Background: As a consequence of insufficient evidence on the safety and efficacy of e cigarettes, there has been much controversy surrounding its use in the tobacco control field.
Objectives: We sought to examine smoking prevalence and salience of e-cigarettes marketing stimuli, and whether these affected attitude-relevant responses toward e-cigarettes and intention to vape.
Methodology: A convenience sampling procedure was used to recruit 436 ever- and never-smokers aged 18 or older in the UK. Correlation analysis and structural equation modelling tested direct and indirect relationships between salience of e-cigarettes marketing messages, attitude relevant variables, and intention to vape.
Results: Just over half of never-smokers were females compared to two-thirds of ever-smokers who were males. Majority of respondents comprising 56% of ever-smokers and 63% of never-smokers had seen e-cigarette promotion in stores or gas stations. Only a third or less of ever- and never-smokers had seen e-cigarette promotion on TV, newspaper or online. Among never-smokers, association between e-cigarette promotion awareness and intention to vape was significant (B= .59, p < .001) but this was mediated by conative beliefs (B=.84, p =.05). Among ever-smokers, awareness of e-cigarette significantly affected cognitive (B= .97, p =.01) and conative attitudes (B= .88, p =.001), which in turn affected intention to vape in future (B= .45, p < .001).
Conclusions: Our results suggest that never-smokers might think of vaping instead of smoking cigarettes in future. Likewise, ever-smokers might have intention to vape if they think favourably about promotional stimuli and develop positive emotions towards vaping. Our study supports the need for more scientific evidence on the efficacy of e-cigarettes to encourage vaping as a substitute to smoking.


This research presents results from a systematic laser ablation-ICPMS investigation of the trace
metal content of sedimentary pyrite associated with two northern Australian Proterozoic
sediment-hosted Zn deposits: the McArthur River deposit (237 Mt @ 9.25% Zn, 4.1% Pb, 41g/t
Ag, Gustafson & Williams, 1981) and the Bluebush prospect (5000 Mt @ 0.8% Zn, Large et al.,
2005).
Previous research, including the recognition of primary geochemical zoning (Lambert & Scott,
1973; Large et al., 2000; 2001), provide the geological context for the McArthur River case study.
Twenty-six rock chips were utilised from drill cores within the primary geochemical zones at
various distances from the McArthur River deposit: BMR2 (23 km from deposit); Barney Creek3
(15 km); Homestead6 (6 km); F11/98 (300 m) and twelve additional samples from three
underground locations on the western margin of the deposit.
Texturally similar, fine-grained sedimentary pyrite (Py1) consisting of bedding-parallel layers
(327 determinations) and framboidal aggregates (259 determinations) were ablated using a
NewWave UP-213 Nd:YAG Q-switched laser ablation system and a 12pm beam. Element
concentrations were determined using an Agilent HP4500 quadrapole inductively coupled
plasma mass spectrometer for: Ti, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Zr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Te, Ba,
La, W, Au, TI, Pb, Bi, Th, and U. Detection limits are typically 1-10 ppm for most elements, and
range from —0.3 ppm (U, La) to —30 ppm (Cd, Se). Instrument calibration is with the
international standard glass NIST612, ablated with a 110 pm wide line at 3 pm/sec and 10 Hz at
10 Jcm-2. The in-house standard STDGL2B-2 is used to calculate the concentrations of
unknown minerals (Danyushevsky et al., 2003; 2004).
The pyrite trace metal data form three distinct groups with respect to the LA-ICPMS detection
limits. Group 1 (>80% of analyses, several orders of magnitude > detection limit) includes: Co,
Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sb, Ba, TI and Pb. Group 2 (-50% of analyses > up to an order of magnitude >
detection limit) includes: Ti, Mn, Zr, Mo, Ag, Sn, La, Bi, Th and U. Group 3 (>98% of analyses <
detection limit) includes: Cr, Se, Cd, Te, W, Au. The research is focussed on relationships
between the Group 1 and 2 trace metals, insufficient data prevents meaningful conclusions
being made about the Group 3 trace metals.
The concentrations of Co (63-190 ppm), Ni (77-340 ppm), Cu (133-332 ppm), As (504-3484
ppm), Mo (21-60 ppm), Ag (5-13 ppm), Sb (14-52 ppm), TI (11-557 ppm) and Bi (1.01-12 ppm)
are many times greater than their corresponding whole—rock concentrations and suggest pyrite
is likely to be the main host minerals for these elements. Barium, La, Sn, Th, Ti, Pb, U, Zn, and
Zr are likely present as inclusions within the pyrite. Lead and Zn are likely contained within
galena and sphalerite inclusions and these contain significant concentrations of most trace
metals.
At the McArthur River deposit, down-hole and spatial plots of the trace metals for each sample
site display complex distributions related to the interpreted redox conditions. Pyrite trace metals displaying the clearest distal-proximal increase trends include: Ag, As, and TI. Pyrite
trace metals that decrease in abundance towards the deposit include: Bi, Mn and Ni. Statistical
correlations between these and other trace metals displaying weaker trends yield a large
number of trace metal relationships which are potentially useful as geochemical guides to ore.
Pyrite trace metals relationships between TI:As, TI:Ag, TI:Mo, Bi:As and Co:Ni exhibit the
clearest spatial relationships from the BMR2 drill hole (23 km from deposit) towards the
McArthur River deposit and are proposed as potential geochemical guides to ore for northern
Australian SEDEX deposits.
At the Bluebush prospect, the host consist of organic-rich siltstone and carbonates of the
Riversleigh Siltstone Member of the McNamara Group and were likely deposited into relatively
deep (below wave base) within a 3rd order, fault bounded (rifted) basin. Iron minerals including
pyrite, siderite, chlorite, and minor magnetite and hematite form distinct sulfide, carbonate,
silicate and oxide zones, reflecting a basin-wide change from reduced to oxidised conditions.
These zones are interpreted to reflect a redox stratified water column and superimposed sea
level fluctuations during sedimentation (Krassay et al., 2000).
The rocks are enriched Mg, P, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Mo, Sb, TI, Pb, U and REE's relative nonmineralised
Riversleigh Siltstone. Zinc mineralisation typically consists of 0.5-1% Zn over many
tens of metre intervals in pyritic siltstone, shale and carbonates.
To date, no occurrences of bedded sphalerite, typical of SEDEX deposits have been seen at
Bluebush. The main form of sphalerite (Sp2) is paragenetically late and typical modes of
occurrence include: replacement of carbonate cement and unaltered patches of the host
limestone; replacement of fibres in extensional veins; within strain shadows; brittle fracture
fillings within recrystallised pyrite beds; and carbonate grain replacement within discordant
dewatering structures or stylolites. In contrast to the host sediments that it replaces, Sp2 shows
no evidence of deformation or recovery.
Minor base metals occur in the oxidised units. The sphalerite (Sp3) is typically intergrown with
chlorite, silica and hematite. Mean temperatures estimated from chlorite compositions are
329°C (n = 52).
Whole-rock d13C isotope values range from -5.83%0 to -0.14%0. Through the Carbonaceous unit,
d13C values steadily increase, and then decrease towards the relatively oxidised Chlorite/Silica
unit. The d13C values shift significantly towards light values through the Chlorite/Silica unit and
gradually shift back to heavier values into the Carbonaceous unit. The corresponding 8180
values range from 11.44%0 to 24.42%0. Through the Pyritic unit, 8180 remain relatively
consistent, but step-shift to very lighter values into the Chlorite/Silica unit. They trend back
towards heavier values up section into the Carbonaceous unit.
Whole-rock relationships between Fe, C and S suggest pyrite formation was sulfur limited.
Sulfur isotopes of the fine-grained pyrite (Py1) range from -8.55%0 to 37.04%0 d34S. through the Pyritic Carbonate unit, they display a strong trend towards heavier values up-section and are
consistent with Rayleigh fractionation in a closed system.
The S isotopes through the hangingwall display extreme fractionation trends over short
stratigraphic intervals and are best explained by extremely low concentrations of seawater
sulfate during the Proterozoic (e.g. Kah et al., 2004; Lyons et al., 2006).
Texturally similar, fine-grained sedimentary pyrite (Py1) from 12 regular spaced samples in the
BLBD23 drillcore (143 individual determinations) were analysed by LA-ICPMS. The operating
conditions were the same as used for the McArthur River samples, however, Bluebush analyses
used a 20pm beam. The detection limits for most trace metals were typically an order of
magnitude less than at McArthur River.
The pyrite trace metal groupings with respect to detection limits at Bluebush are similar to
McArthur River. However, pyrite trace metal concentrations are typically an order of magnitude
less than at McArthur River. Pyrite recrystallisation also results in a decrease of up to an order
of magnitude for most trace metals. Silver, As, Cu and TI remain relatively resistant to
remobilisation.
Arsenic is a proxy for pyrite at Bluebush and most trace metals display either positive
correlations suggesting coupled substitution with the As into the pyrite, or negative correlations
that suggest a change in their oxidation state with the changes in basin redox conditions.
Downhole plots for the trace metals are complex and reflect numerous geological and
geochemical processes including: the basin redox conditions, the higher temperature alteration,
basin wide mass flow sedimentation, pyrite recrystallisation and the timing and composition of
hydrothermal fluids. These factors impose significant limitations on the application of the pyrite
trace metal relationships proposed as potential geochemical guides to ore for northern
Australian SEDEX deposits.
A genetic model is proposed for Bluebush that invokes an Fe-rich but relatively low S
hydrothermal fluid. These fluids are expelled into a highly reduced, sulfur poor basin. Primary
base metal sulfides may have been nucleation sites (and sources of sulfur) for pyrite. During
diagenesis, the pyrite was recrystallised, the trace metals remobilised and some re-precipitated
as widespread, low-grade Zn mineralisation.


We present a new technique for exploiting static analysis to guide dynamic automated test generation for binary programs, prioritizing the paths to be explored. Our technique is a three-stage process, which alternates dynamic and static analysis. In the first stage, we run dynamic analysis with a small number of seed tests to resolve indirect jumps in the binary code and build a visibly pushdown automaton (VPA) reflecting the global control-flow of the program. Further, we augment the computed VPA with statically computable jumps not executed by the seed tests. In the second stage, we apply static analysis to the inferred automaton to find potential vulnerabilities, i.e., targets for the dynamic analysis. In the third stage, we use the results of the prior phases to assign weights to VPA edges. Our symbolic-execution based automated test generation tool then uses the weighted shortest-path lengths in the VPA to direct its exploration to the target potential vulnerabilities. Preliminary experiments on a suite of benchmarks extracted from real applications show that static analysis allows exploration to reach vulnerabilities it otherwise would not, and the generated test inputs prove that the static warnings indicate true positives.


Objectives To investigate the order in which 85 year olds develop difficulty in performing a wide range of daily activities covering basic personal care, household care and mobility. Design Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a cohort study. Setting Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside, UK. Participants Individuals born in 1921, registered with participating general practices. Measurements Detailed health assessment including 17 activities of daily living related to basic personal care, household care and mobility. Questions were of the form 'Can you …' rather than 'Do you…' Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to confirm a single underlying dimension for the items and Mokken Scaling was used to determine a subsequent hierarchy. Validity of the hierarchical scale was assessed by its associations with known predictors of disability. Results 839 people within the Newcastle 85+ study for whom complete information was available on self-reported Activities of Daily Living (ADL). PCA confirmed a single underlying dimension; Mokken scaling confirmed a hierarchic scale where 'Cutting toenails' was the first item with which participants had difficulty and 'feeding' the last. The ordering of loss differed between men and women. Difficulty with 'shopping' and 'heavy housework' were reported earlier by women whilst men reported 'walking 400 yards' earlier. Items formed clusters corresponding to strength, balance, lower and upper body involvement and domains specifically required for balance and upper/lower limb functional integrity. Conclusion This comprehensive investigation of ordering of ability in activities in 85 year olds will inform researchers and practitioners assessing older people for onset of disability and subsequent care needs.


Sustainable operation of battery powered wireless embedded systems (such as sensor nodes) is a key challenge, and considerable research effort has been devoted to energy optimization of such systems. Environmental energy harvesting, in particular solar based, has emerged as a viable technique to supplement battery supplies. However, designing an efficient solar harvesting system to realize the potential benefits of energy harvesting requires an in-depth understanding of several factors. For example, solar energy supply is highly time varying and may not always be sufficient to power the embedded system. Harvesting components, such as solar panels, and energy storage elements, such as batteries or ultracapacitors, have different voltage-current characteristics, which must be matched to each other as well as the energy requirements of the system to maximize harvesting efficiency. Further, battery non-idealities, such as self-discharge and round trip efficiency, directly affect energy usage and storage decisions. The ability of the system to modulate its power consumption by selectively deactivating its sub-components also impacts the overall power management architecture. This paper describes key issues and tradeoffs which arise in the design of solar energy harvesting, wireless embedded systems and presents the design, implementation, and performance evaluation of Heliomote, our prototype that addresses several of these issues. Experimental results demonstrate that Heliomote, which behaves as a plug-in to the Berkeley/Crossbow motes and autonomously manages energy harvesting and storage, enables near-perpetual, harvesting aware operation of the sensor node.


The challenges of designing new frameworks for social appraisal aimed at sustainability and social justice are reviewed by this paper. Here, 'social appraisal' refers to the ways society gathers knowledges to inform policy decisions and discourse and a number of key features of potentially more empowering 'pathways' approaches are identified. One key challenge is that poorer people are systematically excluded by power, from access to the 'framing' of social appraisal. This compounds the ways in which complex, uncertain, path-dependent dynamics of the social, technical and ecological systems are typically resistant to conventional narrow 'science-based' assessment techniques.
We argue that appraisal needs to be 'broadened out' in its inputs and 'opened up' in its outputs. The first draws on a greater diversity of knowledges, especially those of the most vulnerable, using a variety of methods to focus on complexities, uncertainties and indirect effects as seen under diverse perspectives. The 'opening up' of social appraisal, by contrast, requires more reflexive understandings of the roles of knowledge in governance. Rather than prescribing a particular pathway, appraisal highlights the ways in which different possible pathways correspond to divergent, but equally reasonable and legitimate, framing values and interests. Only in these ways, we argue, can appraisal designs offer steps towards more truly robust and resilient progress in meeting poorer people's needs.


Over the past few years, across many industrial sectors, Information Systems (IS) developed with the help of agile methods have become the rule rather than the exception. Because of their high flexibility, such Agile IS development methodologies help firms to keep pace with emerging market requirements. At the same time, customers are also gaining increasing market power due to an expanding digitalization of services and products, which decreases switching barriers and increases transparency. As a result, it has become crucial for firms to develop IS that continuously provide sufficient value to customers. This is one of the main reasons why firms regularly deliver increments of Agile IS for users to update outdated software versions. By doing so, firms try to bind and engage customers lastingly to capture current and future revenue streams and stay competitive. Agile IS and software updates (that deliver increments of Agile IS to users) have been researched thoroughly, however mostly from a technical point of view. Nevertheless, because updates change a system while it is already in use, they have the potential to impact users' beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and in particular, loyalty to a software in the post-adoption phase. However, despite the importance of better understanding user responses to Agile IS to provide an adequate theoretical framework, research from a user's perspective on Agile IS, and especially software updates, is still scarce.

Against this backdrop, this thesis presents four empirical studies that were conducted to investigate whether and how Agile IS affect users' loyalty to IS, to identify potential moderators, and to understand how Agile IS should be designed to facilitate potential positive effects. In these studies, increments of Agile IS are operationalized as software updates and customer loyalty as a user's continuance intention with a system. By drawing on the IS Continuance Model in a scenario-based online experiment, the first two studies reveal empirically how Agile IS have the potential to increase user continuance intentions. Users of Agile IS show greater IS continuance intentions, despite that some functionality is provided only later on, as compared to a consistently feature-complete traditional IS. This effect is diminished somewhat when the software is introduced with an extensive feature set right from the beginning. Nevertheless, the size of an update does not seem to play a significant role. The second study reveals that this positive effect of updates only emerges if the user is not very knowledgeable regarding the software, because experts in contrast to novices seem to devalue Agile IS (their continuance intentions decrease with Agile IS in comparison to traditional IS). Additionally, the second study shows that the removal of features through updates reduces continuance intentions even more than the equivalent addition of features when considering the absolute magnitude of change. With empirical data from a laboratory experiment, the third study identifies update frequency and update type as further moderators of the effect, and confirms the hypothesized mediation mechanism presumed by the IS Continuance Model. The fourth study examines the role of update delivery strategies, i.e., the timing and presence of a notification and an installation choice. In this study, feature and security updates are distinguished, as both seem to have different characteristics with respect to the delivery strategy (i.e., users 'need' security but 'want' to add functionality). The findings show that both update types should be announced to users, in the case of a security update, only after successful installation, while presenting an installation choice to users prevents any positive effect for all types of updates.

Overall, this thesis highlights the importance of understanding Agile IS and software updates from the user's perspective. First, the results show that Agile IS have the potential to affect user's continuance intentions, thereby contributing to a comprehensive theoretical foundation on Agile IS. Also the findings put the user more at the center of investigations in IS. Second, the empirical findings provide evidence in support of a necessary fine-grained understanding of IT Artifacts as malleable compositions of specific features and characteristics. This answers the call of several researchers to put the IT Artifact more at the focus of IS research (Benbasat and Zmud 2003). Third, the results reveal that changes in IS might change users' attitudes and behaviors over time, which extends the predominant view of IS in post-adoption literature from a mostly static to a more dynamic perspective. With this finding, we answer the call of several IS scholars to consider the evolution of IS more thoroughly (e.g., Jasperson et al. 2005; Benbasat and Barki 2007). For practitioners, the findings of this thesis provide empirically backed rationales to inform management decisions concerning the deployment of Agile IS and offer guidance on strategic or design considerations. Overall, the results show how and when the value provided by IS from a user's perspective may be increased by the deployment of Agile IS and software updates.


This article discusses the linking of data from SINAN (the Reportable Diseases Database) and population census in Brazil to identify the socio-environmental context of hepatitis A, analyzing the contribution by environmental and socio-demographic variables to reported and confirmed cases of hepatitis A. Also, based on individual case data provided by SINAN, we discuss the pattern of hepatitis A endemicity in the city of Rio de Janeiro. At the aggregate level, the unit of analysis was the census tract and census data, associated with the location of 1,553 cases in the city from 1999 to 2001. The observed pattern was high to medium endemicity, indicating a less favorable situation than observed by sero-epidemiological studies. The mean rank of number of households with unfavorable conditions was higher in the census tracts with excess risk of hepatitis A (two or more cases), a statistically significant result according to the Mann-Whitney Test. Socio-demographic variables had more impact than environmental ones (poverty and children in the household less than 5 years of age showed the highest mean ranks).


Mytilus edulis and M. trossulus coexist and form a natural hybrid zone along the Atlantic Canada coast, which provides an excellent model to study marine invertebrate evolution, speciation and especially reproductive isolation barriers that maintain species integrity. Gamete traits and their role in determining fertilization success among M. edulis, M. trossulus and their hybrids were investigated in the present study. Sperm of all three genotypes (the term genotypes was used throughout the thesis to include M. edulis, M. trossulus and their hybrids) conducted circular movement in a two dimensional plane, which may represent a trait that increases fertilization success under sperm limitation on a small spatial scale. Neither egg water nor egg presence elicited sperm chemotaxis in our experimental set-up, which suggests that sperm chemotaxis may not be necessary for successful fertilization of marine invertebrate species with dense aggregations, synchronized broadcast spawning and high gamete output. Although no significant difference in gamete output was detected among the different genotypes, sperm velocity differed among M. edulis, M. trossulus and their hybrids, F₁ hybrids producing the slowest swimming sperm. Sperm of M. edulis had faster VAP (average path velocity) and angle change rate than those of M. trossulus . Most of the variation in sperm velocity was attributed to variation within individuals, which may be caused by differences in stage of maturity among individual sperm. Both sperm velocity and sperm half life (T₅₀) decreased as temperature increased. F₁ hybrids had the shortest sperm longevity and M. trossulus was least temperature sensitive, which may be an adaptation to a longer spawning period, resulting in exposure to higher temperature fluctuations. M. edulis produced larger eggs than M. trossulus and F₁ hybrids, providing a larger target for sperm-egg interaction. Both homospecific and heterospecific fertilization success differed among parental combinations and may be due to the combined effects of gamete compatibility and gamete trait variation on fertilization success. Sperm velocity, egg size and especially the combination of these two gamete traits were positively correlated with fertilization success, supporting the hypothesis that fertilization success is partially determined by these gamete traits. The three parameters (β,β₀ and β/β₀) of the fertilization kinetics model differed significantly among the different crosses. The small β/β₀ detected for the heterospecific crosses between M. edulis and M. trossulus suggests strong reproductive isolation between these species and can explain the rarity of F₁ hybrids. In general, the poor gamete quality (small egg size, slow swimming speed and short life span of sperm) of F₁ hybrids can lead to reduced fertilization success and may help to explain the genetic composition, especially the bimodal structure, of the blue mussel hybrid zone in Atlantic Canada. The present study shows that gamete trait variation (sperm velocity, sperm longevity and egg size) and gamete compatibility are crucial factors affecting both homospecific and heterospecific fertilization success, and provides a better understanding of prezygotic reproductive isolation between and among broadcast spawning species.


Background Dysfunctional regulation at immune checkpoints may lead to escape of the tumor cells and gives a scope to set in the unresolved Breast cancer (BC). The major anti-tumor retort is cell-mediated response which involves T lymphocytes. CTLA-4 (Cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated protein-4) with immune suppressive function and tolerance is associated with various autoimmune diseases and cancers including BC. The present study deals with CTLA-4 gene selected polymorphisms (rs11571317 C/T and rs3087243G/A) to explore their relation with breast cancer susceptibility and progression in BC patients. Methods For the present case-control study, we recruited a total of 570 women which include breast cancer patients and healthy control women from south India. Blood samples were collected, genomic DNA was isolated and genotyped by using PCR-RFLP method, and the data were analysed through suitable statistics. Results We observed a significant association of rs11571317 with BC in our study group, where CC genotype showed a three-fold increased risk towards BC and CT genotype to be protective. In-silico analyses strengthened our observation revealing the abolition of SP1 binding site in the CTLA-4 promoter by the mutant allele T. The CTLA-4 rs3087243 polymorphism showed an association not with the susceptibility but towards the tumor progression, where GG genotype was coupled with reduced tumor growth (OR = 0.01) and GA (OR = 6.2), AA (OR = 3.4) with increased tumor growth. The T-G haplotype was found to confer protection against breast cancer risk while C-A (OR = 3.6) and T-A (OR = 15.8) haplotypes were associated with disease progression. In-silico analysis for rs3087243 revealed change in threshold values between reference and variant sequences. Conclusion The study suggests varied roles of different polymorphisms of CTLA-4 in the aetiopathogenesis of BC. Understanding the mechanism may help in the CTLA-4 based immunotherapy for BC.


Naïve T helper lymphocytic cells differentiate into Th1 and Th2 cells, and they are defined by the cytokines they produce. The transcription factors GATA-3 and c-Maf are important for Th2 differentiation, but the components that cause Th1 differentiation are less well defined. Szabo et al. have identified a protein, T-bet (T box expressed in T cells), that directs the differentiation of T helper cells into the Th1 subtype. T-bet expression was observed in Th1 but not Th2 cells, and expression of T-bet was increased after engagement of the T cell receptor. The authors found that T-bet strongly increased interferon (IFN) gamma expression, a marker for Th1 differentiation. Also, forced expression of T-bet in Th2 cells considered to be completely differentiated redirected the Th2 cells into the Th1 phenotype, as measured by decreases in interleukin (IL)-5 and IL-4 production. However, the decrease in IL-5 production was much more pronounced than the decrease in IL-4 production. Although IL-5 expression is very much dependent on the transcriptional activity of GATA-3, IL-4 expression depends on the concerted activity of several transcription factors including GATA-3. Thus, the authors speculate that one function of T-bet may be to directly inhibit GATA-3 activity and to redirect differentiation to the Th1 pathway. Szabo, S.J., Kim, S.T., Costa, G.L., Zhang, X., Garrison Fathman, C., and Glimcher, L.H. (2000) A novel transcription factor, T-bet, directs Th1 lineage commitment. Cell 100: 655-669. [Online Journal]


AbstractSecondSite Property (now National Grid Property), commissioned Parsons Brinckerhoff Ltd. (PB) to project manage a trial of a slurry phase bioreactor at a former gasworks in the Northwest of England. The trial was designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of slurry phase bioremediation at remediat-ing coal tar contaminated soils at the field scale, through the CL:AIRE (Contaminated Land: Applica-tions in Real Environments) technology demonstration programme. Slurry phase bioremediation is one of the most intensive forms of biological treatment available for the degradation of organic com-pounds. Three trials were completed, though technical difficulties were encountered throughout the project, due to inefficient mixing within the reactor. The results of the second trial, however, showed significant contaminant degradation, especially with respect to PAHs. Low molecular weight PAHs were degraded by up to 95% and high molecular weight PAHs such as benzo(a)pyrene were also degraded by 68%. Trials 1 and 3 recorded similar pa tterns of degradation, but not to the same extent as Trial 2. Microbial analysis of the trials showed that although some microorganisms predominated, the population was not stable, and a wide range of unidentified potentially unique organisms were detected. These results indicate that slurry phase bioremediation can be utilized to treat compounds associated with gasworks normally reca lcitrant to biodegradation in a relatively short timeframe. With process improvements in mixing and robustness, a viable cost-effective system could be developed to operate in a commercially viable manner.Key words: benzo(a)pyrene, bioreactor, bioremediation, coal tar, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, remediation, slurry-phase


The literature suggests the need for incorporating the risk construct into the measurement of organisational performance, although few examples are available as to how this might be undertaken in relation to supply chains. A conceptual framework for the development of performance and risk management within the supply chain is evolved from the literature and empirical evidence. The twin levels of dyadic performance/risk management and the management of a portfolio of performance/risks is addressed, employing Agency Theory to guide the analysis. The empirical evidence relates to the downstream management of dealerships by a large multinational organisation. Propositions are derived from the analysis relating to the issues and mechanisms that may be employed to effectively manage a portfolio of supply chain performance and risks.


This paper argues that major governments should actively manage their foreign exchange portfolios to maximize the risk-adjusted return to the taxpayer by exploiting long-term, fundamental based predictability in floating exchange rates. Such transactions—equivalent to foreign exchange intervention—would improve welfare by transferring risk from private agents to the risk-tolerant government. Interventions explicitly designed to profit the reserve management authority would be more likely to be successful and, to the extent that they are, would reduce resource misallocation.


Most notably, compatibility of public and private interests is a part of a sustainable civil and legal society. However, it is still a controversial issue, especially in the unique regulation of bank insolvency proceedings. On the one hand, in the modern legal scientific field it is argued that the state cannot protect only certain social groups or only certain specific interests of individuals. But on the other hand, the question arises whether only the interests of the individual are important to the state, or are there some exceptional collective, general public interests? Bank insolvency cases (e.g., bank "Snoras" and bank "Ūkio bankas") subsequently have undergone dramatic changes in Lithuanian law system and it is still a very sensitive social issue. This paper tries to achieve analysis of the interference between the private and public interests which affect in the bank liquidation proceedings. The article considers under the private law a few resonance issues caused by public and private interaction and their consistency under the Lithuanian legal framework of bank liquidation proceedings. The basic object of the paper is the compatibility of private and public interests in bank liquidation proceedings under the Lithuanian law. The research problem is as follows: does the regulation in Lithuania proper balancing public and private interests under bank liquidation proceedings? While the definition of bank liquidation has never been provided in the scientific field of Lithuania, this paper inter alia suggests a term of bank liquidation. With the purpose to explore the actual meaning of legal norms and legislations as well as content and to analyze the literature, the systematic and document analyses, synthesis, comparative, critical thought methods were used. The statements are derived from analyses of scientific literature, relevant legislation, the practice of the courts and relevant reports. The paper is written from the perspective of the Lithuanian law.


Hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase are major enzymes in the metabolism of exogenous ethanol. These enzymes are polymorphic and are involved in alcohol drinking and risk of alcoholism in some world populations. Three hundred and seventy one samples of hair root lyzates from five Kenyan communities were screened for ADH 2, ADH 3 and ALDH 2 polymorphisms via isoelectric focusing. Additional information on alcohol drinking behaviour, alcohol intake, frequency of alcohol drinking, preference of alcoholic drinks, and alcohol dependence was collected via interview and questionnaire. SAS JPIN statistical program was used to analyze obtained data using chi-square, Anova and t-tests. The results showed that ADH 2*2, ADH 3*1 and ALDH 2*2 alleles do not have protective properties against risk of alcoholism in the selected Kenyan populations. Other factors than ADH and ALDH polymorphisms interfered in the protective mechanism of the latter alleles against excessive alcohol drinking.


A quest, a murder, and musical retribution through a dead body part that sings: these are the elements of the folktale known as "The Singing Bone," a traditional narrative that appears in numerous versions in both oral and literary European traditions. For decades, this tale has drawn the special attention of folklorists because of the remarkable and indeed sensational role played in it by music: its narrative reflects a fascinating ideology of the cultural power of music as the voice of the oppressed, while its musical interludes, chilling spectral songs sung by the bone of the murder victim, invoke the potent and at times unsettling effects of musical performance. Gustav Mahler's first large-scale work, Das klagende Lied , takes up this extraordinary narrative and translates its exceptional features into poetry and musical sound in a manner that especially foregrounds and amplifies the effects of a performing presence in both textual and musical dimensions. Mahler's narrative ballad is a multivoiced text whose temporal and vocal shifts create oscillations between narrative and drama, telling and enactment, giving rise to a remarkable instability of utterance from which repeated evocations of sound and voice emerge. Its musical setting delivers a discourse that similarly exhibits explicit moments of performance, temporal suspension, and sonic dislocation in both voices and orchestra. This extreme volatility of utterance and its resultant effects of presence become the means of the work's embodiment of its own narrative content, such that, in performance, it evokes an experience of the radical sonic rupture that is the story's theme—a theme that reverberates powerfully throughout Mahler's oeuvre.


The commercial real estate market is pro-cyclical. This feature, together with the relative size of the industry and the large capital inflows, has made this sector relevant for financial stability. Using a novel loan level data set covering the commercial real estate portfolios of Dutch banks we aim to uncover potential drivers of distress in commercial real estate loans. Furthermore, we estimate the relative importance of idiosyncratic and systematic factors and emphasize the importance of bank behavior for distinguishing between good and bad credit growth. We find that loans originated near the peak of the cycle are riskier, confirming the pro-cyclical nature of the market. As opposed to loans originated during busts, the risk of boom loans does not decrease when economic conditions improve. Idiosyncratic factors correlated with higher credit risk are loan-to-value ratios and interest rates, especially when coupled with variable rate contracts. Moreover, we find that collateral type plays a role, as loans for non-residential (office, retail, industrial) real estate with higher vacancy rates are riskier. These results have implications for both macroprudential and microprudential supervision, as they demonstrate the pro-cyclicality of the market and show that indicators like loan-to-value, interest rate structure and vacancy rates must be monitored more carefully in boom times.


Salmonellosis has received considerable amount of attention because public
health concerns in third world and developing countries including Malaysia. In
Malaysia, the incidence of non-typhoidal salmonellosis is relatively unknown and
has not been given much attention. Data collec1ed shows that the incidence of
Salmonella species iso1atcd from animals and food sources have increased in recent
years especially from poultry sources. One hundred and fourty seven Salmonella
isolates belonging to 14 serovars were examined in the present study.
Molecular techniques namely random amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR
(RAPD-PCR), enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-PCR (ERlC-PCR),
polymerase chain reaction-ribotyping and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)
were used to subtype all the 147 Salmonella isolates at strains leveL Among these
techniques. RAPD-PCR was the most superior in distinguishing all Salmonella
serovars, followed by PFGE, ERIC-PCR and PCR-ribotyping. The PCR-based
methods offered several advan1:ages over PFGE due to its speed, economics, ease to
perform, results can be generated within 24 hours and large of samples can be analysed. simultaneously. In contrast, PFGE method was technically tedious,
demanding and time consuming.
Extensive genetic polymorphism or diversity was observed among strains of
Salmonella serovars. In molecular typing for epidemiological studies, the level of
the percentage of similarity in cluster analysis is arbitrarily adopted based on the
clustering of the strains analysed. In this study, 70% of similarity level was chosen
to analyse results obtained in PCR-based and PFGE analysis. Cluster obtained by
the peR-based and PFGE typing techniques showed some disagreements in
discriminating strains. Several strains that have different RAPD patterns did not
necessarily bad similar PFGE. ERIC or PCR-ribotyping patterns.
From the present study, it can be concluded that, it is impossible to rely on a
single method to determine genetic relatedness among Salmonella serovars for
effective epidemiological studies. This study clearly suggests that only a
combination of different techniques is able to provide a comprehensive epidemiology
of Salmonella serovars, and thus the need for a careful selection of the typing
techniques. It has been identify the DNA-based typing methods is most effective for
epidemiological studies.


Billions of people around the world live without access to banks or other formal financial institutions. In the past several years, many mobile operators have launched "Mobile Money" platforms that deliver basic financial services over the mobile phone network. While many believe that these services can improve the lives of the poor, in many countries adoption of Mobile Money still remains anemic. In this paper, we develop a predictive model of Mobile Money adoption that uses billions of mobile phone communications records to understand the behavioral determinants of adoption. We describe a novel approach to feature engineering that uses a Deterministic Finite Automaton to construct thousands of behavioral metrics of phone use from a concise set of recursive rules. These features provide the foundation for a predictive model that is tested on mobile phone operators logs from Ghana, Pakistan, and Zambia, three very different developing-country contexts. The results highlight the key correlates of Mobile Money use in each country, as well as the potential for such methods to predict and drive adoption. More generally, our analysis provides insight into the extent to which homogenized supervised learning methods can generalize across geographic contexts. We find that without careful tuning, a model that performs very well in one country frequently does not generalize to another.


Soiling of external surfaces is an increasing issue for conservation of architectural heritage. Providing architectural surfaces with self-cleaning ability is one of the most promising routes of preventive conservation. To this aim, several methods have been proposed in the literature, based on the use of photocatalytic TiO2 nanoparticles, either directly applied onto the surfaces or incorporated in protective coatings. However, when nano-TiO2 is directly applied onto architectural surfaces, the particles are easily removed by rain. When TiO2 is incorporated in polymeric coatings, durability issues arise as well, because the photoactivity of TiO2 nanoparticles can promote degradation of the polymer. Here, we present an innovative alternative method, based on combination of TiO2 nanoparticles and hydroxyapatite (HAP). The incorporation of nano-TiO2 into an HAP coating protects the nanoparticles from leaching by rain, thanks to the chemical bonding between TiO2 and HAP, without diminishing their photoactivity. As a result, marble treated with HAP-TiO2 composites exhibits high self-cleaning ability and high durability, with results superior to those achieve by direct application of nano-TiO2 onto the surface, as frequently performed on site.


This paper proposes a dynamic model of financial markets where some investors are prone to the confirmation bias. Following insights from the psychological literature, these agents are assumed to amplify signals that are consistent with their prior views. In a model with public information only, this assumption provides a rationale for the volume-based price momentum documented by Lee and Swaminathan (2000). Our results are also consistent with a variety of other empirically documented phenomena such as bubbles, crashes, reversals and excess price volatility and volume. Novel empirical predictions are derived: i) return continuation should be stronger when biased traders' beliefs are more extreme, and ii) return continuation should be stronger after an increase in trading volume. The implications of our model for short-term quantitative investments are twofold: i) optimal trading strategies involve riding bubbles, and that ii) contrarian trading can be optimal in some market circumstances.


Author(s): Stoller, Sarah | Abstract: In the late 1980s, a number of Britain's largest corporations began to trumpet their 'family-friendliness' and active support for women's careers. Whereas in the late 1970s, the challenges facing working parents remained far from the agendas of most British businesses, in the course of only a decade, a sea change had taken place. Major British employers began to develop new policies and schemes that aimed to keep some, predominately white, middle class, and professional women workers with caring responsibilities in the paid workforce. Private companies now found themselves at the helm of devising what appeared, at first glance, to be the very progressive policies that feminists had long advocated. This paper considers what drove the rise of the 'family friendly' private sector, and suggests that far from resolving the challenges of working parenthood or transforming the gendered division of labor, 'family friendly' policies primarily served the interests of business. Working parents were left to resolve the tensions between paid work and caring responsibilities on their own in the context of ever more labor for British families.


The victory of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation, in the January 2006 elections for the Palestinian Authority, was greeted with dismay by the international community, which responded by cutting off aid. This article seeks to understand why Hamas was elected, as well as the international community's response, through an analysis of the liberal peace thesis. This thesis states that democracies do not go to war with one another, thus it was thought that building a democratic Palestinian state would buttress the peace process. The Palestinian people have, however, elected an organization that rejects the peace process. This has provided a wake-up call for the US to face up to the fact that promoting democratization may not always produce the results it desires. The US sees the election of Hamas as the cause of the current crisis and the main obstacle to peace. This article, however, argues that this is merely a symptom, not the cause, of the crisis. The Palestinian Authority's lack of sovereignty and its complete dependence on Israel put severe limitations on the building of a viable, democratic state. The article concludes that the US's uncompromising response to Hamas could well undermine democracy promotion in the region.


In March 1973 two women met on a tennis court in Akron, Ohio. Over the course of the next sixteen years, together they would change the world. There has never been a sporting rivalry to match the intensity, longevity, public impact and emotional resonance of the eighty-match-long duel between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. In their long careers Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert played each other eighty times, sixty of those in finals. For nearly two decades we were transfixed by the struggle between the ice-maiden Chris - blonde, all-American, a nation's sweetheart - and the supreme athlete Martina, a Czech defector, the first outspoken openly gay athlete in female sport, and a woman who wore her heart on her sleeve at all times. Their careers played out against the backdrop of seismic change in tennis and society, and, together, they helped change the face of women's sport. Thirty years on from that first meeting, both have become legends. Based on interviews with both Martina and Chris and those who knew them best, Johnette Howard gives us their remarkable story.


During long time a great interest was revealed to the Romanov breed by many sheep farmers of the world. To preserve and develop the breed, it is necessary to use modern approaches to assess its inbred breed diversity. One of most perspective for population-genetic researches is cytogenetic that allows to investigate the integrity of the chromosomal set and prevent the spread of unwanted genetic abnormalities in the population.
The spontaneous chromosomal to aberration have a selective value in a breed formative process, that are fixed in generations. A level of chromosomal polymorphism is additional description of tribal value of animals, that can be taken into account at the selection of animals of wanted type. An analysis of chromosomal polymorphism of sheep is basis for forming of new knowledge about the dynamics of genetic structure in the populations of animals.
The cytogenetics of animals collected considerable knowledge about influence of karyotype on the processes of individual development. With the help of cytogenetic studies, changes in chromosomes that are transmitted to offspring, and correspondingly affect the signs of an animal's organism, are detected.
The object of the study was the number of sheep of the Romanov breed (n = 10), which are breeding in the breeding farm "Bach and family" (Kyiv region). The material for chromosomal preparations was the blood of sheep aged 1 to 3 years old that was taken from the jugular vein. The cytogenetic study was carried out at the Genetics Laboratory of the Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics named after M.V.Zubeta (Chubinskoye village) using special techniques and related equipment. To obtain the preparations of chromosomes, samples of the culture of leukocytes of peripheral blood of animals were used. For analysis and photographing, those metaphase plates were selected, in which the chromosomes were separate from each other. On one drug (glass), from one to ten metaphase plates were examined, and to analyze the karyotype, 50 and more metaphase plates were analyzed.
Obtained experimental data was processed by the method of variation statistics using the computer programs EXCEL.
The results of the cytogenetic analysis of the sheep of the Romanov breed showed that they all have a chromosomal set typical of the domestic breed of sheep. The chromosomal set of investigated sheep is represented by 54 chromosomes, of which 26 pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes (XX or XY).
The results of the metaphysical analysis allowed to fix a certain part of stable aberrations. Among 457 metaphase plates 81 aberrant cells (17.7%) were identified, of which aneuploid cells – 6.25%, polyploidy – 0.75%, cells with chromosomal ruptures – 0.25%, chromosomal pair fragments frequency – 0.37%, and the frequency of cells with asynchronous divergence of the centromeric regions of the chromosomes (ARTSRH) was 2.5%.
Since the frequency of aberrant cells (n = 240) in a small population is 17.7%, this indicates that the detected violations in the chromosomal set of sheep are not accidental in nature and have an heritable basis.
Thus, the results of the cytogenetic study of the sheep of the Romanov breed obtained from us show that their karyotypes have a characteristic chromosome set and structure for this species of animals. At the same time, in the studied animals, there is an individual chromosomal variability, which in turn may be associated with their productive or reproductive qualities. This argument is the basis for continuing our research on the chromosomal polymorphism of sheep of Romanov and other breeds.


Associating attributes to pedestrians in a crowd is relevant for various areas like surveillance, customer profiling and service providing. The attributes of interest greatly depend on the application domain and might involve such social relations as friends or family as well as the hierarchy of the group including the leader or subordinates. Nevertheless, the complex social setting inherently complicates this task. We attack this problem by exploiting the small group structures in the crowd. The relations among individuals and their peers within a social group are reliable indicators of social attributes. To that end, this paper identifies social groups based on explicit motion models integrated through a hypothesis testing scheme. We develop two models relating positional and directional relations. A pair of pedestrians is identified as belonging to the same group or not by utilizing the two models in parallel, which defines a compound hypothesis testing scheme. By testing the proposed approach on three datasets with different environmental properties and group characteristics, it is demonstrated that we achieve an identification accuracy of 87% to 99%. The contribution of this study lies in its definition of positional and directional relation models, its description of compound evaluations, and the resolution of ambiguities with our proposed uncertainty measure based on the local and global indicators of group relation.


BACKGROUND/AIMS
There are relatively few studies regarding the incidence of post-colonoscopy colorectal cancer (PCCRC) in Asian countries. We evaluated the characteristics of PCCRC in average-risk Korean subjects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study included subjects who were ≥50 years of age and had undergone a first completed colonoscopy between January 2001 and December 2004, at which no baseline adenoma had been detected, followed by a second colonoscopy 1-5 years later. The incidences and characteristics of advanced neoplasia in these subjects were assessed.

RESULTS
A total of 343 subjects underwent follow-up colonoscopy within 5 years. Seventy-three (21.3%) subjects were found to have at least one adenoma on follow-up colonoscopy. Advanced adenoma was found in eight (2.3%) subjects, and non-advanced adenomas were found in 65 (19.0%). Five (1.5%) subjects were diagnosed with invasive CRC following a normal colonoscopy. The putative reason for PCCRCs was missed lesions in two (40.0%) subjects and a new cancer in three (60.0%).

CONCLUSION
The risk of advanced neoplasia (including PCCRCs) within 5 years after a normal baseline colonoscopy in our cohort was not low. Considering that 40% of PCCRCs were attributable to missed lesions, our results emphasize the need for technical improvement of colonoscopic examinations to improve adenoma detection.


The broad aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of Theme/Rheme analysis in identifying underlying ideologies in English and Arabic news reports. The study takes as its starting point the assumption that the different choices of Theme/Rheme, their organization at the local and global structures and the presentation of Given/New information can elucidate ideological factors that underlie news presentation in English and Arabic. This thesis designs a conceptual framework which combines structural, ideological and linguistic approaches to Discourse Analysis. It also develops an innovative methodological model to analyse Theme/Rheme in Arabic Verbal and Nominal clauses and enhances the linguistic tools to analyse the thematic structures in English and Arabic texts. The thesis applies the developed model, methods and tools to a selected corpus of English and Arabic news reports in order to identify ideological representations of Syria in mainstream online news media. The study seeks to analyse and compare the different choices of Theme/Rheme, nominalization and lexical variations in the thematic structures, on the one hand, and their implications and attribution of causality and responsibility, on the other hand. These issues are investigated in a corpus of English and Arabic news reports during times of political assassinations in Lebanon and the implication of Syrian involvement. Based on the recurrent preferences in the thematic structures of the selected corpus, the study concludes that developed model, methods and tools help identify underlying ideologies in the presentations of Syria in both English and Arabic news reports. ACADEMIC REGISTRY Research Thesis Submission Name: Lubna Al-Jayrudy School/PGI: Management and Languages Version: (i.e. First, Resubmission, Final) Final Degree Sought (Award and Subject area) Doctor of Philosophy


Not enough effort has been invested in developing reliable and valid assessment instruments to measure students' development of reasoning competences in mathematics. Previously developed tests rely mostly on standardised multiple-choice assessments, which primarily focus on procedural knowledge and rote learning and not on how students argue for and justify their results. This study reports on the process of developing a test to assess students' reasoning competence in primary school classes and on the statistical results of a verification study. The test is based on item response theory (Rasch model) and was used in a large-scale mathematics intervention project about inquiry-based teaching. The data was collected from 5,516 primary school students in Denmark. Data analysis indicates the test has satisfactory validity and reliability, but the test was still unable to measure statistically significant progress at the intervention schools.


89 The fore-Ural is a classical region of intrastratal gypsum karst. The intensive development of karst in the Permian gypsums and anhydrites causes numerous practical problems, the subsidence hazard being the most severe. Mechanisms of karst breakdown formation were studied in detail in the Kunguskaya Cave area. The cave and its setting are characteristic to the region and, being a site of detailed stationary studies for many years, the cave represents a convenient location for various karst and speleological investigations. Breakdown structures related to cavities of the Kungurskaya Cave type develop by two mechanisms: gravitational (sagging and fall-in of the ceilings of cavities) and filtrational/gravitational (crumbling and fall-in of the ceilings of vertical solution pipes, facilitated by percolation). The former implies upward stoping of the breakout roof and cessation of the process at some height above the floor of the cave due to complete infilling by fallen clasts. This mechanism cannot generate surface deformation where the overburden thickness exceeds a certain value. The latter mechanism implies that breakdown will almost inevitably express itself at the surface, most commonly as a sudden collapse, even where the thickness of the overburden is large. These mechanisms result in different appearance, distribution and further evolution of the respective surface forms , so that subsidence hazard assessment should be performed differently for these types of breakdown. The conclusions reached by this study are representative for the region , although some of them bear more general validity for intrastratal karst conditions. This study underlines the ultimate importance of speleological investigations to the understanding of karst breakdown mechanisms.


We analyze the operation of a tunable device that is composed of two channel waveguides that are fabricated on a nonlinear substrate and of two adjacent electrodes, where the evanescent fields of the two guided modes overlap. The optical power-dependent propagation constant of the guided modes is modified locally as the power leaks from one channel waveguide to the other, resulting in a continuous change in the local phase matching. We present a general expression for the operation of the device together with a numerical example that demonstrates that the device acts as an all-optical gate, discriminator, and limiter, having a speed that is limited only by the transit time along the channels and the response time of the material.


In this paper we investigate the properties of the Lagrange Multiplier (LM) test for autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (ARCH) and generalized ARCH (GARCH) in the presence of additive outliers (AOs). We show analytically that both the asymptotic size and power are adversely affected if AOs are neglected: the test rejects the null hypothesis of homoscedasticity too often when it is in fact true, while the test has difficulty detecting genuine GARCH effects. Several Monte Carlo experiments show that these phenomena occur in small samples as well. We design and implement a robust test, which has better size and power properties than the conventional test in the presence of AOs. We apply the tests to a number of US macroeconomic time series, which illustrates the dangers involved when nonrobust tests for ARCH are routinely applied as diagnostic tests for misspecification.


The Campbell Plateau and Chatham Rise are large submarine plateaux of continental origin forming part of the submarine New Zealand continent. Bounty Trough lies parallel to the former Gondwana subduction zone along the northern margin of Chatham Rise. At its western end, Bounty Trough (BT) connects with the Great South Basin (GSB). The whole region formed part of Gondwana until extension and subsequent seafloor spreading formed the Southern Ocean in the Late Cretaceous. Prior to the break-up of Gondwana, New Zealand was situated at the proto-Pacific plate boundary of Gondwana. Although the timing of break-up is relatively well defined, processes of break-up and the development of the continental fragments forming Campbell Plateau and Chatham Rise are not yet understood. It is expected that these processes played a key role in the development of Gondwanas plate boundary from a convergent margin to continental rifting. One model suggests that the Cretaceous rift evolved from an already existing back-arc basin, a proto-Bounty Trough. It may also be possible that the trough first developed as a rift system of the Southern Pacifics early opening as plate-kinematic reconstructions of the South Pacific region suggest.To investigate the evolution processes of these submarine plateaux, a geophysical and geolo-gical survey was conducted across the Campbell Plateau and Bounty Trough in 2003. The survey carried out two deep seismic transects with an ocean-bottom seismograph (OBS) spacing of 10-20 km in combination with a series of crustal multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection lines across the GSB and BT. The OBS records were bandpass-filtered and deconvolved. Magnetic and gravity data provide further constraints on the crustal models.The MCS profiles across the Bounty Trough show about 1.2 s (TWT) thick layered sediments with an incised valley. In most parts, basement can be identified in the reflection data, how-ever, in places only the OBS model allows discrimination of basement from older sediments. Internal basement reflections are clearly visible in some areas, but Moho is not observed on any of the MCS lines. The travel-time inversion model of the Bounty Trough implies a reduc-tion of crustal thickness to some 14 km (b.s.f.) in the area of the Bounty Channel, including 2-3 km of sedimentary cover, while crustal thickness increases to 20-25 km (b.s.f.) underneath the Bounty Platform and the southern Chatham Rise. P-wave velocities are about 2-3 km/s for sediments and range from 5 km/s for the upper basement to 7.5 km/s for the lower crust. The MCS profile across the Great South Basin shows generally well-layered sedimentary sequences. The travel-time model shows a crustal thickness of about 20-23 km (b.s.f.) including a sedimentary cover of up to 8 km under the channel. Crustal thickness increases to 27 km towards the South Island of New Zealand and 26 km with only 1 km of sedimentary cover towards the Campbell Plateau. P-wave velocities range from 2-4 km/s for sediments and increase from 5.5 to 7.5 km/s for the lower crust. Velocity models for both the Bounty Trough and Great South Basin are consistent with the gravity-anomaly models.Crustal models of both Bounty Trough and Great South Basin infer an extremely thinned crust beneath the Bounty Trough and the Great South Basin. This information related to the magnitude and style of rifting along Bounty Trough and Great South Basin, helps constrain models of the break-up process between New Zealand and Antarctica.


Weight is strongly associated with bone mineral density (BMD), but the mechanism of this effect is not well understood. Weight, height, hip-waist ratio, elbow breadth, adiposity, and BMD were measured in 6705 older women participating in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures. Adiposity was measured by bioelectric impedance and BMD by single-photon (proximal and distal radius and calcaneus) and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (lumbar spine and proximal femur). Age-adjusted associations between weight and BMD were robust at all sites (R2 = 5.9-20.4%), but the addition of other anthropometric variables to the model only marginally improved the association. Adiposity explained a substantial fraction of the effect of weight on BMD, particularly at weight-bearing sites (36-62%). On the other hand, weight explained virtually all the variability of adiposity on BMD at weight-bearing sites (81-100%). At the radial measurement sites, adiposity had more substantial independent contributions. Weight did not seem to influence the relationship between BMD and age. In sum, at weight bearing-sites, the preponderance of the effect of weight on BMD is a direct result of mass effects rather than adiposity, whereas at non-weight-bearing sites, adiposity exerts more important effects, potentially mediated by metabolic factors.


The Potential for a Democratic Islam Political Islam, World Politics and Europe, by Bassam Tibi, Routledge, Taylor and Francis Books, 2008, 311 pp. Reviewed by Daphne Burdman Bassam Tibi examines Islamist expansionism both in Muslim and Western societies, a phenomenon that appears in violent and deceptively peaceful guises. He presents a penetrating and analytical study of the West's inability to comprehend the underlying ideologies of Islamism, which is crucial if it hopes to effectively confront this increasingly dire situation. By demonstrating its essential structure, Tibi also examines the potential for democracy in societies where classical Islam prevails. Tibi defines his book as a "social-scientific study" and not a theological analysis. He views "religious activism" as a social fact. However, he accepts the self-image of jihadists as "true believers ....in [their] new world order of 'hakimiyyat Allah/God's rule." He argues that "religion has become politicized" and "politics has become religionized." Quoting Sayyid Qutb (1906-1996), the ideologist of the Muslim Brotherhood, who stated "....Islam is meant for the entire globe," he traces worldwide jihadist terrorism to this expansionist ideology and dismisses as "deceit" excuses that these actions are manifestations of outrage over Western policies in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon. From the overall tone of the book it is clear that Professor Tibi is also a strong advocate of the Muslim world. He criticizes violent hegemonic expansionism which he sees as destructive not only to non-Muslims but also to Muslims themselves by deflecting the latter from a constructive course to build a better society. Professor Tibi is particularly qualified both professionally and personally to write this detailed and thoughtful study because of his unique understanding of both Islamic and Western cultures. Tibi was born in Damascus, Syria, to a family of notable Islamic scholars. As a boy he studied and memorized the Qur'an in the traditional way, yet at that early age questioned his teachers regarding the Muslim assumption of superiority. After receiving his Baccalaureate from a Damascene French lycee, he went to Frankfurt University, Germany, earning degrees in social science, philosophy and history. At the "Frankfurt School" with teachers such as Horkheimer, Adorno and Habermas, he embraced the "rationalism" of Max Weber. He correlates this rationalism with the tradition of medieval Islamic rationalism found in al-Farabi, Avicenna, Averroes, and Ibn Khaldun (ninth to fourteenth centuries CE), the pinnacle of which is considered the "Golden Age of Islam." Tibi defines himself as both a reformist and a practicing Muslim. Tibi, who heads the Department of International Relations at the University of Goettingen, Germany, is A.D. White Professor at Large at Cornell University, USA, and was previously visiting professor at Harvard University and other US universities. He has authored 27 books in German which have been translated into 16 languages, and seven books in English. Expansionism Tibi disagrees with Huntington's Clash of Civilizations concept. He maintains that the "clash" is within Islamic societies, and not between Islamic and external societies. Previously, he disagreed with Fukuyama, who postulated the "End of History" at the conclusion of the Cold War, but is now conditionally in agreement with him since Fukuyama has acknowledged Europe as a new battleground of Western values versus values of the European Islamic diaspora.1 Tibi views today's jihadist/militant radical Islamists and Islamism (deriving from the thought of Hasan al-Banna (1928) and Sayyid Qutb, with additional contributions from Ayatollah Khomeini) as a new creation. He sees its politicization as an invented tradition and a manipulation of the basic Islamic theological concepts of jihad according to the Qur'an. This has led to the establishment of a "transnational totalitarian organization" aimed at destabilizing the political hegemony and cultural values of Western and democratic nations, while also targeting so-called moderate Islamic nations. …


Agile development methods are growing in popularity with a recent survey reporting that more than 80% of organizations now following an agile approach. Agile methods were seen initially as best suited to small, co-located teams developing non-critical systems. The first two constraining characteristics (small and co-located teams) have been addressed as research has emerged describing successful agile adoption involving large teams and distributed contexts. However, the applicability of agile methods for developing safety-critical systems in regulated environments has not yet been demonstrated unequivocally, and very little rigorous research exists in this area. Some of the essential characteristics of agile approaches appear to be incompatible with the constraints imposed by regulated environments. In this study we identify these tension points and illustrate through a detailed case study how an agile approach was implemented successfully in a regulated environment. Among the interesting concepts to emerge from the research are the notions of continuous compliance and living traceability.


Over the last two decades, the implosion of economies under the burden of debt, the negative repercussions of structural adjustment programs, the crisis of legitimacy, civil wars, and the collapse of some states have resulted in serious health issues across the African continent. Newly emerging diseases, such as Ebola virus and HIV/AIDS have killed and disabled millions. Some "old diseases," such as yellow fever, tuberculosis, and polio have reappeared. Malaria, cholera, and meningitis continue to kill thousands. In many countries, the medical infrastructure has collapsed, while an increasing number of physicians and nurses have migrated to more hospitable places. Stigmatization of the affected people has exacerbated social and racial discrimination and has affected the implementation of national and international public health programs. The complexity of the situation requires an interdisciplinary approach. This collection, including contributions by historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and biologists, emphasizes the social and cultural contexts of African health, paying particular attention to the history of the colonial public health system and its legacy.


We currently know little about what to expect regarding ride-pooling in shared automated vehicles (SAVs). Who will be willing to share rides, with whom, and under what conditions? This report details the efforts and results funded by two seed grants that converged on these questions. A broad-based literature review and review of automated vehicle (AV designs) leads to the articulation of potential risks and benefits of the pooled SAV experience and potential design solutions and supports, respectively. Risks could be related to compromised personal space, security, control, and convenience. Design features that might mitigate these risks include large windows to afford a high degree of visibility into and out of the vehicle, spacious seating and legroom (relative to larger shared vehicles like buses, trains, and planes), access to a remote human administrator who can observe inside the vehicle at all times, easy means to program private stops that are nearby one's ultimate origins and destinations (to maintain privacy), and options for large groups or associations to "own" a particular vehicle (e.g., a female only SAV). Benefits of pooled SAVs could be related to restoration and social capital. Design features that could support these benefits include themed interiors; quizzes, games and ambient entertainment; augmented reality windshields; flexible seating allowing riders to face each other; accommodations for food and drink; ensuring broad access; and making SAVs a canvas for local art. The reports ends with a proposed research agenda highlighting the importance of qualitative engagement with consumers to understand the issues related to: switching to pooled SAVs from various dominant travel modes (e.g., private cars, ride-hailing, public transit); leveraging analogous modes (e.g., pooled ride-hailing) to study the potential of pooled SAVs; and conducting experiments to understand the influence of various features of the pooled SAV experience that will impact consumer adoption. This report can inform SAV designers, policy-makers, private transit service providers, and other stakeholders about behavioral and design factors that will impact uptake of pooled SAVs.


Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been widely studied in recent years. Most of these studies are dedicated to understanding the application of BIM to solve specific problems (e.g. clash detection and 4D simulation). Other studies are related to BIM implementation manuals to help companies with this process, considering different stakeholder perspectives (owners, contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers and suppliers). Some previous studies concentrate on the technical and operational aspects of BIM while others focus on diagnosis of current BIM implementation worldwide. However, there is a lack of studies about strategic vision for the implementation of BIM when considering the construction industry. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify key issues related to strategic aspects of BIM in the building industry, focusing on political, procedural and technological facets, using the practical knowledge of lean implementation.


In this forum report, I contend that Jane Jacobs's Death and Life of Great American Cities can be interpreted as a phenomenology of the city and urban place (Jacobs, 1961/1993). I consider four aspects of the book as they relate to a phenomenological approach: (1) Jacobs's mode of seeing and understanding as phenomenological method; (2) her claim that 'citiness' is a phenomenon in its own right and has the power to draw and hold people to particular urban places; (3) her portrait of urban experience and place as they are founded in environmental embodiment; and (4) her pointing toward a constellation of place relationships and processes that potentially strengthen or weaken urban robustness. I argue that much of Jacobs's argument has parallels with the findings of space syntax research, including themes highlighted by Julienne Hanson in her 2000 article, 'Urban Transformations' (Hanson, 2000).


Abstract The Euro Area (Eurozone, or EZ) is navigating uncharted waters; it has started, in slow motion, to slide towards a fiscal federation, while still lacking both the fiscal capacity and the democratic qualification to achieve this goal. Strengthening the EMU's democratic profile is a fundamental requirement for the sustainability of the EMU as much as its completion with a fiscal and economic arm. Yet, according to the Five Presidents Report released in 2015, no substantial progress is expected to be achieved before 2025. Against this background, this paper is structured in two parts. The first part analyses the most recent trends in the Governance of the Eurozone. The second part discusses whether a transition from governance to government of the Monetary Union is both feasible and effective, advancing a new proposal -a Joint Budgetary Procedure-tailored to strengthen the European Semester with stronger incentive mechanisms, greater reach and stronger governance.


Adipocytokines, bioactive molecules secreted from adipose tissues, play important roles in physiology, development, and disease. Recently, heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) was identified as an adipocytokine whose expression correlates with obesity. However, the biological role of fat-secreted HB-EGF is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of HB-EGF on the adipocyte differentiation of C3H10T1/2 pluripotent mesenchymal cells. Upon adipogenic conversion of C3H10T1/2 cells, HB-EGF displayed dynamic changes in expression where an initial decrease was followed by increased levels of expression at later stages. HB-EGF treatment during adipogenic induction inhibited lipid accumulation and decreased the expression of adipocyte molecular markers (fatty acid-binding protein, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, and CAAT enhancer-binding protein alpha) and lipogenic genes (glucose transporter, fatty acid synthetase, and lipoprotein lipase). Therefore, HB-EGF has an inhibitory effect on adipocyte differentiation. Administration of HB-EGF at various intervals during adipocyte differentiation revealed that HB-EGF acts during the early stages of adipocyte differentiation, but not at the later stages of differentiation. Furthermore, HB-EGF was able to block the commitment of pluripotent mesenchymal cells to the adipocyte lineage triggered by bone morphogenic protein 4 treatment. These data suggest that HB-EGF acts as a negative regulator of adipogenesis by inhibiting the commitment and early differentiation of the adipose lineage. The inhibitory role of HB-EGF on adipocyte differentiation of pluripotent mesenchymal cells sheds light on potential mechanisms that control adipose tissue homeostasis.


In this paper, we look into smart water metering infrastructures that enable continuous, on-demand and bidirectional data exchange between metering devices, water flow equipment, utilities and end-users. We focus on the design, development and deployment of such infrastructures as part of larger, smart city, infrastructures. Until now, such critical smart city infrastructures have been developed following a cloud-centric paradigm where all the data are collected and processed centrally using cloud services to create real business value. Cloud-centric approaches need to address several performance issues at all levels of the network, as massive metering datasets are transferred to distant machine clouds while respecting issues like security and data privacy. Our solution uses the fog computing paradigm to provide a system where the computational resources already available throughout the network infrastructure are utilized to facilitate greatly the analysis of fine-grained water consumption data collected by the smart meters, thus significantly reducing the overall load to network and cloud resources. Details of the system's design are presented along with a pilot deployment in a real-world environment. The performance of the system is evaluated in terms of network utilization and computational performance. Our findings indicate that the fog computing paradigm can be applied to a smart grid deployment to reduce effectively the data volume exchanged between the different layers of the architecture and provide better overall computational, security and privacy capabilities to the system.


Whedon was not alone in contributing to the millennial return of the soul in Buffy and
Angel – think Philip Pullman's daemons, JK Rowling's horcruxes. While the soul is welltrodden
in Whedon Studies, the folding back into religious tropes and traditions it
foreshadows (Galactica/Caprica's poly-versus-monotheism, Meyer's migrating souls,
Kate/Clare's Nephilim, Dominion's angels) suggests further study.
Stimulated by Buffy and Angel's sheer re-watchability, I argue that these central
character narratives take us through a ritual experience mirroring the structure of the
"daimonic" tale. We desire to repeat this experience, which thus becomes a personal
tradition, due to the daimonic tale's intrinsic structural relationship with the idea of
separation from an "essential" self.
The daimonic tale centres on "The Solitary"– initially naive, affluent, and
hubristic – whose subsequent isolation and fall drives him or her into death, and rebirth
– becoming "the daimon's master instead of the daimon's thrall" (Stefan Zweig).
Tellingly, the term's etymology is "the verb daiomai, 'to divide, lacerate'" (Agamben).
Whedon's restorable souls and other separations from self (the body-snatching vampire,
The Visions, the downloaded identities of the 'Dollhouse' – even Slayer-ness itself)
behave like daimons; not as an essentialising presence, but as external forces which
operate to possess the subject in a march towards self-knowledge, regardless of suffering
or consequence.
Indeed, it is the the duality of consciousness saturating these narratives which
makes them monstrous; their horrors of the split psyche go beyond a moral failure to
integrate the Jungian Shadow (Riess), and possess greater truth than the monsters
'outside'. Whedon's daimonic tales thus retain considerable pleasure when re-watched –
because they reboot horror as us – as our self- and other- alienations, split psyches, as
our amoral and inexplicable drives. By compelling a new horror tradition that is
fundamentally a ritual of re-watching, these series may even be driving, daimonic
experience themselves.


Why do people in poverty tend to have poorer health? This study looks at hundreds of theories to consider how income influences health. There is a graded association between money and health ? increased income equates to better health. But the reasons are debated. Researchers have reviewed theories from 272 wide-ranging papers, most of which examined the complex interactions between people?s income and their health throughout their lives. Key points This research identifies four main ways money affects people?s wellbeing: Material: Money buys goods and services that improve health. The more money families have, the better the goods they can buy. Psychosocial: Managing on a low income is stressful. Comparing oneself to others and feeling at the bottom of the social ladder can be distressing, which can lead to biochemical changes in the body, eventually causing ill health. Behavioural: For various reasons, people on low incomes are more likely to adopt unhealthy behaviours ? smoking and drinking, for example ? while those on higher incomes are more able to afford healthier lifestyles. Reverse causation (poor health leads to low income): Health may affect income by preventing people from taking paid employment. Childhood health may also affect educational outcomes, limiting job opportunities and potential earnings. The research is part of our programme of work on poverty in the UK.


The two previous volumes draw a fascinating picture of the confrontation between the Christians and Moors in Spain from the Christian side. This volume attempts to redress the balance by describing many of the same incidents from the Muslims' point of view. The close intermingling of Christians and Moors, whether in love, in politics or in the common enjoyment of popular festivals, helps to account for the unique character of Islamic society in the Iberian Peninsula. Extracts from Arabic sources cover the relations between Christians and Moors in Spain over nearly 800 years. Apart from military encounters, some attention is paid to diplomacy, and also to lawsuits, legal judgments and regulations governing the co-existence of the rival communities. These not only reveal the fundamental differences between the two sides, but show how, in many cases, the divisions were not as clear-cut as the jurists and theologians would have wished. Only a handful of these texts have ever been translated into English before, and it is hoped that this selection will make a contribution to the understanding of this remarkable period in Spanish and Islamic history.


Mother Courage was first performed in Zurich in 1941 and is usually seen as Brecht's greatest work. Remaining a powerful indictment of war and social injustice, it is an epic drama set in the seventeenth century during the Thirty Years' War. The plot follows the resilient Mother Courage who survives by running a commissary business that profits from all sides. As the war claims all of her children in turn, the play poignantly demonstrates that no one can profit from the war without being subject to its terrible cost also. This translation by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner is contemporary and lively, with accessible and humour language, an easy conversational flow, sympathetic, understandable characters and humour. Kushner makes a classic play which is notoriously difficult to perform both stage and reader friendly. It was staged at the National Theatre directed by Deborah Warner and starring Fiona Shaw in September 2009.


Studying the sources of growth in agricultural production, examining the extent of inefficiency, and identifying the sources of such inefficiency, is an important step forward to improve the livelihood of subsistence farm households in developing countries. A stochastic frontier analysis is used because, in addition to accounting for sources of growth in agricultural output, this method explicitly incorporates efficiency differences in the analysis. The empirical analysis uses panel data from the Ethiopian Rural Household Survey collected during 1994 through 2009. The results indicate that most of the increase in agricultural output is attained by increased use of traditional inputs such as size and quality of cultivated land, labor, numbers of oxen and hoes, and was heavily influenced by amount of precipitation received. By contrast, the rate of fertilizer application contributed little for increase in output. Participation in the extension program made moderate contribution towards increases in output. Each agroecological zone included in the study gained from Hicks-neutral technological improvements during the 1994–2004 period. Nonetheless productivity levels in 2009 were not different from levels in 1994, and they had declined between 2004 and 2009. Average level of farming efficiency for the surveyed farmers across all the years was 0.46, indicating that an average farmer produces less than half of the value of output produced by the most efficient farmer using the same technology and inputs. However, average farming efficiency has improved during the 1995–2009 period. Farm households' level of farming efficiency is improved by reducing labor bottlenecks and increased education. Households that have diversified risk from plots that are located sufficiently apart appear more efficient. Households that own more animals both in terms of two or more ploughing oxen or total livestock units are more efficient. Drought affects efficiency adversely whenever it strikes. Farmers that live in close proximity to markets are less efficient. On average, farming inefficiency has consistently declined in the period considered. The results suggest that each agroecological zone is faced with different opportunities and obstacles.


The International Criminal Court (ICC) was never meant to supplant the domestic prosecution of international crimes. And yet the Court is now entering its second decade of operations in four African nations, with no plan for exit in sight. This Article identifies the looming need for the ICC to consider when and how to exit situations in which it is currently active. In addition to the normative concern that a failure to start planning for exit undercuts the Court's placement within a system of complementarity, the need to consider exit is also driven by a financial imperative. The Court's caseload is expanding at a radically faster rate than its budget, and there has already been a detrimental impact on the quality of the Court's work. However consideration of exit reveals an immediate problem: While the Court's constitutive document, the Rome Statute, provides much guidance on when the Court may enter a new situation, it offers no explicit guidance on exit whatsoever. This Article fills that lacuna, proposing a novel framework to guide exit decision-making that draws on both statutory and policy prescriptions, as well as insights from analogous international institutions. This Article's focus on exit represents a new direction within the literature on the ICC which, for the first decade of the Court's existence has focused almost exclusively on issues related to the entry of the Court into new situations. Yet two of the dimensions involved in exit decision-making, prosecutorial discretion and complementarity, are issues that the ICC has been grappling with since its inception. Consideration of exit provides a new opportunity to assess and extend our understanding of issues.


Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery. Many individuals fall prey to this flourishing industry after being lured from their homes by the promise of economic opportunity. Upon relocation, these victims are forced to work under the darkest conditions in countries around the world, including the United States. This Note explores the problem of trafficking in the United States and the efforts being exerted to combat it at the federal and state levels. Massachusetts State Senator Mark C. Montigny recently introduced a comprehensive bill that would complement and improve upon federal efforts to prosecute perpetrators of human trafficking and provide services to their victims. Ultimately, given the clandestine nature of the industry and the minimal effect the federal legislation has had, this Note urges Massachusetts to adopt Senator Montigny's bill to fight human trafficking effectively on the local level, and for other state legislatures quickly to follow suit.


This essay examines the right to use birth control in Connecticut before Griswold v. Connecticut (1965). It is often assumed that the Connecticut birth control ban was not enforced, and consequently did not affect access to birth control in the state. Accordingly, the cases challenging the state statute have been viewed as not real cases or controversies deserving of court attention. This essay demonstrates that this view is erroneous. Connecticut law was enforced against the personnel of birth control clinics for aiding and abetting the use of contraceptives. Enforcement of the statute against those working in clinics kept birth control clinics closed in Connecticut for twenty-five years. The lack of birth control clinics may not have greatly affected middle-class and wealthy people who could afford private medical care, since doctors would often ignore the laws. The lack of clinics primarily harmed lower-income women who needed the free or low-cost services birth control clinics provided. It was the impact of birth control restrictions on the poor that led Dr. C. Lee Buxton, along with Estelle Griswold, to publicly violate the law by opening the clinic that resulted in their arrests, and ultimately in the Supreme Court ruling in Griswold. Beyond its importance to the history of reproductive rights, this essay illuminates the history of rights under state constitutional law. Until 1965, the United States Supreme Court largely avoided cases involving reproductive rights, with the notable exception of sterilization. Appeals to the Supreme Court in cases involving constitutional challenges to state restrictions on contraceptives were regularly dismissed for want of a substantial federal question or due to lack of standing, so that substantive rulings in birth control cases were confined to the state courts and, on questions of federal law, to the lower federal courts. Because the Supreme Court did not hear these cases, the right to use birth control was determined by state law until 1965, when the Court decided Griswold v. Connecticut. Consequently, an examination of this area of law enables us to see the independent treatment of constitutional rights by one state court without meaningful input from the U.S. Supreme Court.


This article focuses on intellectual property enforcement, a topic that is of great importance to both developed and less developed countries. It begins by refuting the simple, and often politically motivated, claim that many countries fail to provide effective intellectual property enforcement by virtue of their lack of political will. Drawing on the latest economic literature, this article shows that high enforcement standards come with a hefty price tag and difficult trade-offs. The article then outlines the challenges in measuring the cross-border economic impact of piracy and counterfeiting. As an illustration, the article discusses the ongoing effort by the US International Trade Commission to measure the economic impact of intellectual property infringement in China on the US economy. The article concludes with an analysis of the various metrics that can be or have been used to develop cross-country comparative analyses. It highlights the continuous disagreement across nations over what metrics should be used. It also suggests new areas researchers can explore in their continuous search for a set of mutually satisfactory metrics that advance the international intellectual property enforcement debate.


Knowledge that has been developed through extensive experience of receiving and responding to ecological feedback is particularly valuable for informing and guiding environmental management. This paper captures the implicit understanding of seven experienced on-ground conservation managers about the conservation issues affecting the Ramsar listed Macquarie Marshes in New South Wales, Australia. Multiple interviews, a workshop, and meetings were used to elicit the manager's knowledge. The managers suggest that the Macquarie Marshes are seriously threatened by a lack of water, and immediate steps need to be taken to achieve more effective water delivery. Their knowledge and perceptions of the wider societal impediments to achieving more effective water delivery have also led the managers to suggest that there may be system feedbacks that are reinforcing the tendency for water agencies to favor the short-term interests of the irrigation industry. Although the managers clearly have certain personal interests that influence their understanding and perceptions, much of their knowledge also appears to have been heavily influenced by their ecological understanding of the wetland's dynamics. This paper highlights that although all stakeholders clearly need to be involved in making decisions about conservation and how resources should be used, such decisions should not be confused with the need for consulting people with the appropriate ecological expertise to help determine the degree to which an ecological system is threatened, the likely ecological causes of the threats, and actions that may be needed to restore and maintain a functional ecosystem.