Abstract Fossil echinoderms are a rich source of information concerning biotic interactions. In this study we analyzed the premortem encrustation of the highly specialized Middle Devonian rugose corals Aspasmophyllum crinophilum and ?"Adradosia" sp. on camerate crinoid stems. Aspasmophyllum infested living crinoid stems by sclerenchymal outgrowth that formed a skeletal ring but ?"Adradosia" sp. encrusted the stems rapidly, without building a ring. These coral-crinoid biocoenoses indicate a settlement advantage for the rugose corals within densely populated communities of the lower Givetian. The corals could be interpreted as large epizoozoans that benefited as secondary tierers reaching relatively high tiering levels. It also suggests the ability for the affected crinoids to repel the coral by overgrowing the corallite with a local increased stereomic growth. Because the crinoid axial canals are not penetrated, the corals cannot be considered as predators or parasites of crinoids. Therefore, the described biocoenosis is interpreted as commensalism. The species A. crinophilum is redescribed, and a neotype is defined, because of the loss of the initial types. Two types of ichnofossils can be attributed to the premortem encrustation of both corals. They are described as Ostiocavichnus n. ichnogen. and are attributed to the stereomic response of the infested hosts. These swellings are characterized as either elliptical (Ostiocavichnus ovalis n. ichnogen. n. ichnosp. due to the assumed reaction of A. crinophilum) or subcircular concavities (O. rotundatus n. ichnogen. n. ichnosp. due to the reaction of ?"Adradosia sp.").


In this paper we discuss both theoretical and experimental results on the time dependence of the heat capacity of oriented Mn12 magnetic clusters when a magnetic field is applied along their easy axis. Our calculations are based on the existence of two contributions. The first one is associated with the thermal populations of the 21 different Sz levels in the two potential wells of the magnetic uniaxial anisotropy and the second one is related to the transitions between the Sz levels. We compare our theoretical predictions with experimental data on the heat capacity for different resolution times at different fields and temperatures. @S0163-1829~99!01937-2#


A unified model of gaseous fuel-air mixing is applied here to study the effect of shock waves on enhanced methane-air mixing. The model uses the fuel mass fraction within infinitesimal fluid elements and the total derivative of this fraction with respect to time to measure the degree and rate of mixing, respectively. The model is strictly accurate only for low-pressure combustors because of the ideal gas law assumption incorporated in the model. The model is also limited to gaseous fuels that contain single chemical specie, or behave like single specie. The model can be applied to any operational conditions or combustor geometry.
 Results show that mixing can be completed within the narrow region of the shock wave and therefore in a negligibly short time, if pressure, temperature and velocity distributions within this region are optimized. Furthermore, combining the effects of air preheat and shock waves can enhance both mixing with air penetration into fuel and fuel dispersion into the surrounding air. These results provide important guidelines for the design of supersonic combustors to achieve high efficiency and high intensity, while maintaining a low level of pollutants emission.


We propose a variant to polarized gradient illumination facial scanning which uses monochrome instead of color cameras to achieve more efficient and higher-resolution results. In typical polarized gradient facial scanning, sub-millimeter geometric detail is acquired by photographing the subject in eight or more polarized spherical gradient lighting conditions made with white LEDs, and RGB cameras are used to acquire color texture maps of the subject's appearance. In our approach, we replace the color cameras and white LEDs with monochrome cameras and multispectral, colored LEDs, leveraging that color images can be formed from successive monochrome images recorded under different illumination colors. While a naive extension of the scanning process to this setup would require multiplying the number of images by number of color channels, we show that the surface detail maps can be estimated directly from monochrome imagery, so that only an additional n photographs are required, where n is the number of added spectral channels. We also introduce a new multispectral optical flow approach to align images across spectral channels in the presence of slight subject motion. Lastly, for the case where a capture system's white light sources are polarized and its multispectral colored LEDs are not, we introduce the technique of multispectral polarization promotion, where we estimate the cross- and parallel-polarized monochrome images for each spectral channel from their corresponding images under a full sphere of even, unpolarized illumination. We demonstrate that this technique allows us to efficiently acquire a full color (or even multispectral) facial scan using monochrome cameras, unpolarized multispectral colored LEDs, and polarized white LEDs.


Background: Teratology is a branch of embryology science that studies causes, mechanisms and abnormal pattern development. Embryo growth traumatic factors during pregnancy are called teratogens that some teratogens pass the placental barrier and cause adverse effect during development stages and malformation, however a drug may improve general health of the mother, but it might be poisonous for embryo and cause diverse malformation. Since study of embryo health and risk factor in this stage is important, the aim of this review article was the investigation of some types of teratosgens (such as radiation, infectious agents, heat disorders, maternal conditions) and particularly the effect of teratogenic drugs on embryo including some legal drugs (such as acetaminophen, thalidomide, acyclovir, sedatives and anticonvulsants) and illegal drugs (such as nicotine, alcohol, cocaine and marijuana). Conclusions: In general, teratogens depending on the type and duration of exposure in pregnancyperiod, adversely affect embryo and cause various disorders. A better understanding of these teratogens can contribute to prevent these defects, since many other drugs with similar effects and lower teratogenicity can be used to improve mothers' health


This Paper analyses the demand for labor by home multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Europe. To this end we use a unique firm level panel data set of more than 1,200 European multinational enterprises and their subsidiaries that are located in either the European Union, Central and Eastern Europe or both. We investigate whether employment in the MNEs' subsidiaries is substitute for home employment - in other words we investigate whether European MNEs can easily relocate employment between the parent companies and their subsidiaries. Our main findings can be summarized as follows: (i) We find evidence for substitution effects between parent and foreign employment. A decline of 10% in MNE affiliate's wage costs is associated with a decline in parent employment of between 1.5% and 2% on average. (ii) This effect is mainly driven by firms that operate in the manufacturing sector. Moreover, the substitution effects mainly take place between EU parents and their affiliates located within the EU, rather than affiliates located in Central and Eastern Europe. (iii) We also report results for the non-manufacturing firms, where we find no substitution effects between parents and subsidiaries in the service sectors, while we do find positive substitution effects between parents and their affiliates in Central and Eastern Europe for the firms operating in the wholesale trade and construction sectors. Our results suggest that on average the competition from low wage countries in Central and Eastern Europe does not contribute to a relocation of domestic jobs to Central and Eastern Europe. When substitution effects do take place, however, they mainly occur between parent firms and their affiliates that are located in the European Union.


With its recent decisions in Ashcroft v. Iqbal and Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, the Supreme Court may be intentionally or unintentionally "throwing the fight," at least in the legal contests between many civil rights claimants and institutional defendants. The most obvious feared effect is reduction of civil rights claimants' access to the expressive and coercive power of the courts. Less obviously, the Supreme Court may be effectively undermining institutions' motivation to negotiate, mediate - or even communicate with and listen to - such claimants before they initiate legal action. Thus, the Supreme Court's recent decisions have the potential to deprive marginalized claimants - and our society - of alternative, effective avenues for the airing and resolution of disputes with powerful institutional players. Ironically, it was just this sort of deprivation that led the Supreme Court to announce its expansive vision of notice pleading in Conley v. Gibson. Conley foretells the need for our courts to maintain a robust public forum for those who are marginalized by the default procedures of normal life - not only to provide redress to the parties directly involved in particular disputes but because the viability of such a forum has the indirect and salutary effect of forcing institutional players to find a way to sufficiently approximate the fair dialogue and resolution modeled in our courts. In an attempt to acknowledge legitimate concerns regarding the inefficiency and costs of today's civil litigation process in some cases, while still protecting the courts' essential role in providing a forum for marginalized parties, this Article will suggest that courts take a second look at the summary jury trial, an expedited form of trial conducted before an advisory jury and followed by negotiation or mediation between the parties and their lawyers. Relatively early and appropriate use of this process could effectively prompt resolution and dialogue - i.e., private dialogue between the parties before the process is to occur; a stylized form of public dialogue during the trial phase of the process itself; and another private dialogue, potentially with assistance from a judge or mediator, after the advisory jury has been dismissed.


An oblivious active queue management scheme is one which does not differentiate between packets belonging to different flows. In this paper, we study the existence and the quality of Nash equilibria imposed by oblivious AQM schemes on selfish agents. Oblivious AQM schemes are of obvious importance because of the ease of implementation and deployment, and Nash equilibrium offers valuable clues into network performance under noncooperative user behavior. Specifically, we ask the following three questions: 1) do there exist oblivious AQM schemes that impose Nash equilibria on selfish agents? 2) Are the imposed equilibria, if they exist, efficient in terms of the goodput obtained and the drop probability experienced at the equilibrium? 3) How easy is it for selfish users to reach the Nash equilibrium state? We assume that the traffic sources are Poisson but the users can control the average rate. We show that drop-tail and RED do not impose Nash equilibria. We modify RED slightly to obtain an oblivious scheme, VLRED, that imposes a Nash equilibrium, but is not efficient. We then present another AQM policy, EN-AQM, that can impose an efficient Nash equilibrium. Finally, we show that for any oblivious AQM, the Nash equilibrium imposed on selfish agents is highly sensitive as the number of agents increases, thus making it hard for the users to converge to the Nash equilibrium, and motivating the need for equilibria-aware protocols.


We present a numerical method to approximate the long-time asymptotic solution ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\ensuremath{\infty}}(t)$ to the Lindblad master equation for an open quantum system under the influence of an external drive. The proposed scheme uses perturbation theory to rank individual drive terms according to their dynamical relevance and adaptively determines an effective Hamiltonian. In the constructed rotating frame, ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\ensuremath{\infty}}$ is approximated by a time-independent, nonequilibrium steady state. This steady state can be computed with much better numerical efficiency than asymptotic long-time evolution of the system in the laboratory frame. We illustrate the use of this method by simulating recent transmission measurements of the heavy-fluxonium device, for which ordinary time-dependent simulations are severely challenging due to the presence of metastable states with lifetimes of the order of milliseconds.


Soy peptide (SP), a soy protein enzymatic hydrolysate, contains bioactive substances that could be utilized as an immune-stimulating feed ingredient. The experiment evaluated the efficacy of dietary SP on promoting growth, and enhancing tolerance and survival to heat stress in juvenile Japanese flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus. Four diets were incorporated with different levels of SP (0, 2, 5, and 10%) and a 6-wk feeding trial ensued. Following the feeding trial, the experimental groups were subjected to heat stress to measure survival rate and heat shock protein 70s (HSP70s) in gill, liver, and skin. Fish fed diets with SP inclusion showed considerable decrease in percent weight gain. Significantly higher lethal time values to 50% mortality (LT50) value were recorded for fish fed 10% SP. Moreover, LT50 values of fish fed 2 and 5% SP were significantly higher compared with fish fed control diet. HSP70s produced in all the tissues were significantly highest in fish fed 10% SP. HSP70s values were significantly higher in fish fed 2 and 5% SP compared with fish fed control diet. A significant reduction in HSP70s among all groups during recovery period was also observed. These results suggest that SP can be used to enhance the immune response and survival of P. olivaceus under heat stress.


Human tissue is relatively transparent to light between 700 and 1000 nm in the near infrared
(NIR). NIR spectroscopy is a technique that can measure non-invasively and safely, the
optical properties of tissue. Several different types of spectroscopic instrumentation have
currently been developed, ranging from simple continuous intensity systems, through to complex
time and frequency resolved techniques. This thesis describes the development of a near infra-red
time-resolved system, using an inexpensive avalanche photodiode (APD) detector and a
microwave step recovery diode (SRD) in a novel way to implement a totally electronic crosscorrelator,
with no moving parts. The aim of the work was to develop a simple instrument to
monitor scattering changes in tissue during laser induced thermal therapy.
The APD was gain-modulated by rapidly varying the bias voltage using electrical pulses
generated by the SRD (120 ps full width half maximum (FWHM) and 8 V in amplitude). The
resulting cross-correlator had a temporal resolution of 275 ps FWHM - significantly faster than
the 750 ps FWHM of the APD when operating with a conventional fixed bias voltage. Spurious
responses caused by the SRD were observed, which were removed by the addition of Schottky
diodes on the SRD's output, although this slightly degraded the system temporal resolution from
275 to 380 ps FWHM.
The ability of the system to monitor scattering changes was tested using an IntralipidTM
phantom containing infra-red absorbing dye. An 800 nm fibre coupled mode-locked (2 ps pulse
width) laser source was used with the cross-correlator measuring the temporal point spread
function (TPSF) at 5 to 30 mm away from the source fibre. Five different numerical algorithms
to derive the scattering coefficient from the measured TPSF were compared. The optimum
choice of algorithm was found to depend on whether absolute accuracy or minimum computation
time is the most important consideration.


Interference competition with wolves Canis lupus is hypothesized to limit the distribution and abundance of coyotes Canis latrans, and the extirpation of wolves is often invoked to explain the expansion in coyote range throughout much of North America. We used spatial, seasonal and temporal heterogeneity in wolf distribution and abundance to test the hypothesis that interference competition with wolves limits the distribution and abundance of coyotes. From August 2001 to August 2004, we gathered data on cause-specific mortality and survival rates of coyotes captured at wolf-free and wolf-abundant sites in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), Wyoming, USA, to determine whether mortality due to wolves is sufficient to reduce coyote densities. We examined whether spatial segregation limits the local distribution of coyotes by evaluating home-range overlap between resident coyotes and wolves, and by contrasting dispersal rates of transient coyotes captured in wolf-free and wolf-abundant areas. Finally, we analysed data on population densities of both species at three study areas across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) to determine whether an inverse relationship exists between coyote and wolf densities. Although coyotes were the numerically dominant predator, across the GYE, densities varied spatially and temporally in accordance with wolf abundance. Mean coyote densities were 33% lower at wolf-abundant sites in GTNP, and densities declined 39% in Yellowstone National Park following wolf reintroduction. A strong negative relationship between coyote and wolf densities (beta = -3.988, P < 0.005, r(2) = 0.54, n = 16), both within and across study sites, supports the hypothesis that competition with wolves limits coyote populations. Overall mortality of coyotes resulting from wolf predation was low, but wolves were responsible for 56% of transient coyote deaths (n = 5). In addition, dispersal rates of transient coyotes captured at wolf-abundant sites were 117% higher than for transients captured in wolf-free areas. Our results support the hypothesis that coyote abundance is limited by competition with wolves, and suggest that differential effects on survival and dispersal rates of transient coyotes are important mechanisms by which wolves reduce coyote densities.


This article uses the case of the financialization of large law firms to develop debates about the process of the 'capitalisation of everything' whereby financial logics spread both geographically between countries and sectorally from one industry to another. Drawing on work that analyses how discourses of shareholder value have led to the re-organization of firms, the article argues that large law firms have undergone 'surgery' as part of attempts to make them appear more and more profitable when assessed using the metric profits per equity partner. The influence of geographical context—English regulation and institutions relating to the legal profession—on 'surgery' in the period 1993–2008 are also outlined as part of a situated analysis of the way regulations and institutions together prevent or enable the reproduction of financialized practices in different industries and places through the creation of conjunctural moments that help financial logics gain legitimacy.


Objectives: To assess risk of a first clinical diagnosis of CNS demyelination (FCD) in relation to measures of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection within the context of other known risk factors. Methods: This was a multicenter incident case-control study. FCD cases (n = 282) aged 18–59 years and controls (n = 558, matched on age, sex, and region) were recruited from 4 Australian centers between November 1, 2003, and December 31, 2006. A nested study (n = 215 cases, n = 216 controls) included measurement of whole blood quantitative EBV DNA load and serum EBV-specific antibodies. Conditional logistic regression was used to analyze case-control differences. Results: There were no significant case-control differences in the proportion with detectable EBV DNA (55.8% vs 50.5%, respectively, p = 0.28), or in quantitative EBV DNA load (p = 0.33). Consistent with previous work, higher anti-EBV–specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) titers and a history of infectious mononucleosis were associated with increased FCD risk and there was an additive interaction with HLA-DRB1*1501 status. We found additional interactions between high anti-EBNA IgG titer and SNPs in HLA-A (adjusted odds ratios [AOR] = 19.84 [95% confidence interval (CI) 5.95 to 66.21] for both factors compared to neither) and CTLA-4 genes (AOR = 0.31 [95% CI 0.13 to 0.76] for neither factor compared to both). EBV DNA load was lower at higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in controls (r = −0.17, p = 0.01). An adverse effect of higher EBV DNA load on FCD risk was increased with higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration (p[interaction] = 0.02). Conclusion: Past infection with EBV, but not current EBV DNA load in whole blood, is significantly associated with increased FCD risk. These associations appear to be modified by immune-related gene variants.


In this chapter the authors argue for using coproduction as a model for urban resilience, based on a recent collaborative project between planners and researchers. They review the findings of four collaborative workshops of neighborhood-scale climate adaptation, using spatial and statistical analyses, as well as posit the conceptual framework underlying the project's collaborative rationality. Their assessment is from two perspectives: (1) an academic, phenomenological lens; and (2) a pragmatic lens. They argue that, in order to understand resilience, we must first ask the question "Resilience to what and for whom?†To that end, they consider what characterizes those communities that are affected by two major urban environmental hazards, namely air pollution and urban heat, in the city of Portland, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Empirically, the authors explore neighborhood-level exposure to air pollution and extreme heat, as well as these spatially defined communities' physiological sensitivity to the two hazards, and their social capacity to adapt to them. Phenomenologically, the authors argue that this collaboration is an effort in coproduction, encapsulating cooperation between scientific experts and governmental authorities in the production of knowledge toward a socially determined goal in the public interest.


We studied the dynamics of zinc diacrylate (ZDA) reinforced polybutadiene rubber (BR) (ZDA/BR) using the quasielastic neutron scattering technique to determine the effect of concentration of ZDA on polymer dynamics. First, we evaluated the temperature dependence of mean square displacements (〈u2〉) for ZDA/BR with different ZDA volume fractions. 〈u2〉 increased with temperature below 170 K, and we observed no significant ZDA volume fraction dependence. However, it increased more steeply above 170 K, and the value of 〈u2〉 was smaller for the samples with increasing ZDA fraction. To elucidate the origin of the decrease in 〈u2〉 with increasing ZDA content, dynamic scattering laws (S(Q,ω)) were analyzed. An increase in the elastic component, an increase in the mean relaxation time, and a broadening of distribution of relaxation time were observed with the increasing volume fraction of ZDA. In addition, the ZDA volume fraction dependence of the elastic component roughly corresponded to that of elastic modulus, indicating that the elastic component is related to its mechanical strength. Referring to the previously reported static structure of the present ZDA/BR system, a model for the heterogeneous BR dynamics was proposed. This model assumes the coexistence of immobile, mobile, and interfacial constrained mobile regions. It was found to be appropriate for the explanation of the observed dynamics. We proposed that a network-like structure of the BR having a high crosslinking density around ZDA aggregates is mainly responsible for the high elastic modulus of ZDA/BR.


Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring and the caring moment are based in part in the concepts of transpersonal psychology. This paper will provide a historical background around transpersonal psychology and how it relates to Watson's human caring moment. The purpose of explicating these humanities-based concepts is to support nurses and nurse educators in creating a deeper understanding of Watson's caring-healing moment as a time-space continuum, where the nurse's caring supports a mutually created environment for healing. The article provides useful background information, as well as outlining simple steps to revising nursing curricula so that they become supportive of nursing students' growth as transpersonal-caring beings.


The Gaza Strip and West Bank Palestinian Territories are currently under the authority of two different Palestinian governments. Gaza has Hamas, and the West Bank is under the jurisdiction of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the mainstream Fatah party. Palestinian internecine political conflict and ongoing problems in the peace process with Israel prevent any focus by either Hamas or Fatah on the internal legal regime. At some point the situation may stabilize, and Palestine may be able to consider extensive legal reform, including women's rights. In a prior article Hamas, Constitutionalism, and Palestinian Women, 50 HOW. L.J. 479, 513 (2007), we explored what might happen if the government is Islamist in nature. Women's rights are likely to become more based on traditionalist Islamic Shari'a principles. This article speculates on the future of Palestinian women's rights if the government one day decides to take a more secular direction. In that case, we recommend that Palestinians explore the approach adopted by Tunisia. Along with Turkey, Tunisia has taken the most secularized approach to women's rights in the Muslim world. Additionally, many Palestinians are somewhat familiar with the Tunisian experience since the PLO was based there from 1982 to 1994, just prior to moving to the West Bank and Gaza to start the PA. Palestinians have also been considered one of the more secular groups in the Middle East, and might be amenable to secular approaches in the future. Part II of this Article provides some background on the Palestinian legal system with respect to women's rights. Part III first provides an overview of the Tunisian legal system with respect to women's rights. It then compares the Tunisian legal system on selected women's rights issues to the Palestinian system with suggestions to future Palestinian policymakers.


One major objective of the German G20 presidency in 2016/17 was to promote the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are essential to addressing the collective challenges faced by the world. Without G20 countries, these challenges cannot be tackled effectively. Putting the spotlight on the 2030 Agenda in the G20 can generate peer pressure among the world's major economies, initiate fruitful learning processes and contribute to keeping the momentum for transformative change, and achieving the SDGs as well as promoting policy coherence for sustainable development. It is, therefore, commendable that the G20 members, with the adoption of their Action Plan during the Chinese G20 Presidency, are committed to the 2030 Agenda. In this article, we analyse to what extent the German G20 Presidency, building on the achievements of the 2016 Hangzhou Summit, has been successful in leveraging the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and in which ways the G20 was able to make a difference for enhanced global cooperation. The assessment of the German G20 presidency shows that the outcome of the 2017 Hamburg Summit can hardly be considered as a great breakthrough for sustainable development. Yet the Summit does offer opportunities for real progress to promote the implementation of the 2030 Agenda if further action is taken by Member States and the follow-up G20 presidencies on the Hamburg commitments.


Throughout Europe, judicial systems are under an increasing societal and political strain to increase the speed of proceedings, to improve their organisational functioning, and to pay attention to the media and the public. As a consequence European governments have recognized the necessity to invest in their judicial systems, since they perform a growing role in the democratic life and an essential task in upholding the rule of law This difficult challenge of change can not be left only to the juridical professionals that traditionally have the domain on judicial systems. The contribution of public administration scholars will be important to develop a body of knowledge that can endorse this challenge and combine insights from different perspectives. This collection wants to stimulate further developments of public administration studies in the field of justice. These contributions describe various attempts that have been made in the different countries to cope with the increasing political and societal demands to the justice system. They reveal many existing tensions between traditional legal professional values, in particular judicial independence, and pressures to increase productivity and effectiveness of the work of the courts and public prosecutors' offices. Accountability and legitimacy of the courts are at stake here as well. Attention is also being paid to the consequences of the introduction of Information and Communication Technologies in judicial organisations.


Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that contribute to job satisfaction for employed Emirati females in the United Arab Emirates. Survey data were collected from 1272 workers in both private and public sectors in all seven emirates of the UAE. Almost 50% of these women were married, 45% single, 4% divorced and 1% widows. Regression results indicated three prominent factors that enhance job satisfaction--age, education, and income. There is a positive significant relationship between job satisfaction and age. Second, employed females with education beyond the secondary level are more satisfied with their jobs than those with less than the secondary level (p-values less than 0.05). Third, the employed females with high incomes are more satisfied with their jobs than those who earn less (p-value = 0.034). Keywords: women's job satisfaction, United Arab Emirates, women in United Arab Emirates Introduction The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the fastest growing economies in the Middle East. It is often described as an open society compared to other countries in the Gulf region, one where women have more freedom. The recent 2010 World Economic Forum annual gender gap index ranked UAE at 103 of 134 countries, making it the region's best-placed nation. Kuwait was next at 105th, followed by Bahrain at 110th, Qatar 117th, Oman 122nd, Saudi Arabia 129th and Yemen last at 134th. (http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Gender%20Gap/index.htm). A leading global management consulting firm Booz & Company (2010) reported women's participation rate in the UAE (59%) is the highest among the other neighboring countries: far ahead of Qatar's 36.4%, Bahrain's 34.3%, and Saudi Arabia's 14.4%. Earlier, the UAE 2005 census reported women account for 49.3 percent of the national population; and that their participation in the country's business community has grown steadily from 5.2% in 2002 to 7.3% in 2003, 9.1% in 2004, 13.5% in 2005, and 14.7% as of 2006 (Al Gurg, 2006). This progressive change is explained in part by the increase in educational achievements and the society's relative evolving attitude towards women working outside the home. More than 90% of the respondents strongly belief or to some extend strongly agree that the society's attitude is positive towards working women, Although working women contribute about US$3.4 billion to the UAE's economy (Glass, 2007), their average number is nonetheless small compared to the overall labor force. This is due to a number of factors, such as companies' restrictions on the numbers of females employed; many women lead by conservative cultural attitudes; restriction on women's geographic mobility; limitations in career and occupational choices leading to take the option to marry and stay home to raise children. In addition, within the culture of the UAE certain kinds of jobs are considered inappropriate or undesirable for females, such as work in the hotel industry and nursing. In striking contrast to worldwide demographics of the health care industry; only 3% of the total numbers of nurses working in Ministry of Health (MOH) facilities (Nelson, 2004; EL-Haddad, 2006) are female. For El-Haddad (2006) the low status of nursing in the UAE is due to the "variations in basic nursing programmes in the country; the lack of Arabic educational resources; the affluent life style of UAE nationals as well as the strict cultural norms; and religious values by which they live". It is reasonable to infer cultural factors are largely responsible for slowing down the speed of employment of Emirati females in the UAE; usually social values take longer to change to catch up with the speed of the economic development (Gallant et al, 2008). There is growing research interest about almost all issues conceding working women in the Arab region, and in particular in the UAE about the phenomenon of women working outside their homes. …


We propose a general framework for the design of securities markets over combinatorial or infinite state or outcome spaces. The framework enables the design of computationally efficient markets tailored to an arbitrary, yet relatively small, space of securities with bounded payoff. We prove that any market satisfying a set of intuitive conditions must price securities via a convex cost function, which is constructed via conjugate duality. Rather than deal with an exponentially large or infinite outcome space directly, our framework only requires optimization over a convex hull. By reducing the problem of automated market making to convex optimization, where many efficient algorithms exist, we arrive at a range of new polynomial-time pricing mechanisms for various problems. We demonstrate the advantages of this framework with the design of some particular markets. We also show that by relaxing the convex hull we can gain computational tractability without compromising the market institution's bounded budget. Although our framework was designed with the goal of deriving efficient automated market makers for markets with very large outcome spaces, this framework also provides new insights into the relationship between market design and machine learning, and into the complete market setting. Using our framework, we illustrate the mathematical parallels between cost-function-based markets and online learning and establish a correspondence between cost-function-based markets and market scoring rules for complete markets.


Influential theories of law have celebrated judicial reason- giving as furthering a host of democratic values, including judges' accountability, citizens' participation in adjudication, and a more accurate and transparent decision-making process. This Article has two main purposes. First, it argues that although reason- giving is important, it is often in tension with other values of the judicial process, such as guidance, sincerity, and efficiency. Reason-giving must, therefore, be balanced against these competing values. In other words, judges sometimes have reasons not to give reasons. Second, contrary to common intuition, common law and civil law systems deal with this tension between reasons for and against reason-giving in increasingly similar ways.By combining theories of democratic legitimacy with empirical, doctrinal, and historical evidence of judges' concrete reason-giving practices in the United States and Europe, the Article argues that rather than being in opposition, these two legal cultures are converging toward a common methodology. No longer can it be assumed that civil law judges and common law judges are on opposite ends of the spectrum.


The present study is aimed at investigation of the microstructural quality of the joint achieved in low alloyed carbon steels. Two steels were used here, C45 (C 0.45%) and 42CrMo4 steel (1%Cr, 0.45%C) with a pure copper foil as the braze material. The experiments were conducted at 1100 °C in an inert gas environment. The results show good wettability and joint formation observed between the substrates. Dissolution of steel grain boundary by copper and the immediate grain separation were observed at the interface. Grooving of the grain boundaries and subsequent channel formation filled with liquid copper was achieved as evident from SEM-EDS micrographs. Besides the microstructure of the joint, penetration depth is also measured as function of time. Depth of penetration is seen varying as function of cube root of holding time


This thesis investigates whether or not changes in a country's government debt could affect its domestic stock market performance. The relationship is investigated by examining three different European countries, Germany, Portugal and Sweden, on the basis of two variables; (1) quarterly government debt changes as a percentage of gross domestic product and (2) the quarterly stock market changes over the time period2000:Q2 – 2011:Q2. The evidence is presented with help of Ordinary Least Square Method and Granger Causality test for each respective country. According to the Efficient Market Hypothesis, stock market prices should fully reflect all relevant information, e.g. government debt changes, as soon as they occur, without any delay, if the market is efficient. Past information should be insignificant and therefore not affect the stock market prices in an efficient market. In the cases of Sweden and Germany, the results proved to be ambiguous and thus do not allow for either rejection or acceptance of the Efficient Market Hypothesis with respect to government debt changes. However, some support was found in the case of Germany since the government debt changes and the stock market performance were instantaneously correlated. The empirical results presented in this thesis further allowed for the assumption that Portugal was not able to efficiently capture changes in the debt levels without any delay. This indicates that the Efficient Market Hypothesis can be rejected in regards for Portugal with respect to government debt changes. Furthermore, since the Portuguese stock market performance was not able to capture efficiently changes in the government debt level, it hence could possibly mislead the direction of the economy when looking into the stock prices to determine economic conditions. Moreover, the results imply that each country faces different relationships between the variables and that the relationships possibly could depend on the economic health of a country.


The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains two known phosphoinositide 4-kinases (PI 4-kinases), which are encoded by PIK1 and STT4; both are essential. Pik1p is important for exocytic transport from the Golgi, whereas Stt4p plays a role in cell-wall integrity and cytoskeletal rearrangements. In the present study, we report that cells have a third PI 4-kinase activity encoded by LSB6, a protein identified previously in a two-hybrid screen as interacting with LAS17p. Although Pik1p and Stt4p are closely related members of the Type III class of PI 4-kinases, Lsb6p belongs to the distinct Type II class, based on its amino acid sequence, its sensitivity to inhibition by adenosine and its insensitivity to wortmannin. Lsb6p is the first fungal Type II enzyme cloned. The protein was expressed and purified from Sf9 cells and used to define kinetic parameters. As commonly observed for surface-active enzymes, activities varied both with substrate concentration and lipid/detergent molar ratios. Maximal activities of approx. 100 min(-1) were obtained at the PI/Triton X-100 ratio of 1:5. The K (m) value for ATP was 266 microM, intermediate between the values reported for mammalian Type II and III kinases. Epitope-tagged protein, expressed in yeast, was entirely particulate, and about half of it could be extracted with non-ionic detergent. Lsb6p-green fluorescent protein was found both on vacuolar membranes and on the plasma membrane, suggesting a role in endocytic or exocytic pathways.


This thesis questions the fundamentals and modes characterising the European architects' way of looking at Japanese architecture and garden art between 1870 and 1940. It establishes the corpus of the major writings and of other texts published by their Occidental and Japanese contemporaries in English, French and German. We analyse the writings' major issues, outstanding specifics and realisations. We detect and describe the creation of a modern Japan-ness through the writings of four major protagonists. Firstly, Josiah Conder was professor of Architectural History and Theory at Tokyo Imperial College and later considered as the "father of modern architecture" in Japan. We discuss his articles and books, published between 1877 and 1893, as being inaugural as well as forerunners of Japan-ness. Between 1903 and 1910, the architect Chuta Ito and the art historian Kakuzo Okakura gave its premises in their publications. The engineer Franz Baltzer as well as the architects Ralph A. Cram and Frank Lloyd Wright confirmed some of these ideas in their books published between 1903 and 1912. Secondly, we study writings from an architect who never traveled to Japan : Robert Mallet-Stevens. His articles, written in France from 1911 et 1913, were an indirect reference to Conder's articles. Thirdly, we analyse the theoretical and innovative works published by Bruno Taut between 1924 and 1937. We look at the way in which he valued and consolidated an intercultural Japan-ness. We question the existence of a Japan-ness in garden arts' writings. We establish how his contemporaries spread Japan-ness specificities : the architects Wajiro Kon, Koji Fujii, Tetsuro Yoshida, Sutemi Horiguchi, Wells Coates, Richard Neutra and Antonin Raymond, the art historian Jiro Harada, the landscape designers – Tsuyoshi Tamura, Percy. S. Cane et Christopher Tunnard –, and the writer Jun'ichiro Tanizaki. We identify which specificities had already been defined by Ito, Kon and Horiguchi before Taut validation. Fourthly, Charlotte Perriand confirmed this established modern Japan-ness as a source of inspiration with her notes taken during her stay in Japan between 1940 and 1941. The thesis chronicles the impact of her notes onto some of her realisations in Japan and later in France. Thanks to this comparative analysis of texts, the thesis argues that the European gaze towards Japan is reflecting its preoccupations towards justifications for its own architectural development. This gaze is also orientated by the interests of the Japanese themselves. These are looking for an international recognition of their traditional architecture. We describe then how Japan-ness is created through writings and how it works as an appropriation of modernity enabling Japanese architecture to step in an avant-garde role. This creation follows two stages. The first one is a process of distinction from Asian architecture by identification and reinforcement of Japanese specifics. At its core lies the discourse upon the differences of the Japanese shintoist and zen soul. The second one is a process of sorting out common specificities with Western avant-garde ones. This time, the discourse concerns abstract similarities. The whole set of Japan-ness specificities defines an intercultural architecture which distinguishes itself both from Japonisme and from Occidentalisme. Lastly, the results show the profits gained by this European gaze and taken into account in their own architecture.


The ARRA stimulus package was designed to spur economic and employment growth in response to a deepening U.S. recession and the weakened fiscal conditions of many state governments. An analysis of the local allocation of ARRA funds shows that the $35 billion of stimulus spending in New York was relatively concentrated in expanded funding for Medicaid, while a large share of the $12 billion allocated to New Jersey went to extending unemployment insurance benefits. While ARRA funding supplemented tax revenues in both states in fiscal years 2010 and 2011, the program's spending components are winding down, and New York and New Jersey can no longer rely on these federal transfers when preparing their budgets.


This article shows that women's rising earnings contributed to reducing inequality in household earnings, with respect to couples. We use data from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) on 1,148,762 coupled households, covering 18 OECD countries and the period from 1973 to 2013. In this period, women's share of household earnings grew, spouses' earnings became more strongly and positively correlated in various countries, and inequality in women's earnings was reduced. Inequality in household earnings increased due to the rising correlation between spouses' earnings, but was reduced more by the decline of inequality in women's earnings. Had women's earnings remained unchanged since the 1970s and 1980s, inequality in household earnings would have been higher around 2010 in all observed OECD countries. Household inequality was reduced least by trends in women's earnings in countries with a long history of high female labor-force participation, such as Finland (3% reduction) and Sweden (5%), and most in countries that observed a stronger increase in female labor-force participation in recent decades such as Spain (31%) and the Netherlands (41%). As more countries are reaching a plateau in the growth of women's employment and earnings, the potential for further stimulating women's employment and earnings to counter both women's and household inequality seems to be increasingly limited.


Introduction Long-term stability of therapeutic candidates is necessary toward their clinical applications. For most nanoparticle systems formulated in aqueous solutions, lyophilization or freeze-drying is a common method to ensure long-term stability. While lyophilization of lipid, polymeric, or inorganic nanoparticles have been studied, little has been reported on lyophilization and stability of hybrid nanoparticle systems, consisting of polymers, inorganic particles, and antibody. Lyophilization of complex nanoparticle systems can be challenging with respect to preserving physicochemical properties and the biological activities of the materials. We recently reported an effective small-interfering RNA (siRNA) nanoparticle carrier consisting of 50-nm mesoporous silica nanoparticles decorated with a copolymer of polyethylenimine and polyethyleneglycol, and antibody. Materials and methods Toward future personalized medicine, the nanoparticle carriers were lyophilized alone and loaded with siRNA upon reconstitution by a few minutes of simple mixing in phosphate-buffered saline. Herein, we optimize the lyophilization of the nanoparticles in terms of buffers, lyoprotectants, reconstitution, and time and temperature of freezing and drying steps, and monitor the physical and chemical properties (reconstitution, hydrodynamic size, charge, and siRNA loading) and biological activities (gene silencing, cancer cell killing) of the materials after storing at various temperatures and times. Results The material was best formulated in Tris-HCl buffer with 5% w/w trehalose. Freezing step was performed at −55°C for 3 h, followed by a primary drying step at −40°C (100 µBar) for 24 h and a secondary drying step at 20°C (20 µBar) for 12 h. The lyophilized material can be stored stably for 2 months at 4°C and at least 6 months at −20°C. Conclusion We successfully developed the lyophilization process that should be applicable to other similar nanoparticle systems consisting of inorganic nanoparticle cores modified with cationic polymers, PEG, and antibodies.


"Out of Sight, Out of Mind": Examining the Association Between Geographic Distance and the Likelihood of Cheating Krista Joy Dowdle Department of Psychology, BYU Master of Science Distance from a partner can put a strain on romantic relationships, especially when one is surrounded by attractive alternatives, as is often the case when moving away to college. Long distance relationships are often associated with increased stress, less relationship stability, and lower levels of relationship satisfaction. Distance may also be associated with cheating on one's romantic partner. The few studies that have examined cheating behavior in college students have found an increase in cheating over a very short, non-representative interval of time when partners were separated (e.g, spring break) but did not control for important variables such as alcohol use or relationship satisfaction. We were interested in determining if these effects could be replicated over a longer, more representative period of time (a full college semester). We examined whether distance predicted cheating among college students in committed relationships while accounting for relationship satisfaction and binge drinking, variables likely to play a role in cheating behavior. Using a large, aggregated sample (N=1,333) of college students in exclusive dating relationships, 10% percent of respondents reported physical cheating, 15% reported emotional cheating, and 6% reported both. Being 11-200 miles from a romantic partner was associated with a 31% increased likelihood of physical cheating compared to those in the same city as their partner. However, being 200+ miles from a romantic partner was associated with a slight reduction in the likelihood of physical cheating. There were no significant difference in the rates of cheating between men and women in our sample; however, these effects were moderated by gender such that distance was only related to an increased likelihood of physical cheating for women. For emotional cheating, distance was associated with an increased likelihood of cheating for both men and women. These results suggest that there is a distance danger zone for college students. Being in the same town and being very far away are associated with less likelihood of physical or emotional cheating than being in a middle zone in which your partner is around 100 miles away. Perhaps because those who have chosen to continue a relationship while living across the country are very committed to their partner, whereas living within driving distance but not the same city creates conditions that make cheating more likely.


AIM
Symptomatic late-onset hypogonadism is associated not only with a decline in serum testosterone, but also with a rise in serum estradiol. These endocrine changes negatively affect libido, sexual function, mood, behavior, lean body mass, and bone density. Currently, the most common treatment is exogenous testosterone therapy. This treatment can be associated with skin irritation, gynecomastia, nipple tenderness, testicular atrophy, and decline in sperm counts. In this study we investigated the efficacy of clomiphene citrate in the treatment of hypogonadism with the objectives of raising endogenous serum testosterone (T) and improving the testosterone/estrogen (T/E) ratio.

METHODS
Our cohort consisted of 36 Caucasian men with hypogonadism defined as serum testosterone level less than 300 ng/dL. Each patient was treated with a daily dose of 25 mg clomiphene citrate and followed prospectively. Analysis of baseline and follow-up serum levels of testosterone and estradiol levels were performed.

RESULTS
The mean age was 39 years, and the mean pretreatment testosterone and estrogen levels were 247.6 +/- 39.8 ng/dL and 32.3 +/- 10.9, respectively. By the first follow-up visit (4-6 weeks), the mean testosterone level rose to 610.0 +/- 178.6 ng/dL (P < 0.00001). Moreover, the T/E ratio improved from 8.7 to 14.2 (P < 0.001). There were no side effects reported by the patients.

CONCLUSIONS
Low dose clomiphene citrate is effective in elevating serum testosterone levels and improving the testosterone/estradiol ratio in men with hypogonadism. This therapy represents an alternative to testosterone therapy by stimulating the endogenous androgen production pathway.


In many applications, the specular highlight presence is disruptive information. Its removal strongly depends on the effectiveness of its detection. In this paper, we propose a new method for detecting specular highlight. This method is generic and is based on automatic thresholding. The determination of the threshold is done algorithmically. It is based on the exploitation of the L* component of the CIELab colour space and the exponential function. The exponential function creates a gap between the brightest pixels and the other pixels. The experimental results show the effectiveness of our detection method on images of different nature.


It has been reported that second language learners' proficiency development is associated with their recognition and use of various learning strategies. The present study sets out to examine Korean university students' awareness and enactment of L2 English reading strategies with a focus on whether and to what extent their metacognitive awareness and actual use of strategies differ. On the assumption that a triangulated study is necessary to obtain more reliable data, questionnaire surveys, think-aloud tasks, and retrospective interviews were administered to 38 students at different proficiency levels. The results show that there are substantial differences between self-reported awareness measures and actual strategy use as a function of proficiency level. Most notably, intermediate-level students are apparently aware of a wider range of strategies than advanced and lower-level students, but they do not seem to make use of them as effectively as advanced students do. Think-aloud tasks and interviews further affirm that advanced students are capable of using a select set of strategies in a more automatized and personalized way.


Trade has played a critical role in global poverty reduction. In harnessing the potential of trade, some of the most successful countries have developed strong trade relationships with their neighbors. However, many South Asian countries have trade regimes that often offset the positive impact of geography and proximity. The report documents systematically the gaps between current and potential trade in South Asia and addresses important specific barriers that have held trade back. These barriers include tariffs and paratariffs, real and perceived nontariff barriers, connectivity costs, and the broader trust deficit. This policy-focused report unpacks these critical barriers to effective trade integration in South Asia through four in-depth studies that produce new, detailed, on-the-ground knowledge. Three of the studies are based on extensive stakeholder consultations. Two also rely on tailored surveys. The fourth study, on tariffs, benefits from new data on paratariffs. The report also marshals new evidence showing how trading regimes in South Asia discriminate against each other. Given the South Asian context, incremental, yet concrete steps aimed at tapping the potential of deeper integration are appropriate. The report has been drafted in this spirit. It offers precise, actionable policy recommendations that could help achieve measurable progress in key areas of trade and integration that would be to the advantage of all countries in the region.


This volume investigates how Jesuits reflected visually and verbally on the status and functions of the imago, between the foundation of the order in 1540 and its suppression in 1773, in rhetorical and emblematic treatises, theoretical debates, and embedded in various instances where Jesuit authors and artists implicitely explored the status and functions of images.


Certifiable Software Applications 1: Main Processes is dedicated to the establishment of quality assurance and safety assurance. It establishes the context for achieving a certifiable software application. In it, the author covers recent developments such as the module, component and product line approach. Applicable standards are presented and security principles are described and discussed. Finally, the requirements for mastering quality and configuration are explained. In this book the reader will find the fundamental practices from the field and an introduction to the concept of software application. Presents the fundamental practices from the field Emphasizes the development of quality assurance and safety assurance Introduces the concept of software application Covers recent developments such as module, component, and the product line approach


Only a few decades ago, we were ready to declare victory over infectious diseases. Today, infectious diseases are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality throughout the world. This book examines the epidemiology and social impact of past and present infectious disease epidemics in the developing and developed world. In the introduction, the authors define global health as a discipline, justify its critical importance in the modern era, and introduce the Millennium Development Goals, which have become critical targets for most of the developing world. The first half of the volume provides an epidemiological overview, exploring early and contemporary perspectives on disease and disease control. An analysis of nutrition, water, and sanitation anchors the discussion of basic human needs. Specific diseases representing both"loud" and "silent" emergencies are investigated within broader structures of ecological and biological health such as economics, education, state infrastructure, culture, and personal liberty. The authors also examine antibiotic resistance, AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and pandemic influenza, and offer an epilogue on diseases of affluence, which now threaten citizens of countries both rich and poor. A readable guide to specific diseases, richly contextualized in environment and geography, this book will be used by health professionals in all disciplines interested in global health and its history and as a textbook in university courses on global health.


AbstractThose working in experimental philosophy have raised a number of arguments against the use of conceptual analysis in philosophical inquiries. But they have typically focused on a model that pursues conceptual analysis by taking intuitions as a kind of (defeasible) evidence for philosophical hypotheses. Little attention has been given to the constitutivist alternative, which sees metaphysical modal facts as reflections of constitutive semantic rules. i begin with a brief overview of the constitutivist approach and argue that we can defend a role for conceptual analysis, so understood, in ontological disputes against both the general skepticism about the relevance of intuitions, and against the specific worries raised by experimental results. Finally, i argue that even if the constitutivist view is adopted, experimental philosophy may still have quite a useful role to play, though purely empirical inquiries cannot in principle do the ontological work alone.What are the proper methods for attempting to resolve ontological and modal disputes-taken as disputes about what ontological sorts of thing entities of various kinds (properties, numbers, statues, symphonies) are, what their existence and persistence conditions are, and so forth? To what extent are these questions resolvable at all?One venerable method of approaching such questions-pursued in ordinary language philosophy and (arguably) phenomenology-is to go by way of conceptual analysis, considering, for example, whether a variety of actual and hypothetical cases would be situations in which a symphony was created or the same person survived.1 Although conceptual analysis became less popular in neo-Quinean metaphysics, there have been several recent attempts at reviving and defending conceptual analysis as a method for ontology (Jackson 1998, Chalmers and Jackson 2001, Thomasson 2007, McGinn 2011). But conceptual analysis, as a method for doing work in philosophy, has come under fire. Some have raised a sort of blanket skepticism that our intuitions-whether we find out about them through introspective means, or through the empirical methods pursued by 'positive' programs in experimental philosophy-can tell us anything about mind-external features of the world (see Pust and Goldman 1998,179; Knobe and Nichols 2008, 6). More specifically, those engaged in a 'negative' program in experimental philosophy have found evidence of certain types of variations in people's intuitive judgments which, they argue, undermines the idea that conceptual analysis may play a useful role in philosophical inquiry-or at least (what is often taken to be the same idea) undermines the idea that intuitions can count as evidence in philosophical debates.In this paper I address a number of objections to the idea that conceptual analysis may give us philosophical knowledge. For simplicity, I will focus just on disputes that arise in ontology, regarding the natures, existence, identity, and persistence conditions of things of various sorts. Those arguing against conceptual analysis have typically focused on a model that pursues conceptual analysis by taking intuitions as a kind of (defeasible) evidence for philosophical hypotheses. Little attention has been given to an alternative model of conceptual analysis, which we might call the 'constitutivist approach', which sees constitutive semantic rules as determining the modal features of the objects, if any, to which we refer. I have argued for and defended the constitutivist view elsewhere (though not under that name)2 and I will not have space to argue for it again here. Instead, the current project is a defensive one.In section 1,1 will give a brief overview of the constitutivist approach and its consequences for methodology in ontology. In sections 2-4, I argue that we can defend a role for conceptual analysis, so understood, in specifically ontological disputes against both the general skepticism about the relevance of intuitions and against the specific worries raised by experimental results. …


This article takes the theme of metadiscourse across genres as a point of departure. To illustrate variation in the use of metadiscourse, reflexive uses of second person "you" are examined in different genres and discourse types, all of which represent academic discourse. The material includes university lectures, research articles, advanced university student essays and teacher feedback on student writing. The data is analysed both quantitatively, taking frequency into consideration, and qualitatively, taking discourse function into consideration. The extended units in which "you" occurs are compared across genres and discourse types to highlight the considerable variability of metadiscursive uses. One of the implications of the variation found— which was brought to the fore especially through the study of teacher feedback—is that our conceptualisations of metadiscourse are overly influenced by the type of data that have been in focus in research to date: highly visible written genres at the highly monologic end of the continuum. The metadiscourse in teacher feedback was found to be primarily about solving communication problems rather than organising the discourse and telling the reader how to respond to it. In fact, the feedback material is congruous with Roman Jakobson's original conceptualisation of the metalinguistic function as solving communication problems.


We examine intergenerational mobility in the very long run, across generations that are six centuries apart. We exploit a unique dataset containing detailed information at the individual level for all people living in the Italian city of Florence in 1427. These individuals have been associated, using their surnames, with their pseudo-descendants living in Florence in 2011. We find that long run earnings elasticity is about 0.04; we also find an even stronger role for real wealth inheritance and evidence of persistence in belonging to certain elite professions. Our results are confirmed when we account for the quality of the pseudo-links and when we address the potential selectivity bias due to the differential survival rates across families. We argue that the quasi-immobility of pre-industrial society and the positional advantages in the access to certain professions might explain (in part) the long-lasting effects of ancestors' socioeconomic status.


Background Sponsorship of Formula One (F1) motor racing, which has been used as an indirect medium of tobacco advertising for several decades, was prohibited by the 2005 European Union Tobacco Advertising Directive. Most F1 tobacco sponsorship of motor racing in the EU has since ceased, with the exception of the Scuderia Ferrari team, which continues to be funded by Philip Morris. In 2007, the Marlboro logo on Ferrari cars and other race regalia was replaced by an evolving 'barcode' design, which Ferrari later claimed was part of the livery of the car, and not a Marlboro advertisement. Objective To determine whether the 'barcode' graphics used by Ferrari represent 'alibi' Marlboro advertising. Methods Academic and grey literature, and online tobacco industry document archives, were searched using terms relevant to tobacco marketing and motorsport. Results Tobacco sponsorship of F1 motor racing began in 1968, and Philip Morris has sponsored F1 teams since 1972. Phillip Morris first used a 'barcode' design, comprising red vertical parallel lines below the word Marlboro on the British Racing Motors F1 car in 1972. Vertical or horizontal 'barcode' designs have been used in this way, latterly without the word Marlboro, ever since. The modern 'barcode' logos occupied the same position on cars and drivers' clothing as conventional Marlboro logos in the past. The shared use of red colour by Marlboro and Ferrari is also recognised by Philip Morris as a means of promoting brand association between Marlboro and Ferrari. Conclusion The Ferrari 'barcode' designs are alibi Marlboro logos and hence constitute advertising prohibited by the 2005 EU Tobacco Advertising Directive.


Context. The process of urban sprawl brings the human population and their domestic cats (Felis catus) in close contact with wildlife in areas that were previously remote, including reserves and conservation areas created to protect populations of vulnerable or threatened species. Various mitigation measures have been proposed, including devices designed to hinder cat hunting ability, desexing to reduce wandering and nuisance behaviours, containment at night or at all times and regulations governing cat ownership. Such regulations may aim to reduce cat densities by limiting the number of cats per household, or they may define zones around sensitive conservation areas where cat ownership is prohibited. Aims. The present study sought to establish the necessary size of cat-exclusion zones in rural and urban-fringe landscapes where vulnerable prey species may also reside. Methods. With GPS collars, we tracked 38 domestic cats at three sites (one rural, two urban fringe) where small reserves contained threatened lizard species. Key results. Home ranges (95% kernel density estimates) were considerably larger for cats at the rural site (0.3–69 ha) than at urban-fringe sites (0.35–19 ha at Kaitorete Spit and 0.2–9 ha at Otago Peninsula), and were larger at night than day. Resource selection ratios indicated avoidance of open areas with little cover, such as cultivated areas (farmland), tussock grassland and duneland, whereas sources of cover such as trees and buildings were preferred. Maximum distances moved and large variability between individual cats suggest buffers in rural landscapes would need to be at least 2.4 km wide, whereas those in urban-fringe habitat could be half as large. Conclusions. Despite significant home-range size differences exhibited by cats living in rural v. urban-fringe habitats, exclusion zones would need to be wide to account for considerable inter-cat variation in movement behaviour. Implications. The size of an effective cat-exclusion zone should represent the specific landscape, amount of residential development and substantial variability between individual cats.


The image resolution of computed tomography (CT) scan system can be affected by numbers of factors such as collimator material, collimator design, stopping power of detector and scatter photons rejection and/or correction technique. The scatter photons are one of the major sources of background noise that can immensely degrade the image quality of the CT system. The image quality, in turn, affects the discrimination and identification performance of the system especially in the case of dual-energy CT systems for material decomposition. Therefore, for material identification, acquisition of raw data with minimal noise is of immense importance. In this simulation study, the performance of two types of collimators was evaluated to come up with a better collimator design for background noise compression. Both collimators were made of tungsten with similar length of 30 mm but with different hole shapes (fan and parallel). In both cases, results suggest that there is a clear improvement in terms of spatial resolution. In a comparison of grids structure, fan grid performed slightly better than parallel for most of the cases. The peak-to-valley (PV) ratio for 122 keV gamma radiation source improved on average ∼0.16 (16%) and ∼0.23 (23%) for fan collimator and parallel collimator respectively. For 60 keV gamma source, the improvements were ∼0.14 (14%) and ∼0.17 (17%) respectively. Thus, from the results, it can be concluded that fan grid collimator can provide superior performance compared to parallel grid collimator.


Applications of copper nanoparticles (NPs) are restricted due to their proneness to oxidation by ambient oxygen if not properly protected. Here we discuss the optical properties and application potential of copper NPs covered by a thin oxide layer. Considering Cu@Cu2O core–shell type structures with different core size and shell thicknesses, linear optical properties of surface-oxidized copper NPs have been studied theoretically. Contrary to common perception, it has been demonstrated that surface-oxidized copper NPs have certain advantages for plasmonic applications. While the position of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) can be fine-tuned by varying the thickness of the oxide layer, their plasmonic response can be enhanced (SPR intensity gain up to 30%) by adjusting the thickness of the oxide layer.


ADORA2A has been shown to be responsible for the wakefulness-promoting effect of caffeine and the 1976T>C genotype (SNP rs5751876, formerly 1083T>C) to contribute to individual sensitivity to caffeine effects on sleep. We investigate the association between six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) from ADORA2A and self-reported sleep characteristics and caffeine consumption in 1023 active workers of European ancestry aged 18–60 years. Three groups of caffeine consumers were delineated: low (0–50 mg/day, less than one expresso per day), moderate (51–300 mg/day), and high (>300 mg/day). We found that at caffeine levels higher than 300 mg/day, total sleep time (TST) decreased (F = 13.9, p < 0.01), with an increase of insomnia (ORa [95%CI] = 1.5 [1.1–1.9]) and sleep complaints (ORa [95%CI] = 1.9 [1.1–3.3]), whatever the ADORA2A polymorphism. Odds ratios were adjusted (ORa) for sex, age, and tobacco. However, in low caffeine consumers, lower TST was observed in the T allele compared to homozygote rs5751876 and rs3761422 C carriers. Conversely, higher TST was observed in rs2298383 T allele compared to C and in rs4822492G allele compared to the homozygote C (p < 0.05). These 4 SNPs are in strong linkage disequilibrium. Haplotype analysis confirmed the influence of multiple ADORA2a SNPs on TST. In addition, the rs2298383 T and rs4822492 G alleles were associated with higher risk of sleep complaints (Ora = 1.9 [1.2–3.1] and Ora = 1.5 [1.1–2.1]) and insomnia (Ora = 1.5 [1.3–2.5] and Ora = 1.9 [1.3–3.2). The rs5751876 T allele was associated with a decreased risk of sleep complaints (Ora = 0.7 [0.3–0.9]) and insomnia (Ora = 0.5 [0.3–0.9]). Our results identified ADORA2A polymorphism influences in the less-than-300-mg-per-day caffeine consumers. This opens perspectives on the diagnosis and pharmacology of sleep complaints and caffeine chronic consumption.


Ecological investigations are increasingly focusing on the activities by which biota structure their ecosystems. Understanding the effects of hyperbenthic organisms on sediment dy- namics is expected to provide new insights into estuarine processes. The estuarine mysid Neomysis integer (Leach) occurs in large numbers at the turbidity maximum in the upper reaches of European estuaries, where it feeds from surface sediments. This study assesses the impact of mysid feeding behaviour on sediment stability, and the potential role of N. integer as an 'ecosystem engineer'. Cores of natural, undisturbed sediment were taken from the upper intertidal area of the Tamar Estuary (UK) and placed in a laboratory-based annular flume. Mysids were placed in the flume and left overnight to feed and to interact with the sediment. The following day, the sediment was subjected to increas- ing water current velocities (0.05 to 0.45 m s -1 ), and suspended particulate matter (SPM) was mea- sured via an optical back-scatter probe. Overnight feeding by mysids increased the amount of SPM: 3000 mysids in the flume (18 000 ind. m -2 ) caused nearly 150 g sediment m -2 to be suspended, while 180 ind. m -2 resuspended 2 g m -2 ; on an individual basis, resuspension of sediment was most inten- sive at a mysid density of 600 ind. m -2 . In control sediments without mysids, resuspension was negli- gible. Mysid feeding behaviour de-stabilised the surface sediment, enhancing erosion rates. Thresh- old shear-stress for erosion (τe) decreased from 0.15 N m -2 at 600 mysids m -2 to 0.05 N m -2 at 18 000 mysids m -2 . These τe values are equivalent to current velocities of 0.29 and 0.15 m s -1 , respec- tively. It seems likely that, besides feeding in the turbidity maximum of estuaries, N. integer actually contributes to the turbidity maximum itself. Furthermore, because N. integer occurs at high densities (90 000 mysids m -3 in the present study), it is predicted to play an important role in sediment dynamics and should be considered in models of sediment transport in upper estuaries.


In saturation diving, divers stay under pressure until most of their tissues are saturated with breathing gas. Divers spend a long time in isolation exposed to increased partial pressure of oxygen, potentially toxic gases, bacteria, and bubble formation during decompression combined with shift work and long periods of relative inactivity. Hyperoxia may lead to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that interact with cell structures, causing damage to proteins, lipids, and nucleic acid. Vascular gas-bubble formation and hyperoxia may lead to dysfunction of the endothelium. The antioxidant status of the diver is an important mechanism in the protection against injury and is influenced both by diet and genetic factors. The factors mentioned above may lead to production of heat shock proteins (HSP) that also may have a negative effect on endothelial function. On the other hand, there is a great deal of evidence that HSPs may also have a "conditioning" effect, thus protecting against injury. As people age, their ability to produce antioxidants decreases. We do not currently know the capacity for antioxidant defense, but it is reasonable to assume that it has a limit. Many studies have linked ROS to disease states such as cancer, insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, and atherosclerosis as well as to old age. However, ROS are also involved in a number of protective mechanisms, for instance immune defense, antibacterial action, vascular tone, and signal transduction. Low-grade oxidative stress can increase antioxidant production. While under pressure, divers change depth frequently. After such changes and at the end of the dive, divers must follow procedures to decompress safely. Decompression sickness (DCS) used to be one of the major causes of injury in saturation diving. Improved decompression procedures have significantly reduced the number of reported incidents; however, data indicate considerable underreporting of injuries. Furthermore, divers who are required to return to the surface quickly are under higher risk of serious injury as no adequate decompression procedures for such situations are available. Decompression also leads to the production of endothelial microparticles that may reduce endothelial function. As good endothelial function is a documented indicator of health that can be influenced by regular exercise, regular physical exercise is recommended for saturation divers. Nowadays, saturation diving is a reasonably safe and well controlled method for working under water. Until now, no long-term impact on health due to diving has been documented. However, we still have limited knowledge about the pathophysiologic mechanisms involved. In particular we know little about the effect of long exposure to hyperoxia and microparticles on the endothelium.


Climate change will intensify water scarcity, and therefore irrigation must be adapted to save water. Operational tools that provide watering recommendations to end-users are needed. This work presents a new tool, Irrigation-Advisor (IA), which is based on weather forecasts and is able to separately determine soil evaporation and crop transpiration, and thus is adaptable to a broad range of agricultural situations. By calculating several statistical indicators, IA was tested against the FAO-56 crop evapotranspiration (ETcFAO) methodology using local crop coefficients. Additionally, IA recommendations were compared with current standard practices by experienced farmers (F). Six field experiments with four widely cultivated species (endive, lettuce, muskmelon and potato) were performed in Southeast Spain. Irrigation water applied, crop yield, aboveground biomass and water productivity were determined. Crop water needs underestimations (5%–20%) were detected when comparing IA against ETcFAO, although the index of agreement proved reasonable adjustments. The IA recommendations led to water savings up to 13% when compared to F, except for lettuce, with a 31% surplus in irrigation when using IA. Crop yield was not compromised and water productivity was increased by IA. Therefore, IA mimicked the farmers′ irrigation strategies fairly well without deploying sensors on-site. Nevertheless, improvements are needed for increasing the accuracy of IA estimations.


We present a method to include colour-suppressed effects in the Mueller dipole picture. The model consistently includes saturation effects both in the evolution of dipoles and in the interactions of dipoles with a target in a frame-independent way. When implemented in a Monte Carlo simulation together with our previous model of energy-momentum conservation and a simple dipole description of initial state protons and virtual photons, the model is able to reproduce to a satisfactory degree both the gamma*p cross sections as measured at HERA as well as the total pp cross section all the way from ISR energies to the Tevatron and beyond.


Direct chemical dynamics simulations, at collision energies Erel of 0.32 and 1.53 eV, were performed to obtain an atomistic understanding of the F(-) + CH3I reaction dynamics. There is only the F(-) + CH3I → CH3F + I(-) bimolecular nucleophilic substitution SN2 product channel at 0.32 eV. Increasing Erel to 1.53 eV opens the endothermic F(-) + CH3I → HF + CH2I(-) proton transfer reaction, which is less competitive than the SN2 reaction. The simulations reveal proton transfer occurs by two direct atomic-level mechanisms, rebound and stripping, and indirect mechanisms, involving formation of the F(-)···HCH2I complex and the roundabout. For the indirect trajectories all of the CH2I(-) is formed with zero-point energy (ZPE), while for the direct trajectories 50% form CH2I(-) without ZPE. Without a ZPE constraint for CH2I(-), the reaction cross sections for the rebound, stripping, and indirect mechanisms are 0.2 ± 0.1, 1.2 ± 0.4, and 0.7 ± 0.2 Å(2), respectively. Discarding trajectories that do not form CH2I(-) with ZPE reduces the rebound and stripping cross sections to 0.1 ± 0.1 and 0.7 ± 0.5 Å(2). The HF product is formed rotationally and vibrationally unexcited. The average value of J is 2.6 and with histogram binning n = 0. CH2I(-) is formed rotationally excited. The partitioning between CH2I(-) vibration and HF + CH2I(-) relative translation energy depends on the treatment of CH2I(-) ZPE. Without a CH2I(-) ZPE constraint the energy partitioning is primarily to relative translation with little CH2I(-) vibration. With a ZPE constraint, energy partitioning to CH2I(-) rotation, CH2I(-) vibration, and relative translation are statistically the same. The overall F(-) + CH3I rate constant at Erel of both 0.32 and 1.53 eV is in good agreement with experiment and negligibly affected by the treatment of CH2I(-) ZPE, since the SN2 reaction is the major contributor to the total reaction rate constant. The potential energy surface and reaction dynamics for F(-) + CH3I proton transfer are compared with those reported previously (J. Phys. Chem. A 2013, 117, 7162-7178) for the isoelectronic OH(-) + CH3I reaction.


Business document standards usually cover a hierarchical structure of thousands of elements that may be relevant in any business context (any industry, any geopolitical region, etc.). In order to use a business document standard in a specific context, user groups define so-called implementation guidelines based on a subset consisting usually of 3 - 5% of the overall elements. When one defines a new implementation guideline for a specific context, one has always to start from scratch, which is time-consuming and also leads to heterogeneous interpretations of the standard. It is our goal to speed up the development process and to create more homogeneous implementation guidelines by learning from existing models. In the previous phases of our research we have developed the Enhanced Unified Context (E-UCM) model to represent business context. If we could assign instances of this model to already existing business document implementation guidelines, we may guess the subset of a new implementation guideline for a required BC. Accordingly, this paper describes our approach to calculate the content model (subset) of a message implementation guideline which is relevant in a required BC presented by the E-UCM context model.


We performed theoretical calculations of the relative diffraction efficiency of partially coherent light-induced integrated-intensity gratings using pulsed sources, paying particular attention to thermal gratings. We provided a simple intuitive picture of the phenomenon and then calculated exact expressions that, unlike instantaneous-intensity-grating results, necessarily require the use of fourth-order coherence functions. Assuming several radiation models, we evaluated these expressions and found that the results proved to be insensitive to the specific radiation model assumed. The application of these results to a previously performed pulsed-laser experiment yielded a better fit to the data than an expression involving only second-order coherence, which is valid only in the cw limit. We included the effects of grating decay and, in addition, compared the use of integrated-intensity gratings for ultrashort-pulse-length measurement with standard techniques. Finally, we calculated expressions for the relative diffraction efficiency of integrated-intensity gratings created with excitation beams from two separate and independent sources of different frequency, and we report an experiment whose results were found to agree with this theory.


Background: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at risk for psychiatric disorders that impact symptom experience and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Therefore, comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments should be considered in ambulatory care settings. Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) measures created by the National Institutes of Health have shown construct validity in a large IBD internet-based cohort, but their validity in ambulatory settings has not been examined. We sought to validate PROMIS patient-reported measures of HRQOL, functioning, and psychiatric symptom severity at a tertiary IBD clinic. Methods: Adult patients (n = 110) completed the PROMIS Global Health scale, PROMIS-29, SF-12, and WHODAS 2.0. Pearson's correlation coefficients (r) determined the relationships between scores to validate the PROMIS Global Health Physical and Mental metrics, compared with the SF-12 and WHODAS 2.0. We compared these measures by disease subtype of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Results: PROMIS measures were highly correlated (r range = 0.64–0.82) with standard measures of HRQOL and functioning. On the PROMIS Global Health measures, 20.9% had impaired physical health, and 13.7% had impaired mental health. Impairments were reported in pain interference (20% of patients), anxiety (18.2%), satisfaction with social role (15.5%), physical functioning (10.9%), fatigue (10%), depression (7.3%), and sleep disturbance (5.5%). Patients with Crohn's disease had worse scores than those with ulcerative colitis on measures of the global physical health (P = 0.027), physical functioning (P = 0.047), and pain interference (P = 0.0009). Conclusions: PROMIS instruments provide valid assessment of HRQOL and functioning in ambulatory adults with IBD. Of note, patients with Crohn's disease demonstrated significantly worse impairments than those with ulcerative colitis.


Conservative solute transport experiments were conducted at a field plot and on an undisturbed soil core from the same site. The hydraulic and solute transport properties were extensively characterized so that the data could be analyzed from a deterministic perspective. To investigate the influence of scale and conceptual model on solute transport in the relatively homogeneous upper soil profile of the field site, breakthrough curves that were collected at different depths in the undisturbed column and in the field experiments were compared and analyzed. The mobile‐immobile model provided a physically realistic description of the column data that was largely independent of the transport distance, and upscaling from the undisturbed core to the field plot was relatively successful. Mean and variance of the Br− travel times were controlled by plot‐scale variability in soil water content and heterogeneity, which was overcome by averaging the concentration values from four locations at the same depth and time, and analyzing the Br− transport behavior as a one‐dimensional process. Differences between the measured and simulated mass balances, average concentration, and the variations in concentration were predicted reasonably well across depth and time. Although prediction of the exact concentration information at a given point was not achieved, this study demonstrates that area‐average Br− transport in a heterogeneous vadose zone can be deterministically quantified.


Citations have long been used to characterize the state of a scientific field and to identify influential works. However, writers use citations for different purposes, and this varied purpose influences uptake by future scholars. Unfortunately, our understanding of how scholars use and frame citations has been limited to small-scale manual citation analysis of individual papers. We perform the largest behavioral study of citations to date, analyzing how scientific works frame their contributions through different types of citations and how this framing affects the field as a whole. We introduce a new dataset of nearly 2,000 citations annotated for their function, and use it to develop a state-of-the-art classifier and label the papers of an entire field: Natural Language Processing. We then show how differences in framing affect scientific uptake and reveal the evolution of the publication venues and the field as a whole. We demonstrate that authors are sensitive to discourse structure and publication venue when citing, and that how a paper frames its work through citations is predictive of the citation count it will receive. Finally, we use changes in citation framing to show that the field of NLP is undergoing a significant increase in consensus.


This article argues that formal institutions have always mattered in African politics. It contends that because the legal-rational domain in Africa is characterized by broad swaths of discretionary power, law is an important instrument in political contests. These broad grants of formal power facilitate informal and unaccountable governance. The article calls upon students of African politics to pay closer attention to the nature and use of formal law, and legal processes, in African politics. Further, it sees a need for empirical studies of the interplay between formal and informal institutions in African politics. It suggests that there is a need to democratize legal processes with a view to empowering the citizenry to participate effectively in, and hold to account, the use of law in political contests. This task of democratization, the article suggests, can be facilitated by administrative-law reforms.


The article argues that it is necessary to move e-learning beyond learning management systems and engage students in an active use of the web as a resource for their self-governed, problem-based and collaborative activities. The purpose of the article is to discuss the potential of social software to move e-learning beyond learning management systems. An approach to use of social software in support of a social constructivist approach to e-learning is presented, and it is argued that learning management systems do not support a social constructivist approach which emphasizes self-governed learning activities of students. The article suggests a limitation of the use of learning management systems to cover only administrative issues. Further, it is argued that students' self-governed learning processes are supported by providing students with personal tools and engaging them in different kinds of social networks.


Objectives: The aim of the present research was to examine the validity, reliability and factor structure of Wells and Davis Thought Control Questionnaire (TCQ). Method: In this descriptive study, 472 undergraduate students of Urmia University were randomly selected, and the ques-tionnaire was administered to them. Cronbach's alpha factor and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used in order to determine the reliability and validity of T CQ. One and two factor model of TCQ was examined using the latter method. Results: Reliability coefficients for TCQ five factors were between 0.62 and 0.73, which indicate a relatively low reliability. Results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicated that worry and self-punishment load on one factor; and reevaluation, distraction and social strategies load on the other. Therefore, the questionnaire encompasses and evaluates both the functional and dysfunctional strategies. Chi-square of goodness of fit model obtained two factors (651.82), which is smaller compared with a factor model (1169.10) and therefore considered a suitable model. Other goodness of fit indices such as GFI (0.91), AGFI (0.88), AIC (445.87), CFI (0.90) and NNFI (0.95) were also closer in terms of amount to relevant standard indices. Conclusion: The obtained results replicated some of the previous findings and supported the TCQ two-factorial structure as well as the super-order factor model in which TCQ is composed of two factors and five components. However, because of insignificant factorial load of some items as well as the relatively low reliability of indices, the authors suggest


Conspicuous grey shading or blue colours are traditionally used in printed nautical charts to represent shallow water. The problem is that what is "deep" water for one size of ship might not be so for another size. To understand the extent of navigable water the bridge crew has to make a number of relatively complicated mental calculations. This paper suggests an automatic way of displaying NoGo areas that will give the bridge officer an at-a-glance knowledge of his ship's manoeuvrable space, present and along the future route. A prototype has been developed and was tested with professional mariners in the EU project ACCSEAS. The system was rated as good and acceptable from a professional point of view although further improvements are necessary.


Vacuum-bag processing of honeycomb sandwich structures faces particular challenges compared to autoclave sandwich fabrication for aeronautics, a consequence of using, at the most, atmospheric pressure for their manufacturing. In particular, the adhesion of the skin to the honeycomb core is reduced and the skins tend to have higher values of porosity. On the other hand, autoclave processing is expensive, in particular for large structures, and a growing interest has been observed for vacuum-bag only processing of sandwich structures. During honeycomb sandwich cure, the skin represents a barrier to air flow between the honeycomb and the vacuum-bag so the air transport through the prepreg, adhesive and consumables or other additional materials may be a crucial factor to increase skin debulking, reduce void content and extract air from the honeycomb cells. The pressure inside the honeycomb is, therefore, a result of the through thickness permeability to air of the skins and vacuum pump work. The goal of this thesis is to develop methods for improving the low pressure processing of honeycomb sandwich structures by quantifying the through thickness air permeability of fibre reinforced composites during cure and analysing related processing issues and governing phenomena. An experimental method based on a falling pressure measurement was proposed to evaluate the through thickness air permeability of prepregs during cure, with two set-up variants. One concerns the measurement of the inherent air permeability and the other applies to processing conditions, implying the use of both consumables and vacuum-bag. The methods were successfully tested and fulfil the criterions used in soil science for the evaluation of the air permeability. Prepreg and adhesive permeabilities were determined separately and in skin combination. Prepreg permeability to air during cure varies between 10-19 m2 and 10-17 m2 and was found to depend on the evolution of the resin viscosity, which shifts from an initially immobile phase to a mobile one and then back to an immobile phase. The adhesive film was found to have very low initial permeability, at least two orders of magnitude lower than that of the prepreg. A range of initial skin through thickness air permeability could be achieved by perforating the prepreg plies, the adhesive layer, or a combination of both. An adhesive deposition method which results in the centre of honeycomb cells being free of adhesive was also tested. A corresponding range of achievable pressure was measured inside the honeycomb. The evolution of the through thickness permeability with the curing cycle was determined for each case. The adhesive layer was identified as the element that reduces the initial through thickness air permeability the most in skin manufacturing. This suggests that one of the ways of increasing the initial through thickness air permeability of the skin is to modify the permeability of the adhesive layer. The role of the resulting pressure inside the honeycomb on skin-core adhesion and skin quality was then evaluated. Skin permeability was found to control skin-core adhesion through the pressure drop in the honeycomb cells and potential outgassing of the adhesive layer. An optimal range of pressure inside the honeycomb was found to be between 40 kPa and 70 kPa. A process window is proposed for achieving the optimal pressure inside the honeycomb, as a function of the skin permeability and time of vacuum application. A semipreg alternating dry and resin impregnated areas along the fibre bed surface was also investigated as an alternative to prepreg in skin manufacturing. The semipreg through thickness air permeability before cure is approximately three orders of magnitude higher than that of a unidirectional prepreg impregnated with the same resin, thus allowing the reduction of air pressure in the honeycomb. A model was proposed for the air permeability change during cure, as dry areas get infiltrated. Due to resin pouring inside the honeycomb cells, this type of semipreg is viable as a skin only if combined with a material that has low permeability to resin, e.g., a prepreg. The resulting initial pressure in the honeycomb cells might then be tailored to specific needs. Finally, it was possible to produce sandwich samples combining a consolidation system, such as a prepreg, with an infiltration system, as wet lay-up or with a semipreg. The combination of a prepreg with a semipreg revealed to be a very practical and clean system, where it is possible to have the same resin in both materials. Moreover, it allows to tailor the initial honeycomb pressure as well as during cure, and to have the initial permeability assessed.