A better understanding of Sun bear (Ursus malayanus) reproductive biology is essential to implement more effective management of zoo populations. The objective of this study was to document and describe reproductive behaviour, monitor ovarian and testicular cycles, and review approaches to captive breeding. Because Sun bears exhibit no fixed breeding period in captivity, identifying a set of behaviours associated with oestrus, pregnancy and impending parturition are important. During 1997 three male:female pairs at two zoos were studied for periods of up to < 10 months. Bears spent the majority of time in solitary behaviours, but oestrus was marked by and an increased rate of affiliative encounters, with females actively soliciting the male, and exhibiting characteristic behaviours including rolling, backward walking and inguinal presentation. Oestrus lasted 2 weeks, the end being marked by rapid loss of sexual interest, and mutual avoidance. During mid-late gestation females became increasingly intolerant of the male, and altercations were common. Several weeks before term females acted reclusive, and extensive nesting occurred when suitable material was available. Parturition occurred 3 months after mating, with pseudopregnancy lasting an equivalent period to ' true gestation', and being accompanied by similar behaviour changes and overt physical signs (e.g. mammary development). Separation of the female, provision of a high level of isolation and maintenance of privacy was necessary for successful rearing to occur. Faecal sex steroids were analysed in samples collected from 13 (9 male:4 female) Sun bears housed in zoological parks in North America and New Zealand, over periods of <27 months. Male samples were assayed for testosterone and female samples for oestradiol 17~ and progestagens. Testosterone levels were often elevated during mating periods, with peaks frequently accompanying breeding behaviour and copulation. There was no significant effect of season (p>0.05) on testosterone concentrations, which fluctuated throughout the year, with most animals showing sustained increases in androgen excretion at 4-6 month intervals. The mean length of the follicular and luteal phase was 11.2 ± 1.3 days and 93 .3 ± 3.0 days, respectively. Increased faecal oestradiol concentrations were associated with the onset of oestrus behaviours and breeding activity; an analysis of endocrine-behaviour data suggests that these behaviours may serve as useful indicators of physiological oestrus. The pattern of oestradiol and progesterone metabolite excretion during pregnancy and pseudopregnancy was similar, indicating that sex steroid monitoring may be of limited use for unequivocal pregnancy diagnosis in ursids. Analysis of studbook data and breeding records from Sun bears in North American and New Zealand zoos revealed that reproduction in these populations is strongly seasonal with the majority (> 75%) of births occurring during summer and autumn. A bimodal pattern of reproduction was observed, resulting from sharp peaks in the birth rate during July and October. Findings suggest a correlation between breeding activity and monsoon patterns in this species' native habitat. The factors limiting reproductive success in captive Sun bear populations are not understood. Difficulties confirming pregnancy, coupled with the failure of some zoos to separate potentially pregnant females or implement remote surveillance, reduces reliable statistics for birth or neonate mortality and prevents an investigation of the causes of cub fatality. A review of breeding records from various zoos indicates that standardising approaches to husbandry might also improve Sun bear reproduction in captivity.


Working mothers face challenges in pursuing their career aspirations due to work-family conflict. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has posed added challenges for working mothers by increasing care demands while also causing numerous health, economic and social disruptions. In this paper, we examine the impact of COVID-19 on Korean working mothers' career aspirations. We employ a longitudinal qualitative design by analysing 64 in-depth interviews with 32 mothers of young children in South Korea. By interviewing the same women before (2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020), we are able to document how working mothers' career aspirations were impacted by COVID-19. Findings show that all working mothers in the sample experienced increased care demands due to COVID-19. However, the influence of COVID-19 on working mothers' career aspirations hinged on gendered beliefs related to childcare responsibility. When working mothers believed or were subjected to beliefs that mothers should be the primary caregiver for children (gendered care belief), their career aspirations were tempered or relinquished. On the other hand, those who believed that mothers should not be held solely responsible for childcare (gender egalitarian care belief) continued to pursue their career aspirations or experienced career advancements during COVID-19. Findings suggest that beliefs related to care responsibilities play an important role in working mothers' pursuit of their career aspirations, and potentially their future careers.


The study on the future of European audiovsiual media regulation develops new ideas and recommendations for shaping a new European framework. A structural reform is favoured, as a response to digitization and convergence. The new framework should concentrate on general principles and be able to adapt and learn. Regulation should not be linked to types of services, but rather be developed by considering its goals, like protection of minors and consumer protection. Standards should be set allowing for effective regulation and coordination. Moreover by taking a 360-degree view on all relevant areas of regulation, it needs to become visible, where the European Law can offer leeway for to the member states' own media policy. The study called HERMES draws a precise image of current media consumption and value-added chains by examining several EU member states, as well as certain international states. The developments of the last years are being examined and current phenomena are explored. The centre of attention is the shift away from regular TV to non-linear media and the consumption via alternative channels as well as via new devices, which were not yet taken into account when shaping the present framework. The outcomes are analysed and put into practical guidelines for the near future.


Global calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy is used to correlate the Paleogene chronostratigraphic units of northwestern Europe and standard nannofossil biozones. Such biostratigraphic correlations show that the lithostratigraphic sequence is discontinuous and allows interpretation of the paleogeography of northwestern Europe during the Paleogene and evaluation of the influence of global sea-level (eustatic) changes on northwestern European stratigraphy. A well-documented unconformity occurs near the lower/middle Eocene boundary in the Paris Basin. This unconformity, which also can be traced in the London-Hampshire Basin and in Belgium, correlates with a coastal offlap event (presumed sea level) of Vail et al. On the basis of magnetostratigraphic-biostratigraphic correlations, the duration of the hiatus associated with this unconformity can be estimated to be 0.6 to 1.5 m.y. in the Hampshire Basin and 2 to 4 m.y. in the Paris Basin.


Scholars have long argued about the nature of "community," and the growth of Internet-based communication and "online communities" has intensified this debate. This paper argues that a new perspective on the concept "community" can shed light on the subject. Ideas from cognitive science, particularly category theory, can help. I suggest that community can be viewed as a prototype-based category. Prototype-based categories are defined not by simple rules of inclusion and exclusion, but instead by their prototypical members--a robin is a better example of a bird than an emu or a penguin. Items in a category are better or worse examples of the category depending on their degree of similarity to the prototypical members. I will argue that these theoretical insights can help resolve debates about the nature of community, and also can help guide designers of computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems.


"Entropy" can be defined as the measure of disorder, uncertainty and consumed energy in a system or in the Universe. In the study, entropy concept is used as metaphor and it is aimed to construct the conceptual basis of a new management model which can be utilized to manage all entropy sources effectively. The study is conveyed with a multidisciplinary and holistic approach and by the use of qualitative research techniques. In the study, it is examined the relations of the entropy concept with different disciplines like civilization history, sociology, economy, political sciences, ecology, environmental ethics, classical physics, quantum physics, nanotechnology, genetic science, information theory, network science, system theory, business management etc. and after the evaluation of the findings, it is constructed the conceptual basis of a new management model. At the beginning of the study, entropy concept is defined in detail and related concepts like social entropy, information entropy, negative entropy, heat death, matter chaos, entropic efficiency etc. are explained. Afterwards, important global entropy sources are examined and relations of the concept with actual political, economical, ecological, social and managerial problems and concepts are explained. The main aim of the study is to construct the conceptual basis of a new management model called "Total Entropy Management" which can be applied to governmental organizations, non profit organizations and business enterprises to be able to manage all entropy sources effectively.


The safety of surgical techniques has been identified as a publichealth concern. Surgery causes tissue damage to somatic, visceral and neural structures resulting in peripheral and central sensitisation of the nociceptive system and pain that may be nociceptive and/or neuropathic in origin. Acute post-surgical pain may be localised around the incision but may also spread because of soft tissue injury from surgical trauma and retraction. Pain may be at rest and/or on movement and paroxysmal without clear evoking stimuli. Pain may be accompanied by hyperalgesia, allodynia, hypaesthesia and dysaesthesia. Neuroplastic changes in the brain may contribute to the development of chronic post-surgical pain. The unique and complex pathophysiology of surgical pain means that pain management is challenging with a variety of pharmacological and non-pharmacological techniques available for use. However, inadequate management of post-surgical pain remains a problem and is known to increase the risk of developing moderate-to-severe acute and chronic post-surgical pain.


The A-type Huaco granite pluton of the Velasco range (Sierras Pampeanas of northwest Argentina) is formed by three coeval granitic facies and contains subordinate coeval-to-late facies, as well as enclaves, dikes and stocks that show different temporal relations, textures and compositions. The dominant facies (Regional Porphyritic Granite; RPG) is a porphyritic two-mica monzo- to syenogranite, with abundant microcline megacrysts up to 12 cm in size. It was emplaced in a dominant extensional setting and has a mainly crustal source but with participation of a mantle-derived component. The RPG transitions towards two coeval and co-genetic granite facies, at its margins (Border Granite; BG) and around Be-pegmatites (Adjacent Porphyritic Granite; APG). These two facies have a finer-grained texture and smaller and less abundant megacrysts. They are also monzo- to syenogranites, but a slight decrease in the biotite/muscovite ratio is observed from the BG to the RPG to the APG. Trace element modeling suggests that the RPG, BG and APG differentiated from the same magma source by fractional crystallization. Temporally older mafic (ME) and felsic (FE) enclaves are common in the pluton. The ME can be considered partially assimilated remnants of a mafic component in the genesis of the RPG, whereas the FE seem to be remnants of premature aplites. Other subordinate rocks intrude the RPG and are, hence, temporally younger: felsic dikes (FD), dioritic dikes (DD) and equiganular granites (EqG) are clearly posterior, whereas coeval-to-late Be-pegmatites (BeP) and orbicular granites (OG) formed during the final stages of crystallization of the pluton. The BeP, OG and FD indicate the presence of abundant water and volatiles. The EqG form small stocks that intrude the RPG and were possibly originated from purely crustal sources. The DD probably correspond to a younger unrelated episode of mafic magmatism.


This paper presents a method to identify intense warm season storms with convective character based on intensity thresholds and the presence of lightning, and analyzes their statistical properties. Long records of precipitation and lightning data at 4 stations and 10 min resolution in different climatological regions in Switzerland are used. Our premise is that thunderstorms associated with lightning generate bursts of high rainfall intensity. We divided all recorded storms into those accompanied by lightning and those without lightning and found the threshold I * that separates intense events based on peak 10 min intensity I p ≥ I * for a chosen misclassification rate α. The performance and robustness of the selection method was tested by investigating the inter-annual variability of I * and its relation to the frequency of lightning strikes. The probability distributions of the main storm properties (rainfall depth R , event duration D , average storm intensity I a and peak 10 min intensity I p ) for the intense storm subsets show that the event average and peak intensities are significantly different between the stations. Non-parametric correlations between the main storm properties were estimated for intense storms and all storms including stratiform rain. The differences in the correlations between storm subsets are greater than those between stations, which indicates that care must be exercised not to mix events of different origin when they are sampled for multivariate analysis, for example, copula fitting to rainfall data.


Stimulated by growing interest in the organizational and performance leadership components of Olympic success, sport psychology researchers have identified performance director-led culture change as a process of particular theoretical and applied significance. To build on initial work in this area and develop practically meaningful understanding, a pragmatic research philosophy and grounded theory methodology were engaged to uncover culture change best practice from the perspective of newly appointed performance directors. Delivered in complex and contested settings, results revealed that the optimal change process consisted of an initial evaluation, planning, and impact phase adjoined to the immediate and enduring management of a multidirectional perception- and power-based social system. As the first inquiry of its kind, these findings provide a foundation for the continued theoretical development of culture change in Olympic sport performance teams and a first model on which applied practice can be based.


OBJECTIVES
Levonadifloxacin is a novel benzoquinolizine subclass of quinolone with broad-spectrum activities against problematic pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, quinolone-resistant S. aureus, vancomycin intermediate S. aureus, and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus. Levonadifloxacin and its oral prodrug, alalevonadifloxacin, have been recently approved in India for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, including concurrent bacteraemia and diabetic foot infections. The aim of the study is to assess the activity of levonadifloxacin against Gram-positive clinical isolates collected from various Indian hospitals using the disc-diffusion method.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Nonduplicate isolates of S. aureus and other Gram-positive isolates collected from June 2019 to March 2020 were subjected to levonadifloxacin susceptibility testing (disk diffusion method) as per the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines (Year 2019). Levonadifloxacin 10 μg impregnated disks were used during the testing.

RESULTS
A total of 664 diverse Gram-positive clinical isolates collected from six different hospitals in India were analyzed. Majority (65.5%) of the isolates were S. aureus. All the S. aureus and other Gram-positive isolates were found to be susceptible to levonadifloxacin as per the prespecified interpretive criteria identified based on population pharmacokinetic model and Monte Carlo simulation enabled probability of pharmacodynamic target attainment analysis.

CONCLUSIONS
The present study showed that levonadifloxacin was highly active against contemporary Gram-positive pathogens and furthermore demonstrated that levonadifloxacin susceptibilities can be reliably determined using the disc-diffusion method.


Symmetric monoidal categories have become ubiquitous as a formal environment for the analysis of compound systems in a compositional, resource-sensitive manner using the graphical syntax of string diagrams. Recently, reasoning with string diagrams has been implemented concretely via double-pushout (DPO) hypergraph rewriting. The hypergraph representation has the twin advantages of being convenient for mechanisation and of completely absorbing the structural laws of symmetric monoidal categories, leaving just the domain-specific equations explicit in the rewriting system. In many applications across different disciplines (linguistics, concurrency, quantum computation, control theory,...) the structural component appears to be richer than just the symmetric monoidal structure, as it includes one or more Frobenius algebras. In this work we develop a DPO rewriting formalism which is able to absorb multiple Frobenius structures, thus sensibly simplifying diagrammatic reasoning in the aforementioned applications. As a proof of concept, we use our formalism to describe an algorithm which computes the reduced form of a diagram of the theory of interacting bialgebras using a simple rewrite strategy.


Changes in the size distribution of zooplankton in the Humboldt Current System have been hypothesized to underlie observed changes in sardine and anchovy populations, the dominant pelagic fish species. To examine this hypothesis, the size distribution of over 15 000 zooplankton data samples collected since the 1960s was qualitatively determined. Dominance of each size group of zooplankton (small, medium and large) and of euphausiids was modelled using generalized additive models as a function of year, latitude, time of day, distance from the 200 m isobath (a surrogate for on- shelf versus off-shelf), sea surface temperature and salinity. The temporal (yr) pattern for euphausiid dominance was highly cross-correlated (i.e. was in phase) with the time series for estimated biomass of anchovy, and small zooplankton dominance with that for estimated sardine biomass. This supports the focal hypothesis based on feeding-energetic experiments, which showed energetic advantages to sardine filter feeding on smaller zooplankton and to anchovy bite feeding on larger copepods and euphausiids. Although euphausiids predominate offshore from the shelf break, anchovy biomass is generally highest on the shelf, suggesting a possible mismatch between anchovy feeding and euphausiid dominance. However, evidence concerning the offshore expansion of the anchovy range in cooler conditions, where both anchovy and euphausiids predominate, somewhat alleviates this apparent contradiction. A strong diel component to euphausiids and large zooplankton indicated diel migration for these zooplankton groups. That anchovy will preferentially eat euphausiids when they are more available (i.e. during the night and offshore) is supported by anchovy diet data.


Regional climate change projections show a changing climate in the metropolitan region of Hamburg for the end of the century: The temperature could increase and the precipitation in summer could decrease. To cope with the probably longer lasting and hotter summer conditions in Europe there are different possible adaptation measures in land management practice, e.g. forest conversion. That means the conversion of mostly coniferous forest monocultures to deciduous and mixed forests. Mixed forests are generally more adaptable in comparison to conifer forests. They ensure an increased groundwater recharge because of less canopy interception and reduced transpiration outside the growing season. An interesting question is how forest conversion would feedback to the regional climate under different climate conditions. To explore climate feedbacks, REMO (regional climate model at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg) is applied. To get a more realistic representation of the land surface, a current dataset from a digital basis landscape model of the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy is used instead of the standard representation of the land surface in REMO. In some areas of the metropolitan region of Hamburg the updated land surface increases the forest fraction. Additionally, all coniferous forest types are converted into broadleaf forest types to study the maximum impact on the simulated near surface climate. This set-up is used for a climate simulation with REMO, forced by ERA-INTERIM reanalysis data for the period of 1990-2008. Selected climate variables are analyzed and the associated processes are investigated: The different forest distributions affect particularly the evapotranspiration and thus the water- and energy cycle of the soil and the lower atmosphere. Especially, the effects in the very hot and dry year 2003 and in the wet year 2002 are analyzed. To study the impacts of the forest distributions under different climate conditions, a second climate simulation is set up with REMO, forced by ECHAM5-MPIOM for the historical period 1970-2000 and for the future time periods 2035-2065 and 2070-2100 under A1B emissions. This allows analyzing the impact of a changed forest cover under different climate conditions. It gives a first estimation of climate sensitivity.


Consider using the simple moving average (MA) rule of Gartley (1935) to determine when to buy stocks, and when to sell them and switch to the risk-free rate. In comparison, how might the performance be affected if the frequency is changed to the use of MA calculations? The empirical results show that, on average, the lower is the frequency, the higher are average daily returns, even though the volatility is virtually unchanged when the frequency is lower. The volatility from the highest to the lowest frequency is about 30% lower as compared with the buy-and-hold strategy volatility, but the average returns approach the buy-and-hold returns when frequency is lower. The 30% reduction in volatility appears if we invest randomly half the time in stock markets and half in the risk-free rate.


Since 1996, artist Miltos Manetas has done paintings that systematically portray the new essential objects of contemporary life: joysticks, computers, computer game consoles, and computer cables (lots of them). Manetas also paints people who are usually intensely engaged in the activities made possible by consumer electronics devices, such as playing a computer game. But he never shows what games they are playing or what images they are looking at. Instead, he focuses on the humancomputer interface: hands clutching a joystick, a body stretched across the floor in the intense concentration or, alternatively, relaxing besides a laptop, a computer console, or a TV.


'Design methods' emerged as a subject of study and intended practical application in the early nineteen-sixties. It is therefore still a young, immature and rather precocious subject; although according to some commentators its short life is already over. My purpose here is not to undertake an autopsy, nor even a vivisection, but to review the subject for the benefit of students and others who might want to catch up on a major aspect of design theory of the last twenty years. Whether the 'movement' is now alive or dead there are many still-relevant outcomes from it. As well as reviewing the history of the 'movement', I shall include some examples of the use and application of design methods.


The national movements of sub-state national societies are divided into two or three competing political orientations (independentists, autonomists, and federalists), which vary over time. This article compares the process that led to the founding of the ADQ (autonomism) in Quebec, with the process that culminated in the transformation and de facto re-founding of ERC (independentism) in Catalonia during the period 1976–2005. Using the cases of two nationalist parties in two different national movements that have successfully established new political orientations, I analyze the political origins of this form of temporal variation. My outcome variable is the "tipping point" at which these nationalist political parties get established. This "tipping point" was reached through a temporal sequence that evolved in four phases. In each of these phases, a key variable was involved: the existence of a preexistent ideology, the occurrence of a central state constitutional moment, an impulse from the sphere of sociological nationalism, and the consolidation of a new leadership nucleus.


The gas phase species produced in rf plasmas of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO), Si2O(CH3)6, diluted with oxygen, have been investigated. The complementarity of Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy and mass spectrometry allows the determination of the most abundant neutral components present in the discharge. The measurements reveal that methyl groups (CH3), abundantly formed by the dissociation of the HMDSO molecule, are the precursor for the most abundant species which stem from two kinds of reaction. The first kind of reaction is combustion of CH3 by oxygen-producing formaldehyde (COH2), formic acid (CO2H2), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. It is shown that high mass carbonated radicals, such as SixOyCzHt, first diffuse to the surface and then the carbon is removed by oxygen etching to form CO2. The second is hydrocarbon chemistry promoted by CH3, producing mainly hydrogen (H2), methane (CH4) and acetylene (C2H2).


The title of this thesis - Siutaka he 'aho afā – is interpreted as 'Day storm voyager'. This title encapsulates the journeys undertaken by the Kingdom of Tonga as it navigates the ocean of international development and the frequent challenges or 'storms' it encounters. This research seeks to understand better how Tonga articulates and pursues its national development priorities in the context of international aid. It focuses in particular on Country Programmable Aid to Tonga from Australia and New Zealand in the years 2013-17 and how the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness Principles are applied to Tonga. The main research question addressed is: 'To what extent are the national development priorities of Tonga shaped or supported by international aid?'

The research is qualitative in approach and is composed of two sources of data: from in-depth interviews with a range of both Tongan and donor officials; and analysis of key aid and development documents. It examines the political and administrative context of Tonga, highlighting the political environment, changing leadership and the direction set by its strategic goals for development. It then looks in detail at the aid activities of, respectively, Australia and New Zealand, and analyses their various priorities and ways of operating.

The research uses the five Paris Declaration principles for aid effectiveness as a framework to analyse the way aid relationships and interactions occurred in Tonga over the period. There was generally high-level support for the Paris principles and these supported the idea that the Government of Tonga should 'own' its development, by drafting and implementing its development priorities and strategies. This was supported by agreement to abide by the principles of alignment with Tongan systems and Harmonisation amongst donors as well as pursuing practices which enhanced results-based management and accountability. However, in the details of daily interactions and practices, we also saw how these high-level agreements were often diluted or confused. Although Tonga had its own set of priorities, donors continued to choose which of these they would fund, according to their own strategic goals and concerns. Furthermore, given significant issues of capacity to operate effectively in the aid environment, with much onus on Tongan officials and agencies to provide data, report on progress, consult with the public and engage closely with donors, we saw how Tonga often struggled to exert strong and consistent leadership and control of aid-supported development.

In drawing broader conclusions, the Paris Declaration is found to be a step in the right direction for improving the effectiveness of foreign aid to Tonga. However, what determines the likelihood of effectiveness is multifaceted, and dependent on will, need, and, perhaps most importantly, on Tonga's leadership. It is found that the most fundamental factor for Tonga – both a unique challenge and a strength - is the enduring resilience of our culture together with our leadership code.


In algorithmic game theory, the price of anarchy framework studies efficiency loss in decentralized environments. In optimization and decision theory, the price of robustness framework explores the tradeoffs between optimality and robustness in the case of single agent decision making under uncertainty. We establish a connection between the two that provides a novel analytic framework for proving tight performance guarantees for distributed systems in uncertain environments. We present applications of this framework to novel variants of atomic congestion games with uncertain costs, for which we provide tight performance bounds under a wide range of risk attitudes. Our results establish that the individual's attitude towards uncertainty has a critical effect on system performance and should therefore be a subject of close and systematic investigation.


In this paper, we propose a distributed cluster formation (CF) and resource allocation (RA) framework for non-ideal non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) schemes in heterogeneous networks. The imperfection of the underlying NOMA scheme is due to the receiver sensitivity and interference residue from non-ideal successive interference cancellation (SIC), which is generally characterized by a fractional error factor (FEF). Our analytical findings first show that several factors have a significant impact on the achievable NOMA gain. Then, we investigate fundamental limits on NOMA cluster size as a function of FEF levels, cluster bandwidth, and quality of service (QoS) demands of user equipments (UEs). Thereafter, a clustering algorithm is developed by taking feasible cluster size and channel gain disparity of UEs into account. Finally, we develop a distributed $\alpha $ -fair RA framework where $\alpha $ governs the tradeoff between maximum throughput and proportional fairness objectives. Based on the derived closed-form optimal power levels, the proposed distributed solution iteratively updates bandwidths, clusters, and UEs' transmission powers. Numerical results demonstrate that proposed solutions deliver a higher spectral and energy efficiency than traditionally adopted basic NOMA cluster size of two. We also show that an imperfect NOMA cannot always provide better performance than orthogonal multiple access under certain conditions. Finally, our numerical investigations reveal that NOMA gain is maximized under downlink/uplink decoupled (DUDe) UE association.


When lovely woman stoops to folly, we do not think of death; we think of suppressed complexes ... --ALDOUS HUXLEY, Jesting Pilate (1926) T. S. Eliot, during ten years of personal stress commencing in 1915 used in poetry the psychological phenomenon of dissociation. The term can mean escaping magically from the body, as a wraith; medically it has meant being taken over in hysteria by a subconscious rogue self. Eliot's adaptations lent strangeness to a variety of poetic explorations. The short poem "Suppressed Complex" heads the list. It has been in print since 1988 in the Eliot Letters (volume one) published that year. It was sent in typescript along with a letter to Ezra Pound of February 2, 1915. A handwritten copy, evidently with variants, accompanied a letter from Eliot to Conrad Aiken a little over three weeks later.(1) Only one of the variants, "stirred" in line seven was lexical, probably an inadvertent repetition by Eliot of the same word in line five. The Aiken manuscript has become unavailable for editorial comparison; it dropped from sight after Aiken sold it. He did, however, make a typed copy, and from this and from a slightly conflicting typed copy made by a third party, Jane Quinby, its textual details have been inferred. Christopher Ricks in editing Eliot's Inventions of the March Hare (1996), put in the footnotes the peculiarities of the Pound typescript, and printed the presumably later text of "Suppressed Complex" (which varies from the Pound typescript only in punctuation), that of Eliot's holograph from the Berg Collection Notebook in the New York Public Library. His adoption of this text is a questionable choice. In the Berg Notebook the second line has no end-stop after "think." A stop does occur in the Pound typescript, as Ricks records in his textual notes.(2) In printing the line as unstopped he maintained his declared editorial practice of presenting the Notebook poems "in the final form in which the poet left them."(3) Ricks did not report from any text an end-stop in line five, after "fingers." The editor of the Letters uniquely placed one there in printing the Pound typescript version, perhaps with the thought of creating a diplomatic reading. It is legitimate to read the second line as closed with a stop, accepting "begin to think. / I was a shadow" instead of "begin to think / I was a shadow"-- for Eliot would hardly have introduced the end-stop first, had he not intended to avoid the implication that the woman fears to see, or to imagine, a shadow, when what she fears is something known to her and to be divined by the reader. Eliot was accustomed to omit line punctuation (and he did so even from the terminal line of the companion poem "Afternoon," in the Berg Notebook) if its effect was achieved by an equivalent breath pause. After the second line of "Suppressed Complex" a more definite break, or prolonged juncture, was required. A determined performer of manipulative hermeneutics could ignore the blocking end-stop and locate the shadow solely within the woman's consciousness notwithstanding; but doubtless Eliot assumed a normal reading. Certainly the woman may sense the shadow's presence. What defies probability is that she may be trying not to think that a perceived person in her room is only a shadow. It is comically possible; but in such terms the whole poem would collapse into bathos. The poem "Afternoon," written some weeks or months earlier, is occupied with trivial appearances theoretically reconcilable in some elusive stable fabric of meaning, the Absolute. The appearances in this snobbish and peevish sketch are derided as a mere shimmer, shrugged off as a clown show. The poem is dismissing the Absolute of F. H. Bradley, which Eliot, in his dissertation in progress, was engaged in repudiating. But "Afternoon" is Bradleyan in having an epistemological focus. "`Suppressed Complex' is psychological" exhibiting behavior on levels of pathology and bizarre psychical experimentation. …


The text introduces five case studies on war and the military in the USSR and Yugoslavia in historical perspective. It argues that the armed forces were at the core of socialist statehood and that their role and their change in late socialism and post-Communism are thus far understudied. Discussing the similarities as well as the differences between the Soviet, the Russian, and the Yugoslav case, the introduction seeks new explanations for war and military violence in these countries. Rather than pointing exclusively to ethnic mobilization and nationalism, it views the transformation and collapse of the Communist party-state and its army as a precondition for violence and civil war. It places these cases using innovative methodological approaches to the research on physical violence, war, and military. These studies explore the experience and the representation of violence, army service, combat, and war in late socialism and scrutinize individual actors and their behavior within violent spaces. In retrospect the emerging wars in the post-Soviet space – from Chechnya to the Donbas – and in Yugoslavia are at least as crucial for the region as Gorbachev's reforms. They help to better understand the conflicts of the present.


Winner of the first Paul A. Baran-Paul M. Sweezy Memorial Award for an original monograph concerned with the political economy of imperialism, John Smith's Imperialism in the TwentyFirst Century is a seminal examination of the relationship between the core capitalist countries and the rest of the world in the age of neoliberal globalization.Deploying a sophisticated Marxist methodology, Smith begins by tracing the production of certain iconic commodities-the Tshirt, the cup of coffee, and the iPhone-and demonstrates how these generate enormous outflows of money from the countries of the Global South to transnational corporations headquartered in the core capitalist nations of the Global North. From there, Smith draws on his empirical findings to powerfully theorize the current shape of imperialism. He argues that the core capitalist countries need no longer rely on military force and colonialism (although these still occur) but increasingly are able to extract profits from workers in the Global South through market mechanisms and, by aggressively favoring places with lower wages, the phenomenon of labor arbitrage. Meticulously researched and forcefully argued, Imperialism in the TwentyFirst Century is a major contribution to the theorization and critique of global capitalism.


During late 1960s Green Revolution, researchers utilized semidwarf 1 (sd1) to improve the yield and lodging resistance in rice (Oryza sativa L.). However, sd1 has a negative effect to culm strength and biomass production. To increase yield dramatically in 21th century, development of next generation long-culm rice for non-lodging and high grain yield independent of sd1 has been needed. The present study developed Monster Rice 1, a long-culm and heavy-panicle type of rice line and compared it with Takanari, a high-yielding semidwarf rice variety about yield and lodging resistance associated traits. Brown rice yield and bending moment at breaking of the basal elongated internode were higher in Monster Rice 1 than those in Takanari due to a large number of spikelets per panicle and thicker culm. Furthermore, to identify QTLs with superior alleles for these traits, QTL and haplotype analyses were performed using F2 population and recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross between Monster Rice 1 and Takanari. The results from this study suggest that long-culm and heavy-panicle type of rice with a superior lodging resistance by culm strength can perform its high yield potential by using these identified QTLs contributing yield and lodging resistance.


This paper argues that a linear statistical model with homoskedastic errors cannot capture the nineteenth-century notion of a recurring cyclical pattern in key economic aggregates. A simple nonlinear alternative is proposed and used to illustrate that the dynamic behavior of unemployment seems to change over the business cycle, with the unemployment rate rising more quickly than it falls. Furthermore, many but not all economic downturns are also accompanied by a dramatic change in the dynamic behavior of short-term interest rates. It is suggested that these nonlinearities are most naturally interpreted as resulting from short-run failures in the employment and credit markets and that understanding these short-run failures is the key to understanding the nature of the business cycle.


In countries with workers' compensation schemes, employees receive compensation for injuries at work regardless of fault, while civil law liability of employers is either limited or fully excluded. Compensation schemes provide several instruments to partially restore employers' accountability for safety, such as experience rating, and to induce employees to take care, such as reduced benefit pay-outs. The degree of liability matters for workplace safety, and different legal arrangements influence incentives of employers and employees to take care. In theory, both no-fault compensation and strict liability insurance can make use of the same instruments to mitigate moral hazard. Risk classes, experience rating and reduced benefits are found in many countries. In addition, the option to self-insure potentially reduces overall accident rates. In practice however, private insurance of strict liability seems to be better suited to adapt insurance levies to risks of individual firms. An empirical analysis of several jurisdictions reveals a consistent pattern. The combination of arrangements that increase civil liability and mitigate moral hazard seems to be important for safety at work. The analysis indicates that no-fault worker's compensation with the benefit of effective compensation comes with a cost: more injuries of those which it seeks to protect.


The authoritative guide to Bluetooth! From two contributors to the Bluetooth specification!For users, the new Bluetooth wireless standard will cut through the complexity of wireless communications, enabling devices to communicate seamlessly. Bluetooth Revealed offers the first insider's view of the Bluetooth standards: crucial information and insight professionals need to start implementing Bluetooth solutions -- now. Written by leaders of the Bluetooth community, it presents the entire specification in unprecedented depth: its goals, scope, structure, interrelationships, and applications. Coverage includes: Design challenges: 2.4 GHz spectrum characteristics, power consumption, global standardization, and other key issues Usage models: cordless computing, advanced headsets, file transfer/sync, dial-up networking, conferencing, hidden computing, and more The entire Bluetooth protocol stack: radio, baseband, and software layers; hardware and interfaces; and Link Manager and Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP) Bluetooth profiles: generic, telephony, networking, serial, and object exchangeBluetooth Revealed previews Bluetooth's future, including next-generation vertical and horizontal applications, and introduces today's resources for Bluetooth development, including silicon and developer's kits, as well as legacy product enablers. If you're intending to build, deploy, or market Bluetooth solutions, start right here.


Providing broadband passenger internet on board trains with continuous connectivity at high speeds and over large rural distances is a challenging issue. One solution to the problem is to use an onboard WiFi network connected to multiple 3G and 4G networks deployed outside the train and aggregate their combined capacity at the IP protocol level. In order to be able to provide the capacity and the data rates that tomorrow's travelers are expecting, the future 4G standard (LTE-Advance) uses a combination of high order MIMO and carrier aggregation. In this study we use the Swedish company Icomera's passenger internet system for our investigation. The system provides aggregation of multiple carrier and handover on an IP level. For about 10 years the system has in Sweden primarily been using multiple 3G communication links. However, here we present analysis and onboard measurements of a 2×2 MIMO channel to fast moving train in a live LTE 900 network. The results indicate that MIMO works surprisingly well and it is discussed that by combining 8×8 MIMO with carrier aggregation in future releases of 4G, it may be possible to bring gigabit internet connections to trains.


Background: Oncolytic virotherapy is an upcoming treatment option for many tumor entities. But so far, a first oncolytic virus only was approved for advanced stages of malignant melanomas. Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) constitute a heterogenous group of tumors arising from the neuroendocrine system at diverse anatomic sites. Due to often slow growth rates and (in most cases) endocrine non-functionality, NETs are often detected only in a progressed metastatic situation, where therapy options are still severely limited. So far, immunotherapies and especially immunovirotherapies are not established as novel treatment modalities for NETs.Methods: In this immunovirotherapy study, pancreatic NET (BON-1, QGP-1), lung NET (H727, UMC-11), as well as neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) cell lines (HROC-57, NEC-DUE1) were employed. The well characterized genetically engineered vaccinia virus GLV-1h68, which has already been investigated in various clinical trials, was chosen as virotherapeutical treatment modality. Results: Profound oncolytic efficiencies were found for NET/NEC tumor cells. Besides, NET/NEC tumor cell bound expression of GLV-1h68-encoded marker genes was observed also. Furthermore, a highly efficient production of viral progenies was detected by sequential virus quantifications. Moreover, the mTOR inhibitor everolimus, licensed for treatment of metastatic NETs, was not found to interfere with GLV-1h68 replication, making a combinatorial treatment of both feasible. Conclusions: In summary, the oncolytic vaccinia virus GLV-1h68 was found to exhibit promising antitumoral activities, replication capacities and a potential for future combinatorial approaches. This has been shown in a widespread spectrum of cancers in a preclinical setting and now has to be further evaluated for treatment of metastatic neuroendocrine cancer.


Purpose: Intensive gait training can produce improvements in gait and function (>6 months after stroke); however, findings are mixed for enhanced life-role participation. Therefore, it is unclear if improved gait and function translate into life-role participation gain. Our objective was to evaluate whether intensive gait therapy can produce improvements in life-role participation for chronic-stroke survivors, according to a comprehensive measure dedicated to life-role participation. Methods: In conjunction with a clinical gait-training trial, we conducted a secondary analysis for a 44-member cohort with stroke (>6 months). Gait-training interventions included functional neuromuscular stimulation, body-weight supported treadmill training, over-ground gait training and exercise for 1.5 hours/day, 4 days/week for 12 weeks. Study measures included Tinetti Gait (gait impairment), Functional Independence Measure (FIM, function), Stroke Impact Scale subscale of life-role participation (SIS part) and Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique (CHART, life-role participation). Analysis included Wilcoxon signed rank test and polytomous universal regression model. Results: Gait interventions produced significant improvement in CHART (p = 0.020), SIS part (p = 0.011), FIM (p < 0.0001), and Tinetti Gait (p < 0.0001). Age, gender and time since stroke did not predict response to treatment. Conclusions: Intensive gait therapy resulted in significant gain in life-role participation, according to a comprehensive measure, so dedicated. Implications for Rehabilitation It is important to measure life-role participation in rehabilitation intervention studies, and using a homogeneous measure of life-role participation provides clear results. Intensive gait training produced a significant improvement in life-role participation in the chronic phase after stroke. Functional electrical stimulation (FES) had no significant additive effect on life-role participation during the treatment phase, but FES did have an additive effect during the follow-up period in enhancing life-role participation beyond that obtained using an identical comprehensive gait-training intervention without FES.


The weak units of strict monoidal 1- and 2-categories have been defined. In this paper, we recall them for Picard 1- and 2-stacks. We show that they form a Picard 1- and 2-stack, respectively. We deduce by characterization theorem for Picard 2-stacks that there exists a length 2 (resp. 3) complex of abelian sheaves that represent the Picard stack (resp. Picard 2-stack) of the weak units. Lastly, we calculate such complexes.


ABSTRACT Combining historical study with cultural criminology, this paper analyses the criminal-celebrity of Sydney underworld figure Kate Leigh. It seeks to demonstrate how the three main factors of public resonance—crime type, context and image—created the celebrated criminality of Leigh. Without public resonance, Leigh would have simply remained another criminal within society. An important element of Leigh's celebrated criminality was her ability to manage a public image that was accepted within the impoverished, working-class communities of eastern Sydney. Leigh became a criminal icon through an entrepreneurial style based on the anti-authoritarian and egalitarian values of working-class life in eastern Sydney. Criminal-celebrity theory provides a framework for understanding the factors enabling the celebration of criminals in society. It also informs historians about the ways in which criminals can manipulate their public image in an effort to legitimise their activities and gain acceptance in the community.


Successful innovation requires organisations to promote the utilisation of both technology and knowledge amongst the diverse actors who operate within innovation eco-systems. Many of these programmes utilise public funds to drive innovation and engage stakeholders. These public funded programmes come under increasing scrutiny to demonstrate impact as a return on research investment. Knowledge generated within the UK low carbon energy innovation system has
the potential to facilitate the achievement of national and supra-national emission targets. Research and practical application
in this field has historically centred on technology transfer whilst under-emphasising the crucial role of knowledge within this complex, socio-technical innovation system. This paper presents the results of a qualitative case study undertaken within
a knowledge intensive public-private partnership as a component of its knowledge management strategy. The study aimed to explore the perceptions of staff relating to the organisation's knowledge activities prior to a planned stakeholder engagement event. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were undertaken, and thematic network analysis applied to reveal four major themes. The analysis shows that wider system influences affect how actors perceive their role within the innovation system. Implications for the organisation's managers are herein suggested which could add value to the organisation and increase knowledge utilisation amongst stakeholder groups. Implications include: clarifying utilisation
objectives; tailoring knowledge activities; and introducing ongoing feedback cycles. This paper provides a foundation for
future empirical work, which aims to compare knowledge utilisation within different organisational structures and identify
best practice within the UK low carbon innovation system.


Current assessment models and experimental tests on gas toxicities in a fire hazard are mainly based on the hypothesis that uniform smoke and gas layers exist in the compartment. This study, through experiments conducted in a reduced-scale compartment—corridor model, examines the assumption and explores the characteristics of spatial distribution of toxic gases in smoke transport from a fire hazard. The results suggest that the toxic gases in the upper layer in the corridor are characterized by uniform expansion, while those in the lower layer are not. It has also been found that evolutions of the gases in different layers are not synchronous, while they are identical at the same height where the densities are close. Further analyses indicate that the formation of CO from the deoxidization of O2, CO 2, and the unburned hydrocarbon in the smoke movement delays the time of the maximum concentration.


The South of England is well endowed with land deposits of river gravel and sand. Nevertheless, the demand for aggregate and the need to conserve agricultural land have increased to the point where in 1976 sea dredged aggregate was accounting for 11% of the total sand and gravel production. In addition to this annual home consumption of about 12 million tonnes of dredged aggregate a further 3.5 million tonnes was exported to Europe in 1976. Understandably, authorities responsible for coast protection and sea defence view the increase in the removal of marine deposits with concern and a system of licensing by the Crown Estate Commissioners who are responsible for the sea bed from high water to the UK Continental shelf limit has been developed over the years. Dredging by port authorities within their area ofjurisdiction, for navigational purposes, is outside this licensing system. Within the three mile limit local authorities have powers under the Coast Protection Act to regulate dredging. In 1976 a report by an advisory committee to the Department of the Environment1-1^ recommended, among other things, that further studies should be carried out by HRS aimed at reviewing the existing constraints on marine dredging for gravel. In general, the material which is sought for construction purposes is a 60% shingle, 40% sand mixture, but sand is also needed for reclamation fill and for industrial purposes. The areas dredged at present are shown in Figure 1. This paper deals briefly with the licensing procedure and at some length with the involvement of the Hydraulics Research Station in assessing how dredging might affect the coastline. The effect on fisheries, navigation, coastal ecology, and other interests is considered by other organisations. Very little is known of the criteria applied to offshore dredging by other countries, apart from Germany, but with the increased exploitation of the sea bed it is important that information gained by other countries should be used to improve our existing criteria. .


A major challenge in neuroscience is how to study structural alterations in the brain. Even small changes in synaptic composition could have severe outcomes for body functions. Many neuropathological diseases are attributable to disorganization of particular synaptic proteins. Yet, to detect and comprehensively describe and evaluate such often rather subtle deviations from the normal physiological status in a detailed and quantitative manner is very challenging. Here, we have compared side-by-side several commercially available light microscopes for their suitability in visualizing synaptic components in larger parts of the brain at low resolution, at extended resolution as well as at super-resolution. Microscopic technologies included stereo, widefield, deconvolution, confocal, and super-resolution set-ups. We also analyzed the impact of adaptive optics, a motorized objective correction collar and CUDA graphics card technology on imaging quality and acquisition speed. Our observations evaluate a basic set of techniques, which allow for multi-color brain imaging from centimeter to nanometer scales. The comparative multi-modal strategy we established can be used as a guide for researchers to select the most appropriate light microscopy method in addressing specific questions in brain research, and we also give insights into recent developments such as optical aberration corrections.


Immunological tolerance to H antigens of Salmonella adelaide may be induced in vitro by the exposure of mouse spleen cells for 6 hr to an immunogenic dose of polymerized flagellin in the presence of low concentrations of specific antibody. Such antibody-mediated tolerance requires an optimal antigen: antibody ratio for its induction. A shift in this ratio in favor of the antibody concentration results in failure of tolerance induction and leads to immune suppression commonly known as antibody-mediated feedback inhibition which is not analogous to immunological tolerance. Fragment A of flagellin fails to induce immunological tolerance in vitro. Tolerance to polymerized flagellin may however be induced in vitro, provided the spleen cells are exposed to fragment A in the presence of specific antibody for 6 hr. The results are discussed in the light of current theories of the mechanism of tolerance induction.


Risk in the context of civil engineering construction is first discussed in broad terms, from an ideal or theoretical point of view, including the risk of loss of life and financial loss. The elements associated with risk are then identified, namely uncertainties in structural loading, member resistance and human error. Quantification of the risk of failure is then addressed, in a discussion of the notional risk implicit in overseas codes of practice as well as that in the proposed formulation for SABS 0160. The influence of load factors, material factors and importance factors on the level of risk is then illustrated.


This article draws a picture of the education system and library environment in Turkey. It starts off with a brief overview of the Turkish education system and the proportion of the population involved in formal and informal education. As 44% of the Turkish population is under 25, there is a big demand for higher education in Turkey. This demand drives the authorities to open new universities and provide higher education for more young people. 54 new universities have been established since 2000. University librarians try to cope with this rapid increase and create functional libraries. Librarians have started to cooperate closely within the framework of ANKOS (Anatolian University Libraries Consortium) since 2000. ANKOS is one of the successful examples of library consortiums.


Abstract : Human Area Networks represent an emerging field of communications technology with the potential to offer significant advantages to military operations. This thesis explores and defines Human Area Networks (HAN) and addresses how HANs relate to existing network topologies as well as the various terminologies associated with HANs. The focus of research addresses the notion of "touch" as an event and attempts to relate the various interpretations of touch networking to HANs while describing a preliminary architecture through the use of multiple scenarios and use cases, quality attributes, and functional requirements. Additionally, this thesis explores the opportunities associated with one particular implementation of HAN: Intrabody Communications (IBC), and proposes an implementation plan for conceptual IBC devices. Ultimately, this thesis demonstrates the potential value of IBC and HANs in a Joint Tactical scenario with recommendations for iteratively evaluating the techniques, tactics and procedures (TTP) in an incremental manner that seamlessly evolves with technology advancements.


Polar body cytokinesis is the physical separation of a small polar body from a larger oocyte or ovum. This maternal meiotic division shares many similarities with mitotic and spermatogenic cytokinesis, but there are several distinctions, which will be discussed in this review. We synthesize results from many different model species, including those popular for their genetics and several that are more obscure in modern cell biology. The site of polar body division is determined before anaphase, by the eccentric, cortically associated meiotic spindle. Depending on the species, either the actin or microtubule cytoskeleton is required for spindle anchoring. Chromatin is necessary and sufficient to elicit differentiation of the associated cortex, via Ran‐based signaling. The midzone of the anaphase spindle serves as a hub for regulatory complexes that elicit Rho activation, and ultimately actomyosin contractile ring assembly and contraction. Polar body cytokinesis uniquely requires another Rho family GTPase, Cdc42, for dynamic reorganization of the polar cortex. This is perhaps due to the considerable asymmetry of this division, wherein the polar body and the oocyte/ovum have distinct fates and very different sizes. Thus, maternal meiotic cytokinesis appears to occur via simultaneous polar relaxation and equatorial contraction, since the polar body is extruded from the spherical oocyte through the nascent contractile ring. As such, polar body cytokinesis is an interesting and important variation on the theme of cell division. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc


OBJECTIVE
To examine the effects of a thiazolidinedione (600 mg troglitazone) insulin-sensitizing treatment on total body fat measured by underwater weighing, on intra- and extra-abdominal fat mass using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and on anthropometric measures.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Type 2 diabetic outpatients were studied in a double-blind randomized trial carried out at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Scotland.

RESULTS
Groups who received troglitazone (8 men, 3 women) and placebo (8 men, 2 women) were well matched for age, BMI, total body fat percentage by underwater weighing, and intra-abdominal fat (kilograms) by MRI. After 12 weeks, body weight changes in the troglitazone group (mean +0.66 kg [95% CI -0.71 to 2.04], P = 0.31) and the placebo group (mean +0.25 kg [-0.64 to 1.13], P = 0.55) were not statistically different. Changes in total body fat with troglitazone (mean +1.02% body wt [-1.13 to 3.17], P = 0.32) and placebo (mean -0.54% body wt [-1.68 to 0.59], P = 0.31) were not significantly different. There was, however, a decrease in intra-abdominal fat mass in the troglitazone-treated group (mean -0.47 kg [-0.79 to -0.13], P = 0.01), and this was significantly different (P = 0.03) from placebo treatment (mean -0.41 kg [-0.77 to -0.05]).

CONCLUSIONS
Treatment with the thiazolidinedione troglitazone in human patients with type 2 diabetes decreases intra-abdominal fat mass but does not affect total body fat or weight. This potentially valuable effect points to a differential action on insulin sensitivity in different adipose tissue depots.


In the past few years we have witnessed the migration of cheap imaging devices into portable and mobile computing appliances such as PDAs and mobile phones. As these devices become ever more powerful in terms of processor speed and memory, new exciting applications and uses are being developed. A particularly useful one is the casual capture of text images for faxing, note taking, OCR, etcetera. This paper describes the image processing pipeline used to enhance images of text captured by a hand-held low-resolution camera, and a fast text extraction method. The main advantages of the approach are its inherent lightweight structure, speed and relative robustness under poor lighting and focus conditions. The computational efficiency (and a careful implementation) of the approach has allowed its deployment in an interactive-time text capture and foreign-text translation demo on a PDA with a VGA camera attachment.


The Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite "IBUKI" (GOSAT), developed jointly by the Ministry of the Environment Japan, the National Institute for Environmental Studies, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (hereinafter the Three Parties), is the world's first satellite designed specifically for monitoring atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) from space. The satellite has been in operation since its launch on January 23, 2009. The Three Parties will now publicly distribute the data of global CO2 fluxes on a monthly and regional basis for the one-year period between June 2009 and May 2010. These flux values were estimated from ground-based CO2 monitoring data and improved GOSAT-based CO2 concentration data. It has been confirmed that uncertainties in CO2 flux estimates can be reduced by the addition of GOSAT data to the ground-based observations. This is the first concrete demonstration of the utility of satellite-based concentration data in the estimation of global CO2 fluxes. It is expected that this progress in the field of global carbon cycle research will lead to more reliable climate change prediction and to the development of effective environmental policies for mitigating global warming in the future. In order to obtain better CO2 flux estimates, the Three Parties will continue the effort of refining the data processing algorithms for the retrieval of CO2 concentrations from GOSAT data and the estimation of CO2 fluxes.


Food loss and waste (FLW) in fisheries is a major concern and occur in most fish distribution chains throughout the world. FLW across the fish value chain is estimated to be 35 percent. These losses constitute lost income to fishers, processors and traders and other value chain actors and contribute to food and nutrition insecurity. Thus, it is globally recognized as a challenge that needs to be addressed. There has been much work done to address and prevent losses in fisheries value chains. However, a key issue is related to the availability and quality of information. Information needed to guide policy development and management of the resources is of poor quality and often not produced or distributed in a timely manner. The 32nd Session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI), July 2016 reiterated the topical importance of reducing fish losses and made a plea for the development by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for a guidance for reduction of fish losses. FAO, through the Products, Trade and Marketing Branch (FIAM), supported by the Norwegian government had developed an information repository that can provide solutions for reducing or eliminating food losses for common loss scenarios in fish value chains. It provides access to fish loss and waste related information for informed policy in the fisheries and aquaculture from the post-harvest to consumption stages. It aims to provide guidance to policy-makers, development practitioners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and value chain actors ability to facilitate the development of solutions to food loss scenarios on the ground at the targeted points of the supply chain, as well as at policy level. The development of the repository was guided by an internal FAO specialist group covering food loss, policy, fisheries and ICT and an expert group of specialists coming from the public sector, civil society and research institutions with representation of a range of geographical regions. A series of internal and external consultations were done before the webpage was launched on May 2019.


Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is initially triggered by alloreactive T cells, which damage peripheral tissues and lymphoid organs. Subsequent transition to chronic GVHD involves the emergence of autoimmunity, although the underlying mechanisms driving this process are unclear. Here, we tested the hypothesis that acute GVHD blocks peripheral tolerance of autoreactive T cells by impairing lymph node (LN) display of peripheral tissue–restricted antigens (PTAs). At the initiation of GVHD, LN fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs) rapidly reduced expression of genes regulated by DEAF1, an autoimmune regulator-like transcription factor required for intranodal expression of PTAs. Subsequently, GVHD led to the selective elimination of the FRC population, and blocked the repair pathways required for its regeneration. We used a transgenic mouse model to show that the loss of presentation of an intestinal PTA by FRCs during GVHD resulted in the activation of autoaggressive T cells and gut injury. Finally, we show that FRCs normally expressed a unique PTA gene signature that was highly enriched for genes expressed in the target organs affected by chronic GVHD. In conclusion, acute GVHD damages and prevents repair of the FRC network, thus disabling an essential platform for purging autoreactive T cells from the repertoire.


This paper is the first part of an extensive work focusing the technological development of steel fiber reinforced concrete pipes (FRCP). Here is presented and discussed the experimental campaign focusing the test procedure and the mechanical behavior obtained for each of the dosages of fiber used. In the second part ("Steel fiber reinforced concrete pipes. Part 2: Numerical model to simulate the crushing test"), the aspects of FRCP numerical modeling are presented and analyzed using the same experimental results in order to be validated. This study was carried out trying to reduce some uncertainties related to FRCP performance and provide a better condition to the use of these components. In this respect, an experimental study was carried out using sewage concrete pipes in full scale as specimens. The diameter of the specimens was 600 mm, and they had a length of 2500 mm. The pipes were reinforced with traditional bars and different contents of steel fibers in order to compare their performance through the crushing test. Two test procedures were used in that sense. In the 1st Series, the diameter displacement was monitored by the use of two LVDTs positioned at both extremities of the pipes. In the 2nd Series, just one LVDT is positioned at the spigot. The results shown a more rigidity response of the pipe during tests when the displacements were measured at the enlarged section of the socket. The fiber reinforcement was very effective, especially when low level of displacement was imposed to the FRCP. At this condition, the steel fibers showed an equivalent performance to superior class pipes made with traditional reinforced. The fiber content of 40 kg/m3 provided a hardening behavior for the FRCP, and could be considered as equivalent to the critical volume in this condition.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect of intrauterine administration of ceftiofur sodium on fertility and the risk of culling in postparturient cows with retained fetal membranes (RFM), twins, or both.

DESIGN
Single-blind randomized clinical trial and prospective cohort study.

ANIMALS
2442 cows that calved from January 1, 2000, to May 31, 2001.

PROCEDURE
Cows with RFM, twins, or both were randomly allocated to control or treatment (ceftiofur) groups. Ceftiofur-group cows received 1 g of ceftiofur sodium sterile powder reconstituted with 20 mL of sterile water as a single intrauterine infusion once between 14 and 20 days after parturition. Control-group cows received no treatment. Cows that calved but did not have RFM or twins were considered the referent group. Reproductive, culling, and health data were recorded.

RESULTS
There was no significant difference in the overall proportion of ceftiofur-group cows confirmed pregnant, compared with cows in the control group. Ceftiofur-group cows were significantly less likely to be culled and were culled at a later time in lactation than control-group cows. In the cohort study, the risk of pregnancy and the risk of being culled in ceftiofur-group cows were not significantly different from cows in the referent group.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Intrauterine treatment of cows with RFM, twins, or both with ceftiofur sodium increased longevity of cows in the herd as measured by the risk of culling and the time to culling. Intrauterine administration of ceftiofur in cattle is considered extralabel drug use, and the attending veterinarian must follow the AMDUCA guidelines for extralabel drug use.


In this letter, a novel 1.31 um narrow-band TE-Mode filter design based on photonic band gap shift in 2D photonic crystal slab with triangular lattice air holes has been proposed using the 2D-FDTD method to numerically modeling the proposed filter device. The structure is achieved by the association of three waveguides W 1 K A coupled in cascade arrangement within the same cell of PC with triangular lattice with single removed full row. A modulated Gaussian pulse is used to provide a wide-band excitation at any desired position inside the computational domain of the photonic crystal. The best filter configuration performances in terms of filtering and transmission is found for 60 inclusions with maximum of transmission around 80 % localized near 1.31 um Full Text: PDF References M. Zhang and N. Liaser, "Exploiting Time-Domain Approach for Extremely High Q -Factor Measurement", IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 64, 10 (2015). CrossRef S. Serna, P. Colman, W. Zhang, X. Le Roux, C. Caer, L. Vivien and E. Cassan, "Experimental GVD engineering in slow light slot photonic crystal waveguides", Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 26956 (2016). CrossRef M. A. Mansouri-Birjandi, A. Tavousi and M. Ghadrdan, "Full-optical tunable add/drop filter based on nonlinear photonic crystal ring resonators", Photonics and Nanostructures - Fundamentals and Applications, 21 (2016). CrossRef Y. Zhuang, K. Ji, W. H. Chen, "Design of a DWDM Multi/Demultiplexer Based on 2-D Photonic Crystals", IEEE Phot. Tech. Lett 28, 15 (2016). CrossRef H. Abri Badaoui, M. Abri, "Optimized 1×8 compact splitter based on photonic crystal using the two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain technique", Optical Engineering 54(6), (2015). CrossRef A. Fedaouche, H. Abri Badaoui, M. Abri, "Ultra-Highly Efficient 1×3 and 1×6 Splitters for Terahertz Communication Applications", IEEE Phot. Tech. Lett, 28, 13 (2016). CrossRef A. Knapitsch, E. Auffray, C. W. Fabjan, and J. L. Leclercq, "Results of Photonic Crystal Enhanced Light Extraction on Heavy Inorganic Scintillators", IEEE Trans. Nucl. Phys. 59, 5, 2012. CrossRef M. M. Li. Weyde, D. Bozyigit, O. Yarema, and V. Wood, "Quantification of Deep Traps in Nanocrystal Solids, Their Electronic Properties, and Their Influence on Device Behavior", J. Phys. Chem. C, 120 (23), 12900?12908 (2016). CrossRef H. Abri Badaoui, M. Abri, "New Design of Integrated 2D Photonic Crystal Narrow Band Filters Using the FDTD-2D Method", Frequenz, 68 (11?12), (2014). CrossRef C. Guiffaut, A. Reineix, "Modeling of different cables types and their combinations for lightning and HIRF EMC studies in the FDTD method.", International Conference on Electromagnetics in Advanced Applications (ICEAA), (2015). CrossRef Y. Hao and R. Mittra, FDTD Modeling of Metamaterials: Theory and Applications, (Boston, Artech House, 2009). DirectLink E. Viasnoff-Schwoob. Propagation et Emission dans des guides multimodes a cristaux photoniques bidimensionnels. Universite Paris Sud - Paris XI, 2004. DirectLink M Svaluto Moreolo, V Morra and G Cincotti, "Design of photonic crystal delay lines based on enhanced coupled-cavity waveguides", Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics, 10, 2008. DirectLink R. Ferrini, D. Leuenberger, M. Mulot, M. Qiu, J. Moosburger, M. Kamp, A. Forchel, S. Anand, and R. Houdre, "Optical study of two-dimensional InP-based photonic crystals by internal light source technique", IEEE J. of Qua. Elec, 38, (2002). CrossRef


Nowadays the improvement of building airtightness is an essential condition to achieve high energy performance of buildings. Therefore, there is a need to precisely describe and quantify buildings infiltrations. In France, building airtightness is determined by fan pressurization, as described in the international standard ISO 9972. Appliqued to large buildings however, several technical questions arise, such as the ability to generate a pressure difference of at least 50Pa, or to achieve a uniform indoor pressure for the whole building. For these reasons, it is suggested to divide large buildings into smaller elements. This approach, often referred as multi-zonal, was applied here to a case study. According to ISO 9972 standard, two different techniques can be used: providing an identical pressure in adjacent zones, or including inter-zonal air flows in the calculation of the airtightness of a room. Both techniques were applied here to a 32 000 m 3 building. The building was made of offices, classrooms and four large halls devoted to research. For offices and classrooms, an airtightness level n 50 lower than 1.47 h -1 has to be achieved. For the halls however, it should be lower than 2.89 h -1 . Consequently, both part had to be measured separately. In addition, the four halls could not be measured simultaneously as they were not contiguous. A first step consisted in assessing inter-zonal airflows. Each part of the building should be isolated from the other, on an airflow point of view. However, many important leakages were detected: at the junction between the ceiling and separation walls, between the exterior wall and separation walls, at doorways where doorsills or seals were missing, and through the separation walls because of the crossing with beams, sheathes, and networks ducts. Next, the building airtightness was measured according to several multi-zonal methods. First, halls were measured one by one, then each hall was measured while the adjacent halls were simultaneously depressurized, and finally the four halls were measured simultaneously, with depressurized adjacent offices and classrooms. Offices and classrooms were tested with and without depressurization of adjacent halls. The results showed that inter-zonal airflows were non-negligible and significantly influenced the measured airtightness: the n 50 value was overestimated and ranged from about 70% to 100%. On average, a higher difference (+92%) was obtained for the halls while it reached as much as 80% for offices and classrooms. According to ISO 9972 standard, all multi-zonal measurement methods used in this study are allowed to determine the airtightness of this building. The huge difference between results is a problem, especially when airtightness is measured for compliance with a specification of a building code or standard, in the context of calculation of energy performance of buildings.


The purpose of the current study was to untangle previous findings within the Terror Management Theory (TMT) literature suggesting that the activation of worldview defense causes an increased preference for the in-group culture and a decreased preference for the out-group culture. In our study we used the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP), an implicit measure which provided the opportunity to test TMT in a within subjects design. The AMP was used to assess participants' attitudes towards various in-group and out-group depictions. Unlike previous literature we separated these cultural groups based on valence, positive and negative. Analyses revealed that attitude changes following mortality salience (MS) are accounted for by differences in valence and not differences in culture, in-group/out-group. This finding provides further explanations of previous TMT findings and highlights a previously ignored variable with significant implications. We also examined the effects of terrorism salience (TS) to see if there was a link between attitudes towards Arab culture and this manipulation. Our results revealed that no relationship exists between TS and Arab culture when compared to a non-related out-group culture, Chinese.


Though Egyptian voters clearly evince a desire for Islamic law (however defined), public opinion research shows that they also want robust welfare states and significant redistribution. Though the application of Islamic law is the special province of Islamist parties, it is left-leaning, labor-based parties who are the primary champions of the economic policies that Egyptians seem to desire. Why, then, do Egyptian voters select the former over the latter? This article argues that the answer lies not in the political unsophistication of voters, the subordination of economic interests to spiritual ones, or the bureaucratic and organizational shortcomings of leftist parties, but in the ways in which the social landscape shapes the opportunities of parties in newly democratized systems to reach potential voters. Dense networks of religious solidary organizations, in which Islamist activists are often embedded, and which encompass large numbers of voters, provide Islamist parties with opportunities for linkage that are unavailable to leftists, who are embedded in much more limited networks of labor activism. As a result, despite the fact that Islamist attitudes toward redistribution and the state's role in providing welfare are more ambiguous than those of leftists, Islamist candidates have far greater opportunities to convince voters that they in fact share their economic views. The theory is tested with a combination of aggregate and individual evidence from Egypt after the Arab Spring.


A mixed model simultaneous procedure is described to estimate location parameters for the right-censored and uncensored traits in the practical animal breeding data set for herd-life and milk production. Location parameters of fixed effects represented by herd -year effects and random effects represented by sire additive genetic effects were given as the mode of posterior distribution resulting from a combination of a multivariate normal density and a standard normal cumulative distribution function. An iterative method for solving mixed model equations is presented for this kind of data analysis without explicitly setting up the equations. Additional key words: sire model, censored data, herd-life, milk-yield 51


A sustainability transition (ST) of the agri-food system (AFS) is necessary due to manifold environmental and social exigencies. Scholars widely refer to the multi-level perspective (MLP) in the analysis of those transitions. The fast pace of articles covering AFS transitions, the evolving research on spaces between the three levels, and the consisting unclear conceptualization of MLP levels call for a systematic update on literature utilizing MLP in AFS articles covering ST. As a basis for reporting, this systematic literature review uses the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The search was conducted on the database Scopus encompassing the period from 2018 to 2022. After the selection procedure, 58 articles were included in the review. We extracted data based on a combination of a concept-driven and data-driven coding scheme. Qualitative research approaches outweigh and interrelated activities within the AFS are being analyzed, predominantly in the agricultural sectors. The focus lays on ongoing transitions. The concept of sustainability and its direction is considered as given (e.g., through the case lens), without further elaborations. The niche constitutes the most prominent object of study and scholars refer to rather socially innovative activities than technological innovations, providing distinct views on radicality and strategies to breakthrough. A space between niche and regime is being presented, with slightly distinct conceptualisations. Actors from both levels collaborate and exert transformative power. The regime is presented as static but also more vividly evolving views on the regime are demonstrated. The landscape receives the least attention and the focus lays on immaterial characteristics. Combinations of MLP with other frameworks have proven useful, for instance, regarding elaborations on the agency on the landscape level. Generally, an unclear conceptualization of regime and landscape persists, lacking a theoretical elaboration. Further research applying MLP should aim for a deeper examination of its theoretical construct, especially in terms of regime and landscape. More quantitative or mixed-methods research could supplement the current dominating qualitative approaches by testing and validating qualitatively constructed theories and phenomena.


This work introduces into the chemistry, materials science and technology of Rare Earth Elements. The chapters by experienced lecturers describe comprehensively the recent studies of their characteristics, properties and applications in functional materials. Due to the broad range of covered topics as hydrogen storage materials, LEDs or permanent magnets this work gives an up-to-date presentation of this fascinating research.


Warawara, the Department of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University offers a degree in Community Management, the BCM, which is a designated program exclusively for Indigenous students. It also offers Indigenous Studies units which are available to all students. The Australian Learning and Teaching Council funded the Leadership in Assessment Project (LEAP) which was first implemented in the Department in July, 2007 and has achieved some extraordinary outcomes in that short time. The leadership provided over the course of the LEAP project has created opportunities to open up previously closed avenues of communication, training and support for Indigenous and non-Indigenous academics working in the department. This has resulted in a gradual but radical change in culture which has improved units of study using engaging assessment as the catalyst. This paper reflects on the processes involved in creating a productive, generative interface in which important issues in Indigenous education may be discussed.


The internet is a great resource student's use for learning. Reasons include the ease in searching with sites such as Google, or the vast collection of informative videos on YouTube. The teaching laboratory can also benefit from online resources, especially when students are deficient in prerequisite knowledge. The benefits are greatest when there are non-standard learning paths, and multiple entry points into a degree. This study undertakes a mixed methods research approach to try and understand how students use and appreciate an online resource, called the Training Laboratory, designed to support learning in the engineering teaching laboratory. The targeted resources are used to help support students as well as the laboratory teaching assistants (called laboratory demonstrators). The study finds that such resources are used by a substantial number of students to aid learning, increasing productivity, and improving teaching. The availability of such targeted resources leads to an improved student experience.


This PhD study was designed to characterise the nature and role of the information behaviour of trainee solicitors in the context of knowledge development within a law firm environment. The characterisations drawn and the propositions offered provide a deeper understanding of the information behaviour of trainee solicitors, and, of the relationship between information behaviour, knowledge behaviour and knowledge development. A constructivist approach to inquiry was adopted, where the research design emerged through 'doing'. As emergent design is unusual within Library and Information Science (LIS) an in-depth discussion of how the design emerged is included within this thesis. Six trainees formed the sample for the final presentation of the findings. The adoption of a narrative technique for the gathering of data, and the presentation of the analysis, taking a cross-trainee and cross-theme approach, enabled holistic, in-depth characterisations to be drawn. The themes emerged through an iterative process of analysis and were followed up through a review of the literature. Undertaking a more comprehensive literature review after data collection is a characteristic of the constructivist inquiry but is a unique approach within LIS research. Through the consideration and interpretation of the characterisations that emerged from the findings this research posits a set of theoretical propositions and practical solutions pertaining to the knowledge behaviour (incorporating information behaviour) and knowledge development of the trainee solicitors. These propositions alongside the practical solutions offered are transferable in that they can be taken by other firms or organisations and considered in relation to their own setting. In addition, a model depicting the knowledge behaviour and its role in the knowledge development of trainee solicitors is presented.


In 2014, working-age (16-64 years old) women with disabilities made up 1.5 percent of the workforce even though they were nearly 4 percent of the U.S. working-age population. These women represent a critical source of untapped labor force talent. In addition to facing persistently low employment, women with disabilities often face a number of gender-specific barriers as well as difficulties obtaining access to adequate housing, health, and education; unequal hiring and promotion standards; and unequal pay. An examination of employment statistics, including unemployment, workforce participation, and income, reveals an unmet potential for employment among those with disabilities. Despite growing opportunities over the past few decades, people with disabilities, especially women, who want to and are able to work, are encountering barriers that prevent them from achieving economic security. This paper highlights several key employment factors that contribute to the economic vulnerability of women workers with disabilities.


»Vom mühsam erreichten Konsens zur leichten Euroskepsis. Einstellungen der kroatischen Parlamentarier zur EU-Integration«. In this article, we offer the first systematic study of the attitudes of Croatian MPs about various aspects of Europeanness. Following the overwhelming elite consensus in 2012, when Croatia was about to join, MPs are still relatively satisfied with the EU in 2014. We argue beneficiary member mindset prevails among Croatian MPs suppressing any greater degree of Euroscepticism. However, 'soft Euroscepticism' is present, especially among right wing HDZ. Our analysis rests on 70 interviews with MPs and is a part of ENEC (2014) project. Croatian MPs take visible consideration of symbolic and strategic aspects when thinking about the EU. They have solid confidence in the EU institutions, report satisfaction with EU returns, favor further policy Europeanization and strongly identify as European elite. Negative feedback about the EU relates to poor representation of Croatia's interests. Our analysis reveals that by ceding some sovereignty MPs hope to compensate for redistribution of benefits by further policy Europeanization and better channels of interest representation. EU budget receivers seem to be better off in the EU rather than outside.


What do we mean by "space" in the Iliad? The aim of this book is to offer a systematic and comprehensive presentation of the different types and functions of space in the earliest work of Greek literature. By adopting a twofold division between simple and embedded story space, the former pertaining to the actions of characters and the latter to their thoughts, Christos Tsagalis shows how character drawing and authority are deeply influenced by active spatial representation. Similes and descriptive passages, in which space looms large, are also viewed in a new light as the author explores the relation between space designated in the similes and in the corresponding action of the main narrative. Given the importance in cognitive theory of the role of memory in an oral medium such as epic song, the book analyzes Homeric modes of visual memory, implicit knowledge, and mnemonic formats in order to better understand the composition and presentation of descriptive and ekphrastic passages, with special emphasis on the numerous prized objects and the monumental shield of Achilles.


The recovery of Cerium(III) has been investigated in packed bed column using biowaste materials of animal (prawn carapace) and plant origin (corn style). Experiments have been conducted to study the effect of important parameters such as bed depth (4-12 cm) and flow rate (1-5 mL/min) and initial Ce(III) concentration (50-500 mg/L). Recovery of Ce(III) is found to be higher in case of prawn carapace (PC) as compared to corn style (CS) at initial metal concentration values of 400 mg/L (92.1%) and 350 mg/L (81.5%) respectively. The bed depth service time (BDST) model and Thomas model are used to analyze the column data in terms of Ce(III) uptake rate and column capacities. BDST model exhibit a good fit for both PC and CS and the adsorption capacity (N 0 ) estimated from this model is 282.0 mg/L for PC and 246.7 mg/L for CS respectively. The effect of co-ions on adsorption of Ce(III) is analyzed in binary and ternary systems using extended Langmuir and SRS equations. Regeneration studies suggest maximum reusability of biosorbents upto six cycles. Based on the Ce(III) uptake efficiency, PC and CS has been employed for the recovery of Ce(III) ions from electroplating wastewater. A maximum recovery of 80.1% Ce(III) is successfully achieved.


Open source software is a revolution in software development, and has great impact on the software industry today. It is significantly different from the traditional software development in organization, process and management. Control mechanisms are important to the success of collaborative work, especially for open source software development which is community-based and loosely structured in nature. This paper investigates the control modes in open source community based on control theories and finds that portfolios of outcome, clan and self-controls are used in open source community, and the control modes change with the evolution of an open source community.


The paper explores an important issue in multilateral agricultural trade negotiations, namely the approach taken to reduce tariffs, simulating possible liberalization scenarios. The analysis is based on the model of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP), and on the related version 6.0 database. Scenarios are run on a 2013 baseline, built by taking into account a number of events that have affected (and will further affect) world agricultural markets up to that period, focusing on the effects that are specifically attributable to further trade liberalization in the Doha Round. The policy strategies analyzed are two hypothetical liberalization scenarios in terms of market access and export competition, plus a free agricultural trade benchmark scenario. More specifically, in terms of market access we compare proportional cuts in tariffs with a Swiss-formula approach. Over the range of formula parameters considered here, we find that the impacts are not greatly influenced by the extent to which higher tariffs face bigger cuts. Results indicate that welfare gains could be reaped both by developed and developing countries, but only the possibility of inter-county compensations would allow, at least in principle, an agreement to be reached.


Recognizing the potential of ammonia to serve as a carbon-free fuel, we describe an electrocatalytic system for the oxidation of ammonia based on ferrocene (Cp2Fe), an inexpensive, robust catalyst utilizing Earth-abundant iron. Ferrocenium (Cp2Fe+), the 1-electron oxidized form of ferrocene, cleanly oxidizes ammonia to generate nitrogen gas (N2) and protons captured by excess ammonia as NH4+ with electrons reducing ferrocenium to ferrocene. This process occurs under electrocatalytic conditions to generate N2 with sustained current. Simple modification of ferrocene through sulfonation allows for solubility in liquid ammonia to enable electrocatalysis in highly concentrated, energy dense solutions of ammonia. Kinetic and computational analysis provides mechanistic insight into the oxidation of ammonia by ferrocenium.


The developing world remains plagued by lack of access to safe drinking water. Although many low-cost methods have been developed to treat contaminated water, low-cost methods for water-quality testing are necessary to determine if these appropriate technologies are needed, effective, and reliable. This paper provides a methodology for the design, development, and technical validation of a low-cost, open-source (OS) water testing platform. A case study is presented where the platform is developed to provide both the colorimetry for biochemical oxygen demand/chemical oxygen demand and nephelometry to measure turbidity using method ISO 7027. This approach resulted in equipment that is as accurate, but costs between 7.5 and 15 times less than current commercially available tools. It is concluded that OS hardware development is a promising solution for the equipment necessary to perform water quality measurements in both developed and developing regions.


Abstract This paper reports the progress of a pilot project exploring the integration of a collaborative virtual learning environment (Second Life) with the instruction of English courses at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. An educational partnership was developed with two TESOL teacher-training courses at Texas A&M University in the US. The project enrolled over 200 participants, with about half from each participating university. Coordination of online activities was done using the Moodle learning management system. A large non-traditional language learning facility was developed in the Second Life virtual environment in the style of a 1950's American diner on a private island, complete with Cadillac booths, traditional diner booths and tables, and outdoor campfire settings to facilitate conversational groupings. Both IM typed chat and VOIP voice interactions were explored inside the virtual environment. Student behavior observed during the study indicates the conditions which result in the most productive interactions, and also highlights several key problem areas which must be addressed before successful interactions can be achieved. This paper presents a process which has been developed and trialed, and the plans at Lingnan University to adopt it on a wider scale to support the development of language skills. Key terms: collaborative virtual environment, language learning, ESL, educational partnerships