The work undertaken involves the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) as separate but complementary non-invasive functional brain imaging modalities. The aim in combining fMRI and MEG is centred around exploitation of the high temporal resolution available in MEG, and the high spatial resolution available in fMRI. However, whilst MEG represents a direct measure of neuronal activity, BOLD fMRI is an indirect measure and this makes the two modalities truly complementary. In both cases, the imaging signals measured are relatively poorly understood and so the fundamental question asked here is: How are the neuromagnetic effects detectable using MEG related to the metabolic effects reflected in the fMRI BOLD response?
Initially, a novel technique is introduced for the detection and spatial localisation of neuromagnetic effects in MEG. This technique, based on a beamforming approach to the MEG inverse problem, is shown to yield accurate results both in simulation and using experimental data. The technique introduced is applied to MEG data from a simple experiment involving stimulation of the visual cortex. A number of heterogeneous neuromagnetic effects are shown to be detectable, and furthermore, these effects are shown to be spatially and temporally correlated with the fMRI BOLD response. The limitations to comparing only two measures of brain activity are discussed, and the use of arterial spin labelling (ASL) to make quantitative measurements of physiological parameters supplementing these two initial metrics is introduced. Finally, a novel technique for accurate quantification of arterial cerebral blood volume using ASL is described and shown to produce accurate results. A concluding chapter then speculates on how these aCBV measurements might be combined with those from MEG in order to better understand the fMRI BOLD response.


For past millennia, midwives have served women in childbirth. In premodern times, midwives were usually the only birth attendants. With the Industrial Revolution and the arrival of modernism, male physicians either replaced midwives or superceded them in the modernist medical hierarchy, leaving them with plenty of women to attend but with relatively little autonomy. As the new millennium dawns on a growing worldwide biomedical hegemony over birth, midwives, the daughters of time and tradition, find themselves negotiating their identities, searching for appropriate roles, and seeking new rationales for their continued existence.


Business plan competitions (BPCs) promise to expand regional economies and catalyze new venture development. BPCs have evolved into a talent search and a launch pad for nascent entrepreneurs. "American Idol" style contests are hailed and criticized. An assessment of BPCs as both business and pedagogical processes adds to the literature on competitions. This analysis examines a sample of top-ranked programs in entrepreneurship, engineering and general business. Do competitions reward innovative business models? Are there variations in the selection of winners, products or services? The study examines how the "elite" nature of the contest sponsor affects winner selection.


We study how to extend a large knowledge base (Freebase) by reading relational information from a large Web text corpus. Previous studies on extracting relational knowledge from text show the potential of syntactic patterns for extraction, but they do not exploit background knowledge of other relations in the knowledge base. We describe a distributed, Web-scale implementation of a path-constrained random walk model that learns syntactic-semantic inference rules for binary relations from a graph representation of the parsed text and the knowledge base. Experiments show significant accuracy improvements in binary relation prediction over methods that consider only text, or only the existing knowledge base.


This paper presents a study of the order of grid convergence of the Hybrid convection discretization scheme that blends first-order upwind with the second-order central-difference scheme. Although this approach was proposed forty years ago, it is still available in many CFD commercial solvers. One could naively assume that the order of grid convergence of this scheme would change linearly with the blending parameter. Therefore, the aim of this study is to demonstrate that the relation between the order of grid convergence and the blending parameter is not linear. Three manufactured solutions that mimic statistically steady, two-dimensional, incompressible, turbulent, near-wall viscous flows were selected to enable the evaluation of discretization errors. To avoid any possible disturbances of the solution of turbulence quantities transport equations on the asymptotic order of grid convergence of mean flow quantities, we use a manufactured eddy-viscosity field in the RANS equations. Grid refinement studies were performed with the RANS solver ReFRESCO in geometrically similar stretched Cartesian grids, which ensure that the discretization schemes of all remaining terms of the RANS equations are second-order accurate. For flows dominated by convection, the Hybrid scheme remains first-order accurate up to values of the blending parameter very close to 1. On the other hand, the decrease of the error level with the blending parameter is close to linear.


When tapping into emerging markets such as those in Latin America, foreign investors, lawyers, and policy makers wrestle with finding effective and efficient strategies for reaching the goal of securing investments in the region. The traditional strategy for securing investment in the region has been to ensure viable means of conflict resolution so as to prevent contracts from being rendered vulnerable or even meaningless. Given the backlog, corruption, and inefficiency of the court system, International Financial Institutions (IFIs) have promoted alternative dispute resolution (ADR) as a second option for conflict resolution. However, ADR methods lack the coercive power of the judicial system to enforce outcomes, which forces parties into the courts when one of the parties refuses to abide by the agreement or awards. All of this adds to the cost of doing business in Latin America. As a result, the insufficiency of the traditional paradigms for dispute resolution has led to a greater imperative for finding new ways to secure business investment in Latin America. New and innovative strategies, however, will require a multi-layered approach. First, the negotiation of sustainable agreements that are "nearly self-enforcing" can reduce risk as well as the cost of transactions in the region. Second, investment in building capacity for the maximization of dispute resolution in the region can begin to address some of the systemic issues that create insecurity and instability. Finally, any and all strategies depend on a thorough, first-hand knowledge of the people, cultures, and places in which a business aims to operate. The research for this chapter was translated from Spanish and Portuguese, as was data gathered from local top experts in the sub-ADR fields. It includes a theoretical framework on how to secure investment through ADR in the region, as well as a country-specific examination of ADR in the three largest economies in the region: Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. The text for each jurisdiction consists of a framework that includes a country overview, the legal framework, development of arbitration and mediation, ADR Institutions and reaction to ADR. These are the building blocks for developing strategies for conflict management and the maximization of dispute resolution systems.


Recent international attention has focused on designations of rape and sexual violence in conflict zones. The most formative debates on this issue centre on the 1990s-era conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, which also involved heated debates amongst feminists over designations of rape as genocide. While the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda case, the Prosecutor v. Akayesu, resulted in the first formal charge of wartime rape as genocide within international criminal law, the first case to charge wartime rape as genocidal occurred in US federal court. This project looks for the overarching social and political meaning of the contemporary international legal focus on rape and sexual violence. It examines why, how, and to what extent US and transnational feminist legal academics and activists transmitted and secured their understandings of the relationships between sex, violence and ethno-religious difference within the international legal arena. In doing so, I argue that their participation in the contemporary recognition and narration of sexual injury in a global context both retreads and reconfigures the heated 1980s-era US Sex Wars debates on the workings of gender, sex, race and power.


This paper describes the development and output measurements on a new shade robust module, named the Tessera module. This module uses a novel electrical configuration, comprised of shade independent blocks protected by in-laminate diodes, with a mixture of series and parallel connections. By using ECN's existing back contact technology [1], no significant additional manufacturing costs occur. The design, method and manufacturing technology will be explained. The module leads to an increased annual output in case of shading and an increase in system safety due to lower heat dissipation: of 40°C instead of 130°C compared to standard diodes, and reduced failure of components. Annual yield has been calculated showing significant gains.


How do students and teachers communicate mathematics via the internet? Why do they use these methods? Is there any better way of communicating mathematics via the internet? In addition to the time needed to understand a concept, it is also a challenge for students to write formulae in e-learning environments, since most computers and software are not designed to write formulae. Furthermore, most physics, mathematics and engineering students do most of all their initial analysis and calculations using pen and paper and then have to translate it into a computer environment. Does this extra time investment play a role in the academic results achieved? This paper presents exploratory research into the different methods used by teachers and students to communicate mathematics via the internet and to use appropriate patterns according to the different subjects and knowledge areas. It explores the reasons that make students choose one method or another and analyses the extreme case: when students write mathematical formulae on paper and then scan this electronically. The analysis is carried out on engineering subjects at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in which mathematics plays an important role: 17,000 emails are analysed and five physics teachers are interviewed as part of a qualitative study about handwritten scanned exercises. This paper shows that the key to explaining students' behaviour is the time factor. In order to reduce the time required to write the required mathematical formulae, the paper proposes a speech-to-text tool, such as TalkMaths, to help students create and edit mathematical formulae, since speech is the fastest and most natural way of communicating.


Given the increased attention to spirituality in the counseling literature, with a primary emphasis on helping clients find their spiritual path, it is important for counselors to be aware of one potential pitfall of the spiritual path, namely spiritual bypass. Spiritual bypass occurs when clients seek to use their spiritual beliefs, practices, and experiences to avoid genuine contact with their psychological "unfinished business." The purpose of this article is to define spiritual bypass, discuss the necessity of healing at the cognitive, emotional, and physical levels, as well as at the spiritual level for holistic wellness, and provide examples of clients in spiritual bypass.


We examined adults with untreated Burkitt lymphoma (BL) from 2009-2018 across 30 US cancer centers. Factors associated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated in univariate and multivariate Cox models. Among 641 BL patients, baseline features included: median age 47 years; HIV+ 22%; ECOG performance status (PS) 2-4 in 23%; >1 extranodal site 43%; advanced-stage 78%; and central nervous system (CNS) involvement 19%. Treatment-related mortality (TRM) was 10% with most common causes being sepsis, gastrointestinal bleed/perforation, and respiratory failure. With 45-month median follow-up, 3-year PFS and OS rates were 64% and 70%, respectively, without differences by HIV status. Survival was better for patients who received rituximab vs. not (3-year PFS 67% vs. 38%; OS 72% vs. 44%; P<0.001) without difference based on setting of administration (inpatient/outpatient). Outcomes were also improved at an academic vs. community center (3-year PFS 67% vs. 46%, P=0.006; OS 72% vs. 53%, P=0.01). In multivariate models, ages ≥40 (PFS HR=1.70, P=0.001; OS HR=2.09, P<0.001), ECOG PS 2-4 (PFS HR=1.60, P<0.001; OS HR=1.74, P=0.003), LDH >3x (PFS HR=1.83, P<0.001; OS HR=1.63, P=0.009), and CNS involvement (PFS HR=1.52, P=0.017; OS HR=1.67, P=0.014) predicted inferior survival. Further, survival varied based on number of factors present (0, 1, 2-4 factors): 3-year PFS rates 91%, 73%, 50%, respectively; 3-year OS rates 95%, 77%, 56%, respectively. Collectively, outcomes for adult BL in this real-world analysis appeared more modest compared with results of clinical trials and smaller series. In addition, prognostic factors at diagnosis identified patients with divergent survival rates.


Introduction The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified Radio Frequency in the Group 2B, 'possibly carcinogenic to humans', based on an association found between exposure related to mobile phones use and risk of gliomas and acoustic neuromas, even if this classification was discussed for some inconsistencies. Considering the large increase in mobile phone users from the '80 s, an increase in incidence of these tumours should be expected. The aim of this work is to follow the incidence of gliomas in Italy. Methods The national incidence of central nervous system (CNS) cancers and that of gliomas from 2006 was obtained from the Italian Cancer Registries Result Considering CNS cancers, in the period 1996–2009 the yearly age-standardised incidence per 1 00 000 has decreased from 10.8 to 9.8 in males, and from 8.0 to 7.0 in females. The incidence of gliomas, available for years 2006–2009 only, shows a slight increase from 5.7 to 6.3 in males, while is substantially stable (around 4) in females. Discussion and conclusion Since the late '90 s, mobile phone use in Italy has largely increased: according to World Bank data, rose from 11.3 mobile phones per 100 Italians in 1996, to 107.7 in 2004 (exceeding the number of inhabitants), and 142.1 in 2015. If RF esposure related to mobile phones is associated with gliomas, considering a possible latency of 10–20 years an increase of the incidence of this tumours should be expected, at least from the second half of the 2000s Considering all CNS tumours, during the period 1996–2009 data show a decreasing trend in Italy. For glioma, currently available standardised incidence rates, covering only the period 2006–2009, suggest a slight increase, but limited to males. Data available at this moment do not adequately support any firm conclusion on the trends of these tumours in Italy.


The immunosuppressive drug rapamycin suppresses T-cell activation by impairing the T-cell response to lymphokines such as interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interleukin-4 (IL-4). In addition, rapamycin blocks the proliferative response of cell lines to a variety of hematopoietic growth factors, including interleukin-3 (IL-3), interleukin-6 (IL-6), granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and kit ligand (KL), suggesting that it should be a strong inhibitor of hematopoiesis. In this report, we studied the effects of rapamycin on different hematopoietic cell populations in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, rapamycin inhibited the proliferation of primary bone marrow cells induced by IL-3, GM-CSF, KL, or a complex mixture of factors present in cell-conditioned media. Rapamycin also inhibited the multiplication of colony-forming cells in suspension cultures containing IL-3 plus interleukin-1 (IL-1) or interleukin-11 (IL-11) plus KL. In vivo, treatment for 10 to 28 days with high doses of rapamycin (50 mg/kg/d, orally) had no effect on myelopoiesis in normal mice, as measured by bone marrow cellularity, proliferative capacity, and number of colony-forming progenitors. In contrast, the same treatment strongly suppressed the hematopoietic recovery normally seen 10 days after an injection of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; 150 mg/kg, intravenously [i.v.]). Thus, rapamycin may be detrimental in myelocompromised individuals. In addition, the results suggest that the rapamycin-sensitive cytokine-driven pathways are essential for hematopoietic recovery after myelodepression, but not for steady-state hematopoiesis.


The United States and Canada enjoy one of the largest trading partnerships in the world, with energy serving as a vital component of that relationship. Canada exports 1.96 million barrels of oil per day to the United States, according to the Energy Information Administration. While Canada also supplies a large amount of clean hydropower to northern US regions, oil exports to the United States are both more substantial and, recently, more controversial. A large portion of Canadian oil coming to the United States is extracted from the oil sands in Alberta at high cost to the environment. With climate change becoming a vital global issue, many US leaders have begun to criticize Canada for sanctioning the dirty oil extraction process. Although this criticism has not yet translated into a serious decline in the US-Canada relationship, Canada will have a improve its environmental standards for oil sands in order to maintain healthy dealings with its southern neighbor. With over 170 billion barrels of recoverable oil known, Alberta's oil sands contain the second largest proven reserves in the world, behind only Saudi Arabia. But this Canadian oil is trapped in a tar-like substance known as bitumen. Until recently, these resources remained relatively untapped, due to the fact that extracting crude oil from the sands is much more expensive than drilling for conventional crude oil. However, with the recent spike in oil prices, extraction from the sands has become profitable, and oil companies are seizing the opportunity. In July 2008 they extracted 1.3 billion barrels of heavy crude oil per day from the sands. Unfortunately, the environmental costs of this extraction are just as high as the profit being made. Because the oil in the sands is low grade crude, extracting and refining one barrel of its requires three times as much energy as producing a barrel of conventional oil, and releases three times as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. At the same time, side effects of increasing oil extraction, including vast deforestation, also contributes to ever-growing emissions. The area is now the most rapidly increasing sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. Furthermore, washing the bitumen to separate the oil and sand wastes over 12.7 billion cubic feet of water per year. This results in both a lock of local water resources and a large amount of water pollution. Reports have also surfaced of deformed fish in the toxic lakes surrounding the extraction area. These huge environmental impacts are drawing the attention not only of environmentalists but also of leaders in the United States. Both 2008 US presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, spoke out against the purchase of environmentally dirty energy from sources like Alberta's oil sands. Arnold Schwarzengger, governor of California, signed an agreement to limit oil imports from producers with large carbon foot prints. Furthermore, 1,000 US mayors banded together and agreed to refuse imports of oil refined from areas with unusually high greenhouse gas emissions, like Alberta's oil sands. …


The high amount of applications to be implemented in the Smart Grid requires bi-directional connectivity between a multitude of nodes with a reliable, high speed, low latency, energy efficient and cost effective communication technology. Power line communication (PLC) has the potentiality to meet the requirements. Indeed, there exists space for PLC technology improvements and to overcome the challenges mostly due to a hostile communication medium. There are two considered frequency spectra: a narrowband (3-500 kHz) spectrum and a broad band (1.8-86 MHz) spectrum that are exploited by current technology. In this paper, we discuss the usage of these spectra both in LV and MV networks, highlighting pros and cons and advocating the realization of an adaptive technology that can cognitively make the best usage of available resources so that the requirements of reliability, latency and coverage can be met.


Monitoring mammalian carnivores at den sites with human observers to document behavior, fecundity, litter size, and natal survival is commonplace when compared with monitoring den sites with cameras. However, no published studies exist comparing the effectiveness of human observers versus cameras in a quantitative manner. Obtaining complete and reliable counts of adult and pup kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis) can be crucial for estimating population parameters and life-history traits. In the summers of 2010 and 2011, we made weekly counts of adult and pup kit foxes at active den sites using 2 methods: 1) an observer equipped with spotting scope and/or binoculars and 2) a remote infrared motion-sensitive camera. We accumulated 71 and 29 counts at active den sites, respectively. The median number of adults observed at den sites with a camera and observer differed and were 2 adults versus 1 adult, respectively. Similarly, the median number of pups observed at den sites with a remote camera versus an observer differed and was 2 pups versus 1 pup, respectively. We observed these differences despite the similar effort required to manage cameras and conduct observations. We recommend future surveys aimed at ascertaining more reliable counts of kit foxes and similar species at den sites use a survey methodology employing remote cameras or video over a multi-day period. 2013 The Wildlife Society.


Background and Aims: The aim of the research work was to compare excipient effects and develop a stable pharmaceutical product in the form of lyophilized powder. Mannitol, lactose monohydrate, EDTA and glycine are widely used in pharmaceutical formulations and food products. Methods: The production method consists of mainly four parts: raw material weighing process, preparation of bulk solutions, lyophilization and analytical determination. A total of five formulations were prepared and lyophilized to the stability study. To improve the stability of hydroxocobalamin formulations (F1-F5), they were evaluated with different excipients (mannitol, lactose monohydrate, EDTA and glycine) during the stability period. Stability studies were performed to check impurity and assay of hydroxocobalamin. Results: The rate of impurity and assay results were compared to F1-F5 formulations. As a result of impurity and assay analysis for F3 and F4, the formulations were found to be within limit. Both of them were determined to the best formulations for impurity of hydroxocobalamin. Conclusion: The research proposes a new stable formulation and proper storage conditions for lyophilized hydroxocobalamin parenteral solutions. The impurity problem of lyophilized hydroxocobalamin formulation was optimized with lactose monohydrate and lactose monohydrate + EDTA combination.


"This definitive work on HR competencies provides ideas and tools that help HR professionals develop their career and make their organization effective". (Edward E. Lawler III, Professor, University of Southern California). "This book is a crucial blueprint of what it takes to succeed. A must have for every HR professional". (Lynda Gratton, Professor, London Business School). "One single concept changed the HR world forever: 'HR business partner'. Through consistent cycles of research and practical application, Dave and his team have produced and update the most comprehensive set of HR competencies ever". (Horacio Quiros, President, World Federation of People Management Associations). "Packed with facts, evidence, and prescriptive advice. It is about being a business leader first, and an HR professional second". (Randy MacDonald, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, IBM Corporation). "The concepts and competencies presented in this book provide HR leaders with new insights". (Gina Qiao, Senior Vice President, HR Lenovo). "Powerful, relevant and timely! Defines "new HR" in a pragmatic way. This book is a must for leaders and HR folks who seek to create sustainable competitive advantage". (Satish Pradhan, Chief, Group Human Resources, Tata Sons Limited). "You can't argue with the data! This book is a definitive and practical guide to learning the HR competencies for success". (John Lynch, Senior Vice President, HR, General Electric). "A must read for any HR executive. This research-based competency model is particularly compelling because it is informed by the perspective of non-HR executives and stakeholders". (Sue Meisinger, Distinguished speaker and author, former CEO of SHRM). "Read this book for a unique long-term perspective on where HR competencies have brought us and must take us in future". (John Boudreau, Professor, University of Southern California and Research Director, Center for Effective Organizations).


This research addresses the question "When is a bully not a bully?" through grounded theory using a purposive sample of volunteer participants who had been accused of workplace bullying. The aim of the study was to critically evaluate the lived experience and organisational implications of being accused of being a workplace bully, from the perspective of the (alleged) bully. The research did not set out to consider if an (alleged) bully had been guilty or innocent of the allegation put to them; it was considered that if this was deemed a criteria by the potential participant it may reduce engagement with the study.
This study will contribute to the body of knowledge around the phenomenon of bullying and offers an insight into both research and further development of good organisational practice. Whilst the research on other parties involved in the issue and management of workplace bullying have developed, Einarsen (2014), Jenkins, Zapf, Winefield and Sarris (2012), Notelaers (2014) and Samnani and Singh (2012) express concern that research which explores and examines the perpetrator's experience is scarce and needed as a priority in acknowledging the gap in current research and to develop a fuller understanding of the phenomena of workplace bullying.
In a qualitative study with eight participants from a particularly difficult to access group, the researcher offers an early contribution to the current gap in literature, research and understanding of the perspective of the alleged workplace bully. Participants engaged in individual, confidential, unstructured interviews with the researcher and spoke candidly about their perceptions and the impact the accusation had on them. This was then analysed, evaluated and developed through a classical grounded theory approach to develop the theoretical model guilty until proven innocent. In discussing the participants' concerns in this model, the research widened understanding and academic knowledge and narrowed the gap of information of the (alleged) bully's perspective. In dealing with allegations, (alleged) workplace bullies identify with concerns of feeling bullied back, emotional reactions, self-coping mechanisms and managerial responsibility and action, from which the grounded theory guilty until proven innocent emerged.
The main findings of the research emerged from the participant's interviews; key highlights included being isolated by their organisations and subject to negative acts which would, in themselves be considered bullying behaviours. Participants then described how they would separate themselves from the organisation, despite feeling a sense of disconnected loyalty towards it. The structure of HR functions and the anti-bullying related policy had a significant influence on the negative treatment participant's experienced, with a continual theme around the presumption the participant was guilty from the outset, by virtue of an allegation being raised. This perception was reinforced in the different way (alleged) bullies were supported and treated by their organisations from the claimants. The participants had been negatively affected by identifiable victim effect (Hamilton & Sherman, 1996), dispute-related claims (Einarsen, 1999; Keashly & Nowell, 2003) and the claimant being managed under a separate formal management procedure. The study also suggested that allegations of bullying could in themselves be a form of bullying and that there may be an element of discrimination in this on the grounds of protected characteristics.
The main recommendations consider the structure of HR functions and the need for a visible and accessible personnel element necessary to begin to balance the support available for all parties, including the alleged, the alleger, bystanders, witnesses, line managers, HR and investigation managers.
Further research, which tests the grounded theory of guilty until proven innocent with larger samples will extend and develop this study and test some of the resolutions and solutions offered.


Take three things: the home, nature, and the feminine ideal—a notional and perfected femininity. Constitute them as inexorably and universally connected. Enrol them in diverse strategies and tactics that create varied anatomo-politics of the body and biopolitics of the population. Enlist those three things as the "handmaidens" of the government of individuals and groups, places and spaces, and comings and goings. Focus some effort on the periodical press, and on producing and disseminating narratives, discourses, and practices that relate specifically to health and well-being. Deploy those texts and shape those contexts in ways that affect flesh and bone, psychology and social conduct, and the spatial organization and relational dynamics of dwellings and streets, settlements and regions, and states and empires. Stretch these activities over the Anglophone world—from the epicentres of the United Kingdom and the United States to Australia or Canada, New Zealand or India—and extend their reach over the whole of the long nineteenth century. Such are the subjects of this work, in which Elaine Stratford draws from governmentality, the geohumanities, and geocriticism to converse with an extensive archive that profoundly shaped our engagements with home, nature, and the feminine ideal, deeply influenced our collective capacity to flourish, and powerfully constituted diverse geographies of the interior and of empire that still affect us.


The distinctive particularity of the economy of the Republic at present is that the realisation of crisis-proof measures by the end of 1995 managed to stabilise the situation in the majority of sectors of industry, but as from 1996, the objective is to ensure a growing volume of production whilst reducing the consumption of energy resources. The guidelines for the law on energy saving and the governmental programme on energy saving are: legal and normative-methodical administration, economic and financial regulations; organisation of production and industrial output in the Republic's energy saving equipment and materials; realisation of state control for rational use of fuel energy resources; stimulation of research studies in the field of energy saving; normalising the consumption of power resources on the output of products, work and services; active foreign economic activity; upgrading the qualifications of specialists; and propaganda and popularisation of the economic, ecological and social advantages of energy saving.


In reservoir simulation, the elliptic character of the pressure subsystem and the inhomogeneous permeability field result in extremely slow convergence for conventional iterative solvers. Algebraic multigrid (AMG) methods address this challenge by constructing a multilevel hierarchy of matrices that naturally adapts to the permeability channels of the underlying geology. Preconditioning with AMG allows difficult cases with millions of unknowns to be solved in just a few iterations. In just a few years, graphical processing units (GPUs) have progressed from a research curiosity to a productivity workhorse by reducing time-to-solution and overall hardware cost. The highly irregular computation patterns of AMG, however, require new approaches to adapt to the many-core paradigm. The construction of the coarse matrix hierarchy and grid transfer operators poses a particular challenge for GPU acceleration. We show that by carefully selecting algorithms with sufficient fine-grained parallelism, and implementing them with novel approaches, it is possible to substantially accelerate both the setup and solve stages. We present GAMPACK, a library for accelerated AMG, and show that on a single GPU it can typically reduce the total setup and solve time by a factor of over 5, when compared to a widely-used AMG solver running on 8 Xeon cores.


Over the last half a century, the developments in television broadcasting have exerted an immeasurable influence over our social, culutral and economic practices. The Television History Book presents an overview, written by leading media scholars, which collectively traces the history of broadcasting in two major centres of television development and export - Great Britain and the United States.
With its integrated format, The Television History Book encourages readers to make connections between events and tendencies that both unite and differenciate these national broadcasting traditions. The numerous 'grey box' case studies illustrate the course of television innovation and are accompanied by lists of recommended further reading and an extensive bibliography.
From the origins of the public service and commercial systems of broadcasting to the current period of technological and economic convergence, this book provides an accessible overview of the history of television technology, institutions, policies, programmes and audiences.


Semi-supervised learning (SSL) has been widely explored in recent years, and it is an effective way of leveraging unlabeled data to reduce the reliance on labeled data. In this work, we adjust neural processes (NPs) to the semi-supervised image classification task, resulting in a new method named NP-Match. NP-Match is suited to this task for two reasons. Firstly, NP-Match implicitly compares data points when making predictions, and as a result, the prediction of each unlabeled data point is affected by the labeled data points that are similar to it, which improves the quality of pseudo-labels. Secondly, NP-Match is able to estimate uncertainty that can be used as a tool for selecting unlabeled samples with reliable pseudo-labels. Compared with uncertainty-based SSL methods implemented with Monte-Carlo (MC) dropout, NP-Match estimates uncertainty with much less computational overhead, which can save time at both the training and the testing phases. We conducted extensive experiments on five public datasets under three semi-supervised image classification settings, namely, the standard semi-supervised image classification, the imbalanced semi-supervised image classification, and the multi-label semi-supervised image classification, and NP-Match outperforms state-of-the-art (SOTA) approaches or achieves competitive results on them, which shows the effectiveness of NP-Match and its potential for SSL. The codes are at https://github.com/Jianf-Wang/NP-Match


Creating panoramic images has become a popular feature in modern smart phones, tablets, and digital cameras. A user can create a 360 degree field-of-view photograph from only several images. Quality of the resulting image is related to the number of source images, their brightness, and the used algorithm for their stitching and blending. One of the algorithms that provides excellent results in terms of background color uniformity and reduction of ghosting artifacts is the multi-band blending. The algorithm relies on decomposition of image into multiple frequency bands using dyadic filter bank. Hence, the results are also highly dependant on the used filter bank. In this paper we analyze performance of the FIR filters used for multi-band blending. We present a set of five filters that showed the best results in both literature and our experiments. The set includes Gaussian filter, biorthogonal wavelets, and custom-designed maximally flat and equiripple FIR filters. The presented results of filter comparison are based on several no-reference metrics for image quality. We conclude that 5/3 biorthogonal wavelet produces the best result in average, especially when its short length is considered. Furthermore, we propose a real-time FPGA implementation of the blending algorithm, using 2D non-separable systolic filtering scheme. Its pipeline architecture does not require hardware multipliers and it is able to achieve very high operating frequencies. The implemented system is able to process 91 fps for 1080p (1920×1080) image resolution.


In this work, I studied the hybrid system based on self-assembled guanosine crystal (SAGC) conjugated to wide-bandgap semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN). Guanosine is one of the four bases of DNA and has the lowest oxidation energy, which favors carrier transport. It also has large dipole moment. Guanosine molecules self-assemble to ribbon-like structure in confined space. GaN surface can have positive or negative polarity depending on whether the surface is Ga- or N-terminated. I studied SAGC in confined space between two electrodes. The current-voltage characteristics can be explained very well with the theory of metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structure. I-V curves also show strong rectification effect, which can be explained by the intrinsic polarization along the axis of ribbon-like structure of SAGC. GaN substrate property influences the properties of SAGC. So SAGC has semiconductor properties within the confined space up to 458nm. When the gap distance gets up to 484nm, the structure with guanosine shows resistance characteristics. The photocurrent measurements show that the bandgap of SAGC is about 3.3-3.4eV and affected by substrate properties. The MSM structure based on SAGC can be used as photodetector in UV region. Then I show that the periodic structure based on GaN and SAGC can have photonic bandgaps. The bandgap size and the band edges can be tuned by tuning lattice parameters. Light propagation and emission can be tuned by photonic crystals. So the hybrid photonic crystal can be potentially used to detect guanosine molecules. If guanosine molecules are used as functional linker to other biomolecules which usually absorb or emit light in blue to UV region, the hybrid photonic crystal can also be used to tune the coupling of light source to guanosine molecules, then to other biomolecules.


Solitons and nonlinear waves emit resonant radiation in the presence of perturbations. This effect is relevant for nonlinear fiber optics, supercontinuum generation, rogue waves, and complex nonlinear dynamics. However, resonant radiation is narrowband, and the challenge is finding novel ways to generate and tailor broadband spectra. We theoretically predict that nonlinear self-accelerated pulses emit a novel form of synchrotron radiation that is extremely broadband and controllable. We develop an analytic theory and confirm the results by numerical analysis. This new form of supercontinuum generation can be highly engineered by shaping the trajectory of the nonlinear self-accelerated pulses. Our results may find applications in novel highly efficient classical and quantum sources for spectroscopy, biophysics, security, and metrology.


Liver safety concerns were raised in randomized controlled trials of cannabidiol (CBD) in patients with Lennox‐Gastaut and Dravet syndromes, but the relevance of these concerns to healthy adults consuming CBD is unclear. The objective of this manuscript is to report on liver safety findings from healthy adults who received therapeutic daily doses of CBD for ~ 3.5 weeks and to investigate any correlation between transaminase elevations and baseline characteristics, pharmacogenetic, and pharmacokinetic data. Sixteen healthy adults were enrolled in a phase I, open‐label, fixed single‐sequence drug–drug interaction trial to investigate the effect of repeated dose administration of CBD (1,500 mg/day) on cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A2 activity. Seven (44%) participants experienced peak serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) values greater than the upper limit of normal (ULN). For five (31%) participants, the value exceeded 5 × ULN, therefore meeting the international consensus criteria for drug‐induced liver injury. There was no correlation between transaminase elevations and baseline characteristics, CYP2C19 genotype, or CBD plasma concentrations. All ALT elevations above the ULN began within 2–4 weeks of initial exposure to CBD. Among the six participants with ALT elevations who were discontinued from the protocol, some had symptoms consistent with hepatitis or hypersensitivity. We conclude that healthy adults consuming CBD may experience elevations in serum ALT consistent with drug‐induced liver injury. Given the demonstrated interindividual variation in susceptibility, clinicians should be alert to this potential effect from CBD, which is increasingly available in various nonprescription forms and doses to consumers.


In this paper we propose a computational model for implementing emotions in intelligent agents. Emotional behaviour is viewed as a complex mental behaviour directed towards a set of objects in response to changes in the agent's environment. This mental behaviour is responsible for generating different types of mental objects: plans, goals, attitudes, and sub-emotions, which persist in the mental states of the agent for varying lengths of time. We present our preliminary results we obtained by studying emotional agents in a simulated electronic market.


MacLachlan, Patricia. Word after Word after Word . New York: Katherine Tegan Books, 2010. Print. Ms. Mirabel, a famous writer, starts visiting a grade four class regularly and has a profound impact on a group of five friends by encouraging them to write, even if it means breaking the rules that their teacher believes are essential (such as creating an outline).  Ms. Mirabel's core message that writing "word after word after word" can change your life strikes a chord with the five friends and, as their daily discussions under a lilac tree suggest, there is a lot they would like to change.  Lucy's mom has cancer, Evie wants desperately to find a new woman for her recently-separated dad, a new baby is entering May's family, and Russell not only has to babysit his younger brother every day but also deal with the recent death of his dog.  In contrast, Henry discovers writing helps him not to change anything but to "save everything I have." The last scene, an open-house highlighting the children's writing brought a lump to my throat as the parents read their child's inner-most feelings and realize how their actions as adults and parents have unexpected and powerful effects on their children. I have to admit, Ms. Mirabel annoyed me. She dresses flamboyantly to grab attention; she is sensitive, creative, and wise in a way no ordinary teacher could ever be; and she even encourages Russell's annoying questions that make the real teacher sigh. Perhaps I am little sensitive about the stereotype of real teachers as boring, rule-bound, and uncreative. On another note, there is something about the kids that does not ring quite true; they come across more like how an adult might romanticize that time of life rather than what real grade four kids are like. To be fair, the real author (Patricia MacLachlan) notes she visits many classrooms and receives letters from young readers of her other books, so perhaps she has a different insight into the thoughts and emotions of that age group. In fact, as she tells us in the author's notes at the end, this book was written to address the many questions she gets about the hows and whys of being a writer in a more entertaining way. Overall, this is an inspiring book about the joys and power of writing. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: David Sulz David is a librarian at the University of Alberta working mostly with scholars in Economics, Religious Studies, and Social Work. His university studies included: Library Studies, History, Elementary Education, Japanese, and Economics. On the education front, he taught various grades and subjects for several years in schools as well as museums. His interest in Japan and things Japanese stands above his other diverse interests.


This paper estimates individual wage equations in order to test two rival non-nested theories of economic agglomeration, namely New Economic Geography (NEG), as represented by the NEG wage equation and urban economic (UE) theory , in which wages relate to employment density. The paper makes an original contribution by evidently being the first empirical paper to examine the issue of agglomeration processes associated with contemporary theory working with micro-level data, highlighting the role of gender and other individual-level characteristics. For male respondents, there is no significant evidence that wage levels are an outcome of the mechanisms suggested by NEG or UE theory, but this is not the case for female respondents. We speculate on the reasons for the gender difference.


Agrocybe pediades is a rather widespread species mentioned in many Russian regional check-lists. However, there is no agreement among diff erent authors concerning the volume of this species. Some of them recognize single polymorphic species A. pediades with several intraspecies groups. In this case Agrocybe arenicola, A. semiorbicularis and A. subpediades are accepted as synonyms of A. pediades. Under another above-listed species are considered as a group of close but separate taxa. In this research the representatives of A. pediades species complex collected in diff erent parts of Russia have been studied using both molecular and morphological techniques. Th e analysis of nrITS1-5.8-ITS2 regions has revealed one large well supported clade consisting of specimens labeled before this study as Agrocybe arenicola, A. pediades, A. semiorbicularis and A. subpediades. Th is clade was characterized by the absence of the reliable morphological diff erences between included collections. Th e obtained results correspond to the wide species concept of A. pediades. Several small subclades have been also revealed inside the main clade. Most of them were inconstant with low bootstrap support in NJ, MP and ML analyses. Th ey were shown to belong presumably to A. pediades var. pediades. One subclade recovered in all analyses with high bootstrap support was characterized by some distinct morphological features and was considered afterwards as a new variety of A. pediades – var. bispora. Th erefore, all known so far Russian collections belong to A. pediades var. pediades and A. pediades var. bispora.


This thesis was carried out within the framework of the international EUCOR-URGENT project and represents a joint study (co-tutelle) between the Universities of Basel and Besancon. It is devoted to the structural evolution and present-day tectonic activity of the region of Franche Comte in Eastern France, a region that is located at the intersection between the Jura fold-and-thrust belt representing the front of the Alpine orogen and the immediately adjacent northwestern foreland, characterized by the intra-continental Rhine-Bresse Transfer Zone (RBTZ). The formation of the RBTZ, that forms a central segment of the Paleogene European Cenozoic Rift System, involved the extensional reactivation of the Late Paleozoic Burgundy Trough System. Substantial extension occurred in Eo-Oligocene times and was achieved by ENE-WSW striking normal faults that are highly oblique to the dominant strike of the Rhine and Bresse grabens. Fission track data suggest that basement reactivation also contributed to the Eo-Oligocene exhumation of the Late Paleozoic La Serre Horst in the context of rifting. Basement reactivation in connection with the formation of the RBTZ resulted in complex fault patterns and local stress field perturbations, especially in the surroundings of the pre-existing Paleozoic horst structure. During Late Miocene to Early Pliocene times the northwestern most segment of the thin-skinned Jura fold-and-thrust belt, the Besancon Zone, encroached onto the RBTZ. Moreover, NW-SE directed foreland compression caused thick-skinned, transpressive reactivation of the RBTZ that started by Late Pliocene times at the earliest. Present-day seismicity in the RBTZ indicates that thick-skinned tectonics are still active and may reflect ongoing tectonic underplating in the northwestern Alpine foreland. Post-Pliocene relative rock uplift is recorded along the RBTZ by differential erosion of the Middle Pliocene Sundgau-Foret de Chaux Gravels on a regional scale. Uplifted remnants of this gravel plain, identified by heavy mineral analyses, permitted to determine a latest Pliocene to recent minimum regional rock uplift rate of 0.05 +/- 0.02 mm/yr. A reconstruction of the Plio-Pleistocene drainage basin evolution of the Ognon and Doubs Rivers revealed that this relative rock uplift is still ongoing and most likely partly driven by the inversion of the RBTZ. Pleistocene folding near Besancon is evident from differentially up warped paleo-meanders along the Citadelle Anticline. This deformation is apparently enhanced by the bedrock incision of the Doubs River and associated with higher local uplift rates of 0.17 +/- 0.03 mm/yr. The results of this study vividly illustrate the dynamic processes that control the progressive evolution of continental collisional forelands. It appears that while the evolution of the RBTZ was largely controlled by the reactivation of pre-existing structures, its present tectonic activity is to some extent also controlled by surface processes and involves positive feedbacks between large-scale uplift, enhanced erosion and active deformation.


This thesis sets out to look at the influence of Australia's National Competition Policy reform in reshaping human services. In trying to understand this influence, the research explores the main threads of National Competition Policy – including concepts of contestable markets, Competitive Neutrality and Competitive Tendering and Contracting. It also notes the dominance of neoclassical economics and public choice theories underpinning the framing of this reform.

More specifically, the work tracks down the way in which National Competition Policy is impacting on human service delivery through using particular contractual arrangements with non-government providers in a bid to foster value for money through competition and market choice arrangements. This part of the research rests on two case studies, an employment assistance service (Labour Market Programs) known as Job Network and a crisis accommodation service (Supported Accommodation Assistance Program - SAAP). Through them the thesis explores and locates the parameters and the terms under which federal and state funding is accessed and the new organisational arrangements which regulate the terms of client treatment and the scope of professional practice.

In theoretical terms, the thesis draws on mainly a governmentality literature to illuminate the emerging modes of neo-liberal governance, particular attention is given to patterns of self regulation and the conditions governing distant actors.


The Department of Library Studies at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya has for some time now been reviewing its curriculum, for the purposes of meeting the requirements and needs of a twenty-first century global, networked society and to meet the country's information needs. To achieve this, the University has been working on approximately 10 different programs from certificate to masters in both library and information science and archives administration/records management. This paper analyzes the process involved in this undertaking and critically examines the underlying assumptions embedded in the exercise. It discusses problems encountered, solutions devised, and the products derived from the curriculum review. The paper is a collaborative effort between a faculty member based in Kenya and one based in the United States.


Introduction Serum uric acid levels have been reported as predictors of cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological and renal morbidity in patients with SLE. However, their role in cumulative global damage in these patients has not yet been determined. Objective To determine whether serum uric acid levels are associated with new damage in patients with SLE. Methods This is a longitudinal study of patients with SLE from the Almenara Lupus Cohort, which began in 2012. At each visit, demographic and clinical characteristics were evaluated, such as activity (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index-2K or SLEDAI-2K) and cumulative damage (Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index or SDI). Treatment (glucocorticoids, immunosuppressive drugs and antimalarials) was also recorded. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression models were used to determine the impact of serum uric acid levels on the risk of new damage. Results We evaluated 237 patients, with a mean age (SD) at diagnosis of 35.9 (13.1) years; 220 patients (92.8%) were women, and the duration of the disease was 7.3 (6.6) years. The mean SLEDAI-2K and SDI scores were 5.1 (4.2) and 0.9 (1.3), respectively. Serum uric acid level was 4.5 (1.4) mg/dL. Follow-up time was 3.1 (1.3) years, and 112 (47.3%) patients accrued damage during follow-up. In univariable and multivariable analyses, serum uric acid levels were associated with new damage (HR=1.141 (95% CI 1.016 to 1.282), p=0.026; HR=1.189 (95% CI 1.025 to 1.378), p=0.022, respectively). Conclusion Higher serum uric acid levels are associated with global damage in patients with SLE.


[1] At Cranfield, Mississippi, United States, a large-scale carbon dioxide (CO2) injection through an injection well (∼3,080 m deep) was continuously monitored using U-tube samplers in two observation wells located 68 and 112 m east of the injector. The Lower Tuscaloosa Formation injection zone, which consists of amalgamated fluvial point-bar and channel-fill deposits, presents an interesting environment for studying fluid flow in heterogeneous formations. Continual fluid sampling was carried out during the first month of CO2 injection. Two subsequent tracer tests using sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and krypton were conducted at different injection rates to measure flow velocity change. The field observations showed significant heterogeneity of fluid flow and for the first time clearly demonstrated that fluid flow evolved with time and injection rate. It was found the wells were connected through numerous, separate flow pathways. CO2 flowed through an increasing fraction of the reservoir and sweep efficiency improved with time. The field study also first documented in situ component exchange between brine and gas phases during CO2 injection. It was found that CH4 degassed from brine and is enriched along the gas–water contact. Multiple injectate flow fronts with high CH4 concentration arrived at different times and led to gas composition fluctuations in the observation wells. The findings provide valuable insights into heterogeneous multiphase flow in rock formations and show that conventional geological models and static fluid flow simulations are unable to fully describe the heterogeneous and dynamic flow during fluid injection.


We describe work on representing and using a rich notion of context that goes beyond current networking applications focusing mostly on location. Our context model includes location and surroundings, the presence of people and devices, inferred activities and the roles people fill in them. A key element of our work is the use of collaborative information sharing where devices share and integrate knowledge about their context. This introduces a requirement that users can set appropriate levels of privacy to protect the personal information being collected and the inferences that can be drawn from it. We use Semantic Web technologies to model context and to specify high-level, declarative policies specifying information sharing constraints. The policies involve attributes of the subject (i.e., information recipient), target (i.e., the information) and their dynamic context (e.g., are the parties copresent). We discuss our ongoing work on context representation and inference and present a model for protecting and controlling the sharing of private data in context-aware mobile applications.


With this essay, the authors aim to contribute to the digital preservation thinking by highlighting some of the aspects of the digital environment that seem pertinent to digital heritage. It gives a high-level perspective of changes in the way digital content is produced, consumed and perceived. With the massive shift towards open data and open access, the changes in the logic of economics and the thriving of digital consumerism, it asserts that digital waste production and the corresponding carbon footprint are becoming a huge challenge in the digital age. In particular, the authors state that since digital waste and assets cannot be distinguished from each other, this poses a greater preservation challenge than technology obsolescence or other digital preservation issues. According to them, the traditional models for selecting and preserving content as heritage no longer apply. Being digital flips the selection model from production filtering to consumption filtering. The authors propose the trias hereditaria – a collaboration framework between the information industry, the public authorities and the cultural heritage institutions – to balance the forces at play in the digital environment and to stimulate digital behaviour in positive ways. Raising awareness, cleaning-up waste and personal archiving are examples of measures that can help promote digital heritage. This essay is meant to be thought-provoking and to advance the collective thinking looking for answers to the challenges of digital preservation. To that effect, it is written in a style inspired by Nicholas Negroponte's Being Digital and draws heavily from his work and terminology.


Although thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules have been in production for decades, the characterization of their performance, both outdoors and under artificial light, remains a topic of active research. This is because the field contains a diverse set of PV technologies, each of which has physical differences from conventional crystalline silicon PV. These differences range from different temperature coefficients to complex short-term or seasonal transients in performance. This report summarises the nature of these special behaviours and demonstrates best practices for handling them in the context of several case studies. The first portion of the report deals with the performance of thin-film PV modules in solar simulators. Achieving repeatable performance measurements is challenging, even under artificial light. Stable, spectrally matched reference modules are generally unavailable, which can lead to errors in the effective illumination level. Some technologies have high capacitance, leading to problematic dependence of results on the duration of illumination and of the I-V curve sweep. Modules must be stabilised to avoid the influence of metastabilities on the results. This is normally done by light exposure or "light soaking" and the report proposes an approach for improving upon simple light soaking by applying bias. The report then covers the issues surrounding the measurement and analysis of outdoor performance of thin-film PV modules. The widely varying spectral responses, temperature coefficients and metastable behaviours of different thin-film technologies lead to special challenges in outdoor performance analysis. This is illustrated by the presentation of a new method of collecting and analyzing performance data from many international partners. Specific issues of spectral performance analysis are then discussed, including measured-spectrum and modeled-spectrum methods. The target audience of the report is scientists and engineers who participate in the collection, analysis and prediction of indoor and outdoor performance data. This group includes planners, operators and manufacturers of PV power plants, participants in the standardization of methods for performance measurement and workers in academe or at national laboratories.


While various scholars have written on the subject of Aphrahat and the Jews, no one has introduced Demonstration 20, On the Care of the Poor, into the discussion. In this work Aphrahat exhorts his community to care for the poor, while he simultaneously attacks Judaism, which he construes as the spiritual equivalent of the rich man's greed. However, Aphrahat at times conflates the two sides of this analogy, thus rejecting the very possibility that Jews could engage in charity. I would like to set the argument of Demonstration 20 within the context of the Sassanian persecution of Christians, when those Christians who did not understand Christianity as a distinct faith from Judaism may have been flocking to the synagogue to receive charity and perhaps, to Aphrahat's chagrin, something more.


ABSTRACT This work evaluated the response of organic tomato seedlings to locally produced compost-amended growing media and commonly used N liquid fertilizers. Green (GC) and mixed (MC) composts were used in growing media formulation with 70, 45, 20, and 0% (control based on peat) on volume basis for organic tomato seedling growth. Three locally available N liquid fertilizers, hydrolyzed-protein-based fertilizer (HP), blood-meal-based fertilizer (BM), and algae-extract-based fertilizer (AE), were tested. Seedlings were evaluated 34 days after sowing for plant height; stem diameter; shoot weights; sturdiness index; specific leaf area; and N, P, and K contents in the seedlings shoot. The statistical analysis showed that the substrate type, fertilizer, and their interaction significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected, in most cases, the seedlings growth. The compost, especially with 20 or 45% amended substrate, produced longer seedlings with thicker diameter, greater fresh and dry weights, and greater leaves number compared to the control (compost-free) substrate. The use of the HP or the AE fertilizer generally contributed to better seedlings growth than did the BM-based fertilizer. The HP fertilizer clearly affected (p ≤ 0.01) the seedling diameter, fresh weight, and leave numbers while the AE fertilizer affected clearly seedling sturdiness index. The use of the GC or MC compost complemented with the HP or the AE fertilizer successfully reduced up to 45% of peat use in growing media and produced robust organic tomato seedlings.


—Energy storage (ES) is playing a vital role in providing multiple services in several electricity markets. However, the benefits and risks vary across markets and time, which justifies the importance to optimise ES capacity share in different markets. In this paper, a novel portfolio theory based approach is proposed for optimally managing ES in various markets to maximise benefits and reduce the risk for ES owners. Three markets are considered, which are: energy arbitrage, ancillary services, and Distributed Network Operator's (DNO's) market. They are modelled based on energy cost, frequency response cost, and system congestion cost. Portfolio theory is utilised to quantify ES capacity allocated to each market over time for various levels of risk aversions. The relation between risks and expected return of different markets are efficiently reflected by portfolio theory, providing implications to storage operation. The extensive demonstration illustrates that the markets that storage can participate in are fundamentally different regarding to its risk aversion. In addition, the optimum portfolio of the markets for storage is on the efficient frontier, providing the maximum return at a certain risk aversion level. This study is particularly useful for guiding market participation and operation of energy storage to gain maximum economic return at minimum risk.


An irreversible variable-temperature heat reservoir four-temperature-level absorption refrigeration cycle model is established in this paper. The considered losses include heat resistances between heat reservoirs and working fluid, internal irreversibilities due to internal dissipation of the working fluid, and the heat leakages between the heat reservoirs and the surroundings. The general relationships between the cooling load and the COP are derived. Besides, the optimal performance characteristics between the cooling load and the COP are obtained using numerical examples. The effects of heat resistances, internal irreversibilities, heat leakages, and the thermal capacitance rates of heat reservoirs on the cycle performance are analysed.


The role of infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in terms of survival among dialysis patients remains incompletely understood. In the present multicenter prospective cohort study, we investigated the prevalences of HBV and HCV infection among 3,321 patients receiving maintenance dialysis in Korea, and assessed the impacts of these infections on survival. All included patients underwent hepatitis B antigen (HBsAg) and HCV antibody (Ab) testing, which revealed that 236 patients (7.1%) were HBsAg-positive, and 123 patients (3.7%) were HCV Ab-positive. HBsAg-positive and HCV Ab-positive patients were matched to hepatitis virus-negative patients using a propensity score at a ratio of 1:2. The prevalences of HBV and HCV infection did not significantly differ according to dialysis modality. Linear-by-linear association analysis revealed that hepatitis B prevalence significantly increased with increasing dialysis vintage (p = 0.001), and hepatitis C prevalence tended to be higher with increasing dialysis vintage (p = 0.074). We compared the survival of HBsAg-positive and HCV Ab-positive patients to that of hepatitis virus-negative patients. After propensity score matching, cumulative survival did not differ between HBsAg-positive and HBsAg-negative patients (p = 0.37), while HCV Ab-positive patients showed significantly lower survival than HCV Ab-negative patients (p = 0.03). The main conclusions of the present study are that HBV infection prevalence increased with longer dialysis vintage, and that both HBV and HCV infections were most prevalent among patients with the longest dialysis vintage. Additionally, HCV infection among maintenance dialysis patients is associated with an increased risk of mortality.


Eukaryotic cell proliferation requires chromosome replication and precise segregation, followed by cell division, to ensure daughter cells have identical genomic copies. The kinetochore is a multi-protein structure assembled on chromosome centromeres, which mediates attachment to spindle microtubules and chromosome segregation during mitosis. Plasmodium spp., the causative agent of malaria, undergoes closed mitosis with an intact nuclear membrane and intranuclear mitotic spindle. However, the regulation of the main events of mitosis and meiosis, including chromosome segregation, is poorly understood in this parasite. In part this is due to a distinct lack of markers for tracking kinetochore dynamics. Since NDC80 is the conserved component of the kinetochore complex, we labelled NDC80 with either a C-terminal GFP or mCherry tag by recombination at the endogenous locus to generate transgenic lines of the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei. We show that NDC80 is located at a single cluster of all kinetochores and examine its spatio-temporal dynamics throughout all proliferative stages of the parasite life cycle. We also compare the location of NDC80 with that of the kinetochore using electron microscopy. These transgenic parasite lines are a very useful resource to identify and study the kinetochore complex and follow chromosome dynamics during malaria parasite development. Summary Statement The dynamic localization of NDC80, a kinetochore marker, is examined throughout the proliferative stages of malaria parasite life-cycle which provides a useful resource to study kinetochore complexes and chromosome dynamics.


Regret is a deeply contested emotion within abortion discourse. It is present in ways that we are both afraid of and afraid to talk about. Conventional pro-life and pro-choice narratives link regret to defective decision making. Both sides assert that the existence of regret reveals abortion's harmfulness or harmlessness, generating a narrow focus on the maternal-fetal relationship and women's "rights." These incomplete, deeply flawed constructions mire discourse in a clash between regret and relief and exclude myriad relevant relationships. Moreover, they distort popular understandings of abortion that in turn influence women, creating cognitive dissonance and perhaps distress for those with different lived experiences of abortion. Finally, these portrayals contribute to the silence and stigma surrounding abortion. This Article contends that regret is more suggestive of women's deep reflection on the abortion decision and respect for the fetal relationship than of flawed decision making—signifying autonomy, not victimization. It explains why we view regret as an outcome of deficient decision making, how this conception misrepresents regret and confuses it with remorse, and why it prompts liberals and conservatives alike to devalue women's autonomy. This Article charts a course for reconceptualizing and ultimately decentering regret by discussing several common missteps in current constructions: (1) conflating regret with psychopathology, (2) confusing regret with remorse, (3) confining regret to the maternal-fetal relationship and women's self-commitment, (4) linking regret to deficient decision making, and (5) coupling regret and moral culpability. Finally, this Article discusses how correcting these errors reprioritizes autonomy and profoundly impacts abortion regulation.


Is a sample rich enough to determine, at least locally, the parameters of a neural network? To answer this question, we introduce a new local parameterization of a given deep ReLU neural network by fixing the values of some of its weights. This allows us to define local lifting operators whose inverses are charts of a smooth manifold of a high dimensional space. The function implemented by the deep ReLU neural network composes the local lifting with a linear operator which depends on the sample. We derive from this convenient representation a geometrical necessary and sufficient condition of local identifiability. Looking at tangent spaces, the geometrical condition provides: 1/ a sharp and testable necessary condition of identifiability and 2/ a sharp and testable sufficient condition of local identifiability. The validity of the conditions can be tested numerically using backpropagation and matrix rank computations.


Protected module architectures, such as Intel SGX, enable strong trusted computing guarantees for hardware-enforced enclaves on top a potentially malicious operating system. However, such enclaved execution environments are known to be vulnerable to a powerful class of controlled-channel attacks. Recent research convincingly demonstrated that adversarial system software can extract sensitive data from enclaved applications by carefully revoking access rights on enclave pages, and recording the associated page faults. As a response, a number of state-of-the-art defense techniques has been proposed that suppress page faults during enclave execution.

This paper shows, however, that page table-based threats go beyond page faults. We demonstrate that an untrusted operating system can observe enclave page accesses without resorting to page faults, by exploiting other side-effects of the address translation process. We contribute two novel attack vectors that infer enclaved memory accesses from page table attributes, as well as from the caching behavior of unprotected page table memory. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our attacks by recovering EdDSA session keys with little to no noise from the popular Libgcrypt cryptographic software suite.


We discuss the properties of Hα emission stars across the sample of 22035 spectra from the Gaia-ESO Survey internal data release, observed with the GIRAFFE instrument and largely belonging to stars in young open clusters. Automated fits using two independent Gaussian profiles and a third component that accounts for the nebular emission allow us to discern distinct morphological types of Hα line profiles with the introduction of a simplified classification scheme. All in all, we find 3765 stars with intrinsic emission and sort their spectra into eight distinct morphological categories: single-component emission, emission blend, sharp emission peaks, double emission, P-Cygni, inverted P-Cygni, self-absorption, and emission in absorption. We have more than one observation for 1430 stars in our sample, thus allowing a quantitative discussion of the degree of variability of Hα emission profiles, which is expected for young, active objects. We present a catalogue of stars with properties of their Hα emission line profiles, morphological classification, analysis of variability with time and the supplementary information from the SIMBAD, VizieR, and ADS databases. The records in SIMBAD indicate the presence of Hα emission for roughly 25% of all stars in our catalogue, while at least 305 of them have already been more thoroughly investigated according to the references in ADS. The most frequently identified morphological categories in our sample of spectra are emission blend (23%), emission in absorption (22%), and self-absorption (16%). Objects with repeated observations demonstrate that our classification into discrete categories is generally stable through time, but categories P-Cygni and self-absorption seem less stable, which is the consequence of discrete classification rules, as well as of the fundamental change in profile shape. Such records of emission stars can be valuable for automatic pipelines in large surveys, where it may prove very useful for pinpointing outliers when calculating general stellar properties and elemental abundances. They can be used in studies of star formation processes, interacting binaries, and other fields of stellar physics.


Background: Noncommunicable diseases are increasing and constitute a serious concern, accounting for 52% of the deaths and 38% of the disease burden in the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region. Eighty percent of total deaths due to noncommunicable diseases occur in the low-income countries. Lifestyle changes are resulting in an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Surveillance of CVD risk factors is a key to reduce the burden of CVD. WHO–International Society of Hypertension (ISH) 10-year risk prediction charts have been developed for the screening of CVD risk factors in different regions. The National Programme for Prevention and Control of Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPDCS) has also recommended the utilization of these charts for routine screening. The present study has used the WHO-ISH CVD risk prediction chart to assess the feasibility of utilization of this chart as a predicting tool of a CVD event. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among supporting staff of JSS Hospital, Mysuru, Karnataka, India to assess the CVD risk factors and risk factor profiling, and the prediction of 10-year risk for CVD was done using a WHO-ISH risk prediction chart. Results: A total of 900 supporting staff were screened for CVD risks. Out of them, 30 (3.3%) had hypertension, 20 (2.2%) had diabetes mellitus, 18 (1.99%) consumed tobacco. The proportion of newly detected diabetes cases was 8 (0.9%) and of prediabetics was 32 (3.7%). The proportion of newly detected prehypertensives were 292 (39.08%), and 27 (3.61%) were hypertensives. Out of 175 individuals aged above 40 years, the WHO-ISH risk prediction chart predicted that 1.7% of them had >10% risk of CVD event within 10 years. Conclusion: Hidden, asymptomatic individual of diabetes, and hypertension were identified; the WHO-ISH 10 year risk prediction chart was easier for assessing the CVD risk factors and risk grouping, and could also be used to show them the extent of risk and predicting their 10-year risk of stroke or myocardial infarction (MI).


The dialogic nature of language use and the impossibility of an uninfluenced work of literature complicate the notion of poet-as-originator. Yet originality persists as a sought-after quality in literature for both writers and readers. The article focuses on the Northern Irish poet, writer, and translator Ciaran Carson, known for his fascination with language as a medium and his linguistic experimentalism. In 1998, Carson published two collections of poetry: The Alexandrine Plan, translations of sonnets by Mallarmé, Baudelaire and Rimbaud, and The Twelfth of Never, a sequence of his own sonnets – both in rhyming alexandrines, suggestive of simultaneous composition. In its borrowed form, The Twelfth of Never offers a kaleidoscopic montage of motifs and discourses from Irish history, literature, folklore, music, and myth, and flits to and fro between Ireland, France, and Japan, evoking a never-land in which "everything is metaphor and simile".
The article adopts a neuro-anthropological view of human culture as distributed cognition and of art as a way of knowing and self-reflectively putting the world together for both artist and audience. The analysis of Carson's poems seeks to explicate how recognisable characters, emblems, and rhetoric appear in and are altered by unfamiliar guises and settings; how cultural symbols and literary forms are interrupted in the act of representing; and how the dreamlike quality of the collection depends on the looping and metamorphosing of motifs, images and voices from one poem to another. I suggest that this does not generate a chaotic textual product but amounts to an engaging reflection on the nature of originality in the making and making sense of poetry.


Many people work on more than one task during a typical work hour, but despite its commonness, multitasking behavior has so far been ignored by researchers. This study is the first to explore predictors of the extent of multitasking behavior at work. Questionnaire data from 192 employees were analyzed. The findings showed that polychronicity (the preference to multitask) was the most important predictor, but impulsivity and work demands were also predictors. Surprisingly, neither cognitive interference (the proneness to engage in off-task cognitions) nor family demands predicted the extent of multitasking behavior. The implications of these findings for organizations are discussed.


As most existing sensors are powered by batteries, the coverage provided by a sensor network degrades over time and eventually disappears if energy is not restored. A common approach to energy restoration is to use a robot acting as a mobile battery charger/changer. The goal is to maintain the best level of coverage; that is, to constantly minimize the number of coverage holes and their duration. Depending on the strategy employed by the robot, clearly different results can be obtained. In this paper, we focus on sensors arranged in a ring topology and we consider the intuitive online ON-DEMAND strategy where: the robot visits the sensors in clockwise direction when aware of a pending request; a sensor whose battery is about to become depleted originates a recharging request and waits for the robot; the request is forwarded along the ring in counter-clockwise direction until it reaches either the robot or another sensor waiting for the robot. We also consider the simplest possible online strategy, BLIND, where no requests are sent and the robot automatically moves along the ring looking for needing sensors. We experimentally study the efficiency of the two strategies, and we make the counter-intuitive discovery that BLIND, which does not require communication nor computation, is as efficient as On Demand.


Archaeologists typically study death from the perspective of mortuary patterns, devising classifications of disposal facilities and their dead inhabitants along parameters such as technique and materials of tomb construction, position and orientation of the deceased, and paleobiology of the interred populations. From this information a society's organization and level of sociopolitical complexity is reconstructed. Less common among archaeologists is attention to the spatiality of death practice, the unifying focus of this volume. Archaeologists are concerned with issues such as the siting of mortuary facilities; the interplay of agency and expressive style in the funerary context as these relate to the physical space and taking place of mortuary custom; and the recognition, cultural reconstruction, and explanation of death landscapes. These perspectives provide a more holistic framework for achieving an ethnographically sensitive archaeology of death. The studies in this volume range widely in areal location, cultural and temporal focus, and theoretical approach. As a collection they suggest the importance of landscape and physical context in understanding mortuary rituals.


Thanks to the digital revolution, film artists now have a spectacular array of powerful, new, inexpensive tools for creative expression through digital film. The once powerful studios can no longer stifle an artist's creativity. With the power of the Internet, film artists are finding once unimaginable ways to distribute their creations worldwide. DV Filmmaking: From Start to Finish covers all aspects of the new digital video frontier, for amateurs and professionals alike--from the nuts and bolts of timecode and aspect ratio; to framing, lighting, and sound recording; as well as editing, special effects creation, and distribution. The book is written for filmmakers at varying experience levels--taking an integrated approach to media production, and emphasizing the ways different aspects of the process work together to create a vital work of digital art: Hands-on detailed examination of the artistic aspects of film and video production Extensive examples use comprehensive step-by-step exercises for advanced editing techniques Scenes from successful films illustrate techniques used by professionals Includes a collection of professionally shot video clips, so the user can read and follow along with sets of structured exercises Develops a highly refined repertoire of advanced skills in editing, effects creation, title design, and more Inspires advanced readers to work with the included clips on their own and experiment with new ideas Written for both Mac and PC users and covers advanced uses of both Final Cut Pro and Adobe After Effects Written in an engaging, accessible style, DV Filmmaking provides a solid foundation of tremendous value to a beginner, while addressing the fine points of filmmaking with a level of sophistication, detail, and insight that even the most worldly director or educator can appreciate. The author draws upon his years of experience teaching at the college and graduate level, his extensive professional background as a media producer, and his unmistakable love of cinema to create a text that's not only easy to learn from, but also fun to read.


The terms "interior designer" and "interior decorator" are often used interchangeably, as if they were identical professions. Although both may have the ability and talent to create beautiful rooms, the two are not synonymous. Interior decorators are primarily concerned with surface decoration, generally refers to someone who deals with finishes, surfaces, furniture, and wall coverings and no government regulation regarding the work of an interior decorator. On the other hand, an interior designer is one who is trained to create a functional and quality interior environment, qualified through education, experience and examination, so a professional designer can identify and creatively resolve issues and lead to a healthy, safe and comfortable physical environment. Referring to that definition, interior design is the art and science of understanding people's behavior in order to create functional spaces within the building structures, an in the other hand, an interior decoration is the art of decorating to beautify a space. Although an interior designer can also make aesthetic changes to an interior space, the interior designer is a professional licensed with a licensing authority who coordinates design projects with a holistic approach. This effort includes designing the interior architecture, in addition to beautifying the space. Keywords: interior design, interior decoration, comparative study.


Totally updated for 2011, here's the ultimate study guide for the CISSP examConsidered the most desired certification for IT security professionals, the Certified Information Systems Security Professional designation is also a career-booster. This comprehensive study guide covers every aspect of the 2011 exam and the latest revision of the CISSP body of knowledge. It offers advice on how to pass each section of the exam and features expanded coverage of biometrics, auditing and accountability, software security testing, and other key topics. Included is a CD with two full-length, 250-question sample exams to test your progress.CISSP certification identifies the ultimate IT security professional; this complete study guide is fully updated to cover all the objectives of the 2011 CISSP examProvides in-depth knowledge of access control, application development security, business continuity and disaster recovery planning, cryptography, Information Security governance and risk management, operations security, physical (environmental) security, security architecture and design, and telecommunications and network securityAlso covers legal and regulatory investigation and complianceIncludes two practice exams and challenging review questions on the CDProfessionals seeking the CISSP certification will boost their chances of success with CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional Study Guide, 5th Edition.


Internet resources form the basic fabric of the digital society. They provide the fundamental platform for digital services and assets, e.g., for critical infrastructures, financial services, government. Whoever controls that fabric effectively controls the digital society. In this work we demonstrate that the current practices of Internet resources management, of IP addresses, domains, certificates and virtual platforms are insecure. Over long periods of time adversaries can maintain control over Internet resources which they do not own and perform stealthy manipulations, leading to devastating attacks. We show that network adversaries can take over and manipulate at least 68% of the assigned IPv4 address space as well as 31% of the top Alexa domains. We demonstrate such attacks by hijacking the accounts associated with the digital resources. For hijacking the accounts we launch off-path DNS cache poisoning attacks, to redirect the password recovery link to the adversarial hosts. We then demonstrate that the adversaries can manipulate the resources associated with these accounts. We find all the tested providers vulnerable to our attacks. We recommend mitigations for blocking the attacks that we present in this work. Nevertheless, the countermeasures cannot solve the fundamental problem - the management of the Internet resources should be revised to ensure that applying transactions cannot be done so easily and stealthily as is currently possible.


The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of age on mucocutaneous activity by using moderation analysis in Behçet's syndrome (BS). In this cross‐sectional study, 887 BS patients (female : male, 481:406; mean age, 38.4 ± 10.9 years) followed in 13 tertiary centers in Turkey were included. Mucocutaneous activity was evaluated by using the Mucocutaneous Index (MI) according to sex and disease course. Moderation analysis was performed to test the effect of age on mucocutaneous activity. A moderator variable is a third variable and affects the relationship between independent and outcome variables. Age was chosen as a potential moderator variable (interaction effect), MI score as the outcome variable and sex as an independent variable in the analysis. The moderation analysis tested the effects of age in three steps: whole BS patient group, patients without systemic involvement and those with systemic involvement. The moderation model was only significant in BS patients with systemic involvement (P = 0.0351), and a significant relationship was observed between female sex and MI score (P = 0.0156). In addition, the interaction plot showed that female patients had increased MI scores compared with male patients, especially in the 28‐year‐old age group (P = 0.0067). Moreover, major organ involvement was newly diagnosed in the majority of these young female BS patients. Our results suggest that the relationship between sex and mucocutaneous activity was moderated by age in the systemic involvement group. Also, increased mucocutaneous activity may be associated with new major organ involvement in young female BS patients with systemic involvement.


This chapter provides a synthesis of three earlier published studies (Garmy et al. 2012a; Garmy et al. 2012b; Garmy et al. 2013) (survey I) as well as previously unpublished results from a survey conducted in 2013 among students aged 16 (survey II).
Objective: The aim was to investigate the effects of sleep, television use and texting and computer habits on overweight, enjoyment of school and feelings of tiredness at school in school-age children and adolescents.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Sweden on schoolchildren aged 6, 7, 10, 14 and 16. A questionnaire which had been satisfactorily tested for validity and reliability was distributed to the children (n=3011 in survey I; n=204 in survey II).
Results: Children who slept less than the median length of time reported enjoying school to a lesser degree. Fewer hours of sleep were found to be associated with having a bedroom television, using the television or computer more than 2 hours a day, being tired at school, and having difficulties in sleeping and waking up. Overweight and obesity were found in 15.8% of the study population; obesity alone was found in 3.1%. Relationships between lifestyle factors and overweight were studied using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Having a bedroom television and using the television more than 2 hours per day were found to be associated with overweight, but using the computer more than 2 hours a day was not. About 61% of the students aged 16 reported checking Facebook or social media at least once a day, and 27% reported doing so more than 10 times a day. One fourth of the students aged 16 had a habit of sending or receiving text messages at night at least once a week. Texting at night and frequent checking of Facebook and social media sites were related to sleep problems.
Conclusions: Educating schoolchildren and their parents regarding matters of optimal sleep and how media habits affect sleep, overweight and learning is considered an important task.


Abstract. On 30 August 2009, intense forest fires in interior British Columbia (BC) coupled with winds from the east and northeast resulted in transport of a broad forest fire plume across southwestern BC. The physico-chemical and optical characteristics of the plume as observed from Saturna Island (AERONET), CORALNet-UBC and the Whistler Mountain air chemistry facility were consistent with forest fire plumes that have been observed elsewhere in continental North America. However, the importance of three-dimensional transport in relation to the interpretation of mountaintop chemistry observations is highlighted on the basis of deployment of both a CL31 ceilometer and a single particle mass spectrometer (SPMS) in a mountainous setting. The SPMS is used to identify the biomass plume based on levoglucosan and potassium markers. Data from the SPMS are also used to show that the biomass plume was correlated with nitrate, but not correlated with sulphate or sodium. This study not only provides baseline measurements of biomass burning plume physico-chemical characteristics in western Canada, but also highlights the importance of lidar remote sensing methods in the interpretation of mountaintop chemistry measurements.


Hydrodynamic focusing is commonly employed to reduce the cross-sectional area of a microfluidic sample stream. Two-dimensional focusing is achieved by combining a central sample stream with a buffer sheathing flow on adjacent sides of a standard microfluidic cross chip. This method of on-chip hydrodynamic focusing is the most common, perhaps due to the relative ease and popularity of planar microfluidic chip fabrication methods. The application of two-dimensional focusing to on-chip flow cytometry is limited for two reasons: Firstly, the degree of focusing obtained is limited by the microchannel depth. Secondly, many biological analytes adhere to channel walls mitigating the optical measurements. Three-dimensional focusing can both increase the focus intensity, and minimize interaction between the analyte stream and the channel walls in the viewed region. In this work, a new method is presented for obtaining three-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing on a planar microfluidic geometry using strategically placed surface charge patches. Numerical simulations are employed to show the concentration profiles resulting from the local flow circulations induced by the surface patches in an electrokinetically-driven flow.Copyright © 2005 by ASME


Open innovation presents data that may be of value for future research and empirical studies in sustainable training environments. This paper aims to analyze the evidence published in the last three years (2015–2018) regarding open innovation, in order to identify the publications on the subject that may contribute to other studies or practical experiences. The systematic mapping method was used, reviewing 104 articles published from January 2015 to September 2018, which included studies on open innovation that were published in two databases—Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus. Inclusion, exclusion and quality criteria were applied in order to obtain the most relevant information. Findings show the type of methodology used, the most cited articles, the journals where they were published, the geographical distribution of the authors, the area of influence, contexts of application and the topics addressed. This paper provides value to assess progress, identify challenges and contexts of less influence, as well as to establish a database of scientific studies as support for future research.


Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are rare mesenchymal tumors that almost always arise from the GI tract and account for 0.1-3% of GI tumors. During pregnancy, GIST is highly unusual given the predilection of this tumor to appear in the fifth to seventh decade of life. The finding of GISTs outside the GI tract is also rare as the cell of origin of these tumors is believed to be the interstitial cell of Cajal, found only in the GI tract. Extra intestinal GISTs have been reported with a few cases arising from the uterus or metastatic to the ovary; however; an asymptomatic uterine GIST occurring at pregnancy as an incidental finding during cesarean section has not been reported so far. We present a 32-year-old lady who underwent an emergency caesarean section and was found to have a GIST of the uterus. The tumor was excised in toto and she started imatinib therapy postoperatively. At the end of three years of close follow-up, she has done well with no evidence of recurrence.


Although the essay focuses on Jay S. Bybee's (now infamous and withdrawn) Office of Legal Counsel memorandum regarding torture, the essay is not a substantive analysis of the torture-related legal issues. The essay instead poses the question: How could a competent lawyer prepare a memorandum so at odds with the overwhelming consensus? Adopting a measured sympathy with Bybee (rather than alleging bad faith or political pressure), the essay suggests the lawyer's reasoning was distorted as a result of his legitimate fears. Drawing on the work of the late Mennonite theologian-ethicist John Howard Yoder (Notre Dame), the essay suggests that Bybee's legal reasoning was distorted in the same way that fear tends to distort moral reasoning. The essay also suggests that one of the unintended consequences of the prevalence of realist-inspired legal theory in the law school classroom (with its focus on the indeterminacy of law) may be that law professors have legitimated a "hired gun" image of the profession. The essay concludes that the fear factor and the hired gun mentality make it quite likely that many other American lawyers in the same role as Bybee would have produced the same memorandum as he did (though they might not admit it now, of course). Thus, the problem is not a legal one nor is it Jay S. Bybee - it is the American lawyering culture that takes the law as an obstacle to be overcome rather than as a guide to the moral good.