Two aircraft-engine tailpipes of 19-9 DL stainless steel (AISI type 651) developed cracks along longitudinal gas tungsten arc butt welds after being in service for more than 1000 h. Binocular-microscope examination of the cracks in both tailpipes revealed granular, brittle-appearing surfaces confined to the HAZs of the welds. Microscopic examination of sections transverse to the weld cracks showed severe intergranular corrosion in the HAZ. The fractures appeared to be caused by loss of corrosion resistance due to sensitization, that could have been induced by the temperatures attained during gas tungsten arc welding. Tests demonstrated the presence of sensitization in the HAZ of the gas tungsten arc weld. The aircraft engine tailpipe failures were due to intergranular corrosion in service of the sensitized structure of the HAZs produced during gas tungsten arc welding. All gas tungsten arc welded tailpipes should be postweld annealed by re-solution treatment to redissolve all particles of carbide in the HAZ. Also, it was suggested that resistance seam welding be used, because there would be no corrosion problem with the faster cooling rate characteristic of this technique.


Introduction: Stress, defined as an imbalance between environmental conditions necessary for survival and the ability of individuals to adapt to those conditions, have a high prevalence in MBBS students. A variety of stressors play a significant role in developing stress. Objective:To study the level of stress and stressors responsible in Final MBBS students of Rural Medical College, Loni. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out in 100 students (50 of either sex) willing to participate in the study. They were subjected to fill the Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire, which consists of 40 questions for evaluating the stressors and severity of stress perceived by the subjects. Results: 71% subjects' perceived moderate stress, while 13% and 16% perceived high and mild stress respectively. Academic stressor counted for moderate stress in 63% and high stress in 24 % of subjects, which was higher than other stressors. Conclusion: Academic stressors being the major stressor perceived, Strategies are required to decrease the burden of academic stress in the students.


: Colon exteriorization procedures were done in two patients who also were, or became, psychotic. Each patient pulled on the exteriorized loop, causing severe bowel injury. In known or potential psychotics some other form of colonic injury management--other than exteriorization--should be utilized, or extreme caution should be taken to prevent inadvertent self-injury by the patient.


BACKGROUND
Adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (A-FABP), retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), and adiponectin have been associated with insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome in adults.

OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the association of A-FABP, RBP4, and adiponectin with the metabolic syndrome in Korean boys.

DESIGN
In this prospective cohort study, 159 boys participated in a school-based health examination and were followed up after 3 y. The metabolic syndrome in children was defined by using the pediatric adaptation of the National Cholesterol Education Program criteria.

RESULTS
Compared with normal-weight participants, overweight children had significantly higher A-FABP (23.6 ± 8.2 compared with 12.8 ± 5.1 μg/L, P < 0.001) and RBP4 (69.3 ± 17.1 compared with 59.7 ± 15.3 μg/mL, P = 0.001) concentrations and significantly lower adiponectin concentrations (11.5 ± 5.4 compared with 18.1 ± 8.4 μg/mL, P < 0.001). Baseline A-FABP concentrations were significantly higher in children who developed the metabolic syndrome than in those who did not, whereas adiponectin concentrations were significantly lower. Baseline RBP4 concentrations were not significantly different between the 2 groups. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that only A-FABP was an independent predictor of the development of the metabolic syndrome after adjustment for Tanner stage, insulin resistance, body mass index, sleep duration, and physical activity (odds ratio: 17.3; 95% CI: 1.25, 239.76; highest compared with lowest tertile), whereas the significant association between adiponectin and the metabolic syndrome observed by using bivariate analysis reflects, in part, an underlying association with obesity.

CONCLUSION
A-FABP predicts the development of the metabolic syndrome independently of pubertal status, adiposity, and insulin resistance in Korean boys.


In this work I develop and apply a theoretical method for calculating effective electronic couplings (or transfer integrals) between redox sites involved in hole or electron transfer reactions. The resulting methodology is a refinement and a generalization of a recently developed approach for transfer integral evaluation. In fact, it holds for any overlap between the charge-localized states used to represent charge transfer (CT) processes in the two-state model. The presented theoretical and computational analyses show that the prototype approach is recovered for sufficiently small overlaps. The method does not involve any empirical parameter. It allows a complete multielectron description, therefore including electronic relaxation effects. Furthermore, its theoretical formulation holds at any value of the given reaction coordinate and yields a formula for the evaluation of the vertical excitation energy (i.e., the energy difference between the adiabatic ground and first-excited electronic states) that rests on the same physical quantities used in transfer integral calculation. In this paper the theoretical approach is applied to CT in B-DNA base dimers within the framework of Density Functional Theory (DFT), although it can be implemented in other computational schemes. The results of this work, as compared with previous Hartree-Fock (HF) and post-HF evaluations, support the applicability of the current implementation of the method to larger pi-stacked arrays, where post-HF approaches are computationally unfeasible.


Web applications are often exposed to attacks because of the critical information and valuable assets they host. In this study, Bi-LSTM based web application security models were developed in order to detect web attacks and classify them into binary or multiple classes using HTTP requests. A novel data augmentation technique based on the self-adapting noise adding method (DA-SANA) was developed. The DA-SANA method solves the low sensitivity problem caused by imbalanced data and the complex structure of multi-class classification in web attack detection. Experimental evaluations are carried out in detail using two benchmark web security datasets and a newly created dataset within the scope of the study. The achieved worst case detection rates are 98.34% and 93.91% for binary-class and multi-class classifications, respectively. The proposed DA-SANA technique provides an average of 6.52% improvement in multi-class classification for two datasets. These results revealed that the best classification performance values were achieved when compared with previous studies.


Purpose To report the first case of Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) for bullous keratopathy (BK) secondary to argon laser iridotomy (ALI). Patient A 71-year-old woman presented with decreased visual acuity in her right eye due to BK secondary to ALI that was performed 10 years prior. Results Phacosurgery was performed first, followed by successful DMEK 4 months later. A DMEK shooter was used for donor insertion, which allowed for a stable anterior chamber during donor insertion, even when the anterior chamber was quite shallow. Also, removal of edematous epithelial cells and endoillumination probe-assisted DMEK was quite useful to visualize DMEK graft on the background of the dark brown iris seen in Asian eyes. The patient's best corrected visual acuity rapidly increased from 20/200 to 25/20 after 1 month, with complete resolution of corneal edema. Conclusion We reported the first successful DMEK case for BK secondary to ALI. The use of a DMEK shooter for donor insertion and endoillumination assistance to visualize the DMEK graft was a useful technique for BK secondary to ALI.


The objective of the project was threefold. Firstly, to propose a first year module entitled "Developing Critical Skills", to be available across Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), which would promote, through the analysis of cultural artefacts, the analytical and rhetorical skills of first year students across different disciplines. Secondly, to test and evaluate appropriate assessment procedures for such a module. Thirdly, to explore innovative methods of curriculum design process for interdisciplinary learning. The anticipated benefits of such a module were originally imagined to be the development of students who would possess critical competences with broad application, who would be reflective and analytical, and who would develop awareness of the public responsibilities of knowledge. Further to this, the authors hoped to encourage a greater understanding among students of the value and complexity of culture, cross-disciplinary cooperation among staff teaching the module, and to consolidate the benefits of the modular system within the DIT.


Pancreatitis when associated with biliary disease has a more promising prognosis than pancreatic inflammation of indefinite etiology. Gallstone pancreatitis is due to obstruction of the main pancreatic duct by a calculus, inflammatory reaction, or ampullary stenosis. This report is an attempt to present the natural history of this disease process and some new concepts regarding methods of diagnosis and treatment. Review of Cases Fifty-five patients with coexistent biliary disease and pancreatitis were treated on the Surgical Service at the Los Angeles County Harbor General Hospital from January, 1950, to December, 1959. There were 11 emergency cases with 5 deaths and 44 elective cases with 2 deaths (Table 1). The age range was from 19 to 85, and 19 patients were over 70 years of age (Table 2). Thirty-seven patients had a history of acute abdominal pain and six had a history of jaundice. There were ten patients with an antedated


BACKGROUND
More than 400,000 older people reside in over 18,000 care homes in England. A recent social care survey found up to 50% of older people in care homes felt their dignity was undermined. Upholding the dignity of older people in care homes has implications for residents' experiences and the role of Registered Nurses.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The study aimed to explore how best to translate the concept of dignity into care home practice, and how to support this translation process by enabling Registered Nurses to provide ethical leadership within the care home setting.

DESIGN
Action research with groups of staff (Registered Nurses and non-registered caregivers) and groups of residents and relatives in four care homes in the south of England to contribute to the development of the dignity toolkit.

METHODS
Action research groups were facilitated by 4 researchers (2 in each care home) to discuss dignity principles and experiences within care homes. These groups reviewed and developed a dignity toolkit over six cycles of activity (once a month for 6 months). The Registered Nurses were individually interviewed before and after the activity.

RESULTS
Hard copy and online versions of a dignity toolkit, with tailored versions for participating care homes, were developed. Registered Nurses and caregivers identified positive impact of making time for discussion about dignity-related issues. Registered Nurses identified ongoing opportunities for using their toolkit to support all staff.

CONCLUSIONS
Nurses and caregivers expressed feelings of empowerment by the process of action research. The collaborative development of a dignity toolkit within each care home has the potential to enable ethical leadership by Registered Nurses that would support and sustain dignity in care homes.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
Action research methods empower staff to maintain dignity for older people within the care home setting through the development of practically useful toolkits to support everyday care practice. Providing opportunities for caregivers to be involved in such initiatives may promote their dignity and sense of being valued. The potential of bottom-up collaborative approaches to promote dignity in care therefore requires further research.


Exploring the pattern of size and shape changes during the ontogeny of closely related species is of fundamental importance because it provides an insight into the processes that lead to the evolutionary diversification of body forms and into understanding the adaptations and constraints during growth and development. In this study, we explored the interspecific variation of body size and shape changes during postembryonic development (from the mid-larval period up to the end of metamorphosis) of four crested newt species. We analysed ontogenetic changes in the body size and shape, growth rate and the dynamics of shape variance patterns. We found a consistent pattern of changes in variance across the species studied, with the mid-larval and juvenile stages being highly constrained and canalized and the period of metamorphosis as the most variable stage. The ontogenetic trajectories of larval shape diverge in both the direction and the rate of shape changes along species-specific trajectories. These divergences are concordant with interspecific differences in adult body form and species-specific ecological preferences. However, crested newt species reach the juvenile stage at similar size and shape, indicating that metamorphosis, which is a key point between aquatic and terrestrial morphs, 'resets' the ontogenetic trajectories of larvae. Thus, metamorphosis interrupts the pattern of interspecific divergence, causing species to converge in body form. We speculate that such a pattern of developmental regulation could play crucial roles in the evolution of the body form in amphibians with a biphasic life cycle.


Localization is a key task for autonomous vehicles. It is often solved with GNSS but due to multipath the performance is often not sufficient. Feature localization systems using LiDAR can deliver an accurate localization but the creation of the necessary feature maps is an effortful task. With digitization of urban planning processes a lot of street level data is being generated and increasingly becomes openly available. We propose a novel feature localization system which utilizes geometric fingerprinting to robustly associate features to a feature map generated from this open data from the city of Berlin. With this association, we perform a precise localization of a vehicle in areas spanning over several square kilometers using an optional IMU, the vehicle's CAN-odometry and an initial pose estimate. We evaluated our system with our autonomous car in real world scenarios and achieved a centimeter precision localization accuracy outperforming a high-cost GNSS. The source code will be published at https://github.com/dcmlr/fingerprint-localization.


This paper describes how the inertial method is based on a simple law that states that the double integration of acceleration gives its displacement, and is one of the general methods used for recording track geometry. In the inertial method, a high-pass filter (HPF) is essential to ensure stable calculation of the double integration of acceleration. The previous analog inertial measuring system remained wave distortion because the system used analog HPFs, which had a non-linear phase property. To avoid wave distortion caused by analog HPFs, a new algorithm was developed for digital inertial measurement that utilizes the measurement property of the 10 m versine. A new track geometry recording device using this algorithm was produced, capable of being installed on commercial shinkansen trains. This device, called RAIDARSS 3, measures 10 m versine track irregularities from double integration of the axle box acceleration in real time. If the measured track irregularities exceed the predetermined target maintenance values, the measured values and locations of the irregularities are automatically reported to the train control center and track maintenance depots, and slow speed operation is directed, if necessary. To confirm the measurement precision of this device, an experimental prototype was tested on a shinkansen test train. Results showed that the output of the prototype achieved good correlation with data from the existing track geometry car. The new RAIDARSS 3 track condition monitoring device will be installed on six N700 train sets during fiscal year 2008.


Background Readmission rates for healthy term neonates with severe hyperbilirubinaemia has increased in recent years. In 2011, we implemented a comprehensive risk assessment based integrated care pathway situated in the community to monitor all jaundiced babies. The pathway comprises intensive feeding support; monitoring bilirubin levels at home with transcutaneous bilirubinometers (TcB) and total serum bilirubin (TsB); prompt referral to hospital when thresholds for treatment set at 340µmol/l was reached and a standardised weaning strategy for phototherapy dosage. Aims To evaluate the impact of this pathway on variations in decision to treat, readmission rates for jaundiced babies and length of stay (LoS) before and after implementation. Methods We analysed the case records and compared the outcomes for all healthy term babies who were readmitted to receive phototherapy between 1 June and 30 September 2010 with those of babies admitted during the same period in 2011. We used SPSS software for statistical analysis. Results 2921 term babies were delivered during the two time epochs. 28/1468 (0.02 %) received phototherapy in 2010 compared with 19/1453 (0.013%) in 2011. The mean maximum bilirubin levels in 2010 was significantly lower at 292±64 µmol/l (range: 193–457) compared with 362+26.3 µmol/l (range: 323–433) in 2011. The LoS was significantly reduced at 45.5±26.7hr in 2011 compared with 87.2±53.8 hr in 2010. Conclusions This study showed reduced readmission rate and a statistically significant reduction in the length of stay during readmission in the post intervention group despite a significantly increased maximum bilirubin level. In addition, there was improved consistency amongst professionals on when to refer babies for phototherapy.


BACKGROUND Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is a simple procedure with few associated complications. Traditionally, diet can be initiated 24 after the placement of the probe, but there is no information concerning safety with immediate feeding. OBJECTIVE To compare safety of immediate feeding against late feeding after placement of PEG. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 62 patients referred for placement of a PEG were assigned alternatively to start feeding during the first 30 min after the procedure was finished (group A), or 24 h later (group B). All patients received the same formula and remained hospitalized for three days. During follow-up, data for local infection and mild or severe complications were intentionally sought. RESULTS Each group was composed of 31 patients; both groups were similar in age, gender, indication for placement of PEG, presence of infections, and use of antibiotics. Two patients of group A and six of group B developed local infections (six vs. 19%, p = NS value). Mild complications were found in three patients of group A and two A of group B (10 vs. 6%, p = NS). Severe complications were found in one patient of group A and two of group B (3 vs. 6%, p = NS). CONCLUSIONS Immediate feeding after placement of a PEG is a safe practice.


Fumonisins are mycotoxins belonging to a group of potential carcinogens for humans. It is well known that they also have potentially harmful effects on various species of animals. After consumption, in the horse they may cause leukoencefalomalation, and in pig pulmonary edema. The legal regulations in Serbia do not prescribe the maximum allowed levels (ML) of fumonisins in feed. As products of Fusarium, fumonisins are often detected in corn, and their presence in wheat is also proven. However, there is not enough data on the occurrence and levels of these mycotoxins in feed. Considering the harmful effect of fumonisin on pig health and data on corn contamination, the aim of this paper is to examine the concentration of fumonisins in feed for pigs. A sum of fumonisins (B1, B2 and B3) in a total of 30 samples of feed for different categories of pigs was tested. Fumonisins were found in 83% of the examined samples. Although no sample contained more than 5 mg/kg (the maximum recommended level according to EU regulation), studies on the effect of low-dose toxin on pig health and the frequent grain contamination with multiple mycotoxins pointed out the necessity of monitoring of fumonisins levels in pig feed.


A Hyperspectral imager aboard a cubesat would be able to provide images which could be used to identify ships and determine the ship's length and breadth and heading. Depending on the size of the ship, the speed the ship is traveling can be determined as well; however the speed and size determination is limited by the spatial resolution of 100 meters. The spectral signature of the boat is dramatically different from the spectral signature of the open Ocean especially within the range of 400 to 1000 nanometers, and this threshold is the basis for extracting ship data. Hyperspectral Imagers are ideal for minimization with few optical errors introduced, and designs range in durability making them useful on board small satellites especially in the visible and near infrared region. Placing an imager on a satellite allows for consistent observation over a region to identify patterns in ship movement over time. A Hyperspectral Imager for a Cubesat to Identify Ocean Ship Parameters


New magnetic anisotropy data from Variscan mudstones collected in the Cantabrian Arc, N Spain constrain the corresponding strain (shortening). The results are based on our previous study of mudrocks from the Valley and Ridge Province (Appalachians) where independent strain quantification of pencil structures permitted a correlation between magnetic fabric and tectonic strain. An exponential relationship between the AMS shape parameter T and tectonic shortening was found for the interval of 10-25% shortening: shortening (%)=17*exp(T), relationship that appears to be supported by tectonic strains up to 40%. The T parameter describes the shape of the magnetic susceptibility ellipsoid, which in pelitic rocks appears more sensitive to strain than the degree of anisotropy parameter P (or P'). In mudrocks from the Cantabrian Arc a positive correlation between T parameter and deformation intensity, reflected by cleavage domains spacing, is observed. Using the above relationship, we estimate the range of tectonic shortening for the Cantabrian mudstones. The correlation between strain and AMS offers a robust estimate of strain magnitude of 10-40% in weakly to moderately deformed clay-rich rocks, where other strain indicators are often lacking or are poorly preserved.


We investigated the possibility to produce hippocampal or amygdala kindling syndrome in rabbits which had been electrically stimulated at a fixed interval between stimuli at 5 min. Animals were prepared with chronically implanted electrodes (neocortex, hippocampus, amygdala, nucleus caudatus). The initial stimuli produced only localized effect, but repeated applications of the stimuli progressively increased the seizure activity resulting in generalized kindled convulsions after 2-4 h period. At the first stage generalized seizures were followed by long lasting refractory period, but at the end of the procedure almost all stimuli evoke major motor seizures and recurrent widely spread electrographic epileptic changes. The most noteworthy findings emerging from this study is the inhibition of postictal seizure inhibition period. This effect was independent of whether stimulated the electrode was positioned in the hippocampus or amygdala, but the hippocampal formation occupied the central position for the once and propagation of the seizure activity in all cases. When established this syndrome persisted without any attenuation for some weeks. It was concluded that this model of rapid development of kindling syndrome is useful for investigation of the nature of epilepsy and postictal seizure inhibition.


Drop-in Workshop on how to find literary criticisms in books and academic journals. Learn how to use Gale Literary Sources (which includes Literature Resource Center), Poetry and Short Story Reference Center, JSTOR, EBSCO databases Infobase Academic eBoo


In the wake of the 2008/2009 financial crisis, a number of policy reports (Vickers, Liikanen, Volcker) proposed to separate investment banking from commercial banking to increase financial stability. This paper empirically examines one theoretical justification for these proposals, namely attention distortion under multiple tasks as in Holmstrom and Milgrom (1991). Universal banks can be viewed as combining two different tasks (investment banking and commercial banking) in the same organization. We estimate pay-performance sensitivities for different segments within universal banks and for pure investment and commercial banks. We show that the pay-performance sensitivity is higher in investment banking than in commercial banking, no matter whether it is organized as part of a universal bank or in a separate institution. Next, the paper shows that relative pay-performance sensitivities of investment and commercial banking are negatively related to the quality of the loan portfolio in universal banks. Depending on the specification, we obtain a reduction in problem loans when investment banking is removed from commercial banks of up to 12 percent. We interpret the evidence to imply that the higher pay-performance sensitivity in investment banking directs the attention of managers away from commercial banking within universal banks, consistent with Holmstrom and Milgrom (1991). Separation of investment banking and commercial banking may indeed be associated with a reduction in risk in commercial banking.


The paper presents the results of granulometrical, geochemical and mineralogical characterisation of sediments underlying the Velenje lignite seam as drilled through the P-9k/92 borehole in the central part of the Pliocene intermontane Velenje Basin. This study of differently lithified sediments/sedimentary rocks is based on analyses of 32 samples from 21 core intervals at the depth of 562.6–580.0 m (end of the borehole). Grain size was analysed on 12 samples, 24 samples were investigated geochemically, while mineral composition was obtained with X-ray diffraction (XRD) on 23 samples, and optical microscopy was performed on 7 samples. Granulometry of very low lithified samples revealed that they are mostly clayey silts (>85 % of the silt fraction), only two are silty sands and one is pebbly/rubbly sandstone. Well-lithified clastics are all sandstones cemented by calcite, siderite and/or marcasite. Geochemical analysis indicated that most samples are SiO2 + Al2O3 rich (>60–80 %). Some sediments, mostly at the base of the profile, are enriched in Fe2O3 and inorganic C both indicating the presence of siderite. At the top of the profile, thin limestone and gravelly sandstone beds contain a high caO content and have high loss on ignition (LOI). Qualitative XrD analysis and microscopy showed that all clastic sediments consist of quartz, kaolinite and muscovite/illite. Feldspars occur sporadically, mainly in sands and sandstones. Gypsum was found in some samples of siltstones. Pyrite occurs only in a sample of limestone at the top of the profile. Also marcasite was found only in one sample.


Urinalysis should always be performed on the basis of medical need, and appropriate examinations for various clinical populations and presentations should be determined by cost/ bene®t analysis. On this basis, selection indications for urinalysis are suggested for detecting diseases of the kidneys or urinary tract (Page 6). The referral for detailed urine examinations should include an adequate description of the specimen type, and should inform the laboratory of the clinical need in order to facilitate correct selection of examination procedures and interpretation of results (Page 6). This medical information is mandatory when the choice is being made between minimum and optimum procedures for different specimens. The minimum information needed is outlined (Page 48). Requirements for computerized information systems are discussed (Page 49).


Question
How did the native and alien woody plant communities of protected lowland wet forests of a tropical oceanic island change in the presence of understorey invasive alien plants over the medium (21–27 yrs) and longer term (68 yrs)?

Location
Bel Ombre, Brise Fer and Macchabe forests in the Black River Gorges National Park (BRGNP), Mauritius (20°22′10″–20°28′17″ S, 57°24′45″–57°27′12″ E).

Methods
Random and replicated vegetation plots were sampled in two protected forest areas whose communities of woody plants were surveyed 21 and 27 yrs previously, and in another protected and similar forest that was surveyed 68 yrs earlier, to identify species and measure stem diameters so as to permit comparisons at the three sites over these time periods.

Results
Invasion by woody alien plants has progressed through time at all three sites, comprised mostly of the understorey and shade-tolerant Strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum). Concomitantly, although reductions in native woody plant species richness of large trees (≥10 cm DBH) were not statistically significant at the community level, their densities and basal area had roughly halved in 68 yrs. Comparisons with the studies 21–27 yrs previously confirmed the tendency towards a reduction in density of larger trees, besides indicating a trend towards decline in species richness of smaller understorey trees.

Conclusion
An unabated replacement of native by alien trees over the longer term is occurring in protected areas of the lowland wet forests of the BRGNP and presumably in other similarly invaded areas. Our work stresses the importance of long-term monitoring in elucidating impacts of invasive alien plants at the community level, particularly when dealing with slow-growing and long-lived species. Plausible mechanisms bringing about the observed changes and that have been found at the same or similar sites, include reduced regeneration, growth, production of flowers and fruits and increased mortality of native trees when these grow among invasive alien plants. The control of invasive alien plants, where they invade tropical forests, should be a central conservation objective even in better preserved and well protected areas.


The natural form of vitamin D3, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, modulates epidermal proliferation and differentiation and inhibits immune induction. Calcipotriol (calcipotriene) is a synthetic vitamin D analogue that partially separates the newly identified effects from the classic hypercalcemic effect. Topical treatment with calcipotriene has been shown to be effective, well tolerated, and safe for psoriasis.


Some of the world's leading scientists have contributed original pieces - an elementary idea, a basic concept, a tool for thought - relevant to their field. These pieces together form an intellectual tool-kit for the intellectually curious to use in extending their reading in scientific areas. The pieces are arranged in thematic groups including Thinking about Science, Evolution, Mind, Cosmos and The Future and each essay is short, and is self-contained (no prior knowledge is required). Contributors include RICHARD DAWKINS, LEE SMOLIN, ALAN GUTH, STEPHEN JAY GOULD, STEVE JONES, LEWIS WOLPERT, NILES ELDREDGE, PAUL DAVIES and MARTIN REES.


Cancer-induced bone pain is characterized by moderate to severe ongoing pain that commonly requires the use of opiates. Even when ongoing pain is well controlled, patients can suffer breakthrough pain (BTP), episodic severe pain that "breaks through" the medication. We developed a novel model of cancer-induced BTP using female rats with mammary adenocarcinoma cells sealed within the tibia. We demonstrated previously that rats with bone cancer learn to prefer a context paired with saphenous nerve block to elicit pain relief (i.e., conditioned place preference, CPP), revealing the presence of ongoing pain. Treatment with systemic morphine abolished CPP to saphenous nerve block, demonstrating control of ongoing pain. Here, we show that pairing BTP induced by experimenter-induced movement of the tumor-bearing hindlimb with a context produces conditioned place avoidance (CPA) in rats treated with morphine to control ongoing pain, consistent with clinical observation of BTP. Preventing movement-induced afferent input by saphenous nerve block before, but not after, hindlimb movement blocked movement-induced BTP. Ablation of isolectin B4 (IB4)-binding, but not TRPV1+, sensory afferents eliminated movement-induced BTP, suggesting that input from IB4-binding fibers mediates BTP. Identification of potential molecular targets specific to this population of fibers may allow for the development of peripherally restricted analgesics that control BTP and improve quality of life in patients with skeletal metastases. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We present a novel preclinical measure of movement-induced breakthrough pain (BTP) that is observed in the presence of morphine controlling ongoing pain. Blockade of sensory input before movement prevented BTP, whereas nerve block after movement failed to reverse BTP. These observations indicate that blocking peripheral sensory input may prevent BTP and targeting central sites may be required for pain relief once BTP has been initiated. Preventing sensory input from TRPV1-expressing fibers failed to alter movement-induced BTP. In contrast, preventing sensory input from isolectin B4 (IB4)-binding fibers blocked movement-induced BTP. Therefore, examining molecular targets on this population of nociceptive fibers may prove useful for developing an improved strategy for preventing BTP in cancer patients with skeletal metastases.


Alpha-synuclein (α-syn) and tau polymerize into amyloid fibrils and form intraneuronal filamentous inclusions characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases. We demonstrate that α-syn induces fibrillization of tau and that coincubation of tau and α-syn synergistically promotes fibrillization of both proteins. The in vivo relevance of these findings is grounded in the co-occurrence of α-syn and tau filamentous amyloid inclusions in humans, in single transgenic mice that express A53T human α-syn in neurons, and in oligodendrocytes of bigenic mice that express wild-type human α-syn plus P301L mutant tau. This suggests that interactions between α-syn and tau can promote their fibrillization and drive the formation of pathological inclusions in human neurodegenerative diseases.


To better understand consumers' fair trade purchasing intentions, this study proposed an extended model of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in which a new determinant, cosmopolitanism, was added to reflect consumers' global orientation and perception of fair trade coffee in the context of globalization. In addition, this study employed the construct of "purchase implementation intention" to address the gap between stated intention and actual behavior. To test the study's hypotheses, a random survey was administered to 400 participants in Seoul, South Korea, a key emerging market for fair trade coffee consumption. The data were analyzed using a hierarchical regression method. Our findings suggest that (i) attitudes toward purchasing fair trade coffee, subjective norms, and cosmopolitanism were significant factors in predicting purchase implementation intentions with regard to fair trade coffee; (ii) perceived behavioral control was not statistically significant; and (iii) cosmopolitanism had a partial moderating effect on purchase implementation intentions. To confirm the utility of purchase implementation intention, a choice experiment involving 145 undergraduate and graduate students was administered. The data were analyzed using logistic regression. Purchase implementation intention was shown to reflect consumers' actual choice of fair trade coffee. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.


Mechanical ventilation combined with sedation is widely used in the intensive care unit (ICU). However, this intervention is not without consequence on the patient. ICU patients can, in fact, remember perceptions that occurred during their mechanical ventilation—a phenomenon known as explicit recall. This phenomenon is not well defined, and no common terminology exists in the medical and nursing literature, where a variety of concepts are used interchangeably to describe the same experience. The goal of this concept analysis was to address the conceptual vagueness that surrounds explicit recall. Using Rodgers' evolutionary approach, a total of 68 articles were analyzed to identify the concept's antecedents, attributes, and consequences. The findings revealed that the explicit recall concept is perceptive, interpretative, subjective, dynamic, and temporal. It occurs following treatment that requires general anesthesia or sedation. It is also shaped by the modalities of anesthesia and sedation, as well as individual characteristics. Consequences of explicit recall can include anxiety, flashbacks, and post-traumatic stress disorder.


ABSTRACT Digital platforms such as search engines and social media have become major gateways to news. Algorithms are used to deliver news that is consistent with consumers' preferences and individuals share news through their online social networks. This networked environment has resulted in growing uncertainty about online information which has had an impact on news industries globally. While it is well established that perceptions of trust in news found on social media or via search engines are lower than traditional news media, there has been less discussion about the impact of social media use on perceptions of trust in the news media more broadly. This study fills that gap by examining the influence of social media as news sources and pathways to news on perceptions of the level of news trust at a country level. A secondary data analysis of a 26-country survey in 2016 and 2019 was conducted. The analysis revealed an increase in social media use for accessing news resulted in a decline in trust in news media generally across the globe. Higher levels of general mistrust in news were related to an increased use of sharing of news. This paper argues the use of social media for news is closely linked to the increase in news mistrust, which is likely to continue to rise as the number of people using social media to access news continues to grow.


Democratization has often gone hand in hand with decentralization, but how do the two processes relate to each other? To answer such questions one needs fine-grained data on decentralization, and these have been hard to come by in South East Asia. This paper provides a careful estimation of the formal authority of regional governments in five Southeast Asian countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand – on an annual basis from 1950 to 2010. We estimate nine dimensions of subnational authority and find wide variation both across countries and across time. We detect a close temporal relationship between democratization and decentralization.


Results are presented from a series of simulations undertaken to determine whether dynamic processes observed in device-scale liquid crystal cells confined between aligning substrates can be simulated in a molecular system using parallel molecular dynamics of the Gay-Berne model.In a nematic cell, on removal of an aligning field, initial near-surface director relaxation can induce flow, termed 'backflow', in the liquid. This, in turn, can cause director rotation, termed 'orientational kickback', in the centre of the cell. Simulations are performed of the relaxation in nematic systems confined between substrates with a common alignment on removal of an aligning field. Results show that relaxation timescales of medium sized systems are accessible. Following this, simulations are performed of relaxation in hybrid aligned nematic systems, where each surface induces a different alignment. Flow patterns associated with director reorientation are observed. The damped oscillatory nature of the relaxation process suggests that the behaviour of these systems is dominated by orientational elastic forces and that the observed director motion and flow do not correspond to the macroscopic processes of backflow and kickback. Chevron structures can occur in confined smectic cells which develop two domains of equal and opposite layer tilt on cooling. Layer tilting is thought to be caused by a need to reconcile a mismatch between bulk and surface smectic layer spacing. Here, simulations are performed of the formation of structures in confined smectic systems where layer tilt is induced by an imposed surface pretilt. Results show that bookshelf, chevron and tilted layer structures are observable in a confined Gay-Berne system. The formation and stability of the chevron structure are shown to be influenced by surface slip.


Although pressure ulcer (PrU) development is now generally considered an indicator for quality of care, questions and concerns about situations in which they are unavoidable remain. Considering the importance of this issue and the lack of available research data, in 2010 the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) hosted a multidisciplinary conference to establish consensus on whether there are individuals in whom pressure ulcer development may be unavoidable and whether a difference exists between end-of-life skin changes and pressure ulcers. Thirty-four stakeholder organizations from various disciplines were identified and invited to send a voting representative. Of those, 24 accepted the invitation. Before the conference, existing literature was identified and shared via a webinar. A NPUAP task force developed standardized consensus questions for items with none or limited evidence and an interactive protocol was used to develop consensus among conference delegates and attendees. Consensus was established to be 80% agreement among conference delegates. Unanimous consensus was achieved for the following statements: most PrUs are avoidable; not all PrUs are avoidable; there are situations that render PrU development unavoidable, including hemodynamic instability that is worsened with physical movement and inability to maintain nutrition and hydration status and the presence of an advanced directive prohibiting artificial nutrition/hydration; pressure redistribution surfaces cannot replace turning and repositioning; and if enough pressure was removed from the external body the skin cannot always survive. Consensus was not obtained on the practicality or standard of turning patients every 2 hours nor on concerns surrounding the use of medical devices vis-à-vis their potential to cause skin damage. Research is needed to examine these issues, refine preventive practices in challenging situations, and identify the limits of prevention.


The effective utilization of single-instruction-multiple-data stream machines depends heavily on being able to arrange the data elements of arrays in parallel memory modules so that memory conflicts are avoided when the data are fetched. Several classes of storage algorithms are presented. Necessary and sufficient conditions are derived which can be used to determine if all conflict can be avoided. For the matrix subparts most often demanded in numerical analysis computations, whenever the class of storage algorithms called periodic skewing schemes provides conflict-free access, the subclass called linear skewing schemes also provides such access.


Law enforcement necessitates some form of control and access to what individuals in society are doing. Enforcement agencies might require real-time access to various types of data to detect and prevent crimes, arrest suspects, and eventually use the acquired data as evidence. Throughout history, the state has sought to gain access to new technologies that would advance their investigation or even suspicion of criminal activities — whether by telegraph, by mail, or by telephone. Such potential access greatly increased with the invention of the public internet and recently expanded through what is termed as the Internet of Things (IoT), whereby almost any regular object — or more simply stated, "things" — could be constantly connected to the internet while collecting various types of data from its sensors. Real-time access to IoT devices and to their stored communications could reveal individuals' locations, any information they conveyed in the vicinity of the device, their images and videos, their vital signs, and much more about people's lives. While this data could be vital for enforcement in the digital age, the Wiretapping of Things is also highly intrusive and could greatly jeopardize civil rights and liberties, like that of the right to privacy.

This Article examines the normative and pragmatic implications of law enforcement in light of new communication technologies and, mainly, that of IoT. The Article questions, inter alia, whether the current legal framework that governs stored communication and wiretapping, originally designed for computers and telephones, is still relevant for these new technological developments. Could the state pragmatically gain access to IoT devices in real-time — and "wiretap" them? Do the current regulatory requirements change in light of IoT capabilities? And how should policymakers balance enforcement needs against safeguarding human rights and liberties, such as the right to privacy? This Article approaches these and related timely questions by analyzing the current legal framework that governs lawful access to stored communications and wiretapping while evaluating whether it fits a world awash with sensors. Upon discussing and evaluating whether access to IoT devices is practical and desirable, the Article suggests that policymakers reconsider the current regulatory framework for both stored communications and wiretapping, as they are ill suited to properly protect privacy in the IoT age.


[1] Uncertainty in the Pan-Arctic Ice-Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS) Arctic sea ice volume record is characterized. A range of observations and approaches, including in situ ice thickness measurements, ICESat retrieved ice thickness, and model sensitivity studies, yields a conservative estimate for October Arctic ice volume uncertainty of 1.35 × 103 km3 and an uncertainty of the ice volume trend over the 1979–2010 period of 1.0 × 103 km3 decade–1. A conservative estimate of the trend over this period is −2.8 × 103 km3 decade–1. PIOMAS ice thickness estimates agree well with ICESat ice thickness retrievals (<0.1 m mean difference) for the area for which submarine data are available, while difference outside this area are larger. PIOMAS spatial thickness patterns agree well with ICESat thickness estimates with pattern correlations of above 0.8. PIOMAS appears to overestimate thin ice thickness and underestimate thick ice, yielding a smaller downward trend than apparent in reconstructions from observations. PIOMAS ice volume uncertainties and trends are examined in the context of climate change attribution and the declaration of record minima. The distribution of 32 year trends in a preindustrial coupled model simulation shows no trends comparable to those seen in the PIOMAS retrospective, even when the trend uncertainty is accounted for. Attempts to label September minima as new record lows are sensitive to modeling error. However, the September 2010 ice volume anomaly did in fact exceed the previous 2007 minimum by a large enough margin to establish a statistically significant new record.


We introduce a set of new Compression-Aware Management Policies (CAMP) for on-chip caches that employ data compression. Our management policies are based on two key ideas. First, we show that it is possible to build a more efficient management policy for compressed caches if the compressed block size is directly used in calculating the value (importance) of a block to the cache. This leads to Minimal-Value Eviction (MVE), a policy that evicts the cache blocks with the least value, based on both the size and the expected future reuse. Second, we show that, in some cases, compressed block size can be used as an efficient indicator of the future reuse of a cache block. We use this idea to build a new insertion policy called Size-based Insertion Policy (SIP) that dynamically prioritizes cache blocks using their compressed size as an indicator. We compare CAMP (and its global variant G-CAMP) to prior on-chip cache management policies (both size-oblivious and size-aware) and find that our mechanisms are more effective in using compressed block size as an extra dimension in cache management decisions. Our results show that the proposed management policies (i) decrease off-chip bandwidth consumption (by 8.7% in single-core), (ii) decrease memory subsystem energy consumption (by 7.2% in single-core) for memory intensive workloads compared to the best prior mechanism, and (iii) improve performance (by 4.9%/9.0%/10.2% on average in single-/two-/four-core workload evaluations and up to 20.1%) CAMP is effective for a variety of compression algorithms and different cache designs with local and global replacement strategies.


We present a novel practical design optimization for the primary core in an induction heating roll, which significantly affects the heating performance. To optimize the 3D eddy current field problem within an acceptable CPU time, we effectively combine 2D magnetostatic optimization and 3D coupled magnetic-thermal FEM. For the 2D optimization, we adopt the level-set method, which has an advantage of being able to derive a feasible shape. However, the disadvantage is that its result occasionally falls into a local optimal solution. To overcome this disadvantage, we propose conducting the initial conceptual design with the linear level-set method before using the nonlinear level-set method to expand the search domain. Furthermore, we incorporate the parallelized move-limit strategy into the level-set method to prevent the configuration from undergoing excess deformation by the operation for the area constraint. Finally, the 2D optimal shape obtained using our new level-set method is converted into a straight line cross-sectional configuration to improve manufacturability, and the final 3D design is created with slits. The final 3D design obtained as a result of the 3D FEM successfully improves both the heating speed and temperature uniformity on the surface of the heating part under the same conditions of input AC current and material volume.


This work analyzes the rhetoric of incarceration in the United States, examining how our social hierarchy, systems of power, moral ideologies, and discourse practices have contributed to our status as the global leader of mass incarceration, the state of our nation's correctional facilities, and the treatment of incarcerated individuals. The author argues that significant progress in corrections reform will only occur as the result of a comprehensive investigation into our current approaches to communicating about and with incarcerated individuals. Using Kenneth Burke's theories of identification, division, consubstantiality, and terministic screens, the author analyzes how social perceptions of crime, prisoners, and deviance are constructed by communication practices within correctional agencies. Attention is specifically focused on the use of silence, labeling, and institutional language and the way these communication practices reinforce deviance and prohibit identification between the public and prisoners. Communications from officials employed at Lancaster County Prison in Lancaster, Pennsylvania are evaluated as a way of concretely illustrating the impact that socially constructed perceptions of incarcerated individuals have on staff-prisoner interactions and prisoners' wellbeing. The author applies Burke's theories of identification, division, consubstantiality, and terministic screens to two documents released to the public—"Commitment, Intake and Classification Information," which describes initial incarceration practices at the prison, and Suicide Prevention Practices, Lancaster County Prison, which was compiled by the prison's healthcare manager, PrimeCare Medical, and summarizes a review of mental healthcare practices at the facility. The author hopes that analyzing these documents will shed light on how dehumanizing communication practices have contributed to the high rate of inmate suicide at Lancaster County Prison.


This project investigates the microbiological and biochemical characteristics of chicken and turkey caeca. Microbiological characteristics were represented by CFU of Escherichia coli, faecal Enterococci and Lactobacilli determined in 1 g of chyme and biological ones by enzymatic activity of the cellulases expressed in CMC units. In all experiments, a probiotic preparation based on Enterococcus faecium was added to the feeding mixture and drinking water at various concentrations or in the form of aerosol on the body or egg surface. Counts of Escherichia coli in CFU in 1 g of faecal chyme were determined on Endo agar, counts of CFU of faecal Enterococci on selective agar for faecal Enterococci and counts of Lactobacilli on Rogosa agar. Enzymatic activity of cellulases was determined according to the Miller method. Counts of CFU of Escherichia coli, faecal Enterococci, Lactobacilli and enzymatic activity of cellulases were compared in experimental and control treatments. Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that the counts of Escherichia coli CFU would be higher in control treatments and CFU counts of both faecal Enterococci and Lactobacilli as well as enzymatic cellulases activity (in CMC units) lower in control treatments compared to the experimental ones. Similar results were also obtained in our experiments with chickens and turkeys. Polymerase chain reaction using specific primers was performed to identify Enterococcus faecium.


Steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) is a nuclear encoded mitochondrial protein that enhances steroid synthesis by facilitating the transfer of cholesterol to the inner membranes of mitochondria in hormonally regulated steroidogenic cells. It is currently assumed that StAR activity commences before or during StAR import into the mitochondrial matrix. The present study was designed to demonstrate that, once imported and becoming physiologically irrelevant, exhaustive accumulation of StAR must be limited by a rapid degradation of the protein to prevent potential damage to the organelles. The use of uncouplers and manipulation of the interior mitochondrial pH in hormone-induced ovarian granulosa cells and StAR-expressing COS cells suggests that StAR degradation is biphasic and involves two classes of proteases. During phase I, which normally lasts for the first approximately 2 h following import, StAR is rapidly degraded by a protease, or proteases, that can be arrested by a nonclassical action of proteasome inhibitors such as MG132. StAR molecules that evade phase I are subjected to a second class of protease(s), which is slower and MG132 resistant. A third proteolytic entity was revealed in studies with C-28 StAR, a loss-of-function mutant of StAR. Upon initiation of its import, C-28 StAR dissipates the inner membrane potential and causes swelling of the mitochondria. Degradation of C-28 StAR, probably by an intermembrane space protease, is extremely rapid and MG132 insensitive. Collectively, this study defines StAR as the first naturally occurring mitochondrial protein that can serve as a substrate to probe multiple proteolytic activities in mammalian mitochondria.


Abstract. It is well established that tropical forest ecosystems are often limited by phosphorus (P) availability, and elevated atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition may further enhance such P limitation. However, it is uncertain whether P availability would affect soil fluxes of greenhouse gases, such as methane (CH4) uptake, and how P interacts with N deposition. We examine the effects of N and P additions on soil CH4 uptake in an N saturated old-growth tropical forest in southern China to test the following hypotheses: (1) P addition would increase CH4 uptake; (2) N addition would decrease CH4 uptake; and (3) P addition would mitigate the inhibitive effect of N addition on soil CH4 uptake. Four treatments were conducted at the following levels from February 2007 to October 2009: control, N-addition (150 kg N ha−1 yr−1), P-addition (150 kg P ha−1 yr−1), and NP-addition (150 kg N ha−1 yr−1 plus 150 kg P ha−1 yr−1). Static chamber and gas chromatography techniques were used to quantify soil CH4 uptake every month throughout the study period. Average CH4 uptake rate was 31.2 ± 1.1 μg CH4-C m−2 h−1 in the control plots. The mean CH4 uptake rate in the N-addition plots was 23.6 ± 0.9 μg CH4-C m−2 h−1, significantly lower than that in the controls. P-addition however, significantly increased CH4 uptake by 24% (38.8 ± 1.3 μg CH4-C m−2 h−1), whereas NP-addition (33.6 ± 1.0 μg CH4-C m−2 h−1) was not statistically different from the control. Our results suggest that increased P availability may enhance soil mathanotrophic activity and root growth, resulting in potentially mitigating the inhibitive effect of N deposition on CH4 uptake in tropical forests.


With the growing demands of portable devices, it is necessary to pay attention to low-power digital integrated designs. This paper proposes a low-power MOS Current Mode Logic (MCML) design, termed as Hybrid Dynamic Current Mode Logic with modified current source (H-MDyCML). In H-MDyCML circuits, the functions are realized using complementary pass transistor logic which helps to overcome the problem of stacking of transistors in multiple levels. The dynamic current source has also been modified from an NMOS transistor to a PMOS transistor-driven current source which leads to the elimination of the use of CMOS inverter. H-MDyCML circuits are compared with other existing designing styles: Dynamic CML (DyCML), Hybrid DyCML (H-DyCML), and DyCML with modified current source (Dy-CML-NP). The proposed design (H-MDyCML) shows an overall improvement (in terms of Power Delay Product (PDP)) up to 94.77% compared to DyCML, 52.17% compared to Dy-CML-NP, and 91.40% compared to H-DyCML, for single stage circuits.


The growing number of audit failures leads the authors to question the current auditing relationship. In no profession is impartiality more important than in auditing, they say. Yet psychological research indicates that such impartiality is impossible under current institutional arrangements.

An audit is meant to ensure that a company's financial statement is valid, reliable, and complete. The auditor gives an unqualified opinion that the statement "fairly presents" the company's financial position. But the management of the company hires and pays the outside auditor; the company and its managers become the auditor's "client," thus making psychological independence impossible.

Bazerman et al. examine a series of experiments on self-serving bias, in which bias entered unconsciously and unintentionally while subjects made supposedly impartial judgments. In the auditing relationship, certain characteristics exacerbate self-serving bias, causing auditors' judgments to favor their clients:

1. People tend to be less concerned about harming a statistical victim than a known victim. An auditor doesn't really know who will be harmed by misinformation, but he or she does know the people in the firm who would be harmed by a negative audit.

2. The negative consequences of a negative opinion on an audit are immediate, i.e., loss of contract or employment.

3. Auditors have long-standing relationships with the companies they audit.

4. Reporting standards are flexible or ambiguous.

5. People can mislead themselves about the nature of trade-offs and rationalize their behavior.

Other factors add to the pressure on auditors such as the increased competition among accounting firms and the growth of consulting firms that also provide auditing services. An unfavorable audit risks not only the auditing relationship but the consulting one as well.

Bazerman et al. call for reform of auditing's current structure to end the current epidemic of litigation.


Neighbourhoods in The Netherlands differ strongly in social compositions and in the socio-economic perspectives of their residents. Increasing fears for diminishing social cohesion stimulated policy makers to focus on bettering perspectives for residents in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood intervention strategies in The Netherlands often concentrate on stimulating social and socio-economic mix, by physical restructuring of the neighbourhood. Social mix is assumed to have a positive effect on the upward social mobility of residents because it leads to positive role models in the neighbourhood and creates social bridges. We studied the effects of neighbourhood characteristics – indicators for social level and for social mix – on the income development of its residents between 1999 and 2005. We used an integral dataset, register-based and covering the entire Dutch population: the Social Statistical Database of Statistics Netherlands. Multilevel regression analyses showed a small, significant effect of a number of neighbourhood characteristics: income mix, mean income level and, surprisingly, ethnic mix, were positively related to the income development of residents aged 25 to 49. However, neighbourhood effects were very modest compared to the large influence of individual characteristics. Policymakers in Western Europe and North America involved in urban redevelopment programmes should be aware of that.


The situation in which pension funds have to operate has changed. Some developments in the market led to drops in the funding ratios of Dutch pension funds. Pension funds were too much exposed to financial shocks in the market, which is not desirable. Therefore, it is of upmost importance for pension funds to choose an investment strategy that meets their needs best. In this thesis, it is studied what the optimal investment strategy of a pension fund is. First, it is determined what the goal and the preferences of a Dutch pension fund and its stakeholders are. On the basis of these goal and preferences utility functions are specified. By maximizing these utility functions, three investment strategies turned out to be optimal, namely the constant mix investment strategy, the constant proportion portfolio insurance investment strategy and the option based portfolio insurance investment strategy. These strategies are tested by using an ALM model. Results show that the option based portfolio insurance investment strategy that locks profits fits the preferences of Dutch pension funds best and is therefore considered to be the optimal investment strategy for a pension fund in the new Dutch pension contract.


—During the last years, in particular due to the Digital Humanities, empirical processes, data capturing or data analysis got more and more popular as part of humanities research. In this paper, we want to show that even the complete scientific method of natural science can be applied in the humanities. By applying the scientific method to the humanities, certain kinds of problems can be solved in a confirmable and replicable manner. In particular, we will argue that patterns may be perceived as the analogon to formulas in natural science. This may provide a new way of representing solution-oriented knowledge in the humanities.


Early blight, caused by the fungus Alternaria solani, is one of the most economically important foliar diseases of potatoes worldwide. In this study, 217 tetraploid old and modern potato cultivars were evaluated for foliar resistance to early blight in field experiments in Pennsylvania in 2016 and 2017. Relative area under the disease progress curve (RAUDPC) was calculated based on visual assessment of foliar disease during the growing season each year. RAUDPC ranged from 0.0090 to 0.7372 in 2016 and from 0.0215 to 0.7889 in 2017, respectively. Significant differences in resistance to A. solani among cultivars were found (P < 0.0001). A significant interaction was found between cultivar and environment (P < 0.0001). Cluster analysis classified the cultivars into five groups: resistant, moderately resistant, intermediate, moderately susceptible, and susceptible. Broad-sense heritability for early blight resistance was estimated as 0.89 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.86 to 0.92. All cultivars were also evaluated for foliage maturity in separate field trials in 2016 and 2017, and a strong negative correlation between early blight resistance and maturity was found. Maturity-adjusted RAUDPC was calculated by regressing maturity on RAUDPC; predicted values more than two standard deviations greater or less than observed values were used to identify cultivars with greater genetic susceptibility or resistance to early blight, respectively, independent of maturity. Although most resistant and moderately resistant cultivars showed late maturity and most susceptible cultivars showed early maturity, a few exceptions were found.


Abstract Flysch deposits are associated with the Outer Dinaride nappe front. They overlie Eocene platform carbonate to bathyal marl successions that subsequently cover Cretaceous platform carbonates of Apulia and the Dinaride nappes. Planktonic foraminifer biostratigraphy indicates Eocene age of flysch sedimentation. New calcareous nannofossil data reveal that several assemblages are present; besides the dominant Mid-Eocene species, Cretaceous, Paleocene, Oligocene and Miocene taxa were also identified throughout the entire flysch belt. Widespread occurrence of nannofossil species of zone NN4-6 indicates that flysch deposition lasted up to at least the Mid-Miocene. Ubiquitous occurrence of various pre-Miocene taxa demonstrates that extensive, possibly submarine, sediment recycling has occurred in the Cenozoic. As flysch remnants are typically sandwiched between thrust sheets, these new stratigraphic ages give a lower bracket on deformation age of the coastal range. The data provide a link between Cretaceous compression in the Bosnian Flysch and recent deformation in the Adriatic offshore area.


INTRODUCTIONWhether Justice Scalia chopped down the "judicial oak which ha[d] grown from little more than a legislative acorn"1 or cleared an entire forest of "botanically distinct tree[s]"2 when he created the transactional test in Morrison v. National Australia Bank, Ltd., he undoubtedly changed the legal landscape for both international and antifraud securities laws. The transactional test-which the Supreme Court designed to act as a bright-line rule to supplant the older "conduct" and "effects" tests developed by the Second Circuit- gauges whether a U.S. court can hear an antifraud securities case containing extraterritorial elements.3 In clearing away decades of federal extraterritorial jurisprudence, Morrison dictates that an American court may no longer hear an antifraud securities case under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act")4 and Rule 10b-55 unless the purchase or sale of securities occurred within the United States.6Since its creation, the transactional test has gained both positive and negative attention from the international legal community.7 But after the hundreds of securities class action cases adjudicated since the day of the decision,8 the question remains: Does the transactional test clarify when an international securities antifraud claim falls within U.S. jurisdiction?This Article will show that while Justice Scalia may have cut down the occasionally thorny "conduct" and "effects" tests, the seeds he planted with the transactional test may be just as difficult to care for and administer. Courts must now grapple with defining the "purchase" and "sale" of a securities transaction, and then determine whether such actions occurred within the United States. Within a complex global marketplace experiencing frequent cross-border activity, such terms are not easily defined and lead to contrary holdings on similar fact patterns.Part I of this Article looks at how courts were able to avoid the terms "purchase" and "sale" prior to Morrison. Part II examines how Morrison used those terms in its decision. Part III analyzes how courts have thus far interpreted the Morrison transactional test and breaks down the various methods used in reaching their decisions. Finally, Part IV suggests a method for unifying the disparate methods of identifying whether a securities transaction is domestic or not.I. EXTRATERRITORIAL APPLICATION OF "PURCHASE" OR "SALE" LANGUAGE PRIOR TO MORRISON V. NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK, LTD.Although courts prior to the Morrison decision agreed that there should be an extraterritorial reach for antifraud provisions, there was little consensus as to how it should be applied.9 Most private parties rely on Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 to bring a transnational securities fraud case within the United States.10 The broad language of both Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 was written to "close[] a loophole in the protections against fraud."11 Thus, courts determined that Congress meant for Section 10(b) to protect investors regardless of whether they purchased or sold securities on U.S. markets.12 To determine if there was a sufficient jurisdictional nexus between the conduct abroad and the investors Congress intended to protect, courts applied the "conduct" and "effects" tests.13The "effects" test states that the United States has jurisdiction over claims arising out of fraudulent extraterritorial conduct that caused losses within the United States or harmed U.S. markets.14 Schoenbaum v. Firstbrook first articulated this test in 1968.15 The case involved the sale of treasury shares of a Canadian corporation, BanffOil, Ltd., at a market price Banffand its directors knew would undervalue the shares.16 The plaintiffwas an American citizen and Banffcommon stock was traded on both the American Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.17 Although the fraudulent transaction occurred in Canada, the court found that since Banffwas listed on a U. …


This paper investigates constraints on desired hours of work using information on hours preferences from the British Household Panel Survey for 1991. Over a third of male manual workers would prefer to work fewer hours at the prevailing wage than they do and the authors estimate that, on average, desired hours per week are 4.3 hours lower than actual hours. They hypothesise that job security and scarcity of alternative job opportunities enable employers to set hours constraints above employee preferences and find that the minimum hours constraints set by firms are an increasing function of the unemployment rate an individual faces. Copyright 1997 by Royal Economic Society.


Despite appearances, Agamben's engagement with Foucault in Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life is not an extension of Foucault's analysis of biopolitics but rather a disciplining of Foucault for failing to take Nazism seriously. This moralizing rebuke is the result of methodological divergences between the two thinkers that, I argue, have fundamental political consequences. Re-reading Foucault's most explicitly political work of the mid-1970s, I show that Foucault's commitment to genealogy is aligned with his commitment to "insurrection"—not simply archival or historical, but practical and political insurrection—even as his non-moralizing understanding of critique makes space for the resistances he hopes to proliferate. By contrast, Agamben's resurrection of sovereignty turns on a moralizing Holocaust exceptionalism that anoints both sovereignty and the state with inevitably totalitarian powers. Thus, while both Agamben and Foucault take positions "against" totalitarianism, their very different understandings of this term and method of investigating it unwittingly render Agamben complicit with the totalitarianism he otherwise seeks to reject.


Researchers are usually overloaded with a lot of research papers and material that they have to efficiently organised to allow fast and efficient access. Over and above this, the process that these researchers have to go through to find the research material is often very tedious, sometimes involving many hours of searching on the World Wide Web. This report discusses a case study that was done to investigate ways that can be used to build a system for assisting individuals to organise documents in an electronic "workbench". One of the key elements of this system is its ability to allow users to collaborate through simplifying the process of searching and downloading documents on a Local Area Network. By design this system would then eventually reduce external Internet traffic, and increase the efficiency of its users by eventually reducing the amount of time they spend on the World Wide Web locating research material. The project was aimed at using the latest open standards as the basic building blocks for its framework. The Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAIPMH) was selected as the protocol that would be used for the collaboration aspect of the project. OAI-PMH provides a low cost approach to interoperability. It is one of latest standards that are aimed at simplifying the dissemination of content. This project was implemented in the form of components that operate independently. These components are then interfaced to form a bigger system. This project was implemented using Java, to allowing easy portability between operating systems. From the project it was discovered that the success of peerto-peer downloading software relies heavily on popularity as users are the ones sharing the information. The time that was available for this project was not enough to fully explore and establish a large user base, thus experiments involving big volumes of users could not be conducted. The project did however, result in the construction of a functional document manager, and also established a sound framework that could be further developed for future work.


The goal of this work was to identify and try to solve some of the vulnerabilities present in the AR Drone 2.0 by Parrot. The approach was to identify how the system worked, find and analyze vulnerabilities and flaws in the system as a whole and in the software, and find solutions to those problems. Analyzing the results of some tests showed that the system has an open WiFi network and the communication between the controller and the drone are unencrypted. Analyzing the Linux operating system that the drone uses, we see that "Pairing Mode" is the only way the system protects itself from unauthorized control. This is a feature that can be easily bypassed. Port scans reveal that the system has all the ports for its services open and exposed. This makes it susceptible to attacks like DoS and takeover. This research also focuses on some of the software vulnerabilities, such as Busybox that the drone runs. Lastly, this paper discuses some of the possible methods that can be used to secure the drone. These methods include securing the messages via SSH Tunnel, closing unused ports, and re-implementing the software used by the drone and the controller.


Dysregulation of lipid metabolism is common in cancer. Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 1 (LPCAT1) has been implicated with various cancer types. Here we analyzed by immunohistochemistry its expression in 2,197 breast cancers. LPCAT1 staining was found in 97.8% of 1,774 interpretable tumors, including 48.1% with weak, 28.7% with moderate, and 14.4% with strong expression. The frequency of LPCAT1 positivity depended on the histological tumor type. Moderate or strong LPCAT1 positivity was more common in cancers of no special type (NST) (46.2%) than in lobular carcinomas (25.9%; p<0.0001). Strong LPCAT1 was associated with BRE grade, tumor cell proliferation and overall survival in all cancers and in the subgroup of NST cancers (p<0.0001, each). In the subset of NST cancers the prognostic effect of LPCAT1 expression was independent of pT, and BRE grade (p<0.0001 each). A comparison with molecular features showed that LPCAT1 was strongly associated with estrogen receptor negativity (p<0.0001), progesterone receptor negativity (p<0,0001), amplification of HER2 (p<0.0001) and MYC (p=0.0066), as well as deletions of PTEN (p<0.0001) and CDKNA2 (p=0.0151). It is concluded that LPCAT1 overexpression is linked to adverse tumor features and poor prognosis in breast cancer. These data also highlight the important role of lipid metabolism in breast cancer biology.


Social media offers a powerful outlet for people's thoughts and feelings—it is an enormous ever-growing source of texts ranging from everyday observations to involved discussions. This thesis contributes to the field of sentiment analysis, which aims to extract emotions and opinions from text. A basic goal is to classify text as expressing either positive or negative emotion. Sentiment classifiers have been built for social media text such as product reviews, blog posts, and even Twitter messages. With increasing complexity of text sources and topics, it is time to re-examine the standard sentiment extraction approaches, and possibly to re-define and enrich sentiment definition. Thus, this thesis begins by introducing a rich multi-dimensional model based on Affect Control Theory and showing its usefulness in sentiment classification. Next, unlike sentiment analysis research to date, we examine sentiment expression and polarity classification within and across various social media streams by building topical datasets. When comparing Twitter, reviews, and blogs on consumer product topics, we show that it is possible, and sometimes even beneficial, to train sentiment classifiers on text sources which are different from the target text. This is not the case, however, when we compare political discussion in YouTube comments to Twitter posts, demonstrating the difficulty of political sentiment classification. We further show that neither discussion volume or sentiment expressed in these streams correspond well to national polls, putting in question recent research linking the two. The complexity of political discussion also calls for a more specific re-definition of "sentiment" as agreement with the author's political stance. We conclude that sentiment must be defined, and tools for its analysis designed, within a larger framework of human interaction.


This issue of Inverse Problems in Engineering is the first of a series containing papers presented at the 4th International Conference on Inverse Problems in Engineering: Theory and Practice (4th ICIPE). This conference was organized under the auspices of the United Engineering Foundation and held during May 26–31, 2002 in the beautiful Hotel Portobello Resort & Safari, located near the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The resort provided a unique atmosphere for 99 conference participants from 21 countries to present their most recent research results and for the technical discussion of their findings. The 4th ICIPE was co-promoted by the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences (ABCM), the Brazilian Society of Computational and Applied Mathematics (SBMAC), and by COPPE, which is the graduate school of engineering of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). It was co-sponsored by the Taylor & Francis Publishers group and by the following agencies of the Brazilian Government: CNPq (from the Ministry of Science and Technology), CAPES (from the Ministry of Education and Culture), and the National Oil Agency – ANP (from the Ministry of Mines and Energy). The ICIPE series finds its roots in the informal seminars organized by Prof. James V. Beck at Michigan State University, which were initiated in the late 80's. Initially, the inverse heat transfer community was the leading organizing group. However, this conference series has evolved to reach a much broader scope. Nowadays, the ICIPE has established the hallmark as being the main event for the inverse problems community. The 4th ICIPE had 159 submitted abstracts resulting in 104 accepted papers. In recognition of the importance of this international event for the inverse problems community, Prof. George S. Dulikravich, the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Inverse Problems in Engineering, offered the possibility to conference authors to submit simultaneously their papers to this journal. A total of 73 papers were simultaneously submitted to the conference and to the journal. After receiving further evaluation from competent and recognized reviewers in the area, 48 conference papers were accepted for publication in Inverse Problems in Engineering. I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the organizing and scientific committees for their fundamental role towards the success of the conference, as well as to the invited speakers for accepting my invitation to share with the participants their knowledge on important subjects in the inverse problems field. Because of the large number of papers submitted, several additional reviewers were invited to contribute to the conference and to the journal by evaluating papers, in addition to the members of the organizing and scientific committees. The include Prof. J. P. Kaipio (Finland), Prof. L. Olson (USA), Prof. A. Haji-Sheikh (USA), Prof. J. G. Berryman (USA), Prof. R. Y. Qassim (Brazil), Prof. B. H. Dennis (Japan), Prof. G. R. Liu (Taiwan),


The assessment of rainfall-induced shallow landslide hazards at the catchment scale poses a significant challenge. Traditional empirical approaches for landslide hazard assessment often assume that conditions having caused failure in the past will not change in the future. This assumption may not hold in a climate change scenario. Physically based models (PBMs) therefore represent the natural approach to include changing climate effects. PBMs would in principle require the combination of a three-dimensional (3-D) mechanical and water-flow model. However, a full 3-D finite element model at the catchment scale, with relatively small elements required to capture the pore-water pressure gradients, would have a significant computational cost. For this reason, simplifications to the mechanical (i.e., infinite slope) and water-flow models (i.e., one-dimensional or hybrid 3-D) are introduced, often based on a priori assumptions and not corroborated by experimental evidence. The paper presents a methodology to build a PBM in a bottom-up fashion based on geological surveys and geotechnical investigation. The PBM is initially set as simple as possible and then moved to a higher level of complexity if the model is not capable of simulating past landslide events. The approach is presented for the case study of Sorrento Peninsula and two main landslide events recorded during the winter of 1996–1997.


Abstract The uneven effects of the climate crisis and the need for decarbonization by reducing fossil fuel exploitation and eliminating subsidies create critical trade-offs and tensions for low-income developing countries. Recent reform of fuel consumption subsidies has shown a perennial mitigation bias largely imposed by external forces, in particular multilateral agencies and foreign governments in the context of the Paris accord. Contradictorily, external pressures to reduce subsidies have created competitive markets for multinationals to have a disproportionate role in supplying energy products which foreground the inequities in Haitian society that have spurred social and political resistance. Empirical work on energy-subsidy reform and climate policy do not sufficiently interrogate the interplay and implications of underlying assumptions, power imbalances between domestic and foreign actors, the challenging infrastructural and political context of renewable energy promotion, and immediate concerns to address worsening social conditions and development priorities. Drawing upon these policy debates, this paper considers the recent experience of Haiti to reform its energy subsidies required by the International Monetary Fund to enforce austerity. The paper takes a more integrated and critical approach to these policy discussions in a context of interconnecting political and socio-ecological crises and climate policy in Haiti. By inductively analyzing Haiti's main climate and energy policies and evidence drawn from field experience, the paper offers a more nuanced understanding of decarbonization and energy debates in this extremely vulnerable context. This approach gives priority to a more dynamic historical analysis of the socio-political context and factors that seek to advance climate justice.


Soil conservation has become an important aspect in achieving food security. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of two agricultural practices on the agronomic performance of maize and the chemical properties of soil. A field experiment was carried out on loamy-sand soil using Fisher Block design. Tillage systems and mulching significantly affected maize growth and yield components. The interactive effect of tillage and mulching were not significant on growth and yield components of maize. While, the highest growth rate (2.38 cm/day), leaf area (65.70 cm²), collar diameter (1.39 cm), grain yield (4148.71 kg DM ha-1), straw yield (5077.65 kg DM ha-1) and harvested index (40%) were obtained with the treatment combining isohypse ridging and mulch. Tillage increased soil organic matter. Treatment combining isohypse ridging to mulching allowed obtaining the highest level of soil organic matter after trial. The level of nitrogen and available phosphorus did not vary under the treatment. Throughout, this experiment, isohypse ridging under mulching constitute the effective soil conservation practice to combat soil erosion and improve maize productivity on the watershed of Linsinlin in Southern Benin.

 Key words: Tillage, mulching, maize yield, soil chemical properties, watershed, Djidja.


The increasing popularization of information technology has gradually overcome the difficulties of educating earth science gradually. In the times of having only textbooks, we merely had 2D maps for references to educate earth science. However, it was known that the earth was round, but it was hard for students to understand flows of ocean currents, atmospheric flows, ship movements, or directions of typhoons from those 2D maps. Nevertheless, the development of information technology and computers had solved these problems. For instance, we could use software to simulate flight of airplanes, navigation direction of ships, and moving route of cars. Based on the evolvements of these computer technologies, our lab considered using 3D visual effects to display the earth and educate earth science; consequently, we designed the software "Science On a Sphere Explorer." In it, we have integrated several hundreds of environmental science data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and utilized 3D visual effects to educate earth science. In this study, the authors introduce the software and describe the instructional outcomes.


During the last few years, changes in the Spanish educational system have had a far reaching impact. Several factors have been critical: (1) the progressive decentralization of education by the government, now a responsibility of regional governments; (2) the extension of compulsory education to the age of 16; and finally (3) the increase in the number of immigrant students, which has significantly added to the existing cultural diversity. The enrolment of immigrant students in Spanish schools is a relatively recent phenomenon (starting 15 years ago) when compared with other European countries. Madrid is the region in Spain with the largest number of students. As most of these students were born outside of Spain, we cannot yet speak of a second generation. The research described here investigated how the educational system in Madrid confronted the challenge of an increasing number of immigrant students. The institutional response was the Madrid Regional Government's Compensatory Education Regional Plan. This encompasses several measures, which are described here. After a critical analysis of educational policies pertaining to immigrant pupils, the paper suggests ways of overcoming a purely compensatory approach. Intercultural education plays a key role is such considerations.


Tabletop role-playing games are a collaborative narrative experience. Throughout gaming sessions, Ambient music and noises are frequently used to enrich and facilitate the narration. With AmbiDice we introduce a tangible interface and music generator specially devised for this application scenario. We detail the technical implementation of the device, the software architecture of the music system (AmbientMusicBox) and the scripting language to compose Ambient music and soundscapes. We presented AmbiDice to experienced players and gained positive feedback and constructive suggestions for further development.


The purpose of this dissertation is to detect possible influential observations in longitudinal data with more than one observation per subject at each time point, that is, in multivariate longitudinal data. An influential observation is an observation which has large effect on the parameter estimation of a given model. Influential observations are important because: (1) removal of the observation(s) from the data set can substantially change the values of the estimated parameters; (2) in multivariate longitudinal mixed effect models, influential observations can affect the population and subject-specific trajectories; (3) influential observation(s) of one response may affect the predicted effects of the other response within the same individual; (4) an influential observation may indicate an abnormal or misdiagnosed subject.

This research was motivated by opthalmological clinical research in glaucoma. In many ophthalmology studies, both eyes are repeatedly measured. Sometimes one eye can be measured by different devices or measured for different quantities (retina thickness for different quadrants, OCT, VFI, etc.). For example, in one study considered in this dissertation, multivariate measurements (Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer (RNFL) thickness and Ganglion Cell Complex (GCC) thickness) were repeatedly measured on each eye, within each patient (cluster).

When we detect influential observations for longitudinal ophthamology data, our trajectory model must take into account three kinds of correlations: (1) correlation among different characteristics measured at the same time point within the same eye; (2) correlation among different time points; (3) correlation between characteristics in the two eyes.

In the first part of my dissertation, we propose a multivariate conditional version of Cook's distance for multivariate mixed effect models. Some research has shown that, in mixed effect models, influential observations having a large effect on subject-specific parameters cannot always be detected by the original Cook's distance due to large between-subject variation. Hence, in the multivariate longitudinal setting, the influential observation problem is better approached by conditioning on subjects and characteristics. Repeated simulations within this dissertation show that multivariate conditional Cook's distance successfully detected most 92.5% influential observations, but unconditional Cook's distance only detected 7.5%.

In the second part of the dissertation, we extend the multivariate conditional Cook's distance to multilevel multivariate mixed effect model. In this model, there are two levels of random effects to handle the subject level and cluster level correlations among different time points, and the residual covariance matrix to handle correlations among different responses. Also, the two-level multivariate conditional Cook's distance can be decomposed into six parts, indicating the influences of fixed effects, 1st and 2nd level of random effects, and the co-variation between them, respectively. Examples are given to illustrate how the influential observation in one characteristic changes the effects of both characteristics.

This research has public health implications because the influence of outliers can bias the results of any longitudinal study in public health. Hence, recognizing observations which have undue influence on study results ensures that reliable conclusions can be obtained in medical and public health research settings.


PSP 01 boat is an accustomed boat and also fishing vessels that owned by the Department of Fisheries Resource Utilization (PSP), Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (FPIK), IPB. These ships use an inboard propulsion four stroke diesel engine from Mitsubishi Canter truck with type 4D30-C. This study aims to describe the modifications to the installation of ship machinery at the PSP 01 boat and describe the suitability of its machinery installation guidelines refer to the FAO in 2009 on the Safety Guide for Small Fishing Boats. These study approach by using case study method in which observation and data collection that includes modifications to the installation of ship machinery PSP 01 and compliance with the FAO guidelines on Safety Guide for Small Fishing Boats. The results obtained that the PSP 01 engine already modified on the ignition system, fuel system, lubrication system, transmission system, and engine cooling system. Based on FAO guidelines in 2009 on the Safety Guide for Small Fishing boats, installation of machinery on PSP 01 boat in bilge pump fullfilled 58.33%, fuel system fulfilled 52.63%, the combustion gas exhaust system met 33.33%, the engine room vents are met 0%, range 85.71% met the electrical installation, battery installation are met 100%, daily checks before turning on the engine are met 75%, daily checks after turning on the engine are met 100%, the examination of every fourteen days are met 20%, and the examination of every 100 -150 hours of engine operation are fulfilled 0%. Based on FAO guidelines in 2009 on the Safety Guide for Small Fishing Boats, installation of Machinery on PSP 01 Boat on a whole scale are fulfilled 47,65%.


Fire is often used as a management tool in fire-prone communities to reduce fuel loads with the intention of reducing the severity and extent of unplanned fires, often resulting in the increased occurrence of fire in the dry sclerophyll vegetation of Australia. This study examined the effects of fire frequency (length of the inter- fire interval) on the reproductive output of seven plant species in the Proteaceae, including obligate seeding shrubs (Hakea teretifolia, Petrophile pulchella), resprouting shrubs (Banksia spinulosa, Isopogon anemonifolius, Lambertia formosa) and resprouting trees (Banksia serrata, Xylomelum pyriforme). Reproductive output (measured as either number of confructescences or follicles) and relative size were estimated for 100 individuals at each of five sample sites, covering a range of past fire frequencies over 26 years including repeated short inter-fire intervals. Patterns in reproductive output (after standardizing for size) were related to the life-history attributes of the species. In areas that had experienced short inter-fire intervals, obligate seeders had greater reproductive output compared with longer intervals, and the reproductive output of resprouting shrubs was less. Fire frequency did not affect reproductive output of the resprouting trees. The decreased reproductive output of the resprouting shrubs could be due to the allocation of resources to regrowth following fire rather than to reproduction. It is less clear what process resulted in the increased reproductive output of obligate seeders in high fire frequency areas, but it could be due to the most recent fires being more patchy in the areas experiencing shorter inter-fire intervals, or it may have resulted from the selection for early reproduction in the high fire frequency areas. These results highlight the need to take into account past fire frequency at a site, in addition to time since the last fire, when planning prescribed fires.


This study explores the impact of vocabulary scheme arrangement on the quality of author-generated metadata, specifically specificity and frequency of vocabulary terms chosen from schemes to describe websites. By evaluating vocabulary assigned using hierarchical and flat schemes, and by comparing these evaluations, this study seeks to isolate the arrangement of the scheme used from other variables, such as skill level and intentions of metadata generators, which have been the focus of previous research into the viability of author-generated metadata. This study suggests a relationship between term specificity and scheme arrangement, and possible relationships between term frequency and scheme arrangement, and submits that it is therefore possible that non-professional status, lack of skills, or intentions to misrepresent web page content via metadata are not the sole contributing factors to quality of author-generated metadata. New methods for researching metadata quality are tested and their validity discussed.


A little over a year ago, Darcy Wakefield was a single, 33-year-old, athletic, workaholic English professor, a vegetarian who had never had a serious health problem or injury. Then she was diagnosed with ALS, and her world turned upside down. I Remember Running is Darcy's story of change and loss and challenges during her first year with ALS, as she struggles to make sense of her diagnosis and redefine herself in the face of this terminal illness. With unflagging courage, wit, and eloquence, Darcy shares what she calls her "fast-forward" life, a life in which she applies for disability, leaves her job, and plans her own funeral as well as meets and moves in with her true love, buys a house, and gives birth to her first child in less time than it takes most of us to accomplish even one of these things. Beautifully written and wholly inspiring, I Remember Running proves that it is possible to live a rich, meaningful life after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. This book will move readers to see the world in a different light.