stresses. Based on the findings, a novel habitat suitability curve is recommended for juvenile Atlantic salmon. The results are expected to contribute towards the improvement of bioenergetics modelling to increase our understanding of the impacts of environmental changes and management activities.


Transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy is uniquely suited for understanding kinetic processes initiated by light over vast ranges of time. In combination with white light probes, the recorded differential absorption spectra can contain spectroscopic signatures characteristic of specific charge carrier population densities. However, disentangling the often-complex and convoluted spectra is made challenging without robust analysis methods relating the underlying physical mechanisms to the spectral components. In this work, we address the origin of the transient spectra of a model system of emerging solar energy harvesting materials using a monoclinic BiVO4 thin film. Using ground-state optical properties of the semiconductor, we find the main derivative-like spectral response to be related to shifting and broadening of oscillators, rather than specific carrier-related transitions. However, by using the Drude optical model of free carriers, we also identify the transient response related to freehole density. Importantly, sample heating from the optical pumping, which begins at ∼10 ps and plateaus by ∼200 ps, dominates the overall spectral response at longer times. On the basis of a physical model of the spectral response, a kinetic model is developed that describes the pump power dependence of the free-hole density, as well as the temporal evolution of the spectral changes associated with shifting and broadening of oscillators. First-principles density functional theory calculations are used to rationalize experimental measurements. This comprehensive approach to analyzing and modeling the TA spectra offers a generalizable basis for understanding the complex pump−probe data, reveals thermal heating artifacts that are frequently erroneously assigned to long-lived photocarriers, and offers a path to eliminating ambiguity in analysis of photocarrier dynamics in solid-state systems.


We address the challenges of building a good content adaptation service for mobile devices and propose a decision engine that is user-centric with QoS awareness, which can automatically negotiate for the appropriate adaptation decision to use in the synthesis of an optimal adapted version. The QoS-sensitive approach complements the lossy nature of the transcoding operations. The decision engine will look for the best trade off among various parameters in order to reduce the loss of quality in various domains. Quantitative methods are suggested to measure the QoS of the content versions in various quality domains. Based on the particular user perception and other contextual information on the client capability, the network connection, and the requested content, the proposed negotiation algorithm will determine a content version with a good aggregate score. We have built a prototype document adaptation system for PDF documents to demonstrate the viability of our approach.


This paper proposes environment design in the life simulation game The Sims as a novel platform and challenge for testing divergent search algorithms. In this domain, which includes a minimal viability criterion, the goal is to furnish a house with objects that satisfy the physical needs of a simulated agent. Importantly, the large number of objects available to the player (whether human or automated) affords a wide variety of solutions to the underlying design problem. Empirical studies in a novel open source simulator called SimSim investigate the ability of novelty-based evolutionary algorithms to effectively generate viable environment designs.


This paper discusses obligations of international distributive justice-specifically, obligations rich countries have to transfer resources to poor countries. It argues that the major seven OECD countries each have an obligation to transfer at least one percent of their GDP to developing countries. The strategy of the paper is to defend this position without having to resolve the many debates that attend questions of international distributive justice. In this respect, it belongs to the neglected category of nonideal theory. The key to the strategy is to show that a significant amount of good would be accomplished by a one percent transfer, despite the fact that one percent is quite a small amount. To make this showing, the paper takes health as a fundamental measure of individual well-being and examines the improvement in life expectancy that would likely result from devoting the one percent transfer to the major determinants of health. It adduces data indicating that substantial progress towards raising life expectancy in developing countries to the global average of 64.5 years can be expected from expenditures of $125 per capita, divided between health care, education, and basic nutrition and income support. A one percent transfer from the major seven is enough to cover expenditures on that scale for the poorest fifth of the world's population.


Europe is in a phase of institutional and political transformation. It is however not only the restructuring of the organisational procedures, i.e. the so-called reform of the institutions in the face of the coming enlargement of the European Union (EU), but also questions of the overall identity and legitimacy of Europe that are increasingly approached in political discourses. This essay analyses recent political speeches on Europe; it focuses on the problems of legitimisation and political representation at the "new" supranational level. In a comparison between French and German speeches the different semantic fields in talking about Europe are explored. Particular emphasis will be given to the interplay of ideational and organizational aspects — Making meaning of Europe and Organizing Europe — as being constitutive for these speeches. The discursive construction of past and future, experience and expectation; will be illuminated as well as problems of space and time, strategies of territorialisation and temporalisation.


This paper presents a systematic approach for abstracting the flexibility of a building space heating system and using it within a composable framework for real-time explicit power control of microgrids and, more in general, active distribution networks. In particular, the proposed approach is developed within the context of a previously defined microgrid control framework, called COMMELEC, conceived for the explicit and real-time control of these specific networks. The designed control algorithm is totally independent from the need of a building model and allows exploiting the intrinsic thermal inertia for real-time control. The paper first discusses the general approach, then it proves its validity via dedicated simulations performed on specific case study composed by the CIGRE LV microgrid benchmark proposed by the Cigré TF C6.04.02.


In the past few years, nonbelievers have become much more prominent in the United States. But while their visibility has increased, they are still a small minority, and they remain disliked, distrusted, and not truly American in the eyes of many. As a result, many nonbelievers are hesitant about disclosing their views, and those who do often face hostility and discrimination. This Article argues that government religious speech such as "In God We Trust" or a Latin cross war memorial violates the Establishment Clause in part because it exacerbates the precarious position of nonbelievers in this country. One of the main goals of the Establishment Clause is to protect religious minorities like nonbelievers. Contrary to claims that government religious speech is essentially harmless, and that any offense it causes should not be considered of constitutional dimension, government religious speech harms both the equality and liberty of nonbelievers. It undermines the equality of nonbelievers by sending the message that they are not worthy of equal regard and by reinforcing stereotypes - in particular, that atheists are immoral and unpatriotic - which lead to discrimination against them. The perpetuation of these stereotypes also undermines the liberty of nonbelievers by making them less willing, or even afraid, to follow the dictates of their conscience. In short, the claim that government religious speech does not violate the Establishment Clause because it only offends nonbelievers misunderstands exactly what is at stake.


Abstract
 Lauriomyces is an anamorphic genus comprising nine species, found growing on terrestrial leaf litter and wood in tropical habitats. The genus is characterized by solitary or synnematous, pigmented conidiophores bearing acropetal chains of unicellular, hyaline conidia.Amultigene (SSU, LSU & 5.8S) analysis of Lauriomyces strains reveal three cryptic new species, which are described, illustrated, and published here: L. acerosus, L. basitruncatus, and L. glumateus spp. nov. Lauriomyces glumateus is characterized by narrowly oval conidia while conidia of L. acerosus are cylindrical with acute ends and those of L. basitruncatus are cylindrical with truncate base. The nine Lauriomyces species sampled form a monophyletic clade in the Leotiomycetes, with high molecular support and all with a morphology typical for the genus. The new combination Dematioscypha catenata is made for Haplographium catenatum in compliance with the one name protocol.


Every year large proportions of northern Australia's tropical savanna landscapes are burnt, resulting in high fire frequencies and short intervals between fires. The dominant fire management paradigm in these regions is the use of low-intensity prescribed fire early in the dry season, to reduce the incidence of higher-intensity, more extensive wildfire later in the year. This use of frequent prescribed fire to mitigate against high-intensity wildfire has parallels with fire management in temperate forests of southern Australia. However, unlike in southern Australia, the ecological implications of high fire frequency have received little attention in the north. CSIRO and collaborators recently completed a landscape-scale fire experiment at Kapalga in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, and here we provide a synthesis of the effects of experimental fire regimes on biodiversity, with particular consideration of fire frequency and, more specifically, time-since-fire. Two recurring themes emerged from Kapalga. First, much of the savanna biota is remarkably resilient to fire, even of high intensity. Over the 5-year experimental period, the abundance of most invertebrate groups remained unaffected by fire treatment, as did the abundance of most vertebrate species, and we were unable to detect any effect of fire on floristic composition of the grass-layer. Riparian vegetation and associated stream biota, as well as small mammals, were notable exceptions to this general resilience. Second, the occurrence of fire, independent of its intensity, was often the major factor influencing fire-sensitive species. This was especially the case for extinction-prone small mammals, which have suffered serious population declines across northern Australia in recent decades. Results from Kapalga indicate that key components of the savanna biota of northern Australia favour habitat that has remained unburnt for at least several years. This raises a serious conservation concern, given that very little relatively long unburnt habitat currently occurs in conservation reserves, with most sites being burnt at least once every 2 years. We propose a conservation objective of increasing the area that remains relatively long unburnt. This could be achieved either by reducing the proportion of the landscape burnt each year, or by setting prescribed fires more strategically. The provision of appropriately long unburnt habitat is a conservation challenge for Australia's tropical savanna landscapes, just as it is for its temperate forests.


While recent work on text-conditional 3D object generation has shown promising results, the state-of-the-art methods typically require multiple GPU-hours to produce a single sample. This is in stark contrast to state-of-the-art generative image models, which produce samples in a number of seconds or minutes. In this paper, we explore an alternative method for 3D object generation which produces 3D models in only 1-2 minutes on a single GPU. Our method first generates a single synthetic view using a text-to-image diffusion model, and then produces a 3D point cloud using a second diffusion model which conditions on the generated image. While our method still falls short of the state-of-the-art in terms of sample quality, it is one to two orders of magnitude faster to sample from, offering a practical trade-off for some use cases. We release our pre-trained point cloud diffusion models, as well as evaluation code and models, at https://github.com/openai/point-e.


A project report presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a degree of Master of Science in Construction
Management, 2009


Genetic science has advanced rapidly in recent years; things happen now that might have seemed like science fiction only ten years ago. Genetics and Society looks at the history of this science and the wide-ranging impact it has had on contemporary society. Using fascinating and cutting-edge examples throughout, Anne Kerr examines topics as diverse as: the institutional structures that have grown up around the diagnosis and treatment of genetic disorders. the media representation of genetic debates from designer babies to the genetic sources of alcoholism. the politics of genetic decision-making and the state regulation of both genetic research and the biomedicine industry. Each chapter begins with a summary and a definition of key terms and ends with annotated notes on further reading, meaning that it is as accessible for the layman as it is for the scientist. The resulting student-friendly text will be essential reading for anybody with an interest in genetic science and the impact it is having on society.


This study investigated the effects of selected shading devices on office
room temperature at Universiti Putra Malaysia. The experimental and
simulation results were presented to show the thermal effects of coating
systems used. Initial work for a duration of two months showed that high
temperatures occurred at 10:00, 1200 and 14:00 hours. This frequency of
measurement is similar to that of Etzion and Erell (2000). Thermocouple
wires were used to measure the air temperature in an office of size 4.03 m x
3.82 m x 2.60 m (length x width x height). The window was a vertical glass
plate with thickness 5 mm, height 1.53 m and width 2.12 m and it was
facing northeast. Coating materials used were plain glass pane thickness 5
mm (control), tinted film, silver film, and blinds. Results showed that the
differences in temperature between the inside and outside of the office were
4.4oC, 3.8oC, 3.5oC and 2.9oC for silver film, blinds, tinted film and clean glass (5 mm), respectively. Comparison between simulated and
experimental results showed a reasonable agreement, ranging between 0.2 to
10 %. The external air velocity ranged between 0.19 and 0.45 ms-1 and
relative humidity between 22.7% and 77.5 %, while the average air velocity
in the office ranged from 0.03 to 0.05 ms-1 and relative humidity from 57.2
% to 66.8 %. The simulated results for internal air temperatures of the
office ranged from 28oC to 29oC. In terms of cost, the blinds gave value for
money with every temperature drop for temperature difference between
internal and external temperatures. In addition the blinds could be easily
fixed.


Information centric networking (ICN) is one of the emerging Internet paradigms proposed to overcome the shortcoming of the current host-centric Internet. With ubiquitous in-network caching, ICN can facilitate content delivery and reduce network delay. In this paper, we propose a novel collaborative caching scheme based on routers' position to cache popular videos on the edge routers which are closer to users. A priori knowledge of videos' popularity is not required as the proposed scheme adapts itself to the user requests. The benefits of our proposed approach are: light-weight, short content delivery time, and reduced network usages and publisher load. We use a simple topology to show how the proposed scheme works. Then, we use a realistic topology with real data traces to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme. Simulation results show that our scheme outperforms existing schemes in terms of average number of hops and reduced publisher load ratio for both scenarios.


Background: Rhizomes of Curcuma Longa belonging to the genus, Curcuma is widely used for medicinal purpose. Its ethanolic extract has been used traditionally as a hypolipidemic. Objectives: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the hypolipidemic effects of ethanolic extract of Rhizomes of Curcuma longa in Alloxan induced diabetic rats with high fat diet and compared with of Pioglitazone, which has anti-diabetic and action. Materials and method: Alloxan monohydrate was used to induce diabetes mellitus in albino rats in the dose of 120 mg/kg Intraperitonelly and hyperlipidemia was induced by feeding animals with high fat diet orally. The body weights of the rats in every group was recorded weekly. Six groups of 6 animals in each received normal saline for normal control, normal saline for diabetic control, turmeric extract (TE) 300 mg/kg/day for euglycemic rat, Diabetic rat with high fat diet 10 mg/ kg/day (turmeric extract 300 mg/kg/day), diabetic rat with high fat diet 10 ml/kg/day (turmeric extract 500 mg/kg/ day), Diabetic rats with High fat diet 10 ml/kg/day (pioglitazone respectively for 4 weeks). After overnight fasting, 2 ml of blood was collected in from orbital sinuses of all animals. Various biochemical parameters were estimated like blood sugar and lipid profile. The data was analyzed statistically using student's paired and unpaired t-test. Results: Turmeric extract significantly raised HDL levels both in healthy and diabetic rats. TE (500 mg/kg) is more efficient as compared to 300 mg/kg dose, as TE (500 mg/kg) has also reduced VLDL, LDL levels in Group V which was statistically highly significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: Present study revealed that the turmeric has hypolipidemic action and can be safely used in the treatment of mild to moderate cases of hyperlipidemia.


Two studies tested the prediction that belief in a negative stereotype about an in-group will cause members to shift from viewing their in-group as a social identity to viewing it as a frame of reference. The stereotype that was the focus of inquiry was the belief that women have less aptitude at math and spatial tasks than do men. In both studies, female participants took a test of math and spatial ability and then received social comparison information about their abilities relative to a male and a female confederate. In Study 1, participants felt enhanced when the two women outperformed the male confederate, even when this meant that the participants themselves performed worse than the other woman. If participants were first reminded of the negative stereotype, however, they felt best when they outperformed the other woman, even if this meant that the two women performed worse than the man. Study 2 showed that the effects of stereotype activation were especially pronounced among female participants who showed moderate to high levels of stereotype endorsement. These findings suggest that belief in stereotypes about the in-group can lead to in-group comparison and contrast, even in contexts in which a group member's ability level challenges the validity of the stereotype.


An error resilient video coding method is proposed. It yields less degradation, caused by data loss, in areas of the frame which are of greater interest compared to the rest of the frame. This is achieved by employing a nonlinear transform that duplicates macroblocks inside the region of interest (ROI). This increased redundancy for ROI yields a high quality reconstruction of ROI even with missing data. Simulations show that this approach has acceptable performance. Moreover, the method proposed can be implemented through pre- and post-processing of the video sequence, without modification to the source codecs (e.g., H.263, MPEG4, H.264).


The existing literature on soft budget constraints suggests that firms may be subsidized for political reasons or because of the creditors' desire to recover a part of the sunk cost invested in an earlier period. In all these models hard budget constraints are viewed as being, in principle, capable of inducing the necessary restructuring behaviour on the level of the firm. This paper argues that the imposition of financial discipline is not sufficient to remedy ownership and governance-related deficiencies of corporate performance. Using evidence from the post-communist transition economies, the paper shows that a policy of hard budget constraints cannot induce successful revenue restructuring, which requires entrepreneurial incentives inherent in certain ownership types (most notably, outside investors). The paper also shows that the policy of hard budget constraints falters when state firms, because of inferior revenue performance and less willingness to meet payment obligations, continue to pose a higher credit risk than privatized firms. The brunt of state firms' lower creditworthiness falls on state creditors. But the 'softness' of these creditors, while harmful in many ways, is not necessarily irrational, if it prevents the demise of firms that are in principle capable of successful restructuring through ownership changes. JEL classification: G32, P17, P27, P31.


Cell interconnector designs such as light redirecting films (LRFs) and various geometric ribbon layouts are all aimed at improving the performance of crystalline silicon solar modules. However, due to the usually specular reflecting surface, the angular-dependent module performance, which is typically quantified with an incidence angle modifier, depends on the rotation of the module. We find that typical power measurements under standard test conditions at 1000 W m−2 and 25 °C cell temperature are not suited to identify the best performing design in real-world conditions. In this work, we therefore determine the optimum ribbon geometry based on its simulated energy yield in common installation configurations for solar modules based on industry-standard full and half-cut solar cells. We compare the effects of planar, triangular, LRFs, pentagonal and wire ribbon geometries, as well as fixed optimal inclination, building-integrated (façade), and single-axis tracking installation scenarios of modules in portrait and landscape orientation. Energy yield gains of 1.8% can be achieved for full cell modules with LRFs or pentagonal ribbons in single-axis tracking installation compared to a reference module with five planar ribbons. Critically, we find that changing the module orientation to landscape reduces this energy yield gain by nearly 50% for the modules with LRFs. This directional dependence is significantly reduced with the pentagonal ribbon structure. The installation scenario can have a similarly dramatic impact. The expectation of power gains for certain designs inferred from standard test conditions may not only show significantly lower gains in annual energy yield, but may even lead to yield losses, especially for building-integrated photovoltaic systems. For a typical full-cell module, for example, we have found that LRFs perform 2.5% better than standard planar ribbons under standard test conditions but can result in a 0.2% lower annual yield in a façade installation. Therefore, to fully evaluate the effectiveness of a specific ribbon design, the annual energy yield must consider the angular irradiance distribution and weather conditions at a specific location, the installation scenario, and the module orientation.


The Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 paves an essential avenue to the courthouse door for plaintiffs challenging military decision making, particularly those alleging that the military has violated individual civil liberties or federal environmental statutes. Yet, the APA does not authorize judicial review of "military authority exercised in the field in time of war." This article provides a much needed and long overdue legislative historiography of that exemption, fitting it into context with the loss of faith in administrative expertise and fear of totalitarianism that accompanied World War II. The article then examines the provisions in the Articles of War from which the "military authority" exemption apparently was drawn. The final analysis is of the courts' and commentators' assumptions about the exemption, foremost the assumption that "in the field" connotes only the locus of combat. The article concludes that, although the "military authority" exemption appears to be quite narrow, Congress' understanding of its chosen phrasing in 1946 would have been somewhat broader than that of a modern reader, and thus many courts and commentators' assumptions about the exemption are flawed.


In recent years, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanners have become more prevalent in the scientific community. They capture a "2.5-D" image of a scene by sending out thousands of laser pulses and using time-of-flight calculations to determine the distance to the first reflecting surface in the scene. Rather than setting up a collection of objects in real life and actually sending lasers into the scene, one can simply create a scene out of 3d models and "scan" it by casting rays at the models. This is a great resource for any researchers who work with 3D model/surface/point data and LiDAR data. The synthetic scanner can be used to produce data sets for which a ground truth is known in order to ensure algorithms are behaving properly before moving to "real" LiDAR scans. Also, noise can be added to the points to attempt to simulate a real LiDAR scan for researchers who do not have access to the very expensive equipment required to obtain real scans.


Excerpt] Across the globe, there is increasing concern about income inequality. Empirical evidence suggests that over the last three decades, income inequality has grown in many developed economies (the extent and time frame of this trend varying considerably). The Great Recession starting in 2008–2009 intensified this concern due to the impact of the ongoing economic crisis on inequality levels, and the general perception that the increase in inequality may have been one of the factors triggering and protracting the crisis. Although there is a large body of research on trends in income inequality in EU Member States, surprisingly few studies adopt an EU-wide perspective. In this context, this report has two main goals: to provide a comparative analysis of inequality trends in Member States over the course of the Great Recession (updating the picture given by previous international studies); and to discuss relevant trends and developments in inequality for the overall EU distribution of income – including the implications of economic convergence and divergence before and after the crisis. Most of the analysis in this report is drawn from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) for the period 2005–2014, with income data relating to the period 2004–2013.


Editor's note: This article was originally submitted to the Pitfalls in Seismic Interpretation department which is designed to update Tucker and Yorston's classic book of the same name originally published in 1973. However, because of its length and number of illustrations, the article was deemed more appropriate for Interpreters Corner. For more information about the new series or an example of the type of material desired, see page 1320 of the November 1999 issue of TLE or contact Steve Henry (email@example.com).

Seismic interpretation pitfalls are false structures on seismic created by regional or local velocity changes, acquisition patterns, or processing artifacts. These false structures could lead an unsuspecting interpreter to an erroneous interpretation and a noncommercial well or dry hole. This is a brief analysis of one of the velocity-induced pitfalls, the fault shadow pitfall, and how to recognize it.

Numerous dry holes have been drilled into small rollover structures seen on seismic in the footwall of a fault, either the upthrown block of a normal fault or the downthrown block of a reverse fault. Some structures in the shadow of the fault plane may have been real and had closure, but other structures may have been false and created by lateral velocity contrasts across the fault—effects of the fault shadow.

In order to visualize the fault shadow pitfall, I created …


In this major reassessment of Japanese imperialism in Asia, Mark Driscoll foregrounds the role of human life and labor. Drawing on subaltern postcolonial studies and Marxism, he directs critical attention to the peripheries, where figures including Chinese coolies, Japanese pimps, trafficked Japanese women, and Korean tenant farmers supplied the vital energy that drove Japan's empire. He identifies three phases of Japan's capitalist expansion, each powered by distinct modes of capturing and expropriating life and labor: biopolitics (1895–1914), neuropolitics (1920–32), and necropolitics (1935-45). During the first phase, Japanese elites harnessed the labor of marginalized subjects as Japan colonized Taiwan, Korea, and south Manchuria, and sent hustlers and sex workers into China to expand its market hegemony. Linking the deformed bodies laboring in the peripheries with the "erotic-grotesque" media in the metropole, Driscoll centers the second phase on commercial sexology, pornography, and detective stories in Tokyo to argue that by 1930, capitalism had colonized all aspects of human life: not just labor practices but also consumers' attention and leisure time. Focusing on Japan's Manchukuo colony in the third phase, he shows what happens to the central figures of biopolitics as they are subsumed under necropolitical capitalism: coolies become forced laborers, pimps turn into state officials and authorized narcotraffickers, and sex workers become "comfort women". Driscoll concludes by discussing Chinese fiction written inside Manchukuo, describing the everyday violence unleashed by necropolitics.


Abstract : There is a widespread demand for factual information about the impact and benefits of process improvement based on Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) models. Much has been learned since the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) published a special report on this topic over two years ago. There now is evidence that process improvement using the CMMI Product Suite can result in improvements in schedule and cost performance, product quality, return on investment and other measures of performance outcome. This technical report summarizes much of the publicly available empirical evidence about the performance results that can occur as a consequence of CMMI-based process improvement. In addition the report contains a series of brief case descriptions that were created with collaboration from representatives from 10 organizations that have achieved notable quantitative performance results through their CMMI-based improvement efforts. The report is meant for members of engineering process groups, middle and first-line management and other potential process improvement participants who wish to learn more about how CMMI can contribute to measurable improvements. It also may be useful for executives and senior managers who are faced with decisions about the allocation of scarce resources for improvement efforts.


In this research, I explore several related problems in distributed robot systems that must be addressed in order to achieve multi-robot tasks, in which individual robots may not possess all the required capabilities. While most previous research work on multi-robot cooperation mainly concentrates on loosely-coupled multi-robot tasks, a more challenging problem is to also address tightly-coupled multirobot tasks involving close robot interactions, which often require capability sharing. Three related topics towards addressing these tasks are discussed, as follows: Forming coalitions, which determines how robots should form into subgroups (i.e., coalitions) to address individual tasks. To achieve system autonomy, the ability to identify the feasibility of potential solutions is critical for forming coalitions. A general IQ-ASyMTRe architecture, which is formally proven to be sound and complete in this research, is introduced to incorporate this capability based on the ASyMTRe architecture. Executing coalitions, which coordinates different robots within the same coalition during physical execution to accomplish individual tasks. For executing coalitions, the IQ-ASyMTRe+ approach is presented. An information quality measure is introduced to control the robots to maintain the required constraints for task execution in dynamic environment. Redundancies at sensory and computational levels are utilized to enable execution that is robust to internal and external influences. Task allocation, which optimizes the overall performance of the system when multiple tasks need to be addressed. In this research, this problem is analyzed and the formulation is extended. A


Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 76:1719–1727 doi:10.2136/sssaj2011.0303 Received 7 Sept. 2011. *Corresponding author (email@example.com). © Soil Science Society of America, 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Permission for printing and for reprinting the material contained herein has been obtained by the publisher. Precision of Soil Particle Size Analysis using Laser Diffractometry Pedology


All papers were peer-reviewed. The main goal of this conference is to combine the theories of statistical physics and random graph with the fundamental principles that govern the structure, function, and evolution of biological networks and modules. Applications to the Internet and WWW are also considered. In this proceedings, the reader will find an overview of the state-of-the-art of the new and fast growing field of complex networks.


The resignation of the editorial board of an Elsevier-owned linguistics journal and its open access reorganization could get the ball rolling for other journals to follow suit. Benedikt Fecher and Gert Wagner argue this case is a reminder that open access means more than just providing access to an article; it means rethinking the whole process of publishing. Open access also raises important questions about who owns the critical information infrastructure for online publishing.


Abstract. An increasing number of studies are now reporting the effects of ocean acidification on a broad range of marine species, processes and systems. Many of these are investigating the sensitive early life-history stages that several major reviews have highlighted as being potentially most susceptible to ocean acidification. Nonetheless there remain few investigations of the effects of ocean acidification on the very earliest, and critical, process of fertilization, and still fewer that have investigated levels of ocean acidification relevant for the coming century. Here we report the effects of near-future levels of ocean acidification (≈−0.35 pH unit change) on sperm swimming speed, sperm motility, and fertilization kinetics in a population of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas from western Sweden. We found no significant effect of ocean acidification – a result that was well-supported by power analysis. Similar findings from Japan suggest that this may be a globally robust result, and we emphasise the need for experiments on multiple populations from throughout a species' range. We also discuss the importance of sound experimental design and power analysis in meaningful interpretation of non-significant results.


Asthma has been increasing in industrialized countries. Evi-dence suggests that asthma is caused by a Th2 immune response to inhaled environmental Ags and that childhood infections protect against this. We have shown that bacterial DNA contains motifs, centered on unmethylated CpG dinucleotides, which induce Th1-type responses. We hypothesized that the Th1 effect of these CpG motifs may oppose the Th2 type allergic response and suggest that this may account for the pro-tective effect of childhood infection against asthma. We examined the effects of CpG-motif oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODN) in a murine model of asthma. Airway eosinophilia, Th2 cytokine induction, IgE production, and bronchial hyperreactivity were prevented by coadministration of CpG ODN with the Ag. Significantly, in a previously sensitized mouse, CpG ODN can prevent allergen-induced airway inflammation. These studies suggest that exposure to CpG DNA may protect against asthma. The Journal Immunology, 1998, 160:


One of the methods of biological sand dune stabilization and reclamation of desert, Planting resistant species in areas of bare and covered with dry conditions. One of the plants used for the purpose of is Atriplex canescens . Considering that the successful establishment of plants in arid regions is a prerequisite for the success of the restoration area and since the medium first is where the young seedlings in the field of natural encounters, Therefore, the effect of soil factors on the establishment of Atriplex canescens research in in two planted areas with Atriplex in Omrani Gharbi of Gonabad city and Chah Goji of Mah'velat city. Data Measurements of vegetation(Crown diameter, canopy volume, production&...) and soil parameters (EC ،pH , Nitrogen, carbon, texture &...) in each region was evaluated by Minitab software with two-sample t-test .The results of this study showing, soil parameters, including increasing soil Saturation percentage, reducing soil reaction and increase the amount of carbon and nitrogen in furrow cultivation and low electrical conductivity in the hole is filled with sediments and fine-grained texture in two types of cultivation can improve the growth of Atriplex. As well as soil saintly does not effect on the viability of this plant.


The desert of Sahara is one of the major sources of mineral dust on Earth, producing around 2×10 8 tons/yr. Under certain weather conditions, dust particles from Saharan desert get transported over the Mediterranean Sea and most of Europe. The limiting values set by the directive EC/30/1999 of European Union can easily be exceeded by the transport of desert dust particles in the south European Region and especially in urban areas, where there is also significant contribution from anthropogenic sources. In this study, the effects of dust transport on air quality in several Greek urban areas are quantified. PM 10 concentration values from stationary monitoring stations are compared to dust concentrations for the 4-year period 2003–2006. The dust concentration values in the Greek areas were estimated by the SKIRON modelling system coupled with embedded algorithms describing the dust cycle. The mean annual dust contribution to daily-averaged PM 10 concentration values was found to be around or even greater than 10% in the urban areas throughout the years examined. Natural dust transport may contribute by more than 20% to the annual number of exceedances – PM 10 values greater than EU limits – depending on the specific monitoring location. In a second stage of the study, the inhaled lung dose received by the residents in various Greek locations is calculated. The particle deposition efficiency of mineral dust at the different parts of the human respiratory tract is determined by applying a lung dosimetry numerical model, which incorporates inhalation dynamics and aerosol physical processes. The inhalation dose from mineral dust particles was greater in the upper respiratory system (extrathoracic region) and less significant in the lungs, especially in the sensitive alveolar region. However, in cases of dust episodes, the amounts of mineral dust deposited along the human lung are comparable to those received during exposure in heavily polluted urban or smoking areas.


Over recent years the photovoltaic technology has obtained significant development, especially in building integrated photovoltaic thermal (BIPVT) system. Photovoltaic thermal (PVT) air collectors are advantageous because of their efficiency. Various studies have been conducted to determine the ideal parameters of PVT air collectors. Few theoretical approach models of PVT air collector systems were used to help detect occurrences in a PVT collector system and calculate the optimal parameters. The heat transfer and energy balance of PVT air collectors were analysed and reviewed based on the model, quantity of cover, channels and forms of the collector. A mathematical model was developed to describe actual working situations and to examine new shut PVT collectors. The first law of thermodynamics is the principal equation in the model. Different analysis methods were utilised to evaluate PVT performances, which are generally based on energy and exergy analyses. This review focuses on theoretical approach model of single-pass PVT air collector.


There is a relative paucity of disability‐related research emanating from low and middle income countries. We report here on the successes and challenges of AfriNEAD (the African Network on Evidence to Action on Disability), a recently formed network that brings together researchers, activists and other role‐players in attempting to develop and support disability‐related research in Africa. We introduce the African concept of ubuntu (humanness) as an organizing principle to guide respectful engagement amongst people with widely differing skills and experiences with the overall project of collaborating in research and development to make a positive difference to disabled people's lives.


A new adaptive control strategy based on artificial immune system (AIS) for a DSTATCOM in an electric ship power system is presented in this paper. DSTATCOM is a shunt compensation device, which can be used to improve the power quality during the pulse power requirements in a naval shipboard system. The role of DSTATCOM controller is very important to meet this objective. In this paper, the DSTATCOM controller parameters are first tuned by particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique, so that it can provide innate immunity to common system disturbances. Then, these optimum parameters are modified online by an artificial immune system (AIS), which provides adaptive immunity to unusual system disturbances. To evaluate the performance of the proposed control strategy, a simplified model of the ship system consisting of a 45 MVA main generator, a 5 MVA auxiliary generator and a 36 MW propulsion motor is simulated in a real-time environment. The effectiveness of the PSO and AIS based adaptive controller is demonstrated on a real time digital simulator based test system for pulsed loads of different magnitudes and durations.


We present a novel view on principal component analysis (PCA) as a competitive game in which each approximate eigenvector is controlled by a player whose goal is to maximize their own utility function. We analyze the properties of this PCA game and the behavior of its gradient based updates. The resulting algorithm which combines elements from Oja's rule with a generalized Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization is naturally decentralized and hence parallelizable through message passing. We demonstrate the scalability of the algorithm with experiments on large image datasets and neural network activations. We discuss how this new view of PCA as a differentiable game can lead to further algorithmic developments and insights.


Open wound management in small animals is a common event in veterinary practice. It is economically significant and can cause considerable distress and pain to the animal. The aim of wound management is to provide conditions that allow for optimal wound healing or to prepare the wound for definitive closure by reconstructive techniques. However, every wound is unique and this problem is reflected in the paucity of published studies analysing the effectiveness of wound dressing products in the management of small animal wounds. Wounds must be properly evaluated at the first presentation in order to plan a treatment protocol and to give the owner an indication of the expected duration of treatment and ultimately the prognosis. This chapter considers how to manage open wounds and how to use dressings and bandages to optimize the healing process. The following topics are addressed: Principles of wound management; Wound lavage; Wound debridement; Systemic treatments; Bandages and dressings; Topical medications; Primary (contact) layer wound dressings; Bandaging; and Wound management strategy and planning. This chapter also includes case examples focusing on Open wound management of a chronic shear injury prior to skin grafting; and Management of an acute road traffic shear injury. Case examples: Open wound management of a chronic shear injury; Management of an acute road traffic shear injury


School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is a systems approach to supporting the social and emotional needs of all children utilized by more than 21,000 schools across the nation. Data from numerous studies and state projects' evaluation reports point to the impact of SWPBIS on student outcomes (office discipline referrals [ODRs], in-school suspensions [ISSs], out-of-school suspensions [OSSs]) and the possible relationship between implementation fidelity and those student outcomes. With data from 1,122 Florida schools, this study used a longitudinal design to examine the associations between the total score and 10 subscale scores on the Benchmarks of Quality (BoQ), a validated SWPBIS implementation fidelity measure, and school-level behavioral outcomes: ODRs, ISSs, and OSSs. Results of these analyses found a decreasing trend across all three behavioral outcomes, and schools having higher BoQ total scores realized lower ODRs and had corresponding fewer ISSs and OSSs. Of the 10 subscales, the Classroom was negatively and significantly associated with ODRs and OSSs, whereas the BoQ Data Entry Plan was positively and significantly associated with ODRs at initial status and across time after controlling for school-level characteristics (e.g., size, number of years of implementation). The implications of the findings for SWPBIS assessment and intervention in the classroom are discussed.


We report on zinc oxide thin films grown by atomic layer deposition at a low temperature, which is compatible with a low thermal budget required for some novel electronic devices. By selecting appropriate precursors and process parameters, we were able to obtain films with controllable electrical parameters, from heavily n-type to the resistive ones. Optimization of the growth process together with the low temperature deposition led to ZnO thin films, in which no defect-related photoluminescence bands are observed. Such films show anticorrelation between mobility and free-electron concentration, which indicates that low n electron concentration is a result of lower number of defects rather than the self-compensation effect.


The perception of music is a remarkable phenomenon that enriches our lives nearly every day. Deeply imbedded in our own culture, music is a part of all known human societies. Yet, questions about the nature of musical expression—its biological basis, its evolutionary history, its effects on human physiology and emotion—remain topics of interest in the disciplines that investigate the human experience.

Music requires production, transmission, reception, processing, and interpretation of organized sounds. Although the physical components of this process are well understood, the cognitive components are less clearly characterized. Ever since Darwin wrote that human faculties for music "must be ranked among the most mysterious with which [man] is endowed," scientists have sought to explain this resplendently diverse and powerful medium of human communication.

In this lecture, which comprises a brief tour of the physics, physiology, and psychology of music, we review some of the basic elements of music in relation to human perception, and we include examples of music repertoire from a variety of idioms


Glycosyltransferases (GTs) are essential for the biosynthesis and diversification of many therapeutically important natural products. Of these, UDP-sugar: sterol glucosyltransferases (UGTs) (184.108.40.206) catalyse the synthesis of therapeutically important steryl glycosides (SGs). Guided by the sequence similarity with a previously characterised N-terminally truncated UGT from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (UGT51), this study reports the cloning of the gene fragment encoding the C-terminal catalytic domains from related yeasts and the expression and characterisation of their encoded products produced. N-terminally histidine tagged proteins were purified for in vitro assays against a panel of sterol and steroidal acceptors. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and kinetic analysis led to the successful characterisation of two novel UGTs from Pichia angusta and Kluyveromyces lactis. In addition, testosterone was shown to be utilized by all UGTs, including the previously characterised S. cerevisiae UGT51. Random mutagenesis of UGTs and homology modelling of the S. cerevisiae UGT revealed structural similarities with family 1 bacterial glycopeptide GTs. Given the structural and mechanistic similarities among GT family 1 UGTs, this approach may provide a template for genetic manipulation of novel UGTs from other members of the GT superfamily with a better understanding of catalytic domains and for broadening their scope in drug development. It may also aid the development of a generic process in the synthesis of SGs.


Nanophotonics promise a dramatic scale reduction compared to contemporary photonic components. This allows the integration of many functions onto a chip. Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) is an ideal material for nanophotonics. It consists of a thin layer of silicon on top of an oxide buffer. In combination with high-resolution lithography, one can define a high refractive index contrast both in horizontally and vertically, resulting in a tight confinement of light. Moreover, SOI can be processed with industrial tools now used for silicon microelectronics. There are two candidates for nanophotonic waveguides. Photonic wires are basically conventional waveguides with reduced dimensions and a high refractive index contrast. These waveguides with submicron dimensions can have bend radii of only a few micrometres. The alternative is to use photonic crystals, which confine light by the photonic band gap effect. Introducing defects in a photonic crystal creates waveguides and other functional components. To make nanophotonics commercially viably, mass-manufacturing technology is needed. While e-beam lithography delivers the required accuracy for nanophotonic structures, it is too slow. We have used deep-UV lithography, used for advanced CMOS fabrication, to make nanophotonic waveguides. The fabrication quality is very good, which translates to low propagation losses. E.g. a 500nm (single-mode) photonic wire has a propagation loss of only 0.24dB/mm. Using these low-loss waveguides, we have implemented a variety of nanophotonic components, including ring resonators and arrayed waveguide gratings.


Although the classical model of how a population of cloud droplets grows to precipitation-sized drops through the condensation and coalescence processes is well accepted, it does not fully address the history of how nascent precipitation drops come about in warm clouds. A size-resolving (bin) large-eddy simulation (LES) model and a parcel trajectory model are used to investigate the dominant microphysical precursor conditions influencing precipitation initiation for a case of marine stratocumulus based on conditions sampled during the CAP-MBL field campaign in the eastern North Atlantic. Backward trajectories are then calculated beginning from ten regions of nascent precipitation to analyze the precursor conditions of precipitation onset. A suite of backward trajectories is also calculated from ten null cases originating in regions that do not form drizzle. The backward trajectories originating in nascent drizzle regions exhibit larger mean cloud droplet radius (rv) relative to the null cases, as would be expected since larger cloud droplets tend to preferentially form drizzle. These nascent drizzle cases experience anomalously low droplet concentration (Nc) along the trajectory path, relative to the null cases, but also low values of cloud-water mixing ratio (qc). These results indicate the most surprising aspect of our study, specifically that the larger values of mean volume radius (rv) are driven, not by large cloud liquid water contents (qc), but rather by small values of cloud droplet concentration (Nc). These findings suggest that new regions of drizzle are associated with parcels that previously participated in the drizzle process.


The project has studied the inheritance of microsatellite alleles across four chromosomes within two multi-generation families from a highly endogamous community, the Sankethi of Karnataka, India. The two families each have members from four generations participating in the study. finger prick blood samples and detailed pedigree information were collected from subjects in India. DNA was extracted from the blood spot samples using a phenol-chloroform technique, and analysed by spectrophotometry to determine DNA concentrations. Fluorescent markers from chromosomes 15, 16, 17 & 18 were amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques on a Perkin Elmer 96 well thermocycler. The PCR products were then scnnned by laser using an ABI PRISMlM 310 Genetic Analyzer to identify the different primer products. Analysis of these results was used to establish homozygosity or heterozygosity at each microsatellite site. The aims of the investigation were to ascertain the alleles present in the community and their frequency, to detem:ine the levels of homozygosity and residual heterozygosity in the study group, and to prepare a genetic characterisation of the community across the chromosomes studied. Due to the small founding size of the community, and their long tradition of endogamy and preferential consanguinity with effective geographical, cultural, and religious isolation, it was assumed that the coefficient of inbreeding (F) would be high. The results of the study indicate that there may be reduced tolerance to homozygosity in certain areas of the genome, with the possibility that some of these regions may coincide with the locations of developmental genes.


Amylases, a-amylase (EC 188.8.131.52, α-1, 4-glucan-4-glucanohydrolase) and glucoamylase (EC 22.214.171.124, α-1, 4; α-1, 6-glucan glucohydrolase; amyloglucosidase), extracted and partially purified from sorghum malt were used to hydrolyze maize starch. The process and products of the enzymatic hydrolysis were also compared with that of acid hydrolysis using hydrochloric acid. Maize grains were dry milled into flour as starch used for the hydrolytic procedures. Green (for glucoamylase) and dry (for a-amylase) sorghum malts were homogenized and the amylases were extracted in appropriate buffer solutions, precipitated by ammonium sulphate and desalted by column chromatography. Acid hydrolysis was investigated under various temperature, acid concentrations and starch concentrations. The combination of acid–enzyme hydrolyses involved the use of 0.1 M HCl followed by the addition of the extracted a-amylase and glucoamylase and enzyme-enzyme (a- amylase and glucoamylase) hydrolyses were also investigated. The results of the acid hydrolysis showed that the concentration of reducing sugar produced increased with temperature of hydrolysis and the concentrations of the acid. However, the products decreased with increasing starch granule concentration. The overall study showed that enzyme–enzyme hydrolysis has the highest dextrose equivalent of 47.0% followed by acid– enzyme with 43.0% and the acid hydrolysis with 27.0%. © 2009 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved. Keywords: a-amylase, glucoamylase, maize (Zea may), Sorghum bicolor (Sorghum).


The coupling from the past (CFTP) procedure is a protocol for finite-state Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods whereby the algorithm itself can determine the necessary runtime to convergence. In this paper, we demonstrate how this protocol can be applied to the problem of signal reconstruction using Bayesian wavelet analysis where the dimensionality of the wavelet basis set is unknown, and the observations are distorted by Gaussian white noise of unknown variance. MCMC simulation is used to account for model uncertainty by drawing samples of wavelet bases for approximating integrals (or summations) on the model space that are either too complex or too computationally demanding to perform analytically. We extend the CFTP protocol by making use of the central limit theorem to show how the algorithm can also monitor its own approximation error induced by MCMC. In this way, we can assess the number of MCMC samples needed to approximate the integral to within a user specified tolerance level. Hence, the method automatically ensures convergence and determines the necessary number of iterations needed to meet the error criteria.


Landscape scale measurements (1 - 10 km2) of sensible and latent heat
fluxes over heterogeneous areas are required for hydrological and
meteorological modelling. Evaporation is strongly dependent on land
surface properties, thus aggregating field-scale measurements has
much uncertainty because of the need for detailed land-cover maps and
the possible disproportionate contribution of vegetation transition zones;
in any case, such a collection of field-scale instruments is a highly
resource intensive approach. A potentially better alternative is reported
here: the long-path (large aperture) scintillometer (LAS) has been used
over topographically complex chalk downland with mixed vegetation, to
measure the sensible heat fluxes at the landscape scale, using a 2.4 km
pathlength. These sensible heat fluxes agreed well with aggregated
eddy covariance measurements made at the field scale for different
vegetation types – the contrasting range of sensible heat fluxes in the
late summer over various agricultural fields in southern England is
reported.
The LAS in combination with a new custom-built millimetre-wave (94
GHz) scintillometer (MWS) was trialled to measure large-scale area
averaged latent and sensible heat fluxes, using the two-wavelength
method of scintillometry, over the same complex terrain. The LAS-MWS
fluxes were found to close the energy balance well, except during
periods of either high windspeed or very low cross-wind conditions. The
latter conditions may lead to inappropriate filtering or reach a
fundamental limitation of the method. The over-estimation of flux at high
windspeeds may be due to limitations of the Monin-Obukhov similarity
theory which was developed for homogeneous surfaces.
The difference in the effective heights of the two scintillometers for the
measurement of their respective fluxes is recognised, and the formula
for these heights is derived. Application over certain complex topography
shows that an increased measurement height would lead to bettermatched
source areas for the LAS and MWS.


While the previous literature uses transaction cost economics and the resource-based view to theoretically derive the benefits of outsourcing, it has so far overlooked how these theoretical underpinnings must be used to assess trade-offs involved in make-buy decisions as well. This study investigates trade-offs in make-buy decisions for the buying firm. It takes an operations strategy perspective and links manufacturing firms' competitive priorities to outsourcing motives and resulting capabilities. Survey data from a representative sample of 136 manufacturing plants in Sweden is subjected to regressions analysis. In contrast to earlier empirical research, this study shows that resulting capabilities of strategic outsourcing initiatives are distinct, and furthermore, do not emerge cumulatively. This has important implications for the ongoing debate over tradeoffs in the operations strategy literature. Findings are clearly in support of the trade-off model and extend current research into the theoretical domain of make-buy decisions.


Automated reagent preparation, sample processing, and data acquisition have increased the rate at which flow cytometry data can be generated. Furthermore, advances in technology and flow cytometry instrumentation continually increase the complexity and dimensionality of this data. Together, this leads to increased pressure on manual data analysis, which has inherent limitations including subjectivity of the analyst and the length of time needed for data processing. These issues can create bottlenecks in the data processing workflow and potentially compromise data quality. To address these issues, as well as the challenges associated with manual gating in a high‐volume human immune profiling laboratory, we sought to implement an automated analysis pipeline. In this report, we discuss considerations for selecting an automated analysis method, the process of implementing an automated pipeline, and detail our successful incorporation of an automated gating strategy with flowDensity into our analysis workflow. This validated pipeline augments our laboratory's ability to provide rapid high‐throughput immune profiling for patients participating in cancer immunotherapy clinical trials. © International Society for Advancement of Cytometry


Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) is defined as the accumulation of extracellular fluids in the macular region of the eye, caused by Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) that will lead to irreversible vision loss if left untreated. This paper presents the use of a pre-trained Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based model for the classification of Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD- OCT) images of Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) with feature reduction using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Bag of Words (BoW). The model is trained using SD-OCT dataset retrieved from the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and is evaluated using an 8-fold cross validation at the slide level and two patient leave out at the volume level. For the volume level, an accuracy of 96.88% is obtained for data that was preprocessed.


Classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) has few known modifiable risk factors, and the relationship between diet and cHL risk is unclear. We performed the first investigation of an association between dietary pattern and cHL risk in 435 cHL cases and 563 population-based controls from Massachusetts and Connecticut (1997-2000) who completed baseline diet questionnaires. We identified 4 major dietary patterns ("vegetable," "high meat," "fruit/low-fat dairy," "desserts/sweets") using principal components analysis. We computed multivariable odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for associations of dietary pattern score (quartiles) with younger-adult (age <50 years), older-adult (age ≥50 years), and overall cHL risk. Secondary analyses examined associations by histological subtype and tumor Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) status. A diet high in desserts/sweets was associated with younger-adult (odds ratio(quartile 4 vs. quartile 1) = 1.60, 95% confidence interval: 1.05, 2.45; Ptrend = 0.008) and EBV-negative, younger-adult (odds ratio = 2.11, 95% confidence interval: 1.31, 3.41; Ptrend = 0.007) cHL risk. A high meat diet was associated with older-adult (odds ratio = 3.34, 95% confidence interval: 1.02, 10.91; Ptrend = 0.04) and EBV-negative, older-adult (odds ratio = 4.64, 95% confidence interval: 1.03, 20.86; Ptrend = 0.04) cHL risk. Other dietary patterns were not clearly associated with cHL. We report the first evidence for a role of dietary pattern in cHL etiology. Diets featuring high intake of meat or desserts and sweets may increase cHL risk.


This paper presents MARVEL, a mobile augmented reality (MAR) system which provides a notation display service with imperceptible latency (<100 ms) and low energy consumption on regular mobile devices. In contrast to conventional MAR systems, which recognize objects using image-based computations performed in the cloud, MARVEL mainly utilizes a mobile device's local inertial sensors for recognizing and tracking multiple objects, while computing local optical flow and offloading images only when necessary. We propose a system architecture which uses local inertial tracking, local optical flow, and visual tracking in the cloud synergistically. On top of that, we investigate how to minimize the overhead for image computation and offloading. We have implemented and deployed a holistic prototype system in a commercial building and evaluate MARVEL's performance. The efficient use of a mobile device's capabilities lowers latency and energy consumption without sacrificing accuracy.


Sharing spare resources on customer to customer (C2C) web platforms yields economic advantages for users on both supply and demand sides. It also increases resource efficiency by enabling better utilization patterns, which in turn provides societal and environmental benefits. Establishing trust among users is a key factor in facilitating the sharing of resources in such platforms. Among other methods, the use of profile pictures has proven to increase trust in peer-to-peer interactions. However, this comes at a considerable cost of privacy. In this study, we compare different levels of user representations (i.e. picture humanization) in a lab experiment involving 216 users and analyze their effect on users' sharing behaviour on a C2C platform. Our results indicate that an increased level of picture humanization increases users' perception of social presence and decreases their perception of anonymity. In turn, perceived anonymity has a marginal negative impact on users' sharing behaviour while perceived social presence impacts positively users' sharing behaviour through a path that involves trust and perceived reciprocity.


Laser forming is a new type of flexible manufacturing process that has become viable for the shaping of metallic components. Process designing of laser forming involves finding a set of process parameters, including laser power, laser scanning paths, and scanning speed, given a prescribed shape. To date, research has focused on process designing for rectangular plates, and only a few studies are presented for axis-symmetric geometries like circular plates. In the present study, process designing for axis-symmetric geometries—with focus on class of shapes—is handled using a formerly proposed distance-based approach. A prescribed shape is achieved for geometries such as quarter-circular and half-circular ring plates. Experimental results verify the applicability of the proposed method for a class of shapes.


Several tokamaks structures containing 500 keV protons to be used in P-B11 fusion were simulated. In order to find the optimal confinement configuration, the simulation was helped by an evolutionary algorithm running 145,000 simulations. The results are presented in this paper. According to the simulations the tokamak structure can be operated to reach ignition using the proposed plasma mode that includes the use of low electron temperature and high thermal energy protons in the plasma (500 keV).


From three Rügen boreholes (G14, Rügen 5, Loissin 1) across the Caledonian deformation front four Lower Palaeozoic slate samples and three detrital muscovite concentrates from associated sandstones have been analysed by 40Ar/39Ar analysis. Microprobe analysis of the detrital muscovites show homogeneous, but distinct chemical compositions for each concentrate. Particulate organic matter reflectance and illite crystallinity indicate that all the analysed whole–rock samples have experienced anchizonal metamorphic conditions. 40Ar/39Ar analysis of the samples from the G14 and Loissin 1 wells give almost identical results. Muscovite concentrates define plateau ages of c. 830 Ma and show an isotopic rejuvenation of low–temperature increments around 440 Ma. Whole–rock slate samples give plateau ages of c. 440 Ma and c. 427 Ma. Isotopic rejuvenation in the low–temperature increments prior to 350 Ma in the Loissin 1 sample can be attributed to the Permo–Carbonifereous volcanism which is known from this borehole. In contrast, samples from the borehole Rügen 5 show a different isotope pattern. A muscovite concentrate defines a plateau age of 609 Ma. Two whole rock slate samples give internally discordant but identical 40Ar/39Ar spectra with consistent isotopic rejuvenation from high– to low–temperature increments from 510 Ma to 420 Ma. While for the G14 and Loissin 1 sandstone samples a Baltica–derived provenance can be assumed, greywackes of Rügen 5 indicate a Cadomian–influenced Perigondwanan detrital source. According to the results of whole–rock slate samples the main Caledonian tectonothermal event in NE–Germany occurred around the Ordovician–Silurian boundary or in the early Silurian (450–425 Ma). From these data the Rügen Palaeozoic appears as an allochthonous Caledonian nappe complex which has been thrust much further onto the Baltic shield than previously thought.


To identify new cardiac biomarkers, a quantitative proteomic analysis has been performed on serum and heart tissue proteins from three species of nonhuman primates following isoproterenol (ISO) treatment. Three serum proteins—serum amyloid A (SAA), α-1-acid glycoprotein (A1AG), and apolipoprotein A-1 (Apo A1)—were consistently identified as changed and remained altered 72 h post dose in all three species post ISO treatment, indicating the potential of including these proteins in preclinical or clinical evaluation of drug-induced cardiac injury. Furthermore, proteomic analysis of heart tissue proteins following ISO treatment demonstrated detrimental effects on calcium signaling and energy generation in cardiac myocytes. It is worth noting that cardiac troponins were not identified in serum but were identified as altered in heart tissue lysate along with other cardiac-specific proteins. This strategy for cardiac biomarker discovery by proteomic screening of heart tissue proteins, followed by verification in serum samples using immunoassays or targeted mass spectrometry, could be applied in future biomarker studies.


This article proposes a new method for workflow scheduling hassle in the cell computing surroundings which makes use of the optimization based totally scheduling with environment friendly outcome. The portable framework is considerably much less consistent than the wired condition; energy ought to be regarded at the planning time. Job scheduling in cell grids therefore require a strong machine mannequin that can contain all these factors. In order to assemble the vibrant and mobile nature of resources, the availability has to be estimated in case of scheduling. In Grid Booster Algorithm's is used to time table the approach to allow wonderful load balancing.


The South West (S.W.) coast of India is blessed with a series of wetland systems popularly referred to as backwaters covering a total area of 46128.94 ha. These backwaters are internationally renowned for their aesthetic and scientific values including being a repository for several species fish and shell fishes. This is more significant in that three wetlands (Vembanad, Sasthamcotta and Ashtamudi) have recently been designated as Ramsar sites of international importance. Thirty major backwaters forming the crux of the coastal wetlands form an abode for over 200 resident or migratory fish and shellfish species. The fishing activities in these water bodies provide the livelihood to about 200,000 fishers and also provide full-time employment to over 50,000 fishermen. This paper describes the changes on the environmental and biodiversity status of selected wetlands, during 1994-2005 period. The pH was generally near neutral to alkaline in range. The salinity values indicated mixohaline condition ranging from 5.20-32.38 ppt. in the 12 wetlands. The productivity values were generally low in most of the wetlands during the study, where the gross production varied from 0.22 gC/m3/day in Kadinamkulam to 1.10 gC/m3/day in the Kayamkulam. The diversity of plankton and benthos was more during the pre-monsoon compared to the monsoon and post-monsoon periods in most of the wetlands. The diversity of plankton and benthos was more during the pre-monsoon compared to the monsoon and post-monsoon periods in most of the wetlands. The average fish yield per ha. varied from 246 kg. in Valapattanam to 2747.3 kg. in Azhikode wetland. Retting of coconut husk in most of the wetlands led to acidic pH conditions with anoxia resulting in the production of high amounts of sulphide, coupled with high carbon dioxide values leading to drastic reduction in the incidence and abundance of plankton, benthic fauna and the fishery resources. The major fish species recorded from the investigation were Etroplus suratensis, E. maculatus, Channa marulius, Labeo dussumieri, Puntius sp. Lutianus argentimaculatus, Mystus sp., Tachysurus sp. and Hemiramphus sp. The majority of these backwaters are highly stressed, especially during the pre monsoon period when the retting activity is at its peak. The study has clearly reflected that a more restrained and cautious approach is needed to manage and preserve the unique backwater ecosystems of South-west India.


A decade after the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the Children's Internet Protection Act, which mandated Internet filters in public libraries, filtering problems have not been resolved, and the disabling of Internet filters upon the requests of adults does not seem to be as easy or automatic as the justices had presumed. In upholding CIPA, the Supreme Court seemed to misunderstand the parameters of the disabling provision, ignored the right-to-receive doctrine, and missed the opportunity to update public forum doctrine to include the Internet. This article concludes that the Court needs to reevaluate public forum doctrine in the context of twenty-first century technology and designate Internet access in public libraries as a metaphysical public forum.


Pluripotency is defined by a cell's potential to differentiate into any somatic cell type. How pluripotency is transited during embryo implantation, followed by cell lineage specification and establishment of the basic body plan, is poorly understood. Here we report the transcription factor Zfp281 functions in the exit from naive pluripotency occurring coincident with pre-to-post-implantation mouse embryonic development. By characterizing Zfp281 mutant phenotypes and identifying Zfp281 gene targets and protein partners in developing embryos and cultured pluripotent stem cells, we establish critical roles for Zfp281 in activating components of the Nodal signaling pathway and lineage-specific genes. Mechanistically, Zfp281 cooperates with histone acetylation and methylation complexes at target gene enhancers and promoters to exert transcriptional activation and repression, as well as epigenetic control of epiblast maturation leading up to anterior-posterior axis specification. Our study provides a comprehensive molecular model for understanding pluripotent state progressions in vivo during mammalian embryonic development.


Abstract

Objective: Electroencephalographic suppression bursts (SBs) in newborns usually indicate a grave neurodevelopmental syndrome; however, they have heterogeneous etiologies and noteworthy phenotypes and outcomes.

Methods: We studied 22 newborns with electroencephalographic SBs with varied etiologies, electroencephalographic evolution, associated changes of seizure semiology, and neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Results: Five patients had mitochondrial disease, 3 nonketotic hyperglycinemia, 1 citrullinemia, 6 brain structural disease (hydrocephalus with porencephaly: 3, Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome: 1, Aicardi's syndrome: 1, and Ohtahara syndrome with corpus callosum hypoplasia: 1), 6 severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), and 1 SB with an unknown etiology. The outcome was best in patients with unilateral SBs and treatable diseases like citrullinemia: they had mild developmental delays and unilateral SBs with focal structural anomalies. Patients with unilateral SBs had better outcomes, could walk at 3 years old (p<.001), and had better neurodevelopment (p<.001). Their life expectancy was not significantly longer than for patients with bilateral SBs, however.

Conclusion: In patients with predominantly synchronous SBs and without lesions in magnetic resonance images, the etiology is usually metabolic or genetic. Patients with synchronous SBs had worse outcomes; specifically, they usually could not walk. The neurodevelopmental outcomes were relatively better in patients with asynchronous rather than with synchronous SBs.


The biological reduction of dinitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) by nitrogenase is an energetically demanding reaction that requires low-potential electrons and ATP; however, pathways used to deliver the electrons from central metabolism to the reductants of nitrogenase, ferredoxin or flavodoxin, remain unknown for many diazotrophic microbes. The FixABCX protein complex has been proposed to reduce flavodoxin or ferredoxin using NADH as the electron donor in a process known as electron bifurcation. Herein, the FixABCX complex from Azotobacter vinelandii was purified and demonstrated to catalyze an electron bifurcation reaction: oxidation of NADH (Em= -320 mV) coupled to reduction of flavodoxin semiquinone (Em= -460 mV) and reduction of coenzyme Q (Em= +10 mV). Knocking out fix genes rendered Δrnf A. vinelandii cells unable to fix dinitrogen, confirming that the FixABCX system provides another electron delivery route to nitrogenase. Characterization of the purified FixABCX complex revealed the presence of flavin and iron-sulfur cofactors confirmed by native mass spectrometry, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, and transient ___________________________ *Coauthored by Rhesa N. Ledbetter, Amaya M. Garcia Costas, Carolyn E. Lubner, David W. Mulder, Monika Tokmina-Lukaszewska, Jacob H. Artz, Angela Patterson, Timothy S. Magnuson, Zackary J. Jay, H. Diessel Duan, Jacquelyn Miller, Mary H. Plunkett, John P. Hoben, Brett M. Barney, Ross P. Carlson, Anne-Frances Miller, Brian Bothner, Paul W. King, John W. Peters, and Lance C. Seefeldt (2017) Biochemistry, 56:4177-4190. Copyright 2017, American Chemical Society. Reprinted with permission. 27 absorption spectroscopy. Transient absorption spectroscopy further established the presence of a short-lived flavin semiquinone radical, suggesting that a thermodynamically unstable flavin semiquinone may participate as an intermediate in electron transfer to flavodoxin. A structural model of FixABCX, generated using chemical cross-linking in conjunction with homology modeling, revealed plausible electron transfer pathways to both highand low-potential acceptors. Overall, this study informs on a mechanism for electron bifurcation, offering insight into a unique method for delivery of low-potential electrons required for energy-intensive biochemical


We report on the magnetic properties of Fe and Co adatoms on a Cu2N/Cu(100)-c(2 x 2) surface investigated by x-ray magnetic dichroism measurements and density functional theory (DFT) calculations including the local coulomb interaction. We compare these results with properties formerly deduced from STM spin excitation spectroscopy (SES) performed on the individual adatoms. In particular we focus on the values of the local magnetic moments determined by XMCD compared to the expectation values derived from the description of the SES data. The angular dependence of the projected magnetic moments along the magnetic field, as measured by XMCD, can be understood on the basis of the SES Hamiltonian. In agreement with DFT, the XMCD measurements show large orbital contributions to the total magnetic moment for both magnetic adatoms.


Abstract For all the claims made about the positive and negative consequences of corporate social responsibility (csr), there is surprisingly little information about the outcomes it delivers. This is especially true in the developing country context, where the claims made about the role csr can play in social and economic development are largely unsubstantiated. This is not to say that we know nothing about csr's impact: on the contrary, we know a considerable amount about certain areas of impact, but very little about csr's consequences for the intended beneficiaries in whose name it is being conducted. It is also not to claim we are unable to assess developmental impacts, although the wealth of experience of the international development community has not been adopted by csr practitioners. This paper demonstrates the limitations of current knowledge by identifying a framework that explains the types of impact we know about and how they primarily reflect business concerns. It makes clear that we know most about csr's impact on business itself and the benefits for business, and least about how csr affects the major societal issues it was intended to tackle. The paper concludes with a discussion of the consequences of this situation, and how it might be addressed in the future.


The face of late twentieth and early twenty-first century America has changed, as have attitudes about race, especially about persons with some African ancestry. Since 1967, the number of multi-racial individuals with some African ancestry living in the United States has increased dramatically as a result of increased out-marriage by black Americans and the immigration of large numbers of multiracial individuals from Mexico, the Caribbean, as well as Central and Latin America. Many members of the post-Loving generation came of age in the 1990s with no memories of de jure racial segregation laws or the need for the 1960s civil rights legislation to combat overt racial discrimination. Accordingly, they see race, racism and identity through different lens. In other words, we are witnessing a significant generational shift in thinking that is beginning to be reflected in popular culture and scholarly literature about race and identity, but not in the courts. American judges and policy-makers, composed primarily of the children of Brown v. Board of Education, remain stuck in a racial jurisprudence and rhetoric of the late twentieth century. This chapter analyzes the experiences of and public dialogues about children of interracial parentage and how their differential treatment by non-blacks, as well as blacks, raises legal issues courts are not prepared to address. One emerging question is whether mixed-race individuals are more likely to experience situational blackness - whether one can be black for some but not for other purposes, and if so, when one is black for anti-discrimination purposes. This question is even more sharply drawn when questions about "racial authenticity" arise for individuals whose African ancestry is less apparent. As this chapter explains, the overriding question in both cases is whether interracial parentage confers some type of benefit and disadvantage on Afro-descendant children not experienced by individuals whose formal racial classification is black, and if so whether anti-discrimination law should take these differences into account.


Economists have long known that individual wages depend on a combination of employee and employer characteristics, as well as the interaction of the two. Although it is important to understand how employee and employer characteristics are related to wages, little is known about the magnitude and relation of these wage effects. This is primarily due to the lack of microdata which links individuals to the establishments where they work, but also due to technical difficulties associated with separating out employee and employer effects. This paper uses data from the Occupational Employment Statistics program at the Bureau of Labor Statistics that permit both of these issues to be addressed. Our results show that employer effects contribute substantially to earnings differences across individuals. We also find that establishments that pay well for one occupation also pay well for others. This paper contributes to the growing literature that analyzes firms' compensation policies, and specifically the topic of employer effects on wages.


We compare numerical predictions of the initiation and propagation of radial fluid‐driven fractures with laboratory experiments performed in different low‐permeability materials (PMMA, cement). In particular, we choose experiments where the time evolution of several quantities (fracture width, radius, and wellbore pressure) was accurately measured and for which the material and injection parameters were known precisely. Via a dimensional analysis, we discuss in detail the different physical phenomena governing the initiation and early stage of growth of radial hydraulic fractures from a notched wellbore. The scaling analysis notably clarifies the occurrence of different regimes of propagation depending on the injection rate, system compliance, material parameters, wellbore, and initial notch sizes. In particular, the comparisons presented here provide a clear evidence of the difference between the wellbore pressure at which a fracture initiates and the maximum pressure recorded during a test (also known as the breakdown pressure). The scaling analysis identifies the dimensionless numbers governing the strong fluid‐solid effects at the early stage of growth, which are responsible for the continuous increase of the wellbore pressure after the initiation of the fracture. Our analysis provides a simple way to quantify these early time effects for any given laboratory or field configuration. The good agreement between theoretical predictions and experiments also validates the current state of the art hydraulic fracture mechanics models, at least for the simple fracture geometry investigated here.