In recent years, with the deepening research of SoftMan, the traditional SoftMan communication mode has begun to appear insufficient on the ability of expression and communication efficiency. Aiming at the problems, based on the study of previous SoftMan system and its communication theory as well as the SoftMan Knowledge model and context awareness mechanism, the paper draws lessons from the mature language specification of Agent communication, proposes the CSMKC (Context driven SoftMan Knowledge Communication) framework, designs and implements its message layer, Knowledge layer and scene layer detailedly, achieves the communication of knowledge level between different SoftMans as well as the maintenance of situational context basically. Experimental results show that when the system is to complete a task, the higher situation dependence, the more obvious advantages of CSMKC in communication consumption.


Background: At present, differentiation between exudative and transudative pleural effusion is based solely on laboratory measures and is time-consuming. A simple bedside method would be of great help to differentiate between these two types of effusions. We present a new method for this purpose assessed in 46 patients. Methods: Standard laboratory tests and our method were tested using the same fluid samples in 46 patients with pleural effusion. A principal in physics called the capillary tube law (h=2a/rpg) was used to compare the samples. The imbibition of the fluid level less than 15mm signified exudate and greater than 15mm signified transudate. Results: Our data shows that this method is 74% sensitive and 89.4% specific compared to the standard method when analyzed statistically by the chi-square and Kappa agreement (Cronbach's K) tests. Conclusion: The capillary tube test has an acceptable validity for bedside diagnosis of exudative or transudative effusions.


THE PSYCHE AND CUPID STORY IS A CENTRAL MYTH of female maturation, usually read as a metaphor for the soul reaching its full growth through the transforming power of love. But there are, if one looks closely, two stories intertwined in this myth. The most obvious, the familiar "Eros plot," concerns Psyche's relationship with her family and her lover, Eros/Cupid. The usually less-emphasized "Psyche plot," on the other hand, is about her relationship with her lover's mother Aphrodite/Venus. (1) At its core, this underlying Psyche plot-perhaps, as some interpretations suggest, a much older remnant of ancient matriarchal rites of initiation--is the story of a younger woman's passage into adulthood through the accomplishment of symbolic tasks assigned by a powerful older woman. This authoritative female figure may even appear to be an enemy, at least at times, but actually mentors and guides her growth into full participation in society. As Valerie Estelle Frankel points out in her study of the mentor element in the heroine's journey, "[a]s a teacher of independence, the evil stepmother [or her equivalent] is essential to the story" (38). When the Psyche plot is foregrounded in a work, the positive aspects of it can speak to the great hunger of young women for a same-sex mentor. Women "particularly need female mentors who can model the greater diversity in women's lives today" and to help them "develop [their] own definition of success" (Schlegel). A relationship with a female mentor can fulfill important "psychosocial needs" and provide "engaged and authentic emotional support" (Spencer and Liang 109). Fortunately for younger women, "More than half of Gen Y women have been mentored by a woman, up from only 34% of Baby Boomers" (Williams). Yet this improvement is not necessarily reflected in popular media; a recent thread on the women's news discussion site Jezebel asks the pertinent question: "Where Are All the Female Mentor Characters?" As the columnist points out, "In all of the films, shows, and books I can think of, the woman's mentor is normally a male, either gay or a potential love-interest. If a woman happens to give the heroine some mentoring, it's limited to certain advice-giving incidents, which are often questionable and sometimes destructive." Commenters list numerous examples of both positive and negative female mentors, but far more are from books than from mainstream movies or television. And in these examples, women seem to mentor men positively more often than other women, and for the most part, the same-sex mentoring relationship is indeed limited: a part of the broader story, not the focus of it. The 2006 movie The Devil Wears Prada, adapted for the screen by Aline Brosh McKenna, directed by David Frankel, and starring Meryl Streep, is a very rare example of a popular film where female mentoring is at the center of the story. The book on which the movie is based is a roman a clef about author Lauren Weisberger's stint as assistant to Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue. It is a self-indulgent and self-centered litany of the humiliating and impossible tasks she was commanded to do, interesting chiefly as an exercise in name-dropping. The central character learns nothing from her experiences and exhibits no character growth throughout the novel; one reviewer accurately calls it "tiresomely self-entitled" (Valby) and Kate Betts, who similarly worked for Wintour early in her career, says "[Weisberger] had a ringside seat at one of the great editorial franchises [but] seems to have understood almost nothing" (Betts). The list of hard-earned "skills" the narrator sarcastically reels off near the end of the novel are actually, if she could look at them with a bit more perspective, useful accomplishments indeed; whose professional life wouldn't be improved by learning "how to complete just about any challenge in under an hour because the phrase [...] 'that's not possible' was simply not an option" (326)? …


This Essay offers a critique of "folk jurisprudence." Folk jurisprudence is the focus on folk understandings as a means to determine the content of the concept of law and of legal concepts. Folk jurisprudence is characteristic of some (though not all) forms of both "armchair" analytic philosophy and experimental jurisprudence. Folk jurisprudence gets many things right. For instance, it captures the fact that law and legal concepts are social kinds that are sensitive to the ways in which agents conceptualize them. However, folk jurisprudence gets one big thing wrong: the understandings that matter are not those of the population at large. The legal system is a governance structure characterized by an artificial, highly technical, and relatively arcane form of practical reasoning. Law is not a practice of the folk; it is a practice of an elite of experts in law—legal officials. The concept of law is not the people's concept of law. It is the concept of law of the legal officials who populate the governance structure we call "law" and make that governance structure an institutional reality. The same is true for legal concepts. Their meaning depends on their use by law's personnel. This explains why legal institutions are exposed to the risk of legal alienation. It also explains why folk concepts are not determinative of the concept of law or legal concepts, and why attempts—like Knobe and Shapiro's—to determine the content of legal concepts by appealing to folk understandings is misguided and inevitably collapse into traditional forms of legal argument. We might want law to be responsive to citizens' views. We might also want to reduce legal alienation. Still, we should not confuse what we would want to be the case with what in fact is the case.


Diaspora studies continue to expand in range and scope and remain fertile terrain for investigating multiple techniques of myth creation in dance performance, history as performance, dramatic narrative, and staged rituals in the field. Similarly, research in postcoloniality, gender/sexuality, intercultural, and literary studies, among others, all engage and feature core components of performance and myth in articulating and understanding their fields. This sharing of similar components also demonstrates the interrelatedness of these fields. In Myth Performance in the African Diasporas: Ritual, Theatre, and Dance, the authors contend that performance traditions across artistic disciplines reveal a shared-if sometimes varied-journey among diasporic artists to reconnect with their African ancestors. The volume begins with a historical and aesthetic overview of how dramatists, choreographers, and performance artists have approached the task of interpreting African myth. The individual chapters reveal how specific artists, dramatists, and choreographers have interpreted African myth and what performative approaches and traditions they have used. Focusing on theatre practitioners from the nineteenth century through the present, the authors examine performative traditions from Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Drawing upon research in theatre, dance, and literary texts, Myth Performance in the African Diasporas will be crucial to academics interested in African performance viewed through the prism of myth making and spiritual/ritualistic stagings. Besides those interested in diasporic studies, this book will also be useful to scholars and students of history, drama, theatre, and dance.


Agenda for Sustaining Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises is the tenth volume of articles compiled into a book.The book represents another attempt made to address issues of importance to the management and development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).More specifically, this particular volume focuses on the sustainability of SMEs. Just as in the earlier ninth volumes, the eight articles introduced in this tenth volume are earlier papers presented at several international conferences which were held locally and abroad.Interestingly, each of the eight articles in the book attempts to deal with a specific issue that is relevant and related to the sustainability of SMEs.
Taken together, the book not only helps readers to better understand SMEs but also explains the different issues involved in sustaining a small business. More meaningfully, the articles in the book seek to provide students, owners and managers of SMEs and policymakers useful insights into the scope and complexity of sustaining the business activities of SMEs.


A flow chemistry reactor system for scalable photooxygenation reactions was developed using a gas–liquid reactor as key feature. Herein oxygen gas is dissolved under pressure in the reaction mixture to give a homogeneous flow regime prior to irradiation. The system enables safe mass transport of oxygen in an accurate manner simply by adjusting liquid flow rate, membrane temperature, and gas pressure as concluded after characterization of reactor behaviour. Quantification of oxygen supply as function of liquid flow rate and membrane temperature showed that 50 mM and 58 mM of oxygen were supplied to methanol and acetonitrile at 1 mL min−1 flow rate and 110 °C membrane temperature. With 100 mM measured at 90 °C, dichloromethane was most effective for oxygen uptake. Photooxidation of a model system, the furan derivative ethyl 3-(2-furyl)propanoate, was elaborated to validate the system for singlet oxygen chemistry, with reactor parameters being further optimized for maximum conversion. Scope of the system was demonstrated by performing a set of representative photochemical oxidations, including reaction with citronellol as first step in the synthesis of rose oxide.


DNA damage is thought to play a critical role in the development of colorectal adenoma. Variation in DNA repair genes may alter their capacity to correct endogenous and exogenous DNA damage. We explored the association between common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in DNA repair genes and adenoma risk with a case-control study nested in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. A total of 1338 left sided, advanced colorectal adenoma cases and 1503 matched controls free of left-sided polyps were included in the study. Using DNA extracted from blood, 3144 tag SNPs in 149 DNA repair genes were successfully genotyped. Among Caucasians, 30 SNPs were associated with adenoma risk at P < 0.01, with four SNPs remaining significant after gene-based adjustment for multiple testing. The most significant finding was for a non-synonymous SNP (rs9350) in Exonuclease-1 (EXO1) [odds ratio (OR) = 1.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.11-1.51, P = 0.001)], which was predicted to be damaging using bioinformatics methods. However, the association was limited to smokers with a strong risk for current smokers (OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.27-3.65) and an intermediate risk for former smokers (OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.14-1.82) and no association for never smokers (OR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.76-1.25) (P(interaction) = 0.002). Among the top findings, an SNP (rs17503908) in ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) was inversely related to adenoma risk (OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.63-0.91). The association was restricted to never smokers (OR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.40-0.76) with no increased risk observed among smokers (OR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.70-1.13) (P(interaction) = 0.006). This large comprehensive study, which evaluated all presently known DNA repair genes, suggests that polymorphisms in EXO1 and ATM may be associated with risk for advanced colorectal adenoma with the associations modified by tobacco-smoking status.


Hong Kong has recently witnessed heightened public awareness of the issues of rights, civil society and citizenship. Contested relations with the Beijing government and slower economic growth in mainland China have seen more Hong Kong citizens become involved in civic engagement and identity politics. Youth service providers thus find themselves forced to respond to a rapidly changing society and changing youth needs while being situated in institutions with their own structural constraints and work culture. The result is that occupational stress is increasingly common amongst Hong Kong secondary school teachers and social workers. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative ethnographic study involving 16 in-depth interviews with community leaders, teachers and school-based social workers. How does a changing society affect youth work in general? How does greater discussion of democracy and human rights in the public sphere affect the way that youth service providers perform youth work? What are the changing roles and responsibilities of these providers in offering support to Hong Kong youth? The research themes that emerged include changing demographics and youth scene, a democratising public sphere in relation to Chinese youth and professionalism as a youth service provider.


The flow pattern and distribution of energy dissipation rate in a batch rotor-stator mixer fitted with disintegrating head have been numerically investigated. Standard k-e turbulence model in conjunction with sliding mesh method was employed and the simulation results were verified by laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) measurements. The agreement between predicted and measured velocity profiles in the bulk and of jet emerging from stator hole was very good. Results showed that the interaction between stator and rotating blades generated periodic fluctuations of jet velocity, flowrate, torque and energy dissipation rate around the holes. The kinetic energy balance based on measured velocity distribution indicated that about 70% of energy supplied by the rotor was dissipated in close proximity to the mixing head, while the simulation predicted that about 60% of energy dissipated in the same control volume. Both simulations and measurements showed that jet velocity and total flowrate through holes were proportional to rotor speed, while the energy dissipation rate scaled with the cube of rotor speed. The effect of stator geometry on the flow pattern and energy dissipation rate was also numerically investigated using standard k-e model and sliding mesh method. The simulations showed that flow patterns in the holes were similar regardless of holes sizes and shapes, i.e. jets emerged in the proximity of the leading edge and they induced circulation flows behind them. The radial velocities of jets emerging from various stators plotted against normalized tangential coordinate were practically the same, however, jets tangential velocities were affected by hole width-to-depth ratio. Jets emerging from holes with large width to-depth ratio had negative tangential velocity component (the same as rotor rotation) while those from holes with small width-to-depth ratio had positive tangential velocity component (against rotor rotation). Jets emerging from stators with small hole spacing tended to merge and move tangentially, while those emerging from stators with large hole spacing tended to move radially as free jets. The power number correlated well with the total flowrate and the total flowrate correlated well with the total hole area. Both power number and flowrate were practically not affected by hole shape, hole spacing and stator thickness. For all stators investigated, high energy dissipation rate occurred in the regions around the leading and trailing edges due to stagnations in those regions. Stators with narrow holes generated more uniform energy dissipation rate profile around the holes than those with wide holes since the regions with high energy dissipation rate around the leading and trailing edges merged. The simulations also predicted that about 50 – 60% of total energy supplied by rotor was dissipated in the rotor swept volume regardless of stator geometries.


Reprints of the original articles abstracted in TEXTILE RESEARCH JOURNAL are often available from the publishers. Otherwise, it may be possible to secure copies of the periodicals. Orders should be sent direct to the publishers. Photostat negatives of articles abstracted will be furnished to members of the Institute at a cost of 25 cents per page for pages not exceeding 7 inches in width and 50 cents per page for large sizes up to 11 % x 14 inches. Photostats of patents are 50 cents per page. The library's service charge will be added. Microfilm copies and paper enlargements of microfilm may be obtained from: Microfilms Inc., 313 N. First St., Ann Arbor, Mich.; New York Public Library, New York N. Y.; Yale University Library, New Haven, i Conn.; Harvard University Library, Cambridge, .lv1ass.; and Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. Translations may also be obtained from the above sources. ', A list of periodicals abstracted, the abbreviations used in references to articles, and the addresses of publishers of English language publications is given in the January, 1948, issue, page 48.


It is generally accepted that multiple scattering is important for evaluating backscatter lidar signals in the case of moderate or high optical depths and large receiver fields of view. On one hand, multiple scattering must be considered in inverting signals to obtain backscatter coefficients; on the other hand, it offers the opportunity to derive microphysical parameters of the scattering medium. Bissonnette developed a numerical code for the propagation of a continuous-wave laser beam through an atmosphere including multiple scattering. His model is also applicable to a backscatter lidar approximatively. In this paper we investigate if the assumptions on which his backscatter lidar application is based are valid for typical atmospheric situations. It is found that for small and moderate optical depths, a prerequisite for the backscatter lidar application is fulfilled: second-order iterations of the solution to the radiative transfer equation can indeed be neglected as proposed by Bissonnette. Furthermore, we propose an improvement of the simulation for limited fields of view that significantly alters the radial dependences of the backscattered signals. Essentially, on-axis backscattered signals are increased and the profiles tend to be somewhat narrower near the optical axis. The dependence of the radiative distribution on the phase function of the scattering medium, the optical depth, and on the field of view of the receiver is also changed. The modifications only slightly increase the computer time. Examples for typical atmospheric situations are shown, and proposals for intercomparisons with other models and measurements are made.


Background A patient's response to treatment may be influenced by the expectations that the patient has before initiating treatment. In the context of clinical trials, the influence of participant expectancy may blur the distinction between real and sham treatments, reducing statistical power to detect specific treatment effects. There is therefore a need for a tool that prospectively predicts expectancy effects on treatment outcomes across a wide range of treatment modalities. Purpose To help assess expectancy effects, we created the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS): an instrument for measuring positive and negative treatment expectancies. Internal reliability of the instrument was tested in Study 1. Criterion validity of the instrument (convergent, discriminant, and predictive) was assessed in Studies 2 and 3. Methods The instrument was developed using 200 participants in Study 1. Reliability and validity assessments were made with an additional 423 participants in Studies 2 and 3. Results The final six-item SETS contains two subscales: positive expectancy (α = 0.81–0.88) and negative expectancy (α = 0.81–0.86). The subscales predict a significant amount of outcome variance (between 12% and 18%) in patients receiving surgical and pain interventions. The SETS is simple to administer, score, and interpret. Conclusion The SETS may be used in clinical trials to improve statistical sensitivity for detecting treatment differences or in clinical settings to identify patients with poor treatment expectancies.


(New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000), ISBN 0-375-40110-5.Beginning in the 16(th) century, the African slave trade deposited Africans in numerous locales on the Eastern coast of the so-called New World. After the end of slavery and colonialism, they became a part of the nations that had once enslaved them, viewing themselves as a part of the African diaspora. Caryl Phillips, the distinguished British novelist of West Indian ancestry, succeeds brilliantly in The Atlantic Sound in introducing us to the indomitable courage and perseverance of Black people everywhere to find a place of sanctuary and peace. Melding three genre -- history, travelogue, and fiction -- Phillips contrasts interesting stories of personalities and places out of the Diaspora past with his own contemporary experiences in the same places.Retracing the triangle of the Atlantic slave trade, Phillips begins in the Caribbean, visiting Martinique, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, while traveling on a German freighter whose captain repeatedly characterizes each country as a "f....ing banana republic." Next, he journeys from the Caribbean to Liverpool, England, once the world's largest and richest slave trading port. Here, in the still prosperous Liverpool, John Emmanuel Ocansey, arrived from the Gold Coast in 1881 to investigate why a steam launch his father had commissioned and paid for with the very large sum of 2,678 pounds, had not been delivered. Ocansey soon discovered that the English agent had bilked his father. His unsuccessful attempts to recover his father's money through the British courts, the support provided by his landlady and the minister of the neighboring church, and the strange sights and sounds of nineteenth century Liverpool, Phillips relates with such deft narrative touch that one feels the depression of this young African, abroad in a strange land, where so many of his expectations of Christian fairness proved false.Phillips finds modern Liverpool very much like it was in Ocansey's time. Besieged by the unsavory history of the place, a history he relates dispassionately and with easy grace, he flees Liverpool, "where history is so physically present, yet so glaringly absent from peoples' consciousness."In Ghana, he meets Mohammed Mansour Nassirudeen, his chauffeur. No ordinary driver, Mohammed has been to England where in trying to work and get a degree so he could join the privileged class back home, he ran afoul of British law for violating his student work permit. His desperate attempt to avoid deportation failed, and he is back home, unable to return to Britain, but with strong hopes of one day emigrating to the United States. Phillips also encounters African Americans who have "come home" to Ghana, but who, though at times ambivalent in their new home, find relief from the racism back home. As Dr. Robert Lee, an expatriate African American dentist explains, "You see, back in the states they can call me a nigger all they like, but nobody can insult me anymore. …


The importance of communication skills and its research is recognized throughout the world. Self learning is one such option to improve communication skills. The goal of the present study is discussing the significance of self learning and some of its tools in developing communication skills of technical students. At present self-learning is limited to which activities and skills and where and how can we extend and promote self learning in technical colleges is mentioned. These self learning tools include: reading, note taking, note making, conversation, watching educational videos, video recording, MALL, CALL, and socialization. The relevant literature support and researcher's personal experience in different technical colleges is added.


Based on neuroscience research, the PETTLEP model was developed by Holmes and Collins (2001). The model provides imagery guidelines which identify seven key factors (physical, environment, task, timing, learning, emotion, perspective) that should be included when developing interventions to maximise functional equivalence. This study explored the effect of a short-term PETTLEP imagery intervention, compared to `traditional' imagery, on a computer game: Need for Speed Underground 2 (EA games). Eighty participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: PETTLEP imagery group, `traditional' imagery group, physical practice group and control group. After three practice attempts, pre-tests consisted of five attempts at the game. The game involved completing timed laps by manoeuvring a vehicle around a track using the computer's arrow keys. The PETTLEP group completed individualised response training, and then performed imagery sitting in front of the computer screen and repeatedly imaging themselves completing the task. The `traditional' imagery group was sat in a separate room, given individualised stimulus training and instructed to relax and close their eyes during imagery. The physical practice group performed the actual task. Each intervention lasted for forty-five minutes, immediately followed by the post-test, which again consisted of five attempts at the game. A group x test ANOVA showed that the PETTLEP imagery group and physical practice group both improved significantly from pre-test to post-test (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the magnitude of their improvements. The traditional imagery and control groups showed no increase in performance from pre-test to post-test (p>0.05). The results strongly support the use of PETTLEP in enhancing performance on a cognitive task. Contrary to previous studies, PETTLEP was as effective as physical practice. This finding could have important implications for athletes returning from injury, suffering from over-training and for use in pre-performance routines. Therefore, sports psychologists should maximise the functional equivalence of their imagery interventions to have the greatest positive effect on performance on such cognitive tasks, at least in the short term. Future research needs to focus on applying short-term PETTLEP interventions to different tasks, varying in cognitive complexity. Assessing the effectiveness of PETTLEP imagery used in various combinations with physical practice would also be a useful addition to the literature.


Candida antarctica lipase B (CalB), resembling many other lipases structure-wise, contains a flexible lid that undergoes a surprisingly large conformational change when catalyzing hydrophobic substrates (e.g. triglycerides). Despite extensive and important applications in industry, it is so far still elusive whether CalB can be activated on a hydrophobic surface, like other lipases. From large-scale all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we discovered an open state that strikingly shows a much wider and more stable entrance to the catalytic site than the one suggested by previous crystal structures. Simulations demonstrate that in the newly found open state CalB possesses a "lid-holder" structure that intimately harbors the lid of CalB, i.e. a remarkable self-activation mechanism. To account for the unusual interfacial activation of CALB revealed in a recent experiment, we further introduce a simple model: the activation occurs only when the binding free energy between the lid and a hydrophobic surface is larger than a critical value, 4.0 kcal mol-1 that is the one between the lid and the "lid-holder". Our findings shed light on possible protein engineering of lipases to permit either self-activation with broadened catalytic targets (including water soluble ones) or surface activation with elevated activities.


Objectives: The objectives are to investigate
whether early working memory strategy is a
predictor of reading success independent of other
factors, and to examine the role of the central
executive system in reading development.
Design: A longitudinal design is used. Children
were screened in the Reception year at school.
A range of measures were collected in Year 1,
and will be repeated in Years 2 and 3.
Methods: 118 children from four schools were
screened using measures of general ability,
phonological ability and a dyslexia screening test.
On the basis of results, children were allocated to
one of three groups (at risk of reading difficulty,
borderline, and not at risk). Measures to be used
at each point in time include reading, spelling,
vocabulary, and a range of measures of working
memory and central executive function.
Results: Early results show a relationship
between working memory, vocabulary and
reading ability, and marked differences between
individuals in their ability to inhibit irrelevant
information. The children with the most immature
memory strategies and least ability to inhibit
show the greatest number of dyslexia indicators.
Conclusions: Findings are discussed in terms of
their implications for teaching and intervention.


The World Report on Disability by the World Health Organization and the World Bank marks a watershed in the history of how disability should be understood by healthcare practitioners. Along with a special issue of the Lancet, this report marks recognition by organised healthcare that healthcare practitioners acted paternalistically towards disabled people, often deciding on their behalf what is in their best interests. South Africa favours a human rights approach to disability, where the Constitution mentions non-discrimination on the grounds of disability, and globally through the promulgation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Historically, health practitioners have underestimated the capacities of disabled people and from clinical encounters view disability as an illness, whereas in reality most disabled people are not ill.


The achievements attained in accelerating the simulation of the dynamics of complex discrete event systems using parallel or distributed multiprocessing environments are comprehensively presented. While parallel discrete event simulation (DES) governs the evolution of the system over simulated time in an iterative SIMD way, distributed DES tries to spatially decompose the event structure underlying the system, and executes event occurrences in spatial subregions by logical processes (LPs) usually assigned to diierent (physical) processing elements. Synchronization protocols are necessary in this approach to avoid timing inconsistencies and to guarantee the preservation of event causalities across LPs. Included in the survey are discussions on the sources and levels of parallelism, synchronous vs. asynchronous simulation and principles of LP simulation. In the context of conservative LP simulation (Chandy/Misra/Bryant) deadlock avoidance and deadlock detection/recovery strategies , Conservative Time Windows and the Carrier Nullmessage protocol are presented. Related to optimistic LP simulation (Time Warp), Optimistic Time Windows, memory management, GVT computation, probabilistic optimism control and adaptive schemes are investigated.


See Article on Page 801-807

Helicobacter pylori is still prevalent in Korea, although the prevalence has decreased from 66.9% in 1998 to 54.4% in 2013 [1-5]. Sanitary improvements and wide application of eradication therapy have contributed to this. However, it is still a great socioeconomic and national healthcare burden [6]. This bacterial pathogen is involved in various gastrointestinal diseases, including gastritis, peptic ulcer, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, and gastric cancer [7,8]. Although only 1% to 15% of patients with H. pylorii infection develop the clinical disease, even asymptomatic H. pylorii gastritis should be considered an infectious disease and treated to prevent severe complications, such as gastric cancer, as reported by the Kyoto Global Consensus conference [4]. This suggests a paradigm shift in the eradication of H. pylorii from treatment to prevention [4].

Standard triple therapy (standard dose proton pump inhibitor, amoxicillin 1 g, and clarithromycin 500 mg twice daily for 7 to 14 days) is the recommended first-line regimen for eradication of H. pylorii in Korea [9]. Over the past decade, studies of the trend in H. pylorii eradication rates in Korea have shown a constant or decreasing trend [10]. Concerns about changing the first-line regimen have been growing, because studies indicating a constant trend also showed eradication rates below 90% in per-protocol analyses [10]. Particularly, a recent meta-analysis revealed a decreasing trend in the eradication rate (from 1998 to 2013) in Korea, which has an overall eradication rate of 74.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 72.1 to 77.2) with intention-to-treat and 82.0% (95% CI, 80.8 to 83.2) by per-protocol analysis [11].

In this issue, Kim et al. [12] reported a trend in the H. pylorii eradication rate using first-line triple therapy in Metropolitan Busan, which is the second largest city in Korea after Seoul. This retrospective study included 1,413 patients who were treated with the standard triple regimen for 7 days between 2003 and 2012 [12]. The overall eradication rate was 84.9% (per-protocol analysis), which is an unacceptable level for the currently recommended regimen. Moreover, the most recent eradication rate was 78.8% in 2012, which has decreased significantly during the last 10 years [12]. These results are consistent with those of the recent meta-analysis and indicate the need for a novel therapeutic regimen in Korea. If the treatment duration had been extended to 14 days, the expected improvement in the eradication rate would have been approximately 5%, which is still an unacceptable level [13].

High clarithromycin resistance in Korea is suspected to be a cause of treatment failure. Although data are scarce, the clarithromycin resistance rate was estimated to be 17.2% to 23.7% in 2012 [14]. Another study reported a resistance rate of 38.5% in 2009, which falls into the category of high clarithromycin resistance [13,15]. The Korean guideline recommends a bismuth-containing quadruple regimen (standard dose proton pump inhibitor twice daily, metronidazole 500 mg three times daily, and bismuth 120 mg and tetracycline 500 mg four times daily for 7 to 14 days) in areas where clarithromycin resistance is high [9]. It is difficult to determine when to change the first-line regimen in an area, because only a few studies have reported data on antibiotic resistance in H. pylorii eradication. However, time trend data continuously indicate the need for a novel regimen. If possible, a susceptibility test-based combination of drugs is the ideal regimen for eradication of an infectious pathogen. However, it is nearly impossible to perform culture and susceptibility tests for H. pylorii in hospitals. With the increase in geographical antibiotic resistance data, it should be possible to determine the preferred regimen among the potential candidates according to the geographic area.

Kim et al. [12] also reported that smoking and female gender are associated with treatment failure. Smoking is a well-known risk factor for treatment failure. As the authors described, a reduction in antibiotic delivery due to decreased gastric blood flow is suspected to be the main mechanism [13]. However, it is not clear why female gender is associated with treatment failure. The high prevalence of H. pylorii infection in carriers of the A2143G mutation in 23S rRNA, which is associated with treatment failure, is presumed to be a possible cause [12,16]. However, another Korean study did not show a preponderance of the A2143G mutation in women [17].

In brief, time trend data indicate decreasing efficacy of standard triple therapy in the eradication of H. pylorii. However, no superior regimen has been found to be more effective than standard triple therapy in Korea. The combination of existing drugs, based on the results of antibiotic susceptibility tests, is the ideal method. Without geographic antibiotic resistance data, it is impossible to compare or interpret the clinical trials of novel regimens [18]. In the setting of a culture and susceptibility test-based regimen choice or with the accumulation of local antibiotic resistance data, it may be possible to determine the best regimen or find novel therapies.


The 1948 Genocide Convention has become a vital legal tool in the international campaign against impunity. Its provisions, including its enigmatic definition of the crime and its pledge both to punish and prevent the 'crime of crimes', have now been interpreted in important judgments by the International Court of Justice, the ad hoc Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and various domestic courts. The second edition of this definitive work focuses on the judicial interpretation of the Convention, relying on debates in the International Law Commission, political statements in bodies like the General Assembly of the United Nations and the growing body of case law. Attention is given to the concept of protected groups, to problems of criminal prosecution and to issues of international judicial cooperation, such as extradition. The duty to prevent genocide and its relationship with the emerging doctrine of the 'responsibility to protect' are also explored.


A visually uniform color coordinate system, based upon simple mathematical formulas, is described. This system resembles the Adams chromatic-value system but replaces the quintic-parabola function with a cube-root function. For colors having reflectances greater than 0.5% the color spacing obtained agrees with Munsell spacing as closely as the modified Adams system. At lower reflectances an expanded color spacing over that of the Munsell system is provided. The cube-root equations can be solved directly for color coordinate differences in terms of simple functions of the difference in colorimeter readings or tristimulus values. The computation of color coordinates in this system is simpler and requires less computational precision than other visually uniform color coordinate systems. A simple slide rule for computing color differences in cube-root color coordinates is described. A modification of the cube-root color coordinate system which provides nearly perfect representation of the spacing of Munsell colors is described, and the appropriateness of the assumptions required to obtain this behavior is discussed.


Soluble forms of some cell adhesion molecules (CAM), sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, and sE-selectin, are elevated in the sera and plasma of patients with inflammation, arthritis, diabetes, and cancer. Increased levels of these soluble molecules in patients with cancer have been shown to correlate with disease progression and survival. This suggests that increased expression of the soluble forms of CAMs may play an important role in cancer cell growth and metastasis and may be prognostic and/or predictive of malignant disease. In this retrospective study, we assessed the clinical significance of sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, and sE-selectin in 95 patients with metastatic breast cancer enrolled in clinical trials of high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). The significance of soluble HER-2 (sHER-2) and sFAS status, determined in previous studies for this group of patients, was also included in this analysis. Univariate analysis showed that sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, sFas, sHER-2 positive status, and the presence of liver metastases were significant prognostic factors for both progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in the total patient group. In multivariable analysis, HER-2 and sFAS were shown to be independent prognostic factors for PFS and OS. Within the various treatment groups examined, sICAM-1 was a prognostic factor for clinical outcome for patients with metastatic breast cancer enrolled in trials with cyclophosphamide- and carboplatin-based or vinblastine-based HDC, but not in trials with paclitaxeland cyclophosphamide-based HDC.


Facies maps for selected Cretaceous and Paleocene deep-water sandstone reservoirs in the Norwegian Sea constitute an exploration tool and allow description of the basin infill in relation to tectonic phases. Sequences K40 (middle–late Albian) and K60 (middle–late Cenomanian) formed in an immature basin where most of the fan systems and slumps were derived from local highs. Sequence K80 (Coniacian–late Santonian) contains sandstones interpreted to be slumped deposits in parts of the Halten and Dønna terraces (Lysing Formation), but with fans of widespread extent in the Vøring and northern Møre Basin. The K85–K90 sequence set (early Santonian–late Campanian) contains sandstones equivalent to the Nise Formation that are the main potential reservoirs in the Vøring Basin; they were fed by multiple entry points and developed into areally extensive basin floor thicks. Sequence Pg10 (Danian–Selandian: 'Egga' Member) is interpreted to comprise a basin floor fan in the Ormen Lange discovery. During this cycle the Halten Terrace rotated eastwards exposing Upper Cretaceous mudstones. Vast amounts of sediment were deposited in the western Møre and Vøring Basin around new exposed areas.


THE PAST 20 YEARS HAVE SEEN THE RISE OF NEW actors IN THE DELIVERY OF security. The state, and consequently the police, is now only one of a motley collection of international and societal actors active in this area. Schools, housing associations, football clubs, retailers' associations, and citizens: it has become a matter of course that they, too--as contemporary jargon has it--"take responsibility" (Garland, 1996; 2001: 124-127) and develop and implement their own security programs. To a greater or lesser extent, they do so in collaboration with the police. Many terms have been used to define this "horizontalization" of the approach to security: "multilateralization" (Bayley and Shearing, 2001), "preventative partnerships" (Garland, 2001), "third party policing" (Mazerolle and Ransley, 2005), "nodal governance" (Johnston and Shearing, 2003),"pluralization" (Jones and Newburn, 2006), and so on. Although each of these terms has its own particular emphasis, they all converge on the realization that the performance of police-like tasks ("policing") is no longer the exclusive domain of the police. As such, it involves a shift from hierarchical administration (government) to horizontal administration (governance). New regulatory institutions, mentalities, and techniques have accompanied this shift (Crawford, 2003). Explanations for theses changes include a substantial increase in crime since the 1980s in Western countries and the limited opportunities available to governments to deal adequately with this crime. To place these changes in a historical and philosophical context, I will focus on an article in Michel Foucault's lectures, Securite, territoire, population and Naissance de la biopolitique, which he delivered at the College de France between January 11, 1978, and April 4, 1979. In these lectures, Foucault explains the techniques and procedures of governance by using the neologism "gouvernementalite" ("governmentality"), a term first coined in his lecture of February 1,1978. (1) In this context, he also introduces a new form of power, which he refers to as "securite" and which requires a different type of thinking about "governing" life and people's living conditions (bios), specifically in terms of prevention, population, regulation, and risk. Although the relationship between "security" and "criminality" is only of recent date (Zedner, 2009: 10), its development is compatible with the main thrust of Foucault's analysis of the emergence of the health issue, specifically the approach to controlling smallpox in the nineteenth century. This broadens the issue of security and Foucault's concept of power relations in a remarkable way. My interest in this article concerns Foucault's new form of power, "securite." I suggest that this concept offers a deeper and clearer understanding of the governance of security. The essay is divided into three component parts. The first and largest part explores how securite has become increasingly relevant to society's social reality. I discuss the characteristics of the new concept introduced by Foucault in his series of lectures. In my view, Foucault's idea of securitization remains both theoretically and empirically underdeveloped in the current criminological literature. Remaining unclear are (1) the historical background of this process and (2) how it might address current shifts in criminal law. The second part explores a new phenomenon that I will call "quasi-criminal law": the penalization and enforcement of classical offenses through civil law agreements by parties other than the police and judicial authorities. I investigate the relation between Foucault's new form of power, securite, and quasi-criminal law by focusing upon the Netherlands and the prevention of antisocial behavior. Next, I illustrate the prevention of antisocial behavior by reference to a type of criminality--shoplifting--for which the Dutch state has sought power to combat. I concentrate on the "Collective Shop Ban," a new measure taken in the Netherlands to make shopkeepers co-responsible for maintaining security. …


Recent developments in the prediction of the contribution of windnoise to the interior SPL have opened a realm of new possibilities in terms of i) how the convective and acoustic sources terms can be identified, ii) how the interaction between the source terms and the side glass can be described and finally iii) how the transfer path from the sources to the interior of the vehicle can be modelled. This work discusses in details these three aspects of wind noise simulation and recommends appropriate methods to deliver required results at the right time based on i) simulation and experimental data availability, ii) design stage at which a decision must be made and iii) time available to deliver these results. Several simulation methods are used to represent the physical phenomena involved such as CFD, FEM, BEM, FE/SEA Coupled and SEA. Furthermore, a 1D and 2D wavenumber transformation is used to extract key parameters such as the convective and the acoustic component of the turbulent flow from CFD and/or experimental data whenever available. This work focuses on the validation of the wind noise source characterization method and the vibroacoustic models on which the wind noise sources are applied.


Understanding the behavioural ecology of endangered taxa can inform conservation strategies. The activity budgets of the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta are still poorly understood because many tracking methods show only horizontal displacement and ignore dives and associated behaviours. However, time-depth recorders have enabled researchers to identify flat, Ushaped dives (or type 1a dives) and these are conventionally labelled as resting dives on the seabed because they involve no vertical displacement of the animal. Videoand acceleration-based studies have demonstrated this is not always true. Focusing on sea turtles nesting on the Cabo Verde archipelago, we describe a new metric derived from magnetometer data, absolute angular velocity, that integrates indices of angular rotation in the horizontal plane to infer activity. Using this metric, we evaluated the variation in putative resting behaviours during the bottom phase of type 1a dives for 5 individuals over 13 to 17 d at sea during a single inter-nesting interval (over 75 turtle d in total). We defined absolute resting within the bottom phase of type 1a dives as periods with no discernible acceleration or angular movement. Whilst absolute resting constituted a significant proportion of each turtle's time budget for this 1a dive type, turtles allocated 16−38% of their bottom time to activity, with many dives being episodic, comprised of intermittent bouts of rest and rotational activity. This implies that previously considered resting behaviours are complex and need to be accounted for in energy budgets, particularly since energy budgets may impact conservation strategies.


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate resistance rates in methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) against clindamycin, cotrimoxazole, tetracycline, fusidic acid, rifampicin and chloramphenicol isolated from skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI).

METHODS
Descriptive analysis of SSTI samples yielding MRSA in clinical laboratory of a tertiary care center; receiving specimens across Pakistan from January 2005 to June 2007. MICROBIOLOGICAL METHODS: MRSA were identified using standard microbiological techniques. Susceptibility testing was performed by disc diffusion according to Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) against fusidic acid, tetracycline, cotrimoxazole, clindamycin, rifampicin and chloramphenicol. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of rifampicin were determined using agar dilution method according to CLSI.

RESULTS
During the study period 501 MRSA were isolated from SSTI. Overall variable susceptibility pattern with high resistance rates to tetracycline (82%), clindamycin (79%), cotrimoxazole (59%), and rifampicin (50%) were observed. Resistance to chloramphenicol (10%) and fusidic acid (9%) was low.

CONCLUSION
There is a strong need in resource limited countries to review the utility of conventional antibiotics for the management of MRSA SSTI as new agents are expensive and not available. High resistance rates were observed against cotrimoxazole, tetracycline and clindamycin. Resistance to fusidic acid, rifampicin and Chloramphenicol was low.


In private international law, one of the first responses to protect the weaker party to the contract should be the full elimination of party autonomy. Nevertheless, the articles 6 and 8 of the Rome I regulation, relating respectively to consumer and employment contracts enunciate a kind of party autonomy called "in favorem" in which the law chosen by parties may not have the result of depriving the consumer or the employee of the protection afforded to him by provisions that cannot be derogated from by agreement under the objectively applicable law. This mechanism in favour of the weaker party distorts party autonomy's proper functioning to such an extent that it could be reasonable to think that party autonomy is reduced to the one that exists at a national level, called material or substantial autonomy. Some authors have already examined this mechanism and among other things, the issue whether the appropriate lex contractus is the chosen law or the objectively applicable law but none of them has sought to explain the specific function of the latter in international consumer and employment contracts.


There has been a lot happening on Australia's small screens. Neighbours turned 30. Struggle Street was accused of poverty porn. Pete evangelised paleo. Gina got litigious. Netflix muscled in. The Bachelor spawned The Bachelorette. Peter Allen's maraccas were exhumed. The Labor Party ate itself. Anzac was an anti-climax. And so much more …
Join us as we survey the Australian televisual landscape, and try to make sense of the myriad changes transforming what and how we watch. We've come a long way since Bruce Gyngell welcomed us to television in 1956. We now watch on demand and wherever we want, in our lounge rooms and on our devices.
But some things stay the same. The small screen is still a place for imagining Australia, for better or for worse. Small Screens challenges and celebrates our contemporary TV worlds.


Bob Aaron firstname.lastname@example.com April 11, 2009 When it comes to surveys, size matters Christopher and Lindsay Taggart were dismayed to discover that the lot underneath their newly constructed home was 1,000 square feet smaller than it was represented to be. The home is located in a new subdivision in Maple Ridge, B.C. Behind their lot was a parcel of undeveloped land that was to become a later phase of the subdivision. The adjacent lot was at a lower elevation, and a retaining wall had been constructed across the full width of the rear of the Taggart lot. The wall had been built before the Taggarts viewed the property. When they inspected the house and lot with the builder's sales agent, they were told that the retaining wall marked the back boundary of the lot they wanted to buy. The size of the backyard was an important factor for the Taggarts. They needed a yard that was large enough to accommodate their household, which included "the world's largest dog" (a Mastiff), two active sons, and future plans to install a swimming pool. During the purchase negotiations, the Taggarts were told that the lot size was about 6,000 square feet. Based on the agent's representations, the Taggarts were satisfied that the yard was big enough to meet their needs. About a year after closing, the Taggarts discovered to their surprise that the location of the retaining wall did not actually mark the back boundary of their property but was erected well into the lot behind them. In fact, the actual size of their backyard was about 1,000 square feet smaller than the land enclosed by the wall. The agreement of purchase and sale, which the parties originally signed, contained the actual, correct dimensions of the land as they were set out in the plan of the subdivision. At the time of closing, the builder provided the buyers with a survey plan which had either party examined it carefully would have disclosed that the back boundary of the lot was not in the same place as the retaining wall. After closing, in preparation for building a new house behind the Taggart home, the builder fenced in the Taggart yard with the new fence extending out to the retaining wall, which was beyond the actual boundary of their property. When the lot for the new house was being surveyed, the builder realized that the actual rear boundary line was 10 feet closer to the Taggart house on the east side and 21 feet closer on the west side. Following the discovery, the builder reconstructed the fence and retaining wall on the true boundary line. Faced with a much smaller lot, the Taggarts sued for negligent misrepresentation. A four-day trial took place last May before Justice Janet Sinclair Prowse in Vancouver. She released her 39-page judgment in October, finding that the builder's agent had made specific representations to the buyers that the retaining wall marked the property boundary. She also found that the Taggarts relied on those representations and would not have bought the house without them. In the end, the plaintiffs were awarded damages of $75,254 plus interest and costs. This case can be usefully compared to the Meagher case I wrote about last week. There, the size of the house was 500 square feet less than the advertised size. The purchasers were otherwise happy with the house. They sued to recover damages for the shortfall and lost. In the Taggart case the retaining wall was specifically represented to be the rear boundary of the lot. The shortage in the lot size was found to be critical to the purchase decision, and the builder was held responsible for the misrepresentation. Two lessons emerge from the case of Taggart v. Epic Homes: Whether you're buying a new or resale home, always insert the lot size in the offer. Always examine the survey plan carefully. It's the most important document in every real estate transaction. Bob Aaron is a Toronto real estate lawyer and a director of the Tarion Warranty Corporation. He can be reached by email at email@example.com, phone 416-364-9366 or fax 416-364-3818. Visit the column archives at http://aaron.ca/columns/toronto-star-index.htm for articles on this and other topics. Case source: http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/SC/08/14/2008BCSC1412.htm IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA


During the past decade, the microprocessor has become a key commodity component for building all kinds of computational systems. During this time frame, large reconfigurable logic arrays have exploited the same advances in IC fabrication technology to emerge as viable system building blocks. Looking at both the technology prospects and application requirements, there is compelling evidence that microprocessors with integrated reconfigurable logic arrays will be a primary building block for future computing systems. In this paper, we look at the role such components can play in building high-performance and economical systems, as well as the ripe technological outlook. We note how the tight integration of reconfigurable logic into the processor can overcome some of the major limitations of contemporary attached reconfigurable computer engines. We specifically consider the use of integrated dynamically programmable gate array (DPGA) structures for the configurable logic, and examine the advantages that rapid reconfiguration provides in this application.<<ETX>>


Abstract. High stomatal ozone (O3) uptake has been shown to negatively affect crop yields and the growth of tree seedlings. However, little is known about the effect of O3 on the carbon uptake by mature forest trees. This study investigated the effect of high O3 events on gross primary productivity (GPP) for a Scots pine stand near Antwerp, Belgium over the period 1998–2013. Stomatal O3 fluxes were modelled using in situ O3 mixing ratio measurements and a multiplicative stomatal model, which was parameterised and validated for this Scots pine stand. Ozone-induced GPP reduction is most likely to occur during or shortly after days with high stomatal O3 uptake. Therefore, a GPP model within an artificial neural network was parameterised for days with low stomatal O3 uptake rates and used to simulate GPP during periods of high stomatal O3 uptake. Possible negative effects of high stomatal O3 uptake on GPP would then result in an overestimation of GPP by the model during or after high stomatal O3 uptake events. The O3 effects on GPP were linked to AOT40 and POD1. Although the critical levels for both indices were exceeded in every single year, no significant negative effects of O3 on GPP were found, and no correlations between GPP residuals and AOT40 and POD1 were found. Overall, we conclude that no O3 effects were detected on the carbon uptake by this Scots pine stand.


While the "Relations de la Nouvelle France", authored by Jesuit missionaries in French North America and printed in France between 1616 and 1673, are well known, the European context in which they were published has been underexplored. Here, it is argued that remarks in the "Relations" concerning Native Americans' living conditions formed a dialogue with the French social and cultural milieu from which the missionaries came, and to which the "Relations" were addressed. Featuring discussions of North American "poverty", cuisine, sanitation, dwellings, and medicine which refer to nonelite cultures whithin France itself, the "Relations" reveal a Jesuit effort to appeal to elites who identified with a newly evolving, Paris-centered culture of consumption, aesthetics, and self-conscious distance from France's poor. The "Relations" mirrored and redeployed elite attitudes toward marginal populations on behalf of the mission and reveal that the Jesuits sought to import this particular culture to North America with Catholicism.


Abstract The late Wenlock Series (Homerian Stage) of the northern Midland Platform (central England) comprises silty mudstones and limestones of the upper part of the Coalbrookdale and overlying Much Wenlock Limestone formations. Based on outcrop studies and borehole data, the sequence stratigraphical interpretation developed for the inliers of the West Midlands is slightly revised, and extended to the stratotype sections along Wenlock Edge. A single third-order cycle of sea-level change is identified, punctuated by a regressive–transgressive episode associated with a higher-order glacioeustatic cycle, allowing the upper Wenlock Series of the area to be divided into two subsequences (A and B). Subsequence A and the early transgressive systems tract began with regression associated with the basal sequence boundary in late Cyrtograptus lundgreni Biozone times. This was followed by a period of slow transgression or stillstand, allowing shallower water carbonate environments to prograde. A minor phase of regression followed, resulting in the generation of the shallowest water deposits of both the Lower Quarried Limestone and Farley members (of the Much Wenlock Limestone and Coalbrookdale formations, respectively). The overlying Subsequence B and the late transgressive systems tract are marked by transgression and a period of rapid sea-level fluctuation and are likely contained within the Gothograptus nassa Biozone. A minor highstand is widely recognizable at this time. The rest of Subsequence B consists of an initial phase of weak progradation (highstand systems tract), followed by a marked regression (falling stage systems tract) culminating in an erosive upper sequence boundary at or close to the top of the Monograptus ludensis Biozone, but within the uppermost Much Wenlock Limestone Formation. Above Subsequence B is a marked transgression into the Lower Elton Formation and the Ludlow Series. Both late Wenlock lowstands and the succeeding flooding events have been recognized on other palaeocontinents, reflecting the eustatic nature of sea-level changes reported here.


Brightfield microscopy often suffers from limited depth of field, which prevents thick specimens from being imaged entirely in-focus. By optically sectioning the specimen, the in-focus regions can be acquired over multiple images. Extended depth of field methods aim at combining the information from these images into a single in-focus image of the texture on the specimen's surface. The topography provided by these methods is limited to a map of the selected in-focus image for every pixel and is inherently discretized, which limits its use for quantitative evaluation. In this paper, we propose a joint texture and topography estimation, based on an image formation model for a thick specimen incorporating the point spread function. The problem is stated as a least-squares fitting where the texture and the topography are updated alternately. The method also acts as a deconvolution operation when the in-focus image has some blur left, or when the true in-focus position falls in-between two slices. The feasibility of the method is demonstrated with simulated and experimental results


Tracking both structure and motion of nonrigid objects from monocular images is an important problem in vision. In this paper, a hierarchical method which integrates local analysis (that recovers small details) and global analysis (that appropriately limits possible nonrigid behaviors) is developed to recover dense depth values and nonrigid motion from a sequence of 2D satellite cloud images without any prior knowledge of point correspondences. This problem is challenging not only due to the absence of correspondence information but also due to the lack of depth cues in the 2D cloud images (scaled orthographic projection). In our method, the cloud images are segmented into several small regions and local analysis is performed for each region. A recursive algorithm is proposed to integrate local analysis with appropriate global fluid model constraints, based on which a structure and motion analysis system, SMAS, is developed. We believe that this is the first reported system in estimating dense structure and nonrigid motion under scaled orthographic views using fluid model constraints. Experiments on cloud image sequences captured by meteorological satellites (GOES-8 and GOES-9) have been performed using our system, along with their validation and analyses. Both structure and 3D motion correspondences are estimated to subpixel accuracy. Our results are very encouraging and have many potential applications in earth and space sciences, especially in cloud models for weather prediction.


A three-dimensional micro-scale model is used to study the effects of various greenery on temperature in a built-up environment. Green design elements like roofs and facades, lawns in courtyards and single trees are studied individually as well as in various combinations. Measures for comparison are temperatures at 2 m height and mean temperatures for the urban atmosphere up to the building height. Different types of greenery can reduce local temperatures up to 15 K during specif c daytime hours. However, this extraordinary effect is restricted to a short time and especially to the direct surroundings, while an impact over larger distances is small. Roof and facade greenery have hardly any inf uence on temperature at the 2 m level but reduce daytime heating of the urban atmosphere to a minor degree, while the relevance of trees is more or less limited to the shadow effect. A signif cant decrease in urban temperatures can be achieved only with a large number of very different individual green elements. The largest effect on the urban atmosphere was simulated for a change in albedo resulting in a temperature decrease of some degrees around noon.


A corpus exploration of  huidiglik .  In tandem with Van Huyssteen (2018a ), this article examines the current usage of the word  huidiglik  ('currently') (an alleged Anglicism), together with other associated words (e.g. its base,  huidig  'current'). Based on a comprehensive literature review, Van Huyssteen (2018a ) concludes that apart from stylistic preferences, none of the linguistic arguments against  huidiglik  holds water. In this article, a corpus exploration of some of the issues pertaining to  huidiglik  is undertaken. Based on evidence from a large variety of corpora, we conclude that  huidiglik  has become well-established in Afrikaans over the past four decades, both in formal texts and informal chat language. Since it does not displace any of its often-prescribed synonyms (like  tans, deesdae , or  teenswoordig ), it confirms that arguments for its status as an Anglicism is rather thin. Although the inflected form  huidige  is mostly used as prenominal adjective, its uninflected form is also used with noticeable frequency as adverb and predicative adjective.  Huidiglik , however, is used almost exclusively as adverb, rarely as inflected attributive adjective, but never as predicative adjective. Lastly, it is shown that adverbialising  ⋅lik  occurs with high frequency in Afrikaans, but it is not very productive. In addition, it is illustrated that  ⋅ig⋅lik  is an entrenched suffix pairing.


This thesis consists of two parts: digital geometry and discrete optimization. In the first part we study the structure of digital straight line segments. We also study digital curves from a combinatorial point of view. In Paper I we study the straightness in the 8-connected plane and in the Khalimsky plane by considering vertical distances and unions of two segments. We show that we can investigate the straightness of Khalimsky arcs by using our knowledge from the 8-connected plane. In Paper II we determine the number of Khalimsky-continuous functions with 2, 3 and 4 points in their codomain. These enumerations yield examples of known sequences as well as new ones. We also study the asymptotic behavior of each of them. In Paper III we study the number of Khalimsky-continuous functions with codomain Z and N. This gives us examples of Schroder and Delannoy numbers. As a byproduct we get some relations between these numbers. In Paper IV we study the number of Khalimsky-continuous functions between two points in a rectangle. Using a generating function we get a recurrence formula yielding this numbers. In the second part we study an analogue of discrete convexity, namely lateral convexity. In Paper V we define by means of difference operators the class of lateral convexity. The functions have plus infinity in their codomain. For the real-valued functions we need to check the difference operators for a smaller number of points. We study the relation between this class and integral convexity. In Paper VI we study the marginal function of real-valued functions in this class and its generalization. We show that for two points with a certain distance we have a Lipschitz property for the points where the infimum is attained. We show that if a function is in this class, the marginal function is also in the same class.


Background: In this article it is suggested that, as currently constituted, much of nurse education is dominated by reflective practice that is based around theory. The interpretation of reflective practice as theoretical has failed to acknowledge adequately the importance of practice in nurse education, something Schon (1983) proposed in his seminal work on reflection. Such criticisms of reflection are not new, having been the subject of debate within the profession since at least the 1980s. One important outcome of this debate has been the interest shown in how reflection might impact on nurse education, particularly in regard to this divorce between theory and practice that characterises much of the current education received by nurses. Aim: For nurse education to look for ways of developing, accessing and understanding the world of practice, exploiting more extensively practice itself as a teaching resource, using story. Findings: Nurse education needs to acknowledge difficulties with reflective practice, in that it is heavily weighted towards notions of the individual's thoughts and actions. This approach grossly overstates the power of the individual to bring about change through reflection and individuals cannot always express their reflection of clinical situations. This has led to problems with teaching reflection as a means for developing professional practice. This article suggests that story can play an extremely productive role. This is not to suggest that story be a replacement for the reflective practice used in clinical practice and nurse education, nor is it implying that story should be viewed simply as an aid to reflection-on-action. What this article proposes is that story has value in itself. Conclusions: First, story has value alone as a powerful illustration of real life clinical practice experiences. Second, it has importance for the expression of emotions and third, when an additional layer of analysis and critique is added to story, it can be influential in identifying complex professional issues. Implications for practice: • Story is powerful and can help bring about change in individual practice, and contribute to initiation of policy changes and improvements in the treatment and care of patients • Story can give voice to nurses in clinical practice in their own right and also as a response to the power of the physician voice • Story acknowledges the personal contribution of experience to the nurse • Story embraces a more ongoing form of learning throughout a professional's working life • Story helps students to reveal that learning is inherent in everyday practice and cannot always be accessed through theory, assessment or reflection


The specific factors in the local microenvironment that govern the differentiation of bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into such disparate cell types as neurons, myoblasts, and osteoblasts remain incompletely understood (see Even-Ram et al.). Noting that brain is much softer than muscle, which, in turn, is softer than collagenous bone, Engler et al. cultured naïve human MSCs on collagen-coated polyacrylamide gels in which elasticity was determined by bis-acrylamide crosslinking to investigate the role of matrix elasticity in lineage specification. The morphology, transcriptional profile, and expression of marker proteins of MSCs grown for a week on soft gels (mimicking brain) resembled those of cultured neurons; MSCs grown on gels that mimicked the elasticity of striated muscle resembled myoblasts; and MSCs grown on gels that mimicked young, uncalcified bone resembled osteoblasts. During the first week in culture, exposure to soluble factors known to promote myogenic or osteoblastic differentiation influenced lineage, leading to a "mixed MSC phenotype." After 3 weeks in culture, however, MSCs remained committed to the matrix-derived lineage. Pharmacological analysis indicated that nonmuscle myosin II was required for lineage specification in response to matrix elasticity but not in response to soluble factors. Thus, the data suggest that matrix elasticity plays an important role in specifying MSC lineage. A. J. Engler, S. Sen, H. L. Sweeney, D. E. Discher, Matrix elasticity directs stem cell lineage specification. Cell 126, 677-689 (2006). [PubMed] S. Even-Ram, V. Artym, K. M. Yamada, Matrix control of stem cell fate. Cell 126, 645-647 (2006). [PubMed]


Heat fluxes at the ice-ocean interface and ice thickness are investigated by comparing field data from the Coordinated Eastern Arctic Experiment (CEAREX) drift phase with model calculations. The calculations are based on two types of models. The first one is a one-dimensional ice-ocean model with high vertical resolution. This model is based on the conservation equations for heat, salt, and momentum and uses turbulence models to achieve closure. A discrete element approach is also introduced to explicitly parameterize the ice roughness. The second model is a simple one-dimensional bulk heat transfer model. In this version, the interfacial salinity is modelled on the basis of salt conservation at the ice-ocean interface. The bulk heat transfer model is then calibrated using the former model. The two models predict ocean heat fluxes that are quite variable in time owing to short-term variations in the ice drift. Both models calculate realistic ice thicknesses. It is demonstrated that the observed time variation in ice thickness from eight different experimental sites with varying initial thicknesses and bottom topographies can be reproduced by applying bulk heat transfer coefficients in the range (2.8 ± 1) × 10−4. Horizontal variation of the thermal state within a single pack ice floe results in simultaneous freezing and melting over relatively small spatial scales. When modeling or averaging ice data in space these aspects need to be considered.


"Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement" is the first comprehensive consideration of Chicano art in almost two decades and the largest exhibition of cutting-edge Chicano art ever presented at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Traditionally described as work created by Americans of Mexican descent, Chicano art first emerged during the vibrant Chicano rights movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. This catalog and exhibition explore the experimental tendencies within today's Chicano art, which is oriented less toward painting and polemical assertion and more toward conceptual art, performance, film, photography, and media-based art, as well as 'stealthy' artistic interventions in urban spaces. Three essays by Rita Gonzalez, Howard N. Fox, and Chon A. Noriega explore the topic in depth. With more than two hundred color illustrations, twenty-five individual artist portfolios, and a wryly subversive chronology of significant moments in Chicano cultural history, "Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement" charts new territory and provides a conceptual sampling of Chicano art today.


ABSTRACT Hurricane Gilbert caused disturbance to Jamaican montane rainforests in 1988. This study provides a detailed characterization of landscape-level changes in light below the canopy of these forests after the hurricane. Hemispherical photographs were taken below the forest canopy at four sites at permanent points 1 m above the ground between 7 and 33 mo after the hurricane. For each photograph photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was computed. PAR declined exponentially in all sites during the period of measurement. During the first 24 mo after the hurricane, PAR beneath the canopy was significantly greater in sites that had been defoliated during the hurricane than in sites where few trees had been defoliated. By 28 mo after the hurricane there was no significant difference in PAR beneath the canopy among the four sites. By 33 mo after the hurricane canopy recovery was nearly complete and PAR was only slightly higher than measurements made before the hurricane. Our results were compared with studies of changes in light environment resulting from treefall gaps and under deciduous canopies. PAR during the first 18 mo after the hurricane was similar to that recorded in small canopy gaps in other forests. Widespread defoliation caused by hurricanes can thus increase PAR beneath the canopy over large areas and consequently opportunities may arise for widespread recruitment of tree species in response to increased light levels.


Background: Small group sessions are regarded as a more active and student-centered approach to learning. Item analysis provides objective evidence of whether such sessions improve comprehension and make the topic easier for students, in addition to assessing the relative benefit of the sessions to good versus poor performers. Self-assessment makes students aware of their deficiencies. Small group sessions can also help students develop the ability to self-assess. This study was carried out to assess the effect of small group sessions on item analysis and students′ self-assessment. Methods: A total of 21 female and 29 male first year medical students participated in a small group session on topics covered by didactic lectures two weeks earlier. It was preceded and followed by two multiple choice question (MCQ) tests, in which students were asked to self-assess their likely score. The MCQs used were item analyzed in a previous group and were chosen of matching difficulty and discriminatory indices for the pre- and post-tests. Results: The small group session improved the marks of both genders equally, but female performance was better. The session made the items easier; increasing the difficulty index significantly but there was no significant alteration in the discriminatory index. There was overestimation in the self-assessment of both genders, but male overestimation was greater. The session improved the self-assessment of students in terms of expected marks and expectation of passing. Discussion: Small group session improved the ability of students to self-assess their knowledge and increased the difficulty index of items reflecting students′ better performance.


Measurements of enhanced backscattering are presented from a range of characterized metallic surfaces of differing roughnesses by use of both visible and infrared laser radiation. The surfaces are isotropic and exhibit fractal behavior over a wide range of scale sizes with an estimated fractal index close to the marginal value of 2. Unlike previously reported results from work that used smoothly varying single-scale surfaces, these results obtained with the use of multiscale surfaces exhibit enhanced backscattering, even close to grazing incidence in both the copolarized and the cross-depolarized scattered components. The magnitude of the backscattered enhancement and the ratio of cross-depolarized to copolarized backscattered radiation show similar variations with the measured surface roughness, suggesting that both may possibly be due to the same mechanism, namely, multiple scattering.


Abstract. Stomatal conductance (gs) affects the fluxes of carbon, energy and water between the vegetated land surface and the atmosphere. We test an implementation of an optimal stomatal conductance model within the Community Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLE) land surface model (LSM). In common with many LSMs, CABLE does not differentiate between gs model parameters in relation to plant functional type (PFT), but instead only in relation to photosynthetic pathway. We constrained the key model parameter "g1", which represents plant water use strategy, by PFT, based on a global synthesis of stomatal behaviour. As proof of concept, we also demonstrate that the g1 parameter can be estimated using two long-term average (1960–1990) bioclimatic variables: (i) temperature and (ii) an indirect estimate of annual plant water availability. The new stomatal model, in conjunction with PFT parameterisations, resulted in a large reduction in annual fluxes of transpiration (~ 30% compared to the standard CABLE simulations) across evergreen needleleaf, tundra and C4 grass regions. Differences in other regions of the globe were typically small. Model performance against upscaled data products was not degraded, but did not noticeably reduce existing model–data biases. We identified assumptions relating to the coupling of the vegetation to the atmosphere and the parameterisation of the minimum stomatal conductance as areas requiring further investigation in both CABLE and potentially other LSMs. We conclude that optimisation theory can yield a simple and tractable approach to predicting stomatal conductance in LSMs.


Innovation is often presented as being in the exclusive domain of the private sector. Yet despite widespread perceptions of public-sector inefficiency, government agencies have much to teach us about how technological and social advances occur. Improving governance at the municipal level is critical to the future of the twenty-first-century city, from environmental sustainability to education, economic development, public health, and beyond. In this age of acceleration and massive migration of people into cities around the world, this book explains how innovation from within city agencies and administrations makes urban systems smarter and shapes life in New York City.

 Using a series of case studies, Smarter New York City describes the drivers and constraints behind urban innovation, including leadership and organization; networks and interagency collaboration; institutional context; technology and real-time data collection; responsiveness and decision making; and results and impact. Cases include residential organic-waste collection, an NYPD program that identifies the sound of gunshots in real time, and the Vision Zero attempt to end traffic casualties, among others. Challenging the usefulness of a tech-centric view of urban innovation, Smarter New York City brings together a multidisciplinary and integrated perspective to imagine new possibilities from within city agencies, with practical lessons for city officials, urban planners, policy makers, civil society, and potential private-sector partners.


This paper reports research into developing digital storytelling (DST) to enhance reflection within a specific professional learning context – that of a programme of teacher education - while concomitantly producing a transferrable design framework for adaption into other, similar post-secondary educational contexts. There has been limited substantive, evaluative design-based research investigating empirically the potential of digital storytelling for reflection in professional, post-secondary education. Consequently, there has also been a lack of robust and reusable models to guide and inform design-based research in this context. This paper illustrates the development of a repeated study, undertaken on a longitudinal basis, over 3 years, and on a large scale, involving 323 pre-service teachers. The design-based research developed at the three key stages along the triadic spectrum of maturity: from (1) analysis and exploration, through (2) design and construction, to (3) evaluation and reflection (Kopcha, Schmidt, & McKenney, 2015).The innovation reported here is now a mature intervention, constituting a core part of the professional educational formation of pre-service teachers within a two-year, graduate teacher education programme. Further, the R-NEST design framework, which emerged from this longitudinal design-based research, enumerates key criteria and principles for designing, implementing and evaluating DST to enhance reflective practice in post-secondary professional education.


In this study, modification of iron-oxide-coated sand (IOCS) with three quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) was tested as a means to improve the removal of aqueous natural organic matter (NOM) by IOCS. The assessment was conducted in batch, isotherm setup with changes in types and concentrations of QACs, modification pH, additions of H 2 O 2 during modification, and adsorption pH. IOCS modification with long chain QACs, including hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMA) and hexadecylbenzyldimethylammonium chloride (HDBDMA) significantly increased the adsorption of NOM, while coating IOCS with short chain QAC, tetrapropylammonium chloride (TPA) had no positive effect. The enhancement increased with increasing pH and increasing QAC concentration used during modification. Co-additions of long chain QACs with H 2 O 2 during modification could further improve NOM adsorption. Modification of IOCS with 10.0 mM HDTMA at pH 9.9 with the 0.2% H 2 O 2 addition doubled NOM adsorption capacity on IOCS at pH 9.1. The results presented here suggest that the modification of IOCS using long chain QACs can enhance NOM removal by IOCS during drinking water treatment.


DNA, the beautifully symmetrical "molecule of life," carries the core genetic
 blueprint for every living organism. Now, through the emerging field of DNA
 photonics, it also has the potential to serve as an inexpensive, renewable resource
 in the development of optical waveguides, organic LEDs and laser
 structures.


Sickle cell disease (SCD) and β-thalassaemia result from inherited mutations that cause structural abnormality or deficient synthesis of adult haemoglobin. Palliative therapies improve the quality/duration of life for many, but side effects result from long-term use. Bone marrow transplantation can be curative, but is limited to individuals with a matched donor. Thus, gene delivery into the patient's haematopoietic stem cells is a desirable therapy. Lentiviral vectors encoding for erythroid-specific expression of either γ- or β-globin genes have been developed for this purpose. These vectors have been used to cure SCD and β-thalassaemia in mouse models with positive results emerging from clinical trials. Concurrently, innovative strategies intending to reactivate endogenous γ-globin expression or correct β-globin mutations at the genome level are showing promise for the future. Ultimately, clinical utility of all these approaches depend on safety and efficacy so that a cure can be consistently achieved.

Key Concepts:

Sickle cell disease (SCD) and β-thalassaemia are the most common single gene disorders, and a worldwide health concern.

The switch from foetal to adult haemoglobin production after birth marks the onset of disease.

Haematopoietic stem cell transplant is curative, but available to only a limited number of patients making gene therapy a highly desirable alternative.

Lentiviral vectors made possible the delivery of complex, erythroid-specific globin expression cassettes into haematopoietic stem cells.

Mouse models of SCD and β-thalassaemia have been cured with lentiviral vectors encoding for high-level, erythroid specific expression of γ- and β-globin genes.

The first adult β-thalassaemia major patient treated with a β-globin lentiviral vector remains transfusion-independent and in good health 6 years after therapy.

Keywords:

sickle cell disease;
β-thalassaemia;
bone marrow transplant;
haematopoietic stem cells;
β-globin;
γ-globin;
retrovirus;
lentivirus;
gene therapy


Multiples are events in the seismic record that have undergone more than one reflection. They cannot be imaged the same way as primary reflections, and consequently, they are often treated as "unwanted" events. Elimination of multiples is an integral part of the conventional imaging workflow. Significant effort is spent to attenuate these "unwanted" events, with mixed results in practice. In recent years, The Leading Edge has dedicated three special sections to multiple elimination (1999, 2005, and 2011). Those editions detail the evolution of theory and applications of multiple removal. On the other hand, imaging of multiple reflections has seen much less attention and has been limited to a few academic groups. This special section highlights several challenges in imaging with multiples. We review the handling of multiples from attenuation to imaging while we focus on new strategies that use multiples for enhanced imaging.


Differences between male and female perpetrated domestic violence are widely acknowledged. However, there is a lack of Australian data on the circumstances of female perpetrated violence. This study analysed 153 police narratives of domestic violence incidents involving a female person of interest (POI). Results were consistent with international studies. Half of the episodes involved either self-defensive or retaliatory violence - otherwise known as violent resistance - meaning the POI had been a victim of prior violence by their partner or the episode involved a male victim who was abusive in the lead-up to the incident. Violent resistance was more common in incidents involving Indigenous women. The findings highlight the different motivations for female perpetrated domestic violence, and the importance of understanding the complex dynamics of violent episodes.


"This literature review examines existing studies on the Southeast Asian refugee community and their health outcomes, specifically focusing on hypertension risks linked to family relationships, nutrition, and involuntary migration experiences. The reviewed studies found that poor family relationships, change in diet, and experiences of transnational relocation contributed to poorer health. Other factors such as past trauma experience, on-going alienation, day-to-day stressors such as poverty, cultural assimilation, and language barriers caused chronic stress among this group. Chronic stress is linked to hypertension, a risk factor for stroke, cardiovascular disease, and death. Cortisol is a hormone released in the body during times of stress. This biological marker for stress can be analyzed through saliva, blood, urine, as well as hair samples. Hair samples show measurements of long-term exposure to cortisol. Prolonged high levels of cortisol is associated with hypertension. Health beliefs and concepts in Western medicine also play important roles in hypertension risk and behaviors. Yet, the literature review revealed few, if any, studies designed to capture and explain the complexity of these factors and their role in pathways associated with chronic disease prevalence among Southeast Asian refugee newcomer communities. Furthermore, the national-level data available fails to adequately represent intra-group diversity when reporting prevalence for the group. These issues have important implications for planning and implementing culturally tailored health education and awareness outreach to the Southeast Asian population, and for more research aimed at alleviating persistent health and hypertension ethnic disparities."


This article will take a historical perspective on the topic of text editing and highlight the following: (1) The origin and history of the  Text Editing  project and book productions in different languages (2003–2018) and (2) The latest programme developments from printed book to teaching with it, or learning from it and especially the development of a state-of-the-art training approach. In an attempt to evaluate whether these developments are defensible, also from the point of view of its users, a small-scale usability study was carried out among two groups of master's degree students ( N  = 37) who undertook inverted and/or flipped-blended-collaborative text editing. As inverting classrooms with blended materials (online and contact) and introducing a collaborative approach to learning are innovative within this domain, the question of the programme's effectiveness deserves central attention. Quantitative and qualitative student evaluation data (online Likert-scale questionnaire with open questions and critical evaluation reports) show that  Text Editing  is more than a well-founded theoretical guide or handbook. The programme is experienced as authentic and effective and has a high impact on the users' self-efficacy and professional profile. As such the project is sustainable.


Shadowing causes form birefringence in optical thin films that are deposited at oblique incidence. For light incident in the plane containing the direction of deposition and the substrate normal, the TE and TM polarizations in the film are decoupled, and field transfer can be described using 2×2 matrices. The three principal indices of birefringent films are deduced from measurements made on narrow-band interference filters. In one example refractive indices of 2.688, 2.429, and 2.452 were computed for TiO2 deposited at 27° to the substrate normal. Both TiO2 and ZrO2 behave as positive biaxial media.


Abstract. Co-condensation of inorganic or organic vapours on growing droplets could significantly enhance both cloud condensation nucleus (CCN) and cloud droplet number concentration, thereby influencing cloud albedo and climate. Until now, there has been very few direct observational evidence of this process. We have measured the growth of inorganic salt particles exposed to both water and organic vapours at 291.15 K in the laboratory, showing that co-condensation of the organic vapours significantly enhances water uptake of aerosols. After exposure to water and propylene glycol vapours, ammonium sulfate particles grew much more than any previously measured particles, inorganic or organic, at the same relative humidity (RH). The maximum equivalent hygroscopicity parameter, κ, was observed to reach up to 2.64, very much higher than values (0.1 < κ < 0.9) measured for atmospheric particulate matter using conventional instrumentation, which may be blind to this effect. Under a continuously replenishing organic vapour field, the particles never reached equilibrium owing to the presence of the involatile solute and were observed to continuously grow with increasing exposure time, in agreement with model simulations. Co-condensation of butylene glycol (which has similar volatility but, at aw  =  0.9, a higher Sorg than propylene glycol in our system) and tri-ethylene glycol (which has lower volatility and, at aw  =  0.9, lower Sorg than propylene glycol in our system) vapours was additionally measured in this study. The maximum equivalent hygroscopicity parameter, κ, reached as high as 8.48 for ammonium sulfate particles exposed to water and tri-ethylene glycol vapours at 90 % RH. This enhancement of particle water uptake through co-condensation of vapours constitutes the direct measurement of this process, which may substantially influence cloud droplet formation in the atmosphere. In addition, the model simulations for exposure to co-condensing butylene glycol and tri-ethylene glycol vapours with water show that there are factors other than Sorg which influence the co-condensation of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) that are as yet not understood.


The emergent church movement has fashioned itself as an alternative for Christians who do not want to walk away from their faith, but feel uncomfortable with the dogmatic conservatism found in mainstream evangelicalism. The emerging church movement has portrayed itself as diverse and inclusive, which is a direct result of evading ingroup-outgroup boundaries. However, despite the desire for a plurality of opinions, the movement's leaders have been known to take political positions that are largely left-leaning. We use the first dataset known to gather this identity from a sample of Protestant clergy, and assess whether denominationally connected emergent church clergy do, in fact, present a distinctive political profile. Emergent clergy are what they say they are—diverse and inclusive—while they are, on average, more liberal than nonemergent clergy in the sample.


We use data for a panel of 60 countries over the period 1980-2005 to investigate the main drivers of the likelihood of structural reforms. We find that: (i) external debt crises are the main trigger of financial and banking reforms; (ii) inflation and banking crises are the key drivers of external capital account reforms; (iii) banking crises also hasten financial reforms; and (iv) economic recessions play an important role in promoting the necessary consensus for financial, capital, banking and trade reforms, especially in the group of OECD-countries. Additionally, we also observe that the degree of globalisation is relevant for financial reforms, in particular in the group of non-OECD countries. Moreover, an increase in the income gap accelerates the implementation of structural reforms, but increased political fragmentation does not seem to have a significant impact. JEL: Structural reforms, recessions, globalisation, crisis episodes, political setup.