Within the framework of the Network for Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC), regular ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements of many species are performed at several locations. Inversion schemes provide vertical profile information and characterization of the retrieved products which are therefore relevant for contributing to the validation of MIPAS profiles in the stratosphere and upper troposphere. We have focused on the species HNO3 and N2O at 5 NDACC-sites distributed in both hemispheres, i.e., Jungfraujoch (46.5 degrees N) and Kiruna (68 degrees N) for the northern hemisphere, and Wollongong (34 degrees S), Lauder (45 degrees S) and Arrival Heights (78 degrees S) for the southern hemisphere. These ground-based data have been compared with MIPAS offline profiles (v4.61) for the year 2003, collocated within 1000 km around the stations, in the lower to middle stratosphere. To get around the spatial collocation problem, comparisons have also been made between the same ground-based FTIR data and the corresponding profiles resulting from the stratospheric 4D-VAR data assimilation system BASCOE constrained by MIPAS data. This paper discusses the results of the comparisons and the usefullness of using BASCOE profiles as proxies for MIPAS data. It shows good agreement between MIPAS and FTIR N2O partial columns: the biases are below 5% for all the stations and the standard deviations are below 7% for the three mid-latitude stations, and below 10% for the high latitude ones. The comparisons with BASCOE partial columns give standard deviations below 4% for the mid-latitude stations to less than 8% for the high latitude ones. After making some corrections to take into account the known bias due to the use of different spectroscopic parameters, the comparisons of HNO3 partial columns show biases below 3% and standard deviations below 15% for all the stations except Arrival Heights (bias of 5%, standard deviation of 21%). The results for this species, which has a larger spatial variability, highlight the necessity of defining appropriate collocation criteria and of accounting for the spread of the observed airmasses. BASCOE appears to have more deficiencies in producing proxies of MIPAS HNO3 profiles compared to N2O, but the obtained standard deviation of less than 10% between BASCOE and FTIR is reasonable. Similar results on profiles comparisons are also shown in the paper, in addition to partial column ones.


Lymph node metastasis is an important prognostic factor in cervical cancer patients. We report THz imaging for detecting micro-metastatic foci in the lymph nodes of early-stage uterine cervical cancer patients. Five paraffin-embedded metastatic lymph nodes from two cervical cancer patients were imaged using a THz time-domain spectroscopy system in the reflection mode. The size and shape of the tumor regions were compared with those from histopathologic examinations. The metastatic portions of lymph nodes as small as 3 mm were well delineated by THz imaging. The reflected peak amplitudes were lower in metastatic portions than in the normal portions of lymph nodes, and the difference in their peak-to-peak amplitudes was ~5%.


One principled approach for provably efficient exploration is incorporating the upper confidence bound (UCB) into the value function as a bonus. However, UCB is specified to deal with linear and tabular settings and is incompatible with Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL). In this paper, we propose a principled exploration method for DRL through Optimistic Bootstrapping and Backward Induction (OB2I). OB2I constructs a general-purpose UCB-bonus through non-parametric bootstrap in DRL. The UCB-bonus estimates the epistemic uncertainty of state-action pairs for optimistic exploration. We build theoretical connections between the proposed UCB-bonus and the LSVI-UCB in a linear setting. We propagate future uncertainty in a time-consistent manner through episodic backward update, which exploits the theoretical advantage and empirically improves the sample-efficiency. Our experiments in the MNIST maze and Atari suite suggest that OB2I outperforms several state-of-the-art exploration approaches.


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Avataric evolutionism is the idea that ancient Hindu myths of Vishnu's ten incarnations foreshadowed Darwinian evolution. In a previous essay I examined the late nineteenth-century origins of the theory in the works of Keshub Chunder Sen and Madame Blavatsky. Here I consider two major figures in the history of avataric evolutionism in the early twentieth century, N. B. Pavgee, a Marathi Brahmin deeply involved in the question of Aryan origins, and Aurobindo Ghose, political activist turned mystic. Pavgee, unlike Keshub, used avataric evolutionism in expounding his nationalistic goals for an independent India. His rationale was bolstered by the idea that India was the fountainhead of all science and civilization. Aurobindo saw in avataric evolutionism a possible key to understanding the involution and evolution of the supreme spirit in the realm of matter as taught in traditional Vedanta. This material-spiritual evolution represented for Aurobindo the necessary knowledge for the true liberation of India, transcending purely political independence. Such knowledge he also saw as the means for the spiritual liberation of the whole of humankind. The processes of involution and evolution he claimed were not in conflict with modern science, and Western evolutionary thinking seems to have inspired many of his own evolutionary reflections, even though in the end he rejected the Darwinian transmutation of species. I conclude with an overview and assessment of recent, post-colonial Hindu assimilations of avataric evolutionism.


Numerical calculations relevant to gas turbine internal wall heat transfer cooling were conducted using conjugate heat transfer (CHT) computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) commercial codes. The CHT CFD predictions were carried out for impingement heat transfer with different types of obstacle walls (fins) on the target surfaces.  A 10 × 10 row of impingement air jet holes (or hole density n of 4306 m-2) was used, which gives ten rows of holes in the cross-flow direction and only one heat transfer enhancement obstacle per impingement jet was investigated. Previously, four different shaped obstacles were investigated experimentally and were used to validate the present predictions. The obstacle walls, which were equally spaced on the centreline between each impingement jet are of the co-flow and cross-flow configurations. The impingement jet pitch X to diameter D, X/D and gap Z to diameter, Z/D ratios were kept constant at 4.66 and 3.06 for X, Z and D of 15.24, 10.00 and 3.27 mm, respectively. The obstacles investigated were ribs and rectangular pin-fins shapes, using two obstacles height H to diameter, H/D ratio of 1.38 and 2.45. Computations were carried out for three different mass flux G of 1.08, 1.48 and 1.94 kg/sm2. Relative pressure loss ∆P/P and surface average heat transfer coefficient (HTC) h predictions for the range of G, showed good agreement with the experimental results. The prediction also reveals that obstacles not only increases the turbulent flows, but also takes away most of the cooling heat transfer that produces the regions with highest thermal gradients. It also reduces the impingement gap downstream cross-flow.


Bioremediation is considered as one of the safer, cleaner, cost effective and environmental friendly technology for removing the heavy metals ions from polluted area. Bioremediation is naturally living organisms to reduce the environmental pollutants into less toxic forms. It is followed by bacteria and fungi or plants to degrade or detoxify hazardous ingredients to human health /or the environment. Heavy metal contamination represents an major environmental problem due to the toxic effects of metals and their invasion in to the food chain leads to serious ecological and health problems. The aim of this study is to screen and characterize the resistance of the Halo tolerant bacteria of heavy metals from hoze Sultan lake in Qom. In this study, Halophilic and Halo tolerant microorganisms resistant to heavy metals nickel, cadmium, copper and cobalt were separated in Qom hoz-e Soltan Lake. Results shows that microorganisms which are respectively 13%, 5/19%, 75/43 and 7.3% of MGM, MH, SWN, LNSWN medium, 62/20% of samples from the environment without salt Nutrient agar was obtained. Resistance to heavy metals in the samples showed that Halo tolerant microorganisms most resistant to nickel and cobalt and cadmium and copper metals are the most susceptible.


YAŞIN KOLOREKTAL KANSER CERRAHISI SONRASI ANASTOMOZ KAÇAĞI VE BUNA BAĞLI GELIŞEN MORTALITE ÜZERINE ETKISI Purpose: The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between age and anastomotic leakage and leak-related mortality following colorectal cancer surgery. Material and Method: Data of patients who underwent elective resection and anastomosis for colorectal cancer between January 2013 and December 2018 were retrospectively evaluated. Patients were divided into two groups: patients aged <65 years (Group 1) and those aged ≥65 years (Group 2). Demographic characteristics, perioperative risks, diseased colonic segment, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgical procedure (laparoscopic/open) were evaluated between both groups. The primary endpoint of the study was the development of anastomotic leakage within 30 days postoperatively. The secondary endpoint was the leakrelated mortality within 30 days postoperatively. Results: The study included 358 patients; 60.6% of these were male and 39.4% were female, and mean age was 65.9 ± 12.33 years. The rate of anastomotic leakage was 5.6% (n = 9) in Group 1 and 5.1% (n = 10) in Group 2 (p = 0.283). Overall leak-related mortality was 1.95%. The leak-related mortality was 0.6% in Group 1 and 3.06% in Group 2 (p = 0.043). Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that age is not a risk factor for anastomotic leakage following colorectal cancer surgery; however, there is an increased mortality following anastomotic leakage in elderly patients.


Mass media has been used extensively in support of agricultural extension,
diffusion of information technology, social reforms, education, and health
awareness. Apart from media's advancement and capabilities, the social and
environmental circumstances that lead the Semelai heads of households to turn
to the mass media in order to gratify their cognitive needs are little understood.
Therefore this study was conducted to determine how the Semelai heads of
households use radio and lV to acquire and gather information that they need to
gratify their cognitive needs which will enable them to present the information in a
predictable manner, to define problems, and to seek solutions to them. The
respondents for this study are the Semelai heads of households in Tasek Bera,
Pahang. The sample size for this study is 266, based on the number of Semelai
households in Tasek Bera, Pahang.
The findings revealed that radio programmes were believed to possess the
characteristics of "keeping their listeners up-to-date on current issues and events
and making them understand ways of good life", while N programmes were
believed to possess the characteristics of "keeping their viewers up-to-date on
current issues and events, and giving them brief accounts of many issues". For
the evaluations made. on the media programmes, findings revealed that radio
listeners felt that it was "good for radio programmes to have features such as
current events, issues and making people understand ways of having a good
life", featured in their media programmes. The same features would also be best
included in TV programmes. Findings on the gratifications sought and obtained
from radio and N programmes revealed that listeners and viewers tuned in and
watched development, political and health programmes to gratify their cognitive
needs.
Correlations and hierarchical regression were done to determine the
relationships of beliefs and evaluations with gratifications obtained and whether
gratifications obtained influenced the listeners'/viewers' beliefs and evaluations of
media programmes. The findings of the study revealed that the gratifications
obtained were strongly related to the beliefs of media attributes but were not
related to evaluations of those attributes. The belief component correlated more
strongly with gratifications obtained than with the evaluation component because
gratifications obtained should provide feedback to influence the belief that radio
and TV actually possessed certain attributes but should not affect more stable
evaluations of those attributes.


ModBase (http://salilab.org/modbase) is a database of annotated comparative protein structure models. The models are calculated by ModPipe, an automated modeling pipeline that relies primarily on Modeller for fold assignment, sequence–structure alignment, model building and model assessment (http://salilab.org/modeller/). ModBase currently contains 10 355 444 reliable models for domains in 2 421 920 unique protein sequences. ModBase allows users to update comparative models on demand, and request modeling of additional sequences through an interface to the ModWeb modeling server (http://salilab.org/modweb). ModBase models are available through the ModBase interface as well as the Protein Model Portal (http://www.proteinmodelportal.org/). Recently developed associated resources include the SALIGN server for multiple sequence and structure alignment (http://salilab.org/salign), the ModEval server for predicting the accuracy of protein structure models (http://salilab.org/modeval), the PCSS server for predicting which peptides bind to a given protein (http://salilab.org/pcss) and the FoXS server for calculating and fitting Small Angle X-ray Scattering profiles (http://salilab.org/foxs).


In this study, the effect of SiC particle volume fraction on the corrosion behavior of Al-Si-Mg based SiCp reinforced metal matrix composites in both aerated and deaerated 3.5 wt.% NaCl aqueous solutions has been investigated. Composites reinforced with 10 and 20 vol.% SiC particles were produced by compocasting technique and then extruded. The corrosion susceptibility was analyzed by measuring the cyclic potentiodynamic polarization. The corrosion rates of the samples were determined by using Epii, EcorT and icorr values obtained from polarization curves. The surface morphology of the composites was determined by an optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique has been used in order to determine the phases occurring at the matrix/SiC interface. The obtained results indicate that the corrosion resistance of the composites decreased with increased SiC particle content.


This paper presents a model-based systems engineering (MBSE) approach to develop an upper limb spasticity part-task trainer for therapy training and clinical education. We adopt a value-driven design proposed by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) with the combination of specification technique CONSENS™ proposed by Heinz Nixdorf Institute as a framework to guide the team to optimize the perceived system value and the development process. As early as during the conceptual design phase, the specified system models take into considerations the Voice of Customer, the Voice of Business and the Voice of Technology to meet customer expectations, ensure cost effectiveness and enabling new functionality. Following such an approach, clinicians, therapists and engineers work together in order to develop an upper limb disorder part-task trainer which requires knowledge of mechanics, electric/electronics, control technology, software engineering, biology and human anatomy. As an education tool, the part-task trainer can multiply the frequency of novice therapy training at clinical training centres, medical schools and hospitals.


Cast iron was one of the most dominated materials for municipal water mains in the last century.
Cast iron pipes are being gradually replaced by ductile iron, steel or plastic pipe due to their poor
performance. However, a significant portion of cast iron pipelines is still in service for the
municipal water distribution system. Many of these pipelines are deteriorated due to corrosion and
often fail. The remaining strength assessment of these pipelines is required for maintaining the
integrity of municipal water distribution systems. Researchers employed conventional continuum
mechanics approach for the assessment of cast iron water mains. However, the continuum
mechanics based modelling was found to be unsuccessful explaining some failure mechanisms
observed in the field. The fracture mechanics approach could be used to investigate the failure
mechanism of the pipelines. The major challenges in the application of fracture mechanics include
i) availability of a tool for calculating the fracture parameters and ii) availability of material
parameter for fracture mechanics based strength assessment. In this study, mechanical properties
for cast iron pipe materials are explored for fracture mechanics based strength assessment.
Uniaxial tensile tests are conducted to understand the stress–strain response for stress–deformation
analysis to calculate the fracture parameter. The influence of the rate of loading on stress–strain
behavior and loading-unloading responses are investigated. Fracture toughness is also determined
by using a simplified chevron notch method. The parameters obtained from the test are used in
finite element analysis to determine the fracture parameters of cast iron pipes. Numerical
techniques for finite element modelling are developed for the assessment of fracture parameter
(i.e., stress intensity factor). The stress intensity factors for different shapes of corrosion defects
are examined. The employed fracture mechanics approach is found to successfully explain the
failure mechanism of cast iron pipes observed in the field.


Due to ocean acidification and global warming, surface seawater of the western Baltic Sea is expected to reach an average of ∼1100 μatm pCO2 and an increase of ∼5°C by the year 2100. In four consecutive experiments (spanning 10–11 weeks each) in all seasons within 1 year, the abiotic factors temperature (+5°C above in situ) and pCO2 (adjusted to ∼1100 μatm) were tested for their single and combined effects on epibacterial communities of the brown macroalga Fucus vesiculosus and on bacteria present in the surrounding seawater. The experiments were set up in three biological replicates using the Kiel Outdoor Benthocosm facility (Kiel, Germany). Phylogenetic analyses of the respective microbiota were performed by bacterial 16S (V1-V2) rDNA Illumina MiSeq amplicon sequencing after 0, 4, 8, and 10/11 weeks per season. The results demonstrate (I) that the bacterial community composition varied in time and (II) that relationships between operational taxonomic units (OTUs) within an OTU association network were mainly governed by the habitat. (III) Neither single pCO2 nor pCO2:Temperature interaction effects were statistically significant. However, significant impact of ocean warming was detected varying among seasons. (IV) An indicator OTU (iOTU) analysis identified several iOTUs that were strongly influenced by temperature in spring, summer, and winter. In the warming treatments of these three seasons, we observed decreasing numbers of bacteria that are commonly associated with a healthy marine microbial community and—particularly during spring and summer—an increase in potentially pathogenic and bacteria related to intensified microfouling. This might lead to severe consequences for the F. vesiculosus holobiont finally affecting the marine ecosystem.


Pathogenic PINK1 mutations have been described in PARK6‐linked Parkinson's disease (PD) patients of Asian origin. However, data on the frequency of PINK1 mutations in sporadic early‐onset Parkinson's disease (EOPD) Asian patients are lacking. The objectives of this study were to report the frequency of PINK1 mutations of sporadic EOPD in an Asian cohort comprising of ethnic Chinese, Malays, and Indians, and to highlight a PINK1‐positive patient who presented with restless legs symptoms. Eighty consecutive sporadic EOPD patients from the movement disorder clinics of two major tertiary institutions in the country were included. We performed sequence analysis of all the coding and exon–intron junctions of the PINK1 using specific primer sets. In addition, we genotyped polymorphisms detected from the analysis in a group of sporadic PD patients and controls. Three different mutations (two homozygous nonsense and one heterozygous missense) in the putative kinase domain were found in three patients, giving a 3.7% frequency of PINK1 mutations in our EOPD cohort. All the mutations were absent in 200 healthy controls. One patient with a novel homozygous nonsense PINK1 mutation presented unusually with restless legs symptoms. Separately, analysis of the frequency of four PINK1 polymorphisms in a group of sporadic PD and controls did not reveal any significant differences. We highlight a 3.7% frequency of PINK1 mutations in an Asian cohort (ethnic Chinese, Malay, and Indian) of EOPD. The phenotypic spectrum associated with PINK1‐positive patients may be wider than previously reported. Polymorphisms of PINK1 do not appear to modulate risk of PD in our population. © 2006 Movement Disorder Society


To evaluate the healing mechanism and histological changes of the 20-gauge standard, and 23- and 25-gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy (TSV) incisions in rabbits. Materials and methods: Twelve of 16 albino rabbits' right eyes underwent sclerotomy of either 20-gauge standard, or 23-gauge or 25-gauge TSV incisions. Four rabbits were tested as controls. The study eyes were examined clinically on the first postoperative day and in 3-day periods for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, rabbits were euthanized; globes were enucleated and underwent histological examination. The sclerotomy sites were investigated histopathologically under light microscope for wound healing semicantitatively. Results: Pathological sections were examined to monitor the healing course of the sclerotomy sites. Edema, mononuclear inflammatory cell infiltration, fibroplasia, foreign body reaction, neovascularization, and reactive-regenerative changes on ciliary body were evaluated and scored. Fibroplasia and reactive-regenerative changes on ciliary body were statistically significant in eyes treated with 20-gauge standard sclerotomy (P 0.05). Conclusion: Conventional 20-gauge sclerotomies required conjunctival peritomy and suturing. Transconjunctival 23-gauge and 25-gauge sclerotomy incision procedures without sutures and peritomy decrease overall surgical time, avoid the local inflammatory reaction to the suture materials, decrease postoperative inflammation, and support rapid healing recovery.


The paper focuses on women's financial behaviour in their use of higher order financial services in Ghana and South Africa, inviting a gendered and social analysis of deconstructing financial behaviour. Women in South Africa are more likely to use general financial products than in Ghana, though in general more men use advanced investment products. Race has an important effect in South Africa. Much of these gender differentials is related to differences in gendered behaviour, yet generalizations on how gender relates to risk aversion is not supported. Rather non-financial approaches may explain how social relations propel women's decision to prioritise the use of financial services as a result of ascribed gender and social roles. These findings contribute to the debates on the feminisation of finance, as women are increasingly interpellated as financial subjects, manifesting the gendered organisation of global financial structures that operate on gendered norms and behaviour.


The education reform of the South African democratically elected government ushered in the further education and training (FET) curriculum policy guided by strategic principles and values. This study identified and analysed the principles and values guiding the FET curriculum policy in relation to the factors leading to their selection and the effect of such choices on the FET curriculum design. A tri-dimensional method of Critical Discourse Analysis as developed by Fairclough (1995) was employed and supplemented with a method of curriculum analysis as developed by Jansen and Reddy (1994) for the analysis of the principles and values. Investigation into the National Curriculum Statement for FET (General) (2003) revealed that the principles and values fall into two categories: Economic based and social-related principles, both aiming to achieve social transformation. This dissertation positions education and training curriculum design within an emancipatory praxis approach as developed by Grundy (1987), and argued that since the gain in learning principles and values is that which leads to the development and refinement of the individual, the social-related principles and values should be taught holistically as a subject. I contend that the 'discrete' integration and application of socialrelated principles and values in subject statements will not provide an effective way of assessing the competences of such learning. This is because 'discrete' means subtle and subtle is elusive – ungraspable. I therefore argue that if the leaders of tomorrow who are the learners of today are expected to project and defend the principles values that the South African society is built on, it is imperative that these learners learn them holistically. Finally, an individual is assessed by what he /she thinks says, and does and the hands are one of the vehicles that carries out the command of the head, if the hands fail to respond to the 'will' of the head, that 'will' becomes of no effect. In the light of this argument, I contend that practical work without cognitive knowledge is no knowledge just as cognitive knowledge without practical application is absolutely no knowledge.


Changes in land cover alter the water balance components of a catchment, due to strong interactions between soils, vegetation and the atmosphere. Therefore, hydrological climate impact studies should also integrate scenarios of associated land cover change. To reflect two severe climate-induced changes in land cover, we applied scenarios of glacier retreat and forest cover increase that were derived from the temperature signals of the climate scenarios used in this study. The climate scenarios were derived from ten regional climate models from the ENSEMBLES project. Their respective temperature and precipitation changes between the scenario period (2074–2095) and the control period (1984–2005) were used to run a hydrological model. The relative importance of each of the three types of scenarios (climate, glacier, forest) was assessed through an analysis of variance (ANOVA). Altogether, 15 mountainous catchments in Switzerland were analysed, exhibiting different degrees of glaciation during the control period (0–51%) and different degrees of forest cover increase under scenarios of change (12–55% of the catchment area). The results show that even an extreme change in forest cover is negligible with respect to changes in runoff, but it is crucial as soon as changes in evaporation or soil moisture are concerned. For the latter two variables, the relative impact of forest change is proportional to the magnitude of its change. For changes that concern 35% of the catchment area or more, the effect of forest change on summer evapotranspiration is equally or even more important than the climate signal. For catchments with a glaciation of 10% or more in the control period, the glacier retreat significantly determines summer and annual runoff. The most important source of uncertainty in this study, though, is the climate scenario and it is highly recommended to apply an ensemble of climate scenarios in the impact studies. The results presented here are valid for the climatic region they were tested for, i.e., a humid, mid-latitude mountainous environment. They might be different for regions where the evaporation is a major component of the water balance, for example. Nevertheless, a hydrological climate-impact study that assesses the additional impacts of forest and glacier change is new so far and provides insight into the question whether or not it is necessary to account for land cover changes as part of climate change impacts on hydrological systems.


Characteristics of leakage current, electrical field and surface resistivity of artificially polluted high voltage composite insulators for different composite materials in their structure, equivalent salt deposit density, electrolyte flow-rate and hydrophobicity are discussed, analyzed and presented in this paper. All these parameters are compared with conventional non composite insulators, too. Relativity of leakage current, applied electric field, electrolyte flow-rate and electrolyte conductivity to the environmental conditions are presented by the results of artificial pollution tests. Waveform, frequency spectrum and magnitude-phase diagram of leakage current of polluted insulators with different pollution densities and durations and applied voltages are presented. Surface resistivity of different insulators is compared regarding different kinds and densities of pollution. Electrical field causing flashover for polluted insulators as a function of the insulators' surface hydrophobicity and salt deposit density is also presented. Through the study, investigating the life time of being used insulators is achieved by measuring their leakage current, salt deposit density and surface resistivity and comparing with the test results.


Uniquely, in Nigeria Islamic Criminal Law was introduced in the framework of a secular federal constitution. In 2000 and 2001, twelve Northern states adopted legislation on the hadd offences and the Islamic law on homicide and bodily harm. Reliable statistics on the number of cases tried under the new laws are unavailable. Based on information from the media and human rights organisations, I present roughly 125 criminal cases tried before Nigerian Sharī'a courts between 2000 and 2004. This sample shows that Sharī'a was particularly enforced in states dominated by the Hausa. In religiously mixed states, the bid to introduce Sharī'a became part of the religious groups' competition for hegemony and access to public resources, with violent consequences. The expectations which many Muslims attached to the introduction of Sharī'a were inflated. Its impact on the security of life and property, the fight against corruption and the promotion of good governance has probably been minimal.


Size‐fractionated chlorophyll concentration and phytoplankton absorption spectra were compared for a wide variety of natural communities. We found that, in general, when phytoplankton abundance increases, larger sizeclasses are added incrementally to a background of smaller cells. Natural phytoplankton communities from surface waters were explicitly characterized according to their dominant cell size and taxonomic group, and the relationships between this classification and the spectral shape of the phytoplankton absorption coefficient for the whole assemblage was described. By specifying the cell size of the dominant organism (pico‐, ultra‐, nano‐, or microplankton), more than 80% of the variability in spectral shape of the phytoplankton absorption coefficient from 400 to 700 nm could be explained. This is a result of the strong covariation of the size of dominant organisms and several factors controlling the spectral shape of the phytoplankton absorption coefficient, such as pigment packaging and concentration of accessory pigments. Consequently, the shapes of phytoplankton absorption spectra can be reproduced using a spectral mixing model, where two spectra, representing the normalized phytoplankton absorption coefficients for the smallest and the largest cells found in our data set, are combined additively, using a single parameter to specify the complementary contribution of each. The differences between reproduced and measured spectra contain taxonomic and physiological information. This parameterization provides a simple tool for extracting ecological information from optical measurements. It can also be used in sensitivity analyses to describe the influence of the dominant cell size of phytoplankton on optical properties of surface waters.


Working memory capacity is thought to play an important role for a wide range of cognitive and noncognitive skills such as fluid intelligence, math, reading, the inhibition of pre-potent impulses or more general self-regulation abilities. Because these abilities substantially affect individuals' life trajectories in terms of health, education, and earnings, the question of whether working memory (WM) training can improve them is of considerable importance. However, whether WM training leads to improvements in these far-transfer skills is contested. Here, we examine the causal impact of WM training embedded in regular school teaching by a randomized educational intervention involving a sample of 6–7 years old first graders. We find substantial immediate and lasting gains in working memory capacity. In addition, we document relatively large positive effects on geometry skills, reading skills, Raven's fluid IQ measure, the ability to inhibit pre-potent impulses and self-regulation abilities. Moreover, these far-transfer effects emerge over time and only become fully visible after 12-13 months. Finally, we document that 3–4 years after the intervention, the children who received training have a roughly 16 percentage points higher probability of entering the academic track in secondary school.


Situated visualization is an emerging concept within visualization, in which data is visualized in situ, where it is relevant to people. The concept has gained interest from multiple research communities, including visualization, human-computer interaction (HCI) and augmented reality. This has led to a range of explorations and applications of the concept, however, this early work has focused on the operational aspect of situatedness leading to inconsistent adoption of the concept and terminology. First, we contribute a literature survey in which we analyze 44 papers that explicitly use the term "situated visualization" to provide an overview of the research area, how it defines situated visualization, common application areas and technology used, as well as type of data and type of visualizations. Our survey shows that research on situated visualization has focused on technology-centric approaches that foreground a spatial understanding of situatedness. Secondly, we contribute five perspectives on situatedness (space, time, place, activity, and community) that together expand on the prevalent notion of situatedness in the corpus. We draw from six case studies and prior theoretical developments in HCI. Each perspective develops a generative way of looking at and working with situatedness in design and research. We outline future directions, including considering technology, material and aesthetics, leveraging the perspectives for design, and methods for stronger engagement with target audiences. We conclude with opportunities to consolidate situated visualization research.


This paper investigates the flexural strength and ductility of hybrid high performance steel (HPS) I-beams. Three simple supported I-beams were tested to study the bending behavior of hybrid beams with Q&T HPS 485W in flanges and Q235 in webs. Experimentally verified nonlinear finite element modeling techniques were then employed in a parametric study including the influence of cross section compactness and material match in hybrid design on rotation capacity of beams. It is observed that the compactness of flange and web have a major influence on the rotation capacity of flexural beam. As a result, appropriate compactness criteria are suggested for use in the design of HPS 485W hybrid beams employing compact webs made from lower strength steels.


One of the frequently assumed major differences between civil law and common law systems is the standard of persuasion applied by each in civil (non-criminal) cases. In most civil law jurisdictions, it is commonly assumed that the standard of persuasion is the same for criminal and civil proceedings. The plaintiff in a civil case, as well as the prosecutor in a criminal case, must provide sufficient proof to convince the trier of fact of the truth of the facts at issue on the particular occasion. Although it is recognised that absolute certainty is impossible to achieve, the required degree of belief is often expressed in terms of a virtual certainty, or at least a very high probability. However, a mere statistical probability, no matter how high, will not suffice in the absence of the required conviction or belief in the truth of the facts at issue. In common law jurisdictions, there is an explicit distinction between the standard of persuasion in criminal and civil proceedings. In criminal proceedings, the standard is very high: the prosecutor must prove the defendant's guilt 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. In civil proceedings, however, the plaintiff generally only needs to prove his case by the much lower standard of a 'preponderance of the evidence' (the usual formulation in the United States) or a 'balance of probability' (the usual formulation in the British Commonwealth and Scandinavia). Both standards are often interpreted by academics, and sometimes by judges, as merely requiring a 50 per cent probability. For both standards, as so interpreted, it would be better to employ the term 'standard of proof' rather than 'standard of persuasion', since the latter implies an element of conviction or belief that is lacking when all that is involved is a class-based statistical probability. I have argued that the supposed major differences between the standards of persuasion in common law and civil law jurisdictions are greatly overstated. I retrace that argument in section II of this paper. I conclude that, in general, the common law as well as the civil law continues to view the applicable standards of persuasion in civil as well as criminal actions as requiring the formation of a belief in the truth of the facts at issue in the particular case, rather than a mere class-based statistical probability, and that concrete 'particularistic evidence' specific to the particular case is necessary to support such a belief. Although the available evidence is slim, I also conclude that in the civil law as well as the common law the strength of the required belief is lower in civil actions than in criminal actions. In section IV of this paper, I consider various types of problematic causal situations that courts around the world have struggled to deal with in recent decades. Clear recognition of the issues in these cases and their proper resolution has often been hindered by an unanalysed assumption that the standard of persuasion in civil actions is a mere statistical probability standard, which however is not consistently applied, since doing so would generate significant problems and paradoxes. The considerable confusion that now exists could and should be greatly reduced simply by replacing the highly misleading phrases 'more likely than not' and 'balance of probability', and even the less misleading phrase 'preponderance of the evidence', with 'a minimal belief'.


Although HIV and aging are two well-established medical and economic domains, their intersection represents an emerging area of study. Older adults with HIV, who sill comprise 50% of the US HIV-infected population by 2015, are disadvantaged as evidenced by disproportionately poorer health outcomes. The Oaxaca Decomposition Approach (ODA) was used to analyze data from the Research on Older Adults with HIV (ROAH) Study of 1,000 older adults with HIV in New York City (NYC). This paper establishes the sources of health disparities for Hispanics with HIV compared to a match group of Non-Hispanics with HIV. The ODA analyses shows that Hispanics on average have higher levels of declining health and increased depression attributable to the discrimination factor.


An integrated effort is needed to provide seamless care for patients between hospital and general practice. The use of protovols that are common to both sectors will lead to the best possible outcomes. It seems that secondary prevention may reduce sudden death and the 28-day mortality rate. The evidence base for the drugs used in secondary prevention is derived mostly from hospital trials. The relevant findings for aspirin, beta blockage, statins, ACE inhibitors and oral anticoagulants are discussed. After coronary revascularisation, special care is required if patients are to have a smooth path: both exercise and comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation are valuable.


Serial sections of the conduction system (CS) were performed in two patients with recurrent tachyarrhythmias. Case 1, a 34-year-old female who had dual atrioventricular (AV) nodal pathways with recurrent paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, committed suicide. Autopsy revealed an abnormally formed atrial septum with insertion of eustachian valve on the AV part of the pars membranacea. The intercuspid portion of the pars membranacea was muscular. The AV node was located adjacent to the membranous part of the ventricular septum rather than the central fibrous body. In addition, there was an accessory anterior AV node on the parietal wall of the right atrium. Case 2, a 13-year-old boy with history of recurrent ventricular tachycardia, died suddenly. CS revealed a right-sided, markedly septated bundle. The first part of right bundle branch was divided into three parts, which later joined together. Both cases showed fatty infiltration of the atrial septum, more than normal for the age of the patients. The relationship of the recurrent tachyarrhythmias to the congenital abnormalities in the CS in the two cases and the fatty infiltration is reviewed.


Coordination is crucial throughout development, from motor development and language acquisition to children's play and other social interactions. Based on the links between motor and social behavior, proper coordination should help children connect socially with others. Being part of a larger study investigating the effects of a multisystem intervention tool for children with ASD, this work examined the effect of robot-child interaction on interpersonal and intrapersonal coordination in typically developing children. 5-year-olds and 7 year-olds participated in a fourweek training protocol, where children had to copy the movements of a small humanoid robot. Measures of cross recurrence quantification analysis revealed that older children seem to benefit from the interactions showing improved interpersonal, but not intrapersonal coordination in simple clapping and maraca-shaking tasks.


Isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from cystic fibrosis patients are unusual; they are often susceptible to the bactericidal effect of human serum, have a rough lipopolysaccharide, and produce an exopolysaccharide that is responsible for the characteristic mucoid phenotype. In contrast, strains from the environment and from patients with other diseases usually have smooth lipopolysaccharide, do not produce very much mucoid exopolysaccharide, and are phenotypically nonmucoid. The predominance of mucoid strains of P. aeruginosa in infections of patients with cystic fibrosis has not been explained. In the lower airways, where P. aeruginosa persists in cystic fibrosis, nutrients for bacterial growth may be limited. We investigated whether growth of P. aeruginosa under conditions of suboptimal nutrition causes conversion to the characteristic cystic fibrosis phenotype. Ninety-two strains of P. aeruginosa were maintained for up to 90 days in a minimal medium with acetamide as the sole carbon source. In 56 (52%) of 107 cultures, isolates with rough lipopolysaccharide emerged, and in 20 (19%) of 104 nonmucoid cultures, mucoid isolates were recovered. Strains with rough lipopolysaccharide also were sensitive to the bactericidal effect of normal human serum. Under conditions of suboptimal nutrition in vitro, isolates of P. aeruginosa emerged that produced rough lipopolysaccharide and were mucoid, typical of many isolates from cystic fibrosis patients. This peculiar phenotype may arise as a consequence of nutritional limitation within the cystic fibrosis respiratory tract rather than from features unique to these strains of bacteria.


We develop a novel citizen-centred multi-dimensional approach to public value creation in regional policy. Drawing on 47 citizen focus groups in 16 European regions, public values are analysed through an interpretative comparative approach. Goal attainment is a positive and widely held value. However, evaluations of institutional performance and democratic values are more negative. The findings have significant implications for public value management. We propose a five C's public value creation framework emphasizing coherence across public values and the communication and co-creation of public value sustained through capacity building and continuous feedback. Implications for public value theory, European regional policy and future research are discussed.


This study examines comparison constructions in Mon, a predominantly isolating language of western Mainland Southeast Asia. Comparison constructions, which I take to include comparative, similative, and equative, do not form a homogeneous class, but employ various constructions. The uses and functions of these constructions, as well as their development in Mon over the past 1000 years, are the topic of this study, which is the first to deal with comparison in Mon.


Governments employ public disclosure strategies to reduce risks, improve public and private goods and services, and reduce injustice. In the United States, these targeted transparency policies include financial securities disclosures, nutritional labels, school report cards, automobile rollover rankings, and sexual offender registries. They constitute a light-handed approach to governance that empowers citizens. However, these policies are frequently ineffective or counterproductive. Based on a comparative analysis of eighteen major policies, the authors suggest that transparency policies often produce information that is incomplete, incomprehensible, or irrelevant to the consumers, investors, workers, and community residents who could benefit from them. Sometimes transparency fails because those who are threatened by it form political coalitions to limit or distort information. To be successful, transparency policies must place the needs of ordinary citizens at centre stage and produce information that informs their everyday choices. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.


The academic focus on tourism impacts has raised questions regarding stakeholder responsibility. From a consumption perspective, many ethical consumers, by enacting their political and moral concerns through their consumer choice demonstrate their virtuous qualities and at the same time construct themselves as ethical. Ethical consumption and the consumption of Fairtrade, Fair Trade Tourism and Fair Trade Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) – which derived from Pro-Poor Tourism and ecotourism principles –, are embedded into a cultural context of global consumer capitalism. This macro discourse informs the way people think about the extent of their responsibility, what constitutes a fair exchange, and how they construct themselves as ethical consumers. Ethical consumption, although virtuous can then be described as a form of conspicuous consumption because consumption in its self is a hedonistic act especially when one uses ethical consumption as a mechanism to demonstrate one's 'ethical self'. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with eleven FTTSA travellers in December–February of 2009 at two FTTSA businesses. The paper employed Critical Discourse Analysis to explore some of the tensions between consumer virtue and the hedonistic behaviours of the informants. The aim of this paper is to investigate the notion of moral selving in the context of ethical travel and in particular FTTSA. Results revealed that motivations for participation in ethical consumption and travel are varied and sometimes influenced by the appeal of moral selving.


Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of three types of natural medicinal plants oils on the transverse strength, residual monomer and hardness of polymethylmethacrylate. Materials and methods: Total number of samples of (105) have been prepared in this study. Fifteen samples of heat cured ProBase acrylic resin were prepared without additives ( Control), and (90) samples were prepared with additives ( Ginger oil ,Meramia and Eucalyptus oil) in two concentrations (1.5 and 2.5) to evaluate transverse strength, indentation hardness and residual monomer. Results: The results showed a significant difference between control and addition groups in the transverse strength and hardness tests. The addition of oils decreased the transverse strength ,and increased the hardness.There was no significant difference between the residual monomer for control and addition groups, but the control group at the first day showed higher residual monomer release. Conclusion: The addition of eucalyptus , meramia and ginger oils to acrylic resin decreased the transverse strength , increased its hardness and showed no significant difference in residual monomer.


This paper proposes a simple investment model that permits a test of the relative importance of Mexico's terms of trade decline, the reversal in net capital inflows, and the debt overhang, in explaining Mexico's investment decline in the early 1980's. The paper uses previously unexploited sectoral investment data between 1981 and 1985 to estimate the quantitative importance of these explanations. The data indicate that the main microeconomic mechanism driving the investment decline was the rise in the relative price of investment goods and further that the deterioration in Mexico's international terms of trade explains most of the increase in this relative price. Our preferred estimate is that about two-thirds of the investment decline was attributable to the terms of trade decline, while the termination of capital inflows explains the remaining third. The paper finds little evidence in favor of other debt crisis effects such as the debt-overhang effect or several other more subtle effects that have been proposed in the literature.


Background Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are significant risks for suicide and other adverse events among US military personnel, but prevalence data among ship-assigned personnel at the onset of deployment are unknown. Aims To determine the prevalence of shipboard personnel who screen positive for PTSD and/or major depressive disorder (MDD) at the onset of deployment, and also those who reported these diagnoses made by a physician or healthcare professional in the year prior to deployment. Method Active-duty ship-assigned personnel (N = 2078) completed anonymous assessments at the beginning of deployment. Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; score of ≥22), and PTSD was assessed using the PTSD Checklist–Civilian Version (PCL-C; both score and symptom criteria were used). Results In total, 7.3% (n = 151 of 2076) screened positive for PTSD and 22% (n = 461 of 2078) for MDD at deployment onset. Only 6% and 15% of those who screened positive for PTSD or MDD, respectively, had been diagnosed by a healthcare professional in the past year. Conclusions Missed opportunities for mental healthcare among screen-positive shipboard personnel reduce the benefits associated with early identification and linkage to care. Improved methods of mental health screening that promote early recognition and referral to care may mitigate psychiatric events in theatre.


Effective teamwork and communication are critical to patient outcomes, and subjective assessment tools have been developed for measuring team performance using both technical and non-technical skills. However, inherent biases remain with using subjective assessment tools.In this study, 3rd-year medical students participated in the Acute Care Trauma Simulation (ACTS). The student performed the role of clinician in a team that included a nurse and a simulated patient. Participants conducted post-operative patient management, patient care diagnoses, and treatment. Audio from all team members was recorded, and speech variables (e.g., speech duration, frequency of interaction, etc.) from student's audio were extracted.The models for Research Question I showed that increasing frequency of checkbacks between student and nurse (p<0.05) and speech duration from student to patient (p=0.001) significantly increased student's clinical performance score. In Research Question II, a positive association (ρ=0.456, p<0.001) between speech duration from student to patient and overall NTS scores was observed, and this correlation was the strongest amongst all other vocal features with overall NTS score.Both studies showed significant positive relationships between key vocal features (e.g., speech duration), frequency of communication with respect to performance. Metrics and vocal features derived from audio recordings can be measured in predicting clinical performance and NTS, moreover, it can further contribute to the understanding of communication in the healthcare setting. Most importantly, the potential of providing an objective approach for simulation-based trauma care training.


Hundreds of beautiful artworks from the time of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Tutankhamen illustrate the splendour of Egypt in this examination of Egyptian art and culture at the time of the city of Amarna. During the 14th century BC, Armana was founded by Akhenaten to promote his new religion and for 12 years was the capital of the world's greatest empire. However, after Akhenaten's death, Tutankhamen abandoned the city, demolishing all traces of his predecessor. In this catalogue of the millennium exhibition of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the world of Ancient Egypt comes to life through more than 250 illustrations. Essays by leading Egyptologists describe the Amarna Period, a time of unprecedented changes in art and architecture, technology, in women's roles in religion and government - and the dramatic change with polytheism in favour of monotheism. The images include sculpture, architectural elements, ceramics, jewellery, clothing, tools and furniture from collections worldwide.


Abstract:The impact of apocalyptic and conspiracist discourses on Indonesian jihadi thinking and behaviour has been little studied, but evidence in recent years is mounting that it has been significant. Many Indonesians who joined Islamic State forces in Syria and Iraq from 2013 were driven in part by a belief that the final cataclysmic battle between Islam and its foes would occur there imminently, and the families responsible for the 2018 Surabaya suicide bombing which killed more than two dozen people were convinced that the world would soon end. This article examines Indonesia's contemporary apocalyptic literature, with an emphasis on the two main genres: populist and jihadist. It argues that the populist forms, though sensational, highly conspiratorial and commercially motivated, are more insidious than commonly assumed, and can have a "priming effect" upon radicalizing readers by deepening their sense of crisis and grievance, thus inclining them to extreme views and actions. Jihadi apocalypticism has a stronger scholarly basis, but is subject to serious debate and some scepticism within Islamist circles. For some jihadis, such discourses bring a compelling urgency that triggers violence, but for others, apocalypticism is viewed more warily due to the risk that it impairs judgement and leads to erroneous strategies.


Dehydroamino acids represent an important class of compound as they are key intermediates in unusual amino acid and in the design of peptides and are constituents of a variety of naturally occurring antibiotic and phytotoxic peptides. In view of the importance of proteins and peptides containing hydroxyamino acids and the problems associated with their synthesis and dehydration, an investigation was performed on model compounds in order to examine the difficulties of the dehydration reactions. The preparation and properties of the model dehydroalanine derivatives have been studied.


This paper investigates the potential contribution of forestry management in meeting a CO2 stabilization policy of 550 ppmv by 2100. In order to assess the optimal response of the carbon market to forest sequestration we couple two global models. An energy-economy-climate model for the study of climate policies is linked with a detailed forestry model through an iterative procedure to provide the optimal abatement strategy. Results show that forestry is a determinant abatement option and could lead to significantly lower policy costs if included. Linking forestry management to the carbon market has the potential to delay the policy burden, and is expected to reduce the price of carbon of 40% by 2050. Biological sequestration will mostly come from avoided deforestation in tropical forests rich countries. The inclusion of this mitigation option is demonstrated to crowd out some of the traditional abatement in the energy sector and to lessen induced technological change in clean technologies.


This is a study conducted in Zimbabwe which compared a group of 50 zvirvere zvechivanhu patients and a group of 50 non-patients in age, sex, marital status, level of education and claims of spirit possession. Claims of spirit possessions and types of spirits, as pointed out by Bennel (1982), were used as symptoms of zvirwere zvechivanhu. The two groups were also compared in symptom dimensions of the SCL-90-R used in the study. The SCL-90-R, developed by Derogatis (1975), is a 90-item symptom check list used to screen people for psychological problems reflected in the nine symptom dimensions of somatization, obsessive/ compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism and in the three global scores of Global Severity Index, Positive Symptom Distress Index and Positive Symptom Total. The subjects were chosen from two different sites, using a systematic sampling method. Three statistical methods were used to analyze the data. The Chi-square was used to analyze data on descriptive variables. The T-test and 2 x 2 analysis of variance were used to analyze the data on symptom dimensions and global scores. The study had one main hypothesis and nine subhypotheses. The main hypothesis was that zvirwere zvechivanhu patients were significantly different from the non-patients on the overall global scores. The nine subhypotheses stated that the patient and non-patient groups were significantly different in the nine separate symptom dimensions. The study concluded that the zvirwere zvechivanhu patients were significantly different from the non-patients in the overall global scores. In the nine separate symptom dimensions, it was concluded that the two groups were the same in all except the somatization and obsessive/compulsive system dimensions.


Renewed interest in the antihistamine action of ascorbic acid has emerged with the recently recognized immunosuppressive role of histamine. We examined the antihistamine effect of acute and chronic vitamin C (VC) administration and its effect on neutrophil chemotaxis in healthy men and women. In the chronic study, 10 subjects ingested a placebo during weeks 1, 2, 5 and 6, and 2 g/day of VC during weeks 3 and 4. Fasting blood samples were collected after the initial 2-week period (baseline) and at the end of weeks 4 and 6. Plasma ascorbate rose significantly following VC administration compared to baseline and withdrawal values. Neutrophil chemotaxis rose 19% (NS) during VC administration, and fell 30% after VC withdrawal, but these changes were not correlated to plasma ascorbate levels (r = 0.01). Chemotaxis was inversely correlated to blood histamine (r = -0.32, p = 0.045), and, compared to baseline and withdrawal values, histamine levels were depressed 38% following VC supplementation. Blood histamine and neutrophil chemotaxis did not change 4 hours following a single 2 g dose of ascorbic acid, although plasma ascorbate rose 150%. These data indicate that VC may indirectly enhance chemotaxis by detoxifying histamine in vivo.


ABSTRACT A new species, new combinations, synonyms, lectotypes and neotypes for Combretum Loefl. (Combretaceae) from continental African and Madagascar are published. Especially the lumping of Combretum platypetalum Welw. ex M.A.Lawson with the older Combretum sericeum G.Don is an important change. Combretum gordonii Jongkind, sp. nov. is newly described, no Combretum species with densely hairy and more or less auriculate leaves in combination with infundibuliform flowers was known yet from Madagascar. The new combinations C. comosum G.Don var. dolichopetalum (Engler & Diels) Jongkind, comb. nov. and C. comosum var. hispidum (M.A.Lawson) Jongkind, comb. nov. are made because the intermediate specimens between the former species did make it untenable to maintain these taxa on species level.


Public health scholars and practitioners in several countries have called for a broad system of taxes on unhealthy foods, possibly combined with subsidies for certain healthy foods. The typical motivation for these fat taxes is the public health perspective, the idea that it is socially valuable to make health outcomes better regardless of how individuals might trade off risky dietary behaviors with those outcomes. This paper assesses possible alternative rationales for such a tax, examining arguments based on behavioral and cognitive failure as well as traditional economic arguments. The strongest role for a broad, health-based tax on foods would be as a health-insurance system component. Ideally, the tax amount would approximate the expected medical cost from consuming each unit of food, and the tax revenues would cover claims for the associated disease conditions as they arose. This tax/claim system would serve four major insurance-based purposes. First, it would reduce moral hazard by causing individuals to make ex ante payments covering the expected covered costs of risky eating behavior. Second, it would tend to alleviate adverse selection problems by providing implicit risk adjustment for the associated maladies. Third, it would address the incomplete markets problem that consumers are restricted to short-term coverage by introducing a long-term component into the system. Finally, it would aid in separating inherent risk over which individuals have no control from risk that is a function of behavior. Serving these purposes would be especially valuable in developed country systems where coverage is universal or a certain minimum treatment package is available regardless of ability to pay. Whether a fat tax served to further insurance system objectives, general public health goals or other purposes, there are substantial implementation and scientific causality issues. The health impact of particular foods is subject to scientific uncertainty and often depends heavily on the other components in each individual's diet. Disease responses to food products are non-linear in quantity consumed and vary substantially across individuals. Individuals also are heterogeneous with respect to their preferences and self-control. A food tax scheme will result in an industry response and may spur both constructive and detrimental innovation. The paper examines many non-insurance-based rationales for a fat tax, including correcting externalities or internalities (problems of self-control), alleviating bounded rationality (inability to be adequately informed at low cost), and addressing various cognitive or behavioral errors. The optimal form of the tax might be affected by such errors. For instance, a tax based on energy density rather than components such as fat might best address the obesity epidemic. Preliminary estimates show that such a tax, if focused on foods that are nutritionally poor as well as energy dense, might be quite large compared to existing prices for many such foods. The paper also considers the possibility of basing the tax partially or wholly on certain biomarkers (weight, blood chemistry, etc.) and briefly considers litigation as an alternative to taxation.


This article by the Bank's visiting economist examines the role of money in the transmission of monetary policy. Professor Laidler argues against the view of money as a passive variable that reacts to changes in prices, output, and interest rates but has no direct causative effecton them. He maintains that the empirical evidence supports the view of money playing an active role in the transmission mechanism. While he agrees that individual monetary aggregates can be difficult to read because of instabilities in the demand-for-money function, he argues that monetary aggregates, particularly those relating to transactions money, should have a more significant place in the hierarchy of policy variables that the Bank considers when formulating monetary policy.


Natural gas is a troublesome and 'wayward' material (Bridge, 2004; 396). Amongst other qualities, it is invisible, intangible, naturally odorless, highly inflammable, and constantly resistant to the forces that contain it. This thesis provides an account of how these qualities both introduce a series of insecurities to everyday social environments, and also make it a challenging material to govern. Specifically, I examine the way that security is performed around gas circulations in the UK's transmission and distribution pipelines, and I describe how a range of specialized security practices have been developed according to the particular challenges that gas's materiality presents.

In developing this account, I make two claims. First, I argue that performances of security cannot be adequately understood without attending to the specific qualities of the circulating elements around which it is practiced. Here I build upon Dillon's (1996) observation that security has tended to be treated as a noun that is independent of the elements that it is practiced in relation to. As a consequence, it has typically been framed as a broadly transferrable set of practices that can be more-or-less unproblematically applied to very different elements. I suggest that this abstraction has resulted in the further reduction of security into two broad practices: acts of circulatory filtration (in which risky elements are separated from flows of safe bodies, materials and things), and acts of circulatory maintenance (whereby security is performed by ensuring the continuity of particular circulations). It is my contention in this thesis that security scholars need to pay better attention to the ways in which the specific material qualities of circulating elements are generative of particular forms of securing practice. Indeed, by examining the way that security is performed around gas, I describe a series of practices that far exceed those described in accounts that present security as a matter of circulatory filtration or maintenance.

My second claim is that the spaces and scales at which security is analyzed need to be expanded. I demonstrate how the critical security studies and energy security literatures have both tended to focus on security's practice within particular nodes, at the exclusion of the performances of security (and forms of insecurity) that develop across the journeys of circulating elements; as they move between nodes. Indeed, I suggest that circulation has often been reduced in these accounts to thin, straight, and featureless lines that are largely inconsequential for performances of security. I seek to trouble this reduction, following gas as it travels through the UK gas transport infrastructures, tracing the various forms of (in)security that develop across these journeys.

As a consequence of these two claims, security takes quite a different form in this account to its various depictions in the existing security literatures. I describe it as consisting of a series of ontological projects that are enacted across the lengths and breadths of gas's circulations, and through which the material reality of natural gas is constantly (re)organised in attempts to facilitate, 'compensate for', and 'cancel out' particular kinds of perceived potential phenomena (Foucault, 2007; 36). Significantly, these performances are shown to be structured, or 'programmed' (Latour, 1991), through the coming together of multiple interests that pertain to a variety of heterogeneous actors and manifold referent objects. Different interests are shown to come together across gas's journeys, and to undergo ongoing processes of negotiation that result in a variety of security performances, through which different imperatives are pursued. As such, I suggest that gas becomes 'modulated' (Deleuze, 1992) – it is constantly transformed from moment to moment, across the full duration of its circulatory journeys.


In obese mice, fat tissue stimulates proliferation of insulin-producing pancreatic cells via a neural relay through the liver, contributing to symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic regulation in mammals requires communication between multiple organs and tissues. Studying mouse models, Imai et al. found that obesity stimulates pancreatic β cell proliferation through a neural-mediated relay of metabolic signals from the liver to the pancreas. Obesity-induced activation of extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) signaling in the liver was identified as a key component of this metabolic relay. In mouse models of insulin-deficient (type 1) diabetes, liver-specific activation of ERK signaling resulted in an increase in β cell mass and normalization of serum glucose levels. Thus, interorgan metabolic communication systems may serve as valuable therapeutic targets for diabetes. J. Imai, H. Katagiri, T. Yamada, Y. Ishigaki, T. Suzuki, H. Kudo, K. Uno, Y. Hasegawa, J. Gao, K. Kaneko, H. Ishihara, A. Niijima, M. Nakazato, T. Asano, Y. Minokoshi, Y. Oka, Regulation of pancreatic β cell mass by neuronal signals from the liver. Science 322, 1250–1254 (2008). [Abstract] [Full Text]


CD154 is a T cell activation marker, transiently expressed following ligation of the T cell receptor, therefore providing direct access to an antigen-specific T cell population. Using peripheral blood samples taken from allergic individuals and healthy non-atopic controls, this project identified and phenotyped CD154+ T helper cells following ex vivo stimulation with native allergen extracts (birch pollen, cat dander, grass pollen). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated with allergen extract for 16 hours in the presence of Brefeldin A. Responding CD154+ T cells were identified and phenotyped using multiparametric flow cytometry. Activated CD154+ TH1, TH2 and TR1-like cells, that co-expressed IFNγ, IL4 and IL10 respectively, were identified in allergic and non-allergic participants. A close correlation was observed between TH1, TH2 and TR1-like cell frequency in non-allergic participants, such that the three parameters increased together to maintain a low TH2:TH1 ratio. The relationship between TH1, TH2 and TR1-like responses was dysregulated in allergic individuals, with abrogation of the IL10 response and a higher TH2:TH1 ratio. A close correlation was observed between Th2 cell frequency and the absolute concentration of birch-specific IgE. This work confirms previous reports of a more differentiated T cell phenotype in allergic subjects with regard to seasonal allergens. The detection of CD154+ T cells after short-term antigen stimulation may be a useful method for the detection of T cell responses to allergens when cost, speed and convenience are priorities.


Little is known about the sustainability of irrigated oasis agriculture in northern Oman. The objective of this study therefore was to examine which factors allowed agricultural productivity to be apparently maintained during the two millenia of a mountain oasis' existence. Soil moisture and physico-chemical properties were measured in a typical flood-irrigated field sown to alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Particle size, organic (Corg) and inorganic carbon content, pH and electrical conductivity (EC) of the soil profile were analyzed at 0.15, 0.45 and 1.00 m. Saturated hydraulic conductivity and the soil's apparent bulk density and water potential were determined from undisturbed samples at 0.05, 0.25 and 0.60 m. During irrigation cycles of 6–9 days, volumetric water contents ranged from 30% to 13%. A tracer experiment with potassium bromide revealed that 52–56% of the irrigation water was stored in the upper 0.4 m of the soil. The rest of the water moved further down the profile, thus providing the necessary drainage to avoid the build-up of toxic salt concentrations. Due to differences in pore size, plant-available water in the topsoil amounted to 18.7% compared to 13% and 13.5% at 0.25and 0.60-m depth, respectively. The aggregate structure in the upper 1.0 m of the profile is likely preserved by concentrations of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) from 379 to 434 mg kg 1 and Corg from 157 to 368 mg kg 1 soil. The data indicate that the sustainability of this irrigated landuse system is due to high water quality with low sodium but high CaCO3 concentration, the elaborate terrace structure and water management which allows adequate drainage. D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


The video collage is a novel and effective interface for dynamically summarizing and presenting mined multimedia information from video collections. It provides a flexible mechanism for inferring knowledge and trailing analytic thoughts, which are the essential tasks in multimedia knowledge management. We will describe multimedia knowledge management, discuss how collages are automatically produced, illustrate their use for multimedia knowledge management, and evaluate their effectiveness as summaries across news stories. Collages are presentations of text and images extracted from multiple video sources. They provide an interactive visualization for a set of analyzed video documents, summarizing their contents and offering a navigation aid for further exploration. The dynamic creation of collages is based on user context, e.g., an originating query, coupled with automatic processing to refine the candidate imagery. Named entity identification and common phrase extraction provides associative textual description. The dynamic manipulation of collages allows user-directed filtering as well as revealing additional details and previously undiscovered content. The utility of collages as summaries is examined with respect to other published news summaries.


The development of efficient software requires the selection of algorithms and optimizations tailored for each target hardware platform. Alternatively, performance portability may be obtained through the use of optimized libraries. However, currently all the invaluable knowledge used to build optimized libraries is lost during the development process, limiting its reuse by other developers when implementing new operations or porting the software to a new hardware platform. To answer these challenges, we propose a model-driven approach and framework to encode and systematize the domain knowledge used by experts when building optimized libraries and program implementations. This knowledge is encoded by relating the domain operations with their implementations, capturing the fundamental equivalences of the domain, and defining how programs can be transformed by refinement (adding more implementation details), optimization (removing inefficiencies), and extension (adding features). These transformations enable the incremental derivation of efficient and correct by construction program implementations from abstract program specifications. Additionally, we designed an interpretations mechanism to associate different kinds of behavior to domain knowledge, allowing developers to animate programs and predict their properties (such as performance costs) during their derivation. We developed a tool to support the proposed framework, ReFlO, which we use to illustrate how knowledge is encoded and used to incrementally—and mechanically—derive efficient parallel program implementations in different application domains. The proposed approach is an important step to make the process of developing optimized software more systematic, and therefore more understandable and reusable. The knowledge systematization is also the first step to enable the automation of the development process.


This second phase of the study is expected to produce actual and accurate information concerning socio-economic information and measures to cope with the El Nino effects at the farm level. Evidence of abnormal weather was apparent in Thailand in 2001 when the rain was less than the previous years' and the high temperatures were from January to March 2002. However, the rain came early in May 2002. Thus, the period of 2001 is suitable to represent an abnormal year for the study of the second phase of the project. The objectives of the second phase are to analyze and evaluate drought impacts at farm-household level, farmer's responses and government measures to overcome the problems. The research was conducted in two different provinces, namely Lop Buri in the Central Plains and Nakhon Ratchasima in the Northeast Plateau, where the effects of abnormal weather were experienced in 2001. The emphasis of this study is on production, cropping systems, household characteristics, farmer's attitudes toward measures and mechanisms to solve the problems, and food security at household and community levels.


Background and aim: Prediabetes is associated with dysglycemia, obesity, inflammation and endothelial
dysfunction, contributing towards the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases rendering them
vulnerable for the same. The current study intended to explore the risk of cardiovascular disease
(CVD) related with prediabetes by assessing oxidative stress and inflammation using serum interleukin-
6 (IL-6), myeloperoxidase (MPO) and urine microalbumin (MA) and their correlation with fasting plasma
glucose (FPG) and physical measurements.
Materials and methods: Based on FPG values, 80 subjects were grouped into prediabetes and healthy
controls. IL-6 and MPO were estimated in serum sample whereas MA was estimated in random urine
sample.
Results: Prediabetes group had significantly increased (p < 0.05) mean anthropometric measurements
and IL-6, MPO and MA as compared to healthy controls. MPO had significant correlation with FPG (r-
0.388) in the prediabetes group. IL-6 and MPO showed a positive correlation with body mass index (BMI
(r-0.339, r-0.327)), waist circumference (WC (r-484, r-0.493)) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR (r-0.430, r-
0.493)) while MA did not correlate with FPG and anthropometric measurements.
Conclusion: This study suggests that prediabetes is associated with central adiposity, inflammation and
oxidative stress predisposing them to an increased risk for CVD.


Liss et al. set out to understand why the dopaminergic (DA) neurons of the substantia nigra were selectively vulnerable to toxins that produce Parkinson's disease-like symptoms and dopaminergic cell death in mice. DA neurons of the substantia nigra or ventral tegmental area (VTA) were selectively labeled in brain slices from 3-month-old mice. All midbrain DA neurons exhibited ATP-regulated K+ current such that activation of the KATP channel in the brain slices with ATP-free solution hyperpolarized the membrane. This response was absent in slices from mice lacking the pore-forming subunit Kir6.2. All midbrain DA neurons expressed the mRNA for the SUR1 subunit of the KATP channel, so differences in susceptibility were not the result of either lack of the channel or differential expression of channel subunits. However, substantia nigra DA neurons exhibited greater magnitude KATP currents, which may be due to the increased abundance of the SUR1 mRNA relative to that present in the VTA DA neurons. Rotenone and 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) are mitochondrial respiratory complex I inhibitors that cause selective DA degeneration and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. When applied with glucose, these agents alter ROS production without altering cellular metabolism. Application to brain slices of either of these complex I inhibitors in the presence of glucose resulted in the cessation of spontaneous activity and, ultimately, hyperpolarization of the membrane of striatal DA neurons, selectively. This response was absent in the slices from Kir6.2—/— mice. The difference in activation of the KATP channels in response to complex I inhibition appeared to involve the degree of mitochondrial uncoupling present in the different DA neurons. VTA DA neurons, which have greater abundance of the mRNA for the uncoupling protein UCP-2 than do the substantia nigra DA neurons, showed loss of firing and hyperpolarization in response to rotenone when the cells were pretreated with a low concentration of an uncoupling agent to cause a drop in ROS production. In contrast, pretreatment of substantia nigra DA neurons to cause mild uncoupling prevented hyperpolarization and loss of spontaneous activity in response to rotenone. The authors suggest that VTA DA neurons exist in a state of partial mitochondrial uncoupling and decreased ROS production that protects them by preventing activation of the KATP channel and loss of activity. B. Liss, O. Haeckel, J. Wildmann, T. Miki, S. Seino, J. Roeper, K-ATP channels promote the differential degeneration of dopaminergic midbrain neurons. Nat. Neurosci. 8, 1742-1751 (2005). [PubMed]


The end of the eighteenth century saw the start of a new craze in Europe: tiny portraits of single eyes that were exchanged by lovers or family members. Worn as brooches or pendants, these minuscule eyes served the same emotional need as more conventional mementos, such as lockets containing a coil of a loved one's hair. The fashion lasted only a few decades, and by the early 1800s eye miniatures had faded into oblivion. Unearthing these portraits in "Treasuring the Gaze", Hanneke Grootenboer proposes that the rage for eye miniatures - and their abrupt disappearance - reveals a knot in the unfolding of the history of vision. Drawing on Alois Riegl, Jean-Luc Nancy, Marcia Pointon, Melanie Klein, and others, Grootenboer unravels this knot, discovering previously unseen patterns of looking and strategies for showing. She shows that eye miniatures portray the subject's gaze rather than his or her eye, making the recipient of the keepsake an exclusive beholder who is perpetually watched. These treasured portraits always return the looks they receive and, as such, they create a reciprocal mode of viewing that Grootenboer calls intimate vision. Recounting stories about eye miniatures - including the role one played in the scandalous affair of Mrs. Fitzherbert and the Prince of Wales, a portrait of the mesmerizing eye of Lord Byron, and the loss and longing incorporated in crying eye miniatures - Grootenboer shows that intimate vision brings the gaze of another deep into the heart of private experience. With a host of fascinating imagery from this eccentric and mostly forgotten yet deeply private keepsake, "Treasuring the Gaze" provides new insights into the art of miniature painting and the genre of portraiture.


Children's classics from Alice in Wonderland to the works of Astrid Lindgren, Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling and Philip Pullman are now generally recognized as literary achievements that from a translator's point of view are no less demanding than 'serious' (adult) literature. This volume attempts to explore the various challenges posed by the translation of children's literature and at the same time highlight some of the strategies that translators can and do follow when facing these challenges. A variety of translation theories and concepts are put to critical use, including Even-Zohar's polysystem theory, Toury's concept of norms, Venuti's views on foreignizing and domesticating translations and on the translator's (in)visibility, and Chesterman's prototypical approach. Topics include the ethics of translating for children, the importance of child(hood) images, the 'revelation' of the translator in prefaces, the role of translated children's books in the establishment of literary canons, the status of translations in the former East Germany; questions of taboo and censorship in the translation of adolescent novels, the collision of norms in different translations of a Swedish children's classic, the handling of 'cultural intertextuality' in the Spanish translations of contemporary British fantasy books, strategies for translating cultural markers such as juvenile expressions, functional shifts caused by different translation strategies dealing with character names, and complex translation strategies used in dealing with the dual audience in Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales and in Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories.


Procedural narrative generation systems often focus on autonomous agent based simulations to create emergent interactions, plan-based approaches to provide guarantees for coherence, or using elements of simulation to guide plan-based approaches. These different approaches, with some exceptions, tend to trade off character autonomy in service of more designer controlled experiences or content authoring in service of encoding domain knowledge of possible branches of the narrative and participating characters. We have developed a system, called Stories of the Town, that automatically generates narratives by synthesizing three distinct approaches to traditional narrative generation: context-free grammars, planning, and simulation. More specifically, our system generates narratives via probabilistic context-free grammars applied to state-space planning problem solutions from planning problem formulations of simulated character models. Our system uses character simulations to generate variety in narratives and ensures narrative coherence through authoring probabilistic context-free grammars. By doing so, this system takes advantage of the strengths of each individual approach (e.g. controllability, scalability, intentionality, and variety) to generate narratives that are extensible, expressive, consistent with simulated character personalities and histories, and controllable. We show that this system has strong potential in automatically generating varied, complex, consistent, and goal-oriented narratives. Further development of the system will allow for more efficient utilization of the strengths of each narrative generation approach while also using these strengths to supplement their individual shortcomings.


The development of a research, teaching, or application of competitive (economic) intelligence requires a strategic and transverse visionin regards torelated issues. It is essential to integrate the role of culturewhen interpreting results, either from the training of a specialist or in respect to a country or region. The authors of this book, members of an expert group supported by the CNRS in France, bring all of their talents together to create a comprehensive book that does just this and more.


11 JUNE 1907 * 1 FEBRUARY 1999 PAUL MELLON, who died on 1 February 1999, devoted himself and his wealth to the support of excellence. While doing so, he personally excelled in many realms, including collecting works of art and building museums to house them; breeding, racing, and riding horses; and, above all, philanthropy. Blessed with inherited wealth, a strong constitution (he was a champion trail rider into his seventies), and an equable demeanor, he made the most of a long life. Born 11 June 1907, Paul described his childhood in his highly readable autobiography, Reflections in a Silver Spoon (Morrow, 1992), as less than ideal despite the comforts of life in a well-to-do home: an aloof, distant father, the financier Andrew W. Mellon; strained relations between his parents that led to separation and divorce; and the bleak, drab setting of industrial Pittsburgh. His brighter memories of early years were of summers in rural England, where his English mother, Nora McMullen Mellon, instilled in him a love of horses, horsemanship, and country life. With appropriate filial piety, Paul's primary philanthropic activities were closely linked to the source of his wealth, Andrew W. Mellon, and to his father's previous charitable undertakings. One of his earliest philanthropic responsibilities, undertaken while still in his twenties, was as a founder, trustee, and eventually chairman of his father's Pittsburghbased A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust (liquidated in 1980). Later Paul oversaw the consolidation of his own Old Dominion Foundation and the Avalon Foundation of his sister, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, into the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (1969), of which he was long a trustee. Paul continued the work of his father in his involvement with the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Andrew Mellon formally offered the Gallery as an intended gift to the nation in 1936. He donated spectacular paintings, provided funds for the construction of John Russell Pope's splendid classical design, and decreed that the Gallery not bear his name so as not to discourage future support from others. Paul himself later followed that pattern of philanthropy and modesty in creating the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven and the East Building that more than doubled the size of the National Gallery. After Andrew Mellon's death in 1937, the year construction of the National Gallery began, young Paul stepped in and oversaw the project through to successful completion in 1941. That summer he enlisted as a private in the cavalry. After Officer Training School he served two years as a riding instructor at Fort Riley, Kansas, then went overseas with the OSS in England and Europe, rising to the rank of major. On his return in 1945, he became president of the National Gallery and served in that capacity for forty years before becoming an honorary trustee in 1985. Whatever Paul received from the schools at which he was educated-Choate; Yale; Clare College, Cambridge; St. John's College in Annapolis-was generously repaid by his benefactions. As a student, Paul's primary interests were literary. At Yale, he was inspired (and his Anglophilia reinforced) by such English department luminaries as Chauncey Brewster Tinker and William Lyon Phelps. After graduating from Yale he continued his study at Cambridge, where his love of English outdoor life burgeoned through rowing on the Cam and riding-especially fox hunting. The latter interest precipitated his first steps as a collector, the purchase of books on hunting and racing. This led in 1936 to his first purchase of a painting, George Stubbs's Pumpkin with a Stable Lad, which he always maintained was his favorite English painting in his collection. Paul's wide-ranging literary interests are manifest in the achievements of the Bollingen Foundation, which he and his first wife, Mary Conover Brown, established in 1945 for the advancement and preservation of learning in the humanities. …


This paper proposes and evaluates alternative methods for addressing the tax treatment of interest expenses in a multijurisdictional setting. The differential deductibility of debt entailed by various current tax law provisions leads to potential distortions in the patterns of asset ownership across MNCs and various proposed solutions have significant limitations. We suggest alternative regimes — a worldwide debt cap (WDC) and a net financing deduction (NFD) — to address the ownership distortions that we highlight along with other well-established problems of income-shifting through debt. These alternative regimes are extensions to a multinational setting of two general approaches to the neutral treatment of interest expenses — the CBIT (comprehensive business income tax) and ACC (allowance for corporate capital). While these regimes provide solutions to ownership distortions and to problems of "base erosion and profit shifting," they have the potential disadvantage of restricting other policy parameters.


Although there is little theory about the effects of economic conditions on public support for science and technology (S&T), some evidence suggests that an economic crisis could produce a decline in support for S&T because of more pressing priorities, such as jobs and social services. But the public may also view S&T as a strategic pathway out of an economic slump. We test these competing hypotheses employing two national surveys from Spain, implemented before (2006) and after (2010) the onset of a severe economic crisis. We find that, in regions hit hardest by the crisis (compared to less-affected regions), trust in the benefits of S&T increased substantially, as did general public interest in S&T. Similarly, residents of the hardest-hit regions were more likely after the crisis to choose S&T (out of a list of policy areas) as a priority for government, and somewhat more likely to express support for increases in government S&T spending. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.


Skepticism about the quality of health systems and their consequent underuse are thought to contribute to high rates of mortality in the developing world. The perceived quality of health services may be especially critical during epidemics, when people choose whether to cooperate with response efforts and frontline health workers. Can improving the perceived quality of health care promote community health and ultimately help to contain epidemics? We leverage a field experiment in Sierra Leone to answer this question in the context of the 2014 West African Ebola crisis. Two years before the outbreak, we randomly assigned two interventions to government-run health clinics—one focused on community monitoring, and the other conferred nonfinancial awards to clinic staff. Prior to the Ebola crisis, both interventions increased clinic utilization and patient satisfaction. Community monitoring additionally improved child health, leading to 38% fewer deaths of children under age five. Later, during the crisis, the interventions also increased reporting of Ebola cases by 62%, and community monitoring significantly reduced Ebola-related deaths. Evidence on mechanisms suggests that both interventions improved the perceived quality of health care, encouraging patients to report Ebola symptoms and receive medical care. Improvements in health outcomes under community monitoring suggest that these changes partly reflect a rise in the underlying quality of administered care. Overall, our results indicate that promoting accountability not only has the power to improve health systems during normal times, but can also make them more resilient to emergent crises.


Domain-oriented design environments require support for three types of collaboration: (1) collaboration between domain-oriented designers (the users of design environments) and design environment builders, (2) collaboration between domain-oriented designers and clients (users of designed individual artifacts using a design environments), and (3) long-term direct collaboration among designers. Design environments provide representations that serve as a shared context for collaboration and ground languages of design. In this paper, we describe two components of our research work exploring domain-oriented design environments. First, the Knowing-in-Design (KID) environment uses explicit representations of the designers' task at hand (representing a partial articulation of their intent) facilitate mutual education between clients and designers, and to deliver design knowledge relevant to the task at hand. Second, the Evolving-Artifact-Approach (EVA) which uses descriptive representations, functional representations, and seed prototypes to facilitate the mutual education process between designers and design environment builders necessary for achieying a deep knowledge of the application domain, for capturing design rationale, and for representing domain knowledge. Domain-oriented design environments are evolving artifacts supporting long-term indirect collaboration between designers: Each design produced in design environments contributes to the accumulated design knowledge. By delivering relevant information from the knowledge base, design environments create a virtual collaboration with past designers.


The aim of this paper is to contribute both theoretically and empirically to the study of Inequality of Opportunity in Spain. The analysis is carried out using microdata collected by the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), which incorporate a wide variety of personal harmonised variables, allowing comparability with other countries. The availability of this database for years 2004 and 2010 is particularly relevant to analyse the impact of the economic crisis, the empirical evidence shows significant increases in both income inequality (17.24%) and, more significantly, inequality of opportunity (62.34%). According to our findings, the effect of circumstances on income distribution has intensified between the two years.


This article examines approaches to race in public relations and seeks to reframe them through the work of Zygmunt Bauman. After a brief survey of recent race-concerned interventions in the literature, I contend that the mainstream field still tends to avoid anxieties around race in 3 main ways: by considering race from a functionalist business orientation rather than a social equity perspective; by embedding, or freezing, race in relatively static, quantitative, and unemotional conceptualizations of culture and ethnicity; and by acting as if race is no longer an issue in a multicultural, or postrace society. I find these approaches inadequate to the task of comprehending a swift-moving and unsettled present characterized by massive population movements. To improve the field's engagement with the cultural and demographic fluidity of contemporary conditions, especially in relation to race, I open up possibilities for public relations by drawing from Bauman's concept of liquid society and his methodological creativity.