Abstract The very recent phenomenon called Islamic feminism receives quite a lot of attention from academia and media alike. Although it is basically a discourse whose strategy and praxis is primarily script related, there seems to be an overt tendency to equate Islamic feminism with an ideology for a transnational social or political movement. As a perceived singular movement, Islamic feminism is often distinguished from two other supposedly singular movements, namely "Muslim feminism" and "Islamist feminism". With regard to India, however, these ideal types don't seem to be very helpful as analytical categories, as the growing influence and reference to Islamic feminism there simply cannot be associated with one distinct group of proponents or one movement exclusively. Therefore, I will argue here that a clear distinction should rather be made between Islamic feminism as a discursive movement, and the distinct local, national or transnational social and political movements that are all increasingly referring to this discourse. In India, these movements in many cases precede the emergence of Islamic feminism in the 1990s. So by making this distinction, the focus of analysis can be shifted from the repeated finding of ideological divisions and frictions within a supposedly singular Islamic feminist movement to the focus on the enormous potential that this discourse obviously has for Muslim women's agency in general as well as for the emergence of new female subjectivities in India (and elsewhere) which in turn seem to challenge and change secular-national gender discourses. Keywords: Muslim women's rights, Muslim Personal Law, India Introduction: Indian Muslim citizens and the quest for modernity For quite some time, the renewed orientation of many Muslims worldwide towards the normative sources of their religion has been equated with a perceived quest for the legitimacy of an "anti-Western," "dogmatic" or "rigid" Islam. That this is not necessarily the agenda behind it becomes very clear when one looks at recent developments in India. Faced with enormous political, social and economic challenges, more and more active "lay" Muslims in India are engaging in fresh interpretations of the Islamic tradition, which for them as citizens of a modern nation-state could help to build bridges towards the majority community or society in general and not detach them from it any further. This effort is not restricted to a tiny minority of Muslim intellectuals, as it is supported, for example, by sections of the newly emerging Muslim middle class in India and many grass-roots movements all over the country. One could even argue that the discussion of burning questions, such as education, reform, the political representation of Indian Muslims, and above all the legal and social status of Muslim women, has led to the emergence of a new public sphere in India in recent years which, in turn, is linked to many other transnational and/or local Muslim publics (see Eickelman and Anderson 1999 and Salvatore/Eickelman 2004). As Sikand points out, the language of this new Muslim public sphere is English, not Urdu, which may be one of the reasons why it has gone largely unnoticed by the academic community so far, since Urdu is still regarded by many as the preferred language of Indian Muslim discourse (Sikand 2006). (2) These new Muslim actors in local, national, and transnational spaces argue that believing Muslims do not depend on religious authorities in order to understand the Koran, but that they can rather and should indeed read and interpret the Koran for themselves. Thus, like other contemporary reform movements within Islam, their efforts can be seen as an answer to the perceived crisis of religious authority as well as the crisis of (political) representation, on the local, national and global level (see for instance Gole 2002 and 2004, Sharify-Funk 2004, Mahmood 2005 and 2006, and Kramer/Schmitdke 2006). …


A new type of district energy network has recently been proposed that is based on the use of CO2 as a heat transfer fluid. It uses the latent heat of vaporization, instead of sensible heat, to store and transfer heat. Previous studies have focused on demonstrating the potential of such a network in terms of energy efficiency and economy. In order to assess the technical feasibility of such a network, and to address some of the safety related issues, an analysis of the network's dynamics is required. Such an analysis requires models to be developed for the network's central plant, heating users' substations, cooling users' substations, as well as for the piping. Moreover these dynamic models should be developed in such a way that they can be calibrated with the help of a future experimental setup. In this context a dynamic model of a plate evaporator (also useable as a plate condenser) is presented, it is based on a one dimensional local formulation of the conservation laws for mass, momentum and energy. In this formulation, mass and energy in the components are allowed to vary, while non stationary terms in the momentum equation are neglected. On the water side, frictional pressure drops are computed with Churchill equation while heat transfer coefficient is computed with Gnielinski's correlation. On the refrigerant side, a constant friction factor was implemented, while heat transfer coefficient is set to a reference value at reference conditions of mass flux and pressure. Variations of the heat transfer coefficient due to changes with respect to these two conditions are handled with exponents. These values are to be calibrated experimentally in a future work. The thermal capacity due to the mass of construction material was also accounted for in the model. In order to select an appropriate control scheme to be used in the experimental facility and, later on in a real network, the behavior of a cooling user substation including a control valve and an evaporator is discussed. A proportional integral controller showed its ability to stabilize the system to a desired degree of superheat at the evaporator outlet. Finally, perturbation rejection tests were made, and showed the ability of the system to operate under changing conditions of CO2 pressure and inlet enthalpy, as well as changes in the water mass flowrate, and inlet enthalpy.


Modern Australia evolved from separate colonies, which came together as a federation a century ago. The balance of state/federal responsibilities is relevant to most aspects of Australian life. This includes higher education, where universities are largely state owned but federally funded (with government funding declining), while the other higher education institutions are largely under state oversight. The article begins by describing the evolution of the higher education sector and the various approaches taken to addressing its quality over the years. Ten years ago, the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) was established as the national quality agency with responsibility for auditing universities (emphasising good processes and achievement of objectives within the universities, and diversity between them) and the state accreditation agencies (with emphasis on national consistency of treatment of the non-university institutions). The article describes AUQA's approach and actions that have led to effectiveness nationally and internationally, and an international reputation. The article also refers to other issues, including funding, rankings and standards. It concludes with an outline of the Federal Government's current plans to bring AUQA and the state agencies into a single national agency.


The Hudson River is a strongly heterotrophic system in which the invasive zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) comprises >90% of total metazoan biomass. Using a Bayesian mixing model, with isotope ratios of C, N, and H, and four basal resources (phytoplankton, benthic algae, submersed aquatic vegetation [SAV], and terrestrial inputs), we estimated the reliance of 10 consumers on each resource. Copepods, Bosmina, and herring (Alosa aestivalis) relied 40–60% on phytoplankton primary production; amphipods and young‐of‐year white perch (Morone spp.) relied heavily on benthic algae (50–60%). Terrestrial detritus was an important resource for oligochaetes, zebra mussels, chironomids, and Bosmina sp., for which median estimates of reliance were between 40% and 60%. The dual reliance of zebra mussels on terrestrial detritus and phytoplankton production, combined with their high biomass, along with the significant terrestrial support of several other consumers, indicates that terrestrial detritus supports a significant portion of the Hudson River food web. Nonetheless, given that particulate and dissolved organic matter pools are heavily dominated (60–80%) by terrestrial detritus, it is clear that selectivity by consumers for autochthonous organic matter is generally high. Despite its large biomass and productivity, we did not find strong evidence for support of the food web by SAV.


The available evidence is mixed and of variable quality. Most evidence indicates that rate of eating has no effect on risk of gastric dilatation – volvulus (GDV). Where significant effects occur, fast eating was implicated as a risk factor. No studies found that slow eating was significantly associated with an increased risk of GDV. Slowing the rate at which a dog consumes a meal will not increase risk of GDV but it may possibly reduce the risk. Based on the limitations and unreliability of the current relevant literature there is not enough evidence to make a conclusion either way.


1. Methodological Issues in Keynes' Economics: an Introduction Tony Lawson and Hashem Pesaran 2. Persuasion, Expectations and the Limits to Keynes Geoff Hodgson 3. Animal Spirits and Rationality Alexander Dow and Sheila Dow 4. Expectations in Keynesian Econometric Models Simon Wren-Lewis 5. The Slippery Transition Johannes J. Klant 6. Are Popperian Criticisms of Keynes Justified? John Pheby 7. Keynes, Prediction and Econometrics Tony Lawson 8. Keynes on Econometrics Hashem Pesaran and Ron Smith 9. Keynes on Cause, Chance and Possibility Anna Carabelli 10. The Foundations of Keynes Methodology: The General Theory Lawrence A. Boland 11. Time and the Wage-Unit in the Method of The General Theory Victoria Chick 12. Keynesianism In Germany Juergen Backhaus.


BACKGROUND
Although children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) are at high risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), direct comparisons show distinct cognitive phenotypes in the 2 diagnoses. However, these groups have not been directly compared for social problems or social cognition, nor has social cognition been directly examined in FASDs.

OBJECTIVES
To compare FASDs and ADHD groups on social cognition tasks and determine whether deficient social cognition and emotion processing predict behavioral problems and social skills.

METHODS
Studied were 33 children with FASDs, 30 with ADHD, and 34 normal controls (NC). All received tasks of social cognition and emotion processing. Parents and teachers rated children on measures of completed questionnaires assessing child's behavioral problems and social skills using the Child Behavior Checklist, Teacher Report Form, and Social Skills Rating Scale. Children received 3 subtests from the Saltzman-Benaiah and Lalonde (2007) Theory of Mind Task as a measure of social cognition and 4 subtests from the Minnesota Test of Affective Processing (Lai et al., 1991) to assess emotion processing.

RESULTS
Parents and teachers reported more behavior problems and poorer social skills in children in FASD and ADHD than NC groups. FASDs demonstrated significantly weaker social cognition and facial emotion processing ability than ADHD and NC groups. Regression analyses identified social cognition as a significant predictor of behavior problems and emotion processing as a significant predictor of social skills.

CONCLUSIONS
Children with FASDs show a distinct behavioral profile from children with ADHD. Difficulties in social cognition and emotion processing in children with FASDs may contribute to their high incidence of social behavioral problems.


Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/VEGF receptor (VEGFR) inhibitors, used as anti-angiogenic drugs to treat cancer, induce severe hypertension. Molecular mechanisms whereby VEGF inhibitors cause hypertension are unclear, but nitric oxide (NO) and oxidative stress may be involved. We questioned whether reactive oxygen species (ROS), important regulators of vascular function in hypertension, also play a role in VEGF inhibitor-induced vascular dysfunction. Human microvascular endothelial cells (HMECs) were stimulated with vatalanib (VEGFR inhibitor) and gefitinib (EGFR inhibitor). Normotensive male SV-129 mice (8 weeks old) were treated with Vatalanib (100 mg/Kg/day) or Gefitinib (100 mg/Kg/day). Vascular reactivity was performed mesenteric arteries using wire myograph and blood pressure was measured by tail-cuff method. Phosphorylation of eNOS was assessed by immunoblotting. ROS were measured by amplex red, lucigenin and nitrotyrosine elisa. TBARS levels were measured by lipid peroxidation assay kit and catalase activity by amplex red. Nox and antioxidant enzymes mRNA was analysed by qPCR. No changes in blood pressure were observed in animals treated with vatalanib on this dose. However acetylcholine (ACh)-induced vasodilatation was impaired in those mice and phosphorylation of eNOS activation site (Ser1177) was decreased, while no changes were observed after exposure of HMECs to gefitinib. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels were reduced in HMECs stimulated with vatalanib and in aorta and heart from vatalanib-treated mice. This effect was followed by an increase in catalase activity and a decrease in Nox 4 mRNA expression while Nox5 mRNA levels were increase by vatalanib. VEGF inhibition also increased peroxynitrite (ONOO-) levels in aorta and kidney and increased plasma TBARS levels. In kidney vatalanib increased H2O2 and O2- production which was followed by a decrease in catalase activity and Nrf2 nuclear translocation. Finally mRNA levels of antioxidant enzymes in HMECs, kidney and heart were decreased after exposure to vatalanib. Gefitinib only increased catalase activity and ONOO- levels in heart as well as decreased Nrf2 nuclear translocation in kidney from mice. In conclusion, our data identify novel mechanisms whereby VEGFR inhibition modulates NO signalling, antioxidant defences and ROS production in tissues and endothelial cells. These molecular processes may contribute to reduced vasorelaxation and may play a role on VEGFRI-induced hypertension.


Biology graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are significant contributors to the educational mission of universities, particularly in introductory courses, yet there is a lack of empirical data on how to best prepare them for their teaching roles. This essay proposes a conceptual framework for biology GTA teaching professional development (TPD) program evaluation and research with three overarching variable categories for consideration: outcome variables, contextual variables, and moderating variables. The framework's outcome variables go beyond GTA satisfaction and instead position GTA cognition, GTA teaching practice, and undergraduate learning outcomes as the foci of GTA TPD evaluation and research. For each GTA TPD outcome variable, key evaluation questions and example assessment instruments are introduced to demonstrate how the framework can be used to guide GTA TPD evaluation and research plans. A common conceptual framework is also essential to coordinating the collection and synthesis of empirical data on GTA TPD nationally. Thus, the proposed conceptual framework serves as both a guide for conducting GTA TPD evaluation at single institutions and as a means to coordinate research across institutions at a national level.


Considering the importance of spiritual health in maintaining and improving one's mental health, the current study aimed to study the role of trust in God in the formation, maintenance, and development of mental health. In this review study, keywords such as "trust in God", "believers", and other synonymous words were searched in national and international databases. Moreover, the characteristics of prophets, saints, and believers were studied in Quran and Quran commentaries. The review of Islamic resources indicated the numerous effects of trust in God on mental health. In fact, one who trusts in God can attain personal coherence by believing in the unity of divine acts. Moreover, one's tolerance can be reinforced by giving meaning to world's catastrophic events and sufferings. Strong willpower for decision-making, adaptation to the environment, inner peace and confidence, freedom from disappointment and despair, return from wrongdoing, patience, and hope for God's blessings and forgiveness are among other major effects of faith in God on mental health. Considering the effects of trust in God on different aspects of human life, attention to this religious teaching can pave the way for confronting life's unpleasant events and becoming a healthy human being. Therefore, it is necessary for health authorities to institutionalize this Quranic teaching to confront disruptive factors for mental health.


We introduce the Convolutional Conditional Neural Process (ConvCNP), a new member of the Neural Process family that models translation equivariance in the data. Translation equivariance is an important inductive bias for many learning problems including time series modelling, spatial data, and images. The model embeds data sets into an infinite-dimensional function space as opposed to a finite-dimensional vector space. To formalize this notion, we extend the theory of neural representations of sets to include functional representations, and demonstrate that any translation-equivariant embedding can be represented using a convolutional deep set. We evaluate ConvCNPs in several settings, demonstrating that they achieve state-of-the-art performance compared to existing NPs. We demonstrate that building in translation equivariance enables zero-shot generalization to challenging, out-of-domain tasks.


In 1863, at the height of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass promised African Americans that serving in the military offered a sure path to freedom. Once a black man became a soldier, Douglass declared, "there is no power on earth or under the earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States." More than 180,000 black men heeded his call to defend the Union-only to find the path to equality would not be so straightforward. In this sharply drawn history, Professor Elizabeth D. Leonard reveals the aspirations and achievements as well as the setbacks and disappointments of African American soldiers. Drawing on eye-opening firsthand accounts, she restores black soldiers to their place in the arc of American history, from the Civil War and its promise of freedom until the dawn of the 20th century and the full retrenchment of Jim Crow. Along the way, Leonard offers a nuanced account of black soldiers' involvement in the Indian Wars, their attempts to desegregate West Point and gain proper recognition for their service, and their experience of Reconstruction nationally, as blacks worked to secure their place in an ever-changing nation. With abundant primary research, enlivened by memorable characters and vivid descriptions of army life, Men of Color to Arms! is an illuminating portrait of a group of men whose contributions to American history need to be further recognized.


Abstract. In this study, we investigated the susceptibility of the Dobson spectrophotometer No. 118 to stray light interference. In this regard, a series of total ozone content measurements were carried out in Athens, Greece for air-mass values (μ) extending up to μ = 5. The monochromatic-heterochromatic stray light derived by Basher's model was used in order to evaluate the specific instrumental parameters which determine if this instrument suffers from this problem or not. The results obtained indicate that the measurements made by the Dobson instrument of the Athens station for air mass values up to 2.5, underestimates the total ozone content by 3.5 DU in average, or about 1 % of the station's mean total ozone content (TOC). The comparison of the values of the same parameters measured 15 years ago with the present ones indicates the good maintenance of the Dobson spectrophotometer No. 118. This fact is of crucial importance because the variability of the daily total ozone observations collected by the Athens Dobson Station since 1989 has proved to be representative to the variability of the mean total ozone observed over the whole mid-latitude zone of the Northern Hemisphere. This stresses the point that the Athens total ozone station, being the unique Dobson station in south-eastern Europe, may be assumed as a ground truth station for the reliable conversion of the satellite radiance observations to total ozone measurements.


Change in the dietary pattern of South Africans has been attributed to urbanisation and acculturation. Urbanisation has resulted in a shift in the composition of dietary staples and increased consumption of fat and sugar. Within a South African context, the change in diet is from a traditional prudent African diet, low in fat and high fibre to a Western diet high in fat and refined carbohydrates. Research conducted amongst young adult populations has documented several examples of poor dietary patterns associated with urbanisation which include skipping meals, following fad diets, greater consumption of snack foods (high in saturated fat and sugar) and avoidance of certain food groups, particularly fruit and vegetable. Dietary factors related to an increase in diseases of lifestyle are a high fat, low fibre diet, as well as an insufficient intake of fruits and vegetables. This in turn has lead to higher energy intakes with insufficient and imbalanced micronutrient intake. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the nutritional adequacy of student eating habits and to determine the influence of nutrition knowledge, sociodemographic factors and weight status on students' diets.


In this work, we propose the marginal structured SVM (MSSVM) for structured prediction with hidden variables. MSSVM properly accounts for the uncertainty of hidden variables, and can significantly outperform the previously proposed latent structured SVM (LSSVM; Yu & Joachims (2009)) and other state-of-art methods, especially when that uncertainty is large. Our method also results in a smoother objective function, making gradient-based optimization of MSSVMs converge significantly faster than for LSSVMs. We also show that our method consistently outperforms hidden conditional random fields (HCRFs; Quattoni et al. (2007)) on both simulated and real-world datasets. Furthermore, we propose a unified framework that includes both our and several other existing methods as special cases, and provides insights into the comparison of different models in practice.


Background Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) are self-reporting tools that can measure important information about patients, such as health priorities, experience, and perception of outcome. The use of traditional objective measures such as vital signs and lab values can be supplemented with these self-reported patient measures to provide a more complete picture of a patient's health status. Machine learning, the use of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience, is a powerful tool in health care that often does not use subjective information shared by patients. However, machine learning has largely been based on objective measures and has been developed without patient or public input. Algorithms often do not have access to critical information from patients and may be missing priorities and measures that matter to patients. Combining objective measures with patient-reported measures can improve the ability of machine learning algorithms to assess patients' health status and improve the delivery of health care. Objective The objective of this scoping review is to identify gaps and benefits in the way machine learning is integrated with patient-reported outcomes for the development of improved public and patient partnerships in research and health care. Methods We reviewed the following 3 questions to learn from existing literature about the reported gaps and best methods for combining machine learning and patient-reported outcomes: (1) How are the public engaged as involved partners in the development of artificial intelligence in medicine? (2) What examples of good practice can we identify for the integration of PROMs into machine learning algorithms? (3) How has value-based health care influenced the development of artificial intelligence in health care? We searched Ovid MEDLINE(R), Embase, PsycINFO, Science Citation Index, Cochrane Library, and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects in addition to PROSPERO and the ClinicalTrials website. The authors will use Covidence to screen titles and abstracts and to conduct the review. We will include systematic reviews and overviews published in any language and may explore additional study types. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies are included in the reviews. Results The search is completed, and Covidence software will be used to work collaboratively. We will report the review using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines and Critical Appraisal Skills Programme for systematic reviews. Conclusions Findings from our review will help us identify examples of good practice for how to involve the public in the development of machine learning systems as well as interventions and outcomes that have used PROMs and PREMs. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/36395


Two of the most important proteins linking the contractile apparatus and costameres at the sarcolemma of skeletal muscle fibers are dystrophin and desmin. We have developed an elastic model of the proteins that link the sarcolemma to the myofibrils. This is a distributed model, with an elastic constant, k, that includes the main protein components of the costameres. The distributed spring model is composed of parallel units attached in series. To test the model, we performed experiments in which we applied negative pressure, generated by an elastimeter, to a small area of the sarcolemma from single myofiber. The negative pressure formed a bleb of variable height, dependent on the pressure applied. We normalized our measurements of k in dystrophin‐null (mdx) and desmin‐null (des‐/‐) mice to the value we obtained for wild type (WT) mice, which was set at 1.0. The relative experimental value for the stiffness of myofibers from mice lacking dystrophin or desmin was 0.5 and 0.7, respectively. The theoretical k values of the individual elements were obtained using neural networks (NN), in which the input was the k value for each parallel spring component and the output was the solution of each resulting parallel system. We compare the experimental values of k in control and mutant muscles to the theoretical values obtained by NN for each protein. Computed theoretical values were 0.4 and 0.8 for dystrophin‐ and desmin‐null muscles, respectively, and 0.9 for WT, in reasonable agreement with our experimental results. This suggests that, although it is a simplified spring model solved by NN, it provides a good approximation of the distribution of spring elements and the elastic constants of the proteins that form the costameres. Our results show that dystrophin is the protein that contributes more than any other to the strength of the connections between the sarcolemma and the contractile apparatus, the costameres.Two of the most important proteins linking the contractile apparatus and costameres at the sarcolemma of skeletal muscle fibers are dystrophin and desmin. We have developed an elastic model of the proteins that link the sarcolemma to the myofibrils. This is a distributed model, with an elastic constant, k, that includes the main protein components of the costameres. The distributed spring model is composed of parallel units attached in series. To test the model, we performed experiments in which we applied negative pressure, generated by an elastimeter, to a small area of the sarcolemma from single myofiber. The negative pressure formed a bleb of variable height, dependent on the pressure applied. We normalized our measurements of k in dystrophin‐null (mdx) and desmin‐null (des‐/‐) mice to the value we obtained for wild type (WT) mice, which was set at 1.0. The relative experimental value for the stiffness of myofibers from mice lacking dystrophin or desmin was 0.5 and 0.7, respectively. The theoretical k...


The study takes into consideration the theme of the "beatitudes" (makarismoi) of the Old Testament. It is a theme, which, until these later years, has remained in the dark especially from the theological viewpoint. The author sets forth his study demonstrating the broad use of the "beatitudes" genus made by the Egyptians. However, in the Bible this genus assumed, especially among the psalmists and the wise, an ever clearer determination under both the literary and the doctrinal aspect. Whole psalms can, in actual fact, be classified as "makarismoi", and this readily shows how the biblical scholar tackled and tried to solve the great problem of human happiness. In addition, the author endeavours to point out the profound diferences that exist between the concept of beatitude and that of blessedness. In the end, he attempts to present a thematic classification of the beatitudes and proposes their distribution in ten distinct groups.


Discusses the various problems plaguing East Timor and the international efforts being made by the United Nations to help solve these problems. The assistance being provided by the Australian government tin nation building and helping curb civil unrest is also highlighted.


Hormonal regulation of hepatic gluconeogenic pathway flux is brought about by phosphorylation/dephosphorylation and control of gene expression of several key regulatory enzymes. Regulation by cAMP dependent phosphorylation occurs at the level of pyruvate kinase and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (6PF-1-K)/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase (Fru-2,6-P2ase). The latter is a unique bifunctional enzyme that catalyzes both the synthesis and degradation of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate (Fru-2,6-P2), which is an activator of 6PF-1-K and an inhibitor of Fru-1,6-P2ase. The bifunctional enzyme is a homodimer whose activities are regulated by cAMP dependent protein kinase-catalyzed phosphorylation at a single NH2-terminal seryl residue/subunit, which results in activation of the Fru-2,6-P2ase and inhibition of the PF-1-K reactions. Hormone-mediated changes in the phosphorylation state of the bifunctional enzyme are responsible for acute regulation of Fru-2,6-P2 levels. 6PF-2-K/Fru-2,6-P2ase thus provides a switching mechanism between glycolysis and gluconeogenesis in mammalian liver. Pyruvate kinase is regulated by both phosphorylation and allosteric effectors. Fru-1,6-P2, an allosteric activator, also inhibits cAMP-dependent enzyme phosphorylation, and its steady-state concentration is indirectly determined by the level of Fru-2,6-P2. Therefore, acute regulation of both pyruvate kinase and the bifunctional enzyme provide coordinated control at both the pyruvate/phosphoenolpyruvate and Fru-6-P/Fru-1,6-P2 substrate cycles. The Fru-2,6-P2 system is also subject to complex multihormonal long-term control through regulation of 6 PF-2-K/Fru-2,6-P2ase gene expression. Glucocorticoids are the major factor in turning on this gene in liver, but insulin is also a positive effector. cAMP prevents the effects of glucocorticoids and insulin. Although Fru-2,6-P2 plays a key role in the regulation of carbon flux in the gluconeogenic pathway, the regulation of this flux depends on several factors and regulation of other key enzymes whose importance varies depending on the dietary and hormonal status of the animal. Molecular cloning of the cDNA encoding PF-2-K/Fru-2,6-P2ase has elucidated its structure and permitted analysis of its evolutionary origin as well as its tissue distribution and control of its gene expression. The rat liver and skeletal muscle isoforms arose by alternative splicing of a single gene. The muscle form differs from the liver form only at the NH2-terminal and does not have a cAMP dependent protein kinase phosphorylation site. The hepatic enzyme subunit consists of 470 amino acids. The NH2-terminal half of the subunit contains the 6PF-2-K domain (residues 1–250), and the COOH-terminal half contains the Fru-2,6-P2ase domain (residues 251–470). The bisphosphatase reaction is catalyzed via a phosphohistidine enzyme intermediate. This Fru-2,6-P2ase domain is evolutionarily related to the phosphoglycerate mutase family of enzymes, which also utilize phosphohistidine in their reaction pathway. The 6PF-2-K domain contains a nucleotide binding fold analogous to that found in bacterial 6PF-1-K. On the basis of these findings, the bifunctional enzyme was formed by a gene fusion event involving two glycolytic enzyme catalytic units, i.e., phosphoglycerate mutase and 6PF-1-K. The importance of this system in the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism in many cell types makes it an ideal system to use in molecular approaches to the definitive study of pathway flux and rate-controlling enzymes.


Kanban is a method of organizing and managing professional services work. It uses Lean concepts such as limiting work in progress to improve results. A Kanban system is a means of balancing the demand for work to be done with the available capacity to start new work. This book provides a distillation of Kanban: the "essence" of what it is and how it can be used. This brief overview introduces all the principal concepts and guidelines in Kanban and points you to where you can find out more. Essential Kanban Condensed is a great resource to get started or continue exploring ideas for evolutionary change and improvement in business agility.


In the largest, longitudinal study of young, deaf children before and three years after cochlear implantation, we compared symbolic play and novel noun learning to age-matched hearing peers. Participants were 180 children from six cochlear implant centers and 96 hearing children. Symbolic play was measured during five minutes of videotaped, structured solitary play. Play was coded as "symbolic" if the child used substitution (e.g., a wooden block as a bed). Novel noun learning was measured in 10 trials using a novel object and a distractor. Cochlear implant vs. normal hearing children were delayed in their use of symbolic play, however, those implanted before vs. after age two performed significantly better. Children with cochlear implants were also delayed in novel noun learning (median delay 1.54 years), with minimal evidence of catch-up growth. Quality of parent-child interactions was positively related to performance on the novel noun learning, but not symbolic play task. Early implantation was beneficial for both achievement of symbolic play and novel noun learning. Further, maternal sensitivity and linguistic stimulation by parents positively affected noun learning skills, although children with cochlear implants still lagged in comparison to hearing peers.


The aim of this article is to examine the change of the relationship between the American labor movement and Japanese communities in the Pacific Northwest in the 1930s. The relationship between the American labor movement and Japanese communities in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1930s was not a friendly one. Most labor organizations continued to reject Japanese workers. White workers, suffering as a result of the Great Depression, were often hostile to the Japanese. The attitudes of Japanese communities toward the labor movement were also not favorable ones. However, some people : Kazue Miyata, Yoshiaki Yamane, Gentaro Oe, and many other unknown activists, continued to believe in the importance of the organization of Japanese workers and committed themselves to the cause of the labor movement in this difficult situation. The situation began to change in the mid−1930s. The start of the NIRA regime made Japanese communities reconsider the significance of the organization of workers in the United States. The development of the CIO lowered barriers for Japanese workers to join unions throughout the United States. Moreover, the general development of the labor movement in the United States, which was stimulated by the enactment of the NIRA
and the Wagner Act, of course, affected Japanese communities too. In response to such conditions, the Japanese Restaurant Workers' Union was organized in around 1936 in Seattle. In the canned−salmon industry in which many Asians were working, the Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers Union was organized in 1933. This union was organized by Filipino workers, but, before long,
Japanese and Chinese workers also took part in it. By the beginning of the 1940s, as Daisho Miyagawa stated later, "the union idea was no longer novel or especially provocative of tension and controversy in the Seattle Japanese community".


Author(s): Wiser, Ryan H; Bolinger, Mark; Seel, Joachim | Abstract: This paper draws on a survey of solar industry professionals and other sources to clarify trends in the expected useful life and operational expenditure (OpEx) of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) plants in the United States. Solar project developers, sponsors, long-term owners, and consultants have increased project-life assumptions over time, from an average of ~21.5 years in 2007 to ~32.5 years in 2019. Current assumptions range from 25 years to more than 35 years depending on the organization; 17 out of 19 organizations surveyed or reviewed use 30 years or more. Levelized, lifetime OpEx estimates have declined from an average of ~$35/kWDC-yr for projects built in 2007 to an average of ~$17/kWDC-yr in 2019. Across 13 sources, the range in average lifetime OpEx for projects built in 2019 is broad, from $13 to $25/kWDC-yr. Operations and maintenance (OaM) costs—one component of OpEx—have declined precipitously in recent years, to $5-8/kWDC-yr in many cases. Property taxes and land lease costs are highly variable across sites, but on average are—together—of similar magnitude. Other OpEx line items include security, insurance, and asset management. Given 2007-2009 values for not only project life and OpEx but also other drivers of the levelized cost of energy (LCOE, excluding the investment tax credit), the LCOE for utility-scale PV projects built from 2007 through 2009 averaged $305/MWh. Using 2019 values for all parameters yields an average LCOE of $51/MWh. The decline in LCOE from $305/MWh to $51/MWh was predominantly caused by reductions in up-front expenditures (and, to a much lesser extent, by changes in capacity factors, financing costs, and tax rates), but 9% ($22/MWh) of the overall decline is due to improvements in project life and OpEx. Project life extensions and OpEx reductions have had similarly sized impacts on LCOE over this period, at $11/MWh each. Had project life and OpEx not improved over the last decade, LCOE in 2019 would have instead been $73/MWh—43% higher. Given the limited quantity and comparability of previously available data on these cost drivers, the data and trends presented here may inform assumptions used by electric system planners, modelers, and analysts. The results may also provide useful benchmarks to the solar industry, helping developers and assets owners compare their expectations for project life and OpEx with those of their peers.


In mammals, epigenetic modifications and trans-acting effectors coordinate gene expression during development and impose transcriptional memories that define specific cell lineages and cell-types. Methylation at CpG dinucleotides is an epigenetic mechanism through which transcriptional silencing is established and heritably maintained through development. Functionally, DNA methylation regulates key biological processes such as X-chromosome inactivation, transposon repression and genomic imprinting. However, the extent to which DNA methylation is the primary regulator of single-copy gene expression and the precise mechanism of methylation-dependent silencing remain undetermined. Here, I identify a novel set of germline-specific candidate genes putatively regulated by DNA methylation. Analysis of one candidate gene, Tex19, demonstrates that promoter CpG methylation is the primary and exclusive mechanism for regulating developmental silencing in somatic lineages. Genetic or pharmacological removal of CpG methylation triggers robust de-repression of Tex19 and loss of transcriptional memory. Moreover, Tex19 critically relies on de novo methylation, mediated by Dnmt3b, to impose silencing in differentiating ES cells and somatic cells in vivo from embryonic day (E)7.5. Reporter gene and ChIP analysis demonstrate that Tex19 is strongly activated by general transcription factors and is not marked by repressive histone modifications in somatic lineages, consistent with differential DNA methylation per se being the primary mechanism of regulating expression. Full transcriptional silencing of Tex19 is critically dependent on the methyl-binding protein (MBP) Kaiso, which is only recruited to methylated Tex19 promoter. The reliance on DNA methylation and Kaiso for silencing in somatic cells establishes an epigenetic memory responsible for maintaining expression in germline and pluripotent cell types through successive developmental cycles. This thesis represents the first causal report of lineagespecific promoter DNA methylation directing silencing of an in vivo gene through recruitment of an MBP.


Lead poisoning is an important conservation concern for wildlife, and scavenging birds are especially at risk from consumption of carcasses of animals killed with lead ammunition. Because current methods to identify lead exposure require animal capture and blood collection, management would benefit from the development of a less costly and noninvasive behavioral test for illness in wild animals. We attempted to design such a test to identify lead exposure in California condors (Gymnogyps californianus) that we tracked with global positioning system (GPS) telemetry in southern California, USA, 2013–2016. We measured blood-lead concentrations in tracked birds and expected that flight behavior would be influenced by lead exposure; thus, we measured the effect of blood-lead concentrations on 2 different types of movement rates and on the proportion of time condors spent in flight. We found no effect of lead exposure on any of these 3 behavioral metrics. Our work suggests that the measurements we took of flight behaviors were not a useful tool in predicting lead exposure in the mildly to moderately exposed birds we studied. Wild birds are effective at hiding illness, especially condors who have a strong social hierarchy in which showing weakness is a disadvantage. However, focusing on behaviors other than flight, expanding the sample studied to include birds with a wider range of lead concentration values, or analyzing tissues such as feathers (rather than, or in addition to, blood) may be more useful for identification of lead exposure and other diseases that may limit wildlife populations. 2017 This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.


Subwavelength diameter microfiber with carbon nanotube (CNT) cladding attracts wide attention for its significant effect on evanescent coupling and interaction. In this paper, the physical mechanism and spatial expression of the light field near CNT coated microfiber are analyzed by the electromagnetic calculation and mode field analysis experiments. The simulated and experimental results demonstrate that light field distribution along the CNT coated microfiber shows the resonant modes with intensity attenuation locating at ∼0  μm, 1.7 μm, 3.3 μm at the direction of core radius. The investigation about interaction between evanescent wave and CNT films will inspire the future application of CNT films and microfiber based lasers, all-optical switches, wavelength converters, sensors, and other integrated functional photonic devices.


This paper argues that trade specialization played an indispensable role in supporting the Industrial Revolution. We calibrate a two-good and two-sector overlapping generations model to Englandis historical development and investigate how much different Englandis development path would have been if it had not globalized in 1840. The open-economy model is able to closely match the data, but the closed-economy model cannot explain the fall in the value of land relative to wages observed in the 19th century. Without globalization, the transition period in the British economy would be considerably longer than that observed in the data and key variables, such as the share of labor force in agriculture, would have converged to Ogures very distant from the actual ones.


We constructed a general relationship between prey concentration and absorption efficiency (AE; previously termed assimilation efficiency) in the cosmopolitan calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa. The relationships between observed AEs and prey concentrations developed differently on different prey species. While AEs decreased asymptotically with prey concentration on the cryptophyte Rhodomonas baltica, the chlorophyte Dunaliella tertiolecta generated a v‐shaped response, whereas AEs remained constant on the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii. We used these observations to develop a mechanistic gut model in which gut carbon concentrations depend on ingestion rate and either egestion rate or absorption rate. To investigate which rate was more important for AE, two different model modes were run: absorption was set to vary according to absorptive enzyme kinetics and egestion set to relate linearly to gut carbon concentration, or the contrary, egestion was set to vary according to enzyme kinetics and absorption set to relate linearly to gut concentration. This approach revealed that copepod carbon AE is controlled primarily by egestion rate kinetics and is independent of absorptive enzyme kinetics. Accordingly, we suggest a simplified regression model for the functional response of AE in pelagic copepods based solely on rates of ingestion and egestion.


Mammography screening has traditionally been viewed as a field for medical research. The medical science discourse, however, is highly quantitative, and its claims for validity somewhat opposed to those of qualitative research. To communicate research in a cross-disciplinary field, it is necessary to adapt one's research to several paradigms. The authors conducted focus group interviews with women due to be screened in a national breast cancer screening program. Their prospective design, both strategic and random sampling, and free discussions during focus groups are all questions of satisfying a medical science discourse in the frames of qualitative research. Focus group research showed itself adaptable through the data collection phase in a cross-disciplinary research project on mammography screening.


Most research in Web search personalization models users as static or slowly evolving entities with a given set of preferences defined by their past behavior. However, recent publications as well as empirical evidence suggest that for a significant number of search sessions, users diverge from their regular search profiles in order to satisfy atypical, limited-duration information needs. In this work, we conduct a large-scale inspection of real-life search sessions to further understand this scenario. Subsequently, we design an automatic means of detecting and supporting such atypical sessions. We demonstrate significant improvements over state-of-the-art Web search personalization techniques by accounting for the typicality of search sessions. The proposed method is evaluated based on Web-scale search session data spanning several months of user activity.


We tested three theses on the construction of extramusical meaning in program music: (1) that some excerpts contain an "inherent" musical structure that facilitates the interpretation aligned with the composer's intentions; (2) that "onomatopoeia" — musical imitation of natural sounds — is a frequent subclass of this "inherence"; and (3) that providing the title of the piece further facilitates the "proper" interpretation of intended meaning. Two hundred and one students were given six musical stimuli (three based on "inherent" and three on "arbitrary" association) and asked to write a one-sentence description of extramusical meaning associated with the examples. In the first trial, all participants provided descriptions without a suggestion. In the second, they were randomly assigned to three groups, receiving suggestions that were neutral, aligned with the composer's program, or deliberately worded to contradict this program. Three raters then coded the responses on the basis of conformity with the composer's intentions and presence of onomatopoeia. The result was (a) no difference in the numbers of conformant descriptions to "inherent" as opposed to "arbitrary" examples; (b) a negligible number of onomatopoeic descriptions; (c) a strong influence of "false" — but not "true" — suggestions. We discuss some implications for further studies of extramusical meaning.


Social media has become an extremely powerful phenomenon with millions of users who post status updates, blog, links and pictures on social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. However, social networking has so far spread mainly among consumers. Businesses are only now beginning to acknowledge the benefits of using social media to enhance employee and supplier collaboration to support new ideas and innovation through knowledge sharing across functions and organizational boundaries. Many businesses are still trying to understand the various implications of integrating internal communication systems with social media tools and private collaboration and networking platforms. Indeed, a current issue in organizations today is to explore the value of social media mechanisms across a range of functions within their organizations and across their supply chains. The KNOWNET project (an EC funded Marie Curie IAPP) seeks to assess the value of social networking for knowledge exchange across Insurance supply chains. A key objective of the project being to develop and build a web based interactive environment - a Supplier Social Network or SSN, to support and facilitate exchange of good ideas, insights, knowledge, innovations etc across a diverse group of suppliers within a multi level supply chain within the Insurance sector.


Dysphagia is a common and disabling symptom in stroke patients, and prediction of prolongation of dysphagia in its acute stage is very important from several standpoints, including selection of the treatment strategy, planning of care, and the QOL of the patients.We retrospectively analyzed the data of 33 stroke patients in whom videofluoroscopy (VF) had been performed to check for the swallowing function, and investigated the predictive factors for dysphagia after stroke. Of the 33 patients, 25 patients had had ischemic stroke and 8 had had hemorrhagic stroke. Twenty patients (39%) could take their regular meals orally by the 30th hospital day, while 12 patients (36%) developed pneumonia during the first 30 days of hospitalization. Predictive factors of taking regular diet by oral feeding were 1) consciousness level, 2) location of lesions, and 3) severity of dysphagia as assessed by VF. While a predictive factor for pneumonia was advanced age of the patient. Dysarthria was not a predictor of dysphagia.Comprehensive evaluation of the swallowing function by detailed clinical evaluation and VF should be conducted in acute stroke patients, to enable timely identification and management of dysphagia in these patients.


The lifting of the fourfold degeneracy of the zeroth Landau level in graphene under high magnetic fields has been the subject of numerous experimental studies, and attributed to various mechanisms such as pure spin splitting, spin splitting combined with subsequent valley splitting, or the formation of a quantum Hall insulator. Unexplored, however, is the influence of an energy gap on the quantum Hall effect (QHE) states in graphene. Here we demonstrate, using measurements of the magnetoresistance of graphene antidot lattices (GALs) in magnetic fields up to 30 T and temperatures between 2 and 100 K, that gap opening in these samples is accompanied by valley polarization and a change from linear to parabolic band structure at low carrier energies. The emergence of a massive character of the carriers profoundly alters the transport characteristics of the zeroth Landau level, which manifests itself in a linear increase of the activated gap with magnetic field. Furthermore, samples of the highest quality display spin splitting on top of the valley splitting, albeit of significantly smaller magnitude.


The purpose of this article is to examine how the perceptions of employees could have an influence in business strategy. The problem statement and main research question is: How can employees' perceptions influence the outcome of business strategy of SMEs in Lao PDR? This article critically reviews the literature pertaining to perceptions and attitudes. Perception involves a sophisticated thinking process, from obtaining data from the external environment, analysing, and converting it through the cognitive process. People's perceptions of reality have great influence on their behaviour. The significance of this article is: SMEs in Lao PDR can develop better understanding about the influence of employees' perceptions on the outcome of business strategy. The findings show strong evidence that supports the relationship between employees' perceptions about strategy and business performance; employees who had some interest in business strategy accounted for 37%, those with a moderate interest in strategy, 42%, and those very interested in strategy at 16%. Some recommendations are given at the end of the article before the conclusions section.


The novel contribution of this research is the development of a supervised algorithm that extracts relevant attributes from The Health Improvement Network database to detect prescription side effects. Prescription drug side effects are a common cause of morbidity throughout the world. Methods that aim to detect side effects have historically been limited due to the data available, but some of these limitations may be overcome by incorporating longitudinal observational databases into pharmacovigilance. Existing side effect detecting methods using longitudinal observational databases have shown promise at becoming a fundamental component of post marketing surveillance but unfortunately have high false positive rates. An extra step is required to further analyse and filter the potential side effects detected by existing methods due to their high false positive rates, and this reduces their efficiency. In this thesis a novel methodology, the supervised adverse drug reaction predictor (SAP) framework, is presented that learns from known side effects, and identifies patterns that can be utilised to detect unknown side effects. The Bradford-Hill causality considerations are used to derive suitable attributes as inputs into a learning algorithm. Both supervised and semi-supervised techniques are investigated due to the limited number of definitively known side effects. The results showed that the SAP framework implementing a random forest classifier outperformed the existing methods on The Health Improvement Network longitudinal observational database, with AUCs ranging between 0.812-0.937, an overall MAP of 0.667, precision values between 0.733-1 and a false positive rate ≤ 0.013. When applied to the standard reference the SAP framework implementing a support vector machine obtained a MAP score of 0.490, an average AUC of 0.703 and a false positive rate of 0.16. The false positive rate is lower than that obtained by existing methods on the standard reference.


The provision of education that is both effective and relevant to the needs of students within prison is challenging on a number of levels. The uniqueness of prison culture with a regime characterised by a focus on security measures such as lock-downs and head counts constrains the possibilities for learning. The absence of a supportive learning environment together with an emphasis on punishment rather than rehabilitation has the effect of marginalising education in prison so that 'education' has come to be seen by some as 'off limits'. Education in basic skills such as literacy and numeracy that contributes to 'life skills' is given priority. In contrast, access to higher education is more problematic with this generally perceived by both prisoners and prison staff as an 'elite' activity. This article adopts a case study approach to consider the barriers to higher education distance learning in the prison setting. It focuses on the practical and organisational constraints faced by educators in their efforts to help students in prison negotiate the different worlds of prison and higher education. It also highlights the value of one-to-one tutorial support in facilitating learning in less than optimum teaching conditions.


The Savu Sea in the Province of East Nusa Tenggara is an important area for marine mammals in Indonesia, supporting at least 19 cetacean species as well as the dugong. The deep inter-island channels of the Savu Sea are sites of upwellings and other oceanographic processes which benefit marine mammal populations. Two traditional communities (Lamalera village on Lembata Island and Lamakera village on Solor Island) hunt whales in the Savu Sea, a practice which impacts on marine mammal populations but which is poorly documented. Through this research, I examine the current status of the whale hunting cultures in the Savu Sea as well as the social construction or perception of several stakeholders concerning traditional hunting practices. I also analyse other anthropogenic activities that might adversely impact on marine mammals in the region, and provide management options for marine mammal conservation in the Savu Sea and Indonesia in general.

To gain preliminary information in a relatively short period of time, I used a RRA (Rapid Rural Appraisal) approach. I conducted my research between May and December 2004, interviewing 60 informants from various places in Solor, Lembata, Alor and Rote Islands, as well as in Kupang (the capital of East Nusa Tenggara), Jakarta and Bandung (West Java). The nature of my research question resulted in qualitative data that I examined using thematic analysis and social construction theory.

I conclude that the whale hunting traditions in Lamalera (Lembata Island) and Lamakera (Solor Island) are subsistence whaling according to the IWC (International Whaling Commission) definition. This tradition appears not to be important anymore for the villagers of Lamakera. However, it is still a very important part of the cultural and spiritual identity of the Lamalera villagers. Although recently the whale catch has been relatively low, the Lamalera fishermen have compensated by increasing the catch of small cetaceans and other marine megafauna such as whale sharks, sunfish, manta rays, etc., confirming their high dependency on non-fish products. The preliminary nature of this research did not allow a calculation of the sustainable harvest level or PBR (Potential Biological Removal) of whale hunting in Lamalera thus this practice is still considered a threat to the local whale population. However, the research revealed that there are many other threats to marine mammals in the Savu Sea that should be considered when designing marine mammal management. These threats include IUU (illegal, unregulated and unreported) fishing, marine traffic, oil-gas exploration and exploitation, and commercial displays of marine mammals.

Several management options for marine mammals in Savu Sea are proposed. Further investigation is recommended to fully understand the magnitude of each threat to the marine mammal populations, which in the end will affect traditional whale hunting in Lamalera.

This research offers insights into issues that could be included in the recently proposed government plan to establish the Solor-Alor Marine Protected Area. Alternative livelihoods for whale hunters and destructive fishers should be appropriately designed. Alternative fisheries to reduce the dependency of Lamalera villagers on marine megafauna products might also be a feasible option.

I recommend that Indonesia consider becoming a signatory to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). As an international body that facilitates the management of migratory species, CMS can assist Indonesia in management of and research into marine mammals, especially the species targeted by whale hunters. So far, Indonesia is an MOU signatory to the CMS. By becoming a CMS signatory, Indonesia is more likely to engage further collaboration with Australia and other countries that have been conducting extensive research on marine mammals.


1. Intercropping, the practice of growing two or more crops in close association, is attracting increasing interest in developed countries, primarily due to claims that it can provide increased yields in an environmentally sustainable manner. 2. The land equivalent ratio (LER) is frequently used to attest the claim that intercropping produces a greater total biological productivity per unit area of land than monocropping. However, similar to other indices, the value of the LER is dependent on the relative densities of the two crops and fails to provide an indication of the optimal crop density combination required to produce maximum biological productivity. We used an alternative methodology to predict the optimum density for planting two crops in a mixed stand. 3. Maize and beans were grown both in monoculture and in intercropped stands at a range of densities. Monocrop stands of both maize and bean displayed an asymptotic yield–density relationship. When a second crop was introduced into the stand there was no effect on the yield of maize, but there was a large reduction in the yield of bean. 4. The LER did not demonstrate an unequivocal advantage to intercropping. Less than a third of the LER values, over the range of densities considered, were greater than one, although none was significantly different to unity. The highest values were obtained from those plots sown with a high density of maize. 5. An alternative method of analysing the biological productivity of an intercrop system is proposed. This approach requires a combination of (i) an additive experimental design, (ii) the use of a regression model to measure the competitive effect of two species, and (iii) the presentation of the net competitive effect on individual and total yields using a response surface. The reciprocal model was used to dissociate and quantify intra- and interspecific competition, estimate a competitive equivalence coefficient and predict the individual yields of the full complement of density combinations included in the maize and bean experiment. 6. The model explained up to 90% of the variation in the observed yields of maize and bean in an intercrop. An inspection of the response surface for the LER indicated that the minimum density combination required to produce the maximum yield advantage within the density range considered comprised maize being planted at a density of 11 plants m−2 and bean being planted at a density of 39 plants m−2. Although this combination would provide the maximum biological productivity, it is considered unlikely to provide the maximum gross economic margin. 7. The above methodology may provide a useful tool for managing competition, either between two or more crops in an intercrop, or within a crop–weed interaction.


Upgrading the existing electricity grids into smart grids relies heavily on the development of information and communication technology which supports a highly reliable real-time monitoring and control system as well as coordination of various electricity utilities and market participants. In this upgrading process, smart grid communication is the key to success, and a simple but complete, innovative but compatible high-level communication-oriented smart grid framework is needed. This paper proposes a simple and flexible three-entity framework, so that devices employing the existing technologies are supported and can interoperate with those employing new technologies.


This Article analyzes the Federal Circuit's Model Order Regarding E-Discovery in Patent Cases (the "Model Order"). The Article briefly describes the purpose behind the Model Order, describes its key provisions, analyzes the Model Order to identify some areas of continuing concern, and defines predictive coding to examine the impact, or lack thereof, on the Model Order. The author concludes that, while it is beyond refute that the Model Order is an appropriate step toward controlling and managing e-discovery, the Model Order is only the first step. In this regard, several problems, as set forth below, can potentially arise when counsel or the courts use the Model Order. It is hoped that this Article will encourage judges, litigants, and other interested parties to continue trying to solve the continuously troubling aspects of e-discovery and e-discovery abuse.


This thesis summarizes the work done by the author in the frame of the Ph.D. Program in Aerospace, Naval and Quality Engineering at the University of Naples Federico II, following the research projects ARCA and COMFORT, which were
aimed to develop innovating solutions for the noise and vibration control in the aeronautical field. In the last years, a constant pursuit in performance improvement has been demanded to the aeronautical products, mainly in reducing weight and fuel consumption, hence in reducing the emissivity of polluting agents (Nox). The employment of composite materials in bigger parts of the structures is one of the solutions found to reduce weight, culminating in the design of Boeing 787, the first airplane with a massive part of carbon fiber also in the main frames of the fuselage structure. However, like any other engineering solution, using composite materials has its own drawbacks; while they allow considerable weight reductions, they show high noise permeability thus negatively influencing the comfort level, when employed in the structural elements of an airplane fuselage. To contrast this behavior and comply with comfort requirements in the cabin, it was suggested the use of soundproof or damping materials. Adding one or more
viscoelastic material layers within the laminate allows to increase the damping properties of the structure, hence limiting the noise, whether it is structure-borne
or air-borne. This approach is called passive control of noise. Inserting a viscoelastic material between composite plies increases the total weight of the panel, contrasting the weight gained by using composite materials. On the other hand, this technique only reduces the noise by increasing the structural damping of the system panel-viscoelastic layer. Damping is very important for noise and
vibration control and for structural stability as well; however, the experimental characterization of the damping level of a structure and its numerical modeling are very hard to realize, especially when viscoelastic materials are employed. At the present day, few references can be found in literature on the subject of damping measurements on composite structures with embedded damping treatment,
depending on temperature. From the numerical point of view, things get even more complicated, since even fewer results are found in literature, given the lack of adequate modeling criteria and analysis procedures. This thesis was motivated by the need of further development in both the modeling and the prediction of viscoelastic damping materials properties, for the practical use in aeronautical
applications. The aim of this work is to identify, define and validate a procedure for experimental-numerical analyses capable to characterize the behavior
of structures with embedded viscoelastic damping treatments, as a function of temperature, in a range of values similar to that of flight conditions. The present
research activity can thus be split up in two parts: the first one related to experimental tests and the second related to the numerical simulations. About the experimental part, the objectives have been primarily the identification and validation of a procedure capable to extract the loss factor with a low dispersion of the data in different temperature conditions and, subsequently, the characterization of the performance of two test panels in different environmental conditions like flight temperature conditions. About the numerical part, the objective has
been the identification of a numerical procedure able to give as output the same result of the experimental tests, in terms of loss factor. In this direction, two ways have been undertaken by two different numerical approaches: explicit in time domain and direct in frequency domain.
For the numerical part of the study, a FEM solver was used, NASTRAN. As it will be shown in the following, the damping extraction procedures were realized with dedicated routines written in Matlab. This thesis is organized as follows: in chapter 1, the state of the art about damping treatments is exposed, together with analytical and numerical models that allow to study it. In chapter 2, composite materials are described, as they are characterized as laminates
starting from fiber and matrix characteristics. In chapter 3 viscoelastic materials are introduced, first describing viscous and elastic properties separately, then
introducing the constitutive models already present in literature to describe such materials. Then these properties were described as functions of several external
factors, such as temperature, frequency, etc. In chapter 4, the approach adopted for the experimental part is presented. A detailed description of the loss factor
extraction procedure is proposed (IRDM) with the hypotheses to take into account to consider this procedure applicable to highly damped structures as well. The test bed set-up and the lay-up of analyzed panels are described. In the end, the results in terms of position effect (due to the accelerometers position) and temperature effect are shown. Then, in order to validate a procedure of experimental
analysis on over 700 acqusitions, a statistical analysis is proposed. In chapter 5, the FEM modeling criterion is shown, in terms of element types, boundary conditions and constraints. Then, two possible approaches are confronted, a time-domain explicit approach and a frequency-domain direct approach. Thereafter, a numerical-experimental comparison is performed to define which procedure is the most suitable to the analysis at the subject of this thesis.


Objectives 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. It has been associated with increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in multiple epidemiologic studies, with some evidence for association with cancer at other sites. Findings from experimental studies, however, have been largely negative with respect to NHL. Within the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), a prospective cohort of licensed pesticide applicators in the United States, we evaluated use of this herbicide and multiple cancer sites. Methods We used Poisson regression to estimate relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals for cancers that occurred from enrollment in the AHS (1993–97) through 2008. Total lifetime days of use of 2,4-D were calculated based on information provided at enrollment and at a follow-up interview conducted 5 years later. In addition, an intensity-weighting algorithm was applied to account for factors that modify exposure. Results Overall, 78% of the 52,324 applicators who provided information on 2,4-D use and who were cancer free at enrollment reported using 2,4-D. Among this group, there were 5,168 incident cancers. Compared to non-users, there was no association with cancer risk overall (p-trend = 0.68), NHL overall (p-trend = 0.84), or any sub-type of NHL with intensity-weighted lifetime days. Conversely, in the highest quartiles, there was an elevated risk of gastric cancer (RR = 2.3, 95% CI:1.1–5.2, p-trend = 0.03) and a suggestion of elevated risk of brain cancer (RR = 2.3, 95% CI: 0.9–5.7, p-trend = 0.31). Conclusions The results from this prospective study showed no association between use of 2,4-D and NHL, the cancer most often linked to this herbicide. The increased risk of gastric cancer is noteworthy but supporting data are limited. Some previous studies of brain cancer have suggested a role for pesticides, particularly herbicides; to our knowledge there is no other study specifically suggesting an association with 2,4-D.


The sound velocity and attenuation in perspex (poly methyl methacrylate) and in reson (hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene) are determined as functions of frequency and temperature using ultrasonic pulse technique. The importance of these materials comes from the need to examine their impedance match with water and to measure their attenuation coefficients over an extended range of frequency. A pair of transducers was placed in a small tank full of water and used to transmit and receive a 2.5‐MHz pulse. The temperature of the water was varied using a temperature controlled heater (or cooler). The signal was captured with and without the material sample being inserted in the transmit/receive water path, using a digital storage oscilloscope (DSO), and then processed on a PC to obtain its FFT and to compute and plot the variation of the velocity of sound in the sample material as well as its absorption coefficient. The accuracy of the method was first checked and proved to be quite good by obtaining results fo...


Mango mealy bug being destructive pest of mango in Pakistan. This research was conducted to observe the resistance gained by this pest in recent era against commonly sprayed pesticides. The chemicals included, were bifenthrin, cypermethrin, triazophos; each pesticide with three different concentrations of low, medium and high as compared to control. Results showed that none of the concentration was found effective against mango mealy bug under laboratory conditions. When three pesticides along with their recommended dose, medium and higher were sprayed, insect's mortality was less in sprayed treatments as compared to control. These experiments explicitly revealed a threatening pest outbreak in mango eco-system. Further research should be carried out to understand its ongoing molecular process in insects to check its developed resistance.


Mississippi constitutes an interesting case study for analyzing the income convergence process because of several characteristics, such as the fairly large number of counties, its relative homogeneous economy and its low percapita income compared with the rest of the U.S. This study analyzes the convergence process at county level, from both a descriptive and general test perspective, applying a spatial statistics framework. It finds evidence of low but significant spatial correlation, suggesting an almost pattern-free spatial distribution of percapita income growth. It also finds significant evidence of b convergence, albeit at a low speed (less than one percent).


Written for social work degree students, this practical book looks at the experience of children in need who live in state care and the social worker's role in working with these children. Topics include relevant studies and legislation; residential care; foster care; adoption; and leaving care. The book also looks at the needs of children and young people living away from home and discusses both the Looked After Children (LAC) system and consultation with looked after children. Throughout, practical examples and case studies encourage readers to apply their new knowledge to practice.


Under an open access policy, incumbent broadband providers in all EU countries are required to let new market entrants access their networks through bitstream or local loop unbundling (LLU). This type of regulatory provision aims to increase competition among all broadband providers, and is strongly recommended in markets where the prohibitively high cost of setting up a distribution network means that market power is concentrated in the hands of a few players - or even one single player (such as in the case of telecommunications). This analysis uses data from the UK to investigate whether such a policy stimulates market entry and broadband penetration and/or leads to an increase in broadband quality. In contrast to what is commonly believed LLU does not increase internet penetration significantly or sustainably. It does, however, stimulate market entry as well as investments that substantially increase service quality. Thus this open access policy does not contribute to a digital divide in access. Although these results are based solely on experiences in the UK, they do point to the general advantages of infrastructure-based competition (based on LLU) over service-based competition (based on bitstream).


A 14-amino acid sequence within the buffalo prolactin (buPRL) protein has been identified by BLAST search as similar to that of somatostatin, the gold standard for determining anti-angiogenic activity. A synthetic peptide with the same sequence has been shown to exhibit powerful anti-angiogenic activity, possibly by functioning as a kallikrein-kinin system (KKS) antagonist. In order to further study this peptide's anti-angiogenic nature, bioinformatics tools were used to analyze its interaction with the bradykinin B1 receptor, which is a component of the KKS. Molecular docking studies were conducted in silico using structures of bradykinin B1 receptor obtained by homology modeling using SWISSMODEL via the EXPASY web server, as well as a structure of the synthetic peptide that was modeled by the PEP-FOLD de novo modeling server. Docking studies were conducted with the bradykinin B1 structure using the structure of somatostatin and a PEP-FOLD derived structure of a scrambled version of the peptide. All the structures were validated using PDBsum and PROCHECK. Our results indicate that the peptide does form a complex with the bradykinin B1 receptor with a binding energy similar to that of the complex with somatostatin and the scrambled version of the peptide exhibits a similar effect. Further studies, both in silico and wet lab, need to be performed to provide further insights into the mechanism of this 14-amino acid peptide's anti-angiogenic activity.


We performed a laboratory common-environment study to determine the genetic and environmental sources of variation in growth rates of the sagebrush lizard (Sceloporus graciosus). Hatchling lizards were reared from gravid females collected from three study populations along an elevational gradient in southern Utah, USA. Hatchlings were fed ad libidum and were maintained on a 14:10 light:dark cycle, with temperatures at 338C and 218C during photophase and scotophase, respectively. Each hatchling was randomly assigned to either a water-supplementation treatment or a control group receiving no supplemental water. Once every five days, the water-supplemented lizards were admin- istered orally a quantity of water equal to 5% of their body mass. Growth was quantified as the total change in body size (length and mass) for 30 d after hatching. Resting metabolic rates of a subset of lizards were measured at hatching and at the end of the study. After adjusting growth for food intake, change in length did not differ between water-supple- mented and control lizards, and did not differ among the three populations. Metabolic rates were similar across the study for all treatment groups. Water-supplemented lizards did gain wet mass more rapidly than control lizards; however, the difference in growth between groups was attributed to hydration state, because growth in dry mass did not differ between groups. The effects of water supplementation on growth that were observed by other in- vestigators were likely manifested through changes in thermoregulatory behavior or in- creased activity.


Abstract : The purpose of this research was to develop improvements to the area development planning process. These plans are used to improve operations within an installation sub-section by altering the physical layout of facilities. One methodology was developed based on apply network analysis concepts to the generation of alternative facility layouts. A second methodology was developed using multi-criteria evaluation to the selection of evaluated alternative facility layouts. The results of this study are two methodological processes that can be executed at base level requiring minimal additional information. The functional network map, based in network analysis, increases the use of socio-economic data into the generation of alterative facility layouts. The alternative layout scoring process, base in multi-criteria evaluation, returns a quantitative score for each alternative layout and a relative ranking. The use of these methodologies as decision support tools reduces the subjectivity of the current process and increases the repeatability of results.


A thrilling story in Sweden, with global impact

A new variant of Chlamydia trachomatis was discovered in Sweden in 2006. This variant contains a mutant sequence that cannot be detected with either the Abbott m2000 (Abbott Diagnostics, Chicago, IL, USA) or Cobas Amplicor/TaqMan48 (Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland) systems.1 The first description reported that the new variant constituted 13% of all detected chlamydia infections (from mid-September to October 2006) in the county of Halland (south west of Sweden). It soon became apparent that the proportion was higher and that the new variant had spread widely in Sweden.2–4 We now know that in the counties that have used the Abbott or Roche test systems during the past year or so the new variant accounts for 20% to 65% of all detected chlamydia cases. In local areas, as many as 78% of all cases have been found to have the mutation (Britta Lore, personal communication).

How great is the national impact of this emerging variant of C trachomatis ? As in many other countries chlamydia rates have increased in Sweden during the past 10 years. However, for 2006 the national figures showed a reversal of this trend.5 The 2% decrease in reported cases was because of the inability of some diagnostic systems to detect the new variant. Counties using the Abbott or Roche test systems reported fewer chlamydia cases in 2006 compared to 2005, while counties using methods that detected the strain, mainly the BectonDickinson ProbeTec, reported an increase. In a preliminary analysis, if we assume …


Technical innovation and extensive application of adaptive signal control at intersections have made turning flow information that provide more precise constraints for Origin-Destination matrix (O-D matrix) estimation easily available in great quantity and more accurate than ever. However, the influence of turning flow and duplication of information on the existing matrix estimation models and on the accuracy of O-D matrix estimation has not been broadly investigated. Also, traffic phenomenon in networks becomes complicated and difficult to explain with the increase in number of vehicles, variety of daily activities and sophisticated travel behaviors. As such, general congested traffic state as well as diverse travelers' perception about travel time should be taken into consideration in O-D matrix estimation models. In this paper, the influence of applying finer and duplicated flow information as well as route choice proportion estimates on the performance of the Information minimization (IM) and the modified IM models were examined. It has shown that duplicate information has adverse effect on the accuracy of matrix estimation, whereas additional turning flow information can improve estimation accuracy. Based on the examination results a methodology using the IM model, the stochastic user equilibrium (SUE) assignment and the information screening process, was proposed to optimize the goodness of estimation and enhance the IM model to deal with the traffic situation more realistically. The respective convergence and required computation time were also examined. Furthermore, an empirical route choice study was conducted in order to help determining the size of a route set used in the SUE assignment model.


How can you win when the only certainty is change? Highly accessible, lively and inspiring, Velocity draws upon the authors' unique perspectives and experiences to present seven timeless new laws for businesses and individuals in a world that is dominated by rapid change and digital technology. Written as a fascinating and enjoyable conversation between the authors - Stefan Olander, Vice President of Digital Sport from Nike and Ajaz Ahmed founder and Chairman AKQA - Velocity's up-to-date examples illustrate key lessons, together with insights, ideas and inspiration that individuals and businesses should adopt to thrive in the digital age. Velocity shares the vision and values required to succeed with the untold backstories to influential and iconic innovation. Fast paced, useful, provocative and highly motivating, Velocity is a management book that will arm you with actionable ideas to define your future. Features: - 4 Velocity principles: Speed, Direction, Acceleration, Discipline. - 7 Laws, including 'A Smith & Wesson beats four aces', 'It's easier done than said', 'Convenient is the enemy of right' and 'No good joke survives a committee of six'.


Purpose

This paper aims to explore the importance of the role of national business systems (NBS) in shaping human resource management (HRM) and organisational behaviour (OB) practices in the context of Asian countries. To this end, this paper presents a comparative overview of different NBS in selected Asian countries and how these variously impact HRM and OB at two levels and contexts, i.e. within and cross-national.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a topical review of the literature to unravel the complexity and challenges associated with studying this rich and complex area.

Findings

The findings suggest there is significant complexity in studying the impact of NBS on HRM and OB at a holistic and multi-level unit of analysis. The multiplicity of factors and levels of analysis, even at a level of within country analysis, highlights the sophisticated, in-depth and detailed nature of scholarship needed to unbundle and get a fuller understanding of this topic.

Research limitations/implications

Although recent research presents a within and cross-national analysis of NBS and its impact on HRM and OB practices from diverse Asian countries such as India, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia, recent research offers only a focused analysis of few targeted HRM and OB practices, rather than a collective or a bundle of HRM practices.

Practical implications

The contributions point to several practical implications for HR managers as well as managers from other fields, covering several national and cross-national comparisons.

Originality/value

This paper offers a substantial contribution in the understanding of how various HRM and OB practices are embedded in a nation's business system and through a variety of historical and cultural influences.


One of the problems of the aquaculture industry is the presence of pathogenic microorganisms whose proliferation is enhanced when the healthy quality of the culture systems do not meet comply with physical-chemical-biological parameters. In order to improve these problems, less aggressive alternatives to the environment have been sought. This is why probiotic bacteria are proposed as an alternative to the same systems where they will be applied, since they generate greater interest in not presenting a threat to the ecosystem, favor survival, improve the immune system of organisms and have antibacterial properties against pathogenic bacteria. This chapter reviews current research related to the search for marine probiotics for application in the aquaculture industry. Additionally, we deliver results from our work related to the research and application of probiotics. The reported studies demonstrate the positive effects of marine bacteria for their aquaculture application. The evidences found in our work allow us to conclude that larval survival is favored by the application of probiotics in the use of vectors such as rotifers, artemia and biofilms. However, depending on the species of interest, it is necessary to study the market for the biotechnological application of probiotics, to evaluate the feasibility of its production on a larger scale and its commercial feasibility.


Previous research shows a plethora of overlapping and interrelated innovation approaches to understand the bottom of the pyramid customer needs and markets specifications. This research attempts to (1) identify the key factors that make a product relevant to be considered as an innovation for emerging markets (2) and establish relative importance of key factors for product managers while conceptualizing a new product for emerging markets. In the first part, the study assembles the list of characteristics from the selected innovation theories revolving around emerging markets. Subsequently the identified characteristics are clustered into eight key factors using semantic similarities scores and Ward's clustering method. An analytical hierarchy process method is employed to obtain the priorities of these eight key factors. The study concludes with a Unified Innovation Framework which presents the overarching innovation approach for emerging markets and provides a common definition for a product considered relevant for emerging market. The results show high prioritization given to cost effective, easy to use and problem centric as compared to the sustainability, no-frills, resourceful, breakthrough and fast-to-market factors by product managers. However, the paper acknowledges that the prioritization results are subject to change given different motivation behind the various theories. Finally the paper proposes that, the eight key factors required factors to "play in" emerging markets would not change, but factors to "win in" can change based on other aspects such as sector, motivation, innovation flows and government policies.


This book fills a gap in the existing literature by dealing with several issues linked to long-term contracts and the efficiency of electricity markets. These include the impact of long-term contracts and vertical integration on effective competition, generation investment in risky markets, and the challenges for competition policy principles.


This doctoral thesis consists of a thesis for a Licentiate degree (Kristoffersson, 2002. Foraldrainflytande i grundskolan. En studie av nio lokala styrelser med foraldramajoritet i grundskolan. [Parents involvement in compulsory school. A study of nine local boards with parents in majority in compulsory school]) and two articles (Kristoffersson, 2005. Parental involvement: Parents´ new role in Swedish schools; and Kristoffersson, 2007. The paradox of parental influence in Danish schools. A Swedish perspective). In this thesis my interest is particularly governance, management, communication and partnership. The research aimed comprehensively to describe the school boards and discuss the education policy behind the implementation of the boards. An additional aim were to see whose interests favoured in local school boards. I also wanted to study how comparative research in this case can be relevant to Swedish studies of local school boards. I used the frame factor theory, which aids the exploration of the correspondence relations between factors that affect local school boards. Governance and partnership are key concepts applied to the analysis of data. Critical analysis and discussions of these boards from a hermeneutic sign are included, which meant that I tried to understand the boards in their context. I used a case study method. Data were gathered through interviews, observations and analysis of documents (e.g., school board minutes). The results signify that different interests are not adequately balanced on the boards. Communication between the board and the parents not on the board was not satisfactory in many cases and such parents felt excluded from the board's activity. The principal's collaboration with the board's chairperson was an important influence on the board. Evaluation, support and feedback of the board's activity from the local school authority in the municipality were often neglected. The implementation of the boards related to the transferred welfare policy to more market-oriented political governance. The political governing of the school changed, and was influenced by neo-liberal trends where partnership had become the new prestige word. Parents are today seen as individual consumers in a market, whereas as board members they should make decisions that include all parents. Instead of increased parental influence in the schools, the effect of boards could be increased differences between pupils and between parents. This arose because parents are not a homogenous group. Social, cultural and economic conditions have an influence on parents' activities. The state implementation of local school boards in Sweden and in many countries is, therefore, complex. This can be seen through the weak interest in the creation of boards, which also can be linked to the top-down character of the reform. This study is an example where global, national and local factors interact.


The Doha Round is not the first multilateral negotiation to collapse under the weight of substantive disputes and tactical blunders, but revival this time requires a greater miracle than in the darkest days of the Tokyo or Uruguay Rounds. After near-death moments, those talks concluded with a big red bow tied around a comprehensive package. Ministers went home comforted that the next big negotiation would commence well after they left office. This time is different. There will be no red bow unless the Doha package is firmly joined to an immediate follow up round of talks—conducted under entirely different rules—both on old subjects that were badly neglected in the round and urgent new subjects that have surfaced since the round was launched in 2001. Hufbauer and Schott propose a "grand bargain" that couples a significant harvest from the Doha agenda with the future negotiation of plurilateral agreements among WTO members willing to take rewarding, yet challenging, steps forward. The harvest should start—but not stop—with agreements that create minimal commercial pain for any member but deliver widespread gains: trade facilitation, duty-free, quota-free treatment of imports from least developed countries, phaseout of agricultural subsidies, discipline of farm export controls, and reforms to dispute settlement. The harvest should then move to harder parts of the Doha Round—agreements that deliver significant benefits to some members but cause noticeable pain in others. The other side of the grand bargain is approval from the WTO membership for like-minded countries to negotiate deals between themselves. Five topics should be served up for plurilateral talks, as part of a grand bargain commencing in 2013: services liberalization, currency undervaluation, climate and energy, zero-for-zero tariffs coupled with disciplines on nontariff barriers, and state-owned enterprises.


The ambulatory motion capture and gait analysis using wearable MEMS based magnetic-inertial measurement units (MIMUs) is challenging despite multisensor fusion and effective anatomical (sensor-to-segment) calibration. The MEMS based sensors show degraded performance when run for long time, especially indoors. This is due to the fact that assumption of no acceleration except gravity and homogenous magnetic field no longer holds, when the motion is being performed. The rate gyro is used to complement the accelerometer/ magnetometer for orientation estimation, but integration of its residual biases as well as noise eventually causes the sensor fusion estimates to drift. The errors in heading angle or yaw are particular significant due to persistent nature of magnetic inhomogeneity in the environment. This ultimately results in inaccurate and drifting joint angle estimates between body segments that would require some means of correction. In present work, we propose a new adaptive covariance based EKF for sensor fusion which makes it effectively robust to both dynamic body accelerations as well as inhomogeneous magnetic field. The adaptive covariance method penalizes the bad accelerometer and magnetometer measurements and intelligently updates the gyro biases online using only undisturbed readings of accelerometer/magnetometer. Our sensor fusion algorithm provides accurate orientation estimates for each MIMU node over time. In order to account for any residual drift of joint angles, we propose a novel correction term in our anatomical formulation that performs online correction of drift in individual joint angles and updates it as an orientation offset. This offset correction for joint angle is performed automatically when the limb or extended torso are in neutral quasi-static pose and this condition is judged using accelerometers. Overall our approach achieves precise orientation estimates in highly dynamic conditions and avoids drift or error accumulation due to inhomogeneous magnetic fields during inertial motion capture.


In the perspective of the post-2020 Multiannual financial Framework (MFF), this policy brief suggests three reforms that would improve the aim of the MFF as both an expression of EUs political priorities and budgetary planning tool. It looks into the potential overhaul of the MFF timeline, its structure in the context of new instruments such as the EFSI, and the strategic combination of different EU financial tools intended to stimulate and interconnect economies across the EU-27.