BACKGROUND
For humans, it is estimated that over 70% of concepti are lost during early development. In culture, mouse peri-implantation embryos can mimic development from the blastocyst to the egg cylinder stage of development, a period during which implantation occurs in vivo. We describe a novel application of this model to investigate nutritional factors that may influence this stage of development. We investigated the influence of zinc (Zn) deficiency on embryonic development at the time of embryo implantation.

METHODS
Mouse blastocysts were cultured for 144 hr in low Zn, Zn-replete or control medium.

RESULTS
Embryos developed normally when they were cultured in the control and Zn-replete media. Embryos cultured in the low Zn medium were significantly impaired in forming egg cylinder morphology. This was associated with a reduction in extraembryonic endoderm as determined by immunohistochemistry for markers of visceral and parietal endoderm and correlated with an increase in TUNEL positive cells in the low Zn group. There was no change in the frequency of cells positive for phosphorylated Histone H3, a marker for S-phase, indicating that an increase in apoptosis was primarily responsible for the smaller size and reduction in extraembryonic endoderm. The increased cell death was not associated with an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) detected by dichlorodihydrofluorescein staining.

CONCLUSIONS
These data support an important role for Zn in promoting differentiation and cell survival in the early embryo and suggest that sub-optimal nutrition is an important factor that contributes to defects in primary germ layers and early embryonic loss.


This is a book about the making and unmaking of sex over the centuries. It tells the astonishing story of sex in the West from the ancients to the moderns in a precise account of developments in reproductive anatomy and physiology. We cannot fail to recognize the players in Thomas Laqueur's story--the human sexual organs and pleasures, food, blood, semen, egg, sperm--but we will be amazed at the plots into which they have been woven by scientists, political activists, literary figures, and theorists of every stripe. Laqueur begins with the question of why, in the late eighteenth century, woman's orgasm came to be regarded as irrelevant to conception, and he then proceeds to retrace the dramatic changes in Western views of sexual characteristics over two millennia. Along the way, two masterplots emerge. In the one-sex story, woman is an imperfect version of man, and her anatomy and physiology are construed accordingly: the vagina is seen as an interior penis, the womb as a scrotum, the ovaries as testicles. The body is thus a representation, not the foundation, of social gender. The second plot tends to dominate post-Enlightenment thinking while the one-sex model is firmly rooted in classical learning. The two-sex story says that the body determines gender differences, that woman is the opposite of man with incommensurably different organs, functions, and feelings. The two plots overlap; neither ever holds a monopoly. Science may establish many new facts, but even so, Laqueur argues, science was only providing a new way of speaking, a rhetoric and not a key to female liberation or to social progress. Making Sex ends with Freud, who denied the neurological evidence to insistthat, as a girl becomes a woman, the locus of her sexual pleasure shifts from the clitoris to the vagina; she becomes what culture demands despite, not because of, the body. Turning Freud's famous dictum around, Laqueur posits that destiny is anatomy. Sex, in other words, is an artifice. This is a powerful story, written with verve and a keen sense of telling detail (be it technically rigorous or scabrously fanciful). Making Sex will stimulate thought, whether argument or surprised agreement, in a wide range of readers.


The diagnosis of melanoma is becoming ever more frequent. Although surgical excision of early lesions is associated with relatively significant high cure rates, treatment modalities are largely unsuccessful for advanced disease. Characteristics such as cellular heterogeneity and plasticity, expression of certain molecules such as the multidrug resistance protein-1 (MDR1) or the aberrant expression of embryonic signaling molecules and morphogens like Nodal, important for self renewal and pluripotency, suggest that a stem cell-like population may reside in aggressive melanomas. This perspective focuses on preliminary findings obtained in our laboratory which indicate that the expression of the Nodal co-receptor, Cripto-1, in a subset of malignant melanoma cells may be exploited to identify possible melanoma stem cells (MSC). In fact, the use of anti-Cripto-1 antibodies to cell sort Cripto-1-positive cells in the metastatic melanoma cell line C8161 has identified a slow growing, sphere forming subpopulation that expresses increased levels of Oct4, Nanog and MDR1. If current in vivo studies confirm the self renewal and tumorigenic characteristics of these cells, the expression of Cripto-1 may represent a useful marker to identify cancer stem cells in melanoma, and possibly other aggressive tumors as well.


The Mäekalda section presents a c. 12 m thick succession of mainly limestones, dolomites and siltstones of late Tremadoc to late Llanvirn age, exposed on the eastern outskirts of Tallinn, northern Estonia. The condensed sequence is rich in well-preserved conodont elements that provide the basis for detailed biozonation. In the Baltoscandian zonation, beds from the upper Varangu Paltodus deltifer Zone up to the lower Aseri Eoplacognathus foliaceus Subzone have been identified. In all, the conodont faunas exhibit a close resemblance to Swedish faunas. Many intervals can also be compared with coeval strata in western Russia. The presence at some levels of representatives of Laurentian conodont lineages provides an unusual opportunity for correlating Baltoscandian sequences with sequences in North America, especially in the lower Arenig part of the succession. The middle Volkhov (upper middle Arenig) Paroistodus originalis Zone at Mäekalda is remarkably complete bearing in mind the highly condensed nature of the section as a whole. The details of this zone can be correlated with the equivalent intervals in Swedish sections. In the upper Volkhov–lower Kunda beds there is a considerable stratigraphic gap in the section, but the upper Kunda has provided an excellent series of successive populations of Eoplacognathus, indicating that in this part the section is virtually complete.


Three maned sloths were observed for a total of 680 h throughout 14 months in an Atlantic forest reserve of south-eastern Brazil. The study animals were located in the forest, monthly by radio-telemetry, and data on daily activity budgets were collected recording the actual time they spent in major activities. Individual home ranges were very small (0.5–6 ha, depending on the method used) and the sloths travelled an average of only 24 m during the 24 h period. A comparison between day- and night-range lengths suggests that maned sloths ranged more during daytime (17 m) than at night (5 m), indicating a predominantly diurnal period of activity. They rested, on average, for 74% of daytime, but a substantial variation was found between individuals (range 60–80%). Although a lack of synchrony was observed in activity pattern between study animals monitored simultaneously, all three sloths tended to start feeding and moving at the same time of the day (07:00–08:00), and the time that elapsed between the start of these activities on consecutive days was about 24 h, indicating a circadian rhythm of activity for the species. This finding contradicts previous studies on congeneric sloths, in which suggestions that Bradypus does not show cyclic patterns of activity were based on qualitative rather than quantitative data. Given the species' highly folivorous diet and the characteristic low basal rate of metabolism in this genus, the rather high levels of activity and the predominantly diurnal period of activity observed for maned sloths are probably related to the lower ambient temperatures found in the Atlantic forest when compared to other more equatorial localities of the Neotropics. Further studies with additional sloths are necessary, however, to ascertain the validity of this conclusion.


Information Systems (IS) researchers have increasingly focused attention on understanding the identity of our field (Hirschheim & Klein 2003; Lyytinen & King 2004). One facet of any discipline's identity is the social aspect of how its scholars actually conduct their work (DeSanctis 2003), which is formally labeled as the study of sociology of science. Contributing to this tradition of work, we empirically examine scholarly influence (Acedo et al., 2006); scientific collaboration, including metrics that capture the prevalence of c-oauthored work; antecedents to co-authorship; and the effect of co-authorship on subsequent citations. Based on analyzing five leading IS journals for a period of seven years, we found that co-authored papers have become increasingly common in leading IS journals and that coauthoring continues to be more prevalent in journals published in North America compared to European journals. Moreover, we found significant effects of homophily related to gender, homophily/proximity, and geography. IS scholars worldwide exhibit a stronger preference for collaborating with co-authors of the same sex and those who attended the same PhD program than one would expect by chance. We also examined differences among journals and found some intriguing results for the effect of co-authorship on citations. Overall, we found evidence that the number of co-authors was positively related to citations although there was some variance across journals. These findings point to a need for more research to better understand both the processes of collaboration and the drivers and downstream benefits associated with it.


Abstract Semi-arid landscapes are vulnerable to cultivation, overgrazing and climate variability, although it is difficult to identify the relative significance of these three factors. In the South African Karoo, the 'desertification debate' seeks to explain a change to more shrubby vegetation in heavily grazed areas. We examine these issues in catchments where farm reservoirs provide sediment stores with 137Cs, 210Pb, geochemical and mineral magnetic signatures. Rainfall data and stocking numbers are reported and current erosion rates are estimated. Sediment accumulation in the reservoirs increases between 1935 and 1940, probably due to rises in the frequency of rainfall events of >25mm day. Significant increases in sedimentation rates (×8) occur during rain-fed wheat cultivation. In an uncultivated catchment, sediment yields remain relatively high and reflect increases in erosion from hillslopes, colluvial storage, and cultivated land sources. Gully systems have acted as transport routes rather than sediment sources over the last ∼70 years. Badland erosion rates average ca. 50t ha−1 yr−1. At Ganora, their development in the 1920s strongly influences peak sedimentation between 1970 and 1980. Any delay between badland initiation and increased sediment yield appears to be a function of landscape connectivity. Recovery following disturbance is occurring slowly and is likely to take >100 years. De-stocking and better management systems are reducing erosion rates but may be offset by increases in rainfall intensity.


The masonry still one of the widespread construction system for low-rise residential buildings even for countries prone to seismic risk. Despite seismic design methods yet in use are force-based, in the last decades was highlighted as the differences in strength between two levels of damage is low, and therefore as the damage is better correlated to the displacement. Also, in recent years, has arose a widespread expectation for being able to control the damage based on the probability of occurrence of an earthquake or being able to base the design on different performance levels ("performance-based design").
In this context, considerable interest is growing regarding the application of these methods to the design of masonry structures. Many questions are still open and need to be studied more in detail. From the experimental results obtained by cyclic shear-compression tests on different types of masonry panels, an analytical model has been developed, that allows to reproduce the in-plane behavior of both the tested types: one is modern reinforced masonry and the other is traditional multi-leaf stone masonry. The developed model has been used to perform a wide number of dynamic analysis with the aim of studying the inelastic characteristics of the described types of masonry. The results of the analysis made it possible to define simple and reliable formulations for the application of displacement-based method to masonry structures. Finally, we studied the dynamic behavior of a large structure, through the finite element analysis, using a damage model that has been shown to be able to reproduce the response obtained from shaking table tests. This phase has the aims of validate the results obtained for stone masonry walls, and giving useful indication for the application of displacement-based method on multi-degree of freedom structures.


The performance of high Z solid state detectors has been significantly improved over the last decade: one of the most promising materials for X and gamma ray detectors is CdTe/CdZnTe, which has high detection efficiency, no requirement for cooling to cryogenic temperatures, good spectroscopic performances, good time response and imaging capabilities. Unfortunately some important features of semiconductor detectors (pulse height, energy resolution, photopeak efficiency) are affected by the charge collection efficiency: the low mobility of the charge carriers (particularly the holes) and trapping/detrapping phenomena can degrade the CdTe/CdZnTe detectors' performances, depending on the distance between the charge formation position and the collecting electrodes. The deterioration of the spectroscopic performances can be reduced by using either hardware or software techniques. The bi-parametric method herein described is based on a hybrid HW and SW technique that utilizes a twin pulse shaping active filter (one 'slow' and one 'fast') to analyse the same signal. This technique could be particularly suitable for implementation in a readout integrated circuit for multipixel detectors. The experimental results obtained with the application of this biparametric technique with CdZnTe detectors are presented in order to assess the reliability and the efficiency of this compensation method as a function of bias voltage and primary photon energy.


Despite the GIS (Geographic Information Systems/Geospatial Information Systems) have been provided with several applications to manage the two-dimensional geometric information and arrange the topological relations among different spatial primitives, most of these systems have limited capabilities to manage the three-dimensional space. Other tools, such as CAD systems, have already achieved a full capability of representing 3D data. Most of the researches in the field of GIS have underlined the necessity of a full 3D management capability which is not yet achieved by the available systems ( Rahman, Pilouk 2008) (Zlatanova 2002). First of all to reach this goal is important to define the spatial data model, which is at the same time a geometric and topological model and so integrating these two aspects in relation to the database management efficiency and documentation purposes. The application field on which these model can be tested is the spatial data managing of Architectural Heritage documentation, to evaluate the pertinence of these spatial models to the requested scale for the needs of such a documentation. Most of the important aspects are the integration of metric data originated from different sources and the representation and management of multiscale data. The issues connected with the representation of objects at higher LOD than the ones defined by the CityGML will be taken into account. T he aim of this paper is then to investigate which are the favorable application of a framework in order to integrate two different approaches: architectural heritage spatial documentation and urban scale spatial data management.


This paper draws on findings from an evaluation of Intel Teach to the Future (http://www.intel.com/education), a professional development initiative focused on helping K-12 teachers integrate project-based technology use into their everyday curriculum. The initial U.S. implementation of Intel Teach to the Future was designed to be delivered on a very large scale, reaching over 100,000 teachers in three years. The goal of this paper is to outline some lessons learned from this evaluation about how "scalability," often cited as a desirable quality in effective educational interventions, can both advance and inhibit program impact within the individual school districts that participate in such a program. This paper presents information from two years (20002002) of external evaluation of Intel Teach to the Future, conducted by researchers from the Education Development Center's Center for Children and Technology (http://www2.edc.org/cct). This evaluation provided a rare opportunity to closely examine an ambitious, large-scale professional development initiative, and to study a diverse population of teachers and administrators as they experienced and implemented this program.


Rapidly evolving workloads and exploding data volumes place great pressure on data-center compute, IO, and memory performance, and especially on memory capacity. Increasing memory capacity requires a commensurate reduction in memory cost per bit. DRAM technology scaling has been steadily delivering affordable capacity increases, but DRAM scaling is rapidly reaching physical limits. Other technologies such as Flash, enhanced Flash, Phase Change Memory, and Spin Torque Transfer Magnetic RAM hold promise for creating high capacity memories at lower cost per bit. However, these technologies have attributes that require careful management. We propose a hybrid DIMM architecture that uses a hardware-managed DRAM in front of enhanced Flash, which has much lower read latencies than conventional Flash. We explore the design space of such SCM devices in the context of different technology parameters, evaluating performance and endurance for data-center workloads. Our hybrid memory architecture is commercially realizable and can use standard DIMM form factors, giving it a low barrier to market entry. We find that for workloads like media streaming, enhanced Flash can be combined with DRAM to enable 88% of the performance of a DRAM-only system of the same capacity at 23% of the cost, even when factoring in replacement costs due to wear-out. The bottom line is that cost per performance is a factor of 3.8 better than DRAM.


Domain-Specific Modeling raises the level of ion beyond programming by specifying the solution directly using visual models to express domain concepts. In many cases, final products can be generated automatically from these high-level specifications. This automation is possible because both the language and generators fit the requirements of only one domain. This paper introduces Domain-Specific Modeling and describes the related workshop.


Backchannels are a linguistic phenomenon that remains poorly defined. Borrowing of terminology and a reliance on axiomatic definitions has resulted in a diverse nomenclature and an indeterminate inventory of forms. Further, research concentration on backchannels produced in northern hemisphere English has led to the assumption of a common repertoire across all varieties, without supporting empirical investigation. This investigation analysed transcriptions of telephone conversations drawn from the Australian and New Zealand sub-corpora of the International Corpus of English (ICE), and used the ICE corpus mark-up scheme to select potential targets. Chi-square analyses found listeners used single word backchannels more often than more elaborate forms; and Australian listeners produced more backchannels and more single forms. These findings were compared with reported usage by US English listeners, showing that while listeners worldwide draw from a common repertoire of backchannel forms, they differ in the complexity of the structures they use.


Existing fully-supervised person re-identification (ReID) methods usually suffer from poor generalization capability caused by domain gaps. The key to solving this problem lies in filtering out identity-irrelevant interference and learning domain-invariant person representations. In this paper, we aim to design a generalizable person ReID framework which trains a model on source domains yet is able to generalize/perform well on target domains. To achieve this goal, we propose a simple yet effective Style Normalization and Restitution (SNR) module. Specifically, we filter out style variations (e.g., illumination, color contrast) by Instance Normalization (IN). However, such a process inevitably removes discriminative information. We propose to distill identity-relevant feature from the removed information and restitute it to the network to ensure high discrimination. For better disentanglement, we enforce a dual causal loss constraint in SNR to encourage the separation of identity-relevant features and identity-irrelevant features. Extensive experiments demonstrate the strong generalization capability of our framework. Our models empowered by the SNR modules significantly outperform the state-of-the-art domain generalization approaches on multiple widely-used person ReID benchmarks, and also show superiority on unsupervised domain adaptation.


Summary 1. Bioclimate envelope models are widely used to predict the potential distribution of species under climate change, but they are conceptually also suitable to match policies and practices to anticipated or observed climate change, for example through species choice in reforestation. Projections of bioclimate envelope models, however, come with large uncertainties due to different climate change scenarios, modelling methods and other factors. 2. In this paper we present a novel approach to evaluate uncertainty in model-based recommendations for natural resource management. Rather than evaluating variability in modelling results as a whole, we extract a particular statistic of interest from multiple model runs, e.g. species suitability for a particular reforestation site. Then, this statistic is subjected to analysis of variance, aiming to narrow the range of projections that practitioners need to consider. 3. In four case studies for western Canada we evaluate five sources of uncertainty with two to five treatment levels, including modelling methods, interpolation type for climate data, inclusion of topo-edaphic variables, choice of general circulation models, and choice of emission scenarios. As dependent variables, we evaluate changes to tree species habitat and ecosystem distributions under 144 treatment combinations. 4. For these case studies, we find that the inclusion of topo-edaphic variables as predictors reduces projected habitat shifts by a quarter, and general circulation models had major main effects. Our contrasting modelling approaches primarily contributed to uncertainty through interaction terms with climate change predictions, i.e. the methods behaved differently for particular climate change scenarios (e.g. warm & moist scenarios) but similar for others. 5. Synthesis and applications. Partitioning of variance components helps with the interpretation of modelling results and reveals how models can most efficiently be improved. Quantifying variance components for main effects and interactions among sources of uncertainty also offers researchers the opportunity to filter out biologically and statistically unreasonable modelling results, providing practitioners with an improved range of predictions for climate-informed natural resource management.


The two components of biological variability are interindividual variability, which is the variability due to the heterogeneity of physiologic influences among subjects, and intraindividual variability, which is due to the variability in the same individual over time. Analysis of biological variation is crucial for estimating the critical difference, which corresponds with a threshold suggestive of a statistically significant difference between two consecutive results of a laboratory parameter in the same subject and is therefore unlikely attributable to casual (random) oscillation of values. Studies on biological variation of tests of hemostasis are outdated, and the published results should be confirmed by using modern, fully automated methods. Biological variation for coagulation screening tests (prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time) is low and comparable with the values registered for hematologic parameters. However, the index of individuality (ratio between intraindividual and interindividual variability) suggests that the usual preoperative screening for coagulation disorders is influenced by the between-subjects variability. Thrombin time is very constant within and between subjects. Proteins such as fibrinogen, clotting factors, and antithrombin show a low biological variability. In contrast, fibrinolytic parameters, such as plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 and fibrinopeptide A, show very high variability, and their interpretation in the clinical setting must take this into consideration.


CASE DESCRIPTION The overall purpose of this case is to examine the managerial and organizational nuances associated with supervising a dysfunctional high level and loyal employee. Students obtain a "real-world" feel for the overall business setting, and, in particular, the individual forces that help shape the work environment. Students are asked to probe beyond personalities and the immediacy of the moment (Richard's resignation) and examine the broader issues posed in the case. This case was written for two distinct audiences: students taking a human resource management course and students in a business ethics course. In terms of the human resource management course, the case places students in management's shoes. Students need to understand the ramifications associated with accusing an employee of theft from both an issue of procedural integrity and employee rights. This case (Part A and B) should be introduced after the students have read material on workplace justice and the handling of employee theft (Kleiman, 2000, Chapter 11; DeNisi and Griffin, 2002, Chapter 15), and career planning (Newman and Hodgetts, 1998, Chapter 15; Dessler, 2003, Chapter 10). CASE SYNOPSIS This case deals with an important issue that many students may themselves have to deal with during their own professional careers; how to deal with an employee who you believe has been dishonest with you (and perhaps stealing or planning to steal from the company) and how to deal with accusations by others of dishonesty, disloyalty and possible theft. INSTRUCTORS' NOTES This case deals with an important issue that many students may themselves have to deal with during their own professional careers; how to deal with an employee who you believe has been dishonest with you (and perhaps stealing or planning to steal from the company) and how to deal with accusations by others of dishonesty, disloyalty and possible theft. SUMMARY - PART A Peter Mitchell, had a long history with the NBC Box Company, having originally been hired as a sales person, then being promoted to co-sales manager under the auspices of Bruce Caesar due to his excellent sales skills. When Bruce became regional general manager he hired a new general manager, Michael Useliz, to replace him and had Peter report directly to Michael. When Peter's relationship with Michael became very rocky (Peter claimed that Michael set him up to purposely fail at a meeting by not informing Peter of the changes to the sales force compensation plan), Peter returned to the sales force and became NBC's largest producer. Michael was subsequently fired for poor work. An incident occurred with one of Peter's accounts, POPCO, that lead to accusations of theft and dishonesty by the owner of NBC, Joe Green, and his son, Morgan. Peter did not directly respond to the accusations but presented evidence indicating that the allegations were quite false. The owner apologized stating that the ex-general manager had accused Peter of stealing and that he had a signed affidavit from an employee supporting the charge. Peter stated that his integrity had been challenged and that he was quite upset. Peter's ex-boss Bruce (who still worked for the company) took him out for dinner and tried to convince Peter not to quit given the fact that he had a family to think about and that he was making an excellent salary. Peter discussed the issue with his wife and was going to make a decision to either stay or leave. SUMMARY - PART B Peter e-mailed Bruce that he as resigning but would stay on to help the company train his replacement and service his current customers who he felt he owed allot to. He proposed a new wage package and a consulting arrangement with the company. A month later, with no response from Joe or Morgan concerning his resignation letter, he is accused by Morgan of hiring an ex-truck driver in order to steal accounts from NBC. Intended Instructional Audience & Placement in Course Instruction This case was written for two distinct audiences: students taking a human resource management course and students in a business ethics course. …


A so-called completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart (CAPTCHA) represents a challenge-response test that is widely used on the Internet to distinguish human users from fraudulent computer programs, often referred to as bots. To enable access for visually impaired users, most Web sites utilize audio CAPTCHAs in addition to a conventional image-based scheme. Recent research has shown that most currently available audio CAPTCHAs are insecure, as they can be broken by means of machine learning at relatively low costs. Moreover, most audio CAPTCHAs suffer from low human success rates that arise from severe signal distortions. This article proposes two different audio CAPTCHA schemes that systematically exploit differences between humans and computers in terms of auditory perception and language understanding, yielding a better trade-off between usability and security as compared to currently available schemes. Furthermore, we provide an elaborate analysis of Google's prominent reCAPTCHA that serves as a baseline setting when evaluating our proposed CAPTCHA designs.


Simplification of the legal system has attracted attention as a means of improving access to justice. A motivation for reform is the perception that laypeople have flooded the courts and generated a "pro se crisis." Given the expense of advocates' labor, instead of providing litigants with representatives, a growing number of commentators propose simplifying proceedings. Proponents claim that simplification will decrease the time and expense of adjudication, help litigants overcome technical requirements, and increase litigants' satisfaction. This essay argues that the objectives of the simplification project are incomplete and carry potential downsides. Prior commentary has highlighted challenges from an individual litigant's standpoint, such as the risk of substandard services and standardized solutions that will not fit everyone equally. This essay turns instead to the underlying efficiency goals and how they affect the administration of justice broadly defined. Part I critiques the goal of cutting costs. It argues that costs are not always normatively negative and provides examples of how costs can be socially useful. Part II critiques the goal of increasing speed. Slowness may be a necessary byproduct of maintaining individual rights. Moreover, delay is sometimes the only means of imposing vital restraints on the force of powerful actors. Part III situates the drive to simplify poor people's courts in the context of a broader anti-regulation trend, which favors privatizing adjudication and eschewing formal law for informal arrangements. It urges reformers of the civil justice system to focus their priorities on public law values, namely democratic participation and limiting excesses of power.


This paper presents a robust electrochemical detection system composed of microfabricated electrodes and a potentiostat circuit developed for quantitative detection of biomolecules by Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) measurements. Compared to electrochemical cells employing external counter electrodes (CE) and polymer passivation layers, this system offers more reliable and stable operation owing to on-chip Pt CE and very stable oxide passivation layer, withstanding aggressive cleaning techniques and chemicals involved. The adhesion of oxide to Au and Pt is significantly enhanced by adding slots to the metals and optimizing the metal lift-off process. Different electrode configurations and sizes are tested by CV of redox species before and after self-assembled organic molecular layer formation, and it is concluded that the proposed system offers a low-cost and reliable microelectrode array solution for real time and high sensitive biomolecular detection.


Road network is a vital infrastructure for transportation either for people which travels from one place to another place, or for consumer goods distributions. People usually choose a certain route which is suitable for himself/herself when he/she planned to go to some place. Actually, there are another routes which can be taken for a same destination. Whenever there is a detour for a closed road or a change in direction (one way or two way) he/she can still take the other routes. This situation will be oke if there is only few people uses the roads. Unfortunately there are many people uses the same roads and perhaps the same routes. This will lead to traffic jams in several roads and cause problems for transportation. This study used modified generate and test algorithm to analyse the possible routes and which roads are passed more frequent. This algorithm is based on directed graph from graph theory. The algorithm is implemented to a real spatial data (georeferenced digital roads) and used Geographical Information System application script (ArcView Avenue) for the analysis. The area for these study is bounded by ringroads (north, east, south, and west) in Yogyakarta Province. The experiments was conducted for several conditions, i.e. close one road, change two-way into one-way road and applied to several start and finish selections. These experiments gave good results and with simple interpretation, information of vital roads rank when they are closed or changed in directions can be viewed. Keywords: route, road, geographical information system  Download PDF


The synthesis and structural properties of three novel imidates, 11,13-bis-(2-amino-ethylimino)-1,10-dioxa-4,7-dithiacyclotridecane (2), 11,13-bis-(3-aminopropylimino)-1,10-dioxa-4,7-dithiacyclotridecane, (3) and 2,11-dioxa-5,8-dithia-13,16,19,22-tetraazabicyclo[10.10.1]tricosa-1(22),12-diene, (4) have been described. These compounds were synthesized by treating 1,10-dioxa-4,7-dithiacyclotridecane-11,13-diester (1) with the appropriate diamine under N2 and their structures have been characterised by elemental analyses, 1H- and 13C-nmr, ir, and mass spectral studies. Elemental analyses and spectroscopic data support the proposed imidate structures. In addition, total energy and heat of formation (Figure 2) calculated for imidates 2a-4a and 2b-4b by the semiempirical AM1 calculations have shown that imidates 2b-4b having intramolecular hydrogen bonds are more stable (5-10 kcal/mol) than compounds 2a-4a.


Trade preferences provide a potential policy tool for supporting refugee employment in countries of first asylum. Thus, in the context of the EU-Jordan Compact agreed in 2016, the EU eased the rules of origin for Jordanian exporters employing a minimum share of Syrian refugees. The use of trade preferences to encourage the labour market integration of refugees is consistent with the new, developmental approach to refugee protection advocated by the recent literature and enshrined in the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework adopted by the UN in 2016. The paper looks at the so-far disappointing impact of the EU-Jordan agreement on rules of origin, as well as the experience with two relevant U.S. preferential programmes (the Qualified Industrial Zones initiative for Egypt and Jordan and the African Growth and Opportunity Act) that have generated substantial export growth and employment. It then discusses the conditions under which trade preferences can prove an effective instrument for refugee integration and makes some concrete policy recommendations.


For synthesis of secondary and tertiary alcohols, practical carbon-carbon bond forming reactions between organometallic reagents and carbonyl compounds have been developed over a century since the discovery of Grignard reaction in 1900 . Traditional organometallic reagents (i.e. Li, Mg, Si, Cu, and Zn reagents) should involve some fundamental functions, such as alkylating reagents, Lewis acids, and Br.Onsted bases . Thus, in principle, the efficiency of the nucleophilic addition should significantly increase if a carbon-metal bond in organometallic reagents can be activated by Lewis base catalysts and the substrates can be activated by native Lewis acid function of organometallic reagents. We report here that the highly efficient catalytic carbon-carbon bond forming reactions via carbon-metal bond activation in organometallic reagents using simple metal salt catalysts. A variety of acid-base promoting catalytic reactions, such as Grignard reaction, organozinc addition, 1, 4-addition of organocopper reagents, trimethylsilylcyanation, and Mukaiyama aldol reaction, were achieved toward the efficient asymmetric catalyses .


While two recent Supreme Court cases on religious freedom appear sharply at odds, in one material respect they harmonize around an understanding that religion is fully protected only when exercised in private. CLS v. Martinez involved Hastings College of Law. Hastings' regulation of extracurricular organizations was unusual in requiring that any student can join an organization. This all-comers rule had a discriminatory impact on organizations with exclusionary memberships, such as the Christian Legal Society (CLS) which required subscribing to a statement of faith and conduct. The Court acknowledged the discriminatory effect, but said that the Free Speech Clause protects speech not acts. Requiring members to sign a statement of faith was an act, but an act professing religious beliefs. The Court thought that of no concern because Hastings was permitted to exclude CLS because of its acts so long as Hastings' purpose was unrelated to the suppression of CLS's beliefs. That rationale works only if the definition of religion permits the Court's hermetic separation between beliefs that are religious and acts that profess the religion. The nature of religion, however, is to integrate doctrine and practice. If protected religion is confined to passive belief, such is a privatized religion. Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC involved a teacher suing her church-based school alleging retaliation for a complaint under Americans with Disability Act (ADA). The church raised the ministerial exception, which recognizes that religious organizations are free to fire ministers. The Court concluded that the teacher was a minister, thus the exception applied. But Hosanna-Tabor is of interest to this Essay for a different reason. Hosanna-Tabor had to distinguish Employ. Div. v. Smith. Smith held that there is no free exercise violation where a law is generally applicable and neutral as to religion. The ADA was a neutral law of general applicability. But the Court said Hosanna-Tabor involved an internal church decision that implicates the faith and mission of the church itself. Thus Hosanna-Tabor carves out an exception to Smith. Although involving more situations than a church firing its minister, free-exercise protection extends only to an internal decision affecting the church itself. This limits fully protected religion to internal decisions made in relative privacy by those who govern the church. This paring down of religion safeguarded by the first amendment is also at work in the ongoing dispute over employer-provided health insurance plans that must cover the full range of contraception, including abortifacients. The mandated coverage has made conscientious objectors of hundreds of religious organizations. The Executive Branch's response was a definition of religion that accommodates only churches. Religious charities, medical facilities, and colleges remain exposed. This survey suggests resurgence of the privatization of religious faith because religion harbors illiberal ideas.


The Internet provides no information on the fate of transmitted packets, and end systems cannot determine who is responsible for dropping or delaying their traffic. As a result, they cannot verify that their ISPs are honoring their service level agreements, nor can they react to adverse network conditions appropriately. While current probing tools provide some assistance in this regard, they only give feedback on probes, not actual traffic. Moreover, service providers could, at any time, render their network opaque to such tools. We propose Audit, an explicit accountability interface, through which ISPs can pro-actively supply feedback to traffic sources on loss and delay, at administrative-domain granularity. Notably, our interface is resistant to ISP lies and can be implemented with a modest NetFlow modification. On our Click-based prototype, playback of real traces from a Tier-1 ISP reveals less than 2% bandwidth overhead. Finally, our proposal benefits not only end systems, but also ISPs, who can now control the amount and quality of information revealed about their internals.


Slope deposits developed on calcareous sandstone and limestone formations in the eastern part of the Podhale Basin (Carpathians) were studied. In total, the analysis included fifteen profiles of such sediments, which revealed the presence of abundant malacofaunas comprising 39 mollusc species. Five faunistic assemblages differing in species composition and structure were defined in the material studied. Individual assemblages correspond to different climatic and environmental conditions, thereby making it possible to interpret the features of the sedimentary environments and specify the age of the deposits. Faunas with Pupilla loessica and Pupilla sterri containing species typical of loess formations are characteristic of deposits from the coldest phase of the last Glacial period (MIS 2). A fauna with Vertigo genesii , with a large proportion of cold-loving and moisture-loving taxa, is typical of the Younger Dryas. Associations that are dominated by shade-loving species, with Discus ruderatus and Discus perspectivus , correspond to the early and middle Holocene respectively. The investigations show that malacological analysis can be successfully applied to the research into slope deposits, enabling both the depositional conditions and the age of the sediments to be determined.


Large machines with tens or even hundreds of thousands of processors are currently in use. As the number of components increases, the mean time between failure will decrease further. Fault tolerance is an important issue for these and the even larger machines of the future. This is borne out by the significant amount of work in the field of fault tolerance for parallel computing. However, recovery-time after a crash in all current fault tolerance protocols is no smaller than the time between the last checkpoint and the crash. This wastes valuable computation time as all the remaining processors wait for the crashed processors to recover.
This thesis presents research aimed at developing a fault tolerant protocol that is relevant in the context of parallel computing and provides fast restarts. We propose to combine the ideas of message logging and object based virtualization. We leverage the facts that message logging based protocols do not require all processors to rollback when one processor crashes and that object based virtualization allows work to be moved from one processor to another. We develop a message logging protocol that operates in conjunction with object based virtualization. We evaluate and study the implementation of our protocol in the Charm++/AMPI run-time. We use benchmarks and real world applications to investigate and improve the performance of different aspects of our protocol. We also modify the load balancing framework of the Charm++ run-time to work with the message logging protocol. We show that in the presence of faults, an application using our fault tolerance protocol takes less time to complete than a traditional checkpoint based protocol.


Daniel M. Stout, "Little, Maybe Less: Little Dorrit's Minimal Moralia" (pp. 207–238)
 Against our ordinary ways of reading the novel, this essay argues that Charles Dickens's Little Dorrit (1857) represents a stark refusal of the logics of accountability that necessarily underwrite any program of social reform. In pairing its critique of Circumlocution (which programmatically undervalues desert) with its critique of the Marshalsea (which programmatically overstates debt), the novel points not toward a future of happy proportionality—in which innovation might be meaningfully recognized and infractions responded to humanely—but toward a way of thinking that stands outside the liberal logics of exchange (of action and consequence, of sin and redemption, of debt and repayment) that animate both social critique and social reform. Rather than a reformist text, Little Dorrit's horizon is a world beyond good and evil—or, as we might also call it, after liberalism.


This research project is based on the pursuit of a new personal visual language that
interprets my immediate world. My paintings and drawings are grounded in my
immediate environment and evolve directly out of personal experience. Central to my
investigation is the development of a new set of symbols and an examination of how they
have evolved. Recording these experiences in an autobiographical and diaristic way is a
fundamental part of my process. Journal sketching and independent drawing is critical to
the evolution of the paintings, particularly their combination of pictograms and text.
The work charts my navigation through space and also describes the characters that I
come in contact with, communicate with or just "bump up against". The characters I
describe fall into three categories; people I know well, people I hardly know and people I
imagine and would like to meet. I have an unusual neurological condition, which
involves problems with balance, weakness and tremor. These influence how I look and
behave in a way that makes me appear "different" and makes my view of the world and
my place in it unique. This element of being different results in me being involved in
some situations which make me feel uncomfortable, uneasy, vulnerable, and at times
frustrated. My physical limitations also determine my painting style.
This project is positioned within the field of artists who came to prominence in the 1980s,
representing a move away from Modernism's international language and a return to the
developing of a personal language. Such artists include the Americans Jean-Michel
Basquiat and Philip Guston as well as Australian artists Gareth Sansom and Gordon
Bennett. These artists all sought and articulated a personal vocabulary of signs and
symbols relating to contemporary popular urban culture, and informed my own pursuit of
a visual language with particular iconographies and modes of expression.


This paper studies the impact of environmental policies when firms can adjust product design as they see fit. In particular, it considers cross relationships between product design dimensions. For example, when products are designed to be more durable, this may add production steps and increase pollutant emissions during production. More generally, changes applied to one dimension can affect the cost or environmental performance of other dimensions. In this theoretical model, a firm interacts with consumers and a regulator. Before the production stage, the firm must choose the levels of three design dimensions: 1) energy performance during production, 2) energy performance during use, and 3) durability. Depending on the assumptions, the dimensions are said to be complementary, neutral, or competitive. The regulator can promote greener designs by applying targeted environmental taxes on emissions during production or consumption. The main results shed light on the consequences of modifying public policies. When some design dimensions are competitive, a targeted emission tax can result in environmental burden shifting, with an overall increase in pollution. This paper also explores the social optimum and the development of second-best policies when some policy instruments are imperfect. Under given conditions, a government would want to regulate and constraint the level of durability.


A reliable breeding technique was developed for the mangrove red snapper, Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskal 1775), to help sustain the aquaculture of this immensely popular species in Southeast Asia. Using standardized indices of female maturity (based on mean oocyte diameter of ≥0.40 mm), time of injection (1000–1130) and sex ratio (one female to two males), a single injection of 100 μg kg−1 luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue (LHRHa) (n=16 fish), but not 50 μg kg−1 (n=five fish), successfully induced egg (62.5% success rate) and larval (43.8%) production. Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) at 500 IU kg−1 (n=five fish) also failed to induce spawning, but doses of 1000 (n=22 fish) and 1500 IU kg−1 (n=15 fish) gave spawning (77.3% and 80.0% respectively) and hatching success rates (72.7% and 60.0% respectively) that were not significantly different from those of 100 μg kg−1 LHRHa. No spawning was observed in saline-injected controls (n=seven fish). While mean spawning latency, egg diameter, egg production per spawn, percent egg viability, hatching rate, percent of normal larvae and cumulative survival of eggs to normal larvae did not differ significantly among the effective hormones and doses, 1000 IU kg−1 hCG had a higher percentage (76.5%) of total spawns with egg production per spawn in excess of one million than those of 1500 IU kg−1 hCG (50.0%) and 100 μg kg−1 LHRHa (40.0%). Mangrove red snapper spontaneously spawned from March–April to November–December with a peak of egg collection and spawning in May–June. Egg collection per spawn ranged from 0.05 to 6.35 million. Spontaneous spawning of mangrove red snapper exhibited lunar periodicity with spawns mostly occurring 3 days before or after the last quarter and new moon phases and occurred consistently between 02:00 and 04:00 hours. High fecundity and good egg quality, coupled with the ability to respond to induce spawning or natural spawning in captivity, provide a sound basis for improving the sustainability of red snapper aquaculture in Southeast Asia.


Aim: To evaluate the impact of reorganisation of the health service and a change in the definition used to collect immunisation coverage statistics on vaccine coverage data in England. Methods: Denominator data from the Cover Of Vaccination Evaluated Rapidly (COVER) programme, the national programme for the collection of immunisation coverage statistics, were compared to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) population data; the impact of any discrepancies between the two data sources on vaccine coverage was assessed. Results: ONS populations were generally larger than COVER populations. This was particularly true for 2002, the year Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) came into existence, suggesting that some children are being missed by the COVER programme. On average, in 1998–2001 around 10 000 children per year (∼2%) were lost to the COVER population estimates compared to data from ONS. This increased to around 20 000–40 000 (∼3–8%) children in 2002, but decreased again in 2003 to 2000–8000 (∼1%) children. Assuming all the "lost" COVER children were vaccinated, vaccine coverage appeared very similar to that seen in the COVER programme for all antigens. However, assuming all the "lost" children were unvaccinated, coverage would be substantially lower for all antigens (range 2.7–3.5%). Discussion: This analysis provides a quantitative example of how changes such as restructuring of the health service directly impact on public health surveillance. Such changes have potential risks for information and may affect important data used to inform public health policy.


Continued stability and future development in Timor-Leste are dependent on establishing the necessary legal and administrative mechanisms for providing access to land, land tenure security, as well as preventing and addressing land-related conflict. The survey interviewed representatives of 1,152 households between 3 and 8 of September 2016 in Ainaro, Ermera, and the urban area of Dili and was conducted by The Asia Foundation and the Van Vollenhoven Institute. The survey provides new and relevant evidence for policymakers to ground their decisions on, both with the current draft of Land Law Package, and/or other land-related legislation. Information such as the very high number of people that live tenure security, the difficulty of households accessing land, the structural discrimination against women in land were not new findings, but are now better quantified, giving policymakers more guidance about what problems need to be addressed and how. In addition, the survey provides new information on the possible effects of current draft land legislation and areas where the current draft laws can be modified. The following are the key findings of the survey.


In a wide-ranging and fiercely intelligent series of readings, Linda Gregerson presents an eloquent overview of the contemporary American lyric. This lyric is distinguished, she argues, not only by its unprecedented variety and abundance, but by its persistent and supple engagement with form. In detailed examinations of work by John Ashbery, Mark Strand, Louis Gluck, James Schuyler, Muriel Rukeyser, C. K. Williams, Rita Dove, Philip Levine, Heather McHugh, William Meredith, John Hollander, and a host of other recent and contemporary poets, Gregerson documents the depth and richness of American lyric production at the turn of the twenty-first century.In its scruples and reservations as in its discriminating explanations, "Negative Capability" unearths the contours of a distinctive American poetic tradition. This book is a rich symbiosis of critical and poetic intelligence. It is also a work of passionate advocacy.The book will appeal to those interested in the current state of American poetry: practicing poets, readers and students of literature and literary criticism, professional critics.Linda Gregerson is an acclaimed poet and literary critic. She is author of "The Reformation of the Subject: Spenser, Milton, and the English Protestant Epic" and two poetry collections, "The Woman Who Died in Her Sleep" and "Fire in the Conservatory." She is Associate Professor of English at the University of Michigan, where she heads the Visiting Writers Program."


The water temperature of streams and rivers is required for various practical purposes and is frequently obtained by calculating the heat budget. This method is tedious and yields rather inaccurate values of the water temperature. This paper presents an alternative approach using cheap and simple means to measure air temperatures, which are believed to be a major factor controlling the water temperature. It is demonstrated that a useful separation can be made between the seasonal cyclic variations and the daily stochastic fluctuations of these temperatures.


The Team-maxmin equilibrium prescribes the optimal strategies for a team of rational players sharing the same goal and without the capability of correlating their strategies in strategic games against an adversary. This solution concept can capture situations in which an agent controls multiple resources - corresponding to the team members - that cannot communicate. It is known that such equilibrium always exists and it is unique (except degenerate cases) and these properties make it a credible solution concept to be used in real-world applications, especially in security scenarios. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, the Team-maxmin equilibrium is almost completely unexplored in the literature. In this paper, we investigate bounds of (in)efficiency of the Team-maxmin equilibrium w.r.t. the Nash equilibria and w.r.t. the Maxmin equilibrium when the team members can play correlated strategies. Furthermore, we study a number of algorithms to find and/or approximate an equilibrium, discussing their theoretical guarantees and evaluating their performance by using a standard testbed of game instances.


Objective To assess whether recent declines in cardiovascular mortality have benefited all socioeconomic groups equally and whether these declines have narrowed or widened inequalities in cardiovascular mortality in Europe. Methods In this prospective registry-based study, we determined changes in cardiovascular mortality between the 1990s and the early 2010s in 12 European populations by gender, educational level and occupational class. In order to quantify changes in the magnitude of differences in mortality, we calculated both ratio measures of relative inequalities and difference measures of absolute inequalities. Results Cardiovascular mortality has declined rapidly among lower and higher socioeconomic groups. Relative declines (%) were faster among higher socioeconomic groups; absolute declines (deaths per 100 000 person-years) were almost uniformly larger among lower socioeconomic groups. Therefore, although relative inequalities increased over time, absolute inequalities often declined substantially on all measures used. Similar trends were seen for ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease mortality separately. Best performer was England and Wales, which combined large declines in cardiovascular mortality with large reductions in absolute inequalities and stability in relative inequalities in both genders. In the early 2010s, inequalities in cardiovascular mortality were smallest in Southern Europe, of intermediate magnitude in Northern and Western Europe and largest in Central-Eastern European and Baltic countries. Conclusions Lower socioeconomic groups have experienced remarkable declines in cardiovascular mortality rates over the last 25 years, and trends in inequalities can be qualified as favourable overall. Nevertheless, further reducing inequalities remains an important challenge for European health systems and policies.


DNA damage response pathways are a complicated network of proteins that function to remove and/or reverse DNA damage. Following genetic insult, a signal cascade is generated, which alerts the cell to the presence of damaged DNA. Once recognized, the damage is either removed or the damaged region is excised, and the original genetic sequence is restored. However, when these pathways are defective the cell is unable to effectively mediate the DNA damage response and the damage persists unrepaired. Thus, the proteins that maintain the DNA damage response pathway are critical in preserving genomic stability.

One essential DNA repair protein is the Breast Cancer Associated gene, BRCA1. BRCA1 is essential for mediating the DNA damage response, facilitating DNA damage repair, and activating key cell cycle checkpoints. Moreover, mutations in BRCA1 lead to a higher incidence of breast and ovarian cancer, highlighting the importance of BRCA1 as a tumor suppressor. In an effort to better understand how BRCA1 carried out these functions, researchers sought to identify additional BRCA1 interacting proteins. This led to the identification of several proteins including the BRCA1 Associated C-terminal Helicase, BACH1. Due to the direct interaction of BACH1 with a region of BRCA1 essential for DNA repair and tumor suppression, it was speculated that BACH1 may help support these BRCA1 function(s). In fact, initial genetic screenings confirmed that mutations in BACH1 correlated not only with hereditary breast cancer, but also with defects in DNA damage repair processes.

The initial correlation between BACH1 and cancer predisposition was further confirmed when mutations in BACH1 were identified in the cancer syndrome Fanconi anemia (FA) (complementation group FA-J), thus giving BACH1 its new name FANCJ. These findings supported a previously established link between the FA and BRCA pathways and between FA and DNA repair. In particular, we demonstrated that similar to other FA/BRCA proteins, suppression of FANCJ lead to a substantial decrease in homologous recombination and enhanced both the cellular sensitivity to DNA interstrand cross-linking agents and chromosomal instability. What remained unknown was specifically how FANCJ functioned and whether these functions were dependent on its interaction with BRCA1 or other associated partners. In fact, we identified that FANCJ interacted directly with the MMR protein MLH1. Moreover, we found that the FANCJ/BRCA1 interaction was not required to correct the cellular defects in FA-J cells, but rather that the FANCJ/MLH1 interaction was required. Although both the FA/BRCA and MMR pathways undoubtedly mediate the DNA damage response, there was no evidence to suggest that these pathways were linked, until recently. Our findings not only indicate a physical link between these pathways by protein-protein interaction, but also demonstrated a functional link.


In task 1 of this report drivers' knowledge of various bicycle warning signs and pavement markings were assessed. In general knowledge was high. Share the Road and Three Foot Minimum signs were generally more quickly understood and recognized in versions of the sign depicting a sideways view of a bicycle rather than a rear view of a bicyclist/bicycle. Tests with blurred versions of these signs also suggested a legibility advantage for signs depicting a sideways view of a bicycle. In task 2, a simulator study was used to explore whether these differences in comprehension/recognition/legibility had an impact on driver behavior. Drivers navigated a simulated route in which they passed bicyclists riding singly or in groups. Sometimes bicyclists were located within a bike lane, and sometimes a bike lane was not present. The main findings were: (1) drivers generally passed bicyclists with care, allowing clearance much greater than three feet, (2) groups of bicyclists were given more clearance compared to single bicyclists, (3) passing distances were smaller in the presence of oncoming traffic, (4) passing distances were smaller when a bike lane was present, (5) the type of sign and the presence of a sign with the message to give bicyclists at least three feet of clearance did not impact passing distances, and (6) age did not have a significant impact on passing distances. Task 3 examined whether decreased negative offset (minimal offset) left-turn lanes provided a safety advantage to drivers of all ages. Drivers first completed a gap judgment task in the driving simulator. Participants also drove a simulated route and were asked to make turns at intersections featuring a minimal or large negative offset. Findings were: (1) no differences between minimal and negative offsets were observed in gap judgment task, (2) younger adults tolerated smaller gaps in traffic compared to older adults, and (3) the minimal offset resulted in a benefit in the turn execution task; turns were executed in such a way that the distance between the drivers' cars and oncoming traffic was larger compared to the negative offset condition.


CONTEXT
Contingency management interventions that provide tangible incentives based on objective indicators of drug abstinence are efficacious in improving outcomes in substance abusers, but these treatments have rarely been implemented in community-based settings.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy of an abstinence-based contingency management intervention as an addition to usual care in community treatment settings.

DESIGN
Random assignment to usual care or usual care plus abstinence-based incentives for 12 weeks.

SETTING
Eight community-based outpatient psychosocial drug abuse treatment programs.

PARTICIPANTS
A total of 415 cocaine or methamphetamine users beginning outpatient substance abuse treatment.

INTERVENTION
All participants received standard care, and those assigned to the abstinence-based incentive condition also earned chances to win prizes for submitting substance-free urine samples; the chances of winning prizes increased with continuous time abstinent.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Retention, counseling attendance, total number of substance-free samples provided, percentage of stimulant- and alcohol-free samples submitted, and longest duration of confirmed stimulant abstinence.

RESULTS
Participants assigned to the abstinence-based incentive condition remained in treatment for a mean +/- SD of 8.0 +/- 4.2 weeks and attended a mean +/- SD of 19.2 +/- 16.8 counseling sessions compared with 6.9 +/- 4.4 weeks and 15.7 +/- 14.4 sessions for those assigned to the usual care condition (P<.02 for all). Participants in the abstinence-based incentive condition also submitted significantly more stimulant- and alcohol-free samples (P<.001). The abstinence-based incentive group was significantly more likely to achieve 4, 8, and 12 weeks of continuous abstinence than the control group, with odds ratios of 2.5, 2.7, and 4.5, respectively. However, the percentage of positive samples submitted was low overall and did not differ between conditions.

CONCLUSION
The abstinence-based incentive procedure, which provided a mean of 203 dollars in prizes per participant, was efficacious in improving retention and associated abstinence outcomes.


I examine the impact of non-regulated lenders in the mortgage market using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model. My model features two types of financial intermediaries that differ in three ways: (i) only regulated intermediaries face a capital requirement, (ii) non-regulated intermediaries finance themselves by selling securities and cannot accept deposits, and (iii) non-regulated intermediaries face a more elastic demand. This last assumption is based on empirical evidence for Canada revealing that non-regulated intermediaries issue loans at a lower interest rate. My results suggest that the non-regulated sector contributes to stabilize the economy by providing an alternative source of capital when the regulated sector in unable to fulfill the demand for credit. As a result, an economy with a large non-regulated sector experiences a smaller downturn after an adverse financial shock.


Capturing students' mental models has been proposed as a viable means to measure students' understanding and conceptualization of given learning materials. Mental models are usually represented by either short text summary or a graphical map (i.e., concept map). This study aimed attesting which learner's mental representation associateshigher with three criteria: original text, expert concept map, and expert text summary. HIMATT, a mathematical framework proven to share a sound reliability of mental model in both semantic and graphical formats, was used to elicit the association between students' mental models and the three criteria reference models following studying two book chapters. The findings indicate that across all association indices, students' text summary elicitations were stronger than the students' concept map elicitations over the three criterionreference models. Moreover, stronger similarities emerged for the four structure indices (surface, graphic, structure, and gamma) than for the three semantic indices (concept, proposition, and balance) within the text summary and concept map formats. The results are attributed to students' strong familiarity with written representation of the learning materials rather than creating concept maps. Furthermore, the results indicate that reading a text stored in long-term memory and retrieving and representing it into a concept map is harder than retrieving and representing it in a written text. Further research must clarify to what extent the practice of transformingwritten materials into graphical maps will improve the validity of using concept maps for mental conceptualization.


'CCK08' was a unique event on Connectivism and Connective Knowledge within a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in 2008. It was a course and a network about the emergent practices and the theory of Connectivism, proposed by George Siemens as a new learning theory for a digital age. It was convened and led by Stephen Downes and George Siemens through the University of Manitoba, Canada. Although the event was not formally advertised, more than 2000 participants from all over the world registered for the course, with 24 of these enrolled for credit. The course presented a unique opportunity to discover more about how people learn in large open networks, which offer extensive diversity, connectivity and opportunities for sharing knowledge. Learners are increasingly exercising autonomy regarding where, when, how, what and with whom to learn. To do this, they often select technologies independent of those offered by traditional courses. In CCK08 this autonomy was encouraged and learning on the course was distributed across a variety of platforms. This paper explores the perspectives of some of the participants on their learning experiences in the course, in relation to the characteristics of connectivism outlined by Downes, i.e. autonomy, diversity, openness and connectedness/interactivity. The findings are based on an online survey which was emailed to all active participants and email interview data from self-selected interviewees. The research found that autonomy, diversity, openness and connectedness/interactivity are indeed characteristics of a MOOC, but that they present paradoxes which are difficult to resolve in an online course. The more autonomous, diverse and open the course, and the more connected the learners, the more the potential for their learning to be limited by the lack of structure, support and moderation normally associated with an online course, and the more they seek to engage in traditional groups as opposed to an open network. These responses constrain the possibility of having the positive experiences of autonomy, diversity, openness and connectedness/interactivity normally expected of an online network. The research suggests that the question of whether a large open online network can be fused with a course has yet to be resolved. Further research studies with larger samples are needed, as is an investigation into the ethical considerations which may need to be taken into account when testing new theory and practice on course participants.


Deep Learning-Stellan Ohlsson 2011-01-31 Although the ability to retain, process, and project prior experience onto future situations is indispensable, the human mind also possesses the ability to override experience and adapt to changing circumstances. Cognitive scientist Stellan Ohlsson analyzes three types of deep, non-monotonic cognitive change: creative insight, adaptation of cognitive skills by learning from errors, and conversion from one belief to another, incompatible belief. For each topic, Ohlsson summarizes past research, re-formulates the relevant research questions, and proposes information-processing mechanisms that answer those questions. The three theories are based on the principles of redistribution of activation, specialization of practical knowledge, and re-subsumption of declarative information. Ohlsson develops the implications of those mechanisms by scaling their effects with respect to time, complexity, and social interaction. The book ends with a unified theory of nonmonotonic cognitive change that captures the abstract properties that the three types of change share.


Background: Physicians must weigh the benefits against the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in patients treated with natalizumab, especially beyond 2 years. However, disability progression associated with switching therapies versus continuing natalizumab therapy after 2 years has not been fully evaluated. Methods: In this retrospective analysis using the NARCOMS Registry, disability progression (Patient-Determined Disease Steps [PDDS] scale) and physical health-related quality of life (HRQOL) worsening (12-item Short Form Health Status Survey Physical Component Score [SF-12 PCS]) were compared between participants switching to fingolimod (n = 50) or interferon beta (IFNβ)/glatiramer acetate (GA) (n = 71) therapy and those continuing natalizumab (n = 406) after 2 years or more of treatment (median follow-up: natalizumab, 4 years; fingolimod, 4.5 years; IFNβ/GA, 5 years). Results: Participants continuing to take natalizumab had less disability progression (mean PDDS change: natalizumab, 0.3; fingolimod, 0.6; IFNβ/GA, 0.7; P = .0036), were less likely to report disability progression (proportion with PDDS increase: natalizumab, 31%; fingolimod, 46%; IFNβ/GA, 42%; P = .0296), and had less worsening in physical HRQOL (mean SF-12 PCS change: natalizumab, -1.4; fingolimod, -2.8; IFNβ/GA, -4.6; P = .0476) than those switching treatment. Conclusions: Although all medication groups exhibited some level of worsening, switching from natalizumab treatment after 2 years was associated with increased disability progression and worsening physical HRQOL. The risk of disability progression from disease activity and the risk of PML should be considered when making natalizumab treatment decisions.


Multi-join queries are the core of any integration service that integrates data from multiple distributed data sources. Due to the large number of data sources and possibly high volumes of data, the evaluation of multi-join queries faces increasing scalability concerns. Parallel processing has been applied to tackle this problem. State-of-the-art parallel multi-join query processing commonly assume that the application of maximal pipelined parallelism leads to superior performance. In this paper, we instead illustrate that this assumption does not generally hold. We investigate how best to combine pipelined parallelism with alternate forms of parallelism to achieve an overall effective parallel processing strategy. An m-way bushy parallel processing strategy is proposed. Experimental studies are conducted on an actual software system over a cluster of high-performance PCs. The experimental results confirm that the proposed parallel processing strategy leads to an on average of 50% improvement in terms of total processing time in comparison to existing state-of-the-art solutions.


Real-time contextual affect-detection from open-ended text-based dialogue is challenging but essential for the building of effective intelligent user interfaces. In our previous work, an affect-detection component was developed, which was embedded in an intelligent agent interacting with human-controlled characters under the improvisation of loose scenarios. The affect-detection module is capable of detecting 25 basic and complex emotions based on the analysis of pure individual turn-taking input without any contextual inference. In this article, we report developments on equipping the intelligent agent with the abilities of interpreting dynamic inter-relationships between improvisational human-controlled characters and performing contextual affect-sensing, based on the discussion topics, the improvisational "mood" that one has created, relationship interpretation between characters, and the most recent affect profiles of other characters. Evaluation results on the updated affect-detection component are also reported. Overall, the performances of the contextual affect-sensing and dynamic relationship interpretation are promising. The work contributes to the journal themes on affective computing, human-robots/agent interaction, and narrative-based interactive theatre.


ABSTRACT Cities have become a central focus for questions of sustainability futures. Most discussion has to do with their activities and how they are governed and the strategies to reduce their environmental impacts while increasing their equity. Yet few ask yet a more fundamental question: what are cities for and how might that affect their futures? This commentary raises questions about the role of cities especially in a potential post carbon age.


Bringing together scholars and practitioners from a range of disciplinary backgrounds working in Europe, North and South America, South Asia and the Middle East, this volume explores the question of how to ensure that migration research feeds back into improving the lives of migrants. It emphasises the necessarily interdisciplinary and cross-boundary nature of migration research, offering methodological recommendations to anyone studying or working in the field, and showing how migration studies can usefully affect real contexts by better exploring the potential that exists for both bridging academic disciplines and building links with work that occurs beyond strictly academic forums. Organised around the themes of methodological considerations and interdisciplinary approaches, the experiences of migrants as researchers and interaction between practitioners, policy-makers and academics, Migration Across Boundaries discusses the realities of the discourses that surround international migration, examining the proper role of academia in bringing together a range of stakeholders to formulate dialogic approaches to understanding migration. An international and interdisciplinary contribution to our understanding of how research in migration can be brought to bear on the experiences of migrants and linked to the work of activists, artists and policy-makers, this book will appeal not only to scholars and students of migration across the social sciences, but also to those working in the fields of migrant advocacy and activism.


INTRODUCTION: In this paper we present Silico, a new Digital Musical Instrument which ideally represents the performer itself. This instrument is composed by two parts: an interface (a sensor glove), which relies on the movements of the performer's hand, and a computational engine (a set of patches developed in Max 7), which generates sound events based on the genomic data of the performer. OBJECTIVES: We want to propose a new reflection on the relation between the body and musical instruments. Moreover, we aim to investigate the voluntary and involuntary aspects of our body, intended as a starting point for a musical performance. As a metaphor of these two layers, we used here the hand and the genome of the performer. METHODS: We have investigated our objectives through the whole design process of a Digital Musical Instrument, using a practice-based approach. RESULTS: Our system is a multilayered composed instrument which maps its computational part and its interface on the performer's body. Silico can be used as a standalone musical instrument to generate music in real time. CONCLUSION: Our works shows a new path about the use of genomic data in a musical way, as a new perspective of human-computer interaction in a performative contexts.


Background and Objectives: Streptococcus mutans is a major pathogen that initiates dental plaque and dental caries due to its strong acid production and biofilm-forming ability. Recent studies showed that lactic acid bacteria (LAB), exert useful properties which make them become potential tools to fight against S. mutans and its relating diseases. The current study aimed to isolate and screen for LAB strains that could inhibit S. mutans growth as well as its biofilm production.

Methods and Results: Using the spread plate technique, fifty-one LAB strains were isolated from fermented vegetables and healthy human saliva. From that, fourteen isolates showed the inhibitory effect on S. mutans growth in well-diffusion assay. These strains were then screened on the ability in reducing S. mutans biofilm formation by colorimetric assay. Next, potential LAB was evaluated on some probiotic characteristics including saliva amylase tolerance, acid tolerance, bile tolerance as well as antibiotic susceptibility properties. As a result, four strains showed the most promising features were further tested for the ability to reduce Streptococcus mutans biofilm by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation and by expression analysis of biofilm-forming genes (gtfB and luxS) using RT-qPCR method. Finally, these four strains were identified to species level using API® 50 CHL kit and 16S rDNA sequencing method. The result showed that two strains belong to L. plantarums, one belongs to L. brevis and the other is Weisella confusa.

Conclusion: This study was successful in isolating LAB that showed promising probiotic effects against S. mutans.


Should an auctioneer start a rising auction from some starting price or set it as a reservation price? Under what circumstances might a bidder find it rational to raise the current offer by a substantial factor instead of making just a small increase above the highest bid? This paper aims to answer both of these questions by exploring the implications of jump bidding over the information sets available to the bidders. Our motivation is to find whether hiding the information about other players' signals might be beneficial for one of the bidders. We first show that it is better for the auctioneer to set a reservation price rather than "jump" to the starting price. We then prove that in a very general setting and when bidders are risk-neutral there exist no equilibrium with jump bidding (in non-weakly dominated strategies). Finally, we demonstrate that jump bidding might be a rational consequence of risk aversion, and analyze the different effects at work.


Relativistic Runaway Electron Avalanches Inside the High Field Regions of Thunderclouds by Eric Scott Cramer Dissertation Advisor: Hamid K. Rassoul, Ph.D. In this dissertation, simplified equations describing the transport and energy spectrum of runaway electrons are derived from the basic kinematics of the continuity equations. These equations are useful in modeling the energy distribution of energetic electrons in strong electric fields, such as those found inside thunderstorms. Dwyer and Babich [2011] investigated the generation of low-energy electrons in relativistic runaway electron avalanches. The paper also developed simple analytical expressions to describe the detailed physics of Monte Carlo simulations of relativistic runaway electrons in air. In this work, the energy spectra of the runaway electron population are studied in detail. Dependence of electron avalanche development on properties such as the avalanche length, radiation length, and the effective Møller scattering efficiency factor, are discussed in detail. To describe the shapes of the electron energy spectra for a wide range of electric field strengths, the random deviation of electron energy loss from the mean value is added to the solutions. We find that this effect helps maintain an exponential energy spectrum for electric fields that approach the runaway electron threshold field. We also investigate the source mechanisms of Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes, which are a result of relativistic runaway electron avalanches in air. In this study, the bremsstrahlung photons are propagated through the atmosphere, where they undergo Compton scattering, pair production, and photoelectric absorption. We model these interactions with a Monte Carlo simulation from the TGF source location (assumed to vary between 8 and 20 km) and the edge of the atmosphere (≈ 100 km). We then propagate these photons to a satellite plane at 568 km in order to compare with measurements. In collaboration with the GBM instrument team in Huntsville, AL, we were able to model spectral and temporal properties of observed TGFs. Although the analysis of individual TGF photon spectra was qualitative, we were able to put some constraints, i.e. source altitude and beaming angle, on a sample of observed GBM TGFs. However, assuming a height of 15 km, we were able to model the softening in the spectrum observed as the satellite moves off-axis from the TGF source location [Fitzpatrick et al., 2014]. The conclusion of this analysis shows that Compton scattering alone can not explain the temporal dispersion observed. This suggests that an intrinsic time variation exists at the source of the TGF.


Unlike the majority of Mongolian scholarship, this work examines the history of Buddhism among Mongolian ethnic groups. Numerous works exist on the Oirats and their history, but most of the research has been devoted to the study of Buddhism in the Mongolian empire during its formative years. The Oirats were the Western Mongolian people who made significant impact on the history of Central Asian people for a period of several centuries. Entering onto the historic scene under the leadership of Genghis Khan, the Oirats, fighting for their own independence, were constantly engaged in wars against the Mongols, Chinese and Turkic people. In the middle of the fifteenth century the Oirats managed to unite the whole of the Mongolian world under their rule while, two centuries later, they formed three separate states: that of Dzungarian state in Central Asia, Khoshout state in northern Tibet, and the Kalmyk (Torgout) state near the Caspian Sea in Russia. Interest in the Oirats and their history has been quite considerable and a number of issues have been highlighted, both in Russian and foreign historiography. It should be noted, however, that the pre-Dzungarian period of Oirat history (i.e. up to the middle of the seventeenth century) has been the least investigated area in historical scholarship. It was also then that the Oirats finally came to their Buddhist outlook and Buddhist culture (a local example of Buddhist civilization) as part of their socio-political development. Buddhism as a systemic religion fundamentally differed from the primitive cults of their earlier society and was much more in line with the social changes taking place at the time and thus succeeded in replacing the old beliefs of the Oirats. The Buddhist tradition of the Oirats of the early Middle Ages is indissolubly connected with its further development among the Oirats (the Kalmyks) of the late Middle Ages. The examination of this Buddhist tradition, in its early stages being appropriated by the Oirats as their dominant worldview, allows a greater degree of certainty in answering numerous questions as far as the study of the history and culture of the Oirats and Kalmyks of later periods.


Background In March 2007, a regulatory advisory was issued in Japan to restrict oseltamivir use in children aged 10-19 years because of safety concerns over abnormal behavior. The effectiveness and validity of regulatory risk minimization actions remain to be reviewed, despite their significant public health implications. To assess the impact of the regulatory actions on prescribing practices and safety reporting. Methodoloy/Prinicpal Findings In this retrospective review of a nationwide pharmacy database, we analyzed 100,344 dispensation records for oseltamivir and zanamivir for the period from November 2006 to March 2009. The time trend in dispensations for these antiviral agents was presented before and after the regulatory actions, contrasted with intensity of media coverage and the numbers of spontaneous adverse reaction reports with regard to antivirals. The 2007 regulatory actions, together with its intense media coverage, reduced oseltamivir dispensation in targeted patients in fiscal year 2008 to 20.4% of that in fiscal year 2006, although influenza activities were comparable between these fiscal years. In contrast, zanamivir dispensation increased approximately nine-fold across all age groups. The number of abnormal behavior reports associated with oseltamivir in children aged 10-19 years decreased from fiscal year 2006 to 2008 (24 to 9 cases); this decline was offset by the increased number of reports of abnormal behavior in children under age 10 (12 to 28 cases). The number of reports associated with zanamivir increased in proportion to increased dispensation of this drug (11 to 114 cases). Conclusions/Significance The 2007 actions effectively reduced oseltamivir prescriptions and the number of reports of abnormal behavior in the targeted group. The observed increase in abnormal behavior reports in oseltamivir patients under age 10 and in zanamivir patients suggests that these patient groups may also be at risk, calling into question the validity of the current discrimination by age and agent (Abstract translation is available in Japanese: Appendix S1).


This book focuses on the crucial role that relationships play in the lives of teenagers. The authors particularly examine the ways that healthy relationships can help teens avoid such common risk behaviors as substance abuse, dating violence, sexual assault, and unsafe sexual practices. Addressing the current lack of effective prevention programs for teens, they present new strategies for encouraging healthy choices. The book first traces differences between the "rules of relating" for boys and girls and discusses typical and atypical patterns of experimentation in teens. The authors identify the common link among risk behaviors: the relationship connection. In the second part of the book, they examine the principles of successful programs used by schools and communities to cultivate healthy adolescent development. An illuminating conclusion describes the key ingredients for engaging adolescents, their parents, teachers, and communities in the effort to promote healthy, nonviolent relationships among teens.


In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the network lifetime (NL) is a crucial metric since the sensor nodes usually rely on limited energy supply. In this paper, we consider the joint optimal design of the physical, medium access control (MAC), and network layers to maximize the NL of the energy-constrained WSN. The problem of NL maximization can be formulated as a nonlinear optimization problem encompassing the routing flow, link scheduling, transmission rate, and power allocation operations for all active time slots (TSs). The resultant nonconvex rate constraint is relaxed by employing an approximation of the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), which transforms the problem to a convex one. Hence, the resultant dual problem may be solved to obtain the optimal solution to the relaxed problem with a zero duality gap. Therefore, the problem is formulated in its Lagrangian form, and the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT) optimality conditions are employed for deriving analytical expressions of the globally optimal transmission rate and power allocation variables for the network topology considered. The nonlinear Gauss–Seidel algorithm is adopted for iteratively updating the rate and power allocation variables using these expressions until convergence is attained. Furthermore, the gradient method is applied for updating the dual variables in each iteration. Using this approach, the maximum NL, the energy dissipation per node, the average transmission power per link, and the lifetime of all nodes in the network are evaluated for a given source rate and fixed link schedule under different channel conditions.


FRESH WATER ECOLOGY UNIT for SECONDARY EDUCATION SCIENCE COURSES Eric L. Hyer Department of Integrative Biology Master of Science Science means "to know", a process for gaining knowledge and an understanding of the natural world. Students need to be involved in active learning. In other words, they must do science, not just hear about it. Good science encourages students to gain knowledge by doing science: observing, questioning, exploring, making and testing hypotheses, comparing predictions, evaluating data, and communicating conclusions. This unit plan is designed to incorporate the components of fresh water, ecology, water quality, and a class-wide science project. Each lesson addresses selected standards from the state core curriculum and has specific objectives that are tied to the learning objectives associated with the state core curriculum. The unit starts with five lessons that introduce fresh water and the role of fresh water in our lives. Students will learn the stages of the water cycle and participate in discussions and activities that will allow them to see the critical need to conserve, protect, and manage water properly. The next four lessons focus on the importance of biodiversity and human impact on biodiversity. The last part of the unit pulls the lessons on fresh water and ecology together into a class-wide science project. Students will study how abiotic factors affect water quality and then participate in a project relating those concepts in a study of Hobble Creek, near Springville, Utah. The unit finishes with group presentations about the science project and then a unit test. There is a good mix of regular classroom instruction and activities along with variation in learning styles. There is note taking, art expression, visual learning, verbal expression, group interaction, guided inquiry, different types of assessment, discussions involving higher level thinking, and hands on learning. The unit takes up nearly four weeks of school time. It will take considerable planning and preparation to teach the lessons, plan and carry out the activities and provide the needed accommodations. TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page i Graduate Committee Approval ii Final Reading Approval and Acceptance iii Abstract iv Table of


This thesis explores the process of ethical fashion purchasing through a qualitative research approach, to find insights to improve the provision and purchasing of socially responsible fashion on the UK high street. This was achieved through the investigation of both the consumers that purchase womens wear at a mid market level, but also the retailers who provide the merchandise. The relationship between these two parties was explored, with the communication methods also being investigated. Furthermore, the influence the communication of retailer Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) messages had on the final purchasing behaviour was also a key research area. This distinctive two-sided perspective was utilised to contribute to the creation of new knowledge in the area of ethical fashion purchasing behaviour, and consequently provide new perceptions of how positive, social changes can occur in the fashion industry.

Much of the previous ethical fashion purchasing research has been criticized for several reasons including methodological weaknesses, survey instruments potentially overstating the importance of ethical issues, as well as participants having little to no incentive to answer truthfully (Auger and Devinney, 2007). As a result, researchers in this field have suggested that broader, more rigorous data collection tools need to be developed in order to advance this area of research (Dickson, 2011). With this in mind, a mixed method or bricolage approach (Kincheloe and Berry, 2004) was used to not only overcome the methodological issues identified, but to also address the knowledge gaps in a creative and innovative way (Bremner and Yee, 2011). As a consequence of using this approach, the interplay of data collection and analysis has resulted in an iterative process throughout the research undertaken. This iterative nature facilitated a five-stage data collection process, which included an ethnographic style case study with a major high street retailer, a consumer focus group and additional retailer, semistructured interviews. Between each of the five research stages, analysis and reflection took place, facilitating the development of the next data collection method.

When addressing the study's over-arching question: what influences ethical fashion purchasing, several factors were identified from both a consumer and a retailer perspective. It was found that whilst consumers do have a certain level of knowledge regarding social issues in the garment supply chain, they rarely implement this knowledge during their purchasing behaviour. The retailers surveyed, being evidenced in several of the additional interviews with CSR representatives, also identified this. However this lack of cohesion between consumer intentions and actual behaviour was found to be heavily influenced by the communication of CSR information from retailers to their customers. As a result, consumers were found to have a lack of understanding of social issues within the garment supply chain. Thus, it was concluded that the contribution to knowledge that this work makes is that an increase of retailer CSR communication, will aid in the development of a relationship between the consumer and supplier to increase connectivity, understanding and empathy, in order to influence ethical fashion purchasing. However, it is paramount that this CSR information is delivered in a simple way, in order for it to be understood by consumers.
This was identified as an important factor due to a fundamental misunderstanding found in consumer understanding of the term ethical, and distinguishing this from closely related sustainable connotations.

The approach and methodology utilised in this study was designed to address the problems identified in a new and innovative way, in order to lead to a series of new insights. The study of both the retailer and consumer simultaneously and the utilisation of creative methods attempted to provide a unique approach in dealing with the methodological issues previously mentioned. Due to the nature of the research, it has in the past been approached from a business or marketing perspective, however this study used creative skills and tools commonly used in design research. The value of this research has been evidenced in a results table, where the problems identified were addressed through a series of incremental stages towards change. These have been broken down into long and short-term changes, with the aim to gradually move the industry towards a more socially responsible future.