n the 1970s, Motorola learned about quality the hard way—by being consistently beaten in the competitive marketplace. When a Japanese firm took over a Motorola factory that manufactured television sets in the United States, it promptly set about making drastic operational changes. Under Japanese management, the factory was soon producing TV sets with 1/20th the number of defects they had produced under Motorola management. Eventually, even Motorola's own executives publicly admitted "our quality stinks." Finally, Motorola decided to take quality seriously. ThenMotorola CEO Bob Galvin started the company on the quality path and became a business icon largely as a result of what he accomplished in quality at Motorola. In accepting the first ever Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award at the White House in 1988, Bob Galvin briefly described the company's turnaround. He said it involved something called Six Sigma. Among the attendees was a contingent of Baldrige judges and examiners, including me. I assumed that I knew precisely what Galvin was talking about when he used the term Six Sigma. I believed that he was speaking of statistical process control, process capability and meeting requirements, the sorts of things that quality engineers had advocated for years. At that time, there was a consensus among quality engineers and statisticians that process capability was, roughly, "plus or minus three sigma." A process controlled at this level would produce a small percentage of defective items, but the percentage was thought to be acceptable. In the 1980s, U.S. automotive companies tightened up he definition to mean plus or minus four sigma, which brought the defect rate down to a few parts per thousand. Galvin's reference to Six Sigma, I thought, was a minor modification of a tried-and-true statistical approach, which could be entirely described by the illustration shown in Figure 1. I was wrong. Galvin was describing something entirely new. Six Sigma is such a drastic extension of the old idea of statistical control as to be an entirely different subject. The statistical difference alone is staggering. A Six Sigma process will produce failures at a parts-per-million or even parts-per-billion level. This contrasts with the old three sigma process that produces parts-perthousand or even parts-per-hundred (percent) failures. This difference of three to seven orders of magnitude is profound. In science, a difference in scale of this magnitude qualifies a subject as a new science, as when one goes from the study of molecular biology to the study of botany. In short, Six Sigma is not just a modification of the old engineering idea of three sigma quality levels; it is an entirely new way to manage an organization. Motorola's senior executives extended the idea far beyond manufacturing. Six Sigma became a way of doing things throughout the entire organization. This task is vastly more difficult than simply improving the control of a machining or assembly process. It requires nothing short of a transformation in the way an organization perceives its environment and its role in that environment. Six Sigma is not primarily a technical program; it's a management program. Any organization that fails to keep this foremost in mind is doomed to fail in becoming a world-class organization. Let's take a closer look at how Six Sigma works at one company that understands this. At General Electric, Jack Welch asks each employee to become a "quality lunatic." In mid-1998—three years after starting its push for Six Sigma—GE was unning at a sigma level of three to four, according to a 1998 Business Week article. The gap between that and the Six Sigma level costs the company between $8 billion and $12 billion a year in inefficiencies and lost productivity. Welch launched the effort in late 1995 with 200 projects and intensive training programs, moved to 3,000 projects and more training in 1996, and undertook 6,000 projects and still more training in 1997. The initiative has been a stunning success, delivering far more benefits than first envisioned by Welch, according to Business Week. In 1997, Six Sigma delivered $320 million in productivity gains and profits, more than double Welch's original goal of $150 million. "Six Sigma has spread like wildfire across the company, and it is transforming everything we do," boasted Welch. And transformation is what Six Sigma is all about.


Obesity and overweight are among the major health problems in the world today. The excessive accumulation of fat in adipose tissue is accompanied by low‐grade inflamma‐ tion, adipokine secretion dysregulation, oxidative stress, and an alteration of the secretion of gut hormones and food intake related to peptides. This is related to the development of cardiovascular diseases, which have been increased worldwide during the last 15 years approximately. The biomarkers are tremendously important to predict, diagnose, and observe the therapeutic success of common complex multifactorial metabolic diseases, such as obesity and cardiovascular diseases. This chapter presents a review of the most common biomarkers that have been used in the prevention, treatment, prognosis, and diagnosis of obesity and cardiovascular diseases.


Cryogels are used in a variety of environmental and biotechnological processes. Cryogels are polymeric materials with large pores and open flow channels. Turmeric is a very popular spice, especially in India, which has been shown to contain curcumin alkaloids to treat a variety of many diseases. Playing a protective and therapeutic role against the diseases results from being able to bind to various targets. In this study, Indian saffron (Turmeric) embedded poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) cryogel discs (Tur-PHEMA/CDs) have been prepared to remove heavy metal ions from waste-water, which is a major environmental problem by utilizing the heavy metal binding property of turmeric. Tur-PHEMA/CDs were used to remove Cu(II), Pb(II), Cd(II) ions. Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) cryogel discs (PHEMA/CDs) were also used as control polymer. The prepared cryogels are characterized by multiple experimental tests. The Tur-PHEMA/CDs and PHEMA/CDs with respectively swelling ratio of 83.6% and 71.2% were used in heavy metal ions adsorption studies. pH values of the solution were changed in the range of 3.0-6.0 to determine optimum pH. Maximum adsorption capacities of the Tur-PHEMA/CDs from aqueous solution were 18.36 mg/g for Cu(II), 8.99 mg/g for Pb(II) and 5.76 mg/g for Cd(II). The affinity order of heavy metal ions on mass basis was Cu(II) > Pb(II) > Cd(II) from synthetic wastewater. EDTA solution (0.5 M) was used for desorbing of heavy metal ions.


The law requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to collect, monitor, and respond to consumer complaints regarding consumer financial products or services. This Article explores these duties. Its premise is that the CFPB's complaint mechanism, even if carefully designed and heavily resourced, is unlikely to improve the overall level of consumer protection. While taking complaints will aid the CFPB in some of its duties, it also could erode some aspects of consumer protection. Those counterintuitive possibilities bring into sharper relief the issue of whether it is appropriate to task administrative agencies with resolving consumer complaints. What is the purpose of making the government - other than the court system - address complaints with nongovernment actors? The Article considers this fundamental question in the context of the CFPB, identifying theoretical and practical issues raised by the CFPB's strategies to date for handling consumer complaints.


Background: Global Software Engineering (GSE) has become a widely applied operational model for the development of software systems; it can increase profits and decrease time-to-market. However, there are many challenges associated with development of software in a globally distributed fashion. There is evidence that these challenges affect many process related to software development, such as effort estimation. To the best of our knowledge, there are no empirical studies to gather evidence on effort estimation in the GSE context. In addition, there is no common terminology for classifying GSE scenarios focusing on effort estimation.Objective: The main objective of this thesis is to support effort estimation in the GSE context by providing a taxonomy to classify the existing knowledge in this field.Method: Systematic literature review (to identify and analyze the state of the art), survey (to identify and analyze the state of the practice), systematic mapping (to identify practices to design software engineering taxonomies), and literature survey (to complement the states of the art and practice) were the methods employed in this thesis.Results: The results on the states of the art and practice show that the effort estimation techniques employed in the GSE context are the same techniques used in the collocated context. It was also identified that global aspects, e.g. time, geographical and social-cultural distances, are accounted for as cost drivers, although it is not clear how they are measured. As a result of the conducted mapping study, we reported a method that can be used to design new SE taxonomies. The aforementioned results were combined to extend and specialize an existing GSE taxonomy, for suitability for effort estimation. The usage of the specialized GSE effort estimation taxonomy was illustrated by classifying 8 finished GSE projects. The results show that the specialized taxonomy proposed in this thesis is comprehensive enough to classify GSE projects focusing on effort estimation.Conclusions: The taxonomy presented in this thesis will help researchers and practitioners to report new research on effort estimation in the GSE context; researchers and practitioners will be able to gather evidence, com- pare new studies and find new gaps in an easier way. The findings from this thesis show that more research must be conducted on effort estimation in the GSE context. For example, the way the cost drivers are measured should be further investigated. It is also necessary to conduct further research to clarify the role and impact of sourcing strategies on the effort estimates' accuracies. Finally, we believe that it is possible to design an instrument based on the specialized GSE effort estimation taxonomy that helps practitioners to perform the effort estimation process in a way tailored for the specific needs of the GSE context.


Standard models for fi nancial markets are based on the simplifying assumption that trading orders can be given and executed in continuous time with no friction. This assumption is clearly a strong idealization of the reality. In particular, securities should not be described by a single price but by a bid and ask curve. As a first approximation, one may assume that the bid and ask prices do not depend on the traded quantities which leads to models with proportional transaction costs. These models have attracted a lot of attention these lasts years, mostly because their linear structure allows to develop a nice duality theory as in frictionless models.


Chronic inflammation and subsequent fibrosis induced by mechanical stress play an important role in ligamentum flavum (LF) hypertrophy and degeneration in patients with lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS). Angiopoietin-like protein 2 (Angptl2) is a chronic inflammatory mediator induced under various pathological conditions and increases the expression of TGF-β1, which is a well-characterized mediator in LF hypertrophy. We investigated whether Angptl2 is induced by mechanical stress, and whether it contributes to LF hypertrophy and degeneration by activating the TGF-β1 signaling cascade. In this study, we investigated human LF tissue and LF fibroblasts isolated from patients who underwent lumbar surgery. We found that Angptl2 was abundantly expressed in fibroblasts of hypertrophied LF tissues at both the mRNA and protein levels. This expression was not only positively correlated with LF thickness and degeneration but also positively correlated with lumbar segmental motion. Our in vitro experiments with fibroblasts from hypertrophied LF tissue revealed that mechanical stretching stress increases the expression and secretion of Angptl2 via activation of calcineurin/NFAT pathways. In hypertrophied LF tissue, expression of TGF-β1 mRNA was also increased and TGF-β1/Smad signaling was activated. Angptl2 expression in LF tissue was positively correlated with the expression of TGF-β1 mRNA, suggesting cooperation between Angptl2 and TGF-β1 in the pathogenesis of LF hypertrophy. In vitro experiments revealed that Angptl2 increased levels of TGF-β1 and its receptors, and also activated TGF-β1/Smad signaling. Mechanical stretching stress increased TGF-β1 mRNA expression, which was partially attenuated by treatment with a calcineurin/NFAT inhibitor or Angptl2 siRNA, indicating that induction of TGF-β1 expression by mechanical stretching stress is partially mediated by Angptl2. We conclude that expression of Angptl2 induced by mechanical stress in LF fibroblasts promotes LF tissue degeneration by activation of TGF-β1/Smad signaling, which results in LF hypertrophy in patients with LSCS.


Many medicinal plants are used as chemo preventives and antitumor agents in numerous experimental models of carcinogenesis. Moringa oleifera is a plant that contains several phytochemicals, which have been used for medical purposes including anti-inflammatory, analgesic, metabolism activator, anti-asthmatic, anti-anemia, hormone-producing, liver protector, and detoxifier, among others. Moringa oleifera extracts have also been proposed as potential anticancer agents. Cancer is one of the main causes of deaths worldwide. Although many drugs exist against several types of cancer, more specific agents with lower side effects are necessary. Few reports exist regarding the antitumor activity of Moringa oleifera leaf extract in cancer cells. We investigated the effect of Moringa oleifera leaf extract in ovarian, prostate and breast human cancer cell lines. We hypothesized that the Moringa oleifera leaf extract will inhibit the growth of cancer cells. The Moringa oleifera extract was tested in ovarian, prostate and breast cancer cell lines. Seventy-two hours post-treatment, the cell viability was measured by a colorimetric analysis with the AlamarBlue dye. The concentration inhibiting 50% of cell growth (IC50) was calculated. The IC50 of Moringa oleifera extract in the cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells, A2780CP20, was 0.27 mg/ml. The IC50 for the prostate cancer cells, PC3, was 0.17 mg/ml. Current experiments are testing the effect of Moringa oleifera extract in breast, and other ovarian cancer cells.


In this paper, we report on measurement of the first experimental LIII (2P3/2) subshell absorption jump ratio and jump factor value which were derived from new mass attenuation coefficients measured at the upper and lower energy branches of the LIII absorption edge using an energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometer for bismuth. The measurements of mass attenuation coefficients, at 36 energies from 10.010 to 17.478 keV, were done in a transmission geometry utilizing the Ki (i = α, α1,2, β, β1,2) and Li (i = α, β, β1,2, γ, γ1, l) x-rays from different secondary source targets excited by the 59.543 keV γ-photons from an 241Am annular source and detected by an ultra-LEGe solid-state detector with a resolution of 0.15 keV at 5.9 keV. The results have been compared with theoretical values.


A field experiment was conducted to study transport of fluid from the boundary to the interior of a lake. Tracking of a tracer injected into the metalimnion was combined with measurements of meteorological forcing, internal waves, and temperature microstructure. Seiches of vertical mode 2 and horizontal modes 1 and 2 were initiated after a wind event, and the tracer moved 950 m into the interior after 29.2 h. Four potential mechanisms for spreading of the tracer from the boundary to the interior were considered: intrusions from boundary mixing, horizontal dispersion, advection by seiches, and advection and dispersion driven by internal waves. Some evidence of boundary mixing was observed 0.5 h before the dye injection, when the speed of seiche‐driven currents was large, but a model of an intrusion driven by steady input overpredicted the propagation distance by a factor of about two. A one‐dimensional model with only dispersion yielded a dispersion coefficient of 0.8 m2 s−1, and a one‐dimensional model with only advection caused by internal waves predicted the position of the peak concentration and a change in longitudinal variance that was 60% of the measured change. Estimates of dispersion caused by the interaction of vertical diffusion with velocity gradients in the internal wave field are large enough to explain the rest of the spreading and suggest that the transport can be modeled as wave‐driven advection and dispersion.


Three sympatrically occurring members of a cichlid fish species complex from Lake Malawi have previously been reported to show assortative mating in the field. Offspring from three experimental tanks each housing both sexes of all three members of this complex were screened at one to four microsatellite loci to determine paternity. Reproductive isolation was found to persist without exception under laboratory conditions, providing strong evidence for behavioural barriers to mating. Direct mate choice is suggested as the process preventing interbreeding. The results are interpreted with reference to the rapid and explosive evolution of the cichlid group.


Link prediction aims at revealing missing and unknown information from observed network data, or predicting possible evolutions in near future. In recent years, extensive studies of link prediction algorithms have been performed on unweighted networks. However most empirical systems are necessarily to be described as weighted networks rather than solely the topology. In this paper we extend the structural perturbation method to weighted networks. We found that by including weight information the prediction accuracy can be significantly improved on networks with homogeneous weight distributions, meanwhile less improvements for heterogeneous weighted networks. Also we compared the weighted structural perturbation method to some benchmark algorithms, both weighted and unweighted, and found generally better performance in accuracy.


What is academic quality? On the decline of academic autonomyIn light of the transformations that universities currently undergo, with Bologna as a keyword, the following questions are put: What ideals lie behind the assessment of academic "excellence" and "quality"? What agents have the ability to define what is good science and education today? These questions are approached through Pierre Bourdieus concept of field.Looking at the development the last decade, traditional academic values, such as the ideal of universal knowledge as (personal and collective) enrichment and the intellectual independence "of all political authority and economic power", as stated in the Magna Charta Universitatum, seem to have emerged into the shadow of employability, knowledge control, competitiveness, and economic benefit.In connection with the formation of concepts such as "the knowledge society" and "knowledge based economies" the university has received a somewhat different and more central role in society. The university has come to take the role more of a knowledge producing enterprise clearly directed towards the surrounding society. There are higher demands on academic knowledge to contribute to economic, regional or national development and competitiveness. When the university is regarded as a knowledge company whose task is to accoun tfor the requests of the students, the labour market, and the business world it undertakes to follow trends and short term social phases rather than to critically examine them, which has been a traditional task for the university. If the academic work is guided by the market economical principle, that the client requests decide what quality is, instead of the experts on the academic field themselves (i.e. the scientists,) it is obviously not scientific ideals that constitute the criteria for what is good science and education.


The goal of the AMIDA mini-project is to transfer some of the technologies developed within the AMIDA project to be used by a Klewel retrieval system. More specifically, the main focus is to develop a speech-to-text application based on the AMIDA Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) system which could be potentially implemented by Klewel in their conference webcasting system. First, this document describes experimental setup and results achieved in the project devoted to the automatic processing of real lecture recordings provided by Klewel. Then, a demonstrator — an application created for demonstrating Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) results—is described.


The double-square-root (DSR) relation offers a platform to perform prestack imaging using an extended single wavefield that honors the geometrical configuration between sources, receivers and the image point, or in other words, prestack wavefields. Extrapolating such wavefields in time, nevertheless, is a big challenge because the radicand can be negative, thus reduce to a complex phase velocity, which will make the rank of the mixed domain matrix very high. Using the vertical offset between the sources and receivers, we introduce a method for deriving the DSR formulation, which gives us the opportunity to derive approximations for the mixed domain operator. The method extrapolates prestack wavefields by combining all data into one wave extrapolation procedure, allowing both upgoing and downgoing wavefields since the extrapolation is done in time, and doesn't have the v(z) assumption in the offset axis of the media. Thus, the imaging condition is imposed by taking the zero-time and zero-offset slice from the multi-dimensional prestack wavefield. Unlike reverse time migration (RTM), no crosscorrelation is needed and we also have access to the subsurface offset information, which is important for migration velocity analysis. Numerical examples show the capability of this approach in dealing with complex velocity models and can provide a better quality image compared to RTM more efficiently.


Cooperatives are omnipresent in Africa and represent a significant part of the private sector in most African countries. Successful and economically viable cooperatives create economic opportunities, provide a basic level of social protection and security, and provide their members with voice and representation. Yet, there are weaknesses and deficiencies of cooperatives in certain countries or sectors that result in poor performance. This book offers an objective analysis of the state of affairs of the cooperative sector in Africa since the liberalization of the economy in the early 1990s. It contains a historical overview of cooperative development in the continent and in-depth country studies that illustrate not only the structure and operation of the cooperative sector, but also analyse the major strengths and weaknesses of various cooperative undertakings in Africa. The aim of this book is to alert governments, donors and researchers to a fragmented, dispersed movement and make a case for the viability of cooperatives in Africa.


The sesquiterpene synthase germacradiene-4-ol synthase (GdolS) from Streptomyces citricolor is one of only a few known high-fidelity terpene synthases that convert farnesyl diphosphate (FDP) into a single hydroxylated product. Crystals of unliganded GdolS-E248A diffracted to 1.50 Å and revealed a typical class 1 sesquiterpene synthase fold with the active site in an open conformation. The metal binding motifs were identified as D80DQFD and N218DVRSFAQE. Some bound water molecules were evident in the X-ray crystal structure, but none were obviously positioned to quench a putative final carbocation intermediate. Incubations in H218O generated labeled product, confirming that the alcohol functionality arises from nucleophilic capture of the final carbocation by water originating from solution. Site-directed mutagenesis of amino acid residues from both within the metal binding motifs and without identified by sequence alignment with aristolochene synthase from Aspergillus terreus generated mostly functional germacradien-4-ol synthases. Only GdolS-N218Q generated radically different products (∼50% germacrene A), but no direct evidence of the mechanism of incorporation of water into the active site was obtained. Fluorinated FDP analogues 2F-FDP and 15,15,15-F3-FDP were potent noncompetitive inhibitors of GdolS. 12,13-DiF-FDP generated 12,13-(E)-β-farnesene upon being incubated with GdolS, suggesting stepwise formation of the germacryl cation during the catalytic cycle. Incubation of GdolS with [1-2H2]FDP and (R)-[1-2H]FDP demonstrated that following germacryl cation formation a [1,3]-hydride shift generates the final carbocation prior to nucleophilic capture. The stereochemistry of this shift is not defined, and the deuteron in the final product was scrambled. Because no clear candidate residue for binding of a nucleophilic water molecule in the active site and no significant perturbation of product distribution from the replacement of active site residues were observed, the final carbocation may be captured by a water molecule from bulk solvent.


With the development of the power grid into an automated system, phasor measurement units and phasor data concentrators are essential for real time control of the system. PMUs are time synchronized throughout the power system and take sample measurements in very small windows of time. Phasor Data Concentrators accept PMU data and time align the data so that a snapshot of the power system can be viewed in real time. It is unfeasible to possess enough real PMUs to thoroughly test PDCs, thus a Real Time PMU Simulator is desired. It is possible to implement a UNIX based PMU simulator that can emulate the behavior of real PMUs, while also allowing the user to alter the Synchrophasor data to test the response of a PDC. GPS is used to synchronize a UNIX machine to UTC time to match that of a real PMU. In this way, the PMU simulator will accurately behave as a PMU. This PMU data can be sent to PDCs to test the response of the device. To test extremes of the PDC, alterations were made to the PMU software to send irregular data to a PDC. The results conclude that the open source iPDC software is capable of being used for latency testing, sending late data frames, as well as sending corrupted data. The PMU simulator proved to be successful in the area of PDC testing. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how the iPDC software can be implemented to test


In the countries with a transitional economy, environmental problems stand very sharply. Power engineering is the branch which makes a great contribution to environmental pollution. CHP plants pollute the atmosphere; greenhouse gases emissions; nuclear power plants produce nuclear fuel wastes; hydropower plants flood huge territories. The polluter-pays principle is active in Russia as well as in other countries. But emission charges take less than 0.1% in product value. It is not enough to repair environmental damage and to stimulate the enterprises to invest in environmental projects. The reasons for low payments are put into a theory of value. A process cost forming mechanism is caused in that the producer compensates consumption of all factors (means of labor, objects of labor and work) at the expense of the price. The environment is involved in the process of production and is used very intensively due to the fact that it loses natural and consumer properties. The environment has all the signs of manufacture factors that allow us to consider it as a parity manufacture factor. The purpose of the paper is to develop a methodology to justify enterprises' emission charges. The approach considering the enterprises' abatement costs as the basis for calculating the emission charges is herein suggested. In the paper, the principles of an assessment and compensation the "amortization" of the active part of a manufacture factor – "environment" are formulated. The need for calculating environment "amortization" based on costs to prevent negative consequences of production activity is proved. The order of formation and use the "amortization" of the active part of a manufacture factor – "environment" is developed. As a result of application of the author's approach, the motivation from the enterprises to reduce negative impact on the environment increases.


A method is reported for the sensitive, simultaneous determination of mono-, di-, and trifluoroacetates by ion chromatography. These species were separated using a Dionex AS17 anion-exchange column employed with a potassium hydroxide gradient (via a Dionex EG40 Eluent Generator) and suppressed conductivity detection. The fluoroacetates were successfully separated from a range of inorganic and organic species likely to be present in environmental samples, in a total analysis time of 35 min (including re-equilibration of the column). Detection limits for mono-, di- and trifluoroacetate were 21, 38 and 36 micrograms/L, respectively, determined using a signal to noise ratio of 3, and were obtained using a sample injection volume of 50 microlitres. Precision was less than 0.83% relative standard deviation for replicate injections performed over a period of 30 days. The method was applied to the determination of MFA, DFA and TFA in river water, carrot baits, urine samples and different kinds of plant material including Bilobum, Calvcinum and Spinosum, and found the concentration range of mono-(MFA), di-(DFA), tri-fluoroacetate (TFA) to be 11-788, 3.5-17 and 0.22-1.2 ppm in wet weight plant samples respectively.
Further research was carried out using the Dionex equipment specified above.
A comparative study was made of the chromatographic behaviour of nine haloacetic acids mono-(MFA), di-(DFA), tri-fluoroacetate (TFA); mono-(MCA), di-(DCA), trichloroacetate (TCA) and mono-(MBA), di-(DBA), tri-bromoacetate (TBA). The techniques included anion-exchange chromatography with suppressed conductivity and UV detection. All nine haloacetic acids were completely separated under the optimised gradient elution conditions. Using selective detection methods or by pretreating samples with a OnGuard II Ag cartridge, eliminated some interference. The procedure for the simultaneous determination of the nine haloacetic acids was simple and fast. The method detection limits for MFA, DFA, TFA, MCA, DCA, TCA, MBA, DBA, and TBA were 21, 40, 40, 48, 28, 86, 67, 55, and 160 ppb respectively, determined using a signal to noise ratio of 3. Applications of these methods for the determination of haloacetic acids in real soil samples are shown.


The resonant interaction between three waves in a uniform magnetized plasma is reconsidered. Starting from previous kinetic expressions, we limit our investigation to waves propagating perpendicularly to the external magnetic field. It is shown that reliable results can only be obtained in the two-dimensional case, i.e., when the wave vectors have both x and y components.


A high power density 10 kW/500 kHz three-phase PWM rectifier (Vienna Rectifier) is under development. Due to preliminary measurements and numerical simulations the total efficiency is assumed to be 95% at full load, resulting in power losses of up to 150 W in each multi-chip power module realizing a bridge leg of the rectifier. In order to keep the power density of the system high direct water cooling is employed where water is in direct contact with the module base plate. Based on the measured characteristic of the water pump (pressure drop dependent on water flow) the geometry of different water channel structures below the module base plate is systematically optimized based on analytical expressions which are formulated based on the well-established theory of fluid dynamics. The design optimization is constrained by the desire to keep the geometry of the water channels in a range that allows simple and low-cost manufacturing. The aim is to find a channel structure resulting in a minimum thermal resistance of the power module for a given pump characteristic. In this paper a very simple slot channel is investigated. The dependency of the thermal resistance on the cooling system is calculated in dependency on the height of the slot channel, and an optimized channel height is found under the side condition of simple manufacturability. Discussing the shortcomings of the simple slot structure, a novel metallic inlay structure is introduced and optimized resulting in a reduction of the thermal resistance of the direct water cooling scheme as compared to the slot channel system. All theoretical considerations are verified via experimental measurements. The general optimization scheme introduced in this paper can easily be adapted to other cooling problems.


Effective domestic water sector management and policy development requires quantitative and qualitative intra-household water use data. However, there are currently limited methods, and efforts, to collect such data. This paper outlines the Water Diary, a participatory research method to generate intra-household water use data. Combining self-reported individual water use and interview/questionnaire responses, the diary offers a rich mix of numerical and attitudinal data. Representing an alternative approach to domestic water use data generation, key strengths of the Water Diary lie in its automatic generation of gender disaggregated data and capacity to encourage behaviour change.


Phone calls encouraging citizens to vote are staples of modern campaigns. Insights from psychological science can make these calls dramatically more potent while also generating opportunities to expand psychological theory. We present a field experiment conducted during the 2008 presidential election (N = 287,228) showing that facilitating the formation of a voting plan (i.e., implementation intentions) can increase turnout by 4.1 percentage points among those contacted, but a standard encouragement call and self-prediction have no significant impact. Among single-eligible-voter households, the formation of a voting plan increased turnout among persons contacted by 9.1 percentage points, whereas those in multiple-eligiblevoter households were unaffected by all scripts. Some situational factors may organically facilitate implementation-intentions formation more readily than others; we present data suggesting that this could explain the differential treatment effect that we found. We discuss implications for psychological and political science, and public interventions involving implementationintentions formation.


This paper conducts a pre-registered study aimed to compare binary and continuous set of responses in questionnaires. Binary responses consist of two possible opposed responses (Yes/No). Continuous are numerical, where respondents can indicate an answer in a 0 to 10 horizontal blind line. We study whether binary and continuous feasible sets of responses yield to the same outcome (distribution) and the same cost (duration in minutes). We collect data from 360 households in Honduras who were randomly assigned to Yes/No questions or given a slider (visual scaling 0-10) to mark their responses, therefore, we provide causal evidence. We find that respondents are 13% more likely to say "Yes" and spend 2.1 minutes less in the binary setting. Besides, we find that most of the differences between binary and continuous settings arise from questions which include negative wording.


The rapid growth of technologies is providing the opportunity for innovative design and delivery of curriculum and instructional materials to college students; yet many college faculty members, especially in historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), are not using this technology. With a widening gap in access to technologies for minorities, this is a significant issue. In this study, specific research questions focused on HBCU faculty's current use of technology, desire to incorporate new technology, view of organizational support, and potential gender or age differences. Surveys were conducted at five HBCU with established records of leadership in education. Using quantitative statistics, the results showed there is a strong willingness of HBCU faculty to incorporate new technology. Faculty members, however, were handicapped by the lack of organizational support, access to computing resources, and availability of technology support staff. The result did not show gender or age differences in the adoption of technology in the classroom. It is recommended that HBCU consider upgrading aging computing and network infrastructures. Sustainable technology-related training and professional development workshops should also be made available to the faculty members. These initiatives could help faculty in HBCU move to increased use of technology to deliver instructions, encourage the use of technology by minorities, and foster the growth of online instruction in this important segment of our society.


A MODIS-like daytime active fire detection model was tested in Alaskan biomes using NOAA-AVHRR infrared data, and its performance was assessed across a range of channel 3 (3.8 pm) brightness temperature and contextual standard deviation thresholds. Absolute thresholding of channel 3 (T3] and the channel 314 difference (TS4) was more effective than contextual analysis in minimizing false detections, although detection sensitivity to actual fire pixels was lower. The contextual analysis became more effective in terms of fire detections as the T3 and standard deviation thresholds were loosened. However, enhanced fire detection capabilities were achieved at the expense of increased false detections associated primarily with cloud edges. False detections increased exponentially and detections of active fires increased linearly as thresholds were loosened. Furthermore, T3 and standard deviation thresholds suggested for the MODIS global fire detection product appear too high for Alaska. An optimal T3 threshold between 314K and 315K and a standard deviation threshold between 2.5 and 3.5 are proposed. These results suggest that each biome or region may require different thresholds to optimize algorithm performance, recognizing that optimization of the model depends upon user goals. Effective cloud removal is clearly the most significant issue facing this type of fire detection method.


It was the purpose of this study to determine if there is a relationship between student satisfaction with high-fidelity-patient simulation experience and self-confidence in learning among student nurses. The population was associate nursing degree students. The study measured by the students' perceptions of their satisfaction and self-confidence. There is a need for pedagogical adaptations using high-fidelity simulations to provide meaningful teaching to the nursing students. At this time, further research is needed to determine the relationship between satisfaction and the level of self-confidence among students experiencing high-fidelitypatient simulators. In order to examine the relationship of students' satisfaction and level of self-confidence in learning, students enrolled in a first-year associate degree nursing program in south Texas were recruited to participate in this study. After obtaining institutional review board approval, data were collected at the completion of the course. Demographic information was obtained and the students were asked to complete the survey tools developed by the National League of Nursing. This study used a correlational design to achieve the purposes of the research. Correlational design was useful because the researcher was seeking to discover statistically significant relationships between variables. This study examined the relationship between the variables of student satisfaction and self-confidence. The results of the study demonstrated that the students' were satisfied and felt selfconfident after the simulation interaction; however, there was a weak positive correlation between the two variables.


Rubber hand pollination in Indonesian Rubber Research Institute program currently uses Wickham population which genetic analysis showed that genetic diversity of this population is narrow. The development of breeding activity has made the genetic base narrower by inbreeding. In order to solve this problem can use a new genetic resource that is the rubber germplasm IRRDB 1981 population. The genetic relationship between these populations is important to choose parents to avoid closely related genotypes in hand pollination. Therefore RAPD analysis was carried out using four selected primers i.e. OPH-03, OPH-05, OPH-18 and OPN-06. The result showed that Wickham and IRRDB 1981 population were separated into two different big groups with genetic similarity value of 0.64, and those big groups were separated further into many small sub groups with some genetic similarity level. The genetic similarity matrix showed that Wickham and IRRDB 1981 population has a range of genetic similarity 0.37– 0.98. The highest genetic similarity was found between RRIM 600 and PN 621, while the lowest was between BPM 1 and RRIC 100. Value in this matrix showed the genetic diversity between each clone. Based on this result, rubber genotypes of Wickham population could be crossed with genotypes of IRRDB 1981 population by choosing genotypes that have low genetic similarity.


BACKGROUND
In rural Gambians, the season of birth strongly predicts adult mortality. Those born during the harvest season have longer life spans than do those born during the hungry season, and the deaths associated with infectious diseases suggest permanent early-life influences on immunity. Thymic measurements showed significantly smaller thymuses in infants born during the hungry season than in those born during the harvest season. The differences were greatest at 8 wk of age, a time when all infants were exclusively breastfed, which suggests the involvement of breast milk factors.

OBJECTIVE
This study tested whether thymic size differences reflect thymic output and ascertained whether thymic output is associated with breast milk interleukin 7 (IL-7) concentrations.

DESIGN
We studied thymic size and output in a prospective cohort of 138 Gambian infants born in either the hungry or the harvest season by measuring signal-joint T cell receptor-rearrangement excision circles (sjTRECs) at birth and at 8 wk of age. IL-7 concentrations in breast milk were measured by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTS
By age 8 wk, those born in the hungry season had significantly lower sjTREC counts than did those born in the harvest season (0.97 and 2.12 sjTRECs/100 T cells, respectively; P = 0.006). At 1 wk postpartum, the breast milk of mothers of infants born in the hungry season had significantly lower IL-7 than did that of mothers of infants born in the harvest season (79 and 100 pg/mL, respectively; P = 0.02). The findings were similar at 8 wk postpartum.

CONCLUSION
These data show a plausible pathway linking external seasonal insults to mothers with thymic development in their infants, which suggests possible implications for long-term programming of immunity.


Most industries worldwide have entered a period of reaping the benefits and opportunities cloud offers. At the same time, many efforts are made to address engineering challenges for the secure development of cloud systems and software.With the majority of software engineering projects today relying on the cloud, the task to structure end-to-end secure-by-design cloud systems becomes challenging but at the same time mandatory. The PaaSword project has been commissioned to address security and data privacy in a holistic way by proposing a context-aware security-by-design framework to support software developers in constructing secure applications for the cloud. This chapter presents an overview of the PaaSword project results, including the scientific achievements as well as the description of the technical solution. The benefits offered by the framework are validated through two pilot implementations and conclusions are drawn based on the future research challenges which are discussed in a research agenda.


Trichuris spp. Nematodes were isolated from slaughtered sheep in the South Regions of Iraq / Basrah. The diagnosis and description were based on morphological characteristics. Two species of Тrichuris were found, T. ovis and T. globulosa. While T.оvis was most common, Т. globulosa was relatively rare among the infested animals. Male and female nematodes were recognized as Trichuris spp. morphologically; however, only one male was identified as T. globulosa. The species of Trichuris spp. were distinguished through their biometrical features such as presence of cylindrical spicular sheath, protrusive vulva, length of the spicule, as well as the proximal and distal cloacal tube. Moreover, diagnosis of Trichuris species was confirmed by the nomenclatural acts as it has been recorded in the registration system of the Iraqi Natural History Research Center when a certain deposit number for Trichuris spp.: INHM.2020Nem.1.1. They were noting the presence of Trichuris spp. as such the samples of nematodes were deposited in the helminth collection at the Museum of the University of Baghdad. This repository is considered as the confirmation of the diagnosis and morphological analysis.


The atrioventricular node (AVN) of the heart is responsible for the important conduction delay between atrial systole and ventricular systole. The anatomical architecture and functional properties of the AVN are complex. Ionic currents have been characterised in the AVN at both the whole tissue level and single cell level. However,
little is known about the molecular basis of these ionic currents. There were two aims of this research: 1) to generate an accurate three-dimensional reconstruction of the rabbit AVN conduction axis and 2) to use real time PCR and in situ hybridisation to measure levels of mRNA for specific ion channels and membrane proteins in the rabbit AVN and surrounding atrial and ventricular tissue. Neurofilament-M (NF-M) immunolabelling revealed a tract of cells extending from the posterior nodal extension
through the compact node to the common bundle. The PNE appeared to correspond to the slow pathway. Loosely packed atrial muscle comprised the anterior region of the AVN conduction axis closest to the enclosed part of the AVN and most likely represents the fast pathway. Lower nodal cells extended from the common bundle to the lower extremities of the compact node and PNE. Significant differences in the mRNA levels between the PNE and atrial muscle for the pacemaker channel HCN4, INa channels Navl. 1 and Na, 1.5, the Ica,L channel Cav 1.3, the I to channel s-subunit KChIP2
and Cx43 were found HCNI, Nav 1.1, Cav 1.3 and NF-M mRNA were significantly higher in the PNE, compact node and common bundle compared to the atrium and ventricle. Kir 2.1 mRNA was significantly higher in the ventricular muscle compared to the PNE and atrial muscle. Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) mRNA, was significantly higher in the atrial muscle compared to other tissues. For mRNAs for the Ito channels,
Kv 4.2 and Kv 4.3, the delayed rectifier K+ channels, Kv 1.5, ERG, K, LQTI and minK, the
inward rectifier K+ channels, Kir 2.2, Kir6.2 and s-subunit SUR2A, and the Ca2+ handling proteins, RYR2, RYR3, NCXI and SERCA2a, there were no significant differences between tissues. In situ hybridisation staining revealed further complexity of the AVN conduction axis tissue. A region of loosely packed atrial tissue immediately adjacent to
the nodal tissue was KChIP2 negative and Nav1.5 negative, and the lower nodal cells were both Cav 1.2 and Cav 1.3 positive. This study has described a complex architecture
of the AVN and added further complexity by providing a detailed account of ion channel expression throughout this tissue.


A myrosinase (thioglucoside glucohydrolase or thioglucosidase, EC 188.8.131.52) producing fungus, Aspergillus sp. NR4617, was newly isolated from decayed soil sample obtained in Thailand and was subjected to single exposure to two chemical mutagens, ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). Its myrosinase production was selected on low cost medium prepared from mustard seed cake (Brassica junce a). Studies of production and stability of the enzyme showed that EMS mutagenesis increased myrosinase activity. Aspergillus sp. NR4617E1 produced myrosinase 1.90 U ml -1 at 36 hrs of the cultivation equivalent to 171% of the enzyme production in wild-type. The stability studies revealed that myrosinase from the mutant strains retained activity similar to wild-type at 30oC. Aspergillus sp. NR4617E1 degraded 10 mM of glucosinolate completely in 36 hrs. Enhanced myrosinase production and high yields of products (allylisothiocyanate) demonstrated that this mutant could be a new found candidate for feed detoxification and industrial allylisothiocyanate production.


The main purpose of this dissertation is to determine which class of models -bubble or Imperfect Knowledge Economics (IKE) -provides the better account of short-term stock price fluctuations -and thus long-swings -on the basis of empirical evidence. However, it is not clear how to test the bubble models' implication that pure psychological and technical momentum-related factors are the primary driver of stock price movements. Moreover, IKE models' implication that fundamentals are the primary drivers of stock price movements -but that changes in this relation are non-routine -is also problematic. This thesis addresses these difficulties in two main ways. One is to construct a novel dataset based on Bloomberg News' end-of-the-day equity market wrap stories. The textual data provides unambiguous support for IKE models over the bubble models. They indicate that fundamental factors are the primary driver of price fluctuations and that this relation changes at times and in ways that would be difficult to adequately capture with any overarching rule. Psychological considerations are also found to be quite important, but their impact is almost always tethered to a fundamental factor. The bubble models' implication that pure psychological and technical momentum-related considerations are the main drivers of stock prices receives little support. The thesis also relies on formal econometric analysis to reexamine the connection between stock prices and fundamental factors. It employs recursive structural change tests and cointegration and out-of-sample fit analyses. The results support those obtained with the Bloomberg data: short-term stock price fluctuations are related to fundamentals but the relationship between prices and fundamentals is temporally unstable at times and in ways that cannot be fully foreseen. Beyond shedding new light on the empirical validity of bubble and IKE models, the thesis examines the question of what circumstances cause market participants to pay attention to certain fundamentals over others when forecasting market outcomes. Analyses combining both the Bloomberg data and formal econometrics suggest that the frequency with which certain fundamentals merit the attention of market participants is a function of the recent variation of such factors as well as deviations of fundamentals away from estimates of common benchmark levels.


Emerging research indicates that more and more Indigenous peoples will be forced to migrate due to climate change. Current responses focus on mitigation and adaptation strategies. One such group, Torres Strait Islander people are already moving for other reasons and existing vulnerabilities compound levels of disadvantage when moving. It will be important to understand Torres Strait Islander people's experiences of contemporary movements in order to inform policy development and facilitate the process of migration and resettlement as movement increases. A synthesis of existing studies would allow the development of sensitising concepts that could inform future research in the Torres Strait Islander context. This article presents a metasynthesis of six qualitative studies of the experiences of different Indigenous and minority groups at various stages of migration, displacement and resettlement. Articles were selected on contemporary movements (2001-2011) and importantly the inclusion of first person voice. Reciprocal translation was used to synthesise common themes and a core construct. The overarching construct that became apparent from the metasynthesis was 'continuity of being' through staying connected to self, family and culture. Three themes emerged: 'freedom to be', 'staying close' and 'forming anchor'. These were enacted through people valuing their personal, social, religious and political freedom and recognising the importance of maintaining or forming strong social and family networks. When researching the experiences of Torres Strait Islanders it will be necessary to focus on motivations for moving, and understand the processes for staying connected to kin and homeland in order to achieve the desired outcomes of successful resettlement under conditions of uncertainty.


BACKGROUND
Penis transplantation represents an exciting new avenue for restoration of male urogenitalia. However, little is known about the specific immunological features of penile transplants, limiting their application in complex urogenital reconstruction. To properly study this emerging form of transplantation, adequate preclinical models are a necessity. The purpose of this study is to establish a clinical and histological rejection classification of urogenital tissue transplants using a new rat heterotopic penile transplant model that includes preputial skin.

METHODS
Syngeneic and allogeneic heterotopic penile transplantations were performed on Lewis and Brown Norway rats using a new model designed by our group. Grafts were clinically and histologically monitored at postoperative days (POD) 3-30.

RESULTS
Six syngeneic and 25 allogeneic transplants were performed. All syngeneic and tacrolimus-treated grafts survived until endpoint. Allogeneic graft rejection is shown to follow a 4-stage clinical progression with all untreated allografts developing epidermal sloughing at POD7 and fully rejecting between POD14-16. Histological samples were used to develop a specific 4-grade rejection classification analogous to the 2007 Banff Criteria for skin-containing allografts.

CONCLUSIONS
Graft skin and urethral lining tissue are first rejection targets followed by tunica albuginea and corpora cavernosa in a distal to proximal pattern. We established a robust and reproducible murine model to study the immunobiology of male genital tissue in the context of transplantation and developed a novel 4-grade clinical and histological rejection scale based on graft skin and urethral lining as the main targets of rejection.


The euro area faces three interlocking crises that together challenge the viability of the currency union. There is a banking crisis: banks are undercapitalized and have faced liquidity problems. There is a sovereign debt crisis: a number of countries have faced rising bond yields and challenges funding themselves. Lastly, there is a growth crisis: economic growth is slow in the euro area overall and unequally distributed across countries. These crises connect with one another in several ways: the problems of weak banks and high sovereign debt are mutually reinforcing, and both are exacerbated by weak growth but also in turn constrain growth. This paper details the three crises, their interconnections, and possible policy solutions. Policy responses that fail to take into account the interdependent nature of the problems will likely be incomplete or even counterproductive. A broader point also becomes clear: a currency union may not need a fiscal union, but it does likely need both a financial union and some way to adjust for unbalanced economic conditions across countries.


A discrete electrostatic/diffusion model has been developed to describe the selective permeation of ion channels, based on ionic Coulomb blockade (ICB) and quantised dehydration (QD). It has been applied to describe selectivity phenomena measured in the bacterial NaChBac sodium channel and some of its mutants. Site-directed mutagenesis and the whole-cell patch-clamp technique were used to investigate how the value $Q_f$ of the fixed charge at the selectivity filter (SF) affected both valence and alike-charge selectivity. The new ICB/QD model predicts that increasing ${Q_f}$ should lead to a shift of selectivity sequences towards larger ion sizes and charges, a result that agrees with the present experiments and with earlier work. Comparison of the model with experimental data provides evidence for an {\it effective charge} $Q_f^*$ at the SF that is smaller in magnitude than the nominal $Q_f$ corresponding to the charge on the isolated protein residues. Furthermore, $Q_f^*$ was different for aspartate and glutamate charged rings and also depended on their position within the SF. It is suggested that protonation of the residues within the restricted space is an important factor in significantly reducing the effective charge of the EEEE ring. Values of $Q_f^*$ derived from experiments on the anomalous mole fraction effect (AMFE) agree well with expectations based on the ICB/QD model and have led to the first clear demonstration of the expected ICB oscillations in Ca$^{2+}$ conduction as a function of the fixed charge. Pilot studies of the dependence of Ca$^{2+}$ conduction on pH are consistent with the predictions of the model. \\


When corporations claim the same citizenship rights as human citizens, they exercise an undue influence on health policy and democratic processes. Surprisingly, the same basic repertoire of tactics has been found to be employed by corporations to effect this influence, regardless of the specific industry at work. In this book, authors from around the world reveal the range of tactics used across the corporate world that ultimately favor the bottom line over the greater good. The Bottom Line or Public Health deconstructs some of the most ubiquitous tactics at play, including public relations, political influence, legal maneuvering, and financial power, using the pharmaceutical, food and agriculture, tobacco, alcohol, and motor vehicle industries as illustration. However, there is a growing global movement to counter this corporate force. The book discusses the role of non-governmental organizations, indigenous peoples' groups, health advocates, and social justice activists, and the ways in which they are working to reduce corporate power and put control of policy back in the hands of individuals. The Bottom Line or Public Health is for scholars interested in studying the corporate entity, and for individuals and organizations who want to reclaim democracy for human citizens so that health is placed above the bottom line.


Background Nitric Oxide (NO) is one of the factors activated by hypovolemic state. Caveolins might affect the production of NO with increasing age. Objective To investigate the interaction between caveolin-1 (cav-1) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in the ventricles of young and adult rats subjected to acute bleeding. Material and Methods We used young (2 months old) and adult (12 months old) male Sprague-Dawley rats. The animals from each age group (young and adult) were divided into two experimental groups: Control: control group, and Hem: bleeding group (20% of blood volume). The animals were sacrificed and the left ventricle was resected. Results After bleeding, NOS activity increased by 21% and 45% in young rats and by 32% and 56% in adult rats. Western blot analysis revealed that NOS levels were lower (31%) in adult rats. Sixty minutes after bleeding, eNOS activity increased by 147% in young animals and by 66% in adults, with lower increase at 120 minutes. Colocalization showed a diffuse pattern of eNOS location associated with cav-1 in group Control of young animals. A dissociation pattern was observed in group Hem at 60 min which was partially restored at 120 min. The dissociation pattern of eNOS and cav-1 in group Control adult animals was greater compared to that of young rats. This characteristic was also seen after 60 min and 120 min.  Conclusion The increased production of NO during hypovolemic state depends on the presence of cav-1 which plays a key role in the aging process.


ABSTRACTUniversity of Manchester,Doctorate of Business Administration in the Faculty of Manchester Business School,September 2015, Louise PinfoldARE CURRENT MODELS OF ENTREPRENEURIAL DECISION-MAKING AND COGNITIVE COPING RELEVANT TO NOVICE ENTREPRENEURS?The objective of this research is to explore the extent to which current models of decision- making and entrepreneurial cognition are relevant to a sample of true novice entrepreneurs, those who are in the process of founding their first business venture. Novice entrepreneurs are recognised as being essential to sustaining the entrepreneurial churn in economies (Disney, Haskel & Heden, 2003) especially as the young firm population requires new entrants. The need arises because of the high rates of churning observed in populations of young firms that require a constant inflow of new ventures to renew the stock of businesses (Ganguly, 1985). Whilst some studies of the behaviour of entrepreneurs do focus on relatively young firms (e.g. Chandler, DeTienne, McKelvie, & Mumford, 2011) studies of true novice entrepreneurs are rare. The thesis seeks to address this gap in the literature. A sample of true novice entrepreneurs, that founded businesses in 2013 and 2014, is interviewed to explore their decision-making and cognition regarding a realistic new business case study. The approach replicates that used by other authors who have studied expert entrepreneurs (Sarasvathy, 2001; Sarasvathy, 2008; Chandler et al., 2011; Dew, Read, Sarasvathy & Wiltbank, 2009) using a think-aloud protocol to identify causation and effectuation styles. However, by using a mixed methods approach of concurrent and retrospective think-aloud aspects it was possible to identify novice decision-making and to capture the prior experiences that they referred to (Banks, Stanton & Harvey, 2014). The sample of 32 true novices was a randomised sub-set of 1128 business founders in the UK. The experimental protocol enabled a comparison with alternative expertise theories of feedback and linear thinking in decision-making (Winch & Maytorena, 2009). The key findings were contrary to the hypotheses; the true novices were both more effectual and more casual than expected; and furthermore were frequently using feedback loops in their decision-making. In addition, as the novice entrepreneurs reflected upon their experiences that informed their decisions, the literature predicts that novice entrepreneurs would have to adopt analytical approaches to decision making as they lack salient experiences to inform their decisions in the early years of trading. However, contrary to expectations, the novices used both analogical and heuristic sense-making approaches and were adept at switching between them (Jones & Casulli, 2014). The outcome of the experimental protocol offers insights into the extent to which the current literature captures the decision-making processes and entrepreneurial cognition of true novice entrepreneurs. The evidence is mixed, offering the opportunity for further refinement of existing theoretical constructs, and reinforcing the relevance of alternative theories of cognition and decision making for novice entrepreneurs, for government policies and the support networks and that provide resources to assist the creation and survival of new entrepreneurial ventures.In addition, for novice entrepreneurs, this research examined the relevance and influence of their prior experiences and emotions on their entrepreneurial decision-making. In founding their first business, the prediction for novices is that they would struggle to draw on appropriate experiences (Mathias, Williams & Smith, 2015). However, the results showed novices referencing a wide variety of experiences, with the majority of these based on personal events that they had directly experienced either in their current start-up or previous work activity. Emotions are believed to influence entrepreneurs? abilities to cope with uncertainty in business decision making and to persist in their endeavours in the face of adverse experiences and entrepreneurs are predicted to be over optimistic (Koellinger, Minniti & Schade, 2007; Ucbasaran, Westhead, Wright & Flores, 2010). The research profiled the novices? emotions using the internationally externally validated PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect) scale (Watson, Clark & Tellegan, 1988) and the findings showed the novices engaged consistently with their underlying trait emotions however, interestingly, they were not statistically more optimistic than the UK population (Thompson, 2007). The findings make a contribution to both the theoretical explanations and practical aspects of novice entrepreneurship and show the appropriateness of relating current research to widely used measures from other fields of study, particularly as the impact of emotions is currently influencing the future of entrepreneurship research (Cardon, Foo, Shepherd & Wiklund, 2012; Shepherd, 2015).


Background: Extensive infiltration of the skin by parotid gland tumors often lead to the surgeon seeking various options that will lead to good cosmetic appearance and reduced donor site morbidity. Materials and Methods: This is a report of two patients with extensively enlarged parotid tumors with associated skin loss and depth that was difficult to close. Consent/permission was obtained from the patients. The case notes of the patients were reviewed and it shows that apart from local tissues and skin grafts, delto-pectoral flaps could come handy. Outcome is reported in this report. Results: Two patients who had a deltopectoral flap cover of their defects following excision of huge parotid tumors involving the infiltration of the overlying skin are reported in this study. There was good aesthetic outcome with minimal and acceptable donor site morbidity. Conclusion: Delto-pectoral flaps should be considered an option in covering defects following parotid tumour excision.


We describe translation effects that have been studied in the automated text classification literature. We expand on a point within this research space, quality effects, with our own work in this area. We present an efficient method for evaluating text quality on the basis of reference texts. The method, which is general to text classification problems more widely construed, is related to the background literature and argued to be effective on the strength of the fact that it enables quality checking of amounts of text that exceed what is humanly feasible to verify. The method partially automates the process: in processing the entirety of a translated corpus being probed, it ranks items for stylistic conformity with a reference corpus, and the least conforming ranks are indicated as the items most likely to require human intervention.


Why are some ethnic groups embroiled in communal conflicts while others are comparably peaceful? We explore the group-specific correlates of communal conflicts in Africa by utilizing a novel dataset combining ethnographic information on group characteristics with conflict data. Specifically, we investigate whether features of the customary political institutions of ethnic groups matter for their communal-conflict involvement. We show how institutional explanations for conflict, developed to explain state-based wars, can be successfully applied to the customary institutions of ethnic groups. We argue that customary institutions can pacify through facilitating credible nonviolent bargaining. Studying 143 ethnic groups, we provide large-N evidence for such an 'ethnic civil peace', showing that groups with a higher number of formalized customary institutions, like houses of chiefs, courts and legislatures, are less prone to communal conflict, both internally and with other groups. We also find some evidence, although slightly weaker, that groups with more inclusive or 'democratic' customary institutions are less prone to communal conflicts.


This research is a research that measures harmony of religious harmony in Lubuklinggau City. In the context of the City of Lubuklinggau as a city that has a plurality of religions, this can actually be a capital in regional development. Then the study to be explored is How high is the religious harmony index of the city of Lubuklinggau in 2019? The quantitative research methods used in the study approach pattern with descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics are used to explain the characteristics of the data which include, mode, mean and standard deviation of each variable. After the field survey and calculation are done, the results of the research, the 2019 Survey conducted by FKUB of Lubuklinggau City found that the harmony index of Lubuklinggau city in 2019 was at 5.52, this figure was 22 points higher than the STARA INSTITUT survey in 2017. This survey also rejects the null hypothesis (H0) at the 0.05 significance level. This means that H0: µ = 5.30 cannot be generalized to the population.


By 2050, around three quarters of the world's population will live in cities, and this ongoing shift in how we live poses fundamental challenges to human life across the globe. Based on the Urban Age Project, a series of conferences held by the London School of Economics and Political Science and Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society, Living in the Endless City is a close look at the issues that affect cities, and thus people around the world, in the twenty-first century. This companion to Phaidon's The Endless City contains the very best writing from the mayors, architects, urban planners, professors and policy makers who participated in these influential conferences. These thinkers have contributed essays on Mumbai, Sao Paulo and Istanbul, the three cities featured in this book, as well as thematic essays on subjects ranging from climate change to security, which also investigate conditions in the six cities from the first book: New York City, Shanghai, London, Mexico City, Johannesburg and Berlin. Authoritatively edited by Ricky Burdett and Deyan Sudjic, illustrated with stunning photography and full of up-to-date data on all nine cities, this unique volume will give the reader access to a wealth of ideas and information about the difficulties and the opportunities of living in the endless city.


IntroductionTo predict endurance performance and evaluate adaption to training in endurance athletes a laboratory test for retrieving the anaerobic lactate threshold is often used. The maximal rate of oxidative metabolism that can be sustained during prolonged exercise indicates preserved homeostasis and thereby sets the upper limit for long term endurance. Exercise intensities above the anaerobic threshold require an additional input from anaerobic energy sources resulting in blood lactate accumulation and reduced time to fatigue. The threshold is therefore a reliable and powerful predictor of performance in aerobic exercise lasting approximately 40-60 min. The work rate that elicits a blood lactate of 4 mmol/l (e.g. LT4) is widely used to determine the threshold, but by using a fixed lactate concentration, flexibility to account for inter- and intra-individual differences in aerobic and anaerobic metabolism is lost. Our hypothesis was that our modified D-max method (D-maxmod) would provide a more accurate performance related value by calculating the individual anaerobic threshold (IAT).Methods20 males cyclists age 36 ± 5 years, weight 79.7 ± 5.8 kg, VO2max 4.4 ± 0.4 l/min performed an incremental test on a cycle ergometer for calculation of LT (D-maxmod, and LT4) at two occasions separated by 8 weeks. The test consisted of 5 minutes long stages separated by 1 min of rest were lactate was sampled. The increase in work rate was 30 W/stage starting at 100 W and ended above LT4. Short after, an incremental test to fatigue (start at LT4 power, increase 20 W/min) was performed for assessment of VO2max, calculation of maximal aerobic power (MAP) and maximal power achieved in the test (Wmax). On a separate day a 40 minutes time-trial (TT40) was performed for assessment of aerobic endurance performance. IAT D-maxmod was defined as the derivate to the exponential curve created from exponentially lactate increase, including maximal lactate concentration plotted at MAP. The increase in lactate relative to power was defined as the increase in blood lactate from the point where the exponential curve crossed the lactate baseline (See also Cheng et al. 1992 and Zhou & Weston 1997).ResultsIAT D-maxmod was calculated to 5.0 ± 0.8 mmol/l. Both D-maxmod and LT4 were highly significantly correlated with both TT40 and Wmax. Coefficients of determination were higher for D-maxmod compared to LT4 for both TT40 (r2 = 0.78 vs 0.69) and Wmax (r2 = 0.89 vs 0.64).ConclusionThe calculated D-maxmod correlated better with performance than LT4 for parameters highly linked to performance in road- and mountain bike competitions.ReferencesCheng B, Kuipers H, Snyder AC, et al. (1992). Int. J Sports Med. 13:518-22Zhou S, Weston SB (1997). Physiol. Meas. 18: 145


This paper proposes combining traditional usability methods with the analysis of eye movement recordings to evaluate interactive map interfaces, and presents a case study in support of this approach. This case study evaluates of two informationally equivalent but differently-designed online interactive map interfaces presented to users. In a mixed factorial experiment thirty participants were asked to solve three typical map use tasks using one of the two interfaces, while we measured user Satisfaction, Efficiency (completion time) and Effectiveness (accuracy) with standard SEE usability metrics. While traditional (bottom line) usability metrics can reveal a range of usability problems, they may be enhanced by additional procedural measures such as eye movement recordings. Eye movements have been shown to reveal the amount of cognitive processing a display requires and where these cognitive resources are required. Therefore, we can establish how a display may or may not facilitate task completion by analyzing eye movement recordings. User satisfaction information related to stimuli (i.e., collected through standardized questionnaires) can also be linked to eye tracking data for further analysis. We hope that the presented methodology and case study will help cartographers and map interface designers to better identify design issues in their products, and that these insights will eventually lead to more effective and efficient online map interfaces.


Bioinformatics encompasses a broad and ever-changing range of activities involved with the management and analysis of data from molecular biology experiments. Despite the diversity of activities and applications, the basic methodology and core tools needed to tackle bioinformatics problems is common to many projects. This unique book provides an invaluable introduction to three of the main tools used in the development of bioinformatics software - Perl, R and MySQL - and explains how these can be used together to tackle the complex data-driven challenges that typify modern biology. These industry standard open source tools form the core of many bioinformatics projects, both in academia and industry. The methodologies introduced are platform independent, and all the examples that feature have been tested on Windows, Linux and Mac OS. Building Bioinformatics Solutions is suitable for graduate students and researchers in the life sciences who wish to automate analyses or create their own databases and web-based tools. No prior knowledge of software development is assumed. Having worked through the book, the reader should have the necessary core skills to develop computational solutions for their specific research programmes. The book will also help the reader overcome the inertia associated with penetrating this field, and provide them with the confidence and understanding required to go on to develop more advanced bioinformatics skills.


Abstract. Comparisons with ground-based correlative measurements constitute a key component in the validation of satellite data on atmospheric composition. The error budget of these comparisons contains not only the measurement errors but also several terms related to differences in sampling and smoothing of the inhomogeneous and variable atmospheric field. A versatile system for Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs), named OSSSMOSE, is used here to quantify these terms. Based on the application of pragmatic observation operators onto high-resolution atmospheric fields, it allows a simulation of each individual measurement, and consequently, also of the differences to be expected from spatial and temporal field variations between both measurements making up a comparison pair. As a topical case study, the system is used to evaluate the error budget of total ozone column (TOC) comparisons between GOME-type direct fitting (GODFITv3) satellite retrievals from GOME/ERS2, SCIAMACHY/Envisat, and GOME-2/MetOp-A, and ground-based direct-sun and zenith–sky reference measurements such as those from Dobsons, Brewers, and zenith-scattered light (ZSL-)DOAS instruments, respectively. In particular, the focus is placed on the GODFITv3 reprocessed GOME-2A data record vs. the ground-based instruments contributing to the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). The simulations are found to reproduce the actual measurements almost to within the measurement uncertainties, confirming that the OSSE approach and its technical implementation are appropriate. This work reveals that many features of the comparison spread and median difference can be understood as due to metrological differences, even when using strict co-location criteria. In particular, sampling difference errors exceed measurement uncertainties regularly at most mid- and high-latitude stations, with values up to 10 % and more in extreme cases. Smoothing difference errors only play a role in the comparisons with ZSL-DOAS instruments at high latitudes, especially in the presence of a polar vortex due to the strong TOC gradient it induces. At tropical latitudes, where TOC variability is lower, both types of errors remain below about 1 % and consequently do not contribute significantly to the comparison error budget. The detailed analysis of the comparison results, including the metrological errors, suggests that the published random measurement uncertainties for GODFITv3 reprocessed satellite data are potentially overestimated, and adjustments are proposed here. This successful application of the OSSSMOSE system to close for the first time the error budget of TOC comparisons, bodes well for potential future applications, which are briefly touched upon.


In the Allied trials of suspected Japanese war criminals after the Second World War, the court utilised a number of legal doctrines, derived from both domestic criminal law and international criminal law. The question of how to convict those who had ordered war crimes, or allowed them to happen, without directly taking part in the crimes, was answered by the doctrine of command responsibility. The first command responsibility trial, of General Yamashita Tomoyuki in late 1945, resulted in a precedent that was used to establish the validity of command responsibility charges. The precedent, however, was unclear. Command responsibility could be interpreted as a way of holding a commander responsible for crimes committed by his subordinates, by virtue of his position as commander. Alternatively, it could be interpreted as a way of holding a commander responsible for failing in his duty to stop or punish atrocities. This thesis examines the use of the doctrine of command responsibility at five Australian trials of officers accused of responsibility for the deaths of prisoners of war in the Sandakan-Ranau area in British Borneo. It shows that the court applied both interpretations of command responsibility, exploiting the doctrine as a flexible legal tool. When appropriate, officers were held responsible for failing to discharge their duty; when the court was determined to convict officers with limited connection to a crime, a strict liability was attached to a commander. At other times, where it was evident that an officer himself had directly participated in a crime, command responsibility was not used, as the accused could be convicted by other means.


Actin filament remodeling regulates several endothelial cell (EC) processes such as contraction, migration, adhesion, and shape determination. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-activated protein kinase 2 (MK2)-mediated phosphorylation of heat-shock protein 27 kDa (HSP27) promotes actin filament remodeling, but little is known about the regulation of this event in ECs. We found that tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) SUMOylated MK2 at lysine (K)-339 affected EC actin filament organization and migration. Loss of the MK2 SUMOylation site (MK2-K339R) increased MK2 kinase activity and prolonged HSP27 phosphorylation, enhancing its effects on actin filament-dependent events. Both TNF-α-mediated EC elongation and steady laminar shear stress-mediated EC alignment were increased by MK2-K339R. Moreover, kinase-dead dominant-negative MK2 (DN-MK2) inhibited these effects. Cell migration is a dynamic process regulated by actin filament remodeling. Both wild-type MK2 (WT-MK2) and DN-MK2 significantly enhanced TNF-mediated inhibition of EC migration, and MK2-K339R further augmented this effect. Interestingly, the p160-Rho-associated coiled-coil kinase (ROCK) inhibitor Y-27632 reversed this effect by MK2-K339R, which strongly suggests that both excessive and insufficient levels of actin filament remodeling can block EC migration. Our study shows that MK2 SUMOylation is a new mechanism for regulating actin filament dynamics in ECs.


The reports of congenital malaria in Karachi region have recently increased due to the P. falciparum (KFs) and P. vivax (KVs) are the most prevalent species in Karachi. In the same area a point of prevalence survey yielded parasite rates of 4.45 per cent. in congenital cases and 14 per cent. in acquired malaria cases (infants). Reliable data on the incidence of congenital malaria are provide as the efficiency of diagnosis and notification has shown a serious deterioration. Since the beginning of the 1990,s congenital malaria has been reported for P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae and P. ovale (Jenkins, 1957; Dhatt, 1979 and Haider, 1992), but on world wide basis this is the first instance in which two virulent malaria strains (KFs and KVs) were detected concurrently in the congenital cases. Although the hematology of man has been well documented, a few studies have been reported on the hematology of man during malaria. The published reports on the hematological reactions to antimalarial drugs and congenital malaria infections are very scanty and insufficient.

The present studies have pointed out, the hematological responses following the administration of malariacides have occurred at such a short interval after the initial administration of the drugs as to eliminate the possibility of a causal relationship. Exhaustive reviews concerning the various aspects of chemotherapy of malaria have been published recently (Hall, 1975; MiIler,1980; Lampe, 1986; Kennelly, 1990 and Haider, 1996). The erythrocytic cycle of malaria parasites are sensitive to several groups of chemical compound.

If the drug is administered early in the infection before heavy damage occurs, recovery usually results. Therefore, present author compared. sequential (for the studies of chemoprophylactic activity of chloroquine phosphate plus oxytetracycline and Fansidar against P. falciparu111 Karachi strain (KFs) and P. vivax Karachi strain (KVs) in test animals) treatment with above mentioned malariacides in the induced parasitized . selected groups of splenectomized and non-splenectomized test animals, which included some who were severely ill or had complications.

The details are given in results section.


Techniques for modeling of marine pollution have been studied for decades. Specialized modeling methods have been used to simulate the dispersions of pollutants from offshore outfalls. Produced water, the largest volume waste stream discharged from offshore oil and gas production activities, is a complex mixture of dissolved and particulate organic and inorganic chemicals including metals and hydrocarbons. In recent years, the growing importance and interest in the ocean environment assessment has urged further evaluation of produced water impacts on the marine ecosystem. This thesis study describes an integrated system for the modeling and assessment of produced water discharges in coastal area. The system integrates ocean circulation simulation, pollutant fate and transport modeling that couples near field mechanisms and far field processes, and risk assessment approaches where exposure risks and probabilistic risks are evaluated.
A literature survey is first introduced to review and present capabilities and limitations of the most widely used methods and models associated with assessment of the impact of marine pollution. This review identified the need for an integrated system with configurations of numerical schemes of Princeton Ocean Model (POM) for ocean circulation simulation, a Lagrangian method to simulate near field transport processes in three dimensional cross flows, and a numerical solution for far field transport modeling. The physical models are dynamically integrated to ensure mass and energy conservation. Furthermore to assess risks, a modified Monte Carlo method which uses a statistical model to establish the relationship between uncertainty parameters and output concentrations is integrated with physical modeling system along with risk characterization approaches to map risk levels.
Evaluation and field validations are conducted for each individual sub-models and for the overall integrated modeling results. Specifically, the near field model is validated against a field study performed in USA platform located about 100 miles of New Orleans Louisiana. The computational efficiency and accuracy of the far field model are evaluated through test cases in comparison with concentration distribution results generated from an exact analytical solution and a RWPT (Random Walk Particle Tracking) method. Validations of ocean circulation results and the integrated produced water dispersion results are conducted in a case study carried out on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, Canada. Validations show good performance of the developed modeling system which is used to provide satisfactory 3D simulation of marine pollutant dispersion for effective assessment and management of offshore waste discharges. Finally, a risk assessment is carried out to predict risks associated with predicted lead and benzene concentration resulting from potential future produced water discharges in the East Coast of Canada. This research study provide a tool for the modeling of complex transport processes in the coastal area, and improved methods for risk assessment of produced water impacts on the regional water environment.


In a tower on the New Zealand sea lives Kerewin Holmes, part Maori, part European, an artist estranged from her art, a woman in exile from her family. One night her solitude is disrupted by a visitora speechless, mercurial boy named Simon, who tries to steal from her and then repays her with his most precious possession. As Kerewin succumbs to Simon's feral charm, she also falls under the spell of his Maori foster father Joe, who rescued the boy from a shipwreck and now treats him with an unsettling mixture of tenderness and brutality. Out of this unorthodox trinity Keri Hulme has created what is at once a mystery, a love story, and an ambitious exploration of the zone where Maori and European New Zealand meet, clash, and sometimes merge.Winner of both a Booker Prize and Pegasus Prize for Literature, The Bone People is a work of unfettered wordplay and mesmerizing emotional complexity."


The effects of radiative-trapping and fluorescence-concentration quenching on the emission spectra and fluorescence lifetimes of Yb3+-doped YAl3(BO3)4 crystals with a series of Yb3+ concentrations were studied. The shift of barycenters in emission spectra, Δλ, was proposed as an appraisement of the radiative-trapping effect on the spectra, and an empirical relation between Δλ and Yb3+ concentration in the Yb:YAl3(BO3)4 crystals was deduced. The model of excitation random walk was used to analyze the effects of radiative trapping and concentration quenching on the fluorescence lifetimes. The relation between fluorescence lifetime and Yb3+ concentration was obtained.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the clinical and basic science evidence surrounding the hypothesis that stretching immediately before exercise prevents injury.

DATA SOURCES AND SELECTION
MEDLINE was searched using MEDLINE subject headings (MeSH) and textwords for English- and French-language articles related to stretching and muscle injury. Additional references were reviewed from the bibliographies, and from citation searches on key articles. All articles related to stretching and injury or pathophysiology of muscle injury were reviewed. Clinical articles without a control group were excluded.

RESULTS
Three (all prospective) of the four clinical articles that suggested stretching was beneficial included a cointervention of warm-up. The fourth study (cross-sectional) found stretching was associated with less groin/buttock problems in cyclists, but only in women. There were five studies suggesting no difference in injury rates between stretchers and nonstretchers (3 prospective, 2 cross-sectional) and three suggesting stretching was detrimental (all cross-sectional). The review of the basic science literature suggested five reasons why stretching before exercise would not prevent injuries. First, in animals, immobilization or heating-induced increases in muscle compliance cause tissues to rupture more easily. Second, stretching before exercise should have no effect for activities in which excessive muscle length is not an issue (e.g., jogging). Third, stretching won't affect muscle compliance during eccentric activity, when most strains are believed to occur. Fourth, stretching can produce damage at the cytoskeleton level. Fifth, stretching appears to mask muscle pain in humans.

CONCLUSION
The basic science literature supports the epidemiologic evidence that stretching before exercise does not reduce the risk of injury.


The present study was conducted to see the effect of various levels of Hoagland and Arnon nutrient solution on the growth and yield of mango on a sandy-loamy clay soil by using stem injection technique. The data obtained revealed that maximum plant height (352.08 cm), number of flowers (569.24), number of fruits per tree (1005.80), maximum plant girth (82.37 cm), fruit weight (142.79 gm), fruit length (20.45 cm), and fruit yield (65.51 kg/plant) were recorded in T5 (100 ml/tree) respectively. However, the treatment T1 showed poor results for all the parameters which indicate that too low or high nutrient solution application may negatively affect the vigorous growth and yield parameters of mango. Results suggest that the treatment T5 for the mango trees cv. (Anwar Ratole), were found appropriate for the best possible growth and yield of mangoes as it showed bumper growth with lush green leaves and showed a moderate fruit setting.


Bilateral thyroidectomy is a commonly indicated treatment for feline hyperthyroidism. The most common postoperative complication is hypocalcemia due to disruption of the parathyroid glands. When parathyroid gland disruption is obvious, many authors suggest autotransplantation (AT) of the glands. This technique never has been supported by a scientific study which monitored postoperative calcium or parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations. Cats in this study each underwent bilateral thyroidectomy and parathyroid AT to mimic a clinical situation. Serum calcium concentrations normalized much quicker than concentrations in previously reported cats undergoing bilateral thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy. Parathyroid AT greatly reduces morbidity in the parathyroidectomized cat.


Abstract. Inland river basins in arid to semi-arid regions are widely distributed in Northwest China, Central Asia, Central Australia, and North Africa, and are often subject to significant human activities. The most distinctive natural feature of such basins is the shortage of water resources, and the pivotal reasons involve less precipitation and heavy evapotranspiration (ET). In recent years, intensive human activities also damage the natural environment of the basins. They result in many problems especially the deterioration of ecological environment which will lead to severe consequences such as desertification, sandstorm, the disappearance of wetlands, reduction of forest and grassland degradation. They prevent us from achieving the goal of sustainable development. How to balance economic development and ecosystem conservation and to realize the sense of sustainability in inland river basins will be vitally important.The Heihe River is the second largest inland river in the Northwest of China with a long history development by human (Figure 1). Water resources from the river are crucial not only for the ecosystem but also for local human societies. The Heihe River Basin (HRB) is divided into three zones with different landscapes and natural environments. The upstream of HRB is the headstream which generates water resources mainly from glaciers and snow in Qilian Mountain. A large population of nomadic national minorities inhabits here and keeps animal husbandry as the primary production activity. In the early times, the Chinese government encouraged production activities to stimulate economic growth, and significant over-grazing and resultant severe grassland degradation occurred. Grassland is crucial for maintaining water resources especially in arid regions, without grasses most water will quickly evaporate into the air. Therefore, land resource management about grassland and the impact of human activities on the natural environment are of high research value in the HRB.This research aims to investigate the impact of over-grazing on grassland degradation in the inland ecosystem of the HRB. The changes of grassland distribution were simulated under different over-grazing scenarios to provide a reference for resource management and the related decision-making process and to contribute to the sustainable development of the region.


In the first chapter of this thesis, coauthored with Patrick Gaule, we reexamine the widely held belief, known as the "European Paradox", that while European academic institutions are good at producing academic research outputs, they lag behind US academic institution when it comes to transfer these outputs to the economy. Using new survey data and controlling for standard factors affecting the productivity of Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), we find that European TTOs do not execute less licenses than US TTOs. However, they earn significantly less revenue from licenses. We relate the difference in licensing income to differences in the organization and staffing of TTOs. Specifically, US TTOs employ more staff with experience in industry and appear to have greater flexibility in managing their budget. In the second chapter, we examine a policy regime allowing academic institutions to grant industry the intellectual property rights (IPRs) over invention resulting from collaborations. For projects that are close to the market, where a firm plays an important role in generating an invention, the researcher offers the IPRs to the firm, as an incentive to collaborate. However, he retains certain domains where he can exploit an invention without having to apply for a license. The choice of these domains involves a tradeoff. In fact, the researcher either induces the firm's effort, by assigning a broad field of use, or he ensures that he can use an invention in other applications, by granting a narrow field of use. The reverse occurs for projects that are close to the researcher's laboratory, where it is the researcher who plays an important role in generating an invention. The main difference, however, is that if effort were contractible, the firm could reward the researcher for supplying the first best level of effort, because, unlike the researcher, it is not cash constrained. An empirical analysis, based on Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne research contracts, supports the role of broad fields in bolstering a firm's effort, in projects that are close to the market. The third chapter analyzes the extent of state dependence in obtaining basic and applied science grants and the impact of receiving a grant of one type on the probability of being awarded one of the other type in the future. For this purpose, we used a sample of grants for basic and applied research purposes awarded to academic researchers at the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology. We find that, having controlled for unobserved heterogeneity, there is persistence in obtaining both basic and applied science grants. Moreover, the impact of having obtained, in the past, only grants of one type on the number of grants of the other type awarded to a researcher is not significantly different from the impact of not having received any grant.


Photograph of a memorial for Ann Whitney. It says, "In Memory of Ann Whitney. Born in Massachusetts about 1835, massacred by Comanche Indians, July 9, 1867 while protecting her pupils. Miss Whitney's grave is located 5 blocks north in the Graves-Gentry Cemetery. School was located 7 miles northeast of Hamilton on the Juan de la Garza Survey. Sponsored by Hamilton Kiwanis Club, 1858. Donated by Riley-Gardner Memorial Service Co.