Dynamic factor models and dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models are widely used for empirical research in macroeconomics. The empirical factor literature argues that the co-movement of large panels of macroeconomic and financial data can be captured by relatively few common unobserved factors. Similarly, the dynamics in DSGE models are often governed by a handful of state variables and exogenous processes such as preference and/or technology shocks. Boivin and Giannoni(2006) combine a DSGE and a factor model into a data-rich DSGE model, in which DSGE states are factors and factor dynamics are subject to DSGE model implied restrictions. We compare a data-richDSGE model with a standard New Keynesian core to an empirical dynamic factor model by estimating both on a rich panel of U.S. macroeconomic and financial data compiled by Stock and Watson (2008).We find that the spaces spanned by the empirical factors and by the data-rich DSGE model states are very close. This proximity allows us to propagate monetary policy and technology innovations in an otherwise non-structural dynamic factor model to obtain predictions for many more series than just a handful of traditional macro variables, including measures of real activity, price indices, labor market indicators, interest rate spreads, money and credit stocks, and exchange rates.


The combination of computational enzyme design and laboratory evolution is a successful strategy for the development of biocatalysts with non-natural function, one example being the artificial retroaldolase RA95.1,2 This enzyme utilizes amine catalysis via a reactive lysine residue to cleave the unnatural aldol substrate methodol (Figure 1A). The low initial catalytic activity of the computational design was improved tremendously over many rounds of directed evolution, yielding an efficient biocatalyst for both aldol cleavage as well as synthesis with rate acceleration and stereoselectivity comparable to natural aldolases (Figure 1B).3,4 Key to this success was an ultrahigh-throughput (uHTP) screening technique applied for the late stages of optimization.4 In this work, we analyzed changes in enzyme mechanism along the evolutionary trajectory of RA95 that led to more efficient catalysis. To that end, we determined the rate-limiting step for different enzyme variants by probing individual steps of the aldolase mechanism kinetically. We found a shift towards product release being overall rate-limiting for aldol cleavage catalyzed by highly evolved variants of RA95. Specifically, the conversion between Schiff base and enamine intermediate formed from acetone, a (de-)protonation-dependent process, is the slowest step we probed. Our results indicate that uHTP screening is essential to efficiently evolve a multistep enzyme mechanism, as it allows the optimization of several mechanistic steps in parallel. By comparing our findings to kinetic and structural studies on natural aldolases, we provide valuable feedback to improve future laboratory evolution approaches as well as the success rate of computational enzyme design.


In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) identified that education plays a central role in developing reconciliatory relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. However, the current historical thinking approach to history and social studies education imposes a settler grammar over the study of the past in ways that lessen the space available to develop the respect, openness for truth, and relationality needed to develop these ongoing relationships of reconciliation. By deconstructing one piece of work by a leading thinker in historical thinking, Peter Seixas, this article demonstrates the structural limitations of responding to the TRC using the Benchmarks of Historical Thinking.


Our article considers whether the existence of a global banking market has resulted in the convergence of bank supervisory policy among different nationally-based regulatory regimes. In particular, we consider whether regulatory authorities in the United States and Great Britain, as providers of regulatory services, compete on the basis of the "net regulatory benefit" (NRB) that they provide to their respective regulatees, i.e., banks. After a detailed examination of the history of bank regulation in the US and UK, we observe that there is no clear trend towards convergence by competition. We find that, while regulatory competition may play an important role in the evolution of regulatory regimes, the competitive model -- particularly as enshrined in the NRB -- does not account for a number of other equally significant determinants of change. We conclude by identifying three important determinants of regulatory change which are not reflected in the NRB model: path dependence, the power of purely domestic concerns, and the impact of, what we call, "negotiated convergence."


The concept of a critical moment in a petroleum system (the time of highest probability of entrapment and preservation of oil and gas) has underlain petroleum exploration for over 25 years. However, one area where understanding the critical moment is challenging is the Faroe-Shetland Basin (FSB; offshore UK). Isotopic dating of oils suggests that petroleum generation began between ca. 68 and 90 Ma; however, most basin models invoke an earlier generation beginning in the mid-Cretaceous at ca. 100 Ma, predating deposition of Paleocene and Eocene reservoirs. This time discrepancy has previously been explained by remigration from intermediary accumulations ("motel" hypothesis) and/or overpressure retardation of kerogen maturation. The FSB is characterized by a thick Cretaceous stratigraphic package (up to 5 km) that includes a large net thickness (up to 2 km) of Paleogene igneous material. In our model, separating sedimentary and igneous material and adding the igneous material at the correct time between ca. 58 and 55 Ma shallows the modeled burial depth of the Upper Jurassic source rocks during the Cretaceous sufficiently to delay maturation by 17 m.y. in comparison to results of previous studies. Additionally, previous studies have invoked crustal radiogenic heat production (RHP) based on the Phanerozoic crust averaging ∼2.8 µW/m3 in the North Sea (300 km to the east). However, the FSB basement is composed of significantly older, colder Neoarchean orthogneisses (ca. 2.7–2.9 Ga), reducing RHP by up to 50% to ∼1.6 µW/m3 (σ = 0.74). For the first time, our model unifies geological, geochronological, and geochemical observations, delaying the onset of petroleum expulsion by up to 40 m.y. in comparison to previous models.


Since mechanised borehole drilling began in South Africa in the late 1800s, over 1 100 000 boreholes have been drilled. As the country's growing population and the perceived impacts of climate change increase pressure on water surface supplies, attention is turning to groundwater to meet the shortfall in water supply. This will mean even more drilling will take place. Until the introduction of the Standard Descriptors for Boreholes, published in 2003, South Africa has not had a set of guidelines for borehole information capture. This document provides a detailed description of the basic information requirements needed to describe and characterise the process of drilling, constructing, developing, managing and monitoring a borehole. However, this document stands alone as a specification with little or no implementation or interpretation to date. Following the development and publishing of the ArcHydro data model for water resource management by the CRWR based at the University of Texas at Austin, there has been a great deal of interest in object-oriented data modelling for natural resource data management. This thesis describes the utilisation of an object oriented data modelling approach using UML CASE tools to design a data model for South African Boreholes, based on the Standard Descriptors for Boreholes. The data model was converted to a geodatabase schema and implemented in ArcGIS.


We found different performances for the same device due to the variations in the process from die to the other on the same wafer or on another one. Yield analysis becomes one of the important tools into commercial Computer Aided Design (CAD) programs. Statistical issues are crucial in yield analysis for microwave circuits. Yield analysis needs accurate statistical properties between the parameters of devices' models to reflect correctly the physical variations. Normally, on the level of the device modeling, the statistical properties between the model parameters like means and standard deviations are noisy by using the known techniques (optimization-based and direct) for extracting the small signal equivalent circuit model parameters of active microwave devices. We introduce how is Artificial Neural Network (ANN) accurate and efficient statistical extraction method for small signal model parameters of Hetero Junction Bipolar Transistor (HBT). Utilizing this methodology provides a robust statistical model for our device.


We use data from over 20,000 firms in 60 countries to identify constraints on the growth of firms. We interpret managers' answers to survey questions on the extent to which various aspects of their external environment inhibit the performance of their firm as measuring the shadow cost of constraints to their activities, not as direct measures of the constraints. These costs can vary with firm characteristics as well as with the magnitude of the constraints themselves. Our model reveals that, contrary to common practice, the importance of an obstacle to performance is not, except under very restrictive assumptions, measured by the coefficient on the reported level of the obstacle in a performance regression. We test the predictions of the model on the large firm-level dataset and show how the importance of different constraints varies across countries and how the cost of a constraint depends on the characteristics of the firm. We find that telecoms are less important, and taxes more important, as constraints on performance than the literature has previously identified.


Equivariances provide useful inductive biases in neural network modeling, with the translation equivariance of convolutional neural networks being a canonical example. Equivariances can be embedded in architectures through weight-sharing and place symmetry constraints on the functions a neural network can represent. The type of symmetry is typically fixed and has to be chosen in advance. Although some tasks are inherently equivariant, many tasks do not strictly follow such symmetries. In such cases, equivariance constraints can be overly restrictive. In this work, we propose a parameter-efficient relaxation of equivariance that can effectively interpolate between a (i) non-equivariant linear product, (ii) a strict-equivariant convolution, and (iii) a strictly-invariant mapping. The proposed parameterisation can be thought of as a building block to allow adjustable symmetry structure in neural networks. In addition, we demonstrate that the amount of equivariance can be learned from the training data using backpropagation. Gradient-based learning of equivariance achieves similar or improved performance compared to the best value found by cross-validation and outperforms baselines with partial or strict equivariance on CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100 image classification tasks.


States have been prohibited from requiring out-of-state e-retailers who lack a physical presence in the state from being able to collect and remit state sales or use taxes on revenue generated from in-state purchases. The physical presence requirement has provided e-tailers with a competitive advantage in terms of price as compared to residential businesses. Since 2004, total annual online sales in North America have increased by $318 billion, resulting in annual sales of $400 billion, with worldwide online sales exceeding $1 trillion annually. While retailers are unable to mandate collection of sales or use taxes on e-tailers without a physical presence within the state, consumers are required to report the taxes on their returns; however, it is estimated that only four percent of residents voluntarily report these taxes. As such, experts have calculated that states lose more than $12 billion per year in lost sales and use tax. In 2018, however, the Supreme Court of the United States will be hearing a case challenging the current prohibition and plethora of precedence, to determine whether a state should be able to impose the burden to collect state sales taxes on outof- state e-tailers who lack a physical presence with the state in which the consumer purchased the item. Additionally, Congress continues to consider legislative action to afford states the power to mandate collection of sales taxes on nonresident sellers who lack a physical presence within the state. The possible changes relating to state's sales tax collection will alter e-tailers pricing strategies, minimizing the feasibility of the cost leadership approach. The purpose of this article is to analyze the genesis of cases relating to the collection of state sales taxes as well as recent congressional efforts to amend the current law and to describe how the changes will impact the ability of e-tailers to pursue a price leadership strategy. This research is important for two central reasons. First, extant research has not explored states sales tax differences in terms of Porter's pricing strategies. Secondly, the regulatory landscape is positioned to change, meaning existing practitioners will need to reevaluate their current strategies in order to adapt to the new regulatory environment.


In April 2010 the UK's marginal rate of income tax above £150,000 was increased from 40% to 50%, affecting the highest-income 0.66% of the adult population (and 1% of income taxpayers). This would seem an ideal opportunity to obtain an estimate of the taxable income elasticity, but identification is impeded by forestalling (individuals bringing forward income to the year before the tax rate was increased) resulting from the reform being announced more than a year in advance. In this paper we use panel data methods in an attempt to strip out the impact of forestalling, and estimate the underlying taxable income elasticity of those affected by the 50% tax rate, and thus the revenue-effect of the reform. In particular, we develop a new method of correcting for forestalling by averaging income over the (three year) period during which forestalling is likely to have taken place. This approach yields an estimate of the taxable income elasticity of 0.31, lower than earlier estimates by HMRC (2012) based on the same reform (but a different method), and consistent with the 50% tax raising around £1 billion a year (relative to the current 45% rate). Three things are worth noting, however. First, is that estimated elasticities are very sensitive to changes in specification, and to the inclusion or exclusion of a small number of individuals with extremely high (and volatile) incomes. Second, at the same time the 50% rate was introduced, restrictions were placed on the amount of pension contributions some taxpayers could deduct from their taxable incomes (in advance of more general restrictions in place from 2011–12). Those forced to reduce their pension contributions (or unable to increase them) would have higher taxable income than they would have if these restrictions were not put in place: this may downwardly bias our estimate of the taxable income elasticity. Indeed, our estimates of the elasticity of broad income (before personal pension contributions are deducted) are higher – 0.71 using the same method. Finally, it is worth noting that the panel approach adopted here, by focusing on individuals who are observed both pre- and post- reform, excludes some forms of response (such as migration). Taken together, these three issues imply that higher figures for the taxable income elasticity (including those in HMRC, 2012) are plausible. Thus it is also plausible that the re-introduction of the 50% could reduce revenues somewhat: an elasticity of 0.71 would imply a reduction of around £1.75 billion if none of the lost income tax or NICs revenues were recouped from other tax bases or in other time periods. We also explore in more detail the nature of the response to the 50% tax rate. Two findings stand out. First, when we restrict our sample to those just around the £150,000 threshold, we consistently estimate the taxable income elasticity to be between 0.1 and 0.2, implying that behavioural response to the higher tax rate is concentrated among those with the very highest incomes. Second, we find little evidence that individuals responded to the higher tax rate by increasing use of tax deductions. However, this must be a tentative conclusion as not all deductable items are recorded on the tax return data available. Particularly relevant in this context is the possibility that owners of closely-held incorporated businesses chose to respond to the 50% tax rate by retaining income in their business, for extraction at a later date (perhaps in the form of capital gains rather than dividends). Analysis of such responses would require the linking of personal and corporate income tax returns, which is a subject for future research.


A complex picture is emerging of the many ways by which nuclear receptors for the hormone estrogen regulate gene expression. Estrogen receptors alpha and beta (ERα and ERβ) can act through either a ligand-dependent or -independent mechanism, and receptor activity is further influenced by various coactivators and corepressors. The expression of caveolin-1, a protein best known for its role in caveolae development at the cell surface, is regulated in some tissues by estrogen. Because caveolin-1 can itself bind to ERα and potentiate gene transcription, the functional relationship between estrogen, ERs, and caveolin in regulating cellular processes is of interest. Zschocke et al. report that in a neuronal cell line, ectopic expression of ERα inhibited caveolin expression in an estrogen-independent manner. The process involved methylation of specific CpG islands in the caveolin-1 promoter region, a modification that is a hallmark of stable gene silencing. ERβ counteracted the effect of ERα on caveolin expression. Although it remains unclear whether ERα directly suppresses caveolin expression, the inverse relationship of ERα and caveolin expression observed in some cancer cell lines may be attributed to this epigenetic effect. Furthermore, exposure of embryonic mice to estrogen resulted in decreased caveolin-1 expression in certain brain regions. The authors propose that persistent down-regulation of caveolin expression by estrogen would not only decrease the availability of this ER coregulator but might also prevent formation of caveolae, thus impairing the integration and transduction of signals from the cell surface. J. Zschocke, D. Manthey, N. Bayatti, B. van der Burg, S. Goodenough, C. Behl, Estrogen receptor α-mediated silencing of caveolin gene expression in neuronal cells. J. Biol. Chem. 277, 38772-38780 (2002). [Abstract] [Full Text]


European Union cohesion policy accounts for a major share of the EU budget and aims to reduce economic, social, and territorial disparities through investment programmes and projects aligned with EU strategic objectives and implemented under a unique model of multi-level governance. This chapter reviews the evolution of cohesion policy over successive reform phases, how the policy is implemented, and the evidence for its effectiveness. It also discusses the different policy modes encompassed in the policy, and it reviews recent political developments relating to politicization, Brexit, the sectoralization of EU spending, and the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic. The chapter concludes that the resourcing, priorities, and governance of cohesion policy for 2021–27 represent a new turning point in the prospects for the policy, following the strategic turns of 2006 and 2013 (Bachtler et al. 2013). While the budget for cohesion policy remains substantial, the policy's importance is diminishing as a result of greater centralization of political decision-making within the Commission, a fragmentation of the political constituencies for cohesion policy, and the dominance of non-spatial EU policy priorities with centralized delivery mechanisms.


ASTM Committee E-7 on Nondestructive Testing is composed of ten technical subcommittees. Volume 03.03 of the Annual Book of ASTM Standards presently contains eight glossaries which have been issued by these subcommittees,and other definitions can be found in an additional ten methods and practices. A review of these 17 documents has revealed several terms with two dissimilar definitions, and in some cases these definitions had been issued by one subcommittee. In an attempt to bring some order out of this chaos, we are proceeding as follows: 1. All terms (eight to date) which are common to the various disciplines have been placed under the jurisdiction of the editorial subcommittee. 2. A master glossary, which will contain all the terms currently found in the 17 documents, is being developed. 3. This glossary will be divided into sections, one for each subcommittee, and each of the technical subcommittees will retain jurisdiction over all the terms in its section. The eight common terms and any subsequent similar terms will appear in a separate section. 4. Where two or more definitions for one term currently exist, both will be shown until the subcommittee decides to eliminate one, combine them, or redefine the term. 5. A list of all terms in all the sections, showing in which section they may be found, will be appended to the master glossary. 6. If new subcommittees are added or new glossaries required, the terms will be added to the master glossary as a new separate section.


Previous studies suggest that Scandinavian countries are the ones with the highest rates of youth poverty in Europe. This somewhat unexpected finding prompts the question whether the incidence of poverty is an appropriate measure of youth disadvantage. Instead of considering poverty rates we define here youth disadvantage in terms of the number of periods an individual is recorded to be below the poverty line. Using the European Community Household Panel, individuals are classified into different groups of poverty permanence, each reflecting severity of social disadvantage. Based on these categories we implement a generalized ordinal logit model to assess the various factors associated with social disadvantage among youth. In contrast to previous research, we find little evidence to suggest that young individuals in Scandinavian countries suffer higher levels of social disadvantage. Moreover there is no significant gender difference in Conservative and Social Democratic welfare regimes, but significant difference in Mediterranean and Liberal countries. As previous studies suggests, young individuals' living arrangements matter.


In today's turbulent economic environment, firms are striving for ways to achieve competitive advantage. One of the approaches is to manage the entire supply chain to reduce costs and improve performance to create competitive advantage and business success. This dissertation explores and investigates how high technology firms use supply chain management to gain competitive advantage and increase business success. The research objective is to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firm's performance and argues that supply chain management will help a firm to be competitive and successful. To this end, the critical success factors that make a company more competitive are identified. The research design is based on the established and recommended procedures of multiple case study research methodology; and this methodology is used to gather data from five companies in California, USA. The analysis is based primarily on cross-case analysis for the purpose of theoretical generalization about the research issues. The results identify two clusters of company behavior and characteristics, specifically traditional 'old style' manufacturing companies and progressive manufacturing companies. Each cluster of company behaves differently. At the traditional manufacturing companies, the selection of critical supply chain management factors is internally focused on factors that are manufacturing and quality focused, while at the progressive manufacturing companies the selection of critical supply chain management factors is externally focused on factors that are directed to customers and information systems. There are differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and benchmark (or commodity) companies that were selected in this study. The benchmark companies select supply chain management factors that focus on customer services and quality. This approach is, possibly, due to the fact that the benchmark companies deal in commodity type products and hence they have to focus on differentiating themselves through strong customer services and quality products. Additionally, with the help of supply chain metrics, financial performance data, and understanding the various companies, it is possible to determine which critical supply chain factors best can contribute to business performance. At the case study companies, an external focus on supply chain management factors such as a strong focus on customer relationship and management, gives better business results. Finally, this study has proposed a novel and new approach to improving customer satisfaction by using QFD methodology to identify performance gaps (and opportunities) from the customer's viewpoint in supply chain management. If the companies wish to increase customer satisfaction, they have to use the QFD methodology to identify critical supply chain factors. The reason is primarily because performance gaps derived from customer needs emphasize what the customer wants and that is different from the internal perceptions of a company's managers. The initiatives that provide the greatest opportunity have been identified in this analysis. Overall, these findings can be used by high technology firms to select supply chain strategies that will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve their brand and business performance.


Large predatory fishes, such as sharks, play an important functional role within marine ecosystems. Restocking of depleted populations has been extensively studied for commercially or recreationally important teleost fish species; however, it has, to the best of our knowledge, never been successfully attempted and assessed on sharks. We evaluated whether fifteen captive-bred wobbegongs (Orectolobus maculatus) released into a small bay inhabited by wild sharks would survive and remain within a small 'no-take' marine reserve. The captive-bred sharks and twelve wild sharks were tagged with acoustic transmitters and their presence was monitored by an array of acoustic receivers. The detection rate of control tags was modelled against environmental variables to predict detection probabilities and account for days when environmental conditions hampered shark detections. The overall detection probability ranged from 28% to 38% and was most affected by wind direction. Wild wobbegongs showed clear seasonal patterns of attendance to the study site, with the highest probability of presence during the summer months. The captive-bred sharks did not display the same seasonal trend in occurrence. The age at which captive-bred sharks were released into the area affected residency periods. Four out of five adults remained in the area for up to three years post release, while all the juveniles permanently left the area within a year post-release. Three of the juveniles were detected on receivers up to 12 km from the study site. Therefore, if restocking of depleted populations of sharks is to be used as a conservation strategy, the age at which sharks are released must be considered.


The goal of this paper is to study potential applicability and performance of approximate dynamic programming (ADP) for building control problems. It is well known that occupants' stochastic behavior affects the thermal dynamics of building spaces. Incorporating occupant interactions in building control system designs is the main focus of this work. We apply ADP to stochastic optimal control designs for illustrative scenarios of occupant-building interactions and demonstrate its validity through a simulation study.


Special Libraries, Special Challenges is a column dedicated to exploring the unique public services challenges that arise in libraries that specialize in a particular subject, such as law, medicine, business, and so forth. In each column, the author will discuss public service dilemmas and solutions that arise specifically in given subject libraries while drawing links to how such issues affect librarianship in general. Special or subject-matter librarians interested in authoring a piece for this column are invited to contact Ilana Barnes at


The alphabet F/sub 2/+uF/sub 2/ is viewed here as a quotient of the Gaussian integers by the ideal (2). Self-dual F/sub 2/+uF/sub 2/ codes with Lee weights a multiple of 4 are called Type II. They give even unimodular Gaussian lattices by Construction A, while Type I codes yield unimodular Gaussian lattices. Construction B makes it possible to realize the Leech lattice as a Gaussian lattice. There is a Gray map which maps Type II codes into Type II binary codes with a fixed point free involution in their automorphism group. Combinatorial constructions use weighing matrices and strongly regular graphs. Gleason-type theorems for the symmetrized weight enumerators of Type II codes are derived. All self-dual codes are classified for length up to 8. The shadow of the Type I codes yields bounds on the highest minimum Hamming and Lee weights.


The Football World Cup tournament ranks amongst the largest international sports events, captivating vast live and television audiences. A key characteristic of football can be seen in its community-building function. Football provides opportunities for identification, strengthening local and national bonds. But does this also apply to the still vague category of Europe? Does the televised coverage of the Football World Cup hold the potential to foster a European identity? This paper employs a quantitative content analysis of the German and British live-commentaries of the 2010 World Cup matches between European and non-European teams. It analyzes and compares the description and evaluation of European and non-European participants. TV-commentaries have proven an ability to influence the audiences´ perception of the match. It is therefore assumed that the commentaries contribute to a feeling of European identity and unity – if they make the European category salient. The analysis reveals some differences in the portrayal of European and non-European participants with the commentators paying more attention to participants from European countries. Whereas the evaluation of the European and non-European teams differs, the evaluation of the individual football players is well-balanced. In regard to the analyzed criteria, British and German commentaries tend to be very similar.


Taking into account recent policy analysis and evaluation theories which have been rarely applied international relations up till now, we attempted to construct a framework which we used to evaluate France-Quebec policies of cooperation in the field of education. Having identified the objectives of this cooperation, we verified wether these objectives were attained through the programme of integrated projects in education. Concerning the objective of creating international links it appears that it was realized when the programme was elaborated; however, the programme increases and officializes the exchanges, without that the Federal government intervenes, and leaves to the Quebec government the ability to impose its priorities. The integrated projects do not balance American influence, as it was the intention. The objectif of promotion of French language is partially realized through the publication of articles in French or the Frenchization of the bibliographies ; but the programme results in a perverse effect when French and Quebecer researchers publish jointly in English. The academic cooperation did not favorize teaching improvement of Quebecer professors, as it was an objective; however, it favorized research development. The results were partially attained, because this policy began without any study of the situation.


Antenna analysis with Transmission Line Matrix (TLM)
method requires the use of an absorbing boundary condition
in order to simulate a free space environment. This
absorbing boundary condition is realized by the EPML (extended
perfectly matched layer). This paper demonstrates
the capability of this simulation method for practical broadband
antenna design. Therefore a bow-tie and vivaldi antenna
are analyzed and numerical as well as experimental
results are introduced and discussed.


Spontaneous unexplained preterm labor with intact membrane (sPTL-IM) remains as an unresolved challenge in obstetrics due to the complex syndromes involved during preterm birth. Two dimensional-gel electrophoresis (2D-GE) coupled with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight/time of flight (MALDI TOF/TOF) mass spectrometry has become an alternative in screening for potential novel protein-based biomarkers and revealing the pathophysiology of sPTL-IM. To achieve this objective, protein extracted from fetal and maternal sides of the placenta obtained from sPTL-IM (n = 5) and the respective control (n = 10) groups were separated and compared using 2D-gel electrophoresis. MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry was utilized to identify the differentially expressed proteins between both groups, and the molecular functions of these proteins were studied. A total of 12 proteins were significantly differentiated in sPTL-IM over the control. Differentially expressed proteins were identified to have involved in structural/cytoskeletal components, immune responses, fetal and placenta development, and anticoagulation cascade. More proteins were found to be differentially expressed in the fetal side compared to the maternal side of the placenta. This postulates that the influence of sPTL-IM from fetus is greater than that of the mother. Ultimately, these results might lead to further investigations in elucidating the potential of these proteins as biomarkers and/or drug targets.


Antisocial behaviour and alcohol problems are areas of great concern to society, not only associated with personal and emotional costs for the affected individuals and their victims, but also with major societal financial costs. What makes some individuals more likely than others to develop these kinds of problems? The general aim of this thesis was to explore the role of individual characteristics in the development of antisocial behaviour and alcohol problems. More specifically, the research focused on aspects of hyperactive behaviour, personality traits and biological vulnerability indicators in relation to self-reported norm breaking and violent behaviour, registered general criminality and violent offending in particular, and further, on risky alcohol use and drinking offences. The studies were based on both a prospective longitudinal project in which a group of adolescent male lawbreakers and controls were followed from the 1960s into the 1990s, and on more recently collected data on a representative group of Swedish male and female adolescents.The results of the thesis supported that neuropsychological deficits, manifested in attention difficulties, and personality traits reflecting disinhibition and negative emotionality, influence the development of antisocial behaviour and risky alcohol use, which in turn increases the risk of subsequent alcohol problems. The findings indicated, furthermore, that these neuropsychological deficits may be associated with an underlying biological vulnerability to various forms of disinhibitory psychopathology. Although the thesis focuses on individual characteristics, the results also support the view that environmental risk factors such as the influence of family and peers and possible stress experiences, play an important role. It was emphasized that individual characteristics continuously interact with environmental conditions in shaping each individual's developmental course. Results also revealed that adolescent females displaying violent behaviour and engaging in potentially harmful use of alcohol deviated more in personality traits than did the corresponding group of males. Further knowledge of the development of these problems in females is crucial, since most theories in this area have been developed primarily on male samples.


This research is research having the character of descriptive at KBPR Semanding, Tuban with title ?SYSTEMS ANALYSIS INTERNAL CONTROL AT PROCEDURE CREDIT case study in KBPR Semanding Tuban?. This Research target is to know execution of internal control system in credit procedure at KBPR Semanding, Tuban. This Research use documentation technique to collect needed datas and analysis technique the used is qualitative by internal control system element step analysis covering organization chart in relation giving of credit, authority system and credit procedure, healthy practice and also employees which was competence. This Research result is that KBPR Semanding, Tuban in giving of credit have as according to good operation. This matter can be seen from procedure current of kredir KBPR Semanding, Tuban run by company. Besides, KBPR Semanding, Tuban have applied prektek the healthyness proved with usage of number pre, executed by sudden inspection which conducted by 1 times; rill in one year and given by leave him for each employees to eliminate saturation in working. Is but seen from organization chart there are problems that is existence of geminating of occupation at credit shares of support commisioned as pemutus of credit as according to plafond which have been specified by both parties between client with bank side. Double responsibility and duty as marketing having tendency plunge leisure to look for client candidate or debitor as much as possible. Pursuant to above conclusion, hence writer recommend to KBPR Semanding, Tuban to re-arrange and organization chart function able to dissociate responsibility and authority, in order not to happened the existence geminating of function in something department which later can make company performance do not walk better. Besides also have to improve worn-out and develop quality of employees. Keyword : Kredit, Prosedur, Pengendalian Intern


Between 1994 and 1999, there were substantial declines in legal immigrant families' use of all major benefit programs: TANF (-60 percent), food stamps (-48 percent), SSI (-32 percent), and Medicaid (-15 percent). Low-income
legal immigrant families with children had lower rates of usage for TANF and food stamps than low-income citizen families with children, but the rate of Medicaid enrollment did not differ. These results may reflect the effects
of welfare reform on immigrant families and the success of policies intended to broaden health insurance coverage among children. Increased naturalizations or rising incomes within immigrant families did not account for the declining benefit use occurring between 1994 and 1999. Relying on
1995-2000 Current Population survey (CPS) data, this analysis distinguishes between legal immigrants, refugees, naturalized citizens and undocumented immigrants. It focuses on families with children whose incomes are below
200 percent of poverty.


At an ICRC seminar on training and information techniques a few years ago an instructor described the position of a dissemination delegate within an ICRC delegation, and hence of dissemination work in general, as follows: "Within an ICRC delegation, the delegate responsible for disseminating international humanitarian law generally has his office at the end of a long corridor, right at the back between the office supplies cupboard and the toilets. But most of the time you won't find him there, as he (or she) is constantly out giving courses or suchlike, either at military installations or universities or among the National Red Cross Society's volunteers. And when you do find him for a short while in his office, he's fiddling around with scissors, paper and glue trying to put together a leaflet or a poster, or perhaps even a small brochure. His colleagues, the delegates dealing with the distribution of relief supplies, the tracing service or prison visits, smile indulgently when they see the dissemination delegate busy with work like that. They speak well of him because he regularly reads the International Review of the Red Cross and knows the ins and outs of international humanitarian law and ICRC policy; he is a good talker, so he always has to step in where armed protagonists in local conflict fail to observe the rules protecting the civilian population. He must often beware of being torn to pieces and is expected to be everywhere at once, because what he does, he alone can do. Many ICRC delegates admire the dissemination delegate; sometimes he gets called "the professor", "the clown" or "the artist". His work is a one-man show, and yet those delegates who distribute rice, visit prisoners or try to trace missing persons could not and would not want to do his job themselves."


We present controlled experimental evidence on how corruption affects the private provision of public goods. Subjects in our experiment donate to non-profit associations. The associations provide local public goods that benefit all subjects. We compare average contributions between two conditions with the same efficiency: a corruption condition, where an administrator can expropriate part of contributions, and a control condition without corruption. Compared to the control condition, subjects matched to an expropriating administrator significantly reduce their contributions. Hence, contributors are less inclined to behave prosocially (i.e.~are more likely to free-ride) if they are exposed to corruption. We demonstrate that this effect works through a specific channel: corruption breaks the otherwise positive link between baseline preferences for cooperation and private contributions to public goods.


This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the third IFIP TC 10 International Embedded Systems Symposium, IESS 2009, held in Langenargen, Germany, in September 2009. The 28 revised papers were selected from 46 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on modelling; transaction level modelling; scheduling and real-time systems; simulation, verification and test; platforms and processors; automotive systems; andwireless sensor networks. The volumealso includes three case studies and two tutorials.


This new ninth edition of SOCIOLOGY IN A CHANGING WORLD will help you visualize sociology all around you! Let this experienced author help you explore the reality of social change and its impact on individuals, groups, and societies throughout the world. SOCIOLOGY IN A CHANGING WORLD uses the theme of social change to tie together the many elements of sociology while helping you develop an understanding of the science. Soon, you will begin to see real sociology at work in the world every day. You will examine the social epidemiology of AIDS and the growing obesity epidemic, collective behavior, including fads, fashions, rumor, gossip, panic, and mass hysteria, aging in a global perspective, and gay and lesbian relationships and families. Revised against a background of war and severe economic depression, this new ninth edition tackles domestic and global trends that are sure to resonate with the modern student.


This study examines climate change coverage on the three major cable news channels and assesses the relationship between viewership of these channels and beliefs about global warming. Evidence from a content analysis of climate change coverage on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC during 2007 and 2008 demonstrates that Fox takes a more dismissive tone toward climate change than CNN and MSNBC. Fox also interviews a greater ratio of climate change doubters to believers. An analysis of 2008 survey data from a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults finds a negative association between Fox News viewership and acceptance of global warming, even after controlling for numerous potential confounding factors. Conversely, viewing CNN and MSNBC is associated with greater acceptance of global warming. Further analyses reveal that the relationship between cable news viewership (both Fox and CNN/MSNBC) and global warming acceptance is stronger among Republicans than among Democrats. That is, the views of Republicans are strongly linked with the news outlet they watch, regardless of how well that outlet aligns with their political predispositions. In contrast, Democrats don't vary much in their beliefs as a function of cable news use. This asymmetry suggests that some Republicans, who as a group tend to be predisposed toward global warming skepticism, are less skeptical when exposed to information on the reality and urgency of climate change.


The Awards for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest recognize persons who have advanced psychology as a science and/or profession by a single extraordinary achievement or a lifetime of outstanding contributions in the public interest. Two awards are given: one to a senior psychologist and a second to a psychologist who has made a significant contribution to the public interest in the early stages of his or her career. The 2019 recipients of the APA Awards for Distinguished Contributions in the Public Interest were selected by the 2018 Committee on Psychology in the Public Interest Awards. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).


The quality of web information systems is closely related with their users' expectations. In order to create good quality systems, web designers should understand how users perceive service quality of various performance attributes such as security, usability and information quality, and which ones they value the most. In this study, users' service quality perceptions of two different web sites were investigated. Data were obtained from 1,900 users of web sites of a for-profit online bookstore and a not-for-profit national information center through the E-Qual Index that was administered online. Users were asked to rate to what extent each web site satisfied the 22 performance attributes included in the E-Qual Index along with the importance they attached thereto. Quadrant analysis and gap analysis were used to analyze the data to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the web sites investigated. Moreover, performance attributes that need to be improved or that were "undervalued" by the users were identified. Findings indicate that each web site satisfied more than half the performance attributes listed in the E-Qual Index. Users attached more importance to performance attributes such as ease of use, provision of timely and relevant information and safety. Findings can be used to remedy the shortcomings of each web site and improve the web service quality.


AIMS
Analysis of ethyl glucuronide (EtG), a minor metabolite of ethanol, is a valid tool for the assessment of social and chronic excessive alcohol consumption. Standardized analysis of EtG is usually done in head hair. As head hair cannot always be provided, alternative hair matrices become more and more interesting. Therefore, a study was performed that compared the intra-individual EtG concentrations in scalp hair and non-head hair (chest, arm, leg and axillary hair).

METHODS
Hair samples were collected from 68 subjects undergoing an expert assessment for fitness to drive. Aqueous extracts of the hair matrix were cleaned by solid-phase extraction, using an Oasis MAX column. EtG was first derivatized with perfluoropentanoic anhydride and then quantified by GC-MS/MS in negative chemical ionization mode, using EtG-d5 as internal standard.

RESULTS
For categorizing drinking behaviour, the two EtG cut-off values recommended by the Society of Hair Testing were applied for all different hair types. For chest, arm and leg hair, correct classification ratios were >83%. This corresponds to sensitivity values >78% and specificities >75%. Such values indicate together with ϕ coefficients (rϕ) > 0.7 a high correlation of the categorization of the drinking behaviour based on these body hair EtG concentrations compared with the indexing based on scalp hair EtG-values. However, it must be taken into consideration that the time frame represented by non-head hair may extend way back.

CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that chest, arm and leg hair can be a valid alternative to assess the drinking behaviour of a subject if head hair is not available; whereas axillary hair is not suitable as alternative matrix.


A cw, visible laser beam self-traps by initiating free-radical polymerization in an organosiloxane photopolymer doped with a well-characterized distribution of Ag nanoparticles. The self-trapped beam propagates over long distances (≫Rayleigh range) without diverging and permanently inscribes a cylindrical metallodielectric waveguide containing a dispersion of Ag nanoparticles. The self-trapped beam evolves from single-mode to multimode guidance over time; the effects of nanoparticle concentration on multimode dynamics were investigated. These findings open room temperature, soft polymer-based pathways where self-action effects including self-trapping and modulation instability can be exploited to spontaneously generate three-dimensional metallodielectric single or multiple cylindrical waveguides.


This paper focuses on the use of bilingual corpora for terminology and translation purposes. A review of the literature provides an overview of the use of comparable and parallel corpora in the translation classroom and brings to light a number of issues on translation technology that are further addressed. In particular, the use of Translation Memories is discussed and the integration of Computer-Aided Translation Tools is reconsidered in the light of the environment of professional translators. A new translation tool, based on full-text multilingual corpus technology, is introduced in the translation classroom as the tool has been designed to best meet translators' needs in terms of terminology extraction, corpus building and corpus browsing.


The sequence stratigraphic analysis of the area was studied using well log information in order to determine the lithostratigraphy, chronostratigraphy, possible reservoir sands, age and depositional environment of the study area for opportunities that will support exploration program. The depositional environment penetrated by the wells interpreted from log signatures gave three major facies association. The blocky and coarsening upward (funnel shape), the blocky and fining upward (bell shape) and the erratic (serrated or spiky) facies representing distributary mouth bar, distributary channel and marine mud facies respectively. The sediment deposition of the coastal deltaic and shallow marine delineated for the wells were inferred from the study. Lowstand Systems Tract (LST), Transgressive Systems Tract (TST) and Highstand Systems Tract are the depositional sequences observed. The Maximum Flooding surfaces observed from the stratigraphy analysis indicate major shale break (high shale content). The study area is dominated by altenation of sand and mudstone lithologies, which occurs in approximate ratio of 60:40. The stratigraphic column of the wells was subdivided into sequence boundary, system tracts and sedimentary cycles based on the integration of the various dataset. Some of the sequences have potential of a source rock and seals. The system tracts have the characteristics of good seal and traps. The Maximum Flooding Surfaces and sequence boundaries observed in the wells are four and five respectively. The depths at which the Maximum Flooding Surface occur are 1300, 9300, 9750 and 7050 ft while the sequence boundaries occurred at the depths of 12150, 10850, 8550, 7425 and 6875 ft respectively.


Though there has been much general debate recently about the pros and cons of capital controls, there remains substantial confusion and uncertainty about what exactly is entailed by the term 'restraining global capital flows'. Popular discussion around this has typically been long on rhetoric and loose generalisations and acutely short on specifics. The aim of this paper is therefore to help refine the debate somewhat by clarifying and systematically categorising the various concepts that have been discussed in policy circles and the popular media. Two specific country experiences with restraining capital flows, viz. Chile and Malaysia are highlighted and discussed, as are the recent and muchpublicised proposals for exchange controls (a la Paul Krugman) and a global currency transactions tax in the forms of a Tobin tax.[Working Paper No. 3]


Bone microarchitecture and its mechanical properties have been considered as an important determinant of several diseases such as osteoporosis. This disease is characterized by the weakness of the bones, which compromises all structure.

The microstructure evaluation of biological specimens can be accomplished with X-rays. The 3DX-ray microcomputed tomography (3DµCT) and the X-ray microfluorescence by synchrotron radiation (SRµXRF) are imaging techniques in microns order of space resolution (∼10µm). Those techniques can be decisive to understand the bone structures in order to improve the knowledge about the bone quality.

The 3DµCT and SRµXRF results reveal an increase of the porous diameter on osteoporotic bones, representing high bone porosity with a decrease in trabecular dimensions.


Distributed shared memory (DSM) multiprocessors typically require disjoint networks for deadlock-free execution of cache coherence protocols. This is normally achieved by implementing virtual networks with the help of virtual channels or virtual lanes multiplexed on a single physical network. To keep the coherence protocol simple, messages are usually assigned to virtual lanes in a predefined static manner based on a cycle-free lane assignment dependence graph. However, this static split of virtual networks (such as request and reply networks) may lead to underutilization of certain virtual networks while saturating the other networks. In this paper, we explore different static and dynamic schemes to select the virtual lanes for outgoing messages and mix the load among them without restricting any particular type of message to be carried only by a particular virtual network. We achieve this by exposing the selection algorithms to the coherence protocol itself, so that it can inject messages into selected virtual lanes based on some local information, and still enjoy deadlock-freedom. Our execution-driven simulation on five applications from the SPLASH-2 suite shows that as the system scales, the virtual network selection algorithms play an important role. For 128-node systems, our dynamic selection algorithm speeds up parallel execution by as much as 22 percent over an optimized baseline system running a modified SGI Origin 2000 protocol. We also explore how network latency, the number of message buffers per virtual lane, and the depth of network interface output queues affect the relative performance of various virtual lane selection algorithms.


This paper analyses the effect of two new developments: electrification and 'free floating' car sharing and their impact on public space. Contrary to station based shared cars, free floating cars do not have dedicated parking or charging stations. They therefore park at public parking spots and utilize public charging stations. A proper network of public charging stations is therefore required in order to keep the free floating fleet up and running. As more municipalities are considering the introduction of an electric free floating car sharing system, the outline of such a public charging network becomes a critical piece of information. The objective of this paper is to create insights that can optimize charging infrastructure for free floating shared cars, by presenting three analyses. First, a business area analysis shows an insight into which business areas are of interest to such a system. Secondly, the parking and charging behaviour of the vehicles is further examined. The third option looks deeper into the locations and their success factors. Finally, the results of the analysis of the city of Amsterdam are used to model the city of The Hague and the impact that a free floating electric car sharing system might have on the city and which areas are the white spots that need to be filled in.


The waterhammer - defined as the change in pressure, above or below normal pressure - is caused by sudden changes in the rate of flow of water in closed conduits. Any manoeuvre of the pump turbine or the valve introduces sudden changes in the demand for water in all points of the system, to a greater extent in the conduit between the machine and the surge lank, and to a lesser extent in the conduit between the upper reservoir and the surge lank. The waterhammer caused by emergency manoeuvres of the pump turbine is usually severe and the system should be designed to withstand positive and sometimes negative pressure caused by these operations.


ABSTRACT Using couple data from a national survey, this article examines couple's characteristics associated with extramarital sex among Nigerian men. We found 15.4% of married men had extramarital sex in the past 12 months. Extramarital sex was significantly associated with men's attitude toward extramarital sex (OR = 1.7 [1.4–3.0]), early sexual debut (OR = 1.9 [1.6–2.3]), alcohol use (OR = 1.7 [1.4–2.1]), and intimate partner violence against wife (IPV) (OR = 1.4 [1.2–1.7]). Increased wife's education was associated with decreased husband's extramarital sex. Men living in rural areas and in the Central and Southern regions were also more likely to have extramarital sex. The findings suggest useful implications for HIV prevention programs in Nigeria. Interventions should focus on influencing social norms around protective behaviors for men to avoid risks associated with extramarital sex and IPV, helping men to change attitudes toward extramarital sex and IPV, and promoting delay in age at first sex among young men.


Reactivity is the pattern of reactions associated with response to changes in the environment such as stress. Labour with uterine contractions hampering fetal and uterine blood flow provides significant stress and we need to improve our ability to assess fetal reactivity biopatterns during delivery. The study illustrates progress made with regard to detailed analysis of the fetal heart rate (FHR) and beat-to-beat variations (RR-intervals) as a clinical measure of fetal reactivity. A method, named residuals, is presented of using a small set of index cases to identify parameter settings which are then further evaluated in extensive database tests of 8100 cases.


Abstract Detailed chemical analysis of the 122 m, relatively high-altitude and low-melt Lomonosovfonna ice core provides the best-dated record of nitrate from Svalbard. A very significant non-linear trend present in the record shows: (a) a rise in concentrations from the 12th to the mid-16th century, (b) reasonably stable concentrations until the mid-19th century, (c) a rise in concentrations into the 20th century, with (d) a rapid rise in the 1950s and (e) a decrease after the mid-1980s. Nitrate is well correlated with ammonium before 1920 and after 1960 but not in the intervening period. the correlation between ammonium and nitrate concentrations indicates that ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) has been common at Lomonosovfonna. There are also places in the core where nitrate is very closely associated with calcium.


Abstract The observed X-ray luminosity of SS 433 is ~1036 erg/s, it is known that all the radiation is formed in the famous SS 433 jets. The bolometric luminosity of SS 433 is ~1040 erg/s, and originally the luminosity must be realized in X-rays. The original radiation is probably thermalized in the supercritical accretion disk wind, however the missing more than four orders of magnitude is surprising. We have analysed the XMM-Newton spectra of SS 433 using a model of adiabatically and radiatively cooling X-ray jets. The multi-temperature thermal jet model reproduces very well the strongest observed emission lines, but it can not reproduce the continuum radiation and some spectral features. We have found a notable contribution of ionized reflection to the spectrum in the energy range from ~3 to 12 keV. The reflected spectrum is an evidence of the supercritical disk funnel, where the illuminating radiation comes from deeper funnel regions, to be further reflected in the outer visible funnel walls (r ≥ 2 ⋅ 1011 cm). The illuminating spectrum is similar to that observed in ULXs, its luminosity has to be no less than ~1039 erg/s. A soft excess has been detected, that does not depend on the thermal jet model details. It may be represented as a BB with a temperature of Tbb ≈ 0.1 keV and luminosity of Lbb~3 ⋅ 1037 erg/s. The soft spectral component has about the same parameters as those found in ULXs.


This paper considers the environmental policy and welfare implications of a merger between environment firms (i.e., firms managing environmental resources or supplying pollution abatement goods and services). The traditional analysis of mergers in Cournot oligopolies is extended in two ways. First, we show how environmental policy affects the incentives of environment firms to merge. Second, we stress that mergers in the eco-industry impact welfare beyond what is observed in other sectors, due to an extra effect on pollution abatement efforts; this might lead to disagreements between an anti-trust agency seeking to limit market concentration which can be detrimental to consumer surplus and a benevolent regulator who maximizes total welfare.


It is a cliche to say that we live in a globalized world in which investment flows, communications and the operations of multinationals from all parts of the world have changed the character of the international business environment. But the easy concept of globalization poses as many questions as it answers and it is the purpose of this book to address these challenges. In Governments, Globalization, and International Business a prestigious group of international scholars explore in detail the consequences of globalization defined as the deepening structural interdependence of the world economy. In Part 1 John Dunning, Richard Lipsey, Susan Strange and Stephen Kobrin analyse these changes from different disciplinary perspectives and intellectual backgrounds. The basic question they address is what are the consequences of globalization on the nature, form, and level of domestic economic activity?. In doing so, they also consider the increasing mobility of knowledge and information, the role of international corporations, and the sovereignty of the nation state in the modern borderless world. In Part 2 the different experiences and policies of a number of economies are assessed in a series of country studies, These include the G7 countries as well as the developing East Asian economies, Latin America and smaller developed countries. In the final part John Stopford and Edward Graham stand back and look at the changing role of National and Supranational governance. In doing so they underscore a fundamental tenet of the volume, that globalization requires national governments to re-evaluate various factors of their systemic governance. Yet despite apparently convergent trends they argue there are no universal prescriptions for the way governments should respond to globalization, and the policy challenge is a more complex one than merely more or less government.


As the character goes through, no matter the video game, the landscape is continuously created. The avatar seems to be 'on the spot'. And it is by remaining 'on the spot,' that it moves in different worlds, connected by bridges and coexist within the same game. The Tide lists the overviews of a single landscape, with its different scales, its different gravites, its differents senses of reading. The notion of the unique landscape no longer exists: it can only be a plural entity in constant change. Our contemplation can no longer attach itself to an object and the overflow of information dispels our bearings. Things, as they have been named, have already disappeared. In these temporal vertigo, we can only, as a spectator, be subjected to this instability. It is like a delay imposed on us that we can only repeat. We can never be in sync, at the right time, in the right place. There are too many moments and too many places, there is no longer the « right ». The absence of boundaries questions the conception of space: is it possible to conceive a space, physical or mental, if it has no limits?


The study, the first of its kind in the Maltese Islands, reviewed crime in a spatio-temporal aspect
based on where offenders live, interact and commit crime. The study has sought to develop an
understanding of the Maltese Islands' crime within a social and landuse structure through the
employment of high-end GIS tools.
A study at European and Small Islands level resulted in a relative safety-danger dynamic score
model that shows that Malta is safe, though progressively decreasing in relative safety. A 40-year
analysis depicted increasing crime rates as well as changes in crime categories. Findings
highlight a high foreign prisoner component, highly-specific local-offender social situations with
residential and poverty clustering. The findings show that the Maltese offender is male, young, a
recidivist, increasingly less literate, has had a secondary education, single, unemployed and
increasingly partaking to serious crimes.
Residential analysis show a preference for the harbour region where offenders live in areas
characterised by poverty that have disproportionate offender concentrations when compared to
their shrinking population concentration. Offences committed by convicted offenders fall within
high dwelling concentrations, vacant dwelling concentrations, apartment zones and low
population density areas. Offender-offence findings show that Maltese offenders commit crime
close to their residence mostly travelling less than 5 km.
Reported offence analysis results in high summer rates, with specific weekend to weekday
differences, concentrated in a relatively small area within the conurbation with unique hotspots
in fringe recreational localities. An analysis of landuse categories identified that residential areas
host the highest offence counts, particularly serious crimes, whilst retail-related crime activities
directly effect neighbourhoods through distance travelled from the retail entity.
Outputs from the research include a conceptual model based on the crime, social and landuse
constructs, a league-table of crime-mapping sites and the creation of a web-enabled Crimemap
system for the Maltese Islands.


Dogs with experimental high-output heart failure (HOF) exhibit marked retention of salt and water secondary to hypersecretion of both renin and aldosterone. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the systemic and intrarenal arteriolar action of angiotensin II (AII) in dogs with HOF and to provide additional information about the role of AII in low-output states. The intravenous infusion of a specific AII antagonist, [Sar1, Ala8]AII (6 mug/kg min-1), into conscious dogs with HOF decreased the mean arterial pressure (AP) from 101 +/- 7 to 83 +/- 7 mmHg (P less than 0.01) after 45 min of infusion. Intrarenal arterial infusion of the AII antagonist (0.2 and 2.0 mug/kg min-1) into anesthetized dogs with HOF also decreased AP and produced a marked increase in renal blood flow (RBF) with no changes in either creatinine clearance or sodium excretion. Similar results were obtained during the intrarenal infusion of the antagonist into sodium-depleted dogs and dogs with thoracic vena caval constriction, but not in normal dogs. The data demonstrate an important role for AII in the regulation of AP and RBF in high- and low-output states.


The national budget affects life and death via its allocations in areas such as traffic safety, flood control, public health and the like. When the cost-effectiveness of an intervention is evaluated, common effect measures are the number of lives extended (saved) and the expected lifeyears gained. The latter are usually adjusted for quality of life, giving QALYs, and discounted. In models that support decision making on the national aggregates, the subjects can be reduced to representative agents that are scored only on these dimensions. The lives extended measure is impartial to age and sex. The lifeyears measures deals better with the relative impact but is biased in age and sex, since young people have a higher life expectancy than the old and women have a higher life expectancy than men, and policy advice might reflect that bias. It seems advisable to devise a measure that is more impartial and fair with respect to the age groups and the sexes. An alternative is to value a single life at 100%, and to measure the lifeyears gain with respect to that 100%. In addition, rather than fine-tune policy with interpersonal utility comparisons, one could choose a utility norm for the representative agent. A possible norm for time preference and diminishing marginal utility of life is the square root. The square root is easier to communicate than logarithmic utility or some rate of discount, but has comparable effect. A life of 100 years then has value 10, a life of 25 years has value 5, so that by age 25 half of life is passed. The considerations of both 100% range and square root utility lead to the following age & sex adjusted gain measure. When a person has age a, experiences an event (accident, disease) with a life expectancy of d years, but might have an intervention such that the life expectancy could become e, then the current effect measures are the single life saved and the absolute lifeyears gain x = e - d, but the proposed compromise gain measure is g[x | a, d] = Sqrt[x / (a + d + x)]. The square root gives the utility of the representative agent, g gives the impact for interpersonal comparison, and aggregate utility is found by summing the a over the individuals i. For example, saving (from acute death, d = 0) a baby (a = 0) has the same value, namely 1, whether it is a boy (life expectancy at birth, x = 75.94) or girl (x = 80.71) (data Statistics Netherlands 2002). As another example, let the unit share s = x / (a + e) be 25% for one person and 81% for another person so that the last person would weigh more than three times as much in this respect. For above gain measure, g = Sqrt[s] and the weight ratio becomes 50% / 90%, so that the last person now weighs less than half so that there is more equality. The paper compares various gain measures within the context of social welfare maximization.


We theoretically as well as experimentally analyze tournaments in which one of the agents leads over the other before entering the tournament, that is, in which one of the competitors benefits from a head start. The principal may decide upon informing the agents about the degree of this asymmetry. She cannot commit to giving feedback ex ante or not and, thus, chooses the strategy that is optimal for her ex post. In equilibrium, the principal reveals information if the asymmetry is not too large. Our experimental findings qualitatively confirm our theoretical prediction. Moreover, behavior of the principal and the agents is well aligned to each other.


Interview with General T. R. Milton, retired U.S. Air Force general and former commander of Thirteenth Air Force. In the interview, Milton gives his opinions regarding various commanders, USAF traditions compared to those of other services, including discussions of uniforms and force cohesiveness, Air Force Chiefs of Staff, and Air Force execution of various Cold War policies. He also talks about his combat experience in the European Theater of World War II, gives his thoughts on command and leadership, and voices his concerns regarding the U.S. Air Force Academy, force organization, and command structure.


In this thesis the effect of ultrasonic agitation on the orientation and self-assembly of gold nanoparticles
was investigated on both SiO2 and HOPG substrates using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). For SiO2 substrates, the effect was analyzed using two different solutions; one (solution R) containing gold nanorods (GNRs) while the other (solution RS) contained both GNRs and gold nanospheres all with approximately equal dimensions. For HOPG substrates, only the solution containing GNRs was used. After synthesis of the solutions containing gold nanoparticles using the seed-mediated method, the solutions were investigated using UV-VIS spectroscopy in order to characterize them and verify the aspect ratio (AR) of the GNRs. Furthermore, the absorption spectra were simulated to determine the ARs of the GNRs more correctly by taking into account that the
ARs follow a normal distribution. Droplets were deposited on both types of substrates, of which some where left to dry undisturbed while others were placed in an ultrasonic bath. Evaporation of the solvent let to coffee-stain rings which were then further investigated using SEM and AFM. SEM images were used to measure the lengths and widths of GNRs to determine their ARs, to measure the lengths of chains of side-by-side assembled GNRs and to measure the angles of GNRs with respect to the step edges of HOPG. AFM images were used to determine the position of GNRs when aligned to step edges.
For SiO2 substrates, results suggest that ultrasonic agitation did not have a significant effect on solution
R during evaporation even though some of the assembled chains of GNRs were longer, but this is probably attributed to an unintentional rise in temperature of the ultrasonic bath during evaporation.
For solution RS, ultrasonic agitation did seem to have a tremendous effect. Instead of a neat phase separation with side-by-side assembled GNRs interspersed by regions of gold nanospheres which was seen in the undisturbed case, the gold nanospheres seem to have disappeared from the edge of the ring and GNR chains seem to be shorter. Results on HOPG also suggest that ultrasonic agitation has an effect, since GNRs are less often aligned parallel to step edges and seem to be near step edges less often in general. Further research should be done in order to rule out that the observations that were made were not caused by a rise in temperature during evaporation or other factors that had an
influence that were not kept constant.


The Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) entered its second phase of implementation in 2008. The creation of a free trade area is expected to affect its participants—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka—very differently given their diversity in terms of size, income, and structure of trade and protection. Using the 2004 MAcMapHS6-v2 database on measures of applied protection at the HS6 level and MIRAGE, a computable general equilibrium global model, this study examines the effects of SAFTA on trade and net income in the region. The magnitude of the effects will depend on initial levels of protection in the region and whether the agreement is trade diverting or trade creating. An important component of the SAFTA agreement is the exemption of products (sensitive list) from the trade liberalization process. Because such exclusion can restrict significantly the benefits from the regional trade agreement, we simulate the effects of SAFTA with and without sensitive products. Our findings show that among South Asian countries, Sri Lanka gains the most from the agreement because it initially has relatively low tariffs and faces high tariffs in the region. Exempting sensitive products from the agreement limits gains from trade for the lower-middle-income members of SAFTA but may be welfare enhancing for the least developed economies.


-The paper reviews several Complex Network Theory (CNT) based methodologies to model and analyze interconnected networks. To address the deficiencies reported in past studies, an advanced model of coupled Electric Power System (EPS) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is developed. The new model is designed as a three-dimensional graph with edges and nodes, and it highlights the interaction and interdependency of both EPS and ICT. The criticality of each component within the interconnected system is investigated by analyzing the efficiency-weighted node degree of each node symbolizing the components. The model has been tested on an ICT supported 14-Bus distribution network under three different loading conditions. Results show that the coupled infrastructure complies with the typical characteristics of scale-free network [1]. It is also shown the ICT system, although smaller in scale, contains more critical hubs than the power distribution network. The results of the proposed approach can be used as a reference to analyze the criticality in other coupled infrastructure by incorporating the internal characteristics of coupled systems.


We study empirically how past exposure to conflict in origin countries makes migrants more violent prone in their host country, focusing on asylum seekers in Switzerland. We exploit a novel and unique dataset on all crimes reported in Switzerland by nationalities of perpetrators and victims over the period 2009‐2012. Causal analysis relies on the fact that asylum seekers are  exogenously  allocated  across  the  Swiss  territory  by  the  federal  administration.  Our baseline result is that cohorts exposed to civil conflicts/mass killings during childhood are on average  40  percent more  prone  to  violent  crimes  than  their  co‐nationals  born  after  the conflict. The effect is stable through the lifecycle and is attenuated for women, for property crimes and for low‐intensity conflicts. Further, a bilateral crime regression shows that conflict exposed cohorts have a higher propensity  to  target victims  from  their own nationality  ‐‐a piece  of  evidence  that we  interpret  as  persistence  in  intra‐national  grievances.  Last, we exploit cross‐region heterogeneity  in public policies within Switzerland to document which integration policies are able to mitigate the detrimental effect of past conflict exposure on violent criminality. In particular, we find that offering labor market access to asylum seekers eliminates all the effect. JEL Classification: D74, F22, K42 and Z18


This paper analyses the properties of jackknife estimators of the first-order autoregressive coefficient when the time series of interest contains a unit root. It is shown that, when the sub-samples do not overlap, the sub-sample estimators have different limiting distributions from the full-sample estimator and, hence, the jackknife estimator in its usual form does not eliminate fully the first-order bias as intended. The joint moment generating function of the numerator and denominator of these limiting distributions is derived and used to calculate the expectations that determine the optimal jackknife weights. Two methods of avoiding this procedure are proposed and investigated, one based on inclusion of an intercept in the regressions, the other based on adjusting the observations in the sub-samples. Extensions to more general augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) regressions are also considered. In addition to the theoretical results extensive simulations reveal the impressive bias reductions that can be obtained with these computationally simple jackknife estimators and they also highlight the importance of correct lag-length selection in ADF regressions.


Five community health and care partnerships were established in April 2006 and are jointly managed by Glasgow City Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The South West CHCP will be the first next generation styled development to be delivered at Craigton Road. The building is designed to fully integrate with the surrounding landscape. It will provide a "one stop shop" offering a comprehensive range of community care services for older people, adults and children and their families and shall accommodate both community and voluntary organisations. The linear form of the building addresses the M8 motorway to the South, whilst the roof and end profile of the structural bays break down the mass and reduce the scale of building within the residential context of Craigton Road. The selection of Corten cladding reflects the area's dynamic shipbuilding heritage. Aerofoil roofs, orientated to maximise north light, are arranged in six bays which provide a coherent rhythm to the architecture measured at 5,700m² over two levels. The building is arranged as a sequence of spaces and thresholds, gradually becoming more private, organised around internal and external courtyards that allow connection back to natural light and air. Awards 2008 RSA ROYAL GOLD MEDAL for ARCHITECTURE Exhibited at RSA 2008 annual exhibition


The spread of breast cancer worldwide and the need for new technologies to improve breast cancer detection present a challenge to the standard medical screening methods. Tumour detection, in the early stages, is crucial if patients are to be treated effectively and with minimally invasive procedures. Thus, any technique that can improve on, or add to, existing breast tumour detection methods is welcome. In this thesis just such a technique based on near-field microwave imaging is investigated, both theoretically and experimentally. The electromagnetic waves interaction with dielectric structure is fundamental for any microwave application. Thus it is essential to understand the interaction of the microwaves radiated from the sensor (open-ended rectangular waveguide) with the breast structure under investigation. A detailed mathematical model describing the interaction of microwaves emitted from an open rectangular wave-guide with an N-layer dielectric structure is developed, using the Fourier Transform Matching method. The model is capable of calculating the electric field properties anywhere within the N-layer structure, as well as the complex reflection coefficient existing at the waveguide aperture. Computer simulations, based on the mathematical formulations derived using the Fourier Transform Matching method, of the near-field radiation patterns in a 3-layer approximation to the general N-layer model are presented. Such simulations are most useful in assessing the suitability of near-field microwave non-invasive testing and evaluation (NIT&E) technique for breast tumour detection. In addition, simulated 1-D and 2-D reflection phase and magnitude images are calculated and presented for the 3layer structure with an inclusion to represent the presence of a tumour. Parameters controlling the detection sensitivity, specifically the frequency of operation, waveguide filling, and standoff distance dielectric filling, are investigated to obtain the optimal 2 parameters for the inspection system. The theoretical simulations show that a high sensitivity in both reflection coefficient magnitude and phase should be obtainable. Experimental measurements of the reflection coefficient magnitude and phase when imaging a breast phantom that imitates real breast dielectric properties contrast are also presented. The phantom comprises a plexiglass container filled with soybean oil to represent normal breast tissue, with a small balloon filled with diacetin solution to represent the tumour. Both uncalibrated and calibrated measurements of reflection coefficient magnitude and phase were performed. The microwave source comprised an open-ended rectangular waveguide operating in the frequency range of approximately 8.2 to 12.4 GHz. Calibrated measurements were performed using a slotted waveguide system. An in-depth analysis between calibrated measurements and simulation results for a simple dielectric structure is illustrated to verify the simulation results. Then, calibrated measurements for breast phantom are obtained. Finally, a theoretical-versusexperimental qualitative assessment for the breast phantom verifies the mathematical model developed in the thesis. Thus, a near-field microwave non-invasive detection prototype is designed to experimentally detect tumour presence via measuring the sensor's aperture reflection coefficient.


The study explored the extent of open access, institutional repositories, and scholarly publishing of academic librarians. Population of the study was 67. It comprised academic librarians in University of Nigeria (50), Enugu State University of Technology (6), Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (6), and Anambra State University (5). 52 (77. 61%) copies of the questionnaire were returned and 45 (86.54%) were found usable. Data were collected by a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire contained 38 questions which were divided into six sections. Responses from respondents were analyzed using percentages and mean scores. Findings of the study showed that librarians were aware of institutional repository, scholarly publication and open access journals. However, only 13.33% have published in open access journals. Five (11 .11%) of respondents did not agree that librarians are familiar with vendor licensing and copyright laws.


'Tales of dread' is a genre that has received scant attention in aesthetics. In this paper, I aim to elaborate an account of tales of dread which (1) effectively distinguishes these from horror stories, and (2) helps explain the close affinity between the two, accommodating borderline cases. I briefly consider two existing accounts of the genre – namely, those of Noël Carroll and of Cynthia Freeland – and show why they are inadequate for my purposes. I then develop my own account of tales of dread, drawing on two theoretical resources: Freud's 'The "Uncanny"', and Tzvetan Todorov's The Fantastic. In particular, I draw on Freud to help distinguish tales of dread from horror stories, and I draw on Todorov to help explain the fluidity between the genres. I argue that both horror stories and tales of dread feature apparent impossibilities which are threatening; but whereas in horror stories the existence of the monster (the apparent impossibility) is confirmed, tales of dread are sustained by the audience's uncertainty pertaining to preternatural objects or events. Where horror monsters pose an immediate, concrete danger to the subject's physical well-being, these preternatural objects or events pose a psychological threat to the subject's grasp of reality.


The dynamic adsorption isotherms of CO2-EGR were measured by using a Intelligent Gravimetric Analysis system.In the beginning stage of CO2 injection, all the injected CO2 enters into the adsorbent and the mole fraction of CH4 (yCH4) keeps 1.0. The CH4 recovery factor (RCH4) increases. The during of this stage (tcd) depends on the selectivity of CO2 over CH4 ( SCO2/CH4). A adsorbent with large SCO2/CH4 has long tCD. When SCO2/CH4 is greater than 1.0, CO2 reduces the fraction of CH4 in the adsorbed phase (xCH4) and more CH4 is driven out. In the second stage,the injected CO2 competes with CH4 for adsorption. The cumulative RCH4 of this stage is much larger than that of the initial stage. However, yCH4 decrease sharply. pCH4 in the whole CO2 injection is always larger than that before CO2 injection, suggesting CH4 desorption results from the displacement by CO2 rather than from pressure depletion.


Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) support numerous ecosystem functions in livestock-grazed pastures. Exposure to veterinary anthelmintic residues in livestock dung can have lethal and sublethal effects on dung beetles, and can reduce rates of dung removal, but the immediate and longer-term consequences for other dung beetle mediated functions have rarely been studied. We investigated the consequences of anthelmintic exposure on survival of the dung beetle Aphodius fossor and its delivery of four ecosystems functions that underpin pasture production: dung removal, soil fauna feeding activity, primary productivity, and reduction of soil compaction. We tested whether anthelmintic exposure had immediate or delayed effects on these functions individually and simultaneously (i.e., ecosystem multifunctionality). We found no evidence that ivermectin residues had a lethal effect on adult beetles. For dung removal, we found a significant interaction between the timing of exposure and functioning: while dung removal was impaired by concurrent exposure to high levels of ivermectin, functioning was unaffected when beetles that had been exposed previously to the same concentration of anthelmintic later interacted with untreated dung. Other ecosystem functions were not affected significantly by anthelmintic exposure, and there was no evidence to suggest any persistent impact of anthelmintic exposure on ecosystem multifunctionality. While anthelmintic residues remain a significant threat to dung beetle populations, for adult beetles, we found no evidence that residues have detrimental consequences for ecosystem functioning beyond the immediate point of exposure.


The transportation of goods and people is at the heart of the industrial society. Yet transportation relies heavily upon oil – a scarce fossil fuel that contributes to climate change and local air pollution. The term 'electromobility' refers to an alternative transportation system based on vehicles propelled by electricity. Electromobility is increasingly seen as favourable in that it could circumvent problems related to both oil and biofuels whilst meeting our mobility needs and desires.
However, the virtue of electromobility is not uncontested and a range of questions demand an answer: if electric vehicles are energy efficient; if they are safe; how environmental friendly they are; if metal resource scarcity will limit their use; to what extent driving patterns shape or are shaped by new types of vehicles; if electromobility is suitable only for cars and not for heavy vehicles, or vice versa; and what type of new business models and governmental policy support that is required to stimulate demand for electric vehicles.

There is not one final answer to questions like these. However, studying electromobility from different systems perspectives can help to resolve such complex issues. The seventeen chapters of Systems Perspectives on Electromobility 2017 address different topics related to the immensely important issue of whether – and to what extent – our transport systems can and should be energised by electricity.


ImageNet-1K serves as the primary dataset for pretraining deep learning models for computer vision tasks. ImageNet-21K dataset, which is bigger and more diverse, is used less frequently for pretraining, mainly due to its complexity, low accessibility, and underestimation of its added value. This paper aims to close this gap, and make high-quality efficient pretraining on ImageNet-21K available for everyone. Via a dedicated preprocessing stage, utilization of WordNet hierarchical structure, and a novel training scheme called semantic softmax, we show that various models significantly benefit from ImageNet-21K pretraining on numerous datasets and tasks, including small mobile-oriented models. We also show that we outperform previous ImageNet-21K pretraining schemes for prominent new models like ViT and Mixer. Our proposed pretraining pipeline is efficient, accessible, and leads to SoTA reproducible results, from a publicly available dataset. The training code and pretrained models are available at: https://github.com/Alibaba-MIIL/ImageNet21K


The sound intensity patterns of two G1 handbells were investigated. One bell is aluminum and the other is traditional bronze. The results indicate that the aluminum bell has a better radiation efficiency for the (2,0) mode fundamental (f=49 Hz). Sound intensity was mapped for the two tuned modes of vibration: the (2,0) and (3,0) modes. The parametric radiation (twice the mode frequency) was significant for both modes, especially the (3,0). The measurement of both active and reactive sound intensity reveals a better picture of the sound field than sound pressure alone. Both of the bells are poor radiators of the fundamental because of their small dimensions compared to the sound wavelength in air. [Both bells on loan from Malmark, Inc.]


In the most sweeping claim yet made for Milton's puritanism, Georgia B. Christopher holds that the great poet assimilated classical literature through Reformation categories, not humanist ones. Examining Milton's major works against the beliefs of Luther and Calvin, she shows how his poetry reflects their view of Scripture, the extra-literary properties they accorded God's speech, and the responses they expected of readers.Originally published in 1982.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


Summary

Riverine floodplains around the world are highly prone to invasions by exotic species. While many processes have contributed to floodplain invasions, two theories have received particular attention: (i) replacement of native perennials by exotic annuals following historical livestock grazing and (ii) 'terrestrialization' because of fewer floods following river regulation.
We assessed how exclusion of grazers and flooding in different seasons affected established populations of exotic annuals in an 8-year experiment. We hypothesized that effects of season of flooding would vary depending on timing in relation to annual plant life cycles and that outcomes may be affected by interactions between grazing and flooding.
Flooding in any season reduced exotic annuals to <2% cover and converted a dryland flora dominated by exotic annuals to a wetland flora dominated by native perennials. However, flood effects may be short lived, as areas flooded in 1 year supported abundant exotics the next. Grazer exclusion and interactions between grazing and flooding did not affect cover of exotic annuals, although grazing depleted native perennials in recently flooded areas.
Synthesis and applications. Consistent with the terrestrialization hypothesis, short-duration floods provide a practical method for controlling exotic annual plants where river regulation has reduced the frequency of natural floods. As exotic impacts are greatest in dry periods, when exotics are most abundant, ecosystem benefits will be greatest when flooding leads to a protracted decline in exotic annuals during the dry (non-inundated) years following flood recession. Otherwise, reductions in exotic annuals may be transient and have little positive impact on floodplain ecosystems and processes.


The spectral compositions (bandwidth 0.4 to 4.5 Hz) of the P codas of 108 explosions and 225 earthquakes recorded at LASA are the basis of a technique by which all earthquakes studied are discriminated successfully from all Semipalatinsk explosions. Such complete separation is not achieved, however, for the full set of presumed Russian explosions. The lack of detectable change in frequency content of P signals in the distance range 30° to 90° suggests a very high Qp value for the central mantle. This result, together with the observed rate of amplitude decay for long-period S waves, implies Qs for the central mantle is high while Qs values for the crust-upper mantle and lower mantle are very low.


Abstract The textural and paragenetic relationships of sulphide and sulphosalt minerals within Cu−Pb−SB−Bi hydrothermal vein mineralization at the Apollo mine, Siegerland, Germany, are interpreted in terms of various reaction sequences. An earlier primary sulphide mineralization hosted within a siderite vein of the Siegerland type, with pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena as main component phases, has been overprinted by Sb-, Bi- and Cu-rich fluids. This superposition resulted in the formation of new quartz-stibnite veins, and various mineral reactions with the primary sulphides including the formation of the sulphosalt minerals semseyite, tetrahedrite, meneghinite, jaskolskiite, boulangerite, bournonite and zinkenite. Based on microprobe analyses of reaction pairs and determination of mineral proportions in some cases, a series of quantitative data for each mineral reaction may be generated. This, in turn, allows for the construction of isocon diagrams permitting the relative mobility and immobility of all chemical elements involved in each reaction to be discussed. Two stages of reactive replacement are identified, characterized by immobile behaviour of S and supply of Sb and Cu during the first stage and relative immobility of S and Sb with no further supply of metals during the second stage. Formation of sulphosalts inside the siderite vein during the first stage is interpreted as a decrease of disequilibrium between hydrothermal fluids and pre-existing vein minerals. Replacement processes of the second stage are interpreted as an equilibration of geochemical contrasts between different points within the siderite vein and also between the siderite and quartz-stibnite vein systems. The geochemical evolution of fluid composition during the entire mineralizing event may therefore be modelled, based on the transfer of chemical components reflected in the succession of mineral reactions. Such an approach has applications to comparable polyphase mineralization sequences, in which an understanding of fluid evolution patterns may greatly assist in the development of genetic models for mineral deposits. Solid-state diffusion and grainboundary diffusion are considered to be the dominant mechanisms for short-range mass transport, whereas diffusion of ionic and complex species through the fluid is considered to be of major importance in long-range mass transport.