During end-Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic time, the southern margin of Gondwana was affected by widespread subduction-related orogenesis. In East Antarctica this event is known as the Ross orogeny, whose manifestation is exposed along the 3500 km length of the Transantarctic Mountains. In the Pensacola Mountains, the Ross orogeny is characterized by two contractional deformation events, which bracket a brief period of latest Middle Cambrian to early Late Cambrian extension and sedimentation.

The oldest and most intense of these deformation events effected a succession of latest Neoproterozoic metagraywackes (Hannah Ridge Formation), producing tight to isoclinal F-1 folds that possess a slaty axial-planar cleavage. Steeply plunging asymmetric F-2 folds and their associated cleavage are superimposed upon the NNE-SSW D-1 structural grain, forming a consistent clockwise oblique angle. Together with several shear-sense indicators, the angular relationship of D-2 and D-1 suggests that the F-2 folds formed as a result of sinistral reactivation of D-1 structures. At Serpan Peak, new meso- and microstructural observations of the Serpan Peak granite suite reveal two phases of emplacement: an early granodioritic phase emplaced prior to the regional D-1 deformation event, and a later phase of syntectonic biotite granites emplaced during D-2.

New U-Pb SHRIMP ages for three phases of the Serpan Peak granite suite constrain their emplacement-and, by structural relationship, the early Ross D-1 and D-2 deformation events-as having occurred at 505 +/- 5 Ma. The ages of D-1 and D-2 are identical within error, and we interpret them as being the product of a single progressive sinistral transpressional deformation event. Our new structural and geo-chronological constraints necessitate that deformation of the Hannah Ridge Formation occurred in conjunction with exhumation from lower greenschist conditions prior to deposition of the upper Middle Cambrian Nelson Limestone (< 10 m.y.). Exhumation was closely followed by ca. 500 Ma bimodal volcanism inferred to represent an extensional continental backarc setting. During the latest Cambrian-Early Ordovician, a second, less intense contractional deformation event deformed and inverted the backarc region.

Our new data reveal that, along the Pensacola Mountains sector of East Antarctica, the Ross orogeny was manifested as a condensed sequence of rapidly changing tectonic events along a continuously subducting margin, characterized by switches in deformation mode within the continental margin. We interpret such tectonic switching to be the result of the intermittent arrival of buoyant oceanic plateaus at the Ross subduction zone, resulting in short-lived periods of flat-slab subduction and contractional deformation that punctuated the neutral or extensional strain regime generally associated with "normal" subduction. Given the limited length of plate margin likely to be affected by oceanic plateau subduction, specific correlation of stratigraphic and tectonic events along the entire length of the Ross orogen are unlikely. Nonetheless, similar patterns of punctuated tectonic events associated with sinistral transpressional deformation during the Ross orogeny are observed elsewhere along the orogen.


This report presents new EOS and strength models for use in numerical hydrocode simulations of dust impacts on the NASA solar probe space vehicle. This spacecraft will be subjected to impact at velocities up to 300 km/s, producing pressures as high as 100 TPa and temperatures as high as 200 eV. Hence the material models must treat a variety of physical and chemical phenomena, including solid-solid transitions, melting and vaporization, chemical reactions, electronic excitation and ionization. The EOSPro code is used to develop tabular EOS that include these effects. The report discusses the theoretical methods used to create the new EOS tables and constitutive models for six materials--Al2O3, two porous carbon materials, fused SiO2, a silicone elastomer, and germanium--which will be used in the thermal protection shield (TPS) and solar cells, the components most vulnerable to dust impacts. It also presents the results of hydrocode simulations of dust impacts on the TPS and on glass targets. It discusses the importance of radiation contributions to the EOS and the importance of reactions between Al2O3 and carbon during impacts. It makes recommendations for additional work, including experiments for testing the accuracy and reliability of the hydrocode simulations as well as for improving and calibrating the material models.


We propose a first-principles methodology for calculating the behavior of isolated impurities immersed in quantum fluids. To obtain an accurate description of correlation effects between the impurity and the host, we work in the frame of reference in which the impurity is stationary, building on the work of C. H. Leung, M. J. Stott and C. O. Almbladh Phys. Lett. 57A 26 (1976). We apply our methodology to the case of a positron immersed in an electron gas. Our positron relaxation energies and annihilation rates are similar to those from the best existing many-body calculations. Our annihilating-pair momentum densities are significantly different from previous data and include a "tail" after the Fermi edge.


The gradual decline of cash and proliferation of digital payments have created a radical shift, promising new levels of convenience for consumers today. This may adversely impact the earning potential of artists and performers from the busking community. Since the busking community primarily relies on hard cash/spare change from their patrons, I will argue, the predictions of a cashless society can pose great challenges for the busking community. This thesis investigates how mobile technology might address this phenomenon to augment methods of making monetary and non-monetary contributions to buskers. Research through ethnographic methods and literature review, as well as usability testing, the gathered insights and results projected a foreseeable need for buskers and patrons to realize an exchange via a mobile application called 'Hatter.' Hatter enables patrons to continue to contribute to buskers, who in turn are empowered to receive social and financial capital, even in a cashless society.


I seek to provide an explanation for the disjunction between the lived realities of marginalised, displaced and impoverished collectivities in the neo-colonial South African nation state and the language, politics and practices of human or constitutional rights that represent them. I focus on individuals and groups and their struggles to participate in decisions affecting their needs and material existence, in the absence of assistance by public interest litigation, formalised civil society organisations or organised social movements, while facing economic constraints, complicated legal and political processes, and being bound to dismal structural and spatial conditions. I argue that individual/collective bodies suffer from everyday violence and that the modernist legal construction of the subject "derealises" their suffering and silences their needs. Therefore, I aim to examine some of the human rights discursive and non-discursive practices that produce the body as a subject of constitutional rights in the context of the neo-colonial South African nation state, and to question how to "realise" the suffering of the individual and of groups.


Swedish municipal social care managers and their staff often feel inadequate in their efforts to live up to legal requirements, organisational quality objectives, and their own professional idealsThis study reports from a constructivist and participative project in which Swedish social care managers reflected over their work and their managerial role by the use of repertory grid interviews, personal diaries and group discussions.The qualitative phenomenological analyses of the extensive material show that the managers construed time as a crucial factor in relation to their work situation and managerial role, the staff members and the quality of the services produced.The results give a vivid and nuanced picture of the managers' experiences of time consuming work processes, time shortage, time thieves and other time related difficulties, but also of time managing strategies and alternative solutions. Managers' insights regarding their own work are of major importance in terms of performance and efficiency and their personal health. In this project the managers' meaning making processes were supported by the use of constructivist techniques.


Kinematic Study of the Evolution and Properties of Flame Surfaces in Turbulent Nonpremixed Combustion with Local Extinction and Reignition Weirong Wang Co-Chairs of the Supervisory Committee: Professor James J. Riley Mechanical Engineering Professor John C. Kramlich Mechanical Engineering Turbulent nonpremixed combustion with local extinction and reignition is an important fundamental phenomenon that has many practical implications. The objective of the research reported in this thesis is to identify and understand the mechanisms that govern extinction and reignition by studying the kinematics of the stoichiometric mixture fraction isosurface (i.e., the flame surface). The configuration, area and the behavior of the flame surface can quantitatively describe the interaction of the flame with turbulent flow and thus the flame surface kinematics has a strong influence on the properties of the reactive scalars. One particular property of importance is the mean flame surface density Σ. This study contributes to the determination of Σ by proposing three approaches for its measurement through the use of direct numerical simulations (DNS) data for the case of incompressible and isotropic turbulence. These direct and indirect approaches proposed for the computation and modeling of the time evolution of Σ are 1) direct numerical measurement, 2) theoretical prediction from the concept of level crossings with the application of Rice's theorem[62], which leads to 3) two separate modeling approaches using statistical definitions and by balance equation of isoscalar surface area density. These approaches allow us to follow the growth of the surface due to local surface stretching by turbulence and its ultimate decrease due to molecular destruction. The statistical model fairly accurately predicts the evolution of Σ. We are also able to determine values of the principal terms in the evolution equation for Σ, including the surface stretching term and the molecular destruction term. We find that the stretching and destruction term are approximately statistically independent of the isoscalar value of the surface. The difficulties in modeling of local flame extinction and reignition are demonstrated by evaluating the application of the steady-state flamelet (SFL) model. The transient effects (i.e., the lag of flame quenching behind fluctuations in the stoichiometric scalar dissipation rate χst) and the time lag of reignition relative to the relaxation of χst are not considered by the SFL model. These are demonstrated by showing the mixing and reactive quantities along the stoichiometric mixture fraction contour lines. With the knowledge of the flame surface evolution and its properties, the mechanisms of local extinction and reignition can be directly investigated by the dynamics of flame hole (i.e., an extinguished flame surface) expansion and collapse. The flame surface is first resolved as a mesh of triangular surfaces within the three-dimensional DNS volume that represents the stoichiometric surface. A criterion is developed on this flame surface mesh to identify instantaneously local quenched regions and distinguish these from burning surface regions. Next, a new methodology is developed to numerically identify contiguous extinguished stoichiometric surface elements such that the size of a single flame hole can be identified. The new methodology is tested and found to be accurate. This numerical algorithm can provide rich geometric information on local flame hole structure and along with knowledge of the local reacting properties for each individual flame hole. The statistics of the geometric properties of the flame holes are then obtained. During the reignition process, the area size distribution of flame holes was found to be roughly invariant with time which results in an approximate time invariant average hole area. This appears to be due to the loss of small flame holes with time while larger holes become smaller. To first order, this process appears to approximate a self-preserving size distribution.


Abstract The buildup of the energetic particle population in fusion plasmas is typically slow compared to the growth times of energetic-particle driven instabilities. This feature draws special attention to nonlinear studies of unstable waves in the near-threshold regimes. The goal is to characterize the long-time behavior of the weakly dissipative waves and resonant particles in the presence of particle sources and sinks. There are numerous experimental observations of energetic-particle driven instabilities. In some cases the unstable modes grow to a level at which they cause enhanced transport and anomalous losses of the fast particles. In other cases the losses are small but the modes exhibit an intricate nonlinear behavior: generation of sidebands, quasi-periodic bursts, change of the mode frequency in time, etc. This lecture, presented at the 4th ITER International Summer School in Austin, Texas, provides a first-principles physics basis for understanding these phenomena.


Background: There is minimal information available on the threshold at which patients consider themselves to be well for patient-reported outcome measures used in patients treated with hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). Purpose: To determine the patient acceptable symptomatic state (PASS) for the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS) and the Hip Outcome Score (HOS) in patients with FAI treated with arthroscopic hip surgery. Study Design: Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 2. Methods: A consecutive series of patients at a single institution with FAI who were treated with arthroscopic labral surgery, acetabular rim trimming, and femoral osteochondroplasty were eligible. The mHHS (score range, 0-100) and the HOS (score range, 0-100) were administered at baseline and at 12 months postoperatively. An external anchor question at 1 year postoperatively was utilized to determine PASS values: "Taking into account all the activities you have during your daily life, your level of pain, and also your functional impairment, do you consider that your current state is satisfactory?" Results: There were 130 patients (mean ± SD age, 35.6 ± 11.7 years), and 42.3% were male. Based on a receiver operator curve analysis, the PASS values—at which patients considered their status to be satisfactory—at 1 year after surgery were 74 (mHHS), 87 (HOS–activities of daily living subscale), and 75 (HOS–sports subscale). The PASS threshold was not affected by baseline scores across different instruments. However, patients with higher baseline scores were more likely to achieve the PASS (odds ratios: 3.36 [mHHS], 3.83 [HOS–activities of daily living], 3.38 [HOS-sports]). Age and sex were not significantly related to the odds of achieving the PASS for the mHHS or the HOS. Conclusion: This is the first study to determine the PASS for 2 commonly used hip joint patient-reported outcome measures in patients undergoing surgery for FAI. The study findings can allow researchers to determine if interventions related to FAI are meaningful to patients at the individual level across various domains and will also be useful for responder analyses in future randomized trials related to hip arthroscopy and the treatment of FAI.


The purpose of this study is to analyse the insurance claims and insurance intentions of the farmers who are engaged in greenhouse cultivation and to determine the influencing factors affecting the insurance process. Various methods were used in the study since results obtained from one source were deemed insufficient in explaining the insurance behaviours of farmers. These included a survey, interview, document analysis and a literature review. The survey data was analysed using basic statistics and ANOVA. Findings indicate that that the intention of the farmers to take an greenhouse agricultural insurance coverage is not influenced by factors relating to the experience of previous damages, positivity, reason, and facilitation. However, it is influenced by factors relating to the farmers' attitude and the obstacles they face. The most prominent influential factors preventing farmers from purchasing agriculture insurance are physical problems (1) derived from insufficient resources, (2) property and deed-title issues in greenhouse areas and (3) the problems regarding damage payments. It is emphasised that insurance-related problems can be solved by a macro-scale agricultural reform and communication between the relative parties. These findings can be used as a tool in policy development by farmers, insurance institutions and related government institutions.


Over the past years, a large amount of studies has advanced knowledge that explains how individuals react to information security cues and why they are motivated to perform secure practices. Nevertheless, those studies predominantly set their focus on the adoption of secure practices at an individual level; therefore they were unable to analyse such adoption at the higher level. As a consequence, the formation and dissemination processes of information security perceptions were overlooked despite their importance. Understanding those processes would inform methods to distribute effectively desirable information security perceptions within the workplace, while potentially explaining why in some cases implementation of information security measures was not successful at changing the employees' beliefs and behaviours. The first part of this paper reviews the concept of information security climate that emerge from the individual's interactions with the work environment, which has been under researched and investigated inconsistently. The second part begins with discussing the influence mechanisms that could disseminate information security climate perceptions, then suggests the adoption of social network analysis techniques to analyse those mechanisms. As a result, the paper forwards an integrated framework about information security climate perceptions, as well as proposes a research agenda for future investigations on how those perceptions could be formed and disseminated within the workplace.


Molecular gelators are currently receiving a great deal of attention. These are small molecules which, under the appropriate conditions, assemble in solution to, in the majority of cases, give long fibrillar structures which entangle to form a three-dimensional network. This immobilises the solvent, resulting in a gel. Such gelators have potential application in a number of important areas from drug delivery to tissue engineering. Recently, the use of peptide-conjugates has become prevalent with oligopeptides (from as short as two amino acids in length) conjugated to a polymer, alkyl chain or aromatic group such as naphthalene or fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) being shown to be effective molecular gelators. The field of gelation is extremely large; here we focus our attention on the use of these peptide-conjugates as molecular hydrogelators.


The present invention relates to an apparatus for recovering re-evaporated steam and condensate, and in particular, to an apparatus for mixing the steam re-evaporated from condensate that is discharged from a heating unit for heating an object to be treated, with high-temperature steam supplied from a boiler, and for resupplying the mixed steam to the heating unit. To this end, the apparatus comprises: a steam recovery unit for recovering the condensate discharged from a heating unit for heating an object to be treated, and the steam re-evaporated from the condensate, and then supplying the recovered re-evaporated steam to a steam-pressurizing unit and the recovered condensate to a boiler; and the steam-pressurizing unit for mixing the re-evaporated steam supplied from the steam recovery unit, with high-temperature steam supplied from the boiler and then supplying the mixed steam to the heating unit. Therefore, with a closed circuit, the apparatus can recover the whole quantity of the re-evaporated steam and condensate for use, prevent the release of steam into the air and utilize a latent heat contained in the condensate, thereby improving the efficiency of energy consumption.


Previous studies have demonstrated that the epithelium of the respiratory portion of rat nasal mucosa is amply supplied by nerve fibers with immunoreactivities for calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and substance P (SP), these fibers most likely acting as sensory mediators in the mucosa. The present study demonstrates that some intraepithelial fibers contain a VIP-immunoreactivity whose occurrence in these nerves has previously been neglected. The present study further aims to confirm the occurrence of NO-producing intraepithelial nerve fibers in the rat nasal mucosa and to examine its colocalization with CGRP and with VIP. Double staining methods were used to evaluate the colocalization of NADPH-diaphorase. The reactivity for NADPH-diaphorase and that for CGRP coexisted in only a small part, if any, of the nerve fibers distributed at the basal portion of the epithelium. In the perpendicularly and obliquely oriented transepithelial nerve fibers, both reactivities were clearly demonstrated to be separated in different fibers. VIP immunoreactivity was also present in a part of the intraepithelial nerve fibers of the nasal mucosa, and their entire population was shown to be positive for NADPH-diaphorase. The NADPH-diaphorase-positive reaction was displayed in only a small population of neurons in the trigeminal ganglion, whereas it was seen in numerous neurons in sphenopalatine ganglion, being colocalized with VIP.


Recovering a function or high-dimensional parameter vector from indirect measurements is a central task in various scientific areas. Several methods for solving such inverse problems are well developed and well understood. Recently, novel algorithms using deep learning and neural networks for inverse problems appeared. While still in their infancy, these techniques show astonishing performance for applications like low-dose CT or various sparse data problems. However, there are few theoretical results for deep learning in inverse problems. In this paper, we establish a complete convergence analysis for the proposed NETT (network Tikhonov) approach to inverse problems. NETT considers nearly data-consistent solutions having small value of a regularizer defined by a trained neural network. We derive well-posedness results and quantitative error estimates, and propose a possible strategy for training the regularizer. Our theoretical results and framework are different from any previous work using neural networks for solving inverse problems. A possible data driven regularizer is proposed. Numerical results are presented for a tomographic sparse data problem, which demonstrate good performance of NETT even for unknowns of different type from the training data. To derive the convergence and convergence rates results we introduce a new framework based on the absolute Bregman distance generalizing the standard Bregman distance from the convex to the non-convex case.


Fluid sounds, such as splashing and pouring, are ubiquitous and familiar but we lack physically based algorithms to synthesize them in computer animation or interactive virtual environments. We propose a practical method for automatic procedural synthesis of synchronized harmonic bubble-based sounds from 3D fluid animations. To avoid audio-rate time-stepping of compressible fluids, we acoustically augment existing incompressible fluid solvers with particle-based models for bubble creation, vibration, advection, and radiation. Sound radiation from harmonic fluid vibrations is modeled using a time-varying linear superposition of bubble oscillators. We weight each oscillator by its bubble-to-ear acoustic transfer function, which is modeled as a discrete Green's function of the Helmholtz equation. To solve potentially millions of 3D Helmholtz problems, we propose a fast dual-domain multipole boundary-integral solver, with cost linear in the complexity of the fluid domain's boundary. Enhancements are proposed for robust evaluation, noise elimination, acceleration, and parallelization. Examples are provided for water drops, pouring, babbling, and splashing phenomena, often with thousands of acoustic bubbles, and hundreds of thousands of transfer function solves.


To convict a defendant, a jury must unanimously find "proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime with which he is charged." But some facts can be found less unanimously than others. Murder, for example, is illegal regardless of when it occurs, who the victim is, or how it is accomplished. But can jurors disagree on crucial facts - whether the defendant murdered X on Tuesday or Y on Wednesday, whether the victim was strangled or run over by a bulldozer - and still convict the defendant of murder tout court? Or must even trivial disputes, such as whether the murderer held the gun in his left hand or his right, always invalidate a "patchwork verdict" of guilt?The Supreme Court's attempts to solve the problem in Schad and Richardson only convinced the Justices of the "impossibility of determining, as an a priori matter, whether a given combination of facts is consistent with there being only one offense." But it is a problem capable of solution, which this essay seeks to provide. The reason why courts and commentators have not yet produced a workable answer is that they have largely been asking the wrong question. What matters is not the scope of the criminal offense, as defined by the statute, but rather the nature of the factual beliefs held by the jurors and the evidence on which they relied. Like lesser-included-offense instructions, special unanimity instructions could be given when and only when the evidence merits them. Such a system would not only be theoretically coherent, but it would also be minimally disruptive to existing trial procedure.


We investigate the central premise of the theory of markets in education, namely that parents value academic standards. We ask what parents really want from schools and whether different types of parents have similar preferences. We examine parents' stated preferences and revealed preferences for schools (their actual choice of school as opposed to what they say they value in a school). More educated and higher socio-economic status (SES) parents are more likely to cite academic standards, whilst less educated and lower SES parents are more likely to cite proximity. More advantaged parents choose better performing schools, particularly in areas with many schools and therefore a lot of potential school choice. More advantaged parents also choose schools with much lower proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals, relative to other schools available to them. Hence whilst parents do not admit to choosing schools on the basis of their social composition, this happens in practice. Most parents get their first choice of school (94%) and this holds both for more and less advantaged parents, though this is partially because poorer parents make more 'realistic', i.e. less ambitious, choices. If, in areas where there is a lot of potential competition between schools, more advantaged families have a higher chance of achieving their more ambitious choices that do poorer parents, this could tend to exacerbate social segregation in our schools.


Existing models of endogenous growth generate implausibly large trend breaks in output when augmented with standard business cycle shocks. This paper presents a model without this deficiency, yet still capable of generating large medium-frequency fluctuations around the trend. Ensuring the robustness of the trend requires that we eliminate the strong scale effects and knife edge assumptions that plague most growth models. In our model, medium-frequency fluctuations arise from changes in the proportion of industries producing patent protected products. However, variations in the number of firms within each industry ensure that process improvement incentives remain roughly constant. An estimated version of the model matches well the observed pattern of medium frequency cycles.


The outlet glacier of Basin 3 (B3) of Austfonna ice cap, Svalbard, is one of the fastest outlet glaciers in Svalbard, and shows dramatic changes since 1995. In addition to previously observed seasonal summer speed-up associated with the melt season, the winter speed of B3 has accelerated approximately fivefold since 1995. We use the Elmer/Ice full-Stokes model for ice dynamics to infer spatial distributions of basal drag for the winter seasons of 1995, 2008 and 2011. This "inverse" method is based on minimising discrepancy between modelled and observed surface velocities, using satellite remotely sensed velocity fields. We generate steady-state temperature distributions for 1995 and 2011. Frictional heating caused by basal sliding contributes significantly to basal temperatures of the B3 outlet glacier, with heat advection (a longer-timescale process than frictional heating) also being important in the steady state. We present a sensitivity experiment consisting of transient simulations under present-day forcing to demonstrate that using a temporally fixed basal drag field obtained through inversion can lead to thickness change errors of the order of 2 m year −1 . Hence it is essential to incorporate the evolution of basal processes in future projections of the evolution of B3. Informed by a combination of our inverse method results and previous studies, we hypothesise a system of processes and feedbacks involving till deformation and basal hydrology to explain both the seasonal accelerations (short residence time pooling of meltwater at the ice–till interface) and the ongoing interannual speed-up (gradual penetration of water into the till, reducing till strength).


Quality and security of software are key factors in the software development. This thesis deals with the quality of open source software (OSS for short) and different questions that are related with open source and close source software has discussed in the thesis proposal. Open source software is a process by which we can produce cheap and qualitative software and its source could be re-use in the development of the software. Close source software is more expensive than open source software and we can not re-use its source code, so there should be a way by which cheap and qualitative software should be produced. This thesis describes that how the quality of the open source software can be evaluated and increased. There are different factors which are helpful to increase the software quality these factors are low cycle time, low cost and small size of software. These factors are also helpful for the development of software product according to the requirement of clients and the users of that software. This thesis also describes the security and performance of close and open source software and it also analyze different software development processes. The quality of OSS can be increased by use of best evaluation techniques, best quality measurement, best development tools and best development process. There are also many challenges for OSS, which it has to face for improvement of the quality of OSS. Initially there were many drawbacks in open source software but with the passage of time improvement has produced in it. This thesis also describes the compression, advantages and disadvantages of the close source and open source software.


The problem of broadcast channel access in single-hop and multihop ad hoc networks is considered. Two novel randomized and distributed channel access algorithms are developed and analyzed for single-hop and multihop networks, respectively. These algorithms are designed based on maximizing the worst-case channel efficiency, by optimizing some key parameters, including the backoff probability distribution and the slot length. The proposed algorithm for single-hop networks offers significantly higher throughput than the CSMA methods when the traffic load is heavy, while still achieving good performance when the load is light or medium. The proposed algorithm for multihop networks can flexibly adapt to the traffic load, and offers much better throughput performance than the existing broadcast scheduling algorithms in light or medium load.


The optical properties of double-layer close-packed metallic gratings have been systematically studied. Apart from the optical transmission enhancement, we report the double-mode oscillation as the metal layer thickness increases beyond a critical value, which is related to the hybrid between two types of surface plasmon polariton and different orders of waveguide resonance inside the air cavity. To further improve our understanding of the physical mechanism involved, a field-interference mechanism of dipole array, induced by both lateral and vertical plasmon coupling, has been employed.


This essay reviews Professor Mark E. Brandon's aptly named book, States of Union: Family and Change in the American Constitutional Order, which challenges the familiar story that the U.S. constitutional and political order have rested upon a particular, unchanging form of family – monogamous, heterosexual, permanent, and reproductive – and on the family values generated by that family form. That story also maintains that such family form and the legal norms that sustained it remained relatively undisturbed for centuries until the dramatic transformation spurred in part, beginning the 1960s, by the U.S. Supreme Court's constitutionalizing of family and marriage through, for example, recognizing the right of privacy. This essay argues that States of Union offers a wry and engaging answer to these rhetorical claims by illuminating that the relationship between the family and the constitutional order is one of change and contestation. Brandon illustrates this more complex story through examining the coexistence of several household forms at the time of the framing – the Jeffersonian agrarian family, the Hamiltonian commercial, capitalist family, the slaveholding family, and (later) frontier families – and by chronicling the relatively late constitutional entrenchment of the monogamous family, in reaction to the perceived threat to civilization posed by the Indian family, but, ultimately, by the Mormon polygamous family. Brandon also offers valuable glimpses of "uncommon families," unconventional households that deviated from the nuclear family (e.g., ascetic, pietest, communist, millennial, as well as practitioners of complex marriage), and of the different ways that legal and political institutions dealt with each form, sometimes showing a surprising degree of tolerance. The essay concludes by addressing the tensions that Brandon teases out in the Court's "modern" jurisprudence about the family and the relevance of those tensions to current debates, including over same-sex marriage and nonmarital families.


Objective. Receipt of highly active antiretroviral therapy is associated with a decrease in the incidence of opportunistic infections (OIs) among HIV-infected adults. The goal of Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group protocol 1008 was to evaluate prospectively the incidence of serious bacterial infections (SBIs) and other OIs after discontinuation of OI and/or Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP) prophylaxis among HIV-infected pediatric subjects who experienced immune reconstitution while receiving stable antiretroviral therapy. Methods. HIV-infected children and adolescents, 2 to 21 years of age, who had received OI and/or PCP prophylaxis for ≥6 months were enrolled if they had sustained responses (>16 weeks before study entry) to antiretroviral therapy, with CD4+ cell percentages of ≥20% for patients >6 years of age or ≥25% for patients 2 to 6 years of age. Prophylaxis was discontinued at entry. To identify whether any correlation existed between functional immune reconstitution and protection from OIs, subjects were immunized with the hepatitis A virus vaccine. The association between the humoral immune response and the likelihood of developing an OI was evaluated. Results. A total of 235 HIV-infected subjects from 43 participating sites had a median follow-up period of 132 weeks, yielding 547 person-years of observation. Twenty SBIs were observed among 19 subjects, resulting in an incidence rate of 3.66 SBIs per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval: 2.24–5.66 SBIs per 100 person-years). Sixteen of the events were presumed bacterial pneumonia, with 4 proven SBIs. One participant experienced 2 separate pneumonia episodes, of presumed bacterial cause. Ten subjects who developed SBIs had baseline CD4+ cell counts of ≥750 cells per mm3, and 15 had CD4+ cell percentages of ≥25% at the time of their SBIs. Two subjects died as a result of non–SBI-related causes. There were no statistically significant differences in changes over time in CD4+ cell counts or CD4+ cell percentages between subjects who experienced primary end points and those who did not. There was no evidence that baseline protease inhibitor use, gender, race/ethnicity, age, or CD4+ cell count or percentage affected the time to development of a SBI. Conclusions. OI or PCP prophylaxis can be withdrawn safely for HIV-infected pediatric patients who experience CD4+ cell recovery while receiving stable antiretroviral therapy. More studies are needed to assess the association between antibody responses to neoantigens and the development of SBIs.


Satire has been with us since at least the Greeks and is a staple of the literary classroom. Dustin Griffin now moves away from the prevailing moral-didactic approach established thirty years ago to a more open view and reintegrates the Menippean tradition with the tradition of formal verse satire. Exploring texts from Aristophanes to the moderns, with special emphasis on the eighteenth century, Griffin uses a dozen major figures - Horace, Juvenal, Persius, Lucian, More, Rabelais, Donne, Dryden, Pope, Swift, Blake, and Byron - as primary examples. Because satire often operates as a mode or procedure rather than as a genre, Griffin offers not a comprehensive theory but a set of critical perspectives. Some of his topics are traditional in satire criticism: the role of the satirist as moralist; the nature of satiric rhetoric; and the impact of satire on the political order. Others are new: the problems of satire and closure; the pleasure it affords readers and writers; and the socioeconomic status of the satirist. Griffin concludes that satire is problematic, open-ended, essayistic, and ambiguous in its relationship to history, uncertain in its political effect, resistant to formal closure, more inclined to ask questions than to provide answers, and ambivalent about the pleasures it offers. Here is the ideal introduction to satire for the student and, for the experienced scholar, an occasion to reconsider the uses, problems, and pleasures of satire in light of contemporary theory.


Abstract In recent years, aquaculture has been growing all over the world. In the estuarine region of Patos Lagoon (southern Brazil), small pilot shrimp farms are being developed by the Mariculture Laboratory at the FURG. Despite its current growth, environmental information on the appropriate places for its development and expansion is lacking, making it a high-risk activity. In this study, GIS tools are used to identify the most appropriate aquatic sites for small shrimp farms and present a methodological approach for the spatial planning of aquaculture in the Patos Lagoon Estuary. The main criteria taken into account are accessibility, proximity of fishing villages, distance from pollution sources, salinity, bathymetry and legal constraints. An integrated analysis of these parameters using spatial analysis techniques is carried out. This powerful method brings together a variety of data for decision-making in aquaculture. The result is a continuous surface ranging from the least suitable to the most suitable places for shrimp farming. This information will be useful in the decision-making process for guiding aquaculture planning and informing stakeholders in order to appropriately develop and manage the coast in this area.


It has often been the case that morality has not been given proper
consideration in the design and specification of protocols produced
within the Routing Area. This has led to a decline in the moral values
within the Internet and attempts to retrofit a suitable moral code to
implemented and deployed protocols has been shown to be sub-optimal.
This document specifies a requirement for all new Routing Area
Internet-Drafts to include a "Morality Considerations" section, and
gives guidance on what that section should contain. This memo provides
information for the Internet community.


This work presents the development of a novel thermal display for transient heat rendering in virtual environments. The design of the fingertip device focused on the low weight and compactness in order to achieve a high level of wearability and high performance in thermal rendering. The device is intended for integration with the Haptic Thimble device, in order to develop a novel interface for thermal and haptic rendering of virtual surfaces. An iterative Finite Elements (FE) procedure has been performed within the design process in order to numerically validate the final design of the thermal module. Finally, a thorough experimental characterization has been performed in order to evaluate the dynamic thermal capabilities of the prototype, considering also the finger contact response and the temperature uniformity of the plate in contact with the finger.


The hydrodynamic performance of a novel and efficient concept of a floating oscillating water column device has been investigated. The new concept consists of two chambers. These chambers are positioned on the upstream (fore chamber) and on the downstream (rear chamber) of the incident wave direction. The rear chamber acts mainly similar to a backward bent duct buoy system, while the design of the fore chamber follows conventional types of oscillating water column systems with the harbor plates (bottom plates and side plates) elongated outside of the fore chamber. The primary efficiency of the devised concept has been investigated in the frequency domain. In this context, to solve the corresponding diffraction and radiation problems due to the influence of the air pressure inside the chambers as well as motions of the body, an in-house code has been developed in two-dimensional using the boundary element method based on the linear wave theory. The obtained numerical results show that the introduced concept has advanced hydrodynamic efficiency in a broad range of waves.


Abstract : A new method for orbit prediction, which is as accurate as numerical methods and as fast as analytical methods, in terms of computational time, is desirable. This paper presents Kolmogorov Arnol'd Moser (KAM) torus orbit prediction using Simplified General Perturbations 4 (SGP4) and Two-Line Element (TLE) data. First, a periodic orbit and its Floquet solution is calculated. After that, perturbations, which are on the order of 10��5 and smaller, are added to the periodic orbit plus Floquet solution. Then, the low eccentricity KAM torus is least squares fitted to the SGP4 and TLE data. The performance of the theory is presented in various ways. The new method is approximately five times more accurate for the best fits and three times more accurate for mean fits comparing to SGP4 and TLE. History of TLEs and KAM torus theory can be used to make accurate orbit predictions, which is conceptually similar to extrapolation. In addition, the new method may rival numerical methods and it can be used for collision avoidance calculations, and formation flight applications. However, high eccentricity, polar and critical inclination, air drag, and resonance problems should be addressed.


Title of dissertation: SIMULATIONS OF NONUNIFORM FLUIDS WITH LONG-RANGED AND SHORT-RANGED INTERACTIONS Shule Liu, Doctor of Philosophy, 2012 Dissertation directed by: Professor John D. Weeks Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Institute for Physical Science and Technology The study of nonuniform fluids is of great importance in many areas of chemistry, biophysics, and materials science. Computer simulations of model systems have provided great insight into fundamental physical issues. We have studied two model systems: amphiphiles on a hydrophilic silica surface and charge overcompensation at the boundary of a colloid by multivalent ions. In the first model system, the organization of propionitrile and methanol near the surface has been studied via simulations. Both molecules can form highly organized bilayer-like structure near the surface. For propionitrile molecules, inside the bilayer-like structure hydrocarbon molecules intertwine with each other and form a closely packed structure. For methanol, molecules are strongly bonded to the silica surface with hydrogen bonds, resulting in much stronger hydrogen bonding than in the bulk and extremely slow dynamics. In our second model system, we use the local molecular field (LMF) theory to calculate the structure and solvation free energy of the system with a highly charged colloid immersed in trivalent salt. A mimic system with only short-ranged interactions was constructed using the LMF theory. By solving the LMF equation self-consistently, we have obtained the correct structure that indicates overcharging, where the charge of the colloid is overcompensated by the charge of trivalent ions. Then by taking a series of steps in a thermodynamic cycle, we have also calculated the solvation free energy of the colloid, using only results from the mimic system, and found very good agreement with more costly calculations carried out in the full long-ranged system. SIMULATIONS OF NONUNIFORM FLUIDS WITH LONG-RANGED AND SHORT-RANGED INTERACTIONS by Shule Liu Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2012 Advisory Committee: Professor John D. Weeks, Chair/Advisor Professor Millard Alexander Professor Christopher Jarzynski Professor Devarajan Thirumalai Professor Sergei Sukharev, Dean's Representative c © Copyright by Shule Liu 2012


Hair loss can be traumatic, whether it is linked to illness or simply part of the natural aging process, and there is considerable interest in dissecting its underlying mechanisms. Kazantseva et al. identify a culprit gene in a group of Russian families who show an inherited deficiency in hair growth but are otherwise healthy. The mutant gene, LIPH, encodes lipase H, a phospholipase thought to regulate the production of lipid signaling molecules. This discovery will likely stimulate investigations aimed at understanding the precise role of lipase H in hair follicle biology and whether the LIPH gene also contributes to the more common forms of baldness in the general population. A. Kazantseva, A. Goltsov, R. Zinchenko, A. P. Grigorenko, A. V. Abrukova, Y. K. Moliaka, A. G. Kirillov, Z. Guo, S. Lyle, E. K. Ginter, E. I. Rogaev, Human hair growth deficiency is linked to a genetic defect in the phospholipase gene LIPH. Science 314, 982-985 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text]


This presentation proposes an analysis of how a particular event, that is wolf hunting, is conceptualised in the Mongolian language. It aims at contributing to the ongoing debate about the interactions between potentially universal and language-specific features that shape the ways people relate to their natural environment. The analysis, which is based on ethnographic fieldwork, describes and explains how a Mongolian wolf hunter experiences two modalities of temporality: cyclical and 'evenemental'. It shows how these two modalities are embedded into the Mongolian concept of 'wind horses', hiimor', in the context of wolf hunting. The actualisation of these temporalities reveals a particular perception of the environment as well as the singular moral position of an individual in it.


We present empirical results that show the kinetic fractionation during gas exchange is 0.9972 ± .0002 for oxygen and 0.9987 ± .0001 for nitrogen. These values are larger than the solubility fractionation for either gas and in the case of oxygen, smaller than the isotopic fractionation during respiration and within the range of values reported for the fractionation during photosynthesis. The experimental work presented in this paper is part of a larger project in which measurements of 18 O/ 16 O and O 2 saturation are used as geochemical tracers of photosynthesis and respiration rates in the surface ocean. The use of 18 O/ 16 O as a tracer for new production has been limited by uncertainty in the fractionation factor for gas transfer.


Root rot in storage can lead to considerable sucrose losses in storage and adversely affect factory processing as well. The use of fungicide treatments applied to the root surface prior to storage were investigated to determine if they could reduce storage rots caused by Botrytis sp., Penicillium sp., and Athelia sp. Roots of the sugar beet cultivar B-5 were produced using standard cultural practices. At harvest eight roots were placed in a mesh onion bags to establish experimental units. The study included nine fungicide treatments (applied as a root dip) and a non-treated check arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Roots were then placed on top of an indoor commercial sugar beet pile and evaluated four times for root rot throughout the 120 day storage period. Area under the disease progress curve data showed an average reduction of 92% for Botrytis sp. and 71% for Athelia sp. for all treatments in comparison to the non-treated check. There was very little Penicillium growth on the roots and subsequently no differences between treatments. These data will aid the sugar beet industry in improving the storage of sugar beet roots.


It was the first war we could not win. At no other time since World War II have two superpowers met in battle. Now Max Hastings, preeminent military historian, takes us back to the bloody, bitter, struggle to restore South Korean independence after the Communist invasion of June 1950. Using personal accounts from interviews with more than 200 vets - including the Chinese - Hasting follows real officers and soldiers through the battles. He brilliantly captures the Cold War crisis at home - the strategies and politics of Truman, Acheson, Marshall, MacArthur, Ridgeway, and Bradley - and shows what we should have learned in the war that was the prelude to Vietnam.


SUMMARY Soil acidity and phosphorus (P) deficiency are some of the major causes of low maize yields in Kenya. This study determined the immediate and residual effects of lime and P fertilizer on soil pH, exchangeable aluminium (Al), available P, maize grain yield, agronomic P use and P fertilizer recovery efficiencies on a western Kenya acid soil. The treatments were: P fertilizer (0, 26 and 52 kg P ha−1 as triple super phosphate) and lime (0, 2, 4 and 6 tons lime ha−1) applied once at the beginning of the study. A burnt liming material with 92.5% calcium carbonate equivalent was used. Soil samples were analysed prior to and after treatment application. The site had low soil pH–H2O (4.9), available P (2.3 mg kg−1), total N (0.17%), high Al (2.0 cmol kg−1 exchangeable Al and 29% Al saturation). Lime reduced soil pH and exchangeable Al, leading to increased soil available P. Lime at 2, 4 and 6 tons ha−1 maintained soil pH ≥ 5.5 for 2, 3 and 4 years, respectively. The study observed that the recommended P fertilizer rate (26 kg P ha−1) for maize production in Kenya was inadequate to raise soil available P to the critical level (≥10 mg P kg−1 soil bicarbonate extractable P) required for healthy maize growth. To maintain soil available P at the critical level where 52 kg P ha−1 and combined 52 kg P ha−1 + 4 tons lime ha−1 were applied, it would be necessary to reapply the same P fertilizer rate after every one and two cropping seasons, respectively. The 4-year mean grain yield increments were 0.17, 0.34, 0.50, 0.58 and 1.17 tons ha−1 due to 2, 4, 6 tons lime ha−1, 26 kg P and 52 kg P ha−1, respectively. Both agronomic P use and P fertilizer recovery efficiencies increased with increasing rates of lime and decreased with increasing rates of P fertilizer. Therefore, combined applications of both lime and P fertilizer are important for enhancing maize production on P-deficient acid soils in western Kenya.


A tunable red photoluminescence from a-Si:H/a-SiNx multilayers was modulated in the wavelength range of 800–640 nm by controlling the thickness of the a-Si:H sublayer from 4 to 1.5 nm. Subsequent annealing was used to improve red photoluminescence without recrystallization of the amorphous silicon sublayers. The significant enhancement of red emission was found to depend on the decomposition of the Si–H bond in a-Si:H sublayers. Based on the absorption measurement, Raman, and FTIR spectra, the origin of light emission is ascribed to the silicon dangling bonds associated with hydrogen in a-Si:H sublayers, and the mechanism of light emission is suggested from the radiative recombination between the electrons existing at the negatively charged levels of silicon dangling bond and holes at the valence band.


INTRODUCTION Academic libraries have experimented with a variety of services to encourage article deposit to institutional repositories, with varying degrees of success. Universities now face the challenge of meeting federal agency public access requirements. Following the White House Office of Science Technology and Policy public access directive in 2013, Oregon State University (OSU) initiated an article deposit service to help faculty meet funding agency requirements and facilitate deposit of articles to both federal agency repositories and the institutional repository. This case study describes the article deposit form developed by the library to encourage article deposits to the institutional repository and federal agency repositories, the processes and people put in place to request and deposit the articles, and the impact of the service on the number of articles deposited to federal agency repositories. DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT In the two years since the article deposit service was initiated, a total of 102 articles have been deposited by the library to the PubMed Central or PAGES federal agency repositories. The inclusion of a request for faculty to indicate federal funding in the article deposit form has not resulted in increased article self deposits. Identifying and requesting National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Energy funded articles from faculty for deposit to the institutional repository and to the agency repositories has also not received substantial uptake. The majority of articles that have been deposited to federal agency repositories by the library were received after library staff reviewed bibliographies of grant funded research for compliance with public access policies. NEXT STEPS As a result, the library is now working with the university office of research to promote a service that asks faculty for a bibliography of their articles that result from NIH or DOE funding, identifies those that need to be deposited to the agency repositories, and provides a link to the library's article deposit form for them to initiate article deposits to the institutional repository and to agency repositories.


Mutation in the clarin-1 gene (Clrn1) results in loss of hearing and vision in humans (Usher syndrome III), but the role of clarin-1 in the sensory hair cells is unknown. Clarin-1 is predicted to be a four transmembrane domain protein similar to members of the tetraspanin family. Mice carrying null mutation in the clarin-1 gene (Clrn1−/−) show loss of hair cell function and a possible defect in ribbon synapse. We investigated the role of clarin-1 using various in vitro and in vivo approaches. We show by immunohistochemistry and patch-clamp recordings of Ca2+ currents and membrane capacitance from inner hair cells that clarin-1 is not essential for formation or function of ribbon synapse. However, reduced cochlear microphonic potentials, FM1-43 [N-(3-triethylammoniumpropyl)-4-(4-(dibutylamino)styryl) pyridinium dibromide] loading, and transduction currents pointed to diminished cochlear hair bundle function in Clrn1−/− mice. Electron microscopy of cochlear hair cells revealed loss of some tall stereocilia and gaps in the v-shaped bundle, although tip links and staircase arrangement of stereocilia were not primarily affected by Clrn1−/− mutation. Human clarin-1 protein expressed in transfected mouse cochlear hair cells localized to the bundle; however, the pathogenic variant p.N48K failed to localize to the bundle. The mouse model generated to study the in vivo consequence of p.N48K in clarin-1 (Clrn1N48K) supports our in vitro and Clrn1−/− mouse data and the conclusion that CLRN1 is an essential hair bundle protein. Furthermore, the ear phenotype in the Clrn1N48K mouse suggests that it is a valuable model for ear disease in CLRN1N48K, the most prevalent Usher syndrome III mutation in North America.


Nowadays, we get in contact with presentations on a daily basis. They show up in business meetings, at conferences and even for school lectures, presentations are used to assist the speaker. In most cases, PowerPoint is used for giving these presentations, but instead of assisting the speaker, the software often limits the possibilities to convey the real message. Listing facts by bullet points, being restricted by the size of a slide, being forced to use a linear way of presenting or being confined behind the computer, are only a few of the shortcomings of current presentation software. In a school environment, these limitations cause a depersonalised feeling to students, where it should be more important to challenge students and keep them active. In an attempt to solve these issues, several alternative presentation tools have been proposed, each providing a different approach in presentation style, from predefined paths through slides to free-flow presenting. Lecture capturing tools have also been introduced to give back a part of the interaction to the student. PaperPoint is a paper-based presentation tool that enhances existing software to overcome some of the issues mentioned above. By using a digital pen and specialised paper, it becomes possible to navigate through the presentation via printed handouts or add annotations to slides. In this thesis we have built the SynergE-Learning Web Portal, a website that can read the logfiles made from the input devices used during a PaperPoint session. This lecture capturing tool is able to reenact whole presentations from logfiles, making it easy for students to review a recorded presentation, view a missed lecture or add their own annotations to slides and share them. It is a lightweight tool in the way that it only needs a logfile, a presentation and optionally a video or audio stream. The recording of lectures will allow the students more flexibility during classes and allow them to review it afterwards, making annotations and sharing their knowledge. To enhance the student's educational experience, the portal allows students to personalise their own settings for reviewing lectures. To achieve this goal, several slide views can be chosen, different annotation methods are provided and several interaction methods are available. We make students the centre of attention again, giving them the opportunity and flexibility to take control of their own education.


Development of infrastructure is essential presumption for growth and development of relevant economic entities. The empirical evidence of private initiative importance and potentials in the establishment of cooperation with the public sector in infrastructure projects financing and operation refocused professional and academic attention on the studies of this phenomenon. The realm of the public private partnership (PPP) became scientifically treated as an interdisciplinary skill based mostly on project financing, whilst practically it became almost mandatory method for economic prosperity. Practical problems in implementation appeared due to lack of knowledge and nonsystematic approach in researches of private public partnership. This paper presents theoretical and practical directions for actors in this cooperation, scoping for mobilization of assets and energy for development and facilitation, and advancing of project investments efficiency.


Extant literature documents that wind generation can reduce wholesale electricity market prices by displacing conventional generation. But how large is the wholesale price effect of wind generation in an electricity market dominated by hydroelectric generation? We explore this question by analyzing the impact of wind generation on wholesale electricity prices in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. This hydro-rich system tends to be energy-limited, rather than capacity-constrained, with its marginal generation during the hydro runoff season often a hydro unit, instead of a natural-gas-fired unit. We find that increased wind generation reduces wholesale market prices by a small, but statistically-significant, amount. While a hydro-rich system can integrate wind generation at a lower cost than a thermal-dominated region, the direct economic benefits to end-users from greater investment in wind power may be negligible.


The control landscape of a quantum system A interacting with another quantum system B is studied. Only system A is accessible through time dependent controls, while system B is not accessible. The objective is to find controls that implement a desired unitary transformation on A, regardless of the evolution on B, at a sufficiently large final time. The freedom in the evolution on B is used to define an extended control landscape on which the critical points are investigated in terms of kinematic and dynamic gradients. A spectral decomposition of the corresponding extended unitary system simplifies the landscape analysis which provides: (i) a sufficient condition on the rank of the dynamic gradient of the extended landscape that guarantees a trap free search for the final time unitary matrix of system A, and (ii) a detailed decomposition of the components of the overall dynamic gradient matrix. Consequently, if the rank condition is satisfied, a gradient algorithm will find the controls that implements the target unitary on system A. It is shown that even if the dynamic gradient with respect to the controls alone is not full rank, the additional flexibility due to the parameters that define the extended landscape still can allow for the rank condition of the extended landscape to hold. Moreover, satisfaction of the latter rank condition subsumes any assumptions about controllability, reachability and control resources. Here satisfaction of the rank condition is taken as an assumption. The conditions which ensure that it holds remain an open research question. We lend some numerical support with two common examples for which the rank condition holds.


We study the relative motion of nearby free test particles in cosmological spacetimes, such as the FLRW and LTB models. In particular, the influence of spatial inhomogeneities on local tidal accelerations is investigated by means of simple spherically symmetric models. The implications of our results for the dynamics of the solar system are briefly discussed. That is, on the basis of the models studied in this paper, we estimate the tidal influence of the cosmic gravitational field on the orbit of the Earth around the Sun and show that the corresponding temporal rate of variation of the astronomical unit is negligibly small.


The mission of  the Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance (EJEF)  is to give opportunity to papers which tests theory and contributes to practice. All empirical methods - including, but are not limited to, qualitative, quantitative, field, laboratory, and combination methods - are welcome. Studies focused on developing countries are especially encouraged. Empirical, theoretical, and methodological articles from all major fields of economics and finance (including economic theory) such as microeconomics, macroeconomics, monetary economics, money and banking, international economics, labor economics, development economics, managerial economics, corporate finance, financial economics, behavioral finance, investment, public economics, health economics and the like are accepted in the journal. To be included in the journal, a manuscript must make strong empirical and/or theoretical contributions to the field. Consequently, preference is given to submissions that test, extend, or build strong theoretical frameworks while empirically examining issues with high importance for theory and practice. EJEF aims to give priority to manuscripts that examine countries in the Eurasia region. However, all papers from related fields on any region or country are highly encouraged. Single country studies, multi-country or regional studies could also be submitted.


This thesis exarrunes the nature and extent of psychopathy in adolescent offenders with a history of physical aggression, and the implications of psychopathy for institutional behaviour and motivation to change. The sample included female participants.
There were three parts to the study. Part 1 examined the nature and extent of psychopathy in the sample using the Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (pCL-YV; Forth, Kosson & Hare, 2003) (n=79). Scores were lower than found in previous studies with adolescents. There was no significant relationship between age and psychopathy, nor were there significant gender differences in total PCL-YV scores. There was a significant positive correlation between
psychopathy and previous offending behaviour.
Part 2 of the study (n=74) examined institutional misconduct. There was a significant relationship between psychopathy and institutional misconduct, physical aggression, verbal aggression and breach of rules. The predictive validity of the PCL-YV was compared with the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youths (SA VRY; Borum, Bartel & Forth, 2003) and the Youth Level of Service Inventory/Case Management Inventory (YLSI/ CMI; Hoge and Andrews, 1994) in relation to institutional misconduct. The SA VRY emerged as the strongest predictor, supporting the utility of this tool as a short-term predictor of risk. The predictive validity of these tools was not supported for female participants. This highlights the need for gender-sensitive approaches to risk assessment.
The nature and extent of bullying was examined usmg the Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behaviour Checklist Hospital Version (Revised) (Ireland, 2004). (n=66). There was a significant relationship between psychopathy and self-reported bullying in females, but not in males. This suggests there are gender differences in the expression of psychopathy, with psychopathy being strongly related to the perpetration of psychological harm in females.
Part 3 of the study examined the relationship between psychopathy and motivation to change, as measured with the Stages of Change Scale (n=66). No significant relationship was found. A follow up interview study of high and low psychopathy participants (n=28) explored adolescent offenders' attitudes to change. Although the responses of low and high
psychopathy participants were similar, high psychopathy participants more often reported difficulties applying skills learned. This highlights the need to design treatment that emphasises the application of skills with high psychopathy offenders.
Overall, the findings suggest that psychopathy is evident in adolescents and is related to antisocial behaviour, although this may be expressed differently in males and females.
Psychopathic offenders appear to express motivation to change so attempts should be made to offer treatment to this group and reduce their risk of harm to others


Rind color is an important cosmetic preference of consumers when purchasing citrus fruit. As citrus fruit mature, a decrease in chlorophyll concentration unmasks the presence of carotenoid pigments followed by further synthesis of carotenoids, resulting in the first appearance of the characteristic orange color of mandarins and sweet oranges. Factors contributing to invigorating growing conditions are antagonistic to optimal rind color development and tree vegetative vigor as well as high gibberellin and cytokinin levels are also thought to adversely affect rind color. Thus, a method to increase preharvest rind color by moderating vegetative vigor using a growth retardant was investigated. Prohexadione-calcium (ProCa; Regalis®), a gibberellin-biosynthesis inhibitor with growth retardant activity, was applied to 'Nules Clementine' mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco), 'Navelina Navel' orange [C. sinensis (L.) Osbeck], and 'Eureka' lemon [C. limon (L.) Burm. f.] during the 2005 and 2006 seasons at 200 and 400 mg·L -1 a.i. Rind color rating, colorimeter measurements, and pigment analyses were conducted directly after harvest, after ethylene degreening, and 3 weeks after cold storage. In the 2005 season, ProCa significantly increased rind color of 'Nules Clementine' mandarin and 'Navelina Navel' orange directly after harvest and after ethylene degreening by decreasing chlorophyll and increasing carotenoid concentrations in the flavedo of fruit but did not affect the pigment concentration of 'Eureka' lemon despite an improvement in rind color rating. After cold storage, however, rind color was not significantly different among treatments. In the 2006 season, rind color was significantly increased directly after harvest, and chlorophyll degradation together with carotenoid synthesis of all Citrus spp. tested were stimulated by the late 400 mg·L -1 ProCa application. Therefore, foliar spray application of ProCa at a concentration of 400 mg·L -1 applied 6 plus 3 weeks before anticipated harvest has the potential to increase preharvest rind color of early-maturing citrus cultivars as a result of increased carotenoid-to-chlorophyll ratio. This treatment provides a novel approach to manipulate chlorophyll degradation and carotenoid synthesis in citrus fruit, and these results support the hypothesis that there may be an inverse relationship between vegetative vigor and rind color development of citrus fruit. Therefore, by moderating vegetative vigor through the use of growth retardants, rind color of citrus fruit can be enhanced.


Description: Written by leading researchers, the 2nd Edition of the Dictionary of Computer Vision & Image Processing is a comprehensive and reliable resource which now provides explanations of over 3500 of the most commonly used terms across image processing, computer vision and related fields including machine vision. It offers clear and concise definitions with short examples or mathematical precision where necessary for clarity that ultimately makes it a very usable reference for new entrants to these fields at senior undergraduate and graduate level, through to early career researchers to help build up knowledge of key concepts. As the book is a useful source for recent terminology and concepts, experienced professionals will also find it a valuable resource for keeping up to date with the latest advances. New features of the 2nd Edition:-Contains more than 1000 new terms, notably an increased focus on image processing and machine vision terms;-Includes the addition of reference links across the majority of terms pointing readers to further information about the concept under discussion so that they can continue to expand their understanding;-Now available as an eBook with enhanced content: approximately 50 videos to further illustrate specific terms; active cross-linking between terms so that readers can easily navigate from one related term to another and build up a full picture of the topic in question; and hyperlinked references to fully embed the text in the current literature.


When a totally unpolarized light is scattered by a medium that spatially totally depolarizes incident polarized light, the scattered field presents an increase of the order described by the temporal degree of polarization. We analyze the behavior of some polarization and coherence properties in such a physical situation.


School attendance is a high profile issue at both national and local levels, and links have been made between poor attendance and low attainment, poor employment outcomes and antisocial behaviour (Reid 1999, 2002). This small scale research study focuses on a group of young people referred to as school refusers, who experience difficulties attending school associated with anxiety and emotion. This small scale, case study based research revolves around five young people who have been reintegrated into mainstream school following a period at a Short Stay School (PRU) for key stage 3 and 4 pupils with mental health and medical needs. In addition to the young people, participants include their mothers, the learning mentor from the Short Stay School and a mentor from the receiving mainstream school. Findings underline the heterogeneous nature of cases and an experience of school refusal associated with intense emotions for the young people and their parents. Change associated with school and home factors are implicated in school refusal as are factors including social anxiety, bullying, the child/parent dynamic and characteristics of the young person. School refusal is a long term matter requiring ongoing support even after reintegration.


SUMMARY In an era of low crime rates and high imprisonment rates, the role of communities in producing safety and justice is open for critical reexamination. This article suggests that community resiliency is an unexplored factor in the recent drop in violent crime rates, and that community capacity is adversely affected by imprisonment policies, creating critical questions about the ability of community organizations to engage in partnerships on crime and justice topics. Drawing lessons from several community policing experiments, this article outlines a possible role for community engagement in reducing the current reliance on incarceration as a response to crime.


Weaponry, for the purpose of intraspecific combat or predator defence, is one of the most widespread animal adaptations, yet the selective pressures and constraints governing its phenotypic diversity and skeletal regionalization are not well understood. Here, we investigate the evolution of tail weaponry in amniotes, a rare form of weaponry that nonetheless evolved independently among a broad spectrum of life including mammals, turtles and dinosaurs. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we test for links between morphology, ecology and behaviour in extant amniotes known to use the tail as a weapon, and in extinct taxa bearing osseous tail armaments. We find robust ecological and morphological correlates of both tail lashing behaviour and bony tail weaponry, including large body size, body armour and herbivory, suggesting these life-history parameters factor into the evolution of antipredator behaviours and tail armaments. We suggest that the evolution of tail weaponry is rare because large, armoured herbivores are uncommon in extant terrestrial faunas, as they have been throughout evolutionary history.


Describes the Spine Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, a multidisciplinary unit that offers patients suffering from spinal problems 'one-stop' access to a range of providers including orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, neurologists, medical specialists in physical medicine and pain management, mental health providers, and occupational and physical therapists. The Center was created to address what its founder, James Weinstein, M.D., saw as the uncoordinated and inefficient delivery of spinal care in the United States. The Center emphasized using non-surgical treatments (e.g., physical therapy and exercise, behavioral modification, pain-relieving drugs) as either a complement to, or substitute for, surgical procedures, and patients were actively engaged in the process of determining what type of care to pursue. In addition, Weinstein and his staff collected data from the Center's clinical practice to conduct academic research on the outcomes and cost-effectiveness of various approaches to treatment. The case allows for a critical analysis of the Spine Center's unique approach to care delivery and provides an opportunity to examine the applicability of this model in other clinical areas.


There is an increasing pressure from the economic regulator in England and Wales for water companies to ensure that their capital maintenance decisions reflect an understanding of the long-term impact on their operational costs and risks. This implies that decisions must not only reflect the costs borne now but the likely costs in the future, and how these might be optimised. It is noteworthy that within the construction and transport industries, asset management decisions which have been driven in this direction utilise a whole life costing (WLC) methodology. This paper addresses the implications of transferring the concept of WLC to service-based assets such as water systems.

A WLC approach to distribution network management aims to achieve the lowest network provision and operating cost when all costs are considered to achieve standards enforced by regulation. Cognisance is to be taken of all relevant costs - direct and indirect, private and societal - in order to balance the needs of the service supplier, the customer, society and the environment in a sustainable manner. A WLC analysis thus attempts to develop a cost profile over the life of the asset. Accounting for the costs over this period is achieved through a combination of activity based costing (ABC) and a life cycle assessment (LCA) used to identify potential social and environmental costs. This process means that each of these identified costs must be linked to some physical parameter that itself varies over time due to changing demands on the system, the different operational strategies available to the operator and natural deterioration of the fabric of the system. The links established between the cost and activities of the operator provide the basis for the development of a WLC decision tool (WiLCO) for application to water distribution network management.


Eotaxin and other CC chemokines acting via CC chemokine receptor-3 (CCR3) are believed to play an integral role in the development of eosinophilic inflammation in asthma and allergic inflammatory diseases. However, little is known about the intracellular events following agonist binding to CCR3 and the relationship of these events to the functional response of the cell. The objectives of this study were to investigate CCR3-mediated activation of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases extracellular signal-regulated kinase-2 (ERK2), p38, and c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in eosinophils and to assess the requirement for MAP kinases in eotaxin-induced eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) release and chemotaxis. MAP kinase activation was studied in eotaxin-stimulated eosinophils (more than 97% purity) by Western blotting and immune-complex kinase assays. ECP release was measured by radioimmunoassay. Chemotaxis was assessed using Boyden microchambers. Eotaxin (10(-11) to 10(-7) mol/L) induced concentration-dependent phosphorylation of ERK2 and p38. Phosphorylation was detectable after 30 seconds, peaked at about 1 minute, and returned to baseline after 2 to 5 minutes. Phosphorylation of JNK above baseline could not be detected. The kinase activity of ERK2 and p38 paralleled phosphorylation. PD980 59, an inhibitor of the ERK2-activating enzyme MEK (MAP ERK kinase), blocked phosphorylation of ERK2 in a concentration-dependent manner. The functional relevance of ERK2 and p38 was studied using PD98 059 and the p38 inhibitor SB202 190. PD98 059 and SB202 190 both caused inhibition of eotaxin-induced ECP release and chemotaxis. We conclude that eotaxin induces a rapid concentration-dependent activation of ERK2 and p38 in eosinophils and that the activation of these MAP kinases is required for eotaxin-stimulated degranulation and directed locomotion. (Blood. 2000;95:1911-1917)


Organic peroxy radicals (often abbreviated RO(2)) play a central role in the chemistry of the Earth's lower atmosphere. Formed in the atmospheric oxidation of essentially every organic species emitted, their chemistry is part of the radical cycles that control the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere and lead to the formation of ozone, organic nitrates, organic acids, particulate matter and other so-called secondary pollutants. In this review, laboratory studies of this peroxy radical chemistry are detailed, as they pertain to the chemistry of the atmosphere. First, a brief discussion of methods used to detect the peroxy radicals in the laboratory is presented. Then, the basic reaction pathways - involving RO(2) unimolecular reactions and bimolecular reactions with atmospheric constituents such as NO, NO(2), NO(3), O(3), halogen oxides, HO(2), and other RO(2) species - are discussed. For each of these reaction pathways, basic reaction rates are presented, along with trends in reactivity with radical structure. Focus is placed on recent advances in detection methods and on recent advances in our understanding of radical cycling processes, particularly pertaining to the complex chemistry associated with the atmospheric oxidation of biogenic hydrocarbons.


ABSTRACT Aim: Recently growing evidence has indicated the presence of persistent viruses and microorganisms in malignant tumor cells. Studying of the effect of infectious factors on the changes in endocrine profile in hormone-dependent tissues can contribute to detection of the reasons of sharp rise in the frequency of cancer in women over fifty years and the possibility of prevention and treatment of oncopathologies. Methods: 67 samples of ovarian tissue in patients with uterine carcinomas T1-2N0M0 were studied, mean age 53,4±3,2 years. Levels of estrone (Е1), estradiol (Е2), estriol (Е3), estrogen metabolite ratio 2-ОНЕ and 16-ОНЕ were detected in 10% homogenates by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with the help of standard test systems (XEMA Co., Ltd.). Intact ovarian tissue without IgG antibodies against infectious agents served as a control. Polymerase chain reaction method was used for the detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) and chlamydia infection in ovarian tissue. Statistical analysis of results was made using Statistica 6.0 programme. Written voluntary informed consent of all patients was received in all cases. Results: 35,8% of 67 samples of ovarian tissue were infected with complex of infections – clamydias+HSV+CMV; 32,8% – HSV only; 11,9% – CMV+HSV; 11,9% – CMV only. Only 7,6% of the samples occurred to be intact. The results of the study show increase of Е1 concentration by 1,6-3,5 times and decrease of Е2 by 7,3-16,4 times in infected ovaries in comparison with uninfected tissues. When calculating the ratio Е1/Е2, maximum prevalence of Е1 – by 25-28,8 times higher in comparison with uninfected tissue – was recorded in HSV and HSV+CMV. In all other cases – CMV and clamydias+CMV – Е1/Е2 ratio increased by 15-16 times. Estrogen metabolite ratio 2-ОНЕ/16-ОНЕ in infected ovarian tissue was decreased on average by 1,5 times in comparison with intact samples. Conclusions: Е1/Е2 ratio changes towards Е1 prevalence in infected ovarian tissue, and estrogen metabolite ratio decreases towards aggressive 16ОНЕ prevalence. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


The Mineoka Ophiolite Mélange is located at the intersection of the Pacific, Philippine Sea, Eurasian, and North American plates. The Mineoka ophiolite origin is disputed, and it has been ascribed to a fully subducted plate or part of the Pacific and Philippine Sea plates. In this paper, we present a kinematic reconstruction of the Mineoka Ophiolite Mélange and its relation with the Pacific Plate, based on new paleomagnetic data and bulk‐rock 40Ar/39Ar ages of basaltic rocks. In addition to standard analyses for paleolatitudes, we performed a Net tectonic rotation analysis on sheeted dolerite dikes to infer the paleospreading direction that formed the ophiolite. The analysis shows that 85–80 Ma MOR pillow basalts erupted at a paleolatitude of N ∼16°, whereas ∼50 Ma basalts formed at N ∼34°. Net Tectonic Rotation analysis suggests that the spreading direction was NE 60°. Ar–Ar ages yielded 53–49 Ma for MORBs and 41–35 Ma for island‐arc basalts. The formation of this ophiolite occurred in the back‐arc spreading of the Nemuro–Olyutorsky arcs of the NW Pacific. It infers that the final consumption of Izanagi below Japan instigated a subduction jump and flipped its polarity. Subduction initiated parallel to the ridge, and a piece of the original back‐arc crust got trapped near the Japan trench during the northwards motion of the Philippine Sea Plate. The contrasting motion between the Pacific and the Philippine Sea plates generated a highly unstable setting followed by a subduction zone that left a small‐sized and short‐lived plate ("Mineoka"), surrounded by subduction zones.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy of synovial fluid culture in obtaining the causative organism from dogs with suspected septic arthritis.

METHODS
In this retrospective evaluation, synovial fluid cytology and microbiology submissions from dogs with suspected septic arthritis from March 2007 to August 2011 were reviewed. Synovial fluid cytology consistent with joint sepsis was identified. Cultures of synovial fluid from dogs with clinical histories and abnormalities consistent with septic arthritis were used to evaluate the efficacy of bacterial isolation.

RESULTS
In total, 36 dogs met the inclusion criteria. Initial aerobic cultures of joint fluid yielded bacterial growth in 44% of these dogs. All anaerobic cultures were negative. In 19% of the dogs with positive cultures, antibiotics had been administered prior to arthrocentesis compared with 10% of dogs with negative cultures. There was no association between culture efficacy and the administration of antimicrobial treatment prior to synovial fluid culture or recent surgery involving the affected joint (P=0.637 and P=0.106, respectively).

CONCLUSION
Culture of synovial fluid from dogs with suspected septic arthritis has a low yield, necessitating a more effective means of identifying bacteria from suspected septic joints in dogs.


Mohsen Mahkmalbaf, one of the important lyrical film directors of the Iranian New Wave, published a powerful essay in Monthly Review in 2001 called "Limbs of No Body." He described the destruction of Afghanistan over the last 20 years. The body of the world amputated Afghanistan. (1) In this time of digital terror, various email snooping and commercial digital data mining technologies have been justified and mobilized by the USA Patriot Act. The digital, in this paranoid, authoritarian era, is being used to disembody and to disempower. We need to reembody and reempower our politics, our analysis, our digitality, our critical art. Therefore, we must resist any and all architectures of disembodiment which remove labor from manufacturing in the global economy, war from geography, privacy from security, gender from race and dissent from justice. These ideas, and all of us, are limbs of one body-the phrase over the portal to the United Nations. Our point of reference in this chaotic, endlessly morphing swirl of phantasmatic nationalist discourse is quite simple: we are dead, or we are alive. We must issue a call to humanity, not as some universalized abstraction, but as a specific dialogic action across and with difference. We must look to our humanity in and with others across the globe, and find them human. And we must look to the dead, everywhere-not just here in the United States-and forge connection. The people who die from AIDS in SubSaharan Africa each day equal the dead of two September 11ths. We need to see, to really see, and then to see more, through a digital viewing of all of the complicated, messy, invisible politics that evade us. We can choose: we are limbs of no body, or we are limbs of one body. This essay is about blasting war. Blasting enfolds within and around itself many meanings from many different historical epochs that traverse many different disciplines-war, weather, infectious disease, biology, environment, slang, aggressive language, critical analysis. Digital terror requires historiography: a structure that can identify changes without a reductionist causality, that can connect the limbs to the body. "Blasto," in biology, means embryonic cell formation. To blast is to open up, to make, to form. To blast is to proclaim. To blast is to criticize vigorously. It is a word that both describes and sounds a process rather than a statement or a thing. Politically significant in this time of terror, this Digital Terror gathering at Cornell University identifies itself as a workshop-a place to work together. In this spirit of collective work and effort, this essay connects five, conceptualizations our convener, Timothy Murray, professor of' English and Comparative Literature at Cornell University, advanced in his symposium announcement: machineries depleted and abused by politicians, human rights, terror/war, ethnic anxieties and artistic responses. This essay is structured as a homage to Mahkmalbaf's timely film Kandahar (2001), a film that blasts our imaginary projections of Afghanistan as a place of rubble, death, drugs, amputation, murder and bombed buildings (a place of absence) with an expansive, controlled compositional strategy of rich color, line, form (a place of presence). Kandahar insists on mapping visuality when our new world bans images. It is a cinema of many landscapes where the real and the imaginary twist together: sand, burqas, poverty, madrassas, people trying to live. Prosthetic legs cascade from the sky. In Kandahar, a Canadian/Afghani woman journalist journeys into Afghanistan to search for her sister. The film moves from outside to inside but is always public. Subjectivity is figured as always larger than the self; it is self and others, in movement. The film genders the nation of the Mujahadeen and the Taliban through the vision of a diasporic woman. It is not a narrative. …


The systematic analysis of simultaneous occurrences of large waves and high water levels will help to reduce the future risk imposed by such hazard. The present study aimed to estimate the individual probability distribution and extremes of contributing variables, the combined distribution of their simultaneous occurrences and to demonstrate,in a lesser extent, the degree of dependence and correlation through determination of their correlation coefficient and by plotting probability density contours of numbers of events in some selected regions along the Norwegian coast.The extent of the present study kept limited to the statistical analyses of sequential and ordered data of waves and storm surges, the application of the Direct Joint Probability Method (DJPM) for only tides and surges and the approximate estimation of statistical dependence between waves and storm surges based on deep-water waves from'hindcast' and the observed and predicted sea level data.During the Peak over Threshold method while determining the extreme values, a sensitivity analysis between the extrapolated results from the Gumbel and Weibull distribution suggested preference on selecting Gumbel distribution as a user-friendly and reliable distribution type. The extreme sea levels comprised of tides and surges estimated by the DJPM, showed quite satisfactory prediction in a sense that the predicted results were expected from their joint occurrence histograms as there were only a few occasions where high tides and large surges occurred simultaneously. It is highly recommended that further analysis of the DJPM with three contributing variables(waves, tides and surges) should be carried out to predict more accurate extreme flood levels. The examination of simultaneous occurrences of waves and storm surges through dependence and correlation theory showed that thesetwo variables are largely statistically dependent. So, the Joint density approach based on the fitted distribution anddependence among water level, wave height and wave period using Monte Carlo simulation can be recommended to be undertaken as the next step in this process.


As in many other developing countries, an official policy of user fees was adopted for the Lao health system in the 1990s. In principle, the poor were to be exempted from paying user fees at public health providers. This study aimed to contribute to policy on financial protection of the poor by (1) improving understanding of health care utilization and strategies adopted by households to deal with costs of Illness; (2) examining attitudes of policy makers and actual practice of public health care providers on fee exemptions of the poor; and (3) proposing better ways of protecting the poor.
Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. Data were collected from 172 households of 4 villages in Savannakhet Province; 26 public providers in Savannakhet Province and 3 public providers in Vientiane capital; and 22 policy makers in Vientiane capital, between October 2005 and July 2006.
The exemption policy has been ineffectively implemented. In practice, criteria for identifying the poor were not specified and no budget was provided to hospitals to finance exemptions. Providers preserved exemptions for 'the destitute'. The payment of user fees could be delayed without interest when 'the poor' had insufficient cash. Villagers strongly believed in the principle of paying user fees to providers either at the point of service or through delayed payment, even though they lived In difficult conditions and their average consumption was below $US1.00 a day. Importantly, they did not perceive exemption from fees to be possible for 'the poor'. The majority of households did not access health care services when III for reasons such as financial and geographical barriers; some of them suffered adverse health consequences as a result such as death or disability. The better the socio-economic group, the better was access to health care services. Among a total of 172 sampled households, twelve households were faced with catastrophic health expenditure, most from the middle and poorest socio-economic group. The villagers managed health crises themselves mainly through drawing on social networks within the community in order to sell assets, borrow, and get other forms of support from neighbours. Although the study of households was small in scale, it was likely to echo households' difficulties elsewhere as the studied villages were similar to other rural areas without roads of Lao PDR.
This study suggests that there is an urgent need for the government to improve two main areas: accessibility to adequate health care for everyone, everywhere; and reform of the nationwide policy on health financial risk protection for the poor and the less-poor in order to reduce catastrophic health expenditure.


The intended outcome of a third sector telephone housing options service focusing on specialist housing is to empower older people to reassess their home environment. However, there is no existing academic research in this area. In an original contribution to knowledge, this study addresses the question: How, why, for whom and in what context is a third sector telephone I&A service efficacious in relation to instilling empowerment in older people considering specialist housing? This thesis takes a realist philosophical perspective and realist evaluation approach (context-mechanism-outcome configuration - CMOc). Key methods include a focus group with service advisors (to develop programme theory), access to the service setting, analysis of imparted information and realist/semi-structured interviews (n=31) with older information-seekers (n=16) one month (n=16) and four months (n=15) after engaging with the service. Tenure and access to deliberative networks are key areas of context. Against a backdrop of a shortage of specialist housing and subsequent complex conditions, those in private housing (mostly owner-occupiers) tend to seek empowerment. Social tenants, limited to a system where a low priority, already have experiential knowledge and seek accessible alternatives. It was common for participants to trust the service relative to negative prior experiences. Yet, in the majority of CMOc (n=8) outcomes tend to reflect an inability to act (social tenants) or uncertainty (mainstream residents) – the latter triggered by mechanisms such as apprehension. A key finding was that many information-seekers sought, desired or used the interviews for more substantive discussion. The current UK market and structure of I&A provision, both hampered by neo-liberal influences, are not conducive to older people reassessing their home. Firstly, this research further underlines the need to increase the supply of specialist housing. Secondly, this study challenges established thinking where information, and not the relational elements of substantive deliberation, is assumed to empower.


The hyperlink structure of Wikipedia constitutes a key resource for many Natural Language Processing tasks and applications, as it provides several million semantic annotations of entities in context. Yet only a small fraction of mentions across the entire Wikipedia corpus is linked. In this paper we present the automatic construction and evaluation of a Semantically Enriched Wikipedia (SEW) in which the overall number of linked mentions has been more than tripled solely by exploiting the structure of Wikipedia itself and the wide-coverage sense inventory of BabelNet. As a result we obtain a sense-annotated corpus with more than 200 million annotations of over 4 million different concepts and named entities. We then show that our corpus leads to competitive results on multiple tasks, such as Entity Linking and Word Similarity.