Although the Faculty of Horticulture from Cluj-Napoca was founded in 1977, the higher education in horticulture has a long and important tradition and history in Transylvania, Romania. It started in 1869, when the Agricultural Institute Cluj, Manastur (today, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca), one of the oldest higher education life sciences centres from East-Central Europe, was created. This 'Agronomy Academia' was established due to the efforts of the Transylvanian Agricultural Association and the Status Romano-Catholicus Transylvaniensis , which rented to the Ministry of Agriculture 400 ha of land and the buildings of an old Benedictine monastery near a city that can track its routes back into the Roman Empire. For more than 140 years, the efforts and the predecessors contribution have been creating an important higher education and research institution. In 2012, to celebrate 35 years of excellence, the Faculty Council organised a special event in 'Aula Magna' of the University, in November the 29 th , 2012. It brought together special guests from partner institutions, forebears of the faculty, academic staff, students, graduates and members of the horticultural business, sustaining the Faculty's new mission of being a catalyst for the horticulture education and research. On this occasion, the prestigious honorific title of Doctor Honoris Causa was granted for two academic personalities, related to the faculty: Jaime Prohens, from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, and Ioan Vasile Abrudan, rector of the 'Transylvania' University from Brasov, Romania.


In the 2012 London Olympics, US gymnast Gabrielle Douglas stole hearts and flew high as the All-Around Gold Medal winner, as well as acting as a critical member of the US gold-medal-winning women gymnastics team. In this personal autobiography, Gabrielle tells her story of faith, perseverance, and determination, demonstrating you can reach your dreams if you let yourself soar.


A new technique to reduce the dominant phase-induced intensity noise (PIIN) in active high-Q recursive photonic signal processors is presented. This is based on using cross-gain-modulation effects in a semiconductor optical amplifier in the recursive loop of the processor. Two different laser sources are used, and no recombination of the optical power from the same laser source occurs in the optical domain, hence, PIIN generation is suppressed. The processor structure also features the advantage that it does not require an incoherent light source. Hence, the free spectral range of the processor is not limited by the coherence of the laser source, as in existing incoherent approaches. Experimental results for the new processor demonstrate a more-than-30-dB reduction in PIIN level for a high-Q bandpass filter, compared to the conventional approach for the same filtering parameters.


In Eurosis, Mitja Velikonja argues that Europe has become a totalising, umbrella-like meta-discourse that addresses everything. In doing so he argues that Europe offers a kind of 'state-formative and corporate platform of national unity'. Centrifugal departs from another position: the so-called peripheries of Europe, sites that have sometimes been formed through colonial relations with the 'old Europe', and that are now structured through a complex web of desire, resistance, adaptation and at best, oblique relations to the phantasm described by Velikonja.The Centrifugal project from which this book arises is a loose grouping of artists, educators, architects and theorists who have come together to develop mobile, speculative methodologies for investigating the spatial, political and economic forces producing contemporary ideas of Europe. The project is particularly concerned with finding resonances and affinities across the diverse spaces, histories and political imaginaries that inhabit the edges of Europe. So far the project has convened in London (Winter 2006) for a closed workshop, with exhibitions and other public programme in Zagreb (Spring 2007), Helsinki (Autumn 2007), and Belfast (Spring 2008); a further sequence is planned for Belfast in March 2010. Previous stages are documented at http://centri.wordpress.comThe Centrifugal Book of Europe is an elaboration on this process, with text and images from the group and from specially invited contributors. The book constitutes a 'map' of the social, cultural and political space of contemporary Europe - and of the phantasmic Europes that may yet be called into being. Guest contributors have been invited to participate in two ways: first, by invitation into this process described above, where they have been asked to refer to and reflect on the work produced by the core group of participants; secondly we have invited writers to re-print texts that have been pivotal to the group's work.The book is organised in three sections:MONSTERS: Who are the new aliens in a Europe that is constantly redefining and extending its geopolitical reach, and who are the groups or individuals whose existing 'monstrosity' is reaffirmed in the European ideal?ECONOMIES: What are the effective routes (formal and informal) of capital, of instrumentalised knowledge, of labour and of 'resistance' within this shifting territory?TERRITORIES: You Are Here - Where? How have the plans, textures and ideologies of particular urban spaces been developed in relation to ideas of Europe, peripherality and 'the outside'?


We provide the results of a critical literature survey on the reported sizes of single chain polymer nanoparticles (SCNPs), an emerging class of functional nanomaterials with sub-30 nm diameters. Comparing different size evaluation techniques (DLS, 2D DOSY NMR, viscometry as well as microscopic techniques) by plotting the SCNPs' estimated diameters, D, versus their measured (apparent) number average molecular weight, Mn, we demonstrate the vast data scatter that besets their analysis. We show that while relative reductions in measured diameter certainly indicate chain collapse, accurately describing the absolute size of SCNPs in solution remains a challenging task. Critically, conformation-size relationships emerge depending on the method used for size determination. We submit that the vast majority of reported sizes are only indicative of the relative size reduction during chain collapse and that absolute size determination approaches currently in use need to be further refined.


Abstract Nodular carbonates ("calcretes") in continental foreland-basin strata of the Early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation (CMF) in eastern Utah yield δ13C and δ18O records of changes in the exogenic carbon cycle related to oceanic anoxic events (OAEs), and terrestrial paleoclimate. Chemostratigraphic profiles of both forebulge and foredeep sections show two prominent positive δ13C excursions, each with a peak value of −3%0 VPDB, and having background δ13C values of about −6%0 VPDB. These excursions correlate with the global early Aptian (Ap7) and late Aptian–early Albian (Ap12-Al1) carbon isotope excursions. Aptian–Albian positive δ13C excursions in the CMF also correspond to 3–4 per mil increases in carbonate δ18O. These phenomena record local aridification events. The chemostratigraphic profile on the thinner forebulge section of the CMF is calibrated, for the first time, by a radiogenic U-Pb date of 119.4 ± 2.6 Ma on a carbonate bed, and by detrital zircon U-Pb dates on two bounding sandstone units (maximum depositional ages of 146 Ma and 112 Ma). Petrographic observations and diagenetic analyses of micritic to microsparitic carbonates from nodules indicate palustrine origins and demonstrate that they crystallized in shallow early meteoric phreatic environments. Meteoric calcite lines derived from CMF carbonates have δ18O values ranging between −8.1 to −7.5%0 VPDB, supporting an estimate of zonal mean groundwater δ18O of −6%0 VSMOW for an Aptian–Albian paleolatitude of 34° N. Furthermore, our two chemostratigraphic profiles exhibit a generally proportionate thinning of correlative strata from the foredeep on to the forebulge, suggesting that there were consistently lower rates of accumulation on the forebulge during the Aptian–Albian. Identification of the global Aptian–Albian δ13C excursions in purely continental strata, as demonstrated in this paper, opens a new avenue of research by identifying specific stratigraphic intervals that record the terrestrial paleoclimatic impacts of perturbations of the global carbon cycle.


International trade has been a major engine for economic growth and development in Asia and the Pacific. However, overall trade costs remain excessively high in many developing countries of the region. Part I of this publication provides an overview of trade costs in Asia and the Pacific, based on the most recent update of the ESCAP-World Bank Trade Cost Database. Policies and factors affecting international trade costs are identified. Key findings and implications from a micro-level analysis of trade procedures in a wide range of Asia- Pacific developing economies are also presented, along with highlights and recommendations from some of the most recent ESCAP studies on trade facilitation and trade costs in Asia-Pacific. Part II features abbreviated and updated versions of five of these studies, analyzing issues ranging from obstacles faced by SMEs in participating in international trade, to transit facilitation practices in existing trade and transport agreements, to agricultural trade costs, the impact of trade costs on foreign direct investment (FDI), and the potential export gains from implementation of paperless trade facilitation.


Increases in reactive nitrogen from human actions have led to negative impacts on surface water (SW) and groundwater (GW) quality, and it is important to better understand denitrification processes in aquatic systems. The hyporheic zone has unique biogeochemical conditions, and is known to attenuate contaminants originating from SW and traveling through the hyporheic zone, together with necessary reactants. However, the ability of the hyporheic zone to attenuate contaminants from deeper upwelling GW plumes as they exit to SW is less understood. I used MODFLOW and SEAM3D to simulate hyporheic flow cells induced by riverbed dunes and upwelling GW together with mixing dependent denitrification of an upwelling nitrate (NO3 ) plume. My basecase model scenario entailed dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved oxygen (DO) advecting from SW and DO and NO3 advecting from GW, which is typical of water in agricultural land uses. I conducted a sensitivity analysis to determine controls on mixing dependent denitrification. Mixing dependent denitrification increased with increasing hydraulic conductivity, decreasing lower bottom flux, as well as increasing DOC in SW and NO3 in GW. Non-mixing dependent denitrification also occurred when there was SW NO3 , and I found its magnitude was much greater than mixing dependent denitrification. Nevertheless, potential for hyporheic zones to attenuate upwelling NO3 plumes seems to be substantial, though highly variable depending on biogeochemical reaction rates as well as geomorphic, hydraulic and biogeochemical conditions. Stream and river restoration efforts may be able to increase both mixing and non-mixing dependent reactions by increasing hyporheic zone residence times.


Atmospheric aerosol plays a very important role in the Earth's radiation budget and global climate studies. This study reports the variability of the physical and optical properties of columnar aerosol and water vapour over Varanasi (25.2°N, 82.9°E), located in the heart of the Indo-Gangetic Basin, for the first time. The study was carried out using a MICROTOPS-II sunphotometer to measure the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and metrological parameters. It is observed that the AOD loading is enhanced during the pre-monsoon and winter seasons, while it is decreased during the monsoon season. The variability of the angstrom coefficient (α) and turbidity coefficient (β) shows that in the pre-monsoon season coarse-mode aerosol particles are dominant, while fine-mode aerosol particles are dominant in the winter. We compared our MICROTOPS-II ground-based data with the level-3 data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard Terra satellite. A good seasonal correlation (correlation coefficient, R 2 ~0.57) was observed between MICROTOPS-II and MODIS AOD data. The results of the variability of water vapor over Varanasi are also discussed. The correlation coefficient (R 2 ) between daily MICROTOPS-II and MODIS water vapor is found to be more than 0.85 for the year 2011.


Several recent studies have shown that fluorescent particles can be localized with an accuracy that is well beyond traditional resolution limits. Using a theoretical model of the image formation process that accounts for possible sources of noise, Cramer-Rao bounds have been used to define the theoretical limits. A crucial influence on these bounds is the mismatch of refractive indices that is usually present between immersion medium and specimen. This results in an axially shift-variant point spread function, meaning that the bounds change as a function of the particle's position in the z-direction. We investigate the theoretical bounds for this shift-variant model, and propose a maximum-likelihood estimator for the particle position in 3D (XYZ position). Using this estimator, sub-resolution localization at the nanometer scale is demonstrated on experimental data. The results provide optimal conditions for particle tracking and localization experiments.


Abstract Discussions regarding the certification of the psychiatric-mental health (PMH) clinical nurse specialist (CNS) resulted in its elimination by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), effective 2014. The sole remaining advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) certification for providing psychiatric and mental health care will be the Family Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (NP). Disagreement still lingers with the changes in certification, including fears that the role of the PMH-CNS, which include care for the child and adolescent patient population and psychotherapy, will no longer exist. Additional concerns include the loss of duties traditionally performed by PMH-CNS to other behavioral health disciplines. In contrast to these fears are the hopes that a single title will reduce confusion among consumers and professionals, allow for an improvement in the allocation of resources for roles with similar core functions, and better address the current needs of individuals seeking mental health care. This paper describes the implications of such a transition and how even with a change in title, the role of the CNS can and should survive. Abstract Discussions regarding the certification of the psychiatric-mental health (PMH) clinical nurse specialist (CNS) resulted in its elimination by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), effective 2014. The sole remaining advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) certification for providing psychiatric and mental health care will be the Family Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (NP). Disagreement still lingers with the changes in certification, including fears that the role of the PMH-CNS, which include care for the child and adolescent patient population and psychotherapy, will no longer exist. Additional concerns include the loss of duties traditionally performed by PMH-CNS to other behavioral health disciplines. In contrast to these fears are the hopes that a single title will reduce confusion among consumers and professionals, allow for an improvement in the allocation of resources for roles with similar core functions, and better address the current needs of individuals seeking mental health care. This paper describes the implications of such a transition and how even with a change in title, the role of the CNS can and should survive.


This article sets out a normative theory to guide decisionmakers in the regulation of contracts between firms. Commercial law for centuries has drawn a distinction between mercantile contracts and others, but modern scholars have not systematically pursued the normative implications of this distinction. We attempt to cure this neglect by setting out the theoretical foundations of a law merchant for our time. Firms contract to maximize expected surplus and the state permits markets to function because markets maximize social welfare. Thus, there is a correspondence of interest between firms and the state, which implies that, when externalities are absent, the state should implement the preferences of firms regarding the rules that regulate their contracting behavior. A contract law for firms would differ in three major respects from current contract law. First, such a law would have far fewer default rules and standards than current contract law contains. The high level of generality on which much contract law is written (e.g., a party must behave "reasonably") creates unacceptable moral hazard for parties subject to it. Thus, firms in theory should, and in practice commonly do, contract out of much of the law most of the time. The primary effect of today's law, that is, is to raise transaction costs without altering substantive behavior. Second, the default theory of interpretation in a contract law for firms would require courts to base interpretations primarily on the written texts of agreements. The risks of incorrect interpretations that such a theory creates, we argue, would be more acceptable to firms than the costs that the courts' current interpretative practices create. Third, the law would contain almost no mandatory rules. To summarize, a modern law merchant would be much smaller than current contract law; would truncate broad judicial searches for parties' true intentions when interpreting their agreements; and would accord parties much more freedom to write efficient contracts than now exists.


The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed in November to reduce 2014 biofuel mandates. One concern expressed by EPA is that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to consume the 2014 target levels of ethanol in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) because of infrastructure issues. Difficulty in meeting ethanol mandates is reflected into increased compliance costs and a measure of compliance cost is the price of the tradable ethanol credit known as a RIN (Renewable Identification Number). The price of RINs represents the gap between the cost of producing another gallon of ethanol and the price of ethanol that is needed to induce consumers to buy another gallon. Compliance with the ethanol mandates falls to owners of oil refineries who must purchase a specified number of RINs per gallon of gasoline produced. We show in previous work that increasing the number of stations that sell E85 decreases the ethanol price discounts needed to induce enough ethanol consumption to meet targets by making the fuel more accessible to consumers. Any reduction in required discounts directly leads to lower RIN prices and hence lower compliance costs. Thus, obligated parties faced with high RIN prices would have a strong incentive to invest in the infrastructure that would facilitate increases in ethanol consumption. As the cost of complying with RFS falls to owners of oil refineries, it is a natural position for them to oppose any further increase in mandated ethanol volumes. One argument that has often been made by the oil industry against increases in ethanol is that compliance costs will be passed on to consumers. This seems like a reasonable argument because this type of cost increase in any economic model will tend to lead to higher gasoline prices, hence higher consumer prices. Our objective in this study is to provide a transparent economic analysis of the impact on consumer fuel prices from increased ethanol mandates. One feature of our analysis is that it accounts for an increase in the consumption of E85, the most likely compliance path that would be taken in 2014 to meet increases in ethanol mandates. Each year, EPA establishes a percentage standard for ethanol by dividing the desired quantity of ethanol by the total anticipated domestic sales of unblended gasoline. Each producer of gasoline has an RVO (Renewable Volume Obligation) that is determined by multiplying the percentage standard by total domestic sales of gasoline. The RVO is met by acquiring RINs. If an obligated party's sales of gasoline increases, so too does the RVO. This means that an obligated party can reduce the number of RINs that it needs to comply with the RFS by decreasing the volume of gasoline sales. This direct link between the cost of RINs and gasoline sales implies that increases in the cost of RINs reduces the quantity of gasoline that refiners will provide to consumers at any given gasoline price. Our model has separate demand curves for E10 and E85. The two demand curves are related because increases in E85 consumption come at the expense of E10. The model calculates the retail price of E85 that is needed to induce consumers to buy enough ethanol so that the number of RINs generated is adequate to meet oil refineries' RVO obligations. The obligations are met through increased E85 consumption and reduced E10 consumption. Increased E85 consumption can only occur with a lower retail price of E85. Given E10 and E85 prices, we can calculate the value at wholesale for gasoline and ethanol. It is the difference between the value of ethanol at wholesale and the cost of producing the required quantity of ethanol that determines the RIN price. The compliance cost to oil refineries per gallon of gasoline is the product of the RIN price and the percentage standard. We find two direct effects of a binding ethanol mandate. The first is an increase in the wholesale price of gasoline because positive RIN prices increase the cost of producing gasoline. The second is a decrease in the This article is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/card_policybriefs/6 ethanol price paid by blenders net of the RIN value. The net price of ethanol will decrease to induce consumers to consume enough ethanol to meet the mandate. Because most US consumers buy E10, the lower price of ethanol in the blend offsets at least some portion of the increased gasoline price. In addition to these two direct effects on the price of E10, there exists an indirect effect that works to lower E10 prices. To meet mandates beyond E10 requires an increase in E85 consumption, which results in a decrease in E10 consumption because some owners of flex vehicles switch fuels. The effect of substituting E85 for E10 is a net decrease in gasoline demand, which results in some reduction in wholesale gasoline prices. Whether the net effect of these three market forces results in a net increase or decrease in E10 pump prices requires the development of an economic model to sort out. We developed and calibrated such a model with the purpose of showing how feasible increases in ethanol blending mandates will affect the price of E10 under a range of possible conditions. We find that feasible increases in the ethanol mandate in 2014 will cause a small decline in the price of E10. That is, even though increased mandates increase gasoline prices, the offsetting effects from a decline in ethanol price and movement by motorists to E85 from E10 are enough to result in a net decrease in the price of E10. Our results should reassure those in Congress and the Administration who are worried that following the RFS commitment to expanding the use of renewable fuels will result in sharply higher fuel prices for consumers. There may be sound policy reasons that could justify Congress revisiting the RFS. However, concern about higher pump prices for consumers is not one of them.


Background and aim: Spinal bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is a progressive adult-onset X-linked neuromuscular disease. Although traditionally considered a motor neuron disorder, recent advances have highlighted a primary myopathic component. We evaluated levels of phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain (pNfH), a known biomarker for neurodegeneration, in SBMA. Materials and methods: We collected plasma and serum from 46 SBMA, 50 ALS and 50 healthy control cases, alongside with plasma from a mouse model of SBMA (AR100) and littermate controls. We measured pNfH plasma levels using Single molecule array (Simoa), we assessed functional scales and we gathered demographic data. We analysed data using Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test and Cox regression analysis. Results: Plasma pNfH levels were significantly increased in ALS, but, intriguingly, there was no change in SBMA. These results were also confirmed in SBMA mice. The ROC curve highlighted that pNfH levels can effectively distinguish between ALS and SBMA (AUC 0.95). Conclusions: Unexpectedly, levels of pNfH are normal in SBMA, whilst they are increased in ALS, and suggest pNfH could serve as a biomarker to differentiate the two diseases. Further, this finding is in agreement with recent evidence showing that primary muscle damage is a crucial feature in SBMA.


One of most significant empirical findings of the behavioral finance literature is that investor sentiment affects asset prices. Baker and Wurgler (2006) finds that shares of certain firms — those that are difficult to value — are more affected by shifts in investor sentiment. We examine whether the accounting information of firms that are inherently difficult to value can mitigate sentiment-related mispricing. Our findings indicate that sentiment-related mispricing is in fact diminished in the subset of firms with high-quality accounting information. To better understand how accounting information mitigates stock market mispricing, we examine whether sentiment affects the choices made by institutional investors and sell-side stock analysts. When sentiment is high, institutional investors increase holdings in, and analysts issue more favorable recommendations for, firms that are more difficult to value, even though these firms appear to be overpriced and exhibit negative subsequent abnormal stock returns. However, this behavior is concentrated in the subset of difficult-to-value firms with low-quality accounting information.


Phosphorus from natural and human sources is likely to be discharged from groundwater to streams in certain geochemical environments. Water-quality data collected from 1991 through 2007 in paired networks of groundwater and streams in different hydrogeologic and land-use settings of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge Physiographic Provinces in the eastern United States were compiled and analyzed to evaluate the sources, fate, and transport of phosphorus. The median concentrations of phosphate in groundwater from the crystalline and siliciclastic bedrock settings (0.017 and 0.020 milligrams per liter, respectively) generally were greater than the median for the carbonate setting (less than 0.01 milligrams per liter). In contrast, the median concentrations of dissolved phosphate in stream base flow from the crystalline and siliciclastic bedrock settings (0.010 and 0.014 milligrams per liter, respectively) were less than the median concentration for base-flow samples from the carbonate setting (0.020 milligrams per liter). Concentrations of phosphorus in many of the stream base-flow and groundwater samples exceeded ecological criteria for streams in the region. Mineral dissolution was identified as the dominant source of phosphorus in the groundwater and stream base flow draining crystalline or siliciclastic bedrock in the study area. Low concentrations of dissolved phosphorus in groundwater from carbonate bedrock result from the precipitation of minerals and (or) from sorption to mineral surfaces along groundwater flow paths. Phosphorus concentrations are commonly elevated in stream base flow in areas underlain by carbonate bedrock, however, presumably derived from in-stream sources or from upland anthropogenic sources and transported along short, shallow groundwater flow paths. Dissolved phosphate concentrations in groundwater were correlated positively with concentrations of silica and sodium, and negatively with alkalinity and concentrations of calcium, magnesium, chloride, nitrate, sulfate, iron, and aluminum. These associations can result from the dissolution of alkali feldspars containing phosphorus; the precipitation of apatite; the precipitation of calcite, iron hydroxide, and aluminum hydroxide with associated sorption of phosphate ions; and the potential for release of phosphate from iron-hydroxide and other iron minerals under reducing conditions. Anthropogenic sources of phosphate such as fertilizer and manure and processes such as biological uptake, evapotranspiration, and dilution also affect phosphorus concentrations. The phosphate concentrations in surface water were not correlated with the silica concentration, but were positively correlated with concentrations of major cations and anions, including chloride and nitrate, which could indicate anthropogenic sources and effects of evapotranspiration on surface-water quality. Mixing of older, mineralized groundwater with younger, less mineralized, but contaminated groundwater was identified as a critical factor affecting the quality of stream base flow. In-stream processing of nutrients by biological processes also likely increases the phosphorus concentration in surface waters. Potential geologic contributions of phosphorus to groundwater and streams may be an important watershedmanagement consideration in certain hydrogeologic and geochemical environments. Geochemical controls effectively limit phosphorus transport through groundwater to streams in areas underlain by carbonate rocks; however, in crystalline and siliciclastic settings, phosphorus from mineral or human sources may be effectively transported by groundwater and contribute a substantial fraction to base-flow stream loads.


Abstract In the last decade there has been a process of rolling-back Europeanization efforts in the EU's new member states (NMS), a process intensified by the global crisis. This de-Europeanization and dedemocratization process in the NMS has become a significant part of a more general polycrisis in the EU. The backslide of democracy in the NMS as a topical issue has usually been analysed in terms of macro-politics, formal-legal state institutions, party systems, and macroeconomics. The most significant decline of democratization, however, is evident in the public's decreasing participation in politics and in the eroding trust. This decline in systemic trust in political elites in the NMS has been largely neglected by analysts. Therefore, this paper concentrates on this relatively overlooked dimension of declining trust and social capital in the NMS. This analysis employs the concepts of governance, trust, and social capital to balance the usual formalistic top-down approach with a bottom-up approach that better illustrates the divergence between East-Central Europe and the Baltic states' sub-regional development.


The current lack of knowledge about small towns, the great diversity of such settlements and the pressure to 'scale up' interventions make it difficult for policy makers and practitioners to develop models which are suitable for these towns. Currently, principles and practices informing models for water services in urban and rural areas are applied in small towns without question. This paper highlights how these principles that are engrained in the sector, may be pernicious for expanding water services in small towns as the realities of these towns may not be conducive for models incorporating these principles. Often these models are adapted to the realities of small towns to benefit water services provision. However, these adaptations are rarely documented. The little documentation of these adaptations is a consequence, we argue, of two main factors. First, such adaptations question the suitability of the models present in the sector and alter the principles on which these models are based. Secondly, the great range of adaptations linked to the diversity of small towns. Taking such adaptations seriously then limits the replicability of models, making them less suitable for scaling up interventions. As a result, certain dogmas underlying water services models continue to be reproduced.


The effect of third-order dispersion on solitonlike operation of the L-fold cavity Cr4+:YAG laser is studied. Dispersion equations are derived to the fourth order for an L-fold cavity, and dispersion values for a Cr4+:YAG laser are calculated. Third-order dispersion is found to be comparable with the second-order dispersion in a 60-fs-class Cr4+:YAG laser, and fourth-order dispersion is negligible. The temporal and spectral phases of a 60-fs pulse are calculated from the dispersion properties of the cavity. The spectral phase is constant, despite considerable third-order dispersion. A second-harmonic generation (SHG) frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) trace is calculated for the simulated pulse. The SHG spectrum has a tail to the short-wavelength side at zero delay, consistent with experimental results. The calculated phase and the FROG trace should be recognized as characteristic of the third-order-dispersion effect on solitonlike lasers.


Given its brevity, Plato's Meno covers an astonishingly wide array of topics: politics, education, virtue, definition, philosophical method, mathematics, the nature and acquisition of knowledge and immortality. Its treatment of these, though profound, is tantalisingly short, leaving the reader with many unresolved questions. This book confronts the dialogue's many enigmas and attempts to solve them in a way that is both lucid and sympathetic to Plato's philosophy. Reading the dialogue as a whole, it explains how different arguments are related to one another and how the interplay between characters is connected to the philosophical content of the work. In a new departure, this book's exploration focuses primarily on the content and coherence of the dialogue in its own right and not merely in the context of other dialogues, making it required reading for all students of Plato, be they from the world of classics or philosophy.


Additive manufacturing (AM) allows for the fabrication of complex metallic specimens which are otherwise very difficult or impossible to create using traditional manufacturing methods. For multi-phase heat spreaders such as vapor chambers, complex internal geometry lends itself well to AM as new design features can be realized. The internal geometries of vapor chambers frequently involve several thin pillars, which act as wicking structures and support a small internal cavity in which the phase change of a liquid, usually water, provides a means to effectively 'spread' a high heat flux throughout a larger area. In this case study, Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) AM was utilized to create a series of aluminum alloy (AlSi10Mg) support pillars of fixed height with varying filet angles and build orientations (0°, 10°, 20°, 30°, 40°, 50° and 60° from the normal surface) to determine effects on surface roughness and resolution. Surface-to-water contact angles were measured on rinsed, un-polished surfaces, and microscopy was employed to obtain images demonstrating surface roughness profiles. This was done on both heated and unheated surfaces. Results clearly demonstrate that the surface roughness of upward and downward-facing surfaces during L-PBF depends on build orientation. The observational findings of this experiment showed that the surface roughness on surfaces representing horizontally oriented faces decreased as the printing orientation increased. This indicates that one must be cognizant of printing orientation for the L-PBF of capillary structures. A change in surface roughness as a result of printing orientation effects the heat transfer within an enclosed space due to a change in contact angles between the liquid and the heated surface. The results of this study will aid in future design considerations of heat pipes for their additive manufacture via current L-PBF technology.


The current study examines the extent to which religiosity account for ideological orientations in 16 countries from five continents (Australia, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Greece, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Results showed that religiosity was consistently related to right and conservative ideologies in all countries, except Australia. This relation held across different religions, and did not vary across participant's demographic conditions (i.e., gender, age, income, and education). After controlling for basic personal values, the contribution of religiosity on ideology was still significant. However, the effect was substantial only in countries where religion has played a prominent role in the public sphere, such as Spain, Poland, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, and Turkey. In the other countries, the unique contribution of religiosity was marginal or small.


Stem borer is the second important rice pest after rats in Indonesia. A field trial was conducted in Karawang, West Java in dry season of 2003 to study the effect of planting time on the stem borer infestation on seven rice cultivars. The rice cultivars tested were Fatmawati (new plant type cultivar), Gilirang (semi-new plant type cultivar), Maro and Intani 3 (hybrid rice cultivars), and IR72, Cilosari and IR62 (inbreed rice cultivars). The three planting times (PT) were: (1) the early PT, 14 days before farmer's PT, (2) the common PT, simultaneously with farmer's PT, and (3) the late PT, 14 days after farmer's PT. The trial was arranged in a split plot design with four replications. Planting time is the main plot and rice cultivar is the subplot. Fourteen-day old rice seedlings were transplanted at 25 cm x 25 cm planting distance in a 5 m x 6 m plot size. Species and fluctuation of rice stem borer were determined by using water traps containing four synthetic sex pheromone lures of rice stem borer species as attractant. Results showed that the dominant species of stem borer was yellow stem borer (Scirpophaga incertulas Wlk.). Degree of stem borer infestation depended upon the planting time. Stem borer infestation at the first planting time was higher (average 37.90%) compared to those found at the second and third planting time, i.e. 0.65% and 0.54%, respectively. Rice yields of Fatmawati, Gilirang, Maro, Intani-3, and Cilosari cultivars correlated with the degree of stem borer infestation, but did not correlate with planting time. Cilosari cultivar showed the most tolerant under heavily stem borer infestation. The present study implies that adjustment of planting time is the most feasible effort to reduce stem borer infestation because none of the seven rice cultivars tested were able to minimize damage under heavily infestation of yellow stem borer.


The landscape of today's central Iberian Peninsula has been shaped by ongoing tectonic activity since the Tertiary. This
landscape comprises a mountain ridge trending E–W to NW–SE, the Central System, separating two regions of smooth
topography: the basins of the rivers Duero and Tajo. In this study, we explore interrelationships between topography and tectonics
in the central Iberian Peninsula. Regional landscape features were analysed using a digital elevation model (DEM). Slope gradients
and slope orientations derived from the DEM were combined to describe topographic surface roughness. Topography trendsurfaces
inferred from harmonic analysis were used to define regional topographic features. Low roughness emphasizes the smooth
nature of the basins' topography, where surfaces of homogeneous slope gradient and orientation dominate. High roughness was
associated with abrupt changes in gradient and slope orientation such as those affecting crests, valley bottoms and scarp edges
present in the mountain chain and in some deep incised valleys in the basins. One of the applications of roughness mapping was its
capacity to isolate incised valley segments. The area distribution of incised rivers shows their prevalence in the east. On a regional
scale, the topographic surface can be described as a train of NE–SW undulations or waves of 20 km wavelength. These undulations
undergo changes in direction and interruptions limited by N–S-trending breaks. E–W and NE–SW troughs and ridges clearly mark
structural uplifts and depressions within the Central System. These structures are transverse to the compressive NW–SE stress field
that controlled the deformation of the central Iberian Peninsula from the Neogene to the present. They represent the upper crustal
folding that accommodates Alpine shortening. N–S breaks coincide with Late Miocene faults that control the basins' sedimentation.
Further, associated palaeoseismic structures suggest the recent tectonic activity of N–S faults in the eastern part of the Tajo
Basin. Apatite fission track analysis data for this area suggest the occurrence of a significant uplift episode from 7 to 10 Ma which
induced the river incisions appearing in the roughness map. N–S and NE–SW faults could be seismogenic sources for the current
moderate to low seismic activity of the east Tajo Basin and southeast Central System. Although N–S fault activity has already been
established, we propose its significant contribution to shaping the landscape.


Objectives. To determine the association between the ability of a different strains of meningococci to survive in whole blood and the age of the donor. Methods. A panel of serogroup B and a serogroup C strain of Neisseria meningitidis was tested in an ex vivo whole blood model. Blood from 81 healthy children and 20 adults and from children during convalescence from serogroup B (55 patients) or serogroup C (43 patients) meningococcal infection was assessed. Results. Age-dependent acquisition of whole blood killing of serogroup B and C bacterial isolates was demonstrated in healthy children with an inverse relationship to the reported incidence of disease. After infection with serogroup B or C meningococci, evidence of whole blood killing of the bacteria was found even in blood from children <2 years of age, the survival of a serogroup B strain, MC58, being reduced compared with that in healthy children (median, 64% compared with 194.5% survival at 90 min). In both affected children and controls, there was a significant correlation between whole blood killing of strain MC58 and of other serogroup B and C meningococci. Conclusions. The whole blood model measures both humoral and cellular mechanisms responsible for the bactericidal activity of blood. The model was first described 80 years ago, but this is the first description of its age dependency. Acquisition of bactericidal activity was more rapid in children infected and is directed at various strains of meningococci, indicating the presence of a cross-reactive antigen(s).


• With climate change, warming of the lowest part of the atmosphere allows the maximum level of water vapour there to increase. This in turn acts to amplify the greenhouse gas warming, as does the melting of ice and snow in a warmer climate. • The net impact of warming on clouds depends on many detailed aspects of changes to the atmospheric circulation and has so far been one of the main uncertainties in projections of climate change. The IPCC's Fifth assessment Report (AR5) says that the feedback from clouds is likely to be positive. • Global precipitation is expected to increase as the climate warms, perhaps by between 1-3 per cent per degree Celsius of warming. The contrast in precipitation between wet and dry regions and between wet and dry seasons will increase, although there may be regional exceptions. • Globally for short-duration events, AR5 expects a shift to more intense individual storms and fewer weak storms as temperatures increase. Extreme precipitation events over land will very likely be more intense and more frequent. • Regional to global-scale decreases in soil moisture and increased risk of drought in presently dry regions are expected by the end of the century in a high emissions scenario. Soil moisture drying would likely be most prominent in the Mediterranean, Southwest US and southern African regions. • Monsoons are likely to affect greater areas and the monsoon season is likely to lengthen in many regions, with a likely intensification of monsoon precipitation.


ROC curves from the signal detection literature are used in an evolutionary analysis of one-shot and repeated prisoners' dilemmas: showing if there is any discounting of future payoffs, or any cost of searching for an additional partner, then cooperative players who contingently participate - in terms of who to play with or when to exit - cannot survive when most other players unconditionally defect; even when contingent participators only interact with themselves by perfectly detecting their own type. However, quite different results hold for players who act contingently, not in terms of whether to play or exit, but rather in terms of how to act with any given partner. There is a form of contingent cooperation in one-shot prisoners' dilemmas (called CD behavior) that will robustly evolve through any payoff monotonic process, such as replicator dynamics. That is, whenever CD-players can detect their own type better than pure chance, they are guaranteed to evolve from any initial population - eventually to a unique evolutionarily stable population composed entirely of contingent cooperators - provided the fear payoff difference is less than the sum of greed and cooperation payoff differences. The adaptive capabilities just described hold for pure one-shot prisoners' dilemmas: meaning no repeated interactions or pairings in any generation are involved; no information or third party reports about past behavior are involved, all signal information arises only from symptoms detected after two strangers meet for the first time; and no subjective preferences for altruism, fairness, equity, reciprocity, or morality affect the raw evolutionary dynamics. Testable predictions are also derived that agree with a large body of experimental data built up since the prisoners dilemma was first introduced in 1950. They describe how the CD-players' equilibrium probability of cooperating changes: depending on the relative size of fear, greed, and cooperation payoff differences; and depending on the players' history of communication, especially when face-to-face discussion is involved.


Convergence (i.e., mutual understanding) between an organization's CEO and CIO is critical to its efforts to successfully exploit information technology. Communication theory predicts that greater communication frequency and channel richness lead to more such convergence. A postal survey of 202 pairs of CEOs and CIOs investigated the effect of communication frequency and channel richness on CEO/ CIO convergence, as well as the effect of convergence on the financial contribution of information systems (IS) to the organization. Convergence was operationalized in terms of the current and future roles of information technology (IT) as defined by the strategic grid. Rigorous validation confirmed the current role as composed of one factor and the future role as composed of three factors (i.e., managerial support, differentiation, and enhancement). More frequent communication predicted convergence about the current role, differentiation future role, and enhancement future role. The use of richer channels predicted convergence about the differentiation future role. Convergence about the current role predicted IS financial contribution. From a research perspective, the study extended theory about communication frequency, media richness, convergence, and the role of IT in organizations. From a managerial perspective, it provided direction for CEOs and CIOs interested in increasing their mutual understanding of the role of IT.


This study analyzes efficiency of weather derivatives as primary insurance instruments for six crop reporting districts that are among the largest producers of corn, cotton, and soybeans in the United States. Specific weather derivatives are constructed for each crop/district combination based on analysis of several econometric models. The performance of the designed weather derivatives is then analyzed both in- and out-of-sample. The primary findings suggest that the optimal structure of weather derivatives varies widely across crops and regions, as does the risk-reducing performance of the optimally designed weather derivatives. Further, optimal weather derivatives required rather complicated combinations of weather variables to achieve reasonable fits between weather and yield.


Semiconductor nanowires are an emerging class of materials with great potential for applications in future electronic devices. The small footprint and the large charge-carrier mobilities of nanowires make them potentially useful for applications with high-integration density, but also to replace thin-film transistors in large-area electronics. This thesis investigates the use of wet-chemically grown ZnO nanowires for the fabrication of high-performance, low-voltage field-effect transistors (FETs). The first part of this thesis addresses the electrical characteristics of the wet-chemically grown ZnO nanowires. The as-grown ZnO nanowires are highly conductive due to a large charge-carrier concentration caused by dopants unintentionally incorporated into the ZnO nanowires during the synthesis. This large charge-carrier concentration makes it difficult to modulate the conductivity of the nanowires by an external electric field, so that the as-grown wires are not suitable for FETs. A post-growth annealing step is employed to dramatically reduce the charge-carrier concentration of the nanowires which makes it possible to fabricate FETs with useful characteristics. ZnO-nanowire FETs in a global back-gate geometry based on annealed ZnO nanowires have a transconductance of 300 nS, an on/off current ratio of 107 and a subthrehold slope of 500 mV/decade. The maximum field-effect mobility of the annealed ZnO nanowires is around 50 cm2/Vs. An important requirement to obtain good FET characterisitcs is to minimize the influence of the source and drain contact resistance on the total device resistance. The material used for the source and drain contacts in this thesis is aluminum. It is demonstrated that the use of a plasma treatment in the contact regions prior to the evaporation of the aluminum contacts can greatly influence the contact properties between ZnO and aluminum. An argon-plasma treatment locally increases the charge-carrier concentration in the ZnO. It is shown that the doping effect of the argon-plasma treatment can be exploited to reduce the contact resistance between alumiunm and ZnO and improve the electrical performance of the FETs. In the second part of this thesis, the influence of the ambient air on the electrical characteristics of the ZnO-nanowire FETs is investigated. The electrical conductivity of the FETs is strongly affected by the distinct atmospheric conditions, which makes it difficult to obtain reliable FET characteristics. The potential of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) based on fluoroalkylphosphonic acid molecules to passivate the ZnO nanowires against the undesirable effects of the ambient and to stabilize the electrical performance of ZnO-nanowire FETs is demonstrated. The stabilizing effect is attributed to the formation of a densely packed, hydrophobic SAM on the surface of ZnO and aluminum oxide. The quality of the hydrophobic SAMs is confirmed by means of water-contact-angle measurements on SAM-covered ZnO single crystals that show a contact angle of more than 110°. The third part of this thesis is dedicated to the fabrication of high-performance ZnO-nanowire FETs with patterned metal top-gate electrodes. A top-gate fabrication process is developed that uses a very thin gate dielectric consisting only of an alkylphosphonic acid SAM that can be deposited from solution. The insulating quality of the SAM is investigated for top-gate FETs that utilize either gold or aluminum for the top-gate electrode. Gold top-gate FETs show a transconductance of 1 µS, an on/off current ratio of 107, and a steep subthreshold slope of 90 mV/decade. The thin gate dielectric makes it possible to operate the gold top-gate FETs at low voltages of 1 V and simultaneously reduces the undesired gate current by more than three orders of magnitude compared to gold top-gate FETs that have been fabricated without a gate dielectric (MESFETs). The gate current of the gold top-gate FETs with SAM gate dielectric is as low as 1 pA for gate-source voltages between -1 V and 0.5 V. When aluminum is used for the top-gate electrode, a hybrid dielectric is formed at the interface between the SAM and the aluminum, consisting of the SAM and a spontaneously formed aluminum oxide layer. Owing to the hybrid gate dielectric, the aluminum top-gate FETs are operated with gate currents below 1 pA for voltages up to 3 V. The top-gate fabrication process does not require temperatures above 160 °C, which makes it possible to fabricate FETs on unconventional substrates that cannot tolerate high temperatures, such as glass or flexible plastics. Integrated circuits on single ZnO nanowires that are fabricated on glass and plastic substrates are demonstrated. The maximum switching frequency of the inverters is 1 MHz.


Most nitrogen (N) assimilation in lake and marine ecosystems is often subsequently released via autochthonous dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) production, but autochthonous DON production has yet to be quantified in flowing waters. We measured in‐stream DON production following 24 h 15N‐nitrate () tracer additions in 36 headwater streams, a subset of sites from the second Lotic Intersite Nitrogen eXperiment. Streams were located in five North American ecoregions and drained basins dominated by native vegetation, agriculture, or urban land use. Using a two‐compartment model, we could quantify DON production in 15 streams as a function of DO15N derived from 15N tracer in biomass compartments. The streams with detectable DON production had higher % modified land use (agriculture + urban) in their basins than did streams with undetectable DON production. Median DON production represented 8% of total uptake when we used N biomass estimates based on N assimilated over 1 d (measured directly from the 15N additions). Median DON production was 17% of total uptake when we used N assimilated over 42 d (extrapolated from previous 15N tracer studies). Variation in DON production was positively correlated with ecosystem respiration, indicating that stream heterotrophy may influence DON production. In‐stream DON production was similar in magnitude to stream denitrification and nitrification, indicating that the production of autochthonous DON can represent a substantial transformation of stream N. Our results confirm that headwater streams can quickly convert inorganic N into organic forms, although the ultimate fate of DON remains unclear.


The relationship between language and culture is an interplay between linguistic choices and cultural filters; if we accept that language is an expression of culture, i.e. of the beliefs, customs, behaviours and rituals constituting the cultural identity of a group of people, then it is crucial that phraseology and cultural features are not separated in the analysis and production of meaning.This paper aims to combine two different methodological approaches to the study of meaning (Manca 2008, 2009): the Corpus Linguistics approach within the framework of John Sinclair's view of language (1991, 1996) and the Intercultural Studies approach based on Hall's ([1976] 1989) theories and Katan's (2004, 2006) framework of High and Low Context Cultures features in transactional communication. The two levels of analysis allow the researcher to carry out both a quantitative and qualitative analysis.Examples that show the validity of this combined approach will be derived from a number of corpora of different subsections of the British and Italian languages of tourism. We will see that the two cultures tend to adopt different types of promotion in terms of linguistic devices (for example use of concrete nouns vs. abstract nouns) and features of description along a continuum which sees at one extreme explicitness and simple facts and at the other extreme implicitness, feelings and opinions.


Space is a new circuit oriented, spatial programming language designed to exploit the massive parallelism available in a novel formal model of computation called the Synchronic A-Ram, and physically related FPGA and reconfigurable architectures. Space expresses variable grained MIMD parallelism, is modular, strictly typed, and deterministic. Barring operations associated with memory allocation and compilation, modules cannot access global variables, and are referentially transparent. At a high level of abstraction, modules exhibit a small, sequential state transition system, aiding verification. Space deals with communication, scheduling, and resource contention issues in parallel computing, by resolving them explicitly in an incremental manner, module by module, whilst ascending the ladder of abstraction. Whilst the Synchronic A-Ram model was inspired by linguistic considerations, it is also put forward as a formal model for reconfigurable digital circuits. A programming environment has been developed, that incorporates a simulator and compiler that transform Space programs into Synchronic A-Ram machine code, consisting of only three bit-level instructions, and a marking instruction. Space and the Synchronic A-Ram point to novel routes out of the parallel computing crisis.


Modeling analyses suggest that an increase in growth rate of atmospheric CO2 concentrations during an anomalously warm year may be caused by a decrease in net ecosystem production (NEP) in response to increased heterotrophic respiration (Rh). To test this hypothesis, 12 intact soil monoliths were excavated from a tallgrass prairie site near Purcell, Oklahoma, USA and divided among four large dynamic flux chambers (Ecologically Controlled Enclosed Lysimeter Laboratories (EcoCELLs)). During the first year, all four EcoCELLs were subjected to Oklahoma air temperatures. During the second year, air temperature in two EcoCELLs was increased by 4 1C throughout the year to simulate anomalously warm conditions. This paper reports on the effect of warming on soil CO2 efflux, representing the sum of autotrophic respiration (Ra) and Rh. During the pretreatment year, weekly average soil CO2 efflux was similar in all EcoCELLs. During the late spring, summer and early fall of the treatment year, however, soil CO2 efflux was significantly lower in the warmed EcoCELLs. In general, soil CO2 efflux was correlated with soil temperature and to a lesser extent with moisture. A combined temperature and moisture regression explained 64% of the observed variation in soil CO2 efflux. Soil CO2 efflux correlated well with a net primary production (NPP) weighted greenness index derived from digital photographs. Although separate relationships for control and warmed EcoCELLs showed better correlations, one single relationship explained close to 70% of the variation in soil CO2 efflux across treatments and years. A strong correlation between soil CO2 efflux and canopy development and the lack of initial response to warming indicate that soil CO2 efflux is dominated by Ra. This study showed that a decrease in soil CO2 efflux in response to a warm year was most likely dominated by a decrease in Ra instead of an increase in Rh.


The recurrent nova (RN) V3890 Sgr was observed during the seventh day after the onset of its most recent outburst, with the Chandra ACIS-S camera and High Energy Transmission Gratings. A rich emission line spectrum was detected, due to transitions of Fe-L and K-shell ions ranging from neon to iron. The measured absorbed flux is ≈10−10 erg cm−2 s−1 in the 1.4–15 Å range (0.77–8.86 keV). The line profiles are asymmetric, blueshifted, and skewed toward the blue side, as if the ejecta moving toward us are less absorbed than the receding ejecta. The full width at half-maximum of most emission lines is 1000–1200 km s−1, with some extended blue wings. The spectrum is thermal and consistent with a plasma in collisional ionization equilibrium with column density 1.3 × 1022 cm−2 and at least two components at temperatures of about 1 and 4 keV, possibly a forward and a reverse shock, or regions with differently mixed ejecta and a red giant wind. The spectrum is remarkably similar to the symbiotic RNe V745 Sco and RS Oph, but we cannot distinguish whether the shocks occurred at a distance of a few au from the red giant, or near the giant's photosphere, in a high-density medium containing only a low mass. The ratios of the flux in lines of aluminum, magnesium, and neon relative to the flux in lines of silicon and iron probably indicate a carbon–oxygen white dwarf.


The compressive sensing (CS) framework aims to ease the burden on analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) by exploiting inherent structure in natural and man-made signals. It has been demonstrated that structured signals can be acquired with just a small number of linear measurements, on the order of the signal complexity. In practice, this enables lower sampling rates that can be more easily achieved by current hardware designs. The primary bottleneck that limits ADC sampling rates is quantization, i.e., higher bit-depths impose lower sampling rates. Thus, the decreased sampling rates of CS ADCs accommodate the otherwise limiting quantizer of conventional ADCs.
In this thesis, we consider a different approach to CS ADC by shifting towards lower quantizer bit-depths rather than lower sampling rates. We explore the extreme case where each measurement is quantized to just one bit, representing its sign. We develop a new theoretical framework to analyze this extreme case and develop new algorithms for signal reconstruction from such coarsely quantized measurements. The 1-bit CS framework leads us to scenarios where it may be more appropriate to reduce bit-depth instead of sampling rate. We find that there exist two distinct regimes of operation that correspond to high/low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In the measurement compression (MC) regime, a high SNR favors acquiring fewer measurements with more bits per measurement (as in conventional CS); in the quantization compression (QC) regime, a low SNR favors acquiring more measurements with fewer bits per measurement (as in this thesis). A surprise from our analysis and experiments is that in many practical applications it is better to operate in the QC regime, even acquiring as few as 1 bit per measurement.
The above philosophy extends further to practical CS ADC system designs. We propose two new CS architectures, one of which takes advantage of the fact that the sampling and quantization operations are performed by two different hardware components. The former can be employed at high rates with minimal costs while the latter cannot. Thus, we develop a system that discretizes in time, performs CS preconditioning techniques, and then quantizes at a low rate.


There are cases when a slip ring must be utilized to carry the conductors of copper transmission line (cable) from a rotating platform to a stationary structure. The sharp growth in the use of Gigabit Ethernet has sparked a renewed interest in the ability of slip rings to function within a CAT 5 or CAT 6 network environment. Slip ring designers are able to meet the challenge of more exacting performance parameters with innovative methods of matching impedance, controlling crosstalk, and managing losses.


Abstract The paradox of attempting to (re)construct state institutions without considering the socio-political cohesion of societies recurs throughout the world, most notably today in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. This essay tries to shed some light on the debate around the concepts of state and nation-building. Drawing on a sociological understanding of the modern nation-state, it contends that it is impossible to conceive of statebuilding as a process separate from nation-building. This essay identifies two different schools of thought in the discussion concerning the statebuilding process, each of which reflects different sociological understandings of the state. The first one, an 'institutional approach' closely related to the Weberian conception of the state, focuses on the importance of institutional reconstruction and postulates that statebuilding activities do not necessarily require a concomitant nation-building effort. The second, a 'legitimacy approach' influenced by Durkheimian sociology, recognizes the need to consolidate central state institutions, but puts more emphasis on the importance of socio-political cohesion in the process. Building on this second approach and demonstrating its relevance in contemporary statebuilding, this article concludes with a discussion of recent statebuilding attempts and the ways external actors can effectively contribute to statebuilding processes.


Although oftentimes sources of amusement and delight, jokes and witticisms can exact severe penalties. Sometimes these are merely the social censures that result from joking about a sensitive topic in an uncongenial environment to an unreceptive audience-telling "sex jokes" at a National Organization of Women's convention, for example, or appearing in blackface and telling race jokes at a public banquet.1 Other times, however, the costs of joking are more pointed, painful, and permanent. When Theocritus of Chios was told that he would be pardoned by King Antigonus I (382-301 BCE) if only he would "stand before the eyes of the king," Theocritus, knowing the king had only one eye, responded, "Well, then, reprieve is impossible." Theocritus was executed for this remark (Clement and Hoffleit 1969:131). Sotades of Maroneia told King Ptolmey II Philadelphus (308-246 BCE) that by marrying his sister Arsinoe he had thrust "his prick into a hole unholy." The king had his general seal Sotades in a leaden jar and drop him in the sea (Athenaeus 1959:345). The humorous invectives of Marcus Tullius Cicero against Marcus Antonius resulted in the nailing of the orator's head and hands to the speaker's rostrum in the Roman forum (Corbeill 1996:216). After the Sung emperor Xingzong was defeated in battle by Li Yuanhao in 1044 A.D., the emperor fled and barely escaped capture. Li Yuanhao cut off the noses of several of the emperor's men whom he captured. Later the emperor's jester remarked to the emperor, "Let's see whether your nose is there or not," alluding to the emperor's pusillanimous flight. The emperor became so enraged that he had the jester strangled behind a tent (Otto 2001:143). Rulers have been just as unreceptive to jokes in modern times. A Nazi court condemned Josef Muller, a Catholic priest, to death for telling a joke about a dying German soldier requesting that a portrait of Hitler and Goering be placed on either side of him so that he could "die like Jesus between two thieves" (Lipman 1991:34).2 In 1984, Omar al-Hazza, a top Iraqi officer, made ajoke about the identity of Saddam Hussein's mother. (Saddam Hussein and his four brothers each had different mothers.) Al-Hazza's tongue and the tongues of his sons were cut out as their wives looked on. Then, al-Hazza's male family members were killed before his eyes and his daughters turned out of their homes. Finally al-Hazza himself was executed (Periscope 2003:10). Over the centuries, other wiseacres have lost lives and limbs, or if they were lucky, only liberty and livelihoods for their joking remarks (Otto 2001:139-142).3 Joking is a risky business. Not merely socially hazardous but physically dangerous. It is the making of jokes under such risky conditions that I am interested in exploring-that is, under conditions in which jokers and their audiences recognize the perilous circumstances of their humorous collaborations. Such joking is most predictably risky under totalitarian regimes-regimes with authoritarian rulers, press censorship, secret police, informers, and summary or extra-judicial trials-as found in Nazi Germany; the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and their socialist "allies"; Franco's Spain; Ba'athist Iraq; and I would expect in Communist China, North Korea, Cuba, and Albania, and, perhaps, on occasion, in Iran-imperial and Islamic. In these countries, there was not merely an effort to control what was printed in the press or broadcast through the electronic media,4 but an attempt to control what was orally communicated by individuals face-to-face. In other words, there was an effort to suppress folk humor-the humor of everyday conversation and everyday life. The kinds of jokes I speak of are well known. They might be directed against particular individuals or economic or political conditions. Two examples: Lenin's widow, Krupskaya, was telling a class of Soviet school children what a kind man Lenin had been. "One day," she said, "he was standing outside his dacha shaving himself with a bowl of water and an open razor. …


Fundamental to the understanding of furniture is an interest in the continuities and
changes in the use of tools, and the application of techniques to furniture making. The
development of tools over a long period established 'type-forms' that often remain the
basis of hand tools (and in many cases powered versions) that are used today.
Although most tools could be purchased from tool suppliers, there has been, and still
is, a tradition of furniture-makers devising and making their own versions of tools for
their own use. These included for example, bevels, braces, clamps, scratch stocks,
moulding boxes, saw frames, gauges, lathes, planes and squares. This article briefly
traces the development of the various processes and associated tools, from cutting out
and shaping, construction and assembly and decoration in the period 1600-1840,


This book presents an exploration of heteronormative discursive practices in the English countryside. A lesbian teacher describes her experiences in the rural school community in which she lived and worked. She prospered at the village school for almost ten years by censoring her sexuality and carefully managing the intersection between her private and professional identities. However, when a critical incident led to the exposure of her sexuality at school, she learned the extent to which the rural school community privileged and protected the heteronormative discourse.

An autoethnographic method of inquiry provides intimate insight which is supported by external data, including email and text message correspondence. As the critical incident eventually became a police matter, police records and evidence from the UK Crown Prosecution Service were sought for use in the research. However, the collection of these data proved problematic, providing an unexpected development in the research and offering additional insight into the nature of rural life.

This research offers a vivid insider perspective on the experiences of a lesbian teacher in a rural school community. It examines the incompatibility of private and professional identities, investigates the moral panic that surrounds teacher sexuality in schools and considers the impact of homophobic and heteronormative discursive practices on health, wellbeing and identity. Crucially, this research offers compelling insight into the steps that those in positions of power will take to protect and perpetuate the heteronormative discourse of rural life.


Nondestructive testing methods for prepreg materials and in-process monitoring of the Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) process are current and challenging topics. The thermography is a solution for both, to ensure the material quality of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CRFP) tapes and to detect certain defects during the lay-up process. Moreover, many defects during the AFP process are related to a low material quality. A sensor-based system to monitor the winding process of CFRP tape as an analogous model to the manufacturing process of prepreg materials is presented. Provoke defects, such as variating fiber volume ratio or different tow geometries, are detected during the winding process as well as during the AFP process with the help of a thermal in-process monitoring system.


Aim/Purpose The aim of this article is to develop a tool to detect plagiarism in real time amongst students being evaluated for learning in a computer-based assessment setting. Background Cheating or copying all or part of source code of a program is a serious concern to academic institutions. Many academic institutions apply a combination of policy driven and plagiarism detection approaches. These mechanisms are either proactive or reactive and focus on identifying, catching, and punishing those found to have cheated or plagiarized. To be more effective against plagiarism, mechanisms that detect cheating or colluding in real-time are desirable. Methodology In the development of a tool for real-time plagiarism prevention, literature review and prototyping was used. The prototype was implemented in Delphi programming language using Indy components. Contribution A real-time plagiarism detection tool suitable for use in a computer-based assessment setting is developed. This tool can be used to complement other existing mechanisms. Findings The developed tool was tested in an environment with 55 personal computers and found to be effective in detecting unauthorized access to internet, intranet, and USB ports on the personal computers. Recommendations for Practitioners The developed tool is suitable for use in any environment where computerbased evaluation may be conducted. A Real-time Plagiarism Detection Tool 24 Recommendation for Researchers This work provides a set of criteria for developing a real-time plagiarism prevention tool for use in a computer-based assessment. Impact on Society The developed tool prevents academic dishonesty during an assessment process, consequently, inculcating confidence in the assessment processes and respectability of the education system in the society. Future Research As future work, we propose a comparison between our tool and other such tools for its performance and its features. In addition, we want to extend our work to include testing for scalability of the tool to larger settings.


Witnessing domestic violence during childhood has been associated with various negative health outcomes. In this work, we conducted a series of analyses to further explore the effects of witnessing that persist into adolescence, adulthood, and, taking a novel approach, to the next generation of children. First, we compared witnessing status and subsequent experiences with different types (physical, sexual, emotional, or multiple types) of adolescent relationship violence by comparing standardized marginal effects from multiply-imputed data. Witnessing was associated with all forms of violence, and additive effect modification indicated that female witnesses were more likely than male witnesses to experience victimization-related outcomes. In contrast, male witnesses were more likely than female witnesses to experience perpetration-related outcomes, except for physical perpetration. Second, using standardized multinomial regression, we compared whether witnessing same-gender, oppositegender, or bidirectional domestic violence perpetration was associated with different adolescent relationship violence outcomes for boys and girls. Compared to non-witnesses, boys who witnessed adult males perpetrate had increased adolescent perpetration. In contrast, girls had increased adolescent victimization if they witnessed males and females perpetrating together and had a tendency toward higher victimization when witnessing males perpetrate alone. Notably, boys and girls who witnessed females perpetrate, alone or together with a male, had increased risk for combined victimization/perpetration compared to non-witnesses. Finally, perhaps the greatest challenge in this field is having to rely on observational studies, particularly because witnessing co-occurs with many confounding experiences. To overcome this limitation, we used propensity score weighting and applied a new approach to understand the impact that intergenerational violence has on health. Comparing the effects of witnessing domestic violence on firstand second-generation health outcomes using parent-child pairs from a population-based study, we found no effect of witnessing on general health of adults who witnessed violence during childhood. However, children whose parents witnessed domestic violence had worse health compared to children with non-witnessing parents. This work further supports the theory of intergenerational violence transmission and provides a springboard for future studies by offering a novel approach to studying multi-generational effects of witnessing and promoting more rigorous methods to remove the effects of commonly confounding exposures. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Epidemiology & Biostatistics This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2286 First Advisor Jeane Ann Grisso


The causes of homelessness are disputed by both Right and Left. But, few would argue that life on the streets is anything other than dangerous and debilitating. Unemployment, deinstitutionalisation, abuse in the home are among the stories the homeless tell. Voluntary organisations point to the failure of emergency shelters and food banks, the cut-backs in social programmes and the severe shortage of affordable housing. On the international scale, the changing global system has placed new demands on the economies of Europe and north America which have impacted on resources, employment and even political will. This book is the first comprehensive international study of homelessness. The author argues that the category of the homeless must itself be broadened, to encompass those chronically without shelter to those in immediate risk of dispossession, if homelessness is to be tackled effectively (before and after it happens) by public policy, voluntary organisations and the individuals themselves.


Liquidity provision is a bet against private information: if private information turns out to be higher than expected, liquidity providers lose. Since information generates volatility, and volatility co-moves across assets, liquidity providers have a negative exposure to aggregate volatility shocks. As aggregate volatility shocks carry a very large premium in option markets, this negative exposure can explain why liquidity provision earns high average returns. We show this by incorporating uncertainty about the amount of private information into an otherwise standard model. We test the model in the cross section of short-term reversals, which mimic the portfolios of liquidity providers. As predicted by the model, reversals have large negative betas to aggregate volatility shocks. These betas explain their average returns with the same risk price as in option markets, and their predictability by VIX in the time series. Volatility risk thus explains the liquidity premium among stocks and why it increases in volatile times. Our results provide a novel view of the risks and returns to liquidity provision.


Abstract. Many LBS applications provide automatic audio playing functions for introducing POI's. Appropriate automatic audio playing can improve users' expressions during traveling with LBS and in some degree prevent walking-smartphone. However, the problem of discontinuity of audio playing on the contrary affects users' expressions. One main reason that cause the discontinuity of audio playing is the sudden switch of audios, usually caused by a user entering the geofence of another POI while the audio of current POI is under playing. This paper proposed a preliminary approach to prevent the sudden switch of the audio instruction of POI's by making adjustments on the POI's audios and geofences.Current main approach for automatic POI audio playing is using a geofence of the POI as a spatial trigger to control the audio playing. This simple approach may cause sudden switch of audio playing, which causes negative users' expressions. As shown in Figure 1, a user's moving trajectory frequently crosses geofences of two POI's, which will result in a frequent switch of POI's audios with neither completely played. The inflexible audio files and geofences are the main reasons causes the sharp audio switches and we are going to solve the problem by making the audio files and geofences flexible.Conventional POI audio is made of one integrated file. As shown in Figure 2, we separate the POI audio content into several audio files, with each file consists one sentence or one short paragraph, and we call it composed audio. The files of a composed audio will be played in sequence, and the basic rule of playing a composed audio is not stopping until one file is completely played, which ensures that the composed audio will stop naturally after a complete sentence or paragraph. We define four important events for automatic playing composed audios. Start playing means start to play a composed audio from the beginning. It usually happens when a user enters a geofence of a POI. Stop playing means to stop a composed audio when finishing playing the current audio file. It usually happens when a user enters the geofence of another POI. Prepare playing means to start playing a composed audio when finishing playing the composed audio that is under playing. It usually happens when enters the geofence of a second POI. Cancel playing means to cancel the prepare playing status of a composed audio. It happens when a composed audio of a POI is in prepare playing status but the user leaves the geofence of the current POI or enters the geofence of another POI before the composed audio starting playing.By introducing buffers to a geofence (Tokita, Arikawa, Si et al, 2018), it makes a geofence flexible, and we note the geofences with buffers as the buffered geofences. As shown in Figure 3, here we add an outer buffer to the geofence in Figure 1 to improve stability of POI's audio play. An object has two status related to the buffered geofence: out and in, and it has two events related to the buffered geofence: enter and leave. The enter event occurs when the object is out of the buffered geofence and crosses the geofence's boundary; the leave event occurs when the object is in the buffered geofence and crosses the geofence's outer buffer. The result is that even though the user is frequently crossing the boundaries of the buffered geofences, he/she only enters each buffered geofences once, thus the audios of each POI will play once and will not be frequently switched.Given a POI set S={POI1, POI2…POIn}, as shown in Table 1, by combining the composed audio event and buffered geofence event, we are able to play POI's audios naturally without sudden or switches of the audios.In this paper we introduced an approach to prevent discontinuous POI's audio playing by composed audios and buffered geofences. This research is still preliminary, and it needs more researches on how to separate POI audios: too fragmented separation of POI audio may still make users feel an unnatural finish of an audio, and too generalized separation may result in more time costed before stopping a composed audio. Also, the current rules for playing composed audios based on the buffered geofences are relatively simple, which may cause unbalanced audio play. For example, when a user enters the buffered geofence of POI_A and soon enters the buffered geofence of POI_B, the time for playing composed audio of POI_A will be short. In the future, we plan to estimate the overall time for candidate audios to be played and balance the time for each of them.


We have performed low-temperature photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation (cid:126) PLE (cid:33) measurements on highly degenerate p -type GaAs and In y Ga 1 (cid:50) y As quantum wells. In the PLE spectrum of the GaAs well, evidence of a second-order van Hove singularity in the joint density of states of the ground-state light-hole and electron bands is found. This singularity results from the equality of ground-state light-hole and electron effective masses near the (cid:71) point, being a much more restrictive demand than the usual condition for a van Hove singularity, which requires only the equality of first derivatives of the subband dispersions. The second-order van Hove singularity gives rise to a power-law divergence at the singular point, whereas the corresponding usual van Hove singularity results in a steplike discontinuity in the joint density of states. The observed singularity could be described extremely well by a simple analytical model. The increased energy gap between light-and heavy-hole ground states in the compressively strained In y Ga 1 (cid:50) y As well enhances the valence-band parabolicity, resulting in the disappearance of the van Hove singularity. Furthermore, it is shown that the anisotropic character of the heavy-hole ground state in GaAs is strongly suppressed in the In y Ga 1 (cid:50) y As system. All experiments are in good agreement with our numerical modeling, based on an exact solution of the 4 (cid:51) 4 Luttinger Hamiltonian. (cid:64) S0163-1829 (cid:126) 96 (cid:33) 05840-7 (cid:35)


Research on migration typically focuses on adults; yet, each year, thousands of children and adolescents immigrate to the United States independently. The experiences and identities of these young immigrants are complicated by a myriad of social locations, not least of all their gender identity. Based on sixteen qualitative interviews with men who immigrated to the United States as unaccompanied minors in the 1990s and 2000s, this article provides an intersectional understanding of the dynamic relationship between masculine identity and migration experience for adolescent men who migrate by themselves. In particular, this work explores how migration can serve as a ''male quest story,'' allows young men to take economic responsibility for their families, and provides the opportunity for men to escape local forms of violent masculinities.


Our approach to protein—protein docking includes three main steps. First, we run PIPER, a rigid body docking program based on the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) correlation approach, extended to use pairwise interactions potentials. Second, the 1000 best energy conformations are clustered, and the 30 largest clusters are retained for refinement. Third, the stability of the clusters is analyzed by short Monte Carlo simulations, and the structures are refined by the medium‐range optimization method SDU. The first two steps of this approach are implemented in the ClusPro 2.0 protein–protein docking server. Despite being fully automated, the last step is computationally too expensive to be included in the server. When comparing the models obtained in CAPRI rounds 13–19 by ClusPro, by the refinement of the ClusPro predictions and by all predictor groups, we arrived at three conclusions. First, for the first time in the CAPRI history, our automated ClusPro server was able to compete with the best human predictor groups. Second, selecting the top ranked models, our current protocol reliably generates high‐quality structures of protein–protein complexes from the structures of separately crystallized proteins, even in the absence of biological information, provided that there is limited backbone conformational change. Third, despite occasional successes, homology modeling requires further improvement to achieve reliable docking results. Proteins 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


In August of 2016, a couple of months before the United States presidential election, then-candidate Donald Trump visited the presidential palace in Mexico City at the invitation of Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto. In the wake of his visit, a barrage of images, memes, and video clips were produced to mock, memorialize, and comment on it. This article analyzes the semiotics of those images and their relations of metonymy where Trump and Peña Nieto respectively stand for their countries in scenarios as abusive and jilted lovers, as iconized Mexican toys such as piñatas and baleros, and as the protagonists of popular movies such as Dumb and Dumber. A recurrent anxiety in these images involves the political humiliation of Mexico at the hands of the United States, and the gendered humiliation of Peña Nieto at the hands of Trump. Possible gendered rescues in memes include turning Trump over to El Chapo or to Carlos Slim, calling respectively on figure/ground relations of socio-sexual capital of masculinity and of monetary capital.


This paper examines the roles that information and preferences play in determining whether households choose schools with high value added. We study Romanian school markets using administrative data, a survey, and an experiment. The administrative data show that, on average, households could select schools with 1 s.d. worth of additional value added. This may reflect that households have incorrect beliefs about schools' value added, or that their preferences lead them to prioritize other school traits. We elicit households' beliefs and find that they explain less than a fifth of the variation in value added. We then inform randomly selected households about the value added of the schools in their towns. This improves the accuracy of households' beliefs and leads low-achieving students to attend higher-value added schools. We next estimate households' preferences and predict their choices under the counterfactual of fully accurate beliefs. We find that beliefs account for 18 (11) percent of the value added that households with low- (high-) achieving children leave unexploited. Interestingly, for households with low-achieving children, the experiment seems to have affected both beliefs and preferences. This generates larger effects on choices than would be predicted via impacts on beliefs alone.


The study examines the role of outside directors and institutional shareholders in constraining the earnings management activities.A sample of 613 firms from
construction, industrial products and consumer products sectors were selected from the Main Board in Bursa Malaysia.The time period covered for this study was from 2001 to 2003.The Modified Jones Model with cross sectional approach was employed in this study.The finding shows that the magnitude of earnings management in Malaysian listed
firms was approximately 16% of the previous year total assets. Most firms manage the earnings upward rather than downwards.No relationship was observed between the
degree of earnings manipulation and the proportion of outside directors and institutional shareholders.This is inconsistent with most studies which provide evidence that outside directors and institutional shareholders are effective corporate governance mechanisms in constraining the earnings management.However,there is weak evidence to show that outside directors have some effect in curbing the earnings management in the construction sector.The findings suggest that outside directors have the ability to constrain the earnings management as indicated in the construction sector.Adding more outside directors in the
board and having institutional shareholders may not reduce earnings management practices if the ownership of a firm is highly concentrated and the process of selecting outside directors is not clearly stated and transparent.


Objective Due to the burden of coronary heart disease (CHD), the monitoring of CHD trends is required. This study sought to examine the acute myocardial infarction (AMI) trends in attack and mortality rates, and in 28-day case-fatality, in six European populations during 1985–2010. Methods Data consisted of 78 128 AMI events included in eight population-based registries from Finland (several populations), Italy (Brianza and Varese), Germany (Augsburg), France (Haute-Garonne), Spain (Girona) and Estonia (Tallinn). AMI event rates and case-fatality trends were analysed using the annual percentage change (APC) obtained by negative binomial and joinpoint regression. Results AMI attack and mortality rates decreased in most populations. Finland experienced the steepest decline in attack rates (APC=−4.4% (95% CI −5.1 to −2.9) in men; −4.0% (−5.1 to −2.8), in women). Total-hospital and inhospital case-fatality decreased in all populations except in Tallinn. The steepest decline in total case-fatality occurred in Spain (−3.8% (−5.3 to −2.4) in men; −5.1% (−6.9 to −3.3) in women). Prehospital case-fatality trends differed significantly by population and sex. The trends for all included populations showed a significant decline in AMI event rates and case-fatality, in both sexes and all age groups. However, in women aged 65–74 years, a significant increase in total case-fatality occurred in 2005–2010 (4.7% (0.7 to 8.8)). Conclusions AMI event rates and inhospital case-fatality declined in 1985–2010 in almost all populations analysed. Prehospital case-fatality declined only in certain population groups, showing differences by sex. These results highlight the need of specific strategies in AMI prevention for certain groups and populations.


One of the most widely used methods to build yield curve models is to use principal components analysis on the correlation matrix of the innovations. R. Litterman and J. Scheinkman found that three factors are enough to explain most of the moves in the case of the US treasury curve. These factors are level, steepness and curvature. Working in the context of commodity futures, G. Cortazar and E. Schwartz found that the spectral structure of the correlation matrices is strikingly similar to those found by R. Litterman and J. Scheinkman. We observe that in both cases the correlation between two different contracts maturing at times t and s is roughly of the form ρ|t-s|, for a certain (fixed) 0≤ρ≤1. Assuming this correlation structure we prove that the observed factors are perturbations of cosine waves.


In today's extremely competitive markets it is crucial for companies to strategically position their brands, products and services relative to their competitors. With the emerging trend in internationalization of companies especially SME's and the growing use of the Internet with this regard, great amount of attention has been turned to effective involvement of the Internet channel in the marketing mix of the companies. This has introduced a new term of market space (the Web) versus the traditional battleground of marketplace in which companies compete with each other. The growth of presence in the market space has been exponential, both in general and within specific industries. Thus bringing to attention the importance of Web presence and that it is crucial for companies to strategically regard competition in market space. It is important to understand that positioning on the Net is very different and requires its own set of strategies as part of the new marketing paradigm. This study goes towards addressing the need to understand and measure the nature of positioning of company Web sites on the Internet. The aim of the study is to introduce a statistical technique to compare the positioning of Web sites, in and across industries. With this regard a group of Web sites from the home appliances manufacturing industry was selected and the technique of correspondence analysis was applied to produce maps which can be studied and interpreted. The results indicated that either based on company strategies or accidentally, these Web sites are positioned differently and may follow or affect different marketing policies of their owners. At the end, the implications of this technique for management and how it can be used by new home appliance manufacturers or those who want to compare their sites with the ones of their competitors, in order to benchmark and/or revise their policies and strategies have been discussed.


The Loppa High area has been subject to several events of uplift and subsidence from the Late Paleozoic to Present. The driving mechanisms behind the vertical movements, however, are not fully understood. We propose that uplift and subsidence were influenced by the combination of density changes caused by metamorphic phase changes in a 90 × 140 km wide mafic lower crustal body below the Loppa High and local (rift-related) and far-field stress. Through a numerical modelling approach we analyse the tectonically induced variations in pressure and temperature in the lower crust, their influence on phase changes in the mafic body and the affiliated vertical movements. Results show that (1) densification of the mafic body caused by far-field compression associated with the late Triassic westward translation of Novaya Zemlya could cause surface subsidence, (2) heat and fluid influx provided by early Cretaceous rifting could trigger density reduction and surface uplift and (3) the present-day geometry of the Loppa High as observed in seismic data can be reproduced by combining the modelled effect of rift flank uplift and phase changes in the mafic body. Phase change-driven vertical movements may also have affected other structural highs in the western Barents Sea, including the Stappen High.


Teaching human rights means taking on a series of controversies over what human rights are, how they are determined, and how they are (or are not) upheld.  The "possession paradox" is that often human rights are declared but many, or even most, people do not actually enjoy them.  In teaching human rights we must convey both the promise of human rights and the discrepancy between that promise and their fulfillment.  I review a number of controversies in the current application of human rights, many of which arise from that discrepancy.  I then suggest the use of literary works and simulation games that can sometimes convey meanings more effectively than expository material.