Analysis of an experimental educational methodology aimed at professional development in the field of visual arts. For this, it is based on the experimental and expository proposal consisting of the use of site-specific sculpture as a creative and methodological strategy for the exploration of the line of own research of students of plastic arts degree and predoctoral postgraduates. The selection of the students/artists was made based on the creative research lines they develop, examples of works that start from considering the sculptural as intrinsically related to the environment, and more specifically with the natural environment from a phenomenological and structural point of view in terms of artistic experience; and also, from a point of view of sculptural linguistic research based on the Kraussian foundations of the expanded sculptural field that formally arise from a Piaget ́s group. On the other hand, the exhibition proposal is intended as a framework for deepening production and artistic diffusion oriented to immersion in a professional experience in which all aspects of the creative process can be addressed, from the mere idea to dissemination through from different means of artistic work, so that the training obtained by the artists/students is holistic in terms of the professional field of visual arts.


The leaders of the neoliberal world order are now intensifying their interventions by unleashing force with impunity while slaughtering people in the name of liberal internationalism's peace, freedom, democracy and security. Their calls, interventions of imperial violence, push us to ask: how do we disrupt these dominant processes guided by ontological antagonisms and existential wars whose ultimate goal becomes 'bringing life back'? In this article, I draw on Foucault's biopolitics and articulate beyond his theorisations that imperial processes such as liberal internationalisms, neoliberal entrepreneurships and neoconservative politics are intimately converging and diverging in the reassembling and reconstructing of international life. More concretely, an analysis of the CPA planners and forces in Iraq points to those processes and terrains of antagonism that are foundational to the reassembling and reconstructing of this order: the direct use of force and the racial and gendered corporeal reconstructions (i.e. which bodies are deemed structurally impossible and ontologically dead) to engineer this universal/global order.


1. The roles of intracellular and extracellular-derived Ca2+ in alpha-adrenoceptor-mediated contractions to noradrenaline (NA) have been investigated in several isolated blood vessels from the rabbit by examining responses in the presence of a modified Krebs-Henseleit saline with 2.5 mM Ca2+ and a Ca2(+)-buffered saline with 0.1 microM free Ca2+. 2. NA was tested in preparations of the abdominal aorta, distal saphenous artery, renal vein, lateral saphenous vein, plantaris vein and ear vein exposed to a Ca2(+)-buffered saline with 0.1 microM [Ca2+]. A concentration of NA which was maximally effective in modified Krebs-Henseleit saline, produced an initial transient contraction (ITC) followed by a relaxation towards baseline. This is evidence that alpha-adrenoceptor-mediated responses in all these blood vessels depend upon calcium from both sources. 3. The ITC was particularly pronounced in the arteries and was associated more closely with the alpha 1-receptor subtype. In the abdominal aorta, distal saphenous artery and renal vein the ITC can almost exclusively be attributed to an alpha 1-adrenoceptor (prazosin-sensitive, rauwolscine-resistant). In the ear vein, and to a lesser extent the plantaris vein, the ITC was mediated in part by an alpha 2-adrenoceptor (prazosin-resistant, rauwolscine-sensitive). 4. alpha 2-Adrenoceptors in the lateral saphenous vein largely account for the response to NA in modified Krebs-Henseleit saline, but alpha 1-adrenoceptors mediate the ITC in Ca2(+)-buffered saline. After selective inactivation of alpha 1-adrenoceptors with a combination of phenoxybenzamine and rauwolscine, responses to NA in modified Krebs-Henseleit saline are slow in onset and there is no ITC in Ca2(+)-buffered saline. 5. The possible significance of the coupling of postjunctional alpha 2-adrenoceptors to dual sources of Ca2 + is discussed in relation to the interaction between alpha-adrenoceptor subtypes and the ease of demonstrating functional alpha 2-adrenoceptors in isolated blood vessels.


Existing models for large-magnitude, right-lateral slip on the San Gregorio–Hosgri fault system imply much more deformation of the onshore block in the Santa Maria basin than is supported by geologic data. This problem is resolved by a model in which dextral slip on this fault system increases gradually from 0–10 km near Point Arguello to ∼150 km at Cape San Martin, but such a model requires abandoning the cross-fault tie between Point Sal and Point Piedras Blancas, which requires 90–100 km of right-lateral slip on the southern Hosgri fault. We collected stratigraphic and detrital zircon data from Miocene clastic rocks overlying Jurassic basement at both localities to determine if either section contained unique characteristics that could establish how far apart they were in the early Miocene. Our data indicate that these basins formed in the early Miocene during a period of widespread transtensional basin formation in the central Coast Ranges, and they filled with sediment derived from nearby pre-Cenozoic basement rocks. Although detrital zircon data do not indicate a unique source component in either section, they establish the maximum depositional age of the previously undated Point Piedras Blancas section to be 18 Ma. We also show that detrital zircon trace-element data can be used to discriminate between zircons of oceanic crust and arc affinity of the same age, a potentially useful tool in future studies of the California Coast Ranges. Overall, we find no characteristics in the stratigraphy and provenance of the Point Sal and Point Piedras Blancas sections that are sufficiently unique to prove whether they were far apart or close together in the early Miocene, making them of questionable utility as piercing points.


Areca-nut chewing has been well established as a major risk factor for oral cancer and precancerous diseases, whose pathophysiology has been associated with immune deterioration. Previous studies reported that areca nut extracts (ANE) affected the functionality of lymphocytes and neutrophils in vitro. We recently showed that intraperitoneal administration of ANE modulated antigen-specific immunity and promoted inflammatory reactions in ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized mice. The objective of the present studies was to further investigate the in vivo effect of ANE on T cell-mediated immune responses. In non-sensitized mice, a single oral dose of ANE (200 mg/kg) markedly suppressed the production of interferon (IFN)-γ by splenocytes stimulated with the T cell mitogen concanavalin A, whereas the expression of interleukin (IL)-2 or IL-4 was unaltered. In OVA-sensitized mice, daily administration of ANE (200 mg/kg) for 9 days significantly suppressed the antigen-induced production of IFN-γ by splenocytes and the serum level of antigen-specific IgM. Both the cellularity and the metabolic activity of splenocytes were unaffected by the ANE treatment. Collectively, these results demonstrated that oral administration of ANE modulated antigen-specific T cell responses. As IFN-γ is a key cytokine involved in the activation of various immunocompetent cells, ANE-mediated suppression of IFN-γ production may be a critical mechanism contributing to the immune deterioration associated with areca-related oral diseases.


Slut-shaming, the public exposure and shaming of individuals for their (perceived or actual) sexual behavior, is rife on the Internet; it primarily affects women, and it too often has tragic outcomes. Slut-shaming is not new, but a form of cultural suppression of female sexuality that has been practiced since antiquity. In this paper, I historicize this phenomenon, by comparing and contrasting cases of slut-shaming from the Roman Republic with recent cases on the Internet, and I maintain that the focus of this slut-shaming, namely sexual virtue, has remained the same over time, but that the unregulated nature of the Internet has increased its scope and impact. A central contention of this paper is that women have been complicit in this slut-shaming; they have shamed other women for their sexual behavior, and have done so because it conferred social benefits on them. We will see that men and women have used the Internet to perpetuate and maintain the cultural suppression of female sexuality, and expose women to increased scrutiny over their sexual behavior.


This paper presents the elbow flexion and extension rehabilitation exercise system using marker-less Kinect-based method. The proposed exercise system is developed for the upper limb rehabilitation application that utilizes a low cost depth sensor. In this study, the Kinect skeleton tracking method is used to detect and track the joints of upper limb and then measure the angle of the elbow joint. The users perform the exercise in front of the Kinect sensor and the computer monitor. At the same time, they can see the results that displayed on the screen in real-time. The measurement of elbow joint angles are recorded automatically and has been compared to the reference values for the analysis and validation. These reference values are obtained from the normal range of motion (ROM) of the elbow. The results show the average flexion angle of the elbow joint that achieved by the normal user is 139.1° for the right hand and 139.2° for the left hand. Meanwhile, the average extension angle is 1.72° for the right hand and 2.0° for the left. These measurements are almost similar to the standard range of motion (ROM) reference values. The skeleton tracking works well and able to follow the movement of the upper arm and forearm in real-time.


[1] We present water vapor profiles obtained from infrared limb emission measurements recorded by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) on board the European Environmental Satellite (Envisat). These retrievals are based on constrained nonlinear least squares fitting. The retrievals are very sensitive to the radiative signals of thin transparent clouds and measurements showing any signature of cloud contamination have been rigorously excluded. The vertical resolution of the retrieved water vapor profiles is 4.5 to 6.5 km up to an altitude of approximately 42 km. The resulting total error of the retrieved water vapor profiles, including measurement noise, systematic and random parameter uncertainties like interfering species or preretrieved temperature or spectroscopic data, is in the range of 6 to 9% in the stratosphere. Towards the tropopause, the error increases up to 30% due to the exponential gradient of the tropospheric water vapor profile, where small line of sight uncertainties lead to strong absolute variations in the water vapor profile below the hygropause. Averaged water vapor distributions obtained from measurements taken during 11 days in June, July, and August 2003 show the expected distributions with low water vapor volume mixing ratios (VMRs) above the tropopause, comparatively dry air inside the tropical stratospheric updraft region and indications for strong dehydration above the Antarctic continent inside the polar vortex. Additionally, in the transition from tropics to subtropics, a latitude band was observed where, in higher altitudes, large water vapor VMRs were measured compared to adjacent tropical and midlatitudinal regions. Especially over the Arabic peninsula, a moist region at 18 km altitude was observed, which was probably related to the South Asian monsoon circulation.


U-Pb dating of 1035 detrital zircons from 12 spatially distributed samples of the Paleoproterozoic Vishnu Schist (Arizona, United States) reveals a bimodal 207 Pb/ 206 Pb age probability diagram with peaks at 1.8 Ga and 2.5 Ga. Surprisingly, only 13% of detrital zircon ages overlap with the published depositional age range of 1750–1741 Ma. The similarity of the age distributions in all samples constrains possible suturing of crustal blocks to pre–Vishnu Schist deposition rather than during the peak 1710–1680 Ma deformation. Of all grains analyzed, 15% overlap at 2σ with the 1.84 ± 1 Ga Elves Chasm orthogneiss of the western Grand Canyon. This supports field evidence that the Vishnu Schist was deposited on 1.84 Ga arc basement rather than in a juvenile 1.75 Ga arc setting. Archean grains of 3.8–2.5 Ga compose 30% of all grains. A comparison of the ages older than 2.2 Ga from the Vishnu Schist (495 grains) with compilations of zircon ages from other cratons does not support provenances in the Wyoming, South China, or Siberian cratons; instead sources may be located in Gawler craton of Australia, North China craton, or Antarctica. If the detrital zircons were far-traveled, this is a new constraint for viable reconstructions of the Nuna supercontinent. However, given the high percentage of pre–1.8 Ga zircons, unexposed proximal basement sources are more likely, resulting in a model by which Vishnu sediments were derived from Mojave province crust that consists of Archean and 1.9–1.8 Ga crust, now in the subsurface, that was unroofed during Vishnu deposition.


The progress of sedimentation, self-weight consolidation, and gain in surface strength of a hydraulic clay fill were observed by monitoring the density improvement of the clay slurry with time. A practical method of measuring the in situ slurry density profile with depth is to employ a submersible gamma-source, backscattertype nuclear density gauge. A slurry consolidation test in the laboratory has demonstrated that above 1.5 times the liquid limit, the horizontal and vertical total stresses are equal. Hence, from the horizontal total stress measurements with a vertical probe, the in situ vertical total stress profile of the slurry can be obtained. In principle, the integration of the density profile with depth gives the vertical total stress profile. Therefore, an estimate of the density can be made from the gradient of the vertical total stress with depth. Comparisons of field measurements of the total stress profile of a clay slurry in a reclamation project using the total stress probe and the density profile by the nuclear density gauge demonstrates this principle, thus confirming that the total stress probe with appropriate data interpretation can be used to measure the density of an in situ clay slurry around its surface.


This study was conducted amongst 189 respondents in Papua New Guinea (PNG) using structured questionnaires distributed to different groups of respondents using stratified random sampling. The results indicate that e-governance has the potential to improve service delivery and customer satisfaction. It is also confirmed through the findings in this research that the expectations of
citizens from public services are quite high, but experience has often been negative i.e. there is a
huge variance in the perception and expectation of normal citizens in the country regarding service delivery, quality of services. This has negatively affected customer satisfaction over the number of years. It is concluded that there is an urgent need in PNG to employ e-governance in all public agencies in view of prevailing problems of service quality. E-governance should be seen as a means of improving service quality in the future.

Keywords: ICT, E-Governance, Public Service Delivery, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, Service Quality, PNG


The trade volume and diversity of the products traded between Korea and Turkey have been increasing since early 2000s. On top of this, the enthusiasm of the countries in exploring new opportunities led them to start the negotiations on signing a free trade agreement in 2010. The process was finalized in 2012. The agreement foresees that all of the trade tariffs on industrial products and most of the tariffs on agricultural products will be removed in seven and ten years, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first one that investigates possible economic impacts of this agreement on Korean and Turkish economies. It employs a computable general equilibrium model and uses the Global Trade Analysis Project database. It finds that the agreement will benefit both parties in terms of GDP and export. In particular, total gains of Korea and Turkey would be as high as 0.129 and 0.054 percent of their respective GDPs. Finally, the exports of Korea might increase by up to 0.139 percent where that of Turkey might increase by 0.164 percent.


This book offers complete coverage of Xen, including Version 3.2. "Virtualization with Xen" is the first book to demonstrate to readers how to install, administer, and maintain a virtual infrastructure based on XenSource's latest release, Xen 3.2. It discusses best practices for setting up a Xen environment correctly the first time, maximizing the utilization of server assets while taking advantage of the fastest and most secure enterprise-grade paravirtualization architecture. It covers both basic and advanced topics, such as planning and installation, physical-to-virtual migrations, virtual machine provisioning, resource management, and monitoring and troubleshooting guests and Xen hosts. This title lets you explore Xen's Virtualization Model; find a complete overview of the architecture model as well of all products: Xen 3.0 , Xen Express, XenServer, and Xen Enterprise; deploy Xen; understand the system requirements, learn installation methods, and see how to install Xen on a free Linux distribution; master the administrator console; learn how to use the command-line tools and the remote Java-based consoler that manages the configuration and operations of XenServer hosts and VMs; manage Xen with third-party tools; use products like openQRM, Enomalism, and Project ConVirt to manage the VMM; deploy a Virtual Machine in Xen; learn about workload planning and installing modified guests, unmodified guests, and Windows guests; and, explore Advanced Xen concepts. This title also lets you build a Xen Cluster, complete a XenVM migration, and discover XenVM backup and recovery solutions; see the future of virtualization; see the unofficial Xen road map and what virtual infrastructure holds for tomorrow's data center; see other Virtualization Technologies and how they compare with Xen; and, take a look at the different types of server virtualization, other virtual machine software available, and how they compare with Xen. Complete with a demonstration version of Xen 3.2 on CD-ROM, Xen has the lead in the open-source community; now distributed as a standard kernel package for Novell's SLES 10 and Red Hat's RHEL 5 and Fedora Core 6 Linux distributions. The title covers installation, administration, management, monitoring, and deployment planning and strategies.


Highly variable thermal environments, such as coral reef flats, are challenging for marine ectotherms, and are thought to invoke the use of behavioural strategies to avoid extreme temperatures and seek out thermal environments close to their preferred temperatures. Common to coral reef flats, the epaulette shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum) possesses physiological adaptations to hypoxic and hypercapnic conditions, such as those experienced on reef flats; however, little is known regarding the thermal strategies used by these sharks. We investigated whether H. ocellatum uses behavioural thermoregulation (i.e., movement to occupy thermally favourable microhabitats) or tolerates the broad range of temperatures experienced on the reef flat. Using an automated shuttlebox system, we determined the preferred temperature of H. ocellatum under controlled laboratory conditions and then compared this preferred temperature to 6-months of in situ environmental and body temperatures of individual H. ocellatum across the Heron Island reef flat. The preferred temperatures of H. ocellatum under controlled conditions was 20.7±1.5°C, however body temperatures of individual H. ocellatum on the Heron Island reef flat mirrored that of environmental temperatures regardless of season or month. Despite substantial temporal variation in temperature on the Heron Island reef flat (15-34°C during 2017), there was a lack of spatial variation in temperature across the reef flat, between sites or microhabitats. This limited spatial variation in temperature creates a low-quality thermal habitat limiting the ability of H. ocellatum to behaviourally thermoregulate. Behavioural thermoregulation is assumed in many shark species, but it appears that H. ocellatum may utilize other physiological strategies to cope with extreme temperature fluctuations on coral reef flats. While H. ocellatum appears to be able to tolerate acute exposure to temperatures well outside of their preferred temperature, it is unclear how this, and other, species will cope as temperatures continue to rise and approach their critical thermal limits. Understanding how species will respond to continued warming and the strategies they may use will be key to predicting future populations and assemblages. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Studies of pomegranate peel (Punica granatum L.), which contain ellagic acid, suggest its ability to increase osteoblast, calcium, and phosphorus in ovariectomized rats. The effects of the pomegranate peel extracts on postmenopausal women was not known. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of pomegranate peel ethanol extract capsules in the modulation of bone formation and bone quality markers in postmenopausal women. This study is a pilot study of 1st phase of clinical trial using parallel, randomized, double-blind, and placebo controlled design, with 30 subjects. Subjects were randomized to receive commercial capsules of pomegranate peel ethanol extract 2 × 1100 mg/ day or placebo, for 8 weeks. Levels of osteocalcin, calcium, and phosphorus were examined before and after treatment. This study showed that administration of the capsules in postmenopausal women tends to reduce blood osteocalcin level (4,129±5,66 ng/mL on placebo group versus 1,79±5,04 ng/mL on punica group, p=0,245), has not significant on blood calcium level (9,13±0,36 mg/dL placebo group versus 9,21±0,39 mg/dL punica group, p=0,379), has not significant on blood phosphorus level (3,93±0,38 mg/dL placebo group versus 4,12±0,41 mg/dL on punica group, p=0,138), does not affect the function of liver and kidney, and was well tolerated. In conclusion, the commercial capsules is safe, potentially reduce marker of bone formation serum level,and increase bone quality on postmenopausal women.


In our previous works we studied a one-dimensional free-boundary model related to the aggressive penetration of gaseous carbon dioxide in unsaturated concrete. Essentially, global existence and uniqueness of weak solutions to the model were obtained when the initial functions are bounded on the domain.
In this paper we investigate the well-posedness of the problem for the case when the initial functions belong to a $L^2-$ class. Specifically, the uniqueness of weak solutions is proved by applying the dual equation method.


We propose a family of Passive-Aggressive Mahalanobis (PAM) algorithms, which are incremental (online) binary classifiers that consider the distribution of data. PAM is in fact a generalization of the Passive-Aggressive (PA) algorithms to handle data distributions that can be represented by a covariance matrix. The update equations for PAM are derived and theoretical error loss bounds computed. We benchmarked PAM against the original PA-I, PA-II, and ConfidenceWeighted (CW) learning. Although PAM somewhat resembles CWin its update equations, PA minimizes differences in the weights while CWminimizes differences in weight distributions. Results on 8 classification datasets, which include a real-lifemicro-blog sentiment classification task, show that PAM consistently outperformed its competitors, most notably CW. This shows that a simple approach like PAM is more practical in real-life classification tasks, compared to more sophisticated approaches like CW.


Obey is a user-friendly tool that helps programmers enforce code health requirements in their projects. Requirements are expressed as rules, written with the TQL library combinators used to traverse scala.meta trees, that generate compiler warnings and can automatically correct the source code. Programmers are provided with a set of basic rules and can easily implement and use their own. Obey can be used to systematically enforce user-defined requirements, to automate migration between different library versions or simply to format source code. In this paper, we will present the user interface, the implementation details and the results we obtained during this semester project.


One of the most popular methods for coaches and teachers, as far as the understanding of an exercise on the cognitive level is concerned, is the method of learning via modeling. Research has shown that this method is fairly effective. Nevertheless, other factors interfere in the observation of a model, for example oral intervention by the teacher. The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of five different teaching methods on the Level of Cognitive Acquisition of Execution (LCAE), on the basis of the observation of a model. Ninety-three individuals, aged 17-21, participated in the study. The sample was divided into the following five groups: A) Oral Intervention (verbal description) by the Teacher (OIT). B) Observation of Model Without any other Intervention (OMWI). C) Observation of Model and Oral Intervention by the Teacher (OMOIT) before each execution. D) Observation of Model and Oral Intervention by the Model (OMOIM) before each execution. E) Observation of Animated Model and Oral Intervention by the Teacher (OAOIT) before each execution. The results of the study showed a significant difference (F = 30.9 and p < .0001) from pre- to post-test for the whole sample. Additionally, the five experimental groups, separately, showed significant statistical differences (p < .0001). Meta-anova analysis revealed that the greater influence in the improvement of LCAE was observed in (OMOIM), followed by (OAOIT), (OMOIT), (OIT) and (OMWI).


miR-328 promotes the production of a protein by competing with its transcript for an inhibitory RNA binding protein. Patients with a chromosomal translocation called the Philadelphia chromosome produce an oncogenic fusion protein called BCR/ABL, which leads to chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). BCR/ABL stimulates the activity of an RNA binding protein called hnRNP E2, which inhibits the translation of the mRNA encoding the transcription factor C/EBPα, which is important in the differentiation of white blood cells. The interaction between hnRNP E2 and the C/EBPα-encoding mRNA involves a cytosine (C)–rich region of mRNA's 5'-untranslated region. In cells from patients in "blast crisis" (CML-BC), as opposed to those from the "chronic phase" (CML-CP), hnRNP E2 is abundant and inhibits C/EBPα production. Eiring et al. screened for microRNAs (miRNAs) that were decreased in CML-BC cells compared with CMP-CP cells and focused on miR-328 because it has a C-rich element similar to that in the mRNA for C/EBPα. Multiple assays showed that miR-328 interacted with hnRNP E2 and competed with C/EPBα-encoding mRNA for binding to hnRNP E2. Unexpectedly, the complexes between hnRNP E2 and miR-328 did not contain proteins involved in mRNA silencing, and the interaction of hnRNP E2 and miR-328 did not require the miR-328 "seed" sequence that is involved in miRNA-mRNA interactions. Forced expression of miR-328 or a seed-mutated form in BCR/ABL-transformed cells rescued differentiation of these cells. The abundance of C/EBPα was increased by forced expression of miR-328, and this was not associated with increased abundance of the C/EBPα-encoding mRNA or a decrease in the abundance of hnRNP E2, which suggests a nonsilencing function of miR-328. The ability of miR-328 to promote C/EBPα translation was confirmed with an in vitro reticulolysate assay and in a cellular assay. Mice injected with BCR/ABL blasts with or without the forced expression of miR-328 showed no change in survival, but animals injected with miR-328–expressing cells showed a phenotype resembling CML-CP, whereas the other animals injected with blasts lacking forced expression of miR-328 showed a CML-BC phenotype. Finally, the authors showed that miR-328 acted as an mRNA silencing miRNA to inhibit the production of the kinase PIM1, which is important for BCR/ABL cell survival. Thus, miR-328 is a double-duty miRNA, acting as both a competitive inhibitor of a translation-inhibiting RNA binding protein (hnRNP E2) to promote protein synthesis and as an RNA silencer to prevent protein synthesis (see Beitzinger and Meister for commentary). A. M. Eiring, J. G. Harb, P. Neviani, C. Garton, J. J. Oaks, R. Spizzo, S. Liu, S. Schwind, R. Santhanam, C. J. Hickey, H. Becker, J. C. Chandler, R. Andino, J. Cortes, P. Hokland, C. S. Huettner, R. Bhatia, D. C. Roy, S. A. Liebhaber, M. A. Caligiuri, G. Marcucci, R. Garzon, C. M. Croce, G. A. Calin, D. Perrotti, miR-328 functions as an RNA decoy to modulate hnRNP E2 regulation of mRNA translation in leukemic blasts. Cell 140, 652–665 (2010). [Online Journal] M. Beitzinger, G. Meister, MicroRNAs: From decay to decoy. Cell 140, 612–614 (2010). [Online Journal]


Aggregate gradation effects on strength and modulus characteristics of aggregate base–granular subbase materials used in Minnesota are described. The importance of specifying proper aggregate grading or particle size distribution has long been recognized for achieving satisfactory performance in pavement applications. In the construction of dense-graded unbound aggregate base–subbase layers, well-graded gradation bands were often established years ago on the basis of the experience of the state transportation agency and may not have a direct link to mechanical performance. To improve specifications for superior performance targeted in the mechanistic–empirical pavement analysis and design framework, there is a need to understand how differences in aggregate gradations may affect unbound aggregate base–subbase behavior for site-specific design conditions. Aggregates with different gradations and material properties were compiled in a statewide database established from a variety of sources in Minnesota. Analyses showed nonunique modulus and strength relationships for most aggregate base and especially subbase materials. Laboratory resilient modulus and shear strength results were analyzed for critical gradation parameters by common gradation characterization methods. The most significant correlations were between a gravel-to-sand ratio (proposed based on ASTM D2487-11) and aggregate shear strength properties. Aggregate compaction (AASHTO T99) and resilient modulus characteristics could also be linked to the gravel-to-sand ratio and verified with other databases in the literature. The gravel-to-sand ratio can be used to optimize aggregate gradations for improved base–subbase performances primarily influenced by shear strength.


An autonomous agent that explores and acts in a rich world needs knowledge to act effectively. This agent can use knowledge that is available in Commonsense Knowledge Bases (CSKBs), when the agent designer cannot encode all the information the agent might need. CSKBs include generalpurpose information about the everyday world in a formal language, but this information is not always correct, relevant, or useful for the agent's purpose. In this paper we present an approach to retrieving commonsense knowledge for autonomous decision making. We consider agents whose formal language is different from that of the CSKB, and can use multiple CSKBs of various expressivity and coverage. We present a retrieval framework with algorithms for mapping languages and selection of knowledge. We report on preliminary experimental results of these algorithms for the ConceptNet CSKB.


Diaphragmatic eventration is an abnormally elevated hemidiaphragm in the chest cavity with poorly developed muscle fibers. This condition can lead to abnormal displacement of intra-abdominal organs. It is a developmental anomaly and usually remains asymptomatic in early life. It presents later with respiratory and occasionally gastrointestinal complications. A clinical scenario of eventration of diaphragm, displacement of the stomach, the splenic flexure of colon, and the spleen with gastric volvulus is uncommon. Early diagnosis and prompt intervention prevents development of necrosis and perforation of stomach. We report a case of a 68-year-old male having left sided diaphragmatic eventration associated with acute on chronic intermittent organoaxial gastric volvulus and displaced intra-abdominal organs. He underwent surgical repair with a successful outcome.


Monte Carlo simulations of the electron drift response to an ac‐electric field are used to calculate the power dependent third harmonic generation efficiency for far‐infrared radiation. The results are compared with far‐infrared frequency tripling experiments. It is shown that the nonlinear optical properties are much more sensitive to parameter changes in the Monte Carlo simulation than conventional drift velocity results. Hence, this is a sensitive method to test Monte Carlo transport simulations.


X10 is a partitioned global address space (PGAS) programming language that supports the notion of places; a place consists of some data and some lightweight tasks called activities. Each activity runs at a place and may invoke a place-change operation (using the at-construct) to synchronously perform some computation at another place. These place-change operations need to copy all the required data from the current place to the remote place. However, identifying the required data during each place-change operation is a non-trivial task, especially in the context of irregular applications (like graph applications) that contain large amounts of cross-referencing objects - not all of those objects may be actually required, at the remote place. In this paper, we present a new optimization AT-Opt that minimizes the amount of data serialized and communicated during place-change operations. AT-Opt uses a novel abstraction called abstract-place-tree to capture place-change operations in the program. For each place-change operation, AT-Opt uses a novel inter-procedural analysis to precisely identify the data required at the remote place, in terms of the variables in the current scope. AT-Opt then emits the appropriate code to copy the identified data-items to the remote place. We have implemented AT-Opt in the x10v2.6.0 compiler and tested it over the IMSuite benchmark kernels. Compared to the current X10 compiler, the AT-Opt optimized code achieved a geometric mean speedup of 8.61× and 5.57×, on a two-node (32 cores each) Intel and two-node (16 cores each) AMD system, respectively.


Abstract Dispersal is a behavioral process having consequences for individual fitness and population dynamics. Recent advances in technology have spawned new theoretical examinations and empirical studies of the dispersal process in birds, providing opportunities for examining how this information may be applied to studies of the dispersal process in raptors. Many raptors are the focus of conservation efforts; thus, reliable data on all aspects of a species' population dynamics, including dispersal distances, movement rates, and mortality rates of dispersers, are required for population viability analyses that are increasingly used to inform management. Here, we address emerging issues and novel approaches used in the study of avian dispersal, and provide suggestions to consider when developing and implementing studies of dispersal in raptors. Clarifying study objectives is essential for selection of an appropriate methodology and sample size needed to obtain accurate estimates of movement distances and rates. Identifying an appropriate study-area size will allow investigators to avoid underestimating population connectivity and important population parameters. Because nomadic individuals of some species use temporary settling areas or home ranges before breeding, identification of these areas is critical for conservation efforts focusing on habitats other than breeding sites. Study designs for investigating raptor dispersal also should include analysis of environmental and social factors influencing dispersal, to improve our understanding of condition-dependent dispersal strategies. Finally, we propose a terminology for use in describing the variety of movements associated with dispersal behavior in raptors, and we suggest this terminology could be used consistently to facilitate comparisons among studies.


Welfare to work programmes aim to assist the long-term unemployed in finding work; increasing labour market flexibility, eliminating dependency, and tackling social exclusion. They have been implemented in many Western countries. This book focuses on an important and novel feature of these programmes: they replace the rights-based entitlements that have characterized the welfare state for decades with conditional rights dependent on the fulfilment of obligations: conditions are attached to the benefits received. This new type of social contract between the claimant and the State carries with it a new construction of the relationship between rights and responsibilities, and a new interpretation of citizenship. Paz-Fuchs examines the theoretical underpinnings of welfare-to-work programmes, incorporating a comparative analysis of the UK and USA, where the ideal of social citizenship is being curtailed through welfare reforms. He argues that when the rhetoric of the social contract is used to imply a continuous contract between citizens and the state, a vast array of conditions on welfare can be legitimated, including workfare; the obligation to accept any job offer; and moral and social preconditions that are based on a vague notion of reciprocity. Paz-Fuchs argues, by contrast, that conditional welfare undermines civil rights such as the right to privacy and family life by requiring welfare claimants to change their behaviour. He contends that strengthening welfare rights and relaxing preconditions on entitlement would better serve the objectives that welfare to work programmes are supposed to advance.


Herbal pharmaceutical industrial wastewater contains a high amount of suspended solids and alkaline (pH > 8); therefore it requires approprite coagulant and flocculant compounds for its wastewater treatment. The most widely used flocculant is a synthetic that has certain problems such as non-biodegradability and releases of toxic residual monomers. The use of eco-friendly flocculants as alternative materials for conventional flocculant in water and wastewater treatments is increasing. Numerous factors influence the performance of coagulation-flocculation process, such as coagulant dosage, flocculant dosage, initial potential of hydrogen (pH) and velocity gradient of coagulation-flocculation. The main aim of this research is to evaluate the capability and effectiveness of Moringa oleifera extract for removal of suspended solid in herbal pharmaceutical industry. A coagulation-flocculation test was done by performing jar test at various speeds, according to the variation of the conducted treatment research. In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) approach was used to optimize the concentration of coagulant dosage, flocculant dosage and flocculation velocity gradient (G), and the results were measured as maximum percentage of suspended solid removal. The wastewater used in this research originally came from the inlet of herbal pharmaceutical industry wastewater treatment plant, which was collected over 3 days. The wastewater has a total suspended solids of more than 1250 mg/L, and was alkaline (pH 9–10). The moringa extract was made from the extraction of a fat free moringa powder with a salt solution in a certain ratio. The percentage removal of suspended solid was 93.42–99.54%. The final results of the analysis of response surface showed that the variables of flocculant dosage and the flocculation velocity gradient (G) have a huge impact on the amount of suspended solid removal, compared with the coagulant dosage. The model generated from the response analysis is a quadratic model. The optimum point of the removal suspended solid quadratic model is at 10.6566 mg/L alum dosage, 13.8185 ml/L Moringa oleifera extract dosage, and G velocity of flocculation 84.845 sec-1.


I enlist my alter ego, Rodrigo, to analyze Latino legal history and civil rights. Encountering "the Professor" after testifying at a hearing on an immigration bill, Rodrigo excitedly tells his old friend and mentor about a new body of writing he has come across. Postcolonial theory, which deals with issues such as cultural survival, resistance, and collaboration, can help move American civil rights scholarship beyond its current impasse.Over dinner, Rodrigo demonstrates how insights from these writers can enrich U.S. civil rights theory and practice. He also posits a new theory of Latinos' sociolegal construction, based on a triple taboo, that can enable Latino people and litigators to understand and change their condition. Rodrigo shows how dominant society has invested Latinos with a complex stereotype consisting of filth, hypersexuality, and jabber so that Anglos will unconsciously devalue the group and their rights. To progress, therefore, Latino people must understand and challenge this social construction, much as their forebears have done through corridos, actos, cantares, and other forms of insurrectionary folk literature and actions.


I offer here three poems which engage a feminist approach to gender and the body. They emanate (tangentially) from my ethnographic work in schools and my own embodied experiences as a woman. While I write more conventional academic prose and conduct research in schools on gender and sexuality (Fitzpatrick 2018; Fitzpatrick and Enright 2017; Fitzpatrick and McGlashan in press, 2016; McGlashan and Fitzpatrick 2017, 2018), I offer a poetic exploration of these issues here in an attempt to engage with writing that is both cognitive and sensory (Sparkes and Smith 2014), while evoking emotion, cultural nuance and reflexivity (Faulkner 2009). In so doing, I also bring myself directly into the text (Brkich and Barko 2013) in the hope that a different kind of engagement with issues of body may result.
The contemporary moment offers up many challenges to writing about gender, sexuality and the body. As gender binaries are broken down and challenged, and new approaches to the body and sexuality are engaged (e.g. Allen and Rasmussen 2017), new challenges are posed. Engaging in poetic inquiry (Rinehart 2012; Richardson 1994) into gender and sexuality might help reimagine gender and body in aesthetic as well as political ways. Such an engagement is personal, disruptive and uncertain.
In this, I am inspired by Patti Lather's (2007, 6) notion of being lost. She encourages researchers to embrace getting lost, as a process "which shakes any assured ontology of the 'real,' of presence and absence, a postcritical logic of haunting and undecidables." I contend that all ethnographic work is in some ways lost, at the very least in issues of politics, representation and voice (Fitzpatrick in press). Lather (2007, 1) calls such engagement with uncertainty and voice "getting lost at the limits of representation". She explains that: "At its simplest, getting lost is something other to commanding, controlling, mastery. At its most complex...we spend our lives with language trying to make it register what we have lost, longing for lost wholeness." (11). Poetry is one way to engage with a methodology of being lost; one way to engage a struggle to communicate what we cannot ever adequately represent (Rinehart, 2012). In this spirit, I offer the following poems, which engage with being lost at the edges of gender sexuality and body, and which can only communicate my own experience, in intersection with what I read, discuss and observe socially and politically.


Power, Entitlement and Social Practice, by Xiyi Huang. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2007. xxviii + 276 pp. US$45.00 (hardcover). The central theme of Huang's monograph, based on research conducted in North China in the late 90s, is the changing nature of resource distribution, allocation and reallocation enacted at the village level during the period of transition from a centrally planned to a market economy. Resources are the "income, opportunities and assets" (p. 1) that circulate in village society. The dynamic processes of informal micro-level resource movement and the impact of market transition on peasant behaviors and social relationships are areas of enquiry that are currently under-researched. Two village sites in North China, Nanying and Shizhuang, were chosen for comparative effect, on the assumption that their different economic destinies would engender distinct social formations and practices. During the commune era, Nanying, located in a "model" county, was defined by agricultural production, a legacy that continues to shape the local economy. Local government in Shizhuang promoted non-agricultural production even during the commune era, favoring the development of rural industry and commodity production in the reform period. Shizhuang has subsequently become a successful cashmere-processing center, and thus a much wealthier village. In the absence of a single analytical framework sufficient to represent her data, Huang proposes a combination of two theoretical approaches-Douglass North's New Institutional Theory, and Pierre Bourdieu's system ie field and habitus-to analyze the interplay between structure and agency within this period of historical transformation in late 20th century China. North's work attempts to bring history and social context to neoclassic economic theory by emphasizing the mutually structuring effects of human interaction and institutions which manifest as either informal constraints (sanctions, taboos, customs, traditions and codes of conduct) characteristic of pre-modern economies or as formal rules (laws, constitutions and property rights) which feature in modern economies. Huang argues that China's transitional economy is "permeated with marketing elements and restored cultural traditions" (p. 20) which act as "cultural mediators" and provide continuity in the phase of rapid change. Bourdieu's notions of field and habitus provide a basis on which to theorize how social actors engage in "distributive practice" during transition to maintain and ensure continued access to resources. To date, research on resource allocation in the post-collective period has largely focused on formal practices and institutions such as taxation and state extraction. However, Huang maintains that the market as a mode of formal practice has not yet been realized in the post-collective village, as informal nonmarket elements such as guanxi networks and strategic alliances provide hidden support and a risk minimization facility for local entrepreneurs. She argues that "resource distribution in the post-collective era has been effected through the interaction between market forces, state settings and cultural mediators" (p. 16). Leading on from this, the early chapters examine resource distribution, the differential impacts on social relationships and the stabilizing role of informal institutions. …


We investigated the consequences of variable potential softness on elastic properties, using the repulsive inverse power potential. With this potential the softness can be changed continuously from very soft to extremely steep or hard. An explicit formula for the equation of state is derived and discussed. It is shown how this formula can be exploited to determine the infinite frequency elastic properties of the inverse power fluid. Explicit formulae for the elastic constants, the high-frequency elastic moduli, the longitudinaland transverse-wave velocities and Poisson's ratio are obtained. Their behaviour in the steeply repulsive limit is discussed. It is demonstrated that the softness directly determines the Poisson's ratio, and it is shown that in order to decrease the value of the Poisson's ratio a harder potential interaction must be applied.


ABSTRACT Focusing on communities that, displaced by riverbank erosion, relocate to the islands formed by silt sedimentation in the middle of the Ganga, along the stretch of the river that coincides with the international border between Bangladesh and India, this paper examines the constitutive contradictions of citizenship and alienness. Analyzing Sourav Sarangi's documentary …Moddhikhane Char(aka No Man's Island, 2012) along with its conditions of production, the paper isolates an aesthetic of precarity that enables the filmmaker to challenge a statist spectacle of border control while participating in a global documentary humanitarianism. The paper also engages in more speculative contemplations on environmental shifts, the beleaguered status of the common, and the futures of frontier communities. At stake is a nuanced understanding of emergent forms of political agency that subvert, and threaten to displace, classical paradigms of citizenship and political participation.


A key component in any target or anomaly detection algorithm is the characterization of the background. We investigate several approaches for estimating the background level at a given pixel, based on both the local neighborhood around that pixel and on the global context of the full image. By framing this as a regression problem, we can compare a variety of background estimation schemes, from standard signal processing approaches long used in the hyperspectral image analysis community to more sophisticated nonlinear approaches that have recently been developed in the image processing community. These comparisons are performed on a range of images including single band, standard red-green-blue, eight-band WorldView-2, and 126-band hyperspectral HyMap imagery.


Summary Honey bee queens are highly polyandrous and mate in flight. Instrumental insemination is an essential tool that provides complete control of honey bee mating for research and breeding purposes. The technique requires specialized equipment to anesthetize and immobilize the queen and to collect and deliver semen from the drones. Semen is harvested from mature drones by hand eversion of the endophallus and collected into a syringe. The queen is placed in a chamber and anesthetized during the procedure of insertion of semen into the oviducts. Queens are introduced into colonies and their performance can equal to that of naturally mated queens, given proper technique and care.


The fragmentation of general international law is not a new phenomenon. Nevertheless, it is a sign of our era and essentially results from the legal pluralism that characterizes it. Increasing adjudication also makes the study of this concept even more fascinating. The phenomenon of fragmentation manifests itself with particular tension in international trade law. Private interests and commercial transactions can be irreversibly affected by the absence of legal security or, worse, by the existence of contradictory rulings delivered by adjudicating bodies, which constantly compete for increasing jurisdiction and thus influence. This article reviews the discussion of fragmentation of international law and critically analyses the problem of absence of coherence in regulating trade. By focusing on adjudication, permissible sources of law, and interpretation, it argues for more openness towards non-trade law when interpreting trade rules.


Highly contorted siltstone strata of the Satanka Formation (Permian) are exposed in a stream bank northeast of Laramie, Wyo. Overlying the Satanka at this locality are Pleistocene fluviatile sediments (several lenses of sand and a bed of cobbles) which are also involved in the convolutions. In contrast with most previously described Pleistocene convolutions, those discussed herein show a pronounced directionality. The folds are asymmetrical with their steep limbs dipping southwest and many are overturned in the same direction. Although these features may have formed under periglacial conditions, a simple freeze-thaw mechanism is insufficient to account for their configuration. Deposition of the overlying load of cobbles on an unstable slope may well have induced the deformation.


Microbubbles have shown great promise for enhancing medical ultrasound imaging, with both potential and proven applications in Radiology and Cardiology and many other clinical areas. More recently the use of targeted agents for molecular imaging is being studied and the use of microbubble as mediators for the delivery of drugs and gene therapy is being investigated. In this presentation the basis for these different uses of microbubbles will be described and the challenges which are limiting the widespread acceptance and implementation of these techniques, will be outlined. These include issues relating to image artefacts, image quantitation and the complexity of interactions between microbubbles and both the ultrasound field and the human body.


Riparian soils, rich in organic carbon, act as a source of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to the adjacent stream, but the hydrologic factors that control the delivery of DOC are not well characterized. A mechanistic two‐dimensional, variably saturated flow and reactive transport finite element model (FEM) was developed to explore both biodegradable DOC (BDOC) and refractory DOC (RDOC) delivery processes during storms for a hillslope transect in a southeastern Pennsylvania Piedmont watershed. The model indicated that DOC concentrations in outflow from a hillslope peaked on the falling limb of the discharge hydrograph, a temporal sequence consistent with a flushing hypothesis. Factors that control the lag time between the stream water peak discharge and peak DOC concentration were analyzed using a Monte Carlo simulation coupled with a multiple linear regression. The results are consistent with previous studies showing that the majority of DOC delivered to a stream during storms originates from the riparian zone. Further, the model suggests that the duration of the flood wave and hydraulic properties of the riparian soil play important roles in controlling the lag time between peak discharge and peak DOC concentration in outflow from a hillslope.


Roger Corman (b. 1926) is known by many names-craftsman, artist, maverick, schlock-meister, mini-mogul, mentor, cheapskate, and King of the B's. Yet his commitment to filmmaking remains inspired. He learned his craft at the end of the studio system, only to rebel against Hollywood and define himself as the true independent. And the list of directors and producers who learned under his tutelage--Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Jonathan Demme, and many more--is astonishing. Collected here are many of the most honest and revealing interviews of his epic career, several of which have never been seen in print. Roger Corman: Interviews brings into focus a life committed to the entertaining art of motion pictures. Corman's rare talent combined artistic drive with business savvy, ensuring a successful career that was constantly in motion. At a remarkable pace more akin to silent movies than modern Hollywood, he directed over fifty films in less than fifteen years, some entertaining (Not of This Earth), trendsetting (The Wild Angels), daring (The Intruder), workmanlike (Apache Woman), stylized (The Masque of the Red Death) and even profound (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes). In a single year, Corman famously shot a cult classic in two and a half days (The Little Shop of Horrors), reinvigorated the American horror film with a dash of Poe and Price (House of Usher)--and still turned out a few more films shot across the globe. Recently awarded an honorary Oscar for his lifetime contribution to cinema, the self-made Corman has created a legacy as a defining filmmaker.


Serine-/arginine-rich (SR) proteins are RNA-binding proteins that are primarily involved in alternative splicing. Expression of some SR proteins is frequently upregulated in tumors, and previous reports have demonstrated that these proteins can directly participate in cell transformation. Identifying factors that can rescue the effects of SR overexpression in vivo is, therefore, of potential therapeutic interest. Here, we analyzed phenotypes induced by overexpression of the SR protein B52 during Drosophila development and identified several proteins that can rescue these phenotypes. Using the mechanosensory bristle lineage as a developmental model, we show that B52 expression level influences cell growth, but not differentiation, in this lineage. In particular, B52 overexpression increases cell growth, upregulates myc transcription, and gives rise to flies lacking thoracic bristles. Using a genetic screen, we identified several suppressors of the phenotypes induced by overexpression of B52 in vivo in two different organs. We show that upregulation of brain tumor (brat), a tumor suppressor and post-transcriptional repressor of myc, and downregulation of lilliputian (lilli), a subunit of the superelongation complex involved in transcription elongation, efficiently rescue the phenotypes induced by B52 overexpression. Our results demonstrate a role of this SR protein in cell growth and identify candidate proteins that may overcome the effects of SR protein overexpression in mammals.


This thesis focuses on the problem of the phasing maneuver for a solar electric platform. By giving as input the orbital elements, in order to define the initial and final orbit, the position we want the satellite to reach, the phasing altitude, and the propulsive system, system mass and dymensions that characterize the platform, the program performs the phasing maneuver. The phasing maneuver controls the position of the solar electric platform in terms of longitude (for geostationary orbit), true longitude (equatorial orbit) or argument of latitude (inclined orbit). For the analysis of the maneuver to be performed, we start from chemical propulsion's manuver logic. The satellite performs the phasing maneuver with a first EOR (electric orbit raising) raising its semimajor axis by an input values (phasing altitude). Then, the platform waits on a waiting orbit and, in the end of the maneuver, it returns to the starting orbit with a second EOR. The main goal of this first part of the thesis was to perform a change of reference system from ECI (Earth - Centered Inertial) to ECEF (Earth - Centered, Earth - Fixed) so that the program can perform the maneuver controlling the longitude. In the second part of the thess, in order to optimize the maneuver, the waiting phase has been avoided. In this way, the solar electric platform is able to reach the desired position by perfoming two consecutive EOR maneuvers. In this case the phasing altitude is no longer an input, but an output. To determine the phasing altitude needed to reach the desired position, the program interpolates data. Furthermore, the program saves the various interpolation data (position reached and phasing altitude) in an EXCEL file, in order to be able to reduce the computational cost when the orbital parameters of a subsequent simulation are equal to a simulation already carried out. In the end, to validate the results obtained, STK (Satellite Tool Kit) was used to perform various simulations.


To date, ~1% of all bacteria that occur in environmental ecosystems such as soil, sedimentary rocks, and groundwater have been described. Comprehensive explanation of ecological interactions on a microscale level is thus almost impossible. The Dynamic Cultivation System (DCS) was developed in order to detect more microbial taxa than with common cultivation approaches, as well as previously undescribed bacterial species. The DCS is a quick and easy in situ method for the cultivation of numerous bacterial taxa in support of the description of microbial colonized ecosystems. To investigate the bacterial populations within a clay-maturation process after mining the raw material, the DCS was used to increase the microbial biomass for further molecular analysis. Two different methods were applied to extract the bacteria from the DCS and these were compared in terms of efficiency at detection of large numbers of different taxa and in terms of applicability to the detection of previously undescribed species in raw clays. A collection of different undescribed species was detected with sequencing. While direct picking of bacterial colonies leads to the detection of different genera, species mainly of the genus Arthobacter were proved in the phosphate-buffered saline-suspended biomass. Thus, a combination of the approaches mentioned above is recommended to increase the number of detectable species. The DCS will help to describe better the microbial content of ecosystems, especially soils that contain charged particles.


The aim of this study was to provide standards for the assessment of birthweight, head circumference and crown-heel length for normal, singleton newborns of predominantly West African descent. Data were collected for 10 482 or 94% of all recorded births in Jamaica during the two-month period September 1 to October 31, 1986. After editing procedures, data were available for 6178 (birthweight), 5975 (head circumference), and 5990 (crown-heel length). The data presented in tables and growth curves include birthweight, head circumference and crown-heel length for males and females separately, for gestational ages 30-43 weeks. Data sets from the University Hospital of the West Indies in 1990 and 1999 were used to explore the possibility of secular change over the period 1986-1999. In conclusion, these ethnic and gender-specific growth curves are based on the most extensive dataset currently available in Jamaica for babies of West African descent.


Nine species of Cyrtandra ( Gesneriaceae ) are recognized in Peninsular Malaysia. Three ( C. cupulata, C. pendula and C. wallichii ) are common and occur more or less throughout the area; C. pendula is also recorded from Singapore. Four ( C. dispar, C. gimlettei, C. patula and C. suffruticosa ) have more restricted distributions, and two ( C. lanceolata and C. stonei ) are local endemics. Three species and one variety originally described by Ridley are here reduced to synonymy: C. barbata (= C. cupulata ), C. falcata (= C. suffruticosa ) and C. rotundifolia (= C. pendula ), and C. cupulata var. minor (= C. cupulata ). Keys for fieldwork and herbarium use are presented and general information is provided. The appendix by M.H. Bokhari contains descriptions of leaf anatomy for eight of the nine species recognized and a key based on anatomical characters.


This project aims to use the large public databases that are now becoming available in
the Virtual Observatory. For my purpose two of the most important datasets for investigating Large Quasar Groups (LQGs) are the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the 2dF Quasar Redshift Survey (2QZ). These have been used: to investigate stripe 82 of the SDSS; to discover large scale structures, specifically LQGs in the early universe; to investigate the expectation of finding LQGs at high redshift, and to investigate their properties in detail; to assess the compatibility of these structures with the concordance model in cosmology; to identify low redshift LQGs for investigation of the galaxy and cluster environments of quasars; to investigate whether correlations exist between LQGs and other cosmological sources, such as gamma ray bursters, the highest redshift quasars and radio galaxies catalogues; to probe the high-z LQGs with MgII absorbers from the Gemini data.

Using an algorithm for single-linkage hierarchical clustering, four LQGs have been found in the redshift range of 1.8 - 2.5. These four groups were tested for statistical significance using a convex hull approach, to calculate the overdensity. Each group was submitted to 1000 random simulations, no comparable structure was found from the random simulations. The algorithm was then applied to a greater redshift range of 0.6 -
2.5. The total number of groups found was 36, each group was tested for statistical significance using random simulations, each group found was to be real.
To improve the statistical findings of these four high redshift groups, MgII absorbers from the Zue & Maynard catalogue of absorbers was used to investigate any MgII absorbers that were in the area of the four high redshift groups. The results found that many of the MgII absorbers lie in the peripherals of the groups, however, a few MgII absorbers lie within the groups themselves.


This literature review examines the relationship between traffic lane widths on the safety of road users. It focuses on the impacts of lane widths on motor vehicle behaviour and cyclists' safety. The review commenced with a search of available databases. Peer reviewed articles and road authority reports were reviewed, as well as current engineering guidelines. Research shows that traffic lane width influences drivers' perceived difficulty of the task, risk perception and possibly speed choices. Total roadway width, and the presence of onroad cycling facilities, influence cyclists' positioning on the road. Lateral displacement between bicycles and vehicles is smallest when a marked bicycle facility is present. Reduced motor vehicle speeds can significantly improve the safety of vulnerable road users, particularly pedestrians and cyclists. It has been shown that if road lane widths on urban roads were reduced, through various mechanisms, it could result in a safety environment for all road users.


A wide range of diseases are caused by the generation of aberrant proteins that for one reason or another are not functionally equivalent to the normal version. Here, we consider the basic cellular principles that govern the generation of aberrant proteins, their normal metabolism and in the case of disease, their adverse effects on cellular function.

Key concepts

The organization of proteins inside cells is highly regulated at many levels.

Proteins that are not folded correctly or not trafficked to their intended destination are aberrant and have the potential to cause cellular dysfunction.

Numerous quality control systems constantly detect and degrade aberrant proteins.

Failure to either recognize or promptly degrade aberrant proteins can lead to their accumulation, and in some cases, their aggregation.

Misfolded or mislocalized proteins can interact inappropriately with other cellular factors to cause toxicity.

Most diseases of protein misfolding probably have multiple mechanisms that operate simultaneously to cause pathology.

Keywords:

quality control;
protein misfolding diseases;
neurodegeneration;
protein aggregation;
chaperones


Around the world, regulators since 1996 have mandated that incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) offer competitors access to their network at regulated prices that reflect forward-looking cost. Regulated prices for unbundled network elements are based on total element long-run incremental cost (TELRIC), which in turn is calculated using engineering models that estimate the costs of a hypothetical carrier employing the most efficient telecommunications technology currently available and the lowest cost network configuration, given the existing location of the ILEC's actual wire centers. These cost models require detailed estimates of the equipment and installation prices of the numerous components that are used in a telecommunications network. When there is uncertainty about how these prices will change over the period for which costs and prices are required, the resulting cost estimates used for setting the regulated prices of unbundled network elements can be very inaccurate. Similarly, when regulators in other jurisdictions are considering such rates as benchmarks, it is necessary to make adjustments to account for such large differences in critical input prices, so that the benchmark rates will be representative of the costs that actually will be incurred by efficient carriers offering unbundled elements in those jurisdictions. The precipitous rise in the price of copper since 2003 exemplifies this need to reevaluate the inputs used by regulators in their cost model, as well as the inferences drawn from those models. These increases differ from the type of constant annual expected input price growth (or decline) situation that some cost models used outside the United States have accommodated with tilted annuity methods. Rather than a gradual anticipated price increase, copper prices escalated rapidly and are likely to remain well above the levels that regulators used to set existing loop rates. Accounting for such evidence would change the forward-looking costs of a hypothetically efficient ILEC network that one of the most prominent U.S. state regulatory commissions - the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) - established in 2006. Meanwhile, in 2007, the Commerce Commission in New Zealand has similarly employed a benchmarking methodology for the pricing of unbundled loops that fails to account for the increased price of copper. A global trend may be emerging among telecommunications regulators to ignore the input requirements of their own forward-looking cost models. Such a trend would be consistent with a version of regulatory opportunism in which regulators are forward-looking only when doing so produces lower regulated prices over time.


Problem. While models of teaching and teaching methods have manifested themselves in the wake of most major world philosophies and thus are accessible to present-day educators, a defined model of teaching based on the Christian worldview is harder to find. This is strange, given the fact that the person who, by definition, stands as close to the Christian worldview as one can possibly get, Jesus Christ has the reputation of being one of the greatest teachers ever. Institutions that offer an education aligned with the Christian worldview should be the ones showing greatest interest in a model of teaching derived from the works of Jesus. However, every educator with a desire to facilitate effective learning would, regardless of ideological background, benefit from refreshing their perspectives by a teacher who reportedly was a master in the art of teaching. This study has aspired to pinpoint some of the central teaching methods Jesus applied and synthesize them into a Jesus Model of Teaching. Method. The main source of methodical inspiration and structure for this research is the classical grounded theory, as developed by Glaser and Strauss in the 1960s. Grounded theory, which mainly is a theory-generating method, offers the inductive tools essential in discovering properties and underlying patterns in the material under study. Properties and patterns yield indicators of centrality, which again give the basis for the theory. In this study grounded theory is a Jesus Model of teaching. The study has six phases, alternating between being sequential and simultaneous: 1. Selection of material: Seventy accounts from the four Gospels describing Jesus in a teaching situation were selected based on their characteristics as teaching stories. 2. Open coding: The analysis of content and coding of Gospel Accounts. A group of five teaching professionals performed this as a cooperative project. They coded (established categories) by analyzing and comparing teaching stories until all 70 were categorized. The group of five attached essential attributes to each category, and gave each category a working name. 3. Recategorization: The 70 Gospel accounts were given to a second panel of four professionals for recategorization. This next group of professionals was given the established categories and their attributes, but they were not given any information about which teaching stories the first group had included in each category. This group recategorized the 70 teaching stories into the categories established by the first group. They worked independent of each other, to check to what degree the categories/teaching methods were recognizable by their attributes. 4. Comparison of results: Comparison between the results from the first and second groups of professionals was done shortly after the data were received from all the members of the groups. From the comparison of the work of the two groups, three teaching methods of Jesus were much more prominent than the others. These became the subject of more comprehensive analysis. At the end of phase four, a discussion of the main teaching methods of Jesus in light of current learning theory, research, and practice was conducted. 5. Axial coding: The relationships between the categories were investigated, and emergent, repeating patterns within and among the categories were identified. Underlying central themes and their synthesis because of the axial coding process emerged. 6. Grounded theory: The central themes identified as underlying principles or concepts of the categories were established as the integrative agents of the Jesus Model, generated from this study. The model was constantly compared for validation to the data from which it had emerged. Results. The first line of results was the combined work of open coding and recategorization: Three main and six minor teaching methods were established. The category given the working name Metamorphosis in the open coding was the teaching method in which Jesus frequently applied stories, parables, metaphors, and other figurative speech. The category Straight Talk was the teaching method in which Jesus gave talks, sermons, and speeches. The category Demonstration of Authority was the teaching method where Jesus gave practical advice, and performed healings and miracles. The three main categories Metamorphosis, Straight Talk, and Demonstration of Authority underwent further analysis with regard to why, how, and when Jesus used these methods, and how current learning theory and practice can explain or corroborate their effectiveness. During the in-depth analysis of the three main teaching methods, the following patterns emerged from the material as underlying concepts and principles: flexibility, accommodation to needs, and authentic authority. In this study authentic authority is defined as a relationship between teacher and students marked by a high level of social power on the part of the teacher. The two main components of authentic authority are expert power and referent power. The three concepts— flexibility, accommodation of needs, and authentic authority—form the Jesus Model of Teaching, which is the main result of this study. While authentic authority is the backbone in Jesus' teaching, flexibility and accommodation to needs are the conditions under which teaching is delivered. The three main teaching methods and the remaining six minor methods are merely practical expressions of the Model. Conclusions. The Jesus Model of Teaching presented in this thesis was developed as a grounded theory based on empirical data. Authentic Authority and flexibility practiced in need-based instruction is well corroborated in scholarly literature and can be implemented in general education at all levels. Teacher quality would possibly be improved if this model were taken as the basis for teacher training programs. However, further research is recommended that could measure the association between learning success and application of the operationalized propositions. A more definite knowledge support could subsequently be generated by experimental research.


Hallucinations represent one of the most interesting and relevant symptoms in Psychopathology today. Although mainly associated with psychotic disorders, they are also present in an important range of psychiatric disturbances (affective disorders, posttraumatic stress, dementia, drug additions, etc.). This article emphasizes that social and personality aspects are basic to understanding this phenomenon. A large part of the studies carried out in recent years have dealt more with underlying biological and cognitive aspects of the phenomenon. However, the social situation in which these individuals live, the sociocultural context in which they move and the different personality styles which are what, to a great extent, determine the function that the hallucinations have in the life of these patients, must also be understood. This analysis focuses mainly on the auditory hallucinations normally present in schizophrenia.


The susceptibility to Terbacil of six randomly selected strawberry cultivars ('Aromas', 'Chambly', 'Harmonie', 'Kent', 'La Cle des Champs' and 'Seascape') was analysed using chlorophyll florescence (CF) in comparison with visual observation, in an attempt to develop a method for use in a breeding programme to select herbicide-resistant strawberry lines. Terbacil was applied at one of five rates (0, 0.55, 1.10, 2.20 and 3.30kg/ha), and CF was measured 1, 3, 7 and 14d after application. Visible damage was assessed using a scale of 0 to 10 (where 0 is no damage and 10 is the death of the leaf). All cultivars showed a decrease in CF after herbicide application, but this decrease was not the same for all cultivars. 'Chambly' and 'Harmonie' had the lowest CF changes, and both appeared to be tolerant or resistant to Terbacil, in keeping with previously reported results. In contrast, 'Kent' and 'Aromas' showed a significant decrease in CF on the third day after treatment with Terbacil at 2.20 and 3.30 kg/ha, an indication that their chlorophyll system had been damaged by herbicide application without any visible signs of leaf damage. It is concluded that CF can be used as an alternative and more accurate method to evaluate seedlings in a strawberry breeding programme aimed at selecting herbicide-resistant lines. This method could be very useful, especially for those lines that do not show any visible leaf damage from herbicide application, even though their chlorophyll system is damaged enough to cease plant growth and development.


This paper explores proportionality analysis as a constitutional standard that allows courts to engage in a public conversation, especially with the legislature. This conversation would consider the concept, structure and normative force of fundamental rights, the way in which two or more rights compete and collide, and as to how a particular disagreement about rights can be addressed. What is particularly appealing is the way in which this approach to proportionality analysis does not prescribe any legitimate means 'per se'. It is relational because it must apply the means to achieve a particular aim in a real situation and decide if the sacrifice applied to a particular right is proportionate. This may eventually offer better public engagement with judicial arguments and endorse judicial independence by rendering the decision more structured, open and transparent. A further aim of this paper is to fulfill the knowledge gap about the migration of proportionality analysis as a rights adjudication mechanism to Latin America and, at the same time, make a claim for a context-sensitive approach. The hope is that judiciaries will learn from recent pitfalls that occurred under authoritarian regimes in Latin America where decisions were based upon excessive formality and disregard of relevant factors involved in rights claims. The recent adoption of proportionality analysis by the Mexican Supreme Court in 2007 has created the option of a new appraisal of its migration to Latin America.


The wave of the future for businesses is technology. New technology is evolving everyday and in particular, the videoconferencing industry is steadily growing. The corporate travel industry may be influenced by videoconferencing. The focus of this study was to identify the impacts of videoconferencing on management decisions for employee travel. A review of literature, focusing on information technology and videoconferencing was completed. Information was gathered by studying industry journals and current publications. A questionnaire was used to collect further research. The survey was sent to decision makers for employee travel. The questionnaire was designed to capture both present and future perspectives. The questions were developed to gather information regarding strategic planning, economic development, employee growth and customer satisfaction within a corporate travel department. These areas were used to determine the impact of videoconferencing on the corporate travel industry. Overall, the results determined that videoconferencing has no significant impact on management decisions for employee travel. However, the study determined two facts that should be considered by corporate travel departments and agencies when developing their companies corporate travel strategic plan. Recommendations for further studies were suggested. Additional research would help the corporate travel industry plan for the future.


Patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis who are admitted to the hospital usually have evidence of decompensated cirrhosis with high serum bilirubin levels, low prothrombin time associated with dysfunction or failure of other organs/systems (kidney, brain, circulation).1 Spontaneous 1-month mortality is 35%.2

Pathophysiology of severe alcoholic hepatitis is incompletely understood.2–4 Alcohol consumption results in alterations of gut microbiome, increased intestinal permeability and subsequent translocation of Gram-negative bacteria. These bacteria may release pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In the liver, PAMPs stimulate Kupffer cells to produce high levels of proinflammatory chemokines (eg, interleukin-8 (IL-8)) or cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α). TNF-α may activate cell death pathways and induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by hepatocyte mitochondria, leading to cell death. Acetaldehyde metabolism also contributes to hepatocyte ROS production. These findings led to the traditional view that excessive inflammation and oxidative stress are involved in the development of liver damage in patients with alcoholic hepatitis.

Corticosteroid therapy (40 mg of oral prednisolone per day) is now considered as the first-line treatment for severe alcoholic hepatitis.2 However, according to the Lille model ∼40% of patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis do not respond to corticosteroids,2 and this group has high 6-month mortality (close to 80%).5 This is why novel, pathophysiology-based, medical therapies should be developed for patients who do not respond to corticosteroids.

Dubuquoy et al 6 provide new insights into the pathophysiology of severe alcoholic hepatitis. They investigated liver explants from patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis who underwent salvage transplantation, from patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and no alcoholic hepatitis and fragments of normal livers. …


This study emphasises on examining various stakeholder groups'
perceptions and requirements and represents an attempt to fill a gap in the
CED literature where the views of non-managerial and non-financial
stakeholders are largely absent. The study explores the perceptions and
requirements of a wide group of stakeholders in the context of a developing
county, Libya. This study contributes to that limited stakeholders' perceptions
and requirements based CED literature. To achieve the aim of this study,
face-to-face semi-structured interviews were adopted as a main instrument to
collecting data. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with
individuals and senior representatives of various stakeholder groups. The
data came from 30 stakeholders from six groups of stakeholders namely:
Regulators and Policy Makers; Local Governments; Managers; Employees;
Shareholders and Financial Institutions. Content analysis was used to turn
qualitative data, which was collected via open-ended questions, into
numerical data using NVivo software.
A difference of perceptions and requirements of stakeholder groups towards
CED was identified from the collected data. In general, stakeholders are
interested in, and positively disposed towards CED. However, interviewees
generally perceive that CED is fairly significant to business, but current CED
practice is viewed negatively and weak. Through the empirical study, the
incentives and disincentives for CED are identified. Increasing awareness of
environmental issues, market competition, religious obligation, compliance
with industrial codes and training programmes appear to be the key driving
motivations in the study country, while lack of legal requirements, lack of
knowledge/awareness, absence of demand, issues management, fear of bad
publicity, companies emphasis on economic performance, sensitive and
confidential information, absence of pressure by government states, and
absence of NGOs appear to be impeding CED practices.
Participants believed companies should be accountable to all stakeholder
groups for their environmental impacts and the only way for enforcing CED
practice is using mandatory compliance. The results present evidence of a
widespread demand for mandated CED in a separate stand-alone report.
The results also showed that, information related to environmental activities
have been given the highest priority by all the stakeholders while, the issues
related to environmental financial issues and energy issues have been
placed last and second last on the ranking scale. The results imply that
regulators and policy makers as well companies as have to consider the
policy implications of these other stakeholders' views and requirements. In
addition, the findings require careful consideration by regulators and policy
makers at the national and international levels. Drawing on the empirical
results, the study makes some recommendations for future research aimed
at improving CED practice in Libya and more broadly. This is the first time
this type of research has been conducted in Libya.


The behaviour of gas-liquid two-phase flow has been studied extensively in the past at near atmospheric pressure in small diameter pipes. However, the industrial reality is the utilisation of large diameter pipes at elevated pressures and there is significantly less information available in this area due principally to the cost of investigating large diameter pipes. This research relied on using large-scale laboratory facilities at the University of Nottingham, and on using newly developed state of the art multiphase instrumentation. This study tested and applied the wire mesh sensor (WMS). The work included in this thesis utilised the two variants of the WMS; the already established Conductivity WMS and the recently developed Capacitance WMS and the two sensors were compared against each other. The Capacitance WMS was recently supplied by HZDR (Research Institution, Germany) to the University of Nottingham. Extensive experimental campaigns were carried out with this novel sensor. The WMS was initially tested and validated against several other instruments such as high speed camera and gamma densitometry. It was subsequently applied to a large diameter bubble column and large diameter pipe with two phase flow. The aims of this project was to gain a better understanding of the flow patterns and their transitions in large diameter pipes and to provide real experimental data to assist researchers and engineers in producing relevant and physically sound models for use in larger diameter pipes. As a result of this study, novel and interesting structures which have been labelled as wisps were discovered in large diameter pipes. In addition the WMS was used extensively for the first time on bubble columns in order to assess its suitability for such an application.


OBJECTIVE: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is common in sexually active women, and in a large proportion the underlying aetiology is unknown. We evaluated partner circumcision status as a potential risk and hypothesised that women with uncircumcised partners were at increased risk for BV. METHODS: Retrospective audit of a partner study (272 heterosexual couples) conducted in Baltimore between 1990 and 1992. BV defined by clinical criteria and circumcision status of males was determined by physical examination. RESULTS: BV was diagnosed in 83 (30%) female partners; 75 (27%) males were uncircumcised. In males and females respectively, gonorrhoea was diagnosed in 20% and 16%, and chlamydia in 7% and 11%. In women with circumcised partners, 58/197 (29%) had BV compared with 25/75 (33%) with uncircumcised partners (p = 0.53). CONCLUSION: Women with uncircumcised current partners are not at increased risk for BV.


Query segmentation, like text chunking, is the first step towards query understanding. In this study, we explore the effectiveness of crowdsourcing for this task. Through carefully designed control experiments and Inter Annotator Agreement metrics for analysis of experimental data, we show that crowdsourcing may not be a suitable approach for query segmentation because the crowd seems to have a very strong bias towards dividing the query into roughly equal (often only two) parts. Similarly, in the case of hierarchical or nested segmentation, turkers have a strong preference towards balanced binary trees.


Worsening climate changes effects are predicted to increase the severity and frequency of extreme weather events (EWE), which can disrupt food systems, from the local to global level, and compromise community food security. In the rural U.S., food insecurity, poverty, low economic growth, and population loss are prevalent, and rural communities often lack the physical capital to bolster community resiliency to climate change adaptation. In 2011, Tropical Storm Irene (TS Irene) in Vermont was the most damaging EWE the state's history. Severely damaged roads, infrastructure, homes, and land, rendered many rural towns isolated for up to several days. The levels and types of social capital (bridging and/or bonding) affect social cohesion, which in turn influences how the community responds to an EWE. Rural Vermont communities isolated by TS Irene had to respond to a disruption of basic needs, including food security, without the ability to depend on outside resources. We investigate how social capital influenced these community responses to TS Irene, and how the community actions affected community food security. To better understand how social capital influences community response to food insecurity following an EWE, we created a social capital framework on food security. We then conducted thirty-three semi-structured interviews in three Vermont communities known to have been severely affected by TS Irene, and isolated for several days. Using grounded theory, analysis resulted in social capital having a profound influence on community responses to food security following an EWE. Additionally, the type of social capital – bonding and/or bridging – affected both how the community mitigated food insecurity in the short-term, and upheld food security in the weeks following TS Irene. We found that not only do high degrees of social capital affect community response to acute food security needs after an EWE, but also that a community's sense of place is different depending on the level of community social capital present prior to an EWE. The community response also shaped the community's perception of, and ability to creating social capital five years after the event. Previous research indicates social capital is important in both community food security and climate shock responses. We discuss the need for rural development and community social capital to build rural resilience and adaptation for future EWE. As such, we suggest that promoting the development of social capital within rural communities through community development creation of public events, investment in public infrastructure and schools, and the promotion of locally owned and operated businesses can build resiliency and adaptation to future EWE by promoting the growth of community social capital, both bonding and bridging, within rural communities.


In developing ASEAN countries, the key road accident problems arise from
the high proportion of motorcycles in the mixed vehicle population.
Considering that motorcycles are popular mode of personal travel and that
they are highly numbered on the roads, the provision of exclusive
motorcycle lanes is expected to reduce accidents and improve motorcycle
safety. Studies have proven that segregation is the best engineering
practice to save lives of motorcyclists. Acknowledging these benefits, the
Malaysian government has adopted a policy to provide exclusive
motorcycle facilities along its new highways and federal roads. The need to
provide this special facility has brought to light the deficiencies in studies
related on motorcycle traffic sciences, operations and facility design.
This research initially attempts to establish the characteristics of key
components of a motorcycle-traffic system in Malaysia, i.e. the motorcyclerider
unit, motorcyclist space requirement and riding manner along
motorcycle lane of various lane widths. Then, it seeks to establish the fundamental motorcycle speed-flow-density relationships along
uninterrupted motorcycle lanes in Malaysia. This would enable the
maximum motorcycle flow, critical speed and critical density at capacity
conditions to be estimated. Finally the level-of-service criteria for an
exclusive motorcycle lane facility would be developed, thus allowing the
motorcycle design charts and tables to be produced.
To understand the key components of a motorcycle-traffic system, digital
recordings of motorcyclists along the existing motorcycle lanes in Malaysia
were captured. Basic dimensions of a motorcycle/rider unit were directly
measured. The separation distance between side-by-side motorcyclists
was obtained by employing the digital recording technique. The
motorcyclist operating space was then established. Three-stages of field
and experimental studies was conducted to observe the motorcyclists
riding manner along various lane widths from low to high volume
conditions.
To establish the fundamental motorcycle speed-flow-density relationships
and to develop the level-of-service criteria, the aggregated data from 8
sites ranging from the stable flow to unstable conditions were plotted. A
simple linear regression analysis was conducted on the motorcycle speed
on motorcycle density function to obtain the best linear regression equation
that describes the relationship. Once the motorcycle speed-density
relationship was established, the motorcycle speed-flow and motorcycle
flow-density relationships were derived. The demarcation of the level-of service boundaries for the uninterrupted exclusive motorcycle lanes was
guided by the volume-capacity ratio (v/c) and service flow rates.
Results of the research revealed that the small- and medium-sized type
motorcycles (150 c.c. and below) are the commonly used type in Malaysia.
A single static motorcyclist spans about 0.8 m wide, but requires a mean
width of 1.3 m to operate. In a lane width of 1.7 m or below, motorcycle flow
applies the lane or headway concept. While in lanes of width between
1.7 m and 3.4 m, the motorcycle flow adopts the space concept. This
highlights that 1.7 m is the optimum lane width where motorcyclists would
travel in a single file, even during low speeds and high motorcycle flow
conditions. There is not enough space for faster motorcyclists to pass the
slower ones within the 1.7 m motorcycle lanes.
In the headway concept (W ≤ 1.7 m), capacity is reached at a maximum
motorcycle flow of 3306 mc/hr/lane, corresponding to a critical speed of
13 km/hr and critical density of 235 mc/km/lane. As for the space concept
(1.7 m < W ≤ 3.4 m), capacity occurs at a maximum motorcycle flow of
2207 mc/hr/m. This corresponds to a critical motorcycle speed of 13 km/hr
and critical motorcycle density of 0.166 mc/m2 (or space of 6.0 m2/mc).
Based on the speed-flow-density relationships and the volume-capacity
ratio, the level-of-service boundaries were demarcated. Subsequently,
tables and charts of maximum motorcycle flow rates related to level-ofservices
for different motorcycle lane widths were developed.
The outcome provides useful input in developing design guidelines for
motorcycle facilities in countries with high number of motorcycles in the effort to curb motorcycle safety problems. This study is seen as an initial
effort to fill the missing link in basic research of motorcycle traffic sciences,
operations and facility design that existed among various land
transportation facilities, thus contributing new knowledge to the field of
transportation engineering.