The dimensional stability of cotton weft knitted fabrics has a significant effect on their quality. The characteristics of yarn, the characteristics of knitwear structure, and conditions of technological processes influence geometrical and dimensional stability of knitwear's. The goal of this work was to investigate the dimensional stability and seam quality of single jersey knitted fabrics. The effects of loop length, yarn twist factor and the number of washing cycles were intended to be studied. The experimental results were assessed using two way– Anova statistical analysis. The findings of this study revealed that both loop length and number of washing cycles were found to have a positive influence on dimensional stability of the fabrics at all levels of twist factors. It was also found that loop length and yarn twist factor had a positive effect on seam elongation. On the contrary, both factors have a negative influence on seam strength and efficiency. [Gadah Ali Abou Nassif. Dimensional Stability and Sewing Performance of Single Jersey Knitted Fabrics. Life Sci J 2013;10(1):1181-1187] (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 182


On the heels of widespread patient protection legislation in the states, the managed care industry abandoned or greatly scaled back the core elements of gate-keeping, utilization management, and financial incentives, which are the very targets of this legislation. This article explores whether, and to what extent, the industry's abrupt change in course can be attributed to these laws. Based on extensive interviews with key informants in six representative states, the article concludes that these laws were not the primary driver of changes in managed care practices. However, patient protection laws interacted with other social and market forces, through complex forms of feedback and reinforcement, to bring about more thoroughgoing change than would have otherwise occurred.


What is the effect of imports on productivity? To answer this question, we estimate a structural model of producers using product-level import data for a panel of Hungarian manufacturing firms from 1992 to 2001. In our model with heterogenous firms, producers choose to import or purchase domestically varieties of intermediate inputs. Imports affect firm productivity through expanding variety as well as improved input quality. The model leads to a production function where the total factor productivity of a firm depends on the share of inputs imported. To estimate this import-augmented production function, we extend the Olley and Pakes (1996) procedure for a setting with an additional state variable, the number of input varieties imported. Our results suggest that the role of imports is both statistically and economically significant. Imports are responsible for 30% of the growth in aggregate total factor productivity in Hungary during the 1990s. About 50% of this effect is through imports advancing firm level productivity, while the remaining 50% comes from the reallocation of capital and labor to importers.


This article studies the relation between the skewness of commodity futures returns and expected returns. A trading strategy that takes long positions in commodity futures with the most negative skew and shorts those with the most positive skew generates significant excess returns that remain after controlling for exposure to well-known risk factors. A tradeable skewness factor explains the cross-section of commodity futures returns beyond exposures to standard risk premia. The impact that skewness has on future returns is explained by investors' preferences for skewness under cumulative prospect theory and selective hedging practices.


A growing economic literature studies the optimal design of social insurance systems and the empirical identification of welfare-relevant externalities. In this paper, we test whether mandating employee access to paid sick leave has reduced influenza-like-illness (ILI) transmission rates as well as pneumonia and influenza (P&I) mortality rates in the United States. Using uniquely compiled data from administrative sources at the state-week level from 2010 to 2018 along with difference-in-differences methods, we present quasi-experimental evidence that sick pay mandates have causally reduced doctor-certified ILI rates at the population level. On average, ILI rates fell by about 11 percent or 290 ILI cases per 100,000 patients per week in the first year.


The new edition of this best-selling reference offers complete coverage of all aspects of the Red Hat Fedora and Enterprise Linux distribution. Full details on everything from installation and configuration to system administration and server management of Enterprise Linux--with specifics on the Linux Kernel 2.6--are included. The new IPv6 Protocol, including the network security features of IPSEC and Virtual Private Networks, are also covered. The DVD contains the entire Red Hat Fedora Core distribution--normally available on multiple CD-ROMs.


Prior to the arrival of American Sign Language (ASL) in Hawai'i, there was an indigenous sign language in use by the islands' Deaf population. There are few firm facts about it, except that it is now almost extinct. It was probably the result of Deaf people from various communities (native and ethnic plantation villages) recognizing their commonality and sharing signs. Then it was strengthened following the establishment of a Deaf school in 1914. Even through a period of strong oralism, the old sign language was developed and used by students at the Diamond Head School (now Hawai'i School for the Deaf and Blind) but after ASL was introduced in 1941, ASL was promoted as superior and the old sign language has gradually been lost. Yet, there are a few old timers who remember and use it, mostly mixed with ASL. Its alphabet is different from that of ASL. There are many lexical variants from ASL, as well as features that we hope to describe.

The goals of the project are to 1) obtain knowledge on the history of the old sign language that predated American Sign Language on the islands; 2) document what remains of it; and, in the process 3) learn about the lives of the Deaf users of the old sign language. Fieldwork was conducted on four islands (Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Big Island) during 13-31 August, 2012. Nineteen older Deaf individuals participated in videotaped life story interviews; one group discussion was conducted; and two adult CODAs (hearing children of Deaf parents) were interviewed. Analysis is in progress. The paper will provide the background to the study, methods, and initial findings. Methodological issues encountered in the field will also be discussed.

The project is jointly funded by the Hawai'i Council for the Humanities, Gallaudet University, and UH-Manoa Dept. of Linguistics.


This paper investigates the relationship between trade unions and financial performance using British establishment-level data in 1990, following the anti-union legislation of the 1980s. We estimate the overall impact of manual union recognition in 1990 to be roughly half what it was in 1984, suggesting that unions are less successful in extracting a share of the quasi-rents for their members than they used to be. Within this overall average we find the effect in establishment with a closed shop or where management recommends union membership to have remained roughly constant, but that the effect in the remainder of unionised establishments has collapsed completely. In addition to a closed shop or management recommendation, we find that a high relative employment share of the 4-digit industry, taken to reflect product market power, is also required for there to be an effect. Within this group we then find the effect to be roughly double if unions are able to limit managerial freedom to allocate tasks. The latter group (with a closed a closed shop or management recommendation, a higher relative employment share and union limits on managerial freedom) constitute about 1 in 10 of the establishments with manual union recognition.


Written for international trade lawyers, practitioners and students from common and civil law countries, this casebook is an excellent starting point for learning about the CISG, providing an article-by-article analysis of the Convention. The commentary on each article is accompanied by extracts from cases and associated comparative materials, as well as references to important trade usages such as the INCOTERMS® 2010. The book features a selection of the most significant cases, each of which has been abridged to enable the reader to focus on its essential features and the relevant questions arising from it. The case extracts are accompanied by a comprehensive overview of parallel provisions in other international instruments, uniformprojects and domestic laws.The analyses, cases, texts and questions are intended to aid readers in their comparative law and international sales law studies. They are designed to draw attention to the particular issuessurrounding specific CISG provisions and to provoke careful consideration of possible solutions.The book is a reference work as well as an introduction to the individual problem areas. In particular, it acts as a preparatory work for the Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. The inclusion of sample questions and answers also makes it particularly helpful for self-study purposes. The 1st Edition was published by Routledge Cavendish in 2007.


Sound scattering by a Janus sphere type is considered. The sphere has two surface zones: a soft surface of zero acoustic impedance and a hard surface of infinite acoustic impedance. The zones are arranged such that axisymmetry of the sound field is preserved. The equivalent source method is used to compute the sound field. It is shown that, by varying the sizes of the soft and hard zones on the sphere, a significant reduction can be achieved in the scattered acoustic power and upstream directivity when the sphere is near a free surface and its soft zone faces the incoming wave and vice versa for a hard ground. In both cases the size of the sphere's hard zone is much larger than that of its soft zone. The boundary location between the two zones coincides with the location of a zero pressure line of the incoming standing sound wave, thus masking the sphere within the sound field reflected by the free surface or the hard ground. The reduction in the scattered acoustic power diminishes when the sphere is placed in free space. Variations of the scattered acoustic power and directivity with the sound frequency are also given and discussed.


Over the past decade, a growing number of scholars in sport psychology and sport sociology have begun forging inter- and transdiciplinary research lines that attempt to follow Ingham, Blissmer, and Wells Davidson's (1998) call for a coming together of the sport sociological and sport psychological imaginations. This paper presents the results of a thematic analysis of the stories of five early-to midcareer academics who have lived at/through the boundaries of these two sub disciplines of Kinesiology. Following an introduction in which we attempt to situate the two subdisciplines within the larger field of Kinesiology, we present a thematic analysis of the five individual stories, and attempt to tie them to the politicized boundaries and related spaces of tensions faced by those wishing to do the kind of interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary work advocated recently by the emerging areas of cultural sport psychology (CSP) and physical cultural studies (PCS).


The financial meltdown of 2007 and the subsequent Great Recession have led many people to believe that corporations are on the wrong track. Instead of pursuing primarily shareholder value, corporations should, the argument goes, strive to contribute to the public welfare. This point of view has served to fuel interest in a relatively new type of corporations -- social enterprises. Indeed, some commentators have argued that we are now "in the midst of a historical movement in which some of the core ideas of business, and of the law that governs it, are being reconsidered" (Greenfield, 2014,1). This social enterprises movement aims at "overturning the hegemony of shareholder value" (Nocera, 2012, A19).Social enterprises may take a variety of legal forms (limited liability companies, nonprofit entities, etc.). This paper focuses primarily upon one particular new form increasingly popular within the United States -- the "benefit corporation." I evaluate whether U.S. benefit corporations are likely to realize as much social benefit as is frequently claimed. Part One of the paper describes the features of benefit corporations as they are constituted in many states. Part Two lays out the benefits being extolled by supporters of this U.S. legal corporate form. Part Three challenges these claims and adduces reasons for doubting whether benefit corporations will prove to be as socially useful as they claim to be. Part Four concludes with some suggestions for future lines of research into the nature of the firm and benefit corporations in particular.


This article explores the sentencing response to defendants who have Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). FASD is the umbrella term for a range of effects that result from exposure to maternal alcohol consumption during gestation. Many who have this disorder have difficulty linking their actions to consequences, controlling impulses and remembering things and thus a diagnosis of FASD raises particular issues in sentencing. This article overviews the effects of FASD and the difficulties associated with its diagnosis. It then goes on to examine the appropriate aims of sentencing in FASD cases and addresses the question of whether, and if so in what circumstances, FASD should be perceived as a mitigating factor. The article concludes with a discussion of appropriate penalties for defendants who are diagnosed with FASD and makes some recommendations for increased education about the condition and increased access to resources for diagnosis and response to defendants diagnosed with FASD within the criminal justice system.


This guide is based on a presentation given by Lydia Craemer at a workshop organised by the Organisation of South African Law Libraries (OSALL) in 2014. The guide has been compiled for new candidate attorneys who may find that the online resources that they accessed at university are not as comprehensive as those they now access at their employers. This guide is also for legal professionals who may not be aware of what has become available for free online over the past ten years. We also alert legal professionals to the hazards they may encounter when using the internet to find free legal information. Using Google and government websites is usually not a good idea unless you can definitely tell whether or not the information provided is up to date and authoritative.


It is likely that in the near future, energy engineering will be required to help society adapt to permanently constrained fuel supplies, constrained green house gas emissions, and electricity supply systems running with minimal capacity margins. The goal of this research is to develop an analytical approach for adaptive energy systems engineering within the context of resource and environmental constraints. This involves assessing available energy resources, environmental and social issues, and economic activities. The approach is applied to a relatively simple case study on Rotuma, an isolated Pacific Island society. The case study is based on new data from field work. A spectrum of development options is identified for Rotuma and a reference energy demand is calculated for each representative level. A spectrum of conceptual reference energy system models is generated for each energy service level with a range of renewable energy penetration. The outcome is a matrix of energy system investment and resource utilization for the range of energy service levels. These models are then used for comparative risk assessment. The result is an easily understood visual based investment and risk assessment for both development and adaptation to constrained resource availability. The results show a clear development opportunity space for Rotuma where needs and services are in balance with investment, local resource availability and environmental constraints.


In patch-based object recognition, there are two important issues on the codebook generation: (I) resolution: a coarse codebook lacks sufficient discriminative power, and an over-fine one is sensitive to noise; (2) codeword selection: non-discriminative codewords not only increase the codebook size, but also can hurt the recognition performance. To achieve a discriminative codebook for better recognition, this paper argues that these two issues are strongly related and should be solved as a whole. In this paper, a multi-resolution codebook is first designed via hierarchical clustering. With a reasonable size, it includes all of the codewords which cross a large number of resolution levels. More importantly, it forms a diverse candidate codeword set that is critical to codeword selection. A Boosting feature selection approach is modified to select the discriminative codewords from this multi-resolution code-book. By doing so, the obtained codebook is composed of the most discriminative codewords culled from different levels of resolution. Experimental study demonstrates the better recognition performance attained by this codebook.


Corporate owned real estate is one of the world's largest asset classes. Yet the US market and later on the European market has come towards a trend of refining businesses and using corporate real estate as a financing alternative by performing sale and leaseback transactions. This paper aims to complement and interlink research on event studies focusing on corporate real estate sale and leaseback and studies focusing on measuring risk and performance with variations in corporate real estate holdings. The study is delimited to companies publicly traded on the Swedish stock exchange. A quantitative survey has been conducted in which data from 23 observations has been analyzed. A positive relationship between stock performance and corporate real estate sale and leaseback transactions has been found. It is also noted that companies that intend to use the disengaged capital to focus on core business show an increase in systematic risk. Furthermore an increase in stock performance is found when transaction value to firm value is high. Investors and corporate managers are encouraged to evaluate possibilities for their corporate real estate holdings since the results indicate that the diversification should take place on the investment level rather than on the corporate level.


Using drawings to bridge the communication barriers between adults and children, this article looks at examples of fieldwork with socioeconomically disadvantaged young families in Denmark with a parent who has multiple diagnoses. Studies suggest a link between a disadvantaged socioeconomic childhood and a predisposition to illness and disease in later life and that children of ill parents tend to be ill more often and be lonelier than their peers with healthy parents. These findings are underpinned by other studies showing how children's social relations are vital to how they experience childhood and for their current and future health profile. Based on this knowledge, we wanted to study how children from families without a great deal of resources experience their family life but were faced with the dilemma of how to study this phenomenon. Reflection on these experiences shows that drawing is an effective method to facilitate conversations with children about difficult and taboo issues. The method's strength lies in the way it materializes thoughts and feelings, in the way it generates a sense of "community" between the child and the researcher, which is often challenging in ethnographic research involving children. With their drawings, the children were able to express feelings, sentiments, and experiences that were difficult to articulate in words but not equally difficult to recall as a physical and mental experience or to draw on paper. The drawings illustrated a shared desire among the children who took part in the study for normality, routine, and stability in the family. Please note that we emphasize the importance of including other fieldwork data when interpreting drawings and that it is essential to have a solid contextual understanding of the field.


Bearings-only target motion analysis is a nonlinear state estimation problem in which the noise corrupted angle of arrival measurements of an emitted signal are used to obtain estimates of the source's range, bearing, course, and speed. The estimation process is complicated by unusual observability properties that render the quality of the estimate highly dependent on both the measurement noise levels and the source-observer geometry. Solutions that use recursive Kalman filtering approach or batch-style algorithms have been reported. The nonlinear batch style estimators for this process require iterative solution methods and under certain scenarios can be sensitive to initial conditions. Pseudolinear solutions that alleviate some of the difficulties with the iterative batch algorithms have been proposed. Although early versions of the pseudolinear filter suffered from biased estimates, subsequent improvements appear to have reduced the bias problem. This paper discusses a new pseudolinear solution based on the observable parameters from individual data segments defined by periods of constant observer velocity (termed "legs"). This solution is a true closed-form solution to the bearings-only target motion analysis problem. Although theoretically interesting, the technique does suffer under conditions of poor observability. A practical pseudolinear estimate, that does not suffer from the same observability problems, is developed and related to the first solution. Algorithm performance results, obtained from computer simulation, are presented. For the scenarios examined, the technique provides good state estimates under conditions of high observability. As observability conditions deteriorate, the solution does develop biases. However, it may still be useful for initializing an iterative nonlinear batch-style estimation algorithm.


An iterative method for generating holograms on spatial light modulators is based on measuring the reconstructed complex image and on-line correction of the hologram. Apart from recording complex amplitude distributions, the new procedure may become a useful tool for applications such as adaptive optics and reconfigurable interconnection networks.


Objectives We assessed the current genetic evidence for the involvement of various cell types and tissue types in the aetiology of neurodegenerative diseases, especially in relation to the neuroinflammatory hypothesis of neurodegenerative diseases. Methods We obtained large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics from Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We used multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, as a positive control. We applied stratified LD score regression to determine if functional marks for cell type and tissue activity, and gene set lists were enriched for genetic heritability. We compared our results to those from two gene-set enrichment methods (Ingenuity Pathway Analysis and enrichr). Results There were no significant heritability enrichments for annotations marking genes active within brain regions, but there were for annotations marking genes active within cell-types that form part of both the innate and adaptive immune systems. We found this for MS (as expected) and also for AD and PD. The strongest signals were from the adaptive immune system (e.g. T cells) for PD, and from both the adaptive (e.g. T cells) and innate (e.g. CD14: a marker for monocytes, and CD15: a marker for neutrophils) immune systems for AD. Annotations from the liver were also significant for AD. Pathway analysis provided complementary results. Interpretation For Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, we found significant enrichment of heritability in annotations marking gene activity in immune cells.


In this paper, we examine the possibility of using a multilayered feedforward neural network to extract tokamak plasma parameters from magnetic measurements as an improvement over the traditional methodology of function parametrization. It is also used to optimize the number and locations of the magnetic diagnostics designed for the tokamak. This work has been undertaken with the specific purpose of application of the neural network technique to the newly designed (and currently under fabrication) Superconducting Steady-State Tokamak-1 (SST-1). The magnetic measurements will be utilized to achieve real-time control of plasma shape, position, and some global profiles. A trained neural network is tested, and the results of parameter identification are compared with function parametrization. Both techniques appear well suited for the purpose, but a definite improvement with neural networks is observed. Although simulated measurements are used in this work, confidence regarding the network performance with actual experimental data is ensured by testing the network's noise tolerance with Gaussian noise of up to 10%. Finally, three possible methods of ranking the diagnostics in decreasing order of importance are suggested, and the neural network is used to optimize the number and locations of the magnetic sensors designed for SST-1. The results from the three methods are compared with one another and also with function parametrization. Magnetic probes within the plasma-facing side of the outboard limiter have been ranked high. Function parametrization and one of the neural network methods show a distinct tendency to favor the probes in the remote regions of the vacuum vessel, proving the importance of redundancy. Fault tolerance of the optimized network is tested. The results obtained should, in the long run, help in the decision regarding the final effective set of magnetic diagnostics to be used in SST-1 for reconstruction of the control parameters.


Marine organisms play a crucial role in almost all biogeochemical processes that sustain the biosphere, and provide a variety of products (goods) and functions (services) which are essential to humankind's well-being. The ink gland of Loligo duvauceli consist of melanin granules in a viscous colourless medium. As the ink gland extracts is inspiring new idea for drug development this study focuses on the formulation of gel using ink of Indian squid Loligo duvauceli. The antimicrobial activity of ink gland extract was examined using Agar well diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus, E.coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aspergillus niger, Mucor.sp, Rhizopus.sp and Microsporum gypseum. For topical treatment of skin infections, a wide variety of vehicle ranging from solids, semisolids and liquid preparations is available to clinicians and patients. Within the major group of semisolid preparations, the use of transparent gels has expanded both in cosmetics and in pharmaceutical preparations. The gel was prepared using the dried ink gland extract from the Indian squid Loligo duvauceli and Carbapol-940(1%), propylene glycol 400, ethanol, methyl paraben, propyl paraben, EDTA, tri-ethanolamine and distilled water. The experiments was carriedout using ten (Each 5 for gel and cream) adult male Wister rats weighing about 150-200 kg to test for the skin irritation. The area on the back of each rat was shaved prior to the experiment. The shaved areas of skin of each rat was used for the topical application of developed gel.


Hairy cell leukemia variant (HCL-V) is a poorly described, rare B-cell lymphoproliferative disorder typically positive for CD103 and CD11c, while lacking CD25. Splenic marginal zone lymphomas (SMZL) also have this unusual phenotype in 15% to 25% of cases, have other overlapping clinical or morphologic features, and are more common than HCL-V. The purpose of our study was to better characterize HCL-V and determine whether most cases could be distinguished from SMZL. Cases with an HCL-V phenotype were identified from our flow cytometry service, and 10 were selected for further study based on bone marrow or splenic tissue availability. All cases had cytologic features consistent with HCL-V, and 9 of 10 patients had lymphocytosis. Bone marrow involvement was mostly interstitial and/or sinusoidal without lymphoid nodules. Coexpression of preswitched with postswitched heavy chain isotypes, an unusual feature of HCL, was seen in 2 of 4 cases. This study better defines HCL-V and establishes that most cases do not represent SMZL.


Abstract We analyze the global sea-level budget since 1850. Good estimates of sea-level contributions from glaciers and small ice caps, the Greenland ice sheet and thermosteric sea level are available over this period, though considerable scope for controversy remains in all. Attempting to close the sea-level budget by adding the components results in a residual displaying a likely significant trend of ~0.37mma–1 from 1955 to 2005, which can, however, be reasonably closed using estimated melting from unsurveyed high-latitude small glaciers and ice caps. The sea-level budget from 1850 is estimated using modeled thermosteric sea level and inferences from a small number of mountain glaciers. This longer-term budget has a residual component that displays a rising trend likely associated with the end of the Little Ice Age, with much decadal-scale variability that is probably associated with variability in the global water cycle, ENSO and long-term volcanic impacts.


Abstract This work analyses the use of artificial intelligence in education from an interdisciplinary point of view. New studies demonstrated that an AI can "deviate" and become potentially malicious, due to programmers' biases, corrupted feeds or purposeful actions. Knowing the pervasive use of artificial intelligence systems, including in the educational environment, it seemed necessary to investigate when and how an AI in education could deviate. We started with an investigation of AI and the risks it poses, wondering if they could be applied also to educative AI. We then reviewed the increasing literature that deals with the use of technology in the classroom, and the criticism about it, referring to specific use cases. Finally, as a result, the authors formulate questions and suggestions for further research, to bridge conceptual gaps underlined by lack of research.


ABSTRACT Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an ever-increasing role in the world economy; however, empirical research on many aspects of FDI is hindered by data problems. New data on FDI stocks, broken down according to the nationality of the ultimate owner company, are available for a few countries. Based on the example of three Central and Eastern European countries, we show that these new data give better results when analysing the main drivers of bilateral FDI, than the up till now available FDI data, which were broken down according to the nationality of the immediate investor firm. Furthermore, we present evidence on the main drivers of FDI into three former transition economies: distance, relative country size and trade costs.


In epidemiologic research, effective tools for study management improve data quality, staff/time efficiency, and cost-effectiveness and strengthen study outcomes. The Web-based data management system (DMS) is a relatively new technology in epidemiologic research which provides significant benefits of these kinds. This paper addresses the design, technical implementation, and field experiences of using a Web-based DMS for the GirlTalk for Teen Moms Study, conducted as part of the NIH-DC Initiative to Reduce Infant Mortality in Minority Populations in Washington, DC (the NIH-DC Initiative). RTI developed a Web-based DMS for the GirlTalk study to assist field staff from multiple sites in efficiently managing participant activities and data collection for this multiple component, multisite longitudinal study. The GirlTalk DMS monitors all activities for screening, recruitment, enrollment, in-depth interviews, randomization, interventions, repeated measures, outcomes, adverse events, and follow-up activities for each participant over the course of her 2-year enrollment in the study. Field staff from multiple sites use the DMS to manage more than 100 possible activities with a complex series of dependencies between activities that lead from one activity to the next. We compare the features of the Web-based DMS used for GirlTalk with those of a personal computer (PC)-based DMS used previously by this research group. Our comparison presents the efficiencies obtained, including real-time data access, simplified software management, data security, and anytime/anywhere access for all users. We outline cost considerations for the Web-based DMS versus the PC-based system in terms of study size, study duration, number of sites, and technical infrastructure. We illustrate several features of the DMS, including the role-based menu, events tracking, appointment scheduling, shared calendars, report generation, access to study documents, and uploading of data files to RTI International secure servers. Finally, we compare the value of the Web-based tool versus the PC-based tool for study management.


The sharing economy appears to have been growing rapidly. This paper contributes to the debate about its definition and measurement through an analysis of interviews conducted with UK platforms identifying themselves as part of the sharing economy. We conclude there are common features that enable a sufficiently clear definitional boundary, namely peer-to-peer digital matching and greater utilisation of under-used assets or skills. We find that the larger sharing economy platforms reduce costs and entry barriers for smaller platforms, contributing to a rich ecosystem. This implies a useful definition should include business-to-business peer-matching transactions, as well as business-to-consumer transactions. In addition to their economic impacts – transactions that would not otherwise occur, lower consumer prices and additional choice, the scope to earn additional income in a flexible manner, and the greater use of assets with spare capacity – all the interviewees expressed overt non-financial motivations, such as positive environmental impact, contributing to the community, and building trust. We argue this common intrinsic motivation means measurement of the sharing economy for some purposes should also include those platforms which enable free rather than monetary exchanges.


This paper investigates progress in reducing the high level of racial stratification of occupations after apartheid in South Africa. Empirical analysis, using census microdata and Labour Force Surveys, does not provide strong evidence of sustained or significant desegregation. Occupations remain highly segmented by race, with blacks disproportionally holding low-paying jobs (compared with whites). Less than a third of segregation and about half of racial stratification in occupational distribution are related to blacks' characteristics, especially their lower educational achievement, a gap that has been reduced over time. Segregation and stratification, however, remain when blacks and whites with similar characteristics are compared.


Background and Aim: Group B streptococcus(GBS)(Streptococcus agalactiae) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality of the newborn infant and accounted as a factor leading septicemia after birth in mothers. Infections in infants are usually acquired by contact with the genital tract of the mother during labor and delivery. So a rapid screening test for group B streptococcus that could accurately identify pregnant women who are carrying the bacteria at the time of delivery would obviate the need for prenatal screening. The goal of this study was molecular colo nization in the vaginal flora of pregnant women. Materials and Methods: Samples were taken from mucus of anal and vaginal of 250 pregnant women during 35-37 week ' s ingestion by swap. Samples were tested by standard culture using Todd Hewitt Broth and Blood Agar and also by PCR using cfb gene. Results: Culture identified 21(8.4%) women as carriage of GBS from 250 women but PCR assay could identify 24(9/6%) women. In comparison to culture results, sensitivity, NPV Specificity PPV of PCR Were(100%, 100% and 97%, 82%) respectively. The times that used for PCR assay and culture were 2h and 36h respectively. Conclusion: In conclusion, we found that group B streptococci can be detected rapidly and reliably by a PCR assay of combined vaginal and anal secretions from pregnant women at the time of delivery. Also this study shows that incidence of GBS is at high rate in Iranian pregnant woman, so we recommend screening of pregnant woman for detecting of GBS emphatically.


Summary.  Chronic dialysis patients are at risk of contracting hepatitis B virus infection and have a diminished immune response to hepatitis B virus vaccine. Recent reports support intradermal administration of hepatitis B virus vaccine in patients on regular dialysis but the efficacy and safety of this approach remain unclear. We conducted a meta‐analysis of randomized, controlled clinical trials to compare seroprotection achieved by intradermal vs intramuscular hepatitis B vaccine, in patients on maintenance dialysis. Meta‐analysis of data from 718 adults (14 trials) on long‐term dialysis demonstrated that intramuscular hepatitis B vaccination was less likely to achieve seroprotection than intradermal vaccination, the pooled odds ratio was 0.454 (95% CI, 0.3; 0.67), P = 0.001. The test of study heterogeneity was not significant. This difference did not persist during follow‐up (6–60 months after completing vaccine schedule), the pooled odds ratio being 0.718 (95% CI, 0.36; 1.47), NS. Some evidence of significant heterogeneity including publication bias was present but stratified analysis in various subgroups showed that this issue did not meaningfully change our results. Intradermal hepatitis B vaccine was safe and well tolerated. We conclude that intradermal hepatitis B vaccine induces a superior response rate compared to intramuscular route at completion of vaccine cycle, despite a lower vaccine dose. No significant advantage was found over longer follow‐up. It remains unclear whether the higher seroprotection rate achieved with intradermal route translates into a lower frequency of de novo hepatitis B among patients on maintenance dialysis.


This volume covers aspects of sudden infant and early childhood death, ranging from issues with parental grief, to the most recent theories of brainstem neurotransmitters. It also deals with the changes that have occurred over time with the definitions of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), SUDI (sudden unexpected death in infancy) and SUDIC (sudden unexpected death in childhood). The text will be indispensable for SIDS researchers, SIDS organisations, paediatric pathologists, forensic pathologists, paediatricians and families, in addition to residents in training programs that involve paediatrics. It will also be of use to other physicians, lawyers and law enforcement officials who deal with these cases, and should be a useful addition to all medical examiner/forensic, paediatric and pathology departments, hospital and university libraries on a global scale. Given the marked changes that have occurred in the epidemiology and understanding of SIDS and sudden death in the very young over the past decade, a text such as this is very timely and is also urgently needed. [Book synopsis]


If Informix is your database engine, this is your engine manual! There's practically no Informix problem you can't solve if you're willing to get "under the hood" and get dirty! That's the philosophy behind Informix Database Administrator's Survival Guide-and it's why the first edition became a worldwide Informix best-seller! Now, there's an all-new Second Edition, completely updated to reflect the new Informix 7 database engine. Better than ever, it contains over 150 pages of totally new debugging help-covering the Informix-Dynamic Server and Informix-Online database engines, utilities, SQL, ESQL/C code, and Informix's Windows NT products. With the guidance of expert Informix DBA Joe Lumbley, you'll master all this and more: How to perform Informix database tune-ups-step-by-step Making the most of logging, archiving, and client utilities Practical answers to dozens of the questions Informix DBAs ask most Leveraging the information stored in SMI tables Comprehensive coverage of the onstat-g commands Fundamental principles of Informix debugging Informix Database Administrator's Survival Guide, Second Edition brings together crucial information from thousands of pages of manuals-and make-or-break techniques that aren't in any manual. You'll discover all you need to know to successfully manage Informix-Dynamic Server on Windows NT and UNIX. You'll find exclusive coverage of Informix DBA tools and resources. You'll even learn how to manage the tough political and organizational issues that go with today's enterprise environments-all the "soft" skills you need to stay sane. Ask thousands of Informix DBAs: this is the one Informix book you simply don't want to be without!


We quantify the importance of non-monetary news in central bank communication. Using evidence from four major central banks and a comprehensive classification of events, we decompose news conveyed by central banks into news about monetary policy, economic growth, and separately, shocks to risk premia. Our approach exploits high-frequency comovement of stocks and interest rates combined with monotonicity restrictions across the yield curve. We find significant differences in news composition depending on the communication channel used by central banks. Non-monetary news prevails in about 40% of policy decision announcements by the Fed and the ECB, and this fraction is even higher for communications that provide context to policy decisions such as press conferences. We show that non-monetary news accounts for a significant part of financial markets' reaction during the financial crisis and in the early recovery, while monetary shocks gain importance since 2013.


Introduction. Part I: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Branding. Chapter 1: Branding ABCs. Chapter 2: When and How to Brand. Chapter 3: Heating Up Your Branding Iron. Part II: Building a Brand, Step-by-Step. Chapter 4: Finding a Niche You Can Fill: Researching Your Market. Chapter 5: Filling Your Niche: Positioning Your Brand. Chapter 6: Putting Your Brand into Words. Chapter 7: Naming Your Brand. Chapter 8: Designing Your Logo and Tagline. Part III: Launching Your New Brand. Chapter 9: Countdown to Takeoff: Planning Your Brand Launch. Chapter 10: Getting the Word Out with Public Relations. Chapter 11: Advertising and Promoting Your Brand. Chapter 12: Sending Your Brand into Cyberspace. Part IV: The Care and Feeding of Your Brand. Chapter 13: Suiting Up a Team of Brand Champions. Chapter 14: Getting Customers to Pledge Allegiance to Your Brand. Chapter 15: Valuing Your Brand. Chapter 16: Leveraging Brand Value with Brand Extensions and Licensing. Chapter 17: Revitalizing Your Brand. Part V: Protecting Your Brand. Chapter 18: Defending Your Brand. Chapter 19: Taking Action When Bad Things Happen to Good Brands. Part VI: The Part of Tens. Chapter 20: Ten Truths about Branding. Chapter 21: Ten Branding Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. Chapter 22: Ten Traits of the World's Most Valuable Brands. Appendix: Resources for Brand Managers. Index.


Summary The development of a life cycle structured cooperation platform is described, which is based on an integrated process and goal-oriented project model. Furthermore the structure of a life cycle oriented object structure model and its implementation in the platform are documented. The complete conceptual model is described, which represents the basis of a lifecycle-oriented structuring of the planning object and supports the thematic classification of the object and project management data .


BMPs are responsible for a wide range of developmental and biological effects. BMP receptors activate (phosphorylate) the Smad1/5/8 effectors, which then, form a complex with Smad4 and translocate to the nucleus where they function as transcription factors to initiate BMP specific downstream effects (1). Traditional immuno-fluorescence techniques with antibodies against phospho-Smad peptides exhibit low sensitivity, high background and offer gross quantification as they rely on intensity of the antibody signal particularly if this is photosensitive fluorescent. In addition, phospho-Smads may not all be in complex with Smad4 and engaged in active transcription. In situ PLA is a technology capable of detecting protein interactions with high specificity and sensitivity (2-4). This new technology couples antibody recognition with the amplification of DNA surrogate of the protein. It generates a localized, discrete signal in a form of spots revealing the exact position of the recognition event. The number of signals can be counted and compared providing a measurement. We applied in situ PLA, using the Duolink kit, with a combination of antibodies that allows the detection of the BMP signaling effectors phospho-Smad1/5/8 and Smad4 only when these are in proximity i.e. in a complex, which occurs only with signaling activation. This allowed for the first time, the visualization and measurement of endogenous BMP signaling with high specificity and sensitivity in a time course experiment under BMP4 stimulation.


We review recent progress in understanding the role of sea ice, land surface, stratosphere, and aerosols in decadal‐scale predictability and discuss the perspectives for improving the predictive capabilities of current Earth system models (ESMs). These constituents have received relatively little attention because their contribution to the slow climatic manifold is controversial in comparison to that of the large heat capacity of the oceans. Furthermore, their initialization as well as their representation in state‐of‐the‐art climate models remains a challenge. Numerous extraoceanic processes that could be active over the decadal range are proposed. Potential predictability associated with the aforementioned, poorly represented, and scarcely observed constituents of the climate system has been primarily inspected through numerical simulations performed under idealized experimental settings. The impact, however, on practical decadal predictions, conducted with realistically initialized full‐fledged climate models, is still largely unexploited. Enhancing initial‐value predictability through an improved model initialization appears to be a viable option for land surface, sea ice, and, marginally, the stratosphere. Similarly, capturing future aerosol emission storylines might lead to an improved representation of both global and regional short‐term climatic changes. In addition to these factors, a key role on the overall predictive ability of ESMs is expected to be played by an accurate representation of processes associated with specific components of the climate system. These act as "signal carriers," transferring across the climatic phase space the information associated with the initial state and boundary forcings, and dynamically bridging different (otherwise unconnected) subsystems. Through this mechanism, Earth system components trigger low‐frequency variability modes, thus extending the predictability beyond the seasonal scale.


Freedom of Religion protected in America for two hundred years by the Bill of Rights has become more a source of divisiveness than the binding force it used to be in American life. Abortion, school prayer, creation science, and secular humanism are a few examples of the conflict between religious liberty and public justice that arise today. Articles of Faith, Articles of Peace examines the contemporary challenges to religious liberty and explores ways in which the public philosophy can be reinvigorated. Steering between the extremes of a ""sacred public square,"" in which any one faith is established or preferred, and a ""naked public square,"" from which all faiths have been removed, the authors argue for, and exemplify, a civil public square. And they try to answer the vital question: how do we, in an age of expanding worldwide pluralism, live with our deepest, religiously intense, differences. Peter L. Berger, Harold J. Berman, Os Guinness, James Davidson Hunter, William Lee Miller, Michael J. Sandel, and Charles Taylor are the distinguished contributors to this book who speak from different academic disciplines and diverse personal perspectives. Their concerns converge in this dynamic and thought-provoking discussion important to every American. The authors acknowledge that American pluralism has grown beyond the traditional ""Protestant-Catholic-Jew"" into a genuine multifaith pluralism, and that religious liberty entails the freedom to dissent as well as to believe. Articles of Faith, Articles of Peace is a proposal and discussion that carries great promise for the pressing problems of religion in American public life. The vision of a civil public square, and a common goal for common good, offers a way for American diversity to remain a source of strength and richness. Only with such commitments will democratic debate remain robust and religious liberty remain a component of a vital democracy.


This study aimed at testing a mathematical model for an industrial WWTP. This model was developed in a previous study. The characterisation of the influent wastewater was repeated and results revealed that the composition of the wastewater was somewhat changed compared to the previous study. In order to account for varying wastewater composition in the future, the influence of this composition on the effluent concentration was calculated based on relative sensitivity functions. This calculation revealed that the effluent COD concentration is most affected by the inert COD fraction in the influent and that the effluent ammonium concentration is most affected by the biodegradable COD fraction in the influent. As such experimental efforts can be conducted towards determination of the fraction that is most influential on the required result. The model was further evaluated with new data. It could be shown that agreement between simulated and measured data was very good and that no model recalibration or extension will be necessary. As such the industrial WWTP model passed the model evaluation test. In the future this model will be used for potential further upgrades.


Background: Pain control during and after surgeries can reduce subsequent complications, improve the recovery period of the patient after the surgery and immediately after discharge from the hospital, and shorten the length of stay in the hospital. Objectives: The present research aimed to study the relationship between the depth of anesthesia and severity of pain after general anesthesia. Methods: This prospective study carried out on 57 patients undergoing hernia surgery during the summer of 2014. The subjects were selected based on convenience sampling method. The same technique of anesthesia was used for all patients. The depth of anesthesia was monitored using bispectral index (BIS) and recorded at five-minute intervals. In addition, the severity of pain in the recovery and during the first 6 hours after the surgery was measured by a numerical scale. The obtained data were statistically analyzed using ANOVA and correlation coefficient in SPSS-18 at a significant level of P<0.05. Results : According to the results, the mean age of subjects was 45.54±13.46. In terms of gender, 36 subjects were male and 21 of them were female. The normal depth of anesthesia (40-60) was experienced by 59.6% of patients. The results also showed that there is a significant correlation between depth of anesthesia and severity of pain in the recovery (P=0.001, r=0.694) and during the first 6 hours after the surgery (P=0.001, r=0.734). Conclusion: The present study showed that monitoring depth of anesthesia during surgery, in addition to helping nurses to monitor patients more accurately, can prevent some of the complications of anesthesia such as severe pain.


Winner of the Business, Management & Accounting category in the 2006 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc. Software platforms are the invisible engines that have created, touched, or transformed nearly every major industry for the past quarter century. They power everything from mobile phones and automobile navigation systems to search engines and web portals. They have been the source of enormous value to consumers and helped some entrepreneurs build great fortunes. And they are likely to drive change that will dwarf the business and technology revolution we have seen to this point. Invisible Engines examines the business dynamics and strategies used by firms that recognize the transformative power unleashed by this new revolutiona revolution that will change both new and old industries. The authors argue that in order to understand the successes of software platforms, we must first understand their role as a technological meeting ground where application developers and end users converge. Apple, Microsoft, and Google, for example, charge developers little or nothing for using their platforms and make most of their money from end users; Sony PlayStation and other game consoles, by contrast, subsidize users and make more money from developers, who pay royalties for access to the code they need to write games. More applications attract more users, and more users attract more applications. And more applications and more users lead to more profits. Invisible Engines explores this story through the lens of the companies that have mastered this platform-balancing act. It offers detailed studies of the personal computer, video game console, personal digital assistant, smart mobile phone, and digital media software platform industries, focusing on the business decisions made by industry players to drive profits and stay a step ahead of the competition. Shorter discussions of Internet-based software platforms provide an important glimpse into a future in which the way we buy, pay, watch, listen, learn, and communicate will change forever. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.


Intraspecific communication involves the activation of chemoreceptors and subsequent activation of different central areas that coordinate the responses of the entire organism—ranging from behavioral modification to modulation of hormones release. Animals emit intraspecific chemical signals, often referred to as pheromones, to advertise their presence to members of the same species and to regulate interactions aimed at establishing and regulating social and reproductive bonds. In the last two decades, scientists have developed a greater understanding of the neural processing of these chemical signals. Neurobiology of Chemical Communication explores the role of the chemical senses in mediating intraspecific communication. Providing an up-to-date outline of the most recent advances in the field, it presents data from laboratory and wild species, ranging from invertebrates to vertebrates, from insects to humans. The book examines the structure, anatomy, electrophysiology, and molecular biology of pheromones. It discusses how chemical signals work on different mammalian and non-mammalian species and includes chapters on insects, Drosophila, honey bees, amphibians, mice, tigers, and cattle. It also explores the controversial topic of human pheromones. An essential reference for students and researchers in the field of pheromones, this is also an ideal resource for those working on behavioral phenotyping of animal models and persons interested in the biology/ecology of wild and domestic species.


Wildland fires have an irreplaceable role in sustaining many of our forests, shrublands and grasslands. They can be used as controlled burns or occur as free-burning wildfires, and can sometimes be dangerous and destructive to fauna, human communities and natural resources. Through scientific understanding of their behaviour, we can develop the tools to reliably use and manage fires across landscapes in ways that are compatible with the constraints of modern society while benefiting the ecosystems.

The science of wildland fire is incomplete, however. Even the simplest fire behaviours – how fast they spread, how long they burn and how large they get – arise from a dynamical system of physical processes interacting in unexplored ways with heterogeneous biological, ecological and meteorological factors across many scales of time and space. The physics of heat transfer, combustion and ignition, for example, operate in all fires at millimetre and millisecond scales but wildfires can become conflagrations that burn for months and exceed millions of hectares.

Wildland Fire Behaviour: Dynamics, Principles and Processes examines what is known and unknown about wildfire behaviours. The authors introduce fire as a dynamical system along with traditional steady-state concepts. They then break down the system into its primary physical components, describe how they depend upon environmental factors, and explore system dynamics by constructing and exercising a nonlinear model. The limits of modelling and knowledge are discussed throughout but emphasised by review of large fire behaviours. Advancing knowledge of fire behaviours will require a multidisciplinary approach and rely on quality measurements from experimental research, as covered in the final chapters.


"Change in corporate performance after firing CEO: A comparison between US and Japan" The relation between board independence and management monitoring intensity is a long-standing question in the literature. Employing firm performance after CEO dismissals, this paper investigates whether independent boards solve the managerial entrenchment problem more effectively. Shleifer and Vishny (1989) demonstrate the incentive of CEOs to make irreversible skill-specific investments to increase the cost of replacing them under weak monitoring. I extend their model, generating an expected decline in firm performance when an entrenched CEO is fired. I track firm performance after CEO forced turnover events between 2000 and 2007 in the US and Japan, where the independence of boards differs distinctively. I find evidence that firm performance improves after a forced CEO turnover in the US, but not in Japan, where the insider-dominant boards monitor the CEO. The performance improvement in the US is accompanied by substantial consolidations; US firms reduce their assets and their labor force by a magnitude of 6 to 8 times more than Japanese firms. In addition, I demonstrate that forced CEO turnover is not followed by performance improvement in US firms with less independent boards. Overall, the evidence suggests that CEOs are more entrenched under the weak monitoring of less independent boards. "Market response to CEO turnover announcement for dismissal events" This paper investigates stock returns to CEO turnover announcements for CEO dismissal cases in US and Japan. A stock price response to CEO turnover announcement potentially captures the impacts of CEO turnover on overall firm performance. Using CEO forced turnover events that were announced between 2000 and 2007 in public companies of US and Japan, I find that the capital market responds to CEO succession news positively, but stock returns are statistically insignificant in both countries. Furthermore, the results indicate that CEO turnover announcement is followed by economically and statistically significant positive abnormal returns when independent board monitors top management. A greater market response to CEO turnover announcement for the external succession is observed in US, but not in Japan. "Do firms change investment behavior before and after financial crisis?" Aftermath of financial crisis, slow recovery in private business investment is one primary concern of policy makers. This paper investigates the change in firms' investment behavior before and after the financial crisis using 15-year quarterly financial data of 895 large firms in five advanced economies. I find a significantly positive relation between firm profitability and capital expenditure during the sample period from 1999 to 2014: firms increase 1% of capital expenditure to total asset ratio for 1% rise in ROA on average, which is consistent with findings in preceding studies (Fazzari et al., 1998; Kaplan & Zingales, 1997). However, the correlation between capital expenditure and cash flow…


Research has documented that the first report an investment bank affiliated analyst issues on a newly listed stock tends to be favorable. Our analysis of 16,824 relationships between analyst teams and established listed companies during 1995-2003 indicates that analyst coverage decisions of seasoned stocks are influenced by their affiliations with investment banks and mutual funds. Controlling for market returns, stock characteristics, and a variety of performance indicators, we find analysts are more likely to issue favorable reports when the stock is held by affiliated mutual funds. The more invested by affiliated mutual funds, the more optimistic the analyst rating compared to the consensus.


We investigate the propagation properties of a Bragg fiber with high-accuracy analytical representation. In this study, electromagnetic waves in the cladding are treated as genuine cylindrical waves, that is, Hankel functions. We apply the Bloch theorem in the cylindrical coordinates to the electromagnetic fields in the periodically stratified cladding structure. Then, effective indices are actually calculated for TE, TM, and hybrid (HE, EH) modes through eigenvalue equations. We show that these results are distinctly close to those by the multilayer division method that gives more accurate solutions for cylindrically symmetric fiber structures than the results by the asymptotic expansion method, even for the lowest mode HE11.


Novel technologies and state of the art platforms developed and launched over the last two decades such as microarrays, next-generation sequencing, and droplet PCR have provided the medical field many opportunities to generate and analyze big data from the human genome, particularly of genomes altered by different diseases like cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes and obesity. This knowledge further serves for either new drug discovery or drug repositioning. Designing drugs for specific mutations and genotypes will dramatically modify a patient's response to treatment. Among other altered mechanisms, drug resistance is of concern, particularly when there is no response to cancer therapy. Once these new platforms for omics data are in place, available information will be used to pursue precision medicine and to establish new therapeutic guidelines. Target identification for new drugs is necessary, and it is of great benefit for critical cases where no alternatives are available. While mutational status is of highest importance as some mutations can be pathogenic, screening of known compounds in different preclinical models offer new and quick strategies to find alternative frameworks for treating more diseases with limited therapeutic options.


Excerpt] The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) specifies a complex set of categories and numerical limits for admitting lawful permanent residents (LPRs) to the United States that includes economic priorities among the admission criteria. These priorities are addressed primarily through the employment-based immigration system, which consists of five preference categories. Each preference category has specific eligibility criteria; numerical limits; and, in some cases, distinct application processes. The INA allocates 140,000 visas annually for all five employment-based LPR categories, roughly 12% of the 1.1 million LPRs admitted in FY2017. The INA further limits each immigrant-sending country to an annual maximum of 7% of all employment-based LPR admissions, known as the per-country ceiling, or "cap." Prospective employment-based immigrants follow two administrative processing trajectories depending on whether they apply from overseas as "new arrivals" seeking LPR status or from within the United States seeking to adjust to LPR status from a temporary status that they currently possess. While some prospective employment-based immigrants can self-petition, most require U.S. employers to petition on their behalf. In both cases, the Department of State (DOS) is responsible for allocating the correct number of employmentbased immigrant "visa numbers" or slots, according to numerical limits and the per-country ceiling specified in the INA. This report reviews the employment-based immigration process by examining six pools of pending petitions and applications, representing prospective employment-based immigrants and any accompanying family members at different stages of the LPR process. While four of these pools represent administrative processing queues, two result from the INA's numerical limitations on employment-based immigration and the percountry ceiling.


Context: White noise is known to have detrimental effects on different brain regions, especially auditory regions, including inferior colliculus. Although the basis for such alterations has been hypothesized to result from abnormalities in neurotransmitter release, the mechanism is unclear. The final step in neurotransmission is the docking and transient fusion of synaptic vesicles at the base of cup-shaped lipoprotein structures called porosomes at the presynaptic membrane and the consequent release of neurotransmitters. Earlier studies in cat brain document altered morphology of the secretory portal the porosome at nerve terminals in the inferior colliculus following white noise exposure. The current study was performed to test the hypothesis of possible changes to synaptic vesicle size in the colliculus, following white noise exposure. Material and Methods: Electron microscopic morphometry of synaptic vesicles size in axo-dendritic synapses at the colliculus region of the cat brain was performed. Results: We report, for first time, decreased size of both docked and undocked vesicles in high-intensity white noise-exposed animals. In both control and experimental animals, docked vesicles are demonstrated to be smaller than undocked vesicles, suggesting fractional discharge of vesicular contents via porosome-mediated kiss-and-run mechanism. Conclusion: These studies advance our understanding of neurotransmitter release and the impact of white noise on brain function.


ABSTRACT: Vitiligo is a skin disorder characterized by selective melanocyte destruction and concomitant appearance of depigmented macules that over time enlarge, coalesce, and form patches. It has been suggested that vitiligo is, at least in part, caused by autoimmune responses mediated by cytotoxic T cells against melanocytes, causing depigmentation Immune responses contribute to the pathogenesis of vitiligo and target melanoma sometimes associated with vitiligo-like depigmentation in some melanoma patients. It has been perviously reported that the tyrosinase autoantigen was immunorecognized with the same molecular pattern by sera from vitiligo and melanoma patients. Five autoantigen peptides was found to compose the immunodominant antityrosinase response: aa95-104FMGFNCGNCK; aa175-182 LFVWMHYY; aa176-190FVWMHYYVSMDALLG; aa222-236IQKLTGDENFTIPYW, and aa233-247IPYWDWRDAEKCDIC. Synergistic therapies for the treatment of vitiligo are provided. The major therapies for the treatment of vitiligo a pigmentary disorder characterized by patchy depigmentation of skin are Psoralens plus UV-A, steroids, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) peptide location or surgical procedures. Psoralens plus UV-A is effective in about 50% of cases, steroids are limitedly effective only in fast spreading cases of vitiligo and often reoccurs on stoppage of treatment. Surgical treatment is the last resort for vitiligo therapy, when all other therapies failed. It is limitedly effective. Basic fibroblast growth factor peptide(s) location was developed as a new mode therapy for the treatment of vitiligo. Therefore, SEQ ID NO: 01 VPHIPPN, SEQ ID NO: 02 MPPTQVS, SEQ ID NO: 03 QMHPWPP, SEQ ID NO: 1 1 LPLTPLP, SEQ ID NO: 12 QLNVNHQARADQ, SEQ ID NO: 13 TSASTRPELHYP, SEQ ID NO: 14 TFLPHQMHPWPP peptides, modified peptides and antibody or antibody fragments inhibiting the activity of MIA and can be used for treating vitiligo by inducing re-pigmentation. Fragment-based lead discovery is a method used for finding lead compounds as part of the drug discovery process. In this science project we perfomed an in silico ChemoProteomic Prediction-Scan for the generation of Antigenic PatternLFA-3/IgG fusion polypeptide aa95-104FMGFNCGNCK; aa175-182 LFVWMHYY; aa176-190FVWMHYYVSMDALLG; aa222-236IQKLTGDENFTIPYW, and aa233247IPYWDWRDAEKCDICmimetic pharmacophore on conserved Vitiligo post-trancripts domains.


This article explores the late imperial imagination of the nonhuman other by way of a curious creature that appears in the southern drama Dushu sheng. Midway through the play, set in the early years of the Yuan dynasty, the young literatus protagonist is abandoned on a remote island, where he is rescued by a renxiong, a fierce yet empathetic bear-like creature that takes him as its mate. Though short-lived, their union is one of several in the play in which marginal characters are brought into the (narrative and imperial) center through marriage: by the end of the play, the protagonist is wed to both the daughter of a boatman and the daughter of a Mongol official. But while this double marriage offers the possibility of a productive overcoming of the distinctions between scholar and merchant and between Chinese and barbarian, the tragic fate of the renxiong forecloses any possibility of overcoming that which divides man and beast. Rather, as the human community is expanded to include merchant and Mongol, the renxiong serves as the necessary limit, allowing the play to rescue these social and ethnic others from baseness and barbarity. At the same time, the exclusion of the renxiong from this new community is not untroubled; in resisting the genre's compulsive imposition of wholeness, Dushu sheng dramatizes the fractures and exclusions that made possible the restoration of order in the early Qing.


Heavy water (D2O) vapor release experiments were carried out in a greenhouse using deuterium as a substitute for tritium and uptake and loss kinetics of D2O in leaf of a tangerine tree and formation, translocation and retention of organically bound deuterium (OBD) in tangerine exposed to D2O under different growth stage were investigated. Rate constants of D2O uptake in leaves of tangerine were 0.2-1.11 hr-1 in the daytime release and 0.03-0.12 hr-1 in the nighttime release. Rate constants of D2O loss in leaf after daytime release were almost the same as those after the nighttime release. No significant differences in the half time of D2O loss were observed between daytime and nighttime releases, but those in winter experiments were about 6 times higher than those in summer ones. The retention of OBD of the edible part of tangerine at harvest was very low and OBD was 0.08% or 0.07% on average of D2O in air moisture in daytime or nighttime releases.


The tuberous sclerosis complex composed of TSC1 and TSC2, both tumor suppressors, inhibits the activity of the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) pathway, which controls protein synthesis, cell proliferation, and production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Lee et al. report that inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β, stimulate the mTOR pathway (detected as phosphorylation of the mTOR substrate S6K) in breast cancer cell lines and untransformed mammary epithelial cells. Activation of the mTOR pathway by TNF-α was lost if activity of inhibitor of nuclear factor κB kinase β (IKKβ) was decreased pharmacologically or by transfection of a dominant-negative inhibitor, by siRNA-mediated knockdown, or in Ikkβ knockout cells. IKKβ was not required for stimulation of mTOR signaling by growth factors or mitogens. IKKβ directly interacted with TSC1 and phosphorylated TSC1 on Ser487 and Ser511 both in vitro and in vivo. In cells expressing a mutant TSC1 [TSC1(SSAA)] in which the two serines were replaced with alanines, TNF-α failed to stimulate mTOR activity. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments with cells exposed to TNF-α suggested that phosphorylation by IKKβ disrupted the formation of the TSC1 and TSC2 complex, which is required for this complex to inhibit mTOR activity. In vivo tumorigenesis assays using TSC1 or TSC1(SSAA) or a phosphorylation mimic mutant [TSC1(SSDD)] showed that only wild-type TSC1 and TSC1(SSAA) had tumor-suppressing effects and that the blood vessel density of tumors with TSC1(SSDD) was higher than in the tumors with wild-type or TSC1(SSAA). Wild-type and TSC1(SSAA), but not TSC1(SSDD), exhibited the antiangiogenic effect of decreasing VEGF secretion when transfected into cultured cells. Thus, IKKβ-mediated inactivation of TSC1 may be one mechanism by which inflammation contributes to cancer progression. Phosphorylation of TSC1 at Ser511 correlated with breast cancer tumors that were also high in phosphorylated (and active) IKKβ and high in TNF-α. Additionally, breast tumor samples with high phosphorylated TSC1 (Ser511) and high phosphorylated S6K were associated with poor survival. Thus, this inflammatory connection appears to be an important aspect to cancer prognosis. D.-F. Lee, H.-P. Kuo, C.-T. Chen, J.-M. Hsu, C.-K. Chou, Y. Wei, H.-L. Sun, L.-Y. Li, B. Ping, W.-C. Huang, X. He, J.-Y. Hung, C.-C. Lai, Q. Ding, J.-L. Su, J.-Y. Yang, A. A. Sahin, G. N. Hortobagyi, F.-J. Tsai, C.-H. Tsai, M.-C. Hung, IKKβ suppression of TSC1 links inflammation and tumor angiogenesis via the mTOR pathway. Cell 130, 440-455 (2007). [Online Journal]


This book undertakes a fundamental review of the existing international regime for taxing business profit. It steps back from the current political debates on how to combat profit shifting and how taxing rights over the profits of the digitalized economy should be allocated. Instead, it starts from first principles to ask how we should evaluate a tax on business profit—and whether there is any good rationale for such a tax in the first place. It then goes on to evaluate the existing regime and a number of alternatives that have been proposed. It argues that the existing regime is fundamentally flawed, and that there is a need for radical reform. The key conclusion from the analysis is that there would be significant gains from a reform that moved the regime towards taxing profit in the country in which a business made its sales to third parties. That conclusion informs two proposals that are put forward in detail and evaluated: the Residual Profit Allocation by Income (RPAI) and the Destination-based Cash Flow Tax (DBCFT). The book is authored by group of economists and lawyers—the Oxford International Tax Group, chaired by Michael Devereux. It draws insights from both economics and law—including economic theory, empirical evidence on the impact of taxes, and a detailed examination of practical issues of implementation—to assess the existing system and to consider fundamental reforms. This book will be useful to tax policy makers, tax professionals, academics, and anyone interested in tax policy.


This paper introduces concept of socio-natural capital, which is here seen as a property of social systems including institutions, human groups and individual people to use natural capital in a sustainable way. The objectives of this article are to map gaps regarding socio-natural capital via examining case of reindeer herding and its relations to other land uses in northern Fennoscandia, mainly in Finland, and to explore ways how socio-natural capital can be promoted in order to enhance sustainable land use in the northern sparsely populated Fennoscandia. These issues are examined based on previous research and especially on reindeer herders' perspectives, as well as on an online questionnaire (n=13) and a workshop (n=11) with stakeholders on land use in Fennoscandia. Gaps in socio-natural capital include lack of trust between different land users, discrepancy between governance ideals and real world practices, divergent perceptions on sustainable land use, and use of resources for external benefits. Following proposals can help to close these gaps: 1) to enhance public participation, 2) to stronger institutionalize indigenous land rights, 3) to enhance multi-directional knowledge exchange, and 4) to include social impact assessment more strongly into planning processes. Further studies and conceptualisations of socio-natural capital are needed to find ways how people could interact to build capital to solve land use contradictions for sustainability.


We present a novel tunable wavelength filter that is based on volume holograms recorded by the interband photorefractive effect. An acousto-optic deflector is used to control the direction of the recording beams and the spacing of the photorefractive grating. Narrow bandwidths (FWHM = 0.13 nm) allowing a channel spacing of 50 GHz required for DWDM applications as well as fast tuning times in the order of a few hundred microseconds are achieved. The demonstrated tuning range of the filter is 1 nm, but can be enlarged to cover the entire spectral range of Erbium doped fiber amplifiers (~ 40 nm). Experiments were performed with pure potassium niobate crystals. With the same approach, however, other crystals that exhibit interband photorefraction at visible wavelengths can be used for tunable filters as well.


The Danish Ministry of Culture is currently funding a project to set up a model for costing preservation of digital materials held by national cultural heritage institutions. The overall objective of the project is to provide a basis for comparing and estimating future financial requirements for digital preservation and to increase cost effectiveness of digital preservation activities. In this study we describe an activity based costing methodology for digital preservation based on the OAIS Reference Model. In order to estimate the cost of digital migrations we have identified cost critical activities by analysing the OAIS Model, and supplemented this analysis with findings from other models, literature and own experience. To verify the model it has been tested on two sets of data from a normalisation project and a migration project at the Danish National Archives. The study found that the OAIS model provides a sound overall framework for cost breakdown, but that some functions, especially when it comes to performing and evaluating the actual migration, need additional detailing in order to cost activities accurately.


We introduce the study of fairness in multi-armed bandit problems. Our fairness definition can be interpreted as demanding that given a pool of applicants (say, for college admission or mortgages), a worse applicant is never favored over a better one, despite a learning algorithm's uncertainty over the true payoffs. We prove results of two types.
First, in the important special case of the classic stochastic bandits problem (i.e., in which there are no contexts), we provide a provably fair algorithm based on "chained" confidence intervals, and provide a cumulative regret bound with a cubic dependence on the number of arms. We further show that any fair algorithm must have such a dependence. When combined with regret bounds for standard non-fair algorithms such as UCB, this proves a strong separation between fair and unfair learning, which extends to the general contextual case.
In the general contextual case, we prove a tight connection between fairness and the KWIK (Knows What It Knows) learning model: a KWIK algorithm for a class of functions can be transformed into a provably fair contextual bandit algorithm, and conversely any fair contextual bandit algorithm can be transformed into a KWIK learning algorithm. This tight connection allows us to provide a provably fair algorithm for the linear contextual bandit problem with a polynomial dependence on the dimension, and to show (for a different class of functions) a worst-case exponential gap in regret between fair and non-fair learning algorithms


An interruption of Holocene sapropel S1 is found in cores from various subbasins of the eastern Mediterranean. In core IN68-9 from the Adriatic Sea, sapropel S1 is dated between 8300 and 6340 BP, interrupted between 7100 and 6900 BP (14C years uncorrected for reservoir age). Lithology and variations in the foraminiferal faunas suggest that the interruption is genuine, and not the result of resedimentation. The results indicate that S1 was deposited within a period of enhanced levels of productivity (resulting from increased seasonal contrasts) which started around 9300 BP and ended around 5200 BP. The onset, interruption, and final ending of S1 deposition in the Adriatic Sea, however, appear to have been triggered by changes in ventilation of the basin related to changes in sea surface temperature (SST). Although the rough estimates of SST change are relatively small (< 2°C), they still are significant when compared with the relative SST changes considered necessary to upset convection in the Adriatic. Moreover, recent studies show that the influence of the inferred temperature changes should be viewed in combination with that of reduced salinities due to (1) the deglaciation, and (2) increased humidity in the eastern Mediterranean area during the deposition of S1. The lithological and benthic foraminiferal evidence that sapropel formation in the Adriatic Sea ended around 6340 BP contrasts with the conclusion from a recent geochemical study that sapropel formation in the open eastern Mediterranean would have ended as late as 5000 BP. More significantly, the results of the present study combined with other reports on sapropel interruptions suggest that the process of sapropel formation is not a very stable mode in the basin, but that it may be relatively easily interrupted in response to subtle rearrangements in the balance between productivity and, especially, deep water ventilation.


Water salinization in semi-arid and arid regions is threatening freshwater or oligosaline ecosystems. Anthropogenic processes enrich nutrients of aquatic systems causing significant environmental effects. Bosten Lake in Xinjiang Province, China is an interesting ecosystem featuring a salinity gradient from fresh to subsaline, as well as a nutrition gradient from oligotrophic to mesotrophic. In the present study, we focused on the effects of salinity and nutrients in Bosten Lake by investigating the zooplankton assemblages and environmental factors from different sampling times. A total of 74 zooplankton taxa were found, consisting of 34 rotifers, 26 protists, 10 cladocerans, and 4 copepods. Although no significant differences were found among different sampling sites, zooplankton species richness, diversity, and evenness showed significant differences between sampling times, with August samples showing highest values along with water temperature and total nitrogen. Principal component analysis and representational difference analysis results showed that zooplankton abundance is correlated with water temperature and nitrogen, but showed no significant relationship with water mineralization or conductivity. The subsaline-tolerating zooplankton species in Bosten Lake made their community insensitive to salinity. The decrease of total nitrogen concentration in Bosten Lake probably implied a primary productivity increase, which subsequently caused the zooplankton diversity to increase in August.


There is a significant body of extant published literature about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the impact his insights into Vedic Science have had on the modern academic disciplines, on applied areas of personal and collective life, and on the future. This literature appears throughout the academic record, and includes publications on topics as diverse as the arts and architecture, the environment, higher education, health and healthcare utilization, management and leadership, and government; even specialist analyses of supersymmetric quantum unified field theories, neuroscience, genetic engineering, mathematics and gerontology by Nobel Laureates, business and government leaders, academics, educators and scientists from virtually every major discipline form part of this anthology. These publications have appeared in the literature of countries as diverse as Australia, Sweden and Senegal, with the bulk of the collection published in Europe, India and the United States. Moreover, leading peer-reviewed journals, including Scientific American, American Journal of Physiology, British Journal of Educational Psychology and International Journal of Neuroscience have published empirical findings and theoretical papers, and some of the world's most notable research institutes have conducted research, on Maharishi's programs. However, few, if any, scholarly research studies have attempted to document the publications by Maharishi himself, despite the fact he was a prolific writer and teacher over the course of 50 years. For this reason, the present paper introduces an annotated historical survey of 84 published documents by Maharishi from 1957 to 2015, all of which form part of the public record. By evaluating this catalogue of published material—including the identification of central themes, key words and phrases, and encapsulating quotes—and by cross-referencing the material with an index of terms and a bibliography of 419 related third-party publications which validate the written statements made by Maharishi, it is hoped this study will serve as a platform upon which further reading and analysis of Maharishi Vedic Science can systematically be conducted, thereby preparing the ground for future scholarship and research.


Lignin is the second most abundant biopolymer on earth and is found in the wood (xylem) of vascular land plants. To transport the hydro-mineral sap, xylem forms specialized conduit cells, called tracheary elements (TEs), which are hollow dead cylinders reinforced with lateral secondary cell walls (SCW). These SCWs incorporate lignin to gain mechanical strength, water impermeability and resistance against pathogens. The aim of this thesis is to understand the spatio-temporal deposition of lignin during TE differentiation and the relationship with its neighbouring cells. In vitro TE differentiating cell cultures of Zinnia elegans and Arabidopsis thaliana are ideal tools to study this process: cells differentiate simultaneously into 30-50% TEs while the rest remain parenchymatic (non-TEs). Live-cell imaging of such TEs indicated that lignification occurs after programmed cell death (PCD), in a non-cell autonomous manner, in which the non-TEs provide the lignin monomers.This thesis confirms that lignification occurs and continues long after TE PCD in both in vitro TE cultures and whole plants using biochemical, pharmacological and cytological methods. The cooperative supply of lignin monomers by the non-TEs was demonstrated by using Zinnia and Arabidopsis in vitro TE cultures. Inhibitor experiments revealed further that the non-TEs supply reactive oxygen species (ROS) to TEs and that ROS are required for TE post-mortem lignification. Characterization of the non-TEs showed an enlarged nucleus with increased DNA content, thus indicating that non-TEs are in fact endoreplicated xylem parenchyma cells (XP). The cooperative lignification was confirmed in whole plants by using knock-out mutants in a lignin monomer synthesis gene, which exhibit reduced TE lignification. The XP specific complementation of these mutants led to nearly completely rescuing the TE lignin reduction. Using microscopic techniques, the spatial distribution of lignin was analyzed in TEs from in vitro cultures and whole plants, revealing that lignification is restricted to TE SCWs in both protoxylem and metaxylem. These specific deposition domains were established by phenoloxidases, i.e. laccases localized to SCWs and peroxidases, present in SCWs and the apoplastic space. Laccases were cell-autonomously produced by developing TEs, indicating that the deposition domains are defined before PCD.Altogether, these results highlight that the hydro-mineral sap transport through TEs is enabled by the spatially and temporally controlled lignification of the SCW. Lignification occurs post-mortem by the supply of monomers and ROS from neighbouring XP cells and is restricted to specific deposition domains, defined by the pre-mortem sequestration of phenoloxidases.


Purpose Glaucoma drainage device (GDD) implantation can lead to corneal decompensation. We evaluated changes over time in oxygen tension and in the metabolic environment of the aqueous humor after GDD implantation in the rabbit eye. Methods Ahmed Glaucoma Valves were implanted in the left eyes of eight male New Zealand white rabbits. Right eyes were used as a control. Oxygen tension was measured immediately before surgery and at 1 and 2 months postoperation. Aqueous humor was collected from the surgical and control eyes at 1, 2, and 5 months postoperation. Aqueous humor samples collected at 1 and 5 months postoperation were selected for broad-spectrum metabolomics analysis using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC TOF-MS). Multivariate analysis methods were used to identify metabolite profiles that separated the surgical and control eye at 1 and 5 months. Results There was a significant decrease in oxygen tension in aqueous humor of the surgical eyes (9 mm Hg, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −14.7 to −3.5). Differences in the metabolic profiles between the surgical and control eye at 1 and 5 months were observed, as were differences for the surgical eye at 1 and 5 months. In addition, a metabolite profile was identified that differentiated the surgical eyes at 1 and 5 months. Conclusion Changes in the oxygen tension and metabolic intermediates occur within the aqueous humor as early as 1 month after GDD implantation. Translational Relevance Corneal decompensation following GDD implantation could be secondary to disruption of the normal aqueous circulation, resulting in hypoxia and an altered metabolic profile. Alterations to the GDD design might minimize aqueous disruption and prevent corneal decompensation.


This editorial essay is based partly on the interview we had with the editor of the Journal of Public Administration, which this September edition marks a year of his editorship. The purpose of the interview was to understand his editorship vision, especially as it relates to what he consistently refers to in his writings as the principal unanswered question of the discipline. What exactly does this question mean? How is the public administration scholarship responding to it? What is the state of the discourse in the pages of the Journal in relation to the question, and its implications on the epistemological basis of the discipline? We term this exercise editing the editor. Connected to the theme of this editorial essay is the notion of intersection of parallels we use to characterise South Africa-United States dialogue, which part of its proceedings are recorded in this edition.


Maternal use of alcohol during gestation is associated with FAS and less severe problems in exposed children, such as FAE and ARBD. This article reviewed the literature concerning the status of affected and exposed neonates and the available information on the developmental course of infants and children. Physical and behavioral characteristics of gestational alcohol exposure were described, and outcomes of retrospective and prospective research were reviewed. Currently, it is evident that heavy use and bingeing are associated with an increased risk to the offspring across a range of outcomes. Although the last 20 years of research in this area have provided a great deal of information, there remain unanswered questions regarding the course of the affected individual over the lifespan, the neuropsychologic status of children, and the relationship of prenatal exposure and the caregiving environment to the observed outcomes.


In this study, a neutral state colourless electrochromic device fabricated through a solution process is introduced. The device contains indium doped transparent oxide coated glass as the transparent conductive electrode, poly(N-(2-ethylhexyl)carbazol-3,6-diyl) (PCbz) as the anodically colouring material, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) as the ion storage layer and a lithium perchlorate based conducting gel electrolyte. A maximum optical contrast (ΔT%) of 58% at 800 nm is achieved by optimizing the film thickness of both the organic layers. The device that has layers of 220 nm PCbz and 120 nm PEDOT:PSS thickness revealed a high coloration efficiency (1246 cm2 C−1) and colouring and bleaching response times of 5.6 s and 2.3 s, respectively.


Scattered sunlight from interplanetary dust particles, mostly produced by comets and asteroids, orbiting the Sun are visible at dusk or dawn as the Zodiacal Cloud. Impacts onto the space-exposed surfaces of Earth-orbiting satellites indicate that, in the current era, thousands of tons of interplanetary dust enters the Earth's atmosphere every year. Some particles vaporize forming meteors while others survive atmospheric deceleration and settle to the surface of the Earth. NASA has collected interplanetary dust particles from the Earth's stratosphere using high-altitude aircraft since the mid-1970s. Detailed characterization of these particles shows that some are unique samples of Solar System and presolar material, never affected by the aqueous and thermal processing that overprints the record of formation from the Solar Protoplanetary Disk in the meteorites. These particles preserve the record of grain and dust formation from the disk. This record suggests that many of the crystalline minerals, dominated by crystalline silicates (olivine and pyroxene) and Fe-sulfides, condensed from gas in the inner Solar System and were then transported outward to the colder outer Solar System where carbon-bearing ices condensed on the surfaces of the grains. Irradiation by solar ultraviolet light and cosmic rays produced thin organic coatings on the grain surfaces that likely aided in grain sticking, forming the first dust particles of the Solar System. This continuous, planet-wide rain of interplanetary dust particles can be monitored by the accumulation of 3He, implanted into the interplanetary dust particles by the Solar Wind while they were in space, in oceanic sediments. The interplanetary dust, which is rich in organic carbon, may have contributed important pre-biotic organic matter important to the development of life to the surface of the early Earth.


This volume is an inter-disciplinary endeavour which brings together recent research on aspects of urban life and structure by architectural and textual historians and archaeologists, engendering exciting new perspectives on urban life in the pre-modern Islamic world. Its objective is to move beyond the long-standing debate on whether an 'Islamic city' existed in the pre-modern era and focus instead upon the ways in which religion may (or may not) have influenced the physical structure of cities and the daily lives of their inhabitants. It approaches this topic from three different but inter-related perspectives: the genesis of 'Islamic cities' in fact and fiction; the impact of Muslim rulers upon urban planning and development; and the degree to which a religious ethos affected the provision of public services.
Chronologically and geographically wide-ranging, the volume examines thought-provoking case studies from seventh-century Syria to seventeenth-century Mughal India by established and new scholars in the field, in addition to chapters on urban sites in Spain, Morocco, Egypt and Central Asia.
Cities in the Pre-Modern Islamic World will be of considerable interest to academics and students working on the archaeology, history and urbanism of the Middle East as well as those with more general interests in urban archaeology and urbanism.


A comparison between full‐scale façade fire tests where SP Fire 105 and BS 8414‐1 were used regarding repeatability and the use of modeling to discern changes in the setups is presented. Two test series according to BS 8414‐1 were repeated outside using the same façade systems on 2 different days, whereas for the SP Fire 105 a set of common façade systems in Sweden were tested indoors. In particular, the results show that the wind around the test setup may have a significant impact on the tests and that the heat exposure to the façade surface will depend on the thickness of the test specimen where an increased temperature in front of the façade, and a decreased temperature on the façade 2.1 m above the fire room, is observed experimentally. The heat exposure to the test specimen varies to a more limited extent when an uncontrollable free burning fire source is used (in this study heptane and wood, respectively) and that this variation increases when wind is present.