Abstract Cogongrass [Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.] is an invasive grass in the southeastern United States, and its impacts strongly affect the region, especially Florida. Herbicide strategies have been limited to glyphosate in natural areas and imazapyr in managed pine forests and non-crop areas where its soil residual activity is of less concern. This lack of options has raised concern for herbicide resistance, which has never been documented for I. cylindrica. Land managers have also reported variable I. cylindrica control, especially with glyphosate. To determine whether herbicide resistance was a possible explanation, we examined glyphosate response of I. cylindrica from 12 Florida populations. We also tested aminocyclopyrachlor with and without glyphosate and flumioxazin with glyphosate. Results indicated that herbicide performance was similar across I. cylindrica populations: glyphosate and aminocyclopyrachlor reduced I. cylindrica biomass by 78% and 76%, respectively, and the combined tank mix reduced cogongrass biomass by 91%. Flumioxazin tank mixed with glyphosate did not improve control compared with glyphosate alone. There were no differences in pretreatment I. cylindrica shoot height, with the exception of two panhandle populations that were shorter. Subsequent harvests indicated few differences in shoot and root plus rhizome weights among untreated controls for almost all populations, with the exception of one of the initially shorter panhandle populations. Our findings indicate that variability in glyphosate efficacy, as suggested by managers, is unlikely due to any conferred resistance. Other abiotic factors such as drought and shade and applicator factors such as carrier water quality should be examined to better understand this issue. Additional studies examining non-target impacts of aminocyclopyrachlor should be conducted to determine its potential fit into I. cylindrica management.


The breadth of international law and institutions in contemporary global politics means it is no longer possible to make sense of international politics without understanding international law. International Law for International Relations provides students with comprehensive coverage that maps out the different ways to approach the study of international law. It explains the institutions and main sources of international law-making and identifies the key topics of international law. This is the ideal text for students of international relations who have not previously studied law and post-graduate students of any background tackling international law for the first time. The complexities of international law are presented in an accessible, animated way allowing students to appreciate the significance of international law in international relations. Online resource centre includes: For students: Flash card glossary Problem solving questions Web links Revision tips For lecturers Power point presentations


Traditional Lead Climbing is the first and only guidebook intended to teach rock climbers how to lead with gear. Unlike other types of climbing such as sport and direct-aid climbing, "trad" climbing relies on placing your own gear as you climb from the ground. It's also one of the more dangerous climbing activities, where expert guidance is a must. This invaluable guide gives step-by-step descriptions of equipment, rope management, and techniques. Dozens of close-up photos and fun yet informative drawings show situations climbers might encounter and how to deal with them. In addition to covering the basics, the book showcases the experience and wisdom of a number of world-class climbers in self-revealing sidebars.


The voltammetric determination of benzimidazole anthelmintics at a glassy carbon rotating-disk electrode modified with poly(3-methylthiophene) is presented. The purpose of surface modification was to improve the sensitivity and limits of detection for determination of the compounds in a standard mixture. Thus, five compounds, namely thiabendazole, mebendazole, albendazole, fenbendazole and oxibendazole have been studied using square wave voltammetry. It has been possible to resolve four of the compounds, mebendazole, fenbendazole, oxibendazole and thiabendazole, in a mixture. Investigations of a number of parameters, including the mode of potential application, cathodic reduction versus anodic oxidation, the type of electrode, effect of pH and speed of electrode rotation, among others, are reported.
South African Journal of Chemistry Vol.56 2003: 5-9


The first part of the paper will give a very brief background of the collapse of Enron. Secondly, corporate governance issues regarding investor protection, board structure, auditor independence and self regulation will be addressed. Thirdly, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act will be exposed. Provisions regulating board structure, responsibility for financial statements and auditors will be described. Some of the criticism the Act has attracted will also be looked upon. Lastly, the European Union's approach to improving corporate governance will be addressed. We will compare the European Union's approach to board structure, responsibility for financial statements and auditors with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.


This paper presents a completely new method able to characterize polarization mode dispersion (PMD) properties of randomly birefringent single-mode fibers, using polarization sensitive backscattering technique. We show analytical relationships between evolution of polarization state of backscattered signal with respect to state of polarization of forward one. Our technique allows one to measure differential group delay, beat length, and correlation length at the same time over long single-mode fibers using only one fiber end. Experimental data fit very well with numerical results, confirming the capability of our technique for fast routine characterization of PMD during cabling, before and after installation.


In this study, we examined how locally mediated hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction is modulated by autonomic nervous system activation during global alveolar hypoxia (GAH) accompanied by systemic hypoxemia. Using an X-ray television system on the in vivo cat lung, we measured changes in the internal diameter (ID) during GAH and regional alveolar hypoxia (RAH) without systemic hypoxemia in identical small pulmonary arteries and veins (100-600 microns ID). We also analyzed the effects of the autonomic nervous system blockade on the hypoxic ID changes. During GAH the ID of the arteries reduced by 5 +/- 1 and 3 +/- 1% with 10 and 5% O2 inhalations, respectively, whereas during RAH the arterial ID reduced by 12 +/- 1 and 18 +/- 1% with 10 and 5% O2 inhalations, respectively. The magnitude of the ID reduction was significantly smaller during GAH than during RAH. After pretreatment with propranolol, however, GAH induced large ID reductions (16 +/- 1 and 23 +/- 1% with 10 and 5% O2 inhalations) with patterns very similar to those seen during RAH. Phentolamine and atropine had no effect on the response during GAH. The ID reductions during RAH, on the other hand, were unaffected by all the blockers. The results indicate that, in the cat, alveolar hypoxia per se acts locally to constrict the small pulmonary vessels and that the hypoxic vasoconstriction is attenuated by a beta-receptor-mediated vasodilator effect during GAH with systemic hypoxemia. In addition, we found that, after adrenalectomy plus ganglion blockade with hexamethonium bromide, the GAH-induced ID reduction with 5% O2 inhalation was enhanced from 3 to 19%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Management of invasive vertebrate species often requires the use of lethal control tools such as toxins, traps, or shooting. However, because these pest species are sentient and have the capacity to suffer, the application of such tools raises concerns about welfare impacts. To address such concerns, research, policy and regulation have focused most often on the welfare impacts (humaneness) of the tools at the individual animal level (ie the 'quality' of the impact) with no attempt to assess welfare at the population level (ie the 'quantity' of the impact). Because control programmes often target large numbers of animals, we suggest that when the welfare costs of pest control operations and strategies are being evaluated, the numbers of individuals involved should be considered in addition to the intensity and duration of individual suffering. We explore this concept using a modelling framework and three New Zealand case studies (brushtail possums [Trichosurus vulpecula], ship rats [Rattus rattus], and Bennett's wallabies [Macropus rufogriseus]) to assess the extent to which typical control strategies used by land managers influence the numbers of animals killed. We test whether a predicted relationship between numbers killed and position on the population growth curve holds across these scenarios, and identify whether it would be economically viable for end-users to adopt more welfare-friendly control strategies (ie those that kill fewer individuals to achieve the required management outcomes) for these pest species, or whether some form of incentive would be required. Computer modelling showed that for four simulated brushtail possum control strategies, the number of animals killed on a 1,000-ha area over 30 years ranged from approximately 13,000 to 26,000. Similarly, for two ship rat control strategies, numbers killed over a 20-year period were 977 for an aerial strategy versus 1,517 for a ground-based strategy. For both species, the strategies that killed fewest animals generally also cost the least. For Bennett's wallabies, because farmers only carry out control for production benefits, the control strategy they are most likely to select would result in the highest number of wallabies killed. To reduce the number of wallabies killed while allowing farmers to achieve some production benefits, farmers would need to receive some additional financial benefit. The concept of welfare incentive then raises questions such as 'what willingness is there to pay for increased welfare' and 'to what extent can reducing control costs substitute for incentive payments in reducing numbers killed?'


Sudden and extensive dieback of the perennial marsh grass, Spartina alterniflora Loisel (smooth cordgrass), which dominates regularly flooded salt marshes along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coastlines, occurred in the coastal zone of Louisiana. The objectives of this study were to assess soil and plant conditions in dieback areas of the Barataria-Terrebonne estuarine system as well as vegetative recovery during and after this dieback event. Multiple dieback sites were examined along 100 km of shoreline from the Atchafalaya River to the Mississippi River during the period from June 2000 through September 2001. The species primarily affected was S. alterniflora; sympatric species such as Avicennia germinans (L.) Stearn (black mangrove) and Juncus roemerianus Scheele (needlegrass rush) showed no visible signs of stress. The pattern of marsh dieback was distinctive with greatest mortality in the marsh interior, suggesting a correlation with local patterns of soil chemistry and/or hydrology. Little or no expansion of dieback occurred subsequent to the initial event, and areas with 50 percent or less mortality in the fall of 2000 had completely recovered by April 2001. Recovery was slower in interior marshes with 90 percent or greater mortality initially. However, regenerating plants in dieback areas showing some recovery were robust, and reproductive output was high, indicating that the causative agent was no longer present and that post-dieback soil conditions were actually promoting plant growth. Stands of other species within or near some dieback sites remained largely unchanged or expanded (A. germinans) into the dead salt marsh. The cause of the dieback is currently unknown. Biotic agents and excessive soil waterlogging/high sulfide were ruled out as primary causes of this acute event, although they could have contributed to overall plant stress and/or interacted with the primary agent to cause plant mortality. Our observations over the 15 month study specifically do not support the contention that dieback was caused by excessive grazing by Littoraria irrorata (marsh periwinkle). Instead, the data show that snails were responding to plant mortality and played an important role in rapid degradation of dead material in some areas. The dieback event was coincident with an extreme drought, low river discharge, and low sea level. These conditions could have caused plant mortality by directly decreasing water availability, increasing salinity, and/or causing oxidation and acidification of soils. The latter scenario was supported by findings of higher pyrite and acid-extractable aluminum and iron, higher acidification potential of dieback soils, and higher concentrations of aluminum and iron in dieback plant tissues (indicating uptake of potentially toxic metals) when compared to reference marshes showing no dieback. The implication of these findings is that periodic weather extremes may play a greater role in shaping coastal plant communities than has previously been recognized. Although such events may not be controlled directly, the resilience and recovery of the system may be altered by management. Such considerations will become increasingly important as global climate changes and human pressures in the coastal zone grow.


Tackling overestimation in $Q$-learning is an important problem that has been extensively studied in single-agent reinforcement learning, but has received comparatively little attention in the multi-agent setting. In this work, we empirically demonstrate that QMIX, a popular $Q$-learning algorithm for cooperative multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL), suffers from a more severe overestimation in practice than previously acknowledged, and is not mitigated by existing approaches. We rectify this with a novel regularization-based update scheme that penalizes large joint action-values that deviate from a baseline and demonstrate its effectiveness in stabilizing learning. Furthermore, we propose to employ a softmax operator, which we efficiently approximate in a novel way in the multi-agent setting, to further reduce the potential overestimation bias. Our approach, Regularized Softmax (RES) Deep Multi-Agent $Q$-Learning, is general and can be applied to any $Q$-learning based MARL algorithm. We demonstrate that, when applied to QMIX, RES avoids severe overestimation and significantly improves performance, yielding state-of-the-art results in a variety of cooperative multi-agent tasks, including the challenging StarCraft II micromanagement benchmarks.


Titles in the Listener's Companion Series provide readers with a deeper understanding of key musical genres and the work of major artists and composers. Aimed at nonspecialists, each volume clearly explains how to listen to works from particular artists, composers, and genres. Examining both the context in which the music appeared and its form, authors provide the environments in which key musical works were written and performed-from a 1950s bebop concert at the Village Vanguard to a performance of Handel's Messiah in eighteenth-century Dublin. Wolfgang Amade Mozart (1756-1791) remains as popular today as ever. His recordings fill iTunes playlists, and annual Mozart festivals are performed worldwide. His eminence as a musician has supported overseas guided tours, served as the subject of a cartoon series (Little Amadeus: twenty-nine episodes from 2006 to 2008), inspired movies and documentaries, and launched a French rock opera. In Experiencing Mozart: A Listener's Companion, music historian David Schroeder illustrates how the issues Mozart cared about so deeply remain important to modern listeners. His views on politics, women, authority, and religion are provided, along with compelling analysis of selected great symphonies and sonatas, moving concertos and innovative keyboard works, and groundbreaking operas. Schroeder merges his vast knowledge of the great artist's personal and professional life, late eighteenth-century European culture and society, and remarkable musicianship to guide listeners in the art of listening to Mozart. This work is an ideal introduction to readers and listeners at any level.


Abstract The dichotomy between short-necked, large-headed "pliosaurs" and long-necked, small-headed "plesiosaurs" has formed the basis of plesiosaur taxonomy for over one hundred years. Recent work has cast doubt on the taxonomic validity of this dichotomy, suggesting that the pliosaur morphotype may have evolved independently in more than one clade. This paper quantifies the variation in body proportion in the clade Plesiosauria using principal component analysis and demonstrates that the traditional plesiosaur/pliosaur dichotomy is an oversimplified view of the range of morphologies present in the group. The topology of the clade is mapped into the morphospace, demonstrating that the pliosaur morphotype evolved three times from two different regions of morphospace. Both the range of body morphologies displayed by plesiosaurs and the evolutionary history of those morphologies, are more complex than previously supposed.


While the number and variety of hazards to computer security have increased at an alarming rate, the proliferation of tools to combat this threat has not grown proportionally. Similarly, most tools currently rely on human intervention to recognize and diagnose new threats. We propose a general framework for identifying hazardous computer transactions by analyzing key metrics in network transactions. While a thorough determination of the particular traits to track would be a product of the research, we hypothesize that some or all of the following variables would yield high correlations with certain undesirable network transactions: Source Address Destination Address/Port Packet Size (overall, header, payload) Packet Rate (overall, Source, Destination, Source/Destination) Transaction Frequency (per Address) By examining statistical correlations between these variables we hope to be able to distinguish – and normalize for changes over time – a healthy network from one that is being attacked or performing an attack. Central to this research is that the class information we are analyzing is available without intervention on the participants of the network transactions, and, in reality, can be performed without their knowledge. This characteristic has the potential to allow Internet service providers or corporations the ability to identify threats without large-scale deployment of some kind of intrusion detection mechanism on each system. Furthermore combining the ability to identify existence and source of a network threat with common network hardware automatic configuration abilities allows for rapid reaction to attacks by shutting down connectivity to the originators of the exploit. This paper will detail the design of a set of tools – dubbed Culebra – capable of remotely diagnosing troubled networks. We will then simulate an attack on a network to gauge the effectiveness Culebra. Ultimately, the type of data gathered by these tools can be used to develop a database of attack patterns, which, in turn, could be used to proactively prevent assaults on networks from remote locations.


Welding is a common joining process used extensively in automobile industries, aircraft machine frames structural work ship building and various other fields. The physical properties of these welds are influenced by several factors. In order to produce satisfactory weldments which fulfill the requirement of quality the integrity of quality control is important. To understand the various defects, their causes and remedies can help to ensure higher quality and longer lasting welds. This report contains essential information of surface irregularities and weld discontinuities. Non destructive testing (NDT) is a mechanism which helps in finding out of defects of any item like welds before major harms happen to the item without affecting its usefulness. This thesis discusses the non destructive testing of weld structures. There are more than fourteen methods of NDT in metals, in this thesis the most important ones-Visual, Ultrasonic, X-ray and penetrant testing are discussed in detail. The experimental results are discussed and comparisons are made based on cost, accuracy, safety, time consumption, etc. Based on these comparisons conclusions and recommendations


The rapid diffusion of mobile devices has spurred the development and use of location-based mobile services (LBMS). LBMS have the potential to add value to businesses through sale of LBMS applications and targeted marketing of products and services. However, studies have shown that individuals' intention to use LBMS is plagued by the perceived privacy risks of disclosing location and personal information. This study examines how various consumption values may weaken the negative influence of perceived privacy risk on individuals' intention to use LBMS based on the multi-dimensional concept of privacy risk, theory of consumption values, and privacy calculus. The attenuating effects of conditional, emotional, epistemic, functional, and social values are studied. Results of a survey of 194 potential users of a LBMS show that conditional, functional, and social values have significant attenuating effects. This study contributes to research by looking beyond the separate and direct effects of perceived privacy risk and consumption values to provide new insights on their joint influences. For practitioners such as LBMS providers and businesses' marketing managers, the findings highlight the type of values that should be emphasized in designing and promoting LBMS.


Understanding the concept of archive ● Identifying the different types of archives ● Discovering a few tools to identify and spot an archive document


In this paper we present a cognitive analysis and therapy study of a patient, MGM, who was alexic due to a profound visual agnosia. Our analysis indicates that the patient had impaired processing of multiple form elements, and impaired verbal memory, along with relatively good phonological skills. A set of therapies was introduced in which MGM was taught (1) to identify letters, (2) to link letters to phonemes, (3) to blend consonant clusters, and (4) to use a verbal compensatory strategy to read irregular words. We demonstrate that the therapy was successful in helping MGM to read. We discuss the results in the light of arguments about the utility of cognitive approaches to therapy.


BACKGROUND
Syndesmosis is an important soft tissue component supporting the ankle stability and commonly injured accompanying with ankle fractures. The accurate reduction and fixation of syndesmosis is essential to obtain better functional results. Therefore, we aimed to find a practical method using the mortise view of ankle to determine the optimal syndesmosis fixation angle intraoperatively.

METHODS
We randomly selected 200 adults (100 women and 100 men) between 18 - 60 years of age. Three-dimensional anatomical models of tibia and fibula were created using Materialise MIMICS 21. We created a best fit plane on articular surface of medial malleolus and a ninety degrees vertical plane to medial malleolus plane. We determined two splines on cortical borders of tibia and fibula distant from the most superior point of ankle joint in horizontal view. We created two spheres that fit to the predefined splines. The optimal syndesmosis fixation angle was determined measuring the angle between the line connecting the center points of spheres, and the ninety degrees vertical plane to medial malleolus plane.

RESULTS
We observed no statistically significant difference between gender groups in terms of optimal syndesmosis fixation angles. The mean age of our study population was 47.1 {plus minus} 10.5. The optimal syndesmosis fixation angle according to mortise view was found as 21 {plus minus} 4.3 degrees.

CONCLUSIONS
We determined the optimal syndesmosis fixation angle as 21 {plus minus} 4.3 degrees in accordance with the mortise view of ankle. The surgeon could evaluate the whole articular surface of ankle joint with the medial and lateral syndesmotic space in mortise view accurately and at the same position syndesmosis fixation could be performed at 21 {plus minus} 4.3 degrees.


Learn the latest VSAM functions and manage VSAM data Understand, evaluate, and use VSAM properly Problem determination and recommendations Virtual Storage Access Method (VSAM) is one of the access methods used to process data. Many of us have used VSAM and work with VSAM data sets daily, but exactly how it works and why we use it instead of another access method is a mystery. This book helps to demystify VSAM and gives you the information necessary to understand, evaluate, and use VSAM properly. It clarifies VSAM functions for application programmers who work with VSAM. The practical, straightforward approach should dispel much of the complexity associated with VSAM. Wherever possible an example is used to reinforce a description of a VSAM function. This IBM Redbook is intended as a supplement to existing product manuals. It is intended to be used as an initial point of reference for VSAM functions. This book also builds upon the subject of Record Level Sharing and the new z/OS feature called DFSMStvs.


Streptococcus pneumoniae is a Gram-positive bacterium capable of causing the life threatening invasive diseases pneumonia, septicemia and meningitis. It can also cause the highly prevalent, but less serious diseases, acute otisis media (AOM) and sinusitis. Pneumolysin, a 52Kda protein toxin, is not only an important virulence factor of Streptococcus pneumoniae but toxoid versions can be protective immunogens, although they suffer from residual activity. The toxin is produced by all serotypes and has very limited structural variation. Structurally pneumolysin consists of four domains. The mechanism of action of pneumolysin has been proposed to involve binding to the cell surface via its domain 4, then the toxin monomers oligomerize on the cell surface and finally structural changes in domain 3 results alpha helices being converted into beta hairpins that insert into the membrane to form a pore. To understand how the structure explains this function of pneumolysin, two sets of mutants were constructed to investigate the role of individual amino acids in these events. In one set, cystine bridges were introduced to lock different domains; C262+C278 was found to have locked TMH2. In the second set, mutants were made to test hypotheses on which amino acids took part in oligomerization, a double mutant 18A: 84A was found to be inactive. Currently the available pneumococcal vaccines are polysacchride based (Pneumovax) and a protein conjugate vaccine (Prevenar). The problem with Pneumovax is that it does not elicit protection in people at high risk and it covers only 23 serotypes. Prevenar is expensive and has even more limited serotype coverage. An ideal vaccine solution would be a molecule with little or no variation among different serotypes and capable of inducing a T-cell dependent response. The functionally important C-terminal domain of pneumolysin (D4) was investigated for its immunogenicity as a protective antigen and as an adjuvant. Domain 4 (D4) of pneumolysin elicits antibody response and boost it as an adjuvant but didn't provide protection on its own. Domain 4 mixed in equimolar amounts with domains 1-3 was nontoxic and it provided protection against a lethal dose of S. pneumoniae.


Fast-response electromagnetic flowmeters were used in a marginal flood channel of an ebb tidal delta to assess the importance of wave contributions to the flood dominance of these channels. Measurements were made at a single point in the channel in both ebb and flood currents. The oscillatory motion of waves was a very significant feature of the velocity records, and its magnitude was comparable with the mean flow at all stages of the tide. This observation shows that flowmeters capable of responding accurately to wave velocities are needed to obtain accurate values of mean flow. Some earlier measurements made with slow response flowmeters are probably unreliable. Wave contributions to the mean flow were assessed by looking at the correlation between the low frequency (>17.5s) oscillations of the along-channel current and the low frequency envelope of the wave velocities. Surprisingly little correlation was found for any time lag, suggesting that wave effects were not important in the mean tidal currents in the channel studied. However, close to low tide on the ebb, conditions existed which appear to have been favourable for the "wave pump" mechanism suggested by Bruun andViggisson (1973). Significant correlation between the wave envelope and low frequency fluctuations was observed at this time. It is therefore suggested that wave effects can be important to the mean flow in marginal channels with rapidly converging and shoaling mouths which are oriented towards the dominant incident wave direction.


In this paper, I attempted to determine the relationship between a movie's box office success and the immediate timing of its release. Considering the large investment that needs to be made in producing and distributing a major motion picture, a full understanding of the factors that affect its success is vital. One factor that has been historically underexplored is the impact of movies that are directly competing with each other at the box office. This has been due to limitations in data. However, using publicly available data I was able to put together a dataset that looked at box office results at the movie-weekend level. Using this I constructed two models. The first takes a broad historical approach, using a prior weekend's attendance numbers as an approximation of viewer fatigue. The second uses specific instances of a trend break (the release of top grossing movie of the year) to look for a level effect on both new movies entering the market and box office returns in general. Results of the study suggest that a movie's opening weekend is not strongly dependent on the immediate box office, in both a general sense and in response to a blockbuster movie. Instead, we see adverse effects on those already in the market after a blockbuster's release relative to other circumstances. I interpreted these results in their application to market timing.


From shrews to blue whales, placental mammals are among the most diverse and successful vertebrates on the Earth. Arising sometime near the Late Cretaceous, this broad clade of mammals contains more than 1,000 genera and approximately 4,400 extant species. Although much studied, the origin and diversification of the placentals continue to be a source of debate. Paleontologists Kenneth D. Rose and J. David Archibald have assembled the world's leading authorities to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date evolutionary history of placental mammals. Focusing on anatomical evidence, the contributors present an unbiased scientific account of the initial radiation and ordinal relationships of placental mammals, representing both the consensus and significant minority viewpoints. This book will be invaluable to paleontologists, evolutionary biologists, mammalogists, and students. Contributors: J. David Archibald, San Diego State University; Robert J. Asher, Institut fur Systematische Zoologie; Jonathan I. Bloch, University of Michigan; Douglas M. Boyer, University of Michigan; Daryl P. Domning, Howard University; Eduardo Eizirik, National Cancer Institute; Robert J. Emry, Smithsonian Institution; Jorg Erfurt, Martin-Luther-University; John J. Flynn, The Field Museum; Timothy J. Gaudin, University of Tennessee; Emmanuel Gheerbrant, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Philip D. Gingerich, The University of Michigan; Patricia A. Holroyd, University of California, Berkeley; J. J. Hooker, The Natural History Museum; Leo F. Laporte, University of California, Santa Cruz; Jin Meng, American Museum of Natural History;William J. Murphy, National Cancer Institute; Jason C. Mussell, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Michael J. Novacek, American Museum of Natural History; Stephen J. O'Brien, National Cancer Institute; Kenneth D. Rose, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Guillermo W. Rougier, University of Louisville; Eric J. Sargis, Yale University; Mary T. Silcox, University of Winnipeg; Nancy B. Simmons, American Museum of Natural History; Mark S. Springer, University of California, Riverside; Gerhard Storch, Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg; Pascal Tassy, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Jessica M. Theodor, Illinois State Museum; Gina D. Wesley, The University of Chicago; John R. Wible, Carnegie Museum of Natural History; Andre Wyss, University of California, Santa Barbara.


The present study focuses on investigating group psychoanalysis in the Middle East. The study uses a descriptive-analytic method and library resources have been used to collect the data. Additionally, the researcher's observations of people's everyday behavior have played an important role in the production and analysis of the study. Group psychoanalysis in the Middle East can be conducted through people's daily behaviors, proverbs, poetry, mythology, etc., and some of the general characteristics of people in the Middle East include: xenophobia, revivalism, fatalism, nostalgic, wills and so on. Members of the group have often failed to achieve Libido wills and it is very important in unifying and reproduction violence. Therefore, if libidinal wills are irrationally fixed, it will be important in forming fundamentalist and racist groups, a situation that is dominant among many groups in the Middle East. Adversities, from early childhood and afterwards, in the subjects have always been influential in the political behavior of group members, and it manifests itself as counter-projections. Consequently, it affects the foreign policy of the governments. On the other hand, two kinds of subjects are identifiable in the Middle East, one; classical subject that is related to nostalgia and mythology and, two; modern subjects which is self-alienated. As a result, both subjects are seeking identity and self-expression in public in relation to forming groups. Therefore, collective unconscious in the Middle East shows itself as extreme boundaries and leads to forming groups characterized with violence. Psychoanalysis shows important aspects to identify many developments in the Middle East; totally analysis of Freud, Carl Jung and Reich about groups can be applied in the present Middle East.


The knowledge on relationship between grain weight and grain-filling parameters is important for yield potential and stability improvement of common wheat. Logistic equation was used for fitting the grain-filling dataset from 14 leading cultivars and advanced lines, sown at Anyang, Henan province in three successive seasons from 2012 to 2015. The results showed that grain weight and all grain-filling rate (GFR) related parameters were mainly influenced by genotype, while grain-filling period related parameters were mainly influenced by environment. There was significant difference on all GFR parameters including the average and the highest GFR, and those in the three periods among cultivar groups based on grain weight, showing a trend of high-grain-weight cultivar > medium-grain-weight cultivar > low-grain-weight cultivar, whereas there was no significant difference for grain-filling period related parameters among the cultivar groups. GFR, especially in the fast increase period, was the major factor that made the significant difference of grain weight among cultivars. Positive correlations between grain weight and all GFR related parameters were observed (P < 0.001), with the coefficients of 0.97 for GFR in the fast increase period and 0.90 for average GFR, whereas no significant correlations were found between grain weight and grain-filling period related parameters. Therefore, average GFR was proposed to be used in quantitative trait loci mapping to improve grain weight of wheat in the Yellow and Huai Rivers Valley.


In this study, pollen grains and anatomical features of Turkish lilies were investigated under the electron (SEM) and light (LM) microscope. LM and SEM observations showed that the pollen grains are monosulcate, heteropolar, elliptical in polar view and oblate. Numerical results based on combined palynological and anatomical characters were discussed and compared with traditional taxonomic treatments. It was found that the midrib shape, mesophyll type, P/E (polar/equatorial), sulcus length, and lumina width are the most valuable traits in separating the examined taxa. The numerical analysis showed that Lilium candidum L. differs from the rest Turkish Lilium and also confirmed a close relationship between L. szovitsianum Fisch. & Avé-Lall. and L. armenum Miscz. ex Grossh. Also this study is the first report dealing with anatomical and palynological features of all Turkish lilies.


We present the results of time-integrated searches for astrophysical neutrino sources in both the northern and southern skies. Data were collected using the partially completed IceCube detector in the 40-string configuration recorded between 2008 April 5 and 2009 May 20, totaling 375.5 days livetime. An unbinned maximum likelihood ratio method is used to search for astrophysical signals. The data sample contains 36,900 events: 14,121 from the northern sky, mostly muons induced by atmospheric neutrinos, and 22,779 from the southern sky, mostly high-energy atmospheric muons. The analysis includes searches for individual point sources and stacked searches for sources in a common class, sometimes including a spatial extent. While this analysis is sensitive to TeV–PeV energy neutrinos in the northern sky, it is primarily sensitive to neutrinos with energy greater than about 1 PeV in the southern sky. No evidence for a signal is found in any of the searches. Limits are set for neutrino fluxes from astrophysical sources over the entire sky and compared to predictions. The sensitivity is at least a factor of two better than previous searches (depending on declination), with 90% confidence level muon neutrino flux upper limits being between E2dΦ/dE ∼ 2–200 × 10−12 TeV cm−2 s−1 in the northern sky and between 3–700 × 10−12 TeV cm−2 s−1 in the southern sky. The stacked source searches provide the best limits to specific source classes. The full IceCube detector is expected to improve the sensitivity to dΦ/dE∝E−2 sources by another factor of two in the first year of operation.


The United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is the lead agency in the U.K. for investigating and prosecuting cases of overseas corruption, including cases under the Bribery Act (expected implementation in April 2011).In July 2010, I received an invitation from Richard Alderman, Director of the SFO, to submit questions to him on any topic of my choosing. I submitted approximately thirty detailed questions covering a broad range of topics, including the role and policies of the SFO, the Bribery Act, the BAE and Innospec cases, Bribery Inc., and other questions of general interest. Except for certain questions regarding the BAE case, which is still pending in the U.K. courts, Mr. Alderman provided answers to every question, including on topics I have been critical of the SFO in the past.In his answers, Mr. Alderman: (i) compares and contrasts the SFO's role with the DOJ's role in enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, including the more active and independent role U.K. courts have in reviewing SFO charging decisions; (ii) talks about voluntary disclosure, and the role of non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements; (iii) discusses reputational harm, debarment, and reparations; and (iv) talks specifically about the Bribery Act.


The increasing and concave age earnings profile is one of the most commonly accepted facts in economics. The human capital model attributes rising wage-tenure and wage-experience profiles to investments in worker productivity. Therefore, an implicit assumption in the human capital model is that training must be occurring throughout a worker's stay at an employer. However, the empirical training literature has thus far either implicitly or explicitly assumed that training is concentrated at the beginning of the employment relationship. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we find that training in the later years of tenure is the norm rather than the exception. To eliminate the bias from belated information, we estimate a fixed effects wage equation with a two-stage procedure that uses previous training and fixed individual and match-specific variables as instruments. While instrumental variables estimation is the standard method of correcting for measurement error, instrumental variables estimates are not consistent when the explanatory variable measured with error (in our case, training) can only take on a limited range of values. Nevertheless, the relative magnitudes of the OLS and the IV training coefficients provide information that enables us to correct for measurement error bias without any need for external information on misclassification rates. Our results provide strong support for the human capital model in that most wage growth beyond the first year of tenure is due to training.


PP arguments within Spanish DPs can appear in any order to the right of the N. However, PP arguments display a strict hierarchical relation (i.e., possessors ccommand agents and agents c-command objects) well documented in binding relations and extraction possibilities out of Spanish DPs. Previous analyses (Torrego 1987; Ormazabal 1991; Ticio 2003, 2005, among others) have postulated structures displaying their specifiers to the right, stylistic movements, or massive overt movements to capture the divergence between hierarchical and phonological orders. I argue that none of these additional mechanisms are needed to explain the disparity between hierarchical and phonological orders in the Spanish DP. I propose that the different properties of argumental PPs and chain resolution at the phonological interface account for the differences in hierarchical and surface orders. The analysis also makes important predictions borne out by some other less studied data, such as nominal ellipsis and partial cliticization.


A general concern exists regarding the ability of the South African Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA) design method to accurately predict the rutting performance of HMA designs through laboratory evaluation. Since 2000, various studies have focused on this issue, and several HMA mixes from construction projects and laboratory-prepared slabs were tested using a range of laboratory wheel-tracking tests to assess the rutting potential of the mixes. The data from these tests were compared with field performance of the HMA. Although some of the tests appeared to be well correlated with rutting in the field, there are at present no generally-accepted and quantified relationships to link laboratory test results to rutting in the field under variable traffic loading and environmental conditions. Other tests that are available for the assessment of rutting, such as the Axial Loading Slab (ALS), are essentially axial tests and do not simulate a rolling wheel load. These tests mainly evaluate the resistance of asphalt to volume change, and not shear response. Shear deformation is known to be the dominant mode of deformation causing rutting in pavements. It is also more sensitive to temperature and rate of loading than volume change.
In a current study on the development of rutting in a standard HMA mix under varying traffic and environmental conditions, the focus is on the evaluation of the effects of different compaction methods on the data obtained from a range of laboratory tests. The aim of this work is to provide input for the selection of appropriate and validated laboratory tests for the evaluation of rut resistance of HMA mixes.
In the paper, the background to the study is firstly provided, followed by a brief discussion on the parameters evaluated. Next, the data obtained from a range of laboratory tests on samples compacted using field and a range of laboratory compaction methods are evaluated and compared, and conclusions are drawn regarding the effect of compaction method on the data obtained from the various laboratory tests. This paper forms part of the research for an M.Tech degree at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).


The Caledonide Orogen in the Nordic countries is exposed in Norway, western Sweden, westernmost Finland, on Svalbard and in northeast Greenland. In the mountains of western Scandinavia, the structure is dominated by E-vergent thrusts with allochthons derived from the Baltoscandian platform and margin, from outboard oceanic (Iapetus) terranes and with the highest thrust sheets having Laurentian affinities. The other side of this bivergent orogen is well exposed in northeastern Greenland, where W-vergent thrust sheets emplace Laurentian continental margin assemblages onto the platform. Svalbard's Caledonides are disrupted by late Caledonian faults, but have close affinity with the Laurentian margin in Northeast Greenland. Only Svalbard's Southwestern terrane is foreign to this margin, showing affinity to the Pearya terrane of northern Ellesmere Island in arctic Canada. Between the margins of western Scandinavia and eastern Greenland, the wide continental shelves, now covered by late Paleozoic and younger successions, are inferred to be underlain by the Caledonide hinterland, probably incorporating substantial Grenville-age basement. In northernmost Norway, the NE-trending Caledonian thrust front truncates the NW-trending Neoproterozoic Timanide orogen of northwest Russia. Much of the central and eastern parts of the Barents Shelf are thought to be underlain by Caledonian-deformed Timanide basement. Caledonian orogeny in Norden resulted from the closure of the Iapetus Ocean and Scandian collision of continent Baltica with Laurentia. Partial subduction of the Baltoscandian margin beneath Laurentia in the midlate Silurian was followed by rapid exhumation of the highly metamorphosed hinterland in the early Devonian, and deposition of Old Red Sandstones in intramontane basins. Late Scandian collapse of the orogen occurred on major extensional detachments, with deformation persisting into the late Devonian.


In her contribution, Braziel resists Torres-Saillant's valorization of diaspora as the antidote to national paradigms. As an organizing rubric, "Caribbean diaspora" obscures nationality, class, race, gender, sexuality, and political economy as striating diasporas and diasporic communities; it ignores the fact that there is not one Caribbean diaspora but many. Diasporas are fractured landscapes: not only oppressed individuals but also corrupt presidents and even petty but violent Calibans are part of out-migratory waves that constitute diasporic formations abroad, or form the long-arm, transnational tentacles of the nation-state.


Inventory investment plays a central role in business cycle fluctuations. This post examines whether inventory investment amplifies or dampens economic fluctuations following a tightening in financial conditions. We find evidence supporting an amplification mechanism. This analysis suggests that inventory accumulation will be a drag on economic activity this year but provide a boost in 2020.


We document countercyclical corporate saving behavior with the degree of countercyclicality varying nonmonotonically with firm size. We then develop a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with heterogeneous firms to explain the pattern and study its implications for business cycles. In the presence of financial frictions and fixed operating costs, a persistent negative productivity shock signals low future income and prompts firms to hold more cash in order to preserve financial flexibility and maintain normal operations. This countercyclicality exhibits a hump-shaped relation to firm size. Compared with mediumsized firms, small firms have a higher marginal product of capital and thus better investment opportunities, which compete for resources with cash, while large firms have more pledgeable assets and demand less cash. We find that, on average, firms accumulate cash by cutting investment and employment in recessions, which reduces aggregate output and increases economic fluctuations. Corporate saving, therefore, amplifies aggregate shocks.


Abstract Competitiveness of a nation is associated with a set of characteristics that enable structural adjustment to global technological trends, and as a consequence, a rise in the living standard of its citizens. For catching-up economies, GDP convergence towards the most developed economies, constituting their developmental goal, relies upon its ability to shift production and exports structure towards specialization based on knowledge and innovation. Thus, in this paper, competitiveness is evaluated through structural adjustments of exports, and for catching-up economies (the EU–10 states) it may be understood as the ability to close the structural gap to the most developed countries (here: the strongest EU member economy: Germany). We analyse the evolution of the EU–10 nations' exports specialization in the years 2000 and 2014, checking whether the convergence towards the German exports pattern can be observed, and which of the analysed economies shows the best ability to shift its exports structure towards high-tech specialization. We look additionally at exports structures in 2004 (the year of EU-accession of eight out of 10 countries in the sample) and in 2009 (world trade collapse during the economic crisis). The analysis is based on the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) concept by Balassa (1965). We use the UN Trade Statistics data in the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC), Rev. 4. Commodity groups are classified following the methodology developed by Wysokińska (1997, p. 18).


Interval exercise typically involves repeated bouts of relatively intense exercise interspersed by short periods of recovery. A common classification scheme subdivides this method into high‐intensity interval training (HIIT; 'near maximal' efforts) and sprint interval training (SIT; 'supramaximal' efforts). Both forms of interval training induce the classic physiological adaptations characteristic of moderate‐intensity continuous training (MICT) such as increased aerobic capacity ( V̇O2 max ) and mitochondrial content. This brief review considers the role of exercise intensity in mediating physiological adaptations to training, with a focus on the capacity for aerobic energy metabolism. With respect to skeletal muscle adaptations, cellular stress and the resultant metabolic signals for mitochondrial biogenesis depend largely on exercise intensity, with limited work suggesting that increases in mitochondrial content are superior after HIIT compared to MICT, at least when matched‐work comparisons are made within the same individual. It is well established that SIT increases mitochondrial content to a similar extent to MICT despite a reduced exercise volume. At the whole‐body level, V̇O2 max is generally increased more by HIIT than MICT for a given training volume, whereas SIT and MICT similarly improve V̇O2 max despite differences in training volume. There is less evidence available regarding the role of exercise intensity in mediating changes in skeletal muscle capillary density, maximum stroke volume and cardiac output, and blood volume. Furthermore, the interactions between intensity and duration and frequency have not been thoroughly explored. While interval training is clearly a potent stimulus for physiological remodelling in humans, the integrative response to this type of exercise warrants further attention, especially in comparison to traditional endurance training.


Different empirical and hybrid modelling techniques were evaluated in order to improve the modelling compared with the present situation in the plate rolling mill at Rautaruukki, Raahe. Logged data from the production were used to develop new models and to compare them with each other and with the present model. The data describe the chemical composition and various process parameters of the rolling process, including thermal, geometric and kinematic parameters. Various neural networks and multivariate models were evaluated in order to take non-linear effects into account. Hybrid methods use a combination of physically based models and empirical models. The simple physically based formula, force = area x yield strength factor, proved useful. A more advanced model solving von Karman's differential equation was evaluated as a stand-alone model and as part of a hybrid model. The measured force of the previous rolling pass was tested as an additional input variable. Various aspects of the different modelling techniques are discussed and compared. Simple but improved models are described as suitable candidates to replace the present on-line model.


What types of firms establish tax haven operations, and what purposes do these operations serve? Analysis of affiliate-level data for American firms indicates that larger, more international firms, and those with extensive intrafirm trade and high R and D intensities, are the most likely to use tax havens. Tax haven operations facilitate tax avoidance both by permitting firms to allocate taxable income away from high-tax jurisdictions and by reducing the burden of home country taxation of foreign income. The evidence suggests that the primary use of affiliates in larger tax haven countries is to reallocate taxable income, whereas the primary use of affiliates in smaller tax haven countries is to facilitate deferral of U.S. taxation of foreign income. Firms with sizeable foreign operations benefit the most from using tax havens, an effect that can be evaluated by using foreign economic growth rates as instruments for firm-level growth of foreign investment outside of tax havens. One percent greater sales and investment growth in nearby non-haven countries is associated with a 1.5 to 2% greater likelihood of establishing a tax haven operation.


In experiments investigating the causes of Fe isotope fractionation, the d 56/54 Fe value of Fe(II) remaining in solution (Fe(II)(aq)) after reduction of Fe(III) (goethite) by Shewanella putrefaciens is ;21.2‰ relative to the goethite, in agreement with previous research. The addition of an electron shuttle did not affect fractionation, suggesting that Fe isotope fractionation may not be related to the kinetics of the electron transfer. Furthermore, in abiotic, anaerobic FeCl2(aq) experiments in which approximately one-third of Fe(II)(aq) is lost from solution due to adsorption of Fe(II) onto goethite, the d 56/54 Fe value of Fe(II)(aq) remaining in solution is shifted by 20.8‰ relative to FeCl 2. This finding demonstrates that anaerobic nonbiological interaction between Fe(II) and goethite can generate signif- icant Fe isotope fractionation. Acid extraction of sorbed Fe(II) from goethite in experi- ments reveals that heavy Fe preferentially sorbs to goethite. Simple mass-balance modeling indicates that the isotopic composition of the sorbed Fe(II) pool is ;11.5‰ to 12.5‰ heavier than Fe in the goethite (;2.7‰-3.7‰ heavier than aqueous Fe(II)). Mass balance is also consistent with a pool of heavy Fe that is not released to solution during acid extraction.


Neural Architecture Search has recently shown potential to automate the design of Neural Networks. The use of Neural Network agents trained with Reinforcement Learning can offer the possibility to learn complex patterns, as well as the ability to explore a vast and compositional search space. On the other hand, evolutionary algorithms offer the greediness and sample efficiency needed for such an application, as each sample requires a considerable amount of resources. We propose a class of Evolutionary-Neural hybrid agents (Evo-NAS), that retain the best qualities of the two approaches. We show that the Evo-NAS agent can outperform both Neural and Evolutionary agents, both on a synthetic task, and on architecture search for a suite of text classification datasets.


The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider has a broad physics programme ranging from precision measurements to direct searches for new particles and new interactions, requiring ever larger and ever more accurate datasets of simulated Monte Carlo events. Detector simulation with Geant4 is accurate but requires significant CPU resources. Over the past decade, ATLAS has developed and utilized tools that replace the most CPU-intensive component of the simulation—the calorimeter shower simulation—with faster simulation methods. Here, AtlFast3, the next generation of high-accuracy fast simulation in ATLAS, is introduced. AtlFast3 combines parameterized approaches with machine-learning techniques and is deployed to meet current and future computing challenges, and simulation needs of the ATLAS experiment. With highly accurate performance and significantly improved modelling of substructure within jets, AtlFast3 can simulate large numbers of events for a wide range of physics processes.


Abstract:The Summer 2020 Issue. Ploughshares is an award-winning journal of new writing. Since 1971, Ploughshares has discovered and cultivated the freshest voices in contemporary American literature, and remains prescient in the digital age by providing readers with thoughtful and entertaining literature in a variety of formats. Find out why the New York Times named Ploughshares "the Triton among minnows.""As guest-editor Celeste Ng writes in her introduction, "Stories are more than documentation: they are a portal in time, through which the moment in which the story was written can magically be in conversation with the moment in which the story is read. . . . The stories that follow will ask you: Do you still remember when the world was like this? Did you care? Is it still like this? Do you want it to be? " The Summer 2020 issue features prose by Charles Yu, Jamel Brinkley, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Karen Shepard, and others.


Summary 1. Carotenoids transferred from mother to offspring may enhance the quality of the offspring. Whether such maternal effects occur in guppies ( Poecilia reticulata ) has an important bearing on mate preference evolution. 2. By raising female guppies from birth on different dietary carotenoid levels, we examined the pattern of carotenoid allocation to maternal tissue (skin) vs. eggs. Skin carotenoid content was only weakly affected by carotenoid intake while egg carotenoid content was strongly affected. 3. We then tested for effects of maternal carotenoid intake on several measures of offspring quality, including size and condition at birth, juvenile growth rate, and the size, condition, skin carotenoid content and colouration of mature sons. To test for interactions between maternal and offspring carotenoid intake, broods were split and offspring were reared on one of two carotenoid levels. 4. Offspring carotenoid intake had the expected effects on male colouration, but otherwise we found no evidence that maternal or offspring carotenoid intake influences offspring quality. It remains possible that maternal carotenoids affect offspring fitness parameters that we did not measure or that such effects depend on environmental factors that were absent in our laboratory aquaria. 5. Our review of the literature on maternal carotenoid effects in birds and fishes suggests that such effects may be taxon-specific. Thus, it seems unwarranted to assume that an adaptive trade-off necessarily exists between allocation of carotenoids to eggs vs. maternal tissues. Alternative hypotheses, such as the possibility that eggs provide a means of excreting excess carotenoids, also merit consideration. 6. Our results indirectly support the indicator model of mate preference evolution by casting doubt on an alternative hypothesis that requires females to benefit more from consuming carotenoids than males do.


Abstract. Although the consequences of floods are strongly related to their peak discharges, a statistical classification of flood events that only depends on these peaks may not be sufficient for flood risk assessments. In many cases, the flood risk depends on a number of event characteristics. In case of an extreme flood, the whole river basin may be affected instead of a single watershed, and there will be superposition of peak discharges from adjoining catchments. These peaks differ in size and timing according to the spatial distribution of precipitation and watershed-specific processes of flood formation. Thus, the spatial characteristics of flood events should be considered as stochastic processes. Hence, there is a need for a multivariate statistical approach that represents the spatial interdependencies between floods from different watersheds and their coincidences. This paper addresses the question how these spatial interdependencies can be quantified. Each flood event is not only assessed with regard to its local conditions but also according to its spatio-temporal pattern within the river basin. In this paper we characterise the coincidence of floods by trivariate Joe-copula and pair-copulas. Their ability to link the marginal distributions of the variates while maintaining their dependence structure characterizes them as an adequate method. The results indicate that the trivariate copula model is able to represent the multivariate probabilities of the occurrence of simultaneous flood peaks well. It is suggested that the approach of this paper is very useful for the risk-based design of retention basins as it accounts for the complex spatio-temporal interactions of floods.


This qualitative study examined multiple perspectives of participants who experienced a Victim–Offender Mediation (VOM) program in a Midwestern city in the United States. Of particular interest are the roles and skills of mediators. Data consisted of 34 face‐to‐face interviews with 37 participants including adult crime victims, juvenile offenders and their parents, mediators and representatives from referring agencies. Insider perspectives regarding the roles and skills of the mediators in restorative processes were revealed through personal stories. Although the majority of the participants reported that the roles and skills of mediators were consistent with restorative justice principles, this exploratory study also revealed that some roles and skills exhibited by mediators were inconsistent with restorative justice values, which shows the variance of 'real world' restorative justice. Recommendations are made to promote mediators' roles and skills that are compatible with restorative justice principles.


This thesis is devoted to optimize the health care logistics which can support emergency management plans to reduce the impacts of natural and/or man-made disasters. After the review of relevant papers, two main gaps have been found in the current studies. One is that most of the researches are not based on real cases. The other is that some main characteristics of disasters are neglected when disasters are studied. Therefore, based on real case scenarios, the thesis studies different disasters (natural and/or man-made disasters) separately according to the characteristics of disasters. Natural disasters may be predicted but are difficult to avoid. Therefore, the evacuation of potential victims and the dimensioning of relief resources are crucially important. A three-step approach is proposed to study the resource dimensioning and the organization of emergency management plan (French White Plan) facing natural disasters. In our three-step approach, the first step builds a framework model to get the insights of emergency management plan clearly. The second step establishes a global model (a linear model) to predict the quantity of required resources for evacuation. The third step proposes a detailed simulation model to reflect the real world more precisely. The hospital evacuation under the guidance of a French Extended White Plan in case of a flood has been taken as a real case scenario to test the correctness of our approach. The man-made disasters and the outbreak of diseases can be large-scale disasters which require a high demand of resources. In this thesis, a model for logistics response to bioterrorist attack with a non-contagious agent and another model for the logistics response to epidemics have been proposed. Multi-period and multi-echelon inventory management problems have been studied. The two models (a linear model and a non linear model respectively) combine the main characteristics of disasters: the propagation of the disease, the relevant medical interventions and the logistics deployment together. The number of patients in different disease stages and the required medical resources for each period can be estimated. The factors affecting the number of deaths and the different medical intervention policies can also be evaluated with the two models. With the help of the models, the decision makers can get an idea of the disaster situation and the relevant medical responses from a strategy level. A logistics response to an anonymous bioterrorist attack with anthrax to a shopping center and the logistics response to the outbreak of H5N1 are taken as real case scenarios to test the effectiveness of the models respectively.


Making errors is expected to lead to some improvements in future learning. The general purpose of this research is to find out the announcers' errors in using simple present tense in speaking. This study uses descriptive qualitative research. The data were retrieved from announcers' recording from English Conversation program of PRO 2 radio Bandar Lampung. Data analysis discovered that the announcers still made all of the four error types under the heading of surface strategy taxonomy. The error types that were identified in the announcers' simple present tense sentence were ranked for the surface strategy taxonomy, errors in misformation amount to misformation, 70 errors (57,83%), followed by omission with 33 errors (27,27%) addition with 13 errors (10,71%) and misordering with only 5 errors (4,19%). These figures suggest that announcers should take more time to understand grammar further. Even though it was oral, but the announcers must use correct grammar to avoid miscommunication while transferring the message.


Distribution of quenching residual stresses in T-section 7050 aluminum alloy forging was obtained using a combination method of finite element method (FEM), contour method, layer removal method and X-ray diffraction. The results show that, experimental results and FEM result of internal residual stresses are in good agreement. While surface stresses obtained by layer removal method and contour method are slightly different with X-ray diffraction and FEM results, thus X-ray diffraction measurement of surface stresses must be taken into consideration to fully understand the distribution of quenching stresses in the T-section 7050 aluminum alloy forging. Moreover, surface residual stresses are compressive of about -150MPa, while residual stresses in the core are tensile with a maximum up to 210MPa, which is very harmful for the subsequent machining.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.mech.23.3.14259


Abstract Pritchard, HJ, Barnes, MJ, Stewart, RJC, Keogh, JWL, and McGuigan, MR. Short-term training cessation as a method of tapering to improve maximal strength. J Strength Cond Res 32(2): 458–465, 2018—The aim of this study was to determine the effects of 2 different durations of training cessation on upper- and lower-body maximal strength performance and to investigate the mechanisms underlying performance changes following short-term training cessation. Eight resistance trained males (23.8 ± 5.4 years, 79.6 ± 10.2 kg, 1.80 ± 0.06 m, relative deadlift 1 repetition maximum of 1.90 ± 0.30 times bodyweight [BW]) each completed two 4-week strength training periods followed by either 3.5 days (3.68 ± 0.12 days) or 5.5 days (5.71 ± 0.13 days) of training cessation. Testing occurred pretraining (T1), on the final day of training (T2), and after each respective period of training cessation (T3). Participants were tested for salivary testosterone and cortisol, plasma creatine kinase, psychological profiles, and performance tests (countermovement jump [CMJ], isometric midthigh pull, and isometric bench press [IBP]) on a force plate. Participants' BW increased significantly over time (p = 0.022). The CMJ height and IBP peak force showed significant increases over time (p = 0.013, 0.048, and 0.004, respectively). Post hoc testing showed a significant increase between T1 and T3 for both CMJ height and IBP peak force (p = 0.022 and 0.008 with effect sizes of 0.30 and 0.21, respectively). No other significant differences were seen for any other measures. These results suggest that a short period of strength training cessation can have positive effects on maximal strength expression, perhaps because of decreases in neuromuscular fatigue.


This thesis investigates the algebraic structure of certain quantum field theories in one space and one time dimension. These theories are integrable - essentially, highly constrained and therefore soluble. Thus, instead of having to use perturbative techniques, it is possible to conjecture their exact 5-matrices, which have the property that they are factorized into two-particle 5-matrices. In particular, there are two types of such theory: in one, scattering is purely elastic, whilst in the other, there is additional structure dictated by the Yang-Baxter equation. This thesis explores the algebraic structure of the latter and its links with the former. We begin, in chapter one, with an informal summary of the development of the subject, followed by a more mathematical exposition in chapter two. Chapter three constructs explicitly some exact factorized 5-matrices with Yang-Baxter structure, and comments on their features, both intrinsic and in relation to purely elastic 5-matrices. In particular, there is an unexplained close correspondence between the mass spectra and particle fusings in the two types of theory. The next three chapters attempt to shed some light on these features. Chapter four constructs similar 5-matrices, but based on quantum-deformed algebras rather than classical algebras. In chapter five we describe the structure of the 5-matrices when the particles they describe transform in irreducible representations of classical algebras. This leads us to consider the Yangian algebra, the representation theory of which underlies Yang-Baxter dependent 5-matrices, and which we therefore review briefly. We begin chapter six by reviewing the work which shows that the Yangian is also the charge algebra of the integrable quantum field theory, and subsequently show that the Yangian is also to a great extent present in the corresponding classical theory. We conclude with a brief seventh chapter describing the outlook for further research, followed by appendices containing respectively details of the Lagrangians of some integrable quantum field theories, a continuum formulation of the quantum inverse problem, explicit expressions for some of the R-matrices computed in the text, and a summary of known solutions of the Yang-Baxter equation.


Motivation: The Tundra Trait Team (TTT) database includes field-based measurements of key traits related to plant form and function at multiple sites across the tundra biome. This dataset can be used to address theoretical questions about plant strategy and trade-offs, trait–environment relationships and environmental filtering, and trait variation across spatial scales, to validate satellite data, and to inform Earth system model parameters. Main types of variable contained: The database contains 91,970 measurements of 18 plant traits. The most frequently measured traits (> 1,000 observations each) include plant height, leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf fresh and dry mass, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus content, leaf C:N and N:P, seed mass, and stem specific density. Spatial location and grain: Measurements were collected in tundra habitats in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, including Arctic sites in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Fennoscandia and Siberia, alpine sites in the European Alps, Colorado Rockies, Caucasus, Ural Mountains, Pyrenees, Australian Alps, and Central Otago Mountains (New Zealand), and sub-Antarctic Marion Island. More than 99% of observations are georeferenced. Time period and grain: All data were collected between 1964 and 2018. A small number of sites have repeated trait measurements at two or more time periods. Major taxa and level of measurement: Trait measurements were made on 978 terrestrial vascular plant species growing in tundra habitats. Most observations are on individuals (86%), while the remainder represent plot or site means or maximums per species. Software format: csv file and GitHub repository with data cleaning scripts in R; contribution to TRY plant trait database (www.try-db.org) to be included in the next version release.


ABSTRACT In recent years, some elaborate claims have been made about how the Internet can revolutionise politics. While the Internet is not a panacea for all problems, it does present a number of opportunities. It is fast, inexpensive, flexible, personalised and interactive. Political parties are in complete control of their own websites and, unlike traditional commercial media, there is no limit on political content. Parties can provide quality information, communicate directly with citizens and use the interactive features of the Internet to encourage participation. While in theory, the Internet does offer the potential to enrich our political system; the real test is how it is being used in practice. Over the past few years, a range of uses and principles for effective political Internet sites have been suggested but there has been little systematic empirical analysis of the quality of political party websites. In this article, an assessment of the two major Australian political parties' websites-the Australian Labor Party (www.alp.org.au/) and the Liberal Party of Australia (www.liberal.org.au/)-reveals how they rate. ********** Several commentators have recently suggested that the Internet is the key to revitalising political participation in Australia (Latham, 2000; Suter, 2001). In particular, these commentators are excited about the prospect of using the Internet to facilitate actual voting. This, they predict, will bring an end to representative democracy and a return to 'direct democracy' (Morris, 1999). However, 'electronic voting' is a long-term prospect which poses as many concerns as it does potential benefits (Jaensch, 1999; Hull, 2000; Jaensch, 2001). This article focuses instead on how the Internet can be used right now to advance political participation through more effective political communication. It is in this respect that the Internet truly has the potential to become 'the most powerful political medium since the invention of the printing press'. (1) Political parties are well placed to drive movements to revitalise political participation. Many already have websites and they also have broad support, established infrastructure and resources. It is an appropriate role for them to take on because traditionally, political parties in democracies do playa major role in encouraging citizens to participate through party membership of allegiance, by educating, by facilitating communication, measuring public opinion, designing public policy and stimulating debate and discussion. The major political parties in Australia have the greatest motivation to use the Internet effectively because they are currently losing the most support through declining party identification and rising support for independents and minor parties. (2) They will probably focus on the Internet as an electioneering tool. (Indeed, it has been suggested that 'in the next ten years, the Internet will become the central vehicle for political campaigns' in Australia) (Miller, 2001). However, the Internet also presents a number of other opportunities. Parties can use the Internet to recruit new members, encourage voter registration, measure public opinion, explain their policies, ease citizen access to elected officials and educate citizens about the party and its role in the broader political system. While some of these uses could be interpreted as cynical attempts to win votes, many also have broader democratic value in terms of improving political participation. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN AUSTRALIA 'One of the most important requirements for the functioning of representative democracy is the existence of informed and knowledgeable citizens' (McAllister, 1998: 8). However, surveys have consistently found that Australians are far from knowledgeable about politics. Indeed, surveys suggest 'a high level of political ignorance' in Australia (McAllister, 1998: 14). Research suggests that many Australians are angry, cynical and dissatisfied with politicians (Young, 2000). …


""The Truly Disadvantaged" should spur critical thinking in many quarters about the causes and possible remedies for inner city poverty. As policy makers grapple with the problems of an enlarged underclass they--as well as community leaders and all concerned Americans of all races--would be advised to examine Mr. Wilson's incisive analysis."--Robert Greenstein, "New York Times Book Review" "'Must reading' for civil-rights leaders, leaders of advocacy organizations for the poor, and for elected officials in our major urban centers."--Bernard C. Watson, "Journal of Negro Education" "Required reading for anyone, presidential candidate or private citizen, who really wants to address the growing plight of the black urban underclass."--David J. Garrow, "Washington Post Book World" Selected by the editors of the "New York Times Book Review" as one of the sixteen best books of 1987. Winner of the 1988 C. Wright Mills Award of the Society for the Study of Social Problems.


Purpose – Italian implementation of PPP has its own features which distinguish it from other models adopted in Europe and in the world. International literature lacks of contributions about the Italian case, while the analyses on this issue in the national literature are not systemic. To fill this gap we aim at characterizing the main features of Italian PPPs, in comparison to the features of such partnerships in Europe and in the world.Design/methodology/approach – In order to describe the PPP implementation, the paper proposes a theoretical framework describing PPP as it is conceived by international literature.Findings – A set of factors, like uncertainty on the rules, complex procedures and the lack of private competences on PPP, hinder the involvement of private operators in PPPs. Consequently, PPP project financing structure is mainly based on public guarantees, even because of scarce utilization of capital markets for funding.Social implications – Practitioners and scholars can use this framework analysis in order to know strengths and weaknesses of PPP application in their socio-economic context.Originality/value – The proposed framework represents a useful tool for comparing the application of PPPs among different sectors and different countries. Furthermore, the theoretical framework can be considered a starting point of future research aiming at developing a tool for assessing the expected performance of PPP projects.


Background & Aim: Measuring the length of kidneys is an important issue in diagnosis and treatment of renal diseases. In various diseases, kidneys become larger or smaller than normal. Ultrasonography is a suitable method for measuring renal length because it is accurate, noninvasive, available and with low cost. Nowadays, multislice spiral CT scanners are widely used for evaluation of renal diseases and are capable of making different reconstructions on images including multiplanar reconstruction(MPR) and in many situations, measurements like measuring renal length are done on these reconstructed images. Hence, knowing the accuracy of measurements on reconstructed images is very important. This research was done to evaluate the accuracy of renal length measurement on multiplanar reconstructed images of spiral CT scan. Patients & Methods: In a cross-sectional study, spiral CT scan was performed on all of the patients referred to CT scan department of Hashemi Nejad Hospital for abdominal CT scan during July and August 2004. Multiplanar reconstruction was carried out on all of the images and the maximum length of kidneys was measured. Then ultrasonography was done for all of the patients and the maximum length of kidneys was measured as gold standard. The lengths of kidneys obtained from these two methods were compared with each other. Results: 40 patients(80 kidneys) with the mean age of 42 years were evaluated. Analysis with SPSS and paired t-test revealed that the mean renal length at ultrasonography was 107.1 mm with standard deviation of 12.08 and the mean renal length at spiral CT scan was 110.18 mm with standard deviation of 11.93. The mean length of kidneys resulted from ultrasonography was 3.08 mm less than the mean length of kidneys resulted from multiplanar reconstructed images of spiral CT scan, and considering P<0.05, the difference was considered significant. Conclusion: Measuring the renal length on reconstructed images doesn't have enough accuracy. Therefore, in situations when knowing the exact size of the kidney is important, measurements should be done on the basic CT images(without reconstruction) or on other methods like ultrasonography.


Follow these links to investigate art and art history resources at the City College of San Francisco Library. Come in to the Library for personal instruction from a reference librarian.


As systems become more complex, they become harder to understand both in terms of their composition (by system developers) and in terms of their operation (by system users). In dynamic systems the services may have been composed in real-time without human involvement, to support a specific user request. It is therefore even more important that the ability to understand the composition, the data sources and the component services is possible. There may also be restrictions relating to what each user is allowed to know about different aspects of the system, services or datasets, and all of the elements of the system may be widely varied and volatile, with the whole system subject to rapid and pervasive change. In this paper we define a conversational mechanism to enable interaction with such a system. Able to handle volatility and variety through the simple conversational interface, this proposed capability enables the explanation of the system and the results at a number of levels. We map our basic architecture to the JDL data fusion model (at all levels) and view this particular conversational explanation capability as belonging in level 5 (user refinement).


OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to demonstrate that papillary muscle repositioning is a reliable technique to repair anterior leaflet prolapse. Therefore we describe this technique and its long term results to propose it as a gold standard. METHOD: Between 1989 and 2005, 120 mitral valve repairs were consecutively performed using papillary muscle repositioning in cases of anterior leaflet prolapse. There were 87 males and 33 females, the mean age was 59 ± 11.5 years. 59% of patients were in NYHA III or IV. Mean ejection fraction was 65.7 ± 8.9%. Predominant aetiology of mitral regurgitation (MR) was degenerative: Barlow (n=43) and dystrophic (n=62). The other aetiologies were: healed endocarditis (n=5), rheumatic (n=5), ischemic (n=4), congenital (n=1). A posterior papillary muscle repositioning was performed in 111 (92.5%) cases and an anterior in 38 (31.7%). Associated procedures were carried out in 76 (63.3%) patients. RESULTS: There were no in-hospital deaths. During the follow-up, 14 patients (11.7%) died, including seven (5.8%) due to cardiac causes. The cumulated survival rates at 1, 5, 10 and 15 years were 98.3%, 97.2%, 94.1% and 81.4% respectively. Two patients (1.7%) were reoperated for recurrency of the regurgitation, they underwent a replacement of the valve 1 and 5 years after the repair and died 3 and 6 years, respectively after this replacement. There was no systolic anterior motion. The cumulated survival rates free from reoperation involving the mitral valve at 1, 5, 10 and 15 years were 97.4%, 97.4%, 92.8 % and 86.7% respectively. We did not find any risk factor of mortality or of reoperation. The follow-up was completed for all the patients. After a median follow-up time of 5.9 years (range from 0.1 to 15.6 years) 87 patients were in NYHA class I (72.5%), the echographic control showed no or minimal insufficiency in 89 patients (74.2%), mild insufficiency in eight patients (6.7%) and moderate insufficiency in nine patients (7.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Papillary muscle repositioning is a reliable and safe technique, with excellent clinical and echocardiographic long term results. Therefore we propose it as a gold standard to repair anterior leaflet prolapse.


Main aspects of reproductive and inmunological interactions are presented in this review. In the first part, we outlined the current knowledge of the immune system, the humoral and cellular factors, pregnancy modifications of the immune response, and the role of the fetus and the placenta. In this second part, we complete the lattest aspect, reviewing the interaction of the maternal and fetal inmunological systems. We continue revising the knowledge on antisperm and antiovary antibodies, male immunologic infertility, repeated abortion and fetal losses, and explore immunologic aspects of pregnancy induced hypertension, diabetes and pregnancy, Rh factor immunization, fetal hydrops, vascular connective tissue diseases and pregnancy, autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura, organ transplantation and immunosupressive drugs, and infections during pregnancy, immunity and preterm delivery, as well as a brief on immunology applied contraception.


CIOs and CEOs are confronted with the key challenge of choosing the right ERP software for their company. Packaged software has become so powerful in recent years that after a thorough customization process it can fulfill the requirements of companies from different industries. However case studies and anecdotal evidence show that in many cases ERP implementation projects are demanding and results do not meet expectations. Companies are often forced to change their business processes because the new software system does not provide the flexibility to be adjusted to the company's needs. The paradigm of service orientation, on the other hand, promises to break this vicious circle. This leads to the question whether and how ERP vendors are addressing the perceived problems of ERP adaptation possibilities. The topic stimulated an in-depth study of the German-speaking ERP software market. In a qualitative study based on thirty interviews with ERP vendors we draw a picture of the value proposition of future ERP software in the area of process and service orientation.


As the power industry tries to meet the challenge of growing demands with restricted means, the value of highpower schemes using power electronics based systems in utility grids becomes higher. As more of these power electronic bases schemes are deployed, the list of their expected functionality also grows. In order to properly test and evaluate the schemes, the utilization of real time simulation becomes imperative. Many of the necessary tests cannot be executed in a real network due to either economic reasons or safety concerns. In this paper, the application of the real time simulation in the high-power power electronics system controller testing is extended to the purpose of tuning the control parameters. An application of OE-EMTP (Optimization Enabled EMTP) technique is proposed to optimize the real world controller parameters. A similar technique has been widely utilized in offline simulation software, but here it is combined with the real time digital simulation. The effectiveness of the proposed technique was presented by result from tuning experiment of a FACTS controller, a DSP based STATCOM control.


Compliance with international obligations is the lynch-pin to the sustainability and success of international agreements, treaties and organizations. Without this compliance these bodies will fail to function, or at the very least experience a reduction in their functionality. As part of the process to develop biosafety legislation, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, through Article 26, provides for the voluntary inclusion of socio-economic considerations. Crucial to this provision is that socio-economic consideration incorporation must be "consistent with [the parties] international obligations". Numerous international agreements and protocol obligations are applicable to the various SEC factors that can be considered for inclusion. This article provides concise overviews of the most significant of the various international agreements relevant to the potential SEC factors and then offers a thorough discussion of the terms and commitments from parties to the CPB that are considering the inclusion of SEC factors into their domestic regulatory biosafety frameworks. This article clarifies the legal complexities of these commitments to international obligations and encapsulates the numerous obligations into a single source.


The coherence properties of mechanical resonators are often limited by multiple unavoidable forms of loss -- including phonon-phonon and phonon-defect scattering -- which result in the scattering of sound into other resonant modes and into the phonon bath. Dynamic suppression of this scattering loss can lift constraints on device structure and can improve tolerance to defects in the material, even after fabrication. Inspired by recent experiments, here we introduce a model of phonon losses resulting from disorder in a whispering gallery mode resonator with acousto-optical coupling between optical and mechanical modes. We show that a typical elastic scattering mechanism of high quality factor (Q) mechanical modes flips the direction of phonon propagation via high-angle scattering, leading to damping into modes with the opposite parity. When the optical mode overlaps co-propagating high-Q and bulk mechanical modes, the addition of laser cooling via sideband-resolved damping of the mechanical mode of a chosen parity also damps and modifies the response of the bulk modes of the same parity. This, in turn, simultaneously improves the quality factor and reduces the thermal load of the counter-propagating high-Q modes, leading to the dynamical creation of a cold phononic shield. We compare our theoretical results to the recent experiments of Kim et al., and find quantitative agreement with our theory.


In this work, we apply Dirichlet Process Mixture Models (DPMMs) to a learning task in natural language processing (NLP): lexical-semantic verb clustering. We thoroughly evaluate a method of guiding DPMMs towards a particular clustering solution using pairwise constraints. The quantitative and qualitative evaluation performed highlights the benefits of both standard and constrained DPMMs compared to previously used approaches. In addition, it sheds light on the use of evaluation measures and their practical application.


This article examines one specific question: whether states are allowed to derogate from human rights treaties for situations which take place outside their territories, especially in armed conflict. Can, for instance, the United Kingdom derogate from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) for events that take place in Afghanistan and involve its armed forces deployed there, to the extent that the ECHR and the ICCPR apply in Afghanistan?The wider the geographical scope of human rights treaties, the more relevant the question of extraterritorial derogations. Such derogations might start looking increasingly appealing to states, especially those who have initially miscalculated in arguing that the treaties do not apply at all, and avoided derogating in the fear that doing so would count as an admission that the treaties do apply. Derogations have the potential of bringing both clarity and flexibility to the applicable legal framework, especially in situations of armed conflict and with regard to possible interactions between human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL).Contrary to the dicta in some of the decisions of the House of Lords and the UK Supreme Court, the article argues that extraterritorial derogations are not only permissible, but may even be necessary and desirable, as part of price worth paying for the treaties' extensive and effective application outside states' boundaries. It also elaborates on the relationship between derogations and the various different manifestations of the lex specialis principle.


Introduction Stereotype awareness—or an individual's perception of the degree to which negative beliefs or stereotypes are held by the public—is an important factor mediating public stigma, self-stigma and their negative consequences. Research is required to assess how individuals become more sensitive to perceive stereotypes, pointing the way to therapeutic options to reduce its negative effects and increase stigma resilience. Because perception and interpretation can be guided by belief systems, and childhood trauma (CT) is reported to impact such beliefs, CT is explored in relation to stereotype awareness (SA) in persons with psychosis, their siblings and controls. Method Data from the GROUP project (Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis) were analyzed. SA was measured by devaluation scales which assess a respondent's perception of the degree to which stereotypes about people with mental illness and about their families are held by the public. CT was measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (short form). Results In patients, symptoms of disorganization and emotional distress were associated with SA about people with mental illness. In siblings, schizotypal features were associated with both types of SA (more schizotypy = more SA). In both patients and siblings, CT was associated with both types of SA (more CT = more SA), independent of symptoms (patients) or schizotypy (siblings). Conclusion CT in people with psychosis and their siblings may sensitize to SA. Thus, CT may not only impact on risk for illness onset, it may also increase SA associated with mental illness, potentially interfering with the recovery process. CT-induced SA may indicate a heightened sensitivity to threat, which may also impact psychopathology.


Background Patent ductus arteriosus is a life-threatening condition frequent in premature newborns but also present in some term infants. Current mouse models of this malformation generally lead to perinatal death, not reproducing the full phenotypic spectrum in humans, in whom genetic inheritance appears complex. The ductus arteriosus (DA), a temporary fetal vessel that bypasses the lungs by shunting the aortic arch to the pulmonary artery, is constituted by smooth muscle cells of distinct origins (SMC1 and SMC2) and many fewer melanocytes. To understand novel mechanisms preventing DA closure at birth, we evaluated the importance of cell fate specification in SMC that form the DA during embryonic development. Upon specific Tyr::Cre-driven activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling at the time of cell fate specification, melanocytes replaced the SMC2 population of the DA, suggesting that SMC2 and melanocytes have a common precursor. The number of SMC1 in the DA remained similar to that in controls, but insufficient to allow full DA closure at birth. Thus, there was no cellular compensation by SMC1 for the loss of SMC2. Mice in which only melanocytes were genetically ablated after specification from their potential common precursor with SMC2, demonstrated that differentiated melanocytes themselves do not affect DA closure. Loss of the SMC2 population, independent of the presence of melanocytes, is therefore a cause of patent ductus arteriosus and premature death in the first months of life. Our results indicate that patent ductus arteriosus can result from the insufficient differentiation, proliferation, or contractility of a specific smooth muscle subpopulation that shares a common neural crest precursor with cardiovascular melanocytes.


Patient safety is a leading challenge in healthcare and from the laboratory perspective it is now well established that preanalytical errors are the major contributor to the overall rate of diagnostic and therapeutic errors. To address this, the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Working Group for Preanalytical Phase (EFLM WG-PRE) was established to lead in standardization and harmonization of preanalytical policies and practices at a European level. One of the key activities of the WG-PRE is the organization of the biennial EFLM-BD conference on the preanalytical phase to provide a forum for National Societies (NS) to discuss their issues. Since 2012, a year after the first Preanalytical phase conference, there has been a rapid growth in the number of NS with a working group engaged in preanalytical phase activities and there are now at least 19 countries that have one. As a result of discussions with NS at the third conference held in March 2015 five key areas were identified as requiring harmonisation. These were test ordering, sample transport and storage, patient preparation, sampling procedures and management of unsuitable specimens. The article below summarises the work that has and will be done in these areas. The goal of this initiative is to ensure the EFLM WG-PRE produces work that meets the needs of the European laboratory medicine community. Progress made in the identified areas will be updated at the next preanalytical phase conference and show that we have produced guidance that has enhanced standardisation in the preanalytical phase and improved patient safety throughout Europe.