Despite its natural resource wealth, West Virginia today ranks last among all states in its residents' overall sense of well-being, a puzzle that economists call "the resource curse." Much of West Virginia's wealth, in the form of coal, oil, and gas, left the state in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries before the state could tax it. This discouraging story was not inevitable. In 1905, a Morgantown lawyer named George C. Baker led an effort to tax coal, oil, and gas leases as personal property that nearly succeeded. Baker and his allies, Governor William M.O. Dawson and Tax Commissioner Charles W. Dillon, won a high-profile court battle in 1905 against industries that had managed to defeat hot-button tax reform efforts in the legislature the year before. While powerful Standard Oil Company was resigned to comply as it focused on more threatening battles elsewhere, the coal industry resisted. Coal companies and their attorneys succeeded in diluting the new taxes nearly out of existence at the assessment stage under a theory that the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals would uphold in late 1906, changing course from its decision just a year earlier. Despite the efforts of Baker and his colleagues, the corporate reforms that prospered on the national level during the Progressive Era never took root in West Virginia. This history bears revisiting in the current debates over tax reform and the prospects for economic and social development of the state.


ABSTRACT This study provides an understanding of the current social media landscape for higher education institutions. While it is recognized that consistency in school branding across all communications with stakeholders is important to attract and retain students, relatively little work has been done to determine specifically what type of content should be included in a school's social media campaign, nor has there been an investigation as to the relative frequency of the content. The authors use content analysis to examine Facebook posts from 66 top US colleges and universities and engagement from their constituents on these posts. Results show that there are significant differences in engagement received on posts across institution type. Additionally, media type and posting frequency are factors that contribute to engagement. This study provides direction on how university social media managers can better manage their social media content to improve engagement and increase the reach of their posts.


Phenolic compounds are found in the seeds, flowers, leaves, stems, branches, and fruits of plants. They have an important place in human nutrition as many fruits and vegetables have phenolic compounds. Recently, many phenolic compounds have been used as functional foods and research of new phenolic compounds that are candidate to become functional foods is ongoing. Probiotics which are beneficial microorganisms, are living microbes that benefit the host when taken in sufficient amounts and they have an important role in human gastrointestinal microbiota. The present study aims to investigate effects of Axillarin and Verbascoside, two phenolic compounds isolated from Tanacetum alyssifolium and Plantago euphratica, respectively, on two very common probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus. For this, growth kinetics, auto-aggregation, and microbial adhesion to solvents, which are some critical properties of probiotics, were investigated. Axillarin and verbascoside showed significant improvement on growths of Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG depending on the dose. Auto-aggregation properties were enhanced by these phenolic compounds, even though surface hydrophobicities were decreased. In conclusion, the present study indicates that the vital conditions of the probiotics could be modulated by Axillarin and/or Verbascoside, consequently their adhesion and colonization capabilities could be altered.


Abstract This study examined a series of machine learning models, evaluating their effectiveness in assessing children's energy expenditure, in terms of the metabolic equivalents (MET) of physical activity (PA), from triaxial accelerometery. The study also determined the impact of the sensor placement (waist, ankle or wrist) on the machine learning model's predictive performance. Twenty-eight healthy Caucasian children aged 8–11years (13 girls, 15 boys) undertook a series of activities reflective of different levels of PA (lying supine, seated and playing with Lego, slow walking, medium walking, and a medium paced run, instep passing a football, overarm throwing and catching and stationary cycling). Energy expenditure and physical activity were assessed during all activities using accelerometers (GENEActiv monitor) worn on four locations (i.e. non-dominant wrist, dominant wrist, dominant waist, dominant ankle) and breath-by-breath calorimetry data. MET values ranged from 1.2 ± 0.2 for seated playing with Lego to 4.1 ± 0.8 for running at 6.5 kmph−1. Machine learning models were used to determine the MET values from the accelerometer data and to determine which placement location performed more effectively in predicting the PA data. The study identified that novel machine learning models can be used to accurately predict METs, with 90% accuracy. The models showed a preference towards the dominant wrist or ankle as the movement in those positions were more consistent during PA. It was evident that machine learning models using these locations can be effectively used to accurately predict METs for PA in children.


In the post-Cold War era, the most common and often the most violent conflicts are ethnic conflicts. Many people, including many scholars, see ethnic conflicts as a return to the past, as contests between ancient and well-defined groups with long-standing grievances and animosities. Jack David Eller argues instead that these conflicts are a defining phenomenon of the "new world order"--that they are, in many ways, modern-day inventions based only loosely on "traditional" cultures and hostilities."From Culture to Ethnicity to Conflict" presents in-depth case studies on Sri Lanka, the Kurds, Rwanda and Burundi, Bosnia, and Quebec, along with two theoretical introductory chapters that offer the reader the tools to understand the relationship between "culture" or "tradition" and contemporary ethnic conflicts. Eller finds that ethnicity is not a simple instantiation of "traditional" culture, nor is conflict a simple consequence of ethnicity. Rather, each is constructed out of certain raw cultural materials, through a process of remembering, forgetting, interpreting, and inventing. Ultimately, Eller demonstrates, these groups are fighting not "about" culture, but "with" culture.No other book combines the level of analysis offered here with in-depth case studies of several important examples. It will appeal to anyone with an interest in understanding these conflicts. It will be assigned reading for students and scholars of cultural diversity and ethnic conflict in anthropology, history, political science, and peace and conflict studies.Jack David Eller is Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Denver/Teikyo Loretto Heights University.


The global economic crisis and recession that began in 2008 had at least one unexpected outcome: a surge in sales of Karl Marx'sCapital. Although mainstream economists and commentators once dismissed Marx's work as outmoded and flawed, some are begrudgingly acknowledging an analysis that sees capitalism as inherently unstable. And of course, there are those, like Michael Heinrich, who have seen the value of Marx all along, and are in a unique position to explain the intricacies of Marx's thought. Heinrich's modern interpretation ofCapitalis now available to English-speaking readers for the first time. It has gone through nine editions in Germany, is the standard work for Marxist study groups, and is used widely in German universities. The author systematically covers all three volumes ofCapitaland explains all the basic aspects of Marx's critique of capitalism in a way that is clear and concise. He provides background information on the intellectual and political milieu in which Marx worked, and looks at crucial issues beyond the scope of Capital, such as class struggle, the relationship between capital and the state, accusations of historical determinism, and Marx's understanding of communism. Uniquely, Heinrich emphasizes the monetary character of Marx's work, in addition to the traditional emphasis on the labor theory of value, this highlighting the relevance ofCapitalto the age of financial explosions and implosions."


In this paper we demonstrate the theoretical equivalence of two robust techniques for two-dimensional phase unwrapping. The first is based on the least-squares (LS) approach, and the second is based on Green's formulation. To be theoretically comparable with Green's method, the LS phase unwrapping is formulated in the continuous domain, leading to the minimization of a specific functional. Subsequently, we investigate the computational requirements of the procedures implementing the two methods. To do this, we have modified the first Green's identity-based algorithm to account for periodic phase patterns. This reformulation allows us to compare the existing efficient LS procedures and leads to a procedure whose memory and computational requirements are less stringent than those presented in Fornaro et al. [ IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens.34, 720 ( 1996)].


A large-scale regression analysis was carried out using experimental data gathered from various sources to evaluate the ratio of splitting tensile strength to cylinder compressive strength as a function of compressive strength of concrete. The reliability of the proposed equation based on experimental data for compressive strength ranging between 4 and 120 MPa (580 to 17,400 psi) was assessed by means of the integral absolute error (IAE). It is also shown that, by only knowing compressive strength and the ratio of tensile to compressive strength, the failure envelope for very highstrength concrete can be established using Johnston's strength criterion without performing triaxial compression tests. A numerical example demonstrates the application of Johnston's strength criterion.


Studying biochemical indicators in response to various environmental factors allows revealing the metabolic adaptive strategy of the organism's tolerance and survival under a variety of environmental impacts. This review analyses both the authors' own data and the available literature on the problem of biochemical adaptations of the lipid composition in marine bivalves, particularly blue mussels, Mytilus edulis L., to various environmental impacts. Modifications in the composition of lipids and their fatty acids in blue mussels caused by short-term (under laboratory conditions) and chronic (field monitoring) exposure to natural and human factors indicate that homeostasis is maintained in cell membranes and the organism's energy requirements and facilitate the adaptation and tolerance of the mussels to environmental disturbances. The lipid and fatty acid composition indices in White Sea intertidal mussels which reflect their chronic exposure to a wide variety of environmental factors are discussed and compared to data on changes in the lipid composition of blue mussels exposed to some environmental factors (salinity, anoxia, metals) in aquarium experiments. The lipid profile plays an important role in the adaptation of blue mussels to new conditions in the habitat, and it can be used as a biochemical marker for indicating the organism's physiological state.


The golden-haired bark beetle, Hylurgus ligniperda (F.), is a common forest insect which may be associated with pine (Pinus radiata D.Don) logs exported from New Zealand. We tested the dose-mortality responses of H. ligniperda adults, from two different origins (field vs laboratory), to methyl bromide (MB), the most widely used fumigant worldwide; and to ethanedinitrile (EDN), a potential alternative to MB. Naked insects were fumigated with either MB or EDN at 10°C for 4 and 3 hours, respectively. Laboratory adults had been reared on artificial diet under controlled conditions for >10 generations. Field adults, by contrast, had been recently collected from Lindgren funnel traps with lures of alpha-pinene and ethanol. Tolerance to the two fumigants tested was significantly different, according to the origin of the insects, with field-collected adults being less tolerant to MB and EDN than laboratory-reared ones. The implications of our results for the development of disinfestation schedules for New Zealand export logs will be discussed.


The paper proposes a novel method for the optimal parameter selection of the discrete-time switch model used in circuit solvers that adopt the Fixed Admittance Matrix Nodal Method (FAMNM) approach. As known, FAMNM-based circuit solvers allow to reach efficient computation times since they do not need the inversion of the circuit nodal admittance matrix. However, these solvers need to optimally tune the so-called discrete switch conductance, since this parameter might largely affect the simulations accuracy. Within this context, the method proposed in the paper minimizes the distance between the eigenvalues of the original circuit's nodal admittance matrix with those associated with the presence of the discrete-time switches. The method is proven to provide values of the discrete-time switch conductance that maximize the simulation accuracy and minimize the losses on this artificial parameter. The performances of the proposed method are finally validated by making reference to two test cases: (i) a circuit composed of RLC elements, (ii) a network model that includes a single-phase transmission line.


It is known that moving visual stimuli (bouncing balls) have an advantage over static visual ones (flashes) in sensorimotor synchronization, such that the former match auditory beeps in driving synchronization while the latter do not. This occurs in beat-based synchronization but not in beat-based purely perceptual tasks, suggesting that the advantage is action-specific. The main goal of this study was to test the advantage of moving over static visual stimuli in a different perceptual timing system – duration-based perception – to determine whether the advantage is action-specific in a broad sense, i.e., if it excludes both beat-based and duration-based perception. We asked a group of participants to perform different tasks with three stimulus types: auditory beeps, visual bouncing balls (moving) and visual flashes (static). First, participants performed a duration-based perception task in which they judged whether intervals were speeding up or slowing down; then they did a synchronization task with isochronous sequences; finally, they performed a beat-based perception task in which they judged whether sequences sounded right or wrong. Bouncing balls outperformed flashes and matched beeps in synchronization. In the duration-based perceptual task, beeps, balls and flashes were equivalent, but in beat-based perception beeps outperformed balls and flashes. Our findings suggest that the advantage of moving over static visual stimuli is grounded on action rather than perception in a broad sense, in that it is absent in both beat-based and duration-based perception.


The paper develops a framework for the analysis of inter-project learning in different cultures, applies the framework to a comparative case study within one multinational company, and presents preliminary results about cultural differences in learning patterns. The results indicate that the designers in the Italian unit, representing a multi-active culture, enthusiastically use meetings for the transfer of explicit knowledge between R&D projects. In the Finnish unit, on the contrary, the designers prefer face-to-face discussion and transfer of tacit as well as codified knowledge, which is typical of a reactive culture. First results from the replication of the study in a German unit reveal that this unit prefers more structured forms of communication between projects, which fits its linear-active culture. This communication style is also observed in the Swedish centre organisation, representing a linear-active culture. At the end of this paper, some implications of cultural differences for learning strategies and reward systems in global R&D project management are discussed, and directions for future research are presented.


The role of Magistrates is to conduct trials, establish guilt or innocence, determine sentences, enforce court orders, make bail decisions, issue warrants and remand people to custody (Newburn, 2007). The role of YOTs is less clear, however, and they have struggled to establish and maintain a clear identity (Canton and Eadie, 2002). Although YOTs remain the sole service responsible for young offenders within England and Wales, there has been a continually moving agenda, from a primary focus upon welfare needs to a growing concern with enforcement (Thomas, 2008). In the past 10 years there has been an increasing focus on performance management and target setting which has resulted in YOTs becoming driven by procedural concerns rather than professional values. As Smith (2007) notes, National Standards (2004) have ensured that welfare issues have become further marginalised with a preoccupation with compliance with court orders. Souhami (2007) writes of the loss of occupational identity within youth justice, citing confusion about the goals and principles of youth justice work and how external influences affect the way YOTs operate. This article argues that, as a result, both the magistrates and their YOTs are mutually reinforcing local court cultures and outcomes which have become harsher and more punitive over time (Muncie, 2009). It concludes by arguing that if magistrates and YOTs can develop trust and confidence whilst remaining independent of each other's interests there is also the potential for better outcomes for some young people, with a reduced likelihood of further offending as a consequence. The term "better outcome" can be viewed as having two elements: firstly, sentences which the young person as well as the court believes will help prevent them from committing further offending or that the young person considers to be worthwhile (McGrath, 2009) and secondly, outcomes which do not damage the young person (Goldson, 2005, 2006). In essence this means limiting the use of custody, for both sentence and remand, in all but the most serious cases because of the substantial evidence concerning its damaging effects on children and young people (Bateman, 2005; Goldson, 2005; Goldson, 2006; Muncie, 2009). Frances Done, Chair of the Youth Justice Board (YJB) recently noted that: We have to help YOTs build as much confidence with local magistrates' benches as possible. The better the relationship between the YOT and the courts the more confident magistrates are in the reports YOTs do and the better the general understanding of the work of the YOT and the way Referral Order panels work, the more likely it is there will be lower custody rates (Youth Justice News July 08). There is considerable disparity in the use of custodial sentences around the country, for example, the YJB figures for 2007/8 record Liverpool as having custody rates of 11.8% whereas Newcastle, a YOT of similar size, has custody rates of only 2.1%. John Fasselfelt (2009), Deputy Chair of the Magistrates Association, argues that this might not be due to one Bench being more punitive than another; but "a lack of confidence on the part of magistrates in Youth Offending Teams". Bateman and Stanley (2002) examined differences in sentencing patterns across England and Wales and identified a clear correlation between magistrates' perceptions of the quality of local YOTs and levels of custody. They found that magistrates in areas of high custody rates had less confidence in the local YOT than their counterparts where custody was less frequently used. Their study also revealed lower custody rates in areas with good communication and information exchange within the court. Roles within the Youth Court The role of the Magistrate is essentially that of a decision maker who has heard information provided by the other court room professionals. How those decisions are made is a matter of interest. Parker (1989:116) writes of the "professional ideology of the lay magistrates" wherein magistrates believe themselves to be the only impartial members of the court, citing the "deviousness of defence lawyers, defendant centeredness of social workers and over enthusiasm of police evidence" (Parker 1989:171). …


The employee relations climate in an organisation has its basis in the way in which managers and employees interact with and perceive each other. This relationship can impact on the ability of an organisation to successfully achieve its business goals and objectives and subsequently gain competitive advantage over its rivals.

There appears to be a change in attitude among a lot of employers in relation to managing the employment relationship with a view to improving organisational effectiveness and the overall profitability of the business.

This project aims to examine the nature of the employment relationship and the potential benefits to employers of promoting and maintaining a positive employment relationship.


. Product attribute extraction is an important task in e-commerce domain. Extracting pairs of attribute label and value from free-text product descriptions can be useful for many tasks, such as product matching, product categorization, faceted product search, and product recommendation. In this paper, we present a study of attribute extraction from Indonesian e-commerce product titles. We annotate 1,721 product titles with 16 attribute labels. We apply supervised learning technique using CRF algorithm. We propose combination of lexical, word embedding, and dictionary features to learn the attribute using joint extraction model. Our model achieves F1-measure 47.30% and 68.49% respectively for full match and partial match evaluation. Based on the experiment, we find that doing attributes extraction on more various number and diverse attributes simultaneously does not necessarily give worse result compared to extraction on less number of attributes.


In this paper, we examine the use of Twitter by city police departments in large U.S. cities (cities with populations greater than 300,000). The purpose of our study is to determine what types of information are shared by city police departments over Twitter and to determine how the public uses the information shared to converse with the police departments and with each other. We read and analyzed 4,915 posts authored by 30 city police departments that have active Twitter accounts. The analysis shows that city police departments in large U.S. cities primarily use Twitter to disseminate crime and incident related information. City police departments also use Twitter to share information about their departments, events, traffic, safety awareness, and crime prevention. To a lesser extent, city police departments use Twitter to converse directly with the public and news media. We also sampled four weeks of public-authored tweets, totaling 1,984 tweets, that contained police department Twitter usernames and found that a majority of these tweets were retweets of police authored tweets; public-authored tweets also mentioned police departments in discussions or were used to send direct messages. This paper furthers our understanding of information sharing by city police departments as well as public redistribution of this information through the use of social media tools.


The concept of causal interactions between components is an integral part of hydrology and Earth system sciences. Modelers, decision makers, scientists, and other water resources stakeholders all utilize some notion of cause‐and‐effect to understand processes, make decisions, and infer how systems react to change. However, there are different perspectives on the meaning of causality in complex systems and, further, different frameworks and methodologies with which to detect causal interactions. We propose here that information theory (IT) provides a compelling framework for the detection of causality and discuss approaches for several levels of analyses that capture interactions that range from pairwise to multivariate in nature. We illustrate these types of analyses with an example based on weather station time series variables, in which variables may interact pairwise or jointly and on short to long time scales. In general, many unsolved or even unanticipated questions in the hydrologic sciences could benefit from this perspective.


This paper is based on sociological research whose purpose is the analysis of social processes (social settings, contexts, psychological economies, interpersonal relationships) through which individuals, although in long- term monogamous relationships, develop and maintain a long-term clandestine amorous and sexual relationship alongside their official union. This is the analysis of a specific form of non-monogamy because it transgresses the socially accepted role of monogamy as the legitimate norm, by the occultation of emotional and sexual exclusivity that are the standards that underpin the dominant model of contemporary Western couples.
The analyses are mainly based on approximately fifty life stories about men and women married or cohabiting or who have or have had a long term relationship, clandestinely alongside their official couple. The research was conducted in France. Those interviewed are heterosexual, aged 34-90 years and belong to the middle and upper classes.
The analysis will be presented in three ways:
1) Adultery as an integral part of monogamous marriage (socio-historical approach)
2) How did a love duality develop in individuals valuing monogamy:
3) The clandestine non-monogamy put to the test : long term adulterous relationships as a privileged space in the construction of masculine virility versus female resistance.


In 1978-1991 the USSR-Guinea Virological and Microbiological Laboratory functioned in Kindia, the Republic of Guinea. Arbovirus activity in this country was studied by a number of virologists and other specialists. Their personal contribution and achievements in this collaboration are reflected in the present paper. About 74,000 mosquitoes, 100,000 Ixodidae ticks, 1,500 wild birds, 2,700 bats, 106 monkeys, and 308 other mammals, 927 blood samples collected from febrile patients were examined in 1978-1989, using inoculation of new-born white mice. As a result of this work 127 strains of the following arboviruses were isolated: Chikungunia (1 strain), Dengue 2 (4), Saboya (7), Wesselsbron (1), Bunyamwera (4), M'Poko (5), Rift Valley Fever (6), CHF-Congo (9), Dugbe (22), Bhanja (6), Forecariah (2), Jos (26), Abadina (15), Kindia (2), Ark 6956 (1), Fomede (2), Bluetongue (9), Mossuril (2), AnK 6009 (1), and Kolente (2). Dengue 2, Wesselsbron, Bunyamwera, M'Poko, Kindia, Mossuril viruses were isolated from mosquitoes. Ixodidae ticks were sources for isolation of Chikungunia, Saboya, CCHF, Dugbe, Bhanja, Forecaciah, Jos, Abadina, Kindia, Ark 6956, Fomede, Bluetongue, and Kolente viruses. Saboya, RVF, Fomede, Kolente, AnK 6909 were isolated from bats (Chiroptera); Saboya, Abadina, and Bluetongue viruses from birds. One strain of Dugbe virus was originated from the brain of Cercopithecus patas. Bunyamwera and Abadina viruses were isolated from the blood of two febrile patients. Serological identification of many strains was kindly conducted at the Pasteur Institute, Dakar (J. P.Digoutte) and some at the YARU, USA (R. Shope). Kindia and Ark 6956 (Reovirus, gr. Palyam), Fomede (gr. Chobar Gorge), Forecariah (Bunyavirus, gr. Bhanja), Kolente (Rhabdovirus) were identified as an original type of Lagos bat virus. The results of seroepidemiological surveys are also presented.


Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) samples efficiently from high-dimensional posterior distributions with proposed parameter draws obtained by iterating on a discretized version of the Hamiltonian dynamics. The iterations make HMC computationally costly, especially in problems with large datasets, since it is necessary to compute posterior densities and their derivatives with respect to the parameters. Naively computing the Hamiltonian dynamics on a subset of the data causes HMC to lose its key ability to generate distant parameter proposals with high acceptance probability. The key insight in our article is that efficient subsampling HMC for the parameters is possible if both the dynamics and the acceptance probability are computed from the same data subsample in each complete HMC iteration. We show that this is possible to do in a principled way in a HMC-within-Gibbs framework where the subsample is updated using a pseudo marginal MH step and the parameters are then updated using an HMC step, based on the current subsample. We show that our subsampling methods are fast and compare favorably to two popular sampling algorithms that utilize gradient estimates from data subsampling. We also explore the current limitations of subsampling HMC algorithms by varying the quality of the variance reducing control variates used in the estimators of the posterior density and its gradients.


Abstract The focus of this article is on examining the civil and human rights of Muslims in America and the bias and prejudice that they encounter in their local communities. The paper includes a list of Muslim, national, and international civil and human rights organizations, and examines their functions. The significant functions of these organizations include providing educational opportunities for Muslims, as well as for non-Muslims, to foster cooperation and promote understanding through dialogue within and between communities. The importance of Muslim involvement with, and contribution to, these organizations, is emphasized; and Muslims are encouraged to access the services of these organizations more fully and in a proactive manner to help reduce the marginalization they currently face. The significance of political participation on the part of the Muslim communities in the wider American society is noted, and the techniques and methods of restorative justice are examined and recommended for adoption. The paper concludes with the assumption that these organizations and affiliations can help protect the civil liberties of Muslims in the US by developing within the community, a political milieu that is conducive to the protection of human rights and promotion of justice.


A study was conducted with the objective of gathering
information on the strength and stiffness properties and
behaviour of joints in rattan furniture subjected to various
kinds of load. Four types of joint commonly found in rattan
furniture making industry, i.e., nailed (N), nailed and bound
with rattan rope (N+B), screwed (S), and screwed and bound
(S+B) were tested in with drawal, lateral and bending loads.
The results showed that in generals crewed joints were
stronger and stiffer than nailed joints. Furthermore, although
bindings have increased the joint strength, the bindings have
not improved the joint stiffness against the all types of
load, except the side bending load. Regression analyses showed
that the rattan specific gravity has significantly influenced the withdrawal and later all strength. The results of the
analyses have also provided some in sights especially on how
the nails, screws or bindings were contributing to the
strength and stiffness properties of the joints. Through this
knowledge, theoretical models were developed for predicting
the bending and side bending rotational stiffnesses of the
joints. In the first model, the bending stiffness was
proportional to the withdrawal stiffness of joint. The second
model showed that the side bending stiffness was much
determined by the bending properties (El) of the embedded
fasteners. Beside its predictive functions, the thearetical
models were envisaged to be a basis for future efforts to
develop better rattan jointing methods.


Currently, transition of T cells from effector to memory is believed to occur as a consequence of exposure to residual suboptimal Ag found in lymphoid tissues at the waning end of the effector phase and microbial clearance. This led to the interpretation that memory arises from slightly activated late effectors producing reduced amounts of IFN-γ. In this study, we show that CD4 T cells from the early stage of the effector phase in which both the Ag and activation are optimal also transit to memory. Moreover, early effector T cells that have undergone four divisions expressed significant IL-7R, produced IFN-γ, and yielded rapid and robust memory responses. Cells that divided three times that had marginal IL-7R expression and no IFN-γ raised base level homeostatic memory, whereas those that have undergone only two divisions and produced IFN-γ yielded conditioned memory despite low IL-7R expression. Thus, highly activated early effectors generated under short exposure to optimal Ag in vivo develop into memory, and such transition is dependent on a significant production of the cell's signature cytokine, IFN-γ.


Starting from general principles of near-field optical microscopy, I demonstrate that an optical image obtained with any near-field microscope operating in a constant (probe–surface) distance mode contains pure topographical artifacts, topographically induced features, and pure optical contrast. Scanning a sharp topographical step at an otherwise homogeneous sample surface is shown to provide a sensitivity window that determines the scale on which the near-field optical image would represent mostly pure optical contrast. I suggest that the sensitivity window can be regarded as the upper limit of optical resolution of a near-field microscope.


OF THESIS EVALUATION OF NATURAL ANTIMICROBIAL PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS AGAINST FOODBORNE PATHOGENS Raw and processed foods are vulnerable to contamination during their production, distribution and sale. Thus, a wide variety of chemical preservatives are used in the food industry to prevent the growth of food spoilage and pathogenic bacteria. However, health and economic concerns have led to an intensive search for natural alternatives, such as plant extracts, that can safely be used as substitutes for synthetic antimicrobials and preservatives to partially or completely inhibit the growth of bacteria. This study evaluated the antimicrobial effects of natural phenolic compounds extracted from vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices. The main objective was to determine the lowest concentration of phenolics to inhibit the visible growth of the pathogenic bacteria which is defined as the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Some of the most common Gram-positive and Gram-negative foodborne pathogens were treated with several natural phenolic compounds. Concentrations of 5, 10, 15, and 20 ppm (pH 5-6) of each compound were evaluated by broth micro-dilution method and the MICs were determined by using official density (OD) assay. The results demonstrated that the phenolic compounds have varying antimicrobial activities against foodborne pathogens. Natural sources of phenolic compounds contain major antibacterial components and have great potential to be used as natural antimicrobials and food preservatives.


One need only read the newspaper to see a rising dangerous phenomenon among juveniles: the creation and subsequent sharing via the Internet of sexually explicit photographs. This "self exploitation" is not only a tragic social problem, but a growing legal one as well. Judges, attorneys, and legislators, are forced to address this activity because, in addition to being self destructive, it is also a violation of state and federal child pornography laws. Juvenile self exploitation illustrates a clash of two lines of jurisprudence and public policy: the aggressive opposition to child pornography and the more lenient rehabilitative treatment of juvenile self destructive behavior. This article offers an in depth analysis of the appropriate societal and governmental response to this behavior and, specifically, whether juvenile prosecution should remain an option for the state. The article analyzes all the growing number of cases in this area; other legal models including criminal child pornography laws, child prostitution laws, and statutory rape laws; the doctrinal bases for governmental intervention in juveniles' lives; as well as numerous social science studies concerning child pornography's effects. Among those most closely examined are the social harms recognized by social science, the courts, and legislatures. The article concludes that, based upon the vast social harms caused by child pornography to children within and exposed to the images, the purpose of the juvenile justice system, and the need for a deterrent to this behavior, juvenile prosecution should remain an option for the state. While prosecution should not be mandatory, policy makers should create a policy and protocol for addressing this self destructive behavior. The article concludes with a proposed protocol offering guidance to policy makers as to when prosecution befits the activity and when it does not.


The carbon-dense peatlands of Indonesia are a landscape of global importance undergoing rapid land-use change. Here, peat drained for agricultural expansion increases the risk of large-scale uncontrolled fires. Several solutions to this complex environmental, humanitarian and economic crisis have been proposed, such as forest protection measures and agricultural support. However, numerous programmes have largely failed. Bundles of interventions are proposed as promising strategies in integrated approaches, but what policy interventions to combine and how to align such bundles to local conditions remains unclear. We evaluate the impact of two types of interventions and of their combinations, in reducing fire occurrence through driving behavioural change: incentives (i.e. rewards that are conditional on environmental performance), and deterrents (e.g. sanction, soliciting concerns for health). We look at the impact of these interventions in 10 villages with varying landscape and fire-risk contexts in Sumatra, Indonesia. A private-led implementation of a standardised programme allows us to study outcome variability through a natural experiment design. We conduct a systematic cross-case comparison to identify the most effective combinations of interventions, using two-step qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and geospatial and socio-economic survey data (n = 303). We analysed the combined influence of proximate conditions (interventions, e.g. fear of sanction) and remote ones (context; e.g. extent of peat soil) on fire outcomes. We show how, depending on the level of risk in the pre-existing context, certain bundles of interventions are needed to succeed. We found that, despite the programme being framed as rewards-based, people were not responding to the reward alone. Rather sanctions and soliciting concern appeared central to fire prevention, raising important equity implications. Our results contribute to the emerging global interest in peat fire mitigation, and the rapidly developing literature on PES performance.


BACKGROUND: There can be a high rate of recurrence of disease after initial drug treatment for giardiasis. These drugs also have a range of adverse effects. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to assess the effects of drug treatments for giardiasis. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group Specialized Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Current Contents, and reference lists of articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised and quasi-randomised trials of drug therapy for giardiasis compared with placebo or another drug. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. MAIN RESULTS: Thirty-four trials were included. Only one trial was without serious methodological flaws. Compared with placebo, drug treatment was associated with an improved cure rate (odds ratio 11.51, 95% confidence interval 2.29 to 57.98). Metronidazole treatment longer than three days had a better parasitological cure rate than other long treatment courses (odds ratio 2.41, 95% confidence interval 1.31 to 4.44), but there was significant heterogeneity between the trials. Available evidence has not detected a difference in cure between single dose therapy and longer treatment courses (odds ratio 0.33, 95% confidence interval 0.08 to 1.34). Within the single dose regimens, the available evidence did not demonstrate a difference in parasitological cure rate between tinidazole and other short therapies (odds ratio 3.39, 95% confidence interval 0.95 to 12.04), but had a higher clinical cure rate (odds ratio 5.33, 95% 2.66 to 10.67). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: A single dose of tinidazole appears to give the highest clinical cure rate for giardiasis with relatively few adverse effects.


Background & Purpose: Opioid maintenance therapy (OMT) is an effective method of treating opioid addiction. Of incarcerated individuals in the U.S., 50-85% have a history of substance abuse, and >80% of inmates with opioid addiction history do not receive treatment. The purpose of this study was to explore individuals' experiences after being tapered from OMT upon incarceration. Methods: Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed using indepth interviewing of 10 participants. Results: Analysis identified six themes that captured the essence of the participants' experiences. Implications & Conclusion: Losing OMT upon incarceration was described as an extremely stressful experience for many individuals, and may create issues for both inmates and facility staff. Further research is needed to discover ways in which to improve addiction treatment in prison.


This book provides a single-source reference for whole life embodied impacts of buildings. The comprehensive and persuasive text, written by over 50 invited experts from across the world, offers an indispensable resource both to newcomers and to established practitioners in the field. Ultimately it provides a persuasive argument as to why embodied impacts are an essential aspect of sustainable built environments.
The book is divided into four sections: measurement, including a strong emphasis on uncertainty analysis, as well as offering practical case studies of individual buildings and a comparison of materials; management, focusing in particular on the perspective of designers and contractors; mitigation, which identifies some specific design strategies as well as challenges; and finally global approaches, six chapters which describe in authoritative detail the ways in which the different regions of the world are tackling the issue.


The conventional wisdom is that the USA PATRIOT Act tore down the wall that prevented counterterrorism officials from sharing information with one another. Yet a number of laws remain on the books that could restrict data exchange, including the National Security Act of 1947, the Posse Comitatus Act, and the Privacy Act. Each statute reflects a blend of distinct policy concerns – for instance, preventing criminal investigators from evading the legal limits on domestic surveillance, keeping military and intelligence agencies from using excessive force in contexts where it's unjustified, ensuring that the armed forces remain subordinate to civilian authorities, and safeguarding individual privacy against government intrusions. These laws are overbroad; they have the potential to restrict not just the harmful conduct Congress sought to proscribe, but also innocent information sharing. In fact, it's possible to expand sharing while simultaneously vindicating these laws' underlying principles. Intelligence agencies are unlikely to collect evidence for law enforcement officials to use in criminal proceedings, because doing so would undermine their institutional interests. Information sharing can mitigate intelligence and military incentives to operate in inappropriate spheres. The chances that data exchange might undermine civilian control of the military are too slight to justify sharing restrictions. And information sharing can preserve privacy values by reducing the need for agencies to engage in multiple rounds of privacy-eroding surveillance.


This article aims to show to what extent strategic planning performed by Brazilian universities from the State of Para has contributed, whether positively or negatively, to achieve institutional objectives. The research can be classified as explanatory with features of a qualitative multi-case study because it seeks to explain casual relationship between strategic planning and institutional objectives. Managers at strategic and tactical levels were interviewed and the data collection was conducted through interviews, questionnaires and documentary research. Cross-analysis is used to explain cause-effect relationships, as well as to validate the conclusions drawn from the confrontation with the theoretical framework. It was found that University A has nearly performed all the strategic planning process steps; however, it does not positively contribute to the achievement of institutional objectives since some weaknesses were identified. On the other hand, despite having followed the same process with minor differences, University B has been able to achieve the institutional objectives.


In the multi-core CPU world, transactional memory (TM) has emerged as an alternative to lock-based programming for thread synchronization. Recent research proposes the use of TM in GPU architectures, where a high number of computing threads, organized in SIMT fashion, requires an effective synchronization method. In contrast to CPUs, GPUs offer two memory spaces: global memory and local memory. The local memory space serves as a shared scratch-pad for a subset of the computing threads, and it is used by programmers to speed-up their applications thanks to its low latency. Prior work from the authors proposed a lightweight hardware TM (HTM) support based in the local memory, modifying the SIMT execution model and adding a conflict detection mechanism. An efficient implementation of these features is key in order to provide an effective synchronization mechanism at the local memory level. After a quick description of the main features of our HTM design for GPU local memory, in this work we gather together a number of proposals designed with the aim of improving those mechanisms with high impact on performance. Firstly, the SIMT execution model is modified to increase the parallelism of the application when transactions must be serialized in order to make forward progress. Secondly, the conflict detection mechanism is optimized depending on application characteristics, such us the read/write sets, the probability of conflict between transactions and the existence of read-only transactions. As these features can be present in hardware simultaneously, it is a task of the compiler and runtime to determine which ones are more important for a given application. This work includes a discussion on the analysis to be done in order to choose the best configuration solution.


Very few people are happy at present with the law review publishing process, from article submission and selection to editing. Complaints are longstanding, and similar ones emerge from faculty and students alike. Yet, heretofore, change has not occurred. Instead, we are locked in our ugly world of submit and expedite, stepping on the toes of numerous student editors in the process. And the editing process falls far short of ideal.
This Article recommends wholesale change to the submission and editing process. The first part details the dysfunctions of the current system, including everything from lack of student capacity to evaluate faculty scholarship — particularly under the gun of the expedite process — to faculty submitting subpar work in light of rigid submission cycles. It then turns to making a perverse defense of the current system. In light of technological change, law reviews play a very different function at present than even twenty years ago. Most faculty publish their work on electronic databases even prior to submission to law reviews. Law reviews serve as the final resting place of those articles for archival purposes, while ostensibly providing students with a sound pedagogical experience. Part three undercuts the perverse defense by pointing to the huge and unacceptable costs of the present system, in which student editors scramble over one another to accept manuscripts, often wasting time on rejected submissions, while faculty labor with student-overediting, all in the service of articles that for the most part are rarely or never cited.
The final part of this article is a raft of suggestions to change the present system to produce better published scholarship, at lower cost to faculty and students, including blind submission, elimination of submitting articles to one's own school, some form of peer review, and limiting submissions or requiring authors to accept the offer they receive. The suggestions extend to the editing process, which — at present — is out of control, and does little to make scholarship the best it can be.


A goal of this research is to successfully accomplish a long distance navigation task, including "passing through a doorway", by an autonomous robot equipped with a manipulator. In our approach to this problem, we apply the concept of action primitives to the mobile manipulator control system. Action primitives are defined as unit elements of a complex behavior, such as door opening behavior. Basically, the action primitives control a robot according sequences of planned motion primitives. But as an important feature, each action primitive is designed with an error adjustment mechanism to cope with accumulated positioning error of the mobile base. In this paper, we report the design and implementation of action primitives for door opening behavior for our experimental robot, and show experimental results of an autonomous mobile manipulator's "passing through a doorway" using sequences of designed action primitives.


This study compares the soils, floristic composition, phytosociological structure and history of seven Brazilian savannas in the Amazon basin: those at Alter do Chao, Amapa, Roraima and SE Humaita are islands in rain forest; and those at Chapada dos Parecis, Reden<;ao, and Carolina are on the periphery (northern border) of the central Brazilian savannas (the so-called 'cerrado'). A total of 26 transects were sampled by the PCQ method (for trees with dbh ~ 5 cm) and additional tree species were recorded by 'wide patrolling'. A total of 101 species were recorded from the transects and another 43 species were recorded by 'wide patrolling'. Byrsonima crassifolia, B. coccolobifolia, Curatella americana, Salvertia convallariodora and Plathymenia reticulata occurred in most or all sites, but no species occurred in all transects. The number of species in the isolated savannas decreased with the distance from the central Brazilian core savanna area. Both cluster analysis (based on the S0rensen Similarity Index) and ordination (DCA), showed that the disjunct and non-isolated peripheral areas were in floristically distinct groups. Five surface soil samples (0 10 cm) were collected from each of the 26 transects. Two soil cores (up to 4 m depth), one located in the savanna and the other from the nearest forest present, were taken from each study site for carbon isotope analysis. All the sites had acidic soils (pH 4.5 5.2) and a wide range of concentrations of aluminium (0.12 1.49 meq 100g-1); most of the other soil properties varied significantly within study sites. An ordination (peA) distinguished the soils from Amapa, Alter do Chao, Reden9ao and Roraima, but did not distinguish the disjunct sites from non-isolated peripheral ones. The soil 813C values of all the disjunct savannas indicated a vegetation change in the past from C3 to C4 plants, showing that forest (or at least a vegetation with few C4 plants) formely covered these sites. 14C dating indicated that the disjunct savannas are of relatively recent origin, e.g. Humaita was dated at about 2,000 years BP, and hence that they are not remnants of a more widespread Pleistocene savanna in the Amazon.


The trend of dynamically interconnecting the personal devices that people carry with them has led to the introduction of personal area networks (PANs) and personal networks (PNs). The Bluetooth wireless access technology is believed to be a potential enabler of PANs and PNs. This dissertation focuses on Bluetooth intrapiconet scheduling (also referred to as Bluetooth polling) that helps in making the Bluetooth technology a successful enabler of PANs and PNs. In order for the Bluetooth technology to be such a successful enabler, its polling mechanism should be efficient. At the same time, the polling mechanism should also be fair. Finally, the polling mechanism must be able to provide quality of service (QoS). Conventional polling mechanisms are less suitable for Bluetooth as they do not take the Bluetooth specification into account. Current Bluetooth polling mechanisms are either not able to poll in a fair and efficient manner, or they do not provide the needed QoS. The main goal of this thesis is the design of new Bluetooth polling mechanisms. To design a polling mechanism that, in case of best effort traffic, divides bandwidth among the slaves in a fair and efficient manner. To design a polling mechanism that is able to provide quality of service. These polling mechanisms help in making the Bluetooth technology a successful enabler of personal area networks, and thus of personal networks. In this research focuses on Bluetooth intra-piconet Scheduling and Reduce the time delay. It provide a better opportunity to communicate in a PAN. In this research we use Adaptive Probability-based Polling Interval (APPI) in sniff based polling mechanisms


Sorting and ranking supervision is a method for training neural networks end-to-end based on ordering constraints. That is, the ground truth order of sets of samples is known, while their absolute values remain unsupervised. For that, we propose differentiable sorting networks by relaxing their pairwise conditional swap operations. To address the problems of vanishing gradients and extensive blurring that arise with larger numbers of layers, we propose mapping activations to regions with moderate gradients. We consider odd-even as well as bitonic sorting networks, which outperform existing relaxations of the sorting operation. We show that bitonic sorting networks can achieve stable training on large input sets of up to 1024 elements.


This review paper considers the factors that determine the optical quality of the eye in the context of the feasibility of "perfect" correction. Contributions to image quality include the cornea surface shape, which may be modified with refractive surgery. However the crystalline lens makes an important contribution to the focus and overall optical quality of the normal eye in a manner that varies with age and accommodative state. In addition, optical quality varies with refractive state, pupil size and with the centration of the eye's components, including the pupil. Optical modeling using anatomically based schematic eyes and further measurements will be necessary to determine the optimal lifelong correction to the optics of the eye.


Confusion is an emotion that is likely to occur while learning complex information. This emotion can be beneficial to learners in that it can foster engagement, leading to deeper understanding. However, if learners fail to resolve confusion, its effect can be detrimental to learning. Such detrimental learning experiences are particularly concerning within digital learning environments, where a teacher is not physically present to monitor learner engagement and adapt the learning experience accordingly. However, with better information about a learner's emotion and behaviour, it is possible to improve the design of interactive digital learning environments (IDLE) in promoting productive confusion but also in preventing overwhelming confusion. This article reviews different methodological approaches for detecting confusion, such as self-report, behavioural and physiological measures, and discusses their implications within the theoretical framework of a zone of optimal confusion. The specificities of several methodologies and their potential application in IDLEs are discussed.


Runes are quite frequently mentioned in modern writings, usually imprecisely as a source of mystic knowledge, power or insight. This book sets the record straight. It shows runes working as a practical script for a variety of purposes in early English times, among both indigenous Anglo-Saxons and incoming Vikings. In a scholarly yet readable way it examines the introduction of the runic alphabet (the futhorc) to England in the fifth and sixth centuries, the forms and values of its letters, and the ways in which it developed, up until its decline at the end of the Anglo-Saxon period. It discusses how runes were used for informal and day-to-day purposes, on formal monuments, as decorative letters in prestigious manuscripts, for owners' or makers' names on everyday objects, perhaps even in private letters. For the first time, the book presents, together with earlier finds, the many runic objects discovered over the last twenty years, with a range of inscriptions on bone, metal and stone, even including tourists' scratched signatures found on the pilgrimage routes through Italy. It gives an idea of the immense range of information on language and social history contained in these unique documents. R.I. Page is former Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University of Cambridge.


Abstract How are global human rights localised in authoritarian societies? How and what human rights discourses are mobilised by indigenous peoples to further their demands? Building upon original fieldwork among Nubian activists in Egypt, this article explores the complexities regarding human rights framing through a discussion of recognition of Nubian indigeneity. The article finds that the history and political experience of Egypt's Nubians bring about diverging opinions and also limitations as to how, and what, human rights frameworks rights claimants and their supporters are to employ. It argues that Egyptian nationalism not only affects how Nubian activists mobilise in general, but also helps explain the very limited appeals to a global discourse of human rights.


ABSTRACT The effect of wood moisture content and open assembly time on penetration of polyurethane (PU) adhesive into thermally treated Scots pine (195 and 210°C) was investigated according to effective penetration (EP) and maximum penetration (MP) measurements using fluorescence microscopy. For samples treated at 195°C, a higher EP was noted at 8.6% equilibrium moisture content (EMC) after both assembly times (15 and 30 min) while for samples treated at 210°C, increasing wood moisture content resulted in a significant decrease in EP at 12.5% EMC after 15 min assembly time. Extending open assembly time was found to increase the EP of PU adhesive only in the case of samples treated at 195°C and with 8.6% EMC. For samples treated at both treatment temperatures and after shorter open assembly time, the highest MP was observed at moderate EMC levels of 8.6 and 8.2% and the lowest at the higher EMC levels of 13.2 and 12.5%.


We present a numerical study of axisymmetric flow in a rotating annulus in which local thermal forcing, via a heated annular ring on the outside of the base and a cooled circular disk in the centre of the top surface, drives convection. This new configuration is a variant of the classical thermally-driven annulus, where uniform heating and cooling are applied through the outer and inner sidewalls respectively. The annulus provides an analogue to a planetary circulation and the new configuration, with its more relaxed vertical thermal boundary conditions, is expected to better emulate vigorous convection in the tropics and polar regions as well as baroclinic instability in the mid-latitude baroclinic zone. Using the Met Office/Oxford Rotating Annulus Laboratory (MORALS) code, we have investigated a series of equilibrated, two dimensional axisymmetric flows across a large region of parameter space. These are characterized in terms of their velocity and temperature fields. When rotation is applied several distinct flow regimes may be identified for different rotation rates and strengths of differential heating. These regimes are defined as a function of the ratio of the horizontal Ekman layer thickness to the non-rotating thermal boundary layer thickness and are found to be similar to those identified in previous annulus experiments. Convection without rotation is also considered and the scaling of the heat transport with Rayleigh number is calculated. This is then compared with existing work on the classical annulus as well as horizontal and Rayleigh-Benard convection. As with previous studies on both rotating and non-rotating convection the system's behaviour is found to be aspect ratio dependent. This dependence is seen in the scaling of the non-rotating Nusselt number and in transitions between regimes in the rotating case although further investigation is required to fully explain these observations.


New Television, Globalisation, and the East Asian Cultural Imagination, by Michael Keane, Anthony Y. H. Fung and Albert Moran. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2007. viii + 220 pp. HK$395.00/US$59.50 (hardcover), HK$175.00/US$27.95 (paperback). When the impacts of globalization are discussed, a frequent topic is how the developed countries, especially the United States, have imposed their value systems on the developing or underdeveloped countries. In other words, a tendency towards cultural monopolization or even hegemony by Western super powers has been observed. Film and television industries are good examples of Americanization: Hollywood is assumed to be the center for production and export of entertainment products which serve as vehicles for the imposition of American values on non-Western cultures. Against this background, New Television, Globalisation, and the East Asian Cultural Imagination by Michael Keane, Anthony Y. H. Fung and Albert Moran stands out as an innovative, informative and well-researched contribution to the field of television studies. This book consists of three parts: Part I, "Adaptation and Local Production in East Asia", with three chapters; Part II, "Formats, Clones, and Generic Variations", with six chapters; and Part III, "New Television", with two chapters. Keane, Fung and Moran note that these chapters could be read in any order, as they each deal with a different aspect. The book takes as its point of departure the assumption that "Hollywood is the dominant center of production; ... these values are damaging to Asian social traditions" (p. 1) to investigate various television programs, especially those produced in the late 1990s, in 11 different Asian countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The approach is a combination of interviews, statistics and academic research. Keane, Fung and Moran examine the increasingly universal use of franchise capitalism in the television industry to see, among other things, the mutual influence of Western culture emphasizing individualistic values and material progress and the collective, hierarchical and socially interdependent human relationships in Eastern culture. Paying special attention to the process of adaptation, the book not only considers the West-East trade flow (the "one-way flow") but also the East-East and East-West dynamics ("contra-flow") of the television industry. It is inspiring and encouraging: indeed Hollywood is "a dominant center of production", yet "its television products have a diminishing influence in East Asian schedules" (p. 3). This assertion challenges the single directional "West-East imperialism model" (p. 3). On the one hand, there are cultural dynamics that "predispose the production, distribution and reception of particular forms of content" in East Asian countries and regions (p. 11). On the other hand, television productions originally targeting local audiences have moved across national borders into a pan-Asian cultural marketplace. Among such pan-Asian cross-border sales, Japanese formats are most successful, followed in recent years by South Korean programs. Furthermore, Keane, Fung and Moran also observe that creative content from East Asia has found its way into the global markets. For instance, Asian professionals have migrated to Hollywood and other global media centers and brought with them their talents in entertainment production. …


In the present day context of globalisation, changing information needs of the farmers, increasing pressure of population on the food security system, encouraging the developing economy like India to look for various alternatives in supply chain management and its digitization for its efficient and sustainable agricultural development. India is likely to be considered as the food basket to the world constituting 52% of total land under cultivation as compared to global average of 11%. It is also producing 134.5 MT of fruits and vegetables but due to inadequate cold storage and preservation facilities and improper supply chain infrastructure; there is enormous loss of wastages. Supply chains are principally concerned with the flow of products and information between supply chain member organizations procurement of materials, transformation of materials into finished products, and distribution of those products to end customers. Today's informationdriven, integrated supply chains are enabling organizations to reduce inventory and costs, add product value, extend resources, accelerate time to market, and retain customers. Information Technology has started its dent in certain rural livelihoods especially the farmers in developing countries like India. IT can also do wonders in empowering small and marginal farmers who are operating in a complex, diverse and risk prone environment, who have poor access to information, especially regarding the production systems, customers and markets. In India, the limiting factors for farmers wanting to maximize their farm incomes are poor market linkages, poor access to quality farminputs, services and technology, lack of information about Government resources, institutions and extension services. ICT systems have pivotal role to play in market led extension activities. ICT s can connect the producers with buyers to initiate and sustain long term, mutually beneficial and sustainable professional relationships.


This study conducts an international comparison of productivity and profitability. First, the level and growth of productivity are compared in OECD countries for the period from 1975 to 2009. According to this comparison, productivity growth has been faster in the key Finnish sectors com-pared with Finlands competitors. One of the main engines of growth since 1995 has been the ICT revolution. Second, the profitability of industries is calculated for 2007. Profitability is divided into productivity, prices and labour compensation. The results show that profitability in Finnish manufacturing is competitive because of the high productivity level in 2007. However, the measurement of profitability and the quality of price components require further research.


The Montserrat Oriole, Icterus oberi Lawrence, endemic to the West Indian island of Montserrat, has grown critically endangered since volcanic eruption began on that island in 1995. The Soufriere Hills Volcano has devastated much of the oriole's native habitat, and populations within intact forests have plummeted in recent years. One hypothesized cause for the Montserrat Oriole's decline is that low insect prey numbers during the nesting season, as a result of volcanic ash in the environment, is resulting in increased nest failure. The hypothesis of a negative effect of ash on canopy arthropods was tested. Four sites, varying in the level of ash deposition they typically receive, were sampled via canopy fogging over a 14-month period. Results indicate that ash is having a significant negative impact on canopy arthropods, particularly at the sampling sites closest to the volcano, but that that the decline is limited to a few insect taxa. To investigate whether the arthropod taxa utilized by the Montserrat Oriole were among those negatively affected by volcanic ash, observational studies were conducted to identify the main insect prey types and sizes brought to oriole nests, and to examine whether nestling feeding rates have declined since the onset of volcanic eruption. Ortoptera, which were not significantly affected by volcanic ash, were the most important nestling food resources utilized in 2002 and 2003. The most frequently delivered size of prey item was calculated at bill length long (approx. 2 cm), and were not significantly affected by ash. Orioles appear to be selecting their prey from the portion of the insect fauna that is least affected by ash in the environment. Oriole nestling feeding rates appear to have declined since 1995, but this may not be strictly due to reduced insect prey numbers. Montserrat's Orthoptera (including Phasmida and Blattaria) were catalogued. Thirty-seven species were reported for the island, including several new species and at least 16 new distribution records for the island.


Epicureans distinguish natural desires, which have their origin in the body itself, from empty desires which are imposed by society. Natural desires allow a person to enjoy pleasures free from anxiety and worry. Empty desires such as those for status or luxury are endless and lead to a life of frustration, resentment and anxiety. In this paper I apply this distinction to musical experience and differentiate between the genuine enjoyment of music and musical experience tainted by empty desires.


A desk study was conducted during the period 2012/2013 on the quest for Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation into Regional Planning of Least Developed Countries. Numerous factors determine vulnerability to climate change in least developed countries (LDCs), including geographical location, gender, age, political affiliation, livelihood, access to resources and wealth (entitlements). Global circulation models predict a 1.7-2.1oC rise in Ethiopia's mean temperature by 2050. The general objective of the study is to assess the quest for mainstreaming climate change adaptation into regional planning of least developed countries (LDCs) and draw strategy implications for regions in Ethiopia. Comprehensive literature review on climate change vulnerabilities and adaptation measures in least developed countries was conducted in the course of writing this paper. The findings of the study reveal that national adaptation programme of action (NAPAs) in least developed countries were being gender-blind and failed to be properly implemented. Least developed countries should therefore do more to prepare for ongoing and future climate changes focusing on actions that are no-regrets, multisectoral and multi-level, and that improve the management of current climate variability. Strengthening capacities to use climate information, enabling locally appropriate responses, screening climate risks, assessing risks and adaptation options, starting with existing policies and plans, broadening constituencies beyond environment agencies, managing strategy conflicts, learning from projects and recognising their limitations, monitoring and learning are the foreseen strategic actions by regions in Ethiopia for effective mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into regional development planning in the years to come.


Solubility can be the absorption limiting factor for drug candidates and is therefore a very important input parameter for oral exposure prediction of compounds with limited solubility. Biorelevant media of the fasted and fed state have been published for humans, as well as for dogs in the fasted state. In a drug discovery environment, rodents are the most common animal model to assess the oral exposure of drug candidates. In this study a rat simulated intestinal fluid (rSIF) is proposed as a more physiologically relevant media to describe drug solubility in rats. Equilibrium solubility in this medium was tested as input parameter for physiologically-based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) simulations of oral pharmacokinetics in the rat. Simulations were compared to those obtained using other solubility values as input parameters, like buffer at pH 6.8, human simulated intestinal fluid and a comprehensive dissolution assay based on rSIF. Our study on nine different compounds demonstrates that the incorporation of rSIF equilibrium solubility values into PBPK models of oral drug exposure can significantly improve the reliability of simulations in rats for doses up to 300 mg/kg compared to other media. The comprehensive dissolution assay may help to improve further simulation outcome, but the greater experimental effort as compared to equilibrium solubility may limit its use in a drug discovery environment. Overall, PBPK simulations based on solubility in the proposed rSIF medium can improve prioritizing compounds in drug discovery as well as planning dose escalation studies, e.g. during toxicological investigations.


We don't doubt for a moment that we are conscious, but what is 'Consciousness'?
Understanding consciousness, its nature, and characteristics has remained a hard
problem for several centuries. While philosophers, neuroscientists, physicists,
psychologists, and psychiatrists grapple with this hard problem, clinicians are in
need of a practical way to 'measure' consciousness (or its surrogate). Determining
whether a patient is conscious or not, and measuring the degree of consciousness,
could be critical and potentially life-saving in a clinical scenario. In this chapter, we
will review recent scientific approaches for modelling and measuring consciousness,
and their clinical applications with an emphasis on a host of issues (theoretical,
philosophical, methodological, technological, & clinical) and challenges that need
to be satisfactorily and convincingly addressed going forward.


Equilibrium‐line altitudes (ELAs) were estimated for 383 reconstructed glaciers across the Brooks Range, northern Alaska, to investigate their regional pattern during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Glacier outlines were delimited based on published field mapping and the original interpretations of aerial photographs. Glacier margins were digitised from 1:63 360‐scale maps into a geographic information system (GIS) with a digital elevation model on a 60‐m grid. ELAs were calculated for each reconstructed glacier using the accumulation area ratio method (AAR = 0.58). The analysis was restricted to relatively simple cirque and valley glaciers that deposited clearly identifiable LGM moraines, and that did not merge with the complex transection glacier ice that filled most troughs of the range. The glaciers used in this analysis had areas ranging from 0.14 to 120 km2. Their ELAs rose from 470 m a.s.l. in the western Brooks Range to 1860 m a.s.l. in the east, over a distance of 1000 km. The ELAs were fitted with a third‐order polynomial trend surface to model their distribution across the range, and to investigate the source of local‐scale variations. The trend surface lowers toward the west and south, similar to previously derived trends based on glaciation thresholds. In addition, ELAs in the northeastern part of the range lower northward toward the Beaufort Sea, which has not been reported as strongly in other studies. Modern glacier ELAs also lower toward the southwest. The depression of LGM ELAs from modern glacier ELAs is greatest in the central Brooks Range (a maximum of 700 m), and decreases to the east (200 m). The regional pattern of LGM ELAs points to the primary source of moisture from the North Pacific, as it is today. The unexpected trend of LGM ELAs in the northeast part of the range is supported by recent field mapping, where anomalous ice distribution and ELAs reflect complicated LGM climate patterns and possibly late Quaternary tectonism. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The thought of one's own death induces anxiety and threatens self-esteem. According to Terror Management Theory, to reduce this existential threat individuals typically embrace their cultural worldview, and seek for an increase in self-esteem and status by improving their productivity. Within an experimental economy setting, this paper investigates the effect of Mortality Salience (MS) on individual productivity, using for the first time a real-effort task where the economic incentive is to not perform. We investigated whether the improvement in productivity was significantly driven by self-esteem or status seeking, providing either private feedback alone or, additionally, public feedback. Always controlling for participants' individual susceptibility to the MS induction, our results indicate that subjects generally tend to be more sensitive to in-group conformity under MS compared to a control (Music) induction condition. That is, they initially improve their performance to enhance self-esteem, but then homologate to average performance levels, consistent with the incentive not to perform. However, for a subset of less materialistic participants, with strong susceptibility to MS, performance levels constantly improved along the task.


During interphase, the transport receptor importin-β carries cargoes into the nucleus, where RanGTP releases them. A similar mechanism operates in mitosis to generate a gradient of active spindle assembly factors around mitotic chromosomes. Importin-β and RanGTP have been implicated in additional cellular processes, but the precise roles of the Ran/importin-β pathway throughout the cell cycle remain poorly understood. We implemented a FRET-based, high-throughput small molecule screen for compounds that interfere with the interaction between RanGTP and importin-β and identified importazole, a 2,4-diaminoquinazoline. Importazole specifically blocks importin-β-mediated nuclear import both in Xenopus egg extracts and cultured cells, without disrupting transportin-mediated nuclear import or CRM1-mediated nuclear export. When added during mitosis, importazole impairs the release of an importin-β cargo FRET probe and causes both predicted and novel defects in spindle assembly. Together, these results indicate that importazole specifically inhibits the function of importin-β, likely by altering its interaction with RanGTP. Importazole is a valuable tool to evaluate the function of the importin-β/RanGTP pathway at specific stages during the cell cycle.


There has been a growing interest in academic and learner discourse over the last few decades. This burgeoning area of research has witnessed a boom and a diversification of methodological approaches, among which Corpus Linguistics stands out thanks to its advantage of allowing researchers to handle large volumes of authentic linguistic data. The fruitful combination of Corpus Linguistics and Discourse Analysis is being applied to more specific environments and communicative situations. While there are countless research articles of this kind published in top peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of English for Academic Purposes and International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, few scholarly books deal with this aspect, with some notable exceptions (e.g., Charles, Pecorari & Hunston, 2009; Römer, Cortes & Friginal, 2020). Corpus Analysis in Different Genres: Academic Discourse and Learner Corpora, edited by María Luisa Carrió-Pastor, is thus a timely collection that brings together diverse contributions focused on the application of the corpus methodology to academic discourse and learner discourse analysis.


Pyrethrum (Tanacatum cinerariifolium) is cultivated worldwide and in southern Australia for the extraction of insecticidal esters or pyrethrins contained within the achenes of flowers. Producing a significant proportion of the worlds botanical pyrethrins, Australian crops may suffer reduced yields from annual flower disease epidemics caused by pathogenic fungi Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Little is known regarding (i) the epidemiology of flower blights caused by B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum in pyrethrum, (ii) the efficacy of current control methods, (iii) whether there is evidence of fungicide resistance in the fungal population, (iv) whether alternative fungicides can provide improved control over those currently used, (v) whether other fungi could be involved in annual flower disease epidemics and, (vi) the loss in flower yield and pyrethrin assay from flower diseases.
A survey of the incidence of B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum in flowers was undertaken in ten commercial pyrethrum crops in one year. Flowers from non-fungicide treated areas in commercial crops were periodically sampled throughout flowering prior to being surface sterilised and incubated under high humidity to encourage fungal growth. B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum were prevalent, with both occurring in flowers from all 10 crops. The mean incidence of B. cinerea in flowers sampled between 10-11 December across all crops was 56%, significantly higher (P = 0.024) than S. sclerotiorum (29.4%), while between 16-18 December mean incidence of B. cinerea was 75.7%, again significantly higher (P = 0.026) than incidence of S. sclerotiorum (51.8%) at this time.
The main means of managing flower blights of pyrethrum is currently through a fungicide program over flowering involving tebuconazole and carbendazim. The efficacy of the flowering fungicide program for controlling B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum flower blights and promoting benefits in terms of increased yield was evaluated in nontreated and fungicide treated plots in 10, 10 and 17 commercial pyrethrum crops during the flowering period over three years, respectively. In each of two years, fungicide treatment resulted in a mean incidence of B. cinerea near to harvest which bordered on being significantly lower (0.05 < P < 0.1) than no treatment. In the third year, fungicide treatment significantly (P = 0.038) reduced mean fungal incidence from 75% to 53.3% in nontreated close to harvest. The incidence of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in flowers from nontreated was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than from fungicide treated in year one (62.8% and 29.2% respectively) and again significantly higher (P = 0.019) in year two (26% and 8.1% respectively). Across all fields, fungicide applications in year one resulted in no significant yield improvement. During year two, mean pyrethrin yield (across all sites) was significantly increased from 90.4kg/ha in x
nontreated areas to 108.4 kg/ha in fungicide treated plots (P = 0.032) and during the final year fungicide treatment significantly increased dry flower yield by 216 kg/ha (P = 0.018) in comparison to nontreated. However, while fungal incidence was often reduced within individual fields or across all sites by fungicides, few measurable benefits in yield quantity or quality were measured. In vitro sensitivity testing of 49 and 96 isolates of B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum respectively to fungicides commercially used for control was conducted. A proportion of B. cinerea isolates appeared sensitive to carbendazim at low concentrations i.e. 39% had EC50 less than 1.05 μg a.i./ml. However a high proportion (61%) of B. cinerea isolates had EC50 values to carbendazim greater than 100 μg a.i./ml. This provided evidence for potential resistance amongst the population of B. cinerea and may explain the inconsistency of yield responses from the fungicide program. By comparison, 96.9% of S. sclerotiorum isolates had EC50 values 1000 μg a.i./ml. All isolates of B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum were sensitive to tebuconazole at low concentrations with mean EC50 of 0.64 and 0.18 μg a.i./ml respectively,
Alternative fungicides for flower disease control were evaluated in replicated field trials to determine suitability for inclusion into the flowering fungicide program as replacements for the potentially ineffective and now deregistered fungicide carbendazim. Boscalid and iprodione showed greater benefits in terms of yield from statistical analysis than other treatments, and significantly reduced fungal incidence of flowers equal to, or better than, commercial treatments. The mean incidence of B. cinerea from nontreated flowers sampled on 4 December of 30% was significantly (P = 0.007) higher than boscalid (8.5%) and iprodione (10%). Mean incidence of S. sclerotiorum of flowers from nontreated plots sampled on 4 December was 26.5%, and significantly (P <.001) higher than boscalid (7%) and iprodione (12%). In vitro fungicide sensitivity of 46 isolates of B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum to iprodione indicated no evidence of reduced sensitivity with mean EC50 (and maximum) values of 1.62 (8.48 μg a.i./ml) and 0.19 (0.61 μg a.i./ml) respectively.
Sclerotinia minor, a previously undocumented pathogen of pyrethrum flowers, was consistently isolated from diseased, surface-sterilised pyrethrum flowers over multiple years. Fungal identity was confirmed with morphological, genetic and phylogenetic evaluation. Occurrence in-field of mature, sporulating, apothecia of S. minor were documented; while sclerotia of 8 of 10 isolates conditioned in the laboratory successfully underwent carpogenic germination in vitro demonstrating the ability of endemic isolates of S. minor to produce air borne inoculum necessary to achieve flower infection in pyrethrum and other crops. The relative sensitivity of isolates of S. minor to the fungicides carbendazim, tebuconazole and iprodione was evaluated. Mean (and maximum) EC50 values of S. minor were 1.92 (2.62 μg a.i/ml) for carbendazim, 0.1 (0.13 μg a.i./ml) for tebuconazole and 0.3 (1.23 μg a.i/ml) for iprodione.
The effect of B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum flower inoculation on measured yield attributes and pyrethrum flower development were evaluated with glasshouse studies. Inoculation of immature flowers with Botrytis cinerea resulted in highly significant reductions in dry weight (P <.001) and pyrethrin yield (P <.001) of mature flowers compared to non inoculated. Inoculation with S. sclerotiorum in two of four varieties resulted in significantly higher flower development stages after 21 days (P = 0.021; P <.001) and significantly faster flower senescence (P = 0.001; P = 0.008) in comparison to non inoculated. Inoculation of flowers with ascospores of S. minor led to symptoms of flower disease indistinguishable from those of S. sclerotiorum flower blight, significantly lower fresh flower weights in replicated experiments (P = <.001; 0.032) and significantly higher developmental stage of flowers (P = <.001) after only two weeks in comparison to non inoculated. These studies indicated that flower infection with B. cinerea and S. minor could significantly reduce flower yield and pyrethrin yields. Furthermore, significantly faster flower development; senescence and desiccation may result from flower infection with S. sclerotiorum and S. minor. The completion of Koch's postulates additionally confirmed pathogenicity toward pyrethrum flowers and demonstrated pure cultures of S. minor could be reisolated from flowers inoculated on living host plants.
The study has provided new knowledge in the epidemiology of known flower blights of pyrethrum caused by B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum. Furthermore the study has described for the first time S. minor as a pathogen of pyrethrum flowers and documented a rare example of carpogenic germination of sclerotia being involved in the epidemiology of a disease caused by S. minor. The study has also provided insights into the effect of flower blights on pyrethrum yield and into improving the management of flower diseases by fungicides.


A new photo thermal refractive glass system is introduced. Glasses in the system Na2O/K2O/CaO/CaF2/Al2O3/SiO2 were doped with Ag2O, CeO2, KBr, SnO2 and Sb2O3. They were irradiated with UV light and subsequently thermally annealed at 530 °C, a temperature just above Tg. This led to a slightly yellow coloration. A second thermal annealing step at a temperature of 560 °C led to the crystallization of cubic CaF2 as proved by x-ray diffraction. Samples, annealed in a two step process at 530 °C for 1 h and 560 °C for 20 h without previous irradiation did not show crystallization. Furthermore, the effect of irradiation time on crystallization behavior and the role of KBr in the photoinduced crystallization process were also investigated.


Spectral analysis – the study of the properties of the eigenvalues associated with some matrix derived from an underlying graph form – has proven to offer valuable insights in many domains where graph-theoretic models are prevalent. Abstract argumentation frameworks (afs) are, of course, one such model and have provided a unifying basis for defining semantic properties related to concepts of "argument acceptability". In this paper we consider the possible benefits of adopting spectral methods as a tool for analysing argumentation structures, presenting a preliminary empirical study of semantics in afs and properties of the associated spectrum.


The rise and fall of the passive auxiliary weorðan (WERDEN) in the history of English is investigated. We provide a new structural analysis of why and in what languages the passive diathesis can / cannot use the copula BE as auxiliary. We will do so in a comparative perspective within Germanic and Romance. We provide 1. language internal structural variation in BE and WERDEN as passive auxiliaries in relation with Verb-Second, 2. cross-linguistic i.e. comparative data of this variation 3. diachronic data on Old English weorðan that ties the need of a separate passive auxiliary to the Verb second constraint. It turns out that Old English displays a temporary rise and fall of strict-V2 around 1000, as well as a rise and fall of weorðan, which developments can be related because they comply to Kroch's Constant Rate Hypothesis (CRH). Finally, we sketch the first contours of a grammatical model that umbrellas tense/aspect, V2, and the passive diathesis, which predicts this correlation. By modifying Giorgi's projection of the Reichenbachian event indexes S,E, and R onto the syntax, we show that the (in)equality of these indexes is not ruled by structural templates stored in the lexicon, but are dynamically ruled by the syntax.


Recently, there has been some discussion of whether it is possible to score highly in one dimension of physical activity behaviour (e.g., moderate intensity exercise) whilst also scoring poorly in another (e.g., sedentary time). Interestingly, direct empirical observations to support these proposals are lacking. New technologies now enable the capture of physical activity thermogenesis on a minute-by-minute basis and over a sustained period. We used one of the best available technologies to explore whether individuals can score differently in various physiologically-important physical activity dimensions. We determined minute-by-minute physical activity energy expenditure over 7 days in 100 men aged 28±9 years. We used combined accelerometry and heart rate with branched equation modelling to estimate energy expenditure and extracted data for key physical activity outcomes and descriptors. Although some physical activity outcomes were tightly correlated, the attainment of one threshold for a given physical activity dimension did not automatically predict how well an individual scored in another dimension (with bivariate correlations ranging from 0.05 to 0.96). In one illustrative example of this heterogeneity, although 41 men showed a relatively low Physical Activity Level (total energy expenditure/resting energy expenditure ≤1.75), only 17% (n = 7) of these men showed consistently low physical activity across other dimensions (moderate intensity activity, vigorous intensity activity, and sedentary time). Thus, physical activity is highly heterogeneous and there is no single outcome measure that captures all the relevant information about a given individual. We propose that future studies need to capture (rather than ignore) the different physiologically-important dimensions of physical activity via generation of integrated, multidimensional physical activity 'profiles'.


The forward displacement analysis of parallel mechanism is attributed to find the solutions of complicated nonlinear equations and it is a very difficult process. Taking chaotic sequences as the initial values of Newton-downhill method, we can find all the solutions of equations quickly. Making use of existing chaos system and discovering new chaos system to generate chaotic sequences with good properties is the key to the Newton-downhill method based on Chaos sequences. Based on utilizing hyper-chaotic Hénon mapping to obtain initial points, a new method of finding all real number solutions of the nonlinear questions is proposed. Using cosine matrix method, the author established the mathematical model of forward displacement for the generalized 3SPS-3CCS parallel robot mechanism and a numerical example is given. Compared to the quaternion method building mathematical model, the result shows cosine matrix method building mathematical model and hyper-chaotic Newton-downhill method finding solution is brief and high calculation efficiency as the calculation is done in real number range. The proposed method has universality which can be used in forward displacement of other parallel mechanism.


Home made liquor has played a prominent role in the Appalachian economy for nearly two centuries. The region endured profound transformations during the extreme prohibition movements of the nineteenth century, when the manufacturing and sale of alcohol--an integral part of daily life for many Appalachians--was banned. In Moonshiners and Prohibitionists: The Battle over Alcohol in Southern Appalachia , Bruce E. Stewart chronicles the social tensions that accompanied the region's early transition from a rural to an urban-industrial economy. Stewart analyses the dynamic relationship of the bootleggers and opponents of liquor sales in western North Carolina, as well as conflict driven by social and economic development that manifested in political discord. Stewart also explores the life of the moonshiner and the many myths that developed around hillbilly stereotypes. A welcome addition to the New Directions in Southern History series, Moonshiners and Prohibitionists addresses major economic, social, and cultural questions that are essential to the understanding of Appalachian history.


Anomaly detection is a critical step towards building a secure and trustworthy system. The primary purpose of a system log is to record system states and significant events at various critical points to help debug system failures and perform root cause analysis. Such log data is universally available in nearly all computer systems. Log data is an important and valuable resource for understanding system status and performance issues; therefore, the various system logs are naturally excellent source of information for online monitoring and anomaly detection. We propose DeepLog, a deep neural network model utilizing Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), to model a system log as a natural language sequence. This allows DeepLog to automatically learn log patterns from normal execution, and detect anomalies when log patterns deviate from the model trained from log data under normal execution. In addition, we demonstrate how to incrementally update the DeepLog model in an online fashion so that it can adapt to new log patterns over time. Furthermore, DeepLog constructs workflows from the underlying system log so that once an anomaly is detected, users can diagnose the detected anomaly and perform root cause analysis effectively. Extensive experimental evaluations over large log data have shown that DeepLog has outperformed other existing log-based anomaly detection methods based on traditional data mining methodologies.