In this first-ever showcase of his work, Gregory Heisler, one of professional photography's most respected practitioners, shares 50 iconic portraits of celebrities, athletes and world leaders, along with fascinating, thoughtful, often humourous stories about how the images were made. From his famously controversial portrait of President George H.W. Bush (which led to the revocation of Heisler's White House clearance) to his evocative post-9/11 Time magazine cover of Rudolph Giuliani, to stunning portraits of Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Hillary Clinton, Michael Phelps, Muhammad Ali and many more, Heisler reveals the creative and technical processes that led to each frame. For Heisler's fans and all lovers of photography, Gregory Heisler: 50 Portraits offers not only a gorgeous collection of portraits, but an engrossing look at the rarely seen art of a master photographer at work. It comes with a foreword by New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.


Not properly accounting for differences between business owners and nonbusiness owners in studies of household wealth can lead to erroneous conclusions about the significance of different saving motives. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from the 1980s and 1990s, we show that within samples of both business owners and nonbusiness owners, the amount of precautionary savings with respect to labor income risk is modest and accounts for less than 10 of total household wealth. Previous large estimates of the size of precautionary balances resulted from pooling these two groups together. Such pooling is inappropriate given that business owners face higher labor risk and accumulate more wealth than nonbusiness owners for reasons unrelated to precautionary motives.


Background: When levator function is poor or absent, frontalis sling is one of the preferred methods of treatment of ptosis. Various materials have been used for frontalis slings with varying results. Aim: To find an effective, easily available and, lasting frontalis sling material with minimal complications. Materials and Methods: Retrospective study in which DCR Silicone stents were used for brow suspension in cases of ptosis with poor Levator action (less than 5 mm) in the form of a single rhomboid like in FOX method with slight modification, done between 2012 to 2016. Results: Retrospectively all the records of these patients were retrieved and the surgical results studied and analyzed. Mean follow up period was 2.6 years. Good long term functional results (assessed in terms of eyelid height, skin crease depth, eyelid contour and patient satisfaction) were achieved in 33 eyelids [90%].Under correction was noticed in 3 eyelids [8%]. Re-surgery was done for these patients and all of them improved well. Lagophthalmos and mild corneal exposure were noticed in 6 eyelids which improved after the use of artificial tear eye drops and ointments. Conclusion: This method proved to be a simple, less expensive and effective method with minimal complications.


T-type Ca2+ channels were originally called low-voltage-activated (LVA) channels because they can be activated by small depolarizations of the plasma membrane. In many neurons Ca2+ influx through LVA channels triggers low-threshold spikes, which in turn triggers a burst of action potentials mediated by Na+ channels. Burst firing is thought to play an important role in the synchronized activity of the thalamus observed in absence epilepsy, but may also underlie a wider range of thalamocortical dysrhythmias. In addition to a pacemaker role, Ca2+ entry via T-type channels can directly regulate intracellular Ca2+ concentrations, which is an important second messenger for a variety of cellular processes. Molecular cloning revealed the existence of three T-type channel genes. The deduced amino acid sequence shows a similar four-repeat structure to that found in high-voltage-activated (HVA) Ca2+ channels, and Na+ channels, indicating that they are evolutionarily related. Hence, the alpha1-subunits of T-type channels are now designated Cav3. Although mRNAs for all three Cav3 subtypes are expressed in brain, they vary in terms of their peripheral expression, with Cav3.2 showing the widest expression. The electrophysiological activities of recombinant Cav3 channels are very similar to native T-type currents and can be differentiated from HVA channels by their activation at lower voltages, faster inactivation, slower deactivation, and smaller conductance of Ba2+. The Cav3 subtypes can be differentiated by their kinetics and sensitivity to block by Ni2+. The goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive description of T-type currents, their distribution, regulation, pharmacology, and cloning.


"With sensitivity and solid critical analysis, Intersex and Identity brings to the fore the long-ignored voices of people with intersex conditions. This is an important and accessible book for all, including 'patients,' parents, clinicians, activists, scholars, and novice students."-Cheryl Chase, Founder of the Intersex Society of North America "In Intersex and Identity Preves has produced the most up-to-date, comprehensive account available of what it is like to grow up and live with a body that isn't simply male or female. This work is compassionate, intelligent, and beautifully written, and promises to be well read and highly valued."-Alice Dreger, author of Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex "Sharon Preves's analysis of her interviews with adult intersexuals illuminates the power of the coming out process in transforming stigma into pride. This book is an invaluable resource in the ongoing discourse on the clinical management of intersexuality." -Walter Bockting, assistant professor, Program in Human Sexuality, University of Minnesota Medical School Approximately one in every two thousand infants born in the United States each year is sexually ambiguous in such a way that doctors cannot immediately determine the child's sex. Some children's chromosomal sexuality contradicts their sexual characteristics. Others have the physical traits of both sexes, or of neither. Drawing upon life history interviews with adults who were treated for intersexuality as children, Sharon E. Preves explores how such individuals experience and cope with being labeled sexual deviants in a society that demands sexual conformity. By demonstrating how intersexed people manage and create their own identities, often in conflict with their medical diagnosis, Preves argues that medical intervention into intersexuality often creates, rather than mitigates, the stigma these people suffer. Sharon E. Preves is an associate professor of sociology at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.


Background : Premature death is the main cause of the burden of TB, as measured in terms of DALYs lost. Besides the disease burden, TB also causes an enormous socio-economic burden to India. TB primarily affects people in their most productive years of life with important socio-economic consequences for the household and the disease is even more common among the poorest and marginalized sections of the community. Almost 70% of TB patients are aged between the ages 15 and 54 years of age. The prime cause for MDR-TB, and EXDR TB is failure to adherence to the treatment of DOTS. Poor adherence is due to insufficient knowledge, poor attitude, inadequate practices towards to tuberculosis and that leads to Treatment failure and default. So this study was planned to know about knowledge and attitude and practices in the study population. Material and Method: A cross sectional study was carried out in Kancheepuram, a district belonging to the field practice area of RHTC-Chunampet, Department of Community Medicine. Systemic random sampling was used for selection of study population. 2005 adults were interviewed by using a pretested validated questionnaire. Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS 16.0. Result: Total of 2005 respondents were interviewed out of which 1196(59.7%) were females and remaining 809 (40.35) were males. Maximum (35.3%) respondents belonged to the age group of 15-30 years followed by 31-35 years age group(28.7%). Only 4.9% (98) respondents knew that Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent and 13.4% (268) of the respondents knew smoking as a risk factor, 5% (100) knew that malnutrition and overcrowding as risk factor for Tuberculosis. More than half of the respondents 1092(54.5%) were aware that cough was the main symptom of tuberculosis and also they knew that fever(11.8%), loss of appetite(5%) and loss of weight(23%) as symptoms of Tuberculosis. About one fourth of the respondents knew that sputum examination is investigation of choice to diagnose TB. Majority (80%) of respondents agreed that BCG vaccination would protect against Tuberculosis. Two third of the study population knew that sputum examination is essential if cough persisted for more than two weeks. About 66% of the respondents felt that 6 months anti tuberculosis treatment was essential. Conclusion: Inadequate knowledge about tuberculosis among study respondent Hence proper IEC &BCC was planned to increase knowledge of the community.


Objective: To examine whether engagement in physical activity might favorably alter the age-dependent evolution of Alzheimer disease (AD)-related brain and cognitive changes in a cohort of at-risk, late-middle-aged adults. Methods: Three hundred seventeen enrollees in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention underwent T1 MRI; a subset also underwent 11C-Pittsburgh compound B–PET (n = 186) and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose–PET (n = 152) imaging. Participants' responses on a self-report measure of current physical activity were used to classify them as either physically active or physically inactive based on American Heart Association guidelines. They also completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Covariate-adjusted regression analyses were used to test whether the adverse effect of age on imaging and cognitive biomarkers was modified by physical activity. Results: There were significant age × physical activity interactions for β-amyloid burden (p = 0.014), glucose metabolism (p = 0.015), and hippocampal volume (p = 0.025) such that, with advancing age, physically active individuals exhibited a lesser degree of biomarker alterations compared with the physically inactive. Similar age × physical activity interactions were also observed on cognitive domains of Immediate Memory (p = 0.042) and Visuospatial Ability (p = 0.016). In addition, the physically active group had higher scores on Speed and Flexibility (p = 0.002) compared with the inactive group. Conclusions: In a middle-aged, at-risk cohort, a physically active lifestyle is associated with an attenuation of the deleterious influence of age on key biomarkers of AD pathophysiology. However, because our observational, cross-sectional design cannot establish causality, randomized controlled trials/longitudinal studies will be necessary for determining whether midlife participation in structured physical exercise forestalls the development of AD and related disorders in later life.


Studies on representative bureaucracy have often confirmed the positive performance effects of bureaucracies mirroring the demographic characteristics of their clientele. However, little is known about the underlying individual level mechanisms leading to these outcomes. In this study, theoretical ideas from representative bureaucracy literature and social and educational psychology are combined in a new model that explains effects of passive representation from the perspective of the individual client in the educational field. It is hypothesized that positive effects of gender congruence on students' academic self-concepts are mediated by gender stereotypical beliefs of students. This mediation is expected to be moderated by the self-confidence of the teacher. Results of a survey experiment among students in a Dutch high school do not support the hypothesized relationships. The study does reveal gender differences in stereotypical beliefs and academic self-concepts though. Furthermore, the academic self-concept for math of both male and female students is higher if the math teacher is a woman. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings and avenues for future research on the role of stereotypical beliefs in the association between gender representation and student performance.


We investigated the effectiveness of a security risk management (SRM) program at a large healthcare institution. Using a survey, we explored how nine critical success factors (CSFs): executive management support (EMS), organizational maturity (OM), open communication (OC), risk management stakeholders (RMS), team member empowerment (TME), holistic view for an organization (HVO), security maintenance (SM), corporate security strategy (CSS), and human resource development (HRD) impacted SRM effectiveness. Implementing a mixed research method, we found that employees had a positive perception of SRM toward all CSFs but one―team member empowerment (TME). Both medical professionals and staff had a negative perception of how TME was implemented at the institution.


The present paper attempts to handle the question how an unconscious mental state (MS) is transformed into a conscious-MS, by developing an outline of a new model, the conscious unit (CU) model. The essential assumption of this model is as follows. In the cognitive system there is an inborn, special linking-mechanism that links to a MS a CU, i.e., a unit of consciousness (or a stream of such units when the represented by the MS is complex). As a result, the individual becomes aware (conscious) of the represented by the MS. This model was applied successfully to certain empirical observations and to several problems, which were directed toward the higher-order (HO) theories of consciousness [especially the higher-order thought (HOT) theory].


This is the second in a series of papers from a new project entitled "Who is a normative foreign policy actor? The European Union and its Global Partners". The first paper – entitled Profiling Normative Foreign Policy: The European Union and its Global Partners, by Nathalie Tocci, CEPS Working Document No. 279, December 2007 – set out the conceptual framework for exploring this question. The present paper constitutes one of several case studies applying this framework to the behaviour of the European Union, whereas the others to follow concern China, India, Russia and the United States. A normative foreign policy is rigorously defined as one that is normative according to the goals set, the means employed and the results obtained. Each of these studies explores eight actual case examples of foreign policy behaviour, selected in order to illustrate four alternative paradigms of foreign policy behaviour – the normative, the realpolitik, the imperialistic and the status quo. For each of these four paradigms, there are two examples of EU foreign policy, one demonstrating intended consequences and the other, unintended effects. The fact that examples can be found that fit all of these different types shows the importance of 'conditioning factors', which relate to the internal interests and capabilities of the EU as a foreign policy actor as well as the external context in which other major actors may be at work. CEPS Working Documents are intended to give an indication of work being conducted within CEPS research programmes and to stimulate reactions from other experts in the field. Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed are attributable only to the authors in a personal capacity and not to any institution with which they are associated.


In this Thesis we study issues related to learning small tree and graph formed classifiers. First, we study reduced error pruning of decision trees and branching programs. We analyze the behavior of a reduced error pruning algorithm for decision trees under various probabilistic assumptions on the pruning data. As a result we get, e.g., new upper bounds for the probability of replacing a tree that fits random noise by a leaf. In the case of branching programs we show that the existence of an efficient approximation algorithm for reduced error pruning would imply P=NP. This indicates that reduced error pruning of branching programs is most likely impossible in practice, even though the corresponding problem for decision trees is easily solvable in linear time. The latter part of the Thesis is concerned with generalization error analysis, more particularly on Rademacher penalization applied to small or otherwise restricted decision trees. We develop a progressive sampling method based on Rademacher penalization that yields reasonable data dependent sample complexity estimates for learning two-level decision trees. Next, we propose a new scheme for deriving generalization error bounds for prunings of induced decision trees. The method for computing these bounds efficiently relies on the reduced error pruning algorithm studied in the first part of this Thesis. Our empirical experiments indicate that the obtained training set bounds may be almost tight enough to be useful in practice.


Translated from German to English by Christian Fuchs Marxist political economy of communication analyses the role of communication in society and capitalism. This paper shows what it means to take a historical and materialist approach for analysing communication and society. In the German-speaking world, Marxist communication research has largely remained a "forgotten theory". First, the paper analyses the role of communication in society, which requires thinking of how communication relates to work and production. Second, the paper analyses the emergence of communication in capitalist society. It shows that there is a close interaction of the dominant type of capitalism and the emergence and development of new means of communication. Third, the paper points out five roles of the media in capitalism (the production and sale of media products, advertising and commodity circulation, the legitimation of domination, regeneration and reproduction of labour-power, market for media technologies) and engages with how ideology, social psychology, audiences' habitus and everyday practices/life interact in the reception of media contents, especially news programmes. The preface to this article, written by the translator, presents aspects of the works of Horst Holzer. Given his pioneering intellectual role in the development of the critique of the political economy of communication in the German-speaking world, it is not an understatement to say that Horst Holzer is Germany's Dallas Smythe. Acknowledgement: First published in German as book chapter: Holzer, Horst. 1994. Kapitel IV: Eine "vergessene Theorie" gesellschaftlicher Kommunikation? (Bezugspunkt: Historisch-materialistische Gesellschaftswissenschaft). In Medienkommunkation: Einfuhrung in handlungs- und gesellschaftstheoretische Konzeptionen , 185-221. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag. ISBN 978-3-531-22172-4. © Westdeutscher Verlag GmbH, Opladen 1994. Translated and published with permission of Springer Nature. About the Author: Horst Holzer (1935-2000) was a German sociologist and communication theorist. He contributed to the formation and development of the critique of the political economy of media and communication in the German-speaking world. Holzer used Marxist theory for the analysis of the relationship between capitalism and communication. Given his pioneering intellectual role in the development of the critique of the political economy of communication in the German-speaking world, it is not an understatement to say that Horst Holzer is Germany's Dallas Smythe. Holzer lived and worked in Munich and published twenty German books. The focus of Holzer's writings was in general on communication theory, the sociology of communication, as well as on capitalism and communication. In particular, his books were about the ideology and political economy of magazines, newspapers, radio and television; public sphere theory, sociological theories, children and television, and surveillance.


Estimates of the graduate earnings premium typically do not allow for the effect of non-cognitive skills. Since such skills are unobservable in most datasets there is a concern that existing estimates of the graduate premium are contaminated by selection on such unobservables. We use data on a young cohort of individuals that allows us to control for the effects of non-cognitive skills.We find that the inclusion of non-cognitive skills, themselves jointly significantly positive reduces the estimated returns by an insignificant 1-2 percentage points from an average of 10-12%. Our second contribution is motivated by the greater reliance on administrative datasets in recent research that has focused on annual earnings rather than hourly wages and our results show that the graduate earnings differential is significantly greater than the wage differential.Since we use estimation methods that are NOT robust to selection on unobservables, we adopt Oster (2016) tests to show that it would take an implausible degree of selection on unobservables to drive our estimated wage and earings returns to zero, and that a plausible lower bound to returns is around one-quarter to one-third below the OLS returns. We further find heterogeneous returns by broad major group and elite university, and we find large degree class differentials.


Emerging market investments are certainly not for the faint of heart. In the early 1990s, several papers promoted the high average returns in these markets. Indeed, on the surface, these returns appeared to be much higher than those generated by investing in developed countries. At the same time, several developing countries liberalized their equity markets, allowing foreigners relatively unfettered access to them. As a result of these liberalizations and of domestic U.S. conditions, there was a sharp increase in U.S. capital flows to these equity markets. Despite the considerable history of research on emerging markets, much of the current work was initiated as a result of the World Bank Conference on Portfolio Investment in Developing Countries, held in Washington in late 1993. Stijn Claessens and Sudarshan Gooptu brought together there a diverse group of academics and practitioners to try to gain a better understanding of emerging equity markets, and a number of myths about emerging markets were put to rest. Some of the ideas presented at the conference motivated much of the research, including my own, on emerging markets over the next five years. That research is discussed here. Special Challenges I discuss these data challenges first, because we can ask many interesting questions about emerging markets, but we must take into account the special features of the data before trying to answer these questions. Most empirical research on emerging markets relies on the International Finance Corporation (IFC) indexes. These indexes represent portfolios of securities that comprise at least 60 percent of the market capitalization in each emerging market. For some countries, there are only a few stocks in the IFC index portfolio. For example in December 1997, there were only 15 securities in the IFC global index for Hungary, 17 in the Moroccan portfolio, and 19 in the Venezuelan portfolio. Korea had the largest number (195) of securities. India had 133 securities in its IFC index, but more than 5,000 equity securities are listed in India. The small number of securities in these indexes means that the country portfolio may contain some variance that is usually diversified away with larger portfolios. The IFC launched its data product in 1981. However, it reports data on eight countries back to December 1975, and on one country back to 1977. These data were "backfilled,"(1) which led to an obvious bias. The stocks selected in 1981 for the indexes would not necessarily be those selected in December 1975. This "look-back bias" should raise the portfolios' observed mean performance. There may be other biases in emerging market equity data as well. Goetzmann and Jorion(2) showed that historically, markets have emerged, submerged, and re-emerged. For example in the 1920s, Argentina had a larger market capitalization than did the United Kingdom. However, its equity market all but disappeared by the 1930s. When we sample the data from 1981 and calculate statistics based only on this sample, we overlook what has happened in the longer term. While this is true for any market, it is particularly acute in emerging markets. Further, there is extraordinary volatility in emerging markets. For example, from January 1981 to March 1998 the returns on the U.S. dollar index created by Morgan Stanley Capital International had a standard deviation of 14.4 percent on an annual basis. Among the 28 emerging markets with more than three years of available data, dollar returns in 26 markets had standard deviations that were double the U.S volatility; 9 markets had triple the U.S. volatility; and 7 had more than quadruple the U.S. volatility. High volatility need not be a problem for analysis, but the data need to be analyzed with care. For example, practitioners were promoting the high average returns of these emerging markets in the early 1990s, while I pointed out (see n. 1) that there is a large difference between arithmetic and geometric average returns. …


[1] Recent climatic warming has resulted in pronounced environmental changes in the Arctic, including shrub cover expansion and sea ice shrinkage. These changes foreshadow more dramatic impacts that will occur if the warming trend continues. Among the major challenges in anticipating these impacts are "surprises" stemming from changes in system components that have remained relatively stable in the historic record. Tundra burning is potentially one such component. Here we report paleoecological evidence showing that recent tundra burning is unprecedented in the central Alaskan Arctic within the last 5000 years. Analysis of lake sediment cores reveals peak values of charcoal accumulation corresponding to the Anaktuvuk River Fire in 2007, with no evidence of other fire events throughout the past five millennia in that area. Atmospheric reanalysis suggests that the fire was favored by exceptionally warm and dry weather conditions in summer and early autumn. Boosted regression tree modeling shows that such conditions also explain 95% of the interannual variability in tundra area burned throughout Alaska over the past 60 years and that the response of tundra burning to climatic warming is nonlinear. These results contribute to an emerging body of evidence suggesting that tundra ecosystems can burn more frequently under suitable climatic and fuel conditions. The Anaktuvuk River Fire coincides with extreme sea ice retreat, and tundra area burned in Alaska is moderately correlated with sea ice extent from 1979 to 2009 (r = −0.43, p = 0.02). Recurrences of large tundra fires as a result of sea ice disappearance may represent a novel manifestation of coupled marine-terrestrial responses to climatic warming.


There is currently a conflict between laws and the market in their treatment of email. Laws mandate that emails are not protected as property unless copyrightable or protected by another legal mechanism. But the market suggests that emails are user-owned property without further qualification. Moreover, the nature of email is treated slightly differently between the U.S. and U.K. legal regimes. While the current legal regimes applicable to email in the U.K. and U.S. are reasonable, legal harmonization within these systems, and with the service provider market, should be achieved.


The recurrent hemoptysis in patients with bleeding bronchiectasis are a risk factor of death; but also there is high ignorance for the medical community about the existence of other opportunistic agents, and not only tuberculosis, that can produce them. Objectives. To describe the histopathological and microbiological characteristics of a series of bleeding patients with bronchiectasis that were negative for tuberculosis, HIV and cancer in preliminary studies. Material and methods. We developed a pathological and microbiological evaluation in search of fungi, tuberculosis, lung neoplasia and common germs; in 24 surgical patients with hemoptysis of bleeding bronchiectasis with a history of pulmonary tuberculosis or contact with people that suffering this disease. Results. The fungus Aspergillus was found in 20 of the 24 patients studied. No positive results were reported on tests carried out for common aerobic bacteria and tuberculosis. The pathologic examination confirmed the presence of Aspergillus and mycetoma. The cicatricial tissue, that was invaded, is highly vascularized with a predisposition to bleeding and prolonged surgery time. Conclusions. Aspergillus fungus is the single biggest infectious agent present in patients with bleeding bronchiectasis in this series.


In this study, a structured survey questionnaire was used to determine consumers' preferences and their behavior with regard to halwa. Five types of consumer groups were identified thorough hierarchical cluster analysis based on ranked attributes. Color was ranked within the top three attributes for all the groups. In general, color, sweetness, appearance, and solubility were found to be the most important attributes for selecting the halwa. Five types of groups were identified based on their preference levels (i.e., intensity) of attributes. These could be recognized in terms of preferences for halwa with (1) black with high sweetness, (2) dark-brown with high-medium sweetness, (3) dark with low-medium sweetness, (4) brown with medium sweetness, and (5) dark with high-medium sweetness preferred consumers. The consumer segmentations identified could be used to develop retail marketing strategies and to develop store brands of diversified Arabian sweets and intermediate moisture fruit snacks, such as dates.


We experimentally demonstrate efficient generation of high-energy (82 μJ) narrowband 2.05 μm pulses pumped with 1 mJ broadband Ti:sapphire laser pulses, utilizing dual-chirped optical parametric amplification (DC-OPA) in a BBO crystal. The narrowband 2.05 μm pulses will be primarily used for seeding an Ho:YLF laser, which solves the synchronization issue when Ti:sapphire and Ho:YLF lasers are needed for developing midinfrared lasers. The narrowband 2.05 μm pulse from the unique DC-OPA design can seed the Ho:YLF laser much more efficiently than the broadband 2.05 μm pulse from traditional OPA technology.


Soils are warming as air temperatures rise across the Arctic and Boreal region concurrent with the expansion of tall-statured shrubs and trees in the tundra. Changes in vegetation structure and function are expected to alter soil thermal regimes, thereby modifying climate feedbacks related to permafrost thaw and carbon cycling. However, current understanding of vegetation impacts on soil temperature is limited to local or regional scales and lacks the generality necessary to predict soil warming and permafrost stability on a pan-Arctic scale. Here we synthesize shallow soil and air temperature observations with broad spatial and temporal coverage collected across 106 sites representing nine different vegetation types in the permafrost region. We showed ecosystems with tall-statured shrubs and trees (>40 cm) have warmer shallow soils than those with short-statured tundra vegetation when normalized to a constant air temperature. In tree and tall shrub vegetation types, cooler temperatures in the warm season do not lead to cooler mean annual soil temperature indicating that ground thermal regimes in the cold-season rather than the warm-season are most critical for predicting soil warming in ecosystems underlain by permafrost. Our results suggest that the expansion of tall shrubs and trees into tundra regions can amplify shallow soil warming, and could increase the potential for increased seasonal thaw depth and increase soil carbon cycling rates and lead to increased carbon dioxide loss and further permafrost thaw.


Appeals to the public for donations are very often made spontaneously when disaster strikes or when funds are needed for a cause that excites public sympathy. Unlike fundraising campaigns by organized charities, these informal public appeals are often carried out with little planning. Sometimes it is not possible to use the entire fund raised by the appeal for the original purpose. For example, more money may be raised than is needed, or the need may be met in other ways, or the need may simply disappear. How the surplus may be handled is, surprisingly, a complex legal question and in certain cases, the present law provides no solution. Legislative action is unlikely, despite detailed recommendations made in the past to fix the problem. The aim of the Project on Informal Public Appeal Funds is to arrive at a practical solution for dealing with surplus funds created by informal public appeals that does not require legislation.


The proposed transformation module performs mapping be- tween two di®erent knowledge representation forms used in grammar induction systems. The kernel knowledge representation form is a special predicate centered conceptual graph called ECG. The ECG provides a semantic-based, language independent description of the environment. The other base representation form is some kind of language. The sentences of the language should meet the corresponding grammatical rules. The pilot project demonstrates the functionality of a translator module using this transformation engine between the ECG graph and the Hungarian language.


In this thesis, I study the speech acts of request and refusal in Chinese and English. The aim of this study is to not only compare the results between Chinese and English in
the realization patterns in the two speech acts, but also between my investigation results and those of the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSARP)' (Blum-
Kulka et al. 1989). In addition, it is designed to research the extent to which these two speech acts threaten the participants' face in the two languages, and what part social variables such as relative power, social distance and some cultural factors play in the interactions.

I performed not only a linguistic and pragmatic analysis of the data but also a sociocultural analysis. The main framework I follow for data analysis is a combination of
theoretical models: Brown & Levinson's (1987) model of strategies and Spencer-Oatey's (2005) framework of goals for the role-play. For the analysis of the Discourse
Completion Test (DCT) data, I used both CCSARP's (Blum-Kulka et al. 1989) framework of directness and Brown & Levinson's (1987) model and their framework of social variables of power and distance, except for the fake refusals. I have proposed the approach of lirang/gianrang/cirang along with Spencer-Oatey's (2005) explanation for the fake refusal phenomenon. In the analysis of cultural influences, I draw on Kroeber
and Kluckholn (1952) and Triandis' (1994) research. In classifying the request data, Lee-Wong's (2000) method of classification is used. In grouping the data of refusals, I
have adopted Beebe et al. 's (1990) classification.

In collecting data, the role-play method is employed, complemented by DCT investigation. In the role-play, Chinese and English subjects are divided into groups and
the task for each group is to discuss when, where and how they can make a trip together during a few days holiday. In the course of the discussion, there occur requests and
disagreements (classified as `refusals' in my research), and in the DCTs, subjects are asked to choose from a set of fixed responses, or suggest an alternative of their own.
The purpose is to see what differences or similarities there are between Chinese and English in the realization patterns of the two speech acts in various situations.

The results show that, in the role-play, both Chinese and English favour the direct strategy in interaction. The frequency of the direct strategy (in requests) is much higher than that of other research such as that conducted by Zhang (1995), where participants prefer conventionally indirect strategies. However, the results of the DCTs demonstrate a less significant difference between my investigation and the CCSARP languages. The greatest difference between Chinese and English data lies in the fake refusals. Data analysis also indicates that factors (power, distance and even culture) do not have a large effect on the role-play results though they do influence the choice of strategies in the DCTs. The speech acts of requests and refusals are found to be multifunctional. In
the role-play, for example, they often play a more supportive and constructive than a face-threatening role, as Brown & Levinson have claimed. In the DCT data, fake
refusals are employed to show good manners.

Conceptually, I have challenged those researchers who claim that Chinese face is different from English face, and who divide Chinese face into two different aspects: Tian
and mianzi. Wang (1993: 566) says that "the modern man has only one lian [face]" and mianzi is only one of the synonyms of lin. Therefore, the Chinese have one
face, just as the English do. The conceptualization of Chinese face having two aspects does not seem to be valid. This finding coincides with Leech's (2005: 27) that "despite
differences, there is no East-West divide in politeness".


The problem of the observable equilibrium domain structure (DS) in pure antiferromagnets is investigated with the use of continuous elasticity theory. It is shown that the difference between the bulk and surface magnetoelastic strains causes imaginary `incompatibility elastic charges' analogous to the surface `magnetic' charges in ferromagnets. The corresponding long-range field is shown to contribute to the `stray' energy of the sample that governs the appearance of the DS, the contribution from the `elastic charges' being proportional to the sample volume. Competition between the elastic `stray' field, which favours inhomogeneous strain distribution, and an external field, which tends to make the sample homogeneous, provides a reversible reconstruction of the DS under the action of the external magnetic field.


Justice Gray famously wrote in The Paquete Habana1 that "[iInternational law is part of our law, and must be ascertained and administered by the courts of justice of appropriate jurisdiction as often as questions of right depending upon it are duly presented for their determination."2 The succeeding century has seen a great deal of sparring among courts and commentators as to what, exactly, that memorable phrase means for the status of international law within the domestic legal system. The Paquete Habana itself concerned customary international law, and scholars continue to debate whether that law amounts to supreme federal law.3 More recently, controversy has shifted to the domestic status of treaties.4 The Supremacy Clause plainly makes treaties "part of our law";5 the question is what that status entails for the interpretation and enforcement of treaty provisions. The interpretation and force of treaties in domestic courts lie at the heart of a line of recent cases concerning the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR).6 The VCCR requires law enforcement officials to notify foreign nationals whom they arrest of the foreign nationals' right to consult with their consulates.7 Dual opinions by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), culminating in its 2004 Avena9, decision, found the United States in violation of the VCCR and required American courts to give the treaty effect, notwithstanding domestic doctrines limiting the enforceability of its provisions in certain circumstances.9 The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Avena's construction of the treaty in Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon,10 refusing to give much deference to the ICJ' s interpretation." The VCCR saga took a more curious turn when, in a rare fit of multilateralism, President George W. Bush sought to enforce the ICJ' s judgment by directing an unusual executive order to the state courts.12 The Supreme Court rejected the President's effort in Medellin v. Texas,13 and it further held that ICJ judgments lack "self-executing" effect within the domestic legal system.14 Medellin's latter holding was the first Supreme Court intervention in recent memory into a longstanding debate among the courts of appeals (and scholars of foreign relations law) concerning when a treaty should be considered to have domestic legal force without further action by the national political branches. This extraordinary sequence of rulings and events concerning the VCCR may well be sui generis in any number of ways, but the issues of interpretive deference and self-execution that it raises are likely to recur across any number of other treaty regimes, from trade to terrorism. In debates about the domestic status of international law generally, internationalists typically invoke The Paquete Habana for the proposition that domestic courts and officials should be more receptive to international law;15 nationalists, on the other hand, generally seek to maintain a firewall between international and domestic law, and to leave decisions about which norms pass through that firewall to national political officials.16 I argue here that, contrary to conventional assumptions, The Paquete Habana principle does not necessarily support various internationalist doctrinal prescriptions and that, properly considered, it frequently buttresses more nationalist positions. The point is a general one. In an earlier piece on customary international law (CIL), I argued that the "modern position" - which treats CIL norms as supreme federal law with binding effect in every case within the scope of those norms - is not actually consistent with the way federal common law works.17 Rather, federal courts articulate federal common law rules only when the otherwise-applicable state law would conflict with some particular federal interest (and not some generic federal interest in "uniformity" for its own sake).18 Treating CIL as part of our law would thus subject it to the same highly contextual conflicts analysis that federal courts apply in domestic cases not governed by federal statutes, treaties, or constitutional provisions. …


The Riffian southern corridor (Northern Morocco) is one of the two principal seaways which allowed the exchanges of water between the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea in the late Miocene. Along this corridor, late Miocene sedimentary sequences recorded various biostratigraphic events preceding the messinian salinity crisis. Here we propose a bio-chronologic framework for the marine sediments during late Miocene based on planktonic Foraminifera and dinokystes. The evolution of the marine environment during this period is analiyzed and some events which lead to the messinian salinity crisis are pointed. Two drillings of late Miocene belonging to two basins (Sais and Guercif basins) of southern Riffian corridor were studied. The detailed biostratigraphic analysis based on planktonic foraminifera allowed to recognize Tortonian and Messinian successive bio-events which can be correlated with other bioevents registred in Western and Eastern Mediterranean basins and calibrated with astronomical and magnetostratigraphical scales. The succession of these events permitted to recognize probable middle Tortonian, late Tortonian and lower Messinian. It also leads to recognize and better characterize the Tortonian-Messinian boundary. The study of the dinocystes provided information on the marine environment of southern Riffian corridor during late Miocene. The indices of distality and temperature allow to appreciate the relative variations of the marine level and to estimate the surface water temperatures during Tortonian and lower Messinian. Our data allow to precise the timing of the progressive closure of the South Riffian corridor leading to the end of the Atlantic-Mediterranean connections and the starting of the so-called messinian salinity crisis. From Tortonien to lower Messinian, planktonic foraminifera and dinocystes assemblages reflect warm conditions of surface water.


For the past decade, humanitarian actors have increasingly sought not only to assist people affected by conflicts and natural disasters, but also to protect them. At the same time, protection of civilians has become central to UN peacekeeping operations, and the UN General Assembly has endorsed the principle that the international community has the "responsibility to protect" people when their governments cannot or will not do so. Elizabeth Ferris explores the evolution of the international community's understandings of protection, with a particular emphasis on the humanitarian community. "Protection" is a noble word, with positive connotations, but what does it actually mean in practice? Does providing assistance to vulnerable people protect them, for example? Does monitoring the number of rapes protect women? Does increased engagement in protection activities by humanitarian agencies jeopardize the cornerstone humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality? In The Politics of Protection, Ferris examines inconsistent ways in which protection is defined and applied. For example, why do certain groups receive international protection while other equally needy groups do not? Her case studies, ranging from Iraq to Katrina, illustrate the challenges -and limitations -of protecting vulnerable populations from the ravages of war and natural disasters. Ferris argues that the protection paradigms currently in use are inadequate to meet the challenges of the future, such as climate change, protracted displacement, and the changing nature of warfare.


We compare two different methods of computing form factors. One is the well established procedure of solving the form factor consistency equations and the other is to represent the field content as well as the particle creation operators in terms of fermionic Fock operators. We compute the corresponding matrix elements for the complex free fermion and the Federbush model. The matrix elements only satisfy the form factor consistency equations involving anyonic factors of local commutativity when the corresponding operators are local. We carry out the ultraviolet limit, analyze the momentum space cluster properties and demonstrate how the Federbush model can be obtained from the SU(3)3-homogeneous sine-Gordon model. We propose a new class of Lagrangians which constitute a generalization of the Federbush model in a Lie algebraic fashion. For these models we evaluate the associated scattering matrices from first principles, which can alternatively also be obtained in a certain limit of the homogeneous sine-Gordon models.


Informal partnerships between nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and local governments represent a winning combination for affective positive social change in communities. These partnerships thrive on the development and sustainment of trust as a guiding force between NPO executives and their local government counterparts. Qualitative case study research reveals such an assertion to be true, based on interviews and document reviews of informal partnerships in a metropolitan area in the Northwest United States. The implications for social change include establishing successful models of informal partnerships between NPOs and local governments that impact the social and economic well-being of communities.


Modern international criminal law (ICL) developed in the aftermath of World War II as an alternative to the proposal, espoused by Winston Churchill among others, that major Axis war criminals be summarily executed on sight. Because of this pedigree and the unconscionable nature of the crimes, ICL jurisprudence and scholarship have largely neglected the paramount question fundamental to any criminal justice system: the justifications for and legitimate goals of punishment. Insofar as a coherent jurisprudence of ICL sentencing can be said to exist at all, it remains correspondingly impoverished and unprincipled — comparable in some respects to that of the indeterminate federal sentencing system criticized by Judge Marvin E. Frankel in his famous polemic, Criminal Sentences: Law Without Order (1973). This Article analyzes the extent to which the conventional goals of punishment in national law can or should be transposed to the distinct legal, moral, and institutional context of ICL. It argues that the expressive capacity of punishment best captures both the nature of international sentencing and its realistic institutional capacity to make a difference in view of the legal, political, and resource constraints that will continue, for the foreseeable future, to afflict ICL. The transposition to ICL of the standard justifications for punishment in national law proves deeply problematic in large part because ICL attempts to combine the paradigms of two very different legal fields: (i) classical international law — a profoundly consensual body of law based on broadly shareable norms among states; and (ii) national criminal law — a profoundly coercive body of law often understood to embody the most fundamental, particularistic norms and values of a local polity. ICL therefore differs from national criminal law in several respects relevant to the social institution of punishment, including the nature of (i) ∗ Assistant Professor of Law Designate, Boston University School of Law; Associatein-Law, Columbia Law School. I acknowledge with gratitude the helpful comments of Mahnoush Arsanjani, Anthony Colangelo, Michael Dorf, Brandon Garrett, Paul Kahn, Hoi Kong, Tom Lee, Gerard E. Lynch, Thomas Pogge, W. Michael Reisman, James J. Silk, and Jeremy Waldron. ii The Expressive Capacity of International Punishment [4-May-06 the community that authorizes ICL, (ii) the crimes addressed by it, and (iii) the perpetrators judged by it. These differences tend to compromise the coherence or efficacy (or both) of conventional crime-control and retributive justifications for punishment. Insofar as these justifications or penal goals remain plausible, it is largely because of the expressive dimensions of punishment. ICL's ability to contribute to the lofty objectives ascribed to it depends far more on enhancing its value as authoritative expression than on ill-fated efforts to identify "appropriate" punishments for crimes that strain our moral intuitions. For this reason, I urge, among other potential developments in the law and practice of sentencing by international criminal tribunals: (i) the institution of sentencing hearings as an essential component of ICL; (ii) greater attention to social, psychological, and political context and the role of the defendant vis-a-vis collective entities (states, armies, and so forth) as aggravating or mitigating factors; and (iii) a focus on enhancing jurisprudential exchange between national and international criminal justice institutions. 4-May-06] The Expressive Capacity of International Punishment iii


Abstract The evolution of elaborate signals can emerge from changes in anatomical signaling structures. In the male túngara frog, a simple advertisement call ('whine') can be ornamented facultatively with a suffix ('chuck') to produce a more attractive complex call, or 'whine-chuck'. A fibrous mass (FM1) supported by the vocal cords plays a role in chuck production. Here, we examine the effects of FM1 ablation on a large set of spectral and temporal features of both the whine and chuck and we test the hypothesis that FM1 ablation reduces call attractiveness to females. Both call components were impacted by FM1 ablation, but especially the suffix. The proportion of energy in the suffix's odd compared to even harmonics diminished markedly as did the relative amplitude, effectively eliminating the chuck percept. FM1 ablation also reduced the whine's frequency and its rate of frequency modulation. Moreover, post-surgery chucks no longer enhanced the attractiveness of the simple call and whines also appeared to diminish in attractiveness. Together, our results demonstrate that FM1 plays a role in the production of both call components in a way that stimulates the female auditory system and that the growth of FM1 had potentially positive sexual selection implications for the pre-existing simple call.


This is an ethnographic study about young Aboriginal people in Central Australia. The voices and opinions of more than 150 Aboriginal youth were analysed. My findings show that Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK) is an active part of their lives. This knowledge and practice contributes to the identity and pride of youth from Central Australia.  Young Aboriginal people are commonly portrayed in the media as problems. Negative stereotypes and deficit narratives imply they occupy a failed space within and between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal worlds. Youth are said to be lacking in culture and disinterested in cultural practices. My findings contradict such stereotypes and deficiencies. The lived experiences of Aboriginal people are often invisible to mainstream Australian society. Rarely do we hear from young Aboriginal people themselves. Their role as players in a system of knowledge is simultaneously ignored and assumed. IEK is characterised as the domain of the older generation but not younger generations. This thesis goes beyond academic attention to IEK in environmental programs, developmental theories or the nexus between Indigenous and Western or scientific knowledge. The study explores the social lives of young Aboriginal adults. Mixed methods were used to examine the learning practices, learning contexts and cultural acquisition processes that underpin IEK. Qualitative results from interviews, surveys and observations are presented. I look at how IEK is made to happen, how knowledge and practice is realised in contemporary contexts. The study shows that people's everyday lived experience integrates IEK. Cultural knowledge is vulnerable to the stresses and forces of modern life; yet it persists. Factors that enable IEK to persevere are examined. I have found that hunting, bush food and medicine harvesting, and natural resource use contribute to IEK. Practices and beliefs are enriched through ceremonial life, health and healing, and in observances in bereavement and funerals. Amongst younger people there is an ongoing belief in the sentience of country. This research revealed that IEK is a vital part of youth values and beliefs. Beliefs inform youth practice. IEK is expressed through relationship to families and people's connections to each other. Young people demonstrate their care for older and younger generations through the collection, preparation and use of natural resources. 'Relatedness' continues to be the currency of knowledge transmission. Feelings of love, duty and care motivate young people to listen, learn and do things for their older and younger loved ones. Deep and powerful feelings for family members call young people to action. Young people are integral to the future of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and practice in Central Australia.


The dynamics of mass and linear parameters of lymph nodes of ducks is a direct reflection of structural and functional transformations of their lymphatic parenchyma. The peculiarities of quantitative dynamics of tissue components of peripheral lymphatic organs at early stages of postnatal ontogenesis are to a great extent determined by advanced growth rates of their absolute mass against the background of sharp increase of their antigenic stimulation intensity. Parenchyma of lymph nodes of newborn ducklings is characterized by relatively low degree of differentiation and is represented by diffuse lymphatic tissue with no pronounced signs of its division into separate functional zones. Internally, the lymphatic channel is represented by only two lymphatic sinuses the central one, which is located in the central part of the organ and occupies a large relative area and a discrete edge sinus, which borders on the node capsule and has a much smaller relative area and, accordingly, is located at its periphery. The organ parenchyma is a diffuse cluster of stromal and lymphatic cells in the enlarged lymphatic vessel between the central (inner) and edge (outer) lymphatic sinuses, without signs of its division into cortical and brain matter. Among the lymphatic tissue of the lymph node, reticular stroma cells and the population of small lymphocytes have the largest relative amount.


Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) have primarily focused on systems management. To further improve connectivity and safety in the future, ITS might embrace a more holistic planning approach. While the future of ITS remains an open question, its evolution is closely linked to how the world evolves on many dimensions¾social, political, economic, legal, and environmental. In this paper, the authors present results from four expert workshops. These consisted of an initial steering committee workshop (February 2011), two expert scenario-planning workshops (June 2011), and a final steering committee workshop (July 2011). The scenario planning workshops explored the implications of alternative futures on ITS and incorporated a broad interdisciplinary approach in developing a long-term transportation vision (2030 to 2050 time horizon) for the United States. Twenty-four experts, representing diverse disciplines, participated in a series of workshops to envision plausible futures and to assess their effects on the transportation system. By exploring different futures, experts identified opportunities and barriers for implementing advanced seamless transportation systems. Opportunities included the deployment of adaptable, integrated technology and transportation infrastructure to address natural disasters and climate change. The most significant barriers were funding and politics. The experts suggested that financial barriers be overcome through innovative funding techniques and improved public outreach. Building upon the experts' recommendations, several visions for an integrated ITS approach, which addresses social and environmental challenges in the future, were created. These included private-public partnerships; distributed implementation models (e.g., localized); and the development of seamless transportation systems to reduce energy consumption, emissions, and road congestion.


The majority of radio network planning processes being developed for WCDMA focus upon providing adequate coverage and capacity performance. These processes generally include the requirement to tune the CPICH physical channel such that sufficient power is assigned to provide coverage without assigning excessive power that would result in less power being available to user traffic. This paper studies the performance of OTDOA based location services when the radio network has been planned without explicitly accounting for the requirement to receive at least three CPICH signals at each location. The paper continues by studying the impact upon both system capacity and OTDOA performance when the power assigned to the CPICH channel is increased.


BACKGROUND
Although enhanced temporal summation (TS) and conditioned pain modulation (CPM), as characteristic for central sensitization, has been proved to be impaired in different chronic pain populations, the exact nature is still unknown.

OBJECTIVES
We examined differences in TS and CPM in 2 chronic pain populations, patients with both chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and comorbid fibromyalgia (FM) and patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and in sedentary, healthy controls, and evaluated whether activation of serotonergic descending pathways by acetaminophen improves central pain processing.

STUDY DESIGN
Double-blind randomized controlled trial with cross-over design.

METHODS
Fifty-three women (19 CFS/FM patients, 16 RA patients, and 18 healthy women) were randomly allocated to the experimental group (1 g acetaminophen) or the placebo group (1 g dextrose). Participants underwent an assessment of endogenous pain inhibition, consisting of an evaluation of temporal summation with and without conditioned pain modulation (CPM). Seven days later groups were crossed-over. Patients and assessors were blinded for the allocation.

RESULTS
After intake of acetaminophen, pain thresholds increased slightly in CFS/FM patients, and decreased in the RA and the control group. Temporal summation was reduced in the 3 groups and CPM at the shoulder was better overall, however only statistically significant for the RA group. Healthy controls showed improved CPM for both finger and shoulder after acetaminophen, although not significant.

LIMITATIONS
The influence of acetaminophen on pain processing is inconsistent, especially in the patient groups examined.

CONCLUSION
This is the first study comparing the influence of acetaminophen on central pain processing in healthy controls and patients with CFS/FM and RA. It seems that CFS/FM patients present more central pain processing abnormalities than RA patients, and that acetaminophen may have a limited positive effect on central pain inhibition, but other contributors have to be identified and evaluated.


Planted forests are increasing in many upland regions world-wide, but knowledge about their 30 potential effects on algal communities of catchment lakes is relatively unknown. Here the 31 effects of afforestation were investigated using palaeolimnology at six upland lake sites in the 32 north-west of Ireland subject to different extents of forest plantation cover (4-64% of 33 catchment area). 210 Pb dated sediment cores were analysed for carotenoid pigments from 34 algae, stable isotopes of bulk carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N), and C/N ratios. In lakes 35 with >50% of their catchment area covered by plantations, there were two- to six-fold 36 increases in pigments from cryptophytes (alloxanthin) and significant but lower increases 37 (39-116%) in those from colonial cyanobacteria (canthaxanthin), but no response from 38 biomarkers of total algal abundance (β-carotene). In contrast, lakes in catchments with <20% 39 afforestation exhibited no consistent response to forestry practices, although all lakes 40 exhibited fluctuations in pigments and geochemical variables due to peat cutting and upland 41 grazing prior to forest plantation. Taken together, patterns suggest that increases in 42 cyanobacteria and cryptophyte abundance reflect a combination of mineral and nutrient 43 enrichment associated with forest fertilisation and organic matter influx which may have 44 facilitated growth of mixotrophic taxa. This study demonstrates that planted forests can alter 45 the abundance and community structure of algae in upland humic lakes of Ireland and 46 Northern Ireland, despite long histories of prior catchment disturbance.


Sulphur plays crucial roles in plant growth and development, with its functions ranging from being a structural constituent of macro-biomolecules to modulating several physiological processes and tolerance to abiotic stresses. In spite of these numerous sulphur roles being well acknowledged, agriculture has paid scant regard for sulphur nutrition, until only recently. Serious problems related to soil sulphur deficiencies have emerged and the intensification of food, fiber, and animal production is escalating to feed the ever-increasing human population. In the wake of huge demand for high quality cereal and vegetable diets, sulphur can play a key role in augmenting the production, productivity, and quality of crops. Additionally, in light of the emerging problems of soil fertility exhaustion and climate change-exacerbated environmental stresses, sulphur assumes special importance in crop production, particularly under intensively cropped areas. Here, citing several relevant examples, we highlight, in addition to its plant biological and metabolism functions, how sulphur can significantly enhance crop productivity and quality, as well as acclimation to abiotic stresses. By this appraisal, we also aim to stimulate readers interests in crop sulphur research by providing priorities for future pursuance, including bettering our understanding of the molecular processes and dynamics of sulphur availability and utilization in plants, dissecting the role of soil rhizospherical microbes in plant sulphur transformations, enhancing plant phenotyping and diagnosis for nutrient deficiencies, and matching site-specific crop sulphur demands with fertilizer amendments in order to reduce nutrient use inefficiencies in both crop and livestock production systems. This will facilitate the proper utilization of sulphur in crop production and eventually enhance sustainable and environmentally friend food production.


Little is known about the complex processes leading to prosocial behavior. However, theories suggests that empathy, empathic responding, and emotion regulation abilities, may all contribute to the presence or absence of prosocial behavior. While theoretical papers demonstrate relationships between these constructs, researchers to date have only focused on small aspects of this complex relationship (e.g., the relationship between sympathy and emotion regulation, the relationship between empathy and prosocial behavior). This study proposed a complex model whereby empathy was both directly related to prosocial behavior and indirectly related to prosocial behavior via sympathy or personal distress. Furthermore, this study proposed an emotion regulation framework for understanding the relation between empathy and prosocial behavior, suggesting that one's emotion regulation abilities would cause a differential presentation of empathic responses, leading to a potential increase or decrease in prosocial behavior. An adult sample was recruited. Analyses were completed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results indicate that hypothesized model adequately fit the data. All hypothesized associations between variables were significant. However, contrary to the hypothesis, emotion regulation ability did not alter the associations between study constructs. Strengths, limitations, and implications will be discussed.


Systems That Learn presents a mathematical framework for the study of learning in a variety of domains. It provides the basic concepts and techniques of learning theory as well as a comprehensive account of what is currently known about a variety of learning paradigms.Daniel N. Osherson and Scott Weinstein are at MIT, and Michael Stob at Calvin College.


The basic objective of this paper is to assess India's acquisition of nuclear weapons in light of the general debate why states 'go nuclear' and build nuclear arsenals. In general, analysts proffer four arguments about proliferation of nuclear weapons. They are: (1) security concerns; (2) prestige; (3) technological imperatives; and (4) domestic politics. The first posits that security concerns directly related to a state's physical security and survival might drive a state to acquire nuclear weapons. A state, when operating in an environment of anarchy and acute security dilemmas, remains very concerned with national security and survival. Depending on the intensity of security dilemmas, states often resort to developing lethal military forces, including, in some instances, nuclear weapons. For example, the 'first generation' nuclear powers (the USA, the USSR, the UK, France and China) and the 'second generation' nuclear states (India, Pakistan etc.) acquired nuclear weapons because they each faced an acute security threat from a strategic adversary.


We present new data sets of black carbon (BC) aerosol mass mixing ratio (MMR) obtained from aircraft missions over North America, Europe, the Arctic, and the outflow region of Saharan Africa before and after trans‐Atlantic transport. The data, collected from 2011 to 2013 with single‐particle soot photometers, provide new insight into the variability and distribution of BC over global scales and refine understanding of AeroCom global model ensemble performance. The results indicate extensive global‐scale longitudinal mixing of BC above altitude pressures as low as 400 hPa. They also constrain the absolute and temporal variability of upper tropospheric BC MMR and point to opportunities for new tests of global aerosol models in the upper troposphere. A comparison to the AeroCom Phase II results generally reinforces previous estimates of the ensemble performance, except that it also strengthens confidence that the ensemble actually is biased high in the Arctic in all seasons.


In an effort to create broad access to its optimization software, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), in collaboration with the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) and OSISoft, has recently developed a Software as a Service (SaaS) Model for reducing energy costs, cutting peak power demand, and reducing carbon emissions for multipurpose buildings. UC Davis currently collects and stores energy usage data from buildings on its campus. Researchers at LBNL sought to demonstrate that a SaaS application architecture could be built on top of this data system to optimize the scheduling of electricity and heat delivery in the building. The SaaS interface, known as WebOpt, consists of two major parts: a) the investment & planning and b) the operations module, which builds on the investment & planning module. The operational scheduling and load shifting optimization models within the operations module use data from load prediction and electrical grid emissions models to create an optimal operating schedule for the next week, reducing peak electricity consumption while maintaining quality of energy services. LBNL's application also provides facility managers with suggested energy infrastructure investments for achieving their energy cost and emission goals based on historical data collected with OSISoft's system. This paper describes these models as well as the SaaS architecture employed by LBNL researchers to provide asset scheduling services to UC Davis. The peak demand, emissions, and cost implications of the asset operation schedule and investments suggested by this optimization model are analysed.


Software-defined radio (SDR) brings the flexibility of software to wireless protocol design, promising an ideal platform for innovation and rapid protocol deployment. However, implementing modern wireless protocols on existing SDR platforms often requires careful hand-tuning of low-level code, which can undermine the advantages of software. Ziria is a new domain-specific language (DSL) that offers programming abstractions suitable for wireless physical (PHY) layer tasks while emphasizing the pipeline reconfiguration aspects of PHY programming. The Ziria compiler implements a rich set of specialized optimizations, such as lookup table generation and pipeline fusion. We also offer a novel -- due to pipeline reconfiguration -- algorithm to optimize the data widths of computations in Ziria pipelines. We demonstrate the programming flexibility of Ziria and the performance of the generated code through a detailed evaluation of a line-rate Ziria WiFi 802.11a/g implementation that is on par and in many cases outperforms a hand-tuned state-of-the-art C++ implementation on commodity CPUs.


The present study sets out to better understand how falls prevention can be marketed and positioned in order to increase participation rates in seniors. Market segmentation was used to create unique marketing mixes for individual groups of seniors. The senior market was segmented into frequent falling males and females, and non-falling males and females. Frequent fallers were defined by having experienced 2 or more falls in the past year, where non-fallers had experienced 1 or less falls. Twelve focus groups were conducted with thirty-five participants (N=35), 65 years or older. Differences were mainly found between number of falls experienced and gender. Risk perception was found to be associated with number of falls as well as participation. Specific marketing mixes are presented for each segment, and compared with a pre-existing falls prevention pamphlet. Future research should investigate the use of risk perception and age as potential segmentation criteria.


Photomechanically irreversible tensile-actuated diacetylene-embedding nylon 6/6 microfibers were investigated. 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA) monomer, which have conventionally provided a visual color change by temperature and photo-driven stimuli, was embedded in nylon 6/6 microfibers by wet spinning. By ultraviolet (UV) (254 nm) exposure, we observed irreversible tensile actuation (contraction) of linear (untwisted) and helical (twisted) structural microfibers. The tensile contraction of twisted nylon 6/6-PCDA microfiber containing10 mM PCDA was reached to ∼2% at 60 °C. Such irreversible tensile contraction can be promoted by volume contraction of PCDA monomers during UV exposure along with irregular structural deformation containing gauche conformation with increasing temperature. The kinetics of tensile contraction with temperature and time were shown by the Arrhenius plots. The activation energies were 34.3–35.7 kJ mol−1 as increasing the concentration of PCDA, implies that the nylon 6/6-PCDA microfibers could be applied to show time-temperature integrated device.


This article will query the ethics of making and displaying photographs of human remains. In particular, we will focus on the role of photography in constituting human remains as specimens, and the centrality of the creation and circulation of photographic images to the work of physical anthropology and bioarchaeology. This work has increasingly become the object of ethical scrutiny, particularly in the context of a (post)colonial politics of recognition in which indigenous people seek to recover dominion over their looted material heritage, including the remains of their dead. This ethical concern extends to the question of how and under what circum-stances we may display photographs of human remains. Moreover, this is not just a matter of whether and when we should or should not show photographs of the remains of the dead. It is a question of how these images are composed and produced. Our discussion of the ethics of the image is, therefore, indivisible from a consideration of the socio-technical process by which the photographic image is produced, circulated and consumed.


The Supreme Court's 2016 decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins requires federal courts to investigate the "concreteness" of a plaintiff's injury, even after Congress has recognized the injury by statute. Spokeo's concreteness discussion is a confusing mixture of several distinct considerations, and there is little rhyme or reason to how the lower courts have interpreted and applied Spokeo to other statutorily authorized injuries.

This Article offers a descriptive framework that situates Spokeo among the Court's past cases, which recognize four distinct informational injuries—those arising from the withholding, acquiring, using, and disseminating of information. This four-injury taxonomy is instrumental to developing an alternative approach that avoids Spokeo's mistakes: Federal courts should give binding deference to Congress's decision to make an injury privately enforceable when three conditions are met—when the plaintiff alleges an informational injury; when the defendant is a non-governmental actor; and when Congress has effectively personalized the injury and the plaintiff is among the injured.

The Court's approach—an unmoored judicial investigation into an informational injury's amorphous "concreteness"—erodes Congress's ability to provide avenues of redress for new and novel harms, and this erosion is already undermining privacy protections. Since Spokeo, lower courts have refused to enforce provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, and the Cable Communications Policy Act, among other statutes. The informational-injury lens shows that courts lack a principled way to stop Spokeo from also undermining provisions of the Wiretap Act, the Stored Communications Act, Illinois's Biometric Information Privacy Act, and nascent privacy reform proposals that have private rights of action—including European- and California-style data processing restrictions and an information fiduciary regime.

The Court's Spokeo decision is in tension with historical practice, is having deleterious effects on privacy interests in the lower courts, and threatens to gut putative privacy law reform. This Article provides a mechanism for understanding how the Court's standing jurisprudence goes awry, and it posits a simpler and superior alternative approach.


During an Oscar award ceremony over two decades ago, Ms.  Whoopi Goldberg informed her audience that she was not African, but an American.  She had been to Africa, seen it, and was unimpressed.  Through the lens fashioned by her experiences in the United States, Ms. Goldberg was able to conclude that the continent lacked the socio-cultural indicators that made her whom she was.


Abstract Paper deals with the problematic about the information quality impact and the basic methods which can optimize the costs of low quality of using information. First of all, it is important to purify the input data from the inconsistencies and measure the quality of data. This process assures to minimize the reasons that are responsible of poor quality of processes. Targets area of this paper is to identify and minimize the main reasons of delaying the passenger train by comparing years 2012 and 2013. Target groups of passenger trains were divided in three parts responsibilities of delaying – type of train, code of delay, group responsible for the train delay.


ABSTRACT Human sera contain high levels of natural antibody (Ab) to Galα1-3Gal, a terminal glycosidic structure expressed on the surface of cells of mammals other than Old World primates. Incorporation of this determinant onto retroviral membranes by passage of viruses in cells encoding α-1-3-galactosyltransferase (GT) renders retroviruses sensitive to lysis by natural Ab and complement in normal human serum (NHS). Plasma membrane-budding viruses representing four additional virus groups were examined for their sensitivities to serum inactivation after passage through human cell lines that lack a functional GT or human cells expressing recombinant porcine GT. The inactivation of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) by NHS directly correlated with host modification of the virus via expression of Galα1-3Gal and was blocked by incorporation of soluble Galα1-3Gal disaccharide into the inactivation assay. GT-deficient mice immunized to make high levels of Ab to Galα1-3Gal (anti-Gal Ab) were tested for resistance to LCMV passaged in GT-expressing cells. Resistance was not observed, but in vitro analyses of the mouse immune sera revealed that the antiviral activity of the sera was insufficient to eliminate LCMV infectivity on its natural targets of infection, macrophages, which express receptors for Ab and complement. Newcastle disease virus and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) were inactivated by NHS regardless of cell passage history, whereas Sindbis virus (SV) passaged in human cells resisted inactivation. Both VSV and SV passaged in Galα1-3Gal-expressing human cells incorporated this sugar moiety onto their major envelope glycoproteins. SV passaged in mouse cells expressing Galα1-3Gal was moderately sensitive to inactivation by NHS. These results indicate that enveloped viruses expressing Galα1-3Gal differ in their sensitivities to NHS and that a potent complement source, such as that in NHS, is required for efficient inactivation of sensitive viruses in vitro and in vivo.


A new approach to quantitative deformation characterization of high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) defect images has been developed. The principle of this technique, (Computational Fourier Transform Deformation (CFTD)) is to extract an accurate displacement field about a defect from its HREM image using Fourier transformation procedures. The methodology`s unique feature is to digitize the defect image and compute the Moire pattern, from which the displacement field is obtained, without the need for an external reference lattice image, normally associated with the interference phenomena. From this data, the displacement gradient can be calculated, which yields much information on the experimental deformation mechanics. One question that has arisen is whether different imaging conditions of the same defect affects the results of the CFM analysis. We have studied this problem by analyzing the strain components of simulated images of a Lomer dislocation in Si and present our findings here.


The nature and location of the disagreement(s) between legal positivism and natural law theory has often been unclear, in large part because of the way each approach has been misunderstood by advocates for the other side. Many commentators assume that the two approaches disagree about whether immoral rules can have the status of law, but there is little evidence to support this view. Natural law theorists from Aquinas to Finnis have allowed that immoral rules are law (can have legal status), only that they are not law in its fullest sense (because such laws do not create moral obligations to obey them). The article concludes that the debate between natural law and legal positivism is joined elsewhere: regarding the meta-theoretical question of whether it is possible and valuable to have a morally neutral theory of law. Legal positivists advocate morally neutral theories, while natural law theorists like Finnis expressly or implicitly argue for a pervasively moral-evaluative theory of law, arguing that one can only understand a reason-giving practice like law against the background of what it would mean to give a good (legitimate, moral-obligation-creating) reason for action. A variation of the same argument is that one can only understand law within a (teleological) theory that gives a place for the moral ideal (justice) to which law strives.


A widespread kind of parallelism is a relation between sections of text such that each resembles the other in linguistic form, or in lexical meaning, or in both form and meaning. In poetry, this kind of parallelism can be systematic, and when it is, it holds between two adjacent sections. The new claim of this article is that these sections are short enough for the whole parallel pair to be held in working memory (in the episodic buffer). Parallelism thus shares a property with the other added forms of poetry - meter, rhyme and alliteration - that it holds over material which can be held as a whole section (such as line or couplet) in working memory. I conclude by suggesting that processing the parallel pair in working memory brings advantages to the poetry: an emotional effect from contrastive valence, an epistemic effect from the fluency heuristic, and the production of metaphorical meaning.


Finland provides unique opportunities to investigate population and medical genomics because of its adoption of unified national electronic health records, detailed historical and birth records, and serial population bottlenecks. We assemble a comprehensive view of recent population history (≤100 generations), the timespan during which most rare disease-causing alleles arose, by comparing pairwise haplotype sharing from 43,254 Finns to geographically and linguistically adjacent countries with different population histories, including 16,060 Swedes, Estonians, Russians, and Hungarians. We find much more extensive sharing in Finns, with at least one ≥ 5 cM tract on average between pairs of unrelated individuals. By coupling haplotype sharing with fine-scale birth records from over 25,000 individuals, we find that while haplotype sharing broadly decays with geographical distance, there are pockets of excess haplotype sharing; individuals from northeast Finland share several-fold more of their genome in identity-by-descent (IBD) segments than individuals from southwest regions containing the major cities of Helsinki and Turku. We estimate recent effective population size changes over time across regions of Finland and find significant differences between the Early and Late Settlement Regions as expected; however, our results indicate more continuous gene flow than previously indicated as Finns migrated towards the northernmost Lapland region. Lastly, we show that haplotype sharing is locally enriched among pairs of individuals sharing rare alleles by an order of magnitude, especially among pairs sharing rare disease causing variants. Our work provides a general framework for using haplotype sharing to reconstruct an integrative view of recent population history and gain insight into the evolutionary origins of rare variants contributing to disease.


In this dissertation,the membrane protein channelrhodopsin-1 from the green flagellate algae Chlamydomonas agustae (CaChR1) is studied using a variety of spectroscopic techniques developed in the Rothschild Molecular Biophysics Laboratory at Boston University. Over the last decade, channelrhodopsins have proven to be effective optogenetic tools due to their ability to function as light-gated ion channels when expressed in neurons. This ability allows neuroscientists to optically activate an inward directed photocurrent which depolarizes the neuronal membranes and triggers an action potential. Although a variety of channelrhodopsins with different properties have been used, the underlying mechanisms of channelrhodopsin functionality is not yet fully understood. The protein studied here has several advantageous properties compared to the more extensively studied channelrhodopsin-2 from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii including a red shifted visible absorption and slower light inactivation despite having a lower channel current. Elucidating the internal molecular mechanisms underlying the function of CaChR1 provides critical insight into the large class of channelrhodopsin proteins leading toward improved bioengineering for specific optogenetic applications. Here near-IR pre-resonance Raman spectroscopy of CaChR1 provides information on the structure of the unphotolyzed (P0) retinal chromophore, the Schiff base protonation state, and presence of carboxylic acid residues interacting with the Schiff base. Low-temperature v FTIR difference spectroscopy combined with site-directed mutagenesis and isotope labeling provide information on changes occurring in the retinal chromophore and protein during the primary phototransition (P0→P1). This includes information about changes involving protonation state of binding-pocket residues, protein backbone structure, and internal water molecules. Further experiments combining low-temperature and time-resolved FTIRdifference spectroscopy reveal additional information about structural changes during the transition from the unphotolyzed state to the active (open channel) state of the protein (P0→P2). This work has resulted in an initial model that describes key proton transfer events which occur between the Schiff base and carboxylic acid residues inside the active site of CaChR1. The model raises the possibility that ion channel gating and ion specificity is regulated by the protonation changes of two key residues (Glu 169 and Asp299) located near the Schiff base.


This paper presents a system for parallel operation of functional units in a processor that is under microprogram control. Specifically, for a multiple functional unit computer this new technique allows concurrent operation of the functional units without requiring hardwired instructions. A new interlock system for ordering execution of instructions is also presented. Two applications are shown: one to a three functional unit serial processor and one to an array processor. The mechanism allows holding instructions until the data on which they are to operate are ready and is a microcode version of that used on the IBM 360/91 or on the CDC 6600. This concurrency can be under either hardware, firmware, or software control.


'A useful book for the specialist engaged in assessment and research'. - Journal of Analytical Psychology 'This book is a must-have for the bookshelf if you are a student or practitioner in the fields of psychology or even sociology. It will be of equal value to anyone working in the fields of brain injury, mental health or related fields. It is a handbook of references, terms and abbreviations related to neuroanatomy, psychology, medicine and their experiments and therapies, as well as dipping in and out of statistical processes and their meanings. The book will have broad appeal from student to practitioner to doctor. This book is a new and improved second edition. I only wish I had known of the existence of the first edition as it will most certainly prove a valuable tool.' - The Encephalitis Society The fully revised and updated second edition of this well-established reference provides over 400 new or improved terms, and is an exhaustive guide to the key terms used in psychological testing, assessment and measurement. Over 3000 definitions offer clear explanations of statistical procedures commonly used in psychology; major psychometric and other psychological tests; categories of mental illness, mental disability, and brain damage; frequently used medical terms; basic neuroanatomy; and types of psychological therapies. This book is suitable for all levels of understanding, from undergraduate and postgraduate students to practitioners of psychology and associated fields, with particular attention to statistical terms used in typical university syllabuses, as well as tests commonly available in computer packages and cited in psychological journals and similar publications.


We introduce and study extensions of the varying alpha theory of Bekenstein-Sandvik-Barrow-Magueijo to allow for an arbitrary coupling function and self-interaction potential term in the theory. We study the full evolution equations without assuming that variations in alpha have a negligible effect on the expansion scale factor and the matter density evolution, as was assumed in earlier studies. The background FRW cosmology of this model in the cases of zero and non-zero spatial curvature is studied in detail, using dynamical systems techniques, for a wide class of potentials and coupling functions. All the asymptotic behaviours are found, together with some new solutions. We study the cases where the electromagnetic parameter, zeta, is positive and negative, corresponding to magnetic and electrostatic energy domination in the non-relativistic matter. In particular, we investigate the cases where the scalar field driving alpha variations has exponential and power-law self-interaction potentials and the behaviour of theories where the coupling constant between matter and alpha variations is no longer a constant. PACS numbers: 98.80.Es, 98.80.Bp, 98.80.Cq


Bis-tridentate Ru(II) complexes based on the dqp scaffold (dqp is 2,6-di(quinolin-8-yl)pyridine) with multiple aryl substituents were explored to tailor the absorption and emission properties. A synthetic methodology was developed for the facile synthesis and purification of homo- and heteroleptic bis-tridentate Ru complexes. The effect of the aryl substituents in the para positions of the pyridine and quinoline subunits was detailed by X-ray crystallography, steady state and time-resolved spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and computational methods. The attachment of the aryl groups results in enhanced molar extinction coefficients with the largest effect in the pyridine position, whereas the quinoline substituent leads to red-shifted emission tailing into the NIR region (up to 800 nm). Notably, the excited state lifetimes remain in the microsecond time scale even in the presence of O2, whereas the emission quantum yields are slightly increased with respect to the parental complex [Ru(dqp)2](2+). The peripheral functional groups (Br, Me, OMe) have only a minor impact on the optical properties and are attractive to utilize such complexes as functional building blocks.


Abstract
 We describe as new to science six new species of the diatom genus Gomphonema Ehrenberg from Lake Baikal, based on light and scanning electron microscope observations. The six species are morphologically similar to G. ventricosum, a northern European taxon known mostly from Scotland, Scandinavia and other Baltic countries, though it has been recognized also from North America. The six species are similar to G. ventricosum W. Gregory in the structure of the external occlusions over the areolae. The species also have prominent septa and pseudosepta, which distinguishes them from other species of the genus. They are distinguished from one another in the shapes and sizes of the valves. This group of closely related species may correspond to a species flock, a phenomenon in freshwater diatoms that is known from ancient lakes and flowing water systems. Further research is needed to confirm the monophyly of this group, and either support or challenge the idea of them representing a species flock.


Background & Objectives: Tooth wear (attrition, abrasion, erosion, and abfraction) is perceived globally as ever increasing problem. Several outcome of the tooth wear are hypersensitivity, esthetic problems, functional impairment, annoyance to the patient, and fracture of the tooth. Among these, the measurable and more commonly reported outcome is hypersensitivity to stimuli. Although dentin hypersensitivity is a common clinical condition and is generally reported by the patient after experiencing a sharp, short pain caused by one of the several different external stimuli, it is often inadequately understood. None of the scientific literature available till date attempted to establish the relationship between tooth wear and dentin hypersensitivity which could be a key factor in monitoring those patients.  The aim of the study was to estimate the association between severity of teeth wear and sensitivity in the patients with reported dentinal hypersensitivity. Materials & Methods: Fifty patients with dentin hypersensitivity were investigated for tooth wear. Tooth wear measured using exact tooth wear index and level of sensitivity to stimuli was recorded using a numerical rating scale. Results: Enamel wear at cervical region of teeth showed a positive correlation (p=.010), similarly, dentin wear at cervical region of teeth showed positive correlation and significant association (p<.001) with dentinal hypersensitivity. Conclusion:  The observation supports a significant association between severities of tooth surface wear and dentinal hypersensitivity.


Moon jellyfish, Aurelia spp., are found in marine and estuarine
environments worldwide and can concentrate into dense
aggregations within enclosed or semi-enclosed water bodies
(e.g., Lucas et al. 1997, Purcell et al. 2000). Aggregations
are often promoted by physical properties of the water body
in which they occur and are commonly believed to facilitate
sexual reproduction, rather than act as a defence against
predation ortargetingfoodsources (Graham etal. 2001, Lucas
2001). The presence of!arge-scale aggregations of medusae, as
a function offavourable conditions, has substantial ecological
and economic consequences (Purcell et al. 2007).
The distribution, abundance and life history characteristics
of the genus Aurelia are highly variable spatially and
temporally (e.g., Schneider & Brehrends 1994, Lucas et al.
1997). The pelagic medusa stage generally occurs seasonally
and lives for several months (Lucas & Williams 1994, Miyake
et al. 1997), but in some populations, medusae will live for
12 months or more (Kinoshita et al. 2006).
Aurelia medusae are voracious feeders and are capable of
modifying the seasonal composition and abundance of the
planktonic community (Schneider & Brehrends 1994, Lucas
et al. 1997). Secondary effects of high grazing pressure include
increased phytoplankton biomass through reduced grazing
pressure by copepods (Lindahl & Hernroth, 1983, Olsson
et al. 1992, M0ller & Riisgard 2007a) and decreased food
availability for other zooplanktivores, which can have impacts
through the food chain (Purcell & Arai 2001). Given their
widespread distribution, occurrence in large aggregations and
capacity to alter trophic dynamics, jellyfishes are potentially
important consumers and transformers of energy and
nutrients in the marine ecosystem (e.g., Watanabe & Ishii
2001, Pauly et al. 2009, Pitt et al. 2009).
Determining the abundances and sizes of jellyfish in
the oceans has proved difficult because of their large sizes,
fragility and patchy distributions, both horizontally and
vertically, and because their gelatinous bodies are difficult
to tag (Purcell 2009). Also, the high water content of their
tissues makes acoustic sampling difficult, although combined
acoustic soundings and video recordings can monitor
relatively reliably some jellyfish species, provided the target
species can be distinguished from other co-occurring species
acoustically (Bamstedt et al. 2003, Alvarez Columbo et al.
2009). Consequently, estimates of the extents, causes and
effects of jellyfish blooms have rarely been conducted on a
large scale (Purcell 2009).
Aurelia sp. medusae periodically occur in dense monospecific
aggregations in the sheltered waterways of southeast
Tasmania, Australia (pl. 1). The medusae are morphologically
similar to Aurelia aurita; however, they are genetically distinct
from other species of Aurelia and have been designated as
Aurelia sp. 7 (Dawson et al. 2005).
Growth, survival and reproduction of the sessile, asexual,
colonial phase of this species has been found to be regulated
by a combination of density-dependent factors and
environmental conditions, which are consequently important
to the formation of jellyfish aggregations (Willcox et al.
2008). These aggregations, however, were largely unnoticed
until they caused the deaths of cultured Atlantic Salmon
in Tasmania, valued at millions of dollars. 'The objective
of this study was to describe the biological characteristics
of this species, as part of a larger study investigating
mechanisms driving the intermittent occurrence of Aurelia
sp. aggregations in southeast Tasmania. This included growth
and reproduction of individuals in the aggregations, and
estimating aggregation size and total biomass of medusae in
the system. To achieve this, we developed a method to assess
the abundance of jellyfish by combining aerial photography,
underwater video photography and net sampling.