Abstract. Understanding variations in atmospheric ozone in the
Arctic is difficult because there are only a few long-term records of
vertical ozone profiles in this region. We present 12 years of ozone
profiles from February 2005 to February 2017 at four sites: Summit Station,
Greenland; Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway; and Alert and Eureka, Nunavut, Canada.
These profiles are created by combining ozonesonde measurements with ozone
profile retrievals using data from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS). This
combination creates a high-quality dataset with low uncertainty values by relying
on in situ measurements of the maximum altitude of the ozonesondes
(∼30 km) and satellite retrievals in the upper atmosphere (up
to 60 km). For each station, the total column ozone (TCO) and the partial
column ozone (PCO) in four atmospheric layers (troposphere to upper
stratosphere) are analyzed. Overall, the seasonal cycles are similar at
these sites. However, the TCO over Ny-Ålesund starts to decline 2
months later than at the other sites. In summer, the PCO in the upper
stratosphere over Summit Station is slightly higher than at the other sites
and exhibits a higher standard deviation. The decrease in PCO in the middle
and upper stratosphere during fall is also lower over Summit Station. The
maximum value of the lower- and middle-stratospheric PCO is reached earlier
in the year over Eureka. Trend analysis over the 12-year period shows
significant trends in most of the layers over Summit and Ny-Ålesund
during summer and fall. To understand deseasonalized ozone variations, we
identify the most important dynamical drivers of Arctic ozone at each level.
These drivers are chosen based on mutual selected proxies at the four sites
using stepwise multiple regression (SMR) analysis of various dynamical parameters
with deseasonalized data. The final regression model is able to explain more
than 80 % of the TCO and more than 70 % of the PCO in almost all of the
layers. The regression model provides the greatest explanatory value in the
middle stratosphere. The important proxies of the deseasonalized ozone time
series at the four sites are tropopause pressure (TP) and equivalent latitude (EQL) at
370 K in the troposphere, the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in the troposphere
and lower stratosphere, the equivalent latitude at 550 K in the middle and
upper stratosphere, and the eddy heat flux (EHF) and volume of polar stratospheric
clouds throughout the stratosphere.


This study extends the work of Reckase, Zu, and Kim (2019) by introducing three new measures of test adaptation. These measures are based on the amount of information that the test provides to individual examinees and are designed to provide theoretical, engineering, and operational views of the amount of adaptation that a particular test provides. The three measures are applied to simulations of adaptive, multistage, and fixed-form tests to describe how the measures could be used in an operational setting to identify difficulties with adaptation and to suggest processes for improving adaptivity.


Submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements of the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Educational Planning & Administration in the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2000.


The Visualizing Culture controversy demonstrated the ongoing struggle in East Asia over the meaning of the twentieth-century conflicts between Japan and neighboring countries. Critics demanded that the images of Japanese and Qing soldiers required narrative context, but narratives differ substantially in Japan as opposed to its former colonies. The controversy also points to the explosion in publications and on the Web of visual imagery from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The ability to publish photographs at low cost means that those who do so should recognize that the image is not neutral; images have a malleable rhetorical force that defies reduction to a stable meaning.


Digital motion control requires precise and low-noise velocity information. Since this velocity information must be calculated from position encoders in each control cycle, time efficiency of these algorithms is a very important design goal. Additionally, it is required that these algorithms operate over wide ranges of both velocity and acceleration. Model-based feedback observers fulfill these requirements for many applications but in some cases they, for various reasons, cannot be formulated. Various applications have been presented in which adaptive filters are applied to overcome the compromises of fixed-length filters. However, it remains desirable to improve the performance of these methods especially in regions of very low velocity and to lower the computation time. This paper presents a new algorithm for the adaption of the window size of differentiator algorithms and a novel criterion for the velocity estimation. This criterion is used to take the dependence between the system's acceleration and the velocity estimation error into account. The properties are studied in simulations and compared to other differentiation techniques. Additionally, results from experiments with a 6-degree-of-freedom servohydraulic Stewart-Gough platform equipped with the new velocity estimation scheme are presented and compared to the performance of concurrent algorithms.


Dietary nitrate supplementation improves exercise performance by reducing the oxygen cost of exercise and enhancing skeletal muscle function. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects are not well understood. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in skeletal muscle energy metabolism associated with exercise performance in a zebrafish model. Fish were exposed to sodium nitrate (60.7 mg/L, 303.5 mg/L, 606.9 mg/L), or control water, for 21 days and analyzed at intervals (5, 10, 20, 30, 40 cm/sec) during a two-hour strenuous exercise test. We measured oxygen consumption during an exercise test and assessed muscle nitrate concentrations, gene expression and the muscle metabolome before, during and after exercise. Nitrate exposure reduced the oxygen cost of exercise and increased muscle nitrate concentrations at rest, which were reduced with increasing exercise duration. In skeletal muscle, nitrate treatment upregulated expression of genes central to nutrient sensing (mtor), redox signaling (nrf2a) and muscle differentiation (sox6). In rested muscle, nitrate treatment increased phosphocreatine (P = 0.002), creatine (P =0.0005), ATP (P = 0.0008), ADP (P = 0.002), and AMP (P =0.004) compared to rested-control muscle. Following the highest swimming speed, concentration of phosphocreatine (P = 8.0 x 10-5), creatine (P =6.0 x 10-7), ATP (P = 2.0 x 10-6), ADP (P = 0.0002), and AMP (P =0.004) decreased compared to rested nitrate muscle. Our data suggests nitrate exposure in zebrafish lowers the oxygen cost of exercise by changing the metabolic programming of muscle prior to exercise and increasing availability of energy-rich metabolites required for exercise.


This paper considers the problem of making inferences about the effects of a program on multiple outcomes when the assignment of treatment status is imperfectly randomized. By imperfect randomization we mean that treatment status is reassigned after an initial randomization on the basis of characteristics that may be observed or unobserved by the analyst. We develop a partial identification approach to this problem that makes use of information limiting the extent to which randomization is imperfect to show that it is still possible to make nontrivial inferences about the effects of the program in such settings. We consider a family of null hypotheses in which each null hypothesis specifies that the program has no effect on one of several outcomes of interest. Under weak assumptions, we construct a procedure for testing this family of null hypotheses in a way that controls the familywise error rate -- the probability of even one false rejection -- in finite samples. We develop our methodology in the context of a reanalysis of the HighScope Perry Preschool program. We find statistically significant effects of the program on a number of different outcomes of interest, including outcomes related to criminal activity for males and females, even after accounting for the imperfectness of the randomization and the multiplicity of null hypotheses.


Objective To estimate the impact on early development of prematurity and summer birth and the potential 'double disadvantage' created by starting school a year earlier than anticipated during pregnancy, due to being born preterm. Design, setting and patients We investigated the impact of gestational and school-entry age on the likelihood of failing to achieve a 'Good Level of Development' (GLD) on the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile in 5-year-old children born moderate-to-late preterm using data from the Born in Bradford longitudinal birth cohort. We used hierarchical logistic regression to control for chronological maturity, and perinatal and socioeconomic factors. Results Gestational age and school-entry age were significant predictors of attaining a GLD in the 10 337 children who entered school in the correct academic year given their estimated date of delivery. The odds of not attaining a GLD increased by 1.09 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.11) for each successive week born early and by 1.17 for each month younger within the year group (95% CI 1.16 to 1.18). There was no interaction between these two effects. Children starting school a year earlier than anticipated during pregnancy were less likely to achieve a GLD compared with (1) other children born preterm (fully adjusted OR 5.51 (2.85–14.25)); (2) term summer births (3.02 (1.49–6.79)); and (3) preterm summer births who remained within their anticipated school-entry year (3.64 (1.27–11.48)). Conclusions These results confirm the developmental risks faced by children born moderate-to-late preterm, and—for the first time—illustrate the increased risk associated with 'double disadvantage'.


For the purposes of this study, social need is defined as need at an aggregate level, as expressed in statements of the form "Community X needs provision Y". The assessment of social need is of central importance in the determination of resource allocation, and "needs studies" are a major tool of social planners and researchers. Social indicators are also seen as being useful for determining social need.
An examination of the literature relating to resource allocation reveals that there are some inadequacies in the way social need has been conceptualised, and that it has often been understood from within an essentially positivist perspective, as having some sort of independent existence and as being objectively measurable. Further conceptual exploration leads to an alternative formulation, where the emphasis is on the act of definition of social need, rather than on need per se. A model of social need statements is proposed, based on three different forms of need definition which are referred to as population defined need, care-taker defined need and inferred need.
In any particular case of assessing the need for a specific service, or the needs of a particular community, there may be differences between these three forms of need definition. Several
propositions are developed suggesting factors which may be significant in influencing judgements of social need, and which may lead to differences between population defined, caretaker defined and inferred need statements. These factors relate to the type of community, the type of provision or service, and the design and methodology of the needs study.
An exploratory research study was designed to investigate these propositions about factors which may affect need judgements. Three different communities in southern Tasmania were selected, and the "needs" for four different forms of social provision were studied in each area. The overall "needs" of each community were also investigated. The research was undertaken in order to deter-mine a picture of population defined, caretaker defined and inferred
need for each study area. Several different methodologies were used: a household survey, a survey of caretakers (service providers and opinion leaders), analysis of census data, analysis of service statistics and newspaper monitoring.
The results of the research clarify the differences between the three forms of need statement. They indicate some of the factors which may be significant in contributing to these differences, and in affecting the way social need is defined. It is concluded that the proposed model of need statements represents a potentially useful framework for the study of social need, and on the basis of the research results the model is used to derive a number of suggestions for the design, assessment and analysis of needs studies. A frame-work for community development, based on the model, is also proposed, and further research questions arising from the study are identified.


Finite mixtures of linear mixed models are increasily applied in differentareas of application. They conveniently allow to account for correlations betweenobservations from the same individual and to model unobserved heterogeneity betweenindividuals at the same time. Different variants of the EM algorithm arepossible for maximum likelihood (ML) estimation. In this paper two different versionsfor fitting this model class are presented. One variant of the EM algorithmrequires weighted ML estimation. As this fitting method might not be readily availablein standard software sufficient conditions which allow to transform a weightedinto an unweighted ML estimation problem are derived.


Flexible broadband photodetectors based on 2D MoS2 have gained significant attention due to their superior light absorption and increased light sensitivity. However, pristine MoS2 has absorption only in visible and near IR spectrum. This paper reports a paper‐based broadband photodetector having ZnS–MoS2 hybrids as active sensing material fabricated using a simple, cost effective two‐step hydrothermal method wherein trilayer MoS2 is grown on cellulose paper followed by the growth of ZnS on MoS2. Optimization in terms of process parameters is done to yield uniform trilayer MoS2 on cellulose paper. UV sensing property of ZnS and broadband absorption of MoS2 in visible and IR, broadens the range from UV to near IR. ZnS plays the dual role for absorption in UV and in the generation of local electric fields, thereby increasing the sensitivity of the sensor. The fabricated photodetector exhibits a higher responsivity toward the visible light when compared to UV and IR light. Detailed studies in terms of energy band diagram are presented to understand the charge transport mechanism. This represents the first demonstration of a paper‐based flexible broadband photodetector with excellent photoresponsivity and high bending capability that can be used for wearable electronics, flexible security, and surveillance systems, etc.


This dissertation examines in the continental context the building and maintenance of the Han state, which existed in the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers regions roughly from the second century b.c.e. to the second century c.e. It surveys the trajectory that transformed the Han state from a regional polity confined to the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers regions to a trans-regional superpower, exerting its influence across East Eurasia. I focus specifically on the interstate interaction between the Yellow River region (the Han), on the steppe (the Xiongnu), and in the Tarim Basin (multiple oasis-states) from the beginning of the second century b.c.e. to the early first century c.e. as my case study. Making use of both transmitted and excavated Han texts, I demonstrate that two major mechanisms facilitated the transformative process of the Han state in the political landscape of East Eurasia. One was horizontal kin ties between the Han emperor and peer rulers. The other was the vertically-structured imperial bureaucracy that organized communities in the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers regions for imperial power-building. In particular, the imperial bureaucracy evolved into the nodal mechanism to sustain imperial initiatives. On the one hand, it vertically incorporated into its writing-based system individuals of diverse social, cultural, and geographic backgrounds in the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers regions as the support base of the Han emperor. On the other hand, it horizontally facilitated the emperor's kinship-based alliance network across East Eurasia. This bureaucratic mechanism became the backbone that continued to weave together complex communities in the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers regions regardless of the rise and fall of ruling houses.


As archbishop of Toledo from 1495 to 1517, Francisco Ximénez de Cisneros carried out a multifaceted campaign of support for the Mozarabic rite, which had been preserved in the Middle Ages by Christians living in Toledo under Muslim rule. Although the Roman rite was introduced into the cathedral in 1086, the Toledan Mozarabs had continued to follow their ancient liturgy in their parishes. By the end of the Middle Ages, however, the rite was rarely celebrated. Fearing that it might become obsolete, in 1501 Cisneros endowed a chapel in his cathedral for the Mozarabic rite and established a clergy of thirteen chaplains to celebrate the Mass and Office regularly. Furthermore, he oversaw a committee that assisted a canon of the cathedral, Alfonso Ortiz, in preparing editions of the Mozarabic missal and breviary that were published in 1500 and 1502, respectively. Despite the contemporary descriptions of these actions as a restoration of a partly lapsed practice, the editions produced under Cisneros's patronage and the choirbooks he had created for the chapel were as much a reinvention of the rite as a renewal of it. The resulting rite, which is more accurately termed "neo-Mozarabic," gradually became an important component of Spanish national identity, and in this sense can be considered an instance of the "invention of tradition" as described by Hobsbawm and Ranger. This article focuses on the reception history of Cisneros's liturgical project in the early modern period, analyzing descriptions of the creation of the neo-Mozarabic rite. The earliest narrative sources are the prefaces to the editions of the Mozarabic missal and breviary, with their nearly identical colophons. Other sources used here include the early sixteenth-century account by Juan de Vallejo, the midcentury biography of Cisneros by Gómez de Castro, the early seventeenth-century biography by Eugenio de Robles, and other writings from the seventeenth and eighteenth century. What began as a philological project in the spirit of the humanist improvement of corrupted texts soon took on other associations. In 1509, a year after the use of the Mozarabic rite in the cathedral was approved by Pope Julius II, Cisneros led the conquest of Oran, which was part of a new crusade to North Africa to convert Muslims as an extension of the idea of Christian reconquest encouraged by the Catholic monarchs. It remains open to question whether the Cisneros "restoration" of the rite was inherently nationalist in inspiration, but it is certain that he commissioned a representation of the conquest of Oran for the ceiling decoration of the Mozarabic Chapel, and the juxtaposition was noted by every writer in the early modern period. By the eighteenth century, the medieval Mozarabic liturgy had become a national symbol. When the Archbishop of Mexico (and future archbishop of Toledo), Francisco Antonio Lorenzana (1722–1804), published an edition of Mozarabic mass for Saint James in Puebla (1770), he showed himself to be a true follower of Cisneros, who had effectively reinvented the rite and ensured its future status. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Boynton, Susan (2015) "Restoration or Invention? Archbishop Cisneros and the Mozarabic Rite in Toledo," Yale Journal of Music & Religion: Vol. 1: No. 1, Article 3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17132/2377-231X.1009  Download


Fourier transform imaging spectroscopy (FTIS) can be performed with a multi-aperture optical system by making a series of intensity measurements, while introducing optical path differences (OPD's) between various subapertures, and recovering spectral data by the standard Fourier post-processing technique. The imaging properties for multi-aperture FTIS are investigated by examining the imaging transfer functions for the recovered spectral images. For systems with physically separated subapertures, the imaging transfer functions are shown to vanish necessarily at the DC spatial frequency. Also, it is shown that the spatial frequency coverage of particular systems may be improved substantially by simultaneously introducing multiple OPD's during the measurements, at the expense of limiting spectral coverage and causing the spectral resolution to vary with spatial frequency.


In this thesis, we consider the problem of finding an optimal combination of multiplexing and space-time coding over a MIMO array when a transmitter has a prior knowledge about correlation. Some existing work in this area used multiplexing and space-time coding methods as a technique to achieve capacity over a MIMO wireless channel. In this work, we consider a 2x2 lattice spacetime code of highest rank and multiplex it over a MIMO system to improve the bit error rate performance. The main focus of this thesis is to address the problem of switching between spatial multiplexing and space-time coding to enhance the performance of a MIMO system. The data rate over wireless links is improved by using a MIMO system. For this type of system, the spatial dimension is exploited by using spatial multiplexing and space-time coding with diversity oriented transmission. Spatial multiplexing uses spatial degrees of freedom and space-time coding uses the antennas. To integrate them the system has to compromise to some extent in performance criterion. This thesis investigates the need to switch between the spatial multiplexing and space-time coding over space by making the instantaneous channel feedback available at transmitter. This thesis also indicates that the bit-error rate of the combination of lattice space-time code and multiplexing can be reduced when compared with the combination of Alamouti scheme and spatial multiplexing.


Farmed shrimp contributed 27% of total world shrimp production in 1995 with a volume of 712 000 tonnes. Undoubtedly, the shrimp culture industry earns valuable foreign exchange for developing countries and generates jobs across the industry from fry gatherers to growers and processors. However, grave socio-economic consequences – including conversion, expropriation and privatization of mangroves and other lands; salinization of water and soil; decline in food security; marginalization of coastal communities, unemployment and urban migration; and social conflicts – have followed in the wake of, shrimp farm development in the Philippines and other tropical countries.

The paper focuses on mangrove ecosystems: the valuation and cost-benefit analysis of their goods and services, and the mangrove-offshore fisheries connection. Research gaps in these areas and the need to internalize the ecological and socio-economic costs ('externalities') of shrimp farming are highlighted. Other recommendations include mangrove conservation and rehabilitation, enforcement of existing legislation, and introduction of environment-friendly aquaculture within the broader framework of community-based, integrated coastal area management, e.g. the traditional, extensive polyculture ponds in Indonesia.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding regulatory RNAs molecules with a size of approximately 22 nucleotides that are implicated in regulating gene expression at the post-transcriptional regulatory levels. Inflammatory disorders especially autoimmune diseases (ADs) occur from an abnormal immune response of body against cells of their own specific tissues or multiple organ systems leading to chronic and sustain inflammatory responses and thus contribute to cell damage. Some recent studies have reported that several miRNAs may be expressed differentially in ADs and other inflammatory diseases which can have a critical role in immune response modulation and autoimmunity. This review is focused on the role of miRNAs in the pathogenesis and progression of several autoimmune diseases.


We examine whether resource adjustment costs, such as installation and disposal costs for fixed assets, or hiring and firing costs for employees, impede value creation in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We focus on M&A deals because they are major corporate investment decisions. As a proxy for adjustment costs, we use a firm-level measure of cost stickiness. We predict that acquirers with high adjustment costs have less flexibility in restructuring resources following the acquisition and will find it more costly to merge the target firm's operations. Consistent with this prediction, we find that the acquirer's adjustment costs are negatively associated with abnormal returns around the acquisition announcement. Additionally, adjustment costs are also negatively associated with deal synergies. Relatedly, we find that acquirers with high adjustment costs purchase targets with high adjustment costs. In accordance with this finding, we show that acquirers with high adjustment costs purchase intangible-intensive targets. Collectively, our results highlight the important implication of adjustment costs in M&A deals for managers and capital market participants.


Ancient Ireland presents an interesting case for rhetorical study. While the island is usually considered a part of geographic Europe, it long resisted the influence of cultural Europe. Unlike Britain, for example, Ireland was never conquered by Rome, and its pre-literate culture flourished beyond the fall of the Empire. Consequently, the Irish maintained a mythopoetic rhetoric based in narrative. Their stories recounted not only the deeds of their heroes, but also their words. And, like ancient Greece, ancient Ireland also had a class of sophistic rhetors, the Druids. When Patrick arrived around the end of the fourth century, he eschewed the Ciceronian rhetoric of Augustine and instead adapted Christian theology to fit Irish rhetoric.


A majority of romantic pair-bonds will not remain together. Surprisingly, however, less is known about relationship dissolution compared with other stages of romantic relationships, such as initiation and maintenance. The present study addresses this gap by investigating breakup initiators' communication strategies as outcomes for the individual's attachment style and the emotional intimacy of a recent terminated romantic relationship. Participants (N = 174) completed a series of empirically reliable and valid Likert-scale measures to assess both predictors: (a) adult attachment and (b) emotional intimacy. Emotional intimacy was a significant predictor of each of the four breakup communication strategies, and adult attachment style – particularly attachment anxiety - was significantly related to specific communication strategies, primarily those related to openness. This researcher concluded that emotional intimacy better predictors of breakup communication strategy compared with attachment style. Limitations and a general discussion or summary of findings are provided, followed by some suggestions for future research.


We present a system for converting a fully panoramic (360 degree) video into a normal field-of-view (NFOV) hyperlapse for an optimal viewing experience. Our system exploits visual saliency and semantics to non-uniformly sample in space and time for generating hyperlapses. In addition, users can optionally choose objects of interest for customizing the hyperlapses. We first stabilize an input 360 degree video by smoothing the rotation between adjacent frames and then compute regions of interest and saliency scores. An initial hyperlapse is generated by optimizing the saliency and motion smoothness followed by the saliency-aware frame selection. We further smooth the result using an efficient 2D video stabilization approach that adaptively selects the motion model to generate the final hyperlapse. We validate the design of our system by showing results for a variety of scenes and comparing against the state-of-the-art method through a large-scale user study.


PURPOSE
To investigate associations between breast cancer molecular subtype and semiautomatically extracted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging features.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Imaging and genomic data from the Cancer Genome Atlas and the Cancer Imaging Archive for 48 patients with breast cancer from four institutions in the United States were used in this institutional review board approval-exempt study. Computer vision algorithms were applied to extract 23 imaging features from lesions indicated by a breast radiologist on MR images. Morphologic, textural, and dynamic features were extracted. Molecular subtype was determined on the basis of genomic analysis. Associations between the imaging features and molecular subtype were evaluated by using logistic regression and likelihood ratio tests. The analysis controlled for the age of the patients, their menopausal status, and the orientation of the MR images (sagittal vs axial).

RESULTS
There is an association (P = .0015) between the luminal B subtype and a dynamic contrast material-enhancement feature that quantifies the relationship between lesion enhancement and background parenchymal enhancement. Cancers with a higher ratio of lesion enhancement rate to background parenchymal enhancement rate are more likely to be luminal B subtype.

CONCLUSION
The luminal B subtype of breast cancer is associated with MR imaging features that relate the enhancement dynamics of the tumor and the background parenchyma.


The increase of the number of patient With HIV (PWH) Infection has become a great challenge to Indonesian nurses, confronting their values, practices and prejudices and many ethical dilemmas concerning autonomy, control and confidentiality. HIV diagnosis is perceived as a death sentence and the first reaction often include denial and shock. The purpose of the study was to examine NCAM, that focused on on coping strategy and social support (nurse, family, and peer groups). This may result in positive cognitive response and to increase Biological responses. Psychoneuroimmunology paradigm was used in this study. Quasy-experimental pre-post test non randomized control group design was used in this study. Forty (40) PWH infections in Intermediate Department Care for Infection Disease (UPIPI) Dr. Soetomo hospital in Surabaya were selected and non-randomized assignment divided into 2 groups. Instruments, in vitrotest were used to measure biological response change: CD4 and IFN-γ and questionnaires, in depth interview and Focus Group Discussion were used to measure the cognitive responses; spiritual, social, and selfacceptance. A multivariate analysis was used to evaluate the data of biological response, while non-parametric test: Wilcoxon and Mann Whitney were used to measure cognitive response. The finding indicated that NCAM model is able to treat positive cognitive response that leads to induce immune response modulation that showed by the increase of CD4 cell count.


Cyber-terrorism involved a serious of conducts such as a targeted attacks, politically motivated, conducted with the help of computer technology and/or within the information technology, with significant consequences at economic, political and social level. Against this new threat the EU is called to give a answer with the instruments that it have to disposal in the Third Pillar. In front of the proliferation of acts adopted in this sector, this is a luck of a specific legal instrument in the fight against cyber-terrorism. The first questions that we will analyse concerning the definition of cyber-terrorism. We will to analyse the possibility to apply of cyber-terrorism existing legal instruments. At the same time the fight against cyber-terrorism involves the need to collect systematically data and DNA data, also through Europol and Eurojust and to plug into databases. This data collection is essential in order to adopt the measure of execution of UN Resolutions for the prevention and repression of each typology of terrorist funding, as well as the freezing funds that are directly or indirectly addressed a to that end. This data is able to breach fundamental human rights. There is the need to guarantee the right to privacy of persons and entity involved in data collected. In the second part of the paper we will analyse the problem of the balancing between the need to combating international terrorism and cyber-terrorism and that to protect fundamental human rights, also by the study of the recent jurisprudence of the EC Court of First Instance. To that end we will analyse the legal instrument for individuals and entities in the EU law for the protection of their fundamental human rights.


The design of the inlet system has been regarded as a major factor in the internal homogeneity of the casting. Being designed correctly, the system should ensure the proper and continuous filling of the mold cavity. Continuous filling of the cavity gives the initial prerequisite for internal soundness and homogeneity of the casting reflected in its quality and mechanical properties. The paper deals with the design of the inlet system for a particular type of the casting, its optimization using computer simulation as well as evaluation of the real results measured on the casting physical models.


The Drosophila germline stem cells (GSCs) remain as one of the most well-understood adult stem cells. The number of stem cells that self-renews and differentiates must be tightly controlled to maintain tissue homeostasis. The Drosophila GSCs are maintained by local signals emanated from the niche, which is composed of the surrounding somatic cells. Notably, GSC homeostasis is also known to be influenced by systemic signals and external stimuli. The Drosophila hormone ecdysone and its signalling cascade were found to regulate GSC homeostasis. The insulin signalling pathway as well as nutrient availability can also regulate GSC number. Furthermore, neuronal sex peptide signalling induced in female flies after mating was shown to increase GSC number. Hence, the Drosophila GSC system serves as a useful model towards understanding the mammalian stem cells. Compared with the mammalian stem cell models, the Drosophila GSC system is anatomi-cally simpler where stem cells can be easily identified, imaged and manipulated geneti - cally. Nevertheless, recent findings have facilitated our understanding into how GSCs and their neighbouring somatic cells sense and respond to changes in a variety of local, systemic and external stimuli.


One constant finding in the research literature is that notable improvements in education almost never take place in the absence of professional development. What continues to perplex many educational leaders is how to organize and structure meaningful learning opportunities for teachers. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine a high school's collaborative planning PLC initiative in an effort to learn more about this method of job-embedded professional development and gain insight about the effective working of PLCs in a high school setting. The case study involved a close examination of three professional learning communities at one high school. The case school was selected because the school had experienced success with their collaborative planning PLCs as a means of professional development. Twelve teachers were interviewed as well as seven non-teacher participants. Observations of PLC collaborative planning sessions were conducted as well as a thorough analysis of collaborative planning guides completed since the onset of the initiative. The goal of this study was to deepen my understanding of this job-embedded professional development approach and the implications for practice for others considering implementing similar initiatives.


The Southern Metal scene depends heavily on the performance of a Southern Identity. While considerable research has been done on other musical genres and scenes from the American South (country music, blues, gospel music), less attention has been given to the extreme metal scene of Southern Metal. Using scholarship of Nadine Hubbs, Philip Auslander, Jefferey C. Alexander, and Keith Kahn Harris, among others, I analyze two films, Slow Southern Steel (2010) and NOLA: Life, Death, and Heavy Blues from the Bayou (2014), and one song, Down's "Eyes of the South" as cultural productions of this Southern Metal scene. In this project, I define the musical elements and scene ethos of Southern Metal as they relate to a wider, more mainstream American audience and describe how these identities and cultural forms are produced, negotiated, and embodied.


Background: Systemic sclerosis is a disease characterized by sclerosis of the skin, internal organs and vasculopathy. Articular manifestations are common, and include arthralgias, arthritis, and morning stiffness, which in some cases can be confused with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients develop functional impairment and thickening of the skin including around the joints, with inflammation and fibrosis of tendon sheaths. However, articular inflammation is rare clinically, as is the development of articular erosions. Objective: To define the presence and characteristics of arthropathy in patients with scleroderma and distinguish it from RA. Methods: Case series of 106 Colombian patients with scleroderma evaluated between January 1998 and December 2004, of whom 5 had significant articular involvement and are the subject of this report. Results: All patients had the CREST variant of scleroderma. Their average age was 48.6 years (range 35-56). All had arthropathy affecting mainly the hands and feet. In the majority of cases the clinical picture resembled that of RA, with inflammation and subluxation of the metacarpophalangeal joints, and involvement of the feet with subluxation of the toes. Radiographs revealed joint space narrowing, subluxation, juxtaarticular osteopenia, carpal ankylosis and erosions. Rheumatoid factor was negative and antinuclear antibody (ANA) was positive with anticentromere antibodies in all patients. Conclusions: We conclude that there is a unique arthropathy of scleroderma which is due to inflammation and mechanical factors related to skin and periarticular involvement from the underlying disease. It is not due to coexisting RA. All of our cases had CREST variant scleroderma with erosive arthritis, negative rheumatoid factor, and positive ANA with centromere antibody. None fulfilled classification criteria for RA. This is a distinct subtype of scleroderma. Patients should be identified and treated promptly to avoid development of serious articular disease. The tendency to develop severe articular disease is likely immunogenetically linked.


Normal 0 false false false Numerical Analysis, Second Edition, is a modern and readable text. This book covers not only the standard topics but also some more advanced numerical methods being used by computational scientists and engineerstopics such as compression, forward and backward error analysis, and iterative methods of solving equationsall while maintaining a level of discussion appropriate for undergraduates. Each chapter contains a Reality Check, which is an extended exploration of relevant application areas that can launch individual or team projects. MATLAB is used throughout to demonstrate and implement numerical methods. The Second Edition features many noteworthy improvements based on feedback from users, such as new coverage of Cholesky factorization, GMRES methods, and nonlinear PDEs.


Positioning plays a greater role in determining the accurate and precision of the target
in hydrographic surveying. There are several methods for observation technique to
obtain position in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) surveying. Many factors
can affect the accuracy and precision of the target between Standalone Global
Positioning System and JUPEM Differential Global Positioning System. Thus, purpose
of this study is to compare the accuracy of Standalone GNSS and JUPEM DGNSS in
hydrographic surveying. The achievable accuracy will be determined either the
capabilities of Standalone GNSS and JUPEM DGNSS are in line with IHO standard
accuracy to special order, first order and second order which is 2m level. In order to
determine the accuracy of both Standalone GNSS and JUPEM DGNSS, a single
sounding line has been created on the ground at study area using RTK method. After
that, the sounding line will be observed using Standalone GNSS and JUPEM DGNSS
separately due to the limitations of the instrument and it cannot be done simultaneously.
A trolley will be used to imitate the motion of a boat but the speed is very slow compare
to the normal speed of a boat for hydrographic surveying. The data that has been obtain
will be process in multiple software such as AutoCad for filtering and Microsoft Excel
for calculating the residual and RMSE to determine the accuracy for each of the method.
As a result, the accuracy of the standalone GNSS and JUPEM DGNSS are in line with
the accuracy provided by IHO which is below two meter accuracy. From the research,
the horizontal accuracy of JUPEM DGNSS positions is in the range of one meter to two
meter. With this range of accuracy, it is suitable for hydrographic positioning utilize the
JUPEM DGNSS services more effectively. As for further research, both of the method
should been done simultaneously on the water areas using a boat like actual job in
hydrographic surveying.


Mathematics' abilities to capture nature's unfolding processes within its own conceptual terms rests upon its capacities for supplying algorithms that can graphically engage in deduction numerically, bolstered by the hope of paralleling natural processes. Inter alia, Mark Wilson's project in Physics Avoidance shows that nature presents us with a multiplicity of manifolds that simply can not be smoothly mapped. Thus, even our most basic/fundamental modes of effective mathematical reasoning falls short of the 'real extent' of natural processes. Mathematicians have developed sophisticated strategies that string together patchworks of numerical approximation , despite the algorithmic limitations upon our concrete reasoning capacities. There is, in turn, a trans-historical element to Wilson's pursuit in Physics Avoidance , one which is driven by a self-correcting (Sellarsian) scientificity-directed at knowledge, while constantly refining itself both methodologically and substantively. Kindling the critiques of twentieth-century thinkers such as Clifford Truesdell and Walter Noll on the essential idealization thesis of physics (i.e., that 'physics always idealizes') while simultaneously parsing a distinction that was conceived of with the nineteenth-century distinctions between rari-constant and multi-constant approaches to elasticity (associated with the derivational methods pursued by Navier and Cauchy, respectively), Wilson approaches limits and infinitesimals qua multi-scalar localization. Meticulously engaging with Wilson's rendering of the problem of the physical infinitesimal, we not only set out to complicate the historical discussion of matter-which has bedeviled the entire epoch of classical mechanics' reign-but also to hold a candle to a novel methodological means of approaching the philosophy of language. Henceforth, we shall seek to illuminate the developmental exigencies that have not only lacerated and left scars upon modern philosophy of science but also the conceptual consideration of scientific laws via counterfactual grounding. Just as Sellars is pellucid in demonstrating how correspondence rules ought not be treated as definitions of theoretical expressions in terms of their observation language expressions-underscoring the semantic autonomy of theoretical expressions that cannot be captured in observation language-so too will we examine semantics and applied mathematics-cum-physics correspondence rules as proposals for reconsidering our observational vocabulary. In doing so, we will closely engage with Wilson's (and Robert Batterman's) research, reviewing his work while prodding it into a unique trajectory so as to carve an analytic and rationalist theory of media vis-a-vis set theory, while accepting an inherent contrast between norms of correctness and effective thinking routines .


This book brings together ongoing debates about personalised learning, creativity and ICT in education, with a cross-curricular focus, and establishes a principled framework for cross-curricular teaching and learning in Modern Foreign Languages. It identifies a range of key issues and constructs a research-based pedagogy with practical steps for students and teachers as they consider how cross-curricular approaches can be implemented. Key features include: Theoretical examination of key issues Assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of different curricular models Clear principles for effective assessment A wide range of case studies Summaries of key research linked to suggestions for further reading Professional development activities to promote cross-curricular dialogue This timely textbook is essential reading for all students on Initial Teacher Training courses and practising teachers looking to holistically introduce cross-curricular themes and practices in foreign language teaching.


Competitive exclusion and habitat filtering influence community assembly, but ecologists and evolutionary biologists have not reached consensus on how to quantify patterns that would reveal the action of these processes. Currently, at least 22 α-diversity and 10 β-diversity metrics of community phylogenetic structure can be combined with nine null models (eight for β-diversity metrics), providing 278 potentially distinct approaches to test for phylogenetic clustering and overdispersion. Selecting the appropriate approach for a study is daunting. First, we describe similarities among metrics and null models across variance in phylogeny size and shape, species abundance, and species richness. Second, we develop spatially explicit, individual-based simulations of neutral, competitive exclusion, or habitat filtering community assembly, and quantify the performance (type I and II error rates) of all 278 metric and null model combinations against each assembly process. Many α-diversity metrics and null models are at least functionally equivalent, reducing the number of truly unique metrics to 12 and the number of unique metric + null model combinations to 72. An even smaller subset of metric and null model combinations showed robust statistical performance. For α-diversity metrics, phylogenetic diversity and mean nearest taxon distance were best able to detect habitat filtering, while mean pairwise phylogenetic distance-based metrics were best able to detect competitive exclusion. Overall, β-diversity metrics tended to have greater power to detect habitat filtering and competitive exclusion than α-diversity metrics, but had higher type 1 error in some cases. Across both αand β-diversity metrics, null model selection affected type I error rates more than metric selection. A null model that maintained species richness, and approximately maintained species occurrence frequency and abundance across sites, exhibited low type I and II error rates. This regional null model simulates neutral dispersal of individuals into local communities by sampling from a regional species pool. We introduce a flexible new R package, metricTester, to facilitate robust analyses of method performance. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecog.02070/abstract Associated SESYNC Researcher(s): ctrisos [1] DOI for citing: DOI: 10.1111/ecog.02070 Source URL: https://www.sesync.org/phylogenetic-community-structure-metrics-and-null-models-a-review-with-new-methods-and-s oftware Links [1] https://www.sesync.org/users/ctrisos


Globalization is really a painting of the earth whose rendering can never be truly fixed. Yet, it is emblematic of the social dimensions of human interactions. Globalization has particular urgency for the world's Indigenous Peoples. Many Indigenous systems of collective economic production and distribution do not conform to capitalism's cultural emphasis on individual accumulation. This manuscript explores the challenges to Indigenous societies from economic hegemonic regimes, bioprospecting, nature conservation, and extended continuing and derivative impacts. Crucially, Indigenous Peoples do not passively accede to domination by global market forces. Resistance, negotiation, and consultation are common features of Indigenous communities' interactions with transnational corporations and international economic policy bodies, but the definition and content of these terms play out very differently for distinct societies. The article suggests appropriate protocols for engaging Indigenous societies and recognizes alternatives to domination. It concludes with an examination of how Indigenous Peoples may be embracing internet technologies to further their claims to self-determination.


Despite the many health benefits of being physically active nearly a quarter of U.S. adults and adolescents report no participation in leisure-time physical activity. It is recommended that children and adolescents participate in physical activity for at least 60 minutes daily at moderate or vigorous intensity. In addition to potentially enhancing academic performance participation in physical activity may also influence perceptions of physical appearance and global self-esteem which tend to decrease with age in adolescent females. The purposes of this study were to: (a) examine the prevalence of overweight and obesity and the percentage of adolescent females from a rural community that meets physical activity recommendations; (b) examine the relationship of body composition physical activity and sedentary behavior on academic performance; and (c) examine the relationship between physical activity and physical self-concept among adolescent females. Thirty adolescent females (mean age = 15.6 ± 1.3 years) wore an Actigraph GT1M accelerometer for seven consecutive days set to measure in 15-second epochs. Age specific cutpoints were used to determine minutes of sedentary behavior and light moderate vigorous and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Participants completed the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ) to assess how they perceive themselves physically. Height weight and percent body fat were measured. Grade point averages (GPA) were obtained from school records. Regression analysis was performed to predict GPA from measures of body composition sedentary behavior and MVPA. Measures of physical activity and sedentary behavior were correlated with PSDQ subscale scores with Pearson correlations. Thirty percent of participants (n = 9) were obese (BMI [greater than or equal to] 95th percentile) and another 36% (n = 11) were overweight (BMI between the 85th and 94th percentiles). None of the participants accumulated [greater than or equal to] 60 minutes of MVPA per day. Daily MVPA averaged 9.7 (± 7.1) minutes. Percent fat (r = -.51) minutes of MVPA (r = .34) and time spent in sedentary behavior (r = .32) were significantly correlated (p < .05) with GPA. Together measures of body composition physical activity and sedentary behavior explained 36% of the variance (multiple R = .60) in GPA. The standard error of estimate for predicting GPA was 0.64. Minutes per day spent in light physical activity was negatively correlated (p < .01) with the Self-Esteem (r = -.51) Body Fat (r = -.52) and Global Physical Self-Concept (r = -.48) subscales of the PSDQ. Only the Physical Activity subscale of the PSDQ was significantly correlated with MVPA (r = .36). In conclusion the current sample of adolescent females had a high prevalence of overweight and obesity and was physically inactive. Academic performance was significantly associated with measures of body composition physical activity and sedentary behavior. Time spent in light physical activity was associated with lower self-perceptions of body fat global physical self-concept and self-esteem. Measures of higher intensity physical activity were generally not associated with physical self-perception measures possibly due to the low amount of time spent in MVPA. Interventions to increase physical activity and improve body composition in adolescent girls should be considered not only for their health effects but also for their potential to impact academic performance and psychological profiles.


The Green Revolution has contributed to the alleviation of poverty and hunger for hundreds of millions of people, but it remains technically and institutionally limited. It has largely bypassed small farms located in dry agro-ecological regions and its institutional 'top-down' approach was not equipped to address social, economic and environmental variations at the local level. However, with new developments in biotechnology, including genetic engineering, unprecedented possibilities for addressing the needs of smallholders in developing countries have arisen. Yet, there are new challenges too. The new technology is driven by the private sector, which is not attracted to investing in research on developing biotechnology specifically addressing the needs of small farms. Moreover, the accessibility of the existing technologies to small farms is arguably impeded by the intellectual property rights (IPRs) leading to monopoly prices and hindering technology diffusion. In this context, this paper analyzes how IPRs can be domestically tailored within the existing international commitments so as to encourage the development of technologies that favor and are accessible to small-scale farmers in developing countries. In particular, it proposes, for the first time, a special IPRs regime designed for public-private partnerships (PPPs), which would go beyond contractual arrangements and provide a more favorable institutional climate for the development of pro-poor and pro-small-scale biotechnology.


Electrochemical reduction of CO2 to liquid products offers a route for the energy-dense storage of intermittent renewable electricity while simultaneously helping to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. In this work, high-quality Si photocathodes decorated with an earth-abundant Sn porous nanowire catalyst utilized the energy from visible light absorption to provide a photovoltage-assisted conversion of CO2 to liquid HCOOH. The Sn porous nanowire catalysts were selected for their high density of grain boundaries which was previously shown to enhance activity for formic acid formation. A faradaic efficiency of ∼60% with a partial current density of 10 mA cm−2 for HCOOH was achieved at −0.4 V vs. RHE under illumination, which reflected a positive potential shift of ∼400 mV compared to the dark electrocatalytic behavior. The photo-assisted electrolysis efficiency for formic acid was calculated to be 11.0%. The results represent a promising photocathode for a narrow bandgap subcell for a tandem photoelectrode system for unbiased light-driven CO2 electroreduction.


Human hunting was responsible for the extinction of large mammal species in tropical Australia. In the past 100,000 years, many of the largest animals on Earth became extinct. The reasons for these megafaunal extinctions remain contentious (1, 2). In 1967, Martin suggested that within a few hundred years of their arrival, fast-moving bands of hunters eliminated the big game by overkill (3). Similarly, Flannery claimed in the 1990s that the current fire-swept Australian landscape with its impoverished soils was created by human elimination of massive marsupial browsers and grazers (4, 5). However, a diverse array of counter-hypotheses has been proposed; the leading argument is that habitat loss through climate change or fire was the critical blow to many large animals (6). The loss of 55 large mammal species in Australia (see the figure), shortly after humans arrived ∼45,000 years ago (7), provides a key test case. On page 1483 of this issue, Rule et al. (8) present new results from tropical Australia supporting the idea that hunting alone was responsible.


Reducing workload in a UI while still letting users feel in control is not trivial. This workload/control tradeoff is described in the literature and deserves attention in design practice. However, there is no evaluation framework for it supporting both explicit and implicit measurement, mainly because measuring sense of control implicitly is just difficult. A recently proposed implicit evaluation methodology - measuring sense of agency via interval estimation - seems promising and calls for further investigation. We studied its feasibility in a continuous control task - cinematographic camera motion - and compared a multi-touch software joystick to a mid-air gesture UI (N=8). Data was collected both explicitly and implicitly. Our results suggest that the mid-air gesture design does not increase the sense of agency. Both methodologies yielded similar results but the implicit one was more sensitive and the combination of both led to convincing overall results.


(1) The digitization has unleashed enormous potential, reduced transaction costs, enhanced consumer welfare and inspired a new entrepreneurial culture. New technologies and business models lead to a far-reaching modernization of business.
(2) Notwithstanding the dynamics of digitization, the economy is at a turning point: Its fundamental infrastructure is being transformed. Some platforms turn into gatekeepers of the market places of the digital economy. Due to network effects, economies of scale and superior access to data, the success of such platforms becomes self-reinforcing. In a plat-form economy competition is for the market – not on the market. Markets may be "tipped" and are organised and governed by one or two platforms only.
(3) In such markets, "the winner takes it all". The platform operator determines the success of suppliers and customers and steers the coordination of supply and demand according to its own parameters. This has elements of a centrally planned economy and suppresses the discoveries of a free market economy when customers and/or suppliers are dependent upon the platform. The prerequisites of innovation – different paths, diversity, capacities for openness – may no longer be given.
(4) Real providers of goods and services may become dependent from suppliers of auxiliary services (the match-making platforms). They battle for access to the platform and for the best conditions with the platform operator, but no longer for the customer directly. The direct customer-supplier-interface gets lost. Competition is pushed to the periphery. That is a strange distortion of the functioning of markets.
(5) Consumers may benefit from reduced transaction costs first, but soon may be caught in closed systems where consumer choice is reduced. When switching costs are high and multi-homing is not possible, consumers are bound to one platform and may be subject to manipulation of choices and conditions by the platform operator without transparency. Consumers take fewer decisions themselves and take these decisions on a less informed basis.
(6) The platform economy works with data, algorithms and machine-learning. Markets are more and more integrated and connected. The use of data and the delegation of decisions to machines may create barriers to entry and technological lock-in effects.
(7) Regulatory responses to the platform economy need to protect variety, innovation and fair choice for consumers. This requires an approach that ensures that markets remain able to perform their function in selecting winners and losers in a dynamic competitive race. Whilst regulation and enforcement need to be cautious with a view to potential "chilling effects", it is also necessary to act quicker, more hands-on and more technology-sensitive than so far.
(8) The EU needs to develop a framework for the governance of platforms. Such a frame-work needs to distinguish between open platforms, proprietary systems and gate-keeping platforms. The framework needs to provide rules for neutrality and interoperability, transparency and liability. (9) Competition law enforcement needs to take centre stage in the governance of the digital economy. Artificially narrow market definitions should be replaced by an improved look at the integration of markets. The focus should shift to innovation barriers and technological lock-in effects. Jurisdiction for merger control needs to be reformed so as to encompass shootout acquisitions of innovative rival firms that challenge the market power of platforms. The 2017-amendments of the German Act against Restraints of Competition are a good starting point for reforms.
(10) Consumer awareness in the digital economy needs to be strengthened. In particular, awareness for the non-neutrality of search results and for the use of data, algorithms and machine-learning could be enhanced or fostered through transparency requirements.
(11) The free flow of data is a prerequisite for innovation and variety in the digital economy. Interoperability and open standards need to be supported. An exclusive data right would be counterproductive at present and would create artificial barriers for innovation. Instead it is necessary to design a framework for access to essential data. Such a framework should ensure data portability (also for machine-generated rights) and establish a speedy ombudsman-system for granting access and determining remuneration. It may be necessary to provide for sector-specific rules, e.g. default rules for data sharing contracts and sector-specific disclosure rules (e.g. for automated driving).


Abstract : In the near future, we will see dramatic changes in computing and networking hardware. A large number of devices (e.g., phones, PDAs, even small household appliances) will become computationally enabled. Micro/nano sensors will be widely embedded in most engineered artifacts, from the clothes we wear to the roads we drive on. All of these devices will be (wirelessly) networked using Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15 or IEEE 802.11 for short range connectivity creating pervasive environments. In this age, where a large number of wirelessly networked appliances and devices are becoming commonplace, there is a necessity for providing a standard interface to them that is easily accessible by any user. This paper outlines the design of Centaurus, an infrastructure for presenting services to heterogeneous mobile clients in a physical space via some short range wireless links. the infrastructure is communication medium independent; we have implemented the system over Bluetooth, CDPD and Infrared, three well-known wireless technologies. All the components in our model use a language based on Extensible Markup Language (XML) for communication, giving the system a uniform and easily adaptable interface. Centaurus defines a uniform infrastructure for heterogeneous services, both hardware and software, to be made available to diverse mobile users within a confined space.


Starting from α-methyl D-glucopyranoside (MDG), three strategies of synthesis of polyglycocarbonates through direct polycondensation with CO2 were tried. Using unprotected MDG for reaction with CO2, water soluble oligoglycocarbonates could be obtained; α-methyl-2,3-di-O-methyl D-glucopyranoside (MDMG) which had its hydroxyls in the C2 and C3 positions protected was also subjected to polycondensation with CO2, affording polyglycocarbonates of limited molar mass due to an equilibrium that prevented the progress of the condensation reaction as in the previous case. Lastly, the polycondensation of MDMG with CO2 and aliphatic or aromatic dihalides was carried out in the presence of Cs2CO3; this resulted in the formation of polyglycocarbonates of rather high molar mass containing either aliphatic or aromatic linkers. The structures of the synthesized monomers and polyglycocarbonates were thoroughly characterized. The thermal properties of the obtained polyglycocarbonates were further investigated by TGA and DSC.


Author(s): Carlson, Ann; Forgie, Julia | Abstract: In 2013, University of California President Janet Napolitano announced one of the most ambitious environmental programs in the country, the Carbon Neutrality Initiative. The CNI sets a goal to reach net zero carbon emissions from the system's 10 campuses by 2025.Though we often think of the need for scientific and technological breakthroughs to achieve carbon neutrality, UC is finding that at least as important are insights into organizational behavior, communications strategy, and operations management.Our focus in this Pritzker brief is on lessons the UC system is learning as it implements its carbon neutrality goal. We believe that these lessons will be invaluable for other organizations as they work to reduce or eliminate their emissions.Organizations seeking to become carbon neutral need to evaluate and overcome financial and management challenges, not just technical barriers. They will need to understand their organizations intimately, and institute multiple organizational changes and new policies and practices to ensure that carbon neutrality becomes a reality.


We propose a topological field theory for a spinless two-dimensional (2D) chiral superconductor (SC) that contains fundamental Majorana fields. Due to a fermionic gauge symmetry, the Majorana modes survive as dynamical degrees of freedom only at magnetic vortex cores, and on edges. We argue that these modes have the topological properties pertinent to a p-wave SC including the non-Abelian braiding statistics, and we support this claim by calculating the ground state degeneracy on a torus. We also briefly discuss the connection to the Moore–Read Pfaffian quantum Hall state and extensions to the spinfull case and to 3D topological SCs.


Leishmania major caused cutaneous leishmaniasis leads to painful skin so res in humans and usual drugs are expensive, toxic, and require prolonged use. The in vitro and in vivo efficacy of aqueous crude extracts from Callistemon citrinus flowers (B), Allium sativum bulbs (C) and Moringa stenopetala leaves (A) against L. major was studied. Con- trols were pentostam, liposomal amphotericin B, and phosphate buffered saline (PBS). Dried and ground plant materials were soaked in distilled water at 70 o C for 1.5 hours, filtered and freeze dried to obtain aqueous extracts. L. major infected BALB/c mice were treated orally or intra peritoneally (ip) with blends of the extracts. Minimum inhibitory concentra- tions (MICs) of single extracts ranged from 3 to 5mg/ml while IC 50 from 297 to 575µg/ml compared to MICs of 12.50 and 6.25µg/ml and IC50 of 0.26 and 0.82µg/ml for pentostam and liposomal amphotericin B respectively. Blends of M. stenopetala and C. citrinus (AB), M. stenopetala and A. sativum (AC), and C. citrinus and A. sativum (BC) at concentra- tions based on MICs of individual extracts wer e active at ratios 1:1, 1:9 and 1:1 with promastigotes' viabilities of 33.82%, 17.41% and 60.74 % respectively. IC50 for blends AB, AC, and BC ranged from 174µg/ml to 1314µg/ml against promastigotes. The individual extracts comprising blends AB, AC and BC interacted additively and synergistically in several combination ratios. Blend AC (1:1) at 125µg/ml had in vitro infection rate (IR) of 71% and multiplication index (MI) of 48.20% for L. major amastigotes compared to IR of 67% and MI of 47.51% for pentostam at 12.50µg/ml. Oral blend BC (1:1) reduced the mice footpad lesion size significantly (P < 0.05). Both oral blends BC and AC reduced mice spleen amastigotes by 48.33% and 60.94% with total LDUs of 6.35 ± 0.66 and 4.80 ± 0.95 respectively. Oral blend AB (1:1) lowered spleen amastigotes by 6.5% with total LDU of 11.49 ± 6.84. In conclusion, aqueous blends of C. citrinus, A. sativum and M. stenopetala extracts that interacted additively or sy nergistically were less toxic but active against L. major.


In this issue of the BJGP , Koshiaris and colleagues present a primary care electronic health records study that examines the combined predictive value for multiple myeloma of presenting symptoms and blood tests commonly used in primary care.1 Building on previous related research,2 this study reports important new evidence that could help doctors to both shorten diagnostic intervals in patients with this (very hard-to-suspect) cancer and minimise the need for specialist assessment in those unlikely to have the disease. A key finding is that in patients with persistent back or bone pain the combination of normal full-blood count and normal erythrocyte sedimentation rate/plasma viscosity can help to reasonably rule out the risk of multiple myeloma.1

Research about the prognostic value of presenting symptoms for cancer based on primary care patient records has been accumulating since the mid-2000s.3 Currently (mid-2018) there is a body of about 50 studies from different research groups, chiefly but not solely from England. Much of this expanding evidence base has underpinned the publication of the 2015 NICE guidelines for the referral or investigation of 157 common symptomatic presentations in adults.4 Taken together, these collective research efforts (many of which have been published in the BJGP ) represent a commendable achievement that has enhanced medical knowledge very substantially. Certain limitations in the …


ABSTRACT The Russian challenge to the European security system is internal rather than external, because despite all the political efforts at distancing Russia from Europe, the indivisibility remains undiminished. The underlying assumption for Russia's course is that the West is in irreversible decline, and the conclusion about the dissolution of the West-controlled world order is established in the key doctrinal documents. Instead of passively waiting for this meltdown to develop, it makes perfect sense for the Russian leadership to accelerate it pro-actively, using various levers, including military force. Moscow acts on the assumption that its "unconventional" methods could yield results only if augmented by military threats, against which the Europeans cannot master convincing counter-argument. The imperative to sustain and update credibility of these threats necessitates allocation of greater share of available resources to military build-up, which clashes with economic rationale of reducing this burden in the situation of protracted stagnation.


This paper presents investigations into the performance of open-set, text-independent speaker identification (OSTI-SI) under mismatched data conditions. The scope of the study includes attempts to reduce the adverse effects of such conditions through the introduction of a modified parallel model combination (PMC) method together with condition-adjusted T-Norm (CT-Norm) into the OSTI-SI framework. The experiments are conducted using examples of real world noise. Based on the outcomes, it is demonstrated that the above approach can lead to considerable improvements in the accuracy of open-set speaker identification operating under severely mismatched data conditions. The paper details the realisation of the modified PMC method and CT-Norm in the context of OSTI-SI, presents the experimental investigations and provides an analysis of the results.


Objective To identify novel genes involved in the etiology of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) or subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAHs) using whole-exome sequencing. Methods We performed whole-exome sequencing in 13 individuals from 3 families with an autosomal dominant IA/SAH inheritance pattern to look for candidate genes for disease. In addition, we sequenced PCNT exon 38 in a further 161 idiopathic patients with IA/SAH to find additional carriers of potential pathogenic variants. Results We identified 2 different variants in exon 38 from the PCNT gene shared between affected members from 2 different families with either IA or SAH (p.R2728C and p.V2811L). One hundred sixty-four samples with either SAH or IA were Sanger sequenced for the PCNT exon 38. Five additional missense mutations were identified. We also found a second p.V2811L carrier in a family with a history of neurovascular diseases. Conclusion The PCNT gene encodes a protein that is involved in the process of microtubule nucleation and organization in interphase and mitosis. Biallelic loss-of-function mutations in PCNT cause a form of primordial dwarfism (microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II), and ≈50% of these patients will develop neurovascular abnormalities, including IAs and SAHs. In addition, a complete Pcnt knockout mouse model (Pcnt−/−) published previously showed general vascular abnormalities, including intracranial hemorrhage. The variants in our families lie in the highly conserved PCNT protein-protein interaction domain, making PCNT a highly plausible candidate gene in cerebrovascular disease.


This 2007 book concerns the vibration and the stability of slender structural components. The loss of stability of structures is an important aspect of structural mechanics and is presented here in terms of dynamic behavior. A variety of structural components are analyzed with a view to predicting their response to various (primarily axial) loading conditions. A number of different techniques are presented, with experimental verification from the laboratory. Practical applications are widespread, ranging from cables to space structures. The book presents methods by which the combined effects of vibration and buckling on various structures can be assessed. Vibrations and buckling are usually treated separately, but in this book their influence on each other is examined together, with examples when a combined approach is necessary. The avoidance of instability is the primary goal of this material.


Objective To investigate carotid atherosclerosis in individuals with masked hypertension (MHT) and white-coat hypertension (WCHT) in a general population. Methods Self-measurement of blood pressure at home (HBP) and casual blood pressure (CBP) measurements were recorded in 812 individuals aged at least 55 years (mean 66.4 years) from the general Japanese population. The intima–media thickness (IMT) of the near and far wall of both common carotid arteries was measured and averaged. The relationships between carotid atherosclerosis (IMT and plaque) and the four blood pressure groups (sustained normal blood pressure: HBP < 135/85 mmHg, CBP < 140/90 mmHg; WCHT: HBP < 135/85 mmHg, CBP ≥ 140/90 mmHg; MHT: HBP ≥ 135/85 mmHg, CBP < 140/90 mmHg; sustained hypertension: HBP ≥ 135/85 mmHg, CBP ≥ 140/90 mmHg) were examined using multivariate analysis adjusted for possible confounding factors. Results Adjusted IMT in individuals with sustained hypertension [0.77 mm; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.75 to 0.79 mm] and MHT (0.77 mm; 95% CI 0.73 to 0.80 mm) was significantly greater than in those with sustained normal blood pressure (0.71 mm; 95% CI 0.69 to 0.72 mm) and WCHT (0.72 mm; 95% CI 0.71 to 0.74 mm) (P < 0.0001). The odds ratios for the presence of plaques in all four groups were similar to the trends in IMT. Conclusions Our findings imply that CBP measurements alone are insufficient to distinguish individuals at high risk of carotid atherosclerosis from those at low risk. However, these individuals do have distinct HBP measurements, suggesting that HBP measurement could become a valuable tool for predicting carotid atherosclerosis.


This thesis examines the difficulties encountered in the process of establishing the CommonEuropean Asylum System, taken from a discursive perspective. The focus of the study isthreefold; why are specific issues highlighted by the European Union Member States, how isthe discursive conflict expressed within the discourse on CEAS, and what definitions ofsolidarity are promoted by the Member States. In purpose of addressing these focuses,discourse theory, issue salience and solidarity through burden sharing are used as theoreticalframework. By applying critical method and discourse analysis, this study has managed toestablish that the security issues are among the most highlighted, whereas the geographicallocation of a Member State seems to be an explanatory factor to a Member State's specificemphasis. Regarding the discursive conflict, the definitions of the concepts mutual trust, fairdistribution and cooperation are especially contested. Furthermore, the external dimension ofsolidarity is proven to be the precedent definition of solidarity.


Objectives To explore the use of intraperitoneal chemotherapy in conjunction with cytoreductive surgery for the treatment of peritoneal surface malignancy and highlight the challenges this provides for the hospital pharmacist. Methods A literature search for relevant articles was performed using MEDLINE, PubMed and Cochrane databases. The following keywords and phrases were used: 'hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy', 'early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy', 'carrier solutions' and 'cytoreductive surgery'. Local experience was also shared, referencing national guidelines and published literature. Results The rationale behind intraperitoneal chemotherapy is to directly administer drugs into the peritoneal cavity and achieve exposure of higher concentrations of cytotoxic agents to tumour nodules within the abdomen and on peritoneal surfaces for a prolonged period of time, without significant systemic toxicity. This has been widely demonstrated in intraoperative and early postoperative settings. Hydrophilic chemotherapy drugs with high molecular weights and permeable to the peritoneum, but slow plasma clearance create high concentrations of the drug in the peritoneal cavity, with lower systemic circulation. Commonly used drugs include mitomycin C, oxaliplatin, cisplatin, doxorubicin and 5-fluorouracil. Newer drugs such as the taxanes and bevacizumab have also shown promise. Heat increases drug penetration into body tissues and destroys tumour cells directly by causing damage to cells that have inherently faulty heat regulation pathways and also increases the cytotoxic effect of selected chemotherapeutic agents. Optimal temperature for hyperthermic intraperitoneal drug administration is between 41 and 43°C in a carrier solution that is compatible with the drug chosen. For early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy high molecular weight starch carrier solutions prolong intraperitoneal dwell time and exposure of drug to tumour cells. Drugs are administered intraoperatively with the abdomen open or closed for between 30 and 120 min depending on the drug chosen and local protocols. Drug doses are traditionally calculated using body surface area. Toxicity such as neutropenia is encountered far less than with systemic chemotherapy. Conclusions This paper discusses the rationale for intraperitoneal drug administration following cytoreductive surgery and describes appropriate drug selection, methods of drug delivery and potential challenges in the use of the intraperitoneal route. It provides evidence and practical guidance for hospital pharmacists who may be involved in the surgical management of peritoneal malignancy particularly in dose calculation, preparation and administration of intraperitoneal chemotherapy.


Background: Data on secular trends in motor competence in children and adolescents has been equivocal. While several studies have shown a decline in motor competence over the last several decades there is also research that showed no change or even an increase in motor competence in youth.Methods: Motor competence was assessed via 6 test items in 10- to 14-year-old Austrian boys in the years 1972, 1987 and 2015. At each measurement time participants performed 20m sprint, 800m run, sit ups, jump and reach, one-leg stand and stand and reach tests in the school gymnasium during regular school time. Data across measurement times was compared using weighted means across 5 age groups with pooled standard deviations.Results: Average performance on the 20m sprint, jump and reach test and one leg stand improved significantly (p<0.05) from 1972 to 2015 by 0.3 seconds, 3.9 cm and 3.5 seconds, respectively. Time for the 800m run increased significantly by 15% (p<0.01), indicating a decline in endurance. Flexibility, measured by the stand and reach test, also declined significantly (p=0.02) from 1972 to 2015. There was no significant difference in the number of sit ups performed at the 3 measurement times. Conclusion: Results of the present study do not show a general decline in motor competence in male middle-school students over the last 4 decades. Rather, secular trends differ by specific components contributing to overall motor competence with declines in flexibility and endurance but increases in power, speed and balance.


Digital waveguide mesh (DWM) models offer a simple, accurate, time-domain, numerical solution of the wave equation. A specific case where such accurate and computationally simple solutions are needed is the acoustical modeling of open or closed volumes. It is possible to model 3-D propagation of waves in enclosures such as rooms using DWM models. Generally, idealized omnidirectional sources are used for obtaining the impulse response in the DWM. However, real-life sound sources are never completely isotropic, causing wavefronts with directional properties. This paper presents two methods to simulate analytical and empirical directivities in 3-D DWM models in the far-field. The first method is based on the direct excitation of the mesh with the velocity component of the directional source and is used to simulate analytical sources. The second method is based on the weighting of velocity components generated by an omnidirectional source at different octave-bands and is used to simulate sources with frequency-dependent empirical directivity functions. A simple interpolation method for obtaining a closed-form description of the directivity function from incomplete directivity data is also proposed. Simulation results are presented for two sources in an acoustical model of a rectangular room.


This Note explores the business of banking umbilical cord blood for later, and potentially life-saving, use. It discusses the importance of the stem cells found in umbilical cord blood, and the complexities involved in applying business models to its collection, storage, and use. Furthermore, this Note discusses how contracts governing the storage and use of umbilical cord blood can conflict with concepts of human dignity and informed consent. It concludes that in the event umbilical cord blood banking contracts conflict with informed consent, the contract should be subordinated to a person's understanding, acquired through procedures intended to achieve the patient, or parent's, informed consent. 622 WILLIAM & MARY BUSINESS LAW REVIEW [Vol. 5:621


Fluorescent proteins (FT) have become essential, biological research tools. Many novel genes have been cloned from a variety of species and modified for effective, stable, and strong expression in transgenic organisms. Although there are many applications, FT expression has been employed most commonly at the cellular level in plants. To investigate FT expression at the whole-plant level, particularly in flowers, petunia 'Mitchell Diploid' [MD (Petunia ×hybrida)] was genetically transformed with seven genes encoding FTs: DsRed2, E2Crimson, TurboRFP, ZsGreen1, ZsYellow1, rpulFKz1, or aeCP597. Each gene was cloned into a pHK-DEST-OE vector harboring constitutive figwort mosaic virus 35S promoter and NOS-terminator. These plasmids were individually introduced into the genome of MD by Agrobacterium tumefaciens–mediated transformation. Shoot regeneration efficiency from the cocultured explants ranged from 8.3% to 20.3%. Various intensities of red, green, and yellow fluorescence were detected from TurboRFP, ZsGreen1, and ZsYellow1-transgenic flowers, respectively, under ultraviolet light for specific excitation and emission filters. More than 70% of plants established from the regenerated shoots were confirmed as transgenic plants. Transgenic ZsGreen1 petunia generated strong, green fluorescence in all flower organs of T0 plants including petals, stigmas, styles, anthers, and filaments. Most of the chromophores were localized to the cytoplasm but also went into the nuclei of petal cells. There was a positive linear relationship (R2 = 0.88) between the transgene expression levels and the relative fluorescent intensities of the ZsGreen1-transgenic flowers. No fluorescence was detected from the flowers of DsRed2-, E2Crimson-, rpulFKz1-, or aeCP597-transgenic petunias even though their gene transcripts were confirmed through semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. T1 generation ZsGreen1 plants showed green fluorescence emission from the cotyledons, hypocotyls, and radicles, which indicated stable FT expression was heritable. Four homozygous T2 inbred lines were finally selected. Throughout this study, we demonstrated that ZsGreen1 was most suitable for generating visible fluorescence in MD flowers among the seven genes tested. Thus, ZsGreen1 may have excellent potential for better utility as a sensitive selectable marker.


An antagonistic Burkholderia sp. strain TNAU-1 and the fungicide, Cabrio Top were evaluated for their efficacy in suppressing mycelial growth of chilli anthracnose pathogen isolates of Colletotrichum capsici, C. gloeosporioides and Alternaria alternata in vitro. Antagonistic bacterium inhibited the growth of all the aforementioned pathogenic isolates in dual culture on PDA medium and the inhibition zone ranged from 10.7 mm (CBE1) to 16.0 mm (TEN10). The test fungicide Cabrio Top was highly effective in suppressing the radial growth of all the test fungi with minimal inhibitory concentration at 250 ppm. In the field trial, Cabrio Top at @ 1750 g/ ha was found to be most effective in controlling anthracnose and increasing yield. Control plots recorded the lowest yield of 2132 kg/ha and 2507 kg/ha in Trial I and Trial II, respectively. Cabrio Top @1750g/ha recorded the highest yield of 3091kg/ha and 3304 kg/ha in Trial-I and Trial-II, respectively. Foliar application of powder formulation of Burkholderia sp. strain TNAU-1 showed a comparable level of disease control and increased the yield to that of foliar application with Cabrio Top under field conditions.


This paper looks at the conflict in the Indian northeast and revolves primarily around the different levels of conflict. The Indian northeast is most certainly one of the most under- researched conflict zones in academia. This paper uses Mary Kaldor's 'New War' thesis as a theoretical framework to understand the situation, and pays special attention to its very complex and multifaceted nature. The paper argues that the levels of violence differ from one state to another in a region which has always had complicated relations with the rest of India since 1947. Poverty, corruption, administrative failure, police brutality, identity politics, human rights abuses and the role played by external actors such as China and Burma in the region are some of the key features associated with this conflict. There is a special focus on Nagaland since the Naga conflict is the oldest of all the conflicts in the region. The rest of the paper looks at some of the other states of the Indian northeast which include Assam, Manipur and Tripura and take them up collectively for discussion. Finally, after making an assessment of the entire region, the paper tries to suggest methods of peaceful building and conflict management as the way forward.


It is a central assumption of evolution that gene duplications provide the genetic raw material from which to create proteins with new functions. The increasing availability in multigene family sequences that has resulted from genome projects has inspired the creation of novel in silico approaches to predict details of protein function. The underlying principle of all such approaches is to compare the evolutionary properties of homologous sequence positions in paralogous proteins. It has been proposed that the positions that show switches in substitution rate over time-i.e., "heterotachous sites," are good indicators of functional divergence. Here, we analyzed the alpha and beta paralogous subunits of hemoglobin in search for such signatures. We found as many heterotachous sites in comparisons between groups of paralogous subunits (alpha/beta) as between orthologous ones (alpha/alpha, beta/beta). Thus, the importance of substitution rate shifts as predictors of specialization between protein subfamilies might be reconsidered. Instead, such shifts may reflect a more general process of protein evolution, consistent with the fact that they can be compatible with function conservation. As an alternative, we focused on those residues showing highly constrained states in two sequence groups, but different in each group, and we named them CBD (for "constant but different"). As opposed to heterotachous positions, CBD sites were markedly overrepresented in paralogous (alpha/beta) comparisons, as opposed to orthologous ones (alpha/alpha, beta/beta), identifying them as likely signatures of functional specialization between the two subunits. When superimposed onto the three-dimensional structure of hemoglobin, CBD positions consistently appeared to cluster preferentially on inter-subunit surfaces, two contact areas crucial to function in vertebrate tetrameric hemoglobin. The identification and analysis of CBD sites by complementing structural information with evolutionary data may represent a promising direction for future studies dealing with the functional characterization of a growing number of multigene families identified by complete genome analyses.


Building animation tools for fluid-like motions is an important and challenging problem with many applications in computer graphics. The use of physics-based models for fluid flow can greatly assist in creating such tools. Physical models, unlike key frame or procedural based techniques, permit an animator to almost effortlessly create interesting, swirling fluid-like behaviors. Also, the interaction of flows with objects and virtual forces is handled elegantly. Until recently, it was believed that physical fluid models were too expensive to allow real-time interaction. This was largely due to the fact that previous models used unstable schemes to solve the physical equations governing a fluid. In this paper, for the first time, we propose an unconditionally stable model which still produces complex fluid-like flows. As well, our method is very easy to implement. The stability of our model allows us to take larger time steps and therefore achieve faster simulations. We have used our model in conjuction with advecting solid textures to create many fluid-like animations interactively in two- and three-dimensions.


For most of the twentieth century, organisations in both the private and public sectors have adopted a functional structure, segmenting their work practices and decision processes into discrete compartments in the form of departments, divisions or groups. Not surprisingly, the information-processing infrastructure, which has been developed to support these functions, is typically composed of applications subsystems, which may be reasonably efficient in themselves but are frequently difficult to link together. Today, this legacy of discrete applications systems poses a challenge to any organisation trying to adopt a more integrated approach to its decision-making processes. Management thinking has highlighted the deficiencies of the traditional highly specialist structures, and offered alternative paradigms and models, but the practical guidance which has been offered concerning the replacement of legacy systems has been sometimes contradictory and appears to have been at best ineffective and at worst damaging to the companies adopting it. In order to gain further insight into this issue, it is appropriate to study the experiences of practitioners of "Supply Chain Management" (SCM). Having abandoned a traditionalist and functionally orientated approach to "Distribution and Warehouse Management", many companies have now taken a systems based view of their physical distribution networks. Seeing "Logistics" as a networked mega-function has led to significant performance improvements, without the need for major information systems replacement. Furthermore, a few practitioners have now gone even further and have adopted a consciously process oriented approach to logistics, following a "Supply Chain Management" approach. There is emerging evidence that this can lead to further significant improvements in performance, once again without recourse to wholesale revision of information systems. The case of Xerox's "Customer Supply Assurance Managers" (CSAMs) provides grounds for optimism. There is at least initial evidence that radically different business processes can be introduced into a well-established company without the delays and dangers associated with major disruption to its legacy systems. Indeed, it is possible that the adoption of a Business Process Management (BPM) approach, combined with the use of existing information processing techniques to interrogate and surround the legacy systems may prove to be the most acceptable solution to the legacy systems problem. The underlying but emerging lesson would appear to be that for many organisations the key to greater effectiveness may be producing better informed people, empowered to make wider ranging decisions, rather than producing technically more sophisticated information systems.


Traffic fatality data for four continents, namely Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, are analysed and modelled here. The analysis is based on gathered traffic death frequencies and rates for over three decades considering 176 countries within the four continents. The predicted values for the coming decade, based on best regression fits, are also analysed. The data sums to over 28,000 records. Official publications, well-known databases, journal papers, official web-sites and personal correspondance were manily employed in collecting the necessary data. While fatlity and vehicular data for the developed countries and few other less developed countries take no time to compile; those for most of the other countries are highly time consuming and distracting, due to the presence of conflicting data, to be processed. It took over three years to gather such data. Such large gathered data for such long period of time are yet not observed in the literature using the common means. Moreover, while future trends of traffic fatalities in Europe and North America are very common and widely presented; that in Asia and Africa are very scarce and lack accuracy due to lack of long-term data. The results indicate that traffic fatalities in Asia and Africa raised from 153 thousands and 46 thousands during 1980 to 384 thousands and 90 thousands deaths during 2011, in respective order; that in Europe and North America dropped from 97 thousands and 57 thousands deaths to 39 thousands and 33 thousands, respectively. It is also intresting to mention that the traffic fatalities in the Arab world sharply increased from 22,145 during 1980 to 37,736 during 2011. It is expected to pass 45 thousands deaths during 2021. The traffic fatalities in the four continents will add up to just 790 thousands considering a flat rate of adjustment factor for underreporting. This however raises serious question regarding underreporting of the official records. Nevertheless, while the roadway deaths in Europe and North America is expected to drop by around 40 and 20%, respectively by the year 2025, according to the models developed here, that in Asia and Africa is expected to increase by around 15 and 70%, respectively. The fatality rates per population followed a very similar pattern, but steeper, of the fatality frequency. There are many contributory factors leading to such high traffic deaths in Asia and Africa. These include, among many other factors, lack of measurable long term safety plans on real ground, inconsistent handling of traffic safety strategies, poor involvement of NGO's, poor coordination between various stake holders, poor research involvement in the traffic safety crises and limited post-accident rehabilitation centres. Selected References 1. World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Status Report on Road Safety Call for Action, Regional office for the Eastern Mediterranean, 2010. 2. UNECE Transport Division, Handbook of Transport Statistics in the UNECE region 2006, Geneva, Switzerland, 2007. 3. Jacobs, G., Aeron-Thomas, A. and Astrop, A., Estimating Global Road Fatalities, Transport Research Laboratory and Department for International Development, TRL Report 445, UK, 2000. 4. Al-Madani, H., Crash Deaths in the Arab World During Three Decades: Challenges and Opportunities, Session on UN Decade of Action for Road Safety: Progress Report, IRF 17th World Meeting, Reyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2013. 5. Kopits, E. and Cropper, M., Traffic Fatalities and Economic Growth, University of Maryland and Resources for the Future, Policy Research Working Paper 3035, World Bank. 0 Language: en