While economists have studied private transfers exchanged among households within a network extensively, those exchanged directly with groups to which the household belongs—such as ritual gifts, communal work and church donations—in developing countries have received very limited attention. Using original household survey data gathered in rural Fiji, this paper demonstrates that: the group-based transfers are much greater than the network-based transfers, probably because of significant household contributions to groups for the provision of local public goods; and group-based transfers influence network-based transfers through the social hierarchy. A comparison of various groups (e.g. kin and church groups) and social ranks (e.g. those determined by gender, disability, kin elite and religious elite) indicates that network-based transfers adjust to hierarchy bias in group-based transfers, depending on the physical and social connections of groups and networks.


: The authors report efficacy of using laser puncture and pointed massage in controlling hypertensive crises in patients suffering of hypertensive disease. The arterial pressure was reduced mainly due to decrease of the peripheral resistance. This method of treatment was more effective in patients with moderate and significant hypertrophy of the left ventricle as compared with patients showing marked hypertrophy of the left ventricle.


Abstract How have the power and organisational effects of modern accounting systems developed? What is the appropriate theoretical framework for interpreting that development? Researchers in the 'Neoclassical' tradition of 'economic rationalism' focus on tracing how efficiently developments in accounting techniques, from the British Industrial Revolution (BIR) to the present, have been engineered to match the demands for new forms of rational economic management of emergent big business, while those adopting a 'Foucauldian' approach emphasise how it was that the emergence of new practices and knowledge-based discourses for calculating human performance, and for establishing new forms of human accountability, engendered the creation of the modern kind of business organisations through 'disciplinary power'. To evaluate the relative merits of these two frameworks, we re-examine the primary archival evidence about managerial practices in the Northeast BIR coal mines. We focus on two unique features—the cadre of professional managers/consultants (the 'viewers') and the form of direct labour contract—since comparable features have been held to be significant in the rational economic development of sophisticated cost and management accounting techniques in other industries. We find that, while the records include sophisticated valuations of mines and calculations of technological efficiency, surprisingly absent, as compared with 'modern' accounting and managerialism, is any detailed measurement of human performance for setting piece rates and controlling production. Although our particular findings here could be explained within both the 'Neoclassical' and 'Foucauldian' theoretical frameworks, their consistency with the evidence being obtained from other historical sites further questions the adequacy of 'economic rationalism' to explain fully the genesis of modern management and the development of accounting's modern power.


This article examines what assimilation trajectories were manifest among present-day Mediterranean Muslims and pre–World War II Jews in Dutch society. Alba and Nee conceptualized assimilation in terms of processes of spanning and altering group boundaries, distinguishing between boundary crossing, blurring, and shifting. This study carves out to what extent assimilation processes like boundary crossing, shifting, and blurring had taken place for those two non-Christian minority groups in Dutch society. This research is based on findings of recent (quantitative) empirical research into the assimilation of pre–World War II Jews in the Netherlands and on the collection of comparable research and data for the assimilation of contemporary Mediterranean Muslims. Our study suggests that processes of boundary crossing, such as observance of religious practices and consumption of religious food, and blurring, such as intermarriage, residential segregation, and religious affiliation, are much less advanced for Mediterranean Muslims in the present time. Though several factors might account for differences in boundary-altering processes between pre–World War II Jews and contemporary Mediterranean Muslims such as differences in length of stay in the Netherlands, the secularization process, and globalization, Jewish assimilation might provide us some reflections on assimilation of Mediterranean Muslims. The continuous arrival of Muslim newcomers might affect attitudes and behavior of settled Mediterranean Muslims, while policy to restrict family migration might be insufficient to stimulate Muslims to integrate in Dutch society given the quite negative mutual perceptions, the slow process of residential spreading, the continuation of observance of religious practices, and the low intermarriage rate.


African Americans have a disproportionate burden of inflammation-associated chronic diseases such as cancer and lower circulating levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D]. The effect of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) supplementation on inflammatory markers is uncertain. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of supplemental oral vitamin D (placebo, 1,000, 2,000, or 4,000 IU/day of vitamin D3 orally for 3 months) in 328 African Americans (median age, 51 years) of public housing communities in Boston, MA, who were enrolled over three consecutive winter periods (2007–2010). Change from 0 to 3 months of plasma levels of 25(OH)D, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and soluble TNF-α receptor type 2 (sTNF-R2) in 292 (89%) participants were measured. Overall, no statistically significant changes in CRP, IL-6, IL-10, and sTNF-R2 were observed after the vitamin D supplementation period. Baseline CRP was significantly inversely associated with the baseline 25(OH)D level (P < 0.001) in unadjusted and adjusted models. An interaction between baseline 25(OH)D and vitamin D supplementation was observed for outcome change in log CRP (month 3–month 0; P for interaction = 0.04). Within an unselected population of African Americans, short-term exposure to vitamin D supplementation produced no change in circulating inflammatory markers. This study confirms the strong independent association of CRP with 25(OH)D status even after adjusting for body mass index. Future studies of longer supplemental vitamin D3 duration are necessary to examine the complex influence of vitamin D3 on CRP and other chronic inflammatory cytokines for possible reduction of cancer health disparities in African Americans. Cancer Prev Res; 7(2); 218–25. ©2013 AACR.


The thesis presents several results in the area of 3D perception, with focus on combining learning and planning in active 3D mapping. Autonomous robots, including those deployed in search and rescue operations or autonomous vehicles, must build and maintain accurate representations of the surroundings to operate efficiently and safely in human environment. These representations, or maps, should encompass both low-level information about geometry of the scene and high-level semantical information, including recognized categories or individual objects. In the first part we propose a method of 3D object recognition based on matching local invariant features, which is further extended for 3D point cloud registration task and evaluated on challenging real-world datasets. The method builds on a multi-stage feature extraction pipeline composed of sparse keypoint detection to reduce complexity of further stages, establishing local reference frames as a means to achieve invariance with respect to rigid transformations without sacrificing descriptiveness of the underlying 3D shape, and a compact description of the shape based on area-weighted normal projections. For a moderate overlap between the laser scans, the registration method provides a superior registration accuracy compared to state-of-the-art methods including Generalized ICP, 3D Normal-Distribution Transform, Fast Point-Feature Histograms, and 4-Points Congruent Sets. In the second part, two tasks from the area of active 3D mapping are being solved— namely, simultaneous exploration and segmentation with a mobile robot in a search and rescue scenario, and active 3D mapping using a sensor with steerable depth-measuring rays, with applications in autonomous driving. For these tasks, we assume that the localization is provided by an external source. In the simultaneous exploration and segmentation task, we consider a mobile robot exploring an unknown environment along a known path, using a static panoramic sensor providing RGB and depth measurements, and controlling a narrow field-of-view thermal camera mounted on a pan-tilt unit. The task is to control the sensor along the path to maximize accuracy of segmentation of the surroundings into human body and background categories. Since demanding optimal control does not allow for online replanning, we rather employ the optimal planner offline to provide guiding trajectories for learning a CNN-based control policy in a guided Q-learning framework. A policy initialization is proposed which takes advantage of a special structure of the task and allows efficient learning of the policy. In the active 3D mapping task, our method simultaneously learns to reconstruct a dense 3D occupancy map from sparse measurements and optimizes the reactive control of depth-measuring rays. We propose a fast prioritized greedy algorithm to solve the control subtask online, which needs to update the cost function in only a small fraction of possible rays in each iteration. An approximation ratio of the algorithm is derived. We experimentally demonstrate, using publicly available KITTI dataset, that accuracy of the 3D improves significantly when learning-to-reconstruct is coupled with the optimization of depth measuring rays.


We often encounter idiopathic normal-pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in the
same patient. Four iNPH patients whose gait improved following placement of a lumbar-peritoneal shunt (LPS) and
whose cognitive function improved after administration of donepezil are reported. LPS is useful for improvement of
gait disturbance in iNPH, and donepezil is used to treat impaired memory in dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT).
These four patients showed improvements in gait disturbances postoperatively, and just after donepezil
administration, improvements in cognitive symptoms were recognized in the memory tests of the Mini-Mental State
Examination (MMSE). The four patients (two males and two females) ranged in age from 72 to 81 years (mean age:
77 years). In all patients, disproportionately enlarged subarachnoid-space hydrocephalus (DESH) was recognized
on imaging examinations, and improvements after the tap test were considered to be indications for surgery. The
improvements in the Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) were from 25% to 36%. The patients' mean MMSE score was 27
points preoperatively, 27 points at 1 week after LPS placement, and 30 points at 3 months after LPS placement.
Treatment with donepezil appeared to be effective for residual cognitive impairments after LPS placement.


The top-k classification accuracy is one of the core metrics in machine learning. Here, k is conventionally a positive integer, such as 1 or 5, leading to top-1 or top-5 training objectives. In this work, we relax this assumption and optimize the model for multiple k simultaneously instead of using a single k. Leveraging recent advances in differentiable sorting and ranking, we propose a differentiable top-k cross-entropy classification loss. This allows training the network while not only considering the top-1 prediction, but also, e.g., the top-2 and top-5 predictions. We evaluate the proposed loss function for fine-tuning on state-of-the-art architectures, as well as for training from scratch. We find that relaxing k does not only produce better top-5 accuracies, but also leads to top-1 accuracy improvements. When fine-tuning publicly available ImageNet models, we achieve a new state-of-the-art for these models.


BACKGROUND
Robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) is widely used to surgically treat clinically localized prostate cancer. It is typically performed using an approach (standard RALP) that mimics open retropubic prostatectomy by dissecting the so-called space of Retzius anterior to the bladder. An alternative, Retzius-sparing (or posterior approach) RALP (RS-RALP) has been described, which is reported to have better continence outcomes but may be associated with a higher risk of incomplete resection and positive surgical margins (PSM).

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects of RS-RALP compared to standard RALP for the treatment of clinically localized prostate cancer.

SEARCH METHODS
We performed a comprehensive search of the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase, three other databases, trials registries, other sources of the grey literature, and conference proceedings, up to June 2020. We applied no restrictions on publication language or status.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We included trials where participants were randomized to RS-RALP or standard RALP for clinically localized prostate cancer.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors independently classified and abstracted data from the included studies. Primary outcomes were: urinary continence recovery within one week after catheter removal, at three months after surgery, and serious adverse events. Secondary outcomes were: urinary continence recovery six and 12 months after surgery, potency recovery 12 months after surgery, positive surgical margins (PSM), biochemical recurrence-free survival (BCRFS), and urinary and sexual function quality of life. We performed statistical analyses using a random-effects model. We rated the certainty of evidence using the GRADE approach.

MAIN RESULTS
Our search identified six records of five unique randomized controlled trials, of which two were published studies, one was in press, and two were abstract proceedings. There were 571 randomized participants, of whom 502 completed the trials. Mean age of participants was 64.6 years and mean prostate-specific antigen was 6.9 ng/mL. About 54.2% of participants had cT1c disease, 38.6% had cT2a-b disease, and 7.1 % had cT2c disease. Primary outcomes RS-RALP probably improves continence within one week after catheter removal (risk ratio (RR) 1.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.41 to 2.14; I2 = 0%; studies = 4; participants = 410; moderate-certainty evidence). Assuming 335 per 1000 men undergoing standard RALP are continent at this time point, this corresponds to 248 more men per 1000 (137 more to 382 more) reporting continence recovery. RS-RALP may increase continence at three months after surgery compared to standard RALP (RR 1.33, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.68; I2 = 86%; studies = 5; participants = 526; low-certainty evidence). Assuming 750 per 1000 men undergoing standard RALP are continent at this time point, this corresponds to 224 more men per 1000 (41 more to 462 more) reporting continence recovery. We are very uncertain about the effects of RS-RALP on serious adverse events compared to standard RALP (RR 1.40, 95% CI 0.47 to 4.17; studies = 2; participants = 230; very low-certainty evidence). Secondary outcomes There is probably little to no difference in continence recovery at 12 months after surgery (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.04; I2 = 0%; studies = 2; participants = 222; moderate-certainty evidence). Assuming 982 per 1000 men undergoing standard RALP are continent at this time point, this corresponds to 10 more men per 1000 (29 fewer to 39 more) reporting continence recovery.  We are very uncertain about the effect of RS-RALP on potency recovery 12 months after surgery (RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.54 to 1.80; studies = 1; participants = 55; very low-certainty evidence).  RS-RALP may increase PSMs (RR 1.95, 95% CI 1.19 to 3.20; I2 = 0%; studies = 3; participants = 308; low-certainty evidence) indicating a higher risk for prostate cancer recurrence. Assuming 129 per 1000 men undergoing standard RALP have positive margins, this corresponds to 123 more men per 1000 (25 more to 284 more) with PSMs. We are very uncertain about the effect of RS-RALP on BCRFS compared to standard RALP (hazard ratio (HR) 0.45, 95% CI 0.13 to 1.60; I2 = 32%; studies = 2; participants = 218; very low-certainty evidence).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Findings of this review indicate that RS-RALP may result in better continence outcomes than standard RALP up to six months after surgery. Continence outcomes at 12 months may be similar. Downsides of RS-RALP may be higher positive margin rates. We are very uncertain about the effect on BCRFS and potency outcomes. Longer-term oncologic and functional outcomes are lacking, and no preplanned subgroup analyses could be performed to explore the observed heterogeneity. Surgeons should discuss these trade-offs and the limitations of the evidence with their patients when considering this approach.


We explore the relationship between commercialisation and gender for groundnuts in Eastern Province, Zambia, using a mixed methods approach. Women saw themselves as having greater control over groundnuts than other crops, and both sexes saw groundnuts as controlled by women. Focus Group Discussions reported higher levels of control than found in a household survey. Propensity Score Matching showed that the machine shelling and higher sales did not reduce women's perceived level of control over groundnuts. Women welcomed greater male participation in machine shelling because it reduced the drudgery of shelling by hand. This suggests that commercialisation did not disempower women.


In this study, republican term novelists Peyami Safa's novels in which Şimsek, Sözde Kızlar, Mahşer, Bir Akşamdı, Canan, Dokuzuncu Hariciye Koğuşu, Bir Tereddüdün Romanı, Fatih-Harbiye, Biz İnsanlar, Matmazel Noraliya'nın Koltuğu and Yalnızız value conflicts by they occur in can be detected and analyzed. Peyami Safa works moral, political, aesthetic, religious, social and cultural value conflicts in his novels. Gender, age, political and ideological disagreement is effective in this conflicts development. The question of East-West, the political and ideological conflicts, age difference and old-new understanding axis is seen to occur in Safa's studied works of value conflicts. Heroes who portrayed as good and bad and the encounter of these heroes trigger tension in the novels. Idealized heroes against to the people who corrupt act to contrary the moral, religious, social and cultural values. The author justified to idealized heroes with spokesmen in conflicts, so he implements conflict management in his novels. Novel's heroes conflict with each other about moral values such as integrity, honesty, respect, courage and loyalty, social and cultural values such as the sanctity of the family, loyalty to the customs and traditions, political values such as rights, law, liberty and equality, religious values such as to believe in God, respect of Islamic life, aesthetic values such as beauty, simplicity and harmony.


A riveting tour through the ages to the moments where the future course of civilization hung in the balance, as two top military historians make the case for the twenty most crucial battles of all time-a must read for armchair generals and all lovers of history. Despite the prevalence of war and conflict throughout history, only a small fraction of these clashes have truly transformed the world. While major wars often leave echoes that resound for centuries, they typically still remain within a predictable pattern of events. But sometimes a war is fought that not only profoundly impacts its own age but also definitively shifts the course of human history. These wars stand at crossroads of historical epochs, where nothing afterward is as it was before. And many of these wars, which have been crucial to the development of the modern world, possessed a common element: at some point during the conflict there was a crisis point, one pivotal battle, or a few moments within a battle, where the future decisively turned.


Resource assessment is a necessary step for any project, plan, or future energy prospectus involving renewable energy sources. The assessment of biomass and, in particular, the so-called forest and agricultural field residues, faces particular methodological difficulties due to the scarcity and heterogeneity of the data sources. For agricultural residues such as cereal straw, bagasses, etc., the residue to product ratios (RPR) are the key data needed for the estimations. In the present work the values of these product ratios reported in the literature are surveyed and are seen to vary greatly, depending on the reporting source. Some methodological procedures for obtaining RPR values are considered, and guidelines for conducting the resource evaluation are indicated. For the estimation of forest field biomass resources a methodological procedure based on the different stand stages along a forest rotation is presented. The main steps of this methodology are based on the availability of basic quantitative data from forest stands and the assumption of different silvicultural operations during the stand rotations. Environmental constraints should be observed in biomass resource assessments. However, the lack of clear recommendations concerning biomass removal in different forest soil and climate conditions suggest that more research is required to assess the sustainability of biomass harvest. Chemical characterization of some of the most representative biomass materials is also presented.


Subject: To compare usage of bandage contact lens (BCL) and eye patching on treatment of patient's signs and symptoms with ultraviolet (UV) light exposure photo keratitis. Method: This prospective study included 32 patients with bilateral UV photo keratitis, due to welder's flash with equal severity. After primary evaluation BCL is placed for one eye and patching is done for another one. Reexamination performed after 12 to 24 hours and severity of pain, Superficial Punctate Keratopathy (SPK) and duration of symptom improvement compared in both eyes. Results: Our findings revealed that SPK and duration of improvement were not different statistically significant but were more satisfied and comfortable with BCL. Conclusion: According to this study, BCL can use in patients with photo keratitis instead of eye patching.


Virtual project teams fulfill business strategies and realize business objectives in a competitive business environment. However, these teams work together over a limited period of time across geographical distances and varied time zones, which pose risks on the team's performance as knowledge that is necessary to accomplish crucial project tasks may be impeded. Through information technology, these teams are able to communicate and develop their respective transactive memory systems—a concept known to help teams pool together a collective working knowledge to improve team performance. In addition, trust among team members plays an equally crucial role in the development of transactive memory systems. By presenting a conceptual model and a set of propositions, this study explores the interrelationships between trust, transactive memory systems, information technology and their consequential impacts to team performance in a virtual project context.


The tyranny of distance has always figured significantly in accounts of New Zealand's place in the world. In these accounts the emergence of new technologies: steam ships, telegraph cables, refrigeration, satellite connections, and aircraft have all transformed New Zealand's geographies of connection. Aviation in particular has been celebrated the technology par excellence in drawing New Zealand closer to the rest of the world. Yet these celebratory tales of technological success gloss over the practical work of technoscientific assemblage that has made possible new, and enduring forms of connection. This paper focuses on the assemblage of aviation routes across the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia in the late 1930s. Central to the making of this airspace was the concomitant development of specific meteorological networks that would transform the Tasman into a forecastable weatherspace. The paper identifies the layers of sociotechnical practice involved in assembling an oceanic weatherspace between national jurisdictions and observational networks. Within this new assemblage the paper focuses on the developing relationship between meteorologists and pilots, and argues that emerging tensions between these actors centred on the negotiation of the novel relationships of expertise and authority that had developed within the forecasting assemblage supporting trans-Tasman aviation.


The drive and appeal of luxury designer products has fuelled consumer desire for luxury designer brands and their counterfeit versions. Some women value luxury designer handbags just the way men value their cars. The luxury designer handbag market has witnessed a surge of counterfeit handbag versions. The study focused on women in London, which has been ranked at number one in relation to demand levels of fashion handbags. Several antecedents were invest igated for the purpose of this research, which are as follows:  Social consumption factors which incorporates an investigation into brand meaning and social meaning;  Attitudinal factors;  Individual factors which looks at the BLI (brand luxury index) and materialism; and  Post consumption emotions; Several research gaps were identified: firstly, there are no studies available on investigating identical antecedents in both luxury designer and counterfeit commodities, or even to a specific product category. Secondly, a number of researchers have examined consumers' evaluative criteria in clothing, yet few have focused on the mentioned antecedents as part of the evaluative criteria of luxury designer handbags and counterfeit handbag versions. The investigation was carried out via quantitative data collection and was crossanalysed. The highlighted antecedents are important domains in the discipline of consumer choice behaviour. The research included two phases; a pilot survey study which pre-tested the acknowledged scales and a main survey incorporating the most important adapted constructs influencing consumer choice behaviours. The main analysis was based on data collected from a sample of 353 respondents in London. The conceptual model is unique in its specifications presenting a new behaviour orientated model which highlights integral factors in consumer behaviour. The research identified contemporary associations and discrepancies among women in London. The result of this research provides general support in understanding consumer decision-making and offers a comprehensive understanding of the effect of consumer evaluation and attitudes towards luxury designer handbags and counterfeit handbag versions. The differences and similarities across the antecedents are used to propose strategies to luxury designer companies thereby improving their marketing activities and achieving a competitive edge.


Allah subhanahuwataala , The Almighty is the Only and Unique Owner of everything including climate. The creation of climate is unchallengeable but Allah provides us the mind to explore adaptation to what has been created. The global climate change causes various environmental stresses that led to major impact on
human life. In agriculture, environmental stresses represent the most limiting factors to food productivity. Environmental stress impact not only crops which are presently being cultivated, but also are significant barriers to the introduction of crop plants into areas which are not at this time being used for agriculture. A significant problem for agriculture in the world is the major variation in crop yields from year to year due to variations in environmental stresses such as drought, flooding, salinity and high temperature. Stressful environments are often characterized by the occurrence of more than one stress simultaneously. Thus, drought is often associated with temperature, drought with salinity and flooding with ion toxicity. In urban environments, air pollutants are often associated with high
temperature and low intercepted radiation with the occurrence of haze. Managing these environmental stress elements is a major consideration to achieve sustainability in agriculture system. Any contribution that relates understanding of factors and managing
environmental stress will be of special interest of many years to come. Rice is fundamental for food security with approximately 3 billion people, about half of the world population, eating rice every day In coming decades, downward pressures on food stocks are expected to intensify. In addition to increased demand from the
ever increasing population, the forthcoming climate change can also affect rice production. In Malaysia, national food policy under 10th Malaysia plan projected that 90% SSL (self sufficiency level) will need to be achieved by 2015 while the present SSL is 65%. To achieve the target, at least two major challenges, (i) low yield of
rice, and (ii) climate change should be considered during innovative research formulation on rice. Low average yield of rice (4 t ha-1), features eight granary areas in Malaysia, can be considered a major threat for national food security The ultimate aim is to sustain
yield in resources that are increasingly limited under a changing climate. This will led to ensuring food security for present and future generation to come.


The conformations of 14 threonine-derived pseudoproline-containing dipeptides (including four d-allo-Thr derivatives) have been investigated by NMR. In solution, the major conformer observed for all dipeptides is that in which the amide bond between the pseudoproline and the preceding amino acid is cis. For dipeptides in which the N-terminus is protected, the ratio of cis- to trans-conformers does not depend significantly on the side chain of the N-terminal amino acid, or the stereochemistry of the Thr residue. However, for dipeptides bearing a free N-terminus, there are significant differences in the ratios of cis- to trans-conformers depending on the side chain present. Three dipeptides were crystallized and their X-ray structures determined. In two cases, (benzyloxycarbonyl (Cbz)-Val-Thr(ΨMe,Mepro)-OMe and Cbz-Val-Thr(ΨMe,Mepro)-OH), the dipeptides adopt a trans-conformation in the solid state, in contrast to the structures observed in solution. In the third case, (9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-Val-d-allo-Thr(ΨMe,Mepro)-OH), a cis-amide geometry is observed. These structural differences are attributed to crystal-packing interactions.


The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees defines a refugee as any person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. In 1985, El-Hinnawi identified a new class of persons known as 'environmental refugees'. He defined environmental refugees as "those people who have been forced to leave their traditional habitat, temporarily or permanently, because of a marked environmental disruption (natural and/or triggered by people) that jeopardized their existence and/or seriously affected the quality of their life."

This note seeks to understand whether highlighting environmental damage and degradation as a single cause of migration, or as a single consequence of migration, has any benefit. The term 'environmental refugee' will be examined from a legal perspective and from an environmental perspective. It will be asked whether the issue of environmental refugees is an environmental problem or a legal problem. The answer, that it is an environmental problem, will account for much of the confusion stemming from the term in international law. Finally, it will be asked whether highlighting environmental refugees, if not of benefit to the displaced persons, is of benefit to the environment.


Crop residues from agricultural field crops represent a potential source of vegetative (cellulosic) matter to be used in ethanol production. Crop residues may be particularly attractive if technologies for producing cellulosic ethanol become viable before dedicated crops, such as switchgrass, are commercially available. However, crop residues are not "free goods"—they provide soil nutrients and organic matter and help control erosion and retain moisture on cropland. Thus, the costs of shifting from production of corn-based ethanol to production of cellulosic ethanol from crop residues may offset the benefits. The Federal renewable fuel standards (RFS) call for annual U.S. production of 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol and 3 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol in 2015 (see "Full Throttle U.S. Ethanol Expansion Faces Challenges Down the Road," September 2009 Amber Waves). ERS estimated the landuse and resource effects if the U.S. produced 12 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol and 6 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol from crop residue rather than the RFS target amounts. This scenario is not a projection, but serves to illustrate the tradeoffs between corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol that may be faced as economically viable cellulosic technologies emerge. Under this scenario, total U.S. crop acreage would decline as cellulosic ethanol production displaces corn-based ethanol production. However, the aggregate environmental benefits of the shift may be smaller than expected because additional fertilizer would be applied to cropland to replace the nutrients removed with the harvested residue. The environmental effects of changes in planted acreage and crop mix would vary by region. With cellulosic production displacing 3 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol, nitrogen runoff to surface water would be reduced, while nitrogen leaching to groundwater would increase. Total nitrogen use would decrease in most regions, although a large increase would be expected in the Corn Belt due to the additional fertilizer needed to offset residue harvest and the small reduction in corn acres planted relative to that of the rest of the country. The study's findings suggest, however, that crop residue harvest accompanied by changes in rotation and tillage management regimes could contribute to a net reduction in soil erosion. If cellulosic production displaces corn ethanol, acres planted to continuous corn would likely decline, particularly in the Corn Belt, while the use of no-till systems would expand. Wider adoption of no-till would be driven by the economic value of crop residues, as more can be harvested from no-till systems, which also reduce soil erosion.


Flashy Feathers Feather colors play key roles in the lives of birds, functioning in everything from camouflage, to thermoregulation, to sexual signaling. Much recent research has revealed that some dinosaurs also had feathers, and examination of feather components in fossil and preserved feathers has begun to reveal how feather color may have played a role in the lives of these dinosaurs. Li et al. (p. 1215) compared the characteristics of the melanosomes of the paravian dinosaur Microraptor to those found in extant birds, which suggest that its feathers were black and iridescent. The existence of this subtle color reflectance, together with morphological aspects of the feathered tail, suggests an important role for signaling in the early evolution of feathers. Iridescence in the feathers of a feathered dinosaur suggests an early role for feathers in ornamental display and signaling. Iridescent feather colors involved in displays of many extant birds are produced by nanoscale arrays of melanin-containing organelles (melanosomes). Data relevant to the evolution of these colors and the properties of melanosomes involved in their generation have been limited. A data set sampling variables of extant avian melanosomes reveals that those forming most iridescent arrays are distinctly narrow. Quantitative comparison of these data with melanosome imprints densely sampled from a previously unknown specimen of the Early Cretaceous feathered Microraptor predicts that its plumage was predominantly iridescent. The capacity for simple iridescent arrays is thus minimally inferred in paravian dinosaurs. This finding and estimation of Microraptor feathering consistent with an ornamental function for the tail suggest a centrality for signaling in early evolution of plumage and feather color.


This article explores the relation between nanotechnology and the public in India. Nanotechnology is expected to have far-reaching consequences for developing countries and India has been particularly active in supporting the technology. This article contributes to the emerging literature on nanotechnology and the public by using a concept of the public that diverges from conventional accounts. Rather than assuming the public view coincides with the average opinion of the population of a certain territory, this article uses a concept of the public that was developed by the pragmatist philosopher, John Dewey, who defines the public in relation to the issue at hand. As an experiment, this article empirically studies the views of issue-based publics by analyzing the nanotechnology coverage of the Times of India. A total of 273 articles were identified between 2000 until 2010. The findings suggest that the main issue is the concern of missing out on the benefits of nanotechnology, in particular for various social groups in India and for the country itself. The view of the issue-based public is that more care is required for the positive consequences of nanotechnology to land in India.


Information disclosure can reduce information
asymmetry between health care providers and patients, thus improving both
patient safety and medical quality. The National Bureau of Health Insurance
(NBHI) inTaiwancurrently publishes health-related information online in order to enhance
service efficiency and enable the public to monitor the country's medical
system. A data mining technique, classification and regression tree (CART), is
used in this work to investigate online public quality information to compare
the characteristics of hospital. The hospital quality indicators and
characteristics data are available on the websites of the NBHI
 (http://www.nhi.gov.tw/AmountInfoWeb/Index.aspx)
and the Department of Health
 (http://www.doh.gov.tw/). The full
classification and regression tree presented in this work, grown using the
hospitals' quality medical indicators and characteristic values, classifies all
hospitals into seven groups. The rate of stays longer than 30 days, which is
the dependent variable in this study, is most influenced by the number of
medical staff. This reflects the fact that the fewer medical staffs that are
employed, the smaller the hospital is, and patients who are likely to have
longer stays tend to go to the medium or large hospitals. Policy makers should
work to decrease or eliminate persistent healthcare disparities among
different socioeconomic groups and offer more online healthrelated services to
reduce information asymmetry between health care providers and patients.


The proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (Pyk2) was first identified as a key kinase linked to the MAP kinase and JNK signaling pathways that play important roles in cell growth and adhesion. The linkage between Pyk2 and the androgen receptor (AR), an important transcription factor in prostate cancer progression, however, remains unclear. Here we report that using the full-length androgen receptor-associated protein, ARA55, coregulator as bait, we were able to isolate an ARA55-interacting protein, Pyk2, and demonstrated that Pyk2 could repress AR transactivation via inactivation of ARA55. This inactivation may result from the direct phosphorylation of ARA55 by Pyk2 at tyrosine 43, impairing the coactivator activity of ARA55 and/or sequestering ARA55 to reduce its interaction with AR. Our finding that Pyk2 can indirectly modulate AR function via interaction and/or phosphorylation of ARA55 not only expands the role of Pyk2 in AR-mediated prostate cancer growth but also strengthens the role of ARA55 as an AR coregulator.


Many firms that produce expert product reviews have a vested interest in increased consumption of the products they review. The classic example is the Michelin Guide, which reviews restaurants, originally conceived to stimulate usage of automobiles and therefore also demand for automobile-related goods and services. The result is a conflict of interest; such firms have financial incentive to give better reviews than products merit. I compare video game reviews from two sources: one a video game magazine owned by a game retailer and the other a game website that does not sell games. The goal of the research is to evaluate to what extent, if any, the retailer-owned outlet inflates its reviews in order to boost sales. Results show no evidence of seasonal or cyclical effects. However, there is some evidence of increased inflation in periods shortly following the release of a game's corresponding piece of hardware. Other literature on this industry finds that reviews have the largest effect on the sales of low-quality games, and I find evidence of review inflation for these games. These results are consistent with theoretical predictions for a firm that optimizes the trade-off between sales revenue and the reputational costs associated with biasing reviews.


Although it is commonly understood that the average U.S. new vehicle buyer ranks price and safety above environmental attributes, a stated ranking of one shopping criterion above another is not necessarily maintained when consumers make an actual purchase decision. In fact, the distribution of shopping criteria rankings is not well understood, and it is unclear how rankings translate to the attributes of purchased vehicles. This raises several related questions: What is the distribution of shopping criteria rankings across the U.S. and how do they differ among demographic groups and purchasers of different vehicle fuel types or body styles? How do consumers weigh their purchase criteria? How does the environmental impact of a vehicle rank as a purchase criterion for U.S. new vehicle buyers, and its importance differ among gender, age, or income groups? Do purchase criteria differ for consumers who state that they value the environment? Is a consumer's shopping criteria ranking of environmental attributes reflected in the vehicles they consider and ultimately purchase? We explore these issues using data from an extensive survey of new vehicle buyers in 2014, 2015, and 2016 (approximately 250,000 respondents per year). We broadly find the environmental criterion outranked by preference for safety and performance, but different patterns emerge across groups defined by household income, purchased vehicle fuel type, and other measures of respondent attitude toward the environment. Stated preferences for environmental attributes align with higher fuel economy and greater likelihood of electric or hybrid fuel type within considered and purchased vehicles.


For years, eggs have been held up as a powerhouse of nutrition. This reputation has been due to eggs' exceptional nutrition profile as a nutrient-dense food containing high quality protein and a substantial amount of many essential vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately their position on the nutrition pedestal fell with the discovery that they are also a source of dietary cholesterol. The most recent scientific research not only returns eggs to their golden past, but elevates their position as a functional food and ultimately provides more reasons than ever to consume eggs. In February 2000, scientists convened at a conference in Amelia Island, Florida, to discuss the latest research about the role of eggs in disease prevention and the promotion of health. This supplement of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (JACN)presents compelling scientific evidence about eggs' functional food attributes, reaffirms that eggs have a minimal effect on blood cholesterol levels and presents new research on the contribution of eggs to the American diet. For health professionals, this issue provides a new scientifically based viewpoint on eggs and their role in health and nutrition, a viewpoint that should be imparted to all consumers in an effort to ensure optimal health and well-being.


Recent work establishes that ultrathin, stretchable sensors can enable high precision thermal characterization of the skin, with capabilities for spatial mapping, in forms that avoid irritation, thermal or mechanical loads on natural behaviors, or motion artifacts. The results have potential for use in cardiovascular screening, skin hydration sensing, and local skin heating and thermal therapy. A theoretical framework for understanding the thermal behavior of these types of sensors is critically important for interpreting the data and identifying optimized designs. This paper presents an analytical model, validated by the finite element method and experiments, for this purpose. The sensor temperature is obtained analytically in terms of material and geometric parameters. A scaling law for the sensor response time shows that the normalized time depends only on the normalized sensor location and normalized thermal properties. A simple, analytic formula for the response at long times is also obtained. The results provide strategies for reducing the sensor response time and thereby for improving the device performance.


Tn5-tagged invasion plasmid DNA (pWR110) from Shigella flexneri serotype 5 (strain M90T) was cloned into the expression vector lambda gt11. Recombinant phage (lambda gt11Sfl) expressing pWR110-encoded polypeptide antigens were identified by using rabbit antisera directed against S. flexneri M90T invasion plasmid antigens. Antigens encoded by lambda gt11Sfl recombinant phage were characterized by reacting affinity-purified antibodies, eluted from nitrocellulose-bound plaques of lambda gt11Sfl recombinants, with virulent, wild-type S. flexneri M90T polypeptides in Western blot analyses. lambda gt11Sfl clones directing the synthesis of complete, truncated, and beta-galactosidase fusion versions of three previously identified outer membrane polypeptides (57-, 43-, and 39-kilodalton [kDa] antigens) were isolated. A fourth polypeptide, similar in size to the 57-kDa antigen (ca. 58 kDa) but unrelated as determined by DNA homology and serological measurements, was also identified. Southern blot analysis of S. flexneri M90T invasion plasmid DNA hybridized with lambda gt11Sfl insert DNA probes was used to construct a map of invasion plasmid antigen genes (ipa) corresponding to the 57-kDa (ipaB), 43-kDa (ipaC), and 39-kDa (ipaD) polypeptides. Genes ipaB, ipaC and ipaD mapped to contiguous 4.6-kilobase (kb) and 1.0-kb HindIII fragments contained within a larger (23-kb) BamHI fragment. The ipaH gene, which encodes the synthesis of the 58-kDa polypeptide, did not map in or near the ipaBCD gene cluster, suggesting a distinct location of ipaH on the invasion plasmid.


The most sustained U.S. tax policy debate of the past 30 years concerns proposals to replace and/ or supplement the Federal Income Tax with a consumption tax. Public finance economists and legal tax policy scholars challenged and defended the current income tax system on grounds of fairness, efficiency, and simplicity. This debate over revamping the national taxing scheme has not been argued purely in the academic forum. Concrete legislative proposals have been advanced for a national retail sales tax, a European-style Value Added Tax, as well as a whole host of what David Bradford calls "the two-tiered consumption taxes." From early on, a characteristic of this debate has been the marginalization of practical questions about the "fit" of these proposals both internationally and sub-nationally. The advocates of change tend to narrow their focus. Although great efforts are devoted to gathering intellectual support from economic theorists and political philosophers, much less effort is expended to demonstrate system-wide (local-state-federal) tax harmony. As a result, proposals tend to be stand-alone (federal-only) propositions. The theoretical analysis in supports a federal consumption tax therefore tends to consider things from the "top-down," rather than the "bottom-up." Integrated legislative proposals that work to maximize the "administrative fit" of a federal level consumption tax with existing sub-national consumption taxes are rare. This proposal for the US adoption of a D-VAT is intended as an administrative supplement to proposals for a European-style, destination based, credit-invoice VAT. As drafted, it is not concerned with achieving revenue neutrality, a concern of the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, nor is it concerned with the issue of revenue generation sufficient to allow the replacement of all or part of the federal income tax system, as has been a staple argument in the consumption tax debate over the past decades. This proposal for a D-VAT does not disagree with the VAT proposals advanced by Professor Graetz and Avi-Yonah, or with those proposed in Congress by Senator Hollings. What it does suggest is that if the US is contemplating going in the direction of a national consumption tax, and if that direction is for a VAT, then the administrative design should be an intensely digital one. The intent is to focus attention on the opportunity that the US has to design a truly modern VAT, one that will not only achieve the self-enforcing promise of the earliest advocates of this tax, but one that will re-enforce the diversity of tax design that has been a hallmark of American fiscal federalism. The D-VAT provides a mechanism for achieving the broadest possible consumption tax base. The D-VAT Card provides a surgical answer to tax regressivity. The D-VAT Card (considered separately in XXXXX) is a mechanism for immediate, point-of-sale relief to those determined to be in greatest need. These are opportunities that the US should not miss out on, if a national VAT is in the future.


Macrophages in the vessel wall secrete high levels of apolipoprotein E (apoE). Cholesterol efflux from macrophages to apoE has been shown to decrease foam cell formation and prevent atherosclerosis. An apoE molecule can mediate cholesterol efflux from the macrophage that originally secreted it (autocrine effect) or from surrounding macrophages (paracrine effect). Traditional methodologies have not been able to separate these serial effects. The novel methodology presented here was developed to separate autocrine and paracrine effects by using a simple mathematical model to interpret the effects of dilution on apoE-mediated cholesterol efflux. Our results show that, at very dilute concentrations, the paracrine effect of apoE is not evident and the autocrine effect becomes the dominant mediator of efflux. However, at saturating concentrations, paracrine apoE causes 80-90% of the apoE-mediated cholesterol efflux, whereas autocrine apoE is responsible for the remaining 10-20%. These results suggest that the relative importance of autocrine and paracrine apoE depends on the size of the local distribution volume, a factor not considered in previous in vitro studies of apoE function. Furthermore, autocrine effects of apoE could be critical in the prevention of foam cell formation in vivo. This novel methodology may be applicable to other types of mixed autocrine/paracrine systems, such as signal transduction systems.


This introduction to Open Education (OE) gives practical guidance on the design and delivery of OE courses while wrestling with theoretical considerations of this new and emerging domain. Educators are the main targets, but it will also be relevant to policy makers, senior education managers and the learning industry as a whole.
The book draws from three sources: first from well-established online learning ecosystems, including Open Source Software communities; second from existing Open Courses in traditional formal education and related design models such as the Meta-design framework (Fischer, 2007); and third from EU funded research and pilot projects: FLOSSCom (2006-2008), openSE (2009-2011) and openED (2009-2012).


E-learning is a cultural artifact and thus, is embedded with the cultural preferences, learning styles, and values of the designing culture, usually western. Yet, the largest and fastest growing groups of learners are in eastern cultures. Cultural differences should not create barriers to learning, understanding, skill development, or the time and effort it takes to acquire them. Cases on Globalized and Culturally Appropriate E-Learning: Challenges and Solutions offers a multitude of cases illustrating the different challenges faced when offering e-learning to learners of other cultures and, most importantly, how they were resolved. This cutting-edge publication shares contemporary knowledge on how to adapt or develop e-learning that promotes equitable learning outcomes for targeted learners by addressing interdependent disciplines. It is a must-have reference source for organizations with an outsourced workforce, global trainers, educators, and faculty, instructional designers and e-learning developers, translation and localization experts, international development agencies, open courseware advocates, and promoters of reusable learning objects.


The growth of the Internet and database technologies have raised questions about the analysis storage and use of user's inputted data. The growth in the use of virtual companies (i.e. a company that does not have a physical footprint and exists mainly online) have introduced new elements of trust and risk. The purpose of this research study was to understand Irish consumer attitude toward on-line personal information requests, comfort and willingness to disclose information, the attitude toward the storage of the information, and to establish consumer knowledge as to their rights in relation to information storage and distribution. The research was undertaken using a positivist, quantitative approach, using a questionnaire conducted face-to-face, in selected cities and towns of various sizes around the south-east of Ireland to ensure a varied demographic.

The findings revealed that Internet usage is high, with over 80% of the respondents using the Internet daily or weekly. 67.7% of the respondents who used the Internet had shopped on the virtual sites featured in the study, Amazon, Ryanair and Ticketmaster. The length of time respondents had been using the Internet, and the frequency of their use had an impact on their comfort levels when asked for information not related to their transaction. The longer and more frequently the respondent had used the Internet, the less comfortable they were in disclosing this information. Comfort levels in disclosing information were also impacted by the type of information requested, some service quality dimensions of the website, presentation elements and the virtual firms' reputation. Privacy policies had little impact on comfort levels when disclosing personal information, just 30.6% of respondents had read a privacy policy. Respondents who had read a privacy policy indicated they were not easy to read or understand, and they did not always read one before using a website. Comfort levels and the beliefs expressed about use of information by companies suggest there is a consistent lack of consumer knowledge about the storage and use of personal information once it is disclosed.


The book serves as a first introduction to computer programming of scientific applications, using the high-level Python language. The exposition is example- and problem-oriented, where the applications are taken from mathematics, numerical calculus, statistics, physics, biology, and finance. The book teaches "Matlab-style" and procedural programming as well as object-oriented programming. High school mathematics is a required background, and it is advantageous to study classical and numerical one-variable calculus in parallel with reading this book. Besides learning how to program computers, the reader will also learn how to solve mathematical problems, arising in various branches of science and engineering, with the aid of numerical methods and programming. By blending programming, mathematics and scientific applications, the book lays a solid foundation for practicing computational science.


t h e O R A L A N D t h e W R It t e N Although the interrelationship between oral (or performing) and written traditions in Chinese popular literature is an issue that concerns practically everybody who reads or teaches Chinese literature, surprisingly it has never been properly treated in a scholarly forum before. For that reason alone, this volume is especially important and deserves serious consideration from scholars and students in the field. Through subjects ranging from Ming vernacular fiction to popular prints and contemporary storytelling and folk ballads, this volume examines the interplay of oral and written traditions in China from interdisciplinary perspectives. Literary criticism, linguistic analysis, fieldwork, folklore studies, and the exploration of visual sources all bring out vital perspectives on central questions. Exploring the traditions of professional storytelling and popular entertainment literature in China, the authors offer enquiries into new material and give astonishing responses to old controversies. In going beyond the simple binary oral versus written, the essays in this volume ask not whether a text bears a relationship to the oral tradition but how and to what extent. Written by contributors well versed in their subject, these essays are highly scholarly and analytical treatments of the issues. Through their more detailed knowledge about Chinese verbal art in performance, or first-hand understanding of living traditions, the authors provide fresh insights to the understanding of how the oral and the written interact.


Hurston's novel is groundbreaking due to the use of a black female protagonist who is on a journey to self-realisation in a time when black women in literature were portrayed as gentle and domestic. The purpose of this essay is to explore the gender conflicts in the characterization of the characters, especially the female protagonist, and in the logic of the narrative in regard to gender roles and abuse of women. Analysing the novel through a twenty-first-century Scandinavian feminist viewpoint shows that the major gender conflict in the novel resides in the tension between the traditional patriarchal roles for men and women and the more liberal view on how the two sexes should live their lives. The reason is the internalised patriarchal norms in both the protagonist and the narrative as a whole. Hurston uses third-person narration and free indirect discourse, which contributes to the complexity of the characters as well as to the gender conflict in the narrative. The protagonist enters three marriages with three men who stand for three different lives and different views of the masculine role. However, they all aim to be a ruling patriarch. Janie develops through her experiences in these relationships, though not always acting as an emanicipated woman. In all of Janie's relationships abuse is present whether it is physical or emotional. Both Janie and the narrative accept or condone the abuse to some extent. Only when it becomes physical does the reader see any indications that the logic of the narrative or Janie wants to release her from the destructive relationships. The heroine is by no means weak or fragile. She is however, a patriarchal woman who has internalised the belief that men are the rulers of women.


As Japan's newfound economic power leads to increased political power, there is concern that Japan may be turning East Asia into a regional economic bloc to rival the U.S. and Europe. In Regionalism and Rivalry , leading economists and political scientists address this concern by looking at three central questions: Is Japan forming a trading bloc in Pacific Asia? Does Japan use foreign direct investment in Southeast Asia to achieve national goals? Does Japan possess the leadership qualities necessary for a nation assuming greater political responsibility in international affairs? The authors contend that although intraregional trade in East Asia is growing rapidly, a trade bloc is not necessarily forming. They show that the trade increase can be explained entirely by factors independent of discriminatory trading arrangements, such as the rapid growth of East Asian economies. Other chapters look in detail at cases of Japanese direct investment in Southeast Asia and find little evidence of attempts by Japan to use the power of its multinational corporations for political purposes. A third group of papers attempt to gauge Japan's leadership characteristics. They focus on Japan's "technology ideology," its contributions to international public goods, international monetary cooperation, and economic liberalization in East Asia.


Transcription activators can recruit the histone acetyltransferase (HAT) complexes SAGA and NuA4 to stimulate transcription from chromatin-assembled DNA templates, but the mechanism for targeting these complexes to promoters is unclear. Brown et al. now demonstrate that acidic activators interact with Tra1p, a subunit that is found in both of these complexes; hence, Tra1p is likely to be an essential component involved in the recruitment of HAT to promoters for the modification of histones. C. E. Brown, L. Howe, K. Sousa, S. C. Alley, M. J. Carrozza, S. Tan, J. L. Workman, Recruitment of HAT complexes by direct activator interactions with the ATM-related Tra1 subunit. Science 292, 2333-2337 (2001). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Monocytes have been recognized as fundamental components of the immune system. These cells belong to the mononuclear phagocytic system, which includes monocytes, tissue macrophages, and myeloid dendritic cells. Adhesion, chemotaxis, phagocytosis, intracellular killing, and secretion of cytokines and other biologically active molecules constitute the major functions of monocytes. Studies of the regulation of monocyte development and differentiation have yielded insights into the heterogeneity of these cells. This article examines functional and biochemical characteristics of monocytes (and to lesser extent macrophages), with particular emphasis on the neonatal period, and discusses functional discrepancies in relation to adult cells. Experimental data suggest impaired phagocytosis and killing of group B streptococci by neonatal monocytes. In addition, chemotactic activity in the neonate is hindered. On the other hand, the major immune defect of macrophages results from a defect of T-helper cells and natural killer cells to produce adequate amounts of proinflammatory cytokines coupled with a marked hyporesponsiveness of macrophages to activation by interferon-gamma. Recent research also suggests that impaired toll-like receptor-4-mediated signaling in lipopolysaccharide-exposed newborn monocytes result in immature responses to pathogen-associated molecular patterns expressed by the microorganisms.


This paper proposes a new method for estimating human crowd densities from aerial imagery. Applications benefiting from an accurate crowd monitoring system are mainly found in the security sector. Normally crowd density estimation is done through in-situ camera systems mounted on high locations although this is not appropriate in case of very large crowds with thousands of people. Using airborne camera systems in these scenarios is a new research topic. Our method uses a preliminary filtering of the whole image space by suitable and fast interest point detection resulting in a number of image regions, possibly containing human crowds. Validation of these candidates is done by transforming the corresponding image patches into a low-dimensional and discriminative feature space and classifying the results using a support vector machine (SVM). The feature space is spanned by texture features computed by applying a Gabor filter bank with varying scale and orientation to the image patches. For evaluation, we use 5 different image datasets acquired by the 3K+ aerial camera system of the German Aerospace Center during real mass events like concerts or football games. To evaluate the robustness and generality of our method, these datasets are taken from different flight heights between 800 m and 1500 m above ground (keeping a fixed focal length) and varying daylight and shadow conditions. The results of our crowd density estimation are evaluated against a reference data set obtained by manually labeling tens of thousands individual persons in the corresponding datasets and show that our method is able to estimate human crowd densities in challenging realistic scenarios.


The olfactory bulb, neocortex and archicortex arise from a common pool of progenitors in the dorsal telencephalon. We studied the consequences of supplying excess Notch1 signal in vivo on the cellular and regional destinies of telencephalic precursors using bicistronic replication defective retroviruses. After ventricular injections mid-neurogenesis (E14.5), activated Notch1 retrovirus markedly inhibited the generation of neurons from telencephalic precursors, delayed the emergence of cells from the subventricular zone (SVZ), and produced an augmentation of glial progeny in the neo- and archicortex. However, activated Notch1 had a distinct effect on the progenitors of the olfactory bulb, markedly reducing the numbers of cells of any type that migrated there. To elucidate the mechanism of the cell fate changes elicited by Notch1 signals in the cortical regions, short- and long-term cultures of E14.5 telencephalic progenitors were examined. These studies reveal that activated Notch1 elicits a cessation of proliferation that coincides with an inhibition of the generation of neurons. Later, during gliogenesis, activated Notch1 triggers a rapid cellular proliferation with a significant increase in the generation of cells expressing GFAP. To examine the generation of cells destined for the olfactory bulb, we used stereotaxic injections into the early postnatal anterior subventricular zone (SVZa). We observed that precursors of the olfactory bulb responded to Notch signals by remaining quiescent and failing to give rise to differentiated progeny of any type, unlike cortical precursor cells, which generated glia instead of neurons. These data show that forebrain precursors vary in their response to Notch signals according to spatial and temporal cues, and that Notch signals influence the composition of forebrain regions by modulating the rate of proliferation of neural precursor cells.


The purpose of this study was to identify morphological, physiological, and biochemical changes in Vitis genotypes in response to photoperiod regimes. Experiments were conducted under greenhouse conditions using cold-sensitive Cabernet franc (Vitis vinifera) and cold-tolerant Couderc 3309 (3309C, V. riparia × V. rupestris) and Concord (V. labruscana). Potted vines were exposed to short day (SD) (8 hr) or long day (LD) (16 hr) for 4, 6, and 8 weeks. Shoot growth, periderm formation, dormancy, freezing tolerance (lethal temperature that kills 50% of primary buds: LT50), and soluble sugar concentrations in leaf and bud tissues were examined. Shoot growth slowed in all cultivars under SD accompanied with increased periderm formation and dormancy depth. Concord initiated these changes first, followed by 3309C, then Cabernet franc. The three cultivars did not show differences in freezing tolerance under LD, with LT50 ranging between −6.1 and −8.1°C. However, freezing tolerance increased by 0.7, 2.0, and 2.7°C after 4, 6, and 8 weeks under SD, respectively. Freezing tolerance of Concord increased after 4 weeks of SD treatment, whereas that of 3309C and Cabernet franc did not increase until after 6 weeks of SD treatment. Among all sugars, raffinose had distinctive responses associated with photoperiod, remaining low and similar (0.5 to 2.3 mg/g dry weight) under LD. Under SD, raffinose concentration was generally higher, ranging from 2.2 to 5.7 mg/g dry weight in leaves and 1.6 to 3.7 mg/g dry weight in buds, with cold-tolerant 3309C and Concord accumulating higher concentrations compared to cold-sensitive Cabernet franc. These results suggest that raffinose accumulation might be an early step in response to photoperiod coinciding with slowed shoot growth, the induction of endodormancy, and the initial acquisition of freezing tolerance.


This investigation examines how consumers perceive and experience predatory lenders. Findings reveal that industry practices are carried out to the detriment of persons typically defined as "vulnerable," such as elderly, impoverished, and African American consumers. Using a series of personal interviews with a geographically diverse set of respondents, data reveal thematic categories that include the friendly veneer, the rules of engagement, and an aggressive response, which capture the nuances of this exchange relationship from the perspective of these unwitting consumers. The closing section provides implications for scholars and regulators seeking workable solutions to limit additional financial exploitation. ********** In her essay on marketing practices, Consumers Union President Rhoda Karpatkin (1999) called for the transformation of exchange relationships between several industries and impoverished consumers in order to advance a "fair and just marketplace." One practice singled out in her treatise was predatory lending by banks and subprime financial institutions. The purpose of this research is to highlight predatory lending practices in the mortgage market. Predatory lending is defined as consumer loans with any or all of the following characteristics: aggressive and deceptive marketing, lack of concern for the borrower's ability to pay, high interest rates and excessive fees, unnecessary provisions that do not benefit the borrower (e.g., balloon payments or single-premium credit life insurance), large prepayment penalties, or faulty underwriting (Carr and Kolluri 2001; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 2006). Such abuses occur with institutions such as consumer finance companies, banks, and mortgage brokers. These lenders cater to low-income, high-risk consumers who may have difficulty obtaining traditional mortgage credit. The practice of predatory lending is conceptually different from that of subprime lending, defined as lending to borrowers with poor credit histories, payment delinquencies, and in some cases charge-offs and bankruptcies (Carr and Kolipuri 2001). Responsible subprime lending is cited as having positive consumer benefits including expanding credit access. Proponents of the industry have cited an increase in home ownership and borrowing equity as positive contributions (Elliehausen and Staten 2004). However, consumer activists have noted frequent abuses and recommended more vigilance and legislative solutions by policy makers. Along with high rates and added fees, predatory companies have been charged with frequent flipping of loans (i.e., refinancing an existing loan with little additional money advanced to the consumer while charging additional points and fees) that results in "equity stripping" and an increased risk of foreclosure (Consumers Union 1998; Elliehausen and Staten 2004). These practices are carried out to the detriment of populations typically defined as "vulnerable," such as elderly, poor, and African American consumers (Karpatkin 1999). For example, data released by the Federal Reserve under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act showed racial and income differences in subprime lending practices. According to the data, African Americans were two to three times more likely than whites to receive higher-priced home loans in 2004 (Avery, Canner, and Cook 2005; Zindler 2005). A joint study by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (2000) reported that 51% of the loans made in predominantly African American neighborhoods were made by subprime lenders versus 9% in predominantly white neighborhoods. Calem, Gillen, and Wachter (2004) reported similar results in an analysis of the Philadelphia and Chicago metropolitan markets. Even after accounting for a series of explanatory variables that included credit risk, the authors found a strong geographic concentration of subprime lending in neighborhoods that were primarily African American. …


The field of spatially referenced information systems (SRIS) is currently in full expansion. The principal reasons are undoubtedly the increasingly acute problems encountered by man to manage his environment and the growing availability of high-performance information systems. Territorial managers – engineers, planners, geographers, etc. – are among the main people interested in the availability of abundant, reliable information sources concerning territory. Methods and tools permitting the best use of these information sources according to their needs are also necessary. The goal of this thesis is to define a methodological, organizational and technological framework which allows territorial managers to integrate SRIS for their respective applications in an efficient and coherent manner. Three themes make up the core of the study: modeling of treatments applied to localized data in the specialized fields of SRIS utilization; modeling of localized data in the specialized fields of SRIS utilization; definition of an organizational context of systems which process information relative to a given territory. The solutions brought to these three themes all refer to elements of modeling theory, which is the subject of a preliminary chapter. The principal results of this thesis are the following: A model of decision making system is proposed, relevant for the description of systems with the goal of producing decisions. A classification of treatments applied to localized data is proposed, which calls upon new notions such as: spatial references, within which the measure of the location of spatially referenced objects is of homogeneous nature and quality; spatial models; topology, for which the traditional perception in the SRIS field is re-examined. A few semantic enrichments are brought to the formalisms used to describe the structure of spatially referenced data. An organizational model of systems which manage and process information relative to a given territory is proposed. This model is based on a federated organization of SRIS established by partners involved in territorial management. The relevance of the proposed theoretical framework is finally demonstrated for a few fields specialized in SRIS utilization: urban engineering, particularly urban drainage, which served as the guiding thread for this study; land planning and improvements; road maintenance management; geographic statistical analysis; cartography.


Objective of this study is to examine physicians' practices regarding information disclosure to terminally ill patients and to their relatives, without informing the patient. A questionnaire had been sent to a random sample of 3014 Belgian physicians from different specialties frequently involved in end-of-life care. Responses were analysed using weighted percentages, Chi-square, Mann–Whitney U-tests and a multivariate ordinal logistic regression. Response rate was 58%. Both clinical specialists and general practitioners (GPs) discuss most topics related to terminal illness with their patients except end-of-life hastening options, spirituality, life expectancy and options to withhold/withdraw life-sustaining treatment. The topics which most physicians always discuss with relatives without informing the patient are the aim of treatment, palliative care and incurability. There is a significant difference between clinical specialists and GPs. Clinical specialists and GPs discuss most end-of-life topics with the patient but omit important issues such as end-of-life hastening options and life-expectancy.


DNA microarrays are capable of measuring expression levels of thousands of genes, even the whole genome, in a single experiment. Based on this, they have been widely used to extend the studies of cancerous tissues to a genomic level. One of the main goals in DNA microarray experiments is to identify a set of relevant genes such that the desired outputs of the experiment mostly depend on this set, to the exclusion of the rest of the genes. This is motivated by the fact that the biological process in cell typically involves only a subset of genes, and not the whole genome. The task of selecting a subset of relevant genes is called feature (gene) selection. Herein, we propose a feature selection algorithm for gene expression data. It is based on the Hilbert-Schmidt independence criterion, and partly motivated by Rank-One Downdate (R1D) and the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). The algorithm is computationally very fast and scalable to large data sets, and can be applied to response variables of arbitrary type (categorical and continuous). Experimental results of the proposed technique are presented on some synthetic and well-known microarray data sets. Later, we discuss the capability of HSIC in providing a general framework which encapsulates many widely used techniques for dimensionality reduction, clustering and metric learning. We will use this framework to explain two metric learning algorithms, namely the Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA) and closed form metric learning (CFML). As a result of this framework, we are able to propose a new metric learning method. The proposed technique uses the concepts from normalized cut spectral clustering and is associated with an underlying convex optimization problem.


In the first comparative study of multidimensional government-citizen policy congruence, this article shows that citizens are less satisfied with democracy when their views differ from that of the government on policy dimensions beyond the general left-right axis. Satisfaction is reduced by a government that deviates on European integration and redistribution and partly also on social lifestyle, immigration and environmental protection. Furthermore, this analysis identifies the level of political interest as central moderator of this relationship. Satisfaction of citizens with stronger interest in politics suffers more when there is a politically distant government. Combining data from the 2010 Chapel Hill Expert Survey and two waves of the European Social Survey, the analysis builds on information on citizen-government policy congruence of some 45,000 citizens and 31 governments in 15 Western and Central Eastern European countries. The article brings a multidimensional perspective to the study of policy congruence between citizens and governments in a time when the preference structure of parties and citizens has become increasingly complex.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

The heart is a critical dose-limiting organ during radiotherapy. In patients treated for breast cancer or Hodgkin's disease, regions of the heart can receive radiation doses in excess of 40 Gy. More recently, epidemiological and clinical studies suggested that even moderate to low radiation doses increase the risk of cardiovascular disease that can present years after the initial exposure. Radiation can cause cardiac microvascular damage but the mechanisms of pathogenesis of radiation-induced heart disease have not been clearly defined. Cardiac injury triggers repair processes in the myocardium requiring neovascularisation. Here, we investigated latent effects of ionizing radiation on angiogenic responses in the mouse heart. We also assessed the effects of radiation on cardiac endothelial responses and angiogenesis in vitro. The hearts of C57BL/6 and ApoE-/- mice were locally irradiated with 0.2 to 16 Gy and animals were sacrificed at 20, 40 and 60 weeks post-irradiation. Formation of angiogenic sprouts was assessed in ventricular heart explants embedded in fibrin gels. The angiogenic capacity of irradiated hearts was also assessed through a novel fibroblast-endothelial "self-assembling assay" we developed. Mouse hearts were enzymatically digested into a single cell suspension and cultured for 10 days. Within 5 to 7 days, endothelial cells began to form capillary-like structures surrounded by fibroblasts and pericytes, modeling the angiogenic process. Cardiac endothelial cells were also irradiated in vitro and effects on migration and capillary-tube formation on a fibroblast bed were established. Radiation caused a dose-dependent inhibition of endothelial sprout formation in explants from both mouse models. Significant changes were observed at 8 and 16 Gy after 20 weeks and at ≥2 Gy after 40 or 60 weeks post irradiation. Irradiation also significantly reduced the adherence and growth of extracted cardiac cells and inhibited the quantity and quality of the capillary-like structures formed in the "self-assembling" model. In vitro, irradiation (≥0.2 Gy) inhibited the migration of cardiac endothelial cells in scratch wound assays and capillary-like formation on a fibroblast bed. Our data show that radiation causes persistent and progressive vascular damage and suppresses angiogenic activity in the heart. Angiogenesis was inhibited at doses likely to be delivered during thoracic radiation in cancer patients. Impairment of the angiogenic response could lead to further ischemia and degeneration in the myocardium and contribute to the development of heart disease.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5723. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-5723


Objective: This study was undertaken to determine whether short term bladder catheterization would be more beneficial than the routinely practiced long term catheterization after vaginal hysterectomy for prolapsed uterus. Materials and methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted in Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Dhaka National Medical College Hospital from January 2009 to January 2011. A total of 106 women were included in this study. They were randomized into short term catheterization group where transurethral catheter was removed after 24 hours of surgery and long term catheterization group where catheter was removed on 3 rd post operative day. Result: Mean time of first voiding after removal of catheter was almost equal in both groups (2.82±1.42 hours and 2.74±1.52 hours). Duration of catheter did not affect the duration of first voiding time after removal of catheter (P>0.05). None of the women had residual volume of urine >200 ml in both groups. Mean residual volume is significantly high in long term catheterization group (P<0.05). Urinary tract infection was also significantly high in long term catheterization group (P<0.05) and majority of the infection were caused by E. coli. Conclusion: Short term catheterization is more beneficial in terms of lower incidence of urinary tract infection and prevention of bladder over filling as compared to long term catheterization after vaginal prolapsed surgery. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jdnmch.v18i2.16012 J. Dhaka National Med. Coll. Hos. 2012; 18 (02): 4-8


The vast majority of U.S. international agreements today are made by the President acting alone on behalf of the United States. Little noticed and rarely discussed, the agreements are negotiated and concluded in a process almost completely hidden from outside view. No single actor is responsible for this state of affairs. It is instead the result of a deep, long-term, and largely hidden transformation. Over the course of more than a century, Congress gradually yielded power to the President to make international agreements. Each individual delegation of authority relinquished only a small measure of power, while freeing members of Congress to focus on matters that were more likely to improve their reelection prospects. But the cumulative effect over time left Congress with little power over international lawmaking. This imbalance of power over international lawmaking is inconsistent with basic principles of democratic governance. The President should be the leading actor in creating binding international legal commitments for the United States - but not the only actor. The current lawmaking process does not provide for genuine cooperation among the branches of government. Instead, a single branch of government is able to make law over an immense array of issues - including issues with significant domestic ramifications - by concluding binding international agreements. This imbalance of power not only violates democratic principles, but may even lead to less favorable and less effective international agreements.To correct this imbalance, this Article proposes a comprehensive reform statute that would normalize U.S. international lawmaking by reorganizing it around two separate tracks. International agreements that are now made by the President alone would proceed on an administrative track and would be subject to what might be called an "Administrative Procedure Act for International Law." This new process would offer greater openness, public participation, and transparency, but not overburden lawmaking. A legislative track would include two existing methods for concluding international agreements: Senate-approved Article II treaties and congressional-executive agreements expressly approved by both houses of Congress. In addition, it would include an expanded "fast track" process that would permit streamlined congressional approval of agreements. Together, these proposals promise to create a more balanced, more democratic, and more effective system for international lawmaking in the United States.


Among the vehicles in use for diazotroph inoculation, peat is considered the most-widely used in Brazil. Peat makes possible the viability of a large number of cells, at the same time protecting them from adversities found in the soil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the viability of peat inoculum developed with diazotroph bacteria and molybdenum. The bacteria BR11417 (Herbaspirillum seropedicae) and BR11340 (Burkholderia sp.) were allowed to multiply for a period of 24 hours, and a sample of 10 ml with 108 cel. mL-1 was transferred to polypropylene bags containing 35 g of peat. Two dosages and two sources of molybdenum were then added: 1.12 and 2.25 g of sodium molybdate and ammonium molybdate respectively. Inoculum with no molybdenum was used as control. With law No. 86955, Brazilian legislation specifies that commercial inoculants based on nitrogen-fixing microorganisms have minimum concentrations of 108 viable cells per gram of product at the time of use, and that viability of the cells be maintained for a period of at least six months. This study showed that without the addition of molybdenum to the inoculum, bacteria survived with a viable-cell total of about 108 cells g-1 of inoculum for a period of up to 110 days. With the addition of molybdenum, the inoculum remained viable for a period of 180 days. The application of molybdenum contributes to the increased viability of peat inoculum produced with the bacterial strains BR11417 and BR11340.


Background Sports injuries are the most common injury type in Finland. The Sports and Exercise Safety in Finland (LiVE) program started in 2006, and is financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. Objectives The aim of the program is to increase safety of sports and exercise in a nationwide setting. Methods LiVE research projects are carried out in Tampere Research Centre of Sports Medicine. Epidemiology and prevention of sports injuries are in focus on the studies. Results are spread to the field by two campaigns, Healthy Athlete (TU) and Safety in School Sports (TEKO). The target group of the TU is young athletes, their coaches and parents. The target group of the TEKO is secondary school students, their teachers and parents. LiVE program educates annually LiVE-instructors who work in different operational environments. The 1-year education is directed for coaches, physical therapists, PE teachers and PE instructors. Educated LiVE-instructors uses a four-step-approach to prevent injuries: 1) Survey in a target group, 2) Analyses and planning, 3) Implementation, and 4) Evaluation. Results Two large randomised controlled trials have been carried through. Also, numerous original studies of sports injury epidemiology have been published. Results have been spread to the field by education and communication. Today, overall 55 LiVE-instructors work in different organisations (eg, sports federations, sports clubs, schools). In addition, the program has appeared annually in about 30 different sports and school events. LiVE website has attracted 4000–6000 visitors and 40,000–60,000 hits per month. Conclusion Implementation of preventive strategies against sports injuries will result in a reduction of the number of health problems and work or school absenteeism, as well as a clear decrease in the medical costs. Essential results of the LiVE program will be expressed within five to 10 years.


The absence of contentious performance has led scholars to question the existence of social movements and to agree with the description of state-social group relations in China as state corporatism. However, defining social movement by confrontational performance is inappropriate to examine social organizing under repression regimes. Most western social movement theories assume that political space for organizing exists before the formation of social movement. My research challenges this assumption by extending the concept of political opportunity structure to conduct process-tracing comparisons of two women's and one lesbian groups' respective strategies when facing interferences from the central authorities. By conducting interviews with forty three major participants of women and lesbian organizing, including founders, activists, academic experts, governmental officers, and ministerial officers of ACWF, along with archive analysis, and participatory observations, this study looks specifically at the state-women's groups' relations from 1988 to 2013.This research has found that the political space is not assumed to be existed. Instead, it is created and expanded by women's advocacy groups. Three groups have shared experiences of revocation or failure of registration, cancellation of events, difficulty of fund raising, constantly being invited to have tea with security department etc. However, each group develops their own strategies to survive and to further expand their political spaces gradually. Most importantly, they carry on their advocacy work national wide. I argue under a repressive regime, these achievements are indeed confrontational in nature. Therefore, the aforementioned assumption of social movement theory should be reconsidered.


Hairy Maclary, Sit is a hilarious rhyming story by Lynley Dodd. Hairy Maclary causes trouble again when he is simply not in the mood for the Kennel Club's Obedience Class. He feels mischievous and mad and not only does he scamper away but all his friends - Bottomley Potts, Muffin McLay, Hercules Morse, Schnitzel von Krumm and the rest follow "Galloping here, galloping there, rollicking, frolicking everywhere"! Lynley Dodd is an award-winning author/illustrator who lives in New Zealand. She is enormously popular for her rhyming stories of the unforgettable HAIRY MACLARY and his friends. She worked as a teacher before beginning to write her own books in 1974. Read all the Hairy Maclary and Friends books by Lynley Dodd! Hairy Maclary's Bone; Hairy Maclary Scattercat; Hairy Maclary's Caterwaul Caper; Hairy Maclary's Rumpus at the Vet; Slinky Malinki; Hairy Maclary's Showbusiness; Slinky Malinki, Open the Door; Sniff-Snuff-Snap!; Schnitzel Von Krumm Forget-Me-Not; Slinky Malinki Catflaps; Slinky Malinki's Christmas Crackers; Hairy Maclary's Hat Tricks; Scarface Claw; Schnitzel Von Krumm, Dog's Never Climb Tress; Hairy Maclary, Sit; Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack; Magnet Fun with Hairy Maclary; Hairy Maclary, Shoo; Hairy Maclary and Friends Little Library; Slinky Malinki, Open the Door; Slinky Malinki Early Bird; Where is Hairy Maclary?; Sticker Fun with Hairy Maclary; My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes


Research on event‐related potential (ERP) correlates of auditory deviance‐detection in newborns provided inconsistent results; temporal and topographic ERP characteristics differed widely across studies and individual infants. Robust and reliable ERP responses were, however, obtained to sounds (termed 'novel' sounds), which cover a wide range of frequencies and widely differ from the context provided by a repeating sound [Kushnerenko et al., (2002) NeuroReport, 13, 1843–1848]. The question we investigated here is whether this effect can be attributed to novelty per se or to acoustic characteristics of the 'novel' sounds, such as their wide frequency spectrum and high signal energy compared with the repeated tones. We also asked how sensitivity to these stimulus aspects changes with development. Twelve newborns and 11 adults were tested in four different oddball conditions, each including a 'standard' sound presented with the probability of 0.8 and two types of infrequent 'deviant' sounds (0.1 probability, each). Deviants were (i) 'novel' sounds (diverse environmental noises); (ii) white‐noise segments, or harmonic tones of (iii) a higher pitch, or (iv) higher intensity. In newborns, white‐noise deviants elicited the largest response in all latency ranges, whereas in adults, this phenomenon was not found. Thus, newborns appear to be especially sensitive to sounds having a wide frequency spectrum. On the other hand, the pattern of results found for the late discriminative ERP response indicates that newborns may also be able to detect novelty in acoustic stimulation, although with a longer latency than adults, as shown by the ERP response. Results are discussed in terms of developmental refinement of the initially broadly tuned neonate auditory system.


Urban transportation is increasingly studied due to its complexity and economic importance. It is also a major component of urban energy use and pollution. The importance of this topic will only increase as urbanization continues around the world. A less researched aspect of transportation is the refueling behavior of drivers. In this paper, we propose a step toward real-time sensing of refueling behavior and citywide petrol consumption. We use reported trajectories from a fleet of GPS-equipped taxicabs to detect gas station visits, measure the time spent, and estimate overall demand. For times and stations with sparse data, we use collaborative filtering to estimate conditions. Our system provides real-time estimates of gas stations' waiting times, from which recommendations could be made, an indicator of overall gas usage, from which macro-scale economic decisions could be made, and a geographic view of the efficiency of gas station placement.


Managing coastal resources is challenging in the best of circumstances. Bringing science and policy together to manage coastal resources effectively for the purpose of orchestrating population-centric counterinsurgency operations in the midst of war is Herculean. From a military perspective there is no coastal resource management logistics officer tasked to handle the details required for such an approach. There is no Tactics Techniques and Procedures (TTP) guide that clearly states the who what when where and how to determine what resources need to be rallied. There is no predetermined value chain that clarifies why one resource over another should be considered mission critical in a counterinsurgency coastal zone type of fight. The research presented here was carried out to address this gap. The overall goal of this dissertation is to tie coastal scientific research policy and management together with counterinsurgency strategy tactics and procedures to help military leaders grapple with the complex natural and social systems in areas of operation that include the coastal edge. The overarching research goal is reached by tackling the research problem which is fourfold: (1) a data gap exists in U.S. Military Counterinsurgency (COIN) Doctrine because it fails to address water's complex role in population-centric security and stability operations. (2) COIN Operations generally fail to consider or address both sides of COIN Effect in socio-economic development programs and projects that are linked to water resources. (3) human-environment interaction in any area of counterinsurgency operation is linked directly to water and is tied to a population's security and stability. (4) The military operational paradigm lacks a multi-disciplinary holistic approach to assess human-environment interaction in coastal environments before or during counterinsurgency operations. The research objectives that guide the study and deal with the various aspects of the research problem are: (1) determine water's significance to U.S. national security (2) address environmental resource (water) security/stability data gap in counterinsurgency military operations and (3) develop a coastal resources management approach for counterinsurgency operations in watersheds that have a terminus in the sea. The non-traditional three article method used to address the research problem and to meet the research objectives culminates in the recommendation of a coastal resources management course of action. As proposed such an approach would muster the science and military communities to engage in practice and policy that could lead to sustainable water-relevant stability projects in future coastal areas of operations.