DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) are lesions on the DNA that covalently attach both strands of the double helix. ICLs are very toxic to cells since important cellular processes such as DNA replication and transcription depend on separation of the two strands. Although knowledge about endogenous crosslinking agents is currently unfolding, the toxic nature of ICL inducing agents has been exploited in anti-cancer therapies for several decades. Similarly, our understanding of how cells repair ICL damage has long been elusive while significant advances have been made in recent years. Important roles are ascribed to the 'FA proteins' that are mutated in patients that have the rare genetic disorder Fanconi anemia (FA). This cancer susceptibility syndrome has been linked to mutations in 22 different genes, the products of which cooperate with several other DNA repair proteins to coordinate ICL repair in the FA pathway. This pathway is initiated when DNA replication forks are blocked by the ICL, resulting in monoubiquitylation of FANCD2 that marks activation of downstream repair processes. A critical step in this process is the nucleolytic 'unhooking' of the ICL from one of the strands that allows replication to complete on the other strand. This requires at least the scaffold protein SLX4(FANCP) and an incision by the nuclease complex XPF(FANCQ)-ERCC1. The exact mechanism of this ICL unhooking step is explored in this thesis. To do this, we employed a unique model system of extracts from Xenopus laevis eggs. This cell-free system supports replication of plasmid DNA as well as the repair of a site-specific ICL on that plasmid, thereby recapitulating the repair process. Much of our current understanding of ICL repair stems from studies that used this system. We purified full length proteins from insect cells and added them to SLX4- or XPF-depleted extracts to study the effect of mutations on ICL repair. We investigated why specific mutations in XPF cause FA while other mutations affect its role in the repair of bulky adducts and identify an FA-causing mutation that disrupts interaction with SLX4. Since SLX4 binds several other proteins in addition to XPF-ERCC1, including two nucleases, we investigated the requirement of these interactions for ICL repair. We found that two-third of the protein is dispensable, which includes the binding sites for the other nucleases, while interaction with XPF-ERCC1 is crucial for ICL repair. Recruitment of SLX4 to ICL sites is associated with tandem ubiquitin-binding (UBZ) domains but details are lacking. We show that SLX4 recruitment and ICL repair strongly depend on the first, but not the second, UBZ domain. Our results disfavor a direct interaction between SLX4 and FANCD2, and suggest the existence of an unidentified factor that mediates SLX4 recruitment to the lesion. Collectively, the findings presented in this thesis contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanism of ICL repair. Detailed knowledge of ICL repair is useful for the development of improved anti-cancer therapies and to fight resistance to existing therapies.


Approximately 98 % of South African exports are conveyed by sea. The volume of South Africa's sea trade represents approximately 3,5 percent of world seaborne trade in tonnage terms, a performance that placed the country on the map of international maritime nations. The major portion of South Africa's dry-bulk exports is shipped from the port of Richards Bay. Richards Bay is the seventh largest world port in terms of cargo volumes, and handles in excess of 80 million tons per annum. This represents approximately 57 % of all South African seaborne trade by volume. The greater portion of South African seaborne trade, especially on the export side consists of shipments of primary (raw) products or beneficiated primary products, and accounts for approximately 140 million tons of all cargoes. The export of primary products or commodities is a vital part of the South African economy and generates a substantial amount of the country's foreign exchange. This dissertation concludes that shipment on FOB terms continues to command the lion's share of all export consignments handled in the port. In fact from the more than 78 million tons of cargo covered in the survey, more than 64 million is shipped on FOB terms, which constitute in cargo volumes approximately 82% of all exported commodities from the Port of Richards Bay. The high incidence of shipments on FOB terms leaves the final arrangement of shipping in the hands of foreign buyers. This represents a substantial loss of revenue in invisible earnings for the country's service account of the balance of payments.


The global economic crisis has revealed that growth in East Asia is highly vulnerable to slowdown in exports to major advanced economies. This paper shows that in precrisis years, at least one third of growth in the People's Republic of China was due to exports, and this proportion was even higher in most other East Asian economies. In the coming years the region may not be able to go back to rapid export-led growth because of sluggish growth and high unemployment in advanced economies, and the need to reduce trade imbalances in order to secure global stability and avoid frictions in the trading system. It will be necessary not only to rebalance domestic and external components of demand, but also to embark on industrial restructuring necessitated by a shift from export-led growth to growth led by domestic demand and intraregional trade.


The data rate and spectrum efficiency of wireless mobile communications have been significantly improved over the last decade or so. Recently, the advanced systems such as 3GPP LTE and terrestrial digital TV broadcasting have been
sophisticatedly developed using OFDM and CDMA technology. In general, most mobile communication systems transmit bits of information in the radio space to the receiver. The radio channels in mobile radio systems are usually multipath fading channels, which cause inter-symbol interference (ISI) in the received signal. To remove ISI from the signal, there is a need of strong equalizer which requires knowledge on the channel impulse response (CIR).This is primarily provided by a separate channel estimator. Usually the channel estimation is based on the known sequence of bits, which is unique for a certain transmitter and which is repeated in every transmission burst. Thus, the channel estimator is able to estimate CIR for each burst separately by exploiting the known transmitted bits and the corresponding received samples.
 In this thesis we investigate and compare various efficient channel estimation schemes for OFDM systems which can also be extended to MC DS-CDMA systems.The channel estimation can be performed by either inserting pilot tones into all subcarriers of OFDM symbols with a specific period or inserting pilot tones into each OFDM symbol. Two major types of pilot arrangement such as block type and comb type
pilot have been focused employing Least Square Error (LSE) and Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) channel estimators. Block type pilot sub-carriers is especially suitable for slow-fading radio channels whereas comb type pilots provide
better resistance to fast fading channels. Also comb type pilot arrangement is sensitive to frequency selectivity when comparing to block type arrangement. However, there is
another supervised technique called Implicit Training (IT) based channel estimation which exploits the first order statistics in the received data, induced by superimposing
periodic training sequences with good correlation properties, along with the information symbols. Hence, the need for additional time slots for training the equalizer is avoided. The performance of the estimators is presented in terms of the mean square estimation error (MSEE) and bit error rate (BER).


ABSTRACT Carbonate platforms can commonly keep up with relative sea-level rise because of high rates of sediment accumulation and platform aggradation. Surrounding basinal environments are commonly starved but can receive variable extrabasinal siliciclastic input and episodically deposited carbonate sediment. If accumulation rates in basinal settings lag behind those of the platform, a bypass or erosional margin can develop. Under these circumstances platform and basin depositional sequences become physically detached and direct correlation of basinal and platform sequences is hindered. We report here the results of high-resolution stratigraphic analyses of two Upper Devonian isolated carbonate platforms in western Alberta that provide insight into the sequence stratigraphy of bypass margins and criteria for accurate correlation of platform and basinal sequences. The slope and basin sequences surrounding the Miette and Ancient Wall platforms consist of basin-restricted, onlapping wedges of fine-grained background sediment deposited dominantly from suspension and coarse-grained platform-derived sediment redeposited by a variety of gravity-flow mechanisms. Sequence boundaries are identified within the redeposited carbonate intervals. Identification of sequence boundaries and differentiation of highstand and lowstand slope and basinal facies was based on the geometry, mineralogy, and clast content of redeposited carbonate units. Highstand carbonates contain sheet-like debris flows and turbidites with abundant slope-derived clasts and background facies with high total carbonate content. Lowstand carbonates contain sheet-like and channelized debris flows and turbidites with abundant platform-derived clasts and background facies with low carbonate content and locally high amounts of organic carbon. Transgressive facies are dominated by initially carbonate-poor and organic-rich background sediments that display a progressive increase in carbonate content and decrease in organic carbon content. These patterns are interpreted to record abundant background carbonate sedimentation during late transgression and highstand when the carbonate factory was robust. Highstand redeposited carbonates record slope erosion due to oversteepening and slope readjustment processes. Lowstand redeposited carbonates indicate platform and platform-margin erosion and low background carbonate sedimentation when the platform was either exposed or under very shallow peritidal conditions. High siliciclastic and organic contents during lowstand and early transgression may partly be the result of reciprocal sedimentation but alternatively may represent continuous siliciclastic supply during times with little dilution by fine-grained carbonate sediment. Successive stages of platform development at Miette and Ancient Wall were controlled by accommodation changes driven by relative sea-level fluctuations. Backstripping analyses of strata from both platforms confirm that significant differential subsidence was a major control on variations in platform thickness and patterns of slope development. Greater subsidence at Ancient Wall fostered the development of a steeper bypass margin and different slope evolution compared to Miette. Slope oversteepening also initiated a process of slope readjustment that eventually reduced the platform-to-basin gradient and facilitated regressive platform progradation. In conventional siliciclastic sequence stratigraphy, basin-restricted wedges are interpreted as lowstand deposits on the basis of their geometry and position relative to an updip margin. Wedge-shaped basinal units along the Miette and Ancient Wall bypass margins contain both highstand and lowstand facies that straddle sequence boundaries. The results of this study provide objective criteria for differentiating systems tracts in carbonate slope and basin environments through mineralogic and compositional analyses providing more accurate correlation of detached platform and basin sequences. Interpretation of carbonate basin-restricted wedges as purely highstand or lowstand deposits may lead to erroneous conclusions regarding sequence stratigraphy, platform-to-basin correlation, and the volumetric partitioning of sediments deposited in different systems tracts.


Professional football is more than just an elite sport, it is also a rapidly developing industry, and can, therefore, be analysed as such. Using traditional microand macroeconomic management theories, this study aims at presenting football in a managerial way, while displaying its unique aspects. The English Premier League is used as the sample on which the analysis is conducted. First, through the PESTEL analysis, all factors affecting the industry are discussed, with emphasis on the economical, social and legal factors that have shaped football to its current form. Second, the Porter's five forces examination of the microeconomic forces within the industry is presented, where the unique relationships the sport has with its suppliers, customers and rivals is analysed, with focus on the complex relation between football and the media. Through this microanalysis, the question of whether football can be considered a monopoly is answered. Finally, the stakeholder theory is employed to study the various interest groups of the sport, examining their power, legitimacy or urgency in relation to football.


Recent claims have been made that European universities plan to expand their use of eLearning and that more students are signing up for it (OECD, 2005). However, as the time gets closer when virtually all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have some kind of Virtual Learning Environment (e.g. Jenkins, Browne & Walker, 2005), it is not at all clear what kinds of institutional strategies are associated with such expansion, nor what the success factors might be. In this two-year research study, a mixed-method approach was adopted to the problem of identifying examples of innovation. The study firstly built on and refined a number of existing survey instruments to help identify innovation and explain success at both institution and programme levels. There are typically several reports a year of large-scale attempts to survey HEIs in relation to eLearning, sponsored, for example, by EU programmes or industry groups. Yet the factors that determine educational effectiveness are not, so far, well understood; and consequently it can be difficult to develop reliable quantitative survey items that simultaneously enable valid and insightful comparisons between essentially qualitative eLearning strategies. So the study also made extensive use of interviews to illuminate a range of innovative eLearning strategy cases, looking to identify evidence of the factors that those who have implemented successful eLearning strategies consider critical. Where possible the study estimated the impact of the implemented eLearning programmes, but the emphasis was on documenting innovators' diverse experiences of having to refine their strategies over time. A distinction was found between two kinds of innovation that require different methods of effective detection: innovation in standards-based institution-wide systems and innovation through personal technological exploration of end-user tools.


This paper examines the transformation of export product portfolios of highly successful exporters. Food manufacturers from a developing country (Greece) are investigated. Using an in-depth exploratory design involving a limited number of cases, it looks more precisely at the composition of product portfolio at initiation and development of exports, new product development for exports and export product elimination. Among the main findings, the foreign (FMD) versus domestic (DMD) market dependence of the focus exporters had a major effect in the transformation of the export product portfolios, FMD exporters carried out adaptations to a greater extent and developed more products than DMD exporters. Small FMD exporters seemed to lag in export product innovativeness and initiated exports with lower differentiation-pricate label in contrast with DMD firms which developed exports with higher differentiation own branded products. Furthermore, new product development for exports was irregular and diverged from formal incremental development. Last, but not least, export product elimination is much different from its counterpart in domestic marketing. Six different categories of export elimination may be distinguished. Five incidents of export product elimination falling in three categories were identified. Precipitating circumstances varied for each category. Fourteen propositions are forwarded for futher investigation.


Slipped under the radar? (1) H NMR spectroscopic examination revealed that [Ru(η(6) -arene)Cl2 (L)] (L=N-heterocyclic ligands) complexes readily undergo ligand exchange reaction in DMSO, a popular medium for preparing stock solutions for biological screening. It is therefore highly important for researchers to study stability in DMSO before reporting on the biological activity of such type of complexes.


Strychnos Nux-Vomica is a remedial plant used in herbal medicine and medicinal plants is having a curative history and are still helping healthiness requirements of a large population in the world. Therapeutic plants are used to cure various diseases, these are the phytochemicals extracted from plants. Strychnos-nux-vomica is having Strychnine and Brucine with biological properties. However, qualitative and quantification of the compounds in plant extract is determined by using chromatography techniques. The method HPTLC is used in identification, standardization and quantification of bioactive Phytoconstituent in plant extract and these extracts helpful in medications. Strychnos Nux-vomica leaves are extracted with 50% Ethanol in a water and centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 5min for analysis. 3 µl of Sample S and 2 µl of standard solution were loaded in CAMAG LINOMAT 5 instrument and scanning done at UV 254nm. The Mobile phase is used ratio of Toluene – Ethyl acetate – Diethyl amine (7:2:1) and Dragendorff's reagent is used as spraying for spot development. HPTLC chromatograms shows the Strychnine, Brucine and eight unknown compounds. Strychnine, Brucine Rf values are 0.50, 0.33 and values of the area is 16667.7 and 13826.4.


Background Although men are more prone to developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) than women, risk factors for CVD, such as nicotine abuse and diabetes mellitus, have been shown to be more detrimental in women than in men. Objective We developed a method to systematically investigate population-wide electronic health records for all possible associations between risk factors for CVD and other diagnoses. The developed structured approach allows an exploratory and comprehensive screening of all possible comorbidities of CVD, which are more connected to CVD in either men or women. Methods Based on a population-wide medical claims dataset comprising 44 million records of inpatient stays in Austria from 2003 to 2014, we determined comorbidities of acute myocardial infarction (AMI; International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision [ICD-10] code I21) and chronic ischemic heart disease (CHD; ICD-10 code I25) with a significantly different prevalence in men and women. We introduced a measure of sex difference as a measure of differences in logarithmic odds ratios (ORs) between male and female patients in units of pooled standard errors. Results Except for lipid metabolism disorders (OR for females [ORf]=6.68, 95% confidence interval [CI]=6.57-6.79, OR for males [ORm]=8.31, 95% CI=8.21-8.41), all identified comorbidities were more likely to be associated with AMI and CHD in females than in males: nicotine dependence (ORf=6.16, 95% CI=5.96-6.36, ORm=4.43, 95% CI=4.35-4.5), diabetes mellitus (ORf=3.52, 95% CI=3.45-3.59, ORm=3.13, 95% CI=3.07-3.19), obesity (ORf=3.64, 95% CI=3.56-3.72, ORm=3.33, 95% CI=3.27-3.39), renal disorders (ORf=4.27, 95% CI=4.11-4.44, ORm=3.74, 95% CI=3.67-3.81), asthma (ORf=2.09, 95% CI=1.96-2.23, ORm=1.59, 95% CI=1.5-1.68), and COPD (ORf=2.09, 95% CI 1.96-2.23, ORm=1.59, 95% CI 1.5-1.68). Similar results could be observed for AMI. Conclusions Although AMI and CHD are more prevalent in men, women appear to be more affected by certain comorbidities of AMI and CHD in their risk for developing CVD.


ABSTRACT Loss of axonal contact characterizes Schwann cells in benign and malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST) from neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) patients. Tumor Schwann cells demonstrate NF1 mutations, elevated Ras activity, and aberrant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression. Using cDNA microarrays, we found that brain lipid binding protein (BLBP) is elevated in an EGFR-positive subpopulation of Nf1 mutant mouse Schwann cells (Nf1 −/− TXF) that grows away from axons; BLBP expression was not affected by farnesyltransferase inhibitor, an inhibitor of H-Ras. BLBP was also detected in EGFR-positive cell lines derived from Nf1:p53 double mutant mice and human MPNST. BLBP expression was induced in normal Schwann cells following transfection with EGFR but not H-Ras12V. Furthermore, EGFR-mediated BLBP expression was not inhibited by dominant-negative H-Ras, indicating that BLBP expression is downstream of Ras-independent EGFR signaling. BLBP-blocking antibodies enabled process outgrowth from Nf1 −/− TXF cells and restored interaction with axons, without affecting cell proliferation or migration. Following injury, BLBP expression was induced in normal sciatic nerves when nonmyelinating Schwann cells remodeled their processes. These data suggest that BLBP, stimulated by Ras-independent pathways, regulates Schwann cell-axon interactions in normal peripheral nerve and peripheral nerve tumors.


The concurrent validity of a 1 minute walk test at a child's maximum walking speed was assessed in children with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (BSCP). The distance covered during the 1 minute walk test was compared with the children's gross motor function as assessed by the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM). Twenty‐four male and 10 female children with CP (mean age 11y, range 4 to 16y) participated in the study. Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels were; level I (n=3), level II (n=17), level III (n=10), and level IV (n=4). Participants had clinical diagnoses of symmetrical diplegia (n=19), asymmetrical diplegia (n=14), and quadriplegia (n=1). Results showed a significant correlation between GMFM score and the distance covered during the 1 minute walk (r=0.92; p<0.001). There was also a significant decrease in the distance walked with increasing GMFCS level (p<0.001). We concluded that the 1 minute walk test is a valid measure for assessing functional ability in children with ambulatory BSCP. Its cost‐effectiveness and user friendliness make it a potentially useful tool in the clinical setting. Further study needs to address its reliability and ability to detect change over time.


1. The effect of an intravenous infusion of ouabain 0·25 μg min −1 kg −1 for 1 h on plasma insulin and blood glucose concentrations in peripheral venous blood and on urinary excretion of catecholamines was studied in six normal adult males. Ouabain had no effect on insulin and glucose concentrations but resulted in a significant decrease in urinary catecholamine excretion. 2. The effect of a single intravenous injection of 001 mg of ouabain/kg on the response of insulin secretion to intravenous tolbutamide was studied in four normal adult males. Ouabain had no significant effect on the increase of plasma insulin which followed tolbutamide. 3. These results indicate that improvement in insulin secretion observed during digitalis-induced remission in heart failure is probably due to the improved circulatory state of the patient and not to a direct insulin secretogogue effect. 4. The mechanisms responsible for decreased catecholamine excretion after ouabain in normal man are unexplained.


This article reviews Helen Nissenbaum's recent and highly important book, Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy and the Integrity of Social Life (Stanford University Press, 2010). Nissenbaum proposes a detailed framework to better understand privacy issues and assist in prescribing privacy policies that meet the needs of the 21st century. Her proposed framework, is Contextual Integrity (CI), which seeks to identify the impact of a new socio-technological system on existing, entrenched norms (social and/or legal norms) relating to transmission of personal information within a specific context. The focus is on the flow of information. According to CI, once we observe a change in informational transmission norms there is a presumption that privacy has been violated, but the presumption can be rebutted. Thus, we should evaluate the change against general moral principles and against the values and goals of the particular context.The review locates the book within the current heated debate about privacy and identifies a growing yearning for an up-to-date privacy theory that can answer current and forthcoming challenges. After summarizing the main arguments of the book, the review makes three critical arguments. First, it points to the limits of relying on contexts as an organizing unit of a privacy analysis. Many contexts are dynamic, unsettled and lack any clear set of reliable informational norms. This is especially so in the digital environment. Second, the review argues that CI allocates an insufficient place to a meta-justificatory principle (or principles) of privacy. Privacy theory, I argue, cannot avoid identifying its fundamental meta-principle(s), difficult as it may be. Thus, as far as a theoretical inquiry is sought, CI can be extremely helpful, but only as part of a broader normative analysis. It can supplement a justificatory theory of privacy, but not supplant it. Third, the review argues that we already have a meta-principle that can best explain and justify privacy as a social and philosophical concept as well as a legal right: Privacy as Control. According to this approach, a right to privacy is the control an autonomous human being should have over his or her personal information, regarding its collection, processing and further uses, including onward transfers. Nissenbaum's discussion of this theory renders it a secondary place at best. However, the review argues that Privacy as Control remains the strongest conception of privacy. It surely has its problems and it faces pressing challenges that CI can assist in clearing, but it should not be reduced to a mere transmission norm.


Rum is an intensional semantic theory of function and control abstractions as computation primitives. It is a mathematical foundation for understanding and improving current practice in symbolic (Lisp-style) computation. The theory provides, in a single context, a variety of semantics ranging from structures and rules for carrying out computations to an interpretation as functions on the computation domain. Properties of powerful programming tools such as functions as values, streams, aspects of object oriented programming, escape mechanisms, and coroutines can be represented naturally. In addition a wide variety of operations on programs can be treated including program transformations which introduce function and control abstractions, compiling morphisms that transform control abstractions into function abstractions, and operations that transform intensional properties of programs into extensional properties. The theory goes beyond a theory of functions computed by programs, providing tools for treating both intensional and extensional properties of programs. This provides operations on programs with meanings to transform as well as meanings to preserve. Applications of this theory include expressing and proving properties of particular programs and of classes of programs and studying mathematical properties of computation mechanisms. Additional applications are the design and implementation of interactive computation systems and the mechanization of reasoning about computation. These notes are based on lectures given at the Western Institute of Computer Science summer program, 31 July - 1 August 1986. Here we focus on programming and proving with function and control abstractions and present a variety of example programs, properties, and techniques for proving these properties.


In this work, two problems linked to glacier modeling are investigated. We propose an optimisation method for studying the flow of the ice and we present a numerical study about glacier thermal phenomena. In the first chapter of this thesis, we expose the models of these two problems. On one hand, we note that the boundary conditions on the bedrock are misunderstood, which explains it is difficult to obtain an accurate simulation of the motion of the ice. Also we establish a mathematical model where the bedrock boundary conditions depend on a control parameter. The aim of this study is to minimize a cost functional describing the difference between the computed velocity at the surface and the measure done. We study the cost functional with respect to the control parameter and we detail an optimisation method to solve the optimal control problem. On the other hand, we introduce two thermodynamical model governing the temperature and the water content field. The models correspond to a Stefan problem for the temperature and a convection-diffusion equation for the water content. The second chapter deals with the numerical resolution of the optimisation problem. First, a Finite Element Method (FEM) is described to solve the partial differential equations. Then, the algorithms used for the optimal control problem are detailed. Finally, this techniques are applied on two glaciers : Griesgletcher for 2D and Storglaciaren for 3D. The third chapter deals with the numerical resolution of the temperature and the water content models. A FEM is used for each problem. Concerning the temperature problem, the Stefan problem is numerically solved and the results allow to detect a free surface between the temperated ice and the cold ice. The water content field is also simulated. Numerical results are discussed on the Storglaciaren.


Large-scale central bank purchases of government bonds have made the long-term interest rate key in the monetary policy debate. How central banks react to bond market movements has varied greatly from one episode to another. Driving the term premium in long-term rates negative may stimulate aggregate demand. And a negative term premium encourages borrowers to lengthen the maturity of their debts. Such a reduction in maturity risks makes the financial system more resilient to shocks, and in particular can help emerging economies finance their heavy infrastructure and housing investment needs more safely. But an extended period of very low long rates and high public debt creates financial stability risks. Interest rate risk in the banking system has grown, and some institutional investors face significant exposures. Central banks in the advanced economies now hold a high proportion of bonds issued by their governments, most of which have so far failed to arrest the rise in the ratio of government debt to GDP. Implementing an effective exit strategy will be difficult. Current policy frameworks should be reconsidered, with a view to clarifying the importance of the long-term interest rate for monetary policy, for financial stability and for government debt management.


The FPGA is an integral component of a software defined radio (SDR) that provides the needed reconfigurability for dynamically adapting its transceiver and data processing functions. Because of the desire to process data faster and with less latency, researchers are looking at FPGA-based SDR. Our architecture, called CRUSH, is composed of a Xilinx ML605 connected to an Ettus USRP through a a custom interface board allowing flexible data transfer between them. In addition, we provide a framework that supports ease of use, independent programming on both devices, and integration with software running on the host. To demonstrate our platform we implemented spectrum sensing, a key step in determining channel availability before transmission in dynamic spectrum access networks. Spectrum sensing is implemented on CRUSH using FFTs for a 100× speedup; the complete sensing cycle is 10× faster than the same design without CRUSH. By reducing the load of transferring raw samples to the host and allowing a powerful FPGA extension for off-the-shelf devices, CRUSH enables advances in both protocol design and reconfigurable hardware targeting radio applications.


Long-range underwater acoustic systems, such as those used in ocean acoustic tomography, require low-frequency signals covering a broad frequency band. To meet this requirement, a novel design based on a tunable narrow-band high-efficiency sound projector has been used. The projector transmits a frequency sweep signal by mechanically tuning a resonator tube (or organ pipe) to match the frequency and phase of a reference signal. The resonator tube projector consists of a symmetrical pressure-balanced Tonpilz driver placed between two coaxially mounted tubes. The Tonpilz acoustic driver is composed of two pistons separated by preloaded ceramic stacks. The resonant tube is a simple, efficient, narrow-band, medium-output projector that operates at any ocean depth. Both projector tubes have slots (or vents) which are progressively covered or uncovered by sliding coaxial tubular sleeves. The frequency varies with the sleeve position. A computer-controlled electromechanical actuator moves the cylindrical sleeves along the tubes, keeping the projector in resonance at the instantaneous frequency of a swept frequency signal. The actuator smoothly tunes the resonator tube frequency in a bandwidth of 200 to 300 Hz during a 135-s transmission. A computer synthesizes the linear frequency-modulated signal; compares the phase between transmitted and reference signals; and, using a phase-lock loop (PLL) system, keeps the resonator tube frequency in resonance with the driver frequency. The estimated PLL precision is better than 3/spl deg/ phase error. The system was analyzed by means of finite element analysis and electrical equivalent circuit simulation. The projector prototype was first tested at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) dock in Woods Hole, MA and later in the Pacific Ocean during a voyage of the R/V "Point Sur" in November 2001.


In this paper we are concerned with the analytical description of radiating solitary wave solutions of coupled regularised Boussinesq equations. This type of solution consists of a leading solitary wave with a small-amplitude co-propagating oscillatory tail, and emerges from a pure solitary wave solution of a symmetric reduction of the full system. We construct an asymptotic solution, where the leading order approximation in both components is obtained as a particular solution of the regularised Boussinesq equations in the symmetric case. At the next order, the system uncouples into two linear non-homogeneous ordinary differential equations with variable coefficients, one correcting the localised part of the solution, which we find analytically, and the other describing the co-propagating oscillatory tail. This latter equation is a fourth order ordinary differential equation and is solved approximately by two different methods, each exploiting the assumption that the leading solitary wave has a small
amplitude, and thus enabling an explicit estimate for the amplitude of the oscillating tail. These estimates are compared with corresponding numerical simulations.


Application of counseling as a strategy in social practice, is reffering to both indicative assessment function of potentialities and resources of the client, and the interventionist-systemic function for behavioral change through cognitive-behavioral changes. In this article, we focus on counseling techniques that remain an area of excellence in social practice, a fundamental methodological dimension. Whatever the chosen approach to counseling, the operational foundation of the counseling process is the traditional problem-solving process. We can see this as a congruency between human ego problems solving and facilitate the social networking functionality and social systems in which the individual belongs. At the social systems functionality level itself we can identify the area of appreciative counseling. It can delineate the counseling process into five phases: 1. Building a partnership relation between the counselor and the client 2. Deep exploration of the client's success strategies. 3. Exploring alternatives in partnership between client and counselor through the process of appreciative visioning. 4. Identifying innovative ways to create the desired future for the client himself/ herself 5. Implementation of self-achievement strategy of the client. We present the main understandings and practical ways of operating in the intentional-nondirectiv appreciative interview. These forms are in full agreement with both the principles of Roger's counseling and principles of appreciative inquiry and social constructionism adding an additional effectiveness to applied counseling techniques.


Cytoplasmic dynein is a retrograde microtubule motor thought to participate in organelle transport and some aspects of minus end- directed chromosome movement. The mechanism of binding to organelles and kinetochores is unknown. Based on homology with the Chlamydomonas flagellar outer arm dynein intermediate chains (ICs), we proposed a role for the cytoplasmic dynein ICs in linking the motor protein to organelles and kinetochores. In this study two different IC isoforms were used in blot overlay and immunoprecipitation assays to identify IC- binding partners. In overlays of complex protein samples, the ICs bound specifically to polypeptides of 150 and 135 kD, identified as the p150Glued doublet of the dynactin complex. In reciprocal overlay assays, p150Glued specifically recognized the ICs. Immunoprecipitations from total Rat2 cell extracts, rat brain cytosol, and rat brain membranes further identified the dynactin complex as a specific target for IC binding. using truncation mutants, the sites of interaction were mapped to amino acids 1-123 of IC-1A and amino acids 200-811 of p150Glued. While cytoplasmic dynein and dynactin have been implicated in a common pathway by genetic analysis, our findings identify a direct interaction between two specific component polypeptides and support a role for dynactin as a dynein "receptor". Our data also suggest, however, that this interaction must be highly regulated.


This is the regular issue #100 for me as an editor for the Zeitschrift für Personalforschung (ZfP), the German Journal of Research in Human Resource Management. I started in 1990 with Dudo von Eckardstein, Oswald Neuberger, Hartmut Wächter, Wolfgang Weber, and Rolf Wunderer. This first editorial team stayed together for more than 15 years, until one member after another reached retirement age and left the ZfP. This continuity was important: It was a great and productive time. Even though I am still a few years away from my own retirement, 25 years (1990– 2014) later and after 4 years of having the pleasure of being a one-man show as the Managing Editor (2004–2008) seems a good point at which to step down. I do mean the term "pleasure" sincerely and not ironically. I learned a lot from my contact with colleagues, authors, and reviewers. I also enjoyed working with Rainer Hampp, who in 1987 had the initial idea for the journal and kept it moving forward dynamically. The ZfP is one of the oldest human resource management (HRM)-focused academic journals. Therefore, looking back at these 25 years not only gives us memories from a book filled with family pictures (that nobody else really cares about) but also potential insights into the development of the field; something we should all care about.


Democracy is facing challenges across the world, yet suggestions of a global crisis are not warranted. Based on data from the largest democracy database ever compiled, the Varieties of Democracy Project (V-Dem), we find that the number of democracies worldwide declined slightly from 100 in 2011 to 97 today, and 16 countries transitioned to democracy over the last ten years, including Tunisia, Nepal, and Nigeria. However, there is a fair degree of volatility. In 2013 alone, five countries transitioned to democracy but nine went the other way. Worrisome trends include gradual erosion of freedom of expression and association in several countries, among them Turkey, Hungary, Poland, and Brazil.


It makes economic sense to use as little fungicide as possible on a crop. In many settings, it is common to apply less than the manufacturer's recommended dose. If sources of disease are scarce, or conditions are unsuitable for it to increase, the reduced control from a low dose may be adequate. In other cases, a big reduction in dose may cause little reduction in control, again permitting savings - especially for growers prepared to run a little risk. But the label recommendations for most fungicides state that to avoid resistance, a full dose must always be used. Are individual cost-savings therefore endangering everyone's access to an exceptionally useful tool? The emergence of fungicide resistance is evolution in action. In all cases, it involves the genetic replacement of the original susceptible population of the pathogen by a new population with genetically distinct biochemistry, which confers resistance. The resistant biochemistry originates in rare genetic mutations, so rare that initially the population is hardly altered. Replacement of susceptible forms by resistant ones happens because, with fungicide present, the resistant form multiplies more rapidly than the susceptible form. The key point to notice is that only the relative rates of multiplication of the resistant and susceptible types are involved in the evolution of resistance. The absolute rates are irrelevant.


ABSTRACT Dai, W.; Bilal, A.; Xie, Q.; Ahmad, I., and Joshi, I., 2020. Numerical modeling for hydrodynamics and near-surface flow patterns of a tidal confluence. Journal of Coastal Research, 36(2), 295–312. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Because of the flow influx of tributaries, a confluence forms a unique environment carrying interesting hydrodynamic features and other attributes. The understanding of flow behavior here is important, particularly if it is on a tidally influenced channel in a harbor metropolitan. Because of communal requirements, there is a possibility of building wading structures, which may interplay with the flow in this zone. The knowledge of unidirectional river or flume confluences so far is not readily applicable for similar features in channels near coastal areas that have tidal flow in addition to river runoff. In this study, a tidal confluence that has a highly dynamic bidirectional flow is investigated. Near-surface flow patterns in a tidal cycle are simulated by using a numerical model. A field survey provides the bathymetry, time-series boundary conditions, and corresponding verification data. Good agreement is reached between calculated and measured results. Based on the condition of tidal current, four scenarios are selected for which confluence flow patterns are observed, both spatially and temporally. The results indicate that at least one recirculation is always in the tidal confluence for all flow conditions, which rotates counterclockwise for the ebb flow and clockwise for the flood flow. In addition, there is no absolute slack water condition at the tidal junction in the study area. The study also finds that the flows of all three connected channels at the confluence change in a looped pattern with respect to one another. Furthermore, the study reports unique relationships among the ratios of different flows.


Carbon chains branch out on space dust Meteorites found on Earth contain a wide range of complex constituent molecules, including amino acids. Astrochemists proposed the existence of these molecules in interstellar space in the 1980s, but detections have been elusive. Belloche et al. used the ALMA telescope array in Chile to observe the massive star-forming region Sgr B2. There, the vast quantities of gas enabled detection of even sparsely distributed species such as iso-propyl cyanide. Despite being difficult to detect, such nonlinear organic molecules may be common. The formation of branched molecules is important, given the analogous structure of familiar amino acids — some of the building blocks for life. Science, this issue p. 1584 Millimeter-wave emission is detected from branched carbon-chain molecules that may form on interstellar dust-grain surfaces. The largest noncyclic molecules detected in the interstellar medium (ISM) are organic with a straight-chain carbon backbone. We report an interstellar detection of a branched alkyl molecule, iso-propyl cyanide (i-C3H7CN), with an abundance 0.4 times that of its straight-chain structural isomer. This detection suggests that branched carbon-chain molecules may be generally abundant in the ISM. Our astrochemical model indicates that both isomers are produced within or upon dust grain ice mantles through the addition of molecular radicals, albeit via differing reaction pathways. The production of iso-propyl cyanide appears to require the addition of a functional group to a nonterminal carbon in the chain. Its detection therefore bodes well for the presence in the ISM of amino acids, for which such side-chain structure is a key characteristic.


In this essay, Benjamin Reilly ponders the puzzling pattern of democracy's presence or absence across Southeast Asia. Indeed, the dearth of democracy in the region's richest countries (Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore), together with its strength in the poorest (Indonesia, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste) seems to defy the idea—so basic to modernization theory—that stable democracy is fostered by economic development. The reason for this seemingly anomalous situation, says Reilly, lies in the realm of history and geography. He argues that physical proximity to China and the traditional degree of Chinese influence (heavier on the mainland, lighter on the offshore periphery) offer the best explanation of how democracy is distributed across Southeast Asia.


The spectrum of an organization's business processes ranges from routine processes with a well-defined flow to agile processes with a degree of uncertainty. The Process Navigation platform aims at supporting both types of processes as well as combinations of them. It offers execution support for traditional flow-oriented notations like BPMN as they are well-suited for the routine type of processes. Rule-based notations for agile processes like CMMN are on the way of getting established but still have a number of weaknesses. As a consequence, the platform's agile part does not target one single notation but relies on a rule-based cross-perspective and modal intermediate language. CMMN models are then translated to the intermediate language for execution. The contribution of this paper is built up in three parts: first of all, the overall architecture of the execution platform is explained. In a second step, the intermediate language is evaluated on the basis of a comprehensive and acknowledged framework of business process requirements. And finally, the translation of CMMN to the intermediate language is described by means of an example.


This article unpacks the experiences of 52 young men and women from relatively poor households who received a grant of US$125 from a research project to start a business. Only 26 per cent aspired to be entrepreneurs while the remainder were either interested in business as a side activity or as a stepping stone towards employment. Using the concept of programme-induced entrepreneurship, the article explores interventions aimed at promoting entrepreneurship in contexts where young participants have a diversity of career aspirations, only some of which involve entrepreneurship. It argues that for those young people whose career aspirations do involve entrepreneurship, these interventions may be important gateways, whereas for youth whose aspirations do not, they are at best stepping stones and at worst distractions. As such, programmeinduced entrepreneurship can fragment youth aspirations. The article calls for a more holistic approach to the promotion of entrepreneurship that takes explicit account of youth aspirations and family dynamics.


The right to parent has long been regarded as one of our most treasured fundamental rights. Despite the disability rights movement's many achievements, especially the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") in 1990, the right to parenthood remains inaccessible to many people with disabilities. Scholars and advocates have posited that the ADA has not adequately protected the rights of parents with disabilities involved with the child welfare system, particularly at the termination of parental rights phase. This Article develops this critique as applied to an original empirical study of 2,064 appellate termination of parental rights decisions decided between 2006 and 2016 that involved mothers with disabilities. This is the first study to conduct quantitative analyses to identify factors that predict whether the ADA is raised or applied in these cases. In particular, we aimed to understand if a mother's disability type predicts whether courts raise or apply the ADA.

This study found that the ADA was only raised in 6% of the decisions and only applied in 2% of the opinions. After controlling for parent, family, court, case, and policy characteristics, courts had a decreased likelihood of raising the ADA in cases involving mothers with psychiatric disabilities. Likewise, after controlling for parent, family, court, case, and policy characteristics, courts had lower odds of applying the ADA in cases involving mothers with psychiatric disabilities or multiple disabilities. Other factors were also associated with courts raising or applying the ADA, including criminal history, substance use history, prior child welfare system involvement, the presence of a disabled child, when the case was decided, geographical location, negative expert testimony, provision of family preservation or reunification services, and state dependency statutes that included parental disability as grounds for termination of parental rights. The Article concludes by discussing the policy and practice implications of the study's findings and identifying directions for future research.


Social recommendation has shown promising improvements over traditional systems since it leverages social correlation data as an additional input. Most existing work assumes that all data are available to the recommendation platform. However, in practice, user-item interaction data (e.g.,rating) and user-user social data are usually generated by different platforms, and both of which contain sensitive information. Therefore,"How to perform secure and efficient social recommendation across different platforms, where the data are highly-sparse in nature"remains an important challenge. In this work, we bring secure computation techniques into social recommendation, and propose S3Rec, a sparsity-aware secure cross-platform social recommendation framework. As a result, our model can not only improve the recommendation performance of the rating platform by incorporating the sparse social data on the social platform, but also protect data privacy of both platforms. Moreover, to further improve model training efficiency, we propose two secure sparse matrix multiplication protocols based on homomorphic encryption and private information retrieval. Our experiments on two benchmark datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of S3Rec.


This research is undertaken with main objectives of surveying and analyzing the present condition of public's water consumption pattern from different water sources in Lalitpur sub-metropolitan city area. This is entirely based on field research and various steps of field research tools were used. Field observation and Key Informant Survey were carried out to collect for general data of the water sources and then to categorize them on the basis of their performance. Structured questionnaire survey was the undertaken with the users to assess the water use. Comparing different scenarios and results from users survey it is find that maximum 33% of demand fulfil by NWSC-supply, 7% fulfil by private well, 3% fulfil by neighbours well, 10% fulfil by public well 10 % fulfil by tanker supply, 3 % fulfil by rain water and 7 % fulfil by NWSC-Collection tank and 27% water demand fulfil by traditional stone spouts. Per capita water consumption of the users vary from a max 49 Lpcd to a minimum is 29 lpcd. This is mainly fulfilled by NWSC- supply, well, tanker supply and NWSC collection tank provided in different place in LSMC area and stone spouts. Key words: Public's water consumption; NWSC collection; Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitian City DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jie.v8i1-2.5109 Journal of the Institute of Engineering Vol. 8, No. 1&2, 2010/2011 Page: 174-177 Uploaded Date : 20 July, 2011


The legal reforms of 1864 marked a shift in Russian legal culture from an amorphous, corrupt, pre-modern system of procedure, structure and customary law to an independent, modern and westernized system as liberal as any nation of Europe or North America. These reforms were nearly universally lauded by legal and cultural critics, both at the time they were introduced and in historical accounts. Despite the apparent necessity and success of the new courts, one of the leading figures in 19 th Century Russian literature (and indeed the history of world literature), Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, continually criticized the new system in both his fiction and non-fiction. Through the synthesis of historical, legal and literary analysis, this study will examine the philosophical and historical reasons why Dostoevsky had an adverse reaction to the reforms, the literary techniques he used to convince his readers of the defects of the new system, and whether Dostoevsky presented a viable legal alternative to the reformed courts. In order to fully comprehend Dostoevsky's reaction to the reforms, this study will contrast the pre and postreform judicial systems in Imperial Russia, through the use of secondary sources and first-hand accounts. The scope and evolution of Dostoevsky's criticism of the law will be explored through analysis of Dostoevsky's pre-reform fiction, including House of the Dead and Crime and Punishment, his post-reform fiction, including The Idiot, Demons and Brothers Karamazov, as well as portions of his experimental literary periodical, A Writer's Diary. Ultimately, Dostoevsky's disappointment in the new system stemmed from its inability to live up to his Orthodox Christian ideal. Dostoevsky envisioned a court that would force the guilty to take moral accountability for their crimes, while at the same time show leniency in punishment, and thereby teach the Russian public his own Christian morals. Far from the "Go and sin no more" courts Dostoevsky envisioned, Dostoevsky portrays the reformed courts as dangerous sources of moral degradation, as eloquent lawyers corrupt the minds of the Russian people with self-aggrandizing and amoral speeches.


Introduction Developing information systems (IS) strategies and choosing the right IS portfolio for an organization--involve decision-making, such as identifying the right IS projects, deciding how best to organize the IS staff, and specifying IS procurement. Although Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) has received growing attention from both scholars and practitioners, especially with regard to decision-making, an organization's perennial challenge is to make the right decisions, one reason being the highly dynamic and emergent nature of technologies and organizational forms. To date, research has focused on finding the optimal IS strategy development processes for organizations (Basu, Hartono, Lederer, & Sethi, 2002; Gottschalk, 1998, 1999; Salmela & Spil, 2002; Teubner, 2007). But organizations can be very dissimilar, owing to underlying differences in their structures and actors, so the same processes cannot be rotely implemented for everyone and in any case. Complicating the picture even further, decision-making occurs at different levels and at different times in different organizations. This paper therefore addresses IS strategic decision-making in organizations known as "organized anarchies," (Cohen, March, & Olsen, 1972) and views the IS strategy-development processes as a set of decisions. "Organized anarchies" bear that name because of their three common attributes: fluid participation, problematic goals, and unclear technology. The Garbage Can Model (GCM) of decision-making (Cohen et al., 1972) serves as the theoretical framework for the analysis as it is particularly suited for understanding decision-making in organized anarchies. Organizations make IS strategic decisions to increase organizational performance. But the effectiveness of those decisions hinges on how purposefully the employees use the ISs. Fardal (2007) found that when both IS users and the managers responsible for the IS strategic processes agree as to the correct IS strategic choices, it has a positive influence on the IS use. IS use is even further enhanced if the users are directly involved in IS strategic processes, including decision-making. This underlines the importance of studying IS strategic decision-making, as the quality of IS use directly affects organizational performance (Henry & Stone, 1995). Furthermore, research shows that many organizations find it a struggle to actually implement their IS strategy (Gottschalk, 2002). Some of this failure no doubt stems from poor decisions at the very heart of that strategy. The present study adds to existing knowledge in this domain as organizations must be able to make IS strategic decisions that reflect their needs, prove economically realistic, and align with their business strategies (Ba, Stallaert, & Whinston, 2001; Fardal, 2007; Henderson & Venkatraman, 1993, 1999; Teubner, 2006). Consequently, processes concerning both development and implementation of IS strategy need to be improved to avoid failure. Several studies have proposed alternative approaches for IS strategy planning and development (e.g. Earl, 1993; Levy, Powell, & Galliers, 1999; Newkirk & Lederer, 2007; Salmela & Spil, 2002; Teubner, 2007). Earl (1993), for instance, found that companies might use one or more of five different approaches to SISP: Business-Led, Method-Driven, Administrative, Technological, and Organizational. Earl concluded that an Organizational approach seemed the most effective; however, he suggested that hybrids, mixing elements from several approaches, might be even more effective. Salmela and Spil (2002) propose the four-cycle model, which provides a basic schedule for planning activities. The model combines the strengths of both comprehensive and incremental planning. Their initial action research indicates that it should be used as a choice list in the planning process. …


This article discusses three kinds of mobility among early stage
researchers: geographical mobility, mobility between disciplines – or
interdisciplinarity – and cross-sectoral mobility. It focuses on how PhD
fellows engage with and negotiate experiences of mobility. These types
of mobility have largely been presented as inherently beneficial in
mainstream policy discourse, but this article presents a more nuanced
picture of mobility, showing the challenges of mobility, as experienced
and articulated by PhD fellows and some of their supervisors. The
research is based on twenty-six interviews with PhD fellows and
principal investigators involved in two types of flagship doctoral programmes:
the ITN in Europe, and the IGERT in the United States. The
main finding is that PhD fellows associated all three types of mobility
with feelings of homelessness.


Unediting the Renaissance is a path-breaking and timely look at the issues of the textual editing of Renaissance works. Both erudite and accessible, it will be a fascinating and provocative read for any Renaissance student or scholar. Leah Marcus argues that 'bad' versions of Renaissance texts such as Shakespeare's First Folio should not be viewed as mutilated copies of originals, but rather reputable alternatives encoding differences in ideology, cultural meaning and other elements of performance. Marcus focuses on key Renaissance works- Dr Faustus, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet and poems by Milton, Donne and Herrick - to re-exmaine how editorial intervention shapes the texts which are widely accepted as 'definitive'. Examining the cultural attitudes, fears and influences which influence textual editors, from the seveteenth century to the present day, Marcus sheds new light on a previously unexamined aspect of Renaissance studies. A lively critique of current theoretical practices, Unediting the Renaissance will shift the ways in which Shakespeare and his contemporaries are edited and read.


Soil samples were collected from salt-affected soils (Solonetz) under different land uses, namely arable (SnA) and pasture (SnP), to investigate the effects of land use on microbiological [basal soil respiration (BSR), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), dehydrogenase activity (DHA) and phosphatase activity] and chemical properties [organic carbon (OC), humic ratio (E4/E6), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N), available forms of phosphorus (P2O5), potassium (K2O), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), sodium (Na+)] and on the moisture content.
 The results showed that the two sites, SnA and SnP, were statistically different from each other for all the microbiological and chemical parameters investigated except Na+ and moisture content. Higher values of MBC (575.67 μg g-1), BSR (9.71 μg CO2 g-1 soil h-1), DHA (332.76 μg formazan g-1 day-1) and phosphatase activity (0.161 μmol PNP g-1 hr-1) were observed for the SnP soil. Great heterogeneity was found in SnP in terms of microbiological properties, whereas the SnA plots showed more homogeneous microbiological activity due to ploughing. 75.34% of variance was explained by principal component one (PC1), which significantly separated SnA and SnP, especially on the basis of soil MBC and P2O5. Moreover, it was concluded that the pasture land (SnP) was microbiologically more active than arable land (SnA) among the Hungarian salt-affected soils investigated.


Abstract This study is one of the first evaluations of independent (i.e., self-guided) practice in math in a developing country. We randomly assigned 4,461 students in grades 4–7 in "unaided" private schools across seven Indian cities who were using a computer-assisted learning software to: (a) a control group, in which they moved from one unit to the next upon completion; or (b) a treatment group, in which they had to complete practice exercises before progressing to the next topic. After six months, the additional practice had a precisely estimated null effect on the math achievement of the average student. However, treatment students with low initial performance outperformed their control counterparts by 0.14 standard deviations (SDs). Our results suggest that independent practice may help private-school students from relatively well-off families in need of catching up with their peers.


The most convincing way to answer the question why Translation Studies matters is to point to the practical benefits TS-results or reprocessed field experience offer in handling practical translation tasks. TS provides translators on the job with help for decision-making and problem-solving. A permanent difficulty when translating news for radio broadcasts lies in the names of organisations such as political parties, associations and institutions of all kinds.In my article I will discuss this issue, specifically for the language pair Finnish-German. For example, what can be done with 'Suomen Aani- ja kuvatallennetuottajat', the name of a Finnish association for record industry products that could – at least in principle – be translated word by word. In theory, translators have a wide range of possibilities: for instance, they can transfer SL words directly into the target text, or invent new expressions. However, in practice, they are usually not free to choose. Instead, they have to look for precedents or check for existing translations in use. A procedure depicting the process of finding possible solutions is presented in the form of a decision tree.


Solar energy is an alternative, sustainable energy source for mankind. Finding a convenient way to convert sunlight energy into chemical energy is a key step towards realizing large-scale solar energy utilization. Owing to their structural regularity and synthetic tunability, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) provide an interesting platform to hierarchically organize light-harvesting antennae and catalytic centers to achieve solar energy conversion. Such photo-driven catalytic processes not only play a critical role in the solar to chemical energy conversion scheme, but also provide a novel methodology for the synthesis of fine chemicals. In this review, we summarize the fundamental principles of energy transfer and photocatalysis and provide an overview of the latest progress in energy transfer, light-harvesting, photocatalytic proton and CO2 reduction, and water oxidation using MOFs. The applications of MOFs in organic photocatalysis and degradation of model organic pollutants are also discussed.


A 14-month-old girl presented with the recurring bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea and failure to thrive. At 7 months of age, the baby was found to be exclusively breast fed and her blood tests revealed low calcium, low phosphorous and markedly elevated alkaline phosphatase. She was started on vitamin D and calcium supplements. Five months later, she came in with lower-limb bowing, irritability, vomiting and loose stools. The laboratory studies revealed very low serum hydroxyvitamin D, and high serum dihydroxyvitamin D. Vitamin D dose was doubled. Ten weeks later, her growth velocity had fallen and she continued to have intermittent loose stools. The oesophagogastroduodenoscopy was done and the biopsies showed Helicobacter pylori gastritis and mild duodenitis. After eradication of H pylori, there was a dramatic improvement in her growth and activity and upon 6 months follow- up there was no clinical or radiologic evidence of rickets.


The history of whaling in Alaskan waters is too often a list of disasters. In 1894, the name of the James Allen, which struck a reef and sank while crossing from the North Pacific Ocean to the Bering Sea by way of one of the passes between the Aleutian Islands was added to that list. The story of the Allen's wreck, the hardships endured by its surviving crew, their descent into cannibalism, and information about its master, Arthur J. Huntley, is one of the most detailed accounts and well-documented accounts we have of any wreck of a single whaling vessel in those treacherous waters.


The aim of reducing breast cancer mortality announced in the report on health in France published in 1994 strongly implicated the promotion of screening and early surgical treatment. However, this mortality has not evolved significantly in France, although more and more cancers have been found and operated upon. The increased prevalence rates of histological diagnoses of breast cancer obtained from the studies of autopsies published has shown that the screening has discovered non-terminal, benign cancers. It has been estimated that 120 of the surgical operations conducted per day in France in 1999 have been carried out to remove non-terminal, benign cancers. Public health has an ethical responsibility to face in terms of the allocation of resources and must remain vigilant in order to avoid excessive screening and unnecessary interventions.


Despite the scientific, technological and surgical improvements of the past 50 years organ dysfunction following elective paediatric cardiac surgery utilising cardiopulmonary bypass continues to account for increased complications, often leading to a protracted course in hospital with a longer stay in intensive care and the potential for irreversible organ damage long term. Furthermore, paediatric cardiac surgeons are routinely undertaking more complex operations with a shift from palliation to early correction. This has resulted in younger children being subjected to longer periods on the bypass machine with increased effects on vital organs.

This thesis describes two clinical studies designed to further assess and characterise peri-operative cardiac, renal and pulmonary function in children undergoing elective cardiac repair at a tertiary referral centre in Scotland, UK. In the first instance a prospective, observational study was undertaken in forty-five children to examine the use of tissue Doppler imaging in the assessment of peri-operative cardiac function, its relationship to myocardial injury and clinical outcome. Tissue Doppler parameters were obtained using a Vivid 7 ultrasound scanner with a 7-MHz probe pre-operatively, on admission to paediatric intensive care and on day one. Myocardial injury was assessed using Troponin-I on the first post-operative day by a commercially available chemiluminescent immunoassay.

In twenty children within this group peri-operative renal function was also investigated using standard estimates of glomerular filtration rate, namely creatinine clearance measured by the kinetic Jaffe method during the first and second twelve hour post-operative periods, in comparison to serum creatinine and the novel biomarker cystatin C. Routine plasma retained pre-operatively and on days 0, 1, 2 and 3 post-operatively was used to measure serum cystatin C and creatinine using a particle-enhanced nephelometric immunoassay and the Roche Creatinine Plus enzymatic assay respectively. The association between cystatin C and recorded perfusion parameters including bypass duration, pump flow, haematocrit, oxygen delivery and Troponin-I was investigated.

Peri-operative pulmonary function was evaluated through a phase IV, randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled trial. In total, twenty four children were randomised to receive oral sildenafil or equivalent volume placebo four times the day before surgery. Blood samples were collected peri-operatively to measure serum cyclic guanosine monophosphate with a commercially available competitive enzyme immunoassay. Haemodynamic data and echocardiography were acquired at two and twenty four hours post-operatively including pulmonary vascular resistance index and bi-ventricular contractility. Post-operative oxygenation was also determined at the same time by oxygen delivery and oxygenation index.

In Chapter 2, peri-operative cardiac function as assessed by tissue Doppler imaging was examined. The results of this study demonstrated that pre-operatively, bi-ventricular systolic function in the study group was reduced compared with normal controls, displaying a significant step-wise decrease with increasing complexity of lesion. This picture persisted post-operatively predominantly in the right ventricle and was significantly associated with the extent of myocardial injury. Impaired peri-operative left ventricular function correlated with clinical outcomes.

In Chapter 3, peri-operative renal function as assessed by cystatin C and its association with parameters of perfusion was examined. The results of this study demonstrated that in comparison to serum creatinine, cystatin C had a superior correlation with glomerular filtration rate in the early post-operative period. An elevated level of this biomarker was significantly associated with bypass duration, minimum pump flow and post-operative myocardial injury. Haematocrit was not directly linked to renal dysfunction in this study although evidence of a critical dysoxic threshold within the kidney was suggested indirectly through oxygen delivery calculations.

In Chapter 4, peri-operative pulmonary function and vascular reactivity in association with the pre-operative administration of oral sildenafil (0.5mg/kg, six hourly) was examined. The results of this trial demonstrated that compared to placebo, pre-operative sildenafil resulted in modest elevations of serum cyclic guanosine monophosphate, limited effects on pulmonary vascular resistance index, significant reductions in peri-operative bi-ventricular contractility, significant reductions in post-operative oxygen delivery and a trend for increasing ventilatory support.

In summary, the current thesis has demonstrated that in children undergoing corrective cardiac surgery peri-operative bi-ventricular function can be accurately assessed by tissue Doppler imaging which to date has had limited use in this patient group. With regards to renal function, cystatin C was shown to be a better estimate of glomerular filtration rate and a more sensitive marker of early renal dysfunction in children after surgery. Furthermore, cystatin C identified a transient post-operative renal impairment, the magnitude of which was associated with duration of bypass, pump flow and myocardial injury. In relation to pulmonary function, this research identified that pre-operative administration of oral sildenafil to children undergoing cardiac surgery produced limited effects on pulmonary vascular resistance but was associated with reduced ventricular contractility and post-operative oxygenation raising significant concerns over its routine clinical use.


High n-type doping in germanium is essential for many electronic and optoelectronic applications especially for high performance Ohmic contacts, lasing and mid-infrared plasmonics. We report on the combination of in situ doping and excimer laser annealing to improve the activation of phosphorous in germanium. An activated n-doping concentration of 8.8  ×  1019 cm−3 has been achieved starting from an incorporated phosphorous concentration of 1.1  ×  1020 cm−3. Infrared reflectivity data fitted with a multi-layer Drude model indicate good uniformity over a 350 nm thick layer. Photoluminescence demonstrates clear bandgap narrowing and an increased ratio of direct to indirect bandgap emission confirming the high doping densities achieved.


In this paper, an approach to semantic video analysis that is based on the statistical processing and representation of the motion signal is presented. Overall, the examined video is temporally segmented into shots and for every resulting shot appropriate motion features are extracted; using these, hidden Markov models (HMMs) are employed for performing the association of each shot with one of the semantic classes that are of interest. The novel contributions of this paper lie in the areas of motion information processing and representation. Regarding the motion information processing, the kurtosis of the optical flow motion estimates is calculated for identifying which motion values originate from true motion rather than measurement noise. Additionally, unlike the majority of the approaches of the relevant literature that are mainly limited to global- or camera-level motion representations, a new representation for providing local-level motion information to HMMs is also presented. It focuses only on the pixels where true motion is observed. For the selected pixels, energy distribution-related information, as well as a complementary set of features that highlight particular spatial attributes of the motion signal, are extracted. Experimental results, as well as comparative evaluation, from the application of the proposed approach in the domains of Tennis, News and Volleyball broadcast video, and Human Action video demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method.


This study compares eleven verbs of letting in six Germanic and five Romance languages. The aim of this paper is to pinpoint the differences and similarities in the semasiological variation of these verbs, both across and within the two language groups they represent. The results of a Multidimensional Scaling analysis based on a parallel corpus of film subtitles show that the verbs differ along several semantic dimensions, such as letting versus leaving, factitive versus permissive causation, as well as modality and discourse function. Although the main differences between the verbs lend themselves to a genealogical interpretation (Germanic vs. Romance), a distributional analysis of constructional patterns in which the verbs occur reveals that these differences are in fact distributed areally, with a centre and a periphery.


We develop an institutional framework for central banks that try to pursue a stability-oriented monetary policy in open-economies by directly targeting the exchange rate. Our main intention is to design a framework which avoids excessive capital inflows that can be regarded as a main cause of the crises in Asia, Latin America, Eastern and Central Europe and of the ERM I. In an open economy policy makers can target two interrelated variables: the interest rate and the exchange rate. These two operating target have to fulfil two different conditions. On the one hand they have to create monetary conditions that are consistent with the domestic economic situation. On the other hand they have to be compatible with a risk-premium adjusted uncovered interest parity condition (UIP). It is obvious that both conditions are difficult to met. In our view sustained violations of the second condition provide an important explanation for the problem of speculative capital inflows under a fixed nominal peg. We show that an adjustable nominal peg is in most cases a better solution to the dual requirement of UIP and adequate monetary conditions. This leads to a new solution for the inconsistency triangle: a central bank can combine an autonomous domestic interest rate policy with capital mobility and a floor for the target path of the exchange rate.


In highlighting the role of traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in the implementation of primary health care (PHC) in Kenya, the following topics are discussed: characteristics of TBAs as reported in studies, the training program, program objectives, content, the training process, resources for training, the role of TBAs in PHC, and evaluation. The definition of midwife is given as midwives trained in a community setting to assist in delivery within the confines of accepted cultural beliefs. A study of 28 midwives from different regions in Kenya in 1980 found that most were illiterate women between 24 and 68 years olds received no monetary gain, had a variety of occupational backgrounds, and provided varying amounts of advice but little pre- or postnatal care. Almost all advised mothers to breast feed for at least 2 years. 80% of mother use TBAs for delivery. In order to minimize maternal (5-20/1000 live births on the average) and infant mortality, many countries have or are developing training programs for TBAs. Inadequacies in TBA care may be little prenatal care, too little postnatal care, and deficits in promoting child spacing; other unsafe practices may be improper washing of hands and severing the umbilical cord with unsterile objects. Other advantages of training TBAs involve less cost, less need for transportation, personalized setting in the home, source of health education in the community, and rapport with her clients. The training program goal is to reduce mortality by eliminating bad practices. The objectives are to reduce maternal deaths or illness from hemorrhage, infection, and toxemia; to encourage better nutrition; to reduce perineal or vaginal tears which may lead to longterm disability from urinary or rectal fistula; to reduce the number of pregnancies or exposure to risk; and to reduce neonatal tetanus asphyxia, infection, diarrhea, and malnutrition. Activities entail educating adolescent girls and pregnant women on menstruation and sexuality within cultural norms, prenatal care and delivery and postnatal care, maternal care, and educating mothers about personal hygiene, nutrition, child spacing, and immunization, and acknowledgement of the valuable service TBAs contribute to the community. Programs have operated for 10 years and evaluation is underway.


Aim: To evaluate the effect of beverages (Distilled water ,Artificial orange, Zamzam water, Natural orange, Cola, coffee, and Tea) on the color stability of the highly impact resin. Materials and methods: Total samples of this research were (48) samples of highly impact resin were prepared 30 * 20 * 1.5 mm (length, width and thickness). Six samples were immersed in each type of beverage. The last six sample (control) without any type of beverage (after control group and other beverage groups were evaluated after (3 hours, 9 hrs, 18 hrs, 36.5 hrs, and 73 hrs) immersion time intervals by using (CIE L* a* b* ) system. the results of this research were analyzed statistically by ANOVA and Duncan's multiple range test. Results : There was no significant difference among beverages at immersion time intervals (3 hrs, 9 hrs, 18 hrs, and 73 hrs) except at (36.5 hrs) there was a significant difference, also the results showed that there was no significant difference among immersion time intervals for different types of bever-ages. Conclusions: among beverages coffee and tea showed unaccepted value of ΔE at all immersion time intervals except at (9 hrs) while cola showed an accepted values of ΔE except at (3 hrs) of immer-sion where ΔE value was unaccepted.


Background: Stroke frequently causes deficits that may impact a person's ability to drive. Little has been reported about the frequency with which patients return to driving following a stroke or the use of driver evaluation services to determine a patient's capacity to drive safely. Objective: To examine the frequency of return to driving post-stroke, self-imposed limitations in driving, and the utilization of evaluative services in the decision to return to driving. Methods: : The STEP-South Carolina Project surveyed 162 stroke survivors one year after their event, assessing clinical and functional outcomes and patient perceptions of the magnitude of the impact of stroke on their quality of life ("no effect", "some effect", or "great effect"). Multivariate analyses (adjusted for NIHSS) were performed to determine the relationship between driving status, the use of evaluative services, self-imposed limitations to driving and the patient's perceived effect of stroke of the ability to perform valued life activities. Results: Multivariate analyses showed that 51.2% (83/162) of survey respondents returned to driving following their stroke, with 59% of these (49/83) returning within one month. Only 5.6% of all respondents (9/162) received any formal driving evaluation, though 11% (9/83) of those who had returned to driving had reported their stroke had a great effect on their ability to performed valued life activities. Among those who reported "no effect" on their ability to perform valued life activities and returned to driving, 45.8% (38/83) limited their driving, though it is unclear whether formal evaluation would have supported such a decision. Conclusion: The resumption of driving following stroke is usually a decision made without formal evaluation. Stroke survivors, including those who self-impose restrictions on their driving, may benefit from formal evaluation before returning to the driver's seat.


Abstract: This paper presents the architecture of an effective software application for managing enterprise projects. Viewing the execution of an enterprise project as a highly complex system in which many delicate trade-offs among completion time, cost, safety, and quality are required, the architecture has been designed based on the fact that any action in one part of such a project can highly impact its other parts.  Highlighting the complexity of the system, and the way computational intelligence should be employed in making these trade-offs are the base of the presented architecture. The architecture is also based on the fact that developing a software application for appropriate managing of such trade-offs is not a trivial task, and a robust application for this purpose should be involved with an array of sophisticated optimization techniques. A multi-agent system (MAS), as a software application composed of multiple interacting modules, has been used as the main component of architecture. In this multi-agent system, modules interact with environment on-line, and resolve various resource conflicts which are complex and hard-to-resolve on daily basis. Based on the proposed architecture, the paper also provides a template software application in which an array of optimization techniques show how the necessary trade-offs can be made. The template is the result of the integration of several highly sophisticated recent procedures for single and multimode resource-constrained projects scheduling problems.


Recent advances in the field of addiction have given greater emphasis to subjective
experience and compulsive behaviour. This signifies an important shift from focusing
on the object of addiction to acknowledging that behaviours, which can induce changes
in physical arousal and subjective experience, have the propensity to be overused and
lead to addiction. Gambling, video-arcade games, computer games, and the Internet
have therefore been identified as potentially addictive activities, which like drug use,
also exist on a continuum of addiction, ranging from no symptoms of addiction to
addiction. Researchers have also emphasised the need to distinguish high engagement in
activities and addiction (e.g., Charlton, 2002). The aims of the present research are
therefore to extend current knowledge on the level of participation and prevalence of
addiction to these four activities and to investigate continuum hypotheses of addiction.
Study 1 focused on establishing the level of engagement and prevalence of
students endorsing symptoms of addiction due to their involvement in gambling, videoarcade
games, computer games, and the Internet. A sample of 1762 (845 female) school
students from rural and urban Tasmanian schools (Grades 4 to 12) and 709 (509 female)
university students participated in Study 1. Lifetime participation and frequency and
duration of engagement in on-line games and the Internet was higher amongst this
sample of Australian students compared to previous research conducted on youth (e.g.,
Tejeiro Salguero & Bersabe Moran, 2002; Wang, 2001). A lower percentage of students
met the modified criteria for addiction compared to previous studies, however, the
prevalence of sub-clinical computer game and Internet addiction was higher than that
reported by past researchers (e.g., Chou & Hsiao, 2000; Johansson & Gatestam, 2004).
Risk factors found to predict addiction significantly (e.g., high engagement) were
consistent with previous studies (e.g., Chou & Hsiao, 2000; Clarke & Rossen, 2000; Johansson & Gatestam, 2004). The identification of risk factors associated with subclinical
and clinical addiction has implications for future prevention programs.
Three continuum hypotheses were investigated in Studies 2, 3 and 4; low
engagement through to addiction, continuum of increasing engagement and addiction
symptomatology, and continuum of addiction symptomatology. In Study 2 (N = 80), the
P3a and P3b components of the ERP were examined as these components are proposed
to act as a trait marker for substance addiction and index externalizing disorders of
disinhibition (P3b only). A difficult discrimination three-stimulus visual oddball
paradigm was employed to elicit maximum fronto-central P3a to the non-target
distractor stimuli and centro-parietal P3b to targets. It was hypothesized that both P3a
and P3b amplitude would be sequentially reduced in participants with progressively
greater engagement and symptoms of addiction. In Study 3 (N = 79) the mismatch
negativity (MMN) component, known to index impulsivity, alcoholism, and CNS
disinhibition and hyper-excitability, was examined using a two-stimulus unattended
passive auditory oddball task. It was hypothesized that, compared to the P3a and P3b
results, the inverse relationship would be reflected in MMN amplitude.
A significant widespread reduction in P3a amplitude was found in Study 2, only
among participants with either a sub-clinical or clinical level of addiction compared to
those with no symptoms of addiction. Significant results were established for each
continuum hypothesis when examining the amplitude of the P3b component. P3b
amplitude indexed a dichotomous distinction between lower levels of engagement
and/or no symptoms of addiction (non-clinical group), and participants with either a
sub-clinical or clinical level of addiction and/or high level of engagement in
activity(ies). Findings for both P3a and P3b amplitude indicate that the critical factor
was not whether a diagnosis of addiction was met, but rather whether students did or did
not experience some symptoms of addiction. These reductions in P3a and P3b amplitude among students with a sub-clinical level of addiction are consistent with
suggestions that genetic trait markers for risk of addiction should also be present among
sub-clinical populations (Slutske, Eisen, True, Lyons, Goldberg & Tsuang, 2000). In
line with past research investigating substance addiction, these findings suggest that
participants with lower levels of engagement and/or no addictive symptoms had more
resources available to perform the task than participants with either a sub-clinical
presentation or diagnosis of addiction. However, in contrast to previous studies of
participants with substance addiction, findings from Study 3 revealed that the amplitude
of the MMN was not significantly higher among those with addiction, sub-clinical
addiction and/or high engagement. In accordance with MMN findings, Study 4
established that the Addicted group were not significantly different to other participants
according to extraversion or neuroticism dimensions, suggesting therefore that this
sample may not be as impulsive as individuals with substance addiction.
The absence of significant MMN amplitude differences suggests that reductions in
P3a and P3b amplitude recorded for groups with a sub-clinical, or above, level of
addiction are specifically related to differences in cognitive processing that requires
attentional resources and not to pre-attentive automatic processing of incoming stimuli.
Furthermore, as the Addicted sample did not display significantly higher traits of
extra version or neurotic ism in conjunction with the absence of increased MMN
amplitude, it appears that these forms of behavioural addiction are not related to
impulsivity, and therefore suggests that they are not externalizing behaviours related to
frontal disinhibition. Further research investigating the neurophysiology,
psychophysiology and possible existence of a genetic vulnerability to these behavioural
addictions is warranted, given that the prevalence of a sub-clinical addiction to
computer games and the Internet is increasing among the student population.


Important processes of living cells, including intracellular transport, cell crawling, contraction, division, and mechanochemical signal transduction, are controlled by cytoskeletal (CSK) dynamics. CSK dynamics can
be measured by tracking the motion of CSK-bound particles. Particle motion has been reported to follow a
superdiffusive behavior that is believed to arise from ATP-driven intracellular stress fluctuations generated
by polymerization processes and motor proteins. The power spectrum of intracellular stress fluctuations has
been suggested to decay with 1/2 (Lau et al, Phys Rev Lett 91:198101). Here we report direct measurements of cellular force fluctuations that are transmitted to the extracellular matrix, and compared
them with the spontaneous motion of CSK-bound beads. Fibronectin coated fluorescent beads (O 1 m)
were bound to the CSK of confluent human vascular endothelial cells. Forces transmitted to the extracellular
matrix (ECM) were quantified by plating these cells onto a collagen coated elastic polyacrylamide hydrogel,
and measuring the gel deformation from the displacement of embedded fluorescent beads (O 0.5 m). Bead
motion of both CSK-bound and ECM-bound beads were measured with nanometer-resolution and expressed
as mean square displacement (MSD). The MSD of both CSK-bound and ECM-bound beads displayed a
superdiffusive behavior that was well described by a power law: MSD = a*t^b. Surprisingly, we found an
identical power law exponent for both CSK-bound and ECM-bound beads of b = 1.6. This finding suggests
that the spontaneous motion of CSK-bound beads is driven by stress fluctuations with a 1/
b+1 power spectrum. This result is consistent with the notion that CSK dynamics and CSK stress fluctuations are closely coupled.


The purpose of this research was to investigate job satisfaction and the impact of HIV and AIDS on nurses in a public hospital in Gauteng. The problems that generated this study included absenteeism, low morale and negativity of nurses working with patients in the presence of the HIV/AIDS crisis. A quantitative research method was used. The sample size comprised 248 nurses from all categories. The Measure of Job Satisfaction was the framework used which covers issues such as remuneration, security, growth, social and supervisory aspects. The framework for the HIV/AIDS section of the research was the Government policy on HIV/AIDS. Results showed job satisfaction was adversely affected by staff shortages, workload, frustrations with management, remuneration, lack of developmental opportunities and equipment. Analysis of the open-ended responses showed ambivalence amongst nurses towards nursing HIV/AIDS patients. Some expressed sadness and fear while others found their caring role fulfilled. The study indicated that facilitating development of staff, improving management skills, providing staff and equipment will all impact positively on job satisfaction. In addition, a deliberate effort needs to be made to plan debriefing/counselling services for nurses as well as ongoing HIV training.


Using real-time data from the University of Luxembourg's COME-HERE nationally representative panel survey, covering more than 8,000 individuals across France, Germany,Italy, Spain, and Sweden, I investigate how income distributions and poverty rates havechanged from January to September 2020. I find that poverty rates increased on average in allcountries from January to May and partially recovered in September. The increase in povertyis heterogeneous across countries, with Italy being the most affected and France the least;within countries, COVID-19 contributed to exacerbating poverty differences across regions inItaly and Spain. With a set of poverty measures from the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke family, I thenexplore the role of individual characteristics in shaping different poverty profiles acrosscountries. Results suggest that poverty increased disproportionately more for youngindividuals, women, and respondents who had a job in January 2020 – with different intensityacross countries. Keyword: COVID-19, Poverty, TIP, Europe, Headcount ratio JEL Cassification: I14, I18, I32


Health is considered to be an extremely important component of human welfare. By the time India gained independence in 1947, achievement of good health had become an important national goal in its own right. Nevertheless, a vast public health infrastructure in India comprising of 145,000 Sub-centres, 23,000 Public Health Centres (PHCs) and 3222 Community Health Centres (CHCs) is estimated to be able to cater to only 20% of the Indian population. There have been numerous attempts to understand and analyze the causes underlying the failures of the health policies and thereby to provide meaningful solutions. While most of the earlier attempts to understand health look at the role of public and private institutions in the provision of health care, the focus of this paper is to identify the role that households play in determining their health status and the macroeconomic effects this decision can generate. The paper uses a CGE framework to simulate the effects of complete tariff liberalization in the presence / partial withdrawal / complete absence of health subsidy. Among major conclusions, this paper finds that complete subsidization of health reduces overall disparity by favoring rural households over urban. Withdrawal of health subsidy leads to domestic re-allocation of poverty pushing down the wage rates in agricultural sector, the main stay of rural households.


Much work has been done on understanding and predicting human mobility in time. In this work, we are interested in obtaining a set of users who are spatio-temporally most similar to a query user. We propose an efficient way of user data representation called Spatio-Temporal Signatures to keep track of complete record of user movement. We define a measure called Spatio-Temporal similarity for comparing a given pair of users. Although computing exact pairwise Spatio-Temporal similarities between query user with all users is inefficient, we show that with our hybrid pruning scheme the most similar users can be obtained in logarithmic time with in a (1+\epsilon) factor approximation of the optimal. We are developing a framework to test our models against a real dataset of urban users.