Abstract. In 2016–2018, the ObsErvation of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) project undertook three major field campaigns in the Southeast (SE) Atlantic Ocean using research aircraft to better understand the impact of biomass burning (BB) aerosol transport to the SE Atlantic Ocean on climate. In particular, ORACLES was designed to investigate how BB aerosols interact with oceanic stratocumulus clouds, and how that interaction affects the radiation budget. Here, a meteorological analysis has been performed to support the interpretation of the airborne measurements for aerosol transport and its interaction with clouds during the deployments of September 2016, August 2017, and October 2018.The southern African easterly jet (AEJ-S), represented by the zonal wind at 600–700 hPa < −6 m s−1 with entrance over land and exit over the ocean around 5–15° S, is a dominant feature of the mid-level circulation over western Africa during austral winter and spring (August, September, and October). AEJ-S develops at lower altitudes (~3 km, 700 hPa) in the north (5–10° S) in August, while it develops at around 4 km (~600 hPa) in the south (5–15° S) in September and October, largely driven by the strong sensible heating over the African plateau. AEJ-S advects air plumes that are both aerosol-laden and moist, implying a clear potential impact by both on SE Atlantic stratocumulus. Benguela low-level jet (LLJ) also develops off the Namibian coast in the SE Atlantic for all three months. Low-level cloud fraction (low-CF) is positively associated with low-level tropospheric stability (LTS) and negatively associated with boundary layer height (BLH). This relationship is especially strong in September and weaker in August and October. Correlation analysis indicates that simple relationships among low-CF, LTS, and BLH break up when rapidly varying large-scale flow and mid-latitude frontal systems intrude.There are some notable meteorological anomalous characteristics for the three deployment months compared to the climatology: 1) During August 2017, the AEJ-S is slightly weaker than the climatological mean with an anomalous upper-level jet aloft (~6 km) around 10° S. The AEJ-S strength and moisture transport offshore increase at the end of August 2017. August 2017 is also drier over the SE Atlantic than climatology, with a stronger (by ~2 m s−1) LLJ. The large-scale anticyclone associated with St. Helena high in the SE Atlantic is stronger and closer to the coast than the climatological mean. 2) During September 2016, the AEJ-S intensity is slightly weaker than the climatological mean and the mid-level RH is slightly higher than the climatological mean, although differences are small. The LLJ is stronger (~1 m s−1) than the climatological mean. The large-scale anticyclone associated with St. Helena high in the SE Atlantic is stronger than the climatological mean. 3) During October 2018, the AEJ-S is slightly weaker than the climatological mean and slightly wetter compared to the climatological mean. LLJ is also weaker compared to the climatological mean. The large-scale anticyclone associated with St. Helena high in the SE Atlantic is slightly weaker and further southeast than the climatological mean. Precipitation regions migrate southward from August through October due to seasonal change. During all the deployment years, the sea surface temperatures (SST) over the SE Atlantic are warmer than the climatological means, although its impact on low-CF over the deployment region remains unclear at the daily to synoptic time scale.


This project improved the accuracy of air flow measurements used in commissioning California heating and air conditioning systems in Title 24 (Building and Appliance Efficiency Standards), thereby improving system performance and efficiency of California residences. The research team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addressed the issue that typical tools used by contractors in the field to test air flows may not be accurate enough to measure return flows used in Title 24 applications. The team developed guidance on performance of current diagnostics as well as a draft test method for use in future evaluations. The series of tests performed measured air flow using a range of techniques and devices. The measured air flows were compared to reference air flow measurements using inline air flow meters built into the test apparatus. The experimental results showed that some devices had reasonable results (typical errors of 5 percent or less) but others had much bigger errors (up to 25 percent). Because manufacturers' accuracy estimates for their equipment do not include many of the sources of error found in actual field measurements (and replicated in the laboratory testing in this study) it is essential for a test method that could be used to determinemore » the actual uncertainty in this specific application. The study team prepared a draft test method through ASTM International to determine the uncertainty of air flow measurements at residential heating ventilation and air conditioning returns and other terminals. This test method, when finalized, can be used by the Energy Commission and other entities to specify required accuracy of measurement devices used to show compliance with standards.« less


Sound is an important element that can make video games more realistic and immersive. It is essential to the genre of survival horror, as it has the known ability to cause certain emotions in players. Aside from scaring players, sound can be used to give information about the game state in the form of audio cues. While previous research into audio cues was mostly non-empirical, they have provided interesting observations, such as the possibility of unreliable audio cues increasing fear in players. This work studies the effects of audio cues on players' levels of fear in an experiment using a modified version of an existing survival horror game, Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Thirty participants were exposed to two game conditions: (a) normal audio cues, and (b) mixed audio cues that give incorrect information about the game state. Participants were asked to rate their fear levels verbally during gameplay, and in a survey after gameplay. Results showed no statistically significant difference in fear ratings between the two conditions. However, it was observed that players' fear levels increase if the game starts with reliable audio cues that eventually become unreliable. Additionally, participants got more scared of an encounter with a monster without reliable audio cues. Results also showed a dependent relationship between game difficulty, participants' fear rating, and enjoyment rating. Our study provides implications for game developers to make scarier and more effective horror games.


Alignment between IS and the business has been broadly acknowledged as key to IS and business success. Considerable work has been done on modelling the process of alignment between IS and business strategies and structures. However, the way in which alignment changes over time as external circumstances change is not well understood. Given the rapidly changing environment in which many businesses operate, this is a key concern. This paper develops an internal response lag model as a means of investigating the dynamics of alignment from the perspective of IS and business managers. The model is illustrated using a broad based questionnaire and a series of interviews. Initial research outcomes are positive, and therefore a programme of further research in this area is proposed.


Archaea are widespread and abundant in many terrestrial and aquatic environments, and are thus outside extreme environments, accounting for up to ~10% of the prokaryotes. Compared to bacteria and other microorganisms, however, very little is known about the abundance, diversity, and dispersal of archaea in the atmosphere. By means of DNA analysis and Sanger sequencing targeting the 16S rRNA (435 sequences) and amoA genes in samples of air particulate matter collected over 1 year at a continental sampling site in Germany, we obtained first insights into the seasonal dynamics of airborne archaea. The detected archaea were identified as Thaumarchaeota or Euryarchaeota , with soil Thaumarchaeota (group I.1b) being present in all samples. The normalized species richness of Thaumarchaeota correlated positively with relative humidity and negatively with temperature. This together with an increase in bare agricultural soil surfaces may explain the diversity peaks observed in fall and winter. The detected Euryarchaeota were mainly predicted methanogens with a low relative frequency of occurrence. A slight increase in their frequency during spring may be linked to fertilization processes in the surrounding agricultural fields. Comparison with samples from the Cape Verde islands (72 sequences) and from other coastal and continental sites indicates that the proportions of Euryarchaeota are enhanced in coastal air, which is consistent with their suggested abundance in marine surface waters. We conclude that air transport may play an important role in the dispersal of archaea, including assumed ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota and methanogens.


Exhaustive studies in contrastive linguistics have shown that in the field of language education the learner's mother tongue is of great importance (Apeltauer 1997). It is crucial to take this in consideration when teaching a foreign language. For most Filipinos--who do not speak just one language, but several, including English--possession of English as a second language becomes both an advantage and disadvantage in learning foreign languages.


How do the successors to authoritarian ruling parties influence subsequent democratic party competition? The existing literature does not distinguish among these parties, nor does it differentiate among the distinct strategies of their adaptation to the collapse of authoritarian rule. As a result, the impact of these parties on democracy has been unclear and difficult to discern. Yet, using a novel data set with observations from postcommunist Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, I find that the exit of authoritarian ruling parties from power and their subsequent reinvention as committed democratic competitors are powerfully associated with robust democratic party competition. Mixed effects regressions and estimates of treatment effects show that authoritarian exit and reinvention promote the success of democratic party competition.


Dual-ended line testing (DELT) is a common capability in most current modems and can be used for digital subscriber line (DSL) qualification and monitoring purposes. In spite of that, this feature remains largely unexplored in the literature. This paper proposes a new method based on wavelets and DELT measurements for estimating the total length of the line under test and identification of bridged-taps, two important line parameters that affect the maximum bit rate reached by a DSL line. The proposed method was tested with measurements employing real twisted-pair cables and obtained reasonably accurate results for the analyzed cases.


The survival of family farming in British agriculture has long been a topic of interest for
rural researchers and is undergoing something of a current renewal of interest. However,
insights from feminist approaches remain underutilised despite the crucial role farming
women continue to play in family farming. This article addresses the unity of farm,
family and business by interpreting it as a patriarchal way of life. An ethnographically
informed repeated life history methodology is employed to study in detail the family
members of seven farms in rural mid-Wales. Findings show that the recent survival of
the family farms investigated has been heavily dependent upon compliance with a
patriarchal ideology that demands that women be 'as good as gold'. However, it is
discovered that a new view of women is emerging in the world of British family farming,
that of 'gold digger'. Women entering relationships with farming men are increasingly
being considered a threat to farm survival by virtue of their entitlements if the relationship
breaks down. The necessity to study the intricacies of personal relationships in
family farming has important implications for most future research into this form of
agricultural business arrangement.


At Skarmunken, a small village south of Ullsfjord, northern Troms, Norway, an outcrop containing carbonate concretions have been investigated. From sedimentary logging, five facies (facies A-E) have been classified by their grading and composition. Depositional data from logs, maximum pebble size (MPS) and earlier investigations suggests an ice-contact delta. TOC/TS data have revealed a dominantly nonmarine depositional environment for the lower half of the outcrop, with one occurrence of marine environment. The occurring carbonate concretions is indicated to have formed in two different processes, where the stratabound concretions are suggested to have formed by local buried carbon sources in the sediments and the carbonate concretions located in sand injections are suggested be the result of fluid migration. The precipitation processes of the carbonate concretions are indicated to be from both hydrocarbon oxidation and oxidation of buried carbon. Environmental data and the local geology suggest a biogenic carbon source for the precipitation of the carbonates. Carbonate concretions samples revealed one main morphology, horizontal vertical pipe concretions. Additional investigated morphologies were horizontal-subvertical intergrown pipes with plate surfaces, chimneys, blocky boulder and spherulites concretion. Thin section analyzes of the concretions suggests calcium carbonate cementation and a trend of channelized cementation paths. The carbonate concretions were commonly observed to accompany the extensive sand injections in the area, where the sand injections are indicated to be the result of fluidization of a fine-grained sand and mud sequence, caused by rapid sediment deposition and glacial compaction. The occurrence of carbonate concretions inside the sand injections, thin section analysis and concretion morphologies indicate fluid migration control over the distribution of the carbonates and the concretion morphology. Observations of the sand injections and carbonate concretions behavior in the sediments, indicate that the heterogeneity of the seep sediments controls the pathway for the sand injections and subsequent also the morphology of the carbonate concretions. Spherulitic carbonate concretions appear to form from different processes than the other carbonate morphologies and may form due to special chemical conditions in the sediments.


Policy makers typically interpret positive relations between venture capital investments and innovations as an evidence that venture capital investments stimulate innovation ("VC-first hypothesis"). This interpretation is, however, one-sided because there may be a reverse causality that innovations induce venture capital investments ("innovation-first hypothesis"): an arrival of new technology increases demands for venture capital by driving new firm startups. We analyze this causality issue of venture capital investments and innovation in the US manufacturing industry using both total factor productivity (TFP) growth and patent counts as measures of innovation. Using a panel AR regression as well as industry-by-industry AR regressions, we find that TFP growth is often positively and significantly related with future VC investment, which is consistent with the innovation-first hypothesis. We find little evidence that supports the VC-first hypothesis. More surprisingly, one-year lagged VC investments are often negatively and significantly related with both TFP growth and patent counts.


Temporary brittle bone disease has been proposed again as an alternative explanation for suspected non-accidental injury. This is still not considered a real entity by mainstream opinion. The recent publications remind us to look carefully for alternative explanations and to investigate for predisposing bone disorders thoroughly.

When a child presents with unexplained skeletal injury, the age, history of presentation and level of mobility of the child is important. The absence of a clear history to explain an injury raises the issue of non-accidental skeletal injury (NASI). It is also important to consider any underlying bone disorder that might predispose a bone fracturing with normal handling force.

NASI has medicolegal implications for children and parents. In the UK, experts must provide balanced and impartial evidence to assist the court. Lawyers are instructed by the various parties but the expert is independent. Against this background the judge balances contrary medical expert evidence and opinion. Many alternative explanations have to be considered. Courts are faced with issues of scientific hypothesis, leading edge research and epidemiological data but court is not the best arena for scientific discussion.

Paterson first proposed the concept of temporary brittle bone disease (TBBD) in 1993.1 He described a personal series of 39 children who had unexplained fractures in the first year of life. He proposed TBBD as a transient predisposition to fracture with normal handling force, without any bruising, proven medical diagnosis or biochemical abnormality. They suggested this was due to temporary immaturity or fragility of collagen related to trace element deficiency (eg, copper) or transient osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). They provided no specific test to confirm TBBD. There was no complete data table on their 39 cases and there was a lack of comprehensive bone biochemistry results. TBBD presented a theoretical and attractively benign explanation for suspected NASI …


Background: Sporadic Alzheimer's Disease (SAD) is caused by genetic risk factors, aging and oxidative stresses. The herbal extract of Rosa canina (R. canina), Tanacetum vulgare (T. vulgare) and Urtica dioica (U. dioica) has a beneficial role in aging, as an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative agent. In this study, the neuroprotective effects of this herbal extract in the rat model of SAD was investigated. Methods: The rats were divided into control, sham, model, herbal extract -treated and ethanol-treated groups. Drug interventions were started on the 21st day after modeling and each treatment group was given the drugs by intraperitoneal (I.P.) route for 21 days. The expression levels of the five important genes for pathogenesis of SAD including Syp, Psen1, Mapk3, Map2 and Tnf-α were measured by qPCR between the hippocampi of SAD model which were treated by this herbal extract and control groups. The Morris Water Maze was adapted to test spatial learning and memory ability of the rats. Results: Treatment of the rat model of SAD with herbal extract induced a significant change in expression of Syp (p=0.001) and Psen1 (p=0.029). In Morris Water Maze, significant changes in spatial learning seen in the rat model group were improved in herbal-treated group. Conclusion: This herbal extract could have anti-dementia properties and improve spatial learning and memory in SAD rat model.


This study aims to provide empirical evidence on community acceptance of mining sector. The survey involved in particular the department of environment in all regencies / cities in Lampung province. This survey model is very effective in obtaining data that is suitable for target participants, relatively faster because access to mining locations is easier, and cheaper. The questionnaire was compiled using simple sentences to avoid the possible maturation in a prolonged survey. There are seven variables measured in this study. First is governance, measured by the existence of rules and legislation. The assumption is that these rules and regulations can ensure companies carry out mining activities according to the rules and the government can guarantee the accountability of mining companies. The second is mining acceptance, measured by tolerance, accept, approve, and embrace. Third is living cost, measured by how much the community sacrifices to fulfill basic needs. Fourth is environmental cost, measured by environmental quality (low pollution). Fifth, improving infrastructure, measured by improvements and facilities in supporting economic activities. Sixth is the impact of other industries, measured by the growth of other industry sectors, and the seventh is increasing welfare and greater employment opportunities for the community. The study found empirical evidence that public acceptance of mining companies is influenced by several factors, including the cost of living, quality of the environment, community involvement, improved infrastructure, the impact of other industries, and public welfare.


In order to give more sights into the melting (and solidification) heat transfer processes of nano-enhanced phase change material (NePCM) with invisible phase interfaces, a novel indirect method for tracking the phase interface by thermochromic liquid crystal (TLC) thermography is proposed. As an example case to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, the classical problem of melting heat transfer in a differentially heated rectangular cavity was revisited in the presence of NePCM of various loadings. A narrowband TLC was selected and calibrated carefully to build the hue–temperature relationship prior to being applied in the melting experiments. For validation purpose, the case of an unloaded NePCM, with a clear visible phase interface, was tested via combined direct and indirect observations. It was shown that this TLC method can easily and accurately capture the dynamic motions of the phase interface during melting. Based on the shape evolutions of the phase interface, it was concluded that for the NePCM sample with a higher loading (and hence a much greater viscosity), heat conduction becomes the dominant mode of heat transfer during melting as a result of the significantly deteriorated natural convection effect. This gives an intuitive confirmation of the hypothesis made in previous studies that were conducted using volume-average-based indirect methods.


Although great progress has been made during the last decades to overcome cancer, this disease still remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. A promising development in cancer research is targeted therapy, where tumors are treated locally, thereby preventing damage to the surrounding healthy tissue. Local therapy can be achieved in different ways. For example, nanocarriers can be loaded with chemotherapeutic compounds and systemically administered into the blood stream. By encapsulation of the drugs in these carriers, their solubility, stability and pharmacokinetic properties can be improved. Furthermore, microparticles offer excellent opportunities for targeted drug delivery. Embolotherapy involves the administration of microparticles with a size between 15 – 1200 µm into the tumor-feeding artery by catheterization. The microspheres lodge in the tumor-feeding artery and thereby block the blood flow, causing a lack of nutrient and oxygen supply to the tumor which finally leads to necrosis of the tumor tissue. Beside targeted therapy with nano- and microparticles, local tumor therapy can also be achieved by external modalities, such as high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), which enables accurate ablation of malignant tissue. Next to tumor ablation, HIFU is also able to trigger drug release from nanocarriers such as polymeric micelles and liposomes to improve treatment outcome. In this dissertation, it is shown that an additional mechanism, opposed to temperature elevation or cavitation, two commonly known effects of HIFU exposure, is responsible for the release of both hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds. The release most likely originates from radiation force-induced acoustic streaming, resulting in shear forces causing reversible destabilization of the nanoparticles and subsequently release of the loaded compounds. This new release mechanism could mean a paradigm shift in HIFU-triggered drug release which brings the field of triggered drug release a major step forward. Beside novel nanoparticles, this thesis describes the development and characterization of microspheres which can be visualized with multimodality medical imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and X-ray imaging techniques like fluoroscopy and computed tomography (CT). The microspheres could even be depicted as individual beads, allowing precise quantification of the administered dose. The combination of intra-procedural visualization, multimodality imaging for patient follow-up and the possibility of quantification offers a new and promising method for more safe, efficient and successful embolotherapy. The particles as described in this dissertation can be tailored in various ways, enabling the development of personalized medicine where the therapy can be adjusted to the needs of the individual patient. For these combined therapies, the main focus is to design imageable drug delivery systems, which also allow drug release 'on command', resulting in a high efficacy with a significant decrease in toxicity and side effects. Merging the platforms of nano- and microparticle-based drug delivery combined with triggered drug release and multimodality imaging facilitates interdisciplinary integration of both preclinical and clinical research and brings the prospect of the 'magic bullet' a major step forward


Fibre composite hybrid materials are generally plastics reinforced with two different fibre species. The combination of these three materials (in this thesis they are carbon fibres, glass fibres and polyester resin) allows a balance to be achieved between the properties of the two monofibre composites. Over the fifteen years since the introduction of continuous carbon fibre as a reinforcement, there has been considerable speculation about the "hybrid effect", a synergistic strengthening of reinforced plastics with two fibres when compared with the strength predicted from a weighted average from the component composites. A new equation is presented which predicts the extent of the hybrid effect. Experiments with a variety of carbon-glass hybrids were undertaken to examine the validity of the theory and the effect of the degree of inter-mixing of the fibres. The classification and quantification of the hybrid microstructures was examined with a view to crosscorrelation of the intimacy of mixing and the strength. Mechanical tests were monitored with acoustic emission counting and acoustic emission amplitude distribution equipment. Some specimens were subjected to one thermal cycle to liquid nitrogen temperature prior to testing. Fracture surfaces were examined in the scanning electron microscope. Numerical analysis by finite element methods was attempted. A constant strain triangular element was used initially, but in the later analyses the PAFEC anisotropic isoparametric quadrilateral elements were used. The system was adapted so that a \Ir singularity could be modelled, and post processor software was written to allow nodal averaging of the stresses and the presentation of this data graphically as stress contour maps.


Abstract Two ancestral clades of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species were discovered from deeply divergent ribosomal DNA sequences. They are classified here as two new families Archaeosporaceae and Paraglomaceae. Each family is phylogenetically distant from each other and from other glomalean families, despite similarities in mycorrhizal morphology and fatty acid profiles. Shared mycorrhizal morphology is not surprising, since it is highly conserved and resolves other taxa in Glomales at both family and suborder levels. At the present time, each family consists of one genus. Archaeospora (Archaeosporaceae) includes three species forming atypical Acaulospora-like spores from sporiferous saccules. Two of these species are dimorphic, forming Glomus-like spores as well. Paraglomus (Paraglomaceae) consists of two species forming spores indistinguishable from those of Glomus species. Morphological characters once considered unique, such as the sporiferous saccule defining species of Acaulosporaceae, clearly are distributed in phylogenetically distant groups. The simple design of spores of some species in Glomus also masks considerable divergence at the molecular level. It is the combination of DNA sequences, fatty acid profiles, immunological reactions against specific monoclonal antibodies, and mycorrhizal morphology which provides the basis for recognizing Archaeospora and Paraglomus. These results reinforce the value of molecular data sets in providing a clearer understanding of phylogenetic relationships, which in turn can lead to a more robust taxonomy.


A non-homogeneous distribution over the stellar surface of the chemical elements and the presence of a large-scale magnetic field are invoked in order to explain the periodic line strength, photometric and magnetic variability of magnetic chemically peculiar stars. In such a framework, the variability period is identical to the rotational period. In magnetic chemically peculiar stars, the so-called effective magnetic field Heff, the average over the visible stellar disk of the longitudinal field component weighted by the local line strength, is routinely measured from Stokes I and V profiles of selected spectral lines. In spite of evidence that the distribution of the various chemical elements over the stellar surface can be inhomogeneous and different from element to element, Heff values obtained from lines of different elements are often statistically combined to improve the accuracy of effective field measurements. Similarly, mean high S/N profiles are obtained from the profiles of lines of different elements. We have established, by means of R = 115 000 circular spectropolarimetry of the magnetic chemically peculiar star HD 24712 in the 4700−7000 A range, the dependence of the measurements of Heff on the atomic weight of 24 elements (from carbon to erbium, if possible at different ionisation states). At all 3 rotational phases considered, Heff values derived from different elements can differ by up to 800 G. We find an overall increase in Heff with atomic number and a maximum near Z = 60. The behaviour of sodium is quite singular inasmuch as it always exhibits a negative value of the field, peaking at −0.39 kG when the rare earths give Heff = 1.2 kG. Under the assumption of a dipolar field, we conclude that the elements giving the largest values of Heff are concentrated near the positive polar region and that the other elements are more homogeneously distributed over the stellar surface or concentrated in belts around the magnetic equator. Sodium seems to be localised in the negative magnetic hemisphere only. This picture is corroborated by the equivalent width variability of the lines: up to iron, equivalent widths changes out-of-phase with respect to the Heff variability; elements heavier than iron present equivalent widths that are variable in-phase. We do not find any relation between the respective amplitudes of the equivalent width variations and the atomic numbers of the elements. For iron, the observed equivalent width variability does not seem to be simply related to any non-homogeneous distribution over the stellar surface. We conclude that measurements originating from different elements cannot in general be combined to improve the precision of Heff measurements. Indeed, any modelling attempt based on the periodic variations in Heff is subject to the risk that the sampling of the magnetic field over the stellar surface by the lines of a given chemical element is uneven or incomplete.


Reactive ion etching (RIE) in radio frequency glow discharges is perhaps the most popular means of achieving the level of detail necessary to pattern small geometry features in electronics manufacturing. However, the complexity of the RIE process has prompted the use of empirical models utilizing neural networks, which offer advantages in both accuracy and robustness over statistical methods. In this paper, a neural network trained to model the correlation between DC bias and etch rate was used to predict the time required to remove a specified thickness of silicon dioxide (SiO/sub 2/) in a CHF/sub 3//O/sub 2/ plasma. A real-time data acquisition system that transmits process conditions from a Plasma Therm 700 series RIE system was used to monitor DC bias during etching. A back-propagation neural network was trained to predict the amount of time required to etch the remaining amount of film while in the midst of etching. Inputs to the network included elapsed time during the etch run, the desired etch depth, gas flow rates, chamber pressure, and RF power. This network exhibited a 26-second RMS error on training data, and predicted the process endpoint on a set of test etch recipes with an average error of less than two minutes for a process time of about 25 minutes.<<ETX>>


We introduce a robust probabilistic L1-PCA model in which the conventional gaussian distribution for the noise in the observed data was replaced by the Laplacian distribution (or L1 distribution). Due to the heavy tail characteristics of the L1 distribution, the proposed model is supposed to be more robust against data outliers. In this letter, we demonstrate how a variational approximation scheme enables effective inference of key parameters in the probabilistic L1-PCA model. As the L1 density can be expanded as a superposition of infinite number of gaussian densities, we express the L1-PCA model as a marginalized model over the superpositions. By doing so, a tractable Bayesian inference can be achieved based on the variational expectation-maximization-type algorithm.


Oxide nanomaterials are indispensable building blocks for a future nanotechnology, because they offer an infinite variety of structural motifs that lead to their widespread technical application. Therefore, flexible and tunable preparative strategies are required to convert this large family of materials onto the nanoscale. Although hydrothermal syntheses have proven especially suitable for this purpose, their reaction pathways and mechanisms often remain unknown so that they can be difficult to control. In the following, we summarize our comprehensive approach towards nanostructured functional oxides that is based on synthetic parameter optimizations, mechanistic in situ investigations and the characterization of environmentally relevant properties, e.g. in photocatalysis or sensor technology. The connection between preparative morphology control and the resulting materials properties is demonstrated for selected tungstate systems and bismuth-containing oxides. Furthermore, different methods for the in situ monitoring of hydrothermal processes are discussed.


Inflation targeting is strictly suboptimal when economic actors have incomplete information about the state of the economy. Nominal income targeting is approximately optimal, and exactly optimal under certain parameterizations. We derive this result in a "Lucas islands" monetary misperceptions model built from explicit microfoundations. Agents have knowledge of local productivity and money supply conditions, but must perform a signal extraction problem each period to estimate the aggregate productivity shock and the aggregate money supply shock. Without full information, agents cannot perfectly distinguish between relative price shocks and aggregate shocks, causing monetary policy to affect the real economy. Since the model is built from agents optimizing from first principles, we are able to take a second-order welfare approximation and ask what monetary policy rule is optimal. In contrast to sticky price or sticky information models, inflation and price level targeting are always suboptimal, as price level variation provides useful information to agents. Under log utility, nominal income targeting is optimal.


The concept of a labor market, responding to familiar underpinnings of supply and demand, completely colors thought on the relationship between employment, wages, and inflation, according to James K. Galbraith. However, he asserts, wages are determined not by such market forces, but by what he calls the job structure--a complex set of status and pay relationships involving individual qualifications, job characteristics, and industry patterns. What is the meaning of the job structure for policy? Notions of natural rates of unemployment and inflationary barriers to full employment fade away. Supply-side measures can no longer been seen as adequate to deal with problems of unemployment and inequality. Questions of distribution of income and adjustment of the wage structure are returned to the political context. The active pursuit of full employment is returned to the list of respectable, and essential, policy goals.


By using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) approach to measure the cost and profit efficiency for data of 45 Vietnam commercial banks over the years from 2007 to 2012, this paper highlights risk and asset quality factors related to cost and profit inefficiency of the banks. Besides, cost inefficiency seems to be strongly related to bank concentration, mergers, and bank ownership. These results suggested mergers and acquisition can gain potential cost inefficiency and foster banks' competition in the banking system. Based on test of variance analysis, State owned commercial banks (SCOB) is more efficiency than other domestic, commercial banks (JSCB) and foreign banks in terms of profit efficiency, in contrast to cost efficiency, international banks are leading in cost efficiency than other national banks.


[Extract] Studies of larval processes often aim to explore a link between larval attributes associated with body condition or performance, food availability and larval
abundance (Theilacker et al., 1996; Bailey & Picquelle, 2002). Many of these studies involve the comparison of morphological traits, such as fish length and yolk-sac volume to otolith-derived characters, such as daily patterns of growth or fluctuating asymmetry, in an attempt to explore the mechanisms underlying population regulation (Hare & Cowen, 1994; Somarakis et al., 1997; Groenkjaer
& Schytte, 1999; Gronkjaer & Sand, 2003). To minimize post mortem degeneration, samples are usually preserved immediately upon capture. Aldehydes, such as formaldehyde solutions (formalin) and gluteraldehyde are effective for fixing and preserving body tissues for future examination, because they form stable cross-links with tissue molecules, thereby stopping metabolic processes (Kirkeby & Moe, 1968). They dissolve skeletal structures, however, including otoliths, preventing subsequent age and growth analyses. Because otolith breakdown is mainly due to the low pH often present in aldehyde solution (Steedman, 1976), the addition of a buffering agent such as simple borax or sodium carbonate can be used to keep the preserving solution nearly neutral or slightly basic, at least temporarily, and slow down the de-calcification process (Hay, 1981). If the
solution is correctly buffered, it may be possible to use otoliths from specimens preserved in aldehydes (Suthers et al., 1992; Kristoffersen & Gro Vea Salvanes, 1998). Preservation in buffered acid fixative such as formalin can be problematic, however, as many widely-used buffers damage larvae or ultimately allow the solution to become acid (Lavenberg et al., 1984; Leis & McGrouther, 1994).
Therefore, alcohol solutions such as 70 or 95% ethanol are most widely chosen as preservative for otoliths and other bones because they do not decalcify these structures. Unfortunately, they are unsuitable for stabilizing protein constituents and preventing degradation of the animal tissue. Further, both preservative methods cause significant and dissimilar shrinkage (Hay, 1982; Tucker &
Chester, 1984; Kruse & Dalley, 1990; Hjo¨ rleifsson & Klein-Macphee, 1992; Kristoffersen & Gro Vea Salvanes, 1998; Fey, 1999), leading to biased estimates of trait distributions and their interrelationships if appropriate corrections are
not made.


The first theme of this thesis is preparing for the exploitation of a new photometric galaxy survey, Pan STARRS1 (PS1). The second is measuring projected galaxy clustering in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, and using these measurements to constrain models of galaxy formation.
The PS1 survey is obtaining imaging in 5 bands (gP1, rP1, iP1, zP1 and yP1) for the 3π steradian survey, the largest optical survey ever conducted. The finished survey will have spatially varying depth, due to the survey strategy. We present a method to correct galaxy number counts and clustering for this based on a simplified signal-to-noise ratio. A star/galaxy separation method calibrated using synthetic images is also presented. By using our techniques on a 69 deg.2 region of science verification data, we show PS1 measurements of the two point angular correlation
appear reliable down to rP1 < 22.5. This work lays the foundations for exploiting 3π data for large scale structure.
The GAMA survey is a multi-wavelength, spectroscopic survey of galaxies, covering 180 deg.2 . We measure the projected correlation function and its redshift evolution as a function of luminosity, mass and colour. We find redder, more massive and more luminous galaxies are more clustered in three redshift slices over the range 0.0 < z < 0.5. We find that these trends are reproduced in the galaxy formation model of Bower et al. (2006). We also find redder galaxies have steeper correlation functions; a trend which is also reproduced by the model. However, we find that red galaxies in the model are too clustered, particularly on small scales. Our measurements are new constraints on theories of galaxy formation.


Taxonomic revision and re-evaluation of the eastern North Atlantic deep-sea ostracods are conducted based on late Quaternary sediments from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 982A, Rockall Plateau, eastern North Atlantic. Twenty-one genera and 51 species were examined and (re-)illustrated with high-resolution scanning electron microscopy images. Six new species are described: Polycope lunaris, Argilloecia labri, Bythoceratina nuda, Cytheropteron colesoabyssorum, Cytheropteron colesopunctatum and Cytheropteron paramediotumidum. Excellent fossil ostracod preservation in this sediment core enabled us to provide a robust taxonomic baseline of the eastern North Atlantic deep-sea ostracods for application to palaeoceanographical, palaeoecological and biogeographical studies.


First discovered in 1934 and described as a variety of Cicindela abdominalis Fabricius (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), the form floridana, to our knowledge, has not been recollected until we discovered it in 2007, south of the presumed type locality. From our examination of the type specimen, eight paratypes and 40 specimens from the new locality and additional study, we reinterpreted its status to be a full species. This interpretation is based on distinctive and consistent differences from the closely related Cicindelidia scabrosa (Schaupp). These differences include morphology (maculation, color and elytral microsculpture), distribution, habitat, and seasonality. We present here a more detailed description of this species within the genus Cicindelidia Rivalier, following Rivalier and Wiesner becoming Cicindelidia floridana (Cartwright) new combination.


ABSTRACT We observed the infection cycle of the temperate actinophage KC301 in relation to the growth of its host Streptomyces lividansTK24 in sterile soil microcosms. Despite a large increase in phage population following germination of host spores, there was no observable impact on host population numbers as measured by direct plate counts. The only change in the host population following infection was the establishment of a small subpopulation of KC301 lysogens. The interaction of S. lividans and KC301 in soil was analyzed with a population-dynamic mathematical model to determine the underlying mechanisms of this low susceptibility to phage attack relative to aquatic environments. This analysis suggests that the soil environment is a highly significant component of the phage-host interaction, an idea consistent with earlier observations on the importance of the environment in determining host growth and phage-host dynamics. Our results demonstrate that the accepted phage-host interaction and host life cycle, as determined from agar plate studies and liquid culture, is sufficient for quantitative agreement with observations in soil, using soil-determined rates. There are four significant effects of the soil environment: (i) newly germinated spores are more susceptible to phage lysis than are hyphae of developed mycelia, (ii) substrate mycelia in mature colonies adsorb about 98% of the total phage protecting susceptible young hyphae from infection, (iii) the burst size of KC301 is large in soil (>150, 90% confidence) relative to that observed in liquid culture (120, standard error of the mean [SEM], 6), and (iv) there is no measurable impact on the host in terms of reduced growth by the phage. We hypothesize that spatial heterogeneity is the principal cause of these effects and is the primary determinant in bacterial escape of phage lysis in soil.


In the recent literature of Artificial Intelligence, an intensive research effort has been spent, for various algebras of qualitative relations used in the representation of temporal and spatial knowledge, on the problem of classifying the computational complexity of reasoning problems for subsets of algebras. The main purpose of these researches is to describe a restricted set of maximal tractable subalgebras, ideally in an exhaustive fashion with respect to the hosting algebras.

In this paper we introduce a novel algebra for reasoning about Spatial Congruence, show that the satisfiability problem in the spatial algebra MC-4 is NP-complete, and present a complete classification of tractability in the algebra, based on the individuation of three maximal tractable subclasses, one containing the basic relations. The three algebras are formed by 14, 10 and 9 relations out of 16 which form the full algebra.


Following the 1998 National Forest Policy and Forest Act of 2002, participatory forest management (PFM) is being introduced in Tanzania. PFM has two key objectives: to reduce forest degradation thereby increasing ecosystem services, and to improve the livelihoods of local villagers. A unique data set collected in 2006 suggests that significant challenges remain with respect to communicating the new forest policies if the objectives of PFM are to be achieved. First, villagers as a group are much less well informed than other stakeholders, and their knowledge is often inaccurate. Second, women are less likely than men to have heard of the changes. Third, how PFM will contribute to poverty reduction (a key objective of PFM) is not always clear. Fourth, environmental degradation may not be reduced as much as anticipated – without alternatives sources, villagers often continue to cut trees for charcoal and firewood in the protected forests. Finally, several mismatches in perceptions are identified that could lead to difficulties in implementing PFM.


The Alfred-Wegener-Institute (AWI) operates ski-equipped aircraft since 1983 in both polar regions for logistics and airborne research with varying scientific equipment for the German and international scientific community. Hitherto AWI utilized aircraft of type Dornier Do228, respectively Do 128. Since October 2007 POLAR 5 is in operation. Being a former DC-3, the aircraft was completely refurbished and became a Basler BT-67. Compared to the so far used research aircraft POLAR 5 has a higher payload and a larger range. The instrumentation available onboard of AWIs polar aircraft for airborne geophysical suveys comprises magnetometers, ice thickness radar, several altimeter systems, and a LaCoste-Rhomberg ships gravity meter, modified by ZLS Corp. for airborne use. Geodetic GPS receivers, basic meteorology, and a data acquisition system for gathering all data during flights complete the equipment.Prior to the first aero-gravity survey in the polar regions, the first aero-gravity survey was conducted above the Baltic Sea in 1996. Since then 4 offshore surveys in the Arctic, flown in the northeast if Greenland, and 12 surveys in Antarctica, covering Dronning Maud Land and the adjacent sea, have been accomplished. Main subject of the surveys is the tectonic structure of the ocean, respectively the bedrock underneath the Antarctic ice sheet. Most surveys have been flown with POLAR 2, a Dornier DO228-101, whereas the latest 2 surveys were accomplished with POLAR 5. Further surveys in the Arctic and Antarctic are planned.


Abstract Water has been identified as a key resource for Nepal's economic growth. Although the country has 225 billion cubic meters of water available annually, less than 7% has been utilized. Climate change is a frequent topic in national development discussions in part because of its possible impact on future water availability. This study assessed the likely impact of climate change on water resources development in the Koshi River basin, Nepal, using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool to generate projections for the 2030s and 2050s. Results suggested that the impacts are likely to be scale dependent. Little impact is projected at annual, full-basin scales; but at sub-basin scale, under both the IPCC's A2 and B1 scenarios, precipitation is projected to increase in the upper transmountain subwatersheds in the 2030s and in most of the basin in the 2050s and to decrease in the lower sub-basins in the 2030s. Water yield is projected to increase in most of the basin except for the A2 scenario for the 2030s. Flow volumes are projected to increase during the monsoon and postmonsoon but decrease during the winter and premonsoon seasons. The impacts of climate change are likely to be higher during certain seasons and in some sub-basins. Thus, if infrastructure is in place that makes it possible to store and transfer water as needed, the water deficit due to any changes in rainfall or flow patterns could be managed and would not be a constraint on water resources development. The risks associated with extreme events such as floods and droughts should, however, also be considered during planning.


With the rapid growth of video services on smartphones such as video conferencing, video telephone and WebTV, implementation of video compression on mobile terminal becomes extremely important. However, the low computation capability of mobile devices becomes a bottleneck which calls for low complexity techniques for video coding. This work presents two set of algorithms for reducing the complexity of motion estimation. Binary motion estimation techniques using one-bit and two-bit transforms reduce the computational complexity of matching error criterion, however sometimes generate inaccurate motion vectors. The first set includes two neighborhood matching based algorithms which attempt to reduce computations to only a fraction of other methods. Simulation results demonstrate that full search local binary pattern (FS-LBP) algorithm reconstruct visually more accurate frames compared to full search algorithm (FSA). Its reduced complexity LBP (RC-LBP) version decreases computations significantly to only a fraction of the other methods while maintaining acceptable performance. The second set introduces edge detection approach for partial distortion elimination based on binary patterns. Spiral partial distortion elimination (SpiralPDE) has been proposed in literature which matches the pixel-to-pixel distortion in a predefined manner. Since, the contribution of all the pixels to the distortion function is different, therefore, it is important to analyze and extract these cardinal pixels. The proposed algorithms are called lossless fast full search partial distortion elimination ME based on local binary patterns (PLBP) and lossy edge-detection pixel decimation technique based on local binary patterns (ELBP). PLBP reduces the matching complexity by matching more contributable pixels early by identifying the most diverse pixels in a local neighborhood. ELBP captures the most representative pixels in a block in order of contribution to the distortion function by evaluating whether the individual pixels belong to the edge or background. Experimental results demonstrate substantial reduction in computational complexity of ELBP with only a marginal loss in prediction quality. iii


Antioxidant compounds are thought to prevent and treat diseases, especially cancer, under any circumstances. For this purpose, nature-based antioxidants nowadays are being commonly used to prevent and treat diseases. Indeed, phenolic compounds found in medicinal plants have opened a new horizon to prevent and treat diseases because of having antioxidant properties. However, some recent studies have reported that antioxidants are not absolute anticancer compounds and certain drugs have been reported to reduce levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the cancer cells, i.e., their main action mechanism. It has been argued that increasing levels of ROS cause an increase in apoptosis rate and therefore can be considered an approach to treat fatal and hard-to-treat cancers. This chapter seeks to partly explain the role of ROS in progression or inhibition of cancer growth in addition to the role of antioxidants in preventing and treating this disease.


In this paper we estimate a structural model of sequential decision of higher education and dropout to evaluate the impact of short-term credit constraint on dropouts. In particular, we analyze the impact on dropouts of the State Guaranteed Credit program (CAE) the most important funding program for higher education in Chile. The model allows for heterogeneity in observable and unobservable individual characteristics (Heckman et al. 2006) and controls for selectivity. Our data combine different sources of information, including individual data from standardized tests scores (PSU), higher education enrollment and unemployment insurance system (UI) data. The results show the important role of the abilities of individuals on educational choice. Individuals with higher ability tend to enroll in universities and not to drop out (sorting on ability). We show that household income and access to credit influence the probability of dropping out. Specifically, the results suggest that CAE has a positive impact on reducing the dropouts from higher education, where the program reduces the first year dropout rate in 15.5% for those enrolled in a university and a 24% for enrolled in a Center or Technical Formation (CFT) and Professional Institute (IP). We also found that the CAE is more effective in reducing the probability of dropping out for low-skill individuals from low-income families. However, our results show that CAE beneficiaries have lower wages than those who are not beneficiaries (even after controlling for characteristics, ability and selectivity bias). We attribute this to a incentive problems in the design of CAE which may lead to higher education institutions to reduce the quality of education. The evidence then calls to revise the design of CAE.


Lettuce big-vein disease (BVD) is a serious virus disease of lettuce. Recent evidence has brought into question the role of Lettuce big-vein virus (LBVV) in the etiology of BVD, and suggested that Mirafiori lettuce virus (MiLV) and not LBVV is the causal agent of BVD (1,2). Lettuce plants (Lactuca sativa L.) with symptoms similar to those of BVD were observed during the winter of 2003 in open-field and hydroponic-grown lettuce plants located in the Chacabuco Province of central Chile. Symptomatic plants exhibited leaves with chlorotic vein banding that became ruffled and distorted. Symptoms were usually accompanied by reduced plant size and absence of head formation. Roots from symptomatic plants were analyzed by light microscopy-acid fuchsin staining. Zoosporangia and resting spores of Olpidium brassicae were identified on the basis of their morphology and structure. Additionally, soil transmission experiments were performed with 50 healthy lettuce seedlings replanted into contaminated soil collected from lettuce fields having symptomatic crops. After 3 weeks, one-half of the seedlings showed differing degrees of big-vein symptoms, and the presence of spores of O. brassicae was confirmed in the roots by light microscopy. Seedlings raised in sterilized soil showed no symptoms after the same period of time. On the basis of nucleotide sequences of LBVV and MiLV from the GenBank database, primers specific to the coat protein genes of each virus were designed as follows: MiLVV-CP1: 5'-CAAATCTGTCCACAATTCC-3'; MiLVV-CP2: 5'-TCTCACTTGAAAACCTTCC-3'; MiLVV-CP3: 5'-TTGCAACGTGATGAAACC-3'; MiLVV-CP4: 5'-AAAGAAGAGAAGCCTGTTCC-3'; LBVV-CP1: 5'-AAGCTTTCCGTACTGTCC-3'; LBVV-CP2: 5'-CCTTGATACAGTTTTTGACC-3'; LBVV-CP3: 5'-GTATGCTGATTTCTGTAGACC-3'; LBVV-CP4: 5'-TAGATGTTCTTCGCCACC-3'. The primers were used in reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays with dsRNA as a template. Amplicons of the expected size were obtained in each of the five symptomatic plants analyzed, using each of the designated primer sets: MiLVV-CP1/MiLVV-CP2: 562 bp; MiLVV-CP3/MiLVV-CP4: 743 bp; LBVV-CP1/LBVV-CP2: 485 bp; and LBVV-CP3/ LBVV-CP4: 570 bp. No amplicons were obtained from healthy lettuce plants. The identity of both viruses was verified by cloning and sequencing of the amplicons. Nucleotide sequences were compared with those in the GenBank database. Sequences derived from the Chilean isolates resulted in identities of 87 to 97% for MiLV and 97 to 99% for LBVV. All samples analyzed were from the Chacabuco Province where 43% of the lettuce crops in Chile are grown. Thus, the impact that BVD may have on lettuce availability for local consumption may be significant. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Lettuce big-vein disease and Mirafiori lettuce virus infecting lettuce and the first report of BVD in Chile. References: (1) H. Lot et al. Phytopathology 92:288, 2002. (2) P. Roggero et al. Eur. J. Plant Pathol. 109:261, 2003.


A denotational semantics of quantum Turing machines having a quantum control is defined in the dagger compact closed category of finite dimensional Hilbert spaces. Using the Moore-Penrose generalized inverse, a new additive trace is introduced on the restriction of this category to isometries, which trace is carried over to directed quantum Turing machines as monoidal automata. The Joyal-Street-Verity Int construction is then used to extend this structure to a reversible bidirectional one.


Double-brooding is an avian breeding strategy where birds produce at least two successful nests in a single season. Double-brooding is seen most frequently in small passerines for which the breeding season is lengthy enough that they can easily fit in multiple nesting attempts. Such a pattern of breeding is therefore less common among large birds with long incubation periods and slow offspring development. In the case of hornbills (Family Bucerotidae), double-brooding would be unexpected for not only these reasons, but also due to the fact that the females of nearly all hornbill species exhibit a synchronous moult of flight feathers immediately following clutch completion. Double-brooding would thus require not only an exceptionally long breeding season, but also that females undergo two very costly flight feather moults in a single season. Here we describe the double-brooding of 10 individual female Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills Tockus leucomelas in a single Namibian population during the 2019/2020 breeding season. Because the breeding cycle of Yellow-billed Hornbills lasts three months, double-brooding requires that conditions remain appropriate for breeding for more than half the year, a stringent requirement in a relatively arid country. Our analysis demonstrates that double-brooding is not a response to either small spring brood sizes or the disappearance of fledglings and appears not to be limited to females of above-average mass. Rather, we found that double-brooding is most common among females who initiated their spring nest early and appears to be associated with wetter-than-average years.


The purpose of this study is to examine relationships between Confucian family values and Chinese attitudes toward divorce. The low acceptability of divorce, negative attitudes toward divorce, as well as low national divorce rate are evident in China. Confucian family values, which have influenced Chinese education, moral and ethics for thousands of years, were hypothesized to have an impact on the phenomena based on the Theory of Reasoned Action. There were 289 Chinese college students recruited to participate in this study. The Filial Piety scale (Yeh, 2003), Collectivism scale (Chen & West, 2008), and Attitudes toward Divorce scale (Kinnaird & Gerrard, 1986) were used to measure Chinese filial piety values, family harmony values and attitudes toward divorce; Confucian Gender-Stereotyped Attitudes scale was designed in current study to examine Chinese gender-stereotyped attitudes. Although this study didn't find that filial piety, family harmony and gender stereotypes comprise a single Confucian family values variable, these three constructs significantly independently predicted Chinese college students' attitudes toward divorce. Other findings and limitations were discussed.


Target organisms are continuously and variously exposed to contaminant mixtures in the environment. We noted that treatment with brominated diphenyl ether (BDE)47 or polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)126 (toxic equivalency factor [TEF] = 0.1) induces similar alterations in MCF-7 cells when these were determined using attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy with multivariate analysis. Because this method appears sensitive enough to signature low-dose effects, we examined how various test agents interact in binary mixtures to induce cell alterations. MCF-7 cells were exposed for 24 h to low concentrations (10(-12) M) of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners (47, 153, 183, or 209) with or without the coplanar PCB126 or nonplanar PCB153. Following treatment, ethanol-fixed cellular material was interrogated using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy; derived IR spectra in the biochemical-cell fingerprint region (1800 cm(-1)-900 cm(-1)) were then subjected to principal component analysis-linear discriminant analysis. Assuming that if two test agents independently induce the same cell alteration that in combination they'll give rise to an additive effect, we examined predicted versus observed differences in induced alterations by binary mixtures. Compared to corresponding control clusters, treatment with PBDE congener plus PCB126 appeared to cancel out their respective induced alterations. However, treatment with binary mixtures including PCB153 gave rise to an enhanced segregation. Our findings suggest that test agents which mediate their cellular effects via similar mechanisms might result in inhibition within a binary mixture whereas independently acting agents could exacerbate induced alterations in overall cell status.


In recent years some interrelationships between time of birth and longevity were published. Concomitant publications appeared demonstrating links between Space Weather and the timing of medical events; in part of both these studies it was shown that Space Weather indices are stronger connected with the time of conception as with the birth time. The aim of these study was to consider birth and conception month of patients suffering from a number of "big killer" pathologies, affecting human longevity and comparing with published data on centenarians—100 - 112 years old persons in the USA. Patients and Methods: We included monthly births distribution of our four papers including patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI)—n-3765, and admitted in another tertiary medical facility for AMI—n-22,047, and, also patients suffering Rapid—n-1239 and Sudden Cardiac Death—n-327 and, also, patients with oncologic malignancies—n-44587. At all in this group 71,965 patients were included. Their birth and conception months were compared with analogical data of 1574 people of 100 - 112 years old using data of L.A. and N.S. Gavrilov for USA centenarians. Results: The birth months of the cardiovascular and oncology patients were maximal in January, March and April (above 10% at each of these months); their conception was maximal in April, June and July. The monthly distribution of conception and birth of the studied population is presented in Tables 1-3. The maximal birth months of the centenarians were November, September, and October; the maximal conception months were December, January, and February. Conclusion: People suffering Myocardial Infarction, Sudden Cardiac Death and Oncologic Malignancies are in higher numbers born in the first four months of the year and conception in April, June and July. The maximal birth months of the very old people were November, September and October and conception were December, January and February.


The operative goals of the repair of postinfarction left ventricular aneurysms are to correct the size and geometry of the left ventricle in order to reduce wall tension and paradoxical movement and to improve the systolic function. Endoventriculoplasty has become the gold standard, since the late 1980s when it was described by Jatene and modified by Dor et al. Endoventriculoplasty using autologous endocardium for left ventricular aneurysm was first described by Grandjean et al. We present here a case report of on-pump beating heart endoventriculoplasty using autologous endocardium for post- infarction left ventricular anterior aneurysm. This technique, as a modification of the Dor technique, restores the ventricular geometry without leaving any segment of non-contractile ventricular wall and avoids the usage of prosthetic materials.


Modern distributed real-time embedded applications have high processing requirements associated with strict deadlines. For some applications, such constraints cannot be fulfilled by existing single-core embedded platforms. A solution is to parallelize the execution of the applications, by allowing networked nodes to distribute their workload to remote nodes with spare capacity. In that context, this paper presents a holistic timing analysis for fixed-priority fork-join parallel/distributed tasks. Furthermore, we extend the holistic approach to consider the interaction between parallel threads and messages interchanged through a flexible time triggered switched Ethernet network, and we show how the pessimism on the worst case response time computation of such tasks can be reduced by considering the pipeline effect that occurs in such distributed systems. To evaluate the performance and correctness of the holistic model, this paper includes a numerical evaluation based on a real automotive application. The obtained results show that the proposed method is effective in distributing the load by different nodes, allowing a significant reduction of the worst case response time of the tasks. Moreover, the paper also reports an implementation of the model on a Linux library, called parallel/distributed real-time, as well as the corresponding results obtained on a real testbed. The obtained results are in accordance with the predictions of the holistic timing analysis.


Despite increased requirements for high school graduation, almost one-third of the nation's college freshmen are unprepared for college-level math. The need for remediation is particularly high among students who are low income, Hispanic, and black. Female students are also less likely than males to be ready for college-level math. This article estimates how much of these gaps are determined by the courses that students take while in high school. Using data on students in Florida public postsecondary institutions, we find that differences among college-going students in the highest math course taken explain 2835 percent of black, Hispanic, and poverty gaps in readiness and over three-quarters of the Asian advantage. Courses fail to explain gender gaps in readiness. Low-income, black, and Asian students also receive lower returns to math courses, suggesting differential educational quality. This analysis is valuable to policy makers and educators seeking to reduce disparities in college readiness.


A growing literature documents the positive long-term effects of policy-induced improvements in early-life health and nutrition. However, there is still scarce evidence on early-life health programs targeting a large share of the population and the role of such programs in increasing intergenerational mobility. This paper uses the rollout of mother and child health care centers in Norway, which commenced in the 1930s, to study the long-term consequences of increasing access to well-child visits. These well-child visits included a physical examination and the provision of information about adequate infant nutrition. Our results indicate that access to mother and child health care centers had a positive effect on education and earnings: access in the first year of life increased the completed years of schooling by 0.15 years and earnings by two percent. The effects were stronger for children from a low socioeconomic background. In addition, we find that individuals suffer from fewer health risks at age 40 and positive effects on adult height, which support the fact that better nutrition within the first year of life is the likely mechanism behind our findings. While there is increasing knowledge on the benefits of various types of early childhood programs, the costs are often neglected, making it hard to compare different programs. We add to this by showing that investments in mother and child health care centers pass a simple cost-benefit analysis.


In this paper, we exploit a cohort discontinuity in the stringency of the 1993 Dutch disability reforms to obtain causal estimates of the effects of decreased generosity of disability insurance (DI) on behavior of existing DI recipients. We find evidence of substantial "social support substitution": individuals on average offset a euro of lost DI benefits by collecting 31 cents more from other social assistance programs. This benefit-substitution effect declines somewhat over time, but is still a significant 20% eight years later. Individuals also exhibit a strong rebound in earnings: labor earnings increase by 62 cents on average per euro of lost DI benefits. This is novel evidence of substantial remaining earnings capacity in a sample of long-term claimants of DI. On average, individuals make up for almost the entire DI benefit reduction through increases in other forms of social assistance and in labor earnings.


Aim: To provide an estimate of the period prevalence of cerebral palsy (CP) in the province of Quebec. Methods: Children with CP were identified from three consecutive birth cohorts (1999–2001) from the Quebec CP Registry, covering 6 of the 17 administrative health regions of the province. Two inferential approaches were applied for period prevalence estimation, frequentist and bayesian. Results: 228 children were identified with CP. Using a frequentist approach, the overall prevalence of CP was 1.84 per 1,000 children aged 9–11 years living in those areas in 2010 (95% CI 1.60–2.08). Using a bayesian approach taking into account the uncertainty about the registry's sensitivity in capturing all cases, the overall prevalence is higher at 2.30 per 1,000 children with a 95% CI (1.99–2.65). Conclusion: Using a bayesian approach to adjust for the registry's known high specificity and lower sensitivity, the prevalence estimate is in concordance with worldwide estimates and estimates using administrative databases in western Canadian provinces. Future studies are needed to validate the diagnosis of CP within administrative databases and to evaluate possible regional trends across Canada in both prevalence and health service utilization, which may highlight disparities in healthcare delivery.


Boosted by the rapid advances of science and technology in the field of energy materials, Li-ion batteries have achieved significant progress in energy storage performance since their commercial debut in 1991. The development of nanostructured electrode material is regarded as one of the key potentials for the further advancement in Li-ion batteries. This feature article summarizes our recent efforts in the synthesis and characterization of nanostructured electrode materials for high-performance Li-ion batteries. The electrode materials include manganese oxide nanowall arrays, vanadium oxide nanofibers and films, vanadium oxide–carbon nanocomposites, lithium iron phosphate–carbon nanocomposite films, and titanium oxide nanotube arrays. Enhanced Li+ intercalation capacities, improved rate capabilities and better cyclic stability were achieved by constructing micro- or nanostructure, controlling materials crystallinity and introducing desired defects on the surface and/or in the bulk. The fabrication of binderless and additive-free nanostructured electrodes for Li-ion batteries via sol–gel processing is also highlighted.


Coordination and awareness mechanisms are important in systems for Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) and traditional groupware systems. It has been a key focus of research into collaborative groupware and its capability to enable people to efficiently collaborate and coordinate work. Until now, no classification of the mechanisms has been undertaken to identify commonalities and differences in coordination and awareness mechanisms and to show their significance in collaborative environments. In addition, there is a little investigation of coordination and awareness mechanisms in new forms of groupware such as socially enabled Enterprise Collaboration Systems (ECS). Indeed, both in science and in practices, ECS incorporating social software have become increasingly important. Based on the combination of traditional groupware and social software, ECS also include coordination and awareness mechanisms that may simplify collaboration, but these have not yet been investigated.
Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to identify coordination and awareness mechanisms in the academic literature to provide a general overview of those mechanisms examples. Additionally, this thesis aims to classify the mechanism examples. Based on a deep literature analysis, concepts described in literature are chosen and applied with the intension to analyse the mechanisms and to reach a classification. Based on the classification of the identified mechanisms their commonalities and differences are examined and described to gain a better understanding of them. For illustration purpose, examples of coordination and awareness mechanisms and their application are portrayed. The mechanisms examples refer to the classification groups derived. The selection of the mechanisms for the visualization is based on significant differences in their functionality. Subsequently, the selected mechanisms, more based on traditional groupware, are checked to a limited extend whether they can be found in socially enabled ECS. The collaborative platform of IBM Connections serves as a practical example of ECS incorporating social software. IBM Connections is used at the University of Koblenz to run the platform "UniConnect". On the platform it is investigated which of the identified mechanisms examples of the literature are applied in IBM Connections and which additional mechanisms are created by users. This work is the first step in the study of coordination and awareness mechanisms in socially-enabled ECS. In addition, it is expected to detect new mechanisms which are used while the social factor to collaborative work is new.
The purpose of this thesis is to examine and collect coordination and awareness mechanisms examples in literature to analyse them. Additionally, the purpose is to provide a first overview of mechanisms and to classify them by investigating their commonalities. Beside this thesis should give incentive for further investigations to investigate coordination and awareness mechanisms in socially integrated ECS.


Designed to minimize chances of genetically abnormal embryos, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) involves in vitro fertilization (IVF), embryo biopsy, diagnosis and selective embryo transfer. Preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) aims to avoid miscarriage and live born trisomic offspring and to improve IVF success. Diagnostic approaches include fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and more contemporary comprehensive chromosome screening (CCS) including array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH), quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), next-generation sequencing (NGS) and karyomapping. NGS has an improved dynamic range, and karyomapping can detect chromosomal and monogenic disorders simultaneously. Mosaicism (commonplace in human embryos) can arise by several mechanisms; those arising initially meiotically (but with a subsequent post-zygotic 'trisomy rescue' event) usually lead to adverse outcomes, whereas the extent to which mosaics that are initially chromosomally normal (but then arise purely post-zygotically) can lead to unaffected live births is uncertain. Polar body (PB) biopsy is the least common sampling method, having drawbacks including cost and inability to detect any paternal contribution. Historically, cleavage-stage (blastomere) biopsy has been the most popular; however, higher abnormality levels, mosaicism and potential for embryo damage have led to it being superseded by blastocyst (trophectoderm - TE) biopsy, which provides more cells for analysis. Improved biopsy, diagnosis and freeze-all strategies collectively have the potential to revolutionize PGT-A, and there is increasing evidence of their combined efficacy. Nonetheless, PGT-A continues to attract criticism, prompting questions of when we consider the evidence base sufficient to justify routine PGT-A? Basic biological research is essential to address unanswered questions concerning the chromosome complement of human embryos, and we thus entreat companies, governments and charities to fund more. This will benefit both IVF patients and prospective parents at risk of aneuploid offspring following natural conception. The aim of this review is to appraise the 'state of the art' in terms of PGT-A, including the controversial areas, and to suggest a practical 'way forward' in terms of future diagnosis and applied research.


How easily should courts infer that federal statutes preempt state law? An ongoing debate exists on the question in Congress and among scholars and judges. One side calls for judges to protect federalism by adopting a rule of statutory construction that would bar preemption absent a clear statement of preemptive intent. Opponents argue against such a "clear statement" rule by arguing that state control over preemptable topics is often presumptively inefficient, because common-law juries lack expertise and because states are prone to imposing external costs on their neighbors. This article sidesteps these debates over preemption and instead argues that, quite apart from whether state law is itself efficient, an anti-preemption rule of statutory construction has benefits for the national law-making process. Because of the size and heterogeneity of the population that it governs, Congress has institutional tendencies to avoid politically sensitive issues, deferring them to bureaucratic resolution, and instead concentrating on constituency service. Non-federal politicians can disrupt this tendency to ignore or suppress political controversy, by enacting state laws that regulate business interests, thus provoking those interests to seek federal legislation that will preempt the state legislation. In effect, state politicians place issues on Congress' agenda by enacting state legislation. Because business groups tend to have more consistent incentives to seek preemption than anti-preemption interests have to oppose preemption, controversial regulatory issues are more likely to end up on Congress' agenda if business groups bear the burden of seeking preemption. Moreover, the interests opposing preemption tend to use publicity rather than internal congressional procedures to promote their ends. Therefore, by adopting an anti-preemption rule of construction, the courts would tend to promote a more highly visible, vigorous style of public debate in Congress.


Music alignment link events in a score and points on the audio performance time axis. All the parts of a recording can be thus indexed according to score information. The automatic alignment presented in this paper is based on a dynamic time warping methodology. Local distances are computed using the signal's spectral features through an attack plus sustain note modeling. Good alignment has been obtained for polyphony of up to five instruments. The method is robust for difficulties such as trills, vibratos and fast sequences. It provides an accurate indicator giving position of score interpretation errors and extra or forgotten notes. Implementation optimizations allow aligning long sound files in a relatively short time. Evaluation results have been obtained on piano jazz recordings.


We estimated the relative protective efficacy of Haemophilus influenzae type b polysaccharide (PRP) vaccine and PRP-diphtheria toxoid-conjugate (PRP-D) vaccine using data from reports of cases of invasive Haemophilus disease occurring in vaccinated children submitted to the Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, Md, and Washington University, St Louis, Mo. During the first 13 months following licensure of each of the vaccines, there were 127 cases reported in recipients of PRP vaccine vs 17 cases in recipients of PRP-D vaccine. The total number of reported cases for each vaccine is not necessarily comparable, since the extent of vaccine use in the population and the extent of reporting of cases may have been different during the two periods. However, the proportion of reported cases occurring equal to or 14 days or more after vaccination (a period considered sufficient to develop immunity) was significantly greater for PRP vaccine (106 [83%] of 127 cases) compared with PRP-D vaccine (7 [41%] of 17 cases). Based on the ratio of late-onset to early-onset cases observed for PRP vaccine, we would have expected 50 late-onset cases after PRP-D vaccination. Since only 7 late-onset PRP-D vaccine failures were reported (86% fewer than expected), the data suggest that PRP-D vaccine was more effective in preventing disease 14 days or more after vaccination than was PRP vaccine.


Despite their low species density, hyaenas are both unique and vital components of most African and some Asian ecosystems. Although there are only 4 species, they tend to clash with the interests of humans to a greater extent than many other mammals and one of the biggest obstacles facing those committed to the conservation of this species is the negative feelings that many people have towards hyaenas. This action plan sets out to address some of the problems facing this species of animal, particularly the issue of public perception and awareness, and provides guidelines to rectify this situation.


In this paper, the influence of information costs on the integration of Northern European financial markets between ca. 1350 and 1560 is explored. The approach is based on splitting information costs into their constitutive components and on measuring one of these, i.e. the costs of transmitting information, which have particular importance for market integration. The analysis has two main results: First, under pre-industrial conditions, when transmitting information was extremely labour intensive and very little capital intensive, transmission costs can be largely identified with labour costs, and were subject to the same influences. Next, the integration of financial markets depended crucially on the level of transmission costs, high costs being strongly and significantly correlated with weak integration, while lower costs favoured convergence.


Over the last ten years, interest in conflict prevention and peacebuilding activities has increased significantly. As a result of this interest, there is a high demand for "model" projects, examples of good practice and "lessons learned" which can be transferred to other projects and regions. Supply, though, does not match this demand. There are still no quick and easy answers to the question of how best to assess, monitor and evaluate peace practices. On the contrary, experience shows that assessing and measuring the impact and outcomes of peacebuilding activities is actually a very complicated task. The articles and comments in this first issue of the Berghof Handbook Dialogue Series reflect the state of the art in peace and conflict impact assessment (PCIA) from a variety of angles.


Proceedings of 2009 GeoHunan International Conference, Challenges and Recent Advances in Pavement Technologies and Transportation Geotechnics, held in Changsha, Hunan, China, August 3-6, 2009. Hosted by Changsha University of Science and Technology, China. Sponsored by Geo-Institute of ASCE, USA; Asphalt Institute, USA; Central South University, China; Chinese Society of Pavement Engineering, Taiwan; Chongqing Jiaotong University, China; Deep Foundation Institute, USA; Federal Highway Administration, USA; Hunan University, China; International Society for Asphalt Pavements, USA; Jiangsu Transportation Research Institute, China; Korean Institute of Construction Technology, Korea; Korean Society of Road Engineers, Korea; Texas Department of Transportation, USA; Texas Transportation Institute, USA; and Transportation Research Board, USA. This Geotechnical Special Publications contains 27 peer-reviewed papers that showcase recent developments and advancements in geotechnical and pavement engineering and that offer insights into future directions for geoengineering in the 21st century. Topics include: advances in unsaturated soil, seepage, and environmental geotechnics; geosynthetics; geo-environmental engineering; nondestructive testing of infrastructure materials; and bridge approach embankments.


The Asia-Pacific region is distinctly maritime in character. When we centre a globe on the Pacific Ocean, the blue of the ocean almost obscures the littoral landmasses but spin the globe until it is centred on the midAtlantic and landmasses then dominate the oceans. Not surprisingly, Atlantic nations tend towards a continental view of security while Asia-Pacific nations have a maritime view. The importance of maritime security to many Asia-Pacific countries is reflected in the size of their merchant shipping fleets, a dependence on seaborne trade, expanding naval forces, and strongly promoted claims to offshore sovereignty and marine resources. Maritime security is likely to assume even greater importance in the future as economic growth proceeds, and countries become both more interdependent and more aware of the extent of their maritime interests. Events of September 11 and their aftermath have had the effect of bringing a new focus to some aspects of maritime security in the region but we should not lose sight of the enduring features that underpin maritime security.


This simulation study investigated the empirical Type I error rates of using the maximum likelihood estimation method and Pearson covariance matrix for multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) of full and strong measurement invariance hypotheses with mixed item format data that are ordinal in nature. The results indicate that mixed item formats and sample size combinations do not result in inflated empirical Type I error rates for rejecting the true measurement invariance hypotheses. Therefore, although the common methods are in a sense sub-optimal, they don't lead to researchers claiming that measures are functioning differently across groups – i.e., a lack of measurement invariance.


Although menthol, a common flavoring additive to cigarettes, has been found to impact the addictive properties of nicotine cigarettes in smokers little is known about its pharmacological and molecular actions in the brain. Studies were undertaken to examine whether the systemic administration of menthol would modulate nicotine pharmacokinetics, acute pharmacological effects (antinociception and hypothermia) and withdrawal in male ICR mice. In addition, we examined changes in the brain levels of nicotinic receptors of rodents exposed to nicotine and menthol. Administration of i.p. menthol significantly decreased nicotine's clearance (2-fold decrease) and increased its AUC compared to i.p. vehicle treatment. In addition, menthol pretreatment prolonged the duration of nicotine-induced antinociception and hypothermia (2.5 mg/kg, s.c.) for periods up to 180 min post-nicotine administration. Repeated administration of menthol with nicotine increased the intensity of mecamylamine-precipitated withdrawal signs in mice exposed chronically to nicotine. The potentiation of withdrawal intensity by menthol was accompanied by a significant increase in nicotine plasma levels in these mice. Western blot analyses of α4 and β2 nAChR subunit expression suggests that chronic menthol impacts the levels and distribution of these nicotinic subunits in various brain regions. In particular, co-administration of menthol and nicotine appears to promote significant increase in β2 and α4 nAChR subunit expression in the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and striatum of mice. Surprisingly, chronic injections of menthol alone to mice caused an upregulation of β2 and α4 nAChR subunit levels in these brain regions. Because the addition of menthol to tobacco products has been suggested to augment their addictive potential, the current findings reveal several new pharmacological molecular adaptations that may contribute to its unique addictive profile.


This article addresses four different ways in which food speaks to us: a surrealist approach in Buñuel's cinema, table manners as discussed by Larra, the shortage of food and hunger that was an obsessive and persistent reality during the Spanish civil war and post-war period of the 20th century, or the recent sophistication and cosmopolitanism of Spanish cuisine due to the transformation of the country by the presence of immigrants. This study focuses on highlighting the passage from a culture of survival during the civil war and the Franco regime to one of greater abundance and sophistication with the arrival of democracy. The current recognition of Spain as one of the gastronomic destinations in the world modifies part of a historical and cultural past, which includes the ethnic transformation experienced by Spanish society. From the perspective of food studies, one can examine the relationships of the individual with food, and analyse how this association produces a large amount of information about a society.


jStar is a tool for automatically verifying Java programs. It uses separation logic to support abstract reasoning about object specifications. jStar can verify a number of challenging design patterns, including Subject/Observer, Visitor, Factory and Pooling. However, to use jStar one has to deal with a family of command-line tools that expect specifications in separate files and diagnose the errors by inspecting the text output from these tools.
 In this paper we present a plug-in, called jStar-eclipse, allowing programmers to use jStar from within Eclipse IDE. Our plug-in allows writing method contracts in Java source files in form of Java annotations. It automatically translates Java annotations into jStar specifications and propagates errors reported by jStar back to Eclipse, pinpointing the errors to the locations in source files. This way the plug-in ensures an overall better user experience when working with jStar. Our end goal is to make automated verification based on separation logic accessible to a broader audience.


The sex with the higher potential reproductive rate is expected to mate polygamously unless there are temporal or spatial constraints on mate availability. We investigated whether such constraints were evident in a population of the monogamous seahorse Hippocampus whitei (family Syngnathidae). Across the whole study site, breeding was more asynchronous than expected by chance. Our findings are thus compatible with the hypothesis that asynchronous breeding may promote and/or maintain monogamy. Asynchrony per se was unlikely to explain monogamy entirely, however, as temporal opportunities for polygamy remained and the males that were nearest one another had the lowest level of asynchrony. Moreover, each animal's home range overlapped with home ranges of potential mates other than their partner, implying a lack of spatial constraints on polygamy. We suggest that H. whitei mated monogamously because the benefits of polygamy were reduced by (1) only small differences in the potential reproductive rates of males and females and/or (2) a mate familiarity effect that increased reproductive success in successive matings. Further research could investigate relationships between mating pattern and varying intersexual differences in potential reproductive rates across syngnathid species.


During the summer of 1940, a group of architects, archaeologists, architectural historians, and graduate students (among them G. Holmes Perkins, Kenneth Conant, George M. A. Hanfman and Turpin C. Bannister) gathered regularly at the Harvard Faculty Club for dinners, lectures, and conversation and to plan "inspection trips" to New England architecture. On 31 July that year, twenty-five of them, after a particularly spirited meeting (the minutes note hecklers in the audience urging Professor Herbert Bloch, lecturing on Roman bricks, to demonstrate his "famous tasting method for dating" bricks——which he declined) founded the American Society of Architectural Historians. (The word "American" was dropped in 1947 when the Society was officially incorporated.) Their goal was "to foster the understanding and appreciation of architectural history among both professional scholars and laymen" and the publication of an "unpretentious journal."1 Perhaps they imagined something like the eighteenth-century Society of Dilettanti——young British enthusiasts who shared their knowledge and passion about the art and architecture of antiquity over dinner and wine in each other's company and made occasional excursions.

Little could anyone in this assembly imagine that what was founded in Cambridge on the eve of World War II would grow into a global society with 3,500 members, the publisher of the …


The focus of this study is twofold. Firstly, it aims to find out more about parents' expectations as their disabled child starts school and secondly, to explore ways in which parents of disabled children can become involved in the research process.
 Legislation sets out what parents have the right to expect in terms of their child's education and current government initiatives and policies are encouraging parents to play a more significant role in the development of services. Yet services for disabled children and their parents continue to adopt a needs based approach. Such an approach is contrary to the social model of disability that focuses on removing the barriers that prevent disabled people being included in society.
 By adopting a social model of disability the study aims to conduct the research from the parents' perspective. To this end it attempts to develop a parent participatory research approach which is derived from an emancipatory research approach advocated by disabled researchers and their allies. It investigates methods whereby parents of disabled children can participate in developing the research methods used and be offered a voice to express what is of importance to them.
 This research study is a longitudinal study that investigates the expectations of 19 parents of disabled children as their child moves into school. It helps to identify the sources, nature and outcome of their expectations and so the barriers that can help and/or hinder positive outcomes. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of parent's knowledge and understanding of their child's disability, relationships developed between parents, professionals and practitioners, the effect of government policy and the disabled people's movement for social change.


We study the trading behavior of individual investors using the Trade and Quotes (TAQ) and Institute for the Study of Security Markets (ISSM) transaction data over the period 1983 to 2001. We document four results: (1) Order imbalance based on buyer- and sellerinitiated small trades from the TAQ/ISSM data correlates well with the order imbalance based on trades of individual investors from brokerage firm data. This indicates trade size is a reasonable proxy for the trading of individual investors. (2) Order imbalance based on TAQ/ISSM data indicates strong herding by individual investors. Individual investors predominantly buy (sell) the same stocks as each other contemporaneously. Furthermore, they predominantly buy (sell) the same stocks one week (month) as they did the previous week (month). (3) When measured over one year, the imbalance between purchases and sales of each stock by individual investors forecasts cross-sectional stock returns the subsequent year. Stocks heavily bought by individuals one year underperform stocks heavily sold by 4.4 percentage points in the following year. For stocks for which it is most difficult to arbitrage mispricings, the spread in returns between stocks bought and stocks sold is 13.1 percentage points the following year. (4) Over shorter periods such as a week or a month, a different pattern emerges. Stocks heavily bought by individual investors one week earn strong returns in the subsequent week, while stocks heavily sold one week earn poor returns in the subsequent week. This pattern persists for a total of three to four weeks and then reverses for the subsequent several weeks. In addition to examining the ability of small trades to forecast returns, we also look at the predictive value of large trades. In striking contrast to our small trade results, we find that stocks heavily purchased with large trades one week earn poor returns in the subsequent week, while stocks heavily sold one week earn strong returns in the subsequent week.