Avian Influenza A Viruses (IAV) in different species of seals display a spectrum of pathogenicity, from subclinical infection to mass mortality events. Here we present an investigation of avian IAV infection in a 3-4 month old Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) pup, rescued from St Michael's Mount, Cornwall in 2017. The pup underwent medical treatment, but died after two weeks; post-mortem examination and histology indicated sepsis as the cause of death. IAV NP antigen was detected by immunohistochemistry in the nasal mucosa, and sensitive real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays detected trace amounts of viral RNA within the lower respiratory tract, suggesting that the infection may have been cleared naturally. IAV prevalence among Grey seals may therefore be underestimated. Moreover, contact with humans during the rescue raised concerns about potential zoonotic risk. Nucleotide sequencing revealed the virus to be of subtype H3N8. Combining a GISAID database BLAST search and time-scaled phylogenetic analyses, we inferred that the seal virus originated from an unsampled, locally circulating (in Northern Europe) viruses, likely from wild Anseriformes. From examining the protein alignments, we found several residue changes in the seal virus that did not occur in the bird viruses, including D701N in the PB2 segment, a rare mutation, and a hallmark of mammalian adaptation of bird viruses. IAVs of H3N8 subtype have been noted for their particular ability to cross the species barrier and cause productive infections, including historical records suggesting that they may have caused the 1889 pandemic. Therefore, infections such as the one we report here may be of interest to pandemic surveillance and risk, and may help us better understand the determinants and drivers of mammalian adaptation in influenza.


The aim of this thesis is to cast light on a group of senior
managers currently working in Iraq. It investigates their personalsocial
background. career patterns and decision-making styles in the
light of the Western management standards. The thesis also tries to
bring into the light how the Iraqi managers spend their time and
what activities they exercise inside their firms. In addition. it
attempts to show the contemporary social constraints or pressures
which face managers in Iraq.
The assumption is made that in order to understand management
styles and the principal personal-social background and career
patterns of a group of managers in a given country. prior understanding
of their social and cultural values is vital. Without such prior
understanding of the social and cultural context. the analysis and
the interpretation of the managers' characteristics and their management
styles will be incomplete.

Thus, the point of departure is to start the analysis by careful
examination of Iraq; its geography, social communities, religions,
education, political and economic development. In addition, the
analysis extends itself to cover the past and the contemporary attitudes
toward men and women, time. manual work and toward the size of the
family.
The thesis then proceeds to discuss the principal characteristics
of forty four Iraqi manuging directors. The results broadly
indicate that most of the personal-social characteristics and career patterns of these managers are a reflection of their larger society.
The same is equally true with their management styles.
What already exists in the industrial firms studied also exists
in the larger society; the links between industrial organisations
and the Iraqi society in terms of social values and attitudes toward
time. manual work. superiority of men over women. remain strong
despite the fact that the society is undereoing considerable social
and economic changes. So. too, the principal characteristics of the
managers studied. whether in terms of their personal-social background.
their career patterns or their decision-makine styles. are by and large
similar to the general features of the society in large.
The analysis also indicates that in order to work according to
Western management standards. the Iraqi manager needs not only a long
period of time, but also requires massive efforts to get rid of a
heavy heritage of different but interlocking social pressures and
constraints.


The capability of the CLEAN algorithm, which is able to develop image information corresponding to spatial frequencies for which the imaging system's optical transfer function (OTF) is equal to zero, is shown to be dependent on the limited size of the object being imaged. It is found that this capability is available without a severe signal-to-noise-ratio penalty only for the recovery of a spatial frequency that is sufficiently close to some other spatial frequency for which the OTF is not equal to zero. As used here the term "sufficiently close" means that the magnitude of the separation of the spatial frequencies is less than one half of the inverse of the size of the object being imaged. This represents a limitation of CLEAN's capability deriving from object size. It is suggested that this capability can be thought of in terms of superresolution, with the same limitation in regard to object size.


Background Many patients are already malnourished when admitted to hospital. Barriers and facilitators to nutrition care in hospital have been identified and successful interventions developed; however, few studies have explored how to sustain and spread improvements. The More-2-Eat phase 1 study involved five hospitals across Canada implementing nutrition care improvements, while phase 2 implemented a scalable model using trained champions, audit and feedback, a community of practice with external mentorship and an implementation toolkit in 10 hospitals (four continuing from phase 1). Process measures showed that screening and assessment from phase 1 were sustained for at least 4 years. The objective of this study was to help explain how these nutrition care improvements were sustained and spread by understanding the role of the trained champions, and to confirm and expand on themes identified in phase 1. Methods Semistructured telephone interviews were conducted with champions from each phase 2 hospital and recordings transcribed verbatim. To explore the champion role, transcripts were deductively coded to the 3C model of Concept, Competence and Capacity. Phase 2 transcripts were also deductively coded to themes identified in phase 1 interviews and focus groups. Results Ten interviews (n=14 champions) were conducted. To sustain and spread nutrition care improvements, champions needed to understand the Concepts of change management, implementation, adaptation, sustainability and spread in order to embed changes into routine practice. Champions also needed the Competence, including the skills to identify, support and empower new champions, thus sharing the responsibility. Capacity, including time, resources and leadership support, was the most important facilitator for staying engaged, and the most challenging. All themes identified in qualitative interviews in phase 1 were applicable 4 years later and were mentioned by new phase 2 hospitals. There was increased emphasis on audit and feedback, and the need for standardisation to support embedding into current practice. Conclusion Trained local champions were required for implementation. By understanding key concepts, with appropriate and evolving competence and capacity, champions supported sustainability and spread of nutrition care improvements. Understanding the role of champions in supporting implementation, spread and sustainability of nutrition care improvements can help other hospitals when planning for and implementing these improvements. Trial registration number NCT02800304, NCT03391752.


Background and Purpose: To some extent, favorable treatment outcomes for physical therapy intervention programs depend on patients attending their clinic appointments and adhering to the program requirements. Previous studies have found less-than-optimal levels of clinic attendance, and a viable option might be physical therapy intervention programs with a large component of home treatment. This study investigated the effects of a standard physical therapy intervention program—delivered primarily at either the clinic or home—on ankle function, rehabilitation adherence, and motivation in patients with ankle sprains. Subjects: Forty-seven people with acute ankle sprains who were about to start a course of physical therapy intervention participated in the study. Methods: Using a prospective design, subjects were randomly assigned to either a clinic intervention group or a home intervention group. Ankle function and motivation were measured before and after rehabilitation, and adherence to the clinic- and home-based programs was measured throughout the study. Results: The groups had similar scores for post-treatment ankle function, adherence, and motivation. The home intervention group had a significantly higher percentage of attendance at clinic appointments and better physical therapy intervention program completion rate. Discussion and Conclusion: Home-based physical therapy intervention appears to be a viable option for patients with sprained ankles.


Library Carpentry is a growing community of instructors and lesson developers whose mission is to teach librarians the tools, techniques and best practices around working with data and using software to automate repetitive tasks. Using the pedagogical practices of live coding, pair programming, discussion and exercises, Library Carpentry creates a safe and collaborative space for important concepts in computing and data, including data manipulation and organization, using the computer to repeat things and the importance of text pattern matching. We teach these concepts using the Unix shell to repeat commands over text and data, regular expressions to match and operate on text strings, and OpenRefine to clean and standardize datasets. Not only do these skills help librarians create reproducible workflows and repeated operations for data-centric tasks, they give librarians a common language with researchers that can lead to a better mutual understanding of data issues and it paves the way to greater collaboration between the library and research departments. In the last two years, Library Carpentry has held two sprints to improve the lesson materials that included over 100 people at 13 sites worldwide. The California Digital Library (CDL) has been awarded a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services that funds a two year, full-time North American Coordinator for Library Carpentry and discussions are starting about integrating with Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry. Currently, Library Carpentry instructors are trained and certified through Software Carpentry, and lessons for all of the Carpentries are created and maintained in Github, using the same templates. In the next year, Library Carpentry will map out an infrastructure of the growing community, formalize lesson development processes, expand its pool of instructors, and create more instructor trainers to meet the demand for Library Carpentry workshops around the globe.


Damage to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) impairs decision making, but the underlying value computations that cause such impairments remain unclear. Both the OFC and ACC encode a wide variety of signals correlated with decision making. The current challenge is to determine how these two different areas support decision‐making processes. Here, we review a series of experiments that have helped define these roles. A special population of neurons in the ACC, but not the OFC, multiplex value information across decision parameters using a unified encoding scheme, and encode reward prediction errors. In contrast, neurons in the OFC, but not the ACC, encode the value of a choice relative to the recent history of choice values. Together, these results suggest complementary valuation processes: OFC neurons dynamically evaluate current choices relative to the value contexts recently experienced, while ACC neurons encode choice predictions and prediction errors using a common valuation currency reflecting the integration of multiple decision parameters.


A fresh look at how three important twentieth-century British thinkers viewed capitalism through a moral rather than material lens

 What's wrong with capitalism? Answers to that question today focus on material inequality. Led by economists and conducted in utilitarian terms, the critique of capitalism in the twenty-first century is primarily concerned with disparities in income and wealth. It was not always so. The Moral Economists reconstructs another critical tradition, developed across the twentieth century in Britain, in which material deprivation was less important than moral or spiritual desolation.

 Tim Rogan focuses on three of the twentieth century's most influential critics of capitalism?R. H. Tawney, Karl Polanyi, and E. P. Thompson. Making arguments about the relationships between economics and ethics in modernity, their works commanded wide readerships, shaped research agendas, and influenced public opinion. Rejecting the social philosophy of laissez-faire but fearing authoritarianism, these writers sought out forms of social solidarity closer than individualism admitted but freer than collectivism allowed. They discovered such solidarities while teaching economics, history, and literature to workers in the north of England and elsewhere. They wrote histories of capitalism to make these solidarities articulate. They used makeshift languages of ?tradition? and ?custom? to describe them until Thompson patented the idea of the ?moral economy.? Their program began as a way of theorizing everything economics left out, but in challenging utilitarian orthodoxy in economics from the outside, they anticipated the work of later innovators inside economics.

 Examining the moral cornerstones of a twentieth-century critique of capitalism, The Moral Economists explains why this critique fell into disuse, and how it might be reformulated for the twenty-first century.


"What we see, and what we seem, are but a dream, a dream within a dream". Michael Bliss views Miranda's voice-over at the beginning of "Picnic at Hanging Rock" as so pivotal in explaining the films of Peter Weir that he borrows her words to create the title of his own study of the Australian filmmaker's work. Bliss views Weir as an artist whose values are rooted in the realm of the dream, of the unconscious. Surrealistic in technique, Weir avoids the pedestrian assurances of a material realm in favour of an irresolution that, while potentially frustrating, is nonetheless for him a more truthful representation of what he considers reality. For Weir, as for Plato, Bliss demonstrates, "empirical reality is nothing more than a shadow of what is real". Bliss also considers Weir's heritage. Australian cinema, Bliss explains, is characterized by melodramatic narratives born of a desire to see good and evil portrayed in striking opposition. Weir, for example, dramatizes the contradictory forces of light versus darkness, reason versus mystery, and rationality versus magic in such films as "Picnic at Hanging Rock" and "The Last Wave". This melodramatic emphasis is evident as well in the polarized characterizations in such films as "Witness", "Dead Poets Society", and "The Truman Show". Bliss also discusses Weir's use of another staple of Australian cinema - "mateship", the celebration of the bond between male companions. But by making self-knowledge dependent on action involving one's friends, Weir gives mateship a new meaning. Moreover, like other Australian filmmakers, Weir emphasizes the starkness of the Australian landscape, which functions either as a hazard or a deadly challenge, at least until American mythology caused him to see nature in a more positive light. Also prominent in Weir's films is an Australian spirit of rebellion coupled with the Aussie ambivalence toward all aspects of British culture. To help explain Weir's films, Bliss looks to Freud and Jung, whom Weir has studied, and also to two other prominent purveyors of myth and archetype, Northrop Frye and Joseph Campbell. Virtually all Weir characters struggle toward a new mode of awareness, a psychological awareness based on archetypal truths. Many of his films involve archetypal journeys heading through conflict to spiritual unity. Weir's quest is to find out what we really know and how we know what we know


The article deals with the principles of the insurance reserves distribution: safety, liquidity, profitability and diversification. The domestic rules of the insurance reserves distribution are analyzed. It is proved that the insurance companies do not have enough tools for investment of their funds. Another principle of insurance reserves distribution is introduced – the principle of control on the investments.


This study aims at modeling groundwater flow using MODFLOW in a transboundary hardrock–alluvium aquifer, located in northwestern Oman. A three-dimensional stratigraphic model of the study area representing the vertical and spatial extent of four principal hydro-geologic units (specifically, the Hawasina, ophiolite, Tertiary and alluvium) was generated using data collected from hundreds drilled borehole logs. Layer elevations and materials for four layers grid cells were taken from the generated stratigraphic model in which the materials and elevations were inherited from the stratigraphic model that encompasses the cell. This process led to accurate grid so that the developed groundwater conceptual model was mapped to simulate the groundwater flow and to estimate groundwater balance components and sustainable groundwater extraction for the October 1996 to September 2013 period. Results show that the long-term lateral groundwater flux ranging from 4.23 to 11.69 Mm3/year, with an average of 5.67 Mm3/year, drains from the fractured eastern ophiolite mountains into the alluvial zone. Moreover, the long-term regional groundwater sustainable groundwater extraction is 18.09 Mm3/year for 17 years, while it is, respectively, estimated as 14.51, 16.31, and 36.00 Mm3/year for dry, normal, and wet climate periods based on standardized precipitation index (SPI) climate condition. Considering a total difference in groundwater levels between eastern and western points of the study area on the order of 228 m and a 12-year monthly calibration period (October 1996 to September 2008), a root mean squared error (RMSE) in predicted groundwater elevation of 2.71 m is considered reasonable for the study area characterized by remarkable geological and hydrogeological diversity. A quantitative assessment of the groundwater balance components and particularly sustainable groundwater extraction for the different hydrological period would help decision makers to better understand the water resources in the Al-Buraimi region. In addition, it would assist decision makers to improve existing strategies to enhance the decision making for future developments.


Native Americans are subject to unique influences, contributing to health problems that are difficult to treat without culturally appropriate care. The most effective way to improve such care may be to recruit and retain more Native American Nurses. Many authors have written about the complex reasons that Native Americans are not adequately recruited or retained in baccalaureate programs, but few qualitative studies have focused on Native Americans in baccalaureate nursing programs, and few studies have focused on the strengths these students bring to their experience. In this phenomenological study, three indepth interviews were conducted with Native American nurses who had graduated within the past one to three years from a baccalaureate nursing program. Interviews were transcribed and submitted to phenomenological analysis, following the method of A. Giorgi. Results indicated that the nurses belonged to extensive networks of family and tribal members. They were strongly invested in maintaining their emotional bonds and meeting their obligations within these groups, particularly if they had children. Their primary difficulties in nursing school were related to being away from these nurturing groups, and meeting their obligations to them, while also meeting the obligations of school. They relied on cultural and personal strengths that enabled them to achieve their goal. Universities may be able to make relatively simple and inexpensive alterations in their nursing programs in order to ease the struggles of these students, and to enable more Native Americans to complete baccalaureate nursing degrees. Further phenomenological research regarding Native Americans who did not complete their baccalaureate degrees, mainstream nurses who attended school with children, and Native American nurses who attended school without children could add to understanding of the needs of these students, and how best to meet them.


We consider two-sided many-to-many matching markets in which each worker may work for multiple firms and each firm may hire multiple workers. We study individual and group manipulations in centralized markets that employ (pairwise) stable mechanisms and that require participants to submit rank order lists of agents on the other side of the market. We are interested in simple preference manipulations that have been reported and studied in empirical and theoretical work: truncation strategies, which are the lists obtained by removing a tail of least preferred partners from a preference list, and the more general dropping strategies, which are the lists obtained by only removing partners from a preference list (i.e., no reshuffling). We study when truncation/dropping strategies are exhaustive for a group of agents on the same side of the market, i.e., when each match resulting from preference manipulations can be replicated or improved upon by some truncation/dropping strategies. We prove that for each stable mechanism, dropping strategies are exhaustive for each group of agents on the same side of the market (Theorem 1), i.e., independently of the quotas. Then, we show that for each stable mechanism, truncation strategies are exhaustive for each agent with quota 1 (Theorem 2). Finally, we show that this result cannot be extended neither to individual manipulations when the agent's quota is larger than 1 (even when all other agents' quotas equal 1—Example 1), nor to group manipulations (even when all quotas equal 1—Example 2).


Many reform results fall below expectations in the development arena, especially in the public sector. Do the reforms just need more time to work better, or should we adjust our expectations? In addressing this question, the current article draws from isomorphism to think about potential limits to reform in developing countries. The theory is considered appropriate for thinking about change processes in the developing world. It presents change as motivated more by the need for legitimacy than efficiency and, in identifying the mechanics of change, points to potential limits of such change: to organizational dimensions that are visible, peripheral and involves concentrated sets of professional agents. These limiting factors are applied to a study of public financial management reform in 31 African countries which shows that some dimensions do appear more limited to isomorphic influence than others. Isomorphic change may indeed face natural limits, something the development community should consider in thinking about how it goes about facilitating and motivating reform in its client countries.


Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems have become very important for the medical diagnosis of brain tumors. The systems improve the diagnostic accuracy and reduce the required time. In this paper, a two-stage CAD system has been developed for automatic detection and classification of brain tumor through magnetic resonance images (MRIs). In the first stage, the system classifies brain tumor MRI into normal and abnormal images. In the second stage, the type of tumor is classified as benign (Noncancerous) or malignant (Cancerous) from the abnormal MRIs. The proposed CAD ensembles the following computational methods: MRI image segmentation by K-means clustering, feature extraction using discrete wavelet transform (DWT), feature reduction by applying principal component analysis (PCA). The two-stage classification has been conducted using a support vector machine (SVM). Performance evaluation of the proposed CAD has achieved promising results using a non-standard MRIs database.


Abstract This research was evaluated conversation and story reading and telling activities used by pre-school education teachers and determined the results related to these activities. A hundred pre-school education teachers, working in private and public primary schools and kindergartens in seven municipalities in Istanbul, participated in this study. A questionnaire composed of some demographic information, items related the research topic, and an observation form prepared for the conversation and story telling activities were used to collect the data. The questionnaire form was filled out by the teachers but the observation forms were rated by the researchers, observing the teachers during the conversation and story telling activities. The teaching methods implemented during the story and conversation activities by the teachers were compared according to school types. Demographic information of the teachers was analyzed with frequencies and percentages. The opinions of the teachers working in the private and public kindergartens were compared and contrasted with chi-square. Also correlation values between the information gathered from teachers and the observation results of the researchers were computed. The results revealed that the discussion during conversation, traveling and observation-experiment methods, problem solving, and sample case methods during story telling changed according to school type. Also it was determined that role playing technique during conversation activities and the question-answer technique during story activities were implemented by the teachers according to both the researchers' observation and the teachers own reports. There is no relation between the teachers' expressions and the observers' opinions regarding the other techniques. Key Words: Pre-School Education, Teacher, Conversation Activities, Story Activity, Teaching Methods. Education starts as early as ore-birth, in the womb of the mother, and and continues up until the death of the person. The most important and intense times of any given individual is spent in schools, as much as 12%. The education during school life will determine the future of the individual. Therefore, pre-school education as a starting period to school is becoming a determinative factor in a child's development and education. So, it is obvious that children need to be educated in qualified circumstances in order to be ready for the future (Day, 1999). It is necessary to prepare the curriculum including different teaching methods and techniques for children to acquire learning skills and develop appropriately during pre-school period. During this period, children are greatly active and open to learn. Curriculum that are prepared in a teaching rather than a learning approach, do not include children's needs, interests, and individual differences, and lead them to be passive (Dodge, Calker, Heroman, & Bickart, 1992). The teaching methods and techniques in pre-school education should have functional qualities that help children be more attentive, develop memory capacity, get cues easily, and join the learning process (Fidan, 1990). The review of the literature shows that the stimulating factor of educational environment is crucial for the child's success. In a research study with 545 children of 5-13 years of age, Aycicegi (1996) indicated that it is necessary to implement teaching methods that should involve activities based on more senses that are in support of each other. In pre-school education, it is very important that different methods and techniques be implemented. During the class activities, these activities are accepted as facilitators in concept development. Casey and his friends (2004) showed that stories and tales have important effects in mathematical concept developments such as geometry, measurement, and graphic draw abilities for children. Various research studies indicate that teachers in pre-school education prefer limited number of methods during clasroom activiteis. …


Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925) began to investigate the boundaries between painting and sculpture in the 1950s, working with a variety of found objects in his Combine paintings and freestanding Combines. Later, in his Cardboard series (1971--72), he confined himself to the use of cardboard boxes, eliminating virtually all imagery, reducing the palette to a near monochrome, and commenting in subtle ways on the materialism and disposability of modern life. This book is the first to focus exclusively on Rauschenberg's rarely seen Cardboards, along with related works from his Made in Tampa Clay, Cardbirds, Egyptian, and Venetian series. Approximately eighty-eight Cardboards and related sculptural pieces, many from the artist's personal collection, are reproduced in the book. Full provenance and exhibition history are provided for each work, along with a complete bibliography. In addition, distinguished scholar Yve-Alain Bois offers an insightful essay that discusses the Cardboards and situates these lesser-known but critical pieces within the context of Rauschenberg's long and creative career.


In this study, it is aimed to analyze the environmental impact of foreign direct investment. The theoretical and applied literature on the relationship between foreign direct investment and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is presented. The study examines the relationship between foreign direct investment and pollution by using Johansen Cointegration test and vector error correction model in Turkey, for 1974-2013 period. The main conclusion of the study is that foreign direct investment positively affects carbon dioxide emissions in the long run. The results indicate the validity of Pollution Haven hypothesis in Turkey.


The rapid economic growth achieved after globalization by most of the developing countries, has imposed considerable social costs and has become a major threat to sustainable development. However it is also extremely important for developing countries to achieve a high level of economic growth to mitigate their socio-economic problems. But the major challenge here is to ensure development in a sustainable manner by achieving a proper trade-off between environment and development. This paper attempts to operationalize sustainable development strategies using a case study of Tiruppur, a major textile cluster in India. The textile industrial growth in Tiruppur is discussed in the context of global diversification of textile manufacturing and trade with emphasis on employment, income and foreign exchange in regional economy perspective. Since the environmental issues of textile industries are associated with bleaching and dyeing, an inventory of all processing units was prepared for analysis include water consumption and effluent discharge. The existing pollution management efforts through IETPs and CETPs and economics of production and pollution control costs were estimated for different size of units for understanding the burden of pollution abatement. Environmental impacts of pollution were analyzed with the help of physical data on ground water, surface water and soil quality. The economic value of the damage (social cost) was estimated for different sectors like agriculture, fisheries, domestic and industrial water supply. Different economic and environmental indicators of Tiruppur industry over the period 1980-2000 and the reasons for the environmentally unsustainable industrial growth of Tiruppur are provided. The paper concludes with some policy recommendations and recent development in Tiruppur.


This paper discussed the establishment of institutional repository in a private university, Nigeria. It started with the introduction and stated that repository is a key element in institutional research agenda. It went further to discuss Eprints software used by Landmark University for her repository. The paper further discussed the current state of Landmark University (LMU) repository, how it is being managed, the practical processes and procedures involved in depositing documents into the repository. The paper went further to discussed the factors that contributed to the success of LMU repository such as institutional support, dedicated repository staff, faculty and staff support, quality infrastructures and equipment among others. It also highlighted some of the challenges to include indexing irregularity, mobility of authors, and workload of repository administrator among others. Based on these discussion, it was concluded and recommended that the university library should carry our enlightenment campaign, University management should introduce a policy document that states conditionality for self-archiving. All these will enable landmark university IR to meet up with best practices, thereby taking the university to the leagues of world best universities ranking and rating.


I. INTRODUCTION II. BACKGROUND A. Landscape B. The Dodd-Frank Act C. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision D. Current State of Implementation and Possible Conflicts III. UNCERTAINTY AND THE KNOWLEDGE PROBLEM A. Defining the Problem B. Economic Policy Uncertainty C. Dodd-Frank Derivatives D. Liquidation and Acquiescence IV. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION In 2010, a pair of responses to the 2008 financial crisis were released the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (1) and the Third Basel Accord. (2) Much scholarly attention has been paid to the Dodd-Frank Act, (3) but little has addressed its subtle--but consequential--nuances where interplay with Basel III implicates considerable knowledge problems. (4) That Dodd-Frank's implementation, particularly in the area of bank capital requirements, is coincidental with that of Basel III, raises concerns in the areas of both domestic and international business transactions. (5) Because it is only a recommended framework, countries are free to implement or not implement Basel III, in whole or in part. (6) Given the myriad policy choices and incentives among its potential adopters, the potential for market and competitive advantages between countries is enormous. (7) Thus, U.S. regulators must create rules that ensure domestic firms engaged in international commerce are not disadvantaged or hamstrung by the U.S. version of Basel III, and the Basel Committee has a strong interest in ensuring a level playing field. (8) In similar fashion, market uncertainty follows the implementation of Dodd-Frank. The regulatory scheme seeks to segregate systemically important financial institutions for enhanced treatment, (9) opening the door and creating incentives for policy makers and regulators to push policy initiatives through those regulated institutions. (10) The purpose of this Comment is to analyze the potential unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank and Basel III's implementation. Particular attention will be paid to the uncertainty they create and the potential effects of the knowledge problem. Part I contains a historical overview and brief explanation of the relevant legislative path. In it, emphasis is given to U.S. regulators' response to the crisis, as the historical market conditions and consequent incentives play a significant role in later analysis. This background information concludes with a summary of the current state of the relevant agencies' Dodd-Frank and Basel III rulemaking efforts. Part II focuses on the knowledge problem and the uncertainty created by these reforms. It will look to the purportedly simplified regulatory structure of the U.S. capital markets brought on by Dodd-Frank, and the problems that a hodgepodge implementation of international reforms, through Basel III, could exacerbate among U.S. financial firms. I. BACKGROUND A. Landscape American financial regulation traces its contemporary roots to President Roosevelt and the New Deal Congress. (11) The purpose of this Comment renders unnecessary a full recitation of the interim regulatory climate, but the tendency to flip-flop through periods of enhanced regulation and deregulation is relevant to its premise. (12) The housing market's collapse triggered the 2008 financial crisis. (13) Improper lending practices, government policy, and the distribution of risk through the use of financial engineering all led to the expansion of the housing boom. (14) In general, mortgage loans provide a relatively stable cash flow for lenders, an attribute that makes them particularly suitable for securitization. (15) Banks seeking to mitigate their exposure to mortgage default risk frequently sell their loans to investment banks, who in turn package the loans into complex mortgage-backed securities. (16) After securitization, these mortgage-backed securities can be further securitized into collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). …


Honesty in Admitting Atrocities Despite great advances in ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, which has progressed to such an extent that some even dare to call ours the "Age of Dialogue," we must face the fact that there is an enormous amount of tension and even murderous hostility not only in Christian-Muslim relations but pretty much among all religions. Suspicion, fear, hatred, discrimination, and violence continue to take place between and among members of religious communities. These are stoked, manipulated, and carried out by people who think of themselves as being good followers of their religion. They even explicitly say that they favor conflicts with other religious individuals and groups on the basis of claims that they make for their own religious convictions. (1) One need not engage in extensive research to discover the evidence of this violence. All one need do is to browse the Internet to find easily videos of gruesome murders, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and even genocides filmed by members of the perpetrator group--apparently taken with the same pride as hunters of big game use to document their kill. Regretfully and shamefully, not a few religious leaders, obscure as well as prominent, have promoted such rivalry and intolerance in the past and the present. Children in allegedly religious families and institutions have been taught hatred toward others. Violence of others toward our group is emphasized, while violence by members of our group toward others is overlooked or, if that is not possible, justified by claiming either self-defense or the advancement of truth and peace. This editorial is not written in order to dwell on the heritage of suspicion and hatred between religious groups in general and between Christians and Muslims in particular. Rather, its purpose is to address issues arising out of the positive dialogue that is taking place between Muslims and Christians globally--simultaneously with the horrific killings, torture, rape, persecution, and discrimination. The dialogue between Christians and Muslims is necessary because of our murderous history, in order to see if these habits of the heart can be eliminated and replaced with the kind of love, justice, and peace that we espouse in our religious proclamations, which are often at such odds with our practice. Much has been written in the pages of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies and elsewhere about different guidelines for dialogue or, as our editor, Leonard Swidler, calls them, Commandments. (2) One of the necessary ground rules for an effective interreligious dialogue is to avoid comparing our ideals with their practice and vice versa. Thus, for instance, it is not only unhelpful but corrosive of the relationship between Christians and Muslims for Christians to claim that theirs is the religion of love toward all, even enemies, while Islam is the religion of harsh and primitive justice and jihad; or, conversely, for Muslims to claim that theirs is the religion of peace due to the inseparable relationships of the words "Islam" and "salam," while Christianity pursues colonialist and neocolonialist expansion and subjugation of Muslim countries. During a number of Christian-Muslim dialogue conferences or Jewish-Christian-Muslim trialogue conferences, the Christian partners have tended self-critically to admit the unfortunate linking of Christian missions and Western expansionism and to admit the egregious cases of violence that have been justified by religious reasons--during the Crusades, the expulsion of Arabs and Jews from Spain, the Inquisition, and the colonialist conquest in Africa and Asia, where huge swaths of land once ruled by Muslims were subjugated by Christian states or empires. Indeed, our Muslim partners would restate these events and use further examples of Christian aggression, such as the recent wars in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iraq, even though religion did not play a primary role in these wars. …


Is the Massoretic text the Old Testament? The equation of "the Old Testament" with the Massoretic text resulted from, inter alia, the Reformation's sola scriptura principle and the orthodox view of verbal inspiration, and led to a definition of textual criticism as text restoration. Text-critical research of the past two decades suggests, however, that this equation may be a short circuit. The term "Old Testament" refers to a theological concept, not a text, and "the Old Testament" is something different from "the Hebrew Bible". Therefore, a great deal of rethinking is called for in Old Testament studies.


In this study non-noble and non-rare metal based mixed transition metal oxides were synthesized by spray pyrolysis and used as electrocatalysts for the efficient splitting of water to hydrogen and oxygen in alkaline medium. The mixed oxides of nickel and cobalt (Ni-Co-oxide) of specific compositions (3:1 ratio) generated the much smaller Tafel slopes (210 mV decade -1 ) compared to 330 mVdecade -1 and 440 mV decade -1 for Co-Oxide and Ni-oxide respectively indicating its enhanced electro-catalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) during water splitting. Also, the mixed oxides of Ni and Fe (Ni-Fe-oxide) of specific compositions (4:1 ratio) generated the smaller Tafel slopes (360 mV decade -1 ) compared to 440 mVdecade -1 and 500 mV decade -1 for Ni-oxide and Fe-oxide respectively for OER during water splitting. At the measured potential of 1.0 V/SCE the current density of 130.0 mA cm -2 was observed for water splitting at Ni-Co mixed oxide compared to 60.0 mA cm -2 , 31.0 mA cm -2 , 30.0 mA cm -2 and 28.0 mA cm -2 at mixed Ni-Fe oxide (4:1 ratio), Co-oxide, Ni-Oxide and Fe-oxide respectively. These results show more than four-fold increase in rate of water splitting at the mixed Ni-Co oxide and more than two-fold at mixed Ni-Fe oxide due to synergetic effects compared to their individual oxides. An order of magnitude of higher values of current density for water splitting on these electrodes compared to recently reported results can be attributed also to high internal surface area due to porosity of the oxide films synthesized by spray pyrolysis method as it is observed in SEM results.


The design, fabrication, and testing of a new double-piston MR damper for space applications are discussed. The design concept for the damper is described in detail. The electromagnetic analysis of the design and the fabrication of the MR damper are also presented. The design analysis shows that the damper meets the weight and size requirements for being included in a space truss structure. The prototype design is tested in a damper dynamometer. The test results show that the damper can provide nearly 80 N of damping force at its maximum velocity and current. The test results also show that the seal drag could contribute significantly to the damping forces. Additionally, the test results indicate that both the work by the damper and damping force increase rapidly with increasing current at lower currents and taper off at higher currents as the damper starts to saturate. The damper force versus velocity plots show hysteresis in both pre- and postyield regions and asymmetric forces in jounce and rebound. A model is proposed for representing the force-displacement, force-velocity, and asymmetric forces observed in test results. A comparison of the modeling results and test data indicates that the model accurately represents the force characteristics of the damper.


Background and Objective: Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) belong to a family of ubiquitous and multifunctional enzymes that work as one of the endogenous antioxidants in our body. This study was designed to look into the association of GST polymorphism with oxidative stress in both diabetic and nondiabetic chronic kidney disease (CKD). Design and Methods: Three groups of patients (50 in each): diabetics without CKD (DM), diabetic CKD (DM-CKD), and nondiabetic CKD (NDM-CKD) and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited. Genotyping was done for GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes using a multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Serum GST and malondialdehyde (MDA) as a marker of oxidative stress were measured spectrophotometrically. Results: Based on genotyping, subjects were categorized as GSTM1+/GSTT1+, GSTM1−/GSTT1+, GSTM1+/GSTT1−, and GSTM1−/GSTT1−. Serum GST levels were lower among subjects with deletion in one/both GST genes, whereas MDA levels were found to be correspondingly raised. A negative correlation for MDA versus GST levels was observed among genotypes with one/both gene deletions. Presence of GSTM1+/GSTT1− and GSTM1−/GSTT1− was significantly higher among patients with CKD in both diabetics and nondiabetics. Interpretations and Conclusions: GSTM1 and GSTT1 deletions singly or together were associated with lower GST levels and higher oxidative stress in both diabetic and nondiabetic CKD. Interestingly, GSTT1 deletion appears to be associated with both diabetic and nondiabetic CKD irrespective of the GSTM1 status.


Background TSSA (Trypomastigote Small Surface Antigen) is an antigenic, adhesion molecule displayed on the surface of Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes. TSSA displays substantial sequence identity to members of the TcMUC gene family, which code for the trypomastigote mucins (tGPI-mucins). In addition, TSSA bears sequence polymorphisms among parasite strains; and two TSSA variants expressed as recombinant molecules (termed TSSA-CL and TSSA-Sy) were shown to exhibit contrasting features in their host cell binding and signaling properties. Methods/Principle findings Here we used a variety of approaches to get insights into TSSA structure/function. We show that at variance with tGPI-mucins, which rely on their extensive O-glycoslylation to achieve their protective function, TSSA seems to be displayed on the trypomastigote coat as a hypo-glycosylated molecule. This has a functional correlate, as further deletion mapping experiments and cell binding assays indicated that exposition of at least two peptidic motifs is critical for the engagement of the 'adhesive' TSSA variant (TSSA-CL) with host cell surface receptor(s) prior to trypomastigote internalization. These motifs are not conserved in the 'non-adhesive' TSSA-Sy variant. We next developed transgenic lines over-expressing either TSSA variant in different parasite backgrounds. In strict accordance to recombinant protein binding data, trypomastigotes over-expressing TSSA-CL displayed improved adhesion and infectivity towards non-macrophagic cell lines as compared to those over-expressing TSSA-Sy or parental lines. These phenotypes could be specifically counteracted by exogenous addition of peptides spanning the TSSA-CL adhesion motifs. In addition, and irrespective of the TSSA variant, over-expression of this molecule leads to an enhanced trypomastigote-to-amastigote conversion, indicating a possible role of TSSA also in parasite differentiation. Conclusion/Significance In this study we provided novel evidence indicating that TSSA plays an important role not only on the infectivity and differentiation of T. cruzi trypomastigotes but also on the phenotypic variability displayed by parasite strains.


Natural transformation is one of the three mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer by which bacteria are able to take up free DNA from the surrounding environment. In natural ecosystems, bacteria preferentially attach to surfaces, forming matrix-enclosed communities known as biofilm. Biofilm cells differ phenotypically and physiologically from their free-floating counterparts. Objective: To estimate transformation frequency in Streptococcus gordonii biofilm and compare that to transformation in a planktonic type of growth. Methods: S. gordonii challis (ATCC 35105) was grown as biofilm in appropriate liquid media. The plasmid vector pVA838 and chromosomal DNA of S. gordonii were used as donor DNA in the transformation assay. Strain-specific synthetic Competence Stimulating Peptide (CSP) was used to induce competence in S. gordonii. The biofilm was grown in polystyrene microtiter wells. Cells in the biofilm were harvested to assess the transformation frequency. Results: The transformation frequency in biofilm bacteria was found to be approximately 6-fold higher than those of planktonic counterparts. Conclusion: This result may either indicate a potential stress-related role of CSP or the fact that CSP participates in the synthesis of bacteriocin-like protein. The finding of enhanced cells in the biofilm in the presence of CSP suggests the involvement of CSP-QS system in the process of biofilm formation. Probably the most confusing finding of this present study was the dramatic increase of the OD value in the liquid culture of S. gordonii after addition of CSP in the early growth phase. This study demonstrated that S. gordonii cells were able to acquire foreign plasmid DNA much more efficiently than their planktonic counterparts in vitro. This finding suggests that biofilm growth mode may provide optimal condition for genetic transformation.


The Aggeneys terrane is composed of gneisses, supracrustal sequences and Broken Hill type base metal sulphide deposits that have been intensely deformed and metamorphosed to upper amphibolite grade. This terrane forms part of the Namaqua metamorphic complex that was amalgamated during the 1.1 to 1.2 Ma Namaqua Orogeny. Preserved stratigraphic sequences can be followed on strike (hundred km scale) in domains of relatively low strain. In high strain (more than 12γ) zones, the sequences are discontinuous. Inversion and duplication owing to thrusting and folding are more prevalent in the latter than in the former.

The Aggeneys Hills is situated in a regional high strain zone and comprises a late synformal macro-structure, superimposed on five older structural domains. The exposed dimensions of the macro-structure is 20km by 5km and the strike length of the five recumbent folds is 6 to 17km. Zones of high strain that are localised in relatively ductile quartzite-schist sequences separate the recumbent folds. The geometry and stratigraphic relationships of the macro-folds indicate that the stratigraphic packages in the Aggeneys Hills were tectonically emplaced as fold nappes. Collectively these nappes represent a duplex structure.

The five fold nappes have been named Soutkloof, Quarry, Klipbok, Dassie and Dabbiepoort. The Quarry fold nappe was chosen as an example to illustrate the details of the structural development of the Aggeneys Hills. Although the deformation is interpreted to have been a progressive ductile shear process, five successive structural events can be locally recognised (D1–5).

The Quarry fold nappe is interpreted to be a large kilometre scale sheath fold. The sheath fold provides information about the nature and orientation of the regional strain ellipsoid; the XY-plane trends easterly and is subhorizontal with the X-direction subparallel to the southwesterly trending tectonic transport direction. The mega sheath fold has an allochtonous structure in its northern limb containing correlates of mineralised stratabound units (the Gams member of the Hotson Formation). Structural duplication of ore bearing units may well be present in the unexposed core of the Quarry structure. Similar structural duplication is to be expected in the rest of the high strain zone of the Aggeneys terrane.


We give a necessary and sufficient condition on the cost function so that the map solution of Monge's optimal transportation problem is continuous for arbitrary smooth positive data. This condition was first introduced by Ma, Trudinger and Wang \cite{MTW, TW} for a priori estimates of the corresponding Monge-Amp\`ere equation. It is expressed by a so-called {\em cost-sectional curvature} being non-negative. We show that when the cost function is the squared distance of a Riemannian manifold, the cost-sectional curvature yields the sectional curvature. As a consequence, if the manifold does not have non-negative sectional curvature everywhere, the optimal transport map {\em can not be continuous} for arbitrary smooth positive data. The non-negativity of the cost-sectional curvature is shown to be equivalent to the connectedness of the contact set between any cost-convex function (the proper generalization of a convex function) and any of its supporting functions. When the cost-sectional curvature is uniformly positive, we obtain that optimal maps are continuous or H\"older continuous under quite weak assumptions on the data, compared to what is needed in the Euclidean case. This case includes the reflector antenna problem and the squared Riemannian distance on the sphere.


Introduction: The commercial availability of robotic da Vinci surgical system (Intuitive Surgical inc., Sunnyvale, California, USA) has attracted the gynecologic surgeon's interest due to proposed favorable surgical ergonomics, greater precision in dissection, and easier suturing as well as knot tying. Robot-assisted laparoendoscopic single-site surgery appears to be encouraging for more suture-intensive surgeries like myomectomy as it offers potential in resolving the ergonomic challenges imposed by the restrictive range of motion and vision of conventional LESS. Aim: The aim of this review is to appraise the available literature on robot-assisted laparoendoscopic single-site (RA-LESS) myomectomy and comment on the feasibility, reproducibility, learning curve as well as financial implications of this technique. Results: The studied outcome measures of mean operative time, estimated blood loss, and number and type of myomas removed suggest that this is a feasible technique. It was found to be a safe procedure with no reported intraoperative complications or conversions and negligible postoperative complications. The data on financial implication are, however, limited. Conclusion: Current initial data indicate that RA-LESS is a promising technique. It is a safe and reproducible procedure for performing myomectomy. However, more studies with larger cohorts and long-term follow-ups are needed to conclusively recommend this technique for a wider application. Clinical significance: With increasing experience in minimal invasive techniques and availability of single-port da Vinci surgical system, more challenging surgeries like myomectomy can be safely performed to optimize clinical benefits to the patients.


The value of small firms to the economy is recognised globally (Storey, 2003). In Australia small firms encompass 97 percent of all private sector businesses. Of particular interest to this research is the tourism industry, which is currently experiencing substantial turbulence. The tourism industry, like many other service sectors, is comprised mainly of small firms. Despite difficult conditions these small tourism enterprises remain key providers of services in Australia and continue to make an important contribution to both export activity and employment. There are many sectors that make up this industry, including accommodation, transport, attractions, cafes, bars and restaurants. Because of their interconnectedness there is a high degree of interdependence for these businesses. For example, the small motel sector is an important accommodation provider for travellers and a needed service by other tourism enterprises in the transport and attractions sectors. However, government agencies feel that these organisations may not be performing as well as they could be. Government concern about standards and the professionalism of tourism and related sectors has been the impetus for a number of support programs and accreditation schemes. Emerging from this concern is a need to better understand the influence that the owner-managers of these firms have on improved business performance outcomes; but study of business performance has been difficult as the performance construct incorporates many diverse and complex dimensions. Of relevance to this study is the considerable work by researchers of performance management in large manufacturing firms, where, in recent years the focus has turned to more holistic approaches to measuring performance. However, little has been done to utilise this knowledge for small tourism enterprises, and in particular small motels, as key service providers. Given that the management activities of business managers and the impact they have on business performance have been widely studied in large business there is a need for further research in the area in small motels. Therefore, the main question, which this research has attempted to answer in relation to small motels, is: How effective are the existing strategic management business performance measurement models for improved business performance in the small motel sector? This research employs a mixed method approach in an effort to draw on the existing performance measurement models to develop and test a performance measurement system (PMS) for firms and small motels specifically. A literature review of performance measurement and small business management research is utilised to develop a conceptual PMS for small motels. This review underpins the research, comprising a series of interviews with industry experts, which are used to refine the model for small motels. The refined model is empirically tested with small motel owner-managers using a case study approach. The six research issues explored in this research aim to solve the main research problem. In summary, the case research generally confirms the conceptual model as refined by the experts' findings with some modifications. Overall, the research highlights that there are three components that need to be addressed in the PMS for small motels. The two key dimensions are the drivers and the results. To indicate how the two inter-relate in achieving the desired business results, a third component - a cycle of performance management for improvement, which includes processes of measuring and monitoring dimensions, is also included. Essentially, the cycle of performance management and measurement starts with the drivers, which determine the results. The drivers include the stakeholders' and ownermanager's wants and needs, which guide the strategy formulation and implementation and the firm's capabilities and processes. The drivers are managed by the ownermanager to determine the business results. The results are measured by the outputs and the outcomes. The motel's outputs are a result of the motel's activities and are assessed by a balance of both financial and non-financial measures. The outcomes are the final product of the motel's outputs and in the small motels are measured by both stakeholder and owner-manager satisfaction. Measures provide information about both the output and outcome results and are obtained during the measurement and monitoring process. Finally, the review system is concerned with the relationship between the drivers and the results to ensure continuous improvement and the delivery of the stakeholders' desired wants and needs. In the small motels, a continuous improvement process is undertaken via a simple and informal system of control, review and deployment whereby the employees, customers and networks play a crucial role. The findings of this research contribute both to small business management and measurement theory, as well as providing a basis to guide small business policy makers and managers. As the methodology adopted in this research utilises a mixed method approach, part of which depends on case study research, recommendations rather than generalisations are presented. In order to generalise these findings to the wider small motel or small business sector there is a need for further research using a positivist survey approach. There is also an opportunity to conduct research to test this model with other industry sectors, where the unit of study would be selected from a different population of small firms. In conclusion, the final PMS for the small motels answers the research problem and highlights that existing performance measurement systems developed for large firms can be modified for the purpose of aiding improved performance in small motels. The PMS developed in this research is an holistic and integrated model that has not yet been widely studied with regard to small firms. The PMS for small motels, built and tested in this research, contributes to the field of performance management and provides a basis for further theory building.


Executive equity compensation in the U.S. is evolving. At the turn of the millennium, stock options dominated the equity pay landscape, accounting for over half of the aggregate ex ante value of senior executive pay at large public companies, while restricted stock and similar compensation accounted for only about ten percent. Beginning in 2006, stock grants have displaced options as the single largest component of senior executive compensation at these firms. Accompanying this shift has been increased variation among companies in their relative emphasis on stock and options in equity pay packages. Both phenomena provide an opportunity for a rich exploration of executive pay contracting focusing specifically on equity pay design. Such an exploration is timely given the current focus in Washington on the relationship between equity compensation and corporate risk taking. This article begins that exploration and has two primary aims. First, it describes the evolution in executive equity pay practices and the current equity compensation landscape. Second, it considers the extent to which this evolution and the current use of stock and option pay can be explained as a function of efficient contracting (and what 'efficient contracting' means in this context). The analysis reveals several features of the executive equity pay landscape that suggest limitations on efficient compensation contracting. First, although directionally consistent with changes in the conventional economic determinants of equity pay design, the dramatic shift over the last decade from very heavy reliance on options to a more balanced emphasis on stock and options suggests that option expensing, option taint, and/or increased perceived option risk played leading roles. Second, the tri-modal distribution of the mix of stock and options being granted in recent years suggests that optimizing incentives is not the sole consideration of issuing firms. Third, the extent to which the same mix of stock and options is granted to the various member of the executive suite suggests that individual optimization is quite limited.


ABSTRACT International public accounting firms have expended significant effort on gender diversity and "family-friendly" initiatives in recent years. While research in the U.S. has begun to examine the effects of these initiatives, less is known about other countries or how prospective new employees perceive the impact of gender and family status on hiring and career success. This paper reports the results of an experiment examining the perceptions of Spanish business students regarding gender and family status biases in public accounting, benchmarked against the perceptions of a comparable group of American students. Results indicate both groups of students believe such biases do exist. However, differences were found with respect to the likelihood of voluntary turnover expected of female employees. These findings are discussed in light of the dramatic changes in the socio-economic environment in Spain. Also discussed are the implications these findings have for other emerging countries. The results have great relevance for accounting firms both inside and outside of the U.S. with respect to the recruitment and retention of female employees. Key words: Cross cultural, Spain, public accounting, gender, hiring Data availability: Data are available upon request from the first author INTRODUCTION Over the past decade, international public accounting firms have increasingly recognized the need to adopt gender diversity and "family-friendly" policies in order to attract and 1 retain the professionals necessary for long-term firm profitability (Baldiga, 2005). While academic literature has examined various issues related to gender diversity, family status and the hiring practices of public accounting firms in the U.S. (e.g., Almer et al., 1998; Johnson et al., 1996), existing research is limited by failing to examine how students perceive the impact of gender and family status on hiring and expected career success. Further, while research on hiring and gender in accounting has been conducted in other countries such as Ireland (Twomey et al., 2002), New Zealand (Whiting and Wright, 2001) and China (McKeen and Bu, 1998), many other countries have yet to be examined. Given the significant results of this research, additional work is necessary because additional country-specific information is needed. The current study focuses on how Spanish students perceive the influence of gender and family status on hiring and career success in public accounting firms in Spain, as benchmarked against perceptions of American students in the U.S. Our choice to include Spain in this comparative analysis is largely a function of the cultural, social, and political changes that occurred in Spain in the post-Franco era (1975 to present). Since no other western European country experienced similar changes over the last two and a half decades (Garcia-Ramon and Ortiz, 2000), the Spanish business community presents a unique social laboratory (Lancaster, 1989) and is somewhat anomalous when compared to the remainder of the European Union because of their relative youth in a capitalist environment. This fact, combined with a paucity of English language literature examining Spanish hiring practices in public accounting (one exception being Carrera et al., 2001), suggests that the results reported herein are likely to make a substantive contribution to the diversity and hiring literature, in particular as they relate to Spanish interests. In addition, this paper focuses on the responses of university business students who will likely make career decisions, in part, based on how they perceive gender and family status to play out in the current public accounting environment. While women in the U.S. still are a small minority of partners in large accounting firms, over 50% of all new hires are now women (AICPA, 2004). As public accounting firms vie for top students, firms have increasingly reported they believe gender and family friendly initiatives are important for recruiting purposes as well as to change firm culture (AICPA, 2004). …


Hadron therapy is a modern cancer treatment based on the interaction of proton or heavier ion beams with living tissue, whose purpose is the destruction of the malignant tumor cells producing minimal effects on the surrounding healthy tissue. To study the physical basis of the Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE) of different projectiles, such as protons or carbon ions, we calculate the radial distribution of energy deposited by the secondary electrons generated in biomaterials by these ions at characteristic energies around the Bragg peak. This is done by means of the simulation code SEED, which follows in detail the motion and interactions of the secondary electrons as well as the subsequent electron cascade.


According to the Surgeon General, tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Smoking-related diseases kill 443,000 Americans each year, more than are killed by HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined. To address this public health threat, Congress enacted the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA) in 2009, which gave the federal government unprecedented power to regulate the tobacco industry. Among its provisions, the TCA requires the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to select images that depict smoking's deleterious effects and compels tobacco companies to display the images, accompanied by a textual warning, on half of the front and rear panels of every cigarette package. This new graphic format — the first alteration of cigarette package warnings in over twenty-five years — represents a significant and aggressive change in the way that the government communicates the dangers of smoking to the public.To prevent the introduction of these new labels into the marketplace, the tobacco industry has filed suit alleging that the graphic warnings infringe on its First Amendment right to refrain from speaking. The two circuit courts that have considered this issue are divided sharply over the labels' constitutionality and the appropriate framework for assessing them. This Note examines this legal fissure and argues that the warnings should be examined under the strict scrutiny standard of judicial review. Ultimately, this Note contends that the labels do not pass muster under this intense level of scrutiny and are thus unconstitutional compulsions of speech.


Recently several generalizations of the popular latent structural SVM framework have been proposed in the literature. Broadly speaking, the generalizations can be divided into two categories: (i) those that predict the output variables while either marginalizing the latent variables or estimating their most likely values, and (ii) those that predict the output variables by minimizing an entropy-based uncertainty measure over the latent space. In order to aid their application in computer vision, we study these generalizations with the aim of identifying their strengths and weaknesses. To this end, we propose a novel prediction criterion that includes as special cases all previous prediction criteria that have been used in the literature. Specifically, our framework's prediction criterion minimizes the Aczél and Daróczy entropy of the output. This in turn allows us to design a learning objective that provides a unified framework (UF) for latent structured prediction. We develop a single optimization algorithm and empirically show that it is as effective as the more complex approaches that have been previously employed for latent structured prediction. Using this algorithm, we provide empirical evidence that lends support to prediction via the minimization of the latent space uncertainty.


Tax relief for child care expenses, encompassing the Child Care Tax Credit and Dependent Care Assistance Plans, is the largest federal government program in the United States aimed at helping families with child care. We examine the distributional effects of these policies among families with children using both the National Child Care Survey and tax return data. Among families that use tax relief, the benefits average 1.24 percent of family income. Benefits as a percentage of income vary systematically over the income distribution. Despite being regressive at low income levels (mainly due to the credit being non-refundable), tax relief is progressively distributed over most of the income distribution with the ratio of benefits to income falling above the bottom quintile of the income distribution. The benefits of tax relief also vary among families with the same income depending on a family's structure and its labor market and child care choices.


The main focus of this study is on risk communication about dangerous environmental events in post-Katrina New Orleans, and the influence that race and class have on that process. It seeks to determine the assessment of New Orleans residents of the various possible sources of risk information that are available to them, and how race and socioeconomic class affect their level of trust in those sources. A 37-question telephone survey was conducted in Orleans Parish by the Public Policy Research Lab at Louisiana State University in June and July of 2012. There were 414 completed surveys, with 278 landline telephone and 136 cell phone respondents. The overall margin of error was +/4.8% at a 95% confidence interval. SPSS software was used to analyze data testing four hypotheses for each of two research questions on risk assessment: the first on race, the second on class (socioeconomic status, or "SES"). An ANCOVA was used to test the hypotheses of the first research question, while Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient Test was used to test the second. A trust index was constructed by aggregating Likert-scales responses to questions on the elements of trust in sources, and an SES index was constructed by aggregating education and income responses. After controlling for SES, Whites were shown to have significantly more trust in mass media, local community leaders and spokespersons, and interpersonal communication than Blacks did. After controlling for race, SES was found to be negatively correlated with trust in local TV news, non-news websites, and social media sites. Tests of correlation were also run on frequency of media use and trust in sources of risk messages.


There are a number of physical situations that can be modeled by fractional partial differential equations. In this paper, we discuss a numerical scheme based on Keller's box method for one dimensional time fractional diffusion equation with boundary values which are functions. The fractional derivative term is replaced by the Grunwald-Letnikov formula. The stability is analyzed by means of the Von Neumann method. An example is presented to show the feasibility and the accuracy of this method and a comparison between the approximate solution using this method and analytical solution is made. The results indicated that this scheme is unconditionally stable and is a feasible technique.


This comprehensive, prize-winning guide introduces the reader, whether visitor or resident, to the unparalleled visual wealth and historical interest found in London's neighbourhoods, architecture and cultural sites. Ann Saunders' lively style, enthusiasm and narrative gift bring her topographical survey to life, enriching it with historical information and details of the people who built London as well as those living in it. This tome stands out with its thorough and sympathetic treatment of London's suburbs - paying unprecedented homage to their little-known wealth of old village centres, medieval churches and fine houses. A great city deserves to be celebrated in its entirety: this book does exactly that and much more.


Reactive or proactive mobile applications require continuous monitoring of their physical and computational environment to make appropriate decisions in time. These applications need to monitor data streams produced by sensors and react to changes. When mobile sensors and applications are connected by low-bandwidth wireless networks, sensor data rates may overwhelm the capacity of network links or of the applications. In traditional networks and distributed systems, flow-control and congestion-control policies either drop data or force the sender to pause. When the data sender is sensing the physical environment, however, a pause is equivalent to dropping data. Arbitrary data drops are not necessarily acceptable to the reactive mobile applications receiving sensor data. Data distribution systems must support applicationspecific policies that selectively drop data objects when network or application buffers overflow. In this paper we present a data-dissemination service, PACK, which allows applications to specify customized data-reduction policies. These policies define how to discard or summarize data flows wherever buffers overflow on the dissemination path, notably at the mobile hosts where applications often reside. The PACK service provides an overlay infrastructure to support mobile data sources and sinks, using application-specific datareduction policies where necessary along the data path. We uniformly apply the data-stream "packing" abstraction to buffer overflow caused by network congestion, slow receivers, and the temporary disconnections caused by end-host mobility. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach with an application example and experimental measurements.


An uptake system was developed using Caco-2 cell monolayers and the dipeptide, glycyl-[3H]L-proline, as a probe compound. Glycyl-[3H]L-proline uptake was via the di-/tripeptide transport system (DTS) and, exhibited concentration-, pH- and temperature-dependency. Dipeptides inhibited uptake of the probe, and the design of the system allowed competitors to be ranked against one another with respect to affinity for the transporter. The structural features required to ensure or increase interaction with the DTS were defined by studying the effect of a series of glycyl-L-proline and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitor (SQ-29852) analogues on the uptake of the probe. The SQ-29852 structure was divided into six domains (A-F) and competitors were grouped into series depending on structural variations within specific regions. Domain A was found to prefer a hydrophobic function, such as a phenyl group, and was intolerant to positive charges and H+ -acceptors and donors. SQ-29852 analogues were more tolerant of substitutions in the C domain, compared to glycyl-L-proline analogues, suggesting that interactions along the length of the SQ-29852 molecule may override the effects of substitutions in the C domain. SQ-29852 analogues showed a preference for a positive function, such as an amine group in this region, but dipeptide structures favoured an uncharged substitution. Lipophilic substituents in domain D increased affinity of SQ-29852 analogues with the DTS. A similar effect was observed for ACE-NEP inhibitor analogues. Domain E, corresponding to the carboxyl group was found to be tolerant of esterification for SQ-29852 analogues but not for dipeptides. Structural features which may increase interaction for one series of compounds, may not have the same effect for another series, indicating that the presence of multiple recognition sites on a molecule may override the deleterious effect of anyone change. Modifying current, poorly absorbed peptidomimetic structures to fit the proposed hypothetical model may improve oral bioavailability by increasing affinity for the DTS. The stereochemical preference of the transporter was explored using four series of compounds (SQ-29852, lysylproline, alanylproline and alanylalanine enantiomers). The L, L stereochemistry was the preferred conformation for all four series, agreeing with previous studies. However, D, D enantiomers were shown in some cases to be substrates for the DTS, although exhibiting a lower affinity than their L, L counterparts. All the ACE-inhibitors and β-lactam antibiotics investigated, produced a degree of inhibition of the probe, and thus show some affinity for the DTS. This contrasts with previous reports that found several ACE inhibitors to be absorbed via a passive process, thus suggesting that compounds are capable of binding to the transporter site and inhibiting the probe without being translocated into the cell. This was also shown to be the case for oligodeoxynucleotide conjugated to a lipophilic group (vitamin E), and highlights the possibility that other orally administered drug candidates may exert non-specific effects on the DTS and possibly have a nutritional impact. Molecular modelling of selected ACE-NEP inhibitors revealed that the three carbonyl functions can be oriented in a similar direction, and this conformation was found to exist in a local energy-minimised state, indicating that the carbonyls may possibly be involved in hydrogen-bond formation with the binding site of the DTS.


This paper discusses the characteristics of anaphora found in written News Media genre and describes an initial implementation of an algorithm to resolve the anaphors. The paper forms part of wider research aimed at using resolved anaphors for text visualization. The algorithm described is light weight and incremental, in that, it builds vocabulary as it processes documents to be used in future. The input data is also tested on two publicly available anaphora resolution algorithms and the results compared to the algorithm described in this paper. Finally it discusses the challenges in developing light weight algorithms to resolve anaphors in the News Media genre and further research to overcome some of these challenges.


The explosive spread of democracy has radically transformed the international political landscape and captured the attention of academics, policy makers, and activists alike. With interest in democratization still growing, Nathan J. Brown and other leading political scientists assess the current state of the field, reflecting on the causes and diffusion of democracy over the past two decades. The volume focuses on three issues very much at the heart of discussions about democracy today: dictatorship, development, and diffusion. The essays first explore the surprising but necessary relationship between democracy and authoritarianism; they next analyze the introduction of democracy in developing countries; last, they examine how international factors affect the democratization process. In exploring these key issues, the contributors ask themselves three questions: What causes a democracy to emerge and succeed? Does democracy make things better? Can democracy be successfully promoted? In contemplating these questions, The Dynamics of Democratization offers a frank and critical assessment of the field for students and scholars of comparative politics and the political economy of development. Contributors: Gregg A. Brazinsky, George Washington University; Nathan J. Brown, George Washington University; Kathleen Bruhn, University of California at Santa Barbara; Valerie J. Bunce, Cornell University; Jose Antonio Cheibub, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Bruce J. Dickson, George Washington University; M. Steven Fish, University of California at Berkeley; John Gerring, Boston University; Henry E. Hale, George Washington University; Susan D. Hyde, Yale University; Craig M. Kauffman, George Washington University; Staffan I. Lindberg, University of Florida; Sara Meerow, University of Amsterdam; James Raymond Vreeland, Georgetown University; Sharon L. Wolchik, George Washington University


the State of North-Rhine Westphalia. C-LAB's vision is based on the fundamental premise that the gargantuan challenges thrown up by the transition to a future information society can only be met through global cooperation and deep interworking of theory and practice. This is why, under one roof, staff from the university and from industry cooperate closely on joint projects within a common research and development organization together with international partners. In doing so, C-LAB concentrates on those innovative subject areas in which cooperation is expected to bear particular fruit for the partners and their general well-being. Alle Rechte sind vorbehalten. Insbesondere ist die Übernahme in maschinenlesbare Form sowie das Speichern in Informationssystemen, auch auszugsweise nur mit schriftlicher Genehmigung der Siemens Business Services GmbH & Co. OHG und der Universität Paderborn gestattet. All rights reserved. In particular transfer of data into machine readable form as well as storage into information systems, (even extracts) is only permitted prior to written consent by Siemens


BACKGROUND
Striae occur in over 70% of pregnant women and tend to develop after 25 weeks of gestation. Despite the fact that their etiology has not yet been fully understood, it is accepted that a combination of genetic factors, endocrine alterations and mechanical stretching of skin play a significant role. Due to different results reported in the literature, the authors assessed commonly cited risk factors to determine whether they are associated with the development of striae in pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE
To assess hypothetical risk factors for the development of striae in primiparous women.

METHODS
This was a cross-sectional, observational, non-controlled, descriptive study with primiparous women. the study was conducted in a public maternity unit and Lasted for four months (from January to May 2008). 164 Primiparous women who had had a single fetus pregnancy took part in the study 48 hours after delivery. Fourteen Variables were recorded for each patient.

RESULTS
From the total sample, 59.8% developed striae during pregnancy. The association of maternal age range (p < 0,01), maternal weight gain during pregnancy (p < 0,01) and birth weight of newborn infants (p = 0,01) with the development of striae during pregnancy was statistically significant. The chisquared test of association was used.

CONCLUSIONS
Striae were more frequently observed in younger women, in those who gained more weight during pregnancy and/or those who had babies with higher birth weight. This study suggests that increased maternal age could be a protecting factor against striae during pregnancy.


In this paper, concepts of Ulam-Hyers stability, generalized Ulam-Hyers stability, Ulam-Hyers-Rassias stability and generalized Ulam-Hyers-Rassias stability for impulsive evolution equations are raised. Ulam-Hyers-Rassias stability results on a compact interval and an unbounded interval are presented by using an impulsive integral inequality of the Gronwall type. Two examples are also provided to illustrate our results. Finally, some extensions of the Ulam-Hyers-Rassias stability for the case with infinite impulses are given.


The negative consequences of stress are well-recognized in mental health research. Exposure to early life stressors, for example, increases the risk for the development of mood, anger, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders. Interestingly, however, early life stressors have also been linked to the subsequent development of resilience. Variously described as inoculating, immunizing, steeling, toughening, or thriving, the hypothesis that early life stressors provide a challenge that, when overcome, induces adaptations that enhance emotional processing, cognitive control, curiosity, and neuroendocrine regulation is examined in this review of squirrel monkey research.


The metrics described in this document are intended to be applicable to common workplace environments. They are based on an analysis of open offices, classrooms, meeting rooms, multi-purpose rooms, and service areas in libraries and lobbies, and so are most applicable to areas with similar visual tasks. These metrics are neither counter to, nor do they supersede, IES task lighting criteria for these space types. These metrics do not directly address energy consumption, as electric lighting management is highly variable. The area of analysis for these metrics is ideally a coherent "space", defined by opaque walls and access to daylight through at least one wall or ceiling surface. It is also possible to apply these metrics to the "regularly occupied" floor area of a building, or some part of a building, such as one floor plate. It is important to specify the "area of analysis" to which the percentages apply. These metrics were derived from a study of daylit spaces in the continental United States, and thus are most applicable to similar latitudes and cultures.


[1] Overnight atmospheric transport and chemical evolution of photochemically aged Houston urban and petrochemical industrial plume were investigated in July 2005. We report here on the 26 July episode in which the aged plume was tagged 1.5 h before sunset with a pair of free-floating controlled meteorological balloons, which guided quasi-Lagrangian aircraft sampling in the plume as it was advected 300 km to the north over 8 h. The aged plume around sunset was well mixed within a 1600 m residual layer, and was characterized by enhanced levels of aerosol, O3, CO, olefins, acetaldehyde, total odd nitrogen compounds (NOy), and relatively small amounts (<1 ppbv) of NOx. The plume experienced appreciable shearing overnight due to the development of a low-altitude nocturnal jet between 300 and 500 m above mean sea level (MSL). However, the plume above 600 m MSL remained largely undiluted even after 8 h of transport due to lack of turbulent mixing above the jet. About 40–60% of the NOx present in the aged plume around sunset was found to be depleted over this 8 h period. A constrained plume modeling analysis of the quasi-Lagrangian aircraft observations suggested that by dawn this NOx was converted to nitric acid, organic nitrates, and peroxy acyl nitrates via reactions of NO3 radicals with enhanced levels of olefins and aldehydes in the plume. Sensitivity of NOx depletion to heterogeneous hydrolysis of N2O5 on aerosols was examined. These results have significant implications for the impacts of urban and industrial pollution on far downwind regions.


Purpose — the article is to provide a holistic view on concept of value co-creation and existing models for measuring and managing it by conducting theoretical analysis of scientific literature sources targeting the integration of various approaches. Most important and relevant results of the literature study are presented with a focus on changed roles of organizations and consumers. This article aims at contributing theoretically to the research stream of measuring co-creation of value in order to gain knowledge for improvement of organizational performance and enabling new and innovative means of value creation. Design/methodology/approach. The nature of this research is exploratory – theoretical analysis and synthesis of scientific literature sources targeting the integration of various approaches was performed. This approach was chosen due to the absence of established theory on models of co-creation, possible uses in organizations and systematic overview of tools measuring/suggesting how to measure co-creation. Findings. While the principles of managing and measuring co-creation in regards of consumer motivation and involvement are widely researched, little attempt has been made to identify critical factors and create models dealing with organizational capabilities and managerial implications of value co-creation. Systematic analysis of literature revealed a gap not only in empirical research concerning organization's role in co-creation process, but in theoretical and conceptual levels, too. Research limitations/implications. The limitations of this work as a literature review lies in its nature – the complete reliance on previously published research papers and the availability of these studies. For a deeper understanding of co-creation management and for developing models that can be used in real-life organizations, a broader theoretical, as well as empirical, research is necessary. Practical implications. Analysis of the literature revealed limited existence of conceptual and, even more importantly, empirically tested models for managing co-creation. With importance of rising customers input, it is crucial to find ways of managing co-creation. This article can be considered as an initial phase into building conceptual model for measuring co-creation Originality/Value. Even though co-creation of value with customers is a widely discussed topic in scientific world, little attempt has been made to find means for organizations to influence and manage customer's involvement. This work aims at reviewing existing models in order to present empirically tested model based on past research. Research type: literature review.


Spectral vegetation indices have been the primary resources for characterizing grassland vegetation based on remotely sensed data. However, the use of spectral indices for vegetation characterization in grasslands has been challenged by the confounding effects from external factors, such as soil properties, dead materials, and shadowing of vegetation canopies. Dead materials refer to the dead component of vegetation, including fallen litter and standing dead grasses accumulated from previous years. The abundant dead materials have been presenting challenges to accurately estimate green vegetation using spectral vegetation indices (VIs) derived from remote sensing data in mixed grasslands. Therefore, a close investigation of the relationship between VIs and dead materials is needed. The identified relationships could provide better insight into not only using remote sensing data for quantitative estimation of dead materials, but also the improvement of green vegetation estimation in the mixed grassland that has a high proportion of dead materials. In this article, the spectral reflectance of dead materials and green vegetation mixtures and dead material cover were measured in mixed grasslands located in Grassland National Park (GNP), Saskatchewan, Canada. Nine VIs were derived from the measured spectral reflectance. The relationship between dead material cover and VIs was quantified using the regression model and sensitivity analysis. Results indicated that the relationship between dead material cover and VIs is a function of the amount of dead material cover. Weak positive relationship was found between VIs and dead materials where the cover was less than 50%, and a significant high negative relationship was evident when cover was greater than 50%. When the combined exponential and linear model was applied to fit the negative relationships, more than 90% variation in dead material cover could be explained by VIs. Sensitivity analysis was further applied to the developed models, indicating that sensitivities of all VIs were significant over the entire range of dead material cover except for the triangular vegetation index (TVI), which has insignificant sensitivity when dead material cover was greater than 94%. Among all VIs, the weighted difference vegetation index (WDVI) had the highest sensitivity to changes in dead material cover higher than 50%. The results from this study indicated that vegetation indices based on combination of reflectance in red and NIR bands can be used to estimate dead material cover that is greater than 50%.