In a modern economy, there is no doubt that banks play a major role in generating the economic and financial growth. The individuals, the communities and the organizations are reliant on banks as their financial resources and necessities fulfillment. Their dependence to the banks has led them to engage a variety of contracts especially a debt-based contract. This contract required them to bond with the banks in the long period. Therefore, the various innovation products are designed to ensure the debtors are able to engage in an Islamic way and the banks are able to attain their income generation at the same time. While the debt contract is almost impossible to be implemented in Islamic banking system nowadays as it will lead to an interest, a modification process on the innovating sale contracts that have a commercial value for the bank is the only way for them to offer a debt-based contract to the people. Thus this paper attempts to explore the potential of ar-rahn product to solve the current problem. It tries to propose the enhancement of ar-rahn existing product offered by the bank and pawnshop as a good alternative to the financing products. The explored features of the potential of ar-rahn consist of the suitability of concepts adopted in the product, the possibility of longer repayment's period, the minimization of the shariah and economic issue of ujrah fee, the possibility of offering more than RM10, 000 borrowing money and the expansion of receivable pledge item. While the exploration of those features is discussed in a foundational and ideal basis, it is hoped to stimulate further investigation in the future.


Macrophages of the innate immune system have Toll-like receptors (TLRs) that recognize bacterial components such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and initiate signaling cascades that lead to the production of inflammatory cytokines. Although these responses are initiated within hours, they can continue for at least 24 hours. The sustained response may be of particular relevance to diseases characterized by excessive inflammation. Kang et al. implicate a type-2 transmembrane protein, 4-1BBL (also called CD137L)--a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily--in such sustained cytokine production by macrophages. The authors detected 4-1BBL in a two-hybrid screen for proteins that interacted with the intracellular domain of TLR4 and further supported possible interaction of the proteins in human embryonic kidney 293T cells overexpressing tagged versions of the proteins. Mouse macrophages stimulated with LPS to activate TLRs rapidly expressed 4-1BBL at the cell surface, and macrophages lacking 4-1BBL that were treated with LPS produced smaller amounts of TNF, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and IL-12 24 hours after stimulation than did similarly treated wild-type cells. More rapid cytokine production (within the first few hours) in response to LPS was similar in both cell types. The 4-1BBL acts as a ligand for the receptor 4-1BB in T cells, but 4-1BB appeared not to be required for the promotion of cytokine production by 4-1BBL because macrophages lacking 4-1BB produced normal amounts of TNF after stimulation with LPS. The authors suggest that 4-1BBL may produce a signal itself on the basis of experiments in which 4-1BBL was cross-linked on the surface of macrophages, perhaps as part of a complex with TLRs. In wild-type macrophages, the authors found evidence for two sequential signaling complexes containing TLR4. Early on, immunoprecipitation showed association of TLR4 with the signaling adaptor MyD88. Later, they saw association of TLR4 and 4-1BBL, but no association of 4-1BBL and MyD88 was detected. The more persistent complex with 4-1BBL, the authors note, may be a useful target for strategies aimed at treatment of inflammatory diseases Y. J. Kang, S. O. Kim, S. Shimada, M. Otsuka, A. Seit-Nebi, B. S. Kwon, T. H. Watts, J. Han, Cell surface 4-1BBL mediates sequential signaling pathways 'downstream' of TLR and is required for sustained TNF production in macrophages. Nat. Immunol. 8, 601-609 (2007). [PubMed]


Cloud computing has become a popular buzzword and a trend in the IT industry. With characteristic features of scalable computing resources on-demand, and accessibility on a pay-per-use basis, it has been promoted as the harbinger of good tidings to its subscribers, such as the minimization of in-house IT infrastructures, substantial cost savings, and diminished administrative hurdles, thereby appearing as an appealing outsourcing proposition for non-IT enterprises, such as universities. This paper presents a comparative case study of two universities, one in Australia (UniOz) and one in Sweden (UniSwed). The two universities illustrate examples of how contemporary organisations interpret cloud computing, of drivers behind moving services into the cloud, and of prevailing concerns. Similarities pertaining to drivers for cloud computing are identified at the two cases (seeking scalable computing resources, and the re-allocation of IT resources to focus on core enterprise operations, with an aim to trim costs). This is identified in spite of differences in the culture of respective IT departments. Differences were also identified in terms of student vs. staff driven sourcing of services (email), and early vs. late adoption. The case study also illustrates interesting patterns in terms of the organisational implications of cloud services over time that calls for longitudinal studies. The implication of this paper is three-fold; two cases are consistent with outsourcing theories, they point to a transformation of the status quo, rather than an erosion of the role and influence of the internal IT department, and also reveals gaps in outsourcing theories and a possible future research direction in strengthening the relevant theoretical framework.


The political consequences of economic globalization has lately been fiercely debated across Europe and the United States, including the role of labor immigration. In this paper we study the party choices of voters facing labor market competition from immigration. To identify the effect of labor market competition we introduce the national skill cell approach, which is designed to isolate a direct partial effect of immigrant competition. By access to detailed, population-wide, administrative data, we get precise measures of Norwegian voters' exposure to competition, and we relate this measure to voting behavior in five national elections. We find a polarizing effect of immigration among voters experiencing negative wage effects of immigration. The polarization points to the existence of a protectionist and a compensatory response, and we propose that predetermined ideological convictions determine the response.


The recent introduction of various regulatory standards such as Basel II, Sarbanes-Oxley, and IFRS stimulates the need to develop new types of information systems based on data mining that will help improve the quality and automation of the decisions that need to be taken. Although neural networks have been frequently adopted in data mining applications, their opacity and black box character prevents them from being used to develop white box, comprehensible information systems for decision support in a financial context. In this paper, we introduce a new neural network rule extraction algorithm, Re-RX, that can be efficiently adopted to develop a data mining system for risk management in a Basel II context. The novelty of the algorithm lies in its new way of simultaneously working with discrete and continuous attributes without a need for discretization. Having extracted the Re-RX rules, we discuss how they can be used to build Basel II-compliant ICT systems taking into account the operational and regulatory requirements.


Objectives: To compare the number and size of clinical trials included in chronic asthma/COPD reviews with acute asthma/COPD reviews published in the Cochrane Library. Methods: Accessed the Cochrane reviews on line. Statistics: simple descriptive and comparisons. Results: A total of 29 acute and 91 chronic SRs were identified. The average number of participants per review in acute reviews was 574 compared with 2072 in chronic reviews (p = 0.02). The average number of included studies in acute respiratory reviews was 10 compared with 14.2 in chronic respiratory reviews (p = 0.07). Conclusions: Although there was a non-significant difference in the number of studies included in acute and chronic respiratory reviews, studies included in chronic respiratory Cochrane reviews were larger. Small trials are associated with providing less accurate effect estimates, and may be prone to chance findings. More research using larger samples is required to answer important clinical questions for clinicians, consumers and policy makers in the treatment of acute respiratory diseases.


Petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in the environment is a public health concern as some compositions in petroleum hydrocarbons exert adverse effects on living organisms. Several methods have been used to reduce petroleum hydrocarbons from contaminated sites. Among these methods, phytoremediation is an effective and environmental friendly method to decontaminate petroleum hydrocarbons in soils. Plants use three mechanisms to remove petroleum hydrocarbons from the environment, including phytodegradation, phytoaccumulation, and rhizodegradation.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the relative risks of nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) triggered by sexual activity among the general population and in patients with prior coronary heart disease.

DESIGN
Relative risks and effect modification were calculated by the case-crossover method, a new epidemiologic technique designed to quantify the transient change in risk following exposure to a potential disease trigger.

SETTING/PARTICIPANTS
A total of 1774 patients with MI were interviewed in 45 hospitals throughout the United States. Data were gathered on potential triggers of MI occurring immediately prior to the event and during the previous year. Results are presented for the 858 patients who were sexually active in the year prior to the MI, with attention to the 273 patients who had coronary artery disease prior to their index MI, and the effect of regular exertion on risk.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
The relative risk of nonfatal MI following sexual activity.

RESULTS
Of the 858 patients, 79(9%) reported sexual activity in the 24 hours preceding MI, and 27(3%) reported sexual activity in the 2 hours preceding onset of symptoms of MI. The relative risk of MI occurring in the 2 hours after sexual activity was 2.5(95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7-3.7). The relative risk of triggering onset of MI among patients with a history of prior angina (2.1 [95% CI, 0.8-5.8]) or prior MI (2.9 [95% CI, 1.3-6.5]) was not greater than that observed in those without prior cardiac disease. Sexual activity was a likely contributor to the onset of MI in only 0.9% of cases and regular exertion was associated with decreasing risk.

CONCLUSIONS
Sexual activity can trigger the onset of MI. However, the relative risk is low, and since the absolute hourly risk of MI is extremely low, the absolute risk increase caused by sexual activity also is extremely low (1 chance in a million for a healthy individual). Moreover, the relative risk is not increased in patients with a prior history of cardiac disease and regular exercise appears to prevent triggering. These findings should be useful for counseling patients and decreasing the fear of sexual activity that often prevents complete rehabilitation from cardiovascular disease.


We measured the magnetization of glacial and interglacial ice from the Vostok core to estimate the meteoric smoke concentration in Antarctic ice. We have found that, within the uncertainty of the method, the smoke concentration in ice in Antarctica is equivalent to that previously measured in Greenland ice. The virtually identical smoke concentrations despite the different ice accumulation rates in Greenland and Antarctica suggest that wet deposition is the main deposition mechanism for such ultra‐small particles. Given the typical scavenging ratios for atmospheric aerosols, this would imply that previous estimates of accretion rate based on dry deposition are likely to be appreciably overestimated.


Title of Dissertation: THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE'S DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA Primrose Pratt Tishman, Doctor of Philosophy, 2004 Dissertation directed by: Professor Charles E. Butterworth Department of Government and Politics This study explores the influence of Montesquieu, Rousseau and Pascal on Tocqueville's religious teaching to show that it has two components: (a) to provide for order in the disordered democratic state and (b) to satisfy a primordial human need for the eternal. The analysis follows Tocqueville's own method of contrast and analogy to show how the harmonious combination of the teaching of the enlightenment with religion in America on the one hand and their discordant linking in France on the other produced opposite consequences for liberty. The study examines why Tocqueville insists that the mutual dependence of religion and liberty is more necessary in democracy than in aristocracy. Second, it demonstrates how Montesquieu's teaching helps Tocqueville to explain the American religious phenomenon, which combines an equal fervor for material well-being with systematic piety. Third, it explores how Tocqueville modifies Rousseau's teaching on opinion to promote religion as the appropriate source of moral authority in democracy. Fourth, it uncovers how Tocqueville combines selected elements of Rousseau's natural religion with Montesquieu's concept of virtue as enlightened interest and the moralistic language of Pascal to encourage religious habits that conform to the inclinations of the democratic intellect and sentiment. Finally, it explores how Tocqueville's teaching can help thoughtful Americans deliberate about the moral issues that confront the U.S. today. Tocqueville's teaching draws attention to the precarious position of liberty in egalitarian societies where the instinct for individual independence causes human beings to become amoral and apolitical. Equality induces them to become totally absorbed with the pursuit of material well-being and thus to direct all personal intellectual resources toward that goal, making common opinion the sole guide of reason in all other matters. Moreover, since laws usually reflect changing opinions Tocqueville affirms that religion -the only fixed point around which human beings can orient themselves—must be used to sustain liberty by making it the foundation of public opinion. THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE'S DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA by Primrose Pratt Tishman Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2004 Advisory Committee: Professor Charles E. Butterworth, Chair Professor Herman Belz Professor Wayne McIntosh Professor Karol Soltan Professor Ronald Terchek ©Copyright by Primrose Pratt Tishman 2004


This dissertation examines why some states develop conscript militaries while others rely solely on volunteers. I argue that two variables determine what recruitment decisions states make when initially designing their military. First, either domestic or foreign policymakers can dominate the decision-making process. These actors often have different perceptions about the military's most important goals and how to achieve them. When foreign powers view new states as sufficiently important enough to their interests, recruitment policies reflect their preferences, rather than those of domestic policymakers. Second, the threat perception of the actor making recruitment policies affects how they approach military design. Major external threats to the new state's territory constrain recruitment options in the interest of immediate defense, leading to conscription, while lower threat environments permit more freedom to adopt different practices. I test this argument using an original dataset of 224 cases of state creation and major regime change from 1918–2011, including original variables that measure different types of foreign military influence. I also use qualitative evidence—including archival documents and interviews—to conduct a series of case studies focusing on the Middle East and Europe that are designed to control for alternative hypotheses and establish the causal processes. The results support my initial hypothesis, demonstrating that military design is often affected by hierarchy in international relations. This research suggests important lessons for policymakers interested in effecting military reform by highlighting a role for foreign security assistance in processes of military design. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Political Science First Advisor Michael C. Horowitz


In this paper the problem of trajectory tracking is studied. Based on the V-stability and Lyapunov theory, a control law that achieves the global asymptotic stability of the tracking error between a delayed recurrent neural network and a complex dynamical network is obtained. To illustrate the analytic results we present a tracking simulation of a dynamical network with each node being a Chen's dynamical system.


The tectonic evolution of the Lhasa terrane (southern Tibetan Plateau) played a fundamental role in the formation of the Tibetan Plateau. However, many uncertainties remain with regard to the tectonic and paleogeographic evolution of the Lhasa terrane prior to the India-Asia collision. To determine the early tectonic processes that controlled the topographic evolution of the Lhasa terrane, we analyze the Cretaceous strata exposed in the Coqen Basin (northern Lhasa subterrane), which comprises the Langshan and Daxiong Formations. The Langshan Formation unconformably overlies the volcanic rocks of the Lower Cretaceous Zelong Group and consists of similar to 80 m of Orbitolina-bearing limestones, which were deposited in a low-energy, shallow marine environment. Micropaleontological analysis indicates that the Langshan Formation in the Coqen Basin was deposited from late Aptian to early Cenomanian times (ca. 113-96 Ma). The overlying Daxiong Formation (similar to 1700 m thick) consists of conglomerate, coarse sandstone, and siltstone with interbedded mudstone, and represents deposits of alluvial fans and braided rivers. The Daxiong Formation was deposited after the early Cenomanian (ca. 96 Ma) and accumulated until at least ca. 91 Ma, indicating accumulation rates of greater than 0.3 km m.y.(-1). By combining paleocurrent data, sandstone petrology, detrital zircon U-Pb ages, and Hf isotope analysis, we demonstrate that the Daxiong Formation was derived from Lower Cretaceous volcanic rocks and pre-Cretaceous strata in the northern Lhasa subterrane. During Late Cretaceous time, two thrust systems with opposite vergence were responsible for transforming the northern Lhasa subterrane into an elevated mountain range. This process resulted in the evolution from a shallow marine environment (Langshan Formation) into a terrestrial depositional environment (Daxiong Formation) on the southern margin of the northern Lhasa subterrane. Given the regional paleogeographic context, we conclude that the Daxiong Formation in the Coqen Basin records local crustal shortening and flexure resulting in foreland basin development on the southern margin of the northern Lhasa subterrane, which implies early topographic growth of the northern Lhasa subterrane in southern Tibet prior to the India-Asia collision.


The natural area at the Morris Arboretum is a quickly developing section of the garden. However, it has many unappreciated views and rarely visited areas that deserve more recognition. Unfortunately, it also has some neglected and under-developed areas that need revitalization. One such area is the riparian zone along the east bank of Paper Mill Run, beginning just after the Betula nigra HERITAGE grove planted between the wetland and Paper Mill Run, and continuing to where Paper Mill Run meets the Wissahickon Creek. This area was assessed, and the existing trees were documented considering tree health, size, importance, and work recommendations. This information was used to create a management plan designed to gradually improve the area over the coming years in terms of riparian buffer functionality as well as public appeal. The goal of this project was to define what a riparian buffer is and what it does; assess the riparian zone along Paper Mill Run on the property of the Morris Arboretum; design a long term management plan for the existing plants and for future plantings; and begin to restore one pre-determined section of the zone. A literature review of peer-reviewed journals was referenced to gain informed knowledge on what a healthy riparian zone is, and what it should do for the stream; direct evaluation of the zone along Paper Mill Run was carried out; management plan recommendations were developed to maintain and improve the area over time; and appropriate action to begin to restore part of the zone was accomplished. Disciplines Horticulture Comments An independent study project report by The Walter W. Root Endowed Arboriculture Intern (2016-2017) This report is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/morrisarboretum_internreports/14 1 TITLE: Paper Mill Run Riparian Zone Management Plan and Partial Restoration AUTHOR: Kevin Brown The Walter W. Root Endowed Arboriculture Intern


In the period since the global economic and financial crisis in 2008/09, emerging economies have encountered both surges and reversals of international capital. Rising interest rates and economic growth in the USA may in the future lead to them facing further relatively sharp capital reversals. To what extent should they allow such capital reversals to affect their exchange rates; should they opt for free (clean) floating or managed (dirty) floating? They have not all opted for the same exchange rate regime. In an era of high international capital mobility, exchange rate policy in emerging economies becomes more complicated than it used to be, and depends on a wide range of factors upon which there is considerable uncertainty. This article provides a systematic review of the issues involved.


THE STATUS OF SNAPPING TURTLES (CHELYDRA SERPENTINA) IN VIRGINIA: POPULATION VIABILITY, DEMOGRAPHY, REGULATORY ANALYSIS, AND CONSERVATION By Benjamin Charles Colteaux, PhD A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2017 Major Director: Brian Verrelli, PhD, Associate Professor, Director of Integrative Life Sciences Snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) are being harvested in unprecedented numbers in the United States (US) to meet the needs of international markets. Over three million live snapping turtles from farm and wild caught stock were exported from the US to Asia in 2012-14 alone. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, records indicate that 29,860 snapping turtles were commercially harvested between 2000 and 2015. Size limits are often used to regulate harvest pressure in snapping turtles and other game species. I analyzed the historic harvest of eleven US states to test the efficacy of minimum-size limit regulations at reducing commercial harvest pressure. Further, I conducted a four-year mark-recapture study on three Virginia waterways that have each experienced a different level of historic commercial harvest. As part of the larger mark/recapture project, I conducted radio telemetry on 23 turtles to examine seasonal, body size, and sex-specific effects on home range size of snapping turtles in a lotic system. I incorporated survival and growth rates from this study, demographic rates from the literature, and statecollected harvest rates into a hybrid age/stage population matrix model to estimate the population growth rate at three harvest levels (0%, 21%, 58%) that were estimated based on annual commercial landing reports on file with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. I used the model to test population viability under multiple size limit regulations, and used sensitivity analyses to identify adult stages most critical to the overall population growth rate. Based on model estimates, size-limits were effective at reducing harvest by 30-87% in years with high harvest pressure. However, most size limit regulations result in the removal of larger breeding adults, which has been shown to be detrimental to long term population viability. Based on radio-telemetry data, I found evidence that snapping turtles utilize lotic and lentic habitats differently, which can have implications for management of this iconic species. Matrix population modelling predicted that population densities at the moderate and high harvest site were reduced by 47% and 62%, respectively, when compared to the no harvest site. Model results indicate that, while an increase to the minimum-size limit in 2012 protected a larger portion of the population, that the commercial harvest of snapping turtles in the Commonwealth of Virginia is not sustainable under current state regulations. Our analysis suggests that minimum-size limits of 35.6 cm curved carapace length or greater will maintain viable populations by protecting a larger portion of reproducing snapping turtles within a population.


The recent increase of use of the dating websites and applications has called to question whether the use of these dating websites and applications causes emerging adults to place greater emphasis on their grooming habits, and if this emphasis is driven by a desire for sexual partners. The purpose of this study was to see whether an emerging adult's daily grooming habits are influenced or affected by self-perceptions, and if there was a relationship between emerging adults' sexual activity and grooming habits. The distribution of a self-report survey to 267 college-aged students regarding the use of grooming products and ratings of positive and negative self-perceptions allowed this study to contribute to the growing area of research regarding appearance and selfperceptions. The results of this study help to better understand the role that grooming habits play in the construction of self-perceptions. This study displayed the gender differences that exist in within the views of grooming products and resulting self-perceptions including the effects of the Objectification Theory on both males and females in our society. This study also used various theories such as the Spotlight Effect, the Life History Theory, the Lipstick Effect, and developmental theories about emerging adults. The responses obtained in this study also contribute to further analysis of developmental theories regarding emerging adults and their behaviors. The results of this study reveal that grooming products do not evoke significantly different self-perceptions in emerging adults who actively seek sexual partners compared to those who do not. Therefore, while emerging adults may more hormonally drawn to certain sexual GROOMING HABITS AND SELF PERCEPTIONS 3 behaviors, these behaviors do not necessarily have an effect on an emerging adult's grooming habits and self-perceptions. However, this study does suggest that the grooming habits of the emerging adults who use dating websites and applications have a greater effect on this group's selfperceptions than emerging adults who do not use dating websites or applications. As certain dating applications like Tinder and OkCupid gain new users everyday, this study aimed to reveal the growing influence of dating websites and applications on an increasing number of emerging adult's everyday lives. The consistent difference among the mean scores does call for further research regarding the topic. Since the usage of dating applications and websites continues to grow, this research will stand as one of the first studies that sought to understand how the usage of dating websites and applications may play a role in forming self-perceptions. The overwhelming receptiveness of this survey among emerging adults shows that there is interest in this topic both among researchers and emerging adults. This study demonstrated how certain societal pressures may have effects on the grooming habits and self-perceptions of emerging adults, and also how the use of dating websites and applications may serve as an additional platform where emerging adults' bodies and appearances are put for critique. The results of this study call for further research as the mean scores of this study reveal that there is certainly a relationship between the use of grooming products and the development of self-perceptions. Additionally, with an increasing number of users on dating websites and applications, this study could be replicated time and time again to further measure the effects that dating websites and applications have on the lives of emerging adults. GROOMING HABITS AND SELF PERCEPTIONS 4


We study the emission by dust and stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, a pair of low-metallicity nearby galaxies, as traced by their spatially resolved spectral energy distributions. This project combines Herschel Space Observatory PACS and SPIRE far-infrared photometry with other data at infrared and optical wavelengths (the data were obtained as part of the HERschel Inventory of The Agents of Galaxy Evolution survey; PI: M. Meixner). We build maps of dust, stellar luminosity, and mass of both Magellanic Clouds, and analyze the spatial distribution of dust/stellar luminosity and mass ratios. These ratios vary considerably throughout the galaxies, generally between the range 0.01 ⩽ Ldust/L* ⩽ 0.6 and 10−4 ⩽ Mdust/M* ⩽ 4 × 10−3. We observe that the dust/stellar ratios depend on the interstellar medium environment, such as the distance from currently or previously star-forming regions, and on the intensity of the interstellar radiation field. In addition, we construct star formation rate (SFR) maps, and find that the SFR is correlated with the dust/stellar luminosity and dust temperature in both galaxies, demonstrating the relation between star formation, dust emission, and heating, though these correlations exhibit substantial scatter.


This monograph attempts to respond to some of the questions raised in respect of the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In this regard, it has three main objectives. First, by focusing on a State Party where the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor is currently conducting investigations, it considers the cooperation relationship between the ICC and the DRC. In this regard, it appears that, irrespective of the lack of legislation implementing the Rome Statute in that country, the DRC continues to cooperate with the ICC in its investigations. In view of erroneous positions taken by some states and commentators that only those countries where crimes have been perpetrated, in particular those in respect of which investigations are ongoing, have immediate obligations in relation to the ICC's work, the monograph seeks to outline and illustrate broader obligations for member states in general. It demonstrates that the work of the ICC in places like the DRC engages the duties of 'non-situation states' in various ways. Second, by examining the practice of the Court since the situation was referred to it, the monograph considers the role of politics - domestic or otherwise - in the work of the ICC. Third, it examines the perceptions around the work of the ICC in various sectors of Congolese society, including government, victims, civil society and the general public. By extension, it addresses some of the questions that the work of the ICC in Africa has raised, including the allegation that the ICC is 'targeting' African countries and that somehow these countries are unwilling participants in the process.


This paper analyses the fundamental drivers of risk and return in portfolios of private equity fund investments. We draw on a large data set of 771 mature European and North American primary buyout funds with historic performance information from Preqin covering vintages from 1998-2007. Using Monte Carlo type simulation techniques with different sets of 1000 randomly drawn portfolios of varying characteristics from this data set, we document how portfolio design decisions related to the number of underlying primary fund investments, their geographic focus, their size focus as well as the selection ability of the investor influence the risk/return characteristics. Our findings point to the importance of diversification across multiple underlying funds as an important tool to mitigate capital risk, while the marginal returns to increasingly large portfolios are rapidly decreasing. We further document that this risk mitigating impact of portfolio diversification is visible across all subsamples of funds with different geographic focus and different fund size categories. Interestingly, however, our results point to the superiority (in terms of risk and return) of a more broadly diversified small/mid-cap strategy over a less diversified large-cap strategy to put a given amount of capital to work in private equity, but only as long as investors can be sure to access (exclusively or partially) above-average performing private equity funds. In case an investor's selection ability is below-average a concentrated portfolio of a few large funds is superior to an optimally diversified small/mid-cap strategy in terms of the average return. From a risk standpoint, however, the diversification effect of an optimally small/mid-cap portfolio is highly pronounced compared to a concentrated portfolio consisting of a few large funds. Moreover, the superiority of a more optimally diversified small/mid-cap strategy applies in particular for European small/mid-cap funds.


The process of designing high power RF amplifiers has in the past relied heavily on measurements, in conjunction with simple linear theory. With the advent of the harmonic balance method and increasingly faster computers, CAD techniques can be of great value in designing these nonlinear circuits. Relatively little work has been done in modelling RF power MOSFETs. The methods described in numerous papers for the nonlinear modelling of microwave GaAsFETs cannot be applied easily to these high power devices. This thesis describes a modelling procedure applicable to RF MOSFETs rated at over 100 W. This is achieved by the use of cold S parameters and pulsed drain current measurements taken at controlled temperatures. A method of determining the required device thermal impedance is given. A complete nonlinear equivalent circuit model is extracted for an MRF136 MOSFET, a 28 V, 15 W device. This includes two nonlinear capacitors. An equation is developed to describe accurately the drain current as a function of the internal gate and drain voltages. The model parameters are found by computer optimisation with measured data. Techniques for modelling the passive components in RF power amplifiers are given. These include resistors, inductors, capacitors, and ferrite transformers. Although linear ferrite transformer models are used, nonlinear forms are also investigated. The accuracy of the MOSFET model is verified by comparison to large signal measurements in a 50 0 system. A complete power amplifier using the MRF136, operating from 118 MHz to 175 MHz is built and analysed. The accuracy of predictions is generally within 10 % for output power and DC supply current, and around 30 % for input impedance. An amplifier is designed using the CAD package, and then built, requiring only a small final adjustment of the input matching circuit. The computer based methods described lead quickly to a near-optimal design and reduce the need for extensive high power measurements. The use of nonlinear analysis programs is thus established as a valuable design tool for engineers working with RF power amplifiers. 11


Although Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is one of the promising renewable energy technologies, several technical and economic challenges should be addressed. One of the major issues associated with Concentrated Solar Power technologies is the reliability limitation of the plant in the stand-alone configuration. Therefore, Concentrated Solar Power systems can be integrated with either thermal energy storage (TES) or a fossil-fuelled power assist FFPA). However, initial and maintenance costs and emission production are the main challenges for the developing countries. Integrating biofuel/biogas with CSP increases the renewability while solar irradiation is in absent. The paper main objective is to perform a feasibility study of integrating a biofuel based gas turbine power units in a Concentrated Solar Power plant for electricity and water cogeneration. The study includes the thermodynamics analysis and assessment of three biofuels, namely, Jatropha oil, castor oil, and palm oil. In addition, a cost lifecycle, sensitivity, and Monte Carlo analyses were performed. The results showed that Castor oil had a better performance in terms of efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions with a maximum daily freshwater production of 181,000 m 3 /day. The proposed integration resulted in a levelized cost of water that is lower than the water tariff in the UAE by $1.39/m 3 with a payback period of 5 years.


Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI sequences are the most used for renal functional analysis. Numerous parameters can be computed from time-intensity curves that require a time-consuming segmentation. The aim of this study, which was part of a national multicentric grant approved by the ethics committee, was to evaluate a semi-automated segmentation of renal DCE-MRI using vector quantization.


One of the major challenges in oil palm plantations in recent times is the lack of
proper interpretation of yield maps for site-specific management, and the
identification and understanding of the causal factors influencing the variability of
oil palm yields. The ability to find and comprehend the soil factors influencing
yield variabilities of oil palm will enable us to manage them more efficiently. A
study was conducted in a mature oil palm plantation at Sri Kunak Estate, Tawau,
Sabah, Malaysia with the objectives (i) to quantify and characterize the spatial and
temporal yield variations of fresh fruit bunch (ffb) so as to determine the optimum
management zones for oil palm plantations and create possible management zones
for site-specific inputs (ii) to quantify and characterize the nature of spatial soil
NH4+-N variation as influenced by long-term N fertilizer management (iii) to
establish the inter-relationship between fib yields and soil NH/-N so as to develop
optimum range of soil NH4+ -N for optimum oil palm growth and production. Two clusters of palms were selected; with and without N fertilizer applications for
the past 1 0 years. Soil samples were analyzed for Total N, NH/ -N, N03--N,
exchangeable K, and pH. Fresh fruit bunch (fib) yields were summarized on an
annual basis. Relationship between fib yields and selected soil properties were
investigated using regression analysis. Response of fib yields to soil NH/-N was
compared using 6 empirical fertilizer response models. Geostatistical analysis was
used to characterize the spatial yield variations of fib and soil NH/-N.
Semivariance analysis revealed that within the plots, the increase in semivariance
reached a peak at a range of about 2 to 3 -palm distance, suggesting that the
optimum management zone for oil palm plantations was 37 palms. Application of
N could sustain fib yields above 30 tha-1 y{l . Long-term N fertilizer applications
reduced the annual fib yield fluctuations to between 35 and 45%.


The present research on the growth of enterprise information technology applications is to build an effective system dynamics model which can reveal the internal laws of the general process experienced by an enterprise integrating the application of modern information technology and management. Based on the literature review and surveys on more than two hundred companies, we sum up the mechanism among the information technology application and key impact factors. In accordance with the conventional modeling methods of system dynamics, a model has been built and tested. The model is also supported by the empirical evidence.


A new method for sequence optimization in protein models is presented. The approach, which has inherited its basic philosophy from recent work by Deutsch and Kurosky Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 323 (1996)] by maximizing conditional probabilities rather than minimizing energy functions, is based upon a novel and very eecient multisequence Monte Carlo scheme. By construction, the method ensures that the designed sequences represent good folders thermodynamically. A bootstrap procedure for the sequence space search is devised making very large chains feasible. The algorithm is successfully explored on the two-dimensional HP model with chain lengths N = 16, 18 and 32.


This note develops a general mathematical model for describing the transient hydraulic head response for constant-head test, constant-flux test, and slug test in a radial confined aquifer system with a partially penetrating well. The Laplace-domain solution for the model is derived by applying the Laplace transform with respect to time and finite Fourier cosine transform with respect to the z-direction. This new solution has been shown to reduce to the constant-head test when discounting the wellbore storage and maintaining a constant well water level. This solution can also be reduced to the constant-flux test solution when discounting the wellbore storage and keeping a constant pumping rate in the well. Moreover, the solution becomes the slug test solution when there is no pumping in the well. This general solution can be used to develop a single computer code to estimate aquifer parameters if coupled with an optimization algorithm or to assess the effect of well partial penetration on hydraulic head distribution for three types of aquifer tests.


The most important poets writing in Greek in the sixth century BCE came from Sicily and southern Italy. Stesichorus was called by ancient writers "most Homeric"a recognition of his epic themes and noble style. He composed verses about the Trojan War and its aftermath, the Argonauts, the adventures of Heracles. He may have been a solo singer, performing these poems to his own cithara accompaniment. Ibycus probably belonged to the colony of Rhegium in southwestern Italy. Like Stesichorus he wrote lyrical narratives on mythological themes, but he also composed erotic poems. Simonides is said to have spent his later years in Sicily. He was in Athens at the time of the Persian Wars, though, and was acclaimed for his epitaph on the Athenians who died at Marathon. He was a successful poet in various genres, including victory odes, dirges, and dithyrambic poetry. The power of his pathos emerges in the fragments we have. All the extant verse of these poets is given in this third volume of David Campbell's edition of Greek lyric poetry, along with the ancients' accounts of their lives and works. Ten contemporary poets are also included, among them Arion, Lasus, and Pratinas. The Greek Lyric edition is five volumes. Sappho and Alcaeus the illustrious singers of sixth-century Lesbosare in the first volume. Volume II contains the work of Anacreon, composer of solo song; the "Anacreontea;" and the earliest writers of choral poetry, notably the seventh-century Spartans Alcman and Terpander. Bacchylides and other fifth-century poets are in Volume IV along with Corinna (although some argue that she belongs to the third century). The last volume includes the new school of dithyrambic poets (mid-fifth to mid-fourth century), together with the anonymous poems: drinking songs, children's songs, cult hymns, and others.


Key Points The performance of the Armed Forces has shown a marked improvement since its low point in the post-Vietnam era. Military leaders have deliberately sought out and internalized lessons from each succeeding conflict. The challenge for the next generation is learning the lessons of these past operations and building an even more effective, flexible force. The military cannot pick and choose its missions. Their political masters may well decide that national interests require the use of force for more nontraditional missions or in situations that may be less than ideally suited to military solutions. Force protection is critical; high rates of casualties can erode popular support and undermine the mission. On the other hand, excessive fear of casualties can erode the morale of the Armed Forces. The key is forging American leadership that understands the military risks involved. Commitments to our allies may draw us into conflicts where U.S. national interests are limited, but where American leadership is essential to the vitality of the alliance. Even a small operation conducted abroad requires an extraordinary range of well-trained forces, either highly deployable or already in theater. Despite successes, the Armed Forces must address a number of challenges: urban warfare, weapons of mass destruction, tracking and destroying mobile targets, the need for lighter, more deployable forces, and the burden of ongoing operations. ********** Military leaders are often accused, usually unfairly, of fighting the last war. It would be a pretty poor general, however, who failed to learn from what worked and what didn't work when military plans were actually put to the test. The task is to correct what went wrong and to build on what went right without losing sight of the fact that conflicts in the future may be quite different from those in the past. It is the premise of this article that a careful look at significant U.S. military operations over about the past twenty years--roughly the period the author has served in Congress--can help shape answers to a surprisingly large number of contemporary issues in defense policy. What follows is a brief review of seven of these military operations, followed by a discussion of some important lessons. Iran (1980) President Carter authorized an audacious military operation in April 1980 to rescue American diplomats held hostage in Tehran since the previous November. Although the operation ended in disaster in the Iranian desert at a site in Iran code-named Desert One, it ultimately had important consequences. It prompted a great deal of public soul-searching about the state of U.S. military readiness and, perhaps most importantly, it marked a turning point in popular support for military preparedness. The lessons of Desert One also contributed to steps that Congress took in coming years to strengthen special operations forces and clarify lines of command. Lebanon (1982-1984) U.S. Marines were sent to Lebanon in September 1982 as part of a multinational force (MNF) in response to a worsening civil war. The failure of the MNF mission, and the tragic loss of 241 Marines when a truck bomb was exploded at Marine headquarters in Beirut, imposed sobering lessons on U.S. policymakers. The mission was ill-defined from the beginning. It was not clear whether the MNF was a traditional peacekeeping force depending for its effectiveness on maintaining the consent of contending parties, or whether it was a peacemaking force empowered to compel adherence to agreements more assertively. The rules of engagement governing the conduct of troops in the field were ambiguous, and actions necessary to protect the force were not taken. As the security situation deteriorated, it should have become apparent that the size and composition of the force were inadequate, but decisionmakers failed to rethink the nature of the mission and instead allowed U. …


The gaseous environment surrounding parenchyma in woody tissue is low in O2 and high in CO2, but it is not known to what extent this affects respiration or might play a role in cell death during heartwood formation. Sapwood respiration was measured in two conifers and three angiosperms following equilibration to levels of O2 and CO2 common within stems, using both inner and outer sapwood to test for an effect of age. Across all species and tissue ages, lowering the O2 level from 10% to 5% (v/v) resulted in about a 25% decrease in respiration in the absence of CO2, but a non-significant decrease at 10% CO2. The inhibitory effect of 10% CO2 was smaller and only significant at 10% O2, where it reduced respiration by about 14%. Equilibration to a wider range of gas combinations in Pinus strobus L. showed the same effect: 10% CO2 inhibited respiration by about 15% at both 20% and 10% O2, but had no net effect at 5% O2. In an extreme treatment, 1% O2+20% CO2 increased respiration by over 30% relative to 1% O2 alone, suggesting a shift in metabolic response to high CO2 as O2 decreases. Although an increase in respiration would be detrimental under limiting O2, this extreme gas combination is unlikely to exist within most stems. Instead, moderate reductions in respiration under realistic O2 and CO2 levels suggest that within-stem gas composition does not severely limit respiration and is unlikely to cause the death of xylem parenchyma during heartwood formation.


This article introduces a multi-vehicle sequential allocation problem that considers two critical objectives for nonprofit operations: providing equitable service and minimizing unused donations. This problem is motivated by an application in food redistribution from donors such as restaurants and grocery stores to agencies such as soup kitchens and homeless shelters. A set partitioning model is formulated that can be used to design vehicle routes; it primarily focuses on equity maximization and implicitly considers waste. The behavior of the model in clustering agencies and donors on routes is studied, and the impacts of demand variability and supply availability on route composition and solution performance are analyzed. A comprehensive numerical study is performed in order to develop insights on optimal solutions. Based on this study, an efficient decomposition-based heuristic for the problem that can handle an additional constraint on route length is developed and it is shown that the heuristic obtains high-quality solutions in terms of equity and waste.


Shading reduces the power output of a photovoltaic (PV) system. The design engineering of PV systems requires modeling and evaluating shading losses. Some PV systems are affected by complex shading scenes whose resulting PV energy losses are very difficult to evaluate with current modeling tools. Several specialized PV design and simulation software include the possibility to evaluate shading losses. They generally possess a Graphical User Interface (GUI) through which the user can draw a 3D shading scene, and then evaluate its corresponding PV energy losses. The complexity of the objects that these tools can handle is relatively limited. We have created a software solution, 3DPV, which allows evaluating the energy losses induced by complex 3D scenes on PV generators. The 3D objects can be imported from specialized 3D modeling software or from a 3D object library. The shadows cast by this 3D scene on the PV generator are then directly evaluated from the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Thanks to the recent development of GPUs for the video game industry, the shadows can be evaluated with a very high spatial resolution that reaches well beyond the PV cell level, in very short calculation times. A PV simulation model then translates the geometrical shading into PV energy output losses. 3DPV has been implemented using WebGL, which allows it to run directly from a Web browser, without requiring any local installation from the user. This also allows taken full benefits from the information already available from Internet, such as the 3D object libraries. This contribution describes, step by step, the method that allows 3DPV to evaluate the PV energy losses caused by complex shading. We then illustrate the results of this methodology to several application cases that are encountered in the world of PV systems design.


This study's purpose was to explore non-pharmacological means for decreasing agitation in hospice patients with late stage dementia administered by caregivers.  Subjects in the study were patients on service with San Diego Hospice and the Institute for Palliative Medicine, diagnosed with late stage dementia, as determined by a FAST (Functional Assessment Staging) score of 7, and who were known to become agitated while performing certain tasks (e.g., bathing or eating). A music therapist assessed the subjects using an adaptation of the Music Therapy Assessment (Krout, 2000). The Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ) and Blessed Dementia Scale were administered pre- and post- intervention to assess cognitive functioning severity of dementia, respectively. Caregivers were trained to administer the Agitated Behavior Scale (ABS) after performing the stressful task without music (baseline). The music therapist created a CD for each subject based on the following: a) music background/preferences of subject (preferred styles of music, favorite selections or artists), obtained from family/caregiver, and b) subject responses observed during the assessment. Caregivers were instructed to complete the agitated task during the music intervention and immediately following the task completed an ABS evaluation. Out of the 51 patients referred for the study, 11 met inclusion criteria and were consented. Eight subjects completed the study. According to demographic information the majority of subjects were female, had previous music experience, and lived in a skilled nursing facility. The most frequent agitated task was bathing, which caused agitation in 75% of subjects. SPMSQ results indicated all patients had severe cognitive impairment and pre-/post-scores were the same. Pre-music intervention ABS scores were a mean of 23.46 (SD=5.8), and a mean of 20.69 (SD=7.1) for post-music intervention. This indicated that subjects became slightly less agitated overall though the effects were not statistically significant (t (7) = 1.41, p=0.2). Further analysis was unwarranted due to the lack of statistical significance and the small sample size. Two subjects demonstrated decreased agitation levels. Study limitations, implications for further research, and feasibility of research with late stage dementia patients receiving hospice care are discussed by the researchers.


Background Though recent advancement in proteomics has provided a novel perspective on several distinct pathogenetic mechanisms leading to preterm birth (inflammation, bleeding), the etiology of most preterm births still remains elusive. We conducted a multidimensional proteomic analysis of the amniotic fluid to identify pathways related to preterm birth in the absence of inflammation or bleeding. Methodology/Principal Findings A proteomic fingerprint was generated from fresh amniotic fluid using surface-enhanced laser desorbtion ionization time of flight (SELDI-TOF) mass spectrometry in a total of 286 consecutive samples retrieved from women who presented with signs or symptoms of preterm labor or preterm premature rupture of the membranes. Inflammation and/or bleeding proteomic patterns were detected in 32% (92/286) of the SELDI tracings. In the remaining tracings, a hierarchical algorithm was applied based on descriptors quantifying similarity/dissimilarity among proteomic fingerprints. This allowed identification of a novel profile (Q-profile) based on the presence of 5 SELDI peaks in the 10–12.5 kDa mass area. Women displaying the Q-profile (mean±SD, gestational age: 25±4 weeks, n = 40) were more likely to deliver preterm despite expectant management in the context of intact membranes and normal amniotic fluid clinical results. Utilizing identification-centered proteomics techniques (fluorescence two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis, robotic tryptic digestion and mass spectrometry) coupled with Protein ANalysis THrough Evolutionary Relationships (PANTHER) ontological classifications, we determined that in amniotic fluids with Q-profile the differentially expressed proteins are primarily involved in non-inflammatory biological processes such as protein metabolism, signal transduction and transport. Conclusion/Significance Proteomic profiling of amniotic fluid coupled with non-hierarchical bioinformatics algorithms identified a subgroup of patients at risk for preterm birth in the absence of intra-amniotic inflammation or bleeding, suggesting a novel pathogenetic pathway leading to preterm birth. The altered proteins may offer opportunities for therapeutical intervention and future drug development to prevent prematurity.


BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS
Abnormal expression of claudin-4 and beta-catenin play a role in carcinogenesis. The purpose of the present study was to examine claudin-4 and beta-catenin expression in normal and precancerous gastric mucosa.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Endoscopic biopsy specimens [normal gastric mucosa (n = 22), intestinal metaplasia (n = 24), dysplasia (n = 18), Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)-associated chronic gastritis (n = 32) and remnant gastric mucosa (n = 18)] obtained from different 114 patients were examined by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS
Claudin-4 expression was present in 94.4% of dysplasia, 87.5% of intestinal metaplasia, 62.5% H. pylori-associated chronic gastritis, and 88.9% remnant gastric mucosa but only 18.2% of normal gastric mucosa biopsies. Decreased expression of beta-catenin was present in 27.8% of dysplasia, 8.3% of intestinal metaplasia, 15.6% of H. pylori-associated chronic gastritis, and 22.2% of remnant gastric mucosa biopsies, but was not present in normal gastric mucosa. When compared with normal gastric mucosa, there was a significant difference in claudin-4 expression in all groups (P < 0.05), but a significant difference was detected in dysplasia and remnant gastric mucosa for beta-catenin (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that claudin-4 expression is upregulated in premalignant gastric alterations.


The Australian Federal Government's decision, in May 1982, to implement a domestic satellite system (AUSSAT) has stimulated educators in Australia to consider the use of emerging communications technologies. Of these, satellite technology has the potential to provide an unparalleled delivery mechanism for education. Schools of the Air, in particular, have been cited as a major beneficiary of this technology. Despite popular opinion, the viability of delivering education to Schools of the Air (SOTA) and Distance Education Centre (DEC) students by satellite is questionable, because of the small number and particular circumstances of the students involved. Similarly, District High Schools (DHS) contain large numbers of students who suffer similar geographic educational disadvantages; these students could benefit from satellite‐delivered education. Additionally, improved professional development for rural based‐teachers would be possible.


We conducted a Phase IB trial of antidisialoganglioside chimeric 14. 18 (ch14.18) antibody and interleukin 2 (IL-2) to determine the maximal tolerated dose (MTD), immunological effects, antitumor effects, and toxicity of this treatment combination. Twenty-four melanoma patients received immunotherapy with ch14.18 antibody and a continuous infusion of Roche IL-2 (1.5 x 10(6) units/m2/day) given 4 days/week for 3 weeks. The ch14.18 antibody (dose level, 2-10 mg/m2/day) was scheduled to be given for 5 days, before, during, or following initial systemic IL-2 treatment. The ch14.18 MTD was 7.5 mg/m2/day, and 15 patients were treated with the ch14.18 MTD. Immunological effects included the induction of lymphokine-activated killer activity and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity by peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In addition, serum samples obtained following ch14.18 infusions were able to facilitate in vitro antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Antitumor activity included one complete response, one partial response, eight patients with stable disease, and one patient with >50% decrease of hepatic metastases in the face of recurrence of a s.c. lesion. Dose-limiting toxicities were a severe allergic reaction and weakness, pericardial effusion, and decreased performance status. Most patients treated at the MTD had abdominal, chest, or extremity pain requiring i.v. morphine. One patient had an objective peripheral neuropathy. This IL-2 and ch14.18 treatment combination induces immune activation in all patients and antitumor activity in some melanoma patients. We are attempting to enhance this treatment approach by addition of the anti-GD3 R24 antibody to this IL-2 and ch14.18 regimen.


Eskimo comparative constructions include both comparative ('be more __ than' as well as the superlative 'be the most __') and equalitive clauses ('be as __ as'). In Central Alaskan Yupik at least, a number of typologically interesting features of these constructions have to my knowledge thus far received no attention, in particular the fact that both comparative and equalitive clauses (the ingressive 'become more __ than' as well as the stative) may be either transitive or intransitive. The morphological devices employed for this purpose may provide us with a glimpse into the properties of Eskimo-type polysynthesis, among them perhaps, the recursive reverbalisation of deverbalised clauses.


In many of today's cities, neighborhoods face a variety of social problems, the most important of which is the lack of social security. On the one hand, this is related to social and demographic characteristics and on the other hand, it is undeniably associated with place. The study of concepts related to urban crime is often carried out under a subfield of criminology called "environmental criminology". In this area, the impact of the surroundings on crime rate is investigated by identifying the relationships between urban form and neighborhood security. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the main aspects of urban form (density and land-use mix) and the level of security perceived by residents on the scale of an urban block in the neighborhoods of Shiraz Metropolitan. The data are collected from the 2011 Iranian Population and Housing Census report, Geographical Information System (GIS) databases and household questionnaire and quantitative indices. The perceived security indicator is defined and measured based on five variables: fear of crime, experience of crime occurrence, having trusted neighbors, social solidarity and incivilities. According to the results of one-way analysis of variance, there is a significant difference between blocks formed in different time periods (1966 backward, between 1966 and 1989 and from 1989 onwards) in "fear of crime" and "experience of crime occurrence" variables as in the newly developed neighborhoods, the averages of these two variables are less. So in the newly developed zone, the average of these two variables is lower than the other neighborhoods. The results of Pearson's correlation test also indicate that the "experience of crime occurrence" variable is correlated with building density and population density inversely and directly, respectively. Moreover, the share of non-residential land-uses in the studied blocks is directly correlated with the experience of crime occurrence and the fear of crime among residents.


In order to evaluate protein sequences for simultaneous satisfaction of evolutionary and physical constraints, this paper develops a graphical model approach integrating sequence information from the evolutionary record of a protein family with structural information based on a molecular mechanics force field. Nodes in the graphical model represent choices for the backbone (native vs. non-native), amino acids (conservation analysis), and side-chain conformations (rotamer library). Edges capture dependence relationships, in both the sequence (correlated mutations) and the structure (direct physical interactions). The sequence and structure components of the model are complementary, in that the structure component may support choices that were not present in the sequence record due to bias and artifacts, while the sequence component may capture other constraints on protein viability, such as permitting an efficient folding pathway. Inferential procedures enable computation of the joint probability of a sequence-structure pair, thereby assessing the quality of the sequence with respect to both the protein family and the specificity of its energetic preference for the native structure against alternate backbone structures. In a case study of WW domains, we show that by using the joint model and evaluating specificity, we obtain better prediction of foldedness of designed proteins (AUC of 0.85) than either a sequence-only or a structure-only model, and gain insights into how, where, and why the sequence and structure components complement each other.


Persistence and impact of pharmaceutics in the environment are discussed. The case of carbamazepine (CBZ), a widely used antiepileptic drug detected in rivers, lakes, sludges and even in ground water is examined. CBZ fate was investigated in all possible routes that may follow after it has been discharged to the sewage system: activated sludge, anaerobic digestion sludge, seawater, fresh water and soil. Carbamazepine slowed down, i.e. caused a decrease in the COD consumption rate in the activated sludge process, especially after longer term exposure, while the anaerobic sludge process was unaffected in the operating conditions that were applied. The compound was not degraded under either short term or long term exposure to either aerobic or anaerobic degradation processes. Carbamazepine seemed to biosorb to solid phases (soil, sludge) and this strength of sorption was related to the organic content of the solid phase. These results explain why CBZ is a very persistent xenobiotic compound, as is apparent from its detection in appreciable amounts in various aquatic environments.


We give an overview the progress of our work in silicon photonic programmable circuits, covering the technology stack from the photonic chip over the driver electronics, packaging technologies all the way to the software layers. On the photonic side, we show our recent results in large-scale silicon photonic circuits with different tuning technologies, including heaters, MEMS and liquid crystals, and their respective electronic driving schemes. We look into the scaling potential of these different technologies as the number of tunable elements in a circuit increases. Finally, we elaborate on the software routines for routing and filter synthesis to enable the photonic programmer.


Flaring of associated gas, found during petroleum exploration and production in Nigeria, results in substantial environmental degradation, which endangers sustainable development and exposes the population to health hazards. In addition, it results in significant economic losses, especially from the opportunity cost of the disposed natural gas (NG). As part of the many initiatives to abate flaring and harness NG resources, the Nigerian government proposed the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) as an automotive fuel in 1997, but progress has been slow.
This study investigates the barriers to use of CNG as an automotive fuel in Nigeria and how these can be overcome. It identified, validated, prioritized and built consensus on 29 barriers and 25 policy recommendations, using a combination of case study of selected countries, semi-structured interviews and a Delphi survey among participants who are key stakeholders in the energy and transportation sectors. Major hindrances identified include the absence of market coordination; lack of transparency and accountability; inexperience of the population with gas usage; lack of public awareness on the benefits of NG; artificial distortion of the economic benefits of CNG due to the subsidy on gasoline; focus on export market development to the detriment of the domestic market; absence of regulatory standards; poor infrastructure; and an old and dilapidated national vehicle fleet. There was no convergence on the impact of insecurity of human and material resources caused by militancy and pipeline vandalism in the oil producing areas, despite widespread views of the negative effect on the oil and gas industry generally.
Based on the consensus built among study participants, the study recommends 12 policy interventions, which might stimulate growth in the use of CNG as automotive fuel; these comprise specific energy market reforms, fiscal and operational incentives, transportation sector reforms and the creation/building of public awareness.


G mobile devices and base stations employ rake receivers. An important issue in the design of such receivers is finger allocation. This paper explores the relationship between finger placement and the correlation properties of rake combined signals. The dependence of correlation coefficients on system parameters such as the multipath characteristics of the propagation channel, the number of users, the processing gain and the thermal noise power is also discussed. Several conclusions useful in the analysis and design of rake receivers are drawn. A low complexity finger placement algorithm is finally suggested. In the proposed receiver, finger allocation is based on the correlation properties of the desired signal component only. The receiver performs close to complex structures in the literature.


Context: Relatively scanty literature on autochthonic African Negroid hair morphology provokes research interest for anthropological, forensic, and cosmetic purposes. Aims: This study aimed to contribute basic morphological information on Ghanaian African hairs. Settings and Design: The study was done in selected second-cycle schools in Accra, Ghana, using convenient sampling. Subjects and Methods: Hairs were obtained by pluck method, from 30 males and 30 females aged 15–20 years. Ghanaian African autochthony was established if individuals had two generations of indigenous Ghanaian parentage. Scalp, eyebrow, axilla, and pubic hairs were image captured using a digital light microscope eyepiece connected to a computer. Diameters of hair strands were measured; types of the medulla and the form and shape of the hair roots were studied. Statistical Analysis Used: ANOVA test (SPSS Version 17.0) was used to compare the means of quantitative hair features among the sexes and the four regions of the body studied. Results: Pubic hair shaft was thickest (respective male and female diameters were 100.21 μm, 88.40 μm) and eyebrow hair was thinnest (53.97 and 46.69-μm diameters in males and females, respectively). Axillary and scalp hairs were the closest in diameters with 76.21 and 72.02 μm, respectively, in males and 73.07 and 71.15 μm, respectively, in females. Continuous type medulla was predominant in all hairs, with a trend of percentage occurrence in descending order from the pubic, axilla, eyebrow, and scalp in both sexes. Conclusions: Bodily regional differences in diameter of hair shaft and medullary presence were affirmed.


In an article that appeared in this journal more than a decade ago, I named the seventeenth-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes a pioneer-founder of "public choice economics." (1) Both Hobbes and contemporary public-choice theorists are interested in finding institutional methods for overcoming the free-rider problem which makes collective action often difficult and sometimes impossible to accomplish. I suggested that Hobbes's interest in decision making in large group situations colored many of his specific ideas about political and social organization. The purpose of this new article is to extend that research by tracing Hobbes's influence on David Hume and documenting that Hume also analyzed the prospects for social cooperation in terms of group size. Hobbes's influence is especially apparent in book 3 of Hume's Treatise of Human Nature, where the basic organizing principles of commercial society are analyzed. (2) There we find that the problem of enforcing rules about property, contract performance, and collective action requires government involvement and, indeed, that it is the intervention of ministers and politicians that transforms rules first adopted for convenience and expediency into rules that promote both prosperity and moral virtue in large prospering societies. (3) It is not usual to consult Hobbes for insights about the structure and content of Hume's thought. Among historians of philosophical thought it is more common to contrast Hobbes, "the egoist," with Hume, a proponent of the "moral sense school," thereby suggesting that the two philosophers had little in common. (4) I shall not overturn these categorizations but rather establish a different web of connections by concentrating my attention on the problem of social and economic organization. Here Hobbes's influence on Hume is quite unmistakable. (5) I build on Paul Russell's work. In 1985 Russell established that Hobbes was one of the most important influences on Hume. (6) Inasmuch as some of Hume's strongest admirers seldom mention Hobbes at all, Russell's argument now opens a new chapter in Hume scholarship. Perhaps the boldest of Russell's claims is that Hume consciously patterned his Treatise of Human Nature after Hobbes's Elements of Law and that an "important and unique" relationship exists between the two masterworks. (7) Indeed the parallels between the two are both significant and obvious enough to raise the puzzling question why other Hume scholars have missed the Hobbes link so completely. (8) Russell attributes the oversight to Hume himself, who was not writing at the most tolerant of times in history and probably thought it prudent not to flaunt the Hobbes connection too openly among his contemporaries. (9) Hume did, however, openly declare his debt to Bernard Mandeville, and by this a link to Hobbes was no doubt suspected. (l0) In discussion below I identify the closeness of reasoning that exists between Hobbes's and Hume's respective accounts of (1) the origin of property-rights structures, (2) the strategic problems inherent in contracting and the salutory role played by government in promoting contracting, and (3) the positive role that collective action backed by the coercive power of the state can play in promoting material welfare. At the outset, let me distinguish my thesis from the one Milton Myers developed in his stimulating study The Soul of Modern Economic Man. (11) Myers describes late seventeenth- and eighteenthcentury intellectual thought as a reaction to the extreme reductionist view of human nature advanced by Hobbes. As is typical among political scientists, he treats the writers of the "moral school" as adversaries of Hobbes. Hume is mentioned only incidentally, but Smith is accused of backsliding toward Hobbes and the "jaundiced view" of human nature. An earlier study by the economist William Allen also contrasts Hobbes with Hume. Allen argues that Hobbes raised certain problems that Hume, using alternative methods of reasoning, was better able to solve. …


Hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance have been postulated to link obesity and hypertension. Evidence supporting this concept derives mainly from epidemiological studies showing a correlation between insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, and blood pressure and from short-term studies suggesting that insulin has renal and cardiovascular actions that, if sustained, could elevate blood pressure. However, a cause-and-effect relation between insulin and hypertension has not been clearly established. Recent studies indicate that chronic hyperinsulinemia, similar to that found in obese hypertensive patients, did not raise blood pressure in normal dogs, even when renal excretory capability was reduced by prior removal of kidney mass. Chronic insulin infusion also failed to elevate blood pressure in dogs maintained on a high sodium intake and did not potentiate the long-term blood pressure responses to angiotensin II or norepinephrine. The presence or absence of insulin resistance may not be a major factor in determining the blood pressure response to hyperinsulinemia since chronic insulin infusion also failed to cause hypertension in obese, insulin-resistant dogs. Although hyperinsulinemia causes transient sodium retention, sustained decreases in renal excretory capability sufficient to cause chronic hypertension did not occur in dogs. In rats, insulin infusion causes small increases in blood pressure, although several characteristics of the hypertension (e.g., salt-sensitivity) differ from those observed in obese human hypertensive patients. Whether humans more closely resemble dogs or rats with respect to their long-term cardiovascular responses to insulin remains to be determined. However, very high insulin levels in humans with insulinoma do not cause hypertension, and several studies suggest that there is only a weak correlation between plasma insulin concentration and blood pressure in normal humans. Therefore, additional factors besides hyperinsulinemia per se may be responsible for a major component of obesity-associated hypertension.


To the Editor,

Pseudoachalasia is a rare entity and is difficult to distinguish from idiopathic achalasia. The most common cause of achalasia secondary to neoplasia is adenocarcinoma of the distal esophagus and the gastroesophageal junction. The second most common cause is small-cell lung cancer [1]. We report a case of lung adenocarcinoma secondary to achalasia. A 72-year-old man had dysphagia to liquids and solids, abdominal pain, gush-style vomiting without nausea, and a 10-kg weight loss over the past 6 months. He was vomiting immediately after eating. He had been diagnosed with opsomyoclonus and had a 60-year smoking history. Barium esophagography showed a proximal esophageal dilatation tapering into a "bird's beak" (Fig. 1A). Mild pressure was applied by the endoscope to open the gastroesophageal junction. Long time smoking history, older age, opsomyoclonus, and rapidly progressive achalasia symptoms-especially weight loss-indicate that cancer should be considered. Physical examination and chest imaging were normal, so we decided to screen for cancer by computed tomography (CT) scan. A thoracic and abdominal CT scan revealed esophageal dilatation and a spiculated lesion located in the left lung subpleural area. Botulinum toxin was injected endoscopically into the gastroesophageal junction, and the patient's symptoms improved. A transthoracic needle biopsy was performed by interventional radiology (Fig. 1B), and the diagnosis was lung adenocarcinoma. We referred the patient to the oncology department. Positron emission tomography-CT scan was performed by the oncology department for staging. There was bilateral mediastinal lymphadenopathy; therefore, the diagnosis was stage 3B lung cancer. Neoplasia causes achalasia by directly obstructing the lower esophageal sphincter and by paraneoplasia (depending on the antibodies) [2]. Direct involvement of the esophageal myenteric plexus is the most common mechanism, and endoscopic ultrasonography is a useful method to show tumor infiltration [3]. Type 1 antineuronal nuclear antibody (ANNA-1 or anti-Hu), type 1 Purkinje cell cytoplasmic antibody (PCA-1 or anti-Yo), and N-type calcium channel antibodies have been shown to be related to pseudoachalasia [1]. We do not have any serological or pathological evidence for pseudoachalasia and, therefore, cannot prove that it was present in this patient. CT scan and endoscopic examination did not suggest tumor invasion, so we thought that paraneoplasia was the cause of achalasia. Some clinical differences have been noted between idiopathic achalasia and pseudoachalasia. Three criteria were identified by Tucker et al. [4] to distinguish pseudoachalasia from primary achalasia: age older than 50 years, symptoms with a duration of less than 1 year, and rapid weight loss. Weight loss is more rapid at the onset of pseudoachalasia symptoms than at those of idiopathic achalasia, and pseudoachalasia occurs in older patients [4]. Patients with idiopathic achalasia commonly have a long duration of symptoms before being diagnosed [5]. Pseudoachalasia in lung cancers frequently arises during the course of small-cell carcinoma [1]. As in the reported case, it occurs more rarely with lung adenocarcinoma. In particular, the possibility of malignancy should be investigated in a patient of advanced age with achalasia accompanied by rapidly developing symptoms and in patients without a detectable lesion of the distal esophagus or adjacent structures.

Figure 1

(A) Barium esophagography showing proximal esophageal dilatation tapering into a "bird's beak." (B) Transthoracic needle biopsy from a spiculated lesion located in the left lung subpleural area.


The surface water of 10 major river systems across China has been under intermediate pollution with striking eutrophication problems in major lakes (reservoirs). More data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China showed that underground water in 57% of monitoring sites across Chinese cities was polluted or extremely polluted. Rural water pollution, the rising number of incidents of industrial pollution, outdated sewerage systems, and the overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers also endanger the health of rural inhabitants in China. Nearly 0.2 billion rural residents could not use drinking water in accordance with the national standard, and there were reports of 'cancer villages9 and food-borne diseases (cancer village refers to a village where a certain proportion of its inhabitants suffer from the same kind of cancer or where there is a hike in cancer incidence in that area). This study aims to raise awareness of the prevention and control of water pollution and to propose a set of national research and policy initiatives for the future safety of the water environment in China.


This paper proposes a novel method for performance analysis of diversity reception with two correlated Rayleigh-fading signals. Based upon a transformation technique, two correlated Rayleigh-fading signals can be converted into two independent Rayleigh-fading signals. The performance of the diversity reception can be easily evaluated by analyzing the two independent Rayleigh-fading signals. The presented examples, performance analysis of maximal ratio combining (MRC), selection combining (SC), and equal gain combining (EGC) diversity reception with correlated Rayleigh-fading signals, show that the proposed approach is simple and effective.


Human peripheral monocytes have been categorized into three subsets based on differential expression levels of CD14 and CD16. However, the factors that influence the distribution of monocyte subsets and the roles that each subset plays in autoimmunity are not well studied. In this study, we show that circulating monocytes from patients with autoimmune uveitis exhibit a skewed phenotype toward intermediate CD14++CD16+ cells, and that this is associated with glucocorticoid therapy. We further demonstrate that CD14++CD16+ monocytes from patients and healthy control donors share a similar cell-surface marker and gene expression profile. Comparison of the effects of intermediate CD14++CD16+ monocytes with classical CD14++CD16− and nonclassical CD14+CD16++ monocytes revealed that the intermediate CD14++CD16+ subset had an attenuated capacity to promote both naive CD4+ T cell proliferation and polarization into a Th1 phenotype, and memory CD4+ T cell proliferation and IL-17 expression. Furthermore, CD14++CD16+ cells inhibit CD4+ T cell proliferation induced by other monocyte subsets and enhance CD4+ T regulatory cell IL-10 expression. These data demonstrate the impact of glucocorticoids on monocyte phenotype in the context of autoimmune disease and the differential effects of monocyte subsets on effector T cell responses.


The comparative study of debt and fiscal consolidation has acquired a new focus with the re-emergence of debt as a major problem consequent upon the global financial crisis. This leads us to re-evaluate the literature on fiscal consolidation that flourished during the 1980s and 1990s. We identify two broad schools of analysis, one which segments episodes of fiscal change into discrete observations, the other comparing budget profiles at two points in time. We argue that both strategies miss the dynamic features of government strategy, especially in the choices made between expenditure-based and revenue-based fiscal consolidation strategies. We propose a focus on pathways rather than episodes of adjustment, to recapture what Pierson terms 'politics in time.' We draw on classical explanatory tools of comparative political economy, including structures of interest intermediation, the role of ideas in shaping the set of feasible policy choices, and the situation of national economies in the international political economy. We support our argument with qualitative data based on paired comparisons of Ireland and Britain, and Greece and Spain.


Background: The Australasian Triage Scale is a simple five-point system of triage that forms the basis of triage in most emergency departments in Australia. The Manchester Triage System (MTS) is an algorithmic aid to the process of triage. It utilises a series of flow charts that lead the triage nurse to a logical choice of triage category also using a five-point scale. Objective: To evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the MTS in an Australian emergency department. Methods: 50 triage scenarios were derived from the notes of 50 consecutive patients who had presented to the emergency department. All available nurses who had been trained to use the MTS were invited to participate in the study. The nurses were asked to assign a triage category to each scenario using the MTS. Weighted kappas were calculated for all pairs of raters. Results: 20 nurses participated in the study. The range of kappas was 0.4007 to 0.8018, with a median of 0.6304. Conclusion: The MTS is a reliable system of triage in the emergency department.


Zinc concentrations in hobby rocket exhaust aerosols were measured by ICP-MS to be approximately 300 mg/g, revealing that hobby rocket motors emit particulate matter highly enriched in zinc. Zinc is a commonly used indicator species in receptor models for atmospheric particulate matter and is assumed to be emitted only by well-established point sources and mobile sources. The potential impact of the ephemeral particle-bound zinc from hobby rockets on atmospheric particulate zinc concentrations was estimated using a Gaussian puff model. The results from the model were compared to 24-hour averaged particulate zinc concentration data collected in three US urban centers. Potential impacts several kilometers downwind of the rocket launch site were found to be significant. Clearly the impact of ephemeral and unregistered emissions such as those from hobby rockets needs to be considered when using zinc in source apportionment models.


A large literature aims to establish a causal link between education and health using changes in compulsory schooling laws. It is however unclear how well more education is operationalized by marginal increases in school years. We shed a new light on this discussion by analyzing the health effects of a reform in Germany where total years of schooling for students in the academic track were reduced from nine to eight while keeping cumulative teaching hours constant by increasing instruction intensity. .e sequential introduction of the reform allows us to implement a triple difference-in-differences estimation strategy with data from the German Socio-Economic Panel. We find that increased weekly instruction time has negative health effects for females while they are still in school. However, a.er graduation, females even seem to benefit from reduced school years. We find no effects on males' health.


Empirical evidence supports the hypothesis of a general relationship between sea temperature and recruitment of cod stocks across the North Atlantic, as well as between recruitment and the size of the spawning population. In the North Sea, cod year-class strength is inversely related to sea surface temperature during the first half of the year. This stock is currently at a low level, and the future trajectory of the stock biomass will be strongly influenced by recruitment levels. In the present study we investigate the possible use of observed and modelled sea surface temperature (SST) to increase the accuracy and/or time horizon of recruitment forecasts for this stock. We show that the statistical model developed for forecasting spring temperature has good skill (35% skill, with a standard error of 0.36°C) when predictions are made in late January. Within the frame of the current fish stock assessment working group we incorporate SST observations and January forecasts and simulate short-term recruitment projections. The resulting model accounts for a greater fraction of the variance in recruitment (42%) than that obtained without temperature (17%). In operational mode, the model allows forecasting 1.5 years in advance but the accuracy of predicted recruitment remains low. This example indicates that we have not yet reached a point where environmental information can be used with great benefit for the management of North Sea cod. However, a similar strategy may yield greater benefits if developed for other stocks for which environmental effects are better understood and/or account for a larger fraction of the variability in recruitment, for species with a shorter generation time and species for which recruitment forecast is critical to management (e.g. anchovy), and in areas where environmental prediction capabilities may be greater either in accuracy or in lead time.


Objective Sports related concussion is an increasingly common occurrence. Outside professional sport it is typically managed within Emergency Departments. The objective was to assess the level of knowledge and understanding of UK emergency medicine doctors of concussion; it's recognition, diagnosis and management. Design Cross-sectional observational study using self-report questionnaires. Setting Questionnaires were distributed at regional EM conferences between October 2015 and January 2016. 15 secondary and 5 tertiary care centres were represented. Participants 156 questionnaires were completed. Illegible answers, defaced or incorrectly completed questionnaires were discarded. 134 were included in the analysis. Training levels represented were: Consultant (10%), Specialist Registrar (12%), Staff Grade (5%), Core Trainee (34%), Foundation Trainee (20%), Emergency Nurse Practitioners (1.5%), Medical Students (16%). Interventions (or Assessment of Risk Factors) The questionnaire asked respondents to correctly identify signs and symptoms of concussion according to the Zurich consensus statement. It asked whether there were differences in the management of adult and paediatric concussion together with questions regarding RTP guidelines and use of potentially protective equipment. Main results Consultants obtained the highest signs and symptoms score (6.2). The least correct were Specialist Registrars (2.0). Diagnostic accuracy did not differ between secondary and tertiary centres (p=0.67). 80% of participants incorrectly identified headguards as being protective against concussion. 35.4% of respondents acknowledged a difference between adult and paediatric concussion. Conclusions This small yet representative sample highlights a lack of knowledge in concussion in health professionals working in EDs in the UK. Efforts to improve the knowledge and understanding of concussion are required given the increasing awareness of the impact and occurrence of sports concussion. Competing interests None.


The paper presents a study on the direct voltage control of a magnetorheological (MR) damper for application in vehicle suspensions. As MR damper dynamics is highly nonlinear, the direct control system design for an MR damper is difficult. Representing an MR damper by a Takagi–Sugeno (TS) fuzzy model enables the linear control theory to be directly applied to design the MR damper controller. In this paper, first the MR damper dynamics is represented by a TS fuzzy model, and then an H∞ controller that considers the suspension performance requirements and the constraint on the input voltage for the MR damper is designed. Furthermore, considering the case that not all the state variables are measurable in practice, the design of an H∞ observer with immeasurable premise variables and the design of a robust controller are proposed, respectively. Numerical simulations are used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.


There are many scenarios in which users must be able to prove the
existence of data at a specific point in time and be able to
demonstrate the integrity of data since that time, even when the
duration from time of existence to time of demonstration spans a large
period of time. Additionally, users must be able to verify signatures
on digitally signed data many years after the generation of the
signature. This document describes a class of long-term archive
services to support such scenarios and the technical requirements for
interacting with such services. This memo provides information for the
Internet community.


Stroke is a leading cause of death and ischemic stroke is the most common form. The deficits that follow ischemic stroke include memory and learning impairment. There are presently no treatments that can combat the effects of ischemia after the attack has occurred. Immediately following insult, locomotor activity increases in rodent models. The goal of the current research is to determine if methamphetamine administration following ischemic attack will have neuroprotective effects and prevent changes in locomotor behavior that are observed following insult. Ischemic insult was induced in gerbils by clamping the carotid arteries for 5 mins. Subjects in the sham surgical condition underwent similar surgical procedures, but the carotids were not clamped. Then, subjects were assigned randomly to saline or methamphetamine (5 mg/kg) injection groups. Drug treatment was administered within 2 mins of surgery. Measures of distance traveled, average speed, and number of line crossings were evaluated. Differences in levels of locomotion during the first and second halves of testing were also evaluated. Finally, sections containing the hippocampal CA1 region were rated on a 4-point scale for level of damage. Results show that subjects in the ischemic and saline condition traveled significantly further than those in the sham conditions and ischemic and methamphetamine condition. The speed of ischemic subjects treated with saline was significantly higher than ischemic subjects that received methamphetamine and sham conditions. Also, subjects in the ischemic and saline treatment group crossed more lines than sham and ischemic animals treated with methamphetamine. Analysis of cresyl violet-stained brain sections of ischemic animals treated with saline were rated as having less neuronal cell bodies in the CA 1 region. Ischemic and methamphetamine treated subjects' sections were similar to sham and saline treatment sections. These results suggest that methamphetamine, when injected after transient ischemic attack, may provide neuroprotection from damage that occurs to the CA1 region and prevent the impairments in locomotor behavior.


This article examines how, to what extent and why the European Union (EU) engages in cultural diplomacy (CD) vis-à-vis the United States (US). While providing an empirical review of and conceptual reflection on the current state of the EU's (including key Member States' (MS')) CD efforts vis-à-vis the US, it also strives to explain the forms of this activity. It finds that a complex, multi-level, multi-actor, multifaceted and multipurpose EU CD in the US currently exists, which displays 'diversity without unity' and faces several incoherencies. This finding can be explained primarily by a latent competition for attention between EU MS. The article concludes by reflecting on how a more coherent EU CD could be achieved, thereby helping to reinvigorate EU-US relations.


Key Issue for Open Culture
• Motivation of Individuals
 – Public goods theory predicts that non-rival and non-excludable
 goods ought to encourage free-riding.
 – Particularly if the good is subject to collective provision, where
 many people must contribute together in order to get something
 of value, the system should go towards 'under provision'.
 – Why, then, do highly talented people choose voluntarily to
 allocate some or a substantial portion of their time and mind-
 space (that are both limited and valuable resources) to a project
 for which they will not be compensated?

• Coordination
 – How and why do these individuals coordinate their contributions
 on a single 'focal point'?
 – Authority within a firm and the price mechanism across firms are
 standard means to efficiently coordinate specialized knowledge
 in a complex division of labour - but neither is operative in open
 source. Any individual can freely modify source code and
 redistribute modified versions to others.