live under one-party dictatorships. Today, even the most despotic of African leaders wish to have their leadership affirmed by elections. Democracy is increasingly seen as the only legitimate form of government in Africa, but regular multiparty elections are not synonymous with good government, rule of law, and economic development. Indeed, corruption, repression, and underdevelopment continue to scar much of Africa. Instead of paying attention only to the trappings of democracy, African reformers should focus on building free societies characterized by the separation of powers, checks and balances, an independent media and judiciary, restriction on presidential power, term limits, and so on. Africa's transition to liberal democracy is unlikely to happen without far-reaching economic reforms; in fact, all liberal democracies are also market-oriented economies. Regrettably, many African countries are not only politically repressive but also economically dirigiste. Increased economic freedom and the emergence of a vibrant private sector can bring about direct economic benefits, such as higher incomes, and indirect benefits, such as decentralization of power. As the cases of Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe show, the spread of liberal democracy in Africa can be checked by a number of important inhibitors. Unresolved inter-ethnic power struggles often lead to tensions or conflicts. Abundant natural resources can shield irresponsible governments from the necessity of economic reforms and pressure from taxpayers. Similar problems bedevil foreign-aid programs in Africa. Finally, Africa continues to suffer from "big-man" politics or "imperial" presidents. Fortunately, as the case of Botswana shows, most of the aforementioned inhibitors need not be fatal to the emergence of a relatively liberal democracy. Inter-ethnic tensions could be successfully handled through devolution of power and genuine federalism, along the Swiss lines, while corruption could be better combated by laws that limit the power of the executive and increase government transparency.


The Pluto scheduler is a successful polyhedral scheduler that is used in one form or another in several research and production compilers. The core scheduler is focused on parallelism and temporal locality and does not directly target spatial locality. Such spatial locality is known to bring performance benefits and has been considered in various forms outside and inside polyhedral compilation. For example, the Pluto compiler has some support for spatial locality, but it is limited to a post-processing step involving only loop interchange. Consecutivity is a special case of spatial locality that aims for stride-1 accesses, which can be useful for constructing burst accesses and for vectorization. Stride-1 accesses have been targeted by an approach based on one-shot scheduling, but it is fairly approximative and not directly transferable to a Pluto-style scheduler. This paper describes an approach for consecutivity that is integrated in a Pluto-style polyhedral scheduler, as implemented in isl. Both intra-statement and inter-statement consecutivity is considered, taking into account multiple references per statement and the integration into a component based incremental scheduler.


Recently, there has been a growing research interest in the analysis of dynamic regret, which measures the performance of an online learner against a sequence of local minimizers. By exploiting the strong convexity, previous studies have shown that the dynamic regret can be upper bounded by the path-length of the comparator sequence. In this paper, we illustrate that the dynamic regret can be further improved by allowing the learner to query the gradient of the function multiple times, and meanwhile the strong convexity can be weakened to other non-degenerate conditions. Specifically, we introduce the squared path-length, which could be much smaller than the path-length, as a new regularity of the comparator sequence. When multiple gradients are accessible to the learner, we first demonstrate that the dynamic regret of strongly convex functions can be upper bounded by the minimum of the path-length and the squared path-length. We then extend our theoretical guarantee to functions that are semi-strongly convex or self-concordant. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that semi-strong convexity and self-concordance are utilized to tighten the dynamic regret.


Research on pair and small group work has shown that collaborative writing tasks generally encourage learners to focus on language. However, some studies (e.g., Storch 2002) have also shown that patterns of interaction during collaborative writing tasks affect the quantity and quality of learners' attention to language and ultimately language learning. The study reported in this chapter compared patterns of interaction of the same pairs of intermediate ESL learners completing a collaborative writing task in a face-to-face and a computer-mediated mode (Google Docs). The study found that mode had an impact on patterns of interaction and attention to language. Learners were more likely to collaborate in the face-to-face mode and to cooperate in the computer-mediated mode. It was only when learners collaborated, that they engaged extensively in deliberations about language.


Dual‐continuum models have been widely used in modeling flow and transport in fractured porous rocks. Among many other applications, dual‐continuum approaches were used in predictive models of the thermal–hydrological conditions near emplacement tunnels (drifts) at Yucca Mountain, NV, the proposed site for a radioactive waste repository in the USA. In unsaturated formations such as those at Yucca Mountain, the magnitude of mass and heat exchange between the two continua—fracture network and rock matrix—depends on the small‐scale flow characteristics in the fractures, because channelized finger‐type flow strongly reduces the interface area between the matrix surfaces and the flowing liquid. This effect may have important implications, for example, during the time period that the fractured rock near the repository drifts would be heated above the boiling point of water. Depending on the magnitude of heat transfer from the matrix, water percolating down the fractures will either boil off in the rock region above drifts or may penetrate all the way to the drift walls and possibly seep into the open cavities. In this study, we conducted a sensitivity analysis using different approaches to treat fracture–matrix interaction in a three‐dimensional dual‐continuum setting. Our simulation example was a laboratory heater experiment described in the literature that provides evidence of rapid water flow in fractures, leading to seepage into the heater hole despite above‐boiling conditions in the adjacent fractured rock. We showed that the experimental finding can only be reproduced when the interface area for heat transfer between the matrix and fracture continua is reduced to account for flow channeling. Our analysis also suggests that the conditions in the laboratory experiment are unique and not representative of the expected thermal–hydrological conditions near emplacement drifts at Yucca Mountain.


The long term stability and resistance toward carbon deposition, sulfur, chlorine, and potassium of Ni/ZrO2 as a catalyst for the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of guaiacol in 1-octanol (as a model compound system for bio-oil) has been investigated at 250 °C and 100 bar in a trickle bed reactor setup. Without impurities in the feed good stability of the Ni/ZrO2 catalyst could be achieved over more than 100 h of operation, particularly for a sample prepared with small Ni particles, which minimized carbon deposition. Exposing the catalyst to 0.05 wt% sulfur in the feed resulted in rapid deactivation with complete loss of activity due to the formation of nickel sulfide. Exposing Ni/ZrO2 to chlorine-containing compounds (at a concentration of 0.05 wt% Cl) on-stream led to a steady decrease in activity over 40 h of exposure. Removal of the chlorine species from the feed led to the regaining of activity. Analysis of the spent catalyst revealed that the adsorption of chlorine on the catalyst was completely reversible, but chlorine had caused sintering of nickel particles. In two experiments, potassium, as either KCl or KNO3, was impregnated on the catalyst prior to testing. In both cases deactivation was persistent over more than 20 h of testing and severely decreased the deoxygenation activity while the hydrogenation of guaiacol was unaffected. Overall, sulfur was found to be the worst poison, followed by potassium and then chlorine. Thus, removal/limitation of these species from bio-oil is a requirement before long term operation can be achieved with this catalyst.


Of the Orthomyxoviridae family of viruses, only influenza A viruses are thought to exist as multiple subtypes and has non-human maintenance hosts. In April 2011, nasal swabs were collected for virus isolation from pigs exhibiting influenza-like illness. Subsequent electron microscopic, biochemical, and genetic studies identified an orthomyxovirus with seven RNA segments exhibiting approximately 50% overall amino acid identity to human influenza C virus. Based on its genetic organizational similarities to influenza C viruses this virus has been provisionally designated C/Oklahoma/1334/2011 (C/OK). Phylogenetic analysis of the predicted viral proteins found that the divergence between C/OK and human influenza C viruses was similar to that observed between influenza A and B viruses. No cross reactivity was observed between C/OK and human influenza C viruses using hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assays. Additionally, screening of pig and human serum samples found that 9.5% and 1.3%, respectively, of individuals had measurable HI antibody titers to C/OK virus. C/OK virus was able to infect both ferrets and pigs and transmit to naive animals by direct contact. Cell culture studies showed that C/OK virus displayed a broader cellular tropism than a human influenza C virus. The observed difference in cellular tropism was further supported by structural analysis showing that hemagglutinin esterase (HE) proteins between two viruses have conserved enzymatic but divergent receptor-binding sites. These results suggest that C/OK virus represents a new subtype of influenza C viruses that currently circulates in pigs that has not been recognized previously. The presence of multiple subtypes of co-circulating influenza C viruses raises the possibility of reassortment and antigenic shift as mechanisms of influenza C virus evolution.


In 2008 the first Swiss canton introduced internet voting for expatriates, thus initiating the second phase in Switzerland's piecemeal i-voting roll-out. More cantons soon followed, and as of this writing expatriates from 12 out of the 26 cantons can vote online. This paper focuses on the second phase involving expatriates. We address three questions at the core of the internet voting research agenda. First, the popularity question: to what extent do expatriates make use of the new online channel? Second, the 'who' question: what is the profile of the typical expatriate i-voter? Finally, the turnout question: did the extension of internet voting to the expatriates have an effect on electoral mobilization? Our findings indicate that the online channel is very popular among expatriates, both if compared to other trials in Switzerland itself and internationally. On the other hand, known patterns regarding the profile of i-voters and the effect on mobilization seem to be also replicated in the expatriate trials. Expatriate i-voters tend to be young, male, and there is some evidence of an upper-class bias. Thus, usage of the online channel seems driven by the digital divide also among expatriates. Moreover, we find some evidence that i-voting did not affect electoral mobilization, similarly to trials involving residents.


New triple tungstate phosphors NaPbLa(WO4)3:Yb3+/Ho3+ (x = Yb3+/Ho3+ = 7, 8, 9, 10) are successfully fabricated by microwave assisted sol-gel synthesis and their structural and frequency upconversion (UC) characteristics are investigated. The compounds crystallized in the tetragonal space group I41/a and the NaPbLa(WO4)3 host have unit cell parameters a = 5.3927(1) and c = 11.7961(3) A, V = 343.05(2) A3, Z = 4. Under excitation at 980 nm, the phosphors have yellowish green emissions, which are derived from the intense 5S2/ 5F4 → 5I8 transitions of Ho3+ ions in the green spectral range and strong 5F5 → 5I8 transitions in the red spectral range. The optimal Yb3+:Ho3+ ratio is revealed to be x = 9, which is attributed to the quenching effect of Ho3+ ions, as indicated by the composition dependence. The UC characteristics are evaluated in detail under consideration of the pump power dependence and Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage chromaticity. The spectroscopic features of Raman spectra are discussed in terms of the superposition of Ho3+ luminescence and vibrational lines. The possibility of controlling the spectral distribution of UC luminescence by the chemical content of tungstate hosts is demonstrated.


A method is proposed for estimating the parameters used in the deconvolution technique. The proposed method is based on the use of the Fourier transform modulus of the spectrum being treated with the purpose of obtaining information about the characteristics of the spectral bands and random measurement errors. Formulas are given that permit estimation of the values of noise variance in the experimental spectrum, the low-pass filter passband, and the contour half-width of the high-pass filter. Results are considered for the application of the proposed formulas for determining the parameters used with the deconvolution of synthetic and experimental spectra. It has been concluded that practical use of the proposed method of a priori estimation of the parameters permits, to a certain extent, the optimization of the process of deconvolution of spectral curves.


We explore which new physics signatures could be discovered in the first year of the LHC, beyond the expected sensitivity of the Tevatron data and other constraints. We construct "supermodels", for which the LHC sensitivity even with only 10 pb-1 useful luminosity is greater than that of the Tevatron with 10 fb-1. The simplest scenarios involve s-channel resonances in the quark-antiquark and especially in the quark-quark channels. We concentrate on easily visible final states with small standard model backgrounds, and find that there are simple searches, besides those for Z' states, which could discover new physics in early LHC data. Many of these are well-suited to test searches for "more conventional" models, often discussed for larger data sets.


This poem - originally published anonymously, written after Wilde's two year's hard labor in Reading prison - is the tale of a man who has been sentenced to hang for the murder of the woman he loved. "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" follows the inmate through his final three weeks, as he stares at the sky and silently drinks his beer ration. Heart-wrenching and eye-opening, the ballad also expresses perfectly Wilde's belief that humanity is made up only of offenders, each of us deserving a greater charity for the severity of our crimes.


At present, the methanol electrooxidation reaction (MOR) activities of carbon supported bimetallic Pt-Ru (M-PtRu@C) catalyst and monometallic Pt (M-Pt@C) catalysts prepared via microwave assisted polyol method and carbon supported Pt-Ru (P-PtRu@C) catalysts prepared by conventional polyol were examined to investigate the eect of the preparation method. These catalysts were characterized by X-ray diraction, X-ray photo electron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). From TEM, the particle size of the M-PtRu@C catalyst was estimated as 3.54 nm. The MOR activities of these catalysts were examined at room temperature by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Furthermore, stability measurements were performed on these catalysts to examine their long term stability. As a result, M-PtRu@C catalyst exhibited the best electrocatalytic activity and long term stability. Furthermore, MOR measurements at varying temperatures on M-PtRu@C catalyst showed turnover number reached its optimum value at 60 C. At this temperature, M-PtRu@C catalyst could catalyze more methanol in the same period using the same number of sites compared to other applied temperatures.


On 6 July 2010 Royal Assent was given to amendments passed by the Australian Federal Parliament relating to the International Arbitration Act 1974 (Cth) (IAA). These were the first substantial changes to the IAA for over 20 years and consequently warrant close scrutiny. Along with some other innovations, they follow most of the 2006 revisions to the 1985 UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (Model Law), which has been particularly popular for Australasian jurisdictions updating their arbitration legislation. The amended IAA also provides the agreed core for Australian states and territories updating their Commercial Arbitration Acts (CAAs), although they adopt some variants given that their focus is on domestic arbitrations. This paper considers the amended IAA's aims, writing requirements for arbitration agreements, enforcement of foreign awards, exclusion of the Model Law, interim measures, confidentiality, other substantive matters, and the temporal application of the 2010 amendments. It concludes that their scope is somewhat limited and unadventurous, but should significantly enhance the legal regime for international arbitration in Australia.


A new triple product formulae for plane partitions with bounded size of parts is derived from a combinato- rial interpretation of biorthogonal polynomials in terms of lattice paths. Biorthogonal polynomials which generalize the little q-Laguerre polynomials are introduced to derive a new triple product formula which recovers the classical generating function in a triple product by MacMahon and generalizes the trace-type generating functions in double products by Stanley and Gansner.


The aim of this paper is to study the treatment process of a Roman fullery ( fullonica ) with particular attention to the water and wastewater management system. Remains of several fullonicae have been documented at Pompeii and Herculaneum (Campania, Southern Italy), Ostia and Rome (Latium region, Central Italy), Florence (Tuscany, Central Italy), etc. The common academic perception of Roman fullonicae is significantly influenced by the fullonica of Stephanus (I 6, 7) in Pompeii, which is assumed to be a paradigmatic case study in this paper. The use of urine as an alkaline chemical agent in the soaping phase of the filling treatment process was overstated, with there also being no evidence of the fact that fullers collected their urine by means of vessels in front of their workshops, as usually reported. Thus, it is not clear how the Roman fullers collected and transported the urine they used in the fulleries. Finally, the rinsing phase can be considered a clear example of water reuse.


Background: Psychological distress is associated with hyperglycemia in persons with diabetes. Preliminary reports suggest that metformin may help buffer the effects of psychological distress on hyperglycemia. Many Cambodians who are currently over age 35 have elevated symptoms of psychological distress from having survived their country's genocide. This study investigated the associations among psychological distress, metformin use, and glucose levels in Cambodians with type 2 diabetes. Methods: Patients with type 2 diabetes >1 year, aged 35-80, not using insulin, were recruited from a Cambodian Diabetes Association clinic. Participants provided a fasting finger prick blood sample and completed a psychological assessment. Measures: A MiniMed Ultra-II point of care glucometer was used to determine fasting glucose. Participants completed the valid and reliable Khmer language version of the 25-item Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL) which measures symptoms of depression and anxiety. The HSCL was administered via a computerized spoken format which allowed standardized administration and automated data entry. Data Analysis: Multiple linear regressions were performed using SPSS v21. Results: Participants, n=60, were M=55.7 (SD=9.6) years old, 60% female, 68.3 % were using metformin. Fasting glucose values were above target range, M=143.5 mg/dl (SD=48.1). Mean total scores on the HSCL exceeded the clinical cutoff (1.75) for likely psychiatric disorder, M=1.8 (SD=0.5). In linear regression with main effects in the model there was a significant interaction between psychological distress and metformin use on glucose, (beta=-1.47, t=-2.49, *p<.05). Controlling for age, sex, antidepressant use and other oral hypoglycemic agents did not meaningfully change the findings. Conclusion: Metformin may buffer the deleterious association between psychological distress and glucose. These findings add to a small but provocative literature on the potential metabolic benefits of metforminspecifically for patients with psychological distress.


Ten solvents were used to extract phytochemicals from the peel of Carica papaya cv. Sekaki/Hong Kong to evaluate antibacterial activities and determine chemical composition of Carica papaya cv. Sekaki/Hong Kong seeds. The antibacterial activities of ten solvent extracts were tested against 14 microorganisms vis Shigella sonnei, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, Vibrio vulnificus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Corynebacterium diphtheria, Clostridium perfringens, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Bacillus subtilis using disk diffusion test (DDT). The
Carica papaya seed of ACN and MeOH extracts inhibited 11 microorganisms, indicating their broad spectrum activity. The disk diffusion test exhibited moderate and clear inhibition on C. diphtheria, S. pneumonia, B. subtilis and C. perfringens. MeOH extract inhibited S. enteritidis, V. vulnificus, P. mirabilis and B. cereus with the lowest MIC at 11.25 mg/mL each, thus was chosen as the best extract. The hierarchy of extract potency can be ranked as MeOH > acetone > ACN > CHCL3 > hexane > DE = PE > EtOH > DCM based on clear and moderate inhibition and the lowest MIC. TPC and TFC of the extracts ranged between 4.83 to 22.59 mg GAE/g DW and 1.32 (water) and 17.15 mg QE/g DW respectively. The GC/MS analysis of MeOH extract identified potential antibacterial compounds such as isothiocyanatomethyl benzene, 9-octadecenoic acid, hexadecanoic acid and β-sitosterol. The Carica papaya seed cv. Sekaki/ Hong Kong possessed significant antibacterial activities when extracted by different solvents in particular MeOH solvent.


Although our understanding of microorganisms has advanced significantly and antimicrobial therapy has become increasingly available, infection remains a major cause of patient morbidity and mortality. The role of radionuclide imaging in the evaluation of the patient suspected of harboring an infection varies with the situation. For example, in the postoperative patient, radionuclide imaging is complementary to CT and is used to help differentiate postoperative changes from infection. In the case of the painful joint replacement, in contrast, radionuclide studies are the primary diagnostic imaging modality for differentiating infection from other causes of prosthetic failure. Several tracers are available for imaging infection: (99m)Tc-diphosphonates, (67)Ga-citrate, and (111)In- and (99m)Tc-labeled leukocytes. At the moment, in immunocompetent patients, labeled leukocyte imaging is the radionuclide procedure of choice for detecting most infections. There are, unfortunately, significant limitations to the use of labeled leukocytes. The in vitro labeling process is labor intensive, is not always available, and involves direct handling of blood products. For musculoskeletal infection, the need to frequently perform complementary marrow or bone imaging adds complexity and expense to the procedure and is an inconvenience to patients. Considerable effort has therefore been devoted to the search for alternatives to this procedure, including in vivo methods of labeling leukocytes, (18)F-FDG PET, and radiolabeled antibiotics. This article reviews the current status of nuclear medicine infection imaging and the potential of a murine monoclonal antigranulocyte antibody, fanolesomab, that is currently under investigation. Upon completion of this article, the reader will be familiar with the physical characteristics and uptake mechanisms of tracers currently approved for infection imaging, the indications for the uses of these tracers, and the characteristics and potential indications for a murine monoclonal antigranulocyte antibody under investigation.


We explore the impact of COVID-19 hotspots and regional lockdowns on the Dutch labour market. Using weekly administrative panel microdata for 50 per cent of Dutch employees until the end of March 2020, we study whether individual labour market outcomes, as measured by employment, working hours and hourly wages, were more strongly affected in provinces where COVID-19 confirmed cases, hospitalizations and mortality were relatively high. We do not observe a region-specific impact of COVID-19 on labour market outcomes. The results suggest individual characteristics are more important, including the employee's age, type of contract and type of job. The evidence suggests that the decline of the labour market was all due to the impacts from the government-enforced lockdown and higher virus case numbers did not reinforce this decline. This suggests that preventive health measures should be at the regional level, isolating hotspots from low-risk areas.


This article explores the sources of authoritative knowledge that shaped single, white, middle-class women's unintentional pregnancies and child-bearing decisions throughout five reproductive eras. Women who terminated a pregnancy were most influenced by their own personal needs and circumstances. birth mothers' decisions were based on external sources of knowledge, such as their mothers, social workers, and social pressures. In contrast, single mothers based their decision on instincts and their religious or moral beliefs. Reproductive policies further constrained and significantly shaped women's experiences. The social stigma associated with these forms of stratified maternity suggests that categorizing pregnant women by their marital status, or births as out-of-wedlock, reproduces the structural violence implicit to normative models of female sexuality and maternity. This mixed-method study included focus groups to determine the kinds of knowledge women considered authoritative, a mailed survey to quantify these identified sources, and one-on-one interviews to explore outcomes in depth.


A new lidar technique for measuring the profiles of backscatter ratio, atmospheric visibility, and atmospheric temperature is proposed. Based on the theory of high resolution Rayleigh/Mie scattering, the feasibility and advantages of using atomic vapor cells as blocking filters for measuring atmospheric parameters are demonstrated with a numerical example worked out in detail. Ten percent accuracy in determining backscatter ratio and visibility can be achieved easily. With a SNR of 300, temperature of 1 K accuracy can be measured directly along with the backscatter ratio to a better accuracy of ±1%. Using a large lidar system and assuming 50-km visibility, the proposed technique can be applied to measure backscatter ratio and temperature profiles simultaneously for a 10-km path with 30-m depth resolution in 3 min. With higher SNR the atmospheric pressure profile can also be determined.


ABSTRACT Between 1990 and 2010, 44 new cities of color (CoCs) formed in the United States. Yet what happens after incorporation, particularly in new CoCs that form in impoverished communities? Did these cities meet an untimely demise and dissolve, as some critics predicted, or did the new cities thrive? This research explores four new Black-majority cities in the South, using archival media research to probe the cities' post hoc incorporation outcomes. The research suggests that these new CoCs faced common challenges, from initial revenue shortfalls to intergovernmental relations. The case studies also reveal that all 4 new cities appear to be thriving, despite challenges initially so severe that, in some cases, they threatened the new cities' viability. New city formation does appear to hold promise as a social justice tool for communities of color, though a trade-off may exist in the form of property and other tax increases.


We examine the decision maker's external environment as a predictor of her judgmental effectiveness in detecting regime changes. Relying on two experimental studies, our main task employed is one of regime-change detection over time. Our first study looks at the effect of different task factors (signal diagnosticity, transition probability, and signal length) on judgmental accuracy, particularly with regards to over- and under-reaction. We find evidence of systematic over- and under-reaction, further supporting what is known as the system-neglect hypothesis (Massey & Wu 2005). We also establish that signal length is a significant component in a regime change detection task and show that increasing amounts of information are related to increasing conservatism. Yet what has not received adequate attention in studies of regime change detection is the effect of the strength or extremeness of evidence. We hypothesize that signals that are highly representative of a change having occurred (a perception we anchor on streaks) are likely to lead to systematic over-reaction. Our second study examines the effect of signal streaks on judgmental effectiveness. We report a significant three-way interaction suggesting that streaks tend to govern over-reaction in regime change detection tasks.


CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IS IMPORTANT because it nurtures emotional, social, creative and cognitive development, and gives children opportunities to appreciate and respond to diversity. In particular, literature that portrays racial and cultural diversity is a powerful means of promoting understanding of others while affirming individual identity. However, the limited number of studies about the nature and use of literature that reflects diversity in early childhood settings prompted this study, which investigates the nature of book collections in five long day care centres in the metropolitan region of Perth, Western Australia, with a specific focus on the extent to which they reflect racial diversity. Qualitative data was drawn from an audit of the children's book collections (2377 books) across each of the five centres. The findings revealed a lack of representation of racial diversity in those collections and where racial diversity was portrayed, non-dominant cultures were commonly misrepresented through stereotypical images often portraying outdated perspectives.


Performance is a key concern for organisations in the rapidly changing global economy. Although both trust and the commitment of employees to work in an autonomous manner are often cited as being essential for effectiveness of self-managed teams, little is known on the effect of interpersonal trust on organisation commitment, and the consequences for team performance. A survey of 49 self-managing teams (239 individuals) was carried out in a manufacturing organisation to investigate the relationship between the dimensions of interpersonal trust, a number of commitment dimensions, and team performance. The analyses indicated that two thirds of interpersonal trust dimensions are positively related to the variables of organisational commitment. Moreover, the results showed that the effects of 'interpersonal trust' on team performance to a large extent are mediated by the intervening variables of organisational commitment.


In this paper we present a novel method of simulating the elegant brushstrokes found in calligraphic lettering and painting. Such simulations have earlier been attempted with physically based or texture-mapped approaches, methods that succeeded in producing aesthetic, but also computationally intensive, results. We introduce a brushstroke model based on a parametric curve, the interval spline. By defining brush effects as mathematical constraints between knots, we generate artistic strokes that render faster than earlier methods and are also resistant to scaling. More significantly, because the construction of the interval spline curve is based on changes in the shape of the brush as it moves along a path, variations within a single stroke not fully modeled with earlier attempts are inherently captured by this representation. We present a system for painting with interval spline strokes and discuss a number of examples created with this method.


We use a structural dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to investigate how initial data releases of key macroeconomic aggregates are related to final revised versions and how identified aggregate shocks influence data revisions. The analysis sheds light on how well preliminary data approximate final data and on how policy makers might condition their view of the preliminary data when formulating policy actions. The results suggest that monetary policy shocks and multifactor productivity shocks lead to predictable revisions to the initial release data on output growth and inflation.


We analyze a Bewley-Huggett-Aiyagari incomplete-markets model with labor-market frictions. Consumers are subject to idiosyncratic employment shocks against which they cannot insure directly. The labor market has a Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides structure: firms enter by posting vacancies and match with workers bilaterally, with match probabilities given by an aggregate matching function. Wages are determined through Nash bargaining. We also consider aggregate productivity shocks, and a complete set of contingent claims conditional on this risk. We use the model to evaluate a tax-financed unemployment insurance scheme. Higher insurance is beneficial for consumption smoothing, but because it raises workers' outside option value, it discourages firm entry. We find that the latter effect is more potent for welfare outcomes; we tabulate the effects quantitatively for different kinds of consumers. We also demonstrate that productivity changes in the model - in steady state as well as stochastic ones - generate rather limited unemployment effects, unless workers are close to indifferent between working and not working; thus, recent findings are corroborated in our more general setting.


The Article presents the first empirical study of copyright publication, a concept that can mark a critical moment in the life of a creative work. Books, magazines, films, software and plays, as well as works of art, architecture, music, and even choreography may be protected by copyright. For works created before 1976, knowing whether a work is published is often necessary for determining whether it is in the public domain so that anyone can use it, copy it or adapt it in other media without risking copyright liability. A court's determination of whether a work is published also may be dispositive of issues such as the duration of the copyright, if others can make fair use of it and whether, in litigation, statutory damages and attorney's fees are available. Despite the obvious import of this concept, it remains one of the most ambiguous features of copyright law. How do judges decide whether a creative work is published? This article presents the first comprehensive and systematic answer to that question. Based on a dataset of federal judicial opinions, this article analyzes the extent to which accepted notions of copyright publication conform with legal doctrine. The results reveal that often they do not. In particular, this article demonstrates that publication has a surprisingly inconsistent meaning across copyright issues, differing dramatically between the public domain and fair use contexts. The analysis shows that the characteristics of the work, as well as how it is distributed and accessed are important to courts when deciding whether a work is in the public domain. These findings are especially noteworthy, since contrary to popular belief, courts increasingly encounter the issue of publication when answering a wide variety of copyright questions. Drawing upon the empirical findings, the Article recommends that the commonly used definitions of publication be changed to reflect the factors upon which judges actually rely in deciding these cases.


Shrublands in semiarid regions are heterogeneous landscapes consisting of infertile bare areas separated by nutrient rich vegetated areas known as resource islands. Spatial patterns in these landscapes are structured by feedbacks driven by the transport of water and nutrient resources from the intershrub space to areas below shrubs, and the retention of these resources to locally drive productivity and tight biogeochemical cycles. Most understanding of plant‐soil feedbacks is based predominantly on studies of low topographic gradient landscapes, and it is unclear whether the patterns of association between soils and vegetation, and the autogenic processes that create them, also occur on more steeply sloping terrain. Here we analyze the spatial patterns of soils, vegetation, and microtopography on hillslopes of contrasting lithology (one granite at 16°, one schist at 27°) in the Sonoran desert foothills of the Catalina Mountains. We also describe a method of extracting vegetation density from terrestrial laser scanning point cloud data at 5 cm × 5 cm scales and find that it correlates well with soil organic carbon measurements. Vegetation was associated with microtopographic mounds (relative to the mean slope) extending 0.3 m downslope and 1.8 m (schist) and 0.9 m (granite) upslope on the study hillslopes. Soils below the shrub canopies exhibited 2–3 times more soil organic matter and 2–4 times higher hydraulic conductivity than the interspaces. Soils enriched with organic matter were found to extend at least two canopy radii downslope of woody shrubs, but not upslope. These plumes were clearest in the lower gradient granite site where vegetation mounds created distinct patterns of microtopographic convergence and divergence. At the steeper schist site, microtopography appeared to have a weaker control on topographic flow accumulation. Collectively, our findings suggest that the spatial structure of association between soils and microtopography and vegetation on these slopes exhibit many of the features observed in lower gradient areas. However, microtopography and soils are more asymmetric along the downslope axis of the hillslopes than lower gradient areas and vary with lithology. Alluvial and colluvial processes are likely more important in shaping vegetation and soil dynamics on hillslopes, and these factors need further consideration in scaling results to the landscape level.


Flow induced vibrations of foreign objects were studied experimentally at University of Waterloo's water flume facility. The main objective of this study was to understand the three dimensional dynamic response of foreign objects inside normal triangle tube bundle and estimate semi-empirically the amount of time taken by these objects to cause critical wear damage to the tube bundle tubes. Based on the information obtained from previous Foreign Objects Search and Retrieval (FOSAR) activities , the dynamic response of wire and plate samples each with non-dimensional length L/D = 2.8, 3.4, 4.0 and 4.6 were studied at ReD = 36,257 and 42,682, and Tu = 2.0% and 7.5%, respectively. They were placed inside tube bundle in the shape of a hook, which allowed pitching motion, yawing motion and Z direction translation motion. Using Archard's semi-empirical wear equation and available wear coefficients, wear was estimated for tubes made from I600 and I690 material, due to vibration of foreign objects made from S409, S403 and S304 material. Experimentally recorded three dimensional dynamic response of the foreign objects showed that these objects are undergoing stationary random vibration. The Z amplitude response is significantly higher than the response in X and Y direction. For all the foreign objects with measurable vibration response, the contribution of yaw component to the overall motion is negligible, meaning that foreign objects are exhibiting planar response. As a result, the dynamic interaction between foreign object and tube bundle tube surface will only be of sliding type. Additionally, it was observed that the planar response has significant contribution from both pitching and Z translation motion component. Parametric study showed that the geometry of the foreign object affects its RMS amplitude, with wire samples having larger RMS amplitude than plate samples. The nondimensional length (L/D) affects the response of the foreign object depending on its geometry. The RMS amplitude of wire samples did not show any significant change with the change in L/D, whereas only plate samples of L/D = 3.4 and 4.0 showed measurable vibration response. Moreover, both wire and plate samples are more likely to vibrate in high Reynolds number flow environment, and the amplitude of vibration decrease with increase in turbulence intensity for all foreign objects samples studied. Comparing current results with the results from previous studies showed that even small changes in the foreign object's geometry could result in significant variation in RMS amplitude. Wear analysis showed that both wire and plate samples had a potential to do critical wear damage (i.e. wear out 40% of tube wall thickness) within four year period as the flow velocity is increased. Influence of material combination on foreign object related wear is more significant in low flow velocity environment. Geometry of the foreign object also affects the critical wear time with wear due to plate samples being more aggressive than v wire samples. Additionally, it was shown that foreign objects vibrating in high turbulence intensity environment had higher critical wear time. Similar to material combination, effect of geometry and turbulence intensity becomes progressively more significant as the velocity decreases. Based on the results obtained in this study, during FOSAR activities, priority should be given to foreign objects found in high flow velocity and low turbulence intensity environment, since these objects are more likely to vibrate and cause critical wear damage within four year time period.


The paper investigates the physical content of a recently proposed mathematical framework that unifies the standard formalisms of classical mechanics, relativity and quantum theory. In the framework states of a classical particle are identified with Dirac delta functions. The classical space is "made" of these functions and becomes a submanifold in a Hilbert space of states of the particle. The resulting embedding of the classical space into the space of states is highly non-trivial and accounts for numerous deep relations between classical and quantum physics and relativity. One of the most striking results is the proof that the normal probability distribution of position of a macroscopic particle (equivalently, position of the corresponding delta state within the classical space submanifold) yields the Born rule for transitions between arbitrary quantum states.


The antibacterial activities of the microbial pigment of the actinomycetes were carried out against the bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi. The E. coli (8 mm) more susceptible than other microbial pathogens. Whereas remaining species showed negative result. The antifungal activity of the microbial pigment of the actinomycetes were carried out against the four different fungi such as Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma viride, Rhizopus microporous. The actinomycetes pigment were failed to inhibit the pathogenic fungi. There is no antifungal activity against the all tested pathogenic fungi. Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectrum revealed the NH and NOH stretching for the actinomycetes pigment. In vitro cytotoxic assay on Human Cervical Adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cell line. The actinomycetes pigment prodigiosin, tripyrrole ring, was found to exhibit antiproliferative property against the (HeLa cell line. The pigment was found to be effective against the HeLa cell line. The IC50 value of the pigment was 62.50 μg/ml against HeLa cell lines respectively. From the results obtained it has been concluded that the pigment isolated from Streptomycetes could be used an antiproliferative agent. However it cannot be used as an antibacterial or antifungal agent.


The karst-associated bauxites of the Parnassos-Ghiona zone in Central Greece are part of the large Mesozoic age Mediterranean Karst Bauxite belt. Greece is responsible for around 50% of European bauxite production, and has an estimated 600 million tonnes of bauxite reserves. This investigation focuses on the bauxites of Mount Iti and Mount Ghiona, two mountains in the west of the Parnassos-Ghiona zone that are currently being explored and mined by Greek bauxite producer, Elmin S.A. The aim was to develop a better geological understanding of the ore genetic history and regional structural evolution to aid ore deposit science and bauxite exploration. Within the Parnassos-Ghiona zone the bauxites were deposited as three separate ore horizons intercalated with thick limestone layers during the early Jurassic, late Jurassic and late Cretaceous. Only the upper two bauxite horizons are economic and therefore formed the focus of this investigation.


Four new species of Chaetodermatidae (Chaetoderma usitatum, Falcidens chiastos, F. lipuros and F. macrafrondis) and a new genus and species of Prochaetodermatidae (Rhabdoderma australe) are the first Chaetodermomorpha described from off Australia; all are from the shelf in Bass Strait or from the continental slope off southeastern Australia. Two species are numerous: F. chiastos occurs at densities sometimes up to 180 m2 from 22 to 120 m in 20 of the 23 shelf samples that contain Chaetodermomorpha, and the prochaetodermatidR. australe is common from deeper water, 1,120 to 2,510 m. Several additional species only recently received or with a single specimen are noted but not described; three belong to Prochaetoderma, Limifossor, or Scutopus, thereby extending the recorded ranges of these genera to the western Pacific. Of the 16 species of Chaetodermomorpha collected, four are shelf species occurring at depths of less than 200 m (F. chiastos, F. lipuros, one Prochaetodermatidae, one undetermined), six are upper slope species extending to 1,000 m (three species of Falcidens, Chaetoderma sp., Scutopus sp., Limifossor sp.) and six extend below 1,000 m (C. usitatum, F. macrafrondis, R. australe, Falcidens sp., Chaetoderma sp.,Prochaetoderma sp.). These depth distributions are similar to other Pacific Chaetodermomorpha genera except for Chaetoderma, a genus usually common on the shelf but missing from Bass Strait. SCHELTEMA. A.H., 1989. Australian Aplacophoran Molluscs: 1. Chaetodermomorpha from Bass Strait and the Continental Slope off south-eastern Australia. Records of the Australian Museum 41(1): 43-62. 43 Aplacophoran molluscs belonging to the footless, burrowing group compnsmg the subclass Chaetodermomorpha (= Caudofoveata) have not been reported before from off Australia. Five species in two families and three genera are described here from recent collections made on the slope off southeastern Australia and the shelf in Bass Strait.


The evaluation of the rockfall initiation mechanism and the simulation of the runout behavior is an important issue in the prevention and remedial measures for potential rockfall hazards in highway protection, in forest preservation, and especially in urban settlement areas. In most of the studies in the literature, the extent of the rockfall hazard was determined by various techniques basing on the selection of a rockfall source, generally defined as zones of rock bodies having slope angles higher than a certain value, proposed by general practice. In the present study, it was aimed to carry out a rule-based fuzzy analysis on the discontinuity data of andesites in the city of Ankara, Turkey, in order to bring a different and rather systematic approach to determine the source areas for rockfall hazard in an urban settlement, based on the discontinuity and natural slope features. First, to obtain rock source areas (RSAs), data obtained from the field studies were combined with a rule-based fuzzy evaluation, incorporating the altitude difference, the number of discontinuities, the number of wedges and the number of potential slides as the parameters of the fuzzy sets. After processing the outputs of the rule-based fuzzy system and producing the linguistic definitions, it could be possible to obtain potential RSAs. According to the RSA maps, 1.7% of the study area was found to have "high RSA", and 5.8% of the study area was assigned as "medium RSA". Then, potential rockfall hazard map was prepared. At the final stage, based upon the high and medium RSAs, 3.6% of the study area showed "high rockfall potential", while areal distribution of "medium rockfall potential" was found as 7.9%. Both RSA and potential rockfall hazard map were in accordance with the observations performed in the field.


Abstract. Seasonal and year-to-year time evolution of the thermal structure, including the heat content change in the upper water column and its relationship with the surface net heat fluxes, have been studied at five locations in the central Mediterranean Sea. The study is based on temperature profiles collected during XBT surveys (eXpendable Bathy-Thermograph) carried out on ships of opportunity, in the framework of the MFSPP (Mediterranean Forecasting System Pilot Project), between September 1999 and May 2001. The five investigated zones are located in the southern Adriatic, NW Ionian, southern and northern Tyrrhenian, and Ligurian Sea. Gradual erosion of the thermocline in autumn, formation of a mixed layer in winter, and the onset of the stratification in spring, are common properties of the temporal evolution of thermal structures at all five locations. Moreover, in the southern Adriatic, a deep convection took place down to about 600 m in winter 1999/2000. On the other hand, mild climatic conditions and small surface heat loss in autumn and winter 2000/2001 drastically reduced a mixing/convection depth which hardly reached 200 m. Simultaneously, the NW Ionian remained slightly stratified throughout the winter period. The heat storage rate in the upper portion of the water column (down to 450 m) is compared with the air-sea net heat flux at a monthly scale. A heat content decrease is determined by the surface heat loss, and the processes such as lateral advection, or upwelling of the colder waters through the base of the water column (for example, in the southern Adriatic and Ionian Seas). Elsewhere (for example, in the northern Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Seas), the upwelling does not contribute significantly to the heat balance within the water column, since the vertical temperature gradients in deeper layers are negligible. Key words. Oceanography: general (climate and interannual variability; descriptive and regional oceanography) – Oceanography: physical (air-sea interactions)


In this module, we will provide information for law enforcement officers, investigators, and supervisors who make decisions regarding how to clear or otherwise close sexual assault cases. These determinations can be extremely difficult, yet many law enforcement personnel are provided little or no guidance in how to make them appropriately. Therefore, in this module we will walk through the various ways in which a sexual assault case can be cleared or otherwise closed, and how some are not really closed at all but simply suspended or inactivated.


The Other American Colonies: An International and Constitutional Law Examination of the United States' Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Island Conquests is a thorough and thoughtful examination of U.S. overseas expansionism. This work illustrates how, despite its own anti-colonial beginnings, this country is the world's largest overseas territorial power. Roman looks at U.S. control and treatment of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Micronesia, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, as well as the situations in the Philippines, Cuba, and Hawaii. As the international community increasingly calls for the termination of colonialism, the book demonstrates how the United States has inconspicuously maintained its empire.

From a constitutional perspective, the second-class citizen status of millions living on these territories is compared with American legal rhetoric concerning citizenship and its precepts of equality and justice. From an international law perspective, the work examines this country's integral role in the development of the international norm of self-determination, paradoxically comparing these efforts with its own conquests. The book will be of interest to internationalist, constitutional scholars, historians, and students of political science, anthropology, international relations, and ethnic studies.

"This is an exceptional book from one of the most accomplished young scholars in the field of colonialism… The text is an enormous undertaking, and he has the synthetic powers and critical bite needed for such an encyclopedic subject… It is a masterful, compelling work." — Michael A. Olivas, William B. Bates Distinguished Chair in Law, University of Houston Law Center
"The Other American Colonies is the definitive legal study of the oft-forgotten islands that are de facto colonies of the United States, populated by people with second class U.S. citizenship. Professor Roman clearly demonstrates the dangers of 'plenary power' of government without the ordinary constitutional system of checks and balances and basic rights for the individual. In a time when the President of the United States has declared that law cannot constrain the United States in the post-September 11 'war on terror,' this book's analysis of just what happens to people and lands without legal rights and a political voice is chilling." — Kevin R. Johnson, Mabie-Appalas Public Interest Professor of Law and Chicana/o Studies, UC Davis School of Law


Female rats were exposed to hydroxyfluoride (2.7 mg/m3 or 5.0 mg/m3) seven weeks before pregnancy during pregnancy and lactation as well as subsequently with the offsprings up to 1, 2, 4 and 6 months after birth. The offspring was taken for investigations. It was found that serum hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine was elevated in growing rats exposed to hydrofluoride. The elevation was higher in animals inspired to 5.0 mg/m3 than in rats treated with 2.7 mg/m3. One- and two-months old rats were shown to be more suitable to hydrofluoride. Similar changes were observed in urinary excretion of these compounds. Changes in collagen content were found in skin and lungs. A marked decrease total collagen content and changes in collagen fractions were shown.


Using the French anti-piracy law known as HADOPI as a natural experiment,we study the asymmetric effects of online piracy on cinema admissions. Applying four estimation strategies at different levels of observation (town, movie, country, and consumer), we find that the introduction of the law is associated with a 9% increase in the market share of American movies.This increase occurs at the expense of other movies. Although we find an increase in overall admissions, this effect is not statistically significant. These findings primarily originate from a high initial level of asymmetric piracy between American and other movies, which was attenuated by the anti-piracy law, resulting in a fiercer competition between movies. The results can also be explained by the behavior of younger consumers, and might be caused by consumers' budget or time constraints. We exclude positive shocks on the relative quality of American movies, the advent of 3D movies, supply side reactions by firms, and word of mouth effects of illegal downloads as explanations for this redistributive effect.


After approximately 2 months of swarm‐like earthquakes in the Mogul neighborhood of west Reno, NV, seismicity rates and event magnitudes increased over several days culminating in an Mw 4.9 dextral strike‐slip earthquake on 26 April 2008. Although very shallow, the Mw 4.9 main shock had a different sense of slip than locally mapped dip‐slip surface faults. We relocate 7549 earthquakes, calculate 1082 focal mechanisms, and statistically cluster the relocated earthquake catalog to understand the character and interaction of active structures throughout the Mogul, NV earthquake sequence. Rapid temporary instrument deployment provides high‐resolution coverage of microseismicity, enabling a detailed analysis of swarm behavior and faulting geometry. Relocations reveal an internally clustered sequence in which foreshocks evolved on multiple structures surrounding the eventual main shock rupture. The relocated seismicity defines a fault‐fracture mesh and detailed fault structure from approximately 2–6 km depth on the previously unknown Mogul fault that may be an evolving incipient strike‐slip fault zone. The seismicity volume expands before the main shock, consistent with pore pressure diffusion, and the aftershock volume is much larger than is typical for an Mw 4.9 earthquake. We group events into clusters using space‐time‐magnitude nearest‐neighbor distances between events and develop a cluster criterion through randomization of the relocated catalog. Identified clusters are largely main shock‐aftershock sequences, without evidence for migration, occurring within the diffuse background seismicity. The migration rate of the largest foreshock cluster and simultaneous background events is consistent with it having triggered, or having been triggered by, an aseismic slip event.


Background: The digital transformation (DT) disrupts companies across all industries, forcing them to rethink and adjust their value creation. The necessity to adapt to a digital future seems clear; however, many companies still struggle with "becoming digitally transformed". While existing literature shows that projects can play a crucial role in realizing DT, we have a limited understanding of these projects. Therefore, we investigate these digitalization projects by asking: How are digitalization projects in the context of organizational transformation characterized and how do they contribute to organizations' DT? With this study, we provide an initial characterization of these digitalization projects and advance the understanding of their importance for the overall DT process. Method: With our qualitative multiple-case study, we analyze five projects that were carried out in highly heterogenous contexts based on 27 semi-structured interviews. Subsequent to the individual analysis of each case, we draw insights from a cross-case comparison and identify common characteristics that distinguish digitalization projects in the context of DT. Results: Our analysis reveals that despite digitalization projects are manifesting in different forms, they are predominantly characterized by their embeddedness in and contribution to an overarching DT process, their derivation from a central DT strategy, the central role of digital innovation in these projects, the integration of technology and business perspectives on a project level, and the application of novel project methods. Conclusions: Digitalization projects in the context of DT can differ from traditional IT projects and thus need dedicated management approaches. We contribute to literature by elaborating an initial, theoretically sound characterization of these digitalization projects. In addition, we offer valuable insights to practitioners regarding how these digitalization projects can be recognized and managed successfully.


We present interactive techniques for visually annotating independently moving objects in a video stream. Features in the video are automatically tracked and grouped in an off-line preprocess that enables later interactive manipulation and annotation. Examples of such annotations include speech and thought balloons, video graffiti, hyperlinks, and path arrows. Our system also employs a directmanipulation interface for random frame access using spatial constraints. This annotation interface can be employed in a variety of applications including surveillance, film and video editing, visual tagging, and authoring rich media such as hyperlinked video.


This panel introduces and critically examines the concept of "digital
 placemaking" as practices that create emotional attachments to place through digital media
 use. As populations and the texts they produce become increasingly mobile, such practices
 are proliferating, and a striking array of applications and uses have emerged which exploit
 the affordances of mobile media to foster an ability to navigate, understand, connect to,
 and gain a sense of belonging and familiarity in place. The concept of digital placemaking
 is both a theoretical and applied response to the spatial fragmentation, banal physical
 environments, and community disintegration thought to have accompanied the speed and scale
 of globalization—the implications of which include suggestions that our collective sense of
 place has been disrupted, leaving people unsure of their belonging within conditions and
 boundaries that seem increasingly fluid. While it is imperative to attend to the shifting
 social, economic, and political conditions that give rise to such concerns, it is also
 necessary to recognize the many ways people actually use digital media to negotiate
 differential mobilities and become placemakers. Papers in this interdisciplinary panel
 consider digital placemaking through a range of perspectives investigating lived experiences
 of assorted communities with disparate social and economic power to demonstrate how digital
 media can facilitate social and geographic boundary crossing while encouraging new ways of
 placing ourselves—symbolically, virtually, or through co-located presence.


Aims The use of exotic species as taxon substitutes to restore lost ecological interactions is currently hotly debated. Aldabrachelys gigantea giant tortoises have recently been introduced to three islands in the Mascarene archipelago (Ile aux Aigrettes, Round Island and Rodrigues) to resurrect herbivory and seed dispersal functions once performed by extinct giant tortoises. However, potential unintended impacts by frugivore substitutes on native ecosystems, e.g. whether they will facilitate the germination of exotic plant species, are largely unknown. We investigated whether A. gigantea introduced to Rodrigues in 2006 could enhance the germination percentage of four widespread fleshy-fruited exotic species on the island. Using germination trials to forecast unintended impacts that could arise from the introduction of a frugivorous taxon substitute enables conservation managers to limit potential adverse negative interactions before they occur. Methods In germination trials that ran over 4 months, we investigated the effects of ingestion (gut passage and deposition in faeces) by subadult and adult A. gigantea on the germination percentage of four exotic fleshy-fruited plant species introduced to Rodrigues. We fed fruits of these plant species to sub-adult and adult A. gigantea to test how variation in age and size of the frugivore would affect seed germination. Feeding of distinctly coloured plastic pellets together with the fruits allowed us to test for individual tortoise effects on seed germination. Important Findings Ingestion by A. gigantea increased the percentage of seeds germinating of Mimusops coriacea and Lantana camara ,b ut not percentage of germination of Veitchia merrillii or Wikstroemia indica. Seeds were more likely to germinate following ingestion by sub-adult rather than adult tortoises, which may be a consequence of the shorter gut passage time observed for sub-adults. Our results demonstrate that introduced frugivorous taxon substitutes could facilitate germination of exotic and invasive plants and highlight the need for conservation managers to weigh the risk of taxon substitutes potentially facilitating the germination and recruitment of exotic fleshy-fruited plants against the benefit of restoring lost seed dispersal functions of threatened indigenous plants. Our findings also highlight the importance of considering age and size variation in frugivores, in particular in long-lived taxa such as giant tortoises, when studying ingestion effects on the germination performance of plants.


On ten loose handwritten folios dating back from April 1679, Leibniz gradually devised, in the course of three days, a full-blown theory of thought that nonetheless remained unpublished and still has received little attention from scholars. Conceiving of affectūs as the driving forces that set the mind in motion from one thought to another and passiones as the inertia opposing such movement, this manuscript results in a systematic psychology understood as a dynamics of thoughts modelled on the mechanical laws of motion for solid bodies. Delving into Leibniz's working papers to witness the unfolding of his thoughts, I propose to pay attention to the many intellectual operations that paved the way for his metaphysics. From his reading notes on Descartes to his syllogistically redefining a set of concepts and propositions, Leibniz here defines an affective theory of cognition and sets the first foundations of a combinatorial ontology: his socalled scientia generalis. Focusing on the material practices that govern his use of paper, I would like to show that Leibniz's conceptual mechanization of cognition is materially dependent on a practical automation of reasoning reduced to a propositional calculus on paper. Eventually, this contribution is a plea for a media-historical reading of Leibniz's working papers.


Background: self-efficacy is the main factor in human behavior showing the extent of an individual's efforts in performing an activity. Strengthening self-efficacy empowers the person to follow and adhere to treatment. Improving selfcare behaviors is of the requirements of strengthening selfefficacy behaviors. Thus, the present study was conducted to determine the effect of self-care education based on Orem's model on self-efficacy in patients with beta thalassemia major.
Methods: In this clinical trial, 60 patients with thalassemia who were admitted to Razi Hospital of Saravan were randomly divided into control and intervention groups. Demographic and Sherer's self-efficacy questionnaires were used to collect data. The intervention group was educated for 5 sessions. The control group received routine interventions. The questionnaires were completed again after a month, and data were analyzed using SPSS23.
 Results: The mean and standard deviation of self-efficacy scores before intervention in intervention and control groups were 42.86 ± 3.24 and 42.80 ± 3.86, respectively, and after intervention 49.16 ± 8.17 and 43.20 ± 4.84, respectively. Statistical variance test with repeated measures showed significant statistical differences between the two groups before and after intervention (p=0.01).
Conclusion: The results showed that the use of Orem's selfcare model increased the level of self-care behaviors in these patients. Thus, using Orem's model is recommended as an effective way to promote self-efficacy of patients.


ABSTRACT Eleven depositional sequences are present in the Middle and Upper Ordovician of the Nashville Dome. All but one lack lowstand systems tracts, and many display evidence of subaerial exposure such as paleokarst or regional erosional truncation at their sequence boundaries, which are combined with transgressive surfaces. Features formed during the transgression, such as hardgrounds, are more prominent at most sequence boundaries than are those features related to subaerial exposure. All sequences have maximum flooding zones with aggradational stacking rather than discrete maximum flooding surfaces. Condensation features are much more common at transgressive surfaces than within the maximum flooding zone. The expression of these parasequences and sequences changes with the onset of the Taconic orogeny. Although parasequences from equivalent depositional environments can be recognized before and after the onset of the orogeny, their facies composition changes completely. Sequences following the orogeny display fewer paleokarst features, more pyritized and iron-stained hardgrounds at flooding surfaces and transgressive surfaces, and more phosphatic lags and mineralization at transgressive surfaces than those preceding the orogeny. A relative sea-level curve for the Nashville Dome has a long-term (> 5 m.y.) component presumably dominated by subsidence and a short-term (1-3 m.y.) component consisting of 10-50 m fluctuations that is primarily the result of eustasy.


Confederate war clerk, J.B. Jones's description of the Richmond Bread Riot of 1863, clearly highlights the suffering which permeated the urban centers of the Confederacy by the midpoint of the Civil War. The production and transportation of goods became increasingly difficult in the war torn nation. Inflation undermined the value of Confederate currency and made it difficult for those on fixed wages to provide for themselves and their families. The influx of thousands of refugees into Richmond created a deficit of housing in the city and raised the already inflated prices of goods. By 1863, most citizens remarked that they found it almost impossible to feed themselves. As Emory M. Thomas has observed, "a nation of farmers could indeed go hungry." Although the Confederates ended 1862 militarily on a high note with the victory at Fredericksburg in December, the staggering casualties at Antietam and the ensuing Emancipation Proclamation combined to create undercurrents of doubt in the fledgling nation. The military's performance, however vital to the Confederacy's hope for survival, did not affect the lives of the citizens on the home front to the extent that the government's domestic policies did. In fact, much of the Confederacy's legislation, passed in the opening months of 1863, only accentuated whatever feelings of resentment existed at the end of the previous year. In pursuit of success on the battlefield, the Confederacy abandoned many of the principles on which the nation had been founded. The Richmond Bread Riot demonstrated that Confederate domestic legislation and treasury policies combined to create a level of discontent on the home front which spurred people to step outside traditional notions regarding gender roles and social norms.


Copper ferrite nano material (catalyst) are reusable heterogeneous initiator in the synthesis of 1, 4-dihydropyridines is presented. The reaction of substituted aromatic aldehydes, ethyl acetoacetate and ammonium acetate was achieved in presence of copper ferrite nano powders at room temperature in ethanol. The nano catalyst was easily recovered and its reusability was recorded.


SAJID, M., M. A. ANJUM and S. HUSSAIN, 2015. Affects growth, flowering, vase life and corm production of Gladiolus grandiflorus L. under calcareous soil. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 21: 982–989 The present work was conducted to investigate the effect of foliar application of gibberellic acid and 6-benzyl aminopurine on growth, flowering, post-harvest life and corm production of gladiolus cv. Traderhorn. First spray of BAP or GA3 was applied 30 days and the second 60 days after planting at 0, 25, 50 or 100 mg L-1. Results revealed that both the plant growth regulators increased plant height, stalk length, number of florets per spike, fresh weight of florets, vase life of spikes and diameter and weight of corms as compared to the control. However, GA3 significantly increased chlorophyll content and spike length followed by BAP, while BAP significantly improved fresh weight of stalk followed by GA3. Regarding concentrations, 100 mg L-1 performed the best for plant height, leaf chlorophyll content, stalk length, fresh weight of stalk, spike length, number of florets per spike, fresh weight of florets, vase life of spikes and diameter and weight of corms, followed by 50 mg L-1 as compared to 25 mg L-1 and control treatment. Days to spike emergence, diameter of florets and number of corm produced per plant were not affected by the PGRs, their concentrations and combined effect of these two factors.


Purpose – Building information modelling (BIM) adoption is vital to productivity and competitive nature of the construction sector. However, BIM adoptions have not been generally embraced by many Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) firms, particularly in developing countries; and studies that investigate the important drivers to BIM adoptions among construction professionals through quantitative approach are limited. The study purpose is to address the aforementioned gap.

Design/methodology/approach – The study used a literature review, a pilot study and a questionnaire survey. The primary data were carried out using structured questionnaire distributed to the four different, selected BIM adopters' AEC firms. These comprised architectural firms, facility management firms, quantity surveying firms and structural engineering firms in Lagos, Nigeria. Data obtained were analyzed using mean score, standard deviation, Kruskal-Wallis test, and factor analysis.

Findings – The study identified 23 drivers to BIM adoption and the relative importance of the identified drivers was gauged from each selected BIM adopters' AEC firm category. The result of the Kruskal-Wallis test showed that there is no statistically significant difference in the perceptions of the four selected AEC firms in the mean ranking of the identified 23 drivers to BIM adoption. The findings from factor analysis categorized the identified drivers into two major factors to include: cost and time savings, and improved communication; and BIM awareness and government supports.
Practical implications – The study empirically identified important drivers to BIM adoption which will be useful for construction stakeholders to formulate strategies to adopt the full implementation of BIM in the Nigerian AEC firms and other developing countries. Also, this study is very important as it identified, analyzed, and compared the drivers to BIM adoptions from four different AEC firms; thereby providing robust and more reliable findings.

Originality/value – The study findings would inform the decisions of policymakers and construction stakeholders to make some policy recommendations capable of positively influencing the widespread adoption of BIM in AEC firms and construction industry at large. This study is important because the studies that comparatively and empirically analysed BIM drivers in AEC firms are rare, particularly in developing countries. Hence, this study could be used to benchmark future studies in developing countries.


A sizeable amount of the testing in eye care, requires either the identification of targets such as letters to assess functional vision, or the subjective evaluation of imagery by an examiner. Computers can render a variety of different targets on their monitors and can be used to store and analyse ophthalmic images. However, existing computing hardware tends to be large, screen resolutions are often too low, and objective assessments of ophthalmic images unreliable. Recent advances in mobile computing hardware and computer-vision systems can be used to enhance clinical testing in optometry. High resolution touch screens embedded in mobile devices, can render targets at a wide variety of distances and can be used to record and respond to patient responses, automating testing methods. This has opened up new opportunities in computerised near vision testing. Equally, new image processing techniques can be used to increase the validity and reliability of objective computer vision systems. Three novel apps for assessing reading speed, contrast sensitivity and amplitude of accommodation were created by the author to demonstrate the potential of mobile computing to enhance clinical measurement. The reading speed app could present sentences effectively, control illumination and automate the testing procedure for reading speed assessment. Meanwhile the contrast sensitivity app made use of a bit stealing technique and swept frequency target, to rapidly assess a patient's full contrast sensitivity function at both near and far distances. Finally, customised electronic hardware was created and interfaced to an app on a smartphone device to allow free space amplitude of accommodation measurement. A new geometrical model of the tear film and a ray tracing simulation of a Placido disc topographer were produced to provide insights on the effect of tear film breakdown on ophthalmic images. Furthermore, a new computer vision system, that used a novel eye-lash segmentation technique, was created to demonstrate the potential of computer vision systems for the clinical assessment of tear stability. Studies undertaken by the author to assess the validity and repeatability of the novel apps, found that their repeatability was comparable to, or better, than existing clinical methods for reading speed and contrast sensitivity assessment. Furthermore, the apps offered reduced examination times in comparison to their paper based equivalents. The reading speed and amplitude of accommodation apps correlated highly with existing methods of assessment supporting their validity. Their still remains questions over the validity of using a swept frequency sine-wave target to assess patient's contrast sensitivity functions as no clinical test provides the range of spatial frequencies and contrasts, nor equivalent assessment at distance and near. A validation study of the new computer vision system found that the authors tear metric correlated better with existing subjective measures of tear film stability than those of a competing computer-vision system. However, repeatability was poor in comparison to the subjective measures due to eye lash interference. The new mobile apps, computer vision system, and studies outlined in this thesis provide further insight into the potential of applying mobile and image processing technology to enhance clinical testing by eye care professionals.


Music and motion are generally assumed to be closely related. An attempt was made to analyze such relations with regard to the stopping of running and the termination of a piece of music. Velocity, step frequency, and step length of four professional dancers were measured while they were stopping from running. Six choreographers rated the esthetic quality of the decelerations from video recordings. The data curves from highly rated decelerations were more regular and smooth as compared to those decelerations rated lower. It was found that the average instant velocity of the runners corresponded well with the average of instant tempo in final ritards. A model of the ritard shape with varying curvature, including the observed deceleration shape, was applied to three music examples in a listening experiment. The observed deceleration shape was found to be within the range of the subjects' preferences.


The analytical starting point determines the course of a theoretical investigation and, ultimately, the productiveness of an approach. The classics took production and accumulation as their point of departure; the neoclassics, exchange. Exchange implies behavioral assumptions and notions like rationality, optimization, and equilibrium. It is widely recognized that this approach has led into a cul-de-sac. To change a theory means to change its premises; or, in Keynes's words, to "throw over" the axioms. The present paper swaps the standard behavioral axioms for structural axioms and applies the latter to the analysis of the emergence of secondary markets from the flow part of the economy. Real and nominal residuals at first give rise to the accumulation of the stock of money and the stock of commodities. These stocks constitute the demand-and-supply side of secondary markets. The pricing in these markets is different from the pricing in the primary markets. Realized appreciation in the secondary markets is different from income or profit. To treat primary and secondary markets alike is therefore a category mistake. Vice versa, to take a set of objective propositions as the analytical starting point yields a comprehensive and consistent theory of market exchange and valuation.


This paper reports an investigation of mathematical resources available on the social media site Pinterest. Pinterest is an online bulletin board where users create visual bookmarks called pins in order to share digital content (e.g., webpages, images, videos). Although recent surveys have shown that Pinterest is a popular reference for teachers, understanding of the mathematical resources available on the site is lacking. To take initial steps in investigating the curriculum resources provided by Pinterest, we used keyword searches to gather a database of pins related to the topic of negative integers. A content analysis was conducted on the pins with a focus on several characteristics including mathematical operations, mathematical models, use of real-world context, and whether mathematical errors were present in source material. Results show a dominance of addition and subtraction over other operations, use of mathematical models in half of pins, infrequent use of real-world context, and mathematical errors in roughly one-third of pins. We provide a breakdown of these results and discuss implications of the findings for mathematics teacher education and professional development.


1. Introduction The time when members of the human race were scarce on the Earth disappeared approximately a hundred thousand years ago. Since then individuals have increasingly interacted with each other: both within their own groups and on the inter-group level. (1) Interaction has bred, among other things, disputes and conflicts. Given limited, and often inadequate, resources and the human psychological makeup as we know it, no wonder that conflicts among people have frequently grown into bloody feuds and wars. At the beginning it seemed that to destroy one's rival, to vanquish one's opponent, and to conquer one's troublesome neighbour were the best ways to deal with a conflict in hand. However, fairly soon people discovered that in many cases a more rational and advantageous way to tackle a conflict was to invite some neutral authority to arbitrate over the conflicting situation. Thus, the third party emerged as an additional party to the conflict between two sides (parties). This paper deals with the role of the third party in achieving conflict resolutions. It must be admitted at the outset that much has been written on this topic. Just to name a few issues and authors: the problem of what conditions an individual, an organisation or an institution should meet to be deemed the third party is tackled in Pruitt and Carnevale (1993) and in Krolikowska (1993). The issue of strategies and tactics of the third party is dealt with in Fischer (1983, 1989). Psychological aspects of international politics are highlighted in Kelman and Bloom (1973) and Kelman (1991). The interference of the third party has been studied both theoretically and experimentally (see, for instance, Zartman and Berman 1982 and Kelman 1987). Also, the influence of the third party has been analysed historically: historians have explained how the third party has operated, under which conditions, and with what success (for references see, for example, Burton 1984, and Rubin, Pruitt, and Kim 1994). And surely this issue has not been neglected by psychologists, who, by studying the role of the third party in conflicts, found a fertile ground for testing their hypotheses and theories. The structure of the paper is as follows. First, I will make a distinction between two radically different types of the role of the third party. Second, I will concentrate on one of the types and suggest a taxonomy that introduces three levels on which the third party may function. Finally, I will present an evaluation of psychological motives that exist on the two of these three levels. My major contention will be that the success and effectiveness of the third party are mostly determined by satisfaction of psychological needs for stability and approval. Where such needs cannot be fulfilled, the role of the third party is negligible. At the end, I will venture a few suggestions as to how to make the intervention of the third party more compelling and efficient. 2. Two different types of the third party's role The distinction I want to propose is a novel one. It is drawn between the third party as an adjudicator and the third party as a humanitarian aid provider. I will explicate the difference by briefly discussing both types. First, I will take on the third party as an adjudicator. When there is a disagreement between two parties (these might be particular individuals or associations or even states) and when the two parties find it reasonable and beneficial to address some impartial force (the third party) and to invite it to settle their disagreement (or at least to pronounce its opinion on it), then we are dealing with the third party as an adjudicator. In this situation, the third party is chosen by both conflicting parties either for one particular case or for a series of possible cases. For example, two friends are in disagreement and they ask their mutual friend (the third party) to arbitrate between them. …


The nitrone, 5,5-dimethylpyrroline N-oxide (DMPO), is a commonly used spin trap for the detection of superoxide radical anion (O2*-) using electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. This work investigates the reactivity of DMPO to O2*- in mildly acidic pH (5.0-7.0). Mild acidity is characteristic of acidosis and has been observed in hypoxic systems, e.g., ischemic organs and cancer cells. Although the established pKa for O2*- is 4.8, the pKa for DMPO is unknown. The pKa of the conjugate acid of DMPO was determined to be 6.0 using potentiometric, spectrophotometric, 1H and 13C NMR, and computational methods. 1H and 13C NMR were employed to investigate the site of protonation. An alternative mechanism for the spin trapping of O2*- in mildly acidic pH was proposed, which involves protonation of the oxygen to form the N-hydroxy imino cation and subsequent addition of O2*-. The exoergicity of O2*- addition to protonated DMPO was rationalized using density functional theory (DFT) at the PCM/B3LYP/6-31+G**//B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory.


This article presents a review of recent research in order to discuss a new research agenda on the role of innovation, with focus on its relevance for regional development in a European context. The research question addressed is: what are the theories in recent literature on innovation in the perspective of regional development in order to develop policy-oriented conclusions? The analysis is based on a literature review of 15 articles published in 2012-2013 and is a further literature review analysis from 2011 and 2012. Results are indicating that there is an increasing role for regional policymakers e.g. that policymakers must both recognise and develop policies for forms of knowledge that have not traditionally been considered central to their activities, and an increasing role due to existing multi-level governance. Furthermore; the 'learning region' concept needs to be developed; a broader view and development of a heterodox approach to innovation including not only technological but also other types such as social and public innovation and the importance of networks and social capital for regional innovation are stressed.


Audiovisual productions are increasingly featuring multi-ethnic communities which also reflect today's globalised world. Characters in both films and TV series are often depicted as having a bilingual background and heavily relying on code-switching to express their bicultural identity (Monti 2016: 69). As such, this phenomenon poses important challenges for its translation, especially when dubbing is involved. Using this audiovisual translation (AVT) mode involves a necessary technical manipulation(Díaz-Cintas 2012: 284-285). As for Italian dubbing, multilingualism has often undergone a process of neutralization (Pavesi 2005: 56) or local standardization (Ulrych 2000: 410), although recent dubbed films have proved to be geared towards a more faithful rendering of this important feature of the source text (Monti 2016: 90).It should be borne in mind that contextual factors, such as genres, may play a fundamental role in deciding whether to retain or neutralise multilingualism in AVT, especially when it is used for humorous purposes. In those cases, the perlocutionary function of the ST should be considered (Hickey 1998; cf. also Zabalbeascoa 2012: 322). Comedy can make use of multilingualism to entertain and the American mockumentary (or docucomedy) Modern Family(Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, 2009-2019), is a striking example in this sense. It follows the lives of Jay Pritchett and his family in suburban Los Angeles. Linguistically speaking, the most interesting character is Jay's second wife Gloria Delgado, a young and beautiful Colombian woman who often code-switches or code-mixes English and Spanish (with a marked Colombian accent), thus creating moments of pure comedy. Hence, this study investigates how Gloria's humorous and multilingual persona has been transferred into Italian. The analysis confirms the current tendency of Italian dubbing to render otherness in the TT (Monti 2016: 89). This may be justified by the genre and scope of the programme, that allow for a more innovative transfer of vernacular matching via what I propose to call functional manipulation.


Who Goes Where and Why: An Overview and Analysis of Global Educational Mobility. Caroline Macready and Clive Tucker (2011). New York: IIE and AIFS Foundation. ISBN-13: 978-0-87206-342- 6, $39.95, pp. 154The number of international students and scholars studying and working in a culture beyond their own has significantly increased in past few years. The mobility of students and scholars bring a diverse and global educational exchange of cultures, ideas, and technological innovations to the culture of colleges and universities. In this context, Who Goes Where and Why, written by Caroline Macready and Clive Tucker (2011), is a significant contribution to the field of international student mobility and study abroad. In this book, the authors analyze the trends of students on why and how they study overseas, and how the national policies of hosting and sending countries affect the decisions of those mobile students. The authors also describe the Exchange Visitor Program in the United States by analyzing the 2010 data from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.The book is organized into two parts. The first part includes five chapters on global educational mobility and the second part deals with international student mobility in the United States. Chapter 1 describes the physical flows of internationally mobile students across national borders. Based on the Open Doors data, this chapter answers the question "Why is student mobility important?" from the perspectives of students, hosting institutions and national governments. Chapter 2 reviews international mobility at the tertiary level in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and other several countries where students pursue higher education. This chapter also includes recent trends in origins and destinations of international students in Asia, North America, Europe, Arab States, and Africa.Chapter 3 presents information on global student mobility in non-tertiary education i.e. mobility at upper secondary school level, post-secondary school level, and mobility of teachers, staff, and scholars in non-tertiary education into the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other non-European countries. Chapter 4 examines "push factors," "anti-push factors," and "pull factors" to understand why students move and how they choose oversea destinations. The authors mention three push factors in student mobility. First, students do not find the quality program at home country. Second, young students wish to study "to broaden cultural and intellectual horizons and improve job prospects" (p. 42). Third, students and scholars choose study abroad to position themselves for the next stage of education or work. Similarly, challenges that students face such as financial impediments or visa difficulties are taken as anti-push factors. For majority of students, pull factors are associated with their study abroad elements such as quality of study and work opportunities, affordable cost, internationally recognized qualifications, helpful visa arrangements and so forth.Chapter 5 looks at the impact of national policies of 15 of the top destination and sending countries, and how these policies impact college students' decisions on where to study. The featured 15 countries are from Asia (China, India and Japan), Europe (UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) and Africa (South Africa). …


Drawing on context-emergent turnover theory, we empirically investigate the relationship between changes in collective turnover rates and unit performance and the moderating roles of the quality and quantity of departed, remaining, and newly hired employees, turnover dispersion, and pay dispersion over time. Using insurance company data for 2,988 sales agents within 126 units across 55 months, we found that changes in turnover rates were negatively related to changes in unit performance after accounting for baseline turnover rates. A high turnover rate at baseline mitigated the negative relationship between changes in that rate and unit performance. Adjusting turnover variables for the quality of employees strengthened those relationships. Furthermore, high quality and a large quantity of replacement hires, high quality of remaining employees, high turnover dispersion, and high vertical pay dispersion mitigated the relationship between changes in turnover rates and unit performance. Implications for context-emergent turnover theory and human capital resources are discussed.


Although deep learning models have driven state-of-the-art performance on a wide array of tasks, they are prone to spurious correlations that should not be learned as predictive clues. To mitigate this problem, we propose a causality-based training framework to reduce the spurious correlations caused by observed confounders. We give theoretical analysis on the underlying general Structural Causal Model (SCM) and propose to perform Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) on the interventional distribution instead of the observational distribution, namely Counterfactual Maximum Likelihood Estimation (CMLE). As the interventional distribution, in general, is hidden from the observational data, we then derive two different upper bounds of the expected negative log-likelihood and propose two general algorithms, Implicit CMLE and Explicit CMLE, for causal predictions of deep learning models using observational data. We conduct experiments on both simulated data and two real-world tasks: Natural Language Inference (NLI) and Image Captioning. The results show that CMLE methods outperform the regular MLE method in terms of out-of-domain generalization performance and reducing spurious correlations, while maintaining comparable performance on the regular evaluations.


tion on drug interactions with oral contraceptives, particularly when drugs like the barbiturates, rifampicin, phenylbutazone, or phenytoin induce the fornmation of hepatic microsomal enzymes. With enzyme-inducing drugs the activity of oral contraceptives is reduced and breakthrough bleeding not uncommon, and pregnancy has been attributed to this interaction mechanism. I have now seen three cases in which patients on oral contraceptive drugs have become pregnant when given ampicillin and wonder if others have had similar experiences. . . . I believe we should be giving more serious thought to drug interaction and oral contraception. A patient for whom a new drug is being prescribed should always be asked if she is taking oral contraceptives in order that we may prevent further unwanted pregnancies or the need for a termination in a girl who is already sick.


BACKGROUND
The increase in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Israel during the last decade raises concerns regarding other sexuallytransmitted diseases (STD) in MSM, which are yet undetermined.

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the STD burden among MSM and heterosexuals visiting the Tel Aviv walk-in STD clinic.

METHODS
Records of all male patients who attended the clinic once were reviewed to identify demographic characteristics, behavioral attributes, and test results.

RESULTS
Between 2002 and 2008, 1064 MSM (22%) and 3755 heterosexuals (78%) visited the clinic once. Positivity rates in MSM for HIV, urethral Neisseria gonorrhoea and infectious syphilis were higher than in heterosexuals (2.5%, 2.5%. 0.7% vs. 0.6%, 1.3%, 0.3%, respectively), while urethral Chlamydia trachomatis was higher in heterosexuals than in MSM (2.7% and 1.4%, respectively). MSM tested in our clinic were younger than heterosexuals (P<0.001), more commonly circumcised (P=0.03) and Israeli-born (P<0.001), used substances during sex (P=0.04), and had prior STD (P<0.001), a greater number of sexual partners (P<0.001), and earlier sexual debut (P=0.02). The final multivariate results for MSM to be diagnosed with HIV/STD were greater number of sexual contacts, previous diagnosis with STD, and infrequent use of condom during anal intercourse.

CONCLUSIONS
MSM visiting the Levinsky Clinic had higher rates of HIV/STD than heterosexual males, which correlated with their higher-risk behaviors. The unique characteristics of MSM found in our study, such as sex work, substance use, previous diagnosis of STD, multiple partners and inconsistent use of condom during anal sex should be addressed with innovative interventions to prevent STD/HIV in the gay community in Israel.