Accounting is often viewed from a legalistic rather than economic perspective. Finance, on the other hand, is deeply rooted in economic theory, but at its heart is built on assumptions of frictionless markets. Neither perspective fully incorporates the rich economic environment in which we find the practice of accounting and finance; a market setting rife with information inefficiencies. We illustrate and review one such inefficiency, adverse selection. Adverse selection results when market participants have different levels of information about an attribute of payoff relevance. In such cases, less informed parties transact in a market where the profile of assets for sale or employees for hire is worse than the population as a whole. In general, adverse selection causes a loss of social welfare and, in extreme cases, may cause the breakdown of an entire market. Each illustration is based on one of the seminal papers written by the Nobel Laureates of 2001, recognized for their work on adverse selection. We then trace the insights into the accounting and finance literatures. We consider both disciplines jointly, because accounting information is often useful in mitigating the market inefficiencies studied in finance.


The Islamic finance and banking industry has developed tremendously in recent years.The viability of this industry as an alternative method of investment can no longer be denied. As the current global economic and financial crisis laid bare the systemic problems of conventional finance, the Islamic financial system has been offered as a solution by its proponents. However, Islamic finance has been using conventional finance benchmarks, such as KLIBOR, COFI, LIBOR, etc. to determine its own cost of funds, and hence its return on financial investments. This is so because Islamic finance, if not part of the existing conventional finance, has always served as a financial intermediary for surplus and deficit units. Islamic banking, as the dominant institution in the Islamic finance industry, has gone beyond the function of a financial intermediary, for it also serves as a wakil, custodian, partner, entrepreneur, and guarantor. Nonetheless, Islamic finance has yet to come up with an alternative Islamic Pricing Benchmark (IPB) to determine its cost of capital. The need for having such an IPB for Islamic finance cannot be overemphasized; that would make it more comprehensive and independent from the conventional benchmarks that rely on interest rates, the very thing that Islamic finance abhors. Therefore, this project aims to develop an Islamic pricing benchmark model for the Islamic banking industry, more specifically for Malaysia, given its prominence in the Islamic finance industry. The project has reviewed the Shari'ah perspective on an Islamic pricing benchmark and has also examined the conventional pricing benchmark being used by banks. The paper further discusses the theoretical formulation of an Islamic benchmark. Thereafter, using sectoral industry and macroeconomic data, it tests the viability of the benchmark using simulation


We are interested in the near surface for many reasons including the need to see through it to resolve geology and resources at depth. The near-surface often consists of unconsolidated, low-velocity material which can cause time delays in passing seismic waves, especially S-waves. Hence, it is necessary to obtain a detailed near-surface S-wave velocity structure to correct for these delays. Multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) (Park et al., 1998 and 1999; Xia et al., 1999) is an effective and increasingly popular method to obtain a near-surface S-wave velocity. MASW uses Rayleigh waves (or ground roll) to create dispersion curves (phase velocity versus frequency plots). Then, the inversion of these dispersion curves for the fundamental mode provides the near-surface S-wave velocity. These velocities can be used to infer the S-wave receiver statics.


This paper identifies two transmission mechanisms which might contribute to explaining the well-documented correlation between Australian and foreign business cycles. The first is through exports. We find that the US and Japan have a high output elasticity of demand for Australia's exports. Consequently, their business cycles have a larger impact on Australia's exports than that suggested by their market shares. The second mechanism is through the share market. Both the US and Australian share markets appear to have a significant impact on Australian activity. Evidence is also found that the responses of investment to the share market in the two countries are remarkably similar. Given that the share markets are highly correlated, the similarity in response lags may help to explain the correlation in business cycles.


Amidst the pendulum of political and religious upheaval that pervaded England throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth century, William Byrd stands as one of the best loved and lauded composers. Byrd succeeded in the secular and sacred realms, contributing great works to the Anglican Church, popularizing the English madrigal and producing prolific amounts of sacred music. However, in a time where one's religious beliefs were often linked with political loyalty, Byrd defied his monarch's established and enforced Protestant religion, composing politically charged music for recusant use in clandestine Catholic Church services. His themes were aligned with the Jesuit mission and his texts were often drawn from the lips of martyred Catholics at the gallows; their last words forever immortalized by Byrd for the furthering of the Jesuit cause and the counter-reformation. The examination of sources by prominent Byrd scholars, an analyses of Byrd's 'political' compositions and a study of the social and historical background are used to place Byrd within the appropriate context, prove his recusant and political leanings, and analyze his precarious relationship with the English monarch, Elizabeth I. It is shown that Byrd could not have proceeded with his recusant practices, personally or musically, had it not been for his status as a composer, as well as Byrd's shrewdness in procuring diplomatic relationships with high persons at court and with Queen Elizabeth I through the Chapel Royal. Finally, Byrd's success at writing for the Anglican Church service and popular secular music showcased his ability to take a moderate stance in situations that benefitted his status with the crown.


We consider a special type of continuous-time Markov decision processes (MDPs) that arise when phase-type distributions are used to model the timing of non-Markovian events and actions. We focus, primarily, on the execution of phase-dependent policies. Phases are introduced into a model to represent relevant execution history, but there is no physical manifestation of phases in the real world. We treat phases as partially observable state features and show how a belief distribution over phase configurations can be derived from observable state features through the use of transient analysis for Markov chains. This results in an efficient method for phase tracking during execution that can be combined with the QMDP value method for POMDPs to make action choices. We also discuss, briefly, how the structure of MDPs with phase transitions can be exploited in structured value iteration with symbolic representation of vectors and matrices.


Collot, J.-Y., Lallemand, S., Pelletier, B., Eissen, J.-P., Glaçon, G., Fisher, M.A., Greene, H.G., Boulin, J., Daniel, J. and Monzier, M., 1992. Geology of the d'Entrecasteaux-New Hebrides Arc collision zone: results from a deep submersible survey. Tectonophysics, 212 213-241. During the SuBPSOl cruise, seven submersible dives were conducted between water depths of 5350 and 900 m over the collision zone between the New Hebrides island arc and the d'Entrecasteaux Zone (DEZ). The DEZ, a topographic high on the Australian plate, encompasses the North d'Entrecasteaux Ridge (NDR) and the Bougainville guyot, both of which collide with the island-arc slope. In this report we use diving observations and samples, as well as dredging results, to analyse the geology of the Bougainville guyot and the outer arc slope in the DEZ-arc collision zone, and to decipher the mechanisms of seamount subduction. These data indicate that the Bougainville guyot is a middle Eocene island arc volcano capped with reef limestones that appear to have been deposited during the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene and in Miocene-Pliocene times. This guyot possibly emerged during the Middle and Late Miocene, and started to sink in the New Hebrides trench after the Pliocene. The rocks of the New Hebrides arc slope, in the collision zone, consist primarily of Pliocene-Recent volcaniclastic rocks derived from the arc, and underlying fractured island-arc volcanic basement, possibly of Late Miocene age. However, highly sheared, Upper Oligocene to Lower Miocene nannofossil ooze and chalk are exposed at the toe of the arc slope against the northern flank of the NDR. Based on a comparison with cores collected at DSDP Site 286, the ooze and chalk can be interpreted as sediments accreted from the downgoing plate. East of the Bougainville guyot an antifonn that developed in the arc slope as a consequence of the collision reveals a 500-m-thick wedge of strongly tectonized rocks, possibly accreted from the guyot or an already subducted seamount. The wedge that is overlain by less deformed volcaniclastic island-arc rocks and sediments includes imbricated layers of Late Oligocene to Early Miocene reef and micritic limestones. This wedge, which develops against the leading flank of the guyot, tends to smooth its high-drag shape. A comparison between the 500-m-thick wedge of limestones that outcrops southeast of the guyot and the absence of such a wedge over the flat top of the guyot, although the top is overthrust by island-arc rocks and sediments, can be interpreted to suggest that the wedge moves in the subduction zone with the guyot and facilitates its subduction by streamlining. 4"' P Introduction underthrusts an island arc provide important keys to understanding both the tectonic processes that shape island arcs and the mechanical properties of the island arc crust. One such collision zone occurs in the SW Pacific Ocean between the New Hebrides island arc and the d'Entrecasteaux Zone, a major submarine chain carried by the Australian plate. The New Hebrides island arc The lithology and structure of collision zones at plate boundaries where a ridge or a seamount F k. n Correspondence to: J.-Y. Collot, ORSTOM, BP 48, 06230, Villefrauche/mer, France. .w ' 0040-1951/92/$05.00 Q 1992 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved ;s


Necrotizing hepatopancreatitis (NHP) is a severe bacterial disease affecting penaeid shrimp aquaculture. NHP is caused by the gram-negative, pleomorphic, obligately intracellular NHP-bacterium (NHPB) that targets the hepatopancreas tissue of shrimp. NHPB is classified as an α -proteobacterium and is related to members of the Rickettsia. First reported in 1985 in a Texas shrimp farm, NHP has since affected shrimp farming in several North and South American countries, causing mortalities up to 95% and devastating economic losses to aquaculture crops. Because NHPB remains unculturable through traditional in vitro methods, the development of an in vivo cultivation system of NHPB in susceptible, specific pathogen-free Litopenaeus vannamei has allowed advancement of experimental research, including NHPB population biology and transmission dynamics. Current research on NHPB is discussed relative to management strategies of NHP disease in a shrimp pond. Compared to other important shrimp pathogens, NHPB is geographically limited, like that of yellowhead virus (YHV), but in contrast to the global distribution of Taura syndrome virus (TSV) and white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). Additionally, NHPB is less virulent than TSV and WSSV, and the transmission dynamics of TSV and YHV are much more complicated than that of NHPB and WSSV in penaeid shrimp.


The impacts of the biofuel mandates in the EU and the US on agricultural markets and on the environment are assessed under three trade scenario assumptions using a global general equilibrium model. The study finds that while the biofuel mandates will result in important adjustments in global agricultural markets sector, it will generally be beneficial for the agricultural sector and farm producers, as well as on the environment in terms of reduced CO2 emissions. These benefits are further enhanced if the mandate policies are accompanied by liberalization in ethanol trade.


The ubiquitin ligase Cdc20-APC is required for proper synapse formation in the developing rat brain. The E3 ubiquitin ligase Cdc20-anaphase promoting complex (Cdc20-APC) has important roles in the control of the cell division cycle. Yang et al. now show that Cdc20-APC also appears to be required for proper formation of synapses by developing neurons in the rat brain. When Cdc20-APC was depleted from cultured neurons or in the brains of developing rat pups, synapse formation was inhibited. The brain-enriched transcription factor NeuroD2 was shown to be a possible target of Cdc20-APC–stimulated degradation. NeuroD2 may act by promoting synthesis of Complexin II, a protein that regulates synaptic vesicle fusion. Y. Yang, A. H. Kim, T. Yamada, B. Wu, P. M. Bilimoria, Y. Ikeuchi, N. de la Iglesia, J. Shen, A. Bonni, A Cdc20-APC ubiquitin signaling pathway regulates presynaptic differentiation. Science 326, 575–578 (2009). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Background & Aims: There are many stressful situations in nursing profession which could lead to the problems such as reduction of the quality and quantity of care, physical illness, fatigue and sleep disorders. This study was aimed to investigate job stress and its relationship with sleep quality and fatigue in nurses . Material & Methods: This cross-sectional, correlational study was conducted on 200 nurses recruited by stratified random sampling and working in hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences that. Data was collected by demographic sheet, Nursing Stress Scale (NSS), fatigue dimension of Checklist Individual Strength (CIS) and Pittsburgh sleep quality questionnaire (PSQI) and analyzed by descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and statistical tests (ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient) using SPSS-PC (v.16 ). Results: The results showed that 54%, 43% and 3% of nurses experienced severe, moderate and mild stress respectively and encountering with the patients' suffering and death was reported as the most important stressor. Nurses' job stress had also a statistically significant and direct correlation with sleep quality (P<0/004) and fatigue (P<0/001). Conclusion: The findings indicated that nurses' quality of sleep decreases and their fatigue increases with an increase in job stress. According to the results, managers can make appropriate decisions to reduce fatigue and sleep disorders in nurses.


This report has two main goals: (1) To present and compare the various procedures of risk assessment as they have been applied to liquefied energy gas (LEG) terminal siting, and in doing so to clarify the limits of knowledge and understanding of LEG risks. (2) To quantify and compare the risks at four LEG terminal sites, namely Eemshaven (Netherlands--NL), Mossmorran (United Kingdom-UK), Point Conception (USA), and Wilhelmshaven (Federal Republic of Germany--D).

The major findings of this report can be summarized as follows:

1. There is no unique concept of risk that is used throughout all the risk assessment reports examined in this study. Many of the important differences between the reports stem from the different risk concepts used. Some reports do not even define their underlying risk concepts. However, there is a concept of risk that involves several measures, each based on both probabilities of failures and consequences of failures, that is judged to be superior to other less comprehensive risk concepts.

2. The possible failures of the system, the probability of those failures and the estimation of their consequences to life and limb differ between the reports. Not all the differences can be explained by differences between the terminals and sites; some must be viewed as resulting from the limited knowledge and understanding of LEG risks. In this respect too little reference is made to remaining uncertainties in the estimation of risk in most reports.

3. Given the differences between the reports there is no relative tendency for each report individually to over- or underestimate the risk. Rather each report is more conservative on certain topics and less so on other topics as compared to the other reports. Thus no report can be singled out as producing a more conservative estimate of the risk (with respect to all parts of the total risk) than all the other reports.

4. On a relative risk scale it can be said that among the four sites Point Conception is the terminal with the lowest risk (because of very low population density), Mossmorran and Wilhelmshaven are the two terminals with the highest relative risk (because of high population density and more vessel traffic) and Eemshaven is in between. However, this does not imply anything at all about absolute risk.

5. Although risk is an important dimension of the decision to import LXG and to choose a specific site for the terminal, it should not be forgotten that other dimensions, like reliability, are important too. Any decision regarding LEG importation and terminal siting should involve comparisons with alternative options. As part of that process the risk of LEG should be compared with the risk of other options.

6. Whatever flaws the LEG risk assessments may have, they are clearly superior to less systematic ways to identify possible system weaknesses and inform the decision making process on the topic of risk.

This paper is the first part of a research report. The second part will specifically address the problem of giving guidelines to evaluate LEG terminal risk assessment reports and in particular to evaluate the risk assessment reports for the four terminal sites under study.


With the erudition that has distinguished his lifelong study of literary criticism, Wellek considers the trends, theories, and quarrels of recent years. He continues to insist that criticism--whether written by structuralists, phenomenologists, Marxists, or the New Critics--makes judgments and also takes into account "a common humanity that makes all art accessible to us." He also considers the relationship between literature and linguistics and the difficulty of constructing evolutionary models for literary history. Originally published in 1982. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.


Surveys were conducted with participants in the 2008 and 2009 Top Farmer Crop Workshops at Purdue University. These large-scale commercial farmers were asked about changes in the availability of forward pricing contracts and its impact on their marketing program. These producers were also asked about their perceptions of input costs and their management responses to higher input costs, including flexible cash rents. Although these large-scale producers have used a more active management style in response to increased volatility, there is a need for additional education and assistance in both marketing and input acquisition.


Introduction There are many problems associated with continuing medical education in developing countries. For clinicians in district hospitals the difficulties can be extreme, including having little access to relevant literature or contact with colleagues. "World Anaesthesia" addressed these problems in two key areas:1. to improve the level of anaesthetic training among non-specialists working in district hospitals2. the introduction and exposure to appropriate anaesthetic technology, capable of being understood, used, serviced and sustained at local level WA produces an educational journal "Update in Anaesthesia", targeted at anaesthetists in developing countries. It has been widely acclaimed by its recipients, who receive it free of charge. "Update" is a recognised teaching resource, and there have been requests for reprints. This is not viable, however the journals were readily converted to hypertext and Adobe PDF and are available from the WFSA web site (http://www.nda.ox.ac.uk/wfsa/). Permission has been obtained from anaesthetic journals, to reproduce review articles. The reviews are more than 2 years old and can be a priceless resource to those without access to a good library. Methods Zimbabwe has a level of development and infrastructure that enabled a feasibility study to be carried out on a distance learning project based on WA resources. There is little access to the WWW, except for those in urban areas with sufficient funds to be able to afford an ISP. The WA/WFSA web site and journal articles were put on a CD-ROM and a feasibility study was made to Zimbabwe in April 1999. A range of hospitals were visited, some having received well specified IBM PCs and printers from DANEDA. This gave the opportunity to observe potential recipients at first hand. Some of whom were first time users of a GUI environment. Results It was obvious that the materials were being provided in an acceptable format and were of great relevance. Hypertext format is more flexible, as it enable the user to both read on screen and produce hardcopy. PDF documents provides some consistency in hardcopy but the multiple columns makes them harder to read on screen. Discussion Lack of relevant clinical training materials is a major obstacle to improving health standards in many developing countries. CD-ROM's offer a cheap way of distributing resource and reference material. It is now possible to provide an "electronic library" covering a range of medical disciplines, for hospitals previously denied these resources. E-mail provides an opportunity to provide the essential personal contact with a tutor. The successful implementation of a distance learning project requires the integration of a number of strands, including clinical, technical and professional training and the creation of suitable systems. It also requires flexibility in order for it to be implemented, dependent of the available facilities and infrastructure in the target region.


Rainfall-derived inflow and infiltration (RDII) of urban sanitary sewer systems poses serious challenges for public health and management issues. Correct estimation of RDII is required for the maintenance of sewer infrastructure, such as sewer rehabilitation and replacement. This study aims to propose a suitable parameter for simulating RDII dynamics based on the variation patterns of wastewater quality indicators. Ten monitoring sewer sites ranging from residential areas to a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) were equipped for continuous measurements of water flow and four wastewater indicators, including ammonia (NH4+-N), phosphate (PO43−-P), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and conductivity. In order to identify the most representative indicator for modelling the RDII dynamics, simulations based on different wastewater indicators were compared. Sensitivities of different wastewater indicators to RDII estimations were evaluated using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test (KS test). The results revealed that conductivity was the most sensitive indicator for RDII simulations. Moreover, simulations of RDII based on conductivity have similar dynamics compared with that based on water flow, implying that conductivity could be considered as a suitable indicator for analyzing the RDII. Using the non-linear regression method for parameter optimization, RDII simulations based on conductivity gave promising results at all regional scales.


This review links practice, funding, and evidence for interventions for mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in humanitarian settings. We studied practice by reviewing reports of mental health and psychosocial support activities (2007–10); funding by analysis of the fi nancial tracking service and the creditor reporting system (2007–09); and interventions by systematic review and meta-analysis. In 160 reports, the fi ve most commonly reported activities were basic counselling for individuals (39%); facilitation of community support of vulnerable individuals (23%); provision of child-friendly spaces (21%); support of community-initiated social support (21%); and basic counselling for groups and families (20%). Most interventions took place and were funded outside national mental health and protection systems. 32 controlled studies of interventions were identifi ed, 13 of which were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that met the criteria for meta-analysis. Two studies showed promising eff ects for strengthening community and family supports. Psychosocial wellbeing was not included as an outcome in the meta-analysis, because its defi nition varied across studies. In adults with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), meta-analysis of seven RCTs showed benefi cial eff ects for several interventions (psychotherapy and psychosocial supports) compared with usual care or waiting list (standardised mean diff erence [SMD] –0·38, 95% CI –0·55 to –0·20). In children, meta-analysis of four RCTs failed to show an eff ect for symptoms of PTSD (–0·36, –0·83 to 0·10), but showed a benefi cial eff ect of interventions (group psychotherapy, school-based support, and other psychosocial support) for internalising symptoms (six RCTs; SMD –0·24, –0·40 to –0·09). Overall, research and evidence focuses on interventions that are infrequently implemented, whereas the most commonly used interventions have had little rigorous scrutiny.


Central Anatolia typically represents well-preserved geological features of a collision zone. This collision zone is characterized by some geological events occurred in the Anatolide passive margin of the Anatolide-Pontide collision along the Ankara Erzincan suture zone. This suture zone is commonly known to be formed by the pre-Maastrichtian northward subduction of the northern branch of Neo-Tethys beneath the Pontides which was constituting the southernmost tip of Eurasiain plate at that time. These geological occurrences are inverted metamorphism; ophiolitic slabs derived from main suture zone; syn-collisional and S/C ST type magmatism; post-collisional, high-K calcalkaline, hybrid and I/H LO type magmatism; post-collisional, within-plate, A-type alkaline magmatism; and post-collisional Central Anatolian basins. Among these geological occurrences, the ophiolitic slabs derived from Ankara-Erzincan suture zone; post-collisional, high-K calcalkaline, hybrid I/H LO type magmatism; and post-collisional, within-plate, A-type alkaline magmatism are observed as a good association in space and time in the Cicekdag region in Central Anatolia. The ophiolitic slab, named as Central Anatolian ophiolite, is composed of two mapable units which are called Cokelik volcanics and Akcakent gabbro. There are some gabbroic intrusions within the Cokelik volcanics in some localities, however, the major boundary between these two units is a thrust fault along which the Akcakent gabbro thrusted onto the Cokelik volcanics from east to west. The rocks of Akcakent gabbro possess a preserved ophitic texture and mineralogical composition which can lead one to call them uralite-gabbro. Some major and trace element geochemical data determine a depleted mantle and low-K tholeiitic characteristics in composition. The Halacli monzogranite, characterizing the post-collisional, high-K calcalkaline, hybrid I/H LO type magmatism, intrudes the Central Anatolian Ophiolite by forming some contact metamorphic hornfelses derived particularly from the Cokelik volcanics. The phaneritic-porphyritic texture is a recognizing feature in the rocks of Halacli monzogranite due particularly to existence of common K-feldspar megacrysts. The major rock forming minerals are composed of quartz+K-feldspar + plagioclase (An 32-44 )+hornblende + augite +biotite association. The Egrialan syenite, part of post-collisional, within-plate, A-type alkaline magmatism, is seen to intrude both of the Central Anatolian Ophiolite and Halacli monzogranite. The rocks of this syenitic body can be subdivided into medium to coarse-grained and medium-grained rocks on the basis of texture. The major rock forming minerals consist of orthoclase+plagioclase(An 32-40 ) ± nepheline + riebekite / arfvedsonite+aegirine+biotite±melanite garnet; as for the accessory constituents they are composed of sphene+apatite+xenotime+monazite+allanite+zircon+fluorite minerals. The Egrialan syenite includes some fluorite mineralizations within the syenitic body itself, and also at the contact with gabbros.


ABSTARCT Oral routes are most usually favored course for delivering drug. Most basic oral dosage structures are tablet and capsules. However, numerous patients, for example, geriatric, pediatric and dysphasic patients discover hard to swallow ordinary tablet and case. To conquer different issues identified with gulping, Fast dissolving Tablets (FDTs) were planned in mid nineteenth century and consequently further progression has prompted improvement of Fast Dissolving Oral Films (FDOFs). In the ongoing years, huge numbers of the drug bunches are zeroing in their examination on rapid dissolving innovation. Among the plenty of roads investigated for rapid drug delivering product, FDOFs innovation is increasing a lot of consideration. These are solid dosage structures, which crumble or dissolve inside 1 min when put in the mouth without drinking water or rumination. This innovation has been utilized for neighborhood activity just as rapid delivery products. The fast dissolving oral films are planned utilizing different Active drug fixings (API), film forming polymers, plasticizer, flavors, colors and sweeteners. At first FDOFs are up to breath strips, dessert and oral consideration markets. In any case, presently it turned into a novel and generally acknowledged innovation for delivering OTC and professionally prescribed medication as well.


This paper documents the patterns of and examines factors contributing to a gender test score gap in five test subjects in early seven grades of schooling using a recent and nationally representative panel of Australian children. Regression results indicate that females excel at writing and grammar at later grades whereas males outperform females in numeracy in all grades, whether at the mean or along the distribution of the test score. Our results also reveal a widening gender test score gap in writing and numeracy as the students advance their schooling. Regression and decomposition results also highlight the importance of controlling for pre-school cognitive skills in examining the gender test score gap.


China's southeast coastal areas have witnessed rapid growth in the last two decades, owing mostly to their economic and social attractions. In this paper, we chose Jimei, a coastal peri-urban district of Xiamen city on the southeast coast of China, as a study area to explore the district's growth dynamics, to predict future sprawl during the next decade and to provide a basis for urban planning. The SLEUTH urban growth model was calibrated against historical data derived from a series of Landsat TM 5 satellite images taken between 1992 and 2007. A Lee-Sallee value of 0.48 was calculated for the district, which is a satisfactory result compared with related studies. Five coefficients of urban growth, diffusion, spread, breed, slope resistance and road gravity had values of 25, 68, 86, 24 and 23, respectively, in 2007. The growth coefficients ( i.e ., urban character) can capture urban growth characteristics in Jimei district. The urban DNA revealed that, over the study period, urban growth in the district was dominated both by urbanization through establishment of new urban centers, and by expansion outward from existing urban centers. In contrast to interior cities, in which expansions are dramatically shaped by actual road patterns, urban expansion in the district was likely constrained by the nearby coastline. Future urban growth patterns were predicted to 2020 assuming three different development scenarios. The first scenario simulated a continuation of historical urban growth without changing current conditions. The second scenario projected managed growth in which urban growth is limited by a layer with areas excluded from urbanization, which is the future development plan for Jimei district and Xiamen city. The third scenario depicted a growth with maximum protection in which growth was allowed to continue, similar to the second scenario, but with lower diffusion and spread coefficients applied to the growth pattern. The third scenario demonstrated that valuable land could be saved, which is the most desirable outcome for Jimei urban development. The study showed that SLEUTH can be an extremely useful tool for coastal city managers to explore the likely outcomes of their city development plans.


Abstract.
 The magnitude of differentiation in vocal signals examined in a phylogenetic context has helped uncover cryptic diversity in subsocine passerines such as the antbirds (Thamnophilidae). On the basis of variation in 14 acoustic traits of loudsongs and a phylogenetic hypothesis inferred from a mitochondrial gene tree, we investigated species limits in a group of trans-Andean Myrmeciza antbirds with a convoluted taxonomic history (M. l. laemosticta, M. l. palliata, M. nigricauda, and M. berlepschi). Diagnostic differences in three vocal traits suggest that the two subspecies of the Dull-mantled Antbird (M. l. laemosticta and M. l. palliata) should be treated as distinct species. We present evidence that only two diagnosable vocal characters may be sufficient for two populations to be considered distinct species in this group. The vocal results are consistent with the molecular phylogenetic analysis, which revealed a long independent history of isolation of M. l. laemosticta from M. l. palliata, roughly congruent with the divergence observed between species currently recognized in this assemblage. We propose elevating the Magdalena Antbird (M. palliata) to species rank and thus that four species be recognized in the M. laemosticta complex.


The flexible duct is a flexible structure of building utility component for electricity and
telephone cable network. This component is series of straight form duct module and junction
with a flexible connector system. Duct alignment, both vertical and horizontal, is able to be
adjust to limited space following the underground situation and its base position. The 1
st
batch of research grant has resulted an optimum mix design of self compacting concrete
(SCC) combined with waste plastic fibre. Self compacting concrete is a modified viscous
concrete that allow it to flow by its self weight in concrete framework without vibrator. The
concrete mix design per one meter cubic concrete production comprises 400 kg Cement
Portland, 1397 kg of aggregate with 40% of coarse aggregate and 60 % of fine aggregate,
0.5 % of plastic fibre, 80 kg of fly ash, 3,2 kg of superplasticizer (viscocrete) with 0.40 of
water cement ratio. On fresh concrete test the SCC with plastic fibre recorded 720 mm
diameter of slump flow, 3 second of t
500, 8 second of V-funnel pouring time, 5 second of t
200,
12 second of t
400
and 0,96 of, self-leveling ratio (h
2
/h1) by L-Box , perfect or 1 self-leveling
ratio (h
2
/h1
) by U-box test. On hardened concrete properties this mixture recorded 33 MPa
of compressive strength, 32711 MPa of elastic modulus. Early age shrinkage showed
shrinkage delay time from t
0= 146 minutes to 194 minutes, 47 % the cumulative crack length
reduction and 53% of crack width reduction comparedto SCC without fibre. This SCC mix
design is referred for mixing the row material of the flexible duct. The second batch of this
research grant aims to design cable duct module, module junction and its connector device.
The optimum dimension is determined from the criteria of hardened concrete surface
appearance, compact appearance index, production cost and simplicity in installation. The
optimum inter-straight module and the junction-module connecting system are chosen from
three alternatives of connecting systems, those arebolt connector, metal bar connector and
concrete connector. The result indicated that the optimum dimension of straight module is
600 mm length, 200 mm height, 200 mm width and 25 mm to 45 mm of the average thickness.
There are four possibilities of connector system for the straight and junction module. The
concrete simple connector was the easy system for installing and dismantling and a bit lower
cost production, however it is less in bond connector strength. Meanwhile the connector
system that combined with steel bolt component was quite strong in connecting the duct
module, however its cost production was higher and need longer time for installation and
dismantling.


A steel galvanizing vat measuring 3 x 1.2 x 1.2 m (10 x 4 x 4 ft) and made of 19 mm thick carbon steel plate (ASTM A285, grade B)) at a shipbuilding and ship-repair facility failed after only three months of service. To verify suspected failure cause, two T joints were made in 12.5 mm thick ASTM A285, grade B, steel plate. One joint was welded using the semiautomatic submerged arc process with one pass on each side. A second joint was welded manually by the shielded metal arc process using E6010 welding rod and four passes on each side. The silicon content of the shielded metal arc weld was 0.54%, whereas that of the submerged arc weld was 0.86%. After being weighed, the specimens were submerged in molten zinc for 850 h. Analysis (visual inspection, chemical analysis, 100x 2% nital-etched micrographs) supported the conclusions that the vat failed due to molten-zinc corrosion along elongated ferrite bands, possibly because silicon was dissolved in the ferrite and thus made it more susceptible to attack by the molten zinc. Recommendations included rewelding the vat using the manual shielded metal arc process with at least four passes on each side.


When a new mountain belt is generated by tectonics, the denudation of the mountain front may cause the development of alluvial fans at its base. The retreat of the mountain front by denudation processes and a widening of the drainage network in the source area create adjacent alluvial-fan conglomerates with an inverted vertical clast distribution. This vertical clast distribution represents a normal unroofing sequence. Renewed uplift of a previous inverted vertical clast distribution can produce a reverse unroofing sequence. If continued shortening occurs in the same area, a rejuvenation of the source area and basin margin may produce a new generation of clasts from the source area and a partial or total reworking of previously deposited conglomerates to supply second-generation clasts. If this type of reworking process is repeated as fault uplift steps basinward, several new inverted and stratigraphic vertical clast distributions may arise.


'...a masterpiece...long overdue' - Professor Judy Sebba, University of Sussex and member of 2008 RAE panel for Education; ;This is an exceptional book - and one that should be essential reading for anyone seriously thinking about educational practice - for two reasons. First, it is one of the few books on thinking about education which is written with the wit and humour which makes compulsive reading. Second, the approach to theory (or thinking systematically, philosophically and evidentially) is through the author's own attempt to understand what appears to many as a mystery. In this personal journey, the author provides a comprehensive and critical review of different theoretical positions' - Professor Richard Pring, University of Oxford. What is the role of theory in education? Does the pursuit of theory in education always lead to improvements in practice? What is the alternative to theory? Theory holds a central place in educational inquiry: tutors urge students to embed their work in it; funding bodies demand that research proposals be located in. But in an important new analysis, Gary Thomas suggests that the pursuit of theory in education is the pursuit of a chimera. This compelling book examines what theory means for both student and researcher and questions whether the confidence in educational theory is justified. It begins by looking at what theory is, and what use it has in education and examines some theoretically significant influences on educational thought and practice in the twentieth century. Challenging the idea that the practice of education should be based on theory, the author offers alternative, simpler frameworks for conducting inquiry, without the constraints of existing theory, contending that it is time for a discussion about how values, evidence and ideas can more straightforwardly guide educational practice. "Education and Theory" is stimulating reading for academics, researchers, teachers, and students of education.


Abstract. The intact polar lipid (IPL) composition of phytoplankton is plastic and dependent on environmental factors. Previous studies have shown that phytoplankton under low phosphorus (P) availability substitutes phosphatidylglycerols (PGs) with sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerols (SQDGs) and digalactosyldiacylglycerols (DGDGs). However, these studies focused merely on P depletion, while phytoplankton in the natural environment often experience P limitation whereby the strength depends on the supply rate of the limiting nutrient. Here we report on the IPL composition of axenic cultures of the picophotoeukaryote Micromonas pusilla under different degrees of P limitation, i.e., P-controlled chemostats at 97 and 32 % of the maximum growth rate, and P starvation (obtained by stopping P supply to these chemostats). P-controlled cultures were also grown at elevated partial carbon dioxide pressure (pCO2) to mimic a future scenario of strengthened vertical stratification in combination with ocean acidification. Additionally, we tested the influence of viral infection for this readily infected phytoplankton host species. Results show that both SQDG : PG and DGDG : PG ratios increased with enhanced P limitation. Lipid composition was, however, not affected by enhanced (750 vs. 370 µatm) pCO2. In the P-starved virally infected cells the increase in SQDG : PG and DGDG : PG ratios was lower, whereby the extent depended on the growth rate of the host cultures before infection. The lipid membrane of the virus MpV-08T itself lacked some IPLs (e.g., monogalactosyldiacylglycerols; MGDGs) in comparison with its host. This study demonstrates that, besides P concentration, also the P supply rate, viral infection and even the history of the P supply rate can affect phytoplankton lipid composition (i.e., the non-phospholipid : phospholipid ratio), with possible consequences for the nutritional quality of phytoplankton.


This paper is a first attempt at designing a procedure to derive a domain-specific lexicon (both single words and multiword expressions) from an opinion corpus of specialized language. We use a corpus of reviews of running shoes as case study, compiled for this particular purpose. The main goal is to obtain a first approximation to the task of automatically extracting domain-specific expressions of sentiment to be used by our sentiment analysis software, Lingmotif.


The Open Access (OA) Movement has been praised by proponents as a way to reverse the unsustainability of traditional scholarly publishing economic models and to aid in the equalization of the flow of information between industrialized and less industrialized nations. The OA Movement is thus also seen as a means of helping achieve both Articles 19 and 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which jointly articulate the basic human rights to seek, receive and impart information, to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts, and to share in scientific advancement. Historically however, library and information development in much of colonial Sub-Saharan Africa was influenced by hegemonic structures that did not promote these ideals. This exploratory study uses data gathered during a forty day period to compare the OA journal usage of researchers in African countries with that of researchers in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Indexing and abstracting of African scholarly journals is also a key necessity if a more even flow of information from Southern to Northern countries is to be achieved and if the journals themselves are to be truly accessible to other scholars. Therefore, the study also examines the accessibility of indexing and abstracting coverage of African scholarly OA journals and compares the data with that of non-OA journals from the continent. I examine the relationship between current African OA usage and content production and the cultural rights expressed in Article 27 of the UDHR. The study data suggests that, in contrast to Latin American and Caribbean countries, African researchers are being less active consumers and more passive contributors to the OA model. OA is thus not yet contributing significantly to the reversal of North to South information flows in the African context nor is it yet making a significant impact on achieving the rights guaranteed in Articles 19 and 27 of the UDHR. The results also indicate that African OA publications are more accessible in the abstracting and indexing services than non-OA African publications, so an increased shift from non-OA to OA publications in African scholarly publishing may contribute to improving information flow reversal in the future.


This Journal and the Public Library of Science (PLoS) at large are standard bearers of the full potential offered through open access publication, but what of you, the reader? For most of you, open access may imply free access to read the journals, but nothing more. There is a far greater potential, but, up to now, little to point to that highlights its tangible benefits. We would argue that, as yet, the full promise of open access has not been realized. There are few persistent applications that collectively use the full on-line corpus, which for the biosciences at least is maintained in PubMed Central (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/). In short, there are no "killer apps." Since this readership, beyond any other, would seem to have the ability to change this situation at least in the biosciences, we are issuing a call to action.


Coupled chemistry-climate model simulations covering the recent past and continuing throughout the 21st century have been completed with a range of different models. Common forcings are used for the halogen amounts and greenhouse gas concentrations, as expected under the Montreal Protocol (with amendments) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change A1b Scenario. The simulations of the Antarctic ozone hole are compared using commonly used diagnostics: the minimum ozone, the maximum area of ozone below 220 DU, and the ozone mass deficit below 220 DU. Despite the fact that the processes responsible for ozone depletion are reasonably well understood, a wide range of results is obtained. Comparisons with observations indicate that one of the reasons for the model underprediction in ozone hole area is the tendency for models to underpredict, by up to 35%, the area of low temperatures responsible for polar stratospheric cloud formation. Models also typically have species gradients that are too weak at the edge of the polar vortex, suggesting that there is too much mixing of air across the vortex edge. Other models show a high bias in total column ozone which restricts the size of the ozone hole (defined by a 220 DU threshold). The results of those models which agree best with observations are examined in more detail. For several models the ozone hole does not disappear this century but a small ozone hole of up to three million square kilometers continues to occur in most springs even after 2070.


This thesis sets out to reassess medieval moated sites in England in light of up-to-date information, and to investigate a number of key areas: where moated sites were located, why they were dug, who had them dug, and their relationship with their localities. Variations between sites and whether it is possible to make overriding conclusions about moated sites are also considered. A new dataset of moated sites was created for this thesis, to take into account information not used in previous studies. This new dataset of 8452 sites has been used to create a new distribution map of moated sites in England. The thesis explores the implications of this, and the reasons behind the distribution, including the influences of topography and geology, areas of Forest Law, settlement patterns, and social emulation. A new chronology of the construction of moated sites has been created from this new dataset. This chronology has been used to look at how the distribution of moated sites may have changed over time, and who was responsible for the moats dug at different periods. The study then questions whether there is evidence for a single motivation for the use of moats or whether there were multiple influences, and how this may vary from site to site. As well as motivations associated with defence and status, those examined included factors such as the use of moats as fishponds. This study concludes that there is no simple explanation for the presence of a moat at a site. In addition moated sites are considered in relation to the particular social groups responsible for their creation. The evidence is examined to see whether moats were seen as particularly desirable or important for one of these groups, and where there are and are not correlations between size and date, and the social group the moated sites are associated with. Finally, the complex relationship between medieval moated sites and their local landscapes is studied. This includes the location of moats in relation to features contemporary to and older than them, high status features such as parks, and the use of a moat to separate the 'island' from the immediate locality. The continued variety between sites is considered in these contexts. The study concludes that moated sites are a highly varied and complex group. This means that there is no one set of rules and explanations that apply to all moated sites, and no simple explanation to why one site was moated while a similar site was not.


In north-western North America, the so-called divergence problem (DP) is expressed in tree ring width (RW) as an unstable temperature signal in recent decades. Maximum latewood density (MXD), from the same region, shows minimal evidence of DP. While MXD is a superior proxy for summer temperatures, there are very few long MXD records from North America. Latewood blue intensity (LWB) measures similar wood properties as MXD, expresses a similar climate response, is much cheaper to generate and thereby could provide the means to profoundly expand the extant network of temperature sensitive tree-ring (TR) chronologies in North America. In this study, LWB is measured from 17 white spruce sites (Picea glauca) in south-western Yukon to test whether LWB is immune to the temporal calibration instabilities observed in RW. A number of detrending methodologies are examined. The strongest calibration results for both RW and LWB are consistently returned using age-dependent spline (ADS) detrending within the signal-free (SF) framework. RW data calibrate best with June–July maximum temperatures (Tmax), explaining up to 28% variance, but all models fail validation and residual analysis. In comparison, LWB calibrates strongly (explaining 43–51% of May–August Tmax) and validates well. The reconstruction extends to 1337 CE, but uncertainties increase substantially before the early 17th century because of low replication. RW-, MXD- and LWB-based summer temperature reconstructions from the Gulf of Alaska, the Wrangell Mountains and Northern Alaska display good agreement at multi-decadal and higher frequencies, but the Yukon LWB reconstruction appears potentially limited in its expression of centennial-scale variation. While LWB improves dendroclimatic calibration, future work must focus on suitably preserved sub-fossil material to increase replication prior to 1650 CE.


The inequality implications of nature exploitation, utilitarian representations of nature and processes of (global) environmental change are substantial. In Latin America social inequalities are historically rooted in unequal allocation systems of land rights or mining rents. Current investments in natural resources or elements thereof tend to generate new or reinforce existing patterns of inequality. Despite these evidences and despite the increasing recognition of the social dimensions of environmental change, linking the analysis of social inequalities with (global) environmental change, politics and forms of nature appropriation and production is still incipient. Based on first empirical findings from the Research Network on Interdependent Inequalities in Latin America (desiguALdes.net) the aim of this paper is to draw conclusions on how inequalities can be researched through the lens of societal nature relations. The paper reveals ways to theoretically conceptualize and analytically understand social inequalities as historically rooted expressions of contingent spatio-temporal societal nature relations, taking different research fields and social theories as points of departure. The key fields addressed are environmental justice, political ecology and social and cultural anthropology. In addition, core analytical categories such as time, space and physical materiality are introduced in order to show how they operate in empirical analysis. The paper concludes with a summary of the main findings.


BARLOG, P., W. GRZEBISZ, K. PEPLINSKI and W. SZCZEPANIAK, 2013. Sugar beet response to balanced nitrogen fertilization with phosphorus and potassium. Part I. Dynamics of beet yield development. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 19: 1311-1318 The objective of the conducted study was to determine the effect of various levels of P, K under the background of constant N rate on dynamics of sugar beet root yield. The field trial, arranged as a factorial design, was consisted of eight treatments: N 0 P 0 K 0 ; N 0 P 1 K 1 ; N 1 P 0 K 1 ; N 1 P 1 K 0 ; N 1 P 0.25 K 0.25 ; N 1 P 0.5 K 1 ; N 1 P 1 K 1 and N 1 P 1 K 1 +Ca; where 1 is recommended level of N, P, K application and Ca means that phosphorus applied as partially acidulated phosphoric rock (PAPR). The in-season yield sampling was conducted at 92, 113, 134, 155 and 175 th day after sowing. The highest degree of yield potential realization revealed in the year with favourable weather conditions. The highest yield was harvested on the plot fertilized with N 1 P 1 K 1 +Ca. In years with extended drought, sugar beet achieved the maximum yield in the treatment N 1 P 0.25 K 0.25 . Phosphorus revealed as the key yield forming factors, i.e., limiting N unit productivity. The maximum productivity of N occurred in treatments with full P rate, especially when P fertilizer was applied as the PAPR. However, phosphorus yield forming action depended on weather conditions in the mead-season and P fertilizer rate. The first factor, affecting N and K supply to sugar beet during the mead-season, was responsible for the size of the beetroot, considered as the sugar storage. Any drought, negatively impacting its size, in turn decreases P yield forming action, which appears in the late-season. The maximal exploitation of sugar beet yielding potential is, therefore, possible provided water is not a factor limiting sugar beet growth in the mead-season and P in late-season. Nevertheless, in farming practice, the lack of favourable growth conditions should not be a reason for development a sugar beet fertilizing strategy, based on reduced P and K rates.


Abstract It has recently been argued that the philosophical study of professional history constitutes a subfield of epistemology. Consequently, the philosophy of history is cast as only one particular species of the general study of the relationship between evidence and theory in scientific practice. This view is based upon an absolute separation between substantive and critical philosophy of history. By such a separation, substantive philosophy of history is dismissed as speculative metaphysics, while critical philosophy of history is vindicated as a respectable branch of epistemology. The attempt to delineate a strictly epistemological realm of history was a central part of the programme for analytically styled philosophy of history in the 1950–1970s era. This programme has been resurrected by contemporary empiricist trends. In this essay, I will argue against the basic ideas of this programme through a reassessment of Hayden White's so-called narrativist philosophy of history. As I will show, criticizing the distinction between metaphysics and epistemology in history is an essential and important feature of White's contribution to the philosophy of history. This feature has, I claim, been overshadowed by formalist interpretations of White's 'narrativism'. In conclusion, I argue that White's concept of prefiguration will fundamentally question the viability of current attempts to develop a purely epistemological philosophy of history.


We have used high resolution N-body simulations to investigate the internal properties of Cold Dark Matter (CDM) halos with virial masses of M(_200) ~ 10(^10) M(_o) at z = 0, comparable to those of dwarf galaxy halos, forming in the ACDM cosmology. In particular, we have focused on providing accurate constraints on the mass distribution in these objects at ~ 1% of the virial radius, r(_200)-. After a brief introduction (chapter 1), the first part of this thesis is concerned with establishing the conditions under which the distribution of mass in simulated CDM halos is unaffected by finite numerical resolution. In chapter 2, we present results from a comprehensive set of simulations of a single galaxy mass halo in which numerical parameters have been varied systematically in order to determine their impact on the spherically averaged mass profile. Based on these results, we have defined a set of convergence criteria that allow us to identify the radial extent over which the spherically averaged circular velocity profile can be considered reliably resolved to better than 10%. In chapter 3, we have examined the abundance of substructure found in three sets of "converged" simulations, and quantified the effect of increasing mass resolution on the number of resolved subhalos of a given mass. The second part of this thesis is concerned with the detailed analysis of the internal structure and kinematics of the simulated dwarf galaxy halos in our sample. In chapter 4, we analyse the structure and kinematics of the dwarfs for possible redshift dependence, and investigate whether these halos could sustain a gaseous disk. In chapter 5, we concentrate on mass dependent trends by performing a detailed comparison with galaxy and cluster mass halos. Finally, chapter 6 provides a summary of the main findings of this work and highlights aspects that may prove rewarding for further study.


Abstract Parkour is both a leisure practice and a method of navigating the objects and spaces of urban environments. Leisure practices are increasingly being acknowledged as contested political arenas and being theorised as resistance. Constraints have traditionally been characterised as impeding participation in a leisure practice. Recent research has, however, suggested a more situational understanding that seeks to account for the experience of leisure constraints and their negotiation. Issues of power and resistance must therefore be included within discussions of the organisation of, and access to, leisure settings and the complex processes through which individuals negotiate constraints. This paper draws upon original empirical research to explore leisure constraints within the context of post‐structural theorisations of power, resistance, and the organisation of public space. Multi‐method qualitative research was conducted with an international sample of participants and texts comprising semi‐structured interviews and textual and discursive analysis of media articles and Website material. Key findings relate to the spatial‐cognitive processes through which participants reinterpret material‐spatial restrictions upon public behaviour to facilitate unscripted leisure practice and creative play. A significant conclusion is reached, that the spontaneous fun and creativity characteristic of Parkour is not achieved by the removal of constraint, but by the reinterpretation and utilisation of constraints — by empowering the individual to wrest (admittedly partial and momentary) control of the power relations embedded within public urban spaces.


At ICSE 2010, the Code Bubbles team from Brown University and the Code Canvas team from Microsoft Research presented similar ideas for new user experiences for an integrated development environment. Since then, the two teams formed a collaboration, along with the Microsoft Visual Studio team, to release Debugger Canvas, an industrial version of the Code Bubbles paradigm. With Debugger Canvas, a programmer debugs her code as a collection of code bubbles, annotated with call paths and variable values, on a two-dimensional pan-and-zoom surface. In this experience report, we describe new user interface ideas, describe the rationale behind our design choices, evaluate the performance overhead of the new design, and provide user feedback based on lab participants, post-release usage data, and a user survey and interviews. We conclude that the code bubbles paradigm does scale to existing customer code bases, is best implemented as a mode in the existing user experience rather than a replacement, and is most useful when the user has a long or complex call paths, a large or unfamiliar code base, or complex control patterns, like factories or dynamic linking.


The first of Eileen Chang's novels to be written in English, "The Rice-Sprout Song" portrays the horror and absurdity that the land-reform movement brings to a southern village in China during the early 1950s. Contrary to the hopes of the peasants in this story, the redistribution of land does not mean an end to hunger. Man-made and natural disasters bring about the threat of famine, while China's involvement in the Korean War further deepens the peasants' misery. Chang's chilling depiction of the peasants' desperate attempts to survive both the impending famine and government abuse makes for spellbinding reading. Her critique of communism rewrites the land-reform discourse at the same time it lays bare the volatile relations between politics and literature.


Background: The extent to which omega-3 fatty acid status is related to risk for death from any cause and for incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains controversial. Objective: To examine these associations in the Framingham Heart Study. Design: Prospective and observational. Setting: Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort. Measurements: The exposure marker was red blood cell levels of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids (the Omega-3 Index) measured at baseline. Outcomes included mortality (total, CVD, cancer, and other) and total CVD events in participants free of CVD at baseline. Follow-up was for a median of 7.3 years. Cox proportional hazards models were adjusted for 18 variables (demographic, clinical status, therapeutic, and CVD risk factors). Results: Among the 2500 participants (mean age 66 years, 54% women), there were 350 deaths (58 from CVD, 146 from cancer, 128 from other known causes, and 18 from unknown causes). There were 245 CVD events. In multivariable-adjusted analyses, a higher Omega-3 Index was associated with significantly lower risks (P-values for trends across quintiles) for total mortality (P = .02), for non-CVD and non-cancer mortality (P = .009), and for total CVD events (P = .008). Those in the highest (>6.8%) compared to those in the lowest Omega-3 Index quintiles (<4.2%) had a 34% lower risk for death from any cause and 39% lower risk for incident CVD. These associations were generally stronger for docosahexaenoic acid than for eicosapentaenoic acid. When total cholesterol was compared with the Omega-3 Index in the same models, the latter was significantly related with these outcomes, but the former was not. Limitations: Relatively short follow-up time and one-time exposure assessment. Conclusions: A higher Omega-3 Index was associated with reduced risk of both CVD and all-cause mortality.


The current paper, a review of literature, examines the association between the Economic Value Added (EVA) and the firm decision making and performance, and the interplay between the EVA and various dynamics of agency costs. The choice of both objectives is motivated by the inability of traditional accounting performance measures to reflect true financial health of firms and mitigate agency costs inflicted upon firms. The current paper is a critique of the traditional firm performance measures for their over-dependence on historic accounting data, which is subject to manipulation and has questionable conceptual credentials. The paper highlights that the EVA, one amongst various 'Value Based Management' (VBM) measures, enables managers, investors, and analysts to adopt futuristic approach, make comprehensive assessment of their firms, and take objective decisions. The essence of the EVA is that true profit does not arise merely by paying debt cost to firms' debtholders but only when shareholders are also rewarded with a fair return on their investment. The EVA raises the bar of corporate performance, which adds value to the firm, and determines performance based executive pay; consequently, mitigating agency costs. Nonetheless, several institutional factors restrict applicability of the EVA.


Interest in the interaction of humans and their environment has spawned a number of books on the environmental history of the world. Radkau's Nature and Power represents a valuable addition to this literature. Radkau's ultimate objective is to determine the sustainability of the world's past societies in an ecological, an economic, and a cultural context. Admittedly, this is an ambitious goal that requires a familiarity with a number of disparate disciplines. Radkau starts with an examination of the subsistence hunting and agricultural societies of the prehistoric period. He then moves to the woodand hydraulicor irrigation-based societies of the classical period, the expansive European societies of the colonial era, and the more complex societies of the Industrial Revolution and the era of globalization. His grasp of the ecology, the institutions, and the cultural traditions of different regions and periods makes this book a solid and exhaustive interdisciplinary contribution to the literature on the topic. Radkau argues that ecology must join with social and political processes as an explanation for historical events. All of them are important. Radkau is well known for his study of the eighteenth-century wood crisis in central Europe.1 He stated that the wood crisis was more apparent than real; local German principalities used it to expand their regulatory power and income. Power (macht) trumped nature as the major explanatory variable. On the positive side, he noted that the wood crisis gave rise to the arst forestry schools in the world and ultimately to modern sustainable forestry. Most environmental narratives fall into one of two categories: Society either destroys its environment or manages to survive by transforming its environment. Although Radkau has strong opinions on certain topics, he always presents both sides of the issue of whether a particular practice was sustainable. His conclusions, however, are often tentative, alled with caveats, or limited to a speciac time or place. Readers with a bias toward one side of an issue or a predilection for a simple storyline will be disappointed. Radkau notes that solutions to resource-related issues often generated new, unexpected environmental problems—for example, the use of coal and nuclear power as energy sources and the use of inorganic chemicals as fertilizers. The book takes many unexpected twists and turns. It is not easy to read. An ecologist (like me) might prefer that more attention had been given to the pitfalls and the reliability of the scientiac methodology. To what degree, for instance, can one determine the factors responsible for the fall of the classical Maya civilization on the basis of paleoecological Reviews


This book explores one of the most significant trends in the evolution of global tax systems by asking how, within less than half a century, the value-added tax (VAT) has risen from relative obscurity to become one of the world's most dominant revenue instruments. Despite its significance, very little is known about why so many countries have adopted the VAT and, in particular, why different countries adopt the types of VAT that they do. The popular mythology provides that the merits of the VAT have underpinned its global spread; however, this book contends that much scholarship on the VAT confuses the question of why the VAT has risen to dominance with the issue of what makes a good VAT. This book combines policy and legal analysis to propose a new way of understanding the rise of this important revenue instrument so as to better reflect the realities of the VATs that are actually implemented.


This study explored the educational benefit and value of blogging by postgraduate nursing students registered for Masters in Nursing Education in order to become professional nurse educators. The researcher assumed that blogging could improve collaborative learning among postgraduate students and enhance reflective practice skills. Critical reflection on experiences is envisaged to allow lecturers and students to develop a deeper understanding of themselves. Salmon's five-stage model of online learning was used as it can provide valuable insight into how blogs can be utilised in online learning. The whole class was trained to set up group blogs by colleagues from the Centre for Innovative Educational and Communication Technologies at the university. Within their blogs they engaged with issues relating to curriculum development, also giving own reflections on these issues. Students were assessed on how well they reflected and commented on specific topics, concepts and principles. The students were initially challenged by this activity and seemed frustrated by low levels of engagement with colleagues within their blogs. The facilitator noticed adequate engagement in two of the three group blogs, where the students exchanged thoughts and ideas and shared experiences. On reflection, they expressed very positive attitudes toward use of blogs as a platform to reflect on their learning and teaching. The blog of the third group of students was dormant, with very limited activity. It is important that facilitators carefully select appropriate technological tools or strategies for teaching and learning, and do not assume that students will be comfortable with the technology even after training and preparation.


This paper models the real investment and financial portfolio decisions of a regulated utility, selling power at fixed prices to consumers and buying power in an unregulated spot market. Consumer demand is stochastic and subject to large shocks. Utilities can either meet consumers' demand by buying power on the spot market or by adding capacity. The risk associated with a surge in consumer demand can be hedged by trading in a financial derivatives market. Solving for the optimal policy for an individual utility, we show that, as power shortfalls increase, the optimal hedge position is a nonlinear mixture of price risk and quantity risk hedging. We then examine the aggregate impact of these hedging positions and show that the spot price process shifts from a marginal-cost-based regime to a regime based on aggregate financial capacity of the power industry. Although individual utilities, acting as price takers, can lower their expected power shortfalls by hedging with derivatives, derivative demand in the aggregate increases spot price volatility when power default occurs, and may thus increase the number of power defaults. At the same time, punitive regulatory penalties for power defaults may actually increase aggregate defaults by encouraging utilities to hedge outage risks through derivative markets rather than through increased capacity.


WordPress is an open-source personal publishing platform that is easy to use, flexible, and highly customizable. Although used primarily for publishing blogs, WordPress can easily be used to create and maintain complete Web sites.Taking the average blogger further than blogspot can, WordPress allows bloggers to create more complicated sites with their open-source technology, rather than blogger which is limited by HTML changes to their templates.This easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide shows you how to install, use, and customize WordPress to get the most from the software. Includes tips that explain why certain techniques are better than others, how to watch for potential problems, and where readers can find more information.


This paper analyses the demographic and institutional influences underlying public spending on education, as well as the consequences for average educational attainment and economic growth. The issues are topical given, on one hand, EU objectives for increased investment in human resources and, on the other, increasing concerns about the sustainability of public finances, particularly in view of ageing populations. The paper presents methodologies for projecting educational attainment and public expenditure on education. Tentative numerical results suggest that the growth of average educational attainment is likely to slow slightly, compared to recent decades. Nevertheless, education is set to continue making a substantial contribution to economic growth in the EU as a whole, though the impact varies widely among Member States. As regards public expenditure, although demographic trends mean a reduction in the potential number of students, this is offset by two factors: increasing enrolment rates at upper-secondary and tertiary level (projected taking into consideration either past developments in enrolment or the expected future evolution of labour force); and increasing expenditure per student (projected on the basis of recent trends). Thus, few savings - if any - are expected from reductions in expenditure on education due to changes in the demographic structure.


Recent years have witnessed the rise of new media channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Google, and Twitter, which enable customers to take a more active role as market players and reach (and be reached by) almost everyone anywhere and anytime. These new media threaten long established business models and corporate strategies, but also provide ample opportunities for growth through new adaptive strategies. This paper introduces a new ''pinball'' framework of new media's impact on relationships with customers and identifies key new media phenomena which companies should take into account when managing their relationships with customers in the new media universe. For each phenomenon, we identify challenges for researchers and managers which relate to (a) the understanding of consumer behavior, (b) the use of new media to successfully manage customer interactions, and (c) the effective measurement of customers' activities and outcomes.


Data entry is a core computing activity performed by office workers every day. Prior research on this topic has tended to study data entry in controlled lab environments. In this paper, we interviewed nine financial administrators from two large universities to learn about their practices for conducting data entry work. We found that financial information often has to be retrieved from multiple electronic and paper sources, and involves briefly keeping items in memory when switching between sources. Interviewees reported that they batched a lot of data entry tasks into a single session to complete the work quickly, and mitigated the risk of data entry errors by time-consuming practices of double-checking. However, prior lab studies suggest that double-checking is a poor strategy as it takes time and people are poor at spotting errors. This work has implications for how future data entry research should be conducted.


A periodically poled magnesium oxide-doped lithium niobate (5 mol% MgO:PPLN) intracavity optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a diode-pumped Q-switched Nd:YLF laser operating at 1.047 microns is reported. A broad continuous tunable middle-infrared (mid-IR) spectrum of 2.69-4.07 microns is obtained by changing the crystal grating periods from 28.5 to 31.5 microns. When the diode pump power is 8 W, the intracavity OPO operating at a repetition rate of 10 kHz produces average output power of 0.42 W, corresponding to conversion efficiency of 5.2% from the laser diode pump to OPO idler output.


Scholarly work has placed political discussion at the center of a healthier democracy. However, this might not always be the case considering the vast amount of different discussion attributes and their effects. This study extends existing research on the influence of different discussion attributes (cognitive elaboration, network size, exposure to disagreement, and online/offline discussion) on political attitude change. To do so, we introduce the concept of obstinate partisanship and explore different discussion attributes as its antecedents. Obstinate partisans remain loyal to their political party irrespective of its performance, just as staunch sports fans do with their team. Results from a survey conducted in three democracies show that discussion network size, discussion disagreement, and offline discussion are all negative predictors of obstinate partisanship. Conversely, online discussion fosters this negative orientation. We finally examine the moderating role of discussion disagreement and network size on some of these relationships.


Insulin may serve as a key causal agent which regulates fat accumulation in the body. Here we assessed the causal relationship between fasting insulin and adiposity using publicly-available results from two large-scale genome-wide association studies for body mass index and fasting insulin levels in a two-sample, bidirectional Mendelian Randomized approach. This approach is only valid on the condition that the two instruments are independent of one another. In analysis excluding overlapping loci, there was an increase of 0.20 (0.17, 0.23) log pmol/L fasting insulin per SD increase in BMI (P= 2.80 x 10−36), while there was a null effect of fasting insulin on BMI, with a 0.01 (−0.39, 0.38) SD decrease in BMI per log pmol/L increase in fasting insulin (P= 0.98). Furthermore, a high degree of heterogeneity in the causal estimates was obtained from the insulin-related variants, which may be attributed to varying mechanisms of action of the insulin-associated variants. Results were largely consistent when an Egger regression technique and weighted median and mode estimators were applied. Findings suggest that the positive correlation between adiposity and fasting insulin levels are at least in part explained by the causal effect of adiposity on increasing insulin, rather than vice versa.


SYNTHESIS OF OPTIMAL ARRAYS FOR MIMO AND DIVERSITY SYSTEMS Britton T. Quist Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Master of Science This thesis proposes a method for determining the optimal antenna element radiation characteristics which maximize diversity gain given a specific power angular spectrum of the propagation environment. The method numerically constructs the eigenfunctions of the covariance operator for the scenario subject to constraints on the power radiated by each antenna as well as the level of supergain allowed in the solution. The optimal antenna characteristics are produced in terms of radiating current distributions along with their resulting radiation patterns. The results reveal that the optimal antennas can provide significantly more diversity gain than that provided by a simple practical design. Computational examples illustrate the effectiveness of adding additional elements to the optimal array and the relationship between aperture size or the description of the impinging field and the array performance. A synthesis procedure is proposed which uses genetic algorithm optimization to optimally place a reduced number of dipoles. The results from this procedure demonstrate that using the framework in conjunction with optimization strategies can lead to practical designs which perform well relative to the upper performance bound. Finally a novel array architecture is proposed where subsets of antennas are combined together into super-elements which are then combined in the same manner as the optimal array. The simplifications that result from the genetically optimized small array or the super-element array provide a design options which are feasible in many communication applications.


It is shown that, if (like the point-spread function in imaging optics), the relative brightness distribution in a radiation source of finite size is taken as the nonimaging display function, the actual surface-illuminance distribution is determined by the integral of the convolution of the nonimaging display function with the surface-illuminance distribution by a point source. This paper discusses the use of a reflecting surface to equalize the surface illuminance, irrespective of its imaging properties.


National identity has been an ongoing political issue in Taiwan since the late-1890s. The Construction of National Identity in Taiwan's Media, 1896-2012 breaks new ground with the most comprehensive analysis of the development of Taiwan's media and the construction of national identity in Taiwan's media. Using a variety of media contents including newspapers, opposition magazines, broadcasting radio, news TV stations and the Internet as well as numerous interviews with journalists, senior media staffs and academics, Dr Hsu provides many original insights into the formation of national identity in Taiwan's media. Taiwan's media began to demonstrate a variety of new identities under democratization. Part of this change responded to market conditions as a majority of Taiwan's population stressed their Taiwan identity.


Satellite-borne passive microwave radiometers provide brightness temperature (TB) measurements in a large spectral range which includes a number of frequency channels and generally two polarizations: horizontal and vertical. These TBs are widely used to retrieve several atmospheric and surface variables and parameters such as precipitation, soil moisture, water vapor, air temperature profile, and land surface emissivity. Since TBs are measured at different microwave frequencies with various instruments and at various incidence angles, spatial resolutions, and radiometric characteristics, a mere direct integration of them from different microwave sensors would not necessarily provide consistency. However, when appropriately harmonized, they can provide a complete dataset to estimate the diurnal cycle. This study first constructs the diurnal cycle of land TBs using the non-sun-synchronous Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI) observations by utilizing a cubic spline fit. The acquisition times of GMI vary from day to day and, therefore, the shape (amplitude and phase) of the diurnal cycle for each month is obtained by merging several days of measurements. This diurnal pattern is used as a point of reference when intercalibrated TBs from other passive microwave sensors with daily fixed acquisition times (e.g., Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder, and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2) are used to modify and tune the monthly diurnal cycle to daily diurnal cycle at a global scale. Since the GMI does not cover polar regions, the proposed method estimates a consistent diurnal cycle of land TBs at global scale. Results show that the shape and peak of the constructed TB diurnal cycle is approximately similar to the diurnal cycle of land surface temperature. The diurnal brightness temperature range for different land cover types has also been explored using the derived diurnal cycle of TBs. In general, a large diurnal TB range of more than 15 K has been observed for the grassland, shrubland, and tundra land cover types, whereas it is less than 5K over forests. Furthermore, seasonal variations in the diurnal TB range for different land cover types show a more consistent result over the Southern Hemisphere than over the Northern Hemisphere. The calibrated TB diurnal cycle may then be used to consistently estimate the diurnal cycle of land surface emissivity. Moreover, since changes in land surface emissivity are related to moisture change and freeze–thaw (FT) transitions in high-latitude regions, the results of this study enhance temporal detection of FT state, particularly during the transition times when multiple FT changes may occur within a day.


In my home country there has been an assumption that innovative art is entirely an urban affair. As a result, Thai artists treat the city of Bangkok as a point of cultural focus modelled on Western art capitals such as New York and London. However, in the UK there is a thriving non-metropolitan art culture in which progressive and experimental practices are promoted in rural areas. Given that many Thai artists grow up in agricultural villages (and often explore rural topics in their art) it seems strange that Thailand has no viable alternative to the metropolitan model. My research project has developed new forms of creative practice for rural- based art in Thailand using practical and philosophical approaches derived from Western art. The methodology I have applied to this challenge has involved the dis-location of my practice in both urban and rural areas. During my doctoral project I have produced artworks on the City Campus at Northumbria University and in Banpao, my home village in northeast Thailand where I have pioneered one of the first rural art centres in my country. The body of practical work documented in this thesis is a synthesis of the processes of painting and agricultural work. The images are digitally manipulated photographic collages printed on the kind of canvas support I used when I began my career as a painter in Bangkok. Alongside this practical submission, my thesis begins by describing the contemporary urban/rural divide that allows us to continue to define an area of arts practice as 'rural-based'. I then move on to examine the homesickness and nostalgia that is conventionally said to motivate ruralism. I explore the desire to retreat from the problems of city life in relation to British art and, following a section on present-day life in my home village, the artists working in Bangkok who most epitomise the problems of making rural art in Thailand today. The conclusion to the thesis is reached through an engagement with Proustian reverie, Theravada Buddhism, environmental aesthetics and the philosophy of John Dewey. This leads me to speculate on the aspects of ruralism that make the British version so forward-looking and experimental. As a result, I am able to describe how nostalgia-driven forms of expression do not automatically produce sentimental artworks and propose an approach to rural art that could still carry a great deal of creative resonance for contemporary Thai artists.


This groundbreaking expos brings to light the surprising financial consequences of mothers going to work, and the precarious position of today's middle class. More than two decades ago, the women's movement flung open the doors of the workplace. Although this social revolution created a firestorm of controversy, no one questioned the idea that women's involvement in the workforce was certain to improve families' financial lot. Until now. In this brilliantly argued book, Harvard Law School bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren and business consultant Amelia Tyagi show that today's middle-class parents are suffering from an unprecedented and totally unexpected economic meltdown. Astonishingly, sending mothers to work has made families more vulnerable than ever before. Today's two-income family earns 75 per cent more money than its single-income counterpart of a generation ago, but actually has less discretionary income once their fixed monthly bills are paid. How did this happen? Warren and Tyagi provide convincing evidence that the culprit is not "overconsumption," as many critics have charged. Instead, they point to the ferocious bidding war for housing and education that has quietly engulfed America's suburbs. Stay-at-home mothers once provided a financial safety net if disaster struck; their move into the workforce has left today's families chillingly at risk. The authors show why the usual remedies--child-support enforcement, subsidized daycare, and higher salaries for women--won't solve the problem, and propose a set of innovative solutions, from rate caps on credit cards to open-access public schools, to restore security to the middle class.


Two novel acceptor–donor–acceptor (A–D–A) small molecules BSeT1 and BSeT2 containing dimesitylborane as an electron acceptor and selenopheno[3,2-b]thiophene and selenopheno[2,3-b]thiophene as electron donors linked through a thiophene -conjugated spacer were synthesized and characterized. Their photophysical and electrochemical properties were investigated. In particular, BSeT1 demonstrated that the presence of a conjugated selenopheno[3,2-b]thiophene causes a bathochromic shift of the absorption bands with respect to a cross conjugated selenopheno[2,3-b]thiophene in BSeT2. The fluorescence spectra of BSeT1 exhibited yellow emission at 516 and 543 nm, while BSeT2 showed blue emission peak of 468 nm. Also, the emission quantum efficiency of BSeT1 was determined to be up to 11% in THF. These compounds demonstrated red-shift emissions in their solid states compared to those in organic solvents. The optimized geometries of BSeT1 and BSeT2 were achieved by density functional theory (DFT) to examine their electronic structures, frontier molecular orbital (FMO) energy levels and electronic excitations. The comparisons illustrated that the theoretical data are well in alignment with the corresponding experimental results. In addition, the structure-property relationships of BSeT1 and BSeT2 were assessed.


We couple a spatially homogeneous energy balance climate model with an economic growth model which incorporates two potential policies against climate change: mitigation, which is the traditional policy, and geoengineering. We analyze the optimal policy mix of geoengineering and mitigation in both a cooperative and a noncooperative framework, in which we study open loop and feedback solutions. Our results suggests that greenhouse gas accumulation is relatively higher when geoengineering policies are undertaken, and that at noncooperative solutions incentives for geoengineering are relative stronger. A disruption of geoengineering efforts at a steady state will cause an upward jump in global temperature.


From previous studies, the effects of expenditure on economic growth appear to provide mixed results. Despite this uncertainty, theory suggests that expenditure induce growth. In Kenya, economic growth has been fluctuating despite the devolved expenditure increasing over time. It is against this background that this study was carried out to investigate empirically the short-run and long-run effect of components of county spending on growth in Kenya using panel data set over the period 2013 to 2017. Employing Harris-Tzavalis test, the study tested for the panel unit root and found that all variables were non-stationary at their level except gross county product (GCP). To check if the variables have long-run relationship, this study applied F bounds test. The result for this test revealed that there exists a long-run relationship among the GCP growth and regressors in the model. Once co-integrating was confirmed using F-bound, the long-run and ECM estimates of the ARDL model were obtained. The ARDL results revealed that spending on recurrent expenditure exerts a positive and significant effect on economic growth both in short-run and long-run hence confirming Keynesian theory in Kenya. However, capital expenditure was insignificant during the study period. From a recommendation standpoint, this study submits that the policymakers need to put in place policies that will improve budget allocation and execution so as to improve expenditure increase to capital infrastructure. This is necessary since counties lack infrastructures that help promote private capital accumulation and consequently county GCP.

 Keywords: Gross county product (GCP), counties, expenditure, panel, autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL), short-run, long-run.


Author(s): Han, Kevin Yao | Advisor(s): Wu, Ming C | Abstract: On-chip optical interconnects promise to drastically reduce energy consumption compared toelectrical interconnects, which dominate power dissipation in modern integrated circuits (ICs).One key requirement is a low-power, high-efficiency, and high-speed nanoscale light source.However, existing III-V semiconductor light sources face a high surface recombination velocity(SRV ~ 10^4 – 10^6 cm/s) that greatly reduces efficiency at nanoscale sizes. An alternative materialsystem is the monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), single-molecule-thickdirect-bandgap semiconductors that are being investigated for a variety of applications inphotonics and electronics. In particular, they are intrinsically nanoscale in one dimension andlack dangling bonds at the surface, leading to high optical efficiency. In addition, they can beelectrically injected, transferred to arbitrary substrates, and processed in a top-down mannersimilar to traditional semiconductors.However, the development of electrically-injected light emitting devices based on TMDCs is stillin an early stage, with relatively few reports of high-efficiency light emission. In thisdissertation, we identify current decay over time as the main limitation preventing stableoperation of lateral-junction TMDC light-emitting diodes (LEDs), particularly in ambient (nonvacuum) conditions. To solve this, we propose operating WSe2 LEDs under pulsed voltage,which shows much more stable light emission over time than DC operation (hours vs. seconds ofcontinuous device operation). Electroluminescence (EL) efficiency matches that ofphotoluminescence, confirming material-quality-limited efficiency. In addition, we demonstratefast rise and fall times of ~15 ns, a record for TMDC LEDs.For nanoscale light emitters that require high efficiency at low input power, LEDs are preferredover lasers due to their lack of threshold requirement. The slow speed of LEDs can be greatlyenhanced by coupling the emitter to an optical antenna, extending its optical transition dipolelength and resulting in possible ~100x-1000x enhancement of spontaneous emission rate. Weexperimentally demonstrate three electrically-injected antenna-coupled designs: the double-gateLED coupled to bowtie antennas, the light-emitting capacitor coupled to a slot antenna array, andthe single-gate LED coupled to a nanosquare antenna array. The light-emitting capacitor showsvery high polarization ratios g30x, and the nanosquare array shows g10x improved intensityover control devices, both indicators of strong antenna enhancement. We discuss the tradeoffsinvolved in each design. Finally, we theoretically investigate high-speed, highly scaled TMDCnanoLED devices and identify the limits to speed and efficiency. We conclude that edgerecombination can be largely overcome with sufficient antenna enhancement, while exciton-exciton annihilation ultimately limits efficiency at high injection levels. Under our model, highspeeds g70 GHz can be achieved at modest quantum efficiencies g10%. However, much furtherwork remains in improving material properties and devices.


The "Recurring Dream" is a supernatural story that particularly centers round a strange dream, which Kim was frequently haunted by. Kimberly Clark, the protagonist, has undergone a serious problem which she had the same sort of dream time and again. She is a young and beautiful woman of twenty-five who used to live in London and worked in a large company. She keeps a good position in the office however she has a problem. She sees a mysterious and frightening dream almost every night. In the dream, she finds herself walking on a village lane that is surrounded by white fences on both sides of it. At the end of the lane there is a little hill where on the top a beautiful cottage is located. She enters inside the house and finds in an old man with white hair and white beards fallen asleep. When she goes near him he wakes up and looks at her. But when she tries to speak with him she wakes up and finds herself in her bed in London. The recurring dream troubles her badly. So, she shares her problem with her roommate Janet Wilson. One day Janet went to her parents' farm for a few days with Kim to keep Kim free from her problem. On the way Kim falls asleep and has the same dream. She was surprised to see the same place in front of her that she usually sees in her dream. She asks Janet to stop the car and she gets out of it. She sees the same lane, hill and cottage of her dream. As in the dream, she goes towards the house. There she sees assign of "FOR SALE" in front of the door. As in the dream she knocks at the door and the same old man with white hair and white beard opens the door but he is afraid to see her. So, he immediately closes the door. Kim again requests him to open the door and when he opens it she asks him if the house is on sale. The man replied positively and says that a ghost has haunted the house every night. Then Kim asks him who the ghost is? The old man replies "It is you" then he closes the door.