PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on three Egyptian public business schools in an attempt to explore the effect of inclusive/exclusive talent management on the organizational downsizing of academics and the mediating role of responsible leadership.Design/methodology/approachA total of 330 academics were contacted and given a set of questionnaires. After three follow-ups, a total of 240 responses were collected with a response rate of 72.73 percent. Multiple regressions were employed to show how much variation in organizational downsizing can be explained by inclusive/exclusive talent management and responsible leadership.FindingsThe findings highlighted a very weak statistical association between academics' inclusive talent management and organizational downsizing, whereas a strong statistical association has been discovered between exclusive talent management and organizational downsizing. Statistical analysis showed that responsible leadership has no role in mediating the relationship between inclusive/exclusive talent management of academics and their downsizing.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors have focused on only three Egyptian public business schools, the matter that may limit opportunities to generalize the results of this study to private business schools and other faculties in Egypt. Future research could use a double source method.Practical implicationsBy preparing a set of academic competences, business schools will be able to classify their academic staff into talented and non-talented, and accordingly they can initiate their tailored downsizing strategies. Furthermore, undertaking a responsible strategy of downsizing, which includes and is not limited to justifying the need to decrease academic staff numbers to guarantee post-redundancy care practices for laid-off academics may alleviate many of the negative psychological, societal and economic consequences of downsizing.Originality/valueThis paper contributes by filling a gap in HR management and higher education literature, in which empirical studies on the relationship between talent management and academics' organizational downsizing have been limited until now. This may create better research opportunities for cross-disciplinary papers that should be done by HR, higher education and leadership scholars.


We present a robust approach for reconstructing the architectural structure of complex indoor environments given a set of cluttered input scans. Our method first uses an efficient occlusion-aware process to extract planar patches as candidate walls, separating them from clutter and coping with missing data. Using a diffusion process to further increase its robustness, our algorithm is able to reconstruct a clean architectural model from the candidate walls. To our knowledge, this is the first indoor reconstruction method which goes beyond a binary classification and automatically recognizes different rooms as separate components. We demonstrate the validity of our approach by testing it on both synthetic models and real-world 3D scans of indoor environments.


Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) /Poly (tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE)/Titanium oxide (TiO2) was prepared by ( 5, 10 and 15 wt %) TiO2 loading. The miscibility, thermal property and microstructure of the composites were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The electrical relaxation dynamics including dielectric and electrical conductivity was examined as a function broadband of frequency and temperature. The dielectric data was analyzed via the electric modulus. The Maxwell-Wagner-Siller (MWS) effect corresponds to interfacial polarization at low frequency follows Arrhenius behavior. The α-mode relaxation is attributed to glass-rubbery transition in composites, obeys the Vogel- Taman-Fulcher (VTF) model. A slight bump was noted at relatively high temperature and high frequencies termed as Intermediate dipolar effect (IDE) obeys the Arrhenius behavior. Conductive mechanism was analyzed via AC conductivity spectra. However, DC conductivity follows Arrhenius equation. The overall studies confirm that the self relaxation mechanism of PVA/PTFE composites were modified by TiO2, offers the tuning conductivity as a function of the temperature which can be used in various electronic applications. Copyright © 2016 VBRI Press.


Abstract Rapid urbanization and change of landuse/landcover results in changes of the thermal spectrum of a city even in small cities like English Bazaar Municipality (EBM) of Malda district. Monitoring the spatio-temporal surface temperature patterns is important, therefore, the present paper attempts to extract spatio-temporal surface temperature from thermal band of Landsat imageries and tries to validate it with factor based Land Surface Temperature (LST) models constructed based on six proxy temperature variables for selected time periods (1991, 2010 and 2014). Seasonal variation of temperature is also analyzed from the LST models over different time phases. Landsat TIRS based LST shows that in winter season, the minimum and maximum LST have raised up 2.32°C and 3.09°C in last 25 years. In pre monsoon season, the increase is much higher (2.80°C and 6.74°C) than in the winter period during the same time frame. In post monsoon season, exceptional situation happened due to high moisture availability caused by previous monsoon rainfall spell. Trend analysis revealed that the LST has been rising over time. Expansion and intensification of built up land as well as changing thermal properties of the urban heartland and rimland strongly control LST. Factor based surface temperature models have been prepared for the same period of times as done in case of LST modeling. In all seasons and selected time phases, correlation coefficient values between the extracted spatial LST model and factor based surface temperature model varies from 0.575 to 0.713 and these values are significant at 99% confidence level. So, thinking over ecological growth of urban is highly required for making the environment ambient for living.


In this paper we focus on proactive behavior for non-player characters (NPCs) in the first-person shooter (FPS) genre of video games based on goal-oriented planning. Some recent approaches for applying real-time planning in commercial video games show that the existing hardware is starting to follow up on the computing resources needed for such techniques to work well. Nonetheless, it is not clear under which conditions real-time efficiency can be guaranteed. In this paper we give a precise specification of SimpleFPS, a STRIPS planning domain expressed in PDDL that captures some basic planning tasks that may be useful in a first person shooter video game. This is intended to work as a first step towards quantifying the performance of different planning techniques that may be used in real-time to guide the behavior of NPCs. We present a simple tool we developed for generating random planning problem instances in PDDL with user defined properties, and show some preliminary results based on SimpleFPS instances that vary in the size of the domain and two well-known planners from the planning community.


Deftly melding ethnography, cultural history, literary criticism, and autobiographical reflection, A Feeling for Books is at once an engaging study of the Book-of-the-Month Club's influential role as a cultural institution and a profoundly personal meditation about the experience of reading. Janice Radway traces the history of the famous mail-order book club from its controversial founding in 1926 through its evolution into an enterprise uniquely successful in blending commerce and culture. Framing her historical narrative with writing of a more personal sort, Radway reflects on the contemporary role of the Book-of-the-Month Club in American cultural history and in her own life. Her detailed account of the standards and practices employed by the club's in-house editors is also an absorbing story of her interactions with those editors. Examining her experiences as a fourteen-year-old reader of the club's selections and, later, as a professor of literature, she offers a series of rigorously analytical yet deeply personal readings of such beloved novels as Marjorie Morningstar and To Kill a Mockingbird . Rich and rewarding, this book will captivate and delight anyone who is interested in the history of books and in the personal and transformative experience of reading. |For anyone who is interested in the history of books and in the personal and transformative experience of reading. Radway offers both an engaging look at the Book-of the-Month Club's role as a cultural institution and a profound meditation on the love of books.


The Cyclicality of Effective Wages within Employer-Employee Matches in a Rigid Labor Market This study analyzes real wage cyclicality for male full-time workers within employer-employee matches in Germany over the period 1984-2004. Five different wage measures are compared: the standard hourly wage rate; hourly wage earnings including overtime and bonus pay; the effective wage, which takes into account unpaid overtime; and monthly earnings, with and without additional pay. None of the hourly wage measures exhibits cyclicality except for the group of salaried workers with unpaid overtime. Their effective wages show a strongly procyclical reaction to changes in unemployment. Despite acyclical wage rates, salaried workers without unpaid overtime experienced procyclical earnings movements if they had income from extra pay. Monthly earnings were also procyclical for hourly paid workers with overtime pay. These findings suggest that cyclical earnings movements are generated by variable pay components, such as bonuses and overtime, and by flexible working hours. The degree of earnings procyclicality revealed for the German labor market is comparable to the United States. JEL Classification: E32, J31


It is common to analyse poverty data broken down by household or economic status. Implicitly, it is assumed that people change state (for example, single, married, children, no children) for exogenous reasons. If we bring economic behaviour into the problem, then such transitions become endogenous. The data are then insufficient to identify the claims made from them. The distribution of the characteristics of the individuals in the states will be endogenous, and the state average poverty rate will depend on the composition of the individuals in the state as well as on the economic impact of being in that state per se. In this paper, we set out a simple model with endogenous transitions to make our point, and apply this to Family Expenditure Survey data for Britain. We show that our argument has empirical content for Britain.


The silks and costumes of Cambodia are among the most beautiful and complex in Southeast Asia. Gillian Green's comprehensive text provides a historical framework from the Angkorian period onwards. From every day dress and dance costumes, to temple hangings and monks robes, all aspects of Cambodian textiles are elucidated and illustrated in full colour.


1/. Relationships between plant architecture and invertebrates have been widely described, (Lawton 1983 and 1986, Southwood, Brown and Reader, 1979). This study aimed to investigate some part of the invertebrate fauna with particular reference to plant architecture and the affects of disturbance. 2/.Thrislington was chosen as the study site as it consisted of a number of transplantated sites (Fig. 1). These represent a series of 8 Magnesian limestone grassland sites of known age and site history. Previous studies of die flora (Shimwell 1968 and Parks 1982 and 1989) and invertebrates (Sheppard, 1987 & 1989 and Woodford and Bruce, 1983) have produced a detailed history of this Grade 1 SSSI prior to it's transplant. 3/.A series of 25 fixed quadrats (2 square metres) were positioned throughout 5 of the 8 transplanted sites i.e. 1,3,4,6,8. Five quadrats were placed randomly within each of the five chosen sites. These quadrats formed the basis of die vegetation, architecture and invertebrate surveys. 4/.The survey yielded 82 plant species occuning within the fixed quadrats and 112 species throughout the 5 sites surveyed. The sites were found to become more homogeneous with increasing age. The diversity of plant species was greatest on site 6 (removed 3 years ago) with 84 species occurring on that site and lowest diversity on site 1 i.e. 59 species and moved 8 years ago. 5/.The architecture survey data and vegeatation data were used to run DCA analyses. The analyses were carried out on the individual quadrat data and both showed a certain degree of separating with respect to the sites they were taken from in diat vegetation (in terms of species) and architecture become increasing homogeneous with age, at Thrislington. The CCA analyses showed that % bare earth and % moisture content were most influencing the biplot along die first and second axes. 6/.A DCA and CCA analyses were carried out on weevils, spiders, carabids and "all invertebrates". The "invertebrate" CCA showed that site age (axis 1) and the height classes 0-2 & 2-5cm (2nd axis) explained the greatest amount of variance. The weevil CCA showed that pitfall position and 10-20cm were the two most important (measured) variables. The spider CCA showed the greatest association with average moss depth and 2-5cm. While the carabids showed the greatest association with 2-5cm and % moss cover. 7/.In addition to the quadrats and pitfalls further invertebrate groups were selected for study by different techniques - walking transect for butterflies, hand searches for molluscs and counts for Cercopidae nymphs within each of the 25 fixed quadrats. The butterfly transects revealed that the small heath was the commonest of the 13 species recorded and Site 3 had constantly high counts throughout the study period. The mollusc survey yielded 8 species (5 snails and 3 slugs). The commonest large snail was Cepaea nemoralis. No significant correlation was found between Cepaea numbers and environmental variables measured, using correlation coefflcents. The Cercopidae nymphs counts produced a total of 44 host plant species, five of which accounted for 80% of the total counts. An estimate of density was calculated for each site and an average density per square metre on. each of the four sampling occasions. Multivariate techniques using the DCA and CCA analyses run on the CANOCO programme were found to be a robust and reliable techniques for investigating the interrelationships between species and environmental variables.


This study aims to investigate arterial distensibility by using carotid-femoral (aortic) pulse wave velocity measurements in patients with cardiac syndrome X. The authors studied 10 patients with cardiac syndrome X (mean age 49.4 ±7.5, 39 to 67 years old, 3 men) and 10 healthy subjects (mean age 50.0 ±10.5, 38 to 70 years old, 3 men). Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity measured by a Complior Colson device was calculated for each patient. The carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity was increased in patients with cardiac syndrome X as compared with age-matched control subjects (10.25 ±1.28 vs 8.95 ±0.89 m/s, p = 0.01). In contrast, there were no significant differences in the age, weight, height, body mass index, waist/hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, pulse pressure, and heart rate (p=0.76,p=0.17,p=0.36,p=0.08, p=0.21,p=0.14,p=0.89,p=0.30,p=0.10, p = 0.36, respectively). No significant correlation was found between pulse wave velocity and age, sex, height, weight, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, and pulse pressure in the studied groups (p>0.05). The arterial distensibility was decreased in patients with cardiac syndrome X. The deterioration in these patients showed that this disease might be a more generalized disturbance of the vasculature. Measurements of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity may provide a simple and noninvasive technique to identify patients at increased risk of vascular disease.


The understanding of the pathomechanism of myotonic dystrophy (DM) has been greatly improved since the recognition as an mRNA disease. Pre-mRNA containing repeats sequesters or activates proteins such as MBNL and CELF that bind to an mRNA motif similar to repeat. Consequently, the regulation of mRNA splicing, a normal function of these proteins, is perturbed. Over 30 miss-splicing events have been documented including muscle chloride channel which is responsible for myotonia. Such molecular events might serve as a target for therapeutic intervention. An important genetic feature of DM is the instability of expanded repeats between generations and organs. Since pathogenesis is connected to repeat length, manipulation of the repeat expansion size (somatic instability) might be also a potential therapeutic strategy. With accumulation of pathomechanistic studies, clinical trials are highly expected. Our recent survey in Osaka Japan revealed the need of standardized management employing currently available therapies, which should be prerequisite for trials. Clinical trials for DM will face challenges including lack of reliable outcome measures and enrollment of highly restricted cohort. Global initiative to form international DM registry have been taken to facilitate natural history studies and trials. In Japan, the development of DM registry has just started.


Fifty bovine pneumonic lungs showing hard, dark lesion (consolidation) and motley appearance with or without fibrin on the pleural surface were collected from Cotonou, Republic of Benin and examined bacteriologically. Four Mycoplasma groups 48% (24/50) were isolated from the pneumonic lungs: 12 (50%) isolates which were tetrazolium-negative, phosphatasepositive and digested serum, were serologically identified as M. mycoides subsp. mycoides SC (Group A). Seven (29.2%) isolates which hydrolyzed glucose and reduced tetrazolium chloride were identified serologically as M. bovirhinis (Group B). Three (12.5%) isolates which hydrolyzed glucose, reduced tetrazolium chloride and catabolized arginine were identified serologically as M. alvi (Group C). Two (8.3%) isolates which catabolized arginine were identified serologically as M. arginini (Group D). Other bacteria isolated were Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Klebsiella species, Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica, Arcanobacterium (Actinomyces) pyogenes, Escherichia coli and Proteus vulgaris in order of occurrence. Histopathologically, the lungs showed typical fibrino-purulent lesions and severe alveolar collapse. CBPP is present in Cotonou, Benin Republic, hence sustained annual international vaccination campaign coupled with regular monitoring cannot be overemphasized, so that this mycoplasmal problem ravaging the cattle industry in Africa will not continue.


Ocular toxocariasis is an uncommon worldwide parasitic infection that affects mostly children and is found in both rural and metropolitan areas. In many parts of the world, parasitic infections of the eye are a major cause of blindness. The diagnosis of toxocariasis is essentially clinical, based on the lesion morphology and supportive laboratory data such as serum enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) titers and ELISA Toxocara titers on aqueous humor; other diagnostic methods are imaging studies including optical coherence tomography, fluorescein angiography, computed tomography, and ocular ultrasound. Treatment is directed at complications arising from intraocular inflammation and vitreous membrane traction. Early vitrectomy may be of value both diagnostically and therapeutically.


The authors have been developing some novel methods to measure shape, deformation, stress and strain of structures using optical methods and image processing as follows: (1) Phase analysis methods using Fourier, wavelet or Gabor transforms, etc., (2) Real-time 2-D strain measurement using moiré interferometry, (3) Scanning moiré method using thinning-out of scanning lines and a DMD camera (4) Strain rate distribution measurement by a high-speed video camera, (5) Real-time integrated phase-shifting method, (6) Shape measurement methods using multi-reference planes, a linear image sensor, or a frequency modulated grating, and (7) Windowed phase-shifting digital holographic interferometry (WPSDHI). Theories of these methods and some applications are introduced. The most accurate result is 88 picometer standard deviation of errors using the WPSDHI.


Under the strategy of "One Belt and One Road", this paper explores the spatial pattern and the status quo of regional trade relevance of the Maritime Silk Road shipping network. Based on complex network theory, a topological structure map of shipping networks for containers, tankers, and bulk carriers was constructed, and the spatial characteristics of shipping networks were analyzed. Using the mode of spatial arrangement and the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index, this paper further analyzes the traffic flow pattern of regional trade of three kinds of goods. It is shown that the shipping network of containers, tankers and bulk carriers are unevenly distributed and have regional agglomeration phenomena. There is a strong correlation between the interior of the region and the adjacent areas, and the port competition is fierce. Among them, the container ships network is the most competitive in the region, while the competitiveness of the tankers network is relatively the lowest. The inter-regional correlation is weak, and a few transit hub ports have obvious competitive advantages. The ports in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia are the most significant. The research results combined with the Maritime Silk Road policy can provide reference for port construction, route optimization, and coordinated development of regional trade, which will help to save time and cost of marine transportation, reduce energy consumption, and promote the sustainable development of marine environment and regional trade on the Maritime Silk Road.


ABSTRACT Background: Extrapyramidal signs (EPSs), which are important characteristics of Parkinson's disease (PD), occur frequently in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although AD and PD share common clinical features such as EPSs, these diseases vary with respect to vascular risk factors. The presence of vascular risk factors increases the risk of AD; however, these factors have been known to be inversely associated with PD. We aimed to assess the effect of vascular risk factors and white matter lesions (WMLs) on EPSs in AD. Methods: We recruited 1,187 AD patients and 333 controls with neither cognitive impairment nor EPSs. All participants underwent detailed clinical evaluations which included assessments of vascular risk factors, cognitive function, and EPSs, as well as WMLs on brain MRIs. EPS subtypes were classified into tremor-dominant, postural instability gait difficulty, or indeterminate; WMLs subtypes were classified into periventricular WML (pvWML) or deep WML (dWML). Results: EPSs were present in 17.9% of subjects with AD and were significantly associated with vascular risk factors such as age, male gender, diabetes mellitus, and WMLs. Additionally, a multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that EPSs in AD were associated with pvWML (odds ratio (OR), 1.61–2.52), not with dWML. With respect to EPS subtypes, the majority (78.4%) of EPSs in AD were postural instability gait difficulty, which was also associated with WMLs (OR 1.84–2.41), pvWML (OR 2.09–3.14), and dWML (OR 1.83–3.42). Conclusions: EPSs in AD are associated with selected vascular risk factors as well as WMLs.


Escherichia coli K12 cannot grow on D-arabitol, L-arabitol, ribitol or xylitol (Reiner, 1975). Using a mutant of E. coli K12 (strain 3; Sridhara et al., 1969) that can grow on L-1,2-propanediol, a second-stage mutant was isolated which can utilize D-arabitol as sole source of carbon and energy for growth. D-Arabitol is probably transported into the bacteria by the same system as that used for the transport of L-1,2-propanediol. The second-stage mutant constitutively synthesizes a new dehydrogenase, which is not present in the parent strain 3. This enzyme, whose native substrate may be D-galactose, apparently dehydrogenates D-arabitol to D-xylulose, and its structural gene is located at 68.5 +/- 1 min on the E. coli genetic map. D-Xylulose is subsequently catabolized by the enzymes of the D-xylose metabolic pathway.


Heterogeneous catalytic ozonation has been increasingly studied for the degradation and mineralization of refractory organic water pollutants in recent years. Compared with homogeneous catalysts, an important advantage of heterogeneous catalysts is that they can be easily separated from the treated water, making the process economically viable. While many studies have focused on the development and evaluation of metal oxide-based catalytic ozonation, possible leaching of metal ions and the subsequent effect on the contaminants' degradation are sometimes overlooked. Here, we examined metal leaching from several solid catalysts and further investigated the influence of the leached metal ions on the mineralization of two model compounds (oxalate and nitrobenzene) during continuous ozonation. Metallic ion leaching was observed from both commercially-available catalysts and catalysts prepared via wet-chemistry methods in the lab. The water matrix has been demonstrated to play an important role in metal leaching. The homogeneous catalytic effect resulting from the leached metal ions was found to be significant. A mechanism involving the formation of an unstable Cu(III)/oxalate complex through the reaction between ˙OH and Cu(II)/oxalate was proposed to explain the experimental observations. Our results indicate that the stability of the solid catalysts and the effects of the leached ions must be carefully examined during the catalytic ozonation of organic contaminants. Through this study we highlight the importance of rigorous, accepted protocols for evaluating and reporting heterogeneous catalyst performance in water/wastewater treatment within the research community.


When, last March 22, President Reagan called for a stepped-up effort to develop advanced weapons to defend against nuclear missiles, he was talking about programs the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) was pursuing. Two weeks later, when the Department of Defense disclosed a new attempt to build an advanced supercomputer to match a government-backed program in Japan, the spotlight was again on Darpa. Darpa, which is marking its 25th anniversary this year, funds the initial research on high-risk projects that other civilian, Government, and private research organizations tend to shun.


Whilst tourism has been recognised as a tool for tackling social exclusion, disability has been a neglected area of tourism. Moreover, few studies have focused on the experiences of vision impaired people in part due to an assumption that they can derive little from seeing 'the sights' and experiencing a place at its full potential. My research aims to gain a profound and in-depth understanding of the tourism experiences of vision impaired people to discover the meaning and significance of tourism in their lives while also capturing embodied experiences in tourism places and spaces. Underpinned by the social, sociology of impairment and affirmation models of disability, the study's emancipatory disability research philosophy places vision impaired people's voices at its heart as the study's co-researchers. Phase One involved four focus groups of vision impaired people at Cardiff Vale and Valleys while Phase Two is based on in-depth conversations with five vision impaired people and their families in South East Wales. Phase One identifies individual, social and environmental barriers to positive participation while Phase Two highlights the need for effective staff training, universal design, accessible information and illustrates that embodied experiences involve the synaesthesia of the senses connecting with multi-sensory tourism environments. Vision impairment does not necessarily preclude appreciation of visual impressions and my co-researchers have demonstrated from non-vision and low vision perspectives that meaningful tourism experiences are achievable. However, the research also presents a complex and diverse picture of needs and aspirations in tourism engagement. The thesis concludes with a series of recommendations for enquiry, practice and policy. It is suggested that inclusive thinking by the tourism industry, scholars and vision impaired people themselves hold the key to improving rights of citizenship and enabling vision impaired people to find an equal sense of place in the world.


This article explains three known constraints on scope reconstruction—reconstruction is blocked into wh-islands, after remnant movement, and after countercyclic merger—by postulating an underlying condition on semantic reconstruction, which follows naturally from Minimalist assumptions on chain interpretation in combination with the principle of compositionality. The result is a unifying alternative analysis of the data discussed in Cresti 1995, Fox 1999, and Sauerland and Elbourne 2002, among others.


In the era of hyper competition, competitive differentiation has become increasingly important. Brand extensions are used by companies across various industries for competitive differentiation. But in the era of hyper competition, a successful differentiation strategy requires that a brand emphasizes on uniqueness rather than commoditization. In this article, we make a case for creating a meaningful differentiation strategy. We emphasize the role of brand extensions for competitive differentiation and highlight the main perils of using brand extensions as a primary differentiation strategy. By using qualitative research, we identify primary objectives for brand extensions in practice. This investigation uses in-depth interviews with 14 senior brand managers across various industries to highlight brand portfolio strategies in relation to the brand differentiation strategy. Findings reveal that for business at the base of the pyramid, in markets such as Romania, brand managers are using brand extensions to increase sales or to boost short-term revenue rather than to implement a coherent differentiation strategy. We conclude with multiple recommendations for improving brand extension usage as a strategic instrument for creating meaningful differentiation in the era of hyper competition.


Fine-granular scalable (FGS) technologies in H.264/AVC-based scalable video coding (SVC) provide a flexible foundation to accommodate different network capacities. To support efficient quality extraction, it is important to obtain the rate-distortion (R-D) or Distortion-Rate (D-R) function of each individual picture or a group of pictures (GOP). In this paper, firstly, the R-D function of SVC FGS pictures is analyzed with generalized Gaussian model and the D-R curve is proved to be a concave function overall. Considering the current sub-bitplane technology, the D-R function is revisited and inferred to be linear under MSE criterion within an FGS level, which also explains why the observed D-R curve with PSNR criterion is a piece-wise convex function. Secondly, the drift issue of SVC is analyzed, and a simple and effective distortion model is proposed to estimate the reconstruction distortion with drift error. Thirdly, with the above analysis and models, a virtual GOP concept is introduced, and a new priority setting algorithm is designed to achieve the optimal R-D performance in a virtual GOP. The D-R slope of each FGS packet and the D-R function of each virtual GOP are also obtained during the process. Finally, the D-R slopes of FGS levels are used in quality layer assignment to achieve equivalent coding efficiency to the SVC test model but with significantly reduced complexity. The D-R functions of virtual GOPs are utilized to design a practical method for smooth quality reconstruction. Compared to the prior methods, the smoothed video quality is improved not only objectively but also subjectively.


Abstract. This paper presents the thermal forcing of the semidiurnal, terdiurnal, and 6-h components of the migrating tide induced by ozone heating in stratosphere and lower mesosphere. The heating as a function of local time is determined from the global ozone observed by the Microwave Limb Sounder on the Aura satellite. The harmonic components of the heating rates of the semidiurnal, terdiurnal and the 6-h periodicities are calculated using the Strobel/Zhu parameterized model and then decomposed into Hough modes. Seasonal variations of each harmonic component and its Hough modes are presented. For all three tidal components, the majority of the annual mean O3 heating projects onto symmetric modes. The semiannual variation is a prominent signal in almost all of the symmetric Hough modes near the stratopause. The strongest annual variation takes place in the asymmetric modes. The results also show that, during the solstice season, the maximum forcing of the diurnal and terdiurnal component occurs in the summer hemisphere while the maximum forcing of the semidiurnal and 6-h components occurs in the winter hemisphere. The global mean ozone density and the tidal components of the ozone heating rate are different between December–January and June–July. The asymmetry in the heating is primarily due to the 6.6% annual variation in the solar energy input into the Earth's atmosphere due to the annual variation of the Sun-Earth distance.


This book is about rights and powers in the digital age. It is an attempt to reframe the role of constitutional democracies in the algorithmic society. By focusing on the European constitutional framework as a lodestar, this book examines the rise and consolidation of digital constitutionalism as a reaction to digital capitalism. The primary goal is to examine how European digital constitutionalism can protect fundamental rights and democratic values against the charm of digital liberalism and the challenges raised by platform powers. Firstly, this book investigates the reasons leading to the development of digital constitutionalism in Europe. Secondly, it provides a normative framework analysing to what extent European constitutionalism provides an architecture to protect rights and limit the exercise of unaccountable powers in the algorithmic society. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.


CONTEXT
Obesity-associated inflammation is a contributory factor in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM); the mechanisms underlying the progression to T2DM are unclear. The adipokine resistin has demonstrated proinflammatory properties in relation to obesity and T2DM.

OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study were to characterize resistin expression in human obesity and address the role of resistin in the innate immune pathway; to examine the influence of lipopolysaccharide, recombinant human resistin (rhResistin), insulin, and rosiglitazone in human adipocytes; and, finally, to analyze the effect of rhResistin on the expression of components of the nuclear factor-kappaB pathway and insulin signaling cascade.

METHODS
Abdominal sc adipose tissue was obtained from patients undergoing elective liposuction surgery (n = 35; age, 36-49 yr; body mass index, 26.5 +/- 5.9 kg/m2). Isolated adipocytes were cultured with rhResistin (10-50 ng/ml). The level of cytokine secretion from isolated adipocytes was examined by ELISA. The effect of rhResistin on protein expression of components of the innate immune pathway was examined by Western blot.

RESULTS
In vitro studies demonstrated that antigenic stimuli increase resistin secretion (P < 0.001) from isolated adipocytes. Proinflammatory cytokine levels were increased in response to rhResistin (P < 0.001); this was attenuated by rosiglitazone (P < 0.01). When examining components of the innate immune pathway, rhResistin stimulated Toll-like receptor-2 protein expression. Similarly, mediators of the insulin signaling pathway, phosphospecific c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) 1 and JNK2, were up-regulated in response to rhResistin.

CONCLUSION
Resistin may participate in more than one mechanism to influence proinflammatory cytokine release from human adipocytes, potentially via the integration of nuclear factor-kappaB and JNK signaling pathways.


Influenza virus infection can result in changes in the cellular ion levels at 2–3 h post-infection. More H+ is produced by glycolysis, and the viral M2 proton channel also plays a role in the capture and release of H+ during both viral entry and egress. Then the cells might regulate the intracellular pH by increasing the export of H+ from the intracellular compartment. Increased H+ export could lead indirectly to increased extracellular acidity. To detect changes in extracellular pH of both virus-infected and uninfected cells, pH sensors were synthesized using polystyrene beads (ϕ1 μm) containing Rhodamine B and Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). The fluorescence intensity of FITC can respond to both pH and temperature. So Rhodamine B was also introduced in the sensor for temperature compensation. Then the pH can be measured after temperature compensation. The sensor was adhered to cell membrane for extracellular pH measurement. The results showed that the multiplication of influenza virus in host cell decreased extracellular pH of the host cell by 0.5–0.6 in 4 h after the virus bound to the cell membrane, compared to that in uninfected cells. Immunostaining revealed the presence of viral PB1 protein in the nucleus of virus-bound cells that exhibited extracellular pH changes, but no PB1 protein are detected in virus-unbound cells where the extracellular pH remained constant.


We studied the effect of intravenous injection of the cholinesterase inhibitor galanthamine (GAL) in doses from 0.025 to 5.0 mg/kg on electrically evoked field potentials in rat visual cortex. In all the experiments the amplitude of late components of evoked potentials was significantly reduced, while early components remained unaffected. These findings indicate that cortical cells are inhibited by acetylcholine (ACh). Furthermore, combined application of a muscarinic receptor blocker (atropine) and GAL reliably suppressed the effects of galanthamine. These observations suggest that ACh-induced inhibition may be mediated by activation of GABAergic interneurones that possess muscarinic receptors.


The purpose of this project was to understand why public involvement in transportation project planning goes badly, and to determine how the process could be modified to reduce negative outcomes. The project examines these issues by studying public involvement efforts. The project examines how the potential for conflict can be anticipated. A local project had characteristics of having been well run with good intentions, of having been plagued by conflict, and of being documented in a neighborhood newspaper. It was the primary source of reasons why public involvement can turn out badly and was contrasted with three other projects that were more successful with their public involvement. A new model is proposed in this report. The model proposes that conflict can derive from any or all of five independent dimensions, each with its own level of intensity or intractability: size and distribution of local benefits or costs; disagreement about the nature and importance of local impacts; ability to accurately define and engage relevant stakeholders; perceived legitimacy of the project; and degree of ideological issues. There are two key conclusions. First, situations with serious conflict are different from the typical public involvement effort; they require different tools and tactics built around the specific nature of the conflict. The second major finding is that "conflict" is not a standard problem to answer with a single solution, but each conflict does not have to be approached individually.


This study investigates the cost of and good practices for FADN data collection in EU Member States during the period 2012-2014 using evidence gathered from existing literature, a survey of EU-28 FADN Liaison Agencies, nine case studies, and interviews with senior policy officials within the European Commission and the OECD. Costs were assessed both in money terms and by labour input along the data supply chain; total annual public costs of FADN averaged €59 million. A variety of institutional arrangements are used by Member States to provide data to FADN. Within these, three types of organisation carry out the process of data collection: FADN Liaison Agencies; public advisory bodies; and, accounting firms. Data collection by accounting firms from accounts drawn up at the expense of farmers for tax purposes provides data at the lowest public cost per farm. At the other extreme, highest costs per farm are where advisory agencies combine data collection with provision of extension services. FADN data are widely used by Member States and therefore bring substantial, if unquantified, benefits. Examples of good practices which can be shared between Member States and that are reflected principally in costs and benefits are identified


How do we make simple consumer choices (e.g., deciding between an apple, an orange, and a banana)? Recent empirical evidence suggests a close link between choice behavior and eye movements at the group level, with generally higher choice probabilities for items that were looked at longer during the decision process. However, it is unclear how variable this effect is across individuals. Here, we investigate this question in a multialternative forced-choice experiment using a novel computational model that can be easily applied to the individual participant level. We show that a link between gaze and choice is present for most individuals, but differs considerably in strength, namely, the choices of some individuals are almost independent of gaze allocation, while the choices of others are strongly associated with gaze behavior. Accounting for this variability in our model allows us to explain and accurately predict individual differences in observed choice behavior.


A PERIOD OUT OF power has given conservatives and Republicans a golden opportunity to reassess their approach toward American foreign policy. Such periods in opposition are often fruitful for political parties, which can reformulate creative and winning ideas on issues of public policy. But there is nothing to say that they will necessarily do such reformulation. Success in political and conceptual rebuilding requires intellectual honesty regarding current strengths and weaknesses. Conservatives pride themselves on a clear-eyed view of political and policy realities. It is entirely fitting that this same clear-eyed view be turned on conservative foreign policy approaches. The foreign policy of George W. Bush contained several major and under-appreciated successes. Relations with Asia's major powers were well-handled, the full scale of jihadist terrorism was comprehended, and terrorist attacks after 9/11 prevented. But conservatives have yet to admit the political damage sustained by the Republican Party because of Iraq. However sincere Bush's intentions, the first three years of mismanaged war in Iraq fatally undermined the credibility of his presidency and his party with a majority of Americans. His eventual, courageous, and well justified embrace of a new surge strategy in 2006-07 could not erase the already firm popular impression of reckless incompetence. In truth, this firm impression created an environment that would have made it exceptionally difficult for any Republican presidential nominee to win election in 2008, even if the autumn financial meltdown had never occurred. It is therefore strange what little emphasis most conservatives and Republicans place on the Iraq war for their party's comprehensive loss of power. Even more important, in terms of first principles, is the fact that Bush pursued an approach in Iraq that departed from traditional Republican strengths and conservative insights alike. A curious narrative has taken hold among some conservatives, one that says that the greatest possible danger now would be for Republicans to embrace a "realist" foreign policy. According to this storyline, great Republican presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush pointed the way to principled success with a foreign policy of muscular idealism, while supposed disappointments such as Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and George H.W. Bush paid the price both politically and morally for embracing foreign policies of directionless, cynical realism. The only problem with this storyline is that it is quite inaccurate. The true history of the GOP'S foreign policy traditions is actually more interesting than that, and over the long term more flattering to Republicans. There have always been at least three main strains or schools of thought in conservative and Republican foreign policy thinking: those represented by nationalists, hawks, and realists. Nationalists emphasize the protection of American sovereignty. Hawks emphasize both the moral and the practical arguments for military intervention overseas. Realists emphasize the careful coordination of force and diplomacy. Successful Republican foreign policy presidents have been those who balanced all three of these strains. Unsuccessful presidents have been those who failed to do so. The relevant comparison is therefore not between stereotyped realists such as Eisenhower or Nixon and stereotyped idealists such as Roosevelt or Reagan. Rather, the relevant comparison is between those Republican presidents who implemented traditional conservative and American foreign policy ideas with skill, prudence, and care, and those who did not. On this score, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush really belong in the same category of successful and realistic yet principled foreign policy presidents. George W. Bush on the other hand, whatever his strengths, erred on the side of insufficient realism in Iraq, and he fumbled the central foreign policy decision of his tenure so seriously that Republicans have yet to recover from its consequences. …


The dual-material double-gate (DMDG) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) is the leading contender for sub-100-nm devices because it utilizes the benefits of both double-gate and dual-material-gate structures. One major issue of concern in the DMDG-MOSFET is the alignment between the top and the bottom gate that critically influences the device performance. In this paper, we have investigated the effects of gate misalignment in the DMDG SOI n-MOSFET. In this regard, analytical modeling and extensive simulations have been carried out to analyze the gate misalignment effects on device performance like surface potential, electric field, threshold voltage, subthreshold slope, drain-induced barrier lowering, drain current, and transconductance. Considering the fact that gate misalignment can occur on any side of the gate, both source- and drain-side misalignments have been discussed. Analytical and simulated results are found to be in good agreement, which authenticate our proposed model for the DMDG structure.


We study the following natural variant of the budgeted maximum coverage problem: We are given a budget B and a hypergraph G = (V, E), where each vertex has a non-negative cost and a non-negative profit. The goal is to select a set of hyperedges T subseteq E such that the total cost of the vertices covered by T is at most B and the total profit of all covered vertices is maximized. Besides being a natural generalization of the well-studied maximum coverage problem, our motivation for investigating this problem originates from its application in the context of bid optimization in sponsored search auctions, such as Google AdWords.

It is easily seen that this problem is strictly harder than budgeted max coverage, which means that the problem is (1-1/e)-inapproximable. The difference of our problem to the budgeted maximum coverage problem is that the costs are associated with the covered vertices instead of the selected hyperedges. As it turns out, this difference refutes the applicability of standard greedy approaches which are used to obtain constant factor approximation algorithms for several other variants of the maximum coverage problem. Our main results are as follows:

- We obtain a (1 - 1/sqrt(e))/2-approximation algorithm for graphs.

- We derive a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme (FPTAS) if the incidence graph of the hypergraph is a forest (i.e., the hypergraph is Berge-acyclic). We also extend this result to incidence graphs with a fixed-size feedback hyperedge node set.

- We give a (1-epsilon)/(2d^2)-approximation algorithm for every epsilon > 0, where d is the maximum degree of a vertex in the hypergraph.


Despite recent advances in synthetic data generation, the scientific community still lacks a unified consensus on its usefulness. It is commonly believed that synthetic data can be used for both data exchange and boosting machine learning (ML) training. Privacy-preserving synthetic data generation can accelerate data exchange for downstream tasks, but there is not enough evidence to show how or why synthetic data can boost ML training. In this study, we benchmarked ML performance using synthetic tabular data for four use cases: data sharing, data augmentation, class balancing, and data summarization. We observed marginal improvements for the balancing use case on some datasets. However, we conclude that there is not enough evidence to claim that synthetic tabular data is useful for ML training.


The Internet and computer networks are exposed to an increasing number of security threats. With new types of attacks appearing continually, developing flexible and adaptive security oriented approaches is a severe challenge. This paper discusses the security of computing systems and shows how to protect computer-related assets and resources. The paper highlights different security threats and concerns across computer networks and shows how firewalls detect these threats. At the end, different firewalls like Packet Filtering, Application Gateways and Personal Firewall are summarized and compared according to different network scenarios. The paper also proposes a new framework for the vulnerability, threat management and safeguard of network environments.


We consider the entanglement properties of free fermions in one dimension and review an approach which relates the problem to the solution of a certain differential equation. The single-particle eigenfunctions of the entanglement Hamiltonian are then seen to be spheroidal functions or generalizations of them. The analytical results for the eigenvalue spectrum agree with those obtained by other methods. In the continuum case, there are close connections to random matrix theory.


Following a sharp annual rise in the number of referrals received, the Rochdale NSPCC Child Protection Team decided to research its referral and investigative service. Using a questionnaire to collect data, a much fuller picture of the team's work in this area was developed. This enabled the team to feel more in control of a stressful and unpredictable sphere of responsibility. The process of the research is briefly described, an analysis of some of the findings is offered and the team's reactions to the research are discussed. The advantages of having practitioner-researchers are highlighted.


The Community-based Fish Culture in Seasonal Floodplains and Irrigation Systems (CBFC) project is a five year research project supported by the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF), with the aim of increasing productivity of seasonally occurring water bodies through aquaculture. The project has been implemented in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Mali and Vietnam, where technical and institutional options for community based aquaculture have been tested. The project began in 2005 and was completed in March 2010. The objective of the study was to improve our knowledge of mare management and the livelihoods of two villages of the Niger Inner Delta, Severi and Komio. We wanted to understand mare access and fishery management and to highlight the different stakeholders involved in mare management as well as the different rules regulating access to the various mare resources. We implemented a series of Focus Group Discussion with the different socio-economic groups of the villages (fisherfolk, farmer-fishers, and herders) and a series of semi-structured interviews with key informants and stakeholders involved in mare management took place in July 2008.


Social Opulence and Private Restraint is a study of the place of the consumer and consumption in the political economy of British socialism, from its early-nineteenth-century origins, through 'New Times' Marxism, to the consumer-focused New Labourism and political economies critical of consumerism that can be found in the late-twentieth and early-twenty-first-century Left. Noel Thompson identifies and explicates recurrent themes which cross the boundaries of the conventional periodisation of the history of British socialist thought; themes which illustrate the sustained nature of the multifaceted ideological challenge presented by the accommodation of the consumer within socialist political economy. This challenge necessitates an engagement with the character and priorities of a future socialist society. As such it touches on some of the key issues which socialists have confronted in pursuit of their vision of a good society: issues with a strong contemporary relevance such as the desirability of private as against social opulence; the relationship between consumption and happiness; the need to educate and/or to liberate desire; and, in particular, the environmental and social consequences of rising levels of consumer expectation and consumption. The study also throws light on how the disparate ways in which these issues were addressed reflected and shaped the socialist political economies that emerged in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, while also engendering tensions between them.


An approach for the design of high-Q active inductor (AI) with high dynamic range is presented. The proposed AI includes a passive variable phase- and amplitude-compensating network and a highly linear inverting amplifier, forming a gyrator-C architecture. The equivalent inductance and resistance values are tunable in a wide frequency range; outside the operating frequency band, the inductor equivalent resistance increases, improving signal rejection for band-pass filter applications. As a feasibility demonstration, a first-order active band-pass filter using the high-Q active inductance has been fabricated and tested. The filter has a center frequency of 600 MHz and a measured noise figure of 11 dB with a 5-dBm 1-dB compression point and an 82-dB dynamic range.


I will discuss our recent progress in the field of non-equilibrium physics with light and matter. I will present recent results on quantum-dot circuit QED systems, Hamiltonian and bath engineering of cavity-QED systems, realization of giant photon amplification and generation of long-lived entangled states of matter. These results are important both from a fundamental perspective and from the point of view of device applications (such as quantum diodes and rectifiers, photon amplifiers, lasers).


Background Male sexual dysfunction is an increasing problem across a variety of general and clinical populations, such as cancer populations; especially among prostate cancer patients who tend to receive treatments that often result in erectile dysfunction (ED) and/or premature ejaculation (PE). Therefore, in order to diagnose ED and PE in these populations, adequate and efficient instruments such as the International Index of Erectile Function 5-item version (IIEF-5) and the Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT) are needed. However, since this is an important topic additional evidence of psychometric properties of the IIEF-5 and the PEDT in such samples are required. Thus the aim of the present study was to use Rasch models to investigate the construct validity, local dependency, score order, and differential item functioning (DIF) of both questionnaires in a sample of prostate cancer patients. Methods Prostate cancer patients (n = 1058, mean±SD age = 64.07±6.84 years) who visited urology clinics were invited to fill out the IIEF-5 and the PEDT. Construct validity was examined using infit and outfit mean square (MnSq) and local dependency using correlations between each two residual Rasch scores. Score order was investigated using step and average measures of difficulty and DIF using DIF contrast. Results All IIEF-5 and PEDT items had acceptable infit and outfit MnSq. Step measures revealed that all but two items had disordered categories in terms of scores 1 to 3. Only one local dependency was found, and no items displayed DIF across age, educational level, and help seeking. Conclusions The results showed that both the IIEF-5 and the PEDT had sound psychometric properties in the Rasch analyses, although some score disordering could be detected in both instruments. The results of no DIF items in both instruments suggest using them to compare ED and PE across age and educational level is adequate.


The presentation stressed the importance of speech and language in the child's social and personality development; the far-reaching effects of speech and language disorders; the latitude of factors contributing to the various types of such disorders in children; and the therapeutic approach to the child with defective speech.
 Speech consists of sounds produced by the upper respiratory and alimentary tracts and is described in terms of its phonologic elements (vowels and consonants); vocal pitch, volume and quality; melody and stress pattern; temporal factors of rate, rhythm, duration and phrasing; and expressive gestures. Spoken language is the symbolic use of these sounds.
 Functions of speech and language are threefold: Emotional expression, self-communication and interpersonal communication. The last, in turn, serves the purposes of social interchange, interchange of information and social control.
 Disorders of speech and language result in impairment of sociability, communication and effective social control. A child thus handicapped is likely to become socially retarded and psychologically maladjusted. Of high school children in the United States, roughly 5% suffer from some speech defect and over 2,000,000 of them would benefit from special help.
 Symptomatically, speech and language disorders may be classified into five groups: (1) "articulatory disorders," characterized by substitutions, omissions and distortions of sounds; (2) "cluttering," defined as rapid, dysrhythmic slurring and clustering of sounds; (3) "stuttering," the repetition, prolongation or blocking of sounds and words, often associated with overflow facial grimacing and spasmodic movements of trunk and extremities and, usually, psychologic reactions to stuttering; (4) "voice disorders," ranging from complete absence to abnormalities in quality, pitch, intensity and melody; and (5) "language disorders," subdivided into (a) "delayed speech" (after age 3 years) and (b) "aphasia," resulting from lesions in the central nervous system. An additional group of speech disorders has as etiology some physical abnormalities: (1) "cleft palate speech," with disturbed voice quality and articulation; (2) "cerebral palsy speech," with disturbances in articulation, voice, rhythm and sometimes also delay in language development; and (3) "hearing impairment," which results in improper development of articulation, voice and language.


The efferent innervation of guinea pig cochleas was sectioned medially, at the level of the floor of the fourth ventricle, to study the effects of the crossed part of the medial efferent pathway on the compound action potential (CAP) masking phenomenon. Sectioning reduced CAP masking for a masker level varying with the frequency of the masker and the time elapsed between the masker onset and the probe onset. Functional properties of the crossed part of the medial efferent tracts: latency, thresholds and frequency selectivity, could be deduced from these data. This intensification of the masking phenomenon permitting the improvement of the signal to noise ratio, may thus be attributed to the crossed part of the medial efferent bundle which innervates the outer hair cells.


Presented at the Colloquium on the 25th Anniversary of the Stored Program Computer held at the Royal Society, London, on 12th November 1974


In this real world the Cloud Computing, has develop a possible key for sharing Computing resources. Though it has distributing Computing service slightly than having native servers or individual devices to control applications, there are durable protection anxieties in management data. The current system are constructed with rough security ideas but it has some problems. The ideas are similar discrete responsibility, demonstrable data ownership, Third Party Inspecting are secure but it has some issues. To provide enough security in public Cloud a little research has been made on previous idea we suggest a new outline recognized as uniqueness established data handling and data checking in public Cloud which feats the welfares of quantum mechanisms to shelter public database. We took some reference in which rough public Cloud server, owner and client are provided with secure connection with our projected idea which uses arbitrary oracle model. Our logical learning has both achievement and disappointment rates with isolated and common Clouds respectively. Many customers would like to accumulate their information to common Cloud servers laterally with the quick growth of Cloud Computing. New safety issue have to be resolved in order to support more customers process their data in common Cloud.


Hydroclimatic variability manifests as abrupt shifts, trends, runs, and recurrent cyclical phenomena, collectively referred to as components. In this article, we tested for the presence and magnitude of each component in the Niger Basin (West Africa), using the 0.5° by 0.5° gridded annual rainfall and temperature data produced by the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia, UK, for the period 1901–2006. The streamflow data was also analysed for different sub‐basins of the Niger Basin. Abrupt shifts were tested using a Bayesian and nonparametric approach. Trends were analysed using the Mann‐Kendall trend test. Runs were extracted for dry, neutral, and wet conditions, simulated 1000 times based on the skew normal distribution, and used to investigate various run characteristics. Cyclical behaviour was investigated using continuous wavelet analysis. The results show that an abrupt change point occurred in 1969 in the rainfall and streamflow (but not temperature) time series in all subwatersheds of the Niger Basin. The magnitude of the shift in the mean rainfall varied between 16 and 24%. The temperature time series exhibit strong positive trends in all watersheds. Post change point, the rainfall and streamflow time series show positive, though statistically non‐significant trends at α = 0.1. In contrast, disregarding the change point, all subwatersheds show significant negative trends at α = 0.05 and the maximum run lengths are about 4 years long for both dry and wet conditions. Finally, wavelet analysis showed that both rainfall and streamflow in the Niger Basin fluctuate on cycles that are predominantly 2–4 years long, with a few occurrences in the 6–8 years range. Wavelet activity diminished noticeably when a series appeared strongly dominated by trends. The results provide a more comprehensive view of climatic variability than would be obtained from only one or a few components.


Df acute leukaemia in seven of their series of 100 cases of aplastic anaemia in children. Four of their cases were of the constitutional type, which may be especially prone to leukaemic transformation;' five had received anabolic steroids. The point is that an aplastic or hypoplastic bone marrow is unstable. Recovery, with or without therapy, may be complete; on the other hand, some become chronic, and a small minority will develop a clone of abnormal haemopoietic cells which declares itself by a new clinical picture, which may be acute leukaemia, paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria, or (as in one personally observed case) sideroblastic anaemia. Drugs which stimulate surviving marrow tissue in this unstable environment may accelerate the appearance of abnormal clones. It may be that the very efficacy of oxymethalone in producing remission in aplastic anaemia renders it especially liable to cause proliferation of "wild" clones of haemopoietic cells. The fact that therapy with anabolic steroids is not associated with an increased incidence of acute leukaemia in other clinical situations is not relevant, because in these there is no marrow instability. -We are, etc., C. G. GEARY I. W. DELAMORE


We report the synthesis of the first series of heterobivalent ligands targeting the putative heteromeric 5-HT2A/mGlu2 receptor complex, based on the 5-HT2A antagonist MDL-100,907 and the mGlu2 ago-PAM JNJ-42491293. The functional properties of monovalent and heterobivalent ligands were characterized in 5-HT2A-, mGlu2/Gqo5-, 5-HT2A/mGlu2-, and 5-HT2A/mGlu2/Gqo5-expressing HEK293 cells using a Ca2+ imaging assay and a [3H]ketanserin binding assay. Pronounced functional crosstalk was observed between the two receptors in 5-HT2A/mGlu2 and 5-HT2A/mGlu2/Gqo5 cells. While the synthesized monovalent ligands retained the 5-HT2A antagonist and mGlu2 ago-PAM functionalities, the seven bivalent ligands inhibited 5-HT-induced responses in 5-HT2A/mGlu2 cells and both 5-HT- and Glu-induced responses in 5-HT2A/mGlu2/Gqo5 cells. However, no definitive correlation between the functional potency and spacer length of the ligands was observed, an observation substantiated by the binding affinities exhibited by the compounds in 5-HT2A, 5-HT2A/mGlu2, and 5-HT2A/mGlu2/Gqo5 cells. In conclusion, while functional crosstalk between 5-HT2A and mGlu2 was demonstrated, it remains unclear how these heterobivalent ligands interact with the putative receptor complex.


Background: Workload, interpersonal relationships, professional conflict and the emotional cost of providing care are potential sources of stress and burnout among nurses. Based on experiences of hospital nurses, this paper aims to identify critical factors for nurses in managing relationally demanding situations in care for very ill and/or dying patients. Methods: In-depth interviews were carried out with six nurses, working in a medium-sized hospital in Norway. The interviews were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: The lack of identification with the core aspect of the job, relational contact with patients and relatives, and external motivation were found as potential barriers for managing relationally demanding jobs. The results also indicate that the nurses' experiences of symptoms of burnout can be a result of demands that exceeded the nurses' resources. A match between personal capacity and demands, mutual support among colleagues and leadership support, and contextual factors are critical to prevent the negative process of burnout. Conclusion: The results underscore the importance of an early response to employees who are beginning to struggle at work and the relevance of a true match between personal capacity and job demands. Moreover support among colleagues and leadership seems critical to prevent a negative process of burnout and help to manage relationally demanding jobs.


Data communication represents the greatest energy cost of Wireless Sensor Networks. Both MAC and network layers of the protocol stack are responsible for data communication in these networks. This work proposes the Receiverbased Medium Access Control (Rb-MAC) protocol to be used in a combined solution with a receiver-based routing scheme. The main advantage of combining receiver-based MAC and routing protocols is that this solution does not use neighbor tables and, consequently, it saves energy when compared with MAC and routing protocols that use these tables. Simulation results reveal that receiver-based data communication has a great data delivery ratio, and reduces energy consumption, number of transmissions, and collisions wben compared with a senderbased data communication. Moreover, we use a model checking techDique to perform the formal verification of Rb-MAC.


This paper presents a new spherical shaped capacitive sensor device for creating interactive compositions and embodied user experiences inside of a periphonic, 3D sound space. The Somatic Sound project is here presented as a) technological innovative musical instrument, and b) an experiential art installation. One of the main research foci is to explore embodied experiences through moving, interactive and somatic sound. The term somatic is here understood and used as in relating to the body in a physical, holistic and immersive manner.


Soft actuators with the integration of facile preparation, rapid actuation rate, sophisticated motions, and precise control over deformation for application in complex devices are still highly desirable. Inspired by the aligned structures of moisture responsive pineal scales, an oil-triggered Janus actuator composed of a smooth hydrophobic surface and a superhydrophobic surface with aligned microchannels by simple laser etching was fabricated successfully, which can deform into various desirable shapes and recover to the original shape when triggered by oil and ethanol molecules. The aligned microchannel design causes different oil spread distances in the longitudinal and transverse directions, resulting in orientation-controlled bending and twisting with large-scale displacement. By changing the orientations of the patterned microchannels, one-dimensional folding deformation, twisting, rolling curling and object-inspired architectures can be facilely programmed. The reversible oil-triggered actuator will inspire more attractive applications such as in vivo surgery, biomimetic devices, energy harvesting systems and soft robotics.


We assessed the structural and functional evolution of small intestinal transplant rejection in a rat model by use of 1-micron section, electron microscopic, and in vitro electrophysiologic techniques to study jejunal mucosa 3, 6, and 9 d posttransplantation. The earliest structural abnormalities detected in jejunal loops transplanted from Lewis X Brown Norway F1 hybrids into Lewis rats occurred within 3 d posttransplantation and consisted of focal endothelial cell injury of the microvasculature and focal injury of crypt epithelial cells. Both alterations were associated with adjacent infiltration of large lymphoid cells, and both markedly progressed and became rather diffuse over the following 6 d. In contrast, villus absorptive cells were not markedly altered in structure until the 9th postoperative day. As compared with host jejuna, allograft jejunal epithelium demonstrated multiple functional abnormalities. Transepithelial resistance declined progressively by days 6 and 9 (both P less than 0.05), although baseline transepithelial spontaneous potential difference was only affected at day 9 (P less than 0.01). Stimulated absorption by allograft jejuna, as assessed by measuring electrical response to mucosal glucose, was not significantly diminished until day 9 (P less than 0.05). In contrast, stimulated secretion assessed by measurement of electrical response to serosal theophylline was diminished by day 6 (P less than .01). These data suggest that the earliest epithelial injury during rejection, as judged both structurally and functionally, occurs in the crypt and is paralleled by endothelial injury at the level of the microvasculature. Thus, the primary targets for rejection are most likely endothelial cells and crypt epithelial cells. In contrast, structural and functional impairment of villus epithelium is detectable only at substantially later times during rejection and are most likely secondary processes related to either ischemia produced by microvascular injury or decreased epithelial regenerative ability secondary to crypt injury. Last, we show that the detrimental structural and functional sequellae of jejunal transplantation across the major histocompatibility complex in this model is strikingly ameliorated with cyclosporine therapy.


In a previous study we demonstrated that subjects could use prosodic features (primarily peak height and alignment) to make different interpretations of synthesized fragmentary grounding utterances. In the present study we test the hypothesis that subjects also change their behavior accordingly in a human-computer dialog setting. We report on an experiment in which subjects participate in a color-naming task in a Wizard-of-Oz controlled human-computer dialog in Swedish. The results show that two annotators were able to categorize the subjects' responses based on pragmatic meaning. Moreover, the subjects' response times differed significantly, depending on the prosodic features of the grounding fragment spoken by the system. Index terms: dialog systems, prosody, error handling


Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) was purified from goose erythrocytes and some characteristics of the enzyme were investigated. The purification procedure was composed of 3 steps: hemolysate preparation, ammonium sulfate precipitation, and 2', 5'-ADP Sepharose 4B affinity gel chromatography. Thanks to the 3 consecutive procedures, the enzyme, having a specific activity of 36.2 EU/mg protein, was purified for a yield of 68.79% and 3892 folds; to ascertain enzyme purity, SDS-PAGE was performed. Optimal pH, stable pH, optimal temperature, molecular weight, and Km and Vmax values for NADP + and glucose 6- phosphate (G6-P) substrates were also determined for the enzyme. In addition, Ki values and inhibition type were determined by means of Lineweaver-Burk graphs obtained for such inhibitors as ATP, ADP and NADPH. These materials inhibited the enzyme in a noncompetitive manner.


Skew detection and correction (SDC) has a direct effect in efficiency and exactitude of documents' segmentation and analysis and thus is considered as a very important step in documents' analysis field. Skew is a major problem in documents' analysis for every language. For Arabic/Persian document scripts this problem is more severe because of special features of these languages. In this paper an efficient and fast algorithm for Document Skew Detection (DSD) based on the concept of segmentation and Center of Gravity (COG) is proposed. This algorithm is examined for 150 Arabic/Persian and English documents and SDC process are done successfully for 93 percent of documents with error rate of less than 1°. This algorithm shows better results for English documents compared to Arabic/Persian documents. The proposed method is also represents favorable results for handwritten, printed and also complicated documents such as newspapers and journals even with very low quality and resolution. Keywords—Arabic/Persian document, Baseline, Centre of gravity, Document segmentation, Skew detection and correction.


Kosmopolis is a digital collection including the full text content of twenty Greek periodicals from the mid-19th century up to the beginning of the 20th. The project is being carried out by the Library & Information Service of the University of Patras within the framework of the TELEPHAESSA project in a partnership with the Department of Greek Literature of the University of Patras and The Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive (E.L.I.A.). The project is funded jointly by the European Social Fund and the Greek Ministry of Education within the 3rd Community Support Framework.


This study was done to analyze the physic-chemical, microbiological and sensory qualities of the banana, after being either dry or wet treatment with ozone. For dry processing, the fruits were directly fumigated with ozone for 30 min. The wet treatment included the ozonization of water for 20 min followed by immersion of the fruit in the ozonized water for 10 min. In both treatments, the utilized gas concentration and flow were 0.36 mg L-1 and 1.5 L min-1, respectively. The quality of the fruits was evaluated at the beginning of storage and after 3; 6; 9 and 12 days. The variables analyzed were: fresh mater loss, total titratable acidity, total soluble solids, pH, pulp/peel ratio, color index of the peel, rot severity, microbiological analysis (total fungi and yeast count) and sensorial analysis. In general, the fruits immersed in the ozonized water presented better quality, in reference to both the physico-chemical and microbiological parameters, as well as have good sensory acceptance among those tested. It could therefore be concluded that treatment with ozonized water is a new alternative for the postharvest handling of bananas.


Southeast Asia faces a set of interconnected yet fundamental energy policy dilemmas. In June 1992, the Assosiation of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) then a six member consortium consisting of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philipines, Singapore and Thailand faced a choice between protecting the environment and bolstering trade. Uncontrolled logging throughout Southeast Asia has contributed to soil erosion, a collapse in agricultural productivity, the emergence of new tropical diseases, rising food prices, higher rates of rural poverty, and massive species extinction. In purpose to watch over sustainable development between industry and environment, Southeast Asia seems to apply better policy that could endorsed economic growth over preservation of the natural environment for each member country. Furthermore, ASEAN seems to have reached a similar crossroads in terms of energy security. ASEAN now embrace renewable energy and energy efficiency, or endorse natural gas instead. For the implementation, in 2002 ASEAN has announced plans to construct an integrated natural gas pipeline network through the Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline Infrastructure Project, or TAGP to connect the gas reserves in the Gulf of Thailand, Myanmar and Indonesia to the rest of the region. Advocates of the TAGP expect it to promote economic development, earn foreign exchange, mitigate the risks of climate change, and enhance regional energy security. In the study of geo-strategy, ASEAN utilizing TAGP strategic path to be able to go forward and able to compete with global interaction. This research focused on security efforts of TAGP's project in the ASEAN region that has great prospects in the progress of Southeast Asia region towards global interaction.
Key words: ASEAN, TAGP, Sustainable Development, Geo-Strategy, Energy Security
Theme: International Relations and Security


We study the effect of embedding pairwise choices between lotteries within a choice list on measured risk attitude. Using an experiment with online workers, we find that subjects choose the risky lottery rather than a sure payment significantly more often when responding to a choice list. This behavior can be rationalized by the interaction between nonexpected utility and the random incentive system, as suggested by Karni and Safra (1987).


The effect of boron on microstructure evolution and creep deformation behavior has been investigated for a tempered martensitic 9Cr-3W-3Co-0.2V-0.05Nb steel at 650oC. Creep tests were carried out at 650oC for up to about 6 x 104 h. The addition of boron retards the onset of acceleration creep at low stress and long time conditions, which results in lower minimum creep rate and longer time to rupture. The addition of boron also retards the Ostwald ripening of M23C6 carbides near prior austenite grain boundaries (PAGBs) during creep. The retardation of the onset of acceleration creep results from the retardation of the recovery of martensitic microstructure near PAGBs by pinning effects due to fine M23C6 carbides. The main effect due to boron is considered to occupy vacancies near growing M23C6 carbides, which makes it difficult to accommodate local volume change around the growing carbides. This reduces the rate of Ostwald ripening of M23C6 carbides.


A robust protocol for culturing meristems of Sorghum is required to assist with rapid genetic improvement of the genus. Through meristem culture, an efficient method for rapid microprop- agation was developed for Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench. hybrids, namely NC+262, NC+6C21 and NC+6B50. Complete plants were regenerated directly from shoot meristems without an intervening callus phase. Regeneration frequencies varied between the studied genotypes and according to the growth regulator combinations pres- ent in the medium. The combination of BAP and TDZ showed a synergistic effect on shoot multiplication. The highest number of shoots per meristem (68 ± 2) was recorded for the genotype NC+262, followed by NC+6C21 (31.3 ± 0.8), and NC+6B50 (16 ± 1.7). MS medium supplemented with 3 mg/L BAP and 1 mg/L TDZ was the most effective hormone combination for multiple shoot production. Regenerated shoots were rooted on MS basal medium. Once rooted, plants were transferred to the greenhouse, where 80% survived to reach maturity.


Background A prominent outcome measure within burn care is health related quality of life (HRQL). Until now, no model for long-term recovery of HRQL exists for adult burn patients which requires large samples with repeated measurements. Re-use and the combination of existing data is a way to achieve larger data samples that enable the estimation of long-term recovery models. The aim of this secondary data analysis was to assess the recovery of HRQL after a burn injury over time. Methods and findings Data from ten European studies on generic HRQL assessed in adult burn patients (either with the EQ-5D or SF-36) from five different countries were merged into one dataset. SF-36 outcomes were transformed into EQ-5D outcomes. A 24-month recovery of HRQL (EQ-5D utility) was modeled using a linear mixed-effects model and adjusted for important patient and burn characteristics. Subgroups of patients with mild and intermediate burns (≤20% total body surface area (TBSA) burned) and with major burns (>20% TBSA burned) were compared. The combined database included 1687 patients with a mean age of 43 (SD 15) years and a median %TBSA burned of 9% (IQR 4–18). There was large improvement in HRQL up to six months after burns, and HRQL remained relatively stable afterwards (studied up to 24 months post burn). However, the estimated EQ-5D utility scores remained below the norm scores of the general population. In this large sample, females, patients with a long hospital stay and patients with major burns had a delayed and worse recovery. The proportion of patients that reported problems for the EQ-5D dimensions ranged from 100% (pain/discomfort at baseline in patients with major burns) to 10% (self-care ≥3 months after injury in patients with mild and intermediate burns). After 24 months, both subgroups of burn patients did not reach the level of the general population in the dimensions pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression, and patients with major burns in the dimension usual activities. A main limitation of the study includes that the variables in the model were limited to age, gender, %TBSA, LOS and time since burn as these were the only variables available in all datasets. Conclusions The 24-month recovery model can be used in clinical practice to inform patients on expected HRQL outcomes and provide clinicians insights into the expected recovery of HRQL. In this way, a delayed recovery can be recognized in an early stage and timely interventions can be started in order to improve patient outcomes. However, external validation of the developed model is needed before implementation into clinical practice. Furthermore, our study showed the benefit of secondary data usage within the field of burns.


The human GnRH (hGnRH) gene is expressed, and the GnRH decapeptide produced, primarily in the GnRH neurons of the diencephalon. The molecular elements important for the cell-specific expression and regulation of the hGnRH gene are not well established at this time; therefore, we have used a transgenic mouse model to isolate cis-regulatory elements important for directing gene expression to GnRH neurons in the hypothalamus. Gene constructs consisting of various promoter deletion fragments of the hGnRH gene fused to the luciferase (LUC) reporter gene have been used to create transgenic mouse lines. Cell-specific expression, with the criterion being luciferase expression directed to GnRH neurons of the hypothalamus, was observed when 992 bp, but not 795 bp, of the hGnRH gene promoter were used. Tissue-specific expression was also observed when a deletion construct containing the region from -992 to -763 was fused to a minimal 48-bp promoter fragment fused to LUC. These data indicate that the region between -992 and -795 contains elements both essential and sufficient for targeting gene expression to GnRH neurons. This promoter region was found to contain two DNA-binding sites for the POU class of transcription factors, each of which specifically interacted with the POU homeodomain proteins Brn-2 and Oct-1. Functional studies demonstrated that Brn-2 increased promoter activity of the human and mouse GnRH genes.


We describe a patient who presented with a neurovisceral syndrome characterised by ataxia, bulbar dysfunction, supranuclear gaze palsy, splenomegaly and foamy histiocytes in the bone marrow. This presentation was suggestive of a lysosomal storage disorder such as Niemann-Pick disease type C or Gaucher's disease type 3. We review the presentation of these disorders, with a focus on the neurological features. In addition, we briefly discuss the disease-modifying therapeutic options which have recently become available.


hormones accounts for the weak thyroid stimulating activity of very large quantities of HCG. Undoubtedly, then, hyperthyroidism in association with hydatidiform mole results from the very high levels of HCG found in this condition, and this association is probably more frequent than has been generally recognised. A detailed and systematic study of patients with trophoblastic tumours would provide further data on the true frequency and clinical importance of this association. The frequency of clinical hyperthyroidism in women with moles is uncertain. Higgins et all' found clinical evidence of hyperthyroidism in nine of their 14 patients and biochemical hyperthyroidism in one of the remainder. Galton and her colleagues,12 however, found increased thyroid function in all 11 patients studied, but clinical hyperthyroidism was not seen in any of this group. These differences may be attributed to patient selection or to variable sensitivity to this thyroid stimulator. Clearly this is an association which must be suspected in all cases, but particularly1 when serum levels of HCG exceed 300 IU/ml.


The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is expressed in human adipocytes and is transiently induced during early adipogenesis in mesenchymal progenitor cell models. VDR null mice exhibit enhanced energy expenditure and reduced adiposity even when fed high fat diets. Adipocyte‐specific transgenic‐expression of human VDR in mice enhances adipose tissue mass, indicating that VDR activation in adipocytes enhances lipid storage in vivo. In these studies, we conducted genomic profiling and differentiation assays in primary cultures of human adipose‐derived mesenchymal progenitor cells to define the role of the VDR and its ligand 1,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25D) in adipogenesis. In the presence of adipogenic media, 1,25D promoted lipid accumulation and enhanced the expression of FABP4, FASN, and PPARγ. Mesenchymal cells derived from 6‐month old VDR null mice exhibited impaired adipogenesis ex vivo but differentiation was restored by stable expression of human VDR. STEAP4, a gene that encodes a metalloreductase linked to obesity, insulin sensitivity, metabolic homeostasis and inflammation, was highly induced in human adipose cells differentiated in the presence of 1,25D but was minimally affected by 1,25D in undifferentiated precursors. These studies provide a molecular basis for recent epidemiological associations between vitamin D status, body weight and insulin resistance which may have relevance for prevention or treatment of metabolic syndrome and obesity. J. Cell. Physiol. 228: 2024–2036, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Quantitative analysis of the lower Miocene of Ocean Drilling Program Hole 959A from the West African margin was performed to document all the calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic events present. Combined with data from previous investigations of the lower Miocene from the tropical Atlantic, this research identifies and tests the viability of markers used in current zonation schemes, recognizes alternative markers for age boundaries, and examines statistically the most probable order of events in the lower Miocene using the Ranking and Scaling method (RASC). In Hole 959A, all major zonal and subzonal boundaries from CN1 to CN4 were identified, except for the boundary between Subzones CN1a and CN1b, using primary and secondary markers from the Okada and Bukry (1980) zonation. In addition, all age boundaries from the Chattian to Langhian stages were recognized or closely estimated using the calcareous nannoplankton markers. The resultant list of events extracted from Hole 959Aalong with events from other seven sites were examined biostratigraphically using RASC. A well threshold of four was selected as an appropriate control parameter, resulting in 22 events in the optimum sequence, 13 of which had a low standard deviation. Furthermore, interpolation of ages of events using Age/Depth model for Hole 959A was examined. The extracted ages provided a reasonable preliminary age estimate for the secondary events.


INTRODUCTION
Rhodococcus equi, previously called Corynebacterium equi, is known to cause pneumonia in foals and swine. Although it was known to cause infection rarely in humans, R equi infection in humans has increased with the advent of HIV and increased use of immunosuppressants.

CASE
We report a case of a 48-year-old male patient with newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS presenting with recurrent R equi bacteremia, pericardial effusion, and pericardial cyst. The infection was treated with drainage of the pericardial effusion and cyst and 2 weeks of intravenous vancomycin and 6 months of oral azithromycin and levofloxacin.

DISCUSSION
Rhodococcus equi causes pericarditis and pericardial effusion. It can be effectively treated with debridement, drainage, and a prolonged course of antibiotics. In vitro antibiotic susceptibility should be checked as resistance to antibiotics can develop, especially if drainage is inadequate.


We present a design methodology for specifying embedded systems that addresses the complex nature of embedded systems design. Our approach uses modern model-based techniques to correct specifications as they are constructed, driving the engineer towards a more correct specification. We also present a concrete specification language based on this methodology


The report presents the methodology of benchmarking as one of the key tools in management of the sector of energy distribution. It enables better functioning of enterprises due to comparing their functioning in various profiles and drawing conclusions out of these comparisons. The methodology of benchmarking for distribution companies in Poland is used to a very limited extent. However, it is expected that its role in the decision making process in the energy sector will grow significantly. The report describes a method, which enables objective comparative analysis of distribution companies according to the efficiency of energy distribution, taking into account the specificity of each company. Benchmarking by stimulation to decreasing of costs leads to creation of competitiveness of a distribution company.


On July 1, 1962, Burundi was granted independence. Less than nine months before, on October 13, 1961, the newly elected prime minister, prince Louis Rwagasore, son of mwami Mwambutsa, king and head of state of Burundi, was murdered, sixteen days after he had been sworn in. A few weeks before that, his party, Uprona, had won a landslide victory in Burundi's first parliamentary elections. The murderer, a Greek citizen, Jean Kageorgis, who had lived in Burundi for many years, was arrested, sentenced to death and executed on the eve of independence. Under Belgian rule, three of his accomplices and five persons involved in the conspiracy were convicted and given jail sentences. After a thorough study of the archives of the Belgian Foreign Affairs Ministry the author's conclusion is that important elements pointing to the involvement of the Belgian authorities, Belgium being granted a UN trusteeship to govern the country before independence, were almost completely overlooked in the investigation and at the trial itself. The judiciary neglected oral testimonies and written documents, refrained from questioning people who might have been implicated in the affair and did not examine facts that might have shed light on the motives and the background of the accused. One cannot but infer that the investigation and the trial were characterized by a clear lack of seriousness. On top of that, it is striking that the then king Baudouin, referring explicitly to Belgian involvement in the affair, made considerable efforts to grant a pardon to the murderer and commute his death sentence to life-long incarceration. Taking all those elements into account, it would seem reasonable that the inquiry be reopened. The establishment of a parliamentary commission, similar to that which investigated Belgian responsibility in the Lumumba murder case, would be an appropriate framework. Up to now there has been no official reaction to the book the author published recently. He concludes it is time that Belgium deals with this episode of its colonial past. Key words: King Baudouin, Belgium/colonial rule, Burundi, colonialism, Jean-Paul Harroy, Patrice Lumumba, Raymond Scheyven, Roberto Regnier, Robert Scheyven, Ruanda-Urundi, Louis Rwagasore, Paul-Henri Spaak


This thesis presents a reflection on a very important topic in political science and political culture. It covers the general discussion on political support as research question, how political shapes democratic performance and how supportive attitudes towards institutions and political systems are generated and maintained. This work analyses the concept of political support as a way in which citizens relate to their political systems and as a measure of how citizens identify themselves with their democracies in Europe. The research question is what political support means nowadays, and how European societies articulate their support. What make people from different societies relate differently to their political systems? Which aspects make citizens identify themselves with their political institutions, State, Authorities? Which is the main source of the difference among societies in terms of political support? How strong are these differences on political attitudes in Europe? This thesis works with the idea that extended interpersonal trust is indeed in the origins of supportive attitudes. The presence or absence of interpersonal trust might be also one of the reasons for a strong or weak political support. Two main explanations will be tested in this framework; firstly the effect of cultural aspects such as social trust and value orientations learnt through socialisation, and secondly, evaluation of policy and economic performance. The existence of available data and the amount of literature on the topic, allows this research question to be tested and analysed using data from the European Values Survey, World Values Survey, Eurobarometer and European Social Survey. The period covered by these surveys goes from 1986 to 2005, focusing the main analyses of this work in data from 1999 through 2005.


Summary.  The paper presents estimation results on the size and loyalty of sport teams' supporter groups in professional German football. Based on a novel two‐stage estimation procedure, we find clear evidence for heterogeneity across teams. In the first stage, a random‐utility model for a representative consumer is modelled and fitted to more than 1700 matches over the seasons 1996–2001. In the second step, attendance probabilities are predicted for the seasons 2002–2003 to estimate group sizes. A team's group size is positively correlated with its memberships (.61; p<0.01), fan clubs (.59; p<0.01) and merchandizing revenues (.49; p<0.05). Noteworthy is that no similar correlations can be found for a team's home town population which has been the standard measure for market size in applied work so far.


th March 2012 Configurations are composed of organizational elements that render certain outcomes collectively rather than individually. This study set out to establish the implications of strategy and resource configurations on performance of Nongovernmental organizations. We tested for strategy with the sub variables of resources as predictors of performance in the tangible and intangible sub domains. Using interaction terms, results revealed that different configuration settings rendered into various performance outcomes. Strategy ‐tangible resource models had high coefficients but were not significant in predicting tangible, intangible and main performance. On the contrary strategy ‐ intangible resources were significant with other domains save with intangible performance. The three way interaction term was not significant although with high prediction power across the performance variables. We conclude that configuration approach offers promise in better understanding of the performance of NGOs. The study outcomes have rich insights for both scholars and practitioners. We recommend further empirical examinations of strategy elements in the NGO sector.