On top of the intense history of racism in America, recent research has shown the increasing importance of color-blind racism and its impact on our society. While many studies have shown that racism exists in the media, few have been able to explain how media providers institutionalize racism. Thus, while media outlets have been proven to display racist sentiments, few studies have shown how racism is operationalized (and executed) within a given media institution. The goal of this study is to explore the possibility of such practices. By taking a purposive sample of news articles from both the Columbia Daily Tribune and the New York Times, I conduct a content analysis to explore how these two newspapers treat race issues. Do journalistic models (such as the inverted pyramid style of reporting) function as injectors of racial bias? Additionally, what role do indirect racial codes have in coverage of race issues? Answers to these questions will yield important results in explaining whether or not media outlets institutionalize racism (and if so, how). Given the vast amount of research showing the immense effect media can have on public opinion, the understanding of how the media perpetuates racism is imperative to develop a comprehensive understanding of contemporary racism.


The April 2010 BP® oil spill has caused great concern for ecological impacts in the Gulf of Mexico. Crude oil contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) and oil spills increase the exposure of aquatic organisms to this class of chemicals. The overall detrimental health effects associated with PAH exposure depend on the exposure period, the concentration of PAHs, and the toxicity of the PAHs in the mixture. Brevoortia tyrannus and Brevoortia patronus are filter feeding fish commonly known as menhaden and account for over 40% of the commercial industry fisheries catch. As primary consumers, they are a major link in the food chain. In this study, liver metabolites of PAHs were measured in menhaden using fixed emission fluorescence spectroscopy (FEFS). Liver PAH analyses were performed on fish samples from North Atlantic to Gulf coasts with the anticipation of comparing a BP® oil signature with ones from urban environments. Adult menhaden were collected from Delaware Bay, NJ (September 2010-September 2011), James River, Virginia (November 2010), Grand Isle, Louisiana (September 2010September 2011), and Vermillion Bay, Louisiana (June 2011-October 2011). The findings of this study show that a high Naphthol-like/Hydroxypyrene-like ratio is indicative of petroleum exposure. The Barataria Bay (BB), LA 2010 and 2011 samples, Vermillion Bay, LA 2011 samples, and Delaware Bay, NJ 2010 and 2011 data all showed evidence of PAH exposure. The difference of HNP-like and HPY-like PAHs at BBLA from 2010 to 2011 indicated that the site was affected. This indicated continuing exposure to DWH crude oil one year after the event. In addition, there was seasonal correlation for HNP-like vs HPY-like PAHs across the different sample sites. The accumulation of PAHs was site and/or season related and not due to the age of the fish. B. tyrannus and B. patronus species were found to have similar types and concentrations of PAHs despite sample location and can serve as a useful tool to monitor PAH exposure over time. Results suggested that menhaden could be a useful biomonitoring organism regardless of species.


This study explores the experiences of U.S. Air Force wives who wish to pursue their own employment while frequently relocating with their military husbands. Previous research has shown that military wives face significant obstacles to maintaining employment, evidenced by lower earnings, and higher rates of unemployment and underemployment compared to the general U.S. female population. While other studies have documented these employment challenges, few researchers have examined the personal experiences of the women who live with them. Through the use of 21 narrative interviews, this research focuses on military wives' thoughts and feelings about their work-related desires, and the impact to self. The findings from this study are grouped into thoughts and feelings across three domains: working, not working, and being a military spouse. Participants were unanimous in associating positive thoughts and feelings with working and negative thoughts and feelings with not working. Furthermore, participants expressed ambivalence about their military lifestyle of frequent relocation, and identified both positive and negative aspects of this reality. As a result of the data produced in this study, a model of fit is proposed with respect to work, self, and military life. A high degree of fit facilitates a military wife's ability to preserve her whole self, while lack of fit results in the need to change one's work or self to adapt, and in some cases result in feelings of despair, depression, and loss of self. This process is influenced by multi-layered gendered roles inherent in marriage, motherhood, and the military.


The Issue
In 2009, the Government of Newfoundland & Labrador announced the creation of two youth residential treatment (YRT) centres for youth with complex needs. YRT is a multifaceted form of care that requires programming in the areas of treatment, milieu (i.e., plans to manage group interactions among clients and staff), and the residence itself.
A broad range of multi-disciplinary research-based evidence can inform the design and implementation of these YRT centres. For this evidence to be useful to decision makers, it needs to be interpreted in the context of Newfoundland & Labrador. Providing health decision makers with the best available evidence that is attuned to the capacities and characteristics of the province is the goal of the Contextualized Health Research Synthesis Program (CHRSP).
The Results
The Research Team, led by Dr. John Lyons, synthesized and contextualized the systematic review research literature related to several areas of interest: 1) YRT as a generic treatment program; 2) treating youth with addictions; 3) treating youth with disruptive behaviours; 4) treating sexually aggressive youth; 5) treating Aboriginal youth; 6) YRT site design, staffing and governance; and 7) the health economics of YRT.
Despite a long history, YRT does not have a robust base of systematic review evidence due to methodological challenges. Nonetheless, there was evidence indicating that:
• YRT is most useful for those youth with elevated levels of complex needs.
• Some established treatments for youth with addictions and youth with disruptive behaviours can produce statistically significant, but clinically small, effects in clients.
• There are significant gaps in evidence concerning Aboriginal youth with complex needs and several indications that they may need specialized programming in order for treatments to be effective.
• YRT centres may benefit significantly from an autonomous intake system and they are most efficient if they operate within an integrated continuum of child care services including less intensive options.
• The costs of not treating youth with complex needs greatly exceeds the costs of treatment, although community-based services are more cost efficient than residential services.


Significance
Important advances in modeling chemical production scheduling problems have been made in recent years, yet effective solution methods are still required. We use an algorithm that uses process network and customer demand information to formulate powerful valid inequalities that substantially improve the solution process. In particular, we extend the ideas recently developed for discrete-time formulations to continuous-time models and show that these tightening methods lead to a significant decrease in computational time, up to more than three orders of magnitude for some instances. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 4461–4467, 2013


Non-profit organizations are an indivisible part of the structure of today's economy, the good they offer are rarely discountenanced, yet they face multiple problems that threaten the traditional foundations of their operations. Projects run by these organizations face new measurement metrics that streamlines how funds are subsequently obtained, they face stiff competition from counterpart organizations who strive to outdo each other for funds needed for programs and it is common place to see governments grant focus change with attendant change in the disbursement of funds. These dynamics place extra demand on non-profit organizations to be relevant in terms of programs and also to constantly re-strategize in the event that prior guaranteed funds are no longer accessible. Taking a cue from the models and theories of entrepreneurship, network systems and dynamic capabilities; projected as the framework for understanding how these non-profit organizations can sustain operations and remain relevant, the research work in this thesis seeks empirical evidence from the field in order to determine if the theories projected have the possibility of being applied in the operations of the non-profit sector.


We study the impact of disclosure about bank fundamentals on depositors' behavior in the presence (and absence) of economic linkages between financial institutions. Using a controlled laboratory environment, we identify under which conditions disclosure is conducive to bank stability. We find that bank deposits are sensitive to perceived bank performance. While banks with strong fundamentals benefit from more precise disclosure, an opposing effect is present for solvent banks with weaker fundamentals. Depositors take information about economic linkages into account and correctly identify when disclosure about one institution conveys meaningful information for others. Our findings highlight both the costs and benefits of bank transparency and suggest that disclosure is not always stability enhancing.


In From Sacrament to Contract, John Witte Jr. offers a study of five conflicting models of marriage--Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist, Anglican, and Enlightenment--and their social and political impact over the last thousand years. In so doing, Witte shows how we arrived at the notion of marriage as contract. The Family, Culture, and Religion series offers informed and responsible analyses of the state of the American family from a religious perspective and provides practical assistance for the family's revitalization.


Antisense oligodeoxynucleotides can selectively inhibit individual gene expression provided they remain stable at the target site for a sufficient period of time. Thus, the efficacy of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides may be improved by employing a sustained release delivery system which would protect from degradation by nucleases whilst delivering the nucleic acid in a controlled manner to the site of action. Biodegradable polymer films and micro spheres were evaluated as delivery devices for the oligodeoxynucleotides and ribozymes. Polymers such as polylactide, polyglycolide, polyhydroxybutyrate and polyhydroxyvalerate were used due to their biocompatability and non toxic degradation products. Release profiles of antisense nucleic acids from films over 28 days was biphasic, characterised by an initial burst release during the first 48 hours followed by a more sustained release. Release from films of longer antisense nucleic acids was slower compared to shorter nucleic acids. Backbone type also affected release, although to a lesser extent than length. Total release of the nucleic acids is dependent upon polymer degradation, no degradation of the polymer films was evident over the 28 day period, due to the high molecular weight and crystallinity of the polymers required to make solvent cast films. Backbone length and type did not affect release from microspheres, release was generally faster than from films, due to the increased surface area, and low molecular weight polymers which showed signs of degradation over the release period, resulting in a triphasic release profile. An increase in release was observed when sphere size and polymer molecular weight were decreased. The polymer entrapped phosphodiester oligodeoxynucleotides and ribozymes had enhanced stability compared to free oligodeoxynucleotides and ribozymes when incubated in serum. The released nucleic acids were still capable of hybridising to their target sequence, indicating that the fabrication processes did not adversely effect the properties of the antisense nucleic acids. Oligodeoxynucleotides loaded in 2μm spheres had a 10 fold increase in macrophage association compared to free oligodeoxynucleotides. Fluorescent microscopy indicates that the polymer entrapped oligodeoxynucleotide is concentrated inside the cell, whereas free oligodeoxynucleotides are concentrated at the cell membrane. Biodegradable polymers can reduce the limitations of antisense therapy and thus offer a potential therapeutic advantage.


This article examines the silencing of Aboriginal people in Canadian legal discourse. The continued colonization of Aboriginal people is represented in legal decisions which display how Aboriginal laws, evidence, and reasoning are barred from the judicial process. By relying on early precedent the Supreme Court of Canada sanctions the non-participation of Aboriginal people in resolving rights disputes. Moving beyond a historical analysis, legal thought and legal language create barriers which prevent courts from receiving Aboriginal evidence and laws. Contradictions inherent in the study of colonialism also reveal themselves in Canadian law. Even when the Supreme Court attempts to incorporate Aboriginal voice it fails. The potential for progress that was shown in the Calder decision has since been nullified and Aboriginal people continue to face barriers when confronting Canadian law. The author asserts that the continued application of legal power is representative of the ongoing colonization of Aboriginal people. This article is relevant to the Canadian legal community because it addresses serious and persistent underlying issues in the legal treatment of Aboriginal/Crown disputes.


The experience of European organizations managing land cadaster system is analyzed with examples of land relations development given for different spheres: legal, technical, and economic. The peculiarities in adoption and application of the 3D land cadasters by different countries of the world is viewed. It is stated that a cadaster of the future is to be a multi-purpose one in the 3D or 4D format.

The need in modernizing current land legislation to improve the procedures of collecting, preserving, restoring, and utilizing land resources in Ukraine pertaining to implementation of the principle of the State land cadaster keeping is accentuated on.
Advantages of account-and-registration systems are analyzed; the legal nature of social relations arising in this sphere is clarified. Recommendations concerning establishing the 3D cadaster in Ukraine are offered.
Key words: lands account, cadaster systems, land, land parcels, the 3D cadaster.


Purpose: One of the most consistent predictors of punitiveness is education, with more educated individuals expressing less punitive sentiments. While much of the earlier research focused on the level of education, some researchers have recently begun to look more closely at the nature of that education such as examining the effect of specific majors on punitiveness. This paper goes even further by also analyzing more broadly the effect of a social science education on punitive attitudes.Methods: This article presents results from an online survey of 4,000 undergraduate students attending a United States' university.  Ordinary least squares analysis is used to examine the effect of majoring in the social sciences on support for punitive criminal justice policies, while controlling for a number of theoretically relevant variables.Findings: We find that more educated students and those majoring in social science disciplines are generally less punitive than their counterparts. If we are to unburden ourselves of the intricately intermingled economic and social costs of mass incarceration, it will require a re-visioning of how we do justice in America.  Social scientists can play a crucial role in this regard through focused research and in educating young people to be critical thinkers and thoughtful citizens.


In this paper, a nominal sensor placement methodology for leak location in water distribution networks is presented. To reduce the size and the complexity of the optimization problem a clustering technique is combined with the nominal sensor placement methodology. Some of the pressure sensor placement methods for leak detection and location in water distribution networks are based on the pressure sensitivity matrix analysis. This matrix depends on the network demands, which are nondeterministic, and the leak magnitudes, that are unknown. The robustness of the nominal sensor placement methodology is investigated against the fault sensitivity matrix uncertainty. Providing upon the dependency of the leak location procedure on the network operating point, the nominal sensor placement problem is then reformulated as a multi-objective optimization for which Pareto optimal solutions are generated. The robustness study as well as the resulting robust sensor placement methodology are illustrated by means of a small academic network as well as a district metered area in the Barcelona water distribution network.


Most growth theorists agree that understanding the economics of innovation and technological change is central to understanding why some countries are richer and/or grow faster than other countries. The driving force behind recent developments in endogenous innovation models of growth is a desire to eliminate population scale effects. In the semi endogenous growth model growth becomes proportional to the exogenous population growth rate but invariant to policy. This paper makes population growth endogenous by modeling fertility along the lines of Barro and Becker (Fertility Choice in a Model of Economic Growth, 1989) and models an array of government policies to demonstrate how some policies can impact levels and growth rates in a scale free endogenous growth model. In the model government policies are categorized according to whether they have level effects only, level and growth effects, or no impact on levels and/or growth.


This thesis details InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QD) as light emitting media for gallium arsenide (GaAs) based bilayer laser devices for optical communication and dot-in-well (DWELL) superluminescent devices for broadband applications.
The first three experimental chapters detail particular properties of QD bilayers, where the strain interactions between two closely stacked QD layers are engineered for the sole aim of extending the emission wavelength of QDs towards the 1550 nm of the telecom window. In view of this, the first experimental chapter compares laser devices utilising single QD layers with 5x InGaAs cap layers, 5x bilayer QDs with GaAs cap layers, in order to highlight the significantly better performance of bilayer laser devices in achieving long wavelength emission.
In the second experimental chapter, further optimization of the growth parameters of InGaAs capped sample is explored. Room-temperature ground-state lasing at 1420 nm and electroluminescence at 1515 nm are observed and discussed. Under high-bias conditions, asymmetric broadening of peaks in the laser gain spectra are observed, extending positive net modal gain from the devices to beyond 1500 nm. The origin of this broadening is discussed.
In the third experimental chapter, bilayer QD lasers operating in the excited state at wavelengths that span the O-band are demonstrated. An increase in K-factor limited modulation bandwidth from QD lasers operating in the excited state is predicted. This is due to a reduction in carrier transport and scattering times whilst maintaining high peak modal gain.
In the last experimental chapter, a comparison of growth conditions, photoluminescence measurements, atomic force microscopy measurements and device characteristics affecting 1200-1300 nm DWELL structures with a view to their optimization for broadband applications are explained.


The introduction of Extensible Markup Language (XML) represented a tremendous leap towards the design of Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs). Although XML-based languages are well adopted and flexible, their generic editors miss modern DSL editor functionality. Additionally, artifacts defined with such languages lack comprehensibility and, therefore, maintainability, because XML has primarily been designed as a machine-processable format with immutable concrete syntax. While there exist techniques to migrate XML-based languages to modeling languages, they are composed of manual steps demanding complex language engineering skills that are usually not part of a domain engineer's skill set. To tackle these shortcomings, we propose a bridge between XML-based languages and text-based modeling languages. This includes the automated and customizable generation of Xtext-based editors from XML schema definitions (XSDs) providing advanced editor functionality, individualized textual concrete syntax style, and roundtrip transformations enabling the exchange of data between the two languages. For the evaluation of the approach, we plan to conduct case studies as well as user studies based on industrial-strength markup languages that will be transformed to textual modeling languages including editors that are intended to be at least as powerful as those manually built for XML-based languages.


Recent research has revealed the effects of orthography on the pronunciation of consonant durations in the L2 English of L1 Italian speakers (e.g. the [p] in floppy being pronounced as longer than in copy). In this paper we compared this orthographic effect with an orthography-independent effect of L1 phonology, namely VOT. We measured closure durations and VOT for plosives produced by 30 learners of L2 English in Italy, 30 Italian late bilingual speakers of L2 English living in the UK, and 30 native English speakers. While VOT values produced by late bilinguals differed significantly from those produced by learners, closure durations were similar across the two groups. Additionally, L1 Italian VOT values proved that late bilinguals adapted VOT in L2 English by a larger extent than learners. It appears that the effects of orthography on L2 consonant duration can be more resistant to naturalistic L2 exposure than orthography-independent effects of L1 phonology.


Performance of analog circuits degrades over time due to several time-dependent degradation mechanisms. Due to the increased aging problems in ever-shrinking dimensions, reliability of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor analog circuits has become a major concern. Overdesign is a popular aging-aware circuit design approach, where circuit operation is guardbanded by choosing the design point beyond the optimal region. For the sake of reliability, power consumption and chip area are sacrificed in this approach, which is undesirable considering strict energy limitations in modern applications. Conversely, Sense and React (S8R) approach serves the same purpose without any additional power consumption, in which degradation of circuit features is detected by online monitoring and recovered immediately. Furthermore, such systems enable remote control and healing of circuits. However, design of an S8R system is quite complicated. In particular, determination of efficient aging signatures and design of recovery strategy are highly challenging problems. This study thoroughly discusses the design process of S8R systems and proposes computer-aided-design-based design strategies that reduce the designer effort considerably. A novel design automation tool for S8R systems was developed, in which signature selection and recovery determination were integrated. To demonstrate proposed design strategies, two different S8R systems are implemented, simulated, and discussed in detail.


This paper presents the findings of a study conducted in 2011 with the students studying English at the School of Languages at Sabanci University (SU) and the participants (English teachers, academicians, and English teacher candidates) who attended our presentation "What are the characteristics of a good teacher?" presented at the 15 th International INGED Conference, "Taking it to the Limits" held on 20 October, 2011 on their perceived characteristics of the exemplary teacher. The idea to conduct such a study came about upon observation of teachers' unease about the evaluation forms that students complete at the end of each semester. Teachers' perceptions of effective teaching seemed to differ from those of students. Therefore, we decided to prepare various instruments to identify and measure students' perceptions of the characteristics of exemplary language teachers and teachers' perceptions of the characteristics of the exemplary language teacher and compare the results. In light of this aim, 31 intermediate 1 and 2 level students were asked to provide a written response to the prompt "Describe your perception of the good English teacher" to explore the characteristics they find exemplary in their (past and present) language teachers' teaching practices. The participants attending our session at the INGED conference were also presented the same prompt at the beginning of our presentation and asked for a written response. The participants kept their responses until the end of the presentation in case they wanted to make any changes or additions. We hope that the findings in this paper encourage teachers to 're-contemplate' their own teaching methodology and its impacts on students' learning processes, and, if necessary, make changes to their teaching to promote students' language competence and performance.


For a number of reasons, including the complicated psychological makeup of reactive homicide, the heat of passion defense has remained subject to various points of confusion. One persistent issue of disagreement has been the justificatory versus excusatory nature of the defense. In this Article, I highlight and categorize a series of varied American homicide cases in which the applicability of heat of passion was supported although adequate provocation (or significant provocation by the victim) was absent. The cases are organized to illustrate how common law heat of passion may apply in instances in which there is no actual provocation or the source of provocation is the victim. The rationale is that the emotional disturbance that interferes with one's rationality and self-control arises as an effect of the genuine belief that one has been seriously wronged, a perspective that can only be characterized as an excuse. In addition, I discuss how the rationale that this defense is a partial justification fails even in most situations in which the killer has really been seriously provoked by the victim. Finally, I clarify discrete psychological components of heat of passion homicide, and discuss how scholarly and judicial blurring of these forms of mental functioning may contribute to the longstanding confusion as to the nature of the defense. In sum, this Article contributes further evidence as to why it is correct to view heat of passion as a partial excuse.


The goal of this study has been to reconstruct the design principles underlying the construction of the Pantheon's portico columns as well as to demonstrate how digital investigation methods and models can be used to improve our understanding of ancient architectural knowledge. Thanks to the data of the Bern Digital Pantheon Model, a synthesis of all the scanned surface points obtained during a digitization campaign of the Karman Center for Advanced Studies in the Humanities of the University of Bern in 2005, we have been able to determine empirically the column profiles of the portico with unprecedented precision. A second stage of our investigation involved explaining the profile of the column shafts by a construction model that takes into account the parameters recommended by Vitruvius and design methods such as those that can be found in the construction drawings discovered at Didyma. Our analysis shows that the design principles of the portico's columns can be successfully reconstructed, and has led to the surprising result that at least two different variants of a simple circle construction were used. Finally, we have been able to deduce from the distribution of the different profile types among the columns that the final profiles were designed and executed in Rome.


Abstract. The study presents a long-term statistical trend analysis of total ozone data sets obtained from various satellites. A multi-variate linear regression was applied to annual mean zonal mean data using various natural and anthropogenic explanatory variables that represent dynamical and chemical processes which modify global ozone distributions in a changing climate. The study investigated the magnitude and zonal distribution of the different atmospheric chemical and dynamical factors contributing to long-term total ozone changes. The regression model included the equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine (EESC), the 11-year solar cycle, the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), stratospheric aerosol loading describing the effects from major volcanic eruptions, the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Arctic and Antarctic oscillation (AO/AAO), and accumulated eddy heat flux (EHF), the latter representing changes due to the Brewer–Dobson circulation. The total ozone column data set used here comprises the Solar Backscater Ultraviolet SBUV/SBUV-2 merged ozone data set (MOD) V8.6, the merged data set of the Solar Backscaterr Ultraviolet, the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer and the Ozone Monitoring Instrument SBUV/TOMS/OMI (1979–2012) MOD V8.0 and the merged data set of the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment, the Scanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric ChartograpHY and the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment 2 GOME/SCIAMACHY/GOME-2 (GSG) (1995–2012). The trend analysis was performed for twenty-six 5° wide latitude bands from 65° S to 65° N, and the analysis explained most of the ozone variability to within 70 to 90%. The results show that QBO dominates the ozone variability in the tropics (±7 DU) while at higher latitudes, the dynamical indices, AO/AAO and eddy heat flux, have substantial influence on total ozone variations by up to ±10 DU. The contribution from volcanic aerosols is only prominent during the major eruption periods (El Chichon and Mt. Pinatubo), and together with the ENSO signal, is more evident in the Northern Hemisphere. The signature of the solar cycle covers all latitudes and contributes about 10 DU from solar maximum to solar minimum. EESC is found to be a main contributor to the long-term ozone decline and the trend changes after the end of the 1990s. From the EESC fits, statistically significant upward trends after 1997 were found in the extratropics, which points at the slowing of ozone decline and the onset of ozone recovery. The EESC based trends are compared with the trends obtained from the statistical piecewise linear trend (PWLT) model (known as hockey stick) with a turnaround in 1997 to examine the differences between both approaches. In case of the SBUV merged V8.6 data the EESC and PWLT trends before and after 1997 are in good agreement (within 2 σ), however, the positive post-1997 linear trends from the PWLT regression are not significant within 2 σ. A sensitivity study is carried out by comparing the regression results, using SBUV/SBUV-2 MOD V8.6 merged time series (1979–2012) and a merged data set combining SBUV/SBUV-2 (1979–June 1995) and GOME/SCIAMACHY/GOME-2 ("GSG") WFDOAS (Weighting Function DOAS) (July 1995–2012) as well as SBUV/TOMS/OMI MOD V8.0 (1979–2012) in the regression analysis in order to investigate the uncertainty in the long-term trends due to different ozone data sets and data versions. Replacing the late SBUV/SBUV-2 merged data record with GSG data (unscaled and adjusted) leads to very similar results demonstrating the high consistency between satellite data sets. However, the comparison of the new SBUV/SBUV-2 MOD V8.6 with the MOD V8.0 and MOD8.6/GSG data showed somewhat smaller sensitivities with regard to several proxies as well as the linear EESC trends. On the other hand, the PWLT trends after 1997 show some differences, however, within the 2 σ error bars the PWLT trends agree with each other for all three data sets.


AutomationML provides a versatile modeling environment for the description of production systems. However, when starting a new AutomationML project, or when serializing existing data with the AutomationML format, there are no rules on how to structure these models in a meaningful way. In this work, we present an approach for structuring AutomationML models, based on the IEC 62264 standard. In our approach we are implementing the process of serializing IEC 62264 information declaratively, by leveraging the power of model transformations, as they are applied in the context of modeldriven (software) engineering.


Social interactions occur when agents in a network affect other agents' choices directly, as opposed to via the intermediation of markets. The study of such interactions and the resultant outcomes has long been an area of interest across a wide variety of social sciences. With the advent of electronic media that facilitate and record such interactions, this interest has grown sharply in the business world as well. In this paper, we provide a brief summary of what is known so far, discuss the main challenges for researchers interested in this area, and provide a common vocabulary that will hopefully engender future (cross disciplinary) research. The paper considers the challenges of distinguishing actual causal social interactions from other phenomena that may lead to a false inference of causality. Further, we distinguish between two broadly defined types of social interactions that relate to how strongly interactions spread through a network. We also provide a very selective review of how insights from other disciplines can improve and inform modeling choices. Finally, we discuss how models of social interaction can be used to provide guidelines for marketing policy and conclude with thoughts on future research directions.


Witchcraft is still an enormous and serious issue in African culture. The media, including the entertainment component (e.g. African Magic programmes on satellite television), portray witchcraft as an issue that needs to be addressed. Witchcraft has in a sense been integrated into the system and context of the Nigerian community because most of the programming originates from this country. The same can be said of the South African milieu. It would be remarkable to read a tabloid such as the Daily Sun without at least one reference to witchcraft. Between 1994 and 1996 several hundred people were killed in the Limpopo Province on suspicion of witchcraft, to which the response from the Christian sector was diverse and varied. De Vries (2010:35) argues that Christians believe that upon becoming a member of this faith, witchcraft is powerless; yet there are indeed Christians who consider bewitchment possible, despite a belief in God. This being the case, the question that arises is, 'What does the Bible teach in this regard'? The most compelling evidence for the existence of witchcraft is its mention in both the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT). Although all Christians read the same Bible, the interpretation of its teachings on witchcraft differ greatly. This article has attempted to identify, from a historical-grammatical exegetical point of view, a number of biblical principles on witchcraft that could be set as guidelines for addressing witchcraft-related matters and to obtain a clearer picture on Scripture's teachings regarding witchcraft. (This topic has also been explored from a meta-theoretical perspective in a follow-up article.)


Guilbert TW, Stern DA, Morgan WJ, Martinez FD, Wright AL. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2007;176(9):843–848 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY. Breastfeeding and its relationship to the development of subsequent asthma remain controversial. To clarify these complex issues, this study examined the association between lung function and infant-feeding practices. STUDY POPULATION. A population-based cohort of healthy infants was enrolled at birth in the Children's Respiratory Study in Tucson, Arizona (n = 1246); the analysis was of 679 study participants on whom lung-function testing was performed at ages 11 and/or 16 years and provided data regarding infant-feeding practices. METHODS. In the Children's Respiratory Study in Tucson, feeding practices were assessed prospectively on the basis of questionnaires completed at enrollment and well-child visits. Formula introduction was categorized as having occurred before 2 months (n = 143, "early formula introduction"), from 2 to before 4 months (n = 336), or at ≥4 months (n = 200, "longer breastfed"). Lung function was measured at ages 11 and 16 years. A random-effects model was used to assess the relationship of infant-feeding practices to measures of lung function. RESULTS. Forced vital capacity (FVC) by age 16 was increased by 103 ± 40 mL (P = .01), and the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/FVC ratio was lower (−1.9 ± 0.6%; P = .004) in the longer-breastfed children compared with children with early formula introduction. This effect was modified after stratifying according to maternal asthma. Compared with children with early formula introduction, longer-breastfed children with asthmatic mothers had an FVC that was not increased (P = .7) and an FEV1/FVC ratio (−5.7 ± 2.4%; P = .02) that was significantly decreased by age 16. Longer-breastfed children with nonatopic, nonasthmatic mothers demonstrated an increased FVC (142 ± 71 mL; P = .047) and no decrease in FEV1/FVC (P = .7) compared with children with early formula introduction. CONCLUSIONS. Longer duration of breastfeeding favorably influences lung growth in children. However, in the presence of maternal asthma, longer breastfeeding is associated with decreased airflows. REVIEWER COMMENTS. There seems to be a differential effect of the relation of breastfeeding to lung function on the basis of the asthmatic background of the mother. Breastfed children with nonatopic, nonasthmatic mothers had an increased FVC and no decrease in their airflows. However, children of mothers with asthma with longer breastfeeding did not demonstrate any improvement in FVC but had a significant reduction in airflows, suggesting that the risk for increased asthma in this group may be partly a result of altered lung growth. Children with longer breastfeeding who had atopic but nonasthmatic mothers had intermediate findings, and they showed a similar increase in FVC compared with those with nonatopic, nonasthmatic mothers but a decrease in airflows similar to children with asthmatic mothers. These findings may support the speculation that the milk of mothers with atopy or asthma may differ with regard to immunologically active substances; thus, breastfeeding in these groups may have a different effect on growth and/or development of the airways. It goes without saying that the clinical significance of these findings is unknown. Human milk is uniquely suited to the feeding of infants. There are many well-documented benefits of breastfeeding. For children of nonasthmatic mothers, this study demonstrates a further benefit of breastfeeding. Additional study is needed draw firm conclusions for other infants.


Several previous studies have focused on modelling and analysing the collective dynamic behaviour of population-based algorithms. However, an empirical approach for identifying and characterising such a behaviour is surprisingly lacking. In this paper, we present a new model to capture this collective behaviour, and to extract and quantify features associated with it. The proposed model studies the topological distribution of an algorithm's activity from both a genotypic and a phenotypic perspective, and represents population dynamics using multiple levels of abstraction. The model can have different instantiations. Here it has been implemented using a modified version of self-organising maps. These are used to represent and track the population motion in the fitness landscape as the algorithm operates on solving a problem. Based on this model, we developed a set of features that characterise the population's collective dynamic behaviour. By analysing them and revealing their dependency on fitness distributions, we were then able to define an indicator of the exploitation behaviour of an algorithm. This is an entropy-based measure that assesses the dependency on fitness distributions of different features of population dynamics. To test the proposed measures, evolutionary algorithms with different crossover operators, selection pressure levels and population handling techniques have been examined, which lead populations to exhibit a wide range of exploitation-exploration behaviours.


Among the various fields of management, marketing is perhaps the most ambitious and interesting one. Since long time marketing have evolved from being production oriented to customer oriented. The purpose of this study was to assess one of the components of customer relationship management in the banking sector with relation to the banking services provided, which is customer satisfaction. The data collected for this study was by the means of a survey questionnaire. The aim was to have a better idea of the areas in the banking services, which banks must exploit so that to enhance long term relationship with customers and to attract new customers from competitors. The services in which some amendments must be made are revealed in the discussions and analysis chapter.


Conversations With Myself is a moving collection of letters, diary entries and other writing that provides a rare chance to see the other side of Nelson Mandela's life, in his own voice: direct, clear, private. An international bestseller, Conversations With Myself is an intensely personal book that complements his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. In his foreword to Nelson Mandela's book, President Barack Obama writes: 'Conversations With Myself does the world an extraordinary service in giving us [a] picture of Mandela the man.' Conversations With Myself gives readers insight to the darkest hours of Nelson Mandela's twenty-seven years of imprisonment and his troubled dreams in his cell on Robben Island. It contains the draft of an unfinished sequel to Long Walk to Freedom, notes from Madiba's famous speeches, and even doodles made during meetings. There are photos from his life, journals written while on the run during the anti-apartheid struggles of the early 1960s, and conversations with friends in almost 70 hours of recorded interviews. An intimate journey from the first stirrings of his political conscience to his galvanizing role on the world stage, Conversations With Myself is an extraordinary glimpse of the man behind one of the world's most beloved public figures. 'More revealing of the man than his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom -- and in many respects more moving as well' F.W. De Klerk 'A book that breaks the heart and then makes it sing' Andrew Rawnsley, Observer Books of the Year 'Intensely moving, raw and unmediated, told in real time with all the changes in perspective that brings, over the years, mixing the prosaic with the momentous. Health concerns, dreams, political initiatives spill out together, to provide the fullest picture yet of Mandela.' Peter Godwin, Observer


Abstract Late Carboniferous red-beds, < 700 m thick, at outcrop and in the subsurface of the Canonbie Coalfield can be assigned to the Warwickshire Group. They are preserved within the axial part of the Solway Syncline and are divisible into the Eskbank Wood, Canonbie Bridge Sandstone and Becklees Sandstone formations. Sedimentation largely took place on a well-drained alluvial plain, characterized mainly by early, primary oxidation of the strata. Large, northerly-flowing braided river systems were common, with overbank and floodplain fines deposited lateral to the channels; soils formed during intervals of low sediment aggradation. The Canonbie succession includes some of the youngest Carboniferous rocks preserved in the UK. Correlation of the Eskbank Wood Formation is equivocal, but using petrographical, heavy mineral, zircon age dating and palaeocurrent data, the Canonbie Bridge Sandstone Formation can be unambiguously correlated with the Halesowen Formation of Warwickshire, the Pennant Sandstone Formation of South Wales and the offshore Boulton Formation. This suggests that southerly-derived detritus travelled considerable distances from the Variscan highlands of Brittany and/or central Germany across the southern North Sea and UK areas, to a position some hundreds of kilometres north of that previously recognized. The Becklees Sandstone Formation has much in common with the Salop Formation of the English Midlands. It appears to have no preserved equivalent elsewhere in the UK or in the UK sector of the southern North Sea but resembles stratigraphically higher parts of the southern North Sea succession seen in the Dutch sector.


Molecular dynamics investigations of methane in one-dimensional channel systems of AlPO4-5 and the carbon nanotube are reported. Methane shows contrasting orientational preference over 1+3 and 2+2 orientations inside AlPO4-5 and the carbon nanotube. In AlPO4-5, 2+2 orientation is preferred in narrow parts of the channel while 1+3 orientation is predominant in the wider part of the channel. In the carbon nanotube 2+2 is preferred over 1+3 orientation throughout the channel. Thus, the orientation of methane can yield insight into methane–host interactions. Simulations with and without allowing for rotation of methane suggest that rotation aids translational mobility of methane in both the channel systems studied. It is shown that molecules with certain orientations are associated with lower mobility, both in AlPO4-5 and carbon nanotube. Further, translational motion exhibits diffusive behavior for methane in AlPO4-5 and superdiffusive behavior in the carbon nanotube. These results suggest that particular orientation or rotation in general can strongly influence translational mobility of methane in one-dimensional channels. It is seen that levitation effects influence rotational motion in addition to the translational motion.


The BDDC (balancing domain decomposition by constraints) methods have been applied successfully to solve the large sparse linear algebraic systems arising from conforming finite element discretizations of elliptic boundary value problems. In this paper, the scalar elliptic problems for flow in porous media are discretized by a hybrid finite element method which is equivalent to a nonconforming finite element method. The BDDC algorithm is extended to these problems which originate as saddle point problems. Edge/face average constraints are enforced across the interface and the same rate of convergence is obtained as in conforming cases. The condition number of the preconditioned system is estimated and numerical experiments are discussed.


Klotho, a membrane protein with similarity to glycosidases, has been proposed to modify sugar residues on a TRP channel, to interact with the receptor for fibroblast growth factor 23, and to extend life span when overexpressed. Now Imura et al. report that α-Klotho interacts with the α subunit of the Na+,K+-adenosine triphosphatase (Na+,K+-ATPase) in mouse cells. The amount of Na+,K+-ATPase at the plasma membrane appeared to decrease in cells exposed to high concentrations of Ca2+, a response that was blunted in cells lacking α-Klotho. The concentration of Ca2+ in cerebrospinal fluid of mice lacking α-Klotho was slightly lower than that in wild-type animals. Thus, α-Klotho may function in the control of Ca2+ concentrations by influencing the abundance of the Na+,K+-ATPase transporter in plasma membranes. A. Imura, Y. Tsuji, M. Murata, R. Maeda, K. Kubota, A. Iwano, C. Obuse, K. Togashi, M. Tominaga, N. Kita, K. Tomiyama, J. Iijima, Y. Nabeshima, M. Fujioka, R. Asato, S. Tanaka, K. Kojima, J. Ito, K. Nozaki, N. Hashimoto, T. Ito, T. Nishio, T. Uchiyama, T. Fujimori, Y. Nabeshima, α-Klotho as a regulator of calcium homeostasis. Science 316, 1615-1618 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]


This final project is mainly concerned with the use of audio-lingual method to
improve students' oral past tense by the tenth grade students of SMA Kesatrian 1
Semarang. The objectives of this study are to implement the audio-lingual method
in grade X.4 students of SMA Kesatrian 1 Semarang in teaching learning process
and know the extent of using audio-lingual method improves the oral past tense of
SMA Kesatrian 1 Semarang students.
Based on the standard competence in the year 1 semester 1, it covers
understanding and responding meaning in the transactional and interpersonal
conversation in the daily context. Meanwhile, the basic competence is responding
the meaning in the transactional conversation (to get things done) which contains
some expressions can be used in a dialog the students practice in this study by
using audio-lingual method. Thus, it is still relevant and applicable to be
implemented in the school-based curriculum.
The design of this study was a classroom action research. It was conducted
in two cycles which consisted of six meetings that covered a pre-test, cycle 1 test
and a post-test. Then, I started this study from November 25, 2010 to January 13,
2011. The instruments I used were tests, field notes, and a questionnaire. To
analyze the data, I used the marking scale of Hughes (2003) to assess the students'
speaking performance in dialog.
The result of this study showed that the students' oral past tense of SMA
Ksatrian 1 Semarang improved after being given the treatments by using singleslot
substitution drill and transformation drill. The mean score of the pre-test was
(55.25), the cycle 1 test (65.40), and the post-test (76.03). Then, the students'
behaviors in receiving the materials in teaching learning activities and performing
the oral past tense were also significantly progressing.
In line with the result, I propose that the audio-lingual method is one of the
effective methods to improve students' oral past tense. In addition, I also suggest
for teachers and researchers later to develop this study about audio-lingual method
to be well elaborated by another modern method because this method was an old
method. Hopefully, this study will encourage teachers to use the audio-lingual
method in teaching learning activities especially in oral past tense.


Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) are nonlinear loads causing power quality problems on the systems they are connected to. The main reason of EAFs causing power quality problems is the nonlinear characteristics of the electric arc. In this study, dynamic working characteristics of electric arc furnace load at Sivas Iron and Steel Incorporated Company (SIDEMIR) operating with 60 MVA EAF have been experimentally examined by HIOKI 3197 PQ analyser. Utilizing the measured dynamic load curves, mathematical equation and proper parameters have been determined for modelling electrical arc with the help of curve fitting methods on Matlab program. Also by modeling a phase equivalent of the system and harmonic filters existing on the system, a time domain model has been formed and with this model, harmonic effects of the EAF have been examined with Matlab/Simulink. Simulation results show that the presented model can be used for examining PQ and voltage harmonics problems caused by EAF loads.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eie.23.3.18328


Fought after a decade of armed struggle against colonialism, the Mozambican civil war lasted from 1977 to 1992, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives while displacing millions more. As conflicts across the globe span decades and generations, Stephen C. Lubkemann suggests that we need a fresh perspective on war when it becomes the context for normal life rather than an exceptional event that disrupts it. "Culture in Chaos" calls for a new point of departure in the ethnography of war that investigates how the inhabitants of war zones live under trying new conditions and how culture and social relations are transformed as a result. Lubkemann focuses on how Ndau social networks were fragmented by wartime displacement and the profound effect this had on gender relations. Demonstrating how wartime migration and post-conflict return were shaped by social struggles and interests that had little to do with the larger political reasons for the war, Lubkemann contests the assumption that wartime migration is always involuntary. His critical reexamination of displacement and his engagement with broader theories of agency and social change will be of interest to anthropologists, political scientists, historians, and demographers, and to anyone who works in a war zone or with refugees and migrants.


One of the major concerns related to flight safety is the impact of birds. To minimize the risks, there is the need to improve impact resistance of aircraft by developing high-performance materials and better structural design of aircraft structures. Because of their remarkable impact properties, fiber metal laminates with layers of aluminum alloy and high-strength glass-fiber composite are potential candidate materials to be employed for aircraft structures susceptible to bird strikes. This paper describes an experimental and numerical campaign aimed at assessing the bird strike resistance of a fiber-metal-laminate-composite leading edge for the wing of a transport aircraft. Three different fiber-metal-laminate leading-edge structures were designed using advanced finite element simulations; they were manufactured and finally tested to analyze their impact-energy-absorbing capabilities. The finite element models were developed, adopting a Lagrangian approach in such a way to be able to correctly simulate impacts with large deformations and perforations of the structures and to characterize the different inelastic/brittle behaviors and failure modes of the fiber metal laminates. The numerical simulations were generally in good agreement with the experimental values, demonstrating the robustness of the developed finite element simulations in supporting the design of bird-strike-resistant aircraft structures.


Abstract We often make decisions with incomplete knowledge of their consequences. Might people nonetheless expect others to make optimal choices, despite this ignorance? Here, we show that people are sensitive to moral optimality: that people hold moral agents accountable depending on whether they make optimal choices, even when there is no way that the agent could know which choice was optimal. This result held up whether the outcome was positive, negative, inevitable, or unknown, and across within-subjects and between-subjects designs. Participants consistently distinguished between optimal and suboptimal choices, but not between suboptimal choices of varying quality — a signature pattern of the Efficiency Principle found in other areas of cognition. A mediation analysis revealed that the optimality effect occurs because people find suboptimal choices more difficult to explain and assign harsher blame accordingly, while moderation analyses found that the effect does not depend on tacit inferences about the agent's knowledge or negligence. We argue that this moral optimality bias operates largely out of awareness, reflects broader tendencies in how humans understand one another's behavior, and has real-world implications.


In the United States, on matters of the welfare state and the regulatory state, virtually no economist favors one while opposing the other. Such pattern is a common and intuitive impression, and is supported by scatterplots of survey data. But what explains the pattern? Why don't some economists favor one and oppose the other? The present article is a Prologue to a symposium co-sponsored by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. This Prologue elaborates the thing to be explained, and it poses several questions. Responses to the Prologue have been contributed by Dean Baker, Andreas Bergh, Robert Higgs, Arnold Kling, Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Anthony Randazzo and Jonathan Haidt, Scott Sumner, and Cass Sunstein. The symposium can be accessed at this link.


The Arts and Crafts movement revolutionised attitudes to work and the home and laid the foundations for a radical shift in approach to design and lifestyle in the early twentieth century. From the pioneering example of William Morris and the writings of John Ruskin, to a new generation of architects, artists, designers and patrons, the movement championed a unity of the arts and was broadly defined by the common aims of social and industrial reform, the revival of handicrafts, a return to the simple life, and the improvement of art for everyday life. It was the first major art movement to focus on the decorative arts but it flung its net much wider, drawing architecture, garden design, photography and graphics into its orbit and changing the way we think about design. Leading scholars in the field explore the the regional, national and international manifestations of Arts and Crafts, looking at the work of many leading designers - including Walter Crane, C.F.A. Voysey, M.H. Baillie Scott, C.R. Mackintosh in Britain, Josef Hoffmann, Georg Jensen, Gustav Stickley, Frank Lloyd Wright in Europe and America and Hamada Shoji and Bernard Leach in Japan. Lavishly illustrated and extensively researched, this book is a major contribution to a wider understanding of Arts and Crafts and an invaluable visual record of an ever-popular era of design.


This study posits that graphicon use follows an evolutionary trajectory characterized by stages. Drawing on evidence that the uses and functions of emoticons have changed over time and that the introduction of emoji affected the popularity and usage of emoticons, we examine the uses of the newer types, emoji and stickers, and consider the relationship of stickers to emoji. Adapting the apparent-time method from the sociolinguistic study of language change, we compare sticker and emoji use by English-speaking Facebook Messenger users, exploring how they are used and under what conditions using semi-structured interviews and a large-scale survey. Stickers are argued to be more pragmatically marked for emotional intensity, positivity, and intimacy, characteristic of a more recent stage of evolution, while emoji use exhibits signs of conventionalization and pragmatic unmarking. The identification of patterns that characterize evolutionary stages has implications for future graphicon use.


The present scientific work investigates the influence of laser-accelerated ions by femtosecond-laser desorption. The irradiation of metallic target surfaces with ultrashort laser pulses of moderate fluences enabled to successively remove surface adsorbates consisting of water vapor and hydrocarbon contaminations. Therefore, the subsequent laser-ion acceleration occurred from a target surface with a significantly reduced contamination layer which influenced both the charge states and the energies of the ions substantially. In the frame of separate desorption measurements the relevant laser fluence regime in which the desorption takes place was determined. The contamination layer could be characterized regarding its thickness as well as its atomic composition.

The laser-ion acceleration mechanism from thin metal foils investigated in the framework of this thesis bases on the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA). Hereby, a short laser pulse with an intensity exceeding 10^18 W/cm² accelerates electrons through the target material to relativistic energies. When leaving the target rear side the most energetic electrons establish a quasistatic electric field in the order of TV/m, which field-ionizes the atoms on the target rear side and accelerates the generated ions normal to the target surface. The surface structure of the target rear side, and in particular the composition of the adsorbed contamination layer, plays a fundamental role since the target rear surface acts as the ion source. Without special target treatment one observes a large amount of accelerated protons, followed by carbon ions, but only very few ionized atoms from the target material itself because the contamination layer screens the electric field from the target atoms.
The irradiation of the target rear side with ultrashort laser pulses of moderate fluences conducted in this thesis induced a stepwise and predominantly nonthermal removal, i.e. desorption, of surface adsorbates.

An important part of this work represents the investigation of the target rear surface, especially of the contamination layer. Desorption measurements were carried out under ultrahigh vacuum conditions at the Petawatt High Energy Laser for Heavy Ion eXperiments (PHELIX) at GSI Helmholtzzentrum fur Schwerionenforschung GmbH. Gold, copper and aluminum targets were irradiated with laser pulses having a pulse duration of 420 fs and a fluence in the regime of (10 - 400) mJ/cm² over several minutes at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The fluence regime, in which the desorption takes place, resulted in (105.5 - 292.3) mJ/cm² for gold and copper as well as (22.3 - 105.5) mJ/cm² for aluminum. Due to laser-induced desorption in this fluence regime a complete removal of the contamination layer could be realized. The measurement of the desorbed particles resulted in an averaged areal density of (4.27 ± 1.28)×10^16 particles per square centimeter and represents a reliable estimate on the typical thickness of contamination layers on metal targets lying in the regime of few nanometers. Partial pressure measurements revealed that the dominant molecular contribution to the desorbed gases results from carbonoxide apart from hydrogen, each amounting to a fraction of (40 ± 10) %. The large fraction of carbonoxide allows to conclude that the hydrogen content stems predominantly from the dissociation of light hydrocarbons. Diffusion processes of hydrogen from the bulk to the surface have to be regarded as a concomitant effect to the desorption of surface adsorbates, but they should rather play a minor role. The resulting atomic areal densities for hydrogen, carbon and oxygen agree very well with measurements basing on the elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA).

The application of femtosecond-laser desorption in the frame of laser-ion acceleration experiments regarding the TNSA showed a strong influence on the ion spectra of the ions. The respective experiments took place at the Callisto laser system of the Jupiter Laser Facility, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which delivered a laser intensity of several 10^19 W/cm² at a pulse duration in the regime of 100 fs. During the first campaign the desorption was applied at a laser fluence in the regime of (0.2 - 1.3) mJ/cm² and a laser pulse length of 90 fs. Gold, copper and aluminum foils of thicknesses of 10 µm and 11 µm, respectively, were irradiated with up to 165 desorption pulses at 10 Hz providing a successive removal of surface adsorbates.
Therefore, the subsequent TNSA occurred from a target rear surface on which the contamination layer was clearly diminished. This led both to a drop of the proton signal by about one order of magnitude and to a decrease of the maximum proton energy by up to a factor of four. A re-distribution of the charge states of carbon and oxygen ions to higher charge states occurred. But most notably, ions stemming from the respective target material were accelerated which was not observed without the application of laser-induced desorption. The experimental results were published in Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams [1] und could be validated qualitatively by numerical simulations.
During the second campaign the laser desorption at a fluence of (0.5 ± 0.2) J/cm² and a pulse length of 250 fs was carried out at 10 Hz over a longer period of time involving several thousand desorption pulses. Targets consisting of a 5 µm thick gold foil with a sputtered nickel layer in the nanometer regime were used with the aim of determining the penetration depth of the electric field by means of the resulting TNSA-ion spectra after having completely removed the contamination layer by desorption. Due to severe laser problems throughout the whole beam time the resulting ion acceleration was not sufficient for this experimental goal. But a higher amount and higher energies of accelerated protons as well as carbon ions were noted as a consequence of the long-term desorption. These could stem from an additional contamination layer embedded between gold and nickel. Electron microscopic images have shown in some cases that the nickel layer has been removed due to the laser irradiation. This might have laid open the embedded contamination layer.

The presented results could show the first steps towards a determination of the penetration depth of the accelerating electric field by applying femtosecond-laser desorption, which exerts a strong influence on the laser-ion acceleration. The successive removal of surface adsorbates can contribute significantly to the study of the electric field distribution, which is indispensible for a more profound understanding of the TNSA.


Coastal wetlands represent an ecotone between ocean and terrestrial ecosystems, providing important services, including flood mitigation, fresh water supply, erosion control, carbon sequestration, and wildlife habitat. The environmental setting of a wetland and the hydrological connectivity between a wetland and adjacent terrestrial and aquatic systems together determine wetland hydrology. Yet little is known about regional‐scale hydrological interactions among uplands, coastal wetlands, and coastal processes, such as tides, sea level rise, and saltwater intrusion, which together control the dynamics of wetland hydrology. This study presents a new regional‐scale, physically based, distributed wetland hydrological model, PIHM‐Wetland, which integrates the surface and subsurface hydrology with coastal processes and accounts for the influence of wetland inundation on energy budgets and evapotranspiration (ET). The model was validated using in situ hydro‐meteorological measurements and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) ET data for a forested and herbaceous wetland in North Carolina, USA, which confirmed that the model accurately represents the major wetland hydrological behaviours. Modelling results indicate that topographic gradient is a primary control of groundwater flow direction in adjacent uplands. However, seasonal climate patterns become the dominant control of groundwater flow at lower coastal plain and land–ocean interface. We found that coastal processes largely influence groundwater table (GWT) dynamics in the coastal zone, 300 to 800 m from the coastline in our study area. Among all the coastal processes, tides are the dominant control on GWT variation. Because of inundation, forested and herbaceous wetlands absorb an additional 6% and 10%, respectively, of shortwave radiation annually, resulting in a significant increase in ET. Inundation alters ET partitioning through canopy evaporation, transpiration, and soil evaporation, the effect of which is stronger in cool seasons than in warm seasons. The PIHM‐Wetland model provides a new tool that improves the understanding of wetland hydrological processes on a regional scale. Insights from this modelling study provide benchmarks for future research on the effects of sea level rise and climate change on coastal wetland functions and services.


The Venice lagoon hosts the 15% of the entire Italian breeding population of Common terns, Sterna hirundo, highlighting the great value of the area for this species. However, in the last 25 years, a substantial decline of Common terns has been detected in the Lagoon, which culminated in 2008. The main causes of this negative trend were the loss of salt marsh habitats, where terns typically breed in the Venice lagoon. This was due to the increase in the mean sea level and the greater frequency of high tides during the reproductive period with consequent flooding of their breeding sites; competition with yellowlegged gulls (Larus michahellis), predation and human disturbance. As a preliminary experimental approach to counter the depletion of the species and favour its recovery, we performed a habitat loss compensation project by setting up four floating rafts (3x2m), covered by two different types of substrate (sandy and vegetal substrate). This was to function as an artificial nesting site safe from flooding, positioned in a protected internal wetland area of the Venice lagoon, Valle Averto (Sourthern Lagoon). We studied the colonization patterns of the rafts and the reproductive success of Common tern breeding pairs during the 2014 and 2015 breeding seasons. We also investigated those environmental and structural variables that could favour the use of the rafts and the nesting success of the species. In both years, the rafts were successfully colonized and used by terns for nesting. Our results also indicated higher temperature, lower rainfall and greater distance from the shore as the main habitat factors favouring the occurrence and the reproductive success of the breeding pairs, while a windrow of dead plants was indicated as the preferred substrate for covering rafts in order to make them more attractive. The results provided some suggestions for successful restoration plans to be developed in similar lagoon areas.


A systematic review of literature on the relationship of human resources (HR) and organizational performance (OP) revealed a dearth of contribution from human resource development (HRD) in establishing the linkage. This linkage, which refers to the significant relationship between HRD and OP,  is an important topic relevant to research and practice. The review utilized OP as the dependent variable to survey the state of human resource literature and thus, includes contributions from human resource management (HRM). The literature review revealed similarities and differences in the conceptualization of OP as a dependent variable between the two fields. On further analysis, the similarities and differences reveal convergence in specific areas of inquiry as well as emphasize the underlying differences in the philosophical assumptions of HRD and HRM. The independent contributions of HRD and HRM in establishing the HR–OP linkage also reflect the utilization of diverse research designs, methods of data collection, analysis, and findings. Both fields have focused on strategic contributions for improving organizational performance and are very much connected in practice. Much of the separation therefore, appears to be academic where competing views highlight a tension that exists in theory, research and what we know about effective HRD or HRM in practice.


Abstract The widespread use of nitrogen (N) fertilizers during the second half of the 20th century radically transformed agricultural production and ecosystems on a global scale. Although the "N challenge" or the "N problem" has had limited public attention compared to biodiversity loss and climate change, scientists consider N pollution a leading ecological concern for the 21st century. Accordingly, a major challenge for scientists and policymakers around the world today is how to meet food production demands while also protecting the environment. Using Chile as a case study—one of the highest consumers of N fertilizer per hectare in the Americas—this article examines the transnational politics of production and destruction in this process of agricultural modernization. In the Cold War context, a transnational network of scientists, agencies, and authorities created an institutional framework for the transference of knowledge and technology in Chile during the 1960s. Paradoxically, as local and global reliance on N fertilizers increased, scientists were able to generate a narrative about the negative environmental effects of intensive N use and highlight the ecological limits of the Green Revolution. After 1973, however, this knowledge network suffered as a result of the Chilean government's anti-communist crackdown and adoption of market-based agricultural policies. Understanding this history of how politics shaped N consumption, science, and policy is critical to current efforts to create new of agricultural production on a regional and global scale. Keywords: nitrogen, fertilizers, the Green Revolution, Cold War, Chile, science, environment, policy, Global Nitrogen Challenge, agriculture, United States


This paper introduces a network coding-based protection scheme against single and multiple link failures. The proposed strategy ensures that in a connection, each node receives two copies of the same data unit: one copy on the working circuit, and a second copy that can be extracted from linear combinations of data units transmitted on a shared protection path. This guarantees instantaneous recovery of data units upon the failure of a working circuit. The strategy can be implemented at an overlay layer, which makes its deployment simple and scalable. While the proposed strategy is similar in spirit to the work of Kamal '07 & '10, there are significant differences. In particular, it provides protection against multiple link failures. The new scheme is simpler, less expensive, and does not require the synchronization required by the original scheme. The sharing of the protection circuit by a number of connections is the key to the reduction of the cost of protection. The paper also conducts a comparison of the cost of the proposed scheme to the 1+1 and shared backup path protection (SBPP) strategies, and establishes the benefits of our strategy.


Host defence mechanisms associated with the inhibition of translocation of bacteria from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract were investigated in SCID and beige mice after decontamination with oral antibiotics and colonization with Escherichia coli C25. SCID mice, which have impaired T and B cell function, tended to have a greater incidence of bacterial translocation from the GI tract up to 7 days after inoculation compared with controls. However, after 7 days both SCID and controls cleared the E. coli C25 from the liver, spleen, blood and peritoneal cavity. Beige mice, with impaired NK cell and polymorphonuclear leukocyte function, were not able to clear the inoculated bacteria from their liver by 14 days after inoculation although the controls were cleared by 7 days. Numbers of bacteria in the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) of beige mice did not decrease significantly by 14 days after inoculation, whereas numbers in SCID mice decreased markedly within 7 days. These results suggest that defence mechanisms other than T and B cell function are important in the inhibition of systemic infection from the GI tract.


The Arctic changes rapidly in response to global warming and is expected to change even faster in the future (IPCC 2001, 2007, 2013). Large areas of the shelves and continental slopes bordering the Arctic Ocean are characterized by permafrost and the presence of gas hydrates. Future global warming and potential hydrate dissociation in the Arctic Ocean challenge the slope stability of these areas. This may lead to slope failures. The first, and so far only reported, large-scale slope failure in the Arctic Ocean is the Hinlopen/Yermak Megaslide (HYM), which is located in front of the Hinlopen glacial trough north of Svalbard.
During cruise MSM31 onboard the German R/V MARIA S. MERIAN we investigated this giant slope failure and the deeper structure of the Sophia Basin in detail to elucidate the potential causes of the main and following failure events as well as to test existing hypotheses on the generation of this giant submarine landslide. We studied the megaslide and the adjacent so far not failed shelf areas by means of multibeam swath bathymetry, Parasound sediment echo sounder, low- and high-resolution multichannel seismic reflection profiling. The seismic data image bottom-simulating reflectors beneath not failed areas of the slope, as well as a buried gas escape pipe. On the shelf, shallower than the gas hydrate stability zone, we observed widespread gas seepage as flares in the Parasound echo sounder data. These flares rise from a seafloor highly disturbed by iceberg scouring. Therefore, we could not identify pockmarks in the multibeam data. At one location, we sampled a flare by means of a CTD probe close to the seafloor and proofed that the emanating gas has a high methane concentration.
The new data indicate that the existence of gas and gas hydrates beneath the shelf north of Svalbard was one key factor causing slope instability in the past and may also cause further slope failures in the future.


Eighteen male local "Yellow" cattle with average weight of 101±14.5 kg were allocated in a randomized complete block design (RCB) to a 3*2 factorial combination of 6 treatments, with three replicates of each treatment. The factors were: 3 sources of rumen supplement (water hyacinth leaves, water hyacinth leaves+stems and urea-mineral mixture), and supplementation or not with cassava hay. The basal diet was untreated rice straw fed ad libitum. The rumen supplements were offered at levels to provide 100 g crude protein (CP) per 100 kg live weight. The cassava hay was offered at levels equivalent to 200 g CP per 100 kg live weight. Live weight gain was increased dramatically when cassava hay was fed. However, there was a significant interaction between the effect of the cassava hay and the rumen supplements. When cassava hay was fed growth rates were higher when the leaves of water hyacinth were given as the rumen supplement with no difference between water hyacinth leaves plus stem and the urea-mineral mixture. In the absence of cassava hay, the cattle fed either leaves or leaves plus stem of water hyacinth lost body weight while those fed the urea-mineral mixture gained in weight. It is concluded: (i) that water hyacinth leaves can be used effectively as a source of rumen nutrients for growing cattle on a basal diet of rice straw provided a source of bypass protein (in this case cassava hay) is also fed; and (ii) that the limiting factors in water hyacinth foliage are the presence of anti-nutritional factors the negative effects of which are exacerbated at low levels of dietary crude protein.


Can evolution happen on a computer is it possible for Images to evolve? This paper tries to show that Mother Nature has got it right and evolution is the future for programs. How many times will a new release come to solve my previous problem and in the process create new problems!

Evolution can happen on a computer is very clear in this work titled "Evolution of a Virtual Prey using a Virtual Predator". The Virtual Prey can evolve its skin color based on an Artificial Intelligent Virtual Predator. Monochrome patterns have evolved very successfully. Some repeatable patterns in the Brodatz Texture Database have also evolved.

Charles Darwin in his famous book "Origin of Species" suggests that evolution takes place using a method he termed Natural Selection. Survival of fittest has to be considered in context of the environment in which the species are living.

One of the criteria of survival depends on whether the specie was able to propagate before it was hunted down by a predator. For example the skin color of a prey like an insect evolves to match the background it is living on such that the predators like birds and frogs will not detect them. Assume there are thousand insects on a surface and if nine hundred and ninety are eaten over a period of time are eaten. Then the last 10 will be those which have got skin color, pattern, and texture closest to the original.

Some findings have been in the comparison of different genetic operators to evolve specie. Use of Mutation and Crossover operator is critical. Some level of continuation is required in the next generation to maintain and not lose the quality which has been already attained. The number of generations required depend on DNA length and on the correct use of these three parameters..

The runtime from thirty minutes has been reduced to ten minutes to evolve specie of 100 plus variables in the DNA of the images. If we are ready to run the program for a day on multiple machine in parallel then the possibilities of great diversity is very much possible.

The predator will be an algorithm which tries to do a basic computer vision operation of correlating two images and ranking them. Then it eliminates a certain percentage of the population.

The dissertation is broken down in chapters. Chapter 1 gives the Introduction and Chapter 2 gives an idea of what all research is happening in this area. Chapter 3 is the core content of my work and it shows the different approaches I have used to evolve textures, the use of different operators. This chapter is followed by the testing I had to do due to the complexity of the application and high chance of error creeping into the results.

An idea of the application can be got from the Appendix where I have given a walk through of the Zing World


Often as a result of large-scale military maneuvers in the past, many soils in the Mojave Desert are highly vulnerable to soil compaction, particularly when wet. Previous studies indicate that natural recovery of severely compacted desert soils is extremely slow, and some researchers have suggested that subsurface compaction may not recover. Poorly sorted soils, particularly those with a loamy sand texture, are most vulnerable to soil compaction, and these soils are the most common in alluvial fans of the Mojave Desert. Recovery of compacted soil is expected to vary as a function of precipitation amounts, wetting-and-drying cycles, freeze-thaw cycles, and bioturbation, particularly root growth. Compaction recovery, as estimated using penetration depth and bulk density, was measured at 19 sites with 32 site-time combinations, including the former World War II Army sites of Camps Ibis, Granite, Iron Mountain, Clipper, and Essex. Although compaction at these sites was caused by a wide variety of forces, ranging from human trampling to tank traffic, the data do not allow segregation of differences in recovery rates for different compaction forces. The recovery rate appears to be logarithmic, with the highest rate of change occurring in the first few decades following abandonment. Some higher-elevation sites have completely recovered from soil compaction after 70 years. Using a linear model of recovery, the full recovery time ranges from 92 to 100 years; using a logarithmic model, which asymptotically approaches full recovery, the time required for 85% recovery ranges from 105-124 years.


Herein, the authors consider harvested energy powered cognitive radio networks (CRNs) in which harvested energy is stored in a rechargeable battery which has finite capacity. In addition, a practical scenario in which the amount of harvested power is finite is taken into account. Cognitive users (CUs) opportunistically access a licensed channel (or primary channel); meanwhile, it should be ensured that their confidential communications are not leaked to an eavesdropper. We investigate an optimal spectrum sensing schedule and the optimal amount of transmission energy for the CUs in each processing time slot. In particular, at the beginning of each time slot, based on the remaining energy in the battery, CU transmitter decides either: 1) to be active to sense the channel and transmit its data if the channel is found vacant or 2) to stay inactive during the current time slot in order to save energy and wait for more incoming energy for use in the next time slots. The decision is based on expected secrecy transmission rate calculated for both cases over subsequent  $K$  time slots. The proposed scheme aims to improve long-term secrecy transmission rate of CRNs in comparison with a conventional scheme where the decision for the current time slot is made to maximize current secrecy transmission rate without considering any future reward.


Water links all aspects of our existence. From the politics of watersheds to the romance of turtles climbing up from the sea to the beaches, from Leonardo da Vinci to Octavio Paz, from death at a hot spring to the practicalities of liquidation, the writings in this collection reflect on many aspects of the human encounter with water.The book contains some science, a few plans for managing and protecting water, and plenty of stories, poems, essays, and artwork. The writers include Bob Braine Robert Grudin, Wilson Harris, George Keithley, David Morse, Octavio Paz, physicist Sidney Perkowitz, Eva Salzman, Ted Steinberg, and Peter Warshall, editor of Whole Earth magazine. Photographers include Cyril Christo, Adam David Clayman, Monique Crepault, Helen M. Ellis, Sally Gall, Margaret McCarthy, Kristin Ordahl, Jerry Uelsmann, and Marie Wilkinson.This is the second in a series of Terra Nova books from MIT Press, which aim to show that environmental issues are cultural and artistic as well as practical and political.


I, like most of my family, never valued pictures, documents and artifacts from the past. Whether they were placed in a cheap photo album or simply cast away in a box, their value went unknown. This project is an attempt to make up for lost time by archiving. Archiving pertains to the preserving and storing of documents or records relating to the activities, business dealings, etc., of a person, family, corporation, association, community, or nation (Archiving, 2012). As I chronicled the lives of my wife and me, many memories were re-discovered. I inserted valuable photos, documents and personal correspondence. This project also serves to educate the reader about how we attained our values and morals and who were the driving forces behind them. It is my wish to convey these memories to my grandchildren as well as instill in them the value of archiving. I hope I have spurred those that peruse this work to archive their own history. Vivian Brown and I have seen many sights in our lives. During our lifetime, we have observed an ongoing fight for racial rights as well as the assassination of a President and a Pacifist. We witnessed a city set on fire (Detroit); a city saturated by water (New Orleans) and a city assaulted by terror (New York). It was my attempt to bring to life the things that were most important in our lives as children, parents and eventually grandparents. I traced our lives to the best of my ability and make reference to where we lived, where we learned and where our hearts lie. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Social Work First Advisor Dr. Betty Brown-Chappell This open access senior honors thesis is available at DigitalCommons@EMU: http://commons.emich.edu/honors/286


This paper presents an interesting approach to observe the effects of the load variations on the performance of high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell system, such as: hydrogen and air flow rate, output voltage, power and efficiency. The main advantage of this approach is to analyse the internal behaviour of the fuel cell like current-voltage characteristics during energy conversion, when the load is varying dynamically. This approach of power system simulation models fuel cell system by integrating 3D-COMSOL model of high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with MATLAB/Simulink model of the fuel cell system. The MATLAB/Simulink model for the fuel cell system includes the fuel cell stack (single cell), load (sequence of currents), air supply system (air compressor), fuel supply system (hydrogen tank), and power-efficiency block. The MATLAB/Simulink model is developed in such a way that one part behaves as an input model to the 3D-COMSOL model of the fuel cell system, whereas second part behaves as an output model that recovers the results obtained from the 3D-COMSOL of the fuel cell. This approach of power system modelling is useful to show the performance of high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell in much better and accurate way.


We propose and numerically investigate a novel kind of nanoscale plasmonic wavelength demultiplexing (WDM) structure based on channel drop filters in metal-insulator-metal waveguide with reflection nanocavities. By using finite-difference time-domain simulations, it is found that the transmission efficiency of the channel drop filter can be significantly enhanced by selecting the proper distance between the drop and reflection cavities. The result can be exactly analyzed by the temporal coupled-mode theory. According to this principle, a nanoscale triple-wavelength demultiplexer with high drop efficiencies is designed. The proposed structure can find more applications for the ultra-compact WDM systems in highly integrated optical circuits.


We propose a conceptual framework-with the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm as its theoretical underpinning-to explain interfirm differences in firms' profitability in high-technology markets in terms of differences in their functional capabilities. Specifically, we suggest that marketing, R&D, and operations capabilities, along with interactions among these capabilities, are important determinants of relative financial performance within the industry. This paper contributes to the RBV literature by proposing the input-output perspective to conceptualize the notion of capabilities. Specifically, this approach entails modeling a firm's functional activities-viz., marketing, R&D and operations-as transformation functions that relate the productive factors/resources to its functional objectives, if the firm were to deploy these resources most efficiently. Any underattainment of the functional objective, then, is attributable to functional inefficiency, or equivalently, to a lower functional capability of the firm. The input-output conceptualization of a firm's capabilities is then estimated using the stochastic frontier estimation (SFE) methodology. SFE provides the appropriate econometric technique to empirically estimate the efficient frontier and hence the level of efficiency achieved by the various firms. Our study contributes to a number of literatures, both methodologically and substantively. First, it contributes both conceptually and methodologically to the RBV literature. Conceptually, our study suggests that firm capabilities can be viewed in an input-output framework. Methodologically, the study suggests the use of stochastic frontier estimation to operationalize and estimate firm capabilities. This methodology is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to allow the researcher/manager to infer capabilities from archival data. Substantively, our study contributes to the literature on market orientation by suggesting that a stronger market orientation of a firm should be reflected in a higher marketing capability. It also adds to the literature on "design for manufacturability" by explicating the complementarity among the various functional capabilities and offering empirical evidence on their relative importance in influencing a firm's performance. Finally, our study builds on prior literature that has highlighted the importance of marketing-R&D coordination as important determinants of new product development and success. We highlight below some of our main findings: (1) A strong base of innovative technologies enhances a firm's sales by favorably influencing consumers' expectations about the externality benefits associated with its product. This suggests that a past track record of consistent innovation is a credible signal to current and potential customers of the firm's continued excellence in a technologically evolving market. Given the importance of influencing customers, managers need to tailor their marketing activities around the need to inform customers of the technological excellence of their firm. Thus, customers need to be informed of the innovative technologies that the firm possesses and of the future R&D initiatives undertaken by it. Similarly, any potential applications of innovative technology developed by the firm, and of technologies under development, should be emphasized. (2) Marketing capability has its greatest impact on the (quality-adjusted) innovative output for firms that have a strong technological base. In other words, firms with a strong R&D base are the ones with the most to gain from a strong marketing capability. (3) Marketing capability strongly influences the width of applicability of innovations, i.e., a firm's marketing capability enhances its ability to generate innovative technologies that have applications across a range of industries. This result carries a strong message for managers: A strong market orientation is one of the most fertile sources of ideas for innovation. Thus, marketing needs to be involved from the beginning of the innovation process-namely, right at the stage when technological ideas are being generated. (5) The most important determinant of a firm's performance is the interaction of marketing and R&D capabilities. This supports the assertion that firms in high-technology markets need to excel at two things: the ability to come up with innovations constantly, and the ability to commercialize these innovations into the kinds of products that capture consumer needs and preferences. This finding offers further evidence on the importance of coordination between R&D and marketing, as suggested in the extant marketing literature. Finally, using archival data, our methodology can be used to benchmark a firm's capabilities, with other firms in the industry, along various functional dimensions. This would be an important step in making more informed resource allocation decisions. Thus, the firm can spend more money on those capabilities where it most lags the competition, or on those capabilities that are shown to have the maximum impact on firm performance.


Evidence for effectiveness of newborn screening (NBS) for propionic acidemia (PA) and isolated methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) is scarce. Prior to implementation in the Netherlands, we aim to estimate the expected health gain of NBS for PA and MMA. In this national retrospective cohort study, the clinical course of 76/83 Dutch PA and MMA patients, diagnosed between January 1979 and July 2019, was evaluated. Five clinical outcome parameters were defined: adverse outcome of the first symptomatic phase, frequency of acute metabolic decompensations (AMD), cognitive function, mitochondrial complications, and treatment‐related complications. Outcomes of patients identified by family testing were compared with the outcomes of their index siblings. An adverse outcome due to the first symptomatic phase was recorded in 46% of the clinically diagnosed patients. Outcome of the first symptomatic phase was similar in 5/9 sibling pairs and better in 4/9 pairs. Based on the day of diagnosis of the clinically diagnosed patients and sibling pair analysis, a preliminary estimated reduction of adverse outcome due to the first symptomatic phase from 46% to 36%‐38% was calculated. Among the sibling pairs, AMD frequency, cognitive function, mitochondrial, and treatment‐related complications were comparable. These results suggest that the health gain of NBS for PA and MMA in overall outcome may be limited, as only a modest decrease of adverse outcomes due to the first symptomatic phase is expected. With current clinical practice, no reduced AMD frequency, improved cognitive function, or reduced frequency of mitochondrial or treatment‐related complications can be expected.


Sports hold a special place in the hearts of many Americans. Indeed, athletic competition has come to define and shape our understanding in many ways of what it means to be American. There is, however, a dark side to sports and that is the racial tension that often consumes our understanding of athletic competition and the equality of athletic prowess and personal ability. Seemingly innocuous, sports bring to the forefront racial sentiments about innate superiority, that certain types of people are better athletes simply by the nature of their being born. In his book Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We Are Afraid to Talk about It, John Entine posits that innate genetic differences amongst peoples leads to certain racial groups excelling at particular sporting events. It is the intent of this paper, through a close examination of Entine's theoretical arguments, to demonstrate that science and genetic experimentation have proven that natural biological variation amongst and between peoples cannot be used to validate claims of innate racial superiority in athletic competition.


This exploratory study is an attempt to identify forces that influence working capital management practices. Focus groups and unstructured interviews were conducted to identify factors influencing decision making process in working capital particularly in complex organizational settings. The qualitative data analysis showed that organizational context played an important role in working capital management practices. Finally, this study develops a number of propositions and future research directions are suggested.