The use of low-cost sensor networks (LCSNs) is becoming increasingly popular in the environmental sciences and the unprecedented monitoring data generated enable research across a wide spectrum of disciplines and applications. However, in particular, non-technical challenges still hinder the broader development and application of LCSNs. This paper reviews the development of LCSNs over the last 15 years, highlighting trends and future opportunities for a diverse range of environmental applications. We found air quality, meteorological and water-related networks were particularly well represented with few studies focusing on sensor networks for ecological systems. Furthermore, we identified bias toward studies that have direct links to human health, safety and livelihoods. These studies were more likely to involve downstream data analytics, visualizations, and multi-stakeholder participation through citizen science initiatives. However, there was a paucity of studies that considered sustainability factors for the development and implementation of LCSNs. Existing LCSNs are largely focused on detecting and mitigating events which have a direct impact on humans such as flooding, air pollution or geo-hazards, while these applications are important there is a need for future development of LCSNs for monitoring ecosystem structure and function. Our findings highlight three distinct opportunities for future research to unleash the full potential of LCSNs: (1) improvement of links between data collection and downstream activities; (2) the potential to broaden the scope of application systems and fields; and (3) to better integrate stakeholder engagement and sustainable operation to enable longer and greater societal impacts.


The majority of foods consumed by humans and their domesticated animals as food sources are ultimately obtained from plants, especially seeds. The storage products in seeds are predominately carbohydrates, oils and proteins, which are synthesised and stored in specialised tissues during seed development. Ultimately the storage products ensure successful establishment of the new plant, and the vigour of the young seedling. For example, the reserves are utilised following germination to support early growth of the seedling, allowing it to survive before it commences photosynthesis and autotrophic growth. Some of the storage compounds of seeds play a direct protective role, allowing the seed to withstand water loss during the final stages of its development, and to survive in the dry state for long periods under adverse environmental conditions. Molecular, proteomic and other approaches are elucidating the regulatory networks of genes and encoded proteins that underlie the biochemical and physiological basis of seed maturation, and the accumulation of stored compounds.

Key Concepts:

Seed proteins directly provide more than half of the global intake of dietary protein in humans.

In seeds, storage products (carbohydrates, oils and proteins) are accumulated during maturation and are utilised following germination to support early growth of the seedling. Likewise, storage products accumulated over winter in tree bark, tubers and perennial weed roots provide nutrients for rapid resumption of growth in the spring.

There are regulatory networks of genes and encoded proteins that control the accumulation of stored compounds during seed maturation.

Some of the storage products accumulated in seeds and plants are related to their longevity and protect them against environmental stresses.

The genetic engineering of the storage products of seeds and plants is directed towards improving their nutritional, stability and food processing properties.

Keywords:

carbohydrate;
protein;
oil;
phytin;
seeds;
nutrition;
seed quality;
seedling vigour


This thesis explores how evaluation has been practised in a non-profit domain that of an English development education (DE) organisation. The study adds to explanations of how social practice theory contributes to the refinement of the understanding of evaluation practice. Generally, studies on evaluation practice remain unclear on how small, a-political non-profit organisations practice evaluation (Henry and Mark, 2003); especially, how their evaluation practice changes over time and with what effects (Saunders et al., 2005). Within the specific non-profit sector of development education studies have described the insufficient knowledge of how these organisations practise evaluation (Bourn, 2014). This is a single case study using an in-depth qualitative case study approach (Simons, 2009) to longitudinally explore evaluation practice and its change over time. Data from coordinators, practitioners and funders was ethnographically collected, during 1 year, through analysis of documentary evidence, 16 semi-structured interviews and 134 hours of observation where participants articulated their experiences of evaluation whilst identifying the influences shaping their evaluation practice. These articulations were coded and thematically analysed with findings displayed in a timeline of evaluation practice (Shove et al., 2012). The empirical data obtained suggests that the participation of practitioners in evaluation appears to be taken-for-granted, but their full participation may be restricted. It also sheds light on the flow of power relationships that have traditionally been operated top-down, yet an internal layer of power within the non-profit leadership seems influential. The data analysed indicates that the co-occurrence of evaluation practice with other working activities shapes and alters how evaluation is practised in a development education setting. Two ways this thesis extends the theory of evaluation practice are: first, it proposes that a social practice view of evaluation can enhance practitioners' experiences of evaluation by tracking how their practice has changed over time. This study makes an original theoretical contribution to the broader literature of evaluation practice informed by social practice theory (Saunders 2000; Saunders et al., 2011), through the use of an advanced framework of the dynamics of social practice (Shove, 2009; Shove et al., 2012), to explore the everyday life of evaluation and how it changes. Second, the thesis extends the theory of evaluation practice (Saunders et al., 2011) by applying the dynamics of social practice into a novel research domain of development education evaluation. This thesis also offers an empirical contribution to the under-researched domain of development education (Bourn, 2014), by extending current knowledge on how evaluation is practised. Finally, the thesis contributes to advance the method of analysis of change over time, by having used a timeline as a tool to display findings, rather than only to collect and organise the dataset, as in other methods (Giele and Elder, 1998).


Abstract This paper examines the life and thought of one of the leading Muslim revivalist thinkers in 18th century India, Mirza Mazhar Jan-i-Janan (1699-1781) in an effort to understand the relationship, if any, between the structures of knowledge that informed colonial conceptions of India's religious topography and 18th century projects of intra-religious and cross-religious interpretation (such as that conducted by Jan-i Janan)? In addition, the project aims at informing the inquiry as to the extent to which the process of reification that led to the development of a unified notion of 'Hinduism' in the modern era already was underway in the works of 18th century figures such as Jan-i Janan? Recommended Citation Tareen, SherAli (2006) "Reifying Religion While Lost in Translation: Mirza Mazhar Jan-i-Janan (d.1781) on the Hindus," Macalester Islam Journal: Vol. 1 : Iss. 2 , Article 3. Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol1/iss2/3  Download


We study nominal wage rigidity in the Netherlands using administrative data, which has three key features: (1) high-frequency (monthly), (2) high-quality (administrative records), and (3) high coverage (the universe of workers and the universe of firms). We find wage rigidity patterns in the data that are similar to wage behavior documented for other European countries. In particular we find that the hazard function has two spikes, one at 12 months and another one at 24 months and wage changes have time and state dependency components. As a novel and important piece of evidence we also uncover substantial heterogeneity in the frequency of wage changes due to explicit terms of the labor contract. In particular, contracts featuring flexible hours, such as on-call contracts, exhibit a higher probability of a change in the contract wage compared to fixed hour contracts. Once we split the sample based on contract characteristics, we also find that the response of wage changes to the time and state component is heterogeneous across different type of contracts - with relatively more downward adjustments in flexible-hour contract wages in response to aggregate unemployment.


9th International Congress on Autoimmunity Nice la Belle (Nice the Beautiful), located on the French Riviera, was named after Nike the Roman goddess of victory and it is said to be one of the oldest human settlements in Europe. From March 26th to 30th Nice la Belle was the venue of the 9th International Congress on Autoimmunity. More than 2000 participants attended this worldwide biggest congress on Autoimmunity. The congress boasted more than 100 sessions featuring over 500 speakers. Thermo Fisher Scientifi c is one of the main sponsors of this congress. Posters highlighting EliA products are summarized in this issue of the ImmunoDiagnostics Journal. Scientifi c news, opinions and reports Journal ImmunoDiagnostics


BACKGROUND Atopy is of complex origins but the recent rise in atopic diseases in westernised communities points to the action of important environmental effects. One candidate mechanism is the changing pattern of microbial exposure in childhood. This epidemiological study investigated the relationship between childhood infections and subsequent atopic disease, taking into account a range of social and medical variables. METHODS A total of 1934 subjects representing a retrospective 1975–84 birth group at a family doctor practice in Oxfordshire were studied. Public health and practice records were reviewed; temporal records were made of all diagnoses of infections and their treatments, all immunisations, and diagnoses of asthma, hay fever and eczema; maternal atopy and a number of other variables were documented. RESULTS Logistic regression analysis identified three statistically significant predictors of subsequent atopic disease: maternal atopy (1.97, 95% CI 1.46 to 2.66, p<0.0001), immunisation with whole-cell pertussis vaccine (1.76, 95% CI 1.39 to 2.23, p<0.0001), and treatment with oral antibiotics in the first two years of life (2.07, 95% CI 1.64 to 2.60, p<0.0001). There was no significant association found for maternal smoking, bottle feeding, sibship size, or social class. CONCLUSIONS The prediction of atopic disease by maternal atopy mainly reflects the effect of acknowledged genetic factors. Interpretation of the prediction of atopic disorders by immunisation with whole-cell pertussis vaccine and treatment with oral antibiotics needs to be very cautious because of the possibilities of confounding effects and reverse causation. However, plausible immune mechanisms are identifiable for the promotion of atopic disorders by both factors and further investigation of these associations is warranted.


mus301 was identified independently in two genetic screens, one for mutants hypersensitive to chemical mutagens and another for maternal mutants with eggshell defects. mus301 is required for the proper specification of the oocyte and for progression through meiosis in the Drosophila ovary. We have cloned mus301 and show that it is a member of the Mus308 subfamily of ATP-dependent helicases and the closest homologue of human and mouse HEL308. Functional analyses demonstrate that Mus301 is involved in chromosome segregation in meiosis and in the repair of double strand-DNA breaks in both meiotic and mitotic cells. Most of the oogenesis defects of mus301 mutants are suppressed by mutants in the checkpoint kinase Mei41 and in MeiW68, the Spo11 homologue that is thought to generate the dsDNA breaks that initiate recombination, indicating that these phenotypes are caused by activation of the DNA damage checkpoint in response to unrepaired Mei-W68-induced dsDNA breaks. However, neither mei-W68 nor mei-41 rescue the defects in oocyte specification of mus301 mutants, suggesting that this helicase has another function in oocyte selection that is independent from its role in meiotic recombination.


The aviation industry is motivated to develop and validate new aircraft models for the prediction of engine performance. These models are used in the preliminary aircraft design in order to predict its engines performance. The purpose of this study is to design an accurate model of the fan and compressor engine components. This model will then be integrated in a full engine model based on a component modeling approach. Several methods already exist to model compressing components. Among them, the stage-stacking method is used in this paper. This method can be used to predict the compressor performance but also its deterioration (ex: "fouling"). In both cases, the principle is the same. Each stage is separated, and the first stage outputs are used for the next stage as inputs until the last stage is reached, when the final outputs are acquired. A Cessna Citation X Level D Research Flight Simulator designed by CAE Inc. is used to sample the data needed to identify and validate the engine models elaborated for the whole flight envelope. Level D is the highest level of certification given by the FAA for the flight dynamics. Thus the simulator is used as real aircraft flight dynamics data. Different flight tests were performed to mesh the flight envelope for different flight conditions (Mach numbers from 0 to 0.92; altitude from 0 to 50000ft and Throttle Lever Angle,TLA, from "idle" to "max" in degrees). Nonetheless, the stage stacking method needs information which is not always available, such as the blade angle. A "grey box" approach was chosen. The unmeasurable parameters were identified in order to tune the model, and thus to reduce the global error between the model and the simulation data. A "black box" approach was also with an optimisation algorithm to approximate the outputs as polynomial functions of the inputs. In both cases the results were found to be accurate.


The northern Tien Shan of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan has been affected by a series of major earthquakes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. To assess the significance of such a pulse of strain release in a continental interior, it is important to analyze and quantify strain release over multiple time scales. We have undertaken paleoseismological investigations at two geomorphically distinct sites (Panfilovkoe and Rot Front) near the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. Although located near the historic epicenters, both sites were not affected by these earthquakes. Trenching was accompanied by dating stratigraphy and offset surfaces using luminescence, radiocarbon, and 10Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide methods. At Rot Front, trenching of a small scarp did not reveal evidence for surface rupture during the last 5000 years. The scarp rather resembles an extensive debris‐flow lobe. At Panfilovkoe, we estimate a Late Pleistocene minimum slip rate of 0.2 ± 0.1 mm/a, averaged over at least two, probably three earthquake cycles. Dip‐slip reverse motion along segmented, moderately steep faults resulted in hanging wall collapse scarps during different events. The most recent earthquake occurred around 3.6 ± 1.3 kyr ago (1σ), with dip‐slip offsets between 1.2 and 1.4 m. We calculate a probabilistic paleomagnitude to be between 6.7 and 7.2, which is in agreement with regional data from the Kyrgyz range. The morphotectonic signals in the northern Tien Shan are a prime example of deformation in a tectonically active intracontinental mountain belt and as such can help understand the longer‐term coevolution of topography and seismogenic processes in similar structural settings worldwide.


Using nonlinear, fully relativistic, simulations we investigate the dynamics and gravitational-wave signature associated with instabilities in neutron star postmerger remnants. For simplified models of the remnant we establish the presence of an instability in stars with moderate $T/|W|$, the ratio between the kinetic and the gravitational potential energies. Detailed analysis of the density oscillation pattern reveals a \emph{local} instability in the inner region of the more realistic differential rotation profile. We apply Rayleigh's inflection theorem and Fjortoft's theorem to analyze the stability criteria concluding that this \emph{inner local} instability originates from a shear instability close to the peak of the angular velocity profile, and that it later evolves into a fast-rotating m=2 oscillation pattern. We discuss the importance of the presence of a corotation point in the fluid, its connection with the shear instability, and comparisons to the Rossby wave and Papaloizou Pringle instabilities considered in the wider literature.


This is the introduction to a monograph on the right to housing as a human right. A human right to housing represents the law's most direct and overt protection of housing and home. Unlike other human rights, through which the home incidentally receives protection and attention, the right to housing raises housing itself to the position of primary importance. However, the meaning, content, scope and even existence of a right to housing raise vexed questions. Drawing on insights from disciplines including law, anthropology, political theory, philosophy and geography, this book is both a contribution to the state of knowledge on the right to housing, and an entry into the broader human rights debate. It addresses profound questions on the role of human rights in belonging and citizenship, the formation of identity, the perpetuation of forms of social organisation and, ultimately, of the relationship between the individual and the state. The book addresses the legal, theoretical and conceptual issues, providing a deep analysis of the right to housing within and beyond human rights law. Structured in three parts, the book outlines the right to housing in international law and in key national legal systems; examines the most important concepts of housing: space, privacy and identity and, finally, looks at the potential of the right to alleviate human misery, marginalisation and deprivation. The book represents a major contribution to the scholarship on an under-studied and ill-defined right. In terms of content, it provides a much needed exploration of the right to housing. In approach it offers a new framework for argument within which the right to housing, as well as other under-theorised and contested rights, can be reconsidered, reconnecting human rights with the social conditions of their violation, and hence with the reasons for their existence.


We study the repair problem in distributed storage systems where storage nodes are connected through packet erasure channels and some nodes are dedicated to repair [termed as dedicated-for-repair (DR) storage nodes]. We first investigate the minimum required repair-bandwidth in an asymptotic setup, in which the stored file is assumed to have an infinite size. The result shows that the asymptotic repair-bandwidth over packet erasure channels with a fixed erasure probability has a closed-form relation to the repair-bandwidth in lossless networks. Next, we show the benefits of DR storage nodes in reducing the repair bandwidth, and then we derive the necessary minimal storage space of DR storage nodes. Finally, we study the repair in a nonasymptotic setup, where the stored file size is finite. We study the minimum practical-repair-bandwidth, i.e., the repair-bandwidth for achieving a given probability of successful repair. A combinatorial optimization problem is formulated to provide the optimal practical-repair-bandwidth for a given packet erasure probability. We show the gain of our proposed approaches in reducing the repair-bandwidth.


Aberrant splicing of pre-mRNA is implicated in many human genetic disorders. Small molecules that target the spliceosome are important leads as therapeutics and research tools, and one compound of significant interest is the polyketide natural product pladienolide B. Here, we describe the reactivation of quiescent pladienolide B production in the domesticated lab strain Streptomyces platensis AS6200 by overexpression of the pathway-specific activator PldR. The resulting dysregulation of the biosynthetic genes led to the accumulation and isolation of five additional intermediate or shunt metabolites of pladienolide B biosynthesis, including three previously unreported congeners. These compounds likely comprise the entire pladienolide biosynthetic pathway and demonstrate the link between polyketide tailoring reactions and bioactivity, particularly the importance of the 18,19-epoxide. Each congener demonstrated specific inhibitory activity against mammalian cell lines, with successive modifications leading to increased activity (IC50: 8 mM to 5 μM).


Similarity search is a fundamental problem in computing science with various applications and has attracted significant research attention, especially in large-scale search with high dimensions. Motivated by the evidence in biological science, our work develops a novel approach for similarity search. Fundamentally different from existing methods that typically reduce the dimension of the data to lessen the computational complexity and speed up the search, our approach projects the data into an even higher-dimensional space while ensuring the sparsity of the data in the output space, with the objective of further improving precision and speed. Specifically, our approach has two key steps. Firstly, it computes the optimal sparse lifting for given input samples and increases the dimension of the data while approximately preserving their pairwise similarity. Secondly, it seeks the optimal lifting operator that best maps input samples to the optimal sparse lifting. Computationally, both steps are modeled as optimization problems that can be efficiently and effectively solved by the Frank-Wolfe algorithm. Simple as it is, our approach has reported significantly improved results in empirical evaluations, and exhibited its high potentials in solving practical problems.


Wrybill (Anarhynchus frontalis) and Banded Dotterel (Charadrius bicinctus) are territorial birds which breed on braided riverbeds in Canterbury, New Zealand. Home ranges of Wrybill pairs were bigger than those of Banded Dotterel pairs on the Rakaia and Ashley Rivers. For Wrybill there were no significant differences in home range size between years and rivers, but home ranges of Banded Dotterel pairs were larger on the Rakaia R. than on the Ashley R. Wrybill home range size on the Rakaia R. was related to the presence of preferred minor channel feeding habitats; small home ranges contained mostly minor channels and large home ranges contained mostly major channels. The larger home ranges for Banded Dotterel on the Rakaia R. is thought to be related to greater habitat instability compared to the Ashley R. If large scale diversion of water occurs from these rivers then flows need to be managed so that the characteristics of the natural flow regime are maintained.


In the law and economics literature liability is generally regarded as an instrument which provides potential tortfeasors with incentives for optimal care taking. The question, however, arises whether liability can still provide those incentives when risks are unknown. That is the central question that is addressed in this contribution. One may, furthermore, have to differentiate between risks that are unknown to the tortfeasor and those are that not known according to the state of the art. After setting out the economic functions of liability rules and regulation the effects of missing information for care levels and activity levels is sketched and attention is paid to the way in which strict liability and negligence affect the incentives to do research concerning unknown risks. We conclude that an exposure to liability may on the one hand provide potential tortfeasors with incentives to do further research and hence to innovate; on the other hand, liability for unknown risks could also limit activity levels of socially desirable activities. We therefore conclude that it remains inherently difficult to use tort law as an instrument to provide incentives to generate information concerning unknown risks. We argue that in the tradeoff between tort liability and safety regulation there are strong arguments in favour of safety regulation, on the condition that it is used in a smart mix with liability rules. Finally, we equally investigate problems that arise in case of insurance of liability for unknown risks.


In this paper, we propose to equip Generative Adversarial Networks with the ability to produce direct energy estimates for samples. Specifically, we propose a flexible adversarial training framework, and prove this framework not only ensures the generator converges to the true data distribution, but also enables the discriminator to retain the density information at the global optimal. We derive the analytic form of the induced solution, and analyze the properties. In order to make the proposed framework trainable in practice, we introduce two effective approximation techniques. Empirically, the experiment results closely match our theoretical analysis, verifying the discriminator is able to recover the energy of data distribution.


Community radio is able to offer an alternative that takes the listener impressions, not based on a handful of people or the market desires. It can be called as a medium of resistance counter the hegemony. This research aims to answer the causes of the death of two community radios in Yogyakarta, namely: Radio Panagati and Radio Angkringan. Radio Panagati located in Terban Village  Yogyakarta city, while Radio Angkringan in Timbulharjo Village, Bantul. Both radios are the two pairs of the legendary community radio, especially in Yogyakarta. Based on descriptive-exploratory case study research, the author found that the death of two community radio stations is caused by external factors, including: the rules issued by the state to limit the community radio. External factor has an impact on the community radio's inability to resolve internal problems that have long existed. If government needs to support community radio, number of rules that burden community radio must be deleted. Keywords:  community radio, counter the hegemony, broadcast democratization.


'Engage!' was the last word Matt Hampson heard before dislocating his neck while in rugby training with other young England hopefuls. On a cold, grey, overcast day in 2005, the cream of young English rugby gathered at a Northampton training ground. Matt Hampson, 'Hambo' to his mates, was one of them. He had dreamt of playing rugby for England ever since he had picked up a rugby ball at school. His skill, conviction and dedication had brought him to the cusp of realising that dream, in an England U21 team that included Olly Morgan, Toby Flood, Ben Foden and James Haskell. But as the two sets of forwards engaged for a scrum on the training field, the scrum collapsed and Matt, who played tight-head prop, took the full force of two opposing sides. In that moment his life changed forever. Paul Kimmage went to visit Matt as he recuperated, and wrote a piece for the Sunday Timeswhich won him his third successive SJA sports interviewer of the year award. They struck up a friendship and here, Paul tells Matt's whole story, in all its intimate detail. From the build-up to the dreadful day, to Matt's recuperation, to his struggle to adjust to normal life again, to his family and friends, to other tragic incidents on the rugby field, to the response of the RFU, this is a story of terrible sadness yet unadorned triumph and joy, of anger yet of reconciliation and peace ...of a boy who became a man.


Cassava is a very important food crop that is capable of providing food security. However, a lot of problems prevent the development and use of modern equipment for its production. Most of the cassava produced still comes from peasant farmers who depend on manual tools for their field operations and these farmers have made Nigeria the world's largest producer of the crop. An increase in production of cassava to sustain the world food security needs improved machinery to allow its continuous cultivation and processing. Reasons for the low success recorded in the mechanization of cassava harvesting and processing were traced, and the attempts that have been made in the recent past by various engineers in Nigeria researching towards achieving mechanized harvesting and processing of cassava are well explained. The machinery required for cassava production in Africa, the development of new machines, and the need for more research and development in harvesting and processing machineries, which can reduce poverty worldwide and make food available and accessible for all, are also discussed. Research efforts made and the challenges facing the engineers, farmers, scientists and food processors towards achieving mechanical harvesting and processing of cassava are presented. Breeding a cassava variety with a regular shape for easy mechanization is one solution that could help the engineers worldwide.


We propose a method for the dynamic simulation of a collection of self-propelled particles in a viscous Newtonian fluid. We restrict attention to particles whose size and velocity are small enough that the fluid motion is in the creeping flow regime. We propose a simple model for a self-propelled particle, and extended the Stokesian Dynamics method to conduct dynamic simulations of a collection of such particles. In our description, each particle is treated as a sphere with an orientation vector p, whose locomotion is driven by the action of a force dipole Sp of constant magnitude S0 at a point slightly displaced from its centre. To simplify the calculation, we place the dipole at the centre of the particle, and introduce a virtual propulsion force Fp to effect propulsion. The magnitude F0 of this force is proportional to S0. The directions of Sp and Fp are determined by p. In isolation, a self-propelled particle moves at a constant velocity u0 p, with the speed u0 determined by S0. When it coexists with many such particles, its hydrodynamic interaction with the other particles alters its velocity and, more importantly, its orientation. As a result, the motion of the particle is chaotic. Our simulations are not restricted to low particle concentration, as we implement the full hydrodynamic interactions between the particles, but we restrict the motion of particles to two dimensions to reduce computation. We have studied the statistical properties of a suspension of self-propelled particles for a range of the particle concentration, quantified by the area fraction φa. We find several interesting features in the microstructure and statistics. We find that particles tend to swim in clusters wherein they are in close proximity. Consequently, incorporating the finite size of the particles and the near-field hydrodynamic interactions is of the essence. There is a continuous process of breakage and formation of the clusters. We find that the distributions of particle velocity at low and high φa are qualitatively different; it is close to the normal distribution at high φa, in agreement with experimental measurements. The motion of the particles is diffusive at long time, and the self-diffusivity decreases with increasing φa. The pair correlation function shows a large anisotropic build-up near contact, which decays rapidly with separation. There is also an anisotropic orientation correlation near contact, which decays more slowly with separation. Movies are available with the online version of the paper.


Disruption of the adaptor protein ELF, a beta-spectrin, leads to disruption of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) signaling by Smad proteins in mice. Elf-/- mice exhibit a phenotype similar to smad2+/-/smad3+/- mutant mice of midgestational death due to gastrointestinal, liver, neural, and heart defects. We show that TGF-beta triggers phosphorylation and association of ELF with Smad3 and Smad4, followed by nuclear translocation. ELF deficiency results in mislocalization of Smad3 and Smad4 and loss of the TGF-beta-dependent transcriptional response, which could be rescued by overexpression of the COOH-terminal region of ELF. This study reveals an unexpected molecular link between a major dynamic scaffolding protein and a key signaling pathway.


A fast method for theoretically comparing the posteriori variances produced by different phase code sequences in incoherent scatter radar (ISR) experiments is introduced. Alternating codes of types 1 and 2 are known to be optimal for selected range resolutions, but the code sets are inconveniently long for many purposes like ground clutter estimation and in cases where coherent echoes from lower ionospheric layers are to be analyzed in addition to standard F-layer spectra. The method is used in practice for searching binary code quads that have estimation accuracy almost equal to that of much longer alternating code sets. Though the code sequences can consist of as few as four different transmission envelopes, the lag profile estimation variances are near to the theoretical minimum. Thus the short code sequence is equally good as a full cycle of alternating codes with the same pulse length and bit length. The short code groups cannot be directly decoded, but the decoding is done in connection with more computationally expensive lag profile inversion in data analysis. The actual code searches as well as the analysis and real data results from the found short code searches are explained in other papers sent to the same issue of this journal. We also discuss interesting subtle differences found between the different alternating codes by this method. We assume that thermal noise dominates the incoherent scatter signal.


Abstract Magee, MR, Hein CL, Walsh JR, Shannon PD, Vander Zanden MJ, Campbell TB, Hansen GJA, Hauxwell J, LaLiberte, GD, Parks TP, Sass GG, Swanston CW, Janowiak MK. 2019. Scientific advances and adaptation strategies for Wisconsin lakes facing climate change. Lake Reserv Manage. 35:364–381. Climate change threatens inland lakes, which are highly valued for their ecological and economic benefits. Here, we synthesize adaptation strategies that could offset climate impacts on Midwestern lakes. Our synthesis is based on results from the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts lake adaptation workshop, in which 48 researchers and managers with expertise on Wisconsin's inland lakes gathered to provide input on climate adaptation strategies. We identified recent scientific advances, knowledge gaps, and examples of successful climate adaptation strategies with respect to four key themes: lake levels, water quality, aquatic invasive species, and fisheries. While adaptation strategies for each theme differed, there was consensus around the need for a multifaceted approach that incorporates communication and outreach, policy and regulation changes, traditional resource conservation approaches, and novel engineering designs. Managers should focus on protecting high-quality lakes, building lake resilience, and retaining beneficial ecosystem services. Most importantly, thoughtful and strategic interactions with stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers across multiple disciplines will be key to implementing climate adaptation strategies.


This article argues that the courts considering the Microsoft settlement have rewritten both the literal language of the Tunney Act and ignored the legislative intent of Congress when it adopted the Act. In one Microsoft case, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ignored the Congressional intent that courts were to make their own independent evaluation of a consent decree without special deference to the Department of Justice.
In the second Microsoft case, approving a claimed "consent decree" with Microsoft in 2002, the trial court committed clear error when it applied the Tunney Act to a fully litigated case. Congress clearly limited the Tunney Act to cases where no litigation had taken place and the Government's antitrust case was being settled by a proposed consent decree "before any testimony is taken." The second Microsoft case was fully litigated and resulted in findings of a violation of the law by the trial court and the Court of Appeals. Nevertheless, on remand, the trial court found the proposed decree resolving the case was a "consent decree" and applied the Tunney Act to the proceeding.
The article spells out several adverse consequences of both cases, not the least of which is the judicial failure to follow the law as written and the intent of Congress. We believe these matters required the most serious attention of Congress and its committees less the precedents established create a serious problem for future antitrust enforcement, let alone respect for the will of Congress.
The Tunney Act was recently modified to make it even clearer that Congress intended that no deference be granted by the courts when they consider consent decrees before them. The Congressional Record discussing the proposed legislation cites to our article as support.


Organizations need to employ committed individuals for their survival and development as well as to achieve their shortand long-term goals. In account of this, successful organizations are those with committed managers and staff. Therefore, it is important to investigate the factors influencing organizational commitment. The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of psychological capital in the relationship between spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment among employees of Ardabil University of medical sciences using a correlational method (structural equation modeling). Regarding the desirable size of the sample (n=125) for structural equation modeling, 183 employees were selected using convenience sampling method. The results showed that the direct effect of spiritual intelligence on organizational commitment and the direct effect of psychological capital on organizational commitment are statistically significant. Also, the spiritual intelligence may effect organizational commitment through psychological capital as mediator (p≤ 0.01, β=0.41).


Part I THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE 1 Discovering Sociology What Is Sociology? Sociology and Critical Thinking The Development of Sociology Contemporary Sociology Looking to the Future: Sociology in the Twenty-First Century 2 Doing Sociology Globalization, Diversity, and Types of Knowledge Sociology and Scientific Knowledge Types of Research and Research Designs The Relationship between Theory and Methods Social Research and the Media Looking to the Future: Social Research in the Twenty-First Century Part II THE SOCIAL FRAMEWORK 3 Culture and Society What Is Culture? Components of Culture Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Globalization and Cultural Diversity Sociological Approaches to Culture Looking to the Future: Culture in the Twenty-First Century 4 Socialization The Socialization Process Major Agents of Socialization: A Global View Socialization and the Life Course Desocialization and Resocialization Understanding Socialization: A Comparative Analysis Looking to the Future: Socialization in the Twenty-First Century 5 Social Interaction in Everyday Life Social Structure Social Interaction Sociological Approaches to Interaction in Everyday Life Looking to the Future: Social Interaction in the Twenty-First Century 6 Social Groups and Organizations Social Groups Formal Organizations Bureaucracies Media Organizations and Change Looking to the Future: Groups and Organizations in the Twenty-First Century Part III SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION AND INEQUALITY 7 Deviance and Conformity Defining Deviance and Conformity: A Global View Popular Explanations for Deviance Sociological Analysis of Deviance and Conformity Deviance, Conformity, and Social Control Looking to the Future: Deviance and Conformity in the Twenty-First Century 8 Social Stratification and the USClass System Understanding Social Stratification Systems of Stratification Determining Social Class Ranking Social Classes in the United States Poverty: Media Images and Reality Social Class in the United States: Myth and Reality Perspectives on Social Stratification Looking to the Future: The US Class System in the Twenty-First Century 9 Global Stratification Globalization and Economic Development Global Stratification and Quality of Life Explaining Global Stratification Transnational Corporations: The Making of New "Haves" and "Have-Nots" Looking to the Future: Global Stratification in the Twenty-First Century 10 Race and Ethnicity Understanding Race and Ethnicity in a Global Society Prejudice Discrimination Dominant-Minority Group Relations Race and Ethnic Diversity in the United States Looking to the Future: Race and Ethnic Relations in the Twenty-First Century 11Sex and Gender Sex and Gender in a Global Society Explaining Gender Differences Sexism: Inequality Based on Sex and Gender Feminism: The Struggle for Gender Equality Looking to the Future: Sex and Gender in the Twenty-First Century 12 Age and the Elderly Gerontology: The Study of Aging Aging and Diversity: A Global Perspective Growing Old in American Society Sociological Explanations of the Aging Process Looking to the Future: The Graying of America in the Twenty-First Century Part IV SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS 13 Families What Is a Family? Family Diversity: A Global Portrait Sociological Approaches to the Family US Families: In the Life Course US Families: A Portrait of Social Diversity Looking to the Future: Families in the Twenty-First Century 14 Education Education in a Global Society The Role of Education: A Functionalist Perspective Education and Social Stratification: A Conflict Perspective Education and Everyday Life: An Interactionist View Contemporary Trends in American Education Looking to the Future: Education in the Twenty-First Century 15 Religion Defining Religion Global Religious Diversity The Social Organization of Religion Religion and Society: Three Perspectives Religious Movements in Focus Religion and the Media Religious Diversity in the United States Looking to the Future: Religion in the Twenty-First Century 16 Politics and War Power and Politics Types of Authority Politics and Influence Globalization and Political Systems Democracy: American Style War, Nuclear War, and Society Peace Organizations and Peace Movements Looking to the Future: Global Politics in the Twenty-First Century 17 The Economy and Work Sociology and the Study of the Economy The Global Economy The American Economy and Work Work as a Social Phenomenon Taking a Closer Look at the Economy and Work Looking to the Future: The Economy and Work in the Twenty-First Century 18 Health and Medicine Health and Sickness: A Global View Health and Sickness in the United States Medicine and Health Care: A Cross-Cultural View Medicine and Health Care in the United States Looking to the Future: Health and Medicine in the Twenty-First Century Part V SOCIAL CHANGE 19 Population, Urbanization, and Ecology Demography and Global Population Population Growth The Growth of Cities and Urbanization Urban Sociology and Human Ecology Human Ecology and the Environment Looking to the Future: Population, Urbanization, and Ecology in the Twenty-First Century 20 Social Change, Collective Behavior, and the Future What Is Social Change? Sociological Approaches to Social Change Collective Behavior Social Movements Looking to the Future: The Media, Social Change, and Life in the Twenty-First Century Glossary Bibliography Name Index Subject Index Photo Credits Text Credits


In this study, Scallop shell-Fe3O4 nanoparticles have been used as adsorbents for investigation of the adsorption kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamic parameters of the Acid Red 14 (AR14) from aqueous solutions at various pH, dye concentrations, adsorbent dosages, temperatures and ionic strength. Scallop shell-Fe3O4 nanoparticles are synthesized by coprecipitation method in vacuum condition. Efficient coating of Fe3O4 nanoparticles onto Scallop shell is identified by FT-IR, XRD, SEM, EDX and VSM analysis. Removal efficiency of AR14 by Scallop shell-Fe3O4 nanoparticles is greater than that by Scallop shell-alone and Fe3O4-alone. Maximum adsorption is observed at acidic condition. The removal efficiency of AR14 increased with increasing adsorbent dosage, but decreased with increasing initial AR14 concentration and temperature.The adsorption capacity of AR14 onto adsorbent is little affected by the type of ionic strength except carbonate ion. In kinetic studies, removal rate is better described by the pseudo-second order model than the pseudo-first order model and intra-particle diffusion model. Adsorption isotherm is analyzed by both Langmuir and Freundlich equation. Experimental results reveal that the adsorption reaction is exothermic process. Adsorption efficiency of AR14 by Scallop shell-Fe3O4 nanoparticles is maintained even after six successive cycles.


Prior to the application of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), one of the results of the relatively-low-level of legislatively permitted data protection violation administrative fines was, arguably, a lack of compliance by U.S. Tech Giants, among others. At least on paper, this changed under the GDPR. This study approaches the issue of GDPR sanctions, not through the lens of a future catastrophe, but though a development first of the theoretical grounds for sanctions, prior to a view of the practical side of them. In doing so, it is somewhat unique and adds to the GDPR literature. Furthermore, it engages the legal strategy and compliance literature to bring its results home to inform companies as to the risks involved and to provide strategic recommendations both for companies and for regulators.

Among the several sub-goals of sanctions, this study determines that the most relevant for an analysis of GDPR sanctions—which are administrative, regulatory and financial sanctions, in large part—is the deterrence function, beyond the symbolic functions. This demands effective and substantial administrative fines. While these are not the only sanctions available under the GDPR—this study also sets out a range of possible sanctions, such as judicial compensation and orders to halt data processing—they are perhaps the most characteristic of data protection enforcement. However, through what is referred to as the one-stop-shop mechanism, the Irish DPA is the lead authority for most of the U.S. Tech Giants, and it has failed to act against them up to now, resulting in a potential lack of deterrence. This study argues that, on the one hand, companies should embrace compliance, and the other hand, truly dissuasive administrative fines must be issued in order for the sanctions to have their necessary deterrence effect.


Introduction: Choosing maintenance strategy is one of the most complex and essential processes that can affect the safety and cost of equipment. The main aim of this study was to determine a risk-based maintenance policy for improvement of the safety and maintenance indices. Material and Method: According to literature reviews and constraints associated with the studied industry, a number of safety and maintenance indices were selected and their values were measured. Next, in order to promote the selected indices, the best policy was implemented on nine critical machines of the company based on criteria such as cost, risk and availability in the framework of the fuzzy network analysis process. Finally, after six months period, the indices were re-measured. The Wilcoxon test was used to assess the changes in the indices. Result: In the implementation of the model, condition based maintenance was more effective than other strategies. Following the intervention, the improvement of safety and maintenance indices was statistically significant. The statistical analyses demonstrated that indices like reliability, availability, mean time between failures, and the number of dangerous failures all were improved significantly (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that the simultaneous use of three criteria, i.e. cost, risk and availability in maintenance planning could reduce equipment-related accidents. Finally, the recommended model can improve the efficiency and competitiveness of organizations by increasing availability and reducing equipment costs.


Human height can be divided into sitting height and leg length, reflecting growth of different parts of the skeleton whose relative proportions are captured by the ratio of sitting to total height (as sitting height ratio, SHR). Height is a highly heritable trait, and its genetic basis has been well-studied. However, the genetic determinants of skeletal proportion are much less well-characterized. Expanding substantially on past work, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of SHR in ∼450,000 individuals with European ancestry and ∼100,000 individuals with East Asian ancestry from the UK and China Kadoorie Biobanks. We identified 565 loci independently associated with SHR, including all genomic regions implicated in prior GWAS in these ancestries. While SHR loci largely overlap height-associated loci (P < 0.001), the fine-mapped SHR signals were often distinct from height. We additionally used fine-mapped signals to identify 36 credible sets with heterogeneous effects across ancestries. Lastly, we used SHR, sitting height, and leg length to identify genetic variation acting on specific body regions rather than on overall human height.


The verb system of Lelemi, a Ghana-Togo-Mountain language spoken in the Volta Region of Ghana, has two TAM paradigms which use different sets of subject prefixes and interact with the pragmatic category of focus. While one paradigm can be regarded as default model as it is used in most syntactic environments, the other paradigm is much more restricted, occurring among others in part of the relative clauses as well as in subject and sentence focus constructions. Involved in the restricted paradigm is the morpheme na for which a grammaticalisation path from a (borrowed) conjunction towards a Perfective prefix is suggested.


Maize DAS-40278-9 was developed by direct Whiskers-mediated transformation to express the aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase-1 (AAD-1) protein, conferring tolerance to 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and aryloxyphenoxypropionate (AOPP) herbicides. The molecular characterisation of maize DAS-40278-9 did not raise safety issues. The agronomic, phenotypic and compositional characteristics of maize DAS-40278-9 tested under field conditions revealed no differences between maize DAS-40278-9 and its non-genetically modified (GM) comparator that would give rise to food and feed or environmental safety concerns. There were no concerns regarding the potential toxicity and allergenicity of the newly expressed protein AAD-1, and no evidence that the genetic modification might significantly change the overall allergenicity of maize DAS-40278-9. The nutritional characteristics of maize DAS-40278-9 are not expected to differ from those of non-GM maize varieties and no post-market monitoring of food/feed is considered necessary. Maize DAS-40278-9 is as nutritious as its non-GM comparator and other non-GM commercial varieties. There are no indications of an increased likelihood of establishment and spread of occasional feral maize DAS-40278-9 plants, unless these plants are exposed to the intended herbicides. However, this will not result in different environmental impacts compared to conventional maize. Considering the scope of the application, interactions with the biotic and abiotic environment were not considered an issue. Risks associated with the unlikely but theoretically possible horizontal gene transfer from maize DAS-40278-9 to bacteria were not identified. The post-market environmental monitoring plan and reporting intervals are in line with the scope of the application. In conclusion, the EFSA GMO Panel considers that the information available for maize DAS-40278-9 addresses the scientific comments raised by the Member States and that maize DAS-40278-9, as described in this application, is as safe as the non-GM comparator and non-GM maize reference varieties with respect to potential effects on human and animal health and the environment in the context of the scope of this application.


Background The aim of this ecological study was to identify the main nutritional factors related to the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in Europe, based on a comparison of international statistics. Design The mean consumption of 62 food items from the FAOSTAT database (1993–2008) was compared with the actual statistics of five CVD indicators in 42 European countries. Several other exogenous factors (health expenditure, smoking, body mass index) and the historical stability of results were also examined. Results We found exceptionally strong relationships between some of the examined factors, the highest being a correlation between raised cholesterol in men and the combined consumption of animal fat and animal protein (r=0.92, p<0.001). The most significant dietary correlate of low CVD risk was high total fat and animal protein consumption. Additional statistical analyses further highlighted citrus fruits, high-fat dairy (cheese) and tree nuts. Among other non-dietary factors, health expenditure showed by far the highest correlation coefficients. The major correlate of high CVD risk was the proportion of energy from carbohydrates and alcohol, or from potato and cereal carbohydrates. Similar patterns were observed between food consumption and CVD statistics from the period 1980–2000, which shows that these relationships are stable over time. However, we found striking discrepancies in men's CVD statistics from 1980 and 1990, which can probably explain the origin of the 'saturated fat hypothesis' that influenced public health policies in the following decades. Conclusion Our results do not support the association between CVDs and saturated fat, which is still contained in official dietary guidelines. Instead, they agree with data accumulated from recent studies that link CVD risk with the high glycaemic index/load of carbohydrate-based diets. In the absence of any scientific evidence connecting saturated fat with CVDs, these findings show that current dietary recommendations regarding CVDs should be seriously reconsidered.


The thesis describes Perez de Ayala's use of myths and literary figures, enquires into their effect on the structure of his novels and short stories and traces the development of this transcendental side of Ayala from his early pantheism to his later qualified optimism. Chapter 1 shows the close connection between myth and literature and outlines the attraction of myth for the creative writer. The second chapter shows how Ayala's view of life and concept of the novel led him to turn to myth to express his ideas. The thesis then examines chronologically all Ayala's fiction. Throughout there is found a single mythical hero whose progress through the three traditional stages of departure, initiation and rebirth is attended by traditional motifs. In Ayala's very early fiction this hero lives in complete harmony with the next world, but after 1905 his quest is a failure because he cannot reconcile his dream of order with his experience of disorder and brutality. In the period after 1915 the heroes become more successful, although few become 'pure' heroes and for most success is partial and pragmatic. These three periods show different uses of the mythical, literary and real levels. In the first, they exist harmoniously, but in the second the juxtaposition is often ironical and grotesque. In the third there is a conscious, although sometimes unsuccessful, attempt to reconcile the levels, often through the inclusion of literary figures which influence the structure of some of his work. The inclusion of these two extra levels gives Ayala's work a 'mythical quality' which challenges traditional ideas of characterisation, authorship, space and time in the novel. The thesis ends by suggesting possible influences on Ayala and reviewing the concept of the mythical novel during the first thirty year of the century.


A complete chemical module has been developed for use in the Meso-NH three-dimensional cloud resolving mesoscale model. This module includes gaseous- and aqueous-phase chemical reactions that are analysed by a pre-processor generating the Fortran90 code automatically. The kinetic solver is based on a Rosenbrock algorithm, which is robust and accurate for integrating stiff systems and especially multiphase chemistry. The exchange of chemical species between the gas phase and cloud droplets and raindrops is computed kinetically by mass transfers considering non-equilibrium between the gas- and the condensed phases. Microphysical transfers of chemical species are considered for the various cloud microphysics schemes available, which are based on one-moment or two-moment schemes. The pH of the droplets and of the raindrops is diagnosed separately as the root of a high order polynomial equation. The chemical concentrations in the ice phase are modelled in a single phase encompassing the two categories of precipitating ice particles (snow and graupel) of the microphysical scheme. The only process transferring chemical species in ice is retention during freezing or riming of liquid hydrometeors. Three idealized simulations are reported, which highlight the sensitivity of scavenging efficiency to the choice of the microphysical scheme and the retention coefficient in the ice phase. A two-dimensional warm, shallow convection case is used to compare the impact of the microphysical schemes on the temporal evolution and rates of acid precipitation. Acid wet deposition rates are shown to be overestimated when a one-moment microphysics scheme is used compared to a two-moment scheme. The difference is induced by a better prediction of raindrop radius and raindrop number concentration in the latter scheme. A two-dimensional mixed-phase squall line and a three-dimensional mixed-phase supercell were simulated to test the sensitivity of cloud vertical transport to the retention efficiency of gases in the ice phase. The 2-D and 3-D simulations illustrate that the retention in ice of a moderately soluble gas such as formaldehyde substantially decreases its concentration in the upper troposphere. In these simulations, retention of highly soluble species in the ice phase significantly increased the wet deposition rates.


The aims of this study were to determine low-achieving students' attitudes towards chemistry and how the attitudes differ within a low achieving group. The most preferred teaching methods were also defined. Empirical data (n = 2949) were collected by stratified sampling from fifteen-year-old Finnish lower-secondary school students as part of a Finnish National Board of Education assessment. The students were divided into five groups according to their achievement in the chemistry-exam. 159 of the students who had deficient exam results were defined as low-achieving (LA) students, and within that group non-native speakers, students with special needs and gender were selected as the background variables. Boys, non-native speakers and those who had special support had more positive attitudes towards chemistry within the LA group. The most preferred teaching methods in the low-achieving group were (i) visiting companies, institutes, museums and exhibitions; (ii) using the internet, videos, magazines and books for studying and (iii) small group working. According to the LA students their teachers should take more into account their wishes for teaching methods. This study suggests that more positive attitudes could lead to a better achievement when the teaching methods are preferred by most of the students. This paper proposes some ideas for both teachers and teacher training.


Oxford Archaeology have undertaken a programme of historic building recording and investigation at the large Lesney Products factory adjacent to Homerton Road in London Borough of Hackney. The recording has been undertaken as a condition of planning approval granted by London Borough of Hackney for the demolition of the complex and the redevelopment of the site by Telford Homes.

Lesney Products & Co Ltd was a manufacturing firm established in the immediate post-war period which enjoyed huge growth in the later 1950s and 1960s, almost entirely based on the production of Matchbox Toys. The factory in the current study was opened in 1969 as part of a great expansion in Lesney's capacity but rather than producing toy cars this complex appears to have housed the company's non-toy side of the business and to have produced other commercial die-castings. The company went into liquidation in 1982 and the Matchbox brand was sold but the Homerton Road plant (that in the current study) continued to produce castings and plastic parts for electrical appliances until relatively recently. The surviving branch of Lesney Products have since moved to different premises.

The existing non-listed buildings are of relatively recent date and of limited historical significance. They are however of some social interest, partly due to the widespread and enduring appeal of Matchbox Toys although this is limited by the fact that the toys were not manufactured at this plant. The company was among Hackney's largest employers in the 1960s and 1970s and there will no doubt be many people still living who worked at this plant and have happy memories from their time there. The high profile nature of the building, especially the tall southern elevation with a large sign for 'Lesney Matchbox Toys' will have made the building a well-known local landmark.

As well as the social interest the building is also of some architectural and industrial archaeological interest. The building is designed in an attractive modernist style where the structural frame is expressed on the exterior of the building and there is considerable variety in the massing and materials used. It is a good example of industrial architecture and of a planned factory from the 1960s. The industrial archaeological interest comes from the survival of a number of internal features relating to the former use of the building (foundry, conveyor belts etc) and the understanding of the complex is considerably enhanced by an excellent set of 1960s architects drawings. In the 19th and for much of the 20th century Hackney was an important manufacturing centre and the Lesney Factory with its industrial character is symbolic of this now largely lost heritage.


Abstract Two special purpose insect-detecting radar units have operated in inland eastern Australia, in the region where nocturnal migratory movements of Australian plague locusts Chortoicetes terminifera occur, for over 10 years. The fully automatic radars detect individual insects as they fly directly overhead and "interrogate" them to obtain information about their characters (size, shape, and wing beating) and trajectory (speed, direction, and orientation). The character data allow locusts to be distinguished from most other migrant species. A locust index, calculated from the total count of locust-like targets for a night, provides a simple indication of migration intensity. For nights of heavy migration, the variation of numbers, directions, and speeds with both height and time can be examined. Emigration and immigration events can be distinguished, as can "transmigration," the passage overhead of populations originating elsewhere. Movement distances can be inferred, and broad source and (more tentatively) destination regions are identified. Movements were typically over distances of up to 400 km. Interpretation of radar observations requires judgment, and the present two units provide only partial coverage of the locust infestation area, but their capacity to detect major population movements promptly, and to provide information between necessarily infrequent surveys, has proved valuable.


September 11 changed the American economy and the global insurance market. The insurance industry no longer covers terrorism risk for "free." The traditional insurance mechanism alone cannot spread the risk of repeated catastrophic losses. Beyond the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 lingers the questions of a longterm solution and government's role therein. Government can assume different roles: reinsurer, wealth (re)distributor, regulator, or a combination thereof. This article suggests that the government should foster a regulatory and tax environment in which the private sector can develop a capital market solution for terrorism risk. Securitization is an alternative to reinsurance and can transfer risk to the global capital markets. Presently, this concept is just a theoretical possibility. Legal reforms must first reduce the cost of securitization and enhance the investment appeal, making terrorism bonds more price competitive with reinsurance. Even if such reforms are sown, a bond market will take many years to grow. Such a market, however, is impossible without the regulatory precursors, which are needed now.


The actor-critic (AC) algorithm is a popular method to find an optimal policy in reinforcement learning. In the infinite horizon scenario, the finite-sample convergence rate for the AC and natural actor-critic (NAC) algorithms has been established recently, but under independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) sampling and single-sample update at each iteration. In contrast, this paper characterizes the convergence rate and sample complexity of AC and NAC under Markovian sampling, with mini-batch data for each iteration, and with actor having general policy class approximation. We show that the overall sample complexity for a mini-batch AC to attain an $\epsilon$-accurate stationary point improves the best known sample complexity of AC by an order of $\mathcal{O}(\epsilon^{-1}\log(1/\epsilon))$, and the overall sample complexity for a mini-batch NAC to attain an $\epsilon$-accurate globally optimal point improves the existing sample complexity of NAC by an order of $\mathcal{O}(\epsilon^{-2}/\log(1/\epsilon))$. Moreover, the sample complexity of AC and NAC characterized in this work outperforms that of policy gradient (PG) and natural policy gradient (NPG) by a factor of $\mathcal{O}((1-\gamma)^{-3})$ and $\mathcal{O}((1-\gamma)^{-4}\epsilon^{-2}/\log(1/\epsilon))$, respectively. This is the first theoretical study establishing that AC and NAC attain orderwise performance improvement over PG and NPG under infinite horizon due to the incorporation of critic.


Addresses the admission control problem for leaky bucket controlled sources when assuming fluid flows and employing bufferless multiplexing. We have derived new conservative upper bounds enabling us to use the simple admission criteria associated with a Gaussian distribution for the bit rate offered to a link. The derived upper bounds are exact and no longer rely on the central limit theorem, which required a very large number of sources. Necessary parameters involved in these bounds can be derived from declared or measured values by means of pre-calculated tables. Exponentially weighted moving average schemes seem to offer fair effectiveness in terms of precision and convergence speed.


This paper describes a blind crosstalk channel identification method and its application to discrete multitone (DMT)-based digital subscriber line (DSL) systems. Cyclostationarity inherited in these systems is exploited to isolate effects of different sources, which allows separate selection and identification of crosstalk channels. Second-order statistics-based source separation is performed by controlling part of the cyclic-extension in the transmitted DMT block. The minimum changes required by this method facilitate its implementation in current DSL systems. All mentioned theoretical derivations are illustrated by numerical results obtained with measured DSL channels.


Through her engaged and articulate essays in the Village Voice, C. Carr has emerged as the cultural historian of the New York underground and the foremost critic of performance art. On Edge brings together her writings to offer a detailed and insightful history of this vibrant brand of theatre from the late 70s to today. It represents both Carr's analysis as a critic and her testament as a witness to performances which, by their very nature, can never be repeated. Carr has organized this collection both chronologically and thematically, ranging from the emphasis on bodily manipulation/endurance in the 70s to the underground club scene in New York to an insider's analysis of the Tompkins Square Riot as a manifestation of the cultural and social conflicts that underlie much of performance art. She examines the transgressive and taboo-shattering work of Ethyl Eichelberger, Karen Finley, and Holly Hughes; documents specific performances by Annie Sprinkle and Lydia Lunch; and maps the development of such artists as Robbie McCauley, Blue Man Group, and John Jesurun. She also describes the "cross-over" phenomenon of the mid-80s and considers the far-right backlash against this mainstreaming as cultural reactionaries sought to curb the influence of these new artists. CONTRIBUTORS: Linda Montano, Chris Burden, G.G Allin, Jean Baudrillard, Patty Hearts, Dan Quayle, Anne Magnouson, John Jesurun, John Kelly, Shu Lea Changvv, Diamanda Galas, Salley May, Rafael Mantanez Ortiz, Sherman Fleming, Kristine Stiles, Laurie Carlos, Jessica Hafedorn, Robbie McCormick, Karen Finley, Poopo Shiraishi, Donna Henes, Holey Hughe, Ela Troyano, Michael Smith, Harry Koipper, John Sex, Nina Jagen, EthylEichelberge, Marina Abramovic, Ulay.


Serum growth hormone was studied during a mild exercise load of 350 kgm. per minute for twenty minutes in four groups of subjects: nonobese normal subjects, obese normal subjects, nonobese maturity-onset diabetics and obese maturity-onset diabetics. It was found that (1) the fasting pre-exercise serum growth hormone level was higher and the exercise response occurred earlier and was greater in diabetics than in normal subjects; (2) in the nonobese groups, the basal values and exercise responses in diabetics were significantly different from those of normal individuals. In the obese groups, the mean exercise response was higher in diabetics than in normals, but this difference was not significant; the basal values were identical in the two groups; and (3) the basal values and exercise responses were higher in nonobese diabetics than in obese diabetics. In normal subjects, the exercise responses were higher in the nonobese group than in the obese group.


Although email has overtaken written communication in business, letterhead design is just as vital as ever. Since business letters are mailed less frequently, each one sent has the opportunity to have a greater impact on the reader that it would have in the pre-internet era. Today's designers are challenged to create a letterhead (and letterhead set) that will accomplish the following: make a positive first impression for the business; be an appropriate design for the firm's personality and corporate culture; and leave a lasting impression in the mind of the recipient. In addition, the "letterhead set" will usually contain an envelope-one which ideally says "open me first." THE BIG BOOK OF LETTERHEADS includes nearly 400 letterhead sets, all selected for their ability to inspire the reader and provide countless brainstorming ideas.


Innovation in elders' homes, in ambulatory settings, in institutions. As stated elsewhere in this issue, many (if not most) people prefer to remain in their own homes as they age, and communities can do much to ensure that this occurs. Nevertheless, many elders will also require long-term-care services, and it may eventually become difficult for them to stay in their homes. Aging-friendly communities can be innovative in the provision of long-term-care services in three broad ways- in elders' homes, in ambulatory settings, and, when needed, in institutional settings. In this article, we examine innovative long-termcare services and discuss how they can be part of successful efforts to make communities good places to grow old. Our suggestions come from a review of promising practices used in hospital care and domestic and international demonstrations designed to create good community environments for elders. For inclusion here, we considered long-term-care practices that increased independence, created a sense of security, and enhanced the quality of life for elders in the home and in ambulatory and institutional settings. Home Settings Healthcare has begun to move from the institutional setting to the home (Karunanithi, 2007). Remaining at home can influence the "health, wellness, independence, and safety" of the aging population (Coughlin and Pope, 2008, p. 47). Yet, in many cases, the homes that people have lived in as they've grown older are not aging-friendly. Designers and architects have begun focusing on remodeling homes for older adults to allow them to age in place. (See the article by Pynoos, Caraviello, and Cicero in this issue for a full discussion of home modification and other housing-related concerns and solutions.) Similarly, a number of products and technologies are available to help older adults stay in their homes and live safely and independently. The National Aging in Place Council (NAIPC) (2008) offers a top-ten list of such products (www.naipc.org·). For example, older adults and their family members can use full-spectrum light bulbs to improve visibility and can add hand rails to help with stability. Homecare The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) (2008) defines home healthcare as that which helps older adults to live independently for as long as possible, given their medical condition. Home healthcare encompasses a variety of services, including nursing care; social services; and occupational, physical, and speech therapy. The homecare industry has provided services to elders (and other groups such as people with disabilities) for decades, dating back to the late 1800s. Today's homecare industry can be divided into three distinct types of providers: First are Medicare-certified home health agencies, which provide brief and intermittent skilled care such as nursing, physical therapy, occupational and speech therapies, and home health aide services. Second are private-duty homecare agencies and registries, which mostly provide nonmedical services such as help with activities of daily living (bathing, grooming, transportation, and meal preparation). Third are hospice agencies, which provide end-of-life care to individuals with terminal illnesses. While most hospice care is provided in private homes, hospice care is also provided in nursing homes, hospice houses, and inpatient hospice facilities. The homecare industry is developing two innovative aging-friendly practices, use of the services of homecare physicians and telemedicine. Homecare Physicians Homecare was initially developed to help patients make the transition from hospital to home (Fairchild et al., 2002). Until the 1960s, physicians made regular house calls as part of this transition, but with the development of Medicare and the growth of technology, house calls have been in dramatic decline (Boling, 1998). Recently, however, Medicare reimbursement rates have been revised and physicians now have more of an incentive to visit patients in their homes (Fairchild et al, 2002). …


Vietnam is under pressure to reduce the size of the state sector. Using the Vietnam Living Standards Survey 1997–98, the paper examines the impact of this change on the gender earnings gap. Women have traditionally been over-represented in the state sector. After exiting the state sector, some seek jobs in the private sector. Estimation of separate earnings equations by sector suggests that the gender pay gaps in the state-owned enterprises and the private sector are comparable. One may then conclude that women's relative economic position may not have worsened significantly. However, Appleton's decomposition (1999) has demonstrated that the gender pay gap would be much wider if men and women were equally distributed between state and private sectors. Given that further downsizing is planned, it is important to increase women's human capital to reduce their vulnerability. Equal pay legislation and paid maternity leave are some policies that can reduce within-sector earnings inequality.


In this issue, the Review has chosen to feature the voices of hibakusha, those who survived the nuclear bombings in Japan.* These three hibakusha have shared their experiences with the hope that our readers will understand the horrors of nuclear weapons use. They have each suffered and witnessed the horrific suffering of others caused by nuclear weapons, and their families may continue to suffer medical problems for generations to come. Each calls for assurances that nuclear weapons will never be used again. These are their stories.


Essential insights on the various aspects of enterprise risk management

If you want to understand enterprise risk management from some of the leading academics and practitioners of this exciting new methodology, Enterprise Risk Management is the book for you. Through in-depth insights into what practitioners of this evolving business practice are actually doing as well as anticipating what needs to be taught on the topic, John Fraser and Betty Simkins have sought out the leading experts in this field to clearly explain what enterprise risk management is and how you can teach, learn, and implement these leading practices within the context of your business activities. In this book, the authors take a broad view of ERM, or what is called a holistic approach to ERM.

Enterprise Risk Management introduces you to the wide range of concepts and techniques for managing risk in a holistic way that correctly identifies risks and prioritizes the appropriate responses. This invaluable guide offers a broad overview of the different types of techniques: the role of the board, risk tolerances, risk profiles, risk workshops, and allocation of resources, while focusing on the principles that determine business success. This comprehensive resource also provides a thorough introduction to enterprise risk management as it relates to credit, market, and operational risk, as well as the evolving requirements of the rating agencies and their importance to the overall risk management in a corporate setting. Filled with helpful tables and charts, Enterprise Risk Management offers a wealth of knowledge on the drivers, the techniques, the benefits, as well as the pitfalls to avoid, in successfully implementing enterprise risk management.

 Discusses the history of risk management and more recently developed enterprise risk management practices and how you can prudently implement these techniques within the context of your underlying business activities
 Provides coverage of topics such as the role of the chief risk officer, the use of anonymous voting technology, and risk indicators and their role in risk management
 Explores the culture and practices of enterprise risk management without getting bogged down by the mathematics surrounding the more conventional approaches to financial risk management

This informative guide will help you unlock the incredible potential of enterprise risk management, which has been described as a proxy for good management.


This document describes opportunistic encryption (OE) as designed and
implemented by the Linux FreeS/WAN project. OE uses the Internet Key
Exchange (IKE) and IPsec protocols. The objective is to allow
encryption for secure communication without any pre-arrangement
specific to the pair of systems involved. DNS is used to distribute
the public keys of each system involved. This is resistant to passive
attacks. The use of DNS Security (DNSSEC) secures this system against
active attackers as well. As a result, the administrative overhead is
reduced from the square of the number of systems to a linear
dependence, and it becomes possible to make secure communication the
default even when the partner is not known in advance. This memo
provides information for the Internet community.


Thin carbonaceous laminations preserved in shallow-water facies of the 3416 Ma Buck Reef Chert, South Africa, have been interpreted to represent some of the oldest-known mats constructed by photosynthetic microbes. Preservation of these mats within a unit containing facies deposited at water depths ranging from 0 m to >200 m provides an opportunity to explore the electron donors employed in early microbial photosynthesis. The presence of siderite (FeCO3) as a primary sediment, lack of hematite (Fe2O3), and lack of cerium anomalies throughout the Buck Reef Chert imply that the entire water column was anoxic despite the presence of photosynthetic organisms. Authigenic uranium (Ua = U–Th/3) correlates inversely with siderite abundance, suggesting that variations in carbonate rather than oxygen activity controlled uranium mobility. The inferred lack of oxygen and ferric minerals and the presence of dissolved Fe2+ in the water column imply that H2O, Fe2+, and H2S could not have served as primary electron donors for carbon fixation. It is most likely that Buck Reef Chert bacteria utilized H2 as the primary reductant for photosynthesis.


A web service is a web-accessible piece of software or hardware. In recent years, industry has been showing increasing interest in web services as a technology for building distributed web applications. However, web services as a technology lacks in several departments. Representations for describing web services have been widely investigated by industry and academia. Service composition-that is, automated methods for constructing a sequence of web services to achieve a desired result- has been relatively neglected. We present in this paper, a planner that composes atomic/basic services described in DAML-S into a composite service. We discuss issues involved with the design of planners for composition. We also propose a set of guidelines for de- scribing services that facilitates composition.


Circulating biomarkers play a major role in the early detection of cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to determine levels of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in hemodialysis (HD) patients and to examine the relationship of this marker to left ventricular hypertrophy and to cardiac dysfunction. Plasma NT-proBNP concentrations were measured in patients undergoing chronic HD, who did not any clinical evidence of heart failure, (n=32; mean age 43.14 +/- 12 years; sex-ratio 1.8) as well as healthy volunteers (n=32; mean age 45.84 +/- 1.9 years; sex-ratio 1). In addition, the correlation between plasma NT-proBNP concentration and parameters of echocardiography was examined. The plasma NT-proBNP levels in the HD patients were significantly higher (14422.6 +/- 13757.8 pg/mL) than those in healthy volunteers (39.21 pg/mL) (P< 10 -3 ). In addition, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) revealed that the cut-off level of NT-proBNP was 288 pg/mL. On univariate analysis, the plasma NT-proBNP concentrations, in patients on HD, correlated positively with age (P= 0.004; r=0.5), systolic (P= 0.046; r= 0.36) and diastolic blood pressures (P= 0.037; r= 0.37), residual diuresis (P= 0.09; r= 0.3), the left atrial diameter (LAD) (P= 0.006; r= 0.55), left ventricular mass index (LVMI) (P= 0.01; r= 0.44) and negatively with albumin (P= 0.01; r= -0.44). However, there was no correlation between plasma levels of NT-proBNP and gender, body mass index (BMI), mean period on dialysis, pulse pressure, dry weight and left ventricular dysfunction. On multivariate analysis, only age (P= 0.014, RR= 2.8) was associated with significantly increased levels of NT-proBNP. Further studies are needed to carefully assess the diagnostic accuracy and prognostic value of NT-proBNP in patients on HD.


There is substantial evidence of the potential for class bias in the use of standardized tests to evaluate college applicants, yet little comparable inquiry considers the written essays typically required of applicants to selective US colleges and universities. We utilize a corpus of 240,000 admissions essays submitted by 60,000 applicants to the University of California in November 2016 to measure the relationship between the content of application essays, reported household income, and standardized test scores (SAT) at scale. We quantify essay content using correlated topic modeling (CTM) and the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software package. Results show that essays have a stronger correlation to reported household income than SAT scores. Essay content also explains much of the variance in SAT scores, suggesting that essays encode some of the same information as the SAT, though this relationship attenuates as household income increases. Efforts to realize more equitable college admissions protocols can be informed by attending to how social class is encoded in non-numerical components of applications.


PurposeThis research aims to explore and analyze multinational enterprises (MNEs) and local firms' ambidexterity strategies to buffer against narcoterrorism impacts on their assets. The role of line managers (LMs), who have been deemed key players in the implementation of ambidextrous strategies, was investigated in detail.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents a qualitative study based on 58 semistructured interviews with key employees, i.e. firm directors, human resource (HR) managers, LMs and their subordinates, in Colombia and Mexico over a three-year period.FindingsThe "culture of insecurity" that exists in Colombia and Mexico due to narcoterrorism and the lack of governmental enactment of coercive institutional pillars defines the common frames and patterns of the beliefs held by managers and employees working in such contexts. To ensure the survival of employees and firms in unsafe institutional contexts while managing normative pressures to compete worldwide, LMs, HR departments, and ultimately firms are forced to strategically exploit security measures and simultaneously implement innovative explorative strategies.Originality/valueThe findings suggest that ambidexterity strategies in unsafe institutional contexts represent an organizational advantage for competing worldwide while surviving in such contexts. This study contributes to the literature by linking ambidexterity and new institutionalism research in a robust framework with which to examine employment relationships in unsafe institutional contexts.


Under the Clean Development Mechanism, developing countries will be able to produce certified emissions reductions (CERs, sometimes called offsets) through projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions below business-as-usual levels. The challenges of setting up offset markets are considerable. Do forestry projects, as a class, have more difficulty than energy projects reducing greenhouse gas emissions in ways that are real, measurable, additional, and consistent with sustainable development? Under the Kyoto Protocol, industrial countries accept caps on their emissions of greenhouse gases. They are permitted to acquire offsetting emissions reductions from developing countries - which do not have emissions limitations - to assist in complying with these caps. Because these emissions reductions are defined against a hypothetical baseline, practical issues arise in ensuring that the reductions are genuine. Forestry-related emissions reduction projects are often thought to present greater difficulties in measurement and implementation than energy-related emissions reduction projects. Chomitz discusses how project characteristics affect the process for determining compliance with each of the criteria for qualifying. Those criteria are: - Additionality. Would the emissions reductions not have taken place without the project? - Baseline and systems boundaries (leakage). What would business-as-usual emissions have been without the project? And in this comparison, how broad should spatial and temporal system boundaries be? - Measurement (or sequestration). How accurately can we measure actual with-project emissions levels? - Duration or permanence. Will the project have an enduring mitigating effect? - Local impact. Will the project benefit its neighbors? For all the criteria except permanence, it is difficult to find generic distinctions between land use change and forestry and energy projects, since both categories comprise diverse project types. The important distinctions among projects have to do with such things as: - The level and distribution of the project's direct financial benefits. - How much the project is integrated with the larger system. - The project components' internal homogeneity and geographic dispersion. - The local replicability of project technologies. Permanence is an issue specific to land use change and forestry projects. Chomitz describes various approaches to ensure permanence or adjust credits for duration: the ton-year approach (focusing on the benefits from deferring climatic damage, and rewarding longer deferral); the combination approach (bundling current land use change and forestry emissions reductions with future reductions in the buyer's allowed amount); a technology-acceleration approach; and an insurance approach. This paper - a product of Infrastructure and Environment, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to assess policies for mitigating climate change. The author may be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.com.


The proliferation of mobile technologies in the general population offers new opportunities for survey research, but also introduces new sources of error to the data collection process. This thesis studies two potential sources of error in mobile survey data collection: measurement error and nonresponse. Chapter 1 examines how the diagonal screen size of a mobile device affects measurement error. Using data from a non-mobile-optimised web survey, I compare data quality between screen size groups. Results suggest that data quality mainly differs between small smartphones with a screen size of below 4.0 inches and larger mobile devices. Respondents using small smartphones are more likely to break off during the survey, to provide shorter answers to open-ended questions, and to select fewer items in check-all-that-apply questions than respondents using devices with larger screens.
Due to the portability of mobile devices, mobile web respondents are more likely to be in distracting environments where other people are present. Chapter 2 explores how distractions during web survey completion influence measurement error. I conducted a laboratory experiment where participants were randomly assigned to devices (PC or tablet) and to one of three distraction conditions (presence of other people who have a loud conversation, presence of music, or no distraction). Although respondents felt more distracted in the two distraction conditions, I did not find significant effects of distraction on data quality. Chapter 3 investigates correlates of nonresponse to data collection using mobile technologies. We asked members of a probability household panel about their willingness
to participate in various data collection tasks on their mobile device. We find that willingness varies considerably by the type of activity involved, to some extent by device, and by respondent: those who report higher security concerns and who use their device less intensively are less willing to participate in mobile data collection.


In many retail and service sectors, firms have to establish a physical presence in a geographic market to access customers there. In countries where the quality of institutions is low, this can put assets at risk. We use data on the operations of a multinational, multibrand hotel company to show that in environments where local institutions are weaker—as proxied mainly by the World Bank's Checks index—the company eschews direct ownership. Rather than increasing its reliance on franchising, as predicted by some models, the company relies more on another form of organization commonly used in this industry, namely management contracts. We explain these patterns by emphasizing how the quality of the institutional environment affects the cost of using equity-based organizational forms, per arguments in the current literature, but also the cost of enforcing the terms of franchise contracts.


The effect of dopamine, working through the activation of D2 receptors, on inositol phosphate production induced by thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) was investigated in rat pituitary lactotroph cells. Dopamine (10 microM) did not modify the initial rapid stimulation of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate and inositol bisphosphate observed within the first 15 s after TRH addition, but progressively inhibited the later inositol phosphate production induced by the neurohormone. This kinetics of inhibition was independent of dopamine preincubation time (from 2 to 10 min). The effect was still visible when dopamine was added after TRH. It was sensitive to pertussis toxin, was unchanged by increasing cellular cAMP levels with 8-Br-cAMP, but was greatly affected by treatments that modify the cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration. Specifically, the dopamine-induced inhibition was prevented by treatment of the cells with the Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin (100-200 nM) and was mimicked either by withdrawal of Ca2+ from the incubation medium or by blockade of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels with verapamil. The dopamine treatment did not decrease the cellular levels of the various phosphoinositides, strongly suggesting that the inhibition of inositol phosphate production is not due to precursor depletion. In isolated membranes, however, dopamine was unable to counteract the inositol phosphate accumulation triggered by TRH. Taken together, the data indicate that inhibition of inositol phosphate production is not a primary event triggered by D2 receptor activation, but is a late consequence, due to the previously demonstrated (Malgaroli, A., Vallar, L., Reza Elahi, F., Pozzan, T., Spada, A., and Meldolesi, J. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 13920-13927) inhibition by dopamine of the prolonged cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration increase induced by TRH via the activation of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels. These results are inconsistent with the possibility of a direct inhibitory coupling of D2 receptors to phospholipase C in rat pituitary lactotroph cells.


Does the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union impede and neutralise the development of the lex sportiva—the body of sports law generated by the sports movement? This article argues that EU sports law has comfortably coexisted with the lex sportiva, and art.165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) expands, to a limited extent, the possibilities for affording sporting rules a wide margin of appreciation under EU law. However, while EU sports law recognises a territory of sporting self-regulation governed by the lex sportiva, it conditions this autonomy on the acceptance of the integration of general principles of law into the lex sportiva—such as proportionality and good governance. EU law therefore only patrols the outer limits of the lex sportiva, ensuring that an equilibrium between the two judicial domains is maintained.


This paper presents the results of a case study investigating the use of technology i.e. video resources in teaching statistics to 40 Health Informatics post-graduate students at the University of Wollongong. The purpose of the study is to investigate if the use of such technology has some impact on student learning outcomes in terms of their understanding of topics and level of anxiety in learning the subject. The findings from the study reveal that students were concerned about their learning of the subject and they found that the use of videos as teaching and learning tools in the subject was helpful in increasing their understanding of topics covered and reducing their anxiety in learning it. At the end of the academic session, majority of the students were confident in most topic areas covered and they were also comfortable in taking the subject. There were several issues identified by the students and one of them is the improvement of video resources particularly technological issues such as downloading and accessing the videos.


Currently, user satisfaction is becoming one of the major concerns for the service provider in accommodating user demand. This paper evaluates the user's perception (Quality of Experience, QoE) of the increasing and decreasing response times (Quality of Service, QoS), in particular a login to web login page by the implementation of Mean Opinion Score (MOS). By comparing the results to user perception of web login performance, we show that the users perceive web login for increasing and decreasing RTs in different ways. So, we conduct interview among specific users applying increased and decreased RTs in particular web login to rank the users satisfaction level. Study of the two results for RTs of the web login page is presented.