Feminist Economics editorial policy requires that discussions of statistical results report standard errors rather than t-statistics. This policy is to make it easier for readers to construct confidence intervals. The policy accords with the view that statistical significance cannot be interpreted without information on sample size. The policy also requires that comments on statistical results address the economic importance of results. Statistical significance should therefore be addressed only in the context of sample size and the economic meaningfulness of a coefficient. For example, as is well known, a coefficient can be statistically significantly different from zero but so close to zero that the statistical significance may be of little relevance. Articles should therefore emphasize the economic importance of variables in the context of confidence intervals rather than statistical significance.


This paper studies, theoretically and empirically, the role of overconfidence in political behavior. Our model of overconfidence in beliefs predicts that overconfidence leads to ideological extremeness, increased voter turnout, and stronger partisan identification. The model also makes nuanced predictions about the patterns of ideology in society. These predictions are tested using unique data that measure the overconfidence and standard political characteristics of a nationwide sample of over 3,000 adults. Our numerous predictions find strong support in these data. In particular, we document that overconfidence is a substantively and statistically important predictor of ideological extremeness, voter turnout, and partisan identification. (JEL C83, D03, D72, D83)


SecondSkin is a sketch-based modeling system focused on the creation of structures comprised of layered, shape interdependent 3D volumes. Our approach is built on three novel insights gleaned from an analysis of representative artist sketches. First, we observe that a closed loop of strokes typically define surface patches that bound volumes in conjunction with underlying surfaces. Second, a significant majority of these strokes map to a small set of curve-types, that describe the 3D geometric relationship between the stroke and underlying layer geometry. Third, we find that a few simple geometric features allow us to consistently classify 2D strokes to our proposed set of 3D curve-types. Our algorithm thus processes strokes as they are drawn, identifies their curve-type, and interprets them as 3D curves on and around underlying 3D geometry, using other connected 3D curves for context. Curve loops are automatically surfaced and turned into volumes bound to the underlying layer, creating additional curves and surfaces as necessary. Stroke classification by 15 viewers on a suite of ground truth sketches validates our curve-types and classification algorithm. We evaluate SecondSkin via a compelling gallery of layered 3D models that would be tedious to produce using current sketch modelers.


After World War II, international attention turned to economic reconstruction and the transition back to peace-time. As Australia settled into the 1950s and 1960s 'golden years' there wasn't an obvious imperative to tackle basic economic reform and tax design issues. Underlying structural problems were building, though, that would ultimately call for an economic reform agenda and tax would be part of that. This paper tracks these developments, looking at some limited tax reviews along the way but the main focus will be on the 1975 Asprey review which provided a blueprint for reform of the Australian tax system. Its recommendations for a capital gains tax, a fringe benefits tax, a foreign tax credit system, dividend imputation and a value added tax would take 25 years to implement.


A growing literature is now claiming that participation in the arts, and music in particular, is beneficial to health. Whilst some claims are made for music benefiting physiological health, the main benefit would seem to be for gains in emotional wellbeing. There is a gender dimension to participation in music, with girls being more likely to participate, and boys who wish to sing or play certain instruments facing the disapproval of a "macho" peer culture. The paper reports on qualitative research carried out into the views of 18 boy singers in a well‐known church choir in England, using observation, diary keeping, individual and group interviews. The boys showed a deep appreciation of and engagement with the music. They exhibited many features of high personal wellbeing, including the social competence to circumscribe the proscriptions of "macho" culture. Those from state schools were very critical of the superficial way singing was tackled in their schools. Secondary schools were reported as being more accepting of their singing than primary schools. All the boys were academic high achievers and were particularly keen on autonomous reading, again being critical of the guided reading offered by their schools. The paper concludes that state schools could do more to involve young people, including boys, in singing, and to take the subject more seriously, but acknowledges that the pressures on state schools to deliver literacy and numeracy are making this difficult.


We present a method for converting computer 3D models into physical equivalents. More specifically, we address the problem of approximating a 3D textured mesh using a small number of planar polygonal primitives that form a closed surface. This simplified representation allows us to easily manufacture individual components using computer controlled cutters (e.g., laser cutters or CNC machines). These polygonal pieces can be assembled into the final 3D model using internal planar connectors that are manufactured simultaneously. Our shape approximation algorithm iteratively assigns mesh faces to planar segments and slowly deforms these faces towards corresponding segments. This approach ensures that the output for a given closed mesh is still a closed mesh and avoids introducing self‐intersections. After this step we also compute the shape of polygonal connectors that internally hold the whole mesh surface. Both the polygonal surface elements and connectors can be manufactured in a single cutting pass. We validate the use of our method by computing and manufacturing a variety of textured polyhedral models.


This paper explores the possibility of remedial intervention against the credit rating oligopoly under the competition rules. It is divided in six parts. Following an introduction, Part II provides an overview of the credit rating industry. Part III demonstrates that there is a possible economic case for antitrust intervention against the credit rating agencies ("CRAs"). Part IV examines the doctrines of competition law that could be applied against CRAs. Part V reviews possible remedies. Part VI provides a conclusion. The analysis is conducted on the basis of European Union competition law. Subject to national legal idiosyncrasies, it applies mutatis mutandis to other competition law regimes.


Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP 2) was selected in this work as the biomarker for the detection and diagnosis of malaria. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was first developed to evaluate the immunoreagent's suitability for the sensor's development. A gold-based sensor with an integrated counter and an Ag/AgCl reference electrode was first selected and characterised and then used to develop the immunosensor for PfHRP 2, which enables a low cost, easy to use, and sensitive biosensor for malaria diagnosis. The sensor was applied to immobilise the anti-PfHRP 2 monoclonal antibody as the capture receptor. A sandwich ELISA assay format was constructed using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as the enzyme label, and the electrochemical signal was generated using a 3, 3′, 5, 5′tetramethyl-benzidine dihydrochloride (TMB)/H2O2 system. The performance of the assay and the sensor were optimised and characterised, achieving a PfHRP 2 limit of detection (LOD) of 2.14 ng·mL−1 in buffer samples and 2.95 ng∙mL−1 in 100% spiked serum samples. The assay signal was then amplified using gold nanoparticles conjugated detection antibody-enzyme and a detection limit of 36 pg∙mL−1 was achieved in buffer samples and 40 pg∙mL−1 in serum samples. This sensor format is ideal for malaria detection and on-site analysis as a point-of-care device (POC) in resource-limited settings where the implementation of malaria diagnostics is essential in control and elimination efforts.


Photograph of a movie promotion for the Rembert Theatre in Longview, Texas. This photograph shows large billboards attached to moving vehicles as they parade through the streets of Longview to promote the new "King Kong" movie, which was released in 1929. There are many people gathered in the streets watching the movie promotion. The photograph is mounted on tan cardboard.


In objective physical activity (PA) measurements, applying wider frequency filters than the most commonly used ActiGraph (AG) filter may be beneficial when processing accelerometry data. However, the vulnerability of wider filters to noise has not been investigated previously. This study explored the effect of wider frequency filters on measurements of PA, sedentary behavior (SED), and capturing of noise. Apart from the standard AG band-pass filter (0.29–1.63 Hz), modified filters with low-pass component cutoffs at 4 Hz, 10 Hz, or removed were analyzed. Calibrations against energy expenditure were performed with lab data from children and adults to generate filter-specific intensity cut-points. Free-living accelerometer data from children and adults were processed using the different filters and intensity cut-points. There was a contribution of acceleration related to PA at frequencies up to 10 Hz. The contribution was more pronounced at moderate and vigorous PA levels, although additional acceleration also occurred at SED. The classification discrepancy between AG and the wider filters was small at SED (1–2%) but very large at the highest intensities (>90%). The present study suggests an optimal low-pass frequency filter with a cutoff at 10 Hz to include all acceleration relevant to PA with minimal effect of noise.


Long-eared Owls Asio otus were flushed and captured from communal winter roosts and nesting seasons to assess both initial and stress-induced corticosterone concentrations. We examined blood samples from 16 males and 8 females in the winter, and 16 males and 11 females in the breeding season. Corticosterone concentrations after flushing owls in either season were not correlated with the elapsed time from initial flush to capture, suggesting that these birds did not interpret flushing as stressful. In contrast, 30 min of handling and restraint during both seasons elicited robust increases in plasma cortlcosterone concentrations that did not differ by sex. Although stress-induced corticosterone levels did not differ seasonally, baseline levels were 50% lower during the winter compared to breeding, suggesting the breeding season is a more stressful time. These results indicate that capture techniques used in this study with Long-eared Owls were only stressful when successful, and that initial corticosterone concentrations vary seasonally.


Dynamic simulation of bioreactors is a challenge for both the industrial and academic worlds. Beyond the large number of physical and biological phenomena to be considered and the wide range of scales involved, the central difficulty lies in the need to account for the dynamic behavior of suspended microorganisms. In the case of chemical reactors, knowledge of the thermodynamic equilibrium laws at the interfaces makes it possible to produce macroscopic models by integrating local laws. Microorganisms, on the other hand, have the ability to modulate the rate of substrate assimilation. Moreover, the nature of the biochemical transformations results from a compromise between the needs of the cell and the available resources. This book revisits the modeling of bioreactors using a multi-scale approach. It addresses issues related to mixing, phase-to-phase transfers and the adaptation of microorganisms to variations in concentration, and explores the use of population balances for the simulation of bioreactors. By adopting a multidisciplinary perspective that draws on process engineering, fluid mechanics and microbiology, this book sheds new light on the particularity of bioprocesses in relation to physical and chemical phenomena. Presents a multiphase description of bioreactor modelingIncludes a combination of concepts issued from different scientific fields to address a practical issueProvides a detailed description of the population balance concept as applied to biological systemsCovers a set of illustrative examples of the interaction between hydrodynamics and biological response


A global climate scenario run based on the IPCC future emission scenario SRES A1B was dynamically downscaled for the North Sea, using an uncoupled meso-scale model system. The atmospheric forcing shows an increase in air temperature during the 21st century with stronger warming in winter than in summer. These trends are reflected by an increase in annual mean sea surface temperature of ~1.8°C. The strong warming in winter is the main driver for the total warming of the North Sea, as indicated by the analysis of surface heat flux components. The thermocline weakens in intensity according to the changing temperature profiles, and its mean depth slightly decreases due to lower wind speeds. The salinity in the North Sea drops by ~0.6 psu because of decreasing salinity of the inflowing Atlantic waters, increasing Baltic discharge, and higher downward surface fresh water fluxes. Some of our results disagree with other dynamical downscaling studies, as the results depend on the parent global model. In general, the downscaled projected trends qualitatively agree with the results of the coarser global model. Nevertheless, in particular, the magnitudes of the surface heat fluxes, the formation of the frontal system, and the strength and structure of the general circulation are more realistically represented in the regional meso-scale model.


There is the need to consider the establishment of strategic logistic centers such as a comprehensive intermodal freight transport terminal to support the tremendous pace of logistics development in Malaysia. There are some problems of transportation and goods distribution in this country such as documentation, custom clearance process, terminal locations, planning issues and transportation as well as distribution using service trucks. These are the consequences from having lack of sophisticated mechanism development of intermodal freight transport terminals in Malaysia. This has become a major challenge to the industry which must be overcome immediately. The existence of ports, inland ports and distriparks play an important role as a mechanism with infrastructures and operational systems such as an intermodal freight transport terminal which have been developed in several countries such as the United States as well as some parts in Europe and Asia. On
that reason, the scope of study focuses on Peninsular Malaysia as a major research area where ports, inland ports and distriparks are fundamental by looking at the efforts of these terminals in handling transportation and goods distribution activities. This study focuses on three important elements in planning comprehensive ports, inland ports and distriparks in Malaysia namely; the physical elements, core-on site service elements and core-on site activity elements to enhance goods transportation and distribution system performance for these terminals. A survey was conducted by the researcher towards 257 freight forwarder
companies and several discussions with public and private sectors in completing this study. The data was analysed using statistical and multiple regression analysis in order to improve the terminal and to measure the performance of the terminals studied. The main findings from the analysis showed that the terminals need improvement to increase transportation and distribution system performance. Findings also show that goods distribution system have a very high level of significance with the three intermodal
freight transport terminal elements namely; physical elements, core-on site service elements and core-on site activity elements at ports, inland ports and distriparks in Peninsular Malaysia. Recommendations on guidelines and planning standards were
developed to enhance terminal capabilities for the goal of constructing a comprehensive intermodal freight transport terminal.


Quantitative data for Doppler-shift compensation by Pteronotus parnellii parnellii were obtained with a device which propelled the bats at constant velocities over a distance of 12 m. The bats compensated for Doppler shifts at all velocities tested (0.1-5.0 ms-1). The main findings were (1) that compensation was usually accomplished by a progressive lowering of the approximately 61 kHz second harmonic constant-frequency component of emitted sounds in small frequency steps (93 +/- 72 Hz); (2) that the time needed to reach a steady compensation level averaged 514 +/- 230 ms and the number of pulses required to reach full compensation averaged 10.78 +/- 5.16; (3) that the animals compensated to hold the echo (reference) frequency at a value that was slightly higher than the resting frequency and slightly lower than the cochlear resonance frequency; (4) that reference frequency varied as a function of velocity, the higher the velocity of the animal, the higher was the reference frequency (slope 55 Hz m-1s-2); and (5) that the mean reference frequency was always an undercompensation. The average amount of undercompensation was 15.8%. There was a significant difference (P < or = 0.005) in Doppler-shift compensation data collected at velocities that differed by 0.1 ms-1. A velocity difference of 0.1 ms-1 corresponds to a Doppler-shift difference of about 35 Hz in the approximately 61 kHz signals reaching the ear.


Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) is an act of impacting knowledge while computer teaches or acts as the tutors which is a supplement to human teachers. The ability to teach each student based on their individual abilities a major advantage posed by ITS and that is why it is being embraced in this work. This work describes the design of an Intelligent Tutoring System that was tagged Scholastic tutor (St*), which has the individual learning and collaborative problem-solving modules. The individual tutoring module was designed to provide appropriate lessons to individuals based on his/her background knowledge level, interest, and learning style and assimilation rate prior to using the tutoring system. A software agent is used to monitor and process these parameters, arrange the learning topic, and exercises, for each individual. The collaborative problem-based tutoring module was designed to present tutorial problems and provides facilities to assist learners with some useful information and advice for problem solving. This is because the present lecturing methodology which is the conventional teaching methodology provides an interactive classroom setting that promotes the open exchange of ideas and allows for the lecturer to communicate directly with the students but has a great disadvantage of not teaching all the students according to their own learning rate and pace. The intelligent tutor solves this problem by providing individualised learning for each student where they can learn according to their own pace and learning abilities it will provide remedy and advice when learners encounter difficulties during learning session. The classical model of ITS architecture has four main modules; domain model, student model, tutoring model and the user interface model.


This Article examines the government policy of seeking reimbursement of welfare costs through child support enforcement. Under our welfare program, Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), custodial parents applying for benefits are required to establish child support obligations against the absent parents and to assign the resulting child support payments to the government. As a result, half of the $105 billion in national child support debt is owed to the government rather than to children. The government's fiscal interests are in direct conflict with the best interests of the children - the controlling legal standard in child support matters. The conflict results in legal confusion, and the welfare cost recovery efforts harm children, families and society. Children in welfare families struggling to become self-sufficient lose out as their support payments are redirected to the government. Fragile relationships between mothers, fathers and children are often broken. The fiscal benefit to the government is minimal, at best. And the social fabric is torn, as significant numbers of welfare fathers retreat from the workforce and their families. This Article thoroughly examines the conflict and resulting legal and policy questions. The Article explores the history of the competing interests and purposes of child support in America, describes the framework and impact of the current government welfare cost recovery system, addresses the long ignored and unresolved legal questions that result from the conflicting missions, and concludes with suggestions for reform including the Article's primary conclusion that welfare cost recovery is a failed effort - and should therefore end.


The ubiquity of mobile devices with powerful processors and integrated video cameras is re-opening the discussion on practical augmented reality (AR). Despite this technological convergence, several issues prevent reliable and immersive AR on these platforms. We address one such problem, the shading of virtual objects and determination of lighting that remains consistent with the surrounding environment. We design a novel light probe and exploit its structure to permit an efficient reformulation of the rendering equation that is suitable for fast shading on mobile devices. Unlike prior approaches, our shading probe directly captures the shading, and not the incident light, in a scene. As such, we avoid costly and unreliable radiometric calibration as well as side-stepping the need for complex shading algorithms. Moreover, we can tailor the shading probe's structure to better handle common lighting scenarios, such as outdoor settings. We achieve high-performance shading of virtual objects in an AR context, incorporating plausible local global-illumination effects, on mobile platforms.


An investigation of the Bunyoro Ranching Scheme, undertaken between 1960 and 1962, has provided a preliminary study of the ecological problems involved in ranch management of moist savanna woodland areas of Uganda. A 100 square mile cattle ranch was established in 1956 by Agricultural Enterprises Ltd., a subsidiary of the Uganda Development Corporation. Its inauguration followed two years after the apparent eradication of tsetse from the area and aimed at developing a relatively unpopulated and unproductive region. By 1960 game had been drastically reduced in the interests of tsetse fly control and the number of cattle increased from a few to approximately 4,500. Despite many problems the area now supports a more permanent and dense population of cattle than at any time earlier in the century, and probably more than in earlier centuries when it formed part of the ranchlands of the royal herds of the Mukama of Bunyoro. The overall picture in recent years is one of change from the widespread, varied and less intensive grazing and trampling of game to the more local, intensive and uniform effect of the domestic animal. This has had an immediate impact on the soil and vegetation, the practical implications of which will be discussed.


The Herschel detection of warm H2O vapor emission from C-rich winds of AGB stars challenges the current understanding of circumstellar chemistry. Two mechanisms have been invoked to explain warm H2O formation. In the first, penetration of UV interstellar radiation through a clumpy circumstellar medium causes the formation of H2O molecules in the inner envelope. In the second, periodic shocks passing through the medium immediately above the stellar surface lead to H2O formation. We have identified H2O emission trends from distance-independent line-strength ratios in a sample of 18 C-rich AGB sources, by comparing to a theoretical model grid. We detect warm H2O emission close to or inside the acceleration zone of all sample stars. We find an anti-correlation between the H2O/CO line-strength ratios and the mass-loss rate for Mgas>3×10-7 M⊙/yr. This implies that the H2O formation mechanism becomes less efficient with increasing envelope column density. The anti-correlation breaks down for SRb objects, which clump together at an overall lower H2O abundance. Finally, a radial dependence of the H2O abundance within individual sources is unlikely. These findings lend support to shock-induced non-equilibrium chemistry as the primary source of H2O formation in C-rich AGB stars.


Background: Heart disease is now considered an inflammatory process targeted primarily by
medical therapy on lipid levels. Complementary and alternative medicine searches
for novel non-pharmacologic therapy, including pursuing various diets. Animal studies
and consumer literature suggest benefits of vinegar on lipid levels and diabetes
mellitus. Our nonrandomized pilot study from our group suggested a benefit in raising
high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Based on this data, we conducted
a randomized placebo controlled clinical trial to determine the effects of apple
cider vinegar intake in those without diabetes mellitus on total cholesterol (TC),
low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides, HDL-C, Hemoglobin
A1C(Hgb-A1C) and measurement of inflammation with high
sensitivity CRP levels (HS-CRP). Methods:
A prospective randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial consisting
of 114 participants was conducted. Participants consumed 30 mL of either apple cider
vinegar or placebo for two months. Measurements were collected at baseline, eight
and sixteen weeks. The primary endpoint was the change in HDL-C from baseline to
eight weeks between the vinegar and placebo groups. Secondary endpoints were change
from baseline to eight weeks in TC, LDL-C, triglycerides, Hgb-A1cand HS-CRP. Results: Change in serum HDL-C concentration was not significantly different between the vinegar and control
groups after eight weeks of supplementation.
Secondary endpoints including TC, LDL-C, Hgb-A1cand HS-CRP were not statistically different
at the Bonferroni corrected significance level of 0.01. No significant difference was found regardless of baseline HDL-C levels. Conclusions: We found no significant difference in HDL-C, LDL-C,
triglycerides, total cholesterol, or HS-CRP levels with use of vinegar but a trend
down of Hgb-A1cin this group
of non-diabetic participants. Further investigation is required to define the impact
of vinegar in those with diabetes mellitus.


As Syria's anti-authoritarian uprising and subsequent civil war have left the country in ruins, the need for understanding the nation's complex political and cultural realities remains urgent. The second of a two-volume series, Syria from Reform to Revolt: Culture, Society, and Religion draws together closely observed, critical and historicized analyses, giving vital insights into Syrian society today. With a broad range of disciplinary perspectives, contributors reveal how Bashar al-Asad's pivotal first decade of rule engendered changes in power relations and public discourse—dynamics that would feed the 2011 protest movement and civil war. Essays focus on key arenas of Syrian social life, including television drama, political fiction, Islamic foundations, and Christian choirs and charities, demonstrating the ways in which Syrians worked with and through the state in attempts to reform, undermine, or sidestep the regime. The contributors explore the paradoxical cultural politics of hope, anticipation, and betrayal that have animated life in Syria under Asad, revealing the fractures that obstruct peaceful transformation. Syria from Reform to Revolt provides a powerful assessment of the conditions that turned Syria's hopeful Arab spring revolution into a catastrophic civil war that has cost over 200,000 lives and generated the worst humanitarian crisis of the twenty-first century. (Less)


Over the last two decades the introduction of interactive multimedia applications complimenting existing
interpretative techniques in museum displays has become a widely accepted practice. Indeed fixed
interactive multimedia applications can communicate large amounts of often complex information in a
user friendly and accessible way. A drawback is their fixed position. This research project identified the
potential of using a portable computer with an interactive multimedia application manipulated through a
touch screen interface. This thesis describe& the results of a series of empirical studies to design and test
the effectiveness of a portable computer as a new tool for interpretation in a museum gallery.
The central aim of the research, funded by the GEMISIS 2000 initiative, was to examine potential
innovative applications of new interactive technologies for heritage attractions and museums. Exploratory
research progressed from discovery and gaining insights into the diversity of interactive multimedia
applications in heritage attractions to the dynamics of interactive multimedia as a powerful
communication medium. The main study fell into three distinct yet complimentary research pathways
namely 1) to design an interactive multimedia application for a portable computer, 2) to examine the use
and effectiveness of the portable computer with museum visitors, 3) to assess the application as a new
tool for interpretation in a museum setting. The conclusions of this research project are based upon the
results of a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation study, which combined a questionnaire survey,
structured unobtrusive observation and interaction logging.
As the research project was initiated there were few other projects in this field of study, and no formal
evaluation had been published. At the completion, four research projects were identified and are detailed
in the conclusion.
The results of this research project have confirmed the hypothesis that a portable computer with an
interactive multimedia application has the potential to enhance interpretation and to become a new tool
for interpreting museum collections. As the number of homes with multimedia capable computers
equipped with CD-ROM drives and connected to the Internet grows and exposure to computers at work
and at school increases, visitors are well prepared to handle the new technology. The projects results
show ease of use and an increased recall of exhibits by visitors. Visitors experienced discovery based
learning at their own pace facilitated by a portable touch screen computer.
Limitations of the project are discussed and future research topics identified. These included expanding
the interactive multimedia application to cover the whole gallery, exploring alternative interaction
models, evaluating the impact of age and gender, evaluating the portable computer within other categories
of museums, to evaluating location aware positioning systems and to investigating Personal Digital
Assistants as a potential hardware platform.


This paper achieves a research about remote control of robot based on voice recognition. Through real-time remote control and wireless network capabilities of an unmanned remote-control experiments and Home Security / exercise with an unmanned robot, remote control and voice recognition and voice transmission are possible to transmit on a PC using a microphone to control a robot to pinpoint of the source. Speech recognition can be controlled robot by using a remote control. In this research, speech recognition speed and direction of self-driving robot were controlled by a wireless remote control in order to verify the performance of mobile robot controller.


This thesis is focused on improvement of blood vessel disruption. New systems have been developed that effectuate tumor blood vessel disruption at the molecular, colloidal and cellular level. Vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) are generally small molecular weight drugs that bind to cytoskeletal alfa-tubulin and thereby temporary inhibit or destabilize microtubule formation. Interruption of tubulin polymerization can initiate arrest of cell dynamics, cell shape change and ultimately leads to apoptosis. These changes induce thrombus formation and consequent blood vessel congestion, leading to local oxygen and nutrient deprivation and cell death. A large quantity of tumor tissue could be killed by VDAs, however, always a typical viable rim remains at the tumor periphery inducing rapid repopulation and tumor progression. In the molecular approach, we synthesized PEGylated prodrug derivatives of colchicine, the parent VDA. In chapter 2 the synthesis, in vitro efficacy and the in vivo behaviour of the PEGylated prodrugs is discussed. Two biodegradable prodrugs were designed (one degrading fast, the other slow) and characterized to enhance vascular disruption in tumors and to reduce systemic adverse effects normally seen for colchicine. Although both in vitro and in vivo results were promising further research is needed to optimize the prodrugs. The second vascular disruption system we investigated is colloidal delivery of VDAs or combination of VDAs with colloidal therapeutics. In chapter 3, a small molecular VDA developed by AstraZeneca, called ZD6126, was encapsulated into (targeted) liposomes. Single and multiple doses of both liposomal ZD6126 formulations showed significant prolonged therapeutic efficacy for established tumors when compared to the same dose of free ZD6126. Endothelial targeting proved not to be beneficial and unfortunately, multiple 100 mg/kg liposomal injections appeared toxic. In chapter 4, a combination therapy strategy was tested to attack tumor core and tumor periphery simultaneously. Free ZD6126 was exploited to kill the tumor core and additionally radionuclide 177Lu decorated (targeted) liposomes were designed to attack the remaining tumor rim. No additional or synergistic efficacy compared to single agent therapy was seen. Moreover, massive liver and spleen accumulation was seen and 177Lu-liposome doses of 20 MBq appeared to be very toxic. The combination therapy strategy using radionuclides in combination with VDAs is promising but further optimalization and fine-tuning is crucial. The third way we explored to target the tumor vasculature and consequently induce disruption is by specific targeting of (red blood) cells. In chapter 5, we describe tumor targeting by erythrocytes modified with RGD-peptides. RGD-modified erythrocytes furthermore represent a model for opsonized apoptotic and/or aged erythrocytes. Angiogenic endothelial cells, incubated with apoptotic cell opsonin (lactadherin) bound particles, apoptotic cells and RGD-modified erythrocytes, showed massive binding and consequent internalization. Injection of RGD-modified erythrocytes into tumor-bearing mice, showed tumor endothelial cell phagocytosis, damage and ultimately massive cell death. Further optimization of the model, was described and discussed in chapter 6. We treated the RGD-modified erythrocytes by glutaraldehyde to make the erythrocytes more rigid, a feature of erythrocytes in apoptosis. Incubation with HUVECs showed a significant increase in association compared to RGD-modified erythrocytes without glutaraldehyde treatment.


The aim of this special issue, "Global Perspectives on High-Stakes Teacher Accountability Policies", is to provide insights into a diverse set of policies focusing on teachers' accountability, including the underpinning ideas and cultural and socio-economic contexts of these policies, as well as their effects on teachers' work, the teaching profession and the broader educational environment. While these articles highlight the influence of the "global testing culture" on education systems world-wide, they also demonstrate the need for understanding accountability systems as context-specific. As such, we urge scholars to consider the social, historical, political and geographical contexts within which their research is situated and to promote a research agenda that looks at the specific responses and effects that accountability policies produce in different regulatory settings. This introductory article, first, clarifies the main focus and conceptual framework of the special issue and, second, presents an overview of the papers included in the issue and their main contents.


With the continuous expansion of intellectual property rights, there is a growing need for the development of a human rights framework for intellectual property rights. Such a framework is not only socially beneficial, but will enable the development of a balanced intellectual property system that takes human rights obligations into consideration. Developing such a framework, however, is not easy and has raised many difficult questions. Some of these questions are foundational, some of them conceptual, and the remainder merely implementational. This article tackles in turn ten questions the author has frequently encountered when he discusses the development of a human rights framework for intellectual property rights. It is his hope that a better understanding of the answers to these questions will help promote a constructive and fruitful dialogue concerning of the interplay of intellectual property and human rights. The ten questions explored in this article are: (1) Are intellectual property rights human rights? (2) Besides access to medicines, are there other intellectual property issues that implicate the protection of human rights? (3) Should the human rights debate separate patents from copyrights? (4) Are all forms of intellectual property rights human rights? (5) Can corporations claim protection of the right to the protection of interests in intellectual creations? (6) Does the right to private property already protect interests in intellectual creations? (7) Can human rights interests be built into the intellectual property system? (8) Will the human rights framework ratchet up existing intellectual property protection? (9) Will the human rights framework benefit indigenous peoples and traditional communities? (10) Will the human rights framework benefit less developed countries?


Conclusive international evidence indicates that early childhood is a vital period in children's learning and development (DEECD, 2008). In recognition of this, in July 2009, the Council of Australian Governments agreed to a wide ranging package of reforms for early childhood, including Australia's first ever national Early Years Learning Framework (COAG, 2009). VicRoads, on behalf of the Road Safety Education Reference Group Australasia, contracted The Child Health Promotion Research Centre (CHPRC) at Edith Cowan University to develop National Practices for Early Childhood Road Safety Education - aligning with the Early Years Learning Framework. This paper presents the first nationally focused adaptation of the Early Years Learning Framework to the road safety research field. The development of the National Practices for Early Childhood Road Safety Education followed a three stage, formative research process. 1. A review of the literature relating to early childhood road related injury, road safety education and evidence-based pedagogy for teaching young children. 2. The development of draft practices. 3. Expert consultation with road safety and early childhood education experts, who were asked to validate the proposed national practices through a process of group consensus. The Practices will provide a contemporary and practical framework to guide early childhood educators and policy makers in designing and implementing evidence-based road safety education.


[1] The concentration of atmospheric methane increased from around 360 ppbv at the last glacial maximum (∼20 ka before present) to about 700 ppbv in the pre-industrial era (∼200 years before present). The sources and/or sinks of methane must therefore have changed during this period; however, the relative sizes of the source- and sink-driven changes in methane concentration remain uncertain. We take the first "bottom-up" approach to identifying any chemical signals preserved in the ice record that could help us to determine these. Using an atmospheric chemistry-transport model, we explore the effects of source- and sink-driven changes in methane on a wide range of chemical species in the Antarctic boundary layer. Though we identify several potentially useful atmospheric signals, a simple and robust constraint on the sizes of the source- and sink-driven changes cannot be readily identified, owing to their preservation in the ice, limitations to the information they hold, and/or ambiguity surrounding their interpretation. This includes the mass-independent fractionation of oxygen isotopes in sulfates, and the concentration of formaldehyde, in which there has been considerable interest. Our exploration is confined to a domain in which NOx emissions and climate remain constant. However, given the uncertainties associated with the changes in these factors, we would anticipate that their inclusion would make it harder still to identify a robust signal. Finally, though formaldehyde cannot provide this, we propose how it might be used to synchronize the gas- and aqueous-phase Antarctic ice records and thus determine the relative phasing of glacial-interglacial changes in Southern Hemisphere CO2 and temperature.


A microwave plasma stream source with variable ion energy operated under low magnetic field electron cyclotron resonance conditions has been developed. A two mode resonant cavity (TE111, E010) was used. It was established that overdense plasma creation (TE111) and high energy in‐phase space localized electron plasma oscillations (E010) in a decreased magnetic field lead to the potential for ion energy variation from 10 to 300 eV (up to 1 A of ion current, and a plasma cross section of 75 cm2, hydrogen) by varying the TE111, E010 power, the value of the magnetic field, and pressure. The threshold level of E010‐mode power was also determined. An application of this CERA‐V source to hydrogenation of semiconductor devices without deterioration of surface layers by ions and fast atoms is under investigation.


The paper aims to analyse the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on microfinance institutions (MFIs) and identify mitigation and adaptation measures to cope with the situation. An online survey and focus group discussions were employed to capture how far the COVID-19 pandemic affects MFIs' business. The results show that MFIs' performance is negatively affected due to the COVID-19 crisis as their major customers, micro and small enterprises (MSEs), have experienced a contraction. MFIs have implemented several mitigation and adaptation measures to cope with the situation and future shocks. These results provide an overview of how far the COVID-19 crisis affects MFIs which can help the government design policies that can support MFIs and MSEs to survive. However, some issues related to methodology, such as the inability to capture complex and profound information, survey monitoring, and response rate, influenced the analysis so that the research may lack generalizability. Thus, a more holistic methodology is needed to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic comprehensively.


Low rank matrix completion plays a fundamental role in collaborative filtering applications, the key idea being that the variables lie in a smaller subspace than the ambient space. Often, additional information about the variables is known, and it is reasonable to assume that incorporating this information will lead to better predictions. We tackle the problem of matrix completion when pairwise relationships among variables are known, via a graph. We formulate and derive a highly efficient, conjugate gradient based alternating minimization scheme that solves optimizations with over 55 million observations up to 2 orders of magnitude faster than state-of-the-art (stochastic) gradient-descent based methods. On the theoretical front, we show that such methods generalize weighted nuclear norm formulations, and derive statistical consistency guarantees. We validate our results on both real and synthetic datasets.


This thesis provides an analysis of gaming elements of engagement that influence learning of curriculum-based content, from data gathered through a systematic review, survey research, and a series of classroom observations. It discusses the implications of elements of engagement in games becoming such a critical component of game-based learning (GBL) for the successful delivery of curriculum-based content for classroom and extended learning. The thesis is divided into five chapters: introduction, literature review, pupil survey, case study, and discussion and conclusion. Systematic review data were gathered from a sample of 91 papers that studied GBL in primary education to analyse gaming elements of engagement that influence learning. This research adopted a mixed-methods design. Survey data were gathered from a convenience sample of 465 pupils across a school in the Republic of Ireland, and two schools in the Turks and Caicos Islands, regarding the pupils' engagement with learning resources, which included reading materials (i.e. digital and paper-based materials) and classroom, online, and gaming activities. Case study data were gathered from a convenience sample of two teachers of the same school, who completed a set of teacher self-report questionnaires from a series of classroom observations of GBL implementation as planned by them within a period of three to four months. Thus, the findings were not generalizable, as the data analysis was to a great extent limited by the disadvantages of convenience sampling strategies and by the collection of observational data of teacher self-reports of their GBL plans and implementation. Nonetheless, the findings suggest that GBL environments for engagement and learning of curriculum content are best designed by considering gaming elements and features that provide opportunities for the participating pupils to explore and develop a sense of excitement and interest (i.e. promoting engagement) at the beginning of GBL, to get involved in tasks and activities that challenge their abilities (i.e. motivating engagement) during the gameplay, and to gain suitable feedback and reward for task completion (i.e. supporting engagement) during and probably after the gameplay. Primarily, an engagement strategy for the successful design and implementation of GBL in classrooms includes providing meaningful gaming and creating challenges to sustain engagement. Gaming components garnering top attention from pupils to become engaged learners within a GBL environment include a variety of interesting materials and guided activities, opportunities to perform, and task-relevant guidance and feedback. Ultimately, the thesis provides a useful source of information for best practices for teachers, game designers and developers, and other education stakeholders who are considering the use of GBL for classroom teaching/learning and extended learning. This thesis synthesizes the vast literature related to GBL, presents original materials related to gameplay and learning engagement within GBL environments, and offers several recommendations for best practices of game-based instructional design for engagement and learning.


We examine the trajectory of Arctic summer sea ice in seven projections from the Community Climate System Model and find that abrupt reductions are a common feature of these 21st century simulations. These events have decreasing September ice extent trends that are typically 4 times larger than comparable observed trends. One event exhibits a decrease from 6 million km2 to 2 million km2 in a decade, reaching near ice‐free September conditions by 2040. In the simulations, ice retreat accelerates as thinning increases the open water formation efficiency for a given melt rate and the ice‐albedo feedback increases shortwave absorption. The retreat is abrupt when ocean heat transport to the Arctic is rapidly increasing. Analysis from multiple climate models and three forcing scenarios indicates that abrupt reductions occur in simulations from over 50% of the models and suggests that reductions in future greenhouse gas emissions moderate the likelihood of these events.


The SOX (sex-determining region [SRY]-type high mobility group [HMG] box) family of transcription factors play key roles in determining cell fate during organ development. In this study, we have identified a new human SOX gene, SOX13, as encoding the type 1 diabetes autoantigen, islet cell antigen 12 (ICA12). Sequence analysis showed that SOX13 belongs to the class D subgroup of SOX transcription factors, which contain a leucine zipper motif and a region rich in glutamine. SOX13 autoantibodies occurred at a significantly higher frequency among 188 people with type 1 diabetes (18%) than among 88 with type 2 diabetes (6%) or 175 healthy control subjects (4%). Deletion mapping of the antibody epitopes showed that the autoantibodies were primarily directed against an epitope requiring the majority of the protein. SOX13 RNA was detected in most human tissues, with the highest levels in the pancreas, placenta, and kidney. Immunohistochemistry on sections of human pancreas identified SOX13 in the islets of Langerhans, where staining was mostly cytoplasmic. In mouse pancreas, Sox13 was present in the nucleus and cytoplasm of beta-cells as well as other islet cell types. Recombinant SOX13 protein bound to the SOX consensus DNA motif AACAAT, and binding was inhibited by homodimer formation. These observations-along with the known molecular interactions of the closely related protein, rainbow trout Sox23-suggest that SOX13 may be activated for nuclear import and DNA binding through heterodimer formation. In conclusion, we have identified ICA12 as the putative transcription factor SOX13 and demonstrated an increased frequency of autoantibody reactivity in sera from type 1 diabetic subjects compared with type 2 diabetic and healthy control subjects.


The transformations that take place in late‐type galaxies in the environment of rich clusters of galaxies at z = 0 are reviewed. From the handful of late‐type galaxies that inhabit local clusters, whether they were formed in situ and survived as such, avoiding transformation or even destruction, or if they are newcomers that have recently fallen in from outside, we can learn an important lesson on the latest stages of galaxy evolution. We start by reviewing the observational scenario, covering the broadest possible stretch of the electromagnetic spectrum, from the gas tracers (radio and optical) to the star formation tracers (UV and optical), the old star tracers (near‐IR), and the dust (far‐IR). Strong emphasis is given to the three nearby, well‐studied clusters Virgo, A1367, and Coma, which are representative of different evolutionary stages, from unrelaxed and spiral‐rich (Virgo) to relaxed and spiral‐poor (Coma). We continue by providing a review of models of galaxy interactions that are relevant to clusters of galaxies. Prototypes of various mechanisms and processes are discussed, and their typical timescales are given in an a. Observations indicate the presence of healthy late‐type galaxies falling into nearby clusters individually or as part of massive groups. More rare are infalling galaxies belonging to compact groups, where significant preprocessing might take place. Once they have entered the cluster, they lose their gas and quench their star formation activity, becoming anemic. Observations and theory agree in indicating that the interaction with the intergalactic medium is responsible for the gas depletion. However, this process cannot be the origin of the cluster lenticular galaxy population. Physical and statistical properties of S0 galaxies in nearby clusters and at higher redshift indicate that they originate from spiral galaxies that have been transformed by gravitational interactions.


Objective: In clinical practice, antipsychotic drugs are widely used in borderline personality disorder (BPD). To evaluate current pharmacological treatment algorithms and guidelines for BPD, the authors reviewed and meta-analyzed studies on the effectiveness of antipsychotics on specific symptom domains in BPD. Methods: The literature was searched for placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trials (PC-RCTs) on the effectiveness of antipsychotics regarding cognitive perceptual symptoms, impulsive behavioral dyscontrol, and affective dysregulation (with subdomains depressed mood, anxiety, anger, and mood lability) in BPD. Studies whose primary emphasis was on the treatment of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition schizotypal personality disorder or Axis I disorders were excluded. Results: Meta-analyses were conducted using 11 retrieved studies including 1152 borderline patients. Antipsychotics have a significant effect on cognitive perceptual symptoms (9 PC-RCTs; standardized mean difference [SMD], 0.23) and mood lability (5 PC-RCTs; SMD, 0.20) as well as on global functioning (8 PC-RCTs; SMD, 0.25), but these effects have to be qualified as small. Antipsychotics have a more pronounced effect on anger (9 PC-RCTs; SMD, 0.39). Antipsychotics did not have a significant effect on impulsive behavioral dyscontrol, depressed mood, and anxiety in BPD. Conclusion: Drug therapy tailored to well-defined symptom domains can have beneficial effects in BPD. At short term, antipsychotics can have significant effects on cognitive-perceptual symptoms, anger, and mood lability, but the wide and long-term use of antipsychotics in these patients remains controversial. The findings from this study raise questions on current pharmacological algorithms and clinical guidelines.


Whitings, drifting clouds of water, milky because of suspended carbonate, have been claimed to originate from either the action of bottom-feeding fish or direct precipitation of calcium carbonate. Five cruises during different seasons were made to the Great Bahama Bank to collect data pertinent to the controversy. Measurements of particulate concentrations average 10 mg/liter with a maximum of 20 mg/liter of carbonate sediment suspended in whiting water, compared with an average of 1.5 mg/liter for clear water outside the whitings. The particles are dominantly acicular aragonite, but Mg calcite composes as much as 20 percent of some whitings. Sedimentation rates, measured with fixed and drifting sediment traps, were as great as 34 g/m 2 /hr. Sediment suspended in whitings aggregated into silt- and sand-size fioccules and settled to the bottom of settling tanks within six hours, even on a rocking ship. Sediment in artificial whitings, created by stirring sediment from the bottom with a shrimp trawl, settled to the bottom in about the same time. Natural whitings, on the other hand, were never observed to dissipate. Because sedimentation from whitings occurs at rates sufficient to cause dissipation of the whitings within six hours, we conclude that the natural whitings are continually replenished by direct precipitation. The search for fish in whitings utilized sidescan sonar and fathometer imaging, shrimp trawls, rotenone, remote video, and direct scuba observation. These methods and 25 years of casual observations leading to this study indicate that fish are not involved in the formation of most Bahamian whitings. Several whitings were found over rocky or sandy bottoms where there was no mud available for fish to suspend. The distance of these whitings from areas of muddy bottom precluded their having been made elsewhere by fish. Stable carbon- and oxygen-isotopic analyses and Delta 14 C activity are interpreted to indicate that the suspended sediment in whitings contains some precipitated calcium carbonate and is not merely bottom sediment stirred into suspension. Estimates indicate that the amount of new carbonate produced in whitings on the Great Bahama Bank is substantially higher than that arising from algal production. Consequently, the amount of sediment transported to deep water may be much greater than previously thought.


This report presents the results of a one year comprehensive human factors analysis on the prototype Delco RDS device supplied by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. RDS devices provide a means of transmitting traffic information to motorist using the existing Traffic Management Center's resources. This study examined the devices and the means of transmitting information using ergonomic and human factors principles. This study expanded upon the functions of these devices and their ability to transmit information, as well as their integration within the automobile. The study was completed by examining the data entry tasks required to transmit messages and the TMC's operations as pertaining to messages and delivery to the end-users. Five tasks were completed with the following findings: Ergonomically, the prototype device requires further refinement to provide a user friendly interface. Linkage analysis and flow charting extracted areas where operation of the device was impeded by design. Simulation and on-road study elicited difficulty in operating the device while maintaining driving proficiency. Highly significant deviations were found between normal driving behavior and driving performance when simultaneously operating the device. This suggests an increase in attentional demand which is placed on the driver operating the device when they should be focused on the task of driving. Finally, assessment of data entry personnel and the TMC operations found several areas for improvement in the Crusader(TM) message assembly program interface and message content. Recommendations are provided following each task.


This document is the revised protocol definition for internationalized
domain names (IDNs). The rationale for changes, the relationship to
the older specification, and important terminology are provided in
other documents. This document specifies the protocol mechanism,
called Internationalizing Domain Names in Applications (IDNA), for
registering and looking up IDNs in a way that does not require changes
to the DNS itself. IDNA is only meant for processing domain names, not
free text.


SUMMARY Big-leaf mahogany's listing on CITES Appendix II requires producer nations to certify that exported supplies were obtained in a manner non-detrimental to the species' survival in its role in the ecosystem. Non-detriment findings based on annual export quotas should verify that current harvest rates are sustainable with respect to total commercial stocks. In order to assess this impact, a method for converting export-quality sawnwood volumes to numbers of standing trees is used to estimate the number of mahogany trees and forest area required to produce the original and revised 2007 export quotas set by Peru, correcting for systematic measurement error caused by buttresses and for stem defects caused by heart-rot (hollow bole). Based on large-scale inventory data from three forest sites in nearby south-west Brazil, the average commercial-sized (> 75 cm diameter in Peru) mahogany tree in this region would yield 6.4–8.5 m3 of roundwood (standing volume), which in turn would be processed or milled into 1.7–2.2 m3 of export-grade sawnwood. From this estimate, 6120–8070 commercial-sized trees would have been harvested to supply the original 2007 export quota of 13 477 m3, from a forest area of 407 300–536 750 ha at landscape-scale densities reported by the Peruvian CITES Scientific Authority. To supply the revised export quota of 4983 m3, an estimated 2260–2980 commercial-sized trees will be harvested from a forest area of 150 600–198 450 ha. Both estimates exceed the number of trees the Peruvian Scientific Authority estimates can be sustainably harvested annually (961 ± 144 trees > 75 cm diameter) based on preliminary inventory data. The method estimates that, since 1996, 154 000–203 000 mahogany trees have been logged in Peru from a forest area of 10.2–13.5 million ha to supply the total reported export volume during this period (including the revised 2007 export quota) of 339 114 m3. This area corresponds to 18–25% of mahogany's total natural range in Peru, or 37–49% of mahogany's estimated remaining range in 2001. Without empirical knowledge of density patterns, surviving commercial stocks, and biological and technical issues linking processed lumber (sawnwood) to standing trees (roundwood), it will remain difficult to evaluate the sustainability of export quotas issued at the national level for mahogany or other tropical timber species.


The increase of bandwidth demand for new Internet applications suggests mapping directly IP over the WDM layer. Since reliability is such a critical issue in these broadband networks, we propose an integrated design method which addresses the problem of survivability as viewed from the IP/MPLS layers but taking into account the failure mechanisms in the optical layer. This approach is becoming practical because of the emergence of GMPLS as a multilayer control plane that can support the signaling required for coordinating the restoration mechanisms in multiple layers. The model relies on network calculus to evaluate a QoS metric as actually perceived by end users and computes a preplanned restoration scheme to recover from failures. We discuss the numerical implementation, the convergence and the solutions produced by the algorithm and show that the resulting network can provide the prescribed QoS guarantees for all failure states.


This study examines Voice Onset Time (VOT) in six (three boys and three girls) pre-adolescent Arabic/English bilinguals. Both English and Arabic have a two-way voicing distinction: English contrasts short and long lag VOT while Arabic contrasts lead and short lag VOT. Due to exposure to languages with voicing contrasts, these children are expected to acquire two phonetic/phonological systems. Results indicate that the girls have higher VOT values for voiceless stops than boys. However, they have lower values for voiced stops. In addition, VOT mean values of Arabic and English for both groups were close to values produced by monolingual speakers. These findings show that children exhibit gender-linked differences in VOT patterns. These distribution patterns are primarily attributed to physiological factors such as the size and structure of the vocal tract for both sexes. It is also shown that bilingual children maintain two different phonetic/phonological systems for their languages.


Sinter hardening has been more and more applied in the PM component manufactures worldwide, due to its pronounced advantages: good hardening effect, cost saving, better dimensional control and environmental friendly. In this paper, the present situation of sinter hardening in mainland China is reviewed. The mechanism of sinter hardening is discussed in terms of both material and process effects. Among other sinter hardening materials, Cr-containing PM steels have shown a good market potential due to their high hardenability effect and low cost for raw materials. Combined with other technologies in PM such as warm compaction and high temperature sintering, Astaloy CrM can reach a tensile strength of 1400MPa, an elongation of 1.5%. A bending fatigue strength of 437MPa can also be reached after sinter hardening and tempering. In addition, sinter hardening gives a less dimensional change for this material. Finally, some suggestions are proposed regarding how to promote the sinter hardening technique in the Chinese PM market.


Classification-based policy iteration algorithms are variations of policy iteration that do not use any kind of value function representation. The main idea is 1) to replace the usual value function learning step with rollout estimates of the value function over a finite number of states, called the rollout set, and the actions in the action space, and 2) to cast the policy improvement step as a classification problem. The choice of rollout allocation strategies over states and actions has significant impact on the performance and computation time of this class of algorithms. In this paper, we present new strategies to allocate the available budget (number of rollouts) at each iteration of the algorithm over states and actions. Our empirical results indicate that for a fixed budget, using the proposed strategies improves the accuracy of the training set over the existing methods.


Painters in Prehistory is a revised update of the book Ancient Texans: Rock Art and Lifeways along the Lower Pecos, edited by Harry Shafer with photographs by Jim Zintgraff, and published by the Witte Museum, in conjunction with a permanent exhibition in 1986. The Witte Museum is known for its focus on natural history, science, and the history and culture of South Texas, and the scholarly and artistic pieces collected in the book are the result of years of research and dedication to the story of the ancient canyon dwellers along the Rio Grande. The remnants of prehistoric Lower Pecos people reveal lifeways unlike those anywhere else in the world. The people who inhabited the land in what is now Texas left a unique series of narratives in their shelters, including art on rock walls, pictographs, and organic residue and trash. These narratives are tantalizing in their novelty--they provide information about almost 12,000 years of existence, the last 7,000 of which are still astoundingly evident. This updated edition features significant research by new scholars who have deepened the understanding of rock art interpretation, scientific analysis of artifacts and coprolites, and the lifeways of prehistoric Lower Pecos people.


Reviews more than 100 recent research papers and reports in information retrieval from image, audio, and text databases, with the intent of highlighting significant areas of research for non-specialists, rather than trying to be exhaustive. Starts with a summary of recent trends and challenges which predominate in text retrieval in response to the new retrieval environment of the Web and its casual users. Then presents developments in audio retrieval research, especially music and speech, including several applications of known text retrieval techniques in new research environments. Next gives considerable coverage to the problems addressed in image retrieval, particularly concept-based (manual) and content-based (automated) methods and types of query. Covers retrieval from videos to illustrate the challenges of retrieval from integrated media and the use of a combination of indexing and retrieval techniques. Continues with some discussion on the role of metadata and standards, and concludes that information retrieval is of growing significance to an increasing number of users and that it requires continuing research effort.


The report broaches the difficulties in naming 'violent extremism', offering examples of problematic language use and drawing on relevant work in the field of cognitive linguistics. This work reflects the Dialogue Society's ongoing commitment to encouraging sensitive, reflective and reflexive dialogue. Violent extremism undertaken in the name of religion threatens the basic premises of dialogue. In understanding the causes of this phenomenon, with a view ultimately to tackling them, we must first consider the ways that we communicate about and around the subject. This report aims to show how certain language frames can cause and reinforce major misunderstandings. It explains how terms such as 'Islamism' and 'Islamist' should not be used without first considering their etymological roots, and that the use of such terms can convey and conflate concepts distinct from their intended meaning. Alternatives are provided to currently used linguistic frameworks that are often used in discussing violent extremism, and commends some alternative narratives and approaches that can contribute to bringing about positive change in relation to this phenomenon. The issue of demands for Muslims to denounce acts of terror is then addressed and shown to be connected to the misuse of linguistic frames and terms. The publication was co-authored by Emma Jane Harris and Victoria Bisset, Research Fellows at the Dialogue Society and Paul Weller, Professor of Inter-Religious Relations at the University of Derby.


In 2002, the simulation software system for high functional polymeric material OCTA is released. OCTA is the general purpose simulator and each multi-scale-level simulation can be easily done. Recently, we have applied our OCTA system to the problems of lithography. In this paper we discuss the applicability of OCTA system to the simulations for lithography. Two kinds of applicability are discussed. One is the development and the rinse process simulations, and another is the directed self assembly simulation. In the former study, LER can be discussed using OCTA simulation. In the latter study, many kinds of coarse-grained models can be applicable for the DSA simulation using OCTA. These wide applicability are discussed in this paper.


The spectral energy distribution (SED) mode of the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope provides low-spectral resolution (R ≈ 15–25) spectroscopy in the far-infrared using the MIPS 70 μm detector. A reflective grating provides a dispersion of 1.7 μm per pixel, and an effective wavelength coverage of 52.8–98.7 μm over detector rows 1–27. The final 5 detector rows are contaminated by second-order diffracted light and are left uncalibrated. The flux calibration is based on observations of MIPS calibration stars with 70 μm flux densities of 0.5–15 Jy. The point-source flux calibration accuracy is estimated to be 10% or better down to about 0.5 Jy at the blue end of the spectrum and to ∼2 Jy near the red end. With additional uncertainties from the illumination and aperture corrections included, the surface brightness calibration of extended sources is accurate to ∼15%. Repeatability of better than 5% is found for the SED mode through multiple measurements of several calibration stars.


This paper reports the results of several direct numerical simulations of the withdrawal of a two-layer fluid with a finite-thickness interface through a slot in the base of a finite rectangular cavity. Particular attention is paid to the role of long (basin scale) interfacial waves on the processes leading to drawdown of the interface into the slot. It is shown that these waves play an important role and can either delay or accelerate drawdown. This means that drawdown can occur over a range of Froude numbers. The results are compared with previous work for ideal flow and experimental results.


Do firms in China share rents with their workers? We address this question by examining firm-level panel data covering virtually all manufacturing firms over the period 2000-2007, representing an average of 200,000 firms and 54 million workers per year. We find robust evidence of rent sharing (RS): workers that would move from low- to high-profit firms would see their wages increase by about 45%. The results are based on multiple instrumental variables, including firm-specific international trade shocks. We also present a number of complementary findings that allow us to understand better the nature of RS in the country: RS is weaker in firms with more women and less educated workers; RS involves an element of risk sharing, as wages also decrease when profits fall; RS is lower in regions with more latent competition from rural workers; higher minimum wages tend to reduce RS; and, while employer labour market power reduces wages, it increases RS. Overall, despite its importance, RS in China is smaller and more symmetric than in developed economies, which reflects the weaker bargaining power of its workers and the different scope of its labour market institutions.


v. 1. The Colonial and early national period -- v. 2. Antebellum America v. 3. The Civil War and Reconstruction era, 1861-1877 -- v. 4. From Reconstruction to the Great Migration, 1877-1917 (2 v.) -- v. 5. The Great Migration and after, 1917-1930 v. 6.Depression, war, and the new migration, 1930-1960 -- v. 7. The ghetto crisis of the 1960s -- v. 8. Progress versus poverty, 1970 to the present -- v. 9. Overviews, theory, and historiography.


This thesis contains three essays in applied economics which all deal with online markets. The basic idea behind my investigations might seem simple: Identifying valuable information and transforming the obtained advance knowledge into monetary profit, or, at least, into fresh market insights. Online markets provide favorable conditions for implementing automated tasks which would otherwise be highly time-consuming. By automatically recording and analyzing online market events, I am able to acquire valuable information regarding a large number of current interactions with a reasonable amount of effort. The acquired datasets provide a unique opportunity to investigate the market participants' behavior. However, the three chapters of my thesis are not solely concerned with analyzing behavioral data. They are also about recognizing profitable market opportunities that arise, for example, from loopholes in the market's design or from information which should not be public, and acquiring the unique datasets which are the empirical base of the thesis papers. Therefore, Identifying, collecting and evaluating valuable information for this thesis in real-time in order to exploit current bargain opportunities is a challenging and rewarding task. The first chapter addresses the online betting market with regard to the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election. In particular, I recorded minute-by-minute odds from dozens of bookmakers and betting exchanges over a period of 14 months prior to the election. By immediately analyzing this stream of information, I was able to identify price misalignments across the market in real-time. In order to demonstrate that the observed violation of the law of one price actually provides exploitable arbitrage opportunities, I invested real money according to an arbitrage-based strategy. This strategy excludes all potential risks, except for the risk that a platform becomes insolvent. The field experiment highlights the market's accessibility and the costs incurred by implementing the strategy and placing the investments. My methodology therefore enables me to provide evidence that exploitable inter-market arbitrage opportunities exist in this market, affords an insight into the market's dynamics, and also allows me to enjoy a free lunch. Chapter 2 investigates the pay-per-bid auctions provided by labuyla.ch. The disclosure of the auctioned item's hidden price is the main incentive for placing a bid in price reveal auctions. However, I observed that a loophole existed in labuyla.ch's platform which allowed an attentive observer to calculate the hidden price for free. In addition, their auction design allowed me to observe and record the bidding behavior of all the participants on their platform. The analysis of the dataset reveals that this loophole was unknown to the active bidders. Moreover, my investigations on the observed behavior lead to the sole conclusion that the auctioneer himself was cheating by participating in the auctions as seller, bidder and buyer. I confronted the owner of labuyla.ch with my research results and my findings were confirmed by the fact that they rapidly shut down all of their auctions after our discussion. In Chapter 3, I deal with another in-auction fraud, namely: shill bidding. Shill bidding describes the fraudulent behavior of a seller who bids in his own auctions. The anonymity in online auctions and the fact that a single bidder is allowed to open up several accounts on a platform favors such misbehavior. Since auction houses profit from higher sales prices, they have a reduced incentive to prohibit shilling. Several approaches in the literature tackle this problem by identifying shill bidders on the basis of their publicly observable behavior. While inspecting ricardo.ch's website for public behavioral data, I detected an information leakage --- now closed --- that allowed me to observe all accounts' personal details as well as the entered bidders' valuations of the auctioned item. During a four-month period I recorded the bidding history of nearly two million auctions. By comparing the seller's and the bidders' personal details (name, address, and phone number) in these auctions, I was able to accurately identify shill bidders in my dataset and analyze their behavior. In addition, I test the accuracy of two identification algorithms which are based on public information.


A recalcitrant problem in approaches to iterated belief revision is that, after first revising by a formula and then by a formula that is inconsistent with the first formula, all information in the original formula is lost. As noted by various researchers, this phenomenon is made explicit in the second postulate (C2) of the well-known Darwiche-Pearl framework, and so this postulate has been a point of criticism of this and related approaches. In contrast, we argue that the true culprit of this problem arises from a basic assumption of the AGM framework, that new information is represented by a single formula. We propose a more general framework for belief revision (called parallel belief revision) in which individual items of new information are represented by a set of formulas. In this framework, if one revises by a set of formulas, and then by the negation of some members of this set, then other members of the set are still believed after the revision. Hence the aforecited problem is discharged. We present first a basic approach to parallel belief revision, and next an approach that combines the basic approach with that of Jin and Thielscher. Postulates and semantic conditions characterizing these approaches are given, and representation results provided.


Context. We present a multiwavelength analysis of the simultaneous optical and X-ray light curves of the microquasar V404 Cyg during the June 2015 outburst.
Aims. We have performed a comprehensive analysis of all the INTEGRAL/IBIS, JEM–X, and OMC observations during the brightest epoch of the outburst, along with complementary NuSTAR, AAVSO, and VSNET data, to examine the timing relationship between the simultaneous optical and X-ray light curves, in order to understand the emission mechanisms and physical locations.
Methods. We have identified all optical flares that have simultaneous X-ray observations, and performed a cross-correlation analysis to estimate the time delays between the optical and soft and hard X-ray emission. We also compared the evolution of the optical and X-ray emission with the hardness ratios.
Results. We have identified several types of behaviour during the outburst. On many occasions, the optical flares occur simultaneously with X-ray flares, but at other times, positive and negative time delays between the optical and X-ray emission are measured.
Conclusions. We conclude that the observed optical variability is driven by different physical mechanisms, including reprocessing of X-rays in the accretion disc and/or the companion star, interaction of the jet ejections with surrounding material or with previously ejected blobs, and synchrotron emission from the jet.


Purpose of review: The increasing demand for high quality dates that are not chemically treated and the phase out of methyl bromide (MB), which is used in fumigation and disinfestation of dates, have created the interest for preparing this review. Recent findings: Reports in recent studies include: (1) improved practical techniques for the application of solar energy in the maturation and drying of dates in the open and close to date gardens; (2) new data related to the moisture content, water activity and equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) of dates; (3) initial data on the relationship between the level of ERH and the market appropriate texture of Medjool dates; (4) the importance of harvesting Medjool dates at 65% ERH; (5) a novel approach to the integration of the heat disinfestation method in the date drying process (this approach has the potential to fully replace the fumigation treatments with MB at the receipt stations for the Medjool variety); (6) the emigration of pests from fruits by using heated air (50C) that also controls the pests within an exposure time of 2 h after the date reaches the target temperature; (7) storage methods based on the use of modified atmospheres to replace refrigerated storage. Directions for future research: Additional work is needed to define the feasibility of the heat disinfestation method on the quality of date varieties other than Medjool. The potential of heat to cause emigration of insects when dates are handled in bulk should be elucidated.


We report metallic NiPS3 nanoparticles decorated defective graphene (NiPS3@DG) as an efficient and durable electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at all pH values. The nanohybrids exhibited impressive low overpotentials (η10) of 73, 97, and 99 mV at −10 mA cm−2 in acidic (pH ∼ 0), neutral (pH 7) and alkaline (pH 14) electrolyte, respectively, which competes with (or even surpasses) commercial Pt/C (20 wt%) catalysts. Furthermore, the NiPS3@DG electrocatalyst displayed long-term stability and durability in a pH-universal medium as confirmed by a negligible decay in catalytic performances after 40 h of continuous working and 5000 voltammetric sweeping cycles. Theoretical calculations further revealed that the optimal free energy of the hydrogen adsorption process (which stems from a synergistic effect of S and P) provides tremendous contribution to the pH-universal HER process. The design strategy of the di-anion nanohybrid electrocatalyst highlights a new avenue for preparing cost-effective and pH-universal electrocatalysts.


In code generation, instruction selection chooses processor instructions to implement a program under compilation where code quality crucially depends on the choice of instructions. Using methods from combinatorial optimization, this paper proposes an expressive model that integrates global instruction selection with global code motion. The model introduces (1) handling of memory computations and function calls, (2) a method for inserting additional jump instructions where necessary, (3) a dependency-based technique to ensure correct combinations of instructions, (4) value reuse to improve code quality, and (5) an objective function that reduces compilation time and increases scalability by exploiting bounding techniques. The approach is demonstrated to be complete and practical, competitive with LLVM, and potentially optimal (w.r.t. the model) for medium-sized functions. The results show that combinatorial optimization for instruction selection is well-suited to exploit the potential of modern processors in embedded systems.


Bickerton's bioprogram hypothesis uses serial verbs as a primary demonstration that Saramaccan represents the closest approximation to Universal Grammar extant, judging from the fact that speakers of mutually unintelligible West African languages formulated it with little contact with European languages. Closer examination of Saramaccan and its substrate languages suggests, however, that the creole is a prime demonstration of substrate influence. The uniformity of serials across the substrate languages can be shown to have provided the opportunity for compromise between the small differences in the constructions in forming the language, according to perceptual saliency relative to the languages involved. A survey of serializing language families shows that serials in Saramaccan are most similar to those in its substrate, while a survey of creoles around the world shows that serials appear in creoles with similar substrates and almost never in those with nonserializing substrates. Furthermore, the explanation of serials as compensation for missing categories in Saramaccan is belied by an evaluation of this argument as applied to prepositions, which shows that the Saramaccan system mirrors that of its substrate with limited accommodations to its superstrate.


The history of relations between Turkey and Greece during most of the 20th century might
be best characterised as one of hostility or perhaps even outright enmity. Since 1974 the
Aegean confl ict concerning not only territorial air and sea rights but also sovereign rights
over the Aegean seabed and its subsoil has been the central bone of contention between
these two eastern Mediterranean countries. For both the economic, security and political
implications of the issue are profound.


In this thesis, I present field, microstructural, and Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) analyses of rock fabrics from high strain zones in exposures of lower crustal Cretaceous plutons at Breaksea Entrance, Fiordland, New Zealand. The interplay between deformation and metamorphism occurs across multiple scales at the root of a continental arc. I show a series of steps in which retrogressive metamorphism is linked to the accommodation of deformation. I define three main phases of deformation and metamorphism at Breaksea Entrance. The first phase (D1) involved emplacement of dioritic to gabbroic plutons at depths up to 60 km. The second phase (D2) is characterized by deformation and metamorphism at the granulite and eclogite facies that produced high strain zones with linear fabrics, isoclinal folding of igneous layering, and asymmetric pressure shadows around mafic aggregates. New structural analyses from Hāwea Island in Breaksea Entrance reveal the development of doubly plunging folds that define subdomes within larger, kilometer-scale gneiss domes. The development and intensification of S2 foliations within the domes was facilitated by the recrystallization of plagioclase and clinopyroxene at the micro-scale (subgrain rotation and grain boundary migration recrystallization), consistent with metamorphism at the granulite and eclogite facies and climbaccommodated dislocation creep. EBSD data show a strong crystallographic preferred orientation in plagioclase during D2 deformation. The third phase (D3) is characterized by deformation and metamorphism at the upper amphibolite facies that produced sets of discrete, narrow shear zones that wrap and encase lozenges of older fabrics. Structural analyses reveal a truncation and/or transposition relationship between the older S2 and the younger S3 foliations developed during D3. Progressive localization of deformation during cooling, hydration, and retrogression, resulted in the breakdown of garnet and pyroxene to form hornblende, biotite, fine plagioclase and quartz. EBSD data show a strong crystallographic preferred orientation in hornblende. During D3, hornblende and biotite accommodated most of the strain through fluid-assisted diffusion creep. The last two events (D2 and D3) reflect a transition in deformation and metamorphism during exhumation, as well as a focusing of strain and evolving strain localization mechanisms at the root of a continental arc. An examination of structures at multiple scales of observation reveals that fabrics seen in the field are a composite of multiple generations of deformation and metamorphism.


Opinion leaders are persuasive in convincing others within their social networks to adopt certain opinions and behaviors. By identifying and using opinion leaders, agricultural educators may be able to leverage individuals who have influence on others' opinions, thereby speeding up the adoption of new practices. In this article, we review a statewide survey to define opinion leaders and understand their current water conservation practices. Additionally, by using the theoretical framework of the diffusion of innovations, we explored what subject matter areas opinion leaders are most interested in, and where they go for more information. These findings will identify how agricultural educators can reach opinion leaders to help disseminate important water conservation information. The findings indicated opinion leaders have a good grasp on how to conserve water, but are still misusing water in terms of protecting its quality. Based on these findings it is suggested that agricultural educators develop educational programming focused on improving opinion leaders' knowledge of water pollution; a connection needs to be made between water quality and the environment.


This study examines employment outcomes for youth who age out of foster care through their middle twenties in three states: California, Minnesota, and North Carolina. The study linked child welfare, Unemployment Insurance (UI), and public assistance administrative data to assess outcomes. Results suggest that youth who age out of foster care continue to experience poor employment outcomes at age 24 and generally follow one of four employment trajectories as they transition to adulthood.


Some animal experiments and human studies suggest that vitamin E may protect against cancer. Serum alpha-tocopherol concentration was studied for its prediction of cancer in a cohort of 36,265 adults in Finland. During a mean follow-up of 8 y, cancer was diagnosed in 766 persons. The levels of serum alpha-tocopherol were determined from stored serum samples (at -20 degrees C) taken from these cancer patients and from 1419 matched control subjects. Individuals with a low level of alpha-tocopherol had about a 1.5-fold risk of cancer compared with those with a higher level. The strength of the association between serum alpha-tocopherol level and cancer risk varied for different cancer sites and was strongest for some gastrointestinal cancers and for the combined group of cancers unrelated to smoking. The association was strongest among nonsmoking men and among women with low levels of serum selenium. The findings agree with the hypothesis that dietary vitamin E in some circumstances protects against cancer.


Relationships between winter air pollutant concentrations and ten meteorological parameters were investigated based on observed pollutant concentrations and high-resolution meteorological data from weather research and forecast model, and multiple linear regression models were developed for estimating NO2 and PM10 concentrations over urban Lanzhou, North-western China. Results indicated that pollutant concentration correlated better with boundary layer height and potential temperature lapse rate than with other meteorological parameters. There is a lag time of 3–12 hrs for meteorology conditions to have an effect on pollutant concentrations in urban and 12–17 hrs in rural areas, with longer lag time for wind than for temperature stratification. The overall performance of the multiple linear regression models is basically comparable to the widely used comprehensive air quality models and artificial neural network models. The method used here provides another way to estimate possible spatial distributions of pollutant concentrations with less computing time and input data, and could be applied to other cities for urban planning or air quality management purposes.


To achieve the maximum performance from bitrnap displays, the screen must be used not just as an output device, but as a data structure that may cache computed images. In an interactive text or picture editor, that may mean converting the internal representation of what's being edited into a set of rectangles that tile the screen. Incremental updates of the image may then be done by rearranging some subset of the filing using bitmap operations, independently of how the tiling was derived. We have taken t_he ideas used in the screen update algorithms for the sam text editor and generalized them so they may be applied to more structured documents than the simple character stream sam edits. The ideas have been tested by building a library and a simple interactive document editor that treat a document as a hierarchical structure that may include text, pictures, and variable spacing. The core of the library is operators to make incremental changes to the display while maintaining the hierarchical data structure that describes it.


To understand potential harmful effects of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) for the growing fetus, studies dealing with the translocation and accumulation of NPs across the placental barrier are of great importance. Quantitative methods for determination of NP mass and number concentration and their size are required for studying NP accumulation in placental tissue. In the present study, we applied and compared two sample preparation techniques, alkaline and enzymatic treatment, followed by single particle ICP-MS (spICP-MS) analysis, for characterizing AgNPs spiked to human placental tissue. Both sample preparation approaches are currently used for AgNPs in biological tissues but have not been directly compared yet. We showed that the method using enzymatic tissue treatment followed by spICP-MS is efficient for determination of mass and number concentration and size distribution of AgNPs in human placental tissues. Properties of the AgNPs were preserved during enzymatic digestion and comparable with the primary particles. The matrix effect on the determination of Ag sensitivity and transport efficiency in spICP-MS analysis was systematically evaluated as well. The method was applied to human placenta, exposed to AgNPs with two different surface modifications: 27 nm polyethylene glycol (AgPEG NPs) or 34 nm sodium carboxylate groups (AgCOONa NPs) in an ex vivo human placental perfusion model. The Ag mass concentration obtained with spICP-MS following enzymatic sample pretreatment was not significantly different from the Ag concentration obtained by conventional ICP-MS analysis of acid digested tissue. With this we confirmed the ability of the procedure to quantitatively characterize AgNPs accumulated in human tissue under realistic exposure scenario.


We measured denitrification rates using a field 15NO3− tracer‐addition approach in a large, cross‐site study of nitrate uptake in reference, agricultural, and suburban‐urban streams. We measured denitrification rates in 49 of 72 streams studied. Uptake length due to denitrification (SWdenn) ranged from 89 m to 184 km (median of 9050 m) and there were no significant differences among regions or land‐use categories, likely because of the wide range of conditions within each region and land use. N2 production rates far exceeded N2O production rates in all streams. The fraction of total NO3− removal from water due to denitrification ranged from 0.5% to 100% among streams (median of 16%), and was related to NH4+ concentration and ecosystem respiration rate (ER). Multivariate approaches showed that the most important factors controlling SWden were specific discharge (discharge / width) and NO3− concentration (positive effects), and ER and transient storage zones (negative effects). The relationship between areal denitrification rate (Uden) and NO3− concentration indicated a partial saturation effect. A power function with an exponent of 0.5 described this relationship better than a Michaelis‐Menten equation. Although Uden increased with increasing NO3− concentration, the efficiency of NO3− removal from water via denitrification declined, resulting in a smaller proportion of streamwater NO3− load removed over a given length of stream. Regional differences in stream denitrification rates were small relative to the proximate factors of NO3− concentration and ecosystem respiration rate, and land use was an important but indirect control on denitrification in streams, primarily via its effect on NO3− concentration.


In Garbage Land, acclaimed science writer Elizabeth Royte leads us on the wild adventure that begins once our trash hits the bottom of the can. Along the way, we meet an odor chemist who explains why trash smells so bad; garbage fairies and recycling gurus; neighbors of massive waste dumps; CEOs making fortunes by encouraging waste or encouraging recycling-often both at the same time; scientists trying to revive our most polluted places; fertilizer fanatics and adventurers who kayak among sewage; paper people, steel people, aluminum people, plastic people, and even a guy who swears by recycling human waste. With a wink and a nod and a tightly clasped nose, Royte takes us on a bizarre cultural tour through slime, stench, and heat-in other words, through the back end of our ever-more supersized lifestyles. By showing us what really happens to the things we've "disposed of," Royte reminds us that our decisions about consumption and waste have a very real impact-and that unless we undertake radical change, the garbage we create will always be with us: in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we consume.