For over four decades, Japan has offered universal health insurance. Despite the demand subsidy entailed, it has kept costs low by regulatorily capping the amounts it pays doctors, particularly for the most modern and sophisticated procedures. Facing subsidized demand but stringently capped prices on the most complex procedures, Japanese physicians have had little incentive to invest in specialized expertise. Instead, they have invested in small private clinics and hospitals. The resulting proliferation of primitive clinics and hospitals has cut both the number of complex modern medical procedures performed, and the number of hospitals with any substantial experience in those procedures. With a quarter of the heart disease in the US, Japan performs less than 3 percent as many coronary bypass operations and less than 6 percent as many angioplasties. Of the 855 cities in Japan, 71 percent lack any hospital with substantial experience in the sophisticated modern treatment of cerebrovascular disease, and 83 percent lack any in heart disease. In this article, I estimate the mortality cost of this regulatorily-driven lack of expertise. Toward that end, I combine mortality data from 855 cities with information on local hospital expertise and local demographic composition. In the typical city, I find that the addition of one hospital with substantial experience in stroke patients or in modern stroke treatment would cut annual stroke mortality by 10 to 15 deaths. The addition of one hospital with substantial experience in cardiac bypass operations or angioplasties would cut annual heart attack mortality in the city by 27 to 56 deaths.


Evaluating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at farm level is an important tool to mitigate climate change. Livestock account for 80% of the total GHG emissions in Uruguay, and beef cow-calf systems are possibly the largest contributors. In cow-calf grazing systems, optimizing forage allowance and grazing intensity may increase pasture productivity, reproductive performance, beef productivity, and possibly reduce GHG emissions. This study estimated GHG emissions per kg of live weight gain (LWG) and per hectare from 20 cow-calf systems in Uruguay, with different management practices. The GHG emissions were on average 20.8 kg CO2-e.kg LWG-1, ranging from 11.4 to 32.2. Beef productivity and reproductive efficiency were the main determinants of GHG emissions. Five farm clusters were identified with different productive and environmental efficiency by numerical classification of relevant variables. Improving grazing efficiency by optimizing the stocking rate and forage production can increase beef productivity by 22% and reduce GHG emissions per kg LWG by 28% compared to "low performance" management. Further improvements in reproductive efficiency can increase productivity by 41% and reduce GHG emissions per kg LWG by 23%, resulting in a "carbon smart" strategy. However, the most intensified farms with highest stocking rate and beef productivity, did not reduce GHG emissions per kg LWG, while increased GHG emissions per ha compared to the carbon smart. This analysis showed that it is possible to simultaneously reduce carbon footprint per kg and per ha, by optimizing grazing management. This study demonstrated that there is high potential to reduce cow-calf GHG emissions through improved grazing management.


The linearity of processes is no longer valid only for strictly defined intervals, the decisionmakers being forced to explore and exploit other sources and options for imposing a predicted management order in accordance with standards, procedures, policies, etc. Given the socio-technical particularities of organizations that own or manage critical infrastructures with direct implications for risk management activities, it is necessary to conduct theoretical and practical actions for testing their sensitivity by taking in consideration the variation of external factors (geo-climacterics, politics, military, economic factors, etc.) for verifying and validating the decisional variants structured at the operational management level. No matter the level of organizational maturity, the possible solutions for achieving this goal must be optimal from the point of view of the cost-effectiveness ratio and, in the same time, they should converge to a paradigmatic potential for valorizing in a timely and judicious manner the most important component of the organizational capability - the human resource. In this context, the education for sustainability becomes the objective function that needs to be optimized. As a methodological framework for learning and internalizing the procedures that should become an operating standard, the conceptual modeling and simulation are very well suited and the serious games can be chosen as an implementation tool. Therefore, the military organization has been selected as a model of good practice where the training is conducted through simulation and wargaming. When we should analyze the acquisition process of knowledge, the military organization is the proper choice because it offers a series of advantages by the way of transforming the real situation into elements of simulation and by an easy transfer of the gained experience into the real context.


The metaphor of 'dialogue' has been put to different descriptive and evaluative uses by constitutional and political theorists studying interactions between institutions concerning rights. It has also featured prominently in the opinions of courts and the rhetoric and deliberations of legislators. Constitutional Dialogue: Rights, Democracy, Institutions (Cambridge University Press, 2019) brings together many of the world's leading constitutional and political theorists to debate the nature and merits of constitutional dialogues between the judicial, legislative, and executive branches. The volume explores dialogue's democratic significance, examines its relevance to the functioning and design of constitutional institutions, and covers constitutional dialogues from an international and transnational perspective. This paper is reprinted from the volume's introductory chapter, which provides a review of the metaphor of dialogue across jurisdictions, and introduces the arguments of the contributing authors.


Reliable traffic counts on a highway system are critical for sound decision making about the maintenance, operation, and expansion of the system. Portable short-term automatic traffic recorders (ATRs) are a cost-efficient way to complement traffic counts from permanent ATR sites by performing temporary traffic counts on the highway system. Complicating the collection of traffic data with these short-term devices is the seasonal variation in vehicle operations throughout the year. This work focused on predicting the spatial distribution of seasonal traffic resulting from agricultural activities by using a new method that combines geographic information system spatial functions and the four-step travel demand model. This research collected information about township grids for Montana (as proxies for trip origins), grain elevators (trip destinations), agricultural ground cover, and crop yield estimates to estimate flows in tonnage at the grid level on the road network. Results suggest that the proposed method using the location of major crops and the locations of grain elevators can be used to predict tonnage of product that will be added to individual routes. The predicted values can then be compared with reported heavy-truck traffic to locate sites that may have underrepresented traffic flows. Although this work considered specifically three crops, the method can be applied to any resource flow that has known origin and destination information. The method can be enhanced by refining assumptions of the composition of heavy trucks transporting agricultural products and by field measurements of vehicle flows to better test the validity of the model.


Hypermarginalized populations, such as homeless drug users with acute health problems, are subject to multiple intersecting adversities that result in social exclusion and chronic suffering. Despite this population's high need for health and social services, institutions provide services that are fragmented and often punitive, contributing to further marginality. In this article, we present a hybrid methodological approach that combines clinical social work and ethnography in a study of intensive case management for HIV-positive indigent adults in Oakland, California. We investigate two primary research questions. First, we consider the challenges this population faces in navigating institutions to meet their basic needs, and we demonstrate how organizational irrationality has severe consequences for this population. Second, we grapple with the question of how to ethically engage hypermarginalized participants in research by presenting a clinically informed intervention that is responsive to individual vulnerabilities and also enhances our understanding of institutional failure.


Previous research has examined the factors that predict the face value of tickets in the primary market. Oftentimes, however, fans place a different value on tickets based on a variety of factors (team success, opponent, day of the week, etc.). The secondary market illustrates fans' willingness to pay prices that are considerably different from the actual face value of the ticket. This study examined the factors that influenced fans' perceived value for NFL playoff games during the 2007-2008 season using sell prices on www.ebay.com. Results indicated higher prices in the secondary market were associated with the total number of bids, total number of transactions for each game, current and previous home team winning percentage, population and income of the home city, face value of the ticket, day of the game, round of the playoffs, and number of days before the game that the ticket was sold.


Abstract Prey that are cryptic when at rest should limit movement to avoid disrupting crypsis. We studied effectiveness of crypsis and degree of reliance on immobility versus escape by Craugastor frogs approached by a predator. We studied detectability of C. fitzingeri resting in a 2 m diameter circle of leaf litter using four human observers. Nearly 40% of frogs were not detected within 60 s, and mean detection time was more than 30 s despite a small search area. Given a much lower density in natural habitats, it is likely that these frogs are rarely detected visually without area-concentrated search, except perhaps by predators sensitive to wavelengths not detected by human beings. When approached by a human, over 90% of individuals belonging to five species of Craugastor remained immobile until the predator reached them. Only C. noblei fled, and this species fled more frequently than the others at higher approach speed. Approach speed did not affect probability of jumping or distance jumped. Distance jumped varied among species, but was unrelated to body length except for C. mimus during fast approaches. Extreme reliance on crypsis reinforced by immobility suggests that crypsis is so effective in these frogs that survivorship may be higher for individuals that do not attempt to escape. The increased probability of being detected and attacked upon moving combined with limited escape capacity presumably raises the probability of being captured for frogs that jump. The importance of crypsis is emphasized by observations that almost all frogs that jumped reestablished crypsis after a single jump by becoming immobile, and some burrowed into leaf litter upon landing, concealing the head and part of the body.


SUMMARY This article discusses travel behavior widely acknowledged to be a significant source of pollution: the use of private transport commonly referred to as the automobile. While this behavior can be tackled in a number of ways, this article presents an overview of key issues inhibiting a voluntary change in behavior among automobile users. These topics were identified based upon qualitative research data that was gathered from a number of UK households. The research methodology adopted different social marketing collateral in each of the households during the period of research. While weaknesses are identified in the marketing collateral, the research concludes that social marketing in itself cannot persuade people to make significant changes in their travel behavior. There are deeper issues at work for commuters that need to be more fully understood by the transport research community. The value of social marketing instead may lie as an effective channel of communication that can be utilized by designated authorities in delivering important transport messages to commuters and private transport users at large.


Over the last decade, the transmission of zoonotic malaria from non-human primates to humans has emerged as a public health problem and possible threat to malaria elimination in Southeast Asia. A major outbreak of the macaque malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi in humans began in Malaysian Borneo in 2004 and is now the primary cause of malaria in this region. This simian parasite is transmitted by mosquitoes in the Anopheles leucophyrus species complex. The emergence of P. knowlesi has been tightly linked to land-use change, particularly the widespread deforestation occurring in the state of Sabah where the largest focus of human infection is found. Efforts to combat this disease and understand its emergence and future spread in humans are hindered by limited knowledge of mosquito vector ecology and behaviour; and the risks of exposure to vectors in changing landscapes. This PhD aimed to address these knowledge gaps by carrying out a series of field studies near the epicentre of human P. knowlesi cases in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, to elucidate P. knowlesi vector ecology, behaviour and transmission potential, verify associations between land-use type and human exposure risk, and characterize the dynamics of transmission within reservoir macaque populations. In combination this information will deepen understanding of P. knowlesi transmission and emergence, and provide insights for the control of this and other emerging zoonotic malarias.
My initial study evaluated new sampling methods for collecting resting P. knowlesi vectors. Resting collections are valuable for characterization of mosquito habitat and host species choice, however no standard methodology is currently available for P. knowlesi vectors. I evaluated two simple traps, resting buckets and sticky resting buckets, for sampling resting P. knowlesi vectors within two villages in Kudat District, Sabah. The performance of traps was evaluated, and the relative abundance and host choice of resting mosquito vectors was compared across eight different habitat types representing a gradient of deforestation. In 5748 trap days, a total of 2212 mosquitoes were collected in resting collections, but none were malaria vector species. Culex and Aedes genera dominated collections; with the former being most abundant in resting bucket traps and CDC aspirator catches, and the latter in sticky resting bucket traps. Several other vector species were collected including the sylvatic dengue vector Aedes albopictus, and Culex vectors of filarasis and Japanese encephalitis. Consequently these simple resting traps could be effective for studying the ecology of a range of other important mosquito vectors in Sabah even if not those responsible for malaria.
In a following study I investigated associations between habitat and human exposure to P. knowlesi vectors, and tested for associations between vector abundance and human infection risk across a broad geographic range in Sabah. Previous studies indicated that the primary P. knowlesi vector was An. balabacensis. This vector was more abundant in a village than forest site, conflicting with the original hypothesis that humans are at greatest risk of infection in forests and suggested the possibility of peri-domestic transmission. However this inference was drawn from a limited number of sampling sites in only one district, Kudat, within Sabah. To test this hypothesis over a broader geographical scale, I conducted extensive entomological sampling across four districts in Sabah. Human landing catches were performed to measure human biting rates in forest, farm (plantation) and peri-domestic habitats in 11 villages. Prior to entomological sampling survey of human sero-positivity to P. knowlesi was conducted in all villages, carried out as part of a larger research programme. Making use of this data, I tested for associations between vector abundance and human infection risk at the village level. The primary vector An. balabacensis was found in all four districts, but at much lower relative abundance than in pilot work from Kudat. Additionally this vector was more abundant in forest and farm habitats than in peri-domestic settings. Only 1 of the 32 An. balabacensis collected in this study tested positive for P. knowlesi; an individual caught in a forest site. No significant association between the mean abundance of An. balabacensis and human P. knowlesi sero-positivity was detected in this study. However the relatively small sample size of mosquitoes and sites used here meant there was relatively low power to detect such an effect. This study highlights the importance of incorporating geographical heterogeneity and replication when assessing mosquito-habitat associations, and the need for more intensive longer-term sampling to establish potential entomological indicators of P. knowlesi infection in humans.
A final study was conducted to investigate the transmission dynamics of P. knowlesi in macaque reservoir populations. Most studies of P. knowlesi vectors have been conducted in or near disturbed forest, where both humans and macaques are in contact. It is unknown whether the same vector species involved in human-macaque infection also mediate transmission between macaques. To investigate this and other aspects of macaque-mosquito interactions, I conducted a field study within the Danau Girang Field Centre in Sabah where there is a large population of long-tailed macaques. First I evaluated the use of Mosquito Magnet Independence Traps (MMIT) as a non-invasive means to sample mosquitoes host seeking near macaque sleeping sites. The MMIT performed well relative to the human landing catch, with both methods collecting An. balabacensis and other malaria vector species. Second, MMITs were used to sample mosquitoes host seeking near trees where macaques were sleeping and at unoccupied control trees. Additionally, macaque faecal samples were tested for malaria as an estimate of infection rate in the reservoir population. Anopheles balabacensis was more abundant at macaque sleeping sites than control trees indicating this vector has a specific propensity for feeding on macaques. Approximately 37% (n = 17/46) of macaque stool samples tested positive for Plasmodium infection but none of these were identified as being P. knowlesi. Two Anopheles vectors tested positive for Plasmodium which was subsequently confirmed as the primate parasite P. inui. Thus P. inui is likely the major source of malaria infection in this primate population. This study indicates that not all macaque populations pose a P. knowlesi risk, but other malaria parasites are common and should be monitored to assess for future spillover.
In combination, this research expands knowledge of P. knowlesi transmission in Malaysian Borneo, and has implications for planning surveillance and control. Notably it emphasizes the value of larger-scale surveillance of vector and macaque populations to assess human exposure risk, as and requirement of an integrated One Health approach to tackle zoonotic malaria.


Prediction of pavement condition is one of the most important issues in pavement management systems. In this paper, capabilities of artificial neural networks (ANNs) and group method of data handling (GMDH) methods in predicting flexible pavement conditions were analysed in three levels: in 1 year, in 2 years (short term) and in the pavement life cycle (long term). For this purpose, three effective groups on pavement condition including traffic conditions, environmental changes and pavement structures were studied and nine effective variables were selected as input variables. International roughness index (IRI) was also used as the indicator of pavement performance. Various ANN structures and GMDH models in partial description configurations of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th polynomials were formed and examined. Results indicate that while ANN models predict future condition of pavement with high accuracy in the short and long terms, GMDH models do not have accepted accuracy.


A project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of its Digital Transformations Scheme, Exploring British Design, led by the University of Brighton with Jisc, embraces the experience, expertise, and content of the University of Brighton Design Archives and the Archives Hub to find new ways of approaching design history. Involving technologists, historians, editors and curators, Exploring British Design is informed by expertise from a range of institutions, and from the experiences of students, lecturers, librarians, museum professionals and archivists. The project connects and amplifies information about Britain's rich design history held in numerous museums and archives. Through the building of detailed biographical authority records as entry points, and by taking an innovative approach to rendering archival structure, the project prototype allows researchers to undertake a self-directed approach to exploration and to build narratives across collections and across institutions. Exploring British Design deploys the archival standard, Encoded Archival Context – Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families (EAC-CPF), to disrupt conventions of 'top down' collection-based approaches to discovery. It reveals new designers and new relationships and serves to challenge assumptions about the ways that design's history has been constructed and presented to us.


Fracture-dislocations of the carpometacarpal joint (CMCJ) of the little ray involve dorsal subluxation of the metacarpal base and they may be associated with injury of neighbouring CMCJs. Different treatment options are described, with no clear consensus on their management. This study presents a systematic review of comparative studies describing the management of these injuries. A bespoke search strategy was applied across multiple databases. Results were screened against specified stepwise inclusion criteria and data were extracted independently by two authors with discrepancy resolution by a third. Of 437 search results, six comparative studies were identified. Comparisons included non-operative or early mobilization versus fixation K-wires or open reduction and internal fixation. Conclusions were mixed; all studies had critical or significant risks of bias (using the ROBINS-I tool) and there was heterogeneity between studies.


This paper reports our preliminary findings on the assessment of language vitality of Sembiran Balinese in the larger socio-cultural transformation of contemporary Bali.  Sembiran Balinese, also known as Bali Aga, is a conservative mountain dialect of Balinese spoken by around 5,000 speakers in the Sembiran village, 30 km east of Singaraja northern Bali. The language and its culture reflect Bali in antiquity (Ardika, et al. 1991; Ardika, et al. 1997), with the language quite distinct from Lowland Balinese (Bali Dataran), for example in terms of its pronominal system and the absence of speech level system (Astini 1996, Sedeng 2007, Arka & Sedeng 2018). The study is based on the data collected through questionnaires focusing on subjective views of ethno-linguistic vitality such as in-/out-group interactions and domains of language use in contemporary multilingual settings, supported by ethnographic data. The analysis makes use of the current development in the sociolinguistics of vitality, particularly the notions of ethnolinguistic vitality (Giles, et al 1977) and theories of language shift and endangerment (Grenoble & Whaley 2006, Fishman 1991). The findings reveal that Sembiran Balinese appears to have a relatively strong linguistic vitality even though the speech community itself is a minority group in Bali.


Decisions about intervention into today's armed conflicts are difficult, dangerous, and politically complicated. There are no safe choices. Amid the climate of urgency and uncertainty in which intervention decision-making occurs, international law serves as a guide by providing rules about the legality of intervention. These rules assert that, except for in cases of self-defense, choices about when and how to intervene are to be made by the United Nations Security Council. What the rules do not provide, however, is effective guidance for the political choices the Council makes, such as how to prioritize among competing norms. When, for example, should the Council uphold the sovereignty-based norm of nonintervention and when should it authorize humanitarian intervention in alignment with the emerging norm of the Responsibility to Protect? Absent such guidance, some hold that international law becomes an after-the fact justification for whatever decision is made or that it has no influence whatsoever.Rejecting this view, this Article proposes that international law informs political choices about intervention through its purposive intent. The idea of law's purposive intent — that rules and norms should be interpreted in light of their object and purpose — is rooted in legal process theory. The Article further posits that the purposive intent of international law is the promotion of peace. Under this approach, any decision to intervene must have as its overriding purpose the promotion of long-term, positive peace. This thesis offers a novel contribution to the literature on intervention by applying legal process theory to an area of inquiry dominated by substantive legal perspectives. More fundamentally, it presents a vision that reshapes the paradigm of intervention from one that mistakenly focuses on combating violence with force to one that takes seriously the daunting task of building peace.


A deep question in economics is why wages and salaries don't fall during recessions. this is not true of other prices, which adjust relatively quickly to reflect changes in demand and supply. Although economists have posited many theories to account for wage rigidity, none is satisfactory. eschewing "top-down" theorizing, the author explored the puzzle by interviewing - during the recession of the early 1990s - over 300 business executives and labour leaders as well as professional recruiters and advisors to the unemployed. By taking this approach, gaining the confidence of his interlocutors and asking them detailed questions in a nonstructured way, he was able to uncover empirically the circumstances that give rise to wage rigidity. He found that the executives were averse to cutting wages of either current employees or new hires, even during the economic downturn when demand for their products fell sharply. They believed that cutting wages would hurt morale, which they felt was critical in gaining the cooperation of their employees, and in convincing them to internalize the managers' objectives for the company. Bewley's findings contradict most theories of wage rigidity and provide fascinating insights into the problems businesses face that prevent labour markets from clearing.


I. INTRODUCTION On September 28, 1997, a resident at the Comanche Trail Nursing Center physically attacked his eighty-one-year-old roommate, Tranquilino Mendoza.1 As a result of the attack, Mr. Mendoza suffered a concussion and brain damage.2 His daughter claimed that her father was never the same after the attack and filed a lawsuit against the long-term care facility alleging negligence.3 In 2006, a jury awarded Mr. Mendoza $160 million.4 Similarly, on April 26, 2003, a resident of the Heritage House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center allegedly attacked Carolyn Mason, another resident at the same facility.5 Mrs. Mason suffered a broken hip.6 Like Mr. Mendoza, she filed a lawsuit against the long-term care facility alleging negligence.7 But instead of proceeding toward trial, Heritage House produced Mrs. Mason's seven-page admission agreement and moved to compel arbitration.8 Apparently unbeknownst to Mrs. Mason, pages five and six of the admission contract required that "any legal dispute which might arise shall be resolved exclusively by binding arbitration."9 Four years after the attack, the Mississippi Court of Appeals upheld the arbitration clause, thereby preventing Mrs. Mason from taking her case to trial.10 As a result, Mrs. Mason will argue her case in front of an arbitration panel rather than a judge and jury. If Mrs. Mason experienced abuse or neglect at Heritage House, a jury never will hear about it - she waived that right, which otherwise is guaranteed by the Constitution.11 Additionally, the public never will learn the outcome of her case12 because arbitration is generally confidential.13 Perhaps of greatest importance, Mrs. Mason lost her most valuable tools for negotiating a settlement. Because Heritage House has no reason to fear the unknown factors that play into a jury verdict, any settlement likely will be limited to compensatory damages.14 Further, damages often are capped contractually in arbitration agreements, and if they are not capped, they are generally very low for the elderly and disabled long-term care population.15 Finally, there is at least the suspicion that industry-wide arbitration tends to favor the repeat players - here the nursing homes- because arbitrators want future case referrals.16 The plight of Mrs. Mason is not uncommon. Mandatory predispute arbitration agreements are the emerging standard in longterm care ("LTC") admission contracts all around the country. The agreements are "mandatory" because arbitration is the only form of dispute resolution available to an aggrieved LTC resident when a claim arises. This form of arbitration agreement is "pre-dispute" because the resident/signer agrees to arbitrate any disputes that may arise between the parties in the future, rather than take those disputes to court. Pre-dispute arbitration agreements differ from postdispute agreements, in which parties agree to arbitrate a specific dispute after it has arisen.17 This Note refers to mandatory predispute arbitration agreements as "mandatory arbitration agreements." As mandatory arbitration agreements are discovered by consumers and claims arise,18 questions surrounding the legality and propriety of these agreements emerge. Critics of mandatory arbitration agreements in nursing home contracts urge that these provisions are intrinsically unfair.19 Arbitration provisions in nursing home contracts generally deny the elderly and disabled the right to raise any and all claims in court.20 Exacerbating this problem is the fact that admission to a nursing home is usually a remarkably stressful event for residents and their famiUes.21 Critics worry that families admitting a loved one to a nursing home are not capable of making rational and informed legal decisions.22 For example, a typical family may not appreciate the importance of a binding arbitration agreement in an admissions packet that also includes a plethora of technical documents, including Medicare information, patient rights, advance directives, and resident conduct policies. …


We observed six He-clump stars of the intermediate-age stellar cluster Gaia1 with the MIKE/ Magellan spectrograph. A possible extra-galactic origin of this cluster, recently discovered thanks to the first data release of the ESA Gaia mission, has been suggested, based on its orbital parameters. Abundances for Fe, α , proton- and neutron-capture elements have been obtained. We find no evidence of intrinsic abundance spreads. The iron abundance is solar ([FeI/H] = + 0.00 ± 0.01; σ = 0.03 dex). All the other abundance ratios are generally solar-scaled, similar to the Galactic thin disk and open cluster stars of similar metallicity. The chemical composition of Gaia1 does not support an extra-galactic origin for this stellar cluster, which can be considered as a standard Galactic open cluster.


What might motivate employees to participate in internal crowdsourcing, a peer-based approach to innovation? Should organizations use incentives that are congruent with their established hierarchical structures, or should they use incentives that are aligned with the aspirational, peer-based approach to innovation? We partnered with NASA for a qualitative study and a field experiment (N=7,455) to understand the effectiveness of different incentives that may motivate its workforce to participate in crowdsourcing. First, we show that concerns about the legitimacy of peer-based innovation disincentivize employees to participate. Second, we find that managerial recognition, the incentive that is congruent with the established hierarchy, significantly increases engagement. It does so by alleviating legitimacy concerns and by offering managerial attention. Peer recognition, which is congruent with the aspirational, peer-based approach to innovation, is not found to have a significant overall effect. However, workers who are otherwise less visible were positively motivated by it. Our research provides guidance for hierarchical organizations that are seeking greater employee engagement in peer-based innovation, and it adds insights on motivational channels to the literature on organizational innovation.


A comparative study for 62 toxic chemicals based on the simultaneous monthly collection of aerosol samples during 2015-2016 in two coastal cities at both the African (Bizerte, Tunisia) and European (Marseille, France) edges of the Western Mediterranean basin is presented. Legacy polychlorinated biphenyls (∑18PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (∑17PCDD/Fs) show generally higher median levels at the African edge (2.1 and 0.2 pg m-3, respectively) compared to the European coastal site (1.0 and 0.08 pg m-3, respectively). Contrarily, the "emerging" polybrominated diphenyl ethers' (∑27PBDEs) median concentrations were higher in Marseille (∼9.0 pg m-3) compared to Bizerte (∼6.0 pg m-3). Different past usages and current emission patterns were found at both edges of the Western Mediterranean, most probably linked to the respective different regulatory frameworks for toxic chemicals. Our results indicate that the total organic carbon (TOC) and/or the elemental carbon (EC) contents in the atmospheric aerosol may have a stronger effect than the total suspended particle (TSP) content as a whole on the spatial-temporal variability and the long-range atmospheric transport potential of the studied POPs. A "jumping" of the PBDE local atmospheric stocks from the Northwestern European Mediterranean edge to the Northwestern African coast seems to be possible under favorable conditions at present. While a higher PBDE median loading is estimated for the Marseille area (∼550 ng m-2 y-1) compared to Bizerte (∼400 ng m-2 y-1), the median PCB and PCDD/F dry deposition fluxes were higher at the African site, resulting in a 3-fold higher toxic equivalent (TEQ) loading of dioxin-like pollutants (400 pg TEQ m-2 y-1) compared to Marseille (∼140 pg TEQ m-2 y-1), with potential implications for aquatic organisms. However, the inhalation exposure assessment points to a minimum risk for human health at both sites.


Abstract Objective The present study examined food and beverage distributors' sourcing, placement and promotion of obesogenic (energy-dense, nutrient-poor) product categories from the perspective of small food store owners/managers. The obesogenic product categories of interest were savoury snacks, sugary beverages, sweet snacks, confectionery and frozen treats. Specifically, we examined how frequently distributors sourced these products, and the types of agreements and expectations they had for their placement and promotion. Differences were explored by store size and ethnicity. Fresh produce was used as a comparison when examining differences in frequency of sourcing only, with implications for healthy food access. Design Survey research involving in-person interviews. Setting Four urban areas in the USA: Baltimore, MD; Durham, NC; Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN; and San Diego, CA. Subjects Seventy-two small food store owners/managers, 65 % consent rate. Results Most distributors sourced obesogenic products weekly. Agreements to place products were predominantly informal (e.g. handshake) with sweet snack, confectionery and frozen treat distributors, and formal (e.g. contract) with savoury snack and sugary beverage distributors. Free-standing displays were the most common incentive provided by distributors and they expected some control over their placement and pricing. Free/discounted products and signage were also common incentives but slotting fees were not. Smaller stores and ethnic stores were less likely to receive various incentives, but among sweet snack distributors, they were more likely to control the price in ethnic v. non-ethnic stores. Conclusions Obesogenic products are ubiquitous. Influencing what is made available to consumers in the retail food environment needs to consider the distributor.


As is well known, marriage was frequently employed as an instrument of diplomatic policy in premodern Europe. Dynastic leaders used the marriages of their own family members to create or confirm alliances with other ruling houses. Peace was often the aim and the outcome of such agreements, but the reality of marital politics was far more complicated. Arranging a marriage could be a statement of enmity by two families toward a third party. Attempts to dissolve or prevent marriages already arranged by one's rivals amounted to viable political tactics. During the twelfth century, as rules around the formation and dissolution of Christian marriage were in flux, opportunities for manipulation of accepted practices abounded. This article examines a series of marriages between members of the Anglo-Norman and Angevin ruling families, focusing especially on the reign of Henry I (1100–35), to demonstrate the complexity of marital practices and their links to peace and war. Literary works of the age, notably Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, offer further cultural perspectives on the nature of political marriages. Whereas short-term tactical considerations meant that marriages were often tied to episodes of conflict and rivalry, from a longer-term perspective the usefulness of marriage as a means of securing and maintaining peace remained an important element of premodern diplomacy.


The aim of this study is to provide a literature review on the influence of the country of origin effect (COO) on consumer behavior. Despite the high number of studies carried out on COO since the Sixties, many issues are still discussed in the literature and several research questions should be clarified. Hence it becomes relevant to investigate more on this topic that is considered to be increasingly relevant in the international marketing strategy of the company. The main contributes have been analyzed following a chronological / conceptual approach, giving more relevance to the researches that had been able to add a significant value to the research literature. Suggestions for future researches pointed out by different Authors have been organized and structured, in order to create a stimulus for new studies and in-depth analysis on the country of origin effect.


We present a quantitative food‐web analysis of the cold‐water coral community, i.e., the assembly of living corals, dead coral branches and sediment beneath, associated with the reef‐building Lophelia pertusa on the giant carbonate mounds at ~800‐m depth at Rockall Bank. Carbon flows, 140 flows among 20 biotic and abiotic compartments, were reconstructed using linear inverse modeling by merging data on biomass, on‐board respiration, δ15N values, and literature constraints on assimilation and growth efficiencies. The carbon flux to the coral community was 75.1 mmol C m−2 d−1 and was partitioned among (phyto)detritus (81%) and zooplankton (19%). Carbon ingestion by the living coral was only 9% of the carbon ingestion by the whole community and was portioned among (phyto)detritus (72%) and zooplankton (28%). Carbon cycling in the community was dominated by suspension‐ and filter‐feeding macrofauna associated with dead coral branches. Sediment traps mounted on a bottom lander trapped 0.77 mmol C m−2 d−1 (annual average), which is almost two orders of magnitude lower than total carbon ingestion (75.1) and respiration (57.3 mmol C m−2 d−1) by the coral community. This discrepancy is explained in two ways: the coral community intercepts organic matter that would otherwise not settle on the seafloor, and through their action as ecosystem engineers, the increased turbulence generated by the coral framework and organic‐matter depletion in the boundary layer augment the influx to the coral community. A comparison of macrofaunal biomass and respiration data with soft sediments reveals that coral communities are hot spots of biomass and carbon cycling along continental margins.


To state that the European Court of Human Rights ("ECtHR" or "the Court") has become a victim of its own success is an oft-repeated mantra. Yet to ring the death knell for what is undoubtedly the most successful international human rights project is premature. While the Court is facing an unsustainable caseload under its current formation, the solution is not to abandon the Court altogether, but to find a structure that facilitates the accommodation of this burdensome caseload. While Protocol 14 - permitting a single judge to rule on admissibility - has eased the Court backlog somewhat, this impact has only been on cases which are 'clearly inadmissible'. Reform of the Court is still needed if it is to adequately deal with the huge numbers of cases that meet the requirement of admissibility, and the backlog of such cases that have yet to be adjudicated upon. In this article, we argue that although the large backlog of cases currently stifling the ECtHR is a direct result of the individual complaints procedure, nevertheless, the importance of this procedure as the "crown jewel" in the ECHR system cannot be foregone. Our proposed model for restructuring the ECtHR preserves such right of individual petition while facilitating the expedition of constitutionalist complaints. We argue that Chambers of the ECtHR should focus on adjudicatory cases and their procedure should be simplified, whereas the Grand Chamber should be reserved for pronouncing upon constitutionalist issues only. While Draft Protocols 15 and 16 contain provisions that can emphasise the separation between the adjudicatory function of the Chambers and constitutionalist function of the Grand Chamber, we argue that further reforms may be needed and these reforms should be based on the idea of functional separation between the Grand Chamber and other Court's formations.


Although speleothems are usually considered inorganic precipitates, recent work has demonstrated hitherto unsuspected biogenic influence in some twilight areas. We have expanded this notion to the dark zone, examining pool fingers from Hidden Cave, New Mexico, to test for possible bacterial involvement. The pool fingers in Hidden Cave are pendant speleothems that formed subaqueously in paleo-pools. They are 1 to 4 cm in diameter and 5 to 50 cm long. A knobby, irregular external shape is underlaid by a layered interior on two scales, a 0.5 to 1.0 cm alternation between dense and porous layers and a mm-scale alternation between dark micritic calcite and clear dogtooth spar. The micrite is similar to microbialites identified in modern and ancient carbonates. Fossil bacteria were found in all layers. These include (1) calcified filaments 1 w m in diameter and 5–50 w m long and (2) micro-rods 0.1 w m by 1–2 w m. Most filaments are curved rods with a smooth surface but rare examples display a diamond crosshatch surface. The micro-rods occur as isolated crystals to dense meshes. We interpret the micro-rods as calcified bacilliform bacteria and the filaments as calcified filamentous bacteria. Carbon isotopic data are slightly more negative (by - 0.5 to - 1.0% in micritic layers than in dogtooth spar layers, suggesting a greater microbial influence in the micritic layers. Based on these similarities to known microbialites (e.g., petrographic fabrics, the presence of fossil bacteria, and the suggestive carbon isotopic data), we conclude that microbial activity was an intimate part of pool finger formation in Hidden Cave. The significance of such involvement goes beyond speleological contexts to wider questions of identification of biosignatures in rocks on earth and beyond.


It is well documented that the overly theoretical coursework in conventional mathematics teacher education programs does not effectively challenge pre-service mathematics teachers' preconceived ideas about the teaching of mathematics. In addition, field experiences provided for pre-service teachers have been shown to have inherent limitations. Consequently, several mathematics educators have drawn attention to the need to engage pre-service mathematics teachers in experiences that present actual teaching practices and make it possible for them to study or critique those practices reflectively. In the developed countries like the US there appears to be a growing interest in the potential of multimedia systems to bring this type of reflective and critical thinking about the teaching of mathematics. In the developing countries such as Ghana, very little of such efforts, if any, is being done to improve mathematics teacher education. This paper looks at the potential of these multimedia environments to improve education of prospective mathematics teachers in Ghana. It focuses on how multimedia programs fit into contemporary theories of teacher learning and supports this with a discussion of empirical research efforts at using multimedia programs to facilitate education of prospective mathematics teachers. Implications for pre-service mathematics teacher education in Ghana are also presented.


INTRODUCTION
Fulminant hepatic failure is the end result of many different acute damage to the liver. In the present study we compared the clinical to the experimental experience and we postulated the usage of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in the clinical arena as a potential treatment in alternative to liver transplantation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Twelve patient diagnosed with fulminat hepatic failure have been enclosed in the present study. Each patient underwent trans-jugular liver biopsy in order to assess the degree of liver necrosis as well as the following biochemical investigation: AST ALT, Total Bilirubin, _gt, alkaline phosphatase, prothrombin time.

RESULTS
Twenty-five percent of those patients required support in the Intensive Care Unit without need for transplantation. Forty-one percent of those patients underwent liver transplantation, and 36% of them died before the liver become available. These results were compared with an experiment, previously performed by our group, where 260 rats were poisoned with CCl4 and subsequently treated with Vascula Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF).

CONCLUSION
The rate of the hepatic regeneration has been found to be critical in the prognosis of patients diagnosed with fulminant hepatic failure.


Abstract The effective use of alloying elements in powder metallurgical steels requires a deep understanding of their redistribution kinetics during sintering. In this work, interrupted sintering trials of Fe–2Cu and Fe–2Cu–0·5C compacts were performed. Moreover, diffusion simulations of Cu in γ-Fe using Dictra were performed. It is found that transient liquid phase penetrates the Fe interparticle and grain boundaries in less than 3 min of holding time. However, C addition limits the penetration of liquid Cu, particularly into grain boundaries of large Fe particles. The results also show that the mean diffusion distance of Cu in γ-Fe in the C added system is slightly lower than that in the C-free system at 3 min of holding time; however, after 33 min, the mean diffusion distance is similar in both systems. The diffusion distances of Cu in γ-Fe, predicted by Dictra, are in good agreement with the measured values.


Hydropower is a key component in a decentralised market with increasing penetration of often intermittent renewable energy resources. There is growing need for large-scaleoperators to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the full dynamic capabilities of a given hydropower plant, while developments in small-scale hydro will aid in waste energy recovery and rural electrification. In particular, greater confidence in the transient response characteristics of hydro generators will in turn enable and encourage increased contributions from other much needed large scale renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, without compromising grid stability.

The major drawback of current pump-as-turbine (PAT) micro-hydro solutions is the very narrow effective operating band and lack of universal performance prediction models. To address this, the design process and installed performance of a new 6.2 kW PAT microhydro turbine unit and test facility is presented. Steady state testing over the full operating range indicates a best efficiency of 79% and demonstrates near peak efficiency operation over an extended range of head and flow conditions. The developed turbine is a promising prototype of a lower cost alternative for installations where the capital costs associated with conventional Francis turbine units are often prohibitive.

The potential for hydraulic turbines to provide rapid reserve power generation is investigated experimentally by transitioning the micro-hydro unit from a modified synchronous condenser mode under varying levels of tail water depression and inlet guide vane (IGV) opening rates. Similar full-scale testing on a 116 MW Francis turbine generating set revealed an undesirable power draw and subsequent output power oscillations during the early stages of transition limiting the potential contribution of the tested unit. Direct shaft power measurements of the micro-hydro unit during transition demonstrate the presence of an inhibiting mechanical torque applied to the runner during low guide vane opening angles, of the order of 2% of rated, which is believed to initiate the electromechanical response seen at full-scale. The temporal location and duration of the applied negative torque was found to be highly dependent on IGV opening rate while the effect of tail water depression level was insignificant under constant head conditions. The magnitude of the power draw was independent of initial tail water depression level, while an increased opening rate marginally reduced the observed power draw at the laboratory scale.

An improved one-dimensional numerical model of a Francis turbine hydropower plant for dynamic response studies is presented. The model is based on the equations of motion and continuity, while the conventional representation of the hydraulic turbine as an orifice is improved upon to account for machine behaviour away from design using known inlet flow velocity vectors. The new model remains valid at low IGV angles, where the traditional one-dimensional model breaks down, and is validated against full-scale transient test data.
Furthermore, simulation results support the findings of experimental work indicating a high dependence on IGV opening rate in relation to output response during transition from tail water depression mode.

Ultimately, the research presented assesses the feasibility of transitioning a Francis turbine unit from tail water depression mode to generation for the purpose of providing rapid load support to the local grid. A three-stage transition mechanism responsible for the observed output response is proposed based on the findings from both experimental and numerical investigations, while key parameters and potential risks are identified. Finally an improved set of operational guidelines are presented for increasing the provision of rapid reserve power generation for maintaining system stability and ensuring a secure electricity supply.


Taken as such, default rules do not intrude on autonomy, even if they influence people without persuading them. When default rules give people certain rights automatically (such as the right to vote), they promote autonomy for just that reason. And to the extent that default rules give people the freedom to focus on their most pressing concerns, they reduce "bandwidth taxes" and increase autonomy as well. When default rules compromise autonomy, it is not because they are default rules; it is because they invade, or take, certain rights or interests without people's explicit consent


Several species of "philosciid" Oniscidea are known from Brazil, most of them were found in the southern and eastern parts of this country. The genera Atlantoscia Ferrara & Taiti, 1981, Benthana Budde-Lund, 1908 and Balloniscus Budde-Lund, 1908, the latter considered to represent a separate family Balloniscidae Vandel, 1963, are considered the only neotropical philosciids bearing respiratory areas on their pleopods. Therefore, representatives of these genera are re-examined to shed new light on the question whether these species can be considered to be a monophylum with the autapomorphy "respiratory areas present", The phytogeny of the above-mentioned genera is discussed under morphological and biogeographical aspects. Furthermore, a remarkable new species of Atlantoscia Ferrara & Taiti, 1981, which bears pleopodal lungs in all five pairs of pleopods, is described. In regard to this character, it differs from its sister species Atlantoscia floridana (Van Name, 1940). Additionally, the hitherto unknown male of Benthana convexa Lemos de Castro, 1958 will be described; it is evident that this species is different from its closest relative B. schubarti Lemos de Castro, 1958, which is also found in Brazil,


Abstract. In the present article, the mantle convection is simulated numerically using a temperature dependent non-linear viscoelastic model for the first time. The numerical domain of problem is con sidered as a 4000 km*2000 km rectangular box and the CFD simulation is performed using finite volume method. Unlike the previous works which had been investigated the mantle convection using the linear viscoelastic models or simple nonlinear inelastic viscous equations (such as power law or cross equations), it is solved via the nonlinear Giesekus constitutive equation. Because of large-scale creeping flow in geometry and time, it is shown that the results of Giesekus equation are more reliable for this problem. The main innovative aspects of current study is investigation of temperature dependency of rheological properties of mantle including viscosity, normal stress differences and relaxation time using appropriate equations of state. The variation of gravitational acceleration with depth of Earth and the effect of the work of stress field (viscous dissipation) on mantle convection are also simulated for the first time.


The large-scale structure of the Universe is a `cosmic web' of interconnected clusters, filaments, and sheets of matter. This work comprises two complementary projects investigating the cosmic web using correlations between three different tracers: the cosmic microwave background (CMB), supernovae (SNe), and large quasar groups (LQGs). In the first project we re-analyse the apparent correlation between CMB temperature and SNe redshift reported by Yershov, Orlov and Raikov. In the second we investigate for the first time whether LQGs exhibit coherent alignment.
Project 1: The cosmic web leaves a detectable imprint on CMB temperature. Evidence presented by Yershov, Orlov and Raikov showed that the WMAP/Planck CMB pixel-temperatures at supernovae (SNe) locations tend to increase with increasing redshift. They suggest this could be caused by the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect and/or by residual foreground contamination.
We assess the correlation independently using Planck 2015 SMICA R2.01 data and, following Yershov et al., a sample of 2,783 SNe from the Sternberg Astronomical Institute. Our analysis supports the prima facie existence of the correlation but attributes it to a composite selection bias caused by the chance alignment of seven deep survey fields with CMB hotspots. These seven fields contain 9.2% of the SNe sample (256 SNe). Spearman's rank-order correlation coefficient indicates the correlation present in the whole sample (p-value = 6.7 x 10-9) is insignificant for a sub-sample of the seven fields together (p-value = 0.2) and entirely absent for the remainder of the SNe (p-value = 0.6). We demonstrate the temperature and redshift biases of these deep fields, and estimate the likelihood of their falling on CMB hotspots by chance is  6.8% – 8.9% (approximately 1 in 11 – 15). We show that a sample of 7,880 SNe from the Open Supernova Catalogue exhibits the same effect, and conclude that it is an accidental but not unlikely selection bias.
Project 2: The cosmic web influences structure formation and evolution; galaxy and quasar spins correlate with their host large-scale structures. We investigate for the first time whether the LQGs hosting the quasars themselves exhibit coherent alignment. We use the position angle (PA) of 71 LQGs in the redshift range 1.0  z  1.8 as the tracer here. We find that their PAs do not follow a random distribution (p-values 0.008  p  0.07). Their distribution is bimodal with modes at the centre of the A1 region of   52 ± 2, 137 ± 3. The median location of the modes at all 71 LQG locations is   45 ± 2, 136 ± 2. We find that the LQG PAs are correlated, specifically aligned and orthogonal, with a maximum significance of  0.8% (2.4 ) at typical angular (comoving) separations of  30 ( 1.6 Gpc).
This finding suggests an explanation for the Gpc-scale coherent orientation of quasar polarization, first reported by Hutsemekers in 1998, and since widely studied. Our results are remarkably close to the radio polarization angles of   42, 131 reported by Pelgrims and Hutsemekers. The origin of these correlations is still an open question, but is often attributed to quasars' intrinsic alignment. More recently, evidence has emerged that quasar polarization vectors are preferentially parallel and orthogonal to LQG axes. Our results integrate these two findings.
The statistical significance of our results is marginal, and we cannot exclude the LQG correlation being a chance anomaly. However, spatial coincidence between our LQG sample and regions of quasar polarization alignment, and the similarity between LQG PAs and radio polarization angles, suggest an interesting result. The tendency of LQGs to be either aligned or orthogonal warrants further investigation, and we suggest future work to evaluate this intriguing correlation further.


BACKGROUND
α-Lipoic acid (LA) is a dietary supplement for maintaining energy balance, but well-controlled clinical trials in otherwise healthy, overweight adults using LA supplementation are lacking.

OBJECTIVES
The primary objective was to evaluate whether LA supplementation decreases elevated plasma triglycerides in overweight or obese adults. Secondary aims examined if LA promotes weight loss and improves oxidative stress and inflammation.

METHODS
Overweight adults [n = 81; 57% women; 21-60 y old; BMI (in kg/m2) ≥ 25] with elevated plasma triglycerides ≥100 mg/dL were enrolled in a 24-wk, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial, assigned to either (R)-α-lipoic acid (R-LA; 600 mg/d) or matching placebo, and advised not to change their diet or physical activity. Linear models were used to evaluate treatment effects from baseline for primary and secondary endpoints.

RESULTS
R-LA did not decrease triglyceride concentrations, but individuals on R-LA had a greater reduction in BMI at 24 wk than the placebo group (-0.8; P = 0.04). The effect of R-LA on BMI was correlated to changes in plasma triglycerides (r = +0.50, P = 0.004). Improvement in body weight was greater at 24 wk in R-LA subgroups than in placebo subgroups. Women and obese participants (BMI ≥ 35) showed greater weight loss (-5.0% and -4.8%, respectively; both P < 0.001) and loss of body fat (-9.4% and -8.6%, respectively; both P < 0.005). Antioxidant gene expression in mononuclear cells at 24 wk was greater in the R-LA group (Heme oxygenase 1 [HMOX1] : +22%; P = 0.02) than in placebo. Less urinary F2-isoprostanes (-25%; P = 0.005), blood leukocytes (-10.1%; P = 0.01), blood thrombocytes (-5.1%; P = 0.03), and ICAM-1 (-7.4%; P = 0.04) at 24 wk were also observed in the R-LA group than in placebo.

CONCLUSIONS
Long-term LA supplementation results in BMI loss, greater antioxidant enzyme synthesis, and less potential for inflammation in overweight adults. Improved cellular bioenergetics is also evident in some individuals given R-LA.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00765310.


Complexity surrounding the holistic nature of customer experience has made measuring customer perceptions of interactive service experiences, challenging. At the same time, advances in technology and changes in methods for collecting explicit customer feedback are generating increasing volumes of unstructured textual data, making it difficult for managers to analyze and interpret this information. Consequently, text mining, a method enabling automatic extraction of information from textual data, is gaining in popularity. However, this method has performed below expectations in terms of depth of analysis of customer experience feedback and accuracy. In this study, we advance linguistics-based text mining modeling to inform the process of developing an improved framework. The proposed framework incorporates important elements of customer experience, service methodologies and theories such as co-creation processes, interactions and context. This more holistic approach for analyzing feedback facilitates a deeper analysis of customer feedback experiences, by encompassing three value creation elements: activities, resources, and context (ARC). Empirical results show that the ARC framework facilitates the development of a text mining model for analysis of customer textual feedback that enables companies to assess the impact of interactive service processes on customer experiences. The proposed text mining model shows high accuracy levels and provides flexibility through training. As such, it can evolve to account for changing contexts over time and be deployed across different (service) business domains; we term it an "open learning" model. The ability to timely assess customer experience feedback represents a pre-requisite for successful co-creation processes in a service environment.


Unwed mother hood results in different psychosocial problems in children. Practice of devadasi systemwere young girls are consecrating to God towards perform the role of community entertainers, offering sexual services to their patrons leads to unwed mother hood in various rural villages in south India. These unwed mothers are deserted to bring up their children in absolute poverty, experience the stigma of being the child of unwed mother (Devadasi) and illegitimacy that results in various psychosocial problems among these children. Aim: Psychosocial profile children of unwed (devadasi) mothers, single parent and children with both parents. Methodology: A descriptive cum comparative study was conducted among 180 children (60 children each of devadasis, single parent and both parents category) of 10 to 16yrs, in 36 villages of Bagalkot District, Karnataka, India through simple random sampling. Results and discussion: A checklist on 15 psychosocial domains was developed, standardized and administered among the samples. The results revealed psychosocial problems among children in the areas of basic needs; family support; social support; personal safety, conflicts in family and child marriage. Conclusion: The psychosocial issues identified above were prevalent among the children in the population studied though there is no significant difference between children of unwed mothers( devadasis), single parent and both parents.


Problem definition: We examine whether priority queues benefit consumers relative to first-in first-out service. Academic/practical relevance: Priorities are a commonly recommend way to reduce waiting costs, but it is not clear whether they help customers. Methodology: We build an analytical model that assumes that consumers are privately informed of their waiting cost and cannot observe the queue. Results: Whether priorities increase consumer surplus relative to first-in, first-out service depends on the model of customer utility and on the distribution of waiting costs. If all customers have the same value of the service independent of waiting costs, priorities essentially always lower consumer surplus. If a customer's value of the service is an increasing function of her waiting cost, priorities lower [increase] surplus if the waiting cost distribution has a decreasing [increasing] mean residual life. Priorities potentially make all customers worse off; low priority customers may pay a higher out-of-pocket price than they would under first-in, first-out service. Managerial implications: Decision makers – whether managers or policy makers – should be cognizant of how priorities impact consumers. While priorities have benefits, they often serve to shift value to from consumers to firms.


In a pathbreaking analysis, Sara Singleton explores the development of schemes for the management of fisheries in the northwestern United States in which native American tribes, and state, federal, and local governments cooperate to manage limited fishing resources. In the policy dispute over the apportionment of scarce resources, some argue that only government control or private ownership will prevent the destruction of limited common resources. The author shows how cooperation among interested parties can produce a workable system for self-management of common resources. Through the detailed study of the management of fisheries in the Northwest the author tests theories explaining the basis of collective action and social cooperation, an area of rich theoretical speculation in political science, law, economics and sociology. At the same time, her findings have important implications for policy makers who are interested in efficient and effective schemes of resource control that avoid the problems caused by regulation by remote government officials or private control.This book will appeal to policy makers concerned with the management of natural resources as well as to economists, political scientists, and sociologists concerned with collective action problems.Sara Singleton is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Tulane University.


The association/handoff procedures are important components in a balanced operation of 802.11-based wireless mesh networks. In this paper, we introduce the concept of cooperative association where the stations (STA) can share useful information in order to improve the performance of the association/reassociation procedures. Furthermore, in this work we introduce a load balancing mechanism that can be applied in mesh networks. This mechanism operates in a cross-layer manner taking into account uplink and downlink channel information, routing information, and congestion-based information. Our load balancing mechanism is based on a fairness index that is measured at each access point (AP) neighborhood. This index reflects the way the communication load is shared in the neighboring APs. The iterative heuristic algorithms that we propose controls the communication load of each mesh AP in a distributed manner. We evaluate the performance of our mechanisms through OPNET simulations.


Coco Chanel: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Icon is an illustrated biography of Coco's Chanel's life from the internationally reknown illustrator and author, Megan Hess. Coco Chanel features key moments from Coco's amazing life and iconic items from the fashion empire that she built. Think an illustrated picture book for adults, told through Megan's stylish and feminine illustrations with a fun, whimsical and magical bent. Coco Chanel takes us on a romp through the three distinct chapters of Coco's life: from Coco's early life and building the brand, to the empire she created, to the legacy she left behind, and how her style is still influential and iconic today. "Hess's book literally paints a picture of the woman who forever changed the way women dress." - The Australian "Coco Chanel: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Icon is a beautifully presented biography of the designer" - Books + Publishing National "Style lovers, unite! This amazing guided tour of Chanel's game-changing empire is made for coffee tables" - Cleo "Australian illustrator Megan Hess, whose work graces prestigious designers and brands including Chanel, Carrier and Tiffany and Co., creates a whimsical adventure through the world of Mademoiselle Chanel" - PRIMOLife


The southern foreland basin of the Pyrenees (Ebro basin) is an exorheic drainage basin since Late Miocene times. Remnants of an early exorheic Ebro drainage system are not preserved, but morphology provides evidence for the Pliocene–Quaternary drainage development. The incision history of the Ebro system is denoted by (i) extensive, low gradient pedimentation surfaces which are associated with the denudation of the southern Pyrenean piedmont around the Pliocene–Quaternary transition and (ii) deeply entrenched Quaternary river valleys. Presumably since the Middle Pleistocene fluvial incision intensified involving the formation of extensive terrace staircase in the Ebro basin. Terrace exposure dating in major Ebro tributary rivers indicates climate‐triggered terrace formation in response to glacial–interglacial climate and glacier fluctuations in the Pyrenean headwaters. The overall (semi)parallel longitudinal terrace profiles argue for progressive base level lowering for the whole Ebro drainage network. The landscape evolution model, TISC, is used to evaluate climatic, tectonic and base level scenarios for terrace staircase formation in the Ebro drainage system. Model simulations are compared with morpho‐climatic, tectonic and chronologic data. Results show that climatic fluctuations cause terrace formation, but the incision magnitudes and convergent terrace profiles predicted by this climate model scenario are not consistent with the (semi)parallel terraces in the Ebro basin. A model including previous (late Pliocene) uplift of the lower Ebro basin results in rapid base‐level lowering and erosion along the drainage network, small late stage incision magnitudes and terrace convergence, which are not in agreement with observations. Instead, continuous Quaternary uplift of both the Pyrenees and the Ebro foreland basin triggers (semi)parallel terrace staircase formation in southern Pyrenean tributary rivers in consistency with the observed longitudinal terrace profiles and Middle–Late Pleistocene incision magnitudes. Forward model simulations indicate that the present Ebro drainage system is actively incising, providing further evidence for uplift.


This paper explores the use of Creoles in Caribbean English Literature and how it tends to be translated into Spanish by analyzing the Spanish translations of two novels written by Caribbean author, Oonya Kempadoo. Kempadoo is a relatively new and unknown author. She was born in England to Guyanese parents and grew up in the Caribbean. She lived in several of the islands, including St. Lucia and Trinidad and at present resides in Grenada. Apart from being a novelist, she is a freelance researcher and consultant in the arts, and works with youth and international organizations, where she focuses on social development. Her first novel, Buxton Spice, was published in 1998. Described as a semi-autobiography by Publisher's Weekly , it has also been praised for being original and universal in the portrayal of its themes. It is the story of a young girl growing up in Guyana during the Burnham regime. It is written as a series of vignettes, which contributes to the seemingly quick development of Lula from childhood to adolescence, as she learns to explore her sexuality. This novel has been published in the United Kingdom and the United States, and has been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese and Hebrew. The version used for this investigation was translated by Victor Pozanco and commissioned by Tusquets Publishers. Kempadoo's second novel, Tide Running , also forms part of this investigation. As the 2002 winner of the Casa de las Americas Literary prize for Caribbean English and Creole, this novel was translated into Spanish by a Cuban translator as a part of the award. It is the story of an unambitious Tobagonian youth who becomes entangled in a bizarre relationship with an interracial couple. The story highlights several issues, such as poverty, race and social class differences, sex and right and wrong. As a researcher, I felt that it would be enlightening to see how a Caribbean translator, from a country (Cuba) with limited access to mass cultural currents commonplace elsewhere, handles this piece of prose which is so heavily steeped in Trinbagonian culture.


Abstract Objectives: To observe and analyse the range and nature of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) employed by audiologists during hearing-aid fitting consultations to encourage and enable hearing-aid use. Design: Non-participant observation and qualitative thematic analysis using the behaviour change technique taxonomy (version 1) (BCTTv1). Study sample: Ten consultations across five English NHS audiology departments. Results: Audiologists engage in behaviours to ensure the hearing-aid is fitted to prescription and is comfortable to wear. They provide information, equipment, and training in how to use a hearing-aid including changing batteries, cleaning, and maintenance. There is scope for audiologists to use additional BCTs: collaborating with patients to develop a behavioural plan for hearing-aid use that includes goal-setting, action-planning and problem-solving; involving significant others; providing information on the benefits of hearing-aid use or the consequences of non-use and giving advice about using prompts/cues for hearing-aid use. Conclusions: This observational study of audiologist behaviour in hearing-aid fitting consultations has identified opportunities to use additional behaviour change techniques that might encourage hearing-aid use. This information defines potential intervention targets for further research with the aim of improving hearing-aid use amongst adults with acquired hearing loss.


This master thesis work was done at Ipendo Systems in Linkoping, a company that makes an intellectual property management system called Ipendo Platform. The master thesis describes the design and development of an extension to a web based solution to work as desktop application and demonstrating the solution with an Outlook plugin. The goal was to improve the workflow for the user when handling documents received by mail and also find and evaluate a model for product integration that could be re-used for future projects. The result of the master thesis is an Outlook plugin and a web service that exposes part of Ipendo Platform functionality in a service layer. As a final test the solution was tested in a production environment to simulate real world usage. The report provides conclusions about the pros and cons of this kind solution and how the current design and implementation of Ipendo Platform has affected the outcome.


Flowing from a curriculum review and strategic re-direction of the School of Creative Arts from 2015
to 2017, this paper details an approach to designing 'valuable' degrees in the service of futureoriented,
place-based concerns. The place in focus could be equally labelled 'wicked Tasmania' for
its demographic and educational attainment challenges, or 'design island' for its rich traditions and
cultures of making, beginning with the Aboriginal Tasmanians. Amid a phase of unprecedented
creative production in Tasmania, four themes have been deemed 'valuable' to the island state:
creative communities, creative technology, creative health, and creative industries. In our thematic and post-disciplinary conception of curricula, once discreet disciplines are wilfully
subsumed and re-oriented to intersect with 'foreign' disciplines such as health, science, community
services and tourism, and socially-located practices outside the university. Such boundary crossing
pursued via these thematics is not an end in itself; rather it is positioned in the service of the
Tasmanian communities and industries with which we partner, as well as institutional goals for
graduates. Taking perspectives from curriculum design, place and cultural value, we outline the re-design of a
statewide degree targeting the educational goals of Tasmania: the Bachelor of Creative Arts (BCA).
We highlight the thematic underpinnings, course design principles, and dialogue between
disciplinary and contextual curriculum elements. Finally, we propose that discerning and delivering
value, through the critical engagement of creativity with the specifics of place, becomes the key
transferable skill of our future BCA graduates.


This essay explores the articulations of power, resistance, and aesthetics through an analytical description of cartooning in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Empirically, this text is based on my ethnographic research with cartoonists (and caricaturists) in Iran over the last five years. After a brief overview of the history of political satire in Iran, this essay sketches an ideal-type taxonomy of cartooning-as-resis-tance in Iran (closely based on my interlocutors' conceptualisations of cartooning as an artistic reaction to perceived injustice). Reformist cartoonists criticise the regime for what they see as excesses of repression; revolutionary cartoonists attack (various versions of) "the West" for what they perceive as its imperial cockiness, its dubious occupation of the moral high ground and its ethical double standards; non-political cartoonists want to refrain from all critiques and distance themselves from overly simplistic binaries such as reformists versus revolutionary. Disentan-gling the complex simplicity of different types of cartooning-as-resistance and the antagonisms they actualise can offer insights into textures of the political terrain in Iran.


Pollination data is provided for a third of the Plectranthus species in southern Africa. In the largest genus of Lamiaceae in the region (53 species), 18 were studied, plus two species of allied genera (Pycnostachys urticifolia and Aeollanthus parvifolius). Study of these 20 species aimed to describe the groups of pollinators that have driven pollinator specialisation. Case histories are provided upon which future studies of Lamiaceae pollination, breeding systems and speciation may be based. Bees (Apidae) and flies (Nemestrinidae, Acroceridae and Tabanidae) are the main pollinating insect groups. Seven straight-tubed Plectranthus species show a match between corolla tubeand proboscis length of nectar-feeding pollinators. Long-proboscid nemestrinid flies are specialised on long-tubed Plectranthus species (P. ambiguus, P. hilliardiae, P. reflexus and P. saccatus), while shorter-proboscid flies of all three families are important pollinators of straight-tubed species with mediumand short corolla tubes. Seven species with sigmoid corolla tubes are bee-pollinated, with fly-pollination prevalent in some. Bent corolla tubes, coupled with length, act as barriers to illegitimate nectarfeeders and ensures alignment of pollinators for effective pollen placement and carryover. It is suggested that straight-tubed species may have evolved from sigmoid-tubed species. Long-tubed species with straight corollas in other Lamiaceae may show convergent pollination by long-proboscid flies, with the guild being dependent on habitat and distribution of plants and flies. Formal establishment of the Stenobasipteron wiedemanni pollination guild extends the study from Plectranthus to selected Acanthaceae, Orchidaceae, Balsaminaceae, Gesneriaceae and Iridaceae, occurring in forested habitat along the Eastern seaboard. Micro-distillation of essential oils confirmed parentage of a putative natural hybrid; once established, hybrid data allows studies of the importance of natural hybridisation events in explaining pollinator fidelity. Nectar sugar studies in Plectranthus mostly showed sucrose dominance; cases of hexose dominance are noted and discussed. Nectar volume and concentration proved variable and do not fit any trends. Pollination by medium-proboscid acrocerid flies has importance for 'medium-tubed' plants, since six of the Plectranthus species are solely or partially reliant on Acroceridae for pollination. An appendix with consolidated data describes the 20 study species i.t.o. morphology, habitat, study sites, field work, pollinator observations and insect vouchers.


The neural basis of mental imagery has been investigated by localizing the underlying neural networks, mostly in motor and perceptual systems, separately. However, how modality-specific representations are top-down induced and how the action and perception systems interact in the context of mental imagery is not well understood. Imagined speech production ("articulation imagery"), which induces the kinesthetic feeling of articulator movement and its auditory consequences, provides a new angle because of the concurrent involvement of motor and perceptual systems. On the basis of previous findings in mental imagery of speech, we argue for the following regarding the induction mechanisms of mental imagery and the interaction between motor and perceptual systems: (1) Two distinct top-down mechanisms, memory retrieval and motor simulation, exist to induce estimation in perceptual systems. (2) Motor simulation is sufficient to internally induce the representation of perceptual changes that would be caused by actual movement (perceptual associations); however, this simulation process only has modulatory effects on the perception of external stimuli, which critically depends on context and task demands. Considering the proposed simulation-estimation processes as common mechanisms for interaction between motor and perceptual systems, we outline how mental imagery (of speech) relates to perception and production, and how these hypothesized mechanisms might underpin certain neural disorders.


In the context of the current public policy focus on rising food prices and their implications for food security, this paper examines two major issues raised: (i) Universalization of the public distribution system; and (ii) its implications for procurement and buffer-stocks. This paper is based on the recent evidence on the profile of public distribution system, its targeted version in particular, household's reliance on the public distribution system and the open market, and its policy implications. The paper concludes that the need of the hour is not universalisation of the PDS but a revision of the food security norm, a BPL-friendly PDS and its efficient functioning.


We study the incorporation of ecosystem services in German water infrastructure planning exemplified by a projected deepening of the Lower Weser river channel. Therefore, we recalculate the project's benefit-cost ratio by integrating the monetary value of changes in different ecosystem services: i) the restoration costs of a planned mitigation measure for a loss in fresh water supply for agricultural production in the estuary, ii) costs of loss in habitat services by transferring the willingness to pay between a contingent valuation study to the area assessed in the environmental impact assessment, and iii) the benefits of emission savings induced by more efficient shipping taking a marginal abatement cost approach. We find that the inclusion of monetary values for ecosystem service changes leads to a substantial drop in the benefit-cost ratio and consequently argue for a reform of the standard to facilitate more complete welfare assessments.


We prove that orthogonal constructor term rewrite systems and lambda-calculus with weak (i.e., no reduction is allowed under the scope of a lambda-abstraction) call-by-value reduction can simulate each other with a linear overhead. In particular, weak call-by-value beta-reduction can be simulated by an orthogonal constructor term rewrite system in the same number of reduction steps. Conversely, each reduction in a term rewrite system can be simulated by a constant number of beta-reduction steps. This is relevant to implicit computational complexity, because the number of beta steps to normal form is polynomially related to the actual cost (that is, as performed on a Turing machine) of normalization, under weak call-by-value reduction. Orthogonal constructor term rewrite systems and lambda-calculus are thus both polynomially related to Turing machines, taking as notion of cost their natural parameters.


Abstract: In this paper I seek to explicate the ideas about EU membership embedded in the accession criteria, and in the pre-accession monitoring of Poland, Romania and Turkey. Taking four ideal-type modes of membership as my heuristic gear, I will show that the way the criteria were interpreted and implemented in the 'progress towards accession' reports, thickened the criteria and invoked a Civic-Cultural mode of membership for the EU. Two conclusions emerge: First there is a substantial degree of internal logic to the reports. The second conclusion is that the interpretation and reconstruction of the criteria, through the practice of pre-accession monitoring, entails an inherent amplification of the criteria.


Since optoelectronic properties of organic semiconductors (OSCs) are largely affected by the molecular packing in the solid phase, further advances of such materials require comprehensive structure–property interrelations beyond single molecule considerations. While single molecular electronic properties can be tailored by synthetic means and their electronic properties can be reliably predicted by quantum chemical calculations, crystal structure predictions of such van der Waals bond solids remain challenging. Here we analyze correlations between the molecular structure and the resulting packing motifs adopted in the crystalline phases of the prototypical OSC pentacene as well as various differently substituted but similarly shaped π-conjugated molecules. Based on a Hirshfeld surface analysis and related fingerprint plots, specific contact points and their distribution are identified which allows classification of different structural groups. Comparing the fingerprint plots with corresponding molecular properties such as electrostatic contour plots as well as quadrupole and polarizability tensors, which were calculated by density functional theory, allows rationalizing structure determining specific intermolecular interactions. Our analysis shows in particular that molecules with uniform electrostatic potential at their periphery favor a herringbone packing, while the highly electronegative substituents (O, N and F) enable the formation of H-bonds and prefer slip-stacking or criss-cross packing motifs. The present correlations might be useful guidelines for future strategies to synthesis new OSCs.


Adopting the basic tenets of relevance theory, Powell (2010) introduces the concept of derivational intention as something separate from a speaker�s informative intention. The derivational intention of a speaker is an intention concerning the pragmatically inferred route that the hearer should take in order to recognize the speaker�s informative intention. This paper addresses what can happen when a speaker�s derivational intention is at odds with a particular piece of procedural information encoded by some linguistic expression, with the conceptual semantics of a lexical item, or with the procedural meaning of an intonation pattern employed by the speaker. The procedural meaning of one expression may override that of a co-occurring expression when there is a conflict between them


Early Mycenaean (Late Helladic [LH] II–IIIA1) Greece witnessed major changes in the built environment, including new types of mortuary architecture and the appearance of corridor buildings (a megaron-type structure with an interior corridor and subsidiary rooms). These architectural developments have been interpreted as material reflections of an established sociopolitical hierarchy and the emergence of palatial elites, while the corridor buildings have been identified as seats of palatial administrators or the king. This article shifts the focus from the traditional dichotomous scheme of "palatial" and "nonpalatial" Mycenaean architecture to the ways in which the new built environment, and the corridor buildings in particular, shaped social interaction, influenced particular behaviors, and ultimately transformed sociopolitical structures. It is argued that rather than symbolizing elite power, the Early Mycenaean corridor buildings played an active role in structuring social relations by providing a locale not only for the display and negotiation of individual and group identities during inclusive ritualized activities but also for the creation of social cohesion and commonality. By creating patterns of encounter and contexts for interaction between distinct groups and the community at large, the LH II–IIIA1 corridor buildings created profoundly different experiences and practices from those of the earlier periods, experiences that shaped sociopolitical developments and generated social change.


Family murders in South Africa The goal of research into 'Family Murders in South Africa' was to determine the views of members of the Criminological Society of Southern Africa concerning family murder. The hypothesis was that these informed persons would agree with the statements made by academics in the press regarding this phenomenon. The research substantiated the hypothesis. The dominant psychological causes were listed as feelings of rejection, stress, emotional burn-out and pathological possessiveness. The sociological causes were listed as alienation between spouses and misuse of alcohol. The warning signs included previous suicide attempts, unsuccessful attempts to restore broken marriages, unemployment, physical assault, fathers retreating from the family and neighbours and obsessive handling of dangerous weapons. Based on the findings of the research, a list identifying causes, warning signs, explanations, and methods of prevention was drawn up.


Abstract Web applications are becoming more and more prominent in our daily lives. A challenge that follows is protecting these applications from unauthorised users. This paper introduces a scheme for generating and verifying authentication codes, where these codes can be implemented to restrict the access to only the intended users of the web application. The scheme incorporates a changing key acquired from a secret key and a random number, a symmetrical block cipher and the Message Authentication Code system to produce multiple different authentication codes that are linked to each user's personal identification. By using cryptography, this design embeds mathematical structure within the codes, making it superior to current database systems.


According to the recent literature the application of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) is the mainstay and first line of conventional treatment for many types of pain, including that of spinal origin (DiPalma and DiGregorio 1994; Dabbs and Lauretti 1995; Koes et al. 1997). NSAID therapy has inherent side effects (Goodman and Simon 1994), however, given the risks involved, they are still of value as an adjunct to spinal manipulation (Crawford 1988), which has been shown to have less side effects and be more effective than conventional NSAIDS (Dabbs and Lauretti 1995; Giles and Müller 1999). A homeopathic alternative to NSAIDS is Traumeel S, it fulfils all the criteria for a locally acting therapeutic medication, with promotion of the natural healing process, and minimum side effects (Zell et al. 1989). A study by Hepburn (2000) compared the relative efficacy of Traumeel S against NSAIDS in the treatment of cervical facet syndrome. Hepburn concluded that there was statistically no difference between the two therapies. It could therefore be inferred that Traumeel S may be a valid alternative to NSAID therapy in the treatment of cervical facet syndrome. This study tested this hypothesis by comparing the effectiveness of spinal manipulation with the concurrent administration of oral Traumeel S against spinal manipulation alone in order to assess the potential benefit of combining Traumeel S with manipulation.


Transport evaluation methodology in Korea has remained largely unchanged even though the evolution of the transport planning process has changed in its nature and
circumstances. The economic analysis has played an important role as a decision making method, and the Government has the leading role as a single decision maker.
As a result, there are so many debates on most of transport investment projects by other interest groups and by the fact that other non-economic attributes are not
properly considered in the evaluation process.

Therefore, it is necessary to avoid this costly indecision and incomplete evaluation. As a result, the recent work has focused on improving public participation and evaluation
methods utilising multiple criteria decision making methods which are able to reflect diverse interests of multiple actors involved in the project, environmental issues, socioeconomic concerns and public discontent in evaluation process, and to respond to the changed nature of transport planning.

In this research, the analytic hierarchy approach which enables to combine the advantages in quantifying the tangible factors from CBA and in deriving weights of the
factors from the AHP was attempted to evaluate the transport investment project in Korea as the methodology through reviewing and assessing many multiple criteria
decision making methods. The case for application was chosen from the real project implemented by Korean government so as to compare the current evaluation method
with the analytic hierarchy approach, one of multiple criteria decision making methods. The project is to develop a high speed rail network passing through/by a historic city
with many cultural assets, so there are many conflicting debates between transport efficiency and cultural conservation among the stakeholders affected by this project, supplier, user and community.

For the application and evaluation of the project, a model with five levels of hierarchical structure with three stakeholders, six objectives, seven elements and three
alternatives was developed. A total of 615 respondents from transport experts, government officials and the general public answered the survey questionnaire to find out the degree of importance for each stakeholder's role on this project investment from transport experts, and a relative preference for each attribute as main factor from all stakeholders. With the evaluation process and results (including alternative ranking) from both methods, they were compared with each other. In addition to this,
the applicability and suitability of the analytic hierarchy approach method for the evaluation of transport investment project in Korea were assessed by several assessment criteria.

The analytic hierarchy approach (through its application) provided much wider scope than the current evaluation method. It showed a systematic framework for the
evaluation in which all possible factors should be judged with the distribution of weights on all stakeholders incorporating qualitative and quantitative information. In
addition, it showed the applicability of the analytic hierarchy approach to the transport project due to its ability to deal with complex problems with conflicting attributes and to elicit the preferences of many stakeholders affected by the project into the evaluation process. However, it also showed some drawbacks to be overcome such as a large amount of data and information requirement, inherent difficulty in survey implementation, difficulty in structuring a hierarchy, especially in checking the homogeneity.


Oz is an experimental higher-order concurrent constraint programming system under development at DFKI. It combines ideas from logic and concurrent programming in a simple yet expressive language. From logic programming Oz inherits logic variables and logic data structures, which provide for a programming style where partial information about the values of variables is imposed concurrently and incrementally. A novel feature of Oz is that it accommodates higher-order programming without sacrificing that denotation and equality of variables are captured by first-order logic. Another new feature of Oz is constraint communication, a new form of asynchronous communication exploiting logic variables Constraint communication avoids the problems of stream communication, the conventional communication mechanism employed in concurrent logic programming. Constraint, communication can be seen as providing a minimal form of state fully compatible with logic data structures

Based on constraint communication and higher-order programming, Oz readily supports a variety of object-oriented programming styles including multiple inheritance.


This paper presents a method for descriptive feature matching between two video streams of the same scene. The second video is a corrupted copy of the first video. Examples of reliable recognition of an original scene that is subjected for compression and noise are presented. The algorithm is invariant to image scale and rotation, providing robust matching across a substantial range of video signals. This paper shows an approach to using descriptive features for randomly chosen frames from video stream. By involving color information as a feature we increase the robustness of the identification process. The median of low frequencies is measured, followed by an average of spectral information from the same frame to identify clusters belonging to a scene in a film. Finally, a comparison analysis is done to verify the originality of the film.