Sanyuania cuneata Zhao & Whatley, 1992 was reported initially from Late Pleistocene core samples from the northern part of the Yellow Sea and Recent sediments collected from supra tidal pools (17 practical salinity unit (psu)) in Xiangshangang Bay, East China Sea (Zhao & Whatley, 1992). Later, specimens were discovered, but not identified, in Lake Nakaumi, Shimane Prefecture, SW Japan (Fig. 1) (as Cytheridae gen. et. sp. indet. by Tanaka et al. (1998) and Sanyuania sp. by Seto et al. (1999)). Further examination of these Japanese specimens has clarified that they are conspecific with the Chinese specimens. This has provided an opportunity to review the distribution (Fig. 1) and potential environmental significance of Sanyuania cuneata and, for the first time, to describe its appendages (Fig. 2). Specimens figured herein were recovered from Lake Nakaumi (35°26′ 50″ N, 133°07′50″ E) at a depth of 0.3–6.0 m and salinity of 8–17 psu on 9 September 1998. The surface of the sediment was covered by the byssus of the mussel Musculista senhousia (Benson, 1842). Sanyuania cuneata is probably endemic to the East China Sea and the southwestern part of the Sea of Japan and is a potentially useful palaeoenvironmental indicator of brackish (steno-haline) environments in the area. By using the oxygen isotopic data from planktonic foraminifers and the estimated value of salinity flowing into the Japan Sea, Matsui et al. (1998) approximated that the salinity of the surface water of Japan Sea declined to about 20 psu during the Last Glacial Maximum …


This chapter provides the historical roots of current avenues of research on RNA nucleoside modifications by describing some functional sites, structural environments, and biosynthetic strategies with which the modifications are associated. It describes selected examples of nucleoside modifications in ribosomal, transfer, messenger, and small nuclear RNAs. Emphasis is placed on conspicuous association of the most abundant nucleoside modifications in eukaryotic rRNA with the peptidyl transfer site in the ribosome. The chapter also recounts the historical and chronological development of general knowledge about RNA structure and function. The early identifications of modified nucleosides relied heavily on application of the same "new" approaches (anion-exchange and filter-paper chromatography and UV spectrophotometry) that were described in considerable detail in the first volume of The Nucleic Acids. In Ross Hall's monograph (1971), progress could already be reported about the biogenesis of base-and sugar-methylated nucleosides. When 2'- and 3'-O-aminoacyladenosines were prepared from the aminoacylated termini of tRNAs, they were among the first modified nucleosides to be identified as RNA constituents. Aminoacyladenosines, corresponding to the 20 (unmodified) amino acids found in proteins, have never previously been classified as modified nucleosides. The first hypermodified nucleoside to be reported and later correctly identified was described in a report in 1965. It seems fitting to remark that the direct functional consequence (frameshifting) of the first reported RNA editing event was instantly transparent, whereas the functional consequence of the first reported, and by far the most abundant, RNA modification (Ψ), has for more than 40 years remained all but opaque.


Summary The hypopharyngeal gland (HPG) of the honey bee worker is concerned with biosynthesis and secretion of royal jelly fed to the queen and brood, as well as enzymes that hydrolyse and convert nectar into honey. The effect of age on the ultrastructure of the HPG of Apis mellifera carnica worker was studied. The HPG is a bilobed gland located in the head, and consists of a group of acini without marks on their external surface. The acini open by means of intra-cytoplasmic ducts into a main channel with a mutual arrangement. Each acinus comprises 12–20 secretory cells correspond to the same number of intra-cytoplasmic ducts. In 3 day old workers, the cytoplasm is homogenous with no obvious secretion. In 9 day old workers, the cytoplasm differentiation and secretions start, and increase at the age of 15 days to reach the maximum in 21 day old workers. The secretions continue in massive amounts in 27 day old foragers even with signs of secretory cell degeneration. This regression of the secretory activity assures the flexibility of the HPG, which cope with the colony conditions. The number of secretory cells is nearly twice as high as has been previously recorded and does not change with age. This might be a modification in the gland due to the difference in the climate and vegetation of Egypt. This needs further study.


Hybrid carbon-coated transition metal oxides (TMOs@C) offer enhanced lithium storage capabilities, but the facile formation of TMOs@C nanocomposites remains a great challenge. Herein, we report a novel hierarchical hybrid nanostructure of carbon-coated CoFe2O4 twin elliptical frustums (CoFe2O4@C TEFs) via a quick one-pot refluxing reaction in ethylene glycol (EG) followed by an annealing treatment. When evaluated as an anode in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the resultant CoFe2O4@C TEF hybrids demonstrate good electrochemical performance with high reversible specific capacity, excellent rate capability and super-long life cycle. After 600 cycles at a current density of 500 mA g−1, the resultant TEFs still deliver a stable reversible discharge capacity of 875 mA h g−1. This work demonstrates the extensive potential of such simple synthetic methods towards various carbon coated transition metal oxide composites for energy conversion and storage devices.


Lignocellulosic materials such as agricultural residues have been recognized as potential sustainable sources of mixed sugars for fermentation to bioethanol. To obtain a high overall ethanol yield and achieve an economically feasible production process, the removal of lignin and hemicelluloses improves the accessibility of cellulosic material to hydrolytic enzymes and avoids the degradation products that are inhibitory to the yeast used in the subsequent fermentation. Technological advances, e.g., environmentally friendly removal of lignin and hemicelluloses from lignocellulosic biomass prior to fermentation of the librated glucose from cellulose into bioethanol, has the potential to provide for sustainable and cost effective production of biofuel.


A dramatic improvement in electrical conductivity is necessary to make conductive polymer fibers viable candidates in applications such as flexible electrodes, conductive textiles, and fast-response sensors and actuators. In this study, high-performance poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/PSS) conjugated polymer microfibers were fabricated via wet-spinning followed by hot-drawing. Due to the combined effects of the vertical hot-drawing process and doping/de-doping the microfibers with ethylene glycol (EG), we achieved a record electrical conductivity of 2804 S cm−1. This is, to the best of our knowledge, a six-fold improvement over the best previously reported value for PEDOT/PSS fibers (467 S cm−1) and a two-fold improvement over the best values for conductive polymer films treated by EG de-doping (1418 S cm−1). Moreover, we found that these highly conductive fibers experience a semiconductor–metal transition at 313 K. They also have superior mechanical properties with a Young's modulus up to 8.3 GPa, a tensile strength reaching 409.8 MPa and a large elongation before failure (21%). The most conductive fiber also demonstrates an extraordinary electrical performance during stretching/unstretching: the conductivity increased by 25% before the fiber rupture point with a maximum strain up to 21%. Simple fabrication of the semi-metallic, strong and stretchable wet-spun PEDOT/PSS microfibers described here could make them available for conductive smart electronics.


Making investment in stock exchange can be performed in various ways, and basically all investment has same aimed, that to get high return but low risk. To overcome and lessen the risk, investor needs to understand the intrinsic value of stock to know the best decision when making the investment. This research is made in order to determine intrinsic value of PT HM Sampoerna Tbk (HMSP)'s stock and PT Gudang Garam Tbk (GGRM)'s stock by using fundamental analysis. The purposes are to know whether the market price of both company's stock undervalued or overvalued compared with their intrinsic value. There are three approaches using in this research to calculate the intrinsic value of the stock. They are Dividend Discount Modal, Free Cash Flow to Firm (FCFF) and Free Cash Flow to Equity (FCFE). Dividend Discount Model related to present value of all expected future dividends into perpetuity, meanwhile the Free Cash Flow Valuation Model (FCFF & FCFE) views the intrinsic value of a security as the present value of its expected future cash flow. This research is based on financial statement from both company and compare with the market price of both stocks as of July 2009. Valuation based on those three approaches gives the result that market price of HMSP's stock is undervalued compare with the intrinsic value meanwhile GGRM's stock is overvalued compare with the intrinsic value. Based on the situation, the recommendation given to the investors who not yet have HMSP's stock to buy the stock and in contrary for investors who have GGRM's stock to sell the stock.


Circulating Fluidized Beds (CFB) are attracting increasing interest for both gas-solid and gas-catalytic reactions, although operating modes differ completely. To model the reactor, the knowledge of the solids residence time is an important parameter. Previous studies mostly assess operations at moderate values of the solids circulation rates (≤ 100 kg/m2s), whereas gas-catalytic reactions and biomass pyrolysis require completely different operating conditions. Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) is used to study the movement and population density of particles in the CFB-riser. Transformation of the PEPT results define (i) the vertical particle movement and population density in a cross sectional area of the riser; (ii) the required transport gas velocity (Utr) to operate in a fully established circulation mode; (iii) the overall particle movement mode (plug flow vs. core/annulus flow); and (iv) the particle slip velocity. Only in a plug flow mode can the particle slip velocity be estimated from the difference of superficial gas velocity and particle terminal velocity. The slip velocity is lower than U - Utr outside the plug flow mode. To operate in plug flow, the superficial gas velocity should exceed Utr by 1 m/s and the solids circulation rate should exceed 200 kg/m2s.


CASE DESCRIPTION The primary subject matter of this case concerns integration of strategic planning with financial and managerial accounting. Secondary issues include financial accounting journal entries, relevant costs in decision making, budgeting, production schedules, and the accounting cycle. The case has a difficulty level of two, appropriate for sophomore level and five, appropriate for first year graduate level. The case is modular in nature, and is designed to be taught in 1-5 class hours. The number of hours of outside Preparation will depend on the portions of the case selected for use in the classroom, but should not exceed 10 hours. CASE SYNOPSIS Much has been published about integration of accounting content and breaking down of silos created within colleges of business. Introductory accounting courses generally are still divided between managerial and financial accounting or, if there is only one course, the highlights of each are presented separately. Further, business strategy is often considered only as part of a capstone class, and the use of accounting information to support strategic decision making is often overlooked. The purpose of this case is to provide related financial and managerial accounting projects which culminate in a strategic plan. The projects are simplified but provide a discernable thread from raw materials and direct labor to plans to expand the firm. These projects are suitable for a blended financial and managerial introductory course for undergraduates or for MBA students and have been used effectively in an online teaching environment. The modular nature of the projects means that instructors can easily customize case materials. The Case Description and Case Synopsis should be removed before assigning this case to a student or a student group. This material could prejudice the minds of students. Student Objectives This case is designed to help you understand and apply financial and managerial accounting concepts, and to see how the accounting system provides information that can help in financial reporting as well as managerial decision making. To accomplish this, you will be using information from Water World, Inc., a fictitious company operating a water park facility in Texas. There are five projects in this case. The first three projects focus on managerial accounting concepts, while the fourth is oriented toward financial accounting. You will use both financial and managerial information to complete project five. To complete project one, you will prepare a production schedule and a cash budget. In project two, you will identify and focus on relevant costs for decision making and will use these costs to formulate recommendations related to production of plush toy animals. To complete projects 3 and 4, record basic entries and, in project 4 complete the accounting cycle. In project 5, you will use the accounting information you have generated to make recommendations for increased profits. OVERVIEW Water World, Inc. owns and operates a 75 acre water park in Sanderling, Texas. Sanderling is located in northwest Texas, a part of the state known for its hot and dry summertime weather. Because of the heat, the park's cooling waterslides and rides are very popular among residents of the region. The company's mission goes beyond entertainment, however. In addition to entertaining park customers with water rides and swimming pools, the company educates customers about aquatic mammals through shows and exhibits. The most popular of the educational shows focuses on sea otters. In the show, otters show off a variety of tricks while a narrator describes the otters' habitats and characteristics. The otter exhibits and shows have proven to be so popular that the company has adopted the sea otter as the company mascot, and Water World sells otter toys in the water park's gift shop and to local retailers. To control costs, Water World's manufactures the most popular otter toy, a plush otter, through its wholly-owned subsidiary named Otter Land. …


It is estimated that 80–85% of the water extracted from aquifers in Mexico is used for agricultural production, and in general, there is an inadequate management that causes different damages to the environment, highlighting the depletion and contamination of groundwater, among others. The purpose of this work is to quantify the water balance and dynamics in the unsaturated zone by means of daily measurements of different meteorological parameters and the moisture profiles of a soil that was treated to conservation practices in the Independence Aquifer (Upper La Laja River Basin tributary of the Lerma-Chapala). The stratigraphy of the site was obtained through continuous records of electrical conductivity and granulometry in unaltered soil samples - to which physical properties and organic matter content were determined - in their first 2.50 m depth. The changes in moisture content at 0.15, 0.30, 0.60, 0.90 and 1.20 m were controlled by Time Domain Refractometry (TDR). The saturated permeability was quantified with the Guelph Permeameter, complemented with infiltration tests. A one-dimensional numerical model was used to develop predictive tools. The results indicate that progressive capture of carbon occurred and that a saturated hydraulic conductivity of up to Kfs = 5 m∙d -1 has been reached, in the first 0.60 m of depth, which contrasts up to two orders of magnitude with traditional soil management; allowing the gradual filtering of a total water sheet of 6,753 mm for three days, which would cover any sequence of maximum rainfall events recorded in the region. The RDT sensors showed a rapid increase in moisture content along the profile, indicating that the characteristics obtained in the soil allow the immediate input and storage of rainwater, with a minimum evaporation rate and zero runoff. The present work demonstrates that it is feasible to favor the infiltration of sufficient rainwater for the production of staple and fodder crops and to reduce the impacts of negative incidents because of climate change. This applies to irrigation crops, which would allow the progressive reduction of groundwater extraction, by more than 50%, through adequate conservation practices, a fundamental aspect in the management of the aquifer.


Given the strong ties linking citizen security and the development of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Bank has been supporting efforts to tackle crime and violence. It has framed its work in citizen security through the establishment of specific guidelines (Operational Guidelines for Program Design and Execution in the Area of Civic Coexistence and Public Safety, GN-2535), which identify the Bank's areas of support, as well as those outside its mandate and those for which it does not have a comparative advantage as a development institution. It has also developed the present Conceptual Framework, to complement the Operational Guidelines, by reviewing a group of concepts to provide focus, rationale, and tools to integrate and interpret information relevant to the citizen security policies and under the spectrum defined by the Guidelines. The Conceptual Framework is intended as a tool to guide the analyses of the sector, drawing from a growing empirical knowledge base of "what works" in crime and violence prevention.


Definite integral methods are widely used in solving practical problems. The methods of solving practical problems in geometry, physics, economics, and so on are discussed in this paper. Mastering some certain integral calculation methods will certainly help to solve some practical problems in life. From these few simple examples, we can see that to solve the practical problems of definite integral, the most important thing is to digitize the problem, and then writing out the formula by using the mathematical theory, and finally calculating the results by using integral principle


American states have statutes with whistleblowing protection provisions for employees. These laws may focus on the duty to divulge misconduct, procedures for reporting disclosures, and protection from retaliation. The research question is, "What is the scope, content, and perceived effectiveness of these provisions?" The premise is that they have value, albeit uncertain, in the practice of public administration. To investigate this subject area, documentary and attitudinal data were gathered. This article presents the results of the first comprehensive study of state-level whistleblowing provisions. The importance of this work is evident for two reasons. First, though corruption varies across state lines, overall it is common. Second, given the low visibility and high complexity of organizational activities, detection of abuse rests in large part with the workforce.


AFTER PRESIDENT OBAMA CITED CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIAN AND ETHICIST REINHOLD Niebuhr (1892-1971) as one of his favorite philosophers, the blogosphere erupted with commentary on what this might portend for the foreign policy of the new administration. Niebuhr had been known as the "pastor to the Presidents," with many, including Jimmy Carter, mentioning his influence on their moral reasoning. In recognition of his lasting impact on the Presidency, Lyndon Johnson awarded Niebuhr the Medal of Freedom in 1964. Pundits have had a field day speculating on the possible implications of Obama's self-defined connection to the ethics of Niebuhr. Will the foreign policy decision-making of the Obama administration thus mirror that of Carter, or that of other past presidents influenced by Niebuhr? Mark Tooley describes Niebuhr as "probably the 20th century's finest ethicist in the liberal Protestant tradition," representing the school of "Christian realism." The rise of Nazism led Niebuhr to believe in a "transcendent evil" and he supported the war against Hitler. He criticized pacifists and Christian idealists who thought that force could never be justified (Tooley, 2009). Instead, Niebuhr argued: "Since reason is always, to some degree, the servant of interest in a social situation, social injustice cannot be resolved by moral and rational suasion alone, as the educator and social scientist usually believes. Conflict is inevitable, and in this conflict power must be challenged by power" (Niebuhr, 1932: xiv-xv). But even when force is justified, as in World War II (which he believed was a just war), he maintained that there were moral limits to the use of military power. Niebuhr, for example, criticized the Allied bombing of cities and questioned the use of nuclear weapons by the United States in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After World War II, he supported the efforts to contain Communism, but he strongly opposed the Vietnam War, and in general thought that U.S. involvement in unwinnable land wars in Asia was unwise (Tooley, 2009). Niebuhr explained his views of human nature and politics in his influential book, Moral Man and Immoral Society, which was later cited by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., in his "Letter from Birmingham City Jail." In this work, Niebuhr asserts that people are capable of doing good, but groups are driven by "predatory self-interest." Niebuhr explains: "Individuals have a moral code which makes the actions of collective man an outrage to their conscience.... [This] symbolizes one of the tragedies of the human spirit: its inability to conform its collective life to its individual ideals. As individuals, men believe that they ought to love and serve each other and establish justice between each other. As racial, economic, and national groups, they take for themselves whatever their power can command" (Niebuhr, 1932: 9). During a 2007 interview with New York Times columnist David Brooks, Obama explained what he learned from Niebuhr and why he called Niebuhr his "favorite philosopher." "I take away," Brooks quoted Obama as saying, "the compelling idea that there's serious evil in the world and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief that we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn't use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away ... the sense that we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swinging from naive idealism to bitter realism" (Brooks, 2007). Great-nephew Gustav Niebuhr points out that Obama's political rhetoric often reflects Niebuhr's worldview. He notes, for example, that both Obama and his great-uncle avoid moral absolutes (i.e., good versus evil; you're with us or you're against us) and realize that "the U.S. is not always right and its enemies not always evil." Gustav Niebuhr pointed to Obama's Cairo speech to the Arab world, in which the president acknowledged the U.S. role in undermining and helping to overthrow a democratically elected government in Iran in the 1950s and avoided a "clash of civilizations" framework that can imply that the United States is free of moral stain. …


As a general rule, It is claimed that the four years of foreign language courses taken In high school are equivalent to the first four semesters of foreign courses taken at the university level. In fact, most universities grant college credit for scoring well on the foreign language Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams taken by students following the completion of thelr study of a foreign language In high school. This claim prompts an exploration of proficiency levels achieved by students studying French at the secondary and post-secondary levels through evaluations of the French AP, 18, College Level Examination Program (CLEP), Michigan Test for Teacher Certification (MTTC), and Praxis curricula guidelines, exams, and score descriptions. The proficiency levels are based on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) guidelines. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department World Languages First Advisor Genevieve Peden Second Advisor Motoko Tabuse


Corruption is widely believed to negatively affect economic growth. However, many East and Southeast Asia countries either achieved or currently are achieving impressively rapid economic growth despite widespread corruption — the 'East Asian Paradox'. Is this negative relationship equally likely to hold for autocracies and democracies?

This paper examines the role of political institutions in mediating the corruption–growth relationship using panel data over one hundred countries for the period 1984–2016. We find clear evidence that corruption–growth relationship differs by the type of political institution, and the growth enhancing effect of corruption is more likely in autocracies than in democracies. The perceived credibility of long-term ruling political elites by promoting economic freedom to do business gives confidence to the firms, vital for investment and growth.

Our findings provide suggestive evidence in support of the East Asian Paradox.


In this study, we set up a wood decomposition experiment to i) quantify the percent of mass remaining, decay constant and performance strength of aspen stakes (Populus tremuloides) in dry and moist boreal (Alaska and Minnesota, USA), temperate (Washington and Idaho, USA), and tropical (Puerto Rico) forest types, and ii) determine the effects of fragmentation on wood decomposition rates as related to fragment size, forest age (and/ or structure) and climate at the macroand meso-scales. Fragment sizes represented the landscape variability within a climatic region. Overall, the mean small fragments area ranged from 10–14 ha, medium-sized fragments 33 to 60 ha, and large fragments 100–240 ha. We found that: i) aspen stakes decayed fastest in the tropical sites, and the slowest in the temperate forest fragments, ii) the percent of mass remaining was significantly greater in dry than in moist forests in boreal and temperate fragments, while the opposite was true for the tropical forest fragments, iii) no effect of fragment size on the percent of mass remaining of aspen stakes in the boreal sites, temperate dry, and tropical moist forests, and iv) no significant differences of aspen wood decay between forest edges and interior forest in boreal, temperate and tropical fragments. We conclude that: i) moisture condition is an important control over wood decomposition over broad climate gradients; and that such relationship can be non linear, and ii) the presence of a particular group of organism (termites) can significantly alter the decay rates of wood more than what might be predicted based on climatic factors alone. Biotic controls on wood decay might be more important predictors of wood decay in tropical regions, while abiotic constraints seems to be important determinants of decay in cold forested fragments.


After the Supreme Court invalidated the core of the Voting Rights Act's preclearance regime in Shelby County v. Holder, civil rights activists proposed a variety of legislative responses. One set of responses, which gained quick favor in influential precincts in the legal academy, sought to move beyond measures like the Voting Rights Act that targeted voting discrimination based on race or ethnicity. These responses instead sought to eliminate certain problematic practices that place too great a burden on any individual's vote. Responses like these are universalist, because rather than seeking to protect any particular group against discrimination, at least as a formal matter they provide uniform protections to everyone. As Bruce Ackerman shows in his latest We the People volume, voting rights activists confronted a similar set of questions — and at least some of them opted for a universalist approach — during the campaign to eliminate the poll tax.The voting rights context is hardly unique. Across an array of different contexts, scholars and activists have proposed universalist responses to address problems that group-oriented civil rights approaches have not fully resolved. Universalist responses have many possible strengths: tactically, in securing political support for and broader judicial implementation of laws that promote civil rights interests; substantively, in aggressively attacking the structures that lead to inequality; and expressively, in avoiding essentializing identity and emphasizing human commonality across groups. But they have possible drawbacks along all three of these dimensions as well. Although scholars have addressed some of these strengths and drawbacks in the context of specific proposals for universal responses to civil rights problems, no work has attempted to examine these issues comprehensively.This essay attempts such a comprehensive examination. It argues that neither universalistic nor particularistic approaches can fully address our civil rights problems. Even in any specific context — whether voting, higher education, employment, disability, or the interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment — neither universalistic nor particularistic approaches can provide the complete answer. Rather, the proper mix of universalistic and particularistic policies requires a highly context-specific analysis. Nonetheless, there are some common dynamics of universalistic and targeted civil rights policies, and these dynamics offer lessons for policymakers approaching any given civil rights context. This essay aims to draw out some of these general lessons and then sketch how they might apply to the civil rights context in which questions of universalism are most acute at the moment — the context of voting discrimination. The essay argues that the proper response to Shelby County will fail unless it goes well beyond universal protections of voting rights. Rather, the voting rights regime must also provide robust protection against race discrimination specifically.


There are national and regional efforts aimed at increasing fertilizer use in sub‐Saharan Africa, where nitrogen (N) inputs must be increased by an order of magnitude or more to reach recommended rates. Fertilizer inputs increase N availability and cycling rates and subsequently emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a powerful greenhouse gas and the primary catalyst of stratospheric ozone depletion. We established experimental maize (Zea mays L.) plots in western Kenya to quantify the relationship between N inputs and N2O emissions. Mean N2O emissions were marginally, but not significantly, better described by an exponential model relating emissions to N input rate in 2011; in 2012, an exponential relationship provided the best fit compared to linear and other nonlinear models. Most N2O fluxes occurred during the 30 days following the second fertilizer application. Estimates of fertilizer N lost as N2O annually were well below the 1% Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change default emission factor, ranging from 0.07% to 0.11% in 2011 and from 0.01% to 0.09% in 2012. In both years, the largest impact on annual N2O emissions occurred when inputs increased from 100 to 150 kg N ha−1: fluxes increased from 203 to 294 g N2O‐N ha−1 yr−1 in 2011 and from 168 to 254 kg N ha−1 in 2012. Our results suggest that exponential emission responses are present in tropical systems and that agricultural intensification in western Kenya may be managed for increasing crop yields without immediate large increases in N2O emissions if application rates remain at or below 100 kg N ha−1.


The current British and European Standard (BS EN1785: 2003) for the identification of gamma irradiated foods is based on the isolation and detection of a group of lipid derived 2-alkylcyclobutanone compounds that are formed following irradiation. The 2-alkylcyclobutanones (2-dodecylcyclobutanone {DCB}, and 2-tetradecylcyclobutanone {TCB}) have been validated as radiolytic markers in the routine chemical identification of irradiated foods. This study was carried out with the view to answering a key question in relation to the fate of irradiated foods post irradiation and during storage; would it still be possible to correctly identify foods as having being irradiated towards the end of their shelf-life? Chemical detection method was employed to closely follow and plot the loss of each of these radiolytic markers throughout shelf-life. Significant levels of DCB and TCB were detected in all irradiated beef samples, which have been stored over 12-month period. Despite the considerable drop in the levels of both markers with time, it was still possible to detect both markers and therefore confirm that the stored samples had in fact been previously irradiated. These reported findings confer additional traceability choice to the global market of irradiated foods that may consequently, raise confidences among concerned parties.


The primary goal of this paper has been to address the question of rationality and subjectivity in mortgage contract choice decisions. These decisions are important because the size of a mortgage and the financial features of a mortgage contract are suggested to have important implications for both the household's welfare and the stability of the financial system. Thus far, most of the existing literature has focused upon normative implications for rational mortgage choice decisions, providing only the one direction in generating both theoretical foundations and informing specifications in existing empirical studies. What is missing in the mortgage market literature is that the underlying forces leading to risky and uninformed financial choices may not be explained solely by supply and demand factors, but should account for subjectivity and irrationality within suboptimal mortgage choice decisions. This paper addresses these questions and explores whether, in addition to the supply and demand side factors, subjective considerations may partially explain observed/ex-post mortgage type decisions. This is achieved by employing a theoretical model comprising of a two reduced form equations applying three stage least squares and maximum likelihood estimation techniques. For the first time, cross-sectional estimations utilise data extracted from the Understanding Society Survey Data for the newly originated mortgage contracts, covering the period from 2009 to 2014. This periodical frame covers the UK's variable market share peak, which is also a period of changing mortgage lending conditions and introduction of financial literacy measures.Empirical results detect that subjective anticipation for the improvements in social status and expectations of better income increases likelihood of variable mortgage debt. Ability to take risks offers surprising results, suggesting that risk takers tend to prefer fixed rate mortgage options. The results also suggest that psychological reasons may explain why ARM borrowers tend to ignore the associated risk factors when choosing type of mortgage debt. The altering effect of time variation did not show significant results, empirically detecting persistent existence of the subjectivity in mortgage choice considerations. Policy implications may include development of training and financial literacy programs


This study examines issues of racism and sexism through the lens of Critical Race Theory
and the interaction of personal and composite narratives. Specifically, the study explores
how mainstream media's hegemonic portrayal of South Asian culture and the 2007 socalled honour killing of Aqsa Parvez contribute to post-9/11 Islamophobia. The
researcher presents a personal narrative that draws upon her experiences growing up in
Dubai, U.A.E., and in Ontario, Canada and critically analyzes majoritarian stories related
to Parvez as well as "counter-perspectives" that challenge such views. Study findings
highlight the impact of 9/11 and Parvez's murder on the researcher's identity formation,
and how media portray Muslim women as oppressed beings who live under the yoke of
patriarchy. Results also indicate that although certain articles offer a counter-perspective
that challenge dominant narratives, most recent media representations of the Parvez story
equate Islam with honour killings and thus foster continued Islamophobia.


Among many other things, the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 requires large bank holding companies and systemically important non-bank financial institutions to prepare plans for their resolution – living wills – in case they experience financial distress. Living wills have emerged as one of the few innovative aspects of recent financial regulatory reforms around the globe, and yet they have attracted relatively little attention and commentary compared to other reforms. Living wills have the potential to be a significant tool for financial regulators who aim to avoid systemic crises and taxpayer bailouts, but much depends on regulatory design and practice. With questions of design and practice in mind, this Essay emphasizes some basic similarities between living wills and proposals to allow parties to pre-commit with respect to bankruptcy. Like contracting about bankruptcy, living wills potentially involve firms making some form of commitment or strong prediction regarding their insolvency-state treatment. Considering the nascent living wills regime through the lens of this literature on bankruptcy law underscores some important potential consequences of regulatory design. Most notably, if living wills do purport to reflect some meaningful degree of commitment, and if the contents of the wills are disclosed to regulated firms' counter-parties, these counter-parties are likely to adjust to the plans if they can. Thus, financial regulators should be mindful of the potential ex ante effects of living wills and they should aim clarify to market participants as much as possible how they intend to utilize the wills in the event of a firm's financial distress.


Using survey data collected from 260 children, adolescents, and young adults between the ages of 9 and 26, this paper offers evidence for a relationship between social networking site use and Imaginary Audience, a developmental variable in which adolescents believe others are thinking about them at all times. Specifically, after controlling for a number of variables, results indicate a significant, positive relationship between social networking site use and Imaginary Audience ideation. Additionally, results indicate a positive relationship between Imaginary Audience ideation and Facebook customization practices. Together, these findings provide evidence, based on Vygotskian developmental theory, for a general consideration of the role that currently available tools, in this case social networking sites, can have on development. Thus, findings implicate both the role of development on social networking site use, as well as the role of social networking site use on development. Overall, these findings have important implications for the study of media and human development, which are discussed in detail.


As a staunch ally of NATO whose actions were easy to predict, Turkey did not attract much attention as a foreign policy actor until a decade ago. The increasing activism of Turkish foreign policy and the greater initiative taken by Turkish elites have raised interest in Europe. After overcoming the first wave of bewilderment and irritation at Turkey's independent foreign policy initiatives, Europeans have started to develop a more nuanced approach towards the specifics of Turkish foreign policy. Currently, debates over Turkey are not confined to EU accession discussion alone. Instead, they consider the implications of Turkey's more assertive foreign policy as well. As Europe has become more familiar with Turkey, AK Party's foreign policy has been more positively received in Europe. Turkey is now considered an essential foreign policy voice by the majority of European intellectuals — one that cannot be ignored in any diplomatic developments within Turkey's greater region. Nonetheless, positive perception of Turkish foreign policy is not without question marks and confusion regarding objectives of Turkish foreign policy. The study at hand aims to analyze European elites' perceptions of Turkish Foreign Policy under AK party period. The policy brief is made up of three parts. The first part of the policy report gives a brief introduction to the evolution of Turkish Foreign Policy under the AK Party period. The second part attempts to reveal overall perceptions of Turkish Foreign Policy among European elite. The third part of the policy report places the focus on what European elite think of the main debates that Turkish foreign policy has generated over the last few years: Shift of Axis, Turkish Model, Over-Stretch in Turkish Foreign Policy and neo-Ottomanism.


This article provides motivation for examining small geographic units of analysis based on a causal logic framework. Local, spatial, and contextual effects are confounded when using larger units of analysis, as well as treatment effect heterogeneity. I relate these types of confounds to all types of aggregation problems, including temporal aggregation, and aggregation of dependent or explanatory variables. Unlike prior literature critiquing the use of aggregate level data, examples are provided where aggregation is unlikely to hinder the goals of the particular research design, and how heterogeneity of measures in smaller units of analysis is not a sufficient motivation to examine small geographic units. Examples of these confounds are presented using simulation with a dataset of crime at micro place street units (i.e. street segments and intersections) in Washington, D.C.


The diagnostic likelihood ratio function, DLR, is a statistical measure used to evaluate risk prediction markers. The goal of this paper is to develop new methods to estimate the DLR function. Furthermore, we show how risk prediction markers can be compared using rank-invariant DLR functions. Various estimators are proposed that accommodate cohort or case-control study designs. Performances of the estimators are compared using simulation studies. The methods are illustrated by comparing a lung function measure and a nutritional status measure for predicting subsequent onset of major pulmonary infection in children suffering from cystic fibrosis. For continuous markers, the DLR function is mathematically related to the slope of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, an entity used to evaluate diagnostic markers. We show that our methodology can be used to estimate the slope of the ROC curve and illustrate use of the estimated ROC derivative in variance and sample size calculations for a diagnostic biomarker study.


Over the last years there has been a debate about the "structural change" in emerging economies and their impact on the understanding of development. New types of structuralisms are discussed using the concept of value chain in certain production sectors that have undergone significant changes. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the debate about the structural change of the Argentine grape-wine growing sector using the dual analysis of "Strengths and Governance". First of all, we wish to point out that viticultural production is carried out in imperfect markets where prices are the result of an asymmetric negotiation between the purchasing power of a demand that is concentrated in a few firms and an atomized supply that is in the hands of thousands of producers. We analyze the strengths resulting from the interaction between the internal factors characteristic of the production unit and the external forces that operate within a given business organization. We describe the manner in which the supplier is related to the resources and the markets. We combine the above analysis with the governance approach, which refers to the manner in which the relationship among the several actors engaged in grape-wine growing is governed. We also analyze the relationships between firms and institutional mechanisms through which coordination actions are implemented outside the market. Emphasis is laid on the importance of explicitly incorporating institutionality into the analysis of the grape-wine growing sector chain so as to make sure that enforcement agencies comply with decisions reached by "consensus". One first conclusion of the study refers to the complementariness of both approaches and, in both cases, there is a continuous segment that spans from "decentralized coordination to a more centralized one". By learning how value chains are governed, it is possible to know how they affect suppliers' "upgrade" (increasing the added value of the chain through innovation). The upgrade is illustrated with a case study in which the knowledge acquired by the innovative firm is spread within the grape-wine growing sector, giving rise to a positive externality that may be internalized by means of suitable public policy instruments.


When people pose questions in natural language to search for information on the web, the role of question answering (QA) systems becomes important. In this paper the QAsystem simpleQA, capable of answering Dutch questions on which the answer is a person or a location, is described. The system's algorithm does not use a lot of complex NLP-techniques, but instead uses the magnitude of and redundancy on the World Wide Web to its advantage. The system has been evaluated on the DISEQuA corpus and performed quite well: MRR near 0.5. For further improvements it can easily be extended by adding more rewrite rules and applying more sophisticated filtering and tiling.


Query formulation and efficient navigation through data to reach relevant results are undoubtedly major challenges for image or video retrieval. Queries of good quality are typically not available and the search process needs to rely on relevance feedback given by the user, which makes the search process iterative. Giving explicit relevance feedback is laborious, not always easy, and may even be impossible in ubiquitous computing scenarios. A central question then is: Is it possible to replace or complement scarce explicit feedback with implicit feedback inferred from various sensors not specifically designed for the task? In this paper, we present preliminary results on inferring the relevance of images based on implicit feedback about users' attention, measured using an eye tracking device. It is shown that, in reasonably controlled setups at least, already fairly simple features and classifiers are capable of detecting the relevance based on eye movements alone, without using any explicit feedback.


This article focuses on word order in subordinate clauses in the history of Swedish, mainly Old Swedish ( c. 1225–1526) and Early Modern Swedish (1526–1732). In Old Swedish, subordinate clauses could have the same word order as main clauses with respect to the internal order between the finite verb and a sentence adverbial. This marks a clear contrast to Modern Swedish with its particular subordinate clause word order marked by the pre-finite placement of the sentence adverbial. By using variationist methods this article takes a sociolinguistic approach to syntactic change, arguing that the word order variation in subordinate clauses in the history of Swedish has to be explained in two different ways. During 1225–1450 the modern word order is restricted to subordinate clauses with pronominal subjects, and as long as the modern word order is restricted to clauses with pronominal subjects it is argued that the variation between old and modern subordinate clause word order can be described as a micro-variation in a system with obligatory verb movement and different subject positions. In Late Old Swedish, however, the modern subordinate clause word order started to occur also with non-pronominal subjects. The possibility of using the modern subordinate clause word order pattern independently of the subject type cannot be accounted for within one system with obligatory verb movement but instead reflects a macro-variation between two coexisting systems (with or without verb movement). During Early Modern Swedish one of these systems became predominant, and it is argued that this change is dependent on the sociolinguistic situation in 17th-century Sweden.


The ISS-based CALET (CALorimetric Electron Telescope) detector can play an important role in indirect search for Dark Matter (DM), measuring the electron+positron flux in the TeV region for the first time directly. With its fine energy resolution of approximately 2% and good proton rejection ratio (1:105) it has the potential to search for fine structures in the Cosmic Ray (CR) electron spectrum. In this context we discuss the ability of CALET to discern between signals originating from astrophysical sources and DM decay. We fit a parametrization of the local interstellar electron and positron spectra to current measurements, with either a pulsar or 3-body decay of fermionic DM as the extra source causing the positron excess. The expected CALET data for scenarios in which DM decay explains the excess are calculated and analyzed. The signal from this particular 3-body DM decay which can explain the recent measurements from the AMS−02 experiment is shown to be distinguishable from a single pulsar source causing the positron excess by 5 years of observation with CALET, based on the shape of the spectrum. We also study the constraints from diffuse γ-ray data on this DM-only explanation of the positron excess and show that especially for the possibly remaining parameter space a clearly identifiable signature in the CR electron spectrum exists.


Rethinking the "Urban Sociology". Part two: from a need of consistency to an unpredictability hypothesis - I come back to the debate which was begun in the "first part". Now, I focus on the concept of "structure" as a basic moment in the empirical research on the territory (in particular, the concept of perceived structure will be considered). After that, I will stress the connection between science and technology, and the importance to insert them in an Urban Sociology debate (Heidegger and the concept of Ge-Steel). Then, I will conclude putting into evidence the difficulty in territory fruition. Key words: social morphology, structured territorial context, safety/technology, ontology of decline.


This paper historically and analytically examines the official records of the Huang Chao rebellion in order to better understand both what avenues of resistance were open to common people during the Tang dynasty and how common people were represented in the historical record. Huang Chao was a rebel leader during the late Tang dynasty; he and his followers successfully marauded through China from 875 until his death in 884 C.E. During that time, he conquered and sacked many important cities of the empire, such as Guangzhou and the capital city, Chang'an. This decade-long rebellion has been labeled the chief reason for the fall of the Tang dynasty. The central question that will be examined is what factors of late Tang society caused the rebellion to occur and to be so successful, and how was the rebellion later reconstructed by official historians. This paper proposes that the rebellion of Huang Chao had its roots in the extreme social instability and heavy financial burdens placed on the peasants; however, the recording of the event in official histories moralized the events as the conjunction of corrupt or inept officials and persuasive but evil-minded bandits. By critically analyzing the official dynastic histories of the Tang, using a post-structuralist methodology, it is possible to uncover the official historians' biases, and come to a greater understanding of the society and events of the period. Particular attention will be paid to the methods official historians used to direct the reader's sympathy and attention. Non-Chinese sources, primarily Arabic descriptions, will also be used, both to highlight features that all accounts noted, and to fill in details that the Chinese accounts leave out. Discussion will also be made of the significance of the events verified and the events omitted from the Chinese official histories. This paper contributes to the discussion of subaltern agency, peasant resistance and historical memory, as well as to the structure of the early relationship between Chinese society and foreigners.


Introduction: Physical activity has beneficial effects in the prevention of metabolic syndrome components. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of circuit resistance training on changes in fasting blood glucose, blood fat and blood pressure in females with type II diabetes. Materials and Methods: In this study, twenty females volunteers with diabetes Type II (aged 50.2±4.8yr, BMI 30.16±3.6 kg/m2) participated and were randomly divided into a circuit resistance training and a control group aged 51.3±6.63yr, BMI 30.5±4.8 kg/m2. Circuit resistance training included of leg extensions, lying leg curl, bench press, cable triceps pushdown, frontarm, leg press, cable Row and sit-ups with 40-65 % 1RM for 3 days a week. Blood pressure and body composition was measured before starting the training protocol and after the last training session. Changes from baseline were assessed using the paired sample t-test. In addition, pre-and-post comparisons between groups were analyzed, using the independent student t-test. Results: Results showed significant changes in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (P<0.03) and total cholesterol (TC)(P<0.02) between these two groups after intervention, whereas no significant changes occurred in fasting blood sugar, triglycerides (TG), highdensity lipoprotein (HDL-C), lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL-C), levels or in systolic or diastolic blood pressure, or waist to hip ratio (WHR). Conclusions: Circuit resistance training with 40-65%1RM can decrease glycosylated hemoglobin and total cholesterol in patients and plays an important role in improving symptoms of metabolic syndrome in patients.


Atopic dermatitis is a very common inflammatory skin disease, particularly in children. A systematic review of randomised controlled trials of treatments for atopic dermatitis (AD) was carried out to assess how many trials exist, what they cover, what they do not cover, the research gaps, provide a 'blue print' for future Cochrane Reviews and assist those making treatment recommendations by summarising the available RCT evidence, using descriptive statistics. The Cochrane Collaboration systematic review process formed the basis of the methodology, from which over 4000 studies were located via electronic database searches and hand searching of journals. A total of 292 trials were finally included covering 9 treatment groups and over 48 individual treatments. There are lots of trials covering lots of interventions but gaps are evident. However, there is evidence of a benefit in the treatment of atopic dermatitis with topical corticosteroids, psychological approaches, UV light, ascomycin derivatives, topical tacrolimus and oral cyclosporin. Treatments that show limited evidence of a benefit include non-sedatory antihistamines, topical doxepin, the oral antibiotic Cefadroxil on clinically infected AD, the topical antibacterial Mupirocin on clinically uninfected AD, Chinese herbs, hypnotherapy and biofeedback, massage therapy, dietary manipulation, house dust mite reduction, patient education, emollients, allergen antibody complexes of house dust mite and thymic extracts. Treatments that show no evidence of benefit include sedatory antihistamines, oral sodium cromoglycate, oral antibiotics on clinically uninfected AD, topical antibacterials, topical antifungals, aromatherapy essential oils, borage oil, fish oil, evening primrose oil, enzyme-free clothes detergent, cotton clothing, house dust mite hyposensitisation, salt baths, topical coal tar, topical cyclosporin and platelet-activating-factor antagonist. When interpreting the conclusions of this thesis it is important to understand that lack of evidence does not equal lack of efficacy, particularly considering the interventions that are commonly in use today to treat atopic dermatitis that have not been subjected to RCTs, such as occlusive dressings, water softening devices and stress management among many others.


Mutations in genes encoding proteins expressed in skeletal muscle cause a significant number of human diseases. Neuromuscular diseases are often severely debilitating for affected individuals, frequently leading to a shortened life span. Identifying the cause of these muscle diseases has provided insight not only into disease pathogenesis and muscle dysfunction, but also into the normal function of muscle. In 1987, dystrophin became the first disease-related human gene to be identified by positional cloning. Dystrophin is an integral component of the membrane-attached cytoskeleton of muscle fibres, with mutations in this gene causing Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy. One group of proteins known as the dystrophin-associated protein complex (DAPC), is believed to provide a molecular link between the actin cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix in muscle cells, thereby sustaining sarcolemmal integrity during muscle contraction. Mutations in many members of the DAPC cause a variety of diseases, emphasising the importance of these genes. Another group of important proteins in skeletal muscle is the intermediate filament family, which provides mechanical strength and a supporting framework within the muscle cell. They anchor actin thin filaments through their expression at the Z-disk in sarcomeres, which in turn interact with myosin thick filaments to cause muscle contraction. This chapter will explore the protein components of the DAPC and the intermediate filament complex, highlighting a novel protein, which links the two, syncoilin. Human diseases and studies of existing animal models caused by mutations in these genes will also be described.


Autoimmune diseases are traditionally viewed as an outcome of a chaotic situation in which an individual's immune system reacts against the body's own proteins. In multiple sclerosis, a disease of the white matter of the central nervous system (CNS), the immune attack is directed against myelin proteins. In this article, the authors propose a paradigm shift in the perception of autoimmune disease. They suggest that an autoimmune disease may be viewed as a by-product of the malfunctioning of a physiological autoimmune response whose purpose is protective. The proposed view is based on observations by their group suggesting that an autoimmune response is the body's own mechanism for coping with CNS damage. According to this view, all individuals are endowed with the potential ability to evoke an autoimmune response to CNS injuries. However, the inherent ability to control this response so that its beneficial effect will be expressed is limited and is correlated with the individual's inherent ability to resist autoimmune disease induction. The same autoimmune T cells are responsible for neuroprotection and for disease development. In patients with CNS trauma or neurodegenerative disorders, it might be possible to gain maximal autoimmune protection and avoid autoimmune disease induction by boosting the immune response, using myelin-associated peptides that are nonpathogenic or antigens that simulate the activities of such peptides. In patients with multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases, where the aim is to block the autoimmune disorder while deriving the potential benefit of the autoimmune response, the effect of treatment should be immunomodulatory rather than immunosuppressive. In this article, the authors present a novel concept of protective autoimmunity and propose that autoimmune disease is a by-product of failure to sustain it. They summarize the basic findings that led them to formulate the new concept and offer an explanation for the commonly observed presence of cells and antibodies directed against self-components in healthy individuals. The therapeutic implications of the new concept and their experimental findings are discussed.


Policies and external shocks affecting agriculture, the main source of income for rural households, can be expected to have a significant impact on poverty. The authors study the case of Uganda. Throughout the 1990s, more than 90 percent of its poor lived in rural areas and, during the same period, large international price fluctuations as well as an extensive domestic deregulation affected the coffee sector, its main source of export revenues. Using data from three household surveys covering the 1990s, the authors confirm a strong correlation between changes in coffee prices (in a liberalized market) and poverty reduction. This is highlighted by comparing the performance of different households grouped according to their dependence on coffee farming. Regression analysis (based on pooled data from the three surveys) of consumption expenditure on coffee-related variables, other controls, and time-fixed effects corroborates that the mentioned correlation is not spurious. The authors also find that while both poor and rich farmers enter the coffee sector, the price boom benefits the poorer households relatively more, whereas the liberalization seems to create more opportunities for richer farmers. Finally, notwithstanding the importance of the coffee price boom, the agricultural policy framework and the thorough structural reforms in which the coffee market liberalization was embedded have certainly played a role in triggering overall agricultural growth. These factors appear to matter especially in the second half of the 1990s when prices went down but poverty reduction continued.


Background The relationship between the impact generated by diverse traumatic situations as wars, terrorist attacks and natural disasters with mortality in different regions of the world has been documented in clinical and experimental studies. A recent study showed that, in the absence of natural disasters or wars, financial crises might have a negative impact on cardiovascular mortality. The current experience suggests that financial crises could have a significant influence on health. Objectives To describe the trends in cardiovascular mortality rates (CVMR) in Argentina between 1995 and 2005, and to explore if there is a close temporal relationship with the changes in trends of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as indicator of economic and financial crisis. Material and Methods The annual CVMR per 100,000 persons was calculated using the information obtained from the database of the Ministry of Health (9th and 10th International Classification of Diseases). The following causes of death were considered: heart failure (HF), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) and stroke (CVA). The population estimates used as the denominator were obtained from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses. Two economic crises were identified: the Southeast Asia crisis (1998-1999) and the end of the convertibility system (2001-2002). Joinpoint models were used to evaluate changes in trends. Results GDP showed an increasing trend (slope = 17.18) from 1995 to 1998, which decreased in the period 1998-2002 (slope = ‑12.90) and increased from 2002 to 2005 (slope = 19.88); CVMR decreased by 24.72% (from 474.9 to 357.5 per 100,000). The joinpoint model identified three slopes in CVMR: from 1995 to 1997 (‑17.94), a descending slope until 2002 (‑6.8) and an increasing slope until 2005 (slope ‑16.73). Mortality rates due to HF, MI and CVA had a similar trend, decreasing by 22.95%, 16.89% and 38.06%, respectively. Conclusions The close temporal relationship between the relative increase in cardiovascular mortality and the reduction of GDP might consider economic and financial crises as a novel psychosocial risk factor.


Imagine a cake that must be divided between a group of gluttonous children. To complicate matters, the cake is heterogeneous: two pieces of cake may differ in terms of their toppings, so the children have different preferences over the pieces (one may prefer a larger proportion of chocolate curls, while another may single-mindedly desire the piece with the cherry). In this chapter we discuss the surprisingly intricate problem of fairly dividing the cake — which serves as a metaphor for heterogeneous divisible resources such as land or time. The cake cutting problem has a long and storied history described, e.g., in the books by Brams and Taylor (1996) and Robertson and Webb (1998). The early research on the problem has two main themes: existence results showing that certain fairness guarantees can be achieved; and algorithmic results showing how such guarantees can be achieved. The focus of this chapter is on the latter theme, which has a more computational flavor. From a computer scientist's point of view, the cake cutting problem provides a sandbox in which we can explore the role of computational thinking in the allocation of divisible goods. Indeed, the elegant cake cutting model (Section 13.2) distills many of the issues we care about when studying divisible goods more broadly; for example, how to reason about computational complexity in the face of continuous inputs, and how to quantify the tradeoffs between individual fairness and global welfare.


Drawing explicitly upon the bodily techniques of military basic training and the corporeal competencies of ex-military personnel, military-themed fitness classes and physical challenges have become an increasingly popular civilian leisure pursuit in the UK over the last two decades. This paper explores the embodied regimes, experiences, and interactions between civilians and ex-military personnel that occur in these emergent hybrid leisure spaces. Drawing on ethnographic data, I argue that commercial military fitness involves a repurposing and rearticulation of collective military discipline within a late modern physical culture that emphasizes the individual body as a site of self-discovery and personal responsibility. Military fitness is thus a site of a particular biopolitics, of feeling alive in a very specific way. The intensities and feelings of physical achievement and togetherness that are generated emerge filtered through a particular military lens, circulating around and clinging to the totem of the repurposed ex-martial body. In the commercial logic of the fitness market, being 'military' and the ex-soldier's body have thus become particularly trusted and affectively resonant brands.


Metagenome is a mixture of different genomes and the analysis of its composition is, currently, a challenging problem of bioinformatics. In the present study, we attempt to solve this problem using DNAmarker primers-short nucleic acid fragments. Formally speaking, each primer maps a genome into a finite set of integral numbers. This set is called the genome spectrum for the given primer and is unique for each genome. The union of the genetic material of two genomes is mapped into the union of their spectra. Thus the metagenome spectrum always includes (covers) the spectra of the constituting genomes. A genome whose spectrum is not covered by the metagenome one, cannot be part of the metagenome, while the spectrum of a genome that is not included in the metagenome can accidentally be covered by the metagenome spectrum. However, if covering occurs for a few different primers, the probability of the genome inclusion in the metagenome can be estimated, the accuracy depending on the number of the primers used. In the present study, the estimations are made for the case of random primers and their effectiveness is assessed using the computer simulation of the RAPD technology.


This thesis work has examined and analyzed a new operating model in business incubation era, based on utilizing the second generation of web. The main objective of this survey is developing a model of representing many of business incubation services, by enlarging the network relationships between entrepreneurs (including innovative start-up firms), in order to let them share their own experiences, business knowledge, and abilities, in a mass-collaborative networking system. Business incubation is a dynamic process of enterprise development, which accelerates the successful development of start-up and fledging companies by providing entrepreneurs with an array of targeted resources and services. The basic idea of this survey is applying social aspect of web2.0 regarding to develop a new business model, based on the fact that many of business incubating services can be introduced and developed by the dynamic interactive correlation between different types of start-up firms, in which they can share their own experiences, as the extremely valuable practical guidelines for one another, in an open-source collaborative area. I believe that web2.0 aspect, especially social networking system, and Wiki can be utilized as the effective tools for facilitating and improving the entrepreneurs' communication, where a start-up firm would be helped by other entrepreneurs during its incubating and growth process.


Measurement of steady and fluctuating forces acting on a body in a flow is one of the main tasks in windtunnel experiments. In aerodynamic testing, strain gauge balances will usually be applied for this task as, particularly in the past, the main focus was directed on the measurement of steady forces. In many applications, however, balances based on piezoelectric multicomponent force transducers are a recommended alternative solution. Contrary to conventional strain gauge balances, a piezo balance features high rigidity and low interferences between the individual force components. High rigidity leads to very high natural frequencies of the balance itself, which is a prerequisite for applications in unsteady aerodynamics, particularly in aeroelasticity. Moreover for measurement of extremely small fluctuations, the possibility exists to exploit the full resolution independently from the preload.
Concerning the measurement of small, steady forces, the application of piezo balances is restricted due to a drift of the signal at constant load. However, this problem is not as critical as generally believed since simple corrections are possible.
The aim of this contribution is to give an impression of the possibilities, advantages and limitations offered by the use of piezoelectric balances. Several types of external balances are discussed for wall mounted models, which can be suspended one-sided or twin-sided. Additionally an internal sting balance is described, which is usually applied inside the model. Reports are given on selected measurements performed in very different windtunnels, ranging from low-speed to transonic, from short- to continuous running time and encompassing cryogenic and high pressure principles. The latter indicates that special versions of our piezo balances were applied down to temperatures of -150°C and at pressures of up to 100 bar.
The projects span from a wing/engine combination in a low-speed wind tunnel to flutter tests with a swept-wing performed in a Transonic Wind Tunnel, and include bluff bodies in a high pressure and cryogenic windtunnel, as well. These tests serve as examples for discussing the fundamental aspects that are essential in developing and applying piezo balances. The principle differences between strain gauge balances and piezo balances will also be discussed.


"Advanced Latin" offers a range of material to help students build and develop the knowledge and skills needed for A2 and Pre-U Latin. There are 24 translation/comprehension exercises, based on passages taken predominantly from Livy, Caesar and Ovid. These match exactly the requirements of A2, but the passages work equally well as unseens for those working towards Pre-U. Six further passages are offered for unseen translation only, and are designed to stretch the most able. There are then 12 passages of continuous prose for translation into Latin, each supported by notes to help the student; and an appendix that contains a comprehensive English-Latin vocabulary. To support the study of A2 and Pre-U literature, there are short commentaries on sample passages from each of the prescribed authors, demonstrating a variety of interpretative approaches. In addition, for each author there is an annotated bibliography, to guide both teacher and student to the most useful secondary literature available. A separate section focuses on the Pre-U unseen literary criticism option and offers six practice passages.


For wideband Multiple Input And Multiple Output (MIMO) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) wireless system, the fading selectivity in spatial-temporal-frequency domain and the variable network load and interference put a constraint on the system design. The traditional layered protocol design canpsilat adapt to these variance and results in low transmission efficiency. In this paper, a cross layer framework for multiuser radio resource management (RRM) in MIMO and OFDM system is proposed to optimise the system performance. Based on this, two cross layer scheduling algorithms based on Modified Proportional Fairness (MPF) and Quality Guaranteed (QG) priority function are designed for mixed Real Time (RT) and Non-Real Time (NRT) services in multiuser MIMO OFDM system. From the simulation results, QG&MPF has much better performance than M2PF. For 2times4 MIMO case, QG&MPF can support 40 RT user and 40 NRT users in 10 MHz bandwidth simultaneously, and the system throughput of QG&MPF can approach 32 Mbps; while M2PF can only support 15 RT users and 15 NRT users, and the system throughput is about 11.5 Mbps.


Introduction: Only a limited proportion of patients with psychiatric disorders attend the healthcare facilities, and that too when the condition becomes severe. Treatment from unqualified medical practitioners and faith healers is a common practice, and is attributable to the delay in proper treatment. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to understand the pathway of care adopted by psychiatric patients and its relationship with the socio-demographic determinants in the study population. The subjects were selected from urban specialty psychiatric hospitals and interviewed using a pre-tested, semi-structured interview schedule. The data was analyzed using SPSS v10.0 software. The Chi square test, T test, and Kruskall Wallis Test were used, as needed. Results: A total of 295 patients (203 males) were included in this study. The majority of the patients (45%) were suffering from Bipolar affective disorders (45%), followed by schizophrenia (36%). The majority, 203 (68%), were from the rural area, with 94 patients being illiterate. The mean distance traveled for treatment was 249 km. The majority of these (69%) had first contacted faith healers and a qualified psychiatrist was the first contacted person for only 9.2% of the patients. Conclusion: A large proportion of psychiatric patients do not attend any health facility due to a lack of awareness about treatment services, the distance, and due to the fear of the stigma associated with treatment. The psychiatric patients first seek the help of various sources prior to attending a psychiatric health facility. The pathway adopted by these patients need to be kept in mind at the time of preparation of the mental health program.


This dissertation consists of two chapters. The first chapter examines the valuation effect of the Q-hypothesis of mergers and acquisitions. The Q-hypothesis of mergers and acquisitions proposes that takeovers of low-Q targets by high-Q acquirers should be value creating as acquirers redeploy the targets' assets. I revisit the valuation effects of mergers and acquisitions by considering the potential costs of asset reallocation, impact from misvaluation, and the size of the reallocated assets. By examining the combined announcement returns and changes in operating performance, I find evidence consistent with both the benefits and costs of asset reallocation in the full sample of M&As from 1989 to 2010. Controlling for impact for market misvaluation in the proxy of Q, I find that the relation between value creation and the Q-difference is an inverse U-shape. This is direct evidence in support of the Q-hypothesis of M&As using firm-level data from after 1990. The results are not driven by the acquirer's corporate governance structure and the difference in industry. The second chapter investigates investigate the effect of CEO overconfidence on learning from the market in completing the announced mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Overconfident CEOs overestimate their ability to create value and believe that the market incorrectly values the firm. Therefore, they will be less likely to revise their M&A announcement according to unfavorable market reaction. I construct a proxy for CEO overconfidence based on the CEO's decisions on exercising options similar to Malmendier and Tate (2005, 2008). Controlling for the corporate governance structure of the firm, I find that an overconfident CEO is more likely to complete a bid despite unfavorable market feedback. I do not find my results are driven by alternative interpretations including managerial quality and private information.


This report, commissioned from Knowledge Exchange (KE), is an overview and synthesis of the evolving landscape of Federated Research Data Infrastructures (FRDIs) in the six KE partner countries: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The fieldwork and study underlying the report were undertaken by InformAll CIC during the first half of 2017, on the basis of interviews with experts from a range of organisations that run federated infrastructures in the respective countries.

The report reaches nine broad conclusions. It first considers the issues and background to the study, then the methodology deployed, before synthesising and analysing the information gathered during the fieldwork. This information is structured to address the following: what is understood by 'federated'; drivers for FRDIs (push factors and meeting demand); operation of the infrastructures; data-related practices; training and skills; challenges and obstacles; outcomes and impact; and implications for the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).


Aflatoxin, which known as toxigenic compound, is a secondary metabolite produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. Aflatoxin is found in both food and feed stuffs, such as: corn and peanut. Aflatoxin standard is needed in every research of aflatoxin contamination. But it is rather difficult to get. It is imported, high costs, and take times. The aim of the research is to assess the potential local isolate of A. flavus to producing aflatoxin that can be used to be the alternative aflatoxin standard. Local mold of A. flavus FNCC 6122 and FNCC 6109 are got from PAU University of Gadjah Mada. Isolate was enriched on PDA medium for 5 days and move to corn medium of corn+peanut combine medium for  10-15 day at 25oC. The variables was the content of AFB1 by ELISA test. The result is shown that isolat FNCC 6122 produced higher AFB1 than isolate FNCC 6109. The combine of corn and peanut medium stimulated FNCC 6122 to produce higher AFB1 and has potency to be the candidate of standard aflatoxin. In conclusion, the peanut addition on the medium would initiate increasing of the aflatoksin B1 level.


Immediately after a traumatic event, almost all people suffer from intrusive thoughts about what took place (McFarlane, 1992). In addition, trauma victims can experience intrusive brief sensory fragments of the trauma, irritability, mood swings, and (emotional) numbing__all of which are a normal part of the recovery process (Ehlers & Clark, 2000). Within three months of the trauma, many victims recover, however, in a significant subgroup of victims, trauma symptoms can persist for years (APA, 2000; Ehlers & Clark, 2000). In this subgroup of trauma victims who receive the diagnosis PTSD, clear and vivid memories of the traumatic event regularly intrude into consciousness with an immediate sensory and emotional intensity that gives the victims the feeling that the traumatic event is happening over again, and at this very moment in time and place (Ehlers & Clark, 2000). The core problem in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is that the memory of the trauma is not integrated and accepted as being part of the trauma victim's own personal past (van der Kolk, 1996). Instead the trauma memory comes to exist separately from other ordinary autobiographical (personal) memories. This paper has been done independently, in an effort to answer the following questions regarding the re-experiencing symptoms of PTSD: Where is the memory storage system for trauma autobiographical memories? Is it the same memory storage system that contains ordinary (non-trauma) autobiographical memories? How do the memory system(s) involved in intrusive memories operate to enhance and /or inhibit their retrieval? How can the PTSD phenomena of "flashbacks" and "affect without recollection" be explained? Are the contents of flashbacks meaningful? If so, in what way? Finally: How and why does dissociation sometimes occur in trauma victims? In light of these questions, two relevant cognitive-behavioral theories will be presented and analyzed: (1) a "cognitive model of PTSD" (Ehlers & Clark, 2000), which suggests that PTSD becomes persistent in trauma victims who have negative appraisals of the event and are unable to re-tell what happened during the event in a coherent way, due to a disturbance in autobiographical memory; and (2) "dual representation theory" (Brewin, Dalgleish, & Joseph, 1996), which suggests that there exists two separate, and distinct memory storage systems, one which contains ordinary autobiographical memories, and another which contains trauma autobiographical memories. Additionally, I propose in this paper, a 2-system memory theory of how the mechanisms of intrusive memory might work. The model is consistent with the main clinical features of PTSD, draws on some of the previous research contributions of other authors,


Phage display is a powerful technology for selection of novel binding functions from large populations of peptide or antibody fragments. From a sufficiently complex library, phage bearing peptides or antibodies with practically any desired binding activity can be physically isolated by affinity selection, and, since each particle carries in its genome the genetic information for its own replication, the selectants can be amplified in bacteria. Existing display systems are based mostly on the filamentous phage M13. It is a powerful technology, but it has limitations for certain applications. Our work has concentrated on development of a new display platform based on virus-like particles (VLPs) of bacteriophage MS2, which addresses some of these limitations. The work presented here has two main foci – the display of single-chain antibody fragments (scFvs) on the MS2 VLP surface and the affinity selection of epitopes and epitope mimic from random sequence peptide libraries using monoclonal antibodies as targets. Here we demonstrate the display of several different scFvs via genetic fusion at the C-terminus of the MS2 coat protein single-chain dimer, including the following: M18 (scFv against anthrax protective antigen), AF-20 (scFv against AF-20 antigen, found on hepatocellular carcinoma cells), and scFv26/scFv66 (scFvs against Nipah virus G and F protein, respectively). Work with M18 demonstrates successful scFv incorporation into the MS2 VLP and intact antibody structure and function. VLPs displaying scFv AF-20 were used in both confocal microscopy and FACS experiments to demonstrate that these scFv-bearing VLPs can be specifically targeted to cells expressing the receptor. The functionality of VLPs displaying scFv26 or scFv66 was demonstrated in neutralization assays with NiV G proteinpseudotyped vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). We also demonstrate the affinity selection of epitopes and epitope mimics from libraries of random sequence peptide displayed within the AB-loop of the MS2 VLP. Several different antibodies recognizing both protein and carbohydrate antigens were used as the selection targets. They included the following: the 2C7 and 2-1-L8 (monoclonal antibodies directed to lipooligosaccharide of Neisseria gonorrhoeae), MDVP-55A and GTX29202 (antibodies against a discontinuous epitope of the [vii] envelope protein of Dengue virus); MCA5792 (an antibody against the peptidoglycan of Staphylococcus aureus); and 2H1 (an antibody to the capsular glucuronoxylomannan (GXM) of the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans, and SYA/J6 (which recognizes the lipopolysaccharide of Shigella flexneri). From these selections, families of potential mimotopes were developed, and tested for activity with the selecting antibody and (in some cases) were used in mouse immunizations to attempt to promote an immune response against the original antigen. In the cases where immunizations were attempted, high-titer antibodies were generated that bound to the original antigen, suggesting the suitability of the MS2 VLP platform for identification of mimotopes for diverse epitope types.


The United States has recently seen falling test scores for mathematics problem solving in comparison to other countries. This paper reviews current approaches to diagnosing mathematics problem solving, and then introduces emerging technologies being developed at Educational Testing Service that address open areas found in the review. The application of these technologies to assessment design must be weighed against concerns for construct validity, equity, and access. The validity question is addressed by using evidence-centered design (ECD) methods to build an evidentiary argument. An innovative project called Mathematics Intervention Module (MIM) for helping students improve their mathematical problem solving skills is described that uses ECD methods in concert with the emerging technologies, with a focus on diagnosis, feedback, practice, and items that integrate targeted knowledge and skills.


DOI: 10.6007/IJARBSS/v3-i11/322 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v3-i11/322 Abstract: This study aims to investigate the effects of organizational structure on the entrepreneurial orientation of the employees in metal industries of Kaveh Industrial City of Iran. The research was conducted in 2012. The methodology of this research is functional according to its objective, and it is a descriptive survey according to its data collection method, and it is a quantitative research due to the type of its data that have been collected by questionnaire. In order to assess the dimensions of the organizational structure we have used Robin's Standard Questionnaire and in order to measure the entrepreneurial orientations, we have used Dess and Lumpkin's standard questionnaire of entrepreneurial orientation. The pollution of the research was included 4700 employee involved in metal industries of Kavek Industrial City, among whom, 355 people was selected as the research sample by using Cochran formula and sampling method of relational stratified random sampling method. Then we applied Spearman's regression test and multi-regression (in SPSS) and the Structural Equation Modeling (in LISREL) to analyze the data. The analysis showed that the organizational structure has a positive significant effect on the entrepreneurial orientation of the employees of the organization. The finding of this research can help the managers of the metal industry identify the weaknesses and strengths of their organizational structure and the appearance of people's orientations and behaviors toward the entrepreneurial activities.


This paper reports research into an interface between industry robots and Virtual Reality systems and creates a virtual robot for robot arm simulation, control language conversion, physical communication, robot networking and teleoperation control. The paper is based on an integrated manufacturing networking software which includes a PUMA robot, a Lansing welding robot, and CNC machines. The aim of the research is to combine VR and robot technology for system testing, to establish VR based simulation workshop for defining and checking robot arm movement trajectory, eliminating the chance of potential collision. The paper also presents a system that can interpret the recognised operations into operator-level commands using task-dependent interpretation rules and a world model. A robot executes the defined task in the workspace by replicating operator's movements in the virtual workspace.


Blooms of the benthic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis have been related to sporadic acute respiratory symptoms and general malaise in people exposed to marine aerosols on some Mediterranean beaches. However, the direct link between recurrent Ostreopsis blooms and health problems has not been clearly established. In order to establish and elucidate the connection, we conducted a joint ecology and epidemiology study in an Ostreopsis hot spot. Throughout the bloom, which extended from the end of June until the end of October 2013, 81% of the human cohort that we studied experienced at least one Ostreopsis -related symptom. Paradoxically, the time when the effects were greatest was during a short time window in early August. This corresponded to the transition from the exponential growth to the stationary phase of the bloom. Negligible symptoms were reported from August to mid-October, during the stationary period of the proliferation, when O . cf. ovata maintained high concentrations of epiphytic cells. No clear patterns in the landward wind component were noted during the time when health effects were greatest. Our main hypothesis is that the irritants present in the aerosol are produced during a particular physiological phase of the Ostreopsis cells during the bloom.


OBJECTIVE Is an increased incidence of severe hypoglycemia an unavoidable effect of improved metabolic control? And, if so, to what extent? RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In 1992–1994, severe hypoglycemia was prospectively registered in our intensively treated IDDM population, 146 children 1–18 years of age with > 90% of the patients on ≥ 4 insulin injections per day. The two categories, "severe hypoglycemia with unconsciousness" (U hypoglycemia) and "severe hypoglycemia without unconsciousness but needing the assistance of another person" (NU hypoglycemia), were analyzed in relation to yearly mean HbA1c levels, insulin doses and proportion of short-acting insulin, age at onset, duration of diabetes, age, sex, and weight-to-height ratio. RESULTS Yearly mean HbA1c levels improved from 8.1 ± 1.6% in 1992 to 6.9 ± 1.3% in 1994. The yearly incidence of U hypoglycemia was 0.15–0.19 events per patient-year, seen in 10–16% of patients, showing no significant increase from 1992–1994. For NU hypoglycemia, slightly increasing figures from 1.01 to 1.26 events per patient-year, seen in 27–38% of patients yearly, were reported. There was no significant correlation between severe (U or NU) hypoglycemia and HbA1c, but still an association was seen in certain calculations. In multiple regression analysis, U hypoglycemia was not related to any factor, but the square root of the rate of NU hypoglycemia was related to lower HbA1c levels (P = 0.0003), higher insulin doses (IU · kg−1 · 24 h−1) (P = 0.0024), and a lower proportion of short-acting insulin out of the total daily insulin dose (P = 0.031). CONCLUSIONS Multiple-dose insulin therapy with rather low yearly mean HbA1c values causes a slight increase of NU hypoglycemia but no increase of U hypoglycemia in our population of children with IDDM. Near physiological HbA1c levels may be achieved without any pronounced risk of increasing the incidence of severe hypoglycemia when multiple-injection insulin therapy is combined with adequate self-control based on psychosocial support and active education.


Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is generally a highly vascular tumor, but the mechanisms of neovascularization that permit rapid growth have not been defined. Angiopoietins (Ang) recently have been identified as ligands for vascular endothelial-specific Tie2 receptor tyrosine kinase and may be important growth factors in the generation of new blood vessels. We investigated Ang expression in 23 samples of HCC and paired adjacent uninvolved liver samples to determine if these genes have a potential role in the growth and spread of this disease. The full coding sequence of a variant angiopoietin-2 (Ang2) cDNA was obtained from HCC specimens, and the biologic consequences of overexpression on tumor formation and hemorrhage were determined in an animal model system. Angiopoietin-1 (Ang1) was equally expressed in HCC and adjacent noncarcinomatous liver tissue. Surprisingly, Ang2 was found to be highly expressed only in tumor tissue. In addition, Ang2 was expressed in 10 of 12 hypervascular HCC, but only in 2 of 11 hypovascular HCC. Ectopic expression of Ang2 in nonexpressing HCC cells promotes the rapid development of human hepatomas and produces hemorrhage within tumors in nude mice. These results suggest a role for Ang2 in the neovascularization of HCC. This enhanced gene expression may contribute to the clinical hypervascular phenotype, as well as tumor formation and progression.


In the VW diesel scandal, automakers were found to be cheating with emission data, by e.g., tampering with on-board detection systems. We have calculated changes in the energy use and emissions of carbon dioxide equivalents that would arise through several options open to automakers, to ensure that the emission of nitrogen oxides is kept within the standards. Several studies show how manufacturers have also significantly underreported vehicles' actual fuel consumption. We explain our derivation of new factors for energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from diesel- and gasoline-powered passenger cars, as well as their electric hybrid varieties. The results of the analysis show that energy consumption and emissions of carbon dioxide equivalents will increase in the range of 18–21% for passenger cars with diesel and hybrid diesel engines, while for cars with gasoline and hybrid gasoline, the addition is 9–10%. The analysis highlights an environmental dilemma of current car technology, but also the path-dependent ways of thinking that have been prevalent within the automotive sector. From a sociotechnical sustainability transitions perspective, Dieselgate can be viewed as a case of "regime resistance", whereby incumbent actors seek to maintain the status quo.


[Extract] Every now and then a concept comes along that shifts fundamentally, and in an enduring way, the ways in which we think and act. Rather more often, concepts come along that promise much but change little. Concepts that look set to capture the zeitgeist only to prove passing fads. Misdirections perhaps. Reinventions of the wheel. Unnecessary layers of semantic complication. So what is it with the Anthropocene? Useful neologism or gratuitous jargon? There is no doubting the popularity of the term among environmental scientists and social scientists. Increasingly common reference to 'the Anthropocene' in publications across the natural and social sciences suggests scholars have accepted, by-and-large, the basic proposition that we humans have become a force of nature in our own right (Steffen et al.2007).It suggests we have accepted that our interventions in the Earth's biosphere are now so profound as to be written in its geological record. That the likely con-sequences are so great as to threaten undermining the climatic and ecological stability characteristic of the Holocene inter-glacial period. The great irony (or tragedy) in this being that we enter a period of heightened uncertainty which is entirely of our own making.


The way of designing, organizing and coordinating research activities in the policy making, planning, execution and evaluating stages holds a prominent situation leading to efficiency of national science, technology and innovation system. In accordance with a national law, master policy making and planning office of the president deputy of scientific and technological affairs, has evaluated science and technology policies notified to research institute affiliated with ministries and public organizations and has tried to take steps in the most fundamental layer of the subject regarding research policy making. To evaluate these institutes, self–assessment method have been selected and completed with site survey and semi– structured interviews. In this article, first the theoretical basis has been explained and regarding notified science and technology policies, the method, process and assessment results have been reviewed, then some proposals have been presented for more qualified evaluation.