Vegetation plays an important role in decreasing soil particle detachment and transport from sites following disturbance. Past rainfall simulator research (Caltrans 2004) using 2.5 m L x 0.6 m W soil test boxes with a 0.25 m sod strip (1 :10 slope proportion) at the slope toe found statistically significant reduction of total sediment loss to near zero. A principle limitation of the previous in house experiment is that a 1: 10 proportion of sod strip to slope length is not practical, nor equivalent with many industry specifications. Therefore, another rainfall simulator experiment was designed and conducted from October 2005 through June 2006 to compare effectiveness at reducing sediment loss of sod strips at 1:40, 1:20, and 1:10 proportions to slope length. Principal questions included 1) Does sod strip effectiveness vary directionally with sod strip length?; 2) Does sod strip effectiveness vary directionally with plant cultivar?; and 3) Are sod strips more or less effective than non-living EC blanket materials? A sandy clay loam subsoil was collected from a California highway construction site. Test boxes were then filled with sOil to 90% compaction and positioned at a 2H:1V slope. Bare soil (control), compost, mulch, and a straw mat erosion control blankets (ECB) were each used individually as a top treatment on vanous boxes. Toe treatments applied at lengths of 0.2 m (8 in), 0.1 m (4 in), or 0.05 m (2 in) included bare sOil. mulch, straw mat erosion control blanket, jute netting, or a sod strip of a commonly used groundcover specIes Carpobrotus edulis, Sea Fig; Lampranthus spectabilis, Trailing Ice Plant; Lantana montevidensis, Trailing Lantana. or Myoporum parvifolium, 'Pink Dwarf Myoporum. Storm water runoff was monttored for total water runoff, total sediment. sediment concentration. NTUs. pH. Electrical Conductivity (EC). nutrients, and selected metals over a series of simulated storm events. As expected, toe treatments of mUlch. ECB, jute. or vegetation performed significantly better than bare sOil The 0.2 m (8 in) sod strips (1 :10 slope proportion) performed significantly better than the 0.1 m (4 in) sod strips (120 slope proportion), or the 0.05 m (2 in) sod strips (1 :40 slope proportion). Sad stnps used in conjunction with jute nettmg or an ECB on the slope face above provided sediment concentration reductions to less than 2 g per liter of runoff. Although vegetation reduces sediment concentration in the water drastically when compared to bare soil as a toe treatment, effectiveness varies with species owing to inherent differences in plant grow form and architecture. Herbaceous leaf succulents. such as Sea Fig or Trailing Ice Plant. grow prostrate along the soil surface forming dense, continuous mats. Prostrate shrubs, such as Trailing Lantana or Pink Dwarf Myoporum, produce arching or recumbent branches, but the sot! surface may remain vulnerable to overland flow.


The activity of BK channels, which are large-conductance K+ channels, is potentiated by alcohol; however, the channel rapidly becomes tolerant or less sensitive to alcohol (see Levitan). BK channels are encoded by the KCNMA1 gene, which undergoes alternative splicing to produce transcripts with specific exons, and some of these confer specific regulatory properties to the channels. For example, the abundance of transcripts that include STREX (stress axis-regulated exon) is increased by stress hormones, such as adrenocorticotropic hormone, and this produces a channel that is regulated by protein kinase A. Pietrzykowski et al. found that in regions of the brain responsive to ethanol, there were eight BK channel transcripts, and only two of these were present after exposure to ethanol. Five of the six transcripts that were diminished after exposure to ethanol included exon 29, and neither of the remaining two included exon 29, leading the authors to name this exon ALCOREX (alcohol-regulated exon). Of the remaining two transcripts, one included STREX and one lacked STREX and was called INSERTLESS. Using bioinformatics tools, the authors searched the 3′ untranslated region (3′-UTR) of the BK transcript for sequences that matched a library of known rodent neuronal microRNAs (miRNAs) and identified a miR-9 target sequence. Single-neuron transcript analysis indicated that miR-9 was present in neurons responsive to ethanol and that ethanol exposure increased the abundance of this miRNA. Analysis of the BK channel transcript from brain tissue revealed that there were three 3′-UTR variants and that only one of these (3′UTR-2.2) contained the miR-9 target sequence. The abundance of 3′UTR-2.2 transcripts was decreased after ethanol exposure, and transcripts containing ALCOREX had this miR-9-responsive 3′-UTR, whereas STREX-containing transcripts had either the miR-9-responsive 3′-UTR or a nonresponsive 3′-UTR. Heterologous expression of STREX, ALCOREX, or INSERTLESS BK transcripts showed that the channels produced from the ALCOREX-containing transcripts showed the greatest potentiation by ethanol, with INSERTLESS channels showing less potentiation, whereas those produced from STREX-containing transcripts were not responsive to ethanol. Computational modeling that included information about transcript abundance and the known or predicted electrophysiological properties of the assembled channels allowed the authors to predict that alcohol led to a drop in the abundance of ALCOREX-INSERTLESS heteromeric channels and a concomitant increase in STREX-INSERTLESS heteromeric channels, which would produce cells with only 15% of the original responsiveness to alcohol. Searching sequences that may also be regulated by miR-9 suggests that this mechanism may be important for several other targets relevant to alcohol responsiveness. A. Z. Pietrzykowski, R. M. Friesen, G. E. Martin, S. I. Puig, C. L. Nowak, P. M. Wynne, H. T. Siegelmann, S. N. Treistman, Posttranscriptional regulation of BK channel splice variant stability by miR-9 underlies neuroadaptation to alcohol. Neuron 59, 274-287 (2008). [PubMed] I. B. Levitan, miXED messages in ion channel modulation. Neuron 59, 188-189 (2008). [PubMed]


My goal in my dissertation is to develop an account of how a theory of human nature should be integrated into bioethics and to show what bioethics can gain from using this account. I explore the relevance of human nature for moral argumentation, and especially for bioethics. Thereby, I focus on debates about enhancement and disability. Bioethics is in need of a discussion of conceptions of human nature, as I argue, to better justify and to understand moral judgments in bioethics. I begin the development of the theoretical framework in by identifying the very different conceptions of the human being implicit in discussions of 'human nature.' Once one distinguishes between naturalistic, metaphysical, and normative conceptions of the human being, it becomes clear that one cannot simply choose one of these conceptions to employ in a moral argument. These conceptions are not directly comparable to each other, because they are not simply alternatives for each other. I also show that conceptions of the human being can—and, in effect, do—play a role in moral arguments. These roles go beyond the much-criticized idea that approaches to human nature can serve as a sufficient basis for making moral judgments. In particular, as I show, there are several indirect argumentative functions for conceptions of human nature in moral arguments. Next, the theoretical framework is applied to three debates about disability and enhancement. These chapters assess the extent to which employing my framework improves the moral debate in question or allows better arguments to be made. The applications clarify the meaning, relevance, and implications for bioethical debates of the theoretical distinctions and insights developed in the theoretical framework. I start with a real-life case in which a decision has to be made concerning the treatment of an individual. This case concerns Ashley, a severely disabled girl. She received a controversial medical intervention to keep her child-sized and to restrict her female bodily development, with the intention of improving her long-term quality of life. The next chapter challenges the common assumption in debates about disability, which is that as soon as we know what the correct 'model of disability' is, we have an answer to the question of what justice for disabled people entails. Models of disability are taken to have strong normative implications. Lastly, I discuss a more general moral debate: the fascinating debate about designer babies. By discussing these three case studies, I show how my theoretical framework can help to illuminate three debates in bioethics, how it clarifies misunderstandings between scholars holding different positions in those debates, and how it is necessary to understand the arguments put forward in the debates. The choice of a particular account of human nature makes a difference when dealing with practical moral issues. We need such an account to make sensible moral judgments, but also to understand discussions properly and to understand disagreements about moral issues at all.


Wet meadows are transitional habitats between wetlands and dry-mesophilous grasslands; thus, they are vital in sustaining biodiversity as sources, stepping stones and green corridors of species dispersal. It is especially valid for inland alkali vegetation, where high landscape-scale patchiness is typical and rapid shifts between vegetation types occur frequently. Solonetz meadows (Beckmannion eruciformis) are among the best-preserved open habitats in Europe harbouring a unique flora including several endemics. Besides their importance, studies on the vegetation of solonetz meadows are scarce even though this knowledge would be vital for their effective conservation and management. Using own records and literature data, we provide a synthesis of the alliance Beckmannion eruciformis to charac-terise its associations floristically and ecologically in five regions along the river Tisza, East Hungary. We studied three associations of the alliance: (i) Agrostio stoloniferae-Alopecuretum pratensis, (ii) Agrostio stoloniferae-Beckmannietum eruciformis and (iii) Agrostio stoloniferae-Glycerietum pedi-cellatae. We found that solonetz meadow associations were separated along a moisture gradient with Agrostio stoloniferae-Alopecuretum pratensis at the drier end and Agrostio stoloniferae-Glycerietum pedicellateae at the wet end. This gradient was also justified by the distribution of the phytosociological groups. The proportion of species of Festuco-Brometea division was the highest in Agrostio stolonifer-ae-Alopecuretum pratensis, while the proportion of Cypero-Phragmitetea species was the highest in Agrostio stoloniferae-Glycerietum pedicellateae. Species of Puccinellio-Salicornetea had the highest proportion in Agrostio stoloniferae-Beckmannietum eruciformis, indicating the high soil salinity of this association. Our results suggest that Agrostio stoloniferae-Alopecuretum pratensis association plays an important role in preserving the continental flora elements of the surrounding dry grasslands. The ecological indicator values for soil moisture and salinity suggest that in case of the studied solonetz meadow associations, humidity increases with decreasing elevation, while salinity is highest at medium elevations. Our results suggest that Agrostio stoloniferae-Beckmannietum eruciformis is a transition towards salt marsh associations, while Agrostio stoloniferae-Glycerietum pedicellatae is a transition towards freshwater marshes. Our results show that preserving solonetz meadows is an important task for nature conservation as they have a crucial role in maintaining landscape-scale species and habitat diversity and act as buffer zones around wetlands.


Professors Caldwell and McDermott consider what happens when murder suspect, Kurt Michaels, who initially waived Miranda protections, asks, or seems to ask, for an attorney in the middle of interrogation and subsequently confesses to the murder of Joanne Clemons. Should the question be answered in favor of law enforcement which is trying to obtain critical confessions or in favor of protecting the individuals from police abuse? This article traces the development of confession law (protection of voluntariness and privilege against self-incrimination) from its roots in common law, to Miranda, which applied confession law protections to custodial interrogations. Miranda was cast in terms of waiver and invocation: Custodial interrogation could not begin without an effective waiver of Miranda protections, and an invocation of Miranda at any point during questioning would mean questioning must stop. Miranda was criticized for veering too far toward protecting the rights of the accused. Post-Miranda, the U.S. Supreme Court whittled away at Miranda rules until they were deemed merely prophylactic, and not constitutionally guaranteed. Consequently, the post-waiver invocation doctrine that developed post-Miranda culminated in Davis v. United States, which held that after waiver of Miranda protections only an unequivocal request for counsel could stop further questioning. Davis was based on the premise that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel only applies after the initiation of criminal proceedings, not during custodial interrogations. In Dickerson v. United States, the Supreme Court reviewed a Fourth Circuit decision that had taken post-Miranda developments too far, holding since Miranda was not constitutionally required it was superseded by the totality of circumstances voluntariness standard in US Code section 3501. In a surprising decision, the Dickerson Court unequivocally held that Miranda was constitutionally required as an effective way to secure Fifth Amendment rights. After Dickerson, the Davis standard must be reconsidered in view of the fundamental constitutional rights at stake.


With the rapid development of science and technology, the automobile industry is booming as well. With the application of high-tech technology in automobile industry, people can basically be satisfied with their performance. While, nowadays, more attention are focused on the ride performance which will directly affect the comfort and safety when driving or riding. This paper is focused on the study of vehicle ride performance. Based on the actual vehicles, a new kind of vibration simulation model which is convenient to operate is designed. By using the model to analyze the vehicle ride performance, a more real simulation effect can be achieved. First of all, this study established a quarter two-freedom model of vehicle and accordingly selected the Macpherson front suspension from Santana 2000 Gsi saloon car as the target. Basic parameters of the simulation model contain the suspension stiffness, damping coefficient of shock absorber and the road excitation. The first two parameters can be calculated while the road surface excitation is gained by using white noise integral method. By inputting the calculated basic parameters into suspension vibration system of simulation model, we can get the car ride performance result which turn out that the model is effective and feasible. Besides, the parameter adjustment can make the vibration characteristics of the images and data more intuitive, which further laid the basis of accurate control research.


Purpose: We aimed to describe and compare azygos vein flow patterns of patients with obstructed and unobstructed systemic venous baffle after atrial switch repair for d-transposition of the great arteries (TGA). We hypothesized that phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging would enable characterization of retrograde collateral flow across the azygos vein in cases of systemic venous baffle obstruction. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective, cross-sectional study. Twelve patients with atrial switch repair for TGA were examined. Azygos flow index was measured with phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging; comparison was made between patients with documented systemic venous baffle obstruction (n=3) and a control group of patients without baffle obstruction (n=9). Results: Patients with systemic venous baffle obstruction had a distinctive azygos flow pattern that was retrograde and an increased amount of azygos flow compared with patients without obstruction [median (range), −436 (−455/−399) vs. 103 (51/125) mL/min/m2; P=0.01]. Conclusions: Patients with systemic venous baffle obstruction have a characteristic collateral flow across the azygos vein. Azygos vein flow measurement may be used for the assessment of baffle patency in patients after atrial switch repair for TGA. However, diagnostic accuracy needs to be tested in a larger population.


The translation from temporal logics to automata is the workhorse algorithm of several techniques in computer science and AI, such as reactive synthesis, reasoning about actions, FOND planning with temporal specifications, and reinforcement learning with non-Markovian rewards, to name a few. Unfortunately, the problem is computationally intractable, requiring the implementation of several heuristics to make it usable in practice. In this paper, following the recent interest in temporal logic formalisms over finite traces, we present a compositional approach for dealing with translations of Linear Temporal Logic (LTLf) and Linear Dynamic Logic (LDLf) on finite traces into Deterministic Finite Automata (DFA). We inductively transform each LTLf/LDLf subformula into a DFA and combine them through automata operators. By relying on efficient semi-symbolic automata representations, we empirically show our approach's effectiveness and competitiveness with similar tools. Moreover, this is the first work that provides a scalable and practical tool supporting the translation to DFA not only for LTLf but also for full LDLf.


Objective: This study examined differences in the availability and advertising of flavored tobacco products before and after flavored tobacco sales restrictions were enacted in Alameda and San Francisco Counties in California. Main outcome measures: Data were collected from a sample of tobacco retailers in Alameda and San Francisco Counties at two time points: 2015, before flavored tobacco policies were enacted, and in 2019–2020, after some cities had enacted policies. Retailers were separated by city into Category 1 (n = 442)—retailers in cities that enacted a flavored tobacco policy between the two data collection periods, and Category 2 (n = 89), those that had not. Means comparison tests were conducted to evaluate significant differences over time and by category. Results: There was significantly reduced availability of menthol cigarettes, flavored little cigars, smokeless tobacco, vape pens, and Blu brand menthol e-cigarettes between 2015 and 2020 in Category 1 retailers. Category 2 retailers had reduced availability only for Blu menthol e-cigarettes and demonstrated an increase in smokeless tobacco availability. Exterior store advertising for cigarettes, little cigars, cigars, and e-cigarettes also decreased significantly in Category 1 cities relative to Category 2 cities; 8.1% of Category 1 stores were advertising flavored tobacco products in 2019–2020 compared to 36.2% of Category 2 stores. There was also a 78% reduction in flavored ads between 2015–2019 in Category 1 cities compared to a 38% decrease in Category 2 cities. Tobacco advertising inside Category 2 stores increased. Finally, Category 2 cities had significantly greater availability of cigalikes, mod or tank vapes, flavored e-cigarettes, and e-liquids compared to Category 1 cities. Conclusions. Comprehensive flavored sales restriction policies reduce flavored tobacco availability and tobacco advertising, which may help prevent youth tobacco initiation and exposure.


This inter-disciplinary project investigates the relationship between family structure and early child health. The two main aims are: (1) to determine whether family structure and changes in family structure are associated with children's physical health in the Millennium Cohort Study; (2) to explore potential pathways through which these associations operate.
In spite of much public debate around families, marriage, and child outcomes, UK literature on this topic remains incomplete. This thesis aims to fill two gaps: first, testing whether there is a link with children's physical health, rather than more commonly reported outcomes such as cognitive function or education achievements. Physical health outcomes included are respiratory health, childhood growth, and unintentional injuries. Second, few studies use prospective, longitudinal data and methods. Cross sectional studies cannot examine the direction of the relationship, nor capture the dynamics of changes in family structure. Here, longitudinal techniques test a complex model made up of variables ordered a priori.
In unadjusted analyses, family structure presented a consistent gradient in child health: cross-sectionally, children living with married parents had better health than those living with cohabiting parents, while those living with lone parents had the worst health. Longitudinally, those who experienced changes in family structure fared worse than those living with continuously married parents, with some important exceptions, such as those living with cohabiting parents who subsequently married. Socio-economic factors were important predictors of family structure and child health. Proximal pathways through which socio-economic characteristics and family structure affected child health varied according to health outcome. Maternal mental health appeared to be important across outcomes.
Concluding, this work shows the importance of using nuanced definitions of family, particularly when it comes to capturing its fluidity over time. Children who experienced changes in family structure were a heterogeneous group with diverse backgrounds and outcomes. Socio-economic factors emerged as important antecedents to both family structure and child health.


Although counter-intuitive, many published papers have proved that scientific experiments are affected by the act of observation, as well as the mind being affected by local astronomical forces and factors, such as gravity, electromagnetism, spin, and orientation. This paper details the ability of the mind to filter out all of these local factors, and visualise experiments as if they were being undertaken in intergalactic space. In order to undertake this research both the mind and quantitative observation are required. As dowsing involves both it was adopted. The physical dimensions of simple geometric shapes were measured to compare to the dimensions of the same geometric shapes perceived "mentally" by the body's senses. Global scaling has been demonstrated in these laboratory conditions with simple equations obeying power laws that involve the universal constant phi (φ) and no arbitrary constants. Examples are d = 0.5 * L ^ φ /2, Smax = 2 . r ^ φ, and a = φ * r ^ √φ. These formulae cannot be random results. The implications are (1) that phi forms part of the structure of space-time, (2) the important quantified discovery that the mind can interface with the fundamentals of space-time and the cosmos. The latter concept supports ancient Eastern philosophy, although it is alien to traditional western science.


Labouring under the Law: Gender and the Legal Administration of Indian Immigrants under Indenture in Colonial Natal 1860-1907 by Nafisa Essop Sheik Supervisory Committee: Dr Julie Parle Professor Catherine Burns Department of Historical Studies This study is a gendered historical analysis of the legal administration of Indian Immigrants in British Colonial Natal in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By focusing primarily on the attempts of the Natal Government to intervene in the personal law of especially indentured and ex-indentured Indians, this thesis presents an analysis of the role that gender played in the conceptualization and promulgation of the indentured labour scheme in Natal, and in the subsequent regulation of the lives of Indian immigrants in the Colony. It traces the developments in the administration of Indian women, especially, from the beginning of the indenture system in colonial Natal until the passage of the Indian Marriages Bill of 1907 and attempts to contextualize arguments around these themes within broader colonial discourses and debates, as well as to examine the particularity of such administrative attempts in the Natal context. This study observes the changing nature of 'custom' amongst Indian immigrants and the often simultaneous and contradictory attempts of the Natal colonial administration to at first support, and later, to intervene in what constituted the realm of the customary. Through an analysis of legal administration at different levels of government, this analysis considers the interactions of gender and utilitarian legal discourse under colonialism and, in particular, the complex role of Indian personal law and the ordinary civil laws of the Colony of Natal in both restricting and facilitating the mobility of Indian women brought to Natal under the auspices of the indentured labour system.


Much scholarly attention has focused on the role of St Demetrios in the maintenance of the civic identity and cultural independence of Thessalonika, the Byzantine Empire's second city. Yet Thessalonika did not always win this struggle with Constantinople. In the mid-twelfth century, the emperor Manuel Komnenos launched an aggressive campaign to transplant Demetrios' cult to the capital by requisitioning an item described as the saint's 'grave covering'. This relic, with its miraculous oil-exuding properties, became a new focus for the veneration of Demetrios beyond the control of the Thessalonian church authorities. It also exerted a profound influence on the Rus prince Vsevolod Iurevich, who spent a number of years in exile in Byzantium in the 1160s. After returning to Rus, Vsevolod imported a similar relic to adorn the city of Vladimir, demonstrating both his understanding of contemporary developments in Demetrios' cult and his desire, like that of Manuel, to transplant its most noteworthy features to his own capital.


Hemoglobin (Hb)-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) are being developed as resuscitative fluids for use in multiple medical applications and in lieu of blood transfusion. However, cardiovascular, central nervous system, and renal adverse events have largely impeded progress. This has prompted a need to evaluate novel down selection approaches for HBOCs prior to in-depth preclinical and clinical safety testing. In the present study, polymerized bovine Hbs (PolybHbs) were prepared with increasing ratios of glutaraldehyde to bovine Hb (10:1, 20:1, 30:1, and 40:1). The optimal PolybHb candidate selection was based on a priori determined in vivo response to include a long circulating PolybHb with no measurable renal exposure, minimal cardiovascular response, limited oxidation to metHb in vitro, or in circulation and absence of acute end organ toxicity. Guinea pigs were dosed via a 50% blood for PolybHb exchange transfusion. Data suggested that the 30:1 preparation exhibited maximum circulatory exposure (AUC(0)(-∞)) with the lowest level of oxidation (plasma metHb formation) and minimal (< 10%) blood pressure elevation. Additionally, the 30:1 preparation was absent renal iron deposition as well as abnormal glomerular/tubular histopathology or serum creatinine elevation. Clearance pathways predominantly followed those consistent with endogenous Hb clearance based pathways. Therefore, data confirmed the ability to select a single PolybHb from a small library of HBOCs based on a priori determined characteristics. Moreover, the approach to down selection described could be applied to enhance the early predictability of human safety for this class of biological therapeutics to optimize for specific indications.


Intergroup contact has long been recognized as an important factor in promoting positive intergroup attitudes. However, in operationalizing intergroup attitudes, previous studies have rarely investigated attitudes toward one of the most intimate forms of contact, romantic relationships. In this study (N = 176), we expand the intergroup contact literature to examine the association between intergroup contact and, arguably, a litmus test of intergroup attitudes: receptivity to intergroup romance. We do so in Northern Ireland, a context that is historically and presently characterized by sectarian division and tension between Catholics and Protestants. Our findings reveal that intergroup contact is positively associated with receptivity to both dating and marrying an outgroup member. These associations are mediated by ingroup norms toward outgroup romances. General outgroup attitudes were also found to be positively associated with contact but, in contrast to romantic attitudes, this association was shown, for the first time, to be simultaneously mediated by ingroup norms, anxiety, empathy, and trust. In addition, strength of ingroup identification played a moderating role, with a stronger positive relationship between contact and both romantic and general outgroup attitudes among higher identifiers. The findings highlight the importance of examining attitudes toward intergroup romantic relationships, as well as understanding the different mediating and moderating mechanisms which may account for how contact influences general attitudes and romantic attitudes. In the wake of the UK vote to leave the European Union, they also serve as an important reminder of how intergroup contact can be effective in promoting peace in Northern Ireland.


The main objective of this study was to identify any advantage of uterine fundal pressure manouvre in vaginal delivery and to evaluate its obstetrical outcomes. The primary aim of decreasing the duration of the second stage of labour could not be substantiated; rather this manouvre itself was associated with risks. Significant findings noted with such practice were one case each of retained placenta and bladder atonicity besides increased evidence of maternal exhaustion in this group and such observations were not observed in the earlier studies.


Architectural mismatches are a recognized obstacle to successful software reuse. An architectural mismatch occurs when two or more software components are connected to form a system and those components make differing and incompatible assumptions about their interactions or the environment in which they exist. Mismatch detection and avoidance has been previously discussed in existing literature. These typically take the form of generic rules and guidelines. Service Oriented Ar- chitectures (SOA) are becoming one of the main trends in the current engineering of software. Using web services, as defined by W3C Web Services Architecture Working Group, supports the engineering of SOA by providing rules and restrictions that apply to the definition of web services and how they can interact with other components to form a larger system. We see this as an opportunity to define a web services style with corresponding rules to avoid the introduction of architectural mismatches at design time. In this paper we describe the development of an environment which supports SOA development by enabling their description, as well as facilitating the detection of po- tential mismatches between web services. Here we define a web services style in the architectural description language ACME & Armani, and present the environment that we developed in ACME Studio using our web services style definition. This is accom- panied by a small case study illustrating the use of our environment.


The transformational effect of technology on how we live, and its application to different work disciplines are some of the grand challenges facing society. Radically rethinking our education system in order to cultivate creativity, innovation and thinking across the disciplines is one way of preparing for this future.
There is evidence of change within higher education; in the need for research-based responses to the grand challenges facing society; and in the employability of graduates and post-graduates. Key features of these changes identified by the European University Association (EUA) and the Irish University Association (IUA), include quality research training, inter-disciplinarity, partnerships with industry, and a mentality of innovation.
Post-graduate and post-doctoral researchers need to develop cross-disciplinary skills to communicate with, and apply their research to, industry organisations working in a similar discipline (such as IT or medicine) and with organisations working in other disciplines. Therefore researchers must develop new and different skills and perspectives. They must also learn insider inquiry; how to be immersed in local situations and generate contextually embedded knowledge that emerges from direct experience. Transforming graduate and post-graduate thinking and learning beyond their disciplinary boundaries is central to the transition from university to working life and to the need for research-based responses to the societal challenges identified earlier.
In particular, those working in research and development (R&D) environments must come to see that to explore and exploit the value of their research, it may be necessary to inquire from the inside and interact directly with researchers from other disciplines, from other research organisations, and from those in industry. This will encourage researchers to progress from disciplinary and interdisciplinary interaction to cross-disciplinary outcomes.
This study explores how an RD exploiting the potential of their research, which was carried out in their primary discipline, while being aware or open to its application in other disciplines. More precisely, the aim was to identify how to create learning spaces that enable one to think beyond one's own discipline; to inquire from the inside; and to communicate across professional disciplinary divides. The overall objective was to explore how distinctive learning spaces can be built into R&D learning environments (RDLEs) in order to create opportunities for cross-disciplinary transformative learning to occur.
Literatures that inform this study include EUA, IUA and other universities discussion papers and monographs; Entwistle (2009, 2008), Donald (2002), Land (2004, 2005, King (2005, 2009), Robinson (2006), Graham & Coghlan (2009), Graham (2011), Coghlan, D. and Brannick, T. (2010).

The context for this study was a commercialisation R&D project in the Telecommunication Software & Systems Group (TSSG). The TSSG is a research centre in the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT). The study investigates the nature of transformative learning in the Bio-Inspired Networking research unit (BioNets) and its relation to the creation of a distinctive R&D learning environment (RDLE) or learning space.
The focus of this paper is on how to create opportunities for BioNets researchers to learn how to 'think and talk' across the disciplines, in order to
• build competence in working in an inter-disciplinary environment
• build strong relationships between the R&D centre and its industry partners
• create a strong ethos of creativity and innovation
• to ensure ongoing industry partnership and commitment to the research initiatives
Methods used included a client questionnaire, interviews, an end-of-project evaluation, and document analysis. The research results identify aspects of the R&D project learning environment (RDLE) that impact on the researchers' ability to communicate across the disciplines, and to move from 'intradisciplinary', to 'interdisciplinary' to 'cross-disciplinary' ways of thinking and practicing (WTPs).
Further steps are identified for developing BioNets RDLE and also suggestions for initiatives within and between the TSSG, its commercial partners, WIT, and other research centres. The need for more research into creating cross-disciplinary graduate and post-graduate R&D project learning environment spaces in general is identified.

Keywords: Graduate and Post-graduate Learning Spaces, Innovation, Cross-
Disciplinary Thinking, Transformative Learning, Insider Inquiry.


The present study investigates the neural basis of syntactic processing in native and non-native speakers of Turkish, focusing on factors such as second language (L2) proficiency and language distance. Participants' event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a grammaticality judgment task consisting of subject case and subject-verb agreement violation sentences. The results indicate that while case violations (the divergent condition) reveal different ERP components in native and non-native speakers, agreement violations in finite clauses (the convergent condition) do not. Nevertheless, during the processing of agreement violations in non-finite clauses (the partial divergent condition) only high-intermediate L2 learners show native-like brain processing mechanisms. Findings suggest that L2 syntactic processing is affected by language distance as well as L2 proficiency.


Secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), electron probe analysis (EPMA), analytical
scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy were used to determine
the chemical composition and the mineralogy of sub-micrometer inclusions in cubic diamonds
and in overgrowths (coats) on octahedral diamonds from Zaire, Botswana, and some unknown
localities. The inclusions are sub-micrometer in size. The typical diameter encountered during
transmission electron microscope (TEM) examination was 0.1-0.5 µm. The micro-inclusions
are sub-rounded and their shape is crystallographically controlled by the diamond. Normally
they are not associated with cracks or dislocations and appear to be well isolated within the
diamond matrix. The number density of inclusions is highly variable on any scale and may
reach 10^(11) inclusions/cm^3 in the most densely populated zones. The total concentration of
metal oxides in the diamonds varies between 20 and 1270 ppm (by weight). SIMS analysis yields the average composition of about 100 inclusions contained in the
sputtered volume. Comparison of analyses of different volumes of an individual diamond
show roughly uniform composition (typically ±10% relative). The variation among the
average compositions of different diamonds is somewhat greater (typically ±30%).
Nevertheless, all diamonds exhibit similar characteristics, being rich in water, carbonate,
SiO_2, and K_2O, and depleted in MgO. The composition of micro-inclusions in most diamonds
vary within the following ranges: SiO_2, 30-53%; K_2O, 12-30%; CaO, 8-19%; FeO, 6-11%;
Al_2O_3, 3-6%; MgO, 2-6%; TiO_2, 2-4%; Na_2O, 1-5%; P_2O_5, 1-4%; and Cl, 1-3%. In addition,
BaO, 1-4%; SrO, 0.7-1.5%; La_2O_3, 0.1-0.3%; Ce_2O_3, 0.3-0.5%; smaller amounts of other rare-earth
elements (REE), as well as Mn, Th, and U were also detected by instrumental neutron
activation analysis (INAA). Mg/(Fe+Mg), 0.40-0.62 is low compared with other mantle
derived phases; K/ AI ratios of 2-7 are very high, and the chondrite-normalized Ce/Eu ratios
of 10-21 are also high, indicating extremely fractionated REE patterns. SEM analyses indicate that individual inclusions within a single diamond are roughly of
similar composition. The average composition of individual inclusions as measured with the
SEM is similar to that measured by SIMS. Compositional variations revealed by the SEM are
larger than those detected by SIMS and indicate a small variability in the composition of
individual inclusions. No compositions of individual inclusions were determined that might
correspond to mono-mineralic inclusions. IR spectra of inclusion- bearing zones exhibit characteristic absorption due to: (1) pure
diamonds, (2) nitrogen and hydrogen in the diamond matrix; and (3) mineral phases in the
micro-inclusions. Nitrogen concentrations of 500-1100 ppm, typical of the micro-inclusion-bearing
zones, are higher than the average nitrogen content of diamonds. Only type IaA
centers were detected by IR. A yellow coloration may indicate small concentration of type
IB centers. The absorption due to the micro-inclusions in all diamonds produces similar spectra and
indicates the presence of hydrated sheet silicates (most likely, Fe-rich clay minerals),
carbonates (most likely calcite), and apatite. Small quantities of molecular CO_2 are also
present in most diamonds. Water is probably associated with the silicates but the possibility
of its presence as a fluid phase cannot be excluded. Characteristic lines of olivine, pyroxene
and garnet were not detected and these phases cannot be significant components of the
inclusions. Preliminary quantification of the IR data suggests that water and carbonate
account for, on average, 20-40 wt% of the micro-inclusions. The composition and mineralogy of the micro-inclusions are completely different from
those of the more common, larger inclusions of the peridotitic or eclogitic assemblages. Their
bulk composition resembles that of potassic magmas, such as kimberlites and lamproites, but
is enriched in H_2O, CO_3, K_2O, and incompatible elements, and depleted in MgO. It is suggested that the composition of the micro-inclusions represents a volatile-rich fluid
or a melt trapped by the diamond during its growth. The high content of K, Na, P, and
incompatible elements suggests that the trapped material found in the micro-inclusions may
represent an effective metasomatizing agent. It may also be possible that fluids of similar
composition are responsible for the extreme enrichment of incompatible elements
documented in garnet and pyroxene inclusions in diamonds. The origin of the fluid trapped in the micro-inclusions is still uncertain. It may have been
formed by incipient melting of a highly metasomatized mantle rocks. More likely, it is the
result of fractional crystallization of a potassic parental magma at depth. In either case, the
micro-inclusions document the presence of highly potassic fluids or melts at depths
corresponding to the diamond stability field in the upper mantle. The phases presently
identified in the inclusions are believed to be the result of closed system reactions at lower
pressures.


This paper investigates using Perlin Noise in a three-dimensional environment. Perlin Noise has been previously used to simulate clouds, marble, wood, and other natural phenomena as well as to model virtual landscapes. The simulation created for the I.S. procedurally generates both static and animated textures and models virtual landscapes to create a virtual world. In order to keep up with the rapidly advancing graphics industry, the OpenGL API is utilized to generate the textures in real-time and to display the final product.


Wetlands are the single largest natural source of methane (CH4) emissions to the atmosphere. CH4 dynamics in wetlands are generally well understood but recent reports of CH4 flux through trees suggests a need to revisit CH4 transport processes. Wetland trees possess morphological adaptations, such as hypertrophied lenticels, aerenchyma and adventitious roots, which develop in response to soil anoxia. Such adaptations facilitate gas transport, providing a means to aerate the rhizosphere and a conduit for escape of soil CH4 to the atmosphere. Approximately 60% of global wetlands are forested and many tropical forests are permanently or seasonally flooded. Hence tree-mediated CH4 release could be an important factor in the global CH4 budget. CH4 emission from the trunks of temperate tree species has been confirmed; however, CH4 emissions from tropical trees and processes that control tree-mediated CH4 emissions remain unclear.

This study investigated the role of trees in transporting soil-produced CH4 to the atmosphere and the principal mechanisms of tree-mediated CH4 emissions. CH4 fluxes from eight tropical tree species and two temperate tree species were measured in situ. The mechanisms and controls on tree-mediated CH4 emissions were studied using three-year-old common alder (Alnus glutinosa; 50 trees) grown under two artificially controlled water-table positions. The rates of CH4 emission from whole mesocosms, the soil surface and tree stems were measured using static closed chambers.

Both temperate and tropical tree species emitted significant quantities of CH4 and notably, trees dominated ecosystem level CH4 fluxes in a tropical forest peat swamp. In a temperate riparian wetland, CH4 transport mechanism and the quantity of CH4 emitted was dependent on tree species. In Alnus glutinosa, no correlation was observed between stomatal behaviour and tree-mediated CH4 emissions, although stem CH4 emissions were positively correlated with stem lenticel density and the concentration of dissolved CH4 in soil. CH4 was not emitted from leaf surfaces in Alnus glutinosa. These findings indicate that tree-mediated CH4 emissions should be included in flux measurement campaigns in forested wetlands to avoid underestimation of total CH4 emissions from such ecosystems.


The objectives of this study were to determine the nutrient composition of grass-fed beef in the United States for inclusion in the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, and to compare the fatty acid composition of grass-fed and conventionally fed (control) beef. Ground beef (GB) and strip steaks (SS) were collected on 3 separate occasions from 15 grass-fed beef producers that represented 13 different states, whereas control beef samples were collected from 3 regions (Ohio, South Dakota, and Texas) of the United States on 3 separate occasions. Concentrations of minerals, choline, vitamin B(12), and thiamine were determined for grass-fed beef samples. Grass-fed GB samples had less Mg, P, and K (P < 0.05), and more Na, Zn, and vitamin B(12) (P < 0.05) than SS samples. Fat color, marbling, and pH were assessed for grass-fed and control SS. Subjective evaluation of the SS indicated that grass-fed beef had fat that was more yellow in color than control beef. Percentages of total fat, total cholesterol, and fatty acids along with trans fatty acids and CLA were determined for grass-fed and control SS and GB. Grass-fed SS had less total fat than control SS (P = 0.001), but both grass-fed and control SS were considered lean, because their total fat content was 4.3% or less. For both GB and SS, grass-fed beef had significantly less (P = 0.001 and P = 0.023, respectively) content of MUFA and a greater content of SFA, n-3 fatty acids, CLA, and trans-vaccenic acid than did the control samples. Concentrations of PUFA, trans fatty acids, n-6 fatty acids, and cholesterol did not differ between grass-fed and control ground beef. Trans-vaccenic acid (trans-11 18:1) made up the greatest concentration of the total trans fats in grass-fed beef, whereas CLA accounted for approximately 15% of the total trans fats. Although the fatty acid composition of grass-fed and conventionally fed beef was different, conclusions on the possible effects of these differences on human health cannot be made without further investigation.


This thesis focuses on how the properties of polymer thin films depend on the film thickness and molecular weight (Mw). Previous studies of polystyrene (PS) films coated on silica with Mw of 2.4 and 212 kg/mol found that the viscosity of the films decreases with decreasing film thickness. A two-layer model assuming a 3 nm thick mobile layer situated at the top surface of the film and hydrodynamically coupled to a bulklike inner layer is able to describe the viscosity of the films. To better understand the dynamics exhibited by the surface mobile layer, this work extends the measurement to various other Mw up to 2316 kg/mol. The result shows that the viscosity of the films also decreases with decreasing film thickness and can be described by the same two-layer model. But there are exceptional findings as well. Specifically, the viscosity of the high-Mw films (> 60 kg/mol) exhibit a M0 w dependence, distinctly different from the M3.4 w dependence exhibited by the viscosity of the bulk polymer. Moreover, the surface chains in the high-Mw films, as inferred from the two-layer model, are in an unphysically stretched state. These observations led to the conjecture that the viscosity reduction in the high-Mw films is due to a different mechanism from that in the lower Mw films which is directly tied to the surface mobile layer as in the two-layer model. To scrutinize this conjecture, viscosity measurement is extended to PS films doped v with Dioctyl phthalate (DOP). A previous experiment showed that the influence of the surface on the overall dynamics in this system is likely to be much smaller than in the undoped films. The measurement results are examined to determine, among other things, whether the viscosity reduction relative to that in the undoped films is weaker in the low-Mw than in the high-Mw regime.


A significant number of studies address various aspects related to tire modeling; most are dedicated to the development of tire models for on-road conditions. Such models cover a wide range of resolutions and approaches, as required for specific applications. At one end of the spectrum are the very simple tire models, such as those employed in real-time vehicle dynamic simulations. At the other end of the spectrum are the very complex finite element models, such as those used in tire design. In between these extremes, various other models have been developed, at different levels of compromise between accuracy and computational efficiency. Existing tire models for off-road applications lag behind the on-road models. The main reason is the complexity added to the modeling due to the interaction with the soft soil. In such situations, one must account for the soil dynamics and its impact on the tire forces, in addition to those aspects considered for an on-road tire. The goal of this project is to develop an accurate and comprehensive, while also efficient, offroad tire model for soft soil applications. The types of applications we target are traction, handling, and vehicle durability, as needed to support current army mobility goals. Thus, the proposed approach is to develop a detailed semi-analytical tire model for soft soil that utilizes the tire construction details and parallels existing commercially available on-road tire models. The novelty of this project relies in developing a three-dimensional three-layer tire model employing discrete lumped masses and in improving the tire-soil interface model. This will be achieved by enhancing the resolution of the tire model at the contact patch and by accounting for effects and phenomena not considered in existing models.


As a research subject, business model innovation spans the strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship fields. Yet, despite the importance of the concept, prior work has paid little attention to how decision-makers cope with uncertainty and gain understanding about interdependencies in new business model configurations. To address this gap, we combine top-down theorising and evidence-based exploration and seek to unpack some of the coping mechanisms that operate in the evolutionary view of business model innovation. Using in-depth interviewing to collect data, our study reveals five strategies – customer centricity, value co-creation, capability evolution, ecosystem growth, and adaptive pricing – that decision-makers apply to cope with uncertainty in business model innovation. We find that coping mechanisms support decision making during the development of new business models. Furthermore, we find that the five coping strategies delineate decision making for value proposition, value creation, and value capture configurations in more detail than existing literature has described. Our findings have important implications for decision making in business model innovation.


The large asset price jumps that took place during 2008 and 2009 disrupted volatility derivatives markets and caused the single-name variance swap market to dry up completely. This paper defines and analyzes a simple variance swap, a relative of the variance swap that in several respects has more desirable properties. First, simple variance swaps are robust: they can be easily priced and hedged even if prices can jump. Second, simple variance swaps supply a more accurate measure of market-implied variance than do variance swaps or the VIX index. Third, simple variance swaps provide a better way to measure and to trade correlation. The paper also explains how to interpret VIX in the presence of jumps.


BACKGROUND
Using a recent model of dissecting aortic aneurysm (DAA) caused by in utero exposure to semicarbazide, we examined the elastin and collagen using standard methods and two nonlinear imaging techniques, multiphoton fluorescence (MPF) and second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy.

METHODS
Sprague-Dawley rat dams were given semicarbazide (6.13 mg/kg/day i.p.) from gestational days 14 to 20 (GD14-20). Fetuses were harvested on GD20 and pups on postnatal day 1 (PND1), PND7, and PND28; matched controls were from dams treated with saline. Aortic immunohistopathology and collagen/elastin signal intensity via MPF and SHG microscopy at an excitation wavelength of 800 nm were studied.

RESULTS
Massive DAA of the aortic arch occurred in nearly 100% of pups at birth (i.e., no GD20 fetuses showed lesions). MPF and SHG demonstrated that collagen was significantly degraded at GD20 and in newborns, but normalized by PND28. GD20 fetuses and newborn pups showed a decreased content of medial and adventitial collagen type III in pooled aortas by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. In 7- and 28-day-old pups resolution of DAA blood in vascular media and a recovery of stainable collagen type III was found. Elastin in healed DAA (PND28 pups) was focally disorganized.

CONCLUSION
MPF and SHG microscopy provide sensitive and high-resolution information on aortic elastin and collagen. In this model of DAA, collagen displays aberrant imaging quality likely linked to a marked decrease in collagen type III in the developing extracellular matrix. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 2008.


Abstract We present new insights for the characterization of the petroleum system evolution in North Africa based on a review of the stratigraphic architecture description of some selected North African Palaeozoic basins. During Palaeozoic time, the Gondwana platform was divided into sub-basins bounded by structural highs. Most of the highs were inherited from north–south and SW–NE Pan-African crustal faults which were reactivated during the Palaeozoic and later, in the Austrian and Alpine tectonic phases. We studied the stratigraphic architecture of the Palaeozoic succession around four main highs showing a clear tectonic activity during the Palaeozoic sedimentation. The Gargaff Arch, in Libya, is a major SW–NE broad anticline which slowly grew up during the Cambrian and Ordovician and stopped rising during the Silurian. The activity resumed during Late Silurian and early Devonian and during the Late Devonian. The Tihemboka High is a north–south anticline in between Libya and Algeria. The uplift started during the Cambro-Ordovician then stopped during most of the Silurian. The activity resumed during the Late Silurian and continued until the Lower Carboniferous. The Ahara High, separating the Illizi and Berkine basins in Algeria, has continuously grown during the Cambro-Ordovician, stopped rising during the Silurian, and grew again continuously during the Devonian. The Bled El-Mass High is a part of the Azzel-Matti Ridge separating the Ahnet and Reggane basins in Algeria. The high mostly rose during the Cambro-Ordovician then subsided relatively less quickly than the surrounding basins during the Silurian and Devonian. The uplift timing and chronology of each palaeohigh partly controlled the petroleum systems of the surrounding basins. Topographic lows favoured the occurrence of anoxic conditions and the preservation of Lower Silurian and Frasnian source rocks. Complex progressive unconformities developed around the palaeohighs form potential complex tectonostratigraphic traps. Finally, hydrocarbons could have been trapped around the highs during pre-Hercynian times, preserving reservoir porosity from early silicification. Mixed stratigraphic–structural plays could then be present today around the highs.


Rarely performed documentation tasks usually require support for the user so that the data is recorded both completely and correctly. The broad market penetration with mobile devices like smart phones provides new possibilities for giving support for these kinds of tasks. This paper focuses on one particular widely-used instance of such a documentation task, namely the European Accident Report (aka Agreed Statement of Facts on Motor Vehicle Accident). Firstly we discuss the advantages of media-breakfree processing of all the relevant data. Secondly we present the client part of the application, which allows on-site documentation by any of the parties involved. Both application parts can be used for processing claims in the back office. We highlight the possibilities of service-chain integration, the digital accident file generated by using this solution and the resultant advantages for media-break-free processing of claims.


Pulsed latches are gaining increased visibility in low-power ASIC designs. They provide an alternative sequential element with high performance and low area and power consumption, taking advantage of both latch and flip-flop features. While the circuit reliability and robustness against different process, voltage, and temperature variations are considered as critical issues with current technologies, no significant reliability study was proposed for pulsed latch circuits. In this paper, we present a study on the effect of different PVT variations on the behavior of pulsed latches, considering the effect on both the pulser and the latch. In addition, two novel design approaches are presented to enhance the reliability of pulsed latch circuits, while keeping their main advantages of high performance, low power, and small area. Experiments performed using Synopsys 28nm PDK demonstrate the ability of the proposed approaches to keep the same reliability level at different supply voltages and temperatures in the presence of process variations, with a very small area overhead of around 3%. The two proposed designs have negligible power overhead when running at nominal supply voltage, and they have higher yield per unit power when compared with the traditional design at different voltages and temperatures.


New developments in securities markets, particularly in the areas of technology, financial products, and foreign securities markets, are challenging the Securities and Exchange Commission to reconsider its regulatory policies. This book offers detailed prescriptions for effective regulation from experienced regulators and noted scholars in the field. A definitive collection that illustrates how research and expert opinion can help the SEC frame issues and establish objective criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of its policies.


Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) consumption is recommended as part of a healthy diet, but evidence of the impact of individual species and biological concentrations on cognitive function is limited. We examined prospective associations of PUFA erythrocyte composition and dietary intake with measures of cognitive function among participants of the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study (aged 57 years). Erythrocyte and dietary PUFA composition were ascertained at baseline and associated with 2-year scores on the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) (n = 1032) and cognitive domain patterns derived from a battery of tests (n = 865), as well as with incidence of cognitive impairment. Erythrocyte and dietary n-3 PUFA were not significantly associated with MMSE score. However, total erythrocyte and dietary n-3 very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFA), and intake of individual species, were associated with better executive function (P-trend < 0.05, for all). There was evidence that greater erythrocyte n-6 eicosadienoic acid concentration was associated with lower MMSE and executive function scores (P-trend = 0.02). Only erythrocyte arachidonic acid (ARA) concentration predicted cognitive impairment (Odds Ratio = 1.26; P = 0.01). Among Puerto Rican adults, we found that n-3 VLCFA consumption may beneficially impact executive function. Further, these findings provide some evidence that n-6 metabolism favoring greater ARA tissue incorporation, but not necessarily dietary intake, could increase the risk of cognitive impairment.


A central challenge in training classification models in the real-world federated system is learning with non-IID data. To cope with this, most of the existing works involve enforcing regularization in local optimization or improving the model aggregation scheme at the server. Other works also share public datasets or synthesized samples to supplement the training of under-represented classes or introduce a certain level of personalization. Though effective, they lack a deep understanding of how the data heterogeneity affects each layer of a deep classification model. In this paper, we bridge this gap by performing an experimental analysis of the representations learned by different layers. Our observations are surprising: (1) there exists a greater bias in the classifier than other layers, and (2) the classification performance can be significantly improved by post-calibrating the classifier after federated training. Motivated by the above findings, we propose a novel and simple algorithm called Classifier Calibration with Virtual Representations (CCVR), which adjusts the classifier using virtual representations sampled from an approximated gaussian mixture model. Experimental results demonstrate that CCVR achieves state-of-the-art performance on popular federated learning benchmarks including CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100, and CINIC-10. We hope that our simple yet effective method can shed some light on the future research of federated learning with non-IID data.


We empirically estimate positional "wins above replacement" (WAR) in the National Football League (NFL). Positional WAR measures the value of players in the NFL, by position, in terms of generating wins. WAR is a commonly used metric to evaluate individual players in professional baseball and basketball in the United States, but to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to construct WAR measures for American football. A key challenge in constructing these measures is that individual statistics for many football players are not as well developed as in baseball and basketball. Related to this point, the productivity of individual football players, perhaps more than players in any other major sport, is highly dependent on context. We circumvent issues related to measuring productivity for individual players by constructing WAR measures at the position rather than individual level. The identifying variation that we leverage in our study is generated by arguably exogenous player injuries and suspensions. Using data from three seasons and all 32 NFL teams, we show that the most valuable positions in the NFL are quarterback, wide receiver, tight end/fullback, and offensive tackle. Perhaps our most surprising finding is that positional WAR for all positions on the defensive side of the football is zero.


Jambor, A. and A. Gibba, 2017. Competitiveness in global agri-food trade: The case of peanuts. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 23 (2): 177–182 Since the prominent work of Balassa, a vast amount of literature is dedicated to the analyses of revealed comparative advantages of global trade, while comparative advantages in the peanut industry are scarcely investigated. The aim of our paper is to analyse the revealed comparative advantages of global peanut trade as well as the duration and stability of Balassa indices by applying Markov transition probability matrices and Kaplan-Meier survival function. The source of data is global peanut exports at HS6 level for 1996–2015. Results suggest that India, China and Argentina are the biggest exporters of peanuts, dominated by the unroasted shelled type, in the world. The Balassa indices, however, were the highest for Senegal, Nicaragua and Argentina in the period analysed. Advantages, in general, seem to have weakened for a majority of the countries as evidence from mobility indices as well as from the stability tests.


The view from within Northern Ireland (NI) has been that child poverty here is worse than in other parts of the UK. The Poverty and Social Exclusion Survey for Northern Ireland (PSE NI) found that, on a mixed measure of income and deprivation, 37.4 per cent of children in Northern Ireland were living in households experiencing poverty (Hillyard et al., 2003). Households Below Average Income (HBAI) figures since then, however, have provided a different picture. They suggest that levels of poverty here are similar to, or lower than, the UK average. When we dig below the headline figures, child poverty in Northern Ireland is more entrenched and the particular circumstances of the region require particular attention. The evidence in this Viewpoint comes from government statistics and from the experiences of children and young people living in poverty in Northern Ireland.


– The project is an authentication system that validates user for accessing the system only when they have input correct password. The project involves three levels of user authentication. There are varieties of password systems available, many of which have failed due to bot attacks while few have sustained it but to a limit. In short, almost all the passwords available today can be broken to a limit. Hence this project is aimed to achieve the highest security in authenticating users. It contains three logins having three different kinds of password system. The password difficulty increases with each level. Users have to input correct password for successful login. Users would be given privilege to set passwords according to their wish. The project comprises of text password i.e. passphrase, image based password and graphical password for the three levels respectively. This way there would be negligible chances of bot or anyone to crack passwords even if they have cracked the first level or second level, it would be impossible to crack the third one. Hence while creating the technology the emphasis was put on the use of innovative and untraditional methods. Many users find the most widespread text‐based password systems unfriendly, so in the case of three level passwords we tried creating a simple user interface and providing users with the best possible comfort in solving password.


Asia Education Symposium 2006, Session 3: "Making the most of Resources of International Education"( Day Two; Sun., October 16 )


The authors derive a role for inside investors, such as venture capitalists, in resolving various agency problems that arise in a multistage financial contracting problem. Absent an inside investor, the choice of securities is unlikely to reveal all private information and overinvestment may occur. An inside investor, however, always makes optimal investment decisions if and only if he holds a fixed-fraction contract, where he always receives a fixed fraction of the project's payoff and finances that same fraction of future investments. This contract also eliminates any incentives of the venture capitalist to misprice securities issued in later financing rounds. Copyright 1994 by American Finance Association.


Boost Converter, Interleaved Boost Converter, Continuous Current Mode, MPPT, Input Current ripple, Output Voltage ripple. The step-up converters are widespread use in many applications, including powered vehicles, photovoltaic systems, continuous power supplies, and fuel cell systems. The reliability, quality, maintainability, and reduction in size are the important requirements in the energy conversion process. Interleaving method is one of advisable solution for heavy-performance applications, its harmonious in circuit design by paralleling two or more identical converters. This paper investigates the comparison performance of a two-phase interleaved boost converter with the traditional boost converter. The investigation of validation performance was introduced through steady-state analysis and operation. The operation modes and mathematical analysis are presented. The interleaved boost converter improves low-voltage stress across the switches, low-input current ripple also improving the efficiency compared with a traditional boost converter. To validate the performance in terms of input and output ripple and values, the two converters were tested using MATLAB/SIMULINK. The results supported the mathematical analysis. The cancelation of ripple in input and output voltage is significantly detected. The ripple amplitude is reducing in IBC comparing with a traditional boost converter, and the ripple frequency is doubled. This tends to reduce output filter losses, and size. How to cite this article: K. S. Faraj and J. F. Hussein, "Analysis and comparison of DC-DC boost converter and interleaved DC-DC boost converter," Engineering and Technology Journal, Vol. 38, Part A, No. 05, pp. 622-635, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30684/etj.v38i5A.291


Commonly used ozone-depleting refrigerants in refrigerators will be completely phased out in less than 15 years according to the Montreal Protocol. This imminent challenge can be tackled effectively by replacing the current vapor-compression cooling with environmentally sustainable thermoelectric cooling. P-type (Bi0.25Sb0.75)2Te3 alloys have been intensively studied over the past 50 years for cooling applications because of their high thermoelectric performance near room temperature. However, the electronic origin of the high thermoelectric efficiency of (Bi0.25Sb0.75)2Te3 alloys is often understated or ignored completely. In this thesis, the underlying physics of high electronic performance observed in the particular alloy composition, (Bi2Te3).25–(Sb2Te3).75, is investigated. It was demonstrated with two-band transport calculation that the convergence of bands occurred at (Bi2Te3).25–(Sb2Te3).75. A zT improvement of 17 % was also achieved in zone-levelled (Bi0.25Sb.75)2Te3 crystals by controlling their carrier concentration while using the two-band model as a guide. With the optimum electronic efficiency theoretically calculated and achieved experimentally, the thesis moves on to minimize lattice thermal conductivity of (Bi0.25Sb.75)2Te3 for the maximum zT. A new liquid compaction method was devised to produce dense arrays of dislocations in grain boundaries of nanostructured (Bi0.25Sb.75)2Te3. The grain boundary dislocations were found to be highly effective in scattering phonons and a substantial improvement in zT was possible (zT = 1.86 at 320 K). The understanding of phonon scattering by dislocations was in turn applied to phonon scattering at grain boundaries of polycrystalline materials. By demonstrating that the frequency-dependent dislocation scattering can replace the commonly used frequency-independent boundary scattering by Casimir, this thesis suggests that the grain boundary dislocation scattering may be responsible for the mechanism of phonon scattering at grain boundaries.


Vessel traffic management systems can be employed for environmental management where vessel activity may be of concern. One such location is in San Francisco Bay where a variety of vessel types transit a highly developed urban estuary. We analyzed vessel presence and speed across space and time using vessel data from the Marine Monitor, a vessel tracking system that integrates data from the Automatic Identification System and a marine-radar sensor linked to a high-definition camera. In doing so, we provide data that can inform collision risk to cetaceans who show an increased presence in the Bay and evaluation of the value in incorporating data from multiple sources when observing vessel traffic. We found that ferries traveled the greatest distance of any vessel type. Ferries and other commercial vessels (e.g., cargo and tanker ships and tug boats) traveled consistently in distinct paths while recreational traffic (e.g., motorized recreational craft and sailing vessels) was more dispersed. Large shipping vessels often traveled at speeds greater than 10 kn when transiting the study area, and ferries traveled at speeds greater than 30 kn. We found that distance traveled and speed varied by season for tugs, motorized recreational and sailing vessels. Distance traveled varied across day and night for cargo ships, tugs, and ferries while speed varied between day and night only for ferries. Between weekdays and weekends, distance traveled varied for cargo ships, ferries, and sailing vessels, while speed varied for ferries, motorized recreational craft, and sailing vessels. Radar-detected vessel traffic accounted for 33.9% of the total track distance observed, highlighting the need to include data from multiple vessel tracking systems to fully assess and manage vessel traffic in a densely populated urban estuary.


For an understanding of the effect of climate change on animal population dynamics, it is crucial to be able to identify which climatologic parameters affect which demographic rate, and what the underlying mechanistic links are. An important reason for why the interactions between demography and climate still are poorly understood is that the effects of climate vary both geographically and taxonomically. Here, we analyse interspecifically how different climate variables affect the breeding success of North Atlantic seabird species along latitudinal and longitudinal gradients. By approaching the problem comparatively, we are able to generalize across populations and species. We find a strong interactive effect of climate and latitude on breeding success. Of the climatic variables considered, local sea surface temperatures during the breeding season tend to be more relevant than the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). However, the effect of NAO on breeding success shows a clear geographic pattern, changing in sign from positive in the south to negative in the north. If this interaction is taken account of, the model explains more variation than any model with sea surface temperature. This superiority of the NAO index is due to its ability to capture effects of more than one season in a single parameter. Mechanistically, however, several lines of evidence suggest that sea surface temperature is the biologically most relevant explanatory variable.


type="main"> We study outsourcing relationships among international asset management firms. We find that, in companies that manage both outsourced and in-house funds, in-house funds outperform outsourced funds by 0.85% annually (57% of the expense ratio). We attribute this result to preferential treatment of in-house funds via the preferential allocation of IPOs, trading opportunities, and cross-trades, especially at times when in-house funds face steep outflows and require liquidity. We explain preferential treatment with agency problems: it increases with the subcontractor's market power and the difficulty of monitoring the subcontractor, and decreases with the subcontractor's amount of parallel in-house activity.


Human action analyses and recognition are challenging problems due to large variations in human motion and appearance, camera viewpoint and environment settings. The field of action and activity representation and recognition is relatively old, yet not well-understood by the students and research community. Some important but common motion recognition problems are even now unsolved properly by the computer vision community. However, in the last decade, a number of good approaches are proposed and evaluated subsequently by many researchers. Among those methods, some methods get significant attention from many researchers in the computer vision field due to their better robustness and performance. This book will cover gap of information and materials on comprehensive outlook through various strategies from the scratch to the state-of-the-art on computer vision regarding action recognition approaches. This book will target the students and researchers who have knowledge on image processing at a basic level and would like to explore more on this area and do research. The step by step methodologies will encourage one to move forward for a comprehensive knowledge on computer vision for recognizing various human actions.


Phosphorus (P) sorption influences P requirement of Nigerian soils. Four Inceptisols in Benue state were therefore used to examine the influence of soil properties on sorption indices and yield of soybean. Soil inorganic P was fractionated using standard procedures. Sorption characteristics were determined in 0.01 M CaCl2 solutions of various P concentrations. For each soil, the amounts of P that gave 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.100, 0.125, 0.150, 0.175, 0.200, 0.225, 0.250 mg/kg solution concentration and the buffering capacity were estimated from adsorption curves. In the greenhouse, 4 kg of soil from each location was placed in plastic pots. Amount of P estimated from sorption study was added as KH2PO4. The treatments were laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and soybean seed variety (TGx 1448-2E) was planted and observed to maturity. At harvest, the shoot was dried, weighed, milled and digested in a 4:1 HNO3:HClO4 mixture and analyzed for P. Optimum solution P concentration (SPC) was determined for each soil in relation to yield. The P adsorption capacities (K) of the soils related significantly to P in biomass (r=0.661). High grain yield (t/ha) was obtained at 0.025 mg P/kg SPC in Abeda-Mbadyul (8.5) and Otobi-Akpa (12.5) while 5.4 t/ha was obtained in Tor-donga and 4.1 t/hain Odobaat 0.10 mg P/kg SPC in the green house experiment. Slightly higher grain yield was obtained at Otobi (6.4t/ha) in the field trial than the estimated SPC values. Buffering capacities of soils varied and related significantly with seed weight (r= 0.605) and P in biomass (r=-0.667). Consequently, Odoba would require highest P fertilizer application (604.84 Kg P/ha), Tor-Donga (112.31), Abeda-Mbadyul (105.93) and Otobi (33.18)


Cadmium (Cd) is a highly mobile and toxic heavy metal that negatively affects plants, soil biota, animals and humans, even in very low concentrations. Currently, Cd contamination of cocoa produced in Latin American countries is a significant problem, as concentrations can exceed acceptable levels set by the European Union (0.5 mg/kg), sometimes by more than 10 times allowable levels. In South America, Theobroma cacao is an essential component of the basic market basket. This crop contributes to the Latin-American trade balance, as these countries export cacao and chocolate-based products to major consumer countries such as the United States and Europe. Some soil amendments can alter the bioavailability and uptake of Cd into edible plant tissues, though cacao plants can accumulate Cd without displaying any visible symptoms of phytotoxicity, which makes it difficult to determine if potential remediation strategies are successful. Currently, the only effective way to quantify Cd accumulation in plant tissues is via destructive post-harvest practices that are time-consuming and expensive. New hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technologies developed for use in high-throughput plant phenotyping are powerful tools for monitoring environmental stress and predicting the nutritional status in plants. Consequently, the experiments described in this thesis were conducted to determine if HSI technologies could be adapted for monitoring plant stress caused by Cd, and estimating its concentration in vegetative plant tissues. Two leafy green crops were used in these experiments, basil (Ocimum basilicum L. var. Genovese) and kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. Lacinato), because they are fast growing, and therefore, could serve as indicator crops on cacao farms. In addition, we expected these two leafy green crops would differ in their morphological responses to Cd stress. Specifically, we predicted that stress responses would be visible in basil, but not kale, which is known to be a hyperaccumulator. The plants were subject to four levels of soil Cd (0, 5, 10 and 15 ppm), and half of the pots were amended with biochar at a rate of 3% (v/v), as this amendment has previously been demonstrated to improve plant health and reduce Cd uptake. The experiments were conducted at Purdue's new Controlled Environment Phenotyping Center (CEPF). The plants were imaged weekly and manual measurements of plant growth and development were collected at the same times, and concentrations of Cd as well as many other elements were determined after harvest. Fourteen vegetation indices generated using HSI images collected from the side and top view of plants were evaluated for their potential to identify subtle signs of plant stress due soil Cd and the biochar amendment. In addition, three mathematical models were evaluated for their potential to estimate Cd concentrations in the plant biomass and determine if they exceed safe standards (0.28 mg/kg) set by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for leafy greens. Results of these studies confirm that like many plants, these leafy green crops can accumulate Cd levels that are well above safety thresholds for human health, but exhibit few visible symptoms of stress. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the chlorophyll index at the red edge (CI_RE) were the best indices for detecting Cd stress in these crops, and the plant senescence and reflectance index (PSRI) and anthocyanin reflectance index (ARI) were the best at detecting subtle changes in plant physiology due to the biochar amendment. The heavy metal stress index (HMSSI), developed exclusively for detecting heavy metal stress, was only able to detect Cd stress in basil when images were taken from the top view. Results of the mathematical models indicated that principal components analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) models overfit despite efforts to transform the data, indicating that they are not capable of predicting Cd concentrations in these crops at these levels. However, the artificial neural networks (ANN) was able to predict whether leafy greens had levels of Cd that were above or below critical thresholds suggested by the FAO, indicating that HSI could be further developed to predict Cd concentrations in plant tissues. Further research conducted in the field and in the presence of other environmental stress factors are needed to confirm the utility of these tools, and determine whether they can be adapted to monitor Cd uptake in cacao plants.


In contrast to the widespread acceptance of red blood cell grouping, blood serum protein and enzyme analysis, and HLA typing, the evidentiary status of forensic applications of recombinant-DNA technology is in flux. A proper evidentiary analysis must attend to the fact that there is no single method of DNA typing. As with the more established genetic tests, the probative value of the laboratory findings depends both on the procedure employed and the genetic characteristics that are discerned. This paper describes some of these procedures and the theory that lies behind them, and then considers the developing case law. Given the ongoing debate over the standards and controls that should be used in DNA typing, perhaps the findings of laboratories that have yet to establish a track record on independently administered, blind proficiency tests should be inadmissible, while proof that a laboratory has participated successfully in blind proficiency tests and has applied a similar or more rigorous protocol to the samples at bar should satisfy the threshold test for admissibility. In addition, the performance of the laboratory on the proficiency tests should accompany the results provided to the judge or jury. In this way, the trier of fact will be better positioned to assess the ability of the laboratory, using whatever type of DNA analysis and quality controls it has adopted, to obtain and interpret DNA profiles correctly.


This paper focuses on the writing of compound words in the private journals of Thomas Mann (1875–1955) and Harry Graf Kessler (1868–1937),* with special attention to their later years. It will be established that the percentage of closed compound words decreases with time while hyphenated compound words, medial capital spelling and separate spelling increase – resulting in a greater variety of compounds. Endogenous and exogenous factors influencing their writing will also be examined. The variability of compounds outside the orthographic norm increases noticeably in conjunction with the age of the authors. The main aim of this paper is to discuss whether and to what extent these spellings can be interpreted as signs of old age.**


The interaction between physical disturbance and organic enrichment, with respect to its effect on the diversity and community structure of a macroinfaunal assemblage, has been examined in a benthic mesocosm experiment. The experiment was conducted at the Solbergstrand mesocosm (Norwegian Institute for Water Research) using subtidal sediment collected from Bjørnhordenbukta, a small sheltered bay in Oslofjørd. Ninety‐eight areas of homogenized sediment were subjected to one of seven levels of organic enrichment, combined with one of seven different frequencies of physical disturbance, each replicated once. This structured matrix of physical disturbance and organic enrichment treatments demonstrated the combined effects of these factors to be nonadditive. Diversity was lower than expected when low frequencies of physical disturbance acted in conjunction with high levels of organic enrichment or when high frequencies of physical disturbance were combined with low levels of organic enrichment. Diversity was higher than expected when both disturbance and enrichment were either high or low. The implications of this interaction between physical disturbance and organic enrichment for the application of the dynamic equilibrium model (Huston 1979) to sediment communities are discussed. Multivariate analysis also showed community structure to be significantly affected by physical disturbance, organic enrichment, and interactions between the two. It is concluded that strong interactions between physical disturbance and organic enrichment, coupled with both small‐ and large‐scale variability in these factors, could promote heterogeneity and diversity in benthic infaunal assemblages. However, this remains to be tested in field conditions. Additionally, interactions between physical disturbance and organic enrichment may have important implications for matters of coastal zone management.


Graphitic materials and graphite composites experience dimensional change when exposed to radiation-induced atomic displacements. This has major implications for current and future technological ranging from nuclear fission reactors to the processing of graphene-silicon hybrid devices. Dimensional change in nuclear graphites is a complex problem involving the filler, binder, porosity, cracks and atomic-level effects all interacting within the polygranular structure. An improved understanding of the atomistic mechanisms which drive dimensional change within individual graphitic crystals is required to feed into the multiscale modelling of this system. In this study, micromechanically exfoliated samples of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite have been ion irradiated and studied in situ using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in order to gain insights into the response of single graphitic crystals to displacing radiation. Under continuous ion bombardment, a complex dynamic sequence of deformation evolves featuring several distinct stages from the inducement of strain, the creation of dislocations leading to dislocation arrays, the formation of kink band networks and localised doming of


Tonometry has been identified as a common method for measuring the intraocular pressure in patients. The direct contact between the tonometer and the eye may contribute to the risk of cross infection, especially of viral particles, from one patient to another. A systematic review was undertaken to address the likelihood of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and prion diseases transmission through the use of tonometers. Additionally, a comparison of the current tonometer disinfection methods is provided to assist with identifying which technique effectively reduces the risk of disease transmission. An electronic literature search was conducted using the following databases: Web of Science, EMBASE, CINAHL, SCOPUS, Biosis Previews, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Dissertation indexes were also searched, and these included: Dissertations and Abstracts, and Dissertations and Abstracts - UK/Ireland. Additionally, the Clinicaltrials.gov trial registry was searched to identify any other relevant literature. Two independent reviewers critically appraised the articles retrieved through the literature search. In total, 11 unique studies were deemed relevant for this systematic review. The available evidence demonstrated that the use of tonometers contributes to the transmission of these infectious diseases in vitro. The results also demonstrated variability in determining the most effective tonometer sterilization technique against these infectious diseases in vitro. There was limited evidence available regarding the transmission of HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and prion diseases through the use of tonometers. Additionally, due to the variability regarding the most effective sterilization techniques, it is difficult to identify which sterilization technique is most effective or adequately effective against these infectious diseases. Future research studies regarding infectious disease transmission through tonometry and sterilization techniques should be completed to more adequately inform infectious disease control guidelines.


We revisit the theory that Hollyer, Rosendorff, and Vreeland use in their research program on transparency and political stability. We show that in a representative citizen setting and in their multi-citizen model, more transparency increases the likelihood of revolution if this likelihood is sufficiently small, but reduces the likelihood of revolution if it is sufficiently large. Rather than coordination concerns, the mechanism driving this result reflects the logic of "gambling for resurrection": when you're ahead, don't give information, but when you're behind, gamble for resurrection by providing more information. Their model suggests that protest risk drives transparency, not the converse: regimes facing a low likelihood of revolution should reduce transparency, while those facing a high likelihood of revolution should raise transparency, generating a positive correlation between transparency and instability. Moreover, we show that in Hollyer et al.'s core models, a citizen's net payoff from revolting does not depend on either the citizen's private economic well-being, or the public economic situation: economic interest, either self-interest or sociotropic interest, is not itself an incentive to protest. Rather, the model is a sunspot game, with economic data playing the role of sunspots, which, by assumption, act as focal points for coordination.


Increased promotion and awareness of healthy diets has contributed to growth in demand for fresh fruits and vegetables, for which the United States has become increasingly more dependent on imports. A modified LA/AIDS model captured seasonality and the effects of trade policy for select U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable imports from 1989 through 2008. The introduction of NAFTA significantly increased expenditure shares for papayas, tomatoes, and peppers, but it negatively influenced budget shares for bananas and pineapples. Fresh fruits and vegetables, except bananas, showed a positive trend in import budget shares, and seasonality was significant for all the commodities.


Termites are eusocial insects that are found on all continents except Antarctica. Termites have serious destructive impact, damaging local huts and crops of poor subsistence. The annual cost of termite damage and its control is determined in the billions globally. In Egypt, most of these damages are due to the subterranean termite species especially the sand termite, P. hypostoma. Pyrethroids became the primary weapon for subterranean termite control, after the use of chlorpyrifos as a soil termiticide was banned. Despite the important role of pyrethroids in termite control, its extensive use in pest control led to the eventual rise of insecticide resistance which may make many of the pyrethroids ineffective. The ability to diagnose the precise mechanism of pyrethroid resistance in any insect species would be the key component of its management at specified location for a specific population. In the present study, detailed toxicological and biochemical studies was conducted on the mechanism of pyrethroid resistance in P. hypostoma. The susceptibility of field populations of P. hypostoma against deltamethrin, α-cypermethrin and ƛ-cyhalothrin was evaluated. The obtained results revealed that the workers of P. hypostoma have developed high resistance level against the tested pyrethroids. Studies carried out through estimation of detoxification enzyme activity indicated that enhanced esterase and cytochrome P450 activities were probably important mechanisms for pyrethroid resistance in field populations. Elevated esterase activity and also additional esterase isozyme were observed in the pyrethroid-resistant populations compared to the susceptible populations. Strong positive correlation between cytochrome P450 activity and pyrethroid resistance was also reported. |Deltamethrin could be recommended as a resistancebreaking pyrethroid that is active against resistant populations of P. hypostoma. Keywords—Psammotermes hypostoma, pyrethroid resistance, esterase, cytochrome P450.


The aims of this report are threefold. The first is to map how much information can be obtained on the labour markets in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in order to proceed with analyzing the labour market policies and the growth models in the region. Secondly, while some comparative data can be obtained through international databases, these are often incomplete or not fully up to date. We therefore select a sample of countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) to represent the broad geographic diversity of the region and for these we obtained data that is more detailed and more up to date compared to what is available from existing international databases. Thirdly, we organize some of this information into brief country profiles and a common profile for the region. This provides a handy, up-to-date summary of the state of collective bargaining and other aspects of labour relations and their legal context in these countries and allows us to posit some hypotheses for further research. Why are we interested specifically in the countries in Central and Eastern Europe? These countries seem to be in a "low innovation, low wage equilibrium" (Independent Evaluation Group. 2007). In addition, we might see in a new light the application of some key normative concepts featuring prominently in EU policy debates such as flexicurity and transitional labour markets (TLM). The task here is therefore to open up the black box of labour markets in the new member states by researching labour relations in the region. Overall, CEE countries defy an easy stereotype or model with regard to the labour relations and their wider context. While collective labour relations are quite liberalized, individual labour relations are not, but there is also relatively low presence of atypical forms of labour relations as known from EU-15. However, it can be hypothesized that the role of self-employed and older workers might be to provide flexibility for the labour market. There also seems potential for bifurcation of unemployed, but also parents into "insiders" and "outsiders" – social insurance vs long-term social assistance/paternity benefits. This is worth further investigation.


The significance of nature friendly banks for the aquatic invertebrate fauna The last 25 years the Ministry of Transport constructed more than 450 km of nature friendly banks along their waters to compensate the destruction of nature by defending the banks with stone and steel. In this study the differences in the composition of the aquatic invertebrate fauna between the traditional banks and the nature friendly banks was investigated. In nature friendly banks the number of species, diversity and the number of rare species increases and the distribution of the feeding guilds is more natural.


We spend a significant part of our lives chatting about other people. In other words, we all gossip. Although sometimes a contentious topic, various researchers have shown gossip to be fundamental to social life—from small groups to large, formal organizations. In this paper, we present the first study of gossip in a large CMC corpus. Adopting the Enron email dataset and natural language techniques, we arrive at four main findings. First, workplace gossip is common at all levels of the organizational hierarchy, with people most likely to gossip with their peers. Moreover, employees at the lowest level play a major role in circulating it. Second, gossip appears as often in personal exchanges as it does in formal business communication. Third, by deriving a power-law relation, we show that it is more likely for an email to contain gossip if targeted to a smaller audience. Finally, we explore the sentiment associated with gossip email, finding that gossip is in fact quite often negative: 2.7 times more frequent than positive gossip.