A method of ensuring the complete transfer of liquid droplets from nozzles in microfluidic devices to nearby surfaces involves relatively simple geometric modification of the nozzle surfaces. The method is especially applicable to nozzles in print heads and similar devices required to dispense liquid droplets having precise volumes. Examples of such devices include heads for soft printing of ink on paper and heads for depositing droplets of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or protein solutions on glass plates to form microarrays of spots for analysis. The main purpose served by the present method is to ensure that droplets transferred from a nozzle have consistent volume, as needed to ensure accuracy in microarray analysis or consistent appearance of printed text and images. In soft printing, droplets having consistent volume are generated inside a print head, but in the absence of the present method, the consistency is lost in printing because after each printing action (in which a drop is ejected from a nozzle), a small residual volume of liquid remains attached to the nozzle. By providing for complete transfer of droplets (and thus eliminating residual liquid attached to the nozzle) the method ensures consistency of volume of transferred droplets. An additional benefit of elimination of residue is prevention of cross-contamination among different liquids printed through the same nozzle a major consideration in DNA microarray analysis. The method also accelerates the printing process by minimizing the need to clean a printing head to prevent cross-contamination. Soft printing involves a hydrophobic nozzle surface and a hydrophilic print surface. When the two surfaces are brought into proximity such that a droplet in the nozzle makes contact with the print surface, a substantial portion of the droplet becomes transferred to the print surface. Then as the nozzle and the print surface are pulled apart, the droplet is pulled apart and most of the droplet remains on the print surface. The basic principle of the present method is to reduce the liquid-solid surface energy of the nozzle to a level sufficiently below the intrinsic solid-liquid surface energy of the nozzle material so that the droplet is not pulled apart and, instead, the entire droplet volume becomes transferred to the print surface. In this method, the liquid-solid surface energy is reduced by introducing artificial surface roughness in the form of micromachined serrations on the inner nozzle surface (see figure). The method was tested in experiments on soft printing of DNA solutions and of deionized water through 0.5-mm-diameter nozzles, of which some were not serrated, some were partially serrated, and some were fully serrated. In the nozzles without serrations, transfer was incomplete; that is, residual liquids remained in the nozzles after printing. However, in every nozzle in which at least half the inner surface was serrated, complete transfer of droplets to the print surface was achieved.


Abstract This study investigates purely angular effects on photon buildup factors for slabs with optical thickness up to 10 mean free paths. Photon buildup factors are determined for different slabs, upon which monoenergetic photons between 50 keV and 10 MeV are incident at angles between 0 and 1.48 radians. As the incident angle is increased, the physical slab thickness is reduced to maintain a constant slant-path optical thickness relative to incident photons. This method identifies previously unexplored angular relationships between slab thickness and incident angle. Coupled electron/photon cross sections are used to account for secondary photon effects of bremsstrahlung and electron binding energies. The discrete ordinates code PARTISN is used to determine angular photon buildup factors for ten incident energies and ten incident angles for lead, iron, aluminum, and water slabs. Portions of these results are applicable to other slab geometry buildup studies.


ScholarlyHub (SH) was launched in November 2017 as a portal to fund and create a social network for scholarship-using individuals and communities that is supported and directed from the bottom up and not beholden to venture capitalists on the one hand and governments on the other. As an inclusive, member-run portal, it hopes to connect rather than replace numerous non-profit and open-source OA initiatives, which tend to lack a visible and attractive front end, and which may not currently be interoperable. If its goals can be realized, SH may offer one solution to the full workflow platforms that for-profit conglomerates are on the cusp of achieving. This practitioner's paper presents the key characteristics of SH and offers an early progress report.


This paper grew as a continuation of [Sh462] but in the present form it can serve as a motivation for it as well. We deal with the same notions, and use just one simple lemma from there. Originally entangledness was introduced in order to get narrow Boolean algebras and examples of the nonmultiplicativity of c.c-ness. These applications became marginal when the hope to extract new such objects or strong colourings were not materialized, but after the pcf constructions which made their debut in [Sh:g] it seems that this notion gained independence. Generally we aim at characterizing the existence strong and weak entangled orders in cardinal arithmetic terms. In [Sh462] necessary conditions were shown for strong entangledness which in a previous version was erroneously proved to be equivalent to plain entangledness. In section 1 we give a forcing counterexample to this equivalence and in section 2 we get those results for entangledness (certainly the most interesting case). In section 3 we get weaker results for positively entangledness, especially when supplemented with the existence of a separating point. An antipodal case is defined and completely characterized. Lastly we outline a forcing example showing that these two subcases of positive entangledness comprise no dichotomy.


Liquid behavior under reduced gravity conditions is of considerable interest for various components of life‐support systems required for manned space missions. High costs and limited opportunities for spaceflight experiments hinder advances in reliable design and operation of elements involving fluids in unsaturated porous media such as plant growth facilities. We used parabolic flight experiments to characterize hydraulic properties under variable gravity conditions deduced from variations in matric potential over a range of water contents. We designed and tested novel measurement cells that allowed dynamic control of water content. Embedded time domain reflectometry probes and fast‐responding tensiometers measured changes in water content and matric potential. For near‐saturated conditions, we observed rapid establishment of equilibrium matric potentials during the recurring 20‐s periods of microgravity. As media water content decreased, the concurrent decrease in hydraulic diffusivity resulted in limited attainment of equilibrium distributions of water content and matric potential in microgravity, and water content heterogeneity within the sample was influenced by the preceding hypergravity phase. For steady fluxes through saturated columns, we observed linear and constant hydraulic gradients during variable gravity, yielding saturated hydraulic conductivities similar to values measured under terrestrial gravity. Our results suggest that water distribution and retention behavior are sensitive to varied gravitational forces, whereas saturated hydraulic conductivity appears to be unaffected. Comparisons between measurements and simulations based on the Richards equation were in reasonable agreement, suggesting that fundamental laws of fluid flow and distribution for macroscopic transport derived on Earth are also applicable in microgravity.


This article attempts to examine the special problems that community-based groups in low income and minority communities might encounter in prosecuting citizen suits under highly technical environmental statutes. To set the context for this inquiry, part II of this article describes the environmental justice movement and investigates the charge that communities of color are disproportionately and unjustly burdened with environmental hazards. Part II also explores the differences in perspective that underlie much of the conflict among environmental justice activists, mainstream environmental organizations, and EPA. Part II concludes with a look at social forces that have contributed to environmental inequities and that might influence environmental enforcement efforts. Part III examines the current scheme of private enforcement of selected, major federal environmental laws through citizen lawsuitprovisions. Existing citizen suit provisions contain limitations that create incentives for private citizens to prosecute certain types of actions and disincentives to prosecute other actions. Part III addresses the possibility that these incentives and disincentives result in an unequal playing field for enforcement by low income communities and communities of color, which in turn exacerbates the disparity in environmental protection of these communities. Common types of environmental citizen suits are examined to determine whether they have the potential to address environmental problems prevalent in low income and minority communities, and, if so, whether community-based groups might be at a disadvantage in prosecuting such lawsuits because of underfunding. In conclusion, part IV suggests amendments to environmental laws that might more directly address disparity in environmental protection. It also suggests alternative interpretations of federal citizen suit provisions that might facilitate the use of private enforcement to promote environmental justice.


: Patient-centered care is widely supported by physicians, but this wide-spread support potentially obscures the social patterning of clinical interactions. We know that patients often want religious/spiritual conversations in the context of medical care but the provision is infrequent. As there is regional variance in religiosity, a gap in the literature exists regarding whether patient populations' religiosity is connected to physicians' self-reported religious/spiritual interactions. Using a national sample of U.S. physicians linked to county-level measures, the author test whether both physicians' background and patient population characteristics are related to religious/spiritual interactions. Specifically, do physicians in more religious locations report more frequent religious interactions and is this dependent on whether the physician is also religious? Or does the religiosity of patient populations fail to explain variance in the frequency of inclusion? Logistic regressions with spatial lag terms highlight the importance of physicians' background for inclusion of religiosity/spirituality. County-level variance of religious concentration is largely unrelated to the inclusion of religiosity/spirituality. The provision of patient-centered care is complicated. The inclusion of something patient-specific, such as religious/spiritual content, may not depend on the characteristics of the patient population, but those of the physician they see.


This essay is in part a tribute to my former boss, Chief Judge Ed Carnes of the Eleventh Circuit, for whom I clerked in 1998-1999. But it is largely a reflection on clerking and the clerkship culture itself, and the effects of that culture on the wider legal, and legal academic, culture in the United States.
The tributes by former clerks to judges that appear in the pages of law reviews are most likely to celebrate the judge as a heroic figure, and to exalt judges who: 1) cultivate a familial rather than a more formal and mundane relationship with their law clerks; 2) engage in judging as a "mission," seeking to advance particular (generally politically tinged) values in law and viewing other judges or courts as obstacles to that mission; and 3) treat their clerks as junior or even full partners in that mission. Law clerks who find that their clerkship is actually more mundane or workaday in its nature, that their judge does not cultivate a familial relationship with them, and that his or her vision of the judicial job is not "mission"-oriented may find that reality disappointing. Even if these workaday relationships are the norm, they are less likely to fill the law reviews than the romantic and familial vision of clerking. That vision has tremendous visibility and influence in the legal, and legal academic, culture. One reason for this may be that such judges are more likely to select for individuals who are skilled at seeking out, cultivating, and serving powerful mentors, that these clerkships are more likely to culminate in elite positions in the legal profession and academy, and that this process and vision then perpetuates itself.
In this essay, I argue that whatever rewards this romanticized vision offers, it has dangers too. It breeds a sense of lifelong clerkship, in which much of one's career, including a career in legal academia, is spent writing apologia for one's own judge or a particular kind of judge and thinking from the perspective of the judge or law clerk. Even if the work that results from that perspective is excellent, it may be immature. The American clerkship culture is one of hero-worship. It encourages an enduring adolescence and risks a failure to achieve full adulthood and independence. At its worst, it is unhealthy -- for the clerks, for the professionals they become, for the judges themselves, and for the wider legal and legal academic culture. (It may also be true that "familial" clerkships have particular dangers, both for the clerks and for the judges who cultivate such relationships.) For developing a measured, independent, adult perspective on law and judging, there is much to be said for the more unsung clerkship: the clerkship in which the job is "just" a job, not a romantic mission or battle for justice; in which the relationship with one's judge is a "mere" professional employment relationship, not a familial one; and in which one receives a good education in the law but not conscious cultivation as a lifelong ally or acolyte.


Abstract Although the removal of lignin and hemicelluloses from cellulose pulp to produce fully bleached cellulose nanofibrils (B-CNF) is the most common practice, the presence of residual lignin and hemicelluloses in raw materials for the production of lignin containing cellulose nanofibrils (LCNFs) holds several advantages. In this work, we investigated the effect of residual lignin in Eucalyptus globulus cellulose fibers on the properties of the resulting LCNFs. The stability of the colloidal suspensions was assessed by zeta-potential values and charge density analyses. Morphology of the CNFs was studied using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Fibril diameter and diameter distributions for CNFs with different levels of residual lignin showed a decrease on fiber diameter as the lignin content increases. Differences in the chemical composition of the CNFs was evidenced as indicated in the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy spectra, particularly in fingerprint region. Thermal behavior of the CNFs was not altered by the presence of lignin, as indicated by thermogravimetric analysis. Finally, the rheological behavior of the samples was evaluated observing a gel-like behavior as well as an increase of the viscosity in LCNFs with higher lignin contents.


Partnerships between international organizations serve a practical function in coordinating institutional actions and supporting mutually shared objectives. However, international law has thus far struggled to address key issues that arise in such scenarios, particularly in the allocation of legal responsibility among these actors. This contribution outlines the complex character of resource-based collaborations established by international financial institutions. The author analyzes such partnerships in light of both their constitutive legal instruments and the International Law Commission's 2011 Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations, ultimately advocating for greater synergy between these rules and the activities such relationships entail in practice.


[Publisher's Description]:
Interest in e-government, both in industry and in academies, has grown rapidly over the past decade, and continues to grow. Global E-Government: Theory, Applications and Benchmarking is written by experts from academia and industry, examining the practices of e-government in developing and developed countries, presenting recent theoretical research in e-government, and providing a platform to benchmark the best practices in implementing e-government programs.

Global E-Government: Theory, Applications and Benchmarking provides helpful examples from practitioners and managers involving real-life applications, while academics and researchers in the field of information systems and e-government contribute theoretical insights.


What is the optimal policy response to a negative sectoral shock? How do frictions in goods and labor markets affect the nature and speed of the process of reallocating resources across alternative uses? Should government controlled inputs be allocated to compensate for frictions faced by the private sector or, rather, should they be deployed to complement private sector decisions? In this paper we make a first attempt to understand what features of an economy determine the answers to the previous questions. We study a model in which the drop in the private demand for structures frees up resources that can be used to produce government capital. For a reasonable calibration, we find that government spending increases in response to the drop in private demand, but that the size of the increase is inversely related to the level of frictions: the 1 larger the costs that the economy faces to reallocate resources (capital and labor) across sectors, the smaller the optimal level of government spending.


When Europeans first arrived in North America, between five and eight million indigenous people were already living there. But how did they come to be here? What were their agricultural, spiritual, and hunting practices? How did their societies evolve and what challenges do they face today? Eminent historians Theda Perdue and Michael Green begin by describing how nomadic bands of hunter-gatherers followed the bison and woolly mammoth over the Bering land mass between Asia and what is now Alaska between 25,000 and 15,000 years ago, settling throughout North America. They describe hunting practices among different tribes, how some made the gradual transition to more settled, agricultural ways of life, the role of kinship and cooperation in Native societies, their varied burial rites and spiritual practices, and many other features of Native American life. Throughout the book, Perdue and Green stress the great diversity of indigenous peoples in America, who spoke more than 400 different languages before the arrival of Europeans and whose ways of life varied according to the environments they settled in and adapted to so successfully. Most importantly, the authors stress how Native Americans have struggled to maintain their sovereignty-first with European powers and then with the United States-in order to retain their lands, govern themselves, support their people, and pursue practices that have made their lives meaningful. Going beyond the stereotypes that so often distort our views of Native Americans, this Very Short Introduction offers an historically accurate, deeply engaging, and often inspiring account of the wide array of Native peoples in America. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.


Objective Mannose 6-phosphate receptors (M6PR) bind both renin and prorenin, and such binding contributes to renin/prorenin clearance but not to angiotensin generation. Here, we evaluated the kinetics of renin/prorenin binding to the recently discovered human (pro)renin receptor (h(P)RR), and the idea that such binding underlies tissue angiotensin generation. Methods and results Vascular smooth muscle cells from control rats and transgenic rats with smooth muscle h(P)RR overexpression were incubated at 4 or 37°C with human renin or prorenin. Incubation at 37°C greatly increased binding, suggesting that (pro)renin-binding receptors cycle between the intracellular compartment and the cell surface. Blockade of the M6PR reduced binding by approximately 50%. During M6PR blockade, h(P)RR cells bound twice as much prorenin as control cells, while renin binding was unaltered. Incubation of h(P)RR (but not control) cells with prorenin + angiotensinogen yielded more angiotensin than expected on the basis of the activity of soluble prorenin, whereas angiotensin generation during incubation of both cell types with renin + angiotensinogen was entirely due to soluble renin. The renin + angiotensinogen-induced vasoconstriction of isolated iliac arteries from control and transgenic rats was also due to soluble renin only. The recently proposed (P)RR antagonist 'handle region peptide', which resembles part of the prosegment, blocked neither prorenin binding nor angiotensin generation. Conclusions H(P)RRs preferentially bind prorenin, and such binding results in angiotensin generation, most likely because binding results in prorenin activation.


The European Union has and continues to place human rights and democracy at the heart of its external relations, namely through its activities in the UN human rights system. With the ongoing criticism about the inadequacies of the UN Commission on Human Rights Kofi Annan recommended that this ailing body be replaced with a new and more effective Human Rights Council. In light of the European Union's desire to further human rights and democracy across the globe it rapidly got involved in playing an active and visible role in the overarching UN human rights reform process. Negotiations for establishing the Human Rights Council in addition to the deliberations of the mandated working groups outlining the details and modalities of the Council involved making difficult and demanding decisions. The different opinions and positions not only led to a delayed inception but also generated concerns that the new Council would not be any more efficient or credible than its predecessor. Many have claimed that its first operational year has produced disappointing results by not taking more concrete action regarding countries facing dire human rights crises such as Zimbabwe. In contrast, others argue that in its first year the Council did achieve a number of successes including the modalities of the Universal Periodic Review process, the review of UN Special Procedures, the adoption of the codes of conduct for mandate holders in addition to the adoption of a number of resolutions of great importance in the Council's plenary.

The European Union actively participated in each phase and in all areas of the Human Rights Council from the setting up process to engaging in the sometimes arduous negotiations of both procedural and substantive matters. While it has indeed been successful in the workings of some areas the EU's shortcomings have recently overshadowed its achievements. The following study explores the role of the EU in the Human Rights Council from the setting-up process to its contributions in the review of the UN Special Procedures, the UPR process and the plenary sessions since the Council's inception. Following the highlighting of both the EU's achievements and shortcomings the study concludes with five core recommendations that have the potential to help rectify the challenges currently faced by the European Union in the
Human Rights Council.


This study uses a mixed-method sequential exploratory design to examine influences on urban adolescents' engagement and disengagement in school. First, we interviewed 22 middle and high school students who varied in their level of engagement and disengagement. Support from adults and peers, opportunities to make choices, and external incentives aligned with greater engagement. In contrast, a strict disciplinary structure, an irrelevant and boring curriculum, disengaged peers, and lack of respect by adults coincided with greater disengagement. From these interviews, we tested whether these factors were statistically significant predictors of engagement and disengagement in a sample of 611 middle and high school students. In the majority of models, these predictors were significantly related to engagement and disengagement in the expected direction. Implications of findings for educational practice are discussed.


Xanthomonas arboricola is a plant-associated bacterial species that causes diseases on several plant hosts. One of the most virulent pathovars within this species is X. arboricola pv. pruni (Xap), the causal agent of bacterial spot disease of stone fruit trees and almond. Recently, a non-virulent Xap-look-a-like strain isolated from Prunus was characterized and its genome compared to pathogenic strains of Xap, revealing differences in the profile of virulence factors, such as the genes related to the type III secretion system (T3SS) and type III effectors (T3Es). The existence of this atypical strain arouses several questions associated with the abundance, the pathogenicity, and the evolutionary context of X. arboricola on Prunus hosts. After an initial characterization of a collection of Xanthomonas strains isolated from Prunus bacterial spot outbreaks in Spain during the past decade, six Xap-look-a-like strains, that did not clustered with the pathogenic strains of Xap according to a multi locus sequence analysis, were identified. Pathogenicity of these strains was analyzed and the genome sequences of two Xap-look-a-like strains, CITA 14 and CITA 124, non-virulent to Prunus spp., were obtained and compared to those available genomes of X. arboricola associated with this host plant. Differences were found among the genomes of the virulent and the Prunus non-virulent strains in several characters related to the pathogenesis process. Additionally, a pan-genomic analysis that included the available genomes of X. arboricola, revealed that the atypical strains associated with Prunus were related to a group of non-virulent or low virulent strains isolated from a wide host range. The repertoire of the genes related to T3SS and T3Es varied among the strains of this cluster and those strains related to the most virulent pathovars of the species, corylina, juglandis, and pruni. This variability provides information about the potential evolutionary process associated to the acquisition of pathogenicity and host specificity in X. arboricola. Finally, based in the genomic differences observed between the virulent and the non-virulent strains isolated from Prunus, a sensitive and specific real-time PCR protocol was designed to detect and identify Xap strains. This method avoids miss-identifications due to atypical strains of X. arboricola that can cohabit Prunus.


Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with their edge-bound nanometer-size present distinctive properties owing to quantum confinement and edge effects. We report a facile ultrasonic approach with chemical activation using KOH to prepare activated GQDs or aGQDs enriched with both free and bound edges. Compared to GQDs, the aGQDs we synthesized had enhanced BET surface area by a factor of about six, the photoluminescence intensity by about four and half times and electro-capacitance by a factor of about two. Unlike their non-activated counterparts, the aGQDs having enhanced edge states emit enhanced intense blue luminescence and exhibit electrochemical double layer capacitance greater than that of graphene, activated or not. Apart from their use as part of electrodes in a supercapacitor, the superior luminescence of aGQDs holds potential for use in biomedical imaging and related optoelectronic applications.


Developing undergraduate student leaders who are authentic in their leadership and who have a drive to serve and support those around them is not only good for the students and their host schools, but arguably good for students' future employers and even the future of our society. Our goal is to determine how such student leaders could be developed within higher education programs or courses. We take a multi-disciplinary approach and examine the research on leadership development with both student and employee samples, framing the review in authentic and servant leadership theories, integrated with best practices in learning and training. We then build from our review of the literatures to provide concrete recommendations for student leadership development founded in authentic and servant leadership principles and utilizing experiential learning.


What's lurking under the bed? Who's casting that shadow outside my window? Common questions children ask themselves in the dead of night. But what if, instead of those rather innocuous queries, the child asks things like: What's inside this bunny that makes him move? What if I put a raisin in a dead man's nose? If I leave the paw of a deceased mole in the sun, will it grow sprouts and fungus like potatoes? This is the world of Renee French, who's independent comic book stories have been disturbing readers and provoking reactions since the early '90s. Oni's hefty collection, "Marbles In My Underpants", is the first major volume of her work to be published anywhere. It's a comprehensive retrospective, examining French's versatility and the spectrum of her career, from the harsh early work in "Grit Bath" up to "Corny's Fetish", a touching tale of a lonely man and his desire for love. Through horror, psychedelia, and, ultimately, a skewed approach to conventional storytelling, French gets to the dark middle of the human psyche, crafting a truly unique comic-book experience.


The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. Working within the investment, jewellery and technology sectors, as well as engaging in government affairs, our purpose is to provide industry leadership, whilst stimulating and sustaining demand for gold. We develop gold-backed solutions, services and markets, based on true market insight. As a result, we create structural shifts in demand for gold across key market sectors. We provide insights into the international gold markets, helping people to better understand the wealth preservation qualities of gold and its role in meeting the social and environmental needs of society. Based in the UK, with operations in India, the Far East, Europe and the US, the World Gold Council is an association whose members include the world's leading and most forward thinking gold mining companies.


The protection of child soldiers from sexual violence has been very difficult to ensure in international justice. If child soldiers were considered to be "directly/actively" participating in hostilities, according to the principle of distinction between combatants and civilians, they lost humanitarian protection against attack, including from sexual violence. The Ntaganda Decision on the confirmation of charges of 2014 opens the door to get out of this catch-22 situation. It clarified that those subject to sexual violence " cannot be considered to have taken active part in hostilities during the specific time when they were subject to acts of sexual nature." Thus, this interpretation of the standard "directly/actively" participating in hostilities has the potential to fill the gap and ensure child soldiers protection from sexual violence. This article explains why the Ntaganda finding of the Pre-Trial Chamber should be upheld: for its capacity to ensure protection to "all" child soldiers independently of their role, and its coherence with the child protection mandate established in the Rome Statute and in  international humanitarian law.


The ability to grasp and manipulate is often considered a hallmark of hominins and associated with the evolution of their bipedal locomotion and tool use. Yet, many other mammals use their forelimbs to grasp and manipulate objects. Previous investigations have suggested that grasping may be derived from digging behaviour, arboreal locomotion or hunting behaviour. Here, we test the arboreal origin of grasping and investigate whether an arboreal lifestyle could confer a greater grasping ability in musteloid carnivorans. Moreover, we investigate the morphological adaptations related to grasping and the differences between arboreal species with different grasping abilities. We predict that if grasping is derived from an arboreal lifestyle, then the anatomical specializations of the forelimb for arboreality must be similar to those involved in grasping. We further predict that arboreal species with a well‐developed manipulation ability will have articulations that facilitate radio‐ulnar rotation. We use ancestral character state reconstructions of lifestyle and grasping ability to understand the evolution of both traits. Finally, we use a surface sliding semi‐landmark approach capable of quantifying the articulations in their full complexity. Our results largely confirm our predictions, demonstrating that musteloids with greater grasping skills differ markedly from others in the shape of their forelimb bones. These analyses further suggest that the evolution of an arboreal lifestyle likely preceded the development of enhanced grasping ability.


NCC Construction is one of the largest construction companies in Sweden today and this thesis is written in cooperation with NCC Construction in Karlstad and discusses the environmental awareness throughout the company. The task was to study and analyze how the employees perceive their environmental policy and to estimate how successful the distribution of information was. There was also an interest in collecting new ideas from the employees in how to make environmental improvements.NCC has four comprehensive goals with their policy and it is well documented what the employers is obliged do to in terms of making the company more environmental friendly. A well written policy is essential to describe the goals and how to fulfill them.In the matter of receiving answers to my questions a survey was made and the target group was the group management and the workers. The survey was to be analyzed according to their position in the company, age and the number of years they have been at NCC.The result of this survey shows a good sense of understanding among the employees in the environmental matter. One thing the company needs to work on is reducing their travels and transports. The highest amount of environmental awareness is among their contractors and that is because they know how to plan their transports and use car pools more often. NCC are using environmental classes to educate their employees, but they need to give everyone the opportunity not only certain groups, also the ones with a few years in the company needs to update their memory. To increase their understanding among the employees they need to be informed about laws, rules and policies continuously.Analyzing the employees' suggestions of improvements shows that they all had almost the same ideas, reduce the transportation.To sum it up you can easily say that NCC are working through their company and employees to make a difference in the environment, one thing they still need to work on is making sure the information reaches everyone.


Sodium aluminosilicate has been precipitated in-situ as filler on hardwood bleached kraft pulp fibers using papermaker's alum and sodium silicate. The filler was produced in two ways, first in the absence of the fibers and second in the presence of fibers, i.e. in-situ precipitation of filler. The filler produced in absence of fiber was then added to the pulp slurry. Various pulp and paper properties were compared for direct loading of market filler, fresh filler loading, and filler prepared in-situ with fibers. In-situ precipitation technology provided paper with significant improvements in various properties of paper as compared to fillers directly added to the stock. Bulk and stiffness of the handsheets prepared with in-situ precipitation were much higher as compared to those of sheets prepared with fillers directly added to the pulp. There was no appreciable increase in brightness and whiteness of paper with in-situ precipitation, as an appreciable proportion of filler was precipitated inside the fibers. In-situ filler loaded pulps showed a higher filler retention value as compared to directly filler loaded pulps, as a high dose of retention aid was needed with the fillers directly added to the stock.


BACKGROUND
The use of antibiotic-loaded cement is believed to prevent infection in primary total knee arthroplasty, but there is a lack of randomized studies to support this concept. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of an antibiotic-loaded cement to reduce the infection rate in primary total knee arthroplasty.

METHODS
This is a prospective randomized study with 2948 cemented total knee arthroplasties, in which bone cement without antibiotic was used in 1465 knees (the control group) and a bone cement loaded with erythromycin and colistin was used in 1483 knees (the study group). All patients received the same systemic prophylactic antibiotics. The patients were followed for a minimum of twelve months. The rate of infection was analyzed according to the criteria of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

RESULTS
The rate of deep infection (1.4% in the control group and 1.35% in the study group; p = 0.96) and the rate of superficial infection (1.2% and 1.8%, respectively; p = 0.53) were similar in both groups. The factors related to a higher rate of deep infection in a multivariate analysis were male sex and an operating time of >125 minutes.

CONCLUSIONS
The use of erythromycin and colistin-loaded bone cement in total knee arthroplasty did not lead to a decrease in the rate of infection when systemic prophylactic antibiotics were used, a finding that suggests that the use of antibiotic-loaded bone cement would not be indicated in the general population. Further research is needed to assess whether its use is recommended for patients with a higher risk of infection.


The development of effective and sustainable economic policies for Tanzania requires access to appropriate databases. One such database is a social accounting matrix (SAM) that details the structure of the entire economy, taking into account the patterns of production and demand, and various institutional relationships. Prior to this study the most recent SAM for mainland Tanzania was for 1992 and was based on past household budget and labor force surveys. Following the release of newer versions of these two surveys as well as a new input-output table for 1992, it is desirable to construct a new SAM for the country. Furthermore, given that Tanzania is committed to reducing national poverty, it is necessary that this new SAM is able to address questions related to poverty and inequality.


Background Several recent trials in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have assessed the effectiveness of the fluticasone–salmeterol combination inhaler in preventing COPD exacerbations, while finding an increased risk of pneumonia. The number needed to treat (NNT) is a simple measure to perform the comparative benefit–risk impact, but its calculation involving repeated outcome events such as COPD exacerbations has been incorrect. We describe the proper methods to calculate the NNT and, using data from published trials, apply them to evaluate the relative impact of fluticasone–salmeterol treatment on exacerbations and pneumonias in patients with COPD. Methods We review the fundamental definition of NNT and quantify it for situations with varying follow-up times. We review the 'event-based' NNT, proposed and used for repeated event outcomes, show its inaccuracy, describe its proper use and provide an approximate formula for its application. Results We show that a 1-year trial of the fluticasone–salmeterol combination versus salmeterol used the incorrect event-based approach to calculate the NNT as two patients that need to be treated for 1 year to prevent one COPD exacerbation, when the proper calculation results in a NNT of 14. In contrast, 20 patients need to be treated to induce one pneumonia case. For the TORCH trial, the NNT is 44 patients treated for 3 years with fluticasone–salmeterol versus salmeterol to prevent one exacerbation compared with 16 patients to induce one pneumonia case. Conclusions The NNT is a useful measure of the effect of drugs, but its proper calculation is essential to prevent misleading clinical practice guidelines.


1 INTRODUCTION In order to deal with inconsistent information during software development processes (or other similar processes) it is necessary to model the kind of inconsistencies in an appropriate way. Based on such a model ways to represent inconsistencies and methods to deal or manage inconsistent information can be adopted. In this short position paper we sketch a possible model of inconsistency in information about software development processes and briefly describe how a graph rewrite approach can be applied to describe the management of such inconsistencies (cf.[5] for information concerning the particular graph grammar approach). The process of handling inconsistencies is usually divided in two parts. First of all, one needs to detect an inconsistency and then, it can be dealt with in some way. In two recent papers [4], [6], we have discussed the detection of inconsistencies in the context of the ViewPoints framework [3]. In this position paper, we discuss what can be done if inconsistencies occur at a general level. Thus the reminder of this statement is organized in the following way. First we briefly discuss a particular model of inconsistency in software development process which is based on the idea to follow all possible and impossible traces of development actions taken, at least conceptually. Next we show how such traces can be represented as graphs, and modification of these graphs can be represented by graph rewrite rules. The next step is then to show how graph rewrite rules can be systematically derived (not automatically yet) from the representation of the afore-mentioned " development " traces.


Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is considered to be a powerful model intended to achieve sustainable urban development. A well-designed TOD enhances the accessibility of different kinds of activities, reduces transportation costs and improves the comfort and safety of travel for the neighbourhood as whole, thereby increasing the willingness to pay for real estate properties located nearby. This study examines the housing price premiums of bus transit-oriented development (BTOD), a particular type of TOD that has become quite common in practice, especially in cities where public transportation is provided primarily through a bus system instead of a metro or light rail system. BTOD projects are built at major nodes of a bus network and typically include housing units and commercial services. Our research focuses on four completed BTODs in the Seattle metropolitan area, and employs data on sales prices, physical attributes, neighbourhood characteristics and location features for almost 7000 single-family homes located within a 1.5-mile radius. Using Hedonic price analysis, we find that these BTODs have generated significant positive effects on the values of adjacent homes, especially those located within 0.5 miles. Results from a more sophisticated longitudinal analysis using the data for Renton, one of the BTODs, confirm the price premiums while gaining additional insights about the temporal variations. These findings have an important policy implication, which is especially relevant for cities with an extensive bus transit system: local governments can generate additional tax revenues while advancing sustainability through bus transit-oriented developments.


1,2,3,4 Computer Science, IIMT College of Engineering (Greater Noida) AbstractThe word "vote" means to choose from a list, to elect or to determine. The main goal of voting (in a scenario involving the citizens of a given country) is to come up with leaders of the people's choice. The election system is the pillar of the every democracy. The democratic administration is totally dependent on the results of the election. The election process provides the right to every citizen of a country to select a legitimate representative among themselves who can guide the democratic system towards the welfare of the society. This online voting/polling system seeks to address the above issues. It should be noted that with this system in place, the users, citizens in this case shall be given ample time during the voting period. They shall also be trained on how to vote online before the election time. This paper deals with design, build and test a online voting system that facilitates user (the person who is eligible for voting) this online voting system is highly secured, and its design is very simple, ease of use and also reliable. The proposed software is developed and tested to work on Ethernet and allows online voting. It also creates and manages voting and an election detail as all the users must login by user name and password and click on his favourable candidates to register vote. This will increase the voting percentage in India. By applying high security it will reduce false votes. The primary goal of this paper is to develop an efficient online voting system with high security. KeywordsCSS, HTML, Java Script, JDBC, MYSQL, ORACLE, online voting, security issue.


Each discipline has its own requirements and ways of thinking. This workshop will focus on how we can develop students' graduate capabilities from first year by enabling them to be effective learners, thinkers and practitioners in our disciplines. The workshop is aimed at curriculum developers, first year lecturers (any discipline), first year coordinators and academic developers. Interactive activities will be used to challenge participants to consider:
• What students need to know and do in order to lay the foundation in first year for attaining graduate capabilities and meeting required standards by the time they graduate?
• What bottlenecks are there to students learning those things –and what are the concepts that students find difficult as learners in the discipline?
• What strategies can we use to help students develop the skills they need to be effective learners, thinkers and practitioners in our disciplines?


A home is typically thought of as a bundle of land and structure. Land is supplied inelastically and is non-reproducible. Land values are therefore affected by a number of demand factors. Conceptually, structures are easily produced, and thus are supplied elastically. Under elastic supply, it is reasonable to assume that replacement cost should be equivalent to the value of the structure for new properties. Here, we examine how particular structure characteristics may introduce heterogeneity into these demand and supply relationships. In other words, how do structure vintages influence price dynamics. Older vintages are not easily reproducible leading to the value of an older vintage to potentially diverge from its replacement cost. To test our hypotheses, we employ a nonlinear model in a Bayesian structural timeseries approach that explicitly disentangles structure and land values to identify vintage effects separately from physical deterioration and land values. We find large differences in price dynamics between four distinct vintages of Amsterdam old city center apartments. Between 1999 - 2016, new construction had an average return of 1.7%, with a standard deviation of 2.4%. On the other hand, properties build in the 19th century had an average return of 3.6% with a standard deviation of 6.1%, during the same period.


Many measurements and searches for physics beyond the standard model at the LHC rely on the efficient identification of heavy-flavour jets, i.e. jets originating from bottom or charm quarks. In this paper, the discriminating variables and the algorithms used for heavy-flavour jet identification during the first years of operation of the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, are presented. Heavy-flavour jet identification algorithms have been improved compared to those used previously at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. For jets with transverse momenta in the range expected in simulated tt events, these new developments result in an efficiency of 68% for the correct identification of a b jet for a probability of 1% of misidentifying a light-flavour jet. The improvement in relative efficiency at this misidentification probability is about 15%, compared to previous CMS algorithms. In addition, for the first time algorithms have been developed to identify jets containing two b hadrons in Lorentz-boosted event topologies, as well as to tag c jets. The large data sample recorded in 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV has also allowed the development of new methods to measure the efficiency and misidentification probability of heavy-flavour jet identification algorithms. The b jet identification efficiency is measured with a precision of a few per cent at moderate jet transverse momenta (between 30 and 300 GeV) and about 5% at the highest jet transverse momenta (between 500 and 1000 GeV). Published in the Journal of Instrumentation as doi:10.1088/1748-0221/13/05/P05011. c © 2018 CERN for the benefit of the CMS Collaboration. CC-BY-4.0 license ∗See Appendix B for the list of collaboration members ar X iv :1 71 2. 07 15 8v 2 [ ph ys ic s. in sde t] 8 M ay 2 01 8


James is our most mundane villain. His victim is Bruce, our typical Aussie, who bleeds from the hip pocket because of James' actions. Game of Mates tells a tale of economic theft across major sectors of Australia's economy, showing how James and his group of well-connected Mates siphon off billions from the economy to line their own pockets. In property, mining, transport, banking, superannuation, and many more sectors, James and his Mates cooperate to steal huge chunks of the economic pie for themselves. If you want to know how much this costs the nation, how it is done, and what we can do about it, Game of Mates is the book for you.


Title of Thesis: LITHOSPHERIC EXTENSION ON VENUS: HOW TO FORM NARROW RIFTS Alexis Ann Martone, Master of Science 2017 Thesis Directed By: Professor Laurent G. J. Montési, Department of Geology The Venusian rifts of Devana and Ganis Chasmata have been noted for their similar morphology to some rifts on Earth (i.e., the East African rift system). These are narrow rifts that are associated with localized deformation. This thesis aims to explore the link between lithospheric structure and rift style using a force analysis model, following previous work by Buck (1991), in order to determine under what conditions narrow rifts are predicted for Venus conditions. Results for two cases, one using a constant lithospheric thermal conductivity and another using a depth dependent thermal conductivity, are initially determined; Devana and Ganis Chasmata are predicted to be wide rifts rather than narrow rifts. Lithospheric weakening mechanisms (rheological weakening and diking) are implemented to determine their effect on localizing deformation and, thus, forming narrow rifts. Diking did not produce any effect on forming narrow rifts. Rheological weakening, likely due to a combination of melt and a transition to grain size sensitive creep, appears necessary to produce narrow rifts. LITHOSPHERIC EXTENSION ON VENUS: HOW TO FORM NARROW RIFTS


MSMEs have an important role and strategic in national economic development. The presence of MSMEs can increase workforce absorption, encourage economic growth and distribution of development results. In managing SMEs, skills and knowledge are required by the owner to be able to run the business properly, which can be acquired through the corporate management training program. This research aims to analyze the effectiveness of a corporate management training program by seeing the competencies and performances of business owners after participating in training and creating an effective strategy to increase performance through the corporate management training program. The sample collection method in this study is census sampling from 30 respondents who participated in a management training program. Collected data is analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling – Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS) Smart PLS 2.0 program for all variables and also Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The result of the findings shows that training influenced competency and performance significantly, while competency also influenced performance significantly. The alternative strategy that becomes a priority is to adjust the training topic specifically according to business owner needs. This study will be useful for institutions or training organizers for MSMEs in the future.
Keywords: management training, competencies and performances, MSMEs, SEM-PLS, AHP


Abstract. In this paper, we describe the PALM model system 6.0. PALM (formerly an abbreviation for Parallelized Large-eddy Simulation Model and now an independent name) is a Fortran-based code and has been applied for studying a variety of atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers for about 20 years. The model is optimized for use on massively parallel computer architectures. This is a follow-up paper to the PALM 4.0 model description in Maronga et al. (2015). During the last years, PALM has been significantly improved and now offers a variety of new components. In particular, much effort was made to enhance the model with components needed for applications in urban environments, like fully interactive land surface and radiation schemes, chemistry, and an indoor model. This paper serves as an overview paper of the PALM 6.0 model system and we describe its current model core. The individual components for urban applications, case studies, validation runs, and issues with suitable input data are presented and discussed in a series of companion papers in this special issue.


A ten year retrospective study with the treatment of 48 patients (83 % children) who were admitted for suspected foreign body aspiration in the department of otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery is reviewed. The object of this study was to show the clinical manifestations, the radiological findings, the nature and distribution in the tracheobronchial tree and complications due to long standing foreign bodies in the bronchial tree. Males (25) were more commonly involved as compared to females (23). Right main bronchus was involved in 7 patients (29%), left main bronchus in 8 patients (33%) and trachea in 9 patients (38%). The most common foreign bodies found were Sunflower seed (25%), watermelon seed (17%), and abhaya scarf pin (17%). The most frequent clinical manifestation was cough (46%) and most of the chest radiological finding did not detect any abnormality (52%). In conclusion, in spite of an obvious foreign body in the tracheobronchial tree many cases are not diagnosed because sudden choking at the time of aspiration in children may not be noticed.


Abstract Habitat loss, introduced disease, and government-sponsored eradication programs have caused population declines in all 5 species of prairie dogs. Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) currently occupy only about 2% of an extensive geographic range (160 million hectares) and were recently considered for listing under the United States Endangered Species Act. Accurate estimates of density for populations of prairie dogs would be valuable for estimating range-wide abundance and for determining threats to species persistence, yet estimates of density using robust approaches (e.g., complete enumeration or mark–recapture) are rarely undertaken. We introduce a novel approach to estimating density of prairie dogs using mark–resight methods. Using mark–resight, mark–recapture, and 3 other indices, we estimated the abundance of prairie dogs on 3 reintroduced colonies over a 3-year period (2003–2005). We show that mark–resight is a superior approach to estimating abundance of prairie dogs, that average density estimates from the southern extremity of the species' range are considerably lower (11.3 prairie dogs/ha) than estimates from more northerly climes (X̄ = 18.3–90.3 prairie dogs/ha), and that population densities can fluctuate widely in accordance with local environmental conditions. We propose that resource agencies use mark–resight methods to obtain density estimates of prairie dog populations within diverse ecoregions, and couple these estimates with an assessment of the area occupied by prairie dog colonies to determine range-wide abundance.


This study was undertaken to determine effects of repeated mowing with a dull or sharp rotary mower blade on Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) turfs of 'Park' and 'Baron-Glade-Adelphi'. Mower blade sharpness effects on turfgrass quality, leaf spot (Bipolaris sorokinianum Shoem.), thatch accumulation, water use rate, and mower fuel consumption were studied. Field experiments were conducted on a Sharpsburg, silty-clay loam (fine, montmorillonitic, mesic Typic Argiudoll) at the Univ. of Nebraska Field Laboratory located near Mead. Turfgrass quality was reduced by dull mower treatment for both Park and the blend. Leafspot incidence increased on Park turfs mowed with the dull mower, but not on the blended turf which was leaf spot resistant. Thatch accumulation was not significantly influenced by mower blade sharpness. Water use rates under field conditions for Park and Baron-Glade-Adelphi turfs were 1.3 and 1.2 times greater, respectively, for turfs mowed with the sharp mower blade than the dull. The reduced water use rate associated with dull mower treatments was positively correlated to reduced shoot density (r = 0.88) and verdure (r = 0.93). Gasoline use was 22% greater with dull mower blade treatments than with sharp. This study substantiates the hypothesis that repeated mowing with a dull mower blade reduced turfgrass quality and increased disease susceptibility. However, these results refute the generally accepted premise that dull mower blade injury of turfgrass leaf tissue increases turfgrass water use.


The authors present a feedback-based approach for event detection in video surveillance that improves the detection accuracy and dynamically adapts the computational effort depending on the complexity of the analysed data. A core feedback structure is proposed based on defining different levels of detail for the analysis performed and estimating the complexity of the data being analysed. Then, three feedback-based analysis strategies are defined (based on this core structure) and introduced in the processing stages of a typical video surveillance system. A rule-based system is designed to manage the interaction between these feedback-strategies. Experimental results show that the proposed approach slightly increases the detection reliability, whereas highly reduces the computational effort as compared to the initially developed surveillance system (without feedback strategies) across a variety of multiple video surveillance scenarios operating at real time.


Discourse on the development context in Africa has gradually shifted to focus on youth as central to escalating prosperity and delivering sustainable socio-economic transformation and development on the continent. Investing in youth in Africa is critical and offers a bestbet option as the demographic bulge is more visible now than ever before. Harnessing benefits from the demographic bulge in Africa is dependent on how Africa makes strategic investments that will increase the throughput quality of youth coming out of secondary, university and tertiary education as well as those who drop-out of school and/or with barely any education. Enhancing youth innovativeness, youth mentorship, supporting youth entrepreneurship and greater financial inclusion are critical pre-conditions for increasing the contribution potential of African youth to the development process in the continent. However, delivering on those preconditions requires that universities, governments and other development actors are willing to undertake radical yet strategic and focused actions as well as a paradigm shift to have a positive appreciation of the immense potential youth confer. Universities for example need to implement transformative and innovative processes and programmes that can spur youth potential and increase youth connectivity with the private sector. At the same time, development actors including philanthropists that provide financing ought to focus on investing on youth using innovative and context appropriate models and opportunities that seek to eliminate bottlenecks preventing youth from achieving their full potential. All these efforts and actions need to be coordinated at local, national and regional level and as such, platforms that bring all the development actors focused on youth in development become critical particularly in helping to ameliorate duplication of actions so as to achieve value for money investment. Available evidence suggests investing in youth offers commendable economic and social returns to society as whole and to individuals and their families. This paper discusses the issue of youth employability and present some case examples of initiatives to enhance youth employability and entrepreneurship.


Topical honey treatment has been shown to possess antimicrobial properties, promote autolytic debridement, stimulate growth of wound tissues to hasten healing, and to start the healing process in dormant wounds, stimulating anti-inflammatory activity that rapidly reduces pain, oedema and exudate production. This article provides an overview of the use of honey as a medicinal substance, particularly its use in wound treatment, and reviews the published data concerning honey as a form of complementary and alternative medicine in paediatric wound management. The literature reviewed was found by searching the PubMed, BIOSIS, and ISI Web of Science databases for the term honey. Exclusion criteria were articles where honey was used in a mixture with other therapeutic substances.


Abstract. Mass loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is increasing, and there is concern that an incipient large-scale deglaciation of the marine basins may already be underway. Measurements of cosmogenic nuclides in subglacial bedrock surfaces have the potential to establish whether and when the marine-based portions of the WAIS deglaciated in the past. However, because most of the bedrock revealed by ice-sheet collapse would remain below sea level, shielded from the cosmic-ray flux, drill sites for subglacial sampling must be located in areas where thinning of the residual ice sheet would expose presently subglacial bedrock surfaces. In this paper we discuss the criteria and considerations for choosing drill sites where subglacial samples will provide maximum information about WAIS extent during past interglacial periods. We evaluate candidate sites in West Antarctica and find that sites located adjacent to the large marine basins of West Antarctica will be most diagnostic of past ice-sheet collapse. There are important considerations for drill site selection on the kilometer scale that can only be assessed by field reconnaissance. As a case study of these considerations, we describe reconnaissance at sites in West Antarctica, focusing on the Pirrit Hills, where in the summer of 2016–2017 an 8 m bedrock core was retrieved from below 150 m of ice.


This paper is the fifth in a series of articles on planning programs to effectively outreach to diverse audiences. This series will include specialized papers on enhancing cultural competence, recruiting diverse volunteers, planning culturally appropriate marketing strategies, and other topics that are integral to the design and implementation of culturally relevant Extension education programs. This document is FCS9221, one of a series of the Family Youth and Community Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date September 2005.


Abstract : Module systems for languages with complex type systems, such as Standard ML, often lack the ability to express mutually recursive type and function dependencies across module boundaries. Previous work by Crary, Harper and Puri set out a type-theoretic foundation for recursive modules in the context of a phase-distinction calculus for higher-order modules. Two constructs were introduced for encoding recursive modules: a xed-point module and a recursively dependent signature. Unfortunately, the implementations of both constructs involve the use of equi-recursive type constructors at higher-order kinds, the equivalence of which is not known to be decidable. In this paper, we show that the practicality of recursive modules is not contingent upon that of equi-recursive constructors. We begin with the theoretical infrastructure described above and study precisely how equi-recursiveness is used in the recursive module constructs, resulting in a clarification and generalization of the underlying ideas. We then examine in depth how the recursive module constructs in the revised type system can serve as the target of elaboration for a recursive module extension to Standard ML.


The history of emotion is an important interdisciplinary research field, not least because it touches fundamental questions about the distinction between psychobiology-based universals und socio-cultural, path-dependent and thus relative peculiarities. Conceptual incongruities between what is today understood as emotion and various views on emotions in antiquity should not distract from the fact that, while emotions do have history, they substantially belong to all human experience as such.
Visual media and images open perspectives for transcultural research that differ from the testimony of texts. Their study can thus make a major contribution to a better understanding of emotions in the Ancient Near East. How where gestures, body postures, facial expressions etc. visualized in images from Mesopotamia, the Levant and Egypt and what role does the visualization play in communicating emotions?
The first part of the present volume takes concrete examples as a starting point and discusses the fundamental question whether or not emotions were represented and can thus be studied in Ancient Near Eastern art. Approaches and arguments are controversial: Some authors argue that there are no visualizations of emotions, but only of cultural roles and ritual embodiments. Their view is contrasted by other contributors, who assume that one may detect non-verbal expressions hiding emotions in visual representations and that it is crucial to specify the appropriate tools and methodologies to interpret them in an adequate way.
The second part offers five additional theoretical reflexions from comparative, linguistic and art-historical perspectives. With such a broad interdisciplinary approach including Assyriology, Egyptology, Near Eastern archaeology and Hebrew Bible/Old Testament studies, the volume offers a large panorama of the most important research positions on a fundamental topic.
The book results from workshop discussions held in June 2015 during the 61st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Bern and Geneva. Contributors include John Baines, Dominik Bonatz, Izak Cornelius, Margaret Jaques, Othmar Keel, Sara Kipfer, Florian Lippke, Silvia Schroer, Andreas Wagner, Elisabeth Wagner-Durand, and Wolfgang Zwickel.


Although Eliza Haywood was one of the best known and most prolific writers in her own time, there is no modern edition of her works. This edition provides representative texts from Haywood's entire career, which overlaps that of Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, and Tobias Smollett. The six fictions and two plays provided here illustrate the many kinds of writing Haywood produced, the ways she treated important themes and issues, and the contributions she made to the development of the English novel.


Decomposition spawns a microbial zoo The death of a large animal represents a food bonanza for microorganisms. Metcalf et al. monitored microbial activity during the decomposition of mouse and human cadavers. Regardless of soil type, season, or species, the microbial succession during decomposition was a predictable measure of time since death. An overlying corpse leaches nutrients that allow soil- and insect-associated fungi and bacteria to grow. These microorganisms are metabolic specialists that convert proteins and lipids into foul-smelling compounds such as cadaverine, putrescine, and ammonia, whose signature may persist in the soil long after a corpse has been removed. Science, this issue p. 158 As a corpse rots, the microbial succession follows a similar pattern across different types of soil. Vertebrate corpse decomposition provides an important stage in nutrient cycling in most terrestrial habitats, yet microbially mediated processes are poorly understood. Here we combine deep microbial community characterization, community-level metabolic reconstruction, and soil biogeochemical assessment to understand the principles governing microbial community assembly during decomposition of mouse and human corpses on different soil substrates. We find a suite of bacterial and fungal groups that contribute to nitrogen cycling and a reproducible network of decomposers that emerge on predictable time scales. Our results show that this decomposer community is derived primarily from bulk soil, but key decomposers are ubiquitous in low abundance. Soil type was not a dominant factor driving community development, and the process of decomposition is sufficiently reproducible to offer new opportunities for forensic investigations.


The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between eroticism, violence and death as it occurs in Jeanne Goosen's short story collection, ' n Gelyke kans. The research is based upon the hypothesis that these stories express in a particular manner the transgressive role of eroticism in breaking through social conventions and barriers. As a possible framework for discussion reference is made in the first place to George Bataille's theories on the subversive nature of eroticism, Julia Kristeva's semiotic and pre-Oedipal theories, and Mikhail Bakhtin's notion of the carnivalesque. Subsequently a reading strategy was designed by means of an in-depth analysis of ten stories from the collection in accordance with general formalistic principles. The conclusion is reached that Goosen with non-judgmental sympathy exposes man's inborn, continuous search for the illusion of perfect happiness. This state of bliss is sometimes achieved by the violent "incorporation" of the beloved/desired "other", and the final outcome is a concomitant and inevitable decline into an unwholesome, destructive, and fatal erotic power play.


A third of United States new cellular subscriptions in Q1 2016 were for cars. There are now more than 112 million vehicles connected around the world. The percentage of new cars shipped with Internet connectivity is expected to rise from 13% in 2015 to 75% in 2020, and 98% of all vehicles will likely be connected by 2025. Moreover, the news continuously report about "white hat" hackers intruding on car software. For these reasons, security concerns in automotive and other industries have skyrocketed. MISRA C, which is widely respected as a safety-related coding standard, is equally applicable as a security-related coding standard. In this presentation, we will show that security-critical and safety-critical software have the same requirements. We will then introduce the new documents MISRA C:2012 Amendment 1 (Additional security guidelines for MISRA C:2012) and MISRA C:2012 Addendum 2 (Coverage of MISRA C:2012 against ISO/IEC TS 17961:2013 "C Secure Coding Rules"). We will illustrate the relationship between MISRA C, CERT C and ISO/IEC TS 17961, with a particular focus on the objective of preventing security vulnerabilities (and of course safety hazards) as opposed to trying to eradicate them once they have been inserted in the code.


In three recent cases, the Supreme Court of Canada provided several pieces of the Canadian copyright policy puzzle. We now know that the economic purpose of copyright law is instrumentalist in nature, namely, to ensure the orderly production and distribution of, and access to, works of art and intellect. The Court added that copyright can not enter carelessly into the private sphere of individual users. By targeting end-users in recent lawsuits, copyright holders have also found out that it is difficult to enforce a right that has not been properly internalized. After reviewing the Supreme Court trilogy of cases, the paper explores the importance of the moral imperative and the almost nonexistent role of Parliament in setting policy at the macro level. In Part 3, the paper proposes two concrete ways to align copyright law with its underlying purpose, especially on the internet. The first is to make existing rights easier to manage by facilitating collective management using the Extended Repertoire (or extended collective licensing system). A compatibility analysis with applicable international norms is provided. The second is a recasting of the copyright rights based on the effect of the use made of the work, not its technical nature.


Most empirical studies of complex networks do not return direct, error-free measurements of network structure. Instead, they typically rely on indirect measurements that are often error-prone and unreliable. A fundamental problem in empirical network science is how to make the best possible estimates of network structure given such unreliable data. In this paper we describe a fully Bayesian method for reconstructing networks from observational data in any format, even when the data contain substantial measurement error and when the nature and magnitude of that error is unknown. The method is introduced through pedagogical case studies using real-world example networks, and specifically tailored to allow straightforward, computationally efficient implementation with a minimum of technical input. Computer code implementing the method is publicly available.


Recently, Western democracies have turned to building border walls as a strategy of immigration control. This paper makes two claims. First, human rights courts and quasi-judicial bodies are deeply implicated in this move. Drawing on an analysis of case law, I show that they have worked out a system in which walls have become a predictable strategic solution for states that seek to retain control over immigration. Second, the way human rights enforcement bodies have treated border walls has made them legally permitted and even encouraged their construction. Immigration walls raise a jurisdictional challenge. Human rights law and the national law of many democratic states guarantee individuals that have established territorial presence access to basic human rights. A porous border is thus required by the very concept of universal human rights. In one view, because a wall is concrete in a way that the jurisdictional border is not, erecting a wall closes the porous border and is thus a matter of human rights. In another view, the construction of a wall is an administrative technique for controlling immigration and is, from a human rights perspective, a non-event. Neither view, however, can be wholly supported. The first is politically unsustainable, while the second is morally indefensible. Human rights enforcement bodies avoid taking a stand by regulating the physical structure of the wall. The result is the redrawing of borders that is politically unstable and is normatively unjustifiable.


"A Practice-Based Bioethic" is a regular column in Advanced Practice Nursing Quarterly. A practice-based approach is derived from, and therefore is intended to be appropriate to, the situation of a patient, the purpose of the health care setting, and the role of the nurse. It is based on a shared state of awareness on which ethical interactions between nurse and patient occur.


Option pricing models are calibrated to market data of plain vanillas by minimization of an error functional. From the economic viewpoint, there are several possibilities to measure the error between the market and the model. These different specifications of the error give rise to different sets of calibrated model parameters and the resulting prices of exotic options vary significantly. These price differences often exceed the usual profit margin of exotic options. We provide evidence for this calibration risk in a time series of DAX implied volatility surfaces from April 2003 to March 2004. We analyze in the Heston and in the Bates model factors influencing these price differences of exotic options and finally recommend an error functional. Moreover, we determine the model risk of these two stochastic volatility models for the time series and consider its relation to calibration risk.


Residential segregation and desegregation continues to be a major theme in South African scholarship. However the study of re-segregation, characterised by people returning to legacy apartheid townships after having moved to desegregated suburbs has not received much attention. This study is a geographical investigation of the key influences that have contributed to the process of residential re-segregation, with specific reference to the township of Chesterville in Durban. More specifically, the objectives of this thesis were to: determine why people moved out of Chesterville; ascertain the challenges experienced in adjusting to their new environments; investigate the key factors that led to people moving back to Chesterville; analyse how people were received upon returning to Chesterville; and assess if people would consider moving away from Chesterville again should the opportunity arise. This study was theoretically and conceptually influenced by human agency, gemeinscharft and gesellscharft, Ubuntu, culture shock, drawing from the philosophy of humanistic geography. Methodologically, a qualitative approach was adopted in this investigation. Indepth semi-structured interviews and focus groups were utilized to collect the primary data. Purposive and snowball sampling methods were employed to select the participants. The study revealed that people decide to move out of the township in pursuit of safety and security, personal privacy and status. The various challenges experienced in the new areas included social isolation, failure to socially integrate in the new communities, and culture shock. People maintained strong ties with Chesterville through frequent visits to carry out activities such as religious worship and socializing. Financial problems, nostalgia and child rearing challenges were the main issues that were presented as a trigger for the return to the township. The reception encountered by people upon returning to Chesterville ranged from disappointment, judgemental, condemnation, while others were welcomed pleasantly. There were mixed responses to feelings about the prospect of moving out of Chesterville again. There is a clear sign of the post-apartheid government's failure to eradicate the socio-spatial patterns of apartheid. The repeal of the Group Areas Act (GAA) has not been mirrored by aggressive attempts by the post-apartheid government to create new urban spaces of integration.


This paper accompanies an archive platform for campus activists--students, faculty, staff, and community members--at the Claremont Colleges to use as a means to address institutional erasure of memory of activism. The platform attempts to provide a way for campus activists to rewrite the history of the colleges by exposing the work that past activists have done surrounding any variety of issues. In other words, campus activists can find particular issues in the archive that they may want to organize around and can use the information they find about past actions to create a narrative that may be different than the one that the colleges write about themselves. The paper offers a roadmap for campus activists to practice collective agency through its discussion of strengthening meshworks, new conceptions of time, and a process of uncontaining. The paper argues that the project has the potential to disrupt the pattern where valuable memories of organizing are contained from the community as student activists graduate, as the colleges confine student dissent into single-issue movements, and through a normalizing history of the colleges. The paper proposes that un-containing takes place in the archive as campus activists create critical histories of the Claremont Colleges.


Ultrasound is a non-invasive, cheap and portable imaging system available in most hospitals. It would be beneficial to surgeons to use an ultrasound transducer as a real time intraoperative positional pointer to previously acquired surgical planning images. We have developed a system to link live intraoperative ultrasound images with pre-operative surgical planning images utilizing a 3-dimensional image index block, a multimedia database, and a graphical wire-frame model. An index block is created using a set of planning images, from which images in any plane can be interpolated. The new images created are ordered in a database using bandpassed spatial feature detection, from which a smaller set of images are selected by feature presence and position for faster matching to a live image. Preliminary testing of the system has evaluated the image matching accuracy and tolerances, and results show that in over 90% cases a 'good' match can be found from a database containing approximately 3000 images in only 30 seconds, with significant correlations found between the coordinates of the live and best match images, indicating the potential for live ultrasound to act as a near-real time positional pointer to planning data.


We consider a cognitive radio network in which a set of base stations make opportunistic spectrum access to support fixed-location wireless subscribers within their cells. The spectrum of interest is divided into independent channels using frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and is licensed to the operator of a primary network. Channel assignment and power control must be carried out in the cognitive network so that no excessive interference is caused to users of the primary network. We are interested in the downlink channel/power allocation problem for the cognitive radio network, with the objective of maximizing the total number of active subscribers that can be supported. Here, we assume that each subscriber of the cognitive network can be either active or idle and only active subscribers require downlink transmission. We first consider the case when global knowledge of all active subscribers is available for making control decisions. In that case, a downlink channel/power allocation scheme that maximizes the number of supported subscribers can be obtained by solving a mixed-integer linear programming. We also propose a suboptimal scheme that can be obtained at lower complexity based on a dynamic interference graph. We then consider the case when control decisions can only be made based on local knowledge of active subscribers within each cell. For that, we propose a scalable two-phase channel/power allocation scheme. Numerical results show the effectiveness of our proposed schemes.


The increase in numbers and contamination levels of faecally polluted water has resulted in shifts worldwide towards methods which enumerate faecal indicator bacteria faster. Rapid methods enable more timely remedial and preventative actions which protect the health of water users. However, especially in the developing world, straightforward methods are also preferred as they reduce the requirement for highly qualified analysts. This study investigates the feasibility of using the rapid, semi-automated enzyme substrate test Colilert-18 ® instead of multiple-tube fermentation (MTF) in total coliform and Escherichia coli enumeration for South African river water, as one example of a surface water source carrying considerable faecal pollution, which needs monitoring. Spearman rank correlation coefficients ( ρ ) of 0.83 and 0.86 were obtained for total coliforms and E. coli respectively, indicating Colilert-18 ® performed acceptably in the pollution ranges encountered. A Bland–Altman plot further revealed that Colilert-18 ® showed no significant difference ( p > 0.05) from MTF values below 100,000 E. coli most probable number/100 mL (estimated true value). Above this level Colilert-18 ® was found to progressively underestimate E. coli . This inadequacy of Colilert-18 ® was considered acceptable from a health risk assessment viewpoint as such high counts should have sounded the alarm for preventative and corrective action irrespective of method inaccuracy.


The economy of northwest Arkansas, including the Lincoln Lake watershed (a sub-watershed of the Illinois River), relies greatly upon livestock and poultry production. The supply of production by-products is increasingly under scrutiny as one of the potential sources of water pollution in the region. In light of the recent economic crisis, methodologies that help producers to evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of several practices before implementing them may be a cost-effective means of increasing BMP adoption. This study uses stochastic dominance techniques to evaluate, environmentally and economically, ten best management practices (BMPs) combinations to lessen water pollution in the Lincoln Lake watershed. All BMP combinations analyzed were effective in reducing total phosphorous (TP) losses. However, six combinations also decreased net returns (NR) when compared to a baseline. This suggests that including BMPs in the bermudagrass production systems may lead to increased NR risk. Without additional incentives, producers will not likely implement these BMP combinations regardless of their TP reduction benefits. Although, as expected, rankings of BMP combinations in terms of TP or NR differed from each other, four scenarios established that environmental and economic goals are not necessarily conflicting; they may be complementary. Additionally, this analysis revealed that producers' risk preferences did not matter when selecting among the top-four BMP combinations but it could be a factor for other less preferred scenarios.


This paper studies how organizational subcultures influence the effectiveness of the enterprise architecture (EA) function. It provides findings from a case study in a European airport company. We find specific subcultural differences that can lower EA effectiveness. In addition, we discover that not only subcultural differences but also subcultural similarity can reduce EA effectiveness. For instance, the preference for working isolated of some business departments results in a lack of communication between those departments, which lowers EA effectiveness. Also, our data suggest that the subcultural influence is indirect. We identify, amongst others, communication defects as an important intermediary variable.


A novel signaling scheme for iterative channel estimation and data decoding is proposed. In the proposed scheme, the occurrence probability of transmitted symbols is biased. A priori information about the bias is utilized for the initial channel estimation. The proposed scheme is based on parallel concatenation of two biased convolutional codes (BCCs), which are constructed as systematic recursive convolutional codes with state-dependent puncturing. The BCCs can be regarded as a joint coding scheme that determines the insertion positions of pilot symbols according to information bits. The proposed scheme is numerically shown to outperform conventional pilot-based schemes in the waterfall region, while it is inferior to the conventional schemes in the error-floor region.


Because sea level could rise 1 m or more during the next century, it is important to understand what land, communities and assets may be most at risk from increased flooding and eventual submersion. Employing a recent high-resolution edition of the National Elevation Dataset and using VDatum, a newly available tidal model covering the contiguous US, together with data from the 2010 Census, we quantify low-lying coastal land, housing and population relative to local mean high tide levels, which range from ∼0 to 3 m in elevation (North American Vertical Datum of 1988). Previous work at regional to national scales has sometimes equated elevation with the amount of sea level rise, leading to underestimated risk anywhere where the mean high tide elevation exceeds 0 m, and compromising comparisons across regions with different tidal levels. Using our tidally adjusted approach, we estimate the contiguous US population living on land within 1 m of high tide to be 3.7 million. In 544 municipalities and 38 counties, we find that over 10% of the population lives below this line; all told, some 2150 towns and cities have some degree of exposure. At the state level, Florida, Louisiana, California, New York and New Jersey have the largest sub-meter populations. We assess topographic susceptibility of land, housing and population to sea level rise for all coastal states, counties and municipalities, from 0 to 6 m above mean high tide, and find important threat levels for widely distributed communities of every size. We estimate that over 22.9 million Americans live on land within 6 m of local mean high tide.


The author examined the safety culture and in relation to that the safety and health-related human factors. The examination was conducted primarily in the agricultural sector. Safety culture is also a key factor in business life especially in productive sectors. Basically, it determines the general work safety and occupational hazard situations, which may have an impact on business, competitiveness, and efficiency, and also employee satisfaction.The concept of safety culture is new in the applied sciences. Scientific investigations of safety culture are diverse, varying by country, science background and economic sphere. The author has created a dimension-model, which organically reflects the relations of safety culture within an organization, projected mainly on conditions in Hungary. Some safety culture dimensions have been also examined on the basis of international safety culture research methodology. The author investigated some safety culture dimensions on the basis of international safety culture research methodology. This method is suitable to investigate the status of the relevant safety culture dimensions at agricultural organizations. It has possibilities, in the course of safety culture operationalization, to mark out dimensions which as elements of organization culture are suitable for denotation of safety culture. In this paper the author publishes some of his results about the examined 18 agricultural enterprises. The author used a self-made questionnaire for the interviews. In the questionnaire he used Likert-type scale to measure the qualitative elements of the dimensions.


Myelin is a multi-lamellar membrane structure, produced by oligodendrocytes which are special glial cells, that myelinate axons in the central nervous system (CNS) (Aggarwal, Yurlova, & Simons, 2011; Vassall, Bamm, & Harauz, 2015). The main role of these tightly-packed and stable structures is to electrically insulate the axon.

During the biogenesis of myelin, two processes have to be coordinated. At first, the incorporation of myelin adjacent to the axon at the innermost tongue is accompanied by the lateral expansion of newly formed layers. At the same time, a complex system of cytoplasmic channels (CPCs) is formed, enabling membrane trafficking from the cell body to the leading edge in thin-caliber-axons of the immature optic nerve (Snaidero et al., 2014). These channels are known in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) as Schmidt-Lanterman Incisures, but have not been yet established in the CNS (Gould, Byrd, & Barbarese, 1995; Small, Ghabriel, & Allt, 1987).

The development of an improved protocol for high-pressure freezing (HPF), allowed us to better preserve the native myelin ultrastructure close to its native state. Using HPF and freeze-substitution for transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we were able to visualize a system of cytoplasmic (myelinic) channels within myelin surrounding large-caliber axons in the CNS for the first time. In line with their presence in developing myelin lamellae, here, we present how a system of interconnected CPCs is organized in mature myelin of axons with different calibers. Beside the morphological analysis of these channels by TEM, we combined different in vivo and in vitro approaches to describe the biogenesis, molecular structures, and possible roles of CPCs. We elucidated a mechanism that regulates the formation and determines the molecular organization and their involved key components.

In this study, we identified 2',3'-cyclic-nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNP) as an essential determinant in generating and maintaining cytoplasmic domains within compact myelin sheaths. Our observations provide evidence that the protein-protein interaction of CNP and filamentous actin (F-actin) results in the formation of a stable structure that helps to keep opposing myelin leaflets separated. The close interaction of CNP and F-actin prevents membrane compaction that is exercised by the classic myelin basic protein (MBP).


This trial was conducted to test the hypothesis that early lactation cows grazing ryegrass pasture and receiving maize and mineral supplementation could respond to additional supplementation with a protein source such as fish meal. Multiparous Jersey cows in early to mid lactation that grazed annual ryegrass pasture in spring were used in a randomised complete block design experiment. In addition to the pasture, cows received 6 kg (as is) of a maize-based supplement, including minerals, fed in two equal portions in the milking parlour. Three groups of 15 cows received a control, a low fish meal or a high fish meal treatment (0, 4 or 8% fish meal replacing maize). Milk yield was measured and milk samples taken fortnightly. A simultaneous study on rumen fermentation was conducted using eight rumen cannulated cows receiving the control and high fish meal treatments in a cross-over design experiment. Ruminal pH and ammonia-N and volatile fatty acid concentrations were measured. Milk yield, 4% fat-corrected milk yield and milk fat and protein percentages of cows on the low and high fish meal treatments (21.9 and 22.1 kg milk/d, 24.1 and 24.2 kg 4% fat corrected milk/d, 4.73 and 4.67% fat and 3.49 and 3.45% protein) were higher than the control (20.5 kg milk/d, 20.4 kg 4% fat corrected milk/d, 3.97% fat and 3.25% protein). The ruminal ammonia-N concentration was higher in the cows on the high fish meal treatment than the control (16.7 vs. 14.2 mg/dL). Fish meal supplementation to cows on ryegrass proved to be profitable. Keywords : Dairy cattle, cultivated pasture, RUP, maize, milk yield, milk composition South African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 38 (4) 2008: pp. 331-341


The main theoretical aspects of gravitomagnetism are reviewed. It is shown that the gravitomagnetic precession of a gyroscope is intimately connected with the special temporal structure around a rotating mass that is revealed by the gravitomagnetic clock effect. This remarkable effect, which involves the difference in the proper periods of a standard clock in prograde and retrograde circular geodesic orbits around a rotating mass, is discussed in detail. The implications of this effect for the notion of "inertial dragging" in the general theory of relativity are presented. The theory of the clock effect is developed within the PPN framework and the possibility of measuring it via spaceborne clocks is examined.


The shortage in transplantable organs worldwide not only leads to unnecessary death, but also to grave human rights abuses through illegal methods of procuring organs. The shortage leads some desperate to find an organ through any possible means, including purchasing an organ on the black market. The system for procuring organs in the United States is based on altruism, where potential donors have to opt in to the system in order for their organs to be donated. This creates issues at the time of death for medical professionals or the next of kin to decide whether their patient or loved one had decided to donate. This Note explores organ procurement systems used internationally and details the benefits and drawbacks of each. The Author proposes that a blend of some of the systems used internationally could reduce the illegal and immoral methods of organ procurement. The Author argues that the United States needs to implement a national registration system that tracks the willingness of all individuals to donate and is available to hospitals nation-wide through a database. In addition, the Author suggests that non-monetary incentives, including a paired organ exchange and giving priority to those who are themselves listed as donors, will also help decrease the shortage


The outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza of the H5N1 subtype in Asia, which has subsequently spread to Russia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, has put increased focus on the role of wild birds in the persistence of influenza viruses. The ecology, epidemiology, genetics, and evolution of pathogens cannot be fully understood without taking into account the ecology of their hosts. Here, we review our current knowledge on global patterns of influenza virus infections in wild birds, discuss these patterns in the context of host ecology and in particular birds' behavior, and identify some important gaps in our current knowledge.