In an attempt to explain the stability of hierarchy, we focus on the perspective of the powerless and how a subjective sense of dependence leads them to imbue the system and its authorities with legitimacy. In Study 1, we found in a nationally representative sample of U.S. employees that financial dependence on one's job was positively associated with the perceived legitimacy of one's supervisor. In Study 2, we observed that a general sense of powerlessness was positively correlated with the perceived legitimacy of the economic system. In Studies 3 and 4, priming experimental participants with feelings of powerlessness increased their justification of the social system, even when they were presented with system-challenging explanations for race, class, and gender disparities. In Study 5, we demonstrated that the experience of powerlessness increased legitimation of governmental authorities (relative to baseline conditions). The processes we identify are likely to perpetuate inequality insofar as the powerless justify rather than strive to change the hierarchical structures that disadvantage them.


Prior research has shown disconnects between the subjective well-being a person experiences during an event and the subjective well-being the same individual remembers once the event has passed. Despite the differences that exist between experience and memory, memory is often used as a basis for making decisions about the future. Measures of utility in transportation decision models have begun to incorporate concepts of subjective well-being. A better understanding of the differences between experience and memory will allow researchers to understand the human decision making process more accurately. This paper describes a survey used to examine differences between experience and memory for riders of public transit. The survey was given to people riding the Boston subway system and respondents were asked to rate the emotions they felt during their trip on several scales. Later, a follow-up survey was given where respondents rated the emotions they remembered feeling on the previously surveyed trip using the same scales. The results of this survey show that there is a statistically significant difference between the emotional net affect reported during the trip and in the follow-up survey. Respondents indicated significantly more emotional satisfaction while onboard than they did when recalling the trip. Significant differences were also found specifically in feelings of comfort and boredom. This research indicates that the subjective well-being which people experience during a trip is not the same as they remember from it, which has possible impacts on the understanding and modeling of transportation decision-making.


Title of Document: ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF INSIDERS' EQUITY SHARE SELLING AT IPO: THREE ESSAYS Qiang Li, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Management and Organization Department Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland, College Park May 2013 Directed by: Associate Professor, Brent Goldfarb, Management and Organization Department Secondary share sales at the initial public offering (IPO) by insiders happen frequently and on a large scale. Current literature offers mixed explanations. For example, signaling theory (Leland & Pyle, 1977) suggests that secondary share sales at the IPO by insiders signal poor quality of the IPO firm. The premise is that insiders have more private information about the firm than outsiders. Therefore, insider sales should be indicative of trouble in the firm. This implies that insiders' secondary share sales will be associated with poor preand post-IPO performance. Agency theory (Jensen & Meckling, 1976) suggests that insiders will lower their commitment to the firm after they sell part of their shares; after such sales, managerial and firm interests are more poorly aligned. This theory suggests that poor post-IPO performance is causally associated with insiders' secondary share sales at the IPO. Finally, risk aversion may drive insiders to diversify their risk away from the focal firm by selling secondary shares at the IPO. This would suggest that sales have nothing to do with firm quality or managerial commitment. Although the above theories provide different implications for this practice, the mixed nature of their explanations prevent us from having a clear understanding of the phenomenon. Additionally, prior studies are unable to tease them apart. To address this issue, this dissertation investigates the following related questions: what factors predict insiders' secondary share sales at the IPO and how do such sales affect various firm performances. Only by looking at the antecedents and consequences of insiders' share sales at the IPO, as well as finding exogenous variation that affects secondary share sales and is unrelated to the characteristics of the firm, can we see if the sales are associated with firm quality or risk aversion or if insiders lower their commitment after sales. The answers to these questions are investigated in three essays. In Essay 1, I ask which chief executive officers (CEOs) sell shares at the IPO and under what conditions? Using a sample of 651 U.S. software IPOs from 1990 to 2011, I find that when more of the CEOs' wealth is invested in their firms, they are more likely to sell. The effect is especially strong for CEO founders. Interestingly, when board members also engage in equity share sales at the IPO, CEOs are more likely to sell. This latter result suggests weakened board oversight of the CEOs. Using an instrumental variable approach, I tease apart contemporaneous selling due to poor firm quality and selling that only occurs with the reduction of oversight. In Essay 2, I ask when equity share sales at the IPO influence the IPO underpricing. Through an analysis of 633 IPOs in the United States' (U.S.) computer software industry, I find that the equity share sales by outside directors (venture capitalists and other institutional investors) are associated with upward offer price revision pre-IPO and lower IPO underpricing. The interpretation is that outside directors may be able to bargain for a higher offer price when they attempt to sell part of their equity shares at the IPO. As such, the upward offer price revision pre-IPO results from outsiders' bargaining leads to lower the IPO underpricing. These results are robust to a Heckman two-stage approach that addresses potential selection bias. In Essay 3, I examine whether insiders' secondary share sales at the IPO impacts a variety of performance measures post-IPO and the contingencies under which any impact may vary. Through the analysis of 500 IPOs of the U.S. computer software industry, in general, I find that insiders' secondary share sales at the IPO are not associated with sales or sales growth. Rather, they are only associated with slower research and development (R&D) growth in the year post-IPO. This effect is less negative for large firms. The results are robust to an instrumental variable approach to address the potential endogeneity issues. Taken together, this dissertation finds that insiders' secondary share sales are not significantly associated with post-IPO firm performances, providing no support to signaling theory or agency theory. The findings are more consistent with risk aversion theory and imply that insiders' secondary share sales at the IPO are not a significant negative signal and traditional wisdom may overreact to the sales. ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF CEO'S EQUITY SHARE SELLING AT IPO: THREE ESSAYS


Autophagy is the process by which cytosolic components and organelles are delivered to the lysosome for degradation. Autophagy plays important roles in cellular homeostasis and disease pathogenesis. Small chemical molecules that can modulate autophagy activity may have pharmacological value for treating diseases. Using a GFP-LC3-based high content screening assay we identified a novel chemical that is able to modulate autophagy at both initiation and degradation levels. This molecule, termed as Autophagy Modulator with Dual Effect-1 (AMDE-1), triggered autophagy in an Atg5-dependent manner, recruiting Atg16 to the pre-autophagosomal site and causing LC3 lipidation. AMDE-1 induced autophagy through the activation of AMPK, which inactivated mTORC1 and activated ULK1. AMDE-1did not affect MAP kinase, JNK or oxidative stress signaling for autophagy induction. Surprisingly, treatment with AMDE-1 resulted in impairment in autophagic flux and inhibition of long-lived protein degradation. This inhibition was correlated with a reduction in lysosomal degradation capacity but not with autophagosome-lysosome fusion. Further analysis indicated that AMDE-1 caused a reduction in lysosome acidity and lysosomal proteolytic activity, suggesting that it suppressed general lysosome function. AMDE-1 thus also impaired endocytosis-mediated EGF receptor degradation. The dual effects of AMDE-1 on autophagy induction and lysosomal degradation suggested that its net effect would likely lead to autophagic stress and lysosome dysfunction, and therefore cell death. Indeed, AMDE-1 triggered necroptosis and was preferentially cytotoxic to cancer cells. In conclusion, this study identified a new class of autophagy modulators with dual effects, which can be explored for potential uses in cancer therapy.


The variety of natural patterns makes it difficult to analyze and compare them in a systematic manner. We address this problem by focusing on the computational aspects of pattern formation processes. They are characterized in terms of the number of morphogenetic agents, the computing capability of each agent, and the forms of information transfer between the agents and their environment. This computational analysis can be applied to a wide range of patterns. It highlights the fundamental, algorithmic similarities between processes that may be implemented using different physical or physiological mechanisms in nature. It also confirms earlier observations that similar or identical patterns can be created by fundamentally different processes. The tradeoffs between computational characteristics of these processes lend themselves to a formal analysis, which could lead to the formulation of a "computational theory of morphogenesis" on the basis of the theory of algorithms.


Abstract We consider the problem of processing divisible loads on Ethernet clusters. In the divisible load theory (DLT) literature, processing of both single large divisible loads and multiple divisible loads is considered in a single Ethernet/bus system. In practice, Ethernet/bus networks are small in size, with only a few processors sharing a common bus as an interconnection medium. In this article, we consider a typical network topology that can be found in any corporate or research/academic environment in which there could be several Eth-ernet clusters interconnected in some arbitrary fashion. We analyze a scenario where each such cluster receives a single divisible load to process; our objective is to minimize the total processing time of all the loads that arrive at the system. The problem of obtaining minimum processing time within each cluster is well studied in the literature, as individual clusters are autonomous in operation. However, in the above-mentioned scenario, due to the heterogeneity of the cluster systems, there exists an imbalance in the number of loads assigned to each processor in the entire system, and hence resources in the system are underutilized. We use all the available strategies proposed in the literature for obtaining optimal solutions for single-and multi-load processing to carry out efficient load-sharing among the clusters. This is the first attempt in this domain of literature to consider and demonstrate the load-balancing ability of scheduling algorithms for clusters, for processing divisible loads. The contribution of this research is to test the limits of all the available strategies found in the literature while balancing the processing loads among clusters. Rigorous simulation results are presented to quantify the performance of these strategies.


The effectiveness of five different turbulence models is assessed for the flow across a row of confined cylinders at a pitch-to-diameter ratio of 1.7 and at Reynolds numbers ranging from 2621 to 55 920. Models examined include the one-equation Spalart-Almaras model; two-equation realizable k - ɛ, k - ω, and shear stress transport models; and a four-equation v2 - f model. Quantities compared against published experimental data include minor loss coefficients, separation angles about cylinders, wake lengths behind cylinders, and streamwise velocity profiles at the periodic inlet/outlet boundaries. Results indicate that each of the models did a reasonable job in predicting the minor loss coefficient as a function of Reynolds number. With the exception of the k - ɛ model, each was also able to predict the experimentally observed trend of decreasing wake and separation lengths with increasing Reynolds number. In addition, all models also predicted a local minimum in the separation angle about the inner cylinder as a function of Reynolds number, which has also been observed experimentally. Our conclusion is that the v2 - f model performed slightly better at predicting the experimental data than any of the other models examined, although at the computational expense of solving two additional equations.


This report examines the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the Aboriginal population living in 11 metropolitan centres in 1981 and 2001. It studies the size, age and mobility of the population; the family structure of Aboriginal people; school participation and educational attainment; and the labour market characteristics and transfer dependence of Aboriginal people. It finds that Aboriginal people living in the nation's largest metropolitan centres were faring better overall in 2001 than they were two decades earlier. Nevertheless, these Aboriginal urban dwellers still faced many challenges, especially those in living in urban centres in the western provinces, where large gaps remained with their non-Aboriginal counterparts. The report examines the Aboriginal identity population, which refers to those persons who identified with at least one Aboriginal group, that is, North American Indian, Metis or Inuit. The concept of identity allows for historical comparability with the concept used in the 1981 Census to discuss changes over time. Data came from the censuses of 1981, 1996 and 2001, as well as the 2001 Aboriginal Peoples Survey. The metropolitan areas examined include Montreal, Ottawa-Hull (now known as Ottawa-Gatineau), Toronto, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.


Spontaneous Raman microscopy is a potentially useful technique for imaging living cells, tissue and small animals without any probe or dye labeling. We have developed a spontaneous Raman imaging system in wide-field view, which we term 'light sheet-excited direct Raman spectroscopy' (LSDRS). This system, which we reported previously, consists of a background-free electrically tunable Ti:Sapphire laser (BF-ETL), a cylindrical lens, a CCD camera, and a narrow bandpass filter. Here, we have adapted the LSDRS system for microscopy systems, such as single-plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) for biomedical applications, and demonstrated spontaneous Raman imaging of a living fish. The results suggest that our Raman microscopy system enables investigation of the differentiation process and mechanism of iridocytes during development. This is the first report in which Raman imaging of a living animal was successfully demonstrated by spontaneous Raman scattering signals, but not nonlinear Raman effects such as CARS and SRS.


This study focuses on the Lower Palaeolithic archaeology of China. It examines early hominid adaptive behaviour based on the new evidence from the Luonan Basin, northern China. Unlike past Chinese Palaeolithic studies the study takes a regional approach emphasising the palaeoenvironmental, palaeoecological, and taphonomic information brought together from studies of faunal remains, spatial analysis of stone artefacts and bones, and lithic artefact refitting studies. Detailed analyses consist of lithic typology and technology which is then compared at a regional and global scale. The study describes the regional setting, site formation processes, chronology, lithic assemblage raw materials and provides a typotechnological analysis of stone artefacts. The specific analyses reject the hypothesis of "two Palaeolithic cultural traditions" in North China, and strongly challenge the notion of the existence of the "Movius line." The Palaeolithic open-air sites and the Longyadong cave site were occupied by hominids co-existing under consistent ecological and environmental conditions for hundreds of thousands of years. The very distinctive lithic assemblages found separately in the open-air sites and cave site are interpreted as reflecting different site function and varied subsistence activities rather than different hominid groups living contemporaneously in the valley. It reflects adaptive behaviours that appear to be the precursor to fully modern human behavioural organization.


Neglected diseases remain one of the largest causes of disease and mortality. In addition to the difficulties in provision of appropriate drugs for specific diseases, many other factors contribute to the prevalence of such diseases and the difficulties in reducing their burden. We address the role that poor governance and politically motivated oppression have on the epidemiology of neglected diseases. We give case examples including filariasis in eastern Burma and vector-borne diseases (Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, and yellow fever) in Colombia, we show the links between systematic human rights violations and the effects of infectious disease on health. We also discuss the role of researchers in advocating for and researching within oppressed populations.


Does citizenship as we know it still exist in the post-September 11 world? Do the exigencies of war require an inquiry into who among the citizenry is legitimately a citizen? Two cases in which the government detained U.S. citizens as enemy combatants resolve these questions in conflicting ways. Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Rumsfeld v. Padilla each raised constitutional challenges to the military detention of a U.S. citizen accused of taking action against the U.S. government in a time of war. In Hamdi, the Supreme Court fractured around the question whether citizenship matters when measuring the constitutional protections of an individual detained as an enemy combatant. In Padilla, the majority shelved the relevance of citizenship and disposed of the case on procedural grounds, while citizenship was central to the dissent's protest that the Court should reach the substantive questions in the case. This Article exposes the radical redefining of citizenship augured in the recent case law addressing citizens suspected of disloyalty. Cases in which the military detained U.S. citizens on the suspicion that they are "enemy combatants" have blurred the distinctions between citizens and non-citizens. Rules that grew out of jurisprudence about non-citizens have crept into decisions in which the government has questioned the legitimacy and loyalty of citizens. The appearance of these rules and their implications for citizenship have gone virtually unnoticed by both advocates and critics of the enemy combatant cases. Yet the presence of these rules accompanies the courts' sub rosa evaluation of whether the citizen is legitimately a member of the citizenry. Together, they create a hybrid category of citizenship - what I call "pseudo-citizenship" - to which constitutional protections against federal power apply with diminished force. This approach reframes the current heated debate about these cases. That debate has polarized as a conflict between the power of the federal government in wartime and the scope of constitutional protections for citizens. Recast as a debate about the very substance of citizenship, radically different issues arise. These cases reconstruct the constitutional framework to include a new category of citizenship that draws from extra-constitutional norms governing noncitizens. They suggest a jurisprudence of pseudo-citizenship in a world in which traditional notions of war and conflict no longer seem to apply.


Abstract Chaim Perelman's concept of presence is extended and enriched by applying it to a historical museum exhibit that commemorated a watershed of Austrian history, the Anschluss of 1938. To understand the argumentative effect of presence in this exhibit, new rhetorical categories are deployed: foreground and background, space, and time. These are managed in the interest of an ideological position: to free the Austrian conscience and consciousness from the burden of memory created by the disproportionate participation of Austrians in the Holocaust. Finally, a basic problem with presence is addressed: its apparent incompatibility with any form of rational argumentation.


Title of dissertation: Pig Squeal: Bridging Batch and Stream Processing Using Incremental Updates James Holmes Lampton, Jr., Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Dissertation directed by: Professor Ashok Agrawala Department of Computer Science As developers shift from batch MapReduce to stream processing for better latency, they are faced with the dilemma of changing tools and maintaining multiple code bases. In this work we present a method for converting arbitrary chains of MapReduce jobs into pipelined, incremental processes to be executed in a stream processing framework. Pig Squeal is an enhancement of the Pig execution framework that runs lightly modified user scripts on Storm. The contributions of this work include: an analysis that tracks how information flows through MapReduce computations along with the influence of adding and deleting data from the input, a structure to generically handle these changes along with a description of the criteria to re-enable efficiencies using combiners, case studies for running word count and the more complex NationMind algorithms within Squeal, and a performance model which examines execution times of MapReduce algorithms after converted. A general solution to the conversion of analytics from batch to streaming impacts developers with expertise in batch systems by providing a means to use their expertise in a new environment. Imagine a medical researcher who develops a model for predicting emergency situations in a hospital on historical data (in a batch system). They could apply these techniques to quickly deploy these detectors on live patient feeds. It also significantly impacts organizations with large investments in batch codes by providing a tool for rapid prototyping and significantly lowering the costs of experimenting in these new environments. Pig Squeal: Bridging Batch and Stream Processing Using Incremental Updates


It has been widely documented that the poor spend a significant proportion of their income on gifts even at the expense of basic consumption. We test three competing explanations of this phenomenon—peer effect, status concern, and risk pooling—based on a census-type primary household survey in three natural villages in rural China and on detailed household records of gifts received on major occasions. We show that gift-giving behavior is largely influenced by peers in reference groups. Status concern is another key motive for keeping up with the Joneses in extending gifts. In particular, poor families with sons spend more on gift giving in proportion to their income than their rich counterparts, in response to the tightening marriage market. In contrast, risk pooling does not seem to be a key driver of the observed gift-giving patterns. However, we show that large windfall income triggers the escalation of competitive gift-giving behavior.


The issue of optimal patent protection is of great importance since the inclusion of the trade related aspects of intellectual property rights accord into the purview of the World Trade Organization. Hitherto, the literature has focused on the optimal patent regimes from the perspective of developed and/or developing nations assuming that firms in different countries operate independently. We investigate the interaction between optimal patent regimes and cross-border mergers in a North–South framework. In this scenario, we show that forming cross-border mergers increase welfare and reduce the optimal patent length in both regions by reducing competition in the Southern market. As a result, world welfare under mergers Pareto-dominate both the world welfare obtained without mergers and with patent harmonization. Thus, cross-border mergers constitute an effective way of increasing world welfare.


Abstract This paper presents a new method of analysing the error of a sampled-data velocity stabilising system with a wide range of pulse width modulation. The analysis is based on multi-channel model obtained as a result of approximation of pulse-modulated signal at the output of a PWM converter. Approximation of piecewise-linear modulation characteristics of each channel has been obtained as a series expansion of Hermite polynomials where the expansion comprises two polynomials of the first and third orders. The transfer function of every channel and a closed-loop system has been obtained using multidimensional Z-transform. The analytical expression of an error under impact of a step input has been derived using a transfer function of the closed-loop system. A dc electric drive has been used as an example of high accuracy sample-data stabilising system to verify and demonstrate the proposed method.


Two human T cells clones are described which react with influenza virus hemagglutinin type H3 and synthetic peptides of H3 when presented by PBMC APC. Both T cell clones also responded to peptide Ag in the absence of additional APC suggesting that T cells can simultaneously present and respond to Ag. T cell clones could only present peptide Ag and not an appropriate strain of inactivated whole influenza virus thus indicating an inability to process Ag conventionally. Peptide presentation by T cells was dose dependent, restricted by MHC class II Ag and was dependent on the number of Ag presenting T cells per culture. Experiments with nested peptides showed that the same epitope was recognized in the presence and absence of PBMC APC. No Ag or IL-2 from the propagation procedure was carried over into assays and two-color fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis of each clone detected no contaminating cells with the phenotype of monocytes, macrophages or B cells; in each T cell clone, all cells expressing MHC class II Ag co-expressed CD3. These date therefore provide strong evidence that human T cell clones can simultaneously present and respond to appropriate forms of Ag.


The method of retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) has been used to localize the motoneurons that innervate the mouse hindlimb musculature. Motoneurons were labelled following either intramuscular injection of an HRP solution or application of HRP to the cut end of a muscle nerve. When intramuscular injection was used the nerves to adjacent muscles were cut and deflected from the injection site to prevent motoneurons projecting to these muscles being labelled with HRP. For some muscles this procedure was inadequate since the nerves to adjacent muscles were too short to enable adequate deflexion. The motoneurons projecting to these muscles were labelled by the method of cut nerve exposure. The motoneurons that project to a single muscle or a group of muscles were organized as longitudinal columns. The positions of such motonuclei within the lateral motor column were similar in different animals for any given muscle or muscle group. Motoneurons innervating the anterior and medial femoral muscles were located in spinal segments L1 and L2. Motoneurons innervating the remaining hindlimb muscles were found in segments L3-L5. Topographic relationships between muscle motonuclei were in general found to be similar to those described for the cat. The principal differences to be noted between the two species were that the adductors motonucleus did not overlap with the hamstrings motonucleus in the mouse. Also the motonuclei supplying the deep flexors of the crural musculature and intrinsic musculature of the foot were located more ventrally relative to the posterior crural motonucleus in the mouse as compared to the cat. Consideration of muscle homologies between vertebrate classes enabled comparisons of the localization of motonuclei between the mouse and the other species studied. It was found that topographical relations between motonuclei were similar in all the species so far studied. There was no absolute correlation between the rostrocaudal position of a motonucleus and the position in the hindlimb of the muscle that it innervated. In general, motonuclei innervating muscles derived from the dorsal muscle mass were located lateral to motonuclei innervating muscles derived from the ventral muscle mass. Furthermore, within each muscle mass there is a relationship between rostrocaudal position of a motonucleus and the anteroposterior position of the muscle it supplies. Thus there is a relation between position of a motonucleus within the spinal cord and the derivation from the embryonic muscle mass of the muscle that it supplies.


Historically the Western School Prawn (Metapenaeus dalli) was an important and iconic catch for commercial and recreational fishers in the Swan-Canning Estuary. However, the abundance of this penaeid declined dramatically since the 1960s, resulting in the closure of the commercial fishery and essentially the cessation of the recreational prawning. In 2012, a restocking and associated research program was initiated to try and increase the abundance of this popular species. Monthly sampling, for two years, of the fish and crustacean faunas of the shallow and deeper waters of this estuary has shown that; 1) the abundance of M. dalli changes markedly throughout the year, particularly in the shallow waters. 2) M. dalli moves into the shallows between November and March to spawn, but that that timing changes slightly among years according to environmental conditions. 3) The distribution of adult and juvenile prawns changes temporally and can be used to inform broodstock collection and release sites. In addition, dietary analysis was performed on 11 abundant fish species in the estuary to determine those species that predate on post-larval M. dalli (direct predators) and those that also target other small crustaceans (potential predators). Key predators included the Gobbleguts Ostorhinchus rueppellii (all sizes) and the Black Bream Acanthopagrus butcheri (<100 mm in length). These dietary results together, with monthly prawn and fish abundance data for 36 sites across the estuary have been used to design an effective release strategy and highlight the value in restocking programs being supported by robust quantitative faunal surveys.


D. Soutter and J. S. Ritchie write: We have the following reservations regarding the model presented by Badley et al. 1. Whilst agreeing with Badley et al. on the existence of an at least early Triassic, probably Permian, 'pre-rift' unconformity, we question their interpretation of tilted fault blocks below this unconformity, on the evidence presented in their fig. 2, on two grounds: (a) Badley et al. state that supposed sub-unconformity reflectors dip at a steeper angle than their picked unconformity. We question their picking of the unconformity downdip of the crestal structure west of fault B on fig. 2 and believe that they have deviated on to an onlapping reflector, thus making the dip of the unconformity appear less steep. (b) We believe that the picks below the unconformity reflector, in particular those between shot-points 1400 and 1500, are in fact sea-bed multiples. On the evidence of other seismic lines to which we have access, we think that the 'pre-rift' unconformity may well be faulted crystalline basement in this region (i.e. faulting of Permian age). 2. According to Badley et al.'s model, it is regarded as significant that Hauterivian sediments are found in what they term the Oseberg 'back basin', and yet coeval sediments are found west of the 30/6 structure towards the Viking Graben axis at a present-day structural level more than 1400 m lower. Further, it is suggested that migration of fault movement progressed eastward away from the graben axis, and that faults F and G of fig.


Here we describe the incorporation of a web-based application focusing on circuits for the physics high school classroom as part of an outreach program. The program involves college mentors creating and implementing science lessons in collaboration with the classroom teacher. Focusing on the challenge of understanding circuit design, a technology rich module is employed to improve learning and motivation of the students. The students' conceptual understanding as well as interest in circuits was increased, the college mentors earned valuable teaching and mentoring experience and the teacher enjoyed more one-on-one time as well as assistance with students.


Searches for supersymmetry (SUSY) are presented based on the electroweak pair production of neutralinos and charginos, leading to decay channels with Higgs, Z, and W bosons and undetected lightest SUSY particles (LSPs). The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of about 19.5fb-1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected in 2012 with the CMS detector at the LHC. The main emphasis is neutralino pair production in which each neutralino decays either to a Higgs boson (h) and an LSP or to a Z boson and an LSP, leading to hh, hZ, and ZZ states with missing transverse energy (ETmiss). A second aspect is chargino-neutralino pair production, leading to hW states with ETmiss. The decays of a Higgs boson to a bottom-quark pair, to a photon pair, and to final states with leptons are considered in conjunction with hadronic and leptonic decay modes of the Z and W bosons. No evidence is found for supersymmetric particles, and 95% confidence level upper limits are evaluated for the respective pair production cross sections and for neutralino and chargino mass values.


Most colleges and universities of all sizes have an endowment, a fund that provides a stream of income and maintains the corpus of the fund in perpetuity. Organizations with large endowments, such as colleges, universities, and private foundations, all finance a significant part of their operations through the return received from the investment of this capital. This article examines the legal framework for endowment investing, endowment investing policies, their evolution to more sophisticated and riskier strategies, and the consequences evinced during the financial crisis of 2008 and beyond. It traces the approaches to endowment investing and chronicles the rise and, if not the fall, the challenges to modern portfolio management. It examines the impact of endowment losses on colleges and universities and their constituencies, as well as the problem of trustee deference to boards' investment committees. This article concludes that universities have learned little from the financial crisis and are more invested in illiquid, nontransparent assets than before the financial crisis. Finally, this article recommends the establishment of board level risk management committees to evaluate endowment investing policies.


This paper tackles the problem of recognizing characters in images of natural scenes. In particular, we focus on recognizing characters in situations that would traditionally not be handled well by OCR techniques. We present an annotated database of images containing English and Kannada characters. The database comprises of images of street scenes taken in Bangalore, India using a standard camera. The problem is addressed in an object cateogorization framework based on a bag-of-visual-words representation. We assess the performance of various features based on nearest neighbour and SVM classification. It is demonstrated that the performance of the proposed method, using as few as 15 training images, can be far superior to that of commercial OCR systems. Furthermore, the method can benefit from synthetically generated training data obviating the need for expensive data collection and annotation.


Better designed retirement savings incentives that target lower-income workers—for instance, those who do not work for an employer that offers retirement benefits—would make a real difference in workers' retirement preparedness. In a joint issue brief with the Center for American Progress (CAP), CAP Senior Fellow Christian Weller and SCEPA Director Teresa Ghilarducci call for reforming the tax code to prioritize refundable tax credits over new tax deductions; emphasize progressive savings matches that offer relatively higher benefits to lower-income households; create savings incentives that are simple to use; and establish new savings options, such that gaining access to savings incentives depends less on employers offering retirement plans.


We compared the esophageal contents of adult male common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula), red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus),and yellow-headed blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) collected in north central North Dakota from JUly through October 1989. Temporal variation in the diets of all species was related to food availabilities, which were heavily influenced by crop phenology. Depending on species, mean percent dry weight of sunflower achenes during August increased 2-6 times over July. Yellow-headed blackbirds migrated from north central North Dakota by early September, but substantial numbers of common grackles and red-winged blackbirds remained until mid-October. Sunflower was an important component of red-winged blackbird and common grackle diets through October. The more varied diet of yellow-headed blackbirds, in combination with the early departure from sunflower-growing regions, makes this species less likely to cause economic impact to the sunflower producer.


An accurate identification of different species of Mycobacterium provides to allow appropriate treatment for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Beside that, drug resistance of M. tuberculosis strains to rifampin is not clearly understood in contributing to the spread of tuberculosis in Indonesia. To assess the molecular mechanism of rifampin resistance, a number of clinical specimens of M. tuberculosis were analyzed their molecular nature of a part of the rpoB gene using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) methods. DNA's extracted from sputum samples were amplified and 32 P-labeled by PCR with the specific primers and the product was analyzed their mutation conferring resistance by MDE gel electrophoresis. Of the 70 specimens tested, 57 specimens were positive for M. tuberculos is organism only, three specimens contained a mixture of M. tuberculosis and non tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM), and 10 specimens were negative approved by Duplex PCR. Of these sixty DNA positive samples (thus the sensitivity of PCR was 85.71%), 5 (8.3%) of them suspected to contain mutations in rpoB which were associated with rifampin resistance. Even though the frequency of mutation was low, the results from our study clearly indicate that the molecular mechanism of rifampin resistance in M. tuberculosis isolates from Indonesia involves alterations in the rpoB gene. Molecular diagnosis by PCR which is fast and easy to perform is useful for early and rapid detection of TB in sputum specimen. Received: 27 February 2009; Revised: 28 August 2010; Accepted: 30 August 2010


Purpose
New ways of working challenge workplace management: increasing mobility and diminishing organizational boundaries require re-evaluation of both workplace design and service delivery. However, structures and processes of workplace management are still traditional, and managers, together with outsourced facility service providers, often do not succeed at fulfilling the needs of mobile employees. The aforementioned changes stimulate discussions in many areas in both industry and academy. Nevertheless, workplace literature from business perspective seems to be scarce. In this paper, the focus is on workplace service offering for mobile knowledge workers. This paper aims to study the current state of workplace servitization. To answer this, the authors identify value offering elements that are used in office business market to deliver workplace as a service.

Design/methodology/approach
This study follows multiple case study methodology including five case studies. Primary data were collected through interviews with workplace service providers. Secondary data included observations and publicly available data. The authors took business model design approach to study selected business offerings.

Findings
The results indicate that workplace business models include elements of servitization on various levels. Physical space is no longer the central offering in the office business; instead, it acts as a component on which the service portfolio is built. The highest value from workplace comes from experience-related service offerings.

Originality/value
Academically, research contributes to the workplace management studies by providing servitization perspective to a topic previously approached with a more technical and psychological point of view. This study can also support service providers and customer organizations in their quest to make service provision more flexible and experience-oriented.


With the increasing use of biometric enabled systems, a large amount of biometric systems, sensors, feature formats and matching algorithms have been developed and various template protection methods have been proposed in the literature to enhance the user privacy of biometric enabled systems. The issue of interoperability among different biometric systems has to be concerned. In this project, a fingerprint template protection method named RIME is proposed. It enables interoperability among fingerprint authentication/verification systems that use ISO minutiae template. The RIME method extracts features from minutiae triplets and transforms the features using random projection. In this thesis, the accuracy, irreversibility and unlinkability of RIME are tested and evaluated. The application of RIME under two factor authentication scenario is also discussed.


In the present study, concurrent treatment with robotic step training and a serotonin agonist, quipazine, generated significant recovery of locomotor function in complete spinal cord-transected mice (T7–T9) that otherwise could not step. The extent of recovery achieved when these treatments were combined exceeded that obtained when either treatment was applied independently. We quantitatively analyzed the stepping characteristics of spinal mice after alternatively administering no training, manual training, robotic training, quipazine treatment, or a combination of robotic training with quipazine treatment, to examine the mechanisms by which training and quipazine treatment promote functional recovery. Using fast Fourier transform and principal components analysis, significant improvements in the step rhythm, step shape consistency, and number of weight-bearing steps were observed in robotically trained compared with manually trained or nontrained mice. In contrast, manual training had no effect on stepping performance, yielding no improvement compared with nontrained mice. Daily bolus quipazine treatment acutely improved the step shape consistency and number of steps executed by both robotically trained and nontrained mice, but these improvements did not persist after quipazine was withdrawn. At the dosage used (0.5 mg/kg body weight), quipazine appeared to facilitate, rather than directly generate, stepping, by enabling the spinal cord neural circuitry to process specific patterns of sensory information associated with weight-bearing stepping. Via this mechanism, quipazine treatment enhanced kinematically appropriate robotic training. When administered intermittently during an extended period of robotic training, quipazine revealed training-induced stepping improvements that were masked in the absence of the pharmacological treatment.


Objective: There is controversy in the prognostic value of infiltrating macrophages density within the human ovarian tumor microenvironment. The aim of this study is to examine the prognostic significance of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) that have an M2 polarized function in ovarian cancer.
Methods: Formalin-fixed, paraffin- embedded blocks were obtained from 42 ovarian cancer and 30 benign ovarian tumor patients who underwent surgery. The number of infiltrating macrophages and M2-polarized macrophages within tumor tissue by both CD68 and CD163 were evaluated. The correlation of CD68/CD163-positive macrophages number with clinical pathology staging, lymphatic metastasis, prognosis value, and post-surgery survival were caculated. All have the permission of ethical approval for the use of human tissue samples.
Results: A high number of macrophages expressing CD68 or CD163 were found in ovarian cancer tissue, there was significant difference according to the FIGO stage (P<0.05). The number of CD68- positive macrophages has no correlation with prognosis, while density and ratio of CD163-positive macrophages correlate negatively with prognosis.
Conclusion: Cancer related inflammation characterized by tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) was found in human ovarian cancer tissues. The ratio of TAMs rather than density of CD68-positive macrophages is associated with poor prognosis of ovarian cancer.


Background: There has been a steady increase
in the number of student nurses withdrawing
from pre registration courses in the UK. In 2002
the Department of Health set an attrition target
of ��% (DH, 2002), however in 2006 there
was an average attrition rate of 28% (Waters
2006). This has several implications including;
the potential loss of workforce, and financial
constraints imposed upon the Higher Education
Institutions where funding for nurse lecturers
is linked to student numbers. Although studies
have been published around this topic, there
is limited literature exploring the issue from
the perspective of students after they have
withdrawal (Last and Fulbrook 200�).
Methodology: A qualitative methodological
approach using semi structured tape recorded
telephone interviews was adopted for the study.
A purposive sampling approach that included
all students who had voluntarily withdrawn
from the course within the previous year was
utilised. Data was analysed using a thematic
content analysis approach.
Results and Discussion: All �8 students who
had withdrawn from the course were invited to
participate in the study (although it is unclear if
addresses were current) and nine agreed to be
interviewed. The results indicated there was no
one single factor caused them to withdraw from
the course, rather a combination of factors.
Reasons included: financial factors, having to
travel to placements, the volume and level of
academic work, the nature and experiences
they had of clinical placements and a lack of
support. Interestingly seven of the respondents
reported the branch (ie child, adult, mental
health, learning disability) they were on was
not their first choice. This paper will discuss the
findings including the issues surrounding data
collected at the exit interview. Suggestions will
be made as to how they could be addressed to
potentially reduce student attrition rates.


This paper frames a general prediction system as an observer traveling around a continuous space, measuring values at some locations, and predicting them at others. The observer is completely agnostic about any particular task being solved; it cares only about measurement locations and their values. This perspective leads to a machine learning framework in which seemingly unrelated tasks can be solved by a single model, by embedding their input and output variables into a shared space. An implementation of the framework is developed in which these variable embeddings are learned jointly with internal model parameters. In experiments, the approach is shown to (1) recover intuitive locations of variables in space and time, (2) exploit regularities across related datasets with completely disjoint input and output spaces, and (3) exploit regularities across seemingly unrelated tasks, outperforming task-specific single-task models and multi-task learning alternatives. The results suggest that even seemingly unrelated tasks may originate from similar underlying processes, a fact that the traveling observer model can use to make better predictions.


There has been a recent revival of interest in the design of fast-acting solenoid actuators. This is due to the emergence of new control applications in the automotive industry constrained by tighter emission and noise regulations. In the context of developing a rapid computer-aided design tool for such applications, the thesis proposes several methods for computing the static and dynamic electromagnetic performance of solenoid actuators with a particular attention given to two actuator types : an axisymmetric and a rectangular solenoid actuator with a flat-faced armature.

The magnetostatic performance of both actuator types is first evaluated by developing a detailed magnetic equivalent circuit in which the actuator geometry, saturation and end-effects are all taken into account. A comparison of the analytical model, based on the computation of the magnetisation characteristics and static forces for several airgap lengths, is given with finite-elements and measurements.

In order to increase the computational speed of the static performance, the concept of magnetic gauge curve is presented. It is shown that this approach is in principle valid for any type of variable reluctance machine. Although the complexity of the gauge curve expression varies significantly from one device to another, it is shown that this method is an efficient way to store the magnetic data for a rapid computer aided-design or a real time application. When applied to the two previous types of solenoid actuator, it also leads to a very fast and accurate static force computation.

The dynamic performance of the solid iron actuators requires the evaluation of the magnetic damping due to eddy currents. Based on a ID model of the flux and eddy current diffusion within an iron bar, an electromagnetic equivalent circuit of the axisymmetric is derived, in which the material nonlinearity, armature movement and eddy currents, a function of the previous parameters, actuator geometry and driving conditions, are modelled. A dynamic model of the partly solid iron rectangular actuator is also proposed and evaluated. In both cases a comparison of the transient current and force waveforms with 2D or 3D finite elements and measurements is given under various driving conditions.


The creation of law involves the representation and participation of many actors with varied interests and resources. Unilateral lawmaking, however, is unique in its independence from the traditional legislative process because it does not require input from a variety of actors, most notably Congress (Howell 2003; Moe and Howell 1999). Instead, this tactic gives presidents an avenue to act when an issue is high on their agenda but Congress is not inclined to proceed because of gridlock or other concerns (Howell and Lewis 2002; Mayer 2001). Proclamations are one type of executive power that presidents have used in such areas as international law, foreign trade, public lands, and matters of entry into the United States (Rottinghaus and Maier 2007). Their degree of importance differs, with some being merely declaratory in nature, while others have a substantive effect (Fisher 2007, 103-5). In the area of public lands, proclamations of national monuments are especially interesting because they are both declaratory (they proclaim the change in status of the public lands), and they have an impact on policy making (they preserve existing rights, restrict future ones, designate a managing authority, and provide implementation guidance). (1) Congress granted the president broad discretionary power to proclaim national monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906 (16 U.S.C. [section] 431-433). The act provides for unilateral lawmaking because the president is not required to consult with Congress, the state in which the monument is located, or the public prior to designation. However, even though the proclamation is the result of independent executive action, it carries the force of Congress behind it because the president is acting pursuant to the authority vested in the act (Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 [1952]). (2) The use of independent action by the president is best understood within the context of the conditions that fostered it, as well the long-term effect on public policy (Howell 2003, 177). This article, therefore, uses Presidential Proclamation 6920, which established the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, as an opportunity to look closely at a unique example of unilateral lawmaking that will have a lasting influence on public lands policy (Mayer and Price 2002, 368-69). (3) The land that makes up the monument had served as a source of congressional debate for more than twenty years, and with what was considered by some to be an act of "stealth" policy making, President Bill Clinton decided the fate of the controversial lands by issuing Proclamation 6920, surprising both Congress and the state of Utah. An outraged Congress duly explored the implications of executive power under the act, but ultimately decided not to curtail presidential authority to proclaim national monuments. With Proclamation 6920, President Clinton also succeeded in laying the groundwork for a change of direction for both national monuments and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Since 1933, the National Park Service (NPS) had been the agency responsible for managing national monuments, and had done so in a manner that preserved monuments by restricting land uses. (4) When President Clinton issued Proclamation 6920, he put express restrictions on future land uses that would impact nearly any type of resource development within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. However, instead of assigning management to the NPS, he gave responsibility to the BLM, an agency whose mission supports resource development and multiple resource (or use) management. This change would result in an expansion of permissible uses within monuments while restricting future uses as constrained by the language in the proclamation. The Use of Presidential Proclamations in Public Land Law Public lands are those owned by the U.S. government and held in trust for the public interest (U.S. …


We report on the existence and stability of nonlocal multihump gap solitons in one-dimensional parity-time symmetric periodic potentials. They can exist in the first gap in defocusing nonlocal nonlinearity and in the semi-infinite gap in focusing nonlocal nonlinearity. These solitons can be stable in the defocusing nonlinearity but are unstable in the focusing nonlinearity. For the multihump solitons, the shapes of the nonlinear contribution to refractive index are also multihump. The stability and shapes of the intensity distribution of these solitons will be changed by the degree of nonlocality. We also study the transverse power flow of these solitons.


Beginning Cryptography with Java While cryptography can still be a controversial topic in the programming community, Java has weathered that storm and provides a rich set of APIs that allow you, the developer, to effectively include cryptography in applications-if you know how. This book teaches you how. Chapters one through five cover the architecture of the JCE and JCA, symmetric and asymmetric key encryption in Java, message authentication codes, and how to create Java implementations with the API provided by the Bouncy Castle ASN.1 packages, all with plenty of examples. Building on that foundation, the second half of the book takes you into higher-level topics, enabling you to create and implement secure Java applications and make use of standard protocols such as CMS, SSL, and S/MIME. What you will learn from this book How to understand and use JCE, JCA, and the JSSE for encryption and authentication The ways in which padding mechanisms work in ciphers and how to spot and fix typical errors An understanding of how authentication mechanisms are implemented in Java and why they are used Methods for describing cryptographic objects with ASN.1 How to create certificate revocation lists and use the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) Real-world Web solutions using Bouncy Castle APIs Who this book is for This book is for Java developers who want to use cryptography in their applications or to understand how cryptography is being used in Java applications. Knowledge of the Java language is necessary, but you need not be familiar with any of the APIs discussed. Wrox Beginning guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think, providing a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved.


An 88-year-old woman presented with thrombo-embolic disease of the left upper extremity manifested by the classical signs of pain, paresthesias, pallor, pulselessness, and poikilothermia. She was found to have a thrombo-embolus in the left distal brachial artery as well as two large thrombi in the aortic arch and proximal descending aorta. Initial surgical intervention included a left upper extremity embolectomy with subsequent restoration of blood flow to the left arm. Due to the patient's advanced age, comorbidities, and availability of medical therapy, it was decided to treat her aortic thrombi through anti-coagulation with coumadin.


Examines the role of shared reflection by electronic mail in the development and management of Internet training courses for adults. Effective shared teacher reflection contributes to effective international student activities. Through content analysis of email sent by a trainer during 3 years of development and delivery of introductory Internet courses, the authors: identify aspects of teaching about the Internet and new technologies to which reflection by email contributes; and assess the potential for computer-mediated communication between a teacher and an interlocutor in computer-supported education and training. Shared reflection through email provides opportunity and incentive to reflect on course development and management. It assists with course development and with management of stress associated with development and presentation of new and innovative courses. It is a simple but valuable tool for timely recording of reflections. It provides ready access to an interested colleague who can provide timely feedback, regardless of geographical proximity.


Surveys at five US universities show that faculty read articles for research, teaching, writing, and other purposes; the largest number of readings is for research. The time spent reading scholarly articles (an estimated average of 132 hours and 240 articles per year) demonstrates their value to faculty's work; over one‐third of readings are reported to be absolutely essential, and to affect the reader's purpose in many ways, including helping to improve results, or to broaden or change the focus. Faculty prefer print for personal subscriptions, although library electronic collections provide a majority of readings, and most readings from library collections are from electronic sources; older articles are also more commonly from electronic library collections. Faculty use a variety of means to find articles, including browsing and searching, the latter particularly for research purposes, and to locate older articles. Faculty members who publish more, or who have won awards, read more articles on average than their less productive or successful colleagues.


This study was conducted to determine the presence and distribution of Anaplasma ovis and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in small ruminants in Istanbul, Tekirdag, Edirne and Kirklareli provinces in Thrace region of northwestern Turkey during May-September in 2014. A total of 423 blood samples (216 sheep and 207 goats) were collected randomly from small ruminants regardless of the clinical symptoms. Species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays, targeting the major surface protein 4 (msp4), were employed for identification of A. ovis and A. phagocytophilum and selected products were confirmed via sequencing. A total of 230 small ruminants (54.37%) were found to be infected with A. ovis and/or A. phagocytophilum. The rates of infected animals for A. ovis and A. phagocytophilum were 50.83% (215/423) and 8.51% (36/423) respectively. Coinfection rate in small ruminants was determined as 4.96% (21/423). Sequence diversity rates of 0-0.94% for A. ovis and 0.41-2.49% for A. phagocytophilum have been observed. This is the first detection of A. ovis and A. phagocytophilum in sheep and goats in Thrace region of northwestern Turkey via polymerase chain reaction and sequence characterization. Further researches are needed to determine the vectors, vector-host interactions and genotypic variants that may affect the presence and distribution of Anaplasma species in the region.


Abstract This paper brings labour back into the literature on legal empowerment against poverty. Employing a historical lens, I outline three waves of legal movements. Each wave is distinguished by its timing, the state-level target, and the actors involved. In all three waves, legal empowerment was won, not bestowed. Labour played a significant role, fighting in each subsequent wave for an expanded identity to address exclusions. Drawing from the Indian case, this paper's findings highlight the evolving strategies of legal empowerment movements vis à vis uneven welfare states. They underline the significance of symbolic power of legal recognition, even in the absence of perfect implementation. Finally, they highlight contemporary workers as an overlooked, identity-based group that addresses the intersectionalities between class and ascriptive characteristics.


The work is based on the results of a clinical research project made over a fifteen year period on open groups in which children of different age groups participated. In groupe with children, the prevailing language is the primitive one of body language, whose alphabet, represented by sensory and motor functions, directly addresses the emotions. With children it is necessary to start with this archaic language of actions because their thought processes are concentrated on motorial "explosions". The alpha function transforms the beta elements into that which Bion calls alpha elements, namely into those psychic elements that have characteristics that can be used as thoughts. The conductor collects the beta elements and after removing the distressing aspects, returns them to the children, thereby giving them the basis of an ability to think. The transformational path for the children is based primarily upon this passage from motorial action to the ability to describe what they feel. It is therefore necessary to note how narrative in groups of children is generated through forms of bodily contact, which often arrive at the borders of action. Consequently, the function of the conductor must be based mainly on an ability to transform movements into scenes. Keywords: Developmental age, Action, Play, Thought


Long-established rituals in pre-existing cultural groups have been linked to the cultural evolution of group cooperation. Here we test the prediction that novel rituals – arbitrary hand and body gestures enacted in a stereotypical and repeated fashion – can impact intergroup bias in newly formed groups. In four studies, participants practiced novel rituals at home for one week (Experiments 1, 2, 4) or once in the lab (pre-registered Experiment 3), and were divided into minimal ingroups and outgroups. Our results offer mixed support for the hypothesis that novel rituals promote intergroup bias. A modest effect for daily repeated rituals but a null effect for rituals enacted only once suggests that novel rituals can inculcate bias, but only when certain features are present: rituals must be sufficiently elaborate and repeated to impact bias. Taken together, our results offer modest support for the influence of novel rituals on intergroup bias.


This prsentation investigates the asymmetrical variability of the location of the north and the south equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) crests in the East-Asian sector, along with their association with simultaneous observations of equatorial electrojet (EEJ) strength, geomagnetic activity index, and solar flux index during the 2002–2003 sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event. Analysis of these observations indicates the existence of a large-scale quasi 16-day periodic meridional movement in both EIA crests, and also reveals a strong correlation between the quasi 16-day oscillation in geomagnetic latitudes of the EIA crest and EEJ strength. The latitude of the northern/southern EIA crest and the EEJ strength indicate that obvious synchronous periodic oscillations were in-phase in the northern and southern hemisphere when the SSW occurred. In addition, it is also found that both the EIA crest location and amplitude of the periodic movement of the EIA locations exhibit hemispheric asymmetry. The amplitude of the periodic movement of the EIA location in the southern hemisphere is larger than that of the northern hemisphere, and the southern EIA crest is further off from the equator than the north one. Understanding these asymmetries requires a combination of mechanisms that involve at least trans-equator meridional winds and the position of a sub-solar point; however, potential disturbances in neutral winds associated with the SSW may additionally complicate the equatorial ionospheric dynamics.


Cystic fibrosis is caused by defects in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), commonly the deletion of residue Phe-508 (ΔF508) in the first nucleotide-binding domain (NBD1), which results in a severe reduction in the population of functional channels at the epithelial cell surface. Previous studies employing incomplete NBD1 domains have attributed this to aberrant folding of ΔF508 NBD1. We report structural and biophysical studies on complete human NBD1 domains, which fail to demonstrate significant changes of in vitro stability or folding kinetics in the presence or absence of the ΔF508 mutation. Crystal structures show minimal changes in protein conformation but substantial changes in local surface topography at the site of the mutation, which is located in the region of NBD1 believed to interact with the first membrane spanning domain of CFTR. These results raise the possibility that the primary effect of ΔF508 is a disruption of proper interdomain interactions at this site in CFTR rather than interference with the folding of NBD1. Interestingly, increases in the stability of NBD1 constructs are observed upon introduction of second-site mutations that suppress the trafficking defect caused by the ΔF508 mutation, suggesting that these suppressors might function indirectly by improving the folding efficiency of NBD1 in the context of the full-length protein. The human NBD1 structures also solidify the understanding of CFTR regulation by showing that its two protein segments that can be phosphorylated both adopt multiple conformations that modulate access to the ATPase active site and functional interdomain interfaces.


Annexins are big family of proteins which are binding to phosphplipids in a Ca2+-dependent manner. A lot is known about their distribution in the cells and tissues, their involvement in endocytosis and exocytosis, vesicular trafficking and rearrangement of the cytoskeleton. For several annexins mouse knock out models are established. However, loss of one particular annexin had relatively mild effects suggesting compensation of the lost annexin function by other annexins. This study focused on Dictyostelium discoideum annexin C1, its dynamic behavior and possible interactions with other proteins. GFP-tagged full length annexin, a mutated form of annexin and the annexin core domain were used to study involvement of annexin in cellular processes in vivo and in vitro, with emphasis on processes like pinocytosis, phagocytosis, osmoregulation and development. Dictyostelium annexin C1 localizes in the cell cytosol and nucleus and on the plasma membrane. In the cytosol annexin is associated with internal membranes. Fractionation of membranes on discontinuous sucrose gradient showed that annexin C1 was present on plasma membrane, endosomal and lysosomal membranes, as well as in Golgi membranes and in a lesser amounts in ER fraction. In addition, co-immunostaining with several protein markers revealed annexin C1 in association with endosomes and contractile vacuoles. Although its localization on contractile vacuoles suggested a role in osmoregulation, mutant lacking annexin (SYN¯) behaved similar to wild type cells (AX2) under osmotic stress conditions. Despite the presence of annexin C1 on pinosomes and phagosomes the SYN¯ mutant was not impaired in endocytosis and exocytosis when compared with AX2 and showed an increased rate of phagocytosis. In accordance with this is the decreased rate of phagocytosis observed with cells overexpressing annexin. Furthermore we observed in vivo translocation of annexin from the cytosol to the plasma membrane upon a decrease in cytosolic pH. This finding showed that the protein could bind to phospholipids in the absence of Ca2+ and was in accordance with previously published in vitro data for annexin A5 and B12. We also found that annexin C1 associated with Triton X-100 insoluble pellet only in the presence of Ca2+. A mutation in one Ca2+-binding site in the third annexin repeat affected this behavior. Considering proposed high affinity for Ca2+ of this particular Ca2+-binding site and the previously described cooperation in binding of Ca2+ we speculate that his particular substitution of aspartic acid residue at the position 293 with alanine reduced protein affinity for binding of Ca2+ and eventually affected binding of Ca2+ to other Ca2+-binding sites.Gel filtration and immunoprecipitation experiments revealed the presence of annexin C1 monomers in the cytoplasm and interactions with two small Ca2+-binding proteins, CBP2 and DdPEF-2. Furthermore, we found annexin to be phosphorylated but the physiological role of phosphorylation is needed to be further studied in detail. Taken together, annexin C1 is not crucial for the survival of Dictyostelium. In annexin minus mutant SYN¯ however development was noticeably affected and was retarded by more than four hours and not all multicellular structures finally developed into fruiting bodies consisting of spore and stalk cells. Although all fusion proteins showed same localization in slugs, stalks and spore cells, impairment in development of SYN¯ cells could only be rescued by the full length protein pointing out the crucial importance of annexin function for development.


The behavioral literature provides ample evidence that consumer preferences are partly driven by the context provided by the set of alternatives. Three important context effects are the compromise, attraction, and similarity effects. Because these context effects affect choices in a systematic and predictable way, it should be possible to incorporate them in a choice model. However, the literature does not offer such a choice model. This study fills this gap by proposing a discrete-choice model that decomposes a product's utility into a context-free partworth utility and a context-dependent component capturing all three context effects. Model estimation results on choice-based conjoint data involving digital cameras provide convincing statistical evidence for context effects. The estimated context effects are consistent with the predictions from the behavioral literature, and accounting for context effects leads to better predictions both in and out of sample. To illustrate the benefit from incorporating context effects in a choice model, the authors discuss how firms could utilize the context sensitivity of consumers to design more profitable product lines.


The development of nanodevices demands for patterning methods in the nanoscale. To bring nanodevices to the market, there is a need for fast, low-cost nanopatterning methods. In addition, an increased flexibility is important for the engineering of multimaterial and multifunctional nano/micro-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS/MEMS), such as polymer-based electronic and sensor devices, 3D microfluidic systems, and bio-analytical systems. A series of alternative surface micro/nanopatterning methods based on MEMS tools are currently being developed, e.g. local fluidic dispensing (NADIS) and shadow-mask deposition (nanostencil lithography) , . These methods rely on locally adding material onto the substrate without the need for resist layers, exposure and etch steps. MEMS tools combine a series of unique advantages: (i) compliant cantilevers can be made in silicon, dielectrics and also polymers , (ii) nm-sharp tips form a 'mechanical zoom' from micro to nanoscale, (iii) the mechanical frequency scales with size and mass and allows for resonances in the MHz range, (iv) low spring constants allow for application on fragile surfaces, (v) micromachining processes enable parallel, high density systems. MEMS-based nanopatterning can be implemented in various manners: as scanning devices for the flexible, serial, writing of nanopatternings, as replication tools for the copying of an existing pattern, or as parallel scanning MEMS systems combining both, flexibility and increased areal through-put. Nanostencil lithography is a resistless, single step patterning method based on direct, local deposition of material on an arbitrary surface through a solid-state membrane, e.g. a 200-nm thick silicon nitride (SiN) membrane. Although the method faces several challenges in terms of membrane fabrication at 100-nm scale, gap control, mechanical stability, aperture clogging, alignment for multi-layer patterning, etc. the technique has tremendous advantages when applied to fragile substrates. We have studied patterning by stencil lithography of metals (Al, Au, Bi, Cr, Ti, Cu) on various surfaces (Si, SiO2, SU-8, PDMS, PMMA, freestanding SiN cantilevers, curved surfaces, CMOS chips, and self-assembled monolayers (SAM)) for different applications (nanomechanical devices, (molecular) electronic devices, nanoscale Hall-sensor devices, and 3D microfluidic systems).


This study investigated the evidence base for health promotion interventions targeting social isolation and loneliness in older people. The research comprised: a systematic literature review, a survey of projects in northern England, and case studies involving interviews with staff and older people. The majority of projects were not evidence based with large variations in evaluation. The review identified a small number of relevant studies. Effective interventions targeted older people at risk and enabled participants some control over project activities. Older people differentiated between chronic and situational loneliness, and isolation versus loneliness, suggesting a need for different interventions. Many projects did not have strategies for identifying isolated, lonely older people. Access to activities intended to alleviate social isolation and loneliness among older people was often inequitable, tailored to participants? expectations, rather than to the needs of those most isolated and lonely. Many projects consulted older people superficially, providing activities, which did not necessarily meet the needs of isolated, lonely older people.


The efficient annotation of documents in vast corpora calls for scalable methods of text classification. Representing the documents in the form of graph vertices, rather than in the form of vectors in a bag of words space, allows for the necessary information to be pre-computed and stored. It also fundamentally changes the problem definition, from a content-based to a relation-based classification problem. Efficiently creating a graph where nearby documents are likely to have the same annotation is the central task of this paper. We compare the effectiveness of various approaches to graph construction by building graphs of 800,000 vertices based on the Reuters corpus, showing that relation-based classification is competitive with Support Vector Machines, which can be considered as state of the art. We further show that the combination of our relation-based approach and Support Vector Machines leads to an improvement over the methods individually.


In recent years there has been significant interest in adapting techniques from statistical physics, in particular mean field theory, to provide deterministic heuristic algorithms for obtaining approximate solutions to optimization problems. Although these algorithms have been shown experimentally to be successful there has been little theoretical analysis of them. In this paper we demonstrate connections between mean field theory methods and other approaches, in particular, barrier function and interior point methods. As an explicit example, we summarize our work on the linear assignment problem. In this previous work we defined a number of algorithms, including deterministic annealing, for solving the assignment problem. We proved convergence, gave bounds on the convergence times, and showed relations to other optimization algorithms.


Public ambivalence towards democracy has come under increasing
scrutiny. It is a mood registered perhaps most clearly in the fact
populist figures, from Trump to Orbàn to Duterte, appear to carry strong
appeal despite the fact, or perhaps because of the fact, they pose a threat
to democratic institutions and processes of governance. Are ambivalent citizens
the grave threat to democracy they are often portrayed to be in media
and academic discourse on populism? In this article, I contend that citizens'
ambivalence about democracy is a more complex, spirited and volitional
idea than is acknowledged in the current discussion of populism. Drawing
on psychoanalysis and critical social thought, I embrace a conception of citizens'
ambivalence in a democracy as both immanent and desirable. I argue
ambivalence can be a form of participation in democracy that is crucial to
safeguarding its future.


The upper Aeronian to lower Telychian (Llandovery Series, lower Silurian) strata in the parastratotype for the Saltar Formation (chert-shale succession) are documented in terms of their lithologies and graptolite biostratigraphy. The studied section Asaritsa сrops out in the western sector of the Stara Planina Mountains (Svoge Unit of the Srednogorie Zone). In section Asaritsa, the highest Aeronian graptolitic strata are separated from the lowest Telychian graptolitic strata by a graptolite-barren interval of pale-coloured shale. Based on the graptolites documented below and above this interval, as well as on its correlation to sections studied in detail from the Czech Republic and Spain, the immediate underlay of the pale-coloured shale is referred to the uppermost part of the sedgwickii Zone, the complete pale-coloured shale interval, or its greatest part, to the lower guerichi Zone, and the directly overlying it succession to the upper part of the guerichi Zone. The Aeronian/Telychian boundary is assumed to lie at the base of this pale-coloured shale package, or within its lower part. The study provides documentation of Metaclimacograptus undulatus, Parapetalolithus praecedens, Rastrites carnicus, Rivagraptus bellulus, and illustrations of Stimulograptus for the first time in Bulgaria. Sachanski, V. 2017. The Silurian stage boundaries in Bulgaria: the challenge of the Aeronian/ Telychian (Llandovery) boundary. Geologica Balcanica 46 (2), 3–10.


The use of stable isotope ratios δ18O and δ2H are well established in assessment of groundwater systems and their hydrology. The conventional approach is based on x/y plots and relation to various MWL's, and plots of either ratio against parameters such as Clor EC. An extension of interpretation is the use of 2D maps and contour plots, and 2D hydrogeological vertical sections. An enhancement of presentation and interpretation is the production of "isoscapes", usually as 2.5D surface projections. We have applied groundwater isotopic data to a 3D visualisation, using the alluvial aquifer system of the Lockyer Valley. The 3D framework is produced in GVS (Groundwater Visualisation System).

This format enables enhanced presentation by displaying the spatial relationships and allowing interpolation between "data points" i.e. borehole screened zones where groundwater enters.

The relative variations in the δ18O and δ2H values are similar in these ambient temperature systems. However, δ2H better reflects hydrological processes, whereas δ18O also reflects aquifer/groundwater exchange reactions. The 3D model has the advantage that it displays borehole relations to spatial features, enabling isotopic ratios and their values to be associated with, for example, bedrock groundwater mixing, interaction between aquifers, relation to stream recharge, and to near-surface and return irrigation water evaporation. Some specific features are also shown, such as zones of leakage of deeper groundwater (in this case with a GAB signature).

Variations in source of recharging water at a catchment scale can be displayed. Interpolation between bores is not always possible depending on numbers and spacing, and by elongate configuration of the alluvium. In these cases, the visualisation uses discs around the screens that can be manually expanded to test extent or intersections. Separate displays are used for each of δ18O and δ2H and colour coding for isotope values.


Since the early twentieth-century, Kurds have challenged the borders and national identities of the states they inhabit. Nowhere is this more evident than in their promotion of the 'Map of Greater Kurdistan', an ideal of a unified Kurdish homeland in an ethnically and geographically complex region. This powerful image is embedded in the consciousness of the Kurdish people, both within the region and, perhaps even more strongly, in the diaspora. Addressing the lack of rigorous research and analysis of Kurdish politics from an international perspective, Zeynep Kaya focuses on self-determination, territorial identity and international norms to suggest how these imaginations of homelands have been socially, politically and historically constructed (much like the state territories the Kurds inhabit), as opposed to their perception of being natural, perennial or intrinsic. Adopting a non-political approach to notions of nationhood and territoriality, Mapping Kurdistan is a systematic examination of the international processes that have enabled a wide range of actors to imagine and create the cartographic image of greater Kurdistan that is in use today.


As you are aware, RTGS and NEFT are two important pan-India payment systems introduced by Reserve Bank of India keeping in mind the requirements of various customers in the wholesale and retail payment systems segment. Both these systems have distinct objectives and unique features in terms of the time criticality of payments, threshold value of transactions, mode of settlement etc. As such, the charges levied for transactions in the two systems are also different. The customers in turn, should be empowered to exercise the choice between these two systems depending upon their requirements. 2. In view of the above, we reiterate that all the participating banks should provide the option to the originating customer to choose between these two modes at the time of initiation of the funds transfer. The option should be made available to all the customers who may originate remittance either at the branch or through internet or any other means. The funds are to be transferred necessarily through the option chosen by the customer.


Successful integration of immigrants is vital for rural areas facing population decline and labour shortage. Yet little is known about the role civil society plays in this process and about the factors that promote or hamper acceptance of immigrants by the local population. By using data from a national survey of the Norwegian population, this article examines rural‐urban differences in attitudes toward immigrants and immigration, and what characteristics rural and urban residents consider important for immigrants who may settle in their locality. The results indicate that people living in rural areas express more negative attitudes toward immigrants and immigration compared to people living in urban areas. Additionally, rural residents place greater importance than their urban counterparts do on immigrants' participating in local events, speaking the native language, and being willing to adapt to Norwegian values.


The nodes in MANET are constrained with limited power for their vital operations since the connectivity of the network will go down as soon as node energy gets exhausted. Node failures due to power constraints cause system failures and hence minimizes end-to-end connectivity in the network. In recent years, majority of research on multicast routing protocols in MANET focus upon the mechanisms to build energy efficient multicast routes based upon shortest paths and energy consumption for various transactions at node level. In this paper, we propose an Energy Aware Multicast Routing Protocol (EAMRP) which maximizes end-to-end connectivity in the network and minimizes faults at link or/and node level. A set of multiple paths are established from source to multicast destinations using energy efficient neighbor node selection mechanism. Our scheme operates in following phases. (1) Computation of residual energy of a node using node energy model. (2) Pruning the nodes having residual energy less than threshold value. (3) Discovery of multiple routes to the destination using request and reply packets, (4) Selection of stable routes by considering residual energy of the nodes. (5) Route maintenance for route breaks and node failures due to energy drain and (6) Simulation analysis for various parameters such as Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), and end-to-end delay has been performed. We observe that EAMRP outperforms the energy efficient AODV and AOMDV protocols for various performance Parameters.


Video transcoding is the process of producing from an original (already encoded) input video sequence, multiple output sequences, each at potentially different bitrate, resolution and/or format. Transcoding is essential to support video delivery towards clients that use different players and have different network access capabilities. In the most basic scheme the input sequence is decoded and then re-encoded at the desired levels. Although significant research on fast transcoding schemes exists, the transcoding process is still computationally intensive. For this reason efficient scheduling methods that allocate resources to transcoding jobs are necessary in order to achieve good overall performance. Such policies usually aim at allocating transcoding jobs over co-located servers, thus, they typically overlook parameters such as network traffic. Motivated by the case of transcoding in the Cloud, in this paper we investigate the problem of scheduling transcoding jobs over a distributed system comprising of processing nodes that are geographically dispersed and might be whole clusters or even separate data centers. We propose algorithms to minimize both the inter-node network traffic and the intra-node energy consumption, while meeting the deadlines and quality requirements. Through simulation experiments we conclude on the best alternatives.


In this innovative study, Sarah Hill illuminates the history of Southeastern Cherokee women by examining changes in their basketry. Based in tradition and made from locally gathered materials, baskets evoke the lives and landscapes of their makers. Indeed, as Weaving New Worlds reveals, the stories of Cherokee baskets and the women who weave them are intertwined and inseparable. Incorporating written, woven, and spoken records, Hill demonstrates that changes in Cherokee basketry signal important transformations in Cherokee culture. Over the course of three centuries, Cherokees developed four major basketry traditions, each based on a different material--rivercane, white oak, honeysuckle, and maple. Hill explores how the addition of each new material occurred in the context of lived experience, ecological processes, social conditions, economic circumstances, and historical eras. Incorporating insights from written sources, interviews with contemporary Cherokee weavers, and a close examination of the baskets themselves, she presents Cherokee women as shapers and subjects of change. Even in the face of cultural assault and environmental loss, she argues, Cherokee women have continued to take what they have to make what they need, literally and metaphorically weaving new worlds from old.


This study aims to determine the influence of the component emotional intelligences of employee performance PT. Sulindo Masjaya Pandaan. Collecting data is done using the primary data that is to do with the distribution quesioner. Research sample is all employees of PT. Sulindo Masjaya Pandaan which amounted to 38 people. Emotional intelligences is the ability to recognize someone for emotional self, emotional self-manage, motivate themselves, recognize the emotions of others (empathy) and the ability to build relationships (cooperation) with other people. While the performance (of achievement) is the work of the quality and quantity is achieved by an employee in carrying out its duties in accordance with the responsibilities. If the emotional component of high intellect, it can improve the performance of employees. Independent variables (X) in this research is the emotional component of intellect, which consists of self-awareness (X1), self-management (X2), self-motivation (X3), empathy (X4), and social skills (X5). While the performance of employees is dependent variable (Y). The results of the analysis using a range scale that is known that the average employee emotional component wiliness PT. Sulindo Masjaya Pandaan is high. Similarly the performance of their employees, the average high-performance employees. While the analysis results using linear regression double analysis there is value in the output value R Square value of 0.706 or 70.6%. This means that the performance of employees affected 70.6% by the fifth independent variable which includes self-awareness, self management, self-motivation, empathy and skills, while the remaining 29.4% influenced by other variables outside of the five independent variables. While in the ANOVA table used to determine whether the regression model can be made into the options that can be used well or not. This can be determined from the sig value of 0.000 from ANOVA table. Because 0.000 <0.05 can be stated that the regression model will be created that can be used with both.


Background, including underpinning literature and, wherever possible, the international relevance of the research The rise in elderly populations with complex long-term conditions is a global phenomenon (World Health Organisation, 2011). However evidence has emerged internationally around concerns about quality of care, particularly for older people (Katz 2011; Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2013). It has been argued that in target-driven care environments, there is the potential for care professionals to lose sight of the person receiving the care and focuses on task-completion, resulting in dehumanising care cultures (Galvin and Todres 2013). Educating nurse students to effectively as well as compassionately deliver complex care to vulnerable people represents considerable challenges. Following a number of high profile examples of poor quality care in the United Kingdom (UK) (Francis 2013), health profession education providers now follow professional body guidelines that mandate that values for compassionate practice clearly underpin curricula. Limited evidence exists however, concerning the impact of this initiative over time. This paper reports on a study that evidences the impact on students of an education programme based on a humanising care philosophy in shaping the students' value base as they progress through their education programmes. Aim(s) and/or research question(s)/research hypothesis(es) . This paper reports on a five-phase longitudinal study exploring the impact of an undergraduate-nursing curriculum based on a humanising care philosophy on the values of individual students. Research methodology/research design, any ethical issues, and methods of data collection and analysis The study uses a qualitative longitudinal approach to understanding the beliefs and values of student nurses from the day of entry, through their education programme to completion. Focusing on two cohorts of students one year apart, data were collected by individual interview at commencement and completion and by focus groups at the end of their first placement and at the end of their first and second years. This presentation reports up to the end of the programme for the first cohort and end of second year for the second cohort. Ethics approval was gained for the entire project. At each stage of the process, students were formally invited to participate and on-going individual consent was gained. The audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Key findings and recommendations By the end of their first placement, both groups were very similar in the expression of their values and to some extent presented a rather negative view of their experiences. However students from both groups became more articulate in expressing their values particularly in relation to their placement experience, as they moved through their programme. Four on-going and developing themes emerged from the data: personal journey, impact of the curriculum, impact of practice and values development. Overall, although each cohort followed two distinct curricula, there were few differences between the groups at each stage. Reasons for this will be discussed. Both groups felt they had become less judgmental, that the curriculum had empowered them to challenge practice and enhanced their confidence. Students also reported that their mentors (placement supervisors) role modelled authentic compassionate care in practice. Over time students' insight into the complexity of caring developed and their understanding of the importance of practice that respected patient individuality deepened. This study has evidenced the strong link between curriculum and its impact on the evolving values of nursing students. Whilst this paper reports on a local study from one university in the UK, transferability of findings to other settings can be judged; it is argued that the insights will have resonance for nurse educators more widely as well as other health professional disciplines. References Commissioning Board Chief Nursing Officer and Department of Health Chief Nurse Advisor (2012). Compassion in Practice: Nursing, Midwifery and Care Staff. Our vision and strategy. Retrieved 22nd January 2016 from: http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/compassion-in-practice.pdf Francis Inquiry, (2013). Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry: Executive summary. Crown Copyright: London. Galvin, K., Todres, L. (2013). Caring and Well-Being: A Lifeworld Approach. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon. Katz, P.R. (2011). An International Perspective on Long Term Care: Focus on Nursing Homes. Journal of American Medical Directors Association. 12 (7): 487-492 OECD (2013) OECD Reviews of Health Care Quality: Denmark. Retrieved 7th Retrieved 22nd January 2016 from: http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/ReviewofHealthCareQualityDENMARK_ExecutiveSummary.pdf WHO (2011) Global Health and Ageing. Retrieved 22nd January 2016 from: http://www.who.int/ageing/publications/global_health.pdf Key words: (5) • Nurse education • Professional values • Humanising care • Curriculum • Longitudinal qualitative research 3 key points to indicate how your work contributes to knowledge development within the selected theme • Nursing students were able to clearly articulate values that underpin humanised care • This study provides evidence for the strong link between curriculum and its impact on the evolving values of nursing students • The curriculum is one factor in embedding humanised values in nursing students; further research is required.