In-service wind turbines blades are subjected to high levels of stress. Consequently, the bonding between the blade's structural beams and shell must be inspected during manufacturing to help ensure blade integrity. The blades should be clear of defects, such as delamination and wrinkles. The material used to construct wind blades, such as fiberglass and carbon reinforced plastics (CRP), pose particular challenges to ultrasonic inspection, and the industry has been searching for a simple and reliable solution. Olympus manufactures a variety of tools that make it easier to detect and size flaws in different areas of the blades. These tools include low-frequency linear phased array probes and probe holders combined with off-the-shelf ultrasonic phased array instruments and software bundled in a convenient, easy-to-use package. The advantages of using phased array include the fast inspection speed, small resolution, and full coverage of the inspected area. This paper illustrates how advanced ultrasonic phased array technology contributes to the improved integrity of composite wind turbine blades during manufacturing.


The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of crude oil price on global fertilizer prices in both the mean and volatility. The endogenous structural breakpoint unit root test, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, and alternative volatility models, including the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model, Exponential GARCH (EGARCH) model, and GJR model, are used to investigate the relationship between crude oil price and six global fertilizer prices. Weekly data for 2003-2008 for the seven price series are analyzed. The empirical results from ARDL show that most fertilizer prices are significantly affected by the crude oil price, which explains why global fertilizer prices reached a peak in 2008. We also find that that the volatility of global fertilizer prices and crude oil price from March to December 2008 are higher than in other periods, and that the peak crude oil price caused greater volatility in the crude oil price and global fertilizer prices. As volatility invokes financial risk, the relationship between oil price and global fertilizer prices and their associated volatility is important for public policy relating to the development of optimal energy use, global agricultural production, and financial integration.


Six months ago, Brian Wimpling took part in a significant merger. It wasn't a business combination for his employer, $2.5 billion-assets Capital City Bank, Tallahassee, Fla. It was the merger of the investigative staffs of the bank's anti-fraud and Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering units. The move came at a time when Wimpling, senior vice-president, and a former IRS Criminal Investigation Division investigator, had been hearing of layoffs and budget cuts of other banks' compliance staffs. His bank hadn't gone that way. The merger came in the course of some internal combinations for the sake of streamlining, but Wimpling feels comfortable with the new arrangement. He thinks it makes perfect sense: "Many of the cases that you see coming out of the fraud area have to be reported on a Suspicious Activity Report anyway." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From overlap to trend Capital City isn't alone in taking this step, or preparing for it. At $5.7 billion-assets Johnson Financial Group, Racine, Wis., John Topczewski, vice-president and compliance officer, says his institution is in the midst of moving its AML investigative team over to the company's fraud protection department. "We think there are great synergies to putting all that together," says Topczewski. He points to coming consolidations that will change the way that wire transfers, for instance, are reviewed. The bank once had four different groups looking at the same wire transfer data when its alert system kicked out transactions selected by its rules and filters. "Now we are going to have one person looking at the wire data for four reasons," he says. Topczewski has no illusions that compliance activities will ever become regarded as profit centers, but he says efforts already undertaken have yielded business intelligence. For instance, followup to monitoring system data has identified individuals operating businesses out of personal checking accounts. This has enabled the bank to pitch those customers on switching to more-appropriate (and potentially more-profitable) business checking instead. In many institutions, there is a growing realization that fraud and money laundering often are related, "even if it's with five or ten degrees of separation," says Paul Henninger, head of the financial crimes product group at Actimize, which recently acquired Fortent (an ABA-endorsed provider). Melding BSA/AML and anti-fraud activities isn't a universal trend by any means. Some bankers aren't so sure the synergies will be there. "There should be communication between the two groups, but we're not sure that merger is the right approach," says Marfa De Lourdes Jimenez, senior vice-president and manager of the corporate compliance division at San Juan's $23.8 billion-assets Banco Popular de Puerto Rico. Breather brings structural reflection Debate over taking such steps comes at an unusual time for the banking industry and its BSA compliance contingent. The BSA/AML area "has been kind of quiet," says Robert Rowe, ABA vice-president and senior counsel specializing in the field. While it isn't a case of nothing happening, this area, marked by controversy and frantic adaptation both before and certainly after 9/11 has, Rowe and others say, come to a point of "maturity," for lack of a better word. There's plenty of work to be done. BSA examinations continue to be conducted. But in the absence of sweeping new regulatory regimens and in the wake of the financial crisis, executives in charge of these matters have turned attention to efficiencies, economy, and navigation of the recession in all its implications for their functions. Many bankers, consultants, and vendors say that the news, for once, is inside the banks, in the BSA/AML field. And that is the potential for the kind of strategic shift that banks like Capital and Johnson are trying. Factors driving shifts "Financial institutions are being called upon to do more with less," says S. …


Background: Numerous studies have linked fine particles [≤ 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5)] and health. Most studies focused on the total mass of the particles, although the chemical composition of the particles varies substantially. Which chemical components of fine particles that are the most harmful is not well understood, and research on the chemical composition of PM2.5 and the components that are the most harmful is particularly limited in Asia. Objectives: We characterized PM2.5 chemical composition and estimated the effects of cause-specific mortality of PM2.5 mass and constituents in Seoul, Korea. We compared the chemical composition of particles to those of the eastern and western United States. Methods: We examined temporal variability of PM2.5 mass and its composition using hourly data. We applied an overdispersed Poisson generalized linear model, adjusting for time, day of week, temperature, and relative humidity to investigate the association between risk of mortality and PM2.5 mass and its constituents in Seoul, Korea, for August 2008 through October 2009. Results: PM2.5 and chemical components exhibited temporal patterns by time of day and season. The chemical characteristics of Seoul's PM2.5 were more similar to PM2.5 found in the western United States than in the eastern United States. Seoul's PM2.5 had lower sulfate (SO4) contributions and higher nitrate (NO3) contributions than that of the eastern United States, although overall PM2.5 levels in Seoul were higher than in the United States. An interquartile range (IQR) increase in magnesium (Mg) (0.05 μg/m3) was associated with a 1.4% increase (95% confidence interval: 0.2%, 2.6%) in total mortality on the following day. Several components that were among the largest contributors to PM2.5 total mass—NO3, SO4, and ammonium (NH4)—were moderately associated with same-day cardiovascular mortality at the p < 0.10 level. Other components with smaller mass contributions [Mg and chlorine (Cl)] exhibited moderate associations with respiratory mortality on the following day (p < 0.10). Conclusions: Our findings link PM2.5 constituents with mortality and have implications for policy making on sources of PM2.5 and on the relevance of PM2.5 health studies from other areas to this region.


Abstract This study examined high temperature survival and heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) responses to temperature variation for two marine invertebrate species on sub-Antarctic Marion Island. The isopod Exosphaeroma gigas Leach and the amphipod Hyale hirtipalma Dana had the same tolerance to high temperature. The mean upper temperature which was lethal for 50% of the population (upper lethal temperature, ULT50) was 26.4°C for both species. However, the isopod E. gigas showed significant plasticity of ULT50, with a positive response to acclimation. In addition, the isopod had a heat shock response of Hsp70 at all acclimations, and the amount of Hsp70 protein increased significantly from basal levels upon an acute warm exposure after a cold acclimation. By contrast, the amphipod H. hirtipalma showed limited plasticity of ULT50 and no evidence for a heat shock response (failure of three different Hsp70 antibodies to bind to the extracted 70kDa proteins). Overall, these results reflect different flexibility of thermal tolerance of intertidal invertebrate species on Marion Island, with possible variation in the underlying cellular mechanisms, suggesting that warming associated with climate change may result in changes in species assemblage structure in sub-polar environments.


AbstractIn coniferous western forests, recent widespread tree mortality provided opportunities to test the long-held theory that forest cover loss increases water yield. We reviewed 78 studies of hydrologic response to standing-replacing (severe wildfire, harvest) or nonstand-replacing (drought, insects, low-severity wildfire) disturbances, and reassessed the question: Does water yield or snowpack increase after forest disturbance? Collective results indicate that postdisturbance streamflow and snowpack may increase, not change, or even decrease, and illuminate factors that may help improve predictability of hydrologic response to disturbance. Contrary to the expectation that tree mortality reduces evapotranspiration, making more water available as runoff, postdisturbance evapotranspiration sometimes increased—particularly following nonstand-replacing disturbance—because of (a) increased evaporation resulting from higher subcanopy radiation, and (b) increased transpiration resulting from rapid postdisturbance growth. Postdisturbance hydrologic response depends on vegetation structure, climate, and topography, and new hypotheses continue to be formulated and tested in this rapidly evolving discipline.


Evolutionary and developmental (Evo-Devo) biologists study the interaction between genetic endowment and developmental environment (Lewontin, 2001; Robert, 2004). Cross-fostering is a powerful tool for studying Evo-Devo. Chimpanzees lived under conditions very similar to the conditions of human children with human foster families who used American Sign Language (ASL) exclusively in their presence. In this environment, cross-fostered chimpanzees acquired and used signs as human children do. Intensive analyses of extensive video records of casual conversation show that Tatu at 46–48 months directionally modulated action signs to indicate actor and instrument as human signers do. Tatu directionally modulated action signs in responses to Wh-questions such as "Who?" but directional modulations failed to appear in responses to What Demonstrative questions such as "What that?" These results confirm and extend previous results for Dar at 37–48 months. Further analyses show that Tatu also quantitatively modulated all types of signs to indicate intensity as human signers do.


The research of Dr. Bent Flyvbjerg in the 1990s and early 2000s showed that urban rail projects often cost more than estimated and carried fewer riders than projected, a troubling trend suggesting that the forecasts for urban rail projects were too optimistic in terms of cost and ridership. Inspired by that research, this analysis seeks to extend that framework to analyze Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). A study of forecast vs. actual costs and ridership was conducted for 19 BRT projects in the United States. From this, it was found that the cost projections for these projects tended to be quite accurate, but ridership projections tended to be quite inaccurate and showed a clear tendency towards an optimism bias. As BRT becomes a more common choice for rapid transit investment in the US, this analysis suggests that current ridership forecasting methods still leave much to be desired.


The ecumenical conference in Edinburgh in 2010 identified the issue of 'Mission and Power' as one of the pressing mission themes for our generation. Christian mission has always been associated with power. The promise of the risen Christ was that his followers would receive power when the Holy Spirit came on them. History, unfortunately, recounts how Christian mission became backed by force and violence, the very opposite of the kind of power and energy associated with the Spirit of God. At the Edinburgh 2010 conference this violence in mission was studied as expressed in churches' relations with indigenous peoples. This article engages violence theologically and ecumenically by inviting the Edinburgh 2010 discussion into the reflection on violence in the democratic South Africa, as it was presented as a contribution to a wider discussion on violence in South Africa. This is done with the following objectives in mind: (1) to better understand the interplay between violence and power against the background of a broader global and ecumenical discussion of this issue; and (2) to suggest clues for the theological reflection on violence that may help to create a powerless, spacecreating discourse that opens up thinking and contributes to healing and justice.The article concludes by building on the Edinburg 2010 foundations of mission as dialogue and proposing prophetic dialogue as a powerless discourse: 'Transforming the meaning of mission means that … God's mission calls all people to work together for healing and justice in partnerships of mutuality and respect.'


Unlocking the Law is the groundbreaking series of textbooks with a unique approach to the study of law. Designed specifically to make the subject matter accessible, the text includes features, activities, key facts charts, diagrams, and clear headings and sub-headings to aid students in understanding the different areas within their course. Unlocking the Law textbooks have been written specifically to ensure that readers understand fully the concepts required and are able to apply them with confidence. All titles in the series follow the same format and include the same features so students can move easily from one subject to another. The series covers all the core undergraduate foundation subjects required by the Bar Council and the Law Society for entry onto professional qualifications. Unlocking the Law remains the most original and accessible textbook series available.


Valuable human and knowledge resources will be wasted unless organisations make better use of these prime resources. Construction knowledge workers and their tacit knowledge in particular is still considered to be relatively unexplored and proper understanding and management of this resource is of immense importance for better organisational performance. The paper stresses the importance of knowledge worker and tacit knowledge in construction and examines the contribution towards the company performance. Two dimensions in construction knowledge worker management are highlighted. This provides a valid basis to embrace the concept of knowledge worker and a knowledge culture at all levels within construction organisations.


A seminal result in the theory of toric varieties, due to Knudsen, Mumford and Waterman (1973), asserts that for every lattice polytope $P$ there is a positive integer $k$ such that the dilated polytope $kP$ has a unimodular triangulation. In dimension 3, Kantor and Sarkaria (2003) have shown that $k=4$ works for every polytope. But this does not imply that every $k>4$ works as well. We here study the values of $k$ for which the result holds showing that:
1. It contains all composite numbers.
2. It is an additive semigroup.
These two properties imply that the only values of $k$ that may not work (besides 1 and 2, which are known not to work) are $k\in\{3,5,7,11\}$. With an ad-hoc construction we show that $k=7$ and $k=11$ also work, except in this case the triangulation cannot be guaranteed to be "standard" in the boundary. All in all, the only open cases are $k=3$ and $k=5$.


Today, Logic and Probability are mostly seen as independent fields with a separate history and set of foundations. Against this dominating perception, only a very few people (Laplace, Boole, Peirce) have suspected there was some affinity or relation between them. The truth is they have a considerable common ground which underlies the historical foundation of both disciplines and, in this century, has prompted notable thinkers as Reichenbach [14], Carnap [2] [3] or Popper [12] [13] (and Gaifman [5], Scott & Krauss [21], Fenstad [4], Miller [10] [11], David Lewis [9], Stalnaker [22], Hintikka [7] or Suppes [23]) to consider connection-building treatments of Logic and Probability as desirable. Indeed such a line of thinking can be pursued (this author, for one, attempted it in [15-19]). In so doing, one straightforwardly obtains a logic based on ---as the simple unifying concept--- an additive non-functional truth valuation which, though technically indistinguishable from (axiomatic) Probability, can however be totally ``decontaminated" from parasitical probabilistic interpretations (such as the usual readings of ``event", ``probability" or ``conditioning") and be given instead a strictly logical reading and justification (in terms of ``sentence", ``truth" or ``relativity"). Once some deeply-ingrained reading habits are overcome, the required concepts and formulas flow easily, and the resulting assertion-based sentential calculus becomes a very natural extension of ordinary two-valued reasoning. Furthermore, in the process we get: (a) intuitive geometrical and information-related interpretations of the concepts, (b) a simple theoretical explanation for some poorly justified formulas (intermittently advanced by various authors, some mentioned above),and (c) a semantics ---and a proof theory--- for general assertions that is unproblematically derived and also fully consistent with empirical or ad hoc approximate-reasoning ``Bayesian" formulas found by Artificial Intelligence researchers.


Recent Weak Supervision (WS) approaches have had widespread success in easing the bottleneck of labeling training data for machine learning by synthesizing labels from multiple potentially noisy supervision sources. However, proper measurement and analysis of these approaches remain a challenge. First, datasets used in existing works are often private and/or custom, limiting standardization. Second, WS datasets with the same name and base data often vary in terms of the labels and weak supervision sources used, a significant"hidden"source of evaluation variance. Finally, WS studies often diverge in terms of the evaluation protocol and ablations used. To address these problems, we introduce a benchmark platform, WRENCH, for thorough and standardized evaluation of WS approaches. It consists of 22 varied real-world datasets for classification and sequence tagging; a range of real, synthetic, and procedurally-generated weak supervision sources; and a modular, extensible framework for WS evaluation, including implementations for popular WS methods. We use WRENCH to conduct extensive comparisons over more than 120 method variants to demonstrate its efficacy as a benchmark platform. The code is available at https://github.com/JieyuZ2/wrench.


Dr B. J. Alloway drew attention to the fact that relationships between geochemistry and health could be somewhat obscured by relatively widespread, but low level pollution from the disposal of sewage sludge on land. Although the total concentrations of metals such as cadmium, lead and other elements may not be very high, it is possible that these elements may be more available to crops than those occurring in geochemical anomalies. This should be borne in mind when comparing the analysis of top soils with medical data. Dr S. H. U. Bowie said: 1. Participants in this symposium might be interested to know that the Royal Society has recently set up a Working Party on Environmental Geochemistry and Health under my chairmanship. Details of membership can be had from Dr Iain Thornton, and anyone interested in having any aspect of the subject raised should do so through the appropriate member. 2. The Royal Society has just published the proceedings of a discussion meeting entitled 'Environmental Geochemistry and Health' and this is recommended as a scene-setting volume covering geochemistry and the health of man, animals and plants. 3. The Working Party is in contact with national co-ordinating committees in the USA and USSR and with individuals elsewhere. We would welcome exchange arrangements with responsible committees in other countries and look forward to collaboration with the Academies of Science in the 5 Scandinavian countries through their representative. 4. Anyone doing research in the field of environmental geochemistry and health is asked to contact


Korean cultural products (known as Hallyu) are now the dominant incarnation of East Asian culture throughout Southeast Asia and have introduced consumers to Korean industry, cosmetics, and culture. Recent work has concentrated heavily upon this region and the new dynamics Southeast Asian countries can offer to the study of inter-Asian cultural links, particularly during the political amalgamation of the ASEAN economic community. Yet in the more developed Southeast Asian nations of Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines, there is some evidence of a rejection of and animosity towards Hallyu products from consumers who are beginning to question and disapprove of the high number of Korean products in their countries. Through interviews with over 70 consumers dissatisfied with Hallyu across these three nations, this project identifies three main areas under which this potential for a Hallyu "backlash" occurs: perceptions of colonial-esque attitudes and cultural imperialism from Korea; the movement of Hallyu from an innovative new "high culture" to a static and out-of-date "low culture"; and the increasing availability of new and different international products that threaten to usurp Hallyu. Such evidence represents a potential change in East and Southeast Asian relations, as well as the long term difficulties inherent in using Hallyu as a vehicle to maintain Korean influence.


In the last issue, I introduced this series of articles on critical software testing processes. For our first article, let's look at the processes associated with an essential precondition for any test activities: creation, delivery, and installation of a software release into the test environment. Without software to test, there can be no software testing, but, as obvious as this is, many software development organizations do a poor job of managing test release processes. Often, the role of building a test release devolves into the test organization, which is generally ill-prepared to handle the tasks, and the processes are defined reactively— to put out fires—not proactively—to handle key roles optimally.


Even though it happens to everyone, losing a tooth for the first time can make kids a little nervous or apprehensive. 'Arthur's Tooth' offers a funny story that helps make the loss of baby teeth less scary. It shows kids that they are not alone in losing their teeth, while also telling a story that is silly enough to keep kids engaged.


More than one fourth of the total population in Iran are young people aged 10-24 (1). On the one hand, strong cultural and religious values surround sexuality before marriage and on the other hand, shifts towards greater interaction between young men and women are occurring in response to the spread of education among females, the postponement of marriage, and outside influences (2-4). Although illegal, satellite is widely accessible (5, 6). Spread of social networks and communication technology has been fast among young people. Even sexuality is reflected openly in some rap music which is illegally accessible among adolescents and young people. Despite the recognition that such social and communication changes make the interchange of information including those with sexual content easier and faster among people, facilitate interpersonal communication and relationships and in fact provide greater opportunity for premarital liaisons and sex, there is still no comprehensive policy and program that target unmarried youth to address values, abstinence as well as safe sex in this country. One important reason can be denial of premarital sex (7). It might be claimed that sex is supposed to be confined within marriage in Iran and premarital mandatory courses have been designed to youth who intend to marry. The answer is that, evidence shows that despite normative inappropriateness (8), and legal and religious prohibition, a significant minority of females and relatively greater proportion of young men, do not wait until marriage to initiate sex (9). Due to the fact there is no supportive services, sexually active youth are exposed to social and medical risks associated with premarital sex (such as STIs, HIV, unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion, violence, and suicide). Hence, these premarital counseling programs, only target youth who postpone sex until after marriage. How about the rest of young people? For any reason, whether they should be overlooked? In fact, in contrary to huge social pressure on young people for premarital sex, no formal education has been designed for them. Stigma on communication about sexuality (7), strong taboo and gender double standard in sexuality before marriage, make these outcomes unrecognized. Even most parents and teachers hesitate to communicate with young people about consequences of premarital sex, protection against risk before they get involved in such relations. One may claim that youth are not aware of sexuality and should not be communicated on sexuality issues until they marry. The answer is that today's young people are in fact different from last generation. They are aware of sexuality, but their information and knowledge are not detailed and they have a lot of misperceptions and myths (10) because they received their information mainly from their peers and unreliable sources which are detached from values. Recent rise of sexual transmission of HIV has led to some degree of realization of the significance of addressing safe sex for young people in schools to protect them against HIV/AIDS. However, it focuses mainly on unsafe injection, not much of unsafe sex and safe sex. Addressing protection by condom is still difficult for unmarried young people in Iran. Most parents even do not know whether they should talk with their teenager or not, what topics do they need to address, when do they need to start and how? They lack the knowledge and the skills to do so. Teachers are also ill-prepared and lack information and skills. One significant barrier is the fear that such programs might have negative influences on young people. Robust scientific evidence approved positive outcome of such programs. They improved awareness of risk and knowledge of risk reduction strategies, increased self-effectiveness and intention to practice safer sex, and delayed the onset of sexual activity (11). In a systematic literature review conducted in 2005, Douglas Kirby analyzed 83 studies of curriculum based programs that were published in 1990 or later, employed experimental or quasi-experimental design, and had sample sizes of 100 or more, and he found that 72 percent of programs in developing countries had positive impacts on changing behavior (12). To achieve a healthy population, we need to have a healthy young generation who drive the development in the country. Hence, we need to invest now on adolescent sexual and reproductive health. The consequences of such ignorance would have devastating effects on young generation now and in coming decades. The school setting can be an appropriate place for such programs because of access to huge number of young people and their parents. These programs should be age appropriate, culturally sensitive, and bounded with


The pathways from economic and social policies to improved food security and nutrition for the poor often are not well understood. Yet each day governments decide on policies that ultimately affect their well-being. How households increase their incomes, acquire food, improve health, or cope with insecurity are important concerns that need to be examined in order to devise policies to help eradicate poverty. Nearly all attempts to study these issues have used snapshot approaches those that look at one point in time. These approaches are limited in that they do not reveal anything about the actual dynamics of poverty, food security, and their consequences for nutrition and health. In this report Harold Alderman and Marito Garcia address these concerns by looking at longitudinal data for a three-year period, 1986-89, and analyzing fluctuations in incomes, consumption, savings, nutrition and health-seeking behavior of 800 households in five districts in rural Pakistan (Faisalabad and Attock in Punjab province, Badin in Sind, Dir in North-West Frontier Province, and Mastung/Kalat in Baluchistan). The report examines income sources and wage formation in rural Pakistan and investigates the level and distribution of income in poor households. It contributes to analysis of the temporal dimensions of poverty and thus adds to the literature on coping strategies of households. Although the three-year panel of data analyzed is too short to model fully the dynamics of poverty, it is sufficient to indicate the fluidity of the economic environment that households in Pakistan face. The report also traces the efficiency by which household incomes are converted to better nutritional well-being and the influence of other intervening factors such as health and education.


HIF (hypoxia-inducible factor) is a transcription factor that plays a pivotal role in cellular adaptation to changes in oxygen availability. In the presence of oxygen, HIF is targeted for destruction by an E3 ubiquitin ligase containing the von Hippel–Lindau tumor suppressor protein (pVHL). We found that human pVHL binds to a short HIF-derived peptide when a conserved proline residue at the core of this peptide is hydroxylated. Because proline hydroxylation requires molecular oxygen and Fe2+, this protein modification may play a key role in mammalian oxygen sensing.


Since the development of Riluzol no substance, which had been successfully tested in a preclinical setting before, has been able to be successful as a disease modifying drug in human ALS although there has been enormous growth of scientific knowledge in ALS pathogenesis (Aggarwal and Cudkowicz 2008). With a life-prolonging effect of only two to three months Riluzole is not a sufficient therapeutic option in this fatal neurodegenerative disease. Research and establishment of new therapeutic strategies based on the pathophysiological changes are urgently needed. A promising therapy strategy represents the inhibition of Rho-kinase. It is one of the most important signaling pathways concerning stimulation of regenerative processes and increase of cell survival in neuronal tissue. In animal models of the neurodegenerative diseases SMA, Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease, the ROCK inhibitor Fasudil and Y-27632 were already successfully tested. The aim of this study was to investigate inhibition of Rho-kinase cascade in the mouse model of ALS (SOD1-G93A). In a previous presymptomatic study with oral treatment of Fasudil an increased survival time and an improvement of motor performance was detected. In a histopathological cross-sectional study of presymptomatic Fasudil-treated animals mild neuroprotective effects were detected at the level of motoneurons, but no influence on degenerative changes in the peripheral nervous system could be observed. Presymptomatic treatment with Y-27632, another ROCK inhibitor with more specificity for the ROCK II isoform, resulted in a mild improvement of motor performance. Similarly, in a symptomatic treatment study with Fasudil an enhanced motor function was observed. However, compared to the presymptomatic study with Fasudil an increase of survival time was not observed in the presymptomatic Y-27632 treatment and symptomatic Fasudil treatment groups. In summary, best results were achieved with Fasudil in the presymptomatic treatment approach. Similarly strong results could not be reproduced after initiation of treatment in a later stage. Despite improved motor efficiencies, the ROCK inhibitor Y-27632 could not achieve a beneficial effect on the disease progress in the SOD1-G93A mouse model. However, the effects in the ALS mouse model could nevertheless positively be reinforced in humans by a comparatively longer duration of drug application. More histological investigations in the cross-sectional study with Fasudil could prove a strong modulation of glial cells and enhanced regenerative processes at the level of the neuromuscular junctions. In conjunction with in vitro experiments on microglia and motoneuron cell cultures, a strong modulation of microglia and neuroprotection of motor neurons was found as a neurobiological explanation for the clinical improvement in the Fasudil-treatment study in the SOD1-G93A mouse model (Tonges et al. 2014). The ROCK inhibition therapy strategy, especially with Fasudil, therefore represents a promising therapeutic option in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.


Abstract After analyzing the characteristics and pricing models on the Russian wholesale electricity market, some important features for econometric modeling are introduced. This paper suggests econometric forecasting models developed to predict daily and hourly electricity prices on the day-ahead market for two price zones in Russia: European and Siberian ones. A set of 24 models, which are similar in nature but different in included regressors, are introduced. On the basis of the actual database for 2014, different modifications of price formation are offered and analyzed with the help of the Eviews econometric package. Dynamic forecasts on various distances (day, week, and month) are conducted and the most suitable models from the point of minimizing the norms of the vectors residuals are chosen. Constructed ARMA models have high predictive power and are able to reflect the price trend on the base of exogenous factors and the previous price values.


Respiratory gated radiotherapy holds promise to reduce the incidence and severity of normal tissue complications and to increase local control through dose escalation for lungcancer patients. In this lecture, we discuss the current status, existing problems, and potential solutions for applying gating techniques to lungcancertreatment. First, the motion artifacts in CT simulation are discussed and the 4D CT scan technique is recommended for treatment simulation of lungcancer patients under gated radiotherapy. Second, we discuss two currently available forms of gated radiotherapy: internal (fluoroscopic) gating and external (optical) gating. Internal gating utilizes internal tumor motion surrogates such as implanted fiducial markers while external gating uses external respiratory surrogates such as markers placed on the surface of the patient's abdomen. The major strengths of external gating are that it is non‐invasive, is relatively easy and does not require any radiationdose for imaging. However, the relationship between the tumor motion and the surrogate signal may change over time, inter‐ and intra‐fractionally. The major strength of the internal gating systems is the precise and real‐time localization of the tumor position during the treatment. The two major weaknesses of internal gating are the risk of pneumothorax for implantation of markers in lung and the high imagingdose required for fluoroscopic tracking. Third, we discuss the potential solutions and future development of gated radiotherapy for lungtreatment. We propose the combination of external and internal surrogates (hybrid gating) to solve the imaging dos problem and the direct fluoroscopic tracking of lung mass to avoid seed implantation. Other related issues are also discussed.


OF PROJECT Inspiring Agents of Change through Music and Dance: A Documentation of my Facilitative Journey through Five Countries with Dance4Life This master's project is a documentation of my journey as a Dance4Life facilitator in five countries and a reflection of the insights and learnings I discovered from the experience. A history and background of the Dance4Life project is provided, along with current trends in the field of HIV/AIDS. My rationale, as well as personal inspiration and motivation for this work is also outlined. Specifically, I discuss my learnings as it pertains to managing group dynamics and working with groups across diverse cultures. In addition, I reflect on the knowledge gained about what it means to be a facilitative leader and how the methodology used throughout the trainings has influenced both my learning and facilitation style. Daily journal reflections, debrief notes, participant evaluations and a series of photos from the different countries are provided in the appendices we well. ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________


Due to the depletion of fossil fuel resources arid the potential consequences of climate change due to fossil fuel use, much effort has been put into the search for alternative fuels for transportation. Although there are several potential alternative fuels which have low impact on the environment, none of these fuels have the ability to be used as the sole "fuel of the future". One fuel which is likely to become a part of the over all solution to the transportation fuel dilemma is hydrogen.
Internal combustion engines which are fuelled by gasoline are well known within society and the scientific community. Although information is available within the scientific community regarding the operation of hydrogen fuelled internal combustion engines, such information is relatively scarce when compared with the sheer volume of information which is available for gasoline fuelled internal combustion engines.
This work covers the conversion of a standard small car to be fuelled by hydrogen. The car was modified in such a way that it could be operated on either gasoline or hydrogen at the choice of the driver. The car which was chosen was a Toyota Corolla hatchback.
This thesis outlines the design process which was undertaken for conversion of the car to be fuelled by hydrogen. Integrated within the design of the converted vehicle are systems for the measurement of all major engine operation parameters. Within the scope of this project, a new inlet manifold, and hydrogen fuel injection and storage systems were devised. Integral to these systems is the hydrogen leak detection safety system, which helps to ensure the safe operation of the vehicle at all times.
Also covered are the solutions found for the elimination of backfire, minimisation of exhaust emissions and the maximisation of both power and efficiency. These competing factors were considered for each of the programmed operating conditions for the entire useful operating range of the vehicle's engine. Following this, a comparison was made between the various competing requirements for operation on gasoline and hydrogen fuel. Significant reductions in the levels of all exhaust gas pollutants were found when the engine was operated on hydrogen. However, the power output of the engine while operated on hydrogen was significantly less than that of the gasoline fuelled engine.
This work is a step toward a full understanding of hydrogen-fuelled engines, their performance and their associated environmental benefits.


Purpose: The objective of this study is to explore and to examine supportive factors of Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) implementation in Jakarta, Indonesia. At this stage of development, resistance to the implementation of MRT is the main barrier factor to MRT's development. Therefore, successful implementation requires proper understanding of which factor is strongly influential to the acceptance of this technology. Design/methodology/approach: The population of this study is commuters along the North to South route of Jakarta MRT development site. The survey was conducted in thirteen location along the route based on the Station Development Plan. We collected 400 responses using purposive sampling method, half are private transportation users (cars and motorcycles) and the other half is public transportation users (bus and train). We obtained only 392 valid data after the validation and verification process. This study used Factor Analysis (FA) to test the construct validity of the measurement instrument and Path Analysis (PA) to identify significant structural paths between variables.Findings: We found that only Attitude and Perceived Usefulness significantly predict Intention to Adopt MRT for private vehicle users, while only Attitude and Subjective Norms significantly predict Intention to Adopt MRT for public transportation users. We found that both Overall Monthly Transport Expenditure and Intention to Adopt have significant influence to the Willingness to Pay of current users of private transportation. While for current users of public transportations, no predictor is significant for their Willingness to Pay. Research limitations/implications: This research used non-probabilistic sampling method; therefore generalization to population is strictly limited. Nevertheless, our findings may be applied to groups with similar context and characteristics with our sample group. Another limitation is the cross sectional nature of this study restricts our findings to specific economic assumption. One such assumption is the fuel price in Jakarta, Indonesia which has fluctuated considerably since the study was conducted in late 2014.Practical implications: Our finding is useful to be considered as additional information for the future pricing decision of MRT Jakarta. Additionally, the study may be used to improve MRT service based on the priorities mentioned in the data. For example, "Saving Time" is considered a most important trait of consumers' perception on the Usefulness of MRT. Originality/value: This study applies Technology Acceptance Model to the "Intention to Adopt" and "Willingness to Pay" future MRT program in Jakarta, Indonesia.


The main goal of our study was to see whether an artificial olfactory system can be used as a nondestructive instrument to measure fruit maturity. In order to make an objective comparison, samples measured with our electronic nose prototype were later characterized using fruit quality techniques. The cultivars chosen for the study were peaches, nectarines, apples, and pears. With peaches and nectarines, a PCA analysis on the electronic nose measurements helped to guess optimal harvest dates that were in good agreement with the ones obtained with fruit quality techniques. A good correlation between sensor signals and some fruit quality indicators was also found. With pears, the study addressed the possibility of classifying samples regarding their ripeness state after different cold storage and shelf-life periods. A PCA analysis showed good separation between samples measured after a shelf-life period of seven days and samples with four or less days. Finally, the electronic nose monitored the shelf-life ripening of apples. A good correlation between electronic nose signals and firmness, starch index, and acidity parameters was found. These results prove that electronic noses have the potential of becoming a reliable instrument to assess fruit ripeness.


No prior study has compared the joint angle and ground reaction force (Fv) differences between the high-bar back-squat (HBBS) and low-bar back-squat (LBBS) above 90% 1RM. Six male powerlifters (height: 179.2 ± 7.8 cm; bodyweight: 87.1 ± 8.0 kg; age: 27.3 ± 4.2 years) of international level, six male Olympic weightlifters (height: 176.7 ± 7.7 cm; bodyweight: 83.1 ± 13 kg; age: 25.3 ± 3.1 years) of national level, and six recreationally trained male athletes (height: 181.9 ± 8.7 cm; bodyweight: 87.9 ± 15.3 kg; age: 27.7 ± 3.8 years) performed the LBBS, HBBS, and both LBBS and HBBS (respectively) up to and including 100% 1RM. Small to moderate (d = 0.2-0.5) effect size differences were observed between the powerlifters and Olympic weightlifters in joint angles and Fv, although none were statistically significant. However, significant joint angle results were observed between the experienced powerlifters/weightlifters and the recreationally trained group. Our findings suggest that practitioners seeking to place emphasis on the stronger hip musculature should consider the LBBS. Also, when the goal is to lift the greatest load possible, the LBBS may be preferable. Conversely, the HBBS is more suited to replicate movements that exhibit a more upright torso position, such as the snatch and clean, or to place more emphasis on the associated musculature of the knee joint.


We estimate the impact of venture capital (VC) contract terms on startup outcomes and the split of value between the entrepreneur and investor, accounting for endogenous selection via a novel dynamic search and matching model. The estimation uses a new, large data set of first financing rounds of startup companies. Consistent with efficient contracting theories, there is an optimal equity split between agents, which maximizes the probability of success. However, VCs use their bargaining power to receive more investor-friendly terms compared to the contract that maximizes startup values. Better VCs still benefit the startup and the entrepreneur, due to their positive value creation. Counterfactuals show that reducing search frictions shifts the bargaining power to VCs and benefits them at the expense of entrepreneurs. The results show that selection of agents into deals is a first-order factor to take into account in studies of contracting.


Content regulation and censorship of social media platforms is increasingly discussed by governments and the platforms themselves. To date, there has been little data-driven analysis of the effects of regulated content deemed inappropriate on online user behavior. We therefore compared Twitter — a popular social media platform that occasionally removes content in violation of its Terms of Service — to Gab — a platform that markets itself as completely unregulated. Launched in mid-2016, Gab is, in practice, dominated by individuals who associate with the "alt-right" political movement in the United States. Despite its billing as "The Free Speech Social Network," Gab users display more extreme social hierarchy and elitism when compared to Twitter. Although the framing of the site welcomes all people, Gab users' content is more homogeneous, preferentially sharing material from sites traditionally associated with the extremes of American political discourse, especially the far right. Furthermore, many of these sites are associated with state-sponsored propaganda from foreign governments. Finally, we discovered a significant presence of German language posts on Gab, with several topics focusing on German domestic politics, yet sharing significant amounts of content from U.S. and Russian sources. These results indicate possible emergent linkages between domestic politics in European and American far right political movements. Implications for regulation of social media platforms are discussed.


Major epidemic outbreaks of viral hepatitis in underdeveloped countries result from a type of non-A, non-B hepatitis distinct from the parenterally transmitted form. The viral agent responsible for this form of epidemic, or enterically transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis (ET-NANBH), has been serially transmitted in cynomolgus macaques (cynos) and has resulted in typical elevation in liver enzymes and the detection of characteristic virus-like particles (VLPs) in both feces and bile. Infectious bile was used for the construction of recombinant complementary DNA libraries. One clone, ET1.1, was exogenous to uninfected human and cyno genomic liver DNA, as well as to genomic DNA from infected cyno liver. ET1.1 did however, hybridize to an approximately 7.6-kilobase RNA species present only in infected cyno liver. The translated nucleic acid sequence of a portion of ET1.1 had a consensus amino acid motif consistent with an RNA-directed RNA polymerase; this enzyme is present in all positive strand RNA viruses. Furthermore, ET1.1 specifically identified similar sequences in complementary DNA prepared from infected human fecal samples collected from five geographically distinct ET-NANBH outbreaks. Therefore, ET1.1 represents a portion of the genome of the principal viral agent, to be named hepatitis E virus, which is responsible for epidemic outbreaks of ET-NANBH.


The "minimum margin" of an ensemble classifier on a given training set is, roughly speaking, the smallest vote it gives to any correct training label. Recent work has shown that the Adaboost algorithm is particularly effective at producing ensembles with large minimum margins, and theory suggests that this may account for its success at reducing generalization error. We note, however, that the problem of finding good margins is closely related to linear programming, and we use this connection to derive and test new "LPboosting" algorithms that achieve better minimum margins than Adaboost.However, these algorithms do not always yield better generalization performance. In fact, more often the opposite is true. We report on a series of controlled experiments which show that no simple version of the minimum-margin story can be complete. We conclude that the crucial question as to why boosting works so well in practice, and how to further improve upon it, remains mostly open.Some of our experiments are interesting for another reason: we show that Adaboost sometimes does overfit--eventually. This may take a very long time to occur, however, which is perhaps why this phenomenon has gone largely unnoticed.


We present the design of an osmotic water sampler that is adapted to and validated in freshwater. The sample is drawn into and stored in a continuous narrow bore tube. This geometry and slow pump rate (which is temperature dependent: 0.8 mL/d at 4 °C to 2.0 mL/d at 28 °C) minimizes sample dispersion. We have implemented in situ time-stamping which enables accurate study of pump rates and sample time defining procedures in field deployments and comparison with laboratory measurements. Temperature variations are common in rivers, and without an accurate time-stamping, or other defining procedure, time of sampling is ambiguous. The sampler was deployed for one month in a river, and its performance was evaluated by comparison with manually collected samples. Samples were analyzed for major ions using Ion Chromatography and collision reaction Inductively Couple Mass Spectrometry. Despite the differences of the two sampling methods (osmotic sampler averages, while manual samples provide snapshots), the two data sets show good agreement (average R(2) ≈ 0.7), indicating the reliability of the sampler and at the same time highlighting the advantages of high frequency sampling in dynamic environments.


Pollution of water and sediments in and along the Port of Tacoma, WA, has resulted from the historic discharge of chlorinated solvents and caustic materials from the former Occidental Chemical Corporation (OCC) Facility. A pump-and-treat (P&T) system is in operation, yet the extraction of contaminated groundwater with elevated pH is being avoided because doing so has previously fouled well screens. This study used batch and column tests to identify factors that affect hydraulic conductivity of OCC site soil in response to high pH groundwater. High pH groundwater at the OCC site has elevated concentrations of Si and Al. These constituents dissolved from OCC site soil historically, though whether dissolution is still active in the OCC subsurface remains to be ascertained. It is however clear that precipitation of Si-based solids causes the soil to plug, reducing hydraulic conductivity. Soil plugging is due to the interactions between the soil and Si and Al in the groundwater, though Al has a greater effect. This study shows that Darcy velocity of groundwater and specific groundwater-soil interactions have the largest impacts on hydraulic conductivity of OCC site soil when high pH, high Si groundwater passes through it. When the Darcy velocity exceeds a specific threshold, hydraulic conductivity reduces over time, though soil plugging does not occur below this threshold. OCC site soil that has been exposed to high pH, high Si groundwater also has a higher Darcy velocity threshold for soil plugging than soil that has not been exposed to this groundwater. Therefore, P&T efforts can be designed to explore options that may ultimately enable long-term extraction and ex-situ treatment of high pH, high Si groundwater.


This paper investigates the effect of metallic sheaths on losses and temperature of medium voltage power cables. Two grounding methods of sheaths, including both ends bonding and single point bonding that causes different situations on cable ampacity, are considered. Electrical losses of cables that are main sources of heat are calculated in both conductor and metallic sheath of the cables. Sheathed and unsheathed medium voltage single conductor cables in flat and trefoil formations with different distances are considered, while calculated losses are compared in different constructions. Calculations of resistive losses are performed based on Finite Element Method (FEM) and IEC standard formulations. The results of two methods are compared and analyzed. Moreover, the effects of eddy currents and circulating currents of sheath on total resistive losses are evaluated. Finally, thermal analysis based on FEM is executed to achieve maximum temperature of cable in different constructions. Simulation results show the importance of metallic sheaths and grounding system effects in power cable ampacity analysis.


Geoffrey C. Ward, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004, 475 pages, $25.95. Jack Johnson, one of the greatest heavyweight boxers ever, won the heavyweight title from Tommy Burns in Australia in 1908. That the championship bout took place in Australia indicates that it was not a fight that most Americans welcomed. All previous heavyweight champions, including John L. Sullivan, Jim Jeffries, and even Tommy Burns, had for quite a long time, adopted the policy of not fighting Black men. But Burns eventually broke the rule because of newspaper taunts that he was afraid of Jack Johnson. Moreover, because Burns was always after money, the fight took place, and Johnson easily won. According to many sources, after the fight, as African Americans euphorically rejoiced (because to them, Johnson's victory was proof that Black people were equal to white persons, if nowhere else, then at least in the ring), more than 26 of the rejoicers were killed by whites, and hundreds more were reported hurt in many places throughout the United States, but mostly in the South. This could not have been unexpected because, between 1900 and the time that Johnson won the heavyweight championship in 1908, more than 700 negroes had been lynched in the United States. Black men were lynched for being too uppity, being too familiar with white women, and on the trumped up charge of rape. Jack Johnson was never charged with rape, but unlike most Black men, he was certainly uppity and familiar with white women. Unforgivable Blackness details all of Johnson's fights on his way to the heavyweight championship. It's a story of an odyssey, a testimony to Johnson's dedication and single-mindedness in his quest for a championship that he thought would rid him of bigotry and provide for him a good and stable life. It is also a story of the intractableness of racism, and its hideous effects throughout all of American society. Most of the participants and characters in Johnson's life are prime examples of the deformities and racist rage resulting from the prejudice against anyone who defies racist laws and conventions, and who seeks to live as a free person in a free country. And in this rich tale of lying, cheating, and perversion of the laws, not only were individuals involved, but also state governments, well-respected persons in high society and officials of the federal government. It is interesting that throughout Johnson's life he always seemed to have been the victim of bad timing. He was born March 31, 1878 in Galveston, TX, as Arthur John Johnson, the son of former slaves. His father had fought in the Civil War on the Union side, and expected some consideration for his efforts. But such considerations were hard to come by after 1876. In fact, by 1876 the Republican Party and the North essentially abandoned efforts to improve the lot of Black people in the South, leaving them at the mercy of terrorist societies and a vengeful legal system. The Johnson family, like so many others, were left to fend for themselves. But Jack Johnson was determined from an early age that he would not be told what to do by white people, regardless of the consequences. In his teens he chose boxing as his vocation, and as he ascended boxing's ladder he never backed down in the face of prejudice, stating that in his life, he intended to act as if race prejudice did not exist. It was an attitude that flew in the face of the facts, because apart from lynching, which was automatic for those Black men who dared to consort with white women, it was a time when winning Black jockeys were barred from riding in the Kentucky Derby; and a time when even in bicycle racing the best rider, Marshall Taylor, an African American, was banned. But Johnson believed he could do as he wished by merely being excellent at what he did. Even though the white heavyweight champions would not fight him, there were some white men who would, if the money was right. …


In December 2012, the Florida Law Review published Ben Trachtenberg's article "Confronting Coventurers: Coconspirator Hearsay, Sir Walter Raleigh, and the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause," 64 Fla. L. Rev. 1669 (2012). Using the example of hearsay admitted in criminal prosecutions related to the Holy Land Foundation, the article argued that under Crawford v. Washington, courts had begun admitting unreliable hearsay against criminal defendants that previously would have been barred under Ohio v. Roberts, the Confrontation Clause case upended by Crawford.Richard D. Friedman, the Alene and Allan F. Smith Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, responded in "The Mold that Shapes Hearsay Law," 66 Fla. L. Rev. 433 (2014). Professor Friedman vigorously defended the concept of "testimonial" hearsay set forth in Crawford and argued further that for the most part there is no good reason to exclude nontestimonial hearsay if live testimony by the declarant to the same proposition would be admissible.This essay, published along with that of Professor Friedman, continues the debate. After briefly revisiting the criticism of Crawford's historical basis - and noting the questionable "originalist" support for the Confrontation Clause doctrine - this essay argues that the Court's Sixth Amendment jurisprudence should be judged by its works. Because a majority of Justices has been unable to present a coherent definition of "testimonial," evaluating the Crawford decision remains difficult a decade after its issuance. Nonetheless, it is becoming clear that a sensible Confrontation Clause doctrine will concern itself with the reliability of evidence admitted against criminal defendants. The success of subsequent efforts to define the right of a defendant "to be confronted with the witnesses against him" will depend, at least in part, on the answer to these questions: Does the doctrine admit reliable evidence? Does it exclude unreliable evidence?


Abstract Research on the consequences of hate crime victimization primarily focuses on adverse health and economic effects with limited attention devoted to the socio-behavioral impact of crime. Informed by Intersectionality Theory (Crenshaw, 1989) and relying on 400 in-person structured interviews with LGBTQ Latine immigrant victims of crime in Miami, this research finds that 23% of victims had to change housing, 13% began avoiding queer venues/friends, and 35% started acting stereotypically "straight" because of the crime. New immigrant victims were more likely to experience forced relocation due to crime. Victims were more likely to adopt heteronormative behavior/appearance as a result of victimization if they were non-Cuban-American, had higher income, and were more closeted. Findings suggest that coming out can be an important crime control strategy. The paper concludes with a discussion about the benefits and limitations of adopting the intersectionality perspective in quantitative research, and three-stage venue-based sampling used to recruit participants.


Consistent high unemployment perpetuates inequalities in the South African society. The 2014 growth expectation for the South African economy is 1.5 per cent and this will most certainly not be enough to reduce unemployment. This research aimed to create an understanding of the spatial intricacies related to unemployment and to create a longitudinal dataset since 1991. The challenge with such a dataset is that boundaries of the enumeration and administrative areas have changed continually in the past and makes it difficult to compare unemployment spatially over time. These particular problems were addressed by aggregating data for 1991 and 1996 census from magisterial districts to the 2005 municipal boundaries. Area based weighted areal interpolation was used and it assumes that data is distributed homogeneously across the area of each source unit. The 2001 census and 2007 community survey data was available at the 2005 municipal level, and therefore a longitudinal socio-economic dataset of four time points could be created. The results showed that unemployment has been spatially persistent in a number of areas. Furthermore, a spatial grouping of unemployment by municipality showed that metropolitan municipalities had unique unemployment characteristics whereas the remainder of the country could be clustered into five distinct groups. A spatial comparison between unemployment and poverty at municipality level revealed that people can be poor and unemployed, but also poor and employed. Finally, the longitudinal data was used to do spatial forecasting of future unemployment trends and these accounted for up to 60 per cent of change in unemployment. These national and provincial spatial unemployment models consisted of coefficients like the percentage of people employed in mining and agriculture. This research added new knowledge in terms of the spatio-temporal understanding of unemployment in South Africa. It created a methodology to overcome modifiable areal unit problems (MAUP) and a longitudinal dataset of unemployment and related socio-economic variables. Refined spatial data was this research's main challenge and it recommends that unemployment data should be released at the most detailed spatial level possible like sub-place or enumeration areas. The quality and timeliness of data remain obstacles for policy-making. Therefore, labour market data at a sub-place level would provide a more meaningful analysis. The results from census 2011 will allow the creation of longitudinal socio-economic trends at a spatially detailed level in South Africa in the future.


I have relocated seismicity occurring in the St. Elias, Alaska, region between 1973 and 2002 to examine its relation to the 1979 M S 7.1 St. Elias mainshock and compare the relocations to recent studies of Global Positioning System (GPS)/geodesy, structural geology, geothermometry, and marine geophysical studies. The relocated seismicity clearly shows that much of the seismic deformation is occurring on or above a regional decollement that may be located at the top of the basement of the Yakutat microplate. A persistent Y‐shaped concentration of seismicity located east and north of Icy Bay contains the deepest (15–30 km) earthquakes within the region and reflects the present‐day deformational front between the Yakutat microplate and southern Alaska. Coulomb failure stress modeling suggests that static stress changes had little influence on the location of most aftershocks of the 1979 sequence.


In this article, we investigate a problem with nonlocal boundary conditions which are perturbations of antiperiodical conditions in bounded $m$-dimensional parallelepiped using Fourier method. We describe properties of a transformation operator $R:L_2(G) \to L_2(G),$ which gives us a connection between selfadjoint operator $L_0$ of the problem with antiperiodical conditions and operator $L$ of perturbation of the nonlocal problem $RL_0=LR.$
Also we construct a commutative group of transformation operators $\Gamma(L_0).$ We show that some abstract nonlocal problem corresponds to any transformation operator $R \in \Gamma(L_0):L_2(G) \to L_2(G)$ and vice versa. We construct a system $V(L)$ of root functions of operator $L,$ which consists of infinite number of adjoint functions. Also we define conditions under which the system $V(L)$ is total and minimal in the space $L_{2}(G),$ and conditions under which it is a Riesz basis in the space $L_{2}(G)$.
In case if $V(L)$ is a Riesz basis in the space $L_{2}(G),$ we obtain sufficient conditions under which the nonlocal problem has a unique solution in the form of Fourier series by system $V(L).$


The forms of text that we might call, for want of a better word, postmodern, are not familiar to us. We can immediately call to mind Joyce, the nouveau roman, so-called metafiction, Pynchon, De Lillo and so on. And we can argue about the applicability of those examples with respect to a category that means little for us anyway. Then we can imagine or invoke forms of analysis that have been applied inter alia to those texts; for example, the Barthesian, the Genettian, the Derridean, etc. They are not mysteries. But such analyses, more and more, are treating the texts they treat not just as objects for analysis in general. The tendency starts to some extent with Genette, but becomes most explicit in the work of Kristeva, Barthes, and of course Derrida. All that has been oft-repeated. And of course, it did not require a category like 'postmodern fiction' to elicit such inquiries into analysis; rather they are part and parcel of analysis itself, to the extent that any analysis is required to establish its own terms, whether or not it acknowledges such a task as an exercise in self-reflexivity.


The technology revolution has, in recent years, meant something of a transformation in the way we perceive art and, at the same time, in our way of understanding art exhibition spaces. New works demand updated spaces and different approaches to their care and exhibition. American museums were the first to respond to these changes and begin to put resources behind the necessary objectives. Throughout the 1980s a revolutionary process unfolded which focused on changing attitudes and opening up to a growing and increasingly diverse audience. This process soon spread to the rest of the world and gradually museums and exhibition spaces started to become part of an overall impulse of opening-up and conceptual change that, judging by the outcomes, was precisely what society was waiting and asking for. Rather than change their collections, museums changed their interpretation of them, the way in which they were brought to their publics, their approach to external communications and the role of visitors. New information technologies (particularly the most recent) offer museums the chance to respond to society's requirements. Hence access to museums takes on a whole new dimension. As well as the traditional uses of the Internet, art online offers two new possibilities: interactivity and the removal of physical barriers. Museums online are open to anybody and everybody, at any time of day, offering easy access and the scope for users to relate directly with a virtual exhibition space. The emergence of the Internet has transcended the barriers of space and time, enabling real-time communication with people from all continents, meaning that messages can be conveyed with limitless reach. The University of Murcia´s Virtual Museum project – UMUSEO – makes an innovative contribution to the possibilities offered by new technologies in the realm of artistic production and its dissemination. This is a research project designed to be a Centre for a range of art-forms operating exclusively online and specialising in exhibitions relating to the artistic heritage of the University of Murcia. In the 1960s and 70s questions started to be asked about the role of museums and their future, giving rise to the idea that museums had become passive exhibition centres. Today they are continually evolving, becoming centres of active experimentation in which public participation takes on a special relevance.


Long-term scars of unemployment include higher ex-post displacement and lower re-employment likelihoods, as well as income losses that increase in occurrence and duration of previous unemployment spells. Human capital explanations assume that its accumulation is valued by the market, but is impaired by non-employment. We retain the former assumption, yet relax the latter by considering continuous investment decisions made by workers across employment statuses, where wages, as well as likelihood and duration of unemployment spells are capital-dependent. We calculate analytically the joint optimal investment by the employed and the unemployed. We structurally estimate the model using NLSY79 data and identify two dynamically stable steady-state values with a lower one for the unemployed. Circular dynamics follow whereby human capital optimally falls during unemployment spells and increases again upon re-employment. Scarring and stigma are thus self-inflicted, i.e. endogenously induced through decisions made by agents only. A counter-factual exercise allows to gauge and confirm the importance of employment risks hedging in total demand for human capital and that of moral hazard issues in the design of UIB programs. We also show that status-dependent accumulation technology and capital specificity complement, but are not required for scarring and stigma. Keywords— Human capital; Unemployment; Duration dependence; unemployment stigma and scarring; Displacement; Re-employment probability; Simulated Moments Estimation. JEL classification— J24, J64, J65


Objective Both adenomyosis and endometriosis are characterized by the presence of ectopic endometrial glands and stroma and have been suggested to share some characteristics with malignant tumors. Although accumulating evidence indicates that endometriosis is associated with some cancer types, the cancer risks in patients with adenomyosis have been rarely examined. In this study, we investigated the relationship between adenomyosis and risks of common cancers. Methods This study included a cohort of 12,447 women with adenomyosis but not endometriosis, born in 1951–1984, and a cohort of 124,470 adenomyosis-free women matched by birth year. Their medical records (collected between 1996 and 2011) were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. We first compared the distribution of cancer-free survival (CFS) between cohorts with and without adenomyosis. Subsequently, within the adenomyosis cohort, we examined whether time-to-onset of the identified cancer type was correlated with time-to-onset of adenomyosis. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare the distribution of CFS between the adenomyosis and adenomyosis-free cohorts and between the early- and late-diagnosed adenomyosis groups. For comparison, we further evaluated the cancer risks for a cohort of 10,962 women with endometriosis but not adenomyosis and a birth-year matched cohort of 109,620 endometriosis-free women. Results Compared with adenomyosis-free women, patients with adenomyosis had higher risks of endometrial and thyroid cancers, with estimated hazard ratios (HRs) (95% confidence interval) of 2.19 (1.51–3.16) and 1.70 (1.29–2.24), respectively. For both cancers, distributions of CFS were not significantly different between the early- and late-diagnosed adenomyosis groups. Furthermore, compared with endometriosis-free women, patients with endometriosis had higher risks of endometrial and ovarian cancers, with HRs of 1.89 (1.07–3.35) and 2.01 (1.27–3.16), respectively. Conclusions Women with adenomyosis are at higher risks of endometrial and thyroid cancers, while women with endometriosis are at higher risks of endometrial and ovarian cancers.


The evolution of steep waves in the open ocean is nonlinear. In narrow-banded but directionally spread seas, this nonlinearity does not produce significant extra elevation but does lead to a large change in the shape of the wave group, causing, relative to linear evolution, contraction in the mean wave direction and lateral expansion. We use the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) to derive an approximate analytical relationship for these changes in group shape. This shows excellent agreement with the numerical results both for the NLSE and for the full water wave equations. We also consider the application of scaling laws from the NLSE in terms of wave steepness and bandwidth to solutions of the full water wave equations. We investigate these numerically. While some aspects of water wave evolution do not scale, the major changes that a wave group undergoes as it evolves scale very well.


Evidence from the U.S. and some other countries indicates that organized wholesale markets for electrical energy and operating reserves do not provide adequate incentives to stimulate the proper quantity or mix of generating capacity consistent with mandatory reliability criteria. A large part of the problem can be associated with the failure of wholesale spot market prices for energy and operating reserves to rise to high enough levels during periods when generating capacity is fully utilized. Reforms to wholesale energy markets, the introduction of well-design forward capacity markets, and symmetrical treatment of demand response and generating capacity resources to respond to market and institutional imperfections are discussed. This policy reform program is compatible with improving the efficiency of spot wholesale electricity markets, the continued evolution of competitive retail markets, and restores incentives for efficient investment in generating capacity consistent with operating reliability criteria applied by system operators. It also responds to investment disincentives that have been associated with volatility in wholesale energy prices, limited hedging opportunities and to concerns about regulatory opportunism.


Cryopreservation of equine semen has been widely studied by several research groups because of the large breed and individual variation in sperm freezability. A key factor in sperm cryopreservation is the high incidence of oxidative stress, an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant protection, which impairs sperm functionality by attacking plasma membrane, acrosome, mitochondria, and DNA. In order to study the resistance of equine spermatozoa to different reactive oxygen species (ROS), sperm samples from 4 Mangalarga stallions were collected using an artificial vagina. Samples were cryopreserved in extenders containing dimethylformamide (DMF) or methylformamide (MF). After thawing and washing, sperm samples were then incubated (1 h, 37°C) with 4 ROS inducer mechanisms: xanthine/xanthine oxidase (produces superoxide anion), hydrogen peroxide (4 mM), ascorbate/ferrous sulfate (4 mM; produced hidroxyl radical), and malondialdehyde (MDA, lipid peroxidation product). Samples were evaluated using the 3-3′ diamino benzidine (DAB) stain, as an indicator of mitochondrial activity; the eosin nigrosin staining, to evaluate plasma membrane integrity; the simple stain (fast green/Bengal rose), to assess acrosome integrity; and the measurement of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), a lipid peroxidation product. Statistical analysis was performed using the Student t-test and LSD test. Results showed that sperm mitochondrial potential of frozen-thawed samples in MF was highly susceptible to the attack of hydroxyl radical and hydrogen peroxide. No effect of ROS was observed on membrane and acrosome integrity. On the other hand, samples cryopreserved in DMF showed no differences in susceptibility to ROS. When evaluating the main effects of different extenders, results showed a higher protective effect of the MF extender on acrosome integrity and mitochondrial potential (MF: 12.1 ± 2.2 and 7.8 ± 2.3% v. DMF: 3.4 ± 0.7 and 1.1 ± 0.7%, respectively, P < 0.05). However, a negative effect of MF extender was observed regarding the percentage of sperm showing intact membrane and TBARS content (MF: 2.0 ± 0.8% and 517 ± 115 ng/106 sperm v. DMF: 20.6 ± 1.7% and 118 ± 44 ng/106 sperm, respectively, P < 0.05). A strong negative correlation was found between TBARS and plasma membrane integrity (r = -0.88; P = 0.004) for samples cryopreserved in DMF, whereas a positive correlation was found between TBARS and sperm with full mitochondrial potential (r = 0.73; P = 0.04). Results of the present study indicate that DMF may play a role in the protection of sperm against the attack of ROS. However, such action is apparently limited to the plasma membrane. On the other hand, the MF-supplemented extender exerts an intracellular protection. Therefore, the antioxidant therapy, especially hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radical scavengers, may be an alternative to improve the post-thaw quality of MF-supplemented cryopreserved semen in stallions, by increasing extracellular antioxidant capacity. The authors thank Nutricell for financial support and the media used in the present experiment.


Voids formed in Au-Al intermetallic phases degrade the long-term reliability of gold wire bonds to aluminum pads. In this study, a series of microstructural studies were performed to evaluate void formation in wire bonds. Voids are classified as initial, annular or minute. Probe marks and Al pad contamination are the main causes of initial voids that block alloy diffusion and slow down intermetallic growth. Annular voids are caused by the ultrasonic squeeze effect of thermosonic wire bonding. These bonding gaps may become pathways for halide species that corrode and degrade wire bonds. Minute voids are formed during the Au/sub 4/Al phase. The two Au/sub 4/Al phase textures in these voids may be due to different Au/sub 4/Al phase formation reactions or be related to grain boundary effects on the surface layer of the Au ball.


From the Publisher:
In this book Ernest Wilson provides a clear, nuanced analysis of the major transformations resulting from the global information revolution. He shows that the information revolution is rooted in societal dynamics, political interests, and social structure. Using an innovative Strategic ReStructuring (SRS) model, he uncovers links between the big changes taking place around the world and the local initiatives of individual information activists, especially in developing countries. Indeed, Wilson shows that many of the structural changes of the information revolution, such as shifts from public to private ownership or from monopoly to competition, are driven by activists struggling individually and collectively to overcome local apathy and entrenched opposition to reform.

Wilson applies his SRS model to the politics of Internet expansion in Brazil, China, and Ghana to illustrate the real-world challenges facing policy-makers and practitioners. Examples of such challenges include starting Internet companies, reforming regulatory laws, and formulating NGO strategies for dealing with the digital divide. Wilson identifies the tremendous possibilities for innovation and advancement in developing countries while acknowledging the structural, institutional, and cultural constraints that work against their realization.


Efficient synchronization and selection of cells at different stages of the cell replication cycle facilitates both fundamental research and development of cell cycle-targeted therapies. Current chemical-based synchronization methods are unfavorable as these can disrupt cell physiology and metabolism. Microfluidic systems developed for physical cell separation offer a potential alternative over conventional cell synchronization approaches. Here we introduce a spiral microfluidic device for cell cycle synchronization, using the combined effects of inertial forces and Dean drag force. By exploiting the relationship between cell diameter and cell cycle (DNA content/ploidy), we have successfully fractionated several asynchronous mammalian cell lines, as well as primary cells comprising bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), into enriched subpopulations of G0/G1 (>85%), S, and G2/M phases. This level of cell cycle enrichment is comparable to existing microfluidic systems, but the throughput (∼ 15 × 10(6) cells per h) and viability (∼ 95%) of cells thus synchronized are significantly greater. Further, this platform provides rapid collection of synchronized cells or of diameter-sorted cells post-separation, to enable diverse applications in the study and manipulation of cell proliferation.


In the research reported here, electronic voting and peer assessment were used with 215 first year computer science and information technology undergraduates undertaking an electronic media design module. In previous years it proved difficult for learners following this module to develop good quality practical skills resulting in poor results in practical tests. In this study, the module delivery team used electronic voting and a form of peer assessment in order to motivate learners and to engage them more deeply in learning. It was hypothesised that this would improve higher order thinking skills and lead to improved performance in practical work. A significant improvement in performance of 6% was achieved (p<0.001) as compared to previous years. We were able to show that the most likely reason for this was the use of electronic voting systems and peer assessment. In the concluding section of the paper we discuss some issues related to this finding and our teaching approach.


The first week of December 1876 was marked by extreme weather conditions that affected the south-western sector of the Iberian Peninsula, leading to an all-time record flow in two large international rivers. As a direct consequence, several Portuguese and Spanish towns and villages located in the banks of both rivers suffered serious flood damage on 7 December 1876. These unusual floods were amplified by the preceding particularly autumn wet months, with October 1876 presenting extremely high precipitation anomalies for all western Iberia stations. Two recently digitised stations in Portugal (Lisbon and Evora), present a peak value on 5 December 1876. Furthermore, the values of precipitation registered between 28 November and 7 December were so remarkable that, the episode of 1876 still corresponds to the maximum average daily precipitation values for temporal scales between 2 and 10 days. Using several different data sources, such as historical newspapers of that time, meteorological data recently digitised from several stations in Portugal and Spain and the recently available 20th Century Reanalysis, we provide a detailed analysis on the socio-economic impacts, precipitation values and the atmospheric circulation conditions associated with this event. The atmospheric circulation during these months was assessed at the monthly, daily and sub-daily scales. All months considered present an intense negative NAO index value, with November 1876 corresponding to the lowest NAO value on record since 1865. We have also computed a multivariable analysis of surface and upper air fields in order to provide some enlightening into the evolution of the synoptic conditions in the week prior to the floods. These events resulted from the continuous pouring of precipitation registered between 28 November and 7 December, due to the consecutive passage of Atlantic low-pressure systems fuelled by the presence of an atmospheric-river tropical moisture flow over central Atlantic Ocean.


>> See video of presentation (28 min.) The primary goal of scholarly communication is improving human knowledge and sharing is the key to achieve this goal: sharing ideas, sharing methodologies, sharing of results, sharing data, information and knowledge. Although the concept of sharing applies to all phases of scholarly communication, most often the only visible part is the final publication, with the journal article as a most common type. The traditional characteristics of the present journals allow only limited possibilities for sharing the knowledge. Basic functions, registration, dissemination, certification, and storage, are still present but they are no more effective in the network environment. Registration is too slow, there are various barriers to dissemination, certification system has many shortcomings, and used formats are not suitable for the long term preservation and storage. Although the journals today are digital and various powerful technologies are available, they are still focused on their unaltered printed versions. This presentation will discuss possible evolution of journal article to become more compliant with users' needs and to enable "the four R's of openness" – reuse, redistribute, revise and remix (Hilton, Wiley, Stein, & Johnson, 2010). Several aspects of openness will be presented and discussed: open access, open data, open peer review, open authorship, and open formats. With digital technology which has become indispensable in the creation, collection, processing and storage of data in all scientific disciplines the way of conducting scientific research has changed and the concept of "data-driven science" has been introduced (Ware & Mabe, 2009). Sharing research data enhances the capabilities of reproducing the results, reuse maximizes the value of research, accelerating the advancement of science, ensuring transparency of scientific research, reducing the possibility of bias in the interpretation of results and increasing the credibility of published scientific knowledge. The open peer review can ensure full transparency of the entire process of assessment and help to solve many problems in the present scholarly publishing. Through the process of the open peer review each manuscript can be immediately accessible, reviewers can publicly demonstrate their expertise and could be rewarded, and readers can be encouraged to make comments and views and to become active part of the scholarly communication process. The trend to to describe the author's contribution is also present, which will certainly lead to a reduced number of "ghost", "guest" and "honorary" authors, and will help to establish better standards for author's identification. Various web technologies can be used also for the semantic enhancement of the article. One of the most important aspects of semantic publication is the inclusion of the research data, to make them available to the user as an active data that can be manipulated. It is possible to integrate data from external sources, or to merge the data from different resources (data fusion) (Shotton, 2012), so the reader can gain further understanding of the presented data. Additional options provide merging data from different articles, with the addition of the component of time. Other semantic enhancement can include enriched bibliography, interactive graphical presentations, hyperlinks to external resources, tagged text, etc. Instead of mostly static content, journals can offer readers dynamic content that includes multimedia, "living mathematics", "executable articles", etc. Videos highlighting critical points in the research process, 3D representations of chemical compounds or art works, audio clips with the author's reflections and interviews, and animated simulations or models of ocean currents, tides, temperature and salinity structure, can became soon common part of every research article. The diversity of content and media, operating systems (GNU / Linux, Apple Mac OSX, Microsoft Windows), and software tools that are available to researchers, suggests the usage of the appropriate open formats. Different formats have their advantages and disadvantages and it would be necessary to make multiple formats available, some of which are suitable for "human" reading (including printing on paper), and some for machine reading that can be used by computers without human intervention. Characteristics and possibilities of several formats will be discussed, including XML as the most recommended format, which can enable granulate document structure as well as deliver semantics to the human reader or to the computer. Literature: Hilton, J. I., Wiley, D., Stein, J., & Johnson, A. (2010). The Four R's of Openness and ALMS Analysis: Frameworks for Open Educational Resources. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning , 25 (1), 37–44. doi:10.1080/02680510903482132 Shotton, D. (2012). The Five Stars of Online Journal Articles - a Framework for Article Evaluation. D-Lib Magazine , 18 (1/2), 1–16. doi:10.1045/january2012-shotton Ware, M., & Mabe, M. (2009). The stm report (p. 68).


Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a heart disease, affects many vertebrates including humans and poultry. The disease can be either idiopathic (IDCM) or toxin-induced. Idiopathic DCM often occurs without a consensus cause. Though genetic and other studies of IDCM are extensive, the specific etiology of toxin-induced is still unknown. Here, our objective was to compare the level of mRNA expression of two candidate genes including troponin T (cTnT) and phospholamban (PLN) using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in toxin-induced DCM affected and unaffected turkeys. Cardiac TnT and PLN were chosen because their spontaneous expression has been reported to be associated with IDCM. We also scanned these genes for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that could be useful in evaluating their functions in the incidence and severity of toxin-induced DCM in turkeys. There were no significant differences between affected and unaffected birds in the expression of both cTnT and PLN. A total of 12 SNPs were detected in cTnT and PLN DNA sequences. One of the seven haplotypes detected in cTnT was the most frequent. Linkage analysis showed that cTnT gene was unlinked on the current turkey genetic map. Resources developed here, including SNPs, haplotypes, cDNA sequences, and the PCR-RFLP genotype procedure will be used for future investigations involving cTnT and PLN and toxin-induced DCM.


The spate of xenophobic attacks that occurred in South Africa first in 2008 and more recently in 2015 has raised questions in relation to causes and possible solutions. These discourses have focused on South African narratives with little contributions on how other African nationals perceive and conceptualize xenophobia. The paper recognizes the power of the mass media in serving as a major source of information for a variety of people in shaping their views and opinions about issues concerning xenophobia. Based on mass media narratives, the concept of a global village becomes more apparent as viewers, listeners and readers were informed of the events even though they were several miles away and in the comfort and safety of their environments. The paper argues that the media did not only inform but also served as a platform through which national and international reactions and actions could be aired and reported. These reactions and actions speak to a perceived identity that bind people along the lines of fundamental and sensitive issues such as religion, gender, rights and race. The Arab Spring protests exemplify the quintessential demonstration of the mobilization, by mass media, of citizens who through reactions and actions united to fight a common course and defend a common identity in the 21 st century. The study focuses on the xenophobic attacks in South Africa between April and June 2015. The paper considers xenophobia not from the point of view of South African journalists and citizens but from the narratives of foreign online newspaper reportage. Through content analysis of online versions of The Guardian (based in Nigeria) and The Herald (based in Zimbabwe), the study attempts to understand the role of the media in reporting the reactions and actions as identified in these papers. Key findings of the study suggest that mass media are not only instrumental in stimulating actions and reactions within the selected countries but also in South Africa where the xenophobic attacks took place.


INTRODUCTION: Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a bioactive phospholipid that regulates synaptic activity and when overproduced is a potent mediator of leukocyte functions, including platelet aggregation and inflammation. PAF concentration increases during ischemia-reperfusion and is a mediator of neurotoxicity. The inhibition of this process plays a critical role in neuronal survival. We synthesized various analogues and identified them as PAF receptor antagonists, which were then selected for in vivo experiments to evaluate anti-ischemic activity.

METHODS: Physiologically controlled Sprague-Dawley rats received 2 h MCAo by poly-L-lysine-coated intraluminal suture. LAU compounds (LAU-0901, LAU-09015, LAU-09018, LAU-09019, LAU-09020 or LAU-09023; 30 mg/kg) or vehicle (45% cyclodextran) was administered IP at 2 h from onset of MCAo. Neurological status was evaluated during occlusion (at 60 min) and on day 1, 2, 3 and 7. Histopathology was carried out on day 7.

RESULTS: Physiological variables were stable and showed no significant differences between groups. All LAU compounds significantly reduced the neurobehavioral deficit compared to the vehicle group, beginning from day 1 and persisting through the 7 day survival period. Histologically, the vehicle group showed large hemispheric infarcts with pan-necrosis. By contrast, LAU-treated rats showed preserved hemispheric structure and small subcortical infarcts. Treatment with LAU (LAU-0901, LAU-09015, LAU-09018, LAU-09019, or LAU-09023) significantly reduced total infarct volume compared to the vehicle group by 68%, 52%, 40%, 51% and 54%, respectively.

CONCLUSION: Our results clearly indicate that novel LAU PAF receptor antagonists are highly neuroprotective on behavior and reduction of brain infarction in experimental stroke. These compounds may provide the basis for future therapeutics in patients suffering ischemic stroke.


The Article explores the state of immigrant battered women in the United States, focusing on how their identity as a politically and culturally marginalized community impacts the measure of help that they receive. Specifically, the Article examines the 2012-2013 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization debate as an example of how membership in a marginalized community affects legislative successes and failures.Part I briefly outlines the unique obstacles faced by the battered immigrant woman in securing help and leaving violence in the home — for example, cultural and linguistic barriers, poverty, access to justice issues, and fear of authority and of immigration repercussions. Importantly, the status of immigrant outsider in this country contributes to and exacerbates the marginalization that the battered woman already faces as a victim of domestic violence. Part II discusses the legislative successes aimed at helping the community of immigrant domestic violence victims, focusing on VAWA. Since its legislative introduction in 1994, VAWA has included provisions aimed at helping battered immigrants. Yet, the methods in which the law has provided assistance to battered immigrants has weathered varying degrees of political controversy. Part III focuses on how this controversy ultimately drives legislative advocacy, successes, and failures. This discussion elaborates on how the community of battered immigrants is affected by the current era of anti-immigrant rhetoric and immigration law and policy reform. To illustrate, this Part discusses the 2012-2013 VAWA reauthorization battle in Congress and how vehement opposition to the provisions aimed at helping immigrant women amplifies the continuing challenges that battered immigrants face. Importantly, the Article examines how the status of the immigrant outsider intended beneficiary (e.g., the immigrant victims encompassed in VAWA) affects the ways in which legislation is drafted, lobbied, and ultimately passed or rejected. Part III then ties together the immigrant outsider and battered woman identities with subordination and citizenship theories and stresses and examines how as the most vulnerable and marginalized population, battered immigrant women experience heightened and explicit subordination by the political process and, ultimately, institutionalized law and policy.