This work examines security sector reform (SSR) in post-conflict states. It proposes that intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) are significantly impeded in their pursuit of coherent and effective SSR programmes by internal and external rivalry and contradictory agendas. These difficulties occur at both systemic and actor levels.
Current institutional theory has little to say on the role of confusion, rivalry and competition in shaping IGO behaviour when operating in the security sector. As SSR is a crucial but challenging component of peacebuilding it is essential to identify the sources of these influences, explain their impact, and suggest ways by which impediments to SSR outcomes may be mitigated.
Using the 2006 Kosovo Internal Security Sector Review (ISSR) as a case study, the thesis analyses how inter- and intra-IGO relationships affect SSR. It explores the lack of a clear definition of SSR and the dispute over its scope and application. It then evaluates relationships between international and local actors and the efficacy of SSR monitoring methods.
The thesis reveals that confusion, competition and rivalry are common in a SSR programme. By diverting attention from the objectives of SSR, inter-and intra-organisational and inter-personal enmities are key factors in undermining security reform initiatives. Dispute over the practical application of local ownership of SSR and how programme effectiveness is measured serve also to dilute the impact of SSR.
The thesis provides policy recommendations intended to reduce the effects of inter-and intra-organisational rivalry and competition. It proposes greater inclusion of the private sector and academic institutions in the planning and execution of SSR. It suggests areas where academics and practitioners might direct their efforts to improve SSR planning, employment and evaluation thereby producing a more effective approach to future security sector reform activities.


In American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League, the United States Supreme Court held that the NFL's decision to collectively license the trademarks of its thirty-two member teams constituted concerted activity subject to Section One of the Sherman Act, a provision targeting the combined activities of two or more actors. In the process, the Court rejected the NFL's argument that its teams collectively operated as a "single entity" outside the scope of Section One. Although much of the commentary regarding American Needle has focused on the opinion's likely impact on the professional sports industry, this Article contends that the decision will ultimately play a more significant role in cases involving the application of the so-called "single entity defense" to other industries. Marking the first time in 26 years that the Supreme Court addressed the scope of the single entity theory under Section One, the American Needle opinion raises questions regarding the soundness of some lower court single entity precedents. However, because American Needle did not provide a straightforward analytical framework for courts to apply when delineating between independent and concerted action, lower courts will likely struggle to consistently resolve single entity cases in the future. In particular, the single entity status of certain joint ventures remains unsettled following American Needle. This article asserts that the Supreme Court could (and should) have adopted a clearer standard for future courts to apply when deciding single entity cases, in particular one that provided guidance regarding the single entity status of joint ventures. Meanwhile, although this article takes issue with certain of the Court's findings regarding the nature of professional sports leagues, it ultimately concludes that the decision is unlikely to have a significant impact on the antitrust regulation of the industry, insofar as American Needle largely reaffirmed the status quo.


The most common techniques for blood glucose sensing are base d on enzymatic glucose oxidation techniques because of being highly sensitive and specific to the glucose. But, the techniques need oxygen environment and the measurement accuracy is affected by the sufficiency of oxygen. In this paper, a new microsystem for minimally invasive monitoring of blood glucose is proposed. The system proposed here for monitoring of blood glucose is composed of integrated microneedle array and glucose sensors. The microneedle array is out-of-plane and employs a bi-mask technique to facilitate sharp tips, a cylindric body that has high strength and side ports. The biosensor is based on a new mediator electrochemical approach. This approach eliminates the need for oxygen and reduces the response time. This system can sample blood and analyze the sample and can be used in monitoring blood glucose of diabetes. The experiment results demonstrate the excellent response of the microsensor up to about 80 mM of glucose. The needles are small enough in size to prevent user discomfort. It is also suitability for use by children owning to no pain and requirement of a less blood sample. Similarly, this device can be used in monitoring of performance enhances in athletes. In addition, the miccrosystem can be extended to other applications through employing different reagents specific for a particular analyte such as test for toxic exposure, identification of disease conditions.


Serious games (SGs) provide users with valuable information in a fun, entertaining way. Due to the elements of surprise and simulation, these games potentially engage and inspire their target groups more than traditional methods. Health games are SGs that provide a new model of maintaining and developing mental and physical capabilities for all age groups. The current study focused on the use of SGs in health care. The research goal was to identify the role of multidisciplinary expertise in developing SGs. Design science research (DSR) techniques were adopted in this study to identify the role of versatile expertise in the health-care context. From the perspective of DSR, this study provides new tools and a method – a rapid prototyping workshop and an SG design canvas – that can help in providing the needed knowledge and in developing ways to communicate these ideas. In this study, the developed tools and method were applied to six case studies, and lessons learnt were evaluated and tested by participants in the workshop. The proposed SG design canvas also supports a participatory design process and invites users to contribute early in the development process. Overall, this study shows that good health game development can only occur through effective multidisciplinary cooperation. is using and 4) provides and knowledge 5) the research approach is applied with rigor, and guidelines are followed; 6) the final artefact is produced after multidisciplinary cooperative actions and related procedures are followed when seeking for a functional output; and 7) the study is discussed in its environment, and the results are presented in scientific forums.


The constitution of a new international industrial order dominated by a core of large transnational corporations generally makes life more difficult for the great majority of developing countries because, since most are not in a position to compete effectively, they face still greater marginalization. TNCS more than ever before can significantly influence the international competitiveness and therefore the nature of incorporation of developing countries into the new increasingly integrated international production system. The national origin and form of foreign direct investment and technology are very important factors in accounting for the kind of impact TNCS have on local industry. The experience of some of the newly industrializing countries of developing Asia suggests that the more dynamic Japanese FDI and technology which comes in the form of minority capital or non-equity participation in local firms has been a very important element in improving the international competitiveness of those countries and ensuring the continuous technological upgrading of their industry. The Latin American experience with the less dynamic United States For and technology, which normally came in the form of the establishment of subsidiaries or majority-owned affiliates, has been that this has tended to reinforce the bias towards inward-looking industrialization by import-substitution and has therefore done little to improve the international competitiveness of Latin American industry, which is thus being progressively marginalized, both from an international and a corporate perspective.


This thesis proposes a new power tracing technique using computational intelligence approach for non discriminatory losses charge allocation and voltage stability improvement. Contrary to conventional techniques which mainly rely on matrix operation, the proposed algorithm implements optimization technique as an alternative for performing the tracing process. At first, in producing a good optimization algorithm, a hybridization technique was proposed for adopting the finest features of two different algorithms; namely the Genetic Algorithm (GA) and continuous domain Ant Colony Optimization (ACOr). The hybrid algorithm is termed as the Blended Crossover Continuous Ant Colony Optimization (BX-CACO). It was found that performing power tracing via BX-CACO produced reliable tracing results as it is free from assumption like proportional sharing principle (PSP). Without treating the power system to be lossless, the tracing results are based on actual system condition; which means that they are consistent. Despite BX-CACO required computation time during optimization process, it is still within tolerable range. In addition, the proposed technique was able to promote fair losses charge allocation by involving imaginary consumers other than generation companies (GENCOs) and distribution companies (DISCOs); where, not all conventional tracing techniques include such consideration in their pricing scheme. Subsequently, the developed tracing algorithm was modified in the context of stability index tracing. At this stage, the limited application of power tracing in the field of power system economics was enhanced for the purpose of voltage stability improvement. By utilizing the Fast Voltage Stability Index (FVSI) as the index to be traced, the proposed stability index tracing is called FFSZ-Tracing (FVSI-T); which consists of two schemes namely /•'KSY-Gcneration Tracing (FVSI-GT) and F VS I-Load Tracing (FVSFLT). From both schemes of FVSI-T, a ranking list indicating the priority of buses to be performed any countermeasures against voltage instability was derived. Contrary to conventional techniques such as sensitivity analysis and stability index approach, the derived ranking list consists of two types of locations ranked based on their priority; which are bus and line. In addition, the ranking list derived from BX-CACO-based-/*TS/-T is available at any system conditions and includes all possible sources and sinks that also participate in the system. This highlights its merit over conventional ranking techniques. After experiment and comparative studies, it was justified that the derived ranking list gave reliable signal for satisfactory and consistent voltage stability improvement in the problem of generation power dispatch, placement of compensating devices, and load shedding. Regardless of the change in system condition, the derived ranking list from FVSI-T resulted in steady trend of voltage magnitude and consistent losses reduction as compared to convetional methods. Eventually, in providing an effective load shedding scheme with reliable amount of load power to be shed, an intuitive Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) was designed using FVSI as the criterion when designing its membership functions and rules. Through experiment, the proposed method resulted in the most consistent voltage stability improvement over other methods as both FIS and the derived ranking list are based on FVSI.


The administrative norm of transparency, which promises a solution to the problem of government secrecy, requires political advocacy organized from outside the state. The traditional approach, typically the result of organized campaigns to make the state visible to the public, has been to enact freedom of information laws (FOI) that require government disclosure and grant enforceable rights to the public. The legal solution has not proven wholly satisfactory, however. In the past two decades, numerous advocacy movements have offered different fixes to the information asymmetry problem that the administrative state creates. These alternatives now augment and sometimes compete with legal transparency regimes. This Article surveys and analyzes transparency advocacy campaigns and the "fix" that each proposes to the problems created by the state's asymmetrical information advantage over the public. It sketches the history of four campaigns: the FOI movement in the U.S., the global anti-corruption movement (spearheaded by Transparency International), the digital transparency movement, and WikiLeaks. The Article offers two insights. First, although these movements share a basic set of assumptions and tell a similar policy story — secrecy is a pressing administrative problem that can be fixed with the right policies and institutional arrangements — they diverge significantly in how they understand not only the problem's causes but the state itself. Second, and as a result, the Article unveils transparency as a contested political issue which masquerades as an administrative tool. Rooted in contestable claims about the state's legitimacy and performance, the transparency fix leads to tendentious prescriptions about law, policy, and the state.


Background and purpose — Shoulder impingement syndrome is common, but treatment is controversial. Arthroscopic acromioplasty is popular even though its efficacy is unknown. In this study, we analyzed stage-II shoulder impingement patients in subgroups to identify those who would benefit from the operation. Patients and methods — In a previous randomized study, 140 patients were either treated with a supervised exercise program or with arthroscopic acromioplasty followed by a similar exercise program. The patients were followed up at 2 and 5 years after randomization. Self-reported pain was used as the primary outcome measure. Results — Both treatment groups had less pain at 2 and 5 years, and this was similar in both groups. Duration of symptoms, marital status (single), long periods of sick leave, and lack of professional education appeared to increase the risk of persistent pain despite the treatment. Patients with impingement with radiological acromioclavicular (AC) joint degeneration also had more pain. The patients in the exercise group who later wanted operative treatment and had it did not get better after the operation. Interpretation — The natural course probably plays a substantial role in the outcome. Based on our findings, it is difficult to recommend arthroscopic acromioplasty for any specific subgroup. Regarding operative treatment, however, a concomitant AC joint resection might be recommended if there are signs of AC joint degeneration. Even more challenging for the development of a treatment algorithm is the finding that patients who do not recover after nonoperative treatment should not be operated either.


Using experimental data published in the International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments for the fresh cold core of the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor, a comprehensive validation study has been carried out to assess the performance of the SCALE code system for analysis of high-temperature gas-cooled reactor configurations. This paper describes part of the results of that effort. The studies performed included criticality evaluations for the full core and for the annular cores realized during the fuel loading, as well as calculations and comparisons for excess reactivity, shutdown margin, control rod worths, temperature coefficient of reactivity, and reaction rate distributions. Comparisons of the SCALE results with both experimental values and MCNP-calculated values are presented. The comparisons show that the SCALE calculated results, obtained with both multigroup and continuous energy cross sections, are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data and the MCNP predictions.


This thesis is a multidisciplinary study of supermax prisons and solitary confinement that draws on sources such as articles from law journals and newspapers, case law testimonies and court opinions, and the history and anthropology of prisons, in an attempt to explain the consequences of such confinement on both its prisoners and the society to which they soon will return. Specifically, I examine how the technologies of supermax, such as fully automated cells that support "touchless" long-term solitary confinement, video visitation and telemedicine, and even nutritional technologies such as "nutraloaf" (1) contribute to the production of the unique conditions present in contemporary supermax prisons in American; (2) affect the interactions between inmates and staff; and (3) mask the injustices inherent in the very design of supermax prisons. I conclude that supermax prisons resemble the camp space in the state of exception described by Giorgio Agamben in three major ways: symbolically, they were conceived of as spaces defined in actual states of exception that, over time, have become normalized in practice as the rule; physically, they are located in distant, liminal places within America that effectively remove their inmates as far as possible from society; and at the structural level of imprisonment, they create and sustain conditions that further marginalize prisoners in ways that are symbolically, physically, and legally more restrictive than ever before seen in American corrections.


SOMMARIO: 1. Discorsi odiosi - 2. La repressione giuridica delle idee odiose: vecchie difese, nuovi difesi - 3. Le ragioni del contrasto giuridico ai discorsi d'odio - 4. Due direttrici nella giustificazione della repressione giuridica del discorso d'odio. Forbidden hate: the legal repression of hate speech ABSTRACT: The aim of this article is two-folded. First, it offers a general overview of the legal repression of various categories of expressive behaviours ascribed to the notion of hate speech. Especially in Europe, such repression often passes through criminalization, long since used by law to suppress thoughts or points of view for some reason considered harmful. The social groups nowadays protected by such repressive measures, however, are different from the past: weak and/or minoritarian groups rather than strong and/or majoritarian ones. The second aim of this work is to identify the reasons for the legal repression of expressions, beliefs or doctrines certainly in many cases morally deplorable, yet protected by other high-ranking legal reasons: the principles of freedom of thought and speech. It will be noted that especially for untargeted hate speech not connected to a clear and present danger of unlawful actions, there is no general agreement about those reasons. Furthermore, they tend to be structured in justifications showing some typical flaws of, respectively, deontological and teleological reasoning: the former tend to be superficial as apodictic, generic and vacuous; the latter tend to evade the argumentative burdens of factual order from which their validity depends.


Non-Abelian excitations, including Majorana fermions, parafermions, and Fibonacci anyons, provide potential new settings for realizations of topological quantum computation operations. Topological quantum systems have the advantage of being protected against some types of entanglement with the surrounding environment, but their elusive nature has inspired many to pursue rare systems in which they may be physically realized. In this work we present a new platform for production of parafermions in the ν=1/3 fractional quantum hall effect regime in a two-dimensional hole gas in a Gallium Arsenide quantum well, where spin transitions in the rich Γ8 Luttinger ground state can be manipulated by gate-controlled electric fields. When numerical and analytical calculations of many-particle interactions combine with a proximity-induced superconducting pairing potential in this system, the spin transition we observe gives rise to a superconducting gap with an onset of six-fold degenerate ground state which disappears at critical values of the gap parameter Δk, the energetic signature associated with parafermion production.


The protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights has been a very hot topic in the past few years. From the introduction of the PROTECT IP Act of 2011 to the adoption of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to a recent U.S.-China dispute before the WTO, the topic has dominated policy debates at both the domestic and international levels. While most policymakers, industry representatives, and commentators have recognized the critical importance of intellectual property enforcement, there has been neither philosophical nor normative consensus on the appropriate norms in this area. Like three blind men trying to describe an elephant, different people have different conceptions of what enforcement comprises, which enforcement standards governments should implement, and how much these implementation efforts should cost. Delivered as the Inaugural Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property Distinguished Speaker in Intellectual Property Lecture, this Article outlines three different types of common enforcement challenges: crossborder enforcement, digital enforcement, and transborder enforcement. It then examines one recent effort to address these challenges: the development of ACTA. It explores why this highly controversial agreement is unlikely to provide stronger global enforcement of intellectual property rights. In view of the many flaws inherent in ACTA, this Article suggests four guiding principles that can be used to develop a better and more effective intellectual property enforcement treaty. It concludes with four alternative enforcement strategies that policymakers can use to supplement or substitute for the treaty-based approach.


Estimation of plant's evapotranspiration (ET) or water loss to the atmosphere depends on the vapor pressure deficit (VPD) of the closed-field environment (greenhouse). The objective of this work was to develop a membership function model for defining optimal VPD of greenhouse air for tomato cultivation (Lycopersicon esculentum) at different growth stages (GS) and light conditions (sun, cloud, night). Mathematical descriptions of a peer-reviewed published growth response (GR) model for optimal greenhouse air temperature (T) and relative humidity (rH) were derived and implemented in a computer program. An incremental algorithm was written in MATLAB© based on definitive concepts in VPD equations and the GR model. Non-linear regression was applied to describe mathematical relationship between the incremented outputs of the model and the calculated VPD values (R2=0.999 to 1). Results were validated with three published literatures and were shown to be capable of exploring optimal levels of VPD by means of real numbers between 0 and 1. This study can contribute to knowledge-based information and decision support systems in greenhouse climate control and management by quantifying comfort level of microclimate.


The occurrence of the metabolic syndrome in various
ethnic groups – including Caucasians, Africans, Latin
Americans, Asian Indians, Chinese, Aboriginal Australians,
Polynesians and Micronesians – has been confirmed in
several epidemiological studies. In developing countries,
the lifestyle changes resulting from industrialization and
rural-urban migration involve decreased levels of physical
activity and the increased intake of energy. As reported
by Viswanathan Mohan and Mohan Deepa in this article,
the consequent rise in rates of obesity has led to a huge
increase in the numbers of people with the metabolic
syndrome in developing regions.


This work presents an enhanced hybrid methodology for the analysis and design of floating production systems (FPS). The semi-coupled (S-C) procedure exploits the advantages of coupled and uncoupled models, incorporated into a three-stage sequence of analyses that can be fully automated within a single analysis program, presenting striking reductions of computational costs. The procedure begins by determining, through a full nonlinear static coupled analysis, the mean equilibrium position of the FPS with its mooring lines and risers. Then, it automatically evaluates equivalent six degrees-of-freedom (6DOF) stiffness matrices and force vectors representing the whole array of lines. Finally, these matrices/vectors are transferred to the dynamic analysis, solving the global 6DOF equations of motion restarted from the static equilibrium position. This way, the S-C methodology represents all nonlinear effects associated with the lines and considers their influence on the dynamic behavior of the hull. However, in some situations, it could still overestimate dynamic amplitudes of low-frequency (LF) motions and/or underestimate amplitudes of line tensions. Thus, to improve the overall accuracy, enhanced procedures are incorporated to better represent damping and inertial contribution of the lines. Results of case studies confirm that this methodology provides results adequate for preliminary or intermediary design stages.


Abstract A recent database and world distribution map of carbonatites supports previous observations of the spatial and temporal aspects of these rocks, and provides new observations that are important for understanding their petrogenesis. These data reveal that there is an overwhelming concentration of carbonatites in Precambrian cratonic areas, most of which are elevated topographically. Thus, although approximately two-thirds of carbonatites are Phanerozoic in age, at least 88% of all dated carbonatites are located in the cratons, demonstrating a remarkable tendency for a Precambrian host. This observation suggests a link with kimberlites as diamond-bearing kimberlites are confined to the Archaean areas of cratons. The age data show that in many carbonatite-bearing provinces there has been repetition of carbonatite emplacement, with up to five episodes separated by hundreds of millions of years. In at least three provinces such activity extends from the late Archaean to relatively recent times and, because of the drift of the plates, this would seem to preclude any direct role for mantle plumes in carbonatite genesis. Magmatism is activated when lithosphere lesions are reopened in response to major changes in global plate movement patterns.


The mass-market adoption of high-end mobile devices and increasing amount of video traffic has led the mobile operators to adopt various solutions to help them cope with the explosion of mobile broadband data traffic, while ensuring high Quality of Service (QoS) levels to their services. Deploying small-cell base stations within the existing macro-cellular networks and offloading traffic from the large macro-cells to the small cells is seen as a promising solution to increase capacity and improve network performance at low cost. Parallel use of diverse technologies is also employed. The result is a heterogeneous network environment (HetNets), part of the next generation network deployments.
In this context, this thesis makes a step forward towards the "Always Best Experience" paradigm, which considers mobile users seamlessly roaming in the HetNets environment. Supporting ubiquitous connectivity and enabling very good quality of rich mobile services anywhere and anytime is highly challenging, mostly due to the heterogeneity of the selection criteria, such as: application requirements (e.g., voice, video, data, etc.); different device types and with various capabilities (e.g., smartphones, netbooks, laptops, etc.); multiple overlapping networks using diverse technologies (e.g., Wireless Local Area Networks (IEEE 802.11), Cellular Networks Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc.) and different user preferences. In fact, the mobile users are facing a complex decision when they need to dynamically select the best value network to connect to in order to get the "Always Best Experience".
This thesis presents three major contributions to solve the problem described above: 1) The Location-based Network Prediction mechanism in heterogeneous wireless networks (LNP) provides a shortlist of best available networks to the mobile user based on his location, history record and routing plan; 2) Reputation-oriented Access Network Selection mechanism (RANS) selects the best reputation network from the available networks for the mobile user based on the best trade-off between QoS, energy consumptions and monetary cost. The network reputation is defined based on previous user-network interaction, and consequent user experience with the network. 3) Network Reputation-based Quality Optimization of Video Delivery in heterogeneous networks (NRQOVD) makes use of a reputation mechanism to enhance the video content quality via multipath delivery or delivery adaptation.


Abstract Background Acer yangbiense is a newly described critically endangered endemic maple tree confined to Yangbi County in Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was included in a programme for rescuing the most threatened species in China, focusing on "plant species with extremely small populations (PSESP)". Findings We generated 64, 94, and 110 Gb of raw DNA sequences and obtained a chromosome-level genome assembly of A. yangbiense through a combination of Pacific Biosciences Single-molecule Real-time, Illumina HiSeq X, and Hi-C mapping, respectively. The final genome assembly is ∼666 Mb, with 13 chromosomes covering ∼97% of the genome and scaffold N50 sizes of 45 Mb. Further, BUSCO analysis recovered 95.5% complete BUSCO genes. The total number of repetitive elements account for 68.0% of the A. yangbiense genome. Genome annotation generated 28,320 protein-coding genes, assisted by a combination of prediction and transcriptome sequencing. In addition, a nearly 1:1 orthology ratio of dot plots of longer syntenic blocks revealed a similar evolutionary history between A. yangbiense and grape, indicating that the genome has not undergone a whole-genome duplication event after the core eudicot common hexaploidization. Conclusion Here, we report a high-quality de novo genome assembly of A. yangbiense, the first genome for the genus Acer and the family Aceraceae. This will provide fundamental conservation genomics resources, as well as representing a new high-quality reference genome for the economically important Acer lineage and the wider order of Sapindales.


Monitoring of fishing activities is an essential component of successful fisheries management that can provide verifiable fishery-dependent data on fishing activities and help assess performance and success of fisheries management plans. Fishery managers and stakeholders have often struggled in developing and implementing effective monitoring programs due to lack of information, funding, and peer-to-peer learning from existing monitoring programs. This article draws on the experience of over 25 national and international monitoring experts and reflects the most important lessons learned from commercial fisheries regarding the development and implementation of effective monitoring programs. The article discusses a set of "guiding principles," developed in consultation with the monitoring experts, which provide fishery managers and stakeholders with cumulative knowledge and references to more easily develop comprehensive, appropriate, and effective monitoring approaches.


Different ferrocenecarboxamides were synthesized from aminoferrocene and various acid coupling partners such as Nα-Boc-L-tryptophan and N-protected sugar amino acids (N-Boc-3-amino-3-deoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-ribofuranoic acid, N-Boc-3-amino-3-deoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-xylofuranoic acid and their corresponding homo- and hetero-dimers). Similarly, reactions between 2-aminoethyl ferrocenecarboxylate and N-protected sugar amino acids afforded compounds with a carboxamide functional group remotely positioned from the ferrocene core. The X-ray diffraction structure of one of them showed the presence of an intermolecular hydrogen bond between the amide functional groups. Carbonylamino (or carbonyloxy) and oxycarbonyl 1,2-disubstituted ferrocenes were prepared either as racemic mixtures or in enantiomerically pure (SP) form. Their electrochemical evaluation revealed distinctive features. Interestingly, the enantiomerically pure ferrocene diester showed a large potential shift (+45 mV) in the presence of L-glutamic acid. Finally, some of the synthesized ferrocenes were evaluated for their antibacterial, antifungal and antiproliferative (MCF-7) activities.


A dilute gas Bose Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter that occurs when a cloud of atoms in a potential are made cold and dense enough that they all occupy the potential's ground state. The onset of this phenomenon occurs when their de Broglie wavelength, Λ = √ 2π~/mkBT , becomes comparable in size to the inter-particle spacing. A BEC is a macroscopic quantum object, since all atoms in the BEC are described by a single quantum wavefunction and, as such, is a fundamental quantum many-body system. The first experimental demonstration of a dilute gas BEC was performed by Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman in 1995 and since then, several dozen groups around the world have achieved and study BECs. This Thesis documents design and construction work performed in support of the Bose Einstein Condensate (BEC) experiment at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The objective of the work performed was to upgrade the existing BEC machine in most of its significant subsystems to attain better experimental cycle times and BECs with a larger atom number than what was previously attainable, as well as improve the optical quality of the imaging and laser manipulation beams at the location of the BEC. These objectives were achieved through the construction of a new laser system with greater power and larger magneto-optical trap (MOT) beam diameters, a new quadrupole magnetic trap with better optical access and higher magnetic field gradients than the Ioffe-Pritchard coil configuration it replaced, and a cuvette-style quartz cell with a much higher optical quality than the hand-blown cell used previously.


Due to the depletion of fossil fuel reserves and emission challenges associated with its usage, there is a need for alternative aviation fuels for future propulsion. The alternative fuels with handling, storage and combustion characteristics similar to conventional fuels can be used as "drop-in" fuels without significant changes to the existing aviation infrastructure. Fire safety characteristics of alternative aviation fuels have not been studied intensively and therefore research is needed to understand these characteristics. In this study, fire safety characteristics namely hot surface ignition (HSI) and flame spread phenomena are investigated for alternative aviation fuels. HSI is defined as the process of a flammable liquid coming in contact with a hot surface and evaporating, mixing and reacting with the surrounding oxidizer with self-supporting heat release (combustion). If all the conditions are adequate, the fuel may completely turn into combustion products following the ignition process. This work presents results from more than 5000 ignition tests using a newly developed reproducible test apparatus. A uniform surface temperature stainless steel plate simulating the wall of a typical exhaust manifold of an aircraft engine is used as the hot surface. Ignition tests confirmed that the ignition event is transient and initiates at randomly distributed locations on the hot surface. The results show many significant differences and some similarities in the ignition characteristics and temperatures of the different fuels. In this work, hot surface ignition temperatures (HSITs) are measured for nine hydrocarbon liquids. Five of these fuels are piston engine based, three fuels are turbine-engine based and one fuel is a pure liquid, heptane. The piston engine based fuels are given by FAA and are confidential and hence labeled as test fuels A, B, C, D for this study. The HSITs of these fuels are measured and compared against a baseline fuel 100 LL aviation gasoline (100LL Avgas). HSITs of conventional turbine engine based fuels namely Jet-A, JP-8, and JP-5 are also measured. Flame spread along liquid fuel has been one of the important combustion phenomena that still requires more in-depth research and analysis for the deep understanding of the chemical processes involved. Flame spread rate determines how fast the flame spreads along the fuel surface and it is an important parameter to study for fire safety purposes. For the flame spread rates study, a novel experimental apparatus is designed and fabricated. The experimental apparatus consists of a rectangular pan, a fuel heating system, an autonomous lid actuation system, a CO2 fire extinguisher system, and a laser ignition system. The flame spread phenomenon is studied for a conventional aviation fuel namely, Jet-A and three alternative aviation fuels namely, hydro-processed ester fatty acids (HEFA-50), Fischer-Tropsch – IPK (FT-IPK) and synthetic iso-paraffin (SIP). The experiments are conducted for a wide range of initial fuel temperatures ranging from 25°-100°C for Jet-A, HEFA-50, FT-IPK and from 80-140°C for SIP as the flash-point of SIP is 110°C and is ~3 times higher than that of other three fuels. The flame spread rate of all fuels increases exponentially with increasing fuel's initial temperature. Flame spread rate is as low as ~5 cm/sec for Jet-A, HEFA-50, FT-IPK for 25°C initial fuel temperature and goes to as high as 160 cm/sec for 80°C initial fuel temperature. For SIP based jet fuel, flame spread rate is ~160 cm/sec for initial fuel temperature of 140°C. Additionally, it was also found that the flame propagation consists of two types of flames: a precursor blue flame located ahead of the main yellow flame. These flames are more evident over the fuels' surface with initial fuel temperatures higher than their respective flash-points. The precursor blue flame propagates like a premixed flame and the main yellow flame propagates like diffusion combustion.This dissertation includes eight chapters. Chapter 1 gives an overview
of the work done until now in the field of hot surface ignition. Following this
review, the experimental apparatus designed and fabricated for this study are
discussed in Chapter 2. This chapter also talks about the test matrix, data
acquisition tools and concludes with the data analysis method. In Chapter-3,
HSITs of 3 turbine engine based fuels and 5 piston engine based fuels are
reported. This chapter also discusses the effect of drop height and curvature
(flat v/s cylindrical) for two fuels, Jet-A, and heptane. This concludes the
work done in the field of HSI in this dissertation. Chapter 4 talks about the
past work reported by various researchers in the field of flame spread
phenomenon and key learnings from their work. Chapter 5 discusses the
experimental apparatus designed and fabricated for flame spread phenomenon
study. In chapter-6, flame spread rates of 4 alternative aviation fuels are
reported. This chapter also discusses the flame spread mechanism associated
with slower (liquid-phase controlled) and faster (gas-phase controlled) flame
propagation. Chapter 7 discusses flame propagation which consists two types of
flames: a precursor blue flame and a main yellow flame. Chapter 8 concludes the
key findings of the hot surface ignition and flame spread phenomenon study in this
research work


We determined risk factors for influenza hospital admission in children aged <2 years to guide the design of paediatric vaccination programmes. We linked all singleton live births in Scotland from 2007 to 2015 to hospital administrative data and influenza laboratory reports. Cox proportional hazard models were used to identify birth and family risk factors for influenza admissions. There were 1115 influenza admissions among 424 048 children. 85.1% of admitted children were born at term and were not in a high-risk group. Presence of an older sibling was strongly associated with increased risk of influenza admission, particularly for children aged <6 months: hazard ratio for second- versus first-born child was 2.02 (95% CI 1.52–2.69). Maternal age <30 years and birth during autumn (age <6 months) or spring (age 6–23 months) were also associated with admission risk. Targeting vaccination programmes to high-risk children will not prevent the vast majority of influenza admissions. Parents of children aged <2 years should be advised that vaccination of older siblings will protect younger children against influenza infection. As evidence of the impact of the universal influenza vaccine programme emerges, there may be a need to reconsider universal influenza vaccination in children aged 6 months to 2 years in the UK. Older siblings pose risk of serious influenza for babies and toddlers http://ow.ly/RQDS30dbtIo


Two-dimensional (2-D) phase unwrapping is a key step in the analysis of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data. While challenging even in the best of circumstances, this problem poses unique difficulties when the dimensions of the interferometric input data exceed the limits of one's computational capabilities. In order to deal with such cases, we propose a technique for applying the statistical-cost, network-flow phase-unwrapping algorithm (SNAPHU) of Chen and Zebker (2001) to large datasets. Specifically, we introduce a methodology whereby a large interferogram is partitioned into a set of several smaller tiles that are unwrapped individually and then divided further into independent, irregularly shaped reliable regions. These regions are subsequently assembled into a full unwrapped solution, with the phase offsets between regions computed in a secondary optimization problem whose objective is to maximize the a posteriori probability of the final solution. As this secondary problem assumes the same statistical models as employed in the initial tile-unwrapping stage, the technique results in a solution that approximates the solution that would have been obtained had the full-size interferogram been unwrapped as a single piece. The secondary problem is framed in terms of network-flow ideas, allowing the use of an existing nonlinear solver. Applying the algorithm to a large topographic interferogram acquired over central Alaska, we find that the technique is less prone to unwrapping artifacts than more simple tiling approaches.


The incredible growth of the World Wide Web has allowed society to create new jobs, marketplaces, as well as new ways of sharing information and money. Unfortunately, however, the web also attracts miscreants who see it as a means of making money by abusing services and other people's property. In this dissertation, we perform a multidimensional analysis of attacks involving malicious or compromised websites, by observing that, while web attacks can be very complex in nature, they generally involve four main actors. These are the attackers, the vulnerable websites hosted on the premises of hosting providers, the web users who end up being victims of attacks, and the security companies who scan the Internet trying to block malicious or compromised websites. In particular, we first analyze web attacks from a hosting provider's point of view, showing that, while simple and free security measures should allow to detect simple signs of compromise on customers' websites, most hosting providers fail to do so. Second, we switch our point of view on the attackers, by studying their modus operandi and their goals in a distributed experiment involving the collection of attacks performed against hundreds of vulnerable web sites. Third, we observe the behavior of victims of web attacks, based on the analysis of their browsing habits. This allows us to understand if it would be feasible to build risk profiles for web users, similarly to what insurance companies do. Finally, we adopt the point of view of security companies and focus on finding an efficient solution to detecting web attacks that spread on compromised websites, and infect thousands of web users every day


First published in 1970 this re-issues the revised edition of 1979. This book examines the part played both by tradition and by the Cultural Revolution in the educational system of twentieth century China and explores the apparent reversal of policy which took place since the death of Mao. The book discusses the writings of Mao on the nature of man, society and knowledge and his ideas on education. These are then seen in the context of history, philosophy and religion. Educational aims and policies are discussed, showing how factors such as language, geography, economics and the social structure created obstacles to reform.


Radiometric studies can probe the pre-birth conditions of the solar system [Also see Report by Lugaro et al.] Stars like our Sun are formed by the gravitational collapse of the densest parts of molecular clouds comprising dust and gas. Collapsing clouds swiftly evolve to form young stars surrounded by disks from which planets originate. The time scales and processes leading to the formation of our own solar system will be important clues to the birth environment of other planetary systems orbiting Sun-like stars, which may exist in greater numbers than previously thought (1). Radiometric age dating of meteoritic inclusions has established that the birth of our solar system occurred 4567.3 ± 0.16 million years ago (2). But there is also life before birth. This distant, recordable past reflects the time when the matter from which the solar system formed became isolated from the chemically evolving interstellar medium. By analogy with a human life, this epoch represents the embryonic and fetal stages of gestation. On page 650 of this issue, Lugaro et al. (3) report that the precursor material to the solar system may have been isolated from the galaxy as early as 30 million years before its birth. Considering that it took less than 100 million years for the terrestrial planets to form, this incubation time seems astonishingly long.


Sexual services and goods are regularly, and legally, offered in all Western countries. Although they are shunned through the age old maxims of in pari causa turpitudinis and nemo auditur, there is a growing tendency, both in legislation and case law, to recognize the effects of these contracts. The book analyzes, from a comparative perspective, the policies underlying the regulation of sexual services and goods and indicates some important conflicts: self-determination against human dignity, refusal of commodification of women's bodies against protection of sex workers, regulatory approach against prohibitionism. The analysis touches sensitive issues such as zoning, sexual tourism, private sexual practices, and consumers of sex enhancers. The volume takes a legal-realistic approach trying to see the private law aspects of what was considered only as 'infamous commerce.'


In this paper we present a combination of several near surface geophysical investigation techniques with high resolution remote sensing image interpretations, in order to define the groundwater flow paths and whether they can be affected by future seismic events. A seasonal spring (Amvrakia) located at the foot of Meteora pillars near the village of Kastraki (Greece) was chosen as a test site. The Meteora conglomeratic formations crop out throughout the study area and are characterized by large discontinuities caused by post Miocene till present tectonic deformation [Ferriere et al. 2011, Royden and Papanikolaou 2011]. A network of groundwater pathways has been developed above the impermeable marls underlying the conglomeratic strata. Our research aims to define these water pathways in order to investigate and understand the exact mechanism of the spring by mapping the exposed discontinuity network with classic field mapping and remote sensing image interpretation and define their underground continuity with the contribution of near surface geophysical techniques. Five Very Low Frequency (VLF) profiles were conducted with different directions around the spring aiming to detect possible conductive zones in the conglomeratic formations that the study area consists of. Moreover, two Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) sections of a total length of 140m were carried out parallel to the VLF profiles for cross-checking and verifying the geophysical information. Both techniques revealed important conductive zones (<200 Ohm m) within the conglomerate strata, which we interpret as discontinuities filled with water supplying the spring, which are quite vulnerable to displacements as the hydraulic connections between them might be easily disturbed after a future seismic event.


In order to study the basic mechanical properties of basalt fiber reinforced recycled aggregate concrete, the concrete mix ratio, the length and the volume mixing ratio of chopped basalt fiber yarn are designed for changing factors. A total of 324 specimens have been completed for this investigation. The compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, elastic modulus and axial compressive strength of basalt fiber recycled concrete have carried on the experimental study and theoretical analysis as 81 specimens, respectively. In all specimens, coarse aggregate were replaced by recycled aggregate with a replacement rate of 100%. Experimental results show that the failure process and failure pattern of basalt fiber recycled concrete and ordinary concrete are similar; With the improvement of concrete strength grade; When the volume mixing ratio of chopped basalt fiber yarn is 0.2%, the mechanic performance can effectively improve, and the length of chopped basalt fiber has less effect on the mechanical indexes; The conversion relation between common concrete mechanics index is no longer suitable for basalt fiber recycled concrete, new conversion formulas for basalt fiber recycled concrete between the mechanics index were presented through fitting experimental data.


The overall aim of this paper is to evaluate potential new modifications to methods for re-creating heathland habitats. Heathlands need acidic soils so the specific objectives are to evaluate the effectiveness of a new method for heathland re-creation by soil acidification using a sulphur soil amendment and to explore the benefits for re-creation of applying a soil stripping treatment in conjunction with soil acidification. A new source of sulphur was recovered from oil refinery towers and applied over agricultural sites covering a total of 13 ha on Trehill Farm, Marloes, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK in 2004. In the summer of 2011 we compared soil chemistry and plant communities on sites subjected to different sulphur treatments (sulphur applied to the existing soil surface and sulphur applied after top soil had been stripped) with those on an adjacent untreated control and on a nearby established heathland. Each of the four treatment sites and the control and heath site was surveyed using 10 random locations measuring 4m x 4m. The total above ground % cover was measured for each plant species and a bulk soil sample was taken in a 'W' shape from within each 4m x 4m quadrat. pH and all chemical parameters of the soil showed highly significant differences amongst the sampled sites (P>0.01 in all cases) and produced even greater abundance of ericaceous species on some of the treated sites than occurred in the established heath. However, soil stripping had no significant additional effect on either edaphic factors or plant species abundances. Sulphur recovered from oil refinery is a potentially useful tool in heathland re-creation, but soil stripping prior to sulphur amendment did not enhance success. We propose that sulphur application drives success through increasing H+ toxicity reducing the availability of base cations and creating Fe-induced Mn deficiency in plants.


We demonstrate that Casimir-Polder energies between noble gas atoms (dissolved in water) and oil-water interfaces are highly surface specific. Both repulsion (e.g., hexane) and attraction (e.g., glycerine and cyclodecane) is found with different oils. For several intermediate oils (e.g., hexadecane, decane, and cyclohexane) both attraction and repulsion can be found in the same system. Near these oil-water interfaces the interaction is repulsive in the nonretarded limit and turns attractive at larger distances as retardation becomes important. These highly surface specific interactions may have a role to play in biological systems where the surface may be more or less accessible to dissolved atoms.


In 1976, Robert Lucas explicitly criticized Keynesian macroeconometric models for their inability to correctly predict the effects of alternative economic policies. Today, most contemporary macroeconomists and some historians of economics consider that the Lucas's critique led forcefully to immediate disqualification of the Keynesian macroeconometric approach. This narrative is based on the interpretation of the Lucas Critique as a fundamental principle for economic reasoning that was (and still is) logically unquestionable. We consider that this narrative is problematic both in terms of historiography and of the effects that it can have in the field as a way of assigning importance and credit to particular macroeconomists. Indeed, the point of view of the Keynesian economists is missing despite the fact that they were the target of Lucas's paper and that throughout the 1970s and 1980s they produced a fierce reaction against it. In this paper, we analyze the reactions by a broad set of authors (that we label as "Keynesians") that disputed the relevance of the critique. In spite of their diversity in methodological, theoretical, and policy issues, these reactions were characterized by their common questioning of the empirical and practical relevance of the Lucas critique.


The isotopic compositions of lead in copper-bearing hydrothermal sulphide deposits from the central-eastern Southalpine domain were analysed using a Multi-Collector-ICP-MS. The data were combined with existing lead isotope data (ore lead) for hydrothermal polymetallic deposits from the same area and compared with the isotopic compositions of potential lead sources. Copper and polymetallic pre-Variscan (Late Ordovician–Early Silurian) stratiform, post-Variscan (Permian to Triassic) vein, and stratabound sediment-hosted (Late Permian to Early Triassic) deposits, are characterised by highly variable ratios of radiogenic to non-radiogenic lead, but show very similar, high, time-integrated μ (= 238 U/ 204 Pb) and W (= 232 Th/ 204 Pb) values. A progressive relative increase in radiogenic lead is observed from (i) pre-Variscan deposits to (ii) post-Variscan sulphide-rich veins in the Variscan metamorphic basement and in the lower units of the Early Permian volcanic sequence, to (iii) post-Variscan sulphide-rich and fluorite-rich veins in the upper units of the Early Permian volcanic sequence, to (iv) post-Variscan fluorite-rich veins cutting the overlying Late Permian sediments and mid-Triassic mafic dikes. The dominant lead sources for all these deposits were Cambrian–Devonian (meta) sediments of the Variscan basement. Contributions from Permian and Triassic igneous rocks were of minor importance, if any, even for vein deposits which were evidently related to Permian magmatism. The isotopic compositions of some of the Permian vein deposits are consistent with, although they do not unequivocally prove, remobilization of metals from the pre-Variscan stratiform deposits. Stratabound deposits in the Late Permian sandstones and, possibly, those in the Early Triassic carbonates also received a major lead input from the Variscan metasediments, with a variable additional contribution from the host Permian sediments. Deposits in Triassic magmatic rocks are displaced to slightly lower μ and W values, suggesting lead contribution from Triassic magmatism. The high μ and W values of the deposits studied here are consistent with regional isotopic patterns of Pb–Zn-rich deposits in more northerly and easterly sectors of the Eastern Alps (Austroalpine, eastern Southalpine) and of several circum-Mediterranean Pb–Zn and polymetallic deposits of Paleozoic to Triassic age (Sardinia, Betic Cordillera) or derived from remobilisation of Paleozoic deposits (Tuscany). This isotopic uniformity suggests that an isotopic province characterized by the dominance of old (Early Proterozoic to Archean) detrital source material extended across a relatively wide portion of the former north-Gondwanan margin.


ABSTRACT Social work policy and practice all over the world continue to face the impact of the neoliberal agenda. Similarly, social work education has been subject to the economic and political changes, with an increasing emphasis on a discourse of 'evidence-based practice'. However, it is the core of social work programs in higher education to initiate students in the fundamental values of social work, as they are recognized in the global definition of social work. In order to prepare future social workers for their assignment, human rights should be given an explicit place in the social work curricula at Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences. For human rights to gain more attention in social work programs in higher education, a Manifesto was written by lecturers' social work in the Netherlands and Flanders, with a 5-point program to include human rights in the social work curricula. In this article, we elaborate on the five objectives that are presented in the Manifesto. Throughout the paper, we introduce small 'case examples' of how human rights can be integrated in education. These experiences show the importance of developing a particular social work perspective on human rights that is found in the idea of 'human rights from below.'


Disease summary: Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) is a rare, progressive, autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder. The disease is caused by variations in the gene GAN located in chromosome 16q24. The gene encodes a protein gigaxonin, a protein involved in dynamics of intermediate filaments and cytoskeletal framework. The defect in gigaxonin leads to aberrant accumulation of neurofilaments within the axons leading to the development of progressive peripheral and central nervous system manifestations. Clinical features include a severe early-onset peripheral sensory motor neuropathy that might also involve the cranial nerves leading to facial weakness, optic atrophy and ophthalmoplegia. Patients generally present in early childhood with difficulty walking. By late teens, most are wheelchair bound with significant kyphoscoliosis. As the disorder worsens, the central nervous system is involved with intellectual disability, cerebellar ataxia, pyramidal signs and seizures. Visual and hearing disturbances may also develop. The nerves of the autonomic nervous system can become damaged by the accumulation of neurofilaments. Patients characteristically have tightly curled hair and a typical facial phenotype. Treatment is symptomatic currently, and the average life expectancy is in the early twenties.


Telecommunications have been in constant evolution during past decades. Among the technological innovations, the use of digital technologies is very relevant. Digital communication systems have proven their efficiency and brought a new element in the chain of signal transmitting and receiving, the digital processor. This device offers to new radio equipments the flexibility of a programmable system. Nowadays, the behavior of a communication system can be modified by simply changing its software. This gave rising to a new radio model called Software Defined Radio (or Software- Defined Radio - SDR). In this new model, one moves to the software the task to set radio behavior, leaving to hardware only the implementation of RF front-end. Thus, the radio is no longer static, defined by their circuits and becomes a dynamic element, which may change their operating characteristics, such as bandwidth, modulation, coding rate, even modified during runtime according to software configuration. This article aims to present the use of GNU Radio software, an open-source solution for SDR specific applications, as a tool for development configurable digital radio.


ABSTRACT.The international double taxation occurs when one and the same taxable object is subject to taxation in two or more states, for one and the same time period. Legal means of disposal of such conflicts on international scale are tax Conventions, called international double tax. Tax regime of income obtained from activities carried in Romania shall be determined by means of harmonizing the Fiscal Code provisions with the articles of the international tax conventions. The paper aims at highlighting the international legal provisions in the field and their applicability within Romanian law framework.Keywords: double taxation, legal provisions harmonization, fiscal lawWith regard to the Convention of 23 July 1990 on the elimination of double taxation, one can see the need for both Member States and taxpayers to have more detailed rules for implementing the aforementioned Convention in an efficient manner. The necessity of developing a behavior code in tax matters, for Member States and taxpayers use, was identified among all parties implied. This Code of Conduct is a political commitment and does not affect in any perspective Member States' rights and obligations or Member States and communities' spheres of competence, which arise from the Treaty. Representatives of countries that participated in these negotiations have recognized that implementing a code of conduct to avoid double taxation, should not prevent seeking solutions process at a global level.Without prejudice to Member States competence and to the community, the code of conduct aims at enforcing the Arbitration Convention and connected matters with regard to the mutual procedure as the double taxation conventions between states regulate. International double taxation takes place when the same object is subject to two or more taxes regulations, for the same period of time. The legal means of eliminating of such conflicts on international scale are represented by fiscal conventions, called international Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC)The fiscal regime of incomes obtained in Romania is provided by corroboration of Fiscal Code provisions with the international fiscal conventions articles. Fiscal Code applies to the following subjects of fiscal law, which might be subject to double taxation: fiscal Romanian residents; citizens of states that don't have double taxation convention; persons to whom applies the more favorable tax amount. Double Taxation Avoidance Conventions apply to: residents of states with which Romania has signed DTAC, on presenting the fiscal residence certificate; with priority to the fiscal code, in cases where the tax amount is more favorable.The legal grounds of juridical framework between fiscal code and Double Taxation Avoidance Convention are regulated in: Romania Constitution provisions with regard to international law and internal law: "article 11 (1) the Romanian State is obliged to fulfill as it is stated and in good manners the obligations under the Treaties, to which Romania is part of; (2) treaties ratified by the Parliament, according to law, are part of internal law; (3) when a treaty states unconstitutional clauses with regard to the Romanian Law, it shall be ratify unless the Constitutional provisions are modified;" Fiscal Code provisions.On international scale, there are two draft conventions on which the double taxation avoidance convention is based: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Model Double Taxation Convention, which stands for developed countries advantages; United Nations Model Double Taxation Convention that represents a compromise between the source principle and the residence principle, though it gives more weight to the source principle than does the OECD Model Convention. As a correlative to the principle of taxation at source the articles of the Model Convention are predicated on the premise of the recognition by the source country that (a) taxation of income from foreign capital would take into account expenses allocable to the earnings of the income so that such income would be taxed on a net basis, that (b) taxation would not be so high as to discourage investment and that (c) it would take into account the appropriateness of the sharing of revenue with the country providing the capital. …


Over the past half century, courts in the United States have developed canons of construction that they use exclusively to construe forum selection clauses. These canons play an important role in determining the meaning of these clauses and, by extension, whether litigation arising out of a particular contract must proceed in a given place. To date, however, these canons have attracted surprisingly little attention in the academic literature.

This Article aspires to fill that gap. It provides the first comprehensive taxonomy of the canons that U.S. courts use to construe forum selection clauses. These interpretive rules fall into four groups: (1) the canons relating to exclusivity, (2) the canons relating to scope, (3) the canons relating to non-signatories, and (4) the canons relating to federal court. When a judge is presented with ambiguous language in a forum selection clause, she will frequently turn to one of these interpretive rules of thumb to resolve the ambiguity.

In principle, each of these canons produces outcomes that are broadly consistent with the preferences of most contract drafters. In practice, this is not always the case. Drawing upon interviews and e-mail exchanges with eighty-six attorneys, the Article shows that several of these canons produce outcomes that are arguably inconsistent with majoritarian preferences. In such cases, the Article argues that these canons should be cast aside. In their place, the courts should adopt new interpretive default rules that more closely track the preferences of most contracting parties.

The Article's final contribution to the literature relates to contract drafting. If a forum selection clause is unambiguous, there will be no need for the courts to invoke the canons. The Article thus concludes by urging contracting parties to incorporate certain words and phrases into their contracts ex ante so as to avoid incurring the costs associated with litigating their meaning ex post.


Abstract Purpose The study aimed to investigate the pattern of failure and describe compromises in the definition and coverage of the target for patients treated with curatively intended radiotherapy (RT) for sinonasal cancer (SNC). Methods and Material Patients treated with curatively intended RT in 2008–2015 in Denmark for SNC were eligible for the retrospective cohort study. Information regarding diagnosis and treatment was retrieved from the national database of the Danish Head and Neck Cancer Group (DAHANCA). Imaging from the diagnosis of recurrences was collected, and the point of origin (PO) of the recurrent tumour was estimated. All treatment plans were collected and reviewed with the focus on target coverage, manual modifications of target volumes, and dose to organs at risk (OARs) above defined constraints. Results A total of 184 patients were included in the analysis, and 76 (41%) relapsed. The majority of recurrences involved T-site (76%). Recurrence imaging of 39 patients was evaluated, and PO was established. Twenty-nine POs (74%) were located within the CTV, and the minimum dose to the PO was median 64.1 Gy (3.1–70.7). The criteria for target coverage (V95%) was not met in 89/184 (48%) of the CTV and 131/184 (71%) of the PTV. A total of 24% of CTVs had been manually modified to spare OARs of high-dose irradiation. No difference in target volume modifications was observed between patients who suffered recurrence and patients with lasting remission. Conclusion The majority of relapses after radical treatment of SNC were located in the T-site (the primary tumour site). Multiple compromises with regards to target coverage and tolerance levels for OARs in the sinonasal region, as defined from RT guidelines, were taken. No common practice in this respect could be derived from the study.


Risk assessment (RA) is compulsory in Portuguese companies (Law n.o 7/2009, Law n.o 3/2014) consisting of risk analysis and risk evaluation. Risk management (RM) stands for the global process of RA and risk control, whereby measures are taken to monitor or lower the risk levels to acceptable values (Miguel, 2010). RM is a compulsory and valuable tool helping companies to set strategies in order to achieve goals through informed decision-making (ISO 31000). The techniques for RA (ISO 31010) can be selected according to data type (quantitative or qualitative) and data availability. Quantitative RA techniques may be very laborious, expensive and may not be feasible when available data is scarce. Qualitative RA may be very expeditious, but not provide enough detail on the risks that the workers are exposed to. Semi-quantitative RA techniques seems to be a good compromise in the risk indices estimation. For applying these techniques, it is necessary to construct the hierarchy scale of Probability, Severity and Risk Index. The number of classes of each variable may vary between different techniques: Probability range from Impossible to Very Likely in three or more well-defined classes. But are these classes' boundaries really well-defined as crisp?
Fuzzy approach is useful when dealing quantitatively with imprecision (Varela, et al., 2013). Fuzzy logic (FL) is a mathematical technique that enables computational models of real systems to act on vagueness, enabling the analyst to preserve coherence in his evaluation by making judgements using imprecise information (Rodrigues, et al., 2016; Costa & Arezes, 2012). FL has been applied in a wide range of fields being a valuable tool for professionals who deal with human factors and human contingencies (Costa, 2013), and relevant in both RA and decision-making process of which workers' safety and health rely on. This work aims at evidencing the pertinence of the use of FL theory to semi-quantitative RA techniques. To accomplish this a systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted.


Introduction: Early recognition of elevated lactate levels in sepsis may hasten the detection of those patients eligible for aggressive resuscitation. Point-of-care (POC) testing is now increasingly available for use in the emergency department (ED). We examined the accuracy and time-saving effect of a handheld POC device for the measurement of fingertip and whole blood lactate as compared with reference laboratory testing in critically ill ED patients. Methods: A convenience sample of adult ED patients receiving serum lactate testing was prospectively enrolled at an urban, tertiary care US hospital. Consenting patients underwent fingertip POC lactate measurement with a portable device and simultaneous whole blood sampling for analysis by both the POC device and standard laboratory analyzer ("reference method"). Lactate measurements were compared by intraclass correlation (ICC) and Bland and Altman plots. Differences in time to test result were compared by paired t test. Results: Twenty-four patients, 19 (79%) with sepsis and 21 (88%) with lactate levels below 4 mmol/L, were included from April 2005 to May 2005. Fingertip POC and whole blood POC lactate measurements each correlated tightly with the reference method (ICC = 0.90 and ICC = 0.92, respectively). Mean time between obtaining fingertip lactate samples and whole blood reference lactate samples was 8 ± 13 minutes. Mean time between obtaining POC and reference laboratory lactate results was 65 minutes (95% confidence interval, 30–103). Conclusion: Fingertip POC lactate measurement is an accurate method to determine lactate levels in infected ED patients with normal or modestly elevated lactate values and significantly decreases time to test results. These findings should be verified in a larger, more critically ill, ED population.


Purpose of review Nonpharmacologic lifestyle modification interventions (LMIs), such as increasing physical activity, dietary modification, weight-loss, reducing alcohol consumption and smoking cessation, are effective strategies to lower resting blood pressures (BPs) in prehypertensive or hypertensive patients. However, the limited time shared between a physician and a patient is not adequate to instill an adoption of LMI. The purpose of this review is to therefore highlight evidence-based BP lowering, LMI strategies that can feasibly be implemented in clinical practices. Recent findings Interventions focusing on modifying physical activity, diet, weight-loss, drinking and smoking habits have established greater efficacy in reducing elevated BP compared with providing guideline recommendations based on national guidelines. Alone greater reductions in BP can be achieved through programmes that provide frequent contact time with exercise, nutrition and/or wellness professionals. Programmes that educate individuals to lead peer support groups can be an efficient method of ensuring compliance to LMI. Summary Evidence of a multidisciplinary approach to LMI is an effective and attractive model in managing elevated BP. This strategy is an attractive model that provides the necessary patient attention to confer lifestyle maintenance.


We explore the impact on bilateral trade flows of the inclusion of a labor clause (LC) in Trade Agreements (TAs). Using a gravity type framework, we find that the introduction of LCs has on average no impact on bilateral trade flows. However, there is some interesting heterogeneity. Exports of low-income countries benefit from the introduction of LCs in North-South trade agreements. Interestingly, the impact is stronger when accompanied by deep cooperation. On the other hand, stronger enforcement mechanisms, at best, marginally reinforce the impact of LCs. The results are clearly inconsistent with the idea that LC are set for protectionist reasons, casting doubt on the reluctance by low-income countries to include labor clauses in their trade agreements. Key Words: Labor Clause, Free Trade Agreements, Gravity Equation


Introduction: Diabetic retinopathy is a major cause of blindness and a fundamental cause of disability in diabetic patients in the world. Investigation about the quality of life in these patients can help plan for taking nursing measures to prevent or control the disease and improve patients' quality of life. Objective: This study aimed to determine the quality of life in patients with diabetic retinopathy. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive analytical study (2014), 316 patients with diabetic retinopathy who attended the laser unit in Amir-al-Momenin Medical Educational Hospital, Rasht, for treatment and had a follow-up record were selected by convenience sampling. The data were obtained by the Retinopathy-Dependent Quality of Life (RetDQoL) questionnaire, a socio demographic questionnaire and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). The final score for quality of life ranges-9 to 3. The closer to -9 is the final score; the better is the quality of life. Independent t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's correlation were used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that the mean score of quality of life in subjects was -1.73, indication glow quality of life. In addition, statistical tests indicated a significant relationship between quality of life in patients with diabetic retinopathy and income, employment and education (p<0.0001), marital status and smoking (p<0.001), place of residence and being a member of Diabetes Association (p<0.044), duration of diabetes (p<0.015), history of ocular surgery (p<0.011), type of retinopathy (unilateral and bilateral), neuropathy (p<0.0001), diabetic foot ulcers (p<0.002), history of other ocular diseases (p<0.031) and Charlson co-morbidity (p<0.001). Conclusion: According to the findings, based on which patients had low quality of life, it is recommended that authorities adopt consulting, training and financial programs to control the predictors of quality of life and improve patients' quality of life.


Abstract Objectives. Training of Affect Recognition (TAR) is a useful approach to restoring cognitive function in schizophrenic patients. Along with improving visual exploration of faces and altering central information processing in relevant brain areas, TAR attenuates impairments in facial affect recognition. In the present study, we investigate the effects of TAR on early electrophysiological correlates of facial affect recognition in schizophrenia. Methods. The study population comprised 12 schizophrenic patients and 14 healthy controls. In each individual, we carried out EEG, concomitant measurements of scanning eye movements and fixation-based low resolution electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) analyses of brain electric activity. All analyses were performed at baseline and after participation in TAR. Results. In patients, brain activation patterns significantly changed after completing the TAR. Functional improvements were particularly pronounced in the superior parietal and inferior parietal lobes, where trained patients showed a larger increase in activation than untrained healthy controls. Conclusions. The TAR activates compensatory brain processes involved in the perception, attention and evaluation of emotional stimuli. This may underlie the established behavioral effects of the TAR in schizophrenic patients, which include improvements in facial affect recognition and alterations of visual exploration strategies.


Fiscal decentralization arguably improves government efficiency because it enhances responsiveness to local policy issues and incentivises fiscal discipline. However, critics suggest that central control over local spending is necessary to equalize fiscal outcomes between prosperous and deprived areas. Using a two-stage analysis, we investigate the validity of these arguments by analysing the separate and combined effects of fiscal decentralization and socioeconomic deprivation on the productive efficiency of English local governments during 20022008. The results suggest that decentralization is positively related to productive efficiency and that there is a negative relationship between socio-economic deprivation and efficiency. Further analysis reveals that deprivation weakens the positive decentralization-efficiency relationship, calling into question simplistic proposals for fiscal decentralization. K ey words: fiscal centralization; deprivation; efficiency; local government; England Forthcoming in: Environment and Planning C – Politics and Space


Small noncoding RNAs, such as the ~21 nucleotide (nt) let-7 RNA, regulate the developmental timing of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. These RNAs are highly conserved in many bilaterally symmetrical organisms, including humans. The similarity in size between the let-7 RNA and those generated during RNA interference (RNAi), in which RNA blocks gene expression, has led to the suggestion that the two may be linked. Hutvágner et al. (see the Perspective by Ambros) now show that the enzyme Dicer, which is implicated as the ribonuclease involved in the generation of the small 21- to 23-nt interfering RNAs in RNAi, is also responsible for cleaving the putative ~70-nt let-7 precursor to generate the let-7 RNA. G. Hutvágner, J. McLachlan, A. E. Pasquinelli, É. Bálint, T. Tuschl, P. D. Zamore, A cellular function for the RNA-interference enzyme dicer in the maturation of the let-7 small temporal RNA. Science 293, 834-838 (2001). [Abstract] [Full Text] V. Ambros, Dicing up RNAs. Science 293, 811-813 (2001). [Full Text]


ObjectiveTo examine the long-term outcomes of patients with melanoma metastatic to regional lymph nodes. Summary Background DataRegional lymph node metastasis is a major determinant of outcome for patients with melanoma, and the presence of regional lymph node metastasis has been commonly used as an indication for systemic, often intensive, adjuvant therapy. However, the risk of recurrence varies greatly within this heterogeneous group of patients. MethodsDatabase review identified 2,505 patients, referred to the Duke University Melanoma Clinic between 1970 and 1998, with histologic confirmation of regional lymph node metastasis before clinical evidence of distant metastasis and with documentation of full lymph node dissection. Recurrence and survival after lymph node dissection were analyzed. ResultsEstimated overall survival rates at 5, 10, 15, and 20 years were 43%, 35%, 28%, and 23%, respectively. This population included 792 actual 5-year survivors, 350 10-year survivors, and 137 15-year survivors. The number of positive lymph nodes was the most powerful predictor of both overall survival and recurrence-free survival; 5-year overall survival rates ranged from 53% for one positive node to 25% for greater than four nodes. Primary tumor ulceration and thickness were also powerful predictors of both overall and recurrence-free survival in multivariate analyses. The most common site of first recurrence after lymph node dissection was distant (44% of all patients). ConclusionsPatients with regional lymph node metastasis can enjoy significant long-term survival after lymph node dissection. Therefore, aggressive surgical therapy of regional lymph node metastases is warranted, and each individual's risk of recurrence should be weighed against the potential risks of adjuvant therapy.


T he horrifying events of 11 September 2001 serve notice that civilization will confront severe challenges in the 21st century. As national security budgets expand in response, we should recognize that only a broad conception of security will be adequate to meet some of the threats that we may face. Biological security provides a powerful example. It must address both the challenge of biological weapons and that of infectious disease. The right approach should benefit public health even if major acts of biological terrorism never occur. Our thinking about biological security must transcend old misplaced analogies to nuclear and chemical security.

Nuclear security has been based on nonproliferation, deterrence, and defense, with intelligence woven throughout. Nonproliferation seeks to prevent the diversion of materials from civilian programs to military or terrorist weapons. Should nonproliferation fail, the United States relies on deterrence through the threat of retaliation. Defense, active or civil, has so far been less central.

Effective biological security requires a different mix. For all its challenges, nuclear nonproliferation is comparatively robust, in part because the production of weapons-usable uranium or plutonium provides a conspicuous bottleneck through which any nuclear program must pass, unless those materials are stolen. This is why preventing nuclear theft is such a high priority in the post-Cold War world. Biological agents are easier to acquire. Most can be found in naturally occurring outbreaks. Weaponizing these agents has proved challenging for terrorist groups, but the Aum Shinrikyo's unsuccessful efforts to spray the anthrax organism throughout Tokyo in 1993 warned that attempted mass urban attacks were no longer in the realm of the fantastic.

The transfer of dangerous biological agents should be controlled where possible, and the spread of the technologies and personnel to weaponize them should be impeded. But any biological nonproliferation regime will necessarily be less robust than its nuclear counterpart, because the relevant materials, technologies, and knowledge are far more widespread.

Biological terrorism also challenges requirements for successful deterrence. Because some diseases incubate for a week or more, identifying the perpetrators of an attack may prove difficult. A terrorist group might even hope that its attack would go unrecognized; when followers of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh infected 750 Oregonians with salmonella in 1984, it took over a year before the infection was determined to have been intentional. Finally, as with any form of terrorism, some groups may simply be unconcerned about retaliation.

In the face of these difficulties, good intelligence is all the more important. Warning and prevention are preferable to coping with the consequences of an attack, but we must also be ready should an attack occur. This requires that greater emphasis be placed on improving public health, a kind of homeland defense that is applicable to both unintentional and intentional disease outbreaks.

Because of disease incubation times, the first responders to a biological attack may well be health care workers at hospitals and clinics rather than specialized units. The speed and effectiveness of a response will depend on disease surveillance: the recognition by health care workers that certain illnesses appear unusual and the rapid notification of the proper authorities. Because incubation times often exceed international travel times, both domestic and international components are required. But the domestic component of disease surveillance in most nations, including the United States, is too weak, and international networks are inadequate. Donor nations need to increase support for these efforts. And there are many other needs, such as developing and stockpiling sufficient vaccines, antibiotics, or antivirals and otherwise preparing to meet the enormous challenges that would be posed by a major outbreak. It is time to quicken the pace of these efforts, to which departments of health are as central as departments of defense.

Disease surveillance and response are not nonproliferation measures, so cannot substitute for an effective verification regime under the Biological Weapons Convention. But biological security requires the developed world, especially the United States, to see that its ongoing self-interest is closely allied with sustainable public health improvements in the developing world. And the explosion of biotechnology, with the weapons implications that follow from it, requires the scientific community to discuss its responsibilities in earnest.


The livelihood of mountainous communities of Himalayan region closely knotted with forest related activities. However, forest degradation especially forest fire significantly affects the mountainous livelihood and hence, there is an urgent need to describe, evaluate and understand specificity of mountainous areas to forest fire.

 In this view, a study on livelihood vulnerability with forest fire of High Altitude Zone (HAZ) and Low Altitude Zone (LAZ) was assessed with Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI). It uses 35 indicators, reduced to six components to create an overall index. Each component is composed of set of indicators and they are function of observable variables. The framework uses primary data and employs maximum-minimum normalization to restrict the value range of indicators between 0 to 1.

 The value near to 0 shows lower vulnerability. The overall vulnerability of HAZ region is higher, that might be attributed to higher dependency on forest; live in proximity of forest; unstable socioeconomic condition; less infrastructural development and higher exposure to climatic extreme events.

 Therefore, the adaptive capacity of HAZ should be strengthened in a cross cutting manner for reducing livelihood vulnerability to forest fire. The sectors specific developmental policies/programmes should also be rationalized through bottom up adaptation planning with special reference to forest fire vulnerability.


This reference work is unique. It makes available in one volume the breadth and richness of the theology devoted to issues specifically related to the Third World and its theological concerns. It is written solely by the people normally relegated to the periphery. The contributors are men and women of the Third World, including indigenous peoples from different continents, diasporans who find homes outside their native lands, and marginalized people who inhabit the so-called First World. A quick glance at the current lexicographical works on theological and biblical disciplines shows that they tend to be Western-oriented and written from a Eurocentric perspective. The Third World concerns listed in them are either added as an afterthought or tailored to suit Western protocols and expectations. This dictionary attempts to redress the balance, viewing everything through the prism of a Third World lens. The Dictionary includes over 150 short entries on themes such as 'Asia', 'Capitalism', 'Colonization', 'Feminism', 'Globalization', 'Orthodox Theologies', 'Poverty', and 'Racism'. They are inclusive of geographical, cultural and denominational variations.


Plants initially accepted by foraging leaf-cutting ants are later avoided if they prove unsuitable for their symbiotic fungus. Plant avoidance is mediated by the waste produced in the fungus garden soon after the incorporation of the unsuitable leaves, as foragers can learn plant odors and cues from the damaged fungus that are both present in the recently produced waste particles. We asked whether avoidance learning of plants unsuitable for the symbiotic fungus can take place entirely at the colony dump. In order to investigate whether cues available in the waste chamber induce plant avoidance in naïve subcolonies, we exchanged the waste produced by subcolonies fed either fungicide-treated privet leaves or untreated leaves and measured the acceptance of untreated privet leaves before and after the exchange of waste. Second, we evaluated whether foragers could perceive the avoidance cues directly at the dump by quantifying the visits of labeled foragers to the waste chamber. Finally, we asked whether foragers learn to specifically avoid untreated leaves of a plant after a confinement over 3 hours in the dump of subcolonies that were previously fed fungicide-treated leaves of that species. After the exchange of the waste chambers, workers from subcolonies that had access to waste from fungicide-treated privet leaves learned to avoid that plant. One-third of the labeled foragers visited the dump. Furthermore, naïve foragers learned to avoid a specific, previously unsuitable plant if exposed solely to cues of the dump during confinement. We suggest that cues at the dump enable foragers to predict the unsuitable effects of plants even if they had never been experienced in the fungus garden.


This report provides a Feasibility study on automating the handling of shims that protect the cable conductor from being damaged. The shims also help keeping the conductor on the inside of the carousel. The methods of the project includes:  A Technological-, Economic-, Legal-, Operational- and Schedule Feasibility Study  A RobotStudio offline simulation utilized for positioning an ABB robot and testing that its control program is made in accordance with required safety, reliability, and speed.  An analysis of robotic tools and sensors required for the task  A cost and payback analysis The approach is to create a simulation where an IRB6650S ABB robot is used for placing shims onto the conductor carousel. Eventually the robot is supposed to remove shims from the carousel, as the conductor is taken up for extrusion of plastic isolation. The pallets of shims are to be placed on an existing table lift that can elevate or be lowered vertically according to cable growth or decrease. This is so that the robot motion and cycle time can be minimized and shim handling speed increased. The robot makes a "searching motion" which gives the height coordinate as the gripper collides with a shim or cable at the carousel. This coordinate is further used to estimate the height of the cable at the carousel and the height of the shim-stack at the palette. The table lift elevates or lowers according to the height that is provided from the "search motion". A separation magazine, which is placed on the table lift, stores a set of pre-separated shims for one layer of cable conductor at the carousel. This is to avoid separating shims during the handling period and to speed up the shim handling. During the up taking of the conductor and as the shims are supposed to be picked off from the carousel, the robot uses the angular positions of already placed shims that are saved during the placing process, in order to find the shims at the carousel. The vacuum gripper consists of two foam-gripper systems, which are connected with aluminum profiles. The foam can be formed according to the grooves of the shim and enclose the surface in order to create vacuum and to grip the shim. The gripper is equipped with two collision sensors at each foamgripper that indicate when it is time to apply vacuum or when to release it. It was found that the robot is able to handle shims 42% faster than the manual workers are. The initial investment for the robot, equipment and implementation was estimated to one million SEK. A payback period was estimated to 8 years and if the robot will be used for two carousels, the payback period will be 4 years. The conclusion is that the implementation of the robot is feasible for this application in every aspect of the study, and the implementation can be recommended. The implementation is not feasible, only if there is another project that can prove to be more economically beneficial, that should be invested in first.


Based on the multi-configuration Dirac–Hartree–Fock method and using the GRASPVU package, a theoretical investigation was performed to study the lifetimes of hyperfine levels of the first excited level 3d94s 3D3 in Ni-like ions (Z = 72–79) for all stable isotopes with nuclear spin. Comparisons between hyperfine-induced electric quadrupole transition rates and the pure magnetic octupole transition rates show that the extra electric quadrupole transition channel caused by the nuclear magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole hyperfine interaction is important for most hyperfine levels in each individual ion. Lifetimes of most hyperfine levels are sensitive to this extra decay channel. Extreme cases are found in 181Ta, 185Re and 187Re, where lifetimes of some hyperfine levels are shortened by more than an order of magnitude.


The glacial geomorphology of southernmost Patagonia records the advance and retreat of the Patagonian ice sheet over a number of glacial cycles. The well-preserved landform assemblages and sediments that have been left behind comprise one of the longest and most complete records of Quaternary glaciations in the world. Despite this, little is known about the pre-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ice sheet dynamics in a number of areas, particularly around the Strait of Magellan. This study has mapped in detail the glacial geomorphology of the Seno Skyring-Seno Otway-Strait of Magellan region from a combination of Landsat and ASTER satellite imagery and oblique and aerial photographs for the purposes of reconstructing the ice sheet dynamics.
A wide variety of glacial landforms have been mapped, including glacial lineations, moraine ridges, meltwater channels, outwash plains and palaeo-shorelines. The most distinct features within the study area are highly elongate streamlined glacial lineations on the western side of the Strait of Magellan. A landsystems approach has been employed in order to decipher this group of lineations and three potentially plausible landsystems are evaluated: a palaeo-ice stream, a surging glacier, and an ice-marginal terrestrial landsystem. Based on the characteristic shape, dimensions and abrupt lateral margin of the flow-set, the lateral variation in lineation length and elongation ratios, and the presence of a potentially-deformable bed, these lineations are interpreted as being diagnostic of a terrestrial palaeo-ice stream. It is suggested that the initiation of ice streaming was caused by calving into one of two ice-dammed proglacial lakes. The lakes were located within the former Seno Skyring and Seno Otway ice lobes, which are well-defined by arcuate sequences of moraine ridges. The westernmost of the lakes, proglacial Lake Skyring, is delimited by a series of palaeo-shorelines surrounding the present-day lake Laguna Blanca. The size and orientation of meltwater channels and an outwash plain suggests that proglacial Lake Skyring drained eastwards towards the Strait of Magellan in an abrupt event.
The ice sheet has been reconstructed at 10 time-steps, documenting stages of both advance and retreat. An attempt has been made to place this reconstruction within the framework of the wider glacial chronology of the region. From this, it is suggested that ice stream activity contributed to the rapid deglaciation of this sector of the ice sheet during the penultimate glaciation. Future work should focus on applying fieldwork to help validate the interpretations of this study. This should include dating of the landforms and sediments that have been mapped in order to improve the pre-LGM glacial chronology of this region, which is currently poorly-constrained.


This paper is concerned with the application of Web 2.0 technologies within a conventional institutional learning setting. After considering the affordances of Web 2.0 technologies vs Web 1.0 technologies and a framework for viewing social software in terms of groups, networks and collectives, we describe an instance of trying to use Elgg, a rich social application, to support a distance-taught course within a conventional face-to-face university. A number of issues are identified, some of which are related to Elgg's interface but the biggest of which relate to the tensions between top-down and bottom-up control and the shifting contexts of personal, group, network and collective modes of engagement. These problems suggest that, in their current form, social technologies pose intractable difficulties in information organisation and retrieval when used for formal learning. We propose a range of solutions that make use of the wisdom of the crowd combined with human intervention. This paper addresses and extends themes explored in SIRTEL 07.