Epitaxial AlN thin films have been grown on 6H–SiC substrates by ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) ion-assisted reactive dc magnetron sputtering. The low-energy ion-assisted growth (Ei=17–27 eV) results in an increasing surface mobility, promoting domain-boundary annihilation and epitaxial growth. Domain widths increased from 42 to 135 nm and strained-layer epitaxy was observed in this energy range. For Ei>52 eV, an amorphous interfacial layer of AlN was formed on the SiC, which inhibited epitaxial growth. Using UHV condition and very pure nitrogen sputtering gas yielded reduced impurity levels in the films (O: 3.5×1018 cm−3). Analysis techniques used in this study are in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction, secondary-ion-mass spectroscopy, atomic-force microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and cross-section high-resolution electron microscopy.


The effect of stochastic factors on soil carbon makes the quantity of carbon generated under a sequestration project uncertain. Hence, the quantity of sequestered carbon may need to be discounted to avoid liability from shortfalls. We present a potentially applicable uncertainty discount and discuss difficulties that might arise in empirical use. We insist that the variance in historical crop yields across geographical areas is used to derive a proxy variance for forming an uncertainty discount for carbon projects. Application of our approach suggests that project level uncertainty discounts would be 15-20% for the East Texas region.


To determine the stiffness and damping of computer keyboard keys, a computer-controlled test rig that can measure computer key displacement, velocity, and contact force has been designed. The test rig, consisting of a single-axis stage carrying a probe for contacting keys, has been used to collect contact force and motion data as computer keys are depressed and released at constant velocities up to 80mm∕s. Keys that employ a rubber-dome under their caps to achieve the necessary compliance and toggling action were tested. The results demonstrate a nonlinear stiffness force versus displacement characteristic at a given speed and the presence of damping-type forces that increase with key depression speed at a given displacement. In particular, the results indicate that the peak force at the 80mm∕s rate of depression increases relative to the quasistatic (0.5mm∕s) force level by over 12% for the "Enter," "K," and "Spacebar" keys. This paper describes the hardware and software configuration, and presents sample results of the stiffness and damping characteristics of keys during depression-return stroke tests.


In lieu of Satan, the Hell scene in Michelangelo's Last Judgment features Charon and Minos, two key figures present in Dante's Inferno . These figures were given an interesting psychological interpretation in the well circulated fifteenth-century commentary on Dante's Commedia by Cristoforo Landino. This article compares Landino's allegoresis of the two figures and a selection of Michelangelo's poetry, as well as the artist's drawings for and relationship to the young nobleman Tommaso de' Cavalieri, to suggest the hypothesis that Michelangelo's Minos and Charon were intended to symbolize the psychological experience of damnation and, more specifically, the dynamic interplay of conscience, free will, choice and volition.


This descriptive study aimed to investigate the operation of the water treatment plant and the quality of water of the Wangtong Sub-district, Nawang District, Nong Bua Lam Phu Province in the view of the population involved. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire at 12 separate locations from altogether 305 individuals. Common descriptive statistics were applied for this research. The water quality at the site of investigation was tested against standard procedures.  It was found that the staff taking care of the water supply system worked on time but not always according to the rule. Funds for the water supply management system were insufficient. At only 4 places (33.33%) standard criteria for the water quality was sufficient.  However the physical quality of every water sample passed the standard criteria. As far as the chemical content of the water was concerned at 4 locations (33.33%) the iron content and other chemical substances were found to be too high. The lead concentration was not according to standard at various measuring points. Samples from 25% of all of the sites tested were contaminated with coliform bacteria and fecal coliform bacteria above the standard. The level of satisfaction of people using the water was neither very good nor very bad for 51.80% who were asked. Overall satisfied had been 41% and not satisfied at all were 7.20%.  Extra training should be provided for the staff and the administration committees responsible for the water supply system. The budget should be increased and the equipment sufficiently maintained. Keyword: water supply system, water quality, ground water supply


This thesis presents the development and testing of a solids transport model for
flighted rotary dryers based on the physical and geometric properties of the system.
Particular emphasis was placed on understanding the internal flows and phenomena.
An introduction to flighted rotary dryers is given in Chapter 1, where the context and
relevance of this research is outlines. Chapter 2 gives a review of literature pertaining
to the modelling and analysis of solids transport in flighted rotary dryers.

Chapter 3 discusses the development of the solids transport model based on the
physical behaviour of a flighted rotary dryer. The solids transport model was
developed based on numerical methods, dividing the dryer into a number of discrete
slices, and each slice was further separated into two discrete phases. One phase
selected to represent the material contain in the flights and in the bottom of the drum,
whilst the other phase was selected to represent the solids falling through the moving
gas stream. The flow of solids between phases was based on the physical movement
of solids that occurs within an actual dryer. The magnitude of these flows was
described using solid residence times and partitioning coefficients.

The solids transport phenomena occurring in the two phases were described using the
geometry of the dryer and the physical properties of the solids. Chapter 4 presents a
model for the unloading profile of a generic unserrated, straight, two-section flight,
which was developed based on geometric analysis of the holdup within a flight. This
unloading profile was then used to calculate the average fall path of a solid particle
within a dryer, and thus the time spent within each phase of the dryer. Using
measurements from CSR Invicta Mill's raw sugar dryer number 2, the average fall
time of a particle was found to be in the order of 0.9 seconds, and the average time a
particle spent in the flights to be in the order of 9 seconds. These residence times were
then used to govern the flow of solids within the overall solids transport model, and
the methodology describes a generic approach to modelling flighted rotary dryers.

A flight unloading apparatus was used to validate the geometric flight unloading
model, the methods and results of which are presented in Chapter 5. The apparatus
consisted of a 1m length of a full scale industrial dryer flight, which was rotated at a
controlled rate, and the rate at which material was discharged recorded. Tests were
conducted using three different flight geometries and three different solid materials at
rotational speeds between 1 and 8 rpm. It was found that the geometric unloading
model accurately represents the experimental unloading profiles across the full range
of conditions tested. High-speed photography was used to observe the solid material
during unloading, and to measure factors such as the cascading curtain thickness,
surface particle velocity and dynamic angle of repose. It was found that the dynamic
angle of repose of the solids was dependent on the rotational velocity of the apparatus
and showed significant variability. Surface velocities were found to be in the order of
1 m/s and surface thickness was found to be closely linked to the unloading rate of the
flight. The data from these experiments was used in simulating interactions between
gas and solids in the falling curtain in the following chapter.

Study of the high-speed photographs and unloading profiles revealed that the
unloading of the flight was discontinuous, even though the materials used were
generally regarded as free flowing. Observation of both the unloading profile and the
high-speed images showed the flight unloading in pulses, with periods of high flow,
and periods where less material was unloaded. This resulted in a varying material
surface within the flight, which contributed to the high variability in measurements of
surface properties. The effects of flight serrations and the methodology of modelling
air drag in particulate curtains was also described.

Chapter 6 presents a study on using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate
the gas-solids interactions within a falling curtain of solids. Experimental results from
wind tunnel experiments conducted at Monash University, Melbourne, were used to
verify and validate the CFD model. The simulated results showed good agreement
with the experimental data for solids displacement and velocity. Data from the flight
unloading experiments were then used to simulate the behaviour of the falling curtains
of solids that occur within a rotary dryer. Simulations with a single curtain showed
that gas-solids interactions were minimal for the conditions studied, with solids only
being displaced in the first 10-20cm of the falling curtain. Simulation using multiple
curtains in close proximity (50-80mm apart) showed that channelling of the gas flow
between the curtains was significant (increases in gas velocity of up to 25% were
observed), and resulted in greater displacement of the falling curtains. However,
limits on computational requirements prevented further study of this phenomena.

Chapter 7 presents the validation of the solids transport model using experimental
data from an industrial flighted rotary dryer. The geometric flight unloading model
was integrated into the overall solids transport model for a rotary dryer, and
experimental data from Invicta Sugar Mill's dryer number 2 was used to statistically
determine the remaining model parameters to validate the model. For a model using
33 slices, the kilning phase residence time was estimated to be 7.7 seconds, with 54%
of the falling solids undergoing backmixing. It was found that the solids transport
model provided a good fit to the experimental data, however it was unable to match
the extended tail of the experimental curve. It was found that the number of slices
used in the model to represent the dryer had a minimal influence on the quality of the
statistical fit to the experimental data. Due to the inability of the solids transport
model to match the extended tail of the experimental RTD, alternative model
structures were considered and studied. However, the alternative model structures
considered showed similar or poorer fits to the experimental data, and techniques to
enhance the fit are described.

Further study of the model predictions revealed an improbable amount of kilning
material within the dryer, with less than 5% of the solids within the dryer present in
the falling curtains of solids. This in turn resulted in large amount of solids
undergoing kilning, resulting in kilning being the dominant mode of solids transport
within the model. This is believed to be unrealistic, and emphasised the need to
undertake further experimental research into kilning and holdup in flighted rotary
dryers. Based on the observations made in this thesis, a number of recommendations
are made for the further development of solids transport models for rotary dryers, and
these are presented in Chapter 8.


EVOLUTION OF GENOME-WIDE GENE REGULATION IN THE BUDDING YEAST CELL-DIVISION CYCLE Daniel F. Simola Junhyong Kim Genome-wide regulation of gene expression involves a dynamic epigenetic structure which generates an organism's life-cycle. Although changes in gene expression during development have broad effects on many basic phenomena including cell growth, differentiation, morphogenesis, and disease progression, the evolutionary forces influencing gene expression dynamics and gene regulation remain largely unknown, due to the nature of gene expression as a polygenic, quantitative trait. Moreover, gene expression is regulated differentially over time, so evolutionary forces may be influenced by developmental context. To advance the understanding of evolution in the context of the life-cycle, the architecture of gene expression timing control and its influence on expression dynamics must be revealed. This dissertation presents two experimental investigations of the evolution of genes and related structural regions and time-dependent gene expression, using the budding yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces paradoxus and their mitotic cell-division vii cycle as model organism and life-cycle. Comparative methodologies were employed to analyze genome-wide patterns of genetic and phenotypic diversity within and between species. Analysis of several dozen yeast genomes reveals a dominant evolutionary mode of purifying selection. Despite limited genetic variability, differences in transcriptional regulation appear to contribute predominantly to interspecies divergence, and altered posttranscriptional regulation of ribosomal genes may have altered the timing of each species' transition from vegetative growth to reproduction, a classic life-history trait. In addition, natural variation in genome-wide gene expression was measured as a time-series through the mitotic cell-division cycle of 10 yeast lines, including one outgroup species. Despite levels of variation consistent with strong stabilizing selection, transcriptome coexpression dynamics have diverged significantly within and between species. A model involving timing pattern changes explains 61% of the between-genome variation in expression dynamics, suggesting that the major mode of transcriptome evolution involves changes in timing (heterochrony) rather than changes in levels (heterometry) of expression. Analysis of heterochrony patterns suggests that timing control is organized into distinct and dynamicallyautonomous modules. Divergence in expression dynamics may be explained by pleiotropic changes in modular timing control. Genome-wide gene regulation may utilize a general architecture comprised of multiple discrete event timelines, whose superposition could produce combinatorial complexity in timing patterns.


This paper presents a novel series-fed patch leaky-wave antenna (LWA) and furthermore demonstrates optimization strategies for achieving efficient broadside radiation. The proposed LWA is based on the concept of a proximity coupled microstrip patch antenna. Here, two feeding lines from both sides couple capacitively to the microstrip patch edges to form a unit cell element of the LWA. This capacitively-coupled series-fed patch (CSFP) LWA offers several advantages over a conventional series-fed patch LWA, as it provides, a broadband 50 Ohm input impedance, electrically independent tuning parameters and most importantly the total elimination of the open-stopband problem (standing-wave phenomena) at broadside. Finally, CSFP prototypes for 24 GHz are presented with input impedance, scattering parameter and gain measurement results for validation of the proposed designs.


Increasingly, online discussion communities are used to support activities ranging from software development to political campaigns. An important feature of an online discussion community is its content boundaries, which are individual perceptions of what materials and discussions are part of the community and what are not, and how that community is related to others within a larger system. Yet in spite of its importance, many community infrastructures allow individual participants to reshape content boundaries by simultaneously associating their contributions with multiple online discussion communities. This reshaping behavior is a controversial aspect of the creation and management of many types of online discussion communities. On one hand, many communities explicitly discourage boundary reshaping behaviors in their frequently asked questions or terms-of-use document. On the other hand, community infrastructures continue to allow such reshaping behaviors. To explain this controversy, we theorize how the extent of boundary reshaping in an online discussion community has simultaneously positive and negative effects on its member dynamics and responsiveness. We test predictions about the conflicting effects of reshaping behaviors with 60 months of longitudinal data from 140 USENET newsgroups, focusing on cross-posting activities as a form of reshaping behavior. Empirical results are consistent with the proposed hypotheses that reshaping behaviors within a discussion community affect member dynamics and community responsiveness in both positive and negative ways. Taken together, the findings highlight the boundary-related design challenges faced by managers seeking to support ongoing activity within online discussion communities.


The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)) is a destructive pest of the cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in northern latitudes. Combining resistance mechanisms of leptine glycoalkaloids and glandular trichomes with the synthetic Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) cry3A gene in potato may be an effective strategy for controlling the Colorado potato beetle. Bt-cry3A transgenic plants were developed for three potato lines with differing levels of resistance to Colorado potato beetle ('Yukon Gold' (susceptible control), USDA8380- 1 (leptine glycoalkaloids), and NYL235-4 (glandular trichomes)). Polymerase chain reaction, and Southern and northern blot analyses confirmed integration and transcription of the cry3A gene in the transgenic lines. Detached-leaf bioassays of the cry3A engineered transgenic lines demonstrated that resistance effectively controlled feeding by first instar Colorado potato beetles. The susceptible 'Yukon Gold' control suffered 32.3% defoliation, the nontransformed high foliar leptine line (USDA8380-1) had 3.0% defoliation, and the nontransformed glandular trichome line (NYL235-4) had 32.9% defoliation. Mean percentage defoliation for all transgenic lines ranged between 0.1% and 1.9%. Mean mortality ranged from 0.0% to 98.9% among the Bt-cry3A transgenic lines, compared to 20% for the susceptible 'Yukon Gold' control, 32.2% for USDA8380-1, and 16.4% for NYL235-4. Results indicate that genetic engineering and the availability of natural resistance mechanisms of potato provide the ability to readily combine host plant resistance factors with different mechanisms in potato.


BACKGROUND
The involvement of people with anti-social personality disorder (ASPD) in clinical trials is necessary to developing effective treatment. Low literacy level, however, may be a barrier to their understanding and therefore their engagement in research.

AIM
Our aim was to find a preferred and most easily understandable way of communicating about research participation with men who have ASPD.

METHODS
Twenty-five men with ASPD who were using mental health services, research experienced and research naïve participated in the study. Literacy levels were assessed. A list of research terms was generated, and statements were developed to ascertain if the terms were understood. The research terms were 'randomisation', 'informed consent', 'confidentiality' and a research question 'why carry out research?' The participants ranked their preferred way of explaining these terms and the method of communicating these.

RESULTS
Those with research experience understood the research terms better. The research naïve and the research experienced men differed in literacy level. Those with below average literacy preferred shorter wordings of research terms than those with average literacy and answered fewer questions correctly. The majority stated a preference for discussion with a researcher before agreeing to take part in research. The least preferred communication methods were those that relied on technology.

CONCLUSIONS
Researchers should be able to find and use terms that are readily understood and do so. Low literacy levels impair understanding of research terms.


Subtest analysis is pervasive in psychological training and practice. That is, the speculation that the variability or profile of an individual's scaled scores across the subtests of an intelligence test have meaning beyond that provided by global IQ measures. A review of subtest analysis research revealed that neither subtest scatter nor subtest profiles demonstrate acceptable accuracy in discriminating among diagnostic groups. The evidence that exists regarding relations between subtest profiles and socially important academic and psychosocial outcomes is, at best, weak: subtest profile information contributes 2% to 8% variance beyond general ability to the prediction of achievement and 2% to 3% to the prediction of learning behaviors and test-session behaviors. Hypothesized relationships between subtest profiles and other psychosocial behaviors persistently fail to achieve statistical or clinical significance. Methodological problems in research and practice that cause subtest analysis results to be more illusory than real and to represent more of a shared professional myth than clinically astute detective work are explicated.


This paper presents a mathematically sound model for the design and optimization of supply chains in terms of such important performance indexes as product cost, cycle time, quality, energy and environmental impact in the context of global and Internet-based manufacturing. The two layer model is a hyper-network of material flows overlaid with an e-business information network. It extends from a traditional supply chain having suppliers, distributors, and users to include end-of-life product collectors and de-manufacturers. Furthermore, it extends the performance considerations from cost and productivity to include environmental performance. Such extensions allow one to develop Internet-based manufacturing systems that are agile and can produce desired products with the minimum environmental impact over their life cycles. Fuzzy logic-based optimization goals are used in the proposed multiobjective optimization model. A personal computer containing such mechatronic components as hard disk driver, keyboard, and mouse is used as an example to illustrate the application of the proposed integrated e-supply chain model.


Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have become increasingly important in education and teaching roles and the integration of ICT into classrooms has become essential. Literature provides evidence of various issues hindering the successful integration of ICT in education; for example, a lack of access to computers and lack of training. Yet when these issues are addressed there is little or no evidence of improvement in ICT use in the classroom.
This thesis argues that understanding a Teacher's ICT use requires attention to many everyday life experience issues; what this study calls Down-to-Earth (DTE) issues. DTE relates to how occurrences in the classroom affect a user's experiences of ICT - (for example, technology disappointments, stress, thinking up another option every time, and so on). Theoretical literatures on the subject of the ICT use of educators often misses or takes for granted many DTE issues important to Teachers because of the difficulties involved in logging these diverse everyday issues. However, a philosophically-based method has emerged that provides a new way of understanding ICT use from a DTE perspective. Many authors, such as Ahmad and Basden (2013) made use of aspects to reveal DTE issues in IS Mandatory use. The primary purpose of this study is how Dooyeweerd's philosophy can help us understand the everyday issues Teachers face with the use of ICT in the classroom. These DTE issues are diverse, deep and value-laden, and are meaningful in the everyday experience of ICT use. Interpretive research with the use of in-depth interviews was conducted with twenty Primary School Teachers from three schools in Salford, across subjects and year groups. There were no gender restrictions as both male and female participants were included. The use of open-ended questions helped explore the topic deeply and produced a rich account from each participant. The transcribed interview was then analysed using Dooyeweerd's suite of aspects as a conceptual tool based on his philosophy of everyday life. The results of this study showed that Dooyeweerd's aspects when applied to transcripts of open interviews are able to reveal the diversity of issues, uncover the deep issues and encourage Teachers to be reflective about their values, making it easy to separate out what is meaningful to the interviewee from what is meaningful to the Researcher. This provides rich data that can be analysed by cohorts, such as gender, years and schools. A number of important findings have been obtained from various cohorts. First, a distinctive difference are the amount of issues male Teachers found meaningful in the formative aspect compared to issues in the economic aspect preoccupying female Teachers. The implication of the results is that the current literature on Teachers' ICT use is not rich enough, especially in terms of everyday life experiences, and is misleading as a guide in research and practice. As such, theories would benefit from taking DTE issues into account. This study will help literatures on ICT education widen their focus and take all aspects into account. This study provides practitioners, policy-makers and the wider research community with a reliable basis to consider the DTE issues of Teachers alongside wider strategic goals and thus make more sensitive judgments in matters of policy formation and best practice.


Translating the extraordinary scientific and technological advances from the biomedical research laboratory into actual patient care practices and other processes aimed at promoting health has been a major challenge, particularly for patients in community settings. Because of that the increased participation of clinicians from primary health care in clinical research would have a number of benefits. As experts in the delivery of clinical care in one society, they have much to contribute providing health care for patients in the whole spectrum of illnesses 1 . They are among the first to recognize changes in patients' which come us as result of disease and conditions associated with demographic shiftings. Very often these are unexpected events such as trauma, natural disasters, pandemic infections, etc. They are also directly in contact with the policy-related matters (e.g., health consequences associated with increase in price of medications or the clinical consequences of war, such as the rapid increase in the number of individuals with prosthetic limbs and post traumatic stress syndrome) 2 . Finally, participation in clinical research would benefit clinicians from primary health care in more ways, such as: contributing the mission of medicine and improving the scientific basis for medical practice; allowing clinicians to stay with new innovations ie. the development up to-date of information systems to improve data-gathering associated with the research 3 . A major goal is the development of teams of investigators from various research disciplines, is to turm the scientific discoveries from the laboratories into treatments and strategies for patients in communities. However, even with that introduction only a small part of the community will provide participation in clinical research. The barriers for this in USA recognised from clinicians community and showed in down table 4 .


In this thesis, the concept of virtual reality has been elaborated in the context of games, industrial design and manufacturing. The main purpose of this master's thesis is to create a virtual environment for games that are near to the reality and according to the human nature through aspects like better interface, simulation, lights, shadow effects and their types. The importance of these aspects regarding realistic virtual environment is complemented through the comparison between two environments i.e. desktop and CAVE on a flight simulation program.


Single Crystal Silicon (SCSi) is proving to be an excellent material for the fabrication of lightweight optical components for use in space. As part of the feasibility studies performed prior to space flight applications, it is important to determine the mechanical properties of complex structures manufactured from individual sections of SCSi. As an additional integral building block for future multi-component SCSi structures, the behavior of the McCarter Machine proprietary frit-bonded metal insert technology was examined. Here we report vibration test results, the objective of which was to measure the structural damping characteristics of a typical silicon structure and verify its structural stability after exposure to random vibration. The tests were designed to better understand SCSi, not only as a mirror substrate, but also as a structural material. The success of this test, combined with the already proven McCarter Machine manufacturing techniques, give us the ability to now manufacture new lightweight and stable opto-mechanical assemblies entirely out of SCSi. But since requirements for larger and more sophisticated SCSi structures are limited by the practical size of available boules, the behavior of these frit-bonded SCSi structures needs to be better understood. This understanding will be obtained from planned testing of larger frit bonded SCSi opto-mechanical structural components and assemblies.


Political scientists have been concerned about the loss of power of national parliaments through the shift of competences to the EU level. In this respect the Danish system of parliamentary scrutiny has been recommended as being highly effective. In this paper, we explain why the Folketing issues negotiation mandates on some EU law proposals whereas the government can freely chose its negotiation position on other proposals. Our empirical analysis of Danish scrutiny decision between 2006 and 2008 uncovers three answers. First, in contrast to other scrutiny measures, most of which can be initiated by single party groups, the issuance of negotiation mandates is a collective decision. Specifically, it requires the consent of a majority of deputies in the Folketing. As a consequence, the position of the minority government must win the support of a third party. This third party tends to requests a negotiation mandate if it fears that collusion between the government and its international partners might violate its interests. Second, the leading minister requests a negotiation mandate if a majority of Danish parties stand united against an adverse majority in the Council. Third, the coalition partner requests a negotiation mandate to control the leading minister in case of significant intra coalition dissent.


The last two decades were marked by discoveries and breakthroughs in different biological disciplines, and stem cell biology is an example of the quickly developing field. Discovery of stem cell niches and successful reprogramming of somatic cells into pluripotent stem state are only a few step stones that recently changed our understanding of stem cells. All the recent achievements in stem cell biology also made clear the technical limitations that scientists working in the field are facing every day, limitations that become harder and harder to overcome. One of the key technical problems is a shortage of models that allow studying pluripotent stem cell in vivo, within its microenvironment. It is hard to overestimate the importance of traditional model systems, such as mice, fishes or flies, for the stem cell research, yet the need for new complementary models becomes obvious. Marine flatworm Macrostomum lignano is a recently emerged model organism. It possesses a population of adult somatic stem cells known as neoblasts, that make it an attractive model for stem cell studies. Exploring genomic resources for this organism and, more generally, developing it as a reliable model are the main goals of this thesis that we pursue by expanding the toolkit for the model, testing its suitability in different scientific fields and studying the functioning of stem cell system in the organism. To the existing toolkit available for M. lignano we add knowledge of its genomic resources. By that we mean de novo sequencing, assembling and annotation of genome and transcriptome and miRNAs profiling, but also generating massive data on gene expression in M. lignano at different developmental stages and under different conditions. Most of this data are already publicly available, and soon we plan to introduce a new online database on M. lignano gene expression that would allow everyone to benefit from the results of our work. To the list of tools for studying M. lignano we also add reliable miRNA in situ hybridization method. We tested the potential of M. lignano, as a model for different kinds of studies outside the stem cell field. First, it is an interesting organism from the evolutionary point of view, and both its genome and presumably ancient miRNA system could add a lot to our understanding of evolution of many physiological processes. Second, M. lignano can serve as a model for chemical compound screens. Studying of bioelectrical processes presents a third field where advantages of this worm model can be exploited. We also made a step forward towards understanding the functioning of stem cells in M. lignano. We identified a set of genes involved in stem cell regulation during homeostasis and regeneration, and even larger group of transcripts, expression of which is enriched in neoblasts. We also made a candidate list of miRNAs potentially involved in stem cell regulation and addressed the role of bioelectric signaling in regeneration. Finally, we initiated the studies of the mechanism involved in rapid gonad degradation following exposure to the low salinity.


Innovative technologies that connect service providers to consumers are changing the way people live, work, and travel. From Uber and Lyft in transportation to Airbnb in lodging — and smaller platforms for everything from home cosmetology services to babysitters — people are using finding new ways to trade goods and services. Consumers gain greater access to products and services at lower costs, and pioneering individuals and businesses are reaching markets they would not otherwise have reached.
Unfortunately, many state and local governments, as well as the federal government, have reacted not by welcoming these new developments, but by imposing antiquated or incongruent rules that shut down these innovative ways of communicating about and facilitating the exchange of goods and services.
Behind these restrictions is often the notion that new economic conditions require new forms of regulation. But in fact, much of the "sharing economy" is not really new at all. Rather, these businesses help facilitate transactions, or advertise services that have themselves been around for a long time. Often, what makes the sharing economy unique is not that it sells new things — it usually does not — but that it helps people learn about, or reduces the transaction costs involving, things that are not new. But the sharing of information is different than other activities, especially because the sharing of information is specifically protected by the First Amendment. Thus, when discussing the regulation of the sharing economy, it is important to keep these principles in mind: just because the mode of advertising an activity has changed does not mean that government must impose new regulations on a long-standing activity. Likewise, government ought not regulate purely communicative activities as if they were the same as the underlying practice being advertised: advertising a car ride is not the same thing as selling a car ride. And if one has a right to let a guest stay in one's home for money, that right does not change just because one advertises that fact in a new way. Ignoring these principles leads to regulatory mismatch.
This article makes the case against this mismatch using three case studies. First, this article addresses home-sharing, a new term for a centuries-old practice of homeowners allowing overnight guests in their homes. Lawmakers nationwide are cracking down on homeowners' ability to use the internet to offer their homes for rent. Next, this article discusses Angels on Earth, a dispatch service that connects people who are homebound due to age or medical condition with salon and spa services. Although its services only involved the exchange of information, bureaucrats tried to force Angels on Earth into the same regulatory framework as the cosmetologists it deployed — a classic instance of regulatory mismatch. Finally, this article tells the story of Flytenow, an innovate startup that allows private pilots to share travel plans and trip expenses with passengers. Simply because Flytenow created a more efficient way to promote that longstanding and lawful practice, the federal government adopted new regulations that shut the business down completely. These cases illustrate the absurdity of applying new regulations to longstanding practices — or shoehorning new businesses into old regulations — simply because technology has made the voluntary, harmless, and lawful exchange of goods and services more efficient.


Effective implementation of the new product development (NPD) process not only enables management to coordinate the efficient flow of new products, but will also assist to support ramp-up of various supply chain activities and other related activities supporting the commercialisation of the product. Thus, companies need to address all these issues in parallel to be successful and this requires some kind of integrative product development approach. The purpose of this research is to increase the understanding of how NPD is connected to supply chain management (SCM) by investigating how the NPD process is structured and executed in two international manufacturing companies seeking to realise an innovative, predictable and efficient product development. Several essential linkages between NPD and SCM have been derived from case study findings concerning important issues for successful product development.


Business coaching has become a popular tool for human resource management with a number of advocates making a variety of claims about its benefits and practice. Despite its popularity, until recently there has been little published systematic empirical research into business coaching. This study clarified factors that make coaching effective and should be included in the coaching process. Six hundred and forty four industry professionals who had been through or were currently going through the coaching process responded to a questionnaire. The findings focus on the main components involved in the coaching process: the coach, the coachee, the organisation, the coaching process and the relationship between coach and coachee.


To spectrally characterize Earth-like planets around nearby stars with a coronagraph, an extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) system is mandatory. The correction of the amplitude and phase aberrations in the wavefront on both sides of the image plane and in sufficiently large bandwidths can be done with two deformable mirrors (DM) in a pupil mapping configuration. While this system is primarily intended to correct for aberrations, it can potentially be used to improve the contrast beyond the nominal value set by the coronagraph; the two DMs can be seen as a complex apodizer. We present solutions to two types of numerical optimization problems. Our first approach consists in maximizing the sum of the real and the imaginary parts of the electric field in the pupil plane, while constraining the intensity of the electric field in chosen regions of the the subsequent image plane to be less than a chosen extremum. The solutions can be translated in term of modulus and phase. The optimal modulus is very close to 1, and the high-contrast is induced by a binary phase shift, which cannot be induced with current deformable mirrors. Our second approach consists in directly optimizing the stroke commands sent to a deformable mirror. Solutions are computed by either solving successive linear optimizations or non-linear optimizations. For a telescope with a 30% central obscuration, a 3λ=D inner working angle and a 10λ=D outer working angle, a 10-6-10-7 is reached after a dozen iterations, and the coronagraph has a 60-80% throughput. Shaped pupils are then computed to lower that contrast down to 10-9-10-10.


This study presents the design and lab evaluation of a compact medium flow multiple round nozzle-based inertial impactor with variable head for collecting particulate matter (PM). The impactor operates at a flow rate of 175 LPM and consists of two different sets of circular acceleration nozzles designed for PM2.5 (particle aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 µm) and PM1 (particle aerodynamic diameter < 1 µm), either of them could be used at a time as per the objective of sampling. High vacuum grade silicone grease is used as an impaction substrate. Lab experiments were performed using a polydisperse dolomite powder as test aerosol. The nozzle configurations selected were such that the first one provides a 50% cutpoint at 2.50 µm (aerodynamic diameter) with a pressure drop of 0.35 kPa while the second one produces a 50% cutpoint at 1.06 µm (aerodynamic diameter) with a pressure drop of 1.07 kPa. Particle losses through the nozzles were low for particle diameter upto 5.0 µm. Particle bounce-off and re-entrainment losses were found to be insignificant. Owing to its higher flow rate, it has an advantage of collecting appreciable quantity of particles (and higher number of samples) in a relatively smaller time frame as compared to other low flow rate samplers. The samples can be analyzed to obtain finely time-resolved aerosol composition which can help in a better understanding of the role of various physico-chemical processes active during different meteorological conditions (extreme dust and foggy events) that affect fate and transport of PM, especially in the Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP).


A novel cross-regulation system was described in this work for regulated recombinant proteins expression. Molecular-level mathematical models of the lac and [lambda]P[subscript R] promoter-repressor systems were used in example calculations and the effectiveness of the cross-regulation system was evaluated by comparing with two other repressor control configurations (constitutive repressor synthesis and autogenous regulation). Simulation results suggested that this system offered the best control of transcription over a broad range of copy number in the uninduced state and also provided the highest overall transcription rate in the induced state.

The validity of the cross-regulation system in an actual experimental setting was also examined. Because of their desired properties, the tac-lacI and [lambda]P[subscript L]-cI promoter-repressor systems were used to construct vectors for regulated expression of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT). The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was employed to generate the lacI and cI structural genes. Functional assays were performed to ensure active products from these PCR fragments. Induction results matched well with model prediction indicated that CAT expression from the cross-regulation system is two fold higher than the control (constitutive repressor synthesis configuration) with a very similar low basal expression. By using different copy number plasmids, the cross-regulation system has been shown to be equally applicable over copy numbers from 50-150.

Various factors influencing the recombinant protein yield from the cross-regulation system in E. coli were studied. It was determined that the optimum yield can be obtained by induction at 2-3 hr into the exponential growth and by using an IPTG concentration exceeding 0.5 mM. A limitation at the transcription level was determined to be the most crucial factor for CAT expression in a batch fermentation mode. A cease in the CAT production was coincided with a 10 fold decrease in the CAT mRNA level after transition into the stationary phase. This bottleneck, however, can be eliminated by extending cell growth either by using a fed-batch fermentation mode or by using an unmutagenized E. coli strain.

In view of the interesting transcriptional property of the cross-regulation system, it was applied as a metabolic switch to provide a novel mean for the redirection of metabolic flux. The validity of the metabolic switch was illustrated by an alternation in the Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb) and CAT expression patterns before and after induction. A practical application to alternate glycogen synthesis and degradation was examined and results indicated a five fold increase in glycogen synthesis and a 40% increase in glycogen degradation.


Recurrence relations play an important role in the field of complexity analysis since complexity measures can often be elegantly expressed by systems of such relations. This justifies the interest in automatic, precise, efficient and correct systems able to solve or to approximate the solution of systems of recurrence relations. Assume such a system is built. Since closed-form solutions for recurrences of even modest complexity can be so big and complex to be unmanageable, how can confidence on such a system be gained? How can we quickly validate or perhaps disprove its results? And, in those cases where the exact solution is too complex to be of practical use, how can we trade precision for efficiency by approximating them from below and from above? We also concern ourselves with a problem related to the handling of sets of solutions of recurrence relations: how can we confine by means of a lower bound and an upper bound a set of such solutions? We provide some solutions to these problems where we are careful to rely, whenever possible, on fast integer computations and/or conditions that are easy to check in a completely automatic way. The ongoing experimental evaluation of these ideas is giving very promising results, showing order-of-magnitude speedups over the more traditional methods.


Non- edible oils from the plant seeds are the most promising alternative fuel for diesel engines as they are renewable, environment friendly, non-toxic, biodegradable, no sulphur and aromatics, favourable heating value and higher cetane number. But their inherently high viscosity compared to fossil diesel is undesirable for diesel engines. Lowering the viscosity can be achieved by breaking the triglyceride molecules and separating the fatty acid molecules from the glycerine molecules - transesterification. Biodiesel is more susceptible to oxidative attack than diesel fuel. The rate of oxidation is determined by the degree of unsaturation in the fatty acid alkyl ester chain, water content and environmental factors such as temperature, nature of storage container and air exposure during storage. Acceptable storage tank materials include mild steel, stainless steel, fluorinated polyethylene and polypropylene. Biodiesel has a solvent effect which releases the deposits accumulated on tank walls leading to corrosion. In the present investigation, the compatibility of biodiesel from Pongamia pinnata (PBD) and Jatropha curcus (JBD) and their different blends with commercial diesel (5%, 10% and 20%) with mild steel has been studied by mass loss method for a period of 100 h. 3% NaCl was used to depict water contamination. Though negligible corrosion rates were observed in both the biodiesels, corrosion rate in JBD was found to be higher. The surface topography of the metal samples after the exposure period was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The surface profile, pit distribution and pit density of the metal coupons were determined by laser profilometry. The wettability studies also supported the non corrosive nature of the biodiesel used.


Of all the possible ways of computing abductive explanations, the ATMS procedure is one of the most popular. While this procedure is known to run in exponential time in the worst case, the proof actually depends on the existence of queries with an exponential number of answers. But how much of the difficulty stems from having to return these large sets of explanations? Here we explore abduction tasks similar to that of the ATMS, but which return relatively small answers. The main result is that although it is possible to generate some non-trivial explanations quickly, deciding if there is an explanation containing a given hypothesis is NP-hard, as is the task of generating even one explanation expressed in terms of a given set of assumption letters. Thus, the method of simply listing all explanations, as employed by the ATMS, probably cannot be improved upon. An interesting result of our analysis is the discovery of a subtask that is at the core of generating explanations, and is also at the core of generating extensions in Reiter's default logic. Moreover, it is this subtask that accounts for the computational difficulty of both forms of reasoning. This establishes for the first time a strong connection between computing abductive explanations and computing extensions in default logic.


Information overload is one of the most important problems of today's WWW. Users are often lost in a wealth of information when searching about a topic. Although they have specific information needs, using a search engine or regularly browsing in popular news sites for updates can lead them to search in tens or hundreds of possibly relevant pages or loose some updates that were interesting for them. One promising solution for this problem is 'web-clipping' services. A service like this continuously searches the Web and whenever it finds a web page that might interest some users, it informs these users that they should visit this specific page. This paper describes the information extraction mechanism of a web-clipping service that is being designed as part of a larger project for information search and manipulation. This mechanism is used to extract information from web pages and find out which links should be followed.


Developmental monetary benefits of coast artificialisation projects are rarely confronted with the environmental benefits that its conservation may entail. As a consequence, policy-makers often face decision making processes in which monetary benefits have to be balanced with physical impacts ending up in undervaluation or overvaluation of environmental aspects. Non-market valuation of coastal and marine resources is thus a growing concern in the assessment of cost-benefit analysis of coastal developmental projects. This paper attempts to estimate the effects on peopleٳ utility of the potential environmental impacts of a new seaport in Pasaia, Spain. A choice modelling technique is proposed as a means of estimating marginal impacts for different environmental attributes of mount Jaizkibel, namely its landscape, flora, avifauna and seabed. The results from a multinomial logit model reveal that, on average, individuals would pay 1.39 euros for a one percentage protection of its landscape; 0.87 euros for protecting its flora; 0.68 euros for protecting its avifauna; and 0.63 euros for protecting its seabed.


Considering the Ries crater as an example for middle-sized complex impact structures on Earth, we use geophysical data to examine the structure underneath the crater and simulate the formation process by numerical modeling. In contrast to previous investigations, we show by reanalyzing seismic refraction profi les that some clues for structural uplift exist beneath the crater in a range of at least 1 km. We propose that the average P-wave velocity inside the crater is lower than outside the crater from the surface to ~2.2 km depth, but that below this level, the velocity increases beneath the center, presumably due to uplifted basement rocks. In addition, we utilized magnetotelluric depth sounding to investigate the deep electrical structure beneath the crater. Two-dimensional inversion models of the data show anomalously high conductivity beneath the crater. Our best model features a zone of presumably brine-fi lled fractures in open pore space to a depth of ~2 km. Furthermore, our numerical modeling results for the crater formation are consistent with surface and subsurface observations in the vicinity of the crater. In order to explain the structural differences between similarly sized craters and Ries, we investigate the sensitivity of crater shape and subsurface structure to varying target compositions. We show that for a reasonable range of constitutive material and acoustic fl uidization parameters the model calculations produce a large variety of different crater shapes, even for the same amount of impact energy. In contrast to the conventional estimate of crater diameters, our results suggest that Ries crater is comparable in size with the Bosumtwi and Zhamanshin crater. Despite their apparent lack of similarity at filook, Ries and Bosumtwi are closely matched in terms of transient crater size (inner ring), aspect ratio, and structural elements, and we conclude that they both represent typical complex crater structures of the terrestrial impact record for their size range.


This thesis examined novel and previously utilised parameters of egg quality to determine and define reproductive success in farmed and wild salmonids. The effect of holding environment and inter-female variation on salmonid egg quality was also examined. Furthermore, two nutritional feed trials were undertaken to investigate whether organic Se, supplemented into salmonids broodstock diets, was vertically transferred to their eggs and what affect this dietary supplementation had on egg quality. Finally, the possibility that morphological and biochemical adaptations are present on the chorion of eggs from European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) was investigated in a resident Scottish population.
Chapter 2 examined methods to determine egg quality using eggs from a single population of brown trout (Salmo trutta). Egg survival, provided a biologically relevant definition for egg quality, which was used throughout this study to assess the importance of selected egg quality parameters. Based on a review of the literature and the relationship between parameters of egg quality and egg survival rates, three determinants of egg quality were chosen for further examination. These were chorion breaking strength, elemental concentrations within the egg and the protein profile of the chorion.
Brown trout broodstock from a single population were separated prior to spawning and exposed to two different holding units, 'Ae system' or 'S.C.E.N.E. system' at two sites. Eggs were stripped from females and 13 determinants of egg quality collected, analysed individually, combined by principle components analysis into an integrated egg quality score which was validated against egg survival. The multivariate egg quality score differed significantly between fish held in the Ae and S.C.E.N.E. systems. Egg survival, chorion breaking strength and Se chorion concentrations were higher in eggs produced by broodstock held in the S.C.E.N.E. system compared to those in the Ae system. Alternatively, chorion concentrations of P and K were higher in eggs from fish held in the raceway system. This data highlights the complex interactions between the holding environment and pre-ovulating fish and resultant egg quality.
The variation in egg survival in individual Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) reared in the same environment was assessed and used to examine the suitability of chorion measurements as parameters of egg quality. There was a significant difference in the egg survival rates between individual salmon. Results also show that there was also variation in egg survival, chorion breaking strength, chorion elemental concentrations and chorion protein concentrations and profiles between individual Atlantic salmon. Subsequent analysis of the data showed that there was no difference in these egg quality parameters between high and low egg survival rates. Furthermore, there was no correlation between egg survival and the chorion quality parameters recorded during this study. The results show that individual variation between fish is an important factor affecting egg quality.
Broodstock Atlantic salmon were fed a standard commercial diet, with or without the addition of a supplemented nutritional mix, which included 0.5mg/kg of Sel-plex (organic Se). The Se content of the eggs and livers of each fish were assessed as was egg survival rates and proteomic analysis of the egg chorion. Concentrations of Se in the eggs of the individuals fed the supplemented diet were significantly higher than those fed the non-supplemented diet. However, the egg survival rate was also significantly lower in the supplemented group of fish. The assessment of the chorion protein profile and its proteomic structure was inconclusive. These results support the hypothesis that dietary selenium is vertically transferred to immature eggs during oocyte development. The lack of a linear relationship between Se egg concentrations and egg survival suggests that the lower survival rates of eggs from broodstock fed the supplemented diet in this trial was due to another nutritional component of the diet rather than the Se.
Selenium enriched eggs from Atlantic salmon fed a supplemented diet and eggs from conspecifics fed a non-supplemented diet were tested for their ability to resist infection by Saprolegnia under incubation conditions similar to those used by the aquaculture industry. There was no significant difference in the presence/absence of infection, infection rate or survival between eggs produced by Atlantic salmon fed the supplemented and non-supplemented diet. Therefore, it was concluded that supplementation of broodstock diet does not alter the resistance of eggs to Saprolegnia.
The presence of adhesive mechanisms on the surface of European whitefish eggs was examined from a population found within Loch Eck, Scotland. European whitefish eggs remain non-adhesive in a solution chemically similar to ovarian fluid, but become adhesive seconds after contact with water. Examination of the ultrastructure of the chorion showed that the morphology altered significantly after contact with water with nodule-like protuberances attached to connective filaments on the surface, present in water hardened but not non-water hardened eggs. Biochemical analysis also showed the presence of Chain A, RNase ZF-3e in the chorion of water hardened but not non water hardened eggs. Histochemical staining of the chorion showed that the externa, but not the interna stained positively for the presence of glycoproteins. Egg adhesive mechanisms allow European whitefish eggs to remain in optimal spawning grounds where factors such as mechanical damage, predation, desiccation and hypoxia are minimised.


Young children today are early adopters and frequent users of touchscreen devices. This study explores how parents perceive the role of new media in their families, how and why they regulate children's media use, and how they feel about this process. The study conducts ethnographic interviews with 20 South Korean parents of two- to six-year-olds and observes 10 children in their media use and interaction with parents. We find that parents presumed that touchscreen media wielded a more negative than positive influence on their children. As a result, parents engaged in restrictive and technical mediation, though they often failed to effectively manage their children's media use due to practical challenges. The failure of parental mediation made the parents feel guilty. We suggest a greater need to attend to the contexts and emotions in which parental mediation of children's media use occurs.


Urban search and rescue (USAR) missions are unique and unpredictable. Communication and coordination is difficult, with high-level actors (e.g. mission commander) lacking local terrain knowledge while low-level actors (e.g. robot operators, in-field rescuers) lack global situation awareness (SA). In-field actors have high mobility and a direct view of the field, but so far they could communicate this SA almost exclusively through radio. Unfortunately, words are imprecise and unorganized, and thus not easily analyzable and retrievable. As part of the NIFTi1 project, we developed mobile applications to help in-field actors share their SA with the rescue team. We also performed high-fidelity USAR simulations and missions at fire fighting training sites and disaster areas. We discovered a need for persistent geo-localized information and propose a novel system architecture that integrates pictures taken from robots and from in-field rescuers into the existing systems at the command post.


Presentation is a powerful teaching tool. Every teacher would love to support his lecture with presentation aids. Eventhough these presentations are created using standalone tools like presentation software, these presentations need to be archived for future retrieval. Till a few years ago faculty used to carry their presentations in the form of slides, which used to be cumbersome. Presentations using photographic slides were rigid offering no flexibility to the speaker. Now with the increasing use of computers and laptops digital presentations are becoming the order of the day. Today's teachers are expected to be comfortable with presentation software and their use. This study was performed to assess the awareness of faculty about online presentation archiving facilities. Questionnaires were used to elicit responses from faculty. This study revealed that only 10% of the faculty questioned knew about the online storage facilities and only 2% of them are regularly archiving their presentation. This study concludes that more needs to be done in creating awareness among faculty regarding online presentation storage facilites available.


A FRICA is no longer a minor if passionate theme of the Con /-\ cert of Europe; it commands increasing attention in its *" ^ own right. As time goes on, the course of African national ism, and even the direction and pace of economic development, will be determined more and more by agreements and disagreements between African peoples themselves and by the balance of power struck within an African region. The newly complicated rhythms and unfamiliar instruments of inter-African affairs require the student to reach back beyond the partition of Africa to the shifts and accommodations made by the African peoples as they coped with warlike neighbors, new migrations or natural disasters. That is the purpose of this article: to explain the inter-relations of the indigenous peoples of one African region, the Northeast, and the difficulties they have in finding stable arrangements that will give them some sense of lasting security and independence. In Northeast Africa two great peoples face one another: the Christian Amhara and other peoples loyal to the Ethiopian crown on the one side, and, on the other, the Moslem Somalis, divided by clan but culturally homogeneous. Both have a long history, remembered in song and saga, and occasionally in written records. Each is of mixed descent but today breeds an easily distinguish able physical type. Each has an unmistakable style of life which is well adapted in one case to a mountain environment, in the other to the thorn-bush grazing lands. Much draws them together, for they are twice related, through their common Semitic ancestry in southern Arabia and by intermarriage with the Hamites whom they subjugated, absorbed or decimated in the course of several centuries of successful raiding and expansion. Much divides them, including a record of formidable wars. In Ethiopia, land tenure is such that war is the most effective way for a man to improve his lot. Among the nomadic Somali, each clan must periodically reassert its power to defend the tra ditional grazing area and water holes. It must keep itself in fight ing trim lest sub-sections split away to attach themselves to more impressive confederacies. In this Malthusian region, then, the choice is usually between internecine warfare and the attempted


In a secular, multicultural, liberal democratic society founded on the rule of law, is it appropriate for legislators (or political candidates) to refer to religious beliefs or texts when discussing a government initiative or urging action on a particular issue? Such references might be used for various purposes: to explain the speakers' own beliefs; to emphasize that an issue has been around for a long time and therefore should be taken seriously; to elucidate historical influences on a particular law; or to give weight to a particular argument by buttressing it with religious authority. In Canada today, do ethics, law, or political theory offer persuasive reasons to limit any such references to religion in parliamentary debate or political campaigning?


This paper is about proving international sex crimes (in particular, rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery) provided in the statutes of international criminal courts such as the International Criminal Court, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Special Court of Sierra Leone. On the basis of a careful review of the relevant case law of those international courts, this paper sets out the means of proof (specific facts) discussed, analyzed and accepted as fulfilling each element of international sex crimes. The term 'means of proof' indicates evidence in respect of which a positive evaluation has been completed by adjudicators — 'positive' in the sense of substantively supporting the establishment of an element of a crime. For instance, as to the contextual element of crimes against humanity, the element of the 'widespread or systematic attack' can be proved by the means of proof of the 'scale of the attack,' the 'pattern of the attack' and the 'organized nature of the attack.' This paper is composed of four main sections: (i) Rape; (ii) Forced Marriage as Other Inhumane Act; (iii) Sexual Slavery in the Jurisprudence of the Special Court of Sierra Leone; and (iv) Enslavement Based on Rape in the Jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. For the purpose of this paper, means of proof of material elements (as opposed to the mental elements) are the main object of research.


This chapter identifies three perspectives for thinking and criticizing mass atrocity trials, through an analysis of three non-legal sources. First, through an engagement with Hannah Arendt's writing on the Eichmann trial, it discusses the rule of law genre of critique, in which mass atrocity trials are constantly suspected of becoming "show trials." Second, it turns to Shoshana Felman's work on the same trial, to identify a genre of critique premised on an experience of catharsis, in which the trauma of atrocity's victims is alleviated (constituting post-atrocity political community). Third, it analyzes The Hangman, a 2010 film about Eichmann's executioner, who suffered trauma following the hanging the convict, illustrating the unacknowledged risks of wielding the violence of criminal justice. Based on this "hangman's perspective", the chapter suggests that mass atrocity trials must be assessed in light of the questions: what transnational allocation of such risks do such trials rely upon? What preexisting inequalities, economic, ethnic, and other, determine the roles different people will end up playing in trials? At times, the need to enforce criminal justice makes some of us seem worthy of sacrifice.


The irrelevance of inflation is a proposition, inherited from corporate finance, which states that inflation is irrelevant for the valuation of nominal and real stock prices. In other terms, Net Present Values (NPVs) and stock returns are independent of the inflation rate.  The issue at stake is both theoretical and empirical, although the first came much before the latter. In the empirical realm, stock returns are found to be statistically negatively related to inflation. However, and theoretically, the classical school predicted that they should be related positively one-to-one. Moreover long run analysis, that came later, found that stock prices are positively related to price indexes. This stems from the fact that stocks are claims upon real assets, and, therefore, should be a hedge against inflation with the same one-to-one relation. This paper differs by subjecting all these hypotheses to the individual stocks included in the Dow Jones Industrial Index, and not to returns calculated from stock indexes, which is the usage. The empirical results in this paper support strongly the irrelevance of inflation.  This is true whatever the price index, whatever the econometric procedure, whatever the industry to which the stock belongs, and whatever the specification of the model.  Hence inflation is neither negatively nor positively related to stock returns, whether nominal or real.


In this paper, we develop a novel multi-objective modeling approach to support supply network configuration decisions, while considering varying demand profiles. In so doing, we illustrate how such an approach could contribute to building supply network robustness and resilience. The proposed model entails two key objectives; minimizing lead time and cost across the supply network. The solution approach first employs a bidding mechanism to select a set of supply network entities that match with a given demand profile from a candidate pool of entities. It then applies the popular technique known as N on-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II to generate a set of Pareto-optimal solutions representing alternative supply network configurations. The proposed model is tested on a case study of a refrigerator supply network to draw delivery time and cost comparisons under static and dynamic demand profiles.


An ensemble forecast is a collection of runs of a numerical dynamical model, initialized with perturbed initial conditions. In modern weather prediction for example, ensembles are used to retrieve probabilistic information about future weather conditions. In this contribution, we are concerned with ensemble forecasts of a scalar quantity (say, the temperature at a specific location). We consider the event that the verification is smaller than the smallest, or larger than the largest ensemble member. We call these events outliers. If a K‐member ensemble accurately reflected the variability of the verification, outliers should occur with a base rate of 2/(K + 1). In operational forecast ensembles though, this frequency is often found to be higher. We study the predictability of outliers and find that, exploiting information available from the ensemble, forecast probabilities for outlier events can be calculated which are more skilful than the unconditional base rate. We prove this analytically for statistically consistent forecast ensembles. Further, the analytical results are compared to the predictability of outliers in an operational forecast ensemble by means of model output statistics. We find the analytical and empirical results to agree both qualitatively and quantitatively. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society


In this paper we propose a mathematical model of the Typha growth and analyse its stability. The model that we plan to study describes the dynamics of the plant population. The theoret- ical study of this model determines the key factors of the Typha proliferation. We present the analysis of equilibrium solutions and lead a study of their local stability.This constitutes a first step towards a more detailed study of the nonlinear dynamics of this model.


The dissertation considers the influence that the arrival of work limiting health conditions has on labor market activity but also on broader social behavior of those that experience them. The primary data source used in the analysis is the 2004 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). The first chapter examines demographic correlates of the evolution of work limiting health conditions in the United States. Beyond a basic description of the onset and incidence of specific health conditions and their association with common demographic covariates, a set of specific health conditions that arrive largely unexpectedly are identified. The primary method used is logistic regression. The second chapter then divides the reported health conditions in the SIPP into those that are less predictable (exogenous) versus those that are more predictable (endogenous). How the onset of work limiting health conditions affects the subsequent divorce behavior is studied across those groups. Using retrospective histories contained in the topical module on "work disability history" of SIPP, I find that for men and women divorce behavior is not explained by the onset or evolution of exogenous health conditions while it is closely related to the onset or evolution of a broader, arguably, endogenous set of health conditions. The patterns of response are shown to vary by race and origin. The primary estimation method is Peijingran Yu — University of Connecticut, 2016 a panel linear probability model with fixed effects. In the third chapter, the effects of exogenous health conditions and more predictable health conditions on employed people's earnings and employment are examined. Using information contained in all waves of the core data and the topical module on "work disability history", I find that people who are observed employed and later experience the onset of any work related health conditions tend to have lower subsequent earnings and a lower probability of being employed compared to the people who stay healthy. The adverse impact is even greater for people with exogenous health conditions. The impact of any work limiting health condition exists among different demographic groups to varying degrees. The primary estimation method is a difference-in-differences regression model with person and


In order for robots to be useful in real world learning scenarios, non-expert human teachers must be able to interact with and teach robots in an intuitive manner. One essential robot capability is wide-area (mobile or nonstationary) pick-and-place tasks. Even in its simplest form, pick-and-place is a hard problem due to uncertainty arising from noisy input demonstrations and non-deterministic real world environments. This work introduces a novel method for goal-based learning from demonstration where we learn over a large corpus of human demonstrated ground truths of placement locations in an unsupervised manner via Gaussian Mixture Models. The goal is to provide a multi-hypothesis solution for a given task description which can later be utilized in the execution of the task itself. In addition to learning the actual arrangements of the items in question, we also autonomously extract which frames of reference are important in each demonstration. We further verify these findings in a subsequent evaluation and execution via a mobile manipulator.


The field experiment was conducted to estimate the native nutrient supplying capacity of soil in western terai of Nepal during 2013/14 and 2014/15. The experimental site consisted three areas: Pakadi VDC ward no.-3, Barrohiya of Kapilvastu district; Ramgram municipality ward no.-1, Sanda of Nawalparasi district and Tukuligadh VDC ward no.-1, Rehara of Rupandehi district. The indigenous nutrients supplying capacity of the soil was determined by establishing omission plots for wheat cultivation with six treatments each of 50 m2 and 4 farmers from each site was taken assuming one farmer as one replication. Among the six treatments, -N, -P, -K, –Zn and –B were set to estimate the inherent N, P, K, Zn and B supplying capacity of soil respectively. From two years of experiment, it has been clear that inherent N and K supplying capacity of soil in selected areas is very low. The highest grain yield of 3.33 t/ha and 2.75 t/ha was measured from fully fertilized plots in 2013/14 and 2014/15 respectively and the lowest grain yield of wheat was obtained from nitrogen missing plots in both years (1.74 t/ha and 1.51 ton/ha) followed by potassium missing plots (1.74t/ha). Farmers manage their field in a different way, so large variation was seen even in small area. Nitrogen was found to be most limiting nutrient for wheat growth followed by potassium and phosphorous in all sites. Therefore, use of optimum dose of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium should be used for efficient nutrient uptake which ultimately increases wheat productivity.


Abstract. The impact of aerosols above and around the Tibetan Plateau on the Asian Summer Monsoon during pre-monsoon seasons March-April-May 2007, 2008, and 2009 is investigated by means of remote sensing and radiative transfer modelling. Four source regions are found to be responsible for the high aerosol loading around the Tibetan Plateau: the Taklamakan Desert, the Ganges Plains, the Indus Plains, and the Arabian Sea. CALIPSO lidar satellite data, providing vertically resolved images of aerosols, shows aerosol concentrations to be highest in the lower 5 km of the atmosphere with only little amounts reaching the Tibetan Plateau altitude. Using a radiative transfer model we find that aerosol plumes reduce shortwave radiation throughout the Monsoon region in the seasonal average by between 20 and 30 W/m2. Peak shortwave heating in the lower troposphere reaches 0.2 K/day. In higher layers this shortwave heating is partly balanced by longwave cooling. Although high-albedo surfaces, such as deserts or the Tibetan Plateau, increase the shortwave heating by around 10%, the overall effect is strongest close to the aerosol sources. A strong elevated heating which could influence large-scale monsoonal circulations as suggested by previous studies is not found.


A new bis-imine Schiff base (N8O2 donor, LH2) has been synthesized by melt condensation of 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole with 1,5-bis(2′-formylphenyl)-1,5-dioksapentane in 2 : 1 molar ratio, in solvent and solvent-free conditions. The ligand has been characterized using FTIR, UV–Vis, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, mass spectra, elemental analysis, and thermal (TGA-DSC) techniques. A new complex of LH2 with Cu(II) has been synthesized in solvent and solvent-free conditions. FTIR, UV–Vis mass spectra, and thermal analysis (TGA-DSC) have been used to characterize the Cu(II) complex. Thermal degradation showed that the final products were black carbon and metallic copper. Distorted octahedral geometry has been observed around CuLH2Cl2 · LH2 and its Cu(II) complex have been screened for in vitro antifungal and antioxidant activities. Antioxidation was determined for their superoxide scavenging and reducing activities. The ligand and its Cu(II) complex have strong antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger. The compounds have significant superoxide anion radical scavenging activity and reducing power against various antioxidant systems in vitro.


The Instrument Landing System (ILS) has been in operation for about four decades. While this system has served aviation well during this period of rapidly growing aircraft traffic, speeds and variety, its limitations have steadily been coming to the forefront. Among its chief drawbacks in the present form are (i) restriction of flight control manoeuverability, (ii) limited landing traffic rates, and (iii) special terrain and siting requirements. With explosive growth in aviation, these drawbacks are being emphasized and a need has been felt in recent years for a more flexible and modern system.
In order to overcome the operational and technical problems of US, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has formulated guidelines for a futuristic system that will replace the ILS. After evaluating the various systems proposed by different countries, IC A 0 has accepted the Time Reference Scanning Beam Microwave Landing System (TRSB-MLS) for world-wide use. This paper reviews the limitations of the current US and presents the salient features of the TRSB-MLS which is on the verge of implementation throughout the world including India. The current year is the originally stipulated ICAO target for operational implementation of the system.


This study is based on the geometrical distribution of hypocentres offshore northeastern Taiwan, where the Luzon volcanic arc collides against the Eurasian margin. The analysis of deep earthquakes (50-300 km) provide geometrical constraints on the shape of the Philippine Sea (PS) seismogenic slab. At 123 degrees E, the slab dips 60 degrees + or -10 degrees to the north, whereas near its western edge, between 121.5 degrees E and 122 degrees E, it dips 70 degrees + or -10 degrees to the northeast. The slab is deformed, torn in a concave shape to the north and upward, and thus becomes shallower to the west. Furthermore, the sharp termination of the seismic activity to the west probably marks the western boundary of the PS slab. The study of shallow earthquakes (0-50 km) reveals two major earthquake swarms. One of these swarms is located in the northern colliding Luzon arc, with earthquakes occurring down to 50 km depth. Focal mechanisms are compatible with either a 25 degrees -dipping, SE verging thrust, or a 65 degrees -dipping, NW verging thrust. The velocity of convergence between the northern part of the Coastal Range (the northernmost segment of the Luzon arc) and the stable Chinese platform is only 1 to 2 cm/yr north of 23 degrees 409N, as compared with a convergence rate of about 6 cm/yr for the southern part of the Coastal Range. A NW-dipping thrust develops within the PS plate just east of the northern tip of Luzon arc as observed on field and marine investigations. The second swarm of earthquakes is observed in the northern edge of the Nanao forearc basin where epicentres occur within a 60 km long, NW-SE trending zone. Vertical sections crossing this seismic swarm show that seismicity is distributed between 0-50 km, and not restricted to plate interface. Focal mechanisms in this earthquake swarm present consistent nodal planes representing either a gently northward-dipping (15 degrees ) thrust (with P-axis trending N-S, i.e., deviated about 35 degrees from the convergence vector) or a high-angle (80 degrees ) southward-dipping thrust. The first solution, consistent with a typical interface seismogenic zone, fails to explain the geometrical distribution of earthquakes. Because quakes distribute along a subvertical plane and no transcurrent faulting is observed along the Ryukyu arc, we favour the second solution. Such high-angle reverse fault within the subducting plane could represent the tear fault previously evidenced from other marine data.


ABSTRACT Given ever-increasing engagement of firms in corporate environmentalism over the past few decades, a multitude of studies investigated the antecedents and consequences of corporate environmentalism. Extant studies exploring the consequences of corporate environmentalism predominantly measured its effects on firm performance. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study thus far has explored whether or not the key pro-environmental initiatives pertaining to corporate environmentalism carried out by industrial firms have any effect on market-based assets, namely, brand value. This study endeavored to address this gap in the literature. Drawing on natural resource-based view of the firm (NRBV), this study argued that industrial firms committed to corporate environmentalism reap rewards in the form of higher brand value. This study investigated three salient areas of corporate environmentalism, namely, environmental innovation, efficiency in using natural resources and emission reduction. The findings of this research demonstrate that industrial firms that outperform in environmental innovation, use fewer natural resources, and reduce emission have a higher brand value. Interestingly, while environmental innovation and efficiency in using natural resources contribute fairly equally to brand value, ability to reduce emissions contributes the least to brand value creation.


Background: Few studies have examined the impact of minority stress theory (MST) upon sexual risk behavior among gay and bisexual men using club drugs. Similar studies have focused on ethnic minorities and women; however, gay and bisexual men demonstrate greater likelihood for risk behaviors leading to HIV/AIDS. Objective: This study examines sexual risk behavior from the perspective of minority stress theory upon substance-using gay and bisexual men and their partners. Methods: Multivariable logistic regression analysis examined minority stress associations with participant sexual risk behaviors, drug use, and partner type, controlling for demographics. Results: 396 gay and 54 bisexual respondents, ages 18–67, reported at least one-time drug use while engaging in sexual risk behavior. In the adjusted model, expectations of rejection associated with lower odds of sexual risk behavior, while older age approached significance. Conclusions: Theoretical origins for examining risk behavior among gay and bisexual men may underscore risk and protective factors, while ultimately hold-ing implications for prevention and treatment interventions.


We investigated the superconducting state of the noncentrosymmetric superconductors Li$_2$Pd$_x$Pt$_{3-x}$B with superconducting transition temperature $T_c$= 5.16(8) K ($x$=2.25), 3.56(8) K ($x=1.5$) and 2.60 K ($x=0$) by means of muon-spin rotation ($\mu$SR) and specific heat experiments. The $\mu$SR relaxation rate $\sigma_{sc}$ was found to be constant at low temperatures for all the compounds. Data taken at different magnetic fields show that the magnetic penetration depth $\lambda$ is field-independent for Li$_2$Pd$_{2.25}$Pt$_{0.75}$B and Li$_2$Pt$_{3}$B. The electronic contribution to the specific heat measured in Li$_2$Pd$_{1.5}$Pt$_{1.5}$B and Li$_2$Pt$_{3}$B increases exponentially at the lowest temperatures. These features suggest that the {\it whole family} of Li$_2$Pd$_x$Pt$_{3-x}$B are single-gap s-wave superconductors across the entire doping regime.


The indigenista novel is a realistic novel with a strongly ideological character that was developed primarily in the Andean countries (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador) during the first half of the 20th century with the purpose of making the reader aware of the living conditions of the indigenous Native American population. The overall aim of this study was to investigate the female characters in five of the works that have had the most influence on the development of the indigenista novel: Aves sin nido (1889) by Clorinda Matto de Turner, Raza de bronce (1918) by Alcides Arguedas, Huasipungo (1934) by Jorge Icaza, El mundo es ancho y ajeno (1941) by Ciro Alegria, and Los rios profundos (1958) by Jose Maria Arguedas. The representations of and the roles played by the female characters in the five novels were systematically studied, individually and in comparison to each other. The purpose was to investigate whether the female characters function primarily as representatives of a certain ideological point of view and, thus, are to be regarded as stereotypes, or if they are complex characters. Moreover, their role in the novels was studied from the perspective of Mikhail Bakhtin's notion of "the destruction of the idyll". The study found that the female characters play an inconspicuous part in Raza de bronce, Huasipungo and El mundo es ancho y ajeno. Contrastingly, in Aves sin nido and Los rios profundos, there are several female characters who play a more prominent part. Nevertheless, in all of the works studied, the female characters were found to function more as types than as fully developed characters. A recurring motif in the novels of the study is the subjection of the indigenous female characters to violence or sexual abuse by a white landowner and his henchmen, or by a family member. The analysis found that there is a recurring type of female character in the novels: the female victim. The female victim of the works studied is normally of indigenous origin. The study also found that the indigenous female characters are portrayed differently than other female characters. They are consistently presented as the type of character that this study has termed "idyllic", the most prominent traits of which are simplicity, naturalness, and the possession of a strong bond to family and home. In contrast, the creole women and mestizas are often part of the modern sphere. The female character of the idyllic type plays a symbolic part in the novels, as the guardian of the survival of the family and the traditional society. When this figure becomes subject to different kinds of abuse, it is not only the individual character who comes under attack but also everything that she symbolizes, which, in the indigenista novel, is contrasted with the modern capitalist society. (Less)


The focus of this special issue is some of the main tacit policies and practices in the Norwegian welfare state. By looking at what is tacit, mute, unarticulated and neglected we will contribute to raising and presenting knowledge about the social and ethical question of dignity in welfare. This introductory article will first give a short overview of the historical background of the Norwegian welfare state and some of its current features. This will be followed by our positioning of the Norwegian welfare state as situated within complex practices, political discourses and dimensions that might be characterised as tacit, implicit or unarticulated. The article aims to discuss the concept of dignity in welfare services, at the individual and structural level, by asking 'what kind of practices and structural conditions preserve dignity and where might dignity be violated, ignored or left out?' The various articles in this special issue of the International Practice Development Journal illuminate what can be said and what is mute and tacit in different ways, and consider a range of practice-based responses. By revealing tacit dimensions in the Norwegian welfare this issue offers important insight into practices and discourses where dignity is at stake. It is a requirement of us all that we revisit dignity and its location and representation in our health systems to ensure it is not left behind as the state and other systems within it evolve.


Transportation is one of the areas where Sweden could not yet manage to reduce the CO2 emissions. One solution that has been suggested to reduce the CO2 emissions in this sector is through the mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). However, mass EV adoption brings complications with it. Drivers behavior is a critical aspect since people often charge their car at home after work. This could negatively affect the evening load peak and thus cause a high impact on the electricity system. A survey was sent out to current private EV owners in Sweden, to learn about their charging schedules, driving patterns and battery capacity. 226 of 403 replied to the survey which gave a survey reply rate of 56 %.The goal of this work was to estimate the future adoption of EVs, based on the current trends and national targets in order to develop different scenarios. With the scenarios in mind, the projected consumption of EVs for different periods of the day, the magnitude and time of the peak load as well as the overall consumption and CO2 reduction per year were calculated. Three scenarios were analyzed with 96 000, 650 000 and 1 000 000 electric vehicles where 25 % are defined to be running entirely on electricity in the middle and high penetration scenario since even plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, PHEV where included. The scenarios are estimated as the possible situation in 2030 and a simulation is done in MATLAB for summer and winter cases as well as weekdays and weekends. Results showed that the charging pattern of the EV drivers would cause a peak load at around 20.00 where the peak load from the overall household consumptions also takes place. The highest consumption takes place during the weekend cases but there were no significant difference between summer and winter. For example the peak consumption of the EVs was 150 MWh during winter and weekends at 20.00. The annual consumption of the EVs would be 238 GWh, 342 GWh and 616 GWh for the low, middle and high penetration scenario. By analyzing the current installed power of renewable energy sources in Sweden, it was found that the demand for EVs could be met by renewables entirely today. It was also found that using EVs instead of conventional fossil fueled cars can save up to 264 Mton CO2 for the low penetration scenario, 447 Mton for the middle penetration scenario and 688 Mton for the high penetration scenario.Different assumptions could have caused deviation from the actual result and it was found during the implementation of the simulation that the survey questions could be improved for future surveys. It was concluded that mass adoption of EVs is possible in terms of electricity production and installed power. However, increase in the evening peak led to the conclusion that balancing of the grid is necessary for example through Vehicle-to-grid (V2G), controlled charging or energy storage.Keywords: MATLAB, electricity consumption, EV, CO2 emissions, simulation, 2030, Scenario, penetration level


The polity2 variable from the Polity IV project is the most popular measure of a country's political regime. This article contends that the coding rules employed to create a polity2 score during years of so-called interregnum and affected transitions produce a measure of democracy that lacks face validity. Using both single and multiple imputation methods, we construct and evaluate several variables that offer alternative measures to polity2 during such periods. We recommend that scholars using polity2 test whether their results are robust to using our alternatives and using multiple imputation techniques instead. Where robustness cannot be established, scholars need to theoretically justify the choice of either polity2 or one of the alternatives.


Many, if not most, accounts of the financial crisis of 2008 include a prominent role for the U.S. residential mortgage market. While other U.S. property markets, such as commercial and retail, exhibited similar boom and bust patterns, the elevated level of defaults and associated costs borne by the taxpayer have brought a particular emphasis on American single-family mortgage finance policies. It should be of little surprise that the Dodd-Frank Act contains multiple provisions related to mortgage finance. This paper offers a review of those provisions, followed by an evaluation of their likely impact and effectiveness.


In Telling Complexions Mary Ann O'Farrell explores the frequent use of "the blush" in Victorian novels as a sign of characters' inner emotions and desires. Through lively and textured readings of works by such writers as Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens, and Henry James, O'Farrell illuminates literature's relation to the body and the body's place in culture. In the process, she plots a trajectory for the nineteenth-century novel's shift from the practices of manners to the mode of self-consciousness. Although the blush was used to tell the truth of character and body, O'Farrell shows how it is actually undermined as a stable indicator of character in novels such as Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, North and South, and David Copperfield. She reveals how these writers then moved on in search of other bodily indicators of mortification and desire, among them the swoon, the scar, and the blunder. Providing unique and creative insights into the constructedness of the body and its semiotic play in literature and in culture, Telling Complexions includes parallel examples of the blush in contemporary culture and describes ways that textualized bodies are sometimes imagined to resist the constraints imposed by such construction.