The cultivation of eucalyptus is one of the most important in Brazil, constituting a source of renewable energy and wood, supporting important agro-industrial processes for production of pulp, paper and essences. Eucalyptus, like other plant species is infected by various pathogens, especially fungi, from nursery to adult trees. In this work, was studied de causative agent of Ceratocystis wilt. The fungus Ceratocystis fimbriata Ellis. et Halsted is a typical xylem pathogen, which the marker symptom is observable in the cross sections of woody organs in the form of dark radial striations, from core to the outer periphery of the wood or from the periphery to the core. These streaks in the wood are visible when an affected branch is cut across because pathogen causes the disintegration of the vascular system. It is a fungus of fast spreading and that affects plants in various stages of development and because of this is difficult to control. The objectives of this work were verify the clonal susceptibility to the pathogen for aid breeding programs to obtain resistant materials and study epidemiological model for determination of disease progress on the field. For this, stecklings of operational clones were used for inoculation to evaluate the resistance. Epidemiological assessment of spatial distribution was made according to field surveys with plots previously installed. Different resistance levels were found in the studied materials, since high resistance until high susceptibility. In the field, the disease showed a clustered distribution, with tendency to aggregation of foci and vertical distribution (in the plant line).


This article provides an overview and analysis of the relationship between gender, educational policy, and governance in Scotland and Sweden and the two countries' response to European Union and global legislative and policy change. In Scotland, gender is mainly invisible in recent policies on inclusion, achievement beyond academic attainment, and the idealisation of the child. Gender is thus marginalised within a range of factors contributing to social in/equality. In Sweden, in contrast, gender has higher visibility in policy and governance as both an indicator of democracy and a means of preserving social democratic consensus and prosperity. However, recently its privileged position has come under attack. We draw on social capital, gender, and policy theory to analyse the range of influences on gender and educational governance in the two countries including that of the social capital of organised feminism.


Focusing on four novels by Janet Frame in dialogue with texts by Freud, Zizek, Lacan, and Silverman, my project theorizes trauma as the basis for both an ethical and an interpretive practice. Frame's fiction develops a cultural psychology, showing how the factors of narcissistic fantasy and the incapacity to mourn contribute to physical and epistemic aggression committed along divides of ethnicity, gender, and linguistic mode of expression. Employing trauma as a figure for an absolute limit to what can be remembered or known, I suggest that reconciliation with whatever is inaccessible, lacking, or dead within an individual or collective self fosters a non-violent relation with others. I begin by querying the place of "catharsis" within hermeneutic literary interpretation, focusing on the construction of Frame within the New Zealand literary industry. With Erlene's adamantine silence at its centre, Scented Gardens for the Blind (1964) rejects the hermeneutic endeavour, exemplified by Patrick Evans' critical work on Frame, to make a text "speak" its secrets. My readings of Intensive Care (1910) and The Adaptable Man (1965) address inter-generational repetitions of violence as the consequences of the failure to recognise and work through the devastations of war. The masculine fantasy of totality driving the Human Delineation project in Intensive Care has a linguistic corollary in Colin Monk's pursuit of the Platonic ideality of algebra, set against Milly's "degraded" punning writing. In The Adaptable Man, the arrival of electricity ushers in a new perceptual regime that would obliterate any "shadow" of dialectical negativity or internal difference. The thesis ends with a swing toward conciliation and emotional growth. The homosexual relationship depicted in Daughter Buffalo (1972) offers a model of transference, defined as a transitional, productive form of repetition that opens Talbot to his ethnic and familial inheritance. Working from within a radical form of narcissism, the novel reformulates masculinity by embracing loss as "phallic divestiture" (Kaja Silverman).


The objective of METABOOK project is to investigate the possibilities of e-books in the classroom and in the education field in general, as a possible replacement of traditional "paper books", in order to minimize the cost of reprinting books every year and to achieve better educational results by offering to students and teachers, interactive and continuously updated information and knowledge. During the project, the latest computer technologies were used (Internet, Java, DHTML, virtual experiments, wi-fi LANs) and the latest devices were evaluated (e-books, tablet PCs, PDAs, touch screens e.t.c.). The software of the project (12 lessons of high school physics) was localized and adapted into two languages and three different curricula and was evaluated within real class environment in different schools, even with handicapped students. The conclusion so far is that e-book devices in schools have many critical advantages over traditional paper books, technically, financially and educationally. Thy can very well act as a partial replacement or even better an additional educational tool but there are many more things that should be evaluated. Technologies are changing so fast, new and cheaper devices appear every year and a wider evaluation in more subjects and more ages should be undertaken in the future.


We describe a method for computing a continuous time estimate of tracer density using list mode PET data. The rate function in each voxel is modeled as an inhomogeneous Poisson process whose rate function can be represented using a cubic B-spline basis. The rate functions are estimated by maximizing the likelihood of the arrival times of detected photon pairs over the control vertices of the spline, modified by quadratic spatial and temporal smoothness penalties and a penalty term to enforce non-negativity. Random rate functions are estimated by assuming independence between the spatial and temporal randoms distributions. Similarly, scatter rate functions are estimated by assuming spatiotemporal independence and that the temporal distribution of the scatter is proportional to the temporal distribution of the trues. A quantitative evaluation was performed using simulated data and the method was also demonstrated in human studies using O-15 water and C-11 raclopride.


Grain boundary weak-link behaviour in superconductors is investigated using a critical state model (CSM), which has been specifically formulated for the applied field range o ~ Ha ~ Hc1g , where Hclg is the intra-granular lower critical field. The CSM includes an expression for the inter-granular critical current density, Jc(H, T), that has been derived from a percolation model for a random 3D network of weak-links in which the current Bowing through the individual grain boundary junctions is assumed to be spatially random. This expression, namely: Jc(H,T) = Jco[exp(-H/Ho)+b], where JCO ) Ho , and b are characteristic weak-link parameters, includes a field-dependent component and a field-independent component both of which are microstructurally sensiti ve. Calculated magnetisation behaviour, obtained from the critical state model, are fitted to experimental isothermal D.C magnetisation data, j\1(Ha) , for 0 ~ Ha ~ Hclg , 71.5K~ T ~ Tc, obtained from the two control specimens, namely: Y IBa2Cu307-x and EUIBa2Cu307-x , x ~ I, and from a third specimen, which is a mixture of the two control compounds. In the CSM fits, the temperature dependent characteristic parameters Jco , Ho, and bare treated as free fitting parameters. These free fitting parameters are subsequently fitted to specific theoretical models for Jca(T), Ho(T), and b(T) and a comparison is made between the control specimens and mixed specimen parameters to establish the effect of mixing on the grain boundary weak-link behaviour. Jca and b are found to be significantly larger in the mixed specimen as compared with either of the two control specimens.


This book is designed for firstand second-year university students (and their instructors) in earth science, environmental science, and physical geography degree programmes worldwide. The summaries at the end of each section constitute essential reading for policy makers and planners. It provides a simple but masterly account, with a minimum of equations, of how the Earth's climate system works, of the physical processes that have given rise to the long sequence of glacial and interglacial periods of the Quaternary, and that will continue to cause the climate to evolve. Its straightforward and elegant description, with an abundance of well chosen illustrations, focuses on different time scales, and includes the most recent research in climate science by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It shows how it is human behaviour that will determine whether or not the present century is a turning point to a new climate, unprecedented on Earth in the last several million years.


Intelligent vehicle highway systems (IVHS) consist of automated highway systems in combination with intelligent vehicles and roadside controllers. The intelligent vehicles can communicate with each other and with the roadside infrastructure. The vehicles are organized in platoons with short intraplatoon distances, and larger distances between platoons. Moreover, all vehicles are assumed to be automated, i.e., throttle, braking, and steering commands are determined by an automated on-board controller. In this paper we first propose a model predictive control (MPC) approach to determine appropriate speeds for the platoons. Next, we discuss which prediction models are suited to be used as an on-line traffic prediction model in MPC for IVHS. The proposed approach is then applied to a simple simulation example in which the aim is to minimize the total time all vehicles spend in the network by optimally assigning speeds to the platoons.


How does persecution affect who migrates? We analyze migrants' self-selection out of the USSR and its satellite states before and after the collapse of Communism using census microdata from the three largest destination countries: Germany, Israel, and the United States. We find that migrants arriving before and around the time of the collapse (who were more likely to have moved because of persecution) were more educated and had better labor market outcomes in the destination than those arriving later. This change is not fully explained by the removal of emigration restrictions in the Communist Bloc. Instead, we show that this pattern is consistent with more positive self-selection of migrants who are motivated by persecution. When the highly educated disproportionately forgo migrating to enjoy the amenities of their home country, persecution can induce them to leave.


In the literature, predictions for the occurrence of nonlinear soil liquefaction in soil deposits have been investigated through numerous empirical methods. These methods which are also known as 'conventional techniques' were derived from several in-situ tests, laboratory tests and case records. An alternative general regression neural network (GRNN) model that addresses the collective knowledge built in a simplified procedure is proposed. To meet this objective, a total of 3895 case records including twelve soil and seismic parameters driven mostly from the cone penetration test (CPT) results are introduced into the model. The data includes the results of field tests from the two major earthquakes that took place in Turkey and Taiwan in 1999 and some of the desired input parameters are obtained from correlations existing in the literature. The soil liquefaction decision in terms of seismic demand and capacity is determined by recognized simplified approach, namely a stress-based method and a strain-based method. Furthermore, the liquefaction probability of soils with significant fines is tested with the so-called Chinese Criteria. The proposed GRNN model is developed in four phases, mainly: the identification phase, collection phase, implementation phase, and verification phase. An iterative procedure was followed to maximize the accuracy of the proposed model. The case records were divided randomly into testing, training, and validation datasets. The proposed GRNN model effectively explored the complex relationship between the introduced soil and seismic input parameters and validated the liquefaction decision.


[Publisher's description of the book that contains this chapter:] This book brings together chapters by academics, researchers and practitioners to analyse how crimes such as sex work, domestic violence and rape and sexual assault have risen up the Government agenda in recent years. For example, the 'Paying the Price' consultation exercise on sex work in 2004, and recent legislation around sex crimes, including the Sex Offences Act (2003). This is a multi-disciplinary, social scientific, pro-feminist collection, which draws upon practice, empirical research, documentary analysis and overviews of research in the areas of sex work and sexual violence. Within Sex as Crime there are two distinct sub-sections: 'Sex for Sale' and 'Sex as Violence', but the broader and overriding link of sex as crime remains a paramount theme that spans the collection.

Chapters include discussions of the impact of new regulations on street sex workers, and of street sex work on community residents, the use of the internet by men who pay for sex and men who sell it, sexual violence and identity, sex crimes against children and protecting children online and working with sex offenders. Other chapters explore reasons for such offending behaviour.


This volume surveys the interpretation of St. Paul by patristic and medieval exegetes. It also examines the use of Paul by medieval reformers, canon lawyers, and spiritual teachers and Paul's portrayal in medieval literature and art.


Most music recommendation algorithms such as proprietary ones designed for curating music in music streaming companies rely mainly on song ratings data to be able to recommend songs to users. This does not always provide a great music experience for many users who pay for these services. As an example there are over 35 million songs on Spotify alone and according to recent statistical report released by Spotify there are about 4 million songs on Spotify that have never been played not even once. Clearly this is not good news to content creators who trust and pay Spotify as a platform to distribute their music. The root of the problem lies on the music recommendation algorithm adopted and used by many music streaming platforms like Spotify. The algorithm fails to recommend great music to the users which they can enjoy and this results in the platform experiencing "dark music" or music that has never received any play in the platform. We propose a framework which provides a unique strategy that can be adopted by music recommendation algorithms to give users a better music experience. We utilize self-similarity matrices developed in R to visualize patterns of repetition in text extracted song lyrics. The way this works is that the lyrics of a song played by the user are extracted and a visual pattern print of a song is generated and this pattern is then compared with many other patterns of songs existing on the platforms especially ones that have not been played before. A comparison is then performed and if the comparison similarity index is above 70 percent then a song is recommended to the user. A song with high a similarity index gets first priority. We believe this will ensure great music experiences for the listeners and also benefit content creators since the likelyhood that their music will reach users will be high.


Abstract. Rapid urbanization and economic development in East Asia in past decades has led to photochemical air pollution problems such as excess photochemical ozone and aerosol formation. Asian megacities such as Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Beijing are surrounded by densely forested areas, and recent research has consistently demonstrated the importance of biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from vegetation in determining oxidation capacity in the suburban Asian megacity regions. Uncertainties in constraining tropospheric oxidation capacity, dominated by hydroxyl radical, undermine our ability to assess regional photochemical air pollution problems. We present an observational data set of CO, NOx, SO2, ozone, HONO, and VOCs (anthropogenic and biogenic) from Taehwa research forest (TRF) near the Seoul metropolitan area in early June 2012. The data show that TRF is influenced both by aged pollution and fresh biogenic volatile organic compound emissions. With the data set, we diagnose HOx (OH, HO2, and RO2) distributions calculated using the University of Washington chemical box model (UWCM v2.1) with near-explicit VOC oxidation mechanisms from MCM v3.2 (Master Chemical Mechanism). Uncertainty from unconstrained HONO sources and radical recycling processes highlighted in recent studies is examined using multiple model simulations with different model constraints. The results suggest that (1) different model simulation scenarios cause systematic differences in HOx distributions, especially OH levels (up to 2.5 times), and (2) radical destruction (HO2 + HO2 or HO2 + RO2) could be more efficient than radical recycling (RO2 + NO), especially in the afternoon. Implications of the uncertainties in radical chemistry are discussed with respect to ozone–VOC–NOx sensitivity and VOC oxidation product formation rates. Overall, the NOx limited regime is assessed except for the morning hours (8 a.m. to 12 p.m. local standard time), but the degree of sensitivity can significantly vary depending on the model scenarios. The model results also suggest that RO2 levels are positively correlated with oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs) production that is not routinely constrained by observations. These unconstrained OVOCs can cause higher-than-expected OH loss rates (missing OH reactivity) and secondary organic aerosol formation. The series of modeling experiments constrained by observations strongly urge observational constraint of the radical pool to enable precise understanding of regional photochemical pollution problems in the East Asian megacity region.


Proposals for 'inflation targeting' as a strategy for monetary policy leave open the important operational question of how to determine whether current policies are consistent with the long-run inflation target. An interesting possibility is that the central bank might target current private-sector forecasts of inflation, either those made explicitly by professional forecasters or those implicit in asset prices. We address the issue of existence and uniqueness of rational expectations equilibria when the central bank uses private-sector forecasts as a guide to policy actions. In a dynamic model which incorporates both sluggish price adjustment and shocks to aggregate demand and aggregate supply, we show that strict targeting of inflation forecasts is typically inconsistent with the existence of rational expectations equilibrium, and that policies approximating strict inflation-forecast targeting are likely to have undesirable properties. We also show that economies with more general forecast-based policy rules are particularly susceptible to indeterminacy of rational expectations equilibria. We conclude that, although private-sector forecasts may contain information useful to the central bank, ultimately the monetary authorities must rely on an explicit structural model of the economy to guide their policy decisions.


Due to the rapidly changing production processes in aquaculture worldwide (e.g. submergible cages, sea ranching, intensification, aquaponics and recirculation systems), which sometimes increase vulnerability to disease outbreaks and which generally require large investments from aquaculturists, over the last decades the demand for insurance to share and cover the risks involved has increased significantly within the aquaculture sector. Risk management is increasingly gaining attention within the aquaculture sector, which is reflected in the development and increasing implementation of Better Management Practices (BMPs), Codes of Conduct and Codes of Good Practice, Standard Operational Procedures, certification and traceability. Aquaculture insurance is one of the tools used in aquaculture risk management, but there is considerable ignorance within the aquaculture industry about its availability, the process of obtaining insurance cover, especially on aquaculture stock mortality, and the constraints to insurers providing its services. With this review study FAO intends to increase awareness of aquaculture producers worldwide, particularly those in developing countries, on the opportunities that aquaculture insurance can offer their businesses. FAO also aims to inform decision-makers at national government levels as well as in international agencies about the role of aquaculture insurance in the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector and provide aquaculture sector stakeholders with insights into what is all-too-frequently considered a complicated type of activity. A review study carried out in early 2005 covered the main aquacultureproducing countries worldwide. Seven regional syntheses (China, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania) were prepared, discussing the specificities of their situation with regard to aquaculture insurance. A summary of the regional syntheses was made, together with conclusions and clear recommendations at various levels to increase the contribution of aquaculture insurance to the sustainable management and development of the aquaculture sector. Some of the main conclusions of the review study are the following: the demand for aquaculture insurance has never been as high as it is now; there is a widening gap between the demand for and supply of aquaculture insurance in the world; the number of aquaculture insurance policies in force is estimated at around 8 000 worldwide; some regions (sub-Saharan Africa, South America and large parts of Asia) are barely covered by aquaculture insurance services; aquaculture insurance policies in force in Asia are generally of the "named perils" type, while those in other regions are often of the "all risks" type; while the range of species and culture systems covered under aquaculture policies worldwide is diverse, many insurers only focus on a small number of traditional aquaculture species and are reluctant to include "new" species and culture systems; reinsurance is an important component of aquaculture insurance in a country and for developing and disseminating the


Mouse-tracking studies demonstrate that hand movements reveal the progression of responses over time during psychological tasks. In the present study, we examined the time course of cognitive processing during an auditory lexical decision task. The following predicted results emerged to indicate facilitation for words relative to nonwords: 1) shorter reaction times; 2) fewer direction changes, and, compared to the ideal trajectory; 3) smaller deviation; and, 4) area under the curve for words relative to nonwords. We also found predicted differences between words and nonwords in velocity throughout the trials, providing a greater understanding of the real-time processing dynamics throughout the course of spoken word recognition.


Around 100 high-potency studies, each one replicating earlier studies, were located in a bibliometric study on fundamental research [1]. 70% of the replication studies yielded the same result as the original study, 10% the opposite result, and 20% found no difference between the test and control groups. This is to say, the final standing was 70 positive, 10 negative and 20 undecided results. Among the replication studies performed by the original laboratory, the outcomes were 83 positive and 5 negative (12 undecided); in the ones performed in laboratories of independent researchers invited to participate in a multicentric study the corresponding outcomes were 75 and 11 (14), and the ones of studies performed by external researchers 48 and 14 (38). Had the experiments been performed on purely random phenomena the most probable outcomes would have been 33 : 33 : 33.

In a follow-up study we sought to establish whether the outcomes of the replication studies might be attributed to regression toward the means. As is known, this term describes the situation in which a random experiment yields an extreme result, while subsequent replications give average results quite independent from the initial one. By contrast, when the experiment is not entirely based entirely on chance, subsequent replications tend to yield results that deviate from the average in the same direction as the initial one.

We thus grouped the studies into 3 clusters of at least 7 articles according to their date of publication. The relative frequencies of positive, undecided and negative results were graphically represented through by curves to allow for visual comparison of the initial result versus the results of the replication studies for each of the 3 clusters.

Regression towards the mean was neither observed in the results of the replication studies taken together nor in the group of laboratory-internal replication studies. By contrast, the group of multicentric replication studies exhibited increase of the relative frequency of undecided results and decrease of the one of positive results. In the group of external replication studies the relative frequency of undecided results increased and the one of positive and of negative results decreased.

The statistical probability of drawing a 'positive result' from a total of 3 equally probable options (positive, undecided, negative) is 33.3%. By contrast, within the entirety of replication studies the frequency of positive results was 77% on the first replication, 66.7% on the second and 66.7% on the third. Unlike the results from the group of laboratory-internal studies, the ones of multicentric and external replications are suggestive of regression towards the mean. However the magnitude of this effect is far weaker than would be expected from a purely random distribution of results. One question that remains is why there appears to have been practically no regression in the laboratory-internal replications. This should not be cheaply attributed to publication bias. Especially in experiments on homoeopathic high potencies, it could well be that numerous, in some part hidden factors of influence are involved, which internal laboratories – possibly unwittingly through unreflected working habits– are better at controlling than external laboratories, regardless of the effort invested to this end.

Keywords: high dilution, replication experiments, regression to the mean

References
[1] Endler PC, Bellavite P, Bonamin L, Jäger T. Mazon S. Replications of fundamental research models in ultra high dilutions, 1994 and 2015: an update on a bibliometric study. Homeopathy 2015;104:235-245


This paper describes the electro-thermal design of a medium voltage modular multilevel converter prototype, from the submodule power semiconductor thermal requirements to the overall system level integration. The high number of semiconductors and capacitors involved are stressed differently depending on the actual operating conditions, as discussed in the paper. The presented design considers air cooling concept at the submodule level, with its enclosures used as air guide towards the chimney like structure. Forced air cooling is applied at the cabinet level. The numerical design is verified by means of 3-D finite element method simulations of different complexities.


The purpose of this document is to show how an Android App was development by using MapBox API, GPS, Android studio, MySql and Cloud 9. There are some tools that the developers need to be fully pay attention on when choosing. That it's important to have a current device.

That making android apps is getting easier everyday with the come out of Android studio because eclipse had some flaws to deal with.

I was trying to use the Google API for the main map function, but I found some brand phone in China that cannot the Google and it makes the map cannot show on the phone. That is the main reason I move to the MapBox API, it can work on all the Android phones, but the MapBox API is very less function than Google API, that is the reason, I need spend more time to make the map design for the map part.

And in my case, I used SHA1 as encryption, not the MD5 for user login, SHA 1 IS older a bit outdated so use salt to make it current. But it will be faster than MD 5.

What I have to kept in mind throughout development is to make the project is easy to use without any IT skills, keep users information safe, and can truly help people in life. From the last months' study, I learned to use the MapBox API for design the main map function and the GPS function works for track the users to make sure the time calculate function can work when the user in the zone that they made.

The end goal is, when people download the app from the Google Play, and use it. They will realize, this app is managing time better than before and make life easy.


Abstract. The ongoing eruptive cycle of Tungurahua volcano (Ecuador) since 1999 has been characterised by over 15 paroxysmal phases interrupted by periods of relative calm. Those phases included one Subplinian as well as several Strombolian and Vulcanian eruptions and they generated tephra fallouts, pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) and lava flows. The 1 February 2014 eruption occurred after 75 days of quiescence and only 2 days of pre-eruptive seismic crisis. Two short-lived Vulcanian explosions marked the onset of the paroxysmal phase, characterised by a 13.4 km eruptive column and the trigger of PDCs. After 40 min of paroxysm, the activity evolved into sporadic Strombolian explosions with discrete ash emissions and continued for several weeks. Both tephra fall and PDCs were studied for their dispersal, sedimentology, volume and eruption source parameters. At large scale, the tephra cloud dispersed toward the SSW. Based on the field data, two dispersal scenarios were developed forming either elliptical isopachs or proximally PDC-influenced isopachs. The minimum bulk tephra volumes are estimated to 4.55 × 106 m3, for an eruption size estimated at volcanic explosivity index (VEI) 2–3. PDCs, although of small volume, descended by nine ravines of the NNW flanks down to the base of the edifice. The 1 February 2014 eruptions show a similar size to the late 1999 and August 2001 events, but with a higher intensity (I 9–10) and shorter duration. The Vulcanian eruptive mechanism is interpreted to be related to a steady magma ascent and the rise in over-pressure in a blocked conduit (plug) and/or a depressurised solidification front. The transition to Strombolian style is well documented from the tephra fall componentry. In any of the interpretative scenarios, the short-lived precursors for such a major event as well as the unusual tephra dispersion pattern urge for renewed hazard considerations at Tungurahua.


This article presents findings from a two-year longitudinal action, research study exploring the challenges and outcomes of attempting to develop design capability in one of Australia's largest non-profit aged-care providers. The research identifies four distinct objectives for design utilization in practice, and suggests that existing approaches for design utilization overlook non-profit organizations that seek both economic and social viability. While the objectives of realizing economic and social outcomes are addressed in design literature, there is an absence of literature detailing how non-profit organizations could utilize design to realize these outcomes. This research, therefore, contributes the non-profit design ladder—a framework to assist non-profit organizations to further develop their utilization of design and foster design as an organizational capability.


ABSTRACT The European discovery of the Chatham Islands in 1791 resulted in significant consequences for its indigenous Moriori people. The colonial Australian influence on the Chathams has received little scholarly attention. This article argues that the young colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land led the exploitation of the archipelago before its annexation to New Zealand in 1842. The Chathams became a secretive outpost of the colonial economy, especially the sealing trade. Colonial careering transformed the islands: environmental destruction accompanied economic exploitation, with deleterious results for the Moriori. When two Māori iwi (tribes) from New Zealand's North Island invaded in 1835, Moriori struggled to respond as a consequence of the colonial encounter. Mobility and technology gained from the Australian colonies enabled and influenced the invasion itself, and derogatory colonial stereotypes about Aboriginal peoples informed the genocide that ensued. Hence this article writes the Chathams into Australian history and Australia into Chathams history, showing that discussions of the early colonial economy, environment, and genocide must consider the wider South Pacific context in conjunction with events internal to the colonies.


As this memorial volume illustrates, Fred Zacharias wrote insightfully on many aspects of the legal profession, covering a wide-range of ethical topics and analyzing many aspects of lawyers' work. He was interested in the lives of lawyers and believed they owed a duty to society beyond an exclusive focus on individual clients' interests. This Article develops a question that intrigued Fred: Prosecutors' duties postconviction to prisoners who might be innocent. Although Fred wrote about a panoply of questions that arise regarding the prosecutor's duty to "do justice" after conviction, this Article will address one specific area of concern: how and why prosecutors resist allowing DNA testing and, more startlingly, deny the obvious implications of DNA evidence when that evidence exonerates the convicted.As Fred himself noted, there may be legitimate reasons for prosecutors to deny access to DNA to every prisoner who so requests. Less easy to understand, however, are the confabulations and attenuated scenarios some prosecutors posit to argue that the accused is guilty despite DNA evidence that demonstrates no link to the crime (and sometimes incriminates a known offender). This article argues that the psychological concept of denial goes a long way in explaining prosecutors' conduct. Rather than portraying these prosecutors as megalomaniacal abusers of the adversary system who will protect their win-loss ratios at any cost, a theory of denial posits that prosecutors simply cannot face the fact of a wrongful conviction or its implications for the entire system of justice. Ironically, a prosecutor's desire to do justice and her self-image as a champion of justice renders the fact of wrongful conviction particularly painful. As a result, some prosecutors go to incredible lengths to deny the obvious rather than facing the fact that the system failed and they may have contributed to the injustice.Part I of this Article briefly summarizes two of Fred's major articles on the subject of prosecutorial ethics. Part II documents the problem of postconviction DNA exonerations and prosecutors' varied reactions. These reactions encompass everything from the prompt release of prisoners to the adamant refusal to acknowledge the relevance of the evidence . Part III attempts to add to the current explanations of why some prosecutors refuse to acknowledge errors even after DNA indicates a wrongful conviction. This Part explores, in addition to traditional explanations involving prosecutorial self-interest, incentive structure, and cognitive biases, the role of denial. Part IV examines the bigger picture of denial, looking at how refusal to accept DNA exonerations may mask deeper concerns about the criminal justice system. Finally, Part V draws on these (?) insights about prosecutorial denial to examine structural solutions, including possible changes to ethical codes, to the urgent problems posed by postconviction innocence.


In Chinese Activism of a Different Kind, Jia Gao examines the social behavior and patterns of actions of 45,000 or so Chinese students as they fought to obtain the right to stay permanently in Australia after the June 4 'Tiananmen Square' incident of 1989. In a time of relative Internet infancy their response to the shifting stances of the Australian government saw them build networks, make use of media and develop a range of strategies. In achieving success this diverse group of students became the largest intake of onshore asylum seekers in the history of Australian immigration. Through their testimonies Jia Gao provides a fascinating addition to our knowledge of Chinese activism and to the history of Chinese migration.


This paper investigates the bilateral relationship between two Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries – Turkey and Malaysia – in terms of economic cooperation. Although their cultural, political, and social relationship goes back to the thirteenth century, their current economic relationship has not yet reached the desired level. Although it has grown steadily over the last decade, the annual turnover is not as much as it should be. In 2000 the volume of trade between them was a modest USD 242 million; by 2006 it increased to USD 994 million, which made Malaysia Turkey"s seventh largest trading partner in Asia. The following year, the trade volume exceeded USD 1.3 billion, an increase of 34 percent. Despite this growing trade, the trade balance has long been in Malaysia"s favour. Turkey"s trade deficit amounted to USD 1.2 billion dollars, an increase of 33%, in comparison with the corresponding figures for 2009. Surprisingly, by 2010 Turkish exports to Malaysia had risen to USD 93 million and imports from Malaysia had doubled to more than USD 498 million. Expectations are that bilateral trade in 2012 will rise to USD 2.5 billion, with Malaysian exports making up a large portion of that figure. Since it reached to this expectation it would be USD 5 billion by 2015. As Turkey and Malaysia belong to the OIC, they need to develop a bilateral strategic partnership. For this reason, Ankara has introduced such initiatives as "A Strategy to Improve Commercial and Economic Relations with Asia Pacific Countries," "The Turkish and Malaysian Joint Economic Commission (JEC)," The Turkish-Malaysian Business Council," and others. This research will try to find ways to increase their bilateral economic cooperation.


The main purpose of this study was to estimate possible climate change effects on the annual streamflow of Filyos River (Turkey). Data for annual streamflow and climatic parameters were obtained from streamflow gauging stations on the river and Bartın, Karabük, Zonguldak meteorological observation stations. Time series analysis was performed on 46 years of annual streamflow data and 57 years of annual mean climatic data from three monitoring stations to understand the trends. Pettitt change-point analysis was applied to determine the change time and trend analysis was performed to forecast trends. To reveal the relationship between climatic parameters and streamflow, correlation tests, namely, Spearman's rho and Kendall's tau were applied. The results of Pettitt change-point analysis pointed to 2000 as the change year for streamflow. Change years for temperature and precipitation were detected as 1997 and 2000, respectively. Trend analysis results indicated decreasing trends in the streamflow and precipitation, and increasing trend in temperature. These changes were found statistically significant for streamflow (p < 0.05) and temperature (p < 0.01). Also, a statistically significant (p < 0.05) correlation was found between streamflow and precipitation. In conclusion, decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature as a result of climate change initiated a decrease in the river streamflow.


This chapter tells the story of Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, the 2016 case in which the Court invalidated a Texas law (H.B. 2) that imposed onerous regulations on abortion providers — and not on providers of other medical procedures of equal risk — in the name of protecting women's health. The chapter focuses not only on the Court's decision, but on actors such as Americans United for Life (AUL), an influential advocacy group partly responsible both for H.B. 2 and for the broader constitutional strategy that produced it. AUL has been tremendously successful in restricting women's access to abortion in recent years by pursuing an incremental strategy that aims to "hollow[] out Roe," not by challenging it directly but by promoting ever-stiffer abortion regulations and persuading courts to weaken constitutional protection for the abortion right. One of the chief ways AUL has pursued these goals is by casting abortion regulation as woman-protective, asserting that such regulation shields women and fetuses alike from a greedy and unscrupulous abortion industry. During the legislative debates over H.B. 2, legislators opposed to the law disputed that it was protective of women. They argued that there were no legitimate health justifications for the law, that it would actually hurt women by driving reproductive healthcare clinics out of business, and that the state's poor track record when it came to protecting women's health undermined its claim to be acting for that reason here. The central question in Whole Woman's Health was whether the Court would defer to the legislature's assertion that it was acting to protect women's health or whether it would look to see whether the controverted regulation actually yielded health benefits. The Court did the latter: It examined whether Texas's law actually served the state's interest in protecting women's health, and how the law affected women's ability to exercise the abortion right. By scrutinizing the law and finding that the balance of interests weighed heavily in favor of invalidation, the Court handed AUL and other anti-abortion forces a defeat. But it did not take long for those forces to regroup, and it is not at all clear that they will lose the broader battle over abortion rights in the coming decades.


Shocks play a key role in plasma thermalization and particle acceleration in the near Earth space plasma, in astrophysical plasma and in laser plasma interactions. An accurate understanding of the physics of plasma shocks is thus of immense importance. We give an overview over some recent developments in particle-in-cell simulations of plasma shocks and foreshock dynamics. We focus on ion reflection by shocks and on the two-stream instabilities these beams can drive, and these are placed in the context of experimental observations, e.g. by the Cluster mission. We discuss how we may expand the insight gained from the observation of proton beam driven instabilities at near Earth plasma shocks to better understand their astrophysical counterparts, such as ion beam instabilities triggered by internal and external shocks in the relativistic jets of gamma ray bursts, shocks in the accretion discs of micro-quasars and supernova remnant shocks. It is discussed how and why the peak energy that can be reached by particles that are accelerated by two-stream instabilities increases from keV energies to GeV energies and beyond, as we increase the streaming speed to relativistic values, and why the particle energy spectrum sometimes resembles power law distributions.


Critical interpretations of Joyce's discourse on the image have, for the best part, fallen into two categories: idealist or psychoanalytic interpretations of the Joycean imaginary on the one hand, and, on the other, materialist readings often informed by techno-scientific concerns. Different as they are, both these critical paradigms regard the image as a space of dialectical mediation: a means, technical or transcendental, by which an object is given to perception (or a narcissistic subject to self-recognition). This article offers a new point of entry to the issue by recasting Joyce's discourse on the image in a Deleuzian light. In Deleuze, the image is described as an entity existing between the material and the ideal spheres, but in no way functioning as a synthesis of the two. My contention is that through a Deleuzian reading of the discourse on images mobilized in Joyce's fiction—from Dubliners to Finnegans Wake—it is possible to think of the image not as a medium of representation, but as an originary element of being and reality in its own right.


It has previously been shown that high dietary salt impairs vascular function independent of changes in blood pressure. Rodent studies suggest that NADPH-derived reactive oxygen species mediate the deleterious effect of high salt on the vasculature, and here we translate these findings to humans. Twenty-nine healthy adults (34 ± 2 yr) participated in a controlled feeding study. Participants completed 7 days of a low-sodium diet (LS; 20 mmol sodium/day) and 7 days of a high-sodium diet (HS; 300 mmol sodium/day) in random order. All participants were salt resistant, defined as a ≤5-mmHg change in 24-h mean BP determined while on the LS and HS diets. Laser Doppler flowmetry was used to assess cutaneous vasodilation in response to local heating (42°C) during local delivery of Ringer's (n = 29), 20 mM ascorbic acid (AA; n = 29), 10 µM Tempol (n = 22), and 100 µM apocynin (n = 22). Additionally, endothelial cells were obtained in a subset of participants from an antecubital vein and stained for nitrotyrosine (n = 14). Cutaneous vasodilation was attenuated by the HS diet compared with LS [LS 93.0 ± 2.2 vs. HS 86.8 ± 2.0 percentage of maximal cutaneous vascular conductance (%CVCmax); P < 0.05] and was restored by AA during the HS diet (AA 90.7 ± 1.2 %CVCmax; P < 0.05 vs. HS). Cutaneous vasodilation was also restored with the local infusion of both apocynin (P < 0.01) and Tempol (P < 0.05) on the HS diet. Nitrotyrosine expression was increased on the HS diet compared with LS (P < 0.05). These findings provide direct evidence of dietary sodium-induced endothelial cell oxidative stress and suggest that NADPH-derived reactive oxygen species contribute to sodium-induced declines in microvascular function. NEW & NOTEWORTHY High-sodium diets have deleterious effects on vascular function, likely mediating, in part, the increased cardiovascular risk associated with a high sodium intake. Local infusion of apocynin and Tempol improved microvascular function in salt-resistant adults on a high-salt diet, providing evidence that reactive oxygen species contribute to impairments in microvascular function from high salt. This study provides insight into the blood pressure-independent mechanisms by which dietary sodium impairs vascular function. Listen to this article's corresponding podcast at https://ajpheart.podbean.com/e/dietary-sodium-oxidative-stress-and-microvascular-function/ .


From a moral standpoint, lethal drones are intrinsically no worse as a means of warfare than bombing or sending commandos to kill enemies. From the perspective of their users, they have six major advantages over more conventional weapons: they are often cheaper; their use can be more readily concealed; they allow for more precise targeting, with the potential for less "collateral damage"; their use can involve less serious infringements of sovereignty than invasion by troops; and they may be less likely to provoke widespread hostile reactions by the population of the country in which they are used than military operations involving troops on the ground. But these advantages generate three major risks: of violating sovereignty, of over-using the military option, and of making it more difficult to identify violations of constraints against targeting noncombatants. To deal with these risks, a Drone Accountability Regime is needed that imposes obligations on states, which in turn would be required to impose them on their agents. Since it would be infeasible to negotiate a treaty-based legal regime at present and for the foreseeable future, the Drone Accountability Regime should be informal and should involve transnational actors as well as states. Its key principle should be transparency, helping enable civil society to hold states accountable, and its central agent would be an Ombudsperson with broad authority to investigate situations and publicize her findings. No institution can ensure that states, or operators, are held fully accountable to appropriate standards of conduct, but such a regime could increase the degree of accountability for the use of lethal drones.


We report a novel vector model of Raman amplification in a fiber with randomly varying birefringence and unidirectional spin profile. Applying the model, we demonstrate for the first time simultaneous mitigation of polarization mode dispersion and polarization dependence of the Raman gain.


A computational method is presented for angle-resolved photoemission spectra (ARPES) and photoelectron diffraction (PED) in the ultraviolet regime. The one-step model is employed and both initial valence and final continuum states are calculated using the finite-cluster, real-space multiple scattering method. Thereby the approach is versatile and provides a natural link to core-level PED. The method is applied to the Cu(111) valence band and good agreement with experiment is found for both ARPES spectra and PED patterns. When the PED patterns are integrated over a filled band of a single-orbital symmetry, such as Cu-3d, we show, both numerically and analytically, that the exact theory with delocalized initial states can be replaced by the much simpler, core-level-type theory where the initial states are taken as localized.


"A History of Modern Britain" confronts head-on the victory of shopping over politics. It tells the story of how the great political visions of New Jerusalem or a second Elizabethan Age, rival idealisms, came to be defeated by a culture of consumerism, celebrity and self-gratification. In each decade, political leaders think they know what they are doing, but find themselves confounded. Every time, the British people turn out to be stroppier and harder to herd than predicted. Throughout, Britain is a country on the edge - first of invasion, then of bankruptcy, then on the vulnerable front line of the Cold War and later in the forefront of the great opening up of capital and migration now reshaping the world.This history follows all the political and economic stories, but deals too with comedy, cars, the war against homosexuals, Sixties anarchists, oil-men and punks, Margaret Thatcher's wonderful good luck, political lies and the true heroes of British theatre. 'Superb, colourful, outspoken, fresh and richly entertaining. Don't miss' - "The Times". 'Lively, full of rich anecdotes and sparkling pen portraits. He has the rare gift of being able to explain complex issues in a few crisp sentences' - "Sunday Telegraph".


This article explores the roles of on-line publications in promoting ethnic communication. Through a case study of the on-line Chinese language publications, it examines the potentials of such publications in supplementing and expanding the functions of the traditional ethnic media, strengthening cultural and communal ties of the ethnic groups, and mobilizing them for action The authors argue that in the age of cyberspace, the role of ethnic media in fortifying the cultural traits of ethnic immigrants is expected to be further strengthened. As a result, ethnic groups are more likely to be assimilated into the mainstream culture without losing their own cultural roots and ethnic identity.


This thesis in political communication details a qualitative investigation into how citizens receive and make sense of political discourse in a twenty-first century democracy. Recognising criticism of the national discourse as 'dumbed down', it explores with a cohort of Australian citizens what meaning they receive from contemporary discourse and how it affects their engagement with democracy. The project employs an innovative method of recruiting participants at a polling booth in Australia's most typical suburb, followed a month later by same day data collection from three wide-scope groups in facilitated discussion. Analysis of the data finds citizens diagnose the discourse as negative and of poor quality, for which they first blame the media. There is an expressed fear that the shallowness of discourse is dumbing them down. In contradiction to their expectations of democratic citizenship, they are powerless to make themselves heard within a discourse which neither recognises nor respects them. They find the discourse alienating, although overwhelming support for compulsory voting militates against democratic dis-engagement. Digital age communications are used to support unstructured democratic engagement and circumvent the banality of local political discourse.


In Spring 2012, a pilot project to increase student exposure to nanotechnology was carried out in the first electronic devices course in the electrical engineering program at our university. Students were given the opportunity to build and test memristors in the nano-electronics research laboratory under the supervision of their instructor. In this pilot project, 10% of the students in the class chose to participate. Based on the success of the first trial, this project will be run again in Fall 2014. The topic of "memristors" was chosen for this project motivated in no small part by the fact that these devices are currently "hot" in the microelectronics/nanoelectronics research community. An additional attribute, deemed essential for this student experience, is the ability to create a macro-scale version of the memristor. The project work included mini-lectures and assigned readings on the history, theory of operation and fabrication, and applications of these devices. The project consisted of two sections: macro-scale and micro-scale memristors. During the macro-scale portion of the project, students practiced the memristor fabrication techniques for several different base metals and sulfiding mediums. Then based on the results (either success or failure) determined by the measured current-voltage characteristics of the memristor, the students made choices on the materials and methods to scale down the macro-scale memristor to the micro/nano-scale memristors using an industry standard fabrication techniques. A graduate student working in the nano-electronics laboratory assisted the students during all experimental work including safety training and help on both fabrication and data acquisition.


Abstract : The concept of responsive space has been gaining interest, and growing to include systems that can be re-tasked to complete multiple missions within their lifetime. The purpose of this study is to develop an algorithm that produces a maneuver trajectory that will cause a spacecraft to arrive at a particular location within its orbit earlier than expected. The time difference, delta t, is used as a metric to quantify the effects of the maneuver. Two separate algorithms are developed. The first algorithm is an optimal control method and is developed through Optimal Control Theory. The second algorithm is a feedback control method and is developed through Lyapunov Theory. It is shown that the two algorithms produce equivalent results for the maneuvers discussed. In-plane maneuver results are analyzed analytically, and an algebraic expression for delta t is derived. Examples are provided of how the analytic expression can be used for mission planning purposes. The feedback control algorithm is then further developed to demonstrate the simplicity of implementing additional capabilities. Finally, a set of simulations is analyzed to show that in order to maximize the amount of delta t achieved, a spacecraft must be allowed as much lead time as possible, and begin thrusting as early as possible.


In this demonstration proposal we describe Health-SCOPE (Healthcare Scalable COst Prediction Engine), a frame-work for exploring historical and present day healthcare costs as well as for predicting future costs. Health SCOPE can be used by individuals to estimate their healthcare costs in the coming year. In addition, Health SCOPE supports a population based view for actuaries and insurers who want to estimate the future costs of a population based on historical claims data, a typical scenario for accountable care organizations (ACOs). Using our interactive data mining framework, users can view claims (sample files will be provided), use Health SCOPE to predict costs for the upcoming year, interactively select from a set of possible medical conditions, understand the factors that contribute to the cost, and compare costs against historical averages. The back-end system contains cloud based prediction services hosted on the Microsoft Azure infrastructure that allow the easy deployment of models encoded in Predictive Model Markup Language (PMML) and trained using either Spark MLLib or various non-distributed environments.


We study direct productivity changes and spillovers after a randomized training program for the frontline workers in a Colombian government agency. While trained workers improved their individual production, we also find substantial spillovers that affected managers' productivity. We use email data and a survey to explore the mechanisms behind these spillovers and find that managers' increased output arises from reductions in the need to help lower level employees. Accounting for spillovers to manager productivity changes the organization's implied return on investment from the training program, expanding the set of training investments that can be supported.


The brief for this study was to focus on safeguarding as keeping children and young people safe from maltreatment, neglect, violence and sexual exploitation. While this is a useful and appropriate focus, evidence from this study has suggested that this cannot be completely isolated from the other elements of the staying safe outcome areas of Every Child Matters and the recommended measures reflect this.

The study built a rudimentary evidence-based conceptual framework to facilitate the development of Public Service Agreement targets for safeguarding children.

Part one gives an account of the model of safeguarding that was developed and why particular measures have been selected. It draws upon and refers to, evidence presented in more detail in various sections of part two.

Part two gives an account of how the study progressed and discusses the evidence on which we draw to support the measures proposed. Part two describes in detail the process of developing and testing the safeguarding model and the measures to underpin the proposed PSAs.


The prediction of protein interacting partners with bioinformatics methods has become a topic of increasing interest in recent years. Studies of interacting proteins have found correlated evolution of the sequences of binding partners or coadaptation of interacting partners, such that as a result substitution or mutation of an amino acid residue in the interface of one protein will select for the coordinated mutation and subsequent substitution of an amino acid in the interface of its binding partner. We have analysed coevolution of receptors and ligands i.e interacting partners by using adrenergic receptors (alpha1,alpha2,beta1,beta2,beta3) as model. We show that there is correlation between the adrenergic receptor and ligand evolutionary distances by analyzing correlation coefficient values and p-values. As pvalues validate the correlation results. Phylogenetic trees of receptor and ligand are also analysed and compared to further predict the protein coevolution results.This approach can be applied to a variety of ligand and receptor systems.


Understanding bio-based protein polymer structures is important when designing new materials with desirable properties. Here the effect of urea on the wheat gluten (WG) protein structure in WG–urea films was investigated. Small-angle X-ray scattering indicated the formation of a hexagonal close-packed (HCP) hierarchical structure in the WG–urea materials. The HCP structure was influenced significantly by the urea concentration and processing conditions. The interdomain distance dI between the HCP scattering objects increased with increasing content of urea and the objects seemed to be oriented in the extrusion direction. Additionally, the effect of temperature on the HCP structure was studied and it was shown that at ≥55 °C the HCP structure disappeared. Transmission electron microscopy revealed a rather denatured pattern of both HMW-glutenins and gliadins in the WG–urea films. The molecular packing of the WG protein polymer can be highly affected by an additive and the processing method used.


It is our intention to present this paper not as a statistical analysis of a group of infections but as the report of accomplishments and conclusions obtained through seventeen years of experience and observations in the management of various infections. 1 It is hoped that this will bring before the medical profession and emphasize again that irradiation offers a potent ally for proficient and competent treatment in certain infectious states. A survey of the literature relating to infections and irradiation may be found dated within six years after the discovery of x-rays by Roentgen. In the past twenty-three years numerous writings voice the opinions, theories and enthusiasms of writers both on this continent and abroad. Yet, with a firm theoretical basis and an absence of empiricism, one finds the use of roentgen rays sadly lacking in cases in which they might be of considerable benefit to the afflicted. Careful analysis


Bitcoin is the first e-cash system to see widespread adoption. While Bitcoin offers the potential for new types of financial interaction, it has significant limitations regarding privacy. Specifically, because the Bitcoin transaction log is completely public, users' privacy is protected only through the use of pseudonyms. In this paper we propose Zerocoin, a cryptographic extension to Bitcoin that augments the protocol to allow for fully anonymous currency transactions. Our system uses standard cryptographic assumptions and does not introduce new trusted parties or otherwise change the security model of Bitcoin. We detail Zerocoin's cryptographic construction, its integration into Bitcoin, and examine its performance both in terms of computation and impact on the Bitcoin protocol.


An exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is defined as an acute worsening of symptoms greater than the usual day to day variation that requires increased pharmacotherapy (1). Some COPD patients suffer with exacerbations regularly, and the history of previous exacerbations is the best predictor for the risk of future exacerbations (2). The Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) uses a threshold of ≥ two exacerbations or one hospitalization in the last year to identify patients with an increased risk of future exacerbations (3).


This paper is an invited comment on Peter Oh's article "Veil-Piercing" published in the Texas Law Review. I make two points. First, I suggest that Oh's exhaustive analysis of the factors cited by courts to justify veil-piercing, like Robert Thompson's before it, does not actually tell us much about what is going on in the cases. For reasons that I explain, the asserted rationales cannot determine the results. Instead, vaguely articulated and poorly understand notions of policy and fairness drive decision making in this area. The law will continue to be obscure and results unpredictable until courts develop a clearer sense of the appropriate limits of limited liability. Second, I comment on the relative frequency with which courts pierce the veil in contract cases in comparison to tort cases. Oh and other commentators find this puzzling because the opportunity for ex ante bargaining about risk should, in theory, obviate the need for piercing in contract cases except in cases of fraud. I suggest that a proper understanding of when veil-piercing is appropriate, based on the rationale for limited liability, may well justify piercing in a significant number of contract cases. At the same time, there may be good reasons for the relative infrequency of piercing in tort cases. The courts may be getting it right in many of the piercing cases, even if the factors they cite typically do not tell us what the real reasons are.


Background: The direct medical care costs attributable to obesity are well-known, but little is known about the indirect costs of obesity. In particular, less is known about the impact of obesity on employment participation and earnings, especially among women in Canada. Objectives: The objectives of this study are to examine the association between obesity and employment participation and earnings, if employed, among Canadian women. Methods: Data were taken from the last six cycles of the National Population Health Survey from 2000/01-2010/11 longitudinal cohort data from women aged 18-53 years. The association between obesity and labour market participation was analyzed using pooled, random-effects and fixed-effects regression modeling techniques. The association between obesity and earnings (wage and income) was analyzed using pooled, truncated random-effects and truncated fixedeffects regression models. Results: Wage rate and annual income were found to be negatively associated with obesity. The negative association persisted between obesity and annual income even after accounting for individual-specific effects in the regression analysis. The effect of obesity on employment participation was not significant once health and lifestyle variables were controlled for. Conclusions: This longitudinal analysis of Canadian women demonstrated that obesity has a negative effect on earnings and this effect remains statistically significant even after controlling for individual-specific heterogeneity.


Litigated pharmaceutical patents are a valuable source of data on how much inventiveness is required for a patent grant and what are the costs of patents. Although innovation is central to economic growth and the competitiveness of firms, there are few data about either the cost of granted patents or the quantum of inventiveness required for a patent. Two cases of litigated pharmaceutical patents allow investigation of two types of 'evergreening' patents – new formulations and closely related chemical variants. Both lead to higher health costs, and in some cases these can be substantial. Both types of evergreening patent point to the very low standard of inventiveness required for patent grant. Although the data refer to Australia, there are implications for patent policy in other jurisdictions too.


The research activity carried out during the PhD course was focused on the development of mathematical models of some cognitive processes and their validation by means of data present in literature, with a double aim: i) to achieve a better interpretation and explanation of the great amount of data obtained on these processes from different methodologies (electrophysiological recordings on animals, neuropsychological, psychophysical and neuroimaging studies in humans), ii) to exploit model predictions and results to guide future research and experiments.
In particular, the research activity has been focused on two different projects: 1) the first one concerns the development of neural oscillators networks, in order to investigate the mechanisms of synchronization of the neural oscillatory activity during cognitive processes, such as object recognition, memory, language, attention; 2) the second one concerns the mathematical modelling of multisensory integration processes (e.g. visual-acoustic), which occur in several cortical and subcortical regions (in particular in a subcortical structure named Superior Colliculus (SC)), and which are fundamental for orienting motor and attentive responses to external world stimuli. This activity has been realized in collaboration with the Center for Studies and Researches in Cognitive Neuroscience of the University of Bologna (in Cesena) and the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine (NC, USA).

 PART 1.
Objects representation in a number of cognitive functions, like perception and recognition, foresees distribute processes in different cortical areas. One of the main neurophysiological question concerns how the correlation between these disparate areas is realized, in order to succeed in grouping together the characteristics of the same object (binding problem) and in maintaining segregated the properties belonging to different objects simultaneously present (segmentation problem).
Different theories have been proposed to address these questions (Barlow, 1972). One of the most influential theory is the so called "assembly coding", postulated by Singer (2003), according to which 1) an object is well described by a few fundamental properties, processing in different and distributed cortical areas; 2) the recognition of the object would be realized by means of the simultaneously activation of the cortical areas representing its different features; 3) groups of properties belonging to different objects would be kept separated in the time domain.
In Chapter 1.1 and in Chapter 1.2 we present two neural network models for object recognition, based on the "assembly coding" hypothesis. These models are networks of Wilson-Cowan oscillators which exploit: i) two high-level "Gestalt Rules" (the similarity and previous knowledge rules), to realize the functional link between elements of different cortical areas representing properties of the same object (binding problem); 2) the synchronization of the neural oscillatory activity in the γ-band (30-100Hz), to segregate in time the representations of different objects simultaneously present (segmentation problem).
These models are able to recognize and reconstruct multiple simultaneous external objects, even in difficult case (some wrong or lacking features, shared features, superimposed noise).
In Chapter 1.3 the previous models are extended to realize a semantic memory, in which sensory-motor representations of objects are linked with words. To this aim, the network, previously developed, devoted to the representation of objects as a collection of sensory-motor features, is reciprocally linked with a second network devoted to the representation of words (lexical network)
Synapses linking the two networks are trained via a time-dependent Hebbian rule, during a training period in which individual objects are presented together with the corresponding words.
Simulation results demonstrate that, during the retrieval phase, the network can deal with the simultaneous presence of objects (from sensory-motor inputs) and words (from linguistic inputs), can correctly associate objects with words and segment objects even in the presence of incomplete information. Moreover, the network can realize some semantic links among words representing objects with some shared features.
These results support the idea that semantic memory can be described as an integrated process, whose content is retrieved by the co-activation of different multimodal regions. In perspective, extended versions of this model may be used to test conceptual theories, and to provide a quantitative assessment of existing data (for instance concerning patients with neural deficits).

PART 2.
The ability of the brain to integrate information from different sensory channels is fundamental to perception of the external world (Stein et al, 1993). It is well documented that a number of extraprimary areas have neurons capable of such a task; one of the best known of these is the superior colliculus (SC). This midbrain structure receives auditory, visual and somatosensory inputs from different subcortical and cortical areas, and is involved in the control of orientation to external events (Wallace et al, 1993).
SC neurons respond to each of these sensory inputs separately, but is also capable of integrating them (Stein et al, 1993) so that the response to the combined multisensory stimuli is greater than that to the individual component stimuli (enhancement). This enhancement is proportionately greater if the modality-specific paired stimuli are weaker (the principle of inverse effectiveness). Several studies have shown that the capability of SC neurons to engage in multisensory integration requires inputs from cortex; primarily the anterior ectosylvian sulcus (AES), but also the rostral lateral suprasylvian sulcus (rLS). If these cortical inputs are deactivated the response of SC neurons to cross-modal stimulation is no different from that evoked by the most effective of its individual component stimuli (Jiang et al 2001).
This phenomenon can be better understood through mathematical models. The use of mathematical models and neural networks can place the mass of data that has been accumulated about this phenomenon and its underlying circuitry into a coherent theoretical structure.
In Chapter 2.1 a simple neural network model of this structure is presented; this model is able to reproduce a large number of SC behaviours like multisensory enhancement, multisensory and unisensory depression, inverse effectiveness. In Chapter 2.2 this model was improved by incorporating more neurophysiological knowledge about the neural circuitry underlying SC multisensory integration, in order to suggest possible physiological mechanisms through which it is effected. This endeavour was realized in collaboration with Professor B.E. Stein and Doctor B. Rowland during the 6 months-period spent at the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine (NC, USA), within the Marco Polo Project.
The model includes four distinct unisensory areas that are devoted to a topological representation of external stimuli. Two of them represent subregions of the AES (i.e., FAES, an auditory area, and AEV, a visual area) and send descending inputs to the ipsilateral SC; the other two represent subcortical areas (one auditory and one visual) projecting ascending inputs to the same SC.
Different competitive mechanisms, realized by means of population of interneurons, are used in the model to reproduce the different behaviour of SC neurons in conditions of cortical activation and deactivation.
The model, with a single set of parameters, is able to mimic the behaviour of SC multisensory neurons in response to very different stimulus conditions (multisensory enhancement, inverse effectiveness, within- and cross-modal suppression of spatially disparate stimuli), with cortex functional and cortex deactivated, and with a particular type of membrane receptors (NMDA receptors) active or inhibited. All these results agree with the data reported in Jiang et al. (2001) and in Binns and Salt (1996).
The model suggests that non-linearities in neural responses and synaptic (excitatory and inhibitory) connections can explain the fundamental aspects of multisensory integration, and provides a biologically plausible hypothesis about the underlying circuitry.


In predicate invention (PI), new predicates are introduced into a logical theory, usually by rewriting a group of closely-related rules to use a common invented predicate as a "subroutine". PI is difficult, since a poorly-chosen invented predicate may lead to error cascades. Here we suggest a "soft" version of predicate invention: instead of explicitly creating new predicates, we implicitly group closely-related rules by using structured sparsity to regularize their parameters together. We show that soft PI, unlike hard PI, consistently improves over previous strong baselines for structure-learning on two large-scale tasks.


Modern science is yet to invent an ideal substitute for blood and hence blood transfusion still remains a vital component of patient management. Thus availability and safety of blood and blood products are the two important issues of concern in medicine. Populations under the present investigation were students of Manipal College of Nursing (MCON), Manipal Institute of Communication (MIC) and MalekaManipal Medical College (MMMC) and a survey approach had been used. The sample size was 120; forty students from each college who were randomly selected. The study found that all students were in the age group of 19-20 years. Among 120 subjects, 69% were males and 31% were females and all were unmarried. The background of the students are the following:- 40 students were from MIC , 40 MBBS students from MMMC and 40 from nursing science. Among them 48 were Christian, 42 Hindus, 15 Muslims and 15 belonging to other religions. Majority of the subjects, 87 (72.5%) expressed average level of knowledge on voluntary blood donation and about 25 (20.83?%) of the subjects expressed low level of knowledge and a small minority of about 2 of the subjects expressed high level of knowledge. This shows that majority of subjects have average knowledge and hence there is a requirement to recognize the importance of voluntary blood donation. All subjects had positive attitude towards voluntary blood donation, which indicates a positive directional trend. The chi-square test of association reveals that there is no significant association between knowledge and selected demographic variables such as age, gender, religion and nationality.


Reading online text presents unique challenges for elementary students as they develop and extend fundamental literacy skills to various media. Traditional assessments of concepts about print inspired the authors' research, which applies a similar approach to address "screen handling" instead of book handling. The purpose of their ongoing research has been to develop an instrument to assess concepts related to online reading. The Concepts of Online Text (COT) assessment measures knowledge of online navigation and text features. Quantitative analysis of student performance data using the COT has the potential to provide developmental insight into elementary students' proficiencies in conducting internet research and to provide input to teachers for targeted instruction. In this article, the authors share results from administering the instrument to 80 elementary students in first through fifth grades.


Today's railway sector is imposing high demands for service quality on railway infrastructure managers. Since railway infrastructure has a long asset life, it requires efficient maintenance planning to perform effectively throughout its life cycle to meet these high demands. Traditionally maintenance decisions for the railway infrastructure have been based on past experience and expert estimations. The application of RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety) analysis for railway infrastructure is limited. The focus of this thesis is to demonstrate the applicability of RAMS analysis in effective maintenance planning. Within the scope of this research, various case studies associated with Banverket (Swedish National Rail Administration) and ALSTOM Transport have been carried out. The research presents approaches and models for estimating RAMS targets based on the service quality requirements of the railway infrastructure. The availability target of the infrastructure has been estimated by considering the capacity and punctuality requirements of the infrastructure, whereas the safety goal of the track has been estimated by calculating the probability of derailment by means of undetected rail breaks and poor track quality. Effective estimation of the RAMS targets will help infrastructure managers to predict the maintenance investment in the railway infrastructure needed over a period of time in order to achieve the targets. Nevertheless, the availability target of the infrastructure can lead to train delay. A model has been developed to achieve the availability target in both the scheduled and the condition based maintenance regimes by choosing an effective maintenance interval and detection probability respectively. This has been illustrated by a case study on track circuits. Different maintenance strategies can help in achieving the RAMS targets. In order to determine the cost-effective solution, LCC (life cycle cost) should be used. The maintenance strategy with lowest LCC will be the cost effective maintenance strategy. This has been demonstrated by a case study on a signalling system. Sensitivity analyses have been performed to calculate the maximum cost effectiveness of the system for different maintenance parameters. LCC estimation for a maintenance strategy should always consider the risks associated with the strategy. A fair degree of uncertainty is also associated with LCC estimation due to the statistical characteristics of RAMS parameters. An approach has been developed in this thesis to calculate the uncertainties associated with LCC estimation. Petri-Net analyses, Monte Carlo simulations, Design of Experiment have been used to develop models to achieve the objectives of this thesis. This thesis discusses the applicability of RAMS and LCC analyses for railway infrastructure and demonstrates models for effective infrastructure maintenance planning (A). http://pure.ltu.se/ws/fbspretrieve/3340192.


Since 1989, nearly one million immigrants from the Former Soviet Union have arrived in Israel. Their steady influx has quickly become the largest surge of immigration in Israel's history and has had an unmistakable impact on the cultural, economic, and political character of the State. ' In comparison to their previous position within Soviet society, the growing "Russian" community in Israel has encountered a tremendous decline in both its economic and professional status, while, paradoxically, quickly gaining access to political power, as well as to other cultural, and predominantly mediated, forms of self-representation. Through these media outlets, they have not only been able to maintain use of the Russian language as a cultural unifier, but have also been able to designate a distinct communal identity and depict their unique diasporic experiences. I am placing the designation "Russian" in quotation marks in order to call attention to its constructed nature. In Israel, immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (from here on, FSUIs) have been assigned the homogeneous ethnic label of "Russian," whether they are in fact from Russia proper, Belarus, Georgia, or the Ukraine. Though it has been argued that the proliferation of ethnic/minority media aids in the preservation of cultural identity and restricts the processes of assimilation,2 it is my contention that these FSUI media texts cannot be divorced from their institutionalized modes of production, nor from the elite position of their producers, who often occupy an intermediary space between the community they seek to represent and the industry/society they wish to engage. These contradictions have contributed to the emergence of competing integrationist and segregationist discourses that can be traced throughout these texts. These tendencies can be detected within the narratives and styles of certain texts, between the texts themselves and their modes of production and distribution, as well as in their overall placement within the Israeli culture industries. As such, this paper explores not only the interaction between global flows of people and media, but also the negotiated existence of this interrelationship, which is still very much tied to the specificity of their mutual destinations; in this instance the nation-state of Israel. As Hamid Nancy has asserted in regard to the experiences of different communities living in the diaspora, "all displaced people do not experience exile equally or uniformly. Exile discourse thrives on detail, specificity, and locality."3 The generalizing trends attributed to the processes of globalization encounter resistance when they attempt to infiltrate the context-bound structures and ideologies of individual states. The result, in the case of FSU immigration to Israel, is a move away from the segregationist potential of media created by and for this immigrant community, toward a more hybridized conception of identity that emerges through competing discourses of national belonging and displacement. I am interested in the ways that cultural hybridity negotiates discourses of belonging and displacement as often experienced by exilic communities, rather than connoting an assemblage or combination of these two positions. As such, I focus on the mechanisms and processes, institutional and cultural, which help to structure this "in-betweeness."4 Thus, while I firmly believe that FSU genre films are invariably hybrid in their thematics and modes of production, I also contend that this results precisely from the negotiation of discourses of integration and segregation, belonging and displacement, that these cultural producers must engage with as intermediaries seeking to exchange one form of cultural capital (as representatives of their communities) for another (as filmmakers within Israel). In general, I seek to complicate Naficy's work on exilic cinema by investigating the appropriateness and limitations of his model in the case of FSUI media production practices in Israel. …


This thesis has investigated the geological origin of diamonds from the Ural Mountains. A set of inclusion-bearing diamonds from alluvial deposits in the western part of the Urals was characterised on the basis of their morphological features, nitrogen contents and nitrogen aggregation states, carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, mineral inclusion geochemistry and radiometric isotopic ages of the inclusions.
The vast majority of the studied diamonds are rounded dodecahedra, which indicates that the diamond population has experienced major resorption after crystallisation. The majority of the diamonds are affected by radiation damage and display evidence of transportation. Non-abraded diamonds exhibit similar surface features to those abraded, so they are probably of similar origin. The studied inclusion-bearing set of diamonds shares some characteristics with the overall, mostly inclusion-free, diamond population from the Ural Mountains. This similarity in physical characteristics strongly suggests that the Ural diamonds are all part of a single population.
A Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy study allowed both the concentration of nitrogen and the aggregation states of this element to be quantified. Diamonds from other known primary deposits in the East European Craton (EEC) have FTIR signatures that do not match that of the studied population. Nitrogen thermometry results suggest that the Ural diamonds probably crystallised under similar pressure-temperature conditions. If a similar overall regime of formation for the Urals alluvial diamonds is considered, then a single primary diamond source or a spatial proximity between primary contributory sources seems likely.
The variations in δ15N – δ13C measured in the Ural diamonds of the peridotitic and eclogitic paragenesis suggest derivation from a similar, initially homogenous, mantle carbon source which has been subjected to metasomatic-induced isotopic fractionation. However, for some δ15N-enriched – δ13C-depleted eclogitic diamonds, the possibility of crystallisation from subduction-related metasomatic fluids/melts cannot be excluded.
Based on the chemical composition of syngenetic mineral inclusions recovered from the Ural diamonds, the eclogitic paragenesis (60%) dominates over the peridotitic (26%), with a minor websteritic assemblage also present (2%). The remaining 12% are diamonds with sulphide inclusions of unknown paragenesis. The chemistry of the mineral inclusions almost completely overlaps that of previous electron microprobe studies of inclusions in diamonds from worldwide localities. Geothermobarometric calculations show an overall agreement between the equilibration conditions of the three inclusion parageneses. The Ural diamonds crystallised at temperatures of 1050-1300°C, at minimum depths of about 165 km, within a diamondiferous lithosphere extending to at least 230 km at the time of diamond formation.
The Re-Os isotope genesis age data for syngenetic sulphide inclusions and the 40Ar/39Ar laser probe eruption ages of syngenetic clinopyroxene inclusions were determined. Six eclogitic sulphide inclusions, two of which coexist in the same diamond, gave an isochron age of 1280 ± 310 Ma which may be associated with rift-related magmatism that affected the EEC at ca. 1.3 Ga. The determined genesis age is also similar to genesis ages reported for eclogitic diamonds from a number of mines in southern Africa, and this is probably indicative of a global diamond formation event at that time. Five eclogitic clinopyroxenes recovered from four diamonds yielded similar 40Ar/39Ar ages averaging 472 ± 28 Ma, which likely approximate the time of source kimberlite/lamproite eruption. This age indicates that the Ural diamonds are not derived either from the diamond-bearing kimberlites of the Siberian craton, nor from presently known Russian and Finnish kimberlite provinces on the EEC.
An integrated model for the genesis, eruption and accumulation of the Ural diamonds in the context of the evolution of the EEC is proposed. The Urals placer deposits are mainly confined to 407-397 Ma sedimentary rocks along the western side of these mountains, with diamond size distribution indicating sediment transportation at that time generally from the north-west. The diamondiferous sedimentary accumulation in the Urals is envisaged as being analogous to that presently found along the Namaqualand / Namibian coastal belt in the western margin of southern Africa. During the construction of the Ural Mountains, the diamondiferous sediments became part of the western accretion zone when the EEC united with the Kazakhstan and Siberia plates during late Devonian through to late Triassic times. The evidence presented in this thesis suggests the existence of an undiscovered kimberlite/lamproite primary source, probably on the Volgo-Uralia crustal segment of the EEC, which gave rise to the Urals diamond deposits.


L-Leucine is used as the most common force control agent used in the inhaled dry powder formulations. In this study, the effect of L-leucine on the surface morphology, surface energy and the Young's modulus of the composite spray dried particles was studied. In addition, how L-leucine modifies the interaction of particles with a simulated pulmonary surfactant is also studied. Voriconazole (VRZ) was spray dried with different concentrations of L-leucine from hydroalcoholic solutions. Formulations were found to possess irregular morphology. Surface concentration of L-leucine was increased with increasing feed concentration and plateaued at about 20% w/w L-leucine. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) coupled with drug colloid probe enabled measurement of cohesion forces between the prepared formulations and found cohesion to be reduced significantly (p < 0.05) with the increase of L-leucine concentration. Peak Force Tapping enabled characterization of nanomechanical properties (elasticity and deformation) of formulations. Co-spray drying L-leucine with VRZ does not seem to have any influence on the Young's modulus of the formulations. Lastly, AFM revealed that the surface chemistry of the drug particle and pulmonary surfactant, as well as the contact geometry of the interacting surfaces, plays an important role in determining nature and extent of interaction between inhaled drug particles and pulmonary surfactant.


A hymn must be sung to be heard ... : Aspects that could influence the reception of hymns and psalms. The most recent official hymnal in Afrikaans, Liedboek van die Kerk , was taken into use in 2001. Some hymns and psalms were immediately sung with enthusiasm whereas others remained unused, which is true especially for many of the metrical psalms. The most prominent reason for not singing some hymns or psalms is that they are unknown – text as well as tune. It is, however, often assumed that the reason why hymns and psalms are unknown is primarily because their tunes would be too difficult to sing. The role of the text and other aspects are not taken into account sufficiently. In this article, these one-sided views regarding the tunes are challenged, and it is argued that there could be many other reasons why hymns and psalms are not used.


Background: Congenital complete atrioventricular block without any structural heart disease and anti-Ro/La negativity is very rare. Discordant complete atrioventricular block, which is more frequently defined in the literature as an autoimmune mechanism, is much more rare in monozygotic twins. Case Report: The 26-year-old healthy mother had given birth in her first spontaneous, uneventful pregnancy to monozygotic twins at week 35. While the first twin's physical examination proved her to be normal with a pulse rate consistent with her age, the second twin had a pulse rate of approximately 40 beats/minute.The patient was confirmed to have congenital complete atrioventricular block. Conclusion: Despite this case appears to be an isolated one, a discordant complete atrioventricular block regression without any autoimmune evidence should be included in the differential diagnosis of bradycardia in infants.


We examine the increased stability of a modified picavet that has a longer off-string axis compared to that of a traditional symmetric cross shape. This paper shows that extending the off-string axis increases the moment of inertia about the string, allowing the system to handle off-string oscillations. Qualitative results from field testing imply that the Picavet removes the oscillations on the on-string axis via string exchange. The results from testing under laboratory conditions imply that the increased moment of inertia reduces its angular displacement and the state plane analysis shows that smaller limit cycles with less angular velocity values are attained with increased moment, at the cost of reduced damping.


This paper seeks to explore the question of how to incorporate smart materials into a design to aesthetically demonstrate science and engineering concepts in an interactive way. This work introduces the development of interactive artworks using a shape memory polymer (SMP) material that changes shape based on an external thermal stimulus. In this paper we explore how interdisciplinary work between engineering and science is needed to create an artwork that mimics natural phenomena around us. This paper discusses fabrication and electronic implementation challenges associated with utilizing the shape memory properties of the material. Specifically, the paper explores some ways to obtain different geometric shapes of the SMP and to utilize different sources of thermal stimulus to create a shape memory effect (SME) in artworks.


Rapid developments in digital technologies have sparked revolutionary shifts in participatory research. Emerging tools such as digital stories and cellphilms offer participants opportunities to engage actively in research and to produce media about their everyday lives. Yet, while these may enable such engagement, researchers need to ensure that the very tools meant as technologies of nonviolence are not in and of themselves violent. This article uses a technology-based, participatory visual methods workshop conducted with girls and young women as part of addressing sexual violence in a rural community in South Africa as a case study. We identify and reflect on some of the ethical issues that arose during the workshop and how we addressed them. Our aim is always to locate our work on addressing sexual violence with young rural women within an ethics of nonviolence rooted in and responsive to the context in which we work.


Employment programs, particularly labor-intensive public works (LIPW), have a long history in Sub-Saharan Africa, dating back to the 1960s. The programs expanded rapidly in the 1980s and early 1990s, especially in countries that experienced sharp declines in employment and real wages. Labor-intensive public works have the potential to serve as both short-term sources of employment and long-term generators of growth and productivity increases. They can be designed cost-effectively to alleviate poverty and improve food security. This function can be further strengthened if they are combined with other food-security-enhancing policies and projects. Policymakers, donors, and researchers need to pay close attention to improving the design of public works and to searching for the right portfolio of intervention instruments.