As recent advances in medicine contribute to people living longer and living with chronic illness in the home, the role of the family caregiver has become more common. Furthermore, due to varying family structures and living situations it is not always the parent or adult child who takes on the caregiver role. The traditional role of the adult caregiver increasingly falls on the shoulders of children, adolescents, and emerging adults. Also, in cases where parents are unable to take care of their children, grandparents take on the role of adult caregiver for their grandchildren. A caregiving role at any point in life may affect a person's development and add stressors, but also may create rewards that influence the caregiver's identity and well-being."How Caregiving Affects Development: Psychological Implications for Child, Adolescent, and Adult Caregivers" examines these effects using a lifespan development framework. Each chapter presents theory and empirical research on caregiving from a different phase in the lifespan including childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood, and young, middle, and older adulthood. Within the context of the caregiver's life the chapter authors examine how the role of caregiver affects their development.The topics include the effects of early caregiving on well-being, school performance, filial responsibility, felt obligation, coping with stresses of multiple roles in middle adulthood, and intergenerational reciprocity. Challenges and rewards specific to each stage in life are examined, and some chapters also provide a comparison with the experiences of noncaregiving peers.This book offers a new and exciting look at often overlooked family caregivers and introduces a set of challenging questions that will guide future research in the field.


The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was unprecedented in total loading of petroleum hydrocarbons accidentally released to a marine ecosystem. Controversial application of chemical dispersants presumably accelerated microbial consumption of oil components, especially in warm Gulf of Mexico surface waters. We employed δ13C as a tracer of oil-derived carbon to resolve two periods of isotopic carbon depletion in two plankton size classes. Carbon depletion was coincident with the arrival of surface oil slicks in the far northern Gulf, and demonstrated that subsurface oil carbon was incorporated into the plankton food web.


This paper shows that a two-factor constant volatility model provides an adequate description of the dynamics and shape of the German term structure of interest rates from 1972 up to 1998. The model also provides reasonable estimates of the volatility and term premium curves. Following the conjecture that the two factors driving the German term structure of interest rates represent the ex-ante real interest rate and the expected inflation rate, the identification of one factor with expected inflation is discussed. The estimates are obtained using a Kalman filter and a maximum likelihood procedure including in the measurement equation both the yields and their volatilities.


A study on the occurrence and seasonal incidence of hydatid cysts of sheep, goats and cattle was carried out during 2008 and 2009 by weekly regular visits to Mosul abattoir and other areas i.e. outside abattoir. All slaughtered livestock were of local breed, of both sexes, originated from various areas of Mosul and were of different ages having non descriptive features. Visual inspection and palpation of the lesions were followed in this study. Of 4800 sheep, 960 goats and 720 cattle were examined, 96 sheep, five goats and four cattle were found to harbour the cysts representing infection rate of 2%, 0.52% and 0.55%, respectively. The lowest seasonal incidence was observed in winter for sheep (3.16%) and goats (1.25%). The lowest level of incidence was 0.16% for sheep and 0% for goats was noticed in summer. However, in cattle no infection was taken place in winter and autumn but 1.11% infection rate was equally seen in summer and spring. The preponderant site of cyst was the liver in sheep (46.8%) and goats (40%). In cattle the commonest location of the cyst was the lung (50%) followed by mixed site of liver and lung (25%) and liver (25%). The results indicated that only fertile cysts were present in the sheep representing 83.33% of fertility percentage. The number of cysts in the infected organs ranged between 1-16, 1-6 and 1- 10 for sheep, goats and cattle, respectively. It can be concluded that only sheep play a major role in dissemination of hydatidosis. However, being anthrozoonotic, potential risk may be increased due to incorrect disposal of infected offal with unhygienic slaughter protocols.


The present status and future progress of the mechanisms of persistent luminescence are critically treated with the present knowledge. The advantages to be achieved by a further need as well as the pitfalls of the excessive use of imagination are shown. As usual, in the beginning of the present era of persistent luminescence since the mid 1990s, the imagination played a more important role than the sparse solid experimental data and the chemical common sense and knowledge was largely ignored. Since some five years, the mechanistic studies seem to have reached the maturity and – perhaps deceivingly – it seems that there are only details to be solved. However, the development of red emitting nanocrystalline materials poses a challenge also to the more fundamental studies and interpretation. The questions still luring in the darkness include the problems how the increased surface area affects the defect structure and how the "persistent energy transfer" really works. There is still some light to be thrown onto these matters starting with agreeing on the terminology: the term phosphorescence should be abandoned altogether. The long lifetime of persistent luminescence is due to trapping of excitation energy, not to the forbidden nature of the luminescent transition. However, the technically well-suited term "afterglow" should be retained for harmful, short persistent luminescence.


The growing demand for automatically transported refractory castables has stimulated the use of pumpable castables, which are usually specified as high fluidity compositions. However, this specification cannot be accepted as complete, since systematic studies are not commonly observed in the literature. Furthermore, the traditional techniques for rheological evaluation, which are based on flow measurements, cannot simulate the flow conditions of castables inside transporting pipes. Therefore, this work describes a new technique for the rheological characterization of pumpable castables, which is based on a rheometer for refractory castables combined with a device that simulates the flow conditions during the materials transportation. In addition, castables with distinct particle size distributions were rheologically evaluated based on this new technique. The results proved the high efficiency of this new method of rheological characterization, and the castable based on Andreasen's model, formulated using the distribution coefficient q = 0.26, was found to be the most suitable one for pumping.


In this paper, we propose a clock skew calibration method for ranging applications using an ultra-wideband (UWB) signal. The clock skew is one of the main error sources in time-of-arrival (TOA) based UWB ranging, since a long ranging signal is required to obtain a sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Therefore, the clock skew calibration is essential for accurate TOA ranging. We propose to estimate the clock skew in the frequency domain to take full advantage of the periodic property of the ranging signal, which allows the proposed method to reach super-resolution. Simulation results corroborate the efficiency of the proposed method.


The fat contents and fatty acid compositions of three hazelnut cultivars; Tombul, Palaz and Kalinkara were investigated during storage at 21 °C with 60-65 % relative bhumidity. The total fat contents of kernels in vacuum packages increased significantly with storage time. It is believed that the absolute value of fat content does not increase but that the kernel water content and total weight decrease. The palmitic and oleic acid contents of stored hazelnuts increased, while linoleic acid content decreased. No significant differences were found for stearic and linolenic acids during storage.


We investigate the behavior of a fluid near the critical point by using numerical simulations of weakly compressible three-dimensional isotropic turbulence. Much has been done for a turbulent flow with an ideal gas. The primary focus of this work is to analyze fluctuations of thermodynamic variables (pressure, density, and temperature) when a non-ideal Equation Of State (EOS) is considered. In order to do so, a hybrid lattice Boltzmann scheme is applied to solve the momentum and energy equations. Previously unreported phenomena are revealed as the temperature approaches the critical point. Fluctuations in pressure, density, and temperature increase, followed by changes in their respective probability density functions. Due to the non-linearity of the EOS, it is seen that variances of density and temperature and their respective covariance are equally important close to the critical point. Unlike the ideal EOS case, significant differences in the thermodynamic properties are also observed when the Reynolds...


Expert Indexing in Oracle Database 11g is about the one database structure at the heart of almost all performance concerns: the index. Database system performance is one of the top concerns in information technology today. Administrators struggle to keep up with the explosion of access and activity driven by the proliferation of computing into everything from phones to tablets to PCs in our increasingly connected world. At the heart of any good-performing database lies a sound indexing strategy that makes appropriate use of indexing, and especially of the vendor-specific indexing features on offer. Few databases fully exploit the wealth of data access mechanisms provided by Oracle. Expert Indexing in Oracle Database 11g helps by bringing together information indexing and how to use it into one, convenient and blissfully short volume that you can read quickly and have at your fingertips for reference. Learn the different types of indices available and when each is best applied. Recognize when queries arent using indices as you intend. Manage your indexing for maximum performance. Let Expert Indexing in Oracle Database 11g be your guide to deep mastery of the most fundamental performance optimization structure in Oracle Database. Explains how indices work, how they help, and how they hinderDemystifies the various index choicesDescribes the database administration chores associated with indicesWhat youll learn Create an overall indexing strategy to guide your decisionsChoose the correct indexing mechanisms for your applicationsManage and maintain indices to avoid degradation and preserve efficiencyTake better advantage of underused index types such as index-organized tablesChoose the appropriate columns to index, with confidenceBlend partitioning and materialized views into your indexing strategy Who this book is for Expert Indexing in Oracle Database 11g is for all levels of database administrators and application developers who are struggling with the database performance and scalability challenge. Any database administrator involved with indexing, which is any database administrator period, will appreciate the wealth of advice packed into this gem of a book.


Patient: Female, 59 Final Diagnosis: Multifocal nodular fatty infiltration of the liver Symptoms: None Medication: — Clinical Procedure: Laparoscopy Specialty: Surgery Objective: Rare disease Background: Fatty infiltration of the liver usually has a diffuse pattern, but in very rare cases it presents as multiple focal lesions of the liver, mimicking metastases. A correct diagnosis is crucial to address prognosis and eventual treatment. Case Report: We present the case of a completely fit and asymptomatic patient referred for multiple bilateral liver metastases of unknown origin. She had no previous history of malignancy. She was extensively investigated with all locally available methods, including ultrasound scan, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy, and diagnostic laparoscopy. Imaging-guided biopsy and laparoscopic biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of multifocal fatty infiltration of the liver. Conclusions: The diagnosis of this condition can be challenging and an accurate initial clinical history must be part of a thorough clinical examination. Multimodal imaging is mandatory, but diagnostic laparoscopy with direct macrobiopsy may be necessary to clear all doubts.


The research identified and explored the cognitive knowledge among the instructional multimedia design and development experts comprising of multimedia designer, graphic designer, subject-matter expert and instructional designer. A critical need exists for a solid understanding of the factors that influence team decision making and performance in order to identify interventions that can affect the decision making process and improving performance. The knowledge shared by the team was categorized into three groups of multimedia design principles encompasses of basic principles, authoring principles and design principles. The research methodology involved quantitative and qualitative methods. Initial phase began with the modified Delphi technique which involved a selection of experts and the list of principles in multimedia design. Next phase, the interview session involved four selected experts to verify the list of principles and obtain detailed information. Predominantly, the research presented the Shared Knowledge Multimedia Design Model (SKMD). The research outcomes significantly benefit the Ministry of Education, teachers, students, instructors, designers and the field of instructional design instructional design. Hence, quality multimedia learning products can be produced.


Objectives: As part of a sham controlled treatment trial using daily left repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), brain changes associated with 4 to 6 weeks of treatment were examined using diffusion tensor imaging to noninvasively evaluate prefrontal white matter (WM) microstructure. A decrease in fractional anisotropy values of the left prefrontal WM could indicate damage to the region. Methods: Diffusion tensor imaging was performed before and after 4 to 6 weeks of daily rTMS treatments. Mean fractional anisotropy levels associated with active rTMS and sham rTMS for the right and left prefrontal WM were assessed. Results: Adequate images were acquired for 8 participants (active n = 4, sham n = 4) before and after rTMS. A mean increase was found for the left prefrontal WM. The mixed model revealed a trend toward a significant treatment group × region interaction effect (P = 0.11). Furthermore, simple region effects (left prefrontal WM vs right prefrontal WM) were at a trend toward significance for difference after treatment within the active rTMS group (P = 0.07), but not within the sham rTMS group (P = 0.88). Conclusions: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation resulted in no evidence of damage to WM on the side of stimulation. Diffusion tensor imaging may offer a unique modality to increase our understanding of mechanisms of action for rTMS.


Research summary: This article reviews structural change in the automotive sector from 1997 to 2007. We find that, following internal framing contests, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) led efforts to change their sector's architecture, starting from both strong and weak competitive positions and working with suppliers to advocate a new vision based on modularity and outsourcing. As the risks and costs of this vision became apparent, OEMs were able to reverse course and reaffirm their hierarchical control on the sector, taking advantage of structural features that weren't salient ex ante. We consider why certain OEMs initiated this status-quo challenging change, and identify how sector structure mediated their (and suppliers') efforts to implement it. We document the complex change process, driven by agency, structure, and heterogeneity in firms' understanding of their sector's architecture.

Managerial summary: We study the "industry architecture" (i.e., division of labor and profit) of the automotive sector. During the late 1990s, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) embraced a new vision, based on "Modularity + Outsourcing," inspired by an analogy with Personal Computers (PCs). This seems puzzling since such a change was hard to implement and could have led to OEMs relinquishing strategic control of the sector. The misstep was caused by internal framing contests and the agendas and influence of suppliers, consultants, and academics. We also consider why OEMs were able to partially reverse these changes, and document the role of structural features that let them control their sector and retain value: managing the customer experience, acting as guarantors of quality, and preserving hierarchical supply chains in which they functioned as system integrators. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The eighth International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 10–12 December 2014 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, returning to Malaysia for the first time since 2008. The conference had a record-breaking attendance of 10,318 industry professionals from 68 countries. The event drew speakers from the highest echelons of government, operators, service providers, advisory and research firms, and academia. The technical program included more than 420 oral presentations and ePosters. For the first time in IPTC history, the Geoscience + Integrated Reservoir component of the program exceeded 50% of the sessions, and presentations were given by many leading SEG members. SEG-sponsored sessions covered a wide range of subjects, including seismic acquisition, processing, reservoir characterization, and case histories. Many of these topics were presented as integrated geology/geophysics/engineering studies.


Some species of the family Cyperaceae have been studied extensively for presenting bioactive compounds of pharmacological interest. Thus, the present research aimed to investigate the antimicrobial, antioxidant and chemical constituents of Kyllinga odorata Vahl, Oxycaryum cubensis Poepp. & Kunth and Rhynchospora nervosa Boeck. Hydroalcoholic extracts (1:1, v:v) of aerial and underground parts. These species were used for analysis of phytochemical prospection, quantification of total flavonoid and phenol content, and for evaluation of in vitro antioxidant activity against DPPH radical (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl). The ethyl acetate and chloroform phase resulting from the liquid-liquid partitioning of the extracts of K. odorata, O. cubensis and R. nervosa were evaluated in in vitro antimicrobial assays and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-DAD) identification of chemical substances. From the chromatograms obtained by HPLC-DAD, substances of great pharmacological importance were identified, such as: chlorogenic acid, myricitrin, catechin, apigenin, quercetin, luteolin, chrysin and rutin. The hydroalcoholic extract of the aerial parts of R. nervosa had the highest content of flavonoids (1.521 μg EQ/μg) and total phenols (5.020 EGA/μg), suggesting a direct relation with the excellent antioxidant activity of this species (IC50 = 122.11 μg/ml). It was evidenced that the chloroform phase of O. cubensis showed the best result, inhibiting the growth of Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa with the minimum inhibitory concentration of 15.6, 31.2 and 62 μg/ml, respectively.

 Key words: Cyperaceae, biological activities, natural products, medicinal plants.


Response to psychiatric medications in later life is highly heterogeneous and complex. Monoaminergic-related polymorphisms may influence medication response and susceptibility to side effects in elderly individuals. Individuals with the lower function short (S) allele of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) insertion/deletion (indel) promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) have both increased the likelihood of adverse drug events and increased the need for higher antidepressant concentrations to obtain maximum antidepressant response. By contrast, carriers of the higher expression homozygous long allele (L/L) genotype may respond at lower concentrations. The differential role of these polymorphisms appears at early stages of treatment rather than in the final antidepressant outcome. Research findings suggest that the rs25531 SNP may influence functional expression of the L allele. Similarly, a variable number of tandem repeats in the second intron of the serotonin transporter gene may influence the expression of SLC6A4 and the implications of these variants may be influenced by aging. Two polymorphisms, rs2242466 (-182T/C) and rs5569 (1287G/A), in the norepinephrine transporter gene (SLC6A2 or NET) have been associated with antidepressant response. Studies in dopamine-related polymorphisms have focused on associations with neuroleptic-induced movement disorders. The rs1800497 variant (Taq1A) of the dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) gene located in a noncoding 3´ region may regulate expression of D2 receptors. The rs6280 variant (Ser9Gly) of the dopamine receptor 3 (DRD3) gene may influence the binding affinity of D3 receptors as a result of serine to glycine substitution of the receptor protein. A multicenter collaborative research effort would be an effective strategy to increase sample sizes to further investigate how gene variants impact the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of psychotropic drugs in elderly persons.


OBJECTIVE Older people with type 2 diabetes are at high risk of mobility disability. We investigated the association of diabetes with lower-limb muscle mass and muscle quality to verify whether diabetes-related muscle impairments mediate the association between diabetes and low walking speed. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 835 participants (65 years old and older) enrolled in the InCHIANTI (Invecchiare in Chianti, aging in the Chianti area) population-based study. Total, muscular, and fat cross-sectional areas of the calf and relative muscle density were measured using peripheral quantitative computerized tomography. Indicators of muscle performance included knee-extension torque, ankle plantar flexion and dorsiflexion strength, lower-extremity muscle power, and ankle muscle quality (ratio of ankle strength to the muscle area [kilograms per centimeters squared]). Gait performance was assessed by 4- and 400-m walking speed. Diabetes was ascertained by standard American Diabetes Association criteria. RESULTS Prevalence of diabetes was 11.4%. After adjustment for age and sex, participants with diabetes had lower muscle density, knee and ankle strength, and muscle power and worse muscle quality (all P < 0.05). Diabetic participants were also slower on both 4-m (β: −0.115 ± 0.024 m/s, P < 0.001) and 400-m (β:−0.053 ± 0.023 m/s, P < 0.05) walking tests. In multivariable linear regression models, lower-limb muscle characteristics accounted for 24.3 and 15.1% of walking speed difference comparing diabetic and nondiabetic subjects in the 4- and 400-m walks, respectively. CONCLUSIONS In older persons, diabetes is associated with reduced muscle strength and worse muscle quality. These impairments are important contributors of walking limitations related to diabetes.


Abstract. A large zonal asymmetry of ozone has been observed over Antarctica during winter-spring, when the ozone hole develops. It is caused by a planetary wave-driven displacement of the polar vortex. The total ozone data by OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) and the ozone profiles by MLS (Microwave Limb Sounder) and GOMOS (Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars) were analysed to characterize the ozone zonal asymmetry and the wave activity during Antarctic spring. Both total ozone and profile data have shown a persistent zonal asymmetry over the last years, which is usually observed from September to mid-December. The largest amplitudes of planetary waves at 65° S (the perturbations can achieve up to 50% of zonal mean values) is observed in October. The wave activity is dominated by the quasi-stationary wave 1 component, while the wave 2 is mainly an eastward travelling wave. Wave numbers 1 and 2 generally explain more than the 90% of the ozone longitudinal variations. Both GOMOS and MLS ozone profile data show that ozone zonal asymmetry covers the whole stratosphere and extends up to the altitudes of 60–65 km. The wave amplitudes in ozone mixing ratio decay with altitude, with maxima (up to 50%) below 30 km. The characterization of the ozone zonal asymmetry has become important in the climate research. The inclusion of the polar zonal asymmetry in the climate models is essential for an accurate estimation of the future temperature trends. This information might also be important for retrieval algorithms that rely on ozone a priori information.


Nano-fibers grafted on carbon fibers (CFs) has been of one of the most popular methods used for the carbon fibers surface treatment, which could significantly influence the inter facial properties between polymer matrix and carbon fibers in composites. This chap - ter demonstrated three novel carbon fibers surface treatment methods, they are carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grafted on CFs using catalysts formed in an ethanol flame, carbon fiber forests (CFFs) by carbon fiber surface brushing and abrading and ZnO nanowire grown onto CFs though a facile hydrothermal method respectively. Based on metal catalyst par - ticles or dopamine-based functionalization formed onto the nano-fiber/CF interface, a good interfacial bonding strength between the nano-fiber and CFs was observed by an instrumented tip of an atomic force microscope and further improvement of interfacial shear strength with epoxy as measured by the single fiber pull out/microbond test was realized. The hierarchical micro-fibers on CF fabrics were then utilized to fabricate the laminates to characterize anti-delamination capacity (the mode I and mode II interlami - nar fracture toughness) of these composite laminates, wherein carbon fiber fabrics were grafted with CNTs, short CFs and ZnO nanowires respectively.


The objective of this investigation was to determine the relationship of blood pressure (BP) in young men, ages 20-39 years, to their subsequent BP from the perspective of BP tracking, position in BP distribution and later evidence of hypertensive BP values. Since 1948, the Manitoba Study group has followed 3983 men, 90% of whom were 20-39 years old at entry. BP in persons not prescribed antihypertensive medications was examined at 5-year intervals during the 30-year observation period to 1978. To adjust for age, BP was examined within 5-year age groups at entry. The correlations between entry and subsequent BP at the same length of follow-up were greater for systolic than diastolic BP and increased with older ages. The correlation decreased with every 5-year examination after entry for all ages. Men whose BP was below the mean at entry were less likely to have a BP > 1 standard deviation (SD) above the mean at any of the examinations. Men with an entry BP > 1 SD above the mean were more likely to have BP > 1 SD above the mean later, but the relationship decreased considerably after 20 years, especially in 20-24-year age group. The results were similar for the probability of hypertensive values (systolic BP 2 140 or 150 mm Hg, diastolic BP 2 90 or 95 mm Hg) at later examinations. Thus, BP in later life can be predicted from BP at ages 20-39 years and can identify groups at high or low risk for hypertension.


WHILE THE MAJORITY OF Queensland state school students begin schooling in the first year they are eligible to do so, a small number of families delay entry. This paper explores voluntary delayed entry to state schools in Queensland through analysis of quantitative data gathered by the Department of Education and Training, and parental decision making around delayed entry via qualitative data sourced from an Australian parenting website. Results revealed that the number of children who are delayed entry is increasing, and that the majority of students delayed are boys who are the youngest in their cohort. A key reason for parents choosing to delay is the child's birth date being close to the state's cut-off entry date. Importantly, the decision of whether to delay entry appears to be emotional for parents, and it is argued that parents require support and services to help them make this decision.


Medulloblastoma is a highly malignant pediatric brain tumor associated with poor outcome. Developing treatments that target the cancer stem cell (CSC) population in medulloblastoma are important to prevent tumor relapse and induce long-lasting clinical responses. We utilized medulloblastoma neurospheres that display CSC characteristics and found activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway in sphere-forming cells. Of all class IA PI3Ks, only the PI3Kα isoform was required for sphere formation by medulloblastoma cells. Knockdown of p110α, but not p110β or p110δ, significantly disrupted cancer stem cell frequencies as determined by extreme limiting dilution analysis (ELDA), indicating an essential role for the PI3Kα catalytic isoform in medulloblastoma CSCs. Importantly, pharmacologic inhibition of the MAPK-interacting kinase (MNK) enhanced the antineoplastic effects of targeted PI3Kα inhibition in medulloblastoma. This indicates that MNK signaling promotes survival in medulloblastoma, suggesting dual PI3Kα and MNK inhibition may provide a novel approach to target and eliminate medulloblastoma CSCs. We also observed a significant reduction in tumor formation in subcutaneous and intracranial mouse xenograft models, which further suggests that this combinatorial approach may represent an efficient therapeutic strategy for medulloblastoma. Implications: These findings raise the possibility of a unique therapeutic approach for medulloblastoma, involving MNK targeting to sensitize medulloblastoma CSCs to PI3Kα inhibition.


According to conventional wisdom, property has disintegrated. Property law has undergone many changes since the heyday of Legal Realism, and many of these changes were both inspired by Realism and went under the banner of the Realists' "bundle-of-rights" conception of property. However, many of the features of property law most denigrated by the Legal Realists and their successors have proved surprisingly resilient. These "doctrinal" features include the notion of property as a thing, the importance of possessory rights, and the greater degree of formalism in property than in contract law. In this Article, I argue that there is a common cause to the Realists' criticism of these features and their endurance in the face of that criticism: all of these features of property are manifestations of property law's basic architecture as a system. Because of the inherent complexity of relations—especially those that are less personalized—in private law, a system for providing a first cut at managing these relations presents problems of information costs that are unique to property. These costs, usually left out of realist analysis, are hard to ignore entirely and push property law to treat private interactions in a more modular fashion than the realist bundle-of-rights picture would lead one to expect. Moreover, the underappreciated flexibility and robustness of a modular architecture allows property law to absorb—at some cost—a great deal of change without alteration of its basic nature. I apply this analysis to


The social inclusion of newly resettled refugees is a significant issue confronting both refugees and their host societies. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly viewed as a useful resource in programs that provide settlement services or promote participation in society. This paper moves beyond the conventional discussion on the digital divide to explore what people are actually able to do and achieve with ICTs. We draw on an analysis of the use of ICTs for particular purposes by more than 50 resettled refugees to develop an explanation of the process by which ICT use contributes to their social inclusion. We propose that ICT constitutes a resource from which a set of five valuable capabilities is derived: to participate in an information society, to communicate effectively, to understand a new society, to be socially connected, and to express a cultural identity. In realizing these capabilities through ICT use, refugees exercise their agency and enhance their well-being in ways that assist them to function effectively in a new society and regain control over their disrupted lives.


The neuroscience literature supports the idea that spiritual transformation is a powerful behavioral and cognitive change process involving fundamental alterations in the sense of self. Brain regions that are known to mediate the sense of self are activated during religious experiences that in turn underwrite spiritual transformation. Because religious experiences are fundamental to spiritual transformation, pastoral care workers can facilitate spiritual transformation by encouraging their clients to discuss and reflect on their religious experiences. The decentering perspective discussed in McNamara 2009 provides details on the phenomenological experiences people undergo when they have a religious experience. The pastoral care worker can use this decentering model to identify the key transformative processes within religious experiences.


This induction support pilot project involved 22 early childhood educators in the interior of British Columbia who had a range of experience, from just beginning to 29 years in the field. Participants in the project were offered opportunities for peer mentoring, professional development, access to university faculty, visits to early learning programs, and online support. The results from the study include greater awareness on the part of participants of the value of peer mentoring and connection to community, increased knowledge, and increased sense of efficacy. At the end of the project, participants reflected on their experiences in semistructured interviews and focus groups. They also shared ways the pilot project could be improved, and the project is being revised based on their feedback.


The bog of Robenhausen near Seegraben-Wetzikon (Zurich Oberland) belongs to a peatland complex in the nature conservation area of the Lake of Pfaffikon which is surrounded by glacial deposits such as moraines and drumlins. For more than 200 years peat has been used as source of fuel. Since 1996 the bog has become an important nature-conservation and regional recreation area. Primary and secondary peat build-up processes have been studied at 12 core drilling sites within this peat bog. Different kinds of peat have been analysed for plant macro- and microfossils, the degree of peat decomposition and the ratio of organic and inorganic material. In most cases, core samples provided only small amounts (or none) of primary peat, i.e. most peat was secondary and originated mainly from transition moors and raised bogs containing the Spagnum species. Once peat cutting had stopped, peat bog growth at most sites started with an eutrophic fen-peat and built up 5–70 cm of secondary peat. Typical plants are from the Carex species, Phragmites communis, Cladium mariscus, Molinia caerulea, Calluna vulgaris, Frangula alnus, Drosera spec. and the Sphagnum species. Other mosses found locally are Betula pubescens and Pinus sylvestris. Profiles taken in the peat bog show that the degree of organic decomposition increases from top to bottom. Some profiles from sites close to the lake shore show an undisturbed build-up of primary peat. This has been caused through a lowering of the sea level during the 1860's. Small secondary stands of hairy birch and Scots Pine are approx. 50 years old (peat cutting stopped ca. 1950). This study provides detailed information to peat bog regeneration dynamics after a long period of peat cutting. Furthermore, these results can be used to help maintain this important peatland complex.


According to implicit leadership literature, actor-national culture fitness is a necessity to be labeled as a leader. However, studies which focus on implicit leadership theory and national culture have some contradictory findings. A systematic review of these studies reveals that participants could score high on opposite implicit leadership values and a sufficient theoretical explanation for these surprising results have not been given so far. This paper argues that showing full harmony with the cultural expectations of followers is not a necessity to be seen as a leader. Actors who can fill the cultural gap with their different cultural values can also be labeled as leaders. This paper contends that organizational actors with cultural values differing from those of the followers with certain cultural orientations are more likely to be labeled as leaders. People from individualistic societies may be more prone to label 'team oriented leadership' dimension as their outstanding leadership prototype whereas people from masculine societies may show 'humane oriented leadership' as their outstanding leadership prototype.


harvest data suggest that feral hog (Sus scrofa) populations in western Louisiana are increasing, and population control in this region is complicated by the mixing of feral and domestic free-ranged hogs. Aggressive management may be warranted as feral and domestic hogs appear to be having unexpected effects on their ecosystem. We present the results of 3 recent investigations of genetic source-tracking to link waterborne bacteria with bacteria from feral hogs. We integrate our most recent fi ndings with data regarding: (1) water quality in a watershed without hog management and (2) aquatic biota of the same watershed. Hog activity substantially increased waterborne bacteria, which often exceeded state and federal surface water guidelines. Aquatic biota, specifi cally freshwater mussels and aquatic insects of the collector and scraper feeding guilds, declined in stream reaches with hog activity. Finally, PCR (polymerase chain reaction)-based DNA source-tracking revealed a >95% similarity between coliform bacteria isolated from water and bacteria isolated from a feral hog harvested within the sample watershed. Further, when the isolated bacteria from the feral hog and water were compared with 900 other bacteria samples from a variety of domestic animals and wildlife, the bacteria isolated from the feral hog and water differed from the 900 other samples. These data suggest that the increasingly abundant hogs of western Louisiana are not only causing detriment to terrestrial fl ora and fauna, but are negatively impacting native freshwater mussels (Bivalvia unionacea) and insects, as indicated by genetic source-tracking methods.


Sweetpotato [lpomoea batatas (L.) Lam] is a staple crop in many areas of the South Pacific, but little has been reported on its potential in multistrata system. In this experiment, it was grown as an intercrop between nine different species of leguminous hedgerows, and a control with no hedge. The aim was to determine whether addition of foliar mulch to sweetpotato could compensate for the competitive effects of shrubs, whether such mulch applications could halt yield decline in successive crops, and to test the performance of a range of lesser utilised shrubs with better known species. Hedge species varied greatly in performance, Acacia angustissima, Calliandra calothyrsus, and C. houstoniana producing greater quantities of foliage when pruned, which were then applied to the sweetpotato intercrop. Sweetpotato biomass did not differ between the two seasons, but in the second crop, tuber yields declined while vine production increased. Regression analysis showed that tuber and vine mass decreased as hedge foliage offtake increased, but K applied in mulch increased tuber mass and quality of N applied increased vine mass. In the second cropping cycle, tuber mass in rows closest to hedges increased relative to outer rows. It was hypothesised that this effect was due to the fertilizing effect of fine root and nodule die-back following pruning in rows closest to the hedges, in combination with a shortened hedge-pruning cycle.


ABSTRACT During fibre processing, wood fibres are subjected to a range of physical and chemical conditions sufficient to slightly alter their chemical composition and hence their ultimate performance when used in the manufacture of wood fibre-based composites. In order to better understand the effects of refiner conditions on material performance, wood fibres were subjected to processing at different refiner pressures (4, 6, 8 and 10 bar) and subsequently dried in a flash drier. The fibres were analysed for changes in surface area, surface energy, surface structure and water vapour sorption characteristics. The methods applied were nitrogen adsorption utilising the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller theory, inverse gas chromatography, scanning electron microscopy and dynamic vapour sorption. It was found that increasing refiner pressure resulted in fibres of lower surface area, accompanied by increasing dispersive surface energies up to operating refiner pressures of 8 bar. It was found with fibres refined at different pressures that as the refiner pressure increased the equilibrium moisture content of the fibre decreased at the set relative humidities. However, it was also noted that the hysteresis was not significantly different between each of the refiner pressures. The results suggest that different refiner pressures can be used to tune the surface characteristics which may be beneficial to product development and the improvement of the environmental profile of the wood fibre composites.


Abstract This paper will examine the relation between philosophical thought and the various milieus in which such thought takes place using the late work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. It will argue that Deleuze and Guattari's assessment of this relation involves a rearticulation of philosophy as an historiophilosophy. To claim that Deleuze and Guattari promote such a form of philosophy is contentious, as their work is often noted for implementing an ontological distinction between becoming and history, whereby the former is associated with the act of creation and the latter with retrospective representations of this creative process. Furthermore, when elaborating on the creative nature of philosophical thought, Deleuze and Guattari explicitly refer to philosophy as a geophilosophy that is in contrast to history. Nevertheless, this paper will demonstrate that far from abandoning the category of history, Deleuze and Guattari's analysis of the relations between philosophical thought and relative milieus suggests to us an historical ontology and methodology that is a critical part of philosophy's nature.


The authors of this article (Paragraph No. 35,151) write that, in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedies and with a substantial increase in international air crashes over the last two years, it has become imperative that a clear, unified and modernized international air liability system come into force as soon as possible. The authors begin with a historical perspective of the air carrier liability regime. The Warsaw Convention, the first modern treaty addressing international passengers' rights and air carriers' responsibilities, introduced the concept of absolute liability for covered accidents, subject to significant limitations on recoverable damages, and where litigation against an airline could be filed. However, a consequence of the 1955 Hague Protocol and the Montreal Intercarrier Agreement of 1966 was the destruction of the unified liability system. IATA's modernization and extension of the 1966 agreement resulted in the Kuala Lumpur IATA Intercarrier Agreement (IIA) of 1997, which established a system of strict liability without the arbitrary monetary limits set forth in the Warsaw Convention. Several recent international air disaster cases have now been litigated under the IIA. These cases are discussed in some detail by the authors, who conclude that the IIA liability regime, properly construed as intended and so long as the agreement is not withdrawn, is a workable temporary solution that represents a major advance in the rights of families of passengers killed during international flights. However, the authors note that the IIA was meant only to be a bridge between the Warsaw/Hague system and an ultimately comprehensive and modern international air transportation treaty suitable for the 21st Century. The authors urge the ratification of the 1999 Montreal Convention, which is designed to replace and unify the fractious "Warsaw system." The new Convention codifies the recent gains made with the IIA and elevates them to the status of international law, so that they cannot vanish at the whim of signatory parties. The treaty also adds a new "fifth jurisdiction" where cases may be filed. The authors discuss how this important new provision will clarify, facilitate and expedite damages resolutions by avoiding many contentious, costly and time consuming jurisdictional quarrels in court. It is urgent to restore a unified international air transportation liability system. The authors conclude that uniformity was what the original drafters of the Warsaw Convention had intended more than 73 years ago.


Some advocates and more than a few critics have misconstrued the political economy of media as a unified field of inquiry. The authors from this volume, by contrast, draw from a more diverse stream of the schools of thought signified by this tradition: Neoclassical Economics, Radical Media Political Economy, Schumpeterian Institutional Political Economy, and the Cultural Industries School. The book as a whole is as alert to developments in our main objects of analysis - media institutions, technologies, markets, uses and society - as it is to changes in the world around us, including current trends in communication and media studies. The contributors show that digital media are disrupting entire media industries, but without erasing the past. Throughout, the impact of the unprecedented wave of media consolidation in the late-1990s and the financial crisis of the past few years loom large. The authors also suggest that there is no 'supra logic' of 'total system integration' that spans the network media, while insisting that one media sector is not the same as the next. Social networking activities often beg, pilfer and borrow 'content' from 'traditional media', but it remains the case that Time Warner, Comcast, the BBC and News Corp. are very different creatures than Apple, Baidu, Facebook or Google. In other words, even in the age of convergence and remix culture, different media continue to display their own distinctive political economies, as the volume's title - "The Political Economies of Media" - signals.


Organ procurement is an essential step for organ transplantation, from which a quality organ is received for subsequent transplantation. As the demand for organ transplantation continues to grow, multi-organ donation including the heart, lung, live, pancreas, kidneys, and small intestine from one potential donor is always a priority to meet the demand. The donor is generally rigorously assessed for suitability of organ donation prior to proceeding to organ procurement. The quality of the organ from multi-organ procurement is usually satisfactory without jeopardizing its transplantation. In this chap- ter, the surgical technique for procurement of the organs from the abdomen is described. Some alternative techniques have also been discussed. Some pictures are inserted to facilitate understanding of the surgical procedure.


In June 2013, the American Psychiatric Association published the Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders  ("DSM-5"). The DSM-5 was intended to be an updated guidebook for the  clinical diagnosis of mental disorders. It received mixed reviews from the  mental health community. The reception from the forensic mental health  community is likewise varied. The evolution of conceptualizing mental  illness, its origins and treatment efficacy, may weaken the authority of the  DSM and further confuse its application in forensic situations. 2 This  Article explores the possible effects of the DSM-5 in criminal cases.


This thesis is about the importance of Brand Positioning. We look at Brand Positioning with regards to how practices are within one of Norway"s most important industries the Norwegian Fishingand Aqua Culture Industry. There is the first research contributing to this particular field within this industry. We based our research on three research questions. First, we wanted to present and analyze relevant Brand Positioning theory. The chosen theory is mainly based on four renowned theorists" within Brand Positioning. We divided theory into five different parts; Brand Positioning Culture, Information Collection, Defining Brand Positioning, Implementation of Brand Positioning and Intended Effects of Brand Positioning. Theory is presented with a comparison and analysis of the different researchers" views. This comparison led to a development of a synthesis of the different Brand Positioning aspects; a Normative Framework. This framework is a basis for measuring Brand Positioning capabilities. We uncovered what companies" consider to be their strengths and weaknesses within Brand Positioning capabilities in relation to the Normative Framework. Our findings indicate that the industry in general consider themselves to be strong with collecting information, while there are signs of weaknesses with the implementation aspect of Brand Positioning. Our findings reveal several potential improvement areas for Fishing and Aqua Culture companies within Brand Positioning. In the final part of the research we compared companies" Brand Positioning practices and their economic performance. More specifically we looked at the companies" profit margins. Our analysis indicates that the definition aspect of Brand Positioning has a positive impact on profit margins. Only 45.2% of the surveyed companies state that they have a defined position for their brand, and merely 26.9% have a document that describes it. A lot of companies fail to come up with a position for their brands, and show a misunderstanding of what Brand Positioning means – to specifically state how their brand can be positively unique in comparison with competitors. We see that companies agree with the importance of defining a Brand Positioning, but they show poor enactment of it. This is a major improvement area within one of our nation"s most important industries. If more companies" defined their brand"s position, their economic performance could be a lot stronger than it is today.


In an increasingly globalised world, matters of national identity are no longer confined solely to domestic politics. This paper proposes that Christianity in South Korea is engaged in a mutually reinforcing relationship with the construction of Korean national identity, particularly concerning historical dynamics of both Westernisation and the formation of nationalism. In positioning the role of religion in the creation of a national image, the conflicts and contestations between religious groups will become politically effective. As actors in the political and religious field attempt to reflexively create an image of Korea that transcends national borders and anticipates to overcome domestic and ethnic divides, religion becomes more than an article of faith through its entanglement with national politics. By recognising the impact of Westernisation and its historical implications for this process, it becomes possible to approach the formation of Korean identity from a new angle by accounting for the efficacy of the self-reflexive image.


Although it is recognised that high levels of dietary insoluble non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) depress growth in pigs (1), trials investigating the effect of dietary soluble NSPs (sNSP) on performance have produced inconsistent results, depending on the type of grain fed, age of pig and other interacting factors. Diets with high levels of sNSP depress growth and have anti-nutritive properties when fed to poultry, and part of this effect is attributed to the ability of sNSP to increase the viscosity of intestinal digesta (2). A previous study into the effects of guar gum, a viscous water-soluble NSP, on the performance and health of weaner pigs showed a detrimental effect on growth and an exacerbation of experimental post-weaning colibacillosis caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli when this ingredient was fed (3).

The aim of this study was to further investigate the potential detrimental effects of increased intestinal viscosity in weaner pigs by feeding them an experimental diet supplemented with carboxymethycellulose (CMC), a water-soluble preparation resistant to fermentation. The effect of increased viscosity on gastrointestinal development, growth performance and incidence of diarrhoea caused by haemolytic E. coli was monitored.


Satellite- and balloon-borne instruments may be used to measure the total transmission of electromagnetic radiation along a slant-path trajectory traversing the Earth's atmosphere. Inversions of this type of measurement data to determine the altitude- and wavelength-dependent atmospheric extinction require accurate ray-tracing techniques. The ray-tracing equations used in our inversion procedures are derived. These equations describe the refraction angle and generate the path-length matrix for such radiation traversing a refracting, spherically symmetric atmosphere. Furthermore, they are presented in forms suitable for numerical integration.


Fetal movements (FM) are an important factor in the assessment of fetal health. However, there is currently no reliable way to monitor FM outside clinical environs. While extensive research has been carried out using accelerometer-based systems to monitor FM, the desired accuracy of detection is yet to be achieved. A major challenge has been the difficulty of testing and calibrating sensors at the pre-clinical stage. Little is known about fetal movement features, and clinical trials involving pregnant women can be expensive and ethically stringent. To address these issues, we introduce a novel FM simulator, which can be used to test responses of sensor arrays in a laboratory environment. The design uses a silicon-based membrane with material properties similar to that of a gravid abdomen to mimic the vibrations due to fetal kicks. The simulator incorporates mechanisms to pre-stretch the membrane and to produce kicks similar to that of a fetus. As a case study, we present results from a comparative study of an acoustic sensor, an accelerometer, and a piezoelectric diaphragm as candidate vibration sensors for a wearable FM monitor. We find that the acoustic sensor and the piezoelectric diaphragm are better equipped than the accelerometer to determine durations, intensities, and locations of kicks, as they have a significantly greater response to changes in these conditions than the accelerometer. Additionally, we demonstrate that the acoustic sensor and the piezoelectric diaphragm can detect weaker fetal movements (threshold wall displacements are less than 0.5 mm) compared to the accelerometer (threshold wall displacement is 1.5 mm) with a trade-off of higher power signal artefacts. Finally, we find that the piezoelectric diaphragm produces better signal-to-noise ratios compared to the other two sensors in most of the cases, making it a promising new candidate sensor for wearable FM monitors. We believe that the FM simulator represents a key development towards enabling the eventual translation of wearable FM monitoring garments.


We propose a new framework to learn non-parametric graphical models from continuous observational data.
Our method is based on concepts from information theory in order to discover independences and causality between variables: the conditional and multivariate mutual information (such as \cite{verny2017learning} for discrete models).
To estimate these quantities, we propose non-parametric estimators relying on the Bernstein copula and that are constructed by exploiting the relation between the mutual information and the copula entropy \cite{ma2011mutual, belalia2017testing}.
To our knowledge, this relation is only documented for the bivariate case and, for the need of our algorithms, is here extended to the conditional and multivariate mutual information. This framework leads to a new algorithm to learn continuous non-parametric Bayesian network. Moreover, we use this estimator to
speed up the BIC algorithm proposed in \cite{elidan2010copula} by taking advantage of the decomposition of the likelihood function in a sum of mutual
information \cite{koller2009probabilistic}. Finally, our method is compared in terms of performances and complexity with other state of the art techniques to learn Copula Bayesian Networks and shows superior results. In particular, it needs less data to recover the true structure and generalizes better on data that are not sampled from Gaussian distributions.


Contemporary climate change is expected to affect the distributions of most species, but the nature, tempo, and mechanics of contemporary range shifts are still largely speculative. Here, we use fine‐scale distributional records developed over the past Century, combined with spatially comprehensive microclimatic data, to demonstrate a dramatic shift in the range of a climate‐sensitive mammal and to infer the increasingly important role of climate in local extinctions of this species across a 38.2 million‐ha area. Changes in the distribution of the American pika (Ochotona princeps) throughout the Great Basin ecoregion were characterized using records from 1898–2008, revealing a nearly five‐fold increase in the rate of local extinction and an 11‐fold increase in the rate of upslope range retraction during the last ten years, compared with during the 20th Century. Four of ten local pika extinctions have occurred since 1999, and across this ecoregion the low‐elevation range boundary for this species is now moving upslope at an average rate of about 145 m per decade. The rapid, ecoregional range shift of this small, talus‐dwelling species stands in remarkable contrast with the dynamics and determinants of endangerment previously observed for most terrestrial species, and to earlier extinction determinants for O. princeps in this region. Further investigation of widely distributed species will clarify rates at which biotic response to environmental change is occurring, and how factors driving that change are evolving in different portions of the earth.


This paper focuses on the nature of jamming, as seen in two-dimensional frictional granular systems consisting of photoelastic particles. The photoelastic technique is unique at this time, in its capability to provide detailed particle-scale information on forces and kinematic quantities such as particle displacements and rotations. These experiments first explore isotropic stress states near point J through measurements of the mean contact number per particle, Z, and the pressure, P as functions of the packing fraction, ϕ. In this case, the experiments show some but not all aspects of jamming, as expected on the basis of simulations and models that typically assume conservative, hence frictionless, forces between particles. Specifically, there is a rapid growth in Z, at a reasonable ϕ which we identify with as ϕc. It is possible to fit Z and P, to power law expressions in ϕ – ϕc above ϕc, and to obtain exponents that are in agreement with simulations and models. However, the experiments differ from theory on several points, as typified by the rounding that is observed in Z and P near ϕc. The application of shear to these same 2D granular systems leads to phenomena that are qualitatively different from the standard picture of jamming. In particular, there is a range of packing fractions below ϕc, where the application of shear strain at constant ϕ leads to jammed stress-anisotropic states, i.e. they have a non-zero shear stress, τ. The application of shear strain to an initially isotropically compressed (hence jammed) state, does not lead to an unjammed state per se. Rather, shear strain at constant ϕ first leads to an increase of both τ and P. Additional strain leads to a succession of jammed states interspersed with relatively localized failures of the force network leading to other stress-anisotropic states that are jammed at typically somewhat lower stress. The locus of jammed states requires a state space that involves not only ϕ and τ, but also P. P, τ, and Z are all hysteretic functions of shear strain for fixed ϕ. However, we find that both P and τ are roughly linear functions of Z for strains large enough to jam the system. This implies that these shear-jammed states satisfy a Coulomb like-relation, |τ| = μP.


Single pulse laser excitation at 656 nm and successive pulse excitation at 635.2 and 648.4 nm produced blue emission at 480 nm by two-step upconversion process in Tm/sup 3+/:LaF/sub 3/. The excited-state absorption cross-section of the /sup 3/F/sub 4/ to /sup 1/G/sub 4/ transition was estimated by a looping mechanism with cross-relaxation processes. The dynamics of up-conversion andthe possibility of the photon avalanche by a pulse laser excitation were studied by numerical simulation with the rate equation model.


Ritual commensality is a well documented social practice in texts and visual arts of the Ancient Near East. However, no information about daily commensality can be derived from these sources .The mere fact that a daily procedure as simple as eating and drinking was depicted hints at the meaning of this scene as a social event with a high symbolic value, while ordinary daily meals never seem to be represented. This paper argues that in everyday life, the boundaries between ritual and daily commensality were often floating. In order to acquire information on daily commensal practice and on the differences to ritual commensality, the architectonic and the more unspectacular archaeological remains at the Mesopotamian site of Tall Bazi are investigated. Near Eastern Archaeology; Commensality; Temple; House; Tall Bazi; Syria; Beer; Ritual


Recent publications have shown that the anodic reaction between FeS and Hg can be used for electrochemical detection of colloidal and particulate FeS in natural waters. Anodic waves that were recorded around -0.45 V (vs Ag/AgCl) in model solutions correspond to the electrochemical transformation of nanoparticulate FeS to HgS. Here, as a further step, the proposed approach is tested on anoxic, sulfidic, and iron-rich samples of a meromictic freshwater lake (Lake Pavin, France). Based on new and more comprehensive work on FeS electrochemistry in model and anoxic Lake Pavin samples, a new interpretation is given for previously recorded voltammetric signals in sulfide and iron rich environment, usually designated FeS(aq), and its role in controlling solubility of different FeS phases. A comparison of the depth profiles of S(-II) measured by voltammetry and the methylene blue method showed that the majority of S(-II) is in the form of FeS. In the monimolimnion layer, thermodynamic calculations based on total Fe(II) and S(-II) concentration, measured by ferrozine and the methylene blue method, predict precipitation of FeS with log K(s) values between -3.6 and -3.8, very close to mackinawite's K(s) value. In the upper part of the same layer, precipitation of greigite is predicted. It is shown that modification of a Hg electrode by surface-formed FeS has a significant influence on voltammetric Fe(II) determination, since reduction of Fe(II) under such conditions occurs both on bare (-1.4 V) and on FeS modified Hg surfaces (-1.1 V); Fe(II) may be underdetermined when only the -1.4 V peak is measured.


We describe experimental and theoretical results of research on a new type of waveguide, the so-called grating-mediated waveguide (GMW) recently reported by our group. This waveguide structure relies on Bragg diffractions from a 1D grating giving rise to wave guiding in the direction normal to the grating wave vector. The structure consists of a shallow 1D grating having a bell- or trough-shaped amplitude in the confinement direction. We provide the theoretical analysis of the underlying wave-guiding mechanism along with experimental evidence for both the bell- and the trough-shaped waveguides. We investigate the robustness of grating-mediated wave guiding and suggest more elaborate, 2D structures, such as a GMW superlattice and a grating-mediated ring waveguide. Finally we discuss the relation between grating-mediated wave guiding and holographic solitons, which are the beams that are self-trapped solely by virtue of their jointly induced grating.


In a previous study from our laboratory (Akagi and Townley) we reported that basophils from asthmatic patients off medication show spontaneous histamine release (SHR) significantly higher than asthmatic patients on chronic medication. Both groups of asthmatics showed significantly higher SHR than normal subjects. These findings led us to test the in vitro effect of various therapeutic agents on SHR. Theophylline exerted the most pronounced inhibitory effect on SHR (P less than .005). The effects of isoproterenol and PGE1 were significant (P less than .005) but less than theophylline. These in vitro findings led us to evaluate the effect of a single dose, orally administered bronchodilator on in vitro SHR from asthmatic subjects. The effect of theophylline 250 mg and metaproterenol 20 mg on pulmonary function and SHR was evaluated on separate study days. Four of the eight asthmatic subjects showed greater than 10% SHR. The baseline value of SHR in the same individuals on two different study days showed significant correlation (r = .82). A single dose of metaproterenol or theophylline increased the pulmonary function but failed to influence the SHR. Although SHR occurs in asthmatic subjects, it is not influenced by single dose bronchodilation.


Prizes can be effective tools for finding innovative solutions to the most difficult problems. While prizes are often associated with scientific and technological innovation, prizes can also be used to foster novel solutions and approaches in much broader contexts, such as reducing poverty or finding new ways to educate people. Now that the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act has given all government departments and agencies broad authority to conduct prize competitions, agencies may find themselves looking for resources to learn about prizes and challenges. This paper describes how government agencies can design, build, and execute effective prizes – though these models can easily be adapted to meet the needs of foundations, public interest groups, private companies, and a host of other entities with an interest in spurring innovation. Prizes can have numerous advantages over conventional means of research and development. First, they can greatly increase the cost effectiveness of developing ambitious solutions to hard challenges. If an agency uses a vendor or provides a grant to a third party, the agency is obligated to pay for all results; however, if the agency uses a prize, it pays only for the winning entry. Second, prizes can help identify solutions faster. Instead of the slow patterns of sequential innovation often found in the private sector, prize competitors can work in parallel, motivated by the need to meet a deadline. Third, prizes can dramatically increase the number of minds simultaneously tackling a problem. The most valuable and innovative solutions often come from the most unexpected corners. Finally, prizes can stimulate private sector investment in amounts far greater than the cash value of the prize. Winning teams in prize competitions are often magnets for private sector interest. Government agencies need not administer prizes on their own. Rather, agency involvement in prizes falls along a spectrum, from prizes developed internally to those developed entirely by external partners who invite the agency to contribute. An agency can play a variety of roles in partnership arrangements: as the "host," it generates prize ideas, oversees operations, and solicits partners as needed (as sponsors, for instance); as the "coordinator," it develops the prize but finds external partners to implement the operational components; and as the "contributor," it enables external actors to handle the prize design and operations, while the agency contributes in other ways (for instance, by providing data sets, overseeing the judging process, or offering testing facilities). Over the course of a prize lifecycle, the agency may move between these broad categories, or combine them according to its specific needs, capacity, and skillset. Various partnership arrangements affect the agency's cost, control, and coverage of the prize lifecycle. As an informational guide to promote the use of prizes within government agencies, with an emphasis on opportunities to form different types of private-public partnerships, this paper: • Provides an overview of the prize lifecycle to help agencies better understand when to use prizes and the various elements involved in developing a prize; • Presents a framework outlining the various roles agencies can fill in the prize process and the importance of using partnerships to maximize the effectiveness of a prize; and • Highlights important steps and considerations regarding partnerships with other organizations. Drawing on interviews and secondary research on existing prizes that rely on multi-sector partnerships, this paper explores every aspect of forming partnerships and implementing prizes across the broad range of activities that occur within various stages of the prize lifecycle. While prizes may not be suited to solve every type of problem, they offer a powerful complement to government agencies' traditional channels of innovation. As the use of prizes in the government sector increases, new practices and novel ways of structuring competitions and partnerships will undoubtedly emerge. To share best practices, agencies are encouraged to collaborate by offering lessons learned from previous competitions and seeking opportunities to assist other agencies in conducting prizes when objectives overlap.


Multi-material objects are composed of two or more materials put together to produce specific properties or functionality which cannot be achieved using a single material. Traditional manufacturing processes may not be used for manufacturing multi-material products. Recently, Additive Manufacturing processes have been developed for manufacturing of complex geometries. However, most of the parts made by Additive Manufacturing processes consist of single materials and thus they have limited or single functionality. Progress in Additive Manufacturing demands substantial improvements in deposition techniques and multi-material developments while addressing current challenges in controlling structural features in macro as well as micro scales. This thesis is dedicated to research in different domains of multi-material development. This work is divided into two main sections. The computational part of this work is on the application of Finite Element Method (FEM) to study the mechanical properties of different multi-material systems, including the elastic analysis of bulk composites of polymer/carbon nanostructures and continuous fiber reinforced composites. Representative Volume Element (RVE) based FEM analysis was applied to study the isotropic and anisotropic mechanical properties of such structures to determine process parameters based on the requirements of each material system. It was found out that the most important parameters in the reinforcement are the geometry of fillers in nanocomposites while in case of coaxial printing the process parameters like layer thickness and pattern geometries are very critical. The second section is related to the Additive Manufacturing of multi-material structures. To manufacture multifunctional structures, a custom-made additive manufacturing platform (SU3D) have been designed and developed. The developed hardware includes reconfigurable multi-nozzle deposition units; each can be operated independently based on the physical properties of the targeted materials. The functions of different hardware elements in conventional platforms were innovatively redefined in SU3D resulted in significant flexibility of the system in adoption with the properties of the processed materials. A fully automated process plans were also developed to completely integrate with the hardware functionalities. Two novel multi-material additive manufacturing methods have also been developed for printing of heterogeneous hydrogel and hybrid structures.


This work explores the use of various Deep Neural Network (DNN) architectures for an end-to-end language identification (LID) task. The approach has been proven to significantly improve the state-of-art in many domains include speech recognition, computer vision and genomics. As an end-to-end system, deep learning removes the burden of hand crafting the feature extraction is conventional approach in LID. This versatility is achieved by training a very deep network to learn distributed representations of speech features with multiple levels of ab-straction. In this paper, we show that an end-to-end deep learning system can be used to recognize language from speech utterances with various lengths. Our results show that a combination of three deep architectures: feed-forward network, convolutional network and recurrent network can achieve the best performance compared to other network designs. Addition-ally, we compare our network performance to state-of-the-art BNF-based i-vector system on NIST 2015 Language Recognition Evaluation corpus. Key to our approach is that we effectively address computational and regularization issues into the network structure to build deeper architecture compare to any previous DNN approaches to language recognition task.


Background Administrative or quality improvement registries may or may not contain the elements needed for investigations by trauma researchers. International Classification of Diseases Program for Injury Categorisation (ICDPIC), a statistical program available through Stata, is a powerful tool that can extract injury severity scores from ICD-9-CM codes. We conducted a validation study for use of the ICDPIC in trauma research. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort validation study of 40 418 patients with injury using a large regional trauma registry. ICDPIC-generated AIS scores for each body region were compared with trauma registry AIS scores (gold standard) in adult and paediatric populations. A separate analysis was conducted among patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) comparing the ICDPIC tool with ICD-9-CM embedded severity codes. Performance in characterising overall injury severity, by the ISS, was also assessed. Results The ICDPIC tool generated substantial correlations in thoracic and abdominal trauma (weighted κ 0.87–0.92), and in head and neck trauma (weighted κ 0.76–0.83). The ICDPIC tool captured TBI severity better than ICD-9-CM code embedded severity and offered the advantage of generating a severity value for every patient (rather than having missing data). Its ability to produce an accurate severity score was consistent within each body region as well as overall. Conclusions The ICDPIC tool performs well in classifying injury severity and is superior to ICD-9-CM embedded severity for TBI. Use of ICDPIC demonstrates substantial efficiency and may be a preferred tool in determining injury severity for large trauma datasets, provided researchers understand its limitations and take caution when examining smaller trauma datasets.


The permissible loads for bolted joints given in the Code of Practice for the Design of Timber Structures (SABS 0163)9 have recently been revised. The National Timber Research Institute of the CSlR would like to bring these new design values to the attention of all engineers involved with the design of timber structures in South African timbers and recommend that they be used. They have been derived from test results on bolted joints, and have been extrapolated by means of formulae given in the model timber code drafted by the International Council for Building Research Studies and Documentation (CIB)2, adjusted to incorporate a safety factor. The test method and derivation of results are described in reference 6.


JC virus (JCV) is a common human polyomavirus responsible for the fatal demyelinating disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), in immunocompromised individuals. About 5% of AIDS patients develop this currently untreatable fatal disease. Typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs inhibit JCV infection of glial cells. Elphick et al. now find that the cellular receptor for JCV on glial cells is a serotonin receptor. The findings contribute to the understanding of the pathogenesis of PML in AIDS patients and suggest that therapy based on existing serotonin receptor inhibitors may be feasible. G. F. Elphick, W. Querbes, J. A. Jordan, G. V. Gee, S. Eash, K. Manley, A. Dugan, M. Stanifer, A. Bhatnagar, W. K. Kroeze, B. L. Roth, W. J. Atwood, The human polyomavirus, JCV, uses serotonin receptors to infect cells. Science 306, 1380-1383 (2004). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Incomplete data poses formidable difficulties in the application of statistical techniques and requires special procedures to handle. The most common ways to solve this problem are by ignoring, truncating, censoring or collapsing those data, but these may lead to inappropriate conclusions because those data might contain important information. Most of the research for estimating cell probabilities involving incomplete categorical data is based on the EM algorithm. A likelihood approach is employed for estimating cell probabilities for missing values and makes comparisons between maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) and the EM algorithm. The MLE can provide almost the same estimates as that of the EM algorithm without any loss of properties. Results are compared for different distributional assumptions. Using clinical trial results from a group of 59 epileptics, results from the application of MLE and EM algorithm are compared and the advantages of MLE are highlighted.


The current study focuses on the adjustment of Washingtonians to living under the threat of terrorism. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships of six predictor variables – resilience, spirituality, perceived social support, perceived controllability, denial, and previous trauma – with terrorism-related anxiety. The author hypothesized that resilience, spirituality, and perceived social support would all be negatively associated with terrorism-related anxiety. Furthermore, it was posited that spirituality would moderate the relationship between previous trauma and terrorism-related anxiety, and that perceived controllability would moderate the relationship between denial and terrorism-related anxiety. A cross-sectional design utilizing correlation and regression analyses was selected to assess the relationships between the predictor and dependent variables, as well as a series of demographic variables. A total of 154 individuals completed a questionnaire packet containing reliable and valid self-report items, which was posted on a secure web site accessible only to study participants. Of the three main effect hypotheses, only the hypothesis involving resilience and terrorism-related anxiety was partially supported. Resilience was significantly and negatively correlated with one of two measures terrorism-related anxiety; it also had significant negative relationships with both measures of terrorism-related anxiety in separate regression analyses. In addition, the interaction effect involving spirituality and previous trauma was partially supported. For one of two measures of terrorism-related anxiety, the spirituality-previous trauma interaction term had a negative relationship with the criterion. Based on the results of this regression, we see that for those who reported high levels of spirituality, higher amounts of trauma were associated with less terrorism anxiety. For people low in spirituality, the level of anxiety stays roughly the same, regardless of the amount of trauma. The significant and non-significant findings for the present study provide tentative directions for future research into terrorism-related anxiety.


Volume changes of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets constitute the largest source of uncertainty to explain the current rate of sea-level rise and have the potential to signicantly increase this rate in future warmer climates. Crucial aspects are how climatic changes will affect the ice sheet's mass balance and how ice dynamics will react to the imposed environmental forcing. These questions were addressed with 3-D thermomechanical ice sheet/ice shelf models submitted to a range of climatic scenarios derived from the ECHAM4/OPYC3 high-resolution GCM results and from energy-balance climate models. The experiments were initialized with simulations over the last two glacial cycles to estimate the longer-term background evolution. It is found that the polar ice sheets may contribute more negatively to sea-level in the 21st century than previously thought, but would become dominant for sea-level rise after a few centuries, with the most important effect coming from the Greenland ice sheet. Ice dynamics tends to produce a counteracting effect on the short term, but can signifcantly speed up the response after that. The model does not produce a collapse of the marine West Antarctic Ice Sheet, not even for large warming and melting rates below the ice shelves of 10 m/year.


Although flawed, the most powerful tool for protecting biodiversity in the United States is the Endangered Species Act, which requires the use of the best available science to ensure that endangered and threatened species are not put in jeopardy of extinction. Unfortunately, the best available science mandate is virtually meaningless and imposes no additional scientific rigor in agency decision making beyond what is normally required of administrative procedures. In this paper, we propose to define best available science in a way that shifts from a way of using science to a way of doing science, and a sound method of doing science for wildlife management and climate change is via the principles of adaptive management (1). Adaptive management, as a means of data accumulation and continuous learning, can fulfill and give teeth to the best available science mandate while increasing the adaptive capacity of wildlife management agencies to protect biodiversity in an unpredictably dynamic environment.


The Arab region's coastal zones are of immense importance. Almost all Arab countries need to build up resilience for vulnerable communities and carry out proactive planning for integrated coastal zone management and the development of early warning systems for vulnerable coastal areas. It is clear, through the analysis of past natural disasters that the links between the four elements of EWS – risk knowledge; monitoring and warning service; dissemination and communication; response capability – are weak, leading to a reduced effectiveness of the system. The focus was on the development of technology, more than on members of the community at risk. There was also weakness in institutional cooperation, one of the main challenges in early warning. This problem has encouraged the researcher to propose a guideline for the early warning of natural disasters and increase its effectiveness by involving members of the community and improving institutional cooperation between stakeholders. The objective of this paper is to identify and assess some of the main areas vulnerable to sea level rise in the Arab world. A survey of case studies in the UAE for of Emergency and Public Safety Department is undertaken. The main objectives are to identify vulnerabilities from coastal flooding; assess adaptation measures and point out the urgent need to build up institutional and human capacities in response to the problem; identify gaps, points of strength and points of weakness in early warning and discuss options for adaptation and the need for implementing major elements of the EWS.


Information classification deals with the handling of sensitive information, such as patient records and social security information. It is of utmost importance that this information is treated with caution in order to ensure its integrity and security. In Sweden, the Civil Contingencies Agency has established a set of guidelines for how governmental agencies should handle such information. However, there is a lack of research regarding how well these guidelines are followed as well as if the agencies have made accommodations of these guidelines of their own. This work presents the results from a survey sent to 245 governmental agencies in Sweden, investigating how information classification actually is performed today. The questionnaire was answered by 144 agencies and 54 agencies provided detailed documents of their classification process. The overall results show that the classification process is difficult, while those who provided documents proved to have good guidelines, but not always consistent with the existing recommendations.


Purpose: To investigate the spatial association between intratumoral uptake of 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose (18F‐FDG) and the following characteristics of the tumor microenvironment: hypoxia, cellularproliferation, and blood flow; and to evaluate the potential impact of this association on the use of 18F‐FDG images in radiation oncologytreatment planning for target volume delineation. Method and Materials: Six nude rats were inoculated with the following human tumor cells: HT‐29 (colon adenocarcinoma), DU‐145 (prostate carcinoma), and A549 (NSCLC). When the tumors reached 20–25mm in diameter, the animals were injected with 18F‐FDG, pimonidazole, and bromodeoxyuridine. 1hr post injection animals were imaged on animal PET scanner. Upon completion of imaging, animals were injected with Hoechst33342 and sacrificed with CO2 5–10min later. Tumors were immediately dissected, frozen and cut into 8μm thick sections. One section from each tumor was placed onto a phosphor plate for autoradiography. The images of the fluorescence produced by Hoechst33342 and by fluorescent antibodies raised against pimonidazole and bromodeoxyuridine were acquired from the adjacent sections and co‐registered. The statistical analysis of association between PET tracer uptake and microenvironmental markers was then performed on a pixel‐by‐pixel basis. Results: In all the tumor models studied, we observed positive pixel‐by‐pixel correlation between FDG uptake and pimonidazole staining intensity (correlation coefficients ranged from 0.46 to 0.87, p<0.001). At the same time, correlation with bromodeoxyuridine was always negative (ranged from −0.50 to −0.78, p<0.001). Conclusions: This study further confirms association between foci of increased intratumoral FDG uptake and regions of hypoxia. In addition, it demonstrates reduced FDG uptake in actively growing parts of the tumor. Therefore, the use of FDG uptake iso‐contours to delineate lesions and, especially, to reduce target volume with respect to CT‐defined volume should be approached very carefully, since it might potentially result in exclusion of areas of active tumor growth from the target volume.


OpenModelica is an open-source based development environment for Modelica, and an open source modelling and simulation platform. One of the main reasons for this thesis is the desire to change the existing plotting package into something more future safe due to performance issues of the existing plotting package in the OpenModelica framework. The package should be used in all OpenModelica tools, OMEdit, OMShell, and OMNotebook. The second part of the thesis includes implementing two additional shapes, a text shape and a bitmap shape to OpenModelicas graphical editor OMEdit. As a result of this work, a new plotting tool was developed and adopted as part of the OpenModelica platform; OMPlot.


Properly understood, private law establishes ideal frameworks for respectful interactions between self-determining individuals, which are indispensable for a society where all recognize one another as genuinely free and equal agents. Only private law can form and sustain the variety of frameworks necessary for our ability to lead our chosen conception of life. And only private law can cast them as interactions between free and equal individuals who respect one another as the persons they actually are, thus vindicating the demands of relational justice. Hence, the two animating principles of a liberal (that is, autonomy-enhancing) private law — structural pluralism and interpersonal accommodation. Building on this account of private law, this Essay offers a preliminary survey of three important challenges to private law in a liberal society. One challenge, prompted by the injunction of structural pluralism, is that of identifying missing frameworks, that is: detecting spheres of life in which private law fails to supply a sufficiently diverse set of alternative property institutions or contract types and is thus insufficiently autonomy-enhancing. Another challenge emerges whenever the constitutive good(s) of the social practice that the parties engage in are in tension with the injunction of interpersonal accommodation. These cases require private law to either allow these goods to override the injunction of interpersonal accommodation or else discard or reform the pertinent legal (and social) practice. Finally, because the intrinsic value of private law does not require treating private law and public law as mutually exclusive categories, private law can consider utilizing public law (vertical) mechanisms to help secure its horizontal mission and must be careful not to undermine the liberal state's commitments to distributive justice, democratic citizenship, and aggregate welfare. I thus conclude with a consideration of the ways in which private law can coordinate with public law, namely: either supplement its doctrinal framework with a regulatory infrastructure or adapt it in order to address pertinent public commitments while still meeting the demands of relational justice.


George Orwell's Animal Farm is traditionally read as a satire on dictatorships in general, and the Bolshevik Revolution in particular. This article postulates the notion that the schema of the book has attained the force of metonymy to such an extent that whenever one alludes to the title of the book or some lines from it, one conjures up images associated with a dictatorship. The title of the book has become a part of the conceptual political lexicon of the English language to refer to the corruption of a utopian ideology. As an ideological state, Animal Farm has its vision, which is embedded in its constitution; it has the vote, a national anthem and a flag. It even has its patriots, double-dealers, social engineers and lechers. In this way the title Animal Farm, like Joseph Heller's Catch-22, or Thomas More's Utopia, functions metonymically to map a conceptual framework which matches the coordinates of the book. The article concludes with a look at contemporary society to show how Orwell's satire endorses the words of Lord Acton, namely, that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.


We report our experience with a closed continuous irrigation system in 12 patients with hand infections: six cases of flexor tenosynovitis, three cases of septic arthritis and three palmar abscesses. Four of these patients had undergone previous surgical débridement and peroperative washout without elimination of the infection. The continuous irrigation system consists of two fenestrated tubes placed within the infected space, with the tip of the smaller calibre inlet tube positioned just inside the larger outlet tube. Resolution of infection was achieved in all 12 cases and all regained complete functional recovery. The closed continuous irrigation system is easy to manage, with no leakage of fluid; hand therapy may be started early and the patient is mobile throughout.


International sea-freight container transportation has grown dramatically over the last years and container terminals represent nowadays a key actor in the global shipping network. Terminal managers have to face with an increasing competitiveness among terminals, which require more and more efficiency in container operations both along the quayside and within the yard: the objective is usually to minimize ships turnaround time, one of the main indicators of the terminal performance for the shipping companies. Moreover, the minimization of operational costs directly entails the achievement of competitive terminal fares, thus increasing the attractiveness for new customers. Operations research methods and techniques are therefore worth being used in optimizing terminal operations. In this work, we firstly give an overview of decision problems which arise in the management of a container terminal (e.g. berth allocation, quay crane scheduling, storage policies and strategies, transfer operations, ship stowage planning) and provide a review of recent papers in the OR literature. Then, starting from a collaboration with some of the busiest ports in Europe, we identify some critical issues: in particular, we discuss the impact that gate and transshipment operations have on the yard. We also focus on competition and cooperation issues among port market players and decision makers. Finally, we conclude by suggesting possible research tracks and open issues.


Exchanges nowadays routinely operate multiple, almost identically structured limit order markets for the same security. We study the effects of such fragmentation on market performance using a dynamic model where agents trade strategically across two identically-organized limit order books. We show that fragmented markets, in equilibrium, offer higher welfare to intermediaries at the expense of investors with intrinsic trading motives, and lower liquidity than consolidated markets. Consistent with our theory, we document improvements in liquidity and lower profits for liquidity providers when Euronext, in 2009, consolidated its order flow for stocks traded across two country-specific and identically-organized order books into a single order book. Our results suggest that competition in market design, not fragmentation, drives previously documented improvements in market quality when new trading venues emerge; in the absence of such competition, market fragmentation is harmful.


The five-second test is one of the most convenient rapid UX testing methods available, although its value can be compromised by ignoring the restrictions of the method. The Five-Second Rules uses detailed examples from a collection of more than 300 tests to describe the strengths and weaknesses of this rapid testing method. Readers will learn about the "five-second rules" for getting useful data, and will explore what types of design issues can be resolved by using the method. A five-second test (also known as "timeout test" and "exposure test") involves displaying a visual or informational design for five seconds, removing it from view, then asking what aspects were recalled most easily or vividly. The goal is to understand what stands out most about a design or product, and the impact on the viewer's perception of it. Describes the origins of the method and its usefulness in modern UX design research and testing Conveys the need to structure tests carefully so that time, effort, and money are not wasted, and compiled data is not misleading Fosters an appreciation for the method's outcomes and how they can contribute to the success or failure of a proposed design


Alcohol consumption is considered an important social activity but a major health risk in Latin American and Caribbean countries (LAC). Alcohol consumption net benefits are doubtful and the factors influencing alcohol consumption in the LAC countries are not well documented. In this study, we use secondary data and Ordinary Least Squares Regression models to evaluate the factors influencing alcohol consumption in LAC countries. The factors that significantly affect alcohol consumption are: alcohol imports, alcohol exports, alcohol production, consumer price index, real GDP per capita, urban population, number of television sets available to the household, and whether the person is from the Caribbean or not. A closer look at the factors indicates that a 1.0 percent increase in alcohol imports is associated with a 0.17 increase in alcohol consumption, while a 1.0 percent in alcohol exports reduces alcohol consumption by 0.05 percent. A 1.0 percent increase in alcohol production influences alcohol consumption by an increase of 0.43 percent. Gender and the number of tourist visitors had little effect on alcohol consumption. Price had an inverse relationship with alcohol consumption which may suggest that alcohol consumption is at the addiction level in LAC countries, or that alcohol may be a giffen good. Alcohol consumption in Caribbean countries was about 50 percent higher than Central American countries. The study provides useful information on factors influencing alcohol consumption in LAC countries, but many of the pertinent health variables were not included in the model.