Return to Culture: Oral Tradition and Society in the Southern Cook Islands. By Anna-Leena Siikala and Jukka Siikala. FF Communications Vol. 136, No. 287. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2005. 327pp. What is the significance of oral tradition in Pacific Islands culture? How integrated is oral tradition into life in the Cook Islands? To what extent does a theoretical understanding of oral tradition practices enable an analytic understanding of social action, political structure, narrative practices, and the cultural milieu of the southern Cook Islanders? In this book the collaborative approach between a folklorist (Anna-Leena Siikala) and an anthropologist (Jukka Siikala) situates these questions in an empirical analysis of the processes of identity formation of the people of Ma'uke and Atiu through customary discursive practices. Not satisfied to regard the past as past, but implicitly recognizing that "folklore" is a non-omnibus discipline suffering an epistemologi cal crisis, the Siikalas adopt something equivalent to a European philological approach combining it with a multilo cai, multi vocal anthropological methodology. Both authors recognize that the process of cultural representation is now inescapably contingent, historical, and contestable and that social actors are in constantly changing social situations. Building on the Siikalas' deep-rooted field experience in the Cook Islands, their extensive archival research at the National Archives in Rarotonga and in Australia, and their knowledge of the academic debates in New Zealand and Hawai 'i, this book is the compendium of a number of articles and papers earlier published by the authors since the 1990s (13). At first glance, the soft cover and title page lead one to believe that this is a communication edited for the folklore fellows. Similarly, somehow misleading is the photo on the dust jacket taken by the author (Jukka Siikala), whose caption reads: "Local produce for sale in Rarotonga." Nevertheless, this compendium translates into a properly structured scholarly work, whose objective is forthrightly stated by the authors in the introduction: "[We] both aim at analyzing the underlying cultural patterns that generate oral traditions and inform the dynamics of the society" (19). This interdisciplinary effort allows AnnaLeena Siikala to attend the nature of oral traditions and the related problems of performance and interpretation, while Jukka Siikala analyzes the issues of the Cook Islands' social organization and their dynamics. Believing that the binary and ubiquitous opposition of "We" and "the Other" shows internal inconsistency, Jukka Siikala argues that the ethnographic discussion presented in the book "attempts to highlight the two-sidedness of the project of defining culture and how images of the self are produced on the basis of a multiplicity of imageries derived through encounters with others" (23). His argument proceeds to note that the dialogic process of folklore documentation "was not based on distantiation and exoticism" (25), as he could evince from the islanders' early interest in an epistemologi cal understanding of their own genealogical traditions and practices. Echoing Franz Boas's methodology and the examples conserved in the Finnish folklore archives, the genealogical materials collected are presented as avulse of any ethnographic distortions. The result, Jukka Siikala explains, "is not a textualisation of a single speech event, but 'are vananga, 'the house of talk,' which contains the summa totius cosmologiae of the culture, in other words, literature, whatever physical form it takes" (36). Anna-Leena Siikala's engaging writing reformulates Jukka Siikala's introductory argument that in one sense all culture is tradition and all cultural activities are creative and inventive (18), specifying that this "creating" or "inventing" tradition concerns both the outsiders' intellectual and political work and the insiders' efforts toward a renewal of the traditional elements of their own culture and identity (41). …


Description Regression-discontinuity (RD) designs are quasi-experimental research designs popular in social, behavioral and natural sciences. The RD design is usually employed to study the (local) causal effect of a treatment, intervention or policy. This package provides tools for data-driven graphical and analytical statistical inference in RD designs: rdrobust() to construct local-polynomial point estimators and robust confidence intervals for average treatment effects at the cutoff in Sharp, Fuzzy and Kink RD settings, rdbwse-lect() to perform bandwidth selection for the different procedures implemented, and rd-plot() to conduct exploratory data analysis (RD plots).


Wastewater effluent is a major source of known and potential endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in aquatic environments due to the large number of anthropogenic chemicals present in these effluents and their incomplete removal by conventional sewage treatment methods. Consequently, aquatic species exposed to wastewater effluent experience chronic exposure to a complex mixture of contaminants. Although many studies have documented the presence of EDCs in freshwater environments, and the adverse effects on aquatic organisms exposed to EDCs, few studies have been carried out in marine environments or in Australia, where the consequences of exposure still remain largely unknown. This thesis investigated known and potential EDCs in the Darwin Harbour region (i.e., Darwin Harbour plus catchments in the Beagle Gulf immediately outside Darwin Harbour), located in northern Australia, and looked for evidence of effects on the native tropical marine snail Telescopium telescopium. Water, sediment and T. telescopium were collected from estuarine sites exposed to secondary treated municipal wastewater and corresponding reference sites (those without wastewater outfalls present). Telescopium telescopium was used in this thesis as it is widely distributed throughout tropical northern Australia, has been demonstrated to accumulate organic contaminants from its surroundings, and is a traditional food source for local indigenous people. Water and sediment were screened for a wide range of contaminants comprising known and potential EDCs from the following groups: hormones, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), herbicides, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals. In addition, the standard bioassays YES and YAS (yeast estrogenic screen and yeast androgenic screen, respectively) were used to assess (anti)estrogenic and (anti)androgenic activity. Tissues of T. telescopium were analysed for a selection of EDCs and metal contaminants, along with nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) stable isotope analysis to obtain information on the biological uptake of nutrients from wastewater effluent. Histopathology was carried out to provide corresponding information on the health status of the animals with a view to providing ecologically-relevant biological end points of chronic contaminant exposure. Known and potential EDCs were detected in water, sediments and biota across the Darwin Harbour region with the highest concentrations present at wastewater outfall sites. Both (anti)estrogenic and (anti)androgenic activity were present in water and sediments. Stable isotope analysis confirmed the assimilation of nutrients by T. telescopium from wastewater effluent via sediments. Despite evidence of exposure to EDCs there was little indication of compromised health or endocrine disruption in T. telescopium according to the histological condition observed. The results demonstrate that wastewater effluent is indeed a major source of known and potential EDCs to the tropical marine environment of the Darwin Harbour region, aquatic organisms are exposed to complex mixtures of chemicals of unknown toxicity and T. telescopium is a suitable natural bioindicator for sewage-derived compounds such as organic contaminants.


An Image Adaptive Watermarking method based on the Discrete Wavelet Transform is presented in this paper. The robustness and fidelity of the proposed method are evaluated and the method is compared to state-of-the-art watermarking techniques available in the literature. For the evaluation of watermark transparency, an image fidelity factor based on a perceptual distortion metric is introduced. On the other hand, a degradation factor is introduced for the evaluation of watermark robustness against JPEG compression and resizing. The new fidelity metric allows a perceptually aware objective quantification of image fidelity. The suitability of the proposed metric for the fidelity evaluation of still image watermarking is supported by simulation results.


Embroidery is a part of the needlework that is one of the four virtues of women in ancient times, including "appearance, speech, needlework and behavior". (Chen Baoliang, 2004) The education of women in old times mainly focused on the "feminine virtues" and "needlework". Due to cultivation at an early age, the upper-class women were mostly clever and intelligent, and did not have to earn their own living. Because of the restraints of the traditional society, they could not devote too much of their time and energy to the technical improvement of the needlework. The embroidery works of women in the Ming and Qing dynasties, however, show different characteristics from that of the previous age. They skillfully adopted the ideas of old masters, and with continuation and development, they showed signs to separate embroidery from traditional needlework, eventually making it into an independent art.


We describe the tenth skeletal specimen of the Upper Jurassic Archaeopterygidae. The almost complete and well-preserved skeleton is assigned to Archaeopteryx siemensii Dames, 1897 and provides significant new information on the osteology of the Archaeopterygidae. As is evident from the new specimen, the palatine of Archaeopteryx was tetraradiate as in non-avian theropods, and not triradiate as in other avians. Also with respect to the position of the ectopterygoid, the data obtained from the new specimen lead to a revision of a previous reconstruction of the palate of Archaeopteryx. The morphology of the coracoid and that of the proximal tarsals is, for the first time, clearly visible in the new specimen. The new specimen demonstrates the presence of a hyperextendible second toe in Archaeopteryx. This feature is otherwise known only from the basal avian Rahonavis and deinonychosaurs (Dromaeosauridae and Troodontidae), and its presence in Archaeopteryx provides additional evidence for a close relationship between deinonychosaurs and avians. The new specimen also shows that the first toe of Archaeopteryx was not fully reversed but spread medially, supporting previous assumptions that Archaeopteryx was only facultatively arboreal. Finally, we comment on the taxonomic composition of the Archaeopterygidae and conclude that Archaeopteryx bavarica Wellnhofer, 1993 is likely to be a junior synonym of A. siemensii, and Wellnhoferia grandis Elzanowski, 2001 a junior synonym of A. lithographica von Meyer, 1861. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 149, 97–116.


Accurate measurements of the cosmic shear signal require a separation of the true weak gravitational lensing signal from intrinsic shape correlations of galaxies. These `intrinsic alignments' of galaxies originate from galaxy formation processes and are expected to be correlated with the gravitational field through tidal processes affecting the galaxies, such as tidal shearing for elliptical galaxies and tidal torquing for spiral galaxies. In this study, we use morphologically selected samples of elliptical and spiral galaxies from the IllustrisTNG simulation at z=0 and z=1 to test the commonly employed linear (tidal shearing) and quadratic (tidal torquing) models for intrinsic alignments. We obtain local measurements of the linear and quadratic alignment parameters, including corrections for large-scale anisotropies of the cosmologically small simulation volume, and study their dependence on galaxy and environmental properties. We find a significant alignment signal for elliptical galaxies (linear model), that increases with mass and redshift. Spiral galaxies (quadratic model) on the other hand exhibit a significant signal only for the most massive objects at z=1. We show the quadratic model for spiral galaxies to break down at its fundamental assumptions, and simultaneously obtain a significant signal of spiral galaxies to align according to the linear model. We use the derived alignment parameters to compute intrinsic alignment spectra and estimate the expected contamination in the weak lensing signal obtained by Euclid.


Recent studies suggest that metformin, which is commonly used as an oral anti-hyperglycemic agent of the biguanide family, may reduce cancer risk and improve prognosis, but the mechanisms by which metformin affects various cancers, including gastric cancer, remains unknown. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the effects of metformin on human gastric cancer cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo and to study microRNAs (miRNA) associated with antitumor effect of metformin. We used MKN1, MKN45, and MKN74 human gastric cancer cell lines to study the effects of metformin on human gastric cancer cells. Athymic nude mice bearing xenograft tumors were treated with or without metformin. Tumor growth was recorded after 4 weeks, and the expression of cell-cycle-related proteins was determined. In addition, we used miRNA array tips to explore the differences among miRNAs in MKN74 cells bearing xenograft tumors treated with or without metformin in vitro and in vivo. Metformin inhibited the proliferation of MKN1, MKN45, and MKN74 in vitro. Metformin blocked the cell cycle in G0–G1 in vitro and in vivo. This blockade was accompanied by a strong decrease of G1 cyclins, especially in cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) 4, Cdk6 and by a decrease in retinoblastoma protein (Rb) phosphorylation. In addition, metformin reduced the phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor and insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor in vitro and in vivo. The miRNA expression was markedly altered with the treatment of metformin in vitro and in vivo. Various miRNAs altered by metformin also may contribute to tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Mol Cancer Ther; 11(3); 549–60. ©2012 AACR.


A multiregion applied general equilibrium model is used to examine the financial interactions among spheres of government in the context of fiscal consolidation. The framework combines nine regional submodels interacting through the trading of goods and services and the mobility of labor and capital. The model integrates intergovernmental fiscal transfers, which play an important role in reducing the disparity in living standards between regions. The analysis demonstrates that the current intergovernmental revenue transfer system has significant inter- and intraregional equity effects, although its nationwide impact is less important. Reducing intergovernmental transfers leads to a reduction in welfare in the four regions where the net transfers were initially positive (Limpopo, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and North West Province). In contrast, welfare increases in the five other regions (Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, Free State, Gauteng, and the Western Cape). When transfer revenues fall and, consequently, regional and local government revenues drop, poor households are the most affected, as they depend more on public services that are essentially financed by governments. When the government's fiscal position improves, it is also poor households that benefit more from additional government expenses.


Plasmonic metamaterials and metasurfaces are important for many linear and nonlinear photonic applications. Here, the possibility to control a nanostructured layer spontaneously formed near an interface of a thin silver film is shown, where the interplay between a grain boundary structure and surface segregation of germanium atoms leads to encapsulation of the grains and, as the result, formation of a composite metamaterial near the film surface. This Ag/Ge composite exhibits strong localized surface plasmon resonances at Ge‐encapsulated silver grains, leading to extraordinary second harmonic generation for both transverse magnetic and transverse electric polarized fundamental light with up to two orders of magnitude enhancement compared to thin Ag films without Ge atoms. Segregation phenomena open the possibility for fabrication of a new class of composite materials and gives additional degree of freedom in designing optical properties of nanostructured metamaterials.


Strategic sustainability is associated with significant business benefits as well as positive environmental impacts, yet many organizations fail to recognize the potential of this approach, and neglect the factors necessary for its successful implementation. This article recommends an art and science based approach to strategic sustainability and discusses the important role of Human Resource professionals in contributing to the success of this approach. A number of key areas of responsibility for the HR department in relation to strategic sustainability are discussed and the importance of a more proactive approach on the part of HR professionals is noted. Harold Schroeder Schroeder & Schroeder Inc. email@example.com


Global network connectivity has enabled accessibility to a wide range of geographically dispersed services. By encapsulating and representing such services as components, they can be effectively composed into sophisticated wide-area applications that otherwise would be much harder to build. This paper presents a component model for encapsulating such services and a composition model for assembling encapsulated and possibly active services into new applications, while preserving the administrative autonomy of sites and individual components. The component model is dynamically and self-adaptable, allowing for the adjustment of structure and behavior of autonomous components to changing or previously unknown contexts in which they need to operate. The composition model includes a set of protocols that enable us to dynamically deploy live components into remote sites and to dynamically reconfigure the deployment scheme through reflective stubs termed Ambassadors. The component and composition models have been fully implemented in Hadas, which also includes a host of tools for the creation, deployment, and composition of autonomous components.


Abstract Fair housing audits are an important tool for measuring the incidence of racial and ethnic discrimination in housing markets. Traditional measures of incidence calculate the proportion of cases in which the white auditor is favored (gross adverse treatment) or the difference between the proportion of white-favored and minority-favored audits (net adverse treatment). The gross measure may overstate discrimination because treatment differences sometimes arise from differences in circumstances across auditor visits. On the other hand, the net measure understates discrimination because audits in which the minority auditor is favored for systematic reasons are incorrectly subtracted. This paper presents a model of agent behavior that more fully accounts for the audit design and employs the estimated parameters to calculate bounds on the incidence of discrimination. This approach leads to a lower bound for the incidence of discrimination that is often substantially higher than the simple net measure and to an upper bound that is close to and sometimes above the simple gross measure.


Background: Exacum lawii (Gentianaceae), a bitter herb conventionally used in kidney diseases and eye problems, endemic to the Western coast and Southern part of India. Aim: Folklore reports encourage the author to explore the nephroprotective effect of the standardized ethanolic extract of E. lawii against cisplatin-induced renal toxicity in the rat to scientifically validate its traditional use. Materials and Methods: Ethanolic extract of the whole plant of E. lawii was standardized with swertiamarin (secoiridoid glycoside) using high-performance liquid chromatography and tested for subacute toxicity according to the OECD guidelines. Nephroprotective potential at different doses of extract was evaluated against cisplatin (6 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) in experimental rats. The changes in serum renal toxicity markers, renal tissue oxidative stress biomarkers, and proinflammatory cytokines level were measured. To estimate the change in oxidative status of renal tissues, DNA and single viable cells were isolated from treated rat kidney, DNA fragmentation assay and flow cytometric analysis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were performed. Histopathology of renal tissues was also examined. Results: Swertiamerin was found to be 119.59 mg/g of extract. Administration of E. lawii extract (ELE) restored the biochemical parameters. It also decreases the elevated proinflammatory cytokines level in kidney tissues and protected rat kidneys from oxidative stress in rats. Nephroprotective activity was validated by estimating ROS production in kidney live cells and DNA damage in kidney tissue. The histological architecture was also conserved. Conclusion: ELE showed significant renal protection against cisplatin through reducing oxidative stress and inflammation. Abbreviations used: ELE: Exacum lawii ethanolic extract; WHO: World Health Organization; SOD: Superoxide dismutase; CAT: Catalase; MDA: Malondialdehyde; HPTLC: High performance thin layer chromatography; p.o.: Per oral; i.p.: Intraperitoneal; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor alpha; IL-1β: Interleukin 1 beta; IL-6: Interleukin 6; ROS: Reactive oxygen species.


Due to the economic and environmental benefits of producing less waste, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduces source reduction as one of the most important means to deal with the problems caused by increased landfills and pollution. Waste reduction involves all waste management methods, including source reduction, recycling, and composting, which reduce waste flow to landfills or other disposal facilities. Source reduction of waste can be studied from two perspectives: avoiding waste production, or reducing per capita waste production, and waste deviation that indicates the reduction of waste transfer to landfills. The present paper has investigated home composting as a managerial solution for reduction of waste transfer to landfills. Home composting has many benefits. The use of household waste for the production of compost will result in a much smaller amount of waste being sent to landfills, which in turn will reduce the costs of waste collection, transportation and burial. Reducing the volume of waste for disposal and using them for the production of compost and plant fertilizer might help to recycle the material in a shorter time and to use them effectively in order to preserve the environment and reduce contamination. Producing compost in a home-based manner requires very small piece of land for preparation and recycling compared with other methods. The final product of home-made compost is valuable and helps to grow crops and garden plants. It is also used for modifying the soil structure and maintaining its moisture. The food that is transferred to landfills will spoil and produce leachate after a while. It will also release methane and greenhouse gases. But, composting these materials at home is the best way to manage degradable materials, use them efficiently and reduce environmental pollution. Studies have shown that the benefits of the sale of produced compost and the reduced costs of collecting, transporting, and burying waste can well be responsive to the costs of purchasing home compost machine and the cost of related trainings. Moreover, the process of producing home compost may be profitable within 4 to 5 years and as a result, it will have a major role in reducing waste management. Keywords—Compost, home compost, reducing waste, waste management.


Title of Document: RNA-SEQUENCING ANALYSIS: READ ALIGNMENT AND DISCOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION OF FUSION TRANSCRIPTS Daehwan Kim, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Directed By: Professor Steven L. Salzberg, Department of Computer Science RNA-sequencing technologies, which sequence the RNA molecules being transcribed in cells, allow us to explore the process of transcription in exquisite detail. One of the primary goals of RNA sequencing analysis is to reconstruct the full set of transcripts (isoforms) of genes that were present in the original cells. In addition to the transcript structures, experimenters need to estimate the expression levels for all transcripts. The first step in the analysis process is to map the RNA-seq reads against the reference genome, which provides the location from which the reads originated. In contrast to DNA sequence alignment, RNA-seq mapping algorithms have two additional challenges. First, any RNA-seq alignment program must be able to handle gapped alignment (or spliced alignment) with very large gaps due to introns, typically from 50-100,000 bases in mammalian genomes. Second, the presence of processed pseudogenes from which introns have been removed may cause many exon-spanning reads to map incorrectly. In order to cope with these problems effectively, I have developed new alignment algorithms and implemented them in TopHat2, a second version of TopHat (one of the first spliced aligners for RNA-seq reads). The new TopHat2 program can align reads of various lengths produced by the latest sequencing technologies, while allowing for variable-length insertions and deletions with respect to the reference genome. TopHat2 combines the ability to discover novel splice sites with direct mapping to known transcripts, producing more sensitive and accurate alignments, even for highly repetitive genomes or in the presence of processed pseudogenes. These new capabilities will contribute to improvements in the quality of downstream analysis. In addition to its splice junction mapping algorithm, I have developed novel algorithms to align reads across fusion break points, which result from the breakage and re-joining of two different chromosomes, or from rearrangements within a chromosome. Based on this new fusion alignment algorithm, I have developed TransFUSE, one of the first systems for reconstruction and quantification of fulllength fusion gene transcripts. TransFUSE can be run with or without known gene annotations, and it can discover novel fusion transcripts that are transcribed from known or unknown genes. RNA SEQUENCING ANALYSIS: READ ALIGNMENT AND DISCOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION OF FUSION TRANSCRIPTS


The paper examines the universal purpose and relevance of education in human capital development. It also highlights and discusses the thematic areas of quality assurance in relation to the trend, issues and challenges in the provision of secondary education. The systemic model that integrates the roles of both the principals and parents for meaningful partnership in strengthening institutional management and provision of resource inputs to facilitate effective teaching-learning process and outcome are well articulated. The study further examined the roles, mode of operations and implications of the partnership that exist between the school principals and the parents in quality assurance. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for data collection and analysis. A total of 150 participants comprised of 30 principals and 120 key members of the Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) completed the questionnaire titled "Principals and Parents Partnership in Quality Assurance Questionnaire" (PPPQAQ) in 30 public secondary schools using multi-stage sampling technique. Three research questions and one hypothesis were formulated. The simple percentage and mean scores were used to answer the research questions while Pearson correlation statistics was employed to test the hypotheses at p<0.05 level of significance. The result showed that the relationship between principals' and parents' roles was relatively low in quality assurance (r=-0.213, p<0.05). The partnership was effective in students' discipline (73.3%), supervision of PTA's projects (70%), and discussion of students' academic performance (73.3%). The parents were inadequately involved (below 35%) in the development of school policies and work plan, selection of students' text books, and monitoring and evaluation of educational programmes. The study concluded that sustainable quality assurance in secondary education is a function of close collaboration among education stakeholders, effective application of quality assurance model, strong political will of the government, and enabling policy by the Ministry of Education will ensure adequate participation by parents in quality assurance system. These guarantee stakeholders' confidence and certainty that desired standards in educational provision for quality learning outcomes are achieved, maintained and enhanced in secondary schools.


In the last few years, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have demonstrated increasing success at learning many computer vision tasks including dense estimation problems such as optical flow and stereo matching. However, the joint prediction of these tasks, called scene flow, has traditionally been tackled using slow classical methods based on primitive assumptions which fail to generalize. The work presented in this paper overcomes these drawbacks efficiently (in terms of speed and accuracy) by proposing PWOC-3D, a compact CNN architecture to predict scene flow from stereo image sequences in an end-to-end supervised setting. Further, large motion and occlusions are well-known problems in scene flow estimation. PWOC-3D employs specialized design decisions to explicitly model these challenges. In this regard, we propose a novel self-supervised strategy to predict occlusions from images (learned without any labeled occlusion data). Leveraging several such constructs, our network achieves competitive results on the KITTI benchmark and the challenging FlyingThings3D dataset. Especially on KITTI, PWOC-3D achieves the second place among end-to-end deep learning methods with 48 times fewer parameters than the top-performing method.


Ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) is a flexible material providing interconnected channels for the diffusion of electroactive species in electrochemical systems. This is a unique feature, which distinguishes OMC from other types of carbonaceous materials including mesoporous carbon (MC). The potential of OMC in electrochemical systems has been overshadowed by the vague terminology of this class of mesoporous materials. Despite the ordered structure of mesopores, the electrochemistry of OMC is not straightforward. This manuscript reviews the opportunities experimentally presented for employing OMC in various electrochemical power sources such as ultracapacitors, supercapacitors, battery systems, fuel cells, and electrochemical hydrogen storage systems. The aim is to highlight its potential and critical issues. For instance, the graphitization of OMC is of particular importance, as the ordered alignment of π electrons can be beneficial for charge transfer, while the mesopore edges can resemble the peculiar properties of graphene edges.


Evaluations of the lithostratigraphy, lithofacies, paleontology, ichnology, depositional environments, and cyclostratigraphy from 11 test coreholes were linked to geophysical interpretations, and to results of hydraulic slug tests of six test coreholes at the Snapper Creek Well Field (SCWF), to construct geologic and hydrogeologic frameworks for the study area in central Miami-Dade County, Florida. The resulting geologic and hydrogeologic frameworks are consistent with those recently described for the Biscayne aquifer in the nearby Lake Belt area in Miami-Dade County and link the Lake Belt area frameworks with those developed for the SCWF study area. The hydrogeologic framework is characterized by a triple-porosity pore system of (1) matrix porosity (mainly mesoporous interparticle porosity, moldic porosity, and mesoporous to megaporous separate vugs), which under dynamic conditions, produces limited flow; (2) megaporous, touching-vug porosity that commonly forms stratiform groundwater passageways; and (3) conduit porosity, including bedding-plane vugs, decimeter-scale diameter vertical solution pipes, and meter-scale cavernous vugs. The various pore types and associated permeabilities generally have a predictable vertical spatial distribution related to the cyclostratigraphy. The Biscayne aquifer within the study area can be described as two major flow units separated by a single middle semiconfining unit. The upper Biscayne aquifer flow unit is present mainly within the Miami Limestone at the top of the aquifer and has the greatest hydraulic conductivity values, with a mean of 8,200 feet per day. The middle semiconfining unit, mainly within the upper Fort Thompson Formation, comprises continuous to discontinuous zones with (1) matrix porosity; (2) leaky, low permeability layers that may have up to centimeter-scale vuggy porosity with higher vertical permeability than horizontal permeability; and (3) stratiform flow zones composed of fossil moldic porosity, burrow related vugs, or irregular vugs. Flow zones with a mean hydraulic conductivity of 2,600 feet per day are present within the middle semiconfining unit, but none of the flow zones are continuous across the study area. The lower Biscayne aquifer flow unit comprises a group of flow zones in the lower part of the aquifer. These flow zones are present in the lower part of the Fort Thompson Formation and in some cases within the limestone or sandstone or both in the uppermost part of the Pinecrest Sand Member of the Tamiami Formation. The mean hydraulic conductivity of major flow zones within the lower Biscayne aquifer flow unit is 5,900 feet per day, and the mean value for minor flow zones is 2,900 feet per day. A semiconfining unit is present beneath the Biscayne aquifer. The boundary between the two hydrologic units is at the top or near the top of the Pinecrest Sand Member of the Tamiami Formation. The lower semiconfining unit has a hydraulic conductivity of less than 350 feet per day. The most productive zones of groundwater flow within the two Biscayne aquifer flow units have a characteristic pore system dominated by stratiform megaporosity related to selective dissolution of an Ophiomorpha-dominated ichnofabric. In the upper flow unit, decimeter-scale vertical solution pipes that are common in some areas of the SCWF study area contribute to high vertical permeability compared to that in areas without the pipes. Cross-hole flowmeter data collected from the SCWF test coreholes show that the distribution of vuggy porosity, matrix porosity, and permeability within the Biscayne aquifer of the SCWF is highly heterogeneous and anisotropic. Groundwater withdrawals from production well fields in southeastern Florida may be inducing recharge of the Biscayne aquifer from canals near the well fields that are used for water-management functions, such as flood control and wellfield pumping. The SCWF was chosen as a location within Miami-Dade County to study the potential for such recharge to the Biscayne aquifer from the C–2 (Snapper Creek) canal that roughly divides the well field in half. Geologic, hydrogeologic, and hydraulic information on the aquifer collected during construction of monitoring wells within the SCWF could be used to evaluate the groundwater flow budget at the well-field scale.


In this research, the effect of different biopolymers such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinylalcohol (PVA) on synthesis and characterization of polymer/cobalt ferrite (CF) nano-composites bymechanical alloying method has been systematically investigated. The structural, morphological andmagnetic properties changes during mechanical milling were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD),Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), fieldemission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer techniques(VSM), respectively. The polymeric cobalt ferrite nano-composites were obtained by employing atwo-step procedure: the cobalt ferrite of 20 nm mean particle size was first synthesized by mechanicalalloying route and then was embedded in PEG or PVA biopolymer matrix by milling process. Theresults revealed that PEG melted due to the local temperature raise during milling. Despite thisphenomenon, cobalt ferrite nano-particles were entirely embedded in PEG matrix. It seems, PAV is anappropriate candidate for producing nano-composite samples due to its high melting point. InPVA/CF nano-composites, the mean crystallite size and milling induced strain decreased to 13 nm and0.48, respectively. Moreover, milling process resulted in well distribution of CF in PVA matrix eventhough the mean particle size of cobalt ferrite has not been significantly affecetd. FTIR resultconfirmed the attachment of PVA to the surface of nano-particles. Magnetic properties evaluationshowed that saturation magnetization and coercivity values decreased in nano-composite samplecomparing the pure cobalt ferrite.


Dr. D. H. Matthews: The depth, and even the existence of the blocks on the section that you have fitted to the gravity profile depends critically on the density contrast assumed. This is not great: —0.05 gm cm−3. It is presumably based on measurement of the density of handspecimens of the exposed rocks. Was the density of the exposed mica granite really identical to that of the volcanic rocks (ignimbrites) ? Dr Almond replied that multiple hand specimens of both mica granite and ignimbrite gave the same average density of 2.60 gm cm−3. If measurements made on ring-dyke microgranites and rhyolite lavas were included the density range was still only from 2.59 gm cm−3 to 2.61 gm cm−3. The basal lavas of the volcanic succession are of significantly higher density but appear to be of very small volume. All the volcanic rocks are thoroughly indurated. Many of the ignimbrites are strongly welded and all of them have undergone devitrification and some recrystallization, so it is not surprising that their densities are similar to those of the associated granitic intrusions.


This article applies the insights of social practice theory to the study of proenvironmental behaviour change through an ethnographic case study (nine months of participant observation and 38 semi-structured interviews) of a behaviour change initiative — Environment Champions — that occurred in a workplace. In contrast to conventional, individualistic and rationalist approaches to behaviour change, social practice theory de-centres individuals from analyses, and turns attention instead towards the social and collective organization of practices — broad cultural entities that shape individuals' perceptions, interpretations and actions within the world. By considering the planning and delivery of the Environment Champions initiative, the article suggests that practice theory provides a more holistic and grounded perspective on behaviour change processes as they occur in situ. In so doing, it offers up a wide range of mundane footholds for behavioural change, over and above individuals' attitudes or values. At the same time, it reveals the profound difficulties encountered in attempts to challenge and change practices, difficulties that extend far beyond the removal of contextual 'barriers' to change and instead implicate the organization of normal everyday life. The article concludes by considering the benefits and shortcomings of a practice-based approach emphasizing a need for it to develop a greater understanding of the role of social interactions and power relations in the grounded performance of practices.


QUESTIONS: Climate extremes are predicted to become more common in many ecosystems. Climate extremes can promote and interact with disturbances, but the combined effects of climate extremes and disturbances have not been quantified in many ecosystems. In this study, we ask whether the dual impact of a climate extreme and concomitant disturbance (wildfire) has a greater affect than a climate extreme alone. LOCATION: Tallgrass prairie in the Konza Prairie Biological Station, northeastern Kansas, USA. METHODS: We quantified the response of a tallgrass prairie plant community to a 2‐year climate extreme of low growing‐season precipitation and high temperatures. In the first year of the climate extreme, a subset of plots was burned by a growing‐season wildfire. This natural experiment allowed us to compare community responses to a climate extreme with and without wildfire. RESULTS: In plots exposed to the climate extreme but not wildfire, community structure, diversity, and composition showed minor to insignificant changes, such as a 20% reduction in grass cover and a slight increase in species diversity. Plots exposed to both the climate extreme and wildfire underwent larger changes, including an 80% reduction in grass cover, 50% increase in forb cover, and increased plant diversity. Two years after the climate extreme, structural shifts in burned plots showed little sign of recovery, indicating a potentially lasting shift in plant community structure. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that community responses to climate extremes need to account for climate‐related disturbances — in this case, high temperatures, drought and wildfire. This response diverged from our expectation that heat, drought, and an additional fire would favor grasses. Although growing‐season wildfires in tallgrass prairie have been rare in recent decades, they will likely become more common with climate change, potentially leading to changes in grassland structure.


A real-time large-capacity rapid-scanning optical correlator utilizing a rotating grating concept is described. We have shown that the proposed optical scanning correlator (OSC) is capable of processing large-capacity optical memories with rapid spectrum scanning. With the implementation of a closed-circuit TV system, the OSC system can be applied in real-world situations. We have also experimentally tested the overall correlation sensitivity of the OSC system due to spectrum scanning, object orientation, scale changes, and tilting of the rotating grating. Several experimental results obtained with this proposed OSC system are included.


Recently reported asynchronous-optical-sampling terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy enables high-resolution spectroscopy due to a long time-delay window. However, a long-lasting tail signal following the main pulse is often measured in a time-domain waveform, resulting in spectral fluctuation above a background noise level on a high-resolution THz amplitude spectrum. Here, we adopt the wavelet power spectrum estimation technique (WPSET) to effectively remove the spectral fluctuation without sacrificing spectral features. Effectiveness of the WPSET is verified by investigating a transmission spectrum of water vapor.


Abstract : This research project develops a business case analysis model to evaluate the costs and benefits of utilizing the Comprehensive Maritime Awareness (CMA) system within the DoD. The business case analysis model was developed to conduct a detailed evaluation of the economic costs and benefits associated with CMA. The initial hypothesis favored CMA as a superior alternative to the existing system, Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). Throughout the course of the research, this opinion was solidified and supported based on a series of factors. These factors are expressed and outlined in the observations, conclusions and recommendations.


The semi-automatic production of coastal area maps through computer processed digital images is described. Two sources of digital imagery were addressed: satellite and aircraft mounted multispectral scanning systems and scan digiting aerial photographs which produces a digital resampling of the original analog source. All digital imagery was exposed to an image classification algorithm for feature recognition. The resulting thermatic image was processed by an auto-vectorization algorithm which captured the coastline as a series of vectors. Photographic evidence clearly supports the computer generated map as being cartographically correct. The software produced in the study is not limited in scope to coastal mapping. Subsequent modifications to the system have enjoyed successes in fields as diverse as identifying wildlife habitats and estimating species population; crop yield by examining the number, size and vigor of fruit trees; and porous rock oil reserves by examining the pores on scan digitized photographs of thin slices of oil bearing rock.


Considering the high prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) in women and the known side effects of metronidazol and giving importance to herbal drug therapy in order to reduce side effects in the recent decades, this study with the effect of essential oils of Artemisia aucheri Boiss., Zataria multiflora Boiss. And Myrtus communis L. in TV infection was done invitro condition
This study has been carried out as double blind in test and control groups. The essential oils prepared by hydrodistilation. The parasite was isolated from vagina and determined directly. Samples were collected from vaginal discharge identification was done through direct smear parasite was added to the 5 test tubes containing dorsse medium, metronidazole dimethyl sulfoxaide (DMSO) and the essential oils with concentration of (o.1, 0.01, 0.001-0.004, 0.0002, 0.0001) in order to determine the effect of these concentration within 72 hour.
Finding in this study showed that, Trichomonas could be alived in dorsse medium for 72 hours. In presence of metronidazol for one hour and in dorsse medium for 6 hours. The results revealed that, essential oil of Artemisia at concentration of 0.1, 0.01, and 0.001 are effective at the beginning of the inoculation and at concentrations of 0.0004 and 0.0001 after 1 and 2 hours respectively. Essential oil of Zataria at concentration of 0.1, 0.01, 0.001 and 0.0004 are effective at the beginning of the inoculation and at concentrations of 0.0002 and 0.0001 after 2 and 4 hours respectively
Considering the significant effect of essential oils of Artemisia, zataria and myrtus on Trichomonas in in-vitro condition it is recommended that, the therapeutic effects the substance from this plant be studied in in-vitro condition and in case of having positive effect to be used as a drug


Facies Analysis and Depositional Environments of the Saints & Sinners Quarry in the Nugget Sandstone of Northeastern Utah Jesse Dean Scott Shumway Department of Geology, BYU Master of Science The Saints & Sinners Quarry preserves the only known vertebrate body fossils in the Nugget Sandstone and the most diverse fauna known from the Nugget-Navajo-Aztec erg system. The fauna includes eight genera and >18,000 bone and bone fragments assignable to >76 individuals, including theropods, sphenosuchians, sphenodontians, drepanosaurs, procolophonids, and a dimorphodontid pterosaur. Cycadeoid fronds are the only plant fossils. There are two depositional environments at the site – dune and interdune, each consisting of two or more faces. The dune facies are (1) Trough Cross-Stratified Sandstone (TCS) representing dry dunes, and (2) Massive and Bioturbated Dunes (MBD) representing bioturbated, damp dunes. The interdune facies are (1) Wavy Sandstone (WSS) representing wet and damp flats with biofilms and tridactyl tracks, (2) Green Clays and Silts (GCS) representing quiet lacustrine waters, (3) Planar Laminated Sandstone (PLS) representing lacustrine dust and sand storm deposits which grade laterally into (4) Massive Bone Bed (MBB) shoreline deposits. The vertical and lateral relationships of the dune and interdune facies suggests that an interdune flat developed (WSS facies) likely by deflation of dunes down to, or near to, the water table. As the water table rose, a shallow lake developed (GCS facies) and trapped wind-blown sediment during sand storms (PLS Facies). The taxonomically diverse vertebrate fauna suggest a mass dieoff occurred, likely due to drought. The carcasses and bones were buried by three distinct depositional events, each a bone bed (MBB facies) separated by very thin clays (GCS facies). Thereafter the water table dropped resulting in several cm-scale sandstone beds with tridactyl tracks (WSS facies). Then migrating dunes buried the interdune flat. These dunes hosted burrowing invertebrates for a moderate time resulting in the destruction of nearly all primary sedimentary structures (MBD facies). Ultimately, as the area dried further, more dunes migrated over these bioturbated surfaces and the area returned to dune field conditions (TCS facies). The Saints & Sinners site indicates that a previously unrecognized, remarkably diverse vertebrate fauna thrived in wet interdunes of western North America's Late Triassic erg system. A massive-die-off, likely due to a drought, provided a wealth of carcasses and their bones. The dynamic shoreline representing the interface of dunes and standing water provided favorable conditions for rapid burial of small carcasses and the disarticulated bones of larger individuals.


A principal scientific goal of the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is obtaining milliarcsecond astrometry to constrain exoplanet orbits. However, astrometry of directly imaged exoplanets is subject to biases, systematic errors, and speckle noise. Here, we describe an analytical procedure to forward model the signal of an exoplanet that accounts for both the observing strategy (angular and spectral differential imaging) and the data reduction method (Karhunen–Loève Image Projection algorithm). We use this forward model to measure the position of an exoplanet in a Bayesian framework employing Gaussian processes and Markov-chain Monte Carlo to account for correlated noise. In the case of GPI data on β Pic b, this technique, which we call Bayesian KLIP-FM Astrometry (BKA), outperforms previous techniques and yields 1σ errors at or below the one milliarcsecond level. We validate BKA by fitting a Keplerian orbit to 12 GPI observations along with previous astrometry from other instruments. The statistical properties of the residuals confirm that BKA is accurate and correctly estimates astrometric errors. Our constraints on the orbit of β Pic b firmly rule out the possibility of a transit of the planet at 10-σ significance. However, we confirm that the Hill sphere of β Pic b will transit, giving us a rare chance to probe the circumplanetary environment of a young, evolving exoplanet. We provide an ephemeris for photometric monitoring of the Hill sphere transit event, which will begin at the start of April in 2017 and finish at the end of January in 2018.


The study investigated variations in Arabic reading skills between normally achieving students and students at risk for reading disability in second and fourth grades. Using a cross-sectional design the study tested the effect of gender, grade level, and student condition on the variation of Arabic reading skills. Participants were 381 Arabic speaking children from second and fourth grades. Participants included both normally achieving students and students who were referred to the Learning Disabilities Unit in elementary schools in Oman. Dependent measures of the study included letter sound identification (LSI), word decoding (WD), phonological awareness (PA) through blending and segmentation, word recognition (WR), reading comprehension (RC), and listening comprehension (LC) in Arabic. Multivariate analysis indicated that gender, grade level and student condition had an effect on variation of reading skills. Additionally, the interaction effect of grade level and student condition as well as the combination of the three independent variables showed similar effects. Significant reading skills varied according to gender, grade level and student condition in addition to the interaction effects. WD, LSI and LC were significant as a result of the interaction effects. The results are discussed in relation to the characteristics of the Arabic language orthography.


BACKGROUND: E-cadherin (encoded by CDH1 gene) is a protein associated with invasiveness, metastasis, and poor prognosis of tumors and a critical protein in maintaining the structural integrity of epithelial sheets. The inhibition of E-cadherin expression has been reported in several types of cancers, including colorectal cancer, esophageal adenocarcinoma, gastric cancer, and pancreatic cancer. The aim of this study was to prepare an optimized recombinant lentivirus expressing short hairpin RNAs to stable downregulation of E-cadherin and evaluation of its transduction effects on cell morphology. METHODS: Human pGIPZ lentiviral shRNA vector was used to downregulation of the E-cadherin in the HT29 human colorectal cancer cell line. The expression level of mRNA was assessed using qRT-PCR. The changes in protein expression were confirmed by western blotting and ICC. Non-transduced HT29 and transduced HT29 with pGIPZ non-silencing lentiviral shRNA vector were used as controls. Furthermore, morphology of the transduced cells was monitored for 40 days using light and fluorescent microscopy. RESULTS: While the morphology of HT29 cells was epithelial-like, they changed gradually into fibroblast-like appearance after transduction. Our results showed that these molecular and morphological changes were stable in our monitoring time. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the suppression of CDH1 gene by shRNA method leads to depletion of E-cadherin protein expression and morphological changes in the human colorectal cancer cell line HT29.


In Bourdieu in Question: New Directions in French Sociology of Art, Jeffrey A. Halley and Daglind E. Sonolet offer an account of the very lively Francophone debates over Pierre Bourdieu's work in the domain of the arts and culture.


Although many organizational researchers make reference to Mead's theory of social identity, none have explored how Mead's ideas about the relationship between the 'I' and the 'me' might be extended to identity processes at the organizational level of analysis. In this article we define organizational analogs for Mead's 'I' and 'me' and explain how these two phases of organizational identity are related. In doing so, we bring together existing theory concerning the links between organizational identities and images, with new theory concerning how reflection embeds identity in organizational culture and how identity expresses cultural understandings through symbols. We offer a model of organizational identity dynamics built on four processes linking organizational identity to culture and image. Whereas the processes linking identity and image (mirroring and impressing) have been described in the literature before, the contribution of this article lies in articulation of the processes linking identity and culture (reflecting and expressing), and of the interaction of all four processes working dynamically together to create, maintain and change organizational identity. We discuss the implications of our model in terms of two dysfunctions of organizational identity dynamics: narcissism and loss of culture.


In Wood 2012, I argued that object extraposition of infinitive clauses in Icelandic reveals a problem for the movement theory of control (MTC). Object extraposition involves a pronoun that, when present, prevents any movement out of the extraposed clause, but allows the control dependency. Drummond and Hornstein (2014) claim that the facts discussed in Wood 2012 are compatible with the MTC. In this reply, I show that their response is based on a misunderstanding of how Icelandic object extraposition works and that the problem observed in Wood 2012 remains. I also present a novel argument against the MTC by showing that Drummond and Hornstein's account of 'promise' - type verbs cannot be extended to Icelandic.


Needle-related procedures are reported to be problematic for children. In a school-based celiac disease screening, 12-year-olds' experiences with relaxation and guided imagery (R-GI) during venipuncture were investigated. One group tried nurse-led R-GI (n = 60) and another group received standard care (SC; n = 49). A mixed method design was applied using short written narratives, facial affective scale (FAS), and visual analog scale (VAS) for pain intensity. Qualitative content analysis highlighted that diversity and contradictions when facing blood tests. FAS scores were significantly lower in the SC group before (p = 0.01), during (p = 0.01), and after (p = 0.01) venipuncture. VAS scores did not differ between the groups. The blood test was mostly experienced as unproblematic, and GI during venipuncture did not decrease pain or affect. However, the fact that a number of children scored high FAS indicates a need for effective methods to help children cope with needle-related school-based procedures.


The Buyin-Zara earthquake of 1 September 1962 originated on the Ipak fault and it was felt over most of Northern Iran. This newly named fault and its branches run for 64 miles, from Ipak, about W-05°-N, across the mountains south of Buyin, to Takhrijin, 4 miles west of Ab-i-Garm. During the earthquake of September 1, 1962 and its aftershocks, at least 64 miles of surface rupture occurred progressively along this line, and at leas two stages of progressive faulting were involved. Most probably, one from Rudak from where the fracture progressed east to Ipak, and a deeper fracture, with very weak surface evidence from Indrejin progressing east to Tofak.

The earthquake killed 12,225 and injured 2,776 persons. It damaged beyond repair 21,310 houses and killed 35% of the livestock in the area. The maximum intensity of the shock did not exceed IX MM. Small landslides and rock falls occurred on steep slopes and temporary springs were formed.


The study aimed to evaluate some agrobiological properties of ctb transgenic tomatoes under in vivo condition through physiological and biochemical characteristics relate to fruit yield and quality. Agrobiological parameters are determined by weighing, measuring and counting. Photosynthetic rate was determined via uptake carbon dioxide, the spectrophotometric method used to measure chlorophyll and total carotenoid content, vitamin C was determined using the iodine titration method, reducing sugar was determined by dinitrosalicylic acid, degree Brix was measured using an ATAGO N1 refractometer and total acidity in fruit juice was determined by neutralization method. Study results showed that final harvesting time for all tomatoes were 150 days including transgenic plants and control. Plant height (cm) ranged from 80.3 to 83.6, number of compound leaves from 17.6 to 22, and number of inflorescences from 7.3 to 9.3. The chlorophyll content (mg/g) and the photosynthetic rate (μM CO2/m/s) peaked at young fruit stage in both transgenic plants and control with values from 0.48 to 0.62 and from 9.08 to 16.77, respectively. The yield, yield components and fruit shape of transgenic plants and control were also similar. Number of fruits ranged from 14.6 to 23, fruit weight (g) ranged from 61.5 to 69.3, and individual yield (kg) varied from 0.99 to 1.53. The main biochemical characteristics of transgenic plants and control were not different, dry matter (%) accounts for 5.45-5.91, reducing sugar (%) of 1.87-2.22, vitamin C (mg/100 g) of 44.01-46.13, acidity (%) of 0.62-0.89, Brix (%) of 5.23-6.01 and carotene (mg/100 g) of 3.01-3.84. In conclusion, six ctb transgenic tomato individuals were able to grow normally under in vivo conditions similar to non-transgenic control plants. Agrobiological properties between transgenic plants and control were insignificantly different with p>0.05.


Comparative research on family policies has primarily focused on governmental activities for the family. Public expenditures and single governmental measures have been at the core of current discussion, with a specific focus on their impact on particular social situations of families as well as on particular family forms. Thus, most of the debate is state-centred, neglecting the role of collective actors in civil society, such as the Church, in providing family welfare. The aim of this paper is to study the division of labour between family, government and civil society on the one hand and its consequence for the division of labour within the family on the other hand in the field of child care. After presenting a short overview of the present state of comparative research, I will develop a theoretical framework for studying the social division of labour in the field of family welfare. Following this theoretical approach, I will describe the social division of labour in the field of child care. In order to develop an institutional map of child care in Europe, I will compare Austria and Germany as exemplary cases. There are huge variations in these patterns to be found all across Western European societies. Thus, in the part to follow, I try to explain these similarities and differences with reference to the origins and development of the division of labour in the field of child care. For this purpose, I choose an historical and interpretive approach following Stein Rokkan. Thus, I will study and compare the country-specific configurations of cleavages from their origins, the social actors organizing along these lines of conflicts, and their ideas for problem-solving in the field of child care


The Rational Basis test is one of the most common and yet perhaps the most insignificant United States Supreme Court test in the history of the constitution, yet year in year out clients and lawyers will submit another brief hoping against hope that this time there might be a meaningful outcome. There will not be.

This article attempts to explain why the rational basis test is so irrational in its outcome, why basic interests are disregarded in the name of judicial respect for the legislative process, and how easy it would be for there to be a better outcome. The article traces the rise of the rational basis test from U.S. v. Carolene Products in 1938 after the Court's rejection of Lochnerism, a reference to the high level of due process protection once given by the Court to certain substantive economic interest. As almost an accidental outcome of the rejection of Lochnerism and the Court's acceptance of the high-end purpose of allowing the legislature to address social ills, the Court adopted a permissive review of all laws not involving fundamental rights or suspect classifications, but laws going to crucial to day in and day out living, laws impacting health, housing, education, and the pursuit of a lawful occupation.

The rational basis test almost without comment replaced the reasonable basis test that had coexisted with Lochnerism but had nothing to do with its excesses. The reasonable basis test was not a high level of review, but it nonetheless placed meaningful limits on the legislative process, protecting even the mundane things of life. This article calls for a return to the reasonable basis test and the respect it would bring to things that matter in our ordinary lives, a respect that the rational basis test has consistently disregarded.


ESSAYS ON SEARCH AND MATCHING EQUILIBRIA Garth Baughman Kenneth Burdett This dissertation considers three separate applications of the theory of search and matching equilibria. The first chapter considers a partnership formation game, where agents on two sides of a market need to find a partner before a deadline, and search frictions make it difficult to find an acceptable partner. I characterize agents acceptance decisions – those with whom they would be willing to match – show existence, and provide a condition for uniqueness of equilibrium. This study provides a step towards a better understanding of matching behavior in non-stationary environments where agents have persistent type. The second chapter in this dissertation considers the import of adverse selection in a modern model of directed search in labor markets. Competition in this market drives firms to offer contracts that increase over time, limiting turnover. Adverse selection does not perturb contracts for less attractive types, but leads more attractive workers to accept initially low wages that grow faster than they would under full information. The final chapter of this dissertation explores the import of sequential search behavior in a model of equilibrium price setting by multi-product firms. On the one hand, the market produces results which affirm the common empirical focus on marginal distributions iii of individual goods' prices across firms. On the other, when some firms do not offer every good, search behavior leads to interesting pricing patterns which would not occur in single-product markets.


This review provides a summary of the research conducted on the use of crude glycerol, the major byproduct of the
biodiesel industry, as substrate for anaerobic co-digestion and production of biogas. In general, for every 100 kg biodiesel
produced, approximately 10 kg crude glycerol is generated. Because this glycerol is expensive to purify for use in food,
pharmaceutical, or cosmetic industries, biodiesel producers must seek alternative methods for its disposal. Several studies
have demonstrated that the use of crude glycerol as a C source for fermentation and biogas generation is a promising
alternative use for this waste material. The high C content of glycerol increases the C:N ratio in the mixture, avoiding
the inhibition of the process by the excess of N increasing methane production of digesters by 50 to 200%. Anaerobic codigestion
of glycerol and a variety of residual biomasses may be a good integrated solution for managing these wastes and
simultaneously producing a source of bioenergy in an environmentally friendly way. On the other hand, after anaerobic
treatment of glycerol, an organic matter-rich solid waste is generated (digestate). The incorporation of digestates from
glycerol co-digestion to soils constitutes an important source of organic matter and nutrients for plants. However, the
potential of digestates as an organic soil amendment has not been sufficiently studied. The utilization of glycerol as a
potential source of energy, rather than as a waste, seems to be a convenient way of lowering the costs of biodiesel production
and making this emerging industry more competitive.


This article introduces a unique investment paradigm that provides a blueprint for developing enhanced international indexes and fund-of-funds exchange-traded funds using the principles of multifactor investing. The paradigm has multiple elements, which are encapsulated in a framework. The paradigm goes beyond the common features of smart beta investing by introducing two new components to help build robust forms of multifactor portfolios. One of these components can help alleviate the difficulties faced in weighting factors when blending them to create a multifactor portfolio, which generates risk premiums in every stage of an equity life cycle. The other component—Fama–Macbeth regression methodology—assists in deriving a superior set of drivers of returns for the underlying constituents of any benchmark.


Ethics in medicine is not a new concern. But it has become much more pronounced in modern times. The issues involved may range from right diagnosis and right treatment to the fees charged to patients, and the administration of insurance and medical bills. This issue cuts across all genres of medicine, traditional as well as conventional. In this section we have video clips that inform us about how doctors following different medical systems talk about fees and ethics in their practice.


ABSTRACT A new approach to determine the precursor grains of detrital and diagenetic clay in sandstones requires a reiterative use of optical microscopy and electron beam microanalysis. Excluding muddy sandstone successions from analysis of the siliciclastic fill of a basin may lead to incomplete if not erroneous provenance interpretation because of biased samping of the sediments. To minimize problems inherent in muddy sandstones, we have combined a two-tier optical modal analysis with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) to identify precursors of clay. This is a new method of point counting and estimating the mineral compositions of muddy sandstones. Because we apply the principle of identifying the mineral under the cross hair, albeit on a micron scale, we call this the new or modified G zzi-Dickinson method. Calculations of mass-balance type using the results of this new method may be performed to reconstruct the original composition of the parental detrital material. We have used muddy siliciclastic rocks (outcrop and core samples of siltstones and sandstones) from the Oligocene, intra-arc Medicine Lodge Beds of southwestern Montana, USA for this study. Eocene volcanic rocks of the Challis region and thrusts that have transported pre-Cenozoic sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks in this region were the sources of the siliciclastic sediments. Results of modal analysis by the standard Gazzi-Dickinson method and by the new/modified Gazzi-Dickinson method, using both optical and EDXA on a micron scale, plot in different clusters in a QFL diagram. Our results show that the standard Gazzi-Dickinson method is not truly independent of grain size even in the context of provenance analysis. On the other hand, the modified version has the promise of achievi g truly mineralogical modal petrologic analysis of detrital rocks of any grain size.


This paper investigates the asymptotic properties of quasi-maximum likelihood estimators for transformed random effects models where both the response and (some of) the covariates are subject to transformations for inducing normality, flexible functional form, homoscedasticity, and simple model structure. We develop a quasi maximum likelihood-type procedure for model estimation and inference. We prove the consistency and asymptotic normality of the parameter estimates, and propose a simple bootstrap procedure that leads to a robust estimate of the variance-covariance matrix. Monte Carlo results reveal that these estimates perform well in finite samples, and that the gains by using bootstrap procedure for inference can be enormous.


Survey research finds that mothers suffer a substantial wage penalty, although the causal mechanism producing it remains elusive. The authors employed a laboratory experiment to evaluate the hypothesis that status‐based discrimination plays an important role and an audit study of actual employers to assess its real‐world implications. In both studies, participants evaluated application materials for a pair of same‐gender equally qualified job candidates who differed on parental status. The laboratory experiment found that mothers were penalized on a host of measures, including perceived competence and recommended starting salary. Men were not penalized for, and sometimes benefited from, being a parent. The audit study showed that actual employers discriminate against mothers, but not against fathers.


The principles of Traditional Mongolian Medicine (TMM) and a short history of this medical tradition as practised in the Republic of Mongolia are provided. TMM represents an Asian medical tradition which is greatly influenced by Tibetan Buddhism and which had flourished for centuries in regions inhabited by the Mongols. After the communist ideology had gained recognition in Outer Mongolia in the early 20th century, an introduction of Western medicine and a decline of TMM could be observed. The revival of TMM in the Republic of Mongolia in the second half of the last century led to increasing scientific investigations in this ancient medical system in the country. Joint studies with foreign academic institutions followed. The co-operations of Mongolian academic institutions with Austrian Universities regarding research in traditionally used medicinal plants are discussed and results of joint scientific projects are presented.


In this article, we analyze the syntactic and semantic properties of modal particles appearing in non-assertive speech acts in German and in Bellunese. We propose that modal particles in exclamations and special questions function as evidential markers interacting with the evaluative component to derive the diverse expressive meanings. In order to provide an adequate syntactic account of the distribution of these particles, we propose that they occupy head positions in Bellunese, but are specifiers of their respective functional projections in German, and that their semantic impact requires the syntactic representation of separate evaluational and evidential phrases pertaining to speaker and hearer as well as the syntactic representation of the speech act operator. The intrinsic relation between the evidence of a discourse participant and his evaluation is made visible by the interaction of modal particles in evidential projections and an autosegmental intonational morpheme in the evaluative projection in German and by a paradigm of minimal oppositions of particles occupying the evidential projections in Bellunese.


This paper presents a two-phase methodology to analyze the morphology of abnormal leukocytes images for the classification of acute leukemia subtypes using image processing and data mining techniques. In the first phase we propose a segmentation algorithm that uses color and texture information in order to extract leukocytes and their respective nucleus and cytoplasm from bone marrow images with heterogeneous staining. As usual, these images show a high-cell population, we suggest using conical shapes to separate overlapped blood elements. In the second phase we perform feature extraction to the regions segmented and use these attributes to classify the cells into leukemia subtypes. In our experiments we achieved an average accuracy of 95% in the evaluation of the segmentation process. An overall accuracy of 92% was reached in the supervised classification of acute leukemia types, 84% in lymphoblastic subtypes, and 92% in myeloblastic subtypes.


Deposition of particles in selective catalytic reduction DeNOx monolithic catalysts was studied by low-dust pilot-scale experiments. The experiments showed a total deposition efficiency of about 30%, and the deposition pattern was similar to that observed in full-scale low-dust applications. On extended exposure to the dust-laden flue gas, complete blocking of channels was observed, showing that also in low-dust applications soot blowing is necessary to keep the catalyst clean. A particle deposition model was developed in computational fluid dynamics, and simulations were carried out assuming either laminar or turbulent flow. Assuming laminar flow, the accumulated mass was underpredicted with a factor of about 17, whereas assuming turbulent flow overpredicted the experimental result with a factor of about 2. The simulations showed that turbulent diffusion in the monolith channels and inertial impaction and gravitational settling on the top of the monolith were the dominating mechanisms for particle deposition on the catalyst. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 1919–1933, 2013


Repeated aircraft hazards in Alaska related to volcanic clouds have resulted in the use of a mobile C-band radar devoted to volcanic-cloud monitoring. The radar is located at Kenai, in range of several volcanoes in the Cook Inlet area. Three significant eruptions from the Crater Peak vent of Mount Spurr volcano (about 80 km from Kenai) in 1992 provided the first tests of the radar. The system constructs maps of the eruption columns and the drifting ash clouds for short periods (as long as 30 minutes) after eruption. The radar gives direct information about active eruptions in any weather conditions and allows estimates of the altitude of the column, which are useful for three-dimensional trajectory models of ash-cloud transport. It also allows an estimate of the eruption rate based on the ash-column height. However, such estimates may be lower than the true values because the very top of the eruption column, which may not contain coarse ash, may not be detected by the radar. We conclude that the radar detects mainly ash particles, sized from about 1 millimeter to a few centimeters on the basis of three sources-the brief duration of the reflected radar signal, data from independent ground observations on the mass and size of particles which fell out of the reflected cloud, and the intensity of the reflected signal. The most intense reflections come from ash clouds with particles that range from 2 to 20 mm in diameter and with a total particle mass concentration of less than .O1 to 1 g/m3. The data are useful for constructing models of ash columns and deposition of coarse tephra. Radars are not .useful for long-term volcanic cloud tracking because the large ash particles, that provide for strong radar signals fall out soon after an eruption. The radar does not detect smaller (


Feature-based attention enhances visual processing and improves perception, even for visual features that we are not aware of. Does feature-based attention also modulate motor behavior in response to visual information that does or does not reach awareness? Here we compare the effect of feature-based attention on motion perception and smooth-pursuit eye movements in response to moving dichoptic plaids—stimuli composed of two orthogonally drifting gratings, presented separately to each eye—in human observers. Monocular adaptation to one grating before the presentation of both gratings renders the adapted grating perceptually weaker than the unadapted grating and decreases the level of awareness. Feature-based attention was directed to either the adapted or the unadapted grating's motion direction or to both (neutral condition). We show that observers were better at detecting a speed change in the attended than the unattended motion direction, indicating that they had successfully attended to one grating. Speed change detection was also better when the change occurred in the unadapted than the adapted grating, indicating that the adapted grating was perceptually weaker. In neutral conditions, perception and pursuit in response to plaid motion were dissociated: While perception followed one grating's motion direction almost exclusively (component motion), the eyes tracked the average of both gratings (pattern motion). In attention conditions, perception and pursuit were shifted toward the attended component. These results suggest that attention affects perception and pursuit similarly even though only the former reflects awareness. The eyes can track an attended feature even if observers do not perceive it.


The Sexually Transmitted Infection Foundation (STIF) programme was launched in 2002 and was designed around the National Sexual Health Strategy.1 Since then, it has continuously been developed with the contribution of an active multidisciplinary steering group. STIF courses have taken place in different areas of the UK, with more than 25 000 participants over the years, with consistently excellent feedback.

Between 2007 and 2009, the STIF competency training was developed following recognition that some GP practices were being commissioned to provide more complexed sexual health services. It has developed into a training package which uses the STIF course and e-learning for health as its theory basis and is now the only comprehensive competency and assessment training for STI available in the UK.2

Recently, the STIF theory and competency group have aligned its objectives and meetings under two co-chairs who work together to ensure that both remain updated …


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to from a gender perspective, explore elementary school teacher' experiences of their work situation, and identify conditions that could be health risks.

PARTICIPANTS
Eighteen female teachers who work in an elementary school in Northern Sweden.

METHOD
Thematic interviews were conducted using an interview guide. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the transcribed text and interpretations were made within gender theory.

RESULTS
Four categories emerged: "Squeezed between dream and reality", "Effort to keep up with demands", "We can make it together" and "The school needs men's qualities". The categories were linked together with the theme "A struggle for time to teach". The theme describes the conflict between the teachers' ambitions to teach and create a stimulating learning environment versus the increased need for behaviour control that took time from classroom work. Beside work at the school, the teachers carried a large burden of domestic work.

CONCLUSIONS
Teachers' work includes both endless demands and great joy. Their work is structured within the schools gender system in which caring duties are subordinated despite a growing demand for behaviour control. Traditional gender roles affect their domestic work load.


The exiled Russian sociologist and legal scholar Nicholas S. Timasheff's place in the forefront of the sociology of law was established with the publication, in 1939, of An Introduction to the Sociology of Law. His magnum opus articulates a systematic legal sociology. The book's title is misleading, giving the false impression that the volume is merely a textbook intended for classroom use. It is much more than this. An Introduction to the Sociology of Law is a sophisticated treatise that explains, precisely and methodically, the law as a social force. It makes two fundamental points: law can, indeed must, be studied by sociology, and law is a combination of socio-ethical and imperative coordination of human behavior.


Ten years after the passing of the Human Rights Act 1998, it is timely to evaluate the Act's effectiveness. The focus of Making Rights Real is on the extent to which the Act has delivered on the promise to 'bring rights home'. To that end the book considers how the judiciary, parliament and the executive have performed in the new roles that the Human Rights Act requires them to play and the courts' application of the Act in different legal spheres. This account cuts through the rhetoric and controversy surrounding the Act, generated by its champions and detractors alike, to reach a measured assessment. The true impact in public law, civil law, criminal law and on anti-terrorism legislation are each considered. Finally, the book discusses whether we are now nearer to a new constitutional settlement and to the promised new 'rights culture'.


In Angular Domain Imaging, image contrast and resolution are position dependent. The objective of this work was to characterize the contrast and resolution of an ADI system at a multitude of locations within the imaging plane, then compare the reconstructions of different targets using filtered back projection and iterative reconstruction algorithms. Contrast varied significantly with depth and minimally with lateral position, while resolution varied significantly with lateral position and minimally with depth. The iterative reconstruction algorithm was robust against ring and streak artifacts. The back projection reconstructions suffered from artifacts related to a lack of projection data.


The Brookfield Zoo's Seven Seas Complex, outside of Chicago, is a combination of the Caribbean and the Pacific Northwest. Completed in May 1987, the Seven Seas Complex consists of an enclosed 45,000 sq ft dolphinarium, an outdoor seascape for seals, sea lions and walruses and a life support building that produces sea water. The new complex replaced an old Seven Seas Panorama that was built in 1961 and had outlived the federal regulations governing marine mammal maintenance that were in effect when it was built. The structural deficiencies of the old facility made renovations impractical. To provide a corrosion-free home for the dolphins, a team of marine scientists from the Brookfield Zoo assisted architects and engineers from the Austin Co. of Des Plaines, Ill. with the design. Their main objective was to construct a light and airy space which would suit both the Atlantic Bottle-nosed dolphins living in the complex and the thousands of spectators who visit the exhibit daily. The team considered a number of designs and finally settled on a fabricated superstructure made of 246 tons of steel with welded portal frames of closed box sections. The structure blends into space, requiring no interior columns, and with fewer members exposed to the air, the potential for corrosion was reduced.


Federal Tax Procedure is the book for originally prepared for a course on Tax Procedure taught by Adjunct Professor Townsend at the University of Houston School of Law (through the Fall of 2015). The book and related materials contain text discussion, relevant Code Sections, and certain cases designed to encourage students to think about the Tax Procedure process. This is the book only. The related materials are on the Federal Tax Procedure Blog. The book is in electronic format (Adobe Acrobat PDF format) and is in two versions -- (1) a student edition (no footnotes); and (2) a practitioner edition (same as student edition but including the footnotes). This is the student edition. Both versions are available free on Mr. Townsend's Scholarly Papers page on SSRN. Mr. Townsend's practice is to update the PDF once a year in August to permit the book to be used in the academic year. Additional matters related to the book may be found on Mr. Townsend's Federal Tax Procedure Blog.


Sublime Myths: An Essay in Honor of the Shareholder Value Myth and the Tooth Fairy THE SHAREHOLDER VALUE MYTH: HOW PUTTING SHAREHOLDERS FIRST HARMS INVESTORS, CORPORATIONS, AND THE PUBLIC. By Lynn Stout. San Francisco, California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2012. 134 pages. $16.95.IntroductionIn The Shareholder Value Myth,1 law professor Lynn Stout pitches her tent firmly in the camp of the nascent and prematurely moribund Occupy Wall Street movement. And if contradictions abounded among Occupy Wall Street folks, they similarly flourish in this slim text. This book simultaneously argues that the idea of shareholder primacy is-in addition to being a myth-(a) "the dumbest idea in the world";2 (b) "an ideology, not a legal requirement or a practical necessity";3 and (c) bad law.4 My responses to these observations are: (a) shareholder primacy is not an idea at all; (b) shareholder primacy is an ideology, but like certain other ideologies, such as the ones about the Constitution being sacred or the one about God not being dead, it is quite useful in a wide variety of situations and contexts; and (c) shareholder primacy is not bad law because it is not law at all-at least not in the cartoonish version often presented-and nobody thinks that it is. There is of course a difference between ideology and law, and the fact that shareholder primacy is an ideology does not mean that it is irrelevant to law; and it does not even necessarily mean that there is anything wrong with it. Christianity, Judaism, capitalism, and vegetarianism are ideologies rather than laws. But a lot of people find them convincing and even inspirational all the same.Sadly, in my view, many people, and academics disproportionately, hate ideology of any sort and consider the very idea of ideology to be abhorrently anti-intellectual. As this book illustrates, among a certain sort of academic, to describe something as an ideology is to condemn it. Ideology is different from reason, but ideology has its place even in the life of educated, highly reflective people. Professor Stout, however, trivializes the notion of ideology and considers the very use of the appellation "ideological" to be derogatory.In this Review I challenge the basic assumption that the idea of shareholder primacy is bad simply because it is, at least in part, ideological in nature. Shareholder primacy, for all of its ideological baggage, is also efficient and sensible.I also defend the idea that shareholder primacy serves valuable salutary functions in corporate governance. I also make what, at least to me, is the rather obvious point that if the myth of shareholder primacy were to be eradicated completely from the intellectual landscape, some other ideology would of necessity emerge to fill the void. And on reading this book, I cannot avoid the conclusion that whatever new ideology might emerge will be far more pernicious and destructive than the extant, thoroughly benign myth of shareholder primacy.This Book Review is divided into three parts, each of which contains what I consider to be a serious challenge to the ideas propounded in The Shareholder Value Myth. First, the book is an attempt to dislodge shareholders once and for all from their mythical, privileged role as the primary, and to some degree exclusive, beneficiaries of the efforts of corporate directors and senior managers. Unfortunately, Professor Stout does not provide any clues as to where, if at all, shareholders would be moved in her preferred ranking. Surely, shareholders should have some place in the corporation. After all, shareholders' money is required to capitalize the corporation. If Professor Stout and her fellow travelers succeed in dislodging shareholders from their current, albeit mythical, position of primacy, where would these scholars place them within the panoply of corporate constituencies such as managers, creditors, employees, suppliers, customers, and local communities? …


Abstract Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) was asked to deliver an opinion on betaine as a novel food (NF) pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 258/97. The information provided on the composition, the specifications, the batch‐to‐batch variability, stability and production process of the NF is sufficient and does not raise concerns about the safety of the NF. The NF is proposed to be used in foods intended to meet additional requirements for intense muscular effort with a maximum intake of 2.5 g/day of betaine for sports people above 10 years of age. Based on the lowest BMDL05, which was derived from a chronic toxicity study in rats in which a dose‐related increase in platelet counts was observed, and the anticipated daily intake of the NF in the target population, the Margins of Exposure are 3.6 and 5, which are generally regarded as not sufficient. However, the total exposure to betaine from the diet (about 830 mg/day) is not known to be associated with adverse effects. Moreover, no adverse effects on platelet counts were noted in human intervention studies with exposure levels of 4 g/day of betaine for up to 6 months. A significant increase in total and low‐density lipoprotein (LDL)‐cholesterol concentrations was noted at intakes of 4 g/day of betaine in overweight subjects with metabolic syndrome but not in healthy subjects, nor at intakes of 3 g/day. Thus, considering 4 g/day of betaine as a reference point and applying an uncertainty factor of 10 to account for interindividual variability, an amount of 400 mg/day of betaine (i.e. 6 mg/kg body weight (bw) per day for adults) in addition to the background exposure is considered as safe. The Panel considers that the NF is safe to be used at maximum intake of 6 mg/kg bw per day in the target population.


The research aims to investigate the employment experiences of a South African adult with Down syndrome, and to explore whether this improves the quality of life for this adult across several areas of functioning. This qualitative research design is situated within an interpretive research paradigm. A Case study method was used. Data have been produced using multiple sources and techniques to enhance validity. These include interviews, observation, field notes and questionnaires. Full account has been taken of ethical considerations. The case study shows that this adult with Mosaic Down syndrome and intellectual disability, who is permanently employed in the open labour market, is seen as an asset by the company. Training and support have benefited him and extra supervision and attention needed are minimal. His skills, attitudes, and family support have also enhanced his quality of life. This adult's employment experiences have contributed to a culture of acceptance of and openness to intellectual disability in the formal industrial sector. This is an example of what can be accomplished regardless of intellectual disability. As this is a case study the generalisation of the findings are limited.


and Implications Hog production has historically been a significant, value-adding industry in Iowa. Sales of finishing hogs can result in gross income in the range of $2.5 billion annually. The economic activity would be greater as there are impacts on upstream and downstream sectors of the economy. Accounting for these impacts leads to a generation of more than $3 billion of annual gross product in Iowa. Throughout the past three decades, the swine breeding herd in Iowa has experienced a decreasing trend, with relatively sharp declines coming since the early 1990's. Producers have increasingly looked to other parts of North America for a supply of feeder pigs. This reflects a lost opportunity for the Iowa pork production industry. This study evaluates the viability and economic impact of expanding the number of sows farrowed in Iowa. We estimate the impacts to the aggregate state economy from a revival of pig farrowing. Our estimates of costs and returns to farrowing show the potential to generate much value added profit. These profits would benefit farm owners, managers, input suppliers, and processors, etc. These impacts will ripple throughout the economy including rural communities. A 5 million head increase in SEW pig production would require approximately 238,000 additional sows. The feed bill would be about $30 million while the labor bill would be about $35 million. The income earned by employees and to those that sold the feed etc. goes toward buying other goods and services, multiplying the overall economic impact. In aggregate the addition of 5 million feeder/SEW pigs would produce $270 million of economic activity. A large part of this would occur in rural communities.


We read with interest the recent reviews published in Gut , emphasising that even though the understanding of the pathobiology of liver fibrosis has been improved in the last three decades,1 novel and easy to implement diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are required.2 Indeed, fibrosis is the most important histological feature of patients with chronic liver disease (CLD), such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and is associated with long-term overall mortality, liver transplantation and liver-related events.3 Diagnostic and therapeutic approaches,2 therefore, require accurate measurements that ideally allow non-invasive fibrosis quantification, representing the whole liver free of bias and easily integrated in clinical routine.

A liver biopsy, still the reference standard, has substantial drawbacks (complications, intraobserver and interobserver variabilities).4 Transient elastography (TE), suggested for population-wide screens (eg, patients with diabetes),5 requires additional expensive devices and trained personnel. However, contrast-enhanced MRI is routinely performed and recommended in patients with CLD for exclusion of hepatocellular …


Exergy is applied to the Swedish energy supply system for the period 1970–2013. Exergy flow diagrams for the systems of electricity and district heating as well as for the total supply system of energy and material resources for 2012 are presented. The share of renewable use has increased in both electricity and district heat production. The resource use is discussed in four sectors: residential and service, transportation, industry and agriculture. The resource use is also analyzed with respect to exergy efficiency and renewable share. The total exergy input of energy and material resources amounts to about 2700 PJ of which about 530 PJ was used for final consumption in 2012. The results are also compared with similar studies. Even though the share of renewable resource use has increased from 42% in 1980 to 47% in 2012, poor efficiency is still occurring in transportation, space heating, and food production. A strong dependence on fossil and nuclear fuels also implies a serious lack of sustainability. A more exergy efficient technology and a higher renewable energy share are needed in order to become a more sustainable society.


Abstract– The potency of palm oil mills (PKS) biomass in Kabupaten Landak have been evaluated as alternative for electrical energy in that area. The results have shown that solid biomass (empty fruit bunchs and shells) produced by those of PKS in 2016 have significant potency for generating electrical power. By using steam turbine technology, the biomass potency equal to 2 units of 13 MW power plant. Keywords– Biomass, empty fruit bunch , shell, alternative energy, Landak