In May of 1803 the first Russian expedition around the world set sail from Kronstadt. It sailed by way of Denmark, England, Tenerife, Brazil, Nukahiva, Kamchatka, Japan, China, St. Helena, and Scotland before making its way home. On this two-hundred-year anniversary of the expedition, Victoria Joan Moessner brings us the first English translation of the uncensored, personal diary kept by Hermann Ludwig von Lowenstern (1771-1836), the fourth officer on the lead ship "Nadezhda" under Captain Adam Johann von Krusenstern. Because Lowenstern never published his diary, it was not submitted to the official censorship process that scrutinized and altered all publications in Tsarist Russia. Thus it contains frank descriptions of historical events, arguments, sightings, and opinions that were left out or removed from other accounts that were subject to editorial scrutiny. His diary makes a particularly critical contribution to our knowledge about the history and politics of nineteenth-century Russia and the lands visited by the expedition. For example, it contains new and important information about the continuing strife between Captain Krusenstern and the first Russian ambassador to Japan, Nicolai Petrovich Resanoff. Moessner supplements her meticulous translation with a historical and methodological introduction and a timeline of important events. Her international research also uncovered fascinating paintings and sketches--many of them never published--that are included in this volume in high-quality color and black and white plates. Augmented by these impressive editorial elements, Lowenstern's diary is now available in fine form to a wide audience, two hundred years after he set sail.


We evaluated a comprehensive set of natural and land-use attributes that represent the major facets of urban development at fish monitoring sites in the rapidly growing Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina metropolitan area. We used principal component and correlation analysis to obtain a nonredundant subset of variables that extracted most variation in the complete set. With this subset of variables, we assessed the effect of urban growth on fish assemblage structure. We evaluated variation in fish assemblage structure with nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). We used correlation analysis to identify the most important environmental and landscape variables associated with significant NMDS axes. The second NMDS axis is related to many indices of land-use/land cover change and habitat. Significant correlations with proportion of largest forest patch to total patch size (r = -0.460, P < 0.01), diversity of patch types (r = 0.554, P < 0.001), and population density (r = 0.385, P < 0.05) helped identify NMDS axis 2 as a disturbance gradient. Positive and negative correlations between the abundance of redbreast sunfish Lepomis auritus and bluehead chub Nocomis leptocephalus, respectively, and NMDS axis 2 also were evident. The North Carolina index of biotic integrity and many of its component metrics were highly correlated with urbanization. These results indicate that aquatic ecosystem integrity would be optimized by a comprehensive integrated management strategy that includes the preservation of landscape function by maximizing the conservation of contiguous tracts of forested lands and vegetative cover in watersheds.


Results for the direct determination of trace amounts of Pb and Cd in Antarctic and Greenland ancient ice and recent snow by laser-excited atomic fluorescence spectrometry (LEAFS) are presented. The whole procedure starting from field sampling, mechanical decontamination of the samples in an ultra-clean laboratory and final analysis of the decontaminated samples is described. The measured concentrations varied in the ranges 0.1–3 pg ml–1 for Cd and 0.3–30 pg ml–1 for Pb. The results for direct analysis by LEAFS agree favourable with those obtained by isotope dilution mass spectrometry and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry, which require time-consuming pre-treatment and pre-concentration stages.


Ripped, torn and cut offers a collection of original essays exploring the motivations behind – and the politics within – the multitude of fanzines that emerged in the wake of British punk from 1976. Sniffin' Glue (1976–77), Mark Perry's iconic punk fanzine, was but the first of many, paving the way for hundreds of home-made magazines to be cut and pasted in bedrooms across the UK. From these, glimpses into provincial cultures, teenage style wars and formative political ideas may be gleaned. An alternative history, away from the often-condescending glare of London's media and music industry, can be formulated, drawn from such titles as Ripped & Torn, Brass Lip, City Fun, Vague, Kill Your Pet Puppy, Toxic Grafity, Hungry Beat and Hard as Nails. Here, in a pre-internet world, we see the development of networks and the dissemination of punk's cultural impact as it fractured into myriad sub-scenes: industrial, post-punk, anarcho, Oi!, indie, goth. Ripped, torn and cut brings together academic analysis with practitioner accounts to forge a collaborative history 'from below'. The first book of its kind, this collection reveals the contested nature of punk's cultural politics by turning the pages of a vibrant underground press.


In Theory and Evidence Barbara Koslowski brings into sharp focus the ways in which the standard literature both distorts and underestimates the reasoning abilities of ordinary people. She provides the basis for a new research program on a more complete characterization of scientific reasoning, problem solving, and causality. Long acknowledged for her empirical work in the field of cognitive development, Koslowski boldy criticizes many of the currently classic studies and musters a compelling set of arguments, backed by an exhaustive set of experiments carried out during the last decade. Theory and Evidence describes research that looks at the beliefs that people hold about the type of evidence that counts in scientific reasoning and also examines how those beliefs change with age. The primary focus is on the strategies that underlie actual scientific practice: two general sorts of research are reported, one on hypothesis testing and the other on how people deal with evidence that disconfirms a given explanation-the process of hypothesis revision. Koslowski argues that when scientific reasoning is operationally defined so that correct performance consists of focusing on covariation and ignoring considerations of theory or mechanisms, then subjects are often treated as engaging in flawed reasoning when in fact their reasoning is scientifically legitimate. Neither relying on covariation alone nor relying on theory alone constitutes a formula for success. A Bradford Book. Learning, Development, and Conceptual Change series


Should egalitarian justice be qualified by an agent-relative prerogative to act on a preference for—and thereby in a manner that gives rise to or preserves a greater than equal share of the goods of life for—oneself, one's family, loved ones, or friends as compared with strangers? Although many would reply that the answer to this question must be 'yes', I shall argue here that the case for such a prerogative to depart from equality is much less far-reaching than one might think. I have in mind a prerogative to depart from a specific form of equality: namely, equality of opportunity for such advantages as resources or welfare. I mean to refer to the strong form of equal opportunity elaborated and defended by Richard Arneson and G. A. Cohen whereby, roughly speaking, two people have equal opportunity for advantage if they face the same choices and will end up at the same level of advantage if they make the same choices.


Fertilization and larval development determine the coral population survivalof species, which has a difference characteristic of embryogenesis. This research wasaimed to compare the embryo and larval development spawned in November 2011 in Grear Barrier Reef, Australia.Embryonic cellsdevelopment were observed in interval timesfrom one cell of egg tomulticellular stage (prawnchip), and larval development observed from the prawnchip stageto the planulae.The results showed the development of embryos and larvae significantly differed between two species, i.e. embryos and larvae of Acropora millepora grew faster than A.tenuis. The maximum size of planulae larvae of A. millepora (800-1000 μm) is biggerthan A. tenuis (650-900 μm). Embryo and larvae development were different due to species variability, hence this reseach can be adapted for laboratory proccess of coral larvae nursery. Keywords: embryo, planulae, Acropora millepora, A. Tenuis


A highly available infrastructure is a premise for capable railway operation of high quality. Therefore, maintenance is necessary to keep railway infrastructure elements available. Railway switches, especially, are critical because they connect different tracks and allow a train to change its moving direction without stopping. Their inspection, maintenance and repair have long been identified as a cost driver. Switch failures, particularly, are responsible for a comparable high number of failures and delay minutes. The reduction of failures would not only save maintenance costs, but also let more trains arrive on time and hence increase the attractiveness of the railway transport. Therefore, upcoming failures need to be revealed early enough to allow an effective planning and execution of failure preventing maintenance activities. Research is exploring ways to predict the remaining useful life of switches. This paper presents an approach to predict the remaining useful life (RUL) of railway switch engine failures. The development is based on measurement data of the electrical power consumption of switch engines. The two year time series of 29 switches of Deutsche Bahn was recorded by a commercial switch diagnostic system leading to roughly 250 000 measurement tuples. Since earlier researched showed that the electrical data alone is not sufficient enough, additional data is integrated. It takes into account the dependency of the switch condition data from climatic conditions and certain properties of the switch construction type. Predicting a RUL is quite challenging in many PHM applications. To avoid common problems with uncertainty in measurement data, a long prediction horizon (month) of small time units (hours) and to stabilise end user acceptance the approach transforms the RUL prediction problem into a classification problem of multiple classes. It, then, uses two difThomas Böhm et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. ferent supervised classification techniques, Artificial Neural Networks (aNN) and Support Vector Machines (SVM), to predict the RUL in the form of classes. However, as known from the no free lunch-theorem of classification, there is no ultimately best performing technique. The success depends on the problem and data structure as well as on the parametrisation of the technique or the selected algorithm respectively. Especially aNN and SVM have a high number of possible parametrisations. They can fail the task or result in a very good performance under the heavy influence of their parametrisation. Hence, it is an important aspect of this paper to share how the different parameters effect the RUL prediction and which parameters result in maximum performance. In order to compare the performance, two metrics are chosen, the Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) as single value metric and a visualisation of the confusion matrix as more comprehensible metric. Finally, deriving those parameters maximising the RUL prediction results enables one of the two classification techniques to reveal upcoming failures of the switch engine early enough to prevent them.


Background: Chronic kidney diseases (CKD) are a global health problem with increasing incidence, prevalence and mortality rate. So far no study has been known to have been conducted on factors related to the prevalence of renal failure disease in Yogyakarta. Objective: The study was aimed to identify relationship between hypertension, smoking and supplement energy drink and CKD at PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital Yogyakarta and calculate odds ratio of these factors. Method: The study was analytical observation with case control design. There were as many as 210 subjects divided into three groups. The first group consisted of 70 patients of terminal chronic renal failure who had routine hemodialysis treatment at PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital Yogyakarta as cases. Diagnostic criteria of CKD were specified through serum creatinin level > 10mg/dl and the requirement for routine hymodialysis. The second group consisted of 70 patients of conscious trauma victims or hemorrhagic fever or typhoid fever infection with creatinin level < 1.37 mg/dl living close to the residence of the cases hospitalized at PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital as hospital controls. The third group consisted of 70 healthy volunteers with the same sex, age, ethnic group and residency with cases that had creatinin level < 1.37mg/dl as community controls. Inclusion criteria for the subject were Indonesian of 15 – 65 years old, willing to participate in the study by filling in and signing letters of agreement and informed consent. Exclusion criteria were: heredity chronic disease and renal transplant history. Secondary data were obtained from patients' medical records. Primary data were obtained through in-depth interview guided by questionnaire for healthy volunteers, hospital cases and controls. Data analysis was carried out using univariable, bivariable, stratified and double logistic regression techniques. The results were presented through  tables, graphs or diagrams. Result: Hypertension, smoking and having supplement energy drink were risk factors of the prevalence of CKD at PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital, Yogyakarta. There was a dose-dependence on amount and length of smoking, supplement drink and time length of hypertension and the prevalence of CKD. Conclusion: Smoking, having supplement drink and hypertension have relationships with the prevalence of CKD at PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital, Yogyakarta. Odds ratio of smoking, having supplement drink and hypertension against the prevalence of terminal chronic renal failure at PKU Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta were perspectively 3.68(CI=1.39 – 9.74; p<0.05), 6.63 (CI=2.53 – 17.35; p<0.05) and 23.15 (CI=8.73 – 61.41; p<0.05). Keywords: chronic renal failure, risk factors, hypertension, energy drink, smoking


The study explored the response of aggregate farm output, input use, and farm investment decisions to output and input prices, wages, technological change, public investments, and climatic factors using district-level panel data of over 39 years from Andhra Pradesh. It confirms the low, short-run aggregate output supply elasticity of Indian agriculture as found in the literature. It validates the hypothesis that the relationships between public investment, financial institutions, and farm investment of labor and capital in agriculture have not changed over the years. The empirical estimates of aggregate output supply elasticity with respect to output price (0.2), roads (0.2), markets (0.11), and net irrigated area (0.05) are higher than previous findings for selected states in India. Aggregate agricultural output responds positively to credit availability (represented by banks) and canal irrigation, each with an elasticity of 0.01. The wage elasticity (0.3) on aggregate output is higher than price elasticity (0.2), indicating that the effects of rising wages outweigh the incentives offered by output price support. Climatic factors (e.g., rainfall) significantly affect fertilizer use and aggregate output while deviation from normal rainfall adversely affects aggregate output. The study substantiates previous findings that public investment in infrastructure and financial institutions respond to the agriculture potential and agro-climatic endowments of an area. A renewed focus, therefore, is required for better targeting of public investments in areas that are relatively resource poor and have harsh agro-climatic conditions for a more inclusive growth and rural poverty reduction.


Asymmetric mRNA localization is an effective mechanism for establishing cellular and developmental polarity. Posterior localization of oskar in the Drosophila oocyte targets the synthesis of Oskar to the posterior, where Oskar initiates the assembly of the germ plasm. In addition to harboring germline determinants, the germ plasm is required for localization and translation of the abdominal determinant nanos. Consequently, failure of oskar localization during oogenesis results in embryos lacking germ cells and abdominal segments. oskar accumulates at the oocyte posterior during mid-oogenesis through a well-studied process involving kinesin-mediated transport. Through live imaging of oskar mRNA, we have uncovered a second, mechanistically distinct phase of oskar localization that occurs during late oogenesis and results in amplification of the germ plasm. Analysis of two newly identified oskar localization factors, Rumpelstiltskin and Lost, that are required specifically for this late phase of oskar localization shows that germ plasm amplification ensures robust abdomen and germ cell formation during embryogenesis. In addition, our results indicate the importance of mechanisms for adapting mRNAs to utilize multiple localization pathways as necessitated by the dramatic changes in ovarian physiology that occur during oogenesis.


Using administrative records data from Spanish Social Security, we analyse the pattern and the determinants of individual unemployment benefit spell durations. We compare a period of expansion (2005-2007) and the recent recession (2009-2011), allowing us to determine the impact of the current crisis. In line with the duality that characterizes the Spanish labour market, we distinguish between exits to a stable job and exits to an unstable job. We estimate a Multivariate Mixed Proportional Hazard Model for each time period. We find similar effects of the crisis for stable and unstable jobs, which are particularly strong in the first year of the spell. Moreover, slight negative duration dependence is found, especially for stable jobs in the expansion period until the time of unemployment benefit expires. Individuals who are most affected by the financial crisis tend to be males, those aged 16-24 and 40-51 years, those living in regions with higher unemployment rates, individuals who are less qualified or work in manual occupations (particularly construction) and immigrants.


This dissertation deals with the channel estimation techniques for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems such as in IEEE 802.11. Although there has been a great amount of research in this area, characterization of typical wireless indoor environments and design of channel estimation schemes that are both robust and practical for such channel conditions have not been thoroughly investigated. It is well known that the minimum mean-square-error (MMSE) estimator provides the best mean-square-error (MSE) performance given a priori knowledge of channel statistics and operating signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, the channel statistics are usually unknown and the MMSE estimator has the too much computational complexity to be realized in practical systems. In this work, we propose two simple channel estimation techniques: one that is based on modifying the channel correlation matrix from the MMSE estimator and the other one with averaging window based on the LS estimates. We also study the characteristics of several realistic indoor channel models that are of potential use for wireless local area networks (LANs). The first method, namely MMSE-exponential-Rhh, does not depend heavily on the channel statistics and yet offer performance improvement compared to that of the LS estimator. The simulation results also show that the second method, namely averaging window (AW) estimator, provides the best performance at moderate SNR range.


Coatings are pivotal in combating problems of premature component degradation in aggressive industrial environments and constitute a strategic area for continued development. Thermal spray (TS) coatings offer distinct advantages by combining versatility, cost-effectiveness, and the ability to coat complex geometries without constraints of other in-chamber processes. Consequently, TS techniques like high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) and atmospheric plasma spray (APS) are industrially well-accepted. However, they have reached limits of their capabilities while expectations from coatings progressively increase in pursuit of enhanced efficiency and productivity. Two emerging TS variants, namely high-velocity air-fuel (HVAF) and liquid feedstock thermal spraying, offer attractive pathways to realize high-performance surfaces superior to those hitherto achievable. Supersonic HVAF spraying provides highly adherent coatings with negligible porosity and its low processing temperature also ensures insignificant thermal 'damage' (oxidation, decarburization, etc.) to the starting material. On the other hand, liquid feedstock derived TS coatings, deposited using suspensions of fine particles (100 nm–5 µm) or solution precursors, permits the production of coatings with novel microstructures and diverse application-specific architectures. The possibility of hybrid processing, combining liquid and powder feedstock, provides further opportunities to fine tune the properties of functional surfaces. These new approaches are discussed along with some illustrative examples.


The stability of the Internet is at risk if the amount of voice and video traffic continues to increase at the current pace. While current transport layer protocols do work well for most applications, they still present some problems. TCP is reliable, tracks the state of some network conditions and reacts drastically to an indication of congestion. TCP serves data-oriented applications very well but it can lead to unacceptably low quality for streaming applications by multiplicatively reducing the congestion window upon a sign of congestion. The other main transport layer protocol, UDP, provides good service for streaming applications but is not friendly to TCP and can cause the well-known existing congestion collapse problem in the Internet.This thesis proposes a new protocol to provide a good service for voice and video applications while being friendly to TCP and solving the congestion collapse problem.
The protocol utilizes a fuzzy logic controller that considers network related information to govern the applications sending rate while satisfying the users needs. Using network information such as the available bandwidth, Packet Loss Rates (PLR), and Round Trip Times (RTT) a fuzzy inference system optimizes the applications send rate to meet the requested rate in a smooth manner without wasting network resources unnecessarily. The fuzzy logic controller is designed and its performance evaluated using MATLAB model simulations. The results indicate that the fuzzy controller solves the congestion collapse problem by reducing the number of undelivered packets into the network by nearly 100%. It provides smooth transition changes as demonstrated by the controlled UDP flow utilizing an estimated 44% more of the available bandwidth to smooth the send rate than the TCP flow in a highly varying bandwidth environment.


Designing inclusively is no longer an option for companies. It is a business essential. Global populations are getting older, legislation is increasingly prohibitive of unnecessary exclusion and consumer attitudes are beginning to change. Exclusivity is out, inclusivity is in. Research communities the world over are responding to this change in design emphasis. Conferences such as the Cambridge Workshops on Universal Access and Assistive Technology (CWUAAT) offer a forum for researchers from diverse and varied disciplines to bring their perspectives on inclusive design together. This book has been inspired by the second CWUAAT, held in Cambridge, England in March 2004. It contains chapters from an international group of leading researchers in this field. Contributions focus on the following topics:design issues for universal access and assistive technology;enabling computer access and new technologies; and,assistive technology and rehabilitation robotics. This series of conferences is aimed at a broad range of interests, with a general focus on the development of products and solutions. Numerous case studies are used to raise awareness of the challenges faced in developing truly inclusive products, along with examples of good practice for design for a more inclusive world.


Yeasts not belonging to species of the Saccharomyces genus, called nonconventional yeasts, have gained prominence recently in the biotechnological scenario. For many years, they have been generally characterized as undesirable contaminants in fermentative processes. However, several studies pointed them as useful for many biotechnological applications. This chapter will cover some of these applications, highlighting the most widely employed nonconventional yeasts. The use of non-Saccharomyces strains in (I) xylose fermentation for the production of ethanol and xylitol, (II) brewing industry, (III) improvement of coffee and cocoa fermentation, and (IV) plant growth promotion will be presented.


Nowadays, the Russian economy is facing the crisis. Thus it becomes important to create a favorable environment for the formation of local sustainable economic growth and positive expectations in the business sector. The existing literature in this field focuses on macroeconomic determinants of the entrepreneurial activity and does not investigate the effect of the business cycle on firms' decision making. On the contrary, this paper concentrates on Russian regions and identifies the key business cycle factors shaping the entrepreneurial activity both at the regional and the firm-specific levels. The analysis combines aggregate series on 83 regions in 2005–2014 with microeconomic data provided by "SPARK–Interfax†. In particular, we considered 200 companies in 4 regions of Russia during 2005–2014. Special attention is paid to testing of research hypotheses concerning dynamics of enterprise activity on various phases of business cycle. The identification strategy is built on panel data analysis, as well as survival analysis. We find that the aggregate entrepreneurial activity responds to changes in the regional economic environment with a lag. Moreover, it shows some acyclicity. On average, firms that were organized during the downward phase of the business cycle are more stable (i.e. have a high survival rate). This can be explained with a stronger financial resistance and their experience of operating under uncertainty. Based on these findings, we formulate policy recommendations. In particular, we propose to develop a regional "business map†that would reflect the key features of Russian territories.


Background So far, only few biomechanical studies have specifically addressed the acute effect of the heel-to-toe drop in running shoes, but longitudinal studies are lacking. Objective Our aim was to investigate if the drop of conventional cushioned shoes induces specific long-term adaptations in running technique. Design Randomised controlled trial. Setting Leisure-time distance runners were tested on a treadmill at their preferred running speed before and after a 6-month period. Participants Study participants (n=59), unexperienced with minimalist shoes, were recruited via advertisements in local newspapers. Intervention The participants received a pair of running shoes with a drop of 10 mm (D10, n=20), 6 mm (D6, n=17) or 0 mm (D0, n=22). Apart from the shoe drop, the 3 versions were strictly identical. Main Outcome Measurements Kinematic and spatio-temporal variables of running trials were obtained using synchronized systems for three-dimensional motion analysis (200 Hz) and step cycle event detection. Joint angles were investigated at initial contact and mid-stance phase of 151±22 analysed steps per record. Two-way analysis of variance for repeated measures with the post hoc Bonferroni correction was used and accepted significance was set at p<0.05. Results The participants performed on average a total of 332±178 km over 163±16 days between pre- and post-tests. No interaction between shoe drop and time was found for any of the spatio-temporal variables, or for any angles at initial contact. At mid-stance phase, a significant shoe drop by time interaction was found for knee abduction angle (p=0.032). For D0 group, knee abduction decreased (−0.3±3.1 vs. -1.3±2.6°) in contrast to D6 (0.3±2.7 vs. 1.3±3.1°) and D10 (−0.2±3.2 vs. 0.5±3.1°) groups. However, none of the pairwise comparisons was significant in the post-hoc analysis. Conclusions Shoe drop of standard cushioned shoes does not seem to influence long term adaptation in running biomechanics.


Summary The number of icebergs produced from ice‐shelf disintegration has increased over the past decade in Antarctica. These drifting icebergs mix the water column, influence stratification and nutrient condition, and can affect local productivity and food web composition. Data on whether icebergs affect bacterioplankton function and composition are scarce, however. We assessed the influence of iceberg drift on bacterial community composition and on their ability to exploit carbon substrates during summer in the coastal Southern Ocean. An elevated bacterial production and a different community composition were observed in iceberg‐influenced waters relative to the undisturbed water column nearby. These major differences were confirmed in short‐term incubations with bromodeoxyuridine followed by CARD‐FISH. Furthermore, one‐week bottle incubations amended with inorganic nutrients and carbon substrates (a mix of substrates, glutamine, N‐acetylglucosamine, or pyruvate) revealed contrasting capacity of bacterioplankton to utilize specific carbon substrates in the iceberg‐influenced waters compared with the undisturbed site. Our study demonstrates that the hydrographical perturbations introduced by a drifting iceberg can affect activity, composition, and substrate utilization capability of marine bacterioplankton. Consequently, in a context of global warming, increased frequency of drifting icebergs in polar regions holds the potential to affect carbon and nutrient biogeochemistry at local and possibly regional scales.


Insertion of a thin nonmagnetic copper Cu(001) layer between the tunnel barrier and the ferromagnetic electrode of a magnetic tunnel junction is shown to result in the oscillation of the tunnel magnetoresistance as a function of the Cu layer thickness. The effect is interpreted in terms of the formation of spin-polarized resonant tunneling. The amplitude of the oscillation is so large that even the sign of the tunnel magnetoresistance alternates. The oscillation period depends on the applied bias voltage, reflecting the energy band structure of Cu. The results are encouraging for the development of spin-dependent resonant tunneling devices.


Animals figure prominently in medieval texts, whether as tropes in didactic literature, magical beings in romances, symbols in hagiography, or comic and moral foils in visual iconography. This brief essay turns instead to animals in the historical records, specifically the registers of sixteenth-century town council meetings in Beaune, center of the wine country of Burgundy, France. In general, animals are mentioned in these town records when they pose problems for public health, safety, or commerce. But in the domain of history—as in literary and artistic domains—animals occupy an important semiotic position in relation to human behaviors. At times the animals are regarded as extensions of, or participants in, a particular profession that is being regulated; but they can also stand for that which is "other" to humans.The specific example of butchers adopting wolf cubs described in the Beaune town records raises the issue of the perceived boundary between "wild" and domesticated in late medieval urban life. It was the job of the town council to determine and enforce such categories through their regulations, and by studying the records we see modern urban society coming into being. Significantly, within the context of this volume on dogs, the way council members distinguished between domesticated dogs and their wild cousins raises the further question of why the familiar butchers' dogs are never mentioned and reveals a profoundly puzzling difference between English and French town records of the period.


Abstract Purpose - The study tries to analyze the trends in alumni relations and the role of corporate communication in developing organizational identification and a positive boomerang behavior intention among former employees. The approach of the study has been from the point of view of making this process formal and emphasize on the impact of corporate communication in maintaining alumni relationships, and attracting the former talent for the organization. Methodology- An exploratory methodology was designed to capture the perceptions of current and former employees of nine multinational companies (MNCs) in India, on alumni communication practices prevailing in their organizations. Transcripts of semi-structured interviews were analyzed, coded thematically and the essence of experiences was jointly combined into one description. Findings - Study showed that corporate alumni website, personalized messages on discounts on products and services, emails, social networking platforms, alumni engagement events, leadership and value training workshops and corporate communication standards, particularly consistency, have a positive impact on organizational identification and finally inspire the former employees to rejoin the organization. Practical implications - A number of significant managerial implications are drawn from this study, for example using both corporate communication and training to influence former employees' attitudes and decision to participate in volunteering activities or rejoin the previous employer. Still, it should be noted that the effect of corporate communication on the behaviors of former employees depend on communication standards and HR interventions in maintaining relationships with alumni. Originality/value - The results provide valuable insights from the key former and current employees perspectives into the effectiveness of alumni communication process to facilitate the recruitment of high performing employees or their involvement in other mutually beneficially activities . Further rehiring alumni is one such innovative method which when done in the right manner can provide a quick solution to the talent crunch. Paper type: Research paper.


Complex processes in the settling of the Americas The expansion into the Americas by the ancestors of present day Native Americans has been difficult to tease apart from analyses of present day populations. To understand how humans diverged and spread across North and South America, Moreno-Mayar et al. sequenced 15 ancient human genomes from Alaska to Patagonia. Analysis of the oldest genomes suggests that there was an early split within Beringian populations, giving rise to the Northern and Southern lineages. Because population history cannot be explained by simple models or patterns of dispersal, it seems that people moved out of Beringia and across the continents in a complex manner. Science, this issue p. eaav2621 Ancient genomes from the Americas show a complex genetic history giving rise to present-day diversity. INTRODUCTION Genetic studies of the Pleistocene peopling of the Americas have focused on the timing and number of migrations from Siberia into North America. They show that ancestral Native Americans (NAs) diverged from Siberians and East Asians ~23,000 years (~23 ka) ago and that a split within that ancestral lineage between later NAs and Ancient Beringians (ABs) occurred ~21 ka ago. Subsequently, NAs diverged into northern NA (NNA) and southern NA (SNA) branches ~15.5 ka ago, a split inferred to have taken place south of eastern Beringia (present-day Alaska and western Yukon Territory). RATIONALE Claims of migrations into the Americas by people related to Australasians or by bearers of a distinctive cranial morphology ("Paleoamericans") before the divergence of NAs from Siberians and East Asians have created controversy. Likewise, the speed by which the Americas were populated; the number of basal divergences; and the degrees of isolation, admixture, and continuity in different regions are poorly understood. To address these matters, we sequenced 15 ancient human genomes recovered from sites spanning from Alaska to Patagonia; six are ≥10 ka old (up to ~18× coverage). RESULTS All genomes are most closely related to NAs, including those of two morphologically distinct Paleoamericans and an AB individual. However, we also found that the previous model is just a rough outline of the peopling process: NA dispersal gave rise to more complex serial splitting and early population structure—including that of a population that diverged before the NNA-SNA split—as well as admixture with an earlier unsampled population, which is neither AB nor NNA or SNA. Once in the Americas, SNAs spread widely and rapidly, as evidenced by genetic similarity, despite differences in material cultural, between >10-ka-old genomes from North and South America. Soon after arrival in South America, groups diverged along multiple geographic paths, and before 10.4 ka ago, these groups admixed with a population that harbored Australasian ancestry, which may have been widespread among early South Americans. Later, Mesoamerican-related population(s) expanded north and south, possibly marking the movement of relatively small groups that did not necessarily swamp local populations genetically or culturally. CONCLUSION NAs radiated rapidly and gave rise to multiple groups, some visible in the genetic record only as unsampled populations. At different times these groups expanded to different portions of the continent, though not as extensively as in the initial peopling. That the early population spread widely and rapidly suggests that their access to large portions of the hemisphere was essentially unrestricted, yet there are genomic and archaeological hints of an earlier human presence. How these early groups are related or structured, particularly those with Australasian ancestry, remains unknown. Rapid expansion, compounded by the attenuating effect of distance and, in places, by geographic and social barriers, gave rise to complex population histories. These include strong population structure in the Pacific Northwest; isolation in the North American Great Basin, followed by long-term genetic continuity and ultimately an episode of admixture predating ~0.7 ka ago; and multiple independent, geographically uneven migrations into South America. One such migration provides clues of Late Pleistocene Australasian ancestry in South America, whereas another represents a Mesoamerican-related expansion; both contributed to present-day South American ancestry. NA dispersal and divergence over time. Schematic representation of the sampling points included in this study (circles) and our main conclusions (presented geographically and temporally). (A) Population history of the basal AB, NNA, and SNA branches in North America. kya, thousand years ago. (B) Early, rapid dispersal of SNAs across the continent (~14 ka ago). (C) Recent Mesoamerican-related expansion north and south. Arrows do not correspond to specific migration routes. Studies of the peopling of the Americas have focused on the timing and number of initial migrations. Less attention has been paid to the subsequent spread of people within the Americas. We sequenced 15 ancient human genomes spanning from Alaska to Patagonia; six are ≥10,000 years old (up to ~18× coverage). All are most closely related to Native Americans, including those from an Ancient Beringian individual and two morphologically distinct "Paleoamericans." We found evidence of rapid dispersal and early diversification that included previously unknown groups as people moved south. This resulted in multiple independent, geographically uneven migrations, including one that provides clues of a Late Pleistocene Australasian genetic signal, as well as a later Mesoamerican-related expansion. These led to complex and dynamic population histories from North to South America.


iii A decrease in astrocyte function and viability has been linked to many neurodegenerative diseases, including schizophrenia, major depressive disorders, Alzheimer's disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Previous research indicates that some estrogens may have a positive effect on neuron and astrocyte viability. Estrogens' effects on the brain are of interest as estrogens are commonly prescribed as hormone replacement therapy to reduce the symptoms of menopause in women. Unfortunately, these effects on are not completely understood. The goal of the project was to discover if estrogen has any protective effect on astrocytes exposed to oxidative stress. We measured the oxidative stress level of N1 1321 glial cells that were exposed to 600pM hydrogen peroxide. The astrocytes were pretreated for one hour with one of four types of estrogen at four concentrations ranging ffomlOnM IOJIM. Two endogenous human estrogens, 17 alpha-estradiol and 17 beta-estradiol, and two equine estrogens, equilin and equilenin, were utilized. Only 17 alpha-estradiol showed a statistical difference in the oxidative stress levels of astrocytes. However, the results indicate that differing estrogen concentration still had no effect on the oxidative stress levels in unstressed astrocyte populations.


Plasma treatment of PET films was carried out under argon, followed by exposure to an oxygen atmosphere. The films underwent considerable changes in surface composition and morphology, as demonstrated by contact angle measurements, FTIR-ATR, AFM, and XPS. It was found that the surface acquired oxygen containing polar functional groups such as -C=O, -OH, and -OOH, which increased in number as the plasma treatment time increased. During storage, the treated films underwent significant surface reorganization, and both the time and temperature contributed to the increase in the contact angle. As revealed by AFM measurements, these changes were accompanied by an increase in roughness in the form of ridges. The ridges were observed to grow in height with increasing treatment time, although their spacing showed little evolution. A correlation among the observations obtained from various techniques was established, giving a comprehensive picture of the structure and dynamics of plasma-treated PET surfaces. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


We used molecular techniques to examine the ectomycorrhizal fungal com- munity associated with pinyon pine (Pinus edulis) growing in two soil types in a semiarid region of northern Arizona: cinder soils low in nutrients and moisture, and sandy-loam soils with higher moisture and nutrient levels. Pinyon performance (e.g., growth, repro- duction, water stress) has been shown to be markedly lower in cinder than in sandy-loam environments. Fungal community composition and richness were determined using RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis of ectomycorrhizal root tips collected from three sites within each soil type. Several patterns emerged from these analyses. First, communities in both cinder and sandy-loam soils were dominated by one or a few abundant ectomycorrhizal types, a species abundance pattern common to many plant and animal communities. Second, unlike the pattern for many other organisms, ectomycorrhizal fungal type (species) richness was not correlated with measures of ecosystem productivity such as soil nutrient and moisture levels; cinder and sandy-loam soils had similar numbers of ectomycorrhizal fungal types (range of 15-19 fungal types for both soil types). Third, soil type and fungal community com- position were linked, as cluster analysis demonstrated greater similarity of fungal com- munities from sites within soil types than between them. Differential amplification using primers with enhanced specificity for basidiomycetes indicated that an average of 85% of the ectomycorrhiza found at the sandy-loam sites were members of the subphylum Basid- iomycotina, whereas over half (mean 5 52%) of the ectomycorrhiza at the cinder sites were formed by members of other fungal groups, probably the subphylum Ascomycotina. Fourth, a preliminary survey of 14-45 ectomycorrhizal root tips from each of 20 trees at one cinder site indicated that trees were dominated by one or a few ectomycorrhizal RFLP types. However, the same RFLP types did not dominate on all trees, and dominant types showed considerable spatial variation. Fifth, the RFLP patterns of some fungal sporocarps matched those of ectomycorrhizal root tips, but many did not, indicating that many of the ectomycorrhizal fungi at these sites fruit infrequently, whereas other fungi with more abun- dant sporocarps may not form ectomycorrhiza. This emphasizes the need to characterize the ectomycorrhizal communities formed on the plant roots themselves, rather than char- acterization based on sporocarps alone, particularly in arid environments. Finally, the dif- ferences in ectomycorrhizal fungal communities we observed between soil types supported the concept that conserving fungal diversity requires conservation of host plant species over their entire range, not just typical sites. If future studies corroborate these patterns, our results suggest that abiotically stressful environments are important to include in these conservation efforts.


The germ tubes of Botrytis cinerea showed negative phototropism to near ultraviolet (NUV) and blue (300 to 520 nm) light followed by far-red (700 to 810 nm), whereas red light (600 to 700 nm) induced positive phototropism significantly. Minimum germ tube growth occurred during exposure to negative phototropism-inducing wavelengths, whereas it was maximum under positive phototropism-inducing wavelengths. NUV radiation and blue light that induced negative phototropism of B. cinerea promoted infection-hypha formation on both onion scale and broad bean (Vicia faba) leaf epidermal strips, whereas positive phototropism-inducing red light suppressed it, resulting in a high proportion of germ tubes without infection hyphae. In broad bean leaf infection, the number of infection points and area of necrosis per drop of conidial suspension were higher under NUV radiation and blue light than that of a dark control or leaflets pretreated with NUV radiation and blue light. In contrast, lower numbers of infection points and very small necrotic lesions developed under red light. In the case of red-light-pretreated leaflets, the number of infection points developed were higher, but areas of necrosis did not increase significantly compared with leaflets kept under red light without pretreatment. These results show the importance of phototropism of conidium germ tubes in plant infection.


Many production optimization problems approached by simulation are subject to noise.When evolutionary algorithms are applied to such problems, noise during evaluation of solutions adversely affects the evolutionary selection process and the performance of the algorithm. In this paper we present a noise compensation technique that efficiently deals with the negative effects of noisy simulations in multi-objective optimization problems. Basically, this technique uses an iterative re-sampling procedure that reduces the noise until the likelihood of selecting the correct solution reaches a given confidence level. The technique is implemented in MOPSA-EA, an existing evolutionary algorithm designed specifically for real-world simulation-optimization problems. In evaluating the new technique, it is applied on a benchmark problem and on two real-world problems of manufacturing optimization. A comparison of the performance of existing algorithms indicates the potential of the proposed technique.


This volume makes a distinctive contribution to the upcoming 500th anniversary of Luther's reformation by looking back to the previous centennial in 1917 and tracing forward the enduring impact of the questions raised by Lutheran scholars then to contemporary research in religious studies, history, and theology. The great flourishing of interest in Luther's religious experience and thought in Berlin at the turn of the twentieth century was known as the Lutherrenaissance, an extraordinarily generative moment of scholarly creativity within the Lutheran tradition. Thinkers such as Holl, Harnack and Otto took up questions that would reverberate throughout twentieth century religious and theological inquiry, on the nature of history, for instance, dialectical theology, and the question of mysticism in religious experience. The Lutherrenaissance also planted the seeds of a political theology that contributed to the alliance of Lutheran theologians with National Socialism. Contributors to this volume, attentive to both to the rich contributions of the Lutherrenaissance and its darker consequences, open an unprecedented conversation across the century. Then and now, the study of religion and theology were in periods of transition; then and now, scholars were working at the very foundations of the various disciplines of religious inquiry across the social sciences and humanities. Contributors aim to bring the critical insights of that period to bear on key questions in the study of religion and theology today, with particular attention to the global context within which present day scholars work. It exemplifies new perspectives in Luther scholarship today, the rich and fertile grounds of the Lutheran tradition, in its engagement with unprecedented global circumstances.


Recent research in vehicle platform stabilization has developed solutions that do not meet the stringent "low-energy" demands required for widespread general application of stabilizing active suspension. The energy requirement for active platform stabilization can reach up to 40% of the total output of the engine. This power consumption may lead directly to reductions in vehicle performance and fuel economy. The need for low energy consumption is thereby a fundamental requirement for successful active suspension system. Cameron's investigation [1] involves a mechanical system with a positive stiffness spring in series with a "negative stiffness spring" to provide for reducing the power consumption. We aim to control the motion of a horizontally moving vehicle mass on a rail, when it is subject to friction, under the influence of a controlled compressed spring. The compressed spring behaves as if it has a negative spring constant over a range of its displacements. The system has three separate stick regions for some values of the parameters, centred on its critical points. Our objective is to control the motion by keeping its displacements in a robust nonstick region that lies between two predetermined neighboring stick zones. We use reinforcement learning control that applies proper control forces to this nonlinear spring system in an attempt to keep the motion of the body within the targeted nonstick region. We describe a numerical scheme for the model and its learning control algorithm and present a number of computer simulations, with different initial conditions and driving force amplitudes, and frequencies.


Plants used by ethnic groups are proved to be a rich source of novel drugs that form the ingredients in traditional and modern systems of medicines. Pharmacological studies have acknowledged the value of ethnomedicinal plants as prospective source of bioactive principles. Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr. Serr. of family Rutaceae, commonly known as wood apple plant, is one of the important plants with medicinal and nutraceutical properties. It can tolerate a wide range of climatic conditions and used as a panacea for various ailments by tribal people throughout the world. This review has been done to find out the role of various bioactive compounds present in the plant parts of A. marmelos in medicinal properties.


The policies contained in the FEP Medical Policy Manual are developed to assist in administering contractual benefits and do not constitute medical advice. They are not intended to replace or substitute for the independent medical judgment of a practitioner or other health care professional in the treatment of an individual member. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association does not intend by the FEP Medical Policy Manual, or by any particular medical policy, to recommend, advocate, encourage or discourage any particular medical technologies. Medical decisions relative to medical technologies are to be made strictly by members/patients in consultation with their health care providers. The conclusion that a particular service or supply is medically necessary does not constitute a representation or warranty that the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan covers (or pays for) this service or supply for a particular member. FEP 2.04.41 Noninvasive Techniques for the Evaluation and Monitoring of Patients With Chronic Liver Disease


Objectives The present study describes latex sensitisation and allergy prevalence and associated factors among healthcare workers using hypoallergenic latex gloves at King Edward VIII Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting A tertiary hospital in eThekwini municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Participants 600 healthcare workers were randomly selected and 501 (337 exposed and 164 unexposed) participated. Participants who were pregnant, with less than 1 year of work as a healthcare worker and a history of anaphylactic reaction were excluded from the study. Primary and secondary outcome measures Latex sensitisation and latex allergy were the outcome of interest and they were successfully measured. Results The prevalence of latex sensitisation and allergy was observed among exposed workers (7.1% and 5.9%) and unexposed workers (3.1% and 1.8%). Work-related allergy symptoms were significantly higher in exposed workers (40.9%, p<0.05). Duration of employment was inversely associated with latex allergy (OR 0.9; 95% CI 0.8 to 0.9). The risk of latex sensitisation (OR 4.2; 95% CI 1.2 to 14.1) and allergy (OR 5.1; 95% CI 1.2 to 21.2) increased with the exclusive use of powder-free latex gloves. A dose–response relationship was observed for powdered latex gloves (OR 1.1; 95% CI 1.0 to 1.2). Atopy (OR 1.5; 95% CI 0.7 to 3.3 and OR 1.4; 95% CI 0.6 to 3.2) and fruit allergy (OR 2.3; 95% CI 0.8 to 6.7 and OR 3.1; 95% CI 1.1 to 9.2) also increased the risk of latex sensitisation and allergy. Conclusions This study adds to previous findings that healthcare workers exposed to hypoallergenic latex gloves are at risk for developing latex sensitisation highlighting its importance as an occupational hazard in healthcare. More research is needed to identify the most cost effective way of implementing a latex-free environment in resource-limited countries, such as South Africa. In addition more cohort analysis is required to better understand the chronicity of illness and disability associated with latex allergy.


The presence and approximate rates of deep percolation beneath areas of native vegetation, irrigated fields, and the Amargosa-River channel in the Amargosa Desert of southern Nevada were evaluated using the chloride mass-balance method and inferred downward velocities of chloride and nitrate peaks. Estimates of deep-percolation rates in the Amargosa Desert are needed for the analysis of regional ground-water flow and transport. An understanding of regional flow patterns is important because ground water originating on the Nevada Test Site may pass through the area before discharging from springs at lower elevations in the Amargosa Desert and in Death Valley. Nine boreholes 10-16 meters deep were cored nearly continuously using a hollow-stem auger designed for gravelly sediments. Two boreholes were drilled in each of three irrigated fields in the Amargosa-Farms area, two in the Amargosa-River channel, and one in an undisturbed area of native vegetation. Data from previously cored boreholes beneath undisturbed, native vegetation were compared with the new data to further assess deep percolation under current climatic conditions and provide information on spatial variability. The profiles beneath native vegetation were characterized by large amounts of accumulated chloride just below the root zone with almost no further accumulation at greater depths. Thismore » pattern is typical of profiles beneath interfluvial areas in arid alluvial basins of the southwestern United States, where salts have been accumulating since the end of the Pleistocene. The profiles beneath irrigated fields and the Amargosa-River channel contained more than twice the volume of water compared to profiles beneath native vegetation, consistent with active deep percolation beneath these sites. Chloride profiles beneath two older fields (cultivated since the 1960's) as well as the upstream Amargosa-River site were indicative of long-term, quasi-steady deep percolation. Chloride profiles beneath the newest field (cultivated since 1993), the downstream Amargosa-River site, and the edge of an older field were indicative of recently active deep percolation moving previously accumulated salts from the upper profile to greater depths. Results clearly indicate that deep percolation and ground-water recharge occur not only beneath areas of irrigation but also beneath ephemeral stream channels, despite the arid climate and infrequency of runoff. Rates of deep percolation beneath irrigated fields ranged from 0.1 to 0.5 m/yr. Estimated rates of deep percolation beneath the Amargosa-River channel ranged from 0.02 to 0.15 m/yr. Only a few decades are needed for excess irrigation water to move through the unsaturated zone and recharge ground water. Assuming vertical, one-dimensional flow, the estimated time for irrigation-return flow to reach the water table beneath the irrigated fields ranged from about 10-70 years. In contrast, infiltration from present-day runoff takes centuries to move through the unsaturated zone and reach the water table. The estimated time for water to reach the water table beneath the channel ranged from 140 to 1000 years. These values represent minimum times, as they do not take lateral flow into account. The estimated fraction of irrigation water becoming deep percolation averaged 8 to 16 percent. Similar fractions of infiltration from ephemeral flow events were estimated to become deep percolation beneath the normally dry Amargosa-River channel. In areas where flood-induced channel migration occurs at sub-centennial frequencies, residence times in the unsaturated zone beneath the Amargosa channel could be longer. Estimates of deep percolation presented herein provide a basis for evaluating the importance of recharge from irrigation and channel infiltration in models of ground-water flow from the Nevada Test Site.« less


Modelling business processes using BPMN has been emerging as the preferred choice for organisations seeking to enact their business processes in service-oriented environments. However, a number of organisations have their business processes modelled using Role Activity Diagramming, RAD. In this research, we introduce a new approach to translating RAD business process models to their respective BPMN ones carried out in two stages starting from identifying the corresponding BPMN notation to RAD modelling constructs, and then introducing a new algorithm to translate a given RAD business process model to its suggested corresponding BPMN model demonstrated by an example from the healthcare domain. This translation revealed that all RAD process elements can be mapped to BMPN. However, there still remains space for the business process modeller to enhance the newly generated BPMN model with the extra rich features of BPMN. Finally, this work makes a further contribution to the emerging trend of bridging the gap between business process models and systems in addition to paving the way for the migration of legacy RAD models to BPMN for their enactment in SOA environments.


What is the relationship between our conception of humans as producers or creators; as consumers of taste and pleasure; and as creators of value? Combining cultural history, economics, and literary criticism, Regenia Gagnier's new work traces the parallel development of economic and aesthetic theory, offering a shrewd reading of humans as workers and wanters, born of labor and desire. The Insatiability of Human Wants begins during a key transitional moment in aesthetic and economic theory, 1871, when both disciplines underwent a turn from production to consumption models. In economics, an emphasis on the theory of value and the social relations between land, labor, and capital gave way to more individualistic models of consumerism. Similarly, in aesthetics, theories of artistic production or creativity soon bowed to models of taste, pleasure, and reception. Using these developments as a point of departure, Gagnier deftly traces the shift in Western thought from models of production to consumption. From its exploration of early market logic and Kantian thought to its look at the aestheticization of homelessness and our own market boom, The Insatiability of Human Wants invites us to contemplate alternative interpretations of economics, aesthetics, and history itself.


"Landlord and Tenant Law" is an easily accessible introductory text. The clear, concise style allows the authors to cover the subject in admirable breadth and depth. Summaries, exercises and workshops concluding each chapter help the reader to make sense of a complex area of Law. This is an extensively revised fifth edition of this popular text, particularly in terms of its coverage of the effects of covenants in leases and also in an expanded section on business tenancies which deals fully with the important changes to the security of tenure of business tenants that took effect in 2004.


This field study investigated the buildup of soil salinity and distribution of salts as influenced by gypsum-saturated water (34.5 mol SO4(-) m−3) applied through a drip-irrigation system and leaching that occurs by winter rains. Amounts of water applied were 50 and 60 L/plant per week in the first and second irrigation seasons, respectively. The soil was a Pellic Vertisol that contained no gypsum. Soil salinity by time, vertical depth, and lateral distance from the emitter was affected by moisture distribution during the irrigation season and leaching by winter rains. The results obtained indicated that, with frequent drip irrigation and sufficient leaching during the irrigation season, the highly soluble salts beneath the emitter are maintained at levels comparable to those of the irrigation water. Although highly soluble salts accumulated during the irrigation season, particularly in the soil surface at a lateral distance of 20 to 40 cm from the emitter, they decreased to their initial values after leaching by winter rains. Precipitation of Ca with SO4 as gypsum during the irrigation season was greater than dissolution of gypsum and leaching of these ions deeper in the soil by the 390 mm of winter rains. This resulted in a soil profile saturated with gypsum with a uniform EC. of 3 dS m−1 and Ca and SO4 concentration levels of about 30 mol (±) m−3 throughout the soil profile in the 0− to 120-cm depth. An increase in soil EC. occurred throughout the wetting front, which must be considered the lowest starting salinity for the beginning of each irrigation season. The increase in sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) was not at a level to adversely affect the infiltration capacity of the soil.


The late seventeenth century was a period of extraordinary turbulence and political violence in Britain, the like of a which has never been seen since. Beginning with the Restoration of the monarchy after the Civil War, this book traces the fate of the monarchy from Charles II's triumphant accession in 1660 to the growing discontent of the 1680s. Harris looks beyond the popular image of Restoration England revelling in its freedom from the austerity of Puritan rule under a merry monaach and reconstructs the human tragedy of Restoration politics where people were brutalised, hounded and exploited by a regime that was desperately insecure after two decade of civil war and republican rule.


Within the framework of a feasibility study of remote cross-wind velocity measurements by means of laser Doppler anemometry (LDA), a study was made of the atmospheric fluctuation effects on an optical interference fringe system generated over a distance of 500 m. Variations of the fringe visibility and spacing have been recorded simultaneously. In order to characterize the optical turbulence of the atmosphere during the measurements, an optical scintillometer was used. Provided the atmospheric extinction is low enough, the measured results show that, even under weather conditions which are very unfavorable to the propagation of laser beams, the interference fringe pattern generated is of sufficient quality for LDA measurements.


Abstract Skipjack is a block cipher designed by the NSA for use in US government phones, and commercial mobile and wireless products by AT&T. Among its initial implementations in hardware were the Clipper chip and Fortezza PC cards, which have since influenced the private communications market to be compatible with this technology. For instance, the Fortezza card comes in PCMCIA interface and is a very easy plug-n-play device to add on to mobile and wireless systems to provide encryption for wireless transmissions. Initially classified when it was first proposed, Skipjack was declassified in 1998, and it sparked numerous security analyses from security researchers worldwide because it provides insight into the state-of-the-art security design techniques used by a highly secretive government intelligence agency such as the NSA. In this paper, commemorating a decade since Skipjack's public revelation, we revisit the security of Skipjack, in particular its resistance to advanced differential-style distinguishers. In contrast to previous work that considered conventional and impossible differential distinguishers, we concentrate our attention on the more recent advanced differential-style and related-key distinguishers that were most likely not considered in the original design objectives of the NSA. In particular, we construct first-known related-key impossible differential, rectangle and related-key rectangle distinguishers of Skipjack. Our related-key attacks (i.e., related-key miss-in-the-middle and related-key rectangle attacks) are better than all the previous related-key attacks on Skipjack. Finally, we characterize the strength of Skipjack against all these attacks and motivate reasons why, influenced by the Skipjack structure, some attacks fare better. What is intriguing about Skipjack is its simple key schedule and a structure that is a cross between conventional Feistel design principles and the unconventional use of different round types. This work complements past results on the security analysis of Skipjack and is hoped to provide further insight into the security of an NSA-designed block cipher; the only one publicly known to date.


It is an established economic development paradigm that entrepreneurship promotes innovation and encourages the creation of high quality jobs. In order to enhance entrepreneurial activity, the focus in Ireland to date has been on public-sector venture creation programmes. Of such programmes, business incubators, over the years, politically and in terms of public funding, have
received perhaps the highest level of attention. Thus, incubators in Ireland have become important policy instruments for promoting early stage entrepreneurship.

The research project outlined in this thesis to investigate this important phenomenon began with an extensive review of the incubator-incubation literature. This review showed that given the importance attributed to incubators, surprisingly little is known about how they function, or, the internal process of incubation. In other words, what is not understood completely are the dynamics of an incubator's internal processes, normative environment and
structural properties which enable human activity. Researching these aspects is important due to their important link with incubation "success". A more
sophisticated understanding of how incubators incubate will allow us to exercise more control over the quality of incubation programs, thereby, influencing the likelihood of incubated firms surviving after the incubation period.

In order to investigate the incubation process and incubators' normative environment and structural properties, a qualitative, multi-site case study
approach was utilised. A pragmatist-interpretivist philosophy and the social mechanisms literature informed the research's meta-theoretical lens. Data was collected during 2009-2010 at two different types of incubation facilities in Dublin; a 'community enterprise centre' and a 'university campus-based hightech incubator'.

The research's most significant finding is that incubation is primarily relational in nature, and the process is co-produced by both the incubator manager (IM)
and a specific client in independent dyads. A number of factors influence the development of IM-Client, Client-Client, Client-IM-Client and Client-Third Party
relationships, chief of which are the leadership style of the IM, the physical design of the incubator facility, the incubator's client mix and the incubation ethos.

It was also determined that the scale, scope, intensity, frequency and thus the quality of incubation is dependent on, what has been termed, an incubation click. This is a bond based on the understanding that incubation assistance
can be competently provided, and that such mentoring, coaching or developmental assistance is also proactively sought. Incubation is triggered in a sophisticated normative environment under the prevalence of ground rules,
subtle signals, the interplay of personal histories, hidden agendas, perceptions of value and human biases.

As a result of this research our knowledge of various aspects of incubators' structure and their status as complex hybrid organisations has also increased.
Incubators' structural attributes such as de-coupling, mis-alignment of managerial incentives and sources of internal coordination and control uncertainty suggest why it continues to be difficult to evaluate their
performance and socio-economic impact.

Overall, the research has raised the profile of incubation research in the incubator-incubation discourse. Although modelling the incubation process is difficult due to high levels of randomness inherent in the internal incubator
environment, the increased understanding of process variables, normative patterns and structural properties developed as a result of this research will
allow the introduction of efficiencies to improve the chances of incubation "success".


How can one distinguish the adjacent vertices of a graph through an edge-weighting? In the last decades, this question has been attracting increasing attention, which resulted in the active field of distinguishing labellings.
One of its most popular problems is the one where neighbours must be distinguishable via their incident sums of weights. An edge-weighting verifying this is said neighbour-sum-distinguishing. The popularity of this notion arises from two reasons. A first one is that designing a neighbour-sum-distinguishing edge-weighting showed up to be equivalent to turning a simple graph into a locally irregular (i.e., without neighbours with the same degree) multigraph by adding parallel edges, which is motivated by the concept of irregularity in graphs. Another source of popularity is probably the influence of the famous 1-2-3 Conjecture, which claims that such weightings with weights in {1,2,3} exist for graphs with no isolated edge.
The 1-2-3 Conjecture has recently been investigated from a decompositional angle, via so-called locally irregular decompositions, which are edge-partitions into locally irregular subgraphs. Through several recent studies, it was shown that this concept is quite related to the 1-2-3 Conjecture. However, the full connexion between all those concepts was not clear.

In this work, we propose an approach that generalizes all concepts above, involving coloured weights and sums. As a consequence, we get another interpretation of several existing results related to the 1-2-3 Conjecture. We also come up with new related conjectures, to which we give some support.


Abstract Background and aims Buprenorphine is an effective medication for opioid use disorder that reduces mortality; however, many patients are not retained in buprenorphine treatment, and an optimal length of treatment after which patients can safely discontinue treatment has not been identified. This study measured the association between buprenorphine treatment duration and all‐cause mortality among patients who discontinued treatment. Secondary objectives were to measure the association between treatment duration and drug overdose and opioid‐related overdoses. Design Multi‐site cohort study. Setting Eight US health systems. Participants Patients who initiated and discontinued buprenorphine treatment between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2018 (n = 6550). Outcomes occurring after patients discontinued buprenorphine treatment were compared between patients who initiated and discontinued treatment after 8–30, 31–90, 91–180, 181–365 and > 365 days. Measurements Covariate data were obtained from electronic health records (EHRs). Mortality outcomes were derived from EHRs and state vital statistics. Non‐fatal opioid and drug overdoses were obtained from diagnostic codes. Four sites provided cause‐of‐death data to identify fatal drug and opioid‐related overdoses. Adjusted frailty regression was conducted on a propensity‐weighted cohort to assess associations between duration of the final treatment episode and outcomes. Findings The mortality rate after buprenorphine treatment was 1.82 per 100 person‐years (n = 191 deaths). In regression analyses with > 365 days as the reference group, treatment duration was not associated with all‐cause mortality and drug overdose (P > 0.05 for both). However, compared with > 365 days of treatment, 91–180 days of treatment was associated with increased opioid overdose risk (hazard ratio = 2.94, 95% confidence interval = 1.11–7.79). Conclusions Among patients who discontinue buprenorphine treatment, there appears to be no treatment duration period associated with a reduced risk for all‐cause mortality. Patients who discontinue buprenorphine treatment after 91–180 days appear to be at heightened risk for opioid overdose compared with patients who discontinue after > 365 days of treatment.


Vemurafenib is a highly efficient BRAF inhibitor for metastatic melanoma patients carrying the V600 mutation: progression-free survival is prolonged to ∼6 months and 50–80% of the patients show objective tumor responses. S100B and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) are established tumor markers in routine melanoma follow-up. This study evaluated their potential as response and progression markers during vemurafenib treatment. A cohort of 44 patients with stage IV melanoma disease who were treated with vemurafenib was retrospectively analyzed. Staging was performed every 6–8 weeks comprising computed tomography scans and measurement of LDH and S100B levels. Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria were used for standardized radiological response evaluations. The correlation between response or progression and LDH and S100B levels was analyzed using accuracy tests, Spearman's rank correlation &rgr;, and polynominal regression analyses. There was a good correlation between S100B and LDH decline and a RECIST-confirmed response, especially when S100B and/or LDH were elevated at baseline (accuracy, 81.2% for S100B and 85.7% for LDH). However, the accuracy in case of RECIST-confirmed progression and S100B/LDH levels was low – 30.3% for S100B and 32.4% for LDH. Neither Spearman's rank correlation &rgr; nor polynomial regression analyses showed a correlation between the clinical course and S100B/LDH levels. Measurement of S100B and LDH levels during treatment with vemurafenib indicates an initial response; however, this does not seem to be sufficient in detecting tumor progression and is thus not an alternative to monitoring with imaging examinations.


Despite cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) being the first-line intervention for the disorder, it is often not readily available to patients in need. The stepped care model (SCM) represents an approach to facilitating efficient and wide-ranging provision of evidence-based care to those with insomnia. The SCM reflects a pyramid of therapeutics based on CBT-I gradually increasing in clinical intensity and addressing clinical complexity. By applying CBT-I through the SCM it is hoped that the treatment gap can be bridged such that not only more patients can be reached, but that clinical resource can be more effectively distributed, with patients receiving more tailored care as needed. Nevertheless, this should not be done at the risk of a lower quality of care being offered, and high-standard training for clinicians and scrutiny of non-clinician led interventions remains important. As national health laws within European countries have substantial differences, the application of the SCM as it relates to the treatment of insomnia may be challenged by contrasting interpretations. In order that the SCM is appropriately implemented: (a) only evidence-based CBT-I treatments should be promoted within the model; (b) clinicians involved in SCM should be suitably qualified to offer CBT in general, and have appropriate further training in CBT-I; (c) professionals involved in interventions not included in the SCM, but related to it, such as preventive and educational programmes, diagnostic procedures, and pharmacological treatments, should also have good knowledge of the SCM in order to promote correct allocation to the appropriate interventional step.


Knee voltage, pinch-off voltage, breakdown voltage and maximum rf drain current clip output I-V waveform of a MESFET and cause gain compression and power saturation. Thus, verage rf gate and drain currents can be used to determine gain compression mechanisms for MESFETs. There is a distinct signature in average rf gate and drain currents for each gain compression mechanism. Narrow recess and wide recess MESFET exhibits different average rf gate and drain current behavior when a device is biased toward maximum drain current. The average rf drain current decreases for a wide-recessed MESFET when the device is biased toward maximum drain current and tuned for maximum output power.


Photograph of two infants sitting on a wicker chair. They are wearing bonnets, long black dresses with buttons and shimmering stripes, and longer white dresses underneath the black dresses. The names "Allene" and "Helen" are written with the photographer information under the children.


Natural Language Inference (NLI) is fundamental to many Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications including semantic search and question answering. The NLI problem has gained significant attention due to the release of large scale, challenging datasets. Present approaches to the problem largely focus on learning-based methods that use only textual information in order to classify whether a given premise entails, contradicts, or is neutral with respect to a given hypothesis. Surprisingly, the use of methods based on structured knowledge – a central topic in artificial intelligence – has not received much attention vis-a-vis the NLI problem. While there are many open knowledge bases that contain various types of reasoning information, their use for NLI has not been well explored. To address this, we present a combination of techniques that harness external knowledge to improve performance on the NLI problem in the science questions domain. We present the results of applying our techniques on text, graph, and text-and-graph based models; and discuss the implications of using external knowledge to solve the NLI problem. Our model achieves close to state-of-the-art performance for NLI on the SciTail science questions dataset.


There have been dozens of high-profile mass shootings in recent decades. This paper presents three main findings about the impact of mass shootings on gun policy. First, mass shootings evoke large policy responses. A single mass shooting leads to a 15% increase in the number of firearm bills introduced within a state in the year after a mass shooting. Second, mass shootings account for a small portion of all gun deaths, but have an outsized influence relative to other homicides. Our estimates suggest that the per-death impact of mass shootings on bills introduced is about 80 times as large as the impact of individual gun homicides in non-mass shooting incidents. Third, when looking at enacted laws, the impact of mass shootings depends on the party in power. A mass shooting increases the number of enacted laws that loosen gun restrictions by 75% in states with Republican-controlled legislatures. We find no significant effect of mass shootings on laws enacted when there is a Democrat-controlled legislature.


Ulrich von Liechtenstein's extraordinary account of his adventures as a knight-errant is one of the most vivid images of chivalric life to have come down to us. His knightly autobiography was written in the mid-thirteenth century, and gives an account of the 'journey of Venus' which he undertook in 1226 in honour of his lady, in which he claimed to have broken 307 spears in jousts against all comers in the space of a month. Some of it is obviously quietly exaggerated, written for his friends' entertainment many years later, and he is not above a sly dig at the conventions of courtly love, but he completely accepts its basic ideas. It is full of lively episodes and good stories, as well as verses in honour of his lady; if the tale has been polished up for effect, it is nonetheless a thoroughly entertaining account of how a knight saw his ideal career in the jousting field. If the name is unexpectedly familiar to modern readers, it is because it was borrowed by the hero of the film 'A Knight's Tale'; Ulrich would have certainly approved of his exploits. Introduction by KELLY DEVRIES.


We propose a novel approach to automatically detecting and tracking cell populations in time-lapse images. Unlike earlier ones that rely on linking a predetermined and potentially under-complete set of detections, we generate an overcomplete set of competing detection hypotheses. We then perform detection and tracking simultaneously by solving an integer program to find an optimal and consistent subset. This eliminates the need for heuristics to handle missed detections due to occlusions and complex morphology. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on a range of challenging image sequences consisting of clumped cells and show that it outperforms state-of-the-art techniques.


Co-flowering plant species commonly share flower visitors, and thus have the potential to influence each other's pollination. In this study we analysed 750 quantitative plant-pollinator networks from 28 studies representing diverse biomes worldwide. We show that the potential for one plant species to influence another indirectly via shared pollinators was greater for plants whose resources were more abundant (higher floral unit number and nectar sugar content) and more accessible. The potential indirect influence was also stronger between phylogenetically closer plant species and was independent of plant geographic origin (native vs. non-native). The positive effect of nectar sugar content and phylogenetic proximity was much more accentuated for bees than for other groups. Consequently, the impact of these factors depends on the pollination mode of plants, e.g. bee or fly pollinated. Our findings may help predict which plant species have the greatest importance in the functioning of plant-pollination networks.


Vertical transmission of Hepatitis B virus HBV can result in a state of chronic HBV infection and its complications. HBV vaccination with or without hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) prevents transmission of overt infection to the babies. However, whether it also prevents occult HBV infection in babies is not known. Consecutive pregnant women of any gestation found to be HBsAg positive were followed till delivery, and their babies were included in the study. Immediately after delivery, babies were randomized to receive either HBIG or placebo in addition to recombinant HBV vaccine (at 0, 6, 10 and 14 weeks). The primary end‐point of the study, assessed at 18 weeks of age, was remaining free of any HBV infection (either overt or occult) plus the development of adequate immune response to vaccine. The babies were further followed up for a median of 2 years of age to determine their eventual outcome. Risk factors for HBV transmission and for poor immune response in babies were studied. Of the 283 eligible babies, 259 were included in the trial and randomized to receive either HBIG (n = 128) or placebo (n = 131) in addition to recombinant HBV vaccine. Of the 222 of 259 (86%) babies who completed 18 weeks of follow‐up, only 62/222 (28%) reached primary end‐point. Of the remaining, 6/222 (3%) developed overt HBV infection, 142/222 (64%) developed occult HBV infection, and 12/222 (5%) had no HBV infection but had poor immune response. All 6 overt infections occurred in the placebo group (P = 0.030), while occult HBV infections were more common in the HBIG group (76/106 [72%] vs. 66/116 [57%]; P = 0.025). This may be due to the immune pressure of HBIG. There was no significant difference between the two groups in frequency of babies developing poor immune response or those achieving primary end‐point. The final outcome of these babies at 24 months of age was as follows: overt HBV infection 4%, occult HBV infection 42%, no HBV infection but poor immune response 8% and no HBV infection with good immune response 28%. Women who were anti‐HBe positive were a low‐risk group, and their babies were most likely to remain free of HBV infection (occult or overt) and had good immune response to the vaccine. Maternal HBeAg‐positive status and negativity for anti‐HBe predicted not only overt but also any infection (both overt and occult) in babies. In addition, high maternal HBV DNA and treatment with vaccine alone were significant factors for overt HBV infection in babies. The current practice of administration of vaccine with HBIG at birth to babies born of HBsAg‐positive mothers is not effective in preventing occult HBV infection in babies, which may be up to 40%. Because the most important risk factors for mother‐to‐baby transmission of HBV infection are the replicative status and high HBV DNA level in mothers; it will be worthwhile investigating the role of antivirals and HBIG administration during pregnancy to prevent mother‐to‐child transmission of HBV infection.


There is a dearth of data visualization tools for displaying college degree-planning information, especially course prerequisite and complex academic requirement information. The existing methods for exploring degree plans involve a painstaking what-if analysis of static data presented in a convoluted format. In this paper, we present a data visualization tool, named as Dependency Evaluation and Visualization (DEV) chart, to visualize course prerequisite structure and a dynamic flowchart to guide students and advisors through all possible degree requirement completions. DEV chart uses an adjacency matrix of a directed acyclic graph to store a course structure for a degree into a database. Since DEV chart is created dynamically by updating data associated with each node of the directed graph, it provides a mechanism for adding an alert system when prerequisite conditions are not met, and hence the user can visualize the available courses at each step. Similarly, DEV chart can be used with project planning where nodes represent tasks and edges represent their dependencies.


Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is proposed to simulate the connection response of practical inservice conditions and test the performance of Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) premium threaded connections. A plug-in is developed in Abaqus/CAE for creating the 360-degree full 3D parametric finite element model with helical threads as an effective design and analysis tool. All size, position and material data of the model are parameterized. The premium connection plugin accepts input from the Graphical User Interface (GUI) for further modification. Each premium connection component is programed as a collection of single-purpose independent functions organized as an independent module in order to allow users to modify specific function behavior conveniently. A main program is designed as an Abaqus kernel plug-in to achieve all the functions by calling these independent functions, making the plug-in flexible. Each single script file is not too long to jeopardize readability. The GUI of the plug-in is designed with proper layout arrangement and illustrations to make the plug-in user-friendly and easy to use. The premium connection FE model is used in a virtual test to validate the model against the ISO 13679 test protocol and is used to develop the seal metrics for points on the ISO 13679 sealability envelope. The plug-in can be used to develop and evaluate the design envelope of the premium connection. The Abaqus/CAE Plug-in for a Premium Threaded Connection 3D Parametric Finite Element Model


In using the term 'hybrid interactions', we refer to interaction forms that comprise both tangible and intangible interactions as well as a close coupling of the physical or embodied representation with digital output. Until now, there has been no description of a formal design process for this emerging research domain, no description that can be followed during the creation of these types of interactions. As a result, designers face limitations in prototyping these systems.
In this thesis, we share our systematic approach to envisioning, prototyping, and iteratively developing these interaction forms by following an extended interaction design process. We share our experiences with process extensions in the form of toolkits, which we built for this research and utilized to aid designers in the development of hybrid interactive systems.
The proposed tools incorporate different characteristics and are intended to be used at different points in the design process. In Sketching with Objects, we describe a low-fdelity toolkit that is intended to be used in the very early phases of the process, such as ideation and user research. By introducing Paperbox, we present an implementation to be used in the mid-process phases for fnding the appropriate mapping between physical representation and digital content during the creation of tangible user interfaces (TUI) atop interactive surfaces. In a follow-up project, we extended this toolkit to also be used in conjunction with capacitive sensing devices. To do this, we implemented Sketch-a-TUI. This approach allows designers to create TUIs on capacitive sensing devices rapidly and at low cost. To lower the barriers for designers using the toolkit, we created the Sketch-a-TUIApp, an application that allows even novice users (users without previous coding experience) to create early instantiations of TUIs.
In order to prototype intangible interactions, we used open soft- and hardware components and proposed an approach of investigating interactivity in correlation with intangible interaction forms on a higher fdelity. With our fnal design process extension, Lightbox, we assisted a design team in systematically developing a remote interaction system connected to a media facade covering a building.
All of the above-mentioned toolkits were explored both in real-life contexts and in projects with industrial partners. The evaluation was therefore mainly performed in the wild, which led to the adaptation of metrics suitable to the individual cases and contexts.


This paper addresses the throughput optimization problem in multihop ultra-wideband (UWB) networks by jointly considering network topology formation and routing. Given a spatial distribution of UWB devices and traffic requirement, we want to form piconets and select paths to maximize the network throughput. Although there have been several works considering the problem of selecting paths to achieve the optimal throughput in multihop wireless networks, to the best of our knowledge, none of them takes the topology formation into the consideration. In this paper, we use Boolean matrices to model role assignment in UWB networks and formulate the throughput optimization problem as a nonlinear programming (NLP) problem. Since the throughput optimization problem is NP-hard, we give an upper bound of the optimal throughput by relaxing some constraints and using pseudo-Boolean optimization to linearize the NLP. We prove that the solution of the upper bound is at most three times of the optimal throughput. Based on the topology formed by solving the upper bound, we formulate a lower bound of the optimal throughput as a linear programming problem and use column generation to solve the lower bound. Numerical results show that the lower bound is very close to the upper bound. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the scheme.


This paper proposes a novel multi-stub ultra-wide band planar monopole antenna. The radiation patch of the antenna is composed of a pair of back-to-back E-shape-like stub elements. The E-shape-like stub element is the extension of the E-shape stub element, adding two semi-circle elements at the back of the E-shape stub element and extending the top of the E-shape stub element with an inverted L-shape element with a "suspending hammer" element. Two semi-circle slots etched on the rectangular ground which is extended make the ground with two step-like structures to realize ultra-wideband. The antenna is printed on a substrate of the dielectric constant 4.6. The experiment results show that the bandwidth of the antenna is 3.2GHz–18.7GHz for S11 of less than −10dB.


This chipset implements the Fibre Channel FC-0 physical layer specification at 1.0625 Gbits/s. The transmitter features 20:1 data multiplexing with a comma character generator and a clock synthesis phase-locked loop, and includes a laser driver and a fault monitor for safety. The receiver provides the functions of clock recovery, 1:20 data demultiplexing, comma character detection, and word alignment, and includes redundant loss-of-signal alarms for eye safety. A single-chip version with both transmitter and receiver integrated is designed for disk drive applications using the Fibre Channel arbitrated loop protocol.


Roman coins often shed light on Roman public life and society through the legends, portraits, and images they bear. The papers collected in this volume were originally presented at the Second E. Togo Salmon Conference on Roman Studies. The eight contributors are specialists in Roman coins or Roman history and in the relations between them. Coins are a unique source of information about the Roman world. In the case of the Roman Empire they were issued by or with the approval of the ruling power. The representations and legends they show therefore present an official view of contemporary affairs. The coins themselves, minted for official purposes such as paying the army, when studied carefully can help reconstruct official policies. They can also occasionally reveal what monuments now lost may have looked like. It is not infrequent to come across pleas that the ancient historian should make more frequent use of numismatic evidence. These essays make clear that efforts are being made both by numismatists and by historians to bring the two disciplines together. At the same time the papers reveal that the task is by no means a straightforward one. The survival of Roman coins is variable, and so attempts to reconstruct the size and distribution of issues calls for skilled and experienced analysis. This collection of papers provides evidence for the kind of deductions that the historian may make from Roman coins as well as the illustrations of the pitfalls that await the unwary. Those interested in Roman history, amateur coin collectors, and professional numismatists will all find much here to widen their knowledge of the public context of Roman coins. George Paul is Professor of Classics, McMaster University. Michael Ierardi is Lecturer in Classics, McMaster University.