The Ethiopian government initiated the Ethiopian Coffee Trademarking and Licensing Initiative in 2004 for three coffee origins: Sidama, Yirgacheffe and Harar. Following a court case between Starbucks and the Ethiopian government regarding this initiative, Oxfam organized a publicity campaign. This paper evaluates the effect of these interventions on the export prices of trademarked Ethiopian coffees. We find that the prices of the trademarked coffees increased by about 10\% following these interventions. The magnitude of this change is comparable with the farm gate prices reported in the literature; however, we cannot establish direct causation or observe the passthrough into farm gate prices.


The current physics believes that vacuum can produce energy and Universes. The basis of any Universe is energy. Author assumes: energy may be positive or negative. Positive energy produces our positive matter, negative energy produces negative matter. Using this effect the author offers the formatting the current planets of Solar system, making them suitable for people, for humanity. That include: the production of Earth atmosphere, water, magnetic field in planets and natural satellites, change their angle speed, and transportation them to Earth orbit. Negative matter repels our (positive) matter. Using this effect the author offers a space propulsion system which allows reaching by space ship a speed close to light speed and to enable massive retrieval of extraterrestrial materials to construct works in space. That may be the best method colonization the space, Solar System and Universe. Concept of negative energy also allows solving the many very important problems of humanity. For example, humanity can create any artificial material, food, travel to other stars and possible (in future) create a new Universe.


Abstract The growth of Internet technology and electronic commerce has not been matched by theoretically guided social science research. Clear and well-designed consumer research is needed to describe, explain, and predict what will happen to this changing landscape. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the structure for consumer preferences to make product purchases through three available retail formats—store, catalog, and the Internet. Conjoint analysis was used to assess the structure of the decision and the importance of the attributes in the decision-making process. The results from this study noticeably show that the structure of the consumer decision-making process was found to be primarily one of choosing the retail format (store, catalog, or Internet) and price of product (set at low, medium, or high) desired. The strength of the retail store format suggests that fears that the Internet will take over the retail arena seem, at least at this point in time, overblown and exaggerated. However, there seems to be an identifiable segment of customers that has a preference for the Internet as a retail shopping alternative.


Andre Bernard. Now All We Need is a Title: Famous Book Titles and How They Got that Way. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. Andre Bernard has researched the stories behind more than onehundred of the most famous, as well as some of the less famous, titles in the English language and the result is a fascinating volume rich in literary anecdote and publishing lore. Here is a small sampling: * F. Scott Fitzgerald's preferred title for his 1925 tale about the "Jazz Age" of the 1920s was Trimalchio in West Egg. His editor objected and the book came out as The Great Gatsby. * Raymond Chandler, creator of such unforgettable novels as The Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely, once wrote acerbically to Alfred A. Knopf, "I'm trying to think of a good title for you to want to change." * John Steinbeck groused, "I have never been a title man, I don't give a damn what it is called," but despite his tough stance he actually worked hard on his titles and the results are among the most memorable in American literature. * Bel Kaufman found the title to her book, Up the Down Staircase, in the manuscript itself in a note sent by the Admiral Ass (Administrative Assistant) to the teacher regarding a delinquent boy - "Detained by me for going up the down staircase and subsequent insolence." * Joseph Heller's Catch-22 started out as Catch-18 but a rival publisher who was about to publish Leon Uris's Mila 18 firmly protested. Heller changed his title to avoid trouble. * Like Babbitt, Pollyanna has found its way into the dictionary as a descriptive term. Taken from the title of Eleanor Holmes's 1913 novel, a Pollyanna is described in Webster's as "a person characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in anything." * Tom Wolfe had wanted to use the phrase "bonfire of the vanities" as a book title ever since a trip he'd taken to Florence where he learned that in the fifteenth century the residents of that city, at the urging of the ascetic monk Savonarola, had built a bonfire to bum their worldly goods. * Hitler's original title for Mein Kampf was Four-and-a Half Years of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice. Tim Foote, commenting on that fact in Time magazine noted that, "Everyone needs an editor." * The early working title of East of Eden was The Salinas Valley, Bleak House was Tom-All-Alone's Factory that Got into Chancery and Never Got Out, and Gone With the Wind was Pansy. …


How do men imagine women? In the poetry of Petrarch and his English successors—Wyatt, Donne, and Marvell—the male poet persistently imagines pursuing a woman, Laura, whom he pursues even as she continues to deny his affections. Critics have long held that, in objectifying Laura, these male-authored texts deny the imaginative, intellectual, and physical life of the woman they idealize. In Laura , Barbara L. Estrin counters this traditional view by focusing not on the generative powers of the male poet, but on the subjectivity of the imagined woman and the imaginative space of the poems she occupies.

Through close readings of the Rime sparse and the works of Wyatt, Donne, and Marvell, Estrin uncovers three Lauras: Laura-Daphne, who denies sexuality; Laura-Eve, who returns the poet's love; and Laura-Mercury, who reinvents her own life. Estrin claims that in these three guises Laura subverts both genre and gender, thereby introducing multiple desires into the many layers of the poems. Drawing upon genre and gender theories advanced by Jean-Francois Lyotard and Judith Butler to situate female desire in the poem's framework, Estrin shows how genre and gender in the Petrarchan tradition work together to undermine the stability of these very concepts.

Estrin's Laura constitutes a fundamental reconceptualization of the Petrarchan tradition and contributes greatly to the postmodern reassessment of the Renaissance period. In its descriptions of how early modern poets formulate questions about sexuality, society and poetry, Laura will appeal to scholars of the English and Italian Renaissance, of gender studies, and of literary criticism and theory generally.


Data from the Edmonton Arts & Youth Feasibility Study (EAYFS) was used to ascertain the feasibility of engaging street youth in a structured community-based arts program and an outcome-based evaluation. The study engaged 23 street youth in a ten-week multi-media arts program focused on developing prosocial communication, team-building, and problem-solving skills. Results have shown that street youth are highly interested in artistic endeavors; will participate to the best of their circumstances; and will provide reliable data. The youth and staff reported improved art skills, problem-solving capacity, and prosocial communication as well as a decrease in drug use, depression, loneliness, and a greater sense of enjoyment about life. Strengths of the program included the arts media, the non-judgmental environment, and the support from staff. The study suggests that community-based arts programs for street youth could be subjected to a rigorous outcome-based evaluation.


Convolutional neural networks based single-image superresolution (SISR) has made great progress in recent years. However, it is difficult to apply these methods to real-world
scenarios due to the computational and memory cost. Meanwhile, how to take full advantage of the intermediate features under the constraints of limited parameters and calculations
is also a huge challenge. To alleviate these issues, we propose a lightweight yet efficient Feature Distillation Interaction Weighted Network (FDIWN). Specifically, FDIWN utilizes a series of specially designed Feature Shuffle Weighted
Groups (FSWG) as the backbone, and several novel mutual Wide-residual Distillation Interaction Blocks (WDIB) form an FSWG. In addition, Wide Identical Residual Weighting
(WIRW) units and Wide Convolutional Residual Weighting (WCRW) units are introduced into WDIB for better feature distillation. Moreover, a Wide-Residual Distillation Connection (WRDC) framework and a Self-Calibration Fusion
(SCF) unit are proposed to interact features with different scales more flexibly and efficiently. Extensive experiments show that our FDIWN is superior to other models to strike a good balance between model performance and efficiency.
The code is available at https://github.com/IVIPLab/FDIWN.


An increase in the neutral current results in a malfunction of the low energy over current (LCO) protective relay and raises the neutral-to-ground voltage in three-phase, four-wire radial distribution feeders. Thus, the key point for mitigating its effect is to keep the current under a specific level. The most common approach for reducing the neutral current caused by the inherent imbalance of distribution feeders is to rearrange the phase connection between the distribution transformers and the load tapped-off points by using the metaheuristics algorithms. However, the primary task is to obtain the effective load data for phase rearrangement; otherwise, the outcomes would not be worthy of practical application. In this paper, the effective load data can be received from the feeder terminal unit (FTU) installed along the feeder of Taipower. The net load data consisting of customers' power consumption and the power generation of distributed energy resources (DERs) were measured and transmitted to the feeder dispatch control center (FDCC). This paper proposes a method of establishing the equivalent full-scale net load model based on FTU data format, and the long short-term memory (LSTM) was adopted for monthly load forecasting. Furthermore, the full-scale net load model was built by the monthly per hour load data. Next, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was applied to rearrange the phase connection of the distribution transformers with the aim of minimizing the neutral current. The outcomes of this paper are helpful for the optimal setting of the limit current of the LCO relay and to avoid its malfunction. Furthermore, the proposed method can also improve the three-phase imbalance of distribution feeders, thus reducing extra power loss and increasing the operating efficiency of three-phase induction motors.


T helper cell responses are tailored to their respective antigens and adapted to their specific tissue microenvironment. While a great proportion of T cells acquire a resident identity, a significant proportion of T cells continue circulating, thus encountering changing microenvironmental signals during immune surveillance. One signal, which has previously been largely overlooked, is sodium chloride. It has been proposed to have potent effects on T cell responses in the context of autoimmune, allergic and infectious tissue inflammation in mouse models and humans. Sodium chloride is stringently regulated in the blood by the kidneys but displays differential deposition patterns in peripheral tissues. Sodium chloride accumulation might furthermore be regulated by dietary intake and thus by intentional behavior. Together, these results make sodium chloride an interesting but still controversial signal for immune modulation. Its downstream cellular activities represent a potential therapeutic target given its effects on T cell cytokine production. In this review article, we provide an overview and critical evaluation of the impact of this ionic signal on T helper cell polarization and T helper cell effector functions. In addition, the impact of sodium chloride from the tissue microenvironment is assessed for human health and disease and for its therapeutic potential.


The binding of bacteria to fibrinogen and platelets are important events in the pathogenesis of infective endocarditis. Srr1 is a serine-rich repeat glycoprotein of Streptococcus agalactiae that binds directly to the Aα chain of human fibrinogen. To assess the impact of Srr1 on the pathogenesis of endocarditis due to S. agalactiae, we first examined the binding of this organism to immobilized human platelets. Strains expressing Srr1 had significantly higher levels of binding to human platelets in vitro, as compared with isogenic Δsrr1 mutants. In addition, platelet binding was inhibited by pretreatment with anti-fibrinogen IgG or purified Srr1 binding region. To assess the contribution of Srr1 to pathogenicity, we compared the relative virulence of S. agalactiae NCTC 10/84 strain and its Δsrr1 mutant in a rat model of endocarditis, where animals were co-infected with the WT and the mutant strains at a 1∶1 ratio. At 72 h post-infection, bacterial densities (CFU/g) of the WT strain within vegetations, kidneys, and spleens were significantly higher, as compared with the Δsrr1 mutant. These results indicate that Srr1 contributes to the pathogenesis of endocarditis due to S. agalactiae, at least in part through its role in fibrinogen-mediated platelet binding.


Musa accuminata belonging to the family Musaceae is a seedless fruit being consumed all over the world in large quantities. In general, it is being harvested in its early stage to slow down its ripening process. Ripening is a natural, multi step phenomenon involving number of complex enzymes. Present work is aimed at computational characterization of marker enzymes and proteins involved in banana ripening. To recognize the domain of the enzymes involved in ripening, a computational tool CDART has been used for domain identification followed by execution of Modelling/Docking/Simulation, involving Modeller 9v7 for predicting 3D structure of relevant enzymes. These 3D structures helped in spotting the sites susceptible to ligand binding accomplished via Q Site Finder. Molegro Virtual Docker helped in modelling of the ligand via stating its 3D structure available in PDB. Using ARGUS LAB, a computational tool based on molecular docking, the technique was employed to predict whether one protein molecule binds to another. The data obtained from the present study provides new insight for the molecular mechanism of ripening and food technological applications for delayed ripening in fruits based on proteins.


We address the problem of imitation learning in interactive robots which learn from task demonstrations. Many current approaches to interactive robot learning are performed over a set of demonstrations, where the robot observes several demonstrations of the same task and then creates a generalized model. In contrast, we aim to enable a robot to learn from individual demonstrations, each of which are stored in the robot's memory as source cases. When the robot is later tasked with re- peating a task in a new environment containing a di↵erent set of objects, features, or a new object configuration, the robot would then use a case- based reasoning framework to retrieve, adapt, and execute the source case demonstration in the new environment. We describe our ongoing work to implement this case-based framework for imitation learning in robotic agents.


From the make-believe realm of the Parish of Dibley to the tens of thousands of Christian communities that toil in the real world, I come as a practitioner of parish ministry to reflect on ethical challenges in an ecumenical perspective. The messy world of local communities of faith can be approached by commenting on three arenas of action: the world, the community, and the personal. Each week and sometimes more often the pastor/preacher stands in the pulpit and is overheard by the community in conversation with the scriptures. This witness is public, incited by and addressed to "the world" beyond the listening community. The community leader seeks to speak for the tradition, the denomination, and the gospel in an authentic and moving way. During the week in endless committee meetings and conversations the parish leader speaks within the community as teacher and guide. In their personal life of decisions and discernments the leader knows that the community is watching and that they are, besides being functioning moral entities, also a model. As witness, teacher, and model the congregational leader seeks to show a coherence of faith and an integrity of behavior that supports and stimulates the community to faithful thinking and action. All these ideals break down in practice, and we need constantly to be revived. The resources for this lively leadership are the biblical, creedal, confessional, and pastoral training undergone and continued, as well as the experience in which these ministries and identities are embedded. The place of formation of leadership remains the single most potent opportunity to create an ecumenical consciousness within the churches. A graphic in the October 6, 2009, issue of The Christian Century indicated that eighty percent of Americans older than sixteen thought there was a "big difference" between the morality of young people and their parents. Comments accompanying the graph said this was not a change in perception from the 1960's except that the groups were no longer fighting. They had simply given up the conversation. The tongue-in-cheek observation suggests that the shifting contentions of the generations have brought on a certain exhaustion and ennui. Our moral framework seems fragile and not up to sustaining a painful and contentious, but potentially fruitful conversation. Leaders in local communities continue to struggle with the rate of change in society. This acceleration of change has overtaken our capacity for reflection, moral and otherwise. Diversities have multiplied, and conversations have become more extreme within our communities led, in part, by the tone of political commentary in the media. Leadership observes that we seem to privilege the pursuit of personal comfort zones at the same time that we exhibit growing incoherence before baffling moral issues. In local communities our general operating moralities are tentative and vague; we are uncomfortable and inarticulate in expressing either our standards or the challenges these standards face. Many exhibit an operating morality that is not distinctively Christian as much as it is a generic civic construct clustered around political rhetoric. Vaguely people sense they are "to be good, be honest, be fair, and above all be careful." The conflicting forces in the literature of pastoral care seem either fiercely directive or carefully nonjudgmental, nondirective, and nondirectional as we are encouraged to help people be "o.k." Our pastoral care resources seem conflicted and inadequate. Many of the persons with whom I come into contact seek affirmation, not advice. They are cautious and wary of judgments. They make strong efforts to enlist authority for self-made moral strategies. Often moral positions are expressed as sentiments. Moral positions are sensibilities, not a systematic, coherent enterprise; they express affinities, not verities. …


To control a production-inventory system, a manager has to consider the variability in demand as well as variability in her production process. Both types of variability corrupt system performance and by alleviating either of them, the manager can improve the performance of the system. There has been a recent trend towards investing in better information systems to provide better advance demand information. Also, many firms have focused on having safety capacity (e.g., outsourcing or overtime) that they can rely on as needed to protect themselves against uncertainty in demand and production. In this paper, we first address the tactical decision of how a firm decides on productioninventory-safety capacity levels when faced with production and demand uncertainty. We use a multi-period production-inventory model with backordering to fully characterize the structure of optimal policies. We explore the sensitivity of optimal policies and costs to parameters such as demand and production variability, service level, and utilization. We also analytically show that uncertainty in capacity may result in nonintuitive behavior, such as more variable capacity resulting in less inventory. Using derived policy structure, through a computational study, we address the strategic decision of investing in better information or creating sources of safety capacity. Our study shows that reductions in costs are significant, with averages up to 30% for advance demand information, and up to 85% for outsourcing. Furthermore, conditions that make demand information more valuable tend to make safety capacity less valuable and vice versa and we identify when either will be more valuable. We also show that the benefits from both can exceed the sum of the benefits from either safety capacity or better information.


The purpose of this phenomenological study was to deepen my understanding of parental experiences having an infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Three parents of premature infants in the NICU at a large urban medical center participated in an individual music therapy session and post-session interview that was conducted right after the session. Data was collected through video recordings of music therapy sessions and post-session interviews. In order to appropriately reflect the music therapy process, I employed, for my analyses of the music therapy sessions, Forinash and Gonzalez's (1989) method, which was adapted from the original method proposed by Ferrara (1989). Results from the music therapy session analyses revealed the complexity that exists in the therapy process and provided the referential and ontological meanings from each session. This was affirmed through the detailed examination of various components of the session. For the post-session interview analyses, I utilized Colaizzi's (1978) and Giorgi's (1975) phenomenological methods to discover individual and collective essences of the participants' experiences. Seven global themes associated with parents' experiences of music therapy, as well as their experiences pertaining to their role as a parent and overall experience in the NICU were discovered: (a) Experience of Music Therapy and its Environment, (b) Roles of Music, (c) Music as a Connection, (d) the Therapeutic Relationship, (e) Importance of Communication, (f) Experience of Navigating the New Environment of the NICU, and (g) Process of Becoming the Parent of a Premature Infant. Study results may inform needs of parents in the NICU as well as roles of music therapy in addressing and meeting such


In many different applications we are given a set of constraints with the goal to decide whether the set is satisfiable. If the set is determined to be unsatisfiable, one might be interested in analysing this unsatisfiability. Identification of minimal unsatisfiable subsets (MUSes) is a kind of such analysis. The more MUSes are identified, the better insight into the unsatisfiability is obtained. However, the full enumeration of all MUSes is often intractable. Therefore, algorithms that identify MUSes in an online fashion, i.e., one by one, are needed. Moreover, since MUSes find applications in various constraint domains, and new applications still arise, there is a desire for domain agnostic MUS enumeration approaches. In this paper, we present an experimental evaluation of four state-of-the-art domain agnostic MUS enumeration algorithms: MARCO, TOME, ReMUS, and DAA. The evaluation is conducted in the SAT, SMT, and LTL constraint domains. The results evidence that there is no silver-bullet algorithm that would beat all the others in all the domains.


In this paper, a variable step size P&O algorithm is used in order to improve the performance of a photovoltaic system in both dynamic and static plans. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm has been investigated successfully using the BP SX150S solar module connected to the DC-DC derived by a P&O MPPT algorithm. The comparative study results of both conventional fixed step size and the proposed variable step size P&O algorithms prove the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm compared to the standard fixed step size PO MPPT. The proposed algorithm reduces response time between 13.86% and 45.28% and the steady state oscillation between 83.33% and 100% leading to less power loss especially in case of fast changing atmospheric conditions.  This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


This chapter explores the case of a hybrid Spanish program where technology, standards, and teacher expertise in foreign language education are merged to bolster students' learning. The chapter identifies the instructional elements relevant to 21st century foreign language education, and depicts the transactional relationship between technology, standards and teacher experience in a Spanish hybrid teaching environment. Finally, we provide a set of recommendations for current and future Spanish educators, as well as foreign language educators in general based on the experiences shared by students, educators, and administrator in the program.


In South Africa, reports on language shift have focused on instances of language shift from indigenous African languages to English. There is, however, also research that suggests that language shift is taking place from Afrikaans to English in the Western Cape. Anthonissen (2009), for example, notes in her research among Coloured communities that a shift has taken place from Afrikaans first language (L1), across three generations, to English L1. Against this backdrop, this paper investigates language shift in two semi-urban Western Cape Coloured communities; in particular, it examines what patterns of language shift/maintenance can be observed, and investigates sociolinguistic factors, such as age, language of schooling, socio-economic status and language attitudes, to which the observed patterns can be ascribed. The aim is to ascertain whether language shift, from Afrikaans to English has taken place, and which factors appear to encourage or discourage language shift in the two communities. Through the administration of a questionnaire to 50 households, 25 in each of the communities, the study this paper reports on examined language use across a number of domains: at home, in the community, in church, and in the workplace. It also explored the language attitudes of the participants (53 in total) towards Afrikaans in order to investigate the possibility that this language might be used for indexing their identity. The collected data does not provide any evidence of language shift from Afrikaans to English. However, there seems to be increased use of English in the public domains (such as the workplace and in the church), with Afrikaans being used almost exclusively in the intimate domains. It appears that Afrikaans remains a strong marker of identity in the two semi-urban Western Cape Coloured communities, despite English largely being regarded as the language of upward socioeconomic mobility.


An experiment was conducted to assess the effects of body condition score (BCS) at calving and level of feed supplementation during early lactation on the Insulin-like growth Factor-I (IGF-I) and reproductive performance in 72 Holstein cows in a pasture-based system following seasonally-synchronized calving. At the start of the seasonal breeding, plasma IGF-I concentrations in cows that had recommenced ovarian activity with detected oestrus were compared with those in anoestrus. The cows (n = 72) were managed over a period of five months to calve in a BCS of 4, 5 or 6 - using a scale from 1 (thin) to 8 (obese). The cows were maintained on pastures and supplemented during early lactation with either 1 or 6 kg grain per day. The BCS at calving did not affect plasma IGF-I concentrations. The plasma IGF-I concentration at week 10 was elevated at the higher level of grain supplementation (87.8 vs. 72.1 ng/mL). Higher conception rate following the first insemination of cows calving with a BCS of 6 (71% vs. 46% and 37% for a BCS of 4 and 5, respectively) was associated with more cows in that group conceiving during the first three weeks of the artificial insemination (AI) programme (75% vs. 46% and 46% for a BCS of 4 and 5, respectively). At weeks 0 and 10, cows that commenced ovarian activity by the start of the intensive AI programme, recorded higher plasma IGF-I concentrations than anoestrous cows. These findings indicate that diet can affect the plasma IGF-I levels, which in turn may be involved in affecting the resumption of cyclic ovarian activity and conception in dairy cows. Keywords: BCS, conception, dairy cows, IGF-I, postpartum period


The theory of decoherence attempts to explain the emergent classical behaviour of a quantum system interacting with its quantum environment. In order to formalize this mechanism we introduce the idea that the information preserved in an open quantum evolution (or channel) can be characterized in terms of observables of the initial system. We use this approach to show that information which is broadcast into many parts of the environment can be encoded in a single observable. This supports a model of decoherence where the pointer observable can be an arbitrary positive operator-valued measure (POVM). This generalization makes it possible to characterize the emergence of a realistic classical phase-space. In addition, this model clarifies the relationships among the information preserved in the system, the information flowing from the system to the environment (measurement), and the establishment of correlations between the system and the environment.


Exploration field geology mapping and acquisition of gravity data has been conducted on approximately 650 line kilometres of26 surveyed traverse lines across the Onin and Kumawa Peninsulas of western Irian Jaya. Karstified New Guinea Limestone with a maximum thickness of 2,150 m is the predominant surface outcrop, and precludes use of seismic. However, integrated use offield geology data, balanced cross-sections, and gravity modelling has enabled us to identify two giant hydrocarbon prospects. The Onin and Kumawa Peninsulas lie at the margin of Jurassic age faulting associated with the Australian Northwest Shelf. Jurassic rift sands of the Lower Kembelangan Formation are the primary reservoir target. During the Plio-Pleistocene, collision of the Australian plate. and the Banda Arc inverted sections of the rift system, including the Onin and Kumawa Peninsulas. A better understanding of the regional structure was gained by integrating the Mobil Oil gravity data (of 1992) and that collected by Shell Oil (in the 1950's) in the structurally less deformed Bomberai region east ofOnin and Kumawa. Bouguer reduction was carried out using 2.4 glcm3 density, GRS 1967 and IGSN 1971. A sequence of gravity maps were generated, including Bouguer, regional, residual, downward continued, and second derivative. Spectral analyses indicate that basement is about 3 km depth at Onin and about 6 km in the Bomberai area. The Bomberai and Onin-Kumawa regions are separated from one another by a steep gravity gradient which has a SE-NW strike direction. This gravity gradient may represent a change of lithology. Prospect definition was obtained by evaluating traverse profile data. Balanced cross-sections were constructed, using detailed biostratigraphy to determine formation thicknesses and amount of fault offsets. Where possible, onshore balanced section profiles were tied to offshore seismic profiles and wells. Two dimensional forward gravity models were calculated, using formation densities from well data. The calculated profiles were then compared to profile observed values. Differences between calculated and observed profiles were resolved by adhering to the exploration model, which required that the main thickness changes would be in the Lower Kembelangan Formation rift section. Density values for the seven formations were held constant. Constraining the variables to one (Lower Kembelangan thickness) in the gravity profile modelling maintains credibility of the technique. Errors inherent in the structural maps derived from the crosssections are likely to be vertical shift which would be approximately constant across the prospects. The interactive work between geologists and geophysicists was effective in producing a logical representation of subsurface geology, which in turn allowed selection of drill sites with some degree of confidence. Subsequent to completing the modelling, offshore seismic data across the western plunge of the Onin Peninsula was obtained. The structural style demonstrated in the modelling and the seismic data are comparable. This enhances our confidence in the modelling results.


The purpose of this research is how the community can adapt to the changes that occur in fast food companies in the new normal era. Discipline and public understanding of changes during the pandemic and entering the normal era are very important from habituation and technology. This research is descriptive by collecting primary data and also secondary data by conducting analysis and random interviews with services on fast food, visitors, and other data. This observation was made because fast food is the food most often consumed by people around> 80% because it is fast in providing it and this food is the people's choice for holding meetings both formal and informal. The results obtained and analyzed for this new order of life by opening it up gradually and getting used to the conditions applied by the government since March until now have made people accustomed to the existence of temperature checking regulations, wearing masks, maintain distance and determine other health protocols. With the existence of health rules applied the community has realized the importance of maintaining health even with meetings with others. The use of cashless or delivery that was already available in service applications before the pandemic and some people can already use it but others are more accustomed to using other merchant applications because it is considered easier and the number of choices and discounts.


In this article I examine some implications of the extraordinary financial and economic crisis sweeping the globe since 2008 – referred to in what follows as the Great Global Crash – with specific reference to the social theory of the new individualism (Elliott and Lemert, 2006, 2009a, 2009b; Elliott 2008, 2009; Elliott and Urry 2010; Elliott, Katagiri and Sawai 2010).[1] The global shocks to worldwide production, financial, consumption and real estate systems unleashed by the crisis of September 2008 has carried profound consequences for economic and social development, both in terms of extensity and intensity, as well as significant implications for global security and political stability. As an indication of the global scope and depth of the macroeconomic financial crisis of 2008, the United Nations (2009) – in a report titled "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009" – estimated that governments worldwide have spent in economic stimulus packages in excess of $US18 trillion in order to recapitalize banks and failing financial institutions; it was also estimated by the UN that $US2.6 trillion has been spent worldwide in fiscal stimulus packages, and that worldwide unemployment as a direct result of the financial and economic crisis might reach fifty million jobs (although the report also notes that such a figure could well double).Widely viewed as the worst world recession since the Second World War, the global policy response to the economic and financial crisis of 2008 – centred on monetary, fiscal and financial measures to stabilize financial markets and revive the global electronic economy – has sought to introduce sounder economic management and better policy regulation of the financial sector in order to achieve more sustainable economic goals for the twenty-first century. Some critics have labelled such policy responses as spelling the death of neo-liberalism, or the demise of unfettered, turbo-charged economic globalization. As a consequence, the new individualism – as a construct of identity modes underpinning the global electronic economy of mass consumerism, mass indebtedness and neo-liberalism more generally – has come in for some sustained and probing criticism (see, among others, Smith 2007 and Beasley 2009). However I shall argue in this article that, rather than heralding a new era of austerity or significant cultural reform of the global electronic economy and its associated fast-speed ways of life throughout the expensive, polished cities of the West, that the global financial crisis has ultimately produced a reinforcement and intensification of the ethos of new individualism. The upshot, in sociological terms, has been a lifting of the new individualism to the second power.


In situations of colliding discursive practices, their respective qualities can emerge. Based on this assumption, a research project has been conducted at the University of Göttingen that aimed at better understanding the hidden curriculum experienced by former exchange students. Using critical discourse analysis and an inductive approach as foundation, statements of this group have been collected and analysed. Implications regarding the experienced hidden curriculum were used to develop a reflective guideline for academic teaching staff. This paper introduces the theoretical and methodological foundation of my research and offers insight in the findings on how to approach challenges caused by the implicit nature of the hidden curriculum.


A uniquely Tejano version of the old-fashioned political barbeque, the traditional South Texas pachanga allowed politicians to connect with voters in a relaxed setting where all could enjoy live music and abundant food and drink along with political speeches and dealmaking. Today's pachanga still combines politics, music, and votes - along with a powerful new element. Corporate sponsorships have transformed the pachanga into a major marketing event, replete with celebrity performers and product giveaways, which can be recorded and broadcast on TV or radio to vastly increase the reach of the political - and the commercial - messages.This book explores the growing convergence of politics, transnational marketing, and borderlands music in the South Texas pachanga. Anthropologist Margaret Dorsey has observed some one hundred pachangas and interviewed promoters, politicians, artists, and local people. She investigates how candidates and corporations market their products to Hispanic consumers, as well as how the use of traditional music for marketing is altering traditional forms such as the corrido. Her multifaceted study also shows clearly that the lines of influence run both ways-while corporate culture is transforming the traditions of the border, Tejano voters/consumers only respond to marketing appeals (whether for politicians or products) that resonate with their values and the realities of their lives. Far from being an example of how transnational marketing homogenizes culture, the pachanga demonstrates that local cultures can exert an equally strong influence on multinational corporations.


The most common taxi operation service is conventional cruising randomly around the city to search for passengers. Because of de-regulation policy, over-supply and high vacancy rate have caused inefficient operation and low performance in taxi market. Therefore, this paper aims to create an innovative operation service and evaluate the environmental benefits compared with the conventional cruising services. It is shown that innovative dispatching service can have a 4.35 billion USD of energy saving per year in Taipei Metropolitan. Numerical results have also shown other external effects of innovative dispatching service, including less air pollution, traffic accidents and traffic congestion.


Abstract In this article we discuss the complementarity of laboratory and field data. Experiments offer highly controlled environments that allow precise testing and causal inferences. Survey and field data on the other hand provide information on large and representative samples of people interacting in their natural environment.We discuss several concrete examples how to combine lab and field data and how to exploit potential complementarities. One example describes an experiment, which is run with a representative sample to guarantee control and representativeness. The second example is based on the idea to experimentally validate survey instruments to ensure behavioral validity of instruments that can be used in existing panel data sets. The third example describes the possibility to use the lab to identify causal effects, which are tested in large data sets. Topics discussed in this article comprise the relation of cognitive skills (IQ) and risk and time preferences, determinants, prevalence and economic consequences of risk attitudes, selection into incentive schemes and the impact of unfair pay on stress.


Macromolecules therapeutic and curative efficiency are generally subordinated to their ability to diffuse through tissues and mucus. Recently, several mathematical models which describe diffusion profiles of macromolecules in different organic tissues have been developed.Mucosal tissues remain the most difficult to model. In fact, interaction between macromolecules and mucosal epithelia structures are sophisticated as long as bothmacromolecules and epithelia fibres are not easy to configure. In the last two decades, many interpretations ofmacromolecules diffusion through epithelia have been proposed, i. e. the elastic continuum, obstruction-scaling and tubularmediummodels. In this study, we propose amathematicalmodel which introduces conjointly macromolecules realistic geometrical characteristics and epithelia behaviour in terms of physical obstruction.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate cosmesis, body image, pain, and quality of life (QoL) after single-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SPLC) versus conventional 4-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy (4PLC).

BACKGROUND
The impact of SPLC on improving cosmesis, body image, pain, and QoL has not been evaluated in double-blinded randomized controlled trials (RCT). This approach therefore remains controversial.

METHODS
Between October 2011 and February 2014, 110 patients from 2 centers were randomly assigned to SPLC (n = 55) or 4PLC (n = 55). Primary endpoints were a validated cosmesis (3-24 points) and body image (5-20 points) score after 3 and 12 months. Secondary endpoints included operative duration, postoperative pain, complications, QoL, and length of hospital stay. Patients, physicians, and nurses were blinded until the seventh postoperative day.

RESULTS
Demographics were equally distributed between both groups (mean age: 46 years, SD: 14, 62 females, 34 males). The SPLC-group showed superior mean cosmesis and body image compared with the 4PLC-group at 12-weeks (21 vs 16, P < 0.001 and 5 vs 6, P = 0.013, respectively) and at 1-year (24 vs 16, P < 0.001 and 5 vs 6, P < 0.017, respectively). Operation duration was longer in the SPLC-group (mean 101 vs 90 minutes, p = 0.031). Although postoperative pain was less in the SPLC-group (mean VAS 1 vs 2, p = 0.005), there were no differences in complications, and length of hospital-stay.

CONCLUSIONS
This is the first multicenter double-blinded RCT reporting superior short- and long-term cosmetic and body image, postoperative pain, and QoL in SPLC compared with 4PLC. Although cost-effectiveness is still a subject of ongoing debate, SPLC should be offered to patients undergoing surgery for benign gallbladder disease.


Natural rubber/bentonite nanocomposites were prepared from deproteinised natural rubber (dp-NR) and modified bentonite clay by both solvent casting and blending methods. To prepare the nanocomposites by the solvent method, the rubber was first dissolved in toluene and then mixed by stirring with the modified clay at room temperature. In the blending method, the rubber was first softened for 1 minute in an internal Haake mixer and then blended with the modified clay at 60oC. Modification of the clay by replacing the clay's sodium ions with alkylammonium (cetyltrimethylammonium (CTA), dodycelammonium (DDA) and octadecylammonium (ODA)) groups was carried out through an ion-exchanger process. Elemental analysis indicated that 0.59 mmol of CTA, 0.75 mmol of DDA and 0.98 mmol of ODA were sorbed by 1 g of the clay. FTIR spectra of the modified clays showed a peak at about 3000 cm-1, which indicated the presence of the amine group stretching. The increase in the degradation temperature of DDA, CTA and ODA in the organobentonite implied that there was a strong intermolecular interaction between the alkylammonium ions and the bentonite. The nanocomposites produced were characterized by XRD and TEM. It was found the nanometer-scale silicate layers of organoclay were completely exfoliated in dp-NR if the organoclay concentration in the composites was less than 1%. However, increase the clay contents to 3% or higher, produced intercalated nanocomposites. The mechanical properties obtained were found to be affected strongly by the organoclay content and the type of alkylammonium groups. Tensile properties of the nanocomposites prepared using the ODA treated bentonite is better than that of the nanocomposites pretreated with the other alkylammonium groups. In addition, mechanical properties of the nanocomposites also effected by the method of their preparation. The solvent casting technique improved several mechanical properties of the nanocomposites compared with those of the nanocomposites produced by the blending method.


Making Innovation Work presents a formal innovation process proven to work at HP, Microsoft and Toyota, to help ordinary managers drive top and bottom line growth from innovation. The authors have drawn on their unsurpassed innovation consulting experience -- as well as the most thorough review of innovation research ever performed. They'll showi? what works, what doesn't, and how to usei? management tools to dramatically increase the payoff fromi? innovation investments.i? Learn how to define the right strategy effective innovation; how to structurei? an organization to innovate best; how to implement management systems to assess ongoing innovation; how to incentivize teams to deliver, and much more. This book offers the first authoritative guide to using metrics at every step of the innovation process -- from idea creation and selection through prototyping and commercialization.


The SAGE Handbook of Youth Work Practice showcases the value of professional work with young people as it is practiced in diverse forms in locations around the world. The editors have brought together an international team of contributors who reflect the wide range of approaches that identify as youth work, and the even wider range of approaches that identify variously as community work or community development work with young people, youth programmes, and work with young people within care, development and (informal) education frameworks. The Handbook is structured to explore histories, current practice and future directions:

Part One: 'Youth Work' and Approaches to Professional Work with Young People
Part Two: Professional Work With Young People: Projects and Practices to Inspire
Part Three: Values and Ethics in Work with Young People
Part Four: Current Challenges and Hopes for the Future


Starting from interactions with SMEs from a number of different areas, this short paper addresses the challenges of turning hands-on practice into an online supports tool for innovation. The SMEs are found in the North of Finland and the North of Sweden, thus already facing challenges related to the sparsely populated areas. Yet, digitalization and online support may become one way to bridge distances as well as filling knowledge gaps between different domains. Nevertheless, the suggestion to transform practical know-how into an online tool that can be globally accessed and used is non-trivial. Thus, problematizing such ideas could progress these efforts.


String Theory and Condensed Matter The complex interactions involving highly correlated electron systems can give rise to "exotic behavior" in electronic systems, such as quantum criticality and superconductivity. The usual theoretical tools, however, are limited when describing these states. String theory is a highly mathematical approach initially developed to describe gravity and high-energy particle physics. Certain aspects of string theory may be relevant to describe condensed matter systems. Čubrović et al. (p. 439; published online 25 June) take one such approach, and show that the characteristic properties of a Fermi liquid can emerge from string theory. The formulation may provide an approach to describing the exotic states of matter that arise in condensed matter systems. Mathematical methods developed in string theory to describe gravity are applied to complex condensed matter systems. A central problem in quantum condensed matter physics is the critical theory governing the zero-temperature quantum phase transition between strongly renormalized Fermi liquids as found in heavy fermion intermetallics and possibly in high–critical temperature superconductors. We found that the mathematics of string theory is capable of describing such fermionic quantum critical states. Using the anti–de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence to relate fermionic quantum critical fields to a gravitational problem, we computed the spectral functions of fermions in the field theory. By increasing the fermion density away from the relativistic quantum critical point, a state emerges with all the features of the Fermi liquid.


Sea Trials have recently been underway for Canada's new City Class Patrol Frigate (CPF). These trials provided the first opportunity to measure the performance of the new DRES Ball Infra-red Signature Suppression (IRSS) system installed on a ship. Prior to these trials 1/4 scale hot flow model test and computer simulation performance results were available. The CPF DRES Ball IRSS systems are installed on the exhaust uptakes of the GE LM2500 main gas turbines. The DRES Ball provides both metal surface cooling for all view angles and plume cooling. The DRES Ball significantly reduces the IR signature of the LM2500 exhaust. This paper presents a comparison between the 1/4 scale hot flow model test results with the full scale sea trial results. Performance variables included in the comparison are; metal surface temperatures, back pressure, plume temperature distribution, and surface static pressures. Because of the confidential nature of the DRES Ball system performance, all classified data has been nondimensionalized so that only relative comparisons can be made between the full scale and 1/4 scale data. The results show that the full scale system performs better than the 1/4 scale model because of Reynolds number effects. The plume temperature, surface temperatures and back pressure were all lower (better) than in the 1/4 scale model tests. One of the original concerns with the installation was that relative wind would degrade the performance of the DRES Ball onboard a ship. The wind effect was found to be benign during the trials.


Epithelial injury caused by reactive oxygen species including hydrogen peroxide plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of gastric disorders. Tetrahydroxystilbene glucoside is an active component extracted from Polygonum multiflorum, a famous traditional Chinese herb. This study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of tetrahydroxystilbene glucoside on hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress on non-malignant gastric epithelial cells and to see if these protective actions can be extended to gastric cancer cells. The results from MTT assay showed that incubating gastric epithelial cells and gastric cancer cells with 200 μΜ hydrogen peroxide for 24 h significantly decreased cell viability, whereas pre-incubating cells with 10 μΜ tetrahydroxystilbene glucoside for 24 h protected the cells against hydrogen peroxide cell damage, and more significantly in gastric epithelial cells. Using 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescin diacetate, we found that tetrahydroxystilbene glucoside inhibited the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species in gastric epithelial cells and gastric cancer cells. In addition, it induced the expression of antioxidant enzymes hemeoxygenase-1 and NADPH quinone oxidoreductase-1. These results demonstrated that tetrahydroxystilbene glucoside exerted stronger cytoprotective effect against peroxide-induced cell death in gastric epithelial cells than gastric cancer cells and the cytoprotective mechanisms might be through decreasing oxidative stress and activating the expression of hemeoxygenase-1 and NADPH quinone oxidoreductase-1.


Nine-year-old Pippa Peppercorn loves helping out at the only beauty salon in the quiet town of Crumbly-Under-Edge. A cosy joint run by the cuddly Mrs Semolina Ribena Fudge, customers and their pets stop by as much for the tea and sympathy as for a trim. But when rival beautician Trinity Meddler comes to town and sets up shop, Mrs Fudge is in danger of losing her customers. What's more, Trinity has a sinister plan up her sleeve - involving oodles of poodles! Luckily Dash the talking dachshund, with a nose for sniffing out a good mystery, is on hand to save the day - with Pippa as his number ...


Virtualization is becoming an increasingly popular service hosting platform. Recently, intrusion detection systems (IDSs) which utilize virtualization have been introduced. One particular challenge present in current virtualization-based IDS systems is considered in this paper. IDS systems are commonly faced with high-dimensionality imbalanced data. Improved feature selection methods are needed to achieve more accurate detection when presented with imbalanced data. These methods must select the right set of features which will lead to a lower number of false alarms and higher correct detection rates. In this paper we propose a new Boosting-based feature selection that evaluates the relative importance of individual features using the fractional absolute confidence that Boosting produces. Our approach accounts for the sample distributions by optimizing for the area under the Receive Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve (i.e., Area Under the Curve(AUC)). Empirical results on different commercial virtual appliances and malwares indicate that proper input feature selection is key if we want an effective virtualization-based IDS that is lightweight, efficient and effective.


Let $X$ be a smooth projective variety over the complex numbers, and $\Delta \subseteq X$ a reduced divisor with normal crossings. We present a slightly simplified proof for the following theorem of Campana and P\u{a}un: If some tensor power of the bundle $\Omega_X^1(\log \Delta)$ contains a subsheaf with big determinant, then $(X, \Delta)$ is of log general type. This result is a key step in the recent proof of Viehweg'shyperbolicity conjecture.


Young people in Africa are faced with bleak economic prospects and limited employment opportunities regardless of their professional qualifications. Notwithstanding statistics showing that young people below the age of twenty-five constitute the majority of the population in Africa at more than 60% (Ibrahim 2019), African governments have not done enough to create opportunities and give young Africans hope for a better future on the continent. Against this background, migration has captured the imagination of many young Africans despite countless deaths on the Mediterranean Sea as boats unsuitable for the voyage to Europe capsize. African migrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea are survivors of the perils of the journey to North Africa including the trans-Saharan passage and slavery. There has also been another migration trajectory to the Middle East, predominantly undertaken by young African women. But what prospects await young Africans who arrive in Europe? And how have African migrant women fared in the Middle East?


Abstract: Hungary's 2010 election brought to power a Fidesz parliamentary supermajority led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban. In just two years, they have fundamentally changed the constitutional order of Hungary. The current government now has very few checks on its own power, but the new constitutional order permits the governing party to lodge its loyalists in crucial long-term positions with veto power over what future governments might do. As a result, the Fidesz government has achieved a remarkable constitutional feat: giving themselves maximum room for maneuver while simultaneously entrenching their power, their policies and their people for the foreseeable future.


The 'Strathclyde Route' to branched vinyl polymers involves the conventional free radical soln. polymn. of a monovinyl monomer with a multi-functional monomer in the presence of an appropriate level of a chain transfer agent to suppress crosslinking. For some potential applications of branched polymers soln. polymn. would not be cost-effective. We have therefore carried out high conversion aq. emulsion copolymns. of Me methacrylate (MMA) and divinylbenzene (DVB) using sodium dodecyl sulfate as the emulsifier, potassium persulfate as the initiator and benzylthiol as the chain transfer agent. No org. solvent is employed and complete suppression of crosslinking is achieved for MMA/DVB feed mole ratios up to 5/1. 'H NMR spectroscopic and MALS/SEC analyses confirm the highly branched nature of the PMMA products which is far higher than we have been able to achieve under bulk or aq. suspension polymn. conditions. In addn. the molar mass distributions are significantly lower than those of similar materials prepd. in soln. polymns. To date we not been able to rationalise all of these exptl. findings. Early in our branching studies we realized that use of controlled polymns. might yield less broad mol. wt. distributions. We also speculated that crosslinking might be avoided, even at high conversion and without the use of a chain regulating agent, by employing a mole ratio of difunctional comonomer/initiator of ∼ 1/1, to favor statistically one branch per primary polymer chain. This proved to be so exptl. and we have now synthesized densely branched poly(Me methacrylate)s with high conversions via soln. ATR copolymn. of MMA and EGDMA. Also by employing an ATRP initiator with a discrete signature in its 'H NMR spectrum, coupled with MALS/SEC anal., very detailed evaluation of mol. structure and backbone architecture is possible. [on SciFinder(R)]


Production of the microbial pigments is one of the emerging fields of research due to a growing interest of the industry for safer products, easily degradable and eco-friendly. Fungi constitute a valuable source of pigments because they are capable of producing high yields of the substance in the cheap culture medium, making the bioprocess economically viable on the industrial scale. Some fungal species produce a dark-brown pigment, known as melanin, by oxidative polymerization of phenolic compounds, such as glutaminyl-3,4-dihydroxybenzene (GDHB) or catechol or 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) or 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA). This pigment has been reported to act as "fungal armor" due to its ability to protect fungi from adverse conditions, neutralizing oxidants generated in response to stress. Apart from the scavenging activity, melanin exhibits other biological activities, including thermoregulatory, radioand photoprotective, antimicrobial, antiviral, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory. Studies have shown that the media composition and cultivation conditions affect the pigment production in fungi and the manipulation of these parameters can result in an increase in pigment yield for large-scale pigment production. This chapter presents a comprehensive discussion of the research on fungal melanin, including the recently discovered biological activities and the potential use of this pigment for various biotechnological applications in the fields of biomedicine, dermocosmetics, materials science, and nanotechnology.


Using disaggregated data from the Danish National Travel Survey conducted between 2006–2011, this study compares the travel patterns of older (65–84 years of age) and younger (18–64 years of age) adults regarding land use, socio-economic conditions and urban structures. The results highlight significant differences between travel patterns and their urban form correlates for the older and younger adult populations. Spatial variables such as density and regional accessibility have different and potentially reverse associations with travel among older adults. The car use of older adults is not substituted by other modes in high-density settings,as is the case for younger adults. Older adults do not respond to high regional accessibility by reducing distance traveled,but travel longer and are also more likely to continue using a car in high-access conditions.Spatial structural conditions have the potential to reinforce the need to use private cars among older adults as they attempt to maintain their independent travel and mobility. Older persons are a growing demographic group and thus,the implications of this paper for planning and policies targeting modal shift are significant. How population aging may contribute to car travel saturation or to peak travel requires further investigation.


textabstractXForms is an XML application that represents the next generation of forms for the Web. XForms is not a free-standing document type, but is intended to be integrated into other markup languages, such as XHTML, ODF or SVG. An XForms-based web form gathers and processes XML data using an architecture that separates presentation, purpose and content. The underlying data of a form is organized into instances of data schema (though formal schema definitions are not required). An XForm allows processing of data to occur using three mechanisms:

* a declarative model composed of formulae for data calculations and constraints, data type and other property declarations, and data submission parameters

* a view layer composed of intent-based user interface controls

* an imperative controller for orchestrating data manipulations, interactions between the model and view layers, and data submissions.

Thus, XForms accommodates form component reuse, fosters strong data type validation, eliminates unnecessary round-trips to the server, offers device independence and reduces the need for scripting.

XForms 1.1 refines the XML processing platform introduced by [XForms 1.0] by adding several new submission capabilities, action handlers, utility functions, user interface improvements, and helpful datatypes as well as a more powerful action processing facility, including conditional, iterated and background execution, the ability to manipulate data arbitrarily and to access event context information.


The scattering and depolarization of electromagnetic waves from perfectly conductive slightly rough random surfaces is studied using the small perturbation method through the Ewald–Oseen extinction theorem. This permits predictions in those cases in which the physical optics, or the Kirchhoff approximation, fails, namely, at grazing incidence and when the wavelength of the incident radiation is comparable with the correlation length of the random heights. In this way it is seen, for example, that, as with the Rayleigh–Fano method, the depolarization of the fields is obtained from the second order of the expansion and exists even in the backscattering and specular directions. Also, unlike the predictions of the Kirchhoff approximation, this depolarization depends on the surface shape. However, this approach yields in the specular direction the same result as the Kirchhoff approximation for those cases in which the latter is known to be valid, i.e., for large correlation lengths and non-grazing-incidence directions and establishes precise conditions under which the Kirchhoff approximation is retrieved in the backscattering direction.


In recent years, the problem of the effects of ground vibration generated by blasting on nearby structures has received a lot of attention. To minimize or eliminate damages, we need a reliable basis on which to plan and conduct blasting operations. For this reason, we performed seven experiments in the Peikang area. The observed peak ground motion values for different weights of explosive and source-receiver distances were used to obtain the following attenuation equations: Acceleration (cm sec^(-2)):A=6.1476R^(-16263)W^(1.0375), Velocity (mm sec^(-1)):V=3.5315R^(-1.2664)W^(0.7836), where W represents the weight of explosive in gm, and R is the source- receiver distance in meters. Additionally, the ground acceleration time histories of the test were transferred to a frequency domain to study their contents. From the spectra, we realize that the dominant frequency band of the Peikang area is lower than 10 Hz. There is also a second energy concentration in the 15-30 Hz band. The particle motions indicated that the high frequency vibration (larger than 15 Hz) is a body wave which came from the blast source and the low frequency vibration (lower than 10 Hz) is mainly a surface wave contribution which was generated by the local geological structure.


Full waveform pre-stack inversion of seismic data usually provide a more accurate and reliable estimate of the elastic properties of the earth over conventional AVO analysis, as it can account for the contamination of seismic amplitudes from other wave modes. However as in all other types of inversion pre-stack full waveform inversion is also sensitive to the starting model and other apriori information. Conventionally well logs available in the area are used for this purpose. However, dipole sonic log in most cases is not available due to cost and P-wave sonic and bulk density logs are not available in the shallow parts due to large holes. In this abstract, we present a general rock physics based technique for constructing pseudo logs and then use them to build our initial models for pre-stack waveform inversion of seismic data. The pseudo-shear sonic log calculation is based on the work by Dutta and Wendt (1993). Another set of pseudo-logs are based on mechanical compaction theory and rock physics based velocity porosity relationships. We test inversion results for both the techniques on well log synthetic from deep water Gulf of Mexico.


At the University of Twente, a 14.5 K hydrogen-based sorption cooler is under development. It can be used as a stand-alone 14.5 K cooler, or as a precooler, e.g., in combination with a 4 K heliumbased sorption cooler. The advantage of sorption coolers is the absence of moving parts and, as a result, their vibration-free operation and, potentially, a very long life. A 4.5 K helium-based sorption-cooler stage was developed and built under a previous ESA-TRP contract, and in 2008, a new ESA-sponsored project was started aimed at the development of a hydrogen cooler stage. A demonstrator cooler has been designed that is able to provide 40 mW of cooling at 14.5 K. It requires an input of 5.6 W of electric power to a sorption compressor that uses a 90 K radiator as a heat sink. The required radiator area is 1.9 m2. The compressor contains two stages consisting of cells filled with activated carbon. The cells are thermally cycled between the heat-sink level of 90 K and about 210 K, causing hydrogen to be periodically adsorbed and desorbed. As a result, hydrogen is pumped from a low-pressure buffer at 0.1 bar to a medium-pressure buffer at 4 bar, and subsequently to the high-pressure side of the cold stage at 50 bar. The flow direction in this process is controlled by passive valves. In the cold stage the working fluid is precooled by a 50 K radiator (0.1 m2). In this paper, the design of the hydrogen-based sorption cooler is discussed along with breadboard tests on system components. Tests of the effect of gravity on a cold stage running at 14.5 K are included.


Deyong, Zhao, 2011. Analysis among main agronomic traits of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) in Qinghai Tibet Plateau. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 17: 615-622 In order to reveal the underlying association between agronomic traits of spring wheat in the eastern arable region of Qinghai Tibet Plateau, partial correlation analysis, principal components analysis and cluster analysis were applied to study the relationship between grain yield and agronomic traits. The result of partial correla tion analysis revealed that gW (r = 0.242) and UW (r = 0.234) correlated positively with yield, while nVe (r = 0.084) and nSnMe (r = 0.040) correlated less positively with yield. gnMe (r = -0.186), SnMe (r = -0.174), FLA (r = -0.114), PH (r = -0.071), LMe (r = -0.043) were negatively correlated with yield. SnMe (r = 0.541) and nSnMe (r = 0.500) were positively correlated with PH, while nVe (r = -0.332) was negatively correlated with PH. SnMe (r = 0.449) was positively correlated with gnMe, while it was negatively correlated with nVe (r = -0.370). LMe and FLA were positively correlated (r = 0.378). Principal components analysis indicated that spring wheat with higher gnMe, gW, FLA, UW seem to possess high-yield potential. The experimental variet ies were grouped into 14 groups through cluster analysis, the result of which could be informative in high-yield spring wheat breeding program in the future.


There are times when God says "Remember," and times where God says "Do not remember." Discerning the times is a constant requirement in mission studies and practice. The times are changing, and so are the means of interpreting the times. Urbanization, globalization, migration, and diaspora have created a world that, in many ways, is unlike any we have seen before. In missiology, updating our methods of doing research offers the best chance to reshape our models and mottoes for mission.


Why did Soviet leaders not resort to force to preserve the Warsaw Pact in 1989? This article provides a cognitive model of how decision-makers learn from experience. It seeks to specify and establish the causal effect of this mechanism (elite cause-and-effect learning) as opposed to alternatives (more materialist or normative arguments) and to lay out the scope conditions for its operation. Soviet leaders learned from past Soviet military interventions in Czechoslovakia, in Afghanistan, and elsewhere the high costs and negative consequences of the use of force. Even Soviet hardliners, for both material and ideational reasons (i.e., beliefs about the efficacy of force), would have hesitated about the use of force in Eastern Europe had they been in power. The hardliners did, however, have much different views about the terms the Soviet Union should seek regarding German unification. Gorbachev's ideas prevailed largely because of the lingering authority of his position as top leader. In short, although ideas and material constraints pushed in the same direction to produce the startling events of 1989, ideas and governmental structure were critical in determining which of competing policy prescriptions would prevail regarding German unification.


This stuy was undertaken to look at the pattern of genital tract cancer in North West Part of Pakistan, and to compare it with data from other centers of Pakistan and neighboring countries which will help us to understand the causation of cancer between different ethnic groups. in a prospective review of 50 patients with genital tract cancer, Ca-ovary (48%) was the commonest malignancy. Ca-Cervix was observed in younger age group that is above 35 years with a mean age of 46 years while Ca-ovary (Mean age 48 years) and Ca. Endometrium (mean age 52 years) was above 40 years and 45 years resepctively. The mean age of presentation in Ca. vulva was 60 years and gestational trophoblatics neoplasm (GTN) was 38.7 years. Of Ca. Ovary 54.2% had epithelial cancer while 45.8% had non epithelial cancer. The major contribution was of germ cell (25%) / Stromal Tumour 16.6% which is higher from the generally reported incidence of 3% and 6% respectively. this showed that germ cell/stromal cell tumour are more frequent in NWFP women. Squamous cell carcinoma was 83.4% in Ca. Cx and 100% in ca. Vulve whie adenocarcinoma (85.8%) was more grequent in Ca. Endometrium. 75% (each) of cases were in stage III and IV in Ca. Ovary and stage II and III in Ca. Cx while in Ca. endometrium 42.8% of the cases had stage II lesion. this shows that most of our cases come to us in very advanced stage causing increase morbidity and mortality.


Hannah Arendt was fearful not only of a populist President speaking in the name of the people and unbound by legality. She was also concerned that the popular will could be harnessed to support those responsible for limiting it. More concretely, she was fearful of the American Supreme Court relying on popular support. This is the meaning behind her obscure depiction of the American Supreme Court as "the true seat of authority in the American Republic" but as unfit to power. I argue that Arendt's characterization of authority as requiring "neither coercion nor persuasion" means that the Court's source of legitimacy is expertise rather than public support. Yet the current dominant understanding among American Justices as well as scholars is that public support is the source of the Court's authority. In Arendt's mind, such an understanding means that the Court has become the seat of power. The corruption of the Court's authority and constitutional law as a language of expertise capable of resisting public opinion will inevitably follow. Arendt would thus be extremely concerned by the continuing erosion in understanding of the American Supreme Court as an expert, and from the rise of the understanding that its source of legitimacy lies in public confidence.


Two-dimensional (2D) materials are currently object of many interests both from a basic and a technological standpoint. In particular, graphene (Gr) and the semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (including MoS2, WS2, MoSe2, WSe2) have been widely investigated for transistors applications. As a matter of fact, 2D materials present peculiar nanoscale structural and electrical inhomogeneities, related to the specific synthesis mechanisms and to the interaction with the substrate, which are ultimately reflected in the macroscopic electrical behaviour of electronic devices based on these systems. In this context, conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM) is the method of choice to investigate the mechanisms of current injection between contacts and 2D materials and/or the lateral homogeneity of 2D materials electrical properties. This paper will discuss some case studies of CAFM applications to Gr and MoS2, to illustrate the potentiality of this characterization method for 2D materials investigation....


In many cases, if not most, voluntary judicial recusal is both an efficient use of judicial resources and an exceptional safeguard to the legitimacy of the federal judiciary. However, voluntary judicial recusal poses its own unique problems when the withdrawing judge declines to issue a statement explaining the statutory grounds for his or her recusal. Unlike when a party seeks to disqualify a judge by motion — where the reasons for recusal will, at a minimum, be set out in the motion papers — when a judge voluntarily recuses, there is not necessarily any record created as to the reasons for the recusal. Such recusals leave litigants in the dark, creating numerous practical problems where the recusal itself has collateral consequences. These problems are compounded when, prior to recusal, the judge has already taken meaningful action in the case.This article will analyze the recent case of Comer v. Murphy Oil USA Inc. in an effort to illustrate several of the many reasons why federal judges, upon voluntary recusal, should be required to issue a statement identifying the statutory provision requiring their disqualification. The article will also argue that where a judge is recusing him or herself from a case where the basis of the recusal may be waived, the parties should be permitted to demand, and receive, a statement sufficiently detailed so as to permit them to waive the conflict if they so choose.To put the arguments in context, this article will first lay out the highly unusual procedural history of Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc. Next, the article will use the facts of Comer to illustrate several problems created, exacerbated, or made insoluble by voluntary recusal without the issuance of a recusal statement. Finally, the article will propose two statutory provisions for suggested inclusion in the federal judicial recusal statutes. Those provisions would require judges to issue basic recusal statements whenever they become disqualified and more detailed statements in appropriate circumstances without requiring a level of detail that would over burden the judiciary or impinge too far upon the privacy interests of individual federal judges.


"Through the Eyes of Jurors" is the first law journal article to consider all of the major cognitive psychology studies that examine how "schemas," or the preexisting notions jurors have about the law, shape jurors' use of jury instructions, even when those jurors are given "plain-language" instructions. This Article examines the social science research on schema theory in order to advance our understanding of how schemas continue to influence jurors' use of jury instructions, even when those jurors are given "plain language" instructions. A significant body of legal literature has examined jurors' use and understanding of jury instructions, and many scholars have recommended methods to improve juror comprehension of instructions. This Article takes that analysis a step further, and argues that even when given "plain-language" jury instructions, jurors will still be influenced by their preconceived ideas of what the "law" is — in other words, by the preexisting schemas they have for legal concepts. Furthermore, these schemas are often legally incorrect, and findings from the social sciences suggest that — even when given plain-language jury instructions with the correct legal standard — jurors may still apply these legally inappropriate schemas. This Article synthesizes the results and underlying theories derived from those findings in order to examine the impact these schemas have on jury decisionmaking, and on jurors' use of jury instructions, and to identify ways lawyers and judges can counteract inappropriate existing schemas and activate legally appropriate schemas before jurors are introduced to the facts they are expected to interpret. Specifically, courts should use principles of cognitive and educational psychology to develop jurors' schemas for the applicable legal concepts to make their schemas better organized and therefore more accessible. Such schemas would allow for more thoughtful judgment and better, more accurate decisionmaking.


From the excavation of Atlanta's first municipal dumps, a collection of the city's oldest and most popular medicines has been analyzed. The process of identifying and exploring the stories behind the medicinal vessels of the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) archaeological collection has led to several paths of inquiry. One such avenue is a look at local manufacturers, their impact, and their products. Focused on embossed glass bottles from 1860-1920 this thesis investigates the roles of medicinal bottles as symbolic for Atlanta's Gilded Age. I gathered detailed information on nearly 100 products represented by 222 vessels. These artifacts are derived from three sites unearthed during the MARTA excavations conducted by Georgia State University archaeologists during the late-1970s. Each site represents an urban dump in a different way: core, periphery, and


Glenarvon was published in 1816 by Henry Colburn, who advanced Lady Caroline Lamb [pounds sterling]200 with an agreement to pay [pounds sterling]300 upon publication. He must have anticipated decent sales, for he had recently paid an established writer, Lady Morgan, about the same amount for her novel O'Donnel (Erickson 156). Glenarvon is an interesting case study in the winding paths of revision, which began as soon as Lamb detected editorial changes in the proofs: "I shall be seriously angry if any alteration is made whatever either in punctuation or orthography & I entreat you to send me the proof sheets. Remember and send the remainder of the 1st vol. - for I have been obliged to alter it all back again ... "(2) She was also "vex'd" when Colburn left two musical settings by Isaac Nathan out of the galleys. (3) She perhaps felt Nathan's music would be a selling point, because the second volume of Byron and Nathan's successful Hebrew Melodies, had just appeared. Colburn put the music back in, but the proofreading continued practically up to the day Glenarvon was published anonymously on May 9, 1816. There were errors, including mis-numbering of chapters, (4) but the author was proud, and sent copies of the novel to her circle of associates. Her pride turned to alarm, however, when her sister-in-law and others began to accuse her of betraying them with this "kiss and tell," or as Byron put it, "--and publish" confessional (Byron's Letters and Journals 5: 85). When John Cam Hobhouse announced his intention to counter-attack on Byron's behalf for Lamb's expropriation of his "character" in the novel by publishing some of Lamb's letters. Lamb expressed nothing but astonishment (Douglass 185). She spent the next period of her life revising Glenarvon for its second and third editions, adding a preface, and then an introduction for a fourth edition, (5) trying to repair the damage. And yet, she never altered any passages that would change the novel's core message. Lamb's reputation for insanity is largely based upon the act of social suicide Glenarvon became. She paid heavily for portraying Byron both as an irresistible lover and "a coward and a hypocrite," a "smooth dissembler," who smiles--but "while he smiles he stabs" (Works 1: 342). Frustrated passion and simultaneous anger with Byron motivated the writer, no doubt, but her deeper anger lay with the society that excused him while condemning her for their adultery. That double standard irked, then enraged her, and she began to see it as confirmation of the pervasive hypocrisy she had witnessed first hand for years. Of Calantha, the novel's heroine. Lady Caroline wrote, "She heard folly censured till she took it to be criminal; but crime she saw tolerated if well concealed" (Works 1: 54). In Glenarvon, Lamb was able to dramatize her own attempt to defy a society rife with "hypocrisy and deceit" (Works 1: 71). Lamb had other motives besides family distress for revising her work. The press had been severe with her first novel--overly so, in retrospect. Glenarvon has significant flaws, but the reaction of journals and magazines was certainly out of proportion to its offenses. The British Critic described it as composed of "scenes of seduction and adultery" representing the "morals of Paris and Vienna" (i.e., "Sodom and Gomorrah") by an author bent on "publishing to the world her own shame," who seemed "to glory in her guilt." The Critic's reviewer said that the novel ought to be read "with a mixed feeling of abhorrence and pity". (6) The Theatrical Inquisitor similarly found Glenarvon "tiresome" and "revolting" and described it as a pornographic work comparable to John Cleland's Fanny Hill. (7) The British Lady's Magazine bemoaned the novel as a "wretched production" which was "disgusting, immoral, and tawdry," and notwithstanding these grave charges, completely "farcical." (8) The Monthly Review did not charge Glenarvon with moral or religious harm, but rather inquired into the novel's oddity. …


Undergraduate thesis submitted to the Department of Business Administration, Ashesi University, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, April 2019


Policy universes are usually characterized by stability, even when stability represents a suboptimal state. Institutions and processes channel and cajole agents along a policy path, restricting the available solution set. Herein, structure is usually to the fore. But what of agency? Do no actors choose? In fact, they do, even in policy environments of incrementalism, even amid hostility. But where agency makes for momentous change is during the punctuations of long policy equilibriums, perfect storms enabling nonincremental movement onto a new policy trajectory, departing from the old path. On both levels, the interaction effects of both structure and agency make a difference--incrementally in the first case, nonincrementally in the second. It's not just one damn thing after another, nor does just anything go.


The article focuses on the rhetoric of President Barack Obama regarding the US intervention in Libya in 2011. It challenges the view that Obama was changing the course of US foreign relations and shows that his words worked to represent actions that made it impossible to shift the direction of US foreign policy. Analysis reveals that the president spoke of alternatives to military action but his language served to justify the use of force in the region. He called for action through an integrated international framework but his message was designed to diminish the US profile in public opinion and not deem the US as a controlling power. Consequently, the article suggests that mysticism provides the structural basis for Obama's perception of reality and presents options for reactions to an international crisis.


In the last decade neuropsychological insights have gained influence with regard to age boundaries in legal procedures, however, in Dutch civil law no such influence can be distinguished. Recently, voices have been raised to improve children's legal position in civil law: to reflect upon the minimum age limit of twelve years for children to be invited to be heard in court and the need for children to have a stronger procedural position. In this article, first the current legal position of children in Dutch law and practice will be analysed. Second, development of psychological constructs relevant for family law will be discussed in relation to underlying brain developmental processes and contextual effects. These constructs encompass cognitive capacity, autonomy, stress responsiveness and (peer) pressure. From the first part it becomes clear that in Dutch family law, there is a tortuous jungle of age limits, exceptions and limitations regarding children's procedural rights. Until recently, the Dutch government has been reluctant to improve the child's procedural position in family law. Over the last two years, however, there has been an inclination towards further reflecting on improvements to the child's procedural rights, which, from a children's rights perspective, is an important step forward. Relevant neuropsychological insights support improvements for a better realisation of the child's right to be heard, such as hearing children younger than twelve years of age in civil court proceedings.


This article draws connections between the notions of enunciator position, positioning and posture, which structure the dialogic, cognitive and interactional coproduction of utterances. The notion of enunciative position corresponds to the fact that the (first or second) enunciator refers to objects of discourse while positioning himself/ herself with regard to them, by indicating from what point of view he/she considers them. In view of the dialogic nature of the discourse, two modal subjects and levels of responsibility can be discerned: the first enunciator has the role of the agent in charge of the discourse and the second enunciator fulfills internal functions of validation, assuming thus a sort of responsibility which does not necessarily commit the first enunciator. The article then analyses the dialogic strategies of positioning by enunciative reduplication and separation which account for autodialogic and hetero-dialogic situations. Finally it deals with the enunciative postures of co-enunciation, over-enunciation and under-enunciation, which refine the notions of enunciative reduplication or separation, by specifying the degrees of agreement, according to dialectic between discordant concordance and concordant discordance.


Here, a collection of base functions and sub-functions configure the nodes of a web-based (digital)network representing functionalities. Each arc in the network is to be assigned as the link between two nodes. The aim is to find an optimal tree of functionalities in the network adding value to the product in the web environment. First, a purification process is performed in the product network to assign the links among bases and sub-functions. Then, numerical values as benefits and costs are determined for arcs and nodes, respectively. To handle the bi-objective Steiner tree, a particle swarm optimization algorithm is adapted to find the optimal tree determining the value adding sub-functions to bases in a convergent product. An example is worked out to illustrate the applicability of the proposed approach.


Kaposi sarcoma (KS), multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD), and plasmablastic microlymphoma, are all linked to human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) infection and HIV-induced immunodeficiency. Herein, we describe the case of a Kenyan man diagnosed with HIV in 2000. He deferred highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and remained in good health until his CD4+ count declined in 2006. He was hospitalized with bacterial pneumonia in 2008, after which he agreed to take HAART but did so sporadically. In 2010, he was hospitalized with fever, lymphadenopathy, pancytopenia, and an elevated HHV-8 viral load. A lymph node biopsy showed findings consistent with KS, MCD, and plasmablastic microlymphoma. Eight months after starting liposomal doxorubicin, Rituximab, and a new HAART regimen, he has improved clinically, and his HIV and HHV-8 viral loads are suppressed. These three conditions, found in the same lymph node, underscore the inflammatory and malignant potential of HHV-8, particularly in the milieu of HIV-induced immunodeficiency.


The numerical grid shows the pattern of how many butterflies would be attached to each of the strings hanging from the abbey ceiling, eventually becoming the shape of the swarm in flight. The grid was created by writing a piece of software that read the colour values of two png files that visually showed the desired formation (side and top view). The greyscale png files were hand drawn on computer. This grid was used as a guidance document for the team of student workers involved in attaching each individual butterfly to its string. The file of butterfly designs shows 100 out of the 5000 individual butterfly designs used for this project.


AbstractThe alcoholic extract of Andrographis paniculata exhibited significant antidiarrhoeal activity against E. coli enterotoxins in animal models. The activity was further located in n-butanol fraction, which led to the isolation of four diterpenes, andrographolide (7), neoandrographolide (2), deoxyan-drographolide (3), and andrographiside (4). Among the four diterpenes, andrographolide and neoandrographolide showed similar activity to loperamide against E. coli LT and LT/ST enterotoxins. Andrographolide was found to be superior against ST enterotoxin, the most common cause of epidemics of neonatal diarrhoea.


Africa has long attracted China. We can date their first certain involvement from the fourteenth century, but East African city-states may have been trading with southern China even earlier. In the mid-twentieth century, Maoist China funded and educated sub-Saharan African anticolonial liberation movements and leaders, and the PRC then assisted new sub-Saharan nations. Africa and China are now immersed in their third and most transformative era of heavy engagement, one that promises to do more for economic growth and poverty alleviation than anything attempted by Western colonialism or international aid programs. Robert Rotberg and his Chinese, African, and other colleagues discuss this important trend and specify its likely implications. Among the specific topics tackled here are China's interest in African oil; military and security relations; the influx and goals of Chinese aid to sub-Saharan Africa; human rights issues; and China's overall strategy in the region. China's insatiable demand for energy and raw materials responds to sub-Saharan Africa's relatively abundant supplies of unprocessed metals, diamonds, and gold, while offering a growing market for Africa's agriculture and light manufactures. As this book illustrates, this evolving symbiosis could be the making of Africa, the poorest and most troubled continent, while it further powers China's expansive economic machine. Contributors include Deborah Brautigam (American University), Harry Broadman (World Bank), Stephen Brown (University of Ottawa), Martyn J. Davies (Stellenbosch University), Joshua Eisenman (UCLA), Chin-Hao Huang (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute), Paul Hubbard (Australian Department of the Treasury),Wenran Jiang (University of Alberta), Darren Kew (University of Massachusetts- Boston), Henry Lee (Harvard University), Li Anshan (Peking University), Ndubisi Obiorah (Centre for Law and Social Action, Nigeria), Stephanie Rupp (National University of Singapore), Dan Shalmon (Georgetown University), David Shinn (GeorgeWashington University), Chandra Lekha Sriram (University of East London), and Yusuf Atang Tanko (University of Massachusetts-Boston)


"Horses in Midstream" breaks the mold of midterm election literature by focusing on the consequences of midterm elections rather than on the causes of the anti-administration pattern of those elections. The book concludes that the midterm pattern has two primary consequences: it stymies the President and provides an opportunity for the revitalization of the opposition party and that numerical losses by the President's party is really only a small part of the equation. Consequently, midterm elections can be considered an additional check in the U.S. political system, acting as a mechanism that helps to assure rough two party balance. In examining the historical results from midterm elections dating back to 1894 and extending to the surprising result of 1994 and 1998, Busch has uncovered seven consistent ways in which the president and his party are harmed by midterm elections. These elections unfavorably alter the composition of congress, both between the parties and within the President's own party; they deprive the President of the plebiscitary power derived from his original electoral mandate; they give an intangible sense of momentum to the opposition party, leading to renewed opportunities for the opposition to put forward new leaders and to develop winning issues; they exacerbate splits within the President's own party; and they provide the opposition party with expanded party-building opportunities at the state level. Busch also places the midterm elections into four categories: "preparatory" midterms, which contribute to a subsequent change in party control of the Presidency; "calibrating" midterms in which voters slow but do not reverse extraordinary periods of Presidentially-driven change; "normal" midterms when midterm elections stymie the President without contributing to a White House takeover; and the rare "creative exceptions" when an administration escapes the midterm curse at the polls and find themselves invigorated rather than weakened. Busch's new approach to midterm elections, his well supported conclusions, and his clear, consistent style will certainly be of interest to political scientists and will translate well to the classroom."


The improvement that high organizational performance provides is becoming more critical in today's increasing conditions of competition. The effects of human resource functions and organizational culture to perform a significant organizational efficiency attracts both theoreticians' and practitioners' interest much more. When outsourcing is considered as one of the methods that organizations utilize for strengthening their core competencies to allocate their resources efficiently, the question of the degree to which human resource functions could be outsourced brings in mind the effect of organizational culture enabling outsourcing on organizational performance. Besides performing the administrative services such as catering, cleaning, employee transportation, and security as outsourcing, operations of some human resource practices like training and payroll via outsourcing contribute the desired performance positively by means of only true strategy and organizational culture shaping the strategy. The performance of human resource management and the viewpoints of employees about outsourcing have critical importance to improve a convenient strategy. In this literature research, what kind of human resource practices can be outsourced and can add value to organizational performance are discussed. The influence of workers' changing attitudes about outsourcing towards organization in detail and the effect of organizational culture in the mentioned relationships are missing in the literature.