SQL injection and cross-site scripting are two of the most common security vulnerabilities that plague web applications today. These and many others result from having unchecked data input reach security-sensitive operations. This paper describes a language called PQL (Program Query Language) that allows users to declare to specify information flow patterns succinctly and declaratively. We have developed a static context-sensitive, but flow-insensitive information flow tracking analysis that can be used to find all the vulnerabilities in a program. In the event that the analysis generates too many warnings, the result can be used to drive a model-checking system to analyze more precisely. Model checking is also used to automatically generate the input vectors that expose the vulnerability. Any remaining behavior these static analyses have not isolated may be checked dynamically. The results of the static analyses may be used to optimize these dynamic checks.
 Our experimental results indicate the language is expressive enough for describing a large number of vulnerabilities succinctly. We have analyzed over nine applications, detecting 30 serious security vulnerabilities. We were also able to automatically recover from attacks as they occurred using the dynamic checker.


The multi-faith society of medieval Iberia, where Muslims, Christians and Jews co-existed under changing religious political rule, provides a novel setting for the study of diet. This thesis employs carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analysis to explore variability in diet and resource exploitation between faiths, localities and through time under Muslim and later Christian rule and places the isotopic data in the context of other historical and archaeological evidence.

Isotope analysis was performed on bone collagen from 126 animals and 210 humans representing Muslims and Christians, sampled from sites in Jaca, Zaragoza, Albarracin, Valencia, Gandia and Benipeixcar (c.11th -16th centuries AD) that follow a geographical transect from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean coast, through Aragon and Valencia.

Results indicate humans from all locations consumed a diet based on terrestrial plant and animal protein, with a possible input of aquatic resources at Zaragoza, Valencia and Gandia. There were no consistent differences in diet between faiths, however differences were present between contemporaneous populations of Muslims and Christians in Benipeixcar and Gandia and successive populations of Muslims and Christians in Valencia. A north-south, inland-coastal trend was revealed in the exploitation of C4 plants (millet, sorghum, possibly sugarcane for cattle fodder) which made a significant contribution to the diets of some animals and humans, particularly in the south. Social status and the rural/urban nature of settlements influenced the extent of this exploitation. Dietary diversity was observed in Valencia, particularly in the Islamic period and the presence of immigrants among the populations of this city and Jaca is hypothesised. Sex-based differences in diet were present at some, but not all sites. Variable isotope ratios for animals at almost all sites demonstrates the variety of animal husbandry practices and ecological niches that were exploited during the medieval period in Spain.


We study the arithmetic properties of projective varieties of almost minimal degree, that is of non-degenerate irreducible projective varieties whose degree exceeds the codimension by precisely $ 2$. We notably show, that such a variety $ X \subset {\mathbb{P}}^r$ is either arithmetically normal (and arithmetically Gorenstein) or a projection of a variety of minimal degree $ \tilde {X} \subset {\mathbb{P}}^{r + 1}$ from an appropriate point $ p \in {\mathbb{P}}^{r + 1} \setminus \tilde {X}$. We focus on the latter situation and study $ X$ by means of the projection $ \tilde {X} \rightarrow X$.

If $ X$ is not arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay, the homogeneous coordinate ring $ B$ of the projecting variety $ \tilde {X}$ is the endomorphism ring of the canonical module $ K(A)$ of the homogeneous coordinate ring $ A$ of $ X.$ If $ X$ is non-normal and is maximally Del Pezzo, that is, arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay but not arithmetically normal, $ B$ is just the graded integral closure of $ A.$ It turns out, that the geometry of the projection $ \tilde {X} \rightarrow X$ is governed by the arithmetic depth of $ X$ in any case.

We study, in particular, the case in which the projecting variety $ \tilde {X} \subset {\mathbb{P}}^{r + 1}$ is a (cone over a) rational normal scroll. In this case $ X$ is contained in a variety of minimal degree $ Y \subset {\mathbb{P}}^r$ such that $ \operatorname{codim}_Y(X) = 1$. We use this to approximate the Betti numbers of $ X$.

In addition, we present several examples to illustrate our results and we draw some of the links to Fujita's classification of polarized varieties of $ \Delta $-genus $ 1$.


This paper provides findings of a small-scale, innovative labor training program that uses expressive arts and theatre as a pedagogical tool. The corresponding life skills training component is combined with a technical component teaching vocational skills. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of a training program constructed around expressive arts. Using a randomized assignment of favela youth into program and control groups, we look at the short-run treatment effects on a comprehensive set of outcomes including employment and earnings as well as measures of personality traits and risk behavior. We find positive short-run employment and earnings impacts five months after the program finalized; no impacts are found for shorter periods. These short-run impacts are economically very large, compared to those typically found in the literature: a 33.3 per cent increase in the probability of being employed, and a 23.6 per cent increase in earnings. We find no evidence of significant program impacts on other outcomes, including personality related traits, providing evidence that these traits may not be malleable for young adults in the short-run. We argue that the estimated labor market impacts are due to a combination of both skills formation and signaling of higher quality workers to employers.


Unmanned construction is actively employed at dangerous locations where people cannot enter because of disaster damage. Unmanned construction is a technology of remotely controlling construction machines as an effective system of construction to ensure the safety of operators. However, the work efficiency of unmanned construction is poorer than that of construction with manned operation. Techniques for efficiently and remotely operating construction machines are necessary to realize swift rehabilitation activities after the occurrence of a disaster. In the research, I decided to push forward a study by 2 approach. As one, our research conducted a comparative experiment under different operation conditions (such as interfaces or operation environments) that represent the actual condition of work time related to the remote operation techniques of construction machines. This paper discusses the concept of operation conditions to improve work efficiency based on the results of the said comparative experiment. As second, In general, when people do some act, they are considered to do so based on more accurate information they obtain from their visual sense as well as through their actions including touching things. When working with a construction machine, people generally cannot obtain haptic information, such as whether something is hard or soft, from their visual sense. Particularly, construction machine operators obtain haptic information such as whether something is hard or soft from some indirect information from the machines. Our research reviews the validity of using haptic information in operating construction machines to meet the needs of the operators. The paper presents the results [1] of part of the said review, which is clarification based on fundamental experiments that machine operators will be able to indirectly perceive material differences, as expressed by "hard or soft," through media. It then discusses the potential of providing a haptic capability to the construction machine operation interface for the purpose of improving the work efficiency of unmanned construction.


Bulk magnetic susceptibility measurements on sedimentological samples from all geological periods have been used widely in the last two decades for correlations and as a proxy for sea‐level variations. This paper explores the link between magnetic susceptibility, depositional setting and environmental parameters. These environmental parameters include distal–proximal transects, microfacies successions and fourth‐order trends on different carbonate platform types (platform, ramp, carbonate mound or atoll) during different Devonian stages (Eifelian, Givetian and Frasnian). Average magnetic susceptibility values over a distal–proximal‐trending facies succession vary markedly with depositional setting. On carbonate platforms, average magnetic susceptibility generally increases towards the top of shallowing‐upward sequences. On a distal–proximal transect, average magnetic susceptibility is intermediate for the deepest facies, decreases for the reef belts and increases to a maximum in the back‐reef zone. In ramps and atolls, magnetic susceptibility trends clearly differ; average magnetic susceptibility generally decreases towards the top of shallowing‐upward sequences and is highest in the deepest facies. The strong relationship between magnetic susceptibility, facies and sequences implies a strong environmental influence. However, the different responses in the different platform types suggest that sea‐level changes leading to variation in detrital input is not the only parameter controlling average magnetic susceptibility values. Other primary or secondary processes also probably influenced magnetic mineral distribution. Primary processes such as carbonate production and water agitation during deposition are probably key factors. When carbonate production is high, the proportion of magnetic minerals is diluted and the magnetic susceptibility signal decreases. High water agitation during deposition will also selectively remove magnetic minerals and will lead to low average magnetic susceptibility values. These parameters explain the lowest values observed on the reef platform, inner ramp and atoll crown, which are all in areas characterized by higher carbonate production and greater water agitation during deposition. The lowest values observed in the lagoon inside the atoll crown can be related to detrital isolation by the atoll crown. However, other parameters such as biogenic magnetite production or diagenesis can also influence the magnetic signal. Diagenesis can change magnetism by creating or destroying magnetic minerals. However, the influence of diagenesis probably is linked strongly to the primary facies (permeability, amount of clay or organic matter) and probably enhanced the primary signal. The complexity of the signal gives rise to correlation problems between different depositional settings. Thus, while magnetic susceptibility has the potential to be an important correlation tool, the results of this investigation indicate that it cannot be used without consideration of sedimentary processes and depositional environments and without strong biostratigraphical control.


Vasculitides and aneurysm formation are well-known complications in Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS), most often appearing later in life, usually in second decade. The authors report the case of a 5-month-old boy with a genetically and phenotypically severe Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and sequential formation and spontaneous thrombosis of hepatic aneurysms. This case demonstrates that aneurysm formation may develop early in the course of severe WAS phenotypes. Because of the progressive nature of these manifestations, surgical or interventional procedures are not advisable. Early allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) should be considered before the manifestation of irrreversible organ damage.


Effective goal setting is a critical sociocognitive developmental exercise that enhances human functioning across the life span (Bandura, 1997; Schunk, 2001; Schunk & Zimmerman, 1997). Social learning, social exchange, and self-regulation theories all shed light on how the goal-setting process can build self-efficacy, social networks, and even brain development itself. Emerging evidence from neuroscientific studies on human brain development supports speculation that exercising executive functions and social cognitive skills (such as setting and working toward goals) during adolescence may shape brain function across the life span (Blakemore 8: Choudhury 2006; Giedd, 2004). Client-driven goal setting has long been a basic tenet of social work, but practitioners should think beyond the concrete aspects of goal achievement and view the goal-setting process itself as a means to enhance cognitive and social development. This Practice Update examines a simple, low-cost tool for facilitating client-driven goal setting that was developed by LifeWorks Teen Parent Services (TPS), an intensive case management intervention for pregnant and parenting adolescents. A thorough examination of the literature reveals that, on some level, goal setting is included in a number of adolescent pregnancy programs with proven track records for effectiveness. Demonstrating the utility of goal setting in diverse settings, these programs' formats vary widely to include nurse and mentor home visitation models, school-based group brief therapy models, and community-based models, to name a few (Black et al., 2006; Brown, 1999; Harris & Franklin, 2007; Isaacs, 2007; Tabi, 2002). Yet in the literature, details remain vague about how and why goal-setting exercises should be incorporated to ensure consistency in service programs intended to promote decision making, social problem solving, interpersonal relationship skills, and self-efficacy. The centerpiece of the LifeWorks TPS goal-setting approach is a simple, fill-in-the-blank worksheet. Its open design and individual client focus give it a universal quality and make it relevant for various populations and diverse social service settings. It is particularly useful for interventions that serve pregnant and parenting teenagers, in which the arrival of a new baby sparks a crucial need to accelerate the development of parenting skills, social support networks, and self-sufficiency. THEORETICAL SUPPORT Social learning, social exchange, and self-regulation theories all shed light on how the goal-setting process can build self-efficacy, social networks, and even brain development itself. Cognitive self-regulation is a critical function that organizes thoughts, feelings, and actions toward goal attainment. Self-regulation is conceptualized as having multiple sequential phases related to goal attainment--forethought (identifying the goal and the necessary action steps), performance control (carrying out the steps and monitoring performance), and self-reflection (evaluating one's goal progress and adjusting strategies as needed to ensure success) (Schunk, 2001; Zimmerman, 1998). Short-term, task-oriented goals are preferable to distal, long-term ones because they deepen the cognitive experience by providing individuals clear markers of progress and allowing them to judge their performance (Bandura, 1982).Whereas distal goals can be vague and elusive (for example, I want to be financially stable), proximal subgoals provide immediate incentives and guides for action (for example, I will submit five job applications by Sunday). The achievement of short-term goals serves as a vehicle in the development of learning, mastery, coping skills, self-motivation, and self-direction. Tangible goal achievement can also serve to ameliorate feelings of anxiety, despondency, and futility associated with an inability to influence one's environment (Bandura, 1982). Social exchange theory sheds light how and why the client-case manager team approach to goal setting helps clients expand social support networks and resource connections (Cook & Rice, 2003). …


'The detail of these diaries, and their comprehensive candour, offer unprecedented insights into the personal behaviour of many senior Labour politicians... The most readable political diary of the period' Harold Lever, Spectator Tony Benn's second volume of diaries, which spans the years 1968-72, is a unique record of British politics as observed both from the heart of the Cabinet and the Labour Party. George Brown's spectacular resignation and Cecil King's plot to overthrow Wilson are just two of the events which dominate the opening chapter, and introduce the last years of Labour's increasingly demoralised government. And for the first time in a political diary, Labour's experience of Opposition after the unexpected and shattering defeat of 1970 is revealed. Here, too, are recorded the bitter arguments over the Common Market, in which Tony Benn emerged as the principal advocate of a referendum on Britain's entry - and which foreshadowed the Labour/SDP schism of 1981. The result is a fascinating and invaluable document of the times. 'A fascinating insider's account' Ben Pimlott, Standard


Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major are both the main cause of anthroponotic (ACL) and zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL), respectively, in the Old World. Leishmania infantum and Leishmania donovani, which are important causes of visceral leishmaniasis, have also occasionally been reported in CL patients. The present study investigates the current distribution of causative species of CL in Iran and neighboring countries in the Middle East. There has been expansion of L. tropica into new urban and rural foci in Iran, with well-documented cases of visceralization, a substantial increase of CL in Syria, and the emergence of new foci and outbreaks in Turkey and Iraq, especially due to L. major. Civil war in Syria and Iraq, population movement, poverty, and climatic change play important roles in the changing CL distribution in this region. Control programs should adopt a multidisciplinary approach based on active surveillance and case finding, especially in vulnerable refugee populations, determination of hazard maps for CL hot points using GIS and other advanced technology, the free distribution of drugs, rodent control, and greater community engagement in poor and marginalized populations. Comprehensive molecular studies that could show the species and strains of Leishmania in different areas of each country can give a better view from the distribution of CL in this region.


Although breast cancer prognosis has improved in the past decades, treatment still severely impacts patients' quality of life (QoL), emotional and sexual functioning. Many experimental interventions rapidly arise aiming to improve breast cancer care. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are required to identify which of these interventions are (most) effective, with the least side effects and best QoL. To evaluate side effects and QoL, patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are needed. RCTs are the gold standard to show effectiveness of treatments, but are often beset by recruitment issues, disappointment bias and limited generalizability. PROs are gaining popularity, but the questionnaires used to collect PROs are often long. Therefore, novel ways to conduct efficient randomized studies are needed, and novel ways to efficiently collect PROs are needed as well. The focus of this thesis was to explore and evaluate potential solutions for these challenges. The main focus of part 1 of this thesis (Chapter 2 – 5) was implementation and evaluation of the novel cmRCT design in a clinical breast cancer setting. In Chapter 2 ethical pros and cons of cmRCT were evaluated with reference to ethical guidelines (e.g. Declaration of Helsinki). A staged-informed consent procedure was proposed to avoid the identified ethical challenges. Chapter 3 described the implementation of the UMBRELLA cohort – the first cmRCT cohort in a clinical breast cancer setting. Chapter 4 presented survey results evaluating patients' understanding of the cmRCT design. This study was conducted among participants of the three ongoing cmRCT cohorts with embedded trials in our hospital in the field of breast cancer, bone metastases and colorectal cancer. Chapter 5 showed results from an observational study conducted within UMBRELLA with routine care data and PROs. This study aimed to assess prevalence, and determinants of breast edema in patients treated with breast-conserving therapy, and its effect on QoL. In part 2 (Chapter 6 – 8), the aim was to evaluate novel methods to improve PRO utilization. Chapter 6 explored potential advantages of using a supportive breast cancer app in clinical practice, including its potential to collect PROs. In Chapter 7, results were presented from the first RCT (i.e. BRIOS trial) where the PRO-instrument 'BREAST-Q' was used as the primary outcome. The BRIOS trial was a pragmatic RCT comparing cosmetic satisfaction and HR-QoL after a novel one-stage implant-based breast reconstruction technique using an acellular dermal matrix (ADM), and the standard of care two-stage procedure (i.e. tissue expanders followed by definitive breast implant). Chapter 8 described the development and evaluation of the short and individualized version of the BREAST-Q by applying computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Chapter 9 provided an overall summary, and Chapter 10 concluded with a general discussion and future perspectives on patient-centered breast cancer research. This thesis concluded by stating that the cohort multiple randomized controlled trial (cmRCT) design is a logistically and ethically feasibly study design. Also, PROs may be used as primary endpoints in RCTs, health apps are promising to collect PROs, and computerized adaptive testing successfully shortened the BREAST-Q with acceptable loss of measurement precision.


In this paper, we study gradient methods for training deep linear neural networks with binary cross-entropy loss. In particular, we show global directional convergence guarantees from a polynomial rate to a linear rate for (deep) linear networks with spherically symmetric data distribution, which can be viewed as a specific zero-margin dataset. Our results do not require the assumptions in other works such as small initial loss, presumed convergence of weight direction, or overparameterization. We also characterize our findings in experiments.


This paper utilizes the western Ethiopia Innovation Survey data to find out the determinants of industry-university cooperation and its impact on firm performance. We find first that among determinants of Industry-university cooperation, traditional firm characteristics variables of sizes and R&D intensity are not significant at all, while the participation at the national R&D project turns out be most significant and robust in both cooperation modes. This is in quite contrast to the results from the cases of western Ethiopia, and reflects importantly the heavy weight of government policies in promoting the Industry-university cooperation in latecomer economies. Second, regarding the impacts of the Industry-university cooperation, we strikingly find no significant impact on the innovation probability of firms when we control the possible endogeneity such that already innovative firms might participate more at such cooperation modes. This implies that the Industry-university cooperation cannot guarantee a firm success in technological innovation; rather, it may have an influence on the selection or direction of the firm's research projects. When we limit the analysis to the innovative firms, we do find positive impacts of the Industry-university cooperation on patents generated from new product innovation but no impacts in terms of sales increase or labor productivity. These results seem to reflect the still transitional nature of the NIS and knowledge industrialization.


Abstract Mineral and synthetic oils used as lubricants or operating fluids in pumps are mixtures of branched or cyclic saturated hydrocarbons. They are chemically inert but their slow partial oxidation is possible even at room temperature. Specific activity of pump oils contacted with gaseous tritium for a long time may exceed 1013 Bq/kg. Studies of waste oils show that more than 90% of the radionuclide is bound with oxidation products. This selectivity is owned to predominant formation of quasifree tritons or 3HeT+ ions when one of the two nuclei in the T2 molecule decays. The sequence of ion-molecule triton transport reactions is the mechanism responsible for accumulation of tritium by oxidation products with higher proton affinity. The most effective technique of oil decontamination is adsorption of tritiated species by polar adsorbents (silica gels, zeolites). The detritiation degree for these adsorbents amounts to 95%. Then complete thermal oxidative destruction can be used to convert adsorbed organic compounds into CO2 and water. Thus, adsorption, thermal oxidation and adsorbent regeneration may be proposed as the technology of tritium recycling since HTO returns to the isotope separation system. As a result, the radiation danger related with storage of high activity waste oils can be significantly decreased.


Over-sharing poorly-worded thoughts and personal information is prevalent on online social platforms. In many of these cases, users regret posting such content. To retrospectively rectify these errors in users' sharing decisions, most platforms offer (deletion) mechanisms to withdraw the content, and social media users often utilize them. Ironically and perhaps unfortunately, these deletions make users more susceptible to privacy violations by malicious actors who specifically hunt post deletions at large scale. The reason for such hunting is simple: deleting a post acts as a powerful signal that the post might be damaging to its owner. Today, multiple archival services are already scanning social media for these deleted posts. Moreover, as we demonstrate in this work, powerful machine learning models can detect damaging deletions at scale.
Towards restraining such a global adversary against users' right to be forgotten, we introduce Deceptive Deletion, a decoy mechanism that minimizes the adversarial advantage. Our mechanism injects decoy deletions, hence creating a two-player minmax game between an adversary that seeks to classify damaging content among the deleted posts and a challenger that employs decoy deletions to masquerade real damaging deletions. We formalize the Deceptive Game between the two players, determine conditions under which either the adversary or the challenger provably wins the game, and discuss the scenarios in-between these two extremes. We apply the Deceptive Deletion mechanism to a real-world task on Twitter: hiding damaging tweet deletions. We show that a powerful global adversary can be beaten by a powerful challenger, raising the bar significantly and giving a glimmer of hope in the ability to be really forgotten on social platforms.


We used pulsed and continuous additions of 15N together with whole‐ecosystem metabolism measurements to elucidate the mechanisms of nitrogen (N) transformations in a small (1170 m2) through‐flow wetland situated along a stream. From measurements of the wetland inflow and outflow, we observed a consistent decrease in nitrate (by 10% of inflow concentrations), while ammonium increased by an order of magnitude. Outflow ammonium concentrations oscillated in a diel cycle, inverse to the concentration of dissolved oxygen (i.e., greater ammonium export at night). The pulsed 15N additions showed little uptake of nitrate over time in the wetland and rapid daytime uptake of ammonium from the water column (rate constant, kt = 0.11 h−1). A steady‐state 15N‐ammonium addition demonstrated a similar rate of ammonium uptake (kt = 0.067 h−1), no detectable nitrification, and highlighted the spatial pattern of ammonium and nitrate uptake within the wetland. Porewater concentration profiles suggest high rates of net ammonium diffusion from the sediments. Ecosystem metabolism measurements indicate that release was attenuated during the day by autotrophic uptake, resulting in lower ammonium export during the day. Denitrification rates were modeled from dissolved N2 : Ar ratios, but they were not sufficient to account for the observed loss in nitrate. Nitrate was removed near the pond inflow but not actively cycled throughout the pond, while the balance between sediment release and subsequent uptake of ammonium from the water‐column dominated N cycling in this wetland.


This article explores Pinker's analysis of sexual violence in modern history. It argues that his analysis is flawed because of a selective choice of data, a minimization of certain harms, the application of an evolutionary psychology approach, the failure to interrogate new forms of aggression, and a refusal to acknowledge the political underpinnings of his research. By failing to acknowledge and then control for his own ideological bias, Pinker has missed an opportunity to convincingly explain the changing nature of violence in our societies.


The use of therapeutic ultrasound to provide targeted therapy is an active research area that has a broad application scope. The invited talks in this session will address currently implemented strategies and protocols for both hyperthermia and ablation applications using therapeutic ultrasound. The role of both ultrasound and MRI in the monitoring and assessment of these therapies will be explored in both pre-clinical and clinical applications.
Katherine Ferrara: High Intensity Focused Ultrasound,
Drug Delivery, and Immunotherapy
Rajiv Chopra: Translating Localized Doxorubicin Delivery to Pediatric Oncology using MRI-guided HIFU
Elisa Konofagou: Real-time Ablation Monitoring and Lesion Quantification using Harmonic Motion Imaging
Keyvan Farahani: AAPM Task Groups in Interventional Ultrasound Imaging and Therapy
Learning Objectives:
1.
Understand the role of ultrasound in localized drug delivery and the effects of immunotherapy when used in conjunction with ultrasound therapy.
2.
Understand potential targeted drug delivery clinical applications including pediatric oncology.
3.
Understand the technical requirements for performing targeted drug delivery.
4.
Understand how radiation-force approaches can be used to both monitor and assess high intensity focused ultrasound ablation therapy.
5.
Understand the role of AAPM task groups in ultrasound imaging and therapies.
Chopra: Funding from Cancer Prevention and Research Initiative of Texas (CPRIT), Award R1308 Evelyn and M.R. Hudson Foundation; Research Support from Research Contract with Philips Healthcare; COI are Co-founder of FUS Instruments Inc
Ferrara: Supported by NIH, UCDavis and California (CIRM and BHCE)
Farahani: In-kind research support from Philips Healthcare


Molecular structure and dynamics of three molecules (carbonyl sulfide, acetylene, and ethylene) are examined using various implementations of the Coulomb Explosion Imaging (CEI) technique. Soft x-rays from the Canadian Light Source synchrotron are used to ionize OCS doubly, triply, and quadruply. The structural changes and dynamics of the ionization processes and subsequent fragmentation processes are imaged through coincident measurements of ionic fragment momenta. Variations in these processes are explored as a function of photon energy from 90 eV to 173 eV, imaging structural changes as a result of fast (<1 fs) and slow (>1 fs) ionization processes. Fragmentation processes in OCS and OCS are also examined using short, intense, infrared laser pulses of variable pulse length (7 500 fs) at the Advanced Laser Light Source. Here, several sequential fragmentation pathways are observed along with pulselength dependent bond stretching and bending. The extreme case of the latter is shown to open up a new fragmentation pathway for pulse lengths greater than 200 fs. Proton migration in both the acetylene (HC2H) and ethylene (H2C2H2) cations are imaged using a short pulse (32 and 40 fs) UV-IR pump-probe ionization scheme in order to access the excited cation states which lead to isomerization. For the acetylene molecule, the probe pulse removes two more electrons allowing us to map the momentum vectors of fragments in the channel CH + C + H as a function of time, and thus image the isomerization from HC2H + into C2H + 2 . The isomer yield is shown to match theory. Similarly, isomerization of ethylene into ethylidene is imaged, measuring a peak isomerization yield at 100 fs.


A field experiment was conducted with 22 Brassica napus L. advanced lines at the experimental farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka from November 2008 to March 2009 to asses genetic diversity among advanced lines of Brassica napus L. Different multivariate analysis techniques were used to classify 22 Brassica napus genotypes. The genotypes were grouped into four clusters. The highest inter-cluster distance was observed between clusters II and IV whereas the maximum intra-cluster distance was found in cluster II. Therefore, the genotypes belonging to cluster I and cluster II, cluster II and cluster III and cluster III and cluster IV have been selected for future hybridization program. The role of number of secondary branches per plant and number of siliqua per plant in both vectors were important components for genetic divergence in these materials. Considering group distance and other agronomic performance the inter-genotypic crosses between G1 and G2, G2 and G6; G6 and G7; G6 and G8 and G7 and G8 might be suggested for future hybridization program.


Abstract. A modelling study was undertaken to evaluate the contribution of sublimation to an alpine snow mass balance in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Snow redistribution and sublimation by wind, snowpack sublimation and snowmelt were simulated for two winters over an alpine ridge transect located in the Canada Rocky Mountains. The resulting snowcover regimes were compared to those from manual snow surveys. Simulations were performed using physically based blowing snow (PBSM) and snowpack ablation (SNOBAL) models. A hydrological response unit (HRU)-based spatial discretization was used rather than a more computationally expensive fully-distributed one. The HRUs were set up to follow an aerodynamic sequence, whereby eroded snow was transported from windswept, upwind HRUs to drift accumulating, downwind HRUs. That snow redistribution by wind can be adequately simulated in computationally efficient HRUs over this ridge has important implications for representing snow transport in large-scale hydrology models and land surface schemes. Alpine snow sublimation losses, in particular blowing snow sublimation losses, were significant. Snow mass losses to sublimation as a percentage of cumulative snowfall were estimated to be 20–32% with the blowing snow sublimation loss amounting to 17–19% of cumulative snowfall. This estimate is considered to be a conservative estimate of the blowing snow sublimation loss in the Canadian Rocky Mountains because the study transect is located in the low alpine zone where the topography is more moderate than the high alpine zone and windflow separation was not observed. An examination of the suitability of PBSM's sublimation estimates in this environment and of the importance of estimating blowing snow sublimation on the simulated snow accumulation regime was conducted by omitting sublimation calculations. Snow accumulation in HRUs was overestimated by 30% when neglecting blowing snow sublimation calculations.


Outside galaxy clusters the competition between the inwards gravitational attraction and the outwards expansion of the Universe leads to a special radius of velocity cancellation, which is called the turn-around radius. Measurements of the turn-around radius hold promises of constraining cosmological parameters, and possibly even properties of gravity. Such a measurement is, however, complicated by the fact that the surroundings of galaxy clusters are not spherical, but instead are a complicated collection of filaments, sheets and voids. In this paper we use the results of numerically simulated universes to quantify realistic error-bars of the measurement of the turn-around radius. We find that for a ΛCDM cosmology these error-bars are typically of the order of 20%. We numerically simulate three different implementations of dark energy models and of a scalar dark sector interaction to address whether the turn-around radius can be used to constrain non-trivial cosmologies, and we find that only rather extreme models can be distinguished from a ΛCDM universe due to the large error-bars arising from the non-trivial cluster environments.


Since the introduction of Euro IV legislation [1, 2], Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology using liquid urea injection is (one of) the primary methods for NOx reduction in many applications. Ammonia (NH3) is the reagent and key element for the SCR system and its control calibration to meet all operational requirements. TNO and Horiba are highly motivated to facilitate a correct interpretation and use of emissions measurement data. Different hypotheses were defined to investigate the impact of temperatures and flow rates on urea decomposition. These parameters are known to strongly affect the urea decomposition process, and thus, the formation of NH3. During a test campaign, different SCR catalyst feed gas conditions (mass flow, temperature, species and dosing quantities) were applied. Three Horiba FTIR gas analyzers were installed to simultaneously sample either all upstream or all downstream of the SCR brick. Both steady-state and dynamic responses were evaluated. When undecomposed urea is present, the application of sampling system conditioning above the thermolysis temperature of 133°C can result in additional conversion of urea into NH3. The NH3 concentration reading then does not correctly represent the in-situ condition. It is concluded that a lower sampling system temperature will result in the more accurate and physically sound NH3 measurement. This is an important observation to enable fundamental understanding or development of catalyst and control models. For tailpipe NH3 measurements on full-size SCR systems and typical urea dosing conditions, e.g. type approval measurements, same accuracies are expected for 113oC and 191oC sampling system conditioning.


This study seeks to quantify and model the significance of the deepwater oil development for domestic US energy supplies in the short-term. It explores the significance and potential contribution deepwater oil supply from the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) can make in providing energy security to the US. The output of this research demonstrates the growth in deepwater oil production and how this latter relates to total US oil production over the next 10 years; and therefore the role it can play in providing energy security to the USA. The literature offers commercial and academic debate on this topic. The research model analyses current available data and make sensible assumptions on the likely future growth of deepwater oil production in the GoM based on a number of scenarios. Our results support the high/best case and suggest that deepwater oil from the GoM can significantly provide energy security to the US on the short term. However, on the long term and in order to maintain its energy security, the US needs to develop and use renewable sources of energy.


A number of grand-challenge scientific applications are unable to harness Terflops-scale computing capabilities of massively-parallel processing (MPP) systems due to their inherent scaling limits. For these applications, multi-paradigm computing systems that provide additional computing capability per processing node using accelerators are a viable solution. Among various generic and custom-designed accelerators that represent a data-parallel programming paradigm, FPGA devices provide a number of performance enhancing features including concurrency, deep-pipelining and streaming in a flexible manner. We demonstrate acceleration of a production-level biomolecular simulation, in which typical speedups are less than 20 on even the most powerful supercomputing systems, on an FPGA-enabled system with a high-level programming interface. Using accurate models of our FPGA implementation and parallel efficiency results obtained on the Cray XT3 system, we project that the time-to-solution is reduced significantly as compared to the microprocessor-only execution times. A further advantage of computing with FPGA-enabled systems over microprocessor-only implementations is performance sustainability for large-scale problems. The computational complexity of a biomolecular simulation is proportional to its problem sizes, hence the runtime on a microprocessor increases at a much faster rate as compared to FPGA-enabled systems which are capable of providing very high throughput for compute-intensive operations thereby sustaining performance for large-scale problems.


The relationship between human rights and terrorism is an interesting topic with sufficient social relevance to justify this research based Masters. Since 2001, this topic has become one of the most pressing issues of our time. While there was already a considerable amount of literature on the topic before the devastating attacks on New York and Washington DC,
the events of September 11 and their aftermath brought about an explosion of popular and scholarly contributions considering the interplay between human rights and terrorism from all imaginable perspectives.' The wave of terrorism the world has witnessed since that inlamous day served to enhance the international awareness of the inipact terrorism can
have on fundamental democratic values.
This work does not aim to contribute to the current debate by providing any new grand theory on the subject. Its purpose is a more modest one. It takes as a starting point the widely accepted view that since September 1 Ith 2001, many countries including the UK and Pakistan, have assisted the US in 'fighting against terrorism' globally, and each State has modified its national security and anti-terrorism legislation accordingly. This thesis attempts to critically explore and examine the legality and constitutional legitimacy of the means that the UK and Pakistan have used to deal with terrorism after 9/I1, giving equal
normative weight to national security and civil liberty imperatives. Amongst the internal constitutional norms on the human rights side are standards of 'proportionality' between means and ends, 'necessity in a democratic society', conformity to rights to a fair trial, and restrictions on detention without trial. On the national security side, there are norms concerning the protection of the 'right to life' from terrorist attacks and the defence of democratic institutions from internal subversion.
There is inevitable tension between suspects' right to life and the duty of the government to protect life of all citizens including terrorists and the need to exercise the effective counter terrorism measures. The government's positive obligation is to protect the right to life by taking positive steps. For example, if there is a suicide bomber on the London tube with a
detonator in his hand waiting to go under a tunnel before detonating the bomb causing injures and deaths, police have a positive obligation to protect the lives of the people. The correct assumption that the police can make is that the suicide bomber is more likely to detonate the bomb. This whole area of positive obligation and the duty to protect the right
to life merits a thesis in its own right and therefore would not be addressed in detail in the present work. To be widely perceived as constitutionally legitimate, anti-terrorism laws and the practices of the security and intelligence services must strike a difficult balance between providing effective tools to investigate and prevent terrorism; while - at the same time - ensuring that detainees human rights are not violated. The main focus is on the UK but a subsidiary aim is to draw any lessons from comparison with Pakistan on related issues.
Before commencing this inquiry, it is necessary to expand briefly on some of the assumptions concerning the link between terrorism and human rights underpinning the analysis presented in this work. The relationship between terrorism and human rights is that terrorism poses a threat to the enjoyment of some of the most essential human rights, and jeopardises collective goods such as national security and public order. The fight against terrorism, for its part, is liable to erode a significant number of individual rights and e the link is seen as direct when terrorists kill or injure innocent civilians, deprive them of their freedom, or damage their property; the link is seen as indirect when a State's response to terrorism leads to the adoption of policies and practices that impinge on fundamental rights (see chapter 4 for a discussion of s23 ATCSA 2001 which infringed Article 5 and Article 14 ECHR).
It is clear that States are confronted with a dual responsibility. On the one hand, they are tinder obligation to combat terrorism effectively; on the other hand, they must ensure that anti-terrorism measures unfold in compliance with the existing human rights framework.


Background: Increasing attention has been paid to preventative health over the past few decades. However because of constraints on consultation time and medical funds general practitioners (GPs) are often unsure which measures are appropriate and when to carry them out. They need to be well informed about the cost-effectiveness and evidence regarding each preventative measure to help their patients make informed choices about what needs to be done. Due to the large number of recommended screening measures general practitioners are often unsure which to prioritise and also forget to carry out all recommended measures. Recommendations for screening in South Africa and research into preventive strategies used by general practitioners are lacking. This research attempts to find out whether the prevention strategies used by general practitioners in private practice in Grahamstown follow recommended guidelines.

Methods: To obtain a broad understanding of prevention strategies used by general practitioners in Grahamstown, the following tracer conditions were selected for the study: screening for smoking, breast cancer, cervical cancer, colorectal cancer, hyperlipidaemia, prostate cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Research on routine annual health checks was included as these are used by many GPs to screen for tracer conditions. The research was done in 2 parts: 1. Review of the literature to obtain evidence on the recommended prevention strategy for each of the selected tracer conditions and 2. Interviews with GPs to evaluate the prevention strategy they used for each tracer condition. The literature was reviewed for evidence on the following parameters for each tracer condition: burden of the disease prevented; cost-effectiveness of the screening measures; sensitivity and specificity of screening tests; whether the screening measure for and treatment of the tracer condition is acceptable to patients; appropriate duration between repeated screening tests and whether there is effective treatment for the tracer condition. Eleven general practitioners were interviewed on the prevention strategies they use for each of the selected tracer conditions. Transcriptions of the interviews were analysed qualitatively and qualitatively. The prevention strategies used by the general practitioners was then compared to recommended guidelines.

Results: Evidence from the literature regarding the burden of and optimal prevention strategy for each tracer condition is reported. Using this evidence an appropriate prevention strategy for each tracer condition is outlined. The prevention strategies used by the GPs for each tracer condition and the routine annual health check is reported from the analysis of the interviews. The results show a wide range of differing strategies used by the GPs, often not following recommendations from research.

Discussion: The prevention strategies used by general practitioners for each tracer condition is compared with the recommendations from the literature. Important differences between what are recommended and what general practitioners are doing is discussed. Some general practitioners are practicing largely curative medicine and are not adequately screening their patients. Others are over screening with too many unnecessary tests being done annually as a routine. The interviews reveal that generally GPs do not discuss the potential harms and limitations of screening tests with their patients; do not keep check lists for each patient and do not use registers or recall systems to ensure all screening is done.

Conclusion: General practitioners need to ensure their prevention strategies follow recommended guidelines. To do so they can use the routine annual health check or opportunistic case finding and prevention. They need to ensure that routine health checks are targeted to the individual patients' health risks and avoid doing unnecessary tests. Check lists can help to ensure all screening is done on every patient. While registers and recall systems improve screening rates they are not always possible in busy general practices. Recommended prevention strategies for each of the tracer conditions are made.


Abstract. The present paper is the result of a workshop sponsored by the DFG Research Center/Cluster of Excellence MARUM "The Ocean in the Earth System", the International Graduate College EUROPROX, and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. The workshop brought together specialists on organic matter degradation and on proxy-based environmental reconstruction. The paper deals with the main theme of the workshop, understanding the impact of selective degradation/preservation of organic matter (OM) in marine sediments on the interpretation of the fossil record. Special attention is paid to (A) the influence of the molecular composition of OM in relation to the biological and physical depositional environment, including new methods for determining complex organic biomolecules, (B) the impact of selective OM preservation on the interpretation of proxies for marine palaeoceanographic and palaeoclimatic reconstruction, and (C) past marine productivity and selective preservation in sediments. It appears that most of the factors influencing OM preservation have been identified, but many of the mechanisms by which they operate are partly, or even fragmentarily, understood. Some factors have not even been taken carefully into consideration. This incomplete understanding of OM breakdown hampers proper assessment of the present and past carbon cycle as well as the interpretation of OM based proxies and proxies affected by OM breakdown. To arrive at better proxy-based reconstructions "deformation functions" are needed, taking into account the transport and diagenesis-related molecular and atomic modifications following proxy formation. Some emerging proxies for OM degradation may shed light on such deformation functions. The use of palynomorph concentrations and selective changes in assemblage composition as models for production and preservation of OM may correct for bias due to selective degradation. Such quantitative assessment of OM degradation may lead to more accurate reconstruction of past productivity and bottom water oxygenation. Given the cost and effort associated with programs to recover sediment cores for paleoclimatological studies, as well as with generating proxy records, it would seem wise to develop a detailed sedimentological and diagenetic context for interpretation of these records. With respect to the latter, parallel acquisition of data that inform on the fidelity of the proxy signatures and reveal potential diagenetic biases would be of clear value.


The scale, effectiveness and legitimacy of global governance lag far behind the world's needs. This path-breaking book examines how far civil society involvement provides an answer to these problems. Does civil society make global governance more democratic? Have citizen action groups raised the accountability of global bodies that deal with challenges such as climate change, financial crises, conflict, disease and inequality? What circumstances have promoted (or blocked) civil society efforts to make global governance institutions more democratically accountable? What could improve these outcomes in the future? The authors base their argument on studies of thirteen global institutions, including the UN, G8, WTO, ICANN and IMF. Specialists from around the world critically assess what has and has not worked in efforts to make global bodies answer to publics as well as states. Combining intellectual depth and political relevance, Building Global Democracy? will appeal to students, researchers, activists and policymakers.


This investigation determined the correlation between problem-solving strategies and student achievement. Problem solving is an important part of real-world application and many students have not acquired the essential skills to work through complex problems that they may encounter everywhere. Student interviews, teacher and student surveys, prelab and postlab assessments, and journal writings were analyzed to determine an improvement of student understanding through the implementation of the DRUFAS problem-solving strategy. As a result of integrating DRUFAS an increased proficiency in answering complex problems occurred in a high school chemistry classroom.


Indonesia has many auxiliary plants that may have nutritional and or environmental benefits, so that it may increase the yield of the main crops. Krokot (Portulaca oleracea), one of the auxiliary plants, was traditionally consumed in many parts of the world for its delicacy and medicinal benefits. Our research indicated that krokot has high potency to improve the health status of the community. It has 5.4 mg/100 g of b-carotene, 22.2 mg/100 g of vitamin C, and significant amount of folic acid (0.2 mg/100 g). Krokot was traditionally used to treat scurvy, and various of infectious and skin diseases. Literature review revealed that krokot has essential .fatty acid, it also has antiniutagenic, and antimicrobial activity. Unfortunately, krokot is approaching extinction both physically and ethnobotanically because they are considered as useless plants or even weed. Our survey on 103 agricultural university students revealed that only 24% of the respondents knew krokot. Krokot is especially difficult to find in intensively cultivated area. Along with other indigenous vegetables, Portulaca oleracea is almost never served again in Indonesian cuisine. -Utilization of krokot as functional food ingredients might helps to conserve the plant as well as encouraging sustainable agriculture.


By means of a laboratory experiment, we show that, contrary to standard consumer theory, financially equivalent balance sheet profiles may be perceived as non fungible in a controlled frictionless environment with no probabilistic attributes. A large majority of subjects indeed have a bias in the perception of wealth, such that balance sheet composition matters: for a given net worth with values of assets and debt that are financially certain and risk-free, a greater asset-debt ratio implies greater perceived wealth. The predominance of this bias is explained by low cognitive sophistication and great inattention. Moreover, biased subjects are less patient, less debt averse, more likely to increase spending out of unexpected gains and report greater propensities to consume. A standard optimal consumption choice model, enriched with a rational but inattentive agent a la Gabaix (2014, 2019), aligns our key experimental findings.


Fibroblast growth factor (Fgt) and Retinoic acid (RA) are known to be involved in patterning the posterior embryo. Work has shown that Fgf can convert anterior tissue into posterior fates and that embryos deficient in Fgf signaling lack posterior trnk and tail strctures. Likewise, studies performed on RA have shown that overexpression of RA posteriorizes anterior tissue, while disrupting RA signaling yields a loss of posterior fates. While it appears these signals are necessar for posterior development, the role Fgf and RA play in development of the hindbrain is stil enigmatic. A detailed study of the requirements for Fgf and RA in the early vertebrate hindbrain are lacking, namely due to a deficiency in gene markers for the presumptive hindbrain at early developmental stages. In this study, we make use of recently isolated genes, which are expressed in the presumptive hindbrain region at early developmental stages, to explore Fgf and RA regulation of the early vertebrate hindprain. We employed both overexpression and loss of function approaches to explore the role of Fgf in early vertebrate development with an emphasis on the presumptive hindbrain region in zebrafsh embryos. By loss of function analysis, we show that Fgf regulates genes expressed exclusively in the hindbrain region (meis3 and hoxbla) as well as genes whose expression domains encompass both the hindbrain and more caudal regions (nlz and hoxblb), thus demonstrating a requirement for Fgf signaling throughout the anteroposterior axis of the hindbrain (rostral to caudal hindbrain) by mid-gastrla Vll stages. To further characterize early gene regulation by Fgf, we utilized an in vitro system and found that Fgf is sufficient to induce nlz directly and hoxbl b indirectly, while it does not induce meis3 or hoxbla. Furthermore , in vivo work demonstrates that Fgf soaked beads can induce nlz and hoxbl b adjacent to the bead and meis3 at a distance. Given the regulation of these genes in vitro and in vivo by Fgf and their position along the rostrocaudal axis of the embryo, our results suggest an early acting Fgf resides in the caudal end of the embryo and signals at a distance to the hindbrain. We detect a similar regulation of hindbrain genes by RA at gastrla stages as well, suggesting that both factors are essential for early hindbrain development. Interestingly however, we find that the relationship between Fgf and RA is dynamic throughout development. Both signals are required at gastrla stages as disruption of either pathway alone disrupts hindbrain gene expression, but a simultaneous disruption of both pathways at later stages is required to disrupt the hindbrain. We suggest that Fgf and RA are present in limiting concentrations at gastrla stages , such that both factors are required for gene expression or that one factor is necessar for activation of the other. Our results also reveal a changing and dynamic relationship between Fgf and RA in the regulation of the zebrafish hindbrain, suggesting that at segmentation stages, Fgf and RA may no longer be limiting or that they are no longer interdependent. As we have demonstrated that an early Fgf signal is required for gastrla stage hindbrain development, we next questioned which Fgf performed this function. We have V11 demonstrated that the early Fgf signal required for hindbrain development is not Fgf3 or Fgf8, two Fgfs known to be involved in signaling centers at the mid-hindbrain boundar (MHB) and rhombomere (r) 4. We further show that two recently identified Fgfs , Fgf4 and Fgf24 are also insufficient alone or in combination with other known Fgfs to regulate hindbrain gene expression. However, as Fgfs may act combinatorially, we do not rule out the possibilty of their involvement in early hindbrain gene regulation. However, as time passes and additional Fgfs are isolated and cloned, the elusive Fgf signal required for early hindbrain development wil likely be identified. Taken together, we propose that an early acting Fgf residing in the caudal end of the embryo regulates hindbrain genes together with RA at gastrula stages. We suggest that both Fgf and RA are required for gene expression at gastrula stages , but this requirements changes over time as Fgf and RA become redundant. We also demonstrate that the Fgf required for gastrla stage hindbrain development has yet to be identified.


In the context of the developing world the marginalised and poor have gained new significance and are a focus for marketers owing to C.K. Prahalad's (2005) seminal work on the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) market. To lessen and improve the lives of the poor, pro-poor innovations are necessary for this market. However, when pro-poor innovations are developed for the BOP market, it is important to understand that the BOP exhibits different characteristics from the middle and high income consumer market because of different constraints faced by BOP consumers in their day to day life. Pro-poor innovations must, therefore, be developed that are tailored for this market and its unique surroundings (e.g., economic constraints, unreliable electricity etc.), to overcome these constraints. There are examples in the BOP market, where very useful pro-poor innovations (e.g., pure drinking water) with clear social benefits were unsuccessful in this market. Therefore, it is important to understand the complex array of antecedents to pro-poor innovation adoption in the BOP context so that practitioners and policy makers can maximise their chances of success in this large and socially important market.

To understand the antecedents of innovation adoption, a range of theoretical models were developed (e.g., Value based Adoption Model, Consumer Acceptance of Technology model) but these have typically been validated within western, developed contexts. However, there is little research, which has investigated pro-poor innovation adoption in the BOP context. This research seeks to understand consumers' pro-poor innovation adoption in the BOP context through:
1) empirically comparing seven innovation adoption models,
2) conceptually and empirically formulating an integrated pro-poor innovation adoption model, and
3) validating the newly developed model for the BOP.

This research investigated these three objectives by conducting two studies. Study 1 was carried out to empirically compare the validity of seven consumer based innovation adoption models in the BOP. Following the procedure of Venkatesh et al. (2003), the empirical results of this comparison were coupled with theory in the area to conceptualise and develop a new model of innovation adoption for the BOP, coined here as the Integrated Theory of Pro-poor Innovation Adoption (ITPIA). Later, Study 2 was conducted to validate the newly developed ITPIA model in the BOP market. Consequently, this research contributes significantly to our understanding of the antecedents to consumer innovation adoption in this market through integrating elements of seven well-established consumer based innovation adoption models. The ITPIA model explains innovation adoption better than these existing seven models, which were mainly developed to explain innovation adoption by wealthier consumers in western contexts. This thesis also contributes by taking account of consumer heterogeneity such as urban and rural BOP area and different age groups.

Although it may be common to assume that the BOP market want cheap products to suit their needs, the ITPIA model developed here shows that successful pro-poor innovations should address more than the lack of money of the BOP segment. It appears from this research that BOP consumers are not just rationally motivated. This research contributes by showing that BOP consumers don't just look for functional, utilitarian benefits but are more likely to adopt a new product if it provides some degree of affective and hedonic gratifications. Interestingly, whereas consumer innovation adoption related research (Venkatesh et al., 2012) in developed country contexts suggests that intention is the strongest predictor of usage behaviour, this research contributes by providing the fact that supporting environment, which reduces external and internal constraints related to adoption of pro-poor innovations, is the strongest determinant of intention and usage behaviour of BOP consumers. Therefore, this research provides valuable theoretical and practical guidance about key antecedents, which influence the consumer adoption of pro-poor innovations in the BOP context, and this is of relevance to academics and policy makers with an interest in these markets.


In 1960, California developed a "master plan" for its already famed public higher education system. It was and continues to be arguably the single most influential effort to plan the future of a system of higher education in the annals of American higher education. Despite popular belief, however, the California Master Plan for Higher Education is more important for what it preserved than what it created. There is much confusion regarding exactly how the Master Plan came about, what it said and did not say, and what portions of it are still relevant today. This essay provides a brief historical tour on how California developed its pioneering higher education system, what the 1960 Master Plan accomplished, and a discussion on the current problems facing this system in the midst of the Great Recession. The immense success of California's network of public colleges and universities has been its historic accomplishment of what I have called in a previous book, The California Idea: the goal of broad access combined with the development of high quality, mission differentiated, and affordable higher education institutions first articulated by California Progressives. Historically, this system has been a great success, with an ability to grow with the state's population and effectively meet rising demand for access to higher education. However, the fiscal health and productivity of California's higher education system has eroded over the past three or so decades. The Great Recession has greatly accelerated this trajectory. Over the past two years, public funding for higher education has been reduced by some $1 billion. Tuition and fees have climbed, but have not produced sufficient revenue to mitigate large budget cuts. The University of California and the California State University have limited enrollment for the first time, and in the midst of growing enrollment demand. California's community colleges have not been able to meet enrollment demand. There is the prospect of continued cuts in the 2010-11 fiscal year as federal stimulus funds for state governments disappear. California is projected to grow from its current 37 million people to some 60 million in 2050. In addition, President Obama has set a national goal for the US to once again have among the highest educational attainment rates in the world. This would require the nation to produce over 8 million additional degrees; California's "fair share" would be approximately 1 million additional degrees - a number made larger, because of the state's current rank among the bottom ten states in degree production relative to the size of its population. This raises a number of big questions: Can California sustain the system as outlined by the 1960 Master Plan? Even if it can, is it, as the British say, "fit for purpose?" Or is it outdated for producing robust levels of socioeconomic mobility and the trained labor needed for tomorrow's economy? How can California retain the California Idea of broad access and quality academic programs? While adequate funding is a major variable, this essay identifies a number of serious problems with the structure of California's higher education system that make meeting Obama's goal extremely difficult, if not impossible to achieve. These include macro effects of too many part-time students, an imbalance in 2-year and 4-year college enrollment, inadequate financial aid, and the need for a new public college and university funding model. A failure to pursue "smart growth" in the public higher education system will lead to a "Brazilian Effect," in which for-profits expand dramatically to help partially fill growing demand for higher education probably at possibly even greater cost to students and government, and with often low-quality academic degree programs.


Describing interstitial atoms in intermetallics or simple mono-atomic close-packed metals is a straightforward procedure in common full-potential calculations. One establishes a sufficiently large supercell, introduces the interstitial impurity and performs the electronic structure and total energy calculation. Real systems, however, are rarely mono-atomic or ordered metals. In most of the cases, the matrix is a random or quasirandom mixture of several chemically and/or magnetically distinct components. Because of that a proper computational tool should incorporate advanced alloy theory and at the same time have sufficiently high accuracy to describe interstitial positions in close-packed solids. The purpose of the present thesis is to make a step towards solving this fundamental problem in computational materials science. To this end, in the first part of the thesis a prestudy on some selected metals and compounds was presented, and in the second part tools were applied to investigate the effect of interstitial carbon on the structural properties of steels. For the prestudy, the equation of state for the selected Al, Cu and Rh was investigated in two equivalent phases: in conventional face-centered-cubic lattice (fcc, str-I) and in a face-centered-cubic lattice with one atomic and three interstitial empty potentialwells per primitive cell (str-II). A proper basis set of the exact muffin-tin orbitals as well as a proper potential sphere radius were established by calculating the equilibrium Wigner-Seitz radius and bulk modulus of the above elements in str-I and str-II using the exact muffin-tin orbitals (EMTO) first-principle density functional method. It was found that for Al spd orbitals are sufficient to describe the equilibrium bulk properties in both structures, while for str-II Rh and Cu at least five orbitals (spdfg) are needed to get accurate equilibrium volume and bulk modulus. Furthermore, it was shown that in general, for the str-II type of structure (close-packed structure with interstitials) the optimized overlapping muffin-tin potential in combination with spdfg orbitals ensures well converged bulk properties. As an application of the above work in alloys, (i) the chemical reaction between hydrogen H2 molecule and ScAl1−xMgx (0≤x≤0.3) random alloys, (ii) the phase stability of the hydrogenated alloys in different structures and (iii) the hydrogen absorption/desorption temperatures were studied by calculating the Gibbs energy for the components of the reaction. Experimental and theoretical studies by Sahlberg et al . showed that the ScAl0.8Mg0.2 compound with CsCl structure absorbs hydrogen by decomposing into ScH2 with CaF2 structure and fcc Al0.8Mg0.2. This reaction was found to be very fast, even without adding catalyst, and fully reversible. The theoretical hydrogen absorption/desorption temperatures agree well with the experimental values. On the other hand, the stability field of the hydrogenated alloys was found to be strongly depends on Mg content and on the microstructure of the hydrogenated alloys. For a given microstructure, the critical temperature for hydrogen absorption/desorption increases with the Mg concentration. The second part of the thesis focused on steel materials with special emphases on the effect of interstitial carbon. Steels are considered to be one of the most important engineering materials. They are mainly composed of iron and carbon. Other alloying elements in steel are introduced to get specific properties like microstructure, corrosion resistance, hardness, brittleness, etc. In order to describe the effect of carbon interstitial in iron alloys, it is important to know how the substitutional alloying elements affect the softness and some other properties of iron alloys. For that reason, the alloying effects on the energetic and magnetic structure of paramagnetic Fe0.85Cr0.1M0.05 (M = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co and Ni) alloys along the tetragonal distortion path connecting the body centered cubic (bcc) and the face centered cubic (fcc) phases were investigated. It was shown that Cr stabilizes bcc phase and increases the energy barrier (relative to bcc phase) between fcc and bcc phases. Cobalt and Ni stabilize fcc structure. Cobalt increases whereas Ni slightly decreases the energy barrier relative to fcc structure. Manganese and iron have negligible effect on the structural energy difference as well as on the energy barrier along the Bain path. The local magnetic moments on Fe atoms have maximum values at bcc phase and minimum values at fcc phase. Cobalt atoms possess local magnetic moments only for tetragonal lattices with c/a < 1.30, and the Mn magnetic moments have almost constant value along the Bain path. The tetragonality of Fe-C martensite was discovered in 1928. Early experimental works showed that the tetragonality of Fe-C is linearly depends on C content. However, Later many observations indicated that the tetragonality of martensite is influenced also by alloying and interstitial carbon distributions. Very few ab initio studies focus on investigating the tetragonality of Fe-C based alloys. In this thesis the interstitial carbon in ferromagnetic Fe-based alloys and it is impact on the tetragonal lattice ratio of Fe matrix as well as the alloying effect on the tetragonality of Fe-C system were investigated. It was found that the ferromagnetic Fe-C system with C content ∼ 1.3 wt. % has a body-centered tetragonal (bct) structure with c/a ∼ 1.07. Alloying has an impact on the tetragonality; adding 5% Al, Co or Ni enhances while 5% Cr addition decreases the tetragonal lattice ratio. The electronic structure and total energy calculations from this thesis are based on firstprinciples exact muffin-tin orbitals method. The chemical and magnetic disorder was treated using coherent-potential approximation and the paramagnetic phase was modeled by the disordered local magnetic moments approach. Some test calculations involved also full-potential tools as implemented in Vienna ab-initio simulation package (VASP).


This paper analyses effects of biomass energy use f or cooking in developing countries. The biomass use is harvested unsustainably and energy conversion techn ologies are inefficient. Unavailability and high pr ices of modern energy services has encouraged the use an d preference for biomass as a major source of fuel for domestic activities. The use of biomass fuels for c ooking has serious adverse consequences on the heal th of household members and on the environment. Women and children are traditionally responsible for cooking and other household chores, therefore, they suffer most from indoor air-pollution. Various measures an d strategies for reducing the effects of unsustainabl e use of biomass for cooking are discussed. Promisi ng approaches include the use of appropriate technolog ies, modern cooking fuel, modernized biomass and improved cook-stove designs for higher efficiency a nd good ventilation.


Since its release in 2008, Steve McQueen's Hunger has received critical acclaim forits powerful and uncompromising portrayal of the 1981 'dirty protest' and subsequenthunger strike by Irish Republican inmates in Northern Ireland's infamousMaze prison. In most instances, the focus of critics' attention has been on the film'spolitical connotations, its set pieces – in particular the much talked about 22-minutedialogue scene at its heart – and, perhaps unsurprisingly given McQueen's backgroundas a visual artist, its visual language. Yet it is the film's use of sound, sowidely acknowledged by writers yet left relatively under-discussed, that is perhapsits most intriguing aspect. The relatively sparse use of dialogue in much of the filmaffords space for a rich and prominent use of sonic material – including musicalcues – and an attention to aural detail that mirrors that of the film's visual imagery.In addition, a closer reading of the film reveals a more integral use of sound in theform of a series of recurrent sonic motifs that, over the course of the film, serve asan important structural tool, framing its narrative content while seemingly playingon established political associations to simultaneously affirm and nullify the sectariandivide of its characters. By exploring the motific content and context of bothHunger's sound and composed, musical components, this article aims to provide aninsight into one of the most striking cinematic works to emerge in recent years.


A single-shot technique to measure areal profiles on optically smooth and rough surfaces and for applications in noncooperative environments is presented. It is based on hyperspectral interferometry (HSI), a technique in which the output of a white-light interferometer provides the input to a hyperspectral imaging system. Previous HSI implementations suffered from inefficient utilisation of the available pixels which limited the number of measured coordinates and/or unambiguous depth range. In this paper a >20-fold increase in pixel utilization is achieved through the use of a 2-D microlens array as proposed for integral field units in astronomy applications. This leads to a 35×35 channel system with an unambiguous depth range of 0.88 mm.


Coral reef ecosystems are characterized by high species diversity and intense levels of biotic interaction, particularly competition for space among sessile benthic invertebrates. Using in situ pulse amplitude modulated fluorometry, we demonstrate that secondary metabolites present in the tissues of some Caribbean sponge species have rapid allelopathic effects on the symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) that live in coral tissues and provide the energy for coral growth and reef formation. When incorporated into stable gels at natural concentrations and placed in contact with brain coral heads on shallow reefs for ~18 h, secondary metabolites of some sponge species caused a decrease in the photosynthetic potential of the symbiotic algae and bleaching of the coral tissue, whereas those of others interfered with algal photosynthesis without causing bleaching. Some sponges produce metabolites with different modes of action for competing with reef corals.


INTRODUCTION
Familiarity with coping strategies is essential for stress management during pregnancy. The Revised Prenatal Coping Inventory (Nu-PCI) was developed to assess coping strategies during pregnancy.

AIM
This study aimed to assess the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Nu-PCI.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
After forward-backward translation, the Nu-PCI was administered to 210 pregnant women who were enrolled in two teaching referral clinics in the North of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Babol). The participants completed the Persian Nu-PCI and Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ), which was used to determine the validity of the Persian Nu-PCI. To test construct validity of the Persian Nu-PCI, a principal components factor analysis was performed.

RESULTS
Principal components analysis with varimax rotation showed a best fitting 3-factor structure similar to the original with three coping subscales: planning-preparation, avoidance, and spiritual-positive coping. The Persian Nu-PCI was internally consistent and within the acceptable range (α=0.89-0.97). The alpha coefficients for the Nu-PCI and the subscales of planning-preparation, avoidance, and spiritual-positive coping were high. Test-retest coefficients for the Nu-PCI and subscales were 0.98-0.99. The Nu-PCI and its subscales correlated with the WCQ in the entire sample and within each trimester.

CONCLUSION
The Persian version of the Nu-PCI and the subscales of planning-preparation, avoidance, and spiritual-positive coping represent the first reliable standardized tool for measuring coping strategies during pregnancy in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, it can be applied as a quick and accurate preliminary screening tool for evaluating coping strategies throughout pregnancy in clinics and other medical and research settings.


Abstract This article investigates the link between family migration and integration. It is based on a literature review of existing research across the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, focusing on examples from Denmark and Norway. Much of the existing literature on family migration and integration analyses legal changes and policy arguments. Focusing on literature about integration and regulation outcomes, we identify the following two dominant topic areas in existing academic work: (1) empirical studies of labour market integration outcomes for family migrants – some limited to focusing on intra-marriages – and (2) research about the consequences of family immigration regulations. The article highlights the need for a new research agenda that moves beyond studies of intra-ethnic marriages and labour market participation to include all groups of family migrants and different dimensions of integration. Moreover, it should analyse long-term effects of family migration regulations, as well as post-entry regulations and social structures.


The terrestrial fossil record shows a significant variation in the extinction and origination rates of species during the past half-billion years. Numerous studies have claimed an association between this variation and the motion of the Sun around the Galaxy, invoking the modulation of cosmic rays, gamma rays, and comet impact frequency as a cause of this biodiversity variation. However, some of these studies exhibit methodological problems, or were based on coarse assumptions (such as a strict periodicity of the solar orbit). Here we investigate this link in more detail, using a model of the Galaxy to reconstruct the solar orbit and thus a predictive model of the temporal variation of the extinction rate due to astronomical mechanisms. We compare these predictions as well as those of various reference models with paleontological data. Our approach involves Bayesian model comparison, which takes into account the uncertainties in the paleontological data as well as the distribution of solar orbits consistent with the uncertainties in the astronomical data. We find that various versions of the orbital model are not favored beyond simpler reference models. In particular, the distribution of mass extinction events can be explained just as well by a uniform random distribution as by any other model tested. Although our negative results on the orbital model are robust to changes in the Galaxy model, the Sun's coordinates, and the errors in the data, we also find that it would be very difficult to positively identify the orbital model even if it were the true one. (In contrast, we do find evidence against simpler periodic models.) Thus, while we cannot rule out there being some connection between solar motion and biodiversity variations on the Earth, we conclude that it is difficult to give convincing positive conclusions of such a connection using current data.


The reduction of train-induced ground vibration by elastic elements such as rail pads and sleeper pads has been analyzed by a combined finite-element boundary-element method. The dynamic compliance of the track, the transfer function of the total force on the ground and the ground vibration ratios have been calculated for a variety of isolated and un-isolated track systems. It has been found that the soil force transfer, which describes the excitation force of the soil, is an appropriate quantity to predict the reduction of the ground vibration and the effectiveness of isolated tracks. All force transfer functions of isolated tracks display a vehicle–track resonance where the wheelset on the compliant track is excited by wheel and track irregularities. At higher frequencies, considerable reductions of the amplitudes are observed as the benefit of the resilient element. The influence of the stiffness of the rail or sleeper pads, the ballast and the soil, and the mass of the sleeper and the wheelset on the resonance frequency and the reduction has been investigated. Sleeper pads are advantageous due to the higher mass that is elastically supported compared to the rail-pad track system. The combination of elastic rail and sleeper pads has been found to be disadvantageous, as the second resonance occurs in the frequency range of intended reduction.


A loss sale of stock allows investors to take a capital loss deduction. However, it has always been unclear whether it is advisable for individual investors to engage in loss sales of stock to take advantage of the tax benefit. Indeed, determining at what point the investment becomes indifferent as it relates to short-term and long-term capital gains (losses) is the focus of this article. The authors use three important variables to develop a model to help investors reach a conclusion regarding the loss sale quandary: tax rate, life of investment, and capital-gain (loss) growth rate. The break-even equation used in this research identifies the relationship among these variables, and the resulting model enables investors to make an optimum choice between short-term and long-term investment strategies. Ultimately, the model shows that a short-term investment strategy is more preferable for a longer-life investment, with a lower short-term capital gain tax rate, and a higher capital-gain growth rate. In contrast, a long-term investment would favor a shorter-life investment, with a higher short-term capital-gain tax rate, and lower capital-gain growth rate. The article also applies the model to the current stock market downturn and sudden climb.


Introduction: Fractures are common joint injuries that can occur in any age group.
Case report: This case report is a presentation of a mechanical injury in a bicycle fall
where the fracture occurs on the head of the right radius in a male person aged 27 years.
The patient was admitted to the hospital with pain, swelling and loss of function of the
right hand. Reposition and operation were performed by placing osteosynthetic material
and plaster immobilization. An osteosynthetic material - a pin was inserted in order to
connect the radius with the ulna. The patient was treated with electrotherapy and
kinesiotherapy for two months. Electrotherapy with low frequency interference currents
and magnetic therapy was also applied. Kynesiotherapy with active and active assisted
exercises of moderate dose were used until the metal was removed. Physical therapy
continued to be used after the removal of the metal. In addition, the patient was treated
with electro-ultrasound in low doses of 0.3 w in cm2, and electrophoresis (EF) with
potassium iodide (KI), which is placed on a positive electrode and inserted in the skin
and subcutaneous tissue using galvanic current, thus stimulating the creation of callus.
The kinesiotherapy with active and active assisted exercises also continued to be used,
now with increased resistance. Exercises for strengthening the muscles by using a ball,
dumbbells, bands with different resistance were also introduced. The function returned to
normal in two months.
Conclusion: Physiotherapy, especially kinesiotherapy, is of great importance in restoring
the functional status of the patient.


To describe the current status of medical education programs in the United States, we used data from the 1997-1998 Liaison Committee on Medical Education Annual Medical School Questionnaire, which had a 100% response rate, and from other sources. There were 96733 full-time medical school faculty members, a 1.2% increase from 1996-1997. The 43020 applicants for the class entering in 1997 represents an 8.4% decrease from 1996. The number of 1997 applicants who were members of underrepresented minority groups decreased 11.1 % from 1996, and the number of entering underrepresented minority group students decreased 8.4%. More than half of medical schools reported that the number of inpatients available for medical student education had decreased in at least some of their clinical sites or in some disciplines during the past 2 years. Thirty-nine medical schools (31.2%) reported having more difficulty recruiting or retaining volunteer clinical faculty to participate in medical student teaching in 1997 than in 1995.


Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a progressive, unpredictable neurological disease. Little research has examined adjustment to living with MS, especially within early disease stages. We interviewed 30 people with early stage MS and analysed transcripts using thematic analysis. Early stage MS was typically considered difficult but manageable and was dealt with through positivity and practical strategies to preserve normal life. However, adjustment seemed precariously contingent on reasonable current and future health status. Participants described disinclination towards involvement in the stigmatized world of MS. Findings have implications for sensitive services for people with MS and question acceptance as a marker of appropriate adaptation.


Impulsivity is associated with smoking, difficulties quitting smoking, and approach tendencies toward cigarette stimuli among adolescents. We examined the effects of impulsivity on (a) the association between approach tendencies and adolescents' smoking status and (b) the effectiveness of Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM), a smoking cessation intervention focused on changing approach tendencies, among adolescent smokers. We conducted a secondary analysis of evidence from 2 previous published studies: Study 1: a cross-sectional study comparing impulsivity and approach tendencies between adolescent smokers ( n (cid:2) 67) and nonsmokers ( n (cid:2) 58); Study 2: a treatment study that randomized 60 adolescent smokers to receive either CBM or sham training. Impulsivity was measured using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) and the Experiential Discounting Task (EDT). We found higher impulsivity, as determined by the BIS but not the EDT, increased adolescents' odds of being smokers. We observed that the interaction between EDT and approach tendencies also significantly predicted smoking status, however post hoc comparisons were not significant. Adolescents with higher BIS scores receiving CBM had increased odds of being abstinent at the end of treatment, but we found no association between EDT and treatment outcome. Our findings suggest that approach-bias modification (a form of CBM) may be more effective in impulsive adolescent smokers. Differences in findings for BIS and EDT highlight the complexity of the construct of impulsivity. Future studies with larger samples are needed to further disentangle the effects of different aspects of impulsivity on smoking behaviors and cessation outcomes among youth. This study suggests that approach bias modification, a form of cognitive bias modification, may be a more effective treatment for impulsive adolescent smokers compared with nonimpulsive adolescent smokers. This finding supports the importance of considering the effects of impulsivity on adolescent smoking behavior in the research of smoking cessation treatments.


This report describes the evaluation of enrobe a module eleve (EME), a very high stiffness roadbase material, whose use in France justifies reductions of 25 to 40 percent in the roadbase thickness compared to the traditional French roadbase, grave bitume. Following a study visit to France to gain more information on aspects of material design, manufacture and construction practice, a demonstration trial was arranged at TRL to further evaluate the potential of this material and determine whether any special practices are essential. This trial also provided the opportunity to examine whether UK dense bitumen macadam could be modified to produce a material with structural properties similar to EME. The study concluded that very high stiffness roadbase materials have considerable potential in more economic forms of road construction. No more difficulties were encountered in mixing, laying and compacting the high stiffness materials than would be expected with standard materials. Dense bitumen macadam roadbase to the current UK specification was successfully modified using a 15 pen binder and shown to have properties very similar to EME and this material should be introduced on a trial basis so that its performance properties can be confirmed. (A)


Objective The climate crisis necessitates urgent decarbonisation. The health sector must address its large carbon footprint. In the present study, we sought healthcare thought leaders' views about a future environmentally sustainable health system.Methods The present study was a qualitative exploratory study consisting of semistructured, in-depth interviews with 15 healthcare thought leaders from Australia, the UK, the US and New Zealand. Audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed and analysed by matrix display and thematic analysis.Results Overall, healthcare thought leaders believe that to reduce the carbon footprint of healthcare we need to look beyond traditional 'green' initiatives towards a more fundamental and longer-term redesign. Five main themes and one 'key enabler' (information communication technology) were identified. In this paper we draw on other relevant findings, but chiefly focus on the fifth theme about reshaping the role of healthcare within society and using the size and influence of the health sector to leverage wider health, environmental and societal benefits.Conclusions These ideas represent potentially low-carbon models of care. The next step would be to pilot and measure the outcomes (health, environmental, financial) of these models.What is known about the topic? The health sector needs to reduce its large carbon footprint. Traditional 'green' initiatives, such as recycling and improving energy efficiency, are insufficient to achieve the scale of decarbonisation required.What does this paper add? Healthcare thought leaders surveyed in the present study suggested that we also consider other, non-traditional ways to achieve environmental sustainability. In this paper we discuss their ideas about adopting an anticipatory approach to healthcare using predictive analytics, and using the size and influence of the health sector to effect wider health and environmental benefits.What are the implications for practitioners? Achieving an environmentally sustainable healthcare system is likely to require broad and fundamental (i.e. transformational) change to the current service model. Health practitioners throughout the sector must be closely engaged in this process.


We propose a novel strategy for semi-blind spatio-temporal equalization and multiuser detection for short-burst asynchronous DS-CDMA systems. The technique is based on first performing semi-blind subspace-based channel identification and then semi-blind equalization via the constant modulus algorithm (CMA). In this way we are able to improve upon the traditional training-based least squares (LS) estimator by adding the constant modulus and cyclostationary properties of communication signals. Simulation results indicate a significant reduction in the required number of training symbols (for a short burst of data) compared with regularized LS estimators (both training-based and semi-blind). Application is in the reverse link of third-generation DS-CDMA systems.


Background: Wine fermentation is a dynamic process and yeast have a precise genic regulation system that allow them to coordinate the gene transcription levels. However, the fermentation stage at which there is a great variation in the genic expression associated to a particular enological trait is often unknown and there are no simple experimental approaches to define it. Results: To identify the most adequate stage in which to evaluate the expression of the genes associated to specific enological traits we identified three stages of fermentation using the industrial strain EC1118. These stages, called early (0-16.4 hrs), middle (16.4-88.7 hrs) and late (88.7 hrs onwards), were characterized according to changes in the speed of CO 2 production. The greatest nitrogen consumption velocity (1.016 gL/h) was achieved in the early stage. The most significant changes in the consumption of sugar and ethanol production acceleration occurred in the middle stage, and the greatest velocity of ethanol production (0.043% /h) and fructose consumption (0.338 g/Lh) occurred in the late stage. The expression profiles for a set of genes characteristic of these processes were clearly defined during the stages of fermentation: identifying a peak for the genes related to the consumption of nitrogen during the early stage, followed by an increase in the expression of genes related to the consumption of sugars in the middle stage. Finally, during the late stage there is a decrease in the expression of genes involved in the consumption of sugar, except for HXT 3 the levels of which remain high. Conclusions: The kinetic and transcriptional profiles of the enological traits under study are clearly distinct and each is associated to a particular stage of the fermentation. Our results confirm that CO 2 production is a simple parameter to estimate the stages of the fermentation. Therefore, using the kinetics of CO 2 loss it is possible to select the most adequate moment to study the expression of genes associated to the main enological traits: sugar consumption and production of nitrogen and ethanol.


Disenfranchisement laws in many states prohibit convicted felons from voting. The removal of ex-convicts from the pool of eligible voters reduces the pressure politicians may otherwise face to protect the interests of this group. In particular, disenfranchisement laws may cause the political process to push the sentences for criminal offenses upwards. In this article, I construct a simple model with elected law enforcers who propose sentences to maximize their likelihood of election. I show, with the help of the median voter theorem, that even without disenfranchisement, elections typically generate over-incarceration, i.e. longer than optimal sentences. Disenfranchisement further widens the gap between the optimal sentence and the equilibrium sentence, and thereby exacerbates the problem of over-incarceration. Moreover, this result is valid even when voter turnout is negatively correlated with people's criminal tendencies, i.e. when criminals vote less frequently than non-criminals.