This thesis examines the role of voluntary established neighbourhood groups
in the dissemination of environmental educational material. It used a
participatory case study approach to involve eight neighbourhood groups in
an education program disseminating information about wood-smoke
pollution and how smoke could be minimised through correct woodheater
operation. A primary goal of the program was to determine whether or not an
environmental issue such as wood-smoke pollution could be linked in and
'piggybacked' on established groups which have other principal interests.
An information kit about the problems associated with wood-smoke and clear
steps that can be taken to reduce wood-smoke was prepared and given to
eight neighbourhood groups in Hobart and Launceston, Tasmania. The
information kit comprised of overheads for a seminar, an information
booklet, and a pamphlet. The groups were asked to disseminate the
information in any way they thought fit. The researcher acted as a facilitator
and was available to participate in education efforts and provided support to
the groups.
The neighbourhood groups were surveyed to see what initiatives they took to
distribute and promote the wood-smoke educational material. Observations
were also made about the group processes within neighbourhood groups
involved in the case study. The outcomes of the case study indicated that a
considerable multiplier effect can occur by using established neighbourhood
groups and their existing communication networks and interpersonal
channels. The education activities carried out by the neighbourhood groups
included public seminars on the topic of wood-smoke pollution, a door
knocking campaign with wood-smoke pamphlets from the information kit,
and education information was published in numerous newsletters. Overall
the findings from the thesis indicate that established neighbourhood groups
are willing to take environmental issues 'on-board' that are outside their
principal interest. Observations of the groups that became more fully involved in the education
program were encouraging, and a range of group characteristics were
identified which would be useful to target suitable neighbourhood groups for
future studies. Assessment of the information kit showed that the pamphlet
and seminar materials were of high quality. A telephone survey conducted as
part of the assessment of the case study activities revealed that council
newsletters may have limited success as a means of disseminating
information.
This thesis has revealed that there are neighbourhood groups in the wider
community that have established infrastructure, communication networks
and channels that can benefit the distribution of environmental information.
Supplying information to these groups on urban environmental issues such as
the wood-smoke issue may provide a double benefit. Environmental
education could be spread in an interpersonal manner and public interest and
support for neighbourhood groups may increase.


Over 110 species of mammals roamed the forests, mountains, and deserts of this ancient "Land of Canaan" Jordan, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine. Their impact on humans can be seen in cave drawings made by the Neanderthal inhabitants of northern Palestine some 200,000 years ago and gleaned from the writings of all Near Eastern civilizations.In recent centuries, encroachment by an increasing human population has resulted in the extinction of several species aurochs (wild ox), red deer, onagers, Syrian wild asses roebucks (roe deer), fallow deer, Syrian brown bears, and cheetahs. Currently at risk are such large mammals as the leopard, wolf, wild cat, caracal, ibex, and dessert gazelles as well as may small mammals especially small carnivores, insectivores, and bats.Mammals of the Holy Land, summarizes the information that is known about the mammals that inhabit this historic land. with keys to identification, a glossary of terms, a basic introduction to the study of mammals, and a discussion of the impact these mammals have had on humans, a well as taxonomic and natural history information for each species, this book will be useful to both the professional and non-professional."


In this paper, we propose the first heuristic approach for the vertex separator problem (VSP), based on Breakout Local Search (BLS). BLS is a recent meta-heuristic that follows the general framework of the popular Iterated Local Search (ILS) with a particular focus on the perturbation strategy. Based on some relevant information on search history, it tries to introduce the most suitable degree of diversification by determining adaptively the number and type of moves for the next perturbation phase. The proposed heuristic is highly competitive with the exact state-of-art approaches from the literature on the current VSP benchmark. Moreover, we present for the first time computational results for a set of large graphs with up to 3000 vertices, which constitutes a new challenging benchmark for VSP approaches.


Catalysts consisting of metal atoms that are atomically dispersed on supports are gaining wide attention because of the rapidly developing understanding of their structures and functions and the discovery of new, stable catalysts with new properties. Our goals in this essay are to summarize the classes of these catalysts, to state key questions about them, to point out crucial methods for their characterization, and to suggest directions for future research. Most of the catalysts in this class incorporate supports that are inorganic materials such as metal oxides and zeolites, and the list of supports has recently been expanded to include small assemblies of metal atoms within molecular metal clusters, as well as the surfaces of bulk metals, including single crystals and supported nanoparticles. Scanning transmission electron microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy have recently provided numerous images of isolated metal atoms on support surfaces, and complementary spectroscopic results have provided evidence of the metal oxidation states (usually positive, unless the support is a metal), metal–support bonding, and the ligands present on the metal. Catalysts in this class have been found to have activity for numerous reactions, including hydrogenations, oxidations, and the water gas shift. Some offer exciting new catalyst selectivities associated with the isolation of the metal centers within controllable environments. Some atomically dispersed supported metal catalysts, exemplified by those supported on zeolites, have nearly uniform arrays of metal sites that are considered to be nearly ideal catalytic sites, and these are excellently suited to investigation by theory, such as density functional theory, to fill in gaps left by experiment, to predict new properties, and to help guide future research.


Somatic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 (IDH1 and IDH2) are observed in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Leukemia-associated IDH1/2 mutations result in aberrant accumulation of the oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG). The observation that IDH1/2 mutations are mutually exclusive with TET2 mutations led to the finding that IDH1/2-mutant production of 2-HG inhibits TET2 function and induces changes in DNA methylation. These data suggested that small molecule inhibition of mutant IDH enzymes might reverse the aberrant epigenetic remodeling of IDH-mutant leukemia cells and restore normal hematopoietic differentiation.

We therefore investigated the in vivo efficacy of AG-221, a potent and selective mutant IDH2 inhibitor in early-phase clinical trials, in murine models of IDH2-mutant leukemia. We first assessed the impact of AG-221 on 2-HG production in hematopoietic cells expressing mutant IDH2-R140Q. AG-221 treatment (10mg/kg or 100mg/kg bid) led to a reduction in 2-HG in vivo (96.7% below pre-treatment levels). Moreover, AG-221 treatment restored megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitor (MEP) differentiation that is suppressed by mutant IDH2 expression in vivo (mean MEP% mean, 39% Veh vs 50% AG-221).

We next investigated the impact of mutant IDH2 inhibition with AG-221 on DNA methylation in vivo. We used eRRBS, a bisulfite-based next-generation sequencing platform, to assess the effect of AG-221 therapy on DNA methylation. AG-221 or vehicle therapy treated LSK stem cells (lin- Sca+ c-Kit+) were sorted from mice expressing IDH2-R140Q and evaluated by eRRBS. AG-221 therapy reversed the effects of mutant IDH2; we observed a significant reduction in DNA methylation, including 180 genes that had 20 or more hypomethylated differentially methylated cytosines (DMCs) following treatment. 84 of these genes had reduced methylation at 10 or more DMCs in the gene promoter with AG-221 therapy compared to vehicle. Mutant IDH2 inhibition with AG-221 reversed aberrant methylation at many genes with a known role in hematopoietic proliferation and differentiation, including the master transcriptional factor RUNX1.

We next assessed in vivo effects of the small-molecule IDH2-R140Q inhibitor in a mouse model of IDH2-mutant leukemia. We generated mice that simultaneously expressed a constitutive Flt3ITD knock-in allele and a conditional mutant IDH2R140Q knock-in allele. As reported recently using retroviral/transgenic models, Mx1-Cre IDH2R140QFlt3ITD developed fully penetrant, transplantable AML with expansion of c-Kit+ positive blasts in the peripheral blood, and widespread leukemic infiltration. AG-221 inhibited the serial replating capacity of IDH2R140QFlt3ITD expressing cells in vitro. We competitively transplanted IDH2R140QFlt3ITD AML cells and normal bone marrow cells into secondary recipients, and then assessed the effect of AG-221 therapy on leukemia in vivo and on disease burden. AG-221 (100mg/kg bid) treatment of mice engrafted with Mx1-Cre IDH2R140QFlt3ITD AML cells markedly reduced 2HG levels consistent with on target inhibition in vivo. AG-221 therapy induced differentiation of leukemic cells, with an increase in the CD11b+ population and a decrease in the c-Kit+ population in the peripheral blood at 2wks. We next assessed the impact of treatment with both AG-221 therapy with AC220, a potent, specific Flt3 inhibitor in late phase clinical trials. Combined IDH2R140Q and Flt3ITD inhibition resulted in a marked decrease in leukemic burden to vehicle-treated mice, with a significant reduction in leukemic cell chimerism in vivo in the setting of combined inhibition at 2 wks, (mean 45.2 fraction 88% veh, 73% AG-221, p<.01).

These data demonstrate that AG-221 inhibits mutant IDH2-mediated 2-HG production in vivo and reverses the effects of mutant IDH2 on DNA methylation in mutant stem/progenitor cells. AG-221 induces differentiation and impairs self-renewal of IDH2-mutant leukemia cells, effects that are further enhanced by simultaneous inhibition of Flt3ITD. Clinical trials combining IDH2 inhibitors with other targeted AML therapies are warranted in order to increase therapeutic efficacy.

Disclosures Intlekofer: Foundation Medicine, Inc: Consultancy. Thompson: Agios: Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Travins: Agios Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Stockholder Other. Straley: Agios: Employment, Equity Ownership. Gliser: Agios Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Stockholder Other. Yen: Agios: Employment, Equity Ownership. Levine: Agios: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.


China's anthropogenic methane emissions are the largest of any country in the world. A recent study using atmospheric observations suggested that recent policies aimed at reducing emissions of methane due to coal production in China after 2010 had been largely ineffective. Here, based on a longer observational record and an updated modelling approach, we find a statistically significant positive linear trend (0.36 ± 0.04 ( ±1σ ) Tg CH4 yr−2) in China's methane emissions for 2010–2017. This trend was slowing down at a statistically significant rate of -0.1 ± 0.04 Tg CH4 yr−3. We find that this decrease in growth rate can in part be attributed to a decline in China's coal production. However, coal mine methane emissions have not declined as rapidly as production, implying that there may be substantial fugitive emissions from abandoned coal mines that have previously been overlooked. We also find that emissions over rice-growing and aquaculture-farming regions show a positive trend (0.13 ± 0.05 Tg CH4 yr−2 for 2010–2017) despite reports of shrinking rice paddy areas, implying potentially significant emissions from new aquaculture activities, which are thought to be primarily located on converted rice paddies.


Lynn Stephen's innovative ethnography follows indigenous Mexicans from two towns in the state of Oaxaca--the Mixtec community of San AgustIn Atenango and the Zapotec community of TeotitlAn del Valle--who periodically leave their homes in Mexico for extended periods of work in California and Oregon. Demonstrating that the line separating Mexico and the United States is only one among the many borders that these migrants repeatedly cross (including national, regional, cultural, ethnic, and class borders and divisions), Stephen advocates an ethnographic framework focused on transborder, rather than transnational, lives. Yet she does not disregard the state: She assesses the impact migration has had on local systems of government in both Mexico and the United States as well as the abilities of states to police and affect transborder communities.Stephen weaves the personal histories and narratives of indigenous transborder migrants together with explorations of the larger structures that affect their lives. Taking into account U.S. immigration policies and the demands of both commercial agriculture and the service sectors, she chronicles how migrants experience and remember low-wage work in agriculture, landscaping, and childcare and how gender relations in Oaxaca and the United States are reconfigured by migration. She looks at the ways that racial and ethnic hierarchies inherited from the colonial era--hierarchies that debase Mexico's indigenous groups--are reproduced within heterogeneous Mexican populations in the United States. Stephen provides case studies of four grass-roots organizations in which Mixtec migrants are involved, and she considers specific uses of digital technology by transborder communities. Ultimately Stephen demonstrates that transborder migrants are reshaping notions of territory and politics by developing creative models of governance, education, and economic development as well as ways of maintaining their cultures and languages across geographic distances.


Abstract We have been developing a 1-D PIC simulation code for the spherical IECF, which includes atomic processes between energetic particles and background gases. In this paper, the electrode spacing effects on the neutron production rate (NPR) are investigated using this code by changing the cathode radius while keeping anode radius constant (17cm). Applied voltage (-90 kV) and ion injection current (50mA) are fixed with a deuterium pressure of 0.13 Pa, where the IECF discharge is not self-sustaining discharge and is in the ion injection mode. It is found that (1) the discharge voltage is not affected by the electrode spacing, (2) the neutron production rate increases with the increase of the cathode radius, and (3) the maximum obtained NPR with cathode radius of 10cm is about twice of that with the 3cm cathode.


Millennials or also known as the Generation Y learners have subjugated universities and colleges at the present time. They have distinct expectations and perceptions toward their contemporary classrooms. This cohort highlighted the different needs for their learning, where traditional classrooms were seen to have only provided well for the Generation X individuals. Generation Y students were seen to be more engaged in modern classrooms that facilitate their needs as Millennials. Forty six of the researcher's students from Faculty of Architectural and Town Planning were chosen as the sample of study. The students belonged from two different classrooms namely language laboratory and traditional classroom. The objective of this research was to find out whether diverse classroom environments influenced students' performance in English subject, whereby it intended to reveal whether modern classroom students performed better than the traditional classroom students or vice versa. IBM SPSS Statistics 20 software was used to measure the effects based in achieved scores (results) between classroom environment and students' learning outcomes using descriptive and inferential statistics. The software was used to calculate the significance level, means, B-values and standard deviations using various methods like T-Test. Descriptive Statistics and Regression to determine the accuracy of the data, and finally make conclusions based on the result. The results of the study showed that the different classroom environments had impacted the students' performances in all four components of the English skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). The results showed that the significance level of all scores between language laboratory and traditional classroom were all close to 1, where Sig. = .000 (listening), Sig.= .000 (speaking), Sig. = .000 (reading) and Sig. = .020 (writing). The significance results that were based on standard deviations between the two classroom environments showed that the language laboratory students scored better in all assessments compared to the traditional classroom students.


Support for dealing with ethical issues in clinical practice should be an integral part of patient care

Clinical practice raises a wide variety of ethical issues that can be difficult for individual doctors to resolve. Some NHS trusts have established clinical ethics committees to provide ethical support. These committees had largely worked alone until a meeting of committee representatives in January 2001 led to the development of the UK Clinical Ethics Network. The principal aims of the network are to promote the development of clinical ethics support in the United Kingdom, to encourage a high level of ethical debate in clinical practice, and to facilitate sharing of best practice between clinical ethics committees (box 1).1 We consider the emergence of clinical ethics support in the context of similar development in other countries.

Clinical ethics support can be described as the provision of support and advice to health professionals and patients on ethical issues arising from clinical practice or patient care. The support can take different forms, but in the United Kingdom the most common model is a committee or group sitting within an NHS trust, usually an acute trust. These committees are multidisciplinary and include lay members. Issues are referred to the committee by clinicians and managers, and some committees are now being approached by local general practitioners. Few committees include patients or their families directly in committee discussions.

The number of trusts with clinical ethics committees is increasing. In 2001 the Nuffield Trust published a survey of all NHS trusts that identified 20 …


Party leaders are the main actors controlling campaign strategies, policy agendas, and government formation in advanced parliamentary democracies. Little is known, however, about gender and party leadership. This article examines gendered leadership patterns across 71 political parties in 11 parliamentary democracies between 1965 and 2013. It shows that men and women have different access to, and experiences in, party leadership and that these gendered political opportunity structures are shaped by parties' political performances. Women are more likely to initially come to power in minor opposition parties and those that are losing seat share. Once selected for the position, female leaders are more likely to retain office when their parties gain seats, but they are also more likely to leave the post when faced with an unfavorable trajectory. Together, these results demonstrate that prospective female leaders are playing by a different (and often more demanding) set of rules than their male counterparts.


With a sample of 176 employees from organizations in Hong Kong, transformational leadership (TL) (a Western concept), and paternalistic leadership (PL) (a traditional Chinese notion) were compared regarding their construct, predictive, and ecological validities. For construct validity, TL had a high convergent validity and a low discriminant validity; whereas PL exhibited no convergent validity and a suspect discriminant validity due to inconsistent relationships among PL's three dimensions (i.e., morality, authority, and benevolence). PL was then examined via its individual dimensions. For predictive validity, TL consistently predicted all measured managerial outcomes (e.g., work unit innovativeness, performance, cohesion, individual job satisfaction, and commitment), whereas PL's separately examined dimensions inconsistently predicted only a small percentage of the outcomes. For ecological validity (i.e., the degree to which a leadership actually exists), TL was widely exhibited in organizations while PL was not. TL appears superior, pragmatically sound, and capable of a universal appeal. PL's inconsistent conceptualization renders itself a nonfunctional concept with limited utility as a leadership construct. Scholars may need to reconsider whether PL, earmarked as the traditional Chinese leadership, actually still exists in modern Chinese organizations.


The In surface segregation during the growth of InxGa1-xAs on GaAs(001) has been investigated through a Monte Carlo simulation taking into account the difference between the binding energies of InAs and GaAs and the effect of the epitaxial strain. Photoluminescence energies of quantum-well structures calculated from simulated composition profiles obtained at different temperatures are found to be in good agreement with the experimental ones. It is shown that Monte Carlo simulation is a very powerful way to predict the variation of the In composition profile as a function of growth parameters. It can, moreover, be easily extended to different materials, strain conditions, and surface morphologies.


Climate change, population growth and rapid urbanisation have severe implications for cities and the way in which they interact with water. As a response to these challenges the water sensitive cities concept emerged, which supports cities to become more resilient to these challenges while making them more prosperous, sustainable and liveable. A water sensitive city harnesses the whole water cycle through integrated water management solutions, designs beautiful blue and green urban spaces and comprises healthy communities who are strongly connected with each other and with their local environment. Indonesian cities have an opportunity to 'leapfrog' towards a water sensitive city and to bypass the negative consequences that have resulted from urbanisation and growth that developed countries have gone through. Contributing to this growing field of research, this paper synthesizes key insights from the transformative change, sustainable urban water management and leapfrogging literature. The paper defines what leapfrogging to a water sensitive city means and describes three catalysts that facilitate this transition: trans-disciplinary science, cross sectoral collaboration and innovation experiments. The paper also introduces a joint Australian-Indonesian research program that develops water sensitive city leapfrogging strategies by translating these catalysts into practice.


In giant molecular clouds (GMCs), shocks driven by converging turbulent flows create high-density, strongly magnetized regions that are locally sheetlike. In previous work, we showed that within these layers, dense filaments and embedded self-gravitating cores form by gathering material along the magnetic field lines. Here, we extend the parameter space of our three-dimensional, turbulent MHD core formation simulations. We confirm the anisotropic core formation model we previously proposed and quantify the dependence of median core properties on the pre-shock inflow velocity and upstream magnetic field strength. Our results suggest that bound core properties are set by the total dynamic pressure (dominated by large-scale turbulence) and thermal sound speed cs in GMCs, independent of magnetic field strength. For models with a Mach number between 5 and 20, the median core masses and radii are comparable to the critical Bonnor–Ebert mass and radius defined using the dynamic pressure for Pext. Our results correspond to M core = 1.2 c s 4 ( G 3 &rgr; 0 v 0 2 ) − 1 / 2 ?> and R core = 0.34 c s 2 ( G &rgr; 0 v 0 2 ) − 1 / 2 ?> for &rgr; 0 ?> and v0, the large-scale mean density and velocity. For our parameter range, the median M core ∼ 0.1 − 1 M ⊙ ?> , but a very high pressure cloud could have lower characteristic core mass. We find cores and filaments form simultaneously, and filament column densities are a factor of ∼2 greater than the surrounding cloud when cores first collapse. We also show that cores identified in our simulations have physical properties comparable to those observed in the Perseus cloud. Superthermal cores in our models are generally also magnetically supercritical, suggesting that the same may be true in observed clouds.


The study explores challenges associated with, and the feasibility of, financial assurance requirements for liabilities arising under U.S. environmental statutes, with a particular emphasis on liabilities associated with natural resource damages (NRDs). The overlap between federal NRD liability and financial assurance arises in the context of two financial assurance rules: one for waterborne vessels that carry oil or hazardous substances, and one for offshore facilities used for oil exploration, drilling, production, or transport. The report addresses the rules' history, their role as a complement to other forms of environmental regulation, and their impact on the regulated community and providers of coverage. Despite numerous difficulties and over objections from the regulated community, the rules have been implemented with success and without significant shortfalls in coverage availability.


Thirty two rice lines of BC1F1 population (Binadhan-7/FL 378) were used to identify introgressed rice lines for salt tolerance using SSR markers at the Plant Breeding and Biotechnology Divisions of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Mymensingh. Seeds of BC1F1 population of Binadhan-7/FL-378 were collected from backcross population of F1 (Binadhan-7/FL 378). Salt tolerant genotype, FL-378 was crossed with high yielding variety, Binadhan-7. Randomly selected 32 BC1F1 progenies along with their two parents (Binadhan-7, FL-378) were genotyped with microsatellite or SSR markers for identification of introgressed rice lines. Parental polymorphism survey was assayed by 8 SSR markers and three polymorphic SSR markers viz., RM296, RM585 and OSR30 were selected to evaluate BC1F1 rice lines for salt tolerance. Primer RM585 indicated 16 lines as introgressed and 16 lines as susceptible in comparison with salt tolerant parent FL-378 and salt susceptible parent Binadhan-7. Primer RM296 identified 13 introgressed, and 19 susceptible lines. Nine introgressed and 23 susceptible lines were identified when BC1F1 lines were evaluated with marker OSR30. Line BC1F1-30, BC1F1-40, BC1F1-2, BC1F1-16 and BC1F1-34 were identified as introgressed in comparison with parent FL-378 (salt tolerant) when RM585 and RM296 markers were used but line BC1F1-1 and BC1F1-3 were identified as introgressed incase of 3 primers (RM585, RM296 and OSR30). Again the lines BC1F1-5, BC1F1-24, BC1F1-26, BC1F1-27, BC1F1-29, BC1F1-31, BC1F1-37 and BC1F1-38 were found susceptible as compared with parent Binadhan-7 when marker RM585, RM296 and OSR30 were used. The polymorphism information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.3290 to 0.3671 with an average of 0.3544. The overall gene diversity of SSR loci for the 32 BC1F1 rice lines along with two parents was 0.4614, ranging from 0.4152 to 0.4844. Positive correlations were found between the genetic diversity and the maximum number of repeats. Among the lines, all the loci were polymorphic and clearly distinct and the cluster analysis (NJ tree and UPGMA) showed nearly similar pattern of variation which could be used for improvement of salt tolerant rice lines of rice through SSR markers.


This study examines Grande sertão: veredas as a novel that thematizes its own fictionality and develops a self-reflexive narrative about the value of fiction for understanding life. I argue that the shorter narratives inserted in the larger narrative exemplify and engage in metafictional play while working both to reveal reality as a façade and the fictional as a revelation. In more specific terms, I analyze the episodes involving Fancho Bode and Fulorêncio, as well as those centered around Davidão and Faustino, as metafictional commentaries. In addition, I consider the case of Dr. Hilário as a meditation on the potential of fictionality. Riobaldo can therefore be read as the character who pursues a chivalric story with rewards and an "overall outcome," but who finds instead a different situation, one of loss and disenchantment. These are characteristics of the modern novel in the Cervantine tradition, and thus Riobaldo could be seen as a kind of Quixote or Mephistopheles of the sertão, carrying out a search for the fictitious and entering into a pact with the demiurgic forces of creation. Flawed in life, he is nonetheless successful in the role of a great novel's incessantly talkative narrator.


Abstract. Liquid and solid precipitation is abundant in the high elevation, upper reach of the Heihe River basin in northwestern China. The development of modern irrigation schemes in the middle reach of the basin is taking up an increasing share of fresh water resources, endangering the oasis and traditional irrigation systems in the lower reach. In this study, the response of vegetation in the Ejina Oasis in the lower reach of the Heihe River to the water yield of the upper catchment was analyzed by time series analysis of monthly observations of precipitation in the upper and lower catchment, river streamflow downstream of the modern irrigation schemes and satellite observations of vegetation index. Firstly, remotely sensed NDVI data acquired by Terra-MODIS are used to monitor the vegetation dynamic for a seven years period between 2000 and 2006. Due to cloud-contamination, atmospheric influence and different solar and viewing angles, however, the quality and consistence of time series of remotely sensed NDVI data are degraded. A Fourier Transform method – the Harmonic Analysis of Time Series (HANTS) algorithm – is used to reconstruct cloud- and noise-free NDVI time series data from the Terra-MODIS NDVI dataset. Modification is made on HANTS by adding additional parameters to deal with large data gaps in yearly time series in combination with a Temporal-Similarity-Statistics (TSS) method developed in this study to seek for initial values for the large gap periods. Secondly, the same Fourier Transform method is used to model time series of the vegetation phenology. The reconstructed cloud-free NDVI time series data are used to study the relationship between the water availability (i.e. the local precipitation and upstream water yield) and the evolution of vegetation conditions in Ejina Oasis from 2000 to 2006. Anomalies in precipitation, streamflow, and vegetation index are detected by comparing each year with the average year. The results showed that: the previous year total runoff had a significant relationship with the vegetation growth in Ejina Oasis and that anomalies in the spring monthly runoff of the Heihe River influenced the phenology of vegetation in the entire oasis. Warmer climate expressed by the degree-days showed positive influence on the vegetation phenology in particular during drier years. The time of maximum green-up is uniform throughout the oasis during wetter years, but showed a clear S-N gradient (downstream) during drier years.


For the past 15 years, tens of thousands of refugees have sought asylum in the industrialized capitalist countries of North America and Europe. In 1990 Germany opened its borders to 19,000 refugees, while 40,000 went to France (Haut conseil a l'integration |HCI~, 1991) and 30,000 to Canada (Ministere des communautes culturelles et de l'immigration du Quebec, 1990). In these countries, legal immigrants are welcome, but refugees generally are not. A large proportion of refugees are never able to obtain legal refugee status. In the context of current social and political difficulties, a large majority of refugees display traits that may make them targets of constant discrimination. Many natives of countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia are discriminated against because of physical features such as skin color, eye shape, and hair type, as well as language, customs, beliefs, political convictions, and working-class origin. Refugees avail themselves of both public and private social services. The demand for services has increased greatly in recent years, and social workers with training in refugee issues are sorely needed. Only a few agencies offer special programs to assist refugees, such as the Toronto Centre for Victims of Torture and the Douglas Hospital in Montreal, which offer programs to help victims of torture and adolescent refugees who have come into Canada alone. In general, social services organizations have developed a systematic approach to working in a multiethnic milieu; however, little thought has been given to specific practice to help refugees. It is essential to analyze in greater depth the characteristics and dynamics involved in the social integration of refugees and to better train social workers and develop programs geared to the needs of refugees, who often find themselves greatly disadvantaged in society. This point of view has led the author to conduct research with a variety of groups, including Salvadoran, Iranian, Ethiopian, Somali, and Lebanese refugees. This article is a summary of a study I conducted with Salvadoran refugees in Canada. My aim was to discover how refugees integrate into the social environment of the host country, as considered from cultural, economic, and political points of view, and ensure their economic, social, emotional, and cultural well-being. Methodology Study and Sample This qualitative study, carried out with 22 Salvadoran refugees (11 men and 11 women) who arrived in Canada between 1984 and 1989 and who came from rural backgrounds, combined an analysis of the literature and an analysis of their life stories. Little literature exists that pertains to the lives of Salvadoran refugees (Jacob & Bertot, 1991; Neuwirth, 1989; Sehl & Naidoo, 1985; Thomson, 1986); therefore, the study is principally based on the information provided by the refugees themselves in response to themes suggested by the author relating to their childhood, adolescence, and adult life; family life; education; work experiences; political experiences; the migration process; the social integration process; and future plans. Questions were asked in Spanish to allow the individual to relate his or her personal story in depth using his or her native language. Study group members had an average age of 23 years and less than 11 years of education. All held casual, low-income jobs (averaging Can$11,000 per year) including driving taxis; working in restaurants, hotels, or as domestics; or working in small- and medium-sized factories, specifically in the textile industry. Seven refugees had resided in the United States for at least a year before coming to Canada. Six had been in Mexico for at least six months, and the others had come to Canada directly from El Salvador. Thirteen participants were refugee claimants, and five had already obtained refugee status. None were living in Canada illegally, because according to Canadian immigration law individuals are allowed to apply for refugee status on arrival. …


Background The great interest in cell-free mRNA, microRNA (miRNA) as molecular biomarkers for clinical applications, and as 'signaling' molecules for intercellular communication highlights the need to reveal their physical nature. Here this issue was explored in human cell-free seminal mRNA (cfs-mRNA) and miRNA (cfs-miRNA). Methodology/Principal Findings Selected male reproductive organ-specific mRNAs, miRNAs, and piRNAs were quantified by quantitative real-time PCR in all experiments. While the stability of cfs-miRNA assessed by time-course analysis (up to 24 h at room temperature) was similar with cfs-mRNA, the reductive changes between cfs-miRNA and cfs-mRNA after filtration and Triton X-100 treatment on seminal plasma were very different, implying their different physical nature. Seminal microvesicles (SMVs) were then recovered and proportions of cfs-mRNA and cfs-miRNA within SMVs were quantified. The amounts of SMVs- sequestered cfs-mRNAs almost were the same as total cfs-mRNA, and were highly variable depending on the different sizes of SMVs. But most of cfs-miRNA was independent of SMVs and existed in the supernatant. The possible form of cfs-miRNA in the supernatant was further explored by filtration and protease K digestion. It passed through the 0.10-µm pore, but was degraded dramatically after intense protease K digestion. Conclusions/Significance The predominant cfs-mRNA is contained in SMVs, while most cfs-miRNA is bound with protein complexes. Our data explained the stability of extracellular RNAs in human semen, and shed light on their origins and potential functions in male reproduction, and strategy of developing them as biomarkers of male reproductive system.


Many natural and artificial networks evolve in time. Nodes and connections appear and disappear at various time scales, and their dynamics has profound consequences for any processes in which they are involved. The first empirical analysis of the temporal patterns characterizing dynamic networks are still recent, so that many questions remain open. Here, we study how random walks, as a paradigm of dynamical processes, unfold on temporally evolving networks. To this aim, we use empirical dynamical networks of contacts between individuals, and characterize the fundamental quantities that impact any general process taking place upon them. Furthermore, we introduce different randomizing strategies that allow us to single out the role of the different properties of the empirical networks. We show that the random walk exploration is slower on temporal networks than it is on the aggregate projected network, even when the time is properly rescaled. In particular, we point out that a fundamental role is played by the temporal correlations between consecutive contacts present in the data. Finally, we address the consequences of the intrinsically limited duration of many real world dynamical networks. Considering the fundamental prototypical role of the random walk process, we believe that these results could help to shed light on the behavior of more complex dynamics on temporally evolving networks.


Surface IgM expressed by malignant CD5+ B-cells from patients with B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) has previously been shown to bind mouse Ig in what appears to be an example of polyreactive antigen-binding activity. This report demonstrates the in vitro and in vivo binding of mouse Ig to the surface of malignant B-cells from a patient with B-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (B-PLL). In vitro studies showed that K121, a mouse monoclonal antibody, bound to the B-PLL cells via the same low-affinity binding interaction demonstrated to occur between mouse Ig and surface IgM expressed by B-CLL cells rather than in the conventional sense against a specific antigen via its antigen-binding site. With the view to using this phenomenon to target malignant B-cells, it was important to determine whether the low-affinity interaction also occurred in vivo. Infusions of K121 totalling 286 mg were administered to a B-PLL patient over 7 days. Binding of K121 to circulating B-PLL cells was demonstrable after the administration of 36 mg of antibody and was preceded by the appearance of free antibody in the serum. Throughout the period of the infusion, the rapid rise in the peripheral blood white cell count normally observed after leukopheresis was abrogated. However, the count rose markedly after cessation of the antibody infusion in parallel with a decrease in both free and cell-bound K121. There were no observable side effects and no host immune response to either species specific or idiotypic determinants on the mouse Ig was detected. The in vivo binding of mouse Ig together with the previous in vitro data suggest the potential for a novel targeting mechanism using a region of the mouse Ig molecule to target polyreactive Ig expressed by malignant cells in B-CLL and B-PLL.


Florida family court mediation programs are assessed predominantly with quantitative analyses. A phenomenological approach using metaphorical analysis has unveiled the unique experiences, rich descriptions, and meaning-making of a group of family mediators. Metaphors are considered to be representations of the mental models with which individuals see the world. They typically emerge instinctively and automatically, which make them significant forms of communication analyses. This study is stage two of a two-stage study. Stage two included phenomenological interviews of 22 family mediators and expanded on the earlier stage one study (Storrow and Georgakopoulos, 2013). Stage two revealed that court connected family mediators often described their approaches as being "unique" and private family mediators often expressed negative appraisals in the form of metaphors regarding court staff mediators. Six metaphorical themes emerged in the current study including the following: (1) control, (2) cognition / logic, (3) movement / change, (4) balance, (5) communication, and (6) gender. Together with stage one, this study reflected a contribution to the field of conflict resolution and analysis as it enhanced our understanding of court connected family mediators and allowed us to discover what perceptions were held by private family mediators. Implications of this study were provided.


Foams are cellular structures, produced by gas bubbles formed during the polyurethane polymerization mixture. Flexible PU foams meet the following two criteria: have a limited resistance to an applied load, being both permeable to air and reversibly deformable. There are two main types of flexible foams, hot and cold cure foams differing in composition and processing temperatures. The hot cure foams are widely applied and represent the main composition of actual foams, while cold cure foams present several processing and property advantages, e.g, faster demoulding time, better humid aging properties and more versatility, as hardness variation with index changes are greater than with hot cure foams. The processing of cold cure foams also is attractive due to the low energy consumption (mould temperature from 30 degrees to 65 degrees C) comparatively to hot cure foams (mould temperature from 30 degrees to 250 degrees C). Another advantage is the high variety of soft materials for low temperature processing moulds. Cold cure foams are diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) based while hot cure foams are toluene diisocyanate (TDI) based. This study is concerned with Viscoelastic flexible foams MDI based for medical applications. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was used to characterize the cure kinetics and Dynamical Mechanical Analisys to collect mechanical data. The data obtained from these two experimental procedures were analyzed and associated to establish processing/properties/operation conditions relationships. These maps for the selection of optimized processing/properties/operation conditions are important to achieve better final part properties at lower costs and lead times.


Collective decisions are everywhere: choosing central or local governments, selecting a candidate to hire for an open position, choosing a restaurant to share a dinner with some friends are examples of collective decision making situations. Social Choice provides a lot of methods which can help people making a decision in such situations. However, the diversity of these voting procedures and the mathematical background necessary to understand them can be seen as obstacles to the use of these meth-ods in everyday situations by laypersons. We claim that information visualization techniques can help a lot the democratization of social choice, by providing people with some easily interpretable information and, in the end, helping them making informed collective decisions. In this paper, we present the Edge-Compressed Majority Graph, a technique dedicated to the visualization of the majority graph of a preference profile. Using an insight-based evaluation method, we show that this technique gives better results in conveying information about the preferences than other classical visualization techniques.


Catalytic transformation routes for the valorization of biomass-derived 6-amyl-α-pyrone (6PP) were explored for the first time. Ring-opening and decarboxylation of 6PP in water yielded non-2-en-4-one with 95% conversion and nearly 60% selectivity at 498 K, without the requirement of an acid catalyst. The decarboxylated product was further hydrogenated to yield 4-nonanone over a Pd/C catalyst. In order to produce longer chain hydrocarbons of diesel and jet fuel range, C–C coupling via aldol condensation of nonanone with furfural and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) was experimented over a mixed oxide (CaO–MgO) catalyst measuring up to 40% and 60% yield of the branched aldol products at 443 K and 393 K respectively.


Background The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted weaknesses in the National Health Service critical care provision including both capacity and infrastructure. Traditionally, healthcare workspaces have failed to fully incorporate Human-Centred Design principles resulting in environments that negatively affect the efficacy of task completion, patient safety and staff wellbeing. In the summer of 2020, we received funds for the urgent construction of a Covid-19 secure critical care facility. The aim of this project was to design a pandemic resilient facility centred around both staff and patient requirements and safety, within the available footprint. Methods We developed a simulation exercise, underpinned by Human-Centred Design principles, to evaluate intensive care designs through Build Mapping, Tasks Analysis and Qualitative data. Build Mapping involved taping out sections of the design and mocking up with equipment. Task Analysis and qualitative data were collected following task completion. Results 56 participants completed the build simulation exercise generating 141 design suggestions (69 task related, 56 patient and relative related, 16 staff related). Suggestions translated to 18 multilevel design improvements; five significant structural changes (Macro level) including wall moves and lift size change. Minor improvements were made at a Meso and Micro design level. Critical care design drivers identified included functional drivers (visibility, Covid-19 secure environment, workflow, and task efficiency) and behavioural drivers (learning and development, light, humanising intensive care and design consistency). Conclusion Success of clinical tasks, infection control, patient safety and staff/patient wellbeing are highly dependent on clinical environments. Primarily, we have improved clinical design by focusing on user requirements. Secondly, we developed a replicable approach to exploring healthcare build plans revealing significant design changes, that may have only been identified once built.


This thesis investigates restored and naturally developed multiple-channel sections in German mountainous areas. Without human interference most streams in these areas would show this hydromorphological pattern. Unfortunately only short multiple-channels sections can be found or have been built in restoration projects. The quantity of hydromorphological differences compared to anthropogenically straightened single-channel sections and effects on macroinvertebrate communities are largely unknown. In a paired site study seven multiple- and seven single-channel sections were investigated and compared. The hypothesis was tested that multiple-channel sections have a larger area and higher habitat diversity, which also influences the biota.
A standardised transect-point-protocol was applied in the summer of 2004 and 2005. Width of channel features (main and secondary channels, sidearms, standing water bodies, bars, banks, floodplains and embankments) and their habitat characteristics (aquatic, terrestrial or transient) were recorded along 20 equidistant transects across the bankfull width. Along these transects, aquatic habitats (substrate type, depth, current velocity) were recorded at 400 points per stream section. Section-wise analyses of both years built the elaborate basis against which macroinvertebrate data were tested. Altogether 199 substrate-specific macroinvertebrate samples were taken and processed separately. Finally, the relationships between hydromorphological characteristics and each section's community were evaluated.
Twelve hydromorphological metrics were calculated from the transect and point data. Metrics at three scales differentiated well between single- and multiple-channel sections: the macro-scale metrics mean channel width and shore length increased by factors of 2.1 and 2.4, respectively; the meso-scale metric mean number of channel features increased from two to ten per section; several micro-scale metrics, such as current velocity and depth variance, were significantly different between single-channel sections and most multiple-channel sections. Furthermore, substrate composition was more diverse in the multiple-channel sections. Correlation analyses of hydromorphological parameters suggest that metrics of different scales should be combined in order to evaluate hydromorphological diversity.
The sites were revisited in 2005 and transect-point recordings were repeated to quantify annual changes within the sections. The amount of changes between two years differed between single- and multiple-channel sections. Water depths, aquatic widths and cross-section, riparian areas, and the waterside margins of the embankments have been modified by the streams in the course of the year. Multiple-channel sections showed more annual changes than the single-channel sections. Within the multiple-channel sections, natural and restored sites showed different extents of change with the latter showing higher and more varied changes in the multiple-channel sections.
199 substrate-specific macroinvertebrate samples were analysed for alpha- and beta-diversity and nestedness patterns. Taxa number, abundance, and evenness of communities found on multiple-channel substrates did not significantly differ from their single-channel section counterparts. Nestedness was neither different from a section's perspective, i.e. single- and multiple-channel sections were equally nested, nor from a substrate's perspective, i.e. substrates from either section were equally nested. The findings imply that substrates at single- and multiple-channel sections have similar macroinvertebrate communities, thus alpha-diversity is not changed. Different substrates host different communities, so beta-diversity might be influenced. Hence, stream restoration projects aiming at a re-development of macroinvertebrate diversity should focus on the generation and availability of high quality habitats, such as large wood. These results are further supported by occurrence of ten Coleoptera and seven Trichoptera taxa present exclusively on multiple-channel substrates, with the highest differences found for the fine mineral substrates such as loam or sand and for organic substrates such as living parts of terrestrial plants (LPTP), coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) and large wood.
Macroinvertebrate data from 140 substrate specific samples were then combined to representative communities for each section. Community data were subject to similarity and cluster analyses. 35 metrics were calculated with the taxalists, including taxa number, abundance, feeding type, habitat and current preferences. Biological metrics were correlated to hydromorphological parameters. Micro-scale morphological metrics, such as certain substrates areas and substrate spatial diversity, showed consistent correlations with biological metrics, as did several meso- and macro-scale metrics like aquatic width and shore length. The biological metrics percentage of shredders, number of taxa, percentage of littoral preference and the percentage of current preference (rheo- to limnophil and rheobiont) showed the most consistent correlations with hydromorphological parameters. Bray-Curtis similarity was very high (69−77%) between communities of single- and multiple-channel sections.
The hydromorphological diversity of the multiple-channel sections is improved towards the reference condition. Habitat diversity is increased and a higher sediment dynamic becomes manifest in cross-section changes. However, effects on the macroinvertebrate community of substrates or the overall stream sections are not detectable and at best display a general tendency towards improvement. This lack of diversification of the macroinvertebrate community is attributed to several causes and a mixture of abiotic and biotic constraints likely apply. Reasons for high similarity of macroinvertebrate communities from single- or multiple-channel sections are discussed, including influence of large scale catchment pressures, length of restored sections and lack of potential re-colonisers.


There are two general views about the nature of what matters, i.e. about the metaphysical ground of prudential concern, the ground of the concern we have for our own future welfare. On the one hand, the identity-is-what-matters view tells us that prudential concern is grounded on one's continuing identity over time; I am concerned with my own future welfare because it is my own future welfare. On the other hand, the identity-is-not-what-matters view tells us that prudential concern is not grounded on such continuing identity; rather, it is grounded on some continuityrelation, which only coincides with identity. In this paper, I explore a primary motivation for the latter view—viz., Parfit's fission case—and show that there are interesting ways to resist it.


Reproducing the diverse and agile locomotion skills of animals has been a longstanding challenge in robotics. While manually-designed controllers have been able to emulate many complex behaviors, building such controllers involves a time-consuming and difficult development process, often requiring substantial expertise of the nuances of each skill. Reinforcement learning provides an appealing alternative for automating the manual effort involved in the development of controllers. However, designing learning objectives that elicit the desired behaviors from an agent can also require a great deal of skill-specific expertise. In this work, we present an imitation learning system that enables legged robots to learn agile locomotion skills by imitating real-world animals. We show that by leveraging reference motion data, a single learning-based approach is able to automatically synthesize controllers for a diverse repertoire behaviors for legged robots. By incorporating sample efficient domain adaptation techniques into the training process, our system is able to learn adaptive policies in simulation that can then be quickly adapted for real-world deployment. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our system, we train an 18-DoF quadruped robot to perform a variety of agile behaviors ranging from different locomotion gaits to dynamic hops and turns.


Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has become increasingly relevant for the Brazilian economy the flow of FDI on the country's GDP ratio presented an average of 0.6% in the 1980s and rose to 2.5% within the period of 2001 to 2010, according to data from UNCTAD. However, there is also a great inequity in the distribution of investment between Brazilian states. This paper aims at investigating the determinants of the location of foreign direct investment among Brazilian states through a panel data econometric study for the years 1995, 2000 and 2005. The results show that investments respond positively to the size of the consumer market, the quality of the workforce, the transport infrastructure and negatively to the cost of labor and high taxes.


ABSTRACT This article presents the qualitative findings of a mixed-methods study that explored factors influencing lesbians' breast health-care behavior and intentions. A total of 37 semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted among women who self-identified as lesbians or women who partnered with the same gender who were aged 20 years or above in four areas of Taiwan (North, Central, South, and East Taiwan) between August 2012 and October 2012. Interviews were audio recorded with participants' consent. The interviews were analyzed using constant comparative analysis with Nvivo audio-coding support. Four themes were identified to be strongly associated with the lesbians' breast health-care behavior and their intentions, namely, gender identity, gender role expression, partners' support, and concerns about health-care providers' reactions. Important barriers to the women's breast health-care behavior and intentions were masculine identity ("T-identity" in Taiwan), masculine appearance, concerns about health-care providers' lack of knowledge of multiple gender diversity, and their attitudes toward lesbians. Conversely, their partners' support was a factor facilitating the women's breast health-care behavior and intentions, particularly for the T-identity lesbians. These findings suggest the significance of and need for culturally competent care and are important for improving Taiwanese lesbians' breast health.


Recent scholarship has called for the study of mixed metaphors wherein two or more phrases (i.e., vehicles) are enlisted to describe a single underlying idea (i.e., tenor). In this essay, I delineate the rhetorical predecessors of (in)fertility, a term that constitutes both a metaphor in and of itself and a tenor that has been explained in terms of mixed metaphorical discourses of the past. Through an initial analysis of the evolution of reproductive metaphors in texts spanning the mid-seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries, and then a follow-up analysis of those metaphors as they mixed together in early twentieth-century discourses, I illustrate how the interaction of a mixed metaphor's distinct vehicles is dependent on those metaphors' historical uses. My findings are considered in terms of their implications for positioning individual women—both in the past and more recently—as more or less at-fault for their lack of children.


Glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) is a nutrient-dependent, proglucagon-derived hormone that is a proposed treatment for human short bowel syndrome (SBS). The objective was to determine how the timing, duration, and cessation of GLP-2 administration affect intestinal adaptation and enterocyte kinetics in a rat model of human SBS that results in intestinal failure requiring total parenteral nutrition (TPN). Rats underwent 60% jejunoileal resection plus cecectomy and jugular vein cannulation and were maintained exclusively with TPN for 18 days in these treatments: TPN control (no GLP-2); sustained GLP-2 (1-18 days); early GLP-2 (1-7 days, killed at 7 or 18 days); and delayed GLP-2 (12-18 days). Body weight gain was similar across groups, and plasma bioactive GLP-2 was significantly increased with coinfusion of GLP-2 (100 μg·kg⁻¹·day⁻¹) with TPN. GLP-2-treated rats showed significant increases in duodenum and jejunum mucosal dry mass, protein, DNA, and sucrase activity compared with TPN control. The increased jejunum cellularity reflected significantly decreased apoptosis and increased crypt mitosis and crypt fission due to GLP-2. When GLP-2 infusion stopped at 7 days, these effects were reversed at 18 days. Sustained GLP-2 infusion significantly increased duodenum length and decreased 18-day mortality to 0% from 37.5% deaths in TPN control (P = 0.08). Colon proglucagon expression quantified by real-time RT-qPCR was increased in TPN controls and attenuated by GLP-2 infusion; jejunal expression of the GLP-2 receptor did not differ among groups. In summary, early, sustained GLP-2 infusion reduces mortality, induces crypt fission, and is required for intestinal adaptation, whereas cessation of GLP-2 reverses gains in mucosal cellularity in a rat model of intestinal failure.


We present simultaneous multicolor infrared and optical photometry of the black hole X-ray transient XTE J1118+480 during its short 2005 January outburst, supported by simultaneous X-ray observations. The variability is dominated by short timescales, ~10 s, although a weak superhump also appears to be present in the optical. The optical rapid variations, at least, are well correlated with those in X-rays. Infrared JHKs photometry, as in the previous outburst, exhibits especially large-amplitude variability. The spectral energy distribution (SED) of the variable infrared component can be fitted with a power law of slope α = -0.78 ± 0.07, where Fν ∝ να. There is no compelling evidence for evolution in the slope over five nights, during which time the source brightness decayed along almost the same track as seen in variations within the nights. We conclude that both short-term variability and longer timescale fading are dominated by a single component of constant spectral shape. We cannot fit the SED of the IR variability with a credible thermal component, either optically thick or thin. This IR SED is, however, approximately consistent with optically thin synchrotron emission from a jet. These observations therefore provide indirect evidence to support jet-dominated models for XTE J1118+480 and also provide a direct measurement of the slope of the optically thin emission, which is impossible, based on the average spectral energy distribution alone.


This article argues that the so-called "Agency Theory" provides a coherent justification for limiting the federal income tax deduction to contributions to nonprofit providers of charity and withholding it from contributions to providers of charity whose owners or managers have a right to the profits from the firm. It does so by expanding the "Agency Theory" in a novel way — recognizing that when the government provides tax subsidies to the providers of charity, it ceases to be a neutral regulator of a market transaction, and becomes a participant in that transaction. As such, the government must examine its own agency costs to determine the most efficient structure of the transaction. In the case of the tax deduction for charitable contributions, the government's agency-cost analysis counsels in favor of providing such subsidies only to nonprofit providers of charity.This novel expansion of the Agency Theory has implications not only for whether the law should be changed to permit true for-profit firms to receive tax-deductible contributions (it should not), but also for shaping the law respecting various types of incentive-based compensation for managers of nonprofit organizations. This area of the law has been notoriously murky, with the IRS being especially hesitant to issue guidance on what kind of compensation structures are permitted and which are prohibited. The Agency Theory, as expanded in this article, provides some guidance as to how the government should proceed.


We present Block-NeRF, a variant of Neural Radiance Fields that can represent large-scale environments. Specifically, we demonstrate that when scaling NeRF to render city-scale scenes spanning multiple blocks, it is vital to de-compose the scene into individually trained NeRFs. This decomposition decouples rendering time from scene size, enables rendering to scale to arbitrarily large environments, and allows per-block updates of the environment. We adopt several architectural changes to make NeRF robust to data captured over months under different environmental conditions. We add appearance embeddings, learned pose refinement, and controllable exposure to each individual NeRF, and introduce a procedure for aligning appearance between adjacent NeRFs so that they can be seamlessly combined. We build a grid of Block-NeRFs from 2.8 million images to create the largest neural scene representation to date, capable of rendering an entire neighborhood of San Francisco.


SUMMARY

We derive formulae for the approximate computation of two-point paraxial traveltimes (traveltimes between two points) for points arbitrarily chosen in a paraxial vicinity of a reference ray computed in a smoothly varying inhomogeneous anisotropic medium containing structural interfaces. The formulae have a form of the Taylor expansion in Cartesian coordinates of the two-point paraxial traveltime or its square to the quadratic terms. The coefficients of the expansion depend on quantities obtained by ray tracing in Cartesian coordinates and by dynamic ray tracing in ray-centred coordinates. Alternatively, the dynamic ray tracing can be performed in Cartesian coordinates. The advantages of the approach based on dynamic ray tracing in ray-centred coordinates are its efficiency and elimination of possible complications that may arise from the redundant fundamental solutions of dynamic ray tracing in Cartesian coordinates (the ray-tangent and non-eikonal solutions). As a by-product, we also obtain simple formulae for the slowness vectors at the two points in the paraxial vicinity of the reference ray. They belong to a paraxial ray passing through these points. Potential applications of the proposed formulae consist in the fast and flexible two-point traveltime calculations from sources to receivers specified in Cartesian coordinates and situated close to a reference ray, along which dynamic ray tracing has been performed. The formulae for the paraxial slowness vectors can be used in two-point ray tracing.


The market for illicit drugs is expanding inexorably around the world. More kinds of drugs are becoming more available in more places than ever before. But the drug trade is not only growing, it is changing in character. It has ceased to be a marginal area of criminal activity and has now become a major global enterprise controlled by formidable interests that threaten much more than the health of drug users. Moreover, the immense wealth that has been amassed from selling drugs has given the principal trafficking organizations enormous power to corrupt and intimidate public officials and government institutions.In this major book, Paul Stares presents a compelling portrait of the global drug market and the consequences of this international plague. He explains that there are good reasons to fear that the global market for drugs will continue to expand in the coming years: profits to the traffickers are huge; the revolutionary advances in communications, transportation, and information technology facilitate smuggling, as do the lowering of border controls and trade tariffs and the trends toward privatization and deregulation. Meanwhile, the expanded volume of global trade, travel, and financial transactions makes it harder for customs and police authorities to detect and stop illicit activities. Added to the growing incentives and opportunities to supply illicit drugs, the level of demand is increasing in many new areas of the world, particularly in formerly communist countries and many areas of the developing world.What can done about this growing problem? One option is legalization, but Stares contends that its implementation would be problematic while its benefits remain unclear. Yet, continuing on the present course will not work either. Stares argues that reducing both the supply and demand for illicit drugs requires a fundamental shift away from the current overwhelming emphasis on negative sanctions to deter and deny their production, trafficking, and consumption. Instead, he calls for more positive control measures that primarily rely on persuasion and cooperation. He advocates the creation of a global drug monitoring and evaluation network, a global drug use prevention program, a global drug treatment training program, and an international drug crisis response program.According to Stares, the effectiveness of reorienting drug control policy to curb the global habit will ultimately depend on the international community's willingness to address much larger concerns to which the drug problem is inextricably linked-- including overpopulation, environmental degradation, poverty, illiteracy, ethnic strife, and disease. Only by recognizing the fundamental relationship between these larger issues and the global drug problem can meaningful progress be made. Selected by Choice as an Outstanding Book for 1996


Two new species of hawk moths from Fiji and Samoa, respectively Gnathothlibus fijiensis n.sp., and G. samoaensis n.sp., are described and figured, and distinguished from G. vanuatuensis Lachlan & Moulds, G. saccoi Lachlan & Moulds and G. eras (Boisduval). A new species of Theretra, T. tabubilensis n.sp. from Papua New Guinea is described and figured. The new species is distinguished from the sympatric T. indistincta papuensis Joicey & Talbot and Theretra clotho celata (Butler), and the lectotype of T. i. papuensis is designated. LachLan, RobeRt b., 2009. Two new species of Gnathothlibus Wallengren from Fiji and Samoa and a new species of Theretra Hubner from Papua New Guinea (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Records of the Australian Museum 61(1):


Introduction: Microbiological contamination of air and environment in the operation theaters (OTs) are major risk factor for surgical site and other hospital-associated infections. Objectives: The aim was to identify bacterial colonization of surfaces and equipment and to determine the microbial contamination of air in the OTs of a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: Five years (January 2010–December 2014) retrospective analysis of the data obtained from routine microbiological surveillance of the five OTs of the hospital was done. Surface samples were taken with wet swabs from different sites and equipment. Bacterial species were isolated and identified by conventional methods. Air quality surveillance of OTs was done by settle plate method. Results: A total of 4387 samples were collected from surfaces and articles of various OTs. Out of these only 195 (4.4%), samples showed bacterial growth and yielded 210 isolates. The predominant species isolated was Bacillus with 184 (87.6%) isolates followed by coagulase-negative Staphylococcus 17 (8.1%), Staphylococcus aureus 6 (2.9%), and Enteroccoccus spp. 3 (1.4%). Analysis of the OT air samples showed least colony forming unit (cfu) rate of air (27 cfu/m3) in ophthalmology OT and highest rate of 133 cfu/m3 in general surgery OT. Conclusion: The study shows that OTs of our hospital showed a very low bacterial contamination rate on surface swabbing and a cfu count per m3 of air well within permissible limits.


Fibrinogen is an important component in cascade of coagulation and after wound injury, it create an unstable matrix quickly. In addition to its critical role in hemostasis, fibrin will be providing a scaffold for infiltration of fibroblasts to wound location [1]. Due to its critical role in coagulation and ease of its polymerizing, different fibrin biomaterials are used widely [1-3]. The aim of this study is preparation of a fibrin membrane seeded with fibroblasts with reasonable viability, growth and proliferation.Materials and methods: In this study, fibrin membrane was prepared by the use of human fresh frozen plasma. Fibroblasts were isolated from Rat skin explant by primary culture and were stained by CM-Dil fluorescent dye. Then, fluorescent cells were seeded on fibrin membrane.Results: In this study we observed that fibroblasts have acceptable viability and proliferation on fibrin membrane.Discussion: According to viability and ability of proliferation on fibrin membrane, this biomaterial can be used as a skin substitute for wound healing.


Abstract. We present a near global statistics on the correlation properties of daily temperature records. Data from terrestrial meteorological stations in the Global Daily Climatology Network are analyzed by means of detrended fluctuation analysis. Long-range temporal correlations extending up to several years are detected for each station. In order to reveal nonlinearity, we evaluated the magnitude of daily temperature changes (volatility) by the same method. The results clearly indicate the presence of nonlinearities in temperature time series, furthemore the geographic distribution of correlation exponents exhibits well defined clustering.


Lipid composition and pigment content were determined in pericarp of 'Pik Red' tomatoes ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) that were harvested when mature-green (MG) then ripened for 1 or 14 days at 20C, chilled for 11 or 21 days at 2C, or chilled for 21 days and transferred to 20C for 4 days (rewarmed). During ripening, chlorophyll fell below a detectable level, carotenes increased 100-fold, phospholipids (PLs) dropped ≈20%, and galactolipids (GLs) dropped ≈35%. Fatty-acid unsaturation decreased slightly. Steryl esters (SEs), more than free sterols (FSs) and steryl glycosides (SGs), increased at the expense of acylated steryl glycosides (ASGs), and in all four steryl lipids, the stigmasterol : sitosterol ratio rose dramatically, whereas the level of isofucosterol fell sharply. During chilling, chlorophyll declined ≈40% and carotenes ≈60%. PL content did not change, whereas GL fell ≈15%. Fatty-acid unsaturation increased slightly. FS, much more than SG and SE, increased at the expense of ASG. The stigmasterol : sitosterol ratio changed little in ASG, SG, and SE but declined in FS. Isofucosterol increased in FS and SE. Rewarming had little effect on the levels of chlorophyll, carotenes, or PL levels, but caused GL to fall another ≈15%. Fatty-acid unsaturation decreased slightly in GL and ASG. The distribution of total sterol in ASG, SG, FS, and SE changed dramatically, yielding proportions close to those in unchilled MG fruit. Also, 4 days after rewarming, the stigmasterol : sitosterol ratio had increased sharply, particularly in FS and SE, and there was a further rise in isofucosterol in all four steryl lipids. These results indicate that chloroplast damage occurs during chilling, but PL-rich cell membranes are not degraded, even upon rewarming. Changes in sterol composition and conjugation during chilling and after rewarming could result in membrane dysfunction.


To improve mobile experience of users, recent mobile devices have adopted powerful processing units (CPUs and GPUs). Unfortunately, the processing units often consume a considerable amount of energy, which in turn shortens battery life of mobile devices. For energy reduction of the processing units, mobile devices adopt energy management techniques based on software, especially OS (Operating Systems), as well as hardware. In this survey paper, we summarize recent OS-level energy management techniques for mobile processing units. We categorize the energy management techniques into three parts, according to main operations of the summarized techniques: 1) techniques adjusting power states of processing units, 2) techniques exploiting other computing resources, and 3) techniques considering interactions between displays and processing units. We believe this comprehensive survey paper will be a useful guideline for understanding recent OS-level energy management techniques and developing more advanced OS-level techniques for energy-efficient mobile processing units.


Abstract: We propose a method for directly producing radially and azimuthally polarized photon pairs through spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC). This method constitutes a novel geometry for SPDC, in which a radially polarized Bessel-Gauss pump beam is directed into a nonlinear crystal, with the central propagation direction parallel to the crystal axis. The phasematching conditions are controlled by changing the opening angle of the pump beam; as the crystal axis cannot be tuned, we refer to this process as uper-critical phasematching. We model and plot the spatial and polarization output distributions for Type-I and Type-II supercritical phasematching.


Social-Networking Websites (SNWs) are rapidly becoming a central media for social exchange. A basic question is how well are people able to get to know each other through these websites? In this study, we explore characteristics of the profile photographs and their association with impression agreement. Using a specially designed social networking website, we examined 1,316 first-impressions of profile owners who had posted photographs as part of a complete profile. The results suggest that photographs in which the profile owners were smiling, outdoors, and shown with others were associated with higher impression agreement. Several gender interactions suggested that other aspects of the photographs, including head covering and apparent weight, also affected impression agreement depending on the gender of the profile owner and visitors. These results were interpreted in light of the literature on interpersonal perception.


Whether in traditional or e learning, it is important to consider: what to learn, how to learn, and how well students have learned. Since there are various types of students with different learning preferences, learning styles, and learning abilities, it is not easy to provide the best learning approach for a specific student. Designing learning contents for different students is very time consuming and tedious for teachers. No matter how the learning process is carried out, both teachers and students must be satisfied with students' learning performance.
Therefore, it is important to provide helpful teaching and learning guidance for teachers and students. In order to achieve this, we proposed a fined-grained outcome-based learning path model, which allows teachers to explicitly formulate learning activities as the learning units of a learning path. This allows teachers to formulate the assessment criteria related to the subject-specific knowledge and skills as well as generic skills, so that the pedagogy could be defined and properly incorporated. Apart from defining the pedagogical approaches, we also need to provide tailored learning contents of the courses, so that different types of students can better learn the knowledge according to their own learning abilities, knowledge backgrounds, etc. On the other hand, those learning contents should be well-structured, so that students can understand them. To achieve this, we have proposed a learning path generation method based on Association Link Network to automatically identify the relationships among different Web resources. This method makes use of the Web resources that can be freely obtained from the Web to form well-structured learning resources with proper sequences for delivery. Although the learning path defines what to learn and how to learn, we still needed to monitor student learning progress in order to determine proper learning contents and learning activities in an e-Learning system. To address the problem, we proposed the use of student progress indicators based on Fuzzy Cognitive Map to analyze both performance and non-performance attributes and their causal relationships. The aim is to help teachers improve their teaching approaches and help students reflect their strengths and weaknesses in learning. . This research focuses on the intelligent tutoring e-Learning system, which provides an intelligent approach to design and delivery learning activities in a learning path. Many experiments and comparative studies on both teachers and students have been carried out in order to evaluate the research of this PhD thesis. The results show that our research can effectively help teachers generate high quality learning paths, help students improve their learning performance, and offer both teachers and students a better understanding on student learning progress.


The original objective of this project was to reinvent a way of communicating destinations to specific targets. However, resistance to change by politicians and tourists oriented the research challenge towards organizational and human approaches. The question of levers and resistance to change became central, the hypothesis being that the development of an organizational innovation makes the communication strategies of destinations more effective within Swiss tourism companies. We assessed that the differences in the perception of promotional messages were confronted with a rich and nevertheless self-centered iconographic positioning: Switzerland seen by its own citizens. The scientific objectives of this project attempt to demonstrate that a type of organization managing a co-creation process with all stakeholders can enhance a new communication paradigm by significantly reducing resistances to change within Swiss touristic organizations.


contextaware computing, Me-Centric computing, ontology, reasoning, web services, semantic web We present an architectural support for building context-aware applications. With the increasing acceptance of dynamic mobile and ubiquitous computing environments, applications are no longer limited to relying only on the information explicitly provided by users. Instead, these environments invite a new kind of applications leveraging from implicit information that can range from a simple time-of-a-day information to information about user location to even an elaborate description of user current activity. This implicit information is known as the context, and although the context-aware computing paradigm has been introduced over a decade ago, so far there exist only a limited number of context-aware applications available to everyday users. We believe that this is due to the tight coupling of contextual operations where each application is required to sense, collect, interpret and apply all information independently from others. To overcome this issue we propose a decoupled approach, where the information sensing, aggregation, and interpretation is provided by external services, and applications are concerned with only applying the contextual information to their needs. Moreover, we focus on the design and specification of a generic service capable of both aggregating and interpreting context information as part of the Me-Centric computing project, and demonstrate its capability in an office-based scenario.


Description Logic Knowledge and Action Bases (KABs) have been recently introduced as a mechanism that provides a semantically rich representation of the information on the domain of interest in terms of a DL KB and a set of actions to change such information over time, possibly introducing new objects. In this setting, decidability of verification of sophisticated temporal properties over KABs, expressed in a variant of first-order μcalculus, has been shown. However, the established framework treats inconsistency in a simplistic way, by rejecting inconsistent states produced through action execution. We address this problem by showing how inconsistency handling based on the notion of repairs can be integrated into KABs, resorting to inconsistency-tolerant semantics. In this setting, we establish decidability and complexity of verification.


In The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Instruction, author Robert J. Marzano presents a model for ensuring quality teaching that balances the necessity of research-based data with the equally vital need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of individual students. He articulates his framework in the form of 10 questions that represent a logical planning sequence for successful instructional design. Filled with charts, rubrics and organisers, this methodical, user-friendly guide will help teachers examine and develop their knowledge and skills, so they can achieve that dynamic fusion of art and science that results in exceptional teaching and outstanding student achievement.


During the 18th century, due to the rising frequency of visits of Italian professional touring acting companies to Dubrovnik, the activities of local amateur troupes in the premises of the city theatre of Orsan were declining. Therefore, the only opportunity left for local amateur troupes to perform was in home-based theatres, a tradition that, in the form of wedding performances, dates back to the times of Marin Dr`i}. In the 18th century, following the French fashion of the time, which also reached the Eastern Adriatic coast, this activity became an integral part of social pursuits of the salons. Evidence of this practice is the home-based performance of a play called Pokrinokat, an adaptation of the French medieval Farce du maître Pathelin, produced in Dubrovnik before the end of the century. In contrast to this fancy practice of home-based theatre, it is assumed that there were also performances associated with an intimate, family circle, or performances in the sphere of Dubrovnik's convents. These were Christmas pastoral plays, written by female authors such as Marija Bettera, Benedikta Gradi}, Lukrecija Boga{inovi} and Anica Bo{kovi}. Whereas we do not possess direct evidence of the home-based performances of these plays (they were primarily conceived as readings for Dubrovnik young girls), we can discuss the convent performances with more certainty. Thus we discuss two kinds of theatre as specific forms of social activity. The intention of this paper is to show these two practices of home-based theatre and to try to explore their social and performance features. Furthermore, it is interesting to notice that the production of Pokrinokat introduces actresses on the Croatian stage, although in home-based theatres, and that the authors, and most probably the producers of the Christmas pastoral plays, were also women. Therefore, our intention is also to comment these first appearances of women as active participants in the Croatian theatre.


Civil forfeiture is, in a word, controversial. Critics allege that law enforcement authorities use forfeiture as means of appropriating valuable assets from often-innocent victims free of the constraints of criminal process. Yet despite recent statutory reforms, a significant obstacle to meaningful change remains: Under longstanding Supreme Court precedent, the Constitution imposes few limits on civil forfeiture. Relying on a perceived historical tradition of unfettered government power to seize and keep private property in response to legal violations, the Court has consistently rejected claims to constitutional protections. Faced with an unfriendly historical tradition, forfeiture's critics have tried to limit history's relevance by asserting that forfeiture was traditionally used for limited purposes, but such arguments have fallen on deaf ears.

As this Article explains, forfeiture's critics are right, but for the wrong reasons. Based on original research into more than 500 unpublished federal forfeiture cases from 1789 to 1807, this Article shows — for the first time — that forfeiture in the Founding era was significantly constrained. But not by judges. Instead, concern over forfeiture's potential to impose massive penalties for minor and technical legal violations spurred Alexander Hamilton and the First Congress to establish executive-branch authority to return seized property to those who plausibly claimed a lack of fraudulent intent. What is more, Hamilton and subsequent Treasury Secretaries understood themselves to be obligated to exercise that authority to its fullest extent — which they did, remitting forfeitures in over 90% of cases presented to them. The result was an early forfeiture regime that was expansive in theory, but in practice was constrained by a deep belief in the impropriety of taking property from those who inadvertently broke the law.

Understanding early forfeiture's true nature has significant implications for current debate about its proper limits. The existence of meaningful constraints in the Founding era calls into question key historical propositions underlying the Court's permissive modern jurisprudence, and suggests that history may offer an affirmative basis for identifying greater constitutional protections today. This is also an opportune moment to reexamine forfeiture's historical bona fides. In addition to a growing public outcry over civil forfeiture, there are hints that members of the current Supreme Court may be willing to reconsider its constitutionality.


The aim is to study how the Police build relations by publishing Facebook posts and how relation building is expressed in the form and content of the texts. More specifically, the study examines the picture that the writing police and the police authorities paint of their activities, and the effect that the posts can be envisaged to have on the receivers. The material consists of four posts from two police authorities, Vaxjo/Alvesta and Kalmar. This is analysed with a method borrowed from systemic-functional linguistics (SFL) and close reading. The results are then interpreted on the basis of SFL and traditional stylistic theory. The result shows that the Facebook posts bring both opportunities and risks in building relations. The studied posts consist mostly of declarative sentences, with only a small proportion of exhortations and offers. No questions occur at all. The posts display a large stylistic breadth and varied content from the spheres of police activity, such as combating violence and drunkenness or dealing with missing persons and property. There seems to be a will among the Police to establish contact with the general public, toning down the image of a strict authority with a monopoly on violence, and the officers working for the authority appear as empathetic human beings. The conclusion is that the communication of the Police with the general public via Facebook is a balancing act between, on the one hand, seeming good-humoured and human, and on the other hand the risk of seeming less serious and authoritative. In texts with a serious content presented in a light-hearted form with ironic undertones, the Police risk undermining their own authority. Despite this, the Facebook posts from the Police can be said to be in line with the catchwords of their activity: engaged, efficient and accessible. The Police also try to adjust the style of the posts to what is generally found on Facebook.


HOW SHOULD I READ THESE? Native Women Writers in Canada Helen Hoy Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001; 264 pp. How Should I Read These? Native Women Writers in Canada is a book I found refreshingly different from the usual ways that Aboriginal issues and writing get taken up by non-Aboriginal readers. It offers a respectful request to honour the sustaining power of resistance, resilience, and defiance. The analysis Helen Hoy draws on (postcolonial, feminist, poststructuralist and First Nations theory) underscores the importance of cultural-specific, insider-knowledge, and the need to reclaim, renew, and restore our voices. It also critiques the markings of Euro-legacies: colonialism, cultural genocide, oppressions, and Eurocentric dominance that are the maps to understanding Native writers. Throughout, Hoy respectfully examines a "variety of prose works by Native women writers in Canada" (p. 11) whose own sense and significance of their works are clearly different from mainstream narratives. Hoy takes a critical look at ways non-Aboriginal readers, reviewers, and teachers, as cultural outsiders, have often inappropriately critiqued literature written by Aboriginal women. She critiques the reviewers for their lack of sensitivities and sensibilities to the differences that separate Aboriginal women writers and non-Aboriginal reviewers. Through her complex critical analysis she is thorough in demonstrating how the Native Women writers' works have been misunderstood and dislocated when using western Eurocentric filters to explore distinctly unique bodies of work. By her own admission, Hoy discusses in details her own intentions and the practice of her stance as cultural outsider and the possible pitfalls of reading Aboriginal Women's literature through colonial, Eurocentric, hegemonic, and western elitist lenses. She offers a clear stance regarding her outsider role: a place where a lot of self-reflective behaviour is needed. She raises thoughtful and provocative questions for non-Native educators and academics to consider when working with this body of works. Drawing from personal examples of her own life of reading non-Aboriginal critiques of Native women's literature, she exposes and critiques the "othering" practices of cultural appropriation and Eurocentrism that abound. She raises many questions and brings to light the need for understanding cultural sensitivity, personal and professional biases, insider-outsider political tensions, and the complicated spaces on the borders of reading about writings that are not culturally understood. For me, Hoy's positioning of herself as an example of how she tried to understand reading with respect, becomes a "teaching" for individuals who engage with Aboriginal Women's writing. They ought to understand and critique their own positionality and find ways to work in a respectful and informed way without "othering" Aboriginal writers. Hoy shows how this delicate balance can be achieved in challenging ethnocentrism in a way that the reviewer's location does not become the dominant focal point. That is, the writings should be about the individual and collective experiences and themes taken up by the writers' works she examines. She is clearly challenging white readers/reviewers when she addresses the issue of cultural appropriation and her belief that although whites may want to engage in antiracist work, in reality "anything we do is a violation" (p. 49). Through this admission, she encourages anti-racist activists to move beyond personal enlightenment towards concrete action in our everyday lives. Hoy takes on the challenging task of examining the following authors and their works: Jeanette Armstrong's Slash; Maria Campbell and Linda Griffith's The Book of Jessica; Ruby Sipperjack's Honour The Sun', Beatrice CuIleton's In Search of April Raintree; Beverly Hungerwolf's The Way of My Grandmothers; Lee Maracle's Ravensong; and Eden Robinson's Traplines. …


The paper attempts to highlight the question, if modern complex systems theory can be a relevant and useful tool for agricultural economics and other applied economic disciplines and how. Focus is on the consequences of self-organization, an emergent property of large systems with many components. The proposition is made that economic systems are indeed selforganizing systems and some explorative data analysis, that is a test for power law distributions in the sectors economic changes, is carried out on Danish agricultural sectors, particularly the pork sector. The results suggest that power law distributions exist in the analyzed sectors, which is seen as an indication of self-organization in the sectors under investigation and specifically for "self-organized criticality". If economic systems in fact turn out to be self-organizing, should they not also have similar systems characteristics as other complex systems like attractors, fractal structures, synchronity and other higher emergent system properties? What would be the consequences for the way economic systems, their internal dynamics and external regulation are understood in general economics and particularly in applied economics? The read thread through this paper is an attempt to highlight these questions systematically in a first overview. Then we will turn away from the pork sector example and extend our view to other properties of complex systems and to the "nature" of complex systems in general. Different systems concepts from Boulding´s hierarchy of systems ("clockwork"-, "control"-, "open"-systems) are connected to different economic theories by the question how complexity is dealt with in economic disciplines. Finally ten "lessons learnt" are suggested about how complex systems theory could be made useful in applied economics disciplines and how it could change the way real world economic systems are perceived, analyzed and regulated.


This paper addresses the issue of reconstructing the unknown field of absorption and scattering coefficients from time- resolved measurements of diffused light in a computationally efficient manner. The intended application is optical tomography, which has generated considerable interest in recent times. The inverse problem is posed in the Bayesian framework. The maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimate is used to compute the reconstruction. We use an edge-preserving generalized Gaussian Markov random field to model the unknown image. The diffusion model used for the measurements is solved forward in time using a finite-difference approach known as the alternating-directions implicit method. This method requires the inversion of a tridiagonal matrix at each time step and is therefore of O(N) complexity, where N is the dimensionality of the image. Adjoint differentiation is used to compute the sensitivity of the measurements with respect to the unknown image. The novelty of our method lies in the computation of the sensitivity since we can achieve it in O(N) time as opposed to O(N2) time required by the perturbation approach. We present results using simulated data to show that the proposed method yields superior quality reconstructions with substantial savings in computation.