Enterprise portals are currently being implemented by a significant number of organisations, both in the public and private sector. Such systems promise a wide range of benefits, including; the integration of disparate information sources and applications, allowing staff easier and faster access to both, and the ability to tailor or personalise this access based on roles, functions or location. This paper describes the development and early stage deployment of an enterprise portal within West Sussex County Council. The portal is seen as a key element of their e-government activities, enabling the Council to meet Government targets in this area. The intention is for the portal to provide a single location for all individuals, both customers and staff, wishing to access the on-line information and transactional services provided by the Council. The portal investment by the Council is expected to improve service delivery to customers, both through on-line access and by increasing the ability to share information across its own directorates and also to improve working with other agencies. The case study raises a number of issues of relevance beyond the public sector, concerning the ability of organisations to achieve the immediate and longer term benefits enterprise portals appear to offer.


It is almost universally accepted within advanced industrial democracies that concentration of media ownership within too few hands contradicts the basic tenets of democracy, threatening diversity of expression and risking autocratic control of communicative spaces. Although these principles of diversity and pluralism have routinely underpinned American and European policy statements on media ownership, recent policy initiatives have moved inexorably in the opposite direction, towards relaxation of restrictions and hence greater consolidation. These trends have been exacerbated over the last two years by a sustained economic recession, allied to structural shifts in advertising revenue, which have left hard-pressed media enterprises lobbying intensively for even greater deregulation. This paper argues that the dire state of the media industry, which threatens the very existence of public interest journalism, may demand a more benign response to arguments for corporate consolidation than traditionally articulated by critical scholars. It suggests that the focus of regulatory intervention should switch from structural regulation which prevents greater concentration of ownership to content regulation which imposes substantial public interest obligations on the output of media businesses in return for a less restrictive corporate environment. It examines the early monopoly days of commercial television in the UK, and argues that the clear regulatory imperatives then imposed on monopolistic licensees offers a policy benchmark for permitting greater consolidation today while safeguarding vital public interest content. While a broad legislative framework currently exists, the paper argues that it would require a significantly more ambitious range of public interest requirements rooted in a normative vision of journalism's contribution to a healthy democracy.


Computer-mediated communication (CMC) renewed the interest for collaborative learning. Empirical findings show that collaborative learning is efficient, but only under some conditions. These conditions are not guaranteed by the use of CMC tools. It would be an over-generalisation to expect any type of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) to be efficient. It is also difficult to translate the conditions identified in face-to-face collaboration into conditions for success of distance collaboration, because too many other factors separate face-to-face from distance interactions. However, the analysis of these conditions reveals some mechanisms which explain the effects of collaborative learning. This contribution reviews the mechanisms which have been proposed and considers to which extent these mechanisms could be present in CSCL.


Productivity levels and growth are extremely heterogeneous among firms. A vast literature has developed to explain the origins of productivity shocks, their dispersion, evolution and their relationship to the business cycle. We examine in detail the distribution of labor productivity levels and growth, and observe that they exhibit heavy tails. We propose to model these distributions using the four parameter Levy stable distribution, a natural candidate deriving from the generalised Central Limit Theorem. We show that it is a better fit than several standard alternatives, and is remarkably consistent over time, countries and sectors. In all samples considered, the tail parameter is such that the theoretical variance of the distribution is infinite, so that the sample standard deviation increases with sample size. We find a consistent positive skewness, a markedly different behaviour between the left and right tails, and a positive relationship between productivity and size. The distributional approach allows us to test different measures of dispersion and find that productivity dispersion has slightly decreased over the past decade.


Learning analytics, the measurement and reporting of data about learners, has beenadvocated as a support tool for teacher regulation of collaborative learning. More specifically,so called Teacher Dashboards are currently being developed to support teachers. The aim ofthis poster is to provide a theoretical framing of Teacher Dashboards and to discuss the stateof the art in this field. As such, this poster also contributes to formulating an agenda for futureresearch.


Nutrition can affect the brain throughout the life cycle, with profound implications for mental health and degenerative disease. Many aspects of nutrition, from entire diets to specific nutrients, affect brain structure and function. The present short review focuses on recent insights into the role of nutrition in cognition and mental health and is divided into four main sections. First, the importance of nutritional balance and nutrient interactions to brain health are considered by reference to the Mediterranean diet, energy balance, fatty acids and trace elements. Many factors modulate the effects of nutrition on brain health and inconsistencies between studies can be explained in part by differences in early environment and genetic variability. Thus, these two factors are considered in the second and third parts of the present review. Finally, recent findings on mechanisms underlying the actions of nutrition on the brain are considered. These mechanisms involve changes in neurotrophic factors, neural pathways and brain plasticity. Advances in understanding the critical role of nutrition in brain health will help to fulfil the potential of nutrition to optimise brain function, prevent dysfunction and treat disease.


We investigate the causes of deforestation in Indonesia, a country with one of the highest rates of primary natural forest loss in the tropics, annually between 2001 and 2016. We use high spatial resolution imagery made available on Google Earth to characterize the land cover types following a random selection of deforestation events, drawn from the Global Forest Change dataset. Notorious in the region, large-scale oil palm and timber plantations together contributed more than two-fifths of nationwide deforestation over our study period, with a peak in late aughts followed by a notable decline up to 2016. Conversion of forests to grasslands, which comprised an average of one-fifth of national deforestation, rose sharply in dominance in years following periods of considerable fire activity, particularly in 2016. Small-scale agriculture and small-scale plantations also contributed one-fifth of nationwide forest loss and were the dominant drivers of loss outside the major islands of Indonesia. Although relatively small contributors to total deforestation, logging roads were responsible for a declining share of deforestation, and mining activities were responsible for an increasing share, over the study period. Direct drivers of deforestation in Indonesia are thus spatially and temporally dynamic, suggesting the need for forest conservation policy responses tailored at the subnational level, and new methods for monitoring the causes of deforestation over time.


While the financial returns to education have been widely studied since the 1960s, the research on students" earnings expectations is relatively scarce. This study examines students" earnings expectations and their perceptions of the link between education and labour market outcomes.

A mixed-methods approach was adopted – questionnaires and focus groups were used for data collection. First year and final year Business students were surveyed at two universities in England and two universities in the Czech Republic. A repeated cross-sectional study design was used - the survey was conducted every year between 2011/2012 and 2014/2015. In addition, focus groups with students were carried out to supplement the survey results.

Several personal characteristics were found to influence students" expectations. Female students had lower earnings expectations and the expected gender pay gap was found to increase with work experience. The effect of gender on earnings expectations was found to be stronger in the Czech Republic. First years students expected to earn more on average compared to their final year counterparts. Ethnicity was found to be an important factor – black British and Asian British students had higher earnings expectations compared to white British students. Students from high-income families expected to earn significantly more compared to those from less affluent backgrounds.

Students expected their earnings to grow with education and experience. Students expected to earn more after graduation compared to what they would expect had they decided not to go to university. Final year English students who expected to achieve a first class honours degree had higher expectations compared with the rest of the sample. In both countries, final year students who expected to be overeducated after graduation anticipated a pay penalty. The evidence of a so-called sheepskin effect was found in final year students" expectations – they believed they would have been financially punished for leaving university during their final year. Students who intended to stay in their home regions after graduation had lower earnings expectations compared to those who were willing to relocate to the capital city or move abroad.

Students" perceptions of the link between education and labour market outcomes were evaluated in the light of human capital theory, the screening hypothesis and credentialism. Students in both countries favoured the credentialist explanations of the relationship between education and future socio-economic status. English students believed that employers prefer graduates from elite universities. On the other hand, Czech students believed that graduates from more affluent families are advantaged in the graduate labour market due to their economic capital.

This study has some implications for both policy and practice. However, while the sample size was relatively large, the results cannot be generalised to the entire population of Business students in England and the Czech Republic since non-probability convenience sampling was used to collect the data.


An artificial neural network (ANN) has been trained to monitor the electrochemical signals produced by electrodes of stainless steel during the initiation stage of localized corrosion. This exploratory study used changes in the current time series to monitor the onset of corrosion and determine whether the form of corrosion was pitting or crevice corrosion. A multilayer feedforward perceptron network was trained by classical back-propagation, using 50 training files of real data, 25 each of pitting and crevice current/time spectra, the network learned to accurately identify corrosion onset in 98% of the files in 30000 training episodes, and reported no misclassification. The neural network showed 90% accuracy in determining corrosion onset in 39 additional data files used for testing. The network had greater accuracy in correctly classifying pitting corrosion than for crevice corrosion.<<ETX>>


Outstanding among textile artists -- Theo Moorman is a British weaver who has taught extensively in the United States. Illustrated with beautiful colour and black-and-white examples of her work are her thoughts on the design and aesthetic expression embodied in a woven fabric. The technique of weaving that bears her name is explained with numerous ways the Moorman technique may be varied and used with further exploration. Her experiences with commissioned works are utilised in a special chapter relating the problems and opportunities these present.


First-time parents have many questions about caring for their newborns, including concerns that are not addressed during the standard follow-up visits two days and two weeks after childbirth.1 These questions often bring the parents into the physician's office, but in many instances these visits are unnecessary and the issue could have been resolved by phone or by e-mail. In my clinical experience, parents are often annoyed when they realize that this is the case; they feel that they have wasted their time and money. At the same time, unnecessary visits increase costs and overburden physicians with visits that do not require their specialized training, leading to job dissatisfaction and burnout. Thus, the Kaiser Permanente (KP) health care system is adversely affected by these unnecessary visits.

Educational programs can empower patients by teaching them when it is necessary to come in for a visit and when they can wait a situation out or try home remedies. Group education is an efficient way to educate patients and parents.2–4 It offers an opportunity for clinicians to reach more than one person at a time while providing parents the chance to learn and feel support from others in a situation similar to their own.5,6

Numerous types of pediatric office visits can be handled by inexpensive patient-education programs or parents sharing knowledge with each other. These include routine questions from new parents, particularly at key child-development milestones, and questions about newborn rashes, breastfeeding, constipation, and upper respiratory infections.

At KP San Jose (formerly Santa Teresa), we conducted a pilot program targeted at parents of newborns to test the hypothesis that education, specifically group education with phone follow-up, could serve to reduce the frequency of unnecessary office visits while simultaneously increasing member satisfaction with KP's newborn care experience.


When used as a surrogate objective for maximum likelihood estimation in latent variable models, the evidence lower bound (ELBO) produces state-of-the-art results. Inspired by this, we consider the extension of the ELBO to a family of lower bounds defined by a particle filter's estimator of the marginal likelihood, the filtering variational objectives (FIVOs). FIVOs take the same arguments as the ELBO, but can exploit a model's sequential structure to form tighter bounds. We present results that relate the tightness of FIVO's bound to the variance of the particle filter's estimator by considering the generic case of bounds defined as log-transformed likelihood estimators. Experimentally, we show that training with FIVO results in substantial improvements over training the same model architecture with the ELBO on sequential data.


This article is written by the chairman and a panel member of the UK Benchmarking Group in Earth Science, Environmental Science and Environmental Studies. In it we have discussed the broad "purpose" of benchmarking and the timescale and remit afforded to the group. As far as the benchmark statement itself is concerned, we have reviewed the statement section by section concentrating especially both on the rationale underpinning each section and the way in which the statement may be used for the purpose of academic review. Finally, we have looked briefly at the process of academic review itself, in so far as it is understood at the moment. Although we are confident that the Benchmarking Group as a whole would agree with the vast majority of this article, nonetheless it must be seen as representing only our own views.


This study builds on previous meta-analyses of photovoltaic (PV) systems to assess the tradeoff between efficiency and energy inputs (i.e. cumulative energy demand, CED) in the energetic performance (as measured by energy return on investment (EROI)) of PV technologies under both high-cost and low-cost balance of system scenarios. This study focuses on three existing technology groups (wafer, thin film, and organic). We find that earlier projections of third-generation (high-efficiency, low-cost), thin-film technologies have not yet emerged, since "third-generation" technologies currently have low-cost but also low-efficiency. However, we also find that the best advances in energetic performance to date come from thin film technology.


The dominant approach to regulating communications networks treats each network component as if it existed in isolation. In so doing, the current approach fails to capture one of the essential characteristics of networks, which is the complex manner in which components interact with one another when combined into an integrated system. In this Essay, Professors Daniel Spulber and Christopher Yoo propose a new regulatory framework based on the discipline of mathematics known as graph theory, which better captures the extent to which networks represent complex systems. They then apply the insights provided by this framework to a number of current policy issues, including the decision to apply the same methodology to set prices for interconnection and access to unbundled network elements under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the decision to base access rates on cost, proposals to base access prices on market benchmarks, compelled access to broadband networks, and the regulation of Internet telephony. They also explore the extent to which the framework can be employed to support a formal calculation of regulated rates, concluding that a shift to a graph theoretical framework has the potential to revolutionize network policy.


Methodology for the rehabilitation of traditional Mediterranean architecture. Volume I addresses the recovery of the territory and towns with their urban spaces. Produced by the RehabiMed project with the contributions and multidisciplinary reflection of over 400 experts from all over the Mediterranean.


Recreational water quality surveillance involves comparing bacterial levels to set threshold values to determine beach closure. Bacterial levels can be predicted through models which are traditionally based upon multiple linear regression. The objective of this study was to evaluate exceedance probabilities, as opposed to bacterial levels, as an alternate method to express beach risk. Data were incorporated into a logistic regression for the purpose of identifying environmental parameters most closely correlated with exceedance probabilities. The analysis was based on 7,422 historical sample data points from the years 2000-2010 for 15 South Florida beach sample sites. Probability analyses showed which beaches in the dataset were most susceptible to exceedances. No yearly trends were observed nor were any relationships apparent with monthly rainfall or hurricanes. Results from logistic regression analyses found that among the environmental parameters evaluated, tide was most closely associated with exceedances, with exceedances 2.475 times more likely to occur at high tide compared to low tide. The logistic regression methodology proved useful for predicting future exceedances at a beach location in terms of probability and modeling water quality environmental parameters with dependence on a binary response. This methodology can be used by beach managers for allocating resources when sampling more than one beach.


Product placement can be defined as utilisation of a real product or a service directly in audiovisual works, under clear, contractually-agreed terms. The methodology for measuring the effectiveness of funds invested in product placement in audiovisual works has not been developed yet. The authors of this paper propose a possible solution for measuring the effectiveness of product placement, which they applied in the Vinari (Winemakers) TV series. The authors proceeded from the price. A sponsor of a TV commercial would have to pay to reach the target group to the same extent as when using product placement. The CPP (Cost per Point) approach was used, i.e. the cost of reaching 1% of the target group. Reaching the target group was surveyed by means of a primary investigation of the perception of the sponsor's company as a financial backer of cultural activities by using questionnaires. The authors based their calculations of effectiveness regarding the sponsoring of a television series using elements of brand and product placement on a model calculation of the current advertising prices for a thirty-second advertising spot in relation to the CPP. The average recall of the product placement in the sponsored series represented 16% of the target group. It was calculated that if broadcasting TV spots, the price would be CZK 6.7 million, which is more than six times the amount of the value of the sponsorship. The survey shows that there are positive benefits related to the support of the Vinari (Winemakers) TV series. A significant fact is also that respondents were still able to recall this sponsorship even after several days and not only when this information actually reached them. No pricelist or media can guarantee that a communicated message will be recalled, so sponsorship in TV series is concluded to be highly effective for reasonable price and with prolonged effect which surpass advertising expectations.


Abstract. The Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), aboard the Sentinel-5
Precursor (S5P) satellite, launched on 13 October 2017, provides
measurements of atmospheric trace gases and of cloud and aerosol properties
at an unprecedented spatial resolution of
approximately 7×3.5 km2 (approx. 5.5×3.5 km2
as of 6 August 2019), achieving near-global coverage in 1 d. The retrieval of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations is a
three-step procedure: slant column density (SCD) retrieval, separation of the
SCD in its stratospheric and tropospheric components, and conversion of
these into vertical column densities. This study focusses on the TROPOMI NO2 SCD retrieval:
the retrieval method used, the stability of the SCDs and the SCD
uncertainties, and a comparison with the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) NO2 SCDs. The statistical uncertainty, based on the spatial variability of the SCDs
over a remote Pacific Ocean sector, is 8.63 µmol m−2 for all
pixels (9.45 µmol m−2 for clear-sky pixels), which is very
stable over time and some 30 % less than the long-term average over
OMI–QA4ECV data (since the pixel size reduction TROPOMI uncertainties are
∼8 % larger). The SCD uncertainty reported by the differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) fit is about 10 % larger
than the statistical uncertainty, while for OMI–QA4ECV the DOAS uncertainty
is some 20 % larger than its statistical uncertainty. Comparison of the SCDs themselves over the Pacific Ocean, averaged over 1 month, shows that TROPOMI is about 5 % higher than OMI–QA4ECV, which seems
to be due mainly to the use of the so-called intensity offset correction in
OMI–QA4ECV but not in TROPOMI: turning that correction off means about 5 %
higher SCDs. The row-to-row variation in the SCDs of TROPOMI, the "stripe amplitude", is
2.15 µmol m−2, while for OMI–QA4ECV it is a factor of
∼2 (∼5) larger in 2005 (2018); still, a so-called stripe
correction of this non-physical across-track variation is useful for TROPOMI
data. In short, TROPOMI shows a superior performance compared with OMI–QA4ECV
and operates as anticipated from instrument specifications. The TROPOMI data used in this study cover 30 April 2018 up to
31 January 2020.


We characterize the ability of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) to distinguish changes in internal conductivity distributions, and analyze it as a function of stimulation and measurement patterns. A distinguishability measure, z, is proposed which is related to the signal-to-noise ratio of a medium and to the probability of detection of conductivity changes in a region of interest. z is a function of the number of electrodes, the EIT stimulation and measurement protocol, the stimulation amplitude, the measurement noise, and the size and location of the contrasts. Using this measure we analyze various choices of stimulation and measurement patterns under the constraint of medical electrical safety limits (maximum current into the body). Analysis is performed for a planar placement of 16 electrodes for simulated 3D tank and chest shapes, and measurements in a saline tank. Results show that the traditional (and still most common) adjacent stimulation and measurement patterns have by far the poorest performance (by 6.9 ×). Good results are obtained for trigonometric patterns and for pair drive and measurement patterns separated by over 90°. Since the possible improvement over adjacent patterns is so large, we present this result as a call to action: adjacent patterns are harmful, and should be abandoned. We recommend using pair drive and measurement patterns separated by one electrode less than 180°. We describe an approach to modify an adjacent pattern EIT system by adjusting electrode placement.


There is compelling evidence to suggest that acquired sight loss negatively impacts on emotional well-being. Despite increasing recognition of the need to provide emotional support for people with sight loss, we still do not fully understand what counselling interventions help and why they help. The aim of this study was to examine the process and outcome of counselling for a 70-year-old client who had experienced complete, irreversible, post-operative sight loss in order to gain a deeper understanding of client-defined helpful aspects of therapy. A Hermeneutic Single-Case Efficacy Design study was undertaken having received ethical approval from the University's Research Ethics Committee. The client received six sessions of counselling from a vision-impaired counsellor working within a pluralistic framework. Measures were completed by the client at every session, as well as at pre- and post-counselling. All sessions were recorded and transcribed. The client also participated in pre- and post-counselling interviews. Data formed a rich case record that was analysed by a quasi-judicial enquiry team. Results suggested that this was a successful outcome case. Client-defined helpful aspects of therapy were (1) feeling understood; (2) being able to express emotions around the loss of sight; (3) finding a new identity; (4) finding ways to cope with fear, loss, dependency, and other people's perceptions; (5) exploring the possibility of a positive future without sight; (6) making sense of things; and (7) finding ways to become more socially connected. Relevant therapeutic tasks are proposed, and four key aspects of therapy are identified, which may have implications for the development of a practice model.


Searching is a fundamental but complex task in the map-reading process. Several psychologists have explored the role of visual search in cognition, and have proposed a number of models that may offer cartographers a basis for understanding how people search for specific map information. The purpose of this research was to examine the visual search process used by map readers when interacting with bivariate choropleth maps, and to assess the potential of one of psychology's models, Attentional Engagement Theory, for explaining that process. The study employed a standard search task that determined the efficiency of the search process by having subjects search for target colours among non-target colours across a map. An analysis of reaction times showed that the following variables affected search efficiency: target colour, the total number of objects on the map, and similarity of the target colour to all other non-target colours on the map.


What is it about the middle that makes it such an unreliable place? Is it that, when standing exactly midway between two points, one can regard the overall distance as both half-traveled and half-untraveled? Apparently, the fuzzy logic of the middle does something to the road: it submits it to contradictory predications – traveled/untraveled. Equally, the middle does something to the traveler: it delays his arrival at the destination by making him first pass an infinitely recursive midway of (the midway of (the midway of (the midway … ))) (Zeno's dichotomy paradox). Somewhat like a hurdle, the middle intervenes between beginning and end and precludes simple duality and facile directness in their relation. Instead, it breeds complexity, hesitation and difficulty. A confusing bifurcation and a veritable vortex of possible roads can emerge in the middle of the way. And what if this vortical middle swallows up the beginning and the end? What if everything becomes middle? What if nothing remains for the traveler to do except roam in this medial limbo–this in-between interval, stretched to infinity?


This landmark book covers a range of issues concerning the consequences of terrorist attacks. Beginning with a discussion of new policies and strategies, it then delves into specific areas of concern, modeling a range of possible scenarios and ways to mitigate or pre-empt damages.


Flyash from the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company's plants was used to construct structural fills in thickness ranging from 5 to 25 feet (1.5m to 7.6m). Several warehouses have been constructed on this fill. Extensive field and laboratory investigations have shown that the flyash structural fills possess adequate load carrying capacity for the anticipated design conditions. Screw plate load tests, dilatometer tests and pressuremeter tests were performed at various depths to determine settlement characteristics of the fill. It was found that the values of the constrained modulus estimated from dilatometer tests compared within a factor of 1.5 with the values obtained from screw plate load tests and one-dimensional consolidation test during the reloading cycle. However, the Menard pressuremeter modulus obtained from pressuremeter tests during loading was close to the value of the 1-D modulus during virgin, compression.


A taxonomic account of Hemigraphis Nees from the Philippines is provided. A pattern-based species concept is adopted and 18 species of Hemigraphis from the Philippines are recognised. Six species have an extended distribution beyond the Philippine archipelago. Three species are archipelagic endemics and nine species are restricted island endemics. One new species, Hemigraphis zwirkeyae, is described from the islands of Luzon and Mindanao.


Zircon is arguably the most commonly used geochronometer, but the reliability of ages obtained requires a full understanding of processes that might compromise the integrity of its U-Pb systematics. Here we present the results of a multifaceted ion microprobe study of zircon grains from the Napier Complex, East Antarctica, a region affected by pervasive high-temperature metamorphism at 2.5 Ga, and from which previous zircon geochronological interpretations have been problematic. Both U-Pb spot analysis (∼15 μm) and high spatial resolution (∼2 μm) scanning ion imaging of Pb isotopes have been applied in an attempt to quantify the effects of metamorphism. Spot analyses spread along concordia yielding 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages from 2.5 Ga to 3.9 Ga, with the oldest grains reversely discordant. Ion images of uranogenic Pb reveal a surprising micrometer-scale patchy distribution that is unrelated to crystal morphology or damage. The 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ratios within these subdomains correspond to apparent zircon ages as old as 4.2 Ga. These are interpreted as artifacts of ancient redistribution of radiogenic Pb, a process that can generate meaningless ages, and are not relicts of ancient (including Hadean) zircon. Scanning ion imaging thus facilitates identification of unsupported radiogenic Pb and enables testing of the validity of old ages from zircon known to have a long and complicated history.


Discovering Ziegler-Nata catalyst, Karl Ziegler had a great impact on the development of the chemical industry. Since then, important changes have been made in the method of production and use of this catalyst. More active and functional catalysts have been developed to produce different products. In 1950, while working on the synthesis of olefins using the catalytic reaction of triethyl aluminum, Karl Ziegler accidentally discovered that due to the presence of nickel in the reaction vessel, instead of the usual wax-like product, the reaction product was exclusively 1-butene, indicating that Nickel catalyzed the hydrogen removal reaction. After Ziegler's discovery, triethyl aluminum was used with a wide range of intermediate metals, and after many experiments, titanium tetrachloride became the most active compound. The discovery of Karl Ziegler and her colleagues in 1953 was one of the most important discoveries in the field of polymer synthesis at that time, leading to a remarkable scientific and industrial breakthrough in the production of polyolefin


Sea urchins are dominant members of rocky temperate reefs around the world. They often occur in cavities within the rock, and fit so tightly, it is natural to assume they sculpted these "pits." However, there are no experimental data demonstrating they bore pits. If they do, what are the rates and consequences of bioerosion to nearshore systems? We sampled purple sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, from sites with four rock types, three sedimentary (two sandstones and one mudstone) and one metamorphic (granite). A year-long experiment showed urchins excavated depressions on sedimentary rocks in just months. The rate of pit formation varied with rock type and ranged from <5 yr for medium-grain sandstone to >100 yr for granite. In the field, there were differences in pit size and shapes of the urchins (height:diameter ratio). The pits were shallow and urchins flatter at the granite site, and the pits were deeper and urchins taller at the sedimentary sites. Although overall pit sizes were larger on mudstone than on sandstone, urchin size accounted for this difference. A second, short-term experiment, showed the primary mechanism for bioerosion was ingestion of the substratum. This experiment eliminated potential confounding factors of the year-long experiment and yielded higher bioerosion rates. Given the high densities of urchins, large amounts of rock can be converted to sediment over short time periods. Urchins on sandstone can excavate as much as 11.4 kg m-2 yr-1. On a broader geographic scale, sediment production can exceed 100 t ha-1 yr-1, and across their range, their combined bioerosion is comparable to the sediment load of many rivers. The phase shift between urchin barrens and kelp bed habitats in the North Pacific is controlled by the trophic cascade of sea otters. By limiting urchin populations, these apex predators also may indirectly control a substantial component of coastal rates of bioerosion.


A conventional valve-controlled cylinder drive system is not energy efficient, and a pump-controlled cylinder system can be unstable in some particular conditions. For drive systems not requiring fast response, a hybrid pump-controlled system, that combines the advantages of both valve and pump-controlled systems, is proposed. As nonlinear behaviours are inevitable in most asymmetric cylinder drive systems, the hybrid pump-controlled system also suffers from such problems, and extra nonlinear behaviours are identified, for example, stall when the cylinder change its direction of motion. A simulation model of the hybrid pump-controlled asymmetric cylinder drive system is developed and used to investigate the system's simulation behaviours which are analysed and compared with the experimental test results. The energy efficiency of the hybrid pump-controlled system is compared with a comparable valve-controlled hydraulic system with the same hydraulic cylinder sizing. The outcome is to demonstrate the advantage of the hybrid pump-controlled system in energy-saving aspect, and the efficiency of the hybrid system is up to five times more than a conventional hydraulic system. Suggestions are given to improve the performance and stability of the hybrid pump-controlled system.


We model the Internet as a collection of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that transit and peer to meet an exogenous demand for the transport of IP traffic among an arbitrary set of cities. The prices of bandwidth and of transit are also exogenous. ISPs are assumed to behave rationally and selfishly and therefore they provision the network that maximizes their own profit regardless of how expensive the overall network becomes. We call optimal to a network that ISPs would build if they cooperated to reduce overall provisioning costs; and we call inefficiency cost the additional cost to provision a network at Nash equilibrium relative to the provisioning cost of an optimal network. We show that inefficiency cost is primarily related to transit agreements. In fact, in a world where only peering agreements exist there is no inefficiency cost. However, networks with only peering agreements forgo the efficiencies of traffic aggregation. Transit agreements help reduce provisioning costs by realizing benefits from economies of scale. We show, by example, that there exist Nash networks that are strictly more expensive than optimal networks even when ISPs choose transit prices and therefore the market to provision communication networks with interconnection agreements designed they way the are today is inefficient. We show that inefficiency cost may be reduced, for example, by enforcing side payments between ISPs. We conclude with an analysis of the difficulties a regulator would face in endeavoring to move a market from am inefficient Nash equilibrium to optimality.


Purpose
The claim that super intelligent machines constitute a major existential risk was recently defended in Nick Bostrom's book Superintelligence and forms the basis of the sub-discipline AI risk. The purpose of this paper is to critically assess the philosophical assumptions that are of importance to the argument that AI could pose an existential risk and if so, the character of that risk.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper distinguishes between "intelligence" or the cognitive capacity of an individual and "techne", a more general ability to solve problems using, for example, technological artifacts. While human intelligence has not changed much over historical time, human techne has improved considerably. Moreover, the fact that human techne has more variance across individuals than human intelligence suggests that if machine techne were to surpass human techne, the transition is likely going to be prolonged rather than explosive.

Findings
Some constraints for the intelligence explosion scenario are presented that imply that AI could be controlled by human organizations.

Originality/value
If true, this argument suggests that efforts should focus on devising strategies to control AI rather strategies that assume that such control is impossible.


Students and other readers should be aware that this casebook is comprised almost entirely of court cases. Unlike many law school casebooks, this casebook contains relatively few interstitial summaries, notational materials, or secondary sources. That is by design. Inasmuch as this casebook was designed for teaching an upper-level law school survey course, I believed it to be important that the course materials reflect the fact that close reading and analysis of the actual case law and the ability to synthesize rules and doctrine from a line of cases are fundamental lawyering skills. These skills, in my opinion, can only be fully developed by doing it oneself rather than relying upon others' summaries and analyses. This is not at all to suggest that summaries, critiques, and analyses of the law in the form of law review articles, treatises, scholarly books, practice guides, etc., are unimportant or unenlightening (I've written plenty of them myself, so I certainly hope they add value). Nor do I suggest that practicing lawyers do not or should not turn to secondary sources as may be appropriate in order to supplement their understanding of the case law (I certainly did in practice). Rather, the fact that this casebook consists almost exclusively of cases reflects a deliberate pedagogical choice: that upper-level law students have sufficient foundation in legal reasoning and common-law methods to be expected to engage extensively and intensively with primary source material (i.e., cases), while still benefitting from further skill building in the close reading of the facts and the law, case analysis, case synthesis, and the analogizing or distinguishing of precedent.

I have taken a fairly light hand in editing the cases. I have tried to remove clearly extraneous information (such as parallel and pinpoint citations) and have sometimes chosen not to include all dissents and concurrences in the cases. Beyond that, I have refrained from editing the cases stylistically except where absolutely necessary for the sake of clarity. Students and other readers may therefore find that the cases seem lengthier (or are lengthier) than is typical in casebooks. My reason for this approach was to preserve the cases as near as reasonably possible to the form in which students would encounter them in practice.

Last: this first edition consists primarily of Supreme Court cases, which I thought best for an introductory First Amendment course. I may reexamine this approach in future.


This study was designed to determine the extent to which aerodynamic interactions affect the pellet pattern from shotguns as this has considerable influence on their impact. After the characteristic separation of pellets was obtained from their probability densities, the detailed flow field was obtained using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis. The reported initial results illustrate the influence that the wake of preceding pellets has on the trajectory of trailing pellets.


BACKGROUND
Two proof-of-concept clinical trials have provided evidence that laquinimod reduces disease activity in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

METHODS
We conducted a randomized, double-blind, phase 3 study at 139 sites in 24 countries. A total of 1106 patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive oral laquinimod at a dose of 0.6 mg once daily or placebo for 24 months. The primary end point was the annualized relapse rate during the 24-month period. Secondary end points included confirmed disability progression (defined as an increase in the score on the Expanded Disability Status Scale that was sustained for at least 3 months) and the cumulative number of gadolinium-enhancing lesions and new or enlarging lesions on T(2)-weighted magnetic resonance imaging.

RESULTS
Treatment with laquinimod as compared with placebo was associated with a modest reduction in the mean (±SE) annualized relapse rate (0.30±0.02 vs. 0.39±0.03, P=0.002) and with a reduction in the risk of confirmed disability progression (11.1% vs. 15.7%; hazard ratio, 0.64; 95% confidence interval, 0.45 to 0.91; P=0.01). The mean cumulative numbers of gadolinium-enhancing lesions and new or enlarging lesions on T(2)-weighted images were lower for patients receiving laquinimod than for those receiving placebo (1.33±0.14 vs. 2.12±0.22 and 5.03±0.08 vs. 7.14±0.07, respectively; P<0.001 for both comparisons). Transient elevations in alanine aminotransferase levels to greater than three times the upper limit of the normal range were observed in 24 patients receiving laquinimod (5%) and 8 receiving placebo (2%).

CONCLUSIONS
In this phase 3 study, oral laquinimod administered once daily slowed the progression of disability and reduced the rate of relapse in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. (Funded by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00509145.).


Humans are influencing the global carbon (C) cycle due to the combustion of fossil fuels and due to changes in land use management. These activities are fostering the manmade greenhouse effect and thus global climate change. Negative effects for life on earth are accounted for. Among others the international climate debate focused attention on forests and forestry, knowing about their considerable influence on global climate change. Whilst the global C budget is described fairly well, there is a lack of regional data describing the C reservoirs and flows in detail. This has to be constituted especially for forests in developing countries. This paper presents an investigation at regional scale of the C reservoirs in a South American forest ecosystem. The investigation puts emphasis on the area and stand volume estimation and the development of expansion and reduction factors. Vegetation types are classified and stratified, determining the corresponding areas and estimating the stand volume. Converting factors are developed to calculate C in branches and roots as a percentage of standing wood measured by inventories.


Navajata Shishu Paricharya (Care of the newborn) is described by both ayurvedic and modern texts in detail. In ancient texts, acharyas gave prime importance to care of newborn (Navajata Shishu Paricharya) which starts from birth to full stability of newborn. Various procedures were advised in the management of newborn child by acharyas with a few differences in opinion regarding the sequences of those procedures. The modern Paediatrics also describes resuscitation and care of newborn in the discipline of Neonatology alongwith the diseases of the neonate. In ayurveda, Pranapartayagamana, Snana, Mukha vishodhna, Pichudharna, Garbhodaka vamana, Nala chedana, Jatakarma, Raksha karma are the procedures involved in the resuscitation of the newborn.


This article entwines the story of To Kill a Mockingbird with the supremacist stories told and used by segregationist lawyers in the Deep South. Juxtaposing these stories reveals how stories about race and justice have been deliberately used to "affect [the] hearts and minds" of children "in a way unlikely ever to be undone." The shaping of a generation's hearts and minds, through stories told to socialize and educate its children, produces in those children a vision of what a just world looks like. When that generation reaches adulthood, the stories its parents tell their children will replicate the vision anew. This process of intergenerational justice formation through storytelling affects the justice system itself, because each generation's lawyers and judges have the power to inscribe their vision of justice into the law. Thus, storytelling's power over justice formation poses dangers to justice: if, as in the case of race and justice storytelling, the dominant story is one that promotes a vision of justice that is in fact unjust, the law will fall prey to that vision. In that situation, restoring justice to the system depends upon the telling of counterstories that will promote a truer vision of justice.


This paper offers reflections and observations on the state of research related to harmful speech online. The perspectives outlined here are grounded in the lessons from a year of exploratory work in the field by researchers at the Berkman Klein Center and collaborating researchers and institutions. Our review includes an assessment of the efforts of civil society organizations to address racist speech in Brazil and Colombia; a study of the legal foundations of harmful speech regulation in India; a mixed methods look at discourse among white identity groups in the United States; an attempt to track offensive speech online in Tunisia; and a paper that explores the definitional and framing questions that complicate efforts to study and address harmful speech online. We also highlight a small selection of other recent efforts in the field.A key element of this initiative is to explore different approaches to the study of harmful speech and to draw lessons from comparative analysis. We chose to pursue this diverse set of research efforts in our first year in order to better understand the strengths and limitations of various research strategies and to assess why different types of interventions exist in some contexts and are missing in others. We hope to accumulate enough experiences to begin to answer what has worked and what has not, to define what constitutes success, whether in government, private sector, or community responses such as counter speech.We come away from this review with a plethora of questions that are worthy of further exploration. Our work over the past year leaves us with a greater appreciation of the complexity of the topic covering a wide range of social phenomena that are manifest in distinctly different ways across different groups and contexts. Each of the methodological approaches described here have strengths and weaknesses and are positioned to help answer different subsets of the many policy questions facing policymakers, companies, and civil society organizations. The continuation and extension of this multifaceted research approach applied to additional countries and topics will help to further refine these methods and provide a basis for robust comparative assessments.


How was it possible for problems in one relatively small sector in the global financial system - the American sub-prime mortgage market - to lead to the most serious economic crisis in living memory? In this book, Alistair Milne untangles the complex world of modern banking and examines solutions to the crisis. He shows how the banks misused their ability to securitize loans and, by borrowing short and lending long, exposed themselves to exceptional risks when asset prices started to fall. But it has been above all a collapse in trust and confidence, rather than poor lending decisions, which has fuelled the crisis. Despite all the talk of 'toxic' assets, the book argues that most assets are sound and can be repaid. The imperative is to restore confidence through collective action involving asset purchases, guarantees and recapitalization. Failure to do so will mean that taxpayers will be carrying a crippling tax burden for generations to come.


Protected areas are the primary management tool for conserving ecosystems, yet their intended outcomes may often be compromised by poaching. Consequently, many protected areas are ineffective 'paper parks' that contribute little towards conserving ecosystems. Poaching can be prevented through enforcement and engaging with community members so they support protected areas. It is not clear how much needs to be spent on enforcement and engagement to ensure they are frequent enough to be effective at conserving biodiversity. We develop models of enforcement against illegal fishing in marine protected areas. We apply the models to data on fishing rates and fish biomass from a marine protected area in Raja Ampat, Indonesia and explore how frequent enforcement patrols need to be to achieve targets for coral reef fish biomass. Achieving pristine levels of reef fish biomass required almost year-round enforcement of the protected area. Surveillance of the protected area may also be enhanced if local fishers who support the reserve report on poaching. The opportunity for local fishing boats to participate in surveillance was too small for it to have much benefit for total reef fish biomass, which increases slowly. However, specific functional groups of fish have much higher population growth rates and their biomass was predicted to increase markedly with community surveillance. We conclude that budgets for park management must balance the cost of conducting frequent patrols against supporting alternative activities, like education to build community support. Optimized budgets will be much more likely to achieve ecological targets for recovering fish biomasses and will contribute to fiscal sustainability of protected areas.


This article describes a development work whose focus was examining whether designing a game as an educational technology based on interdisciplinary dialogue between design and education can contribute to education of deaf children in learning a language. Through methods and techniques of design it was sought to identify how this area of knowledge can be part of the processes of teaching and learning in terms of developing learning materials to enhance the strategies of acquiring knowledge. The work was guided by the Multi-Tracks, which is a game to help the acquisition of a second language by deaf children. This game was developed in light of methods and techniques of design, under the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Design/Education - LIDE, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in partnership with the National Institute of Education for the Deaf in Rio de Janeiro-INES/RJ. The development work was particularly interested in designing learning materials for deaf children by considering their special traits and dialogue with the surrounding reality. Considering that educational technology research in special education is rather weak, it was thought that this work may contribute to this interdisciplinary area.


Summary This study examines the geometry and timing of inversion features in offshore Quadrants 53/54 of the UKCS. The area studied lies south of the Zechstein salt basin and is dominated by two major and temporally-persistent structural elements, the Wales-Brabant Massif (in the SW of the area) and the South Hewett Fault (in the centre of the area). The Wales-Brabant Massif is a stable basement block, flanked to the north by an inverted Triassic basin. This Triassic basin in turn forms the footwall block to the South Hewett Fault. NE, and locally SW, of the South Hewett Fault lies a series of Jurassic tilted fault blocks symmetrically disposed about a central 'keystone'. These central blocks contain no synextension sediment fill and are interpreted as outer-arc extensional structures parasitic on a large wavelength uplift produced by an underlying thermal anomaly. All major structural features lying to the NE of the Wales-Brabant Massif were inverted during the late Cretaceous. This inversion produced forced folds in the cover rocks above deeper basement faults, and harpoon-shaped structures at the sites of earlier rotational half-grabens. This account considers the effects of both this late Cretaceous inversion and a succeeding period of inversion during the Miocene on earlier extensional structures.


Supercontinuum light with a spectrum more than two octaves broad (370-1545 nm at the 20-dB level) was generated in a standard telecommunications fiber by femtosecond pulses from an unamplified Ti:sapphire laser. The fiber had been tapered to a diameter of :2mum over a 90-mm length. The pulse energy was 3.9 nJ (average power, 300 mW). This source of high-intensity single-mode white light should find widespread applications in frequency metrology and spectroscopy, especially since no unconventional fibers are needed.


The Hogsmill, a tributary of the Thames and now one of London's lost rivers was used as the rural setting for J.E Millais' painting Ophelia. Recent research by a local historian has revealed the exact location, co-incidentally very near to my own home, used by the artist who worked on location over a five month period.

Poignantly, the painting is known for its depiction of the detailed flora of the river and the riverbank, stressing the patterns of growth and decay in a natural ecosystem. The dying figure of Ophelia as the vulnerable woman is a popular subject in pre-Raphaelite paintings, echoing the vulnerability of the local natural history of its setting, surrounded as it is now by suburban housing, increasing traffic and pollution. Nature is so evocative of the human condition.

The paper will present a new illustrated work exploring the beauty and fragility of nature within suburban environments, bringing the overlooked and unnoticed to the attention of the audience both visually and sensually. The work will explore the landscape of the river, its topography and natural history, as well as echoing the themes of death and decay, with particular emphasis on illustrating the materiality of the setting through a haptic reading of the work.

In the context of the multi disciplinary nature of contemporary illustration, working predominately with the form of the book, the use of material and physical structure to create haptic readings (Mosely 2014) evoking intimate and sensory experience of the content (Hara 2004) is a central theme. The shape of the book, like the topography of the landscape, its weight, the surface texture of its pages and surfaces, the way it reacts and moves on opening unconsciously aid our sensory understanding of its contents.

Furthermore, the paper considers the role of the illustration as a form of both physical and visual communication.


Cultural eutrophication in estuaries and other coastal systems has increased over the last 50 yr. Some recently proposed strategies to reverse this trend have included the restoration of bivalve suspension feeders as an ecological tool for reducing phytoplankton biomass. The ecolog- ical benefits accruing from such bivalve restoration will be dependent on the characteristics of the estuary, as well as how restoration is implemented. We developed a filtration model to estimate the effect of bivalve restoration on the rate of phytoplankton removal over a range of spatial and tempo- ral scales and used it to compare alternate restoration strategies for the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica in Chesapeake Bay, USA. Model results suggested that currently accepted restoration goals for oysters in the bay are unlikely to result in significant bay-wide reductions in phytoplankton bio- mass. This is partially due to low current biomass targets for oyster restoration, but also important are several spatial and temporal mismatches between oyster and phytoplankton biomass that may limit the ecological benefit of oyster restoration. Our model did predict important increases in phytoplank- ton removal by oysters at the tributary scale, and this effect was dependent on where oyster restora- tion was achieved and whether restoration and management plans affected the size distribution of oysters. Our findings suggest that the ecological benefit of restoring bivalve populations are variable, and a comparative model analysis of restoration plans in particular systems can be highly beneficial to maximizing the benefit-to-cost ratio of restoration efforts intended to reduce the negative effects of cultural eutrophication.


Eco-labels emphasize information disclosure as a tool to induce environmentally friendly behaviors by both firms and consumers. The goal of eco-labels is to reduce information asymmetry between producers and consumers over the environmental attributes of a product or service. However, by focusing on this information asymmetry, rather than on how the label meets consumer needs, eco-labels may send irrelevant, confusing, or even detrimental messages to consumers. In this article, the authors investigate how the environmental signal of eco-labels interacts with product characteristics such as brand, quality, and price. In a discrete choice experiment, the authors examine consumer response to two similar eco-labels for wine, one associated with a quality reduction and the other not. The results show that respondents preferred both eco-labeled wines over otherwise identical conventional counterparts when the price was lower and the wine was from a lower quality region. However, they preferred conventional, more expensive wine from a high-quality region. This preference indicates that respondents not only obtain some warm glow value from eco-labeled wine but also possibly interpret eco-labeling as a signal of lower quality. This relationship held across both types of eco-labels, meaning that consumers did not understand the difference between them. This research contributes to the literature on information disclosure policies by highlighting important elements for effective eco-labels. These elements include consumer awareness and understanding of the eco-label, and consumer willingness to pay for an eco-labeled product. The results emphasize the need to create eco-labels that communicate clearly both the environmental attributes and the private benefits associated with them.


Genetic diseases are caused by amino acid replacements at functionally important positions of protein sequences. These positions are conserved at the interspecific level, indicating that their replacement would be expected to be deleterious between homologous sequences. However, several examples of human disease-associated mutations have been found in the genomes of non-human species. Following the model of compensatory evolution, the acceptability of human deleterious mutations in other species is strictly dependent on the presence of a compensatory partner variant that is able to compensate for the negative effect of the mutation. The co-occurrence of a compensated mutation and its compensatory partner has now been documented for a large number of proteins involved in human genetic disease, thereby increasing theoretical and experimental support for the model of compensatory evolution at the same time as providing us with an improved understanding of the molecular and selective forces underlying the mechanism of amino acid interaction.

Key Concepts

A high number of human disease-associated mutations are found in non-human species.
Many human disease-associated mutations are compensated in non-human species by epistatic interactions with a compensatory variant.
The deleterious impact of a variant depends on the genetic background where it occurs.
The basis of molecular compensation results from the structural interaction between amino acid variants.

Keywords:

human disease;
deleterious mutation;
compensatory evolution;
epistasis;
amino acid interaction;
genetic background;
comparative genetics


The dissertation seeks to offer a theological interpretation of Proverbs which simultaneously does justice to the results of historical and philological research; to the Christian theological tradition; and to the context of contemporary secular society.
The opening chapter will investigate the history of Proverbs' theological interpretation in the last two hundred years. For 19th century interpretation a major theological and ethical challenge was that Proverbs bases its motivational system on the reader's self-interest. The same phenomenon has not been considered problematic in more recent scholarship because, it has been claimed, if Proverbs is understood in the context of 'creation theology' then this explains its apparent selfishness and also helps to clarify its relationship to other biblical texts. However, it will be argued that 'creation theology' in itself does not solve all theological problems in Proverbs' interpretation. It will be also argued that Proverbs offers a plurality of themes among which creation is only one, and from which the interpreter can choose according to his or her interests and aims.
The second chapter will describe the methodology of the dissertation. Most theological interpretations in the last two hundred years have reconstructed Proverbs' theology in view to its historical setting. However, little attention has been paid to the hermeneutical questions concerning Proverbs' recontextualisation and to the wider theological tradition of the religious communities that consider it as their Scripture. A canonical approach can incorporate these concerns, too.
The third chapter will discuss the problem of self-interest. This will be investigated in the framework of Thomas Aquinas's eudaemonistic theological ethics.
The fourth chapter will discuss Proverb's secular appearance. Besides sociological descriptions of the 'secular,' several strands of the wider Christian theological tradition will be utilized to handle this phenomenon theologically.


[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Many AICPA members have expressed confusion about provisions covered under Interpretation 101-3, Performance of Nonattest Services, of the MCPA Code of Professional Conduct. For example, what nonattest services can a CPA perform for an attest client? What are the requirements involving management responsibilities to oversee the project? This quiz is based on those and other frequently asked questions (FAQs) found on the Institute's Professional Ethics Division's website (tinyurl.com/267adgk). When in doubt, refer to the section titled "Specific Examples of Nonattest Services" in ET section 101, Independence, for highlights of the impact on independence of performance of nonattest services. Questions about the Code also can be directed to the Professional Ethics Division at firstname.lastname@example.com or by calling the AICPA's hotline for guidance. To access the Ethics Hotline, dial 888777-7077, menu option #5, followed by menu option #2. You will be asked to leave a message with your name, phone number and whether you are an AICPA member. The call will be returned regardless of your membership status. Anonymous callers must leave a phone number. QUESTIONS 1. A sole practitioner performs a review engagement for a small company owned by two partners. The two partners are involved in the sale of the company's products and neither has ever performed an accounting function. The client has an office manager who maintains the accounting records among his various responsibilities. The office manager is not a CPA and does not have a degree in accounting. The company's remaining employees work in the production facilities. The sole practitioner performs certain tax and bookkeeping services permitted under Interpretation 101-3 for the client. Based on the fact that none of the client's employees have an accounting background, can the sole practitioner perform the nonattest services and still remain in compliance with the general requirements of Interpretation 101-3? 2. Based on the fact pattern in Question 1, the sole practitioner calculates the deferred tax asset for the financial statements. Neither of the partners nor the office manager possesses the skills to calculate the deferred tax asset in the current year nor do they intend to learn how to perform such a calculation in future years. Is the sole practitioner's independence impaired? 3. A CPA audits a small privately held company. The owners of the company are considering offering some key employees life insurance as part of their compensation. The owners inquired with the CPA on the effects such a plan may have on their financial statements. Would the CPA have to follow the general requirements of Interpretation 101-3 in providing the advice? 4. A CPA performs the audit of a small privately held company. The client has a bookkeeper, but no CPA on staff. During the audit, the CPA proposes adjustments to the financial statements. The journal entries include adjustments to the accumulated depreciation account, a reclassification of long-term assets and an adjustment based on sales cutoff testing. Would the proposal of these entries be considered a bookkeeping service subject to Interpretation 101-3? 5. A CPA performs a review engagement for a small company that has limited staff for its accounting and finance functions. The CPA receives copies of check disbursements, invoices and purchase orders, and books the journal entries accordingly for the client. The client has identified each cash disbursement, invoice and purchase order (for example, inventory, phone bill, payroll, misc., etc.). As the CPA is booking the entry, the CPA assigns the general ledger account number for the type of expense as identified by the client. Would this be considered determining or changing journal entries, account codings or classifications as prohibited by Interpretation 101-37 6. Based on the fact pattern in Question 5, the CPA also receives a copy of the client's bank statement and performs a bank reconciliation at the end of each month. …


How common is self-citation in scholarly publication, and does the practice vary by gender? Using novel methods and a data set of 1.5 million research papers in the scholarly database JSTOR published between 1779 and 2011, the authors find that nearly 10 percent of references are self-citations by a paper's authors. The findings also show that between 1779 and 2011, men cited their own papers 56 percent more than did women. In the last two decades of data, men self-cited 70 percent more than women. Women are also more than 10 percentage points more likely than men to not cite their own previous work at all. While these patterns could result from differences in the number of papers that men and women authors have published rather than gender-specific patterns of self-citation behavior, this gender gap in self-citation rates has remained stable over the last 50 years, despite increased representation of women in academia. The authors break down self-citation patterns by academic field and number of authors and comment on potential mechanisms behind these observations. These findings have important implications for scholarly visibility and cumulative advantage in academic careers.


Anna Seward (1747–1809) is best known today as a poet, but one whose reputation did not survive her death. Most studies of Seward since the nineteenth century have been critical or dismissive, but in recent years her published work has attracted more attention. Academics, particularly feminist scholars, have focused on her environmental observations, and the ways in which her writings draw attention to the gendered nature of eighteenth-century society. This study adopts a different approach by exploring Anna Seward's private and public life within the provincial culture in which she emerged and remained until her death. Seward's identity was shaped by her early life in the Derbyshire Peak District and the cathedral city of Lichfield. Her relationships with male mentors and friends of both sexes provided learning experiences and opportunities to develop her literary skills and personal confidence. Her wealthy clergyman father educated her at home and developed her literary interests. She was also heavily influenced by Dr Erasmus Darwin who encouraged her literary abilities and developed her confidence. Influenced by other provincial literary figures, such as Thomas Whalley, William Hayley, Robert Southey, Helen Maria Williams, Hannah More and the Ladies of Llangollen, she embarked on a publishing career, became a commentator on public affairs and acted as a critic. Her extensive letters bear witness to a wide range of interests and a large network of correspondents. Unlike other cultural figures, Seward did not move to London to participate in the competitive life of the capital. She disliked large towns and did not become part of the Bluestocking circle of metropolitan intellectuals; instead, people came to her or solicited her opinions from a distance. Seward was self-willed, independent and prepared to criticise the famous, such as Samuel Johnson and Darwin, her former mentor. Her life in Lichfield, moreover, secured the disapproval of the local ecclesiastical establishment, because of her close public relationship with a married man, John Saville. Towards the end of her life she worked to secure her reputation as a poet and commentator, through the agency of Walter Scott, but after her death, his savage editing of her letters and works did much to destroy her reputation. Though Seward was a literary figure orbiting within an environment which excluded London, her life was important. It revealed how middle-class women could develop a national cultural reputation outside of the capital and provided a commentary on the vigorous nature of provincial life in the English Midlands.


There is an urgent need for a simple yet robust system to identify natural hand actions and gestures for controlling prostheses and other computer-assisted devices. Surface electromyogram (SEMG) is a non-invasive measure of the muscle activities but is not reliable because there are a multiple simultaneously active muscles. This study proposes the use of independent component analysis (ICA) for SEMG to separate activity from different muscles. A mitigation strategy to overcome shortcomings related to order and magnitude ambiguity related to ICA has been developed. This is achieved by using a combination of unmixing matrix obtained from FastICA analysis and weight matrix derived from training of the supervised neural network corresponding to the specific user. This is referred to as ICANN (independent component analysis neural network combination). Experiments were conducted and the results demonstrate a marked improvement in the accuracy. The other advantages of this system are that it is suitable for real time operations and it is easy to train by a lay user.


Ethiopia has an estimated one million hectares of natural bamboo forest, the largest in the African continent. Despite the versatile resource base and advanced bamboo utilization at a global scale, its great potential to enhance socio-economic and ecological development remains unrealized in Ethiopia. More importantly, recent observations in the country showed massive bamboo flowering followed by a death that urges management interventions. The objective of this study was to examine the socio-economic contribution of bamboo resources and typify their marketing value chain across major bamboo-growing and -marketing regions in Ethiopia, in order to promote its sustainable management. Structured questionnaires were administered to a total of 345 households to inspect the relative contribution of bamboo income to household economy. Participatory rural appraisal, key informant interviews, group discussions, market assessment, and field observations were made to understand the bamboo marketing system, actors involved, price trends, and factors affecting the bamboo value chain. Results show that crop and livestock production, forest management, and off-farm activities are major sources of income for respondent households. Fifty-three percent of the respondents reported bamboo income. Though it significantly varies across the study localities (p < 0.005), bamboo income contributed up to 11% of the annual cash income of the households, the lowest (3.4%) at Masha and the largest (38%) at Banja and Bahir Dar Zuria Districts. Positive and significant correlation was observed among cash incomes from bamboo, crop, petty trade, and other Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs). Producer farmers, village level traders, town and city wholesalers, small- and medium-scale bamboo processing and marketing firms, and town and city consumers are identified as major actors in the bamboo value chain. Fifty-five percent of the respondents indicated presence of poor horizontal and vertical linkage among actors. Access to market is difficult for a majority (88%) of the producers, and hence they sell bamboo culms and other product forms locally, mainly in roadside markets. Despite the inefficient value chains, 85% of the respondents indicated an increasing trend of demand for bamboo products. Market assessment for bamboo culms showed a price elasticity of demand, which is the change in quantity divided by change in price, up to 1.21 in 2008/2009 and 1.47 in 2009/2010. Nevertheless, bamboo utilization in Ethiopia is basically rudimentary, and bamboo product import exceeds export, in contrast to the resource base of the country. It is also noteworthy that the resource base is declining alarmingly in spite of the little interventions in place. An important policy and development lesson include enhancing further research for technology innovation, upgrading and integrating the bamboo value chain, and promoting sustainable management of the resource base.


Through the development of efficient algorithms, data structures and preprocessing techniques, real-world shortest path problems in street networks are now very fast to solve. But in reality, the exact travel times along each arc in the network may not be known. This lead to the development of robust shortest path problems, where all possible arc travel times are contained in a so-called uncertainty set of possible outcomes.
Research in robust shortest path problems typically assumes this set to be given, and provides complexity results as well as algorithms depending on its shape. However, what can actually be observed in real-world problems are only discrete raw data points. The shape of the uncertainty is already a modelling assumption. In this paper we test several of the most widely used assumptions on the uncertainty set using real-world traffic measurements provided by the City of Chicago. We calculate the resulting different robust solutions, and evaluate which uncertainty approach is actually reasonable for our data. This anchors theoretical research in a real-world application and allows us to point out which robust models should be the future focus of algorithmic development.


This thesis deals with computer-aided modelling analysis and design of vehicle systems for ride and handling studies. Characteristics of vehicle multi-body models are identified and formalisms are developed for automatic computerized equation generation and solution. These are implemented using interactive graphics and applied to several vehicle dynamics studies. The method of velocity coefficients is proposed as a versatile tool to model and analyze suspension linkages for ride and handling. The velocity coefficients can be evaluated from a kinematic analysis and then used to characterize a linkage suspension as a linkage-free suspension of equivalent isolation and handling properties. Dynamic analysis can then be carried out without solving for the kinematics at each integration step, leading to efficient solution. When the suspensions are represented as force-generating elements, most vehicle models can be represented by free-multi-body systems or multi-body systems in tree configuration. For these systems, a computer-based modelling strategy is formulated which parallels the intuitive and customary techniques used by vehicle system dynamicists. In this scheme, each rigid body may have any number of degrees of freedom between 1 and 6. The implicit constraints are automatically taken care of in the formulation so that a minimal set of differential equations are generated. General purpose formulations are presented for the velocity coefficient and design sensitivity analysis of suspensions. A general analytical method has been derived to determine the vehicle roll stiffness and roll centre location, which has hitherto been done graphically. Some prevalent misconceptions regarding roll centre arising from the geographical construction, and compounded by an official SAE definition, have been clarified. Implementation of the formalisms developed is presented in the form of two pieces of software--GENKAD and CAMSYD. GENKAD is a comprehensive set of programs for the kinematic analysis and design of planar mechanisms, featuring automatic symbolic equation derivation. GENKAD can compute positions and velocity coefficients and determine their sensitivities to any of the system parameters, to be used for optimal design. CAMSYD is used for modelling and dynamic analysis of planar, lumped parameter mechanical systems. The system equations are generated symbolically and can be solved for a variety of analysis options. CAMSYD has interface to GENKAD to represent linkage suspensions. The theory as well as the software have been verified and validated through comparison with results from published literature. The software was also used for the modelling and dynamic analysis of a snowmobile. Displacement and acceleration time histories of the vehicle going over a bump obtained from simulation are compared with measurements made on an instrumented snowmobile


Laminated cooling is deemed as one of the most potential and novel cooling technologies for turbine blade to increase turbine inlet temperature, which combines the superiority of film cooling, pin fin cooling and impingement cooling. To realize optimal design, the multidisciplinary design optimization of laminated cooling configuration is conducted considering cooling performance under acceptable pressure loss and thermomechanical performance. A coupled multidisciplinary analysis model is established to perform aerodynamical analysis, heat transfer analysis and thermomechanical analysis. Based on parametrized laminated model and Design of Experiments method, the cooling effectiveness, pressure loss coefficient and maximum stress can be obtained under different design parameters and their dominated design variables can be clarified. Using these sampling points, a Kriging approximation surrogate model can be established to replace real numerical calculation process and balance the efficiency and fidelity. Finally, the multi-island genetic algorithm is used to find the maximum cooling effectiveness and minimum pressure loss under the constraint of maximum stress. Results shows that, the dilation of film hole diameter, pin fin diameter and impingement hole diameter and the reduction of target plate thickness can effectively improve cooling performance and meanwhile decrease maximum stress, which can be up to 17.68% and 4.96% separately under the acceptable poressure loss coefficient raise of 16.8%. That can be attributed to the enhancement of inner heat transfer and improvement of outer film cooling.


A newly discovered sedimentary basin underlies the Mount Simon Sandstone (Upper Cambrian) below part of the Cincinnati Arch in southwestern Ohio. On the basis of preliminary examination of samples and geophysical data, the basin is tentatively traced for at least 160 km north-south and 48 km east-west in Ohio and adjacent Kentucky and Indiana. The basin is located in an area with sparse control in the deep subsurface, near the boundary of the Grenville and the Eastern granite-rhyolite provinces. Core recovered from the basin consists of a homogeneous, tightly compacted, grayish-red, lithic arenite. A seismic profile across the core site shows a layered sequence containing eastward-dipping seismic reflectors which extend to a depth of at least 5,200 m. Further work is required to determine the basin's precise structural history.


Wildfires are a significant agent of disturbance in forests and highly sensitive to climate change. Short-interval fires and high severity (mortality-causing) fires in particular, may catalyze rapid and substantial ecosystem shifts by eliminating woody species and triggering conversions from forest to shrub or grassland ecosystems. Modeling and fine-scale observations suggest negative feedbacks between fire and fuels should limit reburn prevalence as overall fire frequency rises. However, while we have good information on reburning patterns for individual fires or small regions, the validity of scaling these conclusions to broad regions like the US West remains unknown. Both the prevalence of reburning and the strength of feedbacks on likelihood of reburning over differing timescales have not been documented at the regional scale. Here we show that while there is a strong negative feedback for very short reburning intervals throughout wildland forests of the Western US, that feedback weakens after 10–20 years. The relationship between reburning intervals and drought diverges depending on location, with coastal systems reburning quicker (e.g. shorter interval between fires) in wetter conditions and interior forests in drier. This supports the idea that vegetation productivity—primarily fine fuels that accumulate rapidly (<10 years)—is of primary importance in determining reburn intervals. Our results demonstrate that while over short time intervals increasing fires inhibits reburning at broad scales, that breaks down after a decade. This provides important insights about patterns at very broad scales and agrees with finer scale work, suggesting that lessons from those scales apply across the entire western US.


Compiled by Cochrane collaborators and members of OMERACT (Outcome Measures in Rheumatology), Evidence-based Rheumatology is an essential resource for evidence-based medicine as applied to the musculoskeletal disorders. The introductory section covers the principles of evidence-based medicine in rheumatology, followed by clinical chapters covering all the major disorders. Each chapter includes non-drug therapy, drug therapy, and consumer evidence-based summaries. Evidence-Based Series: Evidence-based Rheumatology, part of the acclaimed series BMJ Evidence-based medicine textbooks that have revolutionised clinical medicine literature, comes with a fully searchable CD-ROM of the whole text. The text is kept up to date online at www.evidbasedrheum.com. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.


A bioassay of 1,4-dioxane for possible carcinogenicity was conducted by administering the test chemical in the drinking water to Osborne-Mendel rats and B6C3F1 mice. Groups of 35 rats and 50 mice of each sex were administered 1,4-dioxane at concentrations of either 0.5% to 1.0% (v/v) in the drinking water. Because of variations in the intake of water, the doses of test chemical received by the high-dose groups were not precisely twice those received by the low-dose groups; in the male mice, the high dose was only slightly greater than the low dose. The rats were dosed for 110 weeks and the mice for 90 weeks. Matched controls consisted of 35 untreated rats and 50 untreated mice of each sex. All surviving rats were killed at 110-117 weeks and all surviving mice at 90-93-weeks. The mean body weights of the rats and mice were not consistently affected by the administration of dioxane. Survival rates of the dosed groups of rats and female mice were lower than those of corresponding control groups, but sufficient numbers of animals were at risk for development of late-appearing tumors. In rats, the incidence of squamous-cell carcinomas of the nasal turbinates was statistically significant in tests for dose-related trend in females (P=0.008) and for direct comparison of high-dose with matched-control males(P<0.001) and direct comparison of dosed with control females (P" 0.003) (males: controls 0/33, low-dose 12/33, high-dose 16/34; females: controls 0/34, low-dose 10/35, high-dose 8/35). In the females, but not in the males, the incidence of hepatocellular adenomas was significant (P" 0.001) in tests for dose-related trend and for direct comparison of both low- and high-dose groups with controls (controls 0/31, low-dose 10/33, high-dose 11/32). In both male and female mice, the incidence of hepatocellular carcinomas was statistically significant (P" 0.001), both in tests for dose-related trend and direct comparison of both dosed groups with controls (males: controls 2/49, low-dose 18/50, high-dose 24/47; females: controls 0/50, low-dose 12/48, high-dose 29/37). The incidences remained significant when hepatocellular adenomas were combined with hepatocellular carcinomas. It is concluded that under the conditions of this bioassay, 1,4-dioxane induced hepatocellular adenomas in female Osborne-Mendel rats. 1,4-Dioxane was carcinogenic in both sexes of rats, producing squamous-cell carcinomas of the nasal turbinates, and in both sexes of B6C3F1 mice, producing hepatocellular carcinomas.


Motivation: Because susceptibility to diseases increases with age, studying aging gains importance. Analyses of gene expression or sequence data, which have been indispensable for investigating aging, have been limited to studying genes and their protein products in isolation, ignoring their connectivities. However, proteins function by interacting with other proteins, and this is exactly what biological networks (BNs) model. Thus, analyzing the proteins' BN topologies could contribute to the understanding of aging. Current methods for analyzing systems-level BNs deal with their static representations, even though cells are dynamic. For this reason, and because different data types can give complementary biological insights, we integrate current static BNs with aging-related gene expression data to construct dynamic age-specific BNs. Then, we apply sensitive measures of topology to the dynamic BNs to study cellular changes with age. Results: While global BN topologies do not significantly change with age, local topologies of a number of genes do. We predict such genes to be aging-related. We demonstrate credibility of our predictions by 1) observing significant overlap between our predicted aging-related genes and "ground truth" aging-related genes; 2) observing significant overlap between functions and diseases that are enriched in our aging-related predictions and those that are enriched in "ground truth" aging-related data; 3) providing evidence that diseases which are enriched in our aging-related predictions are linked to human aging; and 4) validating our high-scoring novel predictions in the literature. This work was published in Bioinformatics [1].


Background There is limited evidence of the impact of policies to promote work–family balance on family health. Exploiting the introduction of the UK Flexible Working Act (2003), we examined whether a policy that grants parents the right to request flexible work influences their health and well-being. Methods Using the UK Millennium Cohort Study, we focus on 6424 mothers employed in 2001–2002, when the cohort child was 9 months old, until their child's seventh birthday. We used a difference-in-differences (DiD) approach to compare changes in outcomes before and after the policy among mothers most likely to benefit and mothers unlikely to benefit from the policy. Results Flexible working increased in a small group of mothers (n=548) whose employer did not offer work flexibility before the reform (treatment group). By contrast, among mothers whose employer already offered flexible work before the reform (control group, n=5810), there was little change or a slight decline in flexible working. DiD estimates suggest that the policy was associated with an increase in flexible working (37.5 percentage points, 95% CI 32.9 to 41.6), but it had no impact on self-rated health (−1.6 percentage points, 95% CI −4.4 to 1.1), long-term illness (−1.87 percentage points, 95% CI −4.3 to 0.5) or life satisfaction scores (β=0.04, 95% CI −0.08 to 0.16). Conclusion The Flexible Working Act increased flexible working only among a small group of mothers who had not yet the right to request work flexibility, but it had no impact on their health and well-being. Policies promoting work flexibility may require stronger incentives for both parents and employers.


This paper presents an accurate theoretical model for the study of concatenation of optical multiplexers/demultiplexers (MUXs/DMUXs) in transparent multiwavelength optical networks. The model is based on a semianalytical technique for the evaluation of the error probability of the network topology. The error-probability evaluation takes into account arbitrary pulse shapes, arbitrary optical MUX/DMUX, and electronic low-pass filter transfer functions, and non-Gaussian photocurrent statistics at the output of the direct-detection receiver. To illustrate the model, the cascadability of arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) routers in a transparent network element chain is studied. The performance of the actual network is compared to the performance of a reference network with ideal optical MUXs/DMUXs. The optical power penalty at an error probability of 10/sup -9/ is calculated as a function of the number of cascaded AWG routers, the bandwidth of AWG routers, and the laser carrier frequency offset from the channel's nominal frequency.


Until a few decades ago, nearly no one survived out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.1 A recently published meta-analysis of 79 outcome studies from around the world reported an overall survival rate of 7.6% that had not changed throughout the past three decades.2 Recent data are more optimistic and several studies have reported survival rates above 10%.3–6 The increasing number of patients surviving to hospital discharge have directed focus towards long-term outcomes of survival and function following cardiac arrest.7 8

In their Heart  manuscipt Andrew et al9 focused on very long-term survival among 3449 patients discharged alive after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the years from 2000 to 2014. The setting was Victoria State, Australia, with a population of approximately 5.9 million people and an area of 2 27 000 km2. With a mean follow-up time of 12 years, Andrew and colleagues demonstrated that 8 out of 10 discharge survivors were alive after 5 years, 7 out of 10 after 10 years and 6 out of 10 after 15 years. The study reports a more than fivefold increased risk of death compared with the background population during the first year but similar relative risk at …


Abstract
In this study, different aspects of vesicular transport in the early secretory pathway have been investigated.
Although an earlier study showed an effect upon the down regulation of β-COP in the transport of the SH4 domain containing HASPB and Yes (Ritzerfeld et al., 2011), there was no study revealing the role of coatomer subunits in plasma membrane localization of unconventionally secreted proteins. This work investigates the role of γ2-COP in the transport of the unconventionally secreted proteins HASPB and Yes. Pronounced retention of HASPB at the perinuclear region was observed after down regulation of the coatomer subunits α, β, δ, and ζ suggesting that the coatomer subunits and therefore most likely COPI vesicles are involved in the transport of HASPB. However individual knockdowns of γ1- and γ2-COP subunits did not affect the transport of the reporter proteins, indicating there is no specific role of coatomer isoforms per se.
In the second part, the impact of novel Brefeldin A (BFA) analogs on the Golgi morphology was investigated. Treatments of mammalian cells with various analogues revealed that number of derivatives had no impact on the Golgi morphology in given times in addition to some derivatives causing reversible Golgi disruption as Brefeldin A. The variation of the effect can be of use in various fields for creating new therapeutics.
Another part of this work focusing on the oligomerization of the p24 protein and a non-SM18 binding p24 variant (L17F) were studied by cross-linking the proteins in vivo using a chemical cross-linking agent. This shows a significant reduction in the oligomeric form of the non-SM18 binding p24 variant compared to the monomeric form.
The final part of this thesis presents the findings on the kinetics of p24 family members using Fluorescent Loss in Photobleaching (FLIP). Experiments resulted in no significant differences between transport rates of p23 and p24 from the Golgi to the endoplasmic reticulum.


Purpose The objectives of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Patient-Centered Radiology Steering Committee survey were to (a) assess RSNA members' general attitudes and experiences concerning patient-centered radiology, with specific attention paid to radiologist-to-patient communication; (b) examine the members' barriers to communicating more directly with patients; and (c) explore their perceptions of how such barriers can be overcome. Materials and Methods A total of 5999 radiologists were invited by e-mail to complete an anonymous electronic survey developed by the Steering Committee and the RSNA Department of Research. Participants were asked to identify aspects of patient-centered care important to their practice, report on their interactions with patients, and share their opinions on radiologist-patient communication. Statistical analyses were performed by using the χ2 test and analysis of variance. Results The response rate was 12% (n = 694, 109 invitations were undeliverable). Most respondents (89%, 611 of 684) agreed that promoting awareness of the role of radiology in patients' overall health care is important to how they practice. The majority (73%, 421 of 575) reported that time or workload frequently prevented them from communicating directly with patients. The majority (74%, 423 of 572) reported that a personal sense of satisfaction was likely to motivate them to communicate more directly with patients, but many commented that changes to reimbursement and compensation would help them communicate with patients more directly. Conclusion Many radiologists support the concept of communicating more directly with patients but report they are constrained by time or workload. Changes to reimbursement schemes may help mitigate these barriers to one crucial aspect of patient-centered care. © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.