As a result of substantial government support, Norway is more or less self-sufficient in its main agricultural products. This contributes to both trade distortions and higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In multinational negotiations separate efforts are being made to liberalize trade (through the World Trade Organization) and to reduce global GHG emissions (through the United Nations). Using a model of Norwegian agriculture, we explore interconnections between trade liberalization and GHG emission reductions. We show that the Doha proposals would involve no major cut in either agricultural production or GHG emissions due to weakness in the disciplines on trade distorting support. We contrast further trade liberalization and the use of a carbon tax to achieve emission reductions. Trade liberalization involves relatively large impacts on agricultural activity. Trade distortions decrease, and, economic welfare increases substantially due to lower production. For a high cost country like Norway, this indicates that the GHG abatement cost is negative in the sector if no value is attributed to agricultural activity beyond the world market price of food. A more targeted policy to reduce GHG emissions is to use a carbon tax. Compared to the trade liberalization case, both production and land use can be kept at a higher level with only a modest decrease in economic welfare. The side-effect is, however, higher trade distortions.


The interest in energy storage is currently increasing, especially from the perspectives of matching intermittent sources of renewable energy with customer demand and storing excess nuclear or thermal power during the daily cycle. Technologies to be considered for load leveling for large-scale energy systems, typically in the range of hours to days of discharge time, include pumped-storage hydroelectricity, compressed air energy storage (CAES), sodium sulfur (NaS) batteries, advanced absorbent glass mat lead acid batteries, and flow batteries. CAES is a promising technology because of significant advantages such as its high reliability, economic feasibility, and low environmental impact. Thermo-electric energy storage (TEES), which was recently proposed as a method for large-scale energy storage, is another mechanical storage method based on thermodynamic cycles. This thesis presents a guide to precisely understand each system along with energy and exergy analyses to characterize the key parameters for achieving high efficiency for each of the systems. In addition, some novel concepts for the systems are proposed in order to address some of the current drawbacks and to widen the scope of their applications. Conventional CAES systems are most commonly operated under constant volume conditions with a fixed, rigid reservoir and compressors and turbines that can operate over an appropriate pressure range. These varying pressure ratios can degrade the efficiencies of compression and power generation owing to deviations from design points. Although it is possible to increase the storage volume to reduce the operating pressure range, doing so results in reduced energy density and high construction costs. Therefore, in order to resolve such problems, a novel constant-pressure CAES system combined with pumped hydro storage is proposed. An energy and exergy analysis of the novel CAES system was performed in order to understand the operating characteristics of the system according to several different compression and expansion processes. The effects of the height of the storage cavern and heat transfer between two media (air and water) and the cavern on the performance of the novel CAES system were also examined. Although the large-scale CAES systems are dependent on the right combination of site-dependent geological factors for air storage, a micro-CAES system with man-made air vessels can be a very effective system for distributed power networks, because it provides energy storage, generates electric power using various heat sources, and incorporates an air cycle heating and cooling system. This thesis presents the results of energy and exergy analyses of different types of micro-CAES systems, as well as some innovative ideas for achieving high efficiency of these systems. Recently, another type of mechanical storage, namely, thermo-electric energy storage (TEES) systems, which use heat pumps and heat engines with thermal storage, have been proposed. The advantages of TEES systems are their higher energy densities and independence from geological formations. In particular, a TEES system with transcritical CO2 cycles is considered to be a promising method for large-scale energy storage. This thesis reviews current TEES systems and proposes a novel isothermal TEES system with transcritical CO2 cycles. It is shown that in the case of TEES systems with transcritical CO2 cycles, the roundtrip efficiency and energy density can be increased by isothermal compression/expansion. In addition, novel transcritical or supercritical CO2 cycles using both low-temperature (LT) and high-temperature (HT) heat sources are proposed to maximize the power output of the CO2 power cycle with the given HT heat sources for use in applications such as nuclear power, concentrated solar power, and combustion. Moreover, the previous TEES system with transcritical CO2 cycles can be combined with the proposed transcritical CO2 cycle using both LT and HT heat sources.


Author: Steven Tai-hsiang Chao Title: Designer Benzimidazoles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications Supervising Professor: Christopher W. Bielawski, Ph.D. The research presented in this thesis is centered on the design and synthesis of molecules which are derived from benzimidazoles and their applications. The first chapter provides an introduction to benzimidazoles and N-heterocyclic carbenes, a unique class of molecules derived from benzimidazoles. The second chapter describes the use of benzobis(imidazolium) salts in the design and development of a new class of fluorescent materials demonstrated to be robust with strong photoluminescent properties as well as tunable electronic and physical characteristics. These materials have potential application as fluorophores, sensory materials, and models for photophysical studies. The final chapter describes the development of a mechanically-activated catalyst system with applications to stress-responsive and self-healing materials.


Participation in public opinion surveys in the State of Qatar is voluntary, and respondents are not offered incentives for participating. Nevertheless, rates of participation in face-to-face surveys conducted by the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) of Qatar University remain at levels that far exceed those observed in Western and even other Middle East contexts. This study aims to understand why Qatari citizens participate in household surveys conducted in the country. Using data from a 2015 survey of 823 Qatari households, we examine the reasons underlying individuals' decisions about participation in surveys.


If the Oceans Were Ink is Carla Power's eye-opening story of how she and her long-time friend Sheikh Mohammad Akram Nadwi found a way to confront ugly stereotypes and persistent misperceptions that were cleaving their communities. Their friendship-between a secular American and a madrasa - trained sheikh - had always seemed unlikely, but now they were frustrated and bewildered by the battles being fought in their names. Both knew that a close look at the Quran would reveal a faith that preached peace and not mass murder; respect for women and not oppression. And so they embarked on a yearlong journey through the controversial text. A journalist who grew up in the Midwest and the Middle East, Power offers her unique vantage point on the Quran's most provocative verses as she debates with Akram at cafes, family gatherings, and packed lecture halls, conversations filled with both good humour and powerful insights. Their story takes them to madrasas in India and pilgrimage sites in Mecca, as they encounter politicians and jihadis, feminist activists and conservative scholars. Armed with a new understanding of each other's worldviews, Power and Akram offer eye-opening perspectives, destroy long-held myths, and reveal startling connections between worlds that have seemed hopelessly divided for far too long.


This major comparative text on urban planning, and the global and regional context in which it takes place, examines what have been traditionally regarded as 'world cities' (New York, London, Tokyo) and also a range of other important cities in America, Europe and Asia. The authors show the role planning has played in the way cities have responded to the forces of globalization, and argue for the importance of diverse – rather than one-size-fits-all – planning practices. This fully revised second edition systematically brings the debates on the impact of globalization right up to date and provides integrated coverage of the latest planning theory and practice. It also contains extended analysis of the implications of the rapid growth of Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing. New material is included on the impact of globalization on poorer mega-cities like Mumbai and Johannesburg.


Climate change may strongly influence species distribution and, thus, the structure and function of ecosystems. This paper describes simulated changes in the position of the upper treeline in the Swedish mountains in response to predicted climate change. Data on predicted summer temperature changes, the current position of the treeline, and a digital elevation model were used to predict the position of the treeline over a 100-year timeframe. The results show the treeline advancing upward by 233-667 m, depending on the climate scenario used and location within the mountain chain. Such changes hypothetically caused a 75-85% reduction in treeless alpine heaths, with 60-93% of the remaining areas being scree slopes and boulder fields. For this change to occur, the migration rate of the trees would be in the order of 23-221 m yr -1 , which is well within published migration rates for wind-dispersed deciduous trees. The remaining alpine areas would be strongly fragmented. These drastic changes would influence all aspects of mountain ecosystems, including biodiversity conservation and human land-use patterns.


Understanding long-term woodland dynamics is regarded as essential to investigating the legacy of past human actions and adequately conserving woodland habitats of higher ecological and cultural value. In Scotland, direct evidence of woodland extent and management is usually scarce and incomplete before the mid-nineteenth century First Edition Ordnance Survey maps (OS). For this PhD thesis, historical plans of private estates, underutilised in the UK, are proposed to fill this gap. Although each of these plans covers only a small area, they were drawn at large scale, permitting a detailed and accurate depiction of woodland prior to the First Edition OS.

This research collates 352 Scottish estate plans, dated c.1740 to c.1835, from both private and public collections. Hundreds of these plans are privately-owned and had been previously unavailable to researchers. A GIS-based method is implemented to integrate the spatial information of a large variety of historical plans into a homogenous database. The consistency in the depiction, accuracy and reliability of estate plans enables spatially explicit reconstructions of the woodland cover extent for two time series, namely T1 (1740-1799) and T2 (1801-1833). These reconstructions cover a total of 107,700 ha in Nithsdale and Annandale (Dumfries and Galloway) and can be compared with the First Edition OS maps (i.e. T3, c.1860) and modern data (i.e. T4, 2014). The uncertainties resulting from the challenges of working on a large variety of plans drawn by different mapmakers are also assessed. This assessment uses a conceptual framework that explores in a chronological manner the uncertainty arisen from the estate plans production to their practical use for research on woodland cover changes.

Quantitative analysis based on the reconstructions shows a marked and consistent growth in woodland cover during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. While the woodland covered about 3% of the study area in T1, it increased to 4.5% in T2, and to between 6.5 and 8.5% in T3. The lowest coverage in the study area occurred, at the latest, some time in the mid-eighteenth century with an upper estimate of 2.5% of woodland coverage. Although it is not possible to determine to what extent the trends observed in the study area apply to the rest of Scotland, this research casts doubt on the methods and assumptions that may have led previous research to overestimate the amount of past woodland cover for the whole Scotland.

Change detection analysis allowed mapping and quantification of where the woodland was new, lost or extant between two time series. Trajectory analysis enabled the tracking, mapping and categorising of the various historical trajectories of present-day broadleaved woodland since the eighteenth century. Along with the study of various woodland metrics, these spatial analyses underline how the present-day woodland cover has been progressively shaped by plantations and clearance at different spatio-temporal rates. In addition, a modelling approach using binary logistic regression allows a better understanding of past woodland distribution and changes in relation to landscape physical contexts such as slope steepness, elevation, soils and distance to the nearest streams. Hence, these models highlight changes in woodland plantation practices over time and space. Other historical sources, including the first and second Statistical Accounts of Scotland (1791-1845), offer a complementary insight into tree composition of past woodland cover, management practices and the reasons that encouraged planting woodland. These sources indicate how the temporal resolution of the mapping reconstruction may still underestimate the magnitude of past woodland changes.

Estate plans can also provide a rare insight into the history and ecology of the so-called 'ancient woodland sites'. Defined in Scotland as continuously wooded since c.1750, these sites have been compiled in the Scottish Ancient Woodland Inventory (AWI) using evidence from official historical mapping, namely the Roy map (c.1750) and First Edition OS mapping (c.1860). At present, ancient woodlands are recognised as areas of greater ecological and cultural value that deserve priority for UK woodland conservation. A comparison between the Scottish AWI and the woodland reconstructions in T1 and T2 indicates that the former is largely inaccurate. The amount of 'pseudo-ancient woodland' – of more recent origin than expected in the AWI – is estimated to reach at least 40% of the woodland compiled in the AWI. This discrepancy is discussed in the light of a new assessment of spatial accuracy of the Roy map and First Edition OS maps. In addition, the logistic regression models of past woodland cover can help distinguishing the pseudo-ancient woodland from the probable ancient woodland in the AWI.

Using evidence from estate plans, 41 native woodland sites of different continuity classes were selected for botanical survey. Although ancient woodland sites are likely to exhibit more species supposed to be 'indicators' of ancient woodland, several recent woodland sites are very similar in plant assemblage to those of ancient woodlands. The occurrence of many indicator species of ancient woodland in non-ancient woodland habitats indicates how rapidly these species can establish themselves in recent woodlands, helping to blur the distinction between woodland habitats of different continuities. While critically assessing the current criteria for defining ancient woodland and the applicability of those criteria to woodland conservation, this study suggests that, depending on the connectivity to ancient woodland, environmental conditions and history of woodland, relatively recent plantations (i.e. plantations made after c.1750) could deserve the same recognition as ancient woodland for conservation.


Ion traps are a versatile tool to study nonequilibrium statistical physics, due to the tunability of dissipation and nonlinearity. We propose an experiment with a chain of ions, where dissipation is provided by laser heating and cooling, while nonlinearity is provided by trap anharmonicity and beam shaping. The dynamics are governed by an equation similar to the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation, except that the reactive nature of the coupling leads to qualitatively different behavior. The system has the unusual feature of being both oscillatory and excitable at the same time. The patterns are observable for realistic experimental parameters despite noise from spontaneous emission. Our scheme also allows controllable experiments with noise and quenched disorder.


Tooth periodontium are vital structures and affected by the surrounding environments. Overhang amalgam restoration usually results in fracture of the restoration or deteriorated periodontal health. The aim of this study was to report the prevalence of overhang amalgam restorations and to measure the clinical attachment level and alveolar bone loss in overhang surface with comparison to the control intact surface of the same tooth by using digital panoramic radiography. Materials and methods: Up to 900 digital panoramic radiographs were evaluated for the presence of overhang amalgam, only 80 overhangs filling detected, the clinical attachment level was measured clinically, and the alveolar bone loss was measured radiographically for overhang surface of the tooth and compared with control normal surface of the same tooth. Results: The prevalence of overhang amalgam was 3.2%, more in mandible and in first molars, the alveolar bone loss and clinical attachment level increased with overhang filling (4.313 mm and 3.731 mm respectively) compared to normal surface (1.9 mm and 1.4 mm respectively) and the difference was statistically significant. The alveolar bone loss was higher in male while clinical attachment level was higher in female, but the differences were statistically non-significant. Mandibular teeth had statistically significant higher bone loss and clinical attachment level than maxillary teeth. Conclusions: Clinical and radiographical examinations play an important role in the diagnosis of periodontal problems as well as measurements of clinical attachment level and bone loss associated with overhang filling which should be avoided as much as possible to maintain the periodontal health and prevent any further destruction.


Ovid's deliciously clever and exuberant epic, now in a gorgeous new clothbound edition designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. These delectable and collectable editions are bound in high-quality, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Ovid's sensuous and witty poetry brings together a dazzling array of mythological tales, ingeniously linked by the idea of transformation - often as a result of love or lust - where men and women find themselves magically changed into new and sometimes extraordinary beings. Beginning with the creation of the world and ending with the deification of Augustus, Ovid interweaves many of the best-known myths and legends of Ancient Greece and Rome, including Daedalus and Icarus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Pygmalion, Perseus and Andromeda, and the fall of Troy. Erudite but light-hearted, dramatic yet playful, theMetamorphoses has influenced writers and artists throughout the centuries from Shakespeare and Titian to Picasso and Ted Hughes. Ovid (43BC-18AD) was born at Sulmo (Sulmona) in central Italy. Coming from a wealthy Roman family and seemingly destined for a career in politics, he held minor official posts before leaving public service to write, becoming the most distinguished poet of his time. His works, all published in Penguin Classics, include Amores, a collection of short love poems; Heroides, verse-letters written by mythological heroines to their lovers; Ars Amatoria, a satirical handbook on love; and Metamorphoses, his epic work that has inspired countless writers and artists through the ages. David Raeburn is a lecturer in Classics at Oxford, and has also translated Sophocles' Electra and Other Plays for Penguin Classics. Denis Feeney is Professor of Classics at Princeton.


Imposing economic relationships such as the Regular Ultra Passum (RUP) law improves the statistical efficiency of nonparametric estimators in finite samples. RUP law bears relevance in engineering applications such as power curve estimation in the wind energy industry. Unfortunately, the few estimators known to satisfy the RUP law are based on deterministic assumptions that do not allow noise in the modeling. In most engineering applications, however, data are inevitably noisy, due to equipment calibration, natural variations, or other issues. Thus, we propose an estimator that satisfies the RUP law while also capable of handling noisy data. We use Monte Carlo simulations to show that the proposed estimator outperforms existing deterministic estimators, particularly when the scale of noise is large. We use the proposed method to estimate a power curve considering approximately 13,000 observations of a wind turbine. The results demonstrate that the proposed estimator is well suited for engineering applications with a high degree of noise.


This study simulates the temperature field and temperature stress of concrete face slabs, considering the cold waves that occur during construction as well as the contact friction between the face slabs and the cushion layer. The results show that when a cold wave occurs during construction, the surface and center temperature of the face slabs continually drop with the outside air temperature, with the surface temperature drop being the largest. In addition, the surface and center of face slabs are subjected to tensile stress, with the maximum principal stress on the surface being greater than that on the center. The maximum principal stress of the surface and center occurs at approximately half of the dam height. This study also examines the surface insulation of concrete face slabs. Surface insulation can significantly improve the temperature drop range and the maximum principal stress amplitude caused by the cold wave. A stronger heat preservation results in smaller tensile stress and an increase in the amplitude of face slabs.


This thesis is about the family holiday experiences of the whole family group and its individual members by studying the anticipations before the holiday and the short- and longer-term holiday experiences/recollections after their holiday. This primarily qualitative study links a survey with data triangulation of whole-family interviews. The combination of different methods reflects the holistic and critical research approach within the interpretive research paradigm. It takes a symbolic interactionist perspective which allows a focus on inter-personal relations and forms the basis for a grounded theory methodology (GTM). There is an absence of family tourism research on the experiences of the father, the child, and on group dynamics which has excluded the individual and collective perspectives on the different phases of the holiday. The conceptual framework addresses the gaps identified (as reflected in the research question) by exploring the social experiences and meanings of family holidays over time using gender, generation, and group perspectives. This study is based on a parental survey through schools which was followed by three rounds of whole-family interviews (once before and twice after the holiday) conducted over about one year (2006-2007). The survey with 110 parents provided context and selection of participants for the intensive study of 10 families and their members (20 parents and 20 children). This study resulted in a definition of family holidays based on parental perspectives from the survey and familial perspectives from the interviews which encapsulated notions of togetherness, plurality of families, purpose, change of routine, fun, balance, individual pursuits, compromise, conflict, and length. The iterative research combined with the GTM resulted in a theoretical framework of the main themes on family holidays as governed by family time and own time. Family time encapsulates the time spent together with the immediate and extended family while own time encapsulates freedoms from family commitments to pursue own interests alone or with peers. The relationship between these notions of time leads to the internal family group dynamics of cooperation, compromise, and conflict which are influenced by contextual factors. While family time dominates the Western discourse on family life, it is the inclusion of more individualistic elements in own time that acknowledges a more realistic and sustainable presentation of family holidays. Other results highlight that parents and children bring different purposes on holiday in that parents are more deliberate about social identity formation whereas children seek fun and sociality. The findings also emphasise the undervaluation of the fathers' role as main entertainer of the children. Thus, more debate is needed about the different generational, gendered, and group roles and understandings on holiday. Family holidays, then, have multiple meanings and purposes reflecting the multivocality of its members. A more holistic and critical approach in thinking and research is needed to allow for a homeostasis between social identities based on collective pursuits and on more individual interests.


The aim of the present document is to present the author's proposals on the reform of the governance model from a holistic and functional perspective. The first task when designing a system of governance should be to identify the function that it is to fulfil, which leads on to the question of exactly why universities are meant to be autonomous. For the good of society, universities as institutions have to guarantee that the knowledge they generate and transmit does not favour the interests of any particular group. They provide a public service that must act with autonomy. This autonomy must include all decisionmaking mechanisms, the whole system of governance, so that the public service of higher education and research can be rendered as efficiently as possible and without submitting to the influence of political, economic or religious interests. On the basis of the conclusions of the study University Autonomy in Europe II. The Scorecard and the current situation of the university, research and innovation system, this study proposes a well-defined set of governance elements that cover all the dimensions of university autonomy. The study makes explicit reference to the university system in Catalonia but its conclusions and argumentation are of more general applicability. Read on Google Books


We propose a novel learning-based framework for image reconstruction particularly designed for training without ground truth data, which has three major building blocks: energy-based learning, a patch-based Wasserstein loss functional, and shared prior learning. In energy-based learning, the parameters of an energy functional composed of a learned data fidelity term and a data-driven regularizer are computed in a mean-field optimal control problem. In the absence of ground truth data, we change the loss functional to a patch-based Wasserstein functional, in which local statistics of the output images are compared to uncorrupted reference patches. Finally, in shared prior learning, both aforementioned optimal control problems are optimized simultaneously with shared learned parameters of the regularizer to further enhance unsupervised image reconstruction. We derive several time discretization schemes of the gradient flow and verify their consistency in terms of Mosco convergence. In numerous numerical experiments, we demonstrate that the proposed method generates state-of-the-art results for various image reconstruction applications--even if no ground truth images are available for training.


The present paper describes the development of the languagesindanger.eu interactive website as an example of including multimedia language resources to disseminate knowledge and create educational material on less-resourced languages. The website is a product of INNET (Innovative networking in infrastructure for endangered languages), European FP7 project. Its main functions can be summarized as related to the three following areas: (1) raising students' awareness of language endangerment and arouse their interest in linguistic diversity, language maintenance and language documentation; (2) informing both students and teachers about these topics and show ways how they can enlarge their knowledge further with a special emphasis on information about language archives; (3) helping teachers include these topics into their classes. The website has been localized into five language versions with the intention to be accessible to both scientific and non-scientific communities such as (primarily) secondary school teachers and students, beginning university students of linguistics, journalists, the interested public, and also members of speech communities who speak minority languages.


This Working Paper presents the different methodologies currently used to construct a volume index of capital services and analyzes the effects of methodological changes on capital services and total factor productivity estimates for Belgium over the period 1970-2004. The measurement of capital services is realized in two steps. First, productive capital stocks have to be estimated for each type of asset. Two methodologies are generally used: the geometric and the hyperbolic profile. Secondly, these stocks are aggregated, using the user costs of capital (ex-ante or ex-post approach) as weights to derive an overall index. For the economy as a whole and the entire period, under an ex-post approach, the volume indices of capital services estimated with a hyperbolic age-efficiency profile grow at a higher rate than the indices estimated with a geometric profile. This general conclusion is, however, not observed in every sector. Under an ex-ante approach, the different volume indices are quite similar for the whole economy, even if the indices grow generally at a slightly higher rate in the case of a geometric pattern. A higher growth rate of the volume indices generates a higher capital contribution and, consequently, a lower tfp contribution. Over long periods of time, the different tfp estimates are relatively similar. Over shorter periods, the different methodologies generate more significant variations in the tfp contribution.


Few issues are as mired in rhetoric and controversy as affirmative action. This is certainly no less true now as when Ronald J. Fiscus's The Constitutional Logic of Affirmative Action was first published in 1992. The controversy has, perhaps, become more charged over the past few years. With this compelling and rigorously reasoned argument for a constitutional rationale of affirmative action, Fiscus clarifies the moral and legal ramifications of this complex subject and presents an important view in the context of the ongoing debate.

Beginning with a distinction drawn between principles of compensatory and distributive justice, Fiscus argues that the former, although often the basis for judgments made in individual discrimination cases, cannot sufficiently justify broad programs of affirmative action. Only a theory of distributive justice, one that assumes minorities have a right to what they would have gained proportionally in a nonracist society, can persuasively provide that justification. On this basis, the author argues in favor of proportional racial quotas—and challenges the charge of "reverse discrimination" raised in protest in the name of the "innocent victims" of affirmative action—as an action necessary to approach the goals of fairness and equality.

The Constitutional Logic of Affirmative Action focuses on Supreme Court affirmative action rulings from Bakke (1976) to Croson (1989) and includes an epilogue by editor Stephen L. Wasby that considers developments through 1995. General readers concerned with racial justice, affirmative action, and public policy, as well as legal specialists and constitutional scholars will find Fiscus's argument passionate, balanced, and persuasive.


"A book that shakes philosophy of science to its roots. Laudan both destroys and creates. With detailed, scathing criticisms, he attacks the 'pregnant confusions' in extant philosophies of science. The progress they espouse derives from strictly empirical criteria, he complains, and this clashes with historical evidence. Accordingly, Laudan constructs a remedy from historical examples that involves nothing less than the redefinition of scientific rationality and progress ...Surprisingly, after this reshuffling, science still looks like a noble-and progressive-enterprise ...The glory of Laudan's system is that it preserves scientific rationality and progress in the presence of social influence. We can admit extra-scientific influences without lapsing into complete relativism...a must for both observers and practitioners of science." (Physics Today). "A critique and substantial revision of the historic theories of scientific rationality and progress (Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos, Feyerabend, etc.). Laudan focuses on contextual problem solving effectiveness (carefully defined) as a criterion for progress, and expands the notion of 'paradigm' to a 'research tradition,' thus providing a meta-empirical basis for the commensurability of competing theories. From this perspective, Laudan suggests revised programs for history and philosophy of science, the history of ideas, and the sociology of science. A superb work, closely argued, clearly written, and extensively annotated, this book will become a widely required text in intermediate courses." (Choice).


Competitiveness is highly important in automotive industry. Customers' satisfaction is decisive and that has turned out in high vehicle customization. Customization implies for example that a vehicle model can include several types of engines; inferring in high engine model variety on the assembly systems. Production lines balancing and ergonomic factors within assembly operations usually trigger unbalances on the logistics resources utilization. A proper feeding policy selection can palliate the impact of the unbalances generated by the assembly operations, improve the performance of the system and reduce cost. Selection among different policies is often done by following qualitative criteria which are influenced by product structure, operational constraints, company-specific practices and tradition. This project consists of the development of a decision support system for feeding policy selection in production settings. This system will automatically select the feeding policy at a single component level and evaluate the impact brought by this decision when interacting with the production setting.


Exotic maize (Zea mays L.) germplasm, shown to be useful for developing improved temperate cultivars, has remained little used partly because of many inherent shortcomings. Five F2 populations, developed from South American and U.S. germplasm, were used to detect favorable factors of exotic origin at quantitative trait loci (QTL) with isozymes and RFLPs. A number of traits of agronomic importance, including grain yield, were measured on F2 individuals and/or F3 families grown in several environments. Many QTLs, mostly with small effects, were identified. Major QTLs for grain yield and number of ears per plant were located on chromosomes 3 and 6. Stability of QTLs across environments was high. Favorable alleles of exotic origin were found at QTLs for several traits including grain yield and number of ears per plant. Most of these alleles also showed undesirable effects on other traits, however. Nevertheless, the superiority of exotic alleles over adapted alleles was demonstrated clearly at a few QTLs, re-affirming the usefulness of exotic germplasm for temperate maize breeding.


BACKGROUND: Strength assessments are used to monitor physical progression and evaluate the impact of training interventions, which is extremely valuable for both athletic performance and clinical populations. For results to be useful, measurements must be relevant, reliable and show sensitivity to change.

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to establish the practicality of isometric force assessment at two different knee-joint angles; 90° (ISO90) and 120° (ISO120). More specifically, to address the familiarisation effects, reproducibility and sensitivity of measurements associated with each method of assessment, and the discrepancy in force output when altering the angle at the knee joint.

METHODS: Thirty-five strength trained males attended three sessions; familiarisation (T1), test (T2) and retest (T3), separated by 7 days. During each session, ISO90 and ISO120 was assessed using an incline leg press device.

RESULTS: Force output was similar during T1, T2 and T3 for ISO90 and ISO120, separately (p > 0.05). Measurements taken from both assessment methods demonstrated good reproducibility (ICC = 0.96, CV < 5%) and showed sufficient sensitivity to detect changes in performance. Force output was greater during ISO120 (5153 ± 1446 N) versus ISO90 (2660 ± 597 N, p < 0.001) but the magnitude of the difference in force output showed great intrasubject variability.

CONCLUSION: Isometric assessment performed on a leg press device requires minimal habituation to demonstrate a good degree of reproducibility and sensitivity to detect small changes in performance. It is a simple and practical method to evaluate strength at different joint angles, which may prove useful in strength diagnosis in performance and clinical contexts.


The euro-area crisis, which nearly destroyed Europe's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 2011-12, was a result of perverse incentives and inadequate institutions. The perverse incentives included excessive implicit national guarantees of domestic banks, and a lack of clarity on what would happen in case of sovereign debt distress, which was interpreted as an implicit guarantee of euro-area sovereigns by each other. Correspondingly, Europe had no institutions that could credibly declare a bank to be failing or likely to fail, manage a bank resolution process, or manage a sovereign debt restructuring. As a consequence, in the decade before the crisis, most countries' banking systems accumulated excessive risk on their balance sheets, and several member states also became overindebted. The sequence of crisis and policy responses after mid-2007 was one of gradual, and generally very slow, recognition of the unsustainability of the euro-area policy framework. The bank-sovereign vicious circle, which had not been specifically identified as a potential contagion mechanism before the crisis, was first observed in 2009 and became widely acknowledged in the course of 2011 and early 2012. This vicious circle is now accepted by most observers as the central driver of the crisis during its most acute phase in 2011-12. The policy response has developed in accordance with this evolving analysis. The most impactful initiative has been the initiation of a banking union in mid-2012, but this remains incomplete and needs strengthening. While many features of the euro-area experience are unique, the role of incentives and the gradual introduction of market discipline into the policy framework hold useful lessons for other jurisdictions.


The gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori infects more than half of the population worldwide. H. pylori manage to establish persistent infection, which would be life-long if not treated. In order to establish such an infection, this pathogen has to deal with the host immune system. H. pylori has certain characteristics which make the bacteria less announced to the host immune system. Additionally, for remaining in the harsh and acidic environment of the stomach with peristaltic movements and a high frequency of turnover of epithelial cells, H. pylori has developed different binding modes to structures present both in the mucus and on the surface of gastric cells and also to extracellular matrix proteins. Evidently, adhesion has a determinant role for a successful colonization by H. pylori. It has been shown that a small fraction of the H. pylori infection is in intimate contact and attached to the host epithelium. Despite its small proportion, this group maintains the persistency of infection. As there is no suitable in vitro system to mimic the human stomach for studies of H. pylori infection, we have developed the In Vitro Explant Culture technique (IVEC). By using this model we could show that H. pylori use the Lewis b blood group antigen to bind to the host gastric mucosa, during experimental conditions most similar to the in vivo situation. Furthermore, we could show that the host tissue responses to the bacterial attachment by expression of Interleukin 8 (IL- ), which will guide the inflammatory processes. Interestingly, by inhibition of bacterial adhesion through receptor competition i.e., by use of soluble Lewis b antigen, IL-8 production was hampered in the IVEC system, which further validates the presence of a tight relation between bacterial adhesion and induction of host immune responses. One of the inflammation signaling cursors in vivo is the upregulated sialylated Lewis x (sLex) antigen, an inflammation associated carbohydrate structure well established as a binding site for the selectin family of adhesion molecules. We could show that during chronic gastric inflammation, which is actually caused by the persistent H. pylori infection, the bacterial cells adapt their binding mode, and preferentially bind to sLex, which will provide an even more intimate contact with the host cells. This interaction is mediated by SabA, the H. pylori adhesin for sialylated oligosaccharides/glycoconjugates. By employing red blood cells as a model we could further demonstrate that SabA is identical to the "established" H. pylori hemagglutinin. We could also show that SabA binds to sialylated glycolipids (gangliosides) rather than glycoproteins on cell surfaces. Our result also revealed that SabA also binds to and activates human neutrophils. Such effect was unrelated to BabA and the H. pylori Neutrophil Activating Protein (HP- AP), which were not directly involved in the activation of neutrophils. Furthermore, phagocytosis of bacteria by neutrophils was demonstrated to be mainly dependent on presence of SabA. Interestingly, HP-NAP showed a possible role in guiding the bacterial adhesion during conditions of limited sialylation, i.e. equivalent to mild gastritis, when the tissue would be less inflamed and sialylated. In conclusion, H. pylori adhesion causes host tissue inflammation, then the bacteria will adapt to the new condition and bind to epithelial cells in a tighter mode by synergistic activities of BabA and SabA. Additionally, SabA bind to and activate human neutrophils, which will exacerbate inflammation responses and cause damage to host tissue. Thus, BabA and SabA are potential candidates to be targeted for therapeutic strategies against H. pylori and gastric disease.


The analysis of data that captures volcanic eruptions and their atmospheric aftermath plays an important role for domain experts to gain a deeper understanding of the volcanic eruption and their consequences for atmosphere, climate and air traffic. Thereby, one major challenge is to extract and combine the essential information, which is spread over various, mostly sparse data sources. This requires a careful integration of each data set with its strength and limitations. The sparse, but more reliable measurement data is mainly used to calibrate the more dense simulation data. This work combines a collection of visualization approaches into an exploitative framework. The goal is to support the domain experts to build a complete picture of the situation. But it is also important to understand the individual data sources, the wealth of their information and the quality of the simulation results. All presented methods are designed for direct interaction with the data from different perspectives rather than the sole generation of some final images.


PURPOSE
Polymorphisms in factor H (fH), an inhibitor of the alternative pathway (AP) of complement activation, are associated with increased risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The authors investigated the therapeutic use of a novel recombinant form of fH, CR2-fH, which is targeted to sites of complement activation, in mouse choroidal neovascularization (CNV). CR2-fH consists of the N terminus of mouse fH, which contains the AP-inhibitory domain, linked to a complement receptor 2 (CR2) targeting fragment that binds complement activation products.

METHODS
Laser-induced CNV was analyzed in factor-B-deficient mice or in mice treated with CR2-fH, soluble CR2 (targeting domain), or PBS. CNV progression was analyzed by molecular, histologic, and electrophysiological readouts.

RESULTS
Intravenously administered CR2-fH reduced CNV size, preserved retina function, and abrogated the injury-associated expression of C3 and VEGF mRNA. CR2 and PBS treatment was without effect. In therapeutically relevant paradigms involving delayed treatment after injury, CR2-fH was effective in reducing CNV and provided approximately 60% of the amount of protection of that seen in factor B-deficient mice that lacked functional AP. After intravenous injection, CR2-fH localized to sites of C3 deposition in RPE-choroid.

CONCLUSIONS
Specific inhibition of the AP reduces angiogenesis in mouse CNV. Of note, intravenous injection of C3d-targeted CR2-fH is protective even though endogenous fH is present in serum at a higher relative concentration, and serum fH contains native C3d and cell surface binding domains that target it to cell surfaces. The most common AMD-associated variant of fH resides within a native cell-binding region of fH (Tyr402His). These data may open new avenues for AMD treatment strategies.


Background and Objective The increasing burden of multiple drug resistant bacteria underscores the need to find innovative therapeutics for bacterial infection in clinical situations. Our team has shown that blue light is antimicrobial and has the potential to speed wound repair 1,2. To advance our line of work, we utilized a breakthrough technology, the CareWear wound patch, emitting blue 450 nm light, to treat P. acnes and MRSA in vitro. Methods Bacteria were grown in their respective media aerobicallyanaerobically at 37C until they reached logarithmic growth phase. Concentrations of 1x106 colony forming units (CFU) mL of Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) and methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were plated and bacteria assigned to two groups; control and treated. Various irradiation protocols (average irradiance of 2, 3.5 and 4.5 mWcm2 in continuous wave mode and 2 or 3.5 mWcm2 in pulsed modes; and fluences ranging from 5  60 Jcm2) were applied after which plates were incubated at 37C, colonies photographed, counted and percent survival computed. Results CareWear450 nm light patches, effectively suppressed the growth of P. acnes and MRSA at low levels of optical irradiance and fluence when applied in specific pulsed modes and treatment sequences. Levels as low as 5 Jcm2 demonstrated 100% bacterial kill rates in vitro. This finding is a significant improvement over similar continuous wave blue light devices, which require energy levels greater than 60 Jcm2 to achieve comparable results. Moreover, it shows that, for maximum antimicrobial effect, it is not necessary to irradiate at the relatively high energy densities of 50  60 Jcm2 or higher as reported in our previous studies and those of others. Conclusion Blue light inactivates a host of bacteria, including the notoriously deadly MRSA and other drug-resistant bacteria. Our results show that bacterial clearance is achievable at much lower energy fluences using the new technology and protocol, which is not only more effective but naturally safer for patients and others.


Dr Juhan Vilms (1893–1952) was a remarkable person in pre-war Estonian public and political life, but his contribution has been modestly discussed until today. A practicing physician in Tallinn, he was also active in Estonian abstinence and eugenics movements, and held a high position in the Estonian sports administration. For a short period he was a member of the Estonian Parliament Riigikogu for the Labour Party. Vilms can be remembered by his rather idiosyncratic statements. Already in 1920 he published a book the main argument of which was to introduce polygamy in Estonia (to increase the population in a situation where women were outnumbering men in the post-war years). In the 1930s Vilms advocated fascism and corporatism in his writings. Vilms was motivated to support such viewpoints owing to his eugenic convictions. His main concern was pronatalism—Vilms dreamed of increasing the number of Estonians from one million to at least two. As numerous factors were influencing the demographic situation in the country, Vilms also became involved in many issues from agricultural politics to medical ethics. Despite of being ridiculed, Vilms definitely contributed to the Estonian public health policy. The so-called Congresses of National Breeding organised with his participation in 1927 and 1935 caused the Estonian state to concentrate on important topics connected to public health and demographic improvement. In 1943 Vilms escaped the Nazis and left Estonia for Finland. He died in Argentina.


Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites have been providing various types of IRS images wide-field and high repeat multi-spectral images; moderate resolution multi-spectral data; high resolution panchromatic and multi-spectral image products; panchromatic stereo images; Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data; ocean colour images, scatterometer data and many others. The data are received at Indian station and also at polar receiving stations data is processed and disseminated from the processing centre at Hyderabad. Within India, IRS images are priced low and are widely used; across the world the use of IRS images are through cooperative arrangements. The average turn-around for moderate- or high-resolution images is 7-10 days. A Remote Sensing Data Policy (RSDP) defines the scheme for IRS data dissemination to users in India. Globally EO business in NewSpace era have not only been commercial but have gone e-image portals bringing high efficiency using advanced image processing and internet technologies. Spurred by US DigitalGlobe and WorldView, French SPOT, European Sentinel, other commercial systems like Rapideye, Planet etc, global EO is now focussed on high-demand geospatial markets and providing high resolution panchromatic/multi-spectral images with very high cadence/frequency of global coverage AND real-time image availability. The trend is for IMAGES ANYTIME ANYWHERE with real-time geo-rectification, seaming, organising and making available images as they stream or within 24-48 hours of image acquisition. Google offers online Landsat image archive from 1980 onwards for immediate access. These global developments in EO imaging and dissemination can be "disrupting to IRS" even as Indian EO is making significant shifts by continued space segment deployments strengthening of ground segment and online Bhuvan geoportal - all for "easier access" by users. The characters of NewSpace EO developments have not been fully addressed in the IRS environment and fragmented nature of value generation is becoming glaringly apparent. In a highly subsidised environment and lack of competitive business models, IRS could easily slip-down to an "average national endeavour" and loose impact in the global NewSpace environment. We assess markets of traditionally strong national programmes - like IRS that will need re-definition to be able to compete and be relevant in the NewSpace era. The paper assesses the evolutionary trends and market opportunities for IRS, maintaining "leadership" in EO, need for win-win relation between government and Indian industry, deregulation of IRS data access for energising industry and even licensing private Indian EO systems. This paper presents a strategic analysis of NewSpace implications for IRS.


As online information is increasingly tailored, or "personalised", to the user, it has been praised by some as a pragmatic response to information overload, while criticised by others as creating an echo chamber that threatens deliberative democracy. The unsettling question is whether the latest wave of innovation in online content personalisation technologies has shifted decision-making power from humans to computers. The paper argues that a thorough understanding of personalisation technologies is necessary to critically evaluate their normative effect and impact on social values. It reflects on the differences between regulation by code and regulation by law, exploring how code affects individual and social autonomies, and considering whether meta-rules regulating code are appropriate. The aim of this paper is to detail the constitutive features of the digital world and elucidate how these create norms that regulate the Internet.


Abstract Studies of mining and urbanisation have been primarily conducted independently of one another, with limited consideration of the inter-linkages between the two. This analysis seeks to fill this gap by exploring the links between mining and urbanisation in a Ghanaian context. Ghana is an interesting case as it is both endowed with significant mineral wealth and is highly urbanised, with a long history of urban settlement compared to most of sub-Saharan Africa. Mining and urbanisation are examined in four historical phases: pre-colonial; colonial; independence to the early 1980s; and from the early 1980s onward, before exploring the growth trends and employment characteristics of the large-scale and small-scale mining sectors, following which different types of urban mining settlements are discussed. The article shows that the fortunes of mining and the growth of urban settlements are interconnected but concludes that the relationship between the two is not one of simple cause and effect. The complex nature of the linkages between mining and urbanisation means that they require more attention than they have been afforded hitherto.


Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the primary component of the outer membrane of Gram‐negative bacteria. LPS aids in protecting bacterial cells, and also defines the unique serogroups used to classify bacteria. Additionally, LPS is an endotoxin and the primary stimulator of innate immune cells in mammals, making it an ideal candidate for early detection of pathogens. However, the majority of methods for detection of LPS focus on detection of the endotoxic component of the molecule, lipid A. Since lipid A is largely conserved among bacterial species and serogroups, these detection approaches are highly nonspe‐ cific. Thus, the importance of identifying the O‐polysaccharide antigenic portion of LPS, which confers serogroup specificity, has received a great deal of attention in recent years. However, methods that are highly selective to the O‐antigens are typically less sensitive than those that target the endotoxin. Here we present a history and comparison of the sensitivity of these methods and their value for detecting bacteria in a variety of different sample types.


Section 108 of the Copyright Act lays out a series of specific protections for reproduction and distribution of copyrighted works by libraries and archives. Disagreement has always been associated with Section 108 as it strikes a balance between the needs of libraries and the market prerogatives of copyright holders, especially publishers. It is also part of a larger balance in the Copyright Act between specific ex-ceptions and flexible users' rights embodied in Section 107, which cov-ers fair use. In the summer of 2016, the Copyright Office announced it was putting the finishing touches on a substantial rewrite of Section 108. To inform discussion of Section 108 revision, this article explores the history of Section 108 and of proposed Section 108 revisions, argu-ing that Section 108 has served libraries well in its current form, and that "reform" in the current political climate is unlikely to yield any worthwhile improvements to the statute. Instead, history shows that any revision process is likely to be a vehicle for restricting the activi-ties of libraries and raising the cost of access to information. Libraries should maintain the position that has guided them for more than half a century: vigilant defense of fair use and skepticism of negotiated specific exceptions. As this piece went to press, the Copyright Office re-leased its draft rewrite of the law, and a brief appendix reflects on how the draft stands up to the concerns we raise.


BACKGROUND
The current recommended control strategy for schistosomiasis is annual treatment using 40 mg/kg of praziquantel. However, praziquantel is only effective on adult worms and giving a second dose may increase its efficacy. We assessed the effect of one versus two doses of praziquantel on cure rate and re-infection with Schistosoma mansoni in a high endemic community along Lake Victoria, Uganda.

METHODOLOGY
To investigate the effect of the two regimens, 395 infected people were randomised into two groups; one received a single standard dose of praziquantel (Distocide® 600 mg, Shin Poong Pharmaceuticals, Seoul, Republic of Korea), 40mg/kg body weight, while the other group received a second dose 2 weeks later. Cure rate and infection intensity were assessed 9 weeks after the first treatment using standard parasitological procedures. Re-infection levels were monitored 8 and 24 months after treatment.

RESULTS
Those who received two doses were more likely to be cured (69.7%) compared to those who received a single dose (47.9%) (χ(2) = 18.5, p < 0.001). Geometric mean intensity (GMI) of infection at 9 weeks (eggs per gram of faeces [epg]) was 12.0 epg (CI95: 8.9-16.1) for individuals who received 2 doses and 22.1 epg (CI95: 16.9-28.8) for those in the single dose arm. Eight months after treatment, prevalence of re-infection for individuals in the double dose arm (61.6%, CI95: 50.2-73.1) was not significantly different from that of those in a single dose arm (68.3%, CI95: 59.9-76.8). The difference in GMI of re-infection for individuals in the single dose arm (33.8 epg, CI95: 23.2-49.3) and those in the double dose arm (34.5 epg, CI95: 24.7-48.1) was not significant. Twenty four months after treatment, prevalence of re-infection was not significantly different. The difference in GMI of re-infection for those in the single dose arm (57.5 epg, CI95: 33.9-97.5) and those in the double dose arm (42.2 epg, CI95: 29.9-59.6) was also insignificant.

CONCLUSION
Our results suggest that a second dose of praziquantel given 2 weeks after the first dose improves cure rate and reduces S. mansoni infection intensity. However, there is no added advantage on reduction of S. mansoni re-infection by administering two doses of praziquantel. CLINICAL TRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT00215267.


In today's data-driven world, professionals need to know how to express themselves in the language of graphics effectively and eloquently. Yet information graphics is rarely taught in schools or is the focus of on-the-job training. Now, for the first time, Dona M. Wong, a student of the information graphics pioneer Edward Tufte, makes this material available for all of us. In this book, you will learn: * to choose the best chart that fits your data; * the most effective way to communicate with decision makers when you have five minutes of their time; * how to chart currency fluctuations that affect global business; * how to use color effectively; * how to make a graphic "colorful" even if only black and white are available. The book is organized in a series of mini-workshops backed up with illustrated examples, so not only will you learn what works and what doesn't but also you can see the dos and don'ts for yourself. This is an invaluable reference work for students and professional in all fields.


Most of the world's population that derives their livelihoods or part of their livelihoods from forests are out of the information loop. Exclusion of public users of natural resources from access to scientific research results is not an oversight; it is a systemic problem that has costly ramifications for conservation and development. Results of a survey of 268 researchers from 29 countries indicate that institutional incentives support the linear, top‐down communication of results through peer‐reviewed journal articles, which often guarantees positive performance measurement. While the largest percentage of respondents (34%) ranked scientists as the most important audience for their work, only 15 percent of respondents considered peer‐reviewed journals effective in promoting conservation and/or development. Respondents perceived that local initiatives (27%) and training (16%) were likely to lead to success in conservation and development; but few scientists invest in these activities. Engagement with the media (5%), production of training and educational materials (4%) and popular publications (5%) as outlets for scientific findings was perceived as inconsequential (<14%) in measuring scientific performance. Less than 3 percent of respondents ranked corporate actors as an important audience for their work. To ensure science is shared with those who need it, a shift in incentive structures is needed that rewards actual impact rather than only 'high‐impact' journals. Widely used approaches and theoretical underpinnings from the social sciences, which underlie popular education and communication for social change, could enhance communication by linking knowledge and action in conservation biology.


As the aging population continues to increase, so does the need for a text specific to the specialized care of the elderly patient as it applies to the physical therapist assistant student, faculty, and clinician."Geriatric Rehabilitation: A Textbook for the Physical Therapist Assistant", recognizes the growing role of the PTA in a variety of heath care settings from acute to home to long-term care settings, to name a few.Inside "Geriatric Rehabilitation", Dr. Jennifer Bottomley, along with her contributors, focuses on the clinically relevant assessment, treatment, and management of the geriatric population. Pathological manifestations commonly seen in the elderly patient are addressed from a systems perspective, as well as a focus on what is seen clinically and how it affects function.Each pathological area covered includes: screening, assessment, and evaluation; treatment prescription; goal setting; modification of treatment; anticipated outcomes; and, psychosocial, pharmacological, and nutritional elements.Some pathological conditions covered include: cardiovascular disease; cancer; arthritis; alzheimer's disease; and, aging with life-long disabilities.The organization and presentation of the practical, hands-on components of interventions, assessments, and decision-making skills make this a go-to text for the PTA to administer comprehensive geriatric care at each point along the continuum of care. Some of the features inside include: emphasis on treatment interventions - techniques, tips, and options; focus on how assessment tools and treatments are applied and modified to benefit the geriatric population and what the expected outcomes are; clear and outlined chapter objectives; user-friendly summary tables in the nutritional and pharmacology chapters; pearls that highlight important chapter information; and, appendices and study aids."Geriatric Rehabilitation: A Textbook for the Physical Therapist Assistant" answers the call for a text that focuses on the management of geriatric patients across the spectrum of care for the PTA, from students to those practicing in geriatric populations.


In order to achieve larger spans of timber arch bridges, glulam massive timber sections must be spliced on-site by moment resisting and rotationally stiff joints. In this paper, a novel timber splice connection utilizing long threaded rods and grout-filled couplers is presented. Flexural characteristics of the splice joint were investigated by full-scale experimental tests and 3D finite element models. An analytical model is proposed for determining the moment capacity and the rotational stiffness of the splice connection. The experimentally measured efficiency of the splice connection with regard to moment capacity and rotational stiffness was 69% and 66%, respectively. 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


In 2004 the European Union is due to incorporate 10 new members, mostly from theCentral and Eastern European Countries (CECs). Trade between the EU and CECs currently falls well short of that between EU countries, and if we assume this pattern reflects both tariffs and a resource cost due to regulatory differences, then 1997 trade patterns would imply such costs are 7-15% on trade between the EU and CECs. Elimination/harmonisation of remaining tariffs is likely to bring small welfare gains to new entrants. By contrast entry to the Single Market looks far more significant: after both tariff union and entry to the Single Market total trade volumes between the EU and CECs could rise by 50-100% (much more in some commodities), while welfare gains in the CECs could be of the order of 11.5-20%, larger than the previous two studies have suggested. Welfare gains within the EU are around 0.4% of GDP, with all regions gaining but Germany gaining most. Gains are greater where capital is fully mobile.


Professor Elfyn Richards enjoyed a long and unusually notable career which ranged over engineering, education, and public policy development. The scope of his impact was international and, as the Honorary Fellow award by the Society proclaims, of particular importance in the United States. Toward the end of his career he made himself available to work with the Ocean Engineering Department at Florida Atlantic University. That interaction was to have a profound impact on the program and its subsequent success in a number of areas. This paper shares the highlights of Professor Richards' collaboration with the department and discusses the benefits which were so dependent on the unique qualities of his character.


Measurements of the near-Sun solar wind by the Parker Solar Probe have revealed the presence of large numbers of discrete Alfvénic impulses with an anti-sunward sense of propagation. These are similar to those previously observed near 1 au, in high speed streams over the Sun's poles and at 60 solar radii. At 35 solar radii, however, they are typically shorter and sharper than seen elsewhere. In addition, these spikes occur in "patches" and there are also clear periods within the same stream when they do not occur; the timescale of these patches might be related to the rate at which the spacecraft magnetic footpoint tracks across the coronal hole from which the plasma originated. While the velocity fluctuations associated with these spikes are typically under 100 km s−1, due to the rather low Alfvén speeds in the streams observed by the spacecraft to date, these are still associated with large angular deflections of the magnetic field—and these deflections are not isotropic. These deflections do not appear to be related to the recently reported large-scale, pro-rotation solar wind flow. Estimates of the size and shape of the spikes reveal high aspect ratio flow-aligned structures with a transverse scale of ≈104 km. These events might be signatures of near-Sun impulsive reconnection events.


Transition management has become an important topic in scientific research on sustainable development over the last decade. A recurring question is whether, and if so how, transitions towards sustainability can be governed. In this paper we address this question by theoretically comparing transition management theory with a number of related theories on governing societal change, such as multi-actor collaboration, network governance, policy agenda setting and adaptive management. We illustrate the different approaches by analysing the Dutch transition case of the greenhouse as a source of energy from different theoretical perspectives. We conclude that these theories reveal additional and more varied leadership mechanisms and steering options than the overarching approach of transition management alone. Therefore, we suggest an approach of theoretical multiplicity, arguing that multiple theories need to be applied simultaneously for dealing with the complex societal sustainability issues.


In the process of architectural expression, the idea delineated in the mind by the architectural expression tools should have qualities rendering its implementation feasible in terms of the proportions, volumetric properties, and spatial relations and so forth. The weakness and slack in delineation are one of the barriers to the mind's creative stream. The university students should know the methods of rapid, easy, correct and eventually systematic offering of the ideas so that they can be able to bring about innovations and creativities in their sketches and plans. This helps them confidently and peacefully deal with the plan's idea and its perfection in the process of architectural designing. The present study seeks to empower the architects in creating a suitable pattern for responding to the power of imagination and improving the designing process in the instructional works and even in their daily professional tasks. The study population of the present research paper included the architectural students in the lesson "architectural expression 2". The study sample volume consisted of two 54-individual groups one from the country's mother university as the control group and the other from the country's intermediate universities as the test group. The study method of the present research paper is semi-experimental because the independent variable is manipulated in the present study and, at the same time, there is a control group. The information-gathering method in the area of architectural perception and expression is a reference to the credible library sources the scientific part of which is presented to the students. The test and the evidence groups' students are examined in two stages in the course of the semester. The results obtained from the present study can corroborate a novel method of architectural instruction with an emphasis on the theory of rapid designing of architectural imagination following which an appropriate pattern would be offered for enhancing the qualitative level of architectural designing instruction.


In this paper we simulate the film blowing process using a model developed to study crystallization in polymers (see Rao (1999), Rao and Rajagopal (2000b)). The framework was developed to generate mathematical models in a consistent manner that are capable of simulating the crystallization process in polymers. During crystallization the polymer transitions from a fluid like state to a solid like state. This transformation usually takes place while the polymer undergoes simultaneous cooling and deformation, as in film blowing. Specific models are generated by choosing forms for the internal energy, entropy and the rate of dissipation. The second law of thermodynamics along with the assumption of maximization of dissipation is used to determine constitutive forms for the stress tensor and the rate of crystallization. The polymer melt is modeled as a rate type viscoelastic fluid and the crystalline solid polymer is modeled as an anisotropic elastic solid. The mixture region, where in the material transitions from a melt to a semi-crystalline solid, is modeled as a mixture of a viscoelastic fluid and an elastic solid. The anisotropy of the crystalline phase and consequently that of the final solid depends on the deformation in the melt during crystallization, a fact that has been known for a long time and has been exploited in polymer processing. The film blowing process is simulated using a generalized Maxwell model for the melt and an anisotropic elastic solid for the crystalline phase. The results of the simulation agree qualitatively with experimental observations and the methodology described provides a framework in which the film blowing problem can be analyzed.


South African higher education institutions are the largest producers of research output on the African continent. Given this status, South African researchers have a moral obligation to share their research output with the rest of the continent via a medium that minimizes challenges of access; open scholarship is that medium. The majority of South African higher education libraries provide an open access publishing service. However, in most of these cases this service is via engagement with the green open access route, that is, institutional repositories (IR). Some of the libraries have piloted and adopted gold open access services such as publishing of "diamond" gold open access journals and supporting article processing charges. The experiment with publishing open monographs is a new venture. This venture must be viewed against the backdrop of the need for open educational resources (OERs). OER is an area that is very much in a fledgling stage and is gaining traction, albeit, at a slow pace. The growth of IRs, the growth in support for gold open access including the library acting as a publisher, the experimentation with open monographs, and OERs are all shaping South Africa's scholarly publishing roadmap.


Ground motion time series recorded at stations separated by up to about 50 km show a frequency-dependent spatial coherency structure, and the corresponding ground motion intensity measures are found to be correlated. As omitting this correlation can result in underestimation of seismic losses in risk analysis, it is critical to quantify the spatial correlation structure for ground motion Fourier spectra estimated at different sites during a single event within a region. Toward this goal, we have developed an empirical frequency-dependent spatial correlation model for the within-event residuals of effective Fourier amplitude spectra from the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER) Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) West2 database. The correlation model shows slower decrease of the spatial correlation with distance at lower frequencies compared with higher frequencies, in agreement with the underlying ground motion data, and no significant dependence on the magnitude of the earthquakes is observed. We use this empirical model to incorporate frequency-dependent spatial correlation into a hybrid deterministic-stochastic broadband ground motion generation module, which successfully generates synthetic time series for seven western US earthquakes with frequency-dependent spatial correlation that closely mimics that of the empirical model. Furthermore, the method also significantly improves the correlation for spectral accelerations, cumulative absolute velocities, and Arias intensities, compared with that derived from the original broadband module.


Our contribution concerns a phase in the history of the building that gives the University its name. When Ruskin came to Venice in 1845 he was horrified by the decayed state of the palaces on the Grand Canal, and by the drastic restorations in progress. In recording their features in measurements, drawings and daguerreotypes, Ca' Foscari took priority, and his studies of its traceries constitute a unique witness. This work also helped generate new ideas on the role of shadow in architectural aesthetic, and on the characteristics of Gothic, which were to bear fruit in The Seven Lamps and The Stones of Venice. In his late guide to the city, St Mark's Rest, Ruskin addressed «the few travellers who still care for her monuments» and offered the Venetian Republic's laws regulating commerce as a model for modern England. Whether or not he knew of the founding of a commercial studies institute at Ca' Foscari in 1868, he would certainly have hoped that it would teach principles of fair and just trading, as well as of respectful tourism.


The increasing use of low voltage portable devices and growing requirements of functionalities embedded into such devices, efficient power management techniques are needed for longer battery life. The efficiency of battery-operated portable applications can be improved by increasing the efficiency of power amplifiers. By dynamically changing the supply voltage from the fixed battery supply using a DC-DC converter, the power amplifier can be operated with high efficiency during power back-off. Given the highly variable nature of the batteries (e.g. 0.9 V - 1.8 V for NiHM), to operate the system at their peak performance levels, even when the battery is close to fully discharged, and to achieve high efficiency, a dynamic, noninverting, synchronous buck-boost converter is proposed. The noninverting buck-boost converter is essentially a cascade combination of a buck converter followed by a boost converter, where a single inductor and capacitor are used for both. The voltage is reduced when the duty cycle, D, is less than 0.5, and increased when D > 0.5. The efficiency of the converter is improved by replacing the rectifier diodes with switches, which results in a synchronous converter topology. The converter output voltage is dynamically adjustable from 0.5 V to 2.7 V, while supplying a load current up to 40 mA from an input supply voltage from 0.7 V to 1.8 V. The peak-to-peak output ripple was simulated to be less than 60 mV. The circuit design is mainly optimized for maximum efficiency inside the typical operating output voltage interval, 1.5 V to 2.0 V. Consequently, a relative large inductor value is used. The size of the inductor was first calculated and then simulated to make sure that the inductor value which gives the highest efficiency is employed. The converter obtains efficiency between 89% and 94% inside the typical operating output voltage interval under various load currents, as the load current is changed from 5 mA to 40 mA. The efficiency is slightly reduced as the output voltage is further reduced. As the output voltage is reduced to 0.6 V the efficiency is reduced to minimum 78% for all load currents. As the output voltage is approaching 2.7 V, the efficiency of the converter is degenerated.


Visual Cryptography is a new Cryptography technique which is used to secure the images. In Visual Cryptography the Image is divided into parts called shares and then they are distributed to the participants. The Decryption side just stacking the share images gets the image. The initial model developed only for the bi-level or binary images or monochrome images. Later it was advanced to suit for the Colour Images means Gray Images and RGB/CMY Images. For the RGB/CMY Images different methods are developed based on the colour decomposition techniques.


A concrete retaining wall was constructed during October/November 2005. The height of the wall was 9 feet with a stem width of 0.83 ft, while the width of the base was 1.83 ft. The backfill was a low plasticity clay (CL). As a result of this design, the wall was not able to withstand the lateral pressures from the backfill and noticeable cracks in the wall developed within one month after backfilling. The backfill soil was then removed to relieve pressures on the wall until a remediation scheme could be developed and implemented. A geotextile wrap-face wall was chosen to reinforce the soil mass behind the existing concrete wall, which now acts as a façade. The in-situ soil (CL), a marginally suitable material, was used for the backfill. Extensive drainage was incorporated in the design and construction of the geotextile wrap-face wall to decrease backfill pore pressures. A gap between the face of the geotextile wall and the back of the concrete wall allows for deformation of the wrap-face wall without contacting the concrete wall. Index and compaction tests were performed on the backfill soil and interface shear tests were conducted with the geotextile and soil to provide design parameters. The geotextile wrap-face wall was constructed in July 2006, and the performance was monitored over a period of four months.


Despite numerous research efforts and a number of 'friendly' national policies on the field of the informal economy in South Africa, there does seem to be a continuous public policy conflict at local government level in this country. The evolution of the informal economy and the policy crisis at local government level seem to be largely shaped by the legacy of colonialism and racial capitalism. This study focuses on three critical policy areas of informal trading, namely; the taxi industry; the shebeens that belong to the category of home based economy; and street traders. These three are the oldest form of informal economic activities pursued by the Africans (indigenous people) . The study will investigate the progress of informal trading as a critical policy area for municipalities made thus far since the democratisation of South Africa in 1994. It confronts the lack of progress by this sphere of government. It concludes by exposing the neglect of the three types of informal trading. It also concludes that the development of sound informal economic policies at muniCipal level is a prerequisite as there are national policies and legislation that need to be adhered to. The study recognises that despite the development of sound informal economic policies being obligatory, there is an underlying social, political, environmental and economic need for this important process. It finally identifies the specific critical areas that need to be addressed and recommends a policy process that is partiCipatory, credible and progressive.


Free radicals are formed through ionizing reactions that are then capable of destroying normal tissues during the exposure to radiation. Nanoparticles are gaining interest in the field of radioprotection. Radioprotecting ability of nanoparticle was evaluated in an in vivo model using albino mice. The aim of the present study is the investigation of the ability of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2NPs) to protect skin tissues of mice against gamma radiation of whole body exposure to 1.2Sv equivalent dose. The administration of nanoparticles protected the skin cell against radiation-induced damages as revealed by histopathologcal examination of section of skin cell. When administered with nanoparticles at 1 hour prior to whole-body radiation exposure, skin cell were found protected from radiation-induced abnormalities in various cells.The present work will address the effectiveness of nanoparticles in radioprotection in animal models during radiation exposure which will encourage the development of innovative and new approaches to radiation protection, using nanotechnology.


Anthropogenic warming may promote rapid permafrost thaw in the Arctic and alter the global carbon cycle. Although several studies suggest increased thermo-erosion as a result of recent warming, a long-term context is necessary to assess the linkages of thermokarst processes with climate variability. We analyzed sediment cores from two lakes on the Alaskan North Slope (USA), one with (Lake NE14) and one without (Perch Lake) watershed thermo-erosion. Distinct geochemical and lithological characteristics provide evidence for sedimentary input from carbonate-rich permafrost soils associated with past retrogressive thaw slumping at Lake NE14 but not at Perch Lake. These characteristics include increases in Ca:Sr, Ca:K, carbonate:[feldspar + clay minerals], percent CaCO3, and δ13C, and decreases in 87Sr:86Sr. At least ten episodes of thermo-erosion occurred over the past 6000 yr at Lake NE14. Most of these episodes coincided with periods of elevated summer temperatures, but moisture variation and geomorphic factors likely played a role in driving their occurrence. Our results suggest that positive feedbacks facilitate reactivation of thermo-erosion in ice-rich terrain, adding to the growing body of evidence that these Arctic landscapes are unstable in a changing climate.


A novel method for preparing visible light enhanced photocatalytic carbon nitride was developed by copolymerization of melamine with a nitrogen rich precursor. The synthesized carbon nitride, CN–THDTx, with a unique structure exhibits strong visible light absorption ability. XPS results confirmed that the as-prepared CN–THDTx contains abundant nitrogen in a range of 53.0–77.4 at%. Moreover, the band gap can be efficiently controlled by changing the ratio of THDT. Under visible light irradiation, CN–THDT0.15 exhibited the highest hydrogen production (2.3 times than pure g-C3N4). After twelve continuous cycling experiments for hydrogen production for 4 h and carrying out one experiment for 48 h, the photocatalytic activity of CN–THDT0.15 showed negligible change, suggesting that the prepared sample has great potential application for photocatalytic generation of hydrogen from water splitting.


The surface interpenetration measure (SIM) was recently proposed as a promising measure for 3D face matching, although using two limited, small range image databases. In this paper we present novel, more extensive experiments using the SIM in a well-known 3D face database available on the biometric experimentation environment (BEE) to confirm qualitatively that the SIM is a effective, discriminatory measure. The experiments were performed based on range image registration by using two different methods: iterative closest point (ICP) and simulated annealing (SA). By computing the SIM after the registration of two 3D face images one can identify if those images come from the same subject or not. With our SA-based approach we obtained high verification rate scores, which is indeed one of the main goals of the Face Recognition Grand Challenge 2006.


There is an increasing demand to encourage inclusivity in the design of digital services. In response to this issue we have created App Movement, a platform that enables the promotion, collaborative design, and deployment of community-commissioned mobile applications. The platform facilitates collaborative customization of a common app template, for which the development and deployment of the app is fully automated. We describe the motivation, design and implementation of App Movement, and report the findings from an 8 month deployment wherein 27 campaigns were created, 11 of which have been successful, and over 1,600 users pledged their support using the platform. We present three case studies to demonstrate its use and adoption in successful and unsuccessful campaigns. We discuss the implications of these studies, including questions of governance (ownership of content, liability of user generated content and moderation), sustainability and the potential to extend App Movement beyond location-based review apps.


River regulation and altered land use are common anthropogenic disturbances resulting in ecological impacts through siltation or altered hydrology. We tested the separate and combined effects of increased flow and fine particles (colmation) on macroinvertebrates in flume mesocosms. We hypothesised that increased flow would reduce any effects of colmation. We tested two bed types, namely clean and colmated sediment where fines were 10% by weight. Two flow rates were initially established, namely a turbulent flow in six mesocosms and a lower rate to create a transitional flow between turbulent and laminar flows in the remaining six mesocosms. After 30 days, macroinvertebrates were sampled and the flow in three turbulent-flow mesocosms and three transitional-flow mesocosms switched to the lower and higher flow rates respectively, thus creating four flow scenarios. The experiment was concluded after sampling macroinvertebrates again at Day 70. We demonstrated that colmation and decreased flows individually result in decreased density and richness of macroinvertebrates and altered assemblage and trait structure. However, our hypothesis that higher flows would ameliorate any effects of fines was not supported. Further research is required to evaluate whether lower thresholds of colmation have ecological impacts and determine the velocities required to ameliorate those impacts.


Introduction In recent decades, the major criteria for development in countries were defined mostly by research position. The first step in organizing the research subject in societies is gaining a correct perception of abilities, available facilities, and finding the strengths and weaknesses of research programs. This research was conducted to determine the constraining factors of research among faculty members. Methods In this cross-sectional study in 2013, the population was Hormozgan Medical Science faculty members, and samples were selected based on the Morgan table (138 individuals). A researcher-made questionnaire after determining validity and confirming reliability was distributed among them. The data were analyzed by SPSS using descriptive and inferential statistics, such as Pearson's product-moment correlation. Results Among organizational factors, lack of data presentation to researchers from organization sections with 81.2% was the most effective factor. The lack of facilitating national and international research exchange with 80.5% and the lack of research workshops based on needs with 77.9% were the next ones. Among the personal constraining factors, 64% of the faculty declared that having inadequate time for research due to the educational activities was the main factor. Conclusions According to the faculty's comments, research activities encounter different constraining factors. It can be said that, by promoting a data registration system, collaborating on contract agreements and improving national and international research exchange, empowering members' research (need-based workshops), and decreasing the faculty's clinical and educational activities can overcome these constraints.


THE jury system plays an important part in the administration of accident law. This means that procedural rules and devices which allocate power between court and jury may have great bearing on the way accident law actually works. And it also means that the practical implications of many a rule of substantive law can scarcely be appreciated without an understanding of just how the rule affects that allocation of power. This has been pointed out before.' But there is a good deal of reason to believe that much of accident law is now in a period of transition from older notions based on individual blame or fault towards some form of social insurance roughly comparable to workmen's compensation. And it is in such a time of flux, when legal theory is apt to be laggard, that the jury is likely to play a particularly significant role--one which calls for frequent reexamination and reappraisal. In trying to analyze the functions of judge and jury, let us first take up the question where in theory the law draws the line of division, then inquire into the ways in which each branch of the tribunal is sought to be kept within its theoretical sphere, and draw some conclusions as to the practical effectiveness of these means. Finally we may be able to make some generalizations about the practical implications of certain kinds of substantive rules-implications which might not be seen, if their procedural setting should be overlooked.


Crop planting date and canopy density influence interactions between weeds and sweet corn (Zea mays L.); however, little is known about sweet corn growth response to weed interference. Field studies were conducted in 2004 and 2005 near Urbana, IL, to quantify the influence of planting date and weed interference on growth of sweet corn height, leaf area, aboveground biomass, and phenological development. Crop growth response to weed interference (presence or absence) was determined for sweet corn planted early May (EARLY) and late June (LATE). Dominant weed species included barnyard-grass [Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv.], common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.), common purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.), green foxtail [Setaria viridus (L.) Beauv.], redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.), and velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti Medicus) at densities ranging from 95 to 256 plants m -2 . Weed interference reduced sweet corn's absolute height growth rate, maximum leaf area index (LAI), absolute LAI growth rate, with some of the largest effects on crop growth observed in the EARLY planting date. Silk emergence was delayed by weeds for EARLY planted sweet corn, but not LATE. Moreover, the LATE planting date resulted in 9% taller crop plants with 36% lower maximum LAI. Relative to an EARLY planting date, lower yield losses due to weeds for LATE sweet corn correspond to greater resiliency of crop growth and silk emergence to weed interference.


Recommended Citation Arthur B. Evans. "Vehicular Utopias of Jules Verne," In Transformations of Utopia: Changing Views of the Perfect Society, edited by George Slusser, Paul Alkon, Roger Gaillard, and Danièle Chatelain, 99-108. New York: AMS Press, 1999. AMS Press (http://amspressinc.com/index.html) is the publisher and copyright holder of this work. It has been posted to this repository with their permission. Available at: http://scholarship.depauw.edu/mlang_facpubs/54/


Abstract: Purpose: The risk of myopericarditis following COVID-19 booster vaccination has not been extensively evaluated. We provide a timely case ascertainment of myocarditis following COVID-19 booster vaccine in individuals age 18-39 years from an integrated health system. Methods: We studied a cohort of 65,785 Kaiser Permanente (KP) Northwest Health Plan members aged 18-39 years who received a COVID-19 vaccine booster at least 5 months following completion of the primary series. We identified cases of myopericarditis by searching the electronic health record for the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) text label for myocarditis or pericarditis diagnosis codes in all inpatient and outpatient encounters through January 18th 2022. The cohort was followed for 21 days after their booster. We excluded anyone with a documented diagnosis of myocarditis or pericarditis before their first COVID-19 vaccination. Two physicians independently reviewed the identified patient records and applied the CDC myocarditis and pericarditis surveillance case definition to classify records as confirmed, probable or excluded based on the prior published definition. Results: Our method identified 6 patients who met the confirmed or probable CDC case definition for acute myocarditis or pericarditis within 21 days of COVID-19 booster dose among 65,785 eligible members. Four cases occurred in 27,253 men. Overall, we estimated 9.1 cases (exact 95% CI 3.4 to 19.9) of post-booster myopericarditis per 100,000 booster doses given. In men, we estimated 14.7 cases (exact 95% CI 4.0 to 37.6) per 100,000 booster doses given. Conclusion: We identified a rate of 9.1 cases of myopericarditis per 100,000 COVID-19 booster doses which is higher than prior estimates reported by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Myopericarditis occurs following COVID-19 booster vaccine and may be underreported by current surveillance methods. High sensitivity of these case estimates is essential when modeling risk and benefit for sequential COVID-19 vaccinations for the general population.


Understanding the relative ability of forages to meet the needs of prime-age females, the productive component of elk ( Cervus elaphus ) populations, is necessary to decipher reasons for declines and potential for population growth. Information on forage nutrient dynamics for elk on Great Basin summer-fall ranges is lacking. Our primary objectives were to estimate nutrient levels in common elk forage species in northeastern Nevada at 3 time periods and evaluate whether nutrient levels met good requirements for lactating cow elk at time periods across summers. We compared crude protein, digestible energy, and macromineral levels in 2 forbs, 6 grasses, and 4 woody browse forage species to requirements for lactating cow elk in early summer, midsummer, and early fall 1999 and 2000. Spurred lupine ( Lupinus caudatus ) and snowbrush ceanothus ( Ceanothus velutinus ) were the most proteinaceous plants, exceeding requirements across all seasons. By midsummer, protein levels in all grasses were below elk requirements (12%). Digestible energy was the most limiting nutrient with woody browse meeting lactating cow elk requirements only in early fall (2750 kcal · kg -1 ). Sodium levels never exceeded about 10% of the required 600 µg · g -1 . The potential for maintaining a relatively high density of elk at forage-quality levels that fulfill requirements declines as summers progress on Great Basin summer ranges. Maintaining highly productive elk herds in the Great Basin requires that managers maintain plant communities with a diversity of forbs, grasses, and browse to provide for nutritional needs of lactating cows and their growing calves.


Abstract Distance Education (DE) theorists have argued about the requirement for a theory to be comprehensive in a way that can explicate many of the activities associated with DE. Currently, Transactional Distance Theory (TDT) (Moore, 1993) and the Theory of Instructional Dialogue (IDT) (Caspi & Gorsky, 2006) are the most prominent theories, yet they still do not represent a unified and comprehensive theory for DE. This paper provides a review of the existing literature on DE theories and identifies potential gaps in theorising distance education. Building on Giddens' (1984) work, an innovative approach to theorising DE is proposed through the conceptualisation of the Adapting Structuration Theory In Distance Education (ASTIDE) model as a means to explicate DE operations and practices at the institutional and national/international level. It also presents evidence, from a larger study, of the necessity of a comprehensive model such as the ASTIDE constructed through an investigation into the DE systems of developing and developed countries.