ABSTRACT
 The management of the soybean aphid Aphis glycines Matsumara is a major challenge to soybean production in the north-central United States. The identification and characterization of the insect predator community has informed integrated pest management strategies by providing insight on predators that can suppress soybean aphid populations. Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) are known predators of A. glycines, but more information is needed on their diversity, abundance, and performance to evaluate their importance as biological control agents of A. glycines. In this study, syrphid abundance was evaluated across two growing seasons in four soybean fields in east-central Minnesota. Six methods were used to quantify syrphid abundance at the larval, pupal, and adult life stages; describe species composition and richness for adults; and directly compare larval abundance to aphid abundance. The syrphid community comprised eight species, dominated by Toxomerus marginatus (Say) and Toxomerus geminatus (Say). Syrphid abundance was relatively low in soybean fields. Feeding trials were conducted to compare the performance of the most common syrphid (T. marginatus) on a diet of A. glycines with two native aphids, Aphis nerii Boyer de Fonscolombe and Aphis monardae Oestlund. Despite their low abundance in soybeans, T. marginatus larvae perform well on A. glycines, A. nerii, and A. monardae in laboratory feeding trials, implying that factors other than host suitability are limiting their potential to exert biological control on soybean aphids.


It is now widely recognized that stakeholder interaction and dialogue is essential to improve decisions about and awareness of climate change. The term 'stakeholder' is broad and researchers and practitioners may have interrelated and contrasting views on who is a stakeholder or who is (or should be) responsible for adaptation to climate change. To engage stakeholders in research or other projects on adaptation thus requires a careful mapping of the stakeholder landscape and identification of relevant actors at different levels. Through a case study approach, based on studies of two Swedish urban regions, Stockholm and Gothenburg, this paper proposes a systematic method to analyse and identify roles and responsibilities in the stakeholder landscape. The initial mapping exercise was complemented by participatory studies of local and regional stakeholders' perceptions of who is, or should be, involved in adaptation and their significance for climate change adaptation in the respective regions. The results indicate the value of careful stakeholder analysis for sustainable, effective, planned adaptation that is flexible, but also systematic enough to fulfil practical and scientific requirements for the study and advancement of ongoing adaptation processes and implementation.


Abstract. This study presents a new ion–neutral chemical model coupled into the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM). The ionospheric D-region (altitudes ∼  50–90 km) chemistry is based on the Sodankyla Ion Chemistry (SIC) model, a one-dimensional model containing 307 ion–neutral and ion recombination, 16 photodissociation and 7 photoionization reactions of neutral species, positive and negative ions, and electrons. The SIC mechanism was reduced using the simulation error minimization connectivity method (SEM-CM) to produce a reaction scheme of 181 ion–molecule reactions of 181 ion–molecule reactions of 27 positive and 18 negative ions. This scheme describes the concentration profiles at altitudes between 20 km and 120 km of a set of major neutral species (HNO3, O3, H2O2, NO, NO2, HO2, OH, N2O5) and ions (O2+, O4+, NO+, NO+(H2O), O2+(H2O), H+(H2O), H+(H2O)2, H+(H2O)3, H+(H2O)4, O3−, NO2−, O−, O2, OH−, O2−(H2O), O2−(H2O)2, O4−, CO3−, CO3−(H2O), CO4−, HCO3−, NO2−, NO3−, NO3−(H2O), NO3−(H2O)2, NO3−(HNO3), NO3−(HNO3)2, Cl−, ClO−), which agree with the full SIC mechanism within a 5 % tolerance. Four 3-D model simulations were then performed, using the impact of the January 2005 solar proton event (SPE) on D-region HOx and NOx chemistry as a test case of four different model versions: the standard WACCM (no negative ions and a very limited set of positive ions); WACCM-SIC (standard WACCM with the full SIC chemistry of positive and negative ions); WACCM-D (standard WACCM with a heuristic reduction of the SIC chemistry, recently used to examine HNO3 formation following an SPE); and WACCM-rSIC (standard WACCM with a reduction of SIC chemistry using the SEM-CM method). The standard WACCM misses the HNO3 enhancement during the SPE, while the full and reduced model versions predict significant NOx, HOx and HNO3 enhancements in the mesosphere during solar proton events. The SEM-CM reduction also identifies the important ion–molecule reactions that affect the partitioning of odd nitrogen (NOx), odd hydrogen (HOx) and O3 in the stratosphere and mesosphere.


This Spanish dictionary from Oxford's "Starter" range has been specially designed for beginners and is not simply a scaled-down version of larger dictionaries. The symbols on the page provide a consistent structure for the information both in English and Spanish, and the subdivisions of text are indicated using bullet points and Arabic numerals. The move from one language to another is indicated in = signs. There are no abbreviations, and parts of speech, gender labels, regional markers and grammatical terms are all given in full with a glossary providing explanations and examples of different parts of speech in use. More complex grammatical issues are dealt with in short notes at appropriate points in the text or in the more detailed boxed grammar notes. The language used in examples and in sense indicators (or signposts to the correct translation) is screened to ensure clarity to guide the learner to the right translation. Points of basic grammar are reinforced and colloquial usage is marked for both English and Spanish. Vocabulary relevant to areas such as days of the month, games and sports, and talking about time are given and there is an "Extra Help" section and a "Dictionary Skills" section to help learners to find their way around a dictionary in addition to building up their vocabulary.


ABSTRACT We explored customer perspectives of a farmers market incentive program for nutrition assistance beneficiaries in Maryland. Surveys were completed by a purposive sample of customers (n = 279) from four farmers markets. A sub-sample (n = 106) completed semi-structured interviews on barriers and facilitators to program use. Facilitators included availability of universal incentive tokens across markets, increased spending power, knowledgeable market staff, ability to purchase different food items, and an inviting market environment. Barriers included limited program promotion, limited explanation of program logistics, confusion over acceptable purchases, and funding running out. These findings can inform implementation of similar incentive programs.


From the first Charleston settlement in 1670, fire has posed an ever present threat. For this reason, fire fighting took on an important role even in its earliest forms within the city. As firefighting techniques evolved so did the buildings used to house both the equipment and the men used for such a task. This thesis studies the architecture of the Charleston Fire Department. From its early beginnings in 1881 when the newly formed department absorbed the former volunteer companies, to the more recent buildings (ending with the structure built in 1943) which were constantly being added as the needs of the department changed, the structures themselves tell an important story of how firefighting has been modified within the city. The change of equipment often dictates a change in architecture; however the City of Charleston and its firefighters are bound to their history and currently custom order trucks to fit their historic doorways. This is a tribute to the legacy of firefighting in the city and an indication of how these historic buildings have survived to present day. Examples of historic firefighting architecture were both studied and photographed for the purposes of further preserving their legacy. Documentation drawings of the Central Station located at 242/262 Meeting Street are included in an effort to further understand fire house architecture, as well as document a relatively unchanged specimen of firefighting history which remains with its original use and as a symbol of pride within the city to this day.


ABSTRACT This article examines transnational family development by drawing on the findings of longitudinal research on bi-national marriages between Japanese women and Pakistani men. This type of marriage increased in Japan during the 1990s after a surge in male labor migrants from Pakistan. Very little attention has been given to bi-national relationships between women of the global North and men from the global South. This article explores the ways in which gender, nationality, and other factors intersect in the creation of transnational families. More specifically, it focuses on transnationally split family dynamics in which Japanese wives relocate to Pakistan with their children while their Pakistani husbands remain in Japan to work. These transnational strategies bring the families various opportunities in terms of economic advancement, children's education, and the provision of care for the elderly. However, they also encounter various challenges as their life-courses unfold. Thus, this article highlights both the possibilities and limitations of these transnational families and shows how these Japanese women contest and negotiate their roles and positions within transnational households.


The population of P. xiphophorus in Lake Faro exhibits variation in the form of caudal seta V. In some specimens of both sexes, this seta is spatulate but in others it is slender and unmodified. Occasional specimens are asymmetrical. In addition to this variation in caudal seta form, the Lake Faro population displays variation in male body length and in the extent of the sexually dimorphic specialisation of the right swimming leg 2. The scale of these differences between the morphotypes might suggest their taxonomic treatment as distinct species. The modification of the distal two segments of the exopod of right leg 2 in the male is a unique sexual dimorphism. We infer, from the presence of this hook on the right exopod in adult males only, that it is involved in mating behaviour. Laboratory-based breeding experiments between females and males showing different combinations of these characters were also performed. Experiments comparing egg production rates in females that have mated with modified or unmodified males revealed no significant differences. It appears therefore that gene flow is not interrupted between the morphotypes and that reproductive segregation does not occur. Observations of male leg 5 morphology and musculature revealed no significant differences between the two P. xiphophorus morphotypes.


Water tables in the Netherlands have been greatly lowered in recent decades, largely in order to favour agricultural activities. Drought and increased nitrate (NO3-) leaching from agricultural land lead to oxidation of iron-sulphide (FeSx) in the subsoil, resulting in increased sulphate (SO42-) concentrations in the groundwater. In addition, increased atmospheric sulphur (S) deposition and leaching of SO42- from agricultural land have increased SO42- concentrations in the groundwater. Attempts to retain groundwater in desiccated wetlands by simply damming drainage ditches have resulted in greatly increased retention times of the water, die-back of the original vegetation and massive development of algae and lemnids in summer. In order to determine whether stagnation of SO42--rich groundwater plays an important role in eutrophication, nine bottomless enclosures were placed in the sediment of an open water body to block the supply of groundwater. Na2SO4 was added to three enclosures twice a year to simulate a minimised input of SO42--rich groundwater. In addition NaCl was added to three enclosures, while three enclosures were left untreated. (Pore) water quality and vegetation development were compared with those at seepage-fed sites outside the enclosures. The results show that stagnating SO42--rich groundwater led to increased SO42- reduction in the sediment, resulting in phosphate (o-PO43-) mobilisation from the sediment and eutrophication of the water layer, due to the interference of S2- with the iron-phosphorous cycle. This was accompanied by massive growth of common duckweed (Lemna minor) and filamentous algae and a decreased growth of broad-leaved pondweed (Potamogeton natans). The consistently high input of SO(4)2- via seepage did not lead to eutrophication. The results indicated that SO42- reduction rates at sites fed by seepage were very low. This was probably caused by the consistently high input of Fe and NO3- via the groundwater, which prevents reduction of SO42- by providing energetically more favourable electron acceptors. In fens with stagnating groundwater, Fe and NO3- will be rapidly depleted, stimulating SO42- reduction resulting in development of toxic S2- concentrations and eutrophication of the water layer.


Structural membranes exhibit advantages over slab and frame structures, accommodating large deformations while still elegantly combining spatial enclosure with material efficiency. One of the most promising types of membrane structures are membrane tensegrity structures, which are composed of discontinuous struts embedded in a tensile membrane. To date, membrane tensegrity structures are limited to completely closed formations or require extensive tethering, hindering their applicability for diverse architectural contexts. Here, a design framework is presented for creating self-supporting membrane tensegrity shell structures with spatial openings, enabled by novel reciprocally tessellated strut configurations. Through a combination of heuristic physical prototyping and digital formfinding tools, a library of membrane tensegrity forms has been developed that serves as tangible data for an expanded morphospace. To test the effectiveness of the established methods, a 10 m2 membrane tensegrity shell pavilion was built as a first large-scale demonstrator. Feedback from this demonstrator led to the development of computational strut tessellation tools that enable the search for informed, performance-driven design space.


Background The prevalence of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) remains high in Indonesian children. When anemia is detected in a patient, the physician's task is to identify the cause, address it, provide iron therapy, and prevent recurrence. However, prevention is best done by early detection. The reticulocyte hemoglobin equivalent (Ret-He) is a direct measurement of iron level in reticulocytes recently produced in the bone marrow. The Ret-He measurement may be an early indicator of iron deficiency, as it is sensitive at the initial stage of the condition. Objective To assess for a relationship between Ret-He and IDA as well as to evaluate the usefulness of Ret-He for diagnosing IDA in children. Methods This analytic, observational study with cross-sectional approach included 50 children aged 6-12 years and was performed from November 2013 to March 2014. The subjects were divided into IDA or non-IDA groups, based on ferritin levels. A correlation analysis using logistic regression was performed and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and odds ratio (OR) were calculated. Results were considered to be statistically significant for P values <0.05. Results A low Ret-He level was significantly associated with IDA in children (P=0.005). The Ret-He cut-off point of 27.8 pg/L had sensitivity of 43.8%, specificity 85.3%, PPV 58.3%, and NPV 76.3%, with OR 4.5 (95%CI 1.1 to 17.7). Conclusion We find a significant positive relationship between Haemoglobin (Hb) and Ret-He in children, A low level of Ret-He is associated with greater risk of IDA in children. The Ret-He has a high specificity. As such, Ret-He may be useful as a screening tool for early detection of IDA in children.


The papers gathered in this volume deal with the re-constructions, uses, transmissions and negotiations of "collective memories" in various identity settings. They focus on the dynamics of heritage-making, mapping the inventory of symbols and strategies retained, selected and manipulated by various actors to set compelling identities inside their mainstream society. The common argument of inter-disciplinary approaches is to provide insights into the issue of mobility, mediation, circulation and re-cycling at work in cultural heritage agencies. By suggesting to our authors to scrutinise alternative views on heritage compared to the official ones, our objective was to put different conceptions of "collective identity" in dialogue, in order to illustrate the diversity of representations about cultural heritage, from the nation-state's endeavour to give a shared sense to "collective identity", to the individuals', minorities', diasporas' or local communities' competing glances on heritage as a self-knowledge process granting meaning of their identity as well.


Explore the fundamentals of systems programming starting from kernel API and filesystem to network programming and process communications
Key Features

Learn how to write Unix and Linux system code in Golang v1.12

Perform inter-process communication using pipes, message queues, shared memory, and semaphores

Explore modern Go features such as goroutines and channels that facilitate systems programming

Book Description
System software and applications were largely created using low-level languages such as C or C++. Go is a modern language that combines simplicity, concurrency, and performance, making it a good alternative for building system applications for Linux and macOS.

This Go book introduces Unix and systems programming to help you understand the components the OS has to offer, ranging from the kernel API to the filesystem, and familiarize yourself with Go and its specifications. You'll also learn how to optimize input and output operations with files and streams of data, which are useful tools in building pseudo terminal applications. You'll gain insights into how processes communicate with each other, and learn about processes and daemon control using signals, pipes, and exit codes. This book will also enable you to understand how to use network communication using various protocols, including TCP and HTTP.

As you advance, you'll focus on Go's best feature-concurrency helping you handle communication with channels and goroutines, other concurrency tools to synchronize shared resources, and the context package to write elegant applications.

By the end of this book, you will have learned how to build concurrent system applications using Go
What you will learn

Explore concepts of system programming using Go and concurrency

Gain insights into Golang's internals, memory models and allocation

Familiarize yourself with the filesystem and IO streams in general

Handle and control processes and daemons' lifetime via signals and pipes

Communicate with other applications effectively using a network

Use various encoding formats to serialize complex data structures

Become well-versed in concurrency with channels, goroutines, and sync

Use concurrency patterns to build robust and performant system applications
Who this book is for
If you are a developer who wants to learn system programming with Go, this book is for you. Although no knowledge of Unix and Linux system programming is necessary, intermediate knowledge of Go will help you understand the concepts covered in the book


Ex-vessel fish prices are essential for comprehensive fisheries management and socioeconomic analyses for fisheries science. In this paper, we reconstructed a global ex-vessel price database with the following areas of improvement: 1) compiling reported prices explicitly listed as 'for reduction to fishmeal and fish oil' to estimate prices separately for catches destined for fishmeal and fish oil production, and other non-direct human consumption purposes; 2) including 95% confidence limit estimates for each price estimation; and 3) increasing the number of input data and the number of price estimates to match the reconstructed Sea Around Us catch database. Our primary focus was to address this first area of improvement as ex-vessel prices for catches destined for non-direct human consumption purposes were substantially overestimated, notably in countries with large reduction fisheries. For example in Peru, 2010 landed values were estimated as 3.8 billion real 2010 USD when using separate prices for reduction fisheries, compared with 5.8 billion using previous methods with only one price for all end-products. This update of the price database has significant global and country-specific impacts on fisheries price and landed value trends over time.


In 2004, US Time magazine named Glasgow Europe's 'capital of rock music' and likened it to Detroit in its Motown heyday (Porter, 2004). In 2008 UNESCO awarded Glasgow the title of 'City of Music' and the application dossier submitted in support of this title noted the importance of rock and pop for the city's musical reputation. Since the late 1970s a large number of bands have emerged from (or been associated with) the city, yet little academic research has been carried out to determine the factors behind this phenomenon.
This thesis, then, aims to address this deficiency. To do so, it questions the notion of the meaning of the term 'scene' and highlights the changing importance, between 1979 and 2009, of different components within Glasgow's music scene. In doing this, the thesis examines the importance and role of different 'foci' for sustaining popular music production at a grassroots level. These foci (where local music makers meet, socialise, and develop lasting connections) include record shops, studios (rehearsal and recording), live performance venues, and virtual social spaces of the Internet.

In foregrounding music making as a social practice, involving interactions between individuals in a wide variety of roles (rather than only between music makers), the study employs network theory as a means of exploring these connections. The resultant analysis highlights the importance of different forms of capital for cultural production. In particular, it argues that from the 1990s onwards, social capital played an increasing role in the development of Glasgow's music scene. Expressed in terms of high levels of trust and reciprocity between scene participants, the accumulation of social capital has influenced Glasgow music makers to cultivate a distinct 'indie' approach to music making. This approach is manifested, not in one particular style of music, but in a plethora of cross- collaborations and a desire on the part of scene participants to create music across different art forms and media.


This paper seeks to deepen research on the relationship established between social capital and tourism, namely on the less explored aspect of the reciprocity in this relationship; in other words, the forms by which social capital affects tourism development and how tourism development has influenced the evolution of social capital are the object of analysis. The paper uses a qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews and discourse analysis. Results show that a lack of use of social capital provokes a vicious circle of social capital destruction, meeting Putnam's (1995, 2000) theories in his magnum opus Bowling Alone. Results additionally show that social capital facilitates tourism development and, in turn, tourism development promotes the creation of bridging social capital in the community. This paper concludes presenting policy proposals that seek to lead the territory towards a more sustainable community approach to the tourism model using the existing social capital and fostering its growth.


More essentially, women have been subjected to social control and dominated by men. This is a result of persisting cultural stereotype, misuse of religious and traditional practises in which educational, political and social power are dominated by men, and women have always been followers of men in the society and the men predominantly see themselves as leaders of women. Gender Equality has been a great issue of concern in Nigeria most especially among the women, equality between men and women is just fair and right. The attainment of gender equality is not only seen as an end itself and human right issues, but as a prerequisite for the achievement of sustainable development and national security in Nigeria. To respond to the challenges of gender inequalities, there is a need to recognise the main issues leading to inequality between genders. The research methodology is as termed qualitative research, with the use of primary data gotten through administered questionnaire and secondary data gathered from the news print and journals. The aim of the study was to basically know the major causes of gender inequality in Nigeria. We also suggested strategies to ensure gender equality in all sectors in Nigeria.


Presented at Civil Service Reforms in the Region: Lessons Learnt panel at the Conference Contemporary Issues in Public Administration in Post-Soviet Eurasia, 2018


MELISSA D. MCCLURE. The Effects of an Arts-Based Curriculum on Academic Achievement (under the direction of DR. MARY BESS DUNN). The purpose of this study was to determine whether attending an arts-based middle school appeared to positively impact student academic achievement as measured by standardized achievement tests. In order to determine whether patterns of improved academic achievement were discernable following attendance at a four-year arts-based middle school, achievement data from the grade four and grade eight Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) and the grade nine through twelve Gateway Test were examined. The study examined differences between score trends, differences between scores for students from an arts-based curriculum vs. those from a standard curriculum; specifically differences between the three standardized dependent measures of (a) language arts scores, (b) mathematics scores, and (c) science scores. The study found that the arts-based curriculum group had higher grade 8 and grade 9-12 overall standardized scores than the standard curriculum group. In addition, the overall standardized mean test score values for the arts-based curriculum group was higher than the overall standardized mean test scores for the standard curriculum group.


The paper, focusing on the pivotal spatial rethinking in global history, briefly reconstructs some implications of the assumption of an original spatial perspective in the global historical research from its beginnings to nowadays. The application of a constructivist perspective leads, on the one hand, to the choice of units of analysis basically alien to any form of centrism and to the hierarchies of meta-geographies; on the other hand, to the deconstruction of the traditional nation-state frame, historicized and reconceptualised in new ways in a global perspective. Moreover, after a rich debate developed in the years 2006-2015 about issues of space and scale, new life has come to global history through a more accurate empirical research, devoting more attention to contexts, social actors and primary sources.


BACKGROUND
In cross-sectional studies, the aldosterone-to-renin ratio (ARR) has been reported to be associated with hypertension under conditions of higher sodium intake. The objective of this prospective study was to investigate the association between ARR and the development of hypertension in community residents stratified by dietary sodium intake.

METHODS
From the general population of Ohasama, we obtained plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma aldosterone concentrations (PACs) for 608 participants (mean age = 57.6 years; 71.4% women) without hypertension at baseline. Using the Cox model, we computed the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of natural log-transformed ARR (lnARR) for the development of hypertension, defined as blood pressure ≥140/90mm Hg or start of treatment with antihypertensive drugs during follow-up.

RESULTS
During a mean follow-up of 6.8 years, 298 participants developed hypertension. The median PRA, PAC, and ARR were 1.2ng/ml/hour, 6.6ng/dl, and 5.5ng/dl per ng/ml/hour, respectively. Each 1 SD increase in lnARR was associated with an increased risk for the development of hypertension in participants overall (HR = 1.18; P = 0.007). In participants with higher sodium intake (median ≥4,102mg/day), a significant association of lnARR with hypertension remained (HR = 1.25; P = 0.009), whereas no significant association was observed in participants with lower sodium intake (P = 0.18). Participants who developed hypertension had significantly lower PRA than those who did not (P = 0.003), despite no differences in PAC (P = 0.91).

CONCLUSIONS
These results raise the hypothesis that relative aldosterone excess may have a deleterious effect on the development of hypertension by contributing to salt/volume-related hypertension.


Wastewater recycling has emerged as a prominent option among the various alternative sources of water in both developing and developed countries. However, the questions that need to be answered in this context are: how do communities determine which option is best for them and what are the factors that make one water alternative more appealing than another? The aim in this paper is to understand the factors that affect wastewater management across communities that are at varying stages of economic development. From an in-depth literature review of 329 studies, the factors that determine wastewater management have been grouped together into four categories: physical, economic, institutional and environmental factors. Finally, drawing on the Environmental Kuznets Curve, a framework has been developed that combines these factors that constrain or facilitate wastewater treatment and recycling over a broad spectrum of economic settings and stages of development. The factors, their components and the methods through which relevant empirical evidence can be collected to assess them, are presented and discussed in detail. In doing this, the aim is to highlight the changing nature of these four factors that will influence long-term investments in wastewater infrastructure.


In rehabilitation robotics, a strong coupling between human and robot entails high requirements for achieving mutual adaptation. The latter underlies the acceptance of the robotic device as an extension of the human body and promotes an efficient collaboration. We present automated metrics for quantifying models of human-robot interaction and the mutual adaptation based on the pattern of informational flow between the two participants in the interaction. These methods allow the robotic device to gain the ability to score the mutual adaptation and to implement strategies for increasing it, fostering the human-centered robot autonomy in rehabilitation robotics.


The paper addresses the effects of the regulatory convergence and international capital flows on national institutions, policies and conceptions on the working of the economy and financial system in particular. It is shown on the case of Estonia how these two factors – foreign investments and international integration – have affected and essentially hollowed out policy-makers' institutional understanding of money, finance, banking, and the market economy in general. Moreover, the financial system in Estonia has been riddled with institutional incompatibilities, while the macro-economic strategy, based on the harmonization process and the restrictive monetary regime, has reduced policy autonomy for financial stability purposes. Likewise, in light of the harmonization process, one can detect dissonance in the perceptions of financial regulators, fragmentation of policies, and inadequate financial governance to steer the developments in the finance sphere. Policy-making that has resulted in both over- and misregulation has lacked the holistic, system-wide view on the relation between the financial industry and other institutional sectors.


Siblings between 4 1/2 and 9 1/2 were interviewed concerning positive and negative actions of self or sibling that either did or did not occur in past conflicts, and then asked to describe these disputes. Children evidenced self-serving biases, ascribing positive actions to themselves more than to their siblings. Additionally, younger siblings denied their negative actions. Older siblings admitted to, but spontaneously explained, their negative actions; they also excluded such actions from their narratives. Moreover, differences between children's accurate and inaccurate responses (in latencies to respond, integration of actions in narratives, and explanations for actions that did or did not occur) suggest that children's attempts to manage the impressions they make on others contribute to biased reports of past conflicts.


Application of enzymes as feed additives is common in the livestock industry, especially
in poultry, to eliminate the antinutritional factors present in the diets of chickens.
However, the efficiency of enzymes seldom achieves their desired effects because of
destruction during feed processing and unsuitable conditions in the gastrointestinal tract.
Thus, in the present study, investigations were carried out to evaluate the potential of 12
Lactobacillus strains as delivery vehicles for a heterologous β-glucanase enzyme in
poultry. The 12 Lactobacillus strains used were L. crispatus I12, L. acidophilus I16 and
I26, L. fermentum I24, I25, C16 and C17, and L. brevis I23, I211, I218, C1 and C10.
The strains were found to exhibit resistance to chloromphenicol, erythromycin and
tetracycline in varying degrees. The erythromycin resistance of L. acidophilus I16 and
I26, and L. fermentum I24 and C17 could be cured by using novobiocin, and L. brevis
C10 cured by using acriflavin. The chloromphenicol and tetracycline resistances of all
the resistant strains were not eliminated even after prolonged curing in sublethal
concentrations of individual or mixtures of curing agents such as novobiocin, ethidium
bromide, acriflavin or SDS. Electrotransformation efficiency of the Lactobacillus strains
was affected by growth phase, growth and recovery medium, cell density, electroporation
buffer, buffer strength, plasmid concentration and electrical pulse. At optimized
conditions, the strains were transformed at 103-104 transformants/μg plasmid DNA. The
erythromycin susceptible wild-type strains (L. crispatus I12, L. brevis I23, I211 and I218,
and L. fermentum I25) and cured derivatives (L. acidophilus I16C and I26C, L. brevis
v
C10C, and L. fermentum I24C and C17C) were then transformed at optimized conditions
with plasmid pSA3b6, which carried a β-glucanase gene from Bacillus
amyloliquefaciens. Five wild-type Lactobacillus strains, namely, L. crispatus I12, L.
fermentum I25, L. brevis I23, I211 and I218 and a cured derivative, L. brevis C10C,
which could retain the plasmid at a comparatively higher rate, were used for subsequent
studies. The Lactobacillus transformants were found to secrete 32-52 U/ml of β-
glucanase. Optimum activity of the enzyme was at 39 oC and pH 5-6. A loss of 0.4-1.6
U/generation of β-glucanase was observed when the strains were grown under nonselective
pressure.
PCR analyses of gastrointestinal samples of chickens fed transformed Lactobacillus
strains revealed that the strains could not persist for more than 24 h in the gut. The β-
glucanase activity detected in the jejunum and ileum of chickens fed transformed
Lactobacillus strains was found to be 2-9.4 folds higher than those obtained from other
intestinal sites. In the feeding trial, supplementation of transformed Lactobacillus strains
to chickens significantly (P<0.05) improved the body weight by 2.5 %, and the feed
conversion ratio by 1.0-2.6 %. In addition, the apparent metabolizable energy,
digestibilities of crude protein and dry matter of feed were improved by 3.4 %, 5.9 % and
3.5 %, respectively. The intestinal fluid viscosity was reduced by 21-46 %. The relative
weights of organs and intestinal segments (pancrease, liver, duodenum, jejunum, ileum,
cecum and colon) were also reduced by 6-27 %, and the relative length of intestinal
segments (duodenum, jejunum, ileum and cecum) was reduced by 8-15 %. Histological
examination of the intestinal tissues showed that the jejunal villus height of chickens fed
diet supplemented with transformed Lactobacillus strains was significantly (P<0.05)
higher than those of chickens fed other dietary treatments. The transformed
Lactobacillus strains were also found to reduce the time of feed passage rate by 2.2 h.
vi
The results of the present study showed that the Lactobacillus strains have the potential to
be used as delivery vehicles for a heterologous β-glucanase enzyme in poultry.


It has been hypothesized that allelopathy can prevent competitive exclusion and promote phytoplankton diversity in aquatic ecosystems, where numerous species coexist on a limited number of resources. However, no experimental proof-of-principle is available to support this hypothesis. Here we present the first experimental evidence supporting this hypothesis by demonstrating that allelopathy promotes the coexistence of two phytoplankton species (Ankistrodesmus falcatus and Oscillatoria sp.) competing on a single limiting nutrient. By performing long-term competition experiments in nitrate-limited continuous cultures, and describing the population dynamics using a mechanistic model, we demonstrate that when allelopathy comes into play, one of the following outcomes is possible depending on the relative initial abundances of the species: dominance of the stronger competitor for nitrate (the non-allelopathic species), oscillatory coexistence, or dominance of the weaker competitor (the allelopathic species). Our model analysis reveals that sustained oscillatory coexistence of the two-species coexistence would be a common outcome of this experiment. Our study confirms for the first time, based on laboratory experiments combined with mechanistic models, that allelopathy can alter the predicted outcome of inter-specific competition in a nutrient-limited environment and increase the potential of coexistence of more species than resources, thereby contributing to find endogenous mechanisms explaining the extreme diversity of phytoplankton communities.


Central to the welfare analysis of income transfer programs is the deadweight loss associated with possible reforms. To aid analytical tractability, its measurement typically requires specifying a simplified model of behavior. We employ a complementary "decomposition" approach that compares the behavioral and mechanical components of a policy's total impact on the government budget to study the deadweight loss of two unemployment insurance policies. Experimental and quasi-experimental estimates using state administrative data show that increasing the weekly benefit is more efficient (with a fiscal externality of 53 cents per dollar of mechanical transferred income) than reducing the program's implicit earnings tax.


Before the introduction of photography most
educated people were taught to sketch. A great
deal of our knowledge of early colonial cities,
villages and buildings in general is due to the habit
such people had of sketching what interested them.
Tasmania was very fortunate in this respect. The
purpose of this paper is to record what is known
of Charlotte Cleveland, an amateur artist who left
behind a few sketches of considerable historical
interest. The information in this account has come
firstly from Mr. A. H. Weedon, Charlotte Cleveland's
grandson, and secondly from an article "The
History of the Cleveland or Ainslie Estate" contained
in a pamphlet on Cosgrove Park Home
published by the Launceston General Hospital when
Cosgrove Park was opened.


Diane alfano Chairman and CEO Dave BliDe Publisher The Journal of FIXED INCOME It seems reasonable that bond managers can't add value unless there are sufficient price movements. Hence, sufficient volatility along with a divergence of opinion is required to generate superior performance. Is averaging low volatility periods with high volatility periods diluting our ability to observe superior investment skill? We begin this issue of The Journal of Fixed Income with an article by Harsh Parikh and Frank J. Fabozzi that analyzes performance in varying interest rate volatility and directional environments over time. Their evidence indicates higher persistent outperformance as volatility increases, especially during a rising interest rate environment. This indicates investment skill when it is needed most. Next, Robert S. Goldberg and Ehud I. Ronn isolate and examine the correlation behavior of intra-market corporate spreads during and around the great recession. While bond yields represent promised returns, expected returns that include the probability of shortfalls and recovery are what should be used for investment decisions. In the next article, Natalia A. Beliaeva, Rachel (Kyungyeon) Koh, and Sanjay K. Nawalkha provide an analytical examination of the inverse relationship between credit spreads and credit risk premiums for differing maturities, callability, convertibility, and leverage cases. If momentum is a factor in stock returns, should it also be present in corporate bond returns? In the next article, Florian Barth, Hendrik Scholz, and Matthias Stegmeier f ind that employing momentum with characteristics-based adjustments has performance value for noninvestment grade bonds. Next, Tao-Hsien Dolly King, Sailu Li, and George Xiang investigate the effect of firm diversification on bond returns by comparing conglomerate versus single industry firm issuance. Conglomerate firms tend to have higher bond returns, lower volatility, and less sensitivity to market shocks. Finally, Dexiang Wu and Desheng Dash Wu propose a conditional Value-at-Risk optimization for selecting a corporate bond portfolio from credit default swaps with constraints to improve allocation structure and insulate the portfolio from worst-case scenarios. We hope you enjoy this issue of The Journal of Fixed Income. Your continued support of the journal is greatly appreciated.


The terms of trade (TOT) have an important role in determining direction of the trade which finally transmits into trade balance. The current study is an effort to seek the effect of TOT on the trade balance. The short and long-estimates are computed through Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) methodology; the results reveal that in the case of Pakistan, there is no significant relationship between TOT and trade balance. Furthermore, the estimated Marshall Lerner (ML) condition is calculated by addition of the absolute values of import and export demand elasticities. The study shows that it does not hold for Pakistan, neither in the short-run, nor in the long-run. The computed ML condition, evidently infers that price have negative impact on trade balance. The demand for exports and imports are price inelastic; thus, to curtail trade balance the government should take measures to increase exports and limit the unnecessary imports.


St Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg was completed in 1858 after 40 years of construction; it is today the fourth largest domed Cathedral in Europe. The soil is a relatively soft saturated sediment and carries this 3155 MN structure that is 100 meters high with an imprint of 92 m by 100 m. It is founded on a 7.5 m thick mat of granite and limestone blocks resting on relatively short timber piles of different lengths. The Cathedral has progressively experienced significant deformation including differential settlement causing cracks in the pillars and tilting of the porticoes. The paper summarizes the available geotechnical engineering and engineering geology aspects of the soil on which the Cathedral is built as well as classical issues such as foundation ultimate capacity and settlement analysis through simple calculations and numerical simulations. It also includes some less classical issues such as the influence of microbial activity on the behavior of the Cathedral through the changes the microbes and their activity create in the engineering properties of the soil and in the groundwater composition. The paper concludes with the results of a numerical simulation of the soil and the foundation under load and a comparison with the limited measurements that have been collected.


Prospective, population-based biobanks designed for research into genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors associated with common, complex diseases or the genetic basis of drug response have garnered significant interest over the past 10 years from bioethicists, social scientists, lawyers and other commentators. There are a series of interrelated but distinct social, political and ethical issues raised by biobanking: the challenges of creating governance structures that win public confidence in these novel and uncertain scientific initiatives; the establishment of appropriate systems of consent; determining the rights of ownership, commercial exploitation and benefit-sharing among different stakeholders and the ways biobanks invoke ideas about human population differences and might serve to help address the health needs of minority groups in society.

Key concepts:

Biobanking is an activity that spans research and clinical contexts and is undertaken by public sector agencies, charities and commercial actors.

Biobanks should be understood as 'sociotechnical' enterprises that need to bring about novel arrangements for governance, gain the support of funders and the public, as well to develop scientific and technical procedures and infrastructures.

Biobanks are situated on the blurred lines of 'public' and 'private' and raise significant, controversial issues about the role of commercial interests in biomedical research and the distribution of benefits from the use of human tissue and information on individuals.

With the prospect of international networking of biobanks, questions of data sharing, consent, privacy and governance will remain significant and still need to be further debated and resolved.

Keywords:

biobanks;
genetic databases;
consent;
commercialization;
governance


Most [of the stories in White Rat] are written in first person and most deal with tensions in relationships, dynamics of psychology--psychic landscape--and ... the 'inward.' --Gayl Jones in Rowell, "Interview," 49 Several reviewers of Gayl Jones's first two controversial novels, Corregidora (1975) and Eva's Man (1976), sought to interpret the books primarily in terms of their dark violent and even gothic qualities, muffling the formidable aesthetic dynamics of those works beneath the sensational, problematic vividness of their respective brutal episodes. (1) Critics of Eva's Man in particular used the novel's literal and psychological violence to accuse the text of social and aesthetic irresponsibility. For example, Loyle Hairston attacked the book for its "squalid appraisal of the souls of Black folks" (133), while John Updike lamented, "[T]he characters are dehumanized as much by her [Jones's] artistic vision as by their circumstances" ("Eva and Eleanor" 75). Summing up the majority of early critical reactions to the book, Clarence Major characterized Jones's second novel as a "sad, dark chant ridden with sex and blood" (834). Amid this stormy climate of reviewer condemnation (only a year after the publication of Eva's Man) appeared Jones's first collection of short stories, White Rat (1977). Not surprisingly, at least one reviewer was quick to equate the slender volume of short fiction with the perceived philosophical despondency of Eva's Man, Carol Pearson arguing that the stories "suggest no alternative to solipsism and despair" (1678). Yet, this assessment did not herald a chorus of critical censure. Noting the book's narrative power, one anonymous reviewer labeled the collection an impressive demonstration of "forcefulness" ("Review of White Rat," Booklist 140). Weighing the collection's unflinching and potentially disturbing subject matter with Jones's aesthetic craftsmanship, Barbara Bannon adroitly extended the "forcefulness" reading, concluding, "The excellence of her [Jones's] creations increases their impact and the result is literature, no matter how the stories affect the sensibilities" (63). Subordinating the connotations of potentially problematic subject matter to the dynamic "impact" of Jones's telling, Bannon dubbed the collection an undeniable literary success. In her condemnatory review of White Rat, Carol Pearson makes an important observation about the general tenor of Jones's imagery, arguing that, rather than attempting to establish any kind of humanistic vision, the stories "are characterized instead by unrelieved distaste for the body, for sexuality, and for human life" (1678). Although it was not the result of conscious intention, Pearson's remark suggests elements of the grotesque and could even serve as a partial definition of that important and evasive aesthetic form. Other critics generally have ignored the explicitly grotesque qualities of Jones's work. However, Keith E. Byerman evaluated the gothic qualities of Eva's Man (2) before identifying its grotesque characteristics in a later essay, which dwells on the symbolic implications of Eva Medina Canada's crime: "a symbolic liberation from the particular grotesqueness of her society" ("Intense" 452). For Byerman, Eva's Man is a work of the grotesque in terms of the way it renders and interrogates the ugliness of racist, patriarchal American mores: "The supposed normalities of American life are shown to be absurd and ominous distortions" (447). Byerman's important observation serves as a foundation for other avenues by which the value of Jones's work--and her short stories in particular--may be illuminated through a delineation of its grotesque qualities. Wolfgang Kayser, in The Grotesque in Art and Literature, details the etymology of the grotesque, relating how the Italian word literally translated as "from the cave or grotto" (hence grotto-esque) and became the accepted moniker for an entire genre of art (19-20). …


Five distinguished scholars offer separate commentaries on the article by Michael Cox and Caroline Kennedy-Pipe. All of the commentators reject the broad interpretation and many of the specific arguments put forth by Cox and Kennedy-Pipe. They point out several crucial issues that are omitted from the article and raise questions about the authors' sources, use of evidence, and selective invocation of secondary literature. They regret that Cox and Kennedy Pipe seem to dwell on a large number of the same matters that preoccupied radical revisionist historians in the 1960s. They argue that although Cox and Kennedy-Pipe offer a more sophisticated version of revisionism, their article suffers from many of the same shortcomings. Most of the commentators believe that the Marshall Plan merely reflected a division of Europe that was already well under way rather than being the precipitating cause. In that sense, the debate on the origins of the Cold War needs to go well beyond the issues raised by Cox and Kennedy-Pipe.


This study concerns congenital defects in pigs; umbilical and scrotal hernia, cryptorchidism, kyphosis, splay legs, anal atresia, intersexuality and congenital tremor. The aim was to describe and estimate the prevalence of these defects and estimate the heritability for the most frequent defects, scrotal hernia and cryptorchidism in purebred Swedish Hampshire, Landrace and Yorkshire populations. Furthermore, information and opinions from herdsmen in commercial herds was collected and analysed. A low proportion of congenital defect pigs is of importance both from animal welfare and economic point of view. The accuracy of registration of the presence of defects in the litters has a decisive role for the ability to select against these defects. Linked with that is also the question to what degree these defects have a hereditary background.

During summer and autumn 2008, data from Nordic Genetics' database of recorded defects for purebred litters born in the period January 2000 to October 2007 was analysed. Data from 15 purebred herds, 5 from each breed, with at least 400 purebred litters, with in total 19 308 litters were included in the analysis. Two statistical models were applied to the data. One included fixed effects of breed, herd, season and parity number and the other was expanded with the effect of litter size. The effect of the boars on the prevalence of scrotal hernia and cryptorchidism, as fathers or maternal grandfathers of the litters, was analysed.

The results show a variation of mean prevalence of congenital defects in purebred litters. The mean prevalence of any defect in litters was 7.0% in Hampshire, 12.0% in Landrace and 16.8% in Yorkshire. Cryptorchidism was the most common defect in Hampshire (4.3%) and Yorkshire (8.3%), and in Landrace (6.5%) scrotal hernia was most common. Significant effects of breed and herd and significant interactions between breed and year was found for scrotal hernia and cryptorchidism. Prevalence of scrotal hernia and cryptorchidism varied with parity number and month of birth. Prevalence increased with increasing litter size.

For Landrace and Yorkshire boars, positive correlations were found between the prevalence of cryptorchidism in the litters when the boar was used as father and maternal grandfather, 0.4 for Landrace and 0.3 for Yorkshire. For Yorkshire there were positive correlations also for scrotal hernia, 0.3. Estimated heritabilities were generally low (<0.1).

17 commercial herds with known high level of skill were visited and the herdsmen were interviewed during August and September 2008. The data were summarized and estimations of prevalence of defects among live born piglets were done. The commercial herds did all report that they see most of the defect piglets during farrowing, at teeth grinding and castration. Umbilical hernias and pigs with kyphosis were found later in life. Most common defect was splay legs, with a prevalence of 4% of all piglets born alive. Umbilical hernia was found in about 2% of all growers. Umbilical hernias were pointed out to be a troublesome defect due to decreased growth, problems to deliver pigs with the defect and reduced animal welfare. An increase of umbilical hernias had been seen during the last two years. Defects in the umbilical region are complex and need to be investigated more.

In Norway defects have been included as health traits in the breeding program for Norwegian Landrace and Duroc. The large variation of prevalence of defects in the analysed Swedish purebred herds, within breeds, indicate a variation in accuracy of recording the defects. If more herds did record the prevalence of defects, the most important defects could be included in the breeding program. For the future, it might be possible to select against defects using genetic markers.


Ca2+ released from presynaptic and postsynaptic intracellular stores plays important roles in activity-dependent synaptic plasticity, including long-term depression (LTD) of synaptic strength. At Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapses in the hippocampus, presynaptic ryanodine receptor-gated stores appear to mobilize some of the Ca2+ necessary to induce LTD. Cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR) has recently been proposed as an endogenous activator of ryanodine receptors in sea urchin eggs and several mammalian cell types. Here, we provide evidence that cADPR-mediated signaling pathways play a key role in inducing LTD. We show that biochemical production of cGMP increases cADPR concentration in hippocampal slices in vitro, and that blockade of cGMP-dependent protein kinase, cADPR receptors, or ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+ stores each prevent the induction of LTD at Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapses. A lack of effect of postsynaptic infusion of either cADPR antagonist indicates a probable presynaptic site of action.


Along with the increase in elderly patients with chronic and disabling conditions, the number of family caregivers continues to rise. Caregiving has been associated with negative physical and psychological impact on the caregivers' health, as well as, with higher prevalence rates of depression, anxiety, and a higher risk of mortality. The purpose of this study was to examine if death anxiety would be a significant predictor of depression and coping in the sample of adult family caregivers of adult patients. Participants were 46 family caregivers recruited through caregiver websites. Participants completed the Revised Collett–Lester Fear of Death and Dying Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale– Revised, the Ways of Coping Questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis identified significant relationships between death anxiety, depression, coping, and duration of caregiver experience. The findings of this study provide medical practitioners and psychologists with enhanced knowledge, facilitating development of interventions to help family caregivers deal with death anxiety and achieving efficient coping.


The thesis provides an empirical analysis of impact of country-level and firm-level determinants on access to finance in transition economies. Generalized Ordered Logit model is applied on survey data for transition countries, combined with financial market indicators. The results show that higher concentration in banking sector, as well as higher financial deepening have a positive impact on access to finance, while volatile macroeconomic environment, higher implication of foreign-owned and stateowned banks seems to be perceived as increasing obstacles in accessing external financing. Combining indexes for liberalization in banking sector and liberalization of securities markets proved that before liberalization process firms had better access to finance. One of the possible explanations is that before liberalization state banks were forced by politicians to issue more loans, while after reforms the political pressure was removed, imposing stricter conditions for loan granting. Inclusion of corruption variable yields expectable results that higher corruption level is associated with worse access to finance. The results for firm-level variables indicate that larger firms and firms from service sector benefits from better access to finance. Also, companies that apply for an external audit face fewer obstacles in accessing finance, than those that do not. Inclusion of control variable for crisis period increases the consistency and robustness of results.


Despite widespread therapeutic needs, the majority of medical and surgical devices used in children do not have approval or clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in pediatric populations. The clinical need for devices to diagnose and treat diseases or conditions occurring in children has led to the widespread and necessary practice in pediatric medicine and surgery of using approved devices for "off-label" or "physician-directed" applications that are not included in FDA-approved labeling. This practice is common and often appropriate, even with the highest-risk (class III) devices. The legal and regulatory framework used by the FDA for devices is complex, and economic or market barriers to medical and surgical device development for children are significant. Given the need for pediatric medical and surgical devices and the challenges to pediatric device development, off-label use is a necessary and appropriate part of care. In addition, because of the relatively uncommon nature of pediatric conditions, FDA clearance or approval often requires other regulatory pathways (eg, Humanitarian Device Exemption), which can cause confusion among pediatricians and payers about whether a specific use, even of an approved device, is considered experimental. This policy statement describes the appropriateness of off-label use of devices in children; the use of devices approved or cleared through the FDA regulatory processes, including through the Humanitarian Device Exemption; and the important need to increase pediatric device labeling information for all devices and especially those that pose the highest risk to children.


Despite recent revisions of Romanticism which seek to include women writers in that movement, the women poets writing at the end of the eighteenth century remain marginalised, both in our understanding of Romanticism and as literary figures in their own right. This is partly due to the problems which arise when seeking to fit a new group of writers into a previously constructed literary movement. Readings of women's poetry in relation to this movement have led to the construction of their work in terms of the defining 'Other' to male Romanticism, and as a consequence their poetry has been defined as primarily concerned with the domestic and the quotidian. My thesis rejects the category of Romanticism as a means by which we can understand late eighteenth century women poets and situates their work in a much more complex network of cultural, social, philosophical and political discourses. It takes two women poets of the period, Anna Barbauld and Charlotte Smith and focuses on their much neglected political poetry, in order to demonstrate the ways in which these women writers themselves challenged the expectations about the poetry women should write and transgressed into the public sphere. It takes as its starting point the contemporary criticism levelled at these women, that they had 'unsex'd' themselves by their repeated transgressions into the political. In rejecting essentialist constructions of late eighteenth century women's poetry and focusing on Barbauld and Smith's transgressive interventions in politics, this thesis argues that the poems respond to the debates on women's rights which mark the period, and which led to the production of the seminal feminist polemic, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, by Mary Wollstonecraft. In placing Barbauld and Smith's poetry in the context of this turbulent and exciting moment of gendered political awareness, I offer a revisionist reading of their poetry, as not only highly politicised, but invested with an early feminist agenda. An introductory chapter sets up the critical tools which the readings of individual poems use: a rigorous historical contextualisation combined with attention to textual nuance and meaning in the poems at the level of language and imagery. This is followed by a biographical/introductory chapter on Barbauld (Chapter One) and three subsequent chapters which offer readings of individual poems by Barbauld (Chapters Two to Four). Chapter Five is a biographical/introductory chapter on Smith, and again this is followed by three chapters which offer readings of individual poems by Smith (Chapters Six to Eight). In both cases the three chapters which offer readings of the poetry follow a historical trajectory, looking at early poems, then poems produced in the radical years of the 1790s and finally at the poems written in the early years of the nineteenth century. In following this shared trajectory the thesis raises questions of both difference and shared agenda between Barbauld and Smith, and the conclusion offers a comparative assessment of their poetry in terms of radicalism and feminism.


This essay reviews Martha Finnemore's most recent book, The Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs about the Use of Force (Cornell University Press, 2003). Finnemore's thoughtful study of military intervention explains how and why the legitimate purposes of war-making have changed over time - emphasizing the role that international law and institutions have played in the development of new norms. Finnemore analyzes the use-of-force issue from a sociological perspective - one that explains the conduct of actors by reference to the social structures in which these actors are embedded. Violence is, of course, a fact of social life. And society, as such, is in an important sense made possible by widely-accepted norms defining the circumstances in which the use of violence is legitimate. International society, Finnemore contends, is no different. In the last century, robust global norms regulating the use of force have emerged, as have highly-legitimated international institutions (most notably, the United Nations) empowered to monitor and enforce these norms. The central inquiry, for Finnemore, is how best to understand these developments - or, put differently, what do these developments teach us about the international legal and political order. Finnemore identifies three rationales for military intervention that, at one time or another, have enjoyed broad legitimacy in the international order: debt collection, responding to humanitarian crises, and attacking states considered threats to international peace and security. Finnemore demonstrates that the prevailing rationales for military intervention have changed over time. And, more importantly, she analyzes how and why these purposes changed. She identifies several candidate causal mechanisms and assesses the plausibility of each in light of the historical patterns of intervention. She concludes that the identified patterns are best understood as a reflection of broader shifts in the cultural content of international society. For Finnemore, the purposes of intervention changed because of (1) shifting normative commitments in international society (including the emergence of sovereign equality, self determination, and human rights as foundational principles) and (2) the increasing importance of law and legal institutions in international society. In short, Finnemore argues that legal developments played a central role in effecting fundamental shifts in state practice regarding the use of force. In developing this account, Finnemore describes in great detail the various processes by which law influences state behavior. Finally, the text assesses the plausibility of these specific causal mechanisms in light of the empirical record - which in turn facilitates a more systematic assessment of power-based; interest-based; and identity-based theories of international law. In this essay, I first outline and assess the findings and theoretical claims of the text. More broadly, I address whether the burgeoning empirical record (and the positive theoretical accounts growing out of it) might recast debates about the substantive and procedural content of international law governing the use of force. Careful empirical work such as Finnemore's is crucial to resolving these debates. Regime design questions are essentially empirical in nature - indeed, empirical matters are crucial to any prescriptive enterprise. There are two kinds of prescriptive issues at play in the use of force debates: (1) when is war justified, if ever - or what is the optimal level of war; and (2) what type of institutional arrangement is most likely to achieve the optimal level of war. Empirical work helps only indirectly if at all on the first question, but it is central to the second. Once we know - or agree upon - the optimal level of war, international lawyers must fashion international rules that maximize the probability that war occurs only when it is justified under the normative theory used to resolve question (1). The problem is how to do this. These rules might include first order rules that define the proscribed (or prescribed) primary conduct; and second order rules that distribute decisional and interpretive authority. Assume, for the sake of argument, that war is justified only when fought in self defense against an actual armed attack. One obvious approach to the regime design problem is to promulgate first order rules that proscribe all uses of force except self defense. Whether this approach would work or not turns on the validity of several assumptions about how and under what conditions international law influences state behavior. Consider one example. The self defense approach assumes that the international legal system influences states in much the same way that functioning domestic legal systems influence individuals. This may be, as an empirical matter, a problematic assumption. Indeed, the systematic under-enforcement of international law suggests that stable focal points might only roughly approximate the substance of first order rules. What difference do the rules make if their violation does not reliably trigger sanctions? Of course, the law might alter state behavior via other mechanisms of social influence such as persuasion or acculturation - and this is an issue Finnemore analyzes in detail. The larger point is that international law effects change in non-obvious ways. If the most that international law can do is to raise the political costs of non-compliance, then it might be best to abandon the self defense approach in favor of a regime that prohibits all uses of force (the idea being that this approach might maximize the political costs of war) or perhaps a regime that prohibits all unreasonable uses of force (the idea being that this minimizes unwarranted uses of force by drawing states into a frank and open discussion about the propriety and legality of a contemplated attack). The upshot is this: Once we discern how international law and institutions produce behavioral regularities, we might better tailor first and second order rules so as to harness these mechanisms of influence. These issues also implicate several current controversies about the use of force regime. Consider, for example, the humanitarian intervention (HI) controversy. Although typically played out in exceedingly moralistic rhetoric, this controversy is - at bottom - an empirical disagreement (with a normative overlay). Many international lawyers have concluded that HI as such is prohibited by the Charter (unless of course the Security Council authorizes the use of force - in which case it is lawful in virtue of this authorization and not because it is humanitarian). Others have insisted that HI is justified when necessary to stop or prevent mass atrocities. This disagreement does not turn on whether such intervention is, in the abstract, welfare-producing. Instead, opponents fear that broad, ill-defined exceptions to the general rule would invite abuse. Proponents, on the other hand, fear that a narrow reading of the U.N. Charter regime over-deters the use of force. In short, this debate turns on the kinds of empirical debates alluded to earlier. Similarly, the opposition to so-called preemptive self defense is grounded not in a normative critique of the very notion of preemptive self defense (indeed, it is extremely difficult to imagine what such a critique might look like - particularly if one accepts that self defense is normatively attractive). Instead, this opposition is concerned about both the potential abuse of any relaxation of the Charter regime (mirroring the principal concern in the HI debate); and the ill-effects that might issue from the Charter's distribution of effective decisional and interpretive authority. Again, the debate turns on empirical rather than normative disagreements. Finnemore's model of how and under what conditions international law matters provides a useful framework for analyzing these issues. In this essay, I assess the utility of her approach by applying the sociological framework to three recent wars of questionable legality (Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq II). This analysis (1) demonstrates that contemporary state practice supports Finnemore's sociological account of law's role in international politics; and (2) offers several lessons about optimal international regime design. Does international law matter? If so, do the ways in which law matters provide some clues about how best to design the international use of force regime? Overall, the review aims to inject some systematic, empirical analysis into the current debates about the role of law in regulating the use of force.


A terahertz (THz) heterodyne spectrometer is demonstrated based on a quantum cascade laser (QCL) as a local oscillator (LO) and an NbN hot electron bolometer as a mixer, and it is used to measure high-resolution molecular spectral lines of methanol (CH3OH) between 2.913–2.918 THz. The spectral lines are taken from a gas cell containing methanol gas and using a single-mode QCL at 2.9156 THz as an LO, which is operated in the free running mode. By increasing the pressure of the gas, line broadening and saturation are observed. The measured spectra showed good agreement with a theoretical model.


Cost per click is a common metric to judge digital advertising campaign performance. In this paper we discuss an approach that generates a feature targeting recommendation to optimise cost per click. We also discuss a technique to assign bid prices to features without compromising on the number of features recommended. Our approach utilises impression and click stream data sets corresponding to real time auctions that we have won. The data contains information about device type, website, RTB Exchange ID. We leverage data across all campaigns that we have access to while ensuring that recommendations are sensitive to both individual campaign level features and globally well performing features as well. We model Bid recommendation around the hypothesis that a click is a Bernoulli trial and click stream follows Binomial distribution which is then updated based on live performance ensuring week over week improvement. This approach has been live tested over 10 weeks across 5 campaigns. We see Cost per click gains of 16-60% and click through rate improvement of 42-137%. At the same time, the campaign delivery was competitive.


This PhD thesis describes research for a medical application of electronic nose technology.
There is a need at present for early detection of bacterial infection in order to
improve treatment. At present, the clinical methods used to detect and classify bacteria
types (usually using samples of infected matter taken from patients) can take up to
two or three days. Many experienced medical staff, who treat bacterial infections, are
able to recognise some types of bacteria from their odours. Identification of pathogens
(i.e. bacteria responsible for disease) from their odours using an electronic nose could
provide a rapid measurement and therefore early treatment. This research project used
existing sensor technology in the form of an electronic nose in conjunction with data
pre-processing and classification methods to classify up to four bacteria types from
their odours. Research was performed mostly in the area of signal conditioning, data
pre-processing and classification. A major area of interest was the use of artificial neural
networks classifiers. There were three main objectives. First, to classify successfully
a small range of bacteria types. Second, to identify issues relating to bacteria odour
that affect the ability of an artificially intelligent system to classify bacteria from odour
alone. And third, to establish optimal signal conditioning, data pre-processing and
classification methods.
The Electronic Nose consisted of a gas sensor array with temperature and humidity
sensors, signal conditioning circuits, and gas flow apparatus. The bacteria odour was
analysed using an automated sampling system, which used computer software to direct
gas flow through one of several vessels (which were used to contain the odour samples,
into the Electronic Nose. The electrical resistance of the odour sensors were monitored
and output as electronic signals to a computer. The purpose of the automated sampling system was to improve repeatability and reduce human error. Further improvement
of the Electronic Nose were implemented as a temperature control system which controlled
the ambient gas temperature, and a new gas sensor chamber which incorporated
improved gas flow.
The odour data were collected and stored as numerical values within data files in
the computer system. Once the data were stored in a non-volatile manner various classification
experiments were performed. Comparisons were made and conclusions were
drawn from the performance of various data pre-processing and classification methods.
Classification methods employed included artificial neural networks, discriminant
function analysis and multi-variate linear regression. For classifying one from four
types, the best accuracy achieved was 92.78%. This was achieved using a growth phase
compensated multiple layer perceptron. For identifying a single bacteria type from a
mixture of two different types, the best accuracy was 96.30%. This was achieved using
a standard multiple layer perceptron.
Classification of bacteria odours is a typical `real world' application of the kind that
electronic noses will have to be applied to if this technology is to be successful. The
methods and principles researched here are one step towards the goal of introducing
artificially intelligent sensor systems into everyday use. The results are promising and
showed that it is feasible to used Electronic Nose technology in this application and that
with further development useful products could be developed. The conclusion from this
thesis is that an electronic nose can detect and classify different types of bacteria.


Previous studies have shown decreased expression of repulsive guidance molecule             member A (RGMa) in colorectal cancer. However, the relationship between the expression             levels and promoter DNA methylation status of RGMa and the clinical characteristics             of colorectal cancer has not been previously reported. Here, we investigated the             expression of RGMa by immunohistochemistry, real-time PCR and western blotting             and analyzed the methylation status of the RGMa promoter using Sequenom's MassARRAY             platform in colorectal cancer tissues and adjacent normal colorectal tissues.             The results showed that RGMa expression was decreased in cancer tissues compared             with adjacent normal tissues (p<0.01). Furthermore, a tendency for decreased             expression in tumor tissues was observed from Dukes' stage A to stage D (p<0.01).             In addition, significantly higher levels of hypermethylation in promoter regions             of RGMa were observed in colorectal cancer tissues, compared with those in adjacent             normal colorectal tissues (p<0.01). Moreover, the methylation levels of RGMa             in tumor tissues were significantly increased in Dukes' stage C and D compared             with Dukes' stage A and B (p<0.01). Our results indicate that RGMa expression             and promoter methylation status are closely related to colorectal cancer genesis             and progression. Determination of the expression level and methylation frequency             of RGMa in colorectal cancer tissues may have benefit for early diagnosis and             for evaluating patient prognosis.


Stabilization mechanisms of easily and poorly soluble Zn compounds in Haplic Chernozem are considered in a long-term incubation experiment, including the dissolution and hydrolysis of the Zn added compounds (acetate, nitrate, sulphate, chloride, phosphate, and oxide) at a rate of 300 and 2000 mg kg–1 and the following post-sorption metal transformation. The indicators of stabilization were changes in the content of Zn weakly bound compounds (WBCs) and soil pH. Stabilization of Zn acetate, nitrate, sulphate, chloride progressed during incubation for 5 years which resulted in a decrease of Zn WBCs and an increase in soil pH. In the soil contaminated with Zn phosphate and oxide, the content of Zn WBCs increased and the soil pH decreased with time.


A decade before being proclaimed part of the "axis of evil," North Korea raised alarms in Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo as the pace of its clandestine nuclear weapons program mounted. When confronted by evidence of its deception in 1993, Pyongyang abruptly announced its intention to become the first nation ever to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, defying its earlier commitments to submit its nuclear activities to full international inspections. U.S. intelligence had revealed evidence of a robust plutonium production program. Unconstrained, North Korea's nuclear factory would soon be capable of building about thirty Nagasaki-sized nuclear weapons annually. The resulting arsenal would directly threaten the security of the United States and its allies, while tempting cash-starved North Korea to export its deadly wares to America's most bitter adversaries. In Going Critical , three former U.S. officials who played key roles in the nuclear crisis trace the intense efforts that led North Korea to freeze --and pledge ultimately to dismantle --its dangerous plutonium production program under international inspection, while the storm clouds of a second Korean War gathered. Drawing on international government documents, memoranda, cables, and notes, the authors chronicle the complex web of diplomacy--from Seoul, Tokyo, and Beijing to Geneva, Moscow, and Vienna and back again --that led to the negotiation of the 1994 Agreed Framework intended to resolve this nuclear standoff. They also explore the challenge of weaving together the military, economic, and diplomatic instruments employed to persuade North Korea to accept significant constraints on its nuclear activities, while deterring rather than provoking a violent North Korean response. Some ten years after these intense negotiations, the Agreed Framework lies abandoned. North Korea claims to possess some nuclear weapons, while threatening to produce even more. The story of the 1994 confrontation provides important lessons for the United States as it grapples once again with a nuclear crisis on a peninsula that half a century ago claimed more than 50,000 American lives and today bristles with arms along the last frontier of the cold war: the De-Militarized Zone separating North and South Korea.


Symbolic execution is an automated technique for program testing that has recently become practical, thanks to advances in constraint solvers. Generally speaking, a symbolic executor interprets a program with symbolic inputs, systematically enumerating execution paths induced by the symbolic inputs and the program's control flow. In this dissertation, I discuss the architecture and implementation of Otter, a symbolic execution framework for C programs, and work that uses Otter to solve two program analysis problems.
Firstly, we use Otter to solve the line reachability problem—given a line target in a program, find inputs that drive the program to the line. We propose two new directed search strategies, one using a distance metric to guide symbolic execution towards the target, and another iteratively running symbolic execution from the start of the function containing the target, then jumping backward up the call chain to the start of the program. We compare variants of these strategies with several existing undirected strategies from the literature on a suite of 9 GNU Coreutils programs. We find that most directed strategies perform extremely well in many cases, although they sometimes fail badly. However, by combining the distance metric with a random-path strategy, we obtain a strategy that performs best on average over our benchmarks. We also generalize the line reachability problem to multiple line targets, and evaluate our new strategies under a different experimental setup. The result shows that many directed strategies start off slightly slower than undirected strategies, but they catch up and perform the best in the long run.
Another use of Otter is to study how run-time configuration options affect the behavior of configurable software systems. We conjecture that, at certain levels of abstraction, software configuration spaces are much smaller than combinatorics might suggest. To evaluate our conjecture, we ran Otter on three configurable software systems with their concrete test suites, but making configuration options symbolic. Otter generated data of all execution paths of these systems, from which we discovered how the settings of configuration options affect line, basic block, edge, and condition coverage for our subjects under the test suites. Had we instead run the test suites under all configuration settings, it would have required many orders of magnitude more executions to generate the same data.


We exploit the link between the transport equation and derivatives of expectations to construct efficient pathwise gradient estimators for multivariate distributions. We focus on two main threads. First, we use null solutions of the transport equation to construct adaptive control variates that can be used to construct gradient estimators with reduced variance. Second, we consider the case of multivariate mixture distributions. In particular we show how to compute pathwise derivatives for mixtures of multivariate Normal distributions with arbitrary means and diagonal covariances. We demonstrate in a variety of experiments in the context of variational inference that our gradient estimators can outperform other methods, especially in high dimensions.


The 5q- syndrome is a myelodysplastic syndrome with specific hematological features and a good prognosis. Using molecular mapping techniques, we have previously defined the critical region of gene loss of the 5q- chromosome in the 5q- syndrome as the approximately 5-Mb region at 5q31-q33 flanked by the genes for FGF1 and IL12B. This region is completely represented by a series of overlapping YACs, and we are currently generating a transcription map with the aim of identifying the tumor-suppressor gene associated with the development of the 5q- syndrome. In this study two techniques have been used: first, the screening of full-length cDNA libraries with radiolabeled YACs and second, the mapping of chromosome 5-specific expressed sequence tags (ESTs) to a YAC contig. A 1-Mb YAC contig encompassing the CSF1R gene has been used to screen a fetal brain cDNA library, and this has resulted in the identification of two genes comprising one known gene previously localized to the region (ADRB2) and one known gene previously unlocalized. Six of 135 chromosome 5-specific ESTs were localized by PCR screening to the YAC contig mapping to the critical region of the 5q- syndrome. IMAGE cDNA clones for each of the six ESTs have been obtained. These seven (excluding ADRB2) newly assigned cDNA clones were subjected to further analysis. The expression patterns of each of the cDNA clones have been established in a range of human tissues, including bone marrow. Six of seven cDNAs are expressed in human bone marrow. Six of seven cDNAs have no known homology to any deposited human sequences, and one (C29) is dihydropyrimidinase-related protein-3, a member of a novel gene family. Genomic localization and expression patterns would suggest that these newly assigned cDNAs represent potential candidate genes for the 5q- syndrome.


The main aim from this studies to limit runoff for valleys of Al-tharthar basins and routing the flood wave in reservoir suggested ,and limit the amount of outflow change from reservoir and the time of delay flood wave (lag time ) and the relation between the volume of in and out flow from the reservoir in addition for temporary storage , which help to limit the dimension of spillway; where the out flood wave function to height of water above of crest of spillway and the surface area of reservoir. the amount of temporary storage for reservoir represent the difference between the in and outflow, while the increase of inflow with the time increase the raising of level of reservoir and increase the surface area for it. And the outflow from the spillway let to decrease of peak flow out from inflow and delay flood wave time to take enough time to avoid the flood side affections. In through use tow programs in computer, show the delay time between (300 – 900) min. for studying reservoirs and reducing ratio of peak flow out from (71% 91%) for reservoir (8) and (1) respectively, which use to reducing the dimension of spillway and limit the height of the dams and the level of top crest of spillways.


Epilithic diatom communities offer a holistic and integrated approach for assessing water quality as they remain in one place for a number of months and reflect an ecological memory of water quality over a period of time. The objective of this study is to use diatom assemblages to distinguish between particular land types and associated water quality impacts that are linked to these land-use patterns. Water quality and diatom community data were collected from sites in the Crocodile and Magalies Rivers (Gauteng and North West Province, South Africa) associated with agricultural, urban and natural (reference) adjacent land use respectively. The data collected were subjected to multivariate statistical techniques to analyse spatial and temporal patterns in water quality (principal component analysis) and diatom community structures (non-metric multidimensional scaling) to elucidate hypothesised differences in community structure per land-use type. Five diatom response indices (Generic Diatom Index, Specific Pollution Sensitivity Index, Biological Diatom Index, Eutrophication/Pollution Index and Percentage Pollution Tolerant Valves) incorporated in the OMNIDIA software were implemented to assess the integrity of diatom communities per land-use type. Principle component ordination of water quality describes 56.6% of the variation in data observed, and indicates the separation of reference sites from test sites for low and high flow conditions combined. It was, however, not possible to distinguish between the agricultural and urban land-use sites using PCA based on water quality data. One-way ANOSIM showed a significant difference ( p 0.05) between groups made up of sites exhibiting the same land-use patterns. Diatom indices showed that agricultural sites were in a slightly more modified ecological state than urban sites overall. Based on the species similarity (SIMPER analyses), reference sites showed strong associations with Achnanthes minutissima, Gomphonema venusta and Cocconeis placentula var. euglypta, whilst urban sites were associated with Diatoma vulgaris, Navicula tripunctata and Amphora pediculus. Agriculture could be separated into high- and low-intensity practices based on species composition. Sites where high-intensity agriculture took place were dominated by motile species of the genus Nitzschia, and low-intensity agriculture was indicated by motile species of the genus Navicula. Urban sites contained a combination of species that were tolerant of spikes in water quality.


This paper provides one of the first detailed surveys of current oil and gas and hydraulic fracturing (also called fracing, fracking, or hydrofracking) regulation. It identifies and compares the environmental laws and regulations that apply to most stages of the oil or gas development process in shales and tight sands, from conducting seismic testing to constructing a well pad, drilling, withdrawing water, completing a hydraulic fracture treatment, and storing and disposing of waste. It briefly describes municipal ordinances and federal regulations, including recently-announced EPA regulatory efforts, but focuses primarily on the states, comparing regulations in sixteen states. The paper's comparison tables show that state regulations in some areas vary substantially, and the paper attempts to connect the potential risks of oil and gas development from shales and tight sands -- which are addressed in another Energy Institute paper by Professor Ian Duncan -- to the regulation. The paper concludes that states should modify certain regulations to address these risks. Some states do not require specific types of blowout prevention, for example, offering only a narrative standard, yet well blowouts are an important concern at the drilling and fracturing stage. States also should update their casing and cementing regulations to protect well integrity during drilling and fracturing and ensure long-term well integrity, and they should require the testing of water around proposed wells before site construction begins. Ideally, states also would consider implementing a presumption of oil and gas operator liability for water well contamination, as Pennsylvania and West Virginia have done. For risks at the well surface, states should update spill prevention requirements at well sites and consider whether federal Department of Transportation regulations addressing the movement of fracturing chemicals adequately protect against spills. States also must explore better options for disposing of large quantities of new wastes and regulating the withdrawal of large volumes of water for fracturing to prevent adverse impacts to streams and overuse of underground sources of water. Further, states and the federal government must enhance air quality monitoring around sites and consider additional controls. Finally, the collection of more and better data, including information from baseline and post-production water testing, is essential. With states at the regulatory helm, comparison of public law strategies to address development risks can produce fruitful cross-jurisdictional lessons. The Energy Institute at the University of Texas funded the research for this paper.


This PhD research examined how: smoking varied among a homogenous population from Ghana
living in different locations; among different ethnic groups living in Amsterdam and; across the
sub-Saharan African region. Ghanaians comprised one of the largest African migrant groups
living in Europe. This provided an opportunity to study how smoking differed between migrant
and non-migrant Ghanaians and to other ethnic groups. The factors associated with smoking
were determined to inform strategies to prevent smoking among immigrant ethnic-minority
groups living in developed countries.
Three study methods were used: a systematic review of smoking in sub-Saharan Africa; a crosssectional
study of Ghanaian populations living in 3 European cities and Ghana (RODAM); and a
cross-sectional study of ethnic groups living in Amsterdam (HELIUS).
The main findings that emerged showed that gender seems to be the strongest determinant of
smoking among adults in sub-Saharan Africa. Smoking among the Ghanaian migrant population
is multi-factorial in nature, with exposure to a high smoking environment having a strong
influence, though the prevalences are still far lower than the European population. Factors
including one's immediate social networks operating through family, religion, social
communities, culture and higher education are associated with a lower uptake of smoking.
Compared to the Dutch and other ethnic groups in the Netherlands, Ghanaians smoked
significantly less. However, the higher levels of smoking prevalence and higher levels of smoking
cessation among some ethnic minority groups compared to the Dutch are largely, but not
completely explained by SES. Smoking among migrant populations is related to cultural attitudes
that exist towards smoking in both the country of origin and the host country.
It implies that if smoking is made culturally abnormal, as in Ghana, a significant reduction in the
prevalence and onset can occur in developing countries where the smoking epidemic is
increasing. Anti-smoking policies designed to target smoking within the lower SES groups of
ethnic minority groups may substantially reduce ethnic inequalities in smoking.
Role in data collection
Throughout the PhD, I was a part of the data collection team for the RODAM project at the
London location. Data collection was conducted during 2012 and 2015. The team was
responsible for recruiting Ghanaian residents living in London into the study and collecting data
according to the study protocol. To accomplish this, the team visited several locations across the
London boroughs where Ghanaian communities often congregated for church services or
meetings. This usually occurred on Sundays or Saturdays, depending on the occasion. At these
meetings, the project was advertised to the Ghanaian community and invitations to participate
were sent out. After an informed consent to participate was received, participants visited the
data collection venue to participate in the study. I was often assigned the responsibility of taking
physical anthropometric measurements from participants including weight and height, waist
and hip ratios, bio-electrical impedance monitor, sitting blood pressure and lying blood pressure
measurements. Due to my inability to speak the local Ghanaian language, I was unable to
interview participants who often preferred to speak their local Asante Twi language. During
September 2013, for two weeks, I visited the study location in Ghana, to participate in the
fieldwork activities at the Kumasi and Obuasi locations.