BACKGROUND/AIMS
Serotonin is thought to be an important neurotransmitter in the pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). It is reported that functional polymorphism in the promotor region of the serotonin transporter gene is related with the subtypes of IBS and shows racial difference. However, a functional relation between polymorphism and IBS is not clear. The aim of this study was to investigate 5-hydroxytryptamine transporter (5-HTT) gene polymorphism in patients with IBS.

METHODS
For fifty-six healthy controls and 33 patients with IBS fulfilling Rome II criteria, 5'-flank promotor region of 5-HTT gene was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS
The genotypes of healthy controls were S/S (57.1%), S/L (37.5%), and L/L (5.4%). Those of IBS patients were S/S (54.5%), S/L (36.4%), and L/L (9.1%). IBS patients were divided into three groups: diarrhea predominant (n=15; S/S, 40%; S/L, 53.3%; L/L, 6.7%), constipation predominant (n=12; S/S, 75.0%; S/L, 8.3%; L/L, 16.7%), diarrhea-constipation alternating type (n=6; S/S, 50%; S/L, 50%). There was no statistical difference in the 5-HTT gene polymorphism between patients and controls, and according to the subtypes of IBS patients (p=0.135).

CONCLUSIONS
There was no relationship between serotonin transporter gene polymorphism and IBS. However, allele S/S genotype was most prominent genotype in both controls and patients.


This article draws attention to a medium that has escaped the attention of International Relations scholars: comics. Comics are combinations of text and drawings and they come in a variety of formats: as newspaper strips, as stories printed in magazines and as long narratives presented in free-standing books. Comics have been central to how generations of children have encountered foreign places and comics artists have successfully captured public attention, with comics offering explicit engagements with foreign policy events. Theoretically, comics provide a unique combination of text and images through which central questions on the research agenda of International Relations scholars working on visuality, practices and intertextuality can be pursued. Drawing on comics scholarship, this article presents a theoretical framework aimed specifically at analysing comics as international relations. Methodologically, it provides criteria for the selection of comics under study and a case study of three comics engaging the Bosnian War.


The KCNE1 gene product (minK protein) associates with the cardiac KvLQT1 potassium channel (encoded by KCNQ1) to create the cardiac slowly activating delayed rectifier, IKs. Mutations throughout both genes are linked to the hereditary cardiac arrhythmias in the Long QT Syndrome (LQTS). KCNE1 exerts its specific regulation of KCNQ1 activation via interactions between membrane-spanning segments of the two proteins. Less detailed attention has been focused on the role of the KCNE1 C-terminus in regulating channel behavior. We analyzed the effects of an LQT5 point mutation (D76N) and the truncation of the entire C-terminus (Δ70) on channel regulation, assembly and interaction. Both mutations significantly shifted voltage dependence of activation in the depolarizing direction and decreased IKs current density. They also accelerated rates of channel deactivation but notably, did not affect activation kinetics. Truncation of the C-terminus reduced the apparent affinity of KCNE1 for KCNQ1, resulting in impaired channel formation and presentation of KCNQ1/KCNE1 complexes to the surface. Complete saturation of KCNQ1 channels with KCNE1-Δ70 could be achieved by relative over-expression of the KCNE subunit. Rate-dependent facilitation of K+ conductance, a key property of IKs that enables action potential shortening at higher heart rates, was defective for both KCNE1 C-terminal mutations, and may contribute to the clinical phenotype of arrhythmias triggered by heart rate elevations during exercise in LQTS mutations. These results support several roles for KCNE1 C-terminus interaction with KCNQ1: regulation of channel assembly, open-state destabilization, and kinetics of channel deactivation.


Abstract The challenges of understanding musical meaning are considered in light of ways in which electroacoustic practice and acousmatic listening might embody yet further nuances in how music can function as a signifying system. 'Classical' semiotics is discussed, as well as more recent developments with post-structuralist approaches and musical semantics in other areas of music scholarship. The idea, inherited from the tradition of 'absolute music', that musical meaning lies exclusively in the inner operations of the musical materials and their structural organisation, is questioned. Concepts from ecologically inspired music psychology are drawn upon to highlight the importance of interpretation, as well as perception, in acousmatic listening. It is argued that if new theoretical terminologies are needed, an invaluable project would be to develop a taxonomy (and thus theoretical framework) of how sound can 'stand for something', i.e. function as a sign in semiotic terms. It is also argued that such terminology should not reinforce distinctions between intra- and extra-musical that feature in many theoretical constructs used in relation to this music. Consideration of the Peircean semiotic model in electroacoustic music (as well as the more widely used Saussurean one), tropology in the study of literature, and a much more widely comparative and culturally explicit approach to analysis are suggested as practical starting points. A more critical approach to the integral role of sound recording and reproduction in relation to concepts of representation is needed.


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In Epistemology of the Closet, Eve Sedgwick argues that the discourse of sexuality shifted at the end of the nineteenth century from an emphasis on sexual acts to sexual identities. Sedgwick builds upon Foucault's famous declaration that the "species" of the homosexual was born at that moment. But Sedgwick and others working on histories of sexuality in the United States have elided what Lundblad identifies as the discourse of the jungle: Darwinist-Freudian constructions of "the human" and "the animal" that redefine various behaviors in relation to animal instincts. This discourse helps to explain why the discourse of sexuality shifted at the turn of the century, once heterosexuality was naturalized in the name of reproduction. Questions about human sexuality were soon framed within an evolutionary epistemology that was fundamentally new, but still in transition, at that time. After tracing the genealogy of the jungle through Darwin, Kipling, and Freud, Lundblad focuses on alternative constructions of the relationship between animality and sexuality that are revealed in Progressive-Era texts. These representations of "the beast" often seem to reinforce but actually resist the Darwinist-Freudian jungle, despite reigning critical interpretations by Sedgwick and others. Lundblad draws upon animality studies to reveal how Henry James's "The Beast in the Jungle," as a foundational example, reads rather differently in light of sexual histories of the beast that are crucial but often overlooked in studies of U.S. literature and culture.


Geological studies of the sedimentary strata of the Witbank Coalfield form a spectrum of increasingly detailed and sophisticated models as more information has become available. This study establishes a regional, three-dimensional sedimentological model of the clastic strata of the Vryheid Formation and pre-existing basin floor topography of the Witbank Coalfield. This is achieved by visualizing the three-dimensional distribution of the interburden and overburden sedimentary rocks within the study area. By producing a 3-D model, multiple scenarios can be examined to determine the best fit to both the data and geological understanding, resulting in a better-tested and more representative model. The data used in the construction of the model were borehole logs from across the Witbank Coalfield. The correctly positioned boreholes are displayed in three dimensions, using a viewer written in Tcl script. Within this environment the coal seams, basement and tillite horizons are automatically extracted. The interburden rocks are manually picked to form 3-D triangular wedges representing a particular rock type. The sedimentary strata of the Witbank Coalfield represent a continuous, conformable basin fill sequence deposited after post-glacial warming. Several regressive sequences capped by coal are recognized, overlain by transgressive marine sedimentary rocks. As the 3-D model delineates the distribution of the rocks and the facies association in both space and time, the evolution of these various sedimentary environments through time can be defined. Most noticeable is the strong northeast-southwest trend of the fluvial axes. It is proposed that these axes represent the underlying glacial valleys carved out prior to the deposition of the Vryheid Formation sedimentary rocks. In addition, the various axes are superimposed on one another through time, the notable exception being the fluvial products of the upper part of the sequence. This may be due to the majority of the glacial valleys being filled by the time the sediment of this sequence was deposited. Deltaic processes were more predominant in the western portion of the study area, with the distal (southerly) portions of the deltas more prone to change in position, than the proximal portions. The distribution of the coal is controlled by the influx of clastic sediment into the basin, rather than only rises and falls in the sea level. When the clastic sediment supply was high, no coal-forming material was preserved. However when this dropped, the rate of sediment supply was matched by the rise in sea-level. This produced stable conditions, which allowed the growth of plants that would eventually form the peat and coal. When the sediment supply rates dropped further, the continued, gradual marine transgression resulted in the inundation of the areas by marine sediments. With the novel scientific approach of the examination of the three-dimensional characteristics of the depositional environments of the sequences, a user-friendly geological model is developed. In this case the model confirmed the previous interpretations, giving greater confidence in the geological assumptions and thus producing a more robust model.


BACKGROUND
Medication adherence is crucial to effective chronic disease management, yet little is known about the influence of the patient-provider interaction on medication adherence to hypertensive regimens. We aimed to examine the association between the patient's experience with care and medication adherence.

METHODS
We collected 2,128 surveys over 4 years from a convenience sample of hypertensive patients seeking care at three urban safety-net practices in upstate New York. The survey collected adherence measures using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) and patient experience measures. We used regression models to adjust for age, gender, race/ethnicity, self-reported health status, and clustering by patients. The primary outcome was reporting of medium-to-high adherence (MMAS ≥ 6) vs. low adherence.

RESULTS
A total of 62.5% of respondents reported medium-to-high medication adherence. The concern the provider demonstrated for patient questions or worries (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-1.7), provider efforts to include the patient in decisions (AOR 1.5; 95% CI 1.8-1.9), information given (AOR 1.3; 95% CI 1.0-1.6), and the overall rating of care received (AOR 1.4; 95% CI 1.1-1.8) were associated with higher medication adherence. The amount of time the provider spent was not associated with medication adherence (AOR 1.2; 95% CI 0.9-1.4). Medium-to-high medication adherence was in turn associated with increased hypertension control rates.

CONCLUSIONS
Overall, better experiences with care were associated with higher adherence to hypertension regimens. However, the amount of time the provider spent with the patient was not statistically associated with medication adherence, suggesting that the quality of communication may be more important than the absolute quantity of time.


This report shows that significant reduction in fuel use could be achieved by the adoption of `free flight' type of trajectories in the Terminal Manoeuvring Area (TMA) of an airport, under the control of an algorithm which optimises the trajectories of all the aircraft within the TMA simultaneously while maintaining safe separation. We propose the real-time use of Monte Carlo optimisation in the framework of Model Predictive Control (MPC) as the trajectory planning algorithm. Implementation on a Graphical Processor Unit (GPU) allows the exploitation of the parallelism inherent in Monte Carlo methods, which results in solution speeds high enough to allow real-time use. We demonstrate the solution of very complicated scenarios with both arrival and departure aircraft, in three dimensions, in the presence of a stochastic wind model and non-convex safe-separation constraints. We evaluate our algorithm on flight data obtained in the London Gatwick Airport TMA, and show that fuel saving of about 30% can be obtained. We also demonstrate the flexibility of our approach by adding noise-reduction objectives to the problem and observing the resulting modifications to arrival and departure trajectories.


In Korea, ten PWR and two CANDU reactors are in operation, six PWRs and two CANDUs are under construction, and eight more nuclear power plants are scheduled to be built by 2010. Two PWRs will also be built in North Korea. Ten operating PWRs comprise of eight Westinghouse type reactors and two ABB CE type reactors. Korea Nuclear Fuel Company (KNFC) is designing and manufacturing nuclear fuel for all operating PWRs and CANDUs in Korea. Since 1985, seven different types of PWR fuel have been designed and manufactured by KNFC with a 200 ton/year manufacturing facility. To meet the increasing demand, KNFC recently completed a new PWR fuel manufacturing facility with an annual production capacity of 350 ton and a new CANDU fuel manufacturing facility with a 700 ton/year production capacity. The Korean government initiated a "Long-term Nuclear R&D Program" in 1992. The nuclear R&D program is being carried out through concerted efforts by industry, research institutes and universities. Major R&D projects in the n...


The diversity product and the diversity sum are two very important parameters for a good-performing unitary space-time constellation. A basic question is what the maximal diversity product (or sum) is. In this correspondence, we are going to derive general upper bounds on the diversity sum and the diversity product for unitary constellations of any dimension n and any size m using packing techniques on the compact Lie group U(n)


Purpose The purpose of this study was: 1) to determine variables that might characterize good or bad sleep; and 2) to describe the relationship between sleep, impairment of body functions, personal function factors, and quality of life based on quality of sleep in women with fibromyalgia (FM). Methods This cross-sectional descriptive study included 224 consecutive patients diagnosed at a specialist center. These patients were mailed a questionnaire concerning sleep, body functions, personal factors, and health-related quality of life. In total, 145 completed questionnaires were collected. Results Using sleep variables (sleep quality, waking up unrefreshed, and tiredness when getting up), we identified two subgroups – the good sleep subgroup and the bad sleep subgroup – of women with FM. These subgroups exhibited significantly different characteristics concerning pain intensity, psychological variables (depressed mood, anxiety, catastrophizing, and self-efficacy), impairments of body functions, and generic and health-related quality of life. The good sleep subgroup reported a significantly better situation, including higher employment/study rate. The bad sleep subgroup reported a greater use of sleep medication. Five variables determined inclusion into either a good sleep or a bad sleep subgroup: pain in the evening, self-efficacy, anxiety, and according to the Short Form health survey role emotional and physical functioning. Conclusion This study found that it was possible to identify two subgroups of women with FM based on quality of sleep variables. The two subgroups differed significantly with respect to pain, psychological factors, impairments of body functions, and perceived quality of life, where the subgroup with bad sleep had a worse situation.


The reaction mechanism involved in the decomposition of ammonium nitrate (AN) in the presence of CaCO3 and CaSO4, commonly used for stabilization and the reduction of explosivity properties of AN, was theoretically investigated using a computational approach based on density functional theory. The presented computational results suggest that both carbonate and sulfate anions can intercept an acid proton from nitric acid issued from the first step of decomposition of AN, thus inhibiting its runaway decomposition and the generation of reactive species (radicals). The reaction then leads to the production of stable products, as experimentally observed. Our modeling outcomes allow for tracing a relationship between the capability of proton acceptance of both carbonate and sulfate anions and the macroscopic behavior of these two additives as inhibitor or inert in the AN mixture.


Engineers, architects and designers increasingly rely on mathematical constructs incorporated into civil engineering programs to explain physical and mechanical phenomena. A low thermal diffusivity represents a material's ability to slow down the rate of heat transfer due to heat absorption and storage, so that high thermal masses are desirable. The thermal inertia of the earth structures in general is an under-researched topic, especially regarding their unique ability to delay and attenuate temperature responses. The paper uses a high temperature difference example, in the form of an experimental stove, to highlight the benefits of a thermal mass. Countries such as Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are known for their ornate historical masonry stoves that grace many stately houses, castles and palaces. They were stoked once or twice daily and radiated heat constantly during the winter months. This guild developed and thrived until the advent of modern HVAC systems in the 20th century. The paper sets out to monitor the temperature difference produced by stoking and firing a simplified experimental stove and analyses the decrease in temperature until it approaches a fixed room temperature. Temperature and heat flux are then observed to determine the total residual heat energy after burning, and the results are discussed in the conclusion. Inspired by these sound principles, based on lessons from the vernacular building traditions that have been used for centuries, the output of this work could be used in future to design an appropriate amount of the thermal mass to maximize thermal efficiency in fireplaces and stoves and as a precedent for a synergetic combination of the thermal mass and renewable energy sources.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ct.68.1.15006


Receiver-function methods utilize three-component teleseismic P coda to determine structure beneath seismographs. Most methods treat coda complexity as mode conversions and reflections off subhorizontal interfaces beneath the station, such as the Moho. This assumption is evaluated beneath a broadband array in the Kopet Dagh foothills, at Geyokcha, Turkmenistan, by applying array processing techniques to P coda waves at frequencies near 1 Hz. Beneath the Geyokcha array, horizontal components show signals that deviate significantly in slowness and bearing from predictions of a plane-layered Earth. Large phases arrive at the same time as the predicted Ps conversion from the Moho yet systematically come from a single azimuth (from NNE) and travel at phase velocities of 3 to 5 km/sec. The coda waves appear to be P-to-S converted waves from a near-surface scatterer. An inversion for scatterer location is developed and applied to 29 events. Most coda energy comes from a scatterer ∼16 km NNE of the array. This location is coincident with the range-bounding faults that separate Kopet Dagh mountains from adjacent basins. Thus, array analysis shows that signals potentially interpreted as Moho conversions are instead scattered from a near-surface structure. Although these results suggest caution is necessary in interpreting single-station receiver functions, particularly at high frequencies, they also demonstrate the power of array sampling in resolving lateral structure variations.


The proliferation of visual media and its technology including film and television, videoconferencing and multimedia, the Internet and online communication is transforming the way students encounter the humanities, both within and outside the classroom. These changes represent pedagogical challenges as well as new areas of content learning. In Humanities and the Visual Media, contributors from a variety of disciplines address the intersection of humanities education and the visual media in all its forms. The book begins with several essays addressing the impact of technology (including distance learning) and new modes of visual representation on pedagogical technique. Subsequent essays focus on the special uses of film and television in the teaching of writing, literary criticism, cultural studies, critical thinking, and foreign languages and culture. The contributors teach in a range of classroom environments, from Ivy League universities to community colleges. Their essays incorporate a sensitivity to the differing needs of their students and the varying levels of media literacy and technological competency among students as well as among educators. Rather than suggesting a universal pedagogy of media and technology, the authors instead share ideas about ways to incorporate the visual media into different subjects and methodologies. These essays offer diverse approaches to the visual media, including the exploration of new technologies and their usefulness to the humanities, case studies of individual texts and their visual adaptations, the development of new critical frameworks, and practical discussion of classroom techniques. These strategies will be helpful for teachers within traditional humanities disciplines who seek to integrate visual media and technology within their courses. Kecia Driver McBride is an assistant professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She teaches late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century American literature, cinema studies, and cultural studies. "


An architecture for simultaneously performing multitarget tracking and multidata communication suitable for millimeter-wave multilane-free-flow electronic-toll-collection (ETC) systems is presented. This architecture combines the idea of frequency multiplexing in communication systems and the technique of target tracking in the pulse-Doppler radar. For target tracking, we make use of pulse ranging by the aid of pulse compression and fine target-direction determination by amplitude comparison to obtain high resolution in the radial direction (downrange), as well as both lateral directions (cross ranges). This architecture can be utilized for both active and passive onboard-unit (OBU) systems. Another important advantage of this architecture is that it can easily identify the passing vehicles not equipped with an OBU. This will activate some subsequent enforcement activities against the violation vehicles.


Cloud Computing is an innovative development rising in IT situation with enormous necessities of communications and property. "Cloud computing" is an expression, which involve virtualization, dispersed computing, networking, software and web services. A cloud consists of more than a few rudiments such as customers, datacenter and dispersed servers. It includes error acceptance, high ease of use, scalability, elasticity, summary slide for users, condensed cost of possession, on demand service etc. Load Balancing is an important feature of cloud computing atmosphere. A well-organized load balancing plan ensure competent resource operation by provisioning of possessions to cloud user's on-demand basis in pay-as-you-say-manner Central to these issues lays the establishment of an effective load balancing algorithm. The load can be CPU load, recollection ability, delay or network load. Load balancing is the process of distributing the load among various nodes of a distributed system to advance both resource consumption and job response time while also avoid a location where some of the nodes are seriously full while other nodes are unneeded or doing very tiny work. Load balancing ensure that all the mainframe in the system or every node in the network does about the equal amount of work at any immediate of time. This method can be sender initiate, phone initiate or symmetric type (mixture of sender initiate and phone initiate type).


Purpose

Little systematic work has been completed on the incidence of employee ownership in a Chinese context. Similar to the situation in Eastern Europe, this type of ownership was quite widespread in China, particularly during the 1990s. Based on the existing literature and available statistical data, the purpose of this paper is to identify drivers of, and barriers to, the development of employee ownership in China.

Design/methodology/approach

The scattered evidence from the literature and official statistical sources are collected and structured in a systematic analysis where the drivers and barriers for employee ownership in the transition process from plan to market are identified at three levels: society, the company and the individual.

Findings

Employee ownership developed as a transitory stage between state and private ownership; employees acquired ownership stakes as part of the privatisation of small- and medium-sized state-owned enterprises as well as collectively owned enterprises. However, in most cases the dynamics of ownership resulted in dominant ownership by managers. This trend became more noticeable at later stages of the privatisation process.

Research limitations/implications

The paper shows how policies and institutional settings at the society level are determining for the development of employee ownership.

Originality/value

The contribution of the paper is to give a general and systematic analysis of the development of employee ownership in China both based on a comprehensive literature review and by utilising existing statistical sources.


Environmental crisis and ecological problems produced a global call to involve all residents of the Earth. Global warming, climate change, rise of sea level, glacier decrease, food crisis, health hazards, deforestation and others are among the problems, affected by human attitude. For that, environmental attitude development becomes more serious as UNESCO declared that 2005-2014 as 'the decade of education for sustainable development'. Environmental attitude is best measured with affective outcomes; factual knowledge and behavior intention component to meet behavioral component. There is lack of study about the affective impacts of the environmental-related courses especially using a comprehensive instrument of environmental attitude. The objective of this research is to develop a valid and reliable Hadhari Environmental Attitude Test (HEAT) to assess the student's environmental attitude after attending the environmental ethics course. Initial study has been done to support the development of the instrument, validated by the experts in education and environmental studies. HEAT comprises of 60 items on environmental attitude within ten dimensions, with reference to Quranic and prophetic values and in parallel with global and local's concern. It is well tested and validated, with high reliability (r=0.94) using Rasch® measurement model. The test is also validated with Cronbach Alpha value of a=082. This research is also to identify the environmental profile among Malaysian students, who completed the environmental ethics course at the tertiary level. Forty three (43) students of environmental ethics course at university level, which is equivalent to 1537 data sets, are identified and the test session is administered, before and after a semester. There is nearly no correlation between student's environmental knowledge and attitude (r=0.157), after the course as the result shows the mean before the course is 0.03/ogto and -0.02/ogl-te after the course; a difference of - 0 . 0 1 / ^ with low correlation value (p<0.01, r=0.427). However, the result shows a clear difference of student's performance using this alternative assessment for affective effects, with comparison to the conventional method which is merely on cognitive effects. The research found 23.3% students have excellent grade, 72.1% students have good grade and 4.6% students fail in their examination. However, HEAT found that no student has excellent grade (committed pro-environmental), 55.5% of them have good grade (not committed pro-environmental) and 44.2% of them attained below passing grade (not pro-environmental). In conclusion, this research leads to few recommendations of paradigm shift in designing contents, learning outcomes and assessment method to achieve the objective of affective education for holistic education and sustainable development.


This is the third edition of Chomsky's outstanding collection of essays on language and mind, first published in 2006. The first six chapters, originally published in the 1960s, made a groundbreaking contribution to linguistic theory. This edition complements them with an additional chapter and a new preface, bringing Chomsky's influential approach into the twenty-first century. Chapters 1-6 present Chomsky's early work on the nature and acquisition of language as a genetically endowed, biological system (Universal Grammar), through the rules and principles of which we acquire an internalized knowledge (I-language). Over the past fifty years, this framework has sparked an explosion of inquiry into a wide range of languages, and has yielded some major theoretical questions. The final chapter revisits the key issues, reviewing the 'biolinguistic' approach that has guided Chomsky's work from its origins to the present day, and raising some novel and exciting challenges for the study of language and mind.


Genome wide association studies (GWAS) rely on microarrays, or more recently mapping of whole-genome sequencing reads, to genotype individuals. The reliance on prior sequencing of a reference genome for the organism on which the association study is to be performed limits the scope of association studies, and also precludes the identification of differences between cases and controls outside of the reference. We present an alignment free method for association studies that is based on counting k-mers in sequencing reads, testing for associations directly between k-mers and the trait of interest, and local assembly of the statistically significant k-mers to identify sequence differences. Results with simulated data and an analysis of the 1000 genomes data provide a proof of principle for the approach. In a pairwise comparison of the Toscani in Italia (TSI) and the Yoruba in Ibadan, Nigeria (YRI) populations we find that sequences identified by our method largely agree with results obtained using standard GWAS based on variant calling from mapped reads. However unlike standard GWAS, we find that our method identifies associations with structural variations and sites not present in the reference genome revealing sequences absent from the human reference genome. We also analyze data from the Bengali from Bangladesh (BEB) population to explore possible genetic basis of high rate of mortality due to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among South Asians and find significant differences in frequencies of a number of non-synonymous variants in genes linked to CVDs between BEB and TSI samples, including the site rs1042034, which has been associated with higher risk of CVDs previously, and the nearby rs676210 in the Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) gene. Author Summary We present a method for associating regions in genomes to traits or diseases. The method is based on finding differences in frequencies of short strings of letters in sequencing reads and do not require reads to be aligned to a reference genome. This makes it applicable to study of organisms with no or incomplete reference genomes. We test our method with simulated data and sequencing data from the 1000 genomes project and find agreement with the conventional approach based on alignment to a reference genome. In addition, our method finds associations with sequences not in reference genomes and reveals sequences missing from the human reference genome. We also explore high rates of mortality due to cardiovascular diseases among South Asians and find prevalence of variations in genes associated with heart diseases in samples from the Bengali from Bangladesh population including one that has been reported to be associated with early onset of cardiovascular diseases.


The Latin phrase nemo tenetur seipsum accusare means roughly " no man has to accuse himself. " It is the basis of our rights against self-incrimination and forced inculpation. It protects against three practical problems associated with confessions: (1) untrustworthy confessions; (2) involuntary confessions; and (3) confessions provoked through unacceptable force. This article argues that the Nemo tenetur principle was intended primarily to avoid the third problem: confessions obtained through improper methods. It examines the arguments for and against justifying the principle as a protection against either untrustworthy or involuntary confessions. The article also develops a framework to aid in the identification of improper methods of interrogation. Finally, it concludes by applying this framework to three hypothetical cases and arguing that only confessions obtained through unacceptable force should be barred.


The computer modeling that forms the basis for this publication was undertaken to relate the geometry of cross-bedding to the morphology and behavior of bedforms. Using computers for this purpose is necessary only because sedimentologists cannot adequately visualize the geometry arising when complex, changing surfaces move through space. Images range from the complicated, which will be of interest to sedimentologists who have had experience interpreting cross-bedding or studying the behavior of bedforms, to simpler illustrations the can convey an understanding of the origin of cross-bedding geometry even to those not experienced in the field.


Preoccupation with state security lies at the heart of modern Arab politics. This has caused interstate conflict to become more normal than exceptional. Yet there have been periods when the intensity of conflict assumed a large scale that pitted Arab countries in antagonisms exceeding the familiar bilateral scope. These periods have corresponded with changes in the world order: namely, following the end of World War II, and the collapse of the Soviet Union some forty-five years later. In the late 1940s the countries of the Arab East slowly engulfed themselves in a tumultuous political rivalry that scholars now recognize as the Arab Cold War. Unlike the East-West cold war, which was essentially an ideological conflict between capitalism and communism, the main ingredient of the first Arab cold war was not ideological as much as personal grudges among Arab leaders. In 1949, King Faruq of Egypt proposed the formation of an Arab Collective Security Pact. His objective was to abort the possibility of a merger between Iraq and Syria. Tension between Iraq and Egypt built up under the new republican regime in Cairo. and developed into a personal feud between Gamal Abd An-Nasser and Nuri As-Said for power and hegemony in the Arab world. The Arab Cold War reached a high point after Iraq and Turkey signed a military pact on 24 February 1955 that formed the nucleus for the Baghdad Pact.' Nasser's Arab competitors in the 1960s became the Baa'th Party in Syria, but mainly Saudi Arabia's King Faysal who seemed motivated by the notion of Islamic cooperation, an anathema to his secular Egyptian political foe. The Arab Cold War eased up with the eruption of the Six Day War in 1967 the consequences of which battered Nasser politically, leaving his country militarily vulnerable. Concern about the magnitude of the military defeat, and engrossment in the search for a solution to the Middle East crisis, did not deter Arab leaders from infighting - a sine qua non in the dynamics of Arab politics. Nevertheless, they laid to rest regional polarization and antagonistic bloc formation. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on 2nd. August 1990 ushered in a new version of the Arab Cold War. Again, this round of cold war was waged in response to personal feuds by leaders worried about internal security as well as the regional preeminence of their regimes. Unlike its predecessor, which was largely a byproduct of the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union, the new Arab Cold War was a residual of the end of superpower rivalry. Arab scholars voice their concern about the evident increase in inter-Arab tensions. Mun'im al-'Ammar warned against burgeoning divisions in the Arab world as their leaders clash among themselves for primacy. He concludes that if the present situation continues "it would create great contradictions that may cause the resumption of the Arab Cold War and the emergence of foreign blocs and alliances."2 Al-'Ammar's fears have come true. The Arab Cold War is now in full swing. The present paper seeks to investigate the following three fronts of the New Arab Cold War: (1) the struggle for Iraq, (2) the rift in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). and (3) the imbroglio between Egypt and the Sudan. Rising Islamic fundamentalism and increasing economic difficulties are the two factors that cut across these three fronts of Arab conflict. The analysis is guided by the new political arena in the Arab world which can best be understood by reference to the impact of global developments, increasing involvement of non-Arab regional actors, as well as by domestic changes in the Arab countries. A New Political Arena The rules of the game of Arab politics have changed considerably since the Six Day War. Globally, the Eastern Bloc already showed signs of the weakness that led to its eventual demise. Dramatic changes took place speedily, such as the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the rise of the Solidarity Movement in Poland, the ascendancy of Perestroika, and gladnost-minded Gorbachev at the helm in the Kremlin, the fall of Ceausescu in Romania, and the abortive coup in Moscow in July 1991. …


The British‐Irish Isles (BI) lie beneath the North Atlantic storm track year‐round and thus are impacted by the passage of extra‐tropical cyclones. Given recent extreme storminess and projections of enhanced winter cyclone activity for this region, there is much interest in assessing the extent to which the cyclone climate of the region may be changing. We address this by assessing a 142‐year (1871–2012) record of cyclone frequency, intensity and 'storminess' derived from the 20th Century Reanalysis V2 (20CR) dataset. We also use this long‐term record to examine associations between cyclone activity and regional hydroclimate. Our results confirm the importance of cyclone frequency in driving seasonal precipitation totals which we find to be greatest during summer months. Cyclone frequency and storminess are characterized by pronounced interannual and multi‐decadal variability which are strongly coupled to atmospheric blocking in the Euro‐Atlantic region, but we detect no evidence of an increasing trend. We observe an upward trend in cyclone intensity for the BI region, which is strongest in winter and consistent with model projections, but promote caution interpreting this given the changing data quality in the 20CR over time. Nonetheless, we assert that long‐term reconstruction is helpful for contextualizing recent storminess and for identifying emerging changes in regional hydroclimate linked to cyclones.


Abstract: "Disorderly Pasts" centers on life stories from South Dakota's Canton Asylum, a federal psychiatric hospital for American Indians. Between 1902 and 1933, the Asylum detained nearly four hundred Indigenous men, women, and children from more than fifty Native nations. Focusing especially on the experiences of Menominee people collectively stolen from their homes in Wisconsin to Canton in November 1917, this article exposes contested understandings of kin, diagnoses, and remembering. Complex relationships between the three concepts also emerge: medical diagnoses were used to undermine Indigenous kinship, and they complicate remembering. At the same time, remembering—recalling and repopulating the past—offers a way to challenge pathological diagnoses and affirm Native self-determination.  Motivated by disorder, the desire to "disrupt the systematic functioning or neat arrangement of" historical work, this project unsettles the projected objectivity and commonsense logic of U.S. medical diagnoses and institutionalization. It brings to light the violent entanglement of settler colonialism, racism, ableism, and patriarchy and their impact on Native sovereignty, Indigenous kinship, and remembering. Collaborating with relatives of those incarcerated at Canton, and drawing on decolonizing and disability studies methodologies, this work seeks to generate meaningful historical knowledge and new theoretical strategies and perspectives.


Existing studies could not estimate the technical efficiency (TE) of firms and it's affecting factors in the Indian manufacturing sector. So, the present study examines the TE of firms using a stochastic frontier production function approach. Thereupon, it examines the impact of S&T and IPRs related factors on estimated TE of firms using a linear regression model. Estimated values of TE of firms show that most firms have a TE of 94%; thus, firms are efficient in producing surplus production in the manufacturing sector. It is acclaimed that firms can improve production scale using more technological upgradation and advancement. Furthermore, empirical results indicate that process innovations of firms, quality certification of firm, firm acquired process/product patents, in-house R&D expertise of firms, public-technology support institutions of firms, proficiency to improve processes of firms, new or improved products of firms, waste management capabilities of firms, and skilled workforce of firms are appeared effective activities to increase the TE of firms. It is proposed that there is a requirement to increase R&D expenditure, a collaboration of industries with research academia, incentive to researchers and scientists to do extensive research in emerging sectors of technologies and appropriate financial support to firms to boost the growth of Indian manufacturing sector.


In this article, we examine tensions that can materialize at the intersection of high-stakes accountability assessments and the rights of parents of students with dis/abilities. We bring to the surface and analyze the competing notions of social justice that have fueled the implementation of both high-stakes testing and the inclusion of students with dis/abilities in public schooling. Our purpose is to problematize narrow discussions about high-stakes testing and students with dis/abilities, contextualizing them in broader struggles for inclusive education. To achieve this task, we examine an event, framed as a case study, which emerged from a larger research project. Our analysis is informed by an understanding of inclusive education as situated practice in which historically evolving notions of justice are tangled and enacted to negotiate situated identities. We conclude with implications for practice and accountability models.


We investigated the role of the renin-angiotensin system in neointima formation in a species in which converting enzyme inhibitors have been so far ineffective in suppressing abnormal vascular repair. The effects of converting enzyme inhibition by perindopril and selective blockade of angiotensin subtype 1 receptor by DuP 753 were assessed on neointima formation after balloon injury of rabbit carotid artery. Myointimal growth was measured by histomorphometric analysis. In rabbits treated 6 days before and for 14 days after injury, perindopril (2 mg/kg per day PO, n = 7) significantly reduced neointima formation (-51%, P < .01). DuP 753 (1 mg/d, n = 8) infused perivascularly for 14 days in the vicinity of injured carotid artery also markedly suppressed myointimal thickening (-60%, P < .01). To determine whether angiotensin subtype 2 receptor was implicated in this vascular response, we infused CGP 42112A, a specific subtype 2 receptor ligand, continuously for 14 days according to the same protocol of DuP 753 administration. CGP 42112A (1 mg/d) did not change the neointima-media ratio, indicating that angiotensin subtype 2 receptors were not involved in myointimal hyperplasia in rabbits. Thus in rabbits, the renin-angiotensin system plays a major role in neointima formation, and the protective effect of perindopril appears to be mediated mainly by inhibition of angiotensin II production, because blockade of the subtype 1 receptor reduced myointimal growth in a manner similar to that of converting enzyme inhibition and because intracarotid infusion of angiotensin II (500 ng/min) at the site of injury enhanced the vascular response (+39%, P < .05). Bradykinin (500 ng/min) administered in the same conditions as angiotensin II did not modify neointima formation.


IZA DP No. 15288 MAY 2022 Income Shocks, Bride Price and Child Marriage in Turkey This paper investigates the impact of income shocks and bride price on early marriage in Turkey. The practice of bride-price, still vivid in many regions of the country, may provide incentives for parents to marry their daughter earlier, when faced with a negative income shock. In addition, marriages precipitated by negative income shocks may present specific features (endogamy, age and education difference between spouses). Weather shocks provide an exogenous source of variation of household income through agricultural production. Data on weather shocks are merged with individual and household level data from the Turkish Demographic and Health Surveys 1998 to 2013. To study the role of payments to the bride's parents, we interact our measure of shocks with a province-level indicator of a high prevalence of bride-price. We find that girls living in provinces with a high practice of bride-price and exposed to a negative income shocks when aged 12-14 have a 28% higher probability to be married before the age of 15 than girls not exposed to shocks. This effect is specific to provinces with a high prevalence of bride price. Compared to women who experienced the same shock but lived in a province where bride price is infrequent, such women are also more likely to give birth to their first child before 18 and for those who married religiously first, the civil ceremony is delayed by 2 months on average. Our results suggest that girl marriage still participates to household strategies aimed at mitigating negative income shocks in contemporary Turkey. JEL Classification: J1, J12, J13, O15


M. D. Magazine and The New York Times have reported that musicians live to an average age of only fifty-four years! Compared to the three score and ten enjoyed by everyone else, those fifty-four years are painfully brief. A host of theories have been advanced to explain this sad phenomenon, but one glaring fact stands out: musicians suffer a higher incidence of coronary related deaths than does the general population, and among all the risk factors associated with coronary heart disease, stress plays the most influential role in an abbreviated life-expectancy.
As crucial as proper nutrition and exercise are to the music educator's health, the significance of stress as a contributor to degenerative diseases such as coronary heart problems cannot be overstated. Sources of stress permeate every nook and cranny of the music educator's work environment. Musicians at all levels and settings are faced with a plethora of stress inducers, among which are:


Abstract. Road markings as critical feature in high-defination maps, which are Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) and self-driving technology required, have important functions in providing guidance and information to moving cars. Mobile laser scanning (MLS) system is an effective way to obtain the 3D information of the road surface, including road markings, at highway speeds and at less than traditional survey costs. This paper presents a novel method to automatically extract road markings from MLS point clouds. Ground points are first filtered from raw input point clouds using neighborhood elevation consistency method. The basic assumption of the method is that the road surface is smooth. Points with small elevation-difference between neighborhood are considered to be ground points. Then ground points are partitioned into a set of profiles according to trajectory data. The intensity histogram of points in each profile is generated to find intensity jumps in certain threshold which inversely to laser distance. The separated points are used as seed points to region grow based on intensity so as to obtain road mark of integrity. We use the point cloud template-matching method to refine the road marking candidates via removing the noise clusters with low correlation coefficient. During experiment with a MLS point set of about 2 kilometres in a city center, our method provides a promising solution to the road markings extraction from MLS data.


Modified Fourier expansions present an alternative to more standard algorithms for the approximation of nonperiodic functions in bounded domains. This thesis addresses the theory of such expansions, their effective construction and computation, and their application to the numerical solution of partial differential equations. As the name indicates, modified Fourier expansions are closely related to classical Fourier series. The latter are naturally defined in the d-variate cube, and, in an analogous fashion, we primarily study modified Fourier expansions in this domain. However, whilst Fourier coefficients are commonly computed with the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), we use modern numerical quadratures instead. In contrast to the FFT, such schemes are adaptive, leading to great potential savings in computational cost. Standard algorithms for the approximation of nonperiodic functions in d-variate cubes exhibit complexities that grow exponentially with dimension. The aforementioned quadratures permit the design of approximations based on modified Fourier expansions that do not possess this feature. Consequently, such schemes are increasingly effective in higher dimensions. When applied to the numerical solution of boundary value problems, such savings in computational cost impart benefits over more commonly used polynomial-based methods. Moreover, regardless of the dimensionality of the problem, modified Fourier methods lead to well-conditioned matrices and corresponding linear systems that can be solved cheaply with standard iterative techniques. The theoretical component of this thesis furnishes modified Fourier expansions with a convergence analysis in arbitrary dimensions. In particular, we prove uniform convergence of modified Fourier expansions under rather general conditions. Furthermore, it is known that the notion of modified Fourier expansions can be effectively generalised, resulting in a family of approximation bases sharing many of the features of the modified Fourier case. The purpose of such a generalisation is to obtain both faster rates and higher degrees of convergence. Having detailed the approximation-theoretic properties of modified Fourier expansions, we extend this analysis to the general case and thereby verify this improvement. A central drawback of these expansions is that their convergence rate is both fixed and typically slow. This makes the construction of effective convergence acceleration techniques imperative. In the final part of this thesis, we design and analyse a robust method, applicable in arbitrary numbers of dimensions, for accelerating convergence of modified Fourier expansions. When employed in the approximation of multivariate functions, this culminates in efficient, high-order approximants comprising relatively small numbers of terms.


Household vulnerability relates to the incapacity of a household to preserve its welfare because of negative events. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, vulnerability is a central issue in the policy debate: many households are at risk of poverty due to fragile livelihood systems or high exposure to shocks. Since no panel data are available in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a micro-simulation methodology is adopted on the basis of a household consumption model based on quintile regression. Shocks are simulated in the labour market and the methodology consents the identification of the typologies of households which suffer from severe welfare losses or that are plunged into poverty after the shocks. The results show that the vulnerable households identified change when different shocks or a diverse definition of vulnerability are taken into consideration. At the same time, the characteristics of households vulnerable to poverty are shown to be different with respect to those of the poor.


Score-based pairwise alignments are widely used in bioinformatics in particular with molecular database search tools, such as the BLAST family. Due to sophisticated heuristics, such algorithms are usually fast but the underlying scoring model unfortunately lacks a statistical description of the reliability of the reported alignments. In particular, close to gaps, in low-score or low-complexity regions, a huge number of alternative alignments arise which results in a decrease of the certainty of the alignment. ppALIGN is a software package that uses hidden Markov Model techniques to compute position-wise reliability of score-based pairwise alignments of DNA or protein sequences. The design of the model allows for a direct connection between the scoring function and the parameters of the probabilistic model. For this reason it is suitable to analyze the outcomes of popular score based aligners and search tools without having to choose a complicated set of parameters. By contrast, our program only requires the classical score parameters (the scoring function and gap costs). The package comes along with a library written in C++, a standalone program for user defined alignments (ppALIGN) and another program (ppBLAST) which can process a complete result set of BLAST. The main algorithms essentially exhibit a linear time complexity (in the alignment lengths), and they are hence suitable for on-line computations. We have also included alternative decoding algorithms to provide alternative alignments. ppALIGN is a fast program/library that helps detect and quantify questionable regions in pairwise alignments. Due to its structure, the input/output interface it can to be connected to other post-processing tools. Empirically, we illustrate its usefulness in terms of correctly predicted reliable regions for sequences generated using the ROSE model for sequence evolution, and identify sensor-specific regions in the denitrifying betaproteobacterium Aromatoleum aromaticum.


In this paper, I explore the experiences of secondary teachers in four London schools [UK] who participated in Teacher Learning Communities, defined as meetings in which professional learning was supported as they learned about Assessment for Learning (AfL). The claim for these communities is that they lead to sustained improvements in teaching and learning, where the following design principles are adhered to: where leaders respect and value a need that has been identified by participants as of importance to themselves; they are school-based and integral to school operations; there is teacher collaboration; and there is input from within and beyond the school to support teachers' theoretical as well as practical learning. The findings from this research project suggest that Teacher Learning Communities' benefits were compromised specifically: where they were imposed on teachers; where they were not accommodated sufficiently within other school commitments; where leaders were too directive; where meeting formats were adhered to inflexibly; and where practice was emphasized at the expense of theories. My conclusion is that both AfL and Teacher Learning Communities rely for their success on sustained critical reflection among their participants, which can be inhibited where the above limitations apply.


The establishment recently of risk management vehicles for home prices is described. The potential value of such vehicles, once they become established, is seen in consideration of the inefficiency of the market for single family homes. Institutional changes that might derive from the establishment of these new markets are described. An important reason for these beginnings of real estate derivative markets is the advance in home price index construction methods, notably the repeat sales method, that have appeared over the last twenty years. Psychological barriers to the full success of such markets are discussed.


In this thesis I continue a series of studies of singular varieties associated to a pair of
submanifolds in an affine space in a natural way. The origin of the study of similar objects
called Wigner caustics can be traced back to the work of M. Berry [5] in the 1970s. He was
motivated by its appearance in the semi-classical limit of theWigner function of a pure quantum
state whose classical limit corresponds to the given smooth curve in R2 with canonical symplectic
structure.
Other similar objects were analysed by Janeczko [22] in which he generalised the concept
of centre of symmetry for a convex body in the plane by considering the bifurcation set of a
certain family of ratios called the centre symmetry set.
Then in [12] P. Giblin and P. Holtom described an analogous method that uses envelopes.
First find all the parallel tangent pairs (pairs of points where the tangent lines are parallel) join
them with a chord (infinite straight line) and find the envelope of these chords. The envelope
of these chords is also the Centre Symmetry Set (CSS). In that paper non-convex bodies were
considered and the envelopes were found to contain additional components and singularities
that resemble the boundary singularities of V. Arnold.
A series of papers by V. Zakalyukin, P. Giblin and J. Warder [15], [16], [14] then generalised
the idea to smooth hyper-surfaces in n-dimensions. In these papers the authors took the CSS
to be the envelope of chords between points at which the tangent hyperplanes are parallel. The
generic singularities of the CSS were shown to be special singularities of wave fronts and caustics
in the context of the theory of Lagrange and Legendre mappings as developed by Arnold and
others [4]. In [31] motivation for the CSS in given, citing applications in computer vision.
In [10] W. Domitrz and M. Rios study the Global Centre Symmetry Set (GCS) which generalises
the concept of the CSS enabling them to consider the global properties of m-dimensional
submanifolds of the affine space Rn for n ≤ 2m. The paper also contains some motivation for
the study citing applications in quantum mechanics.
In [13] Giblin and Janeczko gave a new approach to studying the centre symmetry sets via
a family of maps obtained by reflection in the mid-points of chords of a submanifold in affine space. In that paper 2-dimensional surfaces in both R3 and R4 are discussed. In particular the
conditions for the caustic of the CSS for 2 surface pieces in R4 in terms of their geometry is
given.
When considering a more general case for two submanifolds Mk1 and Nk2 of some affine
space RK, we define the chords to be the infinite straight lines which join pairs of points from
M with points from N which share a common normal. It seems, at least at first, as though it
does not make sense here to talk in terms of symmetry if the two submanifolds are of different
dimensions. Therefore, following the work of Stunzhas [32], we call the envelope of the family
of chords the Minkowski set of the pair M and N.
In this thesis two main cases are investigated. The first case is the Minkowski set for a space
curve and a surface in three space (chapter 3) and the second case is the Minkowski set for two
surfaces in four space (chapter 4). In both cases the generic singularities of the Minkowski set
are classified and where possible some geometric interpretation is given.
The construction of the Minkowski set generalises that of the family of normals of a surface
in Euclidean space and also the family of affine normals of a surface in affine space.
The concept of offsets (sometimes called parallels or equidistants) in Euclidean geometry
can also be generalised in the same way. We define the wave fronts as the set of points of the
chords which divide the chord segments between the base points with a fixed ratio λ, also called
the affine time. Note that the wave fronts are sometimes called affine equidistants [14]. When
λ varies these wave fronts sweep out the singularities of the Minkowski set (see figure 2).
In [14] the bifurcations of the family of affine equidistants for two curves in the plane and
two surfaces in three space were studied. The half way equidsitant or Wigner Caustic, that is
when the ratio λ = 1
2 , is often cited as being of particular interest, see for example [5], [13],
[10] and [31].
In chapter 3 the wave fronts for a curve and surface in three space are studied and in chapter
4 the wave fronts for two surfaces in four space are considered.
The wave fronts in the case of a curve and surface in R3 are of particular interest. With
a few changes the present problem can describe that of the wave propagations from an initial
space curve with indicatrix described by a surface (see [30], [37]). In fact, the list of generic
singularity types from the problem studied in [30] coincides with the list for the case of a curve
and a surface considered in chapter 3.


Much has been written about leaders and leadership, managers and management. The terms are often used interchangeably. (see http://thesaurus.reference.com). With rapid changes in technology, and the spread of capitalism, networks which use English as the common language are flourishing. Many authors have written about the affects this has had on management and leadership and the differences between the two. This paper reviews common definitions of leadership, explores some of the key concepts associated with the transition from the industrial to the information age, and the evolution of the terminology of leadership, and then reviews the results of a preliminary research project which uses a corpus-based methodology to analyse the text in a diachronic set of documents collated from the Leadership Quarterly 1990 to 2005. Future research will build on this study as the basis for reviewing other sources and domains in the field of leadership, modelling the relationship between cross-cultural issues and leaders in organizations.


We propose a novel framework for structured prediction via adversarial learning. Existing adversarial learning methods involve two separate networks, i.e., the structured prediction models and the discriminative models, in the training. The information captured by discriminative models complements that in the structured prediction models, but few existing researches have studied on utilizing such information to improve structured prediction models at the inference stage. In this work, we propose to refine the predictions of structured prediction models by effectively integrating discriminative models into the prediction. Discriminative models are treated as energy-based models. Similar to the adversarial learning, discriminative models are trained to estimate scores which measure the quality of predicted outputs, while structured prediction models are trained to predict contrastive outputs with maximal energy scores. In this way, the gradient vanishing problem is ameliorated, and thus we are able to perform inference by following the ascent gradient directions of discriminative models to refine structured prediction models. The proposed method is able to handle a range of tasks, e.g., multi-label classification and image segmentation. Empirical results on these two tasks validate the effectiveness of our learning method.


Given the rapidly evolving nature of financial globalization, this paper models and predicts financial integration in a changing world. By decomposing integration into global risk, local risk and estimation risk, we argue that greater integration is mainly driven by global factors, not diminishing local effects. The national importance of the global financial cycle varies over time, based upon time varying factor loadings. Financial integration is highly predictable, which is important for international diversification and risk management. We also identify that VIX is a strong predictor of financial integration. This reflects the vulnerability of financial market to extreme events in the United States.


This papaer evaluates analysts' consensus long run earnings growth forecasts. It is shown that the correlation between forecast earnings growth and actual earnings growth is extremely low. Consistent with other studies, forecast earnings growth is found to be too optimistic. This is illustrated by the fact that almost all earnings growth forecasts are positive, while actual earnings growth is more evenly distributed between positive and negative values. For the sample of companies for which actual earnings growth is positive, there is a stron positive correlation between forecast earnings growth and actual earnings growth. In sharp contrast for a sample of companies for which actual earnings growth is negative, there is a strong inverse correlation between forecast earnings growth and actual earnings growth. This suggests that analysts are to some extendt able to forecast the magnitude of earnings growth but not its sign. It is further shown that analysts' forecasts of long run earnings growth are incorporated into the market's expectation of future earnings growth. However, there is evidence that the market attaches more weight to forecasts that have the correct sign, even though the sign of the actual earnings growth is not known at that datae that the forecast is made.


In the Netherlands decentralised generation of heat and power by mu-CHP units in households is expected to penetrate the market at high speed in the coming years. Using ICT these mu-CHP units can be integrated into a smart power system or virtual power plant. Other local production and consumption of electricity such as PV, wind, heat pumps and electrical vehicles can be added to this cluster. The main goal of a smart power system is to optimize the value of decentralised power production and consumption in view of the total energy value chain. The PowerMatcher is a multi-agent based control concept (and software package) for coordination of demand and supply in electricity networks with a high share of distributed generation. The concept is demonstrated in several real life field tests. One of these field tests is a virtual power plant consisting of 10 mu-CHP units reducing the local peak demand of the common low-voltage grid segment the mu-CHP units are connected to. In this way the VPP supports the local distribution network operator (DNO) to defer reinforcements in the grid infrastructure (transformers and cables). To realize this VPP, an ICT-communication network containing a hardware and software infrastructure has been added to a test rollout of mu-CHP installations in The Netherlands. Main conclusion from the field test is that a peak reduction of 30 -50% can be achieved, depending on summer or winter season.


This article reports on a study that investigated students' metacognitive engagement in both out-of-school and classroom settings, as they participated in an amusement park physics program. Students from two schools that participated in the program worked in groups to collectively solve novel physics problems that engaged their individual metacognition. Their conversations and behavioral dispositions during problem-solving were digitally audio-recorded on devices that they wore or placed on the tables where groups worked on the assigned physics problems. The students also maintained reflection journals on the strategies they employed to manage their own understanding as well as learning processes. Prior to the amusement park physics discourse, the students completed a specially developed questionnaire instrument. This provided signposts of the students' metacognitive engagement during group problem-solving at the park and subsequent related physics learning tasks back in the classroom. This data, added to field notes arising from observations, and formal and informal interviews during post-visit learning activities provided the data corpus on the students' metacognitive engagement. Analysis of this data revealed three types of metacognitive engagement during group learning tasks: collaborative and consensus-seeking, highly argumentative, and eclectic, resulting from high levels of dissonance. In both cases, evidence of individual students' deeper understandings, which manifested through students' cognitive and social behaviors, demonstrated the invocation of metacognition to varying degrees. The novel physics problems tackled by the students created situations where discrepancies between their prior knowledge and the direct experiences enabled them to explicate their thinking through dispositions of behavior. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 265–288, 2009


The beating heart of the sun is the very pulse of life on earth. And from the ancients who plotted its path at Stonehenge to the modern scientists who unraveled the nuclear fusion reaction that turns mass into energy, humankind has sought to solve its mysteries. In this lively biography of the sun, Bob Berman ranges from its stellar birth to its spectacular future death with a focus on the wondrous and enthralling, and on the heartbreaking sacrifice, laughable errors, egotistical battles, and brilliant inspirations of the people who have tried to understand its power. What, exactly, are the ghostly streaks of light astronauts see-but can't photograph-when they're in space? And why is it impossible for two people to see the exact same rainbow? Why are scientists beginning to think that the sun is safer than sunscreen? And how does the fluctuation of sunspots-and its heartbeat-affect everything from satellite communications to wheat production across the globe? Peppered with mind-blowing facts and memorable anecdotes about spectral curiosities-the recently-discovered "second sun" that lurks beneath the solar surface, the eerie majesty of a total solar eclipse-THE SUN'S HEARTBEAT offers a robust and entertaining narrative of how the Sun has shaped humanity and our understanding of the universe around us.


Semantic wikis extend wiki platforms with the ability to represent structured information in a machine-processable way. On top of the structured information in the wiki, novel ways to search, browse, and present the wiki content become possible. However, while powerful query languages offer new opportunities for semantic search, the syntax of formal query languages is not adequate for end users. In this work we present an approach to semantic search that combines the expressiveness and capabilities of structured queries with the simplicity of keyword interfaces and faceted search. Users articulate their information need in keywords, which are translated into structured, conjunctive queries. This translation may result in multiple possible interpretations of the information need, which can then be selected and further refined by the user via facets. We have implemented this approach to semantic search as an extension to Semantic MediaWiki. The results of a user study in the SMW-based community portal semanticweb.org show the efficiency and effectiveness of the approach as well as its ease of use.


Access to electronic health record (EHR) data has motivated computational advances in medical research. However, various concerns, particularly over privacy, can limit access to and collaborative use of EHR data. Sharing synthetic EHR data could mitigate risk. In this paper, we propose a new approach, medical Generative Adversarial Network (medGAN), to generate realistic synthetic patient records. Based on input real patient records, medGAN can generate high-dimensional discrete variables (e.g., binary and count features) via a combination of an autoencoder and generative adversarial networks. We also propose minibatch averaging to efficiently avoid mode collapse, and increase the learning efficiency with batch normalization and shortcut connections. To demonstrate feasibility, we showed that medGAN generates synthetic patient records that achieve comparable performance to real data on many experiments including distribution statistics, predictive modeling tasks and a medical expert review. We also empirically observe a limited privacy risk in both identity and attribute disclosure using medGAN.


A discrete analogue of generalized Burr-type XII distribution is introduced using a general approach of discretizing a continuous distribution. It may be worth exploring the possibility of developing a discrete version of the six parameter generalized Burr-type XII distribution for use in modeling a discrete data. This distribution is suggested as a suitable reliability model to fit a range of discrete lifetime data, as it is shown that hazard rate function can attain monotonic increasing (deceasing) shape for certain values of parameters. The equivalence of discrete generalized Burr-type XII (DGBD-XII) and continuous generalized Burr-type XII (GBD-XII) distributions has been established. The increasing failure rate property in the discrete setup has been ensured. Various theorems relating this new model to other probability distributions have also been proved.


Background: The empirical and theoretical literature on children's autobiographical statements about child sexual abuse and other forms of maltreatment should be of potential importance to all professionals who regularly interview children as part of their professional duties. Aims: To present an introduction to this field. Methods: Narrative review. Results: Preschool children appear to be capable of providing reliable testimony on highly salient personal experiences such as sexual abuse, though a substantial proportion of children may choose not to. However, suggestive interviewing practises, particularly when used with younger children, may elicit false allegations. There is little evidence to suggest that experiences from the preverbal period of life can later be meaningfully reconstructed by means of statements or clinical signs. Conclusions: Use of children as witnesses and informants requires special considerations, knowledge and skills.


This thesis describes the preparation and use of a range of N-unsubstituted bicyclic
isoxazolidines as potential organocatalysts in iminium ion and enamine catalysis.
The first chapter gives an overview of state-of-the-art organocatalysis. Reactions are
discussed in terms of the catalytic mechanism and a selection of reactions catalysed by
each route is included.
The second chapter discusses the design of two generations of N-unsubstituted
isoxazolidine frameworks as potential organocatalysts. The 1st generation, containing a
spirocyclohexane adjacent to the secondary amine of an isoxazolidine ring proved
difficult to prepare and debenzylation of the parent was problematic. The 2nd generation,
based on an isoxazolidine ring fused to a second heterocycle, were successfully
prepared and characterised by a combination of NMR spectroscopy, LC/TOF-MS,
microanalytical data and x-ray crystallography where necessary.
In the third chapter the application of NH-isoxazolidines as catalysts in the Diels-Alder
cycloaddition reaction, the Michael addition reaction and the Aldol condensation
reaction is discussed. It has been demonstrated that the NH-isoxazolidines are effective
in iminium ion catalysis and act as enantioselective organocatalysts for Diels-Alder
reactions. The aldol reaction between acetone and p-nitrobenzaldehyde could not be
promoted by the NH-isoxazolidines prepared in this thesis. Neither could these catalysts
promote the Michael addition reaction with trans-�-nitrostyrene and a minor amount of the Michael addition product was observed with 1,1-bis(benzenesulfonyl)ethylene as
the acceptor.
The fourth chapter details the experimental procedures and full characterisation of all
new compounds described in this thesis.
The appendix carries details of the structures solved by x-ray crystallographic analysis
and as a representative a case full description of structural determination of a bicyclic
isoxazolidine is detailed.
Finally, a complete bibliography of articles referred to in this thesis is included.


Divorce, separation, and widowhood produce great psychological stress for Palestinian women in Israel. Very often family support is a set of demands seeking to regulate and reshape their conduct. This article is based on a study conducted between 2007 and 2011 with twenty-four divorced, separated, and widowed Palestinian single mothers in Israel. In contrast to claims inmost existing scholarship, all of the women turned to nonfamilial sources of support to deal with family and community regulation, restrictions, and stigmatization and to acquire resources. Level of surveillance and regulation was most highly associated with socioeconomic class. The poorer the women, the fewer their choices and the less freedom they had to determine their lives and their children's lives. The women interviewed disproportionately reported turning to outsiders, such as psychologists, spiritualists, and feminist activists, for "expressive" support.


This paper investigates the complexity of adding nonmasking fault tolerance, where a nonmasking fault-tolerant program guarantees recovery from states reached due to the occurrence of faults to states from where its specifications are satisfied. We first demonstrate that adding nonmasking fault tolerance to low atomicity programs-where processes have read/write restrictions with respect to the variables of other processes--is NP-complete (in the size of the state space) on an unfair or weakly fair scheduler. Then, we establish a surprising result that even under strong fairness, addition of nonmasking fault tolerance remains NP-hard! The NP-hardness of adding nonmasking fault tolerance is based on a polynomial-time reduction from the 3-SAT problem to the problem of designing self-stabilizing programs from their non-stabilizing versions, which is a special case of adding nonmasking fault tolerance. While it is known that designing self-stabilization under the assumption of strong fairness is polynomial, we demonstrate that adding self-stabilization to non-stabilizing programs is NP-hard under weak fairness.


This study focused on the aspect of gender and diversity, it was found that both men and women were involved in almost all stages of rehabilitation activities. Land clearing is the heaviest work mainly done by men but also supported by women. Women play specific roles in forest rehabilitation activities and about 40% of the total work performed in forest rehabilitation activities. It was concluded that the work distribution between man and women in a household on rehabilitation activities are fairly equal. Men play greater roles in decision making related to rehabilitation activities than women, however, decisions are generally made through discussions between husbands and wives. This means that woman also have power and influence in decision-making process in a family. However, the bargaining power of women within communities is still limited since they have little opportunities to attend formal meetings. In terms of the impacts of forest rehabilitation activities, there is greater differences among various social groups rather than men and women. Landless farmers who don't participate in the program are the marginalized group which can not benefit from the program and tend to have negative impacts of rehabilitation activity. The main obstacles for marginalized group to participate are the limited financial source and access to information. In order to avoid negative impacts on the marginalized groups, a mechanism to enable the marginalized group to participate in forest rehabilitation activities is needed to avoid inequatable land distribution. Information should be distributed equitably to all members of the community before starting the program. Moreover, information meetings should be held not only for men but also for women.


Abstract Population growth near protected areas threatens the capacity of such areas for biodiversity conservation. Protected areas may even encourage growth by providing economic benefits that attract migrants. Consequently, understanding the relationships between human demographics and biodiversity is important for conservation. We studied a community-governed Wildlife Management Area bordering the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, set up to benefit local people and the subsistence rural economy. Annual population growth in this area is 5%. We used a combination of ecological and socio-economic surveys to determine the causes of this growth and its effect on wildlife in the Wildlife Management Area. One-third of local people interviewed were immigrants to the area. Population growth appeared to be unrelated to the protected area; instead an increasing proportion of immigrants cited readily available land as their reason for moving. Pastoralism was associated with fewer signs of large grazing mammals and elephants Loxodonta africana and agriculture was associated with fewer signs of elephant and buffalo Syncerus caffer but more signs of other ungulates. Few residents were aware of the Wildlife Management Area and few received any benefits from wildlife and therefore had little reason to conserve it. This situation is attributable to poor management of the Wildlife Management Area. Detrimental effects of human activity could spread to the Selous Game Reserve if population growth continues. However, natural resources could benefit residents if properly managed. Interactions between human demographics and protected areas are complex and may be best managed on a case-by-case basis.


This paper takes a new look at the evolution of stops from Latin to Spanish. In a series of sound changes that have often been described as a chain shift, geminates reduced to singletons, voiceless stops voiced, and voiced stops approximantized. These changes have generally been attributed to lenition, which I assume here. I analyze these changes in Optimality Theory as variant constraint ranking over time, couching the analysis in the terms of Flemming's (1995) Dispersion Theory, a functionalist approach that takes whole systems of contrast into account rather than focusing on piecemeal change. I thus view the changes in question not only as the predictable effects of lenition in word-medial, intervocalic position (where they took place) but as part of a suite of changes that weakened stops in the same way while maintaining extant contrasts in the process. I focus on the phonetic cue of closure duration in addition to voicing distinctions, based on the findings of numerous researchers that duration functions crosslinguistically as a major means of marking voiceless/voiced stop contrasts. I moreover show that modifications to Dispersion Theory recognizing a more direct role for faithfulness (as in Padgett 2003) allow us to motivate constraint reranking over time as an effect of language acquisition and reanalysis of underlying forms (see Holt 2003a). Reference here to traditionally unspecified phonetic detail (e.g. stop closure duration) is argued to provide both a richer model and a fuller understanding of the nature and mechanisms of contrast underlying the changes in question. Moreover, since lenition — an often vaguely defined concept — is here shown to operate in highly similar ways across these changes, the current approach provides for a more coherent, unified analysis than those heretofore presented.


Part 1: The Electronic Structure of the Criegee Intermediate: Ramifications for the Mechanism of Ozonolysis.
Generalized valence bond (GVB) and configuration interaction (CI) calculations using a double zeta basis set have been carried out on methylene peroxide (H_2COOO), the reactive intermediate in the Criegee mechanism for ozonolysis of olefins. The ground state of methylene peroxide (using an open geometry) is shown to be a singlet biradical rather than a zwitterion. A strong analogy between methylene peroxide and its isoelectronic counterpart, ozone, is developed. The calculations also show that the ring state of methylene peroxide is 1 eV lower than the open form. Moreover, the ring state may reopen to give the dioxy-methane biradical. The ab initio results are combined with thermochemical data in order to analyze the stability of the Criegee intermediate as well as the possible modes of reaction in ozonolysis. With regard to ozonolysis in solution, the mechanism for epoxide formation is elucidated and the possible role of methylene peroxide rearrangement to dioxymethane is considered in interpreting the ^(13)O isotope experiments. With regard to ozonolysis in the gas phase, the production of many of the chemiluminescent species observed by Pitts and co-workers is explained. The production of reactive radicals such as OH and HO_2 in the course of ozonolysis, which may have important consequences for understanding the generation of photochemical air pollution, is also delineated.

Part 2: The Electronic Structure of Pyrazine: A Valence Bond Model for Lone Pair Interaction.
A valence bond (VB) model is developed to describe the interaction of the lone pair excitations in pyrazine. Extensive ab initio minimal basis set (MBS) configuration interaction (CI) calculations show that the description of the n cations and nπ* states of pyrazine afforded by the VB model is more accurate than that afforded by the molecular orbital (MO) model proffered by Hoffmann. The VB picture of the n cations and nπ* states involves the interaction (resonance) of two equivalent, localized excitations. The resultant splitting is large (1 to 2 eV) because of a light delocalization of the n orbitals induced by the Pauli principle. (The n orbitals are still 90% localized on the nitrogens.) The splitting of the nπ* states is comparable to that of the n cations because the π* orbital is delocalized, even though the excitation process is localized on one nitrogen. The MBS CI calculations indicate that the lowest ionization potential of pyrazine corresponds to the ^2A_g (n) state. Calculations on the lowest Rydberg states indicate that they involve excitations out of an n orbital rather than a π orbital, in opposition to earlier spectroscopic assignments. Finally, the calculations show that the forbidden 1 ^1B_2g (nπ*) states is 1 eV higher than the allowed 1 ^1B_3u (nπ*) state, so that the perturbations observed in the absorption spectrum must be ascribed to another source.

Part 3: Comparison of INDO and Ab Initio Methods for the Correlated Wavefunctions of the Ground and Excited States of Ozone.
The validity of using integral approximation schemes in conjunction with correlated wavefunctions has been tested by performing generalized valence bond (GVB) and extensive configuration interaction (CI) calculations with INDO approximate integrals on the ground and excited states of ozone. High quality ab initio calculations have previously shown correlation effects to be extremely important for describing ozone. We find that for the CI wavefunctions the INDO approximation leads to vertical excitation energies- within about 30% [from 0.8 eV too low to 0. 6 eV too high with an RMS error of 0.5 eV], as compared with comparable ab initio calculations. We also found that the INDO GVB wavefunctions lead to bond angles in good agreement with experimental and ab initio calculations, but produced bond lengths that were too short. Most important was the discovery that INDO grossly favors closed geometries as opposed to open geometries, predicting the ground state of ozone to be an equilateral triangle state (even for correlated wavefunctions) with an energy 6 eV below the correct open state!

Part 4: Comparison of INDO and Ab initio Methods for Correlated Wavefunctions of the Ground and Excited States of Methylene and Ethylene.
The usefulness of the INDO integral approximation for correlated wavefunctions was tested by carrying out GVB calculations on (1) the three lowest states of methylene as a function of bond angle and (2) the three lowest states of ethylene as a function of the dihedral twist angle. The methylene potential curves obtained with INDO were in good agreement (0.2 eV errors) with ab initio results, while the
ethylene curves were very poor (2 to 4 eV errors). Comparison with ab initio calculations revealed two major problems in the INDO method (1) the use of empirical values from atomic spectra for the one-center exchange integrals and (2) the use of only one resonance or β parameter per atom.

Part 5: Approximate Integral Methods and Correlated Wavefunctions
Attempts to develop an approximate integral method that produces reliable results in conjunction with correlated wavefunctions are reported. Two basic lines of approach are pursued: (1) modification (or reparametrization) of INDO and (2) general investigation of truncated integral sets. The integral approximations were tested on the low-lying states of H_2, H_3, C_2, O_2, C_2H_4, O_3, and C_6H_6 using consistently correlated wavefunctions. No approximate method investigated gave satisfactory results on all the systems tested, with the O_3 and C_2 molecules presenting the greatest problems. However, good results, using approximate methods comparable in complexity with INDO, were obtained for describing the potential curves of the low-lying states of H_2, H_3, and C_2H_4. Finally, the calculations revealed two important guidelines for approximate integral methods. (1) Transformation to orthogonal atomic orbitals (especially the one-electron integrals) is necessary prior to any truncation of the integral set. Truncation of the standard nonorthogonal integral set leads to poor results, biasing the calculations toward short bond lengths and closed geometries, (2) Replacement of core electrons with local potentials rather than 2J-K potentials leads to better results, because the need to orthogonalize the valence orbitals to the core is obviated.


Human health is the most significant factor that influences the life quality of individuals. The first level of health care faced by any individual is a family physician, therefore, the availability of family physicians is of great importance. Primary health care is the key component of national health care system in providing health care. The tasks of primary health care are as follows promotion of health, prevention of diseases, treatment of diseases, rehabilitation. As regards providing health care services in the regions of Latvia, regional differences increase in this respect; in some places the situation may be regarded even as critical. The availability and quality of services is often inappropriate. To increase the accessibility of physician practices, new ways of improving the performance of physician practices in Latvia have to be searched for. One of the ways is to increase the competitiveness of physician practices to ensure sustainability in the performance of physician practices, which results in providing quality services to local residents as well as foreigners. The paper gives a definition for the nature of competitiveness and characteristics of physician practices in Latvia, and the competitiveness factors of physician practice are identified and assessed. The research object is services of physician practices in Latvia. Hypothesis: performance of physician practices is affected by both exogenous and endogenous factors of competitiveness. The research aim is to investigate the basic factors determining and limiting the competitiveness of physician practices and to identify priorities for increasing the competitiveness of physician practices in Latvia. To achieve the aim, the following research tasks were set : to characterise and assess primary health care in Latvia, to identify the key basic factors that determine and limit the competitiveness of physician practices, and to identify measures preventing the basic factors that limit the competitiveness of physician practices. To achieve the aim, the method of expert evaluation was employed. The following research methods were employed for studying the legal framework and developing proposals for its improvement: the abstract and logical methods, the monographic method, analysis and synthesis, and the calculation and constructive methods. For analysis of statistical data, statistical methods such as descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were employed. A sociological research method – questionnaire surveying – was used for identifying problems of physician practices.Finally, it was concluded that the key competitiveness factors are: qualifications of both managers of physician practices and their staff, use of medical and other modern technologies at physician practices, prices of services, location and accessibility, and government policy. The main factors limiting the competitiveness of physician practices and their prevention measures were identified. The main measures are as follows: provision of the accessibility of physician practices in rural areas by means of local government support, introduction of e-consultations or electronic consultancy via e-mail, as it enables patients to receive a consultation of specialist at a distance, setting an optimal number of patients per physician practice, planning the training of resident physicians, thus attracting new physicians for the profession of family physician, and expansion of physician practices with other medical specialists to increase the quality of health care services and cooperation among physician practices. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.6.1497


This paper reviews ongoing progress in the design and fabrication of new, on-chip, low loss planar molecular sensors. We report the details of device design, material selection and manufacturing processes used to realise high-index-contrast (HIC), compact micro-disk resonators. These structures have been fabricated in thermally evaporated As- and Ge-based chalcogenide glass films with PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) micro-fluidic channels using standard UV lithography. Discussed are findings that demonstrate that our novel chalcogenide-based micro-fluidic device can be used as highly sensitive refractive index sensors.


Exhibition of Modern Irish Artist looking at his work between the 1920s and the 1970s. This is a large retrospective exhibition, comprising nearly 90 artefacts, an associated publication and a series of associated art history, film screening, ballet and poetry events running throughout the winter of 2012 and early 2013. This is collaboration with the University of Ulster, the Ulster Museum, National Museums Northern Ireland, the QFT and the John Hewitt Society.


Photonic bandgap effects were observed in particulate arrays of solution-derived SiO2 particles prepared by the forced and unforced sedimentation of colloidal suspensions. The spectral shape of the bandgap is shown experimentally to correlate directly to the degree of microstructural order and is discussed by analogy to the x-ray diffraction of crystals, glasses, and glass–ceramics. An optical temperature sensor was made by use of the thermoptic differences between SiO2 and an organic liquid infiltrated into the particle interstices. This provides the proof-of-concept that easily fabricated disordered structures, i.e., photonic glasses, can permit simple, even disposable, optical devices based on photonic band engineering.


The recent decisions in Missouri v. Frye and Lafler v. Cooper represent a seismic shift in the Court's right to counsel jurisprudence. No longer is the right to counsel limited to protecting thefairness and adequacy of the trial. Although these two cases arose in the plea bargaining context, the doctrinal shift may have its greatest impact in cases where plea bargaining is not at issue.This Article identifies the salient features of this new — non-trial oriented — conception of the right to counsel and explains its far-reaching impacts on the day-to-day practice of criminal law.Specifically, this Article explains the import of the newly minted right to effective assistance as it relates to a variety of procedural constitutional rights, including speedy trial, pretrial detention, double jeopardy, and jury selection rights. The explicit recognition that the right to counsel is not only, or even primarily a trial or truth protecting right promises to be a staggeringly important constitutional event.