Hotelling's classic model of spatial competition is used to estimate the impacts on price of the closure of one of three grain buyers on the Mississippi River in the vicinity of Scott County, Iowa. The customers of the buyer who is closing (River Gulf Grain Company) in Davenport, Iowa, are assumed to deliver their grain to a buyer in either Buffalo, Iowa, to the south or to a buyer in Clinton, Iowa, to the north. Calibration of Hotelling's framework to this situation leads to an estimated decline in grain bids of 1.5¢ per bushel for the buyer located in Clinton and by 2.5¢ per bushel for the buyer located in Buffalo. These estimates are based on an incremental transportation cost of 0.15¢ per mile between the seller's farm and the buyer. This price decline would reduce gross receipts of the farmers who currently deliver to Davenport by approximately $264,000 per year. The effect of lower price bids on gross receipts of all area farmers would be approximately $745,000 per year. Transportation costs would increase by an estimated $75,000 for those farmers who would have to haul their grain farther because of the closure. Cost savings to other farmers would total approximately $60,000. These are farmers who chose to haul their grain to Davenport even though one of the alternative buyers was closer. The total impact on local economic activity from the closure of the River Gulf Grain Company would be higher than this amount because of the direct and indirect consequences of a loss of 19 jobs, some increased damage to roads from increased miles traveled, and increased waiting times at grain-buying facilities.


To date, little is known about the beliefs, attitudes, and experiences of athlete support personnel (ASP) working in elite sport toward disordered eating (DE) and eating disorders (EDs). This study seeks to explore this area of mental health, employing an attribution model of stigma as a conceptual lens. Interviews were undertaken with 14 service providers (seven males and seven females) working in high‐performance sport in Ireland. In contrast to previous research in the general population, findings revealed that sport‐based personnel, in the main, did not hold the individual responsible for the development of their eating disorder. The predominant emotional response of those who had worked with an athlete with a known or suspected eating disorder was anxiety and worry. In line with the findings of previous studies with other health professionals, negative views on the prognosis of those with EDs were expressed by the ASP. Furthermore, confidentiality was found to be a significant barrier to bringing athletes' disclosure of problematic eating or exercise behavior to the fore. The findings of this study add to the limited research exploring attitudes toward EDs in sport and highlights the importance of greater education and openness toward this particular mental health problem.


An essential property of all cells is the ability to exit from active cell division and persist in a quiescent state. For single-celled microbes this primarily occurs in response to nutrient deprivation. We studied the genetic requirements for survival of Saccharomyces cerevisiae when starved for either of two nutrients: phosphate or leucine. We measured the survival of nearly all nonessential haploid null yeast mutants in mixed populations using a quantitative sequencing method that estimates the abundance of each mutant on the basis of frequency of unique molecular barcodes. Starvation for phosphate results in a population half-life of 337 hr whereas starvation for leucine results in a half-life of 27.7 hr. To measure survival of individual mutants in each population we developed a statistical framework that accounts for the multiple sources of experimental variation. From the identities of the genes in which mutations strongly affect survival, we identify genetic evidence for several cellular processes affecting survival during nutrient starvation, including autophagy, chromatin remodeling, mRNA processing, and cytoskeleton function. In addition, we found evidence that mitochondrial and peroxisome function is required for survival. Our experimental and analytical methods represent an efficient and quantitative approach to characterizing genetic functions and networks with unprecedented resolution and identified genotype-by-environment interactions that have important implications for interpretation of studies of aging and quiescence in yeast.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the ongoing debate of dividend policy, which is considered one of the most controversial topics in corporate finance literature.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides a survey of literature; it, first, outlines the main theoretical arguments of dividend policy and then critically discusses the most important and influential previous empirical studies in the dividend literature.

Findings
The analysis of literature review detects that no general consensus has yet been reached after many decades of investigation, despite extensive debate and countless research. Consequently, the main motivation for paying dividends is still unsolved and thus remains as a puzzle. In addition, there is no doubt that carrying the dividend debate into the context of emerging markets attaches more pieces to this puzzle.

Originality/value
This paper offers an updated and more comprehensive survey of literature by examining the relationship between theory and practice from both developed and emerging markets.


Project controls have traditionally been focused on after-the-fact detection of variances. This thesis proposes a control system, the Last Planner system, that causes the realization of plans, and thus supplements project management's concern for management of contracts with the management of production.

The Last Planner system has previously been successfully applied by firms with direct responsibility for production management; e.g., specialty contractors. This thesis extends system application to those coordinating specialists, both in design and construction, through a series of case studies, one of which also explores the limits of unilateral implementation by specialists.

In addition to the extended application, two questions drive this research. The first question is 1) What can be done by way of tools provided and improved implementation of the Last Planner system of production control to increase plan reliability above the 70% PPC level? Previous research revealed substantial improvement in productivity for those who improved plan reliability to the 70% level, consequently there is reason to hope for further improvement, possibly in all performance dimensions, especially with application across an entire project rather than limited to individual specialty firms. That question is explored in three case studies, the last of which achieved the 90% target.

The second question is 2) How/Can Last Planner be successfully applied to increase plan reliability during design processes. That question is explored in an extensive case study, which significantly contributes to understanding the design process from the perspective of active control, but unfortunately does not fully answer the question, primarily because the project was aborted prior to start of construction. However, it is argued that Last Planner is especially appropriate for design production control because of the value-generating nature of design, which renders ineffective traditional techniques such as detailed front end planning and control through after-the-fact detection of variances.

Issues for future research are proposed, including root cause analysis of plan failures and quantification of the benefits of increased plan reliability for both design and construction processes.


In this article we present the first experiences of reusing the Swedish FrameNet (SweFN) as a resource for training semantic roles. We give an account of the procedure we used to adapt SweFN to the needs of students of Linguistics in the form of an automatically generated exercise. During this adaptation, the mapping of the fine-grained distinction of roles from SweFN into learner-friendlier coarse-grained roles presented a major challenge. Besides discussing the details of this mapping, we describe the resulting multiple-choice exercise and its graphical user interface. The exercise was made available through Larka, an online platform for students of Linguistics and learners of Swedish as a second language. We outline also aspects underlying the selection of the incorrect answer options which include semantic as well as frequency-based criteria. Finally, we present our own observations and initial user feedback about the applicability of such a resource in the pedagogical domain. Students' answers indicated an overall positive experience, the majority found the exercise useful for learning semantic roles.


In a wireless system with a large number of distributed nodes, the quality of communication can be greatly improved by pooling the nodes to perform joint transmission/reception. In this paper, we consider the problem of optimally selecting a subset of nodes from potentially a large number of candidates to form a virtual multi-antenna system, while at the same time designing their joint linear transmission strategies. We focus on two specific application scenarios: 1) multiple single antenna transmitters cooperatively transmit to a receiver; 2) a single transmitter transmits to a receiver with the help of a number of cooperative relays. We formulate the joint node selection and beamforming problems as cardinality constrained optimization problems with both discrete variables (used for selecting cooperative nodes) and continuous variables (used for designing beamformers). For each application scenario, we first characterize the computational complexity of the joint optimization problem, and then propose novel semi-definite relaxation (SDR) techniques to obtain approximate solutions. We show that the new SDR algorithms have a guaranteed approximation performance in terms of the gap to global optimality, regardless of channel realizations. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithms is demonstrated via numerical experiments.


During the last two decades, the shiprepairing and shipbuilding industry has undergone serious and extensive restructuring all over the world. The energy crisis of the 1970's, the appearance of new forces in the international shipbuilding and shiprepairing market (e.g. Korea, China, Poland, Ukraine, Romania etc.) as well as the crisis in the shipping industry caused by overtonnage, resulted in a radical restructuring of this industrial sector: New forces emerged in the shipbuilding industry (Japan, Singapore, Poland, China etc.) while other traditional forces are facing an unprecedented crisis (member-countries of the E.U.). The E.U., having realised that its members are gradually but steadily losing their competitiveness, issued the 5th, 6th and 7th Directive. The results of these Directives were immediate and impressive: Many units closed down, while the number of those employed in the sector was halved. Nevertheless, the E.U. Directives did not fulfill their objectives completely. They simply managed to stabilize the competitiveness of the E.U. units compared with their main rivals (Japan, S. Korea). The situation does not seem to be improving, since new competitors with strong comparative advantages are brought to the fore of shipbuilding and shiprepairing market (China, Poland, Russia etc.). At the same time, international organisations (OECD) enforce increasingly strict control measures and the curtailment of public financing towards shipyards, in order to safeguard fair terms of competition and liberate the activities of these units from state protectionism. Due to this intensely competitive environment, the shipbuilding and shiprepairing activity of the E.U. is expected to be tested severely. Greece could not be left untouched by this crisis. The majority of the Greek shipbuilding / shiprepairing industry is situated in the region known as 'Perama Zone'. This area extends from the northern limits of the Port of Piraeus as far as Elefsina Bay. Inside this area are entrepreneurially activated the two largest units of the sector ('Greek Skaramanga Shipyards' and 'Elefsina Shipyards') and almost the entirety of the small-medium shiprepairing companies. The Greek shipbuilding activity is facing a long term crisis and in particular the Small-medium companies of the sector are showing an unprecedented, even for the European standards, unemployment rate. This situation compels large parts of the local population to marginalize, since the whole area is financially dependent on the "multiplying phenomena" of the companies located at the Zone. In addition, a very serious effort is being made for the past two years by the Greek government, in order to offer solutions to these vast problems. During the governmental attempts to develop a long term policy, the State had to confront the reactions and rejections of many trade unions and employees. According to the above, this paper is aspiring to outline the Greek and European shipbuilding and shiprepairing industry, to compare it with that of its rival countries, to codify the specific sectorial problems, to seek perspectives and finally to propose specific solutions in order to regain competitiveness as well as to tackle unemployment in the Greek and European Shipbuilding / Shiprepairing Industry.


Humour, Gender, Sexuality, Sensuality, Identity, Racism, and Cultural Difference. When do any of these things ever come together to equal poetry? When Jackie Kay's part of the equation. "Darling" brings together into a vibrant new book many favourite poems from her four Bloodaxe collections, "The Adoption Papers", "Other Lovers", "Off Colour" and "Life Mask", as well as featuring new work, some previously uncollected poems, and some lively poetry for younger readers. Kay's poems draw on her own life and the lives of others to make a tapestry of voice and communal understanding. The title of her acclaimed short story collection, "Why Don't You Stop Talking", could be a comment on her own poems, their urgency of voice and their recognition of the urgency in all voice, particularly the need to be heard, to have voice. And what voice - the voices of the everyday, the voices of jazz, the voices of this many-voiced United Kingdom.


Proterosuchids are an important group of carnivorous basal archosauriforms characterized by a bizarre and enigmatic downturned premaxilla that overhangs the lower jaw. They are particularly significant because they radiated in the immediate aftermath of the Permian–Triassic mass extinction and represent one of the best known 'disaster taxa' following that event. While traditionally considered to be semi‐aquatic, recent histological studies and geological data have suggested that it is more likely that they inhabited terrestrial environments. By using computed tomographic (CT) data, we virtually reconstruct the brain endocast and endosseous labyrinths of two adult specimens of Proterosuchus fergusi from the earliest Triassic of South Africa, in an attempt to understand its life habits within the context of basal archosauriform evolution. Endocasts reveal that the brain cavity is tubular in shape and the endosseous labyrinths are highly pyramidal. The angle of the lateral semicircular canal suggests that P. fergusi naturally held its head upwards ~17°, while the length of the cochlear duct suggests its auditory abilities were specialized towards low‐frequency sounds. Furthermore, beam theory analysis suggests that the rostrum of P. fergusi is highly resistant to both bending and torsion when compared to modern crocodilians, although this resistance is neither enhanced nor reduced by the overhanging premaxilla. Comparative anatomical analyses suggest P. fergusi was probably a semi‐aquatic, generalist apex predator capable of surviving the harsh environmental perturbations of the Early Triassic.


We propose to smooth out the calibration score, which measures how good a forecaster is, by combining nearby forecasts. While regular calibration can be guaranteed only by randomized forecasting procedures, we show that smooth calibration can be guaranteed by deterministic procedures. As a consequence, it does not matter if the forecasts are leaked, i.e., made known in advance: smooth calibration can nevertheless be guaranteed (while regular calibration cannot). Moreover, our procedure has finite recall, is stationary, and all forecasts lie on a finite grid. We also consider related problems: online linear regression, weak calibration, and uncoupled Nash dynamics in n-person games.


Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in the world and in US, breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women after skin cancer. Researchers have developed various strategies for combating and treating cancer viz. surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy as well as plant derived and plant based drugs. Phytotherapeutic agents have no serious side effects and they are better assimilated than their synthetic counterparts. Azadiracta indica (AI) commonly known as 'Neem' in India, has many therapeutic properties viz. anti-inflammatory, antiarthritic, antipyretic, hypoglycemic, antiulcergenic, antifungal, antibacterial as well as antitumor. The antineoplastic property of AI is due to its apoptosis-inducing, antiangiogenic, and immunomodulatory effects via several molecular mechanisms. In the present study, individual as well as combined effect of ethanolic extract of AI and pH has been evaluated on survival and viability of human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. It was found that a combination of low pH (6.2) and AI extract (1600 μg/ml) caused significant mortality (95.7%) in the breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. The IC50 value for AI extract at pH 7.1 was found to be 200 μg/ml. The combined cytotoxicity at acidic pH in presence of AI extract was compared to that caused only in presence of AI. It was found that low pH potentiates the cytotoxic effect of AI, although independently, low pH promotes cancer cell survival and viability. Such a study regarding anti-proliferative activity of AI as function of pH has not been reported before and warrants further and future investigation


In the context of vertical contractual relationships, where competing sellers distribute their products directly as well as through competing intermediation platforms, we analyze the welfare effects of price parity clauses. These contractual clauses prevent a seller from offering its product at a lower price on other platforms or through its own direct sales channel. Recently, they have been the subject of several antitrust investigations. Contrary to the theories of harm developed by competition agencies and in some of the recent literature, we show that when we account for the sellers' participation constraints, price parity clauses do not always lead to higher commissions and final prices. Instead, we find that they may simultaneously bene.t all the actors (platforms, sellers and consumers), even in the absence of traditional efficiency arguments.


I-vector extraction and Probabilistic Linear Discriminant Analysis (PLDA) has become the state-of-the-art configuration for speaker verification. Recently, Gaussian-PLDA has been improved by a preliminary length normalization of i-vectors. This normalization, known to increase the Gaussianity of the i-vector distribution, also improves performance of systems based on standard Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and "two-covariance model" scoring. But this technique follows a standardization of the i-vectors (centering and whitening ivectors based on the first and second order moments of the development data). We propose in this paper two techniques of normalization based on total, between- and within-speaker variance spectra 1 . These "spectral" techniques both normalize the i-vectors length for Gaussianity, but the first adapts the ivectors representation to a speaker recognition system based on LDA and two-covariance scoring when the second adapts it to a Gaussian-PLDA model. Significant performance improvements are demonstrated on the male and female telephone portion of NIST SRE 2010. Index Terms: i-vectors, probabilistic linear discriminant analysis, speaker recognition.


DESIGN, ANALYSIS, AND CONSTRUCTION OF AN EQUAL SPLIT WILKINSON POWER DIVIDER Logan J. Berens, B.S. Marquette University, 2012 The Wilkinson power divider is a well known device in the RF/microwave community used for splitting or combining signals. It is composed of simple transmission lines and a resistor, and takes advantage of the properties of quarterwavelength transmission line sections to provide ideal power divider characteristics. Three different equal split Wilkinson power dividers are designed to operate near 1800 MHz and constructed using typical microstrip fabrication techniques. The three power dividers each feature a unique design to help determine how the microstrip layout can impact isolation and return loss. A circuit analysis of the general Wilkinson power divider schematic is performed to provide insight into the device characteristics as well as present a clear derivation of the correlating scattering matrix. A thorough comparison between the performances of each of the three different designs is conducted and the results are provided and discussed. The conclusions drawn from this investigation are that multiple Wilkinson power divider microstrip layouts can meet specific design criteria with similar results, indicating the robustness of the Wilkinson design. In particular and contrary to what is typically claimed within the RF/microwave community, a power divider featuring straight, parallel quarter-wavelength sections showed no degradation in isolation (or negligible effects of coupling) when compared to a power divider with curved quarter-wavelength sections.


A low-cost and flexible system for environmental measurement and control in green - houses based on decentralized autonomous technics, Ubiquitous Environment Control System (UECS), was proposed in 2004. The UECS is composed of autonomous nodes as the minimum units of measurement and control. The nodes can connect with each other through Ethernet or Wi-Fi and can communicate information regardless of manufacturer or model. To realize automation and efficiency of protected horticultural production, two consortia for UECS development and extension were established. During the last 10 years, the UECS has been used to apply environment control in large-scale greenhouses and plant factories. The stability and utility of the UECS have been demonstrated and verified in these practical cultivations. Current research and development are being car ried out to install information and communication technology (ICT) systems to improve productivity in existing small- to medium-scale greenhouses in Japan. The flexibility and concept of the UECS have been very effective to enable sophisticated environmental con - trol technology to be applied to small- and medium-scale greenhouses. In this chapter, self-fabricated UECS, the renewal of old environmental control systems using the UECS, and Sub-GHz radio band use for communicating UECS nodes among distributed green houses are discussed.


Abstract. Rapid Asian economic development might engender secondary impacts of atmospheric aerosol particles over the western Pacific after conversion of gaseous pollutants such as SO2. To elucidate changes in aerosol concentrations in leeward areas undergoing remarkable industrialization, the number-size distributions of submicrometer (0.3–1.0 μm) aerosols were measured at Murododaira (36.6° N, 137.6° E, 2450 m a.s.l.) on the western flank of Mount Tateyama in central Japan during January 1999–February 2009. Nighttime data obtained from 2400 to 0500 were used to analyze free-tropospheric aerosol concentration. Monthly average volume concentrations were calculated for months with >50% daily data coverage. Volume concentrations of submicrometer aerosols were high in spring to early summer and low in winter. Significant increasing trends at 95% confidence levels were found for volume concentrations in winter–spring. Simulated monthly anthropogenic aerosol concentrations at Mt. Tateyama from results of regional aerosol modeling with emission inventory up to 2005 showed seasonal variation and winter–spring increasing trends similar to those of observed aerosol concentration. According to the model analyses, the contribution of anthropogenic aerosol concentrations derived from China was high during winter–spring (60–80% of total anthropogenic aerosols at Mt. Tateyama). This accords with the increasing trend observed for winter–spring. Because SO42− is the dominant component of total anthropogenic aerosols, these results suggest that increasing anthropogenic emissions, especially for SO2, in China, engender enhancement of submicrometer-diameter aerosols over Japan during winter–spring.


Fundamental changes in economy, demography, technology, climate and society create tremendous challenges for practitioners involved in the shaping the built environment. Politicians, planners, real estate professionals, engineers, architects and others need to anticipate diverse transitions and increasing uncertainty associated with urban development processes. Many of the problems faced in cities today do not neatly follow the disciplinary boundaries of our academies or professions. To solve these so-called wicked problem, professionals often require diversified knowledge to understand the different dimensions of urban problems and their potential solutions. However, traditional education programs on real estate and urban development are usually developed from a specific disciplinary viewpoint and intent to train students to specialise in one discipline. They often pay limited attention to help students develop skills and the capacity to integrate and synthesize knowledge and identify appropriate courses of action. Interdisciplinary education programmes are proposed to be an appropriate solution that makes connections and integrate knowledge across fields of expertise and handle managerial uncertainty.This research examines how interdisciplinary education is organised within programme the Urban Redevelopment Game course as part of the Management in the Built Environment master curriculum (Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology). The research aims to answer: To what extent does the urban redevelopment game course enable students to have an interdisciplinary learning experience? Based on course evaluations and discussions it was found that the course : attempts to imitate the reality and complexity of urban development processes; emphasise the experience of negotiations bringing awareness of various actor interests and disciplines involved; and connects theory with practice by applying theoretical concepts to an empirical study location. Through the form of role simulation, students not only acquire in-depth knowledge, but also receive mentorship to integrate and synthesize knowledge from different discipline.What is also interesting to highlight the use of competition between teams and in roles greatly enhances students' motivation and efforts. It is argued that the didactical lessons learned from this course on interdisciplinary learning might be of interest for real estate education courses and further improvements.


In this paper, we study price dispersion in the Norwegian retail market for 766 products across 4,297 stores over 60 months. Price dispersion for homogeneous products is significant and persistent, with a coefficient of variation of 37 percent for the median product. Price dispersion differs between product categories and over time. Store heterogeneity accounts for 30 percent of the observed variation in prices for the median product–month, and for around 50 percent for the sample as a whole. Price dispersion is still prevalent after correcting for store heterogeneity.


Cryopreservation is an useful technique for long-term conservation that requires minimal space and maintenance. Germplasm protection of Rosa is important to preserve genetic diversity, to store material for breeding and to expand new research. This study was conducted to develop a droplet vitrification cryopreservation and micropropagation of Rosa pomifera cv. 'Karpatia', whose large hypanthia are characterized by remarkable pro-health properties. Culture in vitro was stabilized and shoot tips collected from dormant buds served as initial explants. The multiplication of shoots was carried out on MS medium containing benzyladenine. For the droplet vitrification cryopreservation, shoot tips from in vitro cultures were used: small with exposed meristem, and large with a meristem covered with leaves, as well as shoot tips from in situ plants, which were collected in winter. Treatment time with plant vitrification solution (PVS2) was also tested (10-30 minutes). From in vitro culture, 32-41% small explants with exposed meristem survived, but they regenerated at a very low level. The best cryostorage results were obtained for shoot tips from dormant buds and a 20-minute PVS2 treatment: the survival was 84% and regeneration 72%. During the post-freezing regeneration multiplication index was 2.4 shoots per one multiplication cycle, after cryopreservation and in the control. On half MS medium without growth regulators, 97-99% of shoots rooted, and all rooted plants have adapted to ex vitro conditions and were planted into the soil. Biometric analyses during shoot multiplication, rooting and acclimatization stages did not reveal any changes compared to the non-cryopreserved samples.


The work evaluated water removal and corn seed quality by "fast" and "slow" intermittent drying, under 60oC and 70oC air temperatures. In 1994/95 IAPAR 26 seeds were harvested with a combined, harvester (22% water content) in Ponta Grossa, Parana, Brazil. They were dried in commercial dryers, using the shade drying to 13% as referential. The seed water content was monitored during drying, at intervals of thirty minutes, for the establishment of the drying speeds and curves. The physiologic quality was evaluated in the sampled seeds, before drying, at intermidiate times and at the end of drying, through the germination, tetrazolium (germination and vigor) and accelerated aging tests. The drying speed for the "fast" and "slow" dryers were 1.7% and 2.7% /hr, respectively. The dryers were efficient in the removal of corn seed water with high moisture content, not affecting immediately its physiologic quality (P> 0.01). Air temperature reduction can be recommended at the end of the process, when the seeds reach 14% water content.


In this thesis, high order accurate discretization schemes for partial differential equations are investigated. In the first paper, the linearized two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are considered. A special formulation of the boundary conditions is used and estimates for the solution to the continuous problem in terms of the boundary conditions are derived using a normal mode analysis. Similar estimates are achieved for the discretized equations. For the discretization, a second order finite difference scheme on a staggered mesh is used. In Paper II, the analysis for the second order scheme is used to develop a fourth order scheme for the fully nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations. The fully nonlinear incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in two space dimensions are considered on an orthogonal curvilinear grid. Numerical tests are performed with a fourth order accurate Pade type spatial finite difference scheme and a semi-implicit BDF2 scheme in time. In Papers III-V, a class of high order accurate time-discretization schemes based on the deferred correction principle is investigated. The deferred correction principle is based on iteratively eliminating lower order terms in the local truncation error, using previously calculated solutions, in each iteration obtaining more accurate solutions. It is proven that the schemes are unconditionally stable and stability estimates are given using the energy method. Error estimates and smoothness requirements are derived. Special attention is given to the implementation of the boundary conditions for PDE. The scheme is applied to a series of numerical problems, confirming the theoretical results. In the sixth paper, a time-compact fourth order accurate time discretization for the one- and two-dimensional wave equation is considered. Unconditional stability is established and fourth order accuracy is numerically verified. The scheme is applied to a two-dimensional wave propagation problem with discontinuous coefficients.


Bahinabai Choudhari (1880-1951) was born in an agrarian village called Asoda in northern Maharashtra. She was a devotee of Vitthal – beloved God of the Varkari tradition, initiated by Saint Dnyaneshwar in the thirteenth century. To the present day, a special practice of the Varkari tradition is the vaari – devotees from across Maharashtra walk together for days, from their native villages to Pandharpur, Vitthal's spiritual abode. They sing and dance to songs in praise of Vitthal, engendering a rich oral and performative tradition. Bound by her family and farms, Bahinabai did not partake in the vaaris. Instead, she composed and sang couplets called ovyaa, as she toiled in the fields and the kitchen along with fellow women. To be sure, there is hardly a kitchen in Maharashtra, not enriched by her ovyaa; they are known for their simplicity, light-hearted humour, aphorisms about nature, rhythm and, of course, their magical ability to comfort endlessly labouring farmers and home makers. This ovi is translated from an exhaustive collection of Bahinabai's ovyaa, titled Bahinayichi Gaani, published by Suchitra Prakaashan in 2012. We are indebted to Sopandev, Bahinabai's son, who scripted her ovyaa and published them posthumously; and also the many women who have kept this oral tradition alive.


This article will showcase the aims and research goals of the project entitled "Transforming Libraries and Archives through Crowdsourcing", recipient of a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. This grant will be used to fund the creation of four bespoke text and audio transcription projects which will be hosted on the Zooniverse, the world-leading research crowdsourcing platform. These transcription projects, while supporting the research of four separate institutions, will also function as a means to expand and enhance the Zooniverse platform to better support galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM institutions) in unlocking their data and engaging the public through crowdsourcing.


The thermal bar in Lake Ladoga was studied during one week in May 1991. Temperature and current velocity distributions were measured. The movement of the thermal bar and the horizontal heat transport were examined.The temperature off-shore the thermal bar was found to be constant within a vertical. The velocity distributions were complex and dependent on wind conditions. Calculations of changes in heat content showed that there was a horizontal heat transport from the near-shore warm zone towards the thermal bar. The observed off-shore progression of the thermal bar was compared with analytically computed progression rates. The progression rate is underestimated if it is assumed that surface heating and vertical mixing are the only mechanisms contributing to the thermal bar progression. Better agreement is obtained if mixing of warm and cold water near the thermal bar zone is considered. (Less)


The Clientis Choice Programme offers tenants freedom of choice in tenure. With this programme, a housing corporation offers tenants the choice between a traditional rent contract, fixed rent or fixed rent increase contracts for a five- or ten-year period, socially bound ownership, and ownership with a buy-back option. This programme has been introduced by a Dutch housing corporation a few years ago. Currently, more and more Dutch housing corporations are implementing this programme, or are thinking about implementing it. For the landlord, the Clientis Choice Programme has the benefit of increasing cash flow, which can be used for (social) housing investments. However, there are also substantial financial risks, concerning for instance the rate of sales, the development of market values and the potential costs of having to buy back the dwellings. In this paper we present the results of a risk analysis study performed for a Dutch housing corporation that plans to introduce the Clientis Choice Programme. In this study we will look at issues like the recommended introduction speed (all dwellings at once, or gradually over a specific time span) and the probability that a tenant chooses a specific type of tenure. We analyse the impact of these issues on the development of solvency and liquidity. We use Monte Carlo simulation to establish both the expected development and the risk, measured as downside probability and Value at Risk.


SINMAP (Stability Index MAPping) is an ArcView GIS extension that facilitates the assessment of landslide potential at the watershed scale. SINMAP has as its theoretical basis the infinite plane slope stability model. Digital elevation model (DEM) methods are used to estimate the slope of the terrain as well as the potential soil moisture conditions as influenced by topographic flow convergence. Other parameters considered include soil friction & transmissivity, root cohesion, and water recharge. Some parameters may be uncertain and can therefore be characterized by uniform distributions between specified limits. These may be adjusted and calibrated for geographic strata based upon soil, vegetation or geologic data. The software enables an interactive visual calibration that adjusts parameters while referring to observed landslide distributions. Parameters can be adjusted so that the resulting stability map "captures" a high proportion of observed landslides in regions with low stability index, while minimizing the extent of low stability regions and consequent alienation of terrain to regions where landslides have not been observed. SINMAP is implemented as a software extension to the ArcView GIS from Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.


The microprocessor—a computer central processing unit integrated onto a single microchip—has come to dominate computing across all of its scales from the tiniest consumer appliance to the largest supercomputer. This dominance has taken decades to achieve, but an irresistible logic made the ultimate outcome inevitable. The objectives of this Perspective paper are to offer a brief history of the development of the microprocessor and to answer questions such as: where did the microprocessor come from, where is it now, and where might it go in the future?


We present the homogenization of a parametrically defined periodic microstructure in which it is possible to separately control the volume fractions of conventional material, active material and void. The effective material properties from the homogenization reduce the necessary finite-element model complexity and also allow for topology optimization of smart structures or optimization of the microstructure itself. Homogenization equations for piezoelectric material including thermal effects are derived with a first-order asymptotic approach. The homogenization problem is solved numerically for discrete values of the design parameters. An interpolation technique is used to find analytical, continuously derivable functions for material properties of the design parameters. Consideration is given to planar microstructures and the treatment of microstructures consisting of dielectrically distinct materials. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Undoubtedly, mobile technology has started to be visible in the field of education, as can be seen by the increasing number of publications that have appeared in recent years. This can also be proven with the existence of the new term in education – M-learning. Several types of mobile devices are accessible, such as wireless laptops, portable MP3 players, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and electronic dictionaries, although smart phones and iPads are the devices that have started to attract particular attention from educators. It is also noticeable that listening to music is one of the most important features in the aforementioned mobile devices. Against this backdrop, this study explores the benefits of integrating music and mobile devices in English vocabulary learning among tertiary students in a private university in Malaysia. As this study uses quantitative approach, a pre-test and a post-test were used to obtain data to analyse whether there was a gain in students' vocabulary knowledge after vocabulary lessons using English songs and mobile devices were conducted. In addition, a survey was used to show if students had a positive outlook in learning vocabulary through music and mobile devices. The findings of this study indicated that there was an increase in the students' vocabulary knowledge and students were enthusiastic to learn vocabulary. Integration of music and mobile devices provide more opportunities to enhance English vocabulary learning and act as a suitable tool for learning anytime and anywhere. Therefore, educators should find innovative ways to use mobile devices to teach the future students.

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


How can municipal sociocultural policies stimulate and promote community empowerment, civic creativity or social cohesion? What objectives should be proposed at the municipal level to promote processes of sociocultural community development? How can we identify local needs in order to stimulate community development processes? In response to these questions, our paper proposes a creative solution: indicators to evaluate sociocultural policies. The proposal will enable us to obtain information about our own reality and, at the same time, contribute to producing changes and to outlining possible de intervention strategies for local administrations. The proposal describes a system of creative, flexible and rigourous indicators intended for municipal technicians and politicians interested in evaluating their sociocultural actions and strategies. We present the result of a research process whose methods included validation of the indicators by experts and technicians in or related to sociocultural community development, and the application of this system based on a case study of a Spanish municipality. Among the proposed indicators specific consideration is given to the support of local creators and the promotion of civic creativity, as well as the use, the creation and the articulation of sociocultural activities as strategies to contribute to cultural and civic diversity


The thesis focused on data analysis of surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) for biomarker discovery and cancer classification. It investigated quantitative measures of reproducibility and found that SELDI protein profiles are affected by sample storage and processing procedure. Two new peak alignment algorithms were proposed, one of which achieved the best performance when compared to the existing methods. The assumption of normality of SELDI protein profiles, on which the standard statistical methods are based, was examined. Normality tests and the multiple testing procedures revealed that SELDI protein profiles do not follow normal distributions, implying that it may be reliable to use non-parametric methods for detecting disease-associated proteins. A new normalisation algorithm was proposed, and was shown to give a better improvement of normality compared with the existing methods. An integrated algorithm to discover proteomic biomarkers for cancer diagnosis was proposed and applied to two published SELDI data sets. The results demonstrated that the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve method may be more reliable to determine the discriminatory powers of the identified biomarkers compared to Wilcoxon test. The methods for proteomic biomarker discovery presented here may be generalisable and applicable to other mass spectrometry and genomics approaches.


The intent of this essay is to reflect appreciatively upon the impact on the teaching of law at Bond University of the generosity of Dr John Kearney QC, and to reflect critically upon the impact on legal education of philanthropy generally.


This discussion paper aims to review what is currently known about the role played by the informal sector in general, and informal retailers in particular, in the accessibility of food in South Africa. The review seeks to identify policy-relevant research gaps. Drawing on Statistics South Africa data, we show that the informal sector is an important source of employment, dominated by informal trade with the sale of food a significant subsector within this trade. We then turn our attention to what is known about the informal sector's role in food sourcing of poorer households. Surveys show that urban residents, and particularly low-income households, regularly source food from the informal sector and we explore possible reasons for this through an expanded view of access. We then consider existing evidence on the implications of increased supermarket penetration for informal retailers and food security. Having established the importance of the informal sector, we turn our attention to the policy environment. First we assess the food security policy position and the post-apartheid policy response to the informal sector – nationally, in provinces, and in key urban centres. We trace a productionist and rural bias in the food security agenda and argue that the policy environment for informal operators is at best benign neglect and at worst actively destructive; with serious food security implications. Throughout the paper, we draw on regional and international evidence to locate the South African issues within wider related trends.


Herein we report the synthesis and crystal structures of three light alkali metal salts of the dianion of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 5,6:11,12-di-o-phenylenetetracene (LDOPT). The compounds are obtained by reaction of LDOPT with an excess of lithium or sodium metal in different O-donor solvents (DME, diglyme) and crystallize as naked, solvated-cation separated dianions exhibiting no interaction between the alkali metal ion and the aromatic π-system of LDOPT. Depending on the aprotic etheral solvent and the hardness of the alkaline metal agent a significant structural perturbation of the conjugated carbon framework of LDOPT is observed resulting in a bowl shaped curvature of the anionic π-perimeter, in contrast to its fully planar neutral state. Reduction of LDOPT with lithium in DME results in the formation of the solvent-separated molecular structure of {[(DME-κ2O)3Li+]2(LDOPT2-)}21 containing naked isolated units of dianionic LDOPT. A similar structural arrangement is observed for the corresponding sodium compound {[(DME-κ2O)3Na+]2(LDOPT2-)}22 in which, however, a lesser curvature of the isolated dianionic ligand skeleton compared to 1 is observed. In contrast to 1 and 2 reduction with sodium in diglyme results in the formation of {[(diglyme-κ3O)2Na+]2(LDOPT2-)}0.53. The deformation of the peripheric phenylene rings of [LDOPT2-] in 3 is not as pronounced as compared to 1 and 2. Nevertheless, molecular structures of 1-3 deviate from full-planarity as observed in the parent neutral LDOPT. No preferential endo- or exo-site coordination of the alkaline metal cations Li+ and Na+ on the curved dianionic π-perimeter is observed.


The development of media‐specific ecological values for risk assessment includes the derivation of acceptable levels of exposure for terrestrial wildlife (e.g., birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians). Although the derivation and subsequent application of these values can be used for screening purposes, there is a need to identify toxicological effects thresholds specifically for making remedial decisions at individual contaminated sites. A workshop was held in the fall of 2012 to evaluate existing methods and recent scientific developments for refining ecological soil screening levels (Eco‐SSLs) and improving the derivation of site‐specific ecological soil clean‐up values for metals (Eco‐SCVs). This included a focused session on the development and derivation of toxicity reference values (TRVs) for terrestrial wildlife. Topics that were examined included: methods for toxicological endpoint selection, techniques for dose–response assessment, approaches for cross‐species extrapolation, and tools to incorporate environmental factors (e.g., metal bioavailability and chemistry) into a reference value. The workgroup also made recommendations to risk assessors and regulators on how to incorporate site‐specific wildlife life history and toxicity information into the derivation of TRVs to be used in the further development of soil cleanup levels. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2014;10:358–371. © 2013 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management Published by SETAC


Many indicators of socioeconomic status used for adults are inappropriate for use in research on adolescents. In a school-based survey of 4079 Scottish schoolchildren using a self-completion questionnaire, over 20% of 11-15 year olds were unable to provide a substantive response on father's occupation. In contrast, indicators derived to construct a family affluence scale, which included car ownership, telephone ownership and the child having their own unshared bedroom, resulted in a 98% response rate; and 92% of children responded to a question on their weekly spending money. The intercorrelations between the conventional indicator of father's occupation and each family affluence and spending money were examined, and their associations with a range of health indicators and health behaviour measures compared. Father's occupational status and family affluence were moderately correlated and showed broadly similar patterns of association with the selected health measures although there were also some distinct differences. Child's spending money was only weakly correlated with father's occupation and showed rather different patterns of association with health measures. A case is made for the use of multiple indicators of socioeconomic status in adolescent health surveys, and it is argued that that the family affluence scale provides a useful and easily applied additional indicator to father's occupation or an alternative measure of socioeconomic background where occupational data are unavailable.


Extramedullary disease (EMD) is a rare clinical event in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Although the skin is involved in half of the reported EMD cases, the occurrence of cutaneous promyelocytic sarcoma (PS) has been described very rarely. We report here three cases of PS which have the peculiarity of appearing at sites of punctures for arterial and venous blood and marrow samples (sternal manubrium, antecubital fossa, wrist over the radial artery pulse, catheter insertion scar). At presentation, all patients had hyperleukocytosis and a morphologic diagnosis of microgranular acute promyelocytic leukemia variant confirmed at the genetic level by demonstration of the specific chromosomal translocation t(15;17). A BCR3 type PML/RARa transcript was documented in the two patients for whom diagnostic RT-PCR was available. Patients had morphologic bone marrow remission at the time the PS appeared. A predilection for the development of cutaneous PS at sites of previous vascular damage has been noted, but the pathogenesis remains largely unknown. A potential role for all-trans retinoic acid has been advocated, although one of the three patients in our series had received no ATRA. A review of the literature revealed six similar cases and hyperleukocytosis at diagnosis was a consistent finding in all of them. A careful physical examination of these particular sites in the follow-up of patients at risk, as well as cutaneous biopsy and laboratory examination of suspected lesions are strongly recommended.


Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), the buildingSMART open standard for BIM, is underused with respect to its promising potential, since, according to the experience of practitioners and researchers working with BIM, issues in the standard's implementation and use prevent its effective use. Nevertheless, a systematic investigation of these issues has never been carried out, and there is thus insufficient evidence for tackling the problems. The GeoBIM benchmark project is aimed at finding such evidence by involving external volunteers, reporting on various aspects of the behavior of tools (geometry, semantics, georeferencing, functionalities), analyzed and described in this article. Interestingly, different IFC software programs with the same standardized data sets yield inconsistent results, with few detectable common patterns, and significant issues are found in their support of the standard, probably due to the very high complexity of the standard data model. A companion article (Part II) describes the results of the benchmark related to CityGML, the counterpart of IFC within geoinformation.


For a given graph G and an associated class of real symmetric matrices whose off-diagonal entries are governed by the adjacencies in G, the collection of all possible spectra for such matrices is considered. Building on the pioneering work of Colin de Verdiere in connection with the Strong Arnold Property, two extensions are devised that target a better understanding of all possible spectra and their associated multiplicities. These new properties are referred to as the Strong Spectral Property and the Strong Multiplicity Property. Finally, these ideas are applied to the minimum number of distinct eigenvalues associated with G, denoted by q(G). The graphs for which q(G) is at least the number of vertices of G less one are characterized.


ABSTRACT Various types of chromosomal aberrations, including numerical (aneuploidy) and structural (e.g. translocations, deletions), are commonly found in human tumors. Aneuploidy is a direct consequence of chromosome segregation errors in mitosis, but recent reports have shown that chromosome segregation errors can also result in structural chromosome aberrations. We found that chromosomes that missegregate are frequently damaged during cytokinesis. Importantly, we found that these double strand breaks can lead to unbalanced translocations in the daughter cells. These and other data shed light on the mechanisms that can facilitate rapid cancer diversification. To prevent chromosome segreation errors, cells depend on the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint (SAC), a complex signaling network that allows time for proper chromosome bi-orientation. We are testing a specific small molecule kinase inhibitor of Mps1, an important SAC component that sustains SAC function, but also contributes to chromosome alignment. In cultured mammalian cells Mps1 inhibition accelerates mitosis, and prevents full chromosome alignment, resulting in chromosome segregation errors. Proliferation assays indicate that tumor cell lines are more sensitive to Mps1 inhibition than normal non-transformed cell lines. This observation lead us to explore Mps1 inhibition as a tool to specifically target cancer cells, without compromising normal stable cells. We used FVB mouse models to characterize the effects of Mps1 inhibition in vivo. Cell lines derived from BRCA1- and p53-deficient breast tumors display impaired cell proliferation upon Mps1 inhibition and we observe a synergistic increase when combined with docetaxel treatment. In a model for hereditary triple-negative breast cancer (BRCA1f/f; p53f/f model), treatment of a combination of Mps1 inhibitor and docetaxel resulted in tumor regression and an increase in mouse survival. A higher percentage of anaphase figures with lagging chromosomes was observed in tumors and in the gut. These data support Mps1 inhibition in combination with anti-mitotic agents as a novel therapeutic approach for triple negative breast cancer. Disclosure: R.C. Buijsman: Rogier C. Buijsman is founder and shareholder of NTRC G.J.R. Zaman: Guido J.R. Zaman is founder and shareholder of NTRC All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


Detection of voiced speech and estimation of the pitch frequency are important tasks for many speech processing algorithms. Pitch information can be used, e.g., to reconstruct voiced speech corrupted by noise. In automotive environments, driving noise especially affects voiced speech portions in the lower frequencies. Pitch estimation is therefore important, e.g., for in-car-communication systems. Such systems amplify the driver's voice and allow for convenient conversations with backseat passengers. Low latency is required for this application, which requires the use of short window lengths and short frame shifts between consecutive frames. Conventional pitch estimation techniques, however, rely on long windows that exceed the pitch period of human speech. In particular, male speakers' low pitch frequencies are difficult to resolve. In this publication, we introduce a technique that approaches pitch estimation from a different perspective. The pitch information is extracted based on phase differences between multiple low-resolution spectra instead of a single long window. The technique benefits from the high temporal resolution provided by the short frame shift and is capable to deal with the low spectral resolution caused by short window lengths. Using the new approach, even very low pitch frequencies can be estimated very efficiently.


Sugar beet is a significant industrial crop, often grown in the areas where summer drought can severely limit root yield and sugar content. In order to improve development of sugar beet cultivars with increased drought tolerance it is necessary to understand plant response to water stress at the genomic level. Since recent research efforts have focused on the molecular response of the plant in order to identify water deficit inducible genes, the aim of this investigation was to develop qRT-PCR methodology for the quantification of gene expression in sugar beet under conditions of water deficiency in vitro. Sugar beet genotypes, selected for different response to water deficit, were grown and multiplied in vitro. Axilary shoots were placed on micropropagation media with 0%, 3% and 5% PEG, for 28 days. To determine reaction of sugar beet genotypes to in vitro induced water deficit changes in number of axillary shoots, shoot fresh weight and dry matter content were measured. Total RNA was extracted from leaves and reverse transcribed into cDNA, which served as matrix in real-time PCR reaction using TaqMan technology. The housekeeping gene for glutamine synthetase was used as endogenous control, while the genes for alpha amylase and osmotin-like protein were target genes. The relative quantification values for each target gene were calculated by the 2−ΔΔCt method. Selected candidate genes differed in relative gene expression among genotypes and applied PEG treatments. The obtained results indicated that qRT-PCR protocol was efficient and accurate, showing the potential to be used in further expression analysis of candidate genes involved in sugar beet reaction to water stress.


The German research team FABIG develops a bioenergy building skin including modules of glass which contain a liquid medium processing biomass. Inside the facade modules, load-bearing adhesives were applied that are subject to permanent water exposure. Water is known as a major hazard for adhesives because water molecules diffuse into the adhesive polymer matrix and into the interface between adhesive and substrate. As a result, material characteristics as well as the adhesion properties may change significantly. Additionally, the adhesive is exposed to conventional aging in building skin as the temperature ranges between -20°C and +80°C. This paper focuses on the effect of water on load-bearing adhesives in a bioenergy facade. It evaluates potential adhesives for permanent hydrothermal application.  The paper introduces water as a key aging medium. Furthermore, it describes the construction of an innovative flat plate photobioreactor as an example for load-bearing adhesives under permanent hydrothermal treatment. The conditions inside the photobioreactor, which lead to particular mechanical, physical and chemical loads for constructive elements in comparison with conventional facade systems are presented. The main part describes the results of experimental tensile tests on the adhesive short-term behavior considering temperature conditioning and chemical treatment with substances emerging from bio-processing like storing in acid, base and hydrogen peroxide solution. The paper concludes with an outlook on future research work of the team including ARUP Deutschland GmbH (Berlin, Germany), ADCO Technik GmbH (Rostock, Germany), SSC GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) and Technische Universitat Dresden (Dresden, Germany).


3 Bronchial carcinoid tumors are neuroendocrine tumors which account for approximately 1% of tracheobronchial tree tumors. Symptoms depend on localization and size of tumor or secreting neuroendocrine hormones. In this article, we report a 48-year-old female case who was admitted with dyspnea, retrosternal pain and asthma-like symptoms. Computed tomography revealed a centrally located mass lesion with vascular supply from an aberrant artery arising from the thoracic aorta. No endobronchial lesion was present on bronchoscopy. Left thoracotomy was performed and aberrant artery was ligated and cut. Left lower lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection were performed. Histopathological examination revealed a typical carcinoid tumor without lymph node invasion. After a 21-month follow-up, she is clinically well without recurrence.


In this article, we examine the school project implemented by the architecture charity CatalyticAction in the informal refugee settlement of Jarahieh, in the Bekaa, Lebanon. In doing so, we propose an approach to participatory humanitarian architecture that extends beyond the mere act of designing "together" an "object building." We see participatory architecture as a process that develops incrementally through the socioeconomic life of precarious communities—through what we call the "living through" and "living on" of participation. While remaining attentive to the infrastructural and political limitations to architectural durability in refugee settlements, we foreground the social life of architectural forms, and consider the built environment as not simply "used," but produced and (re)productive through time, beyond, and oft en in spite of, humanitarian interventions.


The problem of network multiple-input multiple-output precoding under distributed channel state information is a notoriously challenging question, for which optimal solutions with reasonable complexity remain elusive. In this context, we assess the value of hierarchical information exchange, whereby an order is established among the transmitters (TXs) in such a way that a given TX has access not only to its local channel estimate but also to the estimates available at the less informed TXs. Assuming regularized zero forcing (RZF) precoding at the TXs, we propose naive, locally robust, and globally robust suboptimal strategies for the joint precoding design. Numerical results show that hierarchical information exchange brings significant performance gains, with the locally and globally robust algorithms performing remarkably close to the optimal RZF strategy. Lastly, the cost of hierarchical information exchange relative to the cooperation gain is examined and the optimal tradeoff is numerically evaluated.


Injuries are rapidly escalating by-products of growth and urbanization in developing nations and have become the number one global health threat to children, young adults, and developing nations. Injuries are also highly preventable with scientifically evaluated, cost-effective solutions. Yet these same injuries are highly underappreciated as a global health threat and receive inadequate attention and funding. Because injuries so heavily affect individuals in their most productive years, their continued growth is sure to hamper or wipe away economic gains in many developing nations and further health inequities between developed and developing nations. Injury prevention in developing countries thus represents an enormous opportunity since attention and funding has been limited even in the face of evidence-based, cost-effective solutions. This opportunity should be pursued in developing nations by choosing prevention programs that address key injury threats and, at the same time, affect long-term, sustainable, and measurable injury reductions. Such programs should have strong local buy-in, a history of evaluation (preferably in developing nations), high returns-on-investment, make use of existing infrastructures when possible, and include an implementation plan that is to be carried out by the developing nation itself.


Only within the last decade, however, have courses in comparative justice systems proliferated, usually in schools or departments of criminology, criminal justice, police and/or corrections administration, and more frequently in graduate than undergraduate programs. Several factors contribute to the lack of interest in comparative criminology. First, the United States has had a long history of isolationism. A second area of difficulty arises from the paucity of readily available source materials available to professors and students. English on the criminal justice systems of non-English speaking nations are much more limited and of widely varying quality. Courses on comparative criminal justice, offered in U.S. universities, focus, primarily on the national systems of the United Kingdom, Japan and Russia with somewhat lesser attention focused on Scandinavian, French, German, Italian and Israeli practices and problems. Africa, Latin America, the Islamic nations, and particularly smaller countries, such as Ireland, are almost totally neglected. In recent years, a number of cross-cultural and transnational surveys of criminal justice have been published. O'Mahony's Crime and Punishment in Ireland is a welcome addition to the existing literature, and would have been deserving of a more enthusiastic cead mile failte had it appeared some years ago when, in response to student requests, I included units on the criminal justice system of the Republic of Ireland ("Ireland") in my comparative course.


Purpose: PRKCDBP is a putative tumor suppressor in which alteration has been observed in several human cancers. We investigated expression and function of PRKCDBP in colorectal cells and tissues to explore its candidacy as a suppressor in colorectal tumorigenesis. Experimental Design: Expression and methylation status of PRKCDBP and its effect on tumor growth were evaluated. Transcriptional regulation by NF-κB signaling was defined by luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. Results: PRKCDBP expression was hardly detectable in 29 of 80 (36%) primary tumors and 11 of 19 (58%) cell lines, and its alteration correlated with tumor stage and grade. Promoter hypermethylation was commonly found in cancers. PRKCDBP expression induced the G1 cell-cycle arrest and increased cellular sensitivity to various apoptotic stresses. PRKCDBP was induced by TNFα, and its level correlated with tumor cell sensitivity to TNFα-induced apoptosis. PRKCDBP induction by TNFα was disrupted by blocking NF-κB signaling while it was enhanced by RelA transfection. The PRKCDBP promoter activity was increased in response to TNFα, and this response was abolished by disruption of a κB site in the promoter. PRKCDBP delayed the formation and growth of xenograft tumors and improved tumor response to TNFα-induced apoptosis. Conclusions: PRKCDBP is a proapoptotic tumor suppressor which is commonly altered in colorectal cancer by promoter hypermethylation, and its gene transcription is directly activated by NF-κB in response to TNFα. This suggests that PRKCDBP inactivation may contribute to tumor progression by reducing cellular sensitivity to TNFα and other stresses, particularly under chronic inflammatory microenvironment. Clin Cancer Res; 17(24); 7551–62. ©2011 AACR.


A number of lobopodian taxa from the Cambrian display pairs of sclerotized plates symmetrically positioned along the dorsum of the animal, predominantly above the walking appendages. Most genera were described from complete body fossils exquisitely preserved in the famous Cambrian Lagerstatten, but lobopodian phosphatized plates are found worldwide as typical components of Cambrian small shelly fossil assemblages (SSF). Details regarding intraspecific and ontogenetic variation in lobopod plates are elusive, and the lack of details of ornamentation in Lagerstatte specimens does not minimize the problem. We document here an assemblage of well-preserved isolated plates of Onychodictyon sp. from the Lower Cambrian (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) of North Greenland. Two specimens exhibit perfectly conjoined plates from successive moults. Details of ornamentation and the outline and profile of the fixed plates are identical, but width and length of the underlying plate are 24% larger. These specimens boost the body of evidence that lobopodians moulted but also show that plate outline and ornamentation did not vary during ontogeny.


The present study looked at the diverse family systems of Head Start children. With the underpinnings of Family Systems Theory, it specifically addressed the following main research questions: (1) Do families of African-American and Caucasian Head Start children experience parenting stress? (2) Is perceived lack of parental competence associated with child related stress in families of African-American and Caucasian Head Start children? (3) Is there a relationship between African American and Caucasian mothers' perceived level of parental competence and parental competence? Seventy families of African American background and 70 families of Caucasian background were randomly selected for participation. The Parenting Stress Index was utilized as one of the research tools. Findings indicate that families of African American background and Caucasian background experience parenting stress which is within the normal range of stress experienced by all of the parents. Further, a strong/positive relationship exists between perceived lack of competence and child related stress for African American mothers and a modest positive/direct relationship exists between perceived lack of competence and child related stress for White mothers. And finally, there is a trend for African American and White mothers with more education to feel competent as a parent. ********** Head Start is a federally funded program. It provides comprehensive developmental services to America's culturally and economically disadvantaged pre-school children. The program focuses on children's educational, psychological, nutritional, physical, and mental health needs. Since its inception in 1965, the program has served approximately 16 million children. And more recently, it has extended its services to disabled preschoolers irrespective of their socioeconomic status (Zigler, 1994). Family is an integral part of Head Start's intervention. Parents are encouraged to participate in program planning and program delivery. However, interrelated problems of paternal absence, low literacy skills, and chronic unemployment prevalent amongst families of Head Start children, often interfere with their active involvement (Leik & Chalkey, 1990). Despite less than desirable family environments, research shows that Head Start exerts a positive influence on its children's cognitive growth (Levite, 1993). Surprisingly, the positive effects of Head Start differ for African American children. They fade away and they fade away rather quickly (Lee & Leob, 1995). Researchers like Chalkley, Leik, Duane, Rarick, & Carlson (1991) ascertain that there are definite racial/ cultural differences in Head Start's impact. Reviewing previous research, Leik, Chalkley, & Duane (1991) have noted that very little is known about the impact of Head Start on its children's families. There are some reports of stress experienced by Head Start families (Leik & Chalkley, 1990). And researchers have cautioned that family stress can attenuate the effects of Head Start (Chalkley & Leik, 1995; Chalkley & Leik, 1997). Clearly, there is need to know more about families of Head Start children. Family is a powerful resource (Fewell, 1986). The present study was designed to meet the pressing needs of current knowledge base. It aimed to investigate the diverse family systems of Head Start children. Specifically, the study addressed the following questions: 1. Do families of Caucasian and African-American Head Start children experience parenting stress? 2. Is perceived lack of parental competence associated with child related stress in families of African-American and Caucasian Head Start Children? 3. Is there a relationship between African American and Caucasian mothers' perceived level of parental competence and educational level? Research Methods This section describes the setting, sample, comparison group, instrumentation, and data collection procedures. …


There have been five large tradable permit programs (US Acid Rain Program, US Nitrogen Budget Program, Los Angeles Regional Clean Air Management Program, EU Emissions Trading Scheme, and the US Lead Phase Down) in effect long enough to have potentially yielded data to test whether the program altered the rate of innovation and/or diffusion of abatement technology. This paper is an overview of the literature concerning empirical evidence (or lack thereof) of innovation by the firms that comprise the industries affected by these tradable permit programs. We briefly discuss the methods used to determine technological advance and then more thoroughly review existing studies examining advances in pollution control technology under permit programs. Finally, some overarching observations are presented.


This study aims to explore the relationship between the idolization of Chien-Ming Wang and the social psychological factors in Taiwan. Documentary analysis was applied to analyze the time and political background of baseball development in Taiwan. Also in-depth interviews with sports journalists in Taiwan, the CEO of the World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung, and Wang's fans were conducted. It was found that Wang's image of a baseball superstar in Taiwan is related to the colonization of Taiwan by the Japanese. Because baseball was brought to Taiwan by the Japanese, as one of the colonized people, the outstanding baseball player Chien-Ming Wang's appearance in the major league, the highest level of baseball, represented a way the Taiwanese people released their pressure from the complex about being colonized. Besides, in the aspect of political background, after the war, baseball was not recognized by KMT, the ruling party. However, under the pressure from the international environment, the government started to use baseball as a tool to consolidate its regime. In addition, with the complex political background and economic recession in Taiwan, people's lives were difficult. Wang's outstanding performance in baseball fields thus made the Taiwanese people to place hopes on him. Therefore, mass media had paid quite a lot of attention to Wang, further making him a superstar in Taiwan.


Menorrhagia and dysfunctional uterine bleeding are com-mon indications for referral to a gynecologist. One in 20 women aged 30-49 will consult her general practitioner every year com-plaining of heavy uterine bleeding. Over 70,000 hysterecto-mies are performed annually in the UK with menorrhagia being the commonest indication. In up to 30% of these cases the uterus is anatomically normal. To these women, heavy uterine bleed-ing brings considerable stress and disruption to their social, domestic and professional lives. In the UK, the cost of primary care prescriptions for the treatment of menorrhagia was esti-mated in 1998 to be around £7 million. Gynecologists have looked at less radical but effective alternatives to hysterectomy for the treatment of heavy uterine bleeding. While the MISTLE-TOE* audit had demonstrated a pivotal role for less extreme yet successful interventions than hysterectomy for the treatment of bleeding problems, there were some setbacks. Special skills are needed to perform rollerball and diathermy loop resections of the endometrium. As well as the risk of serious intra-opera-tive complications the techniques are relatively time consum-ing to perform. In the MISTLETOE audit there were two direct deaths as a consequence of the procedure and 1.26% of patients required emergency surgery. This review looks at two new in-terventions available for clinical use, in the short term they have both proven to be successful and safe in the management of heavy uterine bleeding. Individually, they offer distinct advan-tages in the successful treatment of heavy uterine bleeding with-out the disadvantages of major surgery or medical treatment. They are both relatively easy to learn and do not require ad-vanced hysteroscopic skills. A major step forward is the suit-ability for outpatient setting.


ABSTRACT The dramatic decline in the share of agriculture in India's gross domestic product from 52 percent in 1950–1951 to less than 17 percent in 2017–2018 necessarily implies a decline in the amount of labor this sector can employ. However, agriculture continues to be the largest employer in the country. Even when workers move out of the agricultural sector, they do not always leave rural areas. The movement from an agrarian economy to a non-agrarian one in India has not been matched by the expected shift from rural areas to urban areas. The macro scenario facing the country is that of low agricultural productivity, slow urbanization rates, and huge surplus labor in rural areas. But within this overall national picture, are there variations in terms of movement of labor away from agriculture? Are there more than one rural transition patterns being observed in the country? Are there contiguous areas in the country with a specific transition pattern which is common for a region? To answer these questions, this paper first takes a closer look at different types of transitions observed in the country. It then goes on to map the regions where workers have moved into agriculture, moved out of agriculture but remain in rural areas, and left the rural areas altogether respectively, in addition to regions with a prominent place for marginal workers.


The authors estimate the growth rate of the social cost of carbon. This is an indication of the optimal rate of acceleration of greenhouse gas emission reduction policy over time. The authors find that the social cost of carbon increases by 1.3% to 3.9% per year, with a central estimate of 2.2%. Previous studies found an average rate of 2.3% and a range of 0.9 to 4.1%. The rate of increase of the social carbon depends on a range of factors, including the pure rate of time preference, the rate of risk aversion, equity weighting, the socioeconomic and emission scenarios, the climate sensitivity, dynamic vulnerability, and the curvature of the impact functions.


This article discusses performance criteria from the viewpoint of competitive advantage. Based on the concept of competitive advantage, the criteria used to assess employees' performance are suggested to be contingent on the competitive status of a firm. When a firm is at the stage of seeking competitive advantage, competency-based criteria should be focused. Thereafter, behavior- and outcome-based criteria become crucial. While each stage should take different focus, multiple criteria are suggested. Introduction Deciding performance criteria is an important step in performance appraisal. It is the dimension employees are evaluated as well as the performance expectation from the organization. Performance criteria act as the catalyst that directs employees' behaviors toward organizations' expectation. Performance appraisal has traditionally viewed as a tool to measure employee performance reliably and validly (Murphy and Cleveland, 1995). However, to accomplish organizational goal, it should not be just passively viewed as a measurement instrument. Rather, performance appraisal should be future-oriented whereby the organizational goals can be realized through performance appraisal. In seeking organizational goals, our discussion is confined to profit maximization that businesses have been focusing on. Given that profit maximization is their main goal, the nature of competitive advantage thus means a lot as deciding performance criteria. This article thus attempts to make the linkage between competitive advantage and performance criteria. In discussing the nature of competitive advantage, the linkage is based on the assumption that employees are directed to organizational goals. The concept of competitive advantage has been widely applied in many business domains. However, little has been found in performance appraisal. This article thus will discuss performance criteria from the viewpoint of competitive advantage. To explicate the concept in this article, we first discuss the three criteria that have been traditionally categorized as well as the concept of competitive advantage in terms of time. How the concept of competitive advantage can be applied is then discussed. Performance criteria - trait, behavior, and outcome The criteria used to assess employees' performance are often categorized into three types: trait, behavior, and outcome. Historically there has been a controversy over their importance. For example, some advocate that performance appraisal should be defined in terms of behavior (Murphy & Cleveland, 1995), whereas others argue that outcome is more critical (Bernardin, Hagan, Kane, and Villanova, 1998). Despite different proposition, each criterion has its pros and cons. Trait. Trait-based criteria address what a person is and are regarded as more enduring (Boudreau, Boswell, Judge, and Bretz, 2001). Although being criticized as ambiguous, they may be measured validly and reliably measured (Hofrichter and Spencer, 1996). In practice, some businesses, Microsoft and Southwest Airlines for example, have the inclination to recruit employees based on personality traits (Behling, 1998). In behave of seeking support, some researchers have been engrossed in finding the relationship between personality trait and firm performance. In particular, the Big Five factors-extroversion, emotional stability,agreeableness, conscientiousness, and intellect-have been substantiated to positively influence performance in some respects (Caligiuri, 2000; Barrick and Mount, 1991; Riggio & Taylor, 2000; Tett, Jackson and Rothstein, 1991). However, trait has been deemed inferior than either behavior or outcome (Roush, Curtis, Dershem and Lovrich, 1991). Behavior. Behavior-based criteria attempt to discern what a person does at work. Their tangible nature makes them more legally defensible than trait (Bowman, 1999). Some argue that focusing on behaviors is more conducive in the long run (Bergen & Barlow, 1996). …


Simulation is a complex social endeavor, in which human beings interact with each other, a simulator, and other technical devices. The goal-oriented use for education, training, and research depends on an improved conceptual clarity about simulation realism and related terms. The article introduces concepts into medical simulation that help to clarify potential problems during simulation and foster its goal-oriented use. The three modes of thinking about reality by Uwe Laucken help in differentiating different aspects of simulation realism (physical, semantical, phenomenal). Erving Goffman's concepts of primary frames and modulations allow for analyzing relationships between clinical cases and simulation scenarios. The as-if concept by Hans Vaihinger further qualifies the differences between both clinical and simulators settings and what is important when helping participants engage in simulation. These concepts help to take the social character of simulation into account when designing and conducting scenarios. The concepts allow for improved matching of simulation realism with desired outcomes. It is not uniformly the case that more (physical) realism means better attainment of educational goals. Although the article concentrates on mannequin-based simulations that try to recreate clinical cases to address issues of crisis resource management, the concepts also apply or can be adapted to other forms of immersive or simulation techniques.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To describe the development of the role of an oncology nurse practitioner (ONP) in a private practice.

DATA SOURCES
Articles, book chapters, and personal experience.

DATA SYNTHESIS
Successful role implementation will be facilitated by using a collaborative model supported by a shared philosophy of practice, written agreements delineating shared responsibilities and accountability, incorporation of the role into day-to-day practice, and regular evaluation and readjustment of goals.

CONCLUSIONS
As oncology care has transitioned to outpatient settings, the role of the ONP can effectively meet both the medical and nursing needs of patients. A collaborative practice model can provide the framework for the physician-nurse professional relationship to ensure a higher level of patient care within the private practice selting.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE
The shift of health care to outpatient and private practice settings and the increased availability and use of ONPs mandates a systematic understanding of the process of ONP role development.


Professor Fischer's research goals are to improve the productivity of project teams involved in designing, building, and operating facilities and to enhance the sustainability of the built environment. His work develops the theoretical foundations and applications for virtual design and construction (VDC). VDC methods support the design of a facility and its delivery process and help reduce the costs and maximize the value over its lifecycle. His research has been used by many small and large industrial government organizations around the world


Promoting and maintaining diversity is a critical requirement of search in learning classifier systems (LCSs). What is required of the genetic algorithm (GA) in an LCS context is not convergence to a single global maximum, as in the standard optimization framework, but instead the generation of individuals (i.e., rules) that collectively cover the overall problem space. COGIN (COverage-based Genetic INduction) is a system designed to exploit genetic recombination for the purpose of constructing rule-based classification models from examples. The distinguishing characteristic of COGIN is its use of coverage of training set examples as an explicit constraint on the search, which acts to promote appropriate diversity in the population of rules over time. By treating training examples as limited resources, COGIN creates an ecological model that simultaneously accommodates a dynamic range of niches while encouraging superior individuals within a niche, leading to concise and accurate decision models. Previous experimental studies with COGIN have demonstrated its performance advantages over several well-known symbolic induction approaches. In this paper, we examine the effects of two modifications to the original system configuration, each designed to inject additional diversity into the search: increasing the carrying capacity of training set examples (i.e., increasing coverage redundancy) and increasing the level of disruption in the recombination operator used to generate new rules. Experimental results are given that show both types of modifications to yield substantial improvements to previously published results.


International food law is largely a meta-framework, providing models and setting limits to the way states and other entities, such as the European Union, regulate the food sector. The Codex Alimentarius plays a central role at the international level. European law comprises a mix of rules. The core of European food law can be found in a Regulation best known as the 'General Food Law' Regulation. An increasing number of EU Regulations applicable in this field directly address consumers and businesses in the same way national legislation does. In addition, there are EU directives requiring Member States to include harmonized provisions in their national legal system. The private sector has formulated schemes consisting of private standards that are embedded in certification procedures. These schemes are based on EU legislation taking it beyond the borders of the EU, elaborating it in more detail, or simply ensuring compliance. Some schemes are based on international models. This book provides a roadmap of the law applicable to the food sector in the EU. The roadmap provides an overview of the structure and content of food law in such a way that it is clear which rules are applicable.


The paper presents a mechanistic/deterministic model for simulation of mass removal during air sparging. From the point of numerical modeling, there are two issues considering air sparging: modeling of air flow and distribution and modeling of mass transport and transfer. Several processes, which are commonly neglected, such as air channeling and pollutant advection by the water phase, are taken into account. The numerical model presented in this paper considers all relevant for mass transfer during the air sparging. Model includes hydrodynamics of air and water phase; calculated air volume content is divided into a number of air channels surrounded by the water phase, which is divided into two compartments. First compartment is immobile and it is in contact with air phase, while the second compartment is mobile. This "mobile-immobile" formulation is a common approach for description of solute transport by groundwater. Mass transfer between two water compartments is modeled as a first order kinetic, where the mass transfer coefficient, representing diffusion and advection in the water phase towards the air channels, is parameter needed to be calibrated. Sorption for both water compartments is considered. The adopted model of contaminant evaporation at the air-water interface is verified by comparison with experimental results available from published sources. Model is used for simulation of two-dimensional air sparging laboratory experiment. Good overall agreement is observed. It is showed that the efficiency of air sparging can be influenced by natural groundwater flow.


Ranging from the playful, to the fact-filled, and to the thoughtful, this collection tracks the fortunes of Walt Disney's flagship character. From the first full-fledged review of his screen debut in November 1928 to the present day, Mickey Mouse has won millions of fans and charmed even the harshest of critics. Almost half of the eighty-one texts in A Mickey Mouse Reader document the Mouse's rise to glory from that first cartoon, Steamboat Willie, through his seventh year when his first color animation, The Band Concert, was released. They include two important early critiques, one by the American culture critic Gilbert Seldes and one by the famed English novelist E. M. Forster. Articles and essays chronicle the continued rise of Mickey Mouse to the rank of true icon. He remains arguably the most vivid graphic expression to date of key traits of the American character--pluck, cheerfulness, innocence, energy, and fidelity to family and friends. Among press reports in the book is one from June 1944 that puts to rest the urban legend that "Mickey Mouse" was a password or code word on D-Day. It was, however, the password for a major pre-invasion briefing. Other items illuminate the origins of "Mickey Mouse" as a term for things deemed petty or unsophisticated. One piece explains how Walt and brother Roy Disney, almost single-handedly, invented the strategy of corporate synergy by tagging sales of Mickey Mouse toys and goods to the release of Mickey's latest cartoons shorts. In two especially interesting essays, Maurice Sendak and John Updike look back over the years and give their personal reflections on the character they loved as boys growing up in the 1930s.


We discuss the current state of stockownership among households in major European countries (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK), drawing parallels and contrasts with the US experience. We use detailed microeconomic datasets and explore the extent to which observed international differences in stockholding can be attributed to differences in household characteristics. Statistical analysis finds (1) an increase in stock market participation in all countries; (2) persistent differences across countries, with the US, the UK and Sweden having considerable more participation than France, Germany, Italy; (3) a robust correlation between the participation decision on the one hand, and wealth and education on the other; (4) a relatively small effect of education and wealth on the asset share invested in stocks, conditional on participation. Interestingly, international differences in stock market participation remain large even when we control for household characteristics. As our empirical results point to the relevance of participation costs, we probe into a number of indicators of such costs, and we find that these are consistent with the observed pattern of participation across countries. Since the lowering of such costs brings into the market households with different characteristics than incumbents, we discuss their likely impact, policy concerns, and types of policies that could mitigate their adverse impact on the future workings of the market.


Neural network-based machine learning is capable of approximating functions in very high dimension with unprecedented efficiency and accuracy. This has opened up many exciting new possibilities, not just in traditional areas of artificial intelligence, but also in scientific computing and computational science. At the same time, machine learning has also acquired the reputation of being a set of "black box" type of tricks, without fundamental principles. This has been a real obstacle for making further progress in machine learning. In this article, we try to address the following two very important questions: (1) How machine learning has already impacted and will further impact computational mathematics, scientific computing and computational science? (2) How computational mathematics, particularly numerical analysis, {can} impact machine learning? We describe some of the most important progress that has been made on these issues. Our hope is to put things into a perspective that will help to integrate machine learning with computational mathematics.


In Caring for Joy: Narrative, Theology, and Practice Mary Clark Moschella explores the lively narratives of five remarkable caregivers, offering theological wisdom and practical resources for scholars, counselors, religious leaders, and others who wish to live and move along more joyful, life-giving spiritual paths.


Today, boys generally underperform relative to girls in schools throughout the industrialized world. Building on theories about gender identity and reports from prior ethnographic classroom observations, we argue that school environment channels conceptions of masculinity in peer culture, fostering or inhibiting boys' development of anti-school attitudes and behavior. Girls' peer groups, by contrast, vary less strongly with the social environment in the extent to which school engagement is stigmatized as un-feminine. As a consequence, boys are more sensitive than girls to school resources that create a learning-oriented environment. To evaluate this argument, we use a quasi-experimental research design and estimate the gender difference in the causal effect of peer socioeconomic status (SES) as an important school resource on test scores. Our design is based on the assumption that assignment to 5th-grade classrooms within Berlin's schools is as good as random, and we evaluate this selection process with an examination of Berlin's school regulations, a simulation analysis, and qualitative interviews with school principals. Estimates of the effect of SES composition on male and female performance strongly support our central hypothesis, and other analyses support our proposed mechanism as the likely explanation for gender differences in the causal effect.


Schwann cells wrap layers of myelin around nerve axons to provide the electrical insulation that speeds conduction of the action potential. At the gaps between the Schwann cells are nodes that the electrical impulse must jump. At these nodes, the myelin layers are held down particularly tightly to provide an insulating seal. Scheiermann et al. have now identified JAM-C, a junctional adhesion protein known for its role in adhesion between endothelial cells and intestinal cells, as one of the proteins responsible for sealing these edges of the myelin sheath. C. Scheiermann, P. Meda, M. Aurrand-Lions, R. Madani, Y. Yiangou, P. Coffey, T. E. Salt, D. Ducrest-Gay, D. Caille, O. Howell, R. Reynolds, A. Lobrinus, R. H. Adams, A. S. L. Yu, P. Anand, B. A. Imhof, S. Nourshargh, Expression and function of junctional adhesion molecule-C in myelinated peripheral nerves. Science 318, 1472-1475 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]