CLIFFORD, WILLIAM H. (8 Apr. 1862-10 Jan. 1929), a black Republican politician, as an Ohio legislator played an important role electing MARCUS A. HANNA to the U.S. Senate, casting the deciding vote in Hanna's favor in Jan. 1898. A native Clevelander, Clifford worked 7 years for the Woodruff Palace Car Co. before embarking in public service and politics. In 1888 he took a job in the county clerk's office; in Sept. 1888 he become cost clerk, the highest-paid black man in local, county, or state government up to that time. He held various offices in the Republican party, served as asst. sergeant-at-arms at the 1896 and 1900 Republican national conventions, and served in the Ohio House of Representatives twice (1894-95, 1898-99). In 1902 he graduated from Cleveland Law School, and ca. 1908 was appointed to a position in the auditor's office in the War Dept. in Washington, DC, which he held until his death. Clifford married CARRIE WILLIAMS CLIFFORD in 1886; they had two children, Joshua and Maurice. Clifford was buried in WOODLAND CEMETERY.


[1] Aerosol remote sensing requires techniques enabling the determination of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) over land surfaces, because the most important sources (continental aerosols, anthropogenic aerosols, biomass burning, desert dust, volcano eruptions and others) are on continents. Here a retrieval method for the AOT over land surfaces from top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance using nadir looking instruments of the ocean color type (like Ocean Color and Temperature Sensor (OCTS), Sea viewing Wide Field Sensor (SeaWiFS), Moderate resolution Imaging Sensor (MODIS) or Medium Resolution Imaging Sensor (MERIS)) is presented. It is scheduled as an off-line procedure for the ENVISAT radiometers SCIAMACHY and MERIS. The method is based on lookup tables (LUT) between the AOT and the aerosol reflectance for wavelength <0.67 μm. The aerosol reflectance is obtained from TOA reflectance accounting for Rayleigh path reflectance and the apparent spectral surface reflectance. Over land the surface reflectance is estimated by a mixing model of bare soil and green vegetation spectra, tuned by the normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) of the satellite scene. The method has been tested and validated with SeaWiFS data and with aerosol properties of the closure experiment LACE-98 (Lindenberg Aerosol Charactrization Experiment). For short wave channels (0.412–510 μm) an agreement between the retrieved and ground-based data of 20% is achieved. Thus the method enables the investigation of AOT over land, yielding the regional turbidity situation as well as the identification of aerosol sources like large cities, large fire plumes, haze, small scale dynamical events and also thin cirrus clouds.


To meet the need for improved approaches to study cancer in vitro, there has been a surge in the development of novel research models utilizing advanced culture methods. These methods permit in vitro growth of cancer types previously not possible, and/or models with enhanced in vivo relevancy compared to traditional continuous cell lines. However, availability of these early-stage research models is currently limited and there is a lack of data on the ability to scale up production of these models to support the needs of the global research community. We sought to investigate the protocols, expansion capacity, cryopreservation ability, genetic stability, and feasibility of larger-scale bioproduction of a subset of the models generated by the Human Cancer Models Initiative (HCMI), an international collaborative effort between the National Cancer Institute, the foundation Hubrecht Organoid Technology, Cancer Research UK, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. The HCMI9s initial goal is the development of 1,000 novel human cancer models, paired with bioinformatics and patient clinical data, particularly from rare or underrepresented cancer types. One advanced culture method being utilized, three-dimensional organoid "microtissue" culture, potentially poses challenges for traditional large-scale bioproduction processes. It requires growth embedded within an undefined extracellular matrix and complex media formulations containing multiple small molecules and recombinant proteins with unknown stability and shelf-life. Additionally, organoid growth media typically includes multiple sources of undefined conditioned media containing critical growth factors. We cultured organoid models derived from human colon, pancreas, esophagus, and mammary tissues developed by laboratories contributing to the HCMI. Multiple unique donors were available for all tissues and both cancer and non-cancer models were available for two tissue types. Most models were maintained in culture continuously for at least 60 days (7-27 population doublings, > 10 passages). Tissue and donor variability was evident in model characteristics, including morphology (assessed by microscopy and immunocytochemistry), growth rate, and genetic stability (measured by short tandem repeats analysis). All models were amenable to scale up beyond multiwell plates, and all models could recover from cryopreservation. While organoid culture represents a significant divergence from typical two-dimensional monolayer culture of continuous cell lines, our results show that these next-generation in vitro models are suitable for larger-scale bioproduction. This is vital to ensure the widespread availability of these models within the research community to facilitate applications like pre-clinical drug discovery and basic cancer research. Citation Format: James Clinton, Penney McWilliams-Koeppen, Siddhartha Paul, Allison Ruchinskas, Dezhong Yin, Robert Newman. Feasibility of manufacturing-scale bioproduction of novel next-generation 3D organoid cancer models in support of the Human Cancer Models Initiative [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5012.


Camp All-American, Hanoi Jane, and the High-and-Tight: Gender, Folklore, and Changing Military Culture. By Carol Burke. (Boston: Beacon Press, 2004. Pp. xix + 264, preface, photograph, illustrations, bibliography, acknowledgments, notes, index. $26.00 cloth, $19.00 paper) In Camp Ail-American, Hanoi Jane, and the High-and-Tight: Gender, Folklore, and Changing Military Culture, author Carol Burke, who taught as a civilian at the United States Naval Academy for seven years and has written elsewhere about institutional folklore (Burke 1992), offers a folklorist's perspective on attitudes that military men have toward women, showing in various ways why it has been so difficult to integrate women into the United States Armed Forces. In addition to recounting old arguments about genetic differences between males and females, she notes that many military men place civilians and women in the same folk category, explaining in part the strong esoteric belief among military personnel that women inhibit the efforts of men during wartime (53-57). But, as Burke points out, beliefs like these are cultural and therefore learned, and they can be unlearned. Cultural practices are either adaptive to the environment or maladaptive, and it is maladaptive - given today's blurred geopolitical wartime boundaries, loss of clear markers by which to identify an enemy, steep declines in recruits, and advances in military technology (some of which obviate all need for reliance on a soldier's upper-body strength) - to exclude women from combat roles in the military today. Burke also calls for systemic institutional change in the military, reminding us that it is the United States government and its elected civilians and their constituents that control the military, not the other way around (23-24) . Burke weaves into her study a sampling of military oral traditions and customs both contemporary and historical-stories of the marvelous and the uncanny in battle, of angelic soldiers saving others on the batdefront, of spat-upon returning Vietnam vets, of sufferers from posttraumatic stress syndrome (the military virtually ignoring the debriefing of soldiers about to resume civilian life), of Jane Fonda's betrayal of American prisoners in Vietnam, of the determination of nurses imprisoned by the Japanese during World War II to survive their captivity by creating folk objects from scarce materials; oral traditions associated with Jody calls and other marching chants; folk songs deriding military leaders and making light of the horrors of war; and jokes. Burke's overview of military folklore leaves no doubt about male preoccupation with dominance and subordination in the military and about what constitutes masculine response in the face of danger. Anything that challenges the masculine military worldview (especially if such intrusion is seen as feminine) invites ridicule, debasement, and outright rejection. In military folklore women are sex objects, as in Jody calls, or are scorned and ridiculed, as in the Suzy Rotten-Crotch joke cycle; they are distractions that can render a soldier and his weapon impotent, as seen in marching chants in which the soldier prefers an M-16 to a beauty queen. …


This paper consists of the conclusion of the first part of the on-going PhD research: the crossing between spatial quality definition on building scale, energy renovation measures and building performance assessments. The current paper presents the results of a search for and an evaluation of available indicators that best represent perceived spatial quality, with particular weight on energy renovation. The results of the analysis of the available spatial quality indicators show a significant potential for improvement of the indicator's basic scientific characteristics (validity, specificity, sensitivity and reliability) in assessing spatial quality. That is the indicators on spatial quality are entirely to be developed. Improved spatial quality gives decision-makers, politicians and building owners solid argumentation for increased investments in energy efficiency, making a highly visible contribution to the attractiveness and public image of a building block, as well as people's every-day life, well-being and health. This is, however, only possible if objective, measurable spatial quality indicators, assessment and design methods are available for decision-making. By stressing the architectural and user value of energy efficient renovation, this research thus aims to contribute to widespread implementation of energy efficiency goals in building performance assessments. This paper forms part of PhD research project "Definition, Assessment and Implementation of Spatial Quality Parameters in Energy Renovation of Residential Buildings", aiming to contribute to decision-support for the design of energy-efficient built environments with high spatial quality. The main aim of the PhD is to propose a clear definition of spatial quality to be considered in energy renovation; and to develop practical indicators to assess spatial quality parameters on building scale.


Although maps have been around for a very long time, web maps are yet very young in their origin. Despite their relatively short history, web maps have been developing very rapidly over the past few decades. The use, users and usability of web maps have rapidly expanded along with developments in web technologies and new ways of mapping. In the process of these developments, the terms and terminology surrounding web mapping have also changed and evolved, often relating to the new technologies or new uses. Examples include web mapping, web GIS, cloud mapping, internet mapping, internet GIS, geoweb, map mashup, online mapping etc., not to mention those with prefixes such as "web-based" and "internet-based". So, how do we keep track of these terms, relate them to each other and have common understandings of their meanings so that references to them are not ambiguous, misunderstood or even different? This paper explores the terms surrounding web mapping and web GIS, and the development of their meaning over time. The paper then suggests the current context in which these terms are used and provides meanings that may assist in better understanding and communicating using these terms in the future. * Corresponding author


In this paper we present a deuterium excess (d) record from an ice core drilled on a small ice cap in Svalbard in 1997. The core site is located at Lomonosovfonna at 1255 m asl, and the analyzed time series spans the period 1400-1990 A. D. The record shows pronounced multidecadal to centennial-scale variations coherent with sea surface temperature changes registered in the subtropical to southern middle-latitude North Atlantic during the instrumental period. We interpret the negative trend in the deuterium excess during the 1400s and 1500s as an indication of cooling in the North Atlantic associated with the onset of the Little Ice Age. Consistently positive anomalies of d after 1900, peaking at about 1950, correspond with well-documented contemporary warming. Yet the maximum values of deuterium excess during 1900-1990 are not as high as in the early part of the record (pre-1550). This suggests that the sea surface temperatures during this earlier period of time in the North Atlantic to the south of approximately 45 degrees N were at least comparable with those registered in the 20th century before the end of the 1980s. We examine the potential for a cold bias to exist in the deuterium excess record due to increased evaporation from the local colder sources of moisture having isotopically cold signature. It is argued that despite a recent oceanic warming, the contribution from this local moisture to the Lomonosovfonna precipitation budget is still insufficient to interfere with the isotopic signal from the primary moisture region in the midlatitude North Atlantic.


Marx's Capital is one of the most important texts of the modern era. The three volumes, published between 1867 and 1883, changed the destiny of countries, politics and people across the world - and continue to resonate today. In this book, David Harvey lays out their key arguments.

In clear and concise language, Harvey describes the architecture of capital according to Marx, placing his observations in the context of capitalism in the second half of the nineteenth century. He considers the degree to which technological, economic and industrial change during the last 150 years means Marx's analysis and its application may need to be modified.

Marx's trilogy concerns the circulation of capital: volume I, how labour increases the value of capital, which he called valorisation; volume II, on the realisation of this value, by selling it and turning it into money or credit; volume III, on what happens to the value next in processes of distribution.

The three volumes contain the core of Marx's thinking on the workings and history of capital and capitalism. David Harvey explains and illustrates the profound insights and enormous analytical power they continue to offer in terms that, without compromising their depth and complexity, will appeal to a wide range of readers, including those coming to the work for the first time.


When a flight crew has situation awareness they have a complete and accurate understanding of the physical, temporal and emotional environments in which they are situated. This allows the flight crew to interpret and evaluate elements or events in the environment in which they are situated and determine the risks associated with these events and an appropriate strategy to minimize and manage these risks. This paper describes the architecture for an intelligent software agent which assesses a flight crew's situation awareness through the observation of a pilot's eye movements. The agent perceives pilot behavior using a proprietary eye tracking device. This behavior is compared to a behavior database to decide whether the behavior of the pilot is appropriate or inappropriate in terms of the safety of the flight. The flight crew is alerted if the behavior is judged to be consistent with the flight crew losing situation awareness.


Abstract. The Countryside Survey (CS) of Great Britain provides a globally unique series of datasets, consisting of an extensive set of repeated ecological measurements at a national scale, covering a time span of 29 years. CS was first undertaken in 1978 to monitor ecological and land use change in Britain using standardised procedures for recording ecological data from representative 1 km squares throughout the country. The same sites, with some additional squares, were used for subsequent surveys of vegetation undertaken in 1990, 1998 and 2007, with the intention of future surveys. Other data records include soils, freshwater habitats and invertebrates, and land cover and landscape feature diversity and extents. These data have been recorded in the same locations on analogous dates. However, the present paper describes only the details of the vegetation surveys. The survey design is a series of gridded, stratified, randomly selected 1 km squares taken as representative of classes derived from a statistical environmental classification of Britain. In the 1978 survey, 256 one-kilometre sample squares were recorded, increasing to 506 in 1990, 569 in 1998 and 591 in 2007. Initially each square contained up to 11 dispersed vegetation plots but additional plots were later placed in different features so that eventually up to 36 additional sampling plots were recorded, all of which can be relocated where possible (unless the plot has been lost, for example as a consequence of building work), providing a total of 16 992 plots by 2007. Plots are estimated to have a precise relocation accuracy of 85 %. A range of plots located in different land cover types and landscape features (for example, field boundaries) are included. Although a range of analyses have already been carried out, with changes in the vegetation being related to a range of drivers at local and national scales, there is major potential for further analyses, for example in relation to climate change. Although the precise locations of the plots are restricted, largely for reasons of landowner confidentiality, sample sites are intended to be representative of larger areas, and many potential opportunities for further analyses remain. Data from each of the survey years (1978, 1990, 1998, 2007) are available via the following DOIs: Countryside Survey 1978 vegetation plot data ( https://doi.org/10.5285/67bbfabb-d981-4ced-b7e7-225205de9c96 ), Countryside Survey 1990 vegetation plot data ( https://doi.org/10.5285/26e79792-5ffc-4116-9ac7-72193dd7f191 ), Countryside Survey 1998 vegetation plot data ( https://doi.org/10.5285/07896bb2-7078-468c-b56d-fb8b41d47065 ), Countryside Survey 2007 vegetation plot data ( https://doi.org/10.5285/57f97915-8ff1-473b-8c77-2564cbd747bc ).


We demonstrate the generation of 1.1 ps pulses containing more than 41 µJ of energy directly out of an Yb:YAG thin-disk without any additional amplification stages. The laser oscillator operates in ambient atmosphere with a 3.5 MHz repetition rate and 145 W of average output power at a fundamental wavelength of 1030 nm. An average output power of 91.5 W at 515 nm was obtained by frequency doubling with a conversion efficiency exceeding 65%. Third harmonic generation resulted in 34 W at 343 nm at 34% efficiency.


SUMMARY Two experiments were conducted to examine the influence of the starter supplemented with butyrate salts on the performance of Holstein calves. Twenty-three and thirty-five male calves were used in the Experiment I and II, respectively. Total duration of the experiments are 70 d (35 d preweaning and 35 d post-weaning) and 100 d (60 d pre-weaning and 40 d post-weaning), respectively. In both of the experiments, all calves were kept together with their dam and fed colostrum for the first 3 days after calving and then housed in calf hutches. Calves were fed individually whole milk (4 l/d) with two meals and starter diets ad libutum in pre-weaning period, while total mixed ration contained starter (60%) and alfalfa hay ground (40%) were used in post-weaning period. The starter diets contained 0 (without butyrate salt, CON), 1.5 g/kg sodium butyrate (NaB15), and 3.0 g/kg sodium butyrate (NaB30) in the experiment I, 0 (without butyrate salt, CON), 2.5 g/kg calcium butyrate (CaB25) and 5.0 g/kg calcium butyrate (CaB50) in the experiment II. Live weight, live weight gain and feed intake of calves were determined weekly in each experiment. Feeding starter containing NaB increased significantly (P< 0.05) live weight, live weight gain, and feed conversion efficiency of calves during pre-weaning period, but did not postweaning period. On the other hand, feeding starter supplemented with CaB did not affect performance of calves in both periods. The present results suggest that the inclusion of NaB in starter feeds could be recommended for calves in early weaning program.


In acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients, spontaneous breathing is associated with multiple physiologic benefits: it prevents muscles atrophy, avoids paralysis, decreases sedation needs and is associated with improved hemodynamics. On the other hand, in the presence of uncontrolled inspiratory effort, severe lung injury and asynchronies, spontaneous ventilation might also worsen lung edema, induce diaphragm dysfunction and lead to muscles exhaustion and prolonged weaning. In the present review article, we present physiologic mechanisms driving spontaneous breathing, with emphasis on how to implement basic and advanced respiratory monitoring to assess lung protection during spontaneous assisted ventilation. Then, key benefits and risks associated with spontaneous ventilation are described. Finally, we propose some clinical means to promote protective spontaneous breathing at the bedside. In summary, early switch to spontaneous assisted breathing of acutely hypoxemic patients is more respectful of physiology and might yield several advantages. Nonetheless, risk of additional lung injury is not completely avoided during spontaneous breathing and careful monitoring of target physiologic variables such as tidal volume (Vt) and driving transpulmonary pressure should be applied routinely. In clinical practice, multiple interventions such as extracorporeal CO2 removal exist to maintain inspiratory effort, Vt and driving transpulmonary pressure within safe limits but more studies are needed to assess their long-term efficacy.


ABSTRACT : Infamous for his drug use and extreme sexual practices, and proclaiming himself the ""Great Beast 666,"" Aleister Crowley remains to this day one of the most influential and yet most often misunderstood figures in the history of Western new religious movements. This article offers a fresh approach to Crowley, by placing him within contemporary debates about modernism and postmodernism. By no means the outcast enemy of modern Western society so often depicted in the media, Crowley was, I argue, a stunning reflection of some of the most acute cultural contradictions at the heart of modern Western civilization in the early twentieth century. A uniquely Janus-faced character, he reflects both the ""Faustian"" will of modernism as well as its tragic failure and exhaustion at mid-century in the aftermath of the two World Wars.

Where does our modern world belong——to exhaustion or ascent?——Its manifoldness and unrest conditioned by the attainment of the highest level of consciousness.

——Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power 1

The point about Crowley is that he seems to contain all these sorts of ideas and identities——indeed most of the vices of the Twentieth Century——and he was dead at the end of 1947.

——Snoo Wilson, author of the play ""The Beast"" (1974)2


This paper explores the meaning of the state–sponsored initiative for people management, Investors in People (IiP), through deconstruction of the signifiers that represent its articulation. Semiotic analysis is employed in order to consider the sign–value that is associated with IiP and to explore the symbolic meaning of cultural artefacts, such as 'the badge' and 'the flag', which feature in the experience of managers and employees in six case study organizations. This post–structuralist approach enables us to focus on the discursive construction of textual meaning surrounding IiP as a 'readerly' as well as a writerly project. It is suggested that organizations are subject to a process of image production and consumption. This process requires them to seek differentiation from other organizations by acquiring quality initiatives that constitute a system of objects. In particular, the meaning of IiP signifiers as emblems of achievement is explored and the extent to which these become simulacra is considered. It is argued that there is a significant gap between writerly intentions as to what quality initiatives ought to signify and their organizational, context–bound, indeterminate meanings. By elucidating the conditions of IiP's signification it is shown that this discourse has the potential to undermine the very philosophy it asserts. Finally, drawing on this analysis, we outline the way that badge acquisition develops over time through processes of accumulation and adaptation.


A report on a study project presented to
The Department of Social Work
School of Human and Community Development
Faculty of Humanities
University of the Witwatersrand
In partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree Master of Arts in the field of Social Development
March 2015


What are the origins and consequences of the state as a provider of public goods? We study public goods provision established through new laws in German cities during the 1500s. Cities that adopted the laws subsequently began to differentially produce and attract human capital and to grow faster. Legal change occurred where ideological competition introduced by the Protestant Reformation interacted with local politics. We study plagues that shifted local politics in a narrow period as sources of exogenous variation in public goods institutions, and find support for a causal interpretation of the relationship between legal change, human capital, and growth.


A crucial question facing today's multicore programmers is which programming methodology to use for coordination and data structure design: fine grained locking, lock-free or wait-free synchronization, or perhaps transactional memory. One aspect of this question that has received little attention is the tradeoff between performance and flexibility. In other words, given a data structure implemented using methodology X, delivering a given level of scalability, how costly is it, in terms of both performance and ease of programming, to use methodology X to add new features to this existing algorithm. This work studies the flexibility question in the context of the union-find problem, a problem that is a unique fit for our quest in that it has a known efficient wait-free concurrent solution for implementing the union and find methods, but only a complex sequential solution if one wishes to allow delete methods. Based on union find, we are able to make interesting observations about the relative benefits of using locks, non-blocking algorithms, and state-of-the-art software transactional memory systems. Moreover, based on our new understandings, we present highly efficient and flexible algorithms for the union-find and union-find-delete problems that we believe are of independent interest.


Background Synthetic biological systems are currently created by an ad-hoc, iterative process of specification, design, and assembly. These systems would greatly benefit from a more formalized and rigorous specification of the desired system components as well as constraints on their composition. Therefore, the creation of robust and efficient design flows and tools is imperative. We present a human readable language (Eugene) that allows for the specification of synthetic biological designs based on biological parts, as well as provides a very expressive constraint system to drive the automatic creation of composite Parts (Devices) from a collection of individual Parts. Results We illustrate Eugene's capabilities in three different areas: Device specification, design space exploration, and assembly and simulation integration. These results highlight Eugene's ability to create combinatorial design spaces and prune these spaces for simulation or physical assembly. Eugene creates functional designs quickly and cost-effectively. Conclusions Eugene is intended for forward engineering of DNA-based devices, and through its data types and execution semantics, reflects the desired abstraction hierarchy in synthetic biology. Eugene provides a powerful constraint system which can be used to drive the creation of new devices at runtime. It accomplishes all of this while being part of a larger tool chain which includes support for design, simulation, and physical device assembly.


Government agencies carry reputations in the public imagination. Agency names, images, and icons help form a brand that conveys information about that agency's competency in a given area of public policy. This article brings the concept of consumer-based brand equity from business marketing to public administration research on agency reputation. Like their commercial counterparts, public organizations may enjoy positive brand equity that provides political leverage and facilitates effective management, or negative brand equity that weakens an agency politically and frustrates administration. Just as different commercial products appeal to different kinds of consumers, an agency's brand value might differ with various segments of the public. We adapt a classic model of consumer branding to the public administration context, developing a framework for analyzing citizen-based brand equity for public agencies. A series of experiments embedded in a national survey is then used to gauge brand favorability for four U.S. federal agencies as first-order test of the concept. We find consistent evidence that agencies' brands positively affect support for federal management, but also that partisanship conditions agencies' brand favorability.


In this article the length growth curves of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man, 1879) held in different population densities were analysed. Postlarvae prawns were stocked into five 0,02 ha earthen ponds at densities of 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 ind./m2 during six months. Forthnightly, the mean total length of animals from each pond were obtained by means of random samples. For each population the length growth curves and the instantaneous growth rate expressions were determined. The growth rate and the asymptotic maximum length decreased with the stocking density raised. This effect is greater when the density ranges in low levels. The growth decrease can be due to intraspecific competition for life resources and to negative interactions between individuals, as aggressive or social behavior, that increase with the increase prawns density.


TIMETAL 21S matrix composite reinforced with silicon-carbide (SCS-6) fibers is a potential candidate material for the high temperature structural components of advanced aircraft. However, a considerable amount of mechanical property characterization is required before this material can be used for aerospace structures. This paper discusses the characterization of the sustained load behavior of SCS-6/TIMETAL 21S composite under simulated service conditions. TIMETAL 21S, reinforced with approximately 35% SCS-6 fibers (by volume) was used for this study. The tension creep specimens were fabricated from [0] 4 , [90] 4 , [0/90] s , and [0/′45/90] s laminates. Sustained load creep tests were conducted under cold grip conditions at 650, 760, and 815°C at various stress levels. The creep response for [90] 4 , [0/90] s , and [0/′45/90] s layups exhibited generic creep curves with three distinct stages: (1) an early region of primary creep, (2) a linear region similar to a steady stage, and (3) a relatively short region similar to a tertiary stage. In contrast, the creep response of the [0] 4 layup showed hardly any tertiary region and the failure was abrupt just after the secondary stage. The total strain to failure for all orientations, except the [90] 4 , was near the ultimate strain for fiber failure. Accelerated rate of damage accumulation was observed with increasing stress and temperature that resulted in higher creep strain under these conditions. A simple creep model based on the relaxation of matrix stress in the primary and secondary creep stages was developed to predict the creep response of the unidirectional SCS-6/ TIMETAL 21S composite at 650°C. The model predictions correlated well with the data for stresses less than 700 MPa. The optical and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analyses of the failure surfaces showed multiple crack initiation sites near fiber/matrix interface. Two distinct zones of failures were observed in all cases. The flat zone, with little or no fiber pull-out, represented the stable crack growth region. The rugged zone, with significant fiber pull-out, was caused by overload failure. In all cases, the damage (crack) initiated from the edge. For [90] 4 and [0/90] s , the crack initiation sites were observed to be close to the 90° fiber/ matrix interface, while in the case of [0/′45/90] s ; the crack initiated predominantly from the 45° fiber matrix interface. The fibers that were damaged during the fabrication process provided the crack initiation site for the [0] 4 orientation. These edge cracks enhanced the environmental access to the fiber/matrix interface that resulted in progressive damage of the interface and the fiber. Data plotted on a Larson-Miller Parameter (LMP) chart enabled a direct comparison of the creep resistance of all the layups tested. The creep resistance of the [0] 4 layup was significantly greater than that of the other layups. The creep rupture life of specimens with 0° fibers was governed by the failure of unidirectional fibers. An empirical model was developed to predict the creep rupture life of all layups containing 0° fibers based on the LMP approach assuming that only the 0° fibers carry the load for the majority of the life.


Performance Paradigm : One of the most provocative and useful arguments you raise in your book Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Society (London: Routledge, 1999) is the view that the opposition of live and mediated performance is a 'competitive opposition at the level of cultural economy' and not at the level of intrinsic or ontological differences. (11) The case-studies you use are from pop music and legal contexts as well as staged art performance. Has there been any development in this latter area of practice since you wrote that book that for you underscores the notion that live and mediated forms of performance are mutually dependent? (This might include specific productions or genres of performance). Philip Auslander  : One of the most interesting works with which I have become familiar since writing  Liveness is Matthew Barney's  Cremaster  cycle. I consider Barney to be one of the most important performance artists working today. This may seem to be an odd statement, since Barney's main activity is filmmaking and he never presents live performances. From my point of view, however, it is far more interesting to situate his work in the tradition of performance art than that of cinema or video art. This is particularly true with respect to the activities Barney himself performs in his pieces, which are rooted in task-based performance and endurance art, among other things. His work also reflects current trends in performance art, particularly in its engagement with fashion and design. In  Liveness  , I talk a great deal about how various forms of live performance have become more and more like mediatised events. Barney represents the other side of that equation: a provocative example of work in a mediatised form that is most meaningful, at least for me, when understood as a version of live art.


Medical and social research has found racial and ethnic differences in weight relative to stature. While previous research has controlled to varying degrees for family socioeconomic status, other observed and unobserved differences across families could help explain the observed racial and ethnic differences in weight. The present research seeks to better analyze the social factors associated with adolescent weight. We model adolescents' body-mass index (BMI) utilizing sibling resemblance models of sibling pairs identified in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. By conducting sibling model analysis in the structural equation framework, we are able to account for unmeasured family background characteristics and parcel out what proportion of the variation in adolescent weight is due to variation between families and variation within families. After accounting for both observed and unobserved characteristics of families, we find that blacks and Hispanics have significantly greater weights relative to whites, though the differences between these two racial groups are smaller than found in previous research. Pairs with other racial identities or mixed racial/ethnic identities show no significant differences in weight relative to whites once the observed and unobserved characteristics of families are accounted for.


Distillation is responsible for a significant amount of the energy consumption of the world's process industry and also in the natural gas processing. There is a significant energy saving potential that can be obtained by applying new energy saving distillation technology that has appeared in the last two decades. The fully thermally coupled dividing wall columns have the attractive feature of both savings in energy consumption and reduction of investment cost. In this paper we give an overview of some energy saving distillation arrangements and show how the Vmin-diagram can be used to assess separations and calculate energy requirements and provide a basis for detailed design. Reduced CO2 emission is an additional benefit that actually comes for free by the reduction of energy consumption. 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


The need for ICT knowledge in Norway is increasing and the demand for candidates is currently higher than the number of students graduating. It has been identified that the first-year experience is crucial to student motivation and throughput of study programs, therefore it is interesting to look at the state of the art of computer science study programs in Norway. In this paper we present a survey and study of the number of undergraduate computer science programs in Norway and map their characteristics in order to gather an up to date overview of the selection of programs. Through a systematic review of all Norwegian undergraduate programs using data from national databases we have found that there are 12 institutions offering 56 different programs in Norway in 2018. The study showed that the characteristics of these programs vary, that is, the amount of computer science courses during the first year, the number of students, admission requirements, student satisfaction and time commitment. This article presents these findings along with an analysis of what characteristics impact the students' contentment and learning experience.


In siSwati the accumulation of a number of changes in the morphology and syntax of locative phrases has led to a more fundamental shift of restructuring of the underlying grammatical system 13 the great siSwati locative shift 13 so that locatives in siSwati are no longer, as in Proto-Bantu and most other present-day Bantu languages, part of the noun class system, but are prepositional. This shift explains aspects of changes in the siSwati locative system which are not otherwise independently motivated, including the degrammaticalization of a historic noun class marker into a preposition and distinct relative clause marking of locatives, and provides an example of a complex, systematic historical change of a sub-system of the grammar.


Abstract This study investigated whether repeated, very short duration sprints influenced endothelial function (indicated by flow-mediated dilation) and triacylglycerol concentrations following the ingestion of high-fat meals in adolescent boys. Nine adolescent boys completed two, 2-day main trials (control and exercise), in a counter-balanced, cross-over design. Participants were inactive on day 1 of the control trial but completed 40 × 6 s maximal cycle sprints on day 1 of the exercise trial. On day 2, capillary blood samples were collected and flow-mediated dilation measured prior to, and following, ingestion of a high-fat breakfast and lunch. Fasting flow-mediated dilation and plasma triacylglycerol concentration were similar in the control and exercise trial (P > 0.05). In the control trial, flow-mediated dilation was reduced by 20% and 27% following the high-fat breakfast and lunch; following exercise these reductions were negated (main effect trial, P < 0.05; interaction effect trial × time, P < 0.05). The total area under the plasma triacylglycerol concentration versus time curve was 13% lower on day 2 in the exercise trial compared to the control trial (8.65 (0.97) vs. 9.92 (1.16) mmol · l−1 · 6.5 h, P < 0.05). These results demonstrate that repeated 6 s maximal cycle sprints can have beneficial effects on postprandial endothelial function and triacylglycerol concentrations in adolescent boys.


Glove-Talk II is a system which translates hand gestures to speech through an adaptive interface. Hand gestures are mapped continuously to ten control parameters of a parallel formant speech synthesizer. The mapping allows the hand to act as an artificial vocal tract that produces speech in real time. This gives an unlimited vocabulary in addition to direct control of fundamental frequency and volume. Currently, the best version of Glove-Talk II uses several input devices, a parallel formant speech synthesizer, and three neural networks. The gesture-to-speech task is divided into vowel and consonant production by using a gating network to weight the outputs of a vowel and a consonant neural network. The gating network and the consonant network are trained with examples from the user. The vowel network implements a fixed user-defined relationship between hand position and vowel sound and does not require any training examples from the user. Volume, fundamental frequency, and stop consonants are produced with a fixed mapping from the input devices. With Glove-Talk II, the subject can speak slowly but with far more natural sounding pitch variations than a text-to-speech synthesizer.


This study compared differences between ballistic jump squat (B) and nonballistic back squat (NB) force, velocity, power, and relative acceleration duration, and the effect that the method used to identify the positive lifting phase had on these parameters. Ground reaction force and barbell kinematics were recorded from 30 resistance trained men during B and NB performance with 45% 1RM. Force, velocity, and power was averaged over positive lifting phases identified using the traditional peak barbell displacement (PD) and positive impulse method. No significant differences were found between B and NB mean force, and mean power, but B mean velocity was 14% greater than the NB equivalent. Positive impulse mean force was 24% greater than PD mean force, and B relative acceleration duration was 8.6% greater than the NB equivalent when PD was used to identify the end of the positive lifting phase. These results challenge common perceptions of B superiority for power development.


CTCF is a zinc-finger DNA binding protein that regulates the epigenetic states of numerous target genes. Using allelic regulation of mouse insulin-like growth factor II (Igf2) as a model, we demonstrate that CTCF binds to the unmethylated maternal allele of the imprinting control region (ICR) in the Igf2/H19 imprinting domain, and forms a long-range intrachromosomal loop to interact with the three clustered Igf2 promoters. The polycomb repressive complex-2 (PRC2) is recruited through the interaction of CTCF with Suz12, leading to allele-specific methylation at lysine 27 of histone H3 (H3-K27) and to suppression of the maternal Igf2 promoters. Targeted mutation or deletion of the maternal ICR abolishes this chromatin loop, decreases allelic H3-K27 methylation, and causes loss of Igf2 imprinting. RNAi knock-down of Suz12 also leads to reactivation of the maternal Igf2 allele and biallelic Igf2 expression. CTCF and Suz12 are co-precipitated from nuclear extracts using antibodies specific for either protein, and they interact with each other in a two-hybrid system. These findings offer insight into general epigenetic mechanisms by which CTCF governs gene expression by orchestrating chromatin-loop structures and by serving as a DNA-binding protein scaffold to recruit and bind polycomb repressive complexes.


Research on the neural basis of symmetry perception is making rapid progress. ERP studies reliably show a sustained posterior negativity (SPN), with lower amplitude for symmetrical than random patterns at occipital electrodes, beginning around 250 ms after stimulus onset. Functional MRI shows activity in extrastriate visual areas and in the lateral occipital complex (LOC). We summarise and integrate the evidence by answering six questions. (1) Is there an automatic and sustained response to symmetry in visual areas? Yes, and because this is broadly unaffected by the task it suggests automatic processing of symmetry. (2) Which brain areas are involved in symmetry perception? There is an extended symmetry-sensitive network in extrastriate visual areas and the LOC. (3) Is bilateral reflection special? Reflection is the optimal stimulus for a general regularity-sensitive network that responds also to rotation and translation. (4) Is the response to symmetry independent of view angle? When people classify patterns as symmetrical or random, the response to symmetry is view-invariant. When people attend to other dimensions, the network responds to residual regularity in the image. (5) Does the neural response to symmetry scale with degree of regularity? Yes, the proportion of symmetrically positioned elements predicts the size of SPN and fMRI responses (see attached Figure). Finally, (6) Are connections between the hemispheres especially important for symmetry perception? No. SPN amplitude increases with the number of axes, and is comparable for horizontal and vertical symmetry. Overall, these studies of the brain mechanisms involved in symmetry perception show a consistent link between brain activity and measures of sensitivity from psychophysical studies. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


OBJECTIVES: Outcomes of pediatric button battery ingestions have worsened substantially, predominantly related to the emergence of the 20-mm-diameter lithium cell as a common power source for household products. Button batteries lodged in the esophagus can cause severe tissue damage in just 2 hours, with delayed complications such as esophageal perforation, tracheoesophageal fistulas, exsanguination after fistulization into a major blood vessel, esophageal strictures, and vocal cord paralysis. Thirteen deaths have been reported. The objective of this study was to explore button battery ingestion scenarios to formulate prevention strategies. METHODS: A total of 8648 battery ingestions that were reported to the National Battery Ingestion Hotline were analyzed. RESULTS: Batteries that were ingested by children who were younger than 6 years were most often obtained directly from a product (61.8%), were loose (29.8%), or were obtained from battery packaging (8.2%). Of young children who ingested the most hazardous battery, the 20-mm lithium cell, 37.3% were intended for remote controls. Adults most often ingested batteries that were sitting out, loose, or discarded (80.8%); obtained directly from a product (4.2%); obtained from battery packaging (3.0%); or swallowed within a hearing aid (12.1%). Batteries that were intended for hearing aids were implicated in 36.3% of ingestions. Batteries were mistaken for pills in 15.5% of ingestions, mostly by older adults. CONCLUSIONS: Parents and child care providers should be taught to prevent battery ingestions. Because 61.8% of batteries that were ingested by children were obtained from products, manufacturers should redesign household products to secure the battery compartment, possibly requiring a tool to open it.


This work is interested in the modeling and numerical simulation of some drying rate during the drying process of mangoes under variable thermal conditions. The work was carried out based on a thermally thin layer of products in a parallel air flow type dryer. The numerical solution of heat and mass transfers' equations using a time-dependent air temperature was used to obtain a model that predicts the precised drying kinetics of mangoes under variable external conditions. The simulation of mangoes dried through temperature steps of (60°-50°-40°C) considerably modified the drying rate compared to drying at 60°C. The quality of dried products was improved as the energy efficiency of the drier.


Twenty-two new species of the genus Eviulisoma Silvestri, 1910, from the Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania, are described: E. acaciae sp. nov., E. aequilobatum sp. nov., E. akkariae sp. nov., E. angulatum sp. nov., E. articulatum sp. nov., E. biquintum sp. nov., E. breviscutum sp. nov., E. cetafi sp. nov., E. chitense sp. nov., E. commelina sp. nov., E. coxale sp. nov., E. ejti sp. nov., E. grumslingslak sp. nov., E. kalimbasiense sp. nov., E. navuncus sp. nov., E. nessiteras sp. nov., E. ottokrausi sp. nov., E. paradisiacum sp. nov., E. sternale sp. nov. and E. zebra sp. nov. from the Udzungwa Mts, E. culter sp. nov. from the Rubeho Mts and E. kangense sp. nov. from the Kanga Mts. Eviulisoma kwabuniense Kraus, 1958, and E. dabagaense Kraus, 1958, both from the Udzungwa Mts, are redesribed based on new material. Notes are provided on E. iuloideum (Verhoeff, 1941) based on type material. Eoseviulisoma Brolemann, 1920, is synonymized under Eviulisoma, based on newly collected material of E. julinum (Attems, 1909), type species of Eoseviulisoma. New material of Suohelisoma ulugurense Hoffman, 1964, type species of Suohelisoma Hoffman, 1964, has revealed that the gonopod structure is more similar to that of Eviulisoma than originally thought, but Suohelisoma is retained as a valid genus. Four species groups are recognized among Eviulisoma species from the Udzungwa Mts, but the need for a revision of the entire genus is emphasized. Two types of epizootic fungi are recorded from Eviulisoma spp., and an enigmatic amorphous mass, which may be a kind of plugging substance, is recorded from the gonopod tips and excavated sixth sternum of several species.


Background. Prediabetic glucose homeostasis alterations are important cardiovascular risk factors but their role in renal transplant recipients (RTR) has not been established. Methods. In 172 RTRs without pretransplant or de novo diabetes, we measured carotid intima media thickness (c-IMT) and performed an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Results. In multivariate analysis, age, hypertension and male sex were independently associated with a c-IMT in the third tertile. A significant interaction between gender and glucose homeostasis parameters was observed. Among male RTR, those with a c-IMT in the third tertile showed significantly higher plasma glucose and HbA1c levels (5±0.5% vs. 5.1±0.5% vs. 5.5±0.4%; P<0.01 tertile 3 vs. 2 or 1) than those in other tertiles. Insulin action parameters were not significantly different. The odds ratio of being in the higher c-IMT tertile was 2.9 (95% CI: 1.05–8.1) per each 1% increase of HbA1c. By contrast, glucose and HbA1c levels were not significantly different between c-IMT tertiles in female RTR. However, age-adjusted insulin levels after OGTT were higher (86±10 vs. 51.7±9.4; P=0.02) and the insulin sensitivity index lower (0.8±0.3 vs. 0.048±0.03; P=0.04) among females in the third tertile as compared to the first one. Conclusion. Prediabetic glucose homeostasis alterations in RTRs are related to carotid atherosclerosis, although there may be gender differences in the underlying alteration.


Although water supply diversification has been proposed as a solution to dwindling water reserves, the optimal mix of natural and manufactured sources of water remains largely unexplored. We develop a dynamic portfolio model of water supply that hedges against the supply risks from all potential water sources, by taking into account the size of water reserves, uncertainties of water flows as well as differences in supply costs. The optimal portfolio shares for an existing water supply system are derived and compared with the observed contributions to total water stock, revealing unexploited hedging opportunities between various naturally occurring water sources as well as a general over-reliance on manufactured water. The optimal solution implies that future supply augmentations should target natural sources of water ahead of manufactured water. It is estimated that the optimization of the water supply portfolio for a medium-sized city results in annual cost-savings of up to $463 million.


It has been more than a decade that the first discussions on the integration of computational technologies into architectural education, especially into the design studios have been started. Since then, the use of CAD from drafting to complex solid modeling and manufacturing in design studios has been mostly achieved. Yet, persisting on the discussions within the same context, mostly focusing on the studio education and CAD/CAM rather than "CAAD" avoids inquiring other potentials of them as being a learning and implementation media of different knowledge domains. In this context this papers presents a discussion on andragogic learning by the integration of simulation technologies to architectural education to synthesize the fragmented knowledge that provides new learning media.


Not available – first paragraph follows:
Genetic engineering and cell and tissue culture have already begun to influence the breeding and vegetative propagation of superior rootstocks and woody perennial trees for efficient forestry systems and urban plantings. In our laboratory, hard-to-root biomass species such as Douglas-fir, white sprace, and jack pine have been cloned through micropropagation. The American elm has been propagated from cell suspension cultures. With similar methods being used for fruit and nut trees, valuable root-stocks of Prunus and Pistacia species are at the point of being cloned and modified to capture the maximum genetic variation available. Currently, a considerably smaller proportion is obtained through conventional selection and breeding.


In this brief, Research Scholar Greg Hannsgen and President Dimitri B. Papadimitriou focus on the risks and possibilities ahead for the US economy. Using a Keynesian approach and drawing from the commentary of other observers, they analyze publicly available data in order to assess the strength and durability of the expansion that probably began in 2009. They focus on four broad groups of markets that have shown signs of stress for the last several years: financial markets, markets for household goods and services, commodity markets, and labor markets. This kind of analysis does not yield numerical forecasts but it can provide important clues about the short-term outlook for the country's economic well-being, and cast light on some longer-run threats. In particular, dangers and stresses in the financial and banking systems are presently very serious, and labor market data show every sign of a widespread and severe weakness in aggregate demand. Unless there is new resolve for effective government action on the jobs front, drastic cuts in much-needed federal, state, and local programs will become the order of the day in the United States, as in much of Europe.


This paper investigates the ontology and epistemological justification behind investment benchmarks through the lens of a logical positivist paradigm. This is relevant because the field of finance is often critiqued by moral philosophers and has to justify itself as having a philosophical basis. It is introduced with a Greek δeίκνυμι thought experiment on the social good of such benchmarks. This is done to draw the reader into a mindset that questions their epistemological underpinning. It asks what the nature of benchmarks is and answers this within the context of the broad academic finance tradition that is dominated by positivists, empiricists and a few critical realists.


Hydraulic fracturing has been the subject of much debate recently, both in the United States and increasingly in Europe. Advances in hydraulic fracturing technology have led to a shale gas boom in the United States, significantly lowering natural gas prices, and causing some foreign businesses to move manufacturing plants from Europe to the United States. In the United States, approximately 11,000 new wells are "fracked" each year, adding to the currently existing 35,000 wells. When compared to these numbers, European shale gas exploration remains in its infancy and commercial scale gas extraction has yet to be established. At the same time, many Member States in the European Union consider the exploration of unconventional fossil fuels essential for their energy security and independence from Russian gas. While natural gas is a cleaner burning fossil fuel than oil, the fracking process itself, as well as its requisite infrastructure, brings with it numerous environmental and health concerns. As shale gas exploration progresses further and is commercially developed, many previously unrecognized and underestimated concerns have become more prevalent. The use of fresh water during the process of fracturing and the potential for pollution of surface and groundwater are only two examples of such concerns. In fact, a clear picture of the types and quantities of chemicals being used as additives in fracking fluids injected into the ground and the risks they may pose for the environment or human health has been lacking. In the United States, under the Safe Drinking Water Act, a permit is required only if diesel fuels are used as additives in fracking fluids. Yet, there is no definite clarity with respect to whether operators are actually using diesel fuels as additives or how much is being used.With little or no experience in shale gas development, Europe is looking toward the United States as a potential model for its nascent regulatory framework. While there is a patchwork of EU directives that address fracturing, there are specific shortcomings due to the fact that shale gas development has not been pursued in Europe. The European Commission and the European Parliament continue to evaluate the impact of fracturing on the environment and human health, and have already released numerous studies and reports. It is the objective of these initiatives to ensure that the environmental risks arising from shale gas projects and cumulative developments are adequately identified and managed in Europe. In addition, the European Union is attempting to establish a common regulatory approach allowing for a comparable and coherent regulatory environment across the European Union and all its Member States.This article analyzes the existing regulatory frameworks in the United States and European Union as they relate to hydraulic fracturing of shale gas. It is argued that while the United States' experience may serve as an example for the European Union, the shale gas boom in the United States has raised a host of environmental and health concerns that need to be addressed. At the same time, the United States may be well advised to consider some of the developments in Europe, where, for example, mutual non-disclosure agreements regarding damages to the environment and human health may not be allowed.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To examine the differences between Latina and Caucasian breast cancer survivors in perceived social support, uncertainty, and quality of life (QOL), and the differences between the cohorts in selected demographic variables.

DESIGN
Descriptive, comparative study.

SETTING
Selected private hospitals and American Cancer Society units in a metropolitan area of the northeastern United States.

SAMPLE
182 Caucasian and 98 Latina breast cancer survivors.

METHODS
Participants completed a personal data sheet, the Social Support Questionnaire, the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale-Community Form, and the Ferrans and Powers QOL Index-Cancer Version III at home and returned the questionnaires to the investigators via postage-paid envelope.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Perceived social support, uncertainty, and QOL.

FINDINGS
Caucasians reported significantly higher levels of total perceived social support and QOL than Latinas.

CONCLUSIONS
Psychiatric illness comorbidity and lower level of education in Latinas were factors in the disparity of QOL.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Nurses should be mindful of the essential association of perceived social support, uncertainty, and QOL in Latina breast cancer survivors and how Latinas differ from Caucasian breast cancer survivors. Factors such as cultural values, comorbidities, and education level likely influence perceived social support, uncertainty, and QOL.


Electric propulsion offers dramatic new vehicle mission capabilities, not possible with turbine or reciprocating engines; including high reliability and efficiency, low engine weight and maintenance, low cooling drag and volume required, very low noise and vibration, and zero emissions. The only penalizing characteristic of electric propulsion is the current energy storage technology level, which is set to triple over the next 5-10 years through huge new investments in this field. Most importantly, electric propulsion offers incredible new degrees of freedom in aircraft system integration to achieve unprecedented levels of aerodynamic, propulsive, control, and structural synergistic coupling. A unique characteristic of electric propulsion is that the technology is nearly scale-free, permitting small motors to be parallelized for fail-safe redundancy, or distributed across the airframe for tightly coupled interdisciplinary functionality without significant impacts in motor-controller efficiency or specific weight. Maximizing the potential benefit of electric propulsion is dependent on applying this technology to synergistic mission concepts. The vehicle missions with the most benefit include those which constrain environmental impact (or limit noise, exhaust, or emission signatures) are short range, or where large differences exist in the propulsion system sizing between takeoff and cruise conditions. Electric propulsion offers the following unique capabilities that other propulsion systems can t provide for short range Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) aircraft; elimination of engine noise and emissions, drastic reduction in engine cooling and radiated heat, drastic reduction in vehicle vibration levels, drastic improvement in reliability and operating costs, variable speed output at full power, for improved cruise efficiency at low tip-speed, elimination of high/hot sizing penalty, and reduction of engine-out penalties.


The olfactory system, particularly the olfactory epithelium, presents a unique opportunity to study the regenerative capabilities of the brain, because of its ability to recover after damage. In this study, we ablated olfactory sensory neurons with methimazole and followed the anatomical and functional recovery of circuits expressing genetic markers for I7 and M72 receptors (M72-IRES-tau-LacZ and I7-IRES-tau-GFP). Our results show that 45 days after methimazole-induced lesion, axonal projections to the bulb of M72 and I7 populations are largely reestablished. Furthermore, regenerated glomeruli are re-formed within the same areas as those of control, unexposed mice. This anatomical regeneration correlates with functional recovery of a previously learned odorant-discrimination task, dependent on the cognate ligands for M72 and I7. Following regeneration, mice also recover innate responsiveness to TMT and urine. Our findings show that regeneration of neuronal circuits in the olfactory system can be achieved with remarkable precision and underscore the importance of glomerular organization to evoke memory traces stored in the brain.


A novel framework for the construction of biorthogonal wavelets based on Bernstein bases with an arbitrary order of vanishing moments using the lifting scheme is proposed. We explore the field of application of it in still image compression. The major contributions of this work can be summarised highlighting the following three aspects. First and foremost, we propose an algorithm that is used to increase the vanishing moments of wavelets from biorthogonal symmetrical wavelets based on Bernstein bases by the lifting scheme. An iterative algorithm for designing the lifting scheme is proposed, which is based on the relationship between the vanishing moments of the wavelet and multiples of zeros of z = 1. The authors provide formulas of the lifting scheme for the construction of wavelets with an arbitrary order of vanishing moments. In addition, the lifting scheme is the shortest among the lifting schemes with the same order of vanishing moments increasing and, more importantly, it is the only one possible. Second, to guarantee the symmetry of the lifting (dual lifting) biorthogonal filters, explicit formulas of the lifting scheme with an arbitrary order of vanishing moments are introduced, which simultaneously have the above two characteristics. With our method, a new family of the parameterisation with symmetry of filters and the related library of biorthogonal symmetric waveforms are presented. Finally, we present a new transform rule aiming at image compression and its corresponding algorithm. Applying the parameterisation of filters constructed in this paper, by adjusting their coefficients, we can realise the transform rule and obtain a new transform. We explore the possibility of applying the presented transforms in image compression at different compression rates, and the results of the experiments prove to be comparable with the CDF9/7 and several state-of-the-art wavelet transforms.


This paper gives an overview of theories on interregional migration. Conventional theories within economics and geography are discussed, and some new ideas are introduced. For example, the value of physical capital in a welfare society is now so large that it will slow down net migration. Finally, contemporary progress in research is discussed. New methods will make it possible to understand macrofeatures of interlinked processes from models using microdata. New empirical findings show decreasing net migration figures in many countries which is in accordance with theories on the relation with migration on the one hand, and the value of physical capital andlor a more stable local demand for services on the other. The post-industrial society will, against earlier predictions, have low net migration rates.


The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the parenting component of the Youth Horizon Trust programme for families of young people with severe conduct disorder. Empirical research supports the assertion that interventions designed to change parental discipline practices are the most effective interventions in reducing conduct problem behaviour in young people. Eleven parents of Youth Horizon Trust programme participants completed a multi-method questionnaire conducted with repeated assessments over a twelve week period. The constructs measured have been consistently linked to conduct disorder. The questionnaires and a similar evaluation method were used in prior North American research (Frick, Christian , & Wootton , 1999; Shelton, Frick, & Wootton, 1996). The present study was designed to determine whether there were differences in parenting practices during a three month portion of intervention (hypothesis 1 ), among parents in the first , second and third years of programme participation (hypothesis 2) , towards the end of programme involvement, compared to parents early in the programme (hypothesis 3) and related to the level of the young person's distress at the time of intake (hypothesis 4) . The present study found firstly, that the two positive parenting scale results differed from prior research but the three negative parenting subscales showed similarities in the direction of changes (Frick et al. , 1999). Secondly, there was no overall relationship between the time duration of the intervention and improvement in parenting practices, but changes in the third year indicated reductions in negative parenting practices and improved parental involvement, monitoring, supervision, and consistency. In addition, the most distressed young people at the beginning of the treatment programme had parents who indicated less involvement in their parenting practices. The overall implication drawn from the findings is that improvement in supervision, monitoring, and consistency of discipline by parents are more readily adopted than involvement and positive parenting practices. Further research with more extensive monitoring, larger samples and over a greater time frame are discussed. lV


In order to achieve sustainable fishing livelihoods in coastal communities, data on profitability of small-scale fisheries relative to fish species caught and gear types used by fishermen is required as part of a broader fisheries management strategy. This study was undertaken with this in mind. Interviews were conducted among 60 fishermen between February and March 2010. Economic assessment of small-scale fishing activities were done using questionnaires based on direct market pricing and contingent valuation methods. The results indicate that highly profitable fish species include Epinephelus aeneus, Sparus caeruleostictus, Dentex angolensis and Lutjanus goreensis valued at US$2.97, US$2.87, US$2.85 and US$2.63 per kilogram respectively. The less profitable species include Dasyatis margarita, Caranx crysos and Sardinella aurita valued at US$0.34, US$0.66 and US$ 0.85 per kilogram respectively. Although Sardinella aurita was among the less valuable fish species, it was the main species driving profits for the fishermen due to its high share volume among the fish catches. Findings from this study suggest high rates of exploitation, in that stocks generally cannot provide for increased economic return in the face of increased investment. This is a clear indicator that the open-access nature of Ghanaian fisheries is not sustainable, and management reform is well overdue.


Garnet and clinopyroxene megacrysts found in the Uintjiesberg and Lekkerfontein kimberlites, southern Africa, have been analysed for their major and trace element compositions. Minerals from both megacrysts suites define coherent geochemical trends that can be attributed to differentiation via crystallisation in a closed system. Clinopyroxene megacrysts from both localities are of the subcalcic, low-Cr variety and have Mg#'s that range from 0.821 to 0.890, whereas garnets have Mg#'s in the range 0.702 to 0.824. Clinopyroxene megacrysts from both localities are strongly light rare earth element (REE) enriched when normalised to chondrites (La/Ybn ∼5), whereas garnets are all strongly LREE depleted (La/Ybn <0.014) with flat HREE patterns; both mineral types show strongly subparallel REE patterns. Primitive mantle normalised trace element patterns are likewise subparallel, with clinopyroxene megacrysts reflecting strong incompatible element enrichment and garnet megacrysts incompatible element depletion. Quantitative modelling of REE patterns in both garnet and clinopyroxene megacrysts provides compelling evidence that an ocean island basalt (OIB)-like parental magma, rather than a primary kimberlite magma, gave rise, over an extended (∼60 to 75%) crystallisation period, to the megacryst suite minerals from both localities. Variations in Sr and high field strength element abundances are consistent with this model.


Constitutions, and the law and culture they generate, constitute in the broad, diverse, and conflicting stories we tell about places, peoples, and nation states. Significant constitutional anniversaries have always marked an occasion for creating and challenging constitutional stories. The 150th anniversary of Confederation offers an opportunity to reflect on the stories that Canadian constitutional history has to contribute to the country's broader constitutional narrative and self-understanding. In particular, I explore how significant moments in the constitutional history of Japanese Canadians reveal the relationship between constitutional failure and meaningful moments of constitutional resistance and change. In doing so, we see the capacity of constitutional history, often abandoned by scholars for the more immediate imperatives of contemporary constitutional concerns, as integral to a full understanding of Canadian constitutional law, culture, and politics.


Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Thomas Merton both published works on the Psalms that expressed their deep commitment to prayerful reading of the Psalter as integral to Christian spirituality. This article sets out some of the central themes in each case and argues that there are important and creative connections for both of these influential figures between how they prayed the Psalms and how they engaged with the challenges in Christian-Jewish relations that they discerned in their overlapping but also contrasting contexts. In particular, the practice of praying the Psalms fostered an openness to identification with other persons that was both hermeneutical and spiritual, shaping the different ways in which they came to sketch out new forms of Christian identification with Jewish experience.


Inferring effective connectivity between different brain regions from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data is an important advanced study in neuroinformatics in recent years. However, current methods have limited usage in effective connectivity studies due to the high noise and small sample size of fMRI data. In this paper, we propose a novel framework for inferring effective connectivity based on generative adversarial networks (GAN), named as EC-GAN. The proposed framework EC-GAN infers effective connectivity via an adversarial process, in which we simultaneously train two models: a generator and a discriminator. The generator consists of a set of effective connectivity generators based on structural equation models which can generate the fMRI time series of each brain region via effective connectivity. Meanwhile, the discriminator is employed to distinguish between the joint distributions of the real and generated fMRI time series. Experimental results on simulated data show that EC-GAN can better infer effective connectivity compared to other state-of-the-art methods. The real-world experiments indicate that EC-GAN can provide a new and reliable perspective analyzing the effective connectivity of fMRI data.


Applying bootstrapped quantile regression to the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) data, we examine the channels through which individuals experience and seek to cope with changes in consumption. We find that married individuals living in small households, with educated heads in urban areas are better equipped to smooth consumption. Investigating the impact of idiosyncratic shocks, we find that the labour market is an important transmission mechanism allowing households to smooth their consumption but also exposing them to risk, mainly through job loss. Outside of pension payments, the formal social safety net does not facilitate consumption smoothing, thus heightening the importance of informal coping institutions. It transpires that both support from relatives/friends and home production act as important insurance mechanisms for the most vulnerable. In contrast with previous findings, it would seem that regardless of its historical, political and social roots, the garden plots and dachas, often romanticized in Russian literature, do provide a means by which 'urban' Russians are able to cope with economic fluctuations. We finish by stressing the important policy lessons for Russia's developing market economy.


Histaminergic neurons of the hypothalamic tuberomammillary nucleus constitute a major wake‐promoting system. In animals, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) histamine levels are increased during wakefulness and after sleep deprivation and decreased during sleep. An involvement of the histamine system in human disorders has not, to our knowledge, been reported. We measured hypocretin‐1 and histamine levels in the lumbar CSF of 28 patients with and without excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) as assessed by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). There were 10 patients with EDS (ESS > 10, mean ESS = 14). Diagnoses included narcolepsy (n = 4), idiopathic hypersomnia (n = 2), sleep apnoea (n = 2) and multiple sclerosis (n = 2). Three patients were treated with stimulants. Their mean CSF histamine was 258 ± 159 PM. There were 18 patients without EDS (ESS < 9, mean ESS = 5). No patients were treated with stimulants. Their mean CSF histamine was significantly higher (624 ± 481 PM, P = 0.007). There was a significant inverse correlation (r = −0.48, P = 0.02) between ESS and both CSF histamine and hypocretin‐1 levels. These observations suggest that narcolepsy and EDS of other origin are associated in humans with lower CSF histamine levels and therefore with a reduced activity of the wake‐promoting histaminergic neuronal system.


Bladder cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. At initial diagnosis, 75% of patients present with non—muscle-invasive disease and 25% of patients have muscle-invasive or metastatic disease.Patients with noninvasive disease suffer from a high rate of recurrence and 10–30% will have disease progression. Patients with muscle-invasive disease are primarily treated with radical cystectomy, but frequently succumb to their disease despite improvements in surgical technique. In non–muscle-invasive disease, multiplicity, tumor size, and prior recurrence rates are the most important predictors for recurrence, while tumor grade, stage, and carcinoma in situ are the most important predictors for progression. The most common tool that clinicians use to predict outcomes after radical cystectomy is still the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system, with lymph node involvement representing the most important prognostic factor. However, the predictive accuracy of staging and grading systems are limited, and nomograms incorporating clinical and pathologic factors can improve prediction of bladder cancer outcomes. One limitation of current staging is the fact that tumors of a similar stage and grade can have significantly different biology. The integration of molecular markers, especially in a panel approach, has the potential to further improve the accuracy of predictive models and may also identify targets for therapeutic intervention or patients who will respond to systemic therapies.


The performance of the Coconut shell (CS) and Bael shell (BS) activated carbon electrodes on removal of Methylene blue (MB) and Eosin-Y (EY) dyes have been carried out by electro-adsorption process. Modification of electrodes is done to enhance the decolourization performances. The colour removal capability of the electrodes are evaluated by varying the process parameters such as time (15-150 min), potential (545 V) and initial dye concentration as (25-200 mg/L) in batch mode. The adsorption isotherm is determined by Langmuir, Freundlich and Jovanic-Isotherms models. The kinetic data are evaluated by using Pseudo-first and Pseudo-second order model and the rate of diffusion is determined by Intra-particle diffusion model. The electrochemical studies are carried out by cyclic voltammetry and Tafel plots. The experimental results depict that the adsorption isotherm follow the Langmuir isotherm model with the correlation co-efficient, R = 0.99 for CS activated carbon electrode system, whereas the BS activated carbon electrode system strongly adhere to Freundlich Isotherm models. In addition, the rate kinetics follow Pseudo-first order kinetic model with R = 0.99 for all the studies. The surface changes, elemental interaction, porosity, functional groups involved in electro-adsorption process and thermal stability are analysed for raw and modified form of electrodes using SEM, EDS, BET, FTIR and TGA respectively.


The Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz analysis is carried out for the extended-CP^N class of integrable 2-dimensional Non-Linear Sigma Models related to the low energy limit of the AdS_4xCP^3 type IIA superstring theory. The principal aim of this program is to obtain further non-perturbative consistency check to the S-matrix proposed to describe the scattering processes between the fundamental excitations of the theory by analyzing the structure of the Renormalization Group flow. As a noteworthy byproduct we eventually obtain a novel class of TBA models which fits in the known classification but with several important differences. The TBA framework allows the evaluation of some exact quantities related to the conformal UV limit of the model: effective central charge, conformal dimension of the perturbing operator and field content of the underlying CFT. The knowledge of this physical quantities has led to the possibility of conjecturing a perturbed CFT realization of the integrable models in terms of coset Kac-Moody CFT. The set of numerical tools and programs developed ad hoc to solve the problem at hand is also discussed in some detail with references to the code.


For the greater part of the period from the end of the 10th century to the 7th century BC, the Ancient Near East was dominated by the dynamic military power of Assyria. At the zenith of its rule Assyria could lay claim to an empire that stretched from Egypt in the west to the borders of Iran in the east and encompassed for the first time in history, within the realm of a single imperial domain, the whole of the 'Fertile Crescent'. Mark Healy, covers the history of the Assyrians from their ancient beginnings to the eventual fall of the city of Nineveh.


Scholars in management and economics widely share the assumption that business firms focus on profits only, while it is the task of the state system to provide public goods. In this view business firms are conceived of as economic actors, and governments and their state agencies are considered the only political actors. We suggest that, under the conditions of globalization, the strict division of labour between private business and nation-state governance does not hold any more. Many business firms have started to assume social and political responsibilities that go beyond legal requirements and fill the regulatory vacuum in global governance. Our review of the literature shows that there are a growing number of publications from various disciplines that propose a politicized concept of corporate social responsibility. We consider the implications of this new perspective for theorizing about the business firm, governance, and democracy.


BACKGROUND
It is necessary to elucidate whether extensive resection of the bile ducts combined with liver resection is a feasible and valid procedure for cancer of the main hepatic duct junction.

METHODS
Based on a multi-institutional study, resectability rate, operative mortality, long-term survival, and factors contributory to long-term survival were investigated.

RESULTS
Between January 1973 and December 1991, a total of 158 patients with this cancer were admitted to Keio University Hospital and six affiliated institutions. Eighty-three (53%) of the 158 patients underwent resection, with seven (8.4%) postoperative deaths. The operations were performed by seven surgeons who were in charge of liver surgery at each respective institution. The 5-year actuarial survival rate of the 83 patients who underwent resection was 20%. Twelve patients survived more than 5 years, and these patients underwent curative resection. Three of the 12 patients were doing well after 10 years. Procedures of liver resection were right trisegmentectomy in two patients and left lobectomy with resection of the right portal vein in one.

CONCLUSIONS
It is clear that cancer of the main hepatic duct junction has become a curable disease. The operation is a valid procedure that can be widely practiced by competent surgeons.


The ultimate purpose of the statistical analysis of ordinal patterns is to characterize the distribution of the features they induce. In particular, knowing the joint distribution of the pair entropy-statistical complexity for a large class of time series models would allow statistical tests that are unavailable to date. Working in this direction, we characterize the asymptotic distribution of the empirical Shannon's entropy for any model under which the true normalized entropy is neither zero nor one. We obtain the asymptotic distribution from the central limit theorem (assuming large time series), the multivariate delta method, and a third-order correction of its mean value. We discuss the applicability of other results (exact, first-, and second-order corrections) regarding their accuracy and numerical stability. Within a general framework for building test statistics about Shannon's entropy, we present a bilateral test that verifies if there is enough evidence to reject the hypothesis that two signals produce ordinal patterns with the same Shannon's entropy. We applied this bilateral test to the daily maximum temperature time series from three cities (Dublin, Edinburgh, and Miami) and obtained sensible results.


Mutual information (MI) is a fundamental measure of statistical dependence, with a myriad of applications to information theory, statistics, and machine learning. While it possesses many desirable structural properties, the estimation of high-dimensional MI from samples suffers from the curse of dimensionality. Motivated by statistical scalability to high dimensions, this paper proposes sliced MI (SMI) as a surrogate measure of dependence. SMI is defined as an average of MI terms between one-dimensional random projections. We show that it preserves many of the structural properties of classic MI, while gaining scalable computation and efficient estimation from samples. Furthermore, and in contrast to classic MI, SMI can grow as a result of deterministic transformations. This enables leveraging SMI for feature extraction by optimizing it over processing functions of raw data to identify useful representations thereof. Our theory is supported by numerical studies of independence testing and feature extraction, which demonstrate the potential gains SMI offers over classic MI for high-dimensional inference.


Two complex enzymes were assembled that both converted C3 to C3b, one consisting of activated properdin (P), native C3, proactivator (PA) and proactivator convertase (PAase), and the other of nephritic factor (NF) and the same three cofactors. By maintaining a critical concentration of PAase, the P-C3 convertase and the NF-C3 convertase were shown to function efficiently without formation of the C3b-feedback enzyme. The former two enzymes are distinct from the C3b-dependent C3 convertase in that they utilize native C3 instead of C3b and PA in an apparently uncleaved form. The P- and NF-C3 convertase express maximal activity within approximately 10 min at 37 degrees C and decay with a half-life of 35 min at 37 degrees C, which is in contradistinction to the reported lability of the C3b-feedback enzyme. P- and NF-C3 convertases are inhibited by their product C3b, which may constitute a heretofore unknown control of the alternative pathway. A direct physical interaction of P with native C3 and C3b was demonstrated by agglutination of C3b-bearing erythrocytes and by agglutination inhibition. Bound C3b thus constitutes the only known receptor of P and may fulfill an important localizing function for P and the P-C3 convertase in vivo. Although P and NF form functionally similar enzymes, they act independently of each other and are apparently immunochemically unrelated proteins.


This work contributes to vision processing for Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) and intelligent vehicle applications. We propose a color-only stixel segmentation framework to segment traffic scenes into free, drivable space and obstacles, which has a reduced latency to improve the real-time processing capabilities. Our system learns color appearance models for free-space and obstacle classes in an online and self-supervised fashion. To this end, it applies a disparity-based segmentation, which can run in the background of the critical system path, either with a time delay of several frames or at a frame rate that is only a third of that of the color-based algorithm. In parallel, the most recent video frame is analyzed solely with these learned color appearance models, without an actual disparity estimate and the corresponding latency. This translates into a reduced response time from data acquisition to data analysis, which is a critical property for high-speed ADAS. Our evaluation on two publicly available datasets, one of which we introduce as part of this work, shows that the color-only analysis can achieve similar or even better results in difficult imaging conditions, compared to the disparity-only method. Our system improves the quality of the free-space analysis, while simultaneously lowering the latency and the computational load.


BACKGROUND
Evidence of ginseng for reducing blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive patients is controversial. This systematic review updated the previous reviews and evidence for it.

METHODS
Ten databases were searched from their inception through October 2016, without language restriction. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were included if any types of ginseng were tested as the sole treatment or as an adjunct to other treatments for pre-hypertension or hypertension. The risk of bias (ROB) was assessed with Cochrane ROB tools by two independent reviewers.

RESULTS
We found 528 potentially relevant articles, of which 9 RCTs met our inclusion criteria. Two studies reported positive effects of Korean red ginseng (KRG) on acute reduction of systolic BP (SBP: n=54, mean differences (MD), -6.52; P=0.0002; I2=0%) and diastolic BP DBP: MD, -5.21; P=0.0001; I2=0%), while two other trials failed to do so with north American ginseng (NAG) in both SBP and DBP. Five RCTs assessed the long-term effects of ginseng (KRG or NAG) on SBP and DBP. Two studies showed positive effects of KRG on reducing SBP and DBP compared with placebo (SBP: n = 183, MD, -2.92, P=0.04; I2 = 0%; DBP: MD, -3.19, P=0.008; I2 = 0%).

CONCLUSION
This systematic review provides positive evidence for the efficacy of KRG on reducing blood pressure in patients with pre-hypertension and hypertension in acute and long-term. Future RCTs appear to be warranted.


Author(s): Milutinovic, Mitar | Advisor(s): Song, Dawn | Abstract: The rapid increase in the amount of data collected is quickly shifting the bottleneck of making informed decisions from a lack of data to a lack of data scientists to help analyze the collected data. Moreover, the publishing rate of new potential solutions and approaches for data analysis has surpassed what a human data scientist can follow. At the same time, we observe that many tasks a data scientist performs during analysis could be automated. Automatic machine learning (AutoML) research and solutions attempt to automate portions or even the entire data analysis process.We address two challenges in AutoML research: first, how to represent ML programs suitably for metalearning; and second, how to improve evaluations of AutoML systems to be able to compare approaches, not just predictions.To this end, we have designed and implemented a framework for ML programs which provides all the components needed to describe ML programs in a standard way. The framework is extensible and framework's components are decoupled from each other, e.g., the framework can be used to describe ML programs which use neural networks. We provide reference tooling for execution of programs described in the framework. We have also designed and implemented a service, a metalearning database, that stores information about executed ML programs generated by different AutoML systems.We evaluate our framework by measuring the computational overhead of using the framework as compared to executing ML programs which directly call underlying libraries. We observe that the framework's ML program execution time is an order of magnitude slower and its memory usage is twice that of ML programs which do not use this framework.We demonstrate our framework's ability to evaluate AutoML systems by comparing 10 different AutoML systems that use our framework. The results show that the framework can be used both to describe a diverse set of ML programs and to determine unambiguously which AutoML system produced the best ML programs. In many cases, the produced ML programs outperformed ML programs made by human experts.


There is a flourishing and growing debate among political scientists regarding the links between democracy/democratization and terrorism. Terrorism, Instability, and Democracy in Asia and Africa takes a regional approach to the issue, focusing on two areas sorely underrepresented in the literature but which grow ever more topical. Beginning with definitions and a literature review, the authors present and interpret statistical analysis and case studies of nations in the Horn of Africa; sub-Saharan Africa; and Central, East, South, and Southeast Asia. This is a timely book that will fill a gaping hole in terrorism literature, just as the world is becoming increasingly attuned to domestic, international, and regional terrorist threats emanating from Asia and Africa. Academics, students, and policy experts in the fields of American, Asian, African, and international affairs and terrorism will embrace this crucial volume.


Greenplum Database is a massively parallel processing (MPP) analytics database that adopts a shared-nothing architecture with multiple cooperating processors. A query submitted to the Greenplum master is optimized by the Orca query optimizer [7] which is based on state-of-the-art top-down query optimization techniques. Joins are commonly used SQL operations. When querying large amounts of data, it is crucial to generate a nearoptimal join to ensure that the user query does indeed complete. In this paper, we present the join enumeration algorithm employed in Orca. Our proposed approach seamlessly handles workloads consisting of a mixture of inner, left and right joins. Optimization effort is directly proportional to the complexity of the join query. Our technique employs an exhaustive approach to generate an optimal join order when the number of join participants is less than 10. For larger join queries, we gracefully transition into a greedy based approach to reduce optimization time. In this work, we have developed a cost model that incorporates dimensions specific to a parallel database setup such as data distribution of the join participants, and dynamic partition elimination opportunities. Lastly, to ensure that we do not re-trace the same search space over and over again we have built data structures that capture paths traversed and work accomplished by the algorithm. We demonstrate the benefits of our proposed technique by running workloads on established database benchmarks as well as customer datasets.


Despite numerous studies on skill development, we know little about the causal effects of music training on cognitive and non-cognitive skills. This study examines how long-term music training during childhood and youth affects the development of cognitive skills, school grades, personality, time use and ambition using representative data from the German SocioEconomic Panel (SOEP). Our findings suggest that adolescents with music training have better cognitive skills and school grades and are more conscientious, open and ambitious. These effects do not differ by socio-economic status. Music improves cognitive and noncognitive skills more than twice as much as sports, theater or dance. In order to address the non-random selection into music training, we take into account detailed information on parents, which may determine both the decision to pursue music lessons and educational outcomes: socio-economic background, personality, involvement with the child's school, and taste for the arts. In addition, we control for the predicted probability to give up music before age 17 as well as the adolescent's secondary school type. We provide evidence that our results are robust to both reverse causality and the existence of partly treated individuals in the control group.


We use extreme value theory methods to infer conventionally unobservable connections between financial institutions from joint extreme movements in credit default swap spreads and equity returns. Estimated pairwise co-crash probabilities identify significant connections among up to 186 financial institutions prior to the crisis of 2007/2008. Financial institutions that were very central prior to the crisis were more likely to be bailed out during the crisis or receive the status of systemically important institutions. This result remains intact also after controlling for indicators of too-big-to-fail concerns, systemic, systematic, and idiosyncratic risks. Both credit default swap (CDS)-based and equity-based connections are significant predictors of bailouts. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.