Raman spectra of methane and methane–ethane mixtures (100, 85, and 49 mole % CH4) have been obtained as a function of pressure in the pressure range 0.1 to 15.3 MPaA (MPa absolute). For these mixtures methane v1 (symmetric C–H stretching) band positions are given as a function of pressure; for pure methane they are in agreement with previous results. The new data on the methane v1 band position of ethane-containing mixtures clearly depend on the kind of molecules surrounding the vibrating methane molecule. The v1 band position decreases with increasing pressure; the stronger the dependency, the higher the content of ethane. The ethane v1 band position in the two mixtures showed the same kind of dependency. A qualitative explanation for this behavior is attempted, relating it to changes in van der Waals-type interactions on pressure.


A new method is given for the optimal design of bandlimited Nyquist-type signal shapes for data communications, which maximizes its energy in a given time interval. The method is based on the periodically nonuniform sampling (PNS) theory making use of the linear splines. The computation is straightforward, and the constraint for intersymbol interference is shown to be easy to include in the problem. A numerical example is given, and performance of the optimal signal shapes is compared with that resulting from the use of previously obtained signal shapes in the literature. It is also concluded that the optimal signal shapes thus obtained are almost immune to small offsets at the sampling instants.


All patients with supraventricular tachycardia during the first 12 months of life who presented between 1977 and 1988 were identified by a retrospective survey of records in this hospital and by a questionnaire sent to paediatricians in the Northern region. Twenty two of 29 patients (76%) were in heart failure and seven (24%) had cardiogenic shock. Seven patients (24%) were free of symptoms. All had narrow QRS tachycardia at 215-315 beats/minute (mean (SD) 292 (21)). Initial treatment included digoxin (effective in seven of 14 patients, with overdose in three), verapamil (effective in three of three but fatal in one), cardioversion (effective in all 10 who were treated in this way), iced water applied to the face (effective in all 16 patients on 53 of 59 occasions, 90%). Initial treatment in local hospitals was less effective and associated with more complications than that given in the regional referral centre. Digoxin is often ineffective, return to sinus rhythm is delayed, and overdosing is common. Cardioversion is effective but tachycardia often recurs. Iced water is safe and effective, and should become the treatment of choice for termination of supraventricular tachycardia in neonates and young infants.


Abstract:For the first time, we investigate associations between overprotective behavior within the context of adolescent friendships and psychosocial outcomes. Young adolescents participating in two studies (Ns = 270 and 179; 49% boys) completed self-report measures of psychological functioning, social problems (also assessed with peer nominations), and friendship quality. To assess friend over-protection, curvilinear effects of self-reported friend protection were examined in Study 1, and a self-report measure of parental overprotection was adapted to describe friend overprotection in Study 2. Gender and shyness (Study 2 only) were considered as moderators of associations between friend (over)protection and outcomes. Results from regression analyses revealed significant associations between extreme levels of friend protection/overprotection and indices of psychological and social maladjustment, with some associations specific to highly shy adolescents. These studies together represent a first step toward understanding a previously unexplored feature of adolescent friendships that may have important implications for psychological well-being and social adjustment.


Incentive mechanisms for crowdsourcing are designed to incentivize financially self-interested workers to generate and report high-quality labels. Existing mechanisms are often developed as one-shot static solutions, assuming a certain level of knowledge about worker models (expertise levels, costs of exerting efforts, etc.). In this paper, we propose a novel inference aided reinforcement mechanism that learns to incentivize high-quality data sequentially and requires no such prior assumptions. Specifically, we first design a Gibbs sampling augmented Bayesian inference algorithm to estimate workers' labeling strategies from the collected labels at each step. Then we propose a reinforcement incentive learning (RIL) method, building on top of the above estimates, to uncover how workers respond to different payments. RIL dynamically determines the payment without accessing any ground-truth labels. We theoretically prove that RIL is able to incentivize rational workers to provide high-quality labels. Empirical results show that our mechanism performs consistently well under both rational and non-fully rational (adaptive learning) worker models. Besides, the payments offered by RIL are more robust and have lower variances compared to the existing one-shot mechanisms.


Aims: Air is the combination of atmospheric components or physical conditions of the current atmosphere in a certain place and a certain time. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between weather components, air atmospheric pollutants and the number of individuals that were hospitalized due to cardiovascular diseases in polluted days. Instrument & Methods: In this descriptive study during 2010 to 2013, the weather parameters in ground and upper levels of Isfahan City, Iran, weather stations were studied and air quality data were collected from 11 different points of the city. The number of cardiovascular patient that were hospitalized was determined by collecting the data of medical record department of 3 hospitals of Isfahan City, Iran; Shahid Chamran, Al-Zahra, and Ali-Asghar. Data were analyzed by SPSS 19 software using Pearson correlation. Findings: There were significant correlations between the number of hospitalizations and minimum temperature (r=0.943; p=0.0001), maximum temperature (r=0.973; p=0.0001), average temperature (r=-0.069; p=0.013), rainfall (r=-0.326; p=0.0001), humidity (r=-0.326; p=0.0001), air pressure (r=0.257; p=0.0001), and wind speed (r=-0.011; p=0.021). There was a significant difference between the average numbers of hospitalizations due to cardiovascular diseases according to the range of AQI. Regarding the air pollutant parameters, the only significant relation was observed for PM10 (p=0.004) and other factors showed no significant relation (p<0.05) to the numbers of hospitalizations. Conclusion: The number of hospitalizations due to cardiovascular diseases is just affected by the PM10 factor of air pollution.


Objectives To investigate the extent to which authors of cluster randomised trials adhered to two basic requirements of the World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' uniform requirements for manuscripts (namely, reporting of research ethics review and informed consent), to determine whether the adequacy of reporting has improved over time, and to identify characteristics of cluster randomised trials associated with reporting of ethics practices. Design Review of a random sample of published cluster randomised trials from an electronic search in Medline. Setting Cluster randomised trials in health research published in English language journals from 2000 to 2008. Study sample 300 cluster randomised trials published in 150 journals. Results 77 (26%, 95% confidence interval 21% to 31%) trials failed to report ethics review. The proportion reporting ethics review increased significantly over time (P<0.001). Trials with data collection interventions at the individual level were more likely to report ethics review than were trials that used routine data sources only (79% (n=151) v 55% (23); P=0.008). Trials that accounted for clustering in the design and analysis were more likely to report ethics review. The median impact factor of the journal of publication was higher for trials that reported ethics review (3.4 v 2.3; P<0.001). 93 (31%, 26% to 36%) trials failed to report consent. Reporting of consent increased significantly over time (P<0.001). Trials with interventions targeting participants at the individual level were more likely to report consent than were trials with interventions targeting the cluster level (87% (90) v 48% (41); P<0.001). Trials with data collection interventions at the individual level were more likely to report consent than were those that used routine data sources only (78% (146) v 29% (11); P<0.001). Conclusions Reporting of research ethics protections in cluster randomised trials is inadequate. In addition to research ethics approval, authors should report whether informed consent was sought, from whom consent was sought, and what consent was for.


Dedication. Preface. List of Symbols. 1. INTRODUCTION TO LOW-POWER DIGITAL INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DESIGN. 1.1 Transistor Scaling in the Context of Power Consumption and Performance. 1.1.1 Fundamental CMOS Scaling Strategies. 1.1.2 Leakage Currents in Modern MOS Transistors. 1.1.3 Transistor Scaling in the Deep Sub-Micron Regime. 1.2 Classic Low-Power Strategies. 1.3 Low-Power Strategies beyond the Quarter Micron Technology node. 2. LOGIC WITH MULTIPLE SUPPLY VOLTAGES. 2.1 Principle of Multiple Supply Voltages. 2.2 Power Saving Capability and Voltage Assignment. 2.2.1 Supply Voltage Assignment Algorithm. 2.3 Level Conversion in Multi-VDD Circuits. 2.3.1 Asynchronous Levelshifter Design. 2.3.2 Design of Level Shifter FlipFlops. 2.3.3 Level Conversion in Dynamic Circuits. 2.4 Dynamic Voltage Scaling (DVS). 3. LOGIC WITH MULTIPLE THRESHOLD VOLTAGES. 3.1 Principle of Multiple Threshold Voltages. 3.2 Concept of Leakage Effective GateWidth for Leakage Estimation. 3.3 Impact of Supply and Threshold Voltage Variability on Gate Delay. 3.4 Active Body Bias Strategies. 3.4.1 Reverse Body Bias Technique (RBB). 3.4.2 Forward Body Bias Technique (FBB). 4. FORCING OF TRANSISTOR STACKS. 4.1 Principle of Stack Forcing. 4.1.1 Impact of Gate and Junction Leakage. 4.2 Stack Forcing as Leakage Reduction Technique. 5. POWER GATING. 5.1 Principle of Power Gating. 5.2 Design Trade-Offs of Power Gating. 5.3 Basic Properties of Power Gating. 5.3.1 Implementation of the Power Switch Devices. 5.3.2 Stationary Active and Idle State. 5.3.3 Transient Behavior During Block Activation. 5.3.4 Interfaces of a Sleep Transistor Block. 5.3.5 System Aspects of Power Gating. 5.4 Embodiments of Power Gating. 5.4.1 Sleep Transistor within Standard Cells. 5.4.2 Shared Sleep Transistor. 5.4.3 Optimization of Gate Potential - Gate Boosting and Super Cut-Off. 5.4.4 ZigZag Super Cut-Off CMOS. 5.4.5 Selective Sleep Transistor Scheme. 5.5 Demonstrator Design and Measurement.5.5.1 16-bit Multiply-Accumulate Unit. 5.5.2 16-bit Finite Impulse Response Filter. 5.5.3 Comparison of Current Profiles of Differently Pipelined Circuits. 5.6 Sleep Transistor Design Task. 5.6.1 Optimum Total Channel Width. 5.6.2 Optimum Channel Length. 5.6.3 Distributed vs. Localized Switch Placing. 5.6.4 Impact of Virtual Rail Decoupling. 5.7 Minimum Idle Time. 5.7.1 Functional Measurement Strategy of Minimum Power-Down Time. 5.7.2 Estimation of the Minimum Power-Down Time. 5.7.3 Charge Recycling Scheme. 5.7.4 Principle of Charge Recycling Scheme. 5.7.5 Fractional Switch Activation. 5.8 Block Activation Strategies. 5.8.1 Single Cycle Block Activation. 5.8.2 Sequential Switch Activation. 5.8.3 Stepwise Overdrive Incrementation. 5.8.4 Quasi-Continuous Overdrive Incrementation. 5.8.5 Double Switch Scheme. 5.8.6 Clock Gating During Activation. 5.9 State Conservation in Power Switched Circuits. 5.9.1 Static State Retention Flipflops. 5.9.2 Summary of Static State Retention Approaches. 5.9.3 Dynamic State Retention FlipFlops. 5.9.4 Trade-off Between Propagation Delay and Retention Time in Dynamic State Retention Flipflops. 6. CONCLUSION. References.


The history of the hinterlands of the Indochinese peninsula, astride the frontier between Laos and Vietnam, during the first and second Indochina wars (1946–75) is arguably the least informed of this turbulent period. The aftermath of World War II saw the establishment of revolutionary bases at the junction between southeastern Laos and central and southern central Vietnam in highly strategic areas that were conduits for the "Ho Chi Minh Trail." This article aims to go beyond conventional diplomatic and military histories of the Indochina wars to examine war from below. In particular, the second half of the article is constructed around the narratives of two female war veterans of ethnic minority origins who conducted most of their revolutionary activities during the Vietnam War along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Particular attention is given to their motivations and wartime lives, linked to their transformation from members of upland populations who not long ago were described as "savages" into "revolutionaries" and "patriots."


Recruitment is a vital component for any college or university. Recruiting top student-athletes is even more strategic due to the potential increase in undergraduate admissions and booster donations that a championship season may bring. While much research has been conducted related to the factors influencing the choice of college, there is limited research focusing on college choice factors of student-athletes. Additionally, a majority of the research focusing on college choice factors of student-athletes does not address those student-athletes at top Division I-A institutions. The present study sought to determine if the factors that influence the college choice of high level students-athletes was different than research results focusing on non-athletes. The findings of this study suggest that, although student-athletes have different factors that influence college choice, non-athletic related factors as just as important as athletic related factors. These findings are valuable to the successful recruitment of student-athletes and may mean the difference between successful and unseccessful athletic programs. ********** The students entering institutions of higher education today are much different than those of previous generations (Abrahamson, 2000). Often called Generation Y, Baby Boomers II, and Millennials, this group has often been described as ambitious, precocious, stressed, wayward, and indifferent (Newton, 2000). Additionally, these people have been characterized as being exposed to greater "grown-up" activity and less experienced in exercising discipline and decision making (Newton, 2000). As this generation makes decisions about attending college, and ultimately what college to attend, they consider factors much differently than previous generations. It is imperative that those involved in the recruitment process understand both the factors that are most influential in selecting an institution and the methodology utilized by college bound students in their search process. Previous studies have attempted to determine what factors have the greatest influence on students' college choice. Spies (1978) found that academic reputation of the institution was more important than financial considerations. More recently, Sevier (1993) studied college-bound high school juniors and reported that availability of desired major and total cost of attending college were the most important factors. Galotti and Mark (1994) noted that parents/guardians, friends, and guidance center materials were rated as most important in the college search process. Most recently, Hu and Hossler (2000) found that students were most influenced by family input and finance-related factors. Intercollegiate Athletics The transformation of college athletics over the past 30 years into a multi-billion dollar, internationally recognized business has changed the focus of intercollegiate athletic departments. Budget minded administrators have realized that a winning team can provide an effective means of advertising their institutions and securing much needed additional funding (Davies, 1994). Many Division I-A college basketball and football programs generate 20-to-30 million dollars annually in revenue (Fulks, 2000). Not surprisingly, success within an athletic department can positively impact the institution's overall reputation and ultimately lead to higher numbers and caliber of undergraduate applications. Over the past twenty years championship teams in football and basketball have led to increases in undergraduate admission applications for the years following the championship (Toma and Cross, 1998). In addition, winning teams bring notoriety, which allows greater selectivity in admissions but also stimulates booster donations to the athletic department and the university as a whole (Zimbalist, 1999). With the impact winning athletic teams have on a university it is not surprising that the pressure to produce winning teams is enormous. …


Abstract Purpose: This study primarily aims to provide insight into the role of deep acting and surface acting effects on customer satisfaction, with job satisfaction as the mediating and mentoring as the moderating variable. Methodology: The study employs SPSS 21 for the analysis of data gathered with a survey questionnaire. The survey involved a sample of 291 employees of Jordanian service firms. Findings: Obtained findings indicate significant direct relationships, with surface acting negatively related to both job satisfaction and customer satisfaction and deep acting positively related to both. The results support the mediating role of job satisfaction on the relationship between surface acting and customer satisfaction, along with deep acting and customer satisfaction. Moreover, the outcome substantiates the moderating role of mentoring on both acting types with job satisfaction. Implication: This is the first study to empirically examine the mediating role of job satisfaction on the employee emotional labor relationship with customer satisfaction in service companies of a developing country.


China is experiencing unprecedented urbanization with the urban share of population expected to grow to nearly 80% by 2050. Chinese urban residents consume nearly 1.6 times as much commercial energy as rural residents, and account for an even larger share of energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions embodied in urban infrastructure and goods. As a result, cities can play an increasingly important role in helping China meet its future energy and CO2 intensity reduction targets. While some individual cities have conducted energy and greenhouse gas emission inventories, China lacks estimates of aggregate urban energy consumption and CO2 emissions that take into consideration detailed sectoral drivers, fuel mixes, and end-uses specific to urban areas. This paper describes the results of a bottom-up, energy end-use modeling methodology for estimating China's urban energy demand and CO2 emissions for four key demand sectors. We present a detailed modeling framework that characterizes residential and commercial building end-uses in Chinese cities, differentiates between intra-city and inter-city transport attributable to urban residents, and evaluates the urban share of industrial production activity. Scenario analysis is also used to quantify the urban energy and CO2 emissions reduction potential within each sector. We find that the Chinese industrial sector alone accounts for 56% of urban primary energy demand and 62% of urban CO2 emissions in 2010 and holds the greatest mitigation potential – a characteristic unique to Chinese cities. Maximum deployment of commercially-available, cost-effective technologies across all four sectors can also help Chinese urban CO2 emissions peak earlier.


The development of an interactive web-based science information literacy tutorial that introduces undergraduate science majors to basic components of scientific literature is described. The tutorial introduces concepts, vocabulary and resources necessary for understanding and accessing information. The tutorial content is based on the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education and the Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology (American Library Association (ALA) /Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)/Science and Technology Section (STS) Task Force on Information Literacy for Science and Technology). In order to engage students in a Web 2.0 world, the tutorial has evolved to incorporate interactivity, graphics, and self-assessment. This paper provides information on the development of the tutorial, examples from the tutorial, suggestions for future designers, and the next steps in development of the tutorial and web-based tutorials. This tutorial fills a gap in information literacy as professors are trying to provide more instruction in limited classroom time and provides a resource that can be assigned or reviewed throughout a user's college career, reinforcing information literacy principles. This is especially important for science majors who, unlike social science and humanities majors, may not need to use science reference materials actively until upper division classes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


The binding of the coenzymes NAD+ and NADH to lactate dehydrogenase causes significant changes in the Raman spectra of both of these molecules relative to spectra obtained in the absence of enzyme. The molecular motions of the bound adenine moiety of both NAD+ and NADH as well as adenine containing analogues of these coenzymes produce Raman bands that are essentially identical, suggesting that the binding of adenine to the enzyme is the same regardless of the nicotinamide head-group nature. We also have observed that the molecular motions of the bound adenine moiety are different from both those obtained when it is in either water, various hydrophobic solvents, or various other solvent compositions. Protonation of the bound adenine ring at the 3-position is offered as a possible explanation. Significant shifts are observed in both the stretching frequency of the carboxamide carbonyl of NAD+ and the rocking motion of the carboxamide NH2 group of NADH. These shifts are probably caused by hydrogen bonding with the enzyme. The interaction energies of these hydrogen-bonding patterns are discussed. The aromatic nature of the nicotinamide moiety of NAD+ appears to be unchanged upon binding. Pronounced changes in the Raman spectrum of the nicotinamide moiety of NADH are observed upon binding; some of these changes are understood and discussed. Finally, these results are compared to analogous results that were recently reported for liver alcohol dehydrogenase [Chen et al. (1987) Biochemistry 26, 4776-4784]. In general, the coenzyme binding properties are found to be quite similar, but not identical, for the two enzymes.


: In Africa, international migration to the Global North is often interpreted as a means to achieve upward social mobility. This article highlights the importance of considering the socio-economic and political transformations that form migration aspirations, especially among African youths. Simultaneously, increasing restrictive migration regimes impacts the extent to which migrants can meet the clauses in the moral economy of migration in their origin communities. We focus on (Anglophone) Cameroon, where international migration is referred to as "bushfalling". A person who migrates to a Western society desires or is expected to return home to share the wealth he/she has accumulated. This interpretation of migration forms different perspectives regarding migrants and guides expectations towards returned migrants. However, little is known on how these expectations are defined and redefined in the society of return. Based on focus group discussions conducted among local community members, we show that the expectations were guided by the visa regimes of destination countries. Moreover, successful returnees were defined by their ability to be visible and create an impact after return. Thus, this article contributes more broadly to an African perspective on the meaning and impact of return migration.


Boron nitride (BN) as a thin film is promising for many future electronic applications. On 0001 α-Al2O3 and 0001 4H/6H-SiC substrates, chemical vapor deposition yields epitaxial sp2-hybridized BN (sp2-BN) films oriented around the c-axis. Here, the authors seek to point out that sp2-BN can form two different polytypes; hexagonal BN (h-BN) and rhombohedral BN (r-BN), only differing in the stacking of the basal planes but with the identical distance between the basal planes and in-plane lattice parameters. This makes structural identification challenging in c-axis oriented films. The authors suggest the use of a combination of high-resolution electron microscopy with careful sample preparation and thin film x-ray diffraction techniques like pole figure measurements and glancing incidence (in-plane) diffraction to fully distinguish h-BN from r-BN.


Using firm-level data, we estimate the effects of the major wave of 1991 breakups of Czechoslovak state-owned enterprises on the subsequent performance of the master enterprises and spun-off divisions. We estimate the performance effects of spinoffs by comparing the performance of enterprises that remained intact throughout the 19901992 period to the performance of the master enterprises that experienced spinoffs and the newly spun-off subsidiaries. Our estimates suggest that the breakups had a significant immediate effect on the productive efficiency and on the profitability of industrial firms in 1991, and that the effect became much less significant in 1992. The effect is a negative function of the size of the spinoff, being positive for small to slightly above average-sized spinoffs and negative for very large ones. We cannot reject the hypothesis that the estimated effect was identical for the spun-off subsidiaries and the master enterprises that experienced the spinoffs. Our 1991 estimates suggest that the large firms created under the centrally planned system suffered from inefficiencies that were alleviated by the breakups. The 1992 estimates are consistent with increased competition and the appropriation of profits by managers.


Novel molecular interventions have recently shown the potential to erase, enhance and alter specific long-term memories. Unique features of this form of memory modification call for a close examination of its possible applications. While there have been discussions of the ethics of memory modification in the literature, molecular memory modification (MMM) can provide special insights. Previously raised ethical concerns regarding memory enhancement, such as safety issues, the 'duty to remember', selfhood and personal identity, require re-evaluation in light of MMM. As a technology that exploits the brain's updating processes, MMM helps correct the common misconception that memory is a static entity by demonstrating how memory is plastic and subject to revision even in the absence of external manipulation. Furthermore, while putatively safer than other speculative technologies because of its high specificity, MMM raises notable safety issues, including potential insidious effects on the agent's emotions and personal identity. Nonetheless, MMM possesses characteristics of a more permissible form of modification, not only because it is theoretically safer, but because its unique mechanism of action requires a heightened level of cooperation from the agent. Discussions of memory modification must consider the specific mechanisms of action, which can alter the weight and relevance of various ethical concerns. MMM also highlights the need for conceptual accuracy regarding the term 'enhancement'; this umbrella term will have to be differentiated as new technologies are applied to a widening array of purposes.


The Transactional Memory (TM) paradigm promises to greatly simplify the development of concurrent applications. This led, over the years, to the creation of a plethora of TM implementations delivering wide ranges of performance across workloads. Yet, no universal implementation fits each and every workload. In fact, the best TM in a given workload can reveal to be disastrous for another one. This forces developers to face the complex task of tuning TM implementations, which significantly hampers their wide adoption. In this paper, we address the challenge of automatically identifying the best TM implementation for a given workload. Our proposed system, ProteusTM, hides behind the TM interface a large library of implementations. Underneath, it leverages a novel multi-dimensional online optimization scheme, combining two popular learning techniques: Collaborative Filtering and Bayesian Optimization. We integrated ProteusTM in GCC and demonstrate its ability to switch between TMs and adapt several configuration parameters (e.g., number of threads). We extensively evaluated ProteusTM, obtaining average performance <3% from optimal, and gains up to 100x over static alternatives.


Speakers, trainers, and leaders are challenged with delivering important messages aimed at informing, persuading, and influencing audiences; audiences that are already overwhelmed with information, daunted by problems, or stuck in old patterns of attitudes and behaviors. Until recently, humor has been viewed as something that merely makes us feel good and distracts us from our daily drudgeries. Positive psychology offers empirical data that show that humor is a serious tool that creates connection between people, enhances charisma of communicators, engages attention, enhances memory, leverages people's willingness to shift attitudes and behaviors, and increases the resilience of communicators and their audiences. Humor does all of this, not despite the fact that it is enjoyable, but in large part, because it is enjoyable. Most research has used pre-produced humor (cartoons, stories, and videos), showing that communicators need not be producers of humor themselves, but can leverage the power of pre-produced humor to engage and delight audiences. This capstone includes a business plan for the creation of humorous video vignettes that can be utilized by the author, as well as other communicators, to bring speeches and trainings to life and make a message shtick.


Graphene, an atomically thin sheet of carbon, is the most recent endeavor for the application of carbon nanostructures in conventional electronics. The envisioned creation of devices completely carved out of graphene could lead to the revolution of electronic circuitry. However, the most established technique to obtain high quality graphene sheets, i.e, by micromechanical cleavage cannot be easily upscaled, serving as an impediment towards technological applications. The present thesis is dedicated to the study of graphene prepared via an alternative scalable, high yield and cost effective method which involves the chemical reduction of graphene oxide. The first part of this thesis describes in detail the atomic structure of graphene obtained by this method. Raman spectroscopy was used for this purpose followed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Near Edge X-Ray and Fine Structure (NEXAFS) measurements locally probe these sheets with atomic resolution. This revealed a highly disordered structure of this material, where regions with perfect crystallinity are separated by defect clusters. These defective patches were found to contain remnant oxygenated functional groups. Electrical characterization of chemically derived graphene sheets yielded ambipolar transfer characteristics similar to that of micromechanically cleaved graphene, albeit with moderate performance. The presence of a significant amount of disorder precludes ballistic transport and the charge carriers traverse through the sheet predominantly by thermally assisted variable range hopping in combination with a field driven tunneling mechanism. This is clearly evidenced in the low temperature two-probe conduction measurements performed on devices fabricated from these sheets. Metal contacts in graphene devices play a crucial role in limiting the applicability of these materials. Although the performance of graphene based devices as prepared today is sufficient for a variety of applications, a clear understanding and engineering of contacts is important for utilization of these materials towards high end applications. In the latter part of this thesis a detailed study of contacts is presented; firstly on graphene grown via CVD on copper to understand the physics in play at a simpler carbon-metal interface, followed by a photocurrent microscopy study to understand the more complex interface between metal and reduced graphene oxide and its implications on device characteristics. A strong difference between the two kinds of graphene is found with metal contacts to high quality graphene creating a potential barrier at the interface owing to a charge transfer between them, whereas in the case of the chemically synthesized version contacts are of a non invasive nature stable upto 300 °C. In addition, Raman spectroscopy and Scanning Photocurrent Microscopy investigation of graphene obtained by CVD under the gold, away from the contact edge provided interesting insights towards the phenomena occuring at the gold graphene interface, thus highlighting the importance of understanding and engineering adequate contacts before the successful transition of graphene based devices into the industry. Finally, a novel chemical vapor treatment of graphene oxide was employed to enhance its electrical characteristics. Exposure of reduced graphene oxide to ethylene vapor at 800 °C results in an improvement of conductivities by 2 orders of magnitude lagging behind that of pristine graphene. Electrical and structural characterization revealed that this increase in conductivity occurred inspite of the presence of a considerable amount of defects.


Background: Female circumcision is a practice which has existed for thousands of years and is carried out across Africa from the north eastern coast to the west coast. On the Horn of Africa nearly all Somali women are circumcised, most of which are infibulated. Aim: The aim of the study has been to reveal current views, public and political opinions and to explore how and by whom the discourse on female circumcision was expressed at the time of the study, in Hargeysa, Somaliland. Method: Numeral informal conversations were held with health workers and students in a hospital. In depth interviews with 3 women involved in the work to abandon female circumcision, and interviews drawing on principles of life story interviews were held with 5 returned exile women. Field notes were continuously written throughout the time spend in Hargeysa. The discourse that emerged from the material was analyzed using the principles of Foucault. Results: Analysis of the discourse on female circumcision revealed a discourse of a changing practice despite indications of a continuation of the practice, although in a changed form. Whether this change applies to the actual practice lies beyond the premises of the study. Conclusion: 'Abandoners' of female circumcision rely on political, ideological and economic support from outside, including the Somali diaspora for the eradication effort. Health workers supported by health research and the community of religious leaders reveal reasons for abandonment of infibulation, while the same reasons do not strongly enough emphasize the necessity to end sunna circumcision. 'Practitioners' of female circumcision still perceive circumcision of girls as necessary to become 'good' and 'pure' women. Confusing, contrasting and religiously connected terms for the practice may partly be the reason for a delayed process to end an unfortunate human practice.


This paper reviewed articles on the social behavior of Filipinos during and after a natural disaster. In the family, household and the community contexts. The response of the government and non-government organizations was likewise reviewed to complete the picture on the coping behavior of Filipinos amid natural disasters. Filipinos have employed self- help strategies starting from the family members to the community leaders to bring back normalcy in their living arrangements and in their farm activities. Government and non-government organizations focused mainly on the rehabilitation aspect through provisions of relief goods and resettlement areas. To provide effective management of disaster, preparedness coupled with mitigation should be given due attention for a more proactive rather than reactive response.


One of the principal drivers of the ALFALFA survey is the exploration of the dynamics of the Virgo cluster and its environs via the cataloguing of all of its gas-rich members and tracing disruptive events through the HI remnants they leave behind. The wide area coverage provided by ALFALFA is ideal for the study of extended source structures, and its sensitivity, bandwidth and resolution allow the detection of HI over the full Virgo redshift range as well as the identification of gas-rich background objects. The Spring 2005 ALFALFA survey dataset contains nearly-complete two-pass coverage of a wide field around the enigmatic "dark" HI cloud VirgoHI21, suggested by Minchin et al. to be responsible for the distortions evident in the peculiar, one-armed spiral NGC 4254. We find clear evidence of a continuous connection between VirgoHI21 and NGC 4254. The extended HI distribution can be traced over 30 arcmin to the north of NGC 4254 and is clumpy in places. We apply the ALFALFA signal extractor to construct a catalog of HI detections in this region, present integrated maps of the complex extended structures, and discuss the nature of VirgoHI21 in the context of this very rich Virgo environment. This work has been supported by NSF grants AST-0307661 and AST-0435697 and by the Brinson Foundation.


The nature of sensory organisation - how information is transferred or recognised as equivalent between the various senses and whether a dominance hierarchy exists between them - is a topic which has interested man since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. This thesis focuses on the relationship between the visual and haptic senses and how this relationship changes during development. While it was previously known that adults achieve a unified percept in the face of conflicting visual and haptic information by a process of visual capture, there have been conflicting reports in the research literature on why this situation obtains and on the reactions of young children to such a situation. Two methodologies, the cross-modal transfer paradigm and the conflict paradigm, have been widely used in the study of sensory organisation. The conflict paradigm, used to explore possible sensory dominance hierarchies, has been widely criticised. In the present study a methodology has been developed which meets these criticisms; it has been used to study the hierarchical organisation of vision and touch in subjects from early childhood to adulthood. visual bias has been shown to occur across all age groups in haptic judgements of size, shape and texture regardless of the nature of the visual distortion. In contrast to most previous researchers, visual bias has been demonstrated to decrease with age and to be inversely related to haptic accuracy. The observed decrease in visual bias with age is accounted for in terms of the concomitant increase in the ability of subjects both to recognise the unnatural nature of the tasks they are being asked to perform and to adopt a problem-solving approach to the tasks. Through this type of approach all possible sources of information are sought and critically evaluated. A theory has been proposed to account for the occurrence of visual bias. The theory proposes that haptic judgements involve the transduction of the haptic information to a visual representation and that it is on this representation that all comparisons and judgements are made. According to this theory the occurrence of visual bias arises from the difficulty of developing an accurate transduction in the presence of similar but different visual information. The theory predicts that performance on a haptic task would deteriorate more in the presence of a simultaneous visual task than an auditory task of equivalent difficulty. This prediction has been tested and confirmed. The proposed theory has been shown to account for the order of difficulty normally reported for inter and intra-modal visual-haptic tasks and also to have explanatory value for data reported from other research into intermodal organisation.


Bécam et al. used a genetic approach to examine the role of integrins and associated proteins in Drosophila oogenesis and discovered an unexpected role in oocyte positioning for talin, a protein that links integrins to the cytoskeleton. Oocyte positioning in the Drosophila egg chamber during oogenesis, which is critical to the establishment of the embryo's anterior-posterior axis, depends on the increased abundance of DE-cadherin (which mediates cell-cell adhesion) in the oocyte and the posterior follicular epithelial cells (see Tepass and Godt). Investigating a possible role for integrins (which mediate cell-substrate adhesion) and associated proteins, Bécam et al. found that a null mutation of rhea (which encodes the Drosophila homolog of talin) in follicle cells disrupted oocyte positioning, as did a mutant that encoded truncated talin. When some follicle cells contained wild-type rhea and others contained mutant rhea, oocytes localized and adhered to the talin-mutant cells. Mutant rhea in germline cells did not disrupt localization. Unexpectedly, lack of integrin expression in either germline or follicle cells failed to affect oocyte localization, talin distribution, or organization of the actin cytoskeleton. Rather, talin-mutant follicle cells showed increased abundance of CE-cadherin and of shotgun mRNA, which encodes it. Oocytes adhered to cells induced to overexpress DE-cadherin, whereas the simultaneous loss of DE-cadherin from cells lacking talin prevented oocyte mislocalization. Cells mutant for talin showed increased expression of a fusion gene reporter regulated by the shotgun promoter, whereas the expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged DE-cadherin under the control of an independent promoter was not affected. Thus, talin appears to play a role in regulating the transcription--and thereby the abundance--of DE-cadherin independent of its role in integrin signaling. I. E. Bécam, G. Tanentzapf, J.-A. Lepesant, N. H. Brown, J.-R. Huynh, Integrin-independent repression of cadherin transcription by talin during axis formation in Drosophila. Nat. Cell Biol. 7, 510-516 (2005). [PubMed] U. Tepass, D. Godt, Talin's second persona. Nat. Cell Biol. 7, 443-444 (2005). [PubMed]


Since high-power ultrashort pulsed (usp) laser sources are commercially available, customers are facing the issue of delivering high power appropriately onto their work piece. This results in an inefficient usage of the provided laser power. Current technologies allow either for fast deflection or spatial adaption of the laser beam. To access a fast temporal and spatial distribution of the laser power the use of the acousto optic (AO) effect was proposed and experimentally confirmed. While the usage of AO beam deflection is well known for decades, the application as a beam shaper is subject of current research. This technology is capable to operate at several MHz. Therefore, two orthogonal AO deflectors (AOD) are placed in the Fourier plane of a lens. If a proper acoustic signal is applied synchronized to the laser pulses, each pulse is affected by a quasistatic arbitrary grating. The desired intensity distribution can now be observed in the image plane of the lens. The AO deflectors are driven by a two-channel arbitrary waveform generator followed by an amplifier stage. In this paper we present an algorithm based on an Iterative Fourier Transform Algorithm (IFTA) to calculate the acoustic field from an input intensity distribution. The intensity distribution is projected in x- and y-direction to convert into two separated 1D-profiles. Via the IFTA the necessary phase delays for both directions are calculated. Then the corresponding acoustic signals are computed and hardware restrictions like the modulation bandwidths of the AOD and the signal generators are consider for the iterative optimization. Also the amplifiers amplitude response characteristics are taken into account. The resulting 2D intensity distribution is simulated by convolution of both signals. We present results of intensity distributions by AO beam shaping. The practical restrictions of achievable beam profiles of an AO beam shaping device are discussed. Finally we show micro structures generated by such a device.Since high-power ultrashort pulsed (usp) laser sources are commercially available, customers are facing the issue of delivering high power appropriately onto their work piece. This results in an inefficient usage of the provided laser power. Current technologies allow either for fast deflection or spatial adaption of the laser beam. To access a fast temporal and spatial distribution of the laser power the use of the acousto optic (AO) effect was proposed and experimentally confirmed. While the usage of AO beam deflection is well known for decades, the application as a beam shaper is subject of current research. This technology is capable to operate at several MHz. Therefore, two orthogonal AO deflectors (AOD) are placed in the Fourier plane of a lens. If a proper acoustic signal is applied synchronized to the laser pulses, each pulse is affected by a quasistatic arbitrary grating. The desired intensity distribution can now be observed in the image plane of the lens. The AO deflectors are driven by a two-c...


Printed on recycled paper The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has collected streamflow information for the Nation's streams since 1889. Streamflow information is used to predict floods, manage and allocate water resources, design engineering structures, compute water-quality loads, and operate water-control structures. The current (2007) size of the USGS streamgaging network is over 7,400 streamgages nationwide. The USGS has progressively improved the streamgaging program by incorporating new technologies and techniques that streamline data collection while increasing the quality of the streamflow data that are collected. The single greatest change in streamflow measurement technology during the last 100 years has been the development and application of high frequency acoustic instruments for measuring streamflow. One such instrument, the acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP), is rapidly replacing traditional mechanical current meters for streamflow measurement (Muste and others, 2007). For more information on how an ADCP works see Simpson (2001) or visit http://hydroacoustics.usgs.gov/. The USGS has used ADCPs attached to manned or tethered boats since the mid-1990s to measure streamflow in a wide variety of conditions (fig. 1). Recent analyses have shown that ADCP streamflow measurements can be made with similar or greater accuracy, efficiency, and resolution than measurements made using conventional current-meter methods (Oberg and Mueller, 2007). ADCPs also have the ability to measure streamflow in streams where traditional current-meter measurements previously were very difficult or costly to obtain, such as streams affected by backwater or tides. In addition to streamflow measurements, the USGS also uses ADCPs for other hydrologic measurements and applications, such as computing continuous records of streamflow for tidally or backwater affected streams, measuring velocity fields with high spatial and temporal resolution, and estimating suspended-sediment concentrations. An overview of these applications is provided below.


Object. The object of this study was to compare symptom status and neurocognitive functioning in athletes with no headache (non-HA group), athletes complaining of headache (HA group), and athletes with characteristics of posttraumatic migraine (PTM group). Methods. Neurocognitive tests were undertaken by 261 high-school and collegiate athletes with a mean age of 16.36 ′ 2.6 years. Athletes were separated into three groups: the PTM group (74 athletes with a mean age of 16.39 ′ 3.06 years), the HA group (124 athletes with a mean age of 16.44 ′ 2.51 years), and the non-HA group (63 patients with a mean age of 16.14 ′ 2.18 years). Neurocognitive summary scores (outcome measures) for verbal and visual memory, visual motor speed, reaction time, and total symptom scores were collected using ImPACT, a computer software program designed to assess sports-related concussion. Significant differences existed among the three groups for all outcome measures. The PTM group demonstrated significantly greater neurocognitive deficits when compared with the HA and non-HA groups. The PTM group also exhibited the greatest amount of departure from baseline scores. Conclusions. The differences among these groups can be used as a basis to argue that PTM characteristics triggered by sports-related concussion are related to increased neurocognitive dysfunction following mild traumatic brain injury. Thus, athletes suffering a concussion accompanied by PTM should be examined in a setting that includes symptom status and neurocognitive testing to address their recovery more fully. Given the increased impairments observed in the PTM group, in this population clinicians should exercise increased caution in decisions about treatment and when the athlete should be allowed to return to play.


We introduce the novel research problem of task recognition in daily life. We recognize tasks such as project management, planning, meal-breaks, communication, documentation, and family care. We capture Cyber, Physical, and Social (CPS) activities of 17 participants over four weeks using device-based sensing, app activity logging, and an experience sampling methodology. Our cohort includes students, casual workers, and professionals, forming the first real-world context-rich task behaviour dataset. We model CPS activities across different task categories, results highlight the importance of considering the CPS feature sets in modelling, especially work-related tasks.


Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) from BiFeO3 nanocrystals is investigated for the first time to determine their potential as biomarkers for multiphoton imaging. Nanocrystals are produced by an auto-combustion method with 2-amino-2-hydroxymethyl-propane-1,3-diol as a fuel. Stable colloidal suspensions with mean particle diameters in the range 100–120 nm are then obtained after wet-milling and sonication steps. SHG properties are determined using two complementary experimental techniques, Hyper Rayleigh Scattering and nonlinear polarization microscopy. BiFeO3 shows a very high second harmonic efficiency with an averaged 〈d〉 coefficient of 79 ± 12 pm/V. From the nonlinear polarization response of individual nanocrystals, relative values of the independent dij coefficients are also determined and compared with recent theoretical and experimental studies. Additionally, the particles show a moderate magnetic response, which is attributed to γ-Fe2O3 impurities. A combination of high nonlinear optical efficiency and magnetic response within the same particle is of great interest for future bio-imaging and diagnostic applications.


Extracted from text ... Medico-legal or forensic issues in medical practice are often
avoided by doctors. An irrational fear of the court process
seems to be one reason; a lack of skill and knowledge,
perceived or real, of what constitutes a medico-legal interaction
and its proper management is another; and the belief
that the state still appoints doctors to specifically deal with
medico-legal examinations is another.
Following the introduction of the primary health care platform
with devolution of many services to a district level, the
burden of medico-legal examinations in many instances often
rests with the GP. There were at the time many good ..


There is reason to think that Professors McManamon, Resnik and Eskridge might each welcome an independent civil procedure course chiefly focused on civil claim settlements. Professor McManamon wonders whether alternative dispute resolution processes are as "easy to grasp" as some have opined. She counsels that we should not fear creativity and "that we should not be afraid to question our Lengdellian universe." In conclusion, Professor McManamon urges civil procedure teachers to "communicate... to our students" the dramatic changes in civil litigation over the years in ways tha make "the most sense." While expressing and urging us to maintain continuing faith in traditional trial court adjudication for many types of civil claims, Professor Resnik clearly understands that "[i]n the bulk of civil litigation, the parties' decisions to settle are not subjected to review." She posits that because of the "public, visible nature" of all trial court cases and their "public dimension," wherein the parties and others typically settle their differences within "our publicly-financed system of dispute resolution," more inquiry is needed into "the sources and scope of judicial authority" over settlement. Her own inquiry leads her to encourage the development of written rules guiding civil claim settlements, especially guidelines which would reduce the "echoes of the ambiguity about the judicial role in settlement" that presently exists, so that constraints may be put in place to better ensure that settlements are not "achieved under conditions of imbalance, lawyer ineptitude, indeterminacy, and judicial coercion." Professor Eskridge seemingly would also welcome an independent procedure course, and not one limited simply to civil procedure. Such a course certainly could never give any set of civil procedure laws "deferential, if not canonical, treatment," for, as Professor Resnik has lamented, civil procedure rules and statutes are largely silent about settlement. In such a course, "themes and structure of procedure" more likely will influence course direction rather than phrases or lines, as there is no singular arrangement implicated for a settlement, even with regard to a "typical" civil claim. There are significant opportunities in such a course for the exploration of "metaprocedure," as well as the "seamless web" and for a "practical focus on a vivid litigation experience." Professor McManamon has encouraged us to "debate," and to suggest procedure courses that make "the most sense." We should begin. Is it now time for a civil claim settlement course, intradisciplinary in nature, with emphases on: comparative federal and state laws; the anticipation and resolution of typical (private rights) civil claims; and simulated exercises significantly incorporating perplexing settlement law issues that most lawyers (in and outside of litigation) face today?


Three of the greatest SF novels in the world in one bumper omnibus Herbert's evocative, epic tales are set on the desert planet Arrakis, the focus for a complex political and military struggle with galaxy-wide repercussions. Arrakis is the source of spice, a mind-enhancing drug which makes interstellar travel possible; it is the most valuable substance in the galaxy. When Duke Atreides and his family take up court there, they fall into a trap set by the Duke's bitter rival, Baron Harkonnen. The Duke is poisoned, but his wife and her son Paul escape to the vast and arid deserts of Arrakis, which have given the planet its nickname of Dune. Paul and his mother join the Fremen, the Arrakis natives, who have learnt to live in this harsh and complex ecosystem. But learning to survive is not enough - Paul's destiny was mapped out long ago and his mother is committed to seeing it fulfilled.


Chemotaxis is a classic mechanism for guiding cell migration and an important topic in both fundamental cell biology and health sciences. Neutrophils are a widely used model to study eukaryotic cell migration and neutrophil chemotaxis itself can lead to protective or harmful immune actions to the body. While much has been learnt from past research about how neutrophils effectively navigate through a chemoattractant gradient, many interesting questions remain unclear. For example, while it is tempting to model neutrophil chemotaxis using the well-established biased random walk theory, the experimental proof was challenged by the cell's highly persistent migrating nature. A special experimental design is required to test the key predictions from the random walk model. Another question that has interested the cell migration community for decades concerns the existence of chemotactic memory and its underlying mechanism. Although chemotactic memory has been suggested in various studies, a clear quantitative experimental demonstration will improve our understanding of the migratory memory effect. Motivated by these questions, we developed a microfluidic cell migration assay (so-called dual-docking chip or D2-Chip) that can test both the biased random walk model and the memory effect for neutrophil chemotaxis on a single chip enabled by multi-region gradient generation and dual-region cell alignment. Our results provide experimental support for the biased random walk model and chemotactic memory for neutrophil chemotaxis. Quantitative data analyses provide new insights into neutrophil chemotaxis and memory by making connections to entropic disorder, cell morphology and oscillating migratory response.


Generally, the military and masculinity are confirmed as harmonious and mutual. For many countries, military service assumes the status of initiation into manhood. In South Africa, for example, in the past, young white men were legally obliged to do military service. This emphasises the importance of focusing on white masculinities within the South African military in this article. Strong parallels with 10 African2 male soldiers who also underscored hegemonic masculinity are drawn. The construction of masculinity of young male soldiers is discussed historically and in the present context. Transcriptions of semi-structured interviews with soldiers drawn from a total of 14 participants were qualitatively analysed and are presented to illustrate the themes that emerged in the interviews. The findings suggest that the military encompasses masculine characteristics and defines soldiering as an embodiment of traditional male sex practices. This article concludes that military context and culture exaggerate and emphasise hegemonic masculinity and heterosexuality for male soldiers.


We study statistical properties of the optimal value and optimal solutions of the Sample Average Approximation of risk averse stochastic problems. Central Limit Theorem type results are derived for the optimal value and optimal solutions when the stochastic program is expressed in terms of a law invariant coherent risk measure. The obtained results are applied to hypotheses testing problems aiming at comparing the optimal values of several risk averse convex stochastic programs on the basis of samples of the underlying random vectors. We also consider non-asymptotic tests based on confidence intervals on the optimal values of the stochastic programs obtained using the Stochastic Mirror Descent algorithm. Numerical simulations show how to use our developments to choose among different distributions and show the superiority of the asymptotic tests on a class of risk averse stochastic programs.


Conventional wisdom in deep learning states that increasing depth improves expressiveness but complicates optimization. This paper suggests that, sometimes, increasing depth can speed up optimization. The effect of depth on optimization is decoupled from expressiveness by focusing on settings where additional layers amount to overparameterization - linear neural networks, a well-studied model. Theoretical analysis, as well as experiments, show that here depth acts as a preconditioner which may accelerate convergence. Even on simple convex problems such as linear regression with $\ell_p$ loss, $p>2$, gradient descent can benefit from transitioning to a non-convex overparameterized objective, more than it would from some common acceleration schemes. We also prove that it is mathematically impossible to obtain the acceleration effect of overparametrization via gradients of any regularizer.


The spatial distribution of the pitbuilding antlion Cueta sp., and the non-pitbuilders Furgella intermedia Markl and Palpares annulatus Stitz was correlated with environmental temperatures, prey abundance and vegetation, over six seasons from 1990-1992. Antlion larvae in the Kalahari migrated vertically in the sand at high sand-surface temperatures. They restricted their activity to the cooler parts of the day and were more abundant in the shade than in sunny areas. These behavioural patterns were similar to those reported for antlion species living in cooler regions. It is suggested that the depth to which the antlion larvae migrated is dependent upon prevailing environmental conditions. At high sand temperatures no differences were found between the vertical migration patterns of pitbuilders and non-pitbuilders. Prey densities and richness fluctuated between the different seasons. It is suggested that overlap in microhabitat (preference for shade) and activity patterns of antlion larvae and their prey, enhance prey capture in myrmeleontid larvae.


Many natural streams are net heterotrophic, so I propose that trophic state be divided into autotrophic and heterotrophic state. This division allows consideration of the influence of external carbon sources as well as nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Empirical results suggest that phosphorus and nitrogen are the most important nutrients regulating autotrophic state in flowing waters and that benthic algal biomass is positively correlated to gross primary production in streams. Reference (minimally influenced by human activities) nutrient concentrations and correlations of nutrients with algal biomass are used to characterize reference distributions of stream autotrophic state. Only when reference nutrient concentrations are in the upper one third of those expected in the United States, is maximum benthic chlorophyll projected to exceed 100 mg m−2 (a concentration commonly used to indicate nuisance levels) >30% of the time. Average reference nutrient concentrations lead to sestonic chlorophyll concentrations above those considered typical of eutrophic lakes (>8 mg m−3) less than half the time. Preliminary analysis suggests that autotrophic state is variable in small pristine streams because it is influenced by canopy cover (light), but heterotrophic state is less variable because it can be based on allochthonous or autochthonous production. Nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment can influence both heterotrophic and autotrophic state, and these effects could cascade to animal communities. Stoichiometry should be considered because carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus are all involved in trophic state. The proposed definition of trophic state offers a starting conceptual framework for such considerations.


EcoLexicon (http://ecolexicon.ugr.es) is a terminological knowledge base on the environment that currently holds 3,351 concepts and a total of 17,475 terms in English, Spanish, German, Russian, French, and Modern Greek. Concepts are linked by means of hierarchical and non-hierarchical relations in dynamic networks and in definitions. The environmental domain is interdisciplinary and its concepts can be categorized from different perspectives, thus conceptual representation needs to be multidimensional. Although, unlike other knowledge resources, conceptual representations in EcoLexicon reflect multidimensional categorization, this has also produced an information overload, particularly at upper concept levels. This means that many concepts show overloaded networks partly caused by multiple inheritance, as many of them have several hyperonyms. However, all conceptual dimensions do not occur at the same time but rather are context-dependent. Since the context of a concept is the set of concepts relevant to its intended meaning, we solved the information overload problem by recontextualizing networks in terms of discipline-based domains. The recontextualization of concepts constrains their relations with other concepts, depending on the activation scenario. By no means, does this imply that these are different senses of a polysemic term, but concepts also vary by context regardless of sense variation. Given that terminological definitions are also an integral part of the representation of multidimensionality, we applied the same contextual constraints to definitional propositions. The result is what we call flexible terminological definitions. This paper describes the representation of context-dependent multidimensionality in EcoLexicon and, more specifically, how this phenomenon is managed in terminological definitions.


The therapeutic potency of platinum-based anticancer drugs can be substantially improved through the use of polymeric nanocarrier systems to target cancer cells efficiently. We synthesized a series of glyco-block copolymers with three different sugars able to self-assemble into nanoparticles when conjugated with 1,2-diamino-cyclopentane platinum(II) (DACP-Pt). The polymers are based on (2-(D-glucosyloxy)ethyl methacrylate (glucose; GlcMA), 2-(D-galactosyloxy)ethyl methacrylate (galactose; GalMA), 1-O-methacryloyl-β-D-fructopyranose (fructose; FrucMA1), and 3-O-methacryloyl-β-D-fructopyranose (fructose; FrucMA3)). They are all readily taken up intracellularly by the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 and the ovarian cancer cell line A2780. All cell lines expressed a high preference for the fructose coated nanoparticles. The nanocarriers were themselves nontoxic, but exhibited high cytotoxicity and increased efficacy when conjugated with the DACP-Pt drug.


To highlight some of the methodological limitations, this paper presents a critical analysis of empirical studies on suicide terrorism which apply Durkheim's typology of altruistic suicide. The paper will then sketch an ongoing study of suicide terrorism that aims to go beyond the current 'Western' frameworks of understanding. The paper will show how, in trying to understand suicide terrorism, the complications associated with finding reliable and valid data on the subject are compounded by the way in which researchers and intelligence analysts fail to address the limitations of their methodology. The paper argues that data about suicide terrorism must be analysed within an explicit epistemological framework. It further argues that suicide terrorism must be understood in terms of social context, and in context of the researcher/analyst as a situated being, whose social location and culture affect the way in which they interpret data. The paper suggests that sociological studies in the areas of altruism, community identities, and the sociology of suicide may provide insight into understanding suicide terrorism as a social process. This framework represents an attempt to break down the process of 'otherness' that currently limits our understanding of terrorism.


A 7-year-old boy presented with cerebellar ataxia with reduced tonicity, deficits of the fine and gross motor coordination skills and vestibular stimulus processing, as well as significantly delayed language development. MR imaging showed the so-called "molar tooth sign", which was highly pathognomonic for the Joubert-Syndrome—an inherited cerebellar ataxia with a variety of clinical symptoms—and related entities. It is caused by a complex malformation of the cerebellar vermis and the midbrain. The cerebellar vermis is hypoplastic or completely absent; at the same time, the superior cerebellar peduncles are thickened. There is a lack of normal decussation of the fiber tracts in mesencephalon, which follow an abnormal horizontal course, as well as a lack of the decussation of the corticospinal fiber tracts in the caudal medulla oblongata and deformity of the 4th ventricle. Clinically, the triad of cerebellar ataxia, developmental retardation, and abnormal eye movements is indicating a related syndrome of this spectrum. The appearance of the involved children is characterized by dysmorphic facial features with epicanthus, broad nose bridge, low set ears and typically triangularly shaped and opened mouth. The diagnosis is usually made by imaging and clinical findings. Recently, advantages were made in genetic research on the Joubert syndrome and interesting findings published about diffusion tensor imaging and tractography. However, standard MR imaging, applying an adequate imaging protocol including sequences with excellent T1 contrast and 3D imaging with isotropic spatial resolution allowing reconstructions in all orientations, remains an essential tool for making this diagnosis.


Generally OFDM systems use a predefined signal pattern, called preamble (2) (3), which helps the receiver to achieve a better signal detection (coarse, fine time synchronization) with the frequency offset and chan- nel estimation. In most of the time having all these condi- tions fulfilled the receiver achieves relatively a good performance while keeping as low as possible the total consuming power and the BER (Bite Error Rate). This paper presents the results obtained while combining a part of the preamble (2) (3) and the Minn's training sequence. We have got interesting performance results comparable to those results obtained for the relatively new standard 802.16a.


Law practice and legal education are facing fundamental changes. Many assume that these changes will force law schools to give up on theory and focus more on training students for the practice of law. However, this essay shows that the future may be more uncertain and complex. The only thing that is certain is that law schools may face, for the first time, the need to provide the type of education the market demands rather than serving lawyers' and law professors' preferences. Legal educators must respond to these demands by serving not just the existing U.S. market for legal services but also a global market for legal information. This may call for training in some, but not all, of the theories and disciplines that have been developing in law schools.


In this paper, we propose a general formulation for kernel nonnegative matrix factorization with flexible kernels. Specifically, we propose the Gaussian nonnegative matrix factorization (GNMF) algorithm by using the Gaussian kernel in the framework. Different from a recently developed polynomial NMF (PNMF), GNMF finds basis vectors in the kernel-induced feature space and the computational cost is independent of input dimensions. Furthermore, we prove the convergence and nonnegativity of decomposition of our method. Extensive experiments compared with PNMF and other NMF algorithms on several face databases, validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Nowadays filtration processes are still monitored with conventional analyses like turbidity measurements and, in case of flocculation-filtration, with phosphorus analyses. Turbidity measurements have the disadvantage that breakthrough of small flocs cannot be displayed, because of the blindness regarding changes in the mass distributions. Additional particle volume distributions calculated from particle size distributions (PSDs) would provide a better assessment of filtration performance. Lab-scale experiments have been executed on a flocculation-filtration column fed with effluent from WWTP Beverwijk in The Netherlands. Besides particle counting at various sampling points, the effect of sample dilution on the accuracy of PSD measurements has been reflected. It was found that the dilution has a minor effect on PSD of low turbidity samples such as process filtrate. The correlation between total particle counts, total particle volume (TPV) and total particle surface is not high but is at least better for diluted measurements of particles in the range 2-10μm. Furthermore, possible relations between floc-bound phosphorus and TPV removal had been investigated. A good correlation coefficient is found for TPV removal versus floc-bound phosphorus removal for the experiments with polyaluminiumchloride and the experiments with single denitrifying and blank filtration.


Ahmadiyah, a minority religious community that identifies with Islam, has existed in Indonesia since the 1920s. Over the last few years, however, Ahmadiyah has experienced increasing tension and hostility from conservative, orthodox Islamic groups in Indonesia. On 1 June 2008, this culminated in a violent attack on supporters of Ahmadiyah by militant Islamic groups at the National Monument (known as 'Monas') in Jakarta. Shortly after this incident, the Indonesian government issued Joint Decree 3/2008 as a 'warning' to followers of Ahmadiyah, though stopping short of an outright ban. This paper analyses the origins of Ahmadiyah and its formation in Indonesia in particular. It examine the efforts of three key actors pushing for a total ban on Ahmadiyah in Indonesia: the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI); the Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society (known as 'Bakor Pakem'); and radical Islamic groups. The author argues that although the Indonesian government compromised by issuing a 'warning' (not a total ban), and by prosecuting two of the leading perpetrators of the Monas incident, this has only created confusion about the status of Ahmadiyah in Indonesia and has failed to prevent further violent attacks against them.


Bureau of Sewerage of Tokyo Metropolitan Government has a radar rain gauge system, 'Tokyo Amesh'. Rainfall information system is used to make the operation of pump stations and wastewater treatment plants more efficiently. The rain radars of Tokyo Amesh have worked for a long time. We are replacing the rain radars because of the aging of the facilities. Observations of additional meteorological parameters with the newly developed radars would increase the precision and relativity. As future efforts, methods to rapidly detect urban heavy rain and to decrease cost of maintenance of ground rain gauges will be addressed.


BACKGROUND
Although animal studies have indicated that general anesthetics may result in widespread apoptotic neurodegeneration and neurocognitive impairment in the developing brain, results from human studies are scarce. We investigated the association between exposure to surgery and anesthesia for inguinal hernia repair in infancy and subsequent academic performance.

METHODS
Using Danish birth cohorts from 1986-1990, we compared the academic performance of all children who had undergone inguinal hernia repair in infancy to a randomly selected, age-matched 5% population sample. Primary analysis compared average test scores at ninth grade adjusting for sex, birth weight, and paternal and maternal age and education. Secondary analysis compared the proportions of children not attaining test scores between the two groups.

RESULTS
From 1986-1990 in Denmark, 2,689 children underwent inguinal hernia repair in infancy. A randomly selected, age-matched 5% population sample consists of 14,575 individuals. Although the exposure group performed worse than the control group (average score 0.26 lower; 95% CI, 0.21-0.31), after adjusting for known confounders, no statistically significant difference (-0.04; 95% CI, -0.09 to 0.01) between the exposure and control groups could be demonstrated. However, the odds ratio for test score nonattainment associated with inguinal hernia repair was 1.18 (95% CI, 1.04-1.35). Excluding from analyses children with other congenital malformations, the difference in mean test scores remained nearly unchanged (0.05; 95% CI, 0.00-0.11). In addition, the increased proportion of test score nonattainment within the exposure group was attenuated (odds ratio = 1.13; 95% CI, 0.98-1.31).

CONCLUSION
In the ethnically and socioeconomically homogeneous Danish population, we found no evidence that a single, relatively brief anesthetic exposure in connection with hernia repair in infancy reduced academic performance at age 15 or 16 yr after adjusting for known confounding factors. However, the higher test score nonattainment rate among the hernia group could suggest that a subgroup of these children are developmentally disadvantaged compared with the background population.


The author examines the context and experiences of Shan migrants from Burma regarding men who work in male host clubs in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. While Shan commercial sex workers in Thailand often have cultural understandings of gender and sexual categories in the Shan and Burmese context, their direct experience in performing sexuality takes place in Thailand, and is economically mediated. This study seeks to answer two questions. First, to what extent do migrant Shans ascribe specific sexual and gender comportment to Thai cultural practices? Second, how might engagement with a gay commercial sex industry affect how these Shan men remember and relate to gender and sexual categories back in the Shan state in Burma? As ethnographic evidence shows, Shan male sex workers are able to adapt to certain cultural aspects of Thai ke [gay] identity, but they posit their own masculinity against former familiar categories of sexuality and gender.


Imagine that you are a lesbian attending graduate school in a state that has not legalized same-sex marriage. Your school offers university housing, but it has a policy that restricts housing to students, their spouses, and their children. You apply for couples' housing for yourself and your partner of five years. The school rejects your application, stating that you and your partner are not eligible for married couples' housing because you are not married to each other. Do you have a legal claim of housing discrimination? And if so, on what theory? The answers to these questions are still unsettled. This Article defines marital status discrimination and sexual orientation discrimination in the housing context, and it explores how courts have applied two inconsistent and philosophically distinct standards in determining whether such discrimination has occurred. While analysis of marital status and sexual orientation in the housing context is highly fact-specific, the judicial approach to these issues has led to the confusion and conflation of sexual orientation discrimination and marital status discrimination. In their attempts to disentangle the intersection of sexual orientation and marital status, courts have all but admitted that refusing gay and lesbian couples the right to marry constitutes sexual orientation discrimination under a disparate impact theory. This Article also posits that when an unmarried same-sex couple is denied a housing opportunity, the discriminator's motivation is not always clear. The discriminator may simply deny discriminating altogether, or alternatively may justify his or her actions in one of two ways: either he or she discriminated because the couple was unmarried or because they were presumably not heterosexual. Where state law provides protections for only one of these classes (either unmarried persons or non-heterosexuals) or for neither, unmarried same-sex couples are subject to the whims of discriminatory pretext. Because the Fair Housing Act does not protect against either sexual orientation housing discrimination or marital status housing discrimination, state law governs these cases, and thus housing providers in the thirty-five states that protect only one or neither of these statuses avoid legal consequences for their discrimination by recharacterizing the facts to fit the permissible form of discrimination. Next, this Article briefly examines the most recent attempts to provide federal protections against both sexual orientation housing discrimination and marital status housing discrimination, and it discusses the implications of those protections. Finally, the Article is supplemented with an appended table that illustrates two original fifty-state surveys, detailing which state housing laws protect against marital status discrimination and which states protect against sexual orientation discrimination, complete with citations to the relevant provisions in each state's housing code. The table also provides information on which states issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, which states recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages, which states grant the rights and benefits of marriage to instate domestic partnerships and civil unions, and which states grant the rights and benefits of marriage to out-of-state domestic partnerships and civil unions. Analysis of how those rules of recognition affect this intersection is beyond the scope of this Article--although it is an important observation that only the exceptional same-sex couple would seek a marriage, a domestic partnership, or a civil union solely to foreclose any potential housing discrimination against them. I. Key Terms: Defining the Intersection Between Marital Status Discrimination and Sexual Orientation Discrimination To better understand how sexual orientation discrimination and marital status discrimination intersect, it is helpful first to provide some context and answer some basic overarching questions. …


Bone marrow cells from C3H (H-2k) mice, a strain that does not exhibit cross-reactive lysis of trinitrophenyl (TNP)-modified allogeneic targets, were allowed to mature in heavily irradiated (B6 times C3H)F1 (H-2b/k) recipients, an F1 hybrid that does demonstrate cross-reactive lysis. Spleen cells from these chimeric mice were removed after 3-4 mo and by H-2 typing shown to be of C3H origin. These cells were found to be tolerant to B6 alloantigens by mixed lymphocyte reaction and cell- mediated cytotoxicity and, when stimulated in vitro with TNP-modified syngeneic cells, now cross-reactively lysed TNP-modified allogeneic targets. These studies demonstrate that the host environment where T cells differentiate influences the specificity of the primary cytolytic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response to TNP-modified syngeneic antigens.


Based on six years of follow-up evaluations of the Framingham, Mass, men and women aged 49 to 82 years, it was found that a low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration was associated with a low incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk but with a statistically significant excess of stroke incidence in women and of deaths from non-CHD causes in both sexes. There was no suggestion that an elevated HDL cholesterol level was associated with an excess incidence of any of the cardiovascular end points considered or of death. An inverse relation of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level with CHD and its major consequences, CHD death and congestive heart failure, was observed. Triglyceride determinations seem to add little information respecting cardiovascular risk to that elicited from HDL and LDL cholesterol and other known cardiovascular risk factors. While the relation of HDL and LDL cholesterol with CHD is paralleled by findings from a variety of sources, the inverse relation of LDL cholesterol with stroke in women and with death from non-CHD causes requires additional confirmation and exploration.


From some previous NMR studies water-ethanol-LiCI ternary system (the system) is known for its constituent species exhibiting strong mutual interactions which also lead to modification of the internal dynamics of ethanol molecules. Features of the system are miscibility of the solvent components over the entire composition range, considerable high solubility of LiCI and sustainability over fairly wide temperature range; all of these features make the system important for chemistry, industry, chemical engineering and technology etc. With the above considerations, the present work is devoted to systematic study of some thermodynamic and transport properties of the system over its entire mixture composition, LiCI concentration upto almost maximum solubility and within a range well above and below the ambient temperature (from -5 °c to +50 °C). The properties determined include density, excess molar volume (of the solvent mixtures), viscosity and electrical conductivity. To allow rational comparisons of various behaviours between solutions having different solvent compositions, temperature independent aquamolality (m, moles of solute per 55.5 moles of solvent) scale has been mostly employed but molarity has been also determined for incorporation wherever required. The measured values showed good agreement with those reported in literature. The investigation has been supported by the proton NMR spectra, and visible region spectra of some selected solutions after adding trace amount of CoC12.

Density of the system showed quite normal behaviour with LiCI concentration and temperature; density could be very well fitted to second order polynomials in m. Density index, g(x1) has been introduced in the present work as an important solution parameter; for a solution prepared in the solvent mixture having water mole fraction x1, g(X1) can reproduce density of the system at any given m and temperature employing the solvent density, Po(X1, T). Excess molar volumes of the solvent mixtures determined at all the temperatures show minima for X1 = 0.6 which indicate that temperature variation within the investigated range causes no substantial change in the overall solvent structure. Behaviour of density with temperature for the entire system has been explained through the temperature average co-efficient of thermal expansion,I².

A cubic equation in m was required to fit the viscosity data of the system over the temperature range of investigation. Since most of the viscosity models are restricted to one component solvents, ( quite) dilute solutions and single temperatures, an attempt was made to fit the data to a more versatile Lencka's model (1998); this model explains the viscosity change (compared to the solvent mixture) as sum of contributions arising from various kinds of interactions operating within the solution. Experimental results of the solvent mixtures and comparatively dilute solutions (m ≤2) could be reproduced by the model quite well at all the temperatures but strong deviations were observed at higher LiCl concentrations. However, by incorporating a temperature dependent dynamic term (∆I·D) fairly good agreement between the experimental and calculated data has been achieved even for the concentrated solutions. Temperature dependence of viscosity could be explained by the Arrhenius equation involving single flow activation energy for each system. For a given solvent (mixture) the activation energy always increased with LiCI concentration however, the increase was more prominent for the ethanol-rich mixtures. Activation energy-solvent composition plot passes through a maximum at water mole fraction X1 = 0.8.

Plots of electrical conductivity against m for all the cases (for various mixtures and at different temperatures) could be fitted to third order polynomials but the coefficient of the cubic term was always negligible; these plots also passed through maxima which shifted from 4.5 m to 6 m for water rich mixtures. For the sake of brevity this behaviour has been explained by a simple model in which the conductivity at any point is considered to be comprising of two sets oppositely acting terms, namely Kup and Kdown. Whereas the first term (Kup) is directly related to the number density of the ionic species and should increase with m, Kdown has been considered to include contributions arising due to ion-ion interactions, sharing of solvation spheres by the same solvent molecules, electrostriction etc. Subsequently, these two terms have been compared with the coefficients of second order polynomial in m. Casteel & Amis equation for KlKmax as a function of m could be employed over the entire composition, temperature, concentration ranges. Temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity has been correlated with the thermal co-efficient of conductivity, O® which increased with the salt concentration and passed through a maximum at X1= 0.8. The Walden product (∆oxI·o) also passed through maximum at X1≈ 0.9 indicating that the solvent viscosity determined the conductivity when the solvates were mutually interacting. However, the Fuoss-Hsia equation has been used for the higher LiCI concentrations to incorporate the interactions between solvates as they tend to approach each other. Also from the molar conductivity data at different temperatures, so-called conductivity activation energies have been determined by employing the Arrhenius relationship; the activation energy showed a steady increase with water mole fraction for relatively dilute solutions and passed through a maximum at X1 ≈0.8.

Visible region spectra measured after adding trace amount of CoC12 indirectly demonstrated selective solvation of Li+ by the water molecules. The complexes of C02+ in pure water and ethanol exhibited the absorbance-I»max at the known positions i.e. 520 and 670 nm, respectively. However, when added to 6 m or higher LiCI solutions in water (having no ethanol), a prominent broad peak around 670 nm was also observed indicating that C1- too started taking part in the cation solvation at higher electrolyte concentrations. This ion-pair formation is also responsible for the decrease of electrical conductivity beyond the maxima. The 1H-NMR spectra have demonstrated increase of the intermolecular proton exchange rate and decrease of the proton residence time on the ethanol molecule with addition of water. Collapse of the OH-triplet and coalescence of the OH-water peaks in the solvent mixtures were observed at X1≈0.3 (דres-value of 80 ms) and X1≈ 0.7 (Kexch= 107 s-1) respectively; the later also happened to be the composition at which minimum of the excess molar volume occurred. Concentration of LiCI did affect the spectrum; in this regard one significant finding of the present study is that water and LiCI work in opposite directions. As Li+ -ions are preferentially solvated by water molecules hence the phenomenon should make water molecules less available for exchange with alcohol molecules.


Muslims of Myamar have been living in the country for more than one thousand years;
yet their identities remained unanswered. Their lives are full of challenges and the
frequent clashes between them and the Buddhists signify an uncomfortable atmosphere.
Their life is an example of identity crisis prevailing in our contemporary world. Currently,
their economic life, educational level, social, religious and political status is below the
recognized standard. The alarming numbers of poor, jobless, destitute, uneducated,
illiterate, refugees and locally displaced Muslims are on the rise. Once the social and
moral values are at desperate level, maintaining Islamic identity for the Muslims of
Myanmar is unthinkable. Since 2012 Myanmar has shown its desire to participate
in democratization whereas many reform activities have taken place. However, the
contributions of Muslims are still unacknowledged whether they themselves are
inactive or are put aside. The current violence pertaining to Rohingya in the western
part of Myanmar highlighted again the ailing episode of Muslims. The violence is seen
frequently in Myanmar. It is suggested that the reason of affliction against the Muslims
is Islamophobia. This book suggests to the Muslims of Myanmar that they need to
solicit the minority status on the basis of religion so as to officially claim the right of
minority as well as to enhance their literacy rate and educational standards, particularly
in tertiary education by which they can be considered as an indispensable community in
the process of democratization of the nation paving the way for ending disputes and see
prosperity of the Muslims again.


A diagnosis of prostate cancer occurs within a haze of medical uncertainty that is probably unparalleled in addressing other types of cancer. While the disease remains localized, physicians (or their patients) may choose one of three primary approaches: radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy, or "watchful waiting," but there is wide disagreement regarding their relative merits. Decision-making is complicated further by the various side effects of treatment, among them impotence and incontinence, and in the case of watchful waiting, the risk of unexpectedly rapid growth of cancer cells. Statistics show that until recently prostate cancer struck mostly men in their late 60s or 70s, and many of these men simply lived out their lives, eventually dying with prostate cancer but not of it. Now, because of the PSA test, which allows earlier detection of prostate cancer (in younger men). Younger men, however, cannot reasonably choose to ignore it; they must make agonizingly difficult decisions regarding treatment, and later, should impotence or incontinence occur, they experience even greater difficulty in dealing with it. Gray, who has worked extensively with victims of prostate cancer, knows about the emotional suffering that many men experience, even those who's treatment is medically successful. He draws upon hundreds of interviews and participation in support groups for the material that went into the writing of Prostate Tales, a collection of brief dramatizations depicting men in various stages of coping with their fear or with the side effects of surgery and other procedures. Among the problems with which Ben grapples is the embarrassment experienced by many men with prostate cancer: "I'm not sure I want to be wandering around with everybody knowing I'm a eunuch." Maurice is fearful of losing his sex drive, a prospect that is "almost as scary as the thought of the cancer coming back." Carl fears death itself: "It's embarrassing, this unexpected weakness, this desire of an old man to live forever." Larry tries to reassure Ben: "Isn't it better to be alive, even if you pee yourself or you only have five percent of your erection?" John is recuperating after surgery, and he is "pretty much OK" except that he "can't drink beer and play golf at the same time." Fred confesses that "...there are moments that I can hardly stand it, the fact that we can't make love the way we used to." One by one Gray's tales reveal the distinctiveness and the similarities of each man's struggle. In a society in which even a physician is sometimes heard to speak evasively of the genital and rectal areas as "down there," Prostate Tales makes a strong case for plain talk. (Janaury) HAROLD CORDRY (December 16, 2002)


nonlinMIP provides experiments that account for state-dependent regional and global climate responses. The experiments have two main applications: (1) to focus understanding of responses to CO2 forcing on states relevant to specific policy or scientific questions (e.g. change under low-forcing scenarios, the benefits of mitigation, or from past cold climates to the present day), or (2) to understand the state dependence (non-linearity) of climate change – i.e. why doubling the forcing may not double the response. State dependence (non-linearity) of responses can be large at regional scales, with important implications for understanding mechanisms and for general circulation model (GCM) emulation techniques (e.g. energy balance models and pattern-scaling methods). However, these processes are hard to explore using traditional experiments, which explains why they have had so little attention in previous studies. Some single model studies have established novel analysis principles and some physical mechanisms. There is now a need to explore robustness and uncertainty in such mechanisms across a range of models (point 2 above), and, more broadly, to focus work on understanding the response to CO2 on climate states relevant to specific policy/science questions (point 1). nonlinMIP addresses this using a simple, small set of CO2forced experiments that are able to separate linear and nonlinear mechanisms cleanly, with a good signal-to-noise ratio – while being demonstrably traceable to realistic transient scenarios. The design builds on the CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) and CMIP6 DECK (Diagnostic, Evaluation and Characterization of Klima) protocols, and is centred around a suite of instantaneous atmospheric CO2 change experiments, with a ramp-up–ramp-down experiment to test traceability to gradual forcing scenarios. In all cases the models are intended to be used with CO2 concentrations rather than CO2 emissions as the input. The understanding gained will help interpret the spread in policy-relevant scenario projections. Here we outline the basic physical principles behind nonlinMIP, and the method of establishing traceability from abruptCO2 to gradual forcing experiments, before detailing the experimental design, and finally some analysis principles. The test of traceability from abruptCO2 to transient experiments is recommended as a standard analysis within the CMIP5 and CMIP6 DECK protocols.