Dull yellow coloured flesh of C. catla is less attractive to the consumer. Present study investigated the effects of dried, powdered carrot incorporated feed as a source of carotenoids on pigmentation and sensory properties of C. catla skin and flesh. Two groups of C. catla fingerlings (4.39±0.13 cm and 2.41±0.13 g) were fed with a commercially available feed (CF) incorporated with 100 mg/kgdried and ground D. carota , sieved using 250 μm (CF+C1) and 450 μm (CF+C2) mesh and it was compared with a control group of fish of the same size fed with CF. Each group included three replicates of 10 fish. Fish were fed ad libitum thrice daily for 10 weeks. Total carotenoid content in flesh and skin, average daily gain (% ADG), specific growth rate (% SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR), hepato-somatic index (HSI), daily feed consumption (g/day/tank) and survival rate of fish were analysed at the end of the experiment. A sensory evaluation of fish flesh was done by a panel of judges. It was revealed that D. carota incorporated feed CF+C1, CF+C2 provided a significantly higher carotenoid accumulation by wet weight in flesh (1.36±0.11 and 1.19±0.09 μg/g, respectively) and in skin (2.79±0.08 and 2.82±0.06 μg/g, respectively), compared to flesh (0.45±0.04 μg/g) and skin (0.72±0.14 μg/g) of the CF fed fish. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) among the two experimented groups in the average weight, % SGR, daily feed consumption and % ADG at the end of experiment. Significantly lower FCR was observed in CF+C1 and CF+C2 fed fish (3.90±0.27, 3.98±0.68, respectively) when compared to fish fed with CF (4.91±0.39). Sensory analysis revealed that the flesh of fish fed with D. carota predicate a bright pink colour and was preferred, compared to the flesh of control group.


One important aspect of sustainability involves the flows of materials and energy, extracted, consumed, transformed and disposed of in the functioning of urban societies, which makes it directly linked to the 'nested' character of infrastructure that this special issue of Urban Studies on 'urban nexus' is keen to address. In particular, the question of urban waste, a sector previously neglected in the field of urban policy, has slowly become a major issue in world urbanisation that can be tackled through its cross-sectorial interactions and its multidimensional effects. Through an analysis of the case of Delhi, this article aims to undertake an exploration of the waste and energy nexus in order to contribute to the current debates on the socio-technical transformations of waste infrastructure and its societal interlinkages. This article studies the effects of waste management policies in Delhi that essentially promote large centralised technical systems such as waste-to-energy plants, which are presented as a 'modern nexus' of waste and energy, at the expense of any 'alternative nexus' such as the existing traditional recycling sector. Hence, the main objective is not only to question the socio-spatial and political implications of the current reforms of the waste sector but also to discuss the development of other potential decentralised solutions that could complement the overall system in an adapted way.


The performance of asphalt by low temperatures is largely determined by the viscosity of the binder respectively the mortar of the asphalt. The traditional test methods for binder (e.g. ball-draw viscosimeter) are limited to temperatures above the service range of temperature for an asphalt construction. The Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) is limited to temperatures above 30°C whereas the Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR) is limited to temperatures below -10°C and not applicable to mortar. Especially the gap in the temperature of these test methods is very important to characterize the viscosity behavior of binder and mortar over the whole range of the service temperatures, which represent the typical environmental conditions of over the seasons, for an asphalt construction. Tension retardation experiments seem to be very useful to bridge the gap. They address the low temperature behavior of binder and mortar. With this test method the flow characteristics of binder (pen grade and any modification) and any kind of mortar in the service temperature range, in particular at low temperatures of -25°C can be determined with a high precision, and assessed, via the physically interpretable material characteristics quantity of tension viscosity. Furthermore the present findings indicate the potential of extrapolation the results of the Tension retardation for a prediction of the rutting resistance of asphalt mixtures. As part of several research Projects, BASt (Federal Highway Research Institute) investigated the effects of different modifications of the binder to low temperature behavior of the binder by the tension retardation test. This paper is intended to provide a more detailed description of the test method Tension Retardation, selected results and related findings.


The anode and cathode pieces are vital components of lithium-ion batteries. The coating surface density of active material is a significant parameter involved during the fabrication of electrodes and has considerable impact on battery performance. In this paper, anode and cathode pieces are prepared with different surface densities within the allowable range. The anode and cathode pieces are first graded respectively and then matched up according to different surface density ranges. Afterward, the electrodes are assembled with commercial polypropylene separator in 18,650 cell case and infused with electrolyte. The cathode is constituted with a mixture of nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) ternary material and lithium manganese oxide coated on aluminum foil, while the anode is composed of graphite coated on copper foil. The electrochemical performance and safety properties were tested to investigate the influence of the coating surface density of electrodes and optimize the electrochemical performance by regulating the matching surface density of electrodes. The results indicate that larger surface density of both cathode and anode can provide better battery consistency, while smaller surface density can contribute to better specific capacity and smaller capacity loss after cycling. Modest cost and superior properties can be achieved for lithium-ion batteries by reasonably matching the surface density of anodes and cathodes pieces.


MDC helps organizations and communities close gaps that separate people from opportunities and helps people to try to find a path out of poverty through education work and asset-building. The group has been active in disaster preparedness for low-income communities which are typically less prepared and suffer greater loss. Preparation is a way that people can build and preserve their assets in the face of disaster. Many low-income people own businesses and cannot recover after a disaster. When a disaster hits a small business people become unemployed which leads to less consumer spending making it tough on the community because the tax base decreases. The barriers to resilience in low-income communities include lack of access to capital and affordable insurance. MDC took a community development approach to creating disaster preparedness in low-income communities. They identify barriers for socially vulnerable communities and came up with solutions . They recommended improvement to land-use planning in hazardous areas and sufficient buy-outs when necessary. There is a need to reduce the costs of mitigation and provide insurance-sponsored mitigation. The researchers suggested developing relationships with trusted community agents more effective disaster plans and expanding access to financial products for recovery. Public–private partnerships and microloans could be critical in recovery for low-income communities.


With the healthcare sector accounting for a sizeable proportion of national expenditures, the pursuit of efficiency has become a central objective of policymakers within most health systems. However, the analysis and measurement of efficiency is a complex undertaking, not least due to the multiple objectives of health care organizations and the many gaps in information systems. In response to this complexity, research in organizational efficiency analysis has flourished. This 2006 book examines some of the most important techniques currently available to measure the efficiency of systems and organizations, including data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis, and also presents some promising new methodological approaches. Such techniques offer the prospect of many new and fruitful insights into health care performance. Nevertheless, they also pose many practical and methodological challenges. This is an important critical assessment of the strengths and limitations of efficiency analysis applied to health and health care.


The total cost of ownership of a naval ship is largely influenced by decisions made during concept design. In recent years the US Navy has undertaken numerous initiatives to reduce total ownership cost. This has prompted particular interest in reducing manning, as this is the largest single expenditure in total ownership cost. Normally ships are designed and then a study is performed to determine their required manning, but manning has a significant design impact and designs can either be too small to accommodate necessary manning or too large and costly if manning is overestimated. Manpower analysis implemented early in the design process and included in design synthesis could significantly minimize total ownership cost while optimizing ship design performance. The Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech has developed a Multi-Objective Genetic Optimization process to aid in ship concept exploration. This thesis describes a manning model created to be incorporated into this ship synthesis and optimization. DDG-51 guided missile destroyer manning is used as a baseline for a guided missile destroyer (DDGx) concept exploration. ISMAT (Integrated Simulation Manning Analysis Tool) discrete event manning tool is used to decompose complex ship operations into functions and tasks to build scenarios and assign crewmembers to accomplish maintenance and ship operations and ultimately calculate manning requirements as a function of ship mission, system, size, automation and maintenance strategy. The manning model results are then linked to the ship synthesis model and design optimization to determine an estimated crew number for a particular ship design. This thesis demonstrates that a manning estimation tool can effectively be linked to a naval ship concept exploration process and have a significant impact on selected designs.


Molecular and microstructural orientation plays a key role in determining the useful mechanical, optical and electrical properties of a large class of polymeric materials. Realization of the technological promise of these materials requires rational control of the microstructure and understanding of the processing-structure-property relationships. Towards this end, we focus on the material properties and dynamical processes that affect molecular order of two complex polymeric systems (a) Ultra-thin Langmuir-Blodgett films of a hairy-rodlike polymer, and (b) Lamellar diblock copolymer melts of polystyrene and polyisoprene (PS-PI).

We accomplish our objective by improving and tying together existing analytic techniques into instruments extremely effective for measuring molecular orientation and order. For fundamental insights into the nature of alignment in ultra-thin (~ few nanometers thick) LB films, we integrate laser scanning microscopy (LSM) with polarization-modulation (PM) polarimetry. PM-LSM possesses high spatial resolution, sensitivity and speed, and allows us to image the anisotropy in films as thin as two molecular layers. To monitor the dynamics of flow alignment in diblock copolymers, in situ and in real time, we combine polarization-modulation polarimetry with rheometry. This rheo-optical technique enables us to monitor the evolution of microstructure by measuring the optical anisotropy, and correlate it with changes in macroscopic mechanical observables, such as stress and strain.

Using PM-LSM we have investigated the interplay of molecular weight, layer thickness and thermal annealing in controlling molecular order in rodlike polymer LB films. Upon investigating two different molecular weights of the polymer, we find lowering of molecular order in deposited films with increase in molecular weight. Furthermore, thermal annealing improves alignment only for films of shorter rodlike polymers (~ lower molecular weight). We believe that the underlying cause for these results is a difference in the structure of the deposited films for the longer polymer because of the relative changes in timescales for the macromolecular relaxation and the monolayer deformation during deposition. We also find that for both molecular weights, the substrate exerts an anchoring effect on the first two layers adjacent to it and suppresses improvement in alignment on annealing. This inability to improve alignment has important consequences for applications such as molecular electronics where monolayers or bilayers having a high degree of orientation are required.

In-situ measurement of flow birefringence during oscillatory shear alignment, clarifies the evolution of the lamellar orientation distribution for a diblock copolymer melt. Shearing results in "parallel" or "perpendicular" alignment i. e. layers normal to either the velocity gradient or the vorticity axis, respectively (Figure 1.1). Both states of alignment occur via an initial "fast" process followed by a "slow" one. The fast process is dominated by the depletion of the projection of the orientation distribution along either the perpendicular direction or the "transverse" direction (layers normal to the flow). This resulting biaxial distribution is then transformed into a well-aligned uniaxial one during the slow process. Surprisingly, at particular frequencies, the projection along the perpendicular direction can disappear faster than the projection along the transverse direction. In both the fast and the slow processes the time evolution of birefringence follows a highly non-linear scaling with strain; the scaling being different for the fast and slow processes. A systematic study of the effects of strain on shear alignment in block copolymers led to the discovery that strain affects not only the dynamics of alignment, but also the direction. This phenomenon expands the range of parameters that can be used to flip the direction of alignment. In relation to previous studies that examined the regimes of alignment only in terms of temperature and frequency, this phenomenon necessitates consideration of a third dimension - strain.


As the emerging field of machine learning, deep learning shows excellent ability in solving complex learning problems. However, the size of the networks becomes increasingly large scale due to the demands of the practical applications, which poses significant challenge to construct a high performance implementations of deep learning neural networks. In order to improve the performance as well as to maintain the low power cost, in this paper we design deep learning accelerator unit (DLAU), which is a scalable accelerator architecture for large-scale deep learning networks using field-programmable gate array (FPGA) as the hardware prototype. The DLAU accelerator employs three pipelined processing units to improve the throughput and utilizes tile techniques to explore locality for deep learning applications. Experimental results on the state-of-the-art Xilinx FPGA board demonstrate that the DLAU accelerator is able to achieve up to 36.1× speedup comparing to the Intel Core2 processors, with the power consumption at 234 mW.


The Asian financial and currency crisis triggered a significant change to the currency composition of private liabilities in Thailand. Namely, the Thai private sector switched the denominations from the US dollar to the yen and at a larger percentage to the home currency (the Thai baht). The private sectors elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region also switched from the US dollar to home currencies. Japanese banks resident in Thailand increased their local claims in the Thai baht; Japanese banks also increased the share of local currencies elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region; and the same is true with the non-Japanese banks as they increased the share of local currencies in the region. Countries in the region examined the crisis and their heavy dependency on the US dollar. Their currency switch can be construed as a movement away from that dependency. The author believes that such a movement should not be temporary, but should firmly take root.


The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party. The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party. The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party. The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.


With the election of Donald Trump as President and based on citizen Trump's prior blunt statement that the FCPA is a "horrible law and it should be changed," some apprentice commentators predicted that the FCPA "is likely to be substantially weakened, perhaps even repealed" and that "the era of vigorous FCPA enforcement… is over." However, those hyperventilating regarding the FCPA's future were encouraged to take a deep breath, focus on facts and enforcement fundamentals, and realize that the FCPA was not going away and that FCPA enforcement was not going to substantially change. While 2017 enforcement did not eclipse 2016's record breaking year of enforcement (after all, records can't be broken every year), this article highlights that in 2017 there was a continuation of robust FCPA enforcement by the Trump administration involving the same enforcement theories and same resolution vehicles used in prior administrations.
Like prior years, 2017 was notable for enforcement actions against business organizations across a wide industry spectrum, involving conduct around the globe, and ranging from egregious instances of corporate bribery executed at the highest levels of the company and involving hundreds of millions of dollars to garden variety allegations of sports tickets, internships for family members of alleged foreign officials, and charitable donations. In addition, 2017 was also notable for enforcement agency policy and related developments including the Department of Justice's announcement of an "FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy." This article, part of a continuing yearly analysis of FCPA enforcement and related developments, provides a detailed overview of 2017 FCPA enforcement and related developments and will be of value to anyone seeking to elevate their FCPA knowledge.


We describe a system in which simple, identical, autonomous robots assemble two-dimensional structures out of identical building blocks. We show that, in a system divided in this way into mobile units and structural units, giving the blocks limited communication abilities enables robots to have sufficient global structural knowledge to rapidly build elaborate pre-designed structures. In this way we extend the principle of stigmergy (storing information in the environment) used by social insects, by increasing the capabilities of the blocks that represent that environmental information. As a result, arbitrary solid structures can be built using a few fixed, local behaviors, without requiring construction to be planned out in detail. This work was supported by NSF grant EIA-0130391.


The effects of dipole moment of the analyte molecules on the response characteristics of bis(pentafluorophenyl)methoxyl substituted phthalocyanine thin film are explored to understand the details of molecular interactions of analytes with the sensor surface which lead to charge depletion and the chemiresistive effect. The concentration dependence of dc conductivity is measured to investigate the adress the response of the Pc film. It was found that the speed of the response is dominated by the polarity of the analytes. Four kinetic models, the first-order equation, the Elovich model, the second-order equation and the Ritchie's equation were selected to follow the adsorption process. The rate constants, equilibrium capacities and related correlation coefficients for each kinetic model were calculated and discussed. The second-order equation was the best of the various kinetic models studied to describe the adsorption kinetic of VOC vapours on Pc film, as evidenced by the highest correlation coefficients.


A novel technique of drawing wire, i.e., dieless wire drawing, is described in which no conventional reduction dies are used. The wire is passed through a unit having stepped parallel bores filled with polymer melts, the smallest bore diameter being greater than the initial nominal wire diameter. The technique eliminates the need for a leader wire, prevents breakage during start-up, and eliminates the use of conventional reduction dies and, hence, the problem of die wear. An analysis has been developed for predicting the produced wire sizes for given drawing speeds, the pressure distribution within the unit and the drawing load during the drawing process. The performance of the drawing process is effected by means of the plasto-hydrodynamic action of the polymer melt within the unit. Heat is generated by mechanical dissipation during the drawing process. The effect of this upon the performance of the process is considered by coupling the energy equation into the analysis and allowing the polymer viscosity to be dependent on temperature. Agreement between the theory and experiment is found to be close. To further investigate the performance of the drawing process, an extensive experimental study has been undertaken, in which parameters such as drawing speeds, the temperature of the polymer and type of polymers are varied. Based on the theoretical and experimental results, a microcomputer-based control system for the dieless wire drawing process has been designed and built. A method with which the percentage reduction in area of the wire can be measured on line is proposed. Wires of desired qualities in terms of consistency in diameter over long lengths, or uniform change in area of the wire, are capable of being produced from the new system. A self-tuning controller for determinisic systems is proposed, which has the same structure as a conventional PID controller. The new self-tuning PID controller is based on a generalised self-tuning controller with pole assignment for deterministic systems. Simulation and experimental studies for several examples indicate that the new controller performs well and can be further improved to provide a fundamental method of tuning a PID controller.


Aeolian dust episodes (ADEs) frequently occurred at the bare lands of the riverbeds in Kaoping River are emerging disasters in Southern Taiwan in the past few years. However, their influences on ambient particulate air quality due to the outflow circulation of typhoons have not been addressed in such a subtropical region. This study aims to investigate the association between typhoons and ADEs and their influences on the ambient particulate air quality, which might occur in East Asia. Four sites along the Kaoping River were selected to collect PM10 with high-volume samplers during and after the ADE accompanying with Typhoon Doksuri on June 29, 2012. During the ADE, PM_(10) concentration rose as high as 30– 40 folds higher than those on regular days. Chemical composition of PM_(10) was further analyzed to verify several valuable indicators including the molar ratios of [Cl^-]/[Na^+] (0.95-1.02), the mass ratios of Fe/Cd (211.6-3957), and the mass ratios of OC/EC (1.18-1.35). Nevertheless, the chloride deficit phenomenon was not favorable during the ADE. Moreover, CMB receptor modeling results showed that aeolian dust and sea-salts were major contributors of PM_(10) during the ADE. Along the Kaoping River, the contribution of aeolian dust to PM_(10) ranged from 11.5 to 33.1% during the ADE, and reduced to 7.2–23.0% after the ADE. However, a small amount of finer aeolian dust could be still suspended in the ambient air after the ADE. Moreover, integrating SURFER software and WRF model was appropriate to locate the hot spots influenced by the ADE.


Level set methods are a popular way to solve the image segmentation problem. The solution contour is found by solving an optimization problem where a cost functional is minimized. The purpose of this paper is the level set approach to simultaneous tissue segmentation and bias correction of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images. A modified level set approach to joint segmentation and bias correction of images with intensity in homogeneity. A sliding window is used to transform the gradient intensity domain to another domain, where the distribution overlap between different tissues is significantly suppressed. Tissue segmentation and bias correction are simultaneously achieved via a multiphase level set evolution process. The proposed methods are very robust to initialization, and are directly compatible with any type of level set implementation. Experiments on images of various modalities demonstrated the superior performance over state-of-the-art methods.


Various hydrophilic polyelectrolytes, including cationic starch products, are used by papermakers to promote inter-fiber bonding and increase paper's dry-strength. Thus, papermakers can meet customer require-ments with a lower net cost of materials, more recycled fibers, or higher mineral content. In the absence of polymeric additives, key mechanisms governing bond development between cellulosic fibers include capillary action, three-dimensional mixing of macromolecules on facing surfaces, conformability of the materials, and hydrogen bonding. Dry-strength additives need to adsorb efficiently onto fibers, have a hydrophilic character, and have a sufficiently high molecular mass. Though it is possible to achieve significant strength gains by optimal usage of individual polyelectrolytes, greater strength gains can be achieved by sequential addition of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. Superior strength can be achieved by in-situ formation of polyelectrolyte com-plexes, followed by deposition of those complexes onto fiber surfaces. Polyampholytes also hold promise as efficient dry-strength additives. Opportunities for further increases in performance of dry-strength agents may involve fiber surface modification, self-assembled layers, and optimization of the dry film characteristics of dry-strength polymers or systems of polymers.


High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) was originally discovered as a chromatin-binding protein several decades ago. It is now increasingly evident that HMGB1 plays a major role in several disease conditions such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, arthritis, sepsis, and cancer. It is intriguing how deregulation of HMGB1 can result in a myriad of disease conditions. Interestingly, HMGB1 is involved in cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis during cancer progression. Furthermore, HMGB1 has been demonstrated to exert intracellular and extracellular functions, activating key oncogenic signaling pathways. This paper focuses on the role of HMGB1 in prostate cancer development and highlights the potential of HMGB1 to serve as a key target for prostate cancer treatment.


Integrative Performance serves a crucial need of 21st-century performers by providing a transdisciplinary approach to training. Its radical new take on performance practice is designed for a climate that increasingly requires fully rounded artists. The book critiques and interrogates key current practices and offers a proven alternative to the idea that rigorous and effective training must separate the disciplines into discrete categories of acting, singing, and dance.

Experience Bryon's Integrative Performance Practice is a way of working that will profoundly shift how performers engage with their training, conditioning and performance disciplines. It synthesizes the various elements of performance work in order to empower the performer as they practice across disciplines within any genre, style or aesthetic.

Theory and practice are balanced throughout, using:

Regular box-outs, introducing the work's theoretical underpinnings through quotes, case studies and critical interjections.
A full program of exercises ranging from training of specific muscle groups, through working with text, to more subtle structures for integrative awareness and presence.
This book is the result of over twenty years of practice and research working with interdisciplinary artists across the world to produce a training that fully prepares performers for the demands of contemporary performance and all its somatic, emotive and vocal possibilities.


What determines reciprocity in employment relations? We conducted a controlled field experiment to measure the extent to which monetary and nonmonetary gifts affect workers' performance. We find that nonmonetary gifts have a much stronger impact than monetary gifts of equivalent value. We also observe that when workers are offered the choice, they prefer receiving money, but reciprocate as if they received a nonmonetary gift. This result is consistent with the common saying, "it's the thought that counts." We underline this point by showing that monetary gifts can effectively trigger reciprocity if the employer invests more time and effort into the gift's presentation.


The year 2007 was an extraordinary year for the US Patent System. In a response to far reaching proposals for significant changes in substantive and procedural patent law the House of Representatives adopted the Patent Reform Act in September and the debates were heating up again. Moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court turned its attention to patent issues delivering three major patent judgments and granted certiorari to hear another case. Probably the most influential of the 2007 judgments was the decision in KSR v. Teleflex. More than forty years after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Graham v. John Deere developed the basic test for obviousness, the principles that were established in KSR will most likely remain the leading interpretation of the Graham standard for the following years. This article discusses actual and potential impacts of the KSR decision on the assessment of nonobviousness in the US, with special emphasis on DNA-related inventions. (Less)


The COVID-19 pandemic has put significant pressure on debt markets, especially those populated by riskier borrowers. The leveraged loan market, in particular, came under remarkable stress during the month of March. Bank-loan mutual funds, among the main holders of leveraged loans, suffered massive outflows that were reminiscent of the outflows they experienced during the 2008 crisis. In this post, we show that the flow sensitivity of the loan-fund industry to the COVID-19 crisis (and to negative shocks more generally) seems to be even greater than that of high-yield bond funds, which also invest in high-risk debt securities and have received much attention because of their possible exposure to run-like behavior by investors and their implications for financial stability.


Hypothesis testing reasoning is recognized as a difficult area for students. Changing to a new paradigm for learning inference through computer intensive methods rather than mathematical methods is a pathway that may be more successful. To explore ways to improve students' inferential reasoning at the Year 13 (last year of school) and Stage One university levels, our research group developed new learning trajectories and dynamic visualizations for the randomization method. In this paper we report on the findings from a pilot study including student learning outcomes and on the modifications we intend to make before the main study. We discuss how the randomization method using dynamic visualizations clarifies concepts underpinning inferential reasoning and why the nature of the argument still remains a challenge.


When a company like Chrysler or United Airlines files for bankruptcy, it offers narrative explaining the way out of its predicament. In support of its claim that the business is worth saving, the company may argue that it simply needs time to renegotiate its obligations with its creditors. Alternatively, it may say that asset values are deteriorating rapidly and it is imperative that the bankruptcy court immediately approve a sale of the company, or some other rapid disposition. These two possibilities correspond to the principal resolution narratives in current Chapter 11 bankruptcy practice, which I refer to as Debtor in Control and No Time to Spare. Debtor in Full Control was the standard resolution narrative for large scale corporate bankruptcies for the first decade after the enactment of the current bankruptcy laws in 1978. In recent years, companies increasingly have invoked the No Time to Spare narrative, often because the companies' principal assets are technology and human capital, whose value may quickly disappear. The invocation of the No Time to Spare narrative by Chrysler and General Motors, which were classic candidates for traditional, Debtor in Control reorganizations, could suggest that the old Debtor in Full Control narrative has been or soon will be fully displaced. Even in cases that clearly fit the earlier paradigm, the reasoning would be, the companies shoe-horned their cases into the No Time to Spare narrative. Such a shift in narratives would hardly be the first. In the early twentieth century, the standard resolution narrative fit a pattern I call Banker Paternalism. The bankers who often dominated the process portrayed themselves as vigilant defenders of the interests of the ordinary investors they represented. Their Progressive and New Deal era critics, on the other hand, were not so sure. This Essay begins with the earlier era. I then move to the present, and use the Lehman and automaker bankruptcies to explore the relationship between the Debtor in Full Control and No Time to Spare resolution narratives. This leads to a more general discussion of the significance of resolution narratives — and to my claim that two narratives may be preferable to a single dominant paradigm.


How to increase charitable donations Charities could raise more money from more people if they were to announce that a startup grant had been used to defray overhead expenses. Gneezy et al. told 40,000 potential donors that an initial donation (half of the target amount) would be used as seed money, as a source of matching funds, or for covering administrative and fundraising costs. When the money was assigned to cover administration, twice as many people made donations. Science, this issue p. 632 Both seed money and matching approaches increase charity donation rates and amounts. Donors tend to avoid charities that dedicate a high percentage of expenses to administrative and fundraising costs, limiting the ability of nonprofits to be effective. We propose a solution to this problem: Use donations from major philanthropists to cover overhead expenses and offer potential donors an overhead-free donation opportunity. A laboratory experiment testing this solution confirms that donations decrease when overhead increases, but only when donors pay for overhead themselves. In a field experiment with 40,000 potential donors, we compared the overhead-free solution with other common uses of initial donations. Consistent with prior research, informing donors that seed money has already been raised increases donations, as does a $1:$1 matching campaign. Our main result, however, clearly shows that informing potential donors that overhead costs are covered by an initial donation significantly increases the donation rate by 80% (or 94%) and total donations by 75% (or 89%) compared with the seed (or matching) approach.


This thesis is concerned with the initiation, development and operation of the Youth Training Scheme (Y.T.S.) in Co. Durham, 1983-86.Employing a multiple strategy of methodology, comprising participant comprehension, questionnaires and interviews with key informants, the changing nature of the school-work transition and local labour markets, is identified in the attitudes and actions of those working on and participating in the Y.T.S. A major focus of the project was the evaluation of the role of the supervisor working on the Y.T.S. The work of the local Accredited Centre (A.C.) charged with training the trainers was examined as was the work of nine supervisors working on eight selected schemes. As a consequence of this the progression of trainees incorporated in the study from the Y.T.S. was analysed. By identifying and analysing the manner in which a number of individuals managed the rapid change brought about by the Y.T.S. the research concluded that the Y.T.S. both perpetuated and created divisions in local labour markets reinforcing the significance of educational qualifications as a predictor of success both on and of the Y.T.S. A hierarchy of schemes evolved with high status schemes being those with prior involvement in recognised and regarded forms of training. It became apparent that the differing market and work situation (Lockwood, 1966, p. 15) of supervisors represented an image to trainees of their future. Ultimately the Y.T.S. must be regarded as the first shift in training policy, introduced by the post 1979 Conservative Governments, marking the beginning of a broader strategy linked to the management of the economy and unemployment. The state took on a major role in stipulating and directing training policy which was organised on a contractual basis locally. Within that strategy it was the individual who was deemed to be culpable for their lack of skills or unemployment. Please note that the names of the Schemes and individuals that participated in the study have been changed.


The idea that different groups and societies create and appreciate their own stylistically distinguishable kinds of music is not one that would be likely to invite dissension from musicians or sociologists. Neither, on the face of it, is the assumption that the stylistic characteristics of these different kinds of music might have some connection with what may be loosely termed the "cultural background" of their creation. As Levis-Strauss has argued with respect to language: Between culture and language there cannot be no relations at all ... . If there were no relations at all that would lead us to assume that the human mind is a kind of jumble that there is no connection at all between what the mind is doing on one level, and what the mind is doing on another level (1968:79). That there are connections between "what the mind is doing on one level, and what the mind is doing on another level" is not difficult to illustrate on a prima facie basis where music is concerned. Is it a complete coincidence, for example, that functional tonality arose from the fervor of an intellectual and artistic movement (the Renaissance) which arguably laid the foundations for modern capitalist society? Is it a complete coincidence that alternatives to that musical "language" began to be offered at a time when the "reality" of three-dimensional perspective in painting was under attack, and when classical physics was facing a very considerable crisis? Is it completely without foundation that many people have seen in the rise of Afro-American-influenced popular musics social implications of great importance? It is, of course, possible to argue that the cultural and social implications of different music styles are completely associative in nature. That is, that although there are connections between what the mind is doing on different levels, a particular music style carries the cultural and social implications it does only because the group or society in question externally imposes a set of meanings or significances on the music in a manner completely arbitrary to the music's basic structure. The argument is that any kind of music will serve a group or society provided the music is stylistically distinguishable from all others; there is nothing internal to the basic structure of the music, in other words, which predisposes it to impart any one kind of significance above all others. In contrast, it is also possible to argue that the internal structure of a musical style is of itself significant. This is not necessarily to assume that the significance of music is located in some form of asocial, ultimate reality, however. It can be asserted that because peopie create music, they reproduce in the basic structure of their music the basic structure of their own thought processes. If it is accepted that people's thought processes are socially mediated, then it could be said that the basic structures of different styles of music are likewise socially mediated and so socially significant. It is in the light of this second possibility that a sociology of musical styles becomes a viable proposition, at least in theory. If musical styles have an inherent social significance, then it should be possible to demonstrate that significance by carrying out musical analysis in terms of the social reality which gave birth to and is articulated by a particular musical style. Such analyses are notably absent from both the musicological and sociological worlds. Surface reasons for the scant attention given to the sociology of music (as opposed to the sociology of musical life) are not difficult to find. Few sociologists feel themselves to be competent in a discipline which requires a significant degree of technical knowledge as well as, preferably, some first-hand experience as a practitioner. Musicologists, on the other hand, repelled by what they see as unending waves of pseudo-scientific jargon, have apparently decided that the area should be left well alone. …


Alumina rf windows are used in the output portion of the klystrons in order to isolate vacuum from atmosphere and pass rf power. The window breakdown is one of the difficulties to develop klystrons. The breakdown phenomena are considered that the stored electrons caused by the multipactoring (secondary electron multiplication in the rf field) and/or by the electron implantation into the alumina ceramics are dischareged at the threshold rf-power. In this study, surface potentials are measured in air for the some kinds of alumina ceramics after rf operations. High power rf tests are performed using an S-band (2856 MHz) resonant ring with the maximum transmission power of 220 MW (2μs, 50 pps). It revealed that the measured surface potentials are around some hundred volts and that the potential distributions are different in each alumina sample.


In our study we address the detection of uncertain GHG emission changes (also termed emission signals) under the Kyoto Protocol. The question to be probed is "how well do we need to know net emissions if we want to detect a specified emission signal after a given time?" No restrictions exist as to what concerns the net emitter. However, for data availability reasons and because of the excellent possibilityof inter-country comparisons, the Protocols Annex I countries are used as net emitters. Another restriction concerns the exclusion of emissions/removals due to land-use change and forestry (LUCF) as the reporting of their uncertainties is only soon becoming standard practice.

Our study centers on the preparatory detection of emission signals, which should have been applied prior to/in negotiating the Kyoto Protocol. Rigorous preparatory signal detection has not yet been carried out, neither prior to the negotiations of the Kyoto Protocol nor afterwards. The starting point for preparatory signal detection is that the Annex I countries under the Kyoto Protocol comply with with their emission limitation or reduction commitments.

Uncertainties are already monitored. However, monitored emissions and uncertainties are still dealt with in isolation. A connection between emission and uncertainty estimates for the purpose of an advanced country evaluation has not yet been established.

We apply four preparatory signal detection techniques. These are the Critical Relative Uncertainty (CRU) concept, the Verification Time (VT) concept, the Undershooting (Und) concept, and the Undershooting and Verification Time (UndV (2) the risk (probability) that the countries true emissions in the commitment year/period are above (below) their true emission limitation or reduction commitments; (3) the undershooting that is needed to reduce this risk to a prescribed level; and (4) a corrected undershooting/risk that accounts for detectability, i.e., that fulfills a given commitment period or, equivalently, its maximal allowable verification time.

Our preparatory signal detection exercise exemplifies that the negotiations for the Kyoto Protocol were imprudent because they did not consider the consequences of uncertainty, i.e., (1) the risk that the countries true emissions in the commitment year/period are above their true emission limitation or reduction commitments; and (2) detectable targets.

Expecting that Annex I countries exhibit relative uncertainties in the range of 5-10 % and above rather than below, excluding emissions/removals due to LUCF, both the CRU concept and VT concept show that it is virtually impossible for most of the Annex I countries to meet the condition that their overall relative uncertainties are smaller than their CRUs or, equivalently, that their VTs are smaller than their maximal allowable verification times.

Moreover, the Und and the Und&VT concepts show that the countries committed emission limitation or reduction targets - or their Kyoto-compatible but detectable targets, respectively - require considerable undershooting if one wants to keep the risk low that the countries true emissios in the commitment year/period are above the true equivalents of these targets.

The amount by which a country undershoots its Kyoto target or its Kyoto-compatible but detectable target can be traded. Towards installing a successful trading regime, countries may want to also price the risk associated with this amount We anticipate that the evaluation of the countries emission signals in terms of risk and detectability will become reality.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also suggests assessing total uncertainties. However, a connection between monitored emission and uncertainty estimates for the purpose of an advanced country evaluation, which considers the aforementioned risk as well as detectable targets, has not yet been established. The IPCC has to take up this challenge.


School boards are fighting for their survival. Almost everything that they do is subject to regulations handed down from city councils, state boards of education, legislatures, and courts. As recent mayoral and state takeovers in such cities as Baltimore, Chicago, and New York make abundantly clear, school boards that do not fulfill the expectations of other political players may be stripped of what few independent powers they still retain. Teachers unions exert growing influence over board decision-making processes. And with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal government has aggressively inserted itself into matters of local education governance. Besieged is the first full-length volume in many years to systematically examine the politics that surround school boards. A group of highly renowned scholars, relying on both careful case studies and quantitative analyses, examine how school boards fare when they interact with their political superiors, teachers unions, and the public. For the most part, the picture that emerges is sobering: while school boards perform certain administrative functions quite well, the political pressures they face undermine their capacity to institute the wide-ranging school reforms that many voters and local leaders are currently demanding.


This study investigates alternative options for future agricultural policies in Turkey in the context of its agricultural trade relations with the EU. The main findings are that liberalization of agricultural markets would lead to considerable welfare gains for Turkey compared with a situation in which the current policy is maintained. This report is published in order to share this experience with a wider public interested in agricultural policy issues; it presents a spectrum of agricultural policy options to policy makers and may serve as background material for similar studies.


Coordination is central to social interactions. Theory and conventional lab experiments suggest that cheap talk/communication can enhance coordination under certain conditions. Two aspects that remain underexplored are (1) the interaction between the number of players (group size) and communication and (2) how existing findings might play out in the field. We address both of these by studying a typical naturally-occurring setting that requires coordination; that is, one where members of agricultural cooperatives seek to jointly sell their output. Combining artefactual/lab-in-the-field experiments (LFEs), natural field experiments (RCTs), surveys, and cooperative records, we find that (1) revealing farmers' intended sales (i.e., cheap talk/communication) yields enhanced collective commercialization (i.e., coordination), particularly in larger groups; (2) such cheap talk may lead to higher incomes for small-scale farmers; (3) participants transfer learning from the LFEs thus affecting subsequent behavior in the RCTs (i.e., the day-to-day environment). Our results contribute to existing literature by highlighting the potential for cheap-talk institutions to (1) boost coordination, particularly in settings with greater strategic uncertainty (e.g., larger farmer cooperatives), and (2) promote collective entrepreneurship and development.


A critical lock and key mechanism that allows the final step in the completion of new blood vessel formation has been identified by a University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine team in research that promises to lead to a new way to halt tumor growth by cutting off the tumor blood supply. The research team led by Judith Varner, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSD and a member of the Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center, made the surprising discovery that a receptor-ligand pair previously identified as key regulators of immune cell function puts the finishing touches on newly constructed blood vessels by allowing the two cell layers of blood vessels to recognize and "lock" together. The study, which appears in the June 2005 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, is the first to show how the two cell layers of blood vessels recognize and bind to each other during angiogenesis, which is the formation of new blood vessels. The work also could yield new ways to diagnose and combat cancer. In fact, together with Barbara Parker, M.D., UCSD Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center, the researchers currently are conducting tests with breast cancer patients to see if measuring the activity of the receptor, or "lock," called integrin, could help diagnose the cancer earlier. They are also currently planning cancer clinical trials with an FDA approved drug directed against the integrin. Angiogenesis has been an intensely studied field of cancer research for the past 10 years. Since cancer cells literally hijack the body's normal angiogenesis process to initiate blood vessel growth to fuel the growth of tumors, researchers believe that blocking angiogenesis may choke off a tumor's blood supply and kill the cancerous cell. Varner and her team found that a specific integrin protein called a4b1 was produced at high levels in one part of a developing blood vessel, the interior area called the endothelia. The integrin was not produced in mature blood vessels, indicating a specific role in developing vessels. The team found that the integrin was produced in the endothelia of mouse and human blood vessels that feed tumors such as colon cancer, melanoma and lung cancer. Inhibitors of the integrin stopped new blood vessel growth and suppressed tumor growth, indicating that the integrin helped in the creation of tumors. "Our study marks the first time this integrin was found to play a key role in angiogenesis," said Varner. "This integrin is known to regulate the body's inflammation response, but until this study it wasn't suspected of regulating angiogenesis. It's possible that since the integrin only works on developing blood vessels and in cancer, disrupting its ability to form blood vessels could starve the tumor and stave off cancer." The research team discovered that the integrin brought the endothelia, the inside part of a blood vessel, together to bind with vascular smooth muscle, the outer portion of a blood vessel. Blood vessels only work when both endothelia and vascular smooth muscle are bound together. Previous work on integrin a4b1 showed that the protein worked in the immune system by binding with another molecule called VCAM, so the researchers next looked for evidence of VCAM in the vascular smooth muscle cells, called pericytes. Indeed, Varner's team found VCAM on the nascent blood vessel's pericytes, but not in mature vessel pericytes. The two molecules, Varner discovered, work together to bring the endothelial cells together with the outer pericytes to create new intact blood vessels, with integrin as the lock and VCAM as the key. Drugs that inhibit either the integrin or the VCAM molecule prevented intact blood vessels from forming. "When the integrin meets with VCAM, both cell types receive survival signals at this active stage of blood vessel development, which occurs mainly in tumors in adults," said Varner. "This was a chance discovery, which was exciting, and we think it may have important clinical significance." In their current studies of breast cancer patients for the presence of the integrin and VCAM, "We want to know if the integrins predict aggressive breast cancer. If so, this could become a valuable, non-invasive diagnostic tool for cancer," said Varner. In addition, knowing how blood vessels are finally assembled could help lead to effective ways to stop the proliferation of cancer cells by cutting off their nutrient supply, Varner added. Drs. Varner and Parker are currently in discussions with pharmaceutical companies to test integrin inhibitors in cancer clinical trials at the new Moores UCSD Cancer Center. Varner's colleagues in the study included Barbara Garmy-Susini, Hui Jin, Yuhong Zhu, Rou-Jia Sung and Rosa Hwang, all of UCSD. The work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the UCSD Cancer Center, the Charlotte Geyer Foundation and the American Heart Association.


The Teen Years Explained: A Guide to Healthy Adolescent Development describes the normal physical, cognitive, emotional and social, sexual, identity formation, and spiritual changes that happen during adolescence and how adults can promote healthy development. Understanding these changes—developmentally, what is happening and why—can help both adults and teens enjoy the second decade of life. The Guide is an essential resource for all people who work with young people.


There are up to 2,000 difficult social housing estates across the UK. Residents, landlords, local authorities, government and other agencies face a challenging set of problems in trying to make these 'difficult to live in' areas work. In some of these estates there are individuals and organisations who are successfully rebuilding communities - tackling unemployment, crime, health, family and youth problems and co-ordinating service delivery. This report summarises the presentations and discussion at a seminar on 'Tackling Difficult Estates' organised by CASE on behalf of the Social Exclusion Unit. It took place at the National Tenants Resource Centre, at Trafford Hall near Chester, on 30th-31st March 1998. The seminar brought together front line practitioners, civil servants, policy makers and community representatives – all interested in looking at positive ways to make deprived neighbourhoods better. We heard presentations from practitioners who live and work on difficult estates about their experiences. Cutting across the different case study examples were several common themes about the types of approaches that have been shown to work, together with questions about how to replicate and implement these approaches in other estates. Those themes and outstanding questions are summarised here. The case studies are given in full in the second section. As well as the recommendations from the frontline project examples, we heard about two sets of stimulating proposals: for neighbourhood management; and rebuilding communities. These are outlined in the third section of the document. The organisers are very grateful to Trafford Hall for its help in making this event happen, and to all the participants for their contributions.


This memo specifies how Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) can be
used with the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) running over UDP,
using the RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) as a feedback mechanism. It
defines a new RTCP Extended Report (XR) block for periodic ECN
feedback, a new RTCP transport feedback message for timely reporting
of congestion events, and a Session Traversal Utilities for NAT (STUN)
extension used in the optional initialisation method using Interactive
Connectivity Establishment (ICE). Signalling and procedures for
negotiation of capabilities and initialisation methods are also
defined. [STANDARDS-TRACK]


Text should be produced within the dimensions shown on these pages: each column 7.5 cm wide with 1 cm middle margin, total width of 16 cm and a maximum length of 20.2 cm on first pages and 21 cm on second and following pages. The LTEX document style uses the maximal stipulated length apart from the following two exceptions (i) LTEX does not begin a new section directly at the bottom of a page, but transfers the heading to the top of the next page; (ii) LTEX never (well, hardly ever) exceeds the length of the text area in order to complete a section of text or a paragraph.


In this paper we devise robust and reliable image enhancement
algorithms for far infra-red images. The algorithms are based upon a
model of the imaging process. The model that we develop is qualitative
due to the unpredictable nature of the scenes. The model predicts that
an idealized far infra-red image consists of piecewise-constant patches.
On the basis of this model and models of the degrading factors we then
apply two known algorithms: median filtering and spatial homomorphic
filtering. In order to speed up the enhancement we extend our model
temporally and develop a new algorithm: spatio-temporal homomorphic
filtering. The paper ends with an attempt to convert the far infra-red
images taken at night to visible daylight images


We propose a statistical approach based on multivariate analysis and general linear models to test the consequences of removal of reserve status from the Abore Reef fish assemblage of the Abore Reef reserve, New Caledonia. Consequences on fish density were examined at the level of fish assemblage, accounting for habitat. Fish counts and habitat-related information were collected before and after the removal of reserve status, both inside and outside the reserve. Species groups were constructed on the basis of additional information on behavioural characteristics and taxonomy. The impact of the removal of reserve status was assessed by using 2 habitat proxies corresponding to 2 spatial scales and by considering several criteria for grouping species. Habitat appeared to be a determining factor in explaining density variations. Significant positive effects were found for several species groups such as macrocarnivores, piscivores, herbivores, Lethrinidae and Siganidae. A counterintuitive negative effect was observed for Acanthuridae. No significant differences between the area which remained closed to fishing and the area open to fishing were found for the other species groups. The approach allows for a synoptic diagnosis of the impact of changes in reserve status at the fish assemblage level. It could be used to develop and select potential indicators for monitoring such impacts on fish assemblages in coral reef ecosystems and in other contexts.


Abstract This special issue of Cognitive Linguistics explores the linguistic encoding of events of cutting and breaking. In this article we first introduce the project on which it is based by motivating the selection of this conceptual domain, presenting the methods of data collection used by all the investigators, and characterizing the language sample. We then present a new approach to examining crosslinguistic similarities and differences in semantic categorization. Applying statistical modeling to the descriptions of cutting and breaking events elicited from speakers of all the languages, we show that although there is crosslinguistic variation in the number of distinctions made and in the placement of category boundaries, these differences take place within a strongly constrained semantic space: across languages, there is a surprising degree of consensus on the partitioning of events in this domain. In closing, we compare our statistical approach with more conventional semantic analyses, and show how an extensional semantic typological approach like the one illustrated here can help illuminate the intensional distinctions made by languages.


Sustained increases in plant production in response to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)) concentration may be constrained by the availability of soil nitrogen (N). However, it is possible that plants will respond to N limitation at elevated CO(2) concentration by increasing the specific N uptake capacity of their roots. To explore this possibility, we examined the kinetics of (15)NH(4) (+) and (15)NO(3) (-) uptake by excised roots of Populus tremuloides Michx. grown in ambient and twice-ambient CO(2) concentrations, and in soils of low- and high-N availability. Elevated CO(2) concentration had no effect on either NH(4) (+) or NO(3) (-) uptake, whereas high-N availability decreased the capacity of roots to take up both NH(4) (+) and NO(3) (-). The maximal rate of NH(4) (+) uptake decreased from 12 to 8 &mgr;mol g(-1) h(-1), and K(m) increased from 49 to 162 &mgr;mol l(-1), from low to high soil N availability.Because NO(3) (-) uptake exhibited mixedkinetics over the concentration range we used (10-500 &mgr;mol l( -1)), it was not possible to calculate V(max) and K(m). Instead, we used an uptake rate of 100 &mgr;mol g(-1) h(-1) as our metric of NO(3) (-) uptake capacity, which averaged 0.45 and 0.23 &mgr;mol g(-1) h(-1) at low- and high-N availability, respectively. The proximal mechanisms for decreased N uptake capacity at high-N availability appeared to be an increase in fine-root carbohydrate status and a decrease in fine-root N concentration. Both NH(4) (+) and NO(3) (-) uptake were inversely related to fine-root N concentration, and positively related to fine-root total nonstructural carbohydrate concentration. We conclude that soil N availability, through its effects on fine-root N and carbohydrate status, has a much greater influence on the specific uptake capacity of P. tremuloides fine roots than elevated atmospheric CO(2). In elevated atmospheric CO(2), changes in N acquisition by P. tremuloides appeared to be driven by changes in root architecture and biomass, rather than by changes in the amount or activity of N-uptake enzymes.


SCOPE
Several insulin receptor substrate-2 (IRS-2) polymorphisms have been studied in relation to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. To examine whether the genetic variability at the IRS-2 gene locus was associated with the degree of insulin resistance and plasma fatty acid levels in metabolic syndrome (MetS) subjects.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion, glucose effectiveness, plasma fatty acid composition and three IRS-2 tag-single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were determined in 452 MetS subjects. Among subjects with the lowest level of monounsaturated (MUFA) (below the median), the rs2289046 A/A genotype was associated with lower glucose effectiveness (p<0.038), higher fasting insulin concentrations (p<0.028) and higher HOMA IR (p<0.038) as compared to subjects carrying the minor G-allele (A/G and G/G). In contrast, among subjects with the highest level of MUFA (above the median), the A/A genotype was associated with lower fasting insulin concentrations and HOMA-IR, whereas individuals carrying the G allele and with the highest level of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (above the median) showed lower fasting insulin (p<0.01) and HOMA-IR (p<0.02) as compared with A/A subjects.

CONCLUSION
The rs2289046 polymorphism at the IRS2 gene locus may influence insulin sensitivity by interacting with certain plasma fatty acids in MetS subjects.


[1] The decoupled direct method (DDM) is used for efficient and accurate calculation of the higher-order sensitivity coefficients in a regional photochemical air quality model with detailed chemical mechanism (Statewide Air Pollution Research Center (SAPRC-99)). High-order DDM (HDDM) is an extension to a previous implementation of DDM in three-dimensional air quality models (DDM-3D) that directly calculates the higher-order derivatives (with respect to one parameter, as well as cross derivatives) with similar computational efficiency as the first-order implementation and is also modified for better accuracy. (H)DDM results show very good agreement with brute force (finite difference) sensitivity coefficients for the first- and second-order derivatives, but the agreement deteriorates for higher-order coefficients. The nature of the truncation errors and other inaccuracies in the brute force approximations are explored. The difference between the first-order brute force and DDM derivatives is dominated (and largely explained) by the truncation errors as calculated from HDDM results. Taylor expansion is used for parametric scaling of the response with the use of sensitivity coefficients. Use of higher-order coefficients can significantly improve the accuracy of such projections. Finally, higher-order sensitivity coefficients of ozone with respect to NOx and volatile organic compound emissions (including cross derivatives) are used to create time- and location-dependent ozone isopleths.


The delineation and protection of a management zone around specific wells or wellfields will undoubtedly become more common as the 1986 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act are implemented by the States. Both primary elements - the delineation of the zone and the management of activities that may impair the quality of the ground-water supply, can be accomplished to varying degrees of comprehensiveness. Zone delineation is based primarily on the hydrogeologic setting of the area, and conceptually represents a best-available characterization of all or part of the 'ground-watershed' supplying specific wells or aquifer segments. Some of the primary factors affecting the extent of this zone are the degree of aquifer confinement, hydrologic properties of the aquifer, impact of recharge and boundary conditions, and well construction and operating characteristics. On the management side, State and local governments will consider the stringency of needed regulatory and nonregulatory controls depending on the actual or perceived threat to the resource, as well as the legal, financial and administrative tools available to them.


Purpose: Numerous chemotherapeutic agents are cytotoxic through generation of reactive species, and variability in genes related to oxidative stress may influence disease-free survival (DFS). We examined relationships between DFS and variants in NOS3, as well as NQO1, NQO2, and CBR3, among treated and untreated breast cancer patients in a Southwest Oncology Group clinical trial (S8897). Experimental Design: In the parent trial, women were assigned according to prognostic features; the high-risk group was randomized to cyclophosphamide, i.v. methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil or to cyclophosphamide, i.v. doxorubicin, and 5-fluorouracil ± tamoxifen, and the low-risk group did not receive adjuvant therapy. We extracted DNA from normal lymph node tissue and examined functional polymorphisms in NOS3, NQO1, NQO2, and CBR3, in relation to DFS, using Cox proportional hazard model. Results: There were significant interactions between DFS, adjuvant therapy, and NOS3 Glu298Asp and −786 polymorphisms, alone and in combination (P for interaction = 0.008). When NOS3 genotypes were combined, women with genotypes encoding for lower nitric oxide who received chemotherapy had a >2-fold increase in hazard of progression (hazard ratio, 2.32; 95% confidence interval, 1.26-4.25), whereas there was reduced risk for those who did not receive adjuvant therapy (hazard ratio, 0.42; 95% confidence interval, 0.19-0.95). There were no associations between the other genotypes and DFS in either group. Conclusion: Variants encoding lower activity of NOS3 may affect outcomes in breast cancer patients, with the direction of risk differing depending on chemotherapy status. These results may mirror the known dual functions of nitric oxide and nitric oxide synthase, depending on oxidative environment. (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(16):5258–66) (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(16):5258–)


The Supreme Court's decision in Spokeo, Inc v Robins clarified the "concreteness" element of the injury-in-fact requirement for standing. The Court explained that while some statutory violations are concrete injuries, others are merely procedural and insufficient for standing without additional allegations of concrete harms. Federal courts have divided on the decision's application to many statutory causes of action, including the mandatory disclosure requirements of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). While some courts view FDCPA mandatory disclosure violations as concrete injuries if they threaten the plaintiff's concrete interests, others view the violations as merely procedural and never sufficient for standing. This Comment argues for a third view, that an FDCPA mandatory disclosure violation is always a concrete injury regardless of whether it causes the plaintiff to suffer or risk subjective harm. That conclusion flows from a new view: applying Spokeo to statutory violations turns on whether the provision at issue has a deterrent or a compensatory function. Because the FDCPA's text, remedies, statutory purpose, legislative history, and treatment in other contexts indicate that it is deterrent, violations of its mandatory disclosure provisions are concrete injuries.


Material Discourses of Health and Illness applies discursive approaches to the field of health psychology, in stark contrast to the bio-medical model of health and illness. The discursive approach uses the person's experience and feelings as the central focus of interest, whereas the more traditional models regarded these as coincidental and relatively unimportant.
The book provides an accessible and compelling introduction to social constructionist and discursive approaches to those with limited previous knowledge of socio-linguistic theory and research. It provides practical examples of how these approaches can be applied to the field of health psychology with a collection of sophisticated discursive analyses which demonstrate the distinctive contribution that can be made by psychologists to a field that has been largely dominated by sociologists and anthropologists.


Based on the heuristic nonlinear creep model, the nonlinear coupled differential equations of the motion of a 12 degree-of-freedom (12-DOF) bogie system which takes account of the lateral displacement, vertical displacement, the roll angle and the yaw angle of the each wheelset and the bogie frame, moving on curved tracks are derived. The nonlinear creep forces and moments are constructed via the saturation constant of the nonlinear creep model in completeness. The effect of the suspension parameters of a bogie system on the derailment quotient is investigated. Results obtained in this study show that the derailment quotient of a bogie system increases as the vehicle speed increases. In addition, the derailment quotient of a bogie system is generally decreased with the increasing values of suspension parameters.


Overcrowding in Emergency Departments (ED) results in increased Lengths of Stay (LOS) and longer Waiting Times (WTs) for patients. These are ever-growing concerns in all hospitals around the world. Published literature shows many causes of this problem. This study, explores and identifies that one of the prominent causes can be attributed to human behaviour within EDs. It appears that patient behaviour has not been included in previous work as a cause of overcrowding.
This thesis aims to present a method referred to as Discrete Event Simulation (DES) in an effort to explore and understand the effects of patient behaviour in the overcrowded ED of Tripoli Medical Centre (TMC). Firstly, a descriptive study was adopted, which collected data from different hospital sources, i.e. ED reports, ED's services time, staff and managers' opinions, and the observations of patients attending the ED of TMC. This identified the most significant behaviours impacting LOS and WT. Secondly, four different DES models were developed and analysed. Ultimately a hybrid model comprising of DES logic and Bayesian Network (BN) modelling was developed to capture and analyse a more accurate occurrence of human behaviour.
Analysis of the hospital data reveals four behavioural factors are responsible for increasing WTs and LOS, leading to disruptions in patient flow. These factors include confrontation, challenges, passivity and illness belief. These behaviours are often appearing amongst the minor and non-urgent patients, who represent approximately 75% of all ED patients. The examination area within ED was found to be the place most commonly impacted by difficult behaviours, which is shown by the prolonged WTs in this area.
A new strategy termed as Patient Behavioural Control (PBC) has been devised, developed and modelled. The PBC strategy aims to detect patient behavioural problems early and implements a revised patient flow procedure that results in overall reductions in LOS and WTs. This thesis contributes to the knowledge in this arena through consideration being directed towards patient behaviours from an operational perspective, utilising DES models in an effort to establish cause and effects, thus helping to devise a new approach in the healthcare sector. This new approach is not restricted in terms of application in only the healthcare arena, but can be adopted across other sectors for the management of human behaviours.


Recent interferometric observations show that the interfered near-IR size of the circumstellar material around Young Stellar Object (YSO) are larger than those expected from accretion disk models. There are currently different models that account for the excess IR emission of Young Stellar Objects (YSO). At the same time, the answers to many questions on the evolutionary status and the origin of the activity and variability depend critically on the relative importance of circumstellar distribution of material in disks or envelopes at different spatial scales. Operating at midinfrared wavelengths, the Ground-based European Nulling Interferometer Experiment (GENIE) will be particularly sensitive to warm circumstellar dust and will thus provide the opportunity to characterize dust disks around YSO's. Observations with GENIE will enable us to investigate the properties of the circumstellar dust, which are responsible for the excess near-infrared fluxes. The nulling of the central star will bring out the disk in much more detail and hence put stronger constraints on these models.


: This article considers the contribution of radical South African philosopher Rick Turner to theories of 'workers' control'. Turner's philosophical work, especially his book, The Eye of the Needle (1972), posited the workplace as a fundamental site of 'participatory democracy' and a space for the potential radical transformation of South African society. During the early 1970s, Turner's philosophical writings, teaching at the University of Natal, and political activism in Durban helped galvanise a cohort of radical white students who joined in support of protesting black workers in the 1973 Durban mass strikes. The confluence of Turner's ideas about workers' control, the stu-dents' activism, and the collective action of the black working class gave South Africa's labour movement a radically democratic, shop-floor orientation that deserves a revival in the new South Africa.


This open access textbook is intended to guide best practices in vaccine delivery in Canada. This resource is designed for students in post-secondary health profession programs, including nursing. It may also be useful for graduate students and healthcare providers. This textbook provides information related to clinical practice, including the administration of vaccine, and communication with clients.


Abstract Our aim was to examine the virulence of eight Phytophthora isolates belonging to three species (Phytophthora cryptogea, Phytophthora plurivora and Phytophthora quercina) obtained from diverse European ecosystems (in Bulgaria, Poland and Germany) towards three forest tree hosts – English oak (Quercus robur L.), Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). All plants grown from seeds in a greenhouse conditions were artificially inoculated under the stem bark with Phytophthora cultures. The tested isolates turned to be more aggressive to Turkey oaks than to English oak trees. In case of European beech, the isolates of P. cryptogea and P. plurivora exposed various virulence. The potential hazard of the introduced foreign isolates for the oak and beech forests in Poland and Bulgaria is discussed. Amongst the tested isolates, P. quercina P290 from German highly infected Bulgarian Turkey oaks; therefore, its negative potential impact on Bulgarian oak forests could be considered as high (if unintentionally introduced). Also, two Bulgarian isolates belonging to P. cryptogea and P. plurivora are risky for Polish beech forests, if exposed to the pathogen. The observed pathogenicity of the tested Phytophthora species proved their potential as important contributors to decline of valuable forest ecosystems dominated by oaks (Q. robur and Q. cerris) or beech (F. sylvatica), in both Poland and Bulgaria. We found that investigated Phytophthora pathogens could develop in the living plant stem tissues without causing any disease symptoms, which is another demonstration that phytosanitary control by simple observation of plant material is not effective.


OBJECTIVE Class IIa histone deacetylases (HDACs) belong to a large family of enzymes involved in protein deacetylation and play a role in regulating gene expression and cell differentiation. Previously, we showed that HDAC inhibitors modify the timing and determination of pancreatic cell fate. The aim of this study was to determine the role of class IIa HDACs in pancreas development. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We took a genetic approach and analyzed the pancreatic phenotype of mice lacking HDAC4, -5, and -9. We also developed a novel method of lentiviral infection of pancreatic explants and performed gain-of-function experiments. RESULTS We show that class IIa HDAC4, -5, and -9 have an unexpected restricted expression in the endocrine β- and δ-cells of the pancreas. Analyses of the pancreas of class IIa HDAC mutant mice revealed an increased pool of insulin-producing β-cells in Hdac5−/− and Hdac9−/− mice and an increased pool of somatostatin-producing δ-cells in Hdac4−/− and Hdac5−/− mice. Conversely, HDAC4 and HDAC5 overexpression showed a decreased pool of insulin-producing β-cells and somatostatin-producing δ-cells. Finally, treatment of pancreatic explants with the selective class IIa HDAC inhibitor MC1568 enhances expression of Pax4, a key factor required for proper β-and δ-cell differentiation and amplifies endocrine β- and δ-cells. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that HDAC4, -5, and -9 are key regulators to control the pancreatic β/δ-cell lineage. These results highlight the epigenetic mechanisms underlying the regulation of endocrine cell development and suggest new strategies for β-cell differentiation-based therapies.


Over the past two years, a wave energy converter control systems competition (WECCCOMP) has been in progress, with the objective of comparing different wave energy converter (WEC) control paradigms on a standard benchmark problem. The target system is a point absorber, corresponding to a single float with an absolute reference, of the WaveStar WEC prototype. The system was modelled in WEC-Sim, with the hydrodynamic parameters validated against tank test data. Competitors were asked to design and implement a WEC control system for this model, with performance evaluated across six sea states. The evaluation criteria included a weighted combination of average converted power, peak/average power, and the degree to which the system physical constraints were exploited or temporarily exceeded.
 This paper provides an overview of the competition, which includes a comparative evaluation of the entries and their performance on the simulation model. It is intended that this paper will act as an anchor presentation in a special session on WECCCOMP at OMAE 2019, with other papers in the special session contributed by the competitors, describing in detail the control algorithms and the results achieved over the various sea states.


Dynamic programming (DP) models have been proposed by a number of researchers to develop optimal reservoir operation. In this paper, we propose to eliminate the fixed threshold values, specifically the maximum allowable release and reservoir storage from the DP model and replace them with dynamic dependent values calculated by a fuzzy inference engine. For this purpose, a simple model of DP is modified based on a novel intelligent state dropping (ISD) mechanism. The ISD mechanism is designed based on fuzzy logic theory. Although the proposed methodology is widely used for broadband satellite based internet protocol network congestion control, its application in water resources management has not been reported to date. Application of the ISD mechanism incorporates the inflow uncertainty in reservoir optimization model in a simpler way than the stochastic DP-based optimization models (SDP). Furthermore, the multi-purpose objective function of DP-model is changed to a single objective function. The simulation results showed that the newly proposed model reduces the shortfall in supplying demand and improves the reservoir operation performance indices, i.e., the reservoir reliability indices, as compared with the results by the DP and SDP models.


Background: Visually impaired children suffer from many health problems which include orofacial trauma, dental caries, and periodontal disease. Out of these, orofacial trauma is the most common health hazards. The present study was conducted to assess traumatic dental injuries in children. Materials & Methods: 64 visually impaired children age ranged 4-14 years of both genders were recruited. The cause of the injury and the type of TDI was classified, according to the system described by Ellis classification. Results: The main cause of injury was fall was 24, cycling in 10, sports injury in 16 and accident in 14 children. Ellis class I fracture was found in 10, class II in 18, class III in 12, class IV in 8, class V in 4, class VI in 1, class VII in 2, class VIII in 5 and class IX in 4 children. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). Conclusion: There was higher prevalence of traumatic dental injuries in visually impaired children.


It is well established in literature of domestication studies that homes evolve differently depending on who lives in them and how people negotiate domestic order. Respectively, it is emphasised that social processes play crucial role in domestication of products. This article describes social processes interpreted from data collected in Helsinki area, Finland. The data consists of biographies and photographs of items that interviewees presented as 'designed functional products'. Emphasis on social processes in domestication studies can be seen as an argument against studies that see consumers as mere passive adapters. The character of consumer might be more versatile. In this article it is proposed that we need to recognise not just active negotiations, but also see passive adoption and indifference as social processes, affecting designed consumer product's domestication into household.


Islamic geometric designs are admired worldwide for their beauty and marvellous intricacy, yet in truth they are seldom understood. Indeed, their complexity and artistry can seem almost beyond the powers of human ingenuity. In this handsomely illustrated volume, artist and teacher Eric Broug analyses and explains these complex designs in their historical and physical context. His own original drawings accompany magnificent photographs of mosques, madrasas, palaces and tombs from the Islamic world, ranging from North Africa to Iran and Uzbekistan, and from the 8th to the 19th centuries. Chapters are devoted to each of the main families of geometric design fourfold, fivefold and sixfold and to the complex combined patterns. Every design is carefully explained, and illustrated with a wealth of stunning photographs and clear, meticulously detailed drawings. Readers can follow the design processes by which these patterns were created and even learn to reproduce and invent geometric patterns for themselves, using exactly the same tools as the Islamic craftsmen of old: a ruler and a pair of compasses.


Riverbank filtration (RBF) systems were installed in four rural villages along a 64 km stretch of the upper Krishna River in southern India; with each one designed to supply approximately 2500 people. Site selection criteria included hydrogeological suitability, land availability and access, proximity to villages and their population sizes, and electric power supply. Water samples were collected from the river and the RBF wells over more than one year (November 2015 to December 2017) and were analyzed for Escherichia coli bacteria, major ions, and a range of other physicochemical and chemical parameters. The shallow groundwater at the study sites was also sampled, but less frequently. The hydrogeology of the four RBF systems was described in terms of bore-log data, mixing of river and groundwater, pumping test data, and vertical water column profiling. E. coli removal percentages of >99.9% were observed immediately before and during the monsoon, when E. coli concentrations in the river were the highest. The results provide evidence that RBF installations are challenging but possible under the climate and hydrogeologic conditions prevailing in this part of southern India. Specifically, when installing RBF wells in the study, area one needs to balance the well depth and set-back distance from the river against the limited extent of alluvial deposits. The viability of RBF systems as a domestic water source is also influenced by other factors that are not limited to southern India, including surface water and groundwater salinity, agricultural practices surrounding RBF wells, and the reliability of the power grid.


Christians and atheists have clashed publicly over ideological tensions throughout the history of the United States. Active atheists and evangelical Christians have, and continue to, vie for legitimacy and access to power, often at the expense of those with whom they disagree. This research investigates identity, boundary work, and the relationship to the "other" between and within these two oppositional ideologies. Findings demonstrate how, in a variety of situations and settings, these two groups not only "other" each other, but use their "other" to bolster their own ideological community. The presence of a group with an oppositional worldview allows each community to further define itself, and individuals within each group to define and refine their own identity within the group. The data for this research is made up of 45 interviews and multiple sessions of participant observation. After analyzing the data, four substantive areas emerged as prominent fields for boundary work within and between both groups: Boundaries and Solidarity, Boundaries and Morality, Boundaries and Gender, and Boundaries and Technology. This dissertation contributes to the sociology of boundaries and identity as those concepts are stretched and manipulated to explore the inner workings and "othering" mechanisms of active atheists and evangelical Christians. This research shows how boundaries and identity work together for members of rigid ideological groups, regardless of their specific worldview. While data on both groups offers novel observation and insight, this dissertation also provides desperately needed qualitative data on the distressingly understudied atheist population.


Stress is often an important consideration for animal welfare. A number of factors can contribute to stress in domestic animals, most notably thoseused in food production. We investigated the effects and heritability of stress in domestic chickens (Gallus gallus). Using a spatial learning paradigm, we tested an early social isolation-stressed group and their offspring against unstressed controls, to determine if this cognitive function was negatively affected by stress. In the parental generation, we found that across sessions control birds improved in performance, indicating a learning trend. Stressed birds showed no difference across sessions, indicating a lack of learning. No effects of the parental treatment were found in the offspring of stress and control birds. Social isolation stress was found to affect spatial memory learning, however, we did not find evidence that the parental stress influenced the spatial abilities of the next generation despite changes in other behaviours.


In this paper, we introduce a novel method to display a famous Chinese ancient painting for the purpose of cultural heritage preservation. In order to animate the painting, some objects are extracted from the repainted painting and redrawn with three dimensional figures. Consequently the computer animation and Image-based rendering techniques are used to drive these objects animated. Furthermore, the users can interact with displayed painting, they can wave their hand to the virtual avatars in the ancient painting, and can get interactive responses. In addition, the avatars can be customized with the new algorithm we developed. In our algorithm, only one photo is required, and it can be captured on site. After the capturing, the 3D virtual character, or we called avatars, are created and integrated in the virtual environment.


Counterfactual regret minimization (CFR) is a family of iterative algorithms that are the most popular and, in practice, fastest approach to approximately solving large imperfectinformation games. In this paper we introduce novel CFR variants that 1) discount regrets from earlier iterations in various ways (in some cases differently for positive and negative regrets), 2) reweight iterations in various ways to obtain the output strategies, 3) use a non-standard regret minimizer and/or 4) leverage "optimistic regret matching". They lead to dramatically improved performance in many settings. For one, we introduce a variant that outperforms CFR+, the prior state-of-the-art algorithm, in every game tested, including large-scale realistic settings. CFR+ is a formidable benchmark: no other algorithm has been able to outperform it. Finally, we show that, unlike CFR+, many of the important new variants are compatible with modern imperfect-informationgame pruning techniques and one is also compatible with sampling in the game tree.


Phenylketonuria (PKU) is caused by hepatic phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) deficiency and is associated with systemic accumulation of phenylalanine (Phe). Previously we demonstrated correction of murine PKU after intravenous injection of a recombinant type 2 adeno-associated viral vector pseudotyped with type 8 capsid (rAAV2/8), which successfully directed hepatic transduction and Pah gene expression. Here, we report that liver PAH activity and phenylalanine clearance were also restored in PAH-deficient mice after simple intramuscular injection of either AAV2 pseudotype 1 (rAAV2/1) or rAAV2/8 vectors. Serotype 2 AAV vector (rAAV2/2) was also investigated, but long-term phenylalanine clearance has been observed only for pseudotypes 1 and 8. Therapeutic correction was shown in both male and female mice, albeit more effectively in males, in which correction lasted for the entire period of the experiment (>1 year). Although phenylalanine levels began to rise in female mice at about 8-10 months after rAAV2/8 injection they remained only mildly hyperphenylalaninemic thereafter and subsequent supplementation with synthetic tetrahydrobiopterin resulted in a transient decrease in blood phenylalanine. Alternatively, subsequent administration of a second vector with a different AAV pseudotype to avoid immunity against the previously administrated vector was also successful for long-term treatment of female PKU mice. Overall, this relatively less invasive gene transfer approach completes our previous studies and allows comparison of complementary strategies in the development of efficient PKU gene therapy protocols.


A trend toward delocalization of arbitral law has been underway for the last 50 years, starting with the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. Many courts recognizing the merits of arbitration have exercised significant deference toward arbitral awards, reflecting a modern and light-handed attitude and narrow view of the public policy defense to enforcement of international arbitral awards. At the same time, however, the expanding scope of claims that may be submitted to arbitration accentuates emerging concerns about issues of mandatory public law arising in arbitration. There is increased discussion over the authority and obligation of arbitral tribunals to consider issues of public law within the arbitration procedure itself. Further, there is a call for recognition that the liberalization of arbitrable subject matter comes necessarily at the price of some increase in judicial ex post control of the compatibility of the arbitrators' product with public policy, as the second-look doctrine raised by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Mitsubishi case suggests. From time to time it is appropriate to revisit the question of public policy as a bar to enforcement of international arbitration awards. Public policy, by nature, is a dynamic concept that evolves continually to meet the changing needs of society, including political, social, cultural, moral and economic dimensions. My article focuses on how considerations of mandatory public law play into the concept of public policy as a defense to enforcement of international arbitral awards. My claim is that mandatory public law poses a challenge to international arbitration and, in response, in order to sustain the balance and legitimacy of the international arbitral system, a reformed concept of substantive public policy is needed. I do not argue in favor of lowering the standard to be applied – that is, in balancing between finality and justice, a reviewing court should continue to reflect a pro-enforcement bias and refuse enforcement only in "exceptional circumstances." In this respect, I agree with the detailed recommendations that are intended to guide an enforcement court's discretion, which are contained in the International Law Association Committee on International Commercial Arbitration's 2002 Final Report on Public Policy as a Bar to Enforcement of International Arbitral Awards. However, in my view, the scope of public policy as defined in the Final Report is too narrow because it recommends that an enforcement court exclude consideration of the public policies that may be relevant at the place of the underlying performance of the contract. I contend that the public policy standard should permit a supervising court to consider fundamental public policy not only of the enforcement forum, but also at the place with the closest connection to an underlying contract, where the transaction in question has its greatest societal impact. This approach provides proper incentives for the parties and arbitrators to consider relevant issues of mandatory public law during arbitral proceedings and determine whether they are sufficiently fundamental. It also enables courts at a remove from the place of performance to give due regard to the important public policies of another State, reflecting that State's sovereignty and societal values. In this way, public policy mediates between the interests of transnational business and those of the State with closest connection to the contract. While building legitimacy and trust can be complicated and may require balancing paramount interests of arbitral finality against fundamental State principles, the public policy defense is the appropriate mechanism to achieve this counterpoise.