The service sector is the most dominant sector in every developed economy today. The ability to develop and successfully launch new services is crucial for service organizations to stay competitive and to adapt to the ever-changing conditions of the environment. However, up until now, a mismatch remains between the importance of service innovation for society and the attention given to it in both academia and practice. Existing research has compared the innovative output of service firms with manufacturing firms and found that the difference is one of degree rather than of substance. Studies which focus on the process instead of the output of service innovation, however, are still relatively scarce. This dissertation aims to help close this research gap by examining three service innovation processes in different contexts. First, it offers a theoretical illumination of service innovation with the help of knowledge creation theory. This is beneficial for defining service innovation more precisely. The second study is concerned with the influence of emotional factors on the development of dynamic capabilities in new ventures. It shows that young ventures which are able to deliberately switch between emotional and analytical modes of operation have a higher likelihood of success. The study compares the development of two service-oriented ventures with two product-oriented ones that are part of an accelerator program at the School of Design Thinking at Stanford University. The third paper is concerned with product-service strategies, or Servitization, and the relation to vertical integration and the coordination of innovation in downstream markets. The study shows that the Servitization development, i.e. the vertical integration of manufacturing firms into its users' operation, is a response to the failure of architectural innovation in more flexible buyer-supplier relationships. The study finds four different strategies for the service business of manufacturing firms based on case studies in the mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and chemical industries. Overall, I am able to show that firms need to be able to build three distinct capabilities to master their service innovation efforts. First, they need to build up a capacity for innovation to gain economies from partial repetition of solutions. Second, firms need to have skills in place to create and manage boundary objects, especially at the client interface. Finally, they need to have capabilities to build up complementarities which help protect revenues from their service innovation initiatives.


During the construction by the Hastings Corporation of a new arterial road to th.e north of St. Leonards, near Silver Hill, not far from the Old Eoar Waterfall, and close to the quarry dubbed by Mantell the "Iguanodon Necropolis", the cutting passed through some sandy beds of the Wadhurst Clay Series. In these there was one particular stratum that had been a pale blue concretionary calciferous sandstone, but which had been altered for the most part by the percolation of water into a rusty-brown ferruginous sandrock.1 Numerous large, typical concretions occurred in it, but besides these Mr. H. L. Tucker, who was then acting as engineer to the contractors for the work, noticed the presence of certain huge spiral bodies that seemed to differ from the ordinary concretions. These bodies generally lay in cavities, or "moulds" in the surrounding sandstone, but unfortunately no part of these moulds was preserved.


In this work, we propose a novel approach for integrating rules into traffic agent trajectory prediction. Consideration of rules is important for understanding how people behave—yet, it cannot be assumed that rules are always followed. To address this challenge, we evaluate different approaches of integrating rules as inductive biases into deep learning-based prediction models. We propose a framework based on generative adversarial networks that uses tools from formal methods, namely signal temporal logic and syntax trees. This allows us to leverage information on rule obedience as features in neural networks and improves prediction accuracy without biasing towards lawful behavior. We evaluate our method on a real-world driving dataset and show improvement in performance over off-the-shelf predictors.


A transcription factor protects the heart from radiation-induced damage. This Podcast features an interview with David Kirsch and Chang-Lung Lee, authors of a Research Article published in the 24 July 2012 issue of Science Signaling. Kirsch and Lee studied radiation-induced injury to the heart, focusing specifically on the vasculature in the heart and the role of the transcription factor p53. Previous studies had indicated that p53 promotes damage to the heart after various types of injury and stress, but Kirsch and Lee found that p53 protects cardiac endothelial cells—and thus the entire organ—from radiation-induced damage. The authors discuss these findings in the context of heart damage associated with radiation therapy in human patients


You thought capitalism was permanent? Think again. David Harvey unravels the contradictions at the heart of capitalism: its drive, for example, to accumulate capital beyond the means of investing it, it's imperative to use the cheapest methods of production that leads to consumers with no means of consumption, and its compulsion to exploit nature to the point of extinction. These are the tensions which underpin the persistence of mass unemployment, the downward spirals of Europe and Japan, and the unstable lurches forward of China and India. Not that the contradictions of capital are all bad: they can lead to the innovations that make capitalism resilient and, it seems, permanent. Yet appearances can deceive: while many of capital's contradictions can be managed, others will be fatal to our society. This new book is both an incisive guide to the world around us and a manifesto for change.


Background and Purpose: Complications of primary nasoplasty, at the time of definitive primary cheiloplasty, are underreported in the literature. This study endeavors to examine the occurrences of these complications at our cleft-craniofacial center, in an effort to identify causative factors and management strategies. A case series of patients with postoperative nasal complications after primary cleft lip nasal surgery is presented. Methods: A retrospective chart review of primary cleft lip nasal repairs was conducted at our cleft-craniofacial center between January 2003 and December 2007. Consecutive cases of 3 staff surgeons were evaluated. Specific data points included number and type of complications, subsequent required interventions, and relevant history, with particular attention paid to the details of the primary nasoplasty. Results: Eighty-six primary cleft lip nasoplasties were completed between the years 2003 and 2007. Six complications (6.9%) related to the primary cleft lip nasoplasty were identified. Four patients (4.6%) experienced nasal tip infections; all 4 required surgical drainage. Twenty-four patients (27.9%) undergoing primary cleft lip and nose repair had postoperative nostril conformers placed, and 2 (8.3%) of them experienced complications deemed conformer related. Conclusions: Postoperative nasal complications of primary cheiloplasty occur and are likely underreported. In this series, complications resulted from infection, often occurring late, and secondary to the use of nostril conformers. Surgeon awareness and caregiver education, to identify the early signs of postoperative nasal complications, are critical to the successful treatment of these occurrences. Although this study did not intend on examining antibiotic use, the significance of nasal tip infections might support the regular use of antibiotics in this population, and the use of postoperative nostril conformers must be followed closely.


For well over a century, the United Fruit Company (UFCO) has been the most vilified multinational corporation operating in Latin America. Criticism of the UFCO has been widespread, ranging from politicians to consumer activists, and from labor leaders to historians, all portraying it as an overwhelmingly powerful corporation that shaped and often exploited its host countries. In this first history of the UFCO in Colombia, Marcelo Bucheli argues that the UFCO's image as an all-powerful force in determining national politics needs to be reconsidered. Using a previously unexplored source-the internal archives of Colombia's UFCO operation-Bucheli reveals that before 1930, the UFCO worked alongside a business-friendly government that granted it generous concessions and repressed labor unionism. After 1930, however, the country experienced dramatic transformations including growing nationalism, a stronger labor movement, and increasing demands by local elites for higher stakes in the banana export business. In response to these circumstances, the company abandoned production, selling its plantations (and labor conflicts) to local growers, while transforming itself into a marketing company. The shift was endorsed by the company's shareholders and financial analysts, who preferred lower profits with lower risks, and came at a time in which the demand for bananas was decreasing in America. Importantly, Bucheli shows that the effect of foreign direct investment was not unidirectional. Instead, the agency of local actors affected corporate strategy, just as the UFCO also transformed local politics and society.


If the designers of technologies intended to reduce or shift energy consumption are not sensitive to how people live and work in buildings, a gap occurs between the expected and actual performance of those technologies. This paper explores this problem using the concepts of 'design logic' (designers' ideas, values, intentions and user representations) and the 'user logic' (related in this case to how building occupants currently live and work in a building). The research presented unpacks the 'design logic' embedded in DR approaches planned for implementation at four blocks of buildings in a Horizon 2020 funded project, called "Demand Response in Blocks of Buildings" (DR-BoB). It discusses how the 'user logic' may differ from the 'design logic' and the potential impact of this on the performance of the technologies being implemented to reduce or shift energy consumption. The data analysed includes technical working documents describing the implementation scenarios of DR at four pilot sites, interviews and workshops conducted with the project team and building occupants during the first phases of the project. The analysis presented identifies how expectations about building occupants and their behaviours are built into the DR scenarios (to be tested during the project demonstrations). Initial findings suggest that building occupants' energy use practices and routines may be different from those expectations. The paper illustrates how the concepts of 'design logic' and 'user logic' can be used to identify mismatches before technologies are implemented. The paper concludes with recommendations for improving the design and implementation of DR.


Until now, the species Oioceros rothii (Wagner, 1857) was known only by isolated horn-cores, frontlets and skull fragments, but its skull structure and dentition were poorly known. In this article, an almost complete skull of O. rothii with associated mandibles, plus isolated dentitions and frontlets from Pikermi, the type locality, are described and compared. The species O. rothii has many characters in common with O. atropatenes (Rodler & Weithofer, 1890) and Samotragus praecursor Bouvrain & Bonis, 1985. It has a relative short face, slightly inclined in relation to the braincase, which is relatively long. Its dentition is characterised by a premolar series, which is longer relatively to the molars than in O. atropatenes and S. praecursor. Oioceros wegneri Andree, 1926 probably represents a different genus, characterised by a longer and strongly inclined face in relation to the braincase, short braincase and horn-cores placed almost entirely behind the orbits.


Introduction. Part I: The Basic Facts about Nutrition. Chapter 1: What's Nutrition, Anyway? Chapter 2: Digestion: The 24-Hour Food Factory. Chapter 3: Why You Eat When You Eat and Like What You Like. Part II: What You Get from Food. Chapter 4: Powerful Protein. Chapter 5: The Lowdown on Fat and Cholesterol. Chapter 6: Calories: The Energisers. Chapter 7: Carbohydrates: A Complex Story. Chapter 8: The Truth: The Alcohol Truth. Chapter 9: Vigorous Vitamins. Chapter 10: Mighty Minerals. Chapter 11: Phabulous Phytochemicals. Chapter 12: Water Works. Part III: Healthy Eating. Chapter 13: What Is a Healthy Diet? Chapter 14: Making Wise Food Choices. Chapter 15 : Ensuring Good Nutrition Whoever You Are. Chapter 16: Being Nutritionally Savvy for When You're Out and About. Chapter 17 : Looking at Standards in Schools and Other Institutions. Part IV: Processed Food. Chapter 18: What Is Processed Food? Chapter 19: Cooking and Keeping Food. Chapter 20: Weird Science: Examining Food Additives. Part V: Food and Health. Chapter 21: Food and Allergies. Chapter 22: Food and the Brain. Chapter 23: Food and Medicine. Chapter 24: Dietary Supplements. Part VI: The Part of Tens. Chapter 25: Ten Nutrition Websites You Can Trust. Chapter 26 Ten Superfoods. Chapter 27: Ten Fad Diets: The Truth Behind the Headlines. Index.


We theoretically investigate the optical response of a hybrid nanocrystal complex composed of a semiconductor quantum dot (SQD) and a metal nanoparticle (MNP) in the presence of laser fields within a full quantum description. The analytic results demonstrate that the modified decay rate of the exciton is related to the exciton energy and the distance between SQD and MNP in terms of a quantum transformation method. The responses of the coupled system to a weak laser field and a strong laser field are demonstrated. When the two laser fields are presented simultaneously, the energy absorption rate of the coupled system to the weak laser field can be controlled by the strong laser field and the distance between SQD and MNP. This tunable optical response in such a hybrid system can be exploited for the development of the optical processing devices such as ultrafast optical switch in the future.


The effect of saponin purified from Solanium anguivi Lam. fruits on haematology parameters of rats (Rattus novergicus) was investigated. Thirty six (36) rats ( Rattus novergicus) of average weight (125± 12g) were divided into six (6) groups of six animals each designated as A (n=6, 2.0 ml distilled water), B (n=6, 20mg/kg saponin), C (n=6, 40mg/kg), D (n=6, 60mg/kg), E (n=6, 80mg/kg), and F (n=6, 100mg/kg). Saponin was administered orally once daily to groups B, C, D, E and F for (21) days while group A served as control. The animals were then sacrificed and blood was obtained for estimation of the data herein presented. Solanum anguivi fruit saponin had a significant reduction (P<0.05) in red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC) and Haemoglobin (Hb) concentration and the decrease was dose dependent. There was no significant difference in packed cell volume (PCV), basophil, lymphocyte and eosinophil. There was significant increase in neutrophil at 100mg/kg (P<0.05). The observed significant reduction in RBC and Hb concentration were indication of defective haematopoiesis and anaemia respectively . Therefore, saponins from S. anguivi fruits inhibit erythropoiesis.


Today web portals play an increasingly important role in health care allowing information seekers to learn about diseases and treatments, and to administrate their care. Therefore, it is important that the portals are able to support this process as well as possible. In this paper, we
study the search logs of a public Swedish health portal to address the questions if health information seeking differs from other types of Internet search and if there is a potential for utilizing network analysis methods in combination with semantic annotation to gain insights into search behaviors. Using a semantic-based method and a graph-based analysis of word cooccurrences in queries, we show there is an overlap among the results indicating a potential role of these types of methods to gain insights and facilitate improved information search. In addition we show that samples, windows of a month, of search logs may be sufficient to obtain similar results as using larger windows. We also show that medical queries share the same
structural properties found for other types of information searches, thereby indicating an ability to reuse existing analysis methods for this type of search data.


Abstract Despite growing interest in the influence of social and institutional settings on the nature of career trajectories, research into comparative differences in boundaryless careers is scarce. Informed by the Varieties of Capitalism approach, which emphasizes the embeddedness of employment practices within discrete types of capitalist market economy, and based on rich qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 32 self-employed and directly employed information and communications (ICT) professionals based in the UK and Germany, we investigate variation in their experience of, and attitudes towards, boundaryless careers. The research findings provide scant evidence that ICT professionals embrace boundaryless careers, despite working in a sector where positive engagement with boundarylessness, if it is going to be found anywhere, should be evident. The findings also point to cross-national differences; directly employed ICT professionals based in Germany are more concerned about the insecurity than their UK-based counterparts. In highlighting the complex and subtle influences on how boundaryless careers are experienced and understood, the research builds on existing work which both attests to the importance of context in influencing boundarylessness and its consequences and questions an overly crude distinction between 'bounded' and 'boundaryless' careers, to emphasize the value of an approach which is concerned with understanding comparative variation in the degree of career boundarylessness.


Four children with biotinidase deficiency were identified during the first year of a neonatal screening program for this disease in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Two unrelated probands were identified among the 81,243 newborn infants who were screened. In addition, two siblings of one of these infants were found to be affected. Both probands had mild neurologic symptoms at two and four months, respectively, and the two older children had more severe neurologic abnormalities, cutaneous findings, and developmental delay at two and three years of age. However, none of the affected children had acute metabolic decompensation. Previous studies have shown that the administration of biotin to affected children can be a lifesaving procedure that can reverse acute symptoms and prevent irreversible neurologic damage. Our findings demonstrate that subtle neurologic abnormalities may appear as early as at two months of age and that developmental abnormalities may occur even in the absence of episodes of overt metabolic decompensation. Since screening and treatment are both inexpensive and effective and the incidence of the disease is well within the range of that of other metabolic diseases for which screening is performed, biotinidase deficiency should be added to the group of metabolic diseases for which screening is done in the neonatal period.


An algorithm to synchronize the trigger time in reflection shallow seismic data is developed. Trigger time delay and shot statics (hereafter together referred to as the shot distortion) are handled simultaneously. The approach is to estimate the shot distortion on each common shot gather (CSG) and then to eliminate the distortion by shifting all the traces in that CSG. Relative shot distortion between two consecutive CSG's is estimated by computing the average of the time shifts of maximum cross-correlations between the first reflections on the corresponding traces in the two CSG's. The CSG number 1 is used as the datum on which shot distortion is estimated using receivers nearby shot location 1. The shot distortion on each CSG is then calculated by relative shot distortion compared to CSG 1. Traces in all the CSG's are then shifted to eliminate the shot distortion, thus synchronizing the trigger times. Testing against field data shows that alignment in common receiver gathers can be greatly improved, therefore supporting the validity of this algorithm.


Today, the word automobile means much more than what used to mean some years ago. Nowadays, cars have more values than just offering the possibility of travelling from the point X until the point Y. Automobiles have an added value of safety, comfort, aesthetics and, why not, socialization.
Cars are highly technologically complex. Despite the built-in driver information systems permits the drivers get as much information as they want, the drivers have to select the most suitable information in every case and be aware of the road while driving in order to avoid car accidents. As a matter of a fact, the research in the automotive field is based on looking for a system that allows the drivers enjoy the driving experience coping with the road, the car and the in-vehicle systems without attempting the safety while driving the car.
Everything points out that the next generation of cars will be networked — both to the power grid and to communication networks — and will have the ease and functionality of our consumer electronics. For this reason, car companies are working on the construction of web-type experiences for vehicles. In other words, car companies are studying the possibility of building intelligent and adaptable cars able to change their driving mode automatically and, of course, change the displays shown on the dashboard to make the driving task easier depending on every moment, place and user.
Taking advantage of the car's space and possibilities means to use every tool needed to be conspicuous enough to be noticed and discrete enough not to distract the driver. In twenty years time, car manufacturers may use all the technology available to get what they have ever dreamed about: A car that thinks by it, a car able to communicate with other cars and, of course, a car capable to understand the driver's requests in every different situation.


The matt and the glossy forms of four strains of hemolytic streptococci were used to immunize rabbits. Precipitin tests showed that rabbit sera prepared against matt organisms, whether virulent or avirulent for mice, contained type-specific antibody while sera prepared against completely degraded glossy organisms contained no type-specific antibody. Type-specific antibody was removed from the sera by absorption with homologous matt organisms but was unaffected by absorption with homologous glossy organisms. Passive protection experiments on mice showed that anti-matt sera were protective and anti-glossy sera non-protective against infection with homologous virulent organisms. Vaccination of mice with matt organisms rendered them immune to subsequent infection with homologous virulent cultures; but vaccination with glossy organisms established no active immunity.


The development of information technologies and their increased significance for business environments have forced businesses to rethink traditional methods of generating value and surviving the hyper-competitive conditions of our time. The uncertainty, dynamism, volatility, and impermanence of modern commercial environments have shifted the foundations of business success and survival.

Key factors that now affect firm performance and determine sustainability include knowledge creation, knowledge management, uncertainty management, organizational intelligence, and supply chain administration. The authors propose an analytical approach to identifying and enhancing these critical factors, and they describe ways for firms to exploit their strengths and minimize or compensate for their disadvantages.

Sustaining business success requires competitive strategies that are rational and analytical. Firms that isolate their overall goals have an advantage over their rivals; those that can innovate and incorporate the knowledge and intelligence they develop will prosper, even in the most competitive situations. Managers and business practitioners should learn from this book how to identify the key factors that make their firms effective and successful, and how to ensure they remain sustainable over time.


Canine pulmonary eosinophilic granulomatosis is a rare inflammatory pulmonary disease characterized by formation of eosinophilic granulomas that tend to obliterate the normal pulmonary architecture. The purpose of this retrospective study was to describe the CT characteristics of confirmed idiopathic pulmonary eosinophilic granulomatosis in a group of dogs. Five dogs met inclusion criteria. All patients were young adult dogs of variable breeds. No dog had concurrent occult heartworm disease. Computed tomographic characteristics most commonly included pulmonary masses and nodules of variable size, and lesions were most commonly located in the caudal lung lobes. Four dogs had large pulmonary masses with or without additional nodules and one dog had nodular lesions disseminated throughout the entire lung parenchyma. All large eosinophilic granulomas were smoothly margined, heterogeneous pulmonary masses displaying heterogeneous contrast enhancement. A honeycomb-like enhancement pattern was observed in all but one mass and consisted of multiple hyperattenuating rims delineating central hypoattenuating areas, suggestive of bronchiectatic lung with peripheral enhancing airway walls and fluid-filled, necrotic bronchial lumen. One dog had evidence of tracheobronchial lymphadenopathy. Findings indicated that canine eosinophilic pulmonary granulomatosis should be included as a differential diagnosis for dogs with CT characteristics of multiple pulmonary masses and/or nodules in caudal lung lobes, and a honeycomb-like enhancement pattern in masses after intravenous administration of iodinated contrast medium.


Bioethics has always been involved in policy issues and the politics surrounding them, and no doubt many of us were attracted to the field in part because of its role in realpolitik and its ability to make a difference in the policy issues of the day. I was. But I sense bioethics faces a field-changing moment--or even that this moment has already passed without our attending to it. Many of the policy debates in which bioethics participated were about sometimes esoteric biomedical conundrums--long on policy but light on politics. We now find ourselves in the midst of heated political debates. Our participation in politics has changed the tenor and quality of our input, and we shouldn't allow these changes to go unexamined. Take any number of recent examples--from the Terri Schiavo case to human embryonic stem cell research--that place bioethics squarely in the middle of the Culture Wars. What should be the role of bioethics in these pitched battles? Art Caplan has written in this space that bioethics' maturation as a field has brought recognition, and that it is time we admitted that with recognition comes power and with power comes politics. (1) Part of the reason that bioethics came to have any power and influence, however, was its reputation for clearheaded analysis. Will we continue to matter in the same way if what we do is equated with politics? Alta Charo is right that we would be better off acknowledging politics rather than hiding from it. (2) But for some scholars working in bioethics, the rough and tumble of political debate has limited attraction and clear pitfalls. Many of us work in academic environments that may applaud but do not obviously reward this sort of public engagement. No matter how nuanced we may think our viewpoints and arguments, they rarely come across that way in public debate. The shades of gray we have been taught (and teach others) to see get distilled into the black and white opinions demanded by the media, and this lack of nuance undermines our scholarly reputations. Once we take a position and begin to advocate on behalf of a specific issue, we risk becoming partisans at the price of our credibility in other areas. This is where the real costs to the field may lie. Instead of judging work in bioethics for the quality of its reasoning and arguments, the inclination will be to search for political commitments and leanings, and the sleights of hand and spin-doctoring that must surely follow. While the moral expertise of bioethicists may well be overstated even under the best circumstances, (3) real or perceived political bias can only increase skepticism about what we do. …


A survey method was employed to investigate the perceptions of nurses in eThekwini towards homeopathy. The aim of this study was to answer the following questions: What does the nursing community in the eThekwini region know of homeopathy? Does homeopathy have a role to play in a hospital setting in the context of South Africa? The study population was all nurses with 5 years experience or more working in hospitals in the eThekwini region. The sample was drawn from 6 public and 5 private hospitals and included staff nurses and professional nurses. A total of 330 questionnaires were distributed and a total of 200 questionnaires were returned (60.6%). A total of 93 nurses (46.5%) responded from the public sector and 107 nurses (53.5%) from the private sector. The study was carried out using a questionnaire as a measuring tool. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics using frequency tables and bar charts. The Pearson's Chi Square Test was used on selected data. The majority of respondents were female (94%) and were between the ages of 26-35 and 36-45 years. Most of the respondents had been practising for 6-10 years and 11-15years. 19% of the total number of respondents had never heard of homeopathy and 10% indicated that they were quite familiar with the homeopathic profession. Of those respondents who had never heard of homeopathy, 71.1% were in the public sector and 28.9% in the private sector. Of those respondents who answered that they were quite familiar with homeopathy, 14.3% were in the public sector and 85.7% in the private sector. With regards to legitimacy of homeopathy most nurses working in the private hospitals (60.1%) perceived homeopathy to be a legitimate form of health care as compared to nurses working in public hospitals (39.9%). Generally, both groups considered communication and co-operation with homeopaths to be very poor. In total 79.49% of respondents said it would be beneficial to improve communication between the professions. The majority of respondents (70.06%) perceived that homeopathy does have a role to play in a hospital setting. Only 29.94% of respondents perceived that homeopathy had no role to play in a hospital setting. This indicates that many respondents perceive that integrated medicine is needed in a hospital setting. This study reveals that the respondents had a positive view of homeopathy in general, and were open to learning more about it, and to cooperate with homeopaths. The finding that knowledge of homeopathy is low, and communication between the two professions is poor, can be addressed through suitable publicity and education programmes.


An enormous amount of heretofore unavailable data has been collected and presented in this volume. The data covers thermal, caloric and transport properties for aqueous systems: light and heavy water, their mixtures, hydrocarbons, alcohols, aqueous salts, aqueous hydrocarbons and aqueous alcohol solutions - all at high and critical parameters. Experimental data, instrumentation, data analysis and methods of measurement are given and analysed. This book is designed for specialists in molecular physics, chemical technology and chemical and power engineering, as well as researchers, lecturers, postgraduates and students in technical colleges and universities.


We present a method to match the multi-parton states generated by the High Energy Jets Monte Carlo with parton showers generated by the Ariadne program using the colour dipole model. The High Energy Jets program already includes a full resummation of soft divergences. Hence, in the matching it is important that the corresponding divergences in the parton shower are subtracted, keeping only the collinear parts. We present a novel, shower-independent method for achieving this, enabling us to generate fully exclusive and hadronized events with multiple hard jets, in hadronic collisions. We discuss in detail the arising description of the soft, collinear and hard regions by examples in pure QCD jet-production.


Part One: Introduction Chapter 1: Confucian Rituals in Late Imperial Chinese State and Society Commoners, Confucian Rituals, and Neo-Confucianism The Appropriation of Confucian Rituals A Social History of Rituals in Sibao Principal Themes Sources Chapter 2: History at the Periphery: Tingzhou and Sibao Tingzhou: Banditry, Ethnicity, and the State Sibao: Making a Center out of a Periphery Part Two: Lisheng as Cultural Mediations Chapter 3: Who Are Lisheng? Lisheng: An Overview Lisheng and Sibao Society Chapter 4: Lisheng and Their Rituals Lisheng and Sibao Rituals Manuals of Sacrificial Texts Part Three: Lineage, Ritual, and Corporate Estates Chapter 5: The Creation of a Lineage Society Lineage Building Ancestors, Genealogy, and Lineage Building Chapter 6: Rites, Land, and Lineages Ancestral Rites Land, Lineage, and Local Elite The Limits of Lineage Building Part Four: A Strange Community Compact? Chapter 7: Community Compacts, Village Rituals, and Local Society Community Compacts in Late Imperial Sibao Villages and Descent Groups around Shangbao The Making of a Community Compact Shangbao Compact and Local Society Part Five: The Worship of Gods Chapter 8: Gods, Ancestors and Demons Zougong: A God Becoming an Ancestor The Transformation of She and Li Chapter 9: Temples, Markets, and Village Identity Temple Building and Village Identity Temples and Commerce Chapter 10: Locating Rituals in Time and Space The Genealogy of a Grand Narrative Cultural Hybridization as a Historical Process Appendices 1. Jinshi (Metropolitan Graduates) in Late Imperial Tingzhou 2. Lisheng and the Rituals Performed by Them in Tingzhou 3. Fifty Sibao Jiwenben (I): Basic Facts 4. Fifty Sibao Jiwenben (II): Breakdown of Contents 5. Five Prohibitions of the Shangbao Compact 6. Villages and Surnames in Sibao 7. Temples and Gods in the Sibao Basin 8. Gods and Texts Dedicated to Them in Three Sibao Jiwenben Bibliography Index


An association between diabetes mellitus and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) has long been recognized. This article assesses the effect of the baseline hemoglobin-A1c (HbA1c) value on the clinical outcomes of patients with PDA. HbA1c values were prospectively collected on 656 consecutive patients presenting to a pancreas multidisciplinary cancer clinic from 2009 to 2012. Patients were diagnosed with benign pancreatic disease (BPD) or biopsy-confirmed resectable (R), borderline/locally advanced (BL), or metastatic (M) PDA. Excluded were those with prior treatment for PDA or a history of chronic diabetes mellitus (>1-year or unknown duration), resulting in a final cohort of 284 patients. Of 284 patients, 44 had benign disease, 62 had R-PDA, 115 had BL-PDA, and 63 had M-PDA. Patients with malignant disease (R-, BL-, and M-PDA) collectively had a higher average HbA1c value than patients with BPD (6.1% vs 5.6%; P<.001). Among patients with PDA (n=240), HbA1c values of 6.5% or greater were significantly associated with inferior overall survival (OS) compared with patients with HbA1c values less than 6.5% (hazard ratio [HR], 1.74; OS, 10.2 vs 13.0 months; P=.007), along with other known prognostic factors, such as age of 65 years or older, ECOG performance status of 1 or greater, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 level greater than 90, tumor size larger than 3 cm, and disease stage. HbA1c values of 6.5% or greater remained in the final predictive model using backward elimination (HR, 1.46; P=.097), indicating that HbA1c values of 6.5% or greater influence OS of patients with PDA even when accounting for other known prognostic factors. HbA1c level at presentation is significantly higher in patients with PDA than patients with BPD and seems to affect survival.


This research paper explores the value of developing a learning process framework for groups' sensemaking of innovative activities. The authors provide an initial grounding on the creation of a group learning process framework, by presenting academic references to organisational learning frameworks that were used to identify themes and their interrelationship. Arguments are presented to support the authors' case approach to studying group learning, and the situational uniqueness of innovation management problems and issues within a Small- to Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) context. Research findings from a longitudinal study of an SME manufacturing organisation are used to support the continual research and to provide evidence regarding the importance of group sensemaking in innovation management. Finally, the contributions to academic knowledge are presented, and considered against the value this process had for the participating organisation. Suggestions are made regarding future research opportunities, and the potential value of this process in other SMEs.


We study the problem of spatially stabilizing four dimensional extremal black holes in background electric/magnetic fields. Whilst looking for stationary stable solutions describing black holes placed in external fields we find that taking a continuum limit of Denef et al. 's multicenter supersymmetric black hole solutions provides a supergravity description of such backgrounds within which a black hole can be trapped within a confined volume. This construction is realized by solving for a levitating black hole over a magnetic dipole base. We comment on how such a construction is akin to a mechanical levitron.


Abstract Furnas Caldera Volcanic Complex, São Miguel Island (Azores), last erupted in 1630 and is famous for its intense hydrothermal activity (i.e. fumarolic fields, thermal springs, cold CO2-rich mineral waters and diffuse CO2 soil emanations), which directly affect the villages of Furnas and Ribeira Quente. Here we report the first systematic investigations and mapping of soil radon (222Rn) emanations in the Furnas Volcanic Complex, and we examine their potential health risks for local inhabitants. 222Rn in volcanic soils (60 cm depth) was repeatedly measured between 2005 and 2010 using a portable solid-state alpha detector (RAD7, Durridge Company Inc.). Results reveal a local background of 8000 Bq m−3 and several areas with anomalously high 222Rn activity (up to c. 400 000 Bq m−3), which coincide with advective or convective gas transport through volcanic structures and active fault zones. High 222Rn radioactivity in Furnas and Ribeira Quente villages represents a risk to the population. Continuous monitoring performed during November and December 2005 in a house in Furnas shows indoor 222Rn reaching 13 273 Bq m−3, two orders of magnitude greater than the reference level (150 Bq m−3), when the ventilation efficiency is reduced.


This dissertation, broadly, examines how power dynamics manifest during clinical interactions related to vague and gendered medical symptoms, such as pelvic pain. To examine this issue, I approach my research questions through multiple methods including a critical discourse analysis of the medical discourse on pelvic pain, a survey experiment administered to healthcare workers in the US, and a narrative analysis of pelvic pain patient experiences. While the focus of this research is on pelvic pain, the analyses presented here reach far beyond ideas of power dynamics and pelvic pain. Rather, the findings from this research speak to theoretical discussions medical sociologists have been having for decades. Specifically, findings provide new insight on: 1) the limits of evidence-based medicine as a biomedical paradigm, 2) how fundamental causes of health inequality intersect with each other as well as other factors, such as gender, important in predicting health outcomes and 3) how discussions of metamechanisms in fundamental cause theory can inform our understanding of the accumulation of cultural health capital. In providing such insight, this dissertation uses the case of pelvic pain to integrate multiple perspectives and theories in medical sociology to drive the field forward in a way that acknowledges the many ways power is simultaneously constituted in the clinical interaction. From the role of gender, race, and class in power relations, to the ways medical knowledge, discourse, and authority dictate the clinical interaction, this research covers a wide range of sociological theories and concepts. In doing so, this dissertation sheds new light on current understandings of power in the clinical interaction and its relationship to inequitable health outcomes in the US.


Over the recent years, Federated machine learning continues to gain interest and momentum where there is a need to draw insights from data while preserving the data provider's privacy. However, one among other existing challenges in the adoption of federated learning has been the lack of fair, transparent and universally agreed incentivization schemes for rewarding the federated learning contributors. Smart contracts on a blockchain network provide transparent, immutable and independently verifiable proofs by all participants of the network. We leverage this open and transparent nature of smart contracts on a blockchain to define incentivization rules for the contributors, which is based on a novel scalar quantity - federated contribution. Such a smart contract based reward-driven model has the potential to revolutionize the federated learning adoption in enterprises. Our contribution is two-fold: first is to show how smart contract based blockchain can be a very natural communication channel for federated learning. Second, leveraging this infrastructure, we can show how an intuitive measure of each agents' contribution can be built and integrated with the life cycle of the training and reward process.


Insatiable bloodlust, dangerous sexualities, the horror of the undead, uncharted Trannsylvanian wildernesses, and a morbid fascination with the 'other': the legend of the vampire continues to haunt popular imagination. Reading the Vampire examines the vampire in all its various manifestations and cultural meanings. Ken Gelder investigates vampire narratives in literature and in film, from early vampire stories like Sheridan Le Fanu's 'lesbian vampire' tale Carmilla and Bram Stoker's Dracula, the most famous vampire narrative of all, to contemporary American vampire blockbusters by Stephen King and others, the vampire chronicles of Anne Rice, 'post-Ceausescu' vampire narratives, and films such as FW Murnau's Nosferatu and Bram Stoker's Dracula. Reading the Vampire embeds vampires in their cultural contexts, showing vampire narratives feeding off the anxieties and fascinations of their times: from the nineteenth century perils of tourism, issues of colonialism and national identity, and obsessions with sex and death, to the 'queer' identity of the vampire or current vampiric metaphors for dangerous exchanges of bodily fluids and AIDS.


A new diffuser/permeator design has been proposed for a new Savannah River Site tritium project. The use of a single heaterwell in the center of the shell had raised concerns that the Pd/Ag coils may be shielding radiative heat transfer to the walls thus reducing Pd/Ag tube temperatures near the shell below the recommended minimum operating temperature. The diffuser was fitted with thermocouples to measure shell temperatures during testing. Tests were run with the shell evacuated, helium Feed flows of 0, 1000, and 2000 sccm; Bleed pressures ranging from 0 to 203 kPa, and heater temperatures of 650, 675, and 700°C. Hydrogen permeation tests were run with two hydrogen/helium mixtures and Feed rates to simulate 1st and 2nd stage diffuser operations. Approximately 20 hours were required to bring the diffuser from ambient temperature to steady-state conditions. For tests with a heater temperature of 675°C and no hydrogen flow, helium flow rate and pressure had little impact on the measured shell temperatures, the thermowell temperature, roughly 415°C, and altered heater output by only 11 watts. Conversely, controlling the thermowell temperature to 415°C during hydrogen permeation tests increased heater power output, lowered heater temperature, and increased shell temperatures. The tests showed the diffuser can perform its intended function with reasonable assurance that the Pd/Ag tubes were within the recommended temperature range.


Abstract. Biogenic emission algorithms predict that oak forests account for ∼ 70 % of the total European isoprene budget. Yet the isoprene emission potentials (IEPs) that underpin these model estimates are calculated from a very limited number of leaf-level observations and hence are highly uncertain. Increasingly, micrometeorological techniques such as eddy covariance are used to measure whole-canopy fluxes directly, from which isoprene emission potentials can be calculated. Here, we review five observational datasets of isoprene fluxes from a range of oak forests in the UK, Italy and France. We outline procedures to correct the measured net fluxes for losses from deposition and chemical flux divergence, which were found to be on the order of 5–8 and 4–5 %, respectively. The corrected observational data were used to derive isoprene emission potentials at each site in a two-step process. Firstly, six commonly used emission algorithms were inverted to back out time series of isoprene emission potential, and then an average isoprene emission potential was calculated for each site with an associated uncertainty. We used these data to assess how the derived emission potentials change depending upon the specific emission algorithm used and, importantly, on the particular approach adopted to derive an average site-specific emission potential. Our results show that isoprene emission potentials can vary by up to a factor of 4 depending on the specific algorithm used and whether or not it is used in a big-leaf or canopy environment (CE) model format. When using the same algorithm, the calculated average isoprene emission potential was found to vary by as much as 34 % depending on how the average was derived. Using a consistent approach with version 2.1 of the Model for Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN), we derive new ecosystem-scale isoprene emission potentials for the five measurement sites: Alice Holt, UK (10 500 ± 2500 µg m−2 h−1); Bosco Fontana, Italy (1610 ± 420 µg m−2 h−1); Castelporziano, Italy (121 ± 15 µg m−2 h−1); Ispra, Italy (7590 ± 1070 µg m−2 h−1); and the Observatoire de Haute Provence, France (7990 ± 1010 µg m−2 h−1). Ecosystem-scale isoprene emission potentials were then extrapolated to the leaf-level and compared to previous leaf-level measurements for Quercus robur and Quercus pubescens, two species thought to account for 50 % of the total European isoprene budget. The literature values agreed closely with emission potentials calculated using the G93 algorithm, which were 85 ± 75 and 78 ± 25 µg g−1 h−1 for Q. robur and Q. pubescens, respectively. By contrast, emission potentials calculated using the G06 algorithm, the same algorithm used in a previous study to derive the European budget, were significantly lower, which we attribute to the influence of past light and temperature conditions. Adopting these new G06 specific emission potentials for Q. robur (55 ± 24 µg g−1 h−1) and Q. pubescens (47 ± 16 µg g−1 h−1) reduced the projected European budget by ∼ 17 %. Our findings demonstrate that calculated isoprene emission potentials vary considerably depending upon the specific approach used in their calculation. Therefore, it is our recommendation that the community now adopt a standardised approach to the way in which micrometeorological flux measurements are corrected and used to derive isoprene, and other biogenic volatile organic compounds, emission potentials.


Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) is nowadays a well-established measurement technique for turbulent flows. However, the accuracy and the spatial resolution are still highly questionable in the presence of complex flow with both strong gradients and out-of-plane motions. To give guidelines for both setup and measurements of such flow configurations, a large region of overlap between two SPIV systems on the same laser light sheet is acquired in a plane normal to the streamwise direction of a high Reynolds turbulent boundary layer flow. A simple separation of the two light sheets is used to improve the accuracy of the measurements by increasing the velocity dynamic range especially. It also presents the enhancement of accuracy due to the light sheet separation for characterizing streamwise vortices (i.e. perpendicular to the sheet). The proposed technique has been demonstrated in the Laboratoire de Mécanique de Lille wind tunnel facility which has been specially designed to study fully developed turbulent boundary layers at high Reynolds numbers. The outlook is to study in detail the physics of the streamwise vortices generated from vortex generators taking advantage of the large scales of this turbulent boundary layer.


Connection admission control (CAC) algorithms are used to decide whether an incoming connection should be accepted or rejected in a node of a network offering reservation based services in order to maintain the guaranteed quality of service (QoS) in the network. In this paper, we consider the statistical CAC algorithm proposed by Elwalid et al. (see IEEE JSAC, vol.13, no.6, p.1048-56, 1995). The traffic model is made of on-off sources and the QoS parameter is the loss probability. Based on the traffic descriptors of existing and incoming connections, the algorithm takes its decision by computing an upper bound of this probability and checking whether it is larger than a given tolerance /spl epsiv/. Usually this tolerance is a fixed, given parameter. We propose here to adapt /spl epsiv/ to react to the actual losses experienced at the node using a simple regulation mechanism: if the actual loss rate is much smaller than the targeted loss rate, /spl epsiv/ is increased to make a more aggressive usage of the available resources, and vice versa if the actual loss rate is too high. We discuss the influence of the regulation parameters and we show that despite its simplicity this regulated CAC improves significantly the performance of its non-tunable counterpart.


This article studies the progress of sports media coverage through a new form of headline treatment: parody. It presents the analysis of a corpus including the "best of" from the satiric program Les Guignols de l'Info. This program has been broadcast each evening on the French television channel Canal+ since 1989. The study is based on 265 sketches from 1990 to 2006 and asks the central questions of caricatures in the sports world: what they represent and what they assess. A list of appearances of the various puppets on the show is presented. The central figure of the sports world at Les Guignols de l'Info is the champion who is finally judged—through his or her different attributed caricature traits—on the core value of his or her authenticity. Although it criticizes the world of sports, Les Guignols redeems these sport champions.


Background Paediatric sleep medicine is an expanding area of clinical practice. A recent report1 highlighted the heterogeneity in both service provision and training between UK paediatric sleep centres. It was felt that a forum for regular peer review and discussion of cases, as well as "hot topics" in paediatric sleep was lacking, and to this end a UK paediatric sleep videoconferencing (VC) network was proposed. The Australasian and Pacific paediatric sleep centres (Australia, New Zealand and Singapore) have been conversing monthly using a VC network since 2001, and our group was modelled on their experience. Aims We aimed to set up a multicentre sleep VC network of all interested parties working in the field of UK paediatric sleep medicine. Methods We canvassed all interested nurses, nurse specialists, respiratory/sleep physiologists, EEG technicians, and paediatricians working in the field of paediatric sleep medicine and its' related disciplines via group emails using the mailing list of the British Paediatric Respiratory Society, and by posting information on the British Sleep Society website and in its' December 2009 newsletter. International videoconferencing is facilitated via the NHS Grampian tele-medicine bridge, based in Aberdeen. Results To date, a total of 75 individuals, representing 31 UK and four overseas centres have expressed an interest in the network and make up our mailing list. An initial test conference was held in February 2010 between Edinburgh and Great Ormond Street Hospitals, since when a total of 6 meetings at 3-monthly intervals have been held. The meetings have each hosted a median (range) of 9 (5–16) centres participating, with 21 paediatric sleep centres taking part in at least 1 meeting. Topics covered have included: A workshop on technical and scoring issues. Case discussions of central and obstructive sleep disorders, behavioural sleep problems, as well as difficult to manage respiratory failure. Research presentations. Feedback from international sleep conferences. Presentations on aspects of quality assurance and sleep database management. Summary The paediatric sleep videoconference is a forum which has allowed peer review and discussion of scoring rules, technical issues, and difficult cases within the field of paediatric sleep medicine. Furthermore, it has proved an opportunity to present research or research proposals to like-minded doctors, nurses and scientists.


This thesis presents a study of the potential for ion implantation to play a more significant role in the manufacture and fabrication of commercially available multilayer microwave devices. Two different applications for ion implantation in device manufacture are investigated. Firstly, implant isolation as an alternative to wet chemical etching for the planar doped barrier diode, and low and high power versions of the graded gap Gunn diode are attempted. It is demonstrated that the technique is an excellent method of lateral device isolation for the current generation of these devices, having little or no effect on the performance of the planar doped barrier diode, but with significant improvements in across wafer uniformity of device area, and hence, improvements in uniformity of device characteristics. Implant isolation of the graded gap Gunn diode has been met with mixed success. It has been shown that implant isolation has no detrimental effect on the ability of the device to emit microwaves at 77GHz, despite encapsulation of the active regions of the device in ion implanted GaAs. Problems have, however, been encountered with the geometry of the integral heat sink device (high power version), resulting in parasitic capacitance to the extent that the device experiences a shift in output frequency and power. Secondly, doping of GaAs by ion implantation of the dopants magnesium and zinc, for the production of p-type layers relevant to GaAs multilayer microwave device manufacture is studied. Attempts are made to emulate the MBE grown planar doped banier buried p-type spike using ion implantation of magnesium through a n-type contact region, and into a 'n-i-n' MBE grown structure. The result is a working bulk unipolar diode, with barrier height dependent on magnesium implanted energy and dose. A p-type dopant diffusion control experiment is also conducted whereby the depth of the diffusion-controlling phosphorus co-implant is varied to yield different p-type doping profiles. It is demonstrated that using this method it is possible to achieve a p-n junction with a gradually decaying p-type surface region, or an extremely abrupt junction. This technique is then used to produce and study varactor diodes, focusing on their rest capacitances, and their capacitance ratios. SIMS analysis and differential Hall effect measurements are also performed.


The Corona hype, the Corona panic, has manifested the common cold as a brand new disease. What we present here is the psychosomatic hypothesis for COVID-19. We are living in a time of change. It is easy to assume that we live in a safe and stabile world, but the Corona COVID-19 pandemic has shown the whole world that this is not the case. Mighty forces changes our way of living, thinking and things changes fast. It is difficult to understand what is happening, for you need to be an expert in many different fields in order to really get it: medicine, economy and politics. You even need psychology, sociology and maybe even consciousness-research to fully comprehend what we are dealing with in the 2019-2020 Corona pandemic. This book tries to give you sufficient background in different areas to at least get an idea of what is happening around us in all parts of the world. © 2022 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.


Most spatial light modulators (SLMs) are limited in that they cannot produce arbitrary complex modulations. Because phase and amplitude are usually coupled, it is difficult to computer design appropriate modulation patterns fast enough for the real-time applications for which SLMs are suited. Dramatic computational speedups can be achieved by using encoding algorithms that directly translate desired complex values into values that the modulator can produce. For coherently illuminated SLMs in a Fourier transform arrangement, pseudorandom encoding can be used. Each SLM pixel is programmed in sequence by selecting a single value of pixel modulation from a random distribution having an average that is identical to the desired fully complex modulation. While the method approximates fairly arbitrary complex modulations, there are always some complex values that are outside the encoding range for each SLM coupling characteristic and for each specific pseudorandom algorithm. Using the binary random distribution leads to methods of evaluating and geometrically interpreting the encoding range. Evaluations are presented of achieving fully complex encoding with SLMs that produce less than 2? of phase shift, identifying an infinite set of encoding algorithms that encode the same value, identification of the maximum encoding range, and geometric interpretation of encoding errors.


We estimate the effect of an increase in time cost on the return behavior of blood donors. Using data from the Australia Red Cross Blood Service, we ask what happens when pro-social behavior becomes more costly. Exploiting a natural variation in which donor wait times are random, we use the length of time a donor spends waiting to make his donation as our measure of cost. Our data allows us to go beyond measures of satisfaction and intention and estimate the effect of wait time on return behavior. We estimate that a 38% increase (20 minutes or one standard deviation) in the average wait would result in a 14% decrease in donations per year. Our results thus indicate that waiting is not merely frustrating, but has significant negative long-term social costs. Further, relying only on satisfaction and intention data masks not only the magnitude of the effects but also heterogeneous responses to increased wait time: the return behavior of males is more elastic than females and donors display diminishing sensitivity in the domain of losses. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for organizations that operate with a large and diffuse volunteer donor base.


The purpose of this paper is to consider how changes in temperature affect the volatility of the financial markets and overall demand for natural gas as released by the National Grid. Parts 1 to 3 of this paper provide an overview of the gas markets and the literature. Parts 4 and 5 provides the reader with an in depth analysis into temperature, demand and the financial markets. Part 4 finds a strong relationship between temperature and the demand for natural gas and clear evidence of seasonality in natural gas demand. Part 5 focuses on volatility and the financial markets. There is significant evidence that market volatility is greater during the winter months in comparison to the summer months. The market is also found to be largely inefficient, which is confirmed when testing the Efficient Market Hypothesis in part 5.1.


Direct numerical simulation has been performed in order to study ressure-driven turbulent flow in a rod-roughened channel at Reynolds number Reτ = 400 (based on the mean pressure gradient). Square rods were attached to both channel walls and protruded only 0.034 of the channel's half-height into the flow. Roughness elements were spaced at 7 heights, which corresponded to the so-called "k–type" laboratory roughness.The classical logarithmic variation of the mean velocity was found to be maintained in the rough-wall channel flow. The only effect roughness had was to shift the log-profile downwards, the magnitude of which was about 7.1. This, corresponded to the upper limit of the transitionally rough region, based on the associated equivalent sand-grain roughness height. Within the layer of thickness about 3-5 times roughness height (roughness sublayer ), the dependency of the mean velocity and turbulence properties on the streamwise location with respect to the rods was revealed.Instead of viscous sublayer, an intensive shear layer was formed emanated from the crest of roughness elements. It was observed that the wall-ward transport of the kinetic energy was substantially increased very close to the wall while the transport of the kinetic energy away from the wall was relatively reduced at just about the edge of the roughness sublayer. Visualizations of the fluctuating velocities and vortices in this region revealed the presence of elongated streaky structures very similar to those routinely observed in the structure of the smooth-wall turbulence, with much shorter coherence in the streamwise direction and less organization in the spanwise direction. The intensity of the vorticity fluctuations in the roughness sublayer were increased whereas in the outer layer, they remained unaffected. The anisotropy invariant maps for the smooth and rough cases clearly showed that the state of the near-wall turbulence for the two cases were substantially different, whereas in the regions away from the wall, the two cases exhibited similarities. Generally, the results obtained from this study supported the classical wall similarity hypothesis.


This study examines how the use of new technologies has affected substitution among inputs and technological bias. The values of the pair-wise substitution elasticities and demand elasticities are determined by jointly estimating with IZEF, the parameters of the cost and share equations derived from a translog cost function. Time series regressions show that in the pre-Green Revolution period land and labour were strong substitutes for each other but they were weak substitutes for working capital. While the fixed capital was a weak substitute for land and working capital,lt was a good substitute for labour. After the Green Revolution era, land and labour continued to be strong substitutes for each other but working capital and fixed capital turned strong complements and the fonner also became a good substitute for land and the latter a weak substitute for labour. Next, the pre-Green Revolution neutral technological bias with respect to fixed and working capital later led to land and labour savings. The results show that intensity of capital in domestic agriculture is on the increase and the dynamics of the new technological and not even the rising input prices have caused the technological bias observed in the analysis.


Abstract. Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology has witnessed tremendous development and advancement in the past few years. Currently available UWB transceivers can provide high-precision time-of-flight measurements which corresponds to range measurements with theoretical accuracy of few centimetres. Position estimation using range measurement is determined by measuring the ranges from a rover or a dynamic node, to a set of anchor points with known positions. However, building a flexible and accurate indoor positioning system requires more than just accurate range measurements. The performance of indoor positioning system is affected by the number and the configuration of the anchor points used, along with the accuracy of the anchor positions.This paper introduces LocSpeck, a dynamic ad-hoc positioning system based on the DW1000 UWB transceiver from Decawave. LocSpeck is composed of a set of identical nodes communicating on a common RF channel, forming a fully or partially connected network where the positioning algorithm run on each node. Each LocSpeck node could act as an anchor or a rover, and the role could change dynamically during the same session. The number of nodes in the network could change dynamically, since the firmware of LocSpeck supports adding and removing nodes on-the-fly. The paper compares the performance of the LocSpeck system with commercially available off-the-shelf UWB positioning system. Different operating scenarios are considered when evaluating the performance of the system, including cases where collaboration between the two systems is considered.


Many real-world networks are described by both connectivity information and features for every node. To better model and understand these networks, we present structure preserving metric learning (SPML), an algorithm for learning a Mahalanobis distance metric from a network such that the learned distances are tied to the inherent connectivity structure of the network. Like the graph embedding algorithm structure preserving embedding, SPML learns a metric which is structure preserving, meaning a connectivity algorithm such as k-nearest neighbors will yield the correct connectivity when applied using the distances from the learned metric. We show a variety of synthetic and real-world experiments where SPML predicts link patterns from node features more accurately than standard techniques. We further demonstrate a method for optimizing SPML based on stochastic gradient descent which removes the running-time dependency on the size of the network and allows the method to easily scale to networks of thousands of nodes and millions of edges.


Contents: Horizons in Post-Colonial Studies Introduction Placing Edward Said: Space Time and the Travelling Theorist Nothing in the Post? -- Said and the Problem of Post-Colonial Intellectuals Edward Said and/versus Raymond Williams Worldliness Orientalism as Post-Imperial Witnessing Europe's Occidentalisms The Evolution of Orientalism and Africanist Political Science Post-Colonialism as Neo-Orientalism: Sarojini Naidu and Arundhati Roy The Site of Memory Index.


PurposeThis paper investigates the dependence structure and market risk of the currency exchange rate portfolio from the Malaysian ringgit perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe marginal return of the five major exchange rates series, i.e. United States dollar (USD), Japanese yen (JPY), Singapore dollar (SGD), Thai baht (THB) and Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY) are modelled by the Bayesian generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) (1,1) model with Student's t innovations. In addition, five different copulas, such as Gumbel, Clayton, Frank, Gaussian and Student's t, are applied for modelling the joint distribution for examining the dependence structure of the five currencies. Moreover, the portfolio risk is measured by Value at Risk (VaR) that considers the extreme events through the extreme value theory (EVT).FindingsThe finding shows that Gumbel and Student's t are the best-fitted Archimedean and elliptical copulas, for the five currencies. The dependence structure is asymmetric and heavy tailed.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this paper have important implications for diversification decision and hedging problems for investors who involving in foreign currencies. The authors found that the portfolio is diversified with the consideration of extreme events. Therefore, investors who are holding an individual currency with VaR higher than the portfolio may consider adding other currencies used in this paper for hedging.Originality/valueThis is the first paper estimating VaR of a currency exchange rate portfolio using a combination of Bayesian GARCH model, EVT and copula theory. Moreover, the VaR of the currency exchange rate portfolio can be used as a benchmark of the currency exchange market risk.


The Proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market aims at facilitating wider access to Europe's cultural heritage through the introduction of inter alia a mechanism enabling the use of out-of-commerce works by cultural heritage institutions in the digital environment. After examining the key elements of this mechanism, this Opinion critically discusses the definition of the scope of search required for establishing the out-of-commerce status of works, the requirement of the representative character of collective management organisations and the non-application of the mechanism to third-country works. This Opinion also looks into the coordination between the CJEU's Soulier decision and the Directive Proposal, with special emphasis on the sufficiency of general publicity measures and the creation of the EUIPO's out-of-commerce online database. In conclusion, while being supportive of the proposal and the idea of promoting more access to out-of-commerce works, this Opinion provides some suggestions for improving the text.


OBJECTIVE
Nutritional status of women has been considered an important prognostic indicator of birth outcome. The study aims to show the effect of various prepregnancy Body Mass Index (BMI) categories and corresponding gestational weight gain on newborn birth weight.

METHODS
Two hundred women were included in the study. These women had regular antenatal visits and later delivered at The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) between the period January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1997.

RESULTS
For women with prepregnancy BMI < 19., mean birth weight of newborns was lower for those gaining < 12.5 kg than those gaining > 12.5 kg (P < 0.001). Women who started their pregnancy with BMI 19.8-26 and gained weight above expected range gave birth to high birth weight babies (P = 0.009). Gestational weight gain did not have a significant association with birth weight for women having prepregnancy BMI > 26.

CONCLUSION
Efforts should be made to attain adequate prepregnancy weight to reduce the likelihood of low birth weight babies. Hence, special attention should be paid to women with low prepregnancy BMI.


Cephalexin was given to 24 patients before and after operation on the bile ducts and gall bladder. Two patients had obstructive jaundice. Samples of the bile were taken either directly from the gall bladder at operation or via the T-tube. Cephalexin was excreted in the bile, peak levels being obtained after two to three hours. These levels could be raised if probenecid was given concurrently. Higher levels were found in patients with functioning gall-bladders. A trial of cephalexin seems justified for the treatment of typhoid carriers.


INTRODUCTION
Student performance prediction has become a viable means to improving academic performance and course content in online learning. Predictive models such as neural networks, decision trees and linear regression are used to transform inputs (e.g. past performance, social background, learning system usage patterns, test results) into outputs (course completion, expected grade, difficulties encountered, personalized suggestions). Often, the existing quantitative data drive model design, especially when applying such models to the conventional classroom and the person delivering the course, is a passive participant in designing models and delivering data.
In seeking to capture and code as much student behavior and environment as possible to apply learning analytics to a mostly conventional classroom, the most successful inputs (predictors) among existing models can be identified, categorized and their common characteristics determined. Together with a study of formative and summative assessment methods (e.g. types of feedback and how it can be captured) and factors affecting student performance in the classroom (e.g. environmental factors), this allows to identify the existing data in classrooms that are not captured by current learning management systems, thus allowing the expanded use of learning analytics and student performance prediction in traditional classrooms, with a focus on personalized suggestions.
The goal of the paper is to identify patterns among inputs used in existing models of student learning (based on online learning and learning management system data mining) that can then also be applied to the traditional classroom.
Research question: how can characteristics common to effective predictors of student performance be used to identify predictors among data produced in the traditional classroom?
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A literature review is performed where inputs captured and features discovered in existing learning analytics systems are characterised, along with methods used to identify those and the modelling approaches employed.
An attempt is made to identify measures in online learning that may have analogues in the traditional classroom (e.g., seating patterns and communication in chatrooms) or for which proxies may be found (e.g. screen size and lighting quality, where the proxy is the classroom number).
The corresponding outputs are recorded where possible, with a focus on those that allow providing feedback for individual students or for course/curriculum deliverers/designers (i.e. allow to improve  the success of future students in this course).
RESULTS
Successful predictors and characteristics common to those are identified, so that they can be used in features engineering for student performance prediction models.
Predictors used in online learning are categorised, so that analogous inputs can be developed for use in traditional classrooms.
Types of feedback provided by existing models of learning are identified, where possible, along with the corresponding input (weights of inputs).
Studies are identified where learning personnel, not the researcher, were able to drive the model development process.
DISCUSSION
Recently, there has been increasing focus on increasing the visibility into models of learning and of involving learning personnel in designing, modifying and running those models. Providing inputs and recognizing the features they represent determines the success of such models. Therefore, recognizing existing successes and applying them to formative assessment methods may be a means of recognizing additional inputs to and features used in models, while involving educators. Applying learning models to the traditional classroom as an integrated part of the learning management (school record keeping/grading) systems may allow to expand their use, while simultaneously increasing the predictive power and effectiveness of (personalized) suggestions, both by using existing data, and by providing tools for educators to transform the existing feedback they provide into data than can be used as inputs for models.
CONCLUSION
Predictors used in learning models in online learning can be applied to the traditional classroom. Analogues may be found for predictors that are not available in the conventional classroom. Common characteristics and categorisation of predictors may be used to identify predictors among existing data, including data provided by students (e.g. formative feedback) that is not captured by the existing learning management systems used.


Linked Data in the construction industry is a topic gaining serious interest over the last years. However, this interest remains largely academic and has not sparked much adoption of web technologies in the field. To nourish adoption of Linked Data in practice, access to the data has to be made more easy. SPARQL, the recommended RDF query language, has proven very powerful for retrieving and updating RDF datasets. However, due to its verbosity and complexity, it is often considered a threshold for developers to implement in their tools. In this paper, we compare SPARQL with Linked Data querying languages that extend the GraphQL syntax, in context of querying building datasets: HyperGraphQL and GraphQL-LD. Since it went open source in 2015, GraphQL has been adopted by a large community of developers, partly due to its elegance and conciseness. As a use case, the queries are performed on an RDF-based multi-model that relies on the recent ISO standard ICDD (ISO 21597). ICDD interlinks information on a sub-document identifier level, based on OWL. It is aimed at the industry in that it adds a layer of Linked Data to documentation formats that are still widely used in practice: IFC, spreadsheets, imagery etc. Therefore, it is considered a tuned use case for comparing these different RDF query languages.


The thesis deals with the implementation and application of out-of-the-box tools in linear and mixed integer programming. It documents the lessons learned and conclusions drawn from five years of implementing, maintaining, extending, and using several computer codes to solve real-life industrial problems. By means of several examples it is demonstrated how to apply algebraic modeling languages to rapidly devise mathematical models of real-world problems. It is shown that today's MIP solvers are capable of solving the resulting mixed integer programs, leading to an approach that delivers results very quickly. Even though, problems are tackled that not long ago required the implementation of specialized branch-and-cut algorithms. In the first part of the thesis the modeling language Zimpl is introduced. Chapter 2 contains a complete description of the language. In the subsequent chapter details of the implementation are described. Both theoretical and practical considerations are discussed. Aspects of software engineering, error prevention, and detection are addressed. In the second part several real-world projects are examined that employed the methodology and the tools developed in the first part. Chapter 4 presents three projects from the telecommunication industry dealing with facility location problems. Chapter 5 characterizes questions that arise in UMTS planning. Problems, models, and solutions are discussed. Special emphasis is put on the dependency of the precision of the input data and the results. Possible reasons for unexpected and undesirable solutions are explained. Finally, the Steiner tree packing problem in graphs, a well-known hard combinatorial problem, is revisited. A formerly known, but not yet used model is applied to combine switchbox wire routing and via minimization. All instances known from the literature are solved by this approach, as are some newly generated bigger problem instances.


Ptolemy the Son has been much studied in the past. The problem of his identity has been considered as the most important aspect to investigate. This is true, but this article tries to focus more on another aspect which has been neglected: if there was a true co-regency between Ptolemy II and the Son or what kind of co-regency it was, in comparison with other cases from the times of the Diadochs and Epigones. This is possible through a new examination of the main evidence (for example I. Milet 139) and the updating of the chronology, thanks to P. Sorb. III 71.


This thesis is submitted in a partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Masters of Science in Biotechnology, 2008


Summary: Amniocentesis was performed in two women heterozygous for adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). One fetus was male, and the hexacosanoic acid (C26) level in the cultured amniotic cells was 0.808 μg per mg of protein, compared to 0.104 ± 0.069 (S.D.) in controls. Pregnancy was interrupted at 22 wk gestation. The fetal adrenal cortex showed the ultrastructural inclusions characteristic of ALD and C26 accounted for 35% of the fatty acids in the cholesterol esters extracted from this tissue, more than one thousand times control. The second amniocentesis was performed in a woman who was also heterozygous for an electrophoretic variant of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), and a member of a kindred showing genetic linkage of loci for ALD and G6PD. The fetus was female and the C26 level in cultured amniotic cells was 0.577. Pregnancy was interrupted at 11 wk for reasons unrelated to ALD. Study of C26 level and G6PD type in cultured fetal tissues confirmed heterozygosity for ALD.Speculation: The capacity to identify the adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) hemizygote prenatally together with the availability of tests of plasma and/or cultured skin fibroblasts, which can identify most women heterozygote for this disorder, provide the opportunity for families at risk for ALD to have normal children. It is striking that the fetal adrenal was already abnormal, because clinical evidence of adrenal insufficiency would not have been expected until more than 4 years postnatally. Because the abnormal fatty acids are of dietary origin at least in part, it may be possible to diminish or prevent their accumulation by reducing their intake.


This paper describes a method of axial deformation measurement for use in repeated load triaxial testing of pavement materials. An internal deformation measurement system is necessary because of the low strain regime involved, but normal transducers can only be used in an inert cell fluid. As this is both expensive and messy, the use of sealed transducers in water is preferable, but the cost of such units induces the use of a system based on a single transducer. Therefore, aluminium rings are used in an arrangement that allows the mean axial deformation over the central portion of the specimen to be determined by the use of a single hermetically sealed displacement transducer.


Intersectionality has emerged as an important framework for understanding and responding to health inequities by making visible the fluid and interconnected structures of power that create them. It promotes an understanding of the dynamic nature of the privileges and disadvantages that permeate health systems and affect health. It considers the interaction of different social stratifiers (e.g. 'race'/ ethnicity, indigeneity, gender, class, sexuality, geography, age, disability/ability, migration status, religion) and the power structures that underpin them at multiple levels. In doing so, it is a departure from previous health inequalities research that looked at these forms of social stratification in isolation from one another or in an additive manner. Despite its potential use and long history in other disciplines, intersectionality is uncommonly used in health systems research in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs). To orient readers to intersectionality theory and research, we first define intersectionality and describe its role in public health, and then we review resources on intersectionality. We found that applications in public health mostly increased after 2009, with only 14 out of 86 articles focused on LMICs. To arrive at 10 best resources, we selected articles based on the proportion of the article that was devoted to intersectionality, the strength of the intersectionality analysis, and its relevance to LMICs. The first four resources explain intersectionality as a methodology. The subsequent six articles apply intersectionality to research in LMIC with quantitative and qualitative analysis. We provide examples from India, Swaziland, Uganda and Mexico. Topics for the studies range from HIV, violence and sexual abuse to immunization and the use of health entitlements. Through these 10 resources, we hope to spark interest and open a needed conversation on the importance and use of intersectional analysis in LMICs as part of understanding people-centred health systems.


Obesity among women is a public health problem in the United States. Pregnancy may be one of the causes of this, with 56% of women of childbearing age being overweight or obese. Excessive weight gain during pregnancy and postpartum weight retention may increase a woman's risk of obesity and chronic disease later in life. Moderate calorie restriction and exercise interventions have been shown to reduce body weight and improve body composition during the postpartum period. While weight loss interventions have been successful, high attrition rates limit the widespread effectiveness of these interventions. Furthermore, there is a lack of research examining the effects of a weight loss program on cardiometabolic risk factors in this population. Therefore, the primary aim of the studies in this dissertation were: 1) To determine the effect of a diet and exercise intervention on weight, body composition, and cardiometabolic risk factors, 2) to improve lifestyle behaviors through improved diet quality and cardiovascular fitness, and 3) to describe the relationship between chronic inflammation and bone mineral density (BMD) in overweight and obese postpartum women. The first study concluded that a home-based diet and exercise program resulted in greater reductions in weight, waist circumference, sagittal diameter, and abdominal fat mass compared to a control group. Additionally, the intervention resulted in a significant improvement in cardiovascular fitness. The second study concluded that the intervention improved triglyceride concentrations, decreased insulin resistance, and improved metabolic syndrome risk factors. Finally, the third study concluded that the intervention resulted in less loss of BMD at the total body and hip and less loss of BMC at the hip, lumbar spine, and femoral neck after controlling for lactation status and weeks postpartum at baseline. Change in cardiovascular fitness was a predictor of change in total hip and femoral neck BMD, while change in inflammation was a predictor of change in total body BMD. These results suggest that a home-based, diet and exercise intervention is effective in improving body composition, cardiovascular fitness, and some cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight and obese postpartum women. Additionally, moderate aerobic activity may attenuate bone loss during a weight loss program.


The use of braided fiber preforms is a cost-effective process for the manufacturing of composite aircraft structures. For a rational design, it is necessary to predict the fiber orientations in the composite structure after molding. Whenever the manufacturing process requires the manipulation of fiber weaves, large strains and, therefore, significant changes in the fiber orientations occur due to the application of small traction. This drastically changes the mechanical properties of the final structure. To quantify this effect, a new method to simulate the large deformation behavior of fiber preforms has been developed and is presented. The method uses a laminate analogy model with very low stiffness matrix to compute the finite element properties. The assumptions are made that fibers do not elongate, the laminate is made of symmetrically woven fibers, and that, during a finite element step, the properties can be assumed constant. Based on these assumptions, a simple way to compute the fiber changes is proposed, as it is remarked that a box with fibers as its diagonal will deform into a box of different aspect ratio. The large displacement approach is valid since the properties depend on the global Poisson ratio computation that is proved accurate. The method is then demonstrated by an example, where a fiber weave preform is shaped over a mold. The resulting fiber orientations are analyzed to evaluate the effect of the manufacturing process on structure properties and durability. The advantage of the present method is further demonstrated by evaluating the damage tolerance of the composite structure via progressive fracture.


The treatment of peripheral retinal neovascularization by laser photocoagulation is an accepted technique. One of its limitations is the difficulty in photocoagulating retinal neovascularization that has become even slightly elevated from the underlying pigment epithelium. The failure to close the neovascular frond and the production of a vitreous hemorrhage are the complications from the direct photocoagulation of elevated neovascularization. The currently accepted method of treating the feeding retinal arteriole and venule, although successful, requires multiple treatment sessions. The use of a scleral indentation funnel at the time of laser photocoagulation permits the direct photocoagulation of elevated neovascularization in some cases. This technique increases the number of neovascular fronds that are amenable to direct laser photocoagulation, improves the rate of success of closure of the neovascularization by photocoagulation, decreases the necessary number of treatment sessions, and decreases the risks from treatment.


BACKGROUND
Although the benefit of thrombolytic therapy in reducing mortality in acute myocardial infarction is well established, the types of bleeding and risk factors for bleeding are less well described in large trials.

METHODS AND RESULTS
We analyzed the baseline characteristics, outcomes, and incidence of bleeding by location, severity, and treatment assignment among 41,021 patients in the GUSTO-I trial of thrombolysis for acute myocardial infarction. Of the 40,903 patients for whom there were complete data, 1.2% suffered severe bleeding and 11.4% experienced moderate hemorrhage at a variety of sites. The most common sources of bleeding were procedure related. The thrombolytic regimen was strongly related to the incidence of bleeding; comparatively more bleeding was seen with the therapies of streptokinase plus intravenous heparin and the streptokinase and tissue plasminogen activator plus intravenous heparin combination. In multivariate analysis, the four most powerful independent predictors of hemorrhage were older age, lighter body weight, female sex, and African ancestry; they remained the most important predictors of bleeding when multivariate analysis was performed on patients who did not undergo invasive procedures. The presence of serious hemorrhage was associated with other undesirable outcomes (recurrent events, left ventricular dysfunction, arrhythmia, or stroke).

CONCLUSIONS
Important predictors of bleeding in this population are increased age, lighter weight, female sex, African ancestry, and experiencing invasive procedures. Other nonhemorrhagic adverse clinical outcomes were associated with moderate and severe bleeding, which was in turn associated with increased length of hospital stay and mortality at 30 days.


Keep up with today's rapid advances in the biological sciences with ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY: FROM GENES TO ORGANISMS 2E with CourseMate! With coverage of animal species that will be relevant to your animal-related career, this biology text provides you with the tools you need to succeed. Boxes found throughout the text such as Molecular Biology and Genomics, Beyond the Basics, Challenges and Controversies, Unanswered Questions, and A Closer Look at Adaptation give you examples of cutting-edge research and help you see how what you are learning applies to the real world. Check Your Understanding questions after each major section help you review the main ideas as you read. Each chapter then ends with a Chapter Summary, a set of Review, Synthesize, and Analyze questions, and a list of Suggested Readings for further study.


Outsourcing government service provision to private firms can improve efficiency and reduce rents, but there are risks that non-contractible quality will decline and that reform could be blocked by vested interests exactly where potential gains are greatest. We examine these issues by conducting a randomized field experiment in 572 Indonesian localities in which a procurement process was introduced that allowed citizens to bid to take over the implementation of a subsidized rice distribution program. This led 17 percent of treated locations to switch distributors. Introducing the possibility of outsourcing led to a 4.6 percent reduction in the markup paid by households. Quality did not suffer and, if anything, households reported the quality of the rice improved. Bidding committees may have avoided quality problems by choosing bidders who had relevant experience as traders, even if they proposed slightly higher prices. Mandating higher levels of competition by encouraging additional bidders further reduced prices. We document offsetting effects of having high rents at baseline: when the initial price charged was high and when baseline satisfaction levels were low, entry was higher and committees were more likely to replace the status quo distributor; but, incumbents measured to be more dishonest on an experimental measure of cheating were also more likely to block the outsourcing process. We find no effect on price or quality of providing information about program functioning without the opportunity to privatize, implying that the observed effect was not solely due to increased transparency. On net, the results suggest that contracting out has the potential to improve performance, though the magnitude of the effects may be partially muted due to push back from powerful elites.


Abstract Designing participation over time is a challenge that is regularly discussed in the fields of Participatory Design (PD) and Codesign. This paper describes two living labs-cases concerned with designing IT during long-term engagements with communities. Both labs aim to enable participatory exchanges after the designer leaves and are thus confronted with challenges that transcend the time of the traditional design 'project'. We addressed these challenges via defining the IT design process as scripting, which is a process that better articulates the participants' different voices and timelines. In this process three types of scripts are made, supported by the facilitator role: personal scripts as portrayals of individuals' views on issues in the community and timelines to address these; community scripts aspiring to combine personal scripts into pluralistic views on the community and scripts for action as ways to rehearse how the community might unfold after the designer leaves. Key to this approach is that diverse people's views and timelines play a role in co-constructing IT platforms that support participation in the community over time. By creating IT tools that are enabled by and support scripting, designing for participation over time becomes a pluralistic endeavour.


Assessment of spatial variability in the long-term urban heat island (UHI) is severely restricted by coverage and availability of measurements. This also limits the opportunities to analyse its relation to surface characteristics. In this study we therefore introduce a new proxy dataset derived from floristic mapping. The basic assumption is that the species composition in an area reflects climatologic conditions of a certain time period. Ellenberg indicator values for temperature (EITs) were processed to summarise the overall temperature preferences of the occurring plant species. The EITs showed a clear heat island pattern, were highly correlated with existing measurements, and showed increased values in densely built urban classes. Hence, they are considered suitable as UHI proxies. Further, they were related to a large number of typical UHI predictors. The normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) showed the strongest correlation with the derived pattern and was comparatively robust towards cloud contamination. Urban morphology also explained a noticeable proportion of the overall variance. All predictors explained more than 2/3 of the overall spatial variability, while the redundancy was high. Therefore, the predictors at least allow qualitative statements about the differential exposure to heat-related risks in cities.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how entrepreneurs demand for external finance changed as the economy continued to be mired in its third and fourth years of the global financial crisis (GFC) and whether or not external finance has become more difficult to access as the recession progressed.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a large-scale survey data on over 30,000 UK small- and medium-sized enterprises between July 2011 and March 2013, the authors estimate a series of conditional probit models to empirically test the determinants of the supply of, and demand for external finance.

Findings

Older firms and those with a higher risk rating, and a record of financial delinquency, were more likely to have a demand for external finance. The opposite was true for women-led businesses and firms with positive profits. In general finance was more readily available to older firms post-GFC, but banks were very unwilling to advance money to firms with a high-risk rating or a record of any financial delinquency. It is estimated that a maximum of 42,000 smaller firms were denied credit, which was significantly lower than the peak of 119,000 during the financial crisis.

Originality/value

This paper provides timely evidence that adds to the general understanding of what really happens in the market for small business financing three to five years into an economic downturn and in the early post-GFC period, from both a demand and supply perspective. This will enable the authors to consider what the potential impacts of credit rationing on the small business sector are and also identify areas where government action might be appropriate.