This amicus brief, submitted to the Supreme Court of Washington State in King v. King, 162 Wash.2d 378 (2007), addresses the right to counsel under transnational law and argues that this body of law is relevant to determining the scope of the right to counsel in Washington. The persuasive value of transnational law has been accepted by United States courts at all levels. These legal authorities are particularly relevant to state court jurisprudence, since our federal system accords states the primary responsibility for fulfilling many of our international human rights obligations. In King v. King, a child custody case, the value of looking to foreign and international law is especially high. It was a family law case in which the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) made the landmark decision that a "fair trial" often may require the assistance of counsel. Airey v. Ireland, 32 Eur. Ct. H.R. (ser. A) (1979). That decision reflected the jurisprudence of two thirds of the then-member states of the Council of Europe (COE). The right to publicly provide civil legal counsel extends back centuries in some countries and across diverse legal, cultural, and political traditions. The amicus brief urges the Supreme Court of Washington to accord respect to the right to civil counsel both within our common law tradition and within other legal systems.


Radiation hormesis is the stimulatory or beneficial effect of low doses of ionising radiation. Data from animal experiments and human experiences suggest common mechanisms of the protective role of hormesis in radiation induced cancer. Through various studies, it is established that whole body exposure to low-level ionising radiation (LLIR) decreases overall cancer incidence (the most important long-term somatic effect of radiation exposure). In this paper, a comprehensive study and analyses of the available historical and scientific data and reports (both laboratory and epidemiological), that relate to LLIR are summarised and presented. This leads to the substantially acceptable conclusion that whole body exposure to LLIR reduces cancer mortality rates when compared with control populations in both experimental animals and humans.


Antibiotics are familiar drugs to us all, so familiar that we may take them for granted. They allow us to survive life-threatening infections, and allow us to protect the animals we farm for food. Many antibiotics have now become ineffective against common diseases, and there are few alternative treatments to replace them. In this topical book, Laura Bowater, Professor of Microbiology Education and Engagement at Norwich Medical School, considers the past, present and uncertain future of antibiotics. This book begins by looking back at how infectious diseases, such as smallpox and The Plague, were able to wreak havoc on populations before the discovery of the first antibiotics. These then revolutionised the medical world. In an engaging and accessible style, Professor Bowater takes the reader through how antibiotics are made, how bacteria are able to mutate and develop resistance and she explains why there is now a lack of new antibiotic drugs coming to market. What will a future of continued antibiotic resistance look like? How can human activities prevent the rise of 'superbugs'? Professor Bowater highlights the need for universal cooperation in order to tackle this global health challenge, which, if not addressed, could transport us back to the medical dark ages.


OBJECTIVES
To develop an animal model to investigate the survival of split-thickness skin grafts (STSGs) on bone without periosteum, to compare STSG attachment to bone with and without periosteum, and to determine the effect of fibrin glue on STSG attachment to bone.

DESIGN
Prospective laboratory study.

SETTING
University laboratory.

SUBJECTS
Sprague-Dawley rats.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Percentage of survival of the STSGs at 2 weeks determined independently by the authors and a third, blinded head and neck surgeon.

RESULTS
In experiment 1, which included 40 rats, the sutured STSGs showed an average survival rate of 38% when attached to bone with periosteum, 6% when attached to bare bone, and 10% when attached to bare bone using fibrin glue. The poor survival rate was thought to be attributable to the animals scratching at their bolster dressings. In experiment 2, 18 animals underwent a posteriorly based U-shaped flap of skin and subcutaneous tissue. The grafts were placed and isolated from the overlying flap with a biosynthetic wound dressing. The sutured STSG survival rates were as follows: 87% when attached to bone with periosteum, 94% when attached to bare bone, and 74% when attached to bare bone using fibrin glue.

CONCLUSIONS
The survival of STSGs attached to bare bone was comparable to that of STSGs attached to bone with periosteum when grafts were protected with the skin-subcutaneous flap. The STSGs that were fixed with 0.1 cc of fibrin glue demonstrated poorer survival rates than those attached with sutures and were associated with more seromas.


Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic, progressive movement disorder that affects millions of patients and their families worldwide. Treatment options address some of the symptoms but do not affect the progression of the disease. Central to the motor symptoms of PD are due, in part, to the slow, progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and the consequent depletion of dopaminergic neurotransmission in the striatum. As these cells die, they accumulate toxic levels of various substances, such as the aggregation-prone protein alpha-synuclein (a-syn, SNCA) and iron. It is known that expression of SNCA is aberrantly high in SNc dopaminergic neurons in the PD brain, but the transcriptional mechanisms that participate in this dysregulation are poorly understood. Recently, GATA2, a transcription factor known for its critical role in hematopoiesis, was shown to regulate SNCA positively and directly in vitro; however, it is unknown whether this mode of regulation occurs in vivo and is thereby relevant to PD. In this dissertation project, we assessed the relevance of GATA2 in PD by testing two hypotheses in a mammalian model: 1) GATA2 positively regulates SNCA in vivo in SNc neurons, and 2) silencing GATA2 expression in SNc neurons confers protection against the parkinsonian neurotoxin, rotenone. To test these hypotheses, it was necessary first to validate rat as a suitable model for investigating GATA2 function in adult brain and to develop reagents for silencing GATA2 expression in vivo. Using a viral-mediated gene silencing approach, we found that GATA2 positively regulates SNCA in SNc dopaminergic neurons in adult rat. However, silencing GATA2 was not protective against rotenone treatment in the rat model of PD. Our findings are significant in that they provide the first in vivo demonstration of a transcription factor that regulates SNCA, a gene of central importance to PD pathogenesis. Although our data suggest that GATA2 is not a useful therapeutic target for PD, our findings shed some light on the role of GATA2 in adult SNc dopaminergic neurons, thus contributing to our understanding of GATA transcription factor biology in the adult brain.


Linear rolling guides are used for realizing a translational motion of mechanical elements or assemblies e.g. in industrial robots, handling or CNC machines. Their reliability is highly desirable to meet the requirements of Industry 4.0, and hence the accurate load identification of linear guides is needed. The objective of this article is to identify a dynamical load of linear guides based on the substitutive mathematical model of machines. Where, the kinematic excitation, mass, inertia parameters of moving bodies and elastic and damping behaviour of linear guides are defined. The simulation of specific operating conditions is reached by Lagrange equations in a vector form. This way conveniently enables respecting the effect of nonconservative forces in the calculation. The article comprehensively describes the method of the dynamical load calculation of linear rolling guides, which is usable for a wide range of machines, their design as well as the design of linear guides.


This thesis identifies and quantifies the impact of cognitive errors in certain aspects of investor decision-making. One error is that investors are unaware that the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is a biased indicator of expected terminal wealth for any dynamic strategy where the amount invested is systematically related to the returns made to date. This error leads investors to use Value Averaging (VA). This thesis demonstrates that this is an inefficient strategy, since alternative strategies can generate identical outturns with lower initial capital. Investors also wrongly assume that the lower average purchase cost which is achieved by Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) results in higher expected returns. DCA is a similarly inefficient strategy.

Investors also adopt strategies such as Volatility Pumping, which appears to benefit from high asset volatility and large rebalancing trades. This thesis demonstrates that any increase in the expected geometric mean associated with rebalancing is likely to be due to reduced volatility drag, and that simpler strategies involving lower transactions costs are likely to be more profitable. Academic papers in highly-ranked journals similarly misinterpret the reduction in volatility drag achieved by rebalanced portfolios, mistakenly claiming that it results from the rebalancing trades "buying low and selling high".

The previously unidentified bias in the IRR has also affected an increasing number of academic studies, leading to misleadingly low estimates of the equity risk premium and exaggerated estimates of the losses resulting from bad investment timing. This thesis also derives a method for decomposing the differential between the GM return and the IRR into (i) the effects of this retrospective bias, and (ii) genuine effects of investor timing. Using this method I find that the low IRR on US equities is almost entirely due to this bias, and so should not lead us to revise down our estimates of the equity risk premium. This method has wider applications in fields where IRRs are used (e.g. mutual fund performance and project evaluation).

In identifying these errors this thesis makes a contribution: (i) to the academic literature by correcting previous misleading results and improving research methods; (ii) to investment practitioners by identifying avoidable errors in investor decision-making. It also makes a contribution to the field of behavioural finance by altering the range of investor behaviour which should be seen as resulting from cognitive error rather than the pursuit of different objectives.


Generative design is a revolutionary new method of creating artwork, models, and animations from sets of rules, or algorithms. By using accessible programming languages such as Processing, artists and designers are producing extravagant, crystalline structures that can form the basis of anything from patterned textiles and typography to lighting, scientific diagrams, sculptures, films, and even fantastical buildings. Opening with a gallery of thirty-five illustrated case studies, Generative Design takes users through specific, practical instructions on how to create their own visual experiments by combining simple-to-use programming codes with basic design principles. A detailed handbook of advanced strategies provides visual artists with all the tools to achieve proficiency. Both a how-to manual and a showcase for recent work in this exciting new field, Generative Design is the definitive study and reference book that designers have been waiting for.


Critics of the criminal justice system observe that the promise of Gideon v. Wainwright has been unfulfilled. They decry both the inadequate quality of representation available to indigent defendants, and the racially disproportionate outcome of the process. Some hope that better representation can help remedy the gross overrepresentation of minorities in the criminal justice system. This essay is doubtful that better lawyers will significantly address that problem. When the Supreme Court decided Gideon, it had two main purposes. First, it intended to protect the innocent from conviction. This goal, while imperfectly achieved at best, was explicit. Since Gideon, the Court has continued to recognize the importance of claims of innocence at trial, with important, pro-defense decisions in the areas of confrontation, jury fact-finding, the right to present a defense and in other areas. The Court's second goal was to protect African Americans subject to the Jim Crow system of criminal justice. But, as it had in Powell v. Alabama, the Court pursued this end covertly and indirectly; the Court attempted to deal with racial discrimination without explicitly addressing it. This timidity was portentous. Gideon did not mark the beginning of a judicial project to eliminate race from the criminal justice system root and branch; three years after Gideon, the Court allowed prosecutors to exercise peremptory challenges of jurors based on race. Since Gideon, the Court has made it practically impossible to invoke racial bias as a defense; so long as those charged are in fact guilty, discrimination in legislative criminalization, in enforcement and in sentencing practices are essentially unchallengeable. Since Gideon, racial disproportionality in the prison population has increased. Not only might Gideon not have solved the problem, it may have exacerbated it. To the extent that Gideon improved the quality of counsel available to the poor, defense lawyers may be able to obtain favorable exercises of discretion in investigation, prosecution and sentencing for indigent white defendants that they cannot for clients of color. For these reasons, racial disparity likely cannot be remedied indirectly, with more or better lawyers. Instead, the remedy lies in directly prohibiting discrimination, and having fewer crimes on the books, fewer arrests, and fewer prosecutions.


Cankering of marri in the southern forest of Western Australia is causing concern as it is increasing considerably in severity and geographic range. The causal agent(s) is yet to be determined. Samples of tissue were collected from lesion margins of cankered trees in state forest and on private property in Brunswick Junction, Perup and Balingup. Samples were surface sterilised and plated onto PDA, and pure cultures obtained were identified. Fungi most frequently associated with marri cankers were C. eucalypticola, Endothiella sp and Favostroma sp. Ten saplings at Jarrahdale were underbark inoculated with isolates of Cytospora eucalypticola, Endothiella sp., or Favostroma sp. Isolates of Endothiella sp. and Cytospora sp. caused significantly long and wide lesions over a period of four months, and one of the two Favostroma sp. isolates caused significantly long but not wide lesions. There were significant differences in the pathogenicity of Endothiella sp. isolates with one isolate causing lesions up to 20 cm long, and girdling marri stems (65 mm mean circumference) in four of the ten replicates. It is possible that these fungi may be more pathogenic to trees under stress, and there is a pressing need for further research into the cause and extent of the organism( s) responsible for marri decline and death.


E-commerce stores collect customer feedback to let sellers learn about customer concerns and enhance customer order experience. Because customer feedback often contains redundant information, a concise summary of the feedback can be generated to help sellers better understand the issues causing customer dissatisfaction. Previous state-of-the-art abstractive text summarization models make two major types of factual errors when producing summaries from customer feedback, which are wrong entity detection (WED) and incorrect product-defect description (IPD). In this work, we introduce a set of methods to enhance the factual consistency of abstractive summarization on customer feedback. We augment the training data with artificially corrupted summaries, and use them as counterparts of the target summaries. We add a contrastive loss term into the training objective so that the model learns to avoid certain factual errors. Evaluation results show that a large portion of WED and IPD errors are alleviated for BART and T5. Furthermore, our approaches do not depend on the structure of the summarization model and thus are generalizable to any abstractive summarization systems.


In the developing countries, traditional supply chains for fresh produce are giving way to new supermarket-led supply chains. The rapid transformation in the fruit and vegetable sector is due to the meteoric rise of supermarkets, hypermarkets, superstores, neighborhood stores, convenience stores, and discount stores, which are impacting on smallholder farmers. Th is change is also impacting on both upstream and downstream market intermediaries through the demand for safe, high-quality produce that has been produced in a sustainable manner. Problems with procurement in traditional supply chains include few product standards, inconsistent supply, highly variable transaction costs, and limited market information. Supermarkets are now setting new procurement practices and supply systems which focus on reducing costs and improving quality to enable them to sell at lower prices. Th is will allow them to win over consumers and to obtain a larger market share. However, the ability of smallholder farmers, collector agents, and wholesalers in the Mekong Delta to meet safe food levels and the quality demands of domestic and overseas supermarkets can only be obtained through improving their production and supply chain practices. The implementation of new production and postharvest practices and the modernization of these supply chains may preclude many smallholder farmers from participating. Smallholder farmers must develop risk minimization strategies, such as forming collaborative marketing groups, implementing new crop management and production systems, improving the packaging, and creating more efficient transport methods and handling practices to provide a safe, competitively priced, high-quality product. Understanding the supply chain and where to intervene are essential if farmers and all supply chain participants are to benefi t. In this paper, we describe mango supply chains in the Mekong Delta, provide empirical data collected from surveys, and highlight improvements smallholder farmers have been making to achieve greater benefits.


Branchio-oculo-facial (BOF) is a rare genetic disorder inherited as an autosomal dominant trait resulting from maldevelopment in the branchial arches. This paper presents a case of sporadic BOF for the first time in Iran. He was 2 years and 9 months old that was born in the first pregnancy (normal birth). His parents were healthy and they were 3rd degree relatives. The patient had normal intelligence. His obvious symptoms were holes in both sides of the neck (he had surgery at 6 months of age), broad nasal bridge, nasal duct obstruction, pseudocleft of the upper lip, submucos cleft palate, microphthalmia, and squint eye (more dropping in right eye). He also had hypernasal speech. This rare syndrome is accompanied with different anomalies, and physical and mental disorders, therefore, a team of specialists is needed in treatment of such patients.


We experimentally study auctions versus grandfathering in the initial assignment of pollution permits that can be traded in a secondary spot market. Low and high emitters compete for permits in the auction, while permits are assigned for free under grandfathering. In theory, trading in the spot market should erase inefficiencies due to initial mis-allocations. In the experiment, high emitters exercise market power in the spot market and permit holdings under grandfathering remain skewed towards high emitters. Furthermore, the opportunity costs of "free" permits are fully "passed through." In the auction, the majority of permits are won by low emitters, reducing the need for spot-market trading. Auctions generate higher consumer surplus and slightly lower product prices in the laboratory markets. Moreover, auctions eliminate the large "windfall profits" that are observed in the treatment with free, grandfathered permit allocations.


A bathymetric lidar survey is the most cost efficient method of producing bathymetric maps in near shore areas where the ocean bottom is both highly variable and of greatest importance for shipping and recreation. So far, not much attention has been paid to the influence of bottom materials on the lidar signals. This study addresses this issue using a Monte Carlo modeling technique. The Monte Carlo simulation includes a plane parallel water body and a flat bottom with or without seagrass. The seagrass canopy structure is adopted from Zimmerman (2003). Both the surface of the seagrass leaves and the bottom are assumed to be Lambertian. Convolution with the lidar pulse function followed by the median operator is used to reduce the variance of the resultant lidar waveform. Two seagrass orientation arrangements are modeled: seagrass in still water with random leaf orientation and seagrass with a uniform orientation as would be expected when under the influence of a water current. For each case, two maximum canopy heights, 0.5 m and 1 m, three shoot densities, 100, 500, and 1000, and three bending angles, 5, 25, and 45 degrees, are considered. The seagrass is found to induce a depth bias that is proportional to an effective leaf area index (eLAI) and the contrast in reflectance between the seagrass and the bottom material.


Formal concept analysis is increasingly applied to query expansion and data mining problems. In this paper I analyze and compare the current concept lattice construction algorithm, and choose iPred and Border algorithms to adapt for query expansion. After I adapt two concept lattice construction algorithms, I apply these four algorithms on one query expansion prototype system. The calculation time for four algorithms are recorded and analyzed. The result of adapted algorithms is good. Moreover I find the efficiency of concept lattice construction is not consistent with complex analysis result. In stead, it is high depend on the structure of data set, which is data source of concept lattice.


Accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) is defined as 'a process by which appropriate experiential and uncertificated learning is given recognition and an academic value. Often the academic value is expressed in terms of academic credit points (a measure of volume) at a particular level (a measure of difficulty) but it can occur outside an academic credit framework for exemption from specific course units. Experiential learning encompasses knowledge, skills and behaviours acquired in a planned or unplanned way through life, especially work. APEL is often closely associated with, and sometimes subsumed within, APL which is Accreditation of Prior Learning and can apply to both certificated and uncertificated learning'. Though long established in the UK, it is under-used and this report demonstrates its huge potential as a framework for providing retrospective credit, exemptions and 'advanced standing' into higher education programs and as a developmental tool. It explores the use of APEL in higher education institutions and the implications for pedagogy, curriculum and relationships with their communities. It also describes and examines what is happening in other countries in terms of policies, procedures and provisions that have been used that lean towards the fuller use of APEL. Of particular concern is what can be learned from overseas experience in relation to extending the productivity of APEL in the UK. The report makes recommendations, including a proposed model for Learning, Recognition and Development (LRD) with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) as the lead agency. The report also informed a series of APEL national forums facilitated by the University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC) during 2004 to develop a plan of action on APEL


Disclosure-based nudges are increasingly utilized by governments around the world to achieve policy goals related to health, safety, employment, environmental protection, retirement savings, debt, and more. Yet a critical aspect of these nudge-type policy interventions—the mode of communication—remains unexplored. We study the effects of the communication medium on debt collection procedures, using a policy experiment conducted in cooperation with the Israeli Ministry of Justice. Debtors often lack adequate information about the debt, the judgment, and the enforcement and collection procedures. As a result, the process of debt collection is often harmful to the debtor and ineffective in securing repayment. We manipulate the choice of medium—telephone, regular mail, text message, and video message—holding fixed the content of the communication. We find that digital communication strategies, in particular, communicating via text message, were the most cost-effective, significantly improving outcomes for both debtors and creditors.


Focusing on technical, policy and social/societal practices and innovations for electrified transport for personal, public and freight purposes, this book provides a state-of-the-art overview of developments in e-mobility in Europe and the West Coast of the USA. It serves as a learning base for further implementing and commercially developing this field for the benefit of society, the environment and public health, as well as for economic development and private industry. A fast-growing, interdisciplinary sector, electric mobility links engineering, infrastructure, environment, transport and sustainable development. But despite the relevance of the topic, few publications have ever attempted to document or promote the wide range of electric mobility initiatives and projects taking place today. Addressing this need, this publication consists of case studies, reports on technological developments and examples of successful infrastructure installation in cities, which document current initiatives and serve as an inspiration for others.


Austar Coal Mine (Austar) successfully constructed an underground coal storage bin at a deep mine in challenging conditions. SCT Operations (SCT) was involved in various geotechnical assessments related to the bin excavation including vertical separation of the bin drift and underlying seam roadways, bin top area roof design and support and seam roof support at the bin base. Traditional methods used for determining support recommendations can be difficult to apply to complex three dimensional excavations. SCT used a combination of two dimensional and three dimensional numerical modelling using FLAC 2D and FLAC 3D to understand the key drivers and modes of failure about the bin excavation.The staged process of construction and an interactive approach between Austar and SCT enabled review and validation of the modelling process to occur throughout the construction. A key lesson from this program of work is that there is value in an interactive approach whereby site monitoring and review of model properties during construction provides early validation of the model. This ensures that natural geological variability, which can have significant impacts on rock failure and deformation, can be incorporated into the model as an ongoing process.


Identifying crucial deficiencies in the legal theories of Hart and Dworkin, The Rule of Reason in European Constitutionalism and Citizenship draws on the work of Habermas and Alexy in order to elaborate a new juridical conception of citizenship. Taking Europe as its focus, the central substantive argument of the book is that a 'rule of reason' governs supranational constitutionalism. Addressing the free movement law of the internal market, and recently developed case law on the free movement of citizens, it shows how the contours of European and member state legal systems, as well as European and national citizenship, are delimited through an ongoing judicial discourse. The constant drawing and re-drawing of the boundaries of member state and European law is negotiated in a judicial conversation that, it is argued, constitutes a key characteristic of supranational constitutionalism: one that supports a thin, juridical, and essentially rights based, conceptualisation of European citizenship. Offering an innovative theoretical analysis of EU law, The Rule of Reason in European Constitutionalism and Citizenship will be of considerable interest to scholars of European law, European politics and legal theory.


Unemployment in Britain has fallen from high European-style levels to US levels. I argue that the key reasons are first the reform of monetary policy, in 1993 with the adoption of inflation targeting and in 1997 with the establishment of the independent Monetary Policy Committee, and second the decline of trade union power. I interpret the reform of monetary policy as an institutional change that reduced inflationary expectations in the face of falling unemployment. The decline of trade union power contributed to the control of wage inflation. The major continental economies failed to match UK performance because of institutional rigidities, despite low inflation expectations.


In the present paper (part 1 of 2), the product of the Semtner and Chervin general circulation model (GCM) is compared with available observations in the frontal areas of the Brazil/Malvinas and the Kuroshio/Oyashio confluences. The dimensionality of the systems studied is reduced by using the empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) and frontal density methods. The two sets of data utilized to validate the model are the sea surface temperature (SST) from the satellite observations and temperature fields product from the GCM at levels 1 (12.5 m), 2 (37.5 m) and 6 (160 m). Comparisons are made between the dominant empirical modes and the locus of maximum probability for observations and model product. The model reproduces intense thermal fronts at the surface and in the upper layers. In the upper layer (level 1) they are induced by the internal dynamics of the model and not by the restoring of the model to climatology alone. The variability of these fronts is less pronounced in the model than in the observations. The dominant period in the observations is annual with contributions of semiannual and high frequency oscillations. In the model, the dominant variability is also annual at all analyzed levels. A semiannual oscillation contributed to a lower degree and is related to eddies that, in the model, have an annual and semiannual periodicity. For the regions examined, the location of the fronts are reproduced in the model within differences of 4° to 5° with observations. In the Brazil/Malvinas region, the Confluence front is reproduced approximately 4° towards the west of the observed front. This appears to be due to the resolution of the model that, in a 0.5° × 0.5° grid, does not resolve the sharp slope at the edge of the Argentine continental shelf. The maximum southward penetration of the warm tongue of Brazil waters occurs in the model approximately 4° towards the north. This is related to the fact that, in the model, the Malvinas transport doubles the one derived from the observations. This might be due to the effect of a large modeled transport for the Circumpolar Current or, again, to a poor resolution of the topography. In the Kuroshio area, the Oyashio front, which in observations is more pronounced at the surface than in the lower layers, is well reproduced in the surface temperature field. On the contrary, the Kuroshio front, more intense in the lower layers but still marked in the satellite observations, is visible in the model only below 160 m. The front is not present in the surface temperature field but, as a consequence of the thermal wind balance, an intense eastward flow at the location of the Kuroshio Extension is observed in the model velocity field. When compared with the observations, the location of the Extension is shifted approximately 5° towards the south. This indicates a shift in latitude between the modeled and observed latitude of separation. The resolution of the model is marginal to reproduce the process of eddy formation, but large scale eddies are observed in the model in both analyzed areas. They are generated as a pinch of the main flow with an annual and semiannual periodicity. We conclude that some of the differences between model and observations, like the differences found in the locations of the fronts, and the diminished variability, will decrease with a higher resolution.


Abstract The residential landscape of a city is key to its economic, social, and cultural functioning. Following the collapse of communist rule in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, urban residential dynamics and household mobility have been critical to urban change under new economies and political systems. This article explores neighbourhood perception, which is a link in the chain to better explanation of socio-spatial processes (and their interruption by the socialist system). We use a novel data set – opinions expressed on one of social media (Twitter), and a novel empirical method – neural network analysis, to explore people's current attitudes and perceptions about the neighbourhoods and districts in Tartu, Estonia. The findings suggest that Twitter comments about urban neighbourhoods display attitudinal and perceptual commentary, which is subdued compared to other subjects. The socialist goal of homogeneity in neighbourhoods is not reflected in present day perspectives about urban neighbourhoods, 25 years after the disintegration of the USSR. Ambivalence about neighbourhoods persists, but this ambivalence may be in flux. Older, formerly neglected neighbourhoods, the subject of positive perception on social media, are currently experiencing increased investment, and the observed trends in our data support a narrative of neighbourhood transition.


Process intensification is a process development methodology aimed at a considerable reduction in the energy consumption and process complexity. The approach has been applied to mechanical pulping process design. A process denoted as HC-LC-S consisting of single stage high consistency (HC) refining, followed by low consistency (LC) refining and screening was evaluated in mill trials at the Holmen Paper Braviken Mill in Sweden. After LC refining, the pulp was screened, and the reject fraction was fed back to LC refining. Two HC primary refiner types were evaluated, namely single disc (SD) and double disc (DD). Double disc chip refining was more suitable than SD refining for the HC-LC-S process because of the higher light scattering and lower shives content of the final pulp. The tensile index and shives content of the pulp produced with the DD-LC-S process was similar to that of the reference process, consisting of single stage DD refining and HC reject refining, but the fibre length and light scattering were somewhat lower. The specific refining energy was approximately 200 kWh/adt lower for the DD-LC-S process compared with the reference. Additionally, the auxiliary specific energy was 100 kWh/adt lower for the HC-LC-S processes, since a number of equipment units were omitted.


This paper refers to a research conducted in the region of Patra, Achaia in Greece in spring 2016. Its purpose was a) the assessment of preschoolers' narrative skills and b) the examination of its possible correlation with family sociocultural background. The participants were 32 children of the higher level of age in preschool education (5-6 years old), picked up from 2 different public kindergartens, equally separated in terms of gender and social background. Children were called to produce oral retellings of a book that had previously been read to them. Their texts were recorded and analyzed according to "The Story Pyramid Framework". The findings of the research seem to confirm that there is a strong and intense correlation between preschoolers' narrative skills and their sociocultural background. Children that come from more privileged social backgrounds produced more integrated narratives than their peers who come from less privileged family contexts, while no significant differences were observed between genders.


There are an estimated 246 million people with diabetes in the world, of whom about 80% reside in developing countries.1 India is the country that currently has the largest number of people with diabetes (40.9 million), and this number is expected to increase to 69.9 million by the year 2025.1 The most disturbing trend is a shift in age of onset of diabetes to a younger age in recent years. This presents a serious challenge to the healthcare system because, at the peak of their working career, people with diabetes have an excess risk of mortality and morbidity compared with those without diabetes.2–4 Indeed, over two-thirds of deaths attributable to diabetes occur in developing countries.5 Asian Indians with diabetes also have higher mortality than people with diabetes from other ethnic groups.6

Although diabetes is often not recorded as the cause of death, globally, it is believed to be the fifth leading cause of death in 2000 after communicable diseases, cardiovascular disease, cancer and injuries.7 Moreover, it is associated with other disease conditions such as coronary artery disease, which are subsequently recorded as the cause of death. According to a WHO study, there are about five times as many deaths indirectly attributable to diabetes.8 A report published by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in 2004 shows that, in India, diabetes accounts for 109 000 deaths/year.9 WHO estimated that, in 2005, mortality from diabetes, heart disease and stroke cost about 210 billion …


The University of Calgary Learning Commons has been developing solutions for the digitization and dissemination of educational digital assets for two years. The most recent work focused on creating digital books that can be accessed online and assembled from digital components. Several theoretical and technical issues were examined and resolved. The U of C worked with existing partners to modify their educational object repository software solution to meet these needs. The software was developed to deal with the workflow of assembling the numerous digital components of a book into a cohesive whole and an online browser was built to view the constructed digital books. The digital books were created in an XML-based IMS container package of Dublin Core metadata and manifests of all the components that were used to create the online digital books.


Background: The approach to the teaching of ethics and professionalism in the Faculty of Medicine (FM) of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) is unique. A specifically designed package is incorporated designated as the Islamic Input into the Medical Programme (IIMP). The IIMP spans over the entire 5 years of the medical programme. In the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences (FAHS) students do not go through a similar Islamic Input module but exposed to ethical issues specific to health sciences. Method: The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the teaching of ethics through the IIMP. A cross-sectional study was conducted in medical and allied health sciences faculties of IIUM. In total 259 students volunteered and were allocated to 4 groups, Years 2 and 5 students of FM and Years 2 and 4 of FAHS. A set of questionnaire consisting of 20 vignettes related to medical ethics was distributed to all students. An independent t-test was used to compare the mean total scores between the groups. Results: A significant difference (p < 0.05) was seen between the mean total scores for the Year 2 and Year 5 students of FM; Year 2 students of FM and Year 2 students of FAHS; and between the Year 5 students of FM and Year 4 students of FAHS. Also there was significant difference between the two medical and allied health sciences groups as a whole. Discussion: This study suggests that the IIMP of the IIUM has a positive impact on the medical students when dealing with ethical issues. The Year 5 medical students were expected to have obtained a higher mean total score. The probable reason for the lower mean total score include the teaching-learning approach utilized which is mainly lecture with minimal small group approach. Also the allocation of marks for medical ethics in summative assessment in the IIUM medical curriculum is minimal compared to the core medical subjects which would have some influence on the weight given by students.
Conclusion: The Medical Faculty of IIUM believes that the approach to the teaching of medical ethics by incorporating the Islamic Input module is effective, practical and relevant. However the teaching-learning method and the assessment will have to be re-addressed to achieve greater impact.


The Feldstein-Horioka puzzle has been recently included among the six major puzzles of international economics. It is a paradox that belongs to the large group of home biases that have become stylized facts. We investigate the F-H puzzle according to different definitions of Europe and by introducing a more suitable investment variable that results after netting out FDI. We find that the F-H coefficient decreases in all cases in which we adopt the correct investment definition. Over time we see a decrease of the F-H coefficient during the 1980's and an increase over the 1990's as a proof that the Maastricht Treaty discipline has made current account targeting biting. This does not happen for opting out and Eastern Europe countries.


Estimating the effects of continuous-valued interventions from observational data is a critically important task for climate science, healthcare, and economics. Recent work focuses on designing neural network architectures and regularization functions to allow for scalable estimation of average and individual-level dose-response curves from high-dimensional, large-sample data. Such methodologies assume ignorability (observation of all confounding variables) and positivity (observation of all treatment levels for every covariate value describing a set of units), assumptions problematic in the continuous treatment regime. Scalable sensitivity and uncertainty analyses to understand the ignorance induced in causal estimates when these assumptions are relaxed are less studied. Here, we develop a continuous treatment-effect marginal sensitivity model (CMSM) and derive bounds that agree with the observed data and a researcher-defined level of hidden confounding. We introduce a scalable algorithm and uncertainty-aware deep models to derive and estimate these bounds for high-dimensional, large-sample observational data. We work in concert with climate scientists interested in the climatological impacts of human emissions on cloud properties using satellite observations from the past 15 years. This problem is known to be complicated by many unobserved confounders.


Space Debris are defunct objects in space, including old space vehicles (such as satellites or rocket stages) or fragments from collisions. Space debris can cause great damage to functional space ships and satellites. Thus detection of space debris and prediction of their orbital paths are essential for today's operation of space missions. The talk shows the Python based infrastructures BACARDI for gathering and storing space debris data from sensors and Skynet for high-throughput data processing and orbital collision detection.


Veronica Morcom, an experienced primary teacher from WA, presented this workshop.

The objectives of the project in which she is involved are to develop:

• a common values language that can be supported with observable behaviours for reporting values, and
• an appreciation of the importance of values education as fundamental to good schooling.

The cluster schools involved in the project current ly use 17 descriptors for 'attitude, behaviour and effort' issued by the Department of Education and Training, WA, to report to parents on values. Five core shared values (Curriculum Council, 1998) are incorporated in these reports but teachers have concerns about collecting valid evidence to make consistent judgements ('consistently, sometimes or seldom'). A cohort group of teachers is using an action research process to examine how to develop a shared values language and collect evidence to report to parents about values. Parents have provided feedback about their understanding of how values are being taught and assessed.

The context of the school sites was explored in relation to values education as they do not currently have a 'whole school approach'. Therefore the project challenges may be perceived to be different from schools that engaged in values education to solve school based problems such as 'bullying'. The cluster school communities do not perceive a 'deficit' that needs to be addressed by values education.

Morcom illustrated the work of the teachers, students and their parents to 'report values to parents' and engaging all stakeholders to talk about values, and invited feedback from participants to advance the project.


Groundwater is increasingly exploited for energy production in arid regions, which necessitates a deeper insight into the impact of the enhanced human pressure on the groundwater. This study applied an integrated method (statistical analysis, water table fluctuation method, hydrograph analysis and remote sensing) to identify the impact of Energy Base Water Project on the groundwater in the Subei Lake basin. Groundwater levels in eight observation wells at 30 min intervals during the 2013–2014 period were monitored using automatic groundwater monitoring data loggers. Results showed that precipitation infiltration, irrigation return flow, groundwater pumping and evapotranspiration controlled the hydrodynamics of unconfined groundwater. The average evapotranspiration rates in the Quaternary phreatic aquifer and the Cretaceous phreatic aquifer were 6.15 and 12.48 mm/d. The unusual hourly hydrographs fall into three patterns (mutational, irregular and gradual hydrographs). Different recovering times after being influenced by pumping may be related to the presence of the mudstone lenses. The extent of the groundwater depression cone was qualitatively identified by gradual hydrographs, which may spread from the center area to the western boundary. Only some individual wells from Haolebaoji waterworks had conducted the intermittent pumping activities at random times and caused the atrophy of lakes.


Democracy requires a connection to the "will of the people." What does that mean in a world of "fake news," relentless advocacy, dialogue mostly among the like-minded, and massive spending to manipulate public opinion? What kind of opinion can the public have under such conditions? What would democracy be like if the people were really thinking in depth about the policies they must live with? This book argues that "deliberative democracy" is not utopian. It is a practical solution to many of democracy's ills. It can supplement existing institutions with practical reforms. It can apply at all levels of government and for many different kinds of policy choices. This book speaks to a recurring dilemma: listen to the people and get the angry voices of populism or rely on widely distrusted elites and get policies that seem out of touch with the public's concerns. Instead, there are methods for getting a representative and thoughtful public voice that is really worth listening to. Democracy is under siege in most countries. Democratic institutions have low approval and face a resurgent threat from authoritarian regimes. Deliberative democracy can provide an antidote. It can reinvigorate our democratic politics. This book draws on the author's research with many collaborators on "Deliberative Polling"—a process he has conducted in twenty-seven countries on six continents. It contributes both to political theory and to the empirical study of public opinion and participation, and should interest anyone concerned about the future of democracy and how it can be revitalized.


We revisit the "Smile Dynamics" problem, which consists in relating the implied leverage (i.e. the correlation of the at-the-money volatility with the returns of the underlying) and the skew of the option smile. The ratio between these two quantities, called "Skew-Stickiness Ratio" (SSR) by Bergomi (2009), saturates to the value 2 for linear models in the limit of small maturities, and converges to 1 for long maturities. We show that for more general, non-linear models (such as the asymmetric GARCH model), Bergomi's result must be modified, and can be larger than 2 for small maturities. The discrepancy comes from the fact that the volatility skew is, in general, different from the skewness of the underlying. We compare our theory with empirical results, using data both from option markets and from the underlying price series, for the S&P 500 and the DAX. We find, among other things, that although both the implied leverage and the skew appear to be too strong on option markets, their ratio is well explained by the theory. We observe that the SSR indeed becomes larger than 2 for small maturities, signalling the presence of non-linear effects.


From the user's (drivers) point of view, a road is a unique linear infrastructure although it is clear for a driver that such a linear infrastructure consists of open terrain (open roads) and occasionally closed environment (tunnels). Since the two environments present different safety issues, the related analyses are usually conducted on the field by different experts; those conclusions are sometimes not well interlinked and harmonised, leading to safety gaps particularly, but not only, in the transition areas. Joint safety analyses conducted in the same time by a group of road safety and tunnel safety experts can fill such a gap and increase the safety level of the whole infrastructure. During the year 2016, an international group of road safety experts and tunnel experts visited five road sections with open roads and tunnel in Europe and performed joint safety analyses together with the infrastructure managers. Such analyses were conducted according to a predefined experimental procedure to check the effectiveness of the joint analyses with respect to the usual ones. The key results are that joint safety operations in tunnels and open roads are possible and extremely useful: their cost can be very low when well planned.


"Smart contracts" are a way of using computers to make contracts unbreakable. Contracting parties do not need to trust one another to perform or rely upon intermediaries to enforce performance. Performance is guaranteed. This is supposed to be a victory for the ordinary person – a clever socio–economic application of cryptography that strips power from companies and governments and gives it to consumers. But it turns out that less trust does not mean more freedom, or better bargains. The law of contract supports valuable relationships both by enforcing duties and by allowing parties to escape the consequences of ill–formed contracts and oppressive terms. Smart contracts remove these safeguards. Consumers may be bound, inexorably and without recourse, to contracts that are wholly devoid of virtue. The lesson of smart contracting is clear and urgent: when we design the future of commerce, we should direct our resources towards building, not emaciating, relationships of trust.


Home ranges of Philander frenata (=P. opossum) (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae) and Akodon cursor (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) in Barra de Marica, Rio de Janeiro, were estimated and analysed in relation to sex, age, both dry and wet, and breeding and non- breeding seasons, and correlated with population densities and body weight. In P. frenata, home ranges were predominantly affected by the breeding season, while in A. cursor they were mostly affected by sex. There was no correlation between body weight and home range size within species. No effects of population densities on home range size were found in both species, but we detected an increase in the number of overlapping points of capture with the increase of population densities. Females of A. cursor presented territoriality while males did not. This seems to be a general behaviour in akodontines. Males would have contact with many females, and females would defend nesting and food resources. In P. frenata, neither females nor males seemed to be territorial, presenting a mating system without permanent couples.


This paper describes how three money's worth measures the benefit-to-tax ratio, the internal rate of return, and the net present value are calculated and used in analyses of social security reforms, including systems with privately managed individual accounts invested in equities. Declining returns from the U.S. social security system prove to be the inevitable result of having instituted an unfunded (pay-as-you-go) retirement system that delivered $7.9 trillion of net transfers (in 1997 present value dollars) to people born before 1917, and will deliver another $1.8 trillion to people born between 1918 and 1937. But young and future workers cannot necessarily do better by investing their payroll taxes in capital markets. If the old system were closed down, massive unfunded liabilities of $9-10 trillion would still have to be paid unless already accrued benefits were cut. Alternative methods of calculating these accrued benefits yield somewhat different numbers: the straight line calculation is $800 billion less than the constant benefit calculation we propose as the benchmark. Using this benchmark in a world with no uncertainty, we show that privatization without prefunding would not increase returns at all, net of the new taxes needed to pay for unfunded liabilities. These new taxes would amount to 3.6 percent of payroll, or about 29 percent of social security contributions. Prefunding, implemented by reducing accrued benefits or by raising taxes, would eventually increase money's worth for later generations, but at the cost of lower money's worth for today's workers and/or retirees. Computing money's worth when there is uncertainty is much more difficult unless four conditions hold prices into stocks and out of bonds has no effect whatsoever on money's worth when it i adjusted for risk: a dollar of stock is worth no more than a dollar of bonds. diversification can raise welfare for constrained households, but the exact money's worth must depend on specific assumptions about household attitudes toward risk. Calculations lik the Social Security Advisory Council that attribute over $2.85 of net present va $1 shifted from bonds to stocks completely overlook the disutility of risk. By estimate that a 2 percent of payroll equity fund carved out of social security w present value by about 59 cents per dollar of bonds switched into equities When the likely reductions in income and longevity insurance are factored in privatization and diversification is substantially less than popularly perceived


As industrial economies develop over time, they become more complex with more components mutually interacting via additional interconnections. The changes are manifested in properties that emerge over time. Some emergent properties are proposed here and tested with empirical data, where available. Diversity, energy and material intensities, and production capacity are examined and tested at a macro level using data from the states of the USA. All are found to be related to the degree of development represented by Gross State Product. Diversity is related to the number of energy flows through the energy consuming sectors and the allocation of energy use across sectors. Although data is limited for energy consumption by sector the diversity calculated here relates to a number of other physical and economic variables, including the proportion of waste recycled. Other emergent properties of economic systems are suggested and discussed but not tested. The relationships between diversity and energy and waste intensities are illustrated using data from Japan.


Political representation of minority groups is an important aspect of modern societies. Are our parliaments
generally reflective of the people they serve? In this article, the authors use the results of two recent Canadian
provincial elections (Ontario, 2018 and British Columbia, 2017) to explore whether majority and minority groups
are proportionally represented in legislatures and to probe some explanations as to why these groups may be
over-represented or under-represented. They address notions of residential concentration and the assumption of
ethnic affinity to partially explain where ethnoracial minority candidates are likely to be elected. In contrast to
past work which has found a general under-representation of minority groups, this analysis finds some nuance.
Some racialized groups, notably Chinese Canadians, appear to be proportionally more under-represented than
others. The authors explore a range of arguments to explain this finding. In conclusion, the authors highlight two
key findings from this research. First, they suggest it is difficult to make the case that being part of a racialized
group has a negative impact on political representation at the provincial level – at least currently in two provinces
with large racialized populations – without introducing nuance that subdivides ethnoracial minority groups. The
second finding is conceptual: ethnic affinity cannot solely predict voting behaviour. The authors contend that the
concept must be broadened to include centripetal ethnic affinity and transversal ethnic affinity.


Fractal theory possesses a congenital application foundation in Parametric Cost Estimation(PCE). Based on the fractal theory, a core equation of fractal parameters has been established, and on this basis, a grey fractal parametric cost estimation model is established by taking the comprehensive efficiency variables as the fractal variables, which is applicable to the early cost evaluation of aircraft manufacture. Example analysis shows: the aircraft cost estimation by the fractal parametric cost estimation model achieves desirable accuracy, and is superior to the method of conventional multiple linear regression in generalization ability and stability. Meanwhile, it can be concluded that efficiency is effective as the fractal unit and the cost has the fractal characteristics as the information set, which provide new ideas and methods for cost estimation.


Extensively revised, this is set to become the Pollard of the further and adult education market. The first edition of this textbook filled a gap in a crowded market for an accessibly-written introduction to reflective practice in adult and further education. These areas of education are changing rapidly however in line with current governmental policy, and the Further Education National Training Organisation (FENTO) has published revised standards to which teachers must adhere when teaching in further and adult education. This new edition of Reflective Teaching in Further and Adult Education has new sections explaining the FENTO standards, and has a unique new FENTO index to help students navigate the text. Yvonne Hillier has updated the text with essential information on new policy and how it affects teacher-training for adult and FE, and provides a guide to relevant acts of parliament, for example on disability. A vital new chapter discusses the changing structure of the qualifications framework, foundation degrees and e-learning. The revised book will be the most up-to-date textbook for teachers in further and adult education, whether in-training or in-service. With its comprehensive coverage and accessibly written style, the book is an excellent practical introduction - it is sure to become the standard classic of its field.


Britain's tradition of political asylum has for centuries brought refugees of many nationalities to her shores. The influence both direct and indirect, which they have exerted on British life has been a factor of no small importance. The role of religious immigration has frequently been examined, that of the socialist emigrés from Central Europe has so far received less detailed attention.


Building greenery systems can represent a sustainable solution for new buildings design and for existing buildings retrofitting, in order to improve the thermal energy performance of buildings, to decrease building energy loads and to contrast the Urban Heat Island. Green façades can influence thermal properties of a building by means of different important mechanisms: the shading, the cooling, the insulating and the wind barrier effect. Moreover, green façades accomplish heating effect in the cold season and at nighttime. An experimental test was developed at small scale at the University of Bari (Italy) from 2014 to 2016 for testing two different green façades. The plant species chosen were Pandorea jasminoides variegated and Rhyncospermum jasminoides, two evergreen climbing plants. A third uncovered wall was used as control. The thermal behaviour of the plants was analysed during the 2016 summer season, by keeping in consideration the external surface temperature of the building and the temperature of the airgap behind the green vertical systems. The daylight temperatures observed on the plant-covered walls during representative days were lower than the respective temperatures of the uncovered wall up to 7.0°C. During nighttime, the temperatures behind the plants were higher than the respective temperatures of the control wall up to 2.2°C. The results shown in the present research allow delineating the behaviour of the two plant species during summer in the Mediterranean climate region.


Low flux and fouling are critical issues in membrane based separation processes. Here we report a two-dimensional (2D) MXene (Ti3C2Tx) modified with Ag nanoparticles (Ag@MXene) as a promising alternative for ultrafast water purification membrane applications. The novel Ag@MXene composite membrane with variable AgNP loadings (between 0–35%) was produced by self-reduction of silver nitrate on the surface of MXene sheets in solution, where the MXene acted simultaneously as a membrane forming material and a reducing agent. The most suitable membrane, 21% Ag@MXene with 470 nm thickness and 2.1 nm average pore size, exhibited an outstanding water flux (∼420 L m−2 h−1 bar−1) compared to the pristine MXene membrane (∼118 L m−2 h−1 bar−1) under the same experimental conditions. The 21% Ag@MXene membrane demonstrated high rejection efficiency for organic molecules with excellent flux recovery. Moreover, the 21% Ag@MXene composite membrane demonstrated more than 99% E. coli growth inhibition, while the MXene membrane exhibited only ∼60% bacteria growth inhibition compared to the control hydrophilic polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) based membrane. Furthermore, the 21% Ag@MXene membrane achieved favorable rejection to organic foulants like bovine serum albumin (BSA) and methyl green (MG) in comparison to other reported membranes. This combination of controlled permeability and bactericidal properties makes Ag@MXene layered nanosheets attractive candidates towards the development of nanofiltration membranes for water purification and biomedical applications.


Pyrethrum is a major crop in Tasmania, Australia. The lack of predictability in flower dry matter (DM) production and therefore crop yield is one of the biggest challenges for the industry, with large variation in dry matter yield currently occurring between production sites and seasons. If the industry is to expand, consistency in production is required to ensure crop production matches the volumes contracted for delivery to the market. Knowledge of the main factors affecting DM accumulation under commercial production conditions is required to develop crop management strategies capable of delivering consistent, high yields. The specific objectives of the studies reported in this thesis were to investigate the effect of: (i) light interception; (ii) plant density; and (iii) water stress on DM yield and pyrethrin content of pyrethrum.
The indirect measurement of light interception in pyrethrum using crop green leaf area and volume was used to assess the relationship with flower DM yield and pyrethrin content. Strong relationships were identified within sites and seasons, but not across all seasons and sites assessed in the study. As there was no clear relationship between light intercepted and pyrethrin yield, other factors could be involved. It was hypothesised that differences could be related to variation in rate of crop development, plant density and drought stress, which can occur during the later stages of flower development in Tasmania.
Plant density was shown to have a large effect on DM partitioning in a field trail conducted in north-western Tasmania in 2008-09. The relatively large leaf, stem and flower DM yield per plant at low (6 plants/m2) plant densities was compensated by the increase in plant numbers at high (44 plants/m2) densities. Variation in plant density is therefore likely to affect light interception. There was, however, no difference in the concentration of pyrethrin, the active ingredient extracted from the pyrethrum flowers, with plant density. No significant differences in DM accumulation were found between pyrethrum genotypes and there were no density x genotype interactions.
Drought stress was investigated by conducting pot trials under controlled conditions. Treatments included 3, 4 and 5 day watering intervals applied at early flower maturity stage 2 (FMS 2), mid (FMS 4) and late (FMS 6) flowering stages for either short (10 days) and long (20 days) durations. Plants watered on a 3 day interval tended to have lower (less negative) leaf water potential and displayed no visual signs of water stress. The FMS stage that water stress treatment was applied affected plant and flower dry matter yield, but watering interval or duration of stress treatment had no significant effect. Plants produced greater DM when drought stress was imposed during early compared with late flowering. Plant pyrethrin content, measured as pyrethrin concentration in the harvested flowers, was not affected by any of the drought treatments. Consequently, it was concluded that plants grown in field conditions are likely to be able to recover from mild drought stress, particularly during early flowering, but yield will be reduced if plants are stressed at later flowering stages.
This thesis has provided information to the pyrethrum industry on plant growth in response to crop management strategies and has highlighted the complexity of processes determining crop dry matter and pyrethrin yields.


textabstractThis thesis aimed to establish novel prognostic tools that can be used for the risk stratification of adults with congenital heart disease and/or pulmonary hypertension. Measurements of right and left ventricular volumes and function, main pulmonary artery area, left atrial size and function, right ventricular pressure, pericardial effusion, and right atrial area are important imaging features that can be of prognostic value within specific diagnostic subgroups. Blood biomarkers can be measured in all patients; especially NT-proBNP should be measured at least once in all patients with moderate or complex ACHD. In patients with an elevated NT-proBNP level it is probably useful to obtain annual repeated NT-proBNP measurements and other biomarkers such as hs-TnT and RDW, while patients with a low NT-proBNP level can be reassured and may require less frequent follow-up. Finally, a simple risk calculation tool consisting of six easy to obtain clinical variables and NT-proBNP is proposed, which could be useful to discriminate high- and low-risk patients. The novel biomarkers that are outlined in this thesis are a next step towards better risk stratification of patients with ACHD. This may serve to optimally inform and reassure patients, to aid clinical judgment in determining optimal monitoring and management strategies, to better utilize medical resources and save costs, and ultimately to improve the clinical outcome of these patients.


Heritable variation in gene expression patterns plays a fundamental role in trait variation and evolution, making understanding the mechanisms by which genetic variation acts on gene expression patterns a major goal for biology. Both theoretical and empirical work have largely focused on variation in steady-state mRNA levels and mRNA synthesis rates, particularly of protein-coding genes. Yet in order for this variation to affect higher order traits it must lead to differences at the protein level. Variation in protein-specific processes including protein synthesis rates and protein decay rates could amplify, mask, or even reverse effects transmitted from the transcript level, but the extent to which this happens is unclear. Moreover, mechanisms that underlie protein expression variation under dynamic conditions have not been examined. To address this challenge, we analyzed how mRNA and protein expression dynamics covary between two strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during mating pheromone response. Although divergent steady-state mRNA expression levels explained divergent steady-state protein levels for four out of five genes in our study, the same was true for only one out of five genes for expression dynamics. By integrating decay rate and allele-specific protein expression analyses, we resolved that expression divergence for Fig1p was caused by genetic variation acting in trans on protein synthesis rate, expression divergence for Ina1p was caused by cis-by-trans epistatic effects on transcript level and protein synthesis rate, and expression divergence for Fus3p and Tos6p were caused by divergence in protein synthesis rates. Our study demonstrates that steady-state analysis of gene expression is insufficient to understand the impact of genetic variation on gene expression variation. An integrated and dynamic approach to gene expression analysis - comparing mRNA levels, protein levels, protein decay rates, and allele-specific protein expression - allows for a detailed analysis of the genetic mechanisms underlying protein expression divergences.


In this paper we study the reconstruction of moving object densities from undersampled dynamic x-ray tomography in two dimensions. A particular motivation of this study is to use realistic measurement protocols for practical applications, i.e. we do not assume to have a full Radon transform in each time step, but only projections in few angular directions. This restriction enforces a space-time reconstruction, which we perform by incorporating physical motion models and regularization of motion vectors in a variational framework. The methodology of optical flow, which is one of the most common methods to estimate motion between two images, is utilized to formulate a joint variational model for reconstruction and motion estimation. We provide a basic mathematical analysis of the forward model and the variational model for the image reconstruction. Moreover, we discuss the efficient numerical minimization based on alternating minimizations between images and motion vectors. A variety of results are presented for simulated and real measurement data with different sampling strategy. A key observation is that random sampling combined with our model allows reconstructions of similar amount of measurements and quality as a single static reconstruction.


A total of 165 wells were sampled
as part of the 2014 national survey of pesticides in groundwater, a survey that
is conducted on a four-yearly basis. The survey aims were to update the
national overview of pesticides in New Zealand's groundwater systems, to
investigate temporal variation in pesticide concentrations, and to identify
environmental factors associated with pesticide contamination. Samples were
analysed for around 80 pesticides using gas chromatography with mass
spectrometry detection. Pesticides were detected in 28 wells (17%), with two or
more pesticides detected in 10 wells (6%). Pesticides were detected in wells
from six of the 13 regions sampled. One well contained a pesticide (dieldrin)
at a concentration greater than the maximum acceptable value (MAV) for drinking
water. Twenty-one different pesticides were detected, with most concentrations
being less than 0.1 mg m-3. Only four of
the 51 pesticide detections exceeded a con centration of 1 mg m-3. Comparisons with earlier surveys
indicate similar levels of pesticide detections in groundwater over the last 12
years, with higher levels of detections before that time. The majority of wells
sampled in each national survey have not had pesticides detected; where
detected, the concentrations were mostly less than 0.1 mg m-3 and, with the exception of dieldrin and
terbuthylazine, less than 5% of MAVs.


This study investigates two sites within the Roe Palaeodrainage system in the
Kalgoorlie Region of Western Australia. Both are located over southward draining
tributary palaeochannels that have incised into already deeply weathered Archaean
lithologies. The pre-palaeochannel regolith is only partly preserved at Gindalbie due
to the site's proximity to the main trunk palaeoriver. However at Kurnalpi, there is
extensive preservation of the pre-existing laterite profile beneath the palaeochannel
sediments and permits an estimation of the maximum depth of palaeochannel
incision: That is 25-30 metres at Kurnalpi; 40-50 metres at Gindalbie; 60-70 metres
in the trunk channel. The palaeochannel sediments comprise a basal sand facies that is generally
confined to the palaeoriver bed, and a conformable upper clay facies that blankets
the entire palaeodrainage valley. The sediments have also been lateritized, resulting
in an extensive ferruginization of the upper profile (Fe-induration, Fe-nodules and
pisoliths, and mega-mottles), and at least at Gindalbie, a prominent redox front at
18-20 metres depth below which reducing conditions prevail. The sand facies has
been palynologically dated by others as Middle to Late Eocene in age, thus
constraining the lateritization events to pre and post-Eocene.
At Kurnalpi, colluvial/alluvial incision has extensively truncated the upper
profile of both the transported and in-situ regolith. This event has occurred after
post-Eocene lateritization and appears to be confined to the mid and upper slopes of
the catchment area.
At both sites gold mineralization is extensive but is confined to the environs of
the palaeochannels.
At Gindalbie gold is almost exclusively distributed as discrete horizontal
horizons within the palaeochannel sediments below the main redox front, with the
highest grades located directly above the palaeochannel thalweg. No bedrock
mineralization was encountered; and gold distribution appears to be controlled by
groundwater regimes/chemistry and host lithology mineralogy.
At Kurnalpi Archaean lode-style gold mineralization is spatially associated with
supergene gold within both the palaeochannel sediments and the in-situ regolith. The
highest gold grades from both regolith profiles are distributed about a vertical plane
through the channel thalweg, with placer gold located at the base of the
palaeochannel sand facies. All gold mineralization appears to be derived initially
from basement lodes and distribution patterns reflect local controls such as bedrock
structure, basement lithology, channel morphology and groundwater movement.


Abstract Since 1989 abortion in Chile has been illegal in every single circumstance. This means that tens of thousands of women every year undergo clandestine abortions at great risk to their health. Class directly influences Chilean women's relationships to abortion; wealthier women can pay for the confidentiality of a safe doctor whereas poorer women cannot. There is just one region where women regardless of class can easily travel to another country in search of abortions, Arica in northern Chile. This article considers the previously unstudied phenomenon whereby women cross the border quickly and cheaply from northern Chile to the Peruvian city of Tacna where numerous clinics offer the procedure. This article utilises Foucault's concept of biopolitics to trace how women are forced to cross a border to avoid government legislation and finds that even by leaving the territory of the state, women do not fully leave state control. Despite the lack of official statistics, interviews with healthworkers and a young woman who made the crossing show that abortion border crossings do occur and this article reflects on the legal, safety, and biopolitical ramifications of these journeys for Chilean women.


Telecommunications companies (telcos) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) monitor the traffic passing through their networks for the purposes of network evaluation and planning for future growth. Most monitoring techniques currently use a form of packet sampling. However, exhaustive monitoring is a preferable solution because it ensures accurate traffic characterization and also allows encoding operations, such as compression and encryption, to be performed. To overcome the very high computational cost of exhaustive monitoring and encoding of data, this thesis suggests exploiting parallelism. By utilizing a parallel cluster in conjunction with load balancing techniques, a simulation is created to distribute the load across the parallel processors. It is shown that a very scalable system, capable of supporting a fairly high data rate can potentially be designed and implemented. A complete system is then implemented in the form of a transparent Ethernet bridge, ensuring that the system can be deployed into a network without any change to the network. The system focuses its encoding efforts on obtaining the maximum compression rate and, to that end, utilizes the concept of streams, which attempts to separate data packets into individual flows that are correlated and whose redundancy can be removed through compression. Experiments show that compression rates are favourable and confirms good throughput rates and high scalability.


Previous studies have shown that myosin heavy chain kinase A and B (MHKA and MHKB) are able to phosphorylate and disassemble Dictyostelium discoideum myosin II bipolar filaments by directly targeting myosin II via a conserved region of WD repeats, also referred to as the WD repeat domain. MHKA lacking this domain is unable to phosphorylate myosin II. By comparison, MHKB lacking this same domain is able to phosphorylate myosin II, albeit at a significantly reduced level compared to the full-length protein. The main difference between the MHKA and MHKB proteins is the presence of a region of MHKB in which the amino acid asparagine is repeated 25 times, called the asparagine-rich (pN) region. The function of this region has not been well studied. The research described in this thesis focuses on the asparagine-rich and WD repeat domains of MHKB and their roles in targeting myosin II for phosphorylation. My studies revealed that overexpressing full-length MHKB in Dictyostelium cells resulted in slowed growth rates due to cytokinesis defects in which cells become large and multinucleated. MHKB lacking the WD repeat domain (MHKB-ΔWD) also showed this large multinucleated phenotype and slowed growth rate. However, cells overexpressing a truncation of MHKB lacking both the WD and pN regions (MHKB-ΔpN-WD) grew normally and did not become multi-nucleated; indicating that the WD repeat domain is not the only targeting region of MHKB. Triton X-100 cytoskeleton fractionation assays revealed that cells overexpressing full-length MHKB or MHKB-ΔWD have more myosin II in the cytosol than in the cytoskeleton, which is indicative of myosin II being phosphorylated and disassembled by these two versions of MHKB. By contrast, the myosin II in cells overexpressing the MHKB-ΔpN-WD truncation was located primarily in the cytoskeletal fraction, suggesting that the poly-asparagine region of MHKB may be involved in targeting the kinase to phosphorylate myosin II heavy chain (MHC). Biochemical assays of kinase activity toward myosin II substrate revealed that while full-length MHKB and the MHKB-ΔWD truncation were able to phosphorylate myosin II, the activity of the MHKB-ΔpN-WD truncation toward myosin II substrate was below the limits of detection. This is despite the fact that all three versions of the kinase phosphorylate a peptide substrate to essentially the same level. In summary, MHKB has two major regions involved in targeting myosin II for phosphorylation. The WD-repeat domain is known to directly target myosin II, but is not necessary for the kinase to function. My studies of this system have revealed that the pN region, in combination with the WD-repeat domain, is necessary for MHKB to target myosin II for phosphorylation.


Federated learning has quickly gained popularity with its promises of increased user privacy and efficiency. Previous works have shown that federated gradient updates contain information that can be used to approximately recover user data in some situations. These previous attacks on user privacy have been limited in scope and do not scale to gradient updates aggregated over even a handful of data points, leaving some to conclude that data privacy is still intact for realistic training regimes. In this work, we introduce a new threat model based on minimal but malicious modifications of the shared model architecture which enable the server to directly obtain a verbatim copy of user data from gradient updates without solving difficult inverse problems. Even user data aggregated over large batches -- where previous methods fail to extract meaningful content -- can be reconstructed by these minimally modified models.


In this paper, a novel orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme, which is called OFDM with index modulation (OFDM-IM), is proposed for frequency-selective fading channels in the presence of high mobility. In this scheme, inspiring from the recently introduced spatial modulation concept for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels, the information is conveyed not only by M-ary signal constellations as in classical OFDM, but also by the indices of the subcarriers, which are activated according to the incoming bit stream. Different low complexity transceiver structures based on maximum likelihood (ML) detection or log-likelihood ratio (LLR) calculation are proposed. It is shown via computer simulations that the proposed scheme achieves significantly better error performance than classical OFDM.


A lateral polysilicon Bipolar Charge Plasma Transistor (poly-Si BCPT) on undoped recrystallized polycrystalline silicon which is compatible with the thin-film field effect transistor (TFT) fabrication is reported in this paper. Using calibrated two-dimensional device simulation, the electrical performance of the poly-Si BCPT is evaluated in detail by considering the position of the single grain boundary. Our simulation results demonstrate that the poly-Si BCPT has the potential to realize low-cost thin-film polycrystalline silicon bipolar transistors with large current gain and cut-off frequency making it suitable for a number of applications including the driver circuits of the displays.


The mechanism of hydrodynamics-induced pairing of soft particles, namely closed bilayer membranes (vesicles, a model system for red blood cells) and drops, is studied numerically with a special attention paid to the role of the confinement (the particles are within two rigid walls). This study unveils the complexity of the pairing mechanism due to hydrodynamic interactions. We find both for vesicles and for drops that two particles attract each other and form a stable pair at weak confinement if their initial separation is below a certain value. If the initial separation is beyond that distance, the particles repel each other and adopt a longer stable interdistance. This means that for the same confinement we have (at least) two stable branches. To which branch a pair of particles relaxes with time depends only on the initial configuration. An unstable branch is found between these two stable branches. At a critical confinement the stable branch corresponding to the shortest interdistance merges with the unstable branch in the form of a saddle-node bifurcation. At this critical confinement we have a finite jump from a solution corresponding to the continuation of the unbounded case to a solution which is induced by the presence of walls. The results are summarized in a phase diagram, which proves to be of a complex nature. The fact that both vesicles and drops have the same qualitative phase diagram points to the existence of a universal behavior, highlighting the fact that with regard to pairing the details of mechanical properties of the deformable particles are unimportant. This offers an interesting perspective for simple analytical modeling.


Self-awareness is often associated with enhanced multicultural competency. Training programs must work to facilitate self-awareness in counseling trainees who hold both privileged and oppressed identities. In this article, I highlight a gap in the literature regarding how best to supervise white lesbian counseling trainees. Facilitating self-awareness through supervision will be explored as a tool for enhancing multicultural competency in the white lesbian counseling trainee. An exploration of understanding white privilege as well as the impact of oppression on lesbian counseling trainees, will be used to draw conclusions regarding effective supervision for this population. Additionally, suggestions for future research will be proposed.


The need to increase the amount of land under nature conservation at the national and global levels has gained attention over the past three decades. However, there are mixed reactions among stakeholders in South Africa regarding the establishment and expansion of cross-border nature conservation projects. Whereas conservationists and other white private landowners are in support of nature conservation projects, some white farmers are resistant to releasing land for conservation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate historical and contemporary reasons for farmers' resistance to conservation and to analyse the consequences arising from that resistance for the consolidation of the core area of South Africa's contribution to the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area. The paper argues that consolidation of land to create such special areas is a social process shaped through local contestation over land, power, and belonging. The study draws on fieldwork material from the South African section of the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area.


As the American Southwest faces its deepest drought in history, this book explores the provocative notion of "water bankruptcy" with a view towards emphasizing the diversity and complexity of water issues in this region. It bridges between the narratives of growth and the strategies or policies adopted to pursue competing agendas and circumvent the inevitable. A window of opportunity provided by this current long-term drought may be used to induce change by dealing with threats that derive from imbalances between growth patterns and available resources, the primary cause of scarcity.

A first of its kind, this book was developed through close collaboration of a broad range of natural scientists, social scientists, and resource managers from Europe and United States. It constitutes a collective elaboration of a transdisciplinary approach to unveiling the inner workings of how water was fought for, allocated and used in the American Southwest, with a focus on Arizona. Specifically, it offers an innovative scientific perspective that produces a critical diagnostic evaluation of water management, with a particular view to identifying risks for the Tucson region that is facing continuous urban sprawl and economic growth.

The book offers a diversity of complementary perspectives, including a statement of natural resources, biodiversity and their management, an analysis of water policy and its history, and a statement of ecosystem services in the context of both local biodiversity and also the economic activities that sustain economic growth. Finally, it presents a concerted effort to explore the interplay between a variety of related scientific disciplines and frameworks including climatology, hydrology, water management, ecosystem services, societal metabolism, political economy and social science.


Application of remote sensing relies on understanding how the physical properties of surfaces (especially vegetated surfaces) control spectral reflectance. Empirical investigation of links between canopy properties/processes and spectral response have generally consisted of univariate modelling of one spectral response variable in terms of one canopy property, or less frequently, in terms of two or more canopy variables. While this approach has been fruitful, it cannot account for multivariate interactions of spectral and surface properties in determining canopy response across the spectrum. In this study, two closely related multivariate analysis techniques, canonical correlation and redundancy analysis, are used to investigate the relationship between a series of tallgrass prairie canopy biophysical properties and spectral reflectance measured in situ using a portable radiometer. To capture a variety of different conditions within the tallgrass canopy, data were collected at two times during the 2002 growing season (28 May and 18 August), from two different slope/aspect situations, located on one frequently burned and one infrequently burned watershed. Results suggest that canopy structure (canopy height, greenness fraction) is the most consistent influence on spectral reflectance during both data collection periods. Canopy optical properties also emerge as an important control in August. Neither soil moisture nor plant physiology/biochemistry systematically influenced spectral reflectance. The relative importance of the various canopy variables shows some dependence on burn frequency and topographic setting.


Based on the hypothesised-country assumption, this paper chooses South Korea's technical coefficients as those of China's imports. Using the input-output tables of both China and South Korea, this paper calculates China's trade-embodied carbon emissions and its sectoral breakdown between 2001 and 2010. Some interesting results are obtained. First, if China's technical coefficients are used to calculate carbon emissions avoided through imports, China is found to be a net importer of trade-embodied carbon from 2001 to 2005 and a net exporter of trade-embodied carbon from 2006 and 2009, and in 2010 it became a net importer of embodied carbon once again. If Korea's technical coefficients are used to calculate embodied carbon in China's imports, China is found to be always a net exporter of trade-embodied carbon. The sectoral breakdown of trade-embodied carbon shows that manufacturing industries are the decisive factor on embodied carbon. The rapid expansion of export increases total CO2 emissions in China. Both China and its trade partners have benefited from these CO2 emissions and all of them should be held responsible for climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions.


OBJECTIVE: The establishment of normal occlusal relationships in patients with cleft lip and palate using rapid maxillary expansion may promote good conditions for future rehabilitation. OBJECTIVE: This study describes the clinical case of monozygotic twins with unilateral cleft lip and palate at the age of mixed dentition, who were treated using the same rapid maxillary expansion protocol, but with two different screws (conventional and fan-type expansion screw). Results were evaluated using plaster models, intraoral and extraoral photographs, and Cone-Beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans obtained before the beginning of the treatment, (T1). METHODS: The patients were followed up for 6 months after maxillary expansion, when the same tests requested at T1 were obtained again for review (T2). T1 and T2 results were compared using lateral cephalometric tracings and measurements of the intercanine and intermolar distances in the plaster models using a digital caliper. RESULTS: The two types of expansion screws corrected the transverse discrepancy in patients with cleft lip and palate. The shape of the upper arches improved at 10 days after activation. CONCLUSION: CBCT scans provide detailed information about craniofacial, maxillary and mandibular changes resulting from rapid maxillary expansion. The most adequate screw for each type of malocclusion should be chosen after detailed examination of the dental arches.


A new, rapid and sensitive on-line extraction and determination technique was developed with molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) in a packed cartridge. An artificial selective polymeric sorbents packed in a polyethylene cartridge were employed for the separation of sulfathiazole residue. The packing particles were synthesized using methacrylic acid as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a cross-linker agent, sulfathiazole as a target template molecule and azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator. The optimal conditions for designing these sorbents were as follows: conditioning using water with pH = 3.0, loading the sample under mild basic aqueous conditions, cleanup using 2 × 2 mL acetonitrile and elution with 3.0 mL 20 mM ammonium acetate : acetonitrile (75 : 25 v/v, pH = 3.0). In this system, an aliquot of extracted template was injected to the HPLC analytical column with acetonitrile : water (75 : 25 v/v) and water (pH adjusted to 3.0 with H3PO4) as the mobile phases in a gradient elution program. The selectivity of the MIPs in the packed cartridge was evaluated by checking several substances with molecular structures similar to that of the template. The results revealed a recovery of more than 92% along with a limit of detection and limit of quantification of 0.05 and 0.16 ng mL−1, respectively, for the on-line determination of sulfathiazole in pharmaceutical wastewater samples.


Airway clearance technique (ACT) and inhalation therapy (IT) are essential in cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease management. We here present our experience with a video-call educational program, which could maintain or improve adherence in adolescents. A 6-month program was offered to adolescents: a physiotherapist would monitor their ACT and IT home program via scheduled video-calls. A struc-tured form evaluating patients ' independence and awareness during a session would be filled in at the start and after 6 months. After informed consent was obtained, subjects filled in a questionnaire about their expectations and a satisfaction questionnaire at the end of the program. Student's t-test for paired data was performed for quantitative evaluation of the variables considered in forms filled during video calls. Eleven CF subjects were enrolled; most of them adhered sponta-neously, as they expected to improve technique and receive helpful advice. About 301 educational video-calls were performed, 75% being the scheduled calls. Two patients dropped out. In the end, better awareness and self-management in ACT and IT was evident, and patients showed better performances (P < 0.01), reporting they received helpful advice. Video-call education is a simple and feasible tool which could be useful to support adherence to ACT and IT in CF adolescents.


Glasses in a wide range of composition in the ternary system x(ZnO)-y(MgO)-z(P2O5) where x ranges from 5 to 20 mol %, y ranges from 5 to 20 mol % and z ranges from 50 to 70 mol % have been prepared by traditional melt quenching technique with ZnO, MgO and P2O5 as the starting raw materials. X-ray diffraction (XRD), refractive index and electrical properties have been used to characterize the structural, optical and electrical features. All the sample glasses at present work have been confirmed to be amorphous by X-ray diffraction technique using Philips Model 7602 EA Almelo. The refractive indices of ternary glasses were measured by Ellipsometer and were found to agree with Lorentz-Lorenz equation where the refractive index increased with the increase of the density (ρ) and the decrease of the molar volume (Vm) of the glass. The density of the glass was determined by Archimedes Principle. From the empirical data, other values such as molar volume and molar refractivity have been computed. The variations in the molar volume were resulting in variation on the density and refractive index of the glasses. From the results obtained, it is obvious that the refractive index varies with molar refractivity, which depends on the polarizability of the ions, density and molecular weight in the sample glass. Those physical properties were found to be sensitively depending on its composition. Electrical conductivity (σ) was measured in the temperature 30 oC to 300 oC. Conductivity for the ternary series glasses increased with addition composition of ZnO or MgO with temperature. Activation energy (Ea) was calculated by the slope of graph log σ versus 1000/T with Arrhenius equation. The values of activation energy in the ternary series were recorded in the range of 0.023 eV to 0.112 eV.