We present results from the Hitomi X-ray observation of a young composite-type supernova remnant (SNR) G21.5-0.9, whose emission is dominated by the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) contribution. The X-ray spectra in the 0.8-80 keV range obtained with the Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS), Soft X-ray Imager, and Hard X-ray Imager (HXI) show a significant break in the continuum as previously found with the NuSTAR observation. After taking into account all known emissions from the SNR other than the PWN itself, we find that the Hitomi spectra can be fitted with a broken power law with photon indices of Gamma(1) = 1.74 +/- 0.02 and Gamma(2) = 2.14 +/- 0.01 below and above the break at 7.1 +/- 0.3 keV, which is significantly lower than the NuSTAR result (similar to 9.0 keV). The spectral break cannot be reproduced by time-dependent particle injection one-zone spectral energy distribution models, which strongly indicates that a more complex emission model is needed, as suggested by recent theoretical models. We also search for narrow emission or absorption lines with the SXS, and perform a timing analysis of PSR J1833-1034 with the HXI and the Soft Gamma-ray Detector. No significant pulsation is found from the pulsar. However, unexpectedly, narrow absorption line features are detected in the SXS data at 4.2345 keV and 9.296 keV with a significance of 3.65 sigma. While the origin of these features is not understood, their mere detection opens up a new field of research and was only possible with the high resolution, sensitivity, and ability to measure extended sources provided by an X-ray microcalorimeter.


From the earliest civilizations to the twenty-first century, this is a global journey through human history, tieing-in with a major BBC television series. Andrew Marr, author of two best-selling histories of Great Britain now turns his attention to the world as a whole. "A Short History of the World" takes readers from the Mayans to Mongolia, from the kingdom of Benin to the court of the Jagiellonian kings of Poland. Traditional histories of this kind have tended to be Euro-centric, telling mankind's story through tales of Greece and Rome and the crowned heads of Europe's oldest monarchies. Here, Marr widens the lens, concentrating as much, if not more on the Americas, Africa and Asia. Instead of focusing on one episode of history taking place in one place, he draws surprising parallels and makes fascinating connections, focusing on a key incident or episode to tell a larger story: for instance, the liberation of the serfs in Russia, which took place at the same time as the American Civil War, which resulted in the abolition of slavery in the US. But he begins the account with an episode in the life of Tolstoy, who racked up huge gambling debts and had to sell land and slaves as a result. Fresh and exciting, this is popular history at its very best.


Advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) is defined as a modern method of production incorporating highly automated and sophisticated computerized design and operational systems. Hence, an investment decision to adopt AMT is a strategic decision. A group decision making process is stressful when group members have different views under multiple and conflicting criteria. Satisfying group members' opinions has a critical impact on a decision. In this chapter, a multiple criteria group decision making problem under a fuzzy environment is used for the selection among AMTs. Choquet integral methodology is used for this selection. A strategic investment problem of a company for a suitable Automated Storage/Retrieval System (AS/RS) is considered and discussed.


This paper presents the rigorous experimental validation results of the stability algorithm as developed in the part 1. The two experiments which will be presented here focus on; first, a workpiece whose vibrational modes constitute the weakest part of the overall system, and second, a machine tool whose vibrational modes are the weakest part of the system. Next, it discusses some of the influencing factors that affect the on-set of chatter in face milling processes. The factors considered include cutting conditions, entry and exit angles, axial dynamics, cutter geometry, material properties and structural dynamic parameters. Lastly, it presents the effect of structural dynamic change under operating condition on stability lobes.


Abstract. This paper deals with the failure risk of masonry constructions under the effect of floods. It is developed within a probabilistic framework, with loads and resistances considered as random variables. Two complementary approaches have been investigated for this purpose: – a global approach based on combined effects of several governing parameters with individual weighted contribution (material quality and geometry, presence and distance between columns, beams, openings, resistance of the soil and its slope. . .), – and a reliability method using the failure mechanism of masonry walls standing out-plane pressure. The evolution of the probability of failure of masonry constructions according to the flood water level is analysed. The analysis of different failure probability scenarios for masonry walls is conducted to calibrate the influence of each "vulnerability governing parameter" in the global approach that is widely used in risk assessment at the urban or regional scale. The global methodology is implemented in a GIS that provides the spatial distribution of damage risk for different flood scenarios. A real case is considered for the simulations, i.e. Cheffes sur Sarthe (France), for which the observed river discharge, the hydraulic load according to the Digital Terrain Model, and the structural resistance are considered as random variables. The damage probability values provided by both approaches are compared. Discussions are also developed about reduction and mitigation of the flood disaster at various scales (set of structures, city, region) as well as resilience.


This text discusses the use of participatory methodologies and, especially, action-research, in the context of continued university education at Brazilian universities. Guided by these methodologies, the continued education projects present investigative and formative aspects, and may take on participatory, critical, reflexive and emancipatory dimensions. This orientation is considered in the current framework of crises and changes in society and universities. Key words: Action research, continued university education, participation 1. Introduction After several decades of discussion on action-research and experiences in Brazil, it is observed that the trajectory of this trend in research follows routes that are sometimes contradictory, due to ideological or institutional obstacles, and new opportunities to apply it. It is also observed that the action-research that yesterday was known mainly by professionals in the field of education, social service, rural extension, is now widely disseminated in areas of social medicine, local and sustainable development, cooperatives and participatory management. Standing outside the official policies for scientific and technological policies, the supporting activities in social and solidary projects, both in the context of NGOs and in that of continued university education, have opened up new possibilities for the development of the participatory methodology in general, and the action-research methodology in particular. In this study we will present a few principles that guide the use of these methodologies in the specific context of continued university education. In order to discuss the theoretical-methodological fundamentals of the practice of continued university education, this text presents aspects of a participatory proposal, according to which knowledge is not produced for immediate dissemination, as in the conventional research/continued education sequence. Both the research projects and those of continued education are seen as a social construction of knowledge, with the participation of differentiated actors. Aimed at fulfilling concrete objectives, such projects may be structured as action-research projects. Along this line, the methodology and work tools used have participatory, critical and reflexive dimensions, contributing to strengthen the emancipatory purpose of the university projects. We are entering a new historical period, with predictable and unpredictable changes, open to a new hope for cultural life at the universities. Instead of being despised, as occurred in the last few years, public universities may come out of this stronger, and provide new contributions to teaching, research and continued education, mobilizing social objectives. In this new context, it is believed that the continued education projects will be increasingly important. Considering this challenge, in the form of brief notes, we will discuss the following aspects: - The production of knowledge and continued education as a social construction. - The role of participatory methodology and action-research. - The critical and reflexive dimensions. - The design of an emancipatory purpose for continued education. 2. Social Construction The current concept of production and dissemination of knowledge, which established a unilateral sequence between research and continued education, may be substituted very advantageously by a model of social construction of knowledge. In the form of research, the "production of knowledge" is a construction that responds to different demands, and occurs with interaction between different agents, specialists, laboratories, academies, businesses, states, etc. Depending on the areas (hard sciences or social and human, basic or applied sciences) and on the interests that are at stake, the social arrangements to construct knowledge vary considerably, in terms of power, resources and commitments. …


This article considers ways of theorising the now, or the contemporary, in South Africa. It seeks a method of reading that offers unexpected and defamiliarising routes through the cultural archive. The article discusses notions of race, class and space both in a general and historical sense and, in the second part, as they relate to new literatures of the city now emerging in South Africa. By focusing on urban 'philosophies' of the street it examines city life and city forms in fictional work on Johannesburg in particular. The article attempts to make an overall argument about how we might read the contemporary South African space.


This paper aims to describe interrelationships between size of the organization and adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT). We hypothesize that size of the organization is interrelated with ICT usage. By analyzing the data from 68 organizations we have classified to micro, small, medium-sized and large enterprises and calculated composite index of ICT adoption in each organization. Afterwards we have analyzed correlations between composite index of ICT adoption and size of the organization. Our results show that large enterprises which have potential to utilize ICT have highest values of composite index of ICT adoption, indicating high ICT usage. Theory considered in the discussion implies that ICT diminishes size of the organization, which complies with our findings because medium enterprises keep high values of composite index of ICT adoption. Small organizations, at least in transitional countries, in average do not show high level of ICT use, but especially in smallest, micro organizations extreme examples both of high and low ICT use indicated by high standard deviation values can be found. That could be explained by greater flexibility and orientation of small enterprises to new technologies, but also lack of resources or interest and implies that in small and micro companies ICT appliance is more dependent on other organizational factors than on size. Our conclusion is that ICT has the potential to diminish size of the company, but that still in average large and medium companies are leaders of ICT use in spite of extreme examples of good practice in small companies.


This doctoral thesis responds to the need for greater understanding of what constitutes
effective strategic management practice in successfully developing small firms. And an
associate need to enhance the strategic management capability of small business owner
managers and ability of support providers to deliver sound, pragmatic strategy development
assistance.
The study in its action research mode of investigation recognises and attempts to address
the numerous shortcomings and pitfalls associated with small business management.
Integral to this approach is a longitudinal business development project-orientation to
facilitate the fulfilling of parallel academic and small business development practice
objectives.
The research approach is based upon the premise that there is a glove-tight relationship
between advances in knowledge and the research methodology which facilitate those
knowledge advances. An overarching aim of this study is thus the development of a creative
and innovative research approach to enable production not only of advances in small
business strategic management knowledge and practical small business development, but
also a base research methodology capable of ongoing refinement and use by others in the
future.
The origins of the methodology lay in the non-acceptance of traditional philosophical
positions in epistemology and ontology, with a philosophical standpoint of constructive alternativism underpinning the research and the use of a drive theory which builds out of
that standpoint.
As part response to that philosophical positioning, the concept of epistemological
bootstrapping is used to develop a 'partial research framework' to foothold and inform the
qualitative action research process. The key insights highlighted by the 'bootstrap' facilitate
design and development of the innovative methodology, integral to which is a close 'rich'
working partnership interface with the participant small business owner managers.
A novel attempt at linked multi-level and processual (contextualist) analysis was attempted
within an action research approach which is underpinned and driven by personal construct
theory. Both researcher and the researched are thus treated as 'man the scientist' who is
progressively seeking to refine and enhance his own personal constructions of
phenomenon, issues and circumstances facing him throughout his life. Such
conceptualisation facilitates the build up of dual working partner investigation using live,
longitudinal practical business development projects to produce tangible outputs for both
parties - academic small business management knowledge for the researcher and world of
academia and practical strategic development and associate knowledge and enhanced
abilities for the owner manager.


Experimental results have previously shown that glucosepane is formed through an intermediate compound of lysine linked α-dicarbonyl under non physiological levels of glucose. But degradation of this intermediate in the glycation of human serum albumin under physiological conditions is supporting existence of another route in the formation of this cross link. Using wB97XD dispersioncorrected functional, a new mechanism for glucosepane formation through reaction of free α-oxoaldehydes with lysine and arginine residues has been proposed. This non enzymatic process can be described in three main steps, namely: (1) Schiff base formation from methyl amine, methyl glyoxal (MGO) and one water molecule, (2) addition of methyl guanidine and (3) addition of glyceraldehyde. We show that this mechanism is thermodynamically possible and presents a rate-determining step with a reasonable free energy barrier equal to 37.8 kcal/mol in water solvent. Comparisons were done with the mechanism formation of GODIC (glyoxal-derived imidazolium cross-link) and MODIC (methyl glyoxal-derived imidazolium cross-link), two other important crosslinks in vivo. Our results show that glucosepane formation is more exothermic than others while its formation kinetics is slower.


Digital technologies are increasingly harnessed to support treatment of persons with tuberculosis (TB). Since in-person directly observed treatment (DOT) can be resource intensive and challenging to implement, these technologies may have the potential to improve adherence and clinical outcomes. We reviewed the effect of these technologies on TB treatment adherence and patient outcomes. We searched several bibliographical databases for studies reporting the effect of digital interventions, including short message service (SMS), video-observed therapy (VOT) and medication monitors (MMs), to support treatment for active TB. Only studies with a control group and which reported effect estimates were included. Four trials showed no statistically significant effect on treatment completion when SMS was added to standard care. Two observational studies of VOT reported comparable treatment completion rates when compared with in-person DOT. MMs increased the probability of cure (RR 2.3, 95% CI 1.6–3.4) in one observational study, and one trial reported a statistically significant reduction in missed treatment doses relative to standard care (adjusted means ratio 0.58, 95% CI 0.42–0.79). Evidence of the effect of digital technologies to improve TB care remains limited. More studies of better quality are needed to determine how such technologies can enhance programme performance. Digital technologies are being used to support TB treatment adherence, but evidence for their impact needs to improve http://ow.ly/1riC30h6hu3


Pseudorandom number generators are required to generate pseudorandom numbers which have good statistical properties as well as unpredictability in cryptography. An m-sequence is a linear feedback shift register sequence with maximal period over a finite field. M-sequences have good statistical properties, however we must nonlinearize m-sequences for cryptographic purposes. A geometric sequence is a sequence given by applying a nonlinear feedforward function to an m-sequence. Nogami, Tada and Uehara proposed a geometric sequence whose nonlinear feedforward function is given by the Legendre symbol, and showed the period, periodic autocorrelation and linear complexity of the sequence. Furthermore, Nogami et al. proposed a generalization of the sequence, and showed the period and periodic autocorrelation. In this paper, we first investigate linear complexity of the geometric sequences. In the case that the Chan--Games formula which describes linear complexity of geometric sequences does not hold, we show the new formula by considering the sequence of complement numbers, Hasse derivative and cyclotomic classes. Under some conditions, we can ensure that the geometric sequences have a large linear complexity from the results on linear complexity of Sidel'nikov sequences. The geometric sequences have a long period and large linear complexity under some conditions, however they do not have the balance property. In order to construct sequences that have the balance property, we propose interleaved sequences of the geometric sequence and its complement. Furthermore, we show the periodic autocorrelation and linear complexity of the proposed sequences. The proposed sequences have the balance property, and have a large linear complexity if the geometric sequences have a large one.


In the present chapter, results about the efficacy of chitosan (Chi) on sporulation, myce - lial growth, germination, as well as quality parameters on fruits are shown. The results demonstrate that chitosan can control various phytopathogen isolates from diverse fruits. The pathogens in the genera Colletotrichum , Fusarium , and Rhizopus are involved in important postharvest disease losses throughout the world. In Nayarit, producers had reported high postharvest losses not only at field but also during the commercial chain with their products, besides the resistance of several pathogens to fungicides, which traditionally are applied for controlling diseases. In this sense, the aim of this research group is focused on the research of alternative and effective methods for controlling post - harvest diseases. In vivo results are promising due to a good control in important tropical fruits like banana, avocado, mango, and jackfruit. An enhancement in the chitosan anti - microbial activity is reported with the combination with GRAS substances, as well as the use of nanotechnology. Chitosan can be an environment-friendly alternative to the use of chemical fungicides for controlling postharvest diseases in fruits.


This article presents an applied general equilibrium model which combines the theoretical foundations of an Eaton-Kortum type model of international trade with the complexity of a global multi-region, multi-sector Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of production and consumption. The Eaton-Kortum model features endogenous trade-induced productivity gains via Ricardian specialization and takes non-tariff trade costs into account. Model regions and sectors can be disaggregated, e.g., representing technology-specific electricity generation. The models is tailored to explicitly study the German Federal State of Lower Saxony, a prime location for renewable electricity generation in Germany with ambitious climate policy goals. The calibration utilizes the structural estimation of a gravity model with constraints, while the disaggregation adapts methods used in regional science and energy economics. With these features the model goes beyond standard CGE models and provides new insights in the nexus between trade policy and climate policy. Simulations suggest that the removal of tariffs creates smaller welfare gains than a comparable reduction of non-tariff barriers to trade but also a slightly smaller increase in global CO2 emissions. Trade policy-induced productivity gains and renewable energy subsidies significantly reduce carbon leakage from the EU to the rest of the world by making the EU more CO2-efficient. With its large wind power potential, Lower Saxony is less susceptible to negative effects of climate policy than the rest of Germany.


The aim of this study is to examine the effect of operational parameters on fluoride removal using electrocoagulation method. For this purpose, various operational parameters including initial pH, initial fluoride concentration, applied current, reaction time, electrode connection mode, anode material, electrolyte salt, electrolyte concentration, number of electrodes and interelectrode distance were investigated. The highest defluoridation efficiency achieved at initial pH 6. In the case of initial fluoride concentration, maximum removal efficiency (98.5%) obtained at concentration of 25mg/l. The increase of applied current and reaction time improved defluoridation efficiency up to 99%. The difference of fluoride removal efficiencies between monopolar and bipolar series and monopolar parallel were significant, especially at reaction time of 5 min. When aluminum used as anode material, higher removal efficiency (98.5%) achieved compared to that of iron anode (67.7%). The best electrolyte salt was NaCl with the maximum defluoridation efficiency of 98.5% compared to KNO3 and Na2SO4. The increase of NaCl had no effect on defluoridation efficiency. Number of electrodes had little effect on the amounts of Al3+ ions released in the solution and as a result defluoridation efficiency. Almost the same fluoride removal efficiency obtained for different interelectrode distances.


This paper investigates the effect of exchange rates on US foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to a sample of 16 emerging market countries using annual panel data for the period 1990–2002. Three separate exchange rate effects are considered: the value of the local currency (a cheaper currency attracts FDI); expected changes in the exchange rate (expected devaluation implies FDI is postponed); and exchange rate volatility (discourages FDI). The results reveal a negative relationship between FDI and more expensive local currency, the expectation of local currency depreciation, and volatile exchange rates. Stable exchange rate management can be important in attracting FDI.


Lignocellulosic biomass exhibits itself as an alternative material for ethanol production. Ethanol can be synthesized from cellulose and hemicellulose obtained from an empty fruit bunch. Aspen simulation is used for process design and its capacity. Hot Compressed Water pretreatment (HCW) is the first step to improving ethanol production. The optimal conditions of HCW are 190°C and 15 minute with a cellulose content of 56.56%. Ethanol is converted from lignocellulosic derivative via hydrolysis and fermentation processes. The extractive distillation system is proposed to purify. There are two different operating conditions (reflux ratio, feed stage, and distillate to feed ratio) at the solvent to feed ratio (S/F) of about 0.51. Ethanol of 10,000 kg could be produced from 48,000 kg of EFB with product purity greater than 99.5 wt%.


This article contributes to the literature on political gerontology by analysing the role that social capital plays in the political participation of older adults. More specifically, the aim is to test the importance of individual-level and contextual-level social capital for different types of political participation of older adults in a Scandinavian setting by using survey data from Finland and Sweden (N = 6838). The results show that even though membership in voluntary associations, intense social networks and high levels of interpersonal trust tend to be positively correlated with political participation of older adults as a whole, the explanative logic differs between them depending on the kind of political engagement. The only type of social capital with a robust positive impact on all dimensions of political participation was individual-level membership in voluntary associations.


We present an experimental and a theoretical analysis of the operation characteristics of a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on periodically poled LiNbO3 (PPLN). It provides bright visible pulses through second-harmonic generation (SHG) of the signal and sum-frequency generation (SFG) between the signal and the pump, simultaneously with the parametric oscillation in the near IR. Using a duty cycle of the poling period of approximately 56%, we achieved strong enhancement of even-order quasi-phase-matched (QPM) SHG and SFG, whereas the reduction in the efficiencies of odd-order QPM processes is negligible. Femtosecond pulses with output powers of up to 14 mW in the blue, 12 mW in the green, and 18 mW in the red were obtained for a pump power of only 480 mW. The tuning ranges extended from 460 nm to 500 nm and from 520 nm to 660 nm for SFG between the pump and signal and SHG of the signal, respectively, with at least 2-mW output power. Our work demonstrates that proper choice of the duty cycle of the poling period allows exploitation of higher-order QPM for intracavity SHG and SFG processes in PPLN OPOs.


While the virtual environments of online games can foster healthy relationships and strong communities, some online games are also marred by antisocial and offensive behavior. Such behavior, even when relatively rare, influences the interactions and relationships of users in online communities. Thus, understanding the prevalence and nature of antisocial and offensive behaviors in online games is an important step toward understanding the full spectrum of healthy and unhealthy interactions and relationships in virtual environments. Extensive research has explored video game content produced by game developers, such as violence, profanity, and sexualized portrayals, but much less research has systematically examined potentially problematic content produced by players in online games. While potential effects of antisocial and offensive online game content are not well understood, a first step toward exploring this concern is systematic documentation of offensive user-generated content in online games. To that end, two large-scale content analyses measured a range of offensive user-generated content, including utterances, text, and images, from a total of more than 2,500 users in popular first-person shooter video games. Findings indicated that some content, such as profanity, was frequent among users who spoke during games. More offensive and potentially harmful content, such as racial slurs, was proportionally very rare, but frequent enough to be encountered often by regular players. Results of this initial investigation should be interpreted tentatively, do not suggest that relationships in online shooter games lack healthy elements, and should not be generalized to other online game communities until further research is conducted. * Note: This paper contains strong language which may be offensive to some readers.


The effects of generalized component imperfections, azimuth-angle errors, and errors of the normalized Fourier coefficients of the detected photoelectric current on the measured ratio of reflection coefficients ρ in rotating-analyzer ellipsometers (RAE) are determined. The problem is formulated in such a way that much of the earlier work done on error analysis for null ellipsometers (NE) can be adapted to RAE. The results are conveniently expressed in terms of coupling coefficients that determine the extent to which a given source of error couples to an error of the measured value of ρ. The optical properties of the compensator (if used) and of the surface can be simultaneously obtained from a set of two measurements using RAE, in a manner similar to two-zone measurements in NE. In addition, novel methods of obtaining and combining the results from two measurements are examined, with the objective of cancelling the effect of many of the systematic sources of errors. One such method employs two incident polarizations of the same ellipticity but with orthogonal azimuths, in which case the measured value of ρ is almost independent of the input optics. If the two incident polarizations are chosen, instead, to have equal but opposite ellipticity and azimuth, the effects of the polarizer imperfection, off-diagonal elements in the compensator, entrance-window, surface, and exit-window imperfection matrices, as well as polarizer and compensator azimuth-angle errors, all disappear upon such two-measurement averaging; the effects of analyzer imperfection or azimuth-angle error and errors of the normalized Fourier coefficients are only partially cancelled. Finally, use of RAE in generalized ellipsometry and its attendant problems are examined.


Conventional trajectory-based vehicular traffic analysis approaches work well in simple environments such as a single crossing but they do not scale to more structurally complex environments such as networks of interconnected crossings (e.g., urban road networks). Local trajectory models are necessary to cope with the multi-modality of such structures, which in turn introduces new challenges. These larger and more complex environments increase the occurrences of lack of motion and self-overlaps in observed trajectories which impose further challenges. In this paper we consider the problem of motion pattern recognition in the setting of sequential local motion pattern models. That is, classifying sub-trajectories from observed trajectories in accordance with which motion pattern that best explains it. We introduce a Gaussian process (GP) based modeling approach which outperforms the state-of-the-art GP based motion pattern approaches at this task. We investigate the impact of varying local model overlap and the length of the observed trajectory trace on the classification quality. We further show that introducing a pre-processing step filtering out stops from the training data significantly improves the classification performance. The approach is evaluated using real GPS position data from city buses driving in urban areas.


OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to examine the course of workplace bullying and health correlates among Danish employees across a four-year period.

METHODS
In total, 7502 public service and private sector employees participated in a 3-wave study from 2006 through 2011. Workplace bullying over the past 6-12 months and data on health characteristics were obtained by self-reports. We identified major depression using Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry interviews and the Major Depression Inventory. We performed cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of outcomes according to self-labelled bullying at baseline using logistic regression.

RESULTS
Reports of bullying were persistent across four years in 22.2% (57/257) of employees who initially reported bullying. Baseline associations between self-labelled bullying and sick-listing, poor self-rated health, poor sleep, and depressive symptoms were significant with adjusted odds ratios (OR) ranging from 1.8 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.5-2.4] for poor sleep quality among those bullied "now and then" to 6.9 (95% CI 3.9-12.3) for depression among those reporting being bullied on a daily to monthly basis. In longitudinal analyses adjusting for bullying during follow-up, all health correlates except poor sleep quality persisted up to four years.

CONCLUSION
Self-reported health correlates of workplace bullying including sick-listing, poor self-rated health, depressive symptoms, and a diagnosis of depression tend to persist for several years regardless of whether bullying is discontinued or not. Independent measures of bullying and outcomes are needed to learn whether these findings reflect long lasting health consequences of workplace bullying or whether self-labelled workplace bullying and health complaints are correlated because of common underlying factors.


Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) offer a unique opportunity to significantly advance volatile organic compound (VOC) sensing technologies and a number of other applications. However, the development of these applications using MIPs has been hindered by poor understanding of the microstructure of MIPs, geometry of binding sites, and the details of molecular recognition processes in these materials. This is further complicated by the vast number of optimization parameters such as building components and processing conditions. Computer simulations and molecular modeling can help us understand adsorption and binding phenomena in MIPs on the molecular level and thus provide a route to more efficient MIP design strategies. So far, molecular models have been either oversimplified or severely limited in length scale, essentially focusing on a single binding site. Here, we propose a more general, atomistically detailed model that describes the microstructure of MIPs. We apply this model to investigate adsorption of pyridine, benzene, and toluene in MIPs and demonstrate that it is able to capture a number of essential experimental features. Therefore, this model can serve as a starting point in computational design and optimization of MIPs.


This paper examines the asymptotic behavior of the price of anarchy as a function of the total traffic inflow in nonatomic congestion games with multiple origin-destination pairs. We first show that the price of anarchy may remain bounded away from 1, even in simple three-link parallel networks with convex cost functions. On the other hand, empirical studies show that the price of anarchy is close to 1 in highly congested real-world networks, thus begging the question: under what assumptions can this behavior be justified analytically? To that end, we prove a general result showing that for a large class of cost functions (defined in terms of regular variation and including all polynomials), the price of anarchy converges to 1 in the high congestion limit. In particular, specializing to networks with polynomial costs, we show that this convergence follows a power law whose degree can be computed explicitly.


For both humans and nonhuman species, there is evidence that red colouration signals both
emotional states (arousal/anger) and biological traits (dominance, health, and testosterone). The
presence and intensity of red colouration correlates with male dominance and testosterone in a
variety of animal species, and even artificial red stimuli can influence dominance interactions.
Depending on the context in which it is perceived, red is associated with reward (e.g., mating) or
avoidance of threat. Wearing red can therefore be advantageous in romantic or achievement
contexts. It may also increase the probability of winning sporting contests. Both perceiver effects
and wearer effects have been proposed as sources of enhanced winning chances for competitors
wearing red in sporting competitions. We tested the hypothesis that artificial (clothing) colour can
exploit the evolutionary associations between red and dominance/aggression and that this link is
even detectable in neutral (non-competitive) settings. The first two experiments investigated
whether a person wearing red was perceived as more aggressive/dominant than one wearing blue
or grey. We detected a perceiver effect for red-wearers for perceptions of aggression, dominance,
and anger that was independent of a wearer effect. This confirmed that the colour red may be a cue
used to predict propensity for dominance and aggression in human males. We then explored
differences in handgrip strength, self- and peer-assessed dominance, and actual dominant
behaviour to test the hypothesis that red-wearers are physically and mentally stronger/more
dominant than their blue-wearing opponents. Red-wearers were not stronger or perceived as more
dominant or taller than blue-wearers, but we found some evidence that they may have acted more
dominantly. However, in an online experiment rather than in a controlled laboratory setting, we
found no wearer or perceiver effects on ratings of perceived dominance, height, or strength.
Possible limitations of web-based approaches are discussed. Finally, we examined the
consequences of allowing participants to choose from the full colour spectrum rather than forcing
them to pick from only two or three clothing colours presented. When allowed to choose from the
full spectrum, participants predominantly chose red shirts to make a person appear more
aggressive or more dominant. There is some qualitative evidence for an "optimal red" in that
participants' choices clustered within a specific part of the red spectrum and no such clustering or
colour preference was found for any of the control character traits. Overall, the results demonstrate
that, in a laboratory setting, the colour red can have consistent effects on perceptions of aggression
and dominance; this opens up a broad array of avenues for future work. These findings also have
implications for non-academic contexts (e.g., whether wearing red can impact one's performance
in achievement contexts such as sporting contests or job interviews).


This essay focuses on the supernatural experiential elements and events that attend the Epistle to the Hebrews' portrayal of the heavenly sanctuary, and attempts to demonstrate the integral relationship of these elements and events to the author's overarching hortatory effort. Hebrews' narratival construction of the heavenly sanctuary is not simply an 'updated and expanded' version of the tradition, intended to stir the addressed community's imagination; rather, the author's goal is for the community actually to be present in that sacred place, to benefit truly from Christ's actions performed there, and to participate in the Son's exaltation. Their presence and participation is effected via the author's repeated calls to 'draw near' and enter the heavenly sanctuary (4:14–16; 6:18–20; 10:19–23; 12:22–4), which have as their goal a transformative encounter with God and his Son, as well as their involvement in a divine adoption ceremony (2:12–13). Mystical visuality, working in concert with the rhetorical practices of ekphrasis and enargeia, together provide crucial assistance to this effort: besides a number of vivid descriptions of the heavenly sanctuary and Jesus' sacral actions therein, the author exhorts the community to 'see' the exalted Son (2:9; 3:1; 9:24–6; 12:2) and their involvement in the adoption ceremony (2:13; 10:24–5). This visual programme directly serves the author's ultimate hortatory purpose: just as Moses 'persevered by seeing him who is invisible' (11:27), so also the community's waning commitment will be reversed when they actualize their true identity as the family of God, and 'see' in Jesus that their steadfastness in suffering will surely result in vindication (2:6–10).


Fiber-polymer composites, consisting of the polymer matrix and functional synthetic/natural fibers, show tremendous promise due to their unique mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. By printing such fiber-polymer composites using additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, the three-dimensional models can be fabricated with arbitrary free-form geometry and various functionalities. Direct ink writing (DIW) is an extrusion-based AM approach and has a diverse choice of printable matrix materials. Applications, including energy storage, mechanical reinforcements, and biomimetic materials, have been presented through DIW of fiber composites. Yet grand challenges such as the complicated process planning, low geometrical accuracy, filament shape instabilities, and minimal fiber extrusion capability still exist in the DIW of fiber-polymer composites.
This dissertation aims to address these challenges in DIW of fiber-polymer composites and to develop a fundamental understanding of the complex interplay of ink properties, DIW printing process, and printed composite functionalities through testing the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis I: The incorporation of an electric field between the printing nozzle and the substrate can induce an electrowetting effect to enlarge the printable ranges of materials and the working range of manufacturing process settings.
Hypothesis II: The addition of water-washable gel can change the rheological properties of the fiber suspensions in a way that the shear-yielding and shear-thinning properties are enhanced to increase the printability of composites with higher geometrical accuracy.
Hypothesis III: Sonication can remove the primary wall of natural fibers and enhances the printability of natural fibers in DIW while retaining its mechanical characteristics in the printed composite.
The findings are beneficial to material science and manufacturing process, enabling significant improvements in DIW of fiber-polymer composites and future applications in functional devices fabrication in the following perspectives:
a) Generalized mappings between the printed feature geometries and process parameters were developed.
b) The influence of liquid ink rheological properties on printing stability was understood.
c) Approaches for modifying synthetic/natural fiber for higher printability were established.
d) Electric-field-assisted and temperature-controlled DIW process planning strategies were developed and evaluated.
e) Novel applications of DIW printed fiber composites were demonstrated.


Despite recent modifications, the Togolese law on abortion remains restrictive, and most induced abortions are practised illegally. By combining an indirect (residual) method with a direct one, this study analyses abortion trends in Lomé, the capital of Togo. It also looks at changes in the timing and prevalence of abortions across different cohorts. Lastly, it establishes the relative role of abortion in the fertility decline observed in Lomé. The article uses data from the 1988 and 1998 Togo Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and from a 2002 survey on family planning and induced abortion in Lomé (Enquête sur la planification familiale et l'avortement provoqué à Lomé). The results suggest that abortion is increasing in the Togolese capital city. The number of abortions is particularly high among younger cohorts, who are more likely to have abortions than older women at the same ages. It would seem that abortion, which mainly occurs early in a woman's reproductive life, is being used as a form of birth control, resulting in a reduction of at least 10.8% in potential fertility.


Background Nurse-coordinated care (NCC) improves the achievement of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) targets after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We hypothesised that NCC improves achievement of LDL-C targets through more intensive medication titration. Methods We used data from Randomised Evaluation of Secondary Prevention by Outpatient Nurse Specialists (RESPONSE), a multicentre randomised trial on the efficacy of NCC in 754 ACS patients. Follow-up data were collected at 6 and 12 months. To enable comparison between the various types and dosages of statins, we used the average lipid-lowering potency (ALLP, % LDL-C lowering) as an indicator of lipid-lowering medication intensity. Results Most patients in NCC intervention and usual care groups (96%) had started lipid-lowering therapy during the index hospitalisation. At 6 months, titration activities (up or down) were applied in 45% of NCC patients compared with 24% of patients receiving usual care (p<0.001), and a difference was also seen at 12 months follow-up (52% vs 34%, p<0.001). In patients not on LDL-C target at baseline, titration activities at 6 months were recorded in 63% and 30% of NCC and usual care patients respectively (p<0.001), with increased titration activities in both groups at 12 months (69% vs 43%, p<0.001). Conclusion NCC is associated with more frequent and intense lipid-lowering medication titration to reach LDL-C targets as compared with usual care alone. Further, merely starting the guideline-recommended dose is insufficient to reach the guideline-recommended LDL-C target level. Trial Registration number TC1290 (Netherlands).


In many application areas, such as the semantic web, knowledge management, distributed databases, it's been recognized that we need an explicit way to represent meanings. A major issue in all these efforts is the problem of semantic interoperability, namely the problem of communication between agents using languages with different semantic. Following (Bonifacio, Bouquet, & Traverso 2002), we claim that a technological infrastructure for semantic interoperability between "semantically autonomous" communities must be based on the capability of representing local ontologies and mappings between them, rather than on the attempt of creating a global, supposedly shared, conceptualization. The goal of this paper is to define a theoretical framework and a concrete language for the specification of local ontologies and mappings between them.


Limitations on higher-order cognitive resources have been proposed as constraints on human performance in multiple object tracking (MOT). We report results from experiments testing a possible account of these cognitive limitations - observers rationally allocate attention to object locations to reduce the probability of spatial interference, they accomplish this reduction via increased spatial precision at attended locations, and drop targets within trials when their attention resource pool is overwhelmed. Our experiments used a standard MOT display following (Alvarez & Franconeri, 2007), but made two modifications to the standard design that allowed us to (i) probe the spatial precision with which subjects track individual objects during MOT, and (ii) whether subjects were aware that they had dropped any targets during trials where they made errors. We also conducted computational experiments, augmenting an existing model (Vul et al, 2009) with a central controller that assigns a limited attention resource to low-level object trackers, proportionately reducing their perceptual noise to minimize the chances of local perceptual confusion. We report three main findings. First, our computational model replicates the pattern of human errors on a per-trial basis to a considerably greater extent than a simple spatial interference model. Second, observers can localize targets with greater precision than non-targets, and that, contra simple spatial interference arguments, they localize targets with greater precision in crowded positions than when they are in open space. Third, observers were significantly less likely to report surprise (implying they knew they had dropped at least one target) for trials where our model predicted greater instances of attention resource scarcity. These results together support the case for rational attention allocation attenuating perceptual confusion during MOT trials, and limitations on this attention pool causing at least some of the difficulties that human observers encounter in multiple object tracking. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


A photoreceptor directly induces degradation of an ethylene-responsive transcription factor when seedlings are exposed to light. Before they reach the soil surface, young seedlings shunt resources to hypocotyl (embryonic stem) elongation at the expense of cotyledon (seed leaf) growth, a phenomenon known as skotomorphogenesis (see Stepanova and Alonso). After seedlings break the surface, hypocotyl elongation slows while cotyledon growth accelerates, a mode of development called photomorphogenesis. The hormone ethylene promotes skotomorphogenesis, and light inhibits ethylene responses to promote photomorphogenesis. In the dark, the E3 ubiquitin ligase constitutive photomorphogenic 1 (COP1) promotes the activity of the ethylene-responsive transcription factor ethylene insensitive 3 (EIN3) by stimulating degradation of two ubiquitin ligase complex components that target EIN3 for degradation, EIN3-binding F-box 1 and 2 (EBF1 and EBF2). As seedlings are exposed to dim light near the soil surface, a gradual decrease in COP1 abundance reduces ethylene signaling. Shi et al. used a combination of genetic experiments, in planta colocalization assays, coimmunoprecipitation, and in vitro biochemical and binding assays to delineate a role for the red light photoreceptor phytochrome b (phyB) in the rapid inhibition of ethylene signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana. Activation of phyB by red light caused phyB to bind to both EIN3 and EBF1 or EBF2 in the nucleus, triggering the degradation of EIN3. Red light and the binding of phyB to EIN3 and EBF1 or EBF2 were required for the transition from skotomorphogenesis to photomorphogenesis. Furthermore, phyB-induced, EBF-dependent degradation of EIN3 was rapid, occurring within 30 minutes of exposing dark-grown seedlings to light. Phytochrome-interacting factors (PIFs), the canonical targets of phyB, are also involved in regulating skotomorphogenesis, implying that phyB may regulate the switch to photomorphogenesis through multiple targets. Thus, in addition to the gradual inhibition of ethylene signaling mediated by a decrease in COP1 abundance during hypocotyl growth, the rapid inhibition of ethylene signaling mediated by phyB enables seedlings to adopt a photomorphogenetic mode of growth as soon as they break the soil. H. Shi, X. Shen, R. Liu, C. Xue, N. Wei, X. W. Deng, S. Zhong, The red light receptor phytochrome B directly enhances substrate-E3 ligase interactions to attenuate ethylene responses. Dev. Cell 39, 597–610 (2016). [PubMed] A. N. Stepanova, J. M. Alonso, Cutting out the middle man in light-hormone interactions. Dev. Cell 39, 524–526 (2016). [PubMed]


Cattle and sheep breeders in the UK and elsewhere increasingly draw on genetic techniques in order to make breeding decisions. Many breeders support such techniques, while others argue against them for a variety of reasons, including their preference for the 'traditions' of visual-based and pedigree-based selections. Meanwhile, even for those institutions and breeders who promote genetic techniques, the outcomes are not always as predicted. We build on our recent use of Foucault's discussions of biopower to examine the effects of the introduction of genetic techniques in UK livestock breeding in order to begin to explore the diffuse and capillary nature of resistance within relations of biopower. We focus specifically on how resistance and contestation can be understood through the joint lenses of biopower and an understanding of livestock breeding as knowledge-practices enacted within heterogeneous biosocial collectivities. In some instances these collectivities coalesce around shared endeavour, such as increasing the valency of genetic evaluation within livestock breeding. Yet such mixed collectivities also open up opportunities for counter-conduct: heterogeneous resistances to and contestations of genetic evaluation as something represented as progressive and inevitable. We focus on exploring such modes of resistance using detailed empirical research with livestock breeders and breeding institutions. We demonstrate how in different and specific ways geneticisation becomes problematised, and is contested and made more complex, through the knowledge-practices of breeders, the bodies of animals, and the complex relationships between different institutions in livestock breeding and rearing.


The synthesis of glycolipids as potential anti-bacterial agents and glycolipid mimetics is the main focus of the research presented in this thesis. A variety of glycolipids based around an aspartic acid, aliphatic or aromatic scaffold were investigated.
Chapter 1 describes the biological importance of glycolipids and how they can be utilised as anti-adhesion agents and immunomodulators. The concept of multivalency is also discussed, with specific examples relating to the anti-adhesion approach.
A variety of O-glycolipids based around an aspartic acid scaffold were constructed in chapter 2. Based on a modular approach, a diverse range of glycolipids were synthesised. They exhibited variations in hydrocarbon chain length, number of hydrocarbon chains, connectivity of carbohydrate moiety and the carbohydrate moiety used. Although originally designed to act as immunomodulators their ability to inhibit bacterial adhesion in immunocompromised individuals was also investigated. Furthermore the glycolipids were tested as low molecular weight organogelators (LWOG), and promising results were obtained.
Chapter 3 deals with the synthesis of O- and N-glycolipids built around an aliphatic core. Initially the synthesis proved problematic but success was achieved utilising DMTMM as the coupling reagent. Similarly to the aspartic acid analogues, the glycolipids exhibited variation in the chemical nature of the spacer groups used to link the carbohydrate to the aliphatic core. The O- and N-glycolipids were synthesised with a view to examine their ability to inhibit bacterial adhesion in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients.
The synthesis of a range of glycolipids based around an aromatic core is discussed in chapter 4. Again variation in the linker utilised to connect the carbohydrate moiety and the aromatic core is explored. This time the importance of the presence of the hydrocarbon chain was also investigated. Therefore variation in the connectivity of the lipidic chain is explored, and analogues of varying hydrocarbon chain length were synthesised. The O- and N-glycolipids were synthesised as potential anti-adhesion agents in order to determine a structural activity relationship.
The biological evaluation of selected glycolipids is discussed in chapter 5. Selected aspartic acid, aliphatic and aromatic glycolipids are investigated as potential inhibitors of Burkholderia multivorans adhesion to a model of lung epithelial cells of CF patients. Promising preliminary results were obtained for both a mono- and di-valent aromatic-based glycolipid.


For over a century, the Philippines has been characterised by fierce, sometimes bloody, power struggles over land. Typically, governments have won votes and appeased protestors by promising to reform land ownership, but have then failed to deliver more than token levels of redistribution. However, this Research Summary shows how an alliance between civil society and state reformers helped drive a remarkable period of land reform in the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. Change was made possible because of mobilisation by autonomous rural organisations, independent initiatives by state reformers, but also, significantly, by the sophisticated interaction between both groups of actors.


The development of analytical methods for the quantification of peptides in biological matrices has become increasingly important with the continuously growing attention for these large bio-molecules in all kinds of biomedical research. For example, endogenous peptides often serve as templates for the development of novel (peptidic) therapeutic compounds, while their roles in physiological processes are extensively explored for applications in disease (pre) diagnosis. In recent years, liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has developed into one of the most valuable analytical techniques that could overcome most problems generally associated with the bioanalysis of peptides, as it allows highly sensitive and specific analyses. The suitability of LC-MS/MS for the quantification of peptides in biological matrices has been overviewed in the introduction of this thesis, which thereafter focuses on the development and validation of various LC-MS/MS methods for different types of peptides, including peptide drugs, endogenous bioactive peptides and peptide fragments from endogenous blood proteins. The developed methods have been used for the absolute quantification of the specific peptides in clinical serum samples to evaluate their potential as serum markers for different types of cancer. For example, the antimicrobial human neutrophil peptides-1, -2 and -3 (HNP-1, 2 and -3) were quantified in serum samples from colorectal cancer patients. The developed LC-MS/MS method allowed for the first time simultaneous quantification of individual concentrations of these three structurally almost similar peptides and revealed significantly up-regulated serum concentrations of HNP-1 and -2 in colorectal cancer patients compared to serum from colonoscopy-assessed controls. Furthermore, two different LC-MS/MS methods were developed for the absolute quantification of proteolytic peptide fragments from common blood proteins, which have previously been postulated as exhibiting diagnostic information for the detection of different types of cancer. The suitability and importance of the developed LC-MS/MS methods was shown by the measurement of clinical serum samples from breast cancer patients and matched controls. These analyses showed significantly up-regulated serum concentrations in breast cancer for des-Arg9-bradykinin, a metabolite from bradykinin, and for several peptides derived from the blood protein inter alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain 4 (ITIH4). Moreover, serum concentrations of the up-regulated peptides were significantly decreased after surgical removal of the breast cancer tumor, indicating the potential of these peptides in the follow-up of breast cancer. The developed LC-MS/MS methods were further exploited to more specifically investigate the influence of pre-analytical factors on the serum concentrations of the different peptide fragments, required for future studies to finally elucidate the role of these peptides in different types of cancer and their potential as cancer biomarkers.


Passive cutaneous anaphylatic (PCA) reactions could be elicited in young chicks using sensitizing antisera prepared in the chicken. PCA reactions were seldom observed in chickens over 4 months of age. It appears that in older chickens the antibody is not fixed to the skin. Several parameters were investigated and these included the latent period, immunological specificity, the best skin site, and the amounts of antibody and antigen necessary for consistently reproducible reactions. Extensive histological studies were carried out. Examination of the vascular morphology and the tissue infiltrate showed that the reaction was clearly a PCA reaction and not a reverse Arthus phenomenon.


This volume brings together a collection of papers that summarize current ideas and recent progress in the study of granite-related mineralization systems. They provide a combination of field, experimental and theoretical studies. Papers are grouped according to the main granite-related ore systems: granite-pegmatite, skarn and greisen-veins, porphyry, orogenic gold, intrusion-related, epithermal and porphyry-related gold and base metal, iron oxide–copper–gold (IOCG), and special case studies. The studies provide a broad spread in terms of both space and time, highlighting granite-related ore deposits from Europe (Russia, Sweden, Croatia and Turkey), the Middle East (Iran), Asia (Japan and China) and South America (Brazil and Argentina) and spanning rocks from Palaeoproterozoic to Miocene in age.


Although the Net Promoter Score (NPS) consumer metric as proposed by Reichheld (2003) has been established as a pragmatic commercial revenue indicator in business management, empirical scrutiny of the measure remains limited. Moreover, scholars have criticised the simplistic and generalised approach of NPS; which some argue lack scientific robustness. In this study, an evaluation of the NPS is made in the context of professional football consumerism in South Africa in an effort to evaluate the empirical rigour of the metric. With the theoretical context of loyalty-based business models and relationship marketing as departure point, a measurement and structural model was evaluated with direct paths specified between NPS and consumer expenditure, as well as indirect paths with NPS postulated as a mediator to activate purchasing behaviours in a nomological network that included the traditional sport consumption motives. 2465 adult fans of one of the country's best supported and most established professional football clubs participated in the study. A cross-sectional, exploratory and quantitative research design was utilised. Respondents were requested to complete self-report measures that were uploaded onto a specially designed digital interface made available on the club Facebook page. Structural equation modelling was used to assess the research model by evaluating goodness of fit statistics for the measurement model and evaluating direct and indirect paths between the variables under investigation. Results suggested that NPS is a direct predictor of consumer expenditure. It also provided evidence that NPS may mediate between sport consumption motives and expenditure. The results of the study are discussed, with recommendations made for the future.


Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) programs are powerful design tools that can predict detailed flow movement, temperature distribution, and contaminant dispersion. This paper reports the steady-state 3-D CFD modelling of air movement and temperature distribution due to thermal buoyancy within top-lit three-storey representative Malaysian atrium forms using the computer code PHOENICS. Details of temperature distribution, airflow patterns and other comfort parameters would provide a better picture of the resultant thermal performance within the atrium in response to the changes of design variables. The CFD modelling studies were to investigate quantitatively the effects of varying inlet to outlet opening area ratios and also the outlet's arrangement on the atrium's thermal environmental performance in relation to occupants' thermal comfort. The simulation results have revealed that sufficiently higher inlet to outlet opening area ratio (i.e. n>1) can improve the thermal performance on the occupied levels; while with an equal inlet to outlet opening area ratio (i.e. n=1), changing the outlet's arrangement (i.e. location and configuration) has not significantly affected the atrium's thermal performance.


The El Convento Cave-Spring System is located at the head of the Quebrada de Los Cedros, approximately 20 km. west of Ponce, southwestern Puerto Rico. Although situated in an arid environment, the gorge receives sufficient moisture from the cave-spring system to support an abundant flora, with Bucida buceras and Bursera simaruba as the dominant trees. The cave is frequently flooded and possesses a rich nutrient substrate in the form of bat guano. Numerous orthopterans (Aspiduchus cavernicola and Amphiacusta annulipes), decapoda (Macrobrachium carcinus and Epilobocera sinuatifrons), and chiroptera (Brachyphylla cavernarum and Artebius jamaicensis) are present. In addition, approximately a dozen other species of invertebrates are found in lesser abundance throughout the system. None of the forms collected demonstrated specific cavernicolous adaptations. Because of the numerous entrances and frequent flooding the possibility of the presence of troglobites is minimal.


The education of entrepreneurship is considered the most effective method to stimulate entrepreneurship within a society (Aaltio & Eskelinen, 2016); hence, creating jobs and encouraging economic growth (Lackeus, 2015). There are nevertheless structural difficulties in teaching entrepreneurship (Yang, 2016), and institutions are often left with the question: 'learning-by-doing-what?' This is particularly worrisome for partner universities who are supposed to collaborate to benefit the student. This study examines which initiatives two partner universities have integrated regarding the concept of entrepreneurship education, and to what extent these initiatives are in accordance with the already established literature. The analysis of the results from the qualitative data gathered through interviews shows that both universities lack certain important aspects of entrepreneurship education in their current offerings. It was found that University A seems to lack cohesion between the different faculties, has not integrated a global approach, has weak links with SMEs and social impact companies, and offers experiential-based learning mainly with in-class activities. University B, on the other hand, shows an improper use of terminology regarding the concept of entrepreneurship, lacks the collaboration with large corporations and social impact companies, and has a short-term approach for its programs as opposed to the more effective long-term approach. In addition, both universities fail to widely integrate entrepreneurship across the university. The research shows that there is no generally accepted understanding of how universities should structure their entrepreneurial environment. This study aims at discovering and contrasting the current initiatives to stimulate entrepreneurship at university level by comparing two partner universities in the United Kingdom and The Netherlands.


Soil salinity is a growing problem on many irrigated parts of arid and semi-arid areas of Ethiopia. Utilization of improved salt-tolerant forage grasses help farmers to maximize production and reclaim saline soil. A study was conducted at Werer Agricultural Research Center (WARC) from 2012 to 2014 to evaluate performance of four forage grass species of salinity tolerance, ameliorative effect and biomass production. The result showed that dry matter yield obtained under saline soil was higher in Cinchrus ciliaris (37 ton/ha/year) followed by Chloris gayana (36 ton/ha/year), while the smallest was recorded from Sorghum sudanese (27 ton/ha/year). After exposing for salt stress, C. gayana and C. ciliaris dry matter production relative to normal soil only decrease by 15 and 9%, respectively. While, Panicum antidotale and S. sudanese dry matter reduction was Severe, by 53 and 45%, respectively. Reduction in electrical conductivity (ECe) varied between 52.60 and 74.81% in the upper 0 to 30 cm soil layer and 54.76 to 79.63% in the lower 30 to 60 cm. The highest reduction percentage of salinity under surface (74.81%) and sub-surface (79.63%) layer soil occurred under C. gayana grass. C. ciliaris, P. antidotale and S. sudanese cause the reduction at surface soil layer ECe by 70.55, 66.42 and 54.76%, respectively. The same trend was observed for reduction of ESP and pHe as a result of growing of grass species. Generally, C. gayana and C. ciliaris have excellent potential for its high salinity stress tolerance, biomass production and ameliorative effect on soil properties.

 Key words: Salinity, amelioration, forage grasses, biomass yield.


Why do some citizens remove the same politicians that they elected from office? This article examines the use of recall referenda, an increasingly prevalent process in which citizens organize a vote to remove politicians from office before they complete their terms. Although celebrated as a tool to improve electoral accountability, we argue that recall referenda are organized to pursue political vendettas. We test this claim using an original data set on the different stages leading to subnational recalls in Peru. Recalls are initiated more often when politicians lose by narrow vote margins and when women hold office. Once put to a vote, citizens do use office performance to decide whether to retain their politicians. Losing politicians organized fewer recall referenda following an institutional reform that allowed politicians to name their successors. The implication is that recall referenda create weak incentives to improve office performance, but careful institutional design can improve their functioning.


An integrated experimental and numerical investigation of the thermal contact resistance across two nominally flat, coated metallic engineering surfaces in contact is presented. The model consists of a surface deformation computation, which determines the actual contact area and number of contacting asperities at a joint, and a constriction resistance analysis, which determines the constriction resistance through each individual contacting asperity. Predictions from the model are validated against experiments conducted for the purpose. The experiments are performed according to a "design of experiments" approach and evaluated using statistical regression. Three substrates (copper, brass, and aluminum) and three coatings (silver, nickel, and tin) are considered with a variety of coating thicknesses and substrate roughnesses. The contact load is also varied. The experimental measurements show that the best choice of a coating for contact resistance mitigation depends on the substrate material and roughness, and it cannot be prescribed in general. A regression equation developed for the experimental results offers a useful tool for the design of coated contacts. The measured results agree well with predicted values from the numerical model, especially in cases of a rough substrate or hard coating.


Tracking and understanding human gait is an important step towards improving elderly mobility and safety. This thesis presents a vision-based tracking system that estimates the 3D pose of a wheeled walker user's lower limbs with cameras mounted on the moving walker. The tracker estimates 3D poses from images of the lower limbs in the coronal plane in a dynamic, uncontrolled environment. It employs a probabilistic approach based on particle filtering with three different camera setups: a monocular RGB camera, binocular RGB cameras, and a depth camera. For the RGB cameras, observation likelihoods are designed to compare the colors and gradients of each frame with initial templates that are manually extracted. Two strategies are also investigated for handling appearance change of tracking target: increasing number of templates and using different representations of colors. For the depth camera, two observation likelihoods are developed: the first one works directly in the 3D space, while the second one works in the projected image space. Experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of the tracking system with different users for all three camera setups. It is demonstrated that the trackers with the RGB cameras produce results with higher error as compared to the depth camera, and the strategies for handling appearance change improve tracking accuracy in general. On the other hand, the tracker with the depth sensor successfully tracks the 3D poses of users over the entire video sequence and is robust against unfavorable conditions such as partial occlusion, missing observations, and deformable tracking target.


Our ability to respond appropriately to infectious diseases is enhanced by identifying differences in the potential for transmitting infection between individuals. Here, we identify epidemiological traits of self-limited infections (i.e. infections with an effective reproduction number satisfying ) that correlate with transmissibility. Our analysis is based on a branching process model that permits statistical comparison of both the strength and heterogeneity of transmission for two distinct types of cases. Our approach provides insight into a variety of scenarios, including the transmission of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the Arabian peninsula, measles in North America, pre-eradication smallpox in Europe, and human monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. When applied to chain size data for MERS-CoV transmission before 2014, our method indicates that despite an apparent trend towards improved control, there is not enough statistical evidence to indicate that has declined with time. Meanwhile, chain size data for measles in the United States and Canada reveal statistically significant geographic variation in , suggesting that the timing and coverage of national vaccination programs, as well as contact tracing procedures, may shape the size distribution of observed infection clusters. Infection source data for smallpox suggests that primary cases transmitted more than secondary cases, and provides a quantitative assessment of the effectiveness of control interventions. Human monkeypox, on the other hand, does not show evidence of differential transmission between animals in contact with humans, primary cases, or secondary cases, which assuages the concern that social mixing can amplify transmission by secondary cases. Lastly, we evaluate surveillance requirements for detecting a change in the human-to-human transmission of monkeypox since the cessation of cross-protective smallpox vaccination. Our studies lay the foundation for future investigations regarding how infection source, vaccination status or other putative transmissibility traits may affect self-limited transmission.


The last report for project P291A, Faulting and
mineralisation in western Tasmania, was in May 1994. Since then the project has concentrated on detailed laboratory analysis from the last field season. Two sections have been active. The S isotope study (Davidson G & Kitto PA)has
concentrated on the northern margin of Rosebery and is starting to tackle the problem of what the
signature of hydrothermal circulation is in the CVC.

Sixty-four sulfur isotope analyses were obtained from footwall rocks at the north end of the Rosebery hydrothermal system, using a laser ablation microprobe at the University of Tasmania. Results to date indicate that the Cambrian footwall pyrite within 1 km of B-lens has the same isotopic values as B-lens and its underlying footwall pyrite (d34S = 7.3-17.3 permil, mean =11.5 permil), but beyond this increases distinctly to d34S =11.8-20.2 permil, with a mean of 15.1 permil. Post-cleavage pyrite ranged from 1.1 permil to 3.8 permil (n=4). Black slate pyrite was divided for sampling purposes into vein and disseminated pyrite, which have the same wide isotopic range (d34S= 4.6-19.2 permil), although in the two samples
where both types could be analysed together, vein pyrite was up to 4 permil lighter.

The increase in d34S values of footwall pyrite at
Rosebery indicates that the margins of this Cambrian hydrothermal system contained high concentrations of seawater sulfate-derived sulfur. This sulfur was entrained by shallow convection at the periphery of the main up-flow limb of a deep convective cell below Rosebery. The increase in d34S values occurs further from ore, and is less pronounced, than at Hellyer. These differences are
attributed to the original highly porous character of
the Rosebery footwall, and leads to the general
conclusion that fluid flow in the felsic breccias
(which typify much of the Mount Read Volcanic Belt) must have been more diffuse than in coherent lava sequences such as the Que-Hellyer belt.

The other major activity since May has been the analysis of the stratigraphic correlation within the Mt Read volcanics, aimed at the establishment of a basin geometry. The Mt Read Volcanics have been subdivided into three depositional cycles each with a distinct basin geometry and history. This subdivision has been substantially revised from the version available in the May report with input available from a number of additional sources.
Samples of sandstones have been collect from each
of these cycles. Cycle 2 sandstones are recognisable
from the very large component of Fe oxides, including ilmenite and magnetite. The cycle 3 sandstones have much less Fe oxide and the major external contribution to the heavy minerals is chromite and rounded zircon. These are most abundant in the Animal Creek Greywacke. The heavy mineral suites have potential to aid correlation within the stratigraphy.

Research by CODES students outside the AMlRA project is producing important results relevant to the project. A summary of two of these CODES/AMIRA studies is included here as the work is not yet generally available, and is important to the arguments in this report.


Fully revised, updated and offered in a new three-volume format, The Yeasts: A Taxonomic Study, 5th Edition remains the most comprehensive presentation of yeast taxonomy and systematics available. Nearly 1500 species of ascomycete and basidiomycete yeasts are included, each description offering not only standard morphological and physiological characters, but also information on systematics, habitat, ecology, agricultural and biotechnological applications and clinical importance. Extensive introductory chapters discuss clinical aspects of yeasts, their role in biotechnology, food and beverage spoilage, agriculture and ecology, while other chapters include methodology for isolation of species from various habitats, phenotypic characterization, chemotaxonomy, gene sequence analysis and phylogenetics, including whole genome analysis. Additionally, easy-to-understand trees illustrate the phylogenetic placement of each species in its assigned genus as they have been determined from gene sequence analysis. This essential work, prepared by the leading experts in the field, is the most definitive treatment of taxonomy and systematics of yeasts on the market, and a necessary reference for any bookshelf or workbench.

High-quality photomicrographs and line drawings
Detailed phylogenetic trees
Up-to-date, clearly presented yeast taxonomy and systematic, easy-to-use reference sequence accession numbers to allow for correct identification


The creative and cultural industries form a significant employment sector in both the Thames Gateway region
in England and the Durban Metropolitan Area in South Africa. Whilst successful completion of a degree has
increased the chances of employment and career options for learners in both countries, employability may
also be increased through work experience.
This paper reports on work in progress on a demonstrator project in the form of a Creative and Cultural
Industries (CCI) Studio/Work Laboratory that will offer work integrated learning (WIL) in the Department of
Visual Communication Design at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), in collaboration with the
University of East London (UEL). Once embedded, the intention is to transfer the model to other subspecialities
within the CCI as well as other disciplines at DUT.
The project is intended to provide the opportunity for senior Graphic Design students to follow their design
process all the way from briefing and earliest ideas through to final production and delivery to clients,
including dealing with professional and administrative work such as costing, accounting and payments.
These have either not been possible in the DUT's Programme to date, or have not included the financial
aspects associated with design undertaken in the world of work.
In reporting on progress, the paper examines the value of work-integrated learning in contributing to
employability as well as the signposting, information advice and guidance that is necessary for learners who
may not have even considered creative careers. The challenges of employer engagement are also
considered at an institutional level.


Agricultural Geophysics Overview General Considerations for Geophysical Methods Applied to Agriculture, Allred et al. Past, Present, and Future Trends of Soil Electrical Conductivity Measurement Using Geophysical Methods, Corwin History of Ground-Penetrating Radar Applications in Agriculture, Collins Agricultural Geophysics Measurements and Methods Theoretical Insight on the Measurement of Soil Electrical Conductivity, Corwin et al. Resistivity Methods, Allred et al. Electromagnetic Induction Methods, Daniels et al. Ground Penetrating Radar Methods, Daniels et al. Magnetometry, Self-Potential, and Seismic: Additional Geophysical Methods Having Potentially Significant Future Use in Agriculture, Allred et al. The Global Positioning System and Geographic Information Systems Integration of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to Agricultural Geophysics, Grejner-Brzezinska Integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Agricultural Geophysics, Merry Agricultural Geophysics Application Examples Resistivity and Electromagnetic Induction Case Histories Introduction to Resistivity and Electromagnetic Case Histories, Allred and Ehsani. Apparent Electrical Conductivity for Delineating Spatial Variability in Soil Properties, Wienhold and Doran Dependence of Soil Apparent Electrical Conductivity (ECa) Upon Soil Texture and Ignition Loss at Various Depths in Two Morainic Loam Soils in SE Norway, Korsaeth Relations Between a Commercial Soil Survey Map Based on Soil Apparent Electrical Conductivity (ECa) and Measured Soil Properties on a Morainic Soil in SE Norway, Korsaeth et al. Mapping Pesticide Partition Coefficients by Electromagnetic Induction, Jaynes Can Apparent Soil Electrical Conductivity Be Used to Map Soil-Herbicide Partition Coefficients? A Case Study in Three Colorado Fields, Shaner et al. Delineating Site-Specific Management Units Using Geospatial Apparent Soil Electrical Conductivity (ECa) Measurements, Corwin et al. Mapping of Soil Drainage Classes Using Topographical Data and Soil Electrical Conductivity, Kravchenko Productivity Zones Based on Bulk Soil Electrical Conductivity: Applications for Dryland Agriculture and Research, Johnson et al. A Four Year Summary of the Use of Soil Conductivity as a Measure of Soil and Crop Status, Eigenberg Mapping of Apparent Soil Electrical Conductivity (ECa) Helps Establish Research Plots at a New Research and Extension Center, Farahani et al. Mapping Golf-Course Features with Electromagnetic Induction, with Examples from Dublin, Ohio, Taylor Comparison of Geoelectrical Instruments in Different Soilscapes, Gebbers and Luck Ground Penetrating Radar Case Histories Introduction to Ground Penetrating Radar Case Histories, Allred. Ground Penetrating Radar Surveys Across a Prototype Surface Barrier to Determine Temporal and Spatial Variations in Soil Moisture, Clement and Ward Soil Water Content Measurement Using the Ground- Penetrating Radar Surface Reflectivity Method, Redman Assessing Spatial and Temporal Soil Water Content Variations with Ground Penetrating Radar, Lennartz et al. Ground Penetrating Radar Mapping of Near-Surface Preferential Flow, Freeland An Application of Ground Penetrating Radar in Golf Course Management, Boniak et al. Ground Penetrating Radar Investigation of a Golf Course Green: Computer Processing and Field Survey Set-Up Considerations, Allred et al. Agricultural Drainage Pipe Detection Using Ground Penetrating Radar, Allred and Daniels Using Ground Penetrating Radar to Estimate Tree Root Mass: Comparing Results from Two Florida Surveys, Butnor at al. Glossary Index


Lexicogrammatical resources enable us to construct attitudinal stances not only toward interlocutors and audiences but also toward the ideational content of propositions and proposals. Seven semantic dimensions of evaluative orientations to propositions are identified and compared to those for clause modality. A sample corpus of newspaper editorials is used to illustrate the resources which realize these evaluative meanings in connected running text. Examples are also given of several interesting text-semantic phenomena that arise from the prosodic realization of attitudinal-orientational meanings in connected text, including attitudinal cohesion and syntactic, projective, and extended prospective and retrospective propagation of evaluative meanings. It is proposed that evaluative meanings should play a significant role in discourse analysis of social heteroglossia and individual and collective identity.


riding the bandwidth: Producing for Digital Radio. Rafael Oei. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic, 2005. 256 pp. $22.00 pbk. Digital radio. * What is it? * How should you produce content for it? * What will it mean for the future of broadcasting? The questions are intriguing, and readers in search of answers will find points to ponder in Rafael Oei's new book, riding the bandwidth: Producing for Digital Radio. Oei, a graduate of the University of Warwick in England, has a background that includes studies and work in theatre, radio, and film. He first explored the digital radio landscape in a 2002 book, Borderless Bandwidth: DNA of Digital Radio. In his new book Oei shifts his focus from explaining what digital radio is to explaining how content for it should be produced. riding the bandwidth focuses primarily on DAB Eureka-147. DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting. Eureka is the name of the international consortium assembled to develop worldwide DAB standards. The project that initiated the DAB system now in place turned out to be Eureka's 147th technical project, hence DAB Eureka-147. DAB's digital broadcast signal is received by stand-alone receivers and by receivers connected to personal computers. Changing the analog reality of oneway, sound-only broadcasts, DAB Eureka147 enables audience members to interact with pictures, information, links, and archives. The idea, Oei says, is to provide people with the power to personally alter programmed content. Thus, formerly passive radio listeners would be able to function as "co-producer consumers." How do you produce digital audio broadcast content? Except for the interactive components, Oei says, you produce it pretty much the same way you would produce analog radio. Indeed, Oei believes the best way for students to prepare to edit in a virtual electronic environment is for them to start out doing manual dub and splice editing of magnetic tape using open reel tape machines and razor blades and then to work their way up the technological food chain. Oei's book provides stepby-step guidance for their quests, offering lessons grounded in the basics. This new technology's growth has been slow. The first digital audio broadcast system, Oei says, went online in Germany in the mid-1990s. Singapore followed suit in 1999. Since then, Oei says, England and the Netherlands have "produced digital broadcast services with much agony." Other countries, Oei says, "remain cautious and are slowly providing similar services." Oei's book does not chart the growth of digital radio in the United States, but the National Association of Broadcasters notes that it began in 2002 after the Federal Communications Commission approved technology for digital AM and FM broadcasting. …


Abstract A morphological study, supplemented by molecular analysis (ITS1-2 nrDNA, and trnL-F cpDNA) revealed Scapania aspera M.Bernet & Bernet, a species that is typically distributed throughout Europe, in samples collected from Anabar Plateau, Taimyr District, Subarctic East Siberia. The ecology and distribution of this species are discussed, and images of Siberian specimens of Scapania aspera are provided. This finding of the species is both the easternmost and the northernmost in Eurasia and is at least 3000 km from the nearest European localities. The territory is remarkable due to extensive outcrops of calcareous rocks. A number of rare calcareous bryophytes with disjunctive distribution have been observed in this area. Despite the significant distance and probable isolation, the molecular distances between newly identified Siberian population and the European populations are extremely low.


I have always been told that form follows function. But does it have to be that way? I decided to see it from another angle.Kinesics is a term form non verbal komunication. In my thesis project I have been working with body language in furniture. I believe that furniture, just like us, has an expression and a character. We often tend to desccribe furniture with the same words as we describe people, for example: "A relaxed chair" or "a cocky table". I wanted to exaggerate the expression by applying body language to my furniture and make them become something more than just a function. I wanted to give them a character and bring them to life.


Indigenous peoples are overrepresented in the courts of both Australia and Canada. They face a number of special disadvantages in dealing with the courts that historically have led to the development of special legal services operated by Indigenous people. The kind of legal organization is not the same in these two countries because of differences in their organizational environments. These include demographics, economics, culture, law, politics, ecology, and technology. These factors provided both constraints and opportunities for the new organizations. Examples from two case studies are used: Native Counselling Services of Alberta, Canada, which provides Native Courtworkers and legal information services, and the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement, Inc. of South Australia, which provides legal representation and legal information. The case studies indicate that Indigenous legal services organizations must still adapt and innovate by constructing new realities if they are to continue to provide desperately needed services for Indigenous peoples.


Previous investigations show that it is plausible that metabolic rates (MR) in all body organs and tissues scale with their own mass with exponent b = D/3, where D is the fractal dimension of the self-similar vascular whole body blood transport system. From the assumption that organ or tissue mass scale with body mass (BM) with exponent d, it follows that organ and tissue MR scale with BM exponents bd. By taking the median organ in vitro MR exponential scaling of 0.91 as an estimate of b, this principle is shown to be valid in porgy. With d = 0.89 and d = 1.04, the scaling exponents of viscera and white muscle are bd = 0.81 for viscera and bd = 0.95 for white muscle, respectively. The viscera value is very close to the porgy resting or basal metabolic rate (BMR) scaling exponent of c = 0.82, and white muscle is reasonably close to the average ectotherm maximum metabolic rate (MMR) scaling exponent 0.92. There are only two species, humans and crucian carp, with available scalings of MMR, BMR and viscera in terms of the exponents b, c and d. The postulate bd = c is shown to hold for both these species within the limits of experimental error, with the crucian carp evidence being especially convincing, since b, c and d are estimated from the same experimental situation. A collation of 19 ectotherm estimates of b shows highly significant differences between them. It is remarkable that the average values of b do not differ much between aquatics and terrestrials, while the average BMR exponents c differ to a remarkable extent, most likely caused by differences in d. Observed differences in d, with generally d during early growth and d or d b during later growth, coupled with can explain the pattern of the BMR scaling with BM, with its often observed broken stick appearance during ontogeny. The examples from the literature confirm that the range of theoretical values 1, 14/15, 5/6 and 2/3 of b, when coupled with the observed values of d, is adequate to produce values of bd corresponding to c estimated from fasting experiments. An example is shown in humans that corrections for body fat percentage, exercise level and age give the same pattern in the relationship bd = c between mature individuals differing in size, as the one observed during growth.


It is currently feared that the increase in surface sea temperature resulting from increasing levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere could result in higher tropical cyclone intensity in the future. Although the economic consequences have been studied for a number of developed countries, very little work has been done on developing countries. The present paper assesses the likely effects that increased typhoon intensity will have on damage to housing by the year 2085 in the Philippines, using a Monte Carlo simulation that magnifies the intensity of historical tropical cyclones between the years 1978 and 2008. The simulation shows that direct damage to housing could increase between 17 and 58%, depending on the adaptive capacity of each region in the Philippines and assuming the latter remains constant between now and 2085. The results clearly suggest the need to increase the resilience of local communities against the possible consequences of climate change.


Accurate PET quantitation requires a matched attenuation map. Obtaining matched CT attenuation maps in the thorax is difficult due to the respiratory cycle which causes both motion and density changes. Unlike with motion, little attention has been given to the effects of density changes in the lung on PET quantitation. This work aims to explore the extent of the errors caused by pulmonary density attenuation map mismatch on dynamic and static parameter estimates. Dynamic XCAT phantoms were utilised using clinically relevant 18F-FDG and 18F-FMISO time activity curves for all organs within the thorax to estimate the expected parameter errors. The simulations were then validated with PET data from 5 patients suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis who underwent PET/Cine-CT. The PET data were reconstructed with three gates obtained from the Cine-CT and the average Cine-CT. The lung TACs clearly displayed differences between true and measured curves with error depending on global activity distribution at the time of measurement. The density errors from using a mismatched attenuation map were found to have a considerable impact on PET quantitative accuracy. Maximum errors due to density mismatch were found to be as high as 25% in the XCAT simulation. Differences in patient derived kinetic parameter estimates and static concentration between the extreme gates were found to be as high as 31% and 14%, respectively. Overall our results show that respiratory associated density errors in the attenuation map affect quantitation throughout the lung, not just regions near boundaries. The extent of this error is dependent on the activity distribution in the thorax and hence on the tracer and time of acquisition. Consequently there may be a significant impact on estimated kinetic parameters throughout the lung.


Abstract Is it rational to reduce criminal activities if punishments are increased? While intuition might suggest so, game theory concludes differently. From the game theoretical perspective, inspectors anticipate the effect of increased punishments on criminal behavior and reduce their inspection activities accordingly. This implies that higher punishments reduce inspections and do not affect crime rates. We present two laboratory experiments, which challenge this perspective by demonstrating that both, criminals and inspectors, are affected by punishment levels. Thereupon, we investigate with agent-based simulations, whether models of bounded rationality can explain our empirical data. We differentiate between two kinds of bounded rationality; the first considers bounded learning from social interaction, the second bounded decision-making. Our results suggest that humans show both kinds of bounded rationality in the strategic situation of crime, control and punishment. We conclude that it is not the rationality but the bounded rationality in humans that makes punishment effective.


We are interested in the analysis of very large continuous-time Markov chains (CTMCs) with many distinct rates. Such models arise naturally in the context security and dependability analysis of power grids, of computer virus vulnerability, and in the study of crowd dynamics. We use abstraction techniques together with novel algorithms for the computation of bounds on the expected final and accumulated rewards in continuous-time Markov decision processes (CTMDPs). These ingredients are combined in a partly symbolic and partly explicit (symblicit) analysis approach. In particular, we circumvent the use of multi-terminal decision diagrams, because the latter do not work well if facing a large number of different rates. We demonstrate the practical applicability and efficiency of the approach on two case studies.