The varied career of Walter Hines Page affected many facets of the American political and social milieu from the end of Reconstruction through World War I. A North Carolinian, Page was one of the first southerners after Reconstruction to argue that sectional hostility was needless, and he constantly worked to restore national union and frequently acted as an interpreter for the North and the South. As a journalist, publisher, reformer, president-maker, and ambassador, he strove to assure both North and South that the southerner was basically an American, that southern problems were national ones, and that education and hard work could recreate the Union. As a young man, Page found the South too stifling to give scope to his ambitions. He left it for good at the age of twenty-nine to make a brilliant career as editor and book publisher in the North. He served as editor of Forum, Atlantic Monthly, and World's Work. Later he founded the publishing firm Doubleday, Page & Company. As a magazine editor he wrote about the problems of the South; as a book publisher he introduced many southern writers to the nation; as a member of several of the most powerful philanthropic boards he sought funds to improve education and public health in the South. As a result of his early support of Woodrow Wilson for the presidency, Page was appointed ambassador to the Court of St. James's from which he fervently advocated the Allied cause. Throughly researching both American and British government documents and private papers, and using interviews with Page's contemporaries, Cooper reinterprets and establishes the significance of Page's career. Originally published in 1977. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value. |A fresh and enlightening study that examines the creation and success of Orthodox Jewish communities within the secular culture of North American suburbia. Diamond uses the example of Toronto, home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish populations in Nor


Abstract Many people delay their preparation for retirement. Policy-makers often attempt to motivate people to take timely action by increasing the perceived importance of retirement saving, yet the effectiveness of such strategies can be doubted. We examined why a strategy of emphasizing importance may be ineffective by distinguishing between intention to prepare for retirement and action in actually taking steps toward preparation. Two surveys (n1 = 1171; n2 = 832) showed that importance and difficulty were both predictive of people's intentions to prepare for retirement, but that difficulty was a much stronger predictor of people's actual actions. Using data from an additional survey (n3 = 986), a series of follow-up tests provided further evidence that difficulty of retirement preparation is a stronger predictor of inaction than importance of retirement saving. These findings help explain why policies aimed at simplifying retirement preparation (e.g., automatic enrollment) have been more successful than policies aimed at increasing the importance of retirement saving (e.g., tax advantages).


BACKGROUND
Cavernous malformations (CMs) in deep locations account for 9% to 35% of brain malformations and are surgically challenging.

OBJECTIVE
To study the clinical features and outcomes following surgery for deep CMs and the complication of hypertrophic olivary degeneration (HOD).

METHODS
Clinical records, radiological findings, operative details, and complications of 176 patients with deep CMs were reviewed retrospectively.

RESULTS
Of 176 patients with 179 CMs, 136 CMs were in the brainstem, 27 in the basal ganglia, and 16 in the thalamus. Cranial nerve deficits (51.1%), hemiparesis (40.9%), numbness (34.7%), and cerebellar symptoms (38.6%) presented most commonly. Hemorrhage presented in 172 patients (70 single, 102 multiple). The annual retrospective hemorrhage rate was 5.1% (assuming CMs are congenital with uniform hemorrhage risk throughout life); the rebleed rate was 31.5%/patient per year. Surgical approach depended on the proximity of the CM to the pial or ependymal surface. Postoperatively, 121 patients (68.8%) had no new neurological deficits. Follow-up occurred in 170 patients. Delayed postoperative HOD developed in 9/134 (6.7%) patients with brainstem CMs. HOD occurred predominantly following surgery for pontine CMs (9/10 patients). Three patients with HOD had palatal myoclonus, nystagmus, and oscillopsia, whereas 1 patient each had limb tremor and hemiballismus. At follow-up, 105 patients (61.8%) improved, 44 (25.9%) were unchanged, and 19 (11.2%) worsened neurologically. Good preoperative modified Rankin Score (98.2% vs 54.5%, P = .001) and single hemorrhage (89% vs 77.3%, P < .05) were predictive of good long-term outcome.

CONCLUSION
Symptomatic deep CMs can be resected with acceptable morbidity and outcomes. Good preoperative modified Rankin Score and single hemorrhage are predictors of good long-term outcome.


The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the flame retardant properties of boron compounds with respect to aluminum trihydroxide (ATH) in an epoxy system based on bisphenol A epichlorohydrin-based epoxy resin and cycloaliphatic polyamine-based hardener. Six different boron compounds including colemanite (C), ulexite (U), boric acid (BA), boric oxide (BO), melamine borate (MB) and guanidinium nonaborate (GB) were used as flame retardant additive. The flame retardant properties of epoxy-based composites were investigated using limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL 94 standards both in vertical and horizontal position, thermogravimetric analysis, cone calorimeter and scanning electron microscopy. According to flammability test results, boron compounds except for C and U showed better performance than ATH. According to the LOI results, 40% BA containing sample had the highest LOI value of 28.5, while 30% MB, 35% GB and 40% BA containing samples had the highest UL 94V rating (V0). According to the cone calorimeter test results, all boron containing samples had better fire performances than ATH containing sample; 40 wt% BO containing sample showed the lowest peak heat release rate, average heat release rate and total heat release values. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This thesis deals with the first noise performance study of graphene field effect transistors (G-FETs) at microwave frequencies. It considers G-FETs in two different applications, as a subharmonic resistive mixer and in an amplifier. The work encompasses cleanroom fabrication, as well as characterisation by measurement and modelling. As part of the work a G-FET amplifier operating at 1 GHz with 10 dB small-signal power gain is designed, an 8 dB improvement comparing to earlier reports. The amplifier noise figure is measured to be 6.4 ± 0.4 dB at 1 GHz. Modelling by the Pospieszalski temperature noise model predicts the minimum extrinsic and intrinsic noise figure of the G-FET itself to be Fmin,ex = 3.3 dB and Fmin,in = 1.0 dB, respectively. Furthermore, the subharmonic mixer exhibits a down-conversion loss of 20-22 dB to fIF = 100 MHz in the RF frequency interval fRF = 2-5 GHz. The mixer noise figure closely mimics the conversion loss, which suggests the noise of the mixer to be thermal in origin. Conventional FET modelling methods have proven helpful in the analysis also for G-FETs.


Abstract The Massawa gold project is situated on the Senegalese side of the highly prospective/productive Palaeo-Proterozoic (Birimian) Kédougou–Kéniéba inlier, which hosts several world-class orogenic gold deposits/districts in western Mali (e.g. Loulo and Sadiola). The Massawa ore body has a strike length of at least 4 km and a current resource of 3.61 Moz at a grade of 2.8 g t−1. The ore body is structurally controlled and located within a package of low-grade regionally metamorphosed volcaniclastic sediments (agglomerates, tuffs and ash-tuffs), quartz–feldspar and lithic wackes, carbonaceous shales, hydrothermal breccias, and gabbro and porphyry sills. These rocks have undergone pervasive silica alteration followed by a sericite–ankerite–chlorite alteration event related to mineralization. Two major styles of mineralization are recognized at Massawa from field and laboratory studies. The first stage of sulphide–Au mineralization is associated with disseminated arsenopyrite–pyrite, which follows shear zones in the sedimentary and volcano-sedimentary host rocks. The second stage consists of quartz–stibnite±tetrahedrite veining distinguished by coarse visible gold and represents a late stage overprint on the primary mineralization. The two stages of gold mineralization are separated by a phase of quartz–molybdenite veining. A distinctive base metal trace assemblage is linked to stibnite formation including multiple Sb phases such as chalcostibite, zinkenite, roshchinite, aurostibite, jamesonite and robinsonite. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy-based gold deportment data indicate that up to 90% of stage 1 gold is held as a solid solution within either arsenopyrite or arsenian pyrite. Stable isotope data yield δ34Ssulphide values of between 0 and 4.1‰ and δ18OH2O values of 5.5–10.9‰ for all stages of mineralization, suggesting a magmatic fluid influence. This is consistent with field data that suggest that mineralization is synchronous with emplacement of a sequence of concordant felsic sheets. That mineralization occurred at shallow (<6 km) depths is suggested both by the presence of stibnite and by fluid inclusion studies. Low-temperature (homogenization temperatures between 150 °C and 230 °C) H2O–NaCl fluids (<6 wt% NaCl equiv.) and coeval CO2–CH4 inclusions, observed in both phases of mineralization, indicate trapping conditions of 220–315 °C at 1–1.65 kbar. A combination of phase petrology, fluid inclusion and stable isotope data suggests deposition of gold from low-salinity, magmatic fluids, most probably released from felsic rocks similar to those emplaced into the Massawa sequence during mineralization.


This special edition of Innovation, Science, Environment includes reflections from a number of Canada's leading sustainable development thinkers, two decades after the 1987 publication of the seminal United Nations report Our Common Future. Published by the World Commission on Environment and Development - and often referred to as the Brundtland Commission Report after its Chair Gro Harlem Brundtland former Prime Minister of Norway - the report popularized the concept of sustainable development which continues to influence economic, environmental, and social policy decisions and structures in individual countries and international organizations.


ErbB3, long thought to be a pseudokinase, exhibits catalytic activity in vitro. Members of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) play important roles in cellular differentiation and proliferation and are often activated in human cancers. One of these family members, ErbB3, has been considered a pseudokinase based on the absence of several conserved residues required for catalytic activity in other kinases, yet biochemical evidence has been largely inconclusive. Upon ligand binding, homo- or heterodimerization of ErbB receptors allosterically activates each receptor's intracellular kinase domain, which is followed by trans-autophosphorylation of tyrosine residues in the C-terminal regulatory domain to initiate signaling. Using recombinant protein purified from cultured insect cells, Shi et al. observed that a His-tagged version of the intracellular domain of human ErbB3 (ErbB3-ICD) underwent autophosphorylation when it was concentrated in vesicles in the presence of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and either Mg2+ or Mn2+. The rate of incorporation of 32P from radiolabeled ATP indicated that the kinase activity of EGFR was about 1000 times greater than that of the tyrosine kinase domain of ErbB3 (ErbB3-TKD). ErbB3-TKD bound ATP with a Kd of 1.1 μM, suggesting that ErbB3 would bind ATP in vivo. The crystal structure of ATP-bound ErbB3-TKD was similar to that of inactive (non–ATP-bound) forms of EGFR and ErbB4, and mutations in key activation loop residues that activate EGFR and ErbB4 by destabilizing their inactive conformations instead inactivated ErbB3. A conserved aspartate residue that is modeled to act as the base acceptor for the phosphoryltranferase reaction in other protein tyrosine kinases is replaced by an asparagine in ErbB3, but computational modeling predicted an alternative mechanism by which ErbB3 could perform this proton transfer. This alternative mechanism was predicted to occur much more slowly than the conventional mechanism, offering a plausible explanation for the slow rate of ErbB3 catalysis. Although ErbB3 catalytic activity is weak compared with that of other RTKs, ErbB3 may remain catalytically active in situations where the activities of other ErbB family members have been attenuated by kinase inhibitors, such as lapatinib or gefitinib, which do not affect ErbB3. Given that ErbB3 has been implicated in resistance of cells to therapeutics that target its heterodimerization partner ErbB2, the kinase activity of ErbB3 may thus be a viable target for managing EGFR signaling–dependent tumors. F. Shi, S. E. Telesco, Y. Liu, R. Radhakrishnan, M. A. Lemmon, ErbB3/HER3 intracellular domain is competent to bind ATP and catalyze autophosphorylation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107, 7692–7697 (2010). [PubMed]


In this paper, we present an approach for scene understanding by reasoning physical stability of objects from point cloud. We utilize a simple observation that, by human design, objects in static scenes should be stable with respect to gravity. This assumption is applicable to all scene categories and poses useful constraints for the plausible interpretations (parses) in scene understanding. Our method consists of two major steps: 1) geometric reasoning: recovering solid 3D volumetric primitives from defective point cloud, and 2) physical reasoning: grouping the unstable primitives to physically stable objects by optimizing the stability and the scene prior. We propose to use a novel disconnectivity graph (DG) to represent the energy landscape and use a Swendsen-Wang Cut (MCMC) method for optimization. In experiments, we demonstrate that the algorithm achieves substantially better performance for i) object segmentation, ii) 3D volumetric recovery of the scene, and iii) better parsing result for scene understanding in comparison to state-of-the-art methods in both public dataset and our own new dataset.


In epidemiological surveys, data missing not at random (MNAR) due to survey nonresponse may potentially lead to a bias in the risk factor estimates. We propose an approach based on Bayesian data augmentation and survival modelling to reduce the nonresponse bias. The approach requires additional information based on follow-up data. We present a case study of smoking prevalence using FINRISK data collected between 1972 and 2007 with a follow-up to the end of 2012 and compare it to other commonly applied missing at random (MAR) imputation approaches. A simulation experiment is carried out to study the validity of the approaches. Our approach appears to reduce the nonresponse bias substantially, whereas MAR imputation was not successful in bias reduction.


AIMS
Hybrid imaging provides a non-invasive assessment of coronary anatomy and myocardial perfusion. We sought to evaluate the added clinical value of hybrid imaging in a multi-centre multi-vendor setting.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Fourteen centres enrolled 252 patients with stable angina and intermediate (20-90%) pre-test likelihood of coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS), CT coronary angiography (CTCA), and quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) with fractional flow reserve (FFR). Hybrid MPS/CTCA images were obtained by 3D image fusion. Blinded core-lab analyses were performed for CTCA, MPS, QCA and hybrid datasets. Hemodynamically significant CAD was ruled-in non-invasively in the presence of a matched finding (myocardial perfusion defect co-localized with stenosed coronary artery) and ruled-out with normal findings (both CTCA and MPS normal). Overall prevalence of significant CAD on QCA (>70% stenosis or 30-70% with FFR≤0.80) was 37%. Of 1004 pathological myocardial segments on MPS, 246 (25%) were reclassified from their standard coronary distribution to another territory by hybrid imaging. In this respect, in 45/252 (18%) patients, hybrid imaging reassigned an entire perfusion defect to another coronary territory, changing the final diagnosis in 42% of the cases. Hybrid imaging allowed non-invasive CAD rule-out in 41%, and rule-in in 24% of patients, with a negative and positive predictive value of 88% and 87%, respectively.

CONCLUSION
In patients at intermediate risk of CAD, hybrid imaging allows non-invasive co-localization of myocardial perfusion defects and subtending coronary arteries, impacting clinical decision-making in almost one every five subjects.


Using data from a randomized, double blind, study of the efficacy of retinol or isotretinoin vs. placebo on recurrence of nonmelanoma skin cancer in high-risk subjects, a reanalysis of the original intent to treat analysis was performed in a dose-response format. Cox proportional hazards models describe the relationship between dose quartiles of isotretinoin and retinol use and time to first occurrence of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) or basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in crude and adjusted models. Neither the isotretinoin nor retinol models showed any significance at any quartile for reduction in first BCC or SCC occurrence. Crude and adjusted retinol models show a statistically significant increase in risk of developing an SCC in the first quartile, whereas only the crude model shows a statistically significant increase in risk in the first quartile of the isotretinoin model. For retinol and SCC, hazard ratios (HRs) for the first quartile were as follows: HR = 2.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.67–5.10 crude; HR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.00–3.80 adjusted. For isotretinoin and SCC, HRs for the first quartile were as follows: HR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.35–4.19 crude; HR = 1.69, 95% CI = 0.87–3.31 adjusted. Test for trend was not significant in any of the models. These analyses confirm the results of the original intent to treat analyses and raise an interesting question related to the potential for increased risk for patients in the first quartile of retinol dose.


Introduction Embryogenesis is thought to be directed by a small number of signaling pathways with most if not all embryonic signals having been identified. However, the molecular control of some embryonic processes is still poorly understood. For example, it is unclear how cell migration is regulated during gastrulation, when mesodermal and endodermal germ layers form. The goal of our study was to identify and characterize previously unrecognized signals that regulate embryogenesis. Toddler promotes gastrulation movements via Apelin receptor signaling. Toddler is an essential, short, conserved embryonic signal that promotes cell migration during zebrafish gastrulation. The internalization movement highlighted by the colored cell tracks requires Toddler signaling. Toddler signals via the G-protein–coupled APJ/Apelin receptor and may be one of several uncharacterized embryonic signals. Methods To identify uncharacterized signaling molecules, we mined zebrafish genomic data sets for previously non-annotated translated open reading frames (ORFs). One such ORF encoded a putative signaling protein that we call Toddler (also known as Apela/Elabela/Ende). We analyzed expression, production, and secretion of Toddler using RNA in situ hybridization, mass spectrometry, and Toddler-GFP fusion proteins, respectively. We used transcription activator-like effector (TALE) nucleases to generate frame-shift mutations in the toddler gene. To complement loss-of-function analyses with gain-of-function studies, Toddler was misexpressed through mRNA or peptide injection. We characterized phenotypes using marker gene expression analysis and in vivo imaging, using confocal and lightsheet microscopy. Toddler mutants were rescued thorugh global or localized toddler production. The relationship between Toddler and APJ/Apelin receptors was studied through genetic interaction and receptor internalization experiments. Results We identified several hundred non-annotated candidate proteins, including more than 20 putative signaling proteins. We focused on the functional importance of the short, conserved, and secreted peptide Toddler. Loss or overproduction of Toddler reduced cell movements during zebrafish gastrulation; mesodermal and endodermal cells were slow to internalize and migrate. Both the local and ubiquitous expression of Toddler were able to rescue gastrulation movements in toddler mutants, suggesting that Toddler acts as a motogen, a signal that promotes cell migration. Toddler activates G-protein–coupled APJ/Apelin receptor signaling, as evidenced by Toddler-induced internalization of APJ/Apelin receptors and rescue of toddler mutants through expression of the known receptor agonist Apelin. Discussion These findings indicate that Toddler promotes cell movement during zebrafish gastrulation by activation of APJ/Apelin receptor signaling. Toddler does not seem to act as a chemo-attractant or -repellent, but rather as a global signal that promotes the movement of mesendodermal cells. Both loss and overproduction of Toddler reduce cell movement, revealing that Toddler levels need to be tightly regulated during gastrulation. The discovery of Toddler helps explain previous genetic studies that found a broader requirement for APJ/Apelin receptors than for Apelin. We propose that in these cases, Toddler—not Apelin—activates APJ/Apelin receptor signaling. Our genomics analysis identifying a large number of candidate proteins that function during embryogenesis suggests the existence of other previously uncharacterized embryonic signals. Applying similar genomic approaches to adult tissues might identify additional signals that regulate physiological and behavioral processes. It has been assumed that most, if not all, signals regulating early development have been identified. Contrary to this expectation, we identified 28 candidate signaling proteins expressed during zebrafish embryogenesis, including Toddler, a short, conserved, and secreted peptide. Both absence and overproduction of Toddler reduce the movement of mesendodermal cells during zebrafish gastrulation. Local and ubiquitous production of Toddler promote cell movement, suggesting that Toddler is neither an attractant nor a repellent but acts globally as a motogen. Toddler drives internalization of G protein–coupled APJ/Apelin receptors, and activation of APJ/Apelin signaling rescues toddler mutants. These results indicate that Toddler is an activator of APJ/Apelin receptor signaling, promotes gastrulation movements, and might be the first in a series of uncharacterized developmental signals. A conserved signal is identified that activates G protein–coupled receptors to promote zebrafish gastrulation. Toddler Welcome It has been assumed that most, if not all, major signals that control vertebrate embryogenesis have been identified. Using genomics, Pauli et al. (10.1126/science.1248636, published online 9 January) have now identified several new candidate signals expressed during early zebrafish development. One of these signals, Toddler, is a short, conserved, and secreted peptide that promotes the movement of cells during zebrafish gastrulation. Toddler signals through G protein–coupled receptors to drive internalization of the Apelin receptor, and activation of Apelin signaling can rescue toddler mutants.


Archives and libraries operate within a complex web of social, political, and economic forces. The explosion of digital technologies, globalization, economic instability, consolidation within the publishing industry, increasing corporate control of the scholarly record, and the shifting copyright landscape are just some of the myriad forces shaping their evolution. Libraries and archives in turn have shaped the production of knowledge, participating in transformations in scholarship, publishing, and the nature of access to current and historical materials. Librarians and archivists increasingly recognize that they exist within institutional systems of power. Questioning long-held assumptions about library and archival neutrality and objectivity, they are working to expand access to previously marginalized materials, to educate users about the social and economic forces shaping their access to information, to raise awareness about bias in information tools and systems, and to empower disenfranchised communities.
 New technologies are transforming the practices of librarians and archivists as they restructure bibliographic systems for collecting, storing, and accessing information. Digitization has vastly expanded the volume of material libraries and archives make available to their communities. It has enabled the creation of tools to read or decipher material thought to have been damaged beyond repair as well as tools to annotate, manipulate, map, and mine a wide variety of textual and visual resources. Digitization has enhanced scholarship by expanding opportunities for collaboration and by altering the scale of potential research. Scholars have the ability to perform computational analyses on immense numbers of images and texts. Nevertheless, new technologies have also presaged a greater commodification of information, a worsening of the crisis in scholarly communication, the creation of platforms rife with hidden bias, fake news, plagiarism, surveillance, harassment, and security breaches. Moreover, the digital record is less stable than the printed record, complicating the development of systems for organizing and preserving information. Archivists and librarians are addressing these issues by acquiring new technical competencies, by undertaking a range of social and materialist critiques, and by promoting new information literacies to enable users to think critically about the political and social contexts of information production.
 In most 21st-century archives and libraries, traditional systems for stewarding analog materials coexist with newly developing methods for acquiring and preserving a range of digital formats and genres. Libraries provide access to printed books, journals, magazines, e-books, e-journals, databases, data sets, audiobooks, streaming audio and video files, as well as various other digital formats. Archives and special collections house rare and unique books and artifacts, paper and manuscript collections as well as their digital equivalents. Archives focus on permanently valuable records, including accounts, reports, letters, and photographs that may be of continuing value to the organizations that have created them or to other potential users.


The signal-recognition particle (SRP) is a ubiquitous protein–RNA complex that targets proteins to cellular membranes for insertion or secretion. A key player in SRP-mediated protein targeting is the evolutionarily conserved core consisting of the SRP RNA and the multidomain protein SRP54. Communication between the SRP54 domains is critical for SRP function, where signal sequence binding at the M domain directs receptor binding at the GTPase domain (NG domain). These SRP activities are linked to domain rearrangements, for which the role of SRP RNA is not clear. In free SRP, a direct interaction of the GTPase domain with SRP RNA has been proposed but has never been structurally verified. In this study, we present the crystal structure at 2.5-Å resolution of the SRP54–SRP19–SRP RNA complex of Methanococcus jannaschii SRP. The structure reveals an RNA-bound conformation of the SRP54 GTPase domain, in which the domain is spatially well separated from the signal peptide binding site. The association of both the N and G domains with SRP RNA in free SRP provides further structural evidence for the pivotal role of SRP RNA in the regulation of the SRP54 activity.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate long-term success of cranial cervical decompression for management of canine Chiari-like malformation with syringomyelia (CM/SM).

STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective clinical study.

ANIMALS
Cavalier King Charles spaniels (n=15).

METHODS
After diagnosis by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dogs had cranial cervical decompression with durotomy. Seven dogs had the durotomy patched with biocompatible collagen matrix. Clinical outcome was monitored for >12 months.

RESULTS
All dogs either improved (80%) or were unchanged (20%) postoperatively. Postoperative MRI in 6 dogs revealed persistence of syringomyelia. Seven dogs (47%) subsequently deteriorated, 0.2-2.3 years after surgery (mean, 1.3 years) and 2 dogs were eventually euthanatized as a consequence. Twelve dogs were still alive, 1-6.5 years after surgery (mean, 2.5 years).

CONCLUSION
Cranial cervical decompression surgery is associated with low mortality and morbidity, and results in clinical improvement in most dogs. The procedure seemingly does not result in syrinx collapse and resolution. Clinical improvement may not be sustained and some dogs can be expected to deteriorate.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Cranial cervical decompression surgery may have a role in management of CM/SM. In dogs with severe pain, it can improve quality of life for several years; however, it does not appear to adequately address the primary cause of syringomyelia. Further prospective study is needed to better understand the pathogenesis and treatment of this disorder. Because this condition causes neuropathic pain but does not necessarily result in euthanasia more information is needed on appropriate pain management for these patients.


Despite increased awareness of change management processes, principles, and practices, many business leaders continue to struggle with navigating their organization through a change initiative. These challenges often stem from a series of common blunders that can significantly impede progress in achieving project goals. The experiences of several executive sponsors of large-scale change, however, show that employing a holistic change management model can help highlight these potential pitfalls so that they can be proactively addressed. A methodology for avoiding these common blunders can be incorporated into any change program to shorten implementation cycle times, enhance stakeholder engagement and commitment, reduce productivity fluctuations during rollout, and, most important, capture targeted benefits. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Abstract Being highly porous, poorly guarded and located along a remote, underdeveloped, insurgency-prone region and proximate to one of the world's largest five opium producing areas, the India–Myanmar border is vulnerable to the activities of insurgents and drugs and arms traffickers as well as criminals. Although the Indian government has been alive to the threats that emanate from a poorly guarded India–Myanmar international border, its attention towards the problem has been woefully inadequate. Given that poor security along the India–Myanmar border poses a challenge to India's security, it is imperative that India strengthens security of the border and redoubles its efforts to meaningfully engage Myanmar to effectively manage this border.


This study explores how contemporary Saudi women writers use their writings as a way to gain control over the rules of cultural discourse in their society. The author examines the work of nine influential women writers and presents excerpts of their writings which appear here for the first time in English. On the basis of interviews with the writers and textual analyses of their works, Arebi establishes that despite religious, cultural and political constraints, they continue to contribute to the definition and interpretation of religion, tradition, and history. Arebi shows how in doing so, they pose a strong challenge to the powerful ideological forces in their society. Yet she argues that despite this challenge to their local discourses of power, they do not necessarily conform to Western feminists' conceptions of resistance or to the nature of patriarchy. Saudi women writers, through a unique and culturally specific interplay of poetics and politics in their writings, have chosen to carve out a discourse of their own, adopting a form of resistance that is based more on a dialectic of protest and affirmation than on clear-cut opposition. Arebi's ethnographic and literary evidence demonstrates how this chosen form of resistance has enabled them to create a place for women in the intellectual life of their society and, more importantly, to effect a fundamental transformation in the rules of cultural discourse.


We propose a computationally efficient framework to treat nonlinear partial differential equations having bifurcating solutions as one or more physical control parameters are varied. Our focus is on steady bifurcations. Plotting a bifurcation diagram entails computing multiple solutions of a parametrized, nonlinear problem, which can be extremely expensive in terms of computational time. In order to reduce these demanding computational costs, our approach combines a continuation technique and Newton's method with a Reduced Order Modeling (ROM) technique, suitably supplemented with a hyper-reduction method. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our ROM approach, we trace the steady solution branches of a nonlinear Schrodinger equation, called Gross--Pitaevskii equation, as one or two physical parameters are varied. In the two parameter study, we show that our approach is 60 times faster in constructing a bifurcation diagram than a standard Full Order Method.


In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, concerns surrounding the efficacy of United States intelligence and security agencies led to the formation of the 9–11 Commission. The Commission was charged to conduct a series of hearings to investigate "the truth" and possible culpability for the security failure. During the hearings, many high-ranking officials of the United States Government – past and present administrations – were called to give testimony. Exchanges between some of those officials (Secretaries of State) and their interlocutor-interrogators can best be described as "evasive", representing a series of discursive tactics which produce nonlinear patterning between adjacency pairs. Yet, despite evidence that use of indirect, evasive language is not uncommon in courtroom discourse, the construction of evasion within these exchanges, especially along partisan lines, appears to be co-constructed, broadening the notion of cooperation to include complicity and suggest an expanded definition of what can be considered "appropriate". Thus, in an order of discourse fraught with conflicting agents – interrogators and witnesses (and in this particular case, Republicans and Democrats), witnesses maintain the appearance of cooperation within the conflict by answering questions through changing the direction of the question, mitigating the force of the imposition, and deflecting responsibility from an action that could prove politically embarrassing or damaging. This chapter uses a critical discourse analysis framework to examine the mediated political discourse of these interactions, illustrating how cooperative conflict and its concomitant evasive language necessitate a layered analysis of context.


Numerous within-household selection methods have been tested in general population surveys since the advent of telephone interviewing. However, very few selection studies, if any, have been conducted with a dual frame (landline and cell phone) sample. Landline and cell phone frames are known to represent demographically different groups of respondents, and selection methods that may result in more representative demographics in a landline frame may actually skew the results when combined with the cell phone frame. This study tested 11 different within-household selection methods with approximately 11,000 landline respondents. A parallel cell phone sample was also collected with 1,000 respondents, and the frames were combined for analysis. The selection methods tested included one probability-based method, four quasi-probability methods and six nonprobability methods. The methods were evaluated on four criteria: response rates, accuracy, demographic representation and substantive results. The demographic representativeness of each method was examined for the landline frame only and for the dual (landline and cell phone) frame combination. The probability method had the lowest response rate, while the nonprobability at-home methods had the highest. Accuracy rates were lowest for the quasi-probability birthday methods. There were few demographic differences between selection methods, and no substantive differences, when combined with the cell phone sample.


Coronary ostial stenosis is a rare but potentially fatal sequela of aortic surgery. The clinical presentation can include acute coronary syndromes, ventricular arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, or sudden death. Herein, we present what we believe is the first reported case of asymptomatic iatrogenic left main coronary ostial stenosis. The patient was an active 34-year-old man who had undergone a modified Bentall procedure and was asymptomatic thereafter. Seven months after that operation, exercise stress testing showed electrocardiographic signs of asymptomatic myocardial ischemia at high workload, and coronary angiography revealed severe nonatherosclerotic left main ostial stenosis. Percutaneous coronary intervention and stenting of the unprotected left main stenosis was successful, and patency at 8 months was apparent on coronary angiography.The conventional treatment for coronary ostial stenosis, coronary artery bypass grafting, carries a high risk of perioperative infarction, morbidity, and death. We found that percutaneous coronary intervention with stenting yielded positive short- and long-term results and may provide an alternative to cardiac surgery in these high-risk patients. We recommend that physicians evaluate even asymptomatic patients for left main coronary ostial stenosis after aortic surgery so that early diagnosis and treatment can avert severe clinical manifestations.


Purpose A Youth Compendium of Physical Activities (Youth Compendium) was developed to estimate the energy costs of physical activities using data on youth only. Methods On the basis of a literature search and pooled data of energy expenditure measurements in youth, the energy costs of 196 activities were compiled in 16 activity categories to form a Youth Compendium of Physical Activities. To estimate the intensity of each activity, measured oxygen consumption (V˙O2) was divided by basal metabolic rate (Schofield age-, sex-, and mass-specific equations) to produce a youth MET (METy). A mixed linear model was developed for each activity category to impute missing values for age ranges with no observations for a specific activity. Results This Youth Compendium consists of METy values for 196 specific activities classified into 16 major categories for four age-groups, 6–9, 10–12, 13–15, and 16–18 yr. METy values in this Youth Compendium were measured (51%) or imputed (49%) from youth data. Conclusion This Youth Compendium of Physical Activities uses pediatric data exclusively, addresses the age dependency of METy, and imputes missing METy values and thus represents advancement in physical activity research and practice. This Youth Compendium will be a valuable resource for stakeholders interested in evaluating interventions, programs, and policies designed to assess and encourage physical activity in youth.


Aim/Purpose: There is a significant amount of research on supervision, assessment, and socio-economic benefits in South Africa. However, there have been relatively few attempts to analyse the research proposal phase, which remains a critical part of doctoral education in South African.

Background: As part of the broader transformation agenda in South Africa, universities are under pressure to produce vastly more high-level doctoral graduates. The aim is to allow South Africa to build its knowledge base so it can address the socio-economic problems inherited from the apartheid regime. In South Africa, quality in doctoral education is mainly understood and measured in terms of throughput rate. The danger is that greatly increasing the number of doctoral graduates will have a deleterious effect on the quality of the studies done. At present, the general view is that the research proposal phase is an administrative requirement or merely a planning phase in doctoral education. However, the research proposal phase is when doctoral students have their first opportunity to show their capacity for high-level intellectual engagement. This article explores what doctoral students and supervisors regard as necessary for a quality research proposal and how they view this phase of the doctoral journey.

Methodology: This qualitative research used phenomenology to capture the lived experiences of participants. There were nineteen (19) participants from three South African universities. Eleven (11) of them were supervisors and eight (8) were doctoral students. Semi-structured interviews generated the data that were used to explore how participants experience and construct their understanding of quality at the research proposal phase.

Contribution: The study makes three contributions: (i) it increases our understanding of the research proposal phase of doctoral education, (ii) it provides an alternative understanding of quality attributes: those centred on research learning. At present planning to meet administrative requirements dominates notions of quality; and (iii) it positions the doctoral research proposal at an intersection of different views of knowledge production: mode 1 that favours disciplinary knowledge production, mode 2 that favours cross disciplinary knowledge production and mode 3 that favours quadruple helix innovation systems of knowledge production.

Findings: The findings indicate that participants understand quality in terms of planning for research, compliance with administrative requirements, confinement of research ideas within disciplinarity boundaries and the calibre of academic support. These understandings inform the common perceptions of the research proposal phase and its quality attributes. Participants' narrow understanding of the research proposal phase and its quality attributes have, in turn, supported the view that writing of research proposals is a matter of technical compliance. This has deprived the research proposal phase from harnessing the full potential of research learning. It has also restricted the epistemological imagination of students, as econometrics parameters are being used to measure the production of knowledge.

Recommendations for Practitioners: The possibility of enhancing the quality of the doctoral research proposal phase could be increased if those directing doctoral education were more aware (i) that the support programmes should encourage significant doctoral research; (ii) of the importance of having courses that are an integral part of the research proposal phase, which enable candidates to develop the ability to sustain a cohesive, coherent, critical and logical academic argument, and (iii) of the necessity for interdisciplinary research at the level of doctoral education.

Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers from diverse social and cultural contexts need to improve the quality of their research proposals through engaging in research learning. This would require deeper understandings of social and cultural diversity of the context from which the research proposal phase is being experienced. This requires further research on understanding how students negotiate the transition from different social learning contexts into doctoral education.

Impact on Society: Implementation of the recommendations would help to establish a robust standard of doctoral education, which could enhance the personal, professional, social, and economic growth of South African society.

Future Research: Future research should explore different approaches to support services to identify the kind of support services that would enable doctoral students to engage in quality interdisciplinary research.


One in six American couples experience difficulties conceiving a child. With fertility rates at an all time low, the business of treating infertility is booming. However, due to the United States prohibition on government funding for embryonic research, the $4 billion industry of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) has been incompletely monitored and largely removed from oversight. Additionally, due to the fervent abortion debate, in vitro fertilization (IVF) was introduced in the United States without a research phase and procedures have been forced to evolve in the private sector. Thus, the checks and balances on medical innovation that are generally imposed by the federal government for consumer protection are lacking. Decisions about when to go from the laboratory to the clinic are often left solely to the discretion of private physicians. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is just one of many such treatments offered by these clinics. This iBrief examines how, why, and to whom the reproductive procedure of PGD is offered. In addition, it evaluates the prospective effects to society that arise when PGD is used for sex selection and for nontherapeutic or enhancement purposes. Finally, it explores whether and how to regulate PGD in the United States by investigating approaches to policy making that have been adopted by the United Kingdom.


This volume provides a self-contained survey of the mechanisms presiding information processing and communication. The main thesis is that chaos and complexity are the basic ingredients allowing systems composed of interesting subunits to generate and process information and communicate in a meaningful way. Emphasis is placed on communication in the form of games and on the related issue of decision making under conditions of uncertainty. Biological, cognitive, physical, engineering and societal systems are approached from a unifying point of view, both analytically and by numerical simulation, using the methods of nonlinear dynamics and probability theory. Epistemological issues in connection with incompleteness and self-reference are also addressed.


This paper studies greenhouse-gas (GHG) emission controls in the presence of carbon leakage through international firm relocation. The Kyoto Protocol requires developed countries to reduce GHG emissions by a certain amount. Comparing emission quotas with emission taxes, we show that taxes coupled with lower trade costs facilitate more firm relocations than quotas do, causing more international carbon leakage. Thus, if a country is concerned about global emissions, emission quotas would be adopted to mitigate the carbon leakage. Firm relocation entails a trade-off between trade liberalization and emission regulations. Emission regulations may be hampered by trade liberalization, and vice versa.


Isoprene (ISO),the most abundant non-methane VOC, is the major contributor to secondary organic aerosols (SOA) formation. The mechanisms involved in such transformation, however, are not fully understood. Current mechanisms, which are based on the oxidation of ISO in the gas-phase, underestimate SOA yields. The heightened awareness that ISO is only partially processed in the gas-phase has turned attention to heterogeneous processes as alternative pathways toward SOA. During my research project, I investigated the photochemical oxidation of isoprene in bulk water. Below, I will report on the λ > 305 nm photolysis of H2O2 in dilute ISO solutions. This process yields C10H15OH species as primary products, whose formation both requires and is inhibited by O2. Several isomers of C10H15OH were resolved by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and detected as MH+ (m/z = 153) and MH+-18 (m/z = 135) signals by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. This finding is consistent with the addition of ·OH to ISO, followed by HO-ISO· reactions with ISO (in competition with O2) leading to second generation HO(ISO)2· radicals that terminate as C10H15OH via β-H abstraction by O2. It is not generally realized that chemistry on the surface of water cannot be deduced, extrapolated or translated to those in bulk gas and liquid phases. The water density drops a thousand-fold within a few Angstroms through the gas-liquid interfacial region and therefore hydrophobic VOCs such as ISO will likely remain in these relatively 'dry' interfacial water layers rather than proceed into bulk water. In previous experiments from our laboratory, it was found that gas-phase olefins can be protonated on the surface of pH In order to test this hypothesis, I carried out experiments in which ISO(g) collides with the surface of aqueous microdroplets of various compositions. Herein I report that ISO(g) is oxidized into soluble species via Fenton chemistry on the surface of aqueous Fe(II)Cl2 solutions simultaneously exposed to H2O2(g). Monomer and oligomeric species (ISO)1-8H+ were detected via online electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) on the surface of pH ~ 2 water, and were then oxidized into a suite of products whose combined yields exceed ~ 5% of (ISO)1-8H+. MS/MS analysis revealed that products mainly consisted of alcohols, ketones, epoxides and acids. Our experiments demonstrated that olefins in ambient air may be oxidized upon impact on the surface of Fe-containing aqueous acidic media, such as those of typical to tropospheric aerosols. Related experiments involving the reaction of ISO(g) with ·OH radicals from the photolysis of dissolved H2O2 were also carried out to test the surface oxidation of ISO(g) by photolyzing H2O2(aq) at 266 nm at various pH. The products were analyzed via online electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Similar to our Fenton experiments, we detected (ISO)1-7H+ at pH 5.


Field water balance measurements using monolithic lysimeters were used in validating the Cupid-DPE model
for predicting water loss partitioning during sprinkler irrigation from a moving lateral system fitted with impact
sprinklers and spray nozzles. The model combines equations governing water droplet evaporation and droplet ballistics
with a comprehensive plant-environment energy balance model. Comparisons indicate good agreement between measured
and modeled transpiration, and the measured and modeled soil evaporation during the day of irrigation. Total predicted
evapotranspiration during the day of irrigation was greater than measured totals using the monolithic lysimeters.
However, part of this difference was because the lysimeters could not measure water use during irrigation. Total
measured and predicted evapotranspiration agreed well for the day following irrigation. Predicted soil evaporation rates
matched well for the period immediately following irrigation, and cumulative soil evaporation was nearly identical to the
measured total through the end of the next day. During irrigation, the main water loss was shifted from transpiration to
evaporation of the wetted-canopy. For equal application volumes, the duration of this effect was greater using impact
sprinklers due to the greater wetted diameter and lower average application rate compared to spray nozzles. Predicted
water flux rates during irrigation were up to 50% greater for canopy evaporation than for transpiration rates predicted
immediately prior to the start of irrigation. Canopy evaporation amounted to 69% and 63% of the total predicted water
use during impact and spray irrigation, respectively. It also was 0.69 and 0.28 mm greater, respectively, than the
predicted transpiration total during this same time span assuming no irrigation had been applied. About 13 and 5% of the
water applied by overhead sprinkling was evaporated or transpired during impact and spray irrigation, respectively.
However, the net increase in predicted water loss during irrigation was only 5.8% and 2.4% of the irrigated water depth
applied for the impact and spray cases, respectively, because transpiration and soil evaporation would have occurred
even without irrigation. Although droplet evaporation represented less than 1% of the total water loss for the day using
either type of sprinkler, irrigation water did influence the energy transfer between the plant-environment and water
droplets during flight, on the canopy, and the soil.


Leslie Morley's research focused on modelling structural behaviour, with particular emphasis on plates and shells. He developed the Morley shell equation, which has been acknowledged as the simplest equation consistent with first-order shell theory. As the finite element method rose to prominence he developed elements for both plates and shells. He then worked on developing a set of new finite elements able to handle complex shell behaviour in both the linear and nonlinear regimes. He also observed that it was possible to augment the finite element solution by using singular solutions to calculate the stress intensity factor at a crack tip in a thin-walled metal structure and thereby to compute crack propagation rates. In undertaking his research Morley probed into the mathematical and physical depths of the problems he confronted, and produced some outstanding and significant results.


Within cultural retellings of the Samson and Delilah story (Judg 16), Delilah is often presented as the quintessential femme fatale. In this paper, I consider the inspiration for Delilah's cultural afterlives as femme fatale before exploring alternative ways to contemplate her character in the biblical text. As a guide, I read Judg 16 alongside Raymond Chandler's hardboiled novel, Farewell My Lovely , whose plot bears strong echoes of the biblical narrative. I consider how Chandler's complex approach to the femme fatale within his novel might invite new readings of Delilah's character, which grant more multifaceted insights into her literary persona.


The increasing adoption of renewable power generation makes volatile quantities of electricity available, the delivery of which cannot be guaranteed, if sold. However, if not sold, the electricity might need to be curtailed, thus foregoing potential profits. In this paper we adapt service level agreements (SLAs) for the future smart electricity grid, where generation will primarily depend on volatile and distributed renewable power sources, and where buyers' ability to cope with uncertainty may vary significantly. We propose a contracting framework through SLAs to allocate uncertain power generation to buyers of varying preferences. These SLAs comprise quantity, reliability and price. We define a characterization of the value degradation of tolerant and critical buyers with regards to the uncertainty of electricity delivery (generalizing the Value of Lost Load, VoLL). We consider two mechanisms (sequential second-price auction and VCG) that allocate SLAs based on buyer bids. We further study the incentive compatibility of the proposed mechanisms, and show that both mechanisms ensure that no buyer has an incentive to misreport its valuation. We experimentally compare their performance and demonstrate that VCG dominates alternative allocations, while vastly improves the efficiency of the proposed system when compared to a baseline allocation considering only the VoLL. This article lays the ground work for distributed energy trading under uncertainty, thereby contributing an essential component to the future smart grid.


Solar radiation is a rich and clean source of energy. It can be collected and converted to thermal energy with the help of flat plate collectors called the solar-assisted air heater. Because of the low coefficient of heat transfer of air, the solar-assisted air heater has low thermal performance which can be improved by creating local turbulence using surface roughness on the heat transferring plate. The present investigation has been conducted to perceive the influence of the curved-ribbed element with gap on flow and heat transfer. The roughness element is defined by using five non-dimensionlized parameters, i.e., relative roughness width (W/w), relative roughness pitch (P/e), relative gap width (g/e), relative roughness height (e/D), and relative gap distance (d/x). The radius of the curvature of the curved rib-element is kept constant and the experimental measurements were done under quasi-steady state. The thermohydraulic performance parameter improved by 3.61 times the smooth flat plate solar air heater (SAH), in curved-ribbed SAH for W/w = 3, P/e = 8, g/e = 1, e/D = 0.045, and d/x = 0.65 at Reynolds number of 23,000. The generalized relation for heat transfer and flow characteristics is also being developed and the predicted Nusselt number and friction factor with the accuracy of ± 7.5% and ± 6.7%, respectively.


What Parker Print-Surf (PPS) roughness means was discussed by comparing the theoretical equation to that of Bekk smoothness and by determining the wavelength range which PPS represents by the spectral analysis applied to the stylus profiles of paper. As a model of air flow through channels between paper surface and the metal measuring head of an air-leak type smoothness tester, the PPS model is more comprehensible than the Oken type (Bekk) model. However, what the testers survey is fundamentally common to the two methods. Thus, the two equations standing for the models are convertible and the conversion equation was led to be G3=18.65_??_, where G3 is PPS roughness; TB Oken type smoothess. The empirical data exhibited that the conversion equation applies to many papers except those with different compressibility. The correlation between PPS roughness and centerline average (Ra) at several cut-off wavelengths calculated from stylus surface profiles showed that PPS tester presses out paper surface so that the surface shape agrees with roughness at a cut-off wavelength of 234μm for calendered handsheets. This cut-off wavelength gave the least sum of squared deviations from the theoretical conversion equation, G3=2.13×Ra. Oken type smoothness was considered to survey the longer wavelength components than PPS roughness. However, the best-fitting cut-off wavelength was greatly dependent on the surface deformability of paper at a testing pressure in view of papermaking history and converting processes.


An optimization model is proposed to manage a residential microgrid including a charging spot with a vehicle-to-grid system and renewable energy sources. In order to achieve a realistic and convenient management, we take into account: (1) the household load split into three different profiles depending on the characteristics of the elements considered; (2) a realistic approach to owner behavior by introducing the novel concept of range anxiety; (3) the vehicle battery management considering the mobility profile of the owner and (4) different domestic renewable energy sources. We consider the microgrid operated in grid-connected mode. The model is executed one-day-ahead and generates a schedule for all components of the microgrid. The results obtained show daily costs in the range of 2.82 C = to 3.33 C =; the proximity of these values to the actual energy costs for Spanish households validate the modeling. The experimental results of applying the designed managing strategies show daily costs savings of nearly 10%.


This project was aimed to use three concentrations (1,2 and 3%) of neem seed extracts adding to 4% Paraphenylenediamine (PPD), the previously recommended dose (Saudi, 2012) in order to improve PPD against three rodent species: white billed rat, Rattus rattus frugivorus, nile grass rat, Arvicanthis niloticus and house mice, Mus musculus under laboratory conditions. The results showed a high rate of consumption of the bait when using with the low concentrations of neem seed extract compared with the lowest one. While the %4 PPD without additions was the first in bait consumption. Rodent females increased high rate of baits as compared with males. The consumption were (53.40 and 39.35), (80.90 and 57.15), (32.70 and 21.55 g/animal) for females and males of white billed rat, R. r. frugivorus, nile grass rat, Arvicanthis niloticus and house mice, Mus musculus respectively. Mean of consumed baits were: 69.03, 46.37 and 27.13 g/animal nile grass rat, Arvicanthis niloticus, white billed rat, R. r. frugivorus, and house mice, Mus musculus respectively. The results also indicated that the period of stay alive of tasted animals increases gradually with an increasing of neem seed extract (carried on crushed maize) compared to using also control bait. Females were most durable and lasted the longest life span of males for all rodent species tested. These periods were (9.0 and 14.35), (9.50 and 15.10), (7.75 and 13.05 day) for white billed rat, R. r. frugivorus, nile grass rat, A. niloticus and house mice, M. musculus, respectively. Also the nile grass rat, A. niloticus showed a longer period of survival than the other two species( i.e. the norway rat, R. norvegicus and the house mouse, M. musculus). On the other hand, the reduction in weight in the males of the three tasted rodent species, was less than the reduction in weight of females were using neem seed extract concentrations carried on crushed maize.


ABSTRACT This article explores a variety of topics related to the question of testing the equality of covariance matrices in multivariate linear models, particularly in the MANOVA setting. Further, a plot of the components of Box's M test is proposed that shows how groups differ in covariance and also suggests other visualizations and alternative test statistics. These methods are implemented and freely available in the heplots and candisc packages for R. Examples from the article and some further extensions are available in the online supplementary materials.


STEEL, the Caltech created nonlinear large displacement analysis software, is currently used by a large number of researchers at Caltech. However, due to its complexity, lack of visualization tools (such as pre- and post-processing capabilities) rapid creation and analysis of models using this software was difficult. SteelConverter was created as a means to facilitate model creation through the use of the industry standard finite element solver ETABS. This software allows users to create models in ETABS and intelligently convert model information such as geometry, loading, releases, fixity, etc., into a format that STEEL understands. Models that would take several days to create and verify now take several hours or less. The productivity of the researcher as well as the level of confidence in the model being analyzed is greatly increased. It has always been a major goal of Caltech to spread the knowledge created here to other universities. However, due to the complexity of STEEL it was difficult for researchers or engineers from other universities to conduct analyses. While SteelConverter did help researchers at Caltech improve their research, sending SteelConverter and its documentation to other universities was less than ideal. Issues of version control, individual computer requirements, and the difficulty of releasing updates made a more centralized solution preferred. This is where the idea for Caltech VirtualShaker was born. Through the creation of a centralized website where users could log in, submit, analyze, and process models in the cloud, all of the major concerns associated with the utilization of SteelConverter were eliminated. Caltech VirtualShaker allows users to create profiles where defaults associated with their most commonly run models are saved, and allows them to submit multiple jobs to an online virtual server to be analyzed and post-processed. The creation of this website not only allowed for more rapid distribution of this tool, but also created a means for engineers and researchers with no access to powerful computer clusters to run computationally intensive analyses without the excessive cost of building and maintaining a computer cluster. In order to increase confidence in the use of STEEL as an analysis system, as well as verify the conversion tools, a series of comparisons were done between STEEL and ETABS. Six models of increasing complexity, ranging from a cantilever column to a twenty-story moment frame, were analyzed to determine the ability of STEEL to accurately calculate basic model properties such as elastic stiffness and damping through a free vibration analysis as well as more complex structural properties such as overall structural capacity through a pushover analysis. These analyses showed a very strong agreement between the two softwares on every aspect of each analysis. However, these analyses also showed the ability of the STEEL analysis algorithm to converge at significantly larger drifts than ETABS when using the more computationally expensive and structurally realistic fiber hinges. Following the ETABS analysis, it was decided to repeat the comparisons in a software more capable of conducting highly nonlinear analysis, called Perform. These analyses again showed a very strong agreement between the two softwares in every aspect of each analysis through instability. However, due to some limitations in Perform, free vibration analyses for the three story one bay chevron brace frame, two bay chevron brace frame, and twenty story moment frame could not be conducted. With the current trend towards ultimate capacity analysis, the ability to use fiber based models allows engineers to gain a better understanding of a building's behavior under these extreme load scenarios. Following this, a final study was done on Hall's U20 structure [1] where the structure was analyzed in all three softwares and their results compared. The pushover curves from each software were compared and the differences caused by variations in software implementation explained. From this, conclusions can be drawn on the effectiveness of each analysis tool when attempting to analyze structures through the point of geometric instability. The analyses show that while ETABS was capable of accurately determining the elastic stiffness of the model, following the onset of inelastic behavior the analysis tool failed to converge. However, for the small number of time steps the ETABS analysis was converging, its results exactly matched those of STEEL, leading to the conclusion that ETABS is not an appropriate analysis package for analyzing a structure through the point of collapse when using fiber elements throughout the model. The analyses also showed that while Perform was capable of calculating the response of the structure accurately, restrictions in the material model resulted in a pushover curve that did not match that of STEEL exactly, particularly post collapse. However, such problems could be alleviated by choosing a more simplistic material model.


At 2-3 h after phenobaribtal administration, the drug has no effect on nucleoplasmic RNA synthesis and decreases nucleolar RNA synthesis. However, at this time there is an increase in the labelling of cytoplasmic poly(A)-containing RNA, even though there is decreased labelling of total polyribosomal RNA. The decrease in labelling of nucleolar and total polyribosomal RNA owing to phenobarbital is a transient phenomenon. Under similar conditions, 3-methylcholanthrene has no effect on nucleolar RNA synthesis, but leads to an increase in synthesis of nucleoplasmic and cytoplasmic poly(A)-containing RNA. Cytosol isolated from phenobarbital-treated, but not from 3-methyl-cholanthrene-treated, animals facilitates an enhanced transport of RNA from nuclei. At the time points investigated, 3-methylcholanthrene or its metabolite shows a 10-15-fold higher concentration in the chromatin than that of phenobarbital or its metabolite. It is suggested that the primary effect of phenobarbital is at the cytoplasmic level, promoting the transport of RNA from the nuclei, which can act as a trigger for enhanced transcription at later periods. 3-Methylcholanthrene or its metabolite directly binds to the chromatin and evokes a selective transcriptional response.


Exergame controllers are intended to add fun to monotonous exercise. However, studies on exergame controllers mostly focus on designing new controllers and exploring specific application domains without analyzing human factors, such as performance, comfort, and effort. In this paper, we examine the characteristics of a speed-based exergame controller that bear on human factors related to body movement and exercise. Users performed tasks such as changing and maintaining exercise speed for avatar control while their performance was measured. The exergame controller follows Fitts' law, but requires longer movement time than a gamepad and Wiimote. As well, resistance force and target speed affect performance. User experience data confirm that the comfort and mental effort are adequate as practical game controllers. The paper concludes with discussion on applying our findings to practical exergame design.


This survey provides a brief and selective overview of research in the philosophy of mathematics education. It asks what makes up the philosophy of mathematics education, what it means, what questions it asks and answers, and what is its overall importance and use? It provides overviews of critical mathematics education, and the most relevant modern movements in the philosophy of mathematics. A case study is provided of an emerging research tradition in one country. This is the Hermeneutic strand of research in the philosophy of mathematics education in Brazil. This illustrates one orientation towards research inquiry in the philosophy of mathematics education. It is part of a broader practice of 'philosophical archaeology': the uncovering of hidden assumptions and buried ideologies within the concepts and methods of research and practice in mathematics education. An extensive bibliography is also included.


IZA DP No. 14139 FEBRUARY 2021 "Study Hard and Make Progress Every Day": Updates on Returns to Education in China In this paper, we apply Generalized Propensity Score Matching (GPSM) method, which deals with a continuous treatment variable, to estimate the returns to education in China from 2010 to 2017. Results are compared with OLS estimates from the classical Mincerian equation, as well as estimates from two instrumental variable methods (i.e., 2SLS and Lewbel). We use the Chinese General Social Survey data, including a subset newly released in 2020. We find that returns to education in China experienced a slight decrease in 20102015, but reverted back in 2017. With the more flexible GPSM method, we also find that returns to university education remain higher than returns to secondary or compulsory education. The GPSM estimates are also closer to OLS estimates, compared to both instrumental variable methods. JEL Classification: I26, J30


Triumfetta Tomentosa B(TTB) is one of the plants that grow naturally in the Kenyan forested regions of Mt. Kenya, Aberdares ranges, Kakamega and theMau forest. Traditionally TTB leaves have been used as food, the bark is used to make ropes or weave baskets and the stem is used as firewood. Among the farmers living in theMt. Kenya region, the TTB bark is normally treatment with a bleaching agent (used for general laundry purposes), with an aim of getting a stronger fiber. The objectives of this research work included the study the properties of TTB bast fibers. Comparison with jute fibers was also undertaken to gauge its suitability for use as grain (maize) packingmaterial. TTB stemswere harvested fromMountKenya region, step retted and then characterized. Surface and chemical characterization of the TTB fibers was undertaken using modern equipments such as FT-IR, SEM, XRD and tensile propertymeasurement equipments. The chemical ingredients of the fibers were also determined. The results obtained in this research work using the XRD equipment indicated that TTB fibers have cellulose I structure, which is commonwithmost bast fibers. Comparison of the chemical ingredients of TTB and jute fibers revealed that the raw TTB fibers contained higher percentages of lignin and lower levels of hemicellulose. The treated TTB fibers contained higher levels of cellulose and reduced levels of lignin and hemicellulose. Treated TTB fibers exhibited finer count and higher tensile strength when compared to the raw fibers.


BACKGROUND
Although anecdotal data suggest that spouses of aborted sudden cardiac death survivors become enmeshed in the physical and emotional recovery of their mates, few longitudinal studies address the personal struggle of aborted sudden cardiac death survivors and their spouses during recovery.

OBJECTIVE
To identify and explore phenomena experienced by aborted sudden cardiac death survivors and their spouses, and to determine implications for care.

METHODS
This was a phenomenological study; qualitative interviews were conducted within 3 weeks of aborted sudden cardiac death and continued through 24 weeks after arrest at 6- to 8-week intervals. A total of 180 interviews were conducted with 40 survivors and 30 spouses. Interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for recurrent themes.

RESULTS
For the spouses the point of focus, or reference point, for future decision making was the arrest; for the survivors the reference point was prearrest life. These different reference points led to different concerns between spouses and survivors, from which spousal protectiveness and entrapment emerged.

CONCLUSIONS
Acknowledgment of different reference points is essential in planning interventions for aborted sudden cardiac death survivors and their spouses. This population must be encouraged to express their questions, concerns, and fears early. Differences in perspectives should be identified to avoid troubled communication and conflicts.


There is a tripartite pull from academics, industry and professional bodies on the development needs of the Quantity Surveyor (QS). At best, there is scope for misunder-standings between the stakeholders as to what is being required and what is being achieved. At worst there may be actual gaps in the education and/or training being offered and some discrepancies between the levels of attainment. This research sought to review the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) QS competencies and their application in the delivery of QS degree programmes. The changing development needs of QSs who satisfy the aspirations of industrial, professional and academic stakeholders were investigated through content analysis of the views of an expert forum consisting of relevant stakeholders and a series of competency mapping case studies. The study revealed that there are considerably different standards right across the RICS accredited QS programmes with respect to coverage of competencies. It is concluded that there is no standard benchmark in achieving competencies and it is open to individual interpretation. Further research in the development of a Graduate Competency Threshold Benchmark is suggested to align the disparate views of the stakeholders to accommodate changing development needs.


This thesis describes the design of a brush robot for earthquake rescue and for traversing pipes with varied cross sectional shape. Earthquake rescue is a very dangerous, difficult and challenging task, in which emergency services rescue people who are trapped in man-made structures, such as collapsed buildings after an earthquake. The building collapse may have been caused by natural or man-made events. This technology is also applicable to tunnel collapse and land slips. The focus of this work is finding the location of victims and provision of primary life support and communications. To illustrate the concept of the robot, the thesis first discusses the current development of rescue robots and pipe robots. Then the thesis focuses on the description of a brush based pipe robot, developed by the University of Durham, which would be used as the basis of an earthquake rescue robot. The concept of the robot was illustrated and compared with other current rescue robots and pipe robots. After outlining the advantages of this robot concept, a robot body shape change theory was proposed and theoretical simulations were used to verily the practicality of the robot shape change theory. The thesis also illustrates the design of the working principle and design of a robot sensor, which was subsequently used in the robot shape change experiments. The robot body shape change experiments and the experimental results are described and discussed. The experimental results illustrate the robot concept and support the robot body shape change theory. Chapter 6 focuses on the brush unit traction investigation, bristle theory and mathematical model. Furthermore, the bristle theory and mathematical model were used to explain the variation of traction force in the traction experiments.


This document contains requirements on the TCP/IP header compression
scheme (profile) to be developed by the RObust Header Compression
(ROHC) Working Group. The document discusses the scope of TCP
compression, performance considerations, assumptions about the
surrounding environment, as well as Intellectual Property Rights
concerns. The structure of this document is inherited from RFC 3096,
which defines IP/UDP/RTP requirements for ROHC. This memo provides
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In a previous article, Contract Law, Party Sophistication and the New Formalism, 75 Missouri L. Rev. 493 (2010), I documented a trend in United States case law and scholarship that fashions a dichotomy between sophisticated and unsophisticated parties. That article set out to explain the trend as a theoretical compromise between formalism and realism in the face of a renewed formalism. However, as I noted in the previous article, the "new formalism" may not be formalism at all because it retains normative concerns. Indeed, the shift in legal thought may be more appropriately and simply characterized as embracing pluralism. This piece will place observations about party sophistication within recent scholarship discussing pluralist conceptions of contract doctrine and suggest that the focus on sophistication is a means to order contract law's competing values (e.g., autonomy, efficiency, fairness and equality, certainty and predictability).With reference to my previous writing on the subject, Section I of this Article addresses the increasing significance of party sophistication. The next section summarizes the argument that party sophistication preserves fairness norms in the face of a resurgence of formalism. Section III provides a brief overview of existing pluralist contracts scholarship. The Article then presents its central claim: the attention to the sophistication of contracting parties fits neatly within a theoretical shift toward pluralism and provides a way to strive for coherence and yet still order the competing values of contract law. After addressing some case examples in Section IV, this Article concludes that, once the status-based label of "sophisticated" or "unsophisticated" is applied, the law can prioritize values. For sophisticated parties, the supervalues are autonomy and individual liberty, which leads to a rules-driven and a-contextual approach that lends itself to efficiency, predictability and certainty. For unsophisticated parties, the supervalue is a normative one of reasonableness and fairness; it is guided by a contextual and standards-based approach. This allows for a general and comprehensive body of contract law that is both principled and pragmatic, a difficult task given the wide variety of parties and transaction types that contract law serves.


Research question: According to behavioral economics, coaches may unconsciously bias from rational behavior, which in turn affects team performance. We analyze the influence of a particular coach behavioral bias, overconfidence, on a soccer team performance. Research methods: We use a sample of 63 coaches managing all of the soccer clubs involved in the Russian Football Premier League during the four seasons between 2010 and 2013/2014. To measure overconfidence, we use a press-based metric, that is generally accepted in corporate governance studies, and complement it with an additional continuous measure. Results and Findings: Coaches' overconfidence positively and significantly influences team average scores, both in baseline regression and robustness checks. Additional testing allows us to draw conclusions regarding the inverse U-shaped relationship between overconfidence and performance. We cannot suppose that overconfidence has any effect on coaches' risk-taking that can be approximated by goals scored or allowed. Implications: We apply the well-studied methodology of overconfidence measurement to the new field of sport economics, thereby generating novel results. Despite of the negative perception of overconfidence in corporate governance, we show that in sport it is beneficial to be overconfident. The findings contribute to sport literature, more specifically to the field of performance in soccer, with results that support the importance of a coach's personal traits.


Introduction The Great Library of Alexandria?[1] From its Gate of the Sun to its Gate of the Moon, temples and palaces lined its spacious streets. Marbled columns and glittering statues dazzled visitors. Alexandria witnessed not only the romance of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra but also the genius of the greatest mathematicians and boasted the world's first and greatest public library, a library whose aim was to contain a copy of every book ever written.[2] Though it was Alexandria's Pharos lighthouse that was counted among the Seven Wonders of the World,[3] Ancient Alexandria--a city founded by Alexander the Great as a showplace "metropolis linking Greece and Egypt"[4]--was a city in which wonders abounded. The city featured wide boulevards laid out in a grid, and buildings constructed of granite and marble.[5] Some say that Alexander himself had a hand in planning this great city. One of the most notable wonders of the city was the Great Library of Alexandria (hereinafter Great Library or Library), an institution which has assumed legendary proportions in the mythos of western civilization. However, institutions which assume mythological proportions are often obscured by the very legends they generate. While the Great Library's cultural and intellectual achievements resonate to this day, many do not and cannot separate the true nature and history of the Great Library from the fog of legend that surrounds it. Was the Great Library a library in the modern professional sense of the word, or perhaps it was a kind of proto-library containing a large collection of texts? In order to explore these questions and to bring clarity to the topic of the Great Library, this paper will examine the founding and history of the Great Library and illustrate its purpose and philosophy. Finally this paper will then analyze the Great Library according to established library criteria. Section I will provide an overview of the founding, intellectual achievements, and fall of the Great Library. Section II will review the characteristics of the Great Library according to modern professional criteria. Foundation and Description The Great Library of Alexandria has assumed legendary qualities in the centuries since its creation and demise. The concept of a universal library, an institution containing all the intellectual works of the world, is one that has enchanted scholars for centuries. But where did such a concept originate? While there are indications of earlier attempts,[6] the first lasting attempt, and the one that has become fixed in the cultural consciousness of western civilization is that of Alexander the Great.[7] Old Persian and Armenian traditions indicate that Alexander the Great, upon seeing the great library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh,[8] was inspired to combine all the works of the various nations he conquered, translate them into Greek, and collect them all under one roof.[9] While this inspiration was certainly prompted at least in part by a desire to consolidate information, and thereby power, under Greek authority, it is also an indication of Alexander's desire for his empire to be a multicultural empire[10]--albeit one unified under the influence of Hellenism. Alexander died before he was able to create his universal library,[11] but his friend and successor[12] Ptolemy I, known as Ptolemy Soter,[13] was to begin the creation of Alexander's Library in a new Hellenic city which Alexander founded, and one in which his remains were to be ultimately interred[14]-- Alexandria.[15] The presence of a natural harbor and a nearby supply of fresh water combined with an already existing colony of Macedonians made the selection of the site, in the conquered territory of Egypt, an easy choice for Alexander's new capital and center of Hellenism.[16] Given Alexandria's position as a center of world trade and polyglot nature,[17] it was vital for the Ptolemaic dynasty to unify their city and people so that Alexandria was not merely a place where many different people lived and through which trade passed. …


This article uses a newly available database of consumer credit card agreements to take the first, in‐depth empirical look at why credit card issuers use arbitration clauses. Based on a sample of credit card agreements made available by 298 issuers under the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, it finds that while most credit card agreements include arbitration clauses, the substantial majority of credit card issuers (247 of 298, or 82.9 percent) do not use arbitration clauses in their credit card agreements. The article also finds that credit card issuers are more likely to use arbitration clauses when they (1) specialize in making credit card loans; (2) make riskier credit card loans; and (3) have a larger credit card portfolio. Conversely, issuers are less likely to use arbitration clauses when they are (1) mutually owned (i.e., credit unions) rather than shareholder owned (i.e., banks); and (2) are located in states in which class arbitration waivers are unenforceable. These empirical findings have potentially important implications for a number of timely policy questions, such as: What sorts of options are available to consumers who wish to obtain a credit card that is not subject to an arbitration clause? How might increased regulation of arbitration (whether by Congress or by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) affect the market for credit card loans? and How are businesses likely to respond to the Supreme Court's recent decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion?


Estimates of correlation between pairs of genes in co-expression analysis are commonly used to construct networks among genes using gene expression data. Here, we show that the distribution of such correlations depend on the expression level of the involved genes, which we refer to this as a mean-correlation relationship in RNA-seq data, both bulk and single-cell. This dependence introduces a bias in co-expression analysis whereby highly expressed genes are more likely to be highly correlated. Such a relationship is not observed in protein-protein interaction data, suggesting that it is not reflecting biology. Ignoring this bias can lead to missing potentially biologically relevant pairs of genes that are lowly expressed, such as transcription factors. To address this problem, we introduce spatial quantile normalization (SpQN), a method for normalizing local distributions in a correlation matrix. We show that spatial quantile normalization removes the mean-correlation relationship and corrects the expression bias in network reconstruction.


Intestinal metaplasia induced by ectopic expression of caudal‐type homeobox (CDX)2 and/or CDX1 (CDX) is frequently observed around gastric cancer (GC). Abnormal expression of CDX is also observed in GC and suggests that inappropriate gastrointestinal differentiation plays essential roles in gastric tumorigenesis, but their roles on tumorigenesis remain unelucidated. Publicly available databases show that GC patients with higher CDX expression have significantly better clinical outcomes. We introduced CDX2 and CDX1 genes separately into GC‐originated MKN7 and TMK1 cells deficient in CDX. Marked suppression of cell growth and dramatic morphological change into spindle‐shaped flat form were observed along with induction of intestinal marker genes. G0‐G1 growth arrest was accompanied by changed expression of cell cycle‐related genes but not with apoptosis or senescence. Microarray analyses additionally showed decreased expression of gastric marker genes and increased expression of stemness‐associated genes. Hierarchical clustering of 111 GC tissues and 21 non‐cancerous gastric tissues by selected 18 signature genes based on our transcriptome analyses clearly categorized the 132 tissues into non‐cancer, "CDX signature"‐positive GC, and "CDX signature"‐negative GC. Gene set enrichment analysis indicated that "CDX signature"‐positive GC has lower malignant features. Immunohistochemistry of 89 GC specimens showed that 50.6% were CDX2‐deficient, 66.3% were CDX1‐deficient, and 44.9% were concomitant CDX2/CDX1‐deficient, suggesting that potentially targetable GC cases by induced intestinal differentiation are quite common. In conclusion, exogenous expression of CDX2/CDX1 can lead to efficient growth inhibition of CDX‐deficient GC cells. It is based on rapidly induced intestinal differentiation, which may be a future therapeutic strategy.


The April, 2012, issue of Against the Grain included an article by Laura Harris, "Joining the Dark Side,"1 which I read with interest.Harris described her transition from working in an academic library to working for Spring share, the developer and vendor for the wonderful LibGuides. The article held interest for me personally, since I experienced a similar change earlier in my career.I had spent seven years in academic libraries when I received an unexpected and unsolicited job offer from EBSCO Subscription Services (later EBSCO Information Services). Like Laura,I had not considered working for a vendor. Well, that's not quite true. I had actually talked with a couple of folks at EBSCO before, but only for a possible position at their headquarters in Birmingham, AL. I thought I was completely uninterested in any sort of customer-facing position. And yet,that is what I ended up doing (in three different positions) for fifteen years!


The genealogical paradigm, classically formulated by Meillet, still dominates language classification. Despite of its weaknesses, the tree model is at the base of all global or particular language lists. Distinguishing common heritage from subsequent borrowing is a matter of hot debates in all parts of the world. This contribution challenges the universal validity of this paradigm. Genealogical trees are based on divergent evolutions, leading to the formation of new species. But this biological metaphor has its limits when applied to language. The formation of a new language is only a "pseudo-speciation" (Ericson), communication remains possible even after the split, and convergence may counterbalance the effects of divergence at any moment. The evolutionary model of Indo-European does work in some cases, but not in all.


Cancer survivors are at risk for occupational performance issues related to activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, work, and social and community participation. Occupational therapy practitioners can address these performance issues by offering services within existing community cancer survivorship programs that focus on adaptive and compensatory strategies to facilitate meaningful lifestyles and optimize health and well-being. Occupational therapy services do not currently exist at these community sites, nor are occupational therapy practitioners recognized as providers in existing community cancer survivorship programs. Recognition of practitioners' distinct value in cancer survivorship, advocacy for occupational therapy services in the community, development of supporting documentation for occupational therapy's role in community survivorship, and research on the efficacy of interventions in community cancer survivorship are needed to expand occupational therapy's role with this growing population.


Learning from the concepts used by green plants photosynthesis, we have developed nanostructured systems affording efficient solar light harvesting and conversion to electricity and fuels. Solar cells using dyes or semiconducting nanoparticles as light harvesters supported by mesoscopic oxide films have emerged as credible contenders to conventional p-n junction photovoltaic devices. Separating light absorption from charge carrier transport dye sensitized mesoscopic solar cells (DSCs) were the first to use a three-dimensional nanocrystalline junction for solar electricity production. The standard AM 1.5 solar to electric power conversion efficiency (PCE) has reached 12.9% for laboratory cells and 9.9 % for PV modules. Even higher efficiencies are attained under ambient and indoor light conditions. These features along with excellent long-term stability have fostered first commercial applications, the industrial production of DSC's attaining presently the MW/year scale. Very exciting results have recently been obtained with perovskites and quantum dot particles as light harvesters in mesoscopic solar cells. Striking advances in the direct generation of fuels such as hydrogen from water and sunlight have been achieved by the judicious design of photosystems composed of nanostructured Fe2O3 or Cu2O films.


With long, solitary periods at sea, far from literary and cultural centers, sailors comprise a remarkable population of readers and writers. Although their contributions have been little recognized in literary history, seamen were important figures in the nineteenth-century American literary sphere. In the first book to explore their unique contribution to literary culture, Hester Blum examines the first-person narratives of working sailors, from little-known sea tales to more famous works by Herman Melville, James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe, and Richard Henry Dana.In their narratives, sailors wrote about how their working lives coexisted with - indeed, mutually drove - their imaginative lives. Even at leisure, they were always on the job site. Blum analyzes seamen's libraries, Barbary captivity narratives, naval memoirs, writings about the Galapagos Islands, Melville's sea vision, and the crisis of death and burial at sea. She argues that the extent of sailors' literacy and the range of their reading were unusual for a laboring class, belying the popular image of Jack Tar as merely a swaggering, profane, or marginal figure. As Blum demonstrates, seamen's narratives propose a method for aligning labor and contemplation that has broader applications for the study of American literature and history.


Critical theory designates a philosophy and a research methodology that focuses on the interrelated issues of technology, politics and social change. Despite its emphasis on technology, critical theory arguably remains underutilized in areas of practical research that lie at the confluence of social, political and technological concerns, such as the study of the use of the usability of information and communication technologies (ICTs) or of their use in educational institutions. This paper addresses this situation by first describing the methodology of ideology critique. This critical methodology operates comparatively, by "measuring" consensual truths against actual social conditions. In doing so, it frequently shows these truisms to have the quality of mystifications or "myths," claims possessing a "false clarity" and that are misleading in developing and justifying research plans and priorities. Focusing on the specific example of e-learning (or the use of ICTs in education), this paper shows how critical theory can be used to "de-mystify" three particular truths or myths. These are claims that 1) we live in a "knowledge economy," 2) that users enjoy ubiquitous, "anywhere anytime" access, and 3) that social and institutional change is motivated by a number of fixed "laws" of progress in computer technology. These claims are shown to simplify or obscure a complex social reality that is constituted by different and conflicting forms of knowledge, and these claims are shown to work to the benefit of interests that are hegemonic and conservative in nature.


This paper gives a detailed review of popular stabilization approaches that have developed to be standard tools in the numerical world. The need for stabilization is outlined and stabilization ideas based on the Petrov-Galerkin concept are discussed. Stabilization methods are explained on the one hand in an illustrative approach with help of the artificial diffusion idea and on the other hand in a theoretical approach by outlining the mathematical background of stabilization. A generalization to meshfree methods is investigated. We find that the structure of stabilizing perturbation terms can be applied in the same manner to meshfree methods. However, the weighting of the stabilizing terms, defined with the stabilization parameter, requires special attention. Using standard formulas for the stabilization parameter, raised in the meshbased finite element context, is only suitable for meshfree shape functions with small dilatation parameters. This is confirmed with numerical experiments for the advection-diffusion equation and incompressible Navier-Stokes equations.