The general objective of this study is to discern and examine the role of macroeconomic government policies as well as the economic and financial attributes of host emerging market countries in shaping the destination of portfolio investments. The study identifies key "location advantages" that must exist in order to 'pull" portfolio investment. Further, it highlights public policy recommendations for attracting portfolio capital as a source of capital for developing countries. This study finds a direct positive correlation between portfolio capital inflows and improvement in macroeconomic performance in the host economies. Countries in the emerging markets that were able to generate fast economic growth. engage in extensive privatization program, and adopted a public policy posture based on opening their economies to international trade and capital inflows were more likely to attract foreign portfolio equity investments than those developing countries that did not undertake significant market-friendly macroeconomic stabilization and fiscal consolidation programs. Key Words: Financial Markets, Emerging Markets, International Stock Markets, Political Economy, Economic Policies Portfolio investments involve purchase of securities and fixed income investments by foreign individual and institutional investors in the domestic or local bond and equity markets of host countries. In contrast to foreign direct investment (FDI), where foreign companies obtain managerial control and operate productive facilities in the domestic economy, foreign portfolio equity investments (FPEI) normally transact through purchase of shares of companies quoted on stock markets. Portfolio capital flows can also be distinguished from 'sovereign borrowing' as well as private bank lending. 'Sovereign borrowing' involves banks lending capital to a government, and public enterprises enjoy an explicit government debt guarantee. Private bank loans entail lending by foreign banks to the domestic private sector, generally at short maturity.1 Foreign capital flows to the emerging markets of Asia and Latin America have revived considerably since the debt crisis of the 1980s. However, the magnitude and composition of these capital flows have shifted greatly. In the 1970s and 1980s, the bulk of capital flows to developing countries came through 'sovereign borrowing' by governments in the form of long-term syndicated credits arranged by groups of foreign banks.2 Since the mid-1980s, foreign direct investment flows to developing countries re-surged. In contrast, since the early 1990s foreign portfolio flows (hereinafter referred to as portfolio equity investments or FPEI) have been used significantly by foreign investors to purchase stocks and bonds in the securities market of foreign countries. FPEI has generally grown over this decade, with flows trebling in 1993 compared to a year earlier. The dramatic rise in the interest of global investors in the emerging economies of Asia and Latin American is evidenced by the spectacular rise in the value of the stock markets of the emerging economies. Between 1986 and 1995, stock market capitalization in emerging countries grew at a much faster rate than market growth in the developed countries. The emerging countries' stock market grew more than ten fold, from $171 billion to $1.9 trillion. During this time frame the market share held by emerging countries in the world stock market increased by 300 percent, accounting for 11 percent of the global stock market capitalization. The Mexican financial crisis of December 1994 caused a short-term decline in FPEI flows, primarily in FPEI to Latin America.' Investment flows resumed a few months later, and by 1996 the volume of new equity raised on international capital markets by emerging market countries increased in one year by 34 percent, or $15 billion. This large increase illustrates the resilience of the emerging markets as an attractive destination for portfolio investments. …


The concept of Lie-recurrence in a Finsler space was introduced by the second author (8) of the present paper in 1982.The Lie-recurrence in a Riemannian space was studied by K. L. Duggal (3) in 1992 but he used the term curvature inheriting symmetry in place of Lie-recurrence. K. L. Duggal also applied the theory to the study of fluid space time. Since then both the terms (Lie-recurrence and curvature inheriting symmetry) are in use. The present authors (11), Shivalika Saxena and P. N. Pandey (12), (13), C. K. Mishra and Gautam Lodhi (1) studied a Lie-recurrence (curvature inheriting symmetry) in a Finsler space and discussed the possibilities for contra and concurrent vector fields to generate Lie-recurrence. The present paper deals with a Lie-recurrence generated by a special concircular vector field and such Lie-recurrence is termed as a special concircular Lie-recurrence. We obtain certain results related to a special concircular Lie-recurrence in a general Finsler space as well as in birecurrent and bisymmetric Finsler spaces.


A BSTRACT . The stolon is the main asexual reproductive organ of the medicinal plant Tulipa edulis and has special morphology. In the greenhouse experiment presented herein, the dynamic changes in carbohydrates and related enzymes, proteins, and endogenous hormones of stolons during T. edulis stolon formation were investigated. The results showed that the content of total soluble sugar, sucrose, reducing sugar, fructose, and starch were all significantly enhanced in the middle period when stolon emerged and maintained at relatively high levels until the later period of stolon formation, while protein content decreased during stolon formation. The activities of amylase (AMY), sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), and sucrose synthase (SS) peaked in the initial period and were negatively correlated with soluble sugars. However, adenosine diphosphoglucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) activity in- creased as stolon formation progressed, and the changes in soluble starch synthase (SSS), granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS) activities presented a single peak, reaching their maximums in the middle period. AGPase, SSS, and GBSS activities were all positively related to starch content. Moreover, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) verified the changes in SS and SSS activities via the expression levels of the SS , SSSI , and SSSII genes. The gibberellin (GA) and zeatin riboside (ZR) content attained their maximum in the initial period of stolon formation. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and abscisic acid (ABA) remained at high levels during the initial and middle period and decreased significantly during the later period of stolon formation, inversely to the ratio of ABA:IAA. Analysis of the physiological changes in T. edulis stolon indicated that the accumulation of soluble sugars and starch via various enzymes, a high level of IAA and a low ABA to IAA ratio mainly contributed to stolon development of T. edulis . This paper explored carbohydrate levels and endogenous hormones profiles during stolon formation, which provided the theory basis for further regulating stolon growth of T. edulis .


We describe Cumulon, a system aimed at helping users develop and deploy matrix-based data analysis programs in a public cloud. A key feature of Cumulon is its end-to-end support for the so-called spot instances---machines whose market price fluctuates over time but is usually much lower than the regular fixed price. A user sets a bid price when acquiring spot instances, and loses them as soon as the market price exceeds the bid price. While spot instances can potentially save cost, they are difficult to use effectively, and run the risk of not finishing work while costing more. Cumulon provides a highly elastic computation and storage engine on top of spot instances, and offers automatic cost-based optimization of execution, deployment, and bidding strategies. Cumulon further quantifies how the uncertainty in the market price translates into the cost uncertainty of its recommendations, and allows users to specify their risk tolerance as an optimization constraint.


Alcohol and Drug use in Young People is a current national topic of great curiosity which occasionally, junior doctors manage with less interest during busy A&E shifts and pressing admission beds. A taboo subject infrequently discussed in the Paediatric/Adolescent patient history, health professional competence in assessing risk may also be variable, but could be improved by a strong presence of multi-departmental teaching, publicity of accessible intranet management guidance and on-site service information-specific patient and parent leaflets. A retrospective analysis of attendance data for 9–17 year-olds to a busy District General Hospital Accident and Emergency Department during a peak festive and school holiday season was conducted. Young persons presenting with potential substance misuse risk factors were identified from diagnosis codes and filtered for specific substance misuse concerns. Highly suspected cases were then audited for management and discharge outcome at point of departure from the department. A total of 334 young persons between the age of 9–17 years presented to our A&E Department between December 2011-January 2012. Forty (12%) had diagnosis coding for alcohol intoxication, alcohol withdrawal, deliberate drug overdose, head injury, alleged assault, faint, road traffic accident injuries undetermined, psychiatric problem, hyperventilation, collapse and injury to face. Of these, 9 (22.5%) were young persons between 15–17 years-old and identified as high risk for substance misuse. Only 1 case was referred to the Adult medical team, and was admitted, but none of the remaining patients were referred to a Paediatric team and were discharged home or had absconded. Only 1 patient had a documented use of a "Substance Misuse Assessment Tool", and none had Psychiatric or CAMHS input nor were referred to a Young Person-specific Substance Misuse service. Health professionals who regularly manage young people in A&E, including A&E nursing staff need essential training in assessing Young People for Substance Misuse. Young Person-specific Substance Misuse clinical guidelines would be useful to increase case management confidence for Paediatricians, junior A&E doctors and Adult Physicians. A valuable resource to the NHS, referral to Young Person-specific services in Substance Misuse should be considered in these guidelines. Multi-departmental, multi-disciplinary agreement is imperative for successful implementation.


In this thesis, the structure, dynamics and interactions of proteins and carbohydrates are investigated using mainly NMR spectroscopy and computer simulations. Oligosaccharides representing a Salmonella O-antigen have been synthesized and their dynamic behavior and interaction with the bacteriophage P22 tail-spike protein have been studied by NMR spectroscopy, MD and docking simulations. A binding mechanism between the protein and the O-antigen has been proposed. Transient hydrogen bonds have been defined and examined in an E. coli polysaccharide and in a pentasaccharide representing the repeating unit, using MD simulation and NMR spectroscopy. Conformational dynamics of a trisaccharide representing the repeating unit of an A. salmonicida O-antigen have been investigated by MD simulations. The simulation together with relaxation matrix calculations reveals a conformational exchange on a ns timescale and explains an unusual NOE. A fragment-based screening for inhibitors of the glycosyltransferase GTB acceptor site has been performed using NMR spectroscopy and SPR. IC50 values of the binding fragments are reported. Complex structures of the fragments and GTB have been proposed using docking simulations. A fragment-based screening for inhibitors of the WaaG glycosyltransferase donor site has been performed using NMR spectroscopy and three compounds were selected. Structures of the WaaG-fragment complexes have been suggested from docking simulations. Binding of natural substrates and activity has also been investigated by NMR spectroscopy. MD simulations have been carried out on WaaG with and without bound donor substrate. The simulation revealed a conformational change upon substrate binding. Interactions between HEWL and carbohydrate ligands have been investigated, using a combination of weak affinity chromatography, NMR spectroscopy and computer simulations. KDs of the ligands have been presented as well as the solution structures of two HEWL-disaccharide complexes.


The definitive monograph on the work of one of the world's most celebrated car designers. This is the first monograph published on one of the most renowned automotive designers of our time, Giorgetto Giugiaro, who was named Car Designer of the Century in December 1999 and inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2002. The book explores Giugiaro's creative background-he comes from a family of painters and musicians-and the technical and engineering skills he cultivated with his partner Aldo Mantovani, cofounder of his company, Italdesign. He is noted for such iconic concept cars as the Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta, De Tomaso Mangusta, Maserati Ghibli, Iso Grifo, Lamborghini Cala, and Ferrari GG50.


Extensive statistical investigations based on damage reports show that the corrosion damage frequency for buried water mains and distribution pipelines in Sweden increased during the 1970s and 1980s. For this reason, a number of statistical and technical investigations of the corrosion and counter-measures were carried out.

The paper reports on the corrosion damage statistics for water pipelines and the costs of the corrosion damage. Further, ways of actively working to reduce the corrosion damage frequency are described. These measures include the introduction of cast iron pipes with high quality coatings and the application of cathodic protection on different types of existing pipelines, and, further, the systematic replacement of pipeline sections, which show a high corrosion damage frequency.


Closeout procedures enable central counterparties (CCPs) to respond to events that challenge the continuity of their normal operations, most frequently triggered by the default of one or more clearing members. The procedures ensure the regularity of the settlement process through the prudent and orderly closeout of the defaulter's portfolio. Traditional approaches to CCPs' margin requirements typically assume a simple closeout profile, and do not account for the 'real-life' constraints embedded on the management of a default. The paper proposes an approach of evaluating how distinct closeout strategies may expose a CCP to different sets of risk and costs, and consequently could impact the sufficiency of financial resources to cover its risk exposure to a default. The approach is based on a counterfactual simulation, and evaluates a full spectrum of hedging strategies in an exploratory and model-free manner, deriving endogenous and market-dependent risk metrics. Using the trade repository data available to the Bank (as a result of EMIR reporting) on over-the-counter (OTC) interest rate swaps (IRS) and ten years (ie 2005 to 2015) of information on related market risk factors, the paper derives empirically an efficient hedging strategy that minimizes the CCP's risk exposure to a defaulting clearing member. Endogenous trade-off structures between total risk (market risk plus funding needs) and transaction costs are also established, with marginal sensitivities to individual components of the hedging strategy determined.


The Rietveld Schroder House in Utrecht was designed in 1924 by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (1888-1964) for Mrs Truus Schroder- Schrader (1889-1985), as a home for her and her three young children. Mrs Schroder had very decided ideas about the modern family, the upbringing of her children, and a corresponding way of living. She wanted a flexible house that would be able to evolve over time in tandem with the changing needs of her family. Known and celebrated as the architectural expression of the ideology and design ideas of the De Stijl movement, the house is just as much the expression of the personal attitude to life and wishes of the client who commissioned it. In Rietveld, Mrs Schroder felt she had found the ideal interpreter of her modern ideas. Mrs Schroder lived in the house until her death in 1985, during which time it underwent several changes and alterations. By the 1960s the house was showing the effects of inadequate maintenance and the need for a comprehensive restoration became increasingly urgent. In 1974 work began on the restoration of the exterior. The interior followed after Mrs Schroder's death. Both restorations were carried out by the architect Bertus Mulder (b. 1929), who had worked with Rietveld in the early 1960s and knew his body of work better than anyone. In his restorations, Mulder opted to return the house as much as possible to its original condition, whereby the re-establishment of the original concept was considered more important than presenting or respecting the history of the house and its occupancy. Since the restorations the house is once more a shining manifesto of De Stijl and modernist living. Few realize that this is also one of the first examples of a restored modern heritage building. The Rietveld Schroder House is also a milestone in the history of modern heritage restoration and a manifesto for the concern for modern heritage in the Netherlands. In 2009, Bertus Mulder gave a personal account of the restorations of the house in the book Het Rietveld Schroderhuis. He had already prepared a similar overview for the dossier in support of the UNESCO World Heritage nomination. Various reports and memoranda are also to be found in the Bertus Mulder archive. Owing to the restoration architect's advancing years, the opportunities to draw on his memories in conversations are gradually diminishing. It was the value of this form of historiography – oral history – that motivated this study, which was made possible by a Keeping It Modern Grant from The Getty Foundation (2015). The conversations yielded a wealth of information, which was then weighed against the 2009 publication, and more especially with the many archival sources, in an effort to bring a degree of objectivity to the history of these restorations. During our investigations more and more new documents and pictures came to light and these have contributed substantially to the end result. The aim of this historical research was to reconstruct the 'Bertus Mulder time period'. This involved examining the guiding principles, points of view, choices, and outcomes. Also considered were the respective roles of Truus Schroder of the client who commissioned the restorations (the Stichting Rietveld Schroder Huis / Rietveld Schroder House Foundation), and of the heritage agencies. And, given that the house has been managed by the Centraal Museum and opened to the public as a museum house since the completion of the restorations in 1987, the museological decisions made during the restoration of the interior were also subjected to scrutiny. In Rietveld's design concept the materialization of the external and internal walls, in plasterwork and paintwork, were of crucial importance. In addition to the three-dimensional spatial composition of horizontal and vertical elements, and the interplay of inside and outside, open and closed, the Rietveld Schroder House as a whole, from ground level to roof, from floor to ceiling, displays smoothly finished and painted surfaces. In restoring the original concept of the house, the finishing of those external and internal walls, the paintwork and the choice of colours, were therefore key considerations. This is why the first three chapters focus on the ideas and principles that informed the restoration of the inner and outer skin of the house. The crumbling of the internal plasterwork (2016) gave the research an unexpected twist and also led to a limited material survey of the wall finishes. During the restorations, Mulder dismantled large areas of the inner and outer skin down to the structural shell. After which he 'made a recreation of the Rietveld Schroder House, together with Truus Schroder and the advisers'. The architect is convinced that with this the last, definitive phase in the creation of the house was completed. This recreation of Rietveld's work has added a new dimension to the history of the house. This is not only important from a historiographical perspective but also forms a new challenge for future restorations. In the fourth chapter, the guiding principles of the furnishing of the museum house are placed within the context of the occupational history of the house. After the death of Truus Schroder the interior of the Rietveld Schroder House was restored in an 'abstract manner' in the spirit of the 1920s. But how can the supposedly all-important 'domestic culture' be represented if the museum house is not allowed to suggest that the occupant has just stepped outside? Finally, one further aspect, which is set to become very important for the future use of the museum house, is addressed: the indoor climate. Today, almost a century after the house was built, the measurement of temperature and humidity, in relation to outdoor climate and visitors, ought to be an essential part of ensuring a sustainable future for the Rietveld Schroder House as heritage building, as museum house and as collection object.


As an entomologist and integrated pest management specialist, Sean Swezey has held a variety of demanding and influential posts. He has served as associate director of the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) at UC Santa Cruz and director of the Davis-based University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SAREP). He has held research and teaching appointments at UC Berkeley, Cornell University, and UC Santa Cruz. He has also worked as a consulting entomologist in Central and South America with the Organization of American States and with the Food and Agriculture Organization. Swezey has helped pioneer organic growing techniques for several important California crops, successfully challenging entrenched assumptions about the inevitability of chemical-intensive production. He wrote and edited a University of California organic apple production manual—the first such manual for any organic commodity. He has advised a series of California Secretaries of Agriculture on the implementation and enforcement of the California Organic Foods Act of 1990. With UCSC agroecology professor Steve Gliessman, he helped establish one of the first organic farm advising services based at a university. In 2000, the Organic Farming Research Foundation's (OFRF) Third Biennial National Organic Farmers' Survey identified Swezey as the most frequently cited "Favorite University Researcher for organic production information." In this interview, conducted by Sarah Rabkin on November 24, 2008, at UCSC's Program In Community and Agroecology, Sean Swezey discussed his training in biological pest control at UC Berkeley; his international advising; his research with transitional and organic apple, strawberry, artichoke, and cotton crops; his administrative work with UC SAREP; his collaborative work with farmers, and his university teaching. After the recorded interview had concluded, Swezey shared his view of California's Central Coast as a remarkable seedbed for the development and promotion of organic agriculture, saying, "I can't think of a place that had as many thinkers, doers, and dreamers as Santa Cruz County. This was such a center. And [it's not just] Santa Cruz County; there was Monterey… This is a fairly unique confluence. We had markets; we had the most accomplished commodity people—super-talented, visionary scientists and growers."


Near future satellite and terrestrial telecommunication (TLC) systems are expected to benefit from the use of operational frequencies spanning the Ka, Q, V and W bands, the main advantages being the availability of larger bandwidths and the smaller antenna size for a given gain. Moreover, the possibility of using on‐board antennas with enhanced directivity is attractive for satellite systems whose coverage area is subdivided into spot beams for frequency reallocation or regional services. For example, the W band is attrac‐ tive for fixed satellite services (FSS), especially for geostationary high‐throughput systems (HTSs), in which the use of such frequencies for the feeder link (i.e. large available band‐ width) could reduce significantly the number of gateways with respect to Ka and Q/V bands. As for deep space missions, the main driver for the interest in using frequencies in the Ka to W bands is the possible increase in the on‐board antenna gain with respect to the values at X band considered for current or planned missions. The drawback of using electromagnetic waves at frequencies in Ka, Q, V and W bands is the definite impact of the impairments caused by the troposphere. As a consequence, the design of TLC systems at such frequencies, and in particular satellite‐based ones, cannot rely on the classical approach of simply assigning an extra power margin to counteract atmospheric fades. The extensive use of fade mitigation techniques (FMTs), such as link power control (LPC), site diversity or on‐board adaptive power allocation, from the propagation side, adap‐ tive coding and modulation (ACM) and data rate adaptation (DRA), from the telecom‐ munication side, is mandatory. A reduction of the quality of service (QoS) should also be considered. This chapter deals with all these aspects characterizing the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the Ka, Q, V and W bands, spanning from the main impair‐ ments induced by the troposphere (and how they change as the frequency increases), to how extreme atmospheric conditions can be handled making use of suitable FMTs.


Clustering of nodes provides an efficient means of establishing a hierarchical structure in mobile ad hoc networks. In mobile ad hoc networks, the movement of the network nodes may quickly change the topology resulting in the increase of the overhead message in topology maintenance; the clustering schemes for mobile ad hoc networks therefore aim at handling topology maintenance, managing node movement or reducing overhead. This paper presents the reasons for clustering algorithms in ad hoc networks, as well as a short survey of the basic ideas and priorities of existing clustering algorithms.


This paper presents a study on how primary school educators describe children's use of ICT. This is done in order to lay a foundation for an understanding of how information literacies may be enacted in Swedish primary schools. The empirical material consists of four focus group con-versations conducted with 20 educators at three Swedish primary schools. The analysis is focussed on how the educators discuss and describe ICT as tools for information activities and as parts of children's childhoods. Two descriptions of childhoods are identified in the analysis: 1) the good childhood, in which there is room for traditional tools for information seeking such as books; 2) the contemporary and insufficient childhood, happening outside the school context, where digital tools for information seeking and other activities are used. The task of primary school is descri-bed as counterbalancing contemporary childhoods and therefore avoiding ICT. The authors discuss how the implications of these approaches could be limiting for how information literacies may be enacted in primary school.


Online learning is becoming ever more important in higher education today. Whilst there is extensive evidence of the benefits of online learning there is less evidence on the types of students that benefit. This study aimed to explore if any variables could predict success and engagement with an online module. A sample of psychology students completed a series of questionnaires prior to undertaking a specially developed online health psychology module. Questionnaires comprised an: academic confidence scale; a computer self-efficacy scale; and a learning styles questionnaire. Reported differences in student performance on, engagement with, and evaluation of, the module related to these variables were limited. However, a relationship between deep learning and a preference for online learning compared to traditional lectures, and a negative relationship between strategic learning style and module design was reported. Overall it appears as if online learning can be accessed by most and there are no indications of one group of students performing inequitably better or worse than others.


The inundation of an entire nation due to anthropogenic climate change has never been seen. And the low-lying Pacific nation of Kiribati is likely to be among the first victims of such a disaster. As such, this article examines a number of strategies for the relocation of Kiribati, and finds that bilateral migration deals with Australia and New Zealand present the best policy option. First, bilateral agreements can be designed to allow for pre-emptive and planned migration. Second, as relatively large countries with low population densities, Australia and New Zealand are in the best place to absorb large numbers of migrants. Third, with a history of migration, and support for the Pacific islands combating climate change, there is scope for bilateral deals to be politically supportable. Fourth, as the wealthiest countries in the region, and with developed capacities in refugee resettlement, these governments are most able to implement a migration deal. Of course, the challenge of climate change migration is larger than Kiribati. Some estimates suggest that more than 200 million people may be displaced by climate change by 2050. When this is taken into account, getting policy right in Kiribati takes on added importance, as the way the international community handles this challenge is likely to set a global precedence.


Lock-free concurrent algorithms guarantee that some concurrent operation will always make progress in a finite number of steps. Yet programmers prefer to treat concurrent code as if it were wait-free, guaranteeing that all operations always make progress. Unfortunately, designing wait-free algorithms is generally a very complex task, and the resulting algorithms are not always efficient. While obtaining efficient wait-free algorithms has been a long-time goal for the theory community, most non-blocking commercial code is only lock-free. This paper suggests a simple solution to this problem. We show that, for a large class of lock-free algorithms, under scheduling conditions which approximate those found in commercial hardware architectures, lock-free algorithms behave as if they are wait-free. In other words, programmers can keep on designing simple lock-free algorithms instead of complex wait-free ones, and in practice, they will get wait-free progress. Our main contribution is a new way of analyzing a general class of lock-free algorithms under a stochastic scheduler. Our analysis relates the individual performance of processes with the global performance of the system using Markov chain lifting between a complex per-process chain and a simpler system progress chain. We show that lock-free algorithms are not only wait-free with probability 1, but that in fact a general subset of lock-free algorithms can be closely bounded in terms of the average number of steps required until an operation completes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to analyze progress conditions, typically stated in relation to a worst case adversary, in a stochastic model capturing their expected asymptotic behavior.


This dissertation is a detailed investigation of issues that arise in models that change discretely. Models are often constructed by either including or excluding features based on some criteria. These discrete changes are challenging to analyze due to correlation between features. Feature selection is the problem of identifying an appropriate set of features to include in a model, while fairness-aware data mining is the problem of needing to remove the \emph{influence} of protected features from a model. This dissertation provides frameworks for understanding each problem and algorithms for accomplishing the desired goal. The feature selection problem is addressed through the framework of sequential hypothesis testing. We elucidate the statistical challenges in repeatedly using inference in this domain and demonstrate how current methods fail to address them. Our algorithms build on classically motivated, multiple testing procedures to control measures of false rejections when using hypothesis testing during forward stepwise regression. Furthermore, these methods have much higher power than recent proposals from the conditional inference literature. The fairness-aware data mining community is grappling with fundamental questions concerning fairness in statistical modeling. Tension exists between identifying explainable differences between groups and discriminatory ones. We provide a framework for understanding the connections between fairness and the use of protected information in modeling. With this discussion in hand, generating fair estimates is straight-forward. Degree Type Dissertation This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1788 Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Statistics First Advisor Robert A. Stine Second Advisor Dean P. Foster


To date, we could not engineer Nature's ability to dynamically handle diffusing single molecules in the liquid-phase as it takes place in pore-forming proteins and tunnelling nanotubes. Consistent handling of individual single molecules in a liquid is of paramount importance to fundamental molecular studies and technological benefits, like single-molecule level separation and sorting for early biomedical diagnostics, microscopic studies of molecular interactions and electron/optical microscopy of molecules and nanomaterials. We can consistently resolve the dynamics of diffusing single molecules if they are confined within a uniform dielectric environment at nanometre length-scales. A uniform dielectric environment is the key characteristic since intrinsic electronic properties of molecules were modified while interacting with any surfaces, and the effect is not the same from one dielectric surface to another. We present dynamic nanofluidic detection of optically active single molecules in a liquid. An all-silica nanofluidic environment was used to electrokinetically handle individual single-molecules where molecular shot noise was resolved. We recorded the single-molecule motion of small fragments of DNA, carbon-nanodots, and organic fluorophores in water. The electrokinetic 1D molecular mass transport under two-focus fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (2fFCS) showed confinement-induced modified molecular interactions (due to various inter-molecular repulsive and attractive forces), which have been theoretically interpreted as molecular shot noise. Our demonstration of high-throughput nanochannel fabrication, 2fFCS-based 1D confined detection of fast-moving single molecules and fundamental understanding of molecular shot noise may open an avenue for single-molecule experiments where physical manipulation of dynamics is necessary.


Electronic commerce servers have a significant presence in today's Internet. Corporations want to maintain high availability, sufficient capacity, and satisfactory performance for their E-commerce Web systems, and want to provide satisfactory services to customers. Workload characterization and the analysis of customers' interactions with Web sites are the bases upon which to analyze server performance, plan system capacity, manage system resources, and personalize services at the Web site. To date, little empirical evidence has been discovered that identifies the characteristics for Web workloads of E-commerce systems and the behaviours of customers. This thesis analyzes the Web access logs at public Web sites for three organizations: a car rental company, an IT company, and the Computer Science department of the University of Saskatchewan. In these case studies, the characteristics of Web workloads are explored at the request level, function level, resource level, and session level; customers' interactions with Web sites are analyzed by identifying and characterizing session groups. The main E-commerce Web workload characteristics and performance implications are: i) The requests for dynamic Web objects are an important part of the workload. These requests should be characterized separately since the system processes them differently; ii) Some popular image files, which are embedded in the same Web page, are always requested together. If these files are requested and sent in a bundle, a system will greatly reduce the overheads in processing requests for these files; iii) The percentage of requests for each Web page category tends to be stable in the workload when the time scale is large enough. This observation is helpful in forecasting workload composition; iv) the Secure Socket Layer protocol (SSL) is heavily used and most Web objects are either requested primarily through SSL or primarily not through SSL; and v) Session groups of different characteristics are identified for all logs. The analysis of session groups may be helpful in improving system performance, maximizing revenue throughput of the system, providing better services to customers, and managing and planning system resources. A hybrid clustering algorithm, which is a combination of the minimum spanning tree method and k-means clustering algorithm, is proposed to identify session clusters. Session clusters obtained using the three session representations Pages Requested, Navigation Pattern, and Resource Usage are similar enough so that it is possible to use different session representations interchangeably to produce similar groupings. The grouping based on one session representation is believed to be sufficient to answer questions in server performance, resource management, capacity planning and Web site personalization, which previously would have required multiple different groupings. Grouping by Pages Requested is recommended since it is the simplest and data on Web pages requested is relatively easy to obtain in HTTP logs.


Toleration is a core issue within contemporary political debates. In this book distinguished public figures, including philosophers, historians, lawyers and religious leaders reflect on the importance of tolerance and the dangers of intolerance, both historically and in the present day. George Carey and Julia Neuberger concentrate on the issues surrounding religious toleration while Helena Kennedy emphasises the role of toleration in legal contexts. Christopher Hill takes an historical approach, looking at toleration in 17th century England while Bernard Williams discusses the idea of philosophical justification of toleration. Garrett Fitzgerald concentrates in the idea of Toleration and Solidarity while Michael Ignatieff discusses the highly topical issue of Nationalism and Toleration. Alasdair McIntyre concludes with an examination of Toleration and the Goodof Conflict. This book collectively offers an accessible and engaging commentary on the role of toleration in several areas of modern life and will be of interest to a wide range of readers.


Challenges of energy security, low carbon transitions, and electricity network constraints have led to a shift to new, efficient technologies for household energy services. Studies of such technological innovations usually focus on consumer information and changes in behaviour to realise their full potential. We suggest that regarding such technologies in existing energy provision systems opens up questions concerning how and why such interventions are delivered. We argue that we must understand the ways by which energy systems are co-constituted through the habits and expectations of households, their technologies and appliances, alongside arrangements associated with large-scale socio-technical infrastructures. Drawing on research with air-source-to-water heat pumps (ASWHP), installed as part of a large trans-disciplinary, utility-led research and demonstration project in the north of England, we investigate how energy services provision and everyday practice shapes new technologies uptake, and how such technologies mediate and reconfigure relations between users, providers and infrastructure networks. While the installation of ASWHP has led to role differentiation through which energy services are provided, the space for new forms of co-provision to emerge is limited by existing commitments to delivering energy services. Simultaneously, new forms of interdependency emerge between users, providers and intermediaries through sites of installation, instruction, repair and feedback. We find that although new technologies do lead to the rearrangement of practices, this is often disrupted by obduracy in the conventions and habits around domestic heating and hot water practices that have been established in relation to existing systems of provision. Rather being simply a matter of increasing levels of knowledge in order to ensure that such technologies are adopted effi ciently and effectively, our paper demonstrates how systemic arrangements of energy provision and everyday practice are co-implicated in socio-technical innovation by changing the nature of energy supply and use.


Genetic resource management is essential for the continuity of improvement and production of durian. It involves maintaining associated data, and characterising and assaying highly heritable morphological and molecular traits for taxonomic study, genetic improvement, quality assurance and management purposes. The objective of this study was to determine the genetic variations of durian germplasm in Malaysia, based on morphological traits and PCR-RFLP on chloroplast DNA and ribosomal DNA regions.

For study of genetic variation based on morphological traits, a total of 65 durian accessions, consisting of 60 cultivated clones and five wild species were compared. A total of 12 distinct clusters were identified separating the accessions. Low to moderately high genetic variations were found among the cultivated clones, while moderately high to high genetic variations were found between accessions of the cultivated clones and the wild species, and also among the wild species. Some cultivated clones were found to have revealed high level of similarities, and were placed separately within six different clusters.
Three available protocols, those by Gawel and Jarret (1991), Husain (1994) and Mathius and Hutabarat (1997), were used to extract genomic DNA from the leaves of the durian accessions. Mathius and Hutabarat's (1997) protocol was found able to produce the highest quantity of genomic DNA, however, with low quality. Prolongation of incubation period from 30 min to 75 min, addition of TE buffer following cool isopropanol precipitation and CIA (24:1) re-extraction, were found effective to improve Mathius and Hutabarat's (1997) protocol to produce high quality genomic DNA from the durian leaves.
Six pairs of primers i.e. psbC, rpoB, rbcL, A, N and IGS were used to amplify six specific regions: psbC, rpoB, rbcL, and intergenic spacers of ndhC-trnV, atpB-rbcL and IGS-rDNA, respectively. Two primers, rbcL and N, were found able to consistently amplify the two specific regions, IGS inconsistently amplified the specific and non-specific regions, A inconsistently amplified non-specific region, while rpoB and psbC were found unable to amplify any region at all.

Six restriction enzymes, Eco RI, Bam HI, Bsu RI, Hind III, Pst I and Taq I, were used to digest the PCR products. Four enzymes, Bsu RI, Hind III, Pst I and Taq I, were found able to digest the PCR products into smaller fragments, while two enzymes, Eco RI and Bam HI, were unable to do so.
Generally, enzymes having four-base recognition sites were found able to digest broader range of PCR products than those having six-base recognition sites.

PCR-RFLP on the ndhC-trnV and rbcL regions, using eight restriction enzymes, was conducted to study genetic variation among 11 accessions belonging to 10 species in the genus Durio. The polymorphism produced from ndhC-trnV region showed higher variations than those from rbcL region. Based on the results of PCR-RFLP on ndhC-trnV region, the accessions were grouped into five distinct clusters, while based on results of PCR-RFLP on the rbcL region, they were grouped into only three distinct clusters.

PCR-RFLP on the IGS-rDNA and ndhC-trnV regions in durian DNA from 71 cultivated clones were found to have produced only monomorphic bands, indicating that, no alteration occurred on the pattern of sequences in both regions. Thus, neither genetic distance matrix nor dendrogram tree could be constructed.


This thesis introduces the Steiner connectivity problem. It is a generalization of the well
known Steiner tree problem. Given a graph G = (V, E) and a subset T ⊆ V of the nodes,
the Steiner tree problem consists in finding a cost minimal set of edges connecting all
nodes in T . The Steiner connectivity problem chooses, instead of edges, from a given set
of paths a subset to connect all nodes in T . We show in the first part of this thesis that
main results about complexity, approximation, integer programming formulations, and
polyhedra can be generalized from the Steiner tree problem to the Steiner connectivity
problem.
An example for a straightforward generalization are the Steiner partition inequalities, a
fundamental class of facet defining inequalities for the Steiner tree problem. They can be
defined for the Steiner connectivity problem in an analogous way as for the Steiner tree
problem. An example for a generalization that needs more effort is the definition of a
directed cut formulation and the proof that this dominates the canonical undirected cut
formulation enriched by all Steiner partition inequalities. For the Steiner connectivity
problem this directed cut formulation leads to extended formulations, a concept that is
not necessary for the Steiner tree problem. There are also major differences between
both problems. For instance, the case T = V for the Steiner connectivity problem is
equivalent to a set covering problem and, hence, not a polynomial solvable case as in the
Steiner tree problem.
The Steiner connectivity problem is not only an interesting generalization of the Steiner
tree problem but also the underlying connectivity problem in line planning with inte-
grated passenger routing. The integrated line planning and passenger routing problem
is an important planning problem in service design of public transport and the topic of
the second part. Given is the infrastructure network of a public transport system where
the edges correspond to streets and tracks and the nodes correspond to stations/stops
of lines. The task is to find paths in the infrastructure network for lines and passengers
such that the capacities of the lines suffice to transport all passengers. Existing models
in the literature that integrate a passenger routing in line planning either treat transfers
in a rudimentary way and, hence, neglect an important aspect for the choice of the pas-
senger routes, or they treat transfers in a too comprehensive way and cannot be solved
for large scale real world problems. We propose a new model that focuses on direct
connections. The attractiveness of transfer free connections is increased by introducing a transfer penalty for each non-direct connection. In this way, a passenger routing is
computed that favors direct connections.
For the computation of this model we also implemented algorithms influenced by the
results for the Steiner connectivity problem. We can compute with our model good
solutions that minimize a weighted sum of line operating costs and passengers travel
times. These solutions improve the solutions of an existing approach, that does not
consider direct connections, by up to 17%. In contrast to a comprehensive approach,
that considers every transfer and for which we could not even solve the root LP within
10 hours for large instances, the solutions of the new model, computed in the same time,
are close to optimality (<1%) or even optimal for real world instances. In a project with
the Verkehr in Potsdam GmbH to compute the line plan for 2010 we showed that our
approach is applicable in practice and can be used to solve real world problems.


We present a scheme for cooling a vibrational mode of a magnetic molecular nanojunction by a spin-polarized charge current upon exploiting the interaction between its magnetic moment and the vibration. The spin-polarized charge current polarizes the magnetic moment of the nanoisland, thereby lowering its energy. A small but finite coupling between the vibration and the magnetic moment permits a direct exchange of energy such that vibrational energy can be transferred into the magnetic state. For positive bias voltages, this generates an effective cooling of the molecular vibrational mode. We determine parameter regimes for the cooling of the vibration to be optimal. Although the flowing charge current inevitably heats up the vibrational mode via Ohmic energy losses, we show that due to the magnetomechanical coupling, the vibrational energy (i.e, the effective phonon temperature) can be lowered below 50% of its initial value, when the two leads are polarized anti-parallel. In contrast to the cooling effect for positive bias voltages, net heating of the vibrational mode occurs for negative bias voltages. The cooling effect is enhanced for a stronger anti-parallel magnetic polarization of the leads, while the heating is stronger for a larger parallel polarization. Yet, dynamical cooling is also possible with parallel lead alignments when the two tunneling barriers are asymmetric.


Rearing of young has long been considered the energetically most demanding phase of the avian breeding cycle. Arctic-breeding shorebirds expend large amounts of energy during breeding. Because they are too small to carry sufficient stores to sit out the incubation period, they regularly interrupt incubation to feed and still can run short of energy, particularly in species in which one adult takes care of the eggs and chicks alone (uniparental). We measured daily energy expenditure (DEE) and time budgets during incubation and chick rearing in the smallest uniparental Arctic shorebird, the Little Stint ( Calidris minuta ). Daily energy expenditure decreased with increasing temperature but did not differ between the incubation and chick-rearing periods. Because of the increase in potential foraging time from incubation to the chick-rearing phase, the foraging intake rate required to balance the budget dropped by two-thirds. To evaluate the effect of uniparental care on energy budgets, we also measured DEE in the Dunlin ( C. alpina), a sympatric congener in which both parents incubate but the female deserts the brood after hatching. Daily energy expenditure decreased with temperature, was the same during incubation and chick rearing, and was higher in males. Our results are discussed in relation to the timing of breeding of Arctic shorebirds with different systems of parental care.


Competition can lead to differences in body size between syntopic and allotopic conspecific populations. Salamandra atra and S. salamandra are parapatric but have narrow contact zones where the two species are likely to compete. To test for divergence in functional traits in S. atra, we compared its body size and mass between locations where the species is syntopic or allotopic with S. salamandra. Using mixed-effect models, we found no significant differences in body size or mass between syntopic and allotopic locations. This suggests either that the two species do not compete or that competition does not lead to divergence in body size in S. atra.


Phylogenetic relationships of mushrooms and their relatives within the order Agaricales were addressed by using nuclear large subunit ribosomal DNA sequences. Approximately 900 bases of the 5' end of the nucleus-encoded large subunit RNA gene were sequenced for 154 selected taxa representing most families within the Agaricales. Several phylogenetic methods were used, including weighted and equally weighted parsimony (MP), maximum likelihood (ML), and distance methods (NJ). The starting tree for branch swapping in the ML analyses was the tree with the highest ML score among previously produced MP and NJ trees. A high degree of consensus was observed between phylogenetic estimates obtained through MP and ML. NJ trees differed according to the distance model that was used; however, all NJ trees still supported most of the same terminal groupings as the MP and ML trees did. NJ trees were always significantly suboptimal when evaluated against the best MP and ML trees, by both parsimony and likelihood tests. Our analyses suggest that weighted MP and ML provide the best estimates of Agaricales phylogeny. Similar support was observed between bootstrapping and jackknifing methods for evaluation of tree robustness. Phylogenetic analyses revealed many groups of agaricoid fungi that are supported by moderate to high bootstrap or jackknife values or are consistent with morphology-based classification schemes. Analyses also support separate placement of the boletes and russules, which are basal to the main core group of gilled mushrooms (the Agaricineae of Singer). Examples of monophyletic groups include the families Amanitaceae, Coprinaceae (excluding Coprinus comatus and subfamily Panaeolideae), Agaricaceae (excluding the Cystodermateae), and Strophariaceae pro parte (Stropharia, Pholiota, and Hypholoma); the mycorrhizal species of Tricholoma (including Leucopaxillus, also mycorrhizal); Mycena and Resinomycena; Termitomyces, Podabrella, and Lyophyllum; and Pleurotus with Hohenbuehelia. Several groups revealed by these data to be nonmonophyletic include the families Tricholomataceae, Cortinariaceae, and Hygrophoraceae and the genera Clitocybe, Omphalina, and Marasmius. This study provides a framework for future systematics studies in the Agaricales and suggestions for analyzing large molecular data sets.


Recent developments in U.S. constitutional law challenge the U.S. Congress's ability to lead on environmental matters. First, there have been major constitutional challenges to the domestic environmental regulatory authority of Congress. Through recent decisions, the Supreme Court has resurrected a pro-state doctrine of federalism. The Court's federalism could result in a restrictive reading of the Commerce Clause that has, in the past, been used as a constitutional justification for federal regulatory authority on important national policy matters. Hence, this new federalism may challenge the federal government's authority to regulate environmental matters at the state level. Second, there is a major constitutional challenge to Congress's financial ability to regulate environmental protection. Through a recent Supreme Court decision, constitutional constraint on federally-created environmental regulations has been established, based upon the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause. The Supreme Court has created a constitutional restriction on congressionally-driven environmental policy. The Court decided that federal wetlands legislation may constitute "takings," protected by the Fifth Amendment, for which the federal government must compensate affected property owners. This constitutional interpretation could add unanticipated costs to federal environmental regulation. Third, there is a major challenge to the sovereignty of Congress over environmental protection. Because the law of international treaties is supreme, according to the Constitution, congressionally-generated environmental policy can be superseded by international agreement. Over the last several years, international environmental treaties have increased. The most recent "treaty," the Kyoto Protocol, seeks to address global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Effectively, it creates domestic environmental "law," without the benefit of full congressional debate, review, and enactment. These three recent constitutional developments, including the Supreme Court's challenge to the Commerce Clause, the Supreme Court's application of "takings" analysis to federal wetlands legislation, and the use of international treaties to dictate U.S. environmental policy, are very disturbing. Unchecked, they would virtually destroy the U.S. Congress's sovereignty over environmental policy. This would result in a major change in the landscape of U.S. environmental policy, both domestically and abroad. This article raises the question: How should the United States develop its environmental policy? It analyzes three different policy-making paradigms: (1) the "federalism" paradigm, wherein individual states develop their own environmental policies; (2) the "takings" paradigm, wherein environmental regulations are analyzed as property rights under the Fifth Amendment, requiring just compensation; and (3) the "treaty" paradigm, wherein international agreements determine U.S. domestic environmental policy. In analyzing the different policy-making paradigms, this article looks critically at U.S. environmental policy development, focusing on the role the U.S. Congress plays in developing environmental policy. This article evaluates how recent constitutional developments threaten the sovereignty of the U.S. Congress as the major environmental policy driver in the world. In addition to analyzing the restrictions on Congress's authority to determine environmental policy, this article suggests what direction Congress should take to reestablish its leadership role. It looks closely at the federal government's regulation of U.S.-based companies' environmental behavior abroad. The overarching issue of what environmental standards U.S. corporations should adopt when doing business abroad will be explored, in conjunction with a description of recently developed standards for addressing international environmental protection. This article proposes the development of a market-driven international corporate environmental management program. Specifically, it suggests that the U.S. Congress pass legislation requiring U.S.-based companies to comply with U.S. environmental laws, not only when operating domestically, but also when operating abroad or internationally, creating a Global Environmental Protection Act (GEPA). As a result, the United States will re-establish environmental policy sovereignty, domestically, and internationally.


Researchers have argued that conceptualization of cognitive mechanisms that underlie framing is vague and have proposed an applicability model to account for cognitive processes contributing to framing effects (Price & Tewksbury, 1997). The applicability model assumes the central roles of schema and views framing effects as applicability effects. In particular, it assumes that media framing will only have an effect if it resonates with pre-existing schemata held by audience members. The study described in this thesis tests the applicability model and its assumption of relevant schemata through a two-by-two experimental design. Through a national, computer assisted telephone survey of 781 respondents, the study utilizes a split-ballot technique to measure the effects of two frames (regulation versus nonregulation) on issues related to biotechnology and genetically modified food products. A secondary manipulation, varying the order of schemata measures (frame first versus schema measures first), tests the role of schemata in framing effects. Causal attributions, attributions of responsibility, and policy opinions are measured as outcomes of the main manipulation, or framing effects. Additional variables including demographics, attention to science and technology news across three media, awareness and support of biotechnology, and ideology were collected to control for and assess other influences on the outcome variables. Analyses included independent t-tests to look for differences between the four experimental groups. Respondents' schematic strengths were assessed through six measures. Twelve measures assessed causal attributions, responsibility attributions, and policy opinions toward regulation of biotechnology. Results reveal that schemata are directly related to people's attributions and opinions on issues related to biotechnology and media attention is directly related to schema development. In particular, attention to science and technology news on television, in newspapers, and on the Internet contributed to stronger Information schemata, which emphasize the importance of science and research in determining the risks and safety of genetically modified food products. Television was the only medium that was related to Regulation schemata, which emphasize regulation as a necessity to protect consumers from the effects of biotechnology and preserve the environment. Framing effects occurred across particular schematic strength groups. Two different schematic groups were more likely to attribute risks associated with biotechnology to global causes such as the nature of science and information if they were exposed to the Non-Regulation frame, which emphasized that science and research should determine if new regulations should be made. Furthermore, respondents with stronger schemata (medium Regulation and high Information schematic strength) were more likely to agree with treatment as the cause of risk when exposed to the Regulation frame, which argued that the FDA must require research and create regulations to protect citizens from unsafe products. However, differences in Global attributions were not found across the seven other schematic groups. Respondents with high Regulation schemas were more likely to attribute responsibility to the government even when they were exposed to the Non-Regulation frame. Framing effects were not found for policy opinions and responsibility attribution to other groups such as non-governmental groups, trade groups and private corporations, and individuals. These results suggest that schema determine to a large extent, whether or not framing effects would occur and thus, provide some support for the Applicability model of framing effects. Furthermore, interaction effects were found between the main manipulation (type of frame) and the secondary manipulation (order of schemata measures) for particular schematic groups. Framing of genetically modified foods influenced policy opinions for particular schemata groups that were exposed to the schema measures after the frame manipulation, indicating that the content of schema measures may have contributed further to framing effects. Question order and possible priming effects are discussed. In sum, the results provide limited support for the Applicability model and demonstrate the need for further research into the cognitive mechanisms that underlie framing effects. Future study can further illuminate the complexity of audience schemas and their role in framing effects. Understanding of these cognitive mechanisms can be used in both development and political communication campaigns, where message receptibility will depend on audience awareness and schematic frameworks. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Yufen Chen began her graduate training in communication theory and research at Cornell University in 2002. Prior to graduate school, Yufen worked in advertising and interactive marketing for five years. She received her Bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1997 with dual majors in Psychology and Communication.


A new technique based on transmission intensity-quotient ellipsometry has been developed for determining the fibril angle and the relative phase retardation of single, intact pulp fibers. The method uses a polarizing microscope in conjunction with a microscope video camera or CCD camera. Requiring no sample pretreatment, the new method is simple, fast, more accurate than existing methods, and nondestructive of the fiber material. To test the new method, we employed the multiwavelength measurement principle. It is based on the fact that the fibril angle is independent of wavelength, while the relative retardation is inversely proportional to the wavelength used. Measurements were carried out with single pulp fibers as samples under the illumination of different light wavelengths. The measurements and some results are described and presented.


This research represents a systematic investigation and analysis of student drop-out in a college of Further Education. Traditionally, this aspect of post-compulsory education has been under-researched. Colleges are beginning to recognise the benefits of curriculum research. While there remains a certain amount of hostility towards such non-traditional activity, such research resistance, in its institutional context forms part of the discussion within the thesis. Student drop-out has been defined as premature withdrawal from a course of study. The investigation focused on the experiences of drop-outs while they attended college, their school history, their family relationships and their personal explanations for leaving College. A multiple strategy method (loose triangulation) was used to gather information about drop-outs and these data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Further Education, and especially the recent changes brought about by 'incorporation' of Colleges under the aegis of 'market forces' has formed the context for the research field. The research identified several significant factors relative to student retention. The most significant being the mismatch between the prior expectations of prospective students with the reality encountered once their course commences. Other barriers to successful completion were also identified, the most significant of which was the attitude of teachers at the drop-out's previous school. Family relationships were also found to be instrumental in student completion. Four types of drop-out have been identified: 1. the early drop-out, who enroled on the wrong course, 2. the opportunist drop-out, who came to College because they had nothing better to do at the time, 3. the consumer drop-out, who buys a course (usually skills based) and leaves when they are satisfied that they have learnt enough, 4. the life crisis drop-out, who is the victim of accident, ill health or misfortune. The empirical evidence collected during this research contradicts the commonly accepted view that drop-outs are a 'drain' on society. It is shown that the word 'drop-out' has developed a power of its own and is employed in the social control of students. The research concludes that student retention can be improved and course completion rates increase. When monitoring procedures adequately reflect the real number of students dropping out, coupled with prevention methods which recognise the need for better preenrolment guidance, and meaningful intervention to reclaim these lost students and redirect their studies, drop-out could become a phenomenon of the past.


Context. A high fraction of massive stars are found to be binaries but only a few of them are reported as photometrically variable. By studying the populations of double-lined spectroscopic binaries in the 30 Doradus region, we found a subset of them that have photometry from the OGLE project and that display variations in their light curves related to orbital motions.
Aims. The goal of this study is to determine the dynamical masses and radii of the 26 binary components in order to investigate the mass-discrepancy problem and to provide an empirical mass-luminosity relation for the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).
Methods. We use the PHOEBE programme to perform a systematic analysis of the OGLE V and I light curves obtained for 13 binary systems in the 30 Doradus region. We adopt the effective temperatures, and orbital parameters derived previously to obtain the inclinations of the systems and the parameters of the individual components.
Results. Three systems display eclipses in their light curves, while the others only display ellipsoidal variations. We classify two systems as over-contact, five as semi-detached, and four as detached. The two remaining systems have uncertain configurations due to large uncertainties on their inclinations. The fact that systems display ellipsoidal variations has a significant impact on the inclination errors. From the dynamical masses, luminosities, and radii, we provide LMC-based empirical mass-luminosity and mass-radius relations, and we compare them to other relations given for the Galaxy, the LMC, and the Small Magellanic Cloud. These relations differ for different mass ranges, but do not seem to depend on the metallicity regimes. We also compare the dynamical, spectroscopic, and evolutionary masses of the stars in our sample. While the dynamical and spectroscopic masses agree with each other, the evolutionary masses are systematically higher, at least for stars in semi-detached systems. This suggests that the mass discrepancy can be partly explained by past or ongoing interactions between the stars.


Abstract. Passive submillimeter-wave sensors are a way to obtain urgently needed global data on ice clouds, particularly on the so far poorly characterized "essential climate variable" ice water path (IWP) and on ice particle size. CloudIce was a mission proposal to the European Space Agency ESA in response to the call for Earth Explorer 8 (EE8), which ran in 2009/2010. It proposed a passive submillimeter-wave sensor with channels ranging from 183 GHz to 664 GHz. The article describes the CloudIce mission proposal, with particular emphasis on describing the algorithms for the data-analysis of submillimeter-wave cloud ice data (retrieval algorithms) and demonstrating their maturity. It is shown that we have a robust understanding of the radiative properties of cloud ice in the millimeter/submillimeter spectral range, and that we have a proven toolbox of retrieval algorithms to work with these data. Although the mission was not selected for EE8, the concept will be useful as a reference for other future mission proposals.


Despite hydrogen embrittlement has been known for more than a century a clear explanation of the governing mechanism is still missing. This is mainly due to the intrinsic complexities of the experimental examination of hydrogen embrittlement. On the basis of these complexities, an experimental approach, in situ electrochemical nanoindentation, is proposed and performed on different materials. This technique is capable of registering the onset of plasticity in extremely small volumes, namely perfect crystals in hydrogen free and charged conditions. It is shown that hydrogen reduces the required stress for the onset of plasticity due to reduction in the dislocation line energy. This is explained by the Defactant Concept, i.e. reduction of the defect formation energy in the presence of hydrogen. Thus, neither hydrogen enhanced decohesion (HEDE) nor hydrogen enhanced plasticity (HELP), but the reduction in the defect formation energy are responsible for hydrogen embrittlement. The change in the dislocation line energy measured during nanoindentation can be successfully used to evaluate the intrinsic resistivity of the examined alloy or metal against hydrogen embrittlement. This makes in situ ECNI a versatile technique for development of new hydrogen resistant alloys.


We report a study of ultrafast laser waveguide inscription in two magneto-optical glasses. Two types of femtosecond laser systems operating in kHz and MHz repetition rate regimes are used for waveguide fabrication. Single mode waveguides in the visible are obtained in both writing regimes and exhibit distinct optical properties depending on laser writing conditions and the nature of glasses. Photodarkening, produced as a fabrication byproduct and associated with waveguide propagation loss, is shown to be reversible via annealing. Photodarkening behaves differently in the magneto-optical glasses studied, most likely due to large differences in the concentration of lanthanum and/or gallium in the materials.


The juvenile hormone binding protein (JHBP) was purified from the hemolymph of Hyphantria cunea (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) using anion exchange, gel filtration, and Mono P FPLC chromatofocusing chromatography. The protein is a single polypeptide (M r 32,000) with an apparent dissociation constant of 0.43 μ M for juvenile hormone III. An antibody developed against hemolymph JHBP (hJHBP) was prepared, and use of it showed that a protein immunologically identical with hJHBP occurs in fat body and ovary. The hJHBP of H. cunea was neither immunologically related to the lipophorin from H. cunea nor similar to the hJHBP of Bombyx mori and Periplaneta americana .


Based on detailed payroll data of blue collar male and female labor in Britain's engineering and metal working industrial sectors between the mid-1920s and mid-1960s, we provide empirical evidence in respect of several central themes in the piecework-timework wage literature. The period covers part of the heyday of pieceworking as well as the start of its post-war decline. We show the importance of relative piece rate flexibility during the Great Depression as well as during the build up to WWII and during the war itself. We account for the very significant decline in the differentials after the war. Labor market topics include piecework pay in respect of compensating differentials, labor heterogeneity, and the transaction costs of pricing piecework output.


Background Admixture can facilitate adaptation. For example, black wolves have obtained the variant causing black coat color through past hybridization with domestic dogs and have higher fitness than gray colored wolves. Another recent example of the transfer of adaptive variation between the two species has been suggested by the similarity between high altitude Tibetan mastiffs and wolves at the EPAS1 gene, a transcription factor induced in low oxygen environments. Methods Here, we investigate the directionality of admixture in EPAS1 between 28 reference highland gray wolves, 15 reference domestic dogs, and 21 putatively admixed highland wolves. This experimental design represents an expanded sample of Asian dogs and wolves from previous studies. Admixture was inferred using 17,709 publicly available SNP genotypes on canine chromosome 10. We additionally conducted a scan for positive selection in the highland dog genome. Results We find an excess of highland gray wolf ancestry at the EPAS1 locus in highland domestic dogs, suggesting adaptive introgression from wolves to dogs. The signal of admixture is limited in genomic extent to a small region on chromosome 10, indicating that it is the focus of selection in an oxygen-limited environment. Discussion Our results suggest that an adaptive variant of EPAS1 in highland wolves was transferred to highland dogs, carrying linked variants that potentially function in hypoxia response at high elevation. The intertwined history of dogs and wolves ensures a unique evolutionary dynamic where variants that have appeared in the history of either species can be tested for their effects on fitness under natural and artificial selection. Such coupled evolutionary histories may be key to the persistence of wild canines and their domesticated kin given the increasing anthropogenic modifications that characterize the future of both species.


Abstract : This paper discusses a model-based architectural approach for improving predictability of performance in embedded real-time systems. This approach utilizes automated analysis of task and communication architectures to provide insight into schedulability and reliability during design. Automatic generation of a runtime executive that performs task dispatching and inter-task communication eliminates manual coding errors and results in a system that satisfies the specified execution behavior. The MetaH language and toolset supports this model-based approach. MetaH has been used by the U.S. Army in a pilot project applied to missile guidance systems. Reduced time and cost benefits that have been observed will be discussed as a case study. The paper closes by outlining the current state of commercial availability of such technology and efforts to develop standards, such as those put forth by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE); Avionics Systems Division (ASD); working group on Avionics Architecture Description Language (AADL); and the Object Management Group (OMG) Unified Modeling Language (UML) working group on real-time and performance support in UML.


RF shielded enclosures have been common features in laboratories and manufacturing areas for over 70 years. They provide a quiet environment where RF measurements can be performed without interference from outdoor sources and are used to keep potentially classified frequencies and modulations from leaking out. In general, these shielded rooms have shielded doors to maintain the shielding integrity of the enclosure until they are opened. In some cases, to maintain the shielding integrity as personnel moves from the inside to the outside of the room and vice-versa, dual shielded doors with a small vestibule between them are used. However, the presence of multiple doors increases the time to access the enclosure. To solve this, some enclosures are designed featuring access passages to maintain the shielding integrity over a broad frequency without the use of doors. Although this type of access has been around for over 40 years, its design has never been discussed in the literature. In this paper, a door-less access is analyzed and some design rules are presented. The limitations of these accesses are also presented. While clearly they do not have the shielding performance of a shielded door, they are ideal for certain applications.


Why are some photographs so much more effective and powerful than others? What Makes Great Photography showcases 80 outstanding photographs from the first daguerrotypes to today's digital masterpieces and by photographers as diverse as Alfred Stieglitz, Diane Arbus, Ernst Haas and Don McCullin. Val Williams highlights the elements of each photograph that distinguishes it from its peers, such as composition, colour, texture and fidelity to subject, explaining just what it is that makes it so great. Her insightful text will open your eyes to the defining qualities of the key photographs of every period and genre, from portraiture to landscape and from photojournalism to the nude.


Demand response (DR) is known as a key solution in modern power systems and electricity markets for mitigating wind power uncertainties. However, effective incorporation of DR into power system operation scheduling needs knowledge of the price–elastic demand curve that relies on several factors such as estimation of a customer's elasticity as well as their participation level in DR programs. To overcome this challenge, this paper proposes a novel autonomous DR scheme without prediction of the price–elastic demand curve so that the DR providers apply their selected load profiles ranked in the high priority to the independent system operator (ISO). The energy and reserve markets clearing procedures have been run by using a multi-objective decision-making framework. In fact, its objective function includes the operation cost and the customer's disutility based on the final individual load profile for each DR provider. A two-stage stochastic model is implemented to solve this scheduling problem, which is a mixed-integer linear programming approach. The presented approach is tested on a modified IEEE 24-bus system. The performance of the proposed model is successfully evaluated from economic, technical and wind power integration aspects from the ISO viewpoint.


BACKGROUND
Previous work has shown that patients with conduct problems (CP) show impairments in reinforcement-based decision-making. However, studies with patients have not previously demonstrated any relationships between impairment in any of the neurocomputations underpinning reinforcement-based decision-making and specific symptom sets [e.g. level of CP and/or callous-unemotional (CU) traits].

METHODS
Seventy-two youths [20 female, mean age = 13.81 (SD = 2.14), mean IQ = 102.34 (SD = 10.99)] from a residential treatment program and the community completed a passive avoidance task while undergoing functional MRI.

RESULTS
Greater levels of CP were associated with poorer task performance. Reduced representation of expected values (EV) when making avoidance responses within bilateral anterior insula cortex/inferior frontal gyrus (AIC/iFG) and striatum was associated with greater levels of CP but not CU traits.

CONCLUSIONS
The current data indicate that difficulties in the use of value information to motivate decisions to avoid suboptimal choices are associated with increased levels of CP (though not severity of CU traits). Moreover, they account for the behavioral deficits observed during reinforcement-based decision-making in youth with CP. In short, an individual's relative failure to utilize value information within AIC/iFG to avoid bad choices is associated with elevated levels of CP.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The role of socioeconomic status (SES) and its contribution to ethnic differences in standards attainment among dialysis patients is not known.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS
We examined associations between area- level SES (Townsend index) and ethnicity (white, black, South Asian) and standards attainment in 14,117 incident dialysis patients (1997-2004) in the UK.

RESULTS
Deprived patients were less likely to achieve hemoglobin (Hb) > or = 10 g/dl (trend P < 0.001) but not after controlling for patient and center characteristics (trend P = 0.1). There was no association with hemodialysis dose and parathyroid hormone (PTH) standard but deprived patients had better attainment of phosphate (PO4) <5.6 mg/dl, calcium (Ca) and Calcium-phosphate (CaPO4) standard (e.g., most deprived versus least deprived adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.25, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.12, 1.38). There was no association with SES using a lower limit for PO4 (3.5 - 5.5 mg/dl). Compared with Whites, Blacks had lower attainment of Hb (adjusted OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.45, 0.71) and PTH standards (adjusted OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.22, 0.33) but better attainment of PO4 and CaPO4, while South Asians experienced better or comparable outcomes for most standards except Ca and PTH.

CONCLUSIONS
There was no evidence of socioeconomic inequity in standards attainment or a consistent pattern of inequity by ethnic group. The lower attainment of some standards in ethnic minorities may reflect biologic differences rather than ethnicity-related inequity of care.


Biodiesei is produced by adding methyl ester products to diesel fuel. Base catalyzed transesterification of oil with methanol is the primary process used today. Current dry mill ethanol production facilities allow the com oil to pass through the process where it becomes part of the dried distiller's grain with solubles (DDGS), a lower valued feed coproduct. This study evaluated the economic feasibility of integrating a biodiesei production facility with existing and/or new dry mill ethanol plants. The following methods for com oil separation were considered; hexane extraction of com oil from the dried distiller's grain stream, initial germ separation and subsequent oil extraction from the germ, and extraction of oil from the thin stillage stream using a centrifuge. Currently the majority of research in the economics of biodiesei is focused on the use of soybean or canola oil to produce the product. Studies in Georgia (Shumaker et al.), Kansas (Coltrain), and North Dakota (Van Wechel et al.) have all focused on using soybeans as the initial oil source. This study is the initial evaluation for the use of com oil as the feed stock. The study found that all methods for oil separation showed potential for payback of capital investment in less than five years. This study found that producing biodiesei with com oil, from a dry mill ethanol plant, as a feed stock is economically feasible. Additionally, using com oil to the production of renewable fuels can help to decrease our nation's dependence on imported oil.


I spent 29 March to 16 April (2003) in India, as the guest of BAIF. I, Mr P.K. Shirsath and Mr A. Bidhe were also the guests of three other NGOs. The four NGOs are: * BAIF--Bharatiya Agro-Industries Foundation is a development/research foundation committed to sustainable rural development, food security and clean environment. Pune, Mahrashtra. * GIDE--Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology is an organisation for the conservation of Banni, Grasslands. Bhuj (Kachchh), Gujarat. * KALA RAKSHA--'Society and Trust' is a grassroots organisation to preserve and protect traditional arts; to enhance (after re-accommodations) the use of the Bhonga (the traditional round-shaped adobe house, once the prevalent residential form in the Kachchh district), Sumrasar Sheikh, Gujarat. * LPPS--Lokhit Pashu Palak Sansthan ('The Camel in India') is an organisation to enhance the breeding of camels--a threatened livestock in India. Sadri, Rajasthan. Scholarly Effort to Reinforce Village Communities The four aforementioned organisations share a commitment to better the future of India's rural communities by improving the quality of production, which would raise their standard of living, thus improving quality of life. All four NGOs acknowledge the key role that rural development plays in the general effort to secure the nation's future and restore dignity to village life, as in Gandhi's vision of the 'royal village': gram rajya (Howard 2000). All four share the opinion that stabilisation of the rural community is necessary to staunch the flow of migration from village to town. As a result, the phenomenon of neighbourhood's of poverty forming on the outskirts of towns might decline. Gandhi's disciple Mr. Manibhai Desai, the founder of BAIF, set the tone of the organisation's objectives--to improve life for those living in rural, rather than, urban areas. If one views India's economic burden as being tied mainly to what transpires in its rural sector, then one must call for a mobilisation of the resources of government and NGOs. In addition, mission-driven, devoted teams of academicians should volunteer to work hand-in-hand with India's villagers to help them prosper. Science's newest offerings to improve agriculture and facilitate agricultural work, should be made available to the rural sector. Our work tour was planned, with the assistance of Mr P.K. Shirsath of BAIF, so that I could learn about BAIF's state of the art program. Escorted by BAIF experts, I visited various farming communities, and we were able to sense at firsthand, the concerns and the difficulties encountered by herding communities along India's desert frontier. We discussed how the formation of better rural communities comprised of agriculturists and shepherds, who would benefit from reciprocal cooperation, could be encouraged. For example, herders can clean the stubble fields by grazing their animals on them after the harvest, or by exchange of agricultural and animal produce. Our itinerary included areas where stubble fields were grazed by herds not owned by the farmers. The herders had either been invited by the farmers or had, upon their own initiative, brought the livestock to these fields to forage on village land. Supporting Rural Communities--Objectives BAIF acts to encourage and support traditional farming, side-by-side with development, i.e., modernisation of agricultural methods, as long as they are congruent with the farmers' views. In order to ensure a positive reception in the villages, BAIF experts try to avoid altercations relating to the villagers' culture, tenets of creed or ideational views. For example, nourishment traditions, unequal division of arable lands, anti-social regulation of entitlement to real estate, caste prohibitions that limit integration of Others, family planning, etc. Land reform (Vinoba Bahave's campaign of the 1950-1960s) and the concerns of demography (Indira Gandhi's campaign of the 1970s) all remain relevant for India's future, but, as of yet, are beyond the scope of BAIF staff. …


Background/Aims Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) which are the most effective agents for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), have been known to delay gastric emptying. Mosapride has been used as prokinetics by accelerating gastric emptying. We evaluated the efficacy of mosapride to prevent PPI-induced delayed gastric emptying in a prospective randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled trial. Methods Thirty patients who were diagnosed as GERD and had normal gastric emptying were included in this study. PPI monotherapy group was treated with placebo drug in addition to pantoprazole and PPI plus mosapride group was treated with mosapride in addition to pantoprazole for 8 weeks. Gastric emptying scan and questionnaires about GERD and dyspeptic symptoms were assessed by scoring before and after treatment. To evaluate the changes of gastrointestinal endocrine hormones by PPI which are associated gastric acid secretion and gastric motility, fasting plasma gastrin and cholecystokinin were taken at weeks 0 and 8. Results Half gastric emptying time was increased (P = 0.023) in PPI monotherapy group, and there were no significant changes in PPI plus mosapride group. Plasma gastrin level increased in PPI monotherpay group (P = 0.028) and there were no significant changes in PPI plus mosapride group. Plasma cholecystokinin level was not changed after treatment in both groups. GERD symptoms were improved after treatment in both groups, and postprandial bloating and nausea were improved in PPI plus mosapride group. Conclusions Mosapride showed to be effective in preventing delayed gastric emptying and the increase in plasma gastrin level induced by PPI treatment, but did not show prominent clinical symptom improvements.


This paper describes the standalone magnet cold testing of the high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet Feather-M2.1-2. This magnet was constructed within the European funded FP7-EUCARD2 collaboration to test a Roebel type HTS cable, and is one of the first high temperature superconducting dipole magnets in the world. The magnet was operated in forced flow helium gas with temperatures ranging between 5 and 85 K. During the tests a magnetic dipole field of 3.1 T was reached inside the aperture at a current of 6.5 kA and a temperature of 5.7 K. These values are in agreement with the self-field critical current of the used SuperOx cable assembled with Sunam tapes (low-performance batch), thereby confirming that no degradation occurred during winding, impregnation, assembly and cool-down of the magnet. The magnet was quenched many tens of times by ramping over the critical current and no degradation nor training was evident. During the tests the voltage over the coil was monitored in the microvolt range. An inductive cancellation wire was used to remove the inductive component, thereby significantly reducing noise levels. Close to the quench current, drift was detected both in temperature and voltage over the coil. This drifting happens in a time scale of minutes and is a clear indication that the magnet has reached its limit. All quenches happened approximately at the same average electric field and thus none of the quenches occurred unexpectedly.


This paper develops eight propositions regarding internationalization processes for small and medium‐sized tourism firms (SMTFs). A SMTF is defined here as a company that produces a tourist attraction locally, its product based on local resources. This means that SMTFs rely on customers seeking them on the firms' home market. This has implications for the SMTF's expansion into new markets and, consequently, its internationalization process. In a study based on the propositions, the internationalization processes of ten Swedish SMTFs were investigated. It was found that some SMTFs internationalized slowly; initially displayed a reactive and emergent approach, and entered markets that were culturally and geographically close. Born global SMTFs, however, searched more actively for opportunities, also in more remote markets. Intermediaries were the dominant mode throughout the process for all firms. Over time, most of the SMTFs developed a more strategic and deliberate approach in their selection of counterparts and new markets. The support of a destination management organization was important initially for some of the firms.


The emergence of gay subcultures in Africa can be attributed to the colonial entrenchment of homophobia and homophobic laws. This emergence of gay subcultures alongside the merciless homophobia necessitated the creation of secretive forms of linguistic communication amongst the sub cultured gays. Among the Nguni people of South Africa, isiNgqumo emerged as the lingua franca within the Nguni gay subculture. This study focuses on the Nguni gay subculture in Durban and the employment of isiNgqumo by township and city/urban Nguni gay men termed skesanas. 36 young Nguni homosexual men and one older Nguni man were the participants who were interviewed. The methodology that was used in this study was ethnography. The study also relied on a snowballing technique to access numerous of the 36 young Nguni homosexual men. The study found that the Nguni gay subculture of Durban is stratified throughout several places within Durban, it is not one geographical location. Two gay clubs and two gay salons were visited as they are some of the locations where the Nguni gay subculture is located.


Orthographic and grammatical errors are a common feature of informal texts written by lay people. Health-related questions asked by consumers are a case in point. Automatic interpretation of consumer health questions is hampered by such errors. In this paper, we propose a method that combines techniques based on edit distance and frequency counts with a contextual similarity-based method for detecting and correcting orthographic errors, including misspellings, word breaks, and punctuation errors. We evaluate our method on a set of spell-corrected questions extracted from the NLM collection of consumer health questions. Our method achieves a F1 score of 0.61, compared to an informed baseline of 0.29, achieved using ESpell, a spelling correction system developed for biomedical queries. Our results show that orthographic similarity is most relevant in spelling error correction in consumer health questions and that frequency and contextual information are complementary to orthographic features.


In this paper we examine the work of bioethics in the enactment of medically drugged bodies by focusing on the development of an oral pre-exposure chemo (drug) prophylaxis for preventing HIV, called PrEP. Our aim is to show how the operationalisation of bioethics to mediate drug development obscures a more complex and relational dynamic out of which emerges the qualities and, indeed, problematics of bodies incorporated into PrEP. Our analysis is drawn from a small body of literature from trial affected communities, advocacy groups, researchers and trial sponsors. In particular, we focus on bioethical questions about how best to protect the interests of participants in 'offshore' randomised clinical trials. We argue that the predominant bioethical frame insufficiently addresses the challenges posed by PrEP. By rendering PrEP a singular thing that differs across contexts, more fruitful alternative conceptions are obscured. Specifically, we argue that PrEP trials should be conceived as 'ontologically multiple'—emerging out of divergent assemblages of heterogeneous entities, including material and cultural differences in and across context-specific bodies. On the basis of this alternative account of PrEP, we propose that the bioethical work of pharmaceutical development can become more inclusive.