A basic mechanism is proposed to explain the growth of finite amplitude water waves due to the effect of normal stresses. The proposed mechanism can probably be applied to the whole range of wave's growth, starting from a small amplitude wave up to the case of a limiting and breaking wave condition. The transfer of energy from air flow to the water wave is explained by the existance of a circulation flow pattern above the water surface, which is responsable for a phase-lag of the normal stress distribution in relation to the wave's profile. Such a circulation flow pattern extends throughout the whole wave length and it is quite different from the classical concept of flow separation, as postulated by Jeffrey's. The difference becomes as a result of considering a different boundary condition at the interface. Experiments performed on wavy models with moving boundary conditions, for small amlitude waves and finite amplitude waves showed that the normal stress distribution is similar in both cases, and displays a noticible phase-lag with respect to the wave's profile. It was observed that for both cases a circulating flow pattern was present above the water surface, which indicated some relation between the flow vorticity above the wave and the normal stress distribution. To prove the role of circulation in the energy transfer mechanism, a model was built with water and mercury as working fluids. In this model the interface was initially non disturbed, when both fluids move in opposite directions. However, when a forced circulation was applied by means of a variable speed rotor located above the interface, a wave would form. The wave would be inicially of small amplitude, but with an increase of circulation would become of finite amplitude, then reach the angular crest condition and finally would reproduce the breaking condition at the crest. The obtained experimental results proved the importance of the circulation flow pattern present above the wave surface, and suggest that a mathematical model could be formulated based on vorticity analysis, which would be able to provide an explanation for the energy transfer mechanism due to normal stresses at all stages of wave's growth.


Coccolithophores are major contributors to global marine planktonic calcification, and in nature coccolithophores are invariably calcified through almost all of their life cycle. The response of calcification to environmental factors is essential in understanding the persistence of coccolithophores through at least 220 million years of changing global environments, and their prospects for current environmental change. So far the responses examined have been at the level of acclimation rather than adaptation in evolution. Variation in results of CO2 manipulation experiments can be tentatively attributed to variation among genotypes rather than differences in experimental procedure. Comparisons of methods using the same genotype, and of several genotypes using a single method, suggest significant variation among genotypes. The general response is a decreased particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) to particulate organic carbon (POC) ratio in higher than present CO2 concentrations and vice versa for lower CO2 concentrations. Fewer studies have investigated the effect of other environmental factors. Decreased availability of phosphorus and, to a lesser extent, nitrogen, as well as decreasing photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) down to a certain low value increase PIC: POC, while variable results have been found for changes in ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Many of these results can be accommodated by considering the restriction of calcification to the G1 phase of the cell cycle and the length of this phase under different growth conditions. Fewer studies have investigated the interactions among environmental factors which change with increased CO2 and increasing sea surface temperature; the shoaling of the thermocline will increase the mean PAR and UVR whilst decreasing nitrogen and phosphorus availability. More studies of these interactions, as well as of genetic adaptation in response to changed environmental factors, are needed.


The multilevel converters allow generating a voltage waveform whose magnitude and quality are higher than those of conventional converters. They are devoted to medium and high-voltage, high-switching-frequency applications. Among the series connected cell inverters, the symmetrical multilevel inverters are made of identical cells, which topology is generally the H-bridge inverter. This dissertation deals with asymmetrical multilevel converters, which combine high-voltage cells — made of low conduction loss switches — with low-voltage cells — made of low switching loss switches. The different cells play different roles. The goal is to design a converter that has both better energetic efficiency and higher resolution with the same number of cells. This dissertation develops a set of tools that allows synthesizing an asymmetrical multilevel converter. It develops the cell combination rules, which allow defining several cell association classes. The inverter step uniformity condition determines the finesse that can be reached. The optimized modulation condition allows to reduce the highvoltage cell switching frequency without changing the low-voltage cell switching frequency. This property is essential to derive benefit from combining switches of different characteristics. The power balance condition determine how to control the power sharing between the cells. These association classes are different for the single-phase converters and the three-phase converters — without neutral wire. They allow to select a configuration suitable for a given application. Furthermore, several ways that allow improving the inverter resolution are investigated. The modulation is essential to associate a high-quality signal (which will really be delivered to the load by means of the inverter levels) to the reference signal (which should ideally be applied to the load). The modulator evaluation methods are assessed. An approach—based on the modulated signal decomposition in elementary frames—is proposed. The main modulator drawbacks are highlighted. A modulator—which arrange the frames in order—allows to reduce the modulated signal distortion and number of transitions. The specific control methods that allow to minimize the inverter number of switchings are developed. The active power cell supply implies several conversion stages, which decrease the converter energetic efficiency. Some solutions that allow to reduce these losses are proposed. Finally, this dissertation attempts to determine, which are the more interesting solutions, depending on the application.


A large proportion of European biodiversity today depends on habitat provided by low‐intensity farming practices, yet this resource is declining as European agriculture intensifies. Within the European Union, particularly the central and eastern new member states have retained relatively large areas of species‐rich farmland, but despite increased investment in nature conservation here in recent years, farmland biodiversity trends appear to be worsening. Although the high biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European farmland has long been reported, the amount of research in the international literature focused on farmland biodiversity in this region remains comparatively tiny, and measures within the EU Common Agricultural Policy are relatively poorly adapted to support it. In this opinion study, we argue that, 10 years after the accession of the first eastern EU new member states, the continued under‐representation of the low‐intensity farmland in Central and Eastern Europe in the international literature and EU policy is impeding the development of sound, evidence‐based conservation interventions. The biodiversity benefits for Europe of existing low‐intensity farmland, particularly in the central and eastern states, should be harnessed before they are lost. Instead of waiting for species‐rich farmland to further decline, targeted research and monitoring to create locally appropriate conservation strategies for these habitats is needed now.


M any different techniques of colorectal anastomosis have been described in search of the technique with the lowest incidence of anastomotic leak. A systematic review of leak rates of techniques of hand-sewn colorectal anastomosis was conducted to provide a guideline for surgical residents and promote standardization of its technique. Clinical and experimental articles on colorectal anastomotic techniques and anastomotic healing published in the past 4 decades were searched. We included evidence on suture material, suture format, singlevs double-layer sutures, interrupted vs continuous sutures, handsewn vs stapled and compression colorectal anastomosis, and anastomotic configuration. In total, 3 meta-analyses, 26 randomized controlled trials, 11 nonrandomized comparative studies, 20 cohort studies, and 57 experimental studies were found. Results show that, for many aspects of the hand-sewn colorectal anastomosis technique, evidence is lacking. A single-layer continuous technique using inverting sutures with slowly absorbable monofilament material seems preferable. However, in contrast to stapled and compression colorectal anastomoses, the technique for hand-sewn colorectal anastomoses is nonstandardized with regard to intersuture distance, suture distance to the anastomotic edge, and tension on the suture. We believe detailed documentation of the anastomotic technique of all colorectal operations is needed to determine the role of the hand-sewn colorectal anastomosis. JAMA Surg. 2013;148(2):190-201


Marketing literature has recognized Corporate Identity Management (CIM) in higher education sector as an important area of research. Moreover, current research trend within the continuum of CIM has indicated some ambiguities surrounding corporate identity in higher education. In fact, there is paucity of empirical studies on corporate identity from a higher education perspective. Consequently, the objective of this study is to examine the relationships between university's CIM and employee brand support as well as its relevant causal mechanisms in the higher education sector in Malaysia. The study employed a survey (472) with Malaysian university staff as respondents to test the research hypotheses and the proposed conceptual model. Findings of the study indicated that the Malaysian university staff has some external validity in exploring CIM and employee brand support. The results also demonstrated that the CIM in universities should be merged with strategic communication. Finally, this study provides a better corporate identity management to policy makers, regulators, managers and government in the higher education sector. For example, institutions can inculcate employee brand support in their academic staff to ensure corporate identity management moves in the right direction. Keywords: corporate identity management, employee brand support, image, visual identity, higher education


The analytical chemistry of PCB's is rigorous, demanding the highest quality in sample preparation and analytical technique. Insufficient sample extraction and inappropriate methods of sample clean-up are the most common sources of error in PCB analysis, which causes significant interference in the chromatography. However, even in relatively clean samples the problem remains to confidently distinguish PCB's from other compounds in the sample. Since PCB's are extremely complex mixtures of congeners, they are identified based on the presence and proportion of certain congeners (209 of which are catalogued in the Ballschmitter & Zell numbering system), and by the manufacturer trade name (i.e.; Aroclor, Kanechlor, etc.).


The realization of a user-centric paradigm in future telecommunication networks, which implies free and automatic choice among different available wireless and mobile access networks, will revolutionize the Future Internet. For this innovative concept to materialize, a paradigm shift is required from contract-based mobile service delivery to an open, dynamic service delivery environment. This chapter presents an overview of the user-centric open networking paradigm for future telecommunications and a distributed Quality of Experience framework that enables user-centric, application-specific network selection and handover decisions on the user terminal. Furthermore, a formal modeling of cooperation and resource sharing among operators in this setting is provided, where the QoE framework also acts as an enabler for inter-operator mediation. Specifically, the QoE distribution component is demonstrated to make the truth revealing a dominant strategy for the operators. The interaction between resource sharing operations can be developed with full state information disclosure assumption.


Informal microfinance is the delivery of financial services mainly to low income people outside the regulation of the monetary authority. Despite their importance in development, no studies have undertaken a detailed analysis of structures and performance in informal microfinance institutions. This study aims to analyze structures and performance in informal microfinance institutions in Tharaka South Sub County. It uses descriptive study design and multi stage sampling design. Data analysis was done using thematic, descriptive and Kendall's tau-b correlation analysis. An informal microfinance performance index was developed using inductive and hierarchical approaches. The study found the informal microfinance institutions are marked by high performance which is determined by their structures. Moreover, the study deduced that informal microfinance is a key policy strategy for poverty alleviation, financial inclusion, gender equity and resilience building since participants mainly include women and other vulnerable groups.
Keywords: Capital, Livelihoods, Informal, Microfinance, Performance, social


1. In the neurogenic heart of the isopod crustacean Porcellio dilatatus, repetitive electrical stimulation of the cardiac nerves elicted either cardio-acceleratory or cardio-inhibitory effects depending on the stimulation parameters. 2. Acceleratory effects were accompanied by a decrease of membrane potential and by changes in the contour of the spontaneous electrical responses: increase in the speed of the rising phase and enhancement of the plateau phase. 3. Inhibitory stimulation acted on rhytjmicity and/or contour of spontaneous responses. At stimulation pulse frequencies beyond 25/s a hyperpolarization appeared after the cessation of the inhibitory train. 4. Inhibitory stimulation elicted IJPs in the myocardium. Their reversal potential was found to be close to the value of the resting membrane potential. During inhibitory stimulation, the membrane resistance of the heart muscle was frequently decreased. 5. The effects of changing the external chloride content, and of adding GABA and picrotoxin support the hypothesis that the inhibitory impulses increased the myocardium permeability to CL-. 6. On the basis of these findings it is assumed that cardio-inhibitory fibres act on both cardiac ganglion and myocardium. 7. Comparisons are established between the wood-louse's heart and the skeletal or heart muscle of some arthropods. The functional significance of peripheral inhibition is further discussed in relation to the nature of the spontaneous electrical responses and to contraction.


An automated damage diagnostic system for collecting plasma flash is developed to diagnose damage in a laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) test system. Experiment is done to verify the accuracy of this system and analyze the relationship between the plasma signals and the damage morphologies. The results obtained by the system are found to be in excellent agreement with those obtained by the much laborious method of Normaski microscope. Results show that plasma signals above 1 V correspond to the damage morphology of surface discolorations with or without pits in their centers, and plasma signals below or just around 1 V correspond to the damage morphology of pits. The misdiagnosis is attributed to contaminations and air breakdown.


Combination of stem cell technology and 3D biofabrication approaches provides physiological similarity to in vivo tissues and the capability of repairing and regenerating damaged human tissues. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been widely used for regenerative medicine applications because of their immunosuppressive properties and multipotent potentials. To obtain large amount of high-quality MSCs without patient donation and invasive procedures, we differentiated MSCs from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC-MSCs) using serum-free E6 media supplemented with only one growth factor (bFGF) and two small molecules (SB431542 and CHIR99021). The differentiated cells showed a high expression of common MSC-specific surface markers (CD90, CD73, CD105, CD106, CD146, and CD166) and a high potency for osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation. With these cells, we have been able to manufacture MSC tissue rings with high consistency and robustness in pluronic-coated reusable PDMS devices. The MSC tissue rings were characterized based on inner diameter and outer ring diameter and observed cell-type-dependent tissue contraction induced by cell-matrix interaction. Our approach of simplified hiPSC-MSC differentiation, modular fabrication procedure, and serum-free culture conditions has a great potential for scalable manufacturing of MSC tissue rings for different regenerative medicine applications.


Mobile-only use in developing countries is increasing as public policies pursue universal Internet access through mobile connections and smartphones to tackle digital inequality. Therefore, it is relevant to understand what mobile phones mean for people, how they engage with them, and new forms of digital inequality that may emerge. Thus, from a digital inclusion and technology affordances perspective, this article reflects on the perceptions and practices among mobile-only and hybrid users (mobile and PC). The study, conducted in Chile, a country with high levels of mobile connectivity, relied on 30 in-depth interviews and digital tours, an ethnographic strategy to access participants' smartphone customization and usage. Findings indicate that mobile-only users perceived no differences from that of using computers, developed practices to circumvent their lack of skills, and perceived no need to include a more complex device, such as a computer. Hybrid users, on the other hand, evaluated their gateway access according to their goals and contexts and were more critical of being constantly online and of the role of the Internet in their everyday lives.


Alcohol is the root cause of many ills in society. Alcohol has proven to be a contributing factor in many serious bodily injuries as a result of assaults, accidents, and alcohol poisonings, and has also been associated in crimes such as sexual assault and homicide. Young people are especially vulnerable to alcohol and its effects and it is widely considered the gateway to other drugs such as marijuana and cocaine. Underage drinking has become a problem in itself since it can destroy the lives of young people in many ways, such as addiction and intoxication manslaughter. Law enforcement at the state and local levels has attempted to address alcohol crimes, sometimes with the help of federal grants. The various techniques developed to deal with alcohol violations range from undercover police activities to innovative educational programs. The agents of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission are, in the State of Texas, the major implementers of these programs. This study surveyed the agents of the TABC regarding various programs and techniques designed to address alcohol violations. The measures used to gauge the effectiveness of these programs and techniques include specific and general deterrence, detection of alcohol crimes, cost-effectiveness, ease of implementation, frequency of use and public support. Agents were given the opportunity to rank each program and technique on how well these operations achieved measures such as deterrence on a one to five scale. Minor stings came out on top, achieving nothing less than an overall mean of 4 in all categories followed by the inspections of licensed premises. The other programs and techniques studied include the COPS and Cops in Shops programs, which are both undercover police operations. Traditional source investigations were also studied, along with the educational programs of Project SAVE for kids and retailers and the shock drama Shattered Dreams.


This paper examines how public intervention (prudential policy) in the banking area should be pursued and aims at providing points for discussion in considering what kind of system should be established to promote both the efficiency and stability of banking functions. The basic thrust of the paper is that it is effective to utilize market mechanisms to improve the efficiency of banking functions and that public intervention is justified in coping with various market failures if optimality is satisfied. Here, market failure is taken to mean (1) information asymmetry between banks and creditors (especially small-lot depositors) and (2) any negative externality that illiquidity and insolvency transmit in a networked way to other banks, leading to the likely emergence of various risks such as (a) small-lot depositors bearing losses, (b) the collapse of solvent banks due to a liquidity shortage, (c) the spreading by contagion of illiquidity of banks, and (d) the spreading by contagion of insolvency of banks. In examining public intervention to cope with these risks, we conclude that a deposit insurance system with a variable premium and prompt closure action are effective in dealing with risk (a), that the invocation of the central bank's lender of last resort function is effective for risks (b) and (c), and that the introduction of a charge system to internalize externality is effective for risk (d). Arguments in this paper are conceptual in that they are derived based on certain assumptions with respect to entities related to the banking system, and thus do not exhaustively cover all the factors necessary for deciding actual policies. We hope that our conceptual summary provides grounds for future discussions on more specific system design.


Between 1549 and 1650, Jesuits gained knowledge of rising Confucianism in Japan. They came to understand Confucian filial piety in their dealings with Japanese marriage laws, and from their converts they learned more about Confucianism. In 1605 Brother Fukan Fabian published Myōtei mondō [Myōtei dialogue], which provides the Jesuit theological assessment of Japanese religions. It is based on interreligious dialogues which women catechists practiced in the Jesuit mission, and it reveals various degrees of encounter, confrontation, and intersection of minds among the Jesuits, women catechists, and Confucian scholars. In 1606, Hayashi Razan, a Neo-Confucian politician, accused Fabian of promoting Christian insubordination to Japanese authorities and criticized women for expressing their religious opinions. Under his directive, the government expelled the Jesuits and a group of women cat- echists in 1614. In 1617 Fabian apostatized, but many Christians remained faithful despite persecution. By 1650, visible signs of the church were eliminated from the land and the Neo-Confucian patriarchal class society was firmly established.


In this paper, we investigate the dynamic relationship between financial market volatility, macroeconomic fundamentals and investor sentiment, employing a two-factor model to decompose volatility into a persistent long-run component and a transitory short-run component. Using a structural VAR model with Bayesian sign restrictions, we show that adverse shocks to aggregate demand and supply cause an increase in the persistent component of both stock and bond market volatility, and that adverse shocks to the persistent component of either stock or bond market volatility cause a deterioration in macroeconomic fundamentals. We find no evidence of a relationship between the transitory component of volatility and macroeconomic fundamentals. Instead, we find that the transitory component is more closely associated with changes in investor sentiment. Our results are robust to a wide range of alternative specifications.


As communication increasingly shifts to digital platforms, information derived from online open sources is starting to become critical in creating an evidentiary basis for international crimes. While journalists have led the development of many newly emerging open source investigation methodologies, courts have heightened the requirements for verifying and preserving a chain of custody— information linking all of the individuals who possessed the content and indicating the duration of their custody—creating a need for standards that are just now beginning to be identified, articulated, and accepted by the international legal community. In this article, we discuss the impact of internet-based open source investigations on international criminal legal processes, as well as challenges related to their use. We also offer best practices for lawyers, activists, and other individuals seeking to admit open source information—including content derived from social media—into courts.


Chronic nonbacterial prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome is unsatisfactorily defined and insufficiently studied illness. Also, the treatment success is questionable and therefore, this illness is a therapeutical problem for urologists--which medications are the best choice in treating this uncomfortable condition? This paper presents results of prospective, open, analytical, comparative study that was performed on 90 patients with diagnosed chronic nonbacterial prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Patients were divided into three groups and were treated with two medications ciprofloxacin (C), doxazosin (D) and combination of ciprofloxacin + doxazosin (C+D). The effects were measured using symptom questionnaire for prostate illnesses of the National Institute for Health - USA (NIH-CPSI). During the basic evaluation, sum ranging from 0 to 43 was calculated for each patient. This number is called total sum NIH-CPSI (National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index) of the questionnaire, which generates the questions from 1 to 9. The most significant change occurred in C+D group where the total sum changed from 18-38 in the beginning to 5-31 at the end of the treatment (55,1% (p<0,001)). Significant changes were also found in D group where the change was 46, 4% (p<0,001). At the end of the treatment no significant change was registered in C group (p<0,005): p<0,001--significance threshold. Combination of ciprofloxacin + doxazosin proved to be the best choice for treatment.


In the thesis two problems have been studied: the first one is the use of corrugated
webs in plate girders for composite bridges; the second one is the study of lateral
restraints in composite bridges.
In structural design corrugated webs are frequently used in beams for buildings in
Sweden. They have also been used in four bridges in France and two in Japan. The
shear stresses of corrugated panels were the main subject of previous studies. This
thesis deals with local flange buckling of beams with corrugated webs. Computer
analyses give a ratio of areas for use in design of the compressed flange. The validity
of this ratio is confirmed by experimental work undertaken on five specimens (two
of them loaded by bending only; three loaded by a combination of bending and
shear). The interaction between the local buckling of the flange and web buckling
is examined. A formula for calculating the effective shear modulus is given. The
possible methods of fabrication of a cambered beam with a corrugated web are shown
here and the problems which could arise are discussed. There is also a comparison
between the design of an existing bridge and a new design where a plane web in a
plate girder is replaced by a corrugated web.
The second part of the thesis contains computational investigations of the lateral
restraints in composite plate girder bridges. This method of investigation is more
appropriate than laboratory testing, due to the difficulty of fabricating steelwork
to maximum permitted imperfections. Numerical elastic finite element analyses
with geometric non—linear facilities are used on a relevant part of the structure (a
compressed flange) that has the maximum allowed geometric imperfections. The F—
forces in elastic lateral restraints modelled by spring elements are then determined.
This study concentrates particularly on design forces for bracings at the supports of
simply—supported and continuous composite UB and plate girder bridges.


The work-in-progress paper describes some elements of efforts in defining an architecture and an appropriate set of protocols for industrial local area networks (ILAN) with wireless communication media. The major focus is on lower layer protocols. The main elements are a description of data link layer services, a MAC protocol and a scheduling approach taking into consideration special properties of wireless media. The proposed MAC protocol is a variant of TDMA attacking its known problems. The goal of the link state dependent scheduling approach is to increase transmission efficiency over wireless links.


This paper presents a general framework for optimization of haptic interfaces, in particular for haptic interfaces with closed kinematic chains, with respect to multiple design objectives, namely kinematic and dynamic criteria. Both performance measures are discussed and optimization problems for a haptic interface with best worst-case kinematic and dynamic performance are formulated. Non-convex single objective optimization problems are solved with a branch-and-bound type (culling) algorithm. Pareto methods characterizing the trade-off between multiple design criteria are advocated for multi-criteria optimization over widely used scalarization approaches and Normal Boundary Intersection method is applied to efficiently obtain the Pareto-front hyper-surface. The framework is applied to a sample parallel mechanism (five-bar mechanism) and the results are compared with the results of previously published methods in the literature. Finally, dimensional synthesis of a high performance haptic interface utilizing its Pareto-front curve is demonstrated.


Factors affecting the current role of the community pharmacist in responding to symptoms are investigated. Communication and collaboration with general medical practitioners (GPs), and the competency of pharmacists and counter assistants to perform the role of responding to symptoms, are examined. A national survey of GPs, conducted by postal questionnaire, explores attitudes towards the role of the community pharmacist in the treatment of patients' symptoms, and towards future extension of such a role. A majority (over 90%) of respondents thought that the counter prescribing activities of the pharmacist should be maintained or increased. Doctors supported treatment of most minor illnesses by pharmacists, but there was relatively little support for the deregulation of selected Prescription Only Medicines. Three quarters of respondents were in favour of joint educational meetings for pharmacists and doctors. Most GPs (85%) expressed support for a formal referral route from pharmacists to doctors, using a "notification card". A pilot study of the use of a notification card was conducted . Two thirds of the patients who were advised to see their doctor by the pharmacist subsequently did so. In most cases , the GP rated the patients' symptoms " significant" and the card "helpful". Pharmacists' and counter assistants' competency in responding to symptoms was assessed by a programme of pharmacy visits, where previously-defined symptoms were presented. Some pharmacists' questioning skills were found to be inadequate, and their knowledge not sufficiently current. Counter assistants asked fewer and less appropriate questions than did pharmacists, and assistants ' knowledge base was shown to be inadequate. Recommendations are made in relation to the education and training of pharmacists and counter assistants in responding to symptoms .


The study essentially aims to assess the public-private partnership (PPP) as a thriving strategy in natural resources maintenance that largely is dependent on stakeholders' participation forest bio-diversity and green management. In an age of climate change and global warming, as a threat due to unavoidable consequences of human activities, natural resource management is now one of the prime concern around the developed and developing countries in terms of creating responsible attitude towards green maintenance. Governments have, by and large, agreed on sustainable employ and conservation of forests in several international forums during the last three decades. In fact, public sector has already proved its inefficiency and ineffective mode to protect natural resources due to lack of skills, human and material resources, and rampant corruption which have encouraged the government to introduce the strategy of PPP. The study was conducted at Lawachhara national park through a sample survey by employing stratified sampling as well as some other tools of data collection incorporating both quantitative and qualitative approaches. It is evident in the study that most of the respondents commonly believe PPP may change the existing ineffective and inefficient mode of natural resources management. Another important finding included that challenges are not possible to overcome unless the active participation of the stakeholders are possible to ensure.


Foreign direct investment is new phenomenon to Iraq, a post conflict country with abundance of natural resources. With dominant state-controlled public sector, attracting foreign investment is an added challenge to an economy devastated by years of wars. A qualitative case study was conducted to assess determinants of foreign direct investment in Iraq's energy sector. Data was collected from interviews with business and government subject matter experts, and a review of publically available documents. Lack of security, political instability, corruption, and inadequate government policies towards foreign direct investment as symptoms found and typically shared by other post-conflict countries. The persistence of violence was not seen as a deterrent; however, foreign direct investment activity in the energy sector was virtually limited to the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. Investments were either wholly-owned or joint-venture enterprises. Implications to other post conflict countries, using Kuwait and Nigeria as illustrative examples, are presented and recommendations made.


Ecological indicators have gained increasing attention within the scientific community over the past 40 years. Several taxonomic groups have been used successfully as indicators including most prominently fish, invertebrates, plants, and birds because of their ability to indicate environmental changes. In the Laurentian Great Lakes region, there has been recent concern over the applicability of using indicators on a basin-wide scale due to species range restrictions and lake-based differences. The objective of this study was to determine the ability of the Index of Marsh Bird Community Integrity (IMBCI) to indicate land use disturbance surrounding coastal marshes of Georgian Bay and Lake Ontario. To meet this objective, we surveyed birds and vegetation at 14 marshes in Georgian Bay (low land use disturbance) and Lake Ontario (high land use disturbance). Even though Lake Ontario marshes were surrounded by significantly more altered land than Georgian Bay marshes, and had poorer water quality, we found significantly fewer aurentian Great Lakes birds in Georgian Bay marshes (mean = 8.2) compared to Lake Ontario (mean = 13.7) and no significant difference in IMBCI scores. This inconsistency could be due to vegetation differences affecting the strength of the index, because Georgian Bay wetlands had significantly more bulrush (Schoenoplectus spp.) and floating vegetation, while Lake Ontario wetland vegetation was taller and cattail-dominated (Typha spp.). These findings suggest that the IMBCI may not be useful on a basin-wide scale in the Great Lakes region in detecting human disturbance surrounding wetlands.


These notes clear up an apparent contradiction between
the writings Qf Lydekker (1889) and De Vis (1884). They explain
the real size of the Giant Wombat in terms of Professor
Owen's original conception of its dimensions, and show why
later workei"s, upon such remains, were naturally misled
(Scott, 1915). They supply some data respecting the Nototherian
animal called Nototherium tasmanicum, and add
to our knowledge of the variation in the premolars of the
species N. mitchelli. The notes have been culled from two
separate "finds" recently made at the Mowbray Swamp, and
are directly associated with the nml).es of Mr. and Mrs. K.
M. Harrisson and Mr. E.W.Reeman.
From tooth marks found upon one bone we again stress
the former existence in Tasn1ania of powerful carnivorous
animals, but to date of writing this, their remains have not
been recovered.


Anterior gradient 2 (AGR2) is a dimeric protein disulfide isomerase family member involved in the regulation of protein quality control in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Mouse AGR2 deletion increases intestinal inflammation and promotes the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Although these biological effects are well established, the underlying molecular mechanisms of AGR2 function toward inflammation remain poorly defined. Here, using a protein–protein interaction screen to identify cellular regulators of AGR2 dimerization, we unveiled specific enhancers, including TMED2, and inhibitors of AGR2 dimerization, that control AGR2 functions. We demonstrate that modulation of AGR2 dimer formation, whether enhancing or inhibiting the process, yields pro‐inflammatory phenotypes, through either autophagy‐dependent processes or secretion of AGR2, respectively. We also demonstrate that in IBD and specifically in Crohn's disease, the levels of AGR2 dimerization modulators are selectively deregulated, and this correlates with severity of disease. Our study demonstrates that AGR2 dimers act as sensors of ER homeostasis which are disrupted upon ER stress and promote the secretion of AGR2 monomers. The latter might represent systemic alarm signals for pro‐inflammatory responses.


Objective
Vocal fold polyps (VFPs) are the most common benign laryngeal lesions that require surgery and are routinely managed by microlaryngoscopy (MLS) under general anaesthesia. Prior to introduction of MLS, VFPs were removed using indirect laryngoscopic surgery (ILS) in local anaesthesia, a procedure that required substantial surgical skill to operate with an unmagnified mirror view of the larynx. With the adoption of wireless endoscopy equipment and personal computers, we tried to simplify this technique so that it can be easily performed in the office. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of ILS by comparing voice outcomes with MLS.

Materials and methods
ILS and MLS were performed in six patients each. Treatment outcomes were measured using a voice self-assessment and objective acoustic analysis. The total cost of both procedures was calculated.

Results
Both techniques allowed successful removal of VFPs in all patients, without significant intergroup differences in voice outcomes. The cost of ILS was significantly lower.

Conclusions
Despite the pilot nature of the study and the small sample size, our data indicate the potential value of this technique which, considering its simplicity and economic value could be used as an alternative to MLS in carefully selected patients.


In Shades of Freedom, A. Leon Higginbotham provides a magisterial account of the interaction between the law and racial oppression in America from colonial times to the present. The issue of racial inferiority is central to this volume, as Higginbotham documents how early white perceptions of black inferiority slowly became codified into law. In Shades of Freedom, a noted scholar and a celebrated jurist offers a work of magnificent scope, insight, and passion. Ranging from the earliest colonial times to the present, it is a superb work of history and a mirror to the American soul.


Individual differences (IDs) in second language (L2) learning have traditionally been studied as separate, isolated variables (Dornyei, 2005), but this reductionist approach has led to a fragmented and inconclusive understanding of how IDs influence L2 learning. The present study takes a different approach to IDs by starting at the level of L2 learning experience and identifying the most basic differences between learners. To do this, a new L2 experience methodology is introduced. Participants are 123 matriculated non-native English speaking students at two urban universities in the South. First, learners were interviewed following a strict interview protocol which ensured that all learners received the same input in the same setting. Next, the interviews were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software (Pennebaker, Booth, & Francis, 2007), which provides quantitative output showing the types and frequency of psychosocial words each learner produced. These psychosocial semantic categories then formed the basis of a cluster analysis that identified groups of learners who use similar semantic categories. Learners who tend to use similar psychosocial words to describe their L2 learning experience are assumed to share a similar approach to L2 learning and are grouped together into L2 learning profiles. Results show that these participants can be grouped into three types of successful L2 experiences: Doing, Thinking, and Feeling. An ANOVA and follow-up ad hoc statistical tests reveal significant differences in admissions TOEFL scores among these groups of students, suggesting that learners who describe their L2 experience differently do in fact show significant differential performance. Qualitative analysis of interview transcripts further suggests that the influence of family plays an important role in differential TOEFL scores, and that L2 learning experience may change in important ways over time. Based on the results of the study, a L2 Experience Model of Individual and Social Differences is proposed that accounts for life importance, effort, ability, and L2 experience. Implications of this new methodology and model are discussed, along with suggestions for future research, teaching, and L2 learning. INDEX WORDS: Second language acquisition; English language learners; Individual differences; L2 experience interview; TOEFL; Semantic content analysis WORDS OF EXPERIENCE: SEMANTIC CONTENT ANALYSIS AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AMONG SUCCESSFUL SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS


Extensive work has documented an association between sustaining intimate partner violence (IPV) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among women, yet little research has documented the same association in men, even though men comprise 25-50% of all IPV victims in a given year. Previous studies also show that women who sustain intimate terrorism (IT), a form of IPV that is characterized by much violence and controlling behavior, are at even greater risk for PTSD than women who sustain common couple violence (CCV), a lower level of more minor, reciprocal IPV. However, no research has documented this trend in men who sustain IT versus CCV. The present study investigates the associations among sustaining IPV and PTSD among both a clinical and community sample of men. The clinical sample is comprised of 302 men who sustained IT from their female partners and sought help. The community sample is comprised of 520 men, 16% of whom sustained CCV. Analyses showed that in both samples, the associations between sustaining several types of IPV and PTSD were significant, and that men who sustained IT were at exponentially increased risk of exceeding the clinical cut-off on the PTSD measure than men who sustained CCV or no violence. The path models predicting PTSD symptoms differed for both samples, indicating that perhaps treatment implications differ by group as well.


Abstract This paper describes a preliminary study that attempts to determine the oxidation state of Fe (Fe3+/ΣFe) with the electron microprobe (EMP) by measuring the self-absorption induced shift of the FeLα peak emitted from minerals and glasses. In transition metals of the first row, the L-spectra exhibit common distortions, namely peak position shifts, peak shape alterations, and changes in the Lβ/Lα ratios, caused by the large difference in the self-absorption coefficients (μ/ρ) on either sides of the L3 absorption edges that are in close proximity to the Lα peak maxima. Measurements performed on α-Fe2O3 and FexO oxides have shown that self-absorption effects are stronger for the later oxide, leading to enhanced Fe2+Lα peak shift toward longer wavelengths as the beam energy increases. First measurements performed on silicates have confirmed that enhanced self-absorption of FeLα occurs on Fe2+ sites. The measurements consisted of plotting the FeLα peak position at a fixed beam energy (15 keV) against the total Fe concentration for two series of Fe2+- and Fe3+- bearing silicates. In a first step, these data have shown that both Fe2+Lα and Fe3+Lα peaks shift continuously toward longer wavelengths as the Fe concentration increases, with enhanced shifts for Fe2+Lα. For silicates containing only Fe2+ or Fe3+, no effects of the site geometry were detected on the variations of the FeLα peak position. A second set of plots has shown the variations of the peak position relative to the previous Fe2+-Fe3+ curves of step 1, as a function of the nominal Fe3+/ΣFe, for a series of reference minerals (hydrated and non-hydrated) and basaltic glasses. Data from chain and sheet silicates (e.g., pyroxenes, amphiboles, micas) exhibited strong deviations compared to other phases (e.g., garnets, Al-rich spinels, glasses), due to reduced self-absorption of FeLα. Intervalence-charge transfer (IVCT) mechanisms between Fe2+ and Fe3+ sites may be the origin of these deviations. These crystal-structure effects limit the accuracy of the method for mixed Fe2+-Fe3+ valence silicates. Precisions achieved for further Fe3+/ΣFe measurements strongly depend on the total Fe concentration. For basaltic glasses containing an average of 8 wt% Fe and 10% Fe3+/ΣFe, the precision is about ±2% (absolute). For low Fe concentrations (below 3.5 wt%), the uncertainty in the peak position measured by the EMP spectrometers leads to error bars that are similar to with the separation of the curves fitted to the Fe2+ and Fe3+ plots, which is propagated as prohibitive lack of precision for Fe3+/ΣFe (>70% relative). A major limitation of microbeam methods in general deals with beam damage. This aspect has been carefully studied for basaltic glasses, and optimal beam conditions have been established (in general, electron doses higher than those corresponding to 130 nA and 30 μm beam diameter should be avoided to prevent large beam induced oxidation phenomena). Additional work, in progress, concerns: (1) other beam-sensitive phases such as hydrated glasses; and (2) minerals in which FeLα is affected by large matrix effect corrections (e.g., Cr- and Ti-rich oxides where FeLα is strongly absorbed), for which the self-absorptioninduced shift of FeLα is different from that of common silicates and glasses.


This thesis is a study of social networks in the Zambian small and medium scale farmer sector. The purpose of this study is to enhance our understanding of how the social networks function in transferring knowledge across the sector actors. Knowledge transfer in this context is important because knowledge leads to process improvement. Both the quantity and quality of agricultural produce are expected to increase as an outcome of process improvement. This will improve the country's food security position as well as improve economic welfare at household and national levels.
Social networks are investigated because sector actors have relied on them as channels for knowledge transfer interventions. What this study reveals, however, is that the social networks through which knowledge is transferred are not adequately understood. This may be among the reasons for intervention failure in knowledge transfer efforts in the sector. The main research problem for this thesis then is to understand the nature of the social networks of Zambian small and medium scale farmers. Additionally, the thesis attempts to explain the role of the social networks in knowledge transfer facilitation and hindrance.
The Zambian context and the small and medium scale farmer sector suffer a dearth of research. Consequently, too little is known about the context and this necessitates an exploratory approach to the study. For explorative purposes, the study is qualitative in nature. Qualitative research enables understanding of the study issue and this in turn may provide solutions to the research problems. An inductive research methodology is employed.
What has emerged from the findings of this study is that individual actor attributes play an influential role in social networks. The role of individual actor attributes has been linked to social network outcomes of either knowledge transfer facilitation or hindrance. Specifically, the social identity of individual farmers is found to provide potential explanations for social network outcomes. This finding is unexpected and important because it provides a basis for questioning one of the key assumptions of social network theory. The key assumption that this study finding questions is that individual actor attributes are unimportant and must be ignored in social network theory applications.
This thesis presents evidence to support the consideration of social identity in social network theory applications. Understanding the influence of social identity on social networks may enhance our ability to predict and explain social network outcomes. It is on this basis of enhancing prediction that social network theory ought to be revisited.
In addition to the theoretical insights this thesis provides, the study makes contributions to literature and practice. The limitations of the study are acknowledged and explained. Directions for future research are presented.


The Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium attracts a large number of spectators in the Tokyo metropolitan area. To clarify the demand for medical care at a public ballpark, we analyzed following two types of medical records maintained at the stadium: (1) "Report of Aid": a record of patients visiting the first-aid station in 2003 season and (2) "Report of Accidents": a record of patients referred to clinics/hospitals between 1996 and 2003 season. (1) In 2003, approximately 1,582,000 spectators watched 67 professional baseball games (60 night games). Of the 247 spectators received medical care at the first-aid station (3.7 persons per game, 1/6,405 spectators), 128 (51.8%) had trauma and 109 (44.1%) had illness. The incidence of trauma was relatively higher before the start and near the end of the night games. The risk of becoming sick/wounded per spectator or the number of the sick/wounded per game differed depending on the participating sports teams. (2) Ninety-three spectators referred to clinics/hospitals during the 8-year period from 1996 to 2003, of which 57 were transferred by ambulance. Direct ball injury accounted for 65 (69.9%) cases of trauma, followed by stumbling/falls (18 cases, 19.4%). Twenty patients were diagnosed to have fractures at the clinics/hospitals. Intrinsic cardiopulmonary arrest occurred in one spectator. Trauma due to direct ball injury accounted for the largest number of wounded patients referred to clinics/hospitals. Treatment to patients at the first-aid station in the stadium may optimize the frequency of hospital visits. Records of medical care are effective to analyze the demand for medical preparedness.


We introduce new inductive, generative semisupervised mixtures with more finely grained class label generation mechanisms than in previous work. Our models combine advantages of semisupervised mixtures, which achieve label extrapolation over a component, and nearest-neighbor (NN)/nearest-prototype (NP) classification, which achieve accurate classification in the vicinity of labeled samples or prototypes. For our NN-based method, we propose a novel two-stage stochastic data generation, with all samples first generated using a standard finite mixture and then all class labels generated, conditioned on the samples and their components of origin. This mechanism entails an underlying Markov random field, specific to each mixture component or cluster. We invoke the pseudo-likelihood formulation, which forms the basis for an approximate generalized expectation-maximization model learning algorithm. Our NP-based model overcomes a problem with the NN-based model that manifests at very low labeled fractions. Both models are advantageous when within-component class proportions are not constant over the feature space region "owned by" a component. The practicality of this scenario is borne out by experiments on UC Irvine data sets, which demonstrate significant gains in classification accuracy over previous semisupervised mixtures and also overall gains, over KNN classification. Moreover, for very small labeled fractions, our methods overall outperform supervised linear and nonlinear kernel support vector machines.


The effect of radiations on supercoiled plasmid DNA has been investigated by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The DNA molecules were deposited on a substrate and observed by AFM. Alternatively, DNA at different scavenger concentrations was initially exposed to different types of radiations (alpha and X rays) at various doses. After irradiation, fragments (open circular and linearised strands) were observed corresponding to single strand breaks and double strand breaks in DNA. This result indicates the capabilities of AFM for the qualitative detection of strand modifications due to irradiation. The amount of each class of topology enables a quantitative response to be determined for both types of radiation (alpha, X). A value of the radiosensitivity of DNA was obtained as a function of the scavenger concentration. Strong accordance was found between AFM results and those obtained by use of gel electrophoresis. The advantage of AFM in comparison with traditional techniques is the possibility of analysing the radiation effects on one molecule. Indeed, taking the example of alpha particles, it is shown that it is easy to measure the sizes of linear strands by AFM. Such additional or even precise results are difficult to obtain with gel electrophoresis since, in such a case, data are lost through smearing.


With the opening of the ACR's Radiology Coding Source as a free publication, it is expected that there will be a group of readers who are not as sophisticated or experienced with radiographic procedures and coding as past paid subscribers to the Source. This article presents a base of information about the technical aspects of radiographic modalities, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, and radiation oncology. Radiology coders without a background in imaging technology will increase their coding skills by taking the time to learn how these imaging modalities are used daily by radiologists. Managers and experienced coders should find this information helpful in training others within their organizations.


High performance application development remains challenging, particularly for scientists making the transition to a grid environment. In general areas of computing, virtual environments such as Java and .Net have proved successful in fostering application development. Unfortunately, these existing virtual environments do not provide the necessary high performance computing abstractions required by e-scientists. In response, we propose and demonstrate a new approach to the development of a high performance virtual infrastructure: Motor is a virtual machine developed by integrating a high performance message passing library directly within a virtual infrastructure. Motor provides high performance application developers with a common runtime, garbage collection and system libraries, including high performance message passing, whilst retaining strong message passing performance


Background: HIV/AIDS is one of the major barriers for community development. HIV epidemic in India is mainly concentrated among Most at Risk Groups (MARGs)/ High Risk Groups (HRGs) i.e. Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), Female Sex Workers (FSWs), Men who have sex with men (MSM) & Transgender and their sexual partners. National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) phase- II (year 1999-2006) & phase-III (year 2007-2012) envisaged and implemented Targeted Interventions (TIs) across country which has helped in somewhat containing the HIV epidemic among HRGs in various pockets. The implementation of Targeted Intervention programme has remained invariably different based on the response of respective State AIDS Control Societies (SACS).

Objective: To analyze the shifting trends of HIV epidemiology among MARGs, identify lessons learnt and examine future aspects of public health interventions among MARGs.
Materials and Methods: Present research has systematically reviewed HIV epidemiology among Most at Risk Groups (MARGs) using 16 peer reviewed research papers, HIV Sentinel Surveillance Survey (HSS) reports (years 2007 and 2008-09), National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3 report, epidemiological studies, public health intervention reports via online database ‗PubMed' and ‗Web of Science' are analysed.

Results: Findings of various studies defining the HIV prevalence among MARGs highlights HIV prevalence ranging between 3.0 % to 70.0% in some pockets. These findings may not be generalized considering the limited sample size used in such studies. Annual rounds of HIV Sentinel Surveillance Survey (HSS) are considered more reliable and generalizeable. The trend of HIV prevalence among MARGs based on three years moving average show a consistent fall in HIV prevalence among FSWs in erstwhile high prevalence states. Whereas the trend of HIV prevalence among MSM & Transgender show initial decrease between period 2003 to 2006 and then rise from 2006 to 2007. HIV prevalence among IDUs show decrease from 2003 to 2008 in Manipur, Nagaland, and Chennai and notable increase reported in Meghalaya, Mizoram, West Bengal, Mumbai, Kerala and Punjab. There are regional variations in HIV prevalence among MSM & Transgender and Injecting Drug Users.

Conclusion: Review has outlined that despite reduction of new HIV infections (by 50% from 2000 to 2009) and reported decline in HIV prevalence among Female Sex Workers, a sustained focus on prevention is required among MARGs and their partner to contain HIV. However selection bias, non response bias, under reporting bias, surveillance bias in these studies might have also affected the results. There is felt need for more qualitative and behavioural researches to corroborate with HIV epidemiology and trends among MARGs.


This article presents the case for IT transformation and big data for safety risk management on the GB railways. This article explains why the interest in data-driven safety solutions is very high in the railways by describing the drivers that shape risk management for the railways. A brief overview of research projects in the big data risk analysis programme supports the case and helps understand the research agenda for the transformation of safety and risk on the GB railways. The drivers and the projects provide insight in the current research needs for the transformation and explains why safety researchers have to broaden their skill set to include digital skills and potentially even programming. The case for IT transformation of risk management systems is compelling, and this article describes just the tip of the iceberg of opportunities opening up for safety analysis that, after all, depends on data.


OBJECTIVE Cerebral vasoreactivity to pharmacologically induced hypercapnia is impaired in poorly controlled patients with type 1 diabetes but otherwise free from microangiopathy. However, whether this response is also compromised during exercise, a daily-life physiological condition challenging regional cerebral hemodynamics, is unknown. We aimed to investigate prefrontal cortex hemodynamics during incremental maximal exercise in patients with uncomplicated type 1 diabetes, taking into account long-term glycemic control as well as exercise- and diabetes-influenced vasoactive stimuli. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Two groups of patients (type 1 diabetes with adequate glycemic control [T1D-A], n = 8, HbA1c 6.8 ± 0.7% [51 ± 7.7 mmol/mol]; type 1 diabetes with inadequate glycemic control [T1D-I], n = 10, HbA1c 9.0 ± 0.7% [75 ± 7.7 mmol/mol]) were compared with 18 healthy control subjects (CON-A and CON-I) matched for physical activity and body composition. Throughout exercise, near-infrared spectroscopy allowed investigation of changes in oxyhemoglobin (O2Hb), deoxyhemoglobin (HHb), and total hemoglobin (THb) in the prefrontal cortex. Venous and arterialized capillary blood was sampled during exercise to assess for factors that may alter prefrontal cortex hemodynamics and oxygenation. RESULTS No differences were observed between T1D-A and CON-A, but VO2max was impaired (P < 0.05) and cerebral blood volume (THb) increase blunted (P < 0.05) in T1D-I compared with CON-I. Nonetheless, O2Hb appeared unaltered in T1D-I probably partly due to blunting of simultaneous neuronal oxygen extraction (i.e., a lower HHb increase; P < 0.05). There were no intergroup differences in arterial oxygen content, Paco2, pH, [K+], and free insulin levels. CONCLUSIONS Maximal exercise highlights subtle disorders of both hemodynamics and neuronal oxygenation in the prefrontal cortex of poorly controlled patients with type 1 diabetes. These findings may warn clinicians of brain endothelial dysfunction occurring even before overt microangiopathy during exercise.


The mechanism of the dawn phenomenon was studied in 12 C-peptide-negative type I diabetic patients (age 30 ± 2 yr) treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion. During constant basal infusion, nocturnal glycemia remained constant until 4 a.m., but began to rise thereafter in 10/12 patients, with the mean rise from 4.6 ± 0.4 mmol/L to 6.1 ± 0.7 mmol/L (P < 0.01) by 8 a.m. In these patients the rate of glucose production (Ra, 2.14 ± 0.04 mg/kg/min, 3-H3-glucose infusion) exceeded the rate of utilization (Rd, 1.89 ± 0.03 mg/kg/ min, P < 0.02). When the patients were restudied after the infusion rate was increased by 49 ± 7%, Ra fell to 1.75 ± 0.03 mg/kg/min (P < 0.01) and the dawn phenomenon was abolished. However, both Ra and Rd remained higher in the diabetic subjects (P / 0.05) than in eight healthy control subjects, in whom Ra (1.66 ± 0.02 mg/kg/min) was equal to Rd with glycemia remaining unchanged. Peripheral free insulin levels in the diabetic patients were similar during constant (12.3 ± 0.5 mU/L) and increased infusion rate (11.3 ± 0.4 mU/L), and higher than those of the control subjects (5.2 ± 0.2 mU/L, P < 0.05). A diurnal rise in serum cortisol levels occurred 1 h earlier in the diabetic than in the control subjects, and Ra was directly proportional to serum cortisol concentration (r = 0.61; P < 0.01). Serum growth hormone levels were also slightly higher in the diabetic than the control subjects. In conclusion: (1) A dawn phenomenon is associated with an excessive rate of glucose production, rather than impaired utilization; (2) this may be explained, at least in part, by elevated counterregulatory hormone levels; and (3) a step-up in the overnight insulin delivery reduces hepatic glucose production and so prevents the dawn phenomenon.


This essay focuses on the political function of the personification of Rumor in order to challenge readings of the second tetralogy that see Rumor dramatizing the formation of a sovereign state, mounted securely on individual virtue and charismatic power. Through its ability to manipulate truth and elude ontological stability, Rumor appropriates the spectral authority of the state personified as a corpus mysticum and foregrounds the precarious quality of such nominally deathless institutions. Both a quality of the king and something that challenges or curbs his power, Rumor deontologizes the singular, deathless institution the king supposedly is. Tracing the affinity of Rumor (initially associated with the many-headed multitude) with Henry IV, Falstaff, and finally the Lord Chief Justice, Evans argues that the real transference of power occurs not between Henry IV and Hal but between Rumor and the Lord Chief Justice. Thus, the play's representation of political authority is less centralizing and celebratory than is often acknowledged. By submitting to the Chief Justice's counsel, Hal gains the political legitimacy that his father lacked. At the same time, this submission initiates a juridical constraint on monarchic rule and a transition to the state as abstract personality. Thus, the play not only undercuts familiar humanist narratives of reform but also draws our attention to the fundamentally contestable nature of any given political configuration, especially those that claim to be originary and authoritative.


To establish a method for determination of quercetin content in fructus trichosanthis, and to observe the inhibitory effect of fructus trichosanthis extract on growth of cervical carcinoma HeLa cells. Active constituent was determined by HPLC with quercetin as the reference using 0.3% phosphoric acid: methanol solution (47:53) as the mobile phase at a detection wavelength of 360 nm. MTT assay was used to determine the cell metabolic rate, while flow cytometry was utilized to observe the changes in apoptosis. Quercetin showed good linearity within a 1.0468-10.468 mg/mL range (r=0.9997), with an average recovery of 98.58%. Compared to the control group, different concentrations of fructus trichosanthis extracts all inhibited HeLa cell proliferation after acting on for 24 and 48 h. Moreover, inhibition rates increased significantly with increasing drug concentrations and prolonging treatment time, showing a certain time-dose-response relationship. S phase ratio of HeLa cells rose from 24.68% in the control group to 42.15%, while G2 phase cell ratio dropped from 10.54% in the control group to 5.11%. Fructus trichosanthis extract could arrest HeLa cells in S phase. Compared to the control group, percentage of S phase cells increased, while G2 phase cells decreased. And such effect was dosedependent. The present quantitative determination method is reproducible, accurate and reliable. Fructus trichosanthis extract has a significant inhibitory effect on the growth of HeLa cells in vitro.


Objective To investigate the therapeutic effects and side effects of FLAG and MEA regimen in the treatment of relapsed and refractory adult acute myeloid leukemia.Methods Use retrospective analysis to Observe the therapeutic effects and side effects of the 51 cases of relapsed and refractory adult acute myeloid leukemia (M3 except) from January 2009 to June 2012 in our hospital,which are divided into FLAG group (23 cases) and MEA group (28 cases) according to chemotherapy.Results In FLAG group,the rate of complete remission was 30.4 % (7/23),the rate of partial remission was 17.4 % (4/23),the effective rate was 47.8 % (11/23).In MEA group,the rate of complete remission was 35.7 % (10/28),the rate of partial remission was 21.4 % (6/28),the effective rate was 57.1% (16/28),difference between two groups was not statistically significant. Both groups appeared Ⅳ degrees myelosupression,and there were no significant differences between them on incidences of secondary infection [95.7 % (22/23) vs 89.3 % (25/28)] and haemorrhagia [82.6 % (19/23) vs 85.7 % (24/28)].Difference on cardiac toxicity was statistically significant.Conclusions Compared with MEA regimen, FLAG regimen are similar effective and can be well tolerated,which has lower cardiac toxicity. Thus, FLAG regimen can be used as first-line treatment for relapsed and refractory adult acute myeloid leukemia.

Key words:
Leukemia,myeloid,acute; Relapsed; Refractory; FLAG regimen; MEA regimen


Tor and I2P are well-known anonymity networks used by many individuals to protect their online privacy and anonymity. Tor's centralized directory services facilitate the understanding of the Tor network, as well as the measurement and visualization of its structure through the Tor Metrics project. In contrast, I2P does not rely on centralized directory servers, and thus obtaining a complete view of the network is challenging. In this work, we conduct an empirical study of the I2P network, in which we measure properties including population, churn rate, router type, and the geographic distribution of I2P peers. We find that there are currently around 32K active I2P peers in the network on a daily basis. Of these peers, 14K are located behind NAT or firewalls. Using the collected network data, we examine the blocking resistance of I2P against a censor that wants to prevent access to I2P using address-based blocking techniques. Despite the decentralized characteristics of I2P, we discover that a censor can block more than 95% of peer IP addresses known by a stable I2P client by operating only 10 routers in the network. This amounts to severe network impairment: a blocking rate of more than 70% is enough to cause significant latency in web browsing activities, while blocking more than 90% of peer IP addresses can make the network unusable. Finally, we discuss the security consequences of the network being blocked, and directions for potential approaches to make I2P more resistant to blocking.


This dissertation is a stylistic and contextual analysis of Thomas Jennefelt's "Villarosa sarialdi." The composer asserts that his work draws influence from the Baroque, American minimalism, and the Swedish choral tradition, and that assertion will be evaluated through analysis. Analysis is preceded by an historical overview of the development of choral singing in Sweden and brief biographical information about the composer. Then, influences of the Baroque and specifically the opening chorus of Bach's St. John Passion are explored and commonalities among those influences outlined. An assessment of the work's homage to the Swedish choral tradition follows, utilizing criteria set forth by Lennart Reimers. Finally, a concluding discussion evaluates whether the work, given its intimate connections to Swedish choral culture, can be considered patently Swedish.


TAFII70, a member of the basal transcription complex implicated in p53-mediated transcription, is synthesized as several alternately spliced variants. The predominant forms found in normal and neoplastic breast epithelial cells are shown to be 72 kDa (TAFII70) and 78 kDa (TAFII80). Most cancers express higher levels of the TAFII80 isoform, whereas normal breast epithelia express higher levels of the TAFII70 isoform. Expression of TAFII70, but not TAFII80, causes dramatic growth suppression of normal and transformed breast epithelial cell lines in a p53-independent manner. Growth suppression correlates with mitotic inhibition resulting from an increased number of cells in G2. Both isoforms induce expression of the G2 arrest associated gene, GADD45a, but a novel protein-protein interaction was observed between TAFII70 (not TAFII80) and GADD45a, suggesting that this interaction is important for the observed growth arrest phenotype induced by the TAFII70 isoform. GADD45a null cells are not subject to TAFII70 inhibition, further supporting the relevance of this interaction.


The soil piping that occurs on luvisols in the vicinity of the village of Halenkovice was studied for 5 years. These piping phenomena can only be found where arable land meets the forest or a belt of shrubbery. If there is a scarp in the locality, which usually changes from 6° in the field to approximately 30° in the forest, soil pipes are more likely to occur. Before the scarp, the slope flattens out and it is almost horizontal. This factor makes it possible for the overland flow to seep into the slope. This seepage results in soil piping, which is formed in loess loam and colluvial deposits. There are about 15 sites in the vicinity of the village of Halenkovice, where soil piping occurs. In one of them, Halenkovice 1 (an area of 900 m2) we closely studied 47 partial cavities. Their internal volume is 3.8 m3. The volume of the sink holes is 23 m3. There are two types of soil pipes – vertical, which on average tend to be shorter (40 cm) and lead the water under the surface, and soil pipes parallel with the slope, which are on average 81 cm long. Water flows through the pipes during a thaw or precipitation, which often takes away the top soil. The intensity of this process depends on the intensity of precipitation, which occurs outside the growing season, when there are no crops in the fields.


For a scientific discipline to be interdisciplinary it must satisfy two conditions; it must consist of contributions from at least two existing disciplines and it must be able to provide insights, through this interaction, that neither progenitor discipline could address. In this paper, I examine the complete body of peer-reviewed literature self-identified as landscape genetics using the statistical approaches of text mining and natural language processing. The goal here is to quantify the kinds of questions being addressed in landscape genetic studies, the ways in which questions are evaluated mechanistically, and how they are differentiated from the progenitor disciplines of landscape ecology and population genetics. I then circumscribe the main factions within published landscape genetic papers examining the extent to which emergent questions are being addressed and highlighting a deep bifurcation between existing individual- and population-based approaches. I close by providing some suggestions on where theoretical and analytical work is needed if landscape genetics is to serve as a real bridge connecting evolution and ecology sensu lato.


Detailed microscopic observations (palynofacies) and organic geochemical analyses were conducted on insoluble sedimentary organic matter (kerogens) from the Late Cretaceous sediments in the Chad (Bornu) Basin, northeastern Nigeria. This is to assess their origin, paleoenvironment and types, as well as their petroleum potential. The organic matter is mainly composed of mixed terrestrial plant and marine algae-derived AOMs. Phytoclasts are also present in signiicant amount in most of the samples, especially those obtained from the upper section of Fika Formation. However, most of the AOMs appears to be degraded and were not well preserved. The variations of relative abundances of marine and terrigenous organic matter may be controlled by terrestrial input in ocean and/or preservation rather than marine production. This organic matter was likely deposited in marine environment under environmental conditions that were mostly dysoxic. The intense degradation observed in most of the organic matter may be as a result of high thermal maturity. Further evidences in this study conirmed that most of the potential source rocks in Chad (Bornu) Basin contain Type III kerogens, but Type III/II kerogens were also present in some parts of the basin, especially at the upper section of Fika Formation. It was also revealed that most of the samples, especially those at the deeper sections of the basin display high aromatic character which suggest a dominant gas-prone nature of the organic matter. This study conirmed that a potential for gas generation exist in this basin.


Drawing on the most recent, groundbreaking archaeological research, Eric M. Meyers and Mark A. Chancey re-narrate the history of ancient Palestine in this richly illustrated and expertly integrated book. Spanning from the conquest of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BCE until the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine in the fourth century CE, they synthesize archaeological evidence with ancient literary sources (including the Bible) to offer a sustained overview of the tumultuous intellectual and religious changes that impacted world history during the Greco-Roman period. The authors demonstrate how the transformation of the ancient Near East under the influence of the Greeks and then the Romans led to foundational changes in both the material and intellectual worlds of the Levant. Palestine's subjection to Hellenistic kingdoms, its rule by the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties, the two disastrous Jewish revolts against Rome, and its full incorporation into the Roman Empire provide a background for the emergence of Christianity. The authors observe in the archaeological record how Judaism and Christianity were virtually undistinguishable for centuries, until the rise of imperial Christianity with Emperor Constantine. The only book-length overview available that focuses on the archaeology of Palestine in this period, this comprehensive and powerfully illuminating work sheds new light on the lands of the Bible.


The purpose of this thesis was to research the systems issues surrounding identity fraud in New Zealand. There is only limited published research on the topic, either at an academic or industry level. The New Zealand Government has been conducting work in identity fraud in recent times but New Zealand appears to be lagging behind other similar westernised countries in terms of developing specific identity fraud policy or legislative provisions. The research showed that New Zealand does have serious problems in its systems, which in some cases facilitate identity fraud. There is a lack of synchronicity between New Zealand Government systems which undermines a whole of government approach to minimising the risk of identity fraud. Issues in the private sector with identity fraud are just as serious, with financial advantage being one of the main reasons that identity fraud is committed. However, the lack of information sharing between the public and private sectors does not help stem the flow of identity fraud that is currently occurring. Finding policy solutions to combat identity fraud is far from being simplistic. Public policy in this area is fraught with social, political and financial implications. Identity fraud is committed with speed while public policy faces a slow battle with red tape. Nonetheless, the New Zealand Government does not even appear to categorically know what is happening on its own door step with respect to identity fraud. There are no statistics on identity fraud and no concrete figures as to the cost of identity fraud to New Zealand. To compound problems, identity fraud is not even an official offence classification so even when it is occurring, it is not always being recorded. x The damage resulting from identity fraud can be catastrophic. Identity fraud is a breeder crime for other offences. It can enable an act of terrorism to occur, women and children to be trafficked, and organisations and individuals to suffer serious financial loss. In New Zealand however, the benefits of identity fraud can be great while the deterrents are weak. New Zealand faces potential harm to its international reputation if its systems are not strengthened to fight identity fraud. In order for this to occur, New Zealand needs to develop a specific identity fraud policy so that it has the basic knowledge in place to allocate the necessary resources to this problem.


Introduction. Part I: Introducing Existentialism. Chapter 1: What Is Existentialism? Chapter 2: The Big Names of Existentialism. Part II: The Fundamental Problem: God Is Dead. Chapter 3: If God Is Dead, Is Life Meaningless? Chapter 4: Anxiety, Dread, and Angst in an Empty World. Part III: Living a Meaningful Life in a Meaningless World. Chapter 5: The Challenge of Absurdity and Authenticity. Chapter 6: Understanding Our Unique Way of Existing in the World. Chapter 7: Not Tonight, Honey: Why We Need More Passion in Our Lives. Chapter 8: Sar tre's Existentialism: Learning to Cope with Freedom. Chapter 9: Finding Authenticity: Facing Death, Conscience, and Time. Chapter 10: Kierkegaard: The Task of Being a Religious Existentialist. Chapter 11: Niet zsche: Mastering the Art of Individuality. Part IV: The Enduring Impact of Existentialism. Chapter 12: Fear and Loathing in Existential Politics. Chapter 13: Existentialism and Other Schools of Philosophical Thought. Chapter 14: Doing Psychology the Existential Way. Part V: Part of Tens. Chapter 15: Ten Great Existential Movies. Chapter 16: Ten Great Works of Existential Literature. Index.


Technology and digitalization are continuously producing changes in sectors and fields of human activities. Infrastructure industry needs this support in various and extensive ways, since it affects involved parties and society overall. Even though many individual branches have been transformed, design and construction show some kind of reluctance on encouraging and implementing comprehensive digitalization. A major reason is the significantly high complexity of infrastructure projects and the extended chains of work procedures and activities that are produced. All those are applying through the whole time scale of buildings' existence. Considering that safety and durability remain always the ultimate goal, every new method and concept shall be exhaustively tested, in order to prove its value and efficiency. The current chapter aims to define and prove technology contribution all along the infrastructure sector, concentrating in tunnels and underground structures. Since evolution is proceeding in accelerated rates, future perspectives are also analyzed to provide broader visions and set indicative standpoints for potential and incentives.


Abstract The high rates of depression – as well as the widespread diagnosis of depression – are both controversial and contested in contemporary late-modern society. Issues of flawed definition have been voiced to account for the bourgeoning rates of depression and the diagnosis has been subject to criticism of medicalization and pharmaceuticalization. Others have stated that the actualization of depression is to be seen in light of societal and structural transformations. Be that as it may, depression is affecting more and more people and the diagnosis is prevalent. In this context, a more nuanced understanding of how people relate to, experience and ascribe meaning to their suffering as depression and being diagnosed as such is needed. This article draws on qualitative interviews from Denmark and Norway to explore lay accounts of depression in contemporary late-modern society. The findings reveal that lay accounts of suffering, including living with the diagnosis of depression is a dynamic process, meaning that people vacillate in and out of various perspectives of suffering and categorization to make it fit their specific life situation and prospects of the future. In this article we thus highlight the perspectives of thoroughly analyzing suffering and the diagnostic experience by applying the overall concept of process, which takes on different meanings in the course of the analysis.


"The World Cup 2006" is a small paperback original that will provide fans with everything they need to know about the 2006 World Cup in Germany. It includes information about all key players, the history of the Cup, the teams to watch, and an interactive component allowing them to keep track of each country's performance. Fernando Fiore is one of the most recognized celebrities in the US Hispanic community. He has won 3 Emmys, and in recent years, his ongoing popularity has led him to cover major sports events, such as the World Cup, the Copa America, and the Juegos Panamericanos.


Bark beetles with the capacity to kill and colonize living trees are main pests of coniferous forests around the world. The European spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus, belongs to a group of bark beetles possessing facultative attack patterns. For long periods I. typographus is living in low populations only on seriously weakened hosts. However, following disturbances like storms or drought periods, the amount of suitable breading material increases dramatically and the population size of beetles may rise within a short time to epidemic levels. In the epidemic phase I. typographus behaves aggressively, attacking healthy trees and destroying large areas of Norway spruce forest. Bark beetles with this pattern of behaviour are exploiting a different ecological niche than during the endemic, low population phase: in broken or seriously weakened hosts they exploit a relatively poor source of nutrients without dealing with host defences. Instead they have to deal with a higher degree of interspecific competition. On the other hand, a living host provides breeding material, which is rich in nutrients and relatively free from interspecific competition, but there beetles have to fight the defence responses of the host tree. Host defences can be overcome by mass attack of thousands of beetles on the same tree, which is coordinated by aggregation pheromones. The trade-off between evaluating host quality and risk rating host defences is a great challenge for the pioneering beetles, that initiate an attack before any pheromone plumes exist. The host choice mechanism can be divided in several distinct steps:

1. habitat location during flight
2. host location during flight
3. host evaluation after landing, involving detection of host suitability and spacing between species and individuals to avoid inter- or intraspecific competition.
4. risk rating host defences after entrance into host phloem.

The question whether the beetles' attack behaviour is ruled by pheromone attraction alone or is guided by markers for host suitability has been an issue of debate for decades.

The peripheral nervous system of bark beetles possesses olfactory receptor neurons for both pheromones, host volatiles and non-host volatiles. Several studies support the theory that non-host volatiles cues play an important role in habitat location, while host volatiles are involved in host finding and host acceptance, either alone or through modulating pheromone attraction. Host defence responses consist of physical barriers and chemical compounds that may be detrimental to invaders. Conifers maintain a certain level of preformed (constitutive) defence that can be enhanced during and after the attacks, e.g. by the increased production of defensive metabolites and development of defensive structures. The different metabolites involved in a trees defence responses may be important markers for beetles to evaluate the trees' defensive ability, and guide them in their decision to enter a host.

Because the population density is an important factor influencing the beetles' success in overwhelming a trees defence, it has been hypothesized that it also will modulate beetles behaviour, either directly or through its influence on the beetles' quality.

This introductory paper is written to obtain an overview over the literature dealing with different aspects of host choice in bark beetle species exhibiting so called aggressive host colonisation behaviour. Different hypotheses and aspects of importance for the host choice behaviour are discussed. Finally, I propose a host choice model for the European spruce bark beetle Ips typographus.


Claims as to the emergence of a new phase of unionism – social movement unionism – returning to its original 'counter-cultural roots', are closely allied with the claims as to a 'new labour internationalism' that is a significant break from the influential postwar trend of nation-statist unionism. This article interrogates these two popular paradigms from the perspective of the Swedish labour movement. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with union officials, as well as quantitative analysis of union homepage content and responses to surveys among May Day demonstrators. The general conclusion as regards social movement unionism in Sweden is that the major unions, although increasingly interested in cooperation with social movement organizations, are still far from changing the repertoire of action that has been predominant in the postwar period. International solidarity – among both union officials and grassroots activists – is strongly ambivalent, and attitudes to international support oscillate between charity and self-interest.


Rolling upgrade consists of upgrading progressively the servers of a distributed system to reduce service downtime.Upgrading a subset of servers requires a well-engineered cluster membership protocol to maintain, in the meantime, the availability of the system state. Existing cluster membership reconfigurations, like CoreOS etcd, rely on a primary not only for reconfiguration but also for storing information. At any moment, there can be at most one primary, whose replacement induces disruption. We propose Rollup, a non-disruptive rolling upgrade protocol with a fast consensus-based reconfiguration. Rollup relies on a candidate leader only for the reconfiguration and scalable biquorums for service requests. While Rollup implements a non-disruptive cluster membership protocol, it does not offer a full-fledged coordination service. We analyzed Rollup theoretically and experimentally on an isolated network of 26 physical machines and an Amazon EC2 cluster of 59 virtual machines. Our results show an 8-fold speedup compared to a rolling upgrade based on a primary for reconfiguration.


We propose a novel method to automatically extract the audio-visual objects that are present in a scene. First, the synchrony between related events in audio and video channels is exploited to identify the possible locations of the sound sources. Video regions presenting a high coherence with the soundtrack are automatically labelled as being part of the audio-visual object. Next, a graph cut segmentation procedure is used to extract the entire object. The proposed segmentation approach includes a novel term that keeps together pixels in regions with high audio- visual synchrony. When longer sequences are analyzed, video signals are divided into groups of frames which are processed sequentially and propagate the information about the source characteristics forward in time. Results show that our method is able to discriminate between audio-visual sources and distracting moving objects and to adapt within a short time delay when sources pass from active to inactive and vice versa.


The nonlinear signal in a degenerate four-wave mixing experiment as a result of diffraction of a spatially distributed third-order nonlinearity is studied theoretically. The approach has been applied for the case of monochromatic and ultrashort pulses. As a consequence, the degenerate four-wave mixing signal is found to be independent of light-coherence parameters and cannot be explained as a product of diffraction on a dynamic grating. In this model only the fast component of the signal (the coherent artifact) is related directly to third-order nonlinear processes. The main features (the origins, temporal shapes, dependencies of pump intensity, and modulation effects) of the coherent artifact and a slow-decay component are discussed theoretically and experimentally.


Only a handful of supernovae (SNe) have been studied in multiwavelengths from the radio to X-rays, starting a few days after the explosion. The early detection and classification of the nearby Type IIb SN 2011dh/PTF 11eon in M51 provides a unique opportunity to conduct such observations. We present detailed data obtained at one of the youngest phase ever of a core-collapse SN (days 3–12 after the explosion) in the radio, millimetre and X-rays; when combined with optical data, this allows us to explore the early evolution of the SN blast wave and its surroundings. Our analysis shows that the expanding SN shock wave does not exhibit equipartition (ϵ_e/ϵ_B ∼ 1000), and is expanding into circumstellar material that is consistent with a density profile falling like R^(−2). Within modelling uncertainties we find an average velocity of the fast parts of the ejecta of 15 000 ± 1800 km s^(−1), contrary to previous analysis. This velocity places SN 2011dh in an intermediate blast wave regime between the previously defined compact and extended SN Type IIb subtypes. Our results highlight the importance of early (∼1 d) high-frequency observations of future events. Moreover, we show the importance of combined radio/X-ray observations for determining the microphysics ratio ϵ_e/ϵ_B.


Microfinance has gained prominence as a policy option for addressing poverty. Although microfinance has a long history, its growing appeal is usually associated with the attention given to the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, which pioneered group-based lending to poor women. Following the 'successes of Grameen and the promotion of 'cloned' institutions, advocacy for microfinance has focussed primarily on microcredit. Consequently, microfinance as savings, insurance, and other forms of financial intermediation received far less attention. It was believed that microcredit was a more reliable and faster means to achieve poverty reduction, especially through supporting the entrepreneurialism of the poor. Microcredit then became a mantra of the microfinance sector, increasingly identified as its 'raison d'etre' and the justification for the investment of billions for dollars.
This thesis focuses on the relationship between microfinance and poverty. It puts savings at the centre of the research through an analysis of a savings-led financial services co-operative known as the 'Village Banks' in South Africa. The research considers the asserted link between microfinance and poverty from both a theoretical and empirical interrogation. It questions the limited engagement that the microfinance literature has had with the various theories on poverty and attempts to formulate a more nuanced understanding of relations between the two.
The empirical contribution is a mixed method of qualitative analysis, in the form of focus groups held in four different Village Bank communities, and quantitative analysis from an original panel of households in one community. The thesis argues that a savings-led model of microfinance has the ability to contribute to the challenges of poverty reduction more than is currently acknowledged. It will also argue that, when provided with the necessary support, member-owned financial institutions, such as the Village Banks, offer a potential solution to addressing the inherent challenges of providing low-cost banking services in rural areas.


ABSTRACT Fear of large carnivores such as brown bears may restrict people's outdoor activities regardless of experts' estimated risk of attack. This research study empirically examined three exposure interventions in the form of guided walks intended to give people living in brown bear areas tools for coping with their fear. All interventions significantly reduced fear, decreased people's perceived vulnerability, and increased their social trust in wildlife management authorities. The walk including an encounter with a radio-collared bear in a wild bear habitat resulted in the largest reduction in fear, followed by the walk in the wild bear habitat only and then the walk in a park with captive bears. The wild bear habitat walk was the intervention best suited for further development as it may be used in any area where bears occur and without affecting animal welfare.


Energy needs in the UK are currently met primarily through the use of finite resources, such as oil, coal and gas. The use of these fuels has led to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. There is a need for a more localised and sustainable energy source to meet the demands of our cities. Renewable energy is now being considered as a realistic contributor to both our energy and environmental problems. The contribution of small " scale distributed power generation from renewable sources to the Scottish energy mix is examined. The daily potential energy available from wind and solar resources will be modelled using spectral techniques such as Wavelets and Fourier analysis. From this, synthetic time series of the energy available will be created based on the characteristics of real life data. Along with this, a simple model for both the electricity and heating energy consumption of a typical domestic building is proposed. This allows for the approximation of daily domestic consumption values from monthly average energy values. The potential energy available is then compared with the estimated domestic energy consumption. The loads best suited for, and met by PV generating systems and wind systems will also be assessed, along with the proportion of time that the domestic demand is met or exceeded. This work will be backed up with realistic examples from building integrated renewable systems based on typical data for Aberdeen. All this would allow for a potential statistical relationship between energy supply and demand to be developed in the future. The results of the analysis allowed for the estimation of the potential wind and PV system sizes required to match either the typical summer or winter domestic demand. From these sizes, it was concluded that a combination of a 5m2 PV system and a 1.5kW wind turbine was required to match the typical domestic base load. Widespread implementation of these combined systems, on suitable dwellings, could provide a 16% contribution to the Scottish domestic electricity demand.


The animal communities in plant-held water bodies, such as tree holes and pitcher plants, have become models for food-web studies. In this book, Professor Kitching introduces us to these fascinating miniature worlds and demonstrates how they can be used to tackle some of the major questions in community ecology. Based on thirty years' research in many parts of the world, this work presents much previously unpublished information, in addition to summarising over a hundred years of natural history observations by others. The book covers many aspects of the theory of food-web formation and maintenance presented with field-collected information on tree holes, bromeliads, pitcher plants, bamboo containers and the axils of fleshy plants. It is a unique introduction for the field naturalist, and a stimulating source treatment for graduate students and professionals working in the fields of tropical and other forest ecology, as well as entomology.