ABSTRACT Background: Prior research has explored reasons why health care providers may or may not choose to seek an ethics consultation. Although low-quality communication is evident in many ethics consultations, it is unknown whether poor communication in clinical settings is related to health care providers' requests for ethics involvement. Objective: To assess the relationship between self-reported ratings of health care providers' inter- and intraprofessional communication and ethics consultation requests. Method: This cross-sectional survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire of physicians and nurses in six intensive care units at one academic medical center in the United States. The questionnaire assessed perceptions about requesting ethics consultations and how health care providers perceive communication. Results: Two hundred sixty-two participants (228 nurses and 34 physicians) responded to the survey (response rate 55%; 59% for nurses and 41% for physicians). Requests for an ethics consult were positively associated with perceived quality of interprofessional communication (r = .13, p < .05), but perceptions of the number of ethical dilemmas that occur on participants' units each month were negatively associated with the perceived quality of intra-professional communication (r = −.17, p < .01). Conclusion: The relationship that was hypothesized between perceived poor communication and increased number of ethics consultations was not borne out by these data. Indeed, we found the opposite; these finding suggests that good inter- and intraprofessional communication may promote the use of outside resources, such as ethics, when they are needed.


ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 4 (2017) pp. 1400-1411 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com A field experiment was conducted at Crop Research Centre of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture &Technology, Meerut (U.P.) during Rabi season of 2014-15 and 2015-16. To evaluate the effect of different tillage practices and irrigation scheduling in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under light textured soil of western Uttar Pradesh. Five tillage crop establishment methods, viz. zero tillage (ZT)-T1, reduced tillage (RT)-T2, rotavator tillage (ROT)-T3, furrow irrigated raised bed tillage (FIRB)-T4, conventional tillage (ZT)-T5, were kept in main plots and five irrigation scheduling viz. Irrigation at CRII1, CRI+50 mm CPEI2, CRI+100 mm CPEI3, CRI+150 mm CPEI4 and CRI+200 mm CPEI5 were allotted to sub-plots in a split-plot design and replicated thrice. The result showed that productive tiller's m -2 , number of grain spike -1 and test weight were significantly higher with wheat sown on wide raised beds than all other tillage practices except zero tillage plots. Similarly furrow irrigated raised beds increased the mean grain yield of wheat significantly over rest of the plots and grain yield increased by and 38.4% over I1 and 6.4 % over I4 irrigation schedule. Treatments under zero tillage (T1) had about 3.4% higher average soil bulk density than T4 plots and T4 FIRB also recorded highest infiltration rate; reduced tillage, and FIRB recorded significantly lower soil penetration resistance as compared to zero and rotavator tillage treatments. The maximum gross income was significantly higher in wide raised beds plots. Similarly the highest mean net profit (Rs 45906 ha -1 ) with mean B: C ratio of 1.55 was recorded with the application of irrigations at CRI+100mm CPE in wheat crop. The results suggest that ZT with irrigations at CRI+100mm CPE and FIRB irrigations at CRI+50mm CPE were optimum and sustainable strategy to achieve higher yield and also to improve water productivity and profitability on light textured soil of western Uttar Pradesh. K e y w o r d s Wheat, Tillage systems, Irrigation levels, Growth, Productivity, Profitability. Accepted: 12 March 2017 Available Online: 10 April 2017 Article Info Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2017) 6(4): 1400-1411


Margit Warburg has presented data showing that the Bahá'í community of Denmark represents an excellent case of Beyer's "liberal option" in its response to globalization. She also claims, incorrectly, that the Bahá'í Faith has the "ultimate aim of merging political and religious institutions". The Bahá'í Faith represents a paradoxical example in terms of Beyer's categories. Its values include relativism, pluralism, globalization, a cosmopolitan ethic and democratic government. But it also seeks to give political and legal effect to these religious values, for instance by supporting the United Nations and advocating a world court. Beyer considers that a religious movement which seeks to have religious norms enshrined in legislation has adopted the "conservative option" in response to globalization. Is this a useful categorization, when the religious norms are liberal and the stage on which they are to be implemented is global?


This document enumerates methods of port assignment in Carrier Grade
NATs (CGNs), focused particularly on NAT64 environments. A theoretical
framework of different NAT port allocation methods is described. The
memo is intended to clarify and focus the port allocation discussion
and propose an integrated view of the considerations for selection of
the port allocation mechanism in a given deployment.


In contrast to the wide-spread use of 6-DOF pointing devices, free-hand user interfaces in Immersive Virtual Environments (IVE) are non-intrusive. However, for gesture interfaces, the definition of trigger signals is challenging. The use of mechanical devices, dedicated trigger gestures, or speech recognition are often used options, but each comes with its own drawbacks. In this paper, we present an alternative approach, which allows to precisely trigger events with a low latency using microphone input. In contrast to speech recognition, the user only blows into the microphone. The audio signature of such blow events can be recognized quickly and precisely. The results of an user study show that the proposed method allows to successfully complete a standard selection task and performs better than expected against a standard interaction device, the Flystick.


Article–commenting functionality allows users to add publicly visible comments to an article on a publisher's website. As well as facilitating forms of post-publication peer review, for publishers of open-access mega-journals (large, broad scope, open-access journals that seek to publish all technically or scientifically sound research) comments are also thought to serve as a means for the community to discuss and communicate the significance and novelty of the research, factors which are not assessed during peer review. In this article we present the results of an analysis of commenting on articles published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS), publisher of the first and best-known mega-journal PLOS ONE, between 2003 and 2016. We find that while overall commenting rates are low, and have declined since 2010, there is substantial variation across different PLOS titles. Using a typology of comments developed for this research, we also find that only around half of comments engage in an academic discussion of the article and that these discussions are most likely to focus on the paper's technical soundness. Our results suggest that publishers are yet to encourage significant numbers of readers to leave comments, with implications for the effectiveness of commenting as a means of collecting and communicating community perceptions of an article's importance.


There are three general classes of threat to biodiversity at the gene level: 1) extinction, which results in complete and irreversible loss of genes; 2) hybridization, which may cause re-arrangement of co-adapted genes and loss of adaptability to local conditions, and 3) reduction of genetic variability within populations. While extinction avoidance is a fundamental management objective and hybridization can usually be dismissed in marine populations, the reduction of genetic variability within populations is a plausible threat and can occur in two ways. First, a decrease in population size may result in inbreeding. Normally, marine fish have very large population sizes, and commercial extinction is likely to occur long before populations are reduced to the level required for losses of genetic diversity due to inbreeding. However, when populations are very severely over-fished to small numbers, concerns associated with small population sizes and disruptions of migration between populations may become prominent. In particular, undetected populations within management units may be fished to this level before the situation is properly evaluated and remedied. Second, a reduction of genetic variability within populations may occur in a directed way, due to, e.g., selective fishing. Fishing is expected to generate selection on life history traits such as age and size at maturation; changes in life history traits influence the dynamics of fish populations, energy flows in the ecosystem, and ultimately, sustainable yield. We discuss management objectives designed to ameliorate genetic complications associated with small population size and fisheries-induced selection, and outline a management approach that may be useful when developing advice for maintaining genetic diversity.


* Written and developed by practising IB teachers and examiners, * Comprehensive coverage of the 2011 Spanish guides including all core subjects and options * Makes clear connections to real world events to build conceptual understanding * Fully integrated online resources with worksheets, revision guides and more * Datos Interasantes place the material in real-life contexts and give additional information to aid students' understanding of a topic. They also prompt further enquiry. * TOK boxes are intended to stimulate higher-level thinking skills and force students to question their ideas and the source of their knowledge. * Actividad oral interactiva boxes provide practice for the oral evaluation centred around a topical photograph. * Visual stimuli such as photos and graphics engage students and illustrate key concepts. * Actividad intertextual boxes provide practice on the written response through a range of texts. * Consejos boxes identify common pitfalls and provide insight into how students can organise, clarify and present their ideas to achieve the highest marks in their examinations


The interstellar medium (ISM) is the region of space between stars, where star and planet formation occurs. Molecular hydrogen is vitally important to the chemistry that happens in the ISM, as it initiates most of the reactions. The molecules that result from these reactions act as a coolant for the huge molecular clouds that collapse to form stars. The abundance of molecular hydrogen in the ISM is too high to form through gas phase processes alone. The accepted formation mechanism for H_2 is via heterogeneous catalysis on the surface of interstellar dust grains. These dust grains make up approximately 1% mass of the ISM and are carbonaceous or silicate in composition.

The experiment presented in this thesis has been designed to probe ro-vibrational energy of nascent HD formed on an interstellar dust grain analogue. The experiment involves the use of two atom sources, to produce H and D atoms, ultrahigh vacuum chambers and cryogenic cooling to obtain conditions relevant to the ISM. The laser technique of resonance enhanced multiphoton ionisation (REMPI) is employed to state selectively ionise the HD, in order to investigate the internal energy of the newly formed HD when itdesorbs from the highly orientated pyrolitic graphite surface. The results are presented here and are compared to other theoretical and experimental studies; the astrophysical implications are discussed. Also included in this thesis is a study of the electron impact ionisation of OCS using pulsed time-of-flight in conjunction with a 2-D coincidence technique. The experimentalset-up allows fragment ions to be formed by dissociative single, double and triple ionisation to be detected and quantified. The relative partial ionisation cross sections (PICS) and precursor specific relative PICS are derived as well as information on OCS^{2+}. OCS is found in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Venus, where it may exist in a doubly charged state, OCS has been observed in the interstellar medium.


Abstract. The importance of light-absorbing organic aerosols, often called brown carbon (BrC), has become evident in recent years. However, there have been relatively few measurement-based estimates for the direct radiative effect of BrC so far. In earlier studies, the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET)-measured aerosol absorption optical depth (AAOD) and absorption Angstrom exponent (AAE) were exploited. However, these two pieces of information are clearly not sufficient to separate properly carbonaceous aerosols from dust, while imaginary indices of refraction would contain more and better justified information for this purpose. This is first time that the direct radiative effect (DRE) of BrC is estimated by exploiting the AERONET-retrieved imaginary indices. We estimated it for four sites in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP), Karachi, Lahore, Kanpur and Gandhi College. We found a distinct seasonality, which was generally similar among all the sites, but with slightly different strengths. The monthly warming effect up to 0.5 W m−2 takes place during the spring season. On the other hand, BrC results in an overall cooling effect in the winter season, which can reach levels close to −1 W m−2. We then estimated similarly also the DRE of black carbon and total aerosol, in order to assess the relative significance of the BrC radiative effect in the radiative effects of other components. Even though BrC impact seems minor in this context, we demonstrated that it is not insignificant. Moreover, we demonstrated that it is crucial to perform spectrally resolved radiative transfer calculations to obtain good estimates for the DRE of BrC.


Landscape resistance reflects how difficult it is for genes to move across an area with particular attributes (e.g. land cover, slope). An increasingly popular approach to estimate resistance uses Mantel and partial Mantel tests or causal modelling to relate observed genetic distances to effective distances under alternative sets of resistance parameters. Relatively few alternative sets of resistance parameters are tested, leading to relatively poor coverage of the parameter space. Although this approach does not explicitly model key stochastic processes of gene flow, including mating, dispersal, drift and inheritance, bias and precision of the resulting resistance parameters have not been assessed. We formally describe the most commonly used model as a set of equations and provide a formal approach for estimating resistance parameters. Our optimization finds the maximum Mantel r when an optimum exists and identifies the same resistance values as current approaches when the alternatives evaluated are near the optimum. Unfortunately, even where an optimum existed, estimates from the most commonly used model were imprecise and were typically much smaller than the simulated true resistance to dispersal. Causal modelling using Mantel significance tests also typically failed to support the true resistance to dispersal values. For a large range of scenarios, current approaches using a simple correlational model between genetic and effective distances do not yield accurate estimates of resistance to dispersal. We suggest that analysts consider the processes important to gene flow for their study species, model those processes explicitly and evaluate the quality of estimates resulting from their model.


th , 2011; revised December 28 th , 2011; accepted January 5 th , 2012 While some are currently debating whether time may or may not be an illusion, others keep devoting their time to the science of consciousness. Time as such may be seen as a physical or a subjective variable, and the limitations in our capacity of perceiving and analyzing temporal order and change in physical events definitely constrain our understanding of consciousness which, in return, constrains our conceptual understanding of time. Temporal codes generated in the brain have been considered as the key to insight into neural function and, ultimately, as potential neural substrates of consciousness itself. On the basis of current evidence and opinion from neuroscience and philosophy, we consider the interrelation between consciousness and time in the light of Hegel and Heidegger's concepts of Sein (Being) and Zeit (Time). We suggest that consciousness can be defined in terms of a succession of psychological moments where we realize that we exist in, and are part of, a present moment in time. This definition places all other perceptual or sensorial processes which may characterize phenomenal experience at a different level of analysis and centers the debate around consciousness on the fundamental identity link between awareness of the Ich (I) and awareness of what Heidegger termed Ursprungliche Zeit (original time). We argue that human consciousness has evolved from the ability to be aware of, to remember, and to predict temporal order and change in nature, and that the limits of this capacity are determined by limits in the functional plasticity of resonant brain mechanisms. Although the conscious state of the Self is the ultimate expression of this evolution, it is devoid of any adaptive function as such.


This paper presents the design, implementation and performance evaluation of a hybrid MAC protocol, called Z-MAC, for wireless sensor networks that combines the strengths of TDMA and CSMA while offsetting their weaknesses. Like CSMA, ZMAC achieves high channel utilization and low latency under low contention and like TDMA, achieves high channel utilization under high contention and reduces collision among two-hop neighbors at a low cost. A distinctive feature of Z-MAC is that its performance is robust to synchronization errors, slot assignment failures, and time-varying channel conditions; in the worst case, its performance always falls back to that of CSMA. Z-MAC is implemented in TinyOS.


Autonomy in bioethics is coming under sustained criticism from a variety of perspectives. The criticisms, which target personal or individual autonomy, are largely justified. Moral conceptions of autonomy, such as Kant's, on the other hand, cannot simply be applied in bioethical situations without moralizing care provision and recipience. The discussion concludes with a proposal for re-thinking autonomy by focusing on what different agents count as reasons for choosing one rather than another course of action, thus recognising their involvement in the decision process.


In‐channel large woody debris (LWD) promotes quality aquatic habitat through sediment sorting, pool scouring and in‐stream nutrient retention and transport. LWD recruitment occurs by numerous ecological and geomorphic mechanisms including channel migration, mass wasting and natural tree fall, yet LWD sourcing on the watershed scale remains poorly constrained. We developed a rapid and spatially extensive method for using light detection and ranging data to do the following: (i) estimate tree height and recruitable tree abundance throughout a watershed; (ii) determine the likelihood for the stream to recruit channel‐spanning trees at reach scales and assess whether mass wasting or channel migration is a dominant recruitment mechanism; and (iii) understand the contemporary and future distribution of LWD at a watershed scale. We utilized this method on the 78‐km‐long Narraguagus River in coastal Maine and found that potential channel‐spanning LWD composes approximately 6% of the valley area over the course of the river and is concentrated in spatially discrete reaches along the stream, with 5 km of the river valley accounting for 50% of the total potential LWD found in the system. We also determined that 83% of all potential LWD is located on valley sides, as opposed to 17% on floodplain and terrace surfaces. Approximately 3% of channel‐spanning vegetation along the river is located within one channel width of the stream. By examining topographic and morphologic variables (valley width, channel sinuosity, valley‐side slope) over the length of the stream, we evaluated the dominant recruitment processes along the river and often found a spatial disconnect between the location of potential channel‐spanning LWD and recruitment mechanisms, which likely explains the low levels of LWD currently found in the system. This rapid method for identification of LWD sources is extendable to other basins and may prove valuable in locating future restoration projects aimed at increasing habitat quality through wood additions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


ABSTRACT Using a bi-dimensional, fourfold model as a thinking tool to contemplate acculturation strategies we analyse the intercultural experience of international academic staff (IAS) in the United Kingdom higher education. The literature suggests that IAS feel undervalued as a professional group and that institutions do not capitalise on their diverse contributions. We position IAS within the strategic sphere of ethnocultural groups and the institution within the larger society. In a single case study, we analyse IAS acculturation strategies and their perceptions of how their institution accepts diversity. Findings show that IAS are willing to integrate, but do not aim to remove all traces of their own culture and values, adopting integration strategies. Their perceptions are that the larger society does not seek to segregate IAS; however, it does not provide the conditions for IAS to flourish in professional practice, especially at the early stage of transition.


For those who own it, wealth can have extraordinary advantages. High levels of wealth can enhance educational attainment, create occupational opportunities, generate social influence and provide a buffer against financial emergencies. Even a small amount of savings can improve security, mitigate the effects of job loss and other financial setbacks and improve well-being dramatically. Although the benefits of wealth are significant, they are not enjoyed uniformly throughout the United States. In the United States, because religion is an important part of cultural orientation, religious beliefs should affect material well-being. This book explores the way religious orientations and beliefs affect Americans' incomes, savings and net worth.


Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes are major contributors to the burden of disease in Australia and their prevalence is expected to increase with the ageing of the population and the increasing prevalence of obesity. Dietary intake is known to affect cardio-metabolic disease risk but little is known about the eating behaviours of young adults and whether they are associated with diet quality and risk factors for CVD and diabetes.
Aims: To investigate whether eating behaviours (involvement in meal preparation; takeaway food consumption; number of daily eating occasions and breakfast skipping) were associated with socio-economic status, lifestyle factors, diet quality and cardio-metabolic risk factors.
Methods: Participants were 2,868 Australian adults aged 26-36 years enrolled in the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health study, a follow-up to the 1985 Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey. Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire, a food habits questionnaire and a meal patterns chart. In childhood, participants were asked if they usually ate before school. Cardio-metabolic risk factors assessed in adulthood included waist circumference, fasting glucose, fasting insulin and lipids.
Results: Participants who were single, less educated, current smokers and less physically active tended to be higher consumers of takeaway food, eat fewer times per day and skip breakfast. Frequent takeaway food consumption, having a low number of daily eating occasions and skipping breakfast as an adult were behaviours associated with poorer diet quality. In addition, those who ate takeaway at least twice per week, had low number of daily eating occasions (men only), and skipped breakfast both as a child and an adult had a larger waist circumference compared to those who did not have these eating behaviours. Involvement in meal preparation was not strongly associated with diet quality or weight status. Cardio-metabolic risk factors were associated with eating behaviours: fasting glucose, insulin and HOMA with frequent takeaway food consumption for women; fasting glucose, insulin and lipids with low number of eating occasions for men; and fasting insulin, total and LDL cholesterol with skipping breakfast in both childhood and adulthood.
Conclusions: Eating behaviours were associated with diet quality and cardio-metabolic risk factors in young Australian adults. Simple public health messages that promote limiting takeaway food consumption to once per week and the importance of not skipping breakfast may help reduce the risk of CVD and type 2 diabetes.


Having established the antiquity of dentistry and its relationship to medicine, this thesis examines its development in Scotland from the unique origins in Glasgow of the Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons and the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, to the legitimization of the profession by State intervention in 1921.

Although an LDS qualification was available in 1860 from the Royal College of Surgeons, England, the introduction of the Dentists Act of 1878 and the establishment of a Register, brought about through the efforts of the Reform Movement, did not eradicate the practice of dentistry by the unregistered. Their numbers continued to multiply as a result of urban migration, socio-economic changes and industrialisation. Changes in the dietary habits of the Scottish people and in the methods of food production, contributed to an increase in the prevalence of dental caries as well as in the demand for dental treatment among all classes of the population, as epidemiological surveys and Government inquiries showed.

The introduction of a school dental service resulted, when attention was focused on the poor dental standards of the recruits following the defeats of the British Forces in the Boer Wars. The resultant Government inquiry into the state of dentistry revealed the deplorable state of the nation's teeth and the inability of the Scottish working classes and the disadvantaged to afford dental treatment from qualified practitioners.

In the aftermath of the 1914-18 War, public opinion was conducive to the idea of social welfare and public health thus paving the way for the legalization by the State of the dental profession by virtue of the Dentists Act of 1921.


This volume on experimental economics offers both new research grounds and a birds eye view on the field. In the first part, leading experimental economists, among them Vernon S. Smith and Daniel Friedman, give inspiring insights into their view on the general development of this field. In the second part, selected short papers by researchers from various disciplines present new ideas and concepts to solving problems in the real world. This multidisciplinary book is of particular interest to experimental economists and researchers from disciplines such as psychology, engineering and computer science who are interested in experimental approaches in their fields.


An optimal linear-time algorithm for interprocedural register allocation in high level synthesis is presented. Historically, register allocation has been modeled as a graph coloring problem, which is nondeterministic polynomial time-complete in general; however, converting each procedure to static single assignment (SSA) form ensures a chordal interference graph, which can be colored in O(V + E) time; the interprocedural interference graph (IIG) is not guaranteed to be chordal after this transformation. An extension to SSA form is introduced which ensures that the IIG is chordal, and the conversion process does not increase its chromatic number. The resulting IIG can then be colored in linear-time.


Clinical pharmacy has continually evolved, with significant expansion in clinical pharmacists' qualifications and roles. However, this growth has not necessarily correlated with improved job satisfaction among clinical pharmacists. A survey of practicing clinical pharmacists performed by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Clinical Practice Affairs Committee A identified low satisfaction with the time allocated for clinical activities, quality improvement, research and scholarship, and teaching and mentorship. There was also low satisfaction with the recognition provided, despite a high desire for recognition and strong agreement that recognition affects job satisfaction. Rewards for workplace successes and advancement pathways are also not commonly provided. This white paper provides an update to the previous ACCP publications from 1995 and 2010 on the current state of rewards, recognition, and advancement for clinical pharmacists. Suggestions for the pharmacy profession and administrators on how to improve job satisfaction and retention and reduce burnout were developed by the committee and are provided as best practice recommendations.


Solar Tower Power Plants with thermal energy storage are a promising technology for dispatchable renewable energy in the near future. Storage integration makes possible to shift the electricity production to more profitable peak hours. Usually two tanks are used to store cold and hot fluids, but this means both higher related investment costs and difficulties during the operation of the variable volume tanks. Another solution can be a single tank thermocline storage in a multi-layered configuration. In such tank both latent and sensible fillers are employed to decrease the related cost by up to 30% and maintain high efficiencies. The Master thesis hereby presented describes the modelling and implementation of a thermocline-like multi-layered single tank storage in a STPP. The research work presents a comprehensive methodology to determine under which market structures such devices can outperform the more conventional two tank storage systems. As a first step the single tank is modelled by means of differential energy conservation equations. Secondly the tank geometrical design parameters and materials are taken accordingly with the applications taken into consideration. Both the steady state and dynamic models have been implemented in an existing techno-economic tool developed in KTH, in the CSP division (DYESOPT).The results show that under current cost estimates and technical limitations the multi-layered solid PCM storage concept is a better solution when peaking operating strategies are desired, as it is the case for the two-tier South African tariff scheme. In this case the IRR of an optimal designed power plant can be decreased by 2.1%. However, if a continuous operation is considered, the technology is not always preferred over the two tank solution, yet is a cheaper alternative with optimized power plants. As a result the obtained LCOE can be decreased by 2.4%.


The purpose of this paper is to present an investigation on the relevance of the historical water legislation which would adapt to the modern sustainable water management. It is mainly based on the book by Ernest Feline related to the qanat system in the arid M9Zab valley in southern Algeria. It also refers to some related lectures on the traditional water legislation in the Sahara region and more generally on the Islamic water jurisprudence which does reveal a specific culture perpetuated through a relevant adaptation of al-hisba principles. Subsequently the present paper argues that if updated and adapted, the traditional knowledge can serve current water management issues within the framework of the water sensitive urbanism associated with the integrated water resource management. With this respect the spatial concept called ' harim al-ma ' and the traditional community actions towards the qanat system can contribute to protecting water quality and improving public health.


The far-field diffraction pattern of a geometrically perfect corner reflector is examined analytically for normally incident monochromatic light. The states of polarization and the complex amplitudes of the emerging light are expressed, by use of transformation matrices, in terms of those of the original incident light for each sextant of the face in a single coordinate system. The analytic expression of the total diffraction pattern is obtained for a circular face. This expression consists of three component functions in addition to the basic Airy function. The coefficient of each function is expressed in terms of complex coefficients of reflectance of the reflecting surface. Some numerical results for different reflecting surfaces, including total internal reflection, are presented. The iso-irradiance contours of the diffraction pattern evaluated from the analytical expressions for an uncoated solid corner reflector are also presented, along with photographs of the pattern.


In a sensor-aided cognitive radio network, collaborating battery-powered sensors are deployed to aid the network in cooperative spectrum sensing. These sensors consume energy for spectrum sensing and therefore deplete their life-time, thus we study the key issue in minimizing the sensing energy consumed by such group of collaborating sensors. The IEEE P802.22 standard specifies spectrum sensing accuracy by the detection and false alarm probabilities, hence we address the energy minimization problem under this detection accuracy constraint. Firstly, we derive the bounds for the number of sensors to simultaneously guarantee the thresholds for high detection probability and low false alarm probability. With these bounds, we then formulate the optimization problem to find the optimal sensing interval and the optimal number of sensor that minimize the energy consumption. Thirdly, the approximated analytical solutions are derived to solve the optimization accurately and efficiently in polynomial time. Finally, numerical results show that the minimized energy is significantly lower than the energy consumed by a group of randomly selected sensors. The mean absolute error of the approximated optimal sensing interval compared with the exact value is less than 4% and 8% under good and bad SNR conditions, respectively. The approximated optimal number of sensors is shown to be very close to the exact number.


THE TRANSFORMATION OF CIRCUMCISION AND MASCULINITY AMONG THE AGIKUYU OF KIAMBU, 1945-2008 Rites of passage are very significant in many African societies. They mark a critical stage in a person's life. Of the many rites of passage that exist, circumcision is common. Traditionally, the practice entailed elaborate procedures that required early planning and was accompanied with specific rituals. However, circumcision has undergone major transformation overtime. This study analyzes the transformation of Agikuyu circumcision over the period 1945-2008. The research focused on the rite in the traditional setup and how it transformed during the colonial times and post-independent era, due to the influences of many factors including the impact of missionary work, western education, western medicine and the monetization of the economy. The research is based on the principle that Agikuyu circumcision was and still remains an important practice with deep cultural significance and the basis upon which manhood and identity among the Gikuyu is determined. This study elaborates this concept as it informs the Gikuyu notion of masculinity and political leadership. The research also analyses the social changes in the Agikuyu society as informed by circumcision. The process of becoming a man and identity formation in the Agikuyu society and how this notion has changed over time is also assessed. The study employs hegemonic masculinity as a theoretical tool to analyze the notions of Agikuyu masculinity in the context of its changing character. In this study, sampling was based on purposive technique. Secondary and primary data were core to this study; the latter was collected through interviews and observations. Data analysis was done by employing historical criticism, evaluation and corroborating collected and existing data. Based on these principles, the premises of this study were analysed and we observed that before colonialism circumcision was important in the making of the Agikuyu man. The study also confirmed that Agikuyu circumcision has transformed not only due to the influence of colonialism but also due to social changes in the society even after independence. This transformation in Agikuyu circumcision influenced Kenya's 'politics of the foreskin'. This study concludes that Agikuyu circumcision has transformed over time and this change has affected the making of a Gikuyu man. These changes have also affected the Agikuyu political hegemony over other communities.


The majority of juvenile seed mussels are lost in aquaculture production. Understanding the causes of the losses of seed mussels is critical to reducing uncertainties in mussel aquaculture production. One major cause of loss appears to be the secondary settlement behaviour of mussels, which is thought to be a behavioural process by which larger juveniles can safely recruit among adults. This implies that once a juvenile mussel has settled among adults, there is either some impetus to remain or other positive interactions that promote increased survival. In this study, 2 densities (5 and 20 per 45 cm experimental rope) of adult green-lipped mussels Perna canaliculus were deployed alongside juvenile seed mussels to test whether this enhanced the retention of the juveniles in a typical suspended culture. Adult shells were also deployed to ascertain whether any effects were due to the physical presence of the mussels or the influence of their biological functioning. The presence of adult mussels or shells did not increase the retention of juvenile P. canaliculus, but small-scale movements of juveniles were increased by the addition of 20 live adult mussels per experimental rope. However, the presence of adult mussels and mussel shells on experimental ropes greatly increased the abundance of biofouling organisms. While the addition of live adult mussels or shells failed to provide a simple tool for increasing retention of seed mussels on aquaculture lines, they offer new insights into the identity and ecology of key biofouling organisms that can be problematic in mussel aquaculture production.


As the AIDS epidemic continues to spread across Africa, a demand for evidence produced by policy-relevant research means that expatriate-led research projects have become a fixture in highly infected countries. While many have drawn attention to the social and economic consequences of AIDS suffering, few have documented the everyday practices, contradictions and politics of producing AIDS-related knowledge in impoverished contexts. This study examines the ways in which AIDS survey research projects in Malawi produce new socialities and mobilities, generate new exclusions and inclusions and reconfigure expertise and evaluations of knowledge. Rather than focusing on a single knowledge community, the study follows AIDS knowledge itself as it is formulated and circulates through sites of production (the "field"), conversion and manipulation (the office) and consumption (conferences, journal articles or other forums). Drawing on twenty months of ethnographic fieldwork in 2005 and 2007-08 with case study research projects, researchers, fieldworkers, rural research participants and policy makers in Malawi, this study examines how actors' positioning within the social field of "AIDS research" informs their stakes in research and analyzes the tactics they employ to achieve them. Central to the study is an illustration of how boundaries and differences (between people, knowledge and context) are produced and negotiated within interactions between actors with multiple and crisscrossing commitments, interests and ideas. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Anthropology First Advisor Sandra Barnes Second Advisor Adriana Petryna Third Advisor Kathleen Hall


Distributed estimation algorithms have received considerable attention lately, owing to the advancements in computing, communication and battery technologies. They offer increased scalability, robustness and efficiency. In applications such as formation flight, where any discrepancies between sensor estimates has severe consequences, it becomes crucial to require consensus of estimates amongst all sensors. The Kalman Consensus Filter (KCF) is a seminal work in the field of distributed consensus-based estimation, which accomplishes this. However, the KCF algorithm is mathematically sub-optimal, and does not account for the cross-correlation between the estimates of sensors. Other popular algorithms, such as the Information weighted Consensus Filter (ICF) rely on ad-hoc definitions and approximations, rendering them sub-optimal as well. Another major drawback of KCF is that it utilizes unweighted consensus, i.e., each sensor assigns equal weightage to the estimates of its neighbors. This fact has been shown to cause severely degraded performance of KCF when some sensors cannot observe the target, and can even cause the algorithm to be unstable.In this work, we develop a novel algorithm, which we call Optimal Kalman Consensus Filter for Weighted Directed Graphs (OKCF-WDG), which addresses both of these limitations of existing algorithms. OKCF-WDG integrates the KCF formulation with that of matrix-weighted consensus. The algorithm achieves consensus on a weighted digraph, enabling a directed flow of information within the network. This aspect of the algorithm is shown to offer significant performance improvements over KCF, as the information may be directed from well-performing sensors to other sensors which have high estimation error due to environmental factors or sensor limitations. We validate the algorithm through simulations and compare it to existing algorithms. It is shown that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing algorithms by a considerable margin, especially in the case where some sensors are naive (i.e., cannot observe the target).


After nearly six years of telecommunications "deregulation" in the United States, centering on the Telecommunications Act of 1996, there is little to which regulatory officials in charge of such deregulation can point in terms of benefits in the form of lower prices or innovative services. It is critical that other nations recognize the American mistakes in telecommunications and strive to avoid repeating them. Regulation of telecommunications in the United States has been embodied in a "regulatory contract" between the private carrier and the regulatory authority, which in the first instance is a state public utilities commission (PUC) and in the second instance is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In this piece, MacAvoy and Sidak examine how American regulators have shaped the regulatory contract in a manner that sacrifices the economies of scale and scope by designing the regulatory contract to capture network externalities and to use supracompetitive returns on exclusive service provision to fund various politically favored goals. They warn of the perverse incentives that can arise from mandatory network unbundling at regulated prices, and they recommend that such unbundling be confined to essential facilities.


A method for the automatic correction of third-order aberrations in thick lenses has been tried on several lens problems. The procedure is to use the Newton method for solving the nonlinear equations involved. The derivatives are found by differentiating the third-order surface contribution formulas. The method has proven to be successful on a large variety of lens types.


The changes in post-apartheid South Africa have been accompanied by considerable changes in the education system. The most notable include desegregation of schools, development of a National Qualifications Framework, adoption of new language policies for education, and introduction of outcomes-based curricula. However entrenched assessment practices appear to be hampering the efforts to transform school education. An analysis of the assessment practices of three Grade 4 educators in multilingual classrooms revealed that the educators were unable or unwilling to adapt their assessment practices to the changing demands of South African school education. South African Journal of Education Vol. 27 (1) 2007: pp. 101-115


Ammonium secreted by the post-harvest pathogen Colletotrichum gloeosporioides during host colonization accumulates in the host environment due to enhanced fungal nitrogen metabolism. Two types of ammonium transporter-encoding genes, AMET and MEP, are expressed during pathogenicity. Gene disruption of AMET, a gene modulating ammonia secretion, showed twofold reduced ammonia secretion and 45% less colonization on avocado fruit, suggesting a contribution to pathogenicity. MEPB, a gene modulating ammonium transport, is expressed by C. gloeosporioides during pathogenicity and starvation conditions in culture. Gene disruption of MEPB, the most highly expressed gene of the MEP family, resulted in twofold overexpression of MEPA and MEPC but reduced colonization, suggesting MEPB expression's contribution to pathogenicity. Analysis of internal and external ammonia accumulation by ΔmepB strains in mycelia and germinated spores showed rapid uptake and accumulation, and reduced secretion of ammonia in the mutant versus wild-type (WT) strains. Ammonia uptake by the WT germinating spores but not by the ΔmepB strain with compromised ammonium transport activated cAMP and transcription of PKA subunits PKAR and PKA2. ΔmepB mutants showed 75% less appressorium formation and colonization than the WT, which was partially restored by 10 mM exogenous ammonia. Thus, whereas both AMET and MEPB genes modulate ammonia secretion, only MEPB contributes to ammonia accumulation by mycelia and germinating spores that activate the cAMP pathways, inducing the morphogenetic processes contributing to C. gloeosporioides pathogenicity.


Free-riding is a major problem for international climate policy. A country can take advantage of other countries' emission reduction without contributing to abatement policies itself. Game theory suggests that issue linkage may help to overcome free-riding. Earlier studies suggest that if negotiations on greenhouse gas emission reduction are coupled to negotiation on technology transfer, the incentives to co-operate increase. This study confirms that finding. A country has less reason to free-ride if free-riding implies that the countries loses access to desirable, foreign technologies. We also show that, in many cases, it hurts to deny another country access to domestic technologies, if that country retaliates by withholding its technologies. We further show that the losses of withholding abatement technologies are small relative to the gains of free-riding. So, linking greenhouse gas emission reduction with technology diffusion helps to deter free-riding, but only a little bit, and only if the two issues are automatically linked.


A cell lysate derived from a lung cancer cell line, H1299, with potential immunostimulatory and antineoplastic activities. Upon intramuscular administration, the H1299 tumor cell lysate exposes the immune system to an undefined amount of tumor associated antigens (TAA), particularly cancer testis antigens (CTAs), which may result in the induction of both anti-tumoral cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) and antibody-dependent responses against TAA-expressing cells, leading to tumor cell lysis. CTAs, such as MAGE, are selectively expressed in a variety of cancers but are not expressed in normal, healthy cells outside the testis.


There has been a plethora of published literature on thermally-driven adsorption desalination (AD) cycles for seawater desalination due to their favorable environmentally friendly attributes, such as the ability to operate with low-temperature heat sources, from either the renewable or the exhaust gases, and having almost no major moving parts. We present an AD cycle for seawater desalination due to its unique ability to integrate higher water production yields with the existing desalination methods such as reverse osmosis (RO), multi-stage flashing (MSF) and multi-effect distillation (MED), etc. The hybrid cycles exploit the thermodynamic synergy between processes, leading to significant enhancement of the systems' performance ratio (PR). In this paper, we demonstrate experimentally the synergetic effect between the AD and MED cycles that results in quantum improvement in water production. The unique feature is in the internal latent heat recovery from the condenser unit of AD to the top-brine stage of MED, resulting in a combined, or simply termed as MEAD, cycle that requires no additional heat input other than the regeneration of an adsorbent. The batch-operated cycles are simple to implement and require low maintenance when compared with conventional desalination methods. Together, they offer a low energy and environmentally friendly desalination solution that addresses the major issues of the water–energy–environment nexus.


Binocular combination of monocular inputs transpires within cortical neurons that vary in ocular dominance, owing to developmental and experiential influences that govern the strengths of innervation from the two eyes1. Accordingly, binocular experience may vary within the visual field due to regional imbalances that impact effective signal strengths from the two eyes. Rather than having a single dominant eye, people may have regional differences in sensory eye dominance (SED)2,3. Using binocular rivalry, a competitive phenomenon with dynamics sensitive to the stimulus strength of competing monocular images, we mapped patterns of SED in observers' visual fields. Observers tracked perceptual alternations while dichoptically viewing dissimilar monocular stimuli imaged at various visual field locations. Results reveal that the relative predominance of the two eyes can vary widely across the visual field, with some locations promoting equal balance and others strongly biased toward one eye (see Figure). Results were reliable across sessions (r=0.55, p< 0.0001), especially for regions of strong SED imbalance (locations with >10% difference in predominance on both runs, r=0.70, p< 0.0001). Importantly, SED appears to function like a reduction in effective contrast for the weaker eye - the amount of balancing contrast required by the weaker eye to equate predominance for the two eyes is closely predicated by the magnitude of SED imbalance (r=0.85, p< 0.01). These results indicate that SED relies on local mechanisms that are idiosyncratic within the visual fields of typical observers. Such naturally occurring variability in the effective contrast contributed by the two eyes may have widespread impact on binocular functions such as stereopsis, where contrast imbalances produce impaired stereoacuity. Within a subset of observers tested, stereopsis is indeed impaired in regions of the visual field with pronounced SED. Continuing investigations are exploring the impact of regional inter-ocular contrast variations on other binocular functions. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


In this study, we describe the isolation and immortalisation of primary murine alveolar epithelial cells (mAEpC), as well as their epithelial differentiation and barrier properties when grown on Transwell® inserts. Like human alveolar epithelial cells (hAEpC), mAEpC transdifferentiate in vitro from an alveolar type II (ATII) phenotype to an ATI-like phenotype and exhibit features of the air–blood barrier, such as the establishment of a thin monolayer with functional tight junctions (TJs). This is demonstrated by the expression of TJ proteins (ZO-1 and occludin) and the development of high transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER), peaking at 1800ω•cm2. Transport across the air–blood barrier, for general toxicity assessments or preclinical drug development, is typically studied in mice. The aim of this work was the generation of novel immortalised murine lung cell lines, to help meet Three Rs requirements in experimental testing and research. To achieve this goal, we lentivirally transduced mAEpC of two different mouse strains with a library of 33 proliferation-promoting genes. With this immortalisation approach, we obtained two murine alveolar epithelial lentivirus-immortalised (mAELVi) cell lines. Both showed similar TJ protein localisation, but exhibited less prominent barrier properties (TEERmax ~250Ω•cm2) when compared to their primary counterparts. While mAEpC demonstrated their suitability for use in the assessment of paracellular transport rates, mAELVi cells could potentially replace mice for the prediction of acute inhalation toxicity during early ADMET studies.


In this paper, the feasibility of using a magnetorheological (MR) fluid-based system for motion control is studied based on the hysteretic biviscous model of the MR damper. A feedback control system is designed to synchronize the motion of the two masses in a two degree of freedom spring-mass-damper system subject to an unknown disturbance. The controller performance is evaluated numerically. For the derivation of the control law, a quadratic Lyapunov function, which is a function of the relative position and velocity of two masses, is considered. The control input (current) is obtained by minimizing the derivative of the Lyapunov function along the trajectory of the system. In the computer simulation, it is observed that the controller is effective in synchronizing the two body motions.


In Camps Newfound/Owatonna, the petitioner charity - with important assistance from friends-of-the-court charities - persuaded the Supreme Court to overturn a Maine statute that granted property tax exemption only to those charities primarily serving state residents. Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison, 117 S. Ct. 1590 (1997). Given this statute's facial discrimination, why was victory a 5-4 squeaker? The charities naturally reasoned that coming within the Commerce Clause requires proving that charities engage in commerce (particularly interstate commerce). In their focus on the financial impact of the discriminatory statute, however, the charities never offered a positive construct of property-tax exemption that ignores the residency of the charity's beneficiaries. The charities' omission left them vulnerable to an attractive articulation of property-tax exemption, whose very definition limit-ed exemption to charities serving state residents. The charities might have achieved a short-run tactical victory at the cost of their long-term strategic interests. Once they decided to participate in the Camps Newfound litigation, the amici charities had no choice but to cast their activity in as commercial a form as possible. Dropping the pretense that charity is not 'big business' might simply declare what all could see if they would only look. However, the strategy of the charities in Camps Newfound might encourage society to rethink its favorable view of the charitable sector. The Supreme Court suggested that the Constitution would not prevent a state from repealing charitable tax exemptions and using state resources instead to pay direct subsidies to residents. As improbable as this result sounds, the very argument made by the charities in Camps Newfound that the charitable sector engages in commerce 'just like the big boys' jeopardizes the special protected view of charities, making society more willing to reconsider public subsidies long taken for granted by charities.


Abstract. Formic acid (HCOOH) is one of the most abundant carboxylic acids in the atmosphere. However, current photochemical models cannot fully explain observed concentrations and in particular secondary formation of formic acid across various environments. In this work, formic acid measurements made at an urban receptor site (Pasadena) in June–July 2010 during CalNex (California Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change) and a site in an oil and gas producing region (Uintah Basin) in January–February 2013 during UBWOS 2013 (Uintah Basin Winter Ozone Studies) will be discussed. Although the VOC (volatile organic compounds) compositions differed dramatically at the two sites, measured formic acid concentrations were comparable: 2.3 ± 1.3 in UBWOS 2013 and 2.0 ± 1.0 ppb in CalNex. We determine that concentrations of formic acid at both sites were dominated by secondary formation (> 99%). A constrained box model using the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM v3.2) underestimates the measured formic acid concentrations drastically at both sites (by a factor of > 10). Compared to the original MCM model that includes only ozonolysis of unsaturated organic compounds and OH oxidation of acetylene, when we updated yields of ozonolysis of alkenes and included OH oxidation of isoprene, vinyl alcohol chemistry, reaction of formaldehyde with HO2, oxidation of aromatics, and reaction of CH3O2 with OH, the model predictions for formic acid were improved by a factor of 6.4 in UBWOS 2013 and 4.5 in CalNex, respectively. A comparison of measured and modeled HCOOH/acetone ratios is used to evaluate the model performance for formic acid. We conclude that the modified chemical mechanism can explain 19 and 45% of secondary formation of formic acid in UBWOS 2013 and CalNex, respectively. The contributions from aqueous reactions in aerosol and heterogeneous reactions on aerosol surface to formic acid are estimated to be 0–6 and 0–5% in UBWOS 2013 and CalNex, respectively. We observe that air–snow exchange processes and morning fog events may also contribute to ambient formic acid concentrations during UBWOS 2013 (~ 20% in total). In total, 53–59 in UBWOS 2013 and 50–55% in CalNex of secondary formation of formic acid remains unexplained. More work on formic acid formation pathways is needed to reduce the uncertainties in the sources and budget of formic acid and to narrow the gaps between measurements and model results.


Light beams carrying orbital angular momentum are key resources in modern photonics. In many applications, the ability to measure the complex spectrum of structured light beams in terms of these fundamental modes is crucial. Here we propose and experimentally validate a simple method that achieves this goal by digital analysis of the interference pattern formed by the light beam and a reference field. Our approach allows one to also characterize the beam radial distribution, hence retrieving the entire information contained in the optical field. Setup simplicity and reduced number of measurements could make this approach practical and convenient for the characterization of structured light fields.


A conventional vibration welding process of fiber-reinforced Polyamide 66 is characterized by a continuous melt flow in the quasi-steady phase. This squeeze flow leads to a disadvantageous fiber reorientation in the weld zone. The fibers are oriented parallel to the melt flow and thus perpendicular to the common stress direction. This causes relatively low weld strength compared to the strength of the base material. Radiation cross-linking fiber-reinforced Polyamide 66 with electron beams influences the material characteristics. As a consequence, the resulting energy balance during vibration welding is changed and the squeeze flow is impeded, thus averting the fiber reorientation in the weld seam. The scope of this article is to demonstrate the influence of radiation cross-linking on fiber orientation in vibration welds. Mechanical, calorimetric, rheological, scanning electron microscope, and light microscope investigations serve to highlight the influence of radiation cross-linking on the vibration welds of fiber-reinforced Polyamide 66. POLYM. COMPOS., 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers


The objective of the study was to determine changes in frequency of sexual activity during pregnancy. A prospective study was conducted using a structured questionnaire to interview 611 healthy pregnant women at a regional hospital in KwaZulu-Natal. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Five hundred and fifty-six (91.0 %) of the 611 women were sexually active during pregnancy. Sexual desire was increased in 102 (18%), decreased in 299 (40%) and was unchanged in 210 (34%). Four hundred and twenty-two (69%) engaged in sexual activity until the third trimester of pregnancy. Three hundred and seventy-nine (62%) used condoms. The majority (63%) found it easier to discuss the topic of sexual activity with midwives rather than with doctors. One hundred and thirty-eight (23%) experienced adverse events attributed to sexual intercourse during pregnancy. Religious and traditional practices played a minor role in guiding the practice of sexual activity during pregnancy. Twenty-eight (5%) of the 611 women were guided by religious rules while 27 (4%) were guided by traditional rules. Our findings confirm that sexual activity is commonly practised in pregnancy. Given the high HIV rates and sexually transmitted infections in the local population, this has important implications for information provided during antenatal care.


Green AWWA is the authoritative resource for knowledge, information, and advocacy to improve the quality and supply of drinking water in North America and beyond. AWWA is the largest organization of water professionals in the world. AWWA advances public health, safety, and welfare by uniting the efforts of the full spectrum of the drinking water community. Through our collective strength we become better stewards of water for the greatest good of the people and the environment.


BACKGROUND
Dimethyl sulfoxide-cryopreserved (CRY) cadaver vein allografts used for hemodialysis access in patients with renal failure recently have been shown to cause broad recipient allosensitization, measured by panel reactive antibody (PRA) assay. Synergraft (SYN) processing is a novel method of treating tissue that decellularizes the graft (including mismatched major histocompatibility antigens) and potentially should prevent allosensitization.

METHODS
Twenty hemodialysis patients underwent placement of an SYN-processed cadaver vein allograft. PRA assay was used prospectively to assess allosensitization in these patients at baseline and 1-month intervals after engraftment. These results were compared with our historic series of CRY allograft recipients.

RESULTS
There was no significant difference in baseline PRA values for SYN and CRY patients (2.8% versus 2.6%, respectively). None of the SYN patients became allosensitized at 3 months postengraftment (mean PRA, 3.2%), whereas all CRY recipients became highly sensitized at a mean of 3.1 months (mean PRA, 84.1%). This result was highly significant (P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION
SYN processing of cadaver vein allografts successfully removes antigenic material. The use of SYN allografts in patients with renal failure for hemodialysis access does not cause allosensitization and therefore should not preclude kidney transplantation.


Virginia Woolf's last novel, in equal parts a triumphant celebration and witty mockery of 'Englishness', "Between the Acts" is edited by Stella McNichol, with an introduction and notes by Gillian Beer in "Penguin Modern Classics". Outwardly a novel about life in a country house in whose grounds there is to be a pageant, "Between the Acts" is also a striking evocation of English experience in the months leading up to the Second World War. Through dialogue, humour and the passionate musings of the characters, Virginia Woolf explores how a community is formed (and scattered) over time. The tableau, a series of scenes from English history, and the private dramas that go on between the acts are closely interlinked. Through the figure of Miss La Trobe, author of the pageant, Virginia Woolf questions imperialist assumptions and, at the same time, re-creates the elusive role of the artist. Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) is regarded as a major 20th century author and essayist, a key figure in literary history as a feminist and modernist, and the centre of "The Bloomsbury Group". This informal collective of artists and writers which included Lytton Strachey and Roger Fry, exerted a powerful influence over early twentieth-century British culture. Between 1925 and 1931 Virginia Woolf produced what are now regarded as her finest masterpieces, from "Mrs Dalloway" (1925) to the poetic and highly experimental novel "The Waves" (1931). She also maintained an astonishing output of literary criticism, short fiction, journalism and biography, including the playfully subversive "Orlando" (1928) and "A Room of One's Own" (1929) a passionate feminist essay. If you enjoyed "Between the Acts", you might like Woolf's "The Waves", also available in "Penguin Modern Classics". "A powerful and prophetic statement". (Richard Shone, "The Times").


There are controversial reports about the effect of aging on movement preparation, and it is unclear to which extent cognitive and/or motor related cerebral processes may be affected. This study examines the age effects on electro-cortical oscillatory patterns during various motor programming tasks, in order to assess potential differences according to the mode of action selection. Twenty elderly (EP, 60-84 years) and 20 young (YP, 20-29 years) participants with normal cognition underwent 3 pre-cued response tasks (S1-S2 paradigm). S1 carried either complete information on response side (Full; stimulus-driven motor preparation), no information (None; general motor alertness), or required free response side selection (Free; internally-driven motor preparation). Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded using 64 surface electrodes. Alpha (8-12 Hz) desynchronization (ERD)/synchronization (ERS) and motor-related amplitude asymmetries (MRAA) were analyzed during the S1-S2 interval. Reaction times (RTs) to S2 were slower in EP than YP, and in None than in the other 2 tasks. There was an Age x Task interaction due to increased RTs in Free compared to Full in EP only. Central bilateral and midline activation (alpha ERD) was smaller in EP than YP in None. In Full just before S2, readiness to move was reflected by posterior midline inhibition (alpha ERS) in both groups. In Free, such inhibition was present only in YP. Moreover, MRAA showed motor activity lateralization in both groups in Full, but only in YP in Free. The results indicate reduced recruitment of motor regions for motor alertness in the elderly. They further show less efficient cerebral processes subtending free selection of movement in elders, suggesting reduced capacity for internally-driven action with age.


Wireless routing based on an embedding of the connectivity graph is a very promising technique to overcome shortcomings of geographic routing and topology-based routing. This is of particular interest when either absolute coordinates for geographic routing are unavailable or when they poorly reflect the underlying connectivity in the network. We focus on dynamic networks induced by time-varying fading and mobility. This requires that the embedding is stable over time, whereas the focus of most existing embedding algorithms is on low distortion of single realizations of a graph. We develop a beacon-based distributed embedding algorithm that requires little control overhead, produces low distortion embeddings, and is stable. We also show that a low-dimensional embedding suffices, since at a sufficiently large scale, wireless connectivity graphs are dictated by geometry. The stability of the embedding allows us to combine geo-routing on the embedding with last encounter routing (LER) for node lookup, further reducing the control overhead. Our routing algorithm avoids dead ends through randomized greedy forwarding. We demonstrate through extensive simulations that our combined embedding and routing scheme outperforms existing algorithms.


This case study pertains to Intellectual Property Exchange International, Inc. (IPXI), which was formed in 2008 to create a market-based trading exchange for aggregated patent license rights, particularly standards-essential patents (SEPs). IPXI based its model on existing commodities exchanges, proposing that non-exclusive patent licenses could be standardized, commoditized, and traded on an open market, thus eliminating costly and inefficient bilateral negotiations and providing a royalty rate likely to be viewed as "reasonable". IPXI's most ambitious offering involved a portfolio of 194 U.S., European and other patents deemed essential to IEEE's 802.11n "Wi-Fi" standard. IPXI offered up to 50,000 tradable Unit License Right contracts (ULRs), each granting the holder a worldwide right to manufacture and sell 1,000 compliant devices. Despite the backing of several significant patent holders, IPXI's offering failed to attract sufficient interest, and IPXI ceased operations in March 2015. This paper analyzes the failure of IPXI based on the documentary record, public statements by IPXI executives and interviews with industry experts. It concludes that, despite its potential to improve the efficiency of the SEP licensing market, factors including a lack of participation by key patent holders, an untested record of enforcing patents against infringers, and constraints imposed by the standardized ULR, led to IPXI's demise.


Outdoor mobile robot motion planning and navigation is a challenging problem in artificial intelligence. The search space density and dimensionality, system dynamics and environmental interaction complexity, and the perceptual horizon limitation all contribute to the difficultly of this problem. It is hard to generate a motion plan between arbitrary boundary states that considers sophisticated vehicle dynamics and all feasible actions for nontrivial mobile robot systems. Accomplishing these goals in real time is even more challenging because of dynamic environments and updating perception information.
This thesis develops effective search spaces for mobile robot trajectory generation, motion planning, and navigation in complex environments. Complex environments are defined as worlds where locally optimal motion plans are numerous and where the sensitivity of the cost function is highly dependent on state and motion model fidelity. Examples include domains where obstacles are prevalent, terrain shape is varied, and the consideration of terramechanical effects is important.
Three specific contributions are accomplished. First, a model-predictive trajectory generation technique is developed that numerically linearizes and inverts general predictive motion models to determine parameterized actions that satisfy the two-point boundary value problem. Applications on a number of mobile robot platforms (including skid-steered field robots, planetary rovers with actively articulating chassis, mobile manipulators, and autonomous automobiles) demonstrate the versatility and generality of the presented approach. Second, an adaptive search space is presented that exploits environmental information to maintain feasibility and locally optimize the mapping between nodes and states. Sequential search in the relaxed motion planning graph is shown to produce better (shorter/faster/lower-risk) trajectories in dense obstacle fields without modifying the graph topology. Results demonstrate that a coarse, adaptive search space can produce better solutions faster than dense, fixed search spaces in sufficiently complex environments. Lastly, a receding-horizon model-predictive control method that exploits structure from sequential search to determine trajectory following actions is presented. The action space is parameterized by the regional motion plan and subsequently relaxed through unconstrained optimization. Examples are shown to effectively navigate intricate paths in a natural environment while maintaining a constant horizon.


Competitive cycling is a sport with limited levels of diversity, particularly concerning gender. Women and gender diverse cyclists are likely to experience actions from others that reveal underlying assumptions based on their gender, race, or other cultural identities. This mixed-methods investigation used feminist theory and a transformative paradigm to highlight the experiences of women and gender diverse cyclists in a male-dominated sport. The authors explored the nature of microaggressions, perceived underlying messages, responses to such actions, and the feelings provoked. Two hundred and seventy-nine cyclists responded to the survey. Over three-quarters of participants reported being bothered by one or more microaggressions that they experienced in the competitive cycling community. Three primary themes emerged for types of microaggressions: assumptions based on gender, inequitable treatment, and harassment. A small percentage of participants noted an absence of microaggressions in competitive cycling environments. Although participants responded to microaggressions in several ways and experienced a range of emotions, the most common response to microaggressions was to not engage. Over half of the participants reported feelings of anger or frustration due to the microaggressions, followed by feelings of sadness. The results from this study complement what researchers have previously reported regarding female athletes and microaggressions in other sports. Implications and findings are discussed in the context of community norms and the need for a paradigm shift to promote inclusivity and diversity in the sport.


SWIFT ELECTR-OPTIC MODULATOR Geof Harston Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Master of Science The Silicon Wafer Integrated Fiber Technology, SWIFT, is a novel platform for the development of photonic devices. SWIFT is comprised of an optical fiber, specifically a D-fiber in this work, embedded into a V-groove etched into a silicon wafer. This provides a method to secure the fiber and allows the use of standard semiconductor industry equipment and techniques in latter processing for device fabrication. The SWIFT platform is used as the basis for the development of a polarimetric infiber electro-optic modulator. The modulator is based on the application of a nonlinear optical polymer, NLOP, film into the evanescent field of a D-fiber. In this way electric fields applied to the NLOP can be used to influence the light propagating through the fiber. The two initial processes in fabricating the modulator are accessing the evanescent field of the D-fiber and making a nonlinear optical polymer (NLOP) thin film. To expose the evanescent field the fiber is chemically etched using hydrofluoric acid. During the etching, light transmitted through the fiber is monitored for changes in power and polarization. The measured optical changes are correlated to scanning electron microscope images of the etched fibers to relate the etch depth to the changes in power and polarization. This provides an etching process that is controllable and repeatable. The NLOP films are made from a simple guest-host system based poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and dispersed red 1 azo dye (DR1), a nonlinear optical dye. The films are poled to align the dye molecules so that the polymer will exhibit nonlinear optical properties. The poled polymers are tested for second harmonic generation, SHG, to insure that they are nonlinearly optically active. Utilizing the SWIFT platform and the monitored etching process, fibers were etched to a desired 0.2 microns from the core on a repeatable basis. A nonlinear optical polymer was synthesized, formed into thin films, and poled. Nonlinear optical activity in the films was verified by SHG testing.


This exhibition brings together three artists who share a certain preoccupation with transformational processes. Although they work with a variety of materials, and employ disparate approaches and aesthetics, all operate within a field of ideas which ultimately resolve around the trope of a work of 'art as a translation or transcription'.

Tim Knowles's work is characterised by a kind of soft, cranky invention – often of bespoke devices for sensing and transducing movements or fluids to generate traces; tree branches sway in the wind and draw on strategically positioned paper. A plotting device fitted in the back of a car records the different momentums of a long drive. A helmet mounted wind-vane directs its wearer through the landscape according to the vicissitudes of the air. For this exhibition, Knowles exhibits speculative plans and models for a watercraft, which similarly bears its occupant in whichever direction the wind takes it.

Heather Ross is concerned with how we come to know the world, and engages with the systems invented to store and convey information on a deep and intuitive level, mining systems of classification, descriptions, texts and images for their interpretative possibilities. Her series of diptychs consist of photographs and paintings which seek to synthesize them according to that which was lost in their capture – birds in absence. Ross's gravitation to the birds' call and the impossibility of truly knowing their place and essence inflects and distorts the original photographs to generate a sustained and compelling record of place and emotion.

Rob Mullender's response to air is more instrumental – his practice typically involves the creation of objects or systems which synthesize or mediate sound. His sculpture is a figure of subjection; a cast of an empty space, held in stasis and locked into a network of ties and ligatures, whose purpose is to vibrate when driven on a car's roof-rack, producing a buzzing drone. Part processional incantation, part self portrait, this work is both instrument and agent, only exerting its agency through an engagement with performance.

Visual, mechanical, corporeal and social, these works constitute a body of evidence, traces of processes and events that have been moulded and vitalised by our most common shared element.


Academics and policy-makers have claimed that community has a potentially useful role to play in encouraging pro-environmental behaviour change. Yet despite a growing literature on the role of community in doing so, a critical examination of the policy context in which it is being employed towards that goal is currently lacking. This paper addresses that gap by presenting results from a qualitative case-study of the UK government funded Low Carbon Communities Challenge (LCCC). The paper highlights the conflict that exists between the instrumental application of community as a delivery-mechanism for government policy on carbon management, and the normative understanding of community based on social relations and identification with place held by community members. Dominant policy approaches to carbon management focus on small scale behaviour change and the delivery of technological fixes aimed at improving carbon efficiency to passive consumer-citizens. Delivered through the LCCC, this approach ignored the normative understanding of community from consideration as a mechanism of change, and offered community members a limited and largely ineffective means by which to encourage pro-environmental behaviour change. The paper concludes with reflections on the implications of these findings on the role of community in the transition to a low(er) carbon society.


We explore the construction and performance of a range of catalytic nanoreactors based on palladium nanoparticles encapsulated in hollow graphitised nanofibres. The optimum catalytic material, with small palladium nanoparticles located almost exclusively at the graphitic step-edges within nanoreactors, exhibits attractive catalytic properties in Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reactions. Confinement of nanoparticles at the step-edges facilitates retention of catalytic centres and recycling of catalytic nanoreactors without any significant loss of activity or selectivity over multiple catalytic cycles. Furthermore, careful comparison of the catalytic properties of palladium nanoparticles either on or in nanoreactors reveals that nanoscale confinement of catalysts fundamentally affects the pathways of the Suzuki–Miyaura reaction, with the yield and selectivity for the cross-coupled product critically dependent on the steric properties of the aryl iodide reactant, whereas no effects of confinement are observed for aryl boronic acid reactants possessing substituents in different positions. These results indicate that the oxidative addition step of the Suzuki–Miyaura reaction occurs at the step-edge of nanofibres, where the mechanisms and kinetics of chemical reactions are known to be sensitive to nanoscale confinement, and thus the extent of confinement in carbon nanoreactors can be discretely controlled by careful selection of the aryl iodide reactant.


We use a two factor model of life insurer stock returns to measure interest rate risk at U.S. and U.K. insurers. Our estimates show that interest rate risk among U.S. life insurers increased as interest rates decreased to historically low levels in recent years. For life insurers in the U.K., in contrast, interest rate risk remained low during this time, roughly unchanged from what it was in the period prior to the financial crisis when long-term interest rates were in their usual historical ranges. We attribute these differences to the heavier use of products that combine guarantees with options for policyholders to adjust their behavior by U.S. life insurers relative to their U.K. counterparts.


In oral English learning, HDPs (phonemes that are hard to be distinguished) are areas where Chinese students frequently make mistakes in pronunciation. This paper studies a speech phoneme evaluation method for HDPs, hoping to improve the ability of individualized evaluation on HDPs and help provide a personalized learning platform for English learners. First of all, this paper briefly introduces relevant phonetic recognition technologies and pronunciation evaluation algorithms and also describes the phonetic retrieving, phonetic decoding and phonetic knowledge base in the Sphinx-4 computer system, which constitute the technological foundation for phoneme evaluation. Then it proposes an HDP evaluation model, which integrates the reliability of the speech processing system and the individualization of spoken English learners into the evaluation system. After collecting HDPs of spoken English learners and sorting them into different sets, it uses the evaluation system to recognize these HDP sets and at last analyzes the experimental results of HDP evaluation, which proves the effectiveness of the HDP evaluation model. Keywords—oral English phoneme, HDP, Sphinx-4 computer system, evaluation model, evaluation algorithm


Children often experience the influence of technology around them, but there is little emphasis placed on technology within a scientific education in Grundschule (primary schools) in Germany. One of the reasons for this could be a lack of research projects that ascertain young learners' conceptions of technical issues. So there is no basis for creating learning environments that enable and motivate children to actively and purposefully work on questions of technical procedures. An investigation into the previous knowledge held by nine to ten year old children of simple machines has demonstrated children's reasoning. It shows that experiences handling materials can lead to children's understanding of technological processes. Starting from the intuitive level of understanding, the children can attain the factual level and finally the level of technical awareness in a circular model.This model of thinking processes provides a basis for creating teaching modules that extend current technological education in German schools.


The new Na4Ca(CO3)3, Na2Ca3(CO3)4 and Na2Ca4(CO3)5 compounds were synthesized in the system Na2CO3–CaCO3 in multianvil experiments at 6 GPa and characterized by Raman spectroscopy. In addition, the Na2Ca3(CO3)4 compound was studied using in situ energy dispersive and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Single bands in the CO32− symmetric stretching region ( v1 ) and out-of-plane bending region ( v2 ) in the Na4Ca(CO3)3 Raman spectrum suggest a single crystallographically distinct carbonate group in the structure. In contrast, the spectra of Na2Ca3(CO3)4 and Na2Ca4(CO3)5 show two and three bands, respectively, in both the symmetric stretching region ( v1 ) and out-of-plane bending region ( v2 ), suggesting more than one crystallographically distinct carbonate group in the unit cell. Raman activity in the forbidden v2 mode and multiple bands are observed in the in-plane bending region ( v4 ) for the three compounds, proving the reduction of site symmetry of the CO32− ions with the loss of the threefold rotation axis ( D 3h → D 2h or C s). Such a decrease in symmetry suggests distortion of the group itself, but may be attained by rearrangements of the coordinated metal cations as in the aragonite-group carbonates. At 6.5 GPa and 1000°C, the structure of Na2Ca3(CO3)4 was found to be orthorhombic or monoclinic with a β angle close to 90° and the lattice parameters: a = 7.3357(6) A, b = 8.0377(9) A, and c = 31.5322 (32) A, with V = 929.59(14) A3. No structural changes were observed during pressure decrease down to 1 GPa, while a discontinuous increase in unit-cell parameters and volume was observed upon decompression from 1 GPa at room temperature. This indicates a pressure-induced phase transition to a structurally related ambient-pressure phase. The abnormally long c -parameter and proximity of the β-angle to 90° of Na2Ca3(CO3)4 at ambient conditions suggest that, in the monoclinic system, the metric symmetry is higher than the Laue symmetry, which is a common sign for merohedral twinning.


A measurement is presented of the cross section for electroweak production of a Z boson and a photon in association with two jets (Z$\gamma$jj) in proton-proton collisions. The Z boson candidates are selected through their decay into a pair of electrons or muons. The process of interest, electroweak Z$\gamma$jj production, is isolated by selecting events with a large dijet mass and a large pseudorapidity gap between the two jets. The measurement is based on data collected at the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The observed significance of the signal is 3.9 standard deviations, where a significance of 5.2 standard deviations is expected in the standard model. These results are combined with published results by CMS at $\sqrt{s} =$ 8 TeV, which leads to observed and expected respective significances of 4.7 and 5.5 standard deviations. From the 13 TeV data, a value is obtained for the signal strength of electroweak Z$\gamma$jj production and bounds are given on quartic vector boson interactions in the framework of dimension-eight effective field theory operators.


COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED ACINETOBACTER BAUMANII PNEUMONIA IN A 75-YEAR-OLD VETERAN. R. Rillo, A. Channabasavaiah, UCSF-Fresno Medical Education Program, Fresno, CA. Acinetobacter baumanii is a well-known causative agent of nosocomial infections. However, communityacquired A. baumanii pneumonia is rare in the United States; thus, we present this case of communityacquired pneumonia with a fulminant course. A 75-year-old Caucasian male with hypertension, moderate chronic obstructive lung disease, alcoholism, and diabetes mellitus presented with dyspnea, changes in behavior, hypotension, and hypoxemia with diffuse wheezes and crackles. Chest radiography showed dense right base infiltrate. He had profound respiratory distress started on BiPAP support and was treated with azithromycin and ceftriaxone. Blood Gram stain showed gram-negative diplococci, suggesting Neisseria meningitidis infection. CSF fluid was negative for infection. Final blood culture grew A. baumanii. Antibiotics were changed to imipenem and vancomycin. His condition continued to deteriorate, and the patient's family decided to withdraw care, leading to the patient's demise. Risk factors associated with community-acquired Acinetobacter pneumonia are smoking, significant alcohol use, and/ or concomitant comorbid conditions (COPD, HTN, DM). Patients present with fever, cough, and dyspnea and progresses to shock with a very fulminant course. A HIGH index of suspicion is warranted during the initial course. The organism has been described as a gram-negative coccibacilli. Rarely, as in our case, it may initially be described as a gram-negative diplococcus, leading to the delay in appropriate therapy. With the increasing prevalence of hospital-acquired Acinetobacter infection, we need to maintain high vigilance in the bacterial flora responsible for community-acquired pneumonia.


In defining the relationship between violence and justice in "The Critique of Violence," Walter Benjamin suggests that violence must be evaluated "within the sphere of means, themselves, without regard for the ends they serve." (1) As Giorgio Agamben points out, this moment in Benjamin's essay is informative for the function of sovereignty and law because it identifies violence as a "pure medium" and "a means that ... is considered independently of the ends that it pursues." (2) Benjamin and Agamben's definition of violence within a context that eliminates its justificatory value characterizes the way one late-medieval English poet represents the corporal violence inflicted on Jews in the first-century Roman siege of Jerusalem. (3) The Jewish bodies that appear in the late fourteenth-century alliterative romance, The Siege of Jerusalem, are afflicted by a kind of violence that demands attention to the violence itself, not its "necessity" within salvation history. While the christological "ends" of such violence are the supersession of the old Judaic law and the punishment of Jews for their "crime" of crucifying Christ, the Siege-poet consistently diverts attention from this purpose to critique violence as a means divorced from its end. The violated Jewish bodies possess no value or rights within the operation of Roman sovereignty over Jerusalem, and are accordingly reduced to what Agamben calls "bare life." (4) As extinguishable entities, these Jewish corpores assume a didactic power that modulates this anti-Semitic homily with a condemnation of Roman imperialism: the disciplined bodies are on display, creating a collective image that teaches its audience both the vengeance of God and the cruelty of Roman imperial siege-craft. (5) The Siege-poet reinterprets scenes in his sources that would normally incite virulent anti-Semitism in medieval Christians, such as Christ's passion, the flaying of Caiaphas, and Jewish mother Maria's eating of her child, and transforms them into moments that exhibit the pitiable fate of the Jews and evince his disgust for the cruelty of the Roman conquerors. As the humanity of the besieged Jews grows, the newly baptized besieging Romans, Vespasian and Titus, increasingly embody the surfeit of their pagan predecessor Nero by expressing exorbitant enthusiasm about their imperial stature and exacting excessive punishment of their enemies. Vespasian and Titus face moral and corporal dilemmas that efface their Christian identities, enhance their desire for power, and reflect their moral inferiority to Jews like Josephus. The result is an unexpected redirection in the poem's object of critique from the bodies of Christ-killing Jews to those of the bullion-hungry Romans. The Siege of Jerusalem is primarily known as a vitriolic invective against the Jews for crucifying Christ that delights in describing scenes of excessive violence. (6) Understandably, few scholars have been able to avert their gaze from the horrifying fate of the Jews in the poem to acknowledge the complex investigations of Roman imperialism that emerge through these disturbing scenes of corporal malady and dismemberment. (7) After all, few late medieval Christians would have been able to distinguish irrational prejudice against Jews from their religious doctrine, which taught that the destruction of Jerusalem was a sign of God's providence. I do not deny the presence of the anti-Semitic discourse that runs throughout the poem--its existence is indisputable. However, scholarly focus on the poem's anti-Semitism has obscured the Siege-poet's exploration of the relationship between assertions of sovereignty and corporal violence. This essay explores the way that the Siege-poet treats the bodies of the Jews and Romans as sites of anxiety-producing indeterminacy and recasts them as objects of both punishment and compassion. As I will demonstrate, when the poem's scenes of corporal violence are read as didactic in nature, it becomes clear that the graphic detail of these scenes are a manifestation of a pessimistic martial discourse that does not delight, but rather, instills a deep, emotionally overwrought ambivalence about the horrors of war and empire-building. …


In plants, the abscisic acid (ABA) pathway is activated by drought conditions; this signals the guard cells to close the stomatal pores, which conserves water. Lemichez et al. show that the Arabidopsis guanosine triphosphatase AtRac1 is involved in reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton in guard cells in response to ABA. Transgenic plants expressing a dominant negative form of AtRac1 or a constitutively active form of AtRac1 exhibited stomatal closure in the absence of ABA in the former and an inability to decrease stomatal aperture in response to ABA in the latter. Comparison of AtRac1 activity in wild-type plants and mutant plants (abi1-1), which are defective in stomatal closure and actin reorganization response in the presence of ABA, showed that ABA normally inactivates AtRac1 and that this is blocked in the abi1-1 mutant. Finally, the defect in ABA signaling with regard to stomatal pore closure in the aba1-1 plants could be overcome by transgenic expression of the dominant negative AtRac1 mutant. These results show that, like the vertebrate Rac proteins, plant Rac homologs have similar functions--to regulate the actin cytoskeleton in response to external stimuli. E. Lemichez, Y. Wu, J.-P. Sanchez, A. Mettouchi, J. Mathur, N.-H. Chua, Inactivation of AtRac1 by abscisic acid is essential for stomatal closure. Genes Dev. 15, 1808-1816 (2001). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Plasmonic absorbers with broadband light confinement and high photothermic harnessing efficiency are of current interest in various fields with industrialization prospects, such as solar energy harvesting, photothermic conversion and light antireflection. Here we present simple and cost-effective chemical synthesis and electrophoretic deposition methods for the fabrication of large-scale plasmonic absorber layers constructed by silver nanoplate aggregations (SNPAs) with unique morphology. Using numerical simulation and experiments including surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurement and in situ monitoring of photothermic water evaporation, we revealed the multiple physical processes including far-field scattering suppression, near-field localized light enhancement and highly efficient light-to-heat conversion when SNPAs are under illumination. Owing to these unique optical effects, the SNPAs exhibited multifunctionality with excellent performances. They exhibited an antireflective efficiency of nearly 100% ranging from 400 nm to 1100 nm which is useful in broadband light antireflection. Meanwhile, highly efficient light trapping and super hydrophilic surface characteristics enable them to exhibit significantly enhanced evaporation velocity acceleration of nearly 7 fold, highly competitive in solar energy induced water purification. They are also competent to serve as highly sensitive SERS substrates with a sensitivity of 10−8 M for R6G molecule detection owing to their significant near-field light enhancement capacity.


It has long been recognised that employees' job attitudes (e.g. job satisfaction, organisation commitment), defined as "evaluations of one's job that express one's feelings toward, beliefs about, and attachment to one's job" (Judge & KammeyerMueller, 2012:343), can have important implications at work (e.g. performance, withdrawal). Their practical and empirical relevance has maintained the prolific nature of job attitudes research for nearly a century. This trend has also taken off within the South African context. This paper provides a summary of a selection of my papers that have dealt with employee attitudes such as job satisfaction and organisation commitment. The paper starts by defining and conceptualising job satisfaction and organisation commitment. It then turns to discussing the importance of job satisfaction and organisation commitment. Next, it focuses on dispositional and situational antecedents of job satisfaction and organisation commitment. Lastly, it highlights the importance of the mentioned scientific contributions.


This paper explores whether governments can ban carbon-intensive materials through product carbon requirements. By setting near-zero emission limits for the production of materials to be sold within a jurisdiction, governments would accelerate the phase out of carbon-intensive production processes. Their announcement could alert basic materials producers, financing institutions, and other relevant stakeholders, thus incentivising them to prepare for this shift by dedicating their innovation efforts and investments to climatefriendly production processes and low-carbon materials. The paper analyses various product standards and technical regulations in the European context. The analysis of these standards and technical regulations offers an overview of the types of environmental requirements that the European Union has already adopted. Therefore, it provides a case study of the political, legal, and technical backgrounds for the development of product carbon requirements, both in the EU and beyond. Second, the paper presents an analysis of the provisions in WTO law that would apply to product carbon requirements, underlining the legal arguments in support of their adoption under international trade law.