Recent news stories about corporate downsizing have increased concerns that the labor market is being permanently restructured. The press implicitly, and some economists explicitly, have concluded that this "restructuring" in the labor market has increased the rate of unemployment that is consistent with stable inflation. This rate is known as the NAIRU, the non-accelerating-inflation rate of unemployment, the unemployment rate below which inflation tends to rise, and above which inflation tends to fall. ; This article examines both macroeconomic data and more disaggregated data in search of evidence that the NAIRU has increased. The author finds that neither type of data supports a conclusion that NAIRU has risen in the past few years. He concludes with a brief assessment of the difficulties of estimating the NAIRU.


The question: What do mosquitoes, Marsh-elders, and multimedia have t o do with each other? The answer: All three will influence the visitor's experience of the National Seashore. of the Assateague Island's 800,000 visitors come t o the current Visitor Center but only 2% of them attend ranger programs explaining the plant and animal life on the island. One-quarter During my thesis project I worked very closely with the interpretive staff at Assateague Island National Seashore t o develop a preliminary prototype for interactive plant interpretation for the new Barrier Island Visitor Center at Assateague Island National Seashore in Berlin, Maryland. M y project included: research and writ ing of content material, design of hierarchial branching structure for division of information, development of database format, and suggestions for features t o be included in the overall multimedia program. This prototype will be used t o create other phases of the program dealing with the Island's animals, birds, insects, and shellfish.


* Abbreviations:
 BSID — : Bayley Scales of Infant Development
 LCPUFA — : long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid

This issue of Pediatrics contains a meta-analysis by Qawasmi et al1 that is an evaluation of the effects of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) supplementation of infant formula on what is claimed to be measures of "infant cognition." The analysis is based on performance of different dietary groups on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) at ages up to 18 months. The authors conclude that LCPUFA supplementation provides no benefit for either term or preterm infants. There are now at least 4 meta-analyses or systematic reviews on this topic published in the past 7 years.2–4 All include only (or mainly) studies that have measured the BSID, and all reach a similar conclusion.

We do not disagree with the conclusion that the BSID is generally unaffected by LCPUFA supplementation; however, we are concerned with the nature of the outcome measure used to anchor this and other meta-analyses. The BSID …

Address correspondence to Susan E. Carlson, PhD, Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, MS 4013, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd, Kansas City, KS 66160. E-mail: scarlson{at}kumc.edu


House is any structure or building made for people to live in; simple, medium to specific and luxurious design. In 1996, it was forecasted that luxurious house sales down to 60% that it requires. To meet this economic situation where high interest rate and over supply of housing to middle class need marketing strategy that can increase marketing. There are four marketing mix as product, place, price and promotion. The four marketing factors can be used to support marketing target that operated. To this end, a research shall be carried out by analyzing market opportunity, market segment, marketing mix strategy and promotion for determining an accurate marketing mix strategy to further the sales growth. In this final report writer focused at promotion element. Promotion have same role importance by marketing mix element. This promotion more important in company  by increase marketing and to determine successful of price and product planning. In promotion there are four promotion mix as advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and publicity. Accordingly, we will search for its causes; type of promotion that can be used for increasing sales volume and effective promotion towards sales and how to allocate effective promotion budget to increase sales volume. Based on analysis, we know that it is personal selling which plays important roles in increasing sales volume prior to sales promotion, advertisement and publicity. Viewed from the sequence of promotion mix above, the target is the upper segment where privacy is preferable.


It is becoming increasingly clear that tough decisions will have to be made if Chennai's severe water service delivery problems are to be solved effectively. Current approaches to tackling water-related challenges are based more on crisis management than strategic planning processes that are based on the principles of adaptive management and stakeholder participation. Huge amounts of funding are being wasted annually on programmes of work that at best are providing temporary solutions and at worst are causing major damage to the resource base and the livelihood systems of people living in Chennai's peri-urban areas and the more rural areas that are also being used as sources of water supply. Whilst being good on paper, current legislation is not being implemented and, to all intents and purposes, this legislation commands minimal political and societal support. More worrying still, is the fact that institutions tasked with the responsibility of maintaining Chennai's water services are not respecting existing legislation. Although the situation is grim, there is much that can be done if there is sufficient political will and cross-party support. Or put another way, long-term improvements in Chennai's water services will not be possible if the political parties in power ignore existing legislation and/or fail to seek cross-party and stakeholder support for changes to water-related legislation. It is also crucially important that there is good alignment of legislation and policies across the many different sectors that have the potential to impact on water supply and demand (e.g. agriculture, power, industry, environment etc). This paper reviews the current status of Chennai's water services and current approaches to water governance. Existing water-related legislation is described and some recommendations are made both for improving the legislation and for ensuring that the legislation contributes more effectively to better water services in Chennai and surrounding peri-urban and rural areas.


There is evidence that hotels are the highest energy use buildings of the tertiary sector in Europe and internationally because of their operational characteristics and the large number of users. Therefore, there is potential for significant energy savings. This study investigated the energy performance of the hotel sector in Greece and proposes a methodology for their energy classification and climate change mitigation strategies for an optimum building envelope design for a typical hotel building operated all year or seasonally. This was achieved by collecting operational energy data for 90 Greek hotels and analyzing them using the k-means algorithm. Then a typical hotel building was modelled using TRNSYS and climate change weather files to assess the impact on its energy demand and to propose climate change mitigation strategies. The assessment was performed via hourly simulations with real climatic data for the past and generated future data for the years 2020, 2050 and 2080. The analysis of the energy data (based on utilities supply) of 90 hotels shows average consumption approx 290 kWh/m/year for hotels with annual operation and 200 kWh/m/year for hotels with seasonal operation. Furthermore, the hotels were classified in well separated clusters in terms of their electricity and oil consumption. The classification showed that each cluster has high average energy consumption compared to other buildings in Greece. Cooling energy demand of the typical building increased by 33% and heating energy demand decreased by 22% in 2010 compared to 1970. Cooling load is expected to rise by 15% in year 2020, 34% in year 2050 and 63% in year 2080 compared to year 1970. Heating load is expected to decrease by 14% in year 2020, 29% in year 2050 and 46% in year 2080. It was found that different strategies can be applied to all year and seasonally operated buildings for the most energy efficient performance. These include: a. For all year operated buildings: insulation, double low e glazing, intelligently controlled night and day ventilation, ceiling fans and shading. The building of year 2050 would need more shading and the building of year 2080 would need additional shading and cool materials. b. For seasonally operated buildings: Intelligently controlled night and day ventilation, cool materials, ceiling fans, shading and double low e glazing. Only the building of year 2080 would need insulation. This study makes a contribution to understanding the impact of the climate change on the energy demand of hotel buildings and proposes mitigation strategies that focus on the building envelope in different periods and climatic zones of Greece.


More people die as a result of natural disasters now than in the past. The reason for this is that more people are living in vulnerable situations. Disaster Mitigation first examines the underlying causes for this increased vulnerability and looks at why poor people suffer most when disaster strikes. The major part of the book is concerned with mitigating disaster. The author argues that when mitigation measures are carried out by community organisations they are not only more effective, but can also lead to a permanent reduction in vulnerability. Based on experiences, in the Rimac Valley, Peru, where innovative projects for disaster mitigation planning and implementation were carried out by people's own organisations, the book also provides an overview of selected case studies of vulnerability and disaster mitigation work in other parts of the world. The conclusions reached in Disaster Mitigation have important implications for all who work with people facing the threat of natural disasters. The book makes a powerful case for aid agencies and governments with responsibility for disaster relief and mitigation to focus more on the empowerment of community groups.


Author(s): Wallace, Steven; Pourat,, Nadereh; Durazo, Eva; Leos, Rosana | Abstract: This policy brief examines the growing rate of repeated falls among senior citizens, comparing data from the 2003 and 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). The authors found that over half million older Californians (565,000) fell more than once in 2007—about 100,00 more seniors with repeated falls than in 2003.National guidelines by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and a recent synthesis of the scientific literature recommend reducing the risk of falling by older adults with a history of falls through an evaluation by a health professional with counseling on how to reduce falls, a review of medications, home modifications, exercise or physical therapy, and using a cane or walker if needed. However, the authors of this brief found that fewer than half of seniors with multiple falls engaged in the six recommended preventive activities in the previous year.Falls are the leading cause of injury among older adults. Over 1,400 California seniors died due to injuries from falls in 2007; over 67,000 more were hospitalized; and almost 200,000 emergency department visits were due to falls by Californians of all ages.


We present a new technique to transfer the mesh connectivity between 3D models of different shapes. In contrast to prior work, our method is designed to wrap meshes under large, locally non-rigid deformations, which are commonly found in feature animations. To achieve this goal, we enrich the traditional iterative closest point scheme with mesh coordinates that parametrize the edge spans of a desired tessellation invariant to locally affine transformations. As a result, we produce surfaces that wrap a target geometry accurately, while resembling the patch layout of the source mesh. Our implementation also offers an interactive workflow to assist the authoring of curve correspondences. We employed this tool to wrap 600 humanoid assets to a reference mesh connectivity, spanning characters modeled over the last 15 years at Pixar.


The aims of this thesis were to investigate the neuropsychological, neurophysiological, and cognitive contributors to mobility changes with increasing age. In a series of studies with adults aged 45-88 years, unsafe pedestrian behaviour and falls were investigated in relation to i) cognitive functions (including response time variability, executive function, and visual attention tests), ii) mobility assessments (including gait and balance and using motion capture cameras), iii) motor initiation and pedestrian road crossing behavior (using a simulated pedestrian road scene), iv) neuronal and functional brain changes (using a computer based crossing task with magnetoencephalography), and v) quality of life questionnaires (including fear of falling and restricted range of travel). Older adults are more likely to be fatally injured at the far-side of the road compared to the near-side of the road, however, the underlying mobility and cognitive processes related to lane-specific (i.e. near-side or far-side) pedestrian crossing errors in older adults is currently unknown. The first study explored cognitive, motor initiation, and mobility predictors of unsafe pedestrian crossing behaviours. The purpose of the first study (Chapter 2) was to determine whether collisions at the near-side and far-side would be differentially predicted by mobility indices (such as walking speed and postural sway), motor initiation, and cognitive function (including spatial planning, visual attention, and within participant variability) with increasing age. The results suggest that near-side unsafe pedestrian crossing errors are related to processing speed, whereas far-side errors are related to spatial planning difficulties. Both near-side and far-side crossing errors were related to walking speed and motor initiation measures (specifically motor initiation variability). The salient mobility predictors of unsafe pedestrian crossings determined in the above study were examined in Chapter 3 in conjunction with the presence of a history of falls. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which walking speed (indicated as a salient predictor of unsafe crossings and start-up delay in Chapter 2), and previous falls can be predicted and explained by age-related changes in mobility and cognitive function changes (specifically within participant variability and spatial ability). 53.2% of walking speed variance was found to be predicted by self-rated mobility score, sit-to-stand time, motor initiation, and within participant variability. Although a significant model was not found to predict fall history variance, postural sway and attentional set shifting ability was found to be strongly related to the occurrence of falls within the last year. Next in Chapter 4, unsafe pedestrian crossing behaviour and pedestrian predictors (both mobility and cognitive measures) from Chapter 2 were explored in terms of increasing hemispheric laterality of attentional functions and inter-hemispheric oscillatory beta power changes associated with increasing age. Elevated beta (15-35 Hz) power in the motor cortex prior to movement, and reduced beta power post-movement has been linked to age-related changes in mobility. In addition, increasing recruitment of both hemispheres has been shown to occur and be beneficial to perform similarly to younger adults in cognitive tasks (Cabeza, Anderson, Locantore, & McIntosh, 2002). It has been hypothesised that changes in hemispheric neural beta power may explain the presence of more pedestrian errors at the farside of the road in older adults. The purpose of the study was to determine whether changes in age-related cortical oscillatory beta power and hemispheric laterality are linked to unsafe pedestrian behaviour in older adults. Results indicated that pedestrian errors at the near-side are linked to hemispheric bilateralisation, and neural overcompensation post-movement, 4 whereas far-side unsafe errors are linked to not employing neural compensation methods (hemispheric bilateralisation). Finally, in Chapter 5, fear of falling, life space mobility, and quality of life in old age were examined to determine their relationships with cognition, mobility (including fall history and pedestrian behaviour), and motor initiation. In addition to death and injury, mobility decline (such as pedestrian errors in Chapter 2, and falls in Chapter 3) and cognition can negatively affect quality of life and result in activity avoidance. Further, number of falls in Chapter 3 was not significantly linked to mobility and cognition alone, and may be further explained by a fear of falling. The objective of the above study (Study 2, Chapter 3) was to determine the role of mobility and cognition on fear of falling and life space mobility, and the impact on quality of life measures. Results indicated that missing safe pedestrian crossing gaps (potentially indicating crossing anxiety) and mobility decline were consistent predictors of fear of falling, reduced life space mobility, and quality of life variance. Social community (total number of close family and friends) was also linked to life space mobility and quality of life. Lower cognitive functions (particularly processing speed and reaction time) were found to predict variance in fear of falling and quality of life in old age. Overall, the findings indicated that mobility decline (particularly walking speed or walking difficulty), processing speed, and intra-individual variability in attention (including motor initiation variability) are salient predictors of participant safety (mainly pedestrian crossing errors) and wellbeing with increasing age. More research is required to produce a significant model to explain the number of falls.


Energy saving plays a key role in the reduction of energy consumption and carbon emission, and therefore it is essential for reaching the goal of the 20-20-2020 policy. In particular, buildings are responsible of about 30% of the total amount of Europe energy consumption; the increase of their energy efficiency with the reduction of the thermal transmittance of the envelope is a point of strength with the actions and strategies of the policy makers. Currently, the study of energy performance of buildings is based on international standards, in particular the Italian one allows to calculate the U-value according the ISO 6946 or by in-situ measurements, using a heat flow meter (HFM), following recommendations provided in ISO 9869. In the last few years, a new technique, based on Infrared Thermography (IRT) (also referred to as Infrared Thermovision Technique - ITT), has been proposed for in situ determination of the thermal transmittance of opaque building elements. Some case studies have been reported. This method has already been applied on existing buildings, providing reliable results, but also revealing some weaknesses. In order to overcome such weak points and to assess a systematic procedure for the application of IRT, a validation of the method has been performed in a monitored environment. Infrared camera, the heat flow meter sensors and a nearby meteorological station have been used for thermal transmittance measurement. Comparison between the U-values measured in a hot box with IRT as well as values calculated following international standards and HFM results has been effected. Results give a good description of the advantages, as well as of the open problems, of IR Thermography for estimating the U-value. Further studies will help to refine the technique, and to identify the best operative conditions.


Renibacterium salmoninarum is a Gram-positive diplo-bacillus and the causative agent of bacterial kidney disease, a prevalent disease of salmonid fish. Virulent isolates of R. salmoninarum have a hydrophobic cell surface and express the 57-58 kDa protein (p57). Here we have investigated parameters which effect cell hydrophobicity and p57 degradation. Incubation of R. salmoninarum cells at 37 degrees C for > 4 h decreased cell surface hydrophobicity as measured by the salt aggregation assay, and decreased the amount of cell associated p57. Incubation of cells at lower temperatures (22, 17, 4 or -20 degrees C) for up to 16 h did not reduce hydrophobicity or the amount of cell associated p57. Both the loss of cell surface hydrophobicity and the degradation of p57 were inhibited by pre-incubation with the serine protease inhibitor phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF). Cell surface hydrophobicity was specifically reconstituted by incubation with extracellular protein (ECP) concentrated from culture supernatant and was correlated with the reassociation of p57 onto the bacterial cell surface as determined by western blot and total protein stain analyses. The ability of p57 to reassociate suggests that the bacterial cell surface is not irreversibly modified by the 37 degrees C treatment and that p57 contributes to the hydrophobic nature of R. salmoninarum. In summary, we describe parameters effecting the removal of the p57 virulence factor and suggest the utility of this modification for generating a whole cell vaccine against bacterial kidney disease.


In the computational sciences, both error and wavelet analysis have received abundant attention in the scientific literature. Wavelets have been applied in a wide range of areas such as time-domain analysis, signal compression, and the numerical solution of partial differential equations and integral equations. For instance, wavelet-like basis functions have been used in the numerical solution of differential equations and the error introduced by them has been investigated. Error analysis and Richardson extrapolation have also been used to reduce the numerical error due to the use of first order wavelet-like basis functions. In the present paper, the same techniques will be applied to reduce the numerical error arising when higher order wavelet-like basis functions are used. The numerical error introduced by the higher order wavelet-like basis functions will be discussed. The formation of the Richardson extrapolate, which is found from solutions obtained at different levels of the wavelet analysis, will also be investigated. Finally, a discussion of the error of the Richardson extrapolate will be presented. Example problems will be considered to illustrate these ideas.


Objectives: Theoretical models of adolescent neurodevelopment posit a crucial role of sleep. The study's objective was to investigate if sleep debt predicted responses to social and non-social reward-related contexts in adolescents with high or low subjective social status. Design: The study used a mixed factorial experimental design with three factors. One within subjects factor of reward context (baseline, social, non-social) and two between subjects factors of sleep debt (less, more) and subjective social status (low, high). Methods: Participants were 75 adolescents (13-14 years, 41 females). An antisaccade task was interleaved within social (Cyberball Game) and non-social (Card Guessing Game) reward contexts. Outcome measures were antisaccade latency (processing speed) peak velocity (arousal) and errors (inhibition). Sleep debt and subjective social status were measured via self-report. Data was analysed using generalized linear mixed effects models. Results: Reward context modulated performance. Sleep debt and subjective social status had combined effects on outcomes. The social context slowed processing speed, an effect that was most pronounced in high status adolescents with high sleep debt. The non-social context increased arousal, an effect that was most pronounced in adolescents with low status and high sleep debt. Inhibitory errors increased in both contexts, and was highest in the social context. High status adolescents showed the greatest social – non-social difference in errors that became attenuated with more sleep debt. Conclusions: This study shows that sleep debt in adolescence impacts on social and non-social reward processes with effects that vary dependent on individual differences in the salience of social status.


Sleep has been implicated in the plastic cerebral changes that underlie learning and memory. Indications that sleep participates in the consolidation of fresh memory traces come from a wide range of experimental observations. At the network level, reactivations during sleep of neuronal assemblies recently challenged by new environmental circumstances have been reported in different experimental designs. These neuronal assemblies are proposed to be involved in the processing of memory traces during sleep. However, despite this rapidly growing body of experimental data, evidence for the influence of sleep discharge patterns on memory traces remains fragmentary. The underlying role of sleep in learning and memory has yet to be precisely characterized.


The national psychiatric pharmacy program is new system founded in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The program of mental health care services at Ministry of health. The new program started with several initiatives projects including evidence named medicine guidelines. The new project of bipolar disorder management physician order was one the outcome of the program. The guidelines development through task force committee by Pharmacy department at the most prominent mental hospital, in Riyadh region in Saudi Arabia. The project prevents antipsychotic-related problems and avoids the unnecessary economic burden on the healthcare system. The new initiative's project is new in Saudi Arabia, Gulf and Middle East counties. Key words: Bipolar Disorder, Management, Physician Oder, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia.


Limited information about borrowers may create allocative distortions in credit markets. Community-based lending programs may reduce these distortions by exploiting relevant information available to community members. However, a decentralized approach to allocating credit entails balancing issues of risk, neediness, productivity, and favoritism. This paper analyzes this problem in the context of the Thai Million Baht lending program which decentralizes the allocation of loans to an elected group of community members and provides three main results. First, exploiting three years of pre-program data to characterize the set of potential borrowers in terms of repayment, neediness and total factor productivity (TFP), this paper finds that neither of these dimensions explains program participation. Relative to the allocation achieved by community members, a counterfactual repayment-based criterion would have targeted less risky, higher-TFP, but richer entrepreneurs. Second, using socioeconomic networks data, this paper shows that program borrowing is strongly driven by connections to village leaders. This result is explained by differences in information-transmission costs but also favoritism. Third, exploiting quasi-experimental variation in the rollout of the program, this paper uncovers evidence that informal credit markets partially compensate for targeting distortions by redirecting credit towards unconnected households, albeit at higher interest rates than those provided by the program. The results highlight the limitations of community-driven approaches to delivering credit, the tradeoffs across targeting criteria and the role of markets in attenuating allocative distortions.


Na atoms residing in the 80-110 km altitude region can be used to probe the Doppler-broadened hyperfine structure (hfs) of their D2 resonance transition by ground-based lidar and hence to deduce atmospheric temperatures. In principle, two different methods may be employed: (1) wavelength scanning of the hfs with a narrow-band laser and signal detection with a broad-band receiver, and (2) use of a broad-band laser and wavelength scanning of the hfs with a narrow-band receiver. These two methods are affected in different ways by laser-induced saturation in the Na layer, the effect on the measurements of sodium densities and of atmospheric temperatures being quite different. Density measurements are affected by the absolute level of saturation. Temperature measurements, however, are affected by the difference in saturation at the scanned wavelengths. If, additionally, observed signal levels are taken into account, method 1 is more efficient than method 2 for both types of measurements at nighttime, whereas a modified method 2 surpasses method 1 for temperature measurements at daytime.


Unbundling power generation, transmission, and distribution is not an end itself, but rather a means to achieve better performance. The key objective of the analytical framework of this paper is to explore the links between alternative market structures and performance (in terms of access, price, quality, and technical and financial performance). The results are crucial for providing policy advice, by offering alternative options to policy makers based on the lessons learned from the taxonomy of different market structures, tailored to different national contexts. The analysis is based on unique data, including a panel of 22 countries for the period beginning in 1989 and extending through 2009. The results of the analysis carried out for this study confirm the following conclusions for policy guidance on power market restructuring for developing countries. First, unbundling delivers results in terms of several performance indicators when used as an entry point to implement broader reforms, particularly introducing a sound regulatory framework, reducing the degree of concentration of the generation and distribution segments of the market by attracting public and private players and private sector participation. Second, there seems to be a credible empirical basis for selecting a threshold power system size and per capita income level below which unbundling of the power supply chain is not expected to be worthwhile. Finally, partial forms of vertical unbundling do not appear to drive improvements, probably because the owner was able to continue exercising control over the affairs of the sector and hinder the development of competitive pressure within the power market.


This study carried out as practitioner-research explores the new online collaborative learning experiences of a class of thirty-seven college students studying A-level chemistry in a blended learning context. It is a case-study with a multi-method interpretivist approach using observations, unsolicited meetings, VLE tracking system, students' reflective journal, online informal discussions, questionnaires, focus groups and individual interviews. The students, used to traditional non-collaborative learning methods in the face-to-face class, demonstrated complex online behaviour patterns. Findings showed that the factors affecting these behaviours were of a situational, infrastructural and persona-related nature. Four key learning dispositions – resourcefulness, resilience, reciprocity and responsibility were identified as persona-related enablers. These dispositions were instrumental for changes in the students as learners. These included changes in epistemological beliefs, study patterns, study habits and above all, in learner roles and learning identities. Notable changes occurred in a group of learners who were initially reluctant to learn from the online environment. This study suggests that online learning can not only support a socio-constructive approach to learning to students in the online setting, but also induces similar student learning behaviours in the face-to-face class. The study also gives evidence of transformation in the academic and the positional student learning identities. The new interacting student learning identities projected a sense of belonging, of being valued and of connectedness in both the online and the face-to-face class community. This research is significant as a study of the impact of online experiences on college students in a blended learning context. Similar research contexts were scarce in the literature. It is valuable to the current teaching community in Malta, where the recent National Curriculum Framework (2012) has emphasised a socio-constructive approach to learning and where several educational institutions have started using VLEs to provide blended learning experiences.


When used to guide decisions, linear regression analysis typically involves estimation of regression coefficients via ordinary least squares and their subsequent use to make decisions. When there are multiple response variables and features do not perfectly capture their relationships, it is beneficial to account for the decision objective when computing regression coefficients. Empirical optimization does so but sacrifices performance when features are well-chosen or training data are insufficient. We propose directed regression, an efficient algorithm that combines merits of ordinary least squares and empirical optimization. We demonstrate through a computational study that directed regression can generate significant performance gains over either alternative. We also develop a theory that motivates the algorithm.


The negative impact of early marriage on girls' psychosocial well-being is well documented in the literature, but little is known about the girls' motivations and experiences within marriage. A phenomenological case study approach, combining artwork and semi-structured interviews, was used to investigate the motivations and experiences of early marriage among 10 engaged and married young Muslim women who married young in Israel. The findings regarding the engaged women point to their decision to use marriage as a way to fulfill their need for freedom, their wish to experience love in a culturally respectable frame, and to escape from poverty and from difficult family. Conversely, the married women's narratives point to the heavy price and limited benefits of early marriage, in creating intense new problems and not providing relief from former problems. The regret over having not studied, intense loneliness, lack of money, and the search for a more respect-based marriage are predominant themes. The financial and social motivations for marriage found among the women studied suggest that in their decision to marry young, they were not passive victims of love or society but were rather taking an active pragmatic decision within the very limited options open to them.


Overparametrized neural networks trained by gradient descent (GD) can provably overfit any training data. However, the generalization guarantee may not hold for noisy data. From a nonparametric perspective, this paper studies how well overparametrized neural networks can recover the true target function in the presence of random noises. We establish a lower bound on the $L_2$ estimation error with respect to the GD iteration, which is away from zero without a delicate choice of early stopping. In turn, through a comprehensive analysis of $\ell_2$-regularized GD trajectories, we prove that for overparametrized one-hidden-layer ReLU neural network with the $\ell_2$ regularization: (1) the output is close to that of the kernel ridge regression with the corresponding neural tangent kernel; (2) minimax {optimal} rate of $L_2$ estimation error is achieved. Numerical experiments confirm our theory and further demonstrate that the $\ell_2$ regularization approach improves the training robustness and works for a wider range of neural networks.


Previous books have promised to describe the combat experience of the World War II GI, but there has never been a book like Patrick O'Donnell's "Beyond Valor." Here is the first combat history of the war in Europe in the words of the men themselves, and perhaps the most honest and brutal account of combat possible on the printed page. For more than fifty years the individual stories that make up this narrative -- shockingly frank reflections of sacrifice and courage -- have been bottled up, buried, or circulated privately. Now, nearing the ends of their lives, our WWII soldiers have at last unburdened themselves. "Beyond Valor" recaptures their hidden history. A pioneering oral historian, Patrick O'Donnell used his award-winning website, The Drop Zone, to solicit oral- and "e-histories" from individual soldiers. Gradually, working from within the community, O'Donnell convinced some of the war's most battle-hardened soldiers to tell their stories. The result is WWII seen through the eyes of the men who saw the most intense of its action. O'Donnell focuses on the elite units of the war -- the Rangers, Airborne, and 1st Special Service Force -- troops that spearheaded the most dangerous operations and often made the difference between victory and defeat. From more than 650 interviews O'Donnell has chosen oral- and e-histories that form a seamless story line, a pointillistic history of the war in Europe from the first parachute drops in North Africa through the final battles in Germany and the long trip home. It is the story of the war not discussed in polite company. O'Donnell presents the wreckage of entire battalions nearly annihilated, invisible personal scars, and hauntingrevelations of wartime atrocities. But more important are the men who recount lives risked without hesitation for comrades and cause, and those who did not return: the friends who died in their arms. Their stories remind all of us that victory came only at the highest price. Remembering the infamous cliffs at Pointe-du-Hoc, bloody Omaha Beach, the bitter fighting at the Battle of the Bulge, and Hill 400 in the Hurtgen Forest, the soldiers reveal war as seen, heard, and smelled by the GIs on the front line. Also included is the unique story of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, and the trailblazing African-American "Experimental" Test Platoon that had to fight its own battle behind the lines. "Beyond Valor" captures the truths that exist among soldiers. It is one of the most inspiring accounts of the war ever produced.


Introduction The installation of an archbishop is an ecumenical event,1 and a strong symbol of the unity of the church, despite confessional and other differences dividing church traditions. The unity of the church is not first and foremost a question of church order and ecclesial structures. Rather, it is intimately related to a vision of the unity of human beings2 and the church's ministry of reconciliation in the world (2 Cor 5:18). The Greek New Testament highlights the "ministry of reconciliation" (tὴn diakonίan tῆV katallagῆV). With regard to the unity of the church, this suggests that diakonia plays a central role in the reconciled communion of believers, and the church's mission for the healing of the world. According to tradition, defending the unity of the church and the dignity and participation of the poor and marginalized is part of the bishop's oversight. In the Early Church, the deacon assisted the bishop in this task, and it was said that the deacon was his "eye and ear," bringing the concerns of those living on its periphery to the attention of the church leadership. In the following "diakonia" refers both to the New Testament where the diakonwords appear close to 100 times, and to the contemporary use of this concept in ecumenical theology. I am fully aware of the difference between the two, as is the case with other biblical terms being used today. I claim, however, that the two are related and consider it a theological task to elaborate critically on this relation.3


The statistical inference of socio-economic variables in public health is key to the design of interventions to address the many health inequalities that exist across the world. However, such inferences are achieved commonly using a small standardised library of statistical methods. Meanwhile other fields such as computer science and systems biology have seen the development of many new methods allowing for more varied and useful analyses.

Here we present analyses in three important contextual areas of socio-economic variables in public health, bringing in modern and sophisticated methods in order to develop highly useful and flexible results and further expand the library of statistical methods in public health.

In the first, we further develop and apply a non-linear temporal model to analyse the spread of health aspects such as mood and weight over US adolescent friendship networks by a process known as social contagion. The use of this model improves our ability to more realistically reflect patterns we expect to see result in the data from contagion. This was achieved using analysis of the Add Health dataset.

In the second, we use the flexibility and complex features of Gaussian processes to analyse two different aspects of pregnancy in rural South Africa using the Agincourt HDSS dataset. First, the modelling of fertility-patterns over combinations of variables where some have established models and others do not, allowing us to incorporate such variables into our model without risking the enforcement of unjustified assumptions. Second, analysing social contagion of pregnancy risk behaviour where no social network data exists, demonstrating how the use of sophisticated methods can enable us to attempt complicated research questions.

Finally, in the third we build three possible Bayesian belief network models of household food security in the Agincourt study area. The structural features of these models make them potentially highly useful causal tools that enable us to model a wide range of interventions on our system.

Through these analyses we demonstrate the importance of expanding the library of statistical methods in public health to include the many modern and sophisticated methods being developed in other fields, whilst also producing findings and tools of great robustness, flexibility, and utility.


Trade theories have stressed the importance of international exchanges in producing benefits for the nations involved. However, neo-classical models have not addressed the plausible spatial implications of trade. More recentiy, the new economic geography has argued that the benefits of trade can be either concentrated in few places or dispersed, subject to the levels of transportation costs. This thesis explores the case of one country to shed light over these theoretical issues. Mexico followed a development model based on import-substitution industrialisation (ISI) until the mid 1980s. This approach was replaced for an export-led strategy, initially based on trade liberalisation when it accessed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and later on membership of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). These changes make of Mexico an ideal case to explore the impact of trade liberalisation and economic integration on territorial inequalities. Patterns of convergence during ISI and of divergence during GATT and NAFTA were identified through o and (B-convergence analyses. The results show that whereas the final stages of the ISI period were dominated by convergence trends, GATT and NAFTA have led to divergence. In particular, economic integration is related to divergence. Regression analyses show that the above transformations have led to greater concentration of economic activity and territorial polarisation. These changes have profoundly altered the factors associated with regional growth, mainly linked to oil exports, migration and distance to Mexico City at the demise of ISI. Most of these variables are less significant in explaining growth after GATT. NAFTA leads to a shift in the relevant market from Mexico City to the USA and exports are now supported by a dynamic maquiladora industry heavily concentrated in border-states. The above results are confirmed by the study of two regions. The states selected were Chihuahua in the North and Oaxaca in the South, which depict convergence/divergence trends. The northern state has profited from both trade-related periods, whereas the southern has declined after the opening up of the economy. Although industrialisation in the border is relatively more advanced than in the South, the latter seems to be heading in that direction. However, the type of industrial processes locating in both states could signal greater disparities in the future. The cases also show the emergence of regional and local governments as political actors having greater power in shaping territorial growth and the possibility of an emerging knowledge-based economy.


A more simple route to metrology standards The time standards set by atomic clocks are usually the domain of national metrology laboratories. Li et al. modulated the phase of two closely spaced laser lines to generate a comb of stable and equally spaced frequencies. They then used that comb to generate stable microwaves. Being somewhat simpler than existing optical comb generation techniques and also tunable, the approach may offer a new era of metrology and precision timekeeping. Science, this issue p. 309 Two closely spaced laser lines can be used for the generation of stable microwaves. Optical frequency division by using frequency combs has revolutionized time keeping and the generation of stable microwave signals. We demonstrate optical frequency division and microwave generation by using a tunable electrical oscillator to create dual combs through phase modulation of two optical signals that have a stable difference frequency. Phase-locked control of the electrical oscillator by means of optical frequency division produces stable microwaves. Our approach transposes the oscillator and frequency reference of a conventional microwave frequency synthesizer. In this way, the oscillator experiences large phase noise reduction relative to the frequency reference. The electro-optical approach additionally relaxes the need for highly linear photodetection of the comb mode spacing. As well as simplicity, the technique is also tunable and scalable to higher division ratios.


This chapter seeks to differentiate ironical questions from rhetorical questions, as they are often thought to share apparent similarities. Ironical questions are often taken as types of rhetorical questions because they orient towards an obvious answer and have some persuasive power. A relevance-theoretic account, however, shows that ironical questions result in different interpretive effects from those rhetorical questions yield. While rhetorical questions intentionally assert an implicit proposition bearing relevance, in ironical questions such a proposition is not relevant in itself, though it is still communicated. Ironical questions are contextually inaccurate and do not satisfy expectations of optimal relevance. The contextual absurdity of pragmatic expectations gives rise to specific attitudinal and non-propositonal effects.


For many applications, the observed data may be incomplete and there often exist variables that are unobserved but play an important role in capturing the underlying relationships. In this work, we propose a method to identify local latent variables and to determine their structural relations with the observed variables. We formulate the local latent variable discovery as discovering the Markov Blanket (MB) of a target variable. To efficiently search the latent variable space, we exploit MB topology to divide the latent space into different subspaces. Within each subspace, we employ a constrained structure expectation-maximization algorithm to greedily learn the MB with latent variables. We evaluate the performance of our method on synthetic data to demonstrate its effectiveness in identifying the correct latent variables. We further apply our algorithm to feature discovery and selection problem, and show that the latent variables learned through the proposed method can improve the classification accuracy in benchmark feature selection and discovery datasets.


This thesis is concerned with the dynamics of low tension marine cables. These
cables are widely used in the ocean environment for signal and power
transmission applications. There are two main issues in the dynamic analysis of
such cables. When the tension is zero, which is often the situation encountered
at the seabed during cable laying, the cable geometric stiffness matrix becomes
singular. The other issue is that the transformation from local co-ordinates to
global co-ordinates made through Euler angles leads to a greater number of
unknowns than the number of differential equations. The former problem can
be overcome by taking into account the flexural rigidity of the cable. The latter
problem can be overcome by assuming that one of the Euler angles is known.
However, this procedure can introduce singularities on the formulation of the
problem.
A new three dimensional model for the dynamics of marine cables is presented
in this thesis. The model takes into account the bending stiffness of the cable in
order to overcome singularities in the geometric stiffness matrix. In order to
overcome the problem owing to the use of Euler angles, a new displacement
approach is introduced. This new displacement approach uses the differential
geometry definition of curvature and torsion in order to establish the
transformation from the local co-ordinates to the global co-ordinates.
The general formulation of the dynamics of marine cables presented in this
thesis is applicable to a wide range of cases such as towed cables, cable
installation and cable recovery. In order to illustrate this new formulation the
cases of towed cables and cable installation are investigated in the some detail.
Solutions for the differential equations of motion are presented for two and
three dimensions. The two dimensional solution is obtained through a finite element based technique which uses a weak Galerkin formulation for
integration in space and the Newmark method for integration in time. The
model's results are compared with full scale measurements. Simulations of the
dynamic response of marine cables to vessel wave induced motions and vessel
changes in speed are also presented. The three dimensional solution is obtained
by expressing the equations of motion as functions of the Euler angles. The
space integration is also performed by a finite element model but it uses a finite
difference scheme for the time integration. This solution is then used to study
the influence of sheared cross-currents in the cable's configuration. Finally,
conclusions and suggestions for further research are presented.


for an Invited Paper for the MAR08 Meeting of The American Physical Society Measuring Fractional Statistics with Fabry-Perot Quantum Hall Interferometers VLADIMIR J. GOLDMAN, Stony Brook University Laughlin quasiparticles are the elementary excitations of a highly-correlated fractional quantum Hall electron fluid. They have fractional charge and obey fractional statistics. The quasiparticles can propagate quantum-coherently in chiral edge channels, and constructively or destructively interfere. Unlike electrons, the interference condition for Laughlin quasiparticles has a non-vanishing statistical contribution that can be observed experimentally. Two kinds of interferometer devices have been realized. In the primary-filling interferometer, the entire device has filling 1/3, and the e/3 edge channel quasiparticles encircle identical e/3 island quasiparticles. Here the flux period is h/e, same as for electrons, but the back-gate charge period is e/3. In the second kind of interferometer, a lower density edge channel at filling 1/3 forms around a higher density island at filling 2/5, so that e/3 edge quasiparticles encircle e/5 island quasiparticles. Here we observe superperiodic oscillations with 5h/e flux and 2e charge periods, both corresponding to excitation of ten island quasiparticles. These periods can be understood as imposed by the anyonic braiding statistics of Laughlin quasiparticles. This work was done in collaboration with Fernando E. Camino, Ping Lin and Wei Zhou.


As the recent cases involving William Westmoreland and Ariel Sharon re-veal, libel suits filed against media organizations have become an increas-ingly serious problem in recent years. The potential for inhibiting news coverage or even putting a news organization out of business has never been greater. This book explores historical and contemporary issues relating to libel suits against media organizations, emphasizing the consequences of the development of libel law for the First Amendment. It also considers the spe-cial problems that broadcasters have with libel suits and their potentially in-hibiting effect on television news coverage. Labunski traces the development of libel law largely from 1964, when the Supreme Court entered the libel arena for the first time and began a twenty-year effort to develop standards that are fair to both sides. He de-scribes the hostile environment which journalists must enter when they de-fend themselves in court. He also demonstrates the complexity and inconsis-tency that have resulted from the state-by-state creation of libel standards. Labunski offers suggestions, some more easily accomplished than others, that will help us get out of the libel "morass" which twenty years of Su-preme Court activity and lower court litigation have produced. This book will be of particular value to students of the First Amendment, communica-tion scholars, working journalists, and anyone who wants to better under-stand the complex development of libel laws and the effect of libel suits on news coverage.


This paper presents a three-level quasi-two-stage single-phase power factor correction (PFC) converter that has flexible output voltage and improved conversion efficiency. The proposed PFC converter features sinusoidal input current, three-level output characteristic, and a wide range of output dc voltages, and it will be very suitable for high-power applications where the output voltage can be either lower or higher than the peak ac input voltage, e.g., plug-in hybrid electric vehicle charging systems. Moreover, the involved dc/dc buck conversion stage may only need to process partial input power rather than full scale of the input power, and therefore the system overall efficiency can be much improved. Through proper control of the buck converter, it is also possible to mitigate the double-line frequency ripple power that is inherent in a single-phase ac/dc system, and the resulting load end voltage will be fairly constant. The dynamic response of this regulation loop is also very fast and the system is therefore insensitive to external disturbances. Both simulation and experimental results are presented to show the effectiveness of this converter as well as its efficiency improvement against a conventional two-stage solution.


In this study, we examined the contributions of kinesthetic and skin stretch cues, in isolation and together, to the static perception of weight. In two psychophysical experiments, we asked participants either to detect on which hand a weight was presented or to compare between two weight cues. Two closed-loop controlled haptic devices were used to present weights with a precision of 0.05g to an end-effector held in a pinch grasp. Our results show that combining skin stretch and kinesthetic information leads to better weight detection thresholds than presenting uni-sensory cues does. For supra-threshold stimuli, Weber fractions ranged from 22-44%. Kinesthetic information was less reliable for lighter weights, while both sources of information were equally reliable for weights up to 300g. Our data for lighter weights complied with an Optimal Integration model, while for heavier weights, measurements were closer to predictions from a Sensory Capture model. The difference might be accounted for by the presence of correlated noise across the two cues with heavier weights, which would affect model predictions such that all our data could be explained through an Optimal Integration model. Our experiments provide device-independent measures that can be used to inform, for instance, skin stretch device design.


Rich with detail and provocatively argued, this study of the development of property rights in the world's fisheries tells the story of one industry's evolution and provides a useful illustration of the forces that shape economic institutions. The emergence of exclusive individual rights of access in the fishing industry began after the revolution in the international law of the sea that took place in the 1970s, when the offshore area controlled by a nation for fish and other resources expanded from 3 miles to 200 miles. Rognvaldur Hannesson compares the subsequent development of private property rights in the fisheries to the historic enclosures and clearances of common land in England and Scotland and finds many parallels, including bitter fights over access rights and the impossibility of accommodating all those who want to stake a claim. Overall benefit to society in the form of increased efficiency, he points out, does not mean that all benefit equally. After tracing the development of the law of the sea since the sixteenth century, Hannesson considers what form property rights in fisheries might take and examines the forces behind the establishment of exclusive use rights to fish. He argues that one form of exclusive use rights, individual transferable quotas (ITQs), best promotes efficiency in the use of fish resources. He presents case studies of ITQ development, ranging from successful establishment in Canada and New Zealand to failures in Chile and Norway to experiments with ITQs in Iceland and the United States. The development of economic institutions, he concludes, is an evolutionary process subject to contradictory influences.


Americans currently owe over $1.3 trillion in student loans, more than two and a half times what they owed a decade ago. This explosion in student loan debt comes at a time when a college degree is widely considered a necessity for economic mobility. As the costs of higher education continue to grow, most individuals seeking to get ahead and improve their lives through education rely on loans to finance their degrees.
The government is by far the largest student loan bank, servicer and collector in the United States. Yet by almost any measure used to justify the government's investment in student loans --- ensuring that all students have access to college, closing our country's wealth and opportunity gap, educating individuals to compete in a global economy --- the federal student loan program is failing. Policymakers and advocates across political spectrums have proposed a long list of reforms to address these failures. This article argues that the rush to solutions is premature because experts are writing policy prescriptions without fully diagnosing the problem. Further, we argue that there is insufficient information to make this diagnosis. We focus on the lack of information about the way the program is governed and administered by the federal government and its contractors, asserting that greater transparency into the program's administration is a necessary first step in understanding the failures of the federal student loan program.
This article describes the gaps in existing information on student loans. We then focus on how the Department of Education's policies and practices affect program success. In the final sections, we argue that improved public access to information about the administration of the student loan program is essential to enhance both policymaking and outcomes for student loan borrowers, describing some available options for improving access to information and how to use these tools more effectively.


Rajamiyer Venkateswaran of the Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester, UK, asks whether it is possible to predict when a patient undergoing high-risk cardiac surgery will need postoperative mechanical circulatory support. He also discusses his institution's approach to transfering a patient to mechanical circulatory support.This presentation was originally given during the SCTS Ionescu University program at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland. This content is published with the permission of SCTS. Please click here for more information on SCTS educational programs.


Flows generated near hydro‐engineering structures are characterized by energetic three‐dimensional flow structures that are markedly different from naturally occurring fish habitats. The current study evaluated the interaction of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) with spanwise rollers in the turbulent wake of a cylinder in both the wake bubble and the vortex shedding further downstream. The flow field hydrodynamics were measured using an acoustic Doppler velocimeter for Reynolds number (ReD) regimes ranging from 3,730 to 33,590, over a streamwise length of six diameters downstream of the cylinder, and revealed a pair of alternating vortices rotating about a spanwise axis, which were rendered asymmetric by the bed boundary proximity. Fish avoided areas where vorticity, turbulence intensity, turbulent kinetic energy, eddy size, and Reynolds shear stress were highest. Events of stability loss, referred to as spills, were significantly correlated to the turbulence integral length scale relative to fish standard length, with the peak number of spills occurring when the eddy length approached 45% to 50% of the fish length. Spill events significantly depended on ReD, Reynolds stress, and vorticity and varied according to fish length and weight. Among zones of similar Reynolds stress and vorticity magnitude, spills were most frequent when Reynolds shear stress was positive, downward acting and eddies rotated clockwise, which highlights the importance of direction and orientation of flow structures in determining the hydrodynamic forces that affect fish swimming stability. Recommendations are made for the inclusion of these metrics in the design and refinement of hydro‐engineering schemes.


First paragraphs of this issue's editorial: Labor is at the heart of the food system—economically, politically, and ethically. This JAFSCD issue brings concerns about labor economics, politics, and ethics to contemporary food systems praxis. In so doing, we build upon the work of Cesar Chavez, Carey McWilliams, Deborah Fink, Dolores Huerta, Don Villarejo, Frank Bardacke, John Steinbeck, William Friedland, and countless others. Their activism and scholarship, set in an earlier context, has not always translated into the promise of the new sustainable or alternative agrifood movement, which, as  Biewener  states, has often focused more on "good food" than "good jobs." As someone who has worked as a farm laborer, food factory worker, and food service worker and written about social justice, racism, labor, gender, and localism in sustainable and alternative food systems for more than 25 years, I am honored to introduce the work of scholar-activists in this journal issue. The articles collectively address a wide range of labor issues, and in this introduction I highlight three themes that emerge: the need to see labor issues and solutions as social rather than individual problems; the reproduction of disenfranchisement; and the need to create new political economic systems. The articles in this issue demonstrate in a number of ways that labor problems are not so much the result of individual choices, but rather part of an entire system that extracts value from those who are the most vulnerable and allocates it to those who are the most powerful. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the agrifood system, where jobs are low-wage, dangerous, and contingent. Workers are often treated as instrumental factors of production and are commodified ( Clayton, Ikerd ) rather than as people with feelings, intellect, and aspirations....


Volcanism is an important mechanism by which internal heat is transported to the Earth's surface and volcanic eruptions are the results of the dynamics of a complex system and are characterized by non-trivial temporal correlations. Understanding the processes involved in volcano formation and magma ascent are crucial to develop better hazard assessment techniques. This study focuses on three main points: understanding caldera formation in the solar system, investigating the global temporal behaviour of volcanic eruptions and understanding the nonlinear interactions taking place in the solid crust which lead to an eruption. In chapter 2, I first examine the distribution of caldera diameters on Earth, Mars, Io and Venus by performing a scaling analysis using the mean caldera diameter as a scaling factor. I find that their probability densities can be described by a universal distribution that can be approximated by a Generalized Extreme Value distribution. This scaling implies that a similar process governs caldera formation throughout the solar system. In chapter 3, I investigate the distribution of interevent times between eruptions for active volcanoes on Earth. When rescaling the axis using the mean rate of volcanism, the distributions collapse into a single one, the log-normal distribution. This scaling implies that the processes governing volcanic eruptions on Earth are similar and are independent of the type of volcanism and location, which emphasizes the importance of studying volcanism by modelling a universal behaviour. In the last chapter, I take a modelling approach to study the interactions between the magma and the crust. I define a lattice gas cellular automata model where the magma is represented by discrete particles. In this model, magma propagates through the crust and fracturing occurs until it reaches the top of the crust and an eruption or a cascade of eruptions occur. I study the statistical behaviour of eruptions in the model and observe similar size and temporal behaviours that have been


Based on a new understanding of the nature of the bonding in the C2 dimer, a novel bottom-up model is offered that can explain the growth processes of fullerenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). It is shown how growth sequences involving C2 dimers, that take place in carbon vapor, combustion systems, and the ISM, could give rise to a variety of bare carbon clusters. Among the bare carbon clusters thus formed, some could lead to fullerenes, while others, after hydrogenation, could lead to PAHs. We propose that the formation of hexagonal rings present in these bare carbon clusters are the result of [2+2+2] and [4+2] cycloaddition reactions that involve C2 dimers. In the C60 and C70 fullerenes, each of the twelve pentagons is surrounded by five hexagons and thereby "isolated" from each other. To explain why, we suggest that in bowl-shaped clusters the pentagons can form as the consequence of closures of "cove regions" that exist between hexagonal rings, and that they can also form during cage-closure, which results in the creation of six "isolated" pentagonal rings, and five hexagonal rings. The proposed growth mechanisms can account for the formation of fullerene isomers without the need to invoke the widely used Stone-Wales rearrangement. Considering processes that take place in combustion systems, it is proposed that soot particle inception can result from oligomerization of the bare carbon clusters that originated from cycloadditions involving C2 dimers. In future work, the insights offered in this article could provide a better understanding of nanotube growth, with or without defects.


ABSTRACT Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EEs) are expected to support high growth entrepreneurship. Yet, little is known about how they actually promote entrepreneurial activities. Based on Giddens' structuration theory, this paper takes the entrepreneurs' perspective to understand how they actually use the resources provided by an EE. Based on semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs and other relevant actors in the Berlin EE along with participant observation at entrepreneurship events, this case study focuses on the resourcing practices of different types of entrepreneurs. It shows that the Berlin EE comprises two distinct subsystems. On the basis of this evidence it is proposed that EEs can have different degrees of integration and that this characteristic strongly impacts how entrepreneurs can actually acquire resources from the EE and thus how specific EEs promote different types of entrepreneurs. Heterogeneous structures therefore do not only exist between EEs but also within EEs. This heterogeneity needs to be recognized in order to understand how EEs function, enhance the comparability of research results, and design suitable political instruments to promote entrepreneurship effectively.


Problem statement: Intercropping has been shown to have many advantages but it is fallacious to conclude it is always a better cropping system. Little is known about a new double-hedgerow intercropping of rubber, banana and pineapple in relation to its effects on growth and yield of the component crops when compared to their monocrops. Simulation modeling offers a cheaper and faster alternative to explore cropping scenarios and estimate their productivity under a wide range of management and environmental conditions. This simulation study was therefore undertaken to evaluate the growth and yield of immature rubber, banana and pineapple intercrop and monocrop scenarios with the aid of an intercrop simulation model named SURHIS, as well as estimating the intercropping advantage. Approach: A FORTRAN computer model (SURHIS) that simulated the daily light interception and utilization by immature-rubber, banana and pineapple intercropping system was used to simulate intercrop and monocrop scenarios to estimate potential Dry Matter Yield (DMY) for all crops as well as fruit yields for banana and pineapple. The results of the model were tested for accuracy by comparing actual field experimental results with the aid of Mean Deviation (MD) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) statistical analyses. Intercropping advantage was assessed using the Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) analysis. Results: The model was representative or predicted DMY of the crops with sufficient accuracy. The LER analysis showed that the intercropping system had a dry matter yield productivity advantage of 81% more than monocrops of the component crops. The results also showed that the higher the Plant Population Density (PPD), the greater is the dry matter yield. It was also shown that banana and pineapple had no deleterious effect on the growth of rubber. Fruit weight per plant of banana and pineapple was reduced with increase in PPD for the monocrops. Measured average fresh fruit bunch weight for banana was 18 kg plant-1 and the average fresh fruit weight per plant for pineapple was 2.1 kg for the intercropping system. Conclusion: Intercropping of banana and pineapple with immature-rubber is more productive than the component crops grown as monocrops in their respective optimum plant population densities per hectare. The model can be useful for predicting potential productivity, with sufficient accuracy, of the afore-mentioned intercropping system under varying plant density and environment scenarios as well as acting as a guide for plant density experimentation.


Heterogeneous photocatalysis holds enormous potential to transform a wide array of organic pollutants into relatively innocuous end products. Recently, 3D GBMs have emerged as a promising new class of metal-free photocatalysts, displaying semiconductor-like photoelectric properties and showing excellent photocatalytic performance owing to their unique interconnected structures, tunable porosity, ease of surface functionalization, outstanding electron-transfer efficiency and exceptional light-harvesting capabilities (from deep UV to the near-infrared). In this chapter, recent advances in the rational design of 3D GBM-based photocatalysts are highlighted and their applications in photocatalytic environmental remediation discussed. Additionally, the corresponding reaction mechanisms and pollutant transformation pathways are elucidated to fuel more disruptive and innovative research in this rapidly expanding field of industrial importance and practical relevance.


We discuss and test recent claims that research on knowledge processes has paid insufficient attention to micro (individual) level constructs and mechanisms and to the role of formal organisation in governing knowledge processes. We review knowledge sharing research published in thirteen (top academic plus top practitioner-oriented) journals in the period 1996-2006 in relation to these two propositions. The review confirms the claim that the knowledge sharing literature is pre-occupied with constructs, processes, and phenomena defined at a macro (collective, organisational) level and pay comparatively little attention to micro level constructs. However, our review provides less support for the proposition that formal governance mechanisms have been under-researched in comparison to formal organisation. Still, the multiple ways in which formal governance mechanisms may interact in influencing knowledge sharing outcomes have been under-researched, as have the interaction between more informal aspects of the firm and formal governance mechanisms. We develop a series of recommendations for future research on knowledge sharing.


The mining industry in South Africa faces unprecedented challenges where it has been proposed that this sector can only become sustainable if it focuses on developing new innovative processes to overcome constraints and creates a competitive advantage through corporate entrepreneurship activities. Firms that exhibit entrepreneurship are typically viewed as dynamic, flexible entities prepared to take advantage of new business opportunities, where they explore new business domains and new ways of conducting business.
This study empirically tests levels of entrepreneurship amongst firms in the South African mining industry and identifies potential links to different types of corporate entrepreneurship strategies that are used to ensure sustainability.
Results from a survey support the hypothesis insofar a significant and positive relationship is observed between the entrepreneurial dimensions of innovativeness, proactiveness and corporate strategies of internal corporate venturing, cooperative corporate venturing, strategic renewal, as well with organisational rejuvenation and business model reconstruction.


The aim of the thesis is to provide an analysis of the British steel industry's attempts to deal with the reform of industrial relations in the period 1964-74, and to evaluate the contribution of productivity bargaining to that process.

After a first introductory chapter, Chapters Two to Four are concerned with outlining the industry's problems, the employer's response, and with the negotiation of industry-wide productivity agreements. The contribution of productivity bargaining is evaluated in Chapters Five to Eight in which industrial relations at Corby and Ravenscraig Works are examined.

The methods of investigation include the use of primary sources such as private letters, minutes, reports and statistical data, and also published material; this was possible through the author being employed at Ravenscraig during 1965-70. Other data was gathered through interviews with union officials and managers at various levels, the interview programme being carried out while the author was employed at the Steel Industry Management College, 1971-75. In addition, employee attitude surveys conducted at both Corby and Ravenscraig provided relevant material.

The thesis tries to improve understanding of the collective bargaining process by a detailed examination of bargaining structures, by tracing the reaction and interactions of management, unions and work groups to changes in the awareness of their interests as they either react to a structural change or introduce a new one which thereby alters behaviour. The principal arguments are contained in three sequential but integrated hypotheses which identify the key explanatory variables and the nature of their interaction. The main contribution of the thesis is to refine and make more precise the application of both systems theory and job regulation theory to the factory level reform process.

The conclusions follow from the testing of the hypotheses and are as follows: (i) The collective bargaining structure is a major variable explaining industrial relations behaviour. (ii) A major weakness of both systems and job regulation theories is the one directional nature of their causal sequence and the thesis illustrates a systematic process of two way interaction between the key structural factors and the behavioural response. (iii) The more centralised, standardised and formalised the key structural variables (that is, the collective bargaining arrangements, management and union organisations) the greater the power of leaders to assist or resist reform. Conversely, the more structures are fragmented with power devolved the weaker the leaderships' influence. (iv) The adherence to a definite causal sequence of key variable interaction increases the probability of a successful outcome.

The hypotheses are tested and the conclusions validated in Chapters Five to Eight of the thesis.


To assess the impact of spinal anesthesia combined with three different form of conscious sedation on intraoperative and post operative outcome in patients undergoing elective hysterectomy in Omdurman Military Medical Hospital in the period from the 1st of April 2007 to the 30th of April 2008. All patients of ASA grade 1 and 2 within the age group between 3 0-80 yrs of patients in a total of 80 Sudanese ladies. The first group 20 patient received GA combined with 25mg pethdine intraoperative. The second group 20 patients received SPA lumber-subarachnoid puncture with bupivacine hydrochloride 0.5% plus diazepam i.v 2.5mg as a sedative agents plus 02 by adult mask. The third group 20 patients received SPA with bupivacine plus midazolam i.v as sedative agents, (0.5-1mg i.v) in bolus and 02 by adult mask. The 4 th group 20 patients received SPA with bupivacine plus propofol 4-5mg/ kg per h. in continuous infusion and 02 by adult mask. Data was collected using questionnaire parameters were colleted results the present study showed that muscle relaxation throughout hysterectomy was not different in all groups: bleeding was significantly lower with spinal anaesthsia with regardless of the form of sedation. Group four reported the best postoperative oxygen saturation percentage by pulse- oximetry and sedation score- the shortest waiting time in the postoperative holding area, the lowest pain on postoperative day, and the highest frequency the first flatus passage. A higher number in group 4 patients were able to carry out the assisted ambulation. In this study we can concluded that conscious sedation coupled with SPA is safe, reliable and effective procedure for patients undergoing hysterectomy. The use of propofol as sedative agents offers several advantages both over the types of conscious sedation and GA.


The mineralogies of most biotic and abiotic carbonates have alternated in synchroneity between the calcite (hexagonal) and aragonite (orthorhombic) polymorphs of CaCO3 throughout the Phanerozoic Eon. These intervals of calcite and aragonite production, or calcite seas and aragonite seas, are thought to be caused primarily by secular variation in the molar magnesium/calcium ratio of seawater (mMg/Ca . 2 5 aragonite 1 high-Mg calcite; mMg/Ca , 2 5 low-Mg calcite), a ratio that has oscillated between 1.0 and 5.2 throughout the Phanerozoic. In laboratory experiments, we show that three species of scleractinian corals, which produce aragonite in modern seawater and which have flourished as important reef builders primarily during aragonite seas of the past, began producing calcite in artificial seawater with an ambient mMg/Ca ratio below that of modern seawater (5.2). The corals produced progressively higher percentages of calcite and calcified at lower rates with further reduction of the ambient mMg/Ca ratio. In artificial seawater of imputed Late Cretaceous composition (mMg/Ca 5 1.0), which favors the precipitation of the calcite polymorph, scleractinian corals produced skeletons containing .30% low-Mg calcite (skeletal mMg/Ca , 0.04). These results indicate that the skeletal mineral used by scleractinian corals is partially determined by seawater chemistry. Furthermore, slow calcification rates, resulting from the production of largely aragonitic skeletons in chemically unfavorable seawater (mMg/Ca , 2), probably contributed to the scleractinians' diminished reef-building role in the calcite seas of Late Cretaceous and early Cenozoic time.


The film is a means of mass entertainment which has become part of our daily lives. As more and more English films are imported to China, intercultural communication becomes an important component in the mass media. It allows film translators to make adaptation based on the source text in order to create accessible text which fulfills the need of the target community. However, due to the eminent cultural differences, film as a branch of literary translation, when translated, critical factors such as history and tradition must be carefully reviewed. Film translators are required to make appropriate adaptations based on the source text, retain the intended message of the source language, and eliminate the cultural gaps so that the target language audience can better comprehend and appreciate the film correctly. However, even in Chinese speaking areas such as Chinese Mainland and Taiwan the linguistic translation strategies adopted in the same film are disparate. In order to improve the quality of film translation, we need to have some systematic theories to guide translators on how to make flexible adaptations. Hoping to provide a new perspective for common film translation studies in Chinese Mainland and Taiwan, this explanatory study of film translation focuses on the different methods adopted by translators during the process of translating a foreign film in Chinese Mainland and Taiwan through a theoretical exploration of the translation, attempting to find a norm and to formulate a guiding theory for translation in Chinese speaking areas. This paper attempts to construct a theoretical framework for this intercultural production. It first gives a brief introduction of the state of the art in film translation, its gaining popularity, and its empowerment potentials. Then the paper proposes to integrate different theoretical traditions in translation studies in order to formulate a conceptual and theoretical framework that could be used to better comprehend the social dynamics surrounding subtitling, editing, revising and marketing strategies. Theory of functional equivalence, relevance theory and reception theory are critically reviewed and integrated. It also argues that audiences and translators are playing a decisive role in film translation.


Lay people's understanding about a health condition and their perceptions of the condition can have far reaching consequences. Where ignorance, and misinformed beliefs about the condition or its causes prevail this may lead to stigma, prejudice and discrimination, and can have negative consequences for help seeking. These processes have been extensively studied in relation to mental illness, particularly schizophrenia and depression. In contrast, in the intellectual disability field empirical investigations have largely concentrated on the study of explicit attitudes. While the primary aim of this thesis was to increase our understanding of lay conceptualisations of intellectual disability and their consequences for stigma associated with intellectual disability, throughout comparisons are drawn with lay responses to schizophrenia to identify generic and disorder specific processes and to relate the findings to a larger body of evidence. A new measure, the Intellectual Disability Literacy Scale (IDLS), was developed. This assesses knowledge, beliefs about causes of, suitable interventions for, and social distance towards an individual presenting with symptoms of intellectual disability. It allows comparison with lay conceptualisations of schizophrenia, using diagnostically unlabelled vignettes. A large scale UK general population survey was conducted using the IDLS and the Community Living Attitude Scale-Intellectual Disability version (Henry, Keys, Balcazar & Jopp, 1996a). Responses by 1002 lay people of working age were examined to assess the relationships between awareness, inclusion attitudes and social distance. Causal and intervention beliefs of 1752 lay people and the association between causal beliefs and social distance were investigated. The sample was ethnically and religiously diverse and close attention was paid throughout to participants' socio-demographic characteristics, with a particular focus on the role of contact, ethnicity and religion. The findings indicate that awareness of intellectual disability and schizophrenia among the UK public is relatively low. When presented with an unlabelled vignette 28% of lay people recognised intellectual disability. Recognition of schizophrenia was at a similar level, with 24% identifying the condition in an unlabelled vignette and a further 44% making reference to mental illness in general or to another psychiatric diagnosis. Awareness of both conditions was lower among participants from ethnic minorities. Contact with people with intellectual disability/ mental health problems was the strongest predictor of lay people's ability to recognise the two conditions. There was support for the view that people with intellectual disabilities have similar life goals as people without disabilities and should not be segregated from society, but support for empowerment, i.e. choice and self-advocacy, was weaker. Correlations between inclusion attitudes and social distance were significant but modest. Social distance was lower for intellectual disability than for schizophrenia, but views on social contact with an individual with mild intellectual disability were no more than ambivalent. Lay people were most likely to endorse environmental causes for the intellectual disability vignette and biomedical and adversity causes for the schizophrenia one. Recognition of the condition was associated with reduced social distance, increased endorsement of biomedical causes and reduced endorsement of supernatural causes for both intellectual disability and schizophrenia. Belief in supernatural causes, which were associated with increased social distance, was low overall but more common among specific sections of the public, including people with low educational attainments, those who viewed religion as important in their lives, and Muslims. Expert help was much less likely to be recommended for intellectual disability than for schizophrenia. Beliefs about suitable sources of help showed fairly close correspondence with participants' causal beliefs. Lay people who recognised the symptoms were more likely to favour expert help, and less likely to endorse lifestyle or religious/ spiritual help. Familiarity with someone with intellectual disability or mental illness did not influence causal beliefs, but was associated with endorsement of expert help. Overall the findings suggest that many of the relationships between awareness, causal beliefs, social distance, contact and socio-demographic factors are common to intellectual disability and schizophrenia, but vary in strength, while some are disorder specific. The findings indicate that people with intellectual disability or mental illness from ethnic minority backgrounds not only face racial discrimination and poorer access to appropriate assessment and treatment, but the additional challenge of increased stigma and lack of understanding among their own cultural communities. Raising awareness and tackling stigmatising attitudes and beliefs at general population level should go hand in hand. Public education and anti-stigma interventions that target certain sections of society in particular seem indicated.


SUMMARY A quasi-experimental design was used to test the hypothesis that there will be a significant improvement in both coastal resource management (CRM) and human reproductive health (RH) outcomes by delivering these services in an integrated manner as opposed to delivering either in isolation. The CRM, RH and integrated CRM+RH interventions were tested in three island municipalities of Palawan. Pre-project (2001) and post-project (2007) measurements of dependent variables were gathered via biophysical and community household surveys. Regression analyses indicate the CRM+RH intervention generated higher impacts on human and ecosystem health outcomes compared to the independent CRM and RH interventions. Improvements in coral and mangrove conditions are attributed to the effects of protective management by collaborating peoples' organizations. The same institutions managed RH activities that enabled contraceptive access and a significant decrease in the average number of children born to women in the study area. Other trends showing a significant reduction in income-poverty among young adults infer added value. To ensure long term sustainability of CRM gains and prevent over-use of coastal resources, integrated forms of management that engage communities in the simultaneous delivery of conservation and family planning services are needed.


This chapter examines theories that explain the causes of war. It considers ideas advanced by political scientists, sociologists, biologists and philosophers, showing that different explanations of war give rise to different requirements or conditions for peace. After highlighting the difficulties in studying war, the chapter discusses human nature explanations of war, citing such factors as frustration, misperception, misunderstanding, miscalculation, and errors of judgement as well as the role of human collectives including factions, tribes, nations and states. It then describes the bargaining model of war before turning to inter-state wars, intra-state conflicts, and ethnic conflicts. It also explores the debate over whether 'greed' or 'grievance' are the main causes of civil wars. The chapter concludes that identifying a single cause appropriate to all wars is an exercise in futility and that a worldwide 'just' peace is unattainable.


Equation (5) in the original article is incorrect. The correct equation indicates the replacement of NPP between simulation s2 and s1. The correct equation is given below. Abstract Terrestrial ecosystems currently sequester about one third of anthropogenic CO 2 emissions each year, an important ecosystem service that dampens climate change. The future fate of this net uptake of CO 2 by land based ecosystems is highly uncertain. Most ecosystem models used to predict the future terrestrial carbon cycle share a common architecture, whereby carbon that enters the system as net primary production (NPP) is distributed to plant compartments, transferred to litter and soil through vegetation turnover and then re-emitted to the atmosphere in conjunction with soil decomposition. However, while all models represent the processes of NPP and soil decomposition, they vary greatly in their representations of vegetation turnover and the associated processes governing mortality, disturbance and biome shifts. Here we used a detailed second generation dynamic global vegetation model with advanced representation of vegetation growth and mortality, and the associated turnover. We apply an emulator that describes the carbon fl ows and pools exactly as in simulations with the full model. The emulator simulates ecosystem dynamics in response to 13 different climate or Earth system model simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 ensemble under RCP8.5 radiative forcing. By exchanging carbon cycle processes between these 13 simulations we quanti fi ed the relative roles of three main driving processes of the carbon cycle; (I) NPP, (II) vegetation dynamics and turnover and (III) soil decomposition, in terms of their contribution to future carbon (C) uptake uncertainties among the ensemble of climate change scenarios. We found that NPP, vegetation turnover (including structural shifts, wild fi res and mortality) and soil decomposition rates explained 49%, 17% and 33%, respectively, of uncertainties in modelled global C-uptake. Uncertainty due to vegetation turnover was further partitioned into stand-clearing disturbances (16%), wild fi res (0%), stand dynamics (7%), reproduction (10%) and biome shifts (67%) globally. We conclude that while NPP and soil decomposition rates jointly account for 83% of future climate induced C-uptake uncertainties, vegetation turnover and structure, dominated by biome shifts, represent a signi fi cant fraction globally and regionally (tropical forests: 40%), strongly motivating their representation and analysis in future C-cycle studies. from


Surgery is a crucial intervention in most cancer patients, but the perioperative period is characterized by increased risks for future outbreak of preexisting micrometastases and the initiation of new metastases—the major cause of cancer-related death. Here we argue that the short perioperative period is disproportionately critical in determining long-term recurrence rates, discuss the various underlying risk factors that act synergistically during this period, and assert that this time frame presents an unexplored opportunity to reduce long-term cancer recurrence. We then address physiologic mechanisms that underlie these risk factors, focusing on excess perioperative release of catecholamines and prostaglandins, which were recently shown to be prominent in facilitating cancer recurrence through their direct impact on the malignant tissue and its microenvironment, and through suppressing antimetastatic immunity. The involvement of the immune system is further discussed in light of accumulating evidence in cancer patients, and given the recent identification of endogenously activated unique leukocyte populations which, if not suppressed, can destroy autologous "immune-resistant" tumor cells. We then review animal studies and human correlative findings, suggesting the efficacy of blocking catecholamines and/or prostaglandins perioperatively, limiting metastasis and increasing survival rates. Finally, we propose a specific perioperative pharmacologic intervention in cancer patients, based on simultaneous β-adrenergic blockade and COX-2 inhibition, and discuss specific considerations for its application in clinical trials, including our approved protocol. In sum, we herein present the rationale for a new approach to reduce long-term cancer recurrence by using a relatively safe, brief, and inexpensive intervention during the perioperative period. Clin Cancer Res; 18(18); 4895–902. ©2012 AACR.


The ability to regenerate organs and appendages is not universal among animals. Humans have a rather limited capacity to regenerate after an injury, while other vertebrates such as the zebrafish are capable of regenerating many anatomical structures. It is unknown why different vertebrates have such differences in regenerative capacity, so studying animal models that do regenerate will allow us to know what is needed to regenerate. Zebrafish research is not only able to tell us what mechanisms are involved in regeneration, but it also shows us that there are different regeneration strategies: some use stem cells while other create progenitors from differentiated tissue cells. This article details how zebrafish uses and regulates either differentiated tissue cells or stem cells to regenerate. We focus on four structures – fin appendage, brain, spinal cord and heart – and describe how current cell and molecular discoveries from these regenerating fish structures contribute to our understanding of general principles of regenerative biology.

Key Concepts

The zebrafish is a remarkable in vivo model to understand the stem/progenitor cell biology and molecular mechanisms involved in appendage and organ regeneration.
Studying how the zebrafish regenerates its fins, its nervous system and its heart will provide information on how endogenous cell populations (whether fully differentiated or stem cells) are activated and concertedly controlled to regenerate compound structures.
Different zebrafish tissues use different strategies to regenerate: some convert differentiated tissue cells to progenitor cells while other draw from stem cell pools.
Zebrafish appendages and hearts regenerate primarily from the residual differentiated tissues.
Zebrafish nervous tissue regenerates from resident stem cell populations.

Keywords:

zebrafish;
regeneration;
fin;
brain;
spinal cord;
heart;
stem cells;
progenitor cells