The frequency of black bear (Ursus americanus) sightings, vehicle collisions, and nuisance incidents in the coastal region of South Carolina has increased over the past 4 decades. To develop the statewide Black Bear Management and Conservation Strategy, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources needed reliable information for the coastal population. Because no such data were available, we initiated a study to determine population density and genetic structure of black bears. We selected 2 study areas that were representative of the major habitat types in the study region: Lewis Ocean Bay consisted primarily of Carolina Bays and pocosin habitats, whereas Carvers Bay was representative of extensive pine plantations commonly found in the region. We established hair snares on both study areas to obtain DNA from hair samples during 8 weekly sampling periods in 2008 and again in 2009. We used genotypes to obtain capture histories of sampled bears. We estimated density using spatially explicit capture–recapture (SECR) models and used information-theoretic procedures to fit parameters for capture heterogeneity and behavioral responses and to test if density and model parameters varied by year. Model-averaged density was 0.046 bears/km2 (SE = 0.011) for Carvers Bay and 0.339 bears/km2 (SE = 0.056) for Lewis Ocean Bay. Next, we sampled habitat covariates for all locations in the SECR sampling grid to derive spatially explicit estimates of density based on habitat characteristics. Addition of habitat covariates had substantial support, and accounted for differences in density between Carvers Bay and Lewis Ocean Bay; black bear density showed a negative association with the area of pine forests (4.5-km2 scale) and a marginal, positive association with the area of pocosin habitat (0.3-km2 scale). Bear density was not associated with pine forest at a smaller scale (0.3-km2), nor with major road density or an index of largest patch size. Predicted bear densities were low throughout the coastal region and only a few larger areas had high predicted densities, most of which were centered on public lands (e.g., Francis Marion National Forest, Lewis Ocean Bay). We sampled a third bear population in the Green Swamp area of North Carolina for genetic structure analyses and found no evidence of historic fragmentation among the 3 sampled populations. Neither did we find evidence of more recent barriers to gene exchange; with the exception of 1 recent migrant, Bayesian population assignment techniques identified only a single population cluster that incorporated all 3 sampled areas. Bears in the region may best be managed as 1 population. If the goal is to maintain or increase bear densities, demographic connectivity of high-density areas within the low-density landscape matrix is a key consideration and managers would need to mitigate potential impacts of planned highway expansions and anticipated development. Because the distribution of black bears in coastal South Carolina is not fully known, the regional map of potential black bear density can be used to identify focal areas for management and sites that should be surveyed for occupancy or where more intensive studies are needed. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.


Abstract With steadily mounting evidence that points to a cosmic origin of terrestrial life, a cultural barrier prevails against admitting that such a connection exists. Astronomy continues to reveal the presence of organic molecules and organic dust on a huge cosmic scale, amounting to a third of interstellar carbon tied up in this form. Just as the overwhelming bulk of organics on Earth stored over geological timescales are derived from the degradation of living cells, so it seems likely that interstellar organics in large measure also derive from biology. As we enter a new decade – the year 2010 – a clear pronouncement of our likely alien ancestry and of the existence of extraterrestrial life on a cosmic scale would seem to be overdue.


The SAR model is widely used in spatial econometrics to model Gaussian processes on a discrete spatial lattice, but for large datasets, fitting it becomes computationally prohibitive, and hence, its usefulness can be limited. A computationally-efficient spatial model is the spatial random effects (SRE) model, and in this article, we calibrate it to the SAR model of interest using a generalisation of the Moran operator that allows for heteroskedasticity and an asymmetric SAR spatial dependence matrix. In general, spatial data have a measurement-error component, which we model, and we use restricted maximum likelihood to estimate the SRE model covariance parameters; its required computational time is only the order of the size of the dataset. Our implementation is demonstrated using mean usual weekly income data from the 2011 Australian Census.


"ALL men by nature desire to know. An indication of this is the delight we take in our senses; for even apart from their usefulness they are loved for themselves; and above all others the sense of sight. For not only with a view to action, but even when we are not going to do anything, we prefer seeing (one might say) to everything else. The reason is that this, most of all the senses, makes us know and brings to light many differences between things.


A process for the effective extraction and fractionation of phlorotannins from Fucus vesiculosus with high antioxidant potentials was investigated. The antioxidant activity of F. vesiculosus extract/fractions was assessed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, reducing power, and ferrous ion-chelating assays. Among the crude extract and different polarity fractions, the phlorotannin-enriched ethyl acetate fraction possessed the highest DPPH scavenging activity and reducing power. This fraction was further fractionated by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography or ultrafiltration. The antioxidant properties were evaluated by both the above chemical antioxidant tests and a mononuclear cell-based bioassay. Sephadex subfractions LH-2 and LH-3 with high total phlorotannin content exhibited strong DPPH quenching activity, comparable to those of ascorbic acid and butylated hydroxytoluene and significantly higher than that of α-tocopherol. Polyphenols in F. vesiculosus were found to consist mainly of high molecular weight phlorotannin polymers. There were no clear relationships between the degree of polymerization, molecular size, and antioxidant activity. All the subfractions separated by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and ultrafiltration showed a high ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species generated by mononuclear cells. Further characterization of the phlorotannin compounds was performed on six Sephadex subfractions. Several phlorotannin oligomers were tentatively identified on the basis of HPLC-ESI-MS(n) analyses.


Abstract There is widespread concern that consumers are making inappropriate decisions about what they eat, leading to a growing incidence of obesity and chronic illness, which will strain public-health budgets and damage economic competitiveness. Inappropriate nutritional decisions and obesity are of particular public-policy importance where young consumers are concerned. The paper investigates how consumers, particularly young consumers, can be persuaded to make better nutritional decisions voluntarily, and how government and commercial persuasive communications can be deployed to facilitate such decisions. The key conclusions are that the mass media are not a reliable vehicle for bringing about the desired behavioural changes, but that new media, such as the Internet and 'text messaging', should be used to deliver tailored messages to individuals, particularly younger consumers.


Simultaneous auroral and equatorial electric field data are used along with magnetic field data to study anomalous electric field patterns during disturbed times. During some substorms, accompanied by ring current activity, the worldwide equatorial zonal electric field component reverses from the normal pattern. This is interpreted as a partial closure of high latitude field aligned currents in the dayside, low latitude ionosphere. These currents flow westward across the dayside. In several cases the zonal equatorial electric field component was nearly identical in form to the zonal auroral component, indicating the close electrical coupling between these regions. Less certain, but equally intriguing, is the evidence presented for a close relationship between the zonal equatorial electric field and the time derivative of the ring current induced magnetic field. Another class of events seems related to rapid changes of magnetospheric convection and a temporary imbalance between the field external to the plasmasphere and the shielding charges in the Alfven layer. Examples of both rapid increases and decreases are presented. The latter seems oftern to be related to a northward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field.


Purpose: Because autologous serum is useful for the treatment of severe dry eye, serum components may be a potential candidate for the treatment of dry eye. Serum albumin is abundantly contained in human serum and plays many physiologic roles. We investigated the efficacy of serum albumin in a dry eye animal model. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were used to make dry eye model rats according to a previous study. The central region of the corneal epithelium was scraped mechanically, and the rats were placed in a desiccation room (temperature, 23 ± 2°C; humidity, 28 ± 2%; air flow, 2–4 m/s) for 12 hr. During desiccation, one eye of each rat was treated with human serum albumin eye drops, and the other eye was given a drop of phosphate buffered saline (PBS). Human corneal and conjunctival cell lines were used to investigate suppression effect of albumin on apoptosis induced by addition of apoptosis inducers or serum deprivation, respectively. Results: The erosion area was increased by 12 hr of desiccation. Albumin treatment decreased the area of erosion compared with PBS treatment. Apoptosis suppression assay using cell lines revealed that caspase-3 activation induced by serum deprivation and DNA fragmentation induced by addition of apoptosis inducers were dose-dependently suppressed by albumin. Conclusions: Albumin showed a therapeutic effect in dry eye model rats. This efficacy may be related to the suppression of apoptosis by albumin.


Probabilistic grammars offer great flexibility in modeling discrete sequential data like natural language text. Their symbolic component is amenable to inspection by humans, while their probabilistic component helps resolve ambiguity. They also permit the use of well-understood, general-purpose learning algorithms. There has been an increased interest in using probabilistic grammars in the Bayesian setting. To date, most of the literature has focused on using a Dirichlet prior. The Dirichlet prior has several limitations, including that it cannot directly model covariance between the probabilistic grammar's parameters. Yet, various grammar parameters are expected to be correlated because the elements in language they represent share linguistic properties. In this paper, we suggest an alternative to the Dirichlet prior, a family of logistic normal distributions. We derive an inference algorithm for this family of distributions and experiment with the task of dependency grammar induction, demonstrating performance improvements with our priors on a set of six treebanks in different natural languages. Our covariance framework permits soft parameter tying within grammars and across grammars for text in different languages, and we show empirical gains in a novel learning setting using bilingual, non-parallel data.


The genetic diversity of siderophore-producing bacteria of tobacco rhizosphere was studied by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA), 16S rRNA sequence homology and phylogenetics analysis methods. Studies demonstrated that 85% of the total 354 isolates produced siderophores in iron limited liquid medium. A total of 28 ARDRA patterns were identified among the 299 siderophore-producing bacterial isolates. The 28 ARDRA patterns represented bacteria of 14 different genera belonging to six bacterial divisions, namely β-, γ-, α-Proteobacteria, Sphingobacteria, Bacilli, and Actinobacteria. Especially, γ-Proteobacteria consisting of Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Serratia, Pantoea, Erwinia and Stenotrophomonas genus encountered 18 different ARDRA groups. Results also showed a greater siderophore-producing bacterial diversity than previous researches. For example, Sphingobacterium (isolates G-2-21-1 and G-2-27-2), Pseudomonas poae (isolate G-2-1-1), Enterobacter endosymbiont (isolates G-2-10-2 and N-5-10), Delftia acidovorans (isolate G-1-15), and Achromobacter xylosoxidans (isolates N-46-11HH and N-5-20) were reported to be able to produce siderophores under low-iron conditions for the first time. Gram-negative isolates were more frequently encountered, with more than 95% total frequency. For Gram-positive bacteria, the Bacillus and Rhodococcus were the only two genera, with 1.7% total frequency. Furthermore, the Pseudomonas and Enterobacter were dominant in this environment, with 44.5% and 24.7% total frequency, respectively. It was also found that 75 percent of the isolates that had the high percentages of siderophore units (% between 40 and 60) belonged to Pseudomonas. Pseudomonas sp. G-229-21 screened out in this study may have potential to apply to low-iron soil to prevent plant soil-borne fungal pathogen diseases.


In the last decade many studies have exploited the BGP data
provided by route collector projects to infer an Internet ASlevel topology to perform several analyses, from discovering its graph properties to assessing its impact on the effectiveness of worm-containment strategies. Nevertheless, the topology that can be extracted from this data is far from being complete, i.e. from this data it is not possible to infer all the AS connections which actually exist among ASes. This thesis analyses the available data and investigates the contribution of route collectors in terms of AS-level connectivity by taking into account economic and geographic characteristics of the Internet AS-level ecosystem. By leveraging on a new metric, named p2c-distance, this analysis shows that the largest amount of ASes currently connected to a route collector
belongs to the Internet core, thus the collected data is
highly biased and is missing a lot of connections established in the Internet periphery. To address this problem, it should be increased the amount of ASes participating to a route collector project. To this end, this thesis describes how to improve the coverage of route collectors by means of an optimization problem based on the p2c-distance metric, which solution quantifies the minimum number of ASes that should join a route collector in order to obtain an Internet AS-level topology as complete as possible. The results show that route collectors are rarely connected to the selected ASes, highlighting that much effort is needed to devise an ideal route collector
infrastructure that would be able to capture a complete
view of the Internet. These analyses require the ability to infer the economic relationships which rule the exchange of BGP messages between each pair of connected ASes of the topology. Existing economic tagging algorithms do not take properly into account that BGP data has to be purged from spurious routes, usually caused by router misconfigurations on BGP border routers and which shows up during the BGP path exploration phenomenon. In this thesis an economic tagging algorithm which is able to get rid of these spurious routes is described. This algorithm leverages on robust statistical concepts, rather than on debatable time thresholds and questionable graph metrics. The analyses provided in this thesis are further refined considering the geographical distribution of ASes, which in the global AS-level topology are all considered as a single node. A global analysis could lead to misleading results since
an AS connection may hide multiple connections located in
different geographic regions, possibly regulated by different economic relationships. From this analysis are indeed highlighted peculiar characteristics of regional topologies previously unrevealed, and it is showed that these considerations also affect the estimated number of feeder ASes needed to improve the completeness of the global AS-level topology.


MR Bookshelf Various U.S. Army and Navy groups often ask me which books they should read about Islamic militancy, Persian Gulf stability, and the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. The following reading list includes short descriptions of recently published books that address the issues. Islamic Militancy We must address and understand Islamic militancy within the context of the history of the Persian Gulf region. To merely be aware of key figures and events of Islamic militancy is not sufficient. We need to comprehend how Islamic militancy evolved and what caused key actors to develop as they did within the moderate regimes of the Middle East. Also of concern are Islamic militancy networks and their access to weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Peter Bergen's Holy War Inc. (New York: The Free Press, 2001) discusses Islamic militant networks and provides insight into Osama binLaden and the development of the Al-Qaeda organization. Readers will gain knowledge of how the globalization of Islamic militancy began in the trenches of Afghanistan during the fight against the Russians. After the war, Islamic soldiers returned to their respective Islamic organizations infused with a new sense of armed struggle. The Al-Qaeda formed a loose network with Egyptian, Yemeni, Sudanese, and other Islamic radical groups who wished to topple their respective regimes to usher in Islamic states. Bergen, formerly with ABC News, describes Al-Qaeda as a corporate structure with political, military, financial, training, and logistics departments. His book offers a baseline understanding of this notorious group. Augmenting Bergen's book is Walter Laquer's The New Terrorism: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999). Laquer holds The Henry Kissinger Chair for National Security Policy and is a prolific writer on national security affairs. In The New Terrorism, he breaks the evolution of terrorism into what he calls "waves." The 19th century was an era of nationalist-separatist terrorism. The 1960s and 1970s had a leftist, communist-inspired tendency. The latter 20th century saw the arrival of religion- and rightist-inspired terrorism. Laquer compiles a profile of a suicide bomber who is studying the socalled martyrs of the HAMAS (the Islamic Resistance Movement) and Hezbollah (Islamic fundamentalists) organizations and describes the fanaticism and paranoia that grip these organizations. He dedicates a chapter to WMD and the likely organizations that would employ them. Not all terrorists groups see WMD use as a viable political alternative, and only a handful sees such mass-- murderous tactics as viable means to achieve their objectives. For centuries Egypt has been the birthplace for positive and negative Islamic ideas. It is home to Sheikh Hassan al-Banna, founder of the earliest Islamic radical movement-the Al-Ikhwaan Al-Muslimeen. Sayed Qutb wrote the first pamphlet, Guideposts (no publisher information available), that advocated the removal of a Muslim leader allied with the West or with the communists. Mary Anne Weaver's book, Portrait of Egypt: A Journey Through the World of Militant Islam (New York: Farrar, Straus and Girroux, 1999) reveals how current government and economic conditions are breeding grounds for Islamic militancy. Weaver provides insightful anecdotes that illustrate why these violent radicals hate the United States. Mark Huband's book, Warriors of the Prophet: The Struggle for Islam (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998), presents a powerful caution to policymakers not to fall into the trap of the clash of civilizations theory Samuel P. Huntington postulates in The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (New York: Touchstone Books, 1998). That there are so many countries within the Islamic world that differ in culture, history, and political identity, coupled with the debate among Muslims over secularism, monarchists, theocracies, and democracies, precludes an "Islam Against the West Theory. …


Collective bargaining is an important instrument in wage-setting processes, but lacks underpinning with empirical data. Little is known about what exactly is agreed upon in collective bargaining. Few countries maintain databases with coded collective agreements; and agreements are coded for different topics and levels of detail. Attempts to discuss bargaining results at EU level are hampered by the lack of systematic data-collection of agreements. Social partners perceive an increasing need for cross-country comparisons, i.e., because of growing importance of foreign direct investment in EU member states. Therefore, EU-level social partners in commerce, UNI Europa and EuroCommerce, have expressed their interest in a study of content of collective agreements negotiated by their members at national level. Report 2 studies how particular institutional attributes in sector-specific bargaining systems relate to each other. The findings are quantified in an index of constructive industrial relations (CIR-index). Supported by the European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, VS/2016/0106


In German imperatives, topics and Wh -elements can optionally precede the finite verb, whereas in Dutch imperatives only left-dislocated constituents can. This paper argues that this contrast derives from a minimal morphosyntactic difference between Dutch and German. In Dutch, a null imperative operator is merged in SpecCP to check u Imperative on C. As a result this position is not available for topicalised material. German imperative verbs have an interpretable feature Imperative. Consequently, the imperative verb is suffi cient to check the uninterpretable u Imperative feature on C, and SpecCP is available for fronted material. The proposed morphosyntactic difference between the two languages is supported by the fact that German has a set of verbs with a unique imperative form, whereas Dutch does not. The situation in Middle Dutch is parallel to German in that Middle Dutch verbs have unique imperative forms and topicalisation in Middle Dutch imperative clauses is possible. The presence of a null imperative operator in SpecCP in Dutch blocks movement of D-pronouns to that position, an operation that is necessary in declaratives to make PF-deletion of the D-pronoun possible. The fact that D-pronouns related to PPs can delete in declaratives but not in imperatives supports the claim that deleted D-pronouns have moved to SpecCP in declaratives but not in imperatives. Despite this difference between declaratives and imperatives, a uniform analysis of PF-deletion of D-pronouns is developed according to which PF-deletion is possible when the D-pronoun occurs in the spec of a head with an interpretable Demonstrative feature. By assumption, C has such a feature and imperative verbs have such a feature as well, unlike indicative ones. Consequently, D-pronouns in declaratives have to move to SpecCP in order to be deletable whereas D-pronouns in imperatives can already be deleted when they are in a spec head configuration with the verb.


PURPOSE
To determine if a population-based threshold of motion exists to indicate respiratory gating in proton therapy by correlating the dosimetric benefit of gating to the magnitude of tumor motion.

METHODS
This research estimates the benefit of respiratory gated passively scattered proton therapy for a cohort of stage III lung patients with range of tumor motion from 3 to 17 mm. Respiratory motion was defined as the tumor centroid excursion between inhale and exhale 4DCT phases. To simulate respiratory gating during free-breathing exhale position, the exhale phase of the planning 4DCT was used for re-planning efforts. For the respiratory gated plan, the original beam angles from non-gated plans are maintained while new contours, beam properties, lateral blocks and compensators are redesigned. Both plans are normalized to the same target coverage. The changes in dose-volume histogram (DVH) indices between the gated and non-gated plans are compared against the extent of respiratory motion.

RESULTS
Gated plans for 19 patients have been completed to date. The only DVH index that correlated (Spearman rank correlation p<0.05) to respiratory motion was the mean lung dose. However, a regression line fit to this data yielded low R-squared value of 0.19. No correlations between motion and dose reduction were found for other DVH indices in the lung, esophagus, heart or spinal cord. In addition, respiratory gating significantly reduced normal tissue dose for most of the patients.

CONCLUSIONS
There is no threshold of tumor motion to predict the potential benefits of gated proton radiotherapy. Proton respiratory gating reduces normal tissue dose; however the benefit of gating is not correlated to the magnitude of tumor motion. The benefit may be due to the reduction in anatomy motion as a whole, not just the tumor motion. Other metrics should be explored to determine the need of proton respiratory gating. This project is supported by grant P01CA021239 from the National Cancer Institute.


ABSTRACTBackground Calprotectin is a protein found in the cytoplasm of neutrophile granulocytes. In the course of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), calprotectin is released during chronic inflammation in the gut. Activation of neutrophils during the inflammation is followed by activation and secretion of pro-inflammatory molecules such as calprotectin. Calprotectin is stable in stool up to 7 days and can therefore be used as a non-invasive marker for diagnosis, treatment and measurement of the disease activity in patients with IBD. The most common method for analysis of calprotectin concentration is ELISA. This method is time-consuming and many manufactures have therefore developed rapid tests as a faster alternative for quantification of calprotectin in stool.Aim The aim of the study was to evaluate one ELISA and one rapid test from the same manufacture compare the data with the existing ELISA-method used in the laboratory for routine analysis.Methods A rapid test (CalFast) and an ELISA method (CalPrest) from Eurospital, were used for analysis of calprotectin in stool. These two methods were compared with known concentrations of calprotectin obtained by the ELISA method from Buhlmann used in the routine work. Results The results showed poor correlation between the rapid test and the ELISA method. Furthermore, the comparison between the two ELISA-methods showed a poor correlation.Conclusion Evaluation of the two new methods showed poor correlation with the existing ELISA method from Buhlmann. Evaluation of the rapid test did not show any correlation with the two ELISA methods and the data cannot be trusted. It is difficult to conclude which of the two ELISA methods gives accurate results due to the absence of an international standard.


More affordable international travel, global trade and commerce, and the exporting of labor have all contributed to international population mobility. Furthermore, population migration leads to the incidence or recurrence of once-controlled diseases. Evidence shows that the popularity of travel can impact health through imported infections and illness. Imported cutaneous myiasis, a type of skin lesion, has attracted the attention of the current authors. This condition often occurs among travelers and it has been reported in several non-endemic countries. However, diagnosis of myiasis and identification of the larvae are difficult. Advances in molecular detection techniques could provide a new way to identify larvae. This study used sequencing of the 28S rRNA gene and morphology to identify the larva infesting the upper arm of a Chinese woman returning from Uganda. The larva was identified as Cordylobia anthropophaga (C. anthropophaga) and the sequences were submitted to GenBank (accession number: KM506761). As foreign interaction increases, imported health problems may become more common in China. Knowledge about various pathogens needs to be increased and molecular methods need to be used to accurately identify those pathogens.


Directory of Indonesianist is one of the reference collections that a library must provide.  Only a few libraries provide it. The second fact is the directory of Indonesianist is an old publication that never has a new version. This directory is printed material and limited edition, it makes the library-user difficult to find the Indonesianist data. Until this time, there is no one of directory of Indonesianist administered online. This research purposed to build an online web based directory of Indonesianist database by using SLiMS Cendana. This research has five steps: (1) preliminary investigation; (2) choosing the sample of Indonesianist data and publication using googlescholar, scholarometer and googlebooks; (3) studying SLiMS, (4) making a prototipe based on study about SLiMS in the previous step; (5) examination of the recall and precision of the "search engine"  of the directory of Indonesianist database that has been created. The making of the application uses prototyping method by modifying SLiMS, the process prototyping using flowchart and data flow diagram (DFD), and the data prototyping using entity relationship diagram (ERD). The Indonesianists data can be presented by name, domicile, social sciences, topics research, areas of research, background of education, research titles, titles of journals, and the office where Indonesianis worked. This reserach succeed to build an online database directory Indonesianists can used in accordance with library-user needs. Keyword : directory, Indonesianist, database, recall, precision, SLiMS cendana


At the end of the year 2008 the United States was in the midst of an economic storm. The country started going through its worst financial state since the Great Depression. Historically, transfer taxes were instated specifically to raise revenue during the country's financial time of need. The temporary repeal during the 2010 tax year occurred during a time when the country was experiencing an economic storm, a time when the country could least afford to forego the additional revenue. Consequently, the timing of the temporary repeal was in direct contradiction to the original purpose of the estate tax. While there is extensive literature on whether or not there should be an estate tax and using the estate tax to curtail wealth concentration, there is little discussion as to how tax policy has made the estate tax less effective as revenue generator and what reform should be made to reverse that phenomenon. Therefore, this paper proposes three specific methods to reforming the tax system to restore the estate tax as an effective supplemental revenue generator. First, an appropriate estate tax applicable exclusion amount and accompanying appropriate tax rates should be implemented. Specifically, the estate tax applicable exclusion amount should be reduced and the estate tax maximum rate should be increased based on the economic temperature of the country and curtailed when fiscal needs subside. Second, the gift tax applicable exclusion amount should be reduced and the accompanying rate should be reduced enough to provide a better incentive for the wealthy to make lifetime gifts. Finally, the currently unlimited estate tax charitable bequest deduction should be modified. Specifically, the charitable bequest deduction should be revised to model the charitable contribution limitation deduction set forth under the income tax rules and regulations. As such, the general rule should set the charitable bequest deduction limitation at fifty percent of the adjusted gross estate which is consistent with the charitable contribution deduction limitation for income taxation.Implementing these modifications would create a system that would foster the multiple purposes of the transfer tax system: generating revenue, curtailing wealth concentration, and incentivizing charitable giving such that harmony would be restored between these objectives without having to sacrifice the economic recovery of the country. By placing limitations on the charitable bequest deduction and reducing the applicable exclusion amount while raising the top marginal rate for the estate tax, revenue may well increase.


It is well recognised that the completion of an acute phase of cancer treatment may signal only a partial exiting from the sick role. The concepts of remission - whether complete (the presence of disease is no longer detectable although recurrence is possible) or partial (the disease is stable or in abeyance but signs of disease remain) - and of survivorship (living with and beyond cancer) reflect this complexity. The notion of recovery has received less attention in the sociological literature on cancer; exceptions include Winterling et al 2009. Leukaemia, including as it does both acute and chronic forms, offers an opportunity to explore recovery within diverse states of remission. The analysis presented here draws on an ESRC funded study of recovery (ES/K006037/1) involving secondary analysis of qualitative interview data from four datasets. The current paper focuses on the experiences of adults diagnosed with leukaemia (n=39) interviewed about their experiences by the Health Experiences Research Group, University of Oxford. The paper argues for the usefulness of exploring recovery in terms of the lived and located experiences of leukaemia patients on exiting - completely or partially - from the sick role and associated status. Analysis identified that recovery is multi-dimensional involving both 'recovery from' (…the disease, treatment, being seriously ill) and 'recovery of' (…previous routines, responsibilities and pleasures). Patients' expectations and experiences of recovery were located in relation to particular dimensions of identity and played out in diverse arena that included employment, physical activity, relationships and roles, (in)dependence and responsibility.


After the Enron debacle of 2001, UK companies and their auditors were hit by an avalanche of regulatory change surrounding financial reporting, auditing, corporate governance and enforcement. The changes enhanced the role of the UK Financial Reporting Council in a number of ways. Responsibility for the Auditing Practices Board was transferred to the FRC and its remit widened to include the setting of auditors' ethical standards in addition to auditing standards. The Professional Oversight Board was set up under the FRC with a mandate to inspect public interest audits via the newly formed Audit Inspection Unit (AIU) and publish findings. The Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) became proactive in reviewing public interest accounts. The UK Corporate Governance Code enhanced the role of the audit committee, particularly in relation to its interactions with auditors. In addition, for December 2005 year ends, UK-listed companies were required by EU regulation to prepare their group accounts under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and at the same time the APB decided to adopt International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). How did this impact on the way directors and auditors of UK domestically-listed companies interacted with each other to reach key financial reporting decisions? Our study, conducted between 2007-2008, surveyed finance directors, audit committee chairs and audit engagement partners. With the help of the 100 Group of Finance Directors and the 11 largest audit firms, we obtained 498 survey responses – a 36% overall response. We persuaded nine companies – representing a range of industry sectors, company sizes and audit firms (Big 4 and non-Big 4) – to tell us how the interaction and decision-making process actually worked between them. We eventually carried out 26 interviews as, at a late stage, one audit committee chair withdrew.


Eugenio Barba
Why a Theatre Laboratory? It  includes the programme of a three days' international symposium from October 4th through 6th 2004. This is the first initiative taken by the Centre for Theatre Laboratory Studies (CTLS), a newly inaugurated centre under Aarhus University in cooperation with Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium. Peripeti include articles on Stanislavski, Meyerhold, Copeau, Decroux, Grotowski, Peter Brook, Théâtre du Soleil, and Odin Teatret and the theatre laboratory praxis of these masters and inventors, including, of course, reflections on their function and effect. In the last article, Eugenio Barba reflects on the creative process of Odin Teatret over the last 40 years. In addition, we also include the curriculum vitae on those participating in the symposium.
The occasion of the symposium is to celebrate the 40th anniversary in October 2004 of Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium/Odin Teatret. Congratulations.


Pediatric dermatology is a newly emerging branch of dermatology dealing with pediatric dermatoses. It was "officially" born in 1972 when the first International Symposium of Pediatric Dermatology was held in Mexico City. Historically, in India, a well-established branch of medicine, Kaumarabhritya (pediatrics) exists since ancient times. The Unani and the Western system were introduced in the country in later days and enriched the medical system of the country. They served pediatric patients with their own methods. The activity to establish modern pediatric dermatology began in recent years. In the year 1996, the Indian Society for Pediatric Dermatology was formed to establish a platform for the further advancement of the subject. The Indian Journal of Pediatric Dermatology has served the purpose of publishing modern research on pediatric dermatology in India and abroad since 1998. The present article is a review of history and evolution of pediatric dermatology in India since ancient time.


Markov chains offer a rigorous mathematical framework to describe systems that exhibit stochastic behaviour, as they are supported by a plethora of methodologies to analyse their properties. Stochastic process algebras are high-level formalisms, where systems are represented as collections of interacting components. This compositional approach to modelling allows us to describe complex Markov chains using a compact high-level specification. There is an increasing need to investigate the properties of complex systems, not only in the field of computer science, but also in computational biology. To explore the stochastic properties of large Markov chains is a demanding task in terms of computational resources. Approximating the stochastic properties can be an effective way to deal with the complexity of large models. In this thesis, we investigate methodologies to approximate the stochastic behaviour of Markovian process algebra models. The discussion revolves around two main topics: approximate state-space aggregation and stochastic simulation. Although these topics are different in nature, they are both motivated by the need to efficiently handle complex systems. Approximate Markov chain aggregation constitutes the formulation of a smaller Markov chain that approximates the behaviour of the original model. The principal hypothesis is that states that can be characterised as equivalent can be adequately represented as a single state. We discuss different notions of approximate state equivalence, and how each of these can be used as a criterion to partition the state-space accordingly. Nevertheless, approximate aggregation methods typically require an explicit representation of the transition matrix, a fact that renders them impractical for large models. We propose a compositional approach to aggregation, as a means to efficiently approximate complex Markov models that are defined in a process algebra specification, PEPA in particular. Regarding our contributions to Markov chain simulation, we propose an accelerated method that can be characterised as almost exact, in the sense that it can be arbitrarily precise. We discuss how it is possible to sample from the trajectory space rather than the transition space. This approach requires fewer random samples than a typical simulation algorithm. Most importantly, our approach does not rely on particular assumptions with respect to the model properties, in contrast to otherwise more efficient approaches.


The DNA of all eukaryotes is packaged into chromatin, which is composed largely of histone proteins. Covalent modifications of the tails of these proteins play an important role both in chromosome organization and in the specific regulation of individual genes. Litt et al. and Noma et al. show that methylation of Lys4 in the amino-terminal tail of histone H3 is specific to euchromatic domains (where genes are generally active) and methylation of H3 Lys9 is specific to heterochromatic domains of chromatin (where genes are generally inactive). Inverted repeats flanking the heterochromatin act as boundary elements and prevent its spread into the surrounding euchromatic regions. At the level of individual genes, Lo et al. show that phosphorylation of Ser10 on histone H3 by Snf1 kinase facilitates acetylation of Lys14 by Gcn5 (but not vice versa), and that both are needed for the activation of the INO1 gene in vivo. M. D. Litt, M. Simpson, M. Gaszner, C. D. Allis, G. Felsenfeld, Correlation between histone lysine methylation and developmental changes at the chicken β-globin locus. Science 293, 2453-2455 (2001). [Abstract] [Full Text] K. Noma, C. D. Allis, S. I. S. Grewal, Transitions in distinct histone H3 methylation patterns at the heterochromatin domain boundaries. Science 293, 1150-1155 (2001). [Abstract] [Full Text] W.-S. Lo, L. Duggan, N. C. Tolga Emre, R. Belotserkovskya, W. S. Lane, R. Shiekhattar, S. L. Berger, Snf1--a histone kinase that works in concert with the histone acetyltransferase Gcn5 to regulate transcription. Science 293, 1142-1146 (2001). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Sand Goby is an important species of inland cage culture.
Sand Goby has the highest average price among all the fishes.
Productivity of Sand Goby cage culture seems low compared to its
potential. The main focus of this study is to find ways to
increase productivity of Sand Goby cage culture which could reduce
per unit cost of production, leading to increased profit.
A restricted profit function is employed to estimate jointly
the profit and factor demand functions using farm-level data. The
relative economic efficiency (included technical and price
efficiency) between small and large farms, between farmers with
experience more than mean and farmers with experience less than or
equal to the mean were studies. The effect of province on economic efficiency is also analysed. The Cobb-Douglas normalized
restricted profit function is specified as a function of three
normalized variables (labour, fingerling and feeds), two
quantities of fixed inputs (capital and volume of cages) and three
durrmy variables (large farms, farmers with experience more than
the mean and farms in Lopburi province).
The results indicate that Sand Goby farmers maximize short term
prof its and respond to price changes efficiently. There is
constant returns to scale in the use of inputs. Farmers with
experience more than the mean have higher economic efficiency
compared to the farmers with experience less than the mean.
Farmers in Lopburi also has higher economic efficiency compared to
farmers in Phranakhon Sriayutthaya. There is no significant
difference in economic efficiency between large and small farms.
The supply elasticity of Sand Goby with respect to its own price
is the highest compared to other supply elasticities.
It is recommended that Sand Goby cage culture be encouraged
further in Lopburi province. Consolidation of small farms into
larger-sized units would not be desirable. Furthermore, since the
price of Sand Goby is the most effective in terms of affecting
changes in output supply and factor demand, the price of Sand Goby
would be the most powerful policy instrument available.


The European Commission adopted a Communication which sets out an ambitious policy approach to halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010. In particular, it provides an EU Action Plan which proposed concrete measures and outlines the responsibilities of EU institutions and Member States, respectively. It also specifies indicators to monitor progress, and a timetable for evaluations. It spells out what needs to be done to halt biodiversity loss in the EU and to meet the international commitments to reduce biodiversity loss worldwide. It also creates an advisory mechanism to help decision-makers make better use of existing knowledge.


Abstract This paper deals with a new foam material containing polysytrene and its oxirane derivative. A monomer, 4-vinylphenyloxirane (M1), was prepared from 4-chlorostyrene. Polystyrene-based copolymers using styrene and M1 were prepared by free radical copolymerization using azo-bis(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) as an initiator. The solutions of the obtained polystyrene-based copolymers in 4-chlorotoluene were gelated by the addition of a cationic initiator, which caused crosslinking via ring-opening polymerization of the pendant cyclic moieties. SEM images of the dried gel show various foam structures. The formation mechanism of the micro- and nano-structure was explained from the view point of the affinity of the monomer unit and the solvent. The homopolymer of 4-vinyphenylolxirane showed the finest and most uniform structure.


Interdisciplinary research efforts have started focusing on the development of multiscale models and development of designer multiscale surfaces exhibiting specific properties at different scales for a specific purpose. With the rapid evolution of these new engineered surfaces for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), microfluidics, etc., there is a strong need for developing tools to measure and characterize these surfaces at different scales. In order to obtain all meaningful details of the surface at various required scales, one is left with the only option of measuring the surface using multiple technologies using a combination of instruments. The majority of hardware-based approaches focus on the development of systems housing multiple technologies/capabilities into a single frame. These systems enable the user to obtain different surface maps using various technologies, but the user does not readily have the ability to combine all the obtained data into one single dataset. The effective approach toward multiscale measurement and characterization would be to use the individual measurement tools and finding a method to relate the individual coordinate systems and use an offline virtual tool to unify, manipulate, segment, merge, and retrieve data. Shape primitives and focus-based fusion strategies cannot be used as every data point in the data sets under consideration has to be treated as essentially at optimal focus. A multiscale data fusion strategy results in edge effects on nonplanar and high aspect ratio surfaces. An optimized fusion strategy, the "FWR method," for the surface metrology domain is proposed where the subimages obtained from discrete wavelet frame (DWF) were separated into three regimes—form, waviness, and roughness—and fusion was not performed on subimages in the form regime. This approach effectively eliminates the edge effects. Individual data-point-level fusion was successfully demonstrated on Fresnel microlens array surface data as a case study of a nondirectional engineered surface with high aspect ratio.


In 2015 the rights to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf falls into the public domain. The current copyright holder is the Bavarian state, owners of Hitler's estate as part of the Allies' de-Nazification program in 1945. While Nazi regalia such as the Swastika are outlawed in Germany under the postwar constitution, Mein Kampf was subject to a 70-year copyright lodged with the state authorities where the book was written. The Bavarian Finance Ministry aim to "pass the baton on" and achieve some means of banning the book in perpetuity, once copyright expires in 2015. However, the ambition to ban the book completely has caused some historians to object in the name of academic practice. And their arguments have received public support by Bavarian state education minister who urges a republication of the book in an annotated scholarly version. The transferral of copyright from Hitler to the Bavarian state is an interesting example of the way copyright as a private right can be used by the state as a means of enforcing censorship. Furthermore the censorship-copyright issue reflects the intellectual and political historical background for the inception of copyright as a means of controlling speech. And finally the discussion on Mein Kampf examines the dark sides of cultural heritage in light of EU's current cultural heritage digitization efforts in the name of access to common European cultural history.


Abstract. Ice shelves control the dynamic mass loss of ice sheets through buttressing and their integrity depends on the spatial variability of their basal mass balance (BMB), i.e. the difference between refreezing and melting. Here, we present an improved technique – based on satellite observations – to capture the small-scale variability in the BMB of ice shelves. As a case study, we apply the methodology to the Roi Baudouin Ice Shelf, Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, and derive its yearly averaged BMB at 10 m horizontal gridding. We use mass conservation in a Lagrangian framework based on high-resolution surface velocities, atmospheric-model surface mass balance and hydrostatic ice-thickness fields (derived from TanDEM-X surface elevation). Spatial derivatives are implemented using the total-variation differentiation, which preserves abrupt changes in flow velocities and their spatial gradients. Such changes may reflect a dynamic response to localized basal melting and should be included in the mass budget. Our BMB field exhibits much spatial detail and ranges from −14.7 to 8.6 m a−1 ice equivalent. Highest melt rates are found close to the grounding line where the pressure melting point is high, and the ice shelf slope is steep. The BMB field agrees well with on-site measurements from phase-sensitive radar, although independent radar profiling indicates unresolved spatial variations in firn density. We show that an elliptical surface depression (10 m deep and with an extent of 0.7 km × 1.3 km) lowers by 0.5 to 1.4 m a−1, which we tentatively attribute to a transient adaptation to hydrostatic equilibrium. We find evidence for elevated melting beneath ice shelf channels (with melting being concentrated on the channel's flanks). However, farther downstream from the grounding line, the majority of ice shelf channels advect passively (i.e. no melting nor refreezing) toward the ice shelf front. Although the absolute, satellite-based BMB values remain uncertain, we have high confidence in the spatial variability on sub-kilometre scales. This study highlights expected challenges for a full coupling between ice and ocean models.


[1] Within northern peatlands, ebullition is potentially an important mechanism for the transport of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere. We applied electrical imaging to characterize the buildup and ebullition of biogenic gas bubbles in a spatially explicit manner. Ebullition events were monitored from a range of different peat types, with and without a vascular plant cover, under different meteorological conditions. Weekly changes in bulk electrical conductivity (σ) were analyzed, during which variations in pore water conductivity had only a small effect on σ. Bulk ebullition losses from the peat cores were independently measured using Mariotte regulators. The largest ebullition events were found to be spatially diffuse: the gas was released from a large volume of peat. We used a measure of the roughness of the electrical images to characterize the magnitude of gas bubble movement within each peat core. Our results show that small variations in air temperatures of 3°C and variations in peat type between different microhabitats have a statistically significant influence on gas bubble dynamics.


Trends like the Cloud, Internet of Things and 5G are pushing for an increase in connectivity, but, introducing a new type of network in an industrial distributed control system is a big investment with high risks. Time to market with sufficient quality is crucial. However, when getting through the Research and Development (R&D) phases, a lot of time is spent on isolated activates, e.g., simulations, collecting requirements, design, coding, debugging, creating testbeds, and performing various tests. Therefore, there is a need to improve efficiency when moving between the R&D phases. For verification and validation of communication software, the most common network evaluation method in industry are real testbeds, mostly since a testbed can be very similar to the deployed system. Testbeds are, however, hard to debug and costly to maintain. Other network evaluation methods like simulators, have some strengths that testbeds are lacking, like repeatability, control over the network, and lower cost. However, code from simulators can seldom be reused, especially in industrial time-sensitive target systems, due to different abstraction levels, run-time behavior and system timing. This paper presents findings from a case study that targets improved efficiency, getting from research theories, to deployed devices in a homogeneous Industrial Wireless Sensor and Actuator Network (IWSAN). We propose a small subset of network simulators features which eases changeability, reuse, and debugging of communication software. The selected simulator features are evaluated with a proof of concept implementation that is customized to a research platform. The findings indicate improved efficiency when moving back and forth between activities in different R&D phases.


Nigerian law libraries, despite the intervention of Council of Legal education, are still not endowed with every resource needed to satisfy information needs of diverse users. This is coupled with the fact that Nigerian universities are still struggling to manage insufficient funds normally received from government. Resource sharing as a means through which organisations interchange and share their meagre resources for the good of many is supposed to be a way out for Nigerian law libraries who would have to prepare their students and members of legal profession for their law program, mock and moot trials, clinical legal education or other practical education. However, it has not been documented that there is an organised resource sharing practise carried out in Nigeria among law libraries. The study investigated the practicality of resource sharing among academic law libraries bearing in mind the immense benefit it provides to education and learning. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The population consisted of 19 law librarians from Universities that attended 2017 law librarians' conference in Nigerian Law School Abuja. Questionnaire was used to collect data. Due to the small population of law librarians, all the population was used for the survey; only 14 questionnaires were returned.  Mean and standard deviation were used with a likert point scale to determine positive (2.50 and above) and negative (2.49 and below). Research questions were analysed using frequency count, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The results revealed that there was no formal practice of resource sharing among the participating law libraries. Law librarians informally share their knowledge on personal basis with their colleagues. Law libraries are supported financially by University Libraries and other organisations; and law librarians that participated understand resource sharing despite the fact that it is not practised by their libraries. There is also no written policy on resource sharing among the libraries that participated in the survey. The study concluded that there is no application of resource sharing among academic law libraries in Nigeria. The study recommended that Council of Legal Education as the overseeing body in legal education should initiate resource sharing practice among academic law libraries as this would provide ease of access to vast academic resource and ensure constant skills development among law librarians in Nigeria.

 Key words: Resource sharing, law libraries, collaboration, communities of practice, legal education.


Here we explore the spatial, temporal and phylogenetic patterns of ecological diversification for the entire clade of thelodonts, one of the earliest groups of vertebrates and longest lasting of the Palaeozoic agnathans in the fossil record. Parsimony and maximum‐likelihood methods are used to reconstruct ancestral states of their geographical distributions, habitats and lifestyles. Our results support the concept that thelodonts originated during the Middle?–Late Ordovician probably in marine open waters of Laurasia, with a demersal lifestyle on hard substrates being the ancestral condition for the whole clade. Later, thelodonts underwent a complex ecological diversification and palaeobiogeographical history, comparable in many aspects to those of some major groups of living fishes. Different modes of life evolved repeatedly and a wide range of habitats were colonized by distinct groups, including deep waters and brackish marine and/or freshwater environments. Diadromous strategies presumably appeared on nine different occasions. The palaeobiogeographical history of thelodonts reveals significant differences in the dispersal potential of some major groups. Dispersal of thelodontiforms entailed displacements over long distances and the crossing of deep‐water biogeographical barriers, whereas those of furcacaudiforms were always limited to areas interconnected by shallow platforms. We propose that the evolution of pelagic larval stages in thelodontiforms might explain this biogeographical pattern and could satisfactorily account for the greater evolutionary success of this group.


Abstract Stomata perform important functions in plant photosynthesis, respiration, gas exchange, and interactions with environments. However, tea plant stomata development and functions are not known. Here, we show morphological changes during stomata development and genetic dissection of stomata lineage genes regulating stomata formation in tea developing leaves. Different tea plant cultivars displayed clear variations in the stomata development rate, density and size, which are closely related to their tolerance against dehydration capabilities. Whole sets of stomata lineage genes were identified to display predicted functions in regulating stomatal development and formation. The stomata development and lineage genes were tightly regulated by light intensities and high or low temperature stresses, which affected stomata density and function. Furthermore, lower stomatal density and larger size were observed in triploid tea varieties as compared to those in diploid plant. Key stomata lineage genes such as CsSPCHs, CsSCRM, and CsFAMA showed much lower expression levels, whereas negative regulators CsEPF1 and CsYODAs had higher expression levels in triploid than in diploid tea varieties. Our study provides new insight into tea plant stomatal morphological development and the genetic regulatory mechanisms on stomata development under abiotic stresses and genetic backgrounds. The study lays a foundation for future exploring of the genetic improvement of water use efficiency in tea plants for living up to the challenge of global climate change.


Professional communication is essential in health care to ensure that all health care professionals who are caring for the same patient share the same information, and that any potential problems associated with their care are resolved. In relation to medication, this means that information on all medicines (both prescribed and over the counter) used by the patient should be available, including dosages, formulations, indications, contra-indications, and allergies. Correct information on medication is vital when prescribing new medications (in order to avoid duplication, contraindicated medication, or drug-drug interactions) and when diagnosing diseases (symptoms may be caused by adverse drug reactions [ADRs] rather than an underlying disease).


We present a general, rigorous, modal formalism for modeling light propagation and light emission in three-dimensional (3D) periodic waveguides and in aggregates of them. In essence, the formalism is a generalization of well-known modal concepts for translation-invariant waveguides to situations involving stacks of periodic waveguides. By surrounding the actual stack by perfectly-matched layers (PMLs) in the transverse directions, reciprocity considerations lead to the derivation of Bloch-mode orthogonality relations in the sense of E x H products, to the normalization of these modes, and to the proof of the symmetrical property of the scattering matrix linking the Bloch modes. The general formalism, which rigorously takes into account radiation losses resulting from the excitation of radiation Bloch modes, is implemented with a Fourier numerical approach. Basic examples of light scattering like reflection, transmission and emission in periodic-waveguides are accurately resolved.


Although the benefits of cloud computing are well known, safety concerns have received less attention (Rash, 2009). This review of selected literature, published between 2007 and 2009, identifies key IT-related cloud computing risks that should be considered by security practitioners. Three types of cloud computing risks are examined: policy and organizational, technical, and legal. Risk mitigation strategies are also explored, and include audit controls, policies and procedures, service level agreements, and other forms of governance. Cloud Computing Risks 4 Cloud Computing Risks 5


of Dissertation RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ANIMAL TEMPERAMENT AND SYSTEMIC IMMUNE RESPONSES IN BEEF CATTLE EXPOSED TO CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH CONVENTIONAL MANAGEMENT Measures of temperament have been shown to influence physiological responses. Exit velocity (EV) has been identified as an objective, robust measure of temperament that can be used to predict subsequent performance of cattle. Additionally, previous studies from our lab indicate this measure of temperament may be related to production of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), a cytokine associated with cell-mediated immunity (CMI). Whereas research has investigated effects of EV upon immune responses, the overall goal of these studies was to examine this relationship under a variety of scenarios including human handling, transportation, and exposure to endophyte-infected tall fescue (E+) for determination of its ability to influence CMI in cattle. In each of 5 experiments, calves were classified as either high or low EV animals, based upon measurements obtained prior to initiation of experimental periods. The hypothesis for these studies was that calves with high exit velocities would have lower systemic immune responses to applied treatments. Two experiments were designed to examine the relationship between exit velocity and lymphocyte IFN-γ production during and following a period of exposure to E+ seed and increased temperature humidity index conditions. Preliminary measures of this cytokine indicated a positive relationship with EV. During application of heat and E+ treatment application, no differences in IFN-γ production were detected between EV or endophyte treatment groups. However, in both experiments, after temperatures were returned to thermoneutral and E+ heifers were placed on the endophyte-free treatment, the positive relationship between exit velocity and total lymphocyte production of IFN-γ observed in baseline samples was reestablished. Similarly, during an experiment examining IFN-γ production by lymphocytes in steers during the 4 weeks following a 10h, 805 km transport study, average lymphocyte production of IFN-γ was higher and lymphocyte proportions producing IFN-γ lower in low EV steers, but total lymphocyte production of this cytokine did not differ between exit velocity treatments. In a grazing and finishing study, cattle were placed on E+ or novel endophyte pastures, with balanced representation of low and high EV treatments within each pasture. During the subsequent finishing period, blood samples for lymphocyte IFN-γ production were collected from a single high EV calf from each pasture group. Neither endophyte nor exit velocity was detected to be related with lymphocyte production of IFN-γ. In an experiment examining changes in cytokine gene expression changes during acclimation to human handling, IFN-γ, Il-6, IL-10, and IL-12 were observed to increase linearly over the experimental period in all calves, irrespective of exit velocity designation. In the same experiment, whole period pro-inflammatory tumor necrosis factor-α expression was higher for high EV calves, but interferon-γ (IFNγ) was lower in this same treatment group. These studies, cumulatively, indicate EV may be related to systemic production of IFN-γ, but abrupt changes to an animal's environment may serve to mask this relationship.


Defects of the meniscus greatly alter knee function and predispose the joint to degenerative changes. The purpose of this study was to test a recently developed cell-scaffold combination for the repair of a critical-size defect of the rabbit medial meniscus. A bilateral, complete resection of the pars intermedia of the medial meniscus was performed in 18 New Zealand White rabbits. A hyaluronan/gelatin composite scaffold was implanted into the defect of one knee of 6 rabbits and the contralateral defect was left untreated. Scaffolds loaded with autologous marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and cultured in a chondrogenic medium for 14 days were implanted in a second series of 12 rabbits. Empty scaffolds were implanted in the contralateral knees. Meniscii were harvested at 12 weeks. Untreated defects had a muted fibrous healing response. Defects treated with cell-free implants showed also predominantly fibrous tissue whereas fibrocartilage was present in some scaffolds. The cross-sectional width of the repair tissue after treatment with cell-free scaffolds was significantly greater than controls (p < 0.05). Pre-cultured implants integrated with the host tissue and 8 of 11 contained meniscus-like fibrocartilage, compared with 2 of 11 controls (p < 0.03). The mean cross-sectional width of the pre-cultured implant repair tissue was greater than controls (p < 0.004). This study demonstrates the repair of a critical size meniscal defect with a stem cell and scaffold based tissue engineering approach.


OBJECTIVE: The use of virtual
reality (VR) for pain has numerous studies
showing effectiveness. However, there has
been limited study of its use for chronic
pain. METHODOLGY: This pilot study
(N=10) investigated the impact of repeated
sessions of a VR application for chronic
pain on ten subjects. Impact on pain as
well as on psychological variables such as
depression, anxiety, catastrophizing, and
sense of control over pain was assessed.
Subjects underwent three twenty minute
sessions of the VR application Cool! on a
weekly basis using an Oculus Rift or Vive.
The impact of the sessions on pain was
assessed at four intervals and
psychological data captured at two
intervals. RESULTS: Results indicate that
the VR sessions provided significant pain
relief in all treatment sessions with an
average of a 66% reduction in pain during
the VR session and a 45% reduction in
pain immediately after the session. A
decrease in pain was reported to last an
average of 30 hours after the session.
There appeared to be limited if any impact
of the VR intervention on chronic pain
levels across time. There was no significant
impact found for the VR intervention on
depression, anxiety, catastrophizing and
sense of control over pain.
CONCLUSION: Implications for the use
of VR on chronic pain conditions are
discussed. More frequent VR
interventions for chronic pain may be
needed to impact pain across time. In
addition, VR applications might not be
used as an interventional-type in-office
treatment as done here but perhaps need
to have a skill teaching component or be an
application available for in-home and
more frequent use.


We extend the model predictive control (MPC) framework, which is a very popular controller design method in the process industry, to transfer coordination in railway systems. In fact, the proposed approach can also be used for other systems with both hard and soft synchronization constraints, such as logistic operations. The main aim of the control is to recover from delays in an optimal way by breaking connections (at a cost). In general, the MPC control design problem for railway systems leads to a nonlinear non-convex optimization problem. We show that the optimal MPC strategy can also be computed using an extended linear complementarity problem. Furthermore, we present an extension with an extra degree of freedom to recover from delays by letting some trains run faster than usual (again at a cost). The resulting extended MPC railway problem can also be solved using an extended linear complementarity problem.


Among anonymity systems, DC-nets have long held attraction for their resistance to traffic analysis attacks, but practical implementations remain vulnerable to internal disruption or "jamming" attacks, which require time-consuming detection procedures to resolve. We present Verdict, the first practical anonymous group communication system built using proactively verifiable DC-nets: participants use public-key cryptography to construct DC-net ciphertexts, and use zero-knowledge proofs of knowledge to detect and exclude misbehavior before disruption. We compare three alternative constructions for verifiable DC-nets: one using bilinear maps and two based on simpler ElGamal encryption. While verifiable DC-nets incur higher computational overheads due to the public-key cryptography involved, our experiments suggest that Verdict is practical for anonymous group messaging or microblogging applications, supporting groups of 100 clients at 1 second per round or 1000 clients at 10 seconds per round. Furthermore, we show how existing symmetric-key DC-nets can "fall back" to a verifiable DC-net to quickly identify misbehavior, speeding up previous detections schemes by two orders of magnitude.


We developed an analytical solution for solute transport under steady‐state, two‐dimensional, unsaturated flow and transport conditions for the investigation of high‐level radioactive waste disposal. The two‐dimensional, unsaturated flow problem is treated using the quasilinear flow method for a system with homogeneous material properties. Dispersion is modeled as isotropic and is proportional to the effective hydraulic conductivity. This leads to a quasilinear form for the transport problem in terms of a scalar potential that is analogous to the Kirchhoff potential for quasilinear flow. The solutions for both flow and transport scalar potentials take the form of Fourier series. The particular solution given here is for two sources of flow, with one source containing a dissolved solute. The solution method may easily be extended, however, for any combination of flow and solute sources under steady‐state conditions. The analytical results for multidimensional solute transport problems, which previously could only be solved numerically, also offer an additional way to benchmark numerical solutions.


Policy Country Kenya [10] Level National Summary The National Land Policy (NLP) has a vision to guide the country towards a sustainable and equitable use of land. The land policy calls for immediate actions to addressing environmental problems that affect land such as degradation, soil erosion and pollution. For instance, the policy stipulates the principle of conservation and management of land based natural resources, the principle of protection and management of fragile and critical ecosystems including wetlands and arid lands. The policy further calls for extensive overhauls to current policies and institutions in an attempt to address chronic land tenure insecurity and inequity. The National Land Policy designates all land in Kenya as public, private (freehold or leasehold tenure), or community/trust land, which is held, managed and used by a specific community. This land policy has thus been formulated to address the critical issues of land administration, access to land, land use planning, restitution of historical injustices, environmental degradation, conflicts, unplanned proliferation of informal urban settlements, outdated legal framework, institutional framework and information management.


The functional morphology and evolution of the superficial forearm flexor, the palmaris longus, have long fascinated kinesiologists, physical anthropologists and anatomists alike. The anomalies, agenesis, variations and polymorphic presentation of the muscle, coupled with its biomechanical role in the performance of flexion and supination through distal articulations in the upper limb, have formed the base for many studies found in medical literature. We present data from published sources, along with our observations on the kinetics of palmaris longus, drawn from a series of dissections done on 30 cadavers. Complete agenesis was seen in four limbs. Reversal in the muscle-tendon orientation was seen in two limbs and duplication in one limb. The functional dynamics of the muscle and the clinical implication of its modifications in humans are discussed. We believe that every surgeon must be aware of the variations, since this, otherwise unimportant muscle, provides a very useful graft in tendon surgery.


The identification of non-linear systems using only observed finite datasets has become a mature research area over the last two decades. A class of linear-in-the-parameter models with universal approximation capabilities have been intensively studied and widely used due to the availability of many linear-learning algorithms and their inherent convergence conditions. This article presents a systematic overview of basic research on model selection approaches for linear-in-the-parameter models. One of the fundamental problems in non-linear system identification is to find the minimal model with the best model generalisation performance from observational data only. The important concepts in achieving good model generalisation used in various non-linear system-identification algorithms are first reviewed, including Bayesian parameter regularisation and models selective criteria based on the cross validation and experimental design. A significant advance in machine learning has been the development of the support vector machine as a means for identifying kernel models based on the structural risk minimisation principle. The developments on the convex optimisation-based model construction algorithms including the support vector regression algorithms are outlined. Input selection algorithms and on-line system identification algorithms are also included in this review. Finally, some industrial applications of non-linear models are discussed.


SEPA – Single European Payments Area is a project that has been running since 2002 in the European Economic Area (hereinafter "EEA") and Switzerland and concerns the rationalisation of domestic and cross-border payments services. It has been implemented by banks and other entities, providing the service of domestic and cross-border payments, and it is used by entities who are clients of the stated institutions. This paper will use the method of induction and analysis to point out the potential consequences of its implementation for the segment of small and medium-sized enterprises (hereinafter "SMEs") in the Czech Republic (hereinafter "the CR"). A hypothesis was formed, based on an assumption that "wide-spread application of the SEPA project will simplify, and make cheaper, cross-national payments in particular for the SME segment in the long term".


S kým korespondoval Bedrich Smetana/Bedrich Smetana's Correspondents/Mit wem korrespondierte Bedrich Smetana. By Olga Mojzisova and Milan Pospisil. Prague: Narodni muzeum, 2009. [lvi, 134 p. ISBN 9788070362587. 120 Kc.] Illustrations, index. Bedrich Smetana a jeho korespondence/ and His Correspondence. By Olga Mojzisova and Milan Pospisil. Prague: Narodni muzeum, 2011. [lvii, 478 p. ISBN 9788070363065. 490 Kc.] Illustrations, bibliography, indexes. Both of these books contain catalogues; the first comprehensively lists the individuals with whom Smetana corresponded, and the second, the details of Smetana's sent and received letters. Neither includes actual reproductions of Smetana's letters, but instead are part of a much anticipated, larger project that aims to produce a critical edition of the composer's correspondence. Scholars attempted to organize such collections from the end of the nineteenth century onward, but their publications generally focused on listing the letters, rather than transcribing them (see, for example, Mirko Ocadlik, "Soupis dopisu° Bedricha Smetany" ["An Inventory of Bedrich Smetana's Letters"], Miscellanea musicologica 15 [1960]: 1-134). Additionally, the most recent, "popularizing" anthology (as Mojzisova and Pospisil aptly describe it in their 2011 publication, p. xxiv) is Frantisek Bartos's Smetana ve vzpominkach a dopisech [Smetana in Reminiscences and Letters] (Prague: Topicova edice, 1939), now already over seventy years old. Bartos's collection is especially problematic for Englishspeakers, because it remains the only anthology of Smetana's letters available in translation (Bedrich Smetana: Letters and Reminiscences, trans. Daphne Rusbridge [Prague: Artia, 1955]). Now, however, Mojzisova and Pospisil have gained funding through the Czech National Museum's "Leading Figures in Czech Sciences and Culture" program to assess materials held in the museum's subsidiary Bedrich Smetana and Czech Music divisions. These materials, in addition to those held in foreign institutions and by private owners, amount to over 2,200 pieces (and counting; see the authors' 2011 publication under review here, p. xiv). In their Bedrich Smetana's Correspondents and Bedrich Smetana and His Correspondence, Mojzisova and Pospisil aim to provide valuable tools for negotiating the breadth of this collection. Bedrich Smetana's Correspondents is comprised of two indexes; the first lists the individuals with whom Smetana communicated (592 listings), and the second, the institutions (266 listings). A third index also details the locations to and from which Smetana sent correspondence (213 listings). Each entry within these indexes includes a concise, practical description of a party or location as well as a description of the relation to Smetana. The entry for Franz Liszt, for example, briefly acknowledges his work as a composer, pianist, and pedagogue before listing the instances in which Smetana interacted with him, either by letter or in person (p. 31). The entry for the city of Litomysl, where Smetana was born, locates it within the district of Svitavy and in the Pardubice region before listing the residents and organizations with whom Smetana exchanged correspondence (p. 106). The catalog's greatest strength is that it makes available information concerning less prominent figures in Smetana's biography (composer Josef Drahorad on p. 10, for example), but its weakness (for English-speaking audiences) is that the indexes are listed entirely in Czech. The book's front matter is translated into both English and German, however, and includes an overview of Smetana's letters as well as graphs illustrating the current state of the collection and the frequency of Smetana's correspondence. The whole of Mojzisova and Pospisil's Bedrich Smetana and His Correspondence, which offers a comprehensive record of Smetana's known letters, is provided in both Czech and English. As the authors explain in their introduction, they aimed in this catalogue to provide a "final, partial insight into the whole of Smetana's correspondence" (p. …


This article focuses on the education reforms of the current government of Michelle Bachelet (Chile, 2014-2018) triggered by the large student protests of 2011 – the "Chilean winter" – and the overwhelming support of the public for the movement's demands. The students' main demands included free education and a greater involvement of the state in education. The parties of the centre-left alliance, then the opposition, embraced these demands and promised broad educational reforms including free post-secondary education. After the center-left coalition (Nueva Mayoría, New Majority) won the presidential election it introduced three major education bills: the "short law" of free education, the creation of two new public universities and fifteen Centers of Technical Formation, and the reform of higher education's regulatory framework (still under discussion in parliament). While these bills are aimed at increasing the state's role in higher education, they fall far short of the students' aspirations. In fact, as implemented the bill have consolidated a mixed public-private higher education model resting on a vision of post-secondary education as a marketplace in which institutions compete for students, subsidies and funding. The conclusion discusses the inherent limitations of these reforms, especially how the weakness of the welfare coalition made it impossible to transform the students' demands into sustainable higher education policy.


[About the book]

This well-received criminology textbook, now in its third edition, argues that crime must be understood as both a social and a political phenomenon. Using this lens, Marginality and Condemnation contends that what is defined as criminal, how we respond to "crime" and why individuals behave in anti-social ways are often the result of individual and systemic social inequalities and disparities in power.

Beginning with an overview of criminological discourse, mainstream approaches and new directions in criminological theory, the book is then divided into sections, based on key social inequalities of class, gender, race and age, each of which begins with an outline of the general issues for understanding crime and an introduction that guides readers through the empirical chapters that follow. The studies provide insights into general issues in criminology, ranging from the historical and current nature of crime and criminal justice to the various responses to criminality. Readers are encouraged and challenged to understand crime and justice through concrete analyses rather than abstract argumentation.

In addition to a new introductory chapter that confronts how we define crime, measure crime, and understand and use criminology in this millennium, the third edition provides new chapters examining crime in relation to the environment, terrorism, masculinity, children and youth, and Aboriginal gangs and the legacy of colonialism.


Scaling is the precipitation of a mineral layer on a surface. Sparingly soluble salts with inverse solubility, which calcium carbonate exhibits, will prefer precipitation at heated surfaces, making heat exchangers a target for scale formation. A continuous setup was used to study scale formation, the nature of the scale formed and scaling rate. An internally heated U-shaped tube was inserted into a continuously stirred tank, giving the same conditions for all scaling points. The experimental setup allowed the supersaturation to be constant throughout the experiment. An onset of scale formation was found around Scalcite~4.5 for a tube surface temperature of 90°C. The surface was first covered with an introductory scale layer before outward directed dendritic growth took place. The deposited mass increased by 35% when the temperature of the heated tube was increased from 50°C to 90°C. At tube temperature 50°C, 43% calcite and 56% aragonite was formed. As temperature was increased to 70°C and above, more than 97% of the scale layer was aragonite. Less vaterite than predicted by literature was found. Increasing the supersaturation increased the amount of scale formed. A linear relationship between supersaturation and deposited mass was identified. However, this is not expected to be valid for all ranges of supersaturations due to the correlation between growth mechanisms and supersaturation. Increasing the bulk temperature when the tube temperature was constant had little impact on the deposited mass, but changed the morphology towards a more porous and fragile structure. Extensive bulk nucleation occurred at high supersaturations. The effective steady state supersaturation in close vicinity to the heated surface was reduced from the initial by almost 130% for the high supersaturation, compared to 35% for the lower. This points towards a threshold in supersaturation; above this, bulk nucleation will consume most of the excessive supersaturation introduced to the system. Scale growth rate for aragonite at high supersaturation (S=20) was experimentally determined to the range of 1.2E-5 and 1.6E-5 kg/m2s. For the lower supersaturation (S=6), a constant scale growth rate of 3.5E-6 kg/m2s was found. By assuming a density of the scale layer, linear growth rates of ~22 nm/s and 5 nm/s for S=20 and S=6 respectively, were obtained. These were compared to linear growth rates of aragonite from batch experiments. The morphology and polymorphism of the scale being was investigated by Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively.


Abstract In retrospect of a century, the philosophical and theological concepts of Franz Rosenzweig's New Thinking, as developed in the Star of Redemption, are in many aspects a milestone in modernity, reflecting the crisis of the modern Jew and Judaism both historically and politically. The notion of redemption serves here in fact as a paradigm for modernity itself, where the individual attempts to position himself in the tension between religion and secularism, tradition and modernity. This contribution analyses Rosenzweig's "Jewish journey of redemption", not only from the perspective of Jewish Messianism, but in the context of modern Jewish thought as a cultural critique (Kulturkritik) in Western tradition, in its philosophical, theological, historical and political aspects.


Between 1980 and 1986, 101 nondissecting thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAAs) were repaired at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Overall mortality was 15% with a 9.6% mortality for elective repair. Nonfatal complications occurred in 44% of patients and included myocardial infarction in 9%, paraplegia in 5%, and renal failure in 4%. In an attempt to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with TAAA repair, one of our vascular surgical services set up a routine protocol of preoperative evaluation, standardized operative technique, and specific guidelines for perioperative management. Fifty-five of the 101 patients underwent elective repair on this service without the use of shunts or bypass. Mortality was reduced to 1.8% and the rate of myocardial infarction was reduced to 1.8%; none of these patients developed renal failure. However, paraplegia/paraparesis still occurred in 5.4% and pulmonary insufficiency occurred in 29%. Preoperative cardiac evaluation and intraoperative reduction of cardiac afterload are important factors in reducing myocardial infarction and death associated with TAAA repair and should be integrated into the management of these patients. However, preexisting pulmonary and renal disease in some patients may limit the surgeon's ability to reduce rates of some complications.


The trend in mainstream economic thought about macroeconomic policy has been towards minimalism. In the optimistic Keynesian phase of the 1960's, it was assumed that both fiscal and monetary policy were effective tools for macroeconomic management. But the influence of monetarist and New Classical critiques has led to a gradual erosion of theoretical support for activist government policy. First fiscal policy fell by the wayside, perceived as too slow and possibly counterproductive in its impacts. Then New Classical and rational expectations critiques suggested that even monetary policy was ineffective. Thus the role of government policy has been reduced to a cautious effort not to make things worse - in effect a return to an economics of laissez-faire. In contrast, a sustainability perspective implies that radical and proactive government policies are required to achieve economic development that is both socially just and ecologically sound. The path of laissez-faire leads to increasing intra- and international inequality as well as increasing environmental destruction. To some extent the course of market economies can be steered through the use of sound microeconomic policies. But the fundamental redirection required for sustainable development cannot be achieved without reorienting macroeconomic policy also. Many of the basic tenets of macroeconomic policy need to be redefined in the context of current global problems. The objectives of macroeconomic policy should include economic stabilization, distributional equity, broad social goals such as income security, education, and universal health care, and the management of economic growth. There is an increasing recognition that the achievement of social goals is essential to environmental sustainability. Regarding growth, while earlier macroeconomic theorists generally assumed that growth was good, ecological economists such as Herman Daly have suggested that growth should be limited and that a sustainable economic scale, rather than exponential growth, should be the goal of macroeconomic policy. The time is ripe for a reassessment of macroeconomic theory and policy. The goal should be to provide a theoretical basis for the reorientation of macro policy at the national and international levels, linking efforts to promote local-level sustainability and equity with "greening" and restructuring of multilateral institutions.


The study of planetary environments of astrobiological interest has become a major challenge. Because of the obvious technical and economical limitations on in situ planetary exploration, laboratory simulations are one of the most feasible research options to make advances both in planetary science and in developing a consistent description of the origin of life. With this objective in mind, we applied vacuum technology to the design of versatile vacuum chambers devoted to the simulation of planetary atmospheres' conditions. These vacuum chambers are able to simulate atmospheres and surface temperatures representative of the majority of planetary objects, and they are especially appropriate for studying the physical, chemical and biological changes induced in a particular sample by in situ irradiation or physical parameters in a controlled environment. Vacuum chambers are a promising potential tool in several scientific and technological fields, such as engineering, chemistry, geology and biology. They also offer the possibility of discriminating between the effects of individual physical parameters and selected combinations thereof. The implementation of our vacuum chambers in combination with analytical techniques was specifically developed to make feasible the in situ physico-chemical characterization of samples. Many wide-ranging applications in astrobiology are detailed herein to provide an understanding of the potential and flexibility of these experimental systems. Instruments and engineering technology for space applications could take advantage of our environment-simulation chambers for sensor calibration. Our systems also provide the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the chemical reactivity of molecules on surfaces under different environments, thereby leading to a greater understanding of interface processes in prebiotic chemical reactions and facilitating studies of UV photostability and photochemistry on surfaces. Furthermore, the stability and presence of certain minerals on planetary surfaces and the potential habitability of microorganisms under various planetary environmental conditions can be studied using our apparatus. Therefore, these simulation chambers can address multiple different challenging and multidisciplinary astrobiological studies.


The melanocortin pathway consists of endogenous agonists, antagonists, G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), and auxiliary proteins. This pathway has been identified to participate physiologically in numerous biological pathways including energy homeostasis, pigmentation, sexual function, inflammation, cardiovascular function, adrenal function, sebaceous gland lipid production, just to list a few. During this past decade, a clear link between the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) and obesity, in both mice and humans via the regulation of food intake and energy homeostasis, has made this pathway the target of many academic and industrial research endeavors in attempts to develop potent and selective MC4R small molecules as anti-obesity therapeutic agents. Herein, we attempt to summarize the known proteins that constitute the melanocortin system and discuss advances in peptide and non-peptide drug discovery.


Abstract. Ambient particulate matter (PM) samples were collected on quartz filters at a rural site in central Ontario during an intensive study in 2007. The concentrations of organic carbon (OC), pyrolysis organic carbon (POC), and elemental carbon (EC) were determined by thermal analysis. The concentrations are compared to the organic aerosol mass concentration (OM) measured with an Aerodyne C-ToF Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and to the particle absorption coefficient (basp) obtained from a Radiance Research Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP). The total organic mass to organic carbon ratios (OM/OC) and specific attenuation coefficients (SAC=basp/EC) are derived. Proportionality of the POC mass with the oxygen mass in the aerosols estimated from the AMS offers a potential means to estimate OM/OC from thermal measurements only. The mean SAC for the study is 3.8±0.3 m2 g−1. It is found that the SAC is independent of or decrease with increasing particle mass loading, depending on whether or not the data are separated between aerosols dominated by more recent anthropogenic input and aerosols dominated by longer residence time or biogenic components. There is no evidence to support an enhancement of light absorption by the condensation of secondary material to particles, suggesting that present model simulations built on such an assumption may overestimate atmospheric warming by BC.


Introduction: Radix Astragali (RA) has been used for herbal formulations in the treatment of bone degradation in traditional Chinese medicine.
Methods: The effects of aqueous extract from Radix Astragali (RA) on bone loss in spinal cord-injured rats were investigated in the present study. Forty male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control group (rats with sham operation); osteoporosis group (Op group, rats with spinal cord sectioned); L group (spinal cord-injured rats treated with low-dose extract); and H group (spinal cordinjured rats treated with high-dose extract).
Results: Op group showed a significant decrease in bone mineral density and biomechanical properties versus control group. While RA extract could significantly reverse this bone degeneration trend, and the effects of high dose was better than low dose, which means such effects maybe dose dependent.
Conclusion: We conclude that RA decoction was able to initiate a positive effect on bone disorder after spinal cord injury, and RA is a hopefully source of new drugs for osteoporosis.


Every year there is a substantial turbulence in an economy with respect to new firm formation and business closures. Each year, according to Tillvaxtanalys (2009), about 100 000 Swedish employees lose their job due to a business closure. However, the share of firm closures vary substantially across Swedish regions (Nystrom, 2007; 2009) and consequently the number of workers affected by the firm closure can be expected to vary across regions. In this paper we explore the patterns of regional displacements and to what extent there are differences in the regional capacity to re-employ displaced workers within one year. We use individual-firm level data to identify all establishment closures and re-employments in Sweden during the period 2001-2009. On average the share of displaced workers is 1.22 percent, but the regional variation is substantial. We find that the regional share of re-employments within the region where the displaced worker was employed varies between 15 and 85 percent. We do not find any correlation between the share of displacements and the capacity to absorb displaced workers.


Abs T r Ac T It has recently been argued that neural spine bifurcation increases through ontogeny in several Morrison Formation sauropods, that recognition of ontogenetic transformation in this 'key character' will have sweeping implications for sauropod phylogeny, and that Suuwassea and Haplocanthosaurus in particular are likely to be juveniles of known diplodocids. However, we find that serial variation in sauropod vertebrae can mimic ontogenetic change and is therefore a powerful confounding factor, especially when dealing with isolated elements whose serial position cannot be determined. When serial position is taken into account, there is no evidence that neural spine bifurcation increased over ontogeny in Morrison Formation diplodocids. Through phylogenetic analysis we show that neural spine bifurcation is not a key character in sauropod phylogeny and that Suuwassea and Haplocanthosaurus are almost certainly not juveniles of known diplodocids. Skeletochronology based on the sequence of skeletal fusions during ontogeny can provide relative ontogenetic ages for some sauropods. Although such data are sparsely available to date and often inconsistent among sauropod genera they provide another line of evidence for testing hypotheses of ontogenetic synonymy. Data from skeletal fusions suggest that Suuwassea and Haplocanthosaurus are both valid taxa and that neither is an ontogenetic morph of a known diplodocid.