The Scuola Grande di San Marco is one of the most outstanding Renaissance buildings in Venice. Destroyed by fire in 1485, the Scuola was reconstructed between 1487 and 1495 by Pietro Lombardi (and sons), together with Giovanni Buora and Mauro Codussi. The façade is considered one of the finest and most original exteriors of Venetian buildings and in particular features refined sculptural and painted decorations and a remarkable pictorial effect created by the extensive use of polychrome marbles and the false perspective view between the pilasters of the lower order. Most of the stone materials (Istrian and Verona red limestones, nero di Roveré, pavonazzetto toscano, Carrara marble and various reused antique marbles) present evident decay phenomena such as scaling, exfoliation, powdering, fissuring, salt efflorescence, black crusts, and artificial patinas of various kinds. The present study reports the results of petrographic and chemical laboratory analyses carried out in preparation for the conservation treatment of the building, in order to characterize the main micro- and macro-morphologies of decay and to identify the causes and mechanisms of deterioration as well as the nature and application technique of the polychromy, gilding, and patinas present on parts of the monumental Renaissance façade.


Background UCD has delivered a Professional Completion Module (PCM) for final year medical students (Final Med) since 2009, incorporating sub-internship (intern shadowing) and practical instruction in relevant intern tasks/knowledge base. We sought to compare its impact on current UCD-trained interns versus those trained elsewhere. METHODS A questionnaire was designed, tested for inter-rater reliability in a subsample, and then administered to current interns in two large Dublin teaching hospitals. RESULTS A total of 32 UCD-trained interns and 11 non-UCD-trained interns completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire exhibited good inter-rater reliability. Significantly more UCD (n=30, 94%) than non-UCD trained interns (n=7, 64%) felt they had, during their medical degree course, undertaken a structured period of time where the sole commitment was to spend several hours a day "shadowing" a designated intern, so as to observe their day to day work (Fishers exact p=0.0126). Among the UCD trained cohort, there was a good recollection of the correct amount of weeks spent in this form of sub-internship i.e. 2 weeks (29 interns, 91%), supporting a contention that this period of time was somehow memorable. Fewer UCD trained interns recognised that they had completed a course in practical issues and tasks as part of PCM, suggesting it was less memorable (22 interns, 69%). During this Final Med period, more UCD (32 interns, 100%) than non-UCD trained interns (7 interns, 64%) had performed a clinical skills procedure, such as taking bloods or inserting an IV cannula or obtaining an ECG (Fishers exact p=0.003). For the two combined intern groups, the highest average usefulness score (out of 10) for each of five options for preparing a prospective intern for the practical day-to-day tasks they will face as an intern, was awarded to the option of spending time in Final Med as a "sub-intern" (7.2/10; 4.1/5 for UCD trained interns, 3.1/5 for non-UCD). The lowest average usefulness score was for the option of practical teaching delivered earlier than Final Med (5.2/10; 2.4/5 for UCD, 2.8/5 for nonUCD trained interns). CONCLUSION According to current Dublin interns, intern-shadowing is the most useful option for preparing Final Meds for internship.


In this paper, a new method of space-time processing is proposed for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) using complementary sequences derived from the rows of the DFT matrix. The autocorrelative properties of the complementary sequences allows multiple complex data signals at the transmitter with an arbitrary number of antennas to be perfectly separated at the receiver without prior channel knowledge while achieving full-rate. This new method is proposed and derived for multiple MIMO-OFDM systems with multipath fading; at the receiver, symbol estimation is effected via maximum likelhihood estimation (ML).


Abstract Intrateam competition for specific roles and playing time is a continuous imperative process in elite sport teams. The assessment of this competition is done by the coach and the outcome of this process has a significant impact on the team and the players. The following hypothesis was put forward for testing: Self-reported playing time and perceptions of justice among elite ice-hockey and handball players predict their satisfaction with the coach. Elite ice-hockey and handball players (N = 231) reported playing time and completed the Perceived Justice and Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaires. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses show that self-reported playing time, distributive justice, and procedural justice explains 41% to 45% of the variance in the dependent variable of satisfaction with a coach, thereby confirming the hypothesis. Self-reported playing time does not explain as much as the justice variables. The results complement earlier research showing that training and instructions as well as positive feedback were strong determinants of satisfaction with leadership. In an elite team setting perceived justice emerges as an important predictor coach satisfaction and the management of intrateam positional competition is therefore an important leadership task to consider. Moreover, coaches allocating limited resources among players should reflect on the justice criteria these decisions are based on if satisfaction with the coach is at stake.


Social security systems in many countries face problems of high and escalating disability costs. This paper analyzes how disability costs have been controlled in Chile. The disability insurance system in Chile is much less well-known than the pension part, but it is equally innovative. It differs from traditional public disability insurance in two important ways: 1) it is largely pre-funded, sufficient to cover a lifetime disability annuity and 2) the disability assessment procedure includes participation by private pension funds (AFPs) and insurance companies, who finance the benefit and have a direct pecuniary interest in controlling costs. We hypothesize that these procedures and incentives will keep system costs low, by cutting the incidence of successful disability claims. Using the Cox proportional hazard model based on a retrospective sample of new and old system affiliates (ESP 2002), we conclude that observed behavior is broadly consistent with this hypothesis. Disability hazard rates are only 20-35% as high in the new system as in the old, after controlling for other co-variates. Furthermore, analysis of mortality rates among disabled pensioners (using probit and proportional hazard models) suggests that the new system has accurately targeted those with more severe medical problems.


Two feature extraction methods for classification of textures are presented. It is assumed that the given M × M texture is generated by a Gaussian Markov random field (GMRF) model, in the first method, the least square estimates of model parameters are used as features. In the second method, using the notion of sufficient statistics, it is shown that the sample correlations over a symmetric window including the origin are optimal features for classification. Simple minimum distance classifiers using these two feature sets yield classification accuracies of over 99% and 92% respectively for a seven class problem.


Applying a multilevel approach to meta-analysis is a strong method for dealing with dependency of effect sizes. However, this method is relatively unknown among researchers and, to date, has not been widely used in meta-analytic research. Therefore, the purpose of this tutorial was to show how a three-level random effects model can be applied to meta-analytic models in R using the rma.mv function of the metafor package. This application is illustrated by taking the reader through a step-by-step guide to the multilevel analyses comprising the steps of (1) organizing a data file; (2) setting up the R environment; (3) calculating an overall effect; (4) examining heterogeneity of within-study variance and between-study variance; (5) performing categorical and continuous moderator analyses; and (6) examining a multiple moderator model. By example, the authors demonstrate how the multilevel approach can be applied to meta-analytically examining the association between mental health disorders of juveniles and juvenile offender recidivism. In our opinion, the rma.mv function of the metafor package provides an easy and flexible way of applying a multi-level structure to meta-analytic models in R. Further, the multilevel meta-analytic models can be easily extended so that the potential moderating influence of variables can be examined.


This article is based on the methodology of art-practice-as-research, which departs from my artistic productionWhere is Diana?, a series of photoperformances and videos made between Beijing, Tijuana and City Mexico during 2013-2015. Aware of the obsession with identity, with this proposal I raise the question of whether it is possible to transcend physical and intellectual borders. In my work I include the dynamics of recognition in a paradoxical way, as I present myself hooded, unrecognizable, without identity, placing myself on the border, on the margins, on the limit and in precariousness, through a body that transgresses its place and moves from the private to the public. This theoretical-practical perspective considers the gender perspective, as well as the conceptual tools that feminisms have created to rethink the female subject and de-center it, through a displacement towards what is non-hegemonic or predetermined by biology. The characteristics that are defined as masculine and feminine must be questioned because their meaning is the result of a historical and social practice that has artificially naturalized them.

So I propose axes of resistance to subvert gender and national identities, which I argue are fluid and modifiable. Creating this de-centre may lead to the construction of new subjectivities, a framework that expands the possibilities of action and recognition. To achieve this, I relate my artistic process to politics through the reconstruction of the sensible in social space, in the way bodies and their meanings act in that space. The relationship between art, politics, and representation that I propose here does not have to do with a discursive level but focuses on the artistic gesture and how to communicate the affects that are imprinted in the bodies, which have a sensorial and political implication.


Numerous conceptual and empirical studies have been undertaken on the participation of women in decision-making bodies related to forestry. However, very little of this knowledge and experience has been applied to REDD+ decision-making at the national level. This study uses Vietnam as a case study to analyse factors that influence women's participation in national level REDD+ decision-making processes. Although large numbers of women participate in REDD+ meetings, and women at the national level are less affected by discriminatory cultural and social norms, considerable obstacles remain to the full participation of women. The recruitment protocol of Vietnam's forestry sector is not favourable to women, they are rarely appointed to leadership positions and their participation in REDD+ working groups is often nominal. In addition to weak capacity to implement gender strategies, a lack of concern for gender issues prevails among national organizations working on REDD+ in Vietnam.


BACKGROUND
Acne vulgaris is one of the most common skin conditions in dermatology clinics. Accumulating evidence has implicated oral low-dosage isotretinoin was an effective treatment for acne with fewer side effects. Currently, the data on low-dosage isotretinoin use in Chinese is limited.

AIMS
To investigate the efficiency and safety of low-dosage isotretinoin therapy for Chinese acne patients.

METHODS
Three hundred and eighty-eight patients treated with low-dosage isotretinoin (0.2-0.4 mg/kg/d) and who completed the course (120 mg/kg) were enrolled. Medical information on the severity, duration, adverse effects, and outcome of acne was reviewed.

RESULTS
The majority (90.2%, n = 350) of patients achieved complete remission, and on average, patients received 13.5 months of treatment. The time between isotretinoin start and the clear date between the mild and moderate groups was not significantly different (74 ± 24 vs. 84 ± 24 days). However, it took longer to resolve for the severe acne group (112 ± 25 days). Follow-up 1 year after completion of the isotretinoin course, 37/350 (10.6%) patients relapsed, but there was no difference in the severity of acne. There were 133 (34.3%), 40 (10.3%), and 14 (2.6%) patients who developed hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and high LDL, respectively. Thirty-two (8.2%) and 28 patients (7.2%) had elevated serum levels of alanine and aspartate aminotransferases. No values above grade 2 were detected.

CONCLUSIONS
This study reaffirms the efficacy and safety of low-dosage oral isotretinoin in Chinese patients with acne vulgaris. Lab investigation could be performed after 2 months of therapy in healthy patients with normal baseline liver function and lipid panel tests.


mittees are taking initiatives to ensure that addresses are accurate. General practitioners are encouraged to notify the committee when they become aware that a patient has moved. Some committees have also taken the initiative to advise the general public to notify them of a change of address, so that a new medical card can be issued. Some activities within the committees also automatically update addresses. For example, every woman registered with a doctor for contraceptive services has her address updated when the doctor submits his or her annual claim. People exempt from prescription charges, including expectant and nursing mothers, need certificates and again the opportunity is taken to update addresses. These measures together ensure that the standard of accuracy is rapidly improving, particularly among women likely to be called for cervical cytology screening: Of course, no system can be 100% accurate. At any one time people are moving. There is inflation in the numbers of people registered with doctorsoverall around 6%. If a notification, however, is sent out in one area to a woman no longer living there I do not think that it can automatically be taken as a failure of the system. If she has moved to another area and registered with a doctor and, for whatever reason, a link has not been achieved she will receive a notification from the new area. I accept, however, the comments that comparison between family practitioner committee registers and electoral registers would be desirable. Again, however, I think that Dr Beardow and others are either overcritical about family practitioner committee registers or perhaps a little behind the times. Postcodes are recorded routinely on the committees' registers. Though I cannot speak for all family practitioner committees, in my area all postcodes will be completed by the end of the year. The current database does allow recording of the postcode in a separate field, but I suspect that the authors' criticism is that information may not be manipulated by postcode alone on the general registration system. It is, however, fairly simple to put the registration database on to microcomputers and rearrange in simple spreadsheet format so that postal code information can be interrogated, primarily for planning purposes, but just as easily for data verification. Finally, Dr Beardow and others refer to staff of the family practitioner committees inputting test results on to the computer. This may be true in some parts of the country, but in others advances have been made so that the inputting is direct from the pathology laboratory by way of a modem link, and again I sense a lack of appreciation by the authors about progress made during the past 12 months. Though no one can claim that the family practitioner committee registers or system are perfect, the authors underestimate the value of the use of the family practitioner committee register, which is the most comprehensive database in the NHS. Considerable advances have been made over the past 12 months and will continue to be made while the first cycle of call and recalls is under way. By the end of a three or five year cycle, depending on the district, an attempt will have been made to reach every woman who needs to be screened. At the end of this time the effectiveness of the system can. then be properly evaluated and I have no doubt that when that full evaluation is carried out the family practitioner committee registers will be seen to be the most effective database for operating a comprehensive complete service.


The effects of additional C, P or Si on the structure and magnetic properties of melt-spun Fe55Pt25B20 alloy have been investigated. The mixed structure consisting of amorphous and fcc-FePt phases was formed for the Fe55Pt25B18M2 (M=B, C or Si) alloys. Addition of 2at.% of P increased the amorphous-forming ability of the Fe-Pt-B alloy, leading to the formation of an amorphous phase in the M=P alloy. A homogeneous nanocomposite structure consisting of hard L10-FePt and soft Fe2B magnetic phases with average grain sizes of ∼ 40 nm was formed in all the melt-spun alloys annealed at 825 K for 900 s. The good hard magnetic properties with high coercivity of over 540 kA /m were obtained for the M = C or P nanocomposite alloys.


Artificial Intelligent (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms are coming out of research labs into the real-world applications, and recent research has focused a lot on Human-AI Interaction (HAI) and Explainable AI (XAI). However, Interaction is not the same as Collaboration. Collaboration involves mutual goal understanding, preemptive task co-management and shared progress tracking. Most of human activities today are done collaboratively, thus, to integrate AI into the already-complicated human workflow, it is critical to bring the Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) perspective into the root of the algorithmic research and plan for a Human-AI Collaboration future of work. In this panel we ask: Can this future for trusted human-AI collaboration be realized? If so, what will it take? This panel will bring together HCI experts who work on human collaboration and AI applications in various application contexts, from industry and academia and from both the U.S. and China. Panelists will engage the audience through discussion of their shared and diverging visions, and through suggestions for opportunities and challenges for the future of human-AI collaboration.


BACKGROUND/AIMS
'Primary IGF1 deficiency (IGFD)' is defined by low levels of IGF1 without a concomitant impairment in GH secretion in the absence of secondary cause. The aims of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of non-GH deficient IGFD in prepubertal children with isolated short stature (SS) and to describe this population.

METHODS
This retrospective study included all children with isolated SS seen in our Pediatric Endocrinology Unit from January 2005 to December 2007. Children were included based on the following criteria: i) SS with current height SDS < or = -2.5, ii) age > or = 2 years, and iii) prepubertal status. Exclusion criteria were: i) identified cause of SS and ii) current or past therapy with rhGH. IGF1-deficient children were defined as children without GH deficiency and with IGF1 levels below or equal to -2 SDS.

RESULTS
Among 65 children with isolated SS, 13 (20%) had low IGF1 levels, consistent with a diagnosis of primary IGFD, four of which were born small for gestational age and nine were born appropriate for gestational age. When compared with non-IGFD children, IGFD children had higher birth weight (-0.7 vs -1 SDS, P=0.02) and birth height (-1.7 vs -2 SDS, P=0.04) and more delayed bone age (2.6 vs 1.7 years, P=0.03).

CONCLUSION
The prevalence of primary IGFD was 20% in children with isolated SS. Concerning the pathophysiology, our study emphasizes that IGFD in some children may be secondary to nutritional deficiency or to maturational delay.


Fei Xiaotong (Fei Hsiao-Tung, 1910-2005) obtained his PhD under Bronislaw Malinowski's supervision at the London School of Economics in 1938. Of the 20 volumes of his completed works, two books are well-known in the West: Peasant life in China, published in English in 1939, and Xiangtu zhingguo (1947), translated as From the soil by Gary Hamilton and Zheng Wang in 1992. As one of China's finest sociologists and anthropologists, Fei was instrumental in laying a solid foundation for the development of sociological and anthropological studies in China, and his work helped to influence China's social and economic development. This is a translated, abridged and revised version of a conversation originally conducted in English, but published in Chinese to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Fei Xiaotong. Wu Zitong, the editor of China Reading Weekly, puts a series of questions to Gary Hamilton and Xiangqun Chang.


This study analyzes the implications of increasing population density in Kenya's rural areas on smallholder production and commercialization. Using data from five panel surveys on 1,146 small-scale farms over the 1997-2010 period, we use econometric techniques to determine how increasing rural population density is affecting farm household behavior and its implication to smallholder commercialization. We find that farm productivity and incomes tend to rise with population density up to 600-650 persons per km2; beyond this threshold, rising population density is associated with sharp declines in farm productivity. Currently 14% of Kenya's rural population resides in areas exceeding this population density. The study concludes by exploring the nature of institutional and policy reforms needed to address these development problems.


This Essay, written as part of the 2010 Hon. David G. Trager Public Policy Symposium, recasts the corporate criminal liability problem as a tension between corporate and criminal law. On one hand, we would like to use criminal law to exact retribution from corporate entities, express our moral condemnation for the acts that have taken place within and through those entities, and to impose structural reforms that prevent future wrongdoing. Where publicly held corporations are concerned, however, it is difficult to do to impose entity-level criminal liability without also invoking responses from shareholders and innocent employees, who argue quite forcefully that they are not the proper repositories of blame. In response to this critique, some proponents have suggested that shareholders ought to play a greater role in managing the corporation and that criminal liability is valuable insofar as it spurs shareholders to exercise greater oversight over corporate managers. But this question – the role that shareholders ought to play in the management of the publicly held corporation – is not ordinarily the province of criminal law. Rather, it is the preoccupation of corporate law, whose doctrines purposely leave shareholders with relatively little power to run the corporation's daily affairs. It may be that there is reason to alter this balance of power, but if so, the issue is more appropriately left to the architects of corporate, and not criminal, law.


Antibacterial Ag-doped TiO2 porous monolithics were firstly prepared by hybridization of polyethylene glycol, Ti(OC4H9)4 and AgNO3 via sol-gel method following by heat-treatment to remove the organic components. Thermogravimeter−differential thermal analysis, pore structure, infrared spectra, ultraviolet−visible spectra, release speed of silver ions into 30°C water and antibacterial properties of Ag-doped TiO2 samples made at different temperature were studied. The results showed that anatase phase and uniform pore structure can be formed after heated at 500°C. Ag+ ions from the samples heated at 500°C were stably released into water at 30°C up to 14 days. The material treated at 500°C has the best antibacterial property and can restrain Escherichia coli effectively.


In seasonally breeding songbirds, such as European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), male song plays a direct role in immediate mate attraction during, but not outside of, the breeding season. The present experiment was designed to explore whether female starlings would display differential neural responses to male song during and outside of the breeding season. Starlings are highly social songbirds whose songs show different levels of variations that reflect not only species-specific but also individual-specific identity. Taking advantage of the whole-brain approach allowed by functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), we measured the neural responses to these songs in medetomidine-anesthetized adult female starlings (N=11) in both the breeding (spring) and the non-breeding (fall) seasons. Subjects were exposed to synthetic pure tones and to two types of male starling song: species-specific songs (used in species and population recognition) and individual conspecific songs (used in individual recognition). The direct comparison of the neural activation elicited by songs used in individual recognition, as compared to species-specific songs, revealed that perception of individual male songs induced a greater activity in the regions analogous to the auditory cortex of mammals (Field L and caudomedial nidopallium (NCM)) and in a basal ganglia homolog called Area X. There were however differences within these regions according to the season. Whereas the dorso-caudal part of NCM showed the same selectivity for individual male songs in both seasons (unlike male starlings), Area X showed this selectivity only during the breeding season. In the non-breeding season, selectivity for individual male songs was not present anymore in Area X. Responses to synthetic pure tone stimuli remained unchanged between the seasons, indicating that this seasonal change in selectivity for individual stimuli in Area X was not due to a change in auditory perception as a whole. Finally, the data seems to suggest lateralization of selectivity for individual songs towards the left basal ganglia. These results suggest that seasons impact auditory processing and that a differential representation of sounds with distinct biological significance is thus observed between seasons. This opens questions about a potential neural substrate for the extraction of biologically relevant information used in vocal communication.


GENTZLER, Jyl, ed. Method in Ancient Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 1998. vi + 398 pp. Cloth, $72.00--This is a collection of essays, many of which were given originally as papers at a conference on Ancient Method held at Amherst College in 1994. Few directly address the subject of method in ancient philosophy. Readers whose primary interest is this subject and have high hopes for this new volume from Oxford University Press will be somewhat disappointed. Yet those of us whose interests in ancient philosophy are broader will find not a few excellent essays on important questions by some of the leaders in the field. The collection contains 15 essays on subjects ranging, historically, from Parmenides' criticism of the theoretical bases of earlier thinkers (p. Curd) to the Epicurean theory of inferences (J. Allen). The spread being broad and deep, I shall note only a few of the significant claims made. T. H. Irwin points out that in the very early dialogues Socrates assumes that certain aspects of his views about the virtues are commonly held by level-headed persons; for this reason Socrates begins from agreements. Socrates then argues that other aspects of his views about the virtues are a reasonable revision of these common views; Socrates does not argue in these dialogues that his revision is preferable to other revisons that challenge his own. This seems odd because we know that opposing views about the virtues were much discussed at the time. The solution to this puzzle, Irwin argues, is that Plato used the technique of allusion, of which he gives compelling examples. For instance, in the Charmides, Charmides' first definition of temperance is quietness. The reader would know that Charmides was later a member of the dreaded Thirty and understand that by "quietness," allusion is made to a quality said by some to be appropriate to the ruled, but not to those who rule. Plato is ever subtle; Irwin's essay is a carefully argued reminder of this important fact. I. Mueller argues that in the Phaedo Plato claims that the Forms are causes not in the sense that they provide a conceptual explanation of why things are the way they are (a modern interpretation), but in the following sense: "Platonic F-ness causes things to be F in something like the way the sun causes the stone to be warm" (p. 82). In other words, Plato is serious about studying nature in terms of formal, not material, causes. Such causes, Mueller argues, are "anchored in a teleology founded on . …


Liver growth factor (LGF) is a hepatic mitogen purified by our group in 1986. In the following years we demonstrated its activity both in "in vivo" and "in vitro" systems, stimulating hepatocytes mitogenesis as well as liver regeneration in several models of liver injury. Furthermore, we established its chemical composition (albumin-bilirubin complex) and its mitogenic actions in liver. From 2000 onwards we used LGF as a tissue regenerating factor in several models of extrahepatic diseases. The use of Liver growth factor as a neural tissue regenerator has been recently protected (Patent No US 2014/8,642,551 B2). LGF administration stimulates neurogenesis and neuron survival, promotes migration of newly generated neurons, and induces the outgrowth of striatal dopaminergic terminals in 6-hidroxydopamine-lesioned rats. Furthermore, LGF treatment raises striatal dopamine levels and protects dopaminergic neurons in hemiparkinsonian animals. LGF also stimulates survival of grafted foetal neural stem cells in the damaged striatum, reduces rotational behaviour and improves motor coordination. Interestingly, LGF also exerts a neuroprotective role both in an experimental model of cerebellar ataxia and in a model of Friedrich´s ataxia. Microglia seem to be the cellular target of LGF in the CNS. Moreover, the activity of the factor could be mediated by the stimulation of MAPK´s signalling pathway and by regulating critical proteins for cell survival, such as Bcl-2 and phospho-CREB. Since the factor shows neuroprotective and neurorestorative effects we propose LGF as a patented novel therapeutic tool that may be useful for the treatment of Parkinson´s disease and cerebellar ataxias. Currently, our studies have been extended to other neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (Patent No: US 2014/0113859 A1).


In this work, we used a grain-based numerical model based on the concept of lattice. The modelling was done to simulate the lab experiments carried out on the mortar samples. Also the analytical solutions corresponding to the viscosity-dominated regime were used to estimate the fracture length and width, and the results obtained were compared with the numerical simulations. As the analytical solutions are proposed for a penny-shaped fracture with no presence of any obstacle such as natural interfaces, in this work, we presented the results of lattice simulations for hydraulic fracturing in the cement sample, similar to the lab, but with no natural fractures, and compared the results obtained with analytical solutions. The results indicated that in the case of a continuous medium, the analytical solutions may present a reasonable estimation of the fracture geometry. Also the viscosity-dominated leak-off model showed a better match between the analytical solutions and the numerical simulation results, confirmed by observing fluid loss into the sample in the lab post-experiment. In the case of assuming leak-off, the results indicated that the fracture width and length would reduce. However, it should be noted that in real cases, rock formations exhibit fractures and inhomogeneity at different scales so that the applications of the analytical solutions are limited.


Scientific research and expertise play a critical role in informing legislative decisions and guiding effective policy. However, significant communication gaps persist between scientists and policymakers. While interest in science policy among researchers has substantially increased in recent decades, traditional academic and research careers rarely provide formal training or exposure to the inner workings of government, public policy, or communicating scientific findings to broad audiences. Here, we offer 10 practical steps for scientists who want to engage in science policy efforts, with a focus on state and federal policy in the United States. We first include a primer to government structure and tailoring science communication for a policymaker audience. We then provide action-oriented steps that focus on arranging and successfully navigating meetings with government officials. Finally, we suggest structural steps in academia that would provide resources and support for students, researchers, and faculty who are interested in policy. We offer our perspective, as early-career marine scientists who have participated in policy discussions at state and federal levels and through the American Geophysical Union's "Voices for Science" program. This guide offers potential pathways for engagement in science policy, and provides researchers with tangible actions to effectively reach stakeholders. Lastly, we hope to activate further conversations on best practices for policy engagement, particularly for researchers interested in careers at the science policy interface.


In the Kebnekaise Massif, Northern Sweden, the west facing glacier, Rabots glaciar, is loosing volume at a significantly higher rate than east facing, Storglaciaren. By analyzing data from automatic weather stations situated on the ablation area on the glaciers we investigated the effect of meteorological differences on ablation. There was a difference in micro-climate between Rabots glaciar and Storglaciaren. Generally Storglaciaren had slightly warmer and drier air, had less or a thinner cloud layer but more precipitation. On both glaciers a glacier wind is dominant but high wind velocities were common especially on Storglaciaren indicating a larger influence from the synoptic system. There was a good correlation for temperature and vapor pressure between the glaciers that indicate that both glaciers are strongly affected by the synoptic system. The meteorological parameters have similar effect on the ablation on the glaciers. Temperature, vapor pressure and the turbulent heat fluxes are the only meteorological parameters that suggest a linear affect on ablation. Net shortwave radiation contribute with the greatest amount of energy for ablation but decreased in relative importance as the temperature increased. Shortwave radiation, sensible and latent heat contributed with a total 184Wm-2 on Rabots glaciar and 222Wm-2 on Storglaciaren. Rabots glaciar seem to have a significantly greater relative importance of the turbulent heat fluxes than Storglaciaren. Although the differences in micro-climate were not great, using the ablation for Storglaciaren to estimate ablation on Rabots glaciar would over estimate the ablation with 0.5m w.e..


We introduce a method for efficient, in situ characterization of linear-optical networks (LONs) in randomized boson-sampling (RBS) experiments. We formulate RBS as a distributed task between two parties, Alice and Bob, who share two-mode squeezed-vacuum states. In this protocol, Alice performs local measurements on her modes, either photon counting or heterodyne. Bob implements and applies to his modes the LON requested by Alice; at the output of the LON, Bob performs photon counting, the results of which he sends to Alice via classical channels. In the ideal situation, when Alice does photon counting, she obtains from Bob samples from the probability distribution of the RBS problem, a task that is believed to be classically hard to simulate. When Alice performs heterodyne measurements, she converts the experiment to a problem that is classically efficiently simulable, but more importantly, enables her to characterize a lossy LON on the fly, without Bob's knowing and without changing anything at Bob's end (this is what we mean by in situ). We introduce and calculate the fidelity between the joint states shared by Alice and Bob after the ideal and lossy LONs as a measure of distance between the two LONs. Using this measure, we obtain an upper bound on the total variation distance between the ideal probability distribution for the RBS problem and the probability distribution achieved by a lossy LON. Our method displays the power of the entanglement of the two-mode squeezed-vacuum states: the entanglement allows Alice to choose for each run of the experiment between RBS and a simple characterization protocol based on first-order coherence between complex amplitudes.


Japanese popular culture has arrived on American college campuses as never before. Student interest in Japanese manga (comic books), anime (animated films and television shows), and video games drives much of the enrollment in Japanese courses and Japanese majors and minors. In response to student interest, as well as the establishment of popular culture as a topic of serious academic scholarship, the demand for courses on Japanese popular culture has never been higher. Yet the number of scholars specializing in the study of popular culture is still relatively small. This can potentially create problems, as faculty teach outside their expertise, and perhaps face an uncomfortable situation in which the students know more about the topic than the professor. In this article, I will offer some suggestions and advice for faculty creating a popular culture course for the first time, based on my experiences teaching undergraduates at the University of Notre Dame. The course I developed reflects my background in Japanese literature and film, and is but one example of many possible approaches to the topic. The sample syllabus and list of resources at the end of this article provide citations for all text and media sources mentioned.


The temperature dependence and effects of sodium and potassium chloride on purified preparations of sarcolemmal Ca2+-activated ATPase were investigated. It was shown that within the concentration range of 0,1--1,0 M both salts have the same effect on the enzyme activity. A low ionic strength and concentration of the salts of 0,1 M the temperature maximum was 45 degrees and the shapes of temperature curves were the same. The Arrhenius plots showed a break at 16--19 degrees. The apparent activation energies were 27,3 kcal/mole below and 17,1 kcal/mole above the break point. At high ionic strength (0,5 M) the temperature maximum was observed at 40 degrees and the apparent activation energies decreased down to 18,0 kcal/mole below and 11,5 kcal/mole above the break point.


Decentralization has been adopted by many economies as a tool to achieve objectives of better service delivery, attraction of more donor support necessary for capacity building all of which are important for increased revenue mobilization. The purpose of the study was to establish the relationship between Capacity Building and Fiscal Capacity in Mbale district local government. A cross sectional correlation approach was used to undertake the study. Stratified, purposive, convenience and simple random sampling involving a sample of 143 was used to obtain data about the study variables.The findings reveal that there was a significant positive relationship between Capacity Building Fiscal Capacity. It is recommended that more fiscal powers should be devolved to local levels and the central government remains committed to its decisions; both central and local governments should negotiate with donors to accept local government priorities and more Capacity Building programs based on local government needs should be undertaken.


Background and Objective: Glycosylation was reported to be altered and associated with development and progression of many cancers.  With the sugar-binding ability, lectins have been widely used in the study of glycans and glycoconjugates. Not only for detection of aberrant glycans in clinical samples, many lectins such as Concanavalin A (Con A) and European mistletoe (ML-I), have been applied as anti-cancer drugs.  This study is aimed to determine the expression profile of glycosylation in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) tissues using lectins. The possibilities of using lectin as a tool for detection CCA-associated glycans and the application of lectins in suppression cell growth in CCA were examined. Methods: Fourteen lectins with different sugar preferences were screened by lectin-histochemistry staining in human CCA tissues. Lectins which differentiated CCA from normal bile ducts were selected for clinical application and functional analysis in CCA cell lines. Cell growth was analyzed using Sulforhodamine B colorimetric assay (SRB) staining suppress CCA cell growth. Results: Using 14 different lectins, the lectin-histochemistry revealed different patterns of lectin staining in CCA tissues, only Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) exhibited negative staining with all histo-types CCA. Succinylated wheat germ agglutinin (sWGA), Sophora japonica agglutinin (SJA) and Ulex europaeus agglutinin (UEA-I) showed strongly positive staining with CCA but low reactivities with normal bile ducts, with  100% (53/53), 81% (43/53), and 64% (34/53) positive staining, respectively.  The functional analysis revealed that sWGA could suppress growth of KKU-M139 and KKU-M214 to 42% and 32% compared with the non-treated controls.  UEA-1 showed 36% growth suppression in KKU-M214 but not in KKU-M139, while SJA had no growth suppression effect and KKU-M055 was not suppressed by any lectin treatments.  Conclusions: The aberrant glycosylations in CCA were demonstrated using lectin histochemistry. sWGA and UEA-1 exhibited growth suppression on CCA cell lines. , The aberrant expressed glycans are possibly used as the biomarkers for CCA.   In addition, we have shown the potency of plant lectins to suppress CCA cell growth.  This information emphasized the applicable of lectins in CCA diagnosis and treatment.  The mechanism and role of these aberrant glycans in CCA are needed to speculate insight. Key words: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), Glycosylation, Lectins


Aim/Purpose In this paper, we analyze the phenomenon of "classroom WhatsApp groups", in which a teacher and students from a particular classroom interact with one another, while specifically focusing on the student perspective of these interactions. Background The instant messaging application WhatsApp enables quick, interactive multimedia communication in closed groups, as well as one-on-one interactions between selected group members. Yet, very little is known about the extent, nature, and purposes of these practices, the limitations and affordances, the type of discourse and conflicts that develop in these spaces, and the extent to which it affects teacher-student interactions outside of WhatsApp (e.g., the social climate in class, the teacher's status, teacher-student and student-student relations), especially from the students' perspective. Methodology Our methodology combines questionnaires, personal interviews, and focus groups with Israeli secondary school students (N = 88). Contribution The present study adds to the expanding body of empirical research on social media use in educational settings by specifically focusing on a heretofore underexposed aspect, namely, secondary school student-teacher communication in the popular instant messaging application WhatsApp. We report on findings from the student perspective and discuss the advantages and limitations of this form of communication sphere, and on the social functions of the different classroom WhatsApp groups in secondary school students' everyday life. Teacher-Student WhatsApp Interaction 206 Findings The combined findings reveal that classroom WhatsApp groups have become a central channel of communication for school-related topics. It is used primarily for organizational purposes (sending and receiving updates and managing learning activities), as well as a means for teachers to enforce discipline. Students mentioned many advantages of WhatsApp communication, such as easy access, the ability to create communities, the ability to safeguard personal privacy, and the communication format (written, mediated, personal, or group). However, they also recognized limitations (i.e., communication overload) and challenged teacher ability to monitor and affect student interactions in social media, even when they are present in these WhatsApp classroom groups. Finally, we report on the role of parallel, sans-teacher WhatsApp groups, which are characterized as back stage discourse arenas that accompany the front stage offline classroom activities and the "official" classroom WhatsApp group. Recommendations for Practitioners The combined findings of this study indicate how WhatsApp-based, joint teacher-student groups can serve a variety of educational purposes, namely, organizational, instructional, and educational-disciplinary. In addition, and in spite of teachers concerns, students are aware of the challenges inherent to the use of WhatsApp for communication with their teachers. Some of the main characteristics that prevent teachers from using other ubiquitous digital communication media, such as Facebook or Twitter, are not relevant when it comes to WhatsApp. Both teachers and students view WhatsApp as a favored channel of communication because of the low exposure to personal information and minimal invasion of privacy. Future Research The qualitative methodology of this paper limits the ability to generalize the current findings to other contexts and population groups. Future research should preferably explore the generalizability of our findings to larger sections of teenage populations. It should also explore similarities and differences with other age groups. Finally, the present study was set in a particular country (Israel). Local norms of cellphone use and of appropriate teacher-student interaction, as well as locally developed media domestication patterns, may differ from country to country and/or from one cultural group to another. Future research should then include and compare the current findings with data from different countries and cultures in order to complete the picture.


Among all the bulk conveying processes, how to effectively and conveniently put the bulk into the conveying process is regarded as one of the most important problems. This article brings out a brand-new equipment—Screw-gas Bulk Sucking and Taking Equipment for the solution, which applies both the theory of vertical screw conveyor and the theory of pneumatic handling. It constitutes of 3 parts; respectively from bottom to above they are: Centrifugal force Separating Part, Screw Lifting Part and Pneumatic Conveying Part. Particle material is drawn into the equipment in the form of gas-solid two-phase flow by the Atmospheric pressure, and then helically rises in the Centrifugal Force Separating Part which is an inverted cone. The material would be separated from the two-phase flow by the effect of centrifugal force and then be lifted in the Screw Lifting Part. The gas flow with the very little remained material would be drawn into the blower. By thus Screw-gas Bulk Sucking and Taking Equipment could take the material and put it to the next conveying process conveniently and efficiently with the superiorities of low clearing-up, little dust removal, simple construction and convenient maintenance. The article provides the feasibility of the new equipment by experiments on 3 kinds of identical particle.


A 5-year-old girl with acute appendicitis and omental torsion (OT), who presented with acute abdomen, is reported. The greater omentum of right upper quadrant gathered as an edematous and hard-shelled conglomeration with 7.0 cm x 6.0 cm x 4.0 cm size. It also rotated 5 x 360 o by clockwise direction. At the same time, the changes of the appendix were observed. The appendix was congestive, edematous and hard-shelled, with faecolith in the tip and had no adhesion with greater omentum. The whirled omentum and appendix were removed. The patient recovered smoothly, and was discharged 7 days later. OT occurring with acute appendicitis is a rare pathological condition with generic symptoms that may mimic many acute abdominal conditions. Laparoscopy is the first choice procedure for diagnosis and treatment of acute omental torsion and acute appendicitis.


The pharmacokinetics and safety of ceftazidime (25 mg/kg twice daily intravenously or intramuscularly) were determined in 41 young, premature neonates who were clinically infected and would otherwise have received gentamicin plus penicillin. Ceftazidime was assayed in 46 series of blood samples by HPLC. Blood was collected before, during and after treatment for analysis of biochemical and haematological factors. Faecal specimens were examined for the presence of Clostridium difficile and its toxin. Although the peak concentration following iv administration was higher (77 +/- 8 mg/l) than that following im injection (56 +/- 7 mg/l), satisfactory serum levels were maintained throughout the dosage interval using either route. Mean pharmacokinetic profiles following both routes are reported. Postnatal age was the most important factor governing total body clearance (P = 0.0001) and serum half life (P = 0.001). The biochemical and haematological status of the majority of babies remained unaffected by therapy and there was no increase in the incidence of Cl. difficile isolation from stools. Ceftazidime is a safe and well tolerated drug for use in the treatment of neonates. 25 mg/kg administered twice daily results in adequate serum levels in babies during the first two weeks of life.


Local land use boards, made up of volunteers from the community, decide a majority of the land use issues in New York's municipalities, as well as most other states. In the past, these decision makers were not required to obtain formal training. Now, several states and municipalities are recognize the substantial impact of land use board decisions, and as a consequence, are providing innovative training for their board members. Land use law becomes more complicated with each passing hour, and through proper training, land use board members can become informed decision makers who maximize the potential of their communities.


Positioning projected points in a mobile Augmented Reality application based only on the orientation sensor of the device can cause instability due to variations in the sensor data. A method is proposed to use the image data from the camera feed of the device in order to stabilize the points. Point correspondences are found by matching features in subsequent frames, and a robust method is then used to determine a homography from these, which allows us to map between the two frames and thus correct for camera rotation.The implementation was evaluated on an Android smartphone and results indicate that this method can achieve close to real-time performance, taking on average 80 ms to produce a homography from a busyscene. The determined homographies can correct for camera rotations and produce only small errors in the positions. The choice of parameters is important to the results, and it should be noted that the method does not work for significant movement or low-detail situations.


Dynamism and uncertainty are real challenges for present day manufacturing enterprises (MEs). Reasons include: an increasing demand for customisation, reduced time to market, shortened product life cycles and globalisation. MEs can reduce competitive pressure by becoming reconfigurable and change-capable. However, modern manufacturing philosophies, including agile and lean, must complement the application of reconfigurable manufacturing paradigms. Choosing and applying the best philosophies and techniques is very difficult as most MEs deploy complex and unique configurations of processes and resource systems, and seek economies of scope and scale in respect of changing and distinctive product flows. It follows that systematic methods of achieving model driven reconfiguration and interoperation of component based manufacturing systems are required to design, engineer and change future MEs. This thesis, titled Enhanced Integrated Modelling Approach to Reconfiguring Manufacturing Enterprises , introduces the development and prototyping a model-driven environment for the design, engineering, optimisation and control of the reconfiguration of MEs with an embedded capability to handle various types of change. The thesis describes a novel systematic approach, namely enhanced integrated modelling approach (EIMA), in which coherent sets of integrated models are created that facilitates the engineering of MEs especially their production planning and control (PPC) systems. The developed environment supports the engineering of common types of strategic, tactical and operational processes found in many MEs. The EIMA is centred on the ISO standardised CIMOSA process modelling approach. Early study led to the development of simulation models during which various CIMOSA shortcomings were observed, especially in its support for aspects of ME dynamism. A need was raised to structure and create semantically enriched models hence forming an enhanced integrated modelling environment. The thesis also presents three industrial case examples: (1) Ford Motor Company; (2) Bradgate Furniture Manufacturing Company; and (3) ACM Bearings Company. In order to understand the system prior to realisation of any PPC strategy, multiple process segments of any target organisation need to be modelled. Coherent multi-perspective case study models are presented that have facilitated process reengineering and associated resource system configuration. Such models have a capability to enable PPC decision making processes in support of the reconfiguration of MEs. During these case studies, capabilities of a number of software tools were exploited such as Arena®, Simul8®, Plant Simulation®, MS Visio®, and MS Excel®. Case study results demonstrated effectiveness of the concepts related to the EIMA. The research has resulted in new contributions to knowledge in terms of new understandings, concepts and methods in following ways: (1) a structured model driven integrated approach to the design, optimisation and control of future reconfiguration of MEs. The EIMA is an enriched and generic process modelling approach with capability to represent both static and dynamic aspects of an ME; and (2) example application cases showing benefits in terms of reduction in lead time, cost and resource load and in terms of improved responsiveness of processes and resource systems with a special focus on PPC; (3) identification and industrial application of a new key performance indicator (KPI) known as P3C the measuring and monitoring of which can aid in enhancing reconfigurability and responsiveness of MEs; and (4) an enriched modelling concept framework (E-MUNE) to capture requirements of static and dynamic aspects of MEs where the conceptual framework has the capability to be extended and modified according to the requirements. The thesis outlines key areas outlining a need for future research into integrated modelling approaches, interoperation and updating mechanisms of partial models in support of the reconfiguration of MEs.


Cycling of N through an agroecosystem can be managed more effectively if effects of N management and cropping sequence on soil N microbial processes are understood. Effects of cropping intensity and N fertilizer rate on net soil N mineralization were studied as well as their correlation with precipitation, air temperature and soil water content. Net soil N mineralization was measured by incubating undisturbed soil cores (15-cm depth) containing anion and cation exchange resins at their bottoms. Cores were incubated during each of five time periods (3-4 wk each) during the fallow phase (mid-April to mid-September) of two no-till cropping systems, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-fallow (WF) and wheat-corn (Zea mays L.)- fallow (WCF). Past N fertilizer applications were over four rates with total amounts applied during the previous 6 yr of 0, 95, 190, and 286 kg N ha -1 in WF and 0, 134, 269. and 403 kg N ha -1 in WCF. Soils were an Aridic Paleustoll at Sterling and an Aridic Argiustoll at Stratton in eastern Colorado. Total net N mineralization in WCF was half that in WF (22 vs. 43 kg N ha 1 ; 2-site average), probably due to greater immobilization as evidenced by nearly three times greater accumulation of crop residue on the soil surface after 6 yr of no-till management. Greater conservation of applied N and soil N can be expected in the more intensive WCF system. Total mineralized N increased with N rate by 0.2 kg ha 1 for each kg ha ha -1 of previously applied N. Precipitation in combination with air temperature and their interaction term gave the best prediction of average daily N mineralization at both sites.


This paper studies the provision of incentives to reallocate capital when managers are reluctant to relinquish control and have private information about the productivity of assets under their control. We show that when managers get private benefits from running projects substantial bonuses are required to induce managers to declare that capital under their control is less productive and should be reallocated. When aggregate productivity and hence the number of projects is low and fewer managers are required to run projects such bonuses would leave managers with unnecessary rents. This means that it is more costly to induce reallocation and thus less capital is reallocated. From the investor's perspective, capital is more illiquid in bad times since too much of the gains from capital reallocation would accrue to managers.


One hundred chronic subdural haematomas in the adult are presented in a retrospective study, looking for correlations between results and aetiological, clinical, radiological and therapeutic elements. Only four parameters are correlated with results: headache and isodensity on C.T. Scan are good prognostic factors (p less than 0.02 and p less than 0.04 respectively); on the other hand chronic alcoholism (p less than 0.03) and even more postoperative pneumatocele (p less than 0.007) are correlated with a poor result. Pneumatocele is due to intracranial hypotension which is the major factor promoting formation and development of chronic subdural haematoma occurring in aged population.


High dimensional neural network potential
(HDNNP) is interested as an alternative to classical force field calculations
by data-driven approach. HDNNP has an advantage over classical force field
calculation, such as being able to handle chemical reactions, but there are
many points yet to be understood with respect to the chemical transferability
in particular for non-organic compounds. In this paper, we focused on Au13+
and Au11+ clusters and showed that the energy of clusters
of different sizes can be predicted by HDNNP with semi-quantitative accuracy.


Increasing numbers of biological applications of fullerenyl amino acids and their derivatives encouraged us to synthesise [60]fullerenyldihydropyrrole peptides, prepared from the coupling of mono- and bis[60]fullerenyldihydropyrrolecarboxylic acids 4, 5 and 41 with presynthesised peptides 13, 16, 24, 28, 29 and 46. The resulting hydrophobic scaffolded di- and tetra-cationic derivatives were tested against Staphylococcus aureus NCTC 6571 and Escherichia coli NCTC 10418. The synthesis, characterisation and biological results are discussed in this paper.


The foraging ecology of many Ctenotus species is considered to be generalised and opportunistic. If their foraging ecology is generalised, we would predict that Ctenotus species in spinifex grasslands of and Australia will (1) feed largely on the most abundant food source, termites and (2) that any differences in diet will largely reflect differences in microhabitat use. To test these predictions, we examined diets and patterns of microhabitat use by four sympatric Ctenotus species in the southern Goldfields of Western Australia. Neither prediction was supported by our results. One species, C. brooksi, did not feed on termites and similarity in microhabitat use between species was not related to dietary similarity. Our data suggest that these Ctenotus species may have more specialised foraging ecologies than has been previously appreciated. Future research involving detailed observations of Ctenotus species foraging in the field is required to determine which species have specialised foraging ecologies and to what extent they are specialised.


We examine the impact of individuals' religious and political affiliations on the conflict resolution strategies they employ. Participants in the U.S., Israel, and Qatar played the interactive computer game PeaceMaker (ImpactGames, 2006) with the objective of satisfying constituents on both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict. We find a "reverse bias" favoring participants' non-affiliated side in the role of Israeli Prime Minister, but bias favoring one's affiliated side when playing the role of Palestinian President. We interpret this difference in light of minority-majority group membership, and deliberate assertion of in-group interests versus perspective-taking of out-group interests. Finally, we discuss the potential of interactive computer games to study conflict resolution in other dynamic environments characterized by uncertainty and complex interdependencies.


In this paper a novel method for performing music in the style of famous pianists is presented. We use Kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis (KCCA), a method which looks for a common semantic representation between two views, to learn the correlation between a representation of a musical score and a representation of an artist's performance of that score. We use the performance representation based on the variations of beat level global loudness and tempo through time, as suggested by [3]. Therefore, the crux of the matter is the representation of the musical scores and by implication a similarity measure between relevant features that capture our prior knowledge of music. We therefore proceed to propose a novel kernel for musical scores, which is a Gaussian kernel adaptation to the distances between rhythm patterns, melodic contours and chords progressions.


Local worlds, global economies. For an ethnography of microcredit in Italy. The research main purpose is to provide an anthropological analysis of a microcredit project targeting migrant women in Venice, Italy.
Microcredit is a globally widespread financial strategy. Muhammad Yunus' Grameen Bank success in Bangladesh was pivotal in promoting microfinance as one of the most important poverty alleviation strategies in the Development Countries.
Post Industrial Countries adopted microcredit to foster "non bankable" categories – notably immigrants, women and young people - financial inclusion.
The history of the Venice project is reconstructed starting from the perspectives of its main characters (promoters, social workers, beneficiaries and local stakeholders). Their positioned representations are analyzed in order to understand how different actors reproduced or renegotiated some of the main rhetorics underpinning the hegemonic "microcredit discourse". Specifically, keywords such as "sustainability", "empowerment" and "trust" are critically deconstructed to see how they are meant and translated into practice by different actors.
Fieldwork data allows some considerations on the Italian way to microfinance.


Summary: This article provides an operationalisation of the concept of integration within the meaning of the IPPC Directive along the dimensions of procedural, organisational, and substantive integration. Within this conceptual framework of integration, the national transpositions of the IPPC Directive in Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK are presented, and critically reviewed. On the basis of empirical implementation data and the results of legal analyses it is shown that the holistic approach of the IPPC Directive remains elusive in Europe. Therefore, the discussion concludes with some observations on regulatory credibility, efficiency, and strategy in a Union of 25 Member States.


Purpose
Because of the growing financial market integration, China's stock market's volatility spillover effect has gradually increased. Traditional strategies do not capture stock volatility in dependence and dynamic conditions. Therefore, this study aims to find an effective stochastic model to predict the volatility spillover effect in the dynamic stock markets.

Design/methodology/approach
To assess the time-varying dynamics and volatility spillover, this study has used an integrated approach of dynamic conditional correlation model, copula and extreme-value theory. A daily log-returns of three leading indices of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) and Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) from the period of 2009 to 2019 is used in the modeling of value-at-risk (VaR) for volatility estimation. The Student's t copula has been selected based on maximum likelihood estimation and Akaike's information criteria values of all the copulas using the goodness-of-fit test.

Findings
The model results show stronger dependency between all major portfolios of PSX and SSE, with the parametric value of 0.98. Subsequently, the results of dependence structure positively estimate the spillover effect of SSE over PSX. Furthermore, the back-testing results show that the VaR model performs well at 99% and 95% levels of confidence and gives more accurate estimates upon the maximum level of confidence.

Practical implications
This study is helpful for the investment managers to manage the risk associated to portfolios under dependence conditions. Moreover, this study is also helpful for the researchers in the field of financial risk management who are trying to improve the returns by addressing the issues of volatility estimations.

Originality/value
This study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a practical model to manage the volatility spillover effect in dependence conditions between as well as across the financial markets.


Four samples of blueschist from the eastern Klamath Mountains near Yreka, northern California, and from north-central Oregon near Mitchell have radiometric ages of approximately 220 m.y. (Middle Triassic). In the Klamath Mountains, there are two types of blueschist occurrence: (1) tectonic blocks of mafic composition in a phyllitic quartzite and siliceous phyllite terrane, which has also undergone blueschist-facies meta-morphism and lies between a belt of serpentinite and an upper Paleozoic or lower Mesozoic greenstone-chert terrane, and (2) discontinuous layers and tectonic blocks in phyllitic rocks of the greenschist metamorphic facies, which occur beneath a thrust plate of lower Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. In north-central Oregon, blueschist blocks occur in strongly sheared upper Paleozoic metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks overlain by Cretaceous sedimentary rocks. The blueschist blocks in the Klamath Mountains and north-central Oregon are inferred to have formed during subduction that accompanied widespread Middle Triassic tectonism in the western Cordillera.


While the current climate crisis tightens its stranglehold on contemporary society, many are those who put their faith in groundbreaking design and artistic innovation. As a side effect of the climate threat, this renewed celebration of creative agency may be welcome, not the least from a landscape architecture perspective since, in the context of sustainable development, every design action is also a landscaping gesture with environmental implications. Nevertheless, isolated from a broader societal context, these new eco-scapes risk ending up as nothing but attractive emerald patches disguising a sprawling global 'junkspace'. As an expanded field of aesthetic and political agency, however, the emerging sustainability culture offers new perspectives on creative spatial practice. Approaching the environmental issue from the perspective of contemporary landscape related art practices, this article seeks to contribute to the articulation of a landscape aesthetics that would meet the requirements of our agitated time. Such articulation, however, requires a reconsideration of landscape aesthetics beyond the consoling and beautiful, as well as a fundamental shift in landscape thinking from representation to agency. The future eco-scape is not necessarily a sphere where you feel 'at ease', but a performative and unsettled space in constant transformation and change.


Cascaded Regression (CR) based methods have been proposed to solve facial landmarks detection problem, which learn a series of descent directions by multiple cascaded regressors separately trained in coarse and fine stages. They outperform the traditional gradient descent based methods in both accuracy and running speed. However, cascaded regression is not robust enough because each regressor's training data comes from the output of previous regressor. Moreover, training multiple regressors requires lots of computing resources, especially for deep learning based methods. In this paper, we develop a Self-Iterative Regression (SIR) framework to improve the model efficiency. Only one self-iterative regressor is trained to learn the descent directions for samples from coarse stages to fine stages, and parameters are iteratively updated by the same regressor. Specifically, we proposed Landmarks-Attention Network (LAN) as our regressor, which concurrently learns features around each landmark and obtains the holistic location increment. By doing so, not only the rest of regressors are removed to simplify the training process, but the number of model parameters is significantly decreased. The experiments demonstrate that with only 3.72M model parameters, our proposed method achieves the state-of-the-art performance.


The elimination of thermotolerant coliforms (Coli44) and spores of sulphite-reducing clostridia (SSRC) in full-scale water treatment was determined by large volume sampling. The objective was to determine the elimination capacity of full-scale treatment processes for micro-organisms, both vegetative bacteria and bacterial spores. In two short-periods in winter and summer, information was collected about the elimination of Coli44 and SSRC by the overall treatment, the contribution of the unit processes and the variability in elimination. Coli44 concentrations in the source waters were reduced by 3.2 to 6.3 log to an average concentration sufficiently low to achieve more than 99% compliance with the drinking water standard. The elimination of SSRC was lower (1.4 to 4.2) and SSRC were observed occasionally (>1%) in finished water by the routine weekly sampling of 100 ml samples. The study also yielded much information about the elimination efficacy of unit processes at the different locations, which enables process optimization and improved process control. Moreover, it is demonstrated that this quantitative information on removal of indicator bacteria by full-scale treatment systems can be used as input for quantitative microbial risk assessment. Further research will be focussed on comparative studies on the removal of faecal indicators and pathogens by unit processes and the improvement of the enumeration methods of pathogens in the source water (recovery efficiencies, specificity).


This study was conducted to investigate the autophagic response of Sertoli cells (SCs) to acute ethanol toxicity using in vivo and in vitro models. Adult Wistar rats were intraperitoneally injected with either 5 g/kg ethanol or phosphate-buffered saline (for the control group) and sacrificed 0, 3, 6 and 24 h after injection. Compared to the control group, enhanced germ cell apoptosis was observed in the ethanol-treated rats (ETRs) in association with upregulation of iNOS and reduced expression of androgen receptor protein levels in SCs, which were resistant to apoptosis. Meanwhile, autophagy was upregulated in ETR SCs (peaking at 24 h) compared to the control group, as evidenced by transcription factor EB (TFEB) nuclear translocation, enhanced expression of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain3-II (LC3-II), lysosome-associated membrane protein-2 (LAMP-2), pan cathepsin protein levels and reduced expression of p62. This upregulation of SC autophagy was confirmed ultrastructurally by enhanced formation of autophagic vacuoles and by immunofluorescent double labelling of autophagosomal and lysosomal markers. Study of cultured SCs confirmed enhanced autophagic response to ethanol toxicity, which was cytoprotective based on decreased viability of SCs upon blocking autophagy with 3-methyladenine (3-MA). The results highlighted the molecular mechanisms of prosurvival autophagy in ETR SCs for the first time, and may have significant implications for male fertility.


The traditional didactic model is based on the transmission of the teacher's encyclopedic knowledge. In this model, the teaching of Science aims at the transmission of dominant values, regarded as absolute truths. The teacher is seen is an expert on scientific contents who transmits them to students without motivating them, and without taking into consideration their previous ideas and life experience. This model contributes to the formation of professionals who accept those values uncritically. An effective approach to break up this traditional teaching model in Biochemistry is the use of a generating issue. A Generating Issue is the starting point to the knowledge construction process which, in turn, replaces traditional models. Thus, this study aimed at developing a lesson for a 12th grade class at IF Fluminense on the following content: alcohol, carboxylic acid, ester, and esterification reaction, using dyslipidemias as the Generating Issue. To verify the value of such methodology in Biochemistry classroom, data was collected by applying a questionnaire and images with texts produced by students. In addition, they had a class based on the methodology known as Three Pedagogical Moments, proposed by Delizoicov et al. (2007). Several didactic resources designed by the authors were used, such as slide presentation, tridimensional molecular models, and a roulette game named "Bioquimicados", based on the Facebook game "Perguntados" ("Trivia Crack"). After this, students developed more grounded scientific concepts, making use of terms common in scientific language. This suggests that the use of the Generating Issue in a lesson based on problematization, and supported by a ludic activity, provided a meaningful contribution to improve the students' understanding of the scientific content. This type of non-traditional class promotes greater student motivation, resulting in meaningful learning.


Functional foods are an emerging research field corresponding with genomical, epidemiological and clinical studies integrated with the food industry in accordance with the consumer demands. Consequently, the features of the functional foods are being discussed by various researchers and related institutions, and a common view has been pointed out about the availability and the nature of the components of functional foods. Recently, the outcomes of functional foods are being assessed by the help of all the available scientific tools. Genomic medicine is one of the most promising areas of research to reveal the benefits of functional foods and the bioactive ingredients. Nutrigenomics aims at studying the genetic and epigenetic interactions with a nutrient or the functional component in order to lead to a phenotype change and therefore to the cell metabolism, differentiation or even apoptosis. Papaya and its fermentation product are specific products derived from the technologically advanced and controlled environmental-friendly bio-fermentation process. It has been well known for a long time that the natural anti-oxidant properties of papaya, mainly depending on vitamins A and C in addition to certain amino acids, were consistent both in the fruit and derived from the papain enzyme which is no longer present in the fermented product. In this article, functional foods in genomic medicine are discussed in review of the fermented papaya preparation research progress. Clinical evidences about fermented papaya as a functional food are reported as supported by various research protocols and experimental models. The benefits of fermented papaya preparation are also discussed in nutrigenomic basis and it is reported to have an important antioxidant and transcriptomic potential which deserves further investigation. As a conclusion, fermented papaya preparation represents a Functional Food highly compliant with the novel features of the new nutrigenomic-driven action plan strategy aimed to reduce the incidences of diseases and successful integration within specific pharmacological treatments. Keywords : functional foods, fermented papaya preparation, nutrigenomics


We used tree-rings to reconstruct long-term patterns of suppression, release and growth among five sympatric canopy tree species representing the full range of shade tolerance in a seasonal tropical forest in western Thailand. We expected that the frequency and duration of suppression and release events would be positively correlated with shade tolerance. All five species showed evidence of major and moderate growth releases. As expected, Melia azederach, an extreme heliophile, had the fewest releases. However, among the other species the number of major releases was consistent across the range of shade tolerance. The most significant difference among the species was the number of moderate releases recorded. There was a general positive correlation between the number of moderate releases and shade tolerance; however, Chukrasia tabularis, a relatively shade-intolerant species, had an anomalously high number of moderate releases. The study species also showed considerable variation in canopy accession strategies. The least common canopy accession strategy was establishment in the understorey and growth into the canopy in the absence of any gaps. However, with the exception of Melia, all four study species had one or more individuals that successfully reached the canopy using each of the four canopy accession strategies. These results highlight the importance of periodic or episodic bouts of gap formation on canopy tree recruitment and the utility of tree-rings for reconstructing long-term growth patterns in tropical trees.


Last year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) convened a State-of-the-Science Conference on Symptom Management in Cancer: Pain, Depression, and Fatigue to examine current knowledge regarding the management of pain, depression, and fatigue in oncology patients and to identify possible areas for future research. The final statement of the NIH State-of-the-Science Panel was published in the August 6 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. It is also available on the Consensus Program Web Site at http://consensus.nih.gov.


Various approaches from different fields have been proposed to improve the security of computer system. One such approach is Intrusion detection system monitors computer system in real-time for activities indicating attempted or actual access by unauthorised users. To build an effective intrusion detection system many techniques are available which gathers and analyze information from different areas within a computer system or network and identify various security threats, including both intrusions anomaly i.e. attacks from outside the organization and misuse i.e. attacks from within the organization. Artificial Immune System (AIS) which is inspired by the robust and flexible nature of Human Immune System (HIS) can be incorporated in current Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) thereby improving their efficiency and performance. This paper gives a review of various artificial immune system approaches that can be used for the development of an Intrusion Detection System.


Tissue engineering is a rapidly evolving field in which the complexity of biomaterials and biostructures, with typically non-Euclidean or fractal-like geometries, has to be adequately taken into account for the promotion of enhanced and even personalized diagnostic and therapeutic solutions. This study covers the main applications of fractals in the field of tissue engineering, including their advantages for modeling biological processes and cell-culture procedures, but specially focusing on their benefits for describing the complex geometries and structures of biomaterials (both natural and synthetic), many of which have potential uses for the development of cell culture microsystems, scaffolds for tissue repair and implants for tissue repair in general. We also explore the main supporting design, simulation and manufacturing technologies, as well as the most remarkable difficulties and limitations linked to the generalized use of fractals in engineering design, and also detail some current solution prop...


Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are the names that come to mind for most Americans if asked about the civil rights or Black Power movements. Others may point to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, both of whom backed pathbreaking civil rights legislation. However, recent scholarship suggests that neither black male leaders nor white male presidents were always the most important gures in the modern struggle for black freedom. Presidents took their cues not simply from male luminaries in civil rights organizations. Rather, their legislative initiatives were largely in response to grassroots protests in which women, especially black women, were key participants. African American women played major roles in local and national organizing e orts and frequently were the majority in local chapters of groups as dissimilar as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Black Panther Party. Even familiar names like Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King have become little more than sanitized national icons, while their decades-long e orts to secure racial, economic, and gender justice remain relatively unknown. Aside from activists and scholars, even fewer of us know much, if anything, about the female allies of the black freedom struggle, including white southerners as well as other women of color. A closer look at the women who made enormous contributions to both the modern civil rights and Black Power movements sheds new light on these struggles, including the historic national victories we think we fully understand, such as the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In short, examining women's participation in the "long civil rights movement," which historians increasingly date to the New Deal and World War II, calls for a rede nition of more conventional notions of leadership, protest, and politics.


Objective: Bovine cysticercosis is a cattle infection caused by a tapeworm, Taenia saginata. While the condition is relatively innocuous, the parasite infects the small intestine of humans in its mature stage and causes a few specific symptoms such as abdominal pain and nausea. Methods: Between February 2013 and February 2014, a total of 640 cattle were randomly selected from all the cattle sent to the abattoir, and some internal organs and skeletal muscles of these cattle were inspected. Results: Overall, 11 (1.71%) cattle were infected with the larval form of the cestode parasite T. saginata. In addition, the infection was more prevalent in cattle aged above 12 months than in those aged below 12 months [10 (2.06%) vs. 1 (0.64%)]. The prevalence of infection was significantly higher in female animals [8 (3.72%)] than in male animals [3 (0.70%)] (p<0.05). However, no significant difference was found between the rates in the 2 age groups or in different seasons. While the infections were detected in several visceral organs, no significant difference was found between their infection rates. Conclusion: The comparatively high prevalence of Cysticercus bovis infection in the cattle in Tabriz, Iran, may contribute to economic and health problems in the country's meat industry. On the other hand, the role of public health education in C. bovis infection control cannot be neglected.


Background. A quadratic formula of the Spinal Cord Injury Ability Realization Measurement Index (SCI-ARMI) has previously been published. This formula was based on a model of Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM95), the 95th percentile of the SCIM III values, which correspond with the American Spinal Injury Association Motor Scores (AMS) of SCI patients. Objective. To further develop the original formula. Setting. Spinal cord injury centers from 6 countries and the Statistical Laboratory, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. Methods. SCIM95 of 661 SCI patients was modeled, using a quantile regression with or without adjustment for age and gender, to calculate SCI-ARMI values. SCI-ARMI gain during rehabilitation and its correlations were examined. Results. A new quadratic SCIM95 model was created. This resembled the previously published model, which yielded similar SCIM95 values in all the countries, after adjustment for age and gender. Without this adjustment, however, only 86% of the non-Israeli SCIM III observations were lower than those SCIM95 values (P < .0001). Adding the variables age and gender to the new model affected the SCIM95 value significantly (P < .04). Adding country information did not add a significant effect (P > .1). SCI-ARMI gain was positive (38.8 ± 22 points, P < .0001) and correlated weakly with admission age and AMS. Conclusions. The original quadratic SCI-ARMI formula is valid for an international population after adjustment for age and gender. The new formula considers more factors that affect functional ability following SCI.


Few studies that have focused on developing credit risk models specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have included non-financial information as a predictor of company creditworthiness. In this study we have available non-financial, regulatory compliance and "event" data to supplement the limited accounting data that is often available for non-listed firms. We employ a sample consisting of over 5.8 million sets of accounts of unlisted firms, of which over 66,000 failed during the period 2000–2007. We find that data relating to legal action by creditors to recover unpaid debts, company filing histories, comprehensive audit report/opinion data and firm-specific characteristics make a significant contribution to increasing the default prediction power of risk models built specifically for SMEs.


Chirothrips hoodi sp.n. (Figs. 1 and 2). Female (macropterous). Length about 1.2 mm. General colour yellowish brown. Head brown with a very slight tinge of yellow; the entire thorax and abdomen paler and more distinctly tinged with yellow; femora same colour as the thorax on the outer margin, the rest more yellow; fore tibiae yellow except for the outer portion of the basal angle, middle and hind tibiae yellowish brown gradually becoming more yellow towards the apex which is practically pure yellow; all tarsi yellow.


One of our general goals is to answer the question of what is the "added value" of a Natural Language interaction for a learner that interacts with an ITS. To do so, we applied simple Natural Language Generation techniques to improve the feedback provided by intelligent tutoring systems built within the DIAG framework (Towne 1997a). We have evaluated the original version of the system and the enhanced one with a between subjects experiment. The results are mixed. Although differences rarely achieve statistical significance, there appears to be slight improvement on performance measures in the group interacting with the enhanced system; however, subjects using the original system have better recall of the actions they took.


This paper presented the preliminary study results on earthworms living in some covered vegetation soils in 3 localities: Naot (Maison district), Coma (Thuanchau district) and Chiengsinh (Sonla city) of the Sonla province. The study was carried out in three years (2002, 2003 and 2004). The samples were collected in 3 biotops (the secondary forest soil, the savanna soil and the grassland soil) at each locality. There were 21 earthworm species belonging to 7 genera of 5 families were recorded in these areas. Among these genera, Pheretima was the one which had the highest number of species (14 species-accounted for 66.7% of the total species number). Among these species, Dichogaster modigliani (Rosa, 1896) and Pheretima penichaetifeta Thai, 1984 predominated in individual number and biomass. The highest number of earthworm species was in the secondary forest soil with 12 species; the following one was in the savanna soil with 9 species and in the grassland soil with 9 species. This study showed that the species composition and the distribution of earthworms depended on the vegetation cover. The study has also showed the density and the average biomass per m 2 of earthworms in these biotops.


Carbamazepine is a frequently used drug that can produce adverse reactions like vertigo, somnolence and severe skin reactions like Drug Rash with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms Syndrome (DRESS Syndrome). This syndrome is characterized by a late-appearing, slow-progressing cutaneous eruption accompanied by atypical lymphocytes, eosinophilia, and systemic symptoms such as fever, lymphadenopathy, hepatic compromise, and renal dysfunction that can be severe enough to cause death. We present a case that aims to highlight the importance of an early diagnosis of DRESS syndrome to adjust therapy and improve survival. The patient is a female patient prescribed carbamazepine for trigeminal neuralgia who presented with skin lesions, which were initially attributed to a hypersensitivity reaction. The lesions worsened in spite of treatment and systemic symptoms ensued. A diagnosis of DRESS syndrome was proposed and steroid treatment was initiated with rapid improvement.


With a critical need for more complete in vitro models of human development and disease, organoids hold immense potential. Their complex cellular composition makes single-cell sequencing of great utility; however, the limitation of current technologies to a handful of treatment conditions restricts their use in screens or studies of organoid heterogeneity. Here, we apply sci-Plex, a single-cell combinatorial indexing (sci)-based RNA-seq multiplexing method to retinal organoids. We demonstrate that sci-Plex and 10x methods produce highly concordant cell class compositions and then expand sci-Plex to analyze the cell class composition of 410 organoids upon modulation of critical developmental pathways. Leveraging individual organoid data, we develop a method to measure organoid heterogeneity, and we identify that activation of Wnt signaling early in retinal organoid cultures increases retinal cell classes up to six weeks later. Our data show sci-Plex's potential to dramatically scale-up the analysis of treatment conditions on relevant human models.


Livestock grazing, which has a large influence on habitat structure, is associated with the widespread decline of various bird species across the world, yet there are few experimental studies that investigate how grazing pressure influences avian reproduction. We manipulated grazing pressure using a replicated field experiment, and found that the offspring sex ratio of a common upland passerine, the meadow pipit Anthus pratensis, varied significantly between grazing treatments. The proportion of sons was lowest in the ungrazed and intensively grazed treatments and highest in treatments grazed at low intensity (by sheep, or a mixture of sheep and cattle). This response was not related to maternal body condition. These results demonstrate the sensitivity of avian reproductive biology to variation in local conditions, and support growing evidence that too much grazing, or the complete removal of livestock from upland areas, is detrimental for common breeding birds.


Water is one of the most important of all the natural resources necessary to ensure human health and civilisation. Malaysia is fortunate to be able to call itself a water rich nation and possesses a number of rivers with great potential for recreation. The importance of rivers as the physical centre of a city and the site for trading from very early times remains in the history of all Malaysians (Hussein2006). Population growth, economic growth, urbanisation and increased technology have transformed many Malaysian river systems from water industries into non water industries. Due to these changes, the function of riverfront areas has also changed and the current pattern of riverfront development in Malaysia now focuses more on mixed-use development and recreation, while incorporating Malaysian cultural and historical values. However, in some cases, the implementation of these riverfront projects is driven more by investment needs than by community and environmental needs, with developers neither taking part nor contributing to the government goals of sustaining water and rivers as assets for the country. In addition, inadequate regulations and guidelines relating to riverfront developments, at every level of government, is having a negative impact environmentally and socially. Examples are increases in water pollution indexes and rates of juvenile problems. This paper presents the results of a study on the effectiveness of riverfront development guidelines in Malaysia. Data was collected using interviews with stakeholders involved in riverfront development projects within selected case study areas: Kuching Riverfront, Malacca Waterfront, Glenmarie Cove Riverfront; and survey questionnaires from property development companies listed on Bursa Malaysia. The results showed that most of the interviewees and developers were familiar with the Guidelines for riverfront development concept proposed by the Malaysian Department of Drainage and Irrigation, even though not directly involved in riverfront projects. Moreover, the majority did not support the guidelines for many reasons such as they are insufficient to control environment problems and there is no specific guidance for riverfront developments. These results will be used to provide recommendations for best practice in riverfront developments in Malaysia.


Many available formal verification methods have been shown to be instances of a unified Branch-and-Bound (BaB) formulation. We propose a novel machine learning framework that can be used for designing an effective branching strategy as well as for computing better lower bounds. Specifically, we learn two graph neural networks (GNN) that both directly treat the network we want to verify as a graph input and perform forward-backward passes through the GNN layers. We use one GNN to simulate the strong branching heuristic behaviour and another to compute a feasible dual solution of the convex relaxation, thereby providing a valid lower bound.
We provide a new verification dataset that is more challenging than those used in the literature, thereby providing an effective alternative for testing algorithmic improvements for verification. Whilst using just one of the GNNs leads to a reduction in verification time, we get optimal performance when combining the two GNN approaches. Our combined framework achieves a 50\% reduction in both the number of branches and the time required for verification on various convolutional networks when compared to several state-of-the-art verification methods. In addition, we show that our GNN models generalize well to harder properties on larger unseen networks.


The main goal of the aerial survey was to provide factual information on the type, magnitude and location of the main threats to the forests of the Aberdare Range. It will help stakeholders to determine the effectiveness and weaknesses of current management practices and to adopt new policy and management decisions for the long-term conservation of the forests.


Corporate philanthropy is a significant indicator of firm's socially responsible behavior. Researchers and managers acknowledge the immense potential of corporate philanthropy for optimizing social and economic benefits. Aligned with this view corporate sector in Pakistan is engaged in philanthropic initiatives in some form or another. This paper aims to present the response of the Pakistani corporate sector to the corporate philanthropy at the time of global economic recession 2008-2009 by analyzing the sample of Public Listed Companies (PLCs). The analysis revealed that during the global financial crisis, the economic condition of Pakistan was worsened that was already in distress, but it hasn't strongly effected the corporate philanthropy as the data shows a slight decrease in the overall volume of corporate donations in 2007 and a slight decrease in the number of companies engaged in philanthropy during 2008. The finding of the study suggests that during the global economic downturn the PLCs in Pakistan continued to show commitment towards community through corporate donations.