In the present work an attempt has been made to study the effect of the twisted tapes as bed internals, on the performance of the gas-solid fluidized beds. Experimental investigation has been carried out in cylindrical column with and without twisted tapes. Twelve numbers of twisted tapes of three different widths with four values of the twist ratios for each width were studied at different static bed heights. Twist ratio (y) is the ratio of axial distance for 180 0 rotation of the tape (H) and the width (W) of the twisted tape. By using twisted tape the change in pressure drop, fluctuation ratio and expansion ratio have been studied as compared to "without twisted tape". Incorporation of twisted tapes as baffle decreases the fluctuation ratio and expansion ratio thereby improving the fluidization quality as compared to the "without twisted tape". However the increase in pressure drop due to presence of twisted tape is only marginal and of the order of, 5.25 to 14.9 percent over that of without twisted tapes. The maximum decrease in fluctuation ratio (r) for the tapes of various twist ratio has been found to be 11.6 to 20.5 percent based on the case of "without twisted tape", thereby indicating a corresponding improvement in the quality of fluidization with reduced degree of bubbling and slugging. Quantitatively the maximum decrease in R for the twisted tapes of various twist ratios has been found to be 17 to 23 percent based on the case of "without twisted tapes". However, the pressure drop, fluctuation and expansion ratio were in general found to decrease with decrease in twist ratio of a twisted tape. Different correlations have been developed for pressure drop, fluctuation ratio and expansion ratio and compared with their corresponding experimental values.


This study corroborates policymakers' concerns regarding the protection of rights of minority shareholders. We suggest the need for a stronger macro governance environment to facilitate minority shareholder participation in corporate decision making. Our study also lends support to balanced ownership structures with multiple large shareholders as a way to increase the firm's performance. Managers would also better serve shareholders' interests by not limiting their attention to the current controlling coalition. We explore an under-examined aspect of agency conflict contestability between large, dominant shareholders and minority shareholders. We highlight the role of the second and third largest shareholders, in terms of share and type of shareholder. We suggest the need for new avenues of research focused on the dynamics of power within the firm. Finally, we identify a situation in which conflict of interest becomes prominent. We find that increased contestability of the control of the largest shareholder increases the value of family-owned firms. Results also show that in firms in which the largest shareholder is a family, a second family shareholder reduces firm value. Conversely, an institutional investor as second shareholder increases firm value. Likewise, better legal protection of shareholders not members of the controlling coalition increases the value of family firms. This paper analyses the influence of large shareholders on firm value using a sample of firms from 11 European countries, specifically considering how the existence of a controlling coalition in family-owned firms and the contestability of control of the largest shareholder affect the value of the family-owned firms. Empirical This paper analyses the influence of large shareholders on firm value using a sample of firms from 11 European countries, specifically considering how the existence of a controlling coalition in family-owned firms and the contestability of control of the largest shareholder affect the value of the family-owned firms. We find that increased contestability of the control of the largest shareholder increases the value of family-owned firms. Results also show that in firms in which the largest shareholder is a family, a second family shareholder reduces firm value. Conversely, an institutional investor as second shareholder increases firm value. Likewise, better legal protection of shareholders not members of the controlling coalition increases the value of family firms. We explore an under-examined aspect of agency conflict contestability between large, dominant shareholders and minority shareholders. We highlight the role of the second and third largest shareholders, in terms of share and type of shareholder. We suggest the need for new avenues of research focused on the dynamics of power within the firm. Finally, we identify a situation in which conflict of interest becomes prominent. This study corroborates policymakers' concerns regarding the protection of rights of minority shareholders. We suggest the need for a stronger macro governance environment to facilitate minority shareholder participation in corporate decision making. Our study also lends support to balanced ownership structures with multiple large shareholders as a way to increase the firm's performance. Managers would also better serve shareholders' interests by not limiting their attention to the current controlling coalition.


I. WHAT COMES TO MIND WHEN HEARING THE WORD "ERISA"? Because of my work with ERISA reimbursement issues, I have had folks (including many law students) speak to me with some initial excitement about ERISA. They think this must be a fun and exciting area of the law. I would like to pose the initial question, "What comes to one's mind when she or he hears the word, 'ERISA?'" For me, the word "ERISA" projects an image of an APOCALYPTIC EVENT. By way of analogy, let me talk briefly about an EMP Bomb ... what is an EMP Bomb? It is an Electricalmagnetic Pulse Bomb--it is a type of bomb which causes a burst of electromagnetic waves which destroys all electronic circuits. It has been thought that an EMP Bomb might be utilized as a weapon by terrorists in recent years. It has also been featured on a couple of episodes of 24--where Jack Bauer and others had to deal with the aftermath of an EMP Bomb detonation. What is the aftermath? All computers are totally erased and voided. All electric circuits destroyed. Any device utilizing an electric circuit is useless. Motor vehicles, lights, computers all rendered useless. The result is an apocalyptic rendering of the environment and all functions of life have to start from scratch, all over again. Well, to my way of thinking, ERISA is like an EMP Bomb detonation in the matter of insurance benefits. How so? II. STATE REGULATION OF INSURANCE The business of insurance--health insurance, disability insurance, life insurance--has never been regulated on the federal level. Why not? Because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1868, in Paul v. Virginia, that an insurance policy was not an item of "commerce" and, therefore, Congress lacked authority to regulate insurance through the interstate commerce clause. This decision meant that Congress could NOT regulate insurance. As a result, insurance became regulated by the states. And, the states have regulated insurance intensely--with much interaction by state legislatures, judicial decision, and regulations by state departments/divisions of insurance. In my insurance class, we are constantly exploring the "give and take" of state regulations as courts and legislatures carefully mold rules that protect consumers and also foster an acceptable and healthy environment for insurance companies to do business. As a result of Paul v. Virginia, the matter of insurance regulation has been undertaken by states. This decision is not, of course, the law today. In 1944 the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Paul v. Virginia and held that insurance was an item of commerce and that it could be regulated. But, this decision was handed down the day before D-Day and our country's entry into the European theater of WWII. Congress was not in a position to start regulating insurance and immediately responded with the McCarran Ferguson Act which was a recognition that the states are doing a great job regulating insurance and that the states should continue to do so. Thus, state regulation of insurance was endorsed by Congress and continued to flourish. III. ERISA PREEMPTION But--enter ERISA in 1974. With the enactment of ERISA in 1974--designed initially and primarily for the protection of pension plans, we have Federal Preemption. The impact of this federal preemption and the enactment of ERISA is the equivalent of an EMP Bomb. In AN INSTANT, all state laws are preempted. Rational rules and regulations protecting consumers which have been developed in over a century of state regulation--INSTANTLY WIPED OUT! Well, what is left? Since Congress has never regulated insurance, there was and there is no "federal standard" or federal substitution of reasonable rules. Instead we have an apocalyptic landscape, which was completely virgin territory--a vacuum, if you will. Similar to the devastation left in the area where an EMP Bomb is detonated. …


An experiment and a statistic study was performed considering the effect of two important input parameters (stretching force and stretching speed) on the stretching behaviour of 6061-0 aluminum sheet in terms of thickness reduction ratio in two types of stretch forming process (post stretching and pre stretching). Experimental tests were carried out using a die with V-shape to stretch the sheet at two selected levels of stretching force and stretching speed and according to the design matrices established by the Design of Experiment (DOE) software (Version 10). Two models with two variable parameters, i.e. stretching force and speed  were built by using the response surface methodology (RSM) technique for the two cases of stretching (post and pre stretching), then checked statistically for adequacy purpose by analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis, and appeared good with 95 % confidence level. It was found that using the post stretch forming process generally gives a lower thickness reduction ratio than that for pre stretching process. This explains the advantages of using post-stretching process to stretch the 6061-0 aluminum sheet alloy.


The Issue Overdoses and deaths involving prescription opioids are a major public health concern. Recent data from the United States indicate an opioid-related death rate of 6.4 per 100,000 population annually, which exceeds the annual human immunodeficiency virus–related death rate at 4.0 per 100,000 population (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2009; Heron et al. 2009). Although the relationship between opioid prescriptions and the risk of adverse events is becoming more widely appreciated (Dhalla et al. 2009; Dunn et al. 2010), opioid prescribing practices, abuse and diversion have been shown to exhibit substantial geographical variability, and this may have implications for public health policy decisions and interventions (Curtis et al. 2006; Webster et al. 2009).


Real estate developers in China are using mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to ensure their survival and competitiveness. However, no suitable method is yet available to assess whether such M&As provide enhanced value for those involved. Using a hybrid method of data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Malmquist total factor productivity (TFP) indices, this paper evaluates the short and medium term effects of M&As on acquirers' economic performance with a set of 32 M&A cases occurring during 2000--2011 in China. The results of the analysis show that M&As generally have a positive effect on acquirers' economic performance. Acquisitions on average experienced a steady growth in developer Malmquist TFP, a more progressive adoption of technology immediately after acquisition, a slight short-term decrease in technical efficiency after acquisition but followed by a marked increase in the longer term once the integration and synergy benefits were realised. However, there is no evidence to show whether developers achieved any short or long term scale efficiency improvements after M&A. The findings of this study provide useful insights on developer M&A performance from an efficiency and productivity perspective.


ABSTRACT The scorpion genus Diplocentrus Peters, 1861, comprising more than 50 species, most of which are endemic to Mexico, is the most diverse in the family Diplocentridae Karsch, 1880 (Santibáñez-López et al., 2011). Hoffmann (1931) divided the Mexican species into two groups, the whitei group and the keyserlingi group, based largely on differences in size and coloration. Francke (1977) redefined these groups. The whitei group, renamed the mexicanus group because it included the type species of the genus, comprised species with short cheliceral fingers and the pedipalp femur wider than high. The keyserlingii group comprised species with long cheliceral fingers and the pedipalp femur higher than wide. Several new species of Diplocentrus were since described, but no attempt was made to synthesize the taxonomy of the species assigned to either group or further clarify the validity of the groups. In the present contribution, the species of Diplocentrus with the pedipalp femur higher than wide are reviewed. An operational diagnosis is provided for the keyserlingii group. Diplocentrus formosus Armas and Martín-Frías, 2003, previously synonymized with Diplocentrus tehuano Francke, 1977, is reinstated. Revised, updated diagnoses are provided for all previously described species and three new species, Diplocentrus kraepelini, n. sp., Diplocentrus sagittipalpus, n. sp., and Diplocentrus sissomi, n. sp., are described. The female of Diplocentrus mitlae Francke, 1977, is described for the first time. A dichotomous key is provided for identification of the 10 species in the keyserlingii group.


The ability to tolerate ultra-low temperature (-196 oC) exposure was evaluated in 66 tropical orthodox seed species of 21 botanical families from the Cerrado (Brazilian Savannah) and Atlantic Forest Brazilian biomes. Liquid nitrogen had no effect on the germinability of 51 seed species. The stimulatory effect of cryogenic temperature on germinability, with or without subsequent chemical scarification, was observed in nine seed species with deep physical dormancy, or heterogeneous levels of seed hardness, or with no dormancy. Significant reduction in germinability occurred in six seed species, presumably because of factors acting individually or in combination on these seeds, such as inappropriate moisture content, or the potentially detrimental effect of rapid cooling (263 oC.min-1) or fungal contamination. The results obtained suggest that cryopreservation may be a promising alternative for storing most of the seed species tested.


Questions over the compatibility of Islam and Human Rights have become a key area of debate in the perceived tensions between 'Islam and the West'. In many ways, discussion over the stance of Islam in relation to such factors as gender rights, religious freedom, social and political freedoms, and other related issues represents a microcosm of the broader experience of how Muslim and 'Western' communities interact and relate. This volume seeks to engage with the various debates surrounding Islam and Human Rights, in particular, challenging assumptions of a 'standard' or 'essential' Muslim perspective on Human Rights. Through a survey of the experiences of Muslim communities across the globe (the ummah), this volume highlights the dynamic way Muslims understand and incorporate Human Rights into their personal, social and political experiences. From conceptual discussions on the issues of gender rights and religious freedom, to examining Muslim communities from South East Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, leading global experts bring forth key insights into the way in which Muslim communities live and experience Human Rights. The potential for deeper engagement with this issue is critical, as it opens possibilities for more profound understanding and tolerance.


The Delaware General Corporation Law contains an obscure provision stating that all corporations have the power to "[t]ransact any lawful business which the corporation's board of directors shall find to be in aid of governmental authority." 8 DGCL §122(12). This oddly worded provision has never been applied, analyzed, or interpreted by any court. It has received almost no treatment by corporate law scholars. This lack of attention is surprising, given that by its own terms the provision seems to bear on fundamental corporate law themes, such as the purpose of corporations, the scope of directors' fiduciary obligations and discretion, and the relationship between corporate law and corporate social responsibility. In this Article, I examine the history behind this strange provision and analyze its applicability to pressing social policy questions surrounding corporate law. My analysis leads both to narrow and broad policy conclusions. The narrow conclusion is that §122 of the Delaware corporate code is a textual mess that should be amended at least for coherence and clarity. The broad conclusion is that the analysis herein contributes to the case for reforming corporate governance law to require directors to actively attend to the interests of multiple stakeholders, not just shareholders.


Abstract The UK Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) enforces the regulatory framework for larger companies and requires companies to restate non-compliant accounts. It is authorized to deal with directors but not auditors. Recent UK based research indicates a belief that the FRRP's activities have enhanced auditor independence and changed attitudes to accounting compliance. Defective accounts indicate a lack of audit quality as the auditor must have failed to detect and/or prevent the deficiency. By analysis of fifteen semi-structured interviews with finance directors and audit firm partners with experience of an FRRP inquiry, and by review of publicly available information, the impact of the FRRP on some aspects of audit quality is sought. The FRRP is found to have motivated auditors to improve accounting compliance by increasing the possibility of some errors being exposed. It is also found to have enhanced the independence of auditors at the pre-conventional level of ethical cognition as identified by Ponemon and Gabhart (1990), by changing the cost-benefit for auditors of permitting non-compliance. FRRP inquiries cause auditors to incur non-recoverable costs, can undermine the auditor–client relationship and increase the risk of client loss. Personal embarrassment, possible career damage and the risk of an ICAEW disciplinary inquiry arise for the audit partner. The FRRP is found to provide auditors with an additional negotiating tool in dealing with directors, thus making in easier for auditors at the conventional and post conventional level of ethical cognition to prevent non-compliance. Direct evidence is, therefore, found that the FRRP's activities have provided incentives for all auditors to focus more on accounting compliance (at least for items visible from an inspection of the accounts) and have provided incentives and mechanisms for auditors at lower levels of ethical cognition to be independent.


Received: June 2015, Accepted: August 2015 Background: Mental disorders in patients with chronic medical disorders are associated with, performance degradation, poor quality of life, lack of cooperation with treatment and inappropriate use of medical services, and increased costs. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of mental disorders in the general population referring to an educational medical hospital in Rasht, Iran, in 2013. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 1725 patients who referred to a medical educational center in Rasht were selected using convenience sampling method. Data were collected through clinical interviews and using inpatients' psychological condition analysis form. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Results showed that the prevalence of mental disorders in this population was 48.6%. The statistical test results showed age (P < 0.0001), marital status (P < 0.0001), occupation, history of substance abuse (P < 0.0001), psychiatric history (P < 0.0001), and a history of suicide attempt (P < 0.001) had significant relationships with presence of mental disorders. Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of mental disorders in this community, it is recommended that consultation and therapeutic services be provided in health centers for patients' health.


Fair.com? reviews all 3094 ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) decided through July 7, 2001 finding that that the allocation of cases may be unfairly biased toward trademark holders. It arrives at that conclusion based on three key findings. First, forum shopping has become an integral part of the UDRP. ICANN delegates the administration of the UDRP to four dispute resolution providers. Each provider maintains a roster of panelists who serve as judges in deciding the disputes. Complainants, who are invariably trademark holders, have the right to select which provider will handle their case. Track records of the various providers are a matter of public record and show that 90% of complainants rationally choose the two providers who feature panelists that render the most pro-complainant decisions. Second, there is a correlation between the selection of panelists and case outcome. UDRP cases are decided by either single or three-member panels. Single member panels feature one judge chosen exclusively by the arbitration provider. Three-member panels contain three judges selected by both the complainant and the respondent. This is significant since data shows that when providers control who decides a case, complainants win just over 83 percent of the time. As provider influence over panelists diminishes, such as in three-member panel cases, the complainant winning percentage drops to 60 percent. In an attempt to explain this, the study arrives at the third key finding - the higher winning percentage in single member panel cases may stem from provider bias toward ensuring that pro-complainant panelists decide the majority of cases. Although the allocation of cases is supposed to be random, the study finds that this may not be the case. For example, the National Arbitration Forum, one of the larger dispute resolution providers, has 135 panelists. However, 53 percent of its single panel cases are decided by only six of them. Those six panelists rule in favour of complainants 94 percent of the time. The article concludes that the solution to the forum shopping issue, and with it the concerns about bias and inconsistency within the UDRP, is surprisingly simple -- all contested UDRP actions should involve three-member panels. Establishing the three-member panel as the default would remove most provider influence over panelist selection and ensure better quality decisions by forcing panelists to justify their reasoning to their colleagues on the panel. As with the current system, both parties would play a role in selecting one panelist, who may be part of any ICANN-accredited providers' roster, while the provider would select the third panelist from among a list that both parties have reviewed and accepted.


Extending the approach of Bernanke and Blinder (1992), Strongin (1992), and Christiano, Eichenbaum, and Evans (1994a, 1994b), we develop and apply a VAR-based methodology for measuring the stance of monetary policy. More specifically, we develop a 'semi-structural' VAR approach, which extracts information about monetary policy from data on bank reserves and the federal funds rate but leaves the relationships among the macroeconomic variables in the system unrestricted. The methodology nests earlier VAR-based measures and can be used to compare and evaluate these indicators. It can also be used to construct measures of the stance of policy that optimally incorporate estimates of the Fed's operating procedure for any given period. Among existing approaches, we find that innovations to the federal funds rate (Bernanke-Blinder) are a good measure of policy innovations during the periods 1965-79 and 1988-94; for the period 1979-94 as a whole, innovations to the component of nonborrowed reserves that is orthogonal to total reserves (Strongin) seems to be the best choice. We develop a new measure of policy stance that conforms well to qualitative indicators of policy such as the Boschen- Mills (1991) index. Innovations to our measure lead to reasonable and precisely estimated dynamic responses by variables such as real GDP and the GDP deflator.


We present some new results that relate information to chaotic
dynamics. In our approach the quantity of information is measured by the
Algorithmic Information Content (Kolmogorov complexity) or by a sort of
computable version of it (Computable Information Content) in which the information
is measured by using a suitable universal data compression algorithm.
We apply these notions to the study of dynamical systems by considering the
asymptotic behavior of the quantity of information necessary to describe their
orbits. When a system is ergodic, this method provides an indicator that equals
the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy almost everywhere. Moreover, if the entropy is
null, our method gives new indicators that measure the unpredictability of the
system and allows various kind of weak chaos to be classified. Actually, this
is the main motivation of this work. The behavior of a 0-entropy dynamical
system is far to be completely predictable except that in particular cases.
In fact there are 0-entropy systems that exhibit a sort of weak chaos, where
the information necessary to describe the orbit behavior increases with time
more than logarithmically (periodic case) even if less than linearly (positive
entropy case). Also, we believe that the above method is useful to classify
0-entropy time series. To support this point of view, we show some theoretical
and experimental results in specific cases.


Predicting discharge capacities of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is essential for safe battery operation in electric vehicles (EVs). In this paper, a convolutional neural network-long short term memory (CNN-LSTM) approach is proposed to estimate the discharge capacity of LIBs. The parameters such as the voltage, current, temperature, and charge/discharge capacity are recorded from a battery management system (BMS) at various stages of the charge–discharge cycles. The experiments are conducted to obtain the data at different cycles, where each cycle is divided into four steps. Each testing cycle comprises charging, rest, discharging, and rest. In the predictive model, the initial layers are convolutional layers that help in feature extraction. Then, the long and short term memory layer is used to retain or forget related information. Finally, the prediction is completed by selecting the corresponding activation function. The evaluation model is established via the multiple train test split method. The lower values of weighted mean squared error suggest that discharge capacity estimation using CNN-LSTM is a reliable method. The CNN-LSTM approach can further be compiled in BMSs of EVs to get real-time status for state of charge and state of health values.


Six separate experiments were conducted to investigate the effects
of specific retrieval procedures on recall, recognition, confidence and the
confidence / accuracy relationship for these retrieval domains. In experiment I the effects of retrieval procedures were considered as part of
a recognised police interview technique, the Cognitive Interview (CI),
while in experiments 11,111, and IV the retrieval procedures involved
discrete context manipulations. Experiments V and VI focused exclusively
on the confidence / accuracy relationship for recall as a function of
specific retrieval procedures and question type.
Results indicated that although frequently improving the quality and
quantity of recall, the Cl and other types of context reinstatement
manipulation did not reliably improve recognition accuracy from lineup
presentations, nor did they have a significant moderating effect upon the
confidence / accuracy relationship. However in experiment TV in which a
long (three month) delay was utilised significant effects of context
manipulation on recognition performance were found.
With regard to confidence, experiment I indicated that the Cl was
responsible for a significant increase in confidence of recall but not
recognition. Results from experiments II, III, and iv indicated non
consistent effects of context manipulation on confidence, rating-q for either
recall and recognition.
With regard to the confidence / accuracy relationship, results from
the initial five experiments indicated that in very few instances was
confidence and accuracy significantly related. However, in experiment VI
confidence and accuracy was found to be reliably and consistently
related
The most important finding to emerge from this research suggests
the retrieval procedure undergone by a witness (interactive interview /
passive questionnaire), to be an important moderator of the confidence /
accuracy relationship. As such the results are supportive of Leippe's
(1980) two premises in which it is suggested that as reconstructional and
social influences increase, the confidence / accuracy relationship will
correspondingly decrease


Objective To determine the burden and factors associated with post-stroke depression in East central Nigeria. Method We carried out this cross-sectional study of 50 stroke survivors (mean age=54.8 ± 8.8 years), at the physiotherapy Department of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu. Data were collected using Becks Depression Inventory , it was analyzed using Z-scores, Chi-square test and univariate logistic regression. Results PSD was more common in females (45.45%); middle-age(60%) adults(27–36/47–56 years respectively); living with spouse (45%); left cerebral lesions (40.74%). Self-employed and unemployed (66.67%), respectively. Age was significantly associated with depression (p=0.03), and was related to the risk ofOR3.7 (95% CI 1.1–12.0 ) Conclusion Age could be a risk factor for PSD, which was more prevalent in the elderly than young/middle-age adults, female gender, left cerebral lesion, complications, cold case; those living with a spouse, self-employed and unemployed.


Conventional wisdom states that everyone should aspire to owning their own home, and to have it paid off by the time you retire. For most people, this is good advice. But let us not kid ourselves - home-ownership is an expensive exercise by the time you take into account electricity and water, rates and taxes, and on-going maintenance. If you have a swimming pool, this maintenance extends to chemicals and regular cleaning, whilst keeping a garden in any sort of presentable state takes lots of time and money.


Previous research has demonstrated that the accompanying music of a film can influence both the affective impact of a scene as well as its subsequent remembering. The intent here was to investigate whether
 the affect of music can also contribute to a story9s comprehension by guiding the course of selective attending and providing a more elaborative encoding of characters9 actions, motivations, and inherent
 temperament. These ideas were examined by presenting participants with three ambiguous film clips accompanied by positive, negative, and no music. Immediately after viewing each clip, some participants
 were asked to extrapolate the film9s ending, evaluate the personality and motivations of the main character(s), and complete a series of bipolar adjective ratings about the film9s actions. In addition,
 other participants returned a week later for a surprise recognition test that assessed their memory for certain objects within each film. Results revealed that relative to the control group of no music,
 positive and negative music significantly biased viewers9 interpretation and subsequent remembering of a film in a mood-congruent fashion. These findings are discussed in terms of the schematic influences
 of music upon the cognitive processing of visual scenes.


Abstract This paper aims to solve the fault tolerant control problem of a wind turbine benchmark. A hierarchical controller with model predictive pre-compensators, a global model predictive controller and a supervisory controller is proposed. In the model predictive pre-compensator, an extended Kalman Filter is designed to estimate the system states and various fault parameters. Based on the estimation, a group of model predictive controllers are designed to compensate the fault effects for each component of the wind turbine. The global MPC is used to schedule the operation of the components and exploit potential system-level redundancies. Extensive simulations of various fault conditions show that the proposed controller has small transients when faults occur and uses smoother and smaller generator torque and pitch angle inputs than the default controller. This paper shows that MPC can be a good candidate for fault tolerant controllers, especially the one with an adaptive internal model combined with a parameter estimation and update mechanism, such as an extended Kalman Filter.


An electron microscope study of intranuclear inclusions which occur in giant cells in a transplantable mouse hepatoma and in enlarged liver cells in mice fed a diet containing bentonite demonstrates that these inclusions are formed by invaginations of the nuclear envelope, and corroborates a previous histochemical study which revealed that the contents of the inclusions are of cytoplasmic origin. In the hepatoma cells the intranuclear inclusions are abundant, small, and situated close to the border of the nucleus, and there are wide openings from the cytoplasm into the invaginations whose contents include lipid droplets, ergastoplasm, and structurally normal mitochondria. In the enlarged liver cells the inclusions are fewer in number, generally much larger than those in the hepatoma, hence they extend deeper into the nucleus, and the interior is continuous with the cytoplasm through only a small opening. Some normal ergastoplasm is present within the inclusions but all other constituents are abnormal. Both normal and degenerating mitochondria occur in the cytoplasm but only degenerating ones are found within the inclusions. Both types of inclusions arise in greatly enlarged cells in which an attempt is made to maintain the normal nuclear surface/nuclear volume ratio by the development of the invaginations of the nuclear envelope.


The objective for this study was to describe what available treatments there is for overweight children and children with obesity and what effect the treatments have on the bodyweight.The Method used was a descriptive literature study and the search of articles was made in PubMed and High Wire Database. There were 19 articles included in the study who all answered to the aim and questions of this study.Of all treatments that were presented in the study, surgery- and drug treatment had the largest effect on children with obesity. The study proved that the combined treatments with behavior and nutrition changes combined with physical activity that involved whole or parts of the family was the most effective treatment for overweight children.If the combined treatment lasted for more than a year, a reduction of weight and BMI was shown among the overweight children that participated in the study.The rest of the treatments found shows god results during the treatment, but the effect decreases after completed treatment.The authors' conclusion was that the children treated along with their family for a long period of time and learns how to behave with food and physical activities will have the largest chance to escape an overweight life as an adult


Punching is integral to success in combat sports, making it a frequent activity during practice/training. Improving safety of this activity benefits both the athlete and training partners. This study was designed to 1) test the precision and reliability of a commercially available striking device and 2) assess the influence of a novel padded hand wrap on punching force in elite and untrained punchers. Fourteen male professional boxers and mixed martial artists (PRO; age=29.2±5.6y; height=180.3±9.0cm; mass=87.1±17.9kg, winning %=73.8±13.8%, number of victories via knockout/technical knockout=35.6± 21.9%) and 24 untrained male punchers (UNT; 27.6±6.9y, 177.6±18.3cm, 84.3±16.9kg) wore a standardized boxing glove and performed 20 maximal punches (4 sets of 5) into a device designed to measure punching force. All participants performed, in a counterbalanced order, 2 sets of 5 with a standardized hand wrap and 2 sets of 5 with the same wrap plus an additional 1.2cm thick cylinder 4g foam-like pad (WRAP) placed over the knuckles. PRO produced significantly more punching force than UNT, regardless of condition. Punching force was lower by 12.6% (p<0.05) for PRO and 8.9% (p<0.05) for UNT with WRAP (compared to no WRAP). These findings suggest WRAP significantly reduces punching force, which may be important for long-term safety of the puncher's hand and/or the person receiving the strike. Keywords: safety, punching, striking, hitting, combat, pad


Non-autoregressive neural machine translation (NAT) generates each target word in parallel and has achieved promising inference acceleration. However, existing NAT models still have a big gap in translation quality compared to autoregressive neural machine translation models due to the multimodality problem: the target words may come from multiple feasible translations. To address this problem, we propose a novel NAT framework ReorderNAT which explicitly models the reordering information to guide the decoding of NAT. Specially, ReorderNAT utilizes deterministic and non-deterministic decoding strategies that leverage reordering information as a proxy for the final translation to encourage the decoder to choose words belonging to the same translation. Experimental results on various widely-used datasets show that our proposed model achieves better performance compared to most existing NAT models, and even achieves comparable translation quality as autoregressive translation models with a significant speedup.


Trade liberalization in the early 1990s in Bangladesh has enabled the private sector to respond with market-stabilizing inflows of rice and wheat following major production shortfalls. At the same time, easing of restrictions on foreign investment, combined with substantial depreciation of the Taka, have enabled exports of the labor-intensive ready-made garment industry to expand significantly. Moreover, recently discovered natural gas resources might be exploited, creating new revenues for the country. A proper assessment of the impact of such policies and economic developments on the poor requires a comprehensive framework to analyze interactions between different sectors, and linkages between macro and micro levels. In this paper we develop a computable general equilibrium model (CGE) with special treatment of the rice and wheat sectors, and we use it to simulate the impact of (i) a decline in rice production due to floods, (ii) a cut in food aid of wheat, and (iii) increased revenues from the exploitation of natural gas resources. The results suggest that most households benefit from more liberalized rice and wheat trade, particularly after rice production shocks. Impacts of a decline in wheat food aid are relatively modest, as food aid imports are not large enough to have major macroeconomic effects. The simulations of natural gas export revenues suggest that the extent of disincentives to agriculture will depend on whether or not the resulting real exchange rate appreciation is sufficient to lower the import parity price of rice enough so that domestic prices are affected. Finally, all three simulations show that the effects of economic shocks on women's labor and female headed poor households can differ significantly from the effects on men's labor and other households.


In the present work, the performance of different cell designs used for the membrane distillation (MD) process was investigated. Three distinctive cell designs were proposed and compared. A numerical simulation using ANSYS Fluent 19 was used to study the performance of the cells. The effects of changing inlet Reynolds number on pressure drop, salt concentration and velocity contours with in the different cell deigns were investigated. Results show that the pressure drop is minimum across the first design, and the salt concentration decreases as Reynolds number increases. At Reynolds number = 125, the results show an enhanced velocity distribution compared to Reynolds number = 250 and 50. One of the proposed cell designs was then fabricated to study the effect of fluid flow on the performance in a direct contact membrane distillation system. Energy parameters were calculated to evaluate the performance of the cell. An evacuated tube solar collector was used to provide the system with hot water. System thermal efficiency, gained output ratio, and specific energy consumption analysis were performed for the system. The increase in the feed flow rate almost doubled the system thermal efficiency and the gained output ratio was increased from 0.31 to 0.60, while the specific energy consumption decreased from 2064 to 1037 kWh/m3.


In this paper, a simple surface dryness index (Vegetation Condition Albedo Drought Index, VCADI) based on the spectral patterns of surface moisture in two dimensional spectral space of vegetation index versus broadband albedo is suggested. VCADI derived from multi-sources remote sensing data including the Thematic Mapper (TM), the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images are significantly related to field measured soil moisture over different eco-systems. Spatio-temporal patterns of VCADI are further analyzed using time series of MODIS data over Ningxia Huizu Autonomous Region of China. Results indicate that VCADI variations are accordant with regional rainfall dynamics and the index has a potential in drought estimation as a simple satellite derived method completely independent of surface ancillary data.


Private hospitals play a significant role in the South African health system. Access to private hospital services however, is still very limited largely because they cost significantly more than services in the public sector. Beneficiaries of medical schemes are the primary customers of the private hospital industry, although an increasing trend of self-funding patients has been reported.
The changing preferences of the medical scheme population have influenced a significant shift from utilisation of public hospitals to private hospitals since 1990. As a result, private hospitals have experienced substantial growth with the total number of private sector beds increasing by 32% since 1998 to the current estimated 27 500 beds. Private hospitals however, are concentrated in the major metropolitan areas with most hospitals found in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. Private hospital facilities are predominantly owned by three major hospital groups i.e. Netcare, Medi-Clinic and Life Healthcare. Collectively, these groups own and operate more than three quarters of all private sector beds and more than 80% of all private sector theatre facilities.
The private hospital industry consistently attracts the attention of health care funders and regulatory authorities regarding its cost structures and pricing practices. A perception prevails that the fee-for-service reimbursement mechanism implemented by medical schemes encourages over-servicing thus driving cost-escalation in the environment which makes private hospital services unaffordable for the majority of South Africans. Conclusions highlight the need for the implementation of a comprehensive approach to regulate private hospital services with focus on costs, quality and transparency.


Abstract This paper critically examines the 'humanitarian innovation' movement, arguing that it represents a departure from classical principles and the entry of a distinctive new ideology into the sector. Labelling this 'humanitarian neophilia', the paper argues that it has resonances of Barbrook and Cameron's 'Californian Ideology', with its merging of New Left and New Right within the environs of Silicon Valley. Humanitarian neophilia, similarly, comes from a diverse ideological heritage, combining an optimistic faith in the possibilities of technology with a commitment to the power of markets. It both 'understates the state' and 'overstates the object', promoting a vision of self-reliant subjects rather than strong nation-states realising substantive socioeconomic rights.


Game sketching is used to identify enjoyable designs for digital games without the expense of fully implementing them. This thesis presents Raptor, a novel tool for sketching games. Raptor shows how tabletop interaction can effectively support the ideation phase of interaction design by permitting small collocated groups to participate in the design and testing process together. Raptor relies heavily on efficient gesture-based interaction, mixed-reality interaction involving physical props and digital artifacts, Wizard-of-Oz demonstration gameplay sketching, and fluid change of roles between designer and tester. An evaluation of Raptor using seven groups of three people showed that a sketching tool based on a tabletop computer indeed supports ideation and collaboration among collocated groups better than a more traditional PC-based tool.


Plants constantly produce cells that form tissues and organs from their meristems. During development, patterned cell divisions and cell fate specification through cell‐cell communication play a key role in organ shape and organization. The root apical meristem (RAM) of Arabidopsis is the source of many cell types in the root and requires intrinsic and extrinsic factors for development and maintenance; bidirectional signaling between stem and mature cells contributes to RAM activity, and its organization in Arabidopsis is a useful model to determine discrete signaling mechanisms in plant growth and morphogenesis. CLE peptides are intercellular signals in plant development. They are encoded by members of the CLE gene family, which produce small proteins believed to play a role in stem cell maintenance. The Tax lab demonstrated that CLE peptides have a differential regional effect on the root, promoting proliferation in the quiescent center and inhibiting cell division in the transit amplifying region, overall suppressing root growth (unpublished data). The goal is to determine which CLE peptides contribute to these differential effects in Arabidopsis roots. With antagonistic peptide technology, single residues in CLE peptides can be modified and cause specific phenotypes, such as disruption of stem cell maintenance, as seen by Song et al when replacing the sixth glycine residue to a threonine in CLV3. This technology can be used to characterize these signals, and ultimately better evaluate the role of CLE peptides in plant development. We plan to alter residues in CLE peptides and treat roots with the mutant peptides to determine what effect they have on different regions of the root and in mutant backgrounds. Song et al Plant Physiology 161.3 2013


BACKGROUND
Inactivity and low levels of physical activity are predisposing factors to many chronic diseases such as heart disease which are showing an increase in prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa generally and Nigeria in particular. Physical activity levels have been found to be decreasing among young people in many countries around the world resulting in a state where young people are not found to be sufficiently active in order to safeguard their present and future health and well-being.

OBJECTIVE
This study was designed to assess the physical activity levels of students in government-owned senior secondary schools located in the South-east Municipality, Ibadan, Western Nigeria, and its association with their physical characteristics and level of study.

SUBJECTS AND METHOD
Multi-stage sampling was used to select participants from senior secondary schools. A modified version of the self-reported physical activity questionnaire for adolescents (PAQ-A) validated for Nigerian adolescents was used for data collection. One thousand and two questionnaires were distributed to the respondents. The questionnaire was designed to collect the respondents' demographic data and assess their physical activity levels. One thousand (1000) questionnaires were completed. Two of the 1002 questionnaires were not properly completed and were therefore discarded. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviation and cumulative percentage. A table was used to present the results. The chi-square test was used to determine the association between physical activity levels and the physical characteristics of the participants. Independent t-test was used to determine the difference in the physical activity levels of the participants.

RESULTS
The results indicated that 38% of the participants engaged in low activity levels, 58.8% in moderate activity levels and 3.2% in high activity levels. Furthermore, physical activity levels (PAL) had significant positive associations with the physical characteristics of the participants and males appeared to be significantly more active than females.

CONCLUSION
Adolescents are not involved in adequate physical activities that could safeguard their present and future health and well-being. Therefore, it is recommended that there should be educational programmes in place which emphasize the benefits of exercise, primordial prevention of future chronic and cardiovascular diseases and also the incorporation of physical education in the secondary school curriculum.


Passerines are especially vulnerable to predation at the pre-independence stage. Although the role of nest success in British farmland passerine declines is contentious, improvement in nest success through sympathetic management could play a role in their reversal. Because habitat is known to interact with predation, management options for mitigation will need to consider effects of nest predation. We present results from an observational study of a population of Common Blackbird Turdus merula on a farm which has experienced a range of agri-environment and game-management options, including a period with nest predator control, as a case study to address some of these issues. We used an information theoretic model comparison procedure to look for evidence of interactions between habitat and nest predation, and then asked whether habitat management and nest predator abundances could explain population trends at the site through their effects on nest success. Interactions were detected between measures of predator abundance and habitat variables, and these varied with nest stage – habitat within the vicinity of the nest appeared to be important at the egg stage, and nest-placement characteristics were important at the nestling stage. Although predator control appeared to have a positive influence on Blackbird breeding population size, the non-experimental set-up meant we could not eliminate other potential explanations. Variation in breeding population size did not appear to be influenced by variation in nest success alone. Our study demonstrates that observational data can only go so far in detection of such effects, and we discuss how it might be taken further. Agri-environment and game-management techniques are likely to influence nest predation pressure on farmland passerines, but the patterns, mechanisms and importance to population processes remain not wholly understood.


Rogue filmmaker Robert Rodriguez (b. 1968) rocketed to fame with his ultra-low-budget film El Mariachi (1992). The Spanish-language action film, and the making-of book that accompanied it, were inspirational to filmmakers trying to work with the most meager of resources. Rodriguez embodies the postmodern auteur, maintaining a firm control of his projects by not only writing and producing his films, but also editing, shooting, composing, as well as working with the visual effects. He was one of the first American filmmakers to wholeheartedly adopt digital filmmaking, now the norm. Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) helped bring back 3-D to mainstream theatres. He is as comfortable making family films (the Spy Kids series) as action (Sin City) and horror films (Planet Terror). He has maintained his guerilla filmmaking approach, despite increasing budgets, choosing to work outside of Hollywood and even founding his own studio (Troublemaker Studios) in Austin, Texas. He has also arguably become the most successful Latino filmmaker. In this, the first book devoted to Rodriguez, interviews and articles from 1993 to 2010 reveal a filmmaker passionate about making films on his own terms. He addresses the subjects central to his life and work: guerilla filmmaking, the digital revolution, his family, and his disdain for Hollywood. An easy and frank subject, these portraits depict the rebel director at his most candid, forging a path for others to break free from Hollywood hegemony.


Ameloblastoma is a rare low-grade odontogenic tumor of epithelial origin. The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined malignant ameloblastoma (MA) as a histologically benign-appearing ameloblastoma that has metastasized. Treatment of the primary ameloblastoma usually consists of radical excision of the tumor and adjuvant radiotherapy. Chemotherapy should be used to treat metastases due to its indolent clinical course. Presented here is the case of a 43-year-old woman who was admitted to a hospital in 2006 with a large mass involving the neck and left mandible. The mass had formed over years and had been neglected. The woman was diagnosed with a primary ameloblastoma of the mandible. Surgical resection was performed, followed by adjuvant radiotherapy. In September 2016, she was admitted again, and the findings were consistent with metastases of the previously identified ameloblastoma to the lungs. The patient was evaluated for further chemotherapy with 6 cycles of cisplatin at a dose of 100 mg/m2 on day 1, 5-FU at a dose of 1000 mg/m2/day on day 1-4 (3 wk), and pegylated filgrastim. The current case represents the classical course of a rare disease, which in this instance involved the common presentation of MA. This case is a valid incidence of MA based on the typical histology, findings from a lung biopsy, the immunohistochemical profile of the tumor, the typical clinical features, and a history of a previous primary disease.


The majority of planktonic species, including those that are informative in the reconstructions of past marine environmental conditions, do not produce diagnostic features (e.g., cysts, spores, or lipid biomarkers) and would therefore escape identification from the fossil record using traditional paleoecological tools (microscopy or lipid biomarker geochemistry). However, several studies have recently demonstrated that fossil DNA of planktonic species can be preserved for thousands of years and can be used for species-specific characterization using molecular biological techniques. The objectives of this thesis were to investigate the potential fate of fossil DNA and to what extent it can be used as a qualitative and quantitative biomarker for paleoecological and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. For this goal, fossil DNA of several groups of planktonic protists was analyzed in various marine settings, and validated by comparing the results to microscopical identification and lipid biomarker analyses. A Holocene sediment core from Ellis Fjord, Antarctica, spanning 2700 years of deposition was used to study taxon-specific variation in the level of preservation of fossil DNA. The results showed that post-depositional fragmentation of DNA was highest for dinoflagellates, followed by diatoms and lowest for phototrophic green sulfur bacteria (GSB) stemming from the ancient sulfidic chemocline. Dinoflagellate cysts were rare in the sediment record and despite an exponential decline in fossil dinoflagellate DNA, paleogenetics was the only approach that revealed an important shift in dinoflagellate communities around 1850 years ago, indicative of colder climate and an increased ice cover. In similar aged anoxic sediments from the much deeper (2000 m) permanently stratified Black Sea, a significant fraction (~30%) of fossil DNA of the calcifying haptophyte Emiliania huxleyi, an important species involved in global oceanic C and N cycling and a source of alkenones as a proxy for past oceanic sea surface temperatures (SST), appeared to escape fragmentation and was relatively well preserved for up to 3600 years. Fossil DNA revealed an absence of additional haptophyte species as sources of fossil alkenones indicating that no species-specific calibration of alkenone-SST is required for at least the last 3600 years. Finally, fossil DNA was studied in up to 124,000-year old eastern Mediterranean sediments to reveal the extent of DNA preservation beyond the Holocene era in organic carbon-rich sapropel layers as compared to the organic carbon-poor oxidized sediments. Despite the observation that a significant amount of plankton DNA could only be recovered from the youngest Holocene sapropel S1 (~5 to 9 kyr BP), the paleogenetics approach recorded a simultaneous community shift of non-fossilized haptophytes and dinoflagellates reflecting the changing hydrological conditions during sapropel formation. In summary, the studies reported in this thesis show that the use of fossil DNA is a promising tool for reconstructing Holocene paleoenvironmental conditions in settings where poor bottom water ventilation resulted in the deposition of organic-rich sediments.


Cultural traditions, including local gastronomy (food and beverage), can be maintained and reinforced through iconic products representing the character of the region or country. The growing importance of wine, food and other forms of tourism in some rural areas can help build a new image – or strengthen an existing one – of a region's culinary heritage. This study examines the dimension represented by wine and food heritage in the context of Uruguay's wine industry. Data were gathered from winery owners, managers, wine makers, and from representatives of Wines of Uruguay and the Routes of Wine. The importance of 'Tannat', a varietal grown locally for more than two centuries, is emphasised as the nation's signature wine and symbol of its wine industry. Increasing awareness of the country's culinary heritage has led to efforts to provide a gastronomic concept for consumers seeking local foods and unique gastronomic experiences. Respondents, therefore, perceive that the 'marriage' between Tannat and Uruguay' traditional foods is helping in establishing a gastronomic image virtually unexploited before. These findings have important implications for the further development of Uruguay's food and wine industry, heritage and tourism, as well as for that of other regions striving for 'recognition' of their gastronomic heritage.


The aim of the study: to study the effect of mexidol content of ionized calcium and magnesium in erythrocytes and the number of circulating endothelial cells in patients undergoing surgery in the maxillofacial area. Material and methods. The intracellular concentration of calcium and magnesium was measured before the operation, in one, three and five days after the surgery with the help of cytochemical method. Mexidol (100mg) was administered intravenously as a single addition to the standard premedication. Results. After surgery, the intracellular calcium and magnesium content increased. After 24 hours, the magnesium level began to decline, and the calcium content in erythrocytes continued to grow. On day 5, the magnesium concentration in erythrocytes decreased below the initial level, and calcium levels remained significantly elevated. Number of endothelial cells in the blood increased immediately after surgery and magnesium-calcium balance and limits endothelial dysfunction. Mexidol continued growing, reaching a peak on day 5 after surgery. When using mexidol decreased levels of calcium and magnesium levels help prevent falls on the 5th day after surgery, decreased the number of circulating endothelial cells. Conclusion. Mexidol prevents postoperative magnesium violation.


Objectives: The deleterious health effects of long working hours have been previously investigated, but there is a dearth of studies on mortality resulting from accidents or suicide. This prospective study aims to examine the association between working hours and external-cause mortality (accidents and suicide) in Korea, a country with some of the longest working hours in the world. Methods: Employed workers (N=14 484) participating in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were matched with the Korea National Statistical Office's death registry from 2007–2016 (person-years = 81 927.5 years, mean weighted follow-up duration = 5.7 years). Hazard ratios (HR) for accident (N=25) and suicide (N=27) mortality were estimated according to weekly working hours, with 35–44 hours per week as the reference. Results: Individuals working 45–52 hours per week had higher risk of total external cause mortality compared to those working 35–44 hours per week [HR 2.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.22–6.40], adjusting for sex, age, household income, education, occupation, and depressive symptoms. Among the external causes of death, suicide risk was higher (HR 3.89, 95% CI 1.06–14.29) for working 45–52 hours per week compared to working 35–44 hours per week. Working >52 hours per week also showed increased risk for suicide (HR 3.74, 95% CI 1.03–13.64). No statistically significant associations were found for accident mortality. Conclusions: Long working hours are associated with higher suicide mortality rates in Korea.


This study explores the interaction between transformative processes in which a group of teacher educators became a professional development community (PDC) and the individual progress of these instructors through the professional development course on the topic of thinking education. Twelve teacher educators who participated in one of three yearlong programs were each interviewed three times. Other data sources include reflective writing of the participants, field notes, and recordings of the PDC meetings. Findings show that both breaking of isolation in the group and talk about student learning were essential in promoting individual progression toward change that entailed developing awareness of the possibility of infusing thinking into college-level teaching and the development of dispositions to do so in their courses. Factors that enhanced and hindered dispositional change are explicated in the findings and discussion.


The scientific literature is a large information network linking various actors (laboratories, companies, institutions, etc.). The vast amount of data generated by this network constitutes a dynamic heterogeneous attributed network (HAN), in which new information is constantly produced and from which it is increasingly difficult to extract content of interest. In this article, I present my first thesis works in partnership with an industrial company, Digital Scientific Research Technology. This later offers a scientific watch tool, Peerus, addressing various issues, such as the real time recommendation of newly published papers or the search for active experts to start new collaborations. To tackle this diversity of applications, a common approach consists in learning representations of the nodes and attributes of this HAN and use them as features for a variety of recommendation tasks. However, most works on attributed network embedding pay too little attention to textual attributes and do not fully take advantage of recent natural language processing techniques. Moreover, proposed methods that jointly learn node and document representations do not provide a way to effectively infer representations for new documents for which network information is missing, which happens to be crucial in real time recommender systems. Finally, the interplay between textual and graph data in text-attributed heterogeneous networks remains an open research direction.


Recently there have been a growing number of researches on the influence of interactive whiteboard on engagement and achievement, and many of them have yielded positive results. Learner engagement has emerged from the connection between involvement and achievement and now quite many researchers agree on the correlation between learner engagement and learner achievement. This study aims to show whether the implementation of interactive whiteboard in Mathematics classes affect learner engagement and achievement. A questionnaire survey was conducted including 60 Mathematics department students at a private university in Iraq. The results indicated that the employment of interactive whiteboard impressively influences learners' engagement and achievement in Mathematics.


This article examines de facto ethnic segregation in middle school [college] in France on
the basis of an analysis of the distribution of more than 144,000 pupils among the 333 middle schools of the Bordeaux educational area. An indicator is constructed that defines the
ethnicity variable using the criterion of pupil first name and allows for distinguishing
between "native" and "non-native" pupils. Pupil distribution among the area's middle
schools by this variable is then observed, bringing to light considerable dispersion, and evidence that a small proportion of area schools educate a high proportion of non-native pupils.
Lastly, the article examines the effects of the observed ethnic segregation on scholastic performance and post-middle school path.


Biochemistry and genetics reveal the identity of specific ligand-receptor pairs that affect stomatal development. The secreted EPIDERMAL PATTERNING FACTORs (EPFs) 1 and 2 and the cell surface receptors ERECTA, ERECTA-LIKE1 (ERL1), and TOO MANY MOUTHS (TMM) are required for proper development of stomata, epidermal gas-exchange valves, in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Using epitope-tagged proteins heterologously expressed in Nicotania benthamiana, Lee et al. demonstrate that EPFs bind to these receptors. From extracts of plants in which each putative ligand-receptor pair was transiently expressed, the authors coimmunoprecipitated EPF1-ERECTA, EPF1-ERL1, EPF2-ERECTA, EPF2-ERL1, or EPF2-TMM complexes; EPF1 did not bind to TMM. Tagged versions of the mature forms of the EPFs that were produced in bacteria and shown to have biological activity in an in vivo Arabidopsis assay bound to immobilized tagged receptors purified from N. benthamiana. Whereas EPF1 bound to ERECTA and ERL1 with similar kinetics, EPF2 exhibited greater saturation in binding to ERECTA compared with ERL1 and TMM. Using tagged versions of the proteins transiently expressed from their native promoters in Arabidopsis, the authors demonstrated that ERECTA and ERL1 formed both homodimers and heterodimers in vivo; TMM did not self-associate but formed heterodimers with ERECTA and ERL1. Genetic experiments supported a role for EPF2 signaling primarily through ERECTA and EPF1 through ERL1 in consecutive steps of stomata development. Based on the known complexity of the cooperative and antagonistic interactions between TMM and the ERECTA family receptors in stomata development and the observed formation of heterodimers, the authors propose that TMM may fine-tune signaling through the ERECTA receptors. Understanding the ligand-receptor specificity and receptor oligomerization properties of this system should facilitate investigation of their roles in stomatal development. J. S. Lee, T. Kuroha, M. Hnilova, D. Khatayevich, M. M. Kanaoka, J. M. McAbee, M. Sarikaya, C. Tamerler, K. U. Torii, Direct interaction of ligand-receptor pairs specifying stomatal patterning. Genes Dev. 26, 126–136 (2012). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Coral reef systems, such as the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, are characterized by populations of fish and invertebrates that, mostly, produce offspring as pelagic larvae. Although some of these pelagic larvae may remain nearby, most will be advected off their natal reef and transported by mainstream water circulation towards other reefs. Recruitment from this larval pool is likely to structure communities and determine species distributions. The fine-scale features of water circulation around individual reefs, or groups of reefs, will then strongly influence recruitment by determining the proportion of the available larval pool which is able to settle onto a reef under particular conditions. The research presented here is a first step towards the incorporation of fine-scale particle transport around reefs into models capable of simulating the dynamics of larval dispersal over large spatial and temporal scales. Results indicate that the hydrodynamics associated with different reef shapes and sizes, and the magnitude of long-shelf and cross-shelf tidal currents may influence recruitment onto reefs. A combination of deterministic and stochastic factors are identified which may account for much of the variability in recruitment that has been documented for reef species with pelagic larvae.


Throughout the world, millions of people suffer pain caused by late-stage HIV/AIDS, cancer and other conditions; and millions more suffer the harms associated with addiction to illicit opioids, particularly heroin. Medical best practice recognizes that therapeutic opioids are central to the treatment of severe pain, and indispensible in palliative care. Likewise, long-term pharmacotherapy (referred to here as Medication Assisted Treatment or MAT) is proven to be an effective treatment for opioid dependence; and to significantly reduce the risks of HIV/AIDS and other harms associated with injection drug use. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) includes opioid medications that are commonly used to treat both pain and opioid dependence on its list of essential medicines. Despite widespread recognition that opioid medications are necessary for medical treatment, severe global inequality in access to these medicines persists. The United States, with 4.7% of the world's population, consumes nearly 55% of the world's morphine. Poor and middle-income countries, where over 80% of the world's people live, consume only about 8%. Similar disparities are found with MAT, which has become widespread in the developed world, but remains largely inaccessible in middle and low-income countries. As efforts to improve HIV and cancer care in developing countries progress, attention must be paid to the chronic lack of essential medicines for the care of pain and drug dependence. A significant driver of access inequality is imbalanced drug policy. In countries throughout the world, restrictive national policies emphasize prevention of drug dependence at the expense of ensuring access to essential opioid medicines. International drug control bodies – the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the International Narcotics Control Board – have too often over-emphasized drug control and under-emphasized the issue of access. This need not and should not continue. The international conventions governing drug control unambiguously require states to balance control of illicit drug use with affirmative steps to ensure adequate access to opioids for medical and scientific use. Over the past two decades, an informal coalition of dedicated international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and United Nations programs have worked with advocates in a number of countries to expand access to therapeutic opioids. In recent years, both state parties to the international drug conventions and the international drug control organs have affirmed their support for access. With broad agreement in theory, all that now stands in the way of large-scale change at the international level is the lack of a unifying vision and a clear, adequately funded action plan.This article is based on research commissioned by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (UKAID) that identified successful national opioid policy reform strategies. Based on the results of that work, we argue that moderate international investment can transform the current international consensus for improved therapeutic opioid access into meaningful reform. Part II makes the humanitarian case for national drug regulatory reform, describing the widespread medical need for opioid medicines and global inequity in their use. Part III provides a brief overview of the international law that obligates states to ensure adequate access to opioid medicines. It also discusses two kinds of impediments that national governments commonly face in improving access to opioid medicines. Part IV identifies three major elements of past successful national reform efforts. In addition, this section makes the case for funding and support to use these elements in a single, comprehensive intervention model for future drug policy reform. These sections make it clear that the NGOs, UN programs, and national champions committed to the cause understand what changes are needed and how to initiate such change. What these groups need now is the financial and political support of the world's donor nations.


This paper presents an overview of Taiwan's LCD (liquid crystal display) industry to illustrate the emergence of competitive advantages of Taiwan's high-tech development. It shows that Taiwanese firms are evolving from manufacturing labour-intensive items of LCDs to more technology-intensive TFT LCD. The worldwide LCD demands are growing at a fast pace and Japan leads both in technology and economy of scale. South Korea is next to Japan in terms of market share and production scale, while the USA and European countries are trying to keep up with the world demands. A patent analysis was performed to analyse the technology trend and leading companies. Japan dominates the technology leadership and SHARP plays a key role of TFT technology development. The increase in labour wages cause Taiwan's industry to be less competitive in the labour-intensive products of TN-LCDs. However, supportive industrial policy, experienced engineers, well-developed IC infrastructures, ample sources of capital investment, and quick response to market needs, serve as the vehicle for Taiwan's competitiveness in the international arena of LCD industry.


Ultrasmall gold particles have been prepared inside the micelles of polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) and polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) in toluene. Starting point was the formation of a thermodynamically stable dispersion of HAuCl4 or LiAuCl4 in the inverse micelles of the block copolymer which were treated with hydrazine or pyrrole. Analysis of the effect of the reduction agent on the stability of the micelles yielded a simple model for the transformation process involving coagulation of the swelling micelles. Kinetic control of the different steps, i.e., reduction, mineralization, coagulation, film formation, allowed to prepare thin films in which highly uniform gold particles were arranged in yet unknown order. When pyrrole was employed for the reduction, the gold monocrystals got embedded in a shell of polypyrrole.


One of the main objectives of sustainable energy systems is to provide clean, affordable, affordable energy with minimal environmental impact. Development of reliable energy systems without toxic effects to conserve the environment while future energy is urgently needed. This demand has led to the development and implementation of energy-efficient systems using photovoltaics (PV) and energy-saving devices. Currently, there is a significant increase in the cost of fuel filling due to increased power grid power consumption and its failure to meet demand. Improving generation, storage and energy consumption through revwables (PV) and storage devices will improve efficient, efficient and reliable energy use. The ultimate goal of a sustainable energy system is to use renewable energy to provide clean, affordable, energy-efficient electricity by depleting land resources. There is a need to come up with reliable fuel-efficient energy systems to conserve the environment while empowering your current and current energy. This has led to the development of renewable energy systems using revwables (photovoltaics and wind) . There is a rapid increase in energy production from PV over the years . Due to the rapid growth of PV generation, energy conservation serves as a generation generation storage facility that we can use when needed. Energy efficiency systems serve as a means of increasing energy consumption and energy consumption. Energy savings are a key factor in the integration of renewable resources, playing a key role in maintaining a strong modern energy system. Starting battery storage is limited due to high cost. Improving technology to save energy can therefore be achieved to meet demand whenever needed will have a significant impact on electricity supply. Helping to try and achieve this goal, energy-saving devices can handle the amount of energy needed to supply consumers at times when there is a great need, which is in the middle of a heavy load. These devices can also help to generate non-renewable energy, the output of which can be controlled by grid operators, is smooth and unobtrusive. nano have advanced electrochemical structures. In Power Electronics, research on high power, high power, high frequency, broad band materials such as silicon-carbide and gallium-nitride is ongoing. In addition, advanced power conversion systems use advanced magnetic strength, high-capacity capacitors, advanced installation and control to significantly increase operational and operational capacity. They can also measure micrograms to achieve a better match between generation and load. The end devices can provide frequency control to maintain a balance between network load and power output, and can achieve more reliable power supply for high-tech industrial facilities. Energy storage is also under consideration for its rapid response - many end-to-end technologies can begin to dissipate energy from the grid very quickly, while orthopedic energy sources often take longer to ascend. This quick response is important in ensuring grid durability when unexpected demand increases. Therefore, energy conservation and energy hold a great promise to transform the energy industry. This paper outlines the latest practice and installation of renewable energy (RE) energy storage such as wind and solar energy in South Korea and other countries including friendly energy conservation policies and support systems available in South Korea, for other countries to follow. And this paper will show its predictions of energy storage technology and market based on the advanced battery price forecast and the future of energy storage as one of the core components for sustainable green emission free world with distributed energy resources (DER) and microgrid.


Permeability was measured during decarbonation reaction of calcite + quartz → wollastonite + CO2 in the presence of water. The aggregate used for measurement was initially composed of 90 wt% calcite and 10 wt% quartz. At an effective pressure (confining pressure minus pore fluid pressure) of 25 MPa, the reaction proceeds to completion in <40 h at temperatures of 600–700 °C. Permeability remains nearly constant at about 10−16.5 m2 at 600 °C, but it evolves from 10−16.5 to 10−19 m2 at 700 °C as quartz and calcite react to form porous wollastonite aggregates. Over the same temperature range, but at an effective pressure of 100 MPa, the permeability reduces rapidly below 10−19 m2, and only limited volumes of dense wollastonite aggregates were produced on calcite grain surfaces. Our experiments demonstrate the importance of effective pressure in influencing reaction progress and permeability evolution during metamorphic reactions. The experiments clearly suggest that where water-infiltration–driven decarbonation in siliceous carbonates occurs under near-lithostatic fluid pressure conditions, reaction kinetics can be very fast and the release of carbon dioxide is continuous.


In the last few years, electronic media brought a revolution in the traceability of social phenomena. As particles in a bubble chamber, social trajectories leave digital trails that can be analyzed to gain a deeper understanding of collective life. To make sense of these traces a renewed collaboration between social and natural scientists is needed. In this paper, we claim that current research strategies based on micro-macro models are unfit to unfold the complexity of collective existence and that the priority should instead be the development of new formal tools to exploit the richness of digital data.


This article explains the making of intra party coalition prior to and during simultaneous local direct election phase I in Central Java Province, held in 9 December 2015. Referring to and modifying from the current scholarly works on the coalition making and politico-ideological orientation of political party in Indonesia, it offers four typologies of intra party coalition which are small ideological coalition, small pragmatic coalition, grand ideological coalition, and grand pragmatic coalition. The case of coalition making in the local direct election in 21 districts/municipalities in Central Java Province reveals that political party is a powerful and irreplaceable political player in democratic setting. As a formal political institution, it is and will remain considerably influential in nominating and endorsing candidates to run in the local direct election.


Deletions of distal chromosome 9p24 are often associated with 46,XY gonadal dysgenesis and, depending on the extent of the deletion, the monosomy 9p syndrome. We have previously noted that some cases of 46,XY gonadal dysgenesis carry a 9p deletion and exhibit behavioural problems consistent with autistic spectrum disorder. These cases had a small terminal deletion of 9p with limited or no somatic anomalies that are characteristic of the monosomy 9p syndrome. Here, we present a new case of 46,XY partial gonadal dysgenesis and autistic spectrum disorder associated with a de novo deletion of 9p24 that was detected by ultra-high resolution oligo microarray comparative genomic hybridization. The deletion included the candidate sex-determining genes in the region DMRT1 and DMRT3. These data suggest that a gene responsible for autistic spectrum disorder is located within 9p24. It remains to be determined if the gonadal dysgenesis and autistic spectrum disorder are caused by a single gene or if they are caused by distinct genetic entities at 9p24.


The visual system can use small disparities between the stimuli seen by each eye as a binocular cue for depth. Geometric disparities are the most commonly used cue for stereopsis, but disparities in contrast and luminance can also lead to the perception of depth and both can cancel perceived depth from a geometric disparity. Humans are able to perceive changes in depth from contrast disparities at frequencies up to approximately 1.4 Hz, whereas changes in depth from geometric disparities are visible at frequencies above 5 Hz (Dobias, 2008). This dissertation is divided into two parts. The first part (experiments 1 & 2) explores the dynamics of canceling the perceived depth from a geometric disparity using a contrast or a luminance disparity. The second part (experiments 3-5) explores the role of individual differences in the dynamics of perceived depth from contrast, luminance, and geometric disparities. Dobias (2008) and results in experiments 3 & 4 show that the probability of reporting depth from contrast and luminance disparities diminish at frequencies much lower than from a geometric disparity (critical frequency). A generalized difference model (simple low-pass filter), does not account for the data from experiment 1. However, a gated generalized difference model, which applies low-pass filtering to the amplitude of the modulation but not its rate of change, does account for the data. Results from part two show that the frequency at which depth changes from contrast and luminance disparities (experiment 3) differs from the frequency at which depth is no longer visible for a geometric disparity (experiment 4), that the frequency can differ depending on which eye views the changing stimulus (experiments 3 & 4), and that either visual masking or eye movements are likely not causing the decrease at lower frequencies for contrast and luminance disparities (experiment 5). The finding that results from part one follow the gated model, and the differences depending on which eye views the dynamic stimulus found in part two, suggest that the visual system processes depth from contrast and luminance disparities much differently from what would be expected based on our typical understanding of depth perception.


The Number 1 VLSI Design GuideNow Fully Updated for IP-Based Design and the Newest TechnologiesModern VLSI Design, Fourth Edition, offers authoritative, up-to-the-minute guidance for the entire VLSI design processfrom architecture and logic design through layout and packaging. Wayne Wolf has systematically updated his award-winning book for todays newest technologies and highest-value design techniques. Wolf introduces powerful new IP-based design techniques at all three levels: gates, subsystems, and architecture. He presents deeper coverage of logic design fundamentals, clocking and timing, and much more. No other VLSI guide presents as much up-to-date information for maximizing performance, minimizing power utilization, and achieving rapid design turnarounds. Coverage includesAll-new material on IP-based designExtensive new coverage of networks-on-chipsNew coverage of using FPGA fabrics to improve design flexibilityNew material on image sensors, busses, Rents Rule, pipelining, and moreUpdated VLSI technology parameters reflecting the latest advancesRevised descriptions of HDLs and other VLSI design toolsAdvanced techniques for overcoming bottlenecks and reducing crosstalkLow-power design techniques for enhancing reliability and extending battery lifeTesting solutions for every level of abstraction, from gates to architectureRevamped end-of-chapter problems that fully reflect todays VLSI design challengesWolf introduces a top-down, systematic design methodology that begins with high-level models, extends from circuits to architecture, and facilitates effective testing. Along the way, he brings together all the skills VLSI design professionals will need to create tomorrows state-of-the-art devices.


Two studies are reported, comparing the browser loading times of webpages created using common Web development techniques. The loading speeds were estimated in 12 Asian countries by members of the PANdora network, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to conduct collaborative research in the development of effective distance education (DE) practices. An online survey tool with stopwatch-type counter was used. Responses were obtained from Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. In most of the survey conditions, browser loading times were noted up to four times slower than commonly prescribed as acceptable. Failure of pages to load at all was frequent. The speediest loading times were observed when the online material was hosted locally, and was created either in the Docebo learning management system (LMS), or in the HTML option provided by the Moodle LMS. It is recommended that formative evaluation of this type should become standard practice in the selection and use of online programming techniques, in order to preserve the accessibility of the World-Wide-Web across large geographical distances, as for DE in the developing world.


Designing revenue-maximizing combinatorial auctions (CAs) is a recognized open problem in mechanism design. It is unsolved even for two bidders and two items for sale. Rather than attempting to characterize the optimal auction, we focus on designing approximations (suboptimal auction mechanisms which yield high revenue).

Our approximations belong to the family of virtual valuations combinatorial auctions (VVCA). VVCA is a Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) mechanism run on virtual valuations that are linear transformations of the bidders' real valuations.

We pursue two approaches to constructing approximately optimal CAs. The first is to construct a VVCA with worst-case and average-case performance guarantees. We give a logarithmic approximation auction for basic important special cases of the problem: 1) limited supply of items on sale with additive valuations and 2) unlimited supply. The second approach is to search the parameter space of VVCAs in order to obtain high-revenue mechanisms for the general problem. We introduce a series of increasingly sophisticated algorithms that use economic insights to guide the search and thus reduce the computational complexity. Our experiments demonstrate that in many cases these algorithms perform almost as well as the optimal VVCA, yield a substantial increase in revenue over the VCG mechanism and drastically outperform the straightforward algorithms in run-time.


Using a sample comprising nearly a quarter of a million weekly prices from the largest seven supermarket chains in the UK, we present statistical evidence on two pricing practices that have attracted public interest. Analysing price dynamics before and after periods of promotional discounting the investigation finds first, no evidence of a general tendency for sales to disguise rises in the regular price, and second, some evidence for prices to rise prior to sales in a manner that is consistent with the exaggeration of the discount. As such, the results parallel the competition authority's view of supermarkets use of promotions and also point to the useful contribution that retail price microdata might play in keeping prices in check.


Collocations are arbitrarily restricted lexeme combination, whose importance in language has been increasingly recognized in recent years. The importance of collocations in foreign language learning, and the problems face the learners in using collocations have been underscored by numerous researchers As a result, this study has devoted special attention to grammatical collocations. Collocations, in which a lexical and a more grammatical element (such as a preposition) co-occur, are called 'grammatical collocations'. Lexicographic evidence confirmed that collocations may appear in a large spectrum of configurations. Thus, the BBI collocation dictionary (Benson et al., 1986a) provides a very comprehensive list of grammatical collocations consists of eight patterns; the last pattern comprises nineteen English verb patterns. For the present study, only three patterns of grammatical collocations have been chosen to be probed (GI, G5, G8), these patterns are the collocation of NP, AP, or VP with PP. The reason behind selecting these three particular patterns is, actually, an attempt to find a sort of connection between these patterns of grammatical collocations, and the co-occurrence restrictions proposed by Chomsky in his standard theory. In "Aspects of the theory of syntax", Chomsky postulates that the syntactic structure imposes co-occurrence restrictions on the syntactic constituents. These co-occurrence restrictions consist of subcategorization rules and selectional restrictions. The present study, as a result, purports to be an investigation of the university students' grammatical collocation competence, a sample of sixty five college students at University of Baghdad, College of Languages, Department of English of the academic year 2011-2012, served as subjects. A test of 90-item of grammatical collocations was designed to assess the students' competence in both the receptive and productive collocational aspects. The data were examined and results showed that students encountered more difficulties on the production level than on the recognition level.


Heart rate (HR; beats/min) rumen temperature (RTMP; oC), activity level (ACT; %) and feeding patterns (feeding event duration; sec/30 min, feed intake; kg/30 min, visits to the feeder; visits/30 min) have been suggested as feed efficiency (residual feed intake; RFI; kg/d), distress and health status indicators in cattle holding potential for development into practical on-farm decision making tools. Our study assessed the associations between these parameters when feedlot cattle (n=22) were eating or not eating (FI dataset), at differing activity levels (ACT dataset) and between feed efficient and feed inefficient cattle (RFI dataset). Heart rate was not different between FI, ACT and RFI groups. RTMP was lower in high ACT then low ACT observations (39.64±0.15 vs 40.08±0.15; P=0.001) and was associated with ACT in positive RFI cattle (r=-0.55; P <0.001). Activity levels in the ACT dataset were lower when cattle were located in the yard then when located in the pen or abattoir. Associations between RTMP and ACT across ACT and RFI datasets promote these as potential indicators of feed efficiency and health status in cattle. Changes in ACT across locations suggest it to be a potential indicator of distress. Future studies assessing RTMP and ACT abilities to determine performance are warranted.


This paper employs a spatial and intertemporal model of renewable resource exploitation to investigate the effects of marine reserve creation. The model combines the H. S. Gordon/Vernon Smith hypothesis of a rent dissipation process with Ricardian notions that resources are exploited across space in a pattern dependent upon relative profitabilities. The metapopulation model employed here incorporates modern biological ideas that stress patch heterogeneity, linkages, and dispersal processes between patches. The spatial bioeconomic model is then used to simulate the effects of reserve creation under various ecological structures. We find, under certain parameter configurations and ecological linkages, that there is potential for a "double-dividend" where both aggregate biomass and harvest increase after an area of the fishery is set aside and protected from exploitation.


We demonstrate that data from digital platforms such as Yelp have the potential to improve our understanding of gentrification, both by providing data in close to real time (i.e. nowcasting and forecasting) and by providing additional context about how the local economy is changing. Combining Yelp and Census data, we find that gentrification, as measured by changes in the educational, age, and racial composition within a ZIP code, is strongly associated with increases in the numbers of grocery stores, cafes, restaurants, and bars, with little evidence of crowd-out of other categories of businesses. We also find that changes in the local business landscape is a leading indicator of housing price changes, and that the entry of Starbucks (and coffee shops more generally) into a neighborhood predicts gentrification. Each additional Starbucks that enters a zip code is associated with a 0.5% increase in housing prices.


This thesis investigates how Pop art emerged in Argentina, Brazil and Peru, during the 1960s.

Stemming from a growing necessity to expand the art historical canon, the thesis questions the significance of Pop as a cultural label. By de-centring the genealogy of Pop to distinct locales, the investigation allows access into contemporary issues, ranging from the tension between vernacular and imported culture, to current mappings of artistic movements. The thesis' original contribution to knowledge is the retrieval of the Pop art narratives of Argentina, Brazil and Peru, which have only partially been recognised. Through the extensive analysis of primary materials (often never translated from Spanish or Portuguese, and seldom considered in prior investigations), the thesis offers a comprehensive review of a historiography of Pop during 1960s, also establishing an alternative framework for study in this field.

The first chapter of the thesis examines the Pop practices that emerged in Argentina especially around the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella (ITDT), considered one of the most important centres of artistic innovation in the continent. Suspended on the deconstruction of key terminologies, such as Informalismo, Camp, Lunfardo and Art for Consumption, the chapter seeks to explain from a localised perspective, the radical changes in art production that took place between roughly 1960 -1970. Beginning with an analysis of the writings of Jorge Romero Brest, a prominent intellectual and later director of the ITDT, the chapter traces the emergence of a participatory language that became embedded in the argentine iteration of Pop. Marta Minujin's colourful sculptures made of mattresses, combined with a bursting happenings phenomenon, reveal Pop as the keystone of a multifaceted artistic itinerary.

The second chapter of the thesis explores how Brazilian artists turned to Pop as a language of resistance against hegemonic cultural models. Rising from the ashes of a modernist utopia that eclipsed with the establishment of a military dictatorship in 1964, artists including Antonio Dias, Antonio Manuel, Claudio Tozzi and Nelson Leirner, employed Pop as the most widely intelligible idiom. Furthermore, they were animated by fervent anti- Americanism, and they sought to resist the (pro-American) regime by challenging cultural orders, often through interventions in the public sphere. A Pop aesthetic was also widely adopted by some lesser-known women artists, including Teresinha Soares and Regina Vater, who sought to propagandise female sexual liberation.

The third and final chapter of the thesis looks at Pop art practices in Peru. Reflecting the necessity to redefine the meaning of 'Peruvianism,' a Pop aesthetic was adopted by a young avant-garde – in particular the Arte Nuevo Group - to counter the hegemonic and traditionalist cultural scene in Lima. Examining how the establishment reacted to newer art practices, the chapter argues that Pop reflected the country's faltering cultural and political arenas. Following the military coup in 1968, the parallelism between politics and culture is explored through an analysis of the Pop posters produced by Jesus Ruiz Durand to advertise the extensive agrarian reform launched by the regime in 1968. In parallel, the evolving practices of the Arte Nuevo artists are analysed to reveal how artistic discourse was suspended as a consequence of the regime's oppression.