The German Armed Forces contribute to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). This is the first time in more than 20 years that Germany has deployed a strong contingent for a United Nations peacekeeping operation, though the UN's multilateral crisis management is currently required to operate in very different conflict contexts. The Federal Government should scrutinize how Germany can participate more comprehensively and more strategically in these missions than it has done up to now. There are a number of reasons to sustain, prioritize and extend this commitment which pertains to issues of strategy, personnel policy, training and equipment.


The beginning of 2020 brought us information about the novel coronavirus emerging in China. Rapid research resulted in the characterization of the pathogen, which appeared to be a member of the SARS-like cluster, commonly seen in bats. Despite the global and local efforts, the virus escaped the healthcare measures and rapidly spread in China and later globally, officially causing a pandemic and global crisis in March 2020. At present, different scenarios are being written to contain the virus, but the development of novel anticoronavirals for all highly pathogenic coronaviruses remains the major challenge. Here, we describe the antiviral activity of previously developed by us HTCC compound (N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-3-trimethylammonium chitosan chloride), which may be used as potential inhibitor of currently circulating highly pathogenic coronaviruses – SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV.


Title of Document: THE TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATOR MPHR(A): CHARACTERIZATION AND CIRCUIT ENGINEERING Adam Smolinsky, Master of Science, 2008 Directed By: Dr. T. Ashton Cropp, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry The MphR(A) transcriptional repressor protein was incorporated into high-efficiency expression vectors, purified and characterized. Initial screens for crystallography solvents were conducted along with preliminary gel-shift and intrinsic fluorescence quenching experiments to obtain the equilibrium dissociation constant for the protein-DNA interactions. The constant was found to be 0.5 – 1.9 M, depending on the method used. The gene was also incorporated into positive feedback circuits to detect macrolide antibiotics using various reporter genes and plasmid constructs. Qualitatively, the circuits showed a change in output upon the addition of MphR to the system. THE TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATOR MPHR(A): CHARACTERIZATION AND CIRCUIT ENGINEERING


The research underlying this thesis explored the development of a customised, intelligent and automated approach to web usability evaluation. An extensive survey of existing web usability evaluation tools was carried out to identify to weaknesses that could be investigated. As result three different issues are addressed in this thesis: Improving and testing usability guidelines particularly for languages other than English; Customising the evaluation; Developing an intelligent (capable of learning) evaluation technique. This thesis presents a new methodology that uses agent technology, which can act and interact on behalf of its owner (the webmaster), to evaluate web pages. The evaluation involves two kinds of customisation, one which reflects the users' tastes and the other the aims of the webmaster. In investigating customisation of web pages to reflect users' tastes the research considered applying this multilingual interface agent approach to the evaluation of multilingual pages in scripts other than the usual Latin. But no guidelines appear to exist for such scripts thus the first difficulty in assessing non-English web pages is the lack of any reliable guidelines. In order to explore multilingual evaluation the researcher first had established guidelines and chose to investigate Arabic. As result usability guidelines for Arabic were established via usability testing. The guidelines are an interesting result of the research in themselves. This thesis presents a set of usability guidelines appropriate for evaluating Arabic web pages produced by testing 196 Arabic users. Also, it validates some of the current usability guidelines for Latin scripts. An interesting variation appeared between the presentations of the two dissimilar scripts, these variations affect font size, emphasized text presentation, the number of links in the web page and the meanings associated with colours. The second form of customisation is represented in the ability to modify the usability evaluation to reflect the webmaster's preferences. This requires an intelligent approach involving learning. Three different kinds of learning were considered; fuzzy average learning, fuzzy learning and Q-learning. All are examined in this thesis in order to identify the most appropriate approach to apply. As the multilingual interface agent learns form its webmaster, Q-learning produced the most accurate evaluation. This thesis represents a useful first step towards multilingual, intelligent, automated web usability evaluation using an agent technique. The automated web usability, multilingual interface agent developed can be customised to suit its users and improve its evaluation in response to the needs of its owner.


Stefano Harney and Fred Moten Building on the ideas Harney and Moten developed in The Undercommons, All Incomplete extends the critical investigation of logistics, individuation and sovereignty. It reflects their chances to travel, listen and deepen their commitment to and claim upon partiality. All Incomplete studies the history of a preference for the force and ground and underground of social existence. ISBN:9781570273780 Spring, 2021 c.232pp. 6"x9" c.$30


Nonlinear intrachannel interactions responsible for timing shifts in a transmission system with strong periodic dispersion management are investigated. Formulas describing the evolution of the timing shift are obtained for general bit patterns. When average dispersion is negligible, the timing shift is shown to grow linearly in distance in a system with loss and lumped amplification, whereas in a lossless system the timing shift is sufficiently small at every chirp-free point. The analysis agrees with direct numerical simulations.


This study examined the extent to which postgraduate students of the Universities of Agriculture libraries in Nigeria utilize journals in their libraries for research purposes. Survey research design was adopted. A total of 1,275 copies of a questionnaire were distributed among the postgraduate students of the three Universities of Agriculture in Nigeria of which there were 914 (71.69%) responses. The questionnaire sought for information on how often they use journals, constraints to the use of journals, the kinds of journals they preferred most (printed or electronic) and the currency and relevance of journals to their field of research. The result indicated that the greatest frequency usage of journals was three times a week with MOU recording highest usage (58.6%), while UNAAB and UAM had 40.8% and 40.9%, respectively. Universities of Agriculture libraries should make adequate provision for relevant and current electronic databases to make research activities easy for researchers. The Libraries should form Inter Library Loan (ILL) network for the exchange and sharing of their resources.


This paper examines the effect of the German co-determination law of 1976 (MitbestG) on the innovative activity of German firms. Co-determination applies to firms with 2000 employees or more. Data from 1971-1976 and 1981-1990 on 148 firms are used to compare the number of patents granted to co-determined firms before and after the introduction of the law. Several control variables are applied and in particular, in order to avoid a possible bias from specific effects of firm size, we compare the co-determined firms with others before and after 1976. The results do not support the view that co-determination slows down technological progress and reduces innovativeness.


Objectives In the last decade, there has been a rapid expansion of physical activity (PA) promotion programmes and interventions targeting people living with and beyond cancer (LWBC). The impact that these initiatives have on long-term maintenance of PA remains under-researched. This study sought to explore the experiences of participants in order to characterise those who have and have not successfully sustained increases in PA following participation in a PA intervention after a diagnosis of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, and identify barriers and facilitators of this behaviour. Design Cross-sectional qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews with participants who had previously taken part in a PA programme in the UK, explored current and past PA behaviour and factors that promoted or inhibited regular PA participation. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Themes and subthemes were identified. Differences between individuals were recognised and a typology of PA engagement was developed. Participants Twenty-seven individuals (n=15 male, mean age=66.3 years) with a diagnosis of GI cancer who had participated in one of four interventions designed to encourage PA participation. Setting UK. Results Seven themes were identified: disease processes, the role of ageing, emotion and psychological well-being, incorporating PA into everyday life, social interaction, support and self-monitoring and competing demands. A typology with three types describing long-term PA engagement was generated: (1) maintained PA, (2) intermittent PA, (3) low activity. Findings indicate that identifying an enjoyable activity that is appropriate to an individual's level of physical functioning and is highly valued is key to supporting long-term PA engagement. Conclusion The typology described here can be used to guide stratified and personalised intervention development and support sustained PA engagement by people LWBC.


In recent years social sustainability has gained increased recognition as a fundamental component of sustainable development. Previous research on sustainability has been limited to environmental and economic concerns, however, social sustainability has begun to receive political and institutional endorsement, becoming entwined with the sustainable communities agenda and the notions of governance, social capital and corporate social responsibility. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of our current understanding of social sustainability and identifies the main propositions of the concept. Further, the paper reviews the major assessment methods, metrics and tools of social sustainability and assesses the methodological and practical hurdles to their full implementation. The paper contends that the assessment and measurement of social sustainability are still dominated by the holistic versus the reductionist approach debate, which is unlikely to be resolved in the near future, and argues that a new breed of indicators containing a perceptual component is increasingly being suggested for sustainability policy prescriptions. In terms of sustainability tools, the paper demonstrates how these are often based on monetisation and accounting techniques that do not take into account the participation element of social sustainability. In addition, despite the promotion of social capital is often included in sustainable development policies, there is paucity of tools for the implementation of this concept.


A consortium of CONCAWE, EUCAR and the EU Commission's JRC carried out a Well-to-Wheels analysis of a wide range of\automotive fuels and powertrains. The study gives an assessment of the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions for each pathway. It also considers macroeconomic costs and the market potential of alternative fuels.


The analogy between electronic filters or networks and optical filters placed in the focal plane of an imaging arrangement has drawn attention to the potentialities of optical arrangements for information processing. This paper develops the theory of the filter in the focal plane whose transmission at each point is proportional to the intensity of the light from the object. This intensity filter—in imaging arrangements using coherent light sources—has the property of forming a "ghost image" of the whole object, when only a small fragment of the original object is shown. This ghost image can be utilized in principle for recognizing and locating a small fragment in the original object.


Multilingualism constitutes a "fundamental EU principle" aiming to uphold democracy, transparency and the right to knowledge. Transposed into the market context, it thus affects each single contract in relation to the choice of its language, as well as the language of the applicable contract law representing an inevitable inner barrier for all the participants, either businesses or consumers, and thus calling for a need of harmonisation.Aiming to contribute to the debate on the elaboration of a European contract law, this paper moves from the assumption that the convergence of national systems largely depends on the creation of a common European terminology. Given that this statement is commonly shared in theory, it has to be verified if it is actually received in practice.It will therefore deal with a preliminary cross-analysis of the main texts currently under the evaluation of the EU Institutions, namely the Directive on consumer rights and the Proposal for a Regulation on an optional Common European Sales Law. Despite the fact that several difficulties still affect the use of legal terms and/or concepts at EU law level, this first and brief attempt highlights a cautious raising of a shared technical language that has been consolidating in the on-going debate on the construction of an European contract law.


This Brief looks at the illustrative case of the Hindu-Muslim conflict in India, with the aim of understanding the dynamics of lived secularism as it exists in traditional multi-faith societies such as India. The data analyzed in this Brief comprise many interviews, conducted amidst Hindus and Muslims, with respondents of both sexes living in slum and middle class regions in the city of Mumbai. The volume begins by giving a brief summary of the historical and cultural background to the present situation in India. It then traces complementarities and similarities of opinions across diverse constituencies which cluster around three main anchoring points: communication, re-presentations and operationalizing of a shared dream. The first point explores the need to understand and to be understood, encourages processes of mutual acculturation, and describes the sensitive decoding of cultural symbols such as dress codes. The second point discusses changes in mind sets and mutual perceptions, where Muslims and Islam are portrayed in a balanced way and exploitation of religion for political purposes is stopped. The third main point is the involvement of the common, regular person, and a focus on children, as the unifying hope for the future. Throughout the volume, emphasis is on moral maturation, cultural interpretation in lieu of cultural imposition and creation of a sensitive media policy. The issues raised may help craft interdisciplinary and international frameworks, which address conflict resolution in culturally diverse multi-faith societies. Accordingly, the book concludes with policy recommendations for supporting the peaceful coexistence of secularism and religion in society from a peace psychological perspective.


In this paper, we propose a method to exploit segmentation information for elastic image registration using a Markov-random-field (MRF)-based objective function. MRFs are suitable for discrete labeling problems, and the labels are defined as the joint occurrence of displacement fields (for registration) and segmentation class probability. The data penalty is a combination of the image intensity (or gradient information) and the mutual dependence of registration and segmentation information. The smoothness is a function of the interaction between the defined labels. Since both terms are a function of registration and segmentation labels, the overall objective function captures their mutual dependence. A multiscale graph-cut approach is used to achieve subpixel registration and reduce the computation time. The user defines the object to be registered in the floating image, which is rigidly registered before applying our method. We test our method on synthetic image data sets with known levels of added noise and simulated deformations, and also on natural and medical images. Compared with other registration methods not using segmentation information, our proposed method exhibits greater robustness to noise and improved registration accuracy.


Non-destructive testing measurements in the Belgian nuclear power plants Doel 3 and Tihange 2 revealed a high quantity of indications in the upper and lower core shells of the reactor pressure vessels. The most likely explanation is that the indications are hydrogen flakes positioned in segregated zones of the base material of the pressure vessel. These hydrogen flakes have a laminar and quasi-laminar orientation to the pressure retaining surface. Under mechanical loading the crack tips undergo predominantly mixed mode loading conditions, where the induced stress and strain fields of the single crack tips influence each other. Due to these specific loading conditions, the assumptions for classical standardized fracture mechanical methods are not met. Currently, there is no verified concept for the evaluation of such kind of crack fields.
 Therefore the mechanical behavior of components with laminar crack fields and the interaction of cracks in such crack fields are investigated in an ongoing research project. Relevant parameters to describe crack fields in terms of crack size, crack location and crack orientation are derived from literature and own nondestructive measurements. Damage mechanical approaches are used in finite element calculations to investigate the interaction of cracks. Advanced damage mechanical models will be used to investigate crack initiation, crack growth and coalescence of cracks in crack fields. According to the results, representative parameters for crack fields will be derived and critical crack formations determined. The results will be evaluated and compared with state of the art approaches and standards.


The electricity sector is often appropriately called the linchpin of efforts to respond to climate change. Over the next few decades, the U.S. electricity sector will need to double in size to accommodate electric vehicles, at the same time that it transforms to run entirely on clean energy. To drive this transformation, states are increasingly adopting 100% clean energy targets. But fossil fuel corporations are pushing back, seeking to maintain their structural domination of the U.S. energy sector. This article calls attention to one central but under-scrutinized way that these companies impede the clean energy transition: Incumbent fossil fuel companies essentially run the United States' electricity grid, writing its rules in ways that favor their private interests at the expense of societal goals.

In most of the country, the electricity grid is managed by Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), which operate under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) oversight. These organizations—formed in the late 1990s—have a distinct intellectual lineage in the privatization and new governance movements of that time. Most RTOs are structured as private industry clubs, in which industry members "vote" on the rules for regional electricity markets and grid operation. This governance arrangement has proven successful at maintaining a reliable grid but often serves as an impediment to progress on clean energy. Over the twenty years of their existence, many RTOs have resisted incorporating clean energy and energy conservation measures into their grids and market rules, despite strong evidence that treating these resources commensurately would lower costs and improve market functionality. Now, several regions are pursuing reforms in the name of "investor confidence" and "fuel security" that privilege coal and natural gas resources—the same fossil fuels that many states are trying to phase out of their energy mix.

This Article's central contention is that it is time to reevaluate the United States' functionally privatized mode of electricity governance, to make it work for an era in which regulatory priorities are shifting in response to climate change. U.S. electricity law suffers from a gaping and growing accountability gap, in which neither FERC nor states have the authority needed to make electricity markets bend to democratically established prerogatives that harm industry incumbents. To remedy the situation, federal and state regulators need more robust authority to shape energy market rules to public aims. Drawing from informative differences across RTOs, the Article concludes with four reform pathways, suggesting that FERC or Congress might (1) pare back RTOs' responsibilities, (2) enhance state and federal oversight capabilities, (3) police corporate agglomeration in the sector, and (4) explore public ownership or control over the grid.


The inner product computer is a special-purpose computational unit intended to be used as an adjunct to a general-purpose digital computer to perform numerical processing tasks which previously exceeded the capacity of the general-purpose computer. The algorithmic structure of the inner product is briefly reviewed in the first section of this paper. Methods are described for computing the inner product of complex vectors with a series of four real inner products. Several hardware implementations of the inner product computer are described and then compared in terms of speed and complexity; a figure of merit is developed to simplify the comparison. The utility of this computational unit is demonstrated via the examination of a large-scale numerical problem, computerized three-dimensional x-ray reconstruction (computerized tomography) arising in the biomedical sciences. Finally, a comparison is given of the size of a general-purpose computer required to execute a large-scale processing task with that of an inner product computer to execute the same task. The inner product computer greatly reduces computational costs for the solution of a large class of problems, including computerized tomography, image restoration, weather forecasting, and economic modeling.


Statins are cholesterol-lowering medicines utilized worldwide and are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular mortality and events. However, 0.5–10% of patients suffer from adverse effects especially on skeletal muscle. Recently, new onset of diabetes has been reported in subjects on statin therapy. Pro- and anti-oxidant effects of statins have been reported, thus fostering a debate. Previously reported data provide evidence that statins induce alterations in intracellular calcium homeostasis and mitochondrial dysfunctions that can be counteracted by antioxidants (e.g., CoQ10, creatine, and L-carnitine). Therefore, we have proposed that statin-induced inhibition of mitochondrial respiration leads to oxidative stress that opens a calcium-dependent permeability transition pore, an event that may lead to cell death. In addition, mitochondrial oxidative stress caused by statin treatment may be a sig nal for cellular antioxidant system responses such as catalase upregulation, possibly explain - ing the alleged statins' antioxidant properties. Muscle mitochondrial dysfunction induced by statin treatment may be associated with the peripheral insulin resistance and may explain statins-induced new onset of diabetes. Together, the data presented in this review suggest that the statins' detrimental effects can be prevented by co-administration of antioxidants . Thus, mitochondria uptake the excessive cytosolic Ca 2+ via VDAC and MCU channels, leading to its accumulation in mitochondrial matrix. Ca 2+ binds to membrane sites exposing specific buried thiols to the oxidants and also impairs mitochondrial respiration, increasing O 2 . - formation. The association of ROS and mitochondrial Ca 2+ overload, PTP may open and trigger cell death. In addition, a decrease in the levels of CoQ10 that acts as an electron carrier and antioxidant also occurs due to inhibition of the mevalonate pathway by statins. The antioxidants CoQ10, L-carnitine and creatine prevent PTP opening induced by statins .


An empirically derived basis for predicting the area, rate, and distribution of water-drop impingement on airfoils of arbitrary section is presented. The concepts involved represent an initial step toward the development of a calculation technique which is generally applicable to the design of thermal ice-prevention equipment for airplane wing and tail surfaces. It is shown that sufficiently accurate estimates, for the purpose of heated-wing design, can be obtained by a few numerical computations once the velocity distribution over the airfoil has been determined. The calculation technique presented is based on results of extensive water-drop trajectory computations for five airfoil cases which consisted of 15-percent-thick airfoils encompassing a moderate lift-coefficient range. The differential equations pertaining to the paths of the drops were solved by a differential analyzer.


Objective: The umbilical cord is fetal organ and contains two arteries and one vein covered by connective tissue called Wharton's jelly. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common metabolic disorder, the importance of which includes possible fetal and maternal complications. As the umbilical cord is the communicating channel between the fetus and the placenta, any pathological change in the umbilical cord may cause harm to the fetus. For this reason, some gross morphological and microscopic features of umbilical cord were analyzed in case of pre-gestational and gestational diabetes mellitus. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, analytical and observational type of study was carried out in the Department of Anatomy, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka between July 2004 and December 2005. Total 60 umbilical cords with placentae were collected within 34 to 40 weeks of gestation from BSMMU and BIRDEM. Among these, twenty were from mothers not suffering from diabetes (Control group), twenty had pre-gestational diabetes mellitus (PDM group) and twenty were suffering from gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM group). Number of umbilical vessels were observed on the cut surface of umbilical cord later confirmed by histological examination. Presence or absence of true or false knots were noted. The umbilical cord cross sectional area, vessel areas and their luminal area were estimated. The ANOVA post-hoc option was used for statistical analyses of results. Results: Among the gross and histomorphological variables of the umbilical cord, there was no significant difference between the three groups. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bja.v12i1.22615 Bangladesh Journal of Anatomy, January 2014, Vol. 12 No. 1 pp 25-29


College sports now generate billions of dollars every year, yet many of the athletes whose talent and labor sustains this enterprise live beneath the poverty line. In response to this basic inequality, several prominent commentators (and, significantly, college athletes themselves) have recently issued calls for fundamental changes. This Article offers a novel proposal for reform: under the labor law regimes of many states, college athletes are, in fact, "employees" entitled to collective bargaining rights. Prior scholarship has contemplated the status of college athletes under federal labor law. But this work has overlooked the basic fact that most college athletes go to public institutions exempt from coverage under the NLRA, has downplayed significant differences between state and federal labor law, and has disregarded the growing centrality of state law in American labor relations. By offering the first comprehensive state-level survey of relevant labor law, this Article provides a blueprint for college athletes to organize, and proposes that such efforts can be consistent with traditional notions of amateurism.


Micro/nanomechanical characterization of the shell of a scallop, a member of the Pectinidae family, has been carried out. Hardness and elastic modulus were measured by nanoindentation using a nanoindenter. Micro/nanoscale cracks were generated by microindentation using a microindenter. The shell's crossed lamellar structure and indentation cracks were imaged using an optical microscope, an atomic force microscope and a scanning electron microscope. It was found from nanoindentation tests that the shell exhibits a hardness of about 5 GPa and elastic modulus of about 87 GPa. Nanoindentation resulted in pile-up around the indent. In the middle and bottom layers primary cracks propagate along the first-order lamellar boundaries and numerous secondary cracks branch off along the second-order lamellar boundaries. The additional energy required for crack propagation results from the secondary cracks along the second-order lamellar boundaries. Cracks formed in the top layer of the shell do not show the crack diversion mechanism due to the lack of first-order lamellar organization. Fracture mechanisms were discussed in conjunction with architecture, hardness, elastic modulus, and energy-dissipation during cracking.


This paper is concerned with the origins of the European doctrine of the forced share, according to which parents must set aside at least a portion of their estate for their children. I begin this paper in Late Republican Rome with the adoption by the praetors of the cause of action for setting aside inofficious wills (the querela inofficiosi testamenti) and the enforcement of the Lex Falcidia, the statute establishing the forced share at one-quarter of the estate. I then consider the emergence of the vocabulary used to justify this mandatory estate practice, focusing in particular on the richly-textured noun pietas. I examine the social background of this practice, looking in particular at ancient concepts of marriage and family. I review Pliny the Younger's criticism of testators who neglected the interests of family members. And I close with the great legal reforms of the law of wills by the Emperors Theodosius II and Justinian.


Chemical and biological studies were carried out on two plants, Piper nigrum L. (Piperaceae) and Mesua ferrea L. (Guttiferae). The chemical investigations covered alkaloids, triterpenoids, carboxylic acids and anthraquinones. These compounds were isolated using common chromatographic techniques and were identified by using spectroscopic experiments such as NMR, MS, IR and UV.
From the stem bark of Mesua ferrea L. two main components, betulinic acid and 1,8-dihydroxy-3-methoxy-6-methyl-anthraquinone were found in all crude extracts. In addition, stigmasterol and sitosterol were also isolated from the methanol extract. The fresh blossoms of Mesua ferrea L. gave Lup-20(29)-en-3β-ol, long chain hydrocarbons and carboxylic acids as major compounds. Meanwhile, studies on Piper nigrum L (roots) produced six alkaloids, piperlactam A and piperlactam D, one oxoarporphine (cepharadione A), piperine, sylvamide, 2,4 tetradecadienoic acid isobutyl amide, together with four carboxylic acids, tetracosanoic acid, p-hydrocinnamate ester, 2- butenedioc acid, cinnamic acid, tetracosanoic acid and benzoic acid. Two triterpenoids, stigmasterol and sitosterol were also isolated from Piper nigrum L. From the stem bark of Mesua ferrea L., although 1,8-dihydroxy-3-methoxy-6-methyl-anthraquinone (82) (Kua et al., 2006), betulinic acid (83) (Cao et al., 1997) and lup-20(29)-en-3β-ol (84) (Cao et al., 1997) were previously isolated from the family of Guttiferae, it is the first time that this class of compound has been isolated from this plant. From the roots of Piper nigrum L., there are some isolated compounds that were new to the family and few of the which are new to the species. Sylvamide (38) (Banerji et al., 1982), Cepharadione A (41) (Desai et al., 1988), Piperolactam A (46) (Desai et al., 1988) and Piperolactam D (49) (Olsen et al, 1993) has been not been isolated from Piper nigrum, but have been previously been discovered from some species of the genus Piper. This is the first time that 2,4 tetradecadienoic acid isobutyl amide (89), tetracosanoic acid, p-hydroxycinnamate esters (88) and 2-butenedioic acid, mono(2-methylpropyl) ester (87) been successfully isolated from the family of Piperaceae. All this discovery might be chemotaxonomically significant to the family.
The larvicidal tests were performed against the larvae of Aedes aegypti following the WHO (1981) standard procedures with slight modifications. The crude hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol extracts and pure piperine of Piper nigrum L showed very high toxicity activities towards the larvae by giving LC50 values of less than 2.5 μg/ml. However, the hexane, chloroform and methanol extracts of Mesua ferrea L. demonstrated lesser impact on the larvae with LC50 values higher than 150 μg/ml.


This auto-fictitious narrative is an existential and political exploration of scholarly identity transformation of a teacher educator in academia.  Set within a parallel, metaphorical kingdom, identity is examined through the author's actions, interactions and experiences with others in a fictional setting.  Narratives, in storytelling formats, establish agency of self and provide "voice" to be freely expressed, most notably for those who experience marginalization where their thoughts and ideas have been mitigated within traditional institutional environments and dialogues. Expressed in a humorous, somewhat deliberately mischievous manner, the polyphonic self in this story reflects on relational power and academic identity within the university environment.  This descriptive piece adds discussion to existing organizational research through presentation of a fictional piece for examining how one may self-construct identity within a hegemonic work setting.


Elsa Fougt (1744–1826), a woman entrepreneur, was one of the leading figures in the late eighteenth-century Swedish book trade. Her main enterprise was the printing house Kongl. Tryckeriet (the Royal Printing House), which was responsible for printing and publishing the official documents of the Swedish realm. Besides her office as Royal Printer, she also ran a publishing house, two bookshops and a type foundry, as well as being the editor of the Swedish newspaper Stockholms Weckoblad. The dissertation analyzes Fougt's different enterprises and her position in the book trade between 1780 and 1810, from the perspectives of sociology of literature and gender history. It consists of five independent articles, preceded by an introductory chapter which summarizes the articles and discusses their main findings. The first two articles explore the office of the Royal Printer during the whole eighteenth century, while the third article concerns Elsa Fougt's position as Royal Printer. The fourth article is a study of Fougt's publishing house, and the fifth and final article focuses on her international bookshop, where, among other things, she sold clandestine books imported from the STN in Switzerland. Fougt's successful career was made possible by a number of favourable circumstances, the most important being her family background and network. Her father Peter Momma held the office of Royal Printer, and Elsa Fougt and her husband Henric inherited his position when he died. When Henric passed away in 1782, Elsa – as a widow – was legally allowed to take up the office of Royal Printer independently. The fact that Elsa Fougt was a woman does not seem to have particularly affected her role as Royal Printer. In comparison with her predecessors, her position as Royal Printer appears to have been rather strong. She was a shrewd businesswoman who successfully negotiated with the authorities for higher financial compensation. Her office was obviously of greater importance than her gender. Being both a publisher, a printer, and a bookseller, Fougt handled most of the functions of the book trade, although she distinguished between these different functions. Furthermore, rather than just being an intermediary of books, she also took part in the creation of them, for example by initiating texts and editing manuscripts. In the book trade of her time, Fougt can be seen as both a traditionalist – holding the inherited office of Royal Printer – and an innovator, representing a more modern literary system with increased specialization.


Equine
  assisted
  coaching
  (EAC)
  is
  a
  new
  technique
  to
  make
  people
  aware
  of
  their
  body
  language
  with the
   help
   of
   the
   horse.
   The
   benefits
   of
   this
   training
   concerning
   the
   people
   have
   been
   researched before.
  However,
  there
  is
  no
  indication
  how
  the
  horse
  is
  experiencing
  these
  trainings
  in
  any
  studies. Therefore
   this
   study
   was
   conducted
   in
   order
   to
   provide
   an
   insight
   into
   the
   level
   of
   stress
   horses experience
  during
  EAC.
  As
  an
  indicator
  for
  stress,
  physical
  parameters
  such
  as
  heart
  rate,
  breathing rate,
   blood
   pressure
   and
   the
   behaviour
   of
   the
   horse
   can
   be
   taken
   as
   a
  measurement.
   This
   study concentrated
   on
   the
   behaviours,
   which
   were
   observed
   with
   the
   help
   of
   a
   beforehand
   made ethogram
  during
  different
  EAC
  sessions.
  Several
  factors
  could
  have
  had
  an
  influence
  on
  the
  horses' behaviour
   and
  were
   considered.
   The
   information
   for
   these
   factors
  was
   collected
  with
   the
   help
   of questionnaires.
   The
   factors
   can
   be
   divided
   into
   three
   groups:
   horse
   related
   (age
   of
   the
   horse, experience
  of
  the
  horse
  in
  EAC,
  breed
  and
  character),
  client
  related
  (experience
  in
  handling
  horses, previous
   experience
   EAC)
   and
   environmentally
   related
   (position
   of
   the
   trainer,
   kind
   of
   exercise). Concerning
  the
  gathered
  information
  the
  following
  research
  questions
  were
  formulated:
  In
  how
  far show
  horses
  stress
  behaviours
  during
  an
  equine
  assisted
  coaching
  session
  and
  which
  factors
  to
  which extent
  have
  an
  influence
  on
  the
  stress
  behaviours?
  A
  total
  of
  12
  horses
  and
  15
  clients
  were
  subjects in
  six
  different
  exercises
  (free,
  lunge
  line,
  lead
  rope,
  trail,
  round
  pen
  and
  systematic
  coaching)
  used
  in EAC.
  Not
  all
  horses
  participated
   in
  all
  exercises
  and
  with
  every
  client.
  Two
  observers
   looked
  at
   the body
  language
  of
  the
  horse
  with
  the
  help
  of
  an
  ethogram
  and
  recorded
  all
  behaviours
  continuously for
   5-‐minute
   intervals
  with
   a
   one-‐minute
  break
   in
  between.
  During
   a
   session
   several
   intervals
   had been
   recorded
   and
   the
   observations
   of
   both
   observers
   were
   averaged
   as
   well
   as
   the
   multiple observations
   of
   one
   session.
   This
   meant
   that
   all
   sessions
   had
   a
   length
   of
   five
   minutes
   that
   were analysed.
  A
  total
  of
  33
  sessions,
  which
  equals
  to
  four
  hours
  and
  50
  minutes
  observation
  time,
  were observed
   and
   used
   in
   the
   data
   analysis.
   The
   results
   showed
   that
   in
   3,10
   %
   of
   all
   sessions,
   stress behaviours
   were
   demonstrated.
   These
   were
   significantly
   depending
   on
   the
   kind
   of
   exercise (p=0,032).
   However,
   the
   stress
   shown
   was
   not
   significantly
   dependent
   on
   the
   age
   of
   the
   horse (p=0,140).
  Moreover,
  all
  other
  factors
  could
  not
  be
  proven
  as
  significant.
  Analysis
  showed
  that
  during the
  exercise
  'Lunge
  line'
  stress
  was
  demonstrated
  the
  most
  followed
  by
  'Free'
  and
  'Round
  pen'.
  The exercises
  'Lead
  rope'
  and
  'Trail'
  had
  respectively
  low
  stress
  in
  comparison
  to
  the
  former
  mentioned exercises.
  'Systematic
  coaching'
  had
  the
  lowest
  amount
  of
  stress
  of
  all
  exercises.
  The
  results
  suggest that
   the
  horse
   is
  showing
  stress
  during
  EAC
  and
  that
   it
   is
   related
  to
  the
  different
  kind
  of
  exercises. Knowing
  that
  the
  exercises
  have
  an
  impact
  on
  the
  stress
  level
  of
  the
  horse
  can
  be
  a
  factor
  for
  trainers in
  deciding
  which
  exercises
  they
  use
  for
  sessions.
  Furthermore,
  it
  is
  essential
  that
  there
  will
  be
  more research
  into
  this
  topic
  with
  respect
  to
  the
  client
  and
  the
  difference
  in
  horses. Content

  The
  view
  of
  the
  horse


This dissertation argues that by adapting the style and techniques of sentimental novels, poetry, and drama to persuasive writing a significant number of late-eighteenth century political writers were able to develop a distinct and recognisable rhetoric of sensibility. It develops this argument by examining eighteenth-century views on the use and purpose of rhetoric, and by looking at writing in one of the most wide-ranging debates of the lateeighteenth century, the debate over abolition of the slave trade. Chapter One looks at traditional ('neo-classical') rhetoric and contrasts this with some of the many varieties of the eighteenth-century 'new rhetoric'. Chapter Two looks at particular rhetorical strategies employed during the sentimental period and identifies the main tropes of the rhetoric of sensibility. Chapter Three examines the relationship between slavery and literary sentimentalism, looking at the way in which imaginative writers used sentimental rhetoric to advance the idea of anti-slavery. It also considers the extent to which abolitionist poems, plays, and novels themselves contributed to the development of a sentimental rhetoric. Chapter Four examines the use of sentimental rhetoric in nonfictional slavery-related tracts and pamphlets. It explores the ways in which the sentimental rhetorical strategies outlined in Chapter Two were adopted by both pro and anti-slavery writers of the 1780s. Chapter Five discusses how William Wilberforce, the main parliamentary advocate for abolition, used sentimental rhetoric in his early parliamentary speeches. The conclusion examines anti-slavery writing after the collapse of the first abolition campaign in 1792. In particular, it examines the use of sentimental rhetoric in responses to the revolutions in France and Haiti and suggests that after this date sentimental rhetoric, though never entirely disappearing, was progressively supplanted by other forms of rhetoric.


In this letter, we introduce the utilization of discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients as features supplied to the support vector machine (SVM) classifier to identify underground utility material from ground penetrating radar (GPR) imagery. Different types of features, reflected signal amplitudes, and statistical features, combined with the SVM classifier for material identification of underground utilities, are also studied and compared to the DCT-based approach. The system performance is conducted by simulation studies using generated GPR images created by a GPR finite-difference time-domain-based simulator used to develop various acquisition situations by changing the utility material type, position, and size parameters. The efficiency of the proposed technique in material identification is assessed using noisy generated GPR images degraded with speckle noise. Two-dimensional median and adaptive Wiener filters are also examined as a preprocessing step to the studied techniques. Simulation results show that the proposed technique combined with adaptive Wiener filter reveals a good performance regarding the recognition accuracy compared to the other studied techniques in noisy environment.


The optical properties of aggregated noble metal films have been studied in the spectral range from 0.35 to 1.0 μm. From the measurements of reflectance and transmittance, the effective optical constants were derived. These constants were then compared to those given by a model considering the films as formed by small rotational ellipsoids. In the model, the dipole/dipole interactions between particles have been taken into account together with the influence of the substrate. Careful measurements of film structures have shown that the assumptions concerning the size and shape of particles are reasonable. When p-polarized incident light is used, the resonance wavelength observed in the visible for the noble metal films is shifted to shorter wavelengths as the angle of incidence is increased.


Nanoporous nitrogen doped carbon was used to modify the surfaces of graphene sheets by carbonizing a mixture of graphene oxide and phenol–melamine–formaldehyde (PMF) pre-polymer in the presence of a soft template (F127). The resulting graphene based composite sheets (G-PMFs) have a sandwich structure with one graphene layer and two nanoporous nitrogen-doped carbon layers. G-PMFs have large specific surface areas of 190 to 630 m2 g−1 and exhibited high electrocatalytic activity, good durability and high selectivity for the oxygen reduction reaction. The performance of the Zn–air fuel cell with a G-PMF anode was tested and found to be comparable to that of the Zn–air cell with a commercial Pt/C anode. Thus, these metal-free catalysts are promising for applications in practical fuel cells.


By employing a model with international trade costs and imperfect competition, in which a domestic firm serves both the domestic market and the foreign market, we show that intraindustry trade compared to intersectoral trade is globally, but not mutually, welfare improving. When also foreign firms become active, competition strengthens but domestic welfare declines, because domestic consumers have to bear trade costs.


Chopin's funeral, bisecting the 19th century, stands as a turning point. Both the life and music of this frail elegant man played out at the crossroads. His decline and death following a series of catastrophes, particularly the breach with his lover Georges Sand and the ebb of his creative energy on the brink of a new style, were both final chapters in his often tragic life and reflected larger historical forces. CHOPIN'S FUNERAL is about a death foretold as the sum of other tragedies: the end of a world that fostered his particular genius; the wounds of exile and most fatally, the loss of love. An intimate close-up of the composer's last years, it is also the story of the artist as hero. At the close of his life, with no home or money, his physical powers failing, Chopin grappled with nothing less than a new musical form. CHOPIN'S FUNERAL is also the larger story of a great nineteenth-century city, Paris, in the grip of revolution.


We investigate trellis coded modulation (TCM) and turbo trellis coded modulation (TTCM) assisted iterative parallel interference cancellation aided CDMA schemes. The symbol-based maximum a posteriori (MAP) algorithm is invoked in both the TTCM and TCM decoder. In the context of the 8PSK TCM/TTCM CDMA schemes, typically two iterations are necessary for approaching the best possible performance attained with the aid of an infinite number of iterations. By contrast, the number of iterations has to be increased to three or four in conjunction with 16QAM when the effective information throughput is increased from 2 to 3 bits per symbol.


Abstract The present study was conducted with trammel nets, which are intensively used in the Black Sea region, in order to investigate the influences of season, depth and mesh size on species composition and discard rates. In total, 27 species, belonging to 4 taxonomic groups (24 fish, 1 gastropod, 1 bivalve and 1 crustacean) were obtained. The percentage distribution of the total catch was 8.32% target species, 14.59% non-target landing and 77.09% discard. The discard rate of Mullus barbatus in the total catch was 0.61%. Among the total catch, Brachyura (22.74%) was the main group discarded, while the other important discard species were Rapana venosa (16.90%), Scorpaena porcus (13.71%) and Uranoscopus scaber (9.65%). The lowest and highest discard rates were found in spring and autumn, respectively. According to depth, the lowest discard rate was from depths > 30 m (37.5%) and the highest at depths < 16 m (91.8%). Regarding the mesh size, minimum and maximum discard rates were obtained from 16 and 22 mm mesh sizes, respectively. According to one-way analysis of similarity (ANOSIM), there was a significant difference in discard species composition between spring and summer and between the < 16 m and > 30 m depth groups (P < 0.05). However, no significant difference was found between mesh size and discard composition (P > 0.05).


Foreword ( Katya Andresen ). Preface: Why I Wrote This Book. Acknowledgments. The Author. Introduction: How to Use This Book. PART ONE Getting Ready to Do It Right. CHAPTER ONE Ten New Realities for Nonprofits. Reality 1: Marketing Is Not a Dirty Word-Nor Is Communications or Public Relations. Reality 2: There Is No Such Thing as the General Public. Reality 3: You Need to Build Your Own Media Empire. Reality 4: All Generations-Including Seniors-Are Online. Reality 5: Nonprofit Communicators Are Transforming into Community Organizers. Reality 6: Personal and Organizational Personalities, or Brands, Are Blending. Reality 7: Good Nonprofit Marketing Takes More Time Than Money. Reality 8: You've Already Lost Control of Your Message-Stop Pretending Otherwise. Reality 9: Marketing Is Not Fundraising, but It Is Essential to It. Reality 10: Old-Fashioned Basics Still Work Best, Even Online. Conclusion: Try Boldly, and Try Again. CHAPTER TWO Nonprofi t Marketing Plans in Theory-and in the Real World. The Real Defi nition of Marketing. The Five Ps of Social Marketing. Elements of a Comprehensive Nonprofi t Marketing Plan. Nonprofi t Marketing the Quick-and-Dirty Way. Example: The American Red Cross's "Do More Than Cross Your Fingers" Campaign. Conclusion: Always Think Before You Speak. CHAPTER THREE Listen to the World Around You. Watch and Listen. Convene Informal Focus Groups. Conduct Online Surveys. Analyze Your Web and Email Statistics. Review Media Kits and Advertising. Watch for Relevant Polling and Survey Data. Monitor Online Mentions and Social Media Conversations. Follow Specifi c People and Sources Online. What to Do with What You Learn. Conclusion: Never Stop Listening. PART TWO Writing a Quick-and-Dirty Marketing Plan for a Specifi c Program. CHAPTER FOUR Define Your Audiences: Who Do You Want to Reach? Recognize That You Have Multiple Audiences. Segment Your Target Audience into Groups. Example: Defi ning One Segment of a Target Audience. Use Personas to More Clearly Describe Your Groups. Example: Creating Specifi c Personas Within a Segmented Group. Avoid Cultural Stereotypes. Watch for Gatekeepers and Create Personas for Them, Too. Conclusion: Don't Jump Ahead to Tactics. CHAPTER FIVE Create a Powerful Message: What Do You Want to Say? The Power of One Over Many. The Power of Emotional Content. The Power of Personal Identity. The Power of Logic, Reason, and Statistics. The Power of a Clear Call to Action. Create Messages That Appeal to Your Target Audience. Example: Matching Messages to Personas' Values. Conclusion: Even the Relief Workers Want to Save the Darfur Puppy. CHAPTER SIX Deliver Your Message: How and Where Are You Going to Say It? Package Your Message into Words. Support Your Words with Images. Select the Best Communications Channels for Your Audience. Use Multiple Channels to Reinforce Your Message. Put Your Message Where Your Audience Is Already Going. Example: Selecting Channels to Reach Volunteers. Convince Your Supporters to Open Your Email. Conclusion: Find the Right Mix and Give It Time to Work. CHAPTER SEVEN Spread Your Message Further by Telling Great Stories. Add "Storyteller" to Your Job Description. Tell Stories with the Challenge Plot. Tell Stories with the Creativity Plot. Tell Stories with the Connection Plot. Use the Six Qualities of a Good Nonprofi t Marketing Story. Find Fresh Story Ideas. Interview Your Supporters for Profi les and Stories. Protect the Privacy of the People in Your Stories. Incorporate Stories into Your Communications. Conclusion: Stories Are a Nonprofi t's Goldmine. PART THREE Building a Community of Supporters Around You. CHAPTER EIGHT Make It Easy to Find You and to Connect with Your Cause. Create a Visible and Accessible Home Base. Be Where People Are Searching for Organizations Like Yours. Get Your Website in Good Shape. Improve Your Search Engine Rankings. Establish Your Social Media Presence. Give New Contacts Multiple Options for Staying in Touch. Grow Your Email List. Grow Your List of RSS Subscribers. Grow Your List of Friends and Followers. Stay Consistent: Branding Your Nonprofit. Conclusion: Don't Let Potential Supporters Slip Away. CHAPTER NINE Become an Expert Source for the Media and Decision Makers. Why Some Groups Get the Call and Others Don't. The Five Qualities of a Good Expert Source. Seven Strategies to Raise Your Profi le as an Expert Source. How to Pitch Your Story to the Media. Who Is the Expert? You or the Organization? Conclusion: Create Something New and Share It. CHAPTER TEN Stay in Touch with Your Community of Supporters. Think of Your Organization as a Media Mogul. Strive for Shorter, More Frequent Communications in Multiple Places. Consider the Gifting Model of Nonprofi t Communications. Pull It All Together with a Content Creation Strategy. Create an Editorial Calendar. Engage in Conversations Online. Consider Your Social Media Policy. Conclusion: Conversation Does Pay Off. CHAPTER ELEVEN Adopt an Attitude of Gratitude. The "What I Got When I Gave" Experiment. Donors Are Testing Nonprofi ts, and Nonprofi ts Are Failing. Improve Your Thank-You Notes in Six Steps. Publish an Annual Report. Conclusion: Stop Making Excuses Make the Time Instead. CHAPTER TWELVE Empower Your Fans to Build More Support for You. Identify Your Wallfl owers, Buddies, and Fans. What Makes Someone a Fan? Give Your Biggest Fans the Personal Touch. Build Up Your Social Capital. Be Clear About the Best Ways for People to Help. Encourage Your Fans to Friendraise. Encourage Your Fans to Microfundraise. Approach New Friends of Friends. Empower Your Biggest Fans: Lessons from the Obama Campaign. Conclusion: Give and You Shall Receive. PART FOUR Doing It Yourself Without Doing Yourself In. CHAPTER THIREEN Find the Time: Get More Done in Fewer Hours. Keep Up with Best Practices, Big Brains, and Cool Kids. Get Fear out of the Way. Avoid the Social Media Time Sink. Organize What You'll Need Again and Again. Track, Test, and Do What Works. Conclusion: Give Yourself a Break. CHAPTER FOURTEEN Find the Talent: Keep Learning and Get Good Help. Everyone on Staff Is a Marketer (Like It or Not). Build Your Own Skills. Delegate Marketing Tasks to Others. Empower Volunteers So They'll Come Back Again. Hire Consultants and Freelancers. Conclusion: Know When You Need Help-and Ask for It. CHAPTER FIFTEEN Find the Treasure: Market Your Good Cause on a Tight Budget. Marketing Triage: Focus in and Forget the Rest. Go Casual and Friendly. Shift Your Marketing from Print to Pixels. Switching from a Print Newsletter to an Email Newsletter. How to Make Your Remaining Print Marketing More Affordable. Where to Spend Your Limited Dollars and Where to Scrimp. Funding Your Nonprofi t Marketing Program. Conclusion: Zero Communications Budget = Zero Sustainability. CHAPTER SIXTEEN Conclusion: How Do You Know Whether You Are Doing a Good Job? Notes. Glossary of Online Marketing Terms. Accessing the Companion Website. Index.


This study was conducted with aims of representing The comparison of Learning behaviors, Classroom Psycho-social Environment and parental behavior Perceived in Students with high and low academic conscience. The research method in this study was causal-comparative. The statistical population consisted of all Male students over 16 years High school District 5 in Tehran in 1395. The population of research was including 80 People That Students of high academic conscience (40 People) and Students with low academic conscience (40 People) that According to were chosen Multistage cluster sampling Data collection was Learning behaviors McDermott (1999), Psycho-social climate Frayzer et al (1995), Perceived parental behavior Parker et al (1979) and academic conscience Mac Aylrevi and Bunting (2002) standard questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out through SPSS19 software in two aspects of descriptive and inferential (Manova). The results showed that Between Average the behaviors of learning and its components, "Competence motivation", "Attitude toward learning", "Note/perseverance" and "Strategy/flexible" Students with high and low academic conscience There is a significant difference. that Between Average the Classroom Psychosocial Environment and its components," Friction", "Correlation", "Discipline", "Competition", Students with high and low academic conscience There is a significant difference. Also Between Average the parental behavior Perceived and its components, "taking care", "Supporter", Students with high and low academic conscience There is a significant difference. Therefore, these results have, Important implications In the field of planning, Education and mental health Enhance of students.


Abstract:In this article, I outline a reading of Mei in the Zhuangzi, taken to mean "beauty" or "the beautiful." There is a possible anachronism involved in such an approach because mei is not central to Zhuangzi's thinking. Nonetheless, I will argue that interesting points of relevance between Zhuangzi's comments on mei and contemporary theories of beauty can be found and that an intercultural interpretation of mei and the beautiful can shed light on aspects of both traditional Chinese aesthetics and contemporary Western aesthetics by placing the two in conversation with one another. Zhuangzi seems to support neither relativism nor universalism in his understanding of beauty, though he touches on both relativist and universalist ideas. I argue there are certain superficial similarities between Zhuangzi's aesthetics and positive aesthetics. But, on a deeper level, Zhuangzi advocates a form of negative aesthetics that is not dissimilar from those already prominent in contemporary Continental aesthetics, such as Christoph Menke, Gernot Böhme, and François Jullien. In this way, I highlight points for dialogue between Zhuangzi's theory of beauty and contemporary discourse, as well as the ramifications of these ideas for thinking about the future of aesthetic education.


Thin films of Cu2SnSe4 have been electrodeposited potentiostatically from aqueous solution containing CuCl2, SnCl4 and Na2SeO3 on titanium substrates at room temperature. The disodium salt of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (Na2-EDTA) was used as a complexant. Cyclic voltammetry was performed at room temperature to elucidate the electrodic processes occurred and to determine the potential range for electrodeposition. The effect of parameters such as deposition potential, electrolyte concentration, deposition time, bath temperature, annealing time and temperature and concentration of complexant on the film properties were studied. The films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and linear sweep photovoltammetry (LSPV) technique. The band gap energy and type of optical transition were determined from optical absorbance data.
XRD studies confirmed the formation of polycrystalline Cu2SnSe4 on the titanium substrate and showed a cubic structure with strong (111) orientation. The films prepared in this study showed p-type semiconductor behaviour. SEM micrographs confirmed the polycrystalline nature of the deposit. The photoactivity, composition, grain size and shape of the film were dependent on the electrodeposition condition.

Nearly stiochiometric for Cu2SnSe4 film was obtained from 0.02 M Cu-EDTA, 0.02 M Sn-EDTA and 0.02 M Na2SeO3 solution at potential -0.60 V vs Ag/AgCl. Further investigation at -0.50 V shows that this potential was not suitable for the deposition of copper tin selenide. Increasing the deposition time allowed more materials to be deposited onto the substrate and thicker films were formed. The electrodeposition of the Cu2SnSe4 film was most suitable to be carried out at room temperature. Increasing the bath temperature could not improve the crystallinity of Cu2SnSe4 compound, but lead to formation of binary phase, CuSe. Annealing also could not improve the crystallinity of film but other binary phases such as CuSe2 and Cu2Se appeared. Minimum concentration of EDTA obtained for Cu2SnSe4 film. The film thickness was controlled by the time of deposition and changing the concentration of the reaction.

XPS spectrum confirms the presence of Cu, Sn and Se. The optical absorption studies revealed that the transition is direct and band gap energy Eg was 1.2 eV.


In Hannah Pitkin's influential book, The Concept of Representation (1967), the case is made that, despite its undoubted complexity, representation means something; that it is possible to establish when representation has taken place and, conversely, when it has not. Representation, as a central practice of modern politics, has objective content. Though it will often be imperfect, it is possible to be fairly and accurately represented politically. Yet it is argued here that such confidence in representation is less obviously convincing today, and for a particular reason. This is that, over the last thirty years, the subject of representation, which Pitkin more or less takes for granted, has itself become a site of controversy. The question that needs to be asked now is: how far do developments in the theory of the subject undermine faith in the possibility of representation?


Aims/Objectives: Research has highlighted that men and women self-manage their diabetes differently. Greater understanding of these differences could inform educational programmes. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate how men and women diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (≤55 years of age) self-manage their diabetes alongside their other life roles. Methods: Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted (n = 18). Recorded data were transcribed and analysed to detect emerging themes. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample. Results: Differences in how males and females self-manage their condition were identified. Family eating habits were more likely to change in response to male diagnosis and education, whilst females were likely to change their own diet, but minimise impact on family habits. Differences also existed within the sample regarding their understanding of their condition even after attending structured diabetes education. A key feature among this sample was the number reporting depression. Conclusion: The results indicate that education should be tailored to a greater degree to reflect the needs, capacity and circumstances of men and women. Depression may also impact upon the patients' ability to engage with education, and may be a barrier to effective assimilation and understanding. While the results of a qualitative study cannot be generalised, there are messages for those designing diabetes education programmes, reflecting differing behaviours across genders. Further research examining needs of males and females in relation to their diabetes is essential, including the development of personalised, even gender specific education programmes.


Given a family of real or complex monic polynomials of fixed degree with one affine constraint on their coefficients, consider the problem of minimizing the root radius (largest modulus of the roots) or root abscissa (largest real part of the roots). We give constructive methods for efficiently computing the globally optimal value as well as an optimal polynomial when the optimal value is attained and an approximation when it is not. An optimal polynomial can always be chosen to have at most two distinct roots in the real case and just one distinct root in the complex case. Examples are presented illustrating the results, including several fixed-order controller optimal design problems.


Abstract. The aqueous phase reaction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has not been considered in most analyses of atmospheric chemical processes. However, some experimental evidence has shown that, compared to the corresponding gas phase reaction, the aqueous chemical processes of VOCs in the bulk solutions and surfaces of ambient wet particles (cloud, fog, and wet aerosols) may potentially contribute to the products and formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). In the present study, we performed a laboratory experiment of the aqueous ozonolysis of isoprene at different pHs (3–7) and temperatures (4–25 °C). We detected three important kinds of products, including carbonyl compounds, peroxide compounds, and organic acids. Our results showed that the molar yields of these products were nearly independent of the investigated pHs and temperatures, those were (1) carbonyls: 56.7 ± 3.7 % formaldehyde, 42.8 ± 2.5 % methacrolein (MAC), and 57.7 ± 3.4 % methyl vinyl ketone (MVK); (2) peroxides: 53.4 ± 4.1 % hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and 15.1 ± 3.1 % hydroxylmethyl hydroperoxide (HMHP); and (3) organic acids: undetectable ( 2 O 2 + HMHP in the aqueous isoprene ozonolysis were much higher than those observed in the corresponding gas phase reaction. We suggest that these unexpected high yields of carbonyls and peroxides are related to the greater capability of condensed water, compared to water vapor, to stabilize energy-rich Criegee radicals. This aqueous ozonolysis of isoprene (and possibly other biogenic VOCs) could potentially occur on the surfaces of ambient wet particles and plants. Moreover, the high-yield carbonyl and peroxide products might provide a considerable source of aqueous phase oxidants and SOA precursors.


" When the Japanese Imperial Forces invaded the Philippine Islands at the onset of World War II, they quickly rounded up Allied citizens on Luzon and imprisoned them as enemy aliens. These captured civilians were treated inhumanely from the start, and news of the atrocities committed by the enemy soon spread to the more remote islands to the south. Hearing this, many of the expatriates living there refused to surrender as their islands were occupied. Fugitives , based on the memoir of Jordan A. Hamner, tells the true story of a young civilian mining engineer trapped on the islands during the Japanese invasion. Instead of surrendering, he and two American co-workers volunteered their services to the Allied armed forces engaged in the futile effort to stave off the enemy onslaught. When the overwhelmed defenders surrendered to the invaders, the three men fled farther into the disease-ridden mountainous jungle. After nearly a year of nomadic wandering, they found a derelict, twenty-one foot long lifeboat in a secluded coastal bay. Hoping to sail to freedom in Australia, the trio converted the craft into a sailboat, and called it the "Or Else." They would make it to Australia-or else. With only a National Geographic magazine map of the Malacca Islands for navigation, Hamner, his two compatriots, and two Filipino crewmen sailed their unseaworthy craft fifteen hundred nautical miles over seas controlled by the Japanese navy, touching land only briefly to replenish meager rations or evade enemy vessels. After thirty perilous days at sea, marked by nearly disastrous encounters with hostile islanders, imminent starvation, and tropical storms, the desperate fugitives reached the welcome shores of Australia.


This paper summarizes the major activities of CFD study on rear window buffeting of production vehicles during the past two years at DaimlerChrysler. The focus of the paper is the attempt to find suitable solutions for buffeting suppression using a developed procedure of CFD simulation with commercial software plus FFT acoustic post-processing. The analysis procedure has been validated using three representative production vehicles and good correlation with wind tunnel tests has been attained which has gained the confidence in solving the buffeting problem. Several attempts have been proposed and tried to find solution for buffeting reduction. Some of them are promising, but feasibility and manufacturability still need discussion. In order to find suitable solution for buffeting reduction, more basic research is necessary, more ideas should be collected, and more joint efforts of CFD and testing are imperative.


Classic Archive 28: Great Opera Singers. Gundula Janowitz, Rita Streich, Elisabeth Grummer, sopranos; Isabel Strauss, mezzo soprano; Wolfgang Windgassen, tenor; Tito Gobbi, Ernest Blanc, baritones; Boris Christoff, Gottlob Frick, basses. Orchestre National de l'ORTF; London Symphony Orchestra. Peter Maag, Alain Lombard, Hans Wallat, Charles Mackerras, Eric Robinson, Georges Sebastian, conductors. (EMI Classic DVD 5996889; 117:55). Wagner: "Dich teure Halle" (Tannhauser); "Euch Luften, die mein Klagen . . . Elsa! Wer ruft?" (Lohengrin). "Amfortas! Die Wunde!" "So ward es uns verhiessen," "Mittag. Die Stund' ist da," "Hochsten Heiles Wunder!" (Parsifal). Weber. "Leise, leise" (Der Freischutz); Puccini: "O mio babbino caro," "La vedete Firenze," (Gianni Schicchi); "Tre sbirri" (Tosca). Mozart: "Guinse alfin il momento . . . Deh, vieni non tardar" (Le nozze di Figaro). Donizetti: "Ah! Tardai troppo! O luce di quest'anima." (Linda di Chamounix). Dvorak: "Mesicku na nebi hlubokem" (Rusalka). Verdi: "Ehi! Tavernieri!" (Falstaff), "Credo in un Dio crudele" (Otello). Mussorgsky: "Oj! Dushno! Dushno! Svetu!" Boris Godunov). The aforementioned Sondheim concert is the sort of extraordinary event that the home video market so desperately needs and that may be the key to its survival. There simply is no way to experience the full impact of such a concert on YouTube, where the best you can hope for is a piecemeal reconstruction of the concert with long pauses between each piece as the next one is found and brought up for viewing. (And that assumes that every performance of the concert is even available on YouTube.) For important concerts and complete opera performances, especially when one cares about technical excellence, DVD is still the way to go. If YouTube does threaten the existence of any kind of classical video product, it is releases like this one from the BBC that is essentially a hodgepodge of performances with two things in common: they are the same musical genre, and the performances are drawn from the same archival closet. Otherwise, this is an interesting mix of staged, semistaged, and concert performance excerpts for which the DVD format is not especially helpful and in some ways seems less convenient than it would be to sample these performances on line, free of charge. One should be mindful, however, of the pristine technical quality that a DVD offers, versus the more variable quality of online viewing, which so often is undermined by technical gremlins of one sort or another. With a DVD like this, one also can enjoy careful documentation of when and where a given performance actually took place. Nine singers are listed in the heading of this review, but four of them are the actual headliners this release was designed to celebrate, and they are all singers who are likely to be unknown to most current voice students-unless they have spent a fair amount of time with classic recordings. Soprano Gundula Janowitz was a prominent singer in the 1960s and 1970s who specialized in the operas of Strauss, Wagner, and Mozart in a career that brought her very rarely to America. Her one and only engagement with the Metropolitan Opera was as Sieglinde in von Karajan's production of Die Walkure, in which her pure, pallid voice sounded thin and lifeless beside the stentorian Siegmund of Jon Vickers and in comparison to richer-voiced peers like Leonie Rysanek and Regine Crespin. This disk allows one to reappraise the voice of Janowitz, and a voice teacher and student might very well profit from some careful viewing and listening to her distinctive sound. …


Evidence suggests that cumulative somatic complaints predict health care utilization in college students. The symptom perception hypothesis and the response expectancy theory are 2 theories concerning the generation of somatic complaints. The symptom perception hypothesis suggests that negative affect influences daily somatic complaints, whereas the response expectancy theory surmises somatic complaint generation relates to response expectancies. Some evidence suggests that understanding the complex interplay of these factors may enhance prediction of daily somatic complaints. This study examines the combined effects of state negative affect, trait negative affect, and response expectancies in predicting daily somatic complaints. A total of 95 college students took part in a 2-part study composed of 1 in-lab session followed by completion of up to 7 daily diaries. Results show that state negative affect, trait negative affect, and response expectancies all uniquely predict daily somatic complaints. Our results support a cognitive-affective basis for somatic complaints and suggest future research integrating biopsychosocial factors may be useful in increasing our understanding. Furthermore, our results suggest potential intervention targets when counseling college students experiencing somatic complaints without physical origins.


Casas Grandes, or Paquime, in northwestern Mexico was of one of the few socially complex prehistoric civilizations in North America. Now, based on more than a decade of surveys, excavations, and field work, Michael Whalen and Paul Minnis provide a comprehensive new look at Casas Grandes and its surrounding communities in The Neighbors of Casas Grandes. This volume provides a fascinating and detailed look into the culture of the Casas Grandes area, involving not just the research of the architecture and artifacts left behind but also the ecology of the area. The authors? research reveals the complex relationship Casas Grandes had with its neighbors, varying from very direct contact with some communities to more indirect links with others. Important internal influences on the area's development come to light and population sizes throughout the period demonstrate the absorption of the surrounding populations into Casas Grandes as it reached the peak of its power in the region. New discoveries suggest the need to revise the previously held beliefs about the age of Casas Grandes and the dates of its rise to power. This ancient civilization may have developed as early as 1180 AD. Such breakthroughs provide fresh insight about not only Casas Grandes but the nearby settlements as well. The Neighbors of Casas Grandes is an important and vital piece of primary field research for all those interested in the Southwest's archaelogy and history. Its contribution to the knowledge of the Casas Grandes region is monumental in helping us better understand the society that once flourished there.


In this paper, we give a systematic study of the boundary layer behavior for linear convection-diffusion equation in the zero viscosity limit. We analyze the boundary layer structures in the viscous solution and derive the boundary condition satisfied by the viscosity limit as a solution of the inviscid equation. The results confirm that the Neumann type of far-field boundary condition is preferred in the outlet and characteristic boundary condition. Under some appropriate regularity and compatibility conditions on the initial and boundary data, we obtain optimal error estimates between the full viscous solution and the inviscid solution with suitable boundary layer corrections. These results hold in arbitrary space dimensions and similar statements also hold for the strip problem. This model well describes the behavior at the far-field for many physical and engineering systems such as fluid dynamical equation and electro-magnetic equation. The results obtained here should provide some theoretical guidance for designing effective far-field boundary conditions.


Abstract Many general circulation models (GCMs) share similar biases in the representation of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in the Atlantic, even when they are forced with the time series of the observed sea surface temperature (SST). Specifically, they overestimate precipitation in the Southern Hemisphere in boreal spring and in the Caribbean region in boreal summer. The majority of the models considered here place the rainfall maximum over the SST maximum, although the true precipitation maximum does not occur there. This is the case even though these GCMs accurately place the maximum in surface wind convergence away from the SST maximum, at the location where the observed precipitation maximum lies. Models that overrespond to SST in this way tend to (i) have fewer heavy-rain events, (ii) rain more for a smaller amount of water vapor in the atmospheric column, and (iii) couple rainfall and surface humidity too strongly and rainfall and humidity above the surface too weakly.


We study the cluster variables and "imaginary" elements of the semicanonical basis for the coefficient-free cluster algebra of affine type $A_1^{(1)}$. A closed formula for the Laurent expansions of these elements was given by P.Caldero and the author. As a by-product, there was given a combinatorial interpretation of the Laurent polynomials in question, equivalent to the one obtained by G.Musiker and J.Propp. The original argument by P.Caldero and the author used a geometric interpretation of the Laurent polynomials due to P.Caldero and F.Chapoton. This note provides a quick, self-contained and completely elementary alternative proof of the same results.


This paper looks at the evolution of the core curriculum in business education. It examines the kinds of ideas which underpin teaching and the ways in which these ideas are woven into a narrative in pedagogical practice. We treat ideas as pedagogical knowledge objects which create the ground for a meaningful relationship between teacher and student. We argue that business education relies on a system of closed pedagogical objects which create and sustain a phantasy world in whose mirror managers see themselves as privileged experts able to understand and cope with the complexity of work organisations and to assume the role of leading social ordering processes. This position reflects business education's own cultural history and preferences; it is held together by a world-historical narrative which reproduces the neo-liberal agenda of the latter part of the twentieth century. But reliance on 'closed' pedagogical objects (or phantasies of mastery) also means that business education has been and is gradually losing the ability to provide an intellectually credible account of social practices in work organisations. Is it possible to think of an alternative? In the final part of the paper, we briefly discuss an alternative perspective: an approach which uses 'open' pedagogical objects to design and deliver academic courses in management and organisation studies.


We present a theoretical and experimental study of the time evolution of the saturation-spectroscopy line shape when the saturating beam is suddenly switched on. We consider two metastable levels coupled by two Doppler-broadened transitions with a common excited level. In this special case, the fast transients from the upper level are rapidly damped, and the slow transients from populations and from Raman coherence in the metastable levels are easy to observe and are used for studying the collisional relaxation. For the sake of clarity, the theoretical analysis is developed according to a perturbation calculation. Nevertheless, saturation of the metastable levels must be taken into account in a more realistic theory (velocity-selective optical pumping): We give only a few results that are in excellent agreement with the experiments performed on neon metastable levels 3P0 and 3P2.


The research conducted and presented herein concentrates primarily on the life cycle of a cloud condensation nucleus CCN. The primary motivation of the work is the importance of CCN in the global aerosol-cloud-climate system, and focus is placed on the production of CCN, their behaviour in the atmosphere and their properties with respect to CCN activation, as well as the removal pathways. The work presented in this thesis covers measurements performed at 16 locations around the world. The results further corroborated the notion that atmospheric new particle formation NPF is an important and widespread source of CCN in the atmosphere. The number of newly formed CCN from NPF depends on many factors, including, but not limited to, biogenic and anthropogenic emissions, frequency of NPF events, nucleation and growth rates and pre-existing CCN concentrations; method of calculation also affects the estimate of NPF contribution to CCN budgets. Highest relative increase in CCN as a result of NPF was observed at a clean remote location in Northern Finland, where in the summer the number concentration of particles above 50 nm in diameter N50 can increase by as much as 800%. Highest absolute increases in NCCN as a result of NPF (up to 3500 particles cm for N50) were found at a dry savannah location of Botsalano in South Africa. In Hyytiala Type I nucleation events were found to always, at the very least, double NCCN concentrations. It was found that in many environments around the world a rather similar fraction of aerosols activated into cloud droplets at any given level of supersaturation S, and a simple linear parameterisation is provided for an easy calculation of annual mean CCN concentration NCCN based only on total number concentration NCN and the desired S. At the majority of studied locations hygroscopicity was found to increase with size, with accumulation mode hygroscopicity parameter κ values being significantly larger than Aitken mode κ at some locations. Depending on the focus and desired accuracy, the use of κ values as a function of particle dry size rather than the assumption of a size-independent κ should preferably be considered. The photochemistry, aging processes, atmospheric NPF and other atmospheric processes occurring on a diurnal scale were found to affect the CCN activation and hygroscopic properties of Aitken mode aerosol only. The hygroscopicity of the accumulation mode aerosol is more affected by processes occurring on a time scale of a few days to months, e.g. long range transport and seasonal variation in vegetation activity. Below-cloud scavenging by snow was found to be an inefficient mechanism of CCN removal from the atmosphere compared to, e.g., in-cloud scavenging. Additionally, nucleation and Aitken mode particles are scavenged by snow more efficiently that CCN-sized aerosol. No apparent difference in the scavenging efficiency of snow was observed between a rural and an urban site in Southern Finland. Ambient relative humidity was found to correlate positively with the scavenging efficiency of snow, and a new parameterisation for calculating snow scavenging coefficients based on both particle dry size and relative humidity is presented. A reconsideration of the purpose, the focus and the motivation for the cloud condensation nuclei counter CCNC measurements at the SMEAR II is needed if they are to be continued with reasonable, interesting and exciting output.


EDITOR,—Pamela W Ewan's study of nut allergy and Hugh A Sampson's accompanying editorial focus on an important public health issue.1 2 We have reviewed our database of the results of allergen skin tests undertaken by the department of allergy, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. This is the main paediatric tertiary referral service for the state of Victoria (population 4.4 million, including 943 000 children under the age of 14 years). The range of clinical problems consisted essentially of atopic eczema in infants and anaphylaxis to food in young and older children. During 1990–6 sensitisation (>/=3+, wheal diameter approximately 3 …


Sustainable development is a global issue, but for many people it is most meaningful to discuss sustainability at the local level, where people live their daily lives. Civil and environmental engineers (CEE) most often are dealing with local level tasks, and their designs are influencing human behaviour and thereby having an impact on the local communities' sustainability outcome. This paper describes Norwegian CEE students' experiences, gained from guided study-tours to Copenhagen and Malmö during the past three years. An annual three-day study-tour is arranged as part of three simultaneously offered courses: 'Integrated Land Use and Transport Planning', 'Environmental Engineering' and 'Architecture Theory and History'. The purpose of this study is to investigate which learning outcomes our students had from the urban districts visited, and how they evaluate the sustainability measures witnessed. Auditing is based on the students' knowledge acquisition from these three courses and previous courses through their studies. From their case-studies in Örestad (Copenhagen) and Western Harbour (Malmö), the students' group reports are describing themes like local climate, human scale, traffic safety, urban drainage systems (SUDS), landscape and open spaces, green roofs, crime prevention (CPTED), and universal design. By walking around, students become aware of qualities that should be implemented in local planning and design processes. From the students' group reports we can see that students are able to reflect on local sustainability outcomes, recommend further improvements and discuss their results related to sustainability theories and planning history.


A catalog of 732 optically selected, nearby poor clusters of galaxies covering the entire sky north of -3° declination is presented. The poor clusters, called WBL clusters, were identified as concentrations of three or more galaxies with photographic magnitudes brighter than 15.7, possessing a galaxy surface overdensity of 104/3. These criteria are consistent with those used in the identification of the original Yerkes poor clusters, and this new catalog substantially increases the sample size of such objects. These poor clusters cover the entire range of galaxy associations up to and including Abell clusters, systematically including poor and rich galaxy systems spanning over 3 orders of magnitude in the cluster mass function. As a result, this new catalog contains a greater diversity of richness and structures than other group catalogs, such as the Hickson and Yerkes catalogs. The information on individual galaxies includes redshifts and cross-references to other galaxy catalogs. The entries for the clusters include redshift (where available) and cross-references to other group and cluster catalogs.


Four music therapy educators participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews as part of a qualitative study. The purpose of this study was to explore the phenomena of feminist pedagogy as experienced by music therapy educators using phenomenological inquiry. The study examined the following research questions: (a) do music therapy educators use feminist music therapy pedagogy in teaching music therapy, (b) if so, how do they use feminist music therapy pedagogy, (c) what is their experience in using feminist music therapy pedagogy, and (d) how do feminist music therapy educators define their use of feminist pedagogy in undergraduate and graduate music therapy education. Each interview lasted from 1 1⁄2-3 hours. Data were analyzed according to Giorgi's (1975) phenomenological method and feminist theory. The researcher used member checking, inter-rater reliability, and triangulation of data (interviews, analytic memos, and music lyrics) to address issues of trustworthiness and dependability. Five categories were identified from the meaning units: (a) philosophical framework, (b) goals, (c) teaching methods, (d) institutional and social issues, and (e) backlash and response. A composite summary, discussion of the implications of the findings, consistency and inconsistency with the literature, limitations, revisiting of assumptions, personal reflections, guidelines for using FMTP, and areas for future research are included.


We document and account for two facts regarding the relation between international interest rates and total factor productivity (TFP) in a sample of developing countries. First, there is a negative correlation between both variables at quarterly frequency. Second, the share of agricultural labor and interest rates are positively correlated, whereas the share of agricultural labor and TFP are negatively correlated. Manufacturing labor shows opposite correlations. These relationships are particularly strong in the aftermath of financial crises. We then construct a model in which the presence of costly intermediation can produce such relationships. We show that, after increases in interest rates, a requirement to intermediate factors of production in high productivity sectors, like manufacturing, causes resources to leave these sectors. Resources end up in low productivity sectors, like agriculture, where intermediation is cheaper. This lowers aggregate productivity. We show that the channel we identify is quantitatively important in the case of Korea after the 1997 financial crisis. Keywords; small open economy, financial intermediation, total factor productivity


Biological drugs (biologic response modifiers) are a class of drugs that specifically targets cellular subsets (T or B cells), adhesion molecules or a variety of proinflammatory cytokines (eg, tumour necrosis factor α, interleukins 1, 6, 17, etc).1 The introduction of biological drugs has revolutionised the treatment of chronic rheumatological diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, systemic vasculitis and many others. They have also changed the treatment paradigm of other diseases, such as psoriasis, pemphigus, inflammatory bowel and eye diseases, lymphoma and other malignant diseases. Biologics have shown superior/similar efficacy and safety compared with traditional disease modifying drugs, and have reduced the need for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroids. Disease remission and inhibition of radiographic progression have become realistic achievable goals with the use of biologics, and they have been shown to improve quality of life, and reduce morbidity and mortality.2 However, one of the major disadvantages of these drugs has been their prohibitive cost. This has made the quest to look for cheaper drugs very important. The introduction of biosimilars, which cost about 20–30% less than the originators, has to some extent reduced the cost burden of treating chronic rheumatological diseases.

The definition and terminology for biosimilars have been discussed by various countries/agencies. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has defined a biosimilar as a 'biological product that is highly similar to the US licensed reference product notwithstanding minor differences in clinically inactive components, and for which there are no clinically meaningful differences between the biological product and the reference product in terms of the safety, purity and potency of the product' (as per Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act 2009).3 The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has defined a biosimilar 'as a biological medicinal product that contains a version of the active substance of an already authorised …


Circuit designers require Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tools when compiling designs into Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) in order to achieve high quality results due to the complexity of the compilation tasks involved. Technology mapping is one critical step in the FPGA CAD flow. The final mapping result has significant impact on the subsequent steps of clustering, placement and routing, for the objectives of delay, area and power dissipation. While depth-optimal FPGA technology mapping can be solved in polynomial time, area minimization has proven to be NP-hard. Most modern state-of-the-art FPGA technology mappers are structural in nature; they are based on cut enumeration and use various heuristics to yield depth and area minimized solutions. However, the results produced by structural technology mappers rely strongly on the structure of the input netlists. Hence, it is common to apply additional heuristics after technology mapping to further optimize area and reduce the amount of structural bias while not harming depth. Recently, SAT-based Boolean matching has been used for postmapping area minimization. However, SAT-based matching is computationally complex and too time consuming in practice. This thesis proposes an alternative Boolean matching approach based on NPN equivalence. Using a library of pre-computed topologies, the matching problem becomes as simple as performing NPN encoding followed by a hash lookup which is very efficient. In conjunction with Ashenhurst decomposition, the NPN-based Boolean matching is allowed to handle up to 10-input Boolean functions. When applied to a large set of designs, the proposed algorithm yields, on average, more than 3% reduction in circuit area without harming circuit depth. The priori generation of a library of topologies can be difficult; the potential difficulty in generating a library of topologies represents one limitation of the proposed algorithm.


This thesis studies a new method of constraining the mass distributions of elliptical galaxies and clusters of galaxies: gravitational redshift. The aim was to determine the types of astrophysical object in which gravitational redshift can be most readily detected and to attempt to observe the effect for the first time in a single object.

Longslit stellar kinematics were combined with planetary nebulae kinematics to study the mass distribution of M87. Jeans modelling showed that, although the best-fit model gave too little mass (Upsilon = 5.34+/-0.34, beta = 0.71+/-0.03, M_halo = 2.64+/-0.92 x 10^12 M_sun), by adjusting the orbital anisotropy it was possible to construct a model that was consistent with both the kinematics and existing X-ray gas measurements.

Longslit kinematics from the literature were used to attempt to determine the mass-to-light ratio of a sample of elliptical galaxies using gravitational redshift. Models were developed to calculate the expected gravitational redshift from the surface brightness profile. The best-fit mass-to-light ratios were found using this model and also obtained independently using the Jeans equation. The results were not statistically inconsistent with the expected H-band mass-to-light ratios predicted by stellar population models - the Jeans modelling gave a mean mass-to-light ratio of Upsilon_sigma = 1.67+/-0.10, while the gravitational redshift predicted Upsilon_v = 4.84+/-2.67.

Integral field spectroscopy of the centre of M60 was undertaken in an attempt to detect gravitational redshift in the centre of an individual galaxy for the first time. The velocity field was summed around the galaxy's isophotes to remove the effect of rotation. Models were constructed to predict the gravitational redshift, which were then compared to the data. It was found that the shallow slope of the light profile made it impossible to detect a gravitational redshift in this case, but that the scatter of the data points suggests that a signal of a few km/s could be detected. Consideration of the models led to a better understanding of the most suitable targets for this kind of study.

An analysis of the 2dF groups catalogue was made in order to attempt to determine the strength of the gravitational redshift in clusters of galaxies. A new method was developed for measuring the signal in clusters. As part of the analysis, the density distribution of the clusters was obtained. It was found that they followed an exponential profile, which scaled linearly with the size of the cluster. The gravitational redshift was used to attempt to constrain the mean cluster mass, but it was found that the errors were too large to rule out all but the largest masses with any certainty. Future studies would require either a much larger sample, or one which concentrates specifically on the most uniform, high mass clusters.

Gravitational redshift offers a new approach to studying the mass distributions of galaxies and clusters that requires many fewer assumptions regarding the underlying physics than many of the current methods. Unfortunately, it also suffers from a number of potential setbacks. Recent advances in instrument technology, combined with the careful selection of suitable targets should allow gravitational redshift to become a viable tool for studying the nature and distribution of dark matter.


Plants of Western New South Wales grew from the long experience and expertise which the authors acquired during their employment with their respective organisations in the arid and semi-arid pastoral areas of the State. Each author became aware of the need for a comprehensive record illustrating and describing the great array of plants in the area. The need was identified both for people involved in research and advisory services, and particularly for the landholders who need to manage the plants for their livelihood.

The book is a landmark because it draws together all of the existing knowledge of plants from the area, adds to it the extensive collections and research of the authors and presents the whole as a comprehensive collation and description of the plants of the dry pastoral portion of the State. Because of its comprehensive nature, the work is significant to pastoralists and people concerned with plants throughout Australia.

The 1992 edition of Plants of Western New South Wales has been reprinted and published by CSIRO PUBLISHING with a one page appendix giving website addresses of various herbaria in Australia where the reader can readily access up-to-date information on botanical name changes.