This study investigated the issues surrounding iconic wildlife in terms of both visitor perceptions and experiences and also in terms of the economic contribution of visitors to the destination. The methods employed consisted of a literature review and development and distribution of questionnaires to visitors and tour operators
and an interview of managers at Monkey Mia, Western Australia and Hervey Bay, Queensland. It was found that the absence of dolphins from Monkey Mia would greatly detract from visitor satisfaction, with the opportunity to experience dolphins close up being the best part of the overall experience. Managers were of the view that there would be an economic impact on local businesses and on the tourism industry and staffing levels would have to be reduced both at CALM and at the resort. Operators indicated that they would change their itinerary and would consider no longer coming to Monkey Mia. Management felt that Monkey Mia would lose its identity if the dolphins were no longer present and there would be a reduction in visitor numbers. Similar findings were indicated at Hervey Bay in that an absence of whales would greatly detract from the visitor experience, while seeing whales close up, including along side of the boat, was the best part of the their experience. Managers and tour operators generally thought that if it was not possible to take a whale watching tour then tourists would still come to Hervey Bay but there would be a reduction in the number of visitors. Some operators indicated that a long-term absence of whales from Hervey Bay would result in them having to close their business and that there would be a large impact on local businesses and accommodation providers. Economic analysis shows that the residents of the Gascoyne are more dependent on wildlife icons for their livelihood than the residents of Hervey Bay, although the total visitor expenditure that is attributable to wildlife icons is approximately equal in both regions. This study highlights the importance of maintaining the icon and a high quality experience through interpretation and management of potential impacts. More importantly there is a need to diversify the tourism product that is currently available at both icon sites in order to alleviate problems that may arise as a result of dependence on wildlife icons.


The pattern and severity of injuries sustained by 174 vehicle occupants consecutively admitted to the Accident and Emergency Department of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary were prospectively documented. Drivers (DR) accounted for 66% of the patients, 20% were front seat passengers (FSP) and 14% were rear seat passengers (RSP). Injured patients were more likely to be male, young, intoxicated and not wearing a seat-belt. The position of the patient within the vehicle at the time of the accident and point of impact significantly affected the pattern of injury sustained. The majority of injuries were sustained by the upper body and the pattern of injury is discussed. Most accidents occurred at low speeds and higher speeds were associated with an increased severity of injury. Seat-belts reduced the overall severity of injuries, in particular those to the face and chest, but may increase the risk of neck injury. Head-rests do not appear to influence the incidence of neck injury. Clinically apparent alcohol intoxication was associated with a markedly increased risk of severe injury.


Motivated by the goal of understanding the evolution of populations undergoing selection, we consider branching Brownian motion in which particles independently move according to one-dimensional Brownian motion with drift, each particle may either split into two or die, and the difference between the birth and death rates is a linear function of the position of the particle. We show that, under certain assumptions, after a sufficiently long time, the empirical distribution of the positions of the particles is approximately Gaussian. This provides mathematically rigorous justification for results in the biology literature indicating that the distribution of the fitness levels of individuals in a population over time evolves like a Gaussian traveling wave.


This paper examines the initiation of sexual activity, first marriage and first birth as key steps in family formation. These events mark the transition to adulthood and generally occur in the late teens and early twenties in most Latin American countries. Using data from Demographic and Health Surveys, we examine the timing of these events across birth cohorts, comparing urban and rural areas, countries, cultural regions and educational groups. The average life course for young women in Latin America consists of the initiation of intercourse as adolescents, entering partnerships about one year later, and giving birth about a year after that. This pattern remained fairly stable over the time period examined. Education substantially delays these family transitions and the education effect is similar in most countries. Latin American women with secondary levels of schooling are significantly less likely to experience early marriage or parenthood relative to those with no schooling. Urban residence also delays entry into sexual activity, marriage and parenthood at the bivariate level. However, once education is controlled for, the effect of residence reverses – that is, urban residence is associated with early transition ages. A combination of national boundaries and cultural groupings explain more of the variation in transition rates than either grouping alone. Thus, we conclude that both national and cultural factors appear to influence family transitions in Latin America, in addition to the effects of education and urbanisation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


We developed a visualization approach for the identification of protein isoforms, precursor/mature protein combinations, and fragments from LC-MS/MS analysis of multidimensional fractionation of serum and plasma proteins. We also describe a pattern recognition algorithm to automatically detect and flag potentially heterogeneous species of proteins in proteomic experiments that involve extensive fractionation and result in a large number of identified serum or plasma proteins in an experiment. Examples are given of proteins with known isoforms that validate our approach and present a subset of precursor/mature protein pairs that were detected with this approach. Potential applications include identification of differentially expressed isoforms in disease states.


Background: Knowledge of metabolic outcomes, such as maximal oxygen consumption (VO2) or running economy, has wide-ranging application. Metabolic outcomes are widely reported in literature yet the metabolic sampling interval (example: breath-by-breath, 30-sec average) utilized for collection is rarely ever stated. Purpose: The purpose of the present investigation was to probe the potential discrepancies created when analyzing running economy and VO2max raw metabolic data with four different metabolic sampling intervals. Methods: Five recreationally-active and endurance-trained subjects were included in the present analysis and four metabolic sampling intervals were analyzed: 30-sec average, 20-sec average, 8-breath, and 4-breath. Subjects engaged in 4-min running economy phases at 55 and 65% of their VO2max before entering into a maximal protocol purposed to elicit VO2max in 8-12 minutes. Utilizing the steady state and maximal VO2 data, metabolic sampling intervals were analyzed for their effect on reported VO2 values. Results: For running economy at 55%, there was no differences found (f = 0.207; df = 1.862; p = 0.799) between sampling frequencies when analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance and corrected with Greenhouse-Geisser for a violation of sphericity. For running economy at 65%, there were also no differences found (f = 1.456; df = 3; p = 0.799) between sampling frequencies. For inspection, the relative VO2 values were: 27.2 (±3.1), 27.9 (±4.1), 28.4 (±3.6), and 28.8 (±5.1) for the 30-sec, 20-sec, 8-breath, and 4-breath average, respectively. Maximal VO2 values of 53.0 (±6.6), 55.1 (±7.2), 55.1 (±7.2), and 59.6 (±9.4) for the 30-sec, 20-sec, 8-breath, and 4-breath average, respectively, were found to be significantly different (f = 21.062; df = 1.278; p < 0.001) after adjusting for a violation of sphericity (p < 0.001). Bonferroni analysis indicated differences between the 30-sec average and all other averages and also the 20-sec and 8breath averages when compared against the 4-breath average. The 4-breath average yielded the highest VO2max value. Coincidentally, the 20-sec and 8-breath averages were identical. Conclusion: In the present investigation of raw metabolic data, sampling interval was found to impact the maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) values but not running economy values when investigating a small sample of data with four select sampling intervals. The report of maximal VO2 is rather common in the literature and knowing sample interval is vital for between-study comparison, determination of regression-related activities, or for pre-post comparison of data from the same or different labs.


The logging industry of the Amazon is a topic that has received little attention in the literature, beyond specific single firm case studies. This has not allowed estimation of cost and production functions that can be used to predict changes in the industry in response to external market factors or government policies. Cost functions and rents are very important to characterize the dynamics of industry behavior, as well as providing important information for future policies. This study relies on a survey of 527 firms to estimate harvest, transportation, and milling cost functions for the logging industry in the Brazilian Amazon, finding variables such as labor cost, distance from the forest to the sawmill, equipment and frontier type to significantly affect the total and marginal cost of each activity. Rents are also estimated for different sampled milling centers, and a cost minimizing mathematical programming model is presented that explains the advance of the logging frontier in Brazil.


This article considers the relationship between "hashtag activism" as it is currently being used by the alt-right and the tendency to draw on conspiracy theory that Richard Hofstadter identified as being prevalent among what he termed "pseudoconservatives" half a century earlier. Both the alt-right and Hofstadter's "pseudoconservatives" can be characterised by a pronounced populist nationalism that understands its aims as protecting a particular way of life whilst drawing on an aggrieved sense of injustice at being conspired against by an unseen enemy. That this "enemy" is typically foreign in actuality or in spirit confirms the cultural dimension on which their politics is played out. It is argued here that this paranoid populist nationalism has been figuratively drawn upon in the rhetoric of Donald Trump and that this apparent openness to the "pseudo-conservative" discourse on nationalism has provided a bridging effect via which far right elements are seeking to normalize extremist viewpoints.


Jesus' table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners: aspects of a missional ecclesiology Christian churches with a historically powerful socio-cultural presence often have to adjust to a new marginalised and disempowered existence, stripped of influence in an increasingly secular society dominated by postmodern values. Many churches view this as a threat, and attempt to protect themselves through strengthening of the boundaries between them and the surrounding community, citing the holiness of the church as reason. This results in isolated and exclusive faith communities with no missionary identity, and a split between ecclesiology and missiology. This article proposes that Jesus' table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners provides a motif for restating a missional ecclesiology. Jesus defined his identity as the Holy One of God by removal of boundaries and an inclusive seeking out of the marginalised in the society of his time. He shaped a new community of God's people among them. Likewise, a missional church will understand her holiness not as separation from the world, but as service to God's redemptive purposes, and will devote herself to inviting vulnerability and redemptive entering into the lives of others similar to the incarnation of the Son of God. This will result in the conscious social relocation of the church to the disempowered margins of society, as a sign of the eschatological community of Christ that He continues to gather around Himself in the present.


This special issue assembles eight papers which provide insights into the working lives of early career to more senior academics, from several different countries. The first common theme which emerges is around the predominance of 'targets', enacting aspects of quantification and the ideal of perfect control and fabrication. The second theme is about the ensuing precarious evocation of 'terror' impacting on mental well-being, albeit enacted in diverse ways. Furthermore, several papers highlight a particular type of response, beyond complicity to 'take freedom back' (the third theme). This freedom is used to assert an emerging parallel form of resistance over time, from overt, planned, institutional collective representation towards more informal, post-recognition forms of collaborative, covert, counter spaces (both virtually and physically). Such resistance is underpinned by a collective care, generosity and embrace of vulnerability, whereby a reflexive collegiality is enacted. We feel that these emergent practices should encourage senior management, including vice-chancellors, to rethink performative practices. Situating the papers in the context of the current coronavirus crisis, they point towards new forms of seeing and organising which open up, rather than close down, academic freedom to unleash collaborative emancipatory power so as to contribute to the public and ecological good.


Objective Although several genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of non-cardia gastric cancer have been published, more novel association signals could be exploited by combining individual studies together, which will further elucidate the genetic susceptibility of non-cardia gastric cancer. Design We conducted a meta-analysis of two published Chinese GWAS studies (2031 non-cardia gastric cancer cases and 4970 cancer-free controls) and followed by genotyping of additional 3564 cases and 4637 controls in two stages. Results The overall meta-analysis revealed two new association signals. The first was a novel locus at 5q14.3 and marked by rs7712641 (per-allele OR=0.84, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.88; p=1.21×10−11). This single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker maps to the intron of the long non-coding RNA, lnc-POLR3G-4 (XLOC_004464), which we observed has lower expression in non-cardia gastric tumour compared with matched normal tissue (Pwilcoxon signed-rank=7.20×10−4). We also identified a new signal at the 1q22 locus, rs80142782 (per-allele OR=0.62; 95% CI 0.56 to 0.69; p=1.71×10−19), which was independent of the previously reported SNP at the same locus, rs4072037 (per-allele OR=0.74; 95% CI 0.69 to 0.79; p=6.28×10−17). Analysis of the new SNP conditioned on the known SNP showed that the new SNP remained genome-wide significant (Pconditional=3.47×10−8). Interestingly, rs80142782 has a minor allele frequency of 0.05 in East Asians but is monomorphic in both European and African populations. Conclusion These findings add new evidence for inherited genetic susceptibility to non-cardia gastric cancer and provide further clues to its aetiology in the Han Chinese population.


The cellular basis of reactive oxygen intermediate-induced arrhythmias was investigated in isolated rabbit ventricular cells using the whole-cell voltage- and current-clamp techniques. Singlet oxygen and superoxide were generated by the photoactivation of rose bengal. Single ventricular cells exposed to rose bengal (10-100 nM) exhibited spontaneous membrane potential fluctuations at plateau potentials and at the level of the resting membrane potential. The voltage fluctuations induced in the resting potential occasionally triggered repetitive action potential discharges. At the resting membrane potential, the magnitude and dominant frequency of the voltage fluctuations were 1-3 mV and 1.5 Hz, respectively. At plateau potentials, the amplitude of the voltage fluctuations was about 2-5 mV, and the dominant oscillatory frequency was 2.6 Hz. In voltage-clamp experiments, transient inward currents were induced on repolarization after a depolarizing clamp step. Oscillatory currents also occurred occasionally during clamp steps to positive potentials. The peak frequencies of transient inward currents recorded at -20 and -70 mV were approximately 3.7 and 2.3 Hz, respectively, indicating that these currents may underlie the arrhythmogenic membrane potential fluctuations observed in current-clamp experiments. The rose bengal-induced transient inward currents were shown to be dependent on the magnitude and duration of the preceding voltage step. Studies of the voltage dependence of transient inward currents showed that these currents remained inward even at positive potentials (+30 mV), and replacement of extracellular sodium with lithium decreased transient inward current to approximately 10% of its initial value. Thus, the major component of oxidant stress-induced inward current appears to be electrogenic Na-Ca exchange. This oscillatory transient inward current may be responsible for the arrhythmias induced in isolated hearts exposed to reactive oxygen intermediates, and since oxidant stress has been implicated in reperfusion injury, it is possible that similar oscillatory currents may underlie reperfusion-induced arrhythmias.


Originally seen as the 'third arm' of UK housing policy, the independent, not-for-profit housing association sector had long been seen as effective in 'filling the gap' where the state or market were unable to provide for households in need. Since the 1980s in particular, successive governments had viewed housing associations in favourable terms as efficient, semi-autonomous social businesses, capable of leveraging significant private funding. By 2015, in contrast, central government had come to perceive the sector as inefficient, bureaucratic and wasteful of public subsidy. Making use of institutional theory, this paper considers this paradigm shift and examines the organisational responses to an increasingly challenging operating environment. By focusing, in particular, on large London housing associations, the paper analyses their strategic decision-making to address the opportunities and threats presented. The paper argues that in facing an era of minimal subsidy, low security and high risk, the 2015 reforms represent a critical juncture for the sector. Housing organisations face a stark dilemma about whether to continue a strategy of 'profit for purpose' or to embrace an unambiguously commercial ethos. The article contends that the trajectory of decision-making (although not unidirectional) leads ultimately towards an increased exposure to risk and vulnerability to changes in the housing market. More fundamentally, the attempt to reconcile social and commercial logics is likely to have wider consequences for the legitimacy of the sector.


End-to-end IPv6 performance is a factor that can influence IPv6 adoption. The stability of IPv6 - both in the control and data plane - is an important determinant of end-to-end performance, as it influences packet loss, network latency, and hence application performance. In this paper we compare stability and performance measurements from the control and data plane in IPv6 and IPv4. To study control plane stability, we use BGP feeds from five dual-stacked vantage points to measure routing dynamics towards IPv4 and IPv6 destinations. To study data plane stability, we probe dual-stacked webservers in 629 target ASes to determine the availability, RTT performance and RTT stability of paths toward these targets. In both control and data plane experiments IPv6 exhibited less stability than IPv4. In the control plane, most routing dynamics were generated by a small fraction of pathological unstable prefixes. In the data-plane, episodes of unavailability were longer on IPv6 than on IPv4. We found evidence of correlated performance degradation over IPv4 and IPv6 caused by shared infrastructure.


This book presents research articles and essays which analyze the consequences of decentralization on forest conditions and livelihoods in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia. Authors from the East African collaborative research centers of the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) Research Program demonstrate that the institutional changes resulting from decentralization create costs for those who need to re-institutionalize and re-organize the management of forest and land resources. This requires investment into information, communication, education and into the re-building of social capital. Cases in which collective action has worked and contributed to improving livelihoods and forest conditions can be exemplary, while failures can be equally useful for learning about East Africa and beyond.


Abstract : The expertise required by Tactical Action Officers in a modern Anti-Submarine warfare environment of complex weaponry, minimal reaction time and ardous conditions at sea necessitate training and experience that is both exhaustive and progressive. For these officers to be effective in making accurate and timely decisions so as to effect the most appropriate responses, they must have ready access to current tactical doctrine and system performance statistics. In time of war there is no time to allow a junior Tactical Action Officer to progress to a level of competency: he must be a reliable, capable, fully functional warfare team member at the outset of his tour. This thesis presents a prototype Artificial Intelligence model of the TAO ASW decision making process using an expert system development tool run on a microcomputer, to train fledgling TAO's with an outlook to the potential development and capability of an operational expert system. (Author)


From public transportation and education to adequate access to buildings, the social impact of disability has been felt everywhere since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. And a remarkable groundswell of activism and critical literature has followed in this wake. Claiming Disability is the first comprehensive examination of Disability Studies as a field of inquiry. Disability Studies is not simply about the variations that exist in human behavior, appearance, functioning, sensory acuity, and cognitive processing but the meaning we make of those variations. With vivid imagery and numerous examples, Simi Linton explores the divisions society creates--the normal versus the pathological, the competent citizen versus the ward of the state. Map and manifesto, Claiming Disability overturns medicalized versions of disability and establishes disabled people and their allies as the rightful claimants to this territory.


Panax ginseng has been known to have a number of immuno-modulatory effects. In this study, we investigated whether Panax Korean red ginseng extract (KRGE) has in vitro and in vivo antiviral effects on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. KRGE improved the survival of human lung epithelial cells against RSV infection and inhibited RSV replication. In addition, KRGE treatment suppressed the expression of RSV-induced inflammatory cytokine genes (IL-6 and IL-8) and the formation of reactive oxygen species in epithelial cell cultures. Oral administration of mice with KRGE resulted in lowering lung viral loads after RSV infection. Additionally, the in vivo effects of KRGE showed an enhanced level of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) producing dendritic cells subsequent to RSV infection. Taken together, these results suggested that KRGE has antiviral activity against RSV infection.


We examine inkdots placed on the input string as a way of providing advice to finite automata, and establish the relations between this model and the previously studied models of advised finite automata. The existence of an infinite hierarchy of classes of languages that can be recognized with the help of increasing numbers of inkdots as advice is shown. The effects of different forms of advice on the succinctness of the advised machines are examined. We also study randomly placed inkdots as advice to probabilistic finite automata, and demonstrate the superiority of this model over its deterministic version. Even very slowly growing amounts of space can become a resource of meaningful use if the underlying advised model is extended with access to secondary memory, while it is famously known that such small amounts of space are not useful for unadvised one-way Turing machines.


Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) literature tends to focus on formal learning contexts, but in so doing, the research may overlook some of the rich variety of mobile language learning and rehearsal taking place in informal settings. Informal uses of personal technologies call for a deeper examination of the notion of assistance, which may be built into mobile systems, environments and application designs and also provided by many different people. The chapter reviews relevant literature relating to mobile assistance with special consideration of individual learner requirements and the important challenge of supporting informal learning among migrants. The author considers how the notion of assistance may be extended so that learners not only benefit from assistance but they are also empowered to help themselves and others. A classification of assistance for mobile language learning and communication support is proposed. The idea that a handheld device can offer 'personal assistance' to its user has been around a long time, but technology advancements and more mobile lives introduce new perspectives. Mobile learning researchers, designers, practitioners and others must consider not only mobility of technology but also many other mobilities which include the dynamic nature of human communication and language development. As advanced societies appear to be on the cusp of a new era of 'intelligent assistants' and 'social robots', the pressing need to revisit the notion of assistance and explore its multifaceted nature in informal and out-of-class language learning is very apparent.


This paper considers the effects of forced and mutual synchronization of complex spatio-temporal structures in a two-layer network of nonlocally coupled logistic maps in the presence of inhomogeneous interlayer coupling. Two different types of coupling topology are considered: the first one is the sparse interlayer coupling with randomly distributed coupling defects, and the second type is the cluster interlayer coupling, providing the coupling via designated finite groups of elements. The latter type of coupling topology is considered for the first time. As a quantitative measure of the synchronization effect on the network, variance averaged over time and variance averaged both over time and network elements are used. We analyze how the synchronization measure changes depending on a degree of the interlayer coupling sparseness.
We also identify a cluster of network elements which can provide almost complete synchronization
in the network under study when the interlayer coupling is introduced along them.


Abstract It is necessary to investigate, develop and promote architecture and built environment education in order to increase the civic responsibility towards the built environment and to create a functional, sustainable and aesthetic environment. This type of education can and should lay the foundation for social responsibility but for this, we need to make children and young people understand what being responsible mean and that the city is the result of the involvement of all its inhabitants. Forming such citizens that are able to understand the idea that active involvement and prospective thinking is the first step towards a sustainable transformation of society is a complex and lasting process, which is why it has to start from an early age.


Dominant approaches to rural development have proven unable to confront the structural challenges posed by a system where progress itself generates hunger and increasing environmental damage. This article places its accent on the direct action of communities to organize themselves to satisfy their food and other basic needs and those of their regions with self-help strategies that could be applied in both rural and urban areas. While generally applicable, this focus draws its inspiration from the experience of La Via Campesina, the largest social organization in the world, with chapters in more than 80 countries and 200 million members. The food sovereignty approach offers a forward-looking strategy to social mobilization, confronting the scourge of rural disintegration while also addressing the pressing issue of environmental balance. It proposes to direct political and social actions to the collective organization of communities to promote local mobilization and cooperation within and among communities, on a regional as well as on a much broader geographic scale. It functions by integrating experts into a well-proven farmer-to-farmer approach for the exchange of information and materials conducive to improving productivity and promoting diversity in accordance with local customs while also creating possibilities for improving the quality of foods being produced and their nutritional impact. Most organizations promoting food sovereignty consider agroecology to be the most effective approach to organizing production, emphasizing the use of locally available inputs and technologies as well as a diversity of cropping system adapted to local conditions.


Probabilistic programming languages allow a modeler to build probabilistic models using complex data structures with all the power of a programming language. We present CTPPL, an expressive probabilistic programming language for dynamic processes that models processes using continuous time. Time is a first class element in our language; the amount of time taken by a subprocess can be specified using the full power of the language. We show through examples that CTPPL can easily represent existing continuous time frameworks and makes it easy to represent new ones. We present semantics for CTPPL in terms of a probability measure over trajectories. We present a particle filtering algorithm for the language that works for a large and useful class of CTPPL programs.


In the knowledge-based economy, innovation is seen to play a central role, but until recently the complex processes of innovation have been insufficiently understood. Better understanding, however, has emerged from many studies in recent years. At the macro-level, there is a substantial body of evidence that innovation is the dominant factor in national economic growth and international patterns of trade. At the micro-level, R&D is seen as enhancing a firm's capacity to absorb and make use of new knowledge, strengthening its competitiveness.As innovation comes into a focus, more concerns have been paid to how to collect and produce indicators which well represents the economic activities in general and S&T activities in particular. The attempt to seek and develop new indicators is inevitable since conventional indicators are not quite appropriate for capturing innovation activities and therefore for policy-making for various socio-economic sectors.Conventionally, there have been two basic families of S&T indicators, which are directly relevant to the measurement of technological innovation, that is, resources devoted to R&D and patents statistics. R&D data are collected through national surveys according to the guidelines of the Frascati manual. These data have proved valuable in many studies. However, these data have two main limitations. First, R&D is an input. Although it is obviously related to technical change, it does not measure it. Second, R&D does not encompass all the efforts of firms and governments in this area, as there are other sources of technical change, such as learning by doing. On the other hand, patents as an indicator also have a drawback. Many innovations do not correspond to a patented invention. Many patents correspond to invention with a near zero technological and economic values, whereas a few of them have very high value. Many patents never lead to innovation. Thus, it is needed to develop new indicators properly reflecting innovation activities.In this study, we have made an investigation of firm's innovation behavior and provided some empirical evidences, based on the KIS (Korean Innovation Survey) dataset, which is collected according to the OECD scheme. In the following chapter, we will discuss the empirical model and data mining. The empirical study was done employing variables, which explains firm's innovation behavior. Those variables include not only conventional variables such as firm's age, size and industrial structure, but also the variables such as technological opportunities, in-house capability and market environment, which are perceived by the firm. Using those variables, we obtained some empirical evidences using a probit model. An advantage using an econometric model is that we can systematically reproduce the results at given conditions. Then, we provide some explanation of the empirical results and finally concluding remarks in the last chapter.


This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. pISSN 1011-8934 eISSN 1598-6357 http://dx.doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2016.31.2.329 • J Korean Med Sci 2016; 31: 329 CORRESPONDENCE


As the systems biology community generates and collects data at an unprecedented rate, there is a growing need for interactive data exploration tools to explore the datasets. These tools need to combine advanced statistical analyses, relevant knowledge from biological databases, and interactive visualizations in an application with clear user interfaces. To answer specific research questions tools must provide specialized user interfaces and visualizations. While these are application-specific, the underlying components of a data analysis tool can be shared and reused later. Application developers can therefore compose applications of reusable services rather than implementing a single monolithic application from the ground up for each project. Our approach for developing data exploration applications in systems biology builds on the microservice architecture. Microservice architectures separates an application into smaller components that communicate using language-agnostic protocols. We show that this design is suitable in bioinformatics applications where applications often use different tools, written in different languages, by different research groups. Packaging each service in a software container enables re-use and sharing of key components between applications, reducing development, deployment, and maintenance time. We demonstrate the viability of our approach through a web application, MIxT blood-tumor, for exploring and comparing transcriptional profiles from blood and tumor samples in breast cancer patients. The application integrates advanced statistical software, up-to-date information from biological databases, and modern data visualization libraries. The web application for exploring transcriptional profiles, MIxT, is online at mixt-blood-tumor.bci.mcgill.ca and open-sourced at github.com/fjukstad/mixt. Packages to build the supporting microservices are open-sourced as a part of Kvik at github.com/fjukstad/kvik.


Pegylated interferon and ribavirin are mandatory in the treatment of HCV hepatitis. An early recognition of side effects related to the antiviral therapy can prevent the discontinuation of treatment and can improve the eradication of HCV infection. Hematologic side effects related to pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy are the most studied; on the other hand it is difficult to make a correlation between a rarely reported side effect and the medication. That's why it is important to report and to recognize all these side effects in order to avoid life-threatening. This review analyses non-hematologic side effects correlated with antiviral therapy for HCV hepatitis.


This paper discusses the principles of massively parallel computations for digital signal processing by means of NVIDIA CUDA technology, using as examples such operations as the inversion of image brightnesses, gamma correction, and the Sobel operator. The main methods of digital image processing using massive parallelism of the computations on a graphics processing unit are evaluated. These methods are implemented on the central processing unit and the graphics processing unit and are compared in terms of such parameters as the time to carry out the processing, the size of the images that are used, and the size of the memory blocks used by the CUDA architecture.


This paper presents the result of the work achieved in the frame of three successive European Projects, which aimed to build an innovative system to assist security managers in the crisis preparation, training and management phases. The iterative approach of the consortium is presented, as well as the results. A novel interactive and shared Common Operational Picture is proposed which has been validated by three large scale demonstrations. On-going and future work focusing on the security concepts and measures of building interiors is moreover presented.


A key challenge in applying reinforcement learning to safety-critical domains is understanding how to balance exploration (needed to attain good performance on the task) with safety (needed to avoid catastrophic failure). Although a growing line of work in reinforcement learning has investigated this area of "safe exploration," most existing techniques either 1) do not guarantee safety during the actual exploration process; and/or 2) limit the problem to a priori known and/or deterministic transition dynamics with strong smoothness assumptions. Addressing this gap, we propose Analogous Safe-state Exploration (ASE), an algorithm for provably safe exploration in MDPs with unknown, stochastic dynamics. Our method exploits analogies between state-action pairs to safely learn a near-optimal policy in a PAC-MDP sense. Additionally, ASE also guides exploration towards the most task-relevant states, which empirically results in significant improvements in terms of sample efficiency, when compared to existing methods.


Seventy-three patients with ureteral calculi ranging in size from 5 x 5 to 10 x 30 mm and two patients with Steinstrasse underwent lithotripsy with a pulsed tunable dye laser (504-nm wavelength; l-µsec bursts). The laser fiber was passed through a ureteral catheter or a new laser basket via a ureteroscope. In 70 cases, the patients were partially or entirely freed of stones. There were three equipment failures necessitating another form of lithotripsy, and two stones (one of brushite and one of cystine) that did not respond to laser energy and required ultrasonic lithotripsy. The laser is particularly useful in patients with impacted ureteral stones that cannot be bypassed and requires a smaller ureteroscope than does ultrasonic lithotripsy. It is now my preferred type of ureteroscopic lithotripsy unless the stone is thought to be of calcium oxalate monohydrate.


Truman State Univ Press, 2002, 0943549922, 9780943549927, 238 pages. This collection explores the evolution of notions about masculinity during the intense crisis of Renaissance and early modern France. Authors of the period reflect the anxieties about masculinity that became more pronounced against the backdrop of major events and innovations of the period: the religious conflict in France, the repeated questioning of religious and royal authority, the revival of Greek scepticism, the discovery of the New World, and the rise of clinical medicine. These events in turn fuelled growing doubt concerning the fixed and hierarchical nature of gender distinction; a distinction upon which many felt French culture was dependent for its very survival..


A detailed analysis of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in four Nepali schools revealed that they have poor water and sanitation facilities and unhygienic environments both in terms of quantity and quality. Inadequate knowledge of the concept of 'child-friendly' sanitation facilities, absence of user involvement in the planning and design process, and lack of training and orientation among members of School Management Committees, Parent Teacher Associations and Child Clubs are the main reasons behind this. To reverse this trend, toilet facilities were constructed at the 'Sangam' Primary School not only to demonstrate the process of planning 'child, gender and differently able friendly' sanitation facilities but also as a training tool for the concerned stakeholders. Lessons learned from this process have been incorporated into sanitation booklets and training programmes for non-government organizations, District Sanitation Steering Committees, and local masons to raise awareness, make monitoring at the district level more effective, and widen the network of partners working on school sanitation. In this way, a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches as well as parallel building up of hardware and software components have led towards sustainable sanitation. Administration and Management Review Vol. 24, No. 1, January, 2012, Page 45-72


This article seeks to understand the process employed, across a university in England, to support the acquisition of academic literacy. Whilst this offers a very specific UK focus, this article draws upon related work in Australian, American and African contexts around study support, academic literacy and academic development. A phenomenographic analysis is used to interpret variation in lived experience of study support of three participant groups: students, tutors and support staff, and the resulting 'outcome spaces' are analysed with respect to the role of a variety of study support mechanisms in the development of academic literacy. This study concludes with an examination of how the tensions and conflicts that arise through a lack of shared meaning and aspiration can serve as an indicator of the need for a deeper understanding of both the range of student profiles in higher education and of what we mean by study support.


A 60AT unsymmetrical section railroad rail is a new material developed for using at the bifurcation of the railway. The fatigue experiments and numerical simulations have been carried out and presented in this paper to estimate the service life of the rail. This unsymmetrical geometry section results to complex in the analysis and determination of the rail service life. The experimental results show that the fatigue cracks grow from the short flange at the bottom of the section but the head as the symmetric section rail. The simulation results of Mises stress have given a stress ratio 2.91 between short and long flanges at the bottom, which proves the lower service life at the short flange. In addition, the symmetrical section 5OAT and 60AT rails have also been tested to estimate the service life and the comparison have been made for the results with unsymmetrical section railroad rail.


The project focused on national and international best practice guidelines on service
user involvement, service user involvement has become buzz words in health and
social care settings in the past decades. Third sector not for profit services are
competing for survival i.e. on how best to get service users involved in the day to day
service planning. The project aimed at developing a communication strategy between
senior management and service users in a third sector not for profit organization,
providing services to adults with intellectual disabilities and mental health difficulties.
Changes in legislation and the introduction of a regulatory body (HIQA) Health
Information and Quality Authority in Ireland, in the field of health and social care, has
resulted in health care organizations across Ireland to look for effective ways to work
hand in hand (partnership) with the people receiving services. Traditionally services
were designed by the providers, but current trends and regulatory requirements have
seen service users in the driving seat. Using the HSE change model monthly
residential service users meetings were introduced. Senior management attends these
meetings on a quarterly basis. It was discovered that if not carefully managed these
meetings will become either paper based activity (tokenistic approach) or used to
secure funding. The HSE change model was used to implement change process
because it is current, local, user friendly, and relevant model to the subject matter.
When done for the right reasons service user involvement can be empowering and can
improve the quality of life of the service users.


This study examines the determinants of the rate of unemployment in Nigeria from 1980 to 2016. The model of this study is made up of one dependent variable (Unemployment rate) and five explanatory variables (Government Expenditure, Inflation Rate, First Lag of Unemployment, Population and Real Gross Domestic Product). The study employed the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method to estimate the model after using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller to test for unit root. The result shows that Government Expenditure, Inflation Rate and Population are statistically significant in explaining changes in unemployment in Nigeria for the period under review. However, first lag of unemployment and Real Gross Domestic Product are found not to be statistically significant in explaining unemployment in Nigeria. The study recommends allocating higher amount of money to capital expenditure in the budget, and monitoring awarded projects to see that they are completed. The study also recommends that technologies which require human labour to operate be introduced.


Tasmanian blue mussels (Mytilus planulatus) were cultured at four sites in the vicinity
of an Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) farm in North West Bay, Tasmania. The main
objective of the study was to evaluate the potential of integrating mussel and salmon
culture within a common multi-species marine farm. Filter-feeding bivalves cultured
near open fish cages might obtain additional food supplies directly from particulate
wastes (excess fish feed and faeces) and indirectly from enhanced phytoplankton
production stimulated by dissolved nutrient wastes. Potential benefits of such
integration include enhanced bivalve growth, increased productivity of a coastal marine
fish farm, and reduced fish farm waste loadings and their associated environmental
impacts.
Mussels were cultured for fourteen months, suspended from four longlines positioned
at increasing distances (70, 100, 500 and 1200 meters) from the Aquatas Pty. Ltd.
salmon farm in North West Bay. Mussels were monitored monthly for various
growth and biochemical parameters including shell length, whole live weight, meat
weights, total biomass, condition index, glycogen content, stable isotope ratios (δ13C
and δ15N), reproductive development and survival. Water quality and environmental
parameters at each longline site were monitored weekly over the same period.
The performance of mussels grown within the fish farm lease (70 m and 100 m from
the fish cages) was not appreciably different from that of mussels grown distant to the
farm. Mussels spawned twice with no differences in biomass production among sites
(P > 0.05). The final sample in May 1996 indicated no site differences for any
parameter except for shell length (P < 0.0001) and condition index (P < 0.01).
However, site differences were minor, with final mean shell lengths and condition
(dry meat weight/internal shell cavity capacity) being within 2.0 mm and 17%,
respectively.
Similar mussel growth was likely due to similarities in environmental parameters
among longline sites, most importantly food quantity and quality (POM, chlorophylla,
%POM). Growth of mussels cultured within the fish farm was not enhanced due to
several contributing factors: (a) solid waste loadings (feed particles and faeces) from
the farm were too diluted to significantly increase particulate food concentrations above
ambient levels; (b) phytoplankton production within the farm was not enhanced; (c)
mussels may have been cultured too distant to intercept settling particulate wastes
emanating from the fish cages; and (d) ambient seston concentrations were above, or
near, the pseudofaeces threshold concentration for most of the trial period. Therefore,
mussels cultured within the farm site were physiologically limited in securing a
significant quantity of additional food.
Increased bivalve growth through integration with open-water fish culture may only be
achievable in coastal areas where ambient food concentrations are below the
pseudofaeces threshold for extended periods, particulate fish farm wastes significantly
increase particulate food concentrations above ambient levels, and bivalves are cultured
in a suitable position to intercept these waste particles.


ABSTRACT This paper critiques the relativist and post-colonialist view that blames the under-representation from peripheral cultures in international translation studies on Eurocentric biases. Western scholars who propound such a view underestimate the difficulties faced by scholars working in peripheral cultures, where freedom of information and of speech is often limited, non-conformity is discouraged, and the Western academic repertoire is not entirely available or acceptable. Their accusation that non-Western scholars who accept Western repertoires have drifted away from their cultural predecessors shows a lack of understanding of peripheral cultures. While Western relativists think that they are speaking on behalf of peripheral cultures, many scholars in peripheral cultures reject cultural relativism as a selfish, reactionary theory that justifies the refusal to help the weak, and see it as their duty to become cultural and academic dissidents striving to create new traditions. Radical relativists and post-colonialists in Western translation studies are Eurocentric in their criticisms of non-Western scholars. They are also guilty of 'discipline-centrism', by borrowing theories simplistically from central disciplines to edge out theories indigenous to translation studies itself, thus leading the discipline back to normativism and perpetuating its peripheral position in the humanities.


Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes form a Shannon limit approaching class of linear block codes. With iterative decoding based on their TaImer graphs, they can achieve outstanding performance. Since their rediscovery in late 1990's, the design, construction, and decoding of LDPC codes as well as their generalization have become one of the focal research points. This thesis takes a few more steps in these directions. The first significant contribution of this thesis is the introduction of a new class of codes called Generalized Irregular Low-Density (GILD) parity-check codes, which are adapted from the previously known class of Generalized Low-Density (GLD) codes. GILD codes are generalization of irregular LDPC codes, (lnd are shown to outperform GLD codes. In addition, GILD codes have a significant advantage over GLD codes in terms of encoding and decoding complexity. They are also able to match and even beat LDPC codes for small block lengths. The second significant contribution of this thesis is the proposition of several decoding algorithms. Two new decoding algolithms for LDPC codes are introduced. In principle and complexity these algorithms can be grouped with bit flipping algorithms. Two softinput soft-output (SISO) decoding algorithms for linear block codes are also proposed. The first algorithm is based on Maximum a Posteriori Probability (MAP) decoding of low-weight subtrellis centered around a generated candidate codeword. The second algorithm modifies and utilizes the improved Kaneko's decoding algorithm for softinput hard-output decoding. These hard outputs are converted to soft-decisions using reliability calculations. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithms provide a significant improvement in error performance over Chase-based algorithm and achieve practically optimal perfonnance with a significant reduction in decoding complexity. An analytical expression for the union bound on the bit error probability of linear codes on the Gilbert-Elliott (GE) channel model is also derived. This analytical result is shown to be accurate in establishing the decoder perfonnance in the range where obtaining sufficient data from simulation is impractical.


Literary works represent the condition that employs historical moments existing in the region, country, and the world. Literature is the human's expression. In other words, literary works such as a drama or play, novel, and poem or poetry expose the human life. One of the literary works is poetry. A lyrical poem has close relationship with songs because commonly songs include lyrics. Based on the background of the study above, the writer of this thesis arranged and formulated following problem, they are: 1). what is the general meaning of the lyrical poem "Unintended"? 2). what is the detail meaning of the lyrical poem "Unintended"? and 3). what are the messages found in "Unintended"? This study uses the descriptive method research as the research design because there is no control treatment in this study as it is found in experimental research. The approach that is used is in this is an objective approach because the writer only focuses her analysis on the literary work, he does not study the author's experience and life. The object of this study is the lyrics of "Unintended" from Muse's album "Showbiz" because it contains general meaning, detailed meaning and the message inside. The general meaning of the lyrical poem "Unintended" is about the poet's expression to the girl who he did not want actually to be his girlfriend. The detailed meaning of the lyrical poem "Unintended" describes that he didn't really love that girl, while he has already chosen that girl to accompany him and fill his day. He has some reasons why he tries to defend his love. She is a kind girl and gives happiness in his life. She is the only one who always becomes a good listener for every problem and complains. In the second stanza the poet develops his poem by promising to the girl that he will always accompany that girl whenever she needs him. He tries to make her girlfriend happy although he is trying hard to fix his heart from the disappointment of his first love. There was a girl who ever filled his heart, but she disappointed him. Now, he finds a new girlfriend who gives more attention and the real love. Although he didn't really love his new girlfriend, he feels calm and happy when beside her. The message found in the lyrical poem "Unintended" is that we should appreciate someone's love. Another lesson that we get is that we should keep our promise that we give to other persons.


In this thesis we implement several basic parallel processing primitives by using a "replace-add" operation, which can supersede the standard "test and set", and which appears to be a universal primitive for efficiently coordinating large numbers of independently acting sequential processors. The replace-add is essentially an indivisible add-to-memory operation although concurrent replace-adds can all be processed in the same one cycle. In particular, we use the replace-add to develop routines for concurrent access to a queue and show how they can be used to devise many highly parallel algorithms as well as a distributed, concurrent task scheduler. The "paracomputer" forms our underlying theoretical model of parallel computation although we also consider a realistic architecture approximating this model. We justify our use of the replace-add operation by presenting a hardware implementation that permits multiple replace-adds to be processed nearly as efficiently as loads and stores. Moreover, the crucial special case of concurrent replace-adds updating the same variable is handled particularly well: If every PE simultaneously addresses a replace-add at the same variable, all these requests are satisfied in the time required to process just one request.


This thesis investigates the nature and effectiveness of the New Labour government's attempt to modernise policy making in Britain. This government had developed and sought to implement a new concept of modernised policymaking, claiming that it represented a significant advance on previous efforts to transform policymaking. The principles, logic and ambition of this new form of modernised policymaking were set out clearly in a number of government publications (Cabinet Office, 1999a; Cabinet Office, 1999b). The objectives of this study are, firstly, to explore and assess the nature of this new concept of policy making, contextualising its claims by reference to the long history of debates about policy-making and modernisation in Britain. Secondly, it will investigate the use of this new form of policy making through a case study. The data collected will be subjected to a detailed analysis to assess the extent to which the development of the 2009 Migration Impact Fund constituted an example of modernised policy making, as conceived by the New Labour government. The ideas contained in the Asymmetrical Power model advanced by Marsh (2003) are used to inform the understanding of the policy setting in which the case occurred.

To construct the case study, multiple methods of data collection are used to form a thick narrative that covers a five-year period. This narrative begins with the policy making that took place in anticipation of new migration in the lead up to the enactment of the 2003 Treaty of Accession and culminates in an explanation of how the 2009 Migration Impact Fund was designed and implemented. The case study is then subjected to a detailed analysis designed to generate precise data about the extent to which the nine features of modernised policy making are present; how modernised policy making presents at different points in the case; the extent to which the features of modernised policy making operated synergistically; and the different explanations for the policy making that was observed in the case study. These are used to then come to a statement as to whether policy making in this case was completely modernised; significantly modernised; not particularly modernised; or not modernised.

The investigation found that policy making in this case was not particularly modernised. This was so because although all elements of modernised policy making was observed to be consistently present throughout the case, directive and bargaining based policy making were predominant at all crucial points rather than modernised policy making. The investigation showed that policy making operated, for better or worse, in a traditional way with core government's commitment to increased labour mobility around Europe shaping the response of policy makers. As well, the investigation raised questions about how we may research and come to understand the impact of modernisation reforms when looking at policy making with a high level of detail. This is because the modernised policy making observed was not identified to be a direct result of the Modernising Government reforms, something that calls for further research to better ascertain the basis of choices made by policy makers.

Overall, the case study findings confirm the predominant conclusions about New Labour's efforts to modernise policy making (see for example Massey & Pyper, 2005; Newman, 2005). This is that there was a distinct gap between the rhetoric and practice of policymaking in this period which fundamentally served to continue the advance of business orientated approaches to public administration within the traditional political context of British policy making.


There is much to be said for giving up such grand ambitions and living the most ordinary life imaginable, a life without the old longings; selling stocks and bonds and mutual funds; quitting work at five o'clock like everyone else. --Walker Percy, The Moviegoer In a 1989 interview, just two years before his death from prostate cancer, Walker Percy addressed his reluctance to be identified as a "southern author," explaining that "if you're described as a southern writer, you might be thought of as someone who writes about a picaresque local scene like Uncle Tom's Cabin, Gone With the Wind, something like that" (qtd in Lawson & Kramer More Conversations 223). Though most of his protagonists are southern by birth and New Orleans figures prominently in The Moviegoer (1961), the role of the region in Percy's fiction is a far cry from Lanterns on the Levee (1944), the nostalgic memoirs of his cousin and adopted father, William Alexander Percy. Rather than writing to lament the passing of an old southern order or because of some personal connection with the region, Percy explains that, for him, southern settings simply provide the means of writing about specific circumstances, about "a particular fellow living in a particular house and finding himself in a particular concrete predicament" ("Culture Critics" 2.47). Though Binx Bolling lives in New Orleans and muses over his aunt's views of southern society, Percy claims that the novel ultimately focuses on the alienation of the individual in the modern age, the existence of one particular subject in a world transformed by science. In considering Binx's struggle with alienation, a number of critics reflect on Percy's own interest in Kierkegaardian existentialism and attempt to decode the way it is manifested in his fiction. Such criticism, however, works in something of a vacuum, as it tends to consider Binx's recurrent melancholia and the "search" he resolves to continue in the first chapter of the novel without exploring the specific social or historical context of The Moviegoer. Throughout the interviews collected by Lewis Lawson and Victor Kramer and in his own articles, Percy repeatedly emphasizes the importance of the particular in literature, arguing that if fiction does explore larger social conditions or philosophical concepts, it should do so through the experience of one individual and his specific circumstances. In short, the novel should reflect "the life of its time" (qtd in Lawson & Kramer Conversations 25). Despite Percy's insistence on the primacy of each character's specific circumstances, and regardless of the unique regional, national, and global milieu at the time of The Moviegoer's publication, literary critics have not asked what life or time the novel represents, or in what concrete circumstances Binx Boiling finds himself. Though the novel does deal with alienation, there is also a great deal of time and attention devoted to consumer culture and cultural products such as movies, television, and radio programs. Furthermore, much is made of Binx's life in the 1950s New Orleans suburb of Gentilly and his attention to consumerism and the media. Though Binx lives in New Orleans and his narration is filtered through that particular geographical and cultural lens, his experience nonetheless represents national, social, and economic trends. When the reader first meets Binx Bolling, he is living a life quite typical of young postwar adults. In his 1995 analysis of the South's modernization, Numan Bartley argues that Binx Bolling's experience points up an increasingly individualized society as southerners joined the rest of the nation in modern-day alienation. By "shedding the values of an older South, the New South had become a place where credit cards defined an individual's identity." In Percy's fictional middle-class world, according to Bartley, "a person lived without values, measured success by money, and alleviated boredom with periodic sexual conquests. …


To radically address the problem of climate change, it is not enough to modify specific attitudes and behaviors while upholding the present paradigms. This article aims to show why modifications will never bring about radical carbon emission reductions. We discuss what it implies to desire radical change, using contemporary philosophy as a method. We argue that a key requirement to achieve radical emission reductions is that we as human beings adopt responsibility that brings with it a continuous commitment to the process of change. Acting on the new understanding of responsibility as an internal mindset toward the bringing about of radical change requires a cooperative decision-making model and a new understanding of leadership.


The New Zealand government has a strategy in place to establish an e‑government infrastructure that is intended to allow citizens and government agencies to interact electronically. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study designed to track the development of e‑local government initiatives in New Zealand since 2000. Identical surveys conducted four years apart show heightened recognition by policy makers of sixteen key policy issues judged vital for e‑government success; as well as increasing sophistication of local authority websites. The results also indicate that, while the majority of NZ e‑government websites appear to have been created to provide information to citizens, there remain many opportunities to use such a vehicle strategically. It is anticipated these results will be of interest both to local and central government policy makers, and to other e‑government researchers.


We use mixed-complementarity-problem programming to implement tariff rate quotas (TRQs) in the global computable general equilibrium (CGE) Linkage model. We apply the approach to TRQs in sugar markets in OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries. We calibrate the model on 2000 policy levels for OECD countries to reflect the full implementation of their World Trade Organization commitments. We look at reforms of TRQ and TRQ-like schemes in the European Union, the United States, and Japan, as well as multilateral trade liberalization. We derive the impact of reforms on welfare, bilateral trade flows, and terms of trade. A 33 percent multilateral decrease of ad valorem tariffs, combined with a 33 percent increase in imports under TRQ-like schemes in the European Union, the United States, and Japan, induces a global welfare gain of about $889 million. These three countries' trade policies create substantial trade diversion, which excludes many low-cost producers from trading opportunities. An expansion of their import quotas alone, without multilateral trade liberalization, induces welfare gains but preserves most of the trade diversion patterns. The latter diversion benefits some least-developed countries' producers because of granted bilateral TRQ allocations. In the context of greater market access, reductions in tariffs in the European Union and the United States, and in border "surcharges" in Japan, will have to be dramatic before they can affect trade flows significantly as compared to TRQ expansion. Full multilateral trade liberalization induces global welfare gains of about $3 billion.


A new cephalosporin with a highly reactive β-lactam ring was found to give an immediate color change in the presence of β-lactamases from many bacteria, including staphylococci, Bacillus species, Enterobacteriaceae, and Pseudomonas. The reaction is confined to organisms producing β-lactamases, but it is sufficiently sensitive to indicate the presence of this enzyme is small amounts in strains previously considered not to produce it. The compound has an unusual ultraviolet spectrum, and the color change can be followed quantitatively by measuring changes in absorption which occur in the 380- to 500-nm region, where cephalosporins normally have no absorption. The development of color is thought to be a consequence of the β-lactam ring being unusually highly conjugated with the 3-substituent. Although in the bacteria only β-lactamases produce this color change, it was found that serum and tissues from experimental animals also rapidly produced the colored breakdown product, which was then excreted in the urine. The mechanism of the mammalian breakdown was considered to be different from that found in bacteria.


Abstract In an effort to restore the ecological role of oysters in Chesapeake Bay and the economic benefits of a commercial fishery, the states of Maryland and Virginia are considering introducing the nonnative Asian oyster (Crassostrea ariakensis) into the Bay. As part of an ecological risk assessment (ERA) to evaluate the proposed action and alternatives, demographic modeling is being used to project the change in populations of both the Asian and the native eastern oyster (C. virginica) in the Bay across space and time. Annual mortality rates are vital input to the demographic model. We present two approaches for parameterizing mortality rates for C. virginica by salinity ranges and disease-intensity categories and discuss how these rates could be applied to project population growth for the Asian oyster. We estimated mortality rates from empirical data collected during annual dredge surveys of oyster beds in Maryland. We compared counts of recent boxes (dead oysters without fouling or sedimentation on the inner valve surfaces, including "gapers" of one or two weeks old with tissue remaining in the shell), old boxes (dead oysters without tissue remnants but with fouling, sedimentation or both on the inner valve surfaces), and live oysters in market-size and small classes. Our mortality estimates based on counts of recent boxes consistently differentiated between years with high disease intensity and those with low disease intensity, between wet and dry years, and between salinity zones. In contrast, traditional estimates of yearly mortality based on total box counts often were out of phase with measured levels of disease intensity and weather (dry or wet). To model populations of C. ariakensis, we propose to adjust the mortality rates for C. virginica based on research results that provide estimates of differences between the two species' resistance to MSX and dermo and to other mortality factors, such as predation.


Abstract. The aim of this article is to test the sensitivity of the West African hydrological cycle to infiltration processes and to river reinfiltration pathways. This is done through sensitivity experiments to both inputs and paramterization settings of the ORCHIDEE Land-Surface Model. The parameterizations to take into account the effects of flat areas, ponds and floodplains on surface infiltration, and the effect of roots and deep-soil compactness on infiltration are first described. The sensitivity analysis to parameterization settings shows that the surface infiltration processes have a stronger impact in the soudano-sahelian region and more generally in semi-arid African regions, whereas the rootzone and deep-soil infiltration also play a role in the guinean and intermediate regions between arid and humid ones. In the equatorial and semi-humid regions, infiltration processes generally play a minor role. The infiltration parameterizations may explain part of the difference between simulated and observed river discharge in semi-arid and intermediate basins. The sensitivity analysis to the Land-Surface Model inputs shows that different sources of uncertainty might also explain part of the error. Indeed, the precipitation forcing in the whole West African region, the long-term storage in the soudano-sahelian region, the soil types in the guinean region and the vegetation types in the equatorial region are significant sources of errors. Therefore, observations and analyses of small scale infiltration processes as well as continuous measurements of river discharges in West Africa are essential to ensure the reliability of future calibration for the infiltration parameterizations.


Modern information and communications technologies provide a range of options for users to digitally capture and share their experiences and reflections. This paper will examine how blogs have been used effectively for the development of higher order cognitive thinking and knowledge. Using the socio cultural meditational theories of Lev Vygotsky, I will examine some of the empirical evidence regarding the use of blogs in three distinct university settings. Specifically this paper will attempt to address the following key questions: • How have blogs been incorporated into learning activity settings? • How can the use of blogs facilitate assisted performance by a more knowledgeable other?


Radiocarbon age estimates (N = 68) from bank, terrace riser, and in-channel materials sampled from random locations near two channel confluences, a debris-flow–dominated tributary to Cedar Creek, and a fluvially dominated tributary to Golden Ridge Creek in the Oregon Coast Range, are proxies for sediment transit times through tributary and mainstem sediment reservoirs separated from one another by incised bedrock risers. Geomorphic, volumetric, stratigraphic, and sedimentologic data aided reservoir characterizations. Inferred transit-time distributions for tributary deposits are right-skewed and heavy-tailed, indicating preferential evacuation of younger deposits. The debris-flow fan is much larger than fluvial terraces on the other tributary, but mean transit times (±σ) in both reservoirs are similar: 1370 ± 2240 yr and 1660 ± 2130 yr for fan and terrace deposits, respectively. Whereas tributary deposits are much larger than mainstem deposits at both sites, mainstem deposits adjacent to the fan have a relatively short mean transit time of 442 ± 491 yr, but mean transit time in mainstem deposits adjacent to the fluvial terrace is much greater: 3870 ± 6720 yr. Reservoir flux estimates indicate that most (>60%) of the debris-flow fan tributary9s sediment yield enters fan storage, but only a small part (3%) of the fluvial tributary9s yield enters storage at the confluence. Debris flows from the debris-flow fan tributary apparently promote both greater storage of mainstem sediments and more rapid unbiased evacuation of mainstem deposits, whereas old mainstem deposits adjacent to the fluvial tributary have a much greater probability of preservation.


We investigate the low density generator matrix (LDGM) codes for continuous phase modulation (CPM). The nonsystematic version of LDGM codes is used in the scheme. The overall system has linear encoding complexity due to the low complexity of the LDGM codes. A property of the check node degree of the LDGM code is shown. We use the EXIT chart/function to optimize the LDGM codes. The EXIT function of CPM with a fixed SNR (signal-to-noise-ratio) is shown. We derive the union bound to analyze the error floor performance. Design approaches for lowering error floors are suggested from the analysis process. Numerical results show that this scheme converges earlier (lower SNR) than best found serially concatenated CPM (SCCPM) for iterative decoding while maintaining comparable error floors.


Meta-analyses of fMRI studies are vital to establish consistent findings across the literature. However, fMRI data are susceptible to signal dropout (i.e. incomplete brain coverage), which varies across studies and brain regions. In other words, for some brain regions, only a variable subset of the studies included in an fMRI meta-analysis have data present. These missing data can mean activations in fMRI meta-analysis are underestimated (type II errors). Here we present SPM (MATLAB) code to run a novel method of adjusting random-effects models for meta-analytic averaging of a group of studies and mixed-effects models for comparison between two groups of studies. In two separate datasets, meta-analytic effect sizes and z-scores were larger in the adjusted, compared to the unadjusted analysis. Relevantly, these changes were in regions such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex where coverage was lowest. Limitations of the method, including issues of how to threshold the adjusted maps are discussed. Code and demonstration data for the adjusted method are available at https://doi.org/10.25377/sussex.c.4223411.


Carpenter/Sanders is the first book built around a dynamic perspective on strategy. Three themes constitute the dynamic perspective on strategy: (1) changing strategies for changing times, (2) the integration of formulation and implementation, and (3) strategic leadership. Crafting Business Strategy for Dynamic Contexts- chapter 6 is the aggregate of much of the current research on dynamic strategies, including: Competitive Dynamics, Technological Changes, and Hypercompetition . After reading the chapter, students will learn models that guide them through formulating and implementing a strategy in a dynamic, or changing, environment. Strategy Diamond: The strategy diamond outlines five key elements necessary for creating a complete strategy: arenas, vehicles, differentiators, staging, and economic logic. The Strategy Diamond gives students a concrete model for considering all aspects of a strategy in order to create and implement a complete strategy. The arenas and staging elements deal specifically with the dynamic aspect of strategy. How Would You Do That" exercises- There are two of these robust exercises in each chapter, immersing students in the implementation challenges real companies face. The exercises allow implementation to remain in the forefront of the student's minds even in the formulation chapters. Market- For undergraduate/MBA strategic management courses.


How to explain the rise and fall of the Taiwan independence policy? As the Taiwan Strait is still the only conceivable scenario where a major power war can break out and Taiwan's words and deeds can significantly affect the prospect of a cross-strait military conflict, to answer this question is not just a scholarly inquiry. I define the Taiwan independence policy as internal political moves by the Taiwanese government to establish Taiwan as a separate and sovereign political entity on the world stage. Although two existing prevailing explanations--electoral politics and shifting identity--have some merits, they are inadequate to explain policy change over the past twenty years. Instead, I argue that there is strategic rationale for Taiwan to assert a separate sovereignty. Sovereignty assertions are attempts to substitute normative power--the international consensus on the sanctity of sovereignty--for a shortfall in military-economic-diplomatic assets. So when Taiwan's security environment becomes more perilous as a result of adverse power shift and domestic constraints hinder internal balancing efforts, Taiwan is more likely to resort to sovereignty assertions, while favorable power shift and enhanced domestic mobilizational capacity reduce the incentive to assert sovereignty. Using congruence procedure and process tracing and drawing a large amount of historical and qualitative data, I test my argument in five periods: the early Lee Teng-hui years (1988-1994), the late Lee Teng-hui years (1995-1999), Chen Shui-bian's early moderation (2000-2001), the Chen Shui-bian era (2002-2007), and the Ma Ying-jeou era (2008-2010). I find that my theory focusing on external and internal constraints offer a better explanation of the Taiwan independence policy. My findings suggest that balancing, as a survival and security strategy, can take a political face under certain circumstances, and international norms do matter in political leaders' strategic calculations. An important policy implication is that in contrast to the conventional understanding that Taiwan independence grows out of the Taiwanese soil, it actually has an overlooked external origin. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Political Science First Advisor Avery Goldstein


Soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) is a recently identified nontransmembrane enzyme that is localized to various subcellular compartments and produces adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cAMP) in response to bicarbonate. Bicarbonate is produced as a by-product of metabolism, and its concentration is altered in response to changes in intracellular pH. Zippin et al. determined that sAC, the regulatory subunits of protein kinase A (PKA), and the phosphorylated form of the PKA target cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) were colocalized in the nuclei of a subset of hepatocytes in liver sections. Exposure of cultured cell lines (Huh7 cells) to bicarbonate stimulated CREB phosphorylation more rapidly than CREB phosphorylation was stimulated by G protein-coupled receptor activation. Cell fractionation studies of HeLa cells showed that CREB, sAC, and PKA regulatory subunits were present in the nuclear fraction. AC activity in the HeLa nuclear fraction was inhibited by sAC selective inhibitors. Nuclear AC activity was not stimulated by forskolin, which stimulates the transmembrane form of AC; instead, nuclear AC activity was increased in response to bicarbonate. A subset of isolated nuclei showed increased CREB phosphorylation in response to addition of either cAMP or bicarbonate, the latter of which could be blocked by addition of sAC inhibitors. Because cAMP produced by transmembrane ACs is believed to be limited by phosphodiesterase activity, sAC may serve the cell as a mechanism for using cAMP signaling in response to intrinsic cell signals, which are independent of extracellular stimuli that stimulate transmembrane AC. J. H. Zippin, J. Farrell, D. Huron, M. Kamenetsky, K. C. Hess, D. A. Fischman, L. R. Levin, J. Buck, Bicarbonate-responsive "soluble" adenylyl cyclase defines a nuclear cAMP microdomain. J. Cell. Biol. 164, 527-534 (2004). [Abstract] [Full Text]


We summarize 8 years of soil physical property responses to herbicide manipulation of the understory in two young longleaf pine stands growing on either Ruston fine sandy loam or Beauregard silt loam soils. We also describe relationships between pine sapling vigor and the soil physical environment across a 3-year period on the Ruston soil and a 2-year period on the Beauregard soil. It is hypothesized that understory control affects soil porosity, bulk density, and the ability to store plant-available water by a change in the amount and distribution of non-pine roots. Furthermore, Pinus vigor may be reduced when the inherent physical nature of a soil limits pine root elongation. We observed temporal changes in soil porosity fractions and bulk densities, possibly representing natural soil recovery after disturbance. Near the surface of the soil, soil perturbation by grass roots may have aided pine vigor by increasing the water-holding capacity of soil micropores. In the subsoil, pine vigor was correlated with bulk density and microporosity. Relationships between pine vigor and subsoil physical properties were different between the two soil types. Clay illuviation and sand content in the two soil types may have played a role in these relationships. Our results provide insight regarding soil variables that impart some degree of control on pine root system expansion and tree vigor on the West Gulf Coastal Plain.


This study, the first of its kind in English, presents an overview of Slovak intellectual history in the 19th century, including the debates surrounding the memorandum of 1861, the political stagnation of the 1880s, characterized by an increasingly Russophile orientation, and, finally, Czechoslovakism as the way to common independence with the Czechs. The selected portraits of six intellectuals and politicians should be seen as a prism through which Slovak intellectual history appears in its various facets. The narodovci (the pioneers of national awakening) tried to strengthen the Slovak nation in its attempts to secure the autonomy of its language and culture, and prevent assimilation by the Hungarians – which was a political issue. Some took part in the 1848 revolution, pursuing the goal of an autonomous Slovak district within the Habsburg Empire, while others opted for a modus vivendi with the ruling Hungarians. A third possibility was sovereignty, a common independent state with the Czechs.
An introductory chapter deals with the political problem of assimilation and group rights in 19th-century Slovakia. The analytical chapters focus on the intellectual discourse of the time, specifically on the influence of Western political ideas such as liberalism, constitutionalism, cultural rights and nationalism. A further focus is on Slavic political ideas, such as the Slavic Renaissance, Slavic mutuality and Panslavism.
The volume is addressed to students of history, politics and political theory, and offers a unique insight into the political past of a young EU state, whose recent language laws have drawn repeated international criticism. The author hopes that her analysis will help improve understanding of current Slovak politics.


Federal water development agencies are, to varying degrees, currently seeking financing partnership arrangements with states and other non-federal entities for up-front construction and planning costs of all proposed federal projects. This financing policy applies to the development and construction of the Diamond Fork Power System and Jordanelle Powerplant which are hydropower features of the Bonneville Unit, Central Utah Project. This paper describes the still-evolving process of an effort underway between the non-federal and federal sectors, the purpose of which is to jointly develop and finance these hydropower facilities. At present, there are no prescribed federal policies or precedents that regulate joint financing arrangements as part of multipurpose water resource developments. The decision-making and interaction processes presented in this paper are tailor-designed to fit the Bonneville Unit.


During effusive eruptions, property and infrastructure can be threatened by lava flow inundation. In order to maximise the effectiveness of the response to such an event, it is necessary to be able to reliably forecast the area that will be affected. One of the major controls on the advance of a lava flow is its rheology, which is spatially and temporally variable, and depends on many underlying factors. Estimating the rheological properties of a lava flow, and the change in these over space and time is therefore of the utmost importance. Here we report estimates of rheological properties made from geometric and velocity measurements on integrated topographic and image data using the method of Ellis et al. (2004) (Ellis B, Wilson L & Pinkerton H (2004) Estimating the rheology of basaltic lava flows. Lunar & Planetary Science XXXV Abst. 1550). These are then compared to the viscosity predicted from composition and temperature by the GRD model (Giordano D, Russell JK, & Dingwell DB (2008) Viscosity of Magmatic Liquids: A Model. Earth & Planetary Science Letters, 271, 123-134). During the 13 May 2008 - 6 July 2009 eruption of Mt Etna, Sicily, lava flows were emplaced into the Valle del Bove, reaching a maximum length of >6 km. Towards the end of the eruption, multiple channelized aa flows were active simultaneously, reaching tens to hundreds of metres in length. Flow lifetimes were of the order hours to days. In the last month of the eruption, we installed a Canon EOS 450D camera at Pizzi Deneri, on the north side of the Valle del Bove, to collect visible images at 15-minute intervals. On one day, topographic data (using a Riegl LPM-321 terrestrial laser scanner) and thermal images (using a FLIR Thermacam S40) were also collected from this location. The fronts of some of the larger flows were tracked through the time lapse image sequence. Using knowledge of the camera imaging geometry, the pixel tracks were reprojected onto the topographic surface to determine flow advance in 3-D geographic coordinates. Integrating the tracking results with the topographic data allows flow lengths and velocities to be extracted. Using these parameters together with estimates of the flow width and thickness, we estimate effective yield strengths, apparent viscosities and Gratz numbers for the tracked flows. We then evaluate the success of this method using predicted viscosities from the GRD model of Giordano et al. (2008).


Introduction: While 20% of Americans live in rural areas, less than 10% of the nations' physicians practice there. In New Mexico, 60% of the population lives in rural communities although only 40% of state's health care workforce can be found there. Federal and state governments, medical schools, and private foundations have all studied and attempted to find ways to train, recruit, and retain more primary care clinicians to rural areas. Many rural recruitment programs are predicated upon older research and investigations involving medical students and physicians from earlier generations. This study attempts to update and determine if there are new or overlooked factors that draw providers to primary care in rural communities. Methods: Surveys were sent to 600 primary care physicians and nurse practitioners over the course of Spring and Summer, 2007. Respondents were asked a series of open-ended questions along with rating scaled items about factors and characteristics that drew them to practice in their chosen community. Respondents samples were stratified into rural versus urban and physician versus nurse practitioners. Analysis was aimed at determining significant differences between groups using ANOVA, correlations, and contingency table analysis. Results: As expected, rural physicians and nurse practitioners showed different profiles of motivations and characteristics compared to urban providers, and physicians and nurse practitioners showed somewhat different profiles, although these differences ranged from moderate large to small in magnitude. We replicated previous findings that show that providers are more likely to practice in a rural areas if been born, raised, or trained in a rural area. Conclusions: This study supports earlier determinations that previous residence or training in rural milieu is associated with later practice in such areas. Modest differences in factors reported by rural compared to urban providers to influence their decisions to select their current practice communities may enable additional insight into provider employment decisions that may enhance the ability to recruit rural providers. However, findings may be unique to New Mexico, given that this state is an underserved state in its entirety.


As the title indicates this study is restricted to those Aboriginal tribes located in the North West region of Tasmania. This approach enables the regional character and diversity of Aboriginal communities to be brought into focus; it also facilitates an examination of the unique process of dispossession that took place in the North West region, an area totally under the control of the Van Diemen's Land Company (VDL Co). Issues dealing with entitlement to ownership and sovereignty will be established by an examination of the structure and function of traditional Aboriginal Societies in the region, as well as the occupation and use they made of their lands. Early contact history with the Europeans is examined to demonstrate that there was a real possibility of developing productive relationships with the indigenous inhabitants at the time the VDL Co. took up their land grants.

The character of the VDL Co manager Edward Curr, his role in the development of the VDL Co and his harsh treatment of those under his authority, including the Aborigines is also an important area of study. While Company Directors were prepared to countenance the dispossession of the Aborigines and consequent destruction of their culture, Curr was content to preside over their physical destruction. This thesis will demonstrate that Edward Curr persistently ignored instructions from his Directors to the contrary and created, fostered and supported an ethos that encouraged the systematic eradication of the Aboriginal population on allocated Company lands. In 1834, after only eight years under the care of Curr's administration, less than one sixth of the original Aboriginal inhabitants had survived to be taken into exile by the Friendly Mission.

Robinson's Friendly Mission provided the main physical contact between the North West Aborigines and Arthur's administration. Thus the activities of the Friendly Mission and its role in removing many of the Aborigines, by force in many cases, is detailed, as is their treatment and condition at the Wybalenna Establishment.

The history of the North West Aboriginal tribes will continue by tracing the events and experiences that followed the exile to Flinders Island and Oyster Cove, concluding with the death in 1857 of the last survivor of the North West population. It will be established that the genocide perpetrated against these tribes, was initiated as part of local VDL Co policy, a process exacerbated through colonial administrative expediency and brought to completion by neglect.

Finally, there is a brief review of the popular ideologies concerning race, current during the period under study and the extent to which these ideas moulded attitudes and policies relating to Aborigines both in the North West and in general.


Role of transport and marketing in enhancing agricultural production in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria was studied. A multi stage sampling procedure was used to select   300 respondents for the detailed study. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. Data collected were analyzed  using of chi-square. The results show that head carrying, use of wheel barrows, bicycles, motor van, keke, donkeys, and motor cycles were various traditional modes of transportation for inter local transport of agricultural products. Furthermore, the result reveals that producers, retailers, consumers, wholesalers and processors were the marketing channels in the study area. Additionally, transportation and marketing have greatly enhanced the growth of agricultural production in the study area , despite existing problems such as bad roads, high cost of transport, few vehicles, poor drainage channels, culverts, few bridges and poverty. Also, the solutions to the identified problems were giving out loans to farmers, construction and repairs of roads, use of rail, mass transit, encouraging farmers' cooperative societies and processing centres. However, If these solutions to the problems could be entrenched into policy framework at the three tiers of the governments, high returns in agriculture will  ensue. This will boost the contributions of agricultural sector to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP),which could translate to  better standard of living.Keywords:  Role, Transportation, Marketing, Enhancing, Agricultural production


Most articles on police reform concern the role of federal courts in enforcing constitutional rights under the fourth, fifth and sixth amendments through application of the exclusionary rule, criminal prosecution of law enforcement officers and pattern and practice suits brought against police departments. Additionally, much has been written about the need for civilian review of departmental discipline at the local level. In contrast, the focus of this article is on state law. On the one hand, state criminal prosecution of officers involved in shootings of unarmed, Black suspects has been shown to be ineffective because of the unwillingness of prosecutors to charge, grand juries to indict and petit juries to convict. On the other hand, the approach of some states to seek administrative remedies has proved somewhat effective, particularly revocation of state licenses of police officers for serious misconduct and, more recently, enactment of laws that provide for decertification of entire police departments.


The putamen has a somatotopic organization of neurons identified by correspondence of firing rates with selected body part movements, as well as by complex, but organized, differential cortical projections onto putamen. In isolated focal dystonia, whole putaminal binding of dopamine D2-like receptor radioligands is quantitatively decreased, but it has not been known whether selected parts of the putamen are differentially affected depending upon the body part affected by dystonia. The radioligand [18F]spiperone binds predominantly to D2-like receptors in striatum. We hypothesized that the spatial location of [18F]spiperone binding within the putamen would differ in patients with dystonia limited to the hand versus the face, and we tested that hypothesis using positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. To address statistical and methodological concerns, we chose a straightforward but robust image analysis method. An automated algorithm located the peak location of [18F]spiperone binding within the striatum, relative to a brain atlas, in each of 14 patients with cranial dystonia and 8 patients with hand dystonia. The mean (left and right) |x|, y, and z coordinates of peak striatal binding for each patient were compared between groups by t test. The location of peak [18F]spiperone binding within the putamen differed significantly between groups (cranial dystonia z<hand dystonia z, p = 0.016). We conclude that in isolated focal dystonia, dopamine D2-like receptors are distributed differently in the putamen depending on the body part manifesting dystonia.