We aim to ask and answer an essential question "how quickly do we react after observing a displayed visual target?" To this end, we present psychophysical studies that characterize the remarkable disconnect between human saccadic behaviors and spatial visual acuity. Building on the results of our studies, we develop a perceptual model to predict temporal gaze behavior, particularly saccadic latency, as a function of the statistics of a displayed image. Specifically, we implement a neurologically-inspired probabilistic model that mimics the accumulation of confidence that leads to a perceptual decision. We validate our model with a series of objective measurements and user studies using an eye-tracked VR display. The results demonstrate that our model prediction is in statistical alignment with real-world human behavior. Further, we establish that many sub-threshold image modifications commonly introduced in graphics pipelines may significantly alter human reaction timing, even if the differences are visually undetectable. Finally, we show that our model can serve as a metric to predict and alter reaction latency of users in interactive computer graphics applications, thus may improve gaze-contingent rendering, design of virtual experiences, and player performance in e-sports. We illustrate this with two examples: estimating competition fairness in a video game with two different team colors, and tuning display viewing distance to minimize player reaction time.


Purchases and supply chain management are the fields, which have become one of the key element of any business activity in the recent years. Taking into account the beginning of the 21st century and its revolutionary changes in the business management, it is difficult to imagine the successful future of any enterprise operating on the modern market, already involved or integrated into the global competition, without any business support obtained by purchasing procedures. This also applies to the Polish companies, that without any modern purchasing development and widely shaped by the modern logistic megatrends, are currently unable to compete with others anymore. One of such 'megatrend' is transformation in logistics models (placement of business centres in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe, namely to emerging markets), which directly influence functioning and the shape of supply chains and their individual elements. Thus, the supply chains have become more multidimensional and complex but still adapted to changing business environment, whereas global purchasing trends have become a difficult challenge for companies in the conditions of a modern, turbulent and very competitive global environment. In this respect, the author of this paper is making a pioneering attempt to indicate the changes in supply chains, which occurred as a result of the development of procurement in emerging markets (as for example modifications of the structure and number of foreign suppliers and ways to obtain general information about them, factors which inspire establishing cooperation as well as changes in the kinds of transport used and kinds of loading units). The above mentioned goal was achieved through comparison of the author's own surveys data carried out in 2012 and 2018. The studies were conducted on a group of 120 people - managers in the manufacturing companies responsible for supply chains management. The research method was based on electronic surveys, while a survey questionnaire made the research tool.


Background. Compared with allogeneic bone marrow, in cytokine mobilized blood stem cell grafts, the number of hematopoietic progenitors and lymphoid cells is higher. Consequently, we compared the immune reconstitution following these two transplant modalities in patients receiving T-cell depleted grafts for hematological malignancies and studied the impact of lymphocyte subset recovery on clinical outcome. Methods. Conditioning for transplantation was radiation-based, while graft versus host disease prophylaxis was by ex vivo T-cell depletion with Campath-1 antibodies. Clinical parameters of patients receiving bone marrow or cytokine-mobilized progenitor cell transplants were reviewed with emphasis placed on defining infectious events and on the causes of treatment failure (relapse, graft failure, or any cause of death). The blood lymphoid subsets, as well as markers for memory and naive T cells, were sequentially studied by standard flow cytometry. Serum immunoglobulins (Ig) concentrations were also determined. Results. The patient population included 15 females and 27 males with a median age of 32.5 (range 15–54) years. Source of human leukocyte antigen-identical sibling allogeneic grafts was bone marrow in 14 and peripheral blood (PBPC) in 28. The median follow-up was of 1,278 (range 47–2,466) days. Following hematopoietic recovery, within the first year, 28 patients were readmitted for pyrexial episodes, and four died of sepsis. In both groups, while the CD8+ subset recuperated rapidly, CD19 and CD4+ T cells remained significantly decreased even after 12 months, leading to persistently abnormal CD4:CD8 ratios. The median values of CD16+ and CD56+ (natural killer) cells remained normal throughout the study period. Despite the patients who were receiving PBPC grafts having significantly higher numbers of allogeneic mononuclear cells (×108/kg; median: 6.97; range 4.03–10.10 vs. 0.71; range 0.45–0.99;P <0.001) and colony-forming unit granulocyte-macrophages (CFU-GMs) (×104/kg; median: 27.75; range 0–196, 2 vs. 13.05; range 2.43–57;P <0.05), the recovery rate of B cells or T-cell subpopulations was similar to those receiving bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Double fluorescence studies showed that CD2/CD45RO and RA as well as CD4/CD45RO and RA remained subnormal even after 12 months follow-up. During the observation period, except for IgA, normal levels of immunoglobulins were detected. In all, 18 out of 42 patients failed therapy, and 14 patients died. Treatment failure occurred at a median of 270 (range 47–1,638) days and was significantly associated with low total lymphocyte count (P =0.01), CD2 (P =0.09), CD8 (P =0.01), CD19 (P =0.02), CD45RA (P =0.05), and CD4/CD45RA (P =0.01), when tested at 6 months from transplantation. Conclusions. After T-cell depleted allogeneic PBPC or BMT, no differences in the rate of immune recovery were detected. However, patients with specific subset abnormalities at 6 months from grafting had a significantly higher risk of treatment failure.


Purpose: Commercial implants differ at macro-, micro-, and nanolevels, which makes it difficult to distinguish their effect on osseointegration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the early integration of 5 commercially available implants (Astra OsseoSpeed, Straumann SLA, Intra-Lock Blossom Ossean, Nobel Active, and OsseoFix) by histomorphometry and nanoindentation. Materials and Methods: Implants were installed in the tibiae of 18 beagle dogs. Samples were retrieved at 1, 3, and 6 weeks (n = 6 for each time point) and were histologically and nanomechanically evaluated. Results: The results presented that both time (P < 0.01) and implant system and time interaction (P < 0.02) significantly affected the bone-to-implant contact (BIC). At 1 week, the different groups presented statistically different outcomes. No significant changes in BIC were noted thereafter. There were no significant differences in rank elastic modulus (E) or in rank hardness (H) for time (E: P > 0.80; H: P > 0.75) or implant system (E: P > 0.90; H: P > 0.85). Conclusions: The effect of different implant designs on osseointegration was evident especially at early stages of bone healing.


The lyrics of "Delayed Devotion," a song by the artist Duffy, speak of a woman's decision to end a relationship in which, it seems, her partner only began to realize her value as she prepared to leave. There are doubtless many situations in which these lyrics, and the story they tell, are applicable. One such situation is manifested in international human rights law, particularly in regard to the rise in the creation and use of individual complaint mechanisms as a part of international human rights treaties. As this article explains, these lyrics are applicable in the individual complaint mechanism context because the increase in creating these procedures for specific groups through specific conventions indicates a sense that the devotion of the international community to implementing the rights guaranteed in foundational human rights has been delayed. At the same time, the increase in individual complaint mechanisms indicates that individuals are being provided with a greater ability to penetrate the international human rights law system that has for so long regarded them as only peripheral actors to be given rights rather than as actors having the agency to claim these rights at the international level. In sum, the result is a steady penetration of the international system by individuals, albeit through a system that is designed by international actors and therefore has structural limitations to this interaction. Although clearly the structure of the international law system mandates that the individual complaint system is itself structured in a way that is essentially state-centric, it is argued that the increasing prominence of the individual in international human rights law is a discernible trend that stands to alter the understanding of the international system. This prominence, however, is based on a greater sense of individual empowerment than the language of individual rights that has been traditionally used in international human rights law. The article argues that the increase in individual prominence is certainly laudable but that, by attaching this increased individual penetration of the international human rights law system to an ever-increasing series of specialized conventions, there is a significant risk of fragmenting the concept of the international human rights law system. Instead, it is argued that the individual, as the foundation of the human rights and dignities that are the backbone of international human rights law, should not need to seek specialized avenues of redress, but rather should be able to penetrate the international law system based on his basic identity as the holder of human rights and human dignity. This is especially so because these concepts of essential human rights and human dignity are at the core of the entire international human rights law system. This recommendation stresses both the internal status of people as holders of human rights and human dignity while also doing away with the need to create new quasi-judicial structures that are themselves potentially limiting depending on the ways in which they are drafted and function.


In our desire to contribute meaningfully to borderlands research, we wander all over our material employing amorphous terms to characterize vague theoretical frameworks. As a rather newly established scientific field of inquiry, we tolerate some ambiguity, a few spongy concepts and a smattering of awkward or inapplicable methodologies in our rush to accumulate a ready reservoir of scientific data. But perhaps borderlands studies has reached a maturity level in which we, as borderlands scholars, might begin to turn our energies inward in an attempt to clarify and standardize our lexicon, our conceptual tools and our assumptions. Moreover, our publications seem to reflect two incongruous perspectives. In general, beginning border investigators focus on specific data assuming their material to be completely unique in substance, in time and in space. In contrast, more seasoned scholars with broader experience and resources at their command begin to generalize; ostensibly to synthesize but with the latent consequence of creating a specious border homogeneity which is unfounded and counterproductive. Both orientations are needed, however, to maintain some balance. This essay describes and clarifies three of the most common terms or concepts in borderlands studies: frontier, border and border segment. It will focus on four dimensions within each concept: spatial differentials, temporal variations, substantive issues and scholarly perspectives (including underlying assumptions). Because of space limitations, this essay will not be a comprehensive treatment but rather a selective survey indicating various dimensions and criteria which are reflected in scholarly applications of each concept.


The Working Group looks back at 50 years of successful work. The fruit entomologists are the pioneers within WPRS with respect to the development of integrated plant protection (IPP) and integrated production (IP) and their introduction into practice. Developments occurring during the early 1970s brought a change in the general approach reflected in the change of name in 1974 from "Integrated control in orchards" to the broader term "Integrated plant protection in orchards". A further milestone was the establishment of the holistic concept of Integrated Production as has been described in the "Message of Ovronnaz" which should be considered as a historic landmark for IOBC as a whole. The publications of the WG reflect the broad range of its activities and its important function as scientific platform for information exchange and joint programs: 13 proceedings of International Symposia on Integrated Plant Protection and Production in orchards, 14 technical handbooks (brochures) and 41 WPRS Bulletins covering specific topics of the various subgroups. The first international symposium organised by the working group took place in Wageningen in 1961 with 36 participants from 9 countries, the most recent symposium was held in Avignon in 2008 with 250 participants and celebrating the 50th anniversary. Hundreds of experts have participated in the WG's activities over the past 50 years. The impact of these activities on the development and application of IPP and IP in practise was and still is significant. Concepts and tools developed by the WG became not only general WPRS standards but have influenced significantly the international standards for Integrated Plant Protection. The WG has generated the approach and practical implementation of Integrated Production in the major crops of the WPRS region


Pramlintide, a synthetic analog of amylin, improves postprandial hyperglycemia. We compared subcutaneous (s.c.) pramlintide injection with square wave pramlintide infusion in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1DM). Eight subjects with T1DM underwent two randomized studies. Subcutaneous pramlintide (dose = 5 μg/unit of insulin) bolus, was given one time and another time, the same dose was given as a 120-min s.c. infusion. Insulin dose was constant between studies. Gastric emptying was assessed with oral acetaminophen and [l-13C]glucose in meal. Plasma glucagon, pramlintide, and insulin concentrations were measured. Insulin concentrations (p < 0.99) between pramlintide injection versus infusion were similar; however, glucose concentrations were different (p < 0.0001), with the absence of hypoglycemia during pramlintide infusion [AUC (0–120 min) −0.07 ± 0.2 versus 1.05 ± 0.24 mg * h/dL (p < 0.0088)]. Insulin-only administration resulted in postprandial hyperglycemia and late postprandial hypoglycemia (p < 0.0001). Two subjects experienced hypoglycemia with pramlintide injection. Pramlintide bolus caused pronounced glucagon suppression (p < 0.0003) and delayed gastric emptying as ([13CO2] p < 0.0003 and acetaminophen p < 0.01) compared with infusion. We conclude that pramlintide bolus may result in an increase in risk of immediate postprandial hypoglycemia. Further modifications in pramlintide delivery are indicated before it can be safely used in children.


This report provides estimates of the VAT Gap for 26 EU Member States for 2012, as well as revised estimates for the period 2009-2011. It is a follow-up to the report "Study to quantify and analyse the VAT Gap in the EU-27 Member States",1 published in September 2013. This update incorporates the NACE Rev. 2 classification of economic activities into the calculation of the theoretical liability. The year 2012 saw overall unfavourable economic developments, as the GDP of the European Union shrank by 0.4 percent. These developments contributed to a slowdown of nominal final consumption and of other economic activities that form the basis of the Value Added Tax.A few countries applied changes to standard or reduced rates, but on the whole the structure of VAT rates was relatively stable compared to the numerouschanges in the wake of the onset of the Great Recession in 2008-2009. For the EU-26 as a whole, VAT revenues grew by slightly over 2 percent, from Euro 904 billion in 2011 to Euro 922 billion in 2012; and the theoretical VAT liability (VTTL) also grew by a similar percentage. The overall VAT Gap, as estimated according to the refined methodology, for the EU-26 saw a slight increase in absolute numbers (of about Euro 6 billion) between 2011 and 2012, to reach Euro 177 billion, but remained essentially stable as a percentage of the overall VTTL, at 16 percent. The estimates for 2009-2011 have been revised because of the switch to NACE-2 classification and refinements in the methodology, and are slightly lower compared to those discussed in the 2013 VAT Gap report.2 In 2012, Member States' estimated VAT Gaps ranged from the lo of 5 percent in the Netherlands and Finland, to the high of 44 percent in Romania. The median absolute change in the VAT Gap of the individual Member States from 2011 to 2012 was 1.1 percent, with a number of countries registering considerably higher changes. Overall, 11 Member States decreased their VAT Gap, with the largest improvements noted in Greece, despite the depth of its recession, and Bulgaria. However, 15 Member States saw an increase in the VAT Gap, ranging from virtually nil (e.g., Slovenia) to a substantial deterioration (e.g., Slovakia, Poland). This report also provides estimates of the Policy Gap for the EU-26. This is an indicator of the additional VAT revenue that a Member State could theoretically collect if it applied uniform taxation to all consumption. Estimates of the Policy Gap confirm the finding that in most countries the loss of revenue compared to an "ideal" system with no reduced rates and no exemptions, is due to a greater extent to policy decisions than to non-compliance and weak enforcement.


The aim: The aim was to illuminate ICU-nurses' roles in the process of decision-making regarding limitation of life prolonging treatment to sedated patients on ventilators, and to get an insight to related knowledge of ethical and legal guidelines Method: Data consisted of qualitative semi-structured interviews analyzed via qualitative content analyses. Findings: The findings describe the nurses' legally and ethical competences in relation to their caring role and insight into how the National Guideline is used. The ICU-nurses found decision-making difficult, but viewed their role as crucial through the whole withdrawal process. They took part indirectly in the decision-making concerning withdrawal as they are the ones who mediate their patient observations and next of kin's wishes. Findings are presented in four categories: the ICU-nurses inclusion and participation in decision-making, deficient documentation, informing the next of kin and uncertainty about ethical and juridical perspectives. Conclusion: A multi-professional dialogue, knowledge about ethical and legal competencies, and content in the National Guideline, are seen as important help to the nurses as they are the ones who stay close to patients and the next of kin.


In this paper, two models are developed based on artificial intelligence which can be used to estimate the length, width and position of the radiating element which are the design parameters of square monopole antenna required to make it operate in a particular frequency band of 4.5 GHz and 8.9 GHz. All the antennas designed using these models gives a wideband of 4.5GHz – 5 GHz. One of the two models were developed using Artificial neural network(ANN) and the other model was developed using a hybrid technique of ANN and Fuzzy logic named as Adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system(ANFIS) .The results given by the prepared models are compared with the results of IE3D software which are accurate enough to be used for designing square monopole antenna . The hybrid model called ANFIS combines both the training and optimization techniques due to which it is giving much better result when compared to the traditional model based on neural network approach. The ANFIS model is better in terms of both time and accuracy. So, this model is accurate enough to measure the parameters of the monopole antenna which will be used for designing the antenna. Thus, ANFIS model not only eliminates the long time consuming process of finding various designing parameters using costly software packages like ANN model but also faster yielding more accurate results.


The pedunculated cirripede Pollicipes pollicipes (Gmelin) is of considerable
economic importance in Portugal, particularly along the southwest coast. The current
knowledge of its biology is poor, as evidenced by the paucity of available literature. Over
a period of two years, P. pollicipes populations at Castelejo and Zavial were sampled
from different tidal levels at approximately monthly intervals. Populations at two
other sites, Ponta- da- Fisga and Sagres, were also sampled but at irregular intervals.
The current study has provided definitive information on the annual reproductive
cycle of P. pollicipes that is essential for any attempt at fisheries management. It is
shown conclusively that shell-banding techniques are easily applicable to age and
growth studies on these lepadomorph barnacles and has provided initial information
on the growth rates and factors influencing shell deposition in experimental
situations. An exhaustive data set provides a complete set of morphometric tools for
the conversion of length measurements into dry and ash-free weights and
demonstrates little differences between shapes of P. pollicipes on the different shores
sampled. The demonstration that P. pollicipes is an obligate cross-fertilising barnacle
has subtle implications in managing the fishery since it is imperative that any
adopted policy incorporates aggregates of the barnacle as a unit necessary to ensure
continuing recruitment.
P. pollicipes when grown under simulated semi-diurnal conditions of emersion
and immersion lay down clearly defined bands with almost an exact coincidence
with the number of emersions. However, barnacles from the field showed no clear
banding periodicity since band widths were very similar throughout the shell length
with no regular "check" marks that could provide age estimation. Differences in the
reproductive patterns between Castelejo and Zavial were minor and none statistically
significant hence differences in environmental conditions between the two sites do not
appeared to materially affect the species reproductive patterns. Adult barnacles carried
fertilised eggs from April throughout September, and the percentage of individuals with
egg masses correlated positively with air but not seawater temperature. Brooding success
was greater with average air temperature in excess of 14 °C during months of strong
upwelling and presumed food availability. Functional ovaries and testes are available in
the population all year round but fertilisation does not appear to occur during the winter
months. Reproduction of P. pollicipes on the southwest coast of the Algarve appears
closely linked to the upwelling phenomenon with the rate of deposition of gonadal tissue
probably determined by environmental temperature. Laboratory and field observations
permitted to conclude that P. pollicipes is an obligate cross-fertiliser. Isolated and
communal individuals were observed to carry ripe ovaries and seminal vesicles filled
with sperm at the same time but fertilisation took place only on communal individuals.
Increasing numbers of isolated individuals are found on the southwest coast of
Portugal, probably as the result of an intense fishery. The assessment of the fishery
impact on the natural population and the development of management policies for the
fishery are imperative future measures in order to maintain the recruitment levels.
Enforcement of reserve areas may prove a practical solution for Pollicipes management.
Protected populations could serve as stocks for recruitment to other areas. A series of
protected areas around the coastline would need to be established in areas that could
easily be monitored and, if needed, physically protected. It might also be feasible to
rotate areas every 3-4 years resulting in a better quality and increased quantity of P.
pollicipes entering the fishery.


This thesis concludes that the reporting of alternative performance measures enriches the financial information and that concerns in relation to strategic reporting behavior do not justify imposing restrictions on the use of alternative performance measures. Prescribing the reporting of both a normalized measure and a measure that excludes depreciation and amortization by all companies in the EU would be a more appropriate response than forbidding or restricting the use thereof. This would avoid strategic motives affecting the type of performance measures that are provided to the users of financial statements while at the same time ensuring that relevant information continues to be provided to them.


Summary
1Clutch sizes generally increase with latitude, and are smaller at southern latitudes compared with equivalent northern ones.
2Descriptions of such patterns and attempts to identify their causal mechanisms are complicated as different species, with different ecological traits are often compared in different regions. We reduce such problems by using the introduction of 11 passerine species from the UK to New Zealand as a natural experiment to explore interspecific geographical variation in clutch size.
3Nine species have significantly smaller clutches in New Zealand than the UK. Seasonality, measured both by climate and how birds respond to variation in resource availability, is also lower in New Zealand. Comparing across species, the magnitude of clutch size change is unrelated to the magnitude of reduced seasonality that each species experiences.
4Such observations are partly compatible with Ashmole's hypothesis that areas with high seasonality have large clutch sizes (higher winter mortality results in a breeding population that is significantly lower than the environment's carrying capacity, and hence in extra resources for rearing chicks). However, additional data on seasonal changes in resource availability and population densities, combined with comparative data on survival and nest predation rates, are required to evaluate fully the mechanisms generating smaller clutches in the southern hemisphere. We discuss the potential determinants of geographical variation in the patterns of temporal variation in clutch size.


ABSTRACT This paper examines care management, or 'managerial care', a type of informal care for older adults that has been relatively neglected by researchers. While previous research has acknowledged that care-giving may involve tasks other than direct 'hands-on' care, the conceptualisation of managerial care has often been vague and inconsistent. This study is the first explicitly to investigate managerial care amongst a large sample of carers. In our conceptualisation, care management includes care-related discussions with other family members or the care recipient about the arrangements for formal services and financial matters, doing relevant paperwork, and seeking information. The study examines the prevalence of this type of care, the circumstances under which it occurs, its variations by care-giver characteristics, and its impact on the carers. We drew from the Canadian CARNET 'Work and Family Survey' a sub-sample of 1,847 full-time employed individuals who were assisting older relatives. The analysis shows that managerial care is common, distinct from other types of care, a meaningful construct, and that most care-givers provide both managerial and direct care. Care management includes both the orchestration of care and financial and bureaucratic management. Providing managerial care generates stress amongst women and interferes with work amongst men, and the aspect that generates the greatest personal and job costs amongst both men and women is the orchestration of care.


Increasing the yield of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a desirable breeding goal. The objective of this experiment was to test the hypothesis that hybrids between nondormant-derived alfalfa germplasm selected for winter hardiness and semidormant germplasm will express heterosis for yield. Four semidormant cultivars and four nondormant-derived populations were handcrossed in a half-diallel mating design to form population hybrids. Both seeded and transplanted trials were grown in Iowa between 2003 and 2005. Total biomass yield was measured at four harvests each year. The non-dormant-derived germplasm produced lower yields than the semidormant cultivars. The hybrids between groups were intermediate to the parents with little evidence of heterosis in any environment or for any harvest during the year. Although particular crosses produced high yields in certain environments, no general heterotic pattern was observed between the two proposed groups. A Gardner and Eberhart Analysis III indicated the presence of variation for both general combining ability and specific combining ability effects of approximately equal magnitude among these eight populations. The nondormant germplasm sources used here do not form a new heterotic group for midwestern U.S. alfalfa breeding programs.


Abstract. Wet deposition is an important removal mechanism for atmospheric organic matter, and a potentially important input for receiving ecosystems, yet less than 50% of rainwater organic matter is considered chemically characterized. Precipitation samples collected in New Jersey, USA, were analyzed by negative ion ultra-high resolution electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). Elemental compositions of 552 unique molecular species were determined in the mass range 50–500 Da in the rainwater. Four main groups of organic compounds were identified: compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (CHO) only, sulfur (S) containing CHOS compounds, nitrogen (N) containing CHON compounds, and S- and N- containing CHONS compounds. Organic acids commonly identified in precipitation were detected in the rainwater. Within the four main groups of compounds detected in the rainwater, oligomers, organosulfates, and nitrooxy-organosulfates were assigned based on elemental formula comparisons. The majority of the compounds identified are products of atmospheric reactions and are known contributors to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed from gas phase, aerosol phase, and in-cloud reactions in the atmosphere. It is suggested that the large uncharacterized component of SOA is the main contributor to the large uncharacterized component of rainwater organic matter.


Position of females on the European labour market has improved strongly over the past two decades. Changes in women's employment were not only positive, but also managed to alleviate the negative developments in male employment rates, becoming thus a major driving force behind the efforts to achieve Lisbon's employment goals. Yet, the observed changes were quite heterogeneous across countries and age groups. In particular, the process of female employment rates' convergence was slow, as countries with worse initial conditions achieved only slightly higher increases in women's employment rates. Older cohorts of women contributed most to the employment improvements, changes were also positive among prime-aged women, while the youngest ones experienced declining employment rates in a great majority of countries. A decomposition of the observed changes in female employment rates reveals that they were driven mostly by intensity improvements, i.e. pure "utilisation" of the labour among different cohorts of women. Increasing education levels played a relatively small role for the overall employment growth, while demography – though important for shifting the significance of particular age groups in the total workforce – had altogether virtually no effect for the overall female employment growth. The reviewed country studies suggest that the major policies driving increasing intensity of female employment were concentrated in two areas: retirement policies and those regarding flexible employment arrangements. Limiting access to early retirement schemes and increasing female statutory retirement age prolonged women's labour market participation, and, in consequence, translated to increases in their employment rates. Reforms that aimed at introducing more flexibility into job contracts legislation, leading to more part time and/or more fixed term jobs, also appear to contribute positively to female employment rates, though the quality of these jobs remains a concern.


The breeding system of the freshwater amphipod Gammarus pulex includes a precopulatory guarding phase by a male. The length of this guarding phase is investigated with respect to a male's size and the number and size of his competitors. As the absolute number of competitors increases, so does the guarding time but as the absolute number of available females increases, the guarding time decreases. Takeovers of the females by unpaired males are more frequent in longer precopulas (Table 2). In contests for females, larger males have two advantages over smaller males; they are better able to make a takeover (Table 2) and better able to resist takeover attempts while paired (Table 3). Males increase the length of the guarding phase as the mean size of their competitors increases (Table 4). When not paired males are usually searching for available females, perhaps in the stream current. Females are unaffected by current speed but increasing current causes decreased male survivorship (Table 5) and increased precopula duration (Table 5). Searching in currents is more dangerous for larger males than smaller ones. It is proposed that the male size distribution observed is the result of selection pressure to increase size from male-male competition balanced by selection against large size while searching for females in the current.


ABSTRACT Research Findings: The Early Education Essentials surveys use teacher and parent perceptions to measure 6 organizational conditions of early childhood education programs, extending and complementing existing measures of early childhood care and education (ECE) quality constructs. This study tests the reliability and concurrent validity of the Early Education Essentials in 81 school- and community-based ECE sites in a large Midwestern city selected using a stratified random sampling method. Using a Rasch item response theory model, scales were created; theory and exploratory factor analyses combined scales into higher level constructs called essentials. Multilevel models took into account individual measurement error to create site-level essential scores and assessed relationships between programs' essential scores and site-level teacher–child interactions scores and student attendance. Findings suggest that the Early Education Essentials is reliable in multiple ECE settings; it is sensitive to site-level differences; and some, but not all, organizational conditions measured are associated in expected directions with site-level metrics indicative of center-based ECE quality. Practice or Policy: The Early Education Essentials has the potential to provide leaders and practitioners with actionable data about organizational supports that enable ECE practitioners to be more effective in their daily work with children and families.


Abstract About 2000 years ago, the Mississippi River avulsed westwards and captured the Red River of the South, uprooting vegetation and causing bank instability, resulting in a series of log jams known as the Great Red River Raft. The Great Raft presented a major navigation challenge during the settlement of the Red River Valley from the seventeenth century until its removal in the 1890s. The Great Raft extended c. 100–300 km up-river from Natchitoches, Louisiana to the Louisiana–Arkansas boundary. In the nineteenth century, it contributed to a major military failure by the Union Army and Navy during the 1864 Red River Campaign of the American Civil War. While planning the Red River Campaign, Union commanders made tactical errors by overlooking unique geological aspects of the Red River, including its flashy nature, high sediment load, anastomosing channels and rapids. The Confederates used their knowledge of the Great Raft and the Red River's morphology to attack the Union's river fleet while in a position of restricted manoeuverability. The Confederates used the topographically higher defensive positions of natural levee deposits along the Red River to keep the Union's land and naval forces from supporting each other during the Campaign.


Doi: 10.1145/2576870 copYriGht helD BY aUthors In CHI Poland, we believe in empowering people while giving them the freedom to do things their own way. When we started the chapter in November 2010, our group was small and primarily located in Warsaw. Our first event hosted 30 attendees. Our main goal was to establish a network of Polish HCI specialists. Next, we wanted to create a platform for sharing expertise and for mutual support. We also wanted to spread the HCI-related knowledge and to build a basis for promoting HCI values in academia and business. Finally, we strived for expanding the competencies of our members, so they could become pioneers in the field in Poland. During the first year we organized 10 lectures and became a partner in the Polish Information Architecture Summit, the only usability-related conference in Poland, as well as in the World Usability Day event organized in Katowice. At the end of the year, the lecture hall where we held our events was filled with about 250 guests, who came for talks from Kees Overbeeke from Eindhoven University of Technology and Marcin Brodziak from Google. With time, other cities indicated their willingness to become active, starting with Kraków, then Wrocław and Poznań. At this point, we were faced with three options: to strive for independent chapters, to consider different associations (UPA, IxDA, etc.), or to consider one umbrellalike organization. There were two problems we foresaw. Poland is a relatively big country, so coordinating sub-chapters, which are spread hundreds of kilometers away, was virtually impossible. We also realized that the people who initiated the local activities wanted to be acknowledged as being the leader of these activities in the place they lived. Therefore, it was crucial to act in a way that made them feel comfortable, while co-running one national organization. After many discussions, we agreed that our common goal was to build a strong HCI community. We also agreed that this goal needed to reach beyond personal ambitions; however, these ambitions should be realized as much as possible. Based on these premises, we decided to create a network of equal chapters rather than a strong headquarters in Warsaw with satellites in other cities. All leaders had freedom to run their activities in the manner that was most preferred by their local community. At the same time, we agreed to support and to promote each other in every possible way. In the following two years there were more than 40 HCI-related events held all over the country. We also ran the first and the second edition of a survey determining the scope of our community, methods, and tools. We co-organized two subsequent UX conferences and became partners in eight World Usability Day events. Currently, we are preparing the first edition of Polish UX Storytellers, to be published in April. From an organizational perspective, we are planning to shift the position of the CHI Poland chair from one city and one local chair to another. In this way, every chapter and every leader will have the opportunity to further build our community. This is not an easy solution, but we believe this is probably one of the few ways that enables us to build a single strong community in a relatively large country with a number of differing personal interests. Needless to say, all our activities are run on a shoestring budget. Polish regulations for associations are construed in a way that involves several costs and bureaucratic procedures for managing a financial flow. We are supported by a number of companies, which are interested in promoting HCI values in Poland, but our own budget is zero. Despite and also because of the limitations in resources, we consider it a great success that we are able to run the Polish chapter in such a way that we can already see the impact we are having. CHI Poland— A Network of Local Chapters


thor. lrike.Wittig@h-its Abstract SABIO-RK (http://sabio.h-its.org/) is a web-accessible, manually curated database that has been established as a resource for biochemical reactions and their kinetic properties with a focus on supporting the computational modeling to create models of biochemical reaction networks. SABIO-RK data are mainly extracted from literature but also directly submitted from lab experiments. In most cases the information in the literature is distributed across the whole publication, insufficiently structured and often described without standard terminology. Therefore the manual extraction of knowledge from the literature requires biological experts to understand the paper and interpret the data. The database offers the literature data in a structured format including annotations to controlled vocabularies, ontologies and external databases which supports modellers, as well as experimentalists, in the very time consuming process of collecting information from different publications. Here we describe the data extraction and curation efforts needed for SABIO-RK and give recommendations for publishing kinetic data in a complete and structured manner. & 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).


The area covered by boreal forests accounts for ∼16% of the global and 22% of the Northern Hemisphere landmass. Changes in the productivity and functioning of this circumpolar biome not only have strong effects on species composition and diversity at regional to larger scales, but also on the Earth's carbon cycle. Although temporal inconsistency in the response of tree growth to temperature has been reported from some locations at the higher northern latitudes, a systematic dendroecological network assessment is still missing for most of the boreal zone. Here, we analyze the geographical patterns of changes in summer temperature and precipitation across northern Eurasia >60 °N since 1951 AD, as well as the growth trends and climate responses of 445 Pinus, Larix and Picea ring width chronologies in the same area and period. In contrast to widespread summer warming, fluctuations in precipitation and tree growth are spatially more diverse and overall less distinct. Although the influence of summer temperature on ring formation is increasing with latitude and distinct moisture effects are restricted to a few southern locations, growth sensitivity to June–July temperature variability is only significant at 16.6% of all sites (p ≤ 0.01). By revealing complex climate constraints on the productivity of Eurasia's northern forests, our results question the a priori suitability of boreal tree-ring width chronologies for reconstructing summer temperatures. This study further emphasizes regional climate differences and their role on the dynamics of boreal ecosystems, and also underlines the importance of free data access to facilitate the compilation and evaluation of massively replicated and updated dendroecological networks.


Wheezing is a non-specific symptom caused by narrowing of the airways. It can sound like a prolonged whistling sound, like organ music or like the wind whistling in chimneys. Wheezing is a general symptom of airway narrowing and may have many different causes e.g. asthma, lung infection, allergies or even airway obstruction. Infants and children younger than 3 years old have smaller and more reactive airways, which may predispose them to wheezing.


Geographical distribution records of pathogens and pests are the basis for phytosanitary decision-making. Monilinia fructicola, one of the three Monilinia species responsible for brown rot of stone fruit, is listed as a regulated pest for South Africa. Many disputes about the justification of this classification have arisen during the past years as records have been published regarding the presence of this pathogen in South Africa. Results of several surveys conducted from 1985 in stone fruit orchards, revealed that M. laxa is the only causal agent of brown rot in South Africa. However, another notification of non-compliance (interception of regulated pests) was received by the National Plant Protection Organisation of South Africa in 2003 stating that M. fructicola was detected on consignments of South African Prunus fruits (P. domestica) in the United Kingdom. A detection survey according to inspections and sampling relevant to the biology of Monilinia species were conducted in the identified orchards at various stages throughout the year. Molecular techniques with species-specific primers for M. fructicola, M. laxa and M. fructigena based on the EPPO Diagnostic Protocol for M. fructicola were used for the identification of presumptive positive Monilinia isolates. The absence of M. fructicola from South African stone fruit orchards was again confirmed by this survey and its status in South Africa can be reported as: absent, not known to occur, confirmed by a detection survey. The regulated status of M. fructicola in South Africa is therefore scientifically justified by the results from this survey.


At the birth of psychology as a science, consciousness was its central problem. But throughout the twentieth century, ideological and methodological concerns pushed the explicit empirical study of consciousness to the sidelines. Since the 1990s, studying consciousness has regained a legitimacy and impetus befitting its status as the central feature of our mental lives. Nowadays consciousness science encompasses a rich interdisciplinary mixture drawing together philosophical, theoretical, computational, experimental, and clinical perspectives. While solving the metaphysically 'hard' problem of why consciousness is part of the universe may seem as intractable as ever, scientists have learned a great deal about the neural mechanisms underlying conscious states. Further progress will depend on specifying closer explanatory mappings between (first person subjective) phenomenological descriptions and (third person objective) descriptions of biological and physical processes. Such progress will help reframe our understanding of our place in nature, and may also accelerate clinical approaches to a wide range of psychiatric and neurological disorders.


It would be inaccurate to suggest that the societal amalgam created when democracy and media combine is something novel, or for that matter that it has ever truly been novel. Democracy and civil life, as the modem conceptualizations of those notions are typically understood, are bound to the idea that there exists not merely the functional devices of citizenry actively participating in the selection and implementation of governing, but that there also be a formidable, effective and widespread medium of one sort or another - or more than one - present. A product of society and culture, democracy cannot feasibly exist on an individual level, but only in a community and community, in tum, must be tethered together by commonly shared communicative threads (Van Benschoten 2000). Democracy, theoretically understood as it is based on the notion of citizens making informed decisions and choices about which manner and by which policies they themselves wish to be governed, must therefore thrive only on a framework which includes the allowance for a technology which provides for the effective dissemination of ideas to the citizens. In any other model, democracy would necessarily be undermined. There would exist a gap in the education in the abilities of different citizens to participate: those democrats fortunate enough to live in proximity to the major population centers, particularly those with real political relevance, would be more likely to directly have access to information about politicians and candidates, while citizens distanced from political centres by geographic barriers (agricultural workers would obviously be a predominant segment of just such a group) would similarly be distanced from the political process, bereft of any reliable means with which to equip themselves with the information they arguably need to make the educated electoral choices that are critical to the process of civic membership. This is particularly true, not only as it pertains to electing representatives - in which case candidates can often originate within regional proximity to voters, as is the case with Canadian members of parliament, and therefore will campaign regionally -- but additionally it is vital that citizens are kept abreast of the issues of the day and the performance of their elected officials once they are given power. Governmental responsibility is, if not a direct function of citizen proximity, then necessarily a function of citizen access to reliable channels of mass communication.


Background Current evidence suggests that chlamydia screening programmes can be cost-effective, conditional on assumptions within mathematical models. We explored differences in cost estimates used in published economic evaluations of chlamydia screening from seven countries (four papers each from UK and the Netherlands, two each from Sweden and Australia, and one each from Ireland, Canada and Denmark). Methods From these studies, we extracted management cost estimates for seven major chlamydia sequelae. In order to compare the influence of different sequelae considered in each paper and their corresponding management costs on the total cost per case of untreated chlamydia, we applied reported unit sequelae management costs considered in each paper to a set of untreated infection to sequela progression probabilities. All costs were adjusted to 2013/2014 Great British Pound (GBP) values. Results Sequelae management costs ranged from £171 to £3635 (pelvic inflammatory disease); £953 to £3615 (ectopic pregnancy); £546 to £6752 (tubal factor infertility); £159 to £3341 (chronic pelvic pain); £22 to £1008 (epididymitis); £11 to £1459 (neonatal conjunctivitis) and £433 to £3992 (neonatal pneumonia). Total cost of sequelae per case of untreated chlamydia ranged from £37 to £412. Conclusions There was substantial variation in cost per case of chlamydia sequelae used in published chlamydia screening economic evaluations, which likely arose from different assumptions about disease management pathways and the country perspectives taken. In light of this, when interpreting these studies, the reader should be satisfied that the cost estimates used sufficiently reflect the perspective taken and current disease management for their respective context.


The Image of Christ expresses the view that modern secular audiences can engage with the masterpieces of Christian art at an emotional as well as a purely aesthetic or historical level. This book aims to help the viewer understand these pictures by focusing attention on the purpose for which they were made, and explores what they might have meant to their original viewers. The authors trace how a recognizable image of Christ evolved, starting with the earliest symbols and metaphorical images such as the Sheperd, the Lamb and the Vine. They trace the emergence of a "true likeness," emphasizing the importance of the Veronica, the "miraculous portrait" said to have been imprinted on the cloth held out to Jesus on the way to Calvary. They describe how artists conveyed the paradox of Christ's dual nature-human and divine, weak and powerful, victim and victor-in portrayals of his infancy. They also show how images of Christ's suffering during the Passion were intended to convey a cosmic, not just a personal significance. Artists have attempted to put extremes of suffering and despair into an overal context of hope-a vein of hope that runs from the catacombs to Hiroshima and beyond. These are images that speak, even to those who do not hold Christian beliefs. Artists had to make it clear that in representing the life and death of Jesus they were offering a continuing truth; we the spectators have to become eyewitnesses to an event that matters to us now. As a result, the different moments and aspects of Christ's life become, in the hands of great artists, a reflection of all human experience. The Virgin nursing her son expresses the feelings of love every mother has for her child. Christ mocked in innocence beset by violence. Christ risen and appearing to Mary Magdalene is a universal reaffirmation that love cannot be destroyed by death. Beyond their obvious religious significance, these are paintings that have a universal meaning.


The possibility that the renminbi may soon join the ranks of international currencies has generated much excitement. This paper looks to history for help in evaluating the factors determining its prospects. The three best precedents in the twentieth century were the rise of the dollar from 1913 to 1945, the rise of the Deutsche mark from 1973 to 1990, and the rise of the yen from 1984 to 1991. The fundamental determinants of international currency status are economic size, confidence in the currency, and depth of financial markets. The new view is that, once these three factors are in place, internationalization of the currency can proceed quite rapidly. Thus some observers have recently forecast that the RMB may even challenge the dollar within a decade. But they underestimate the importance of the third criterion, the depth of financial markets. In principle, the Chinese government could decide to create that depth, which would require accepting an open capital account, diminished control over the domestic allocation of credit, and a flexible exchange rate. But although the Chinese government has been actively promoting offshore use of the currency since 2010, it has not done very much to meet these requirements. Indeed, to promote internationalization as national policy would depart from the historical precedents. In all three twentieth-century cases of internationalization, popular interest in the supposed prestige of having the country's currency appear in the international listings was scant, and businessmen feared that the currency would strengthen and damage their export competitiveness. Probably China, likewise, is not yet fully ready to open its domestic financial markets and let the currency appreciate, so the renminbi will not be challenging the dollar for a long time. We begin, however, by asking: What is international currency status, and why does it matter?


Poeppel (2008) observes that there is no clear correspondence between units of analysis in linguistics (especially the abstract and arbitrary-looking principles of syntax) and biological units of neuroscience, concluding that current neurolinguistic research presents a case of cross-sterilization, rather than cross-fertilization. Here the proposal is developed that decomposing syntax into intermediate evolutionary layers, into its evolutionary primitives, not only makes syntax compatible with gradualist accounts, but it also renders it more tangible and less abstract. In this approach, at least some complexities (and oddities) of syntax, such as Subjacency effects and the small clause core, can be seen as side-effects/by-products of evolutionary tinkering. It is conceivable that such evolutionary considerations are a necessary missing ingredient in any attempt to establish links between the postulates of syntax and the units of neuroscience. This article considers concrete linguistic data and suggestions as to where and how to look for neurobiological correlates of syntax.


The performance of an optical system (for example, a telescope) is limited by the misalignments and manufacturing imperfections of the optical elements in the system. The impact of these misalignments and imperfections can be quantified by the phase variations imparted on light traveling through the system. Phase retrieval is a methodology for determining these variations. Phase retrieval uses images taken with the optical system and using a light source of known shape and characteristics. Unlike interferometric methods, which require an optical reference for comparison, and unlike Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors that require special optical hardware at the optical system's exit pupil, phase retrieval is an in situ, image-based method for determining the phase variations of light at the system s exit pupil. Phase retrieval can be used both as an optical metrology tool (during fabrication of optical surfaces and assembly of optical systems) and as a sensor used in active, closed-loop control of an optical system, to optimize performance. One class of phase-retrieval algorithms is the iterative transform algorithm (ITA). ITAs estimate the phase variations by iteratively enforcing known constraints in the exit pupil and at the detector, determined from modeled or measured data. The Variable Sampling Mapping (VSM) technique is a new method for enforcing these constraints in ITAs. VSM is an open framework for addressing a wide range of issues that have previously been considered detrimental to high-accuracy phase retrieval, including undersampled images, broadband illumination, images taken at or near best focus, chromatic aberrations, jitter or vibration of the optical system or detector, and dead or noisy detector pixels. The VSM is a model-to-data mapping procedure. In VSM, fully sampled electric fields at multiple wavelengths are modeled inside the phase-retrieval algorithm, and then these fields are mapped to intensities on the light detector, using the properties of the detector and optical system, for comparison with measured data. Ultimately, this model-to-data mapping procedure enables a more robust and accurate way of incorporating the exit-pupil and image detector constraints, which are fundamental to the general class of ITA phase retrieval algorithms.


Submitted 3 Dec 2014; Accepted 8 Jan 2015; Published 4 Feb 2015 Oligohydramnios is frequently used to identify at risk fetuses. The purpose of this study was to assess adverse perinatal outcomes in oligohydramnios. Subjects comprised pregnant women diagnosed either with (590) or without (597) oligohydramnios who delivered after hospital admittance from 2000 to 2010. Data, including the resuscitation of newborn, Apgar score at 5 min, NICU admission, death in 24 hours after birth,still birth, intrauterine growth restriction, fetal distress, meconium passage, and neonatal birth weight were abstracted from records. Chi – square, Fisher's exact test, and t tests were used for analysis. An amniotic fluid index of 5 cm or less had a higher rate of meconium passage. Antepartum oligohydramnios is associated with an increased risk of perinatal morbidity and mortality.


This paper presents a maturity model of IT service delivery that consists of maturity statements grouped on five maturity levels. The model is founded on maturity model properties and IT Capability Maturity Model (IT Service CMM). It was motivated by the interest and limitation of Nicaraguan Internet Service Providers in formalizing and assessing specific IT service elements. The model was applied to traceable information of the current status of IT service delivery in a Nicaraguan Internet Service Provider.


The standard regular expressions over finite alphabets have been widely accepted as the most basic formalism to query graph databases. However, the major drawback of this approach is that it ignores the presence of data. In this paper we study the so called regular expressions with binding (REWB), that is, regular expressions equipped with variables to store data within a well defined scope. In particular, we study the complexity of the query evaluation of REWB queries over graph databases.


Two species of hairstreak butterflies from the genus Calycopis are known in the United States: C. cecrops and C. isobeon. Analysis of mitochondrial COI barcodes of Calycopis revealed cecrops-like specimens from the eastern US with atypical barcodes that were 2.6% different from either USA species, but similar to Central American Calycopis species. To address the possibility that the specimens with atypical barcodes represent an undescribed cryptic species, we sequenced complete genomes of 27 Calycopis specimens of four species: C. cecrops, C. isobeon, C. quintana and C. bactra. Some of these specimens were collected up to 60 years ago and preserved dry in museum collections, but nonetheless produced genomes as complete as fresh samples. Phylogenetic trees reconstructed using the whole mitochondrial and nuclear genomes were incongruent. While USA Calycopis with atypical barcodes grouped with Central American species C. quintana by mitochondria, nuclear genome trees placed them within typical USA C. cecrops in agreement with morphology, suggesting mitochondrial introgression. Nuclear genomes also show introgression, especially between C. cecrops and C. isobeon. About 2.3% of each C. cecrops genome has probably (p-value < 0.01, FDR < 0.1) introgressed from C. isobeon and about 3.4% of each C. isobeon genome may have come from C. cecrops. The introgressed regions are enriched in genes encoding transmembrane proteins, mitochondria-targeting proteins and components of the larval cuticle. This study provides the first example of mitochondrial introgression in Lepidoptera supported by complete genome sequencing. Our results caution about relying solely on COI barcodes and mitochondrial DNA for species identification or discovery.


This paper presents a decentralized emergency control approach for preventing voltage instability by controlling the reactive power and voltage of the system. The proposed control algorithm is based on a distributed architecture of intelligent agents to identify the affected region and to activate timely countermeasures to achieve a fast and accurate response. By dividing the network into several areas, the voltage instability problem can be localized and countermeasures can be directed to the most affected area by the authorized local agent. This facilitates quick decision making within the system. To achieve effective voltage and reactive power support, a sensitivity based zone formation is proposed. The Nordic32 74-bus test system has been used for testing the proposed multi-agent emergency control (MAEC). The results from the case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed MAEC approach.


CD40 is a TNF receptor superfamily member that provides activation signals in antigen-presenting cells such as B cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Multimerization of CD40 by its ligand initiates signaling by recruiting TNF receptor-associated factors (TRAFs) to the CD40 cytoplasmic domain. Recombinant human TRAF proteins overexpressed in insect cells were biochemically characterized and used to finely map TRAF binding regions in the human CD40 cytoplasmic domain. TRAF1, TRAF2, TRAF3, and TRAF6, but not TRAF4 or TRAF5, bound directly to the CD40 cytoplasmic domain. CD40 interactions with TRAF2 and TRAF3 were stronger than the interactions with TRAF1 and TRAF6. Full-length TRAF3 and TRAF5 formed hetero-oligomers, presumably through their predicted isoleucine zippers. TRAF3-TRAF5 hetero-oligomers interacted with CD40, indicating that TRAF5 can be indirectly recruited to the CD40 cytoplasmic domain. Overlapping peptides synthesized on cellulose membranes were used to map each TRAF interaction region. TRAF1, TRAF2, and TRAF3 interacted with the same region. The recognition site for TRAF6 was a nonoverlapping membrane proximal region. Using peptides with progressive deletions, a minimal TRAF1, TRAF2, and TRAF3 binding region was mapped to the PVQET sequence in the CD40 cytoplasmic domain. The minimal region for TRAF6 binding was the sequence QEPQEINF. These studies demonstrate that the CD40 cytoplasmic domain contains two nonoverlapping TRAF binding regions and suggest that TRAF1, TRAF2, and TRAF3 could bind competitively to one site. Relative affinities and competition of individual and hetero-oligomeric TRAF proteins for CD40 binding sites may contribute to receptor specificity and cell-type selectivity in CD40-dependent signaling.


Recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAV) provide outstanding options for customization and superior capabilities for gene therapy. To access their full potential, facile genetic manipulation is pivotal, including capsid loop modifications. Therefore, we assessed capsid tolerance to modifications of the structural VP proteins in terms of stability and plasticity. Flexible glycine-serine linkers of increasing sizes were, at the genetic level, introduced into the 587 loop region of the VP proteins of serotype 2, the best studied AAV representative. Analyses of biological function and thermal stability with respect to genome release of viral particles revealed structural plasticity. In addition, insertion of the 29 kDa enzyme β-lactamase into the loop region was tested with a complete or a mosaic modification setting. For the mosaic approach, investigation of VP2 trans expression revealed that a Kozak sequence was required to prevent leaky scanning. Surprisingly, even the full capsid modification with β-lactamase allowed for the assembly of capsids with a concomitant increase in size. Enzyme activity assays revealed lactamase functionality for both rAAV variants, which demonstrates the structural robustness of this platform technology.


Despite the prevalence of the transcription of language data in qualitative research, few published studies provide insight into how the transcription process is negotiated. The purpose of this article is to describe unique challenges to quality transcription faced by a "relative insider" by reflexively exploring the research process (in particular the researcher's position) and to explicate the implications for transcription quality and research rigor/trustworthiness. Inaccuracies within transcripts created by discrepancies between participants' intended meaning and the researcher's/transcriptionist's interpretation can compromise the rigor of one's findings. Therefore, when conducting research among speakers of regional dialects, researchers/transcriptionists should plan how issues related to interviewing and particularly to transcription will be negotiated.


Intergenerational responsibility is multi-faceted.This edited volume reflects intergenerational aspects in light of spatial, age and racial segregation, global warming, and the aging Western world population. Intergenerational global governance is addressed in the era of globalization and migration. The intergenerational glue, intergenerational crises resilience strategies and intergenerational responses to external shocks serve as innovative global responsibility implementation guidelines in the international arena. Fostering intergenerational harmony through intergenerational income mobility and intergenerational opportunities, environmental protection and sustainable development aids alleviate the most pressing contemporary challenges of humankind. Overall, this interdisciplinary and applied contribution to the scholarship on intergenerational responsibility supports the leadership and management of global governance agency in the private and public sectors.


Design and Sociology are disciplines that rarely interact, but both share significant common concerns, particularly when it comes to matters of inclusivity and "designing out" exclusion. While some of the qualitative methods used in sociology are already a common part of studying user interactions with products, this paper argues that further benefits could be achieved through closer interaction between these disciplines. Design could learn much from the moral and reflective critiques applied by sociologists to their own work to identify assumptions and prejudices, while sociology can benefit from the creative impetus and codesign principles adopted in design, particularly when it comes to working with and understanding children. The paper concludes by describing the Together Through Play project which sets out to explore the benefits of bringing together sociology and design in studying the area of inclusive play between disabled and non-disabled children.


Conventional wisdom long held that all important intellectual diffusion was from Europe westward to North America until the 1940s, but two examples of a reverse flow of fundamental concepts of structural geology during the 1920s challenge that dogma. Those concepts were products of the renowned Wisconsin school of Precambrian geology, and their transplantation also involved Princeton University. The first example of Wisconsin export concerns the use of sedimentary structures for establishing the original top facing or way-up direction within complexly deformed strata. Although this technique was recognized in nineteenth century Ireland, that insight was ignored and lost. Only after its reintroduction to Great Britain from Wisconsin in the 1920s was its importance gradually recognized in Europe. The second example concerns the recognition that small-scale deformational structures visible in isolated outcrops reflect larger regional structures, which are commonly not directly observable. This fundamental inference also had its roots in Wisconsin, where Englishman Gilbert Wilson learned it in 1925–1926 and then taught it at the Imperial College in London. These two key concepts of small-scale structural analysis, coupled with the use of the stereonet and insights from experimental deformation of rocks, became the basis for a revolution in structural geology during the 1950s to 1970s. After the triumphs of four generations of Wisconsin faculty members, who were outstanding both as scientists and administrators, the Wisconsin school faltered until the waves of that revolution washed back upon American shores during the 1960s.


In 1964, of the more than 85 million telephones in the United States and Canada, less than one percent were used regularly by deaf people. In that same year, three enterprising deaf men, Robert H. Weitbrecht, James C. Marsters, and Andrew Saks, started the process that led to deaf people around the world possessing an affordable phone system that they could use. Harry Lang's A Phone of Our Own: The Deaf Insurrection Against Ma Bell tells how these three men collaborated to solve the technical difficulties of developing a coupling device for TTYs that would translate sounds into discernible letters. More remarkably, and with the help of an expanding corps of Deaf advocates, they successfully assaulted the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), which in its efforts to protect its monopoly, smashed old TTYs to keep them from being used for potentially competitive purposes. A Phone of Our Own is an entertaining and engrossing story of how Deaf people fought and won, and changed the world for the better for deaf people everywhere.


This work reports on the first ever effort by researchers from tfie
United States and Japan to undertake a collaborative social science
study in the disaster area. The agreed upon focus was the
operation of local mass communication systems during the emergency
time periods of disasters in both societies. Using a mostly
common, although not identical research design, the Americans
studied local reporting of a major hurricane (Hurricane Alicia in
the Houston, Texas metropolitan area in 1983) and a major sudden
flood (around Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1984). The Japanese in turn
researched the local reporting of two similar disasters (the floods
and landslides around Nagasaki in 1982 and the earthquake-tsunami
disaster in Noshiro City in northern Japan in 1983). The overall
objective of the collaborative work was to ascertain the
similarities and differences in disaster news gathering and
reporting at the local community level in the two societies.


Like all articles in BMC journals, this peer-reviewed article can be downloaded, printed and distributed freely for any purposes (see copyright notice below). permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver Abstract Background


In this paper it is shown that a measurement of the relative luminosity changes at the LHC may be obtained by analysing the currents drawn from the high voltage power supplies of the electromagnetic section of the forward calorimeter of the ATLAS detector. The method was verified with a reproduction of a small section of the ATLAS forward calorimeter using proton beams of known beam energies and variable intensities at the U-70 accelerator at IHEP in Protvino, Russia. The experimental setup and the data taking during a test beam run in April 2008 are described in detail. A comparison of the measured high voltage currents with reference measurements from beam intensity monitors shows a linear dependence on the beam intensity. The non-linearities are measured to be less than 0.5% combining statistical and systematic uncertainties.


The purpose of this article is to report a case of isolated subconjunctival cavernous hemangioma, masquerading as ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) in a young male. A 40-year-old male presented with complaints of elevated vascular nodular lesions with feeder vessels in both eyes (right eye > left eye), in temporal limbus for the right eye, and in temporal bulbar conjunctiva for the left eye. Provisional diagnosis of both eyes' OSSN was made. Wide excisional biopsy with cryotherapy was performed for the right eye, and bare sclera was covered with conjunctival autograft. Histopathology report of the lesion showed subconjunctival cavernous hemangioma with no malignancy. The patient did not show any recurrence of lesion in the right eye at 1-year follow-up. Isolated conjunctival hemangioma is rare, but it can be considered as a differential diagnosis of vascular limbal nodules.


Among metal oxide nanomaterials, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures are one of the most important nanomaterials in today's nanotechnology research. Over the past several decades, ZnO nanostructures have been extensively investigated for their extraordinary physical and chemical characteristics and also for their prominent performance in various novel applications such as photonics, optics, electronics, drug delivery, cancer treatment, bioimaging, etc. However, functionality of theses nanomaterials is eventually dictated by the capability to govern their properties including shape, size, position, and crystalline structure on the nanosized scale. This thesis investigates the solution-based synthesis of ZnO nanostructures and their morphological and structural properties. Importantly, in order to achieve the promising structure of ZnO, a systematic investigation of the influence of processing parameters, including solution concentration, time and temperature of growth reaction on the resultant materials was addressed. The other main point for this work is not only to effectively control the morphology, size, uniformly distribution, and orientation of ZnO nanomaterials, but also to build a good comprehension of the mechanism of fabrication process to raise their performance in future nanoscale applications. Furthermore, the catalytic effect of RF sputtered gold (Au) thin layer on Si substrate prior to ZnO growth was investigated to demonstrate the contributory for the remarkable catalytic activity of Au nanoparticles in the formation of high quality ZnO nanostructures. Furthermore, we introduce an effective, inexpensive lithographic patterning method to consistently control the position of solutionprocessed ZnO nanowires. Nanosphere lithography technique (NSL) utilizes a catalyst-assisted pattern generated by employing colloidal self-assembled crystal of polystyrene spheres (PS) on the substrate surface to guide the hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanowires. Further, we fabricate 3D NFs and branched NFs of ZnO on silicon substrate via simple and cost-effective solution growth method, incorporating with seed ZnO nanoparticles deposition. The synthesis of 3D branched ZnO nanostructure, could potentially exploit for applications in optoelectronics, catalysis, sensing and photovoltaics. In addition to the synthesis of 1D and 3D ZnO nanostructures, their morphology and distribution have been analysed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) while, the surface topography was analysed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The crystalline structure, phase purity, and particle size of ZnO nanomaterials have been investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The outcomes from all these efforts have been integrated for cellular investigation via fluorescence microscopy technique (FM) to demonstrate the potential application of ZnO nanostructures as a gene delivery/-tissue engineering tool in different expression systems.


People respond emotionally to other people, animals, or even objects like furniture. While current furniture is static in appearance, embedded electronics can enable furniture to change its appearance. A couch could show excitement during a party or anger when a pet scratches it. But would emotional furniture delight or annoy people? To explore the potential for emotional furniture, we built EmotoCouch. Through colored light, visual patterns, and haptic feedback, EmotoCouch expresses six emotional states: Excited, Happy, Calm, Depressed/Sad, Afraid, and Angry. This video describes the construction of EmotoCouch, feedback gathered through surveys and user interviews, and shows example EmotoCouch usage situations.


As political momentum surrounding climate change builds in the US, policymakers are taking a fresh look at national climate policy and American involvement in multilateral climate negotiations. And as in years past, the potential economic impact of any US effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions stands as a central question in the Washington policy debate. Of particular concern is the effect climate policy would have on carbon-intensive US manufacturing. Many of these industries are already under pressure from foreign competition, particularly large emerging economies like China, India, and Brazil that are not bound to reduce emissions under the current international climate framework. As the Congress takes up domestic climate legislation and the Administration reengages in multilateral climate negotiations, policymakers are looking for ways to avoid putting US industry at a competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis countries without similar climate policy, lest a decline in industrial emissions at home is simply replaced by increases in emissions abroad. * While this would be best achieved through harmonized international climate policy, the differences between countries in level of economic development, obligations stemming from historic emissions and responsibilities arising from future emissions, mean harmonization is still a long way off. The question then, in the design of domestic US climate policy today, is how to level the playing field for carbon-intensive industries during a period of transition, where trading partners are moving at different speeds and adopting a variety of policies to reduce emissions...and how to do so in a way that doesn't threaten the prospects of broader international agreement down the road. This book, a collaboration between the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the World Resources Institute, tackles these issues through an assessment of the economics and trade flows of key carbon-intensive industries. They evaluate a wide range of policy options, including those that would impose carbon costs on foreign-produced goods at the border (currently included in draft US legislation and under consideration in the EU) in terms of their effectiveness in reducing emissions and addressing competitiveness issues and their impact on health of multilateral trade and climate negotiations.


From a theoretical perspective the link between the speed and scope of rapid labor reallocation and productivity growth or income inequality is ambiguous. Do reallocations with more flows tend to produce higher productivity growth? Does such a link appear at the expense of higher income inequality? We explore the rich evidence from earlier studies on worker flows in the period of massive and rapid labor reallocation, i.e. the economic transition from a centrally planned to a market-oriented economy in Central and Eastern Europe. We have collected over 450 estimates of job flows from the literature and used these inputs to estimate the short-run and long-run relationship between labor market flows, labor productivity and income inequality. We apply the tools typical for a meta-analysis to verify the empirical regularities between labor flows and productivity growth as well as income inequality. Our findings suggest only weak and short term links with productivity, driven predominantly by business cycles. However, data reveal a strong pattern for income inequality in the short-run - more churning during reallocation is associated with a level effect towards increased Gini indices.


Summary A total of 315 barrows (DNA; 200 × 400; initially 24.9 lb) were used in a 21-d growth trial evaluating the effects of feeding TRP Pro (CJ America-Bio, Downers Grove, IL) as a source of Trp on nursery pig performance. Pigs were weaned at approximately 21 d of age, placed in pens based on initial body weight (BW), and fed common starter diets for 21 d. On d 21 after weaning, considered d 0 of the study, pigs were weighed and pens were allotted to 1 of 4 dietary treatments with 5 pigs per pen and 15 or 16 pens per treatment. Dietary treatments included a negative control (16% SID Trp:Lys ratio), positive control (21% SID Trp:Lys ratio from crystalline Trp), or diets containing Trp with biomass to provide 21 or 23.5% standardized ileal digestible (SID) Trp:Lys ratios (included at 0.104 or 0.156% of the diet, respectively). Diets were corn-soybean meal-based and contained 1.25% SID Lys with other amino acids set to meet or exceed NRC 4 requirement estimates. The TRP Pro contained 60% Trp per the supplier's specifications. Growth data were analyzed as a randomized complete block design using the PROC GLIMMIX procedure of SAS with pen as the experimental unit. Overall (d 0 to 21), pigs fed the 21% Trp:Lys ratio from crystalline Trp or Trp with biomass had increased ( P < 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) compared to pigs fed the negative control diet, with pigs fed the 23.5% Trp:Lys ratio with biomass intermediate. There was no evidence for difference in overall average daily feed intake (ADFI); however, pigs fed the 21% Trp:Lys ratio from Trp with biomass had improved ( P < 0.05) feed efficiency (F/G) compared to the negative control diet, with others intermediate. In conclusion, TRP Pro appears to be a suitable alternative to crystalline Trp in nursery pig diets but further evaluation at higher inclusion levels is needed.


The Salvation Army has been battling social problems in the Netherlands for more than 125 years. Over the course of this period, the Dutch Salvation Army has developed into a well-known faith-based organization as well as an important professional social service provider. These two characteristics: religious work and social work, are regarded by the Army as essential to its identity, and are considered distinct but in – separable. However, as this study shows, during much of the Army's history this bilateral character created an inescapable field of tension. This became explicitly clear with the development of the Dutch social policy system during the twentieth century, when the evolving relationship between the Salvation Army and the Dutch government created certain problems for both actors. How would the government cooperate with a valued social service provider that had an explicit faith-based identity? And on the other hand, how did the Army cope with this relationship in relation to its identity?
The work presented in this thesis was supported by the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (HU) and the VU University Amsterdam.


Industrial, agricultural and rural activities may result in pollution of watercourses with elevated trace metal concentrations and implications for water supply and ecosystem functioning. The concentration of the trace metals Fe, Mn, Zn, Co, Pb, Cu, and Cd in the water and clay fractions (<2μm) of the bank sediments of River Tigris in Baghdad city were determined. Dissolved trace metals concentrations were far below the upper permissible limits during 2012-2013. There was no consistent pattern between element concentrations and river discharge. Seasonal interrelations between water and sediments were most obvious for Fe that decreased in both environments with rising flows during autumn. Although independent of discharge, Mn in water and sediments often followed each other at all stations. Zinc, however, increased in the sediments and decreased in the water with discharge. The clay fractions were slightly to strongly enriched in trace metals with the gradient Co > Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu suggesting absorption of the metals on sediment substrate.


In most developing countries, historically, the main strategy for improving the food sector has focused on increasing farm-level production. But in recent years, with the emphasis on value chain analysis, there has been much more focus on subsector studies, demand-driven approaches, and improving vertical coordination to assure product quality to final consumption markets. Millet, sorghum, and later rice were the traditional leading three cereal crops produced and consumed in Mali. Maize has trailed them for more than two decades, but from mid 1990s on, it has been produced and consumed in much larger quantities. Given the potentials of maize, developing and better organizing its subsector has the potential to not only increase revenues for maize farmers, but also create profitable opportunities for other actors in the subsector (traders, marketers, processors, industries, and consumers). This paper seeks to provide a description of the changing supply and demand dynamics for maize in Mali, the organization of the marketing channels and players, and the characteristics of the main consumption markets. The main conceptual tools to be used are subsector analysis and the structure-conduct-performance (SCP) approach. The paper will draw on literature reviews, the author's personal interviews with value chain participants, and tabular and graphical analysis of production and price data to address the reasons behind the changes in production and demand, how the demand is likely to evolve, how the structure of the subsector might be affected, and what will be the implications for public sector investments and policies.


Abstract. Maps are a crucial asset in communicating climate science to a diverse audience, and there is a wealth of software available to analyse and visualise climate information. However, this availability makes it easy to create poor maps as users often lack an underlying cartographic knowledge. Unlike traditional cartography, where many known standards allow maps to be interpreted easily, there is no standard mapping approach used to represent uncertainty (in climate or other information). Consequently, a wide range of techniques have been applied for this purpose, and users may spend unnecessary time trying to understand the mapping approach rather than interpreting the information presented. Furthermore, communicating and visualising uncertainties in climate data and climate change projections, using for example ensemble based approaches, presents additional challenges for mapping that require careful consideration. The aim of this paper is to provide background information and guidance on suitable techniques for mapping climate variables, including uncertainty. We assess a range of existing and novel techniques for mapping variables and uncertainties, comparing "intrinsic" approaches that use colour in much the same way as conventional thematic maps with "extrinsic" approaches that incorporate additional geometry such as points or features. Using cartographic knowledge and lessons learned from mapping in different disciplines we propose the following 6 general mapping guidelines to develop a suitable mapping technique that represents both magnitude and uncertainty in climate data: – use a sensible sequential or diverging colour scheme; – use appropriate colour symbolism if it is applicable; – ensure the map is usable by colour blind people; – use a data classification scheme that does not misrepresent the data; – use a map projection that does not distort the data – attempt to be visually intuitive to understand. Using these guidelines, we suggest an approach to map climate variables with associated uncertainty, that can be easily replicated for a wide range of climate mapping applications. It is proposed this technique would provide a consistent approach suitable for mapping information for the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5).


The measurement of affect in HCI research is a challenging and complex issue. Although a number of techniques for measuring affect have been developed, a systematic discussion of their effectiveness and applicability in different contexts remains lacking, especially in social contexts with multiple users. As computing shifts to increasingly collaborative and ubiquitous models, it is important to discuss affect measurement beyond the individual level. This workshop will provide a forum where designers, practitioners, and researchers can 1) introduce novel methods of affect measurement that go beyond physiological and self-report measures, 2) advance our understanding of existing measurement methods and how they can be expanded, and 3) critically evaluate issues of affect measurement.


Attitudes are changing in education globally to promote the open sharing of educational courses and resources. The aim of this study was to explore staff awareness and attitudes towards ''open educational resources'' (OER) as a benchmark for monitoring future progress. Faculty staff (n6) were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews that facilitated the development of a questionnaire. Staff respondents (n50) were not familiar with the term OER but had a clear notion of what it meant. They were familiar with open content repositories within the university but not externally. A culture of borrowing and sharing of resources exists between close colleagues, but not further a field, and whilst staff would obtain resources from the Internet, they were reticent to place materials there. Drivers for mobilising resources included a strong belief in open education, the ability of OER to enhance individual and institutional reputations and economic factors. Barriers to OER included confusion over copyright and lack of IT support. To conclude, there is a positive collegiate culture within the faculty, and overcoming the lack of awareness and dismantling the barriers to sharing will help advance the open educational practices, benefitting both faculty staff and the global community. Keywords: open educational resources; staff attitudes; sustainability (Published: 3 February) Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2012, 20 : 14395 - DOI: 10.3402/rlt.v20i0/14395


In a corpus of more than 120 hours of recorded American Norwegian speech we find the word spost, which looks like a non-Norwegian item. This word appears to be in normal use, although Norwegian Americans deny using it. Apparently this is the modal structure 'be supposed to' / 'I suppose' being borrowed from English into American Norwegian. In this article we examine how these structures are used in American Norwegian, and how they are modified and incorporated into the language. Furthermore we look at the various meanings such constructions have and potential models for it in Norwegian. This study contributes to the literature on borrowing of modal expressions in contact. According to Matras and Sakel (2007), borrowing of verb-related categories, such as modality, is rarely discussed in the literature, although in reality it is quite frequent. Judging by how often modal expressions are borrowed from one language to another, modality itself stands out as category which is prone to borrowing. We also discuss how the use of spost in some instances can be interpreted as a discourse marker, and if it is only the item that is borrowed, or also the grammatical pattern associated with it.


Transportation sector in Southeast Asia is highly dependent on petroleum products, making it one of the most carbon-intensive energy sectors in the region. The 6th ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO6) projected the sector's oil consumption to rapidly grow to 330 million ton of oil equivalent (Mtoe) by 2040 or about 97% from total energy consumed in the sector. Mostly imported, the ever-increasing oil demand poses risk to economic and energy security. The growing concern of climate change also brings another issue to the sector. Cleaner mobility alternatives include electric vehicle. This study aims to assess the readiness of electric mobility roll-out in Southeast Asia, especially from supporting policy perspective. It critically reviews the related policies from each ASEAN member states. Further, the PEST (Political, Economic, Social, Technological) framework is utilised to assess the readiness of such policies. Based on such analysis and identification of critical factors of electric mobility implementation, the study proposes policy recommendations.


Qualitative analysis of procedurally generated narratives remains a difficult hurdle for most narrative generation tools. Typical analysis involves the use of human studies, rating the quality of the generated narratives against a given set of criteria, a costly and time consuming process. In this paper we integrate a set of features within the ReGEN system which aim to ensure narrative correctness and quality. Correct generation is ensured by performing an analysis of the preconditions and postconditions of each narrative event. Narrative quality is ensured by using an existing set of formal metrics which relate quality to the structure of the narrative to guide narrative generation. This quantitative approach provides an objective means of guaranteeing quality within narrative generation.


This paper employs the random-effects negative binomial regression model (RENBM) to test the relationship between macroeconomic factors and the birth of new firms. The test is across countries and uses count data. We consider a sample of 135 panel-data observations, taken from 27 countries in the European Union (EU) during the period 2004 to 2008. We found that the birth of new firms is positively related to the growth of gross domestic product (GDP), inflation and openness, and is negatively related to unemployment. This result is in accordance with macroeconomic theory. The results also show that expenditure on research and development (R&D) has a significant positive effect on the number of new firms. This result further supports the hypothesis of new economic growth theory. Moreover, the empirical evidence shows a positive correlation between the number of new businesses and ethnic heterogeneity.


A key objective of China's reform program was to reduce distortions in the economic system and enhance growth. However, when implemented in incremental and partial ways, local governments or individuals have chance to capture rents inherent in the reform process. Young (2000) warned that the rent-seeking behavior might lead to increasing market fragmentation. Empirical studies have since shown that this did not happen in the product markets. In this paper we argue that as rents from the product markets were squeezed out during the reform process, rent-seeking behavior shifted to the factor markets, especially the capital and land markets. The reform process now needs to be deepened to ensure that the factor markets also become more integrated and efficient.


Research suggests that widespread uncertainty over the scopes of issued patents creates significant costs for third-party firms and may decrease innovation. This Article addresses the scope uncertainty issue from a theoretical perspective by creating a model of patent claim scope uncertainty. It is often difficult for third parties to determine the legal coverage of issued patents. Scope underdetermination exists when the words of a patent claim are capable of a broad range of plausible scopes ex ante in light of the procedures for interpreting patents. Underdetermination creates uncertainty about claim coverage because a lay interpreter cannot know which interpretation will ultimately be elected and employed by a judge or jury in a patent infringement proceeding. This Article models this uncertainty problem by the set of interpretations that are plausible for a patent-claim element in light of constraints that restrict meaning, internal and external to the patent document. The model suggests generalizable properties against which we can critically evaluate patent interpretive rules and procedures. By drawing from the mathematical frameworks of set-theory and constraint satisfaction, and uncertainty theories rooted in the legal jurisprudence literature, this Article develops an approach to improving the ex ante scope precision of any given patent claim. The general approach is to reduce the set of interpretative scopes that patent claim words can plausibly obtain. By increasing explicit, scope-defining information in the public patent record, it is possible to improve scope precision by ex ante clarifying scope coverage and exclusion in foreseeable scope uncertainty scenarios. The legal uncertainty model developed herein may be generalizable to scenarios of ex-ante legal uncertainty found in other areas of law.