Long-distance calls used for mate attraction and territorial spacing are distinctive signals in the felid vocal repertoire. Their evolution is subject to natural and sexual selection, as well as various constraints. Body size is an important morphological constraint, with the scaling of the spectral characteristics of a species' vocalizations with its body size being established for several vertebrate groups. Alternatively, the structure of long-distance calls may have been optimized for transmission in species' habitats (acoustic adaptation hypothesis). The present study assessed whether the mean dominant frequency of long-distance calls in the Felidae (approximately 70% of all species incorporated) is influenced by the species' body size and/or conforms to the acoustic adaptation hypothesis. After controlling for phylogenetic relationships, we found a significant correlation between mean dominant frequency of a taxon's long-distance calls and conditions for sound transmission in its habitat type ('open/heterogeneous' versus 'dense'), although no significant influence of body size. Taxa living in more open habitat types have long-distance calls with significantly lower mean dominant frequencies than those living in dense habitats. The result obtained in the present analysis is fairly robust against random removal of single or few taxa from the data, and also against the use of different branch-length transformation models in phylogenetic regression. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 101, 487–500.


We identify an implicit under-parameterization phenomenon in value-based deep RL methods that use bootstrapping: when value functions, approximated using deep neural networks, are trained with gradient descent using iterated regression onto target values generated by previous instances of the value network, more gradient updates decrease the expressivity of the current value network. We characterize this loss of expressivity in terms of a drop in the rank of the learned value network features, and show that this corresponds to a drop in performance. We demonstrate this phenomenon on widely studies domains, including Atari and Gym benchmarks, in both offline and online RL settings. We formally analyze this phenomenon and show that it results from a pathological interaction between bootstrapping and gradient-based optimization. We further show that mitigating implicit under-parameterization by controlling rank collapse improves performance.


Quality education often eludes South African learners from poverty- stricken environments. There are, however, some notable exceptions. This article looks at how quality education based on social capital is provided to the poor. The author reports on a qualitative investigation based on both focus group and individual interviews conducted at a resource-poor KwaZulu- Natal school serving learners from Grade R to 9. The findings show that quality education at the research site relates to the moral agency of the school principal and teaching staff. Through their ethics of being and doing, the school principal and teaching staff ensure that sufficient resources, sound home-school relations, and a high premium on moral values result in a receptive learner corps. This environment encourages these learners to act with diligence, honesty, politeness, respect and service to the community. The findings contribute to research that maintains that quality education is indicative of the school principal and teachers" ethics of being and of doing.


This paper presents a new method to fabricate tungsten microelectrode in a single pulse electrical discharge. The electrode material, diameter and polarity affect the shape of probe. The 80μm diameter tungsten wire between 500 and 600μF capacitance can be fabricated in 1μm tungsten electrode probe tip. The experiment use different material such as W, Cu and Mo. Finally, in the condition of "negative pole machining", only tungsten can be used to make probe. It can greatly shorten the microelectrode fabrication time and effectively improve the reliability of the microelectrode and can fabricate a nanometer level tip in general electrical discharge machining (EDM) machine tool not add any other apparatus. The fabricated microelectrode can be used as a probe for scanner and measurement devices.


The laser hybrid welding process offers many advantages regarding deep penetration, increased welding velocity and with the help of the supplied filler wire an improved bridgeability to gap and misalignment tolerances. High power laser systems with a power of approx. 30 kW are already available on the market. Nevertheless, multi-layer technology with an arc process is still used for welding of plates from a thickness from 20 mm. A potential cause is the process instability with increasing laser power. It is inevitable that gravity drop-out due to the high hydrostatic pressure at increasing wall thickness especially at welding in flat position and with a low welding speed. The surface tension decreases with increasing root width resulting from low welding velocities. To prevent such inadmissible defects of the seam a use of weld pool support is required. Usual weld pool support systems such as ceramic or powder supports require a mechanical detachment which is time-consuming. The electromagnetic weld pool support system described in this work shows an alternative weld pool support which works contactless. It is based on generating Lorentz forces in the weld pool due to oscillating magnetic field and induced eddy currents. This innovative technology offers single pass welds up to 28 mm in flat position and reduced welding velocity with a laser power of just 19 kW. It also leads to improved mechanical-technological properties of the seams because of the slow cooling rate. With usage of an electromagnetic weld pool support the limitation of the hybrid laser arc welding process in the thick sheet metal will be extend.


Transverse cracks in continuous cast steels can form if the hot ductility of the cast steel at the unbending stage is poor. To measure hot ductility, tensile specimens are usually reheated to a high temperature (preferably to the melting point), cooled to the test temperature and then isothermally fractured. In this work, high temperature tensile testing was used to determine the hot ductility of a Nb-Ti and a Ti-B microalloyed steel. However, instead of cooling directly to the test temperature after melting, the specimens were subjected to thermal histories typical of a continuously cast billet surface, and then, at the unbending temperature, subjected to a tensile test to fracture. In other words, physical simulations of the continuous casting procedure were performed. The results were compared with those generated by conventional isothermal tensile testing. For the isothermal tests, both steels exhibited a temperature range of low ductility. However, the physical simulations did not reveal such hot ductility behaviour. For both steels, almost all the physical simulation variants led to hot ductility values lower than predicted by the isothermal tests at the corresponding tensile test temperature. For the Nb-Ti steel, it was revealed that there is a critical minimum temperature, attained by the specimen during the thermal history, below which the hot ductility, measured at the tensile test temperature, is much reduced. It is assumed that this critical minimum temperature leads to the formation of grain boundary ferrite, which probably enhances the rate of formation of Nb precipitates, decreasing the hot ductility in this way. However, for the Ti-B steel, the effect of thermal history could not be explained in such a straightforward manner.


Mesenchymal stem cell behavior can be regulated through mechanical signaling, either by dynamic loading or through biomaterial properties. We developed intrinsically responsive tissue engineering scaffolds that can dynamically load cells. Porous collagen- and alginate-based scaffolds were functionalized with iron oxide to produce magnetically active scaffolds. Reversible deformations in response to magnetic stimulation of up to 50% were recorded by tuning the material properties. Cells could attach to these scaffolds and magnetically induced compressive deformation did not adversely affect viability or cause cell release. This platform should have broad application in the mechanical stimulation of cells for tissue engineering applications.


Learning to speak and understand language is a remarkable and important accomplishment of early childhood. Parent–infant interaction in the first three years is critical to this. This is the focus of this review – the first of the whole area. Seven databases were searched and 1750 studies reduced to 60 with good evidence. These 60 were from many disciplines and their methodological quality was variable. There was strong evidence that parental contingency (communication when the intended recipient is fully oriented towards receiving and processing it) and parental efforts in pre-literacy activities are important. There was strong evidence that interventions can be effective. Parental elaboration of language had less strong evidence. The role of gesture and the role of interaction with siblings and peers had the weakest evidence, but even these were quite well supported. Requirements for future research are specified. Parent–infant interaction is already established as a key factor in language development.


Apple's central business model has not changed since the company's emergence in the late 1980s. While being a leader in consumer electronics innovation, Apple has reliably produced proprietary hardware and software, which has provided the company a competitive advantage in gaining a share of any market into which they have ventured. Apple's strategic management decision to include non-PC products in its portfolio has thrived so far, driven by the success of the iPod, iPad, and iPhone. However, iPod sales have slowed. The iPhone is facing increased competition within the smartphone industry. The success or failure of Apple's latest creation, the iPad Mini, remains to be seen. The combination of these events begs the question: Will Apple's existing and emerging product lines take it to the next level? This paper presents a synopsis of Apple's current and emerging product lines as a means to predict the future direction of the company.


Remaking Picasso's Guernica is a collective that has, since 2012, been working together to re-create a contemporary version of Picasso's Guernica in the form of a textile banner. This conference paper titled 'Remaking Picasso's Guernica: a work of art, an act of protest' was developed during the processes of making the banner and undertaking research on this collective project. It was delivered at the "Subversive Stitch Revisited: the Politics of Cloth" conference, 29-30 November 2013 at the VA Pennina Barnett, writer and curator, and Althea Greenan, Curator of the Women's Art Library, Special Collections, Goldsmiths College, University of London, in collaboration with the V&A and Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts). The conference was dedicated to the memory of Roszika Parker's groundbreaking feminist book 'The Subversive Stitch: embroidery and the making of the feminine' published in 1984.
In this co-authored paper, Dr Rajguru and Dr Ashmore examined the problem of the lone female stitcher, raised by Rozsika Parker in 'The Subversive Stitch', as well as contemporary debates about art, craft, and activism. In Gijs van Hensbergen's words, Picasso's Guernica is a twentieth century icon. It has been widely reproduced in different media, including Goshka Macuga's monumental tapestry, exhibited at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 2009. This paper examined this current project to 're-make' the painting in fabric form, which Megha Rajguru has contributed to, alongside Louise Purbrick and Nicola Ashmore. The Remaking Picasso's Guernics Collective is formed of Brighton-based activists and artists representing Amnesty International Brighton and Hove; Brighton Anti-Fascists; Brighton Voices in Exile; Gatwick Detainee Visitors Group; Migrant English Project; Palestine Solidarity Campaign Brighton and Hove; University of Brighton; and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
The banner's construction embodies an anti-fascist position and contains many unnamed individuals' stitches regardless of their nationality, race, age, sex and religion. In this paper, we discussed processes of collective making; traced the life of the Guernica banner from one public sewing event to another; and finally, reflected upon the stitch as a form of protest.
The full conference paper is available in the public domain as part of the conference proceedings in the form of a podcast.


OBJECTIVE--To compare the usefulness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Doppler ultrasound with that of cross sectional echocardiography and oscillometric blood pressure measurement for the evaluation of aortic coarctation after surgical repair. DESIGN--Prospective study. Aortic diameters measured by cross sectional echocardiography, MRI, and angiography (selected cases) and functional data determined by physical examination, oscillometric blood pressure measurement, and continuous wave Doppler. SETTING--Tertiary referral centre. PATIENTS--40 patients aged 2-28 years (mean 10.6 years) who had had surgical correction of aortic coarctation (mean follow up 5.7 years). RESULTS--In all patients MRI gave diameter measurements of the aortic arch and the thoracic aorta whereas in half of them cross sectional echocardiographic measurement of the isthmic region failed. The correlation coefficient for aortic diameters measured by MRI and angiography was 0.97 and that between MRI and echocardiography was 0.89. Peak velocities in the descending aorta correlated better with residual narrowing of the aortic isthmus or distal aortic arch or both than systolic blood pressure gradients between the upper and lower limbs. A peak velocity of < 2 m/s in the descending aorta during systole excluded important restenosis. Prolongation of anterograde blood flow during diastole always indicated a morphological abnormality--either important restenosis or aneurysmal dilatation. CONCLUSIONS--MRI was better than cross sectional echocardiography for imaging the aortic arch after coarctation repair and measuring its diameter. Peak velocity in the descending aorta correlated better with residual stenosis than did the systolic blood pressure gradient between the upper and lower limbs and this index could be used to indicate a need for MRI.


This paper studies the effects of porosity, sintering atmosphere and composition on the polarisation behaviour of calcium phosphate (CaP) ceramics. Hydroxyapatite (HA) and α- tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) materials were prepared as both dense discs and as porous samples with interconnecting porosity. Materials were sintered in either air or water vapour at 1300°C and poled at a variety of temperatures, applied electric fields and time periods to optimise the polarisation properties of the materials. Thermally Stimulated Depolarisation Current (TSDC) measurements were used to investigate the degree of polarisation of the HA and α-TCP ceramics. A high depolarisation current was observed for both the porous HA and α-TCP ceramics. Sintering in water vapour also increased the depolarisation current due to reduced dehydration reactions, which result in a greater concentration of hydroxyl ions.


As technology advances, the metal width decreases while the global wire length increases. This trend makes the resistance of the power wire increase substantially. Furthermore, the threshold voltage scales nonlinearly, raising the ratio of the threshold voltage to the supply voltage and making the voltage (IR) drop in the power/ground (P/G) network a serious problem in modern IC design. Traditional P/G network-analysis methods are often very computationally expensive, and it is, thus, not feasible to cosynthesize P/G network with floorplan. To make the cosynthesis feasible, we need not only an efficient, effective, and flexible floorplanning algorithm but also a very efficient yet sufficiently accurate P/G network-analysis method. In this paper, we present a method for floorplan and P/G network cosynthesis based on an efficient P/G network-analysis scheme and the B*-tree floorplan representation. We integrate the cosynthesis into a commercial design flow to develop an effective power-integrity (IR drop)-driven design methodology. Experimental results based on a real-world circuit design and the MCNC benchmarks show that our design methodology successfully fixes the IR-drop errors earlier at the floorplanning stage and, thus, enables the single-pass design convergence


A volume in Adult Education Special Topics: Theory, Research, and Practice in Lifelong Learning Series Editor: Kathleen P. King, Fordham University In a most timely volume addressing many of the connections among current fiscal and employment crises to adult education, Learning for Economic Self-Sufficiency highlights the problems and challenges that low-literate adults encounter in various environments. Moreover, this book presents strategies for addressing the chronic illiteracy among low-income workers. The power of this volume is that the reader gains a holistic view of the complexities of educating a population of low-literate adult learners from various life conditions. From language literacy issues in corrections, the workplace and access to higher education, and migrant workers literacy learning barriers, to technology literacies, and consumerism myths, Learning for Economic Self- Sufficiency goes far deeper than prior volumes in exploring the complex scope of issues face by low-income, low-literate adults as they seek learning for economic self-sufficiency. The overall objective of the book is to help readers explore economic self-sufficiency for low literate and low-income adults from various contexts and the role of adult and higher education in developing these learners for greater economic independence. Noting that literacy is only a first step to economic, mental, and physical health as well as responsible citizenship, each chapter provide specific case examples and recommendations to educators and trainers of adults for creating learning programs and environments to facilitate the development of a more literate and economically stable population.


Continuous monitoring of the surface temperature is critical to understanding and forecasting Arctic climate change; as surface temperature integrates changes in the surface energy budget. The sea-ice surface temperature (IST) has been measured with optical and thermal infrared sensors for many years. With the IST Environmental Data Record (EDR) available from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) and future Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites; we can continue to monitor and investigate Arctic climate change. This work examines the quality of the VIIRS IST EDR. Validation is performed through comparisons with multiple datasets; including NASA IceBridge measurements; air temperature from Arctic drifting ice buoys; Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) IST; MODIS IST simultaneous nadir overpass (SNO); and surface air temperature from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis. Results show biases of −0.34; −0.12; 0.16; −3.20; and −3.41 K compared to an aircraft-mounted downward-looking pyrometer; MODIS; MODIS SNO; drifting buoy; and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis; respectively; root-mean-square errors of 0.98; 1.02; 0.95; 4.89; and 6.94 K; and root-mean-square errors with the bias removed of 0.92; 1.01; 0.94; 3.70; and 6.04 K. Based on the IceBridge and MODIS results; the VIIRS IST uncertainty (RMSE) meets or exceeds the JPSS system requirement of 1.0 K. The product can therefore be considered useful for meteorological and climatological applications.


In this paper, we develop a switch and examine transmit diversity algorithm for spectrum sharing cognitive networks. We consider a cognitive network composed of a primary link that employs constant rate and constant power transmission scheme with automatic-and-repeat request (ARQ) protocol, while the secondary link is composed of a fixed power multiple-antenna secondary transmitter and a single antenna receiver. Our objective is to develop a low complex transmit diversity algorithm at the secondary transmitter that maximizes the performance of the secondary link in terms of the effective throughput while maintaining a predetermined maximum loss in the packet rate of the primary link. In achieving this objective, we develop an algorithm that selects the best antenna, which maintains the quality of the secondary link in terms of signal-to-noise ratio above a specific threshold, based on overhearing the acknowledgment (ACK) and negative acknowledgment (NACK) feedback messages transmitted over the primary link. We also develop closed form expressions for the bit error rates and the effective throughput of the secondary link.


Soil contamination with heavy metals is one of the most important threats to the environment because they are easily incorporated into the food chain, threatening the health of plants, animals, and humans. In this study, the effectiveness of the introduced substances (compost and fly ash) was assessed in terms of its influence on the content of Cu and Zn in the soil, potential accumulation of these metals in the cultivated plants (camelina and oat), and thus in food products prepared from these plants. Therefore, the following indicators were used: bioconcentration factors calculated for the total amount (BCFT) and bioavailable amount of metals (BCFB) as well as gender-estimated daily intake (EDI) and health risk index (HRI). Regardless of gender, the EDI values ranged from 0.31 µg·kg−1 to 0.49 µg·kg−1 for Cu and from 0.9 µg·kg−1 to 1.8 µg·kg−1 for Zn in oat. For camelina, the calculated values were as follows: 4.1–8.5 µg·kg−1 for Cu and 7.1–12.1 µg·kg−1 for Zn. The HRI values were very low (in general 0.03–0.2), indicating no health risk connected with potential consumption of oat or camelina food products. The amounts of Cu and Zn in the crops grown on the soil amended with compost or fly ash were significantly lower (by 21–37% for oat and 14–34% for camelina) compared to the content of these metals in the control plants. Moreover, the levels of bioavailable metals decreased in soil as a result of the applied immobilizing agents. The study showed that the immobilization efficiency of compost and fly ash was comparable, and therefore the choice of either of these substances for the chemical remediation of soil contaminated with heavy metals is justified.


Carbonaceous material in the particulate matter was measured in Rome urban area. The carbonaceous material constitutes a significant component of total aerosol mass (30-40%) and it is composed by two main fractions, elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC). EC is essentially a primary pollutant emitted directly from incomplete combustion processes whereas OC has both primary and secondary origin. A chemical OC investigation has been carried out in order to determine the nalkanes, the n-alkanoic acids, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitro-PAHs by means an HRGC-MS procedure. A different seasonal distribution of these compound classes attributed to photochemical radical activity (n-alkanes and PAH decrease in spring- and summertime) and to biogenic plant emission (n-alkanoic acid increase in summertime) has been evidenced.


This keynote aims to assess the performance of linear state estimation (SE) processes of power systems relying on synchrophasor measurements. The performance assessment is conducted with respect to two different families of SE algorithms, i.e., static ones represented by weighted least squares (WLS) and recursive ones represented by Kalman filter (KF). To this end, the keynote firstly recalls the analytical formulation of linear WLS state estimator (LWLS-SE) and Discrete KF state estimator (DKF-SE). Then, it discusses the formal quantification of the differences in the performance of the two algorithms. The validation of this result, together with the comprehensive performance evaluation of the considered state estimators, is carried out using two case studies, representing distribution (IEEE 123-bus test feeder) and transmission (IEEE 39-bus test system) networks. Finally, it is also discussed the correctness of the most common process model adopted in DKF-SE of power systems.


The term "structured settlement" refers to a broad category of financial resolutions between an aggrieved party and a party deemed to be responsible (or their insurer). In a structured settlement, often used to settle wrongful death and personal injury cases, the plaintiff is paid money over time, rather than in a single lump sum. This article provides an introduction to structured settlements, including how they benefit plaintiffs and insurers, how they are underwritten, how their transactions function, how they are securitized, how they have performed in the asset-backed securities marketplace, and how their risks are uncorrelated to the risks to which many other asset classes are exposed.


Current consumption behavior is damaging the environment. To minimize the damage in the future, it is important that research is done on individual actions, lifestyle and behaviors related to sustainable consumption (Mont & Plepys, 2008). Present studies focused on the effect of buying a product with a product personality and brand personality that fits the self-image of consumers on the sustainable use of products. The studies also examine whether this effect occurs because products with an appropriate personality are easier to process, or because the consumers feel more involved with these products since they reflect their self-image.
The first experiment explores the role of the human personality in assigning a certain personality to a specific product. That's because the personality of a consumer might influence the observed personality of a product. The experiment also examines whether adding a brand to the product increases the fit of the product with a certain human personality. The second experiment explores why people are more likely to use a product longer when it fits their personality. A possible reason for this could be because they feel more attached towards these products and they experience more self-reference, or because products with an compatible personality are easier to process. Aside from that, the second experiment also examines if adding a brand to the product increases the effect of the fit with the human personality on the sustainable consumption.
The results of the first study show that extrovert participants see a greater difference between the product and brand personality and the degree of extroversion of a black and a multi-colored shirt, than introvert participants see. They also experience a more positive attitude towards the brand Porsche. It appears that the multi-colored shirts have a more extrovert brand and product personality than black shirts have. The results of study 2 show that a fit between the personality of a product or brand and the human personality of the consumer leads to more self-reference, more attachment, a better processing fluency, more liking, more credibility, a better product attitude, a better purchase intention and a more sustainable consumption. Implications of the findings are provided in the discussion of this report, which also contains suggestions for future research.


The degree, the (hop-)diameter, and the weight are the most basic and well-studied parameters of geometric spanners. In a seminal STOC'95 paper, titled "Euclidean spanners: short, thin and lanky", Arya et al. [2] devised a construction of Euclidean (1+ε)-spanners that achieves constant degree, diameter O(log n), weight O(log2 n) ⋅ ω(MST), and has running time O(n ⋅ log n). This construction applies to n-point constant-dimensional Euclidean spaces. Moreover, Arya et al. conjectured that the weight bound can be improved by a logarithmic factor, without increasing the degree and the diameter of the spanner, and within the same running time.
 This conjecture of Arya et al. became one of the most central open problems in the area of Euclidean spanners. Nevertheless, the only progress since 1995 towards its resolution was achieved in the lower bounds front: Any spanner with diameter O(log n) must incur weight Ω(log n) ⋅ ω(MST), and this lower bound holds regardless of the stretch or the degree of the spanner [12, 1].
 In this paper we resolve the long-standing conjecture of Arya et al. in the affirmative. We present a spanner construction with the same stretch, degree, diameter, and running time, as in Arya et al.'s result, but with optimal weight O(log n) ⋅ ω(MST). So our spanners are as thin and lanky as those of Arya et al., but they are really short!
 Moreover, our result is more general in three ways. First, we demonstrate that the conjecture holds true not only in constant-dimensional Euclidean spaces, but also in doubling metrics. Second, we provide a general tradeoff between the three involved parameters, which is tight in the entire range. Third, we devise a transformation that decreases the lightness of spanners in general metrics, while keeping all their other parameters in check. Our main result is obtained as a corollary of this transformation.


A W-band frequency doubler MMIC is designed and fabricated using 1-μm InP DHBT technology. Active balun is employed to transform the single-ended signal into differential output. Push—push configuration loaded with harmonic resonant network is utilized to acquire the second harmonic frequency. A multi-stage differential structure improves the conversion gain and suppresses the fundamental frequency. The MMIC occupies an area of 0.55 × 0.5 mm2 with 18 DHBTs integrated. Measurements show that the output power is above 5.8 dBm with the suppression of fundamental frequency below −16 dBc and the conversion gain above 4.7 dB over 75–80 GHz.


One of the most controversial aspects of Citizens United is the Court's treatment of corporate personhood. Many members of the public feel that the Court held that corporations are "just like people" and they feel this wrong. Yet many scholars argue that the concern for corporate personhood is misplaced. This article argues that corporate personhood is indeed an important part of the rhetorical strategy to suggest that making distinctions between corporations and persons, or between different types of corporations, is discriminatory and ought to be forbidden on that ground. Moreover, this rhetorical strategy allows the Court to elide more substantive justifications for the extension of fundamental rights to ordinary business corporations. The justifications that have been offered -- corporate rights are merely a "pass through" to recognize the rights of the people who make up the corporation or corporate speech is protected for its value to the public -- are demonstrably inadequate. I argue that focusing on personhood suggests that not all corporations are equally good candidates to receive fundamental rights protection and because words have a powerful influence on our thinking, the personhood metaphor lends superficial credence to the notion that distinctions between types of corporate speakers is somehow invidious or that distinctions between commercial and non-commercial speech are discriminatory. Because this argument casts a constitutional shadow on a great deal of our regulatory law it seems worth exposing its weak foundation.


The past twenty years have seen an increasing emphasis on community-based services and equal access to employment for all individuals, including those with the most significant disabilities. The question is, to what extent have changes in philosophy translated into changes for state agencies and the people they serve? Since 1988, ICI has collected data on day and employment services for people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities through a national survey funded by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities. This brief highlights new findings, including a continuing increase in both integrated employment and community-based nonwork services. Comprehensive figures for all fifty states and D.C., as well as further analysis of historical context, trends, and implications for policy and practice, are forthcoming in State Trends in Employment Services for People with Developmental Disabilities, Second Edition.


In its' Policy Recommendations for Regulatory Quality of march 2005 the OECD addressed Member States involved in the reform of public utilities, claiming for "policy coherence", "multi-level co-ordination", "ex ante and ex post assessment". If the promotion of competition in network industries remains a central goal (as it was in the 1997 Recommendation on Regulatory Reform) the OECD is now asking for reforms to be finally implemented. The achievement of such goal imposes Governments to consider that regulatory quality may not be attained exclusively via good rule-drafting. Regulatory reform (and its by-product, regulatory quality) is not a one-off effort, accomplished once and for all, but a dynamic, long-term, multi-disciplinary and proactive policy. Therefore, all elements of the reform "process" should be integrated (such as policy, instruments - whether regulatory or not - and, especially, institutions). The Italian electricity market has undergone major changes in the past decade. Given its inherent complexity, it provides an interesting case study to analyse and evaluate the institutional capacity to perform and properly accomplish that exceptionally organisational challenge called regulatory reform. The article is organised as follows: after a brief review of the literature on institutional design (par. 2.1), it will focus on fundamental contradictions stemming from some "inherited" political choices (parr. 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3.3); afterwards, problems of the initial design of the reform will be analysed focusing on both the drafting of legislative texts (par. 2.2.4) and the allocation of enforcement responsibilities (parr. 2.2.5 and 2.2.6). Aiming at testing the robustness of the reform design to the risk of capture, we finally describe some interactions among actors in the regulatory arena (par. 2.3), suggesting that they come more or less directly (path dependency), as a consequence of that initial design and its practical implementation. The conclusion (par. 3) will point onto the need for more clearly defined objectives; greater coordination and coherence across levels of government, and regulatory responsiveness.


Opportunities to strengthen resilience can be limited, as the adverse impacts of climate change become more severe. In these cases, it is recognized that there are limits to adaptation and that communities are facing loss and damage as a result of climate change. The perspectives of communities most vulnerable to climate change impacts—in particular those of marginalized sub-sections of communities whose voices and perspectives may be inadequately represented—should be reflected in processes that assess loss and damage and that facilitate relief, support and compensation for those affected. Unfortunately, community dynamics can often hold back women and marginalized community members from participating in or benefiting from assessment processes, resulting in under-reporting of their losses. Participatory processes such as the collective development of maps and calendars can be effective tools for communities and marginalized sub-sections to gather, understand, analyze and act on information about the climate impacts that they are experiencing. These processes can form the basis for accurate assessment of the economic losses and damages suffered. Research initiatives must also avoid the risk of leaving community members with disturbing new questions about the challenges they face, without also leaving them the means to understand the issues and take action. Through the course of this research, a number of participatory tools were adapted to the context of climate-induced loss and damage, trialled, reviewed and improved. This has resulted in the identification of methodologies that can be used for the specific purpose of community-led assessment of climate-induced loss and damage. The methodologies have been published in a Handbook for Community-Led Assessment of Climate-Induced Loss and Damage by ActionAid International, the Asia Disaster Risk Reduction Network (ADRRN) and Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA) with the support of the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN). The participatory tools in this 7-step guide can be used by communities to assess the losses and damages they have experienced and to understand the trends and future changes that climate change may bring. They can use the participatory analysis to initiate strategic planning to reduce vulnerability to future potential losses, and request support from authorities. ABStrAct INStructIoN: Set the StArt PAge of thIS ArtIcle Below. eNSure PArAgrAPh Style "MetA__fIrSt-PAge" IS uSed.


In order to reduce the volume of calculation operations, a reverse course of the study of the strength and stability of the rod elements of steel structures in the general case of loading is proposed. For a given limit state in the cross section of the elastic rod element corresponding to the ultimate strain , using the elastic solution method and the «Section» algorithm, the real ultimate state in strength is established. The results obtained in this way are more reliable, since the development of plastic deformations (and for thin-walled elements - section reductions), are determined by the combined action of efforts. The stability of rod elements is known to be characterized by a violation of the equilibrium deformed state. Therefore, following the solutions of the strength problems, at the same loads, a number of stress states are considered in the most loaded section with various values ( ),according to which the «deformation» forces and the corresponding working cross-sectional area and the rod stiffness are determined. Using the latter, the inverse analytical solution of deformation problems determines the largest general loading parameter corresponding to the buckling coefficient.


The long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a rare disorder of cardiac conduction in children. It may lead to severe arrhythmia, syncope or sudden death. Electrolyte disturbance and the use of procainamide are closely related to the acquired LQTS. This report concerns a fatality of acquired LQTS in a boy undergoing craniotomy. After induction of anesthesia, his electrocardiogram displayed a frequent torsade de pointes type of ventricular tachycardia with prolonged QT interval. Therefore, congenital LQTS was impressed. However, the arrhythmia was aggravated by intravenous propranolol. Isoproterenol infusion was given under the diagnosis of acquired LQTS. The arrhythmia was successfully abolished and a stable hemodynamic status was maintained. However, the child could not tolerate the anesthesia which lasted for 30 hours, and eventually succumbed, despite aggressive treatment and resuscitation attempts. Differential diagnosis between the types of LQTS should be made promptly. This may be of paramount importance in the outcome since prognosis depends upon proper treatment. This case report discusses the etiology and management of this rare abnormality.


coincidentally with the treatment of the organic condition; (c) the illness occurred nearly three years ago, but there has been no sign of recurrence despite the fact that I have ,done two more tours in West Africa (I have not had malaria again), and (d) another psychiatrist colleague in my home town who saw me shortly after I returned home from hospital refuted the diagnosis of schizophrenia. The incident has taught me that psychiatrists, unless they consider the patient as a whole and not just his mind, are as liable to overlook the significance of organic factors in causing mental disease as we general practitioners are to underrate the psychiatric aspects of bodily diseases.-I am, etc., MEDICAL PRACTITIONER, WEST AFRiCA.


The metals content (Ca, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) of roasted coffee varieties grown in five different regions of Ethiopia was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Representative samples were collected from Coffee Quality Inspection and Liquoring Center in the capital city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the metals were extracted by wet digestion. The optimal digestion required 4 hours refluxing at 270 o C on Kjeldhal hot plate with a mixture of 5 mL HNO 3 (70%) and 1.5 mL HClO 4 (70%) to completely digest 0.5 g of roasted coffee samples. Recoveries of metals in the spiked samples varied from 90 to 110%. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences in the concentrations of Ca, Co, Cu, Mn, Cr, Ni and Zn with the variation of coffee beans geographic origin. Pearson correlation coefficients indicated high positive correlation among some metals and high negative correlation among others. The amounts of metals that a person can get from two cups of coffee are well below the daily recommended values and drinking two cups of coffee is safe for an adult person and free from the risks of Cd and Pb toxicity. KEY WORDS : Metals content, Roasted coffee, Indigenous coffee varieties, Ethiopia Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2018 , 32(1), 27-38 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v32i1.3


Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) of the n-6 series, in particular linoleic and arachidonic acids, are of great interest to the nutritionist because they are essential for humans and other simple-stomach mammalian species. They serve as the precursor for a host of biologically active compounds, and participate in the maintenance of normal membrane function. Recently, the general population has been encouraged to substitute PUFA for saturated fatty acids in their daily diets, in the hope of reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. While, for most people consuming a Westem-type diet, n-6 PUFA may account for ~ 1 5 % of energy intake, persons on total parenteral nutrition may receive as much as 50% of their energy as n-6 PUFA. An as yet unanswered question has been whether consumption of high levels of 72-6 PUFA may encourage the development of infection, and particular Gram negative infection. Fig. I presents in diagrammatic form the hypotheses on which such a suggestion may be based.


The influence of behaviour on host-parasite dynamics has theoretical support but few empirical studies have examined this influence for wild-captured hosts, especially in colonial species, which are thought to face generally high risk of exposure. Behavioural tendencies of hosts in novel en- vironments could mediate host exposure. We tested the hypothesis that behavioural tendencies of hosts, and host sex and age, correlate with prevalence and intensity of ectoparasites in a gregarious mammal, the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus). We also tested whether relationships between host behaviour and parasite prevalence and intensity would vary between taxa of ectoparasites which differ in host-seeking behaviour. We predicted that individual hosts displaying active and explo- rative behaviours would have higher prevalence and intensity of parasites that depend on physical contact among hosts for transmission (mites) but that host behaviour would not influence preva- lence and intensity of mobile ectoparasites with active host-seeking behaviour (fleas). We recorded behavioural responses of wild-captured bats in a novel-environment test and then sampled each individual for ectoparasites. After accounting for age and sex we found mixed support for our hy- potheses in some but not all demographics. More active adult and young of the year (YOY) males were more likely to host mites while more active adult and YOY females were less likely to host fleas. Our results highlight possible differences in the influence of host and parasite behaviour on parasite transmission dynamics for colonial compared to non-colonial species and have conserva- tion implications for understanding pathogen transmission in bat white-nose syndrome and other wildlife diseases.


The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled" is a watershed development in the fields of intellectual property and human rights. As the first international legal instrument to establish mandatory exceptions to copyright, the Marrakesh Treaty uses the legal and policy tools of copyright to advance human rights. The World Blind Union Guide to the Marrakesh Treaty offers a comprehensive framework for interpreting the Treaty in ways that enhance the ability of print-disabled individuals to create, read, and share books and cultural materials in accessible formats. The Guide also provides specific recommendations to government officials, policymakers, and disability rights organizations involved with implementing the Treaty's provisions in national law.


This paper compares and contrasts two Indigenous figures in Mexican history and American history. La Malinche aided conquistador Hernan Cortes during his conquest of Tenochtitlan in the sixteenth century in a way similar to Pocahontas' "rescue" of Capt. John Smith in the next century. Both women are among the earliest Indigenous figures to become mythologized in their respective nations' history, yet the legacy they left behind is different; La Malinche's legacy is more contentious than Pocahontas's. This paper explores the similarities their stories share and the role they play as mediators, mothers, and symbolic figures. It includes a careful study of the many ways they have been remembered since, from artistic portrayals to comparisons with biblical figures. Finally, the paper analyzes the nuances in each of their legacies and proposes one way of interpreting why the two figures have come to be regarded differently over time.


The following list of doctoral dissertations in progress in universities and colleges in the United States and Canada is compiled from returns sent by 39 departments of sociology. The number of candidates now working for doctoral degrees in 232. This list includes dissertations in social work, divinity, and other related fields whenever the local department of sociology undertakes to direct them.


Much has been written about superconductivity in the past 18 months. Some of it is technical, and usually it is accurate. Some of it promises applications on time scales that I find difficult to believe. But in a good fraction of this writing the technological challenge posed by the discovery of the new high‐temperature superconductors is used to justify sweeping generalizations about US research, development and manufacturing capabilities. The theme underlying this sort of writing is that "superconductivity is our last chance to prove our technological prowess," or, more simply, "we will lose out to Japan—again." It is this aspect of the superconductivity news that I will discuss. I find that there is some underlying cause for concern but that many positive aspects of US commercialization of conventional, low‐temperature superconductors are being ignored. Furthermore, suggestions that US industry is not contributing at the forefront of research in high‐Tc superconductivity are demonstrably incorrect.


For any Lie groupoid we construct an analytic index morphism taking values in a modified $K-theory$ group which involves the convolution algebra of compactly supported smooth functions over the groupoid. The construction is performed by using the deformation algebra of smooth functions over the tangent groupoid constructed in \cite{Ca2}. This allows in particular to prove a more primitive version of the Connes-Skandalis Longitudinal index Theorem for foliations, that is, an index theorem taking values in a group which pairs with Cyclic cocycles. As other application, for $D$ a $\gr-$PDO elliptic operator with associated index $ind D\in K_0(\ci_c (\gr))$, we prove that the pairing $$ ,$$ with $\tau$ a bounded continuous cyclic cocycle, only depends on the principal symbol class $[\sigma(D)]\in K^0(A^*\gr)$. The result is completely general for {\'E}tale groupoids. We discuss some potential applications to the Novikov's conjecture.


Progress in underwater acoustic telemetry since 1982 is reviewed within a framework of six current research areas: (1) underwater channel physics, channel simulations, and measurements; (2) receiver structures; (3) diversity exploitation; (4) error control coding; (5) networked systems; and (6) alternative modulation strategies. Advances in each of these areas as well as perspectives on the future challenges facing them are presented. A primary thesis of this paper is that increased integration of high-fidelity channel models into ongoing underwater telemetry research is needed if the performance envelope (defined in terms of range, rate, and channel complexity) of underwater modems is to expand.


Three dimensional (3D) videos are the next natural step in the evolution of digital media technologies. In order to provide viewers with depth perception and immersive experience, 3D video streams contain one or more views and additional information describing the scene's geometry. This greatly increases the bandwidth requirements for 3D video transport. In this thesis, we address the challenges associated with delivering high quality 3D video content to heterogeneous devices over both wired and wireless networks. We focus on three problems: energy-efficient multicast of 3D videos over 4/5G networks, quality-aware HTTP adaptive streaming of free-viewpoint videos, and achieving quality-of-experience (QoE) fairness in free-viewpoint video streaming in mobile networks. In the first problem, multiple 3D videos represented in the two-view-plus-depth format and scalably coded into several substreams are multicast over a broadband wireless network. We show that optimally selecting the substreams to transmit for the multicast sessions is an NP-complete problem and present a polynomial time approximation algorithm to solve it. To maximize the power savings of mobile receivers, we extend the algorithm to efficiently schedule the transmission of the chosen substreams from each video. In the second problem, we present a free-viewpoint video streaming architecture based on state-of-the-art HTTP adaptive streaming protocols. We propose a rate adaptation method for streaming clients based on virtual view quality models, which relate the quality of synthesized views to the qualities of the reference views, to optimize the user's quality-of-experience. We implement the proposed adaptation method in a streaming client and assess its performance. Finally, in the third problem, we propose an efficient radio resource allocation algorithm in mobile wireless networks where multiple free-viewpoint video streaming clients compete for the limited resources. The resulting allocation achieves QoE fairness across the streaming sessions and it reduces quality fluctuations.


This research study compared four academic libraries' approaches to curating the metadata of dataset submissions in their institutional repositories and classified them in one of four categories: no curation, pre-ingest curation, selective curation, and post-ingest curation. The goal is to understand the impact that curation may have on the quality of user-submitted metadata. The findings were 1) the metadata elements varied greatly between institutions, 2) repositories with more options for authors to contribute metadata did not result in more metadata contributed, 3) pre- or post-ingest curation process could have a measurable impact on the metadata but are difficult to separate from other factors, and 4) datasets submitted to a repository with pre- or post-ingest curation more often included documentation.


Evaluation systems of various types are an integral part of a country's education policy space, within which they are supposed to have the basic functions of enhancing accountability and supporting school development. Here we argue that in a crowded policy space evaluation systems may interfere with each other in a way that can have unintended consequences and create new 'policies by the way' that are not the result of intentional policy decisions. To shed light on this argument, we examine five of approximately 30 evaluation systems operating in the Swedish education system. Our analysis examines a situation in which many evaluation systems are doing almost the same thing, i.e. collecting a similar and limited set of quantitative data, and addressing the same local governance actors with the primary goal of supporting school development in the same direction. By doing so, these evaluation systems could thus give rise to several unintended consequences, including a scaling down of the school law and curriculum, multiple accountability problems, increased administration and new intermediary job functions at the level of local education governance.


he European Union (EU) has adopted a very generous region-to-region approach towards Latin America in recent decades. However, although the EU adopted the same interregional strategy across different policy areas, the quality of interregional interaction (and success) vary significantly. A telling example is the EU's interregional approach to sign a far-reaching region-to-region association agreement with Latin America: instead of having one overarching EU-LAC agreement, the EU had to negotiate agreements with sub-regions in Latin America, and eventually only successfully concluded an Association Agreement with the Central American region (SICA) as negotiations with MERCOSUR have only recently been re-launched after a deadlock of six years and negotiations with the Andean region failed permanently, leading the EU to conclude bilateral association agreements with several Andean states instead. Another interesting case of EU-driven interregionalism is the case of EU-Latin America science diplomacy. In this policy area, it seems that the EU's interregional approach has been particularly successful, as both regions continuously call for the creation and strengthening of a "Common Area for Higher Education, Research and Technology" and various high-level working groups and action plans have been established to achieve this end. Yet, in contrast to the considerable scholarly attention for understanding the success/failure of EU-driven economic interregionalism, a critical assessment of EU-Latin America interregional cooperation in the field of science, higher education and innovation has not been produced to date. This paper aims to fill this notable academic (and policy-making) gap by providing a thorough overview of (1) the EU's drivers behind this particular foreign policy action and the chosen interregional approach; (2) the applied policy instruments and actions of this specific case of EU-Latin American interregional relations; and (3) achieved impact of this specific case of EU-Latin American interregional relations.


Abstract The Social Security Statement is the primary resource most workers prefer to use to learn about their Social Security benefits. The Social Security Administration periodically mails this and supporting documents to all workers to help them make informed decisions about when to start receiving their benefits. Understandably, the Statement provides detailed information about the worker's retirement benefit. However, these documents contain remarkably little information about the survivor benefit despite the financial importance of this particular auxiliary benefit to the widows of deceased workers in widowhood. We analyze the effect of modifications to the survivor benefit information in the Statement on benefit knowledge and expected claiming behavior of married men using an experimental survey of workers. The results provide evidence that the augmentation of this information can temporarily improve benefit knowledge and influence expected claim ages.


Research is lacking on alliance international contracts. Surprisingly, previous research has concluded that contract structure is
independent of the partners' nationalities. Yet empirical studies have demonstrated that contracts are heterogeneous. A deeper investigation of contract structure would allow us to understand how international R&D collaborations are managed. In this study, we code a sample of 220 biotechnology R&D alliance contracts in order to conduct an empirical comparison of the contract terms according to the partners' locations. Our results show that the regionalization perspective sheds new light on the how contract functions vary according to the partners' geographic locations and suggest that the relationships among the distances both geographic and institutional between alliance partners are complex, as are their impacts on contract structure.


Securitizations affect the way a credit institution operates. Alongside structured finance, they allow a bank to free capital and transform risk management. In the literature of the last years, structured finance transactions have been frequently identified among the main suspects for the 2008 financial crisis. As such, these transactions are purported to pose a considerable threat to the financial markets and the reputed stability and transparency manifested therein. Thus, securitizations, the stereotypical transactions of this kind, have egregiously challenged the supervisory authorities, given the dearth of regulation in this area until a decennium ago. Nevertheless, securitization markets are still believed to provide operators with unique opportunities to raise finance through alternative funding and diversified funding sources. Against such a backdrop, this chapter seeks to critically discuss and analyse the structure of a securitization and the much publicized legal risks it presents. Furthermore, along the epistemological fil rouge of the shadow banking system, the analysis is focused on how recent regulation in the EU has managed to address, among others, some crucial elements: (a) the protection of the investor and his/her right to be informed while investing in asset-backed securities; (b) the due diligence process that regulated entities must observe in connection with such securities. Ultimately, the scope of the research is to assess whether structured finance transactions may emerge from the most obscure area of shadow banking and become, by virtue of the regulation, consistent with what, etymologically speaking, securitization should be, securitas, hence safety.


SUSTAIN (Supervised and Unsupervised STratified Adaptive Incremental Network) is a model of how humans learn categories from examples. SUSTAIN initially assumes a simple category structure. If simple solutions prove inadequate and SUSTAIN is confronted with a surprising event (e.g., it is told that a bat is a mammal instead of a bird), SUSTAIN recruits an additional cluster to represent the surprising event. Newly recruited clusters are available to explain future events and can themselves evolve into prototypes-attractors-rules. SUSTAIN's discovery of category substructure is affected not only by the structure of the world but by the nature of the learning task and the learner's goals. SUSTAIN successfully extends category learning models to studies of inference learning, unsupervised learning, category construction, and contexts in which identification learning is faster than classification learning.


The previous research showed that highly doped polysilicon nanofilms (PSNFs) have a high gauge factor and stable temperature characteristics, promoting their applications in piezoresistive sensors. For correcting the resistance deviation and improving the resistance matching of sensing elements, the electrical trimming (ET) characteristics of PSNFs deposited by LPCVD at different temperatures were studied. By the interstitial-vacancy (IV) model, the resistance falloff in trimming phenomenon is considered as a result of the decrease of scattering centers caused by the recombination of IV pairs. By modeling grain boundaries (GBs) as the accumulation of IV pairs (basic defects), it is believed that IV pairs can recombine layer-by-layer under the energy excitation of joule heat generated by high current conduction. The experiment results show that the threshold current density for ET of PSNFs is an order of magnitude lower than that of polysilicon common films, while the trimming accuracy and stability of directly deposited PSNFs are superior to the recrystallized ones. Finally, it is gained that reducing amorphous phases at GBs by optimizing deposition temperature can improve ET characteristics of PSNFs.


The aim of this review was to investigate if sexual intercourse during pregnancy is safe for mother and foetus. The method of this study included bibliography research from both the review and the research literature, mostly in books, professional journals and in 'pubmed data base' Results: The research showed that Women often wonder about the safety of sexual intercourse while pregnant and also seem not to discuss it openly with their caregivers. The data on the subject are biased as it is based on surveys and interviews that depend on information provided by pregnant women. Sex is a private issue and society generally encourages this approach. Therefore, data collected is biased by women's private issues, the societal biases and their interpretation by these individuals as well as the desire to provide 'the right answer', the researcher is looking for. While it is generally accepted that sex in pregnancy is safe, most health professionals reassure their clients that sex is safe in pregnancy without knowing the evidence this recommendation is based on. Conclusions: Αs long as no health issues are involved, sexual intercourse during pregnancy is safe.


Katharina Pistor and Philip A. Wellons, The Role of Law and Legal Institutions in Asian Economic Development, 1960-1995. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Pp. xi + 294 pages. $39.95 cloth. Kanishka jayasuriya, ed., Law, Capitalism, and Power in Asia: The Rule of Law and Legal Institutions. New York: Routledge, 1999. Pp. xiii + 345 pages. $99.99 cloth; $32.99 paper. Robert S. Brown and Alan Gutterman, Asian Economic and Legal Development. Uncertainty, Risk, and Legal Efficiency. Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1998. Pp. xv + 477 pages. $148.00 cloth. The relationship between law and economic development has been a central concern of modern social theory, providing a focal point for the analyses of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. In the 1970s, law and society scholars drew on these traditions to inform international development policy in what was then called the "Law and Development Movement." These scholars, who focused primarily on Latin America and who were informed by an activist vision of law as a tool for social change, sought to export U.S. models of law and legal education, suggesting the possibility of a theoretically informed development policy focused on law (Tamanaha 1995). The Law and Development Movement ultimately fizzled (Gardner 1980; Trubek and Galanter 1974), and with it went the budgets for legal policy reform in developing countries. Donors turned their attention elsewhere. However, new theoretical developments, as well as the lingering importance of the underlying questions, have given momentum to a new wave of law and development activities on a far larger scale than ever before (deLisle 1999). Today, the relationship of law and economic development is again at the very forefront of development policymaking, as government agencies, international organizations, and the non-profit sector advocate the need for strengthening the rule of law in developing countries. Although it is probably a mischaracterization to assert that the new activity is institutionally and intellectually cohesive enough to form a "movement," it is clear that legal institutions occupy a central place in development assistance again (deLisle 1999:212-15). The resurgence of law and development corresponds with renewed interest in the rapid postwar growth of economies in East and Southeast Asia. By most accounts, law has not played a major role in Asian economic growth. Scholars have placed more emphasis on particular policies, institutions, and cultural underpinnings rather than on law per se (Upham 1994). For example, in its monumental study, The East Asian Miracle, the World Bank (1993) does not discuss the legal system. Preliminary evidence from Chinese economic reforms indicates that, for the most part, increased reliance on legal ordering has not displaced a system of economic organization based on connections, or guanxi (Lubman 1996; Jones 1994). Having drawn on evidence from Asia, some have claimed that the rule of law is dispensable in the pursuit of economic growth (see Davis 1998:304). There is clearly a tension between the centrality of law in theories of development and existing evidence from Asia. There are at least two possible resolutions of this tension, one empirical and the other theoretical. One possibility is that existing evidence is insufficient and that a more detailed study of Asian legal institutions would elucidate their central importance in Asian growth. The other possibility is that theoretical assumptions of donors and scholars about the universal importance of legal institutions are mistaken and that there is a need to adjust conceptual frameworks accordingly. At the broadest level, then, the questions of whether and how law matters for economic growth in Asia are of great importance for both theory and practice. Three recent studies address these questions in different ways. Together, they expand the empirical base for the study of Asian economic law and suggest new directions for policymakers concerned with the role of law in development. …


The nucleosome core regulates DNA-templated processes through the highly conserved nucleosome acidic patch. While structural and biochemical studies have shown that the acidic patch controls chromatin factor binding and activity, few studies have elucidated its functions in vivo. We employed site-specific crosslinking to identify proteins that directly bind the acidic patch in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and demonstrated crosslinking of histone H2A to Paf1 complex subunit Rtf1 and FACT subunit Spt16. Rtf1 bound to nucleosomes through its histone modification domain, supporting its role as a cofactor in H2B K123 ubiquitylation. An acidic patch mutant showed defects in nucleosome positioning and occupancy genome-wide. Our results provide new information on the chromatin engagement of two central players in transcription elongation and emphasize the importance of the nucleosome core as a hub for proteins that regulate chromatin during transcription.


This study aims to determine: relationship between the work environment with performance of teachers  The research was conducted on the state senior high school of Depok, West Java. The method used was survey research. The instrument used is questioner.  The results of research found that: there is a positive correlation between work environment with performance of teachers. This research concluded that the more condusif of  work environment,  the performance of teachers is higher.


We improve the performance of thin-film solar cells using polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films formed by flash lamp annealing (FLA) of precursor amorphous Si (a-Si) films on glass substrates by modulating their surface structures. The surface morphology of the poly-Si films can be easily controlled by conventional wet chemical etching using mixed acid of HF and HNO3, accompanied by effective reduction in optical reflectance. Solar cells with the best performance are obtained when the poly-Si films have the smallest surface roughness. This enhancement of the performance can be understood as the improved coverage of the poly-Si surface with post-deposited doping layers as well as the more effective anti-reflection effect caused by the wet etching.


: The basic concept of this article is the need to adapt the health systems to demographic and epidemiologic changes, considering that, at the present time the principal health problem of the world is adult health: non transmissible chronic diseases and accidents. As in the previous epidemiological cycle, when maternal and child health problems predominated, the aim must be put in health promotion and prevention, encouraging behavioral changes that decrease or avoid risk factors. The basic tools to incite the change are social communication, the introduction of health educational contents in formal education and the global reorientation of health systems from a predominance of curative actions towards preventive actions. At the present time, the analysis and debate of this topic has allowed the creation of multidisciplinary teams, integrated by epidemiologists, economists and sociologists, that will have to stratify the problems according to the needs and resources of a developing world. In Chile, a project searching for equity in the 35 poorest and postponed communities in the whole country is in operation. The most important result of this exercise has been the resemblance between the opinions of the community and of the public health specialists, which greatly helps the search for solutions.


The effects of cell concentration and anticoagulants on neutrophil passive migration and chemotaxis were examined. A relationship between passive migration and cell numbers was documented using blood neutrophils from neutropenic and normal individuals, as well as with furified granulocytes suspended in autologous serum. At granulocyte levels below 1500/cu mm, passive migration is impaired. The apparent defect in neutropenic patients can be normalized by adjusting cell counts to normal levels. inhibition of passive migration by standard concentrations of heparin and chelator anticoagulants necessitates the use of small and carefully controlled amounts of these agents. Cell concentration and anticoagulants likewise influence chemotaxis. EDTA, oxalate, and citrate prevent the formation of chemotactic factor(s), whereas heparin appears to inhibit chemotaxis by a different mechanism possibly related to a direct cell effect. A knowledge of these variables is essential for proper evaluation of leukocyte migration studies.


The quality of information provided to pregnant women seeking prenatal care from public maternal and child health (MCH) facilities was assessed in Irbid, the principal city in the North of Jordan. The structural setup of the settings, as well as the process of information transmission, were examined using interviews of the managing physicians and recipients, as well as observation of encounters between pregnant women and health care providers (physicians and midwives) at the health facility. The results of the study showed that pregnant women's needs for health information were not being adequately met Women were dissatisfied with the quality of information delivered. Inadequacies in both the structure and the process of information provision are discussed.


: Intravascular photoacoustic (IVPA) imaging has the potential to characterize lipid-rich structures based on the optical absorption contrast of tissues. In this study, we explore frequency domain photoacoustics (FDPA) for intravascular applications. The system employed an intensity-modulated continuous wave (CW) laser diode, delivering 1W over an intensity modulated chirp frequency of 4-12MHz. We demonstrated the feasibility of this approach on an agar vessel phantom with graphite and lipid targets, imaged using a planar acoustic transducer co-aligned with an optical fibre, allowing for the co-registration of IVUS and FDPA images. A frequency domain correlation method was used for signal processing and image reconstruction. The graphite and lipid targets show an increase in FDPA signal as compared to the background of 21dB and 16dB, respectively. Use of compact CW laser diodes may provide a valuable alternative for the development of photoacoustic intravascular devices instead of pulsed laser systems.


Embedded flash endurance and data retention are the key reliability concerns for numerous microcontroller applications. Consumers require memory endurance on the order of 106 to 107 cycles and storage life of greater than a decade. In order to manufacture reliable products screens must be developed that are capable of testing for end of life (EOL) conditions while the bits are in a fresh or uncycled state. Manufacturing reliability tests are based upon the concept of observing the bit cell current (BCC) or threshold voltage (VT) of the distribution of bits before and after stress conditions. However the spread in distributions of BCCs and VTs in a flash bank can vary widely on uncycled parts. These wide distributions are a result of deeply erased bits. They can prevent successful screening of deviant bits as stress conditions fail to move failing bits out of the distribution of good bits. This paper presents a manufacturable method for compressing erased bits into a tight distribution to allow for short duration stresses to successfully screen deviant bits.


Follicular lymphoma (FL) is among the most common and incurable forms of indolent B cell lymphoma. Somatic mutations that disrupt the HVEM (TNFRSF14) receptor gene in 28% of FL and include frequent homozygous lesions. The HVEM receptor interacts with the activating LIGHT and the inhibitory BTLA (B- and T- lymphocyte attenuator) receptors on B and T cells. Exactly, how HVEM mutations contribute to FL development is unknown. Here we show that the immune cell receptor HVEM (TNFRSF14) is a p53 response gene, and a frequent target of both somatic mutations, and recurrent chromosome 1p36 deletions in FL. Moreover, HVEM deficiency promotes FL development in vivo and establishes a favorable immune environment. Specifically, HVEM deficient lymphomas show an exaggerated activation of stromal components including follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) and increased recruitment of T follicular helper (T FH ) cells that support B lymphocytes by secreting interleukins IL21 and IL4. Furthermore, HVEM loss stimulates B cell growth by disrupting an inhibitory BTLA (B and T Lymphocyte Attenuator) mediated signal. Notably, HVEM9s tumor suppressor functions reside at the cell surface and extrinsic application of the HVEM ectodomain (P37-V202) can restore B cell growth control and block lymphoma growth in vivo . In addition, we demonstrate that CD19-specific, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells that are further modified to constitutively secrete soluble HVEM ectodomain display significantly higher cytotoxicity against cancer B-cells with high BTLA expression in vivo . Citation Format: Darin Salloum. HVEM (TNFRSF14) tumor suppressor in immune therapies of follicular lymphoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Second CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; 2016 Sept 25-28; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(11 Suppl):Abstract nr PR03.


This guide aims to provide the user with a general understanding in locating and updating known statutes and in identifying federal statutes by citation, name, or subject.


In a thorough evaluation of a morphometric technique for the assessment of pulmonary arteries Fernie and Lamb claim that the method they use entailing a computer assisted planimeter is new.1 The concept of using the internal elastic lamina as a reference for the true size of an artery was pioneered in Britain by Cook and Yates in 1972.2 Work, which extended this concept to evaluate the intima and also used computer assisted planimetry, was presented by myself at the summer meeting of the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland in Edinburgh in 1983.3 A further detailed description of the method was presented at the winter meeting of the society in January 1984' and was subsequently published in the Journal of Clinical Pathology.5 I would suggest that the paper of Fernie and Lamb represents the application of an established method to a specific problem. While the methodology may be new to the authors working on pulmonary vessels, its advantages and ease of use come as no surprise to those who have already used it to evaluate arteries in other sites. When the authors presented their work at the Pathological Society summer meeting in 1984 I expressed this point of view and suggested to them that the method was not new. I feel that the world "new" when applied to a method should mean what it says. J LOWE Department of Pathology, University Hospital, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH


It is far from obvious which theories are the most promising ones for the task of critically addressing interdependent inequalities in Latin America as well as global forms of inequality that affect Latin American countries. In this working paper, I look at Latin American postcolonial theories in this respect. Following Nancy Fraser's analytic distinction of socioeconomic, cultural and political aspects of injustice, and affirmative as well as transformative remedies against them, I undertake a two-sided operation. In a first step, I use Fraser's framework to shed light on the accounts of inequality that we can gain from the work of Anibal Quijano, Maria Lugones and Walter Mignolo. In a second step, I tease out in which ways these accounts transcend and thus challenge the framework used on them.


"To consent to love or be loved," said Merleau-Ponty, "is to consent also to influence someone else, to decide to a certain extent on behalf of the other." This essay explicates that idea through a meditation on intimacy. I propose, first, that, on Merleau-Ponty's account, we are always transgressing into each other's experience, whether we are strangers or familiars; I call this "ontological intimacy." Concrete experiences of intimacy are based upon this ontological intimacy, and can take place at two levels: (1) at-this-moment (such that we can experience intimacy even with strangers, by sharing a momentary but extra-ordinary mutual recognition) and (2) in shared interpersonal institutions, or habitual, enduring, and co-enacted visions of who we are, how to live, and what matters. Through particular examples of dynamics within these layers of intimacy (drawing upon work by Berne and by Russon), I claim that we are always, inevitably, imposing an "unfreedom" upon our intimate others. Freedom, then, can only develop from within and by virtue of this "unfreedom." Thus, what distinguishes empowering or emancipating relationships from oppressive ones is not the removal of transgressive normative social forces; it is rather the particular character of those transgressive forces. Some transgressions upon others' experience—some forms of "unfreedom"—will tend to promote freedom; others will tend to hinder it. This amounts to a call for promoting agency and freedom not only through critical analysis of public institutions, practices and discourses, but also through critical insight into and transformation of our most private and intimate relationships.


Purpose/aim: Spatial neglect is caused by damage to neural networks critical for spatial attention. Spatial neglect without proper treatment impedes rehabilitation outcomes. Prism adaptation treatment, a visuomotor protocol, has been used with stroke survivors with spatial neglect to improve function. This case report explored the feasibility and potential effects of prism adaptation treatment in an individual with spatial neglect after glioblastoma removal. Methods Feasibility was designed and tested to include acceptability and implementation. Exploratory aim on the effectiveness of the intervention was determined using the Catherine Bergego Scale via the Kessler Foundation Neglect Assessment Process, star cancellation, line bisection and scene copying. Results The patient reported favouring the treatment. Eight sessions, one session a day, were completed over two weeks. The patient's spatial neglect symptoms reduced on all assessments. Conclusion Prism adaptation treatment was feasible and effective; however, further research is needed to understand the complete benefits of prism adaptation treatment in this population.


Service-oriented modeling and architecture (SOMA) has been used to conduct projects of varying scope in multiple industries worldwide for the past five years. We report on the usage and structure of the method used to effectively analyze, design, implement, and deploy service-oriented architecture (SOA) projects as part of a fractal model of software development. We also assert that the construct of a service and service modeling, although introduced by SOA, is a software engineering best practice for which an SOA method aids both SOA usage and adoption. In this paper we present the latest updates to this method and share some of the lessons learned. The SOMA method incorporates the key aspects of overall SOA solution design and delivery and is integrated with existing software development methods through a set of placeholders for key activity areas, forming what we call solution templates. We also present a fractal model of software development that can enable the SOMA method to evolve in an approach that goes beyond the iterative and incremental and instead leverages method components and patterns in a recursive, self-similar manner opportunistically at points of variability in the life cycle.


S U M M A R Y Seismic interferometry comprises a suite of methods to redatum recorded wavefields to those that would have been recorded if different sources (so-called virtual sources) had been activated. Seismic interferometry by cross-correlation has been formulated using either two-way (for full wavefields) or one-way (for directionally decomposed wavefields) representation theorems. To obtain improved Green's function estimates, the cross-correlation result can be deconvolved by a quantity that identifies the smearing of the virtual source in space and time, the so-called point-spread function. This type of interferometry, known as interferometry by multidimensional deconvolution (MDD), has so far been applied only to one-way directionally decomposed fields, requiring accurate wavefield decomposition from dual (e.g. pressure and velocity) recordings. Here we propose a form of interferometry by multidimensional deconvolution that uses full wavefields with two-way representations, and simultaneously invert for pressure and (normal) velocity Green's functions, rather than only velocity responses as for its one-way counterpart. Tests on synthetic data show that two-way MDD improves on results of interferometry by cross-correlation, and generally produces estimates of similar quality to those obtained by one-way MDD, suggesting that the preliminary decomposition into upand downgoing components of the pressure field is not required if pressure and velocity data are jointly used in the deconvolution. We also show that constraints on the directionality of the Green's functions sought can be added directly into the MDD inversion process to further improve two-way multidimensional deconvolution. Finally, as a by-product of having pressure and particle velocity measurements, we adapt oneand two-way representation theorems to convert any particle velocity receiver into its corresponding virtual dipole/gradient source by means of MDD. Thus data recorded from standard monopolar (e.g. marine) pressure sources can be converted into data from dipolar (derivative) sources at no extra acquisition cost.


Scholars have debated the role of sectoral bargaining in the current labor law landscape. Some argue that sectoral or social bargaining is the wave of the future and is a vital complement to traditional firm-level bargaining, while others argue that recent sectoral bargaining-type campaigns, such as minimum wage campaigns, take energy away from traditional collective bargaining and are not sustainable without it. This article examines this question through the lens of domestic work – that is, the work of nannies, home-care workers for the elderly and disabled, housecleaners, and other in-home caregivers. Domestic work is unique in that work relationships tend to be informal and employers tend to be individual families. Traditional collective bargaining is challenging for two related reasons: First, on the employee side, there is no collective – domestic workers are usually the sole employees in a home; and second, with respect to the employer, there is no firm. Thus, questions about the value and role of sectoral bargaining have a unique valence in this context. At the same time, this analysis points to the presumptions and limitations of traditional notions of collective bargaining. Traditional collective bargaining happens at the firm level – that is, a union representing employees of a particular company bargains with that company over such issues as wages, seniority rules, and termination. Sectoral or social bargaining happens at the sectoral or industry level, and can involve the government, thus the role of the firm is less robust.
This article explores how the domestic work sector sheds light on the debate about the normative value of sectoral or social bargaining in the labor movement. I argue that unions have already successfully used sectoral bargaining in the publicly-funded home care sector, but that without strong structural support for worker organizations, gains achieved through sectoral bargaining-like legislative campaigns for domestic workers' rights are more difficult to enforce.


Previous work by Schulman and Pelka (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 542 547, indicated that the absence of a pairing between the bases 1 and 72 in initiator tRNAMetf explained the relatively small activity of peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase towards N-acetyl-methionyltRNAMOtf. In the present study, the structural requirements for the sensitivity of an N-acetylaminoacyl-tRNA to Escherichia coli peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase activity have been further investigated. Ten derivatives of tRNAM6tf with various combinations of bases at positions 1 and 72 in the acceptor stem have been produced, aminoacylated and chemically acetylated. The release of the aminoacyl moiety from these tRNA derivatives was assayed in the presence of peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase purified from an overproducing strain. tRNAMOtf derivatives with either C1A72, CjC72, U1Gn, UC72 or AjC72 behaved as poor substrates of the enzyme, as compared to those with C1G72, U1A72, G1C72, A1U72 or G1U72. With the exception of U1G72, it could be therefore concluded that the relative resistance of tRNAMOtf to peptidyltRNA hydrolase did not depend on a particular combination of nucleotides at positions 1 and 72, but rather reflected the absence of a base pairing at these positions. In a second series of experiments, the unpairing of the 1 and 72 bases, created with C-A or A-C bases, instead of G-C in methionyl-tRNAMtm or in valyl-tRNAvaI1, was shown to markedly decrease the rate of hydrolysis catalysed by peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase. Altogether, the data indicate that the stability of the 1-72 pair governs the degree of sensitivity of a peptidyl-tRNA to peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase.


The water storage beneath the ground surface is the function of the Rainfall in an area. The underground water is the main source of irrigation and effect the agriculture production. So directly or indirectly the rainfall influences the agriculture. The years with the good rainfall enjoy the high agriculture production as the requirement of water is facilitated. The paper presents the rainfall pattern for last 25 years in study area with the analysis of variation of rainfall year by year. For the study, different techniques and tools are employed so the variation where it is seasonal or annual can be shown.


Aims: This review aims to (1) present the multiple interests of studying and depicting and climate spatial variability for vitivinicultural terroirs study; (2) explain the factors that affect climate spatial variability according to the spatial scale considered and (3) provide guidelines for climate zoning considering challenges linked to each methodology considered. Methods and Results: Scientific contributions of the 12 Terroir Conferences proceedings since 1996 have been reviewed together with Vitis-Vea, Oeno One, ASEV, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink and Wiley Online Library data bases with various keywords combination of "Climate", "Spatial analysis ", "Wine", "Viticulture", "Area", "Scale" , "Terroir" and "Zoning", including English, Italian and Spanish languages . This literature review led to the classification of climate spatial analysis related studies according to the spatial extent, scale, source of data, spatialization method and indices used to depict the spatial structure of climate. To illustrate the scale issue for climate spatial analysis of wine growing terroirs, a comparison of spatial structure of climate depicted by either large scale data (Worldclim v2.0and CRU4.2TS), point data (weather stations) and spatial interpolation of local weather stations was performed in Bordeaux (2001-2005 period) wine region. It shows the limitations of coarse resolution (macroclimate scale) data to depict mesoscale data. Conclusions: The climate spatial variability of wine producing regions have been widely documented, yet not exhaustively. However, climate indices and period are not standardized which makes it difficult to compare the climate of terroirs based on the existing literature. Analysing spatial structure might lead to different conclusions according to the source of the data, and thus special care should be provided to the methods, scale and uncertainties associated to spatial data. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study provides in a nutshell an overview of climate analysis for terroir studies that could be useful for students, winegrowers and researchers interested in climate spatial analysis.


The creative industries are seen as a key part of economic development policy for national and regional policymakers. This research adopts a relational approach to examine the spatialities and networks of connections that workers in the North East of England's creative industries forge and maintain over space. Based on a questionnaire survey and interviews, our findings reveal a set of industries that are isolated from the major hubs of creativity outside the region and display a regionally bounded set of working and engagement practices. Numerous reasons underpinning this isolation are outlined, which are generated, in part, by both physical and relational distance to other agents in similar sectors. We also examine a group of highly mobile creative workers whose working practices and previous experience outside the North East allows them to overcome barriers faced by their counterparts. The paper concludes by calling for further comparative research to better understand the connectivity of regional creative industries that also avoids privileging London as the only source of discursive and financial influence. A series of recommendations for policy makers tasked with fostering the creative industries is outlined.


The influence of amphiphilic drugs and phospholipids on the activities of beta-galactosidase and beta-glucosidase from liver lysosomal fractions of untreated rats, isolated by affinity chromatography using castor bean lectins, was studied in vitro. Chloroquine (93 microM) inhibited beta-galactosidase activity by about 30%, while O,O'-bis(diethylaminoethyl)hexestrol showed no inhibitory effect. Neutral phospholipids (phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, sphingomyelin) inhibited the enzyme slightly, while the enzyme activity was drastically reduced in the presence of acidic phospholipids (phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, bis-(monoacylglycero)phosphate). Lysosomal beta-glucosidase was strongly inhibited by chloroquine and O,O'-bis(diethylaminoethyl)-hexestrol. The neutral phospholipids showed only a moderate inhibitory effect, whereas the acidic phospholipids were stimulators. Bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate was by far the best stimulating compound.


Volleyball players will use a variety of basic motions when fight in the court, from which spike motion is generally recognized as the most ornamental and destruction technique, the technique can interference with opponent team scoring, and also provide opportunities for its own team organize new round attacking. This paper analyzes volleyball spike technique, in the hope of exploring volleyball expected landing point after spiking, spike process action principle and reasonable hitting angle, it provides theoretical basis for athletesÂÂ' training process and researchersÂÂ' parsing process. This paper proposes volleyball expected landing point area after spiking, and analyzes expected landing point area difficult defensiveness, then analyzes athletesÂÂ' action features and action biomechanical principle in five segments from the perspective of spike process, finally it establishes programming equation for volleyball spike expected landing point, and applies Lagrange conditional extremum algorithmin carrying out data simulation on programming equation, it gets reasonable hitting angle range under reasonable parameters,which provides theoretical basis for accurate hitting and scientific hitting


We examine how inequality and openness interact in shaping the long-run growth prospects of developing countries. To this end, we develop a Schumpeterian growth model with heterogeneous households and non-homothetic preferences for quality. We show that inequality affects growth very differently in an open economy as opposed to a closed economy: If the economy is close to the technological frontier, the positive demand effect of inequality on growth found in closed-economy models may be amplified by international competition. In countries with a larger distance to the technology frontier, however, rich households satisfy their demand for high quality via importing, and the effect of inequality on growth is smaller than in a closed economy and may even be negative. We show that this theoretical prediction holds up in the data, both when considering growth in export quality at the industry level and when considering growth in GDP per capita.


BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY
The current standard of in vitro and in vivo preclinical heart valve testing has recently been questioned because of its failure to reveal the thrombogenic potential of the Medtronic Parallel prosthetic valve. The aim of this study was to develop a swine model for the in vivo preclinical evaluation of mechanical heart valves, and to assess the ability of this model to identify mechanical heart valve design features that result in valve-related thrombosis.

METHODS
Twenty-two swine underwent mitral valve replacement (MVR) using three different bileaflet mechanical valve designs (St Jude Medical, CarboMedics, Medtronic Parallel). Each animal was placed in an anticoagulation protocol (group I, INR 3.0-3.5; group II, INR 2.0-2.5; group III, no anticoagulation) and followed for up to 20 weeks. Terminal studies were performed on all animals surviving for more than 30 days.

RESULTS
Twenty-one animals survived the immediate postoperative period. Four of six group I animals died from hemorrhagic (large wound hematoma; hemopericardium) complications early in the study. In the two long-term (61 and 89 days) survivors, INRs of 3.0 to 3.5 were never achieved (61-day survivor, mean INR 2.0 +/- 1.03; range: 0.8-5.4; 89-day survivor, mean INR 1.92 +/- 1.34; range: 1.0-7.9). Pathological analysis of explants from group I survivors revealed minimally obstructive fibrous sheathing on the inflow orifice without restriction of bileaflet motion (61 and 89 days), and two large perivalvular defects (61 days). Six of seven group II animals died from early hemorrhagic complications (hemopericardium) (mean INR 2.32 +/- 1.84; range: 0.8-8.2). Vegetations resulting in obstruction of both sides of the valve orifice and restriction of bileaflet motion were observed in a group II survivor (mean INR 2.33 +/- 1.58; range: 0.9-7.0). Group III animals (n = 8) survived for a mean of 106 +/- 60 days (range: 1-177 days). In group III, fibrous sheathing was present on all explanted valves and organized thrombi in six valves; orifice obstruction (seven valves) and restriction of bileaflet motion (three valves) were also observed.

CONCLUSION
The use of MVR in swine as a preclinical model to evaluate the safety and performance of mechanical heart valves is limited by: (i) difficulty in maintaining safe levels of anticoagulation with warfarin, resulting in a high incidence of hemorrhagic complications; (ii) marked fibrous sheath formation and associated thrombosis; and (iii) an increased incidence of perivalvular defects, believed to result from normal somatic growth occurring in young swine.


An approximation algorithm for an optimization problem runs in polynomial time for all instances and is guaranteed to deliver solutions with bounded optimality gap. We derive such algorithms for different variants of capacitated location routing, an important generalization of vehicle routing where the cost of opening the depots from which vehicles operate is taken into account. Our results originate from combining algorithms and lower bounds for different relaxations of the original problem; along with location routing we also obtain approximation algorithms for multidepot capacitated vehicle routing by this framework. Moreover, we extend our results to further generalizations of both problems, including a prize-collecting variant, a group version, and a variant where cross-docking is allowed. We finally present a computational study of our approximation algorithm for capacitated location routing on benchmark instances and large-scale randomly generated instances. Our study reveals that the quality of the computed solutions is much closer to optimality than the provable approximation factor.


Title Prevalence of Malnutrition and Associated Factors among Young Children in the Eastern Region of the Republic of Cameroon [an abstract of entire text] Author(s) 長堀, 智香子 Issue Date 2016-03-24 Doc URL http://hdl.handle.net/2115/61781 Type theses (doctoral abstract of entire text) Note この博士論文全文の閲覧方法については、以下のサイトをご参照ください。 Note(URL) https://www.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dissertations/copy-guides/ File Information Chikako_Nagahori_summary.pdf