This paper analyses the so-called biography of a thing as a way of thinking about the value and meaning of heritage. A certain, almost 100 years old, trunk is used as a case study to present how heritage is constituted trough relations between people, things, and places. Indeed, heritage is a kind of relation between humans and non-humans. To back up this thesis, this article offers a five-step approach.First, the starting point is Michael Shanks' thesis that "we are all archaeologists now". The British archaeologist – it can be said – argues for broadening the archaeological discourse and to look archaeologically at the world we all live in. From this point of view, a Neolithic pot sherd and a contemporary thing such as a trunk, for example, represent the same category of an archaeological artefact. Through their materiality, they both might be objects of an archaeological scrutiny.Second, I shortly discuss the archaeological research on the recent past. Archaeology is a practice anchored here and now. One of the archaeological perspectives that analyses the relics of the recent past is the approach where archaeologists study their own heritage i.e. the histories of their own families. This is the perspective developed further in this paper.Third, it is argued that the theoretical concept known as biography of a thing, can be useful in the context of the archaeology of the recent past. It is the concept that takes into account the past and present of each artefact, landscape or practice. This approach allows for studying both the social and the material memories which are crucial apropos of the archaeological research on the recent past. Here, archaeologists take into account things as well as people's memories about them.Fourth, an analysis of a trunk which the author found in the grandmother's basement is used as a case study to present the potential of the archaeological research on the recent past. Some episodes of the biography of a trunk are highlighted to claim that heritage is constituted through different kinds of relations between many agents, both humans and non-humans.And the last point, the trunk is a good example that shows the limitations of archaeological thinking about heritage through the lens of its preservation and management. Indeed, the crucial conclusion of this article is that, sometimes, the less preservation and management of (archaeological) heritage the better for heritage itself. In other words, destruction and decay of heritage are the very part of its biography.


A new algorithm is proposed for estimating the signal-to-interference plus noise ratio S/(I+N) in time-division multiple-access (TDMA) cellular systems. The S/(I+N) estimator is evaluated for use in the IS-54/136 system and a GSM-like system, and compared with existing techniques. The algorithm has a mean square prediction error that is comparable to the best known S/(I+N) estimation schemes, but with a significantly reduced computational complexity.


This article makes an important contribution to existing clinical scholarship generally, and, more specifically, to scholarship about transactional lawyering and transactional law clinics. It is one of the first articles to detail transactional clinic design and is particularly important as the number of transactional clinics continues to increase and more articles about transactional clinical scholarship are published. This article serves as a blueprint for the start or redesign of a transactional clinic. Drawing from the author's start-up expertise, this article identifies the concepts that are unique to and essential for effective transactional clinic design. In addition to proposing best practices for transactional clinic design, this article focuses on the unique utility of transactional law clinics to teach professional development and identity to law school students — an articulated apprenticeship in the oft-cited 2007 Carnegie Foundation Report. The article demonstrates these points through an analysis of teaching law school students the reflective skill of self-regulated learning, which emphasizes for students the way they learn as opposed to what they learn.


Demands placed on pine production in the southeastern part of the United States prompt managers to research and employ intensive cultural practices. Bareroot conifer seedling culture, like loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.), is highly preferred in moderate regions of the South, since bareroot stock is relatively inexpensive to purchase, transporting and planting costs are reasonable, and field survival and growth measures are tolerable. For almost 50 years, Philip Wakeley's Monograph No. 18 has been used as the "bible" for the cultivation of southern pines, because sound prescriptions have served many nurseries well. In recent years, some of the methods commonly employed have been challenged in different ways, like that of decreasing seedbed density. To lower seedbed density has been shown to increase seedling root collar diameter, and thus improve seedling survival and growth potential. Some conditions that result from using this method to produce new archetypical, "high-quality" seedlings will involve the elimination of stems from a nursery's productive capacity (for example, reducing sowing densities from 330 to 110 seedlings/m2). Cost efficiency evaluation can be employed by a nursery to analyze this and other production operations for any species. If cost information were openly shared among firms, benchmarks would indicate a nursery's position among other nurseries. Since cost information unique to a nursery's operation is confidential, and cash flows are considered proprietary, it seems more proper to use publicly disclosed information, like values of seedling price and yield (in other words, diameter and height), when comparing firms. Price efficiency evaluation is an acceptable model, since actual expenditures can remain conspicuous. If pricing standards were designed according to a "quality-based" format instead of the current "quantity-based" format, then perhaps the lowering of seedbed density to produce high-quality seedlings could be justified. It is quite costly to take seedlings out of production, and so it is essential to increase prices for "niche" products. Some firms (public and private) are beginning to employ niche-pricing strategies. If quality-based pricing schemes were adopted, nursery managers would be motivated to find other ways to produce valuable niche products, without reducing seedbed density. There are other low-cost cultural measures that, if incorporated into current operations, would serve to increase production efficiency.


The ability to control electromagnetic fields on the subwavelength scale could open exciting new venues in many fields of science. Transformation optics provides one way to attain such control through the local variation of the permittivity and permeability of a material. Here, we demonstrate another way to shape electromagnetic fields, taking advantage of the enormous size of the configuration space in combinatorial problems and the resonant scattering properties of metallic nanoparticles. Our design does not require the engineering of a material's electromagnetic properties and has relevance to the design of more flexible platforms for probing light-matter interaction and many body physics.


In April 1979, measurements of nitrogen dioxide in the upper atmosphere were made near Soufriere Volcano by twilight optical-absorption techniques. The derived value of 5 x 1015 molecules per square centimeter column implies an enhancement of 25 percent over earlier abundances measured in the same latitudinal regions. This enhancement may represent the normal stratospheric variability of nitrogen dioxide in the equatorial region but in any case may be considered an upper limit to the volcano's effect on the total nitrogen dioxide abundance.


H beam welds along rolling and transverse direction were investigated with nondestructive testing, mechanical testing and microstructural analysis. Crack and fracture occurred, during guided bend testing, in the specimens welded along rolling direction between flanges of the H beams with higher S content although no defect was detected prior to the bend test. The fracture seemed to be lamellar tearing because of step-like fracture propagation and terrace and wall fracture appearance of the ruptured bend test specimen. On top of this, lamellar tear was already created in the base metal area near the HAZ before the bend test in microstructural analysis on the welds. It seems that lamellar tearing occurred in the specimens welded along rolling direction between flanges of the H beams with higher S content as cracks were formed and propagated into a ferrite phase region in α-γ band structure in combination with low ductility in transverse direction due to MnS inclusions elongated along rolling direction.


From the author of "India: A Portrait", Patrick French's "Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land" has been acclaimed as the book that showed the real Tibet for the first time. Tibet has long fascinated the West, but what really lies beyond our romantic image of a Buddhist mountain kingdom of peace and spirituality? Travelling through the country, French meets warrior monks, nomads and a nun secretly fighting Chinese communist rule, but also young Tibetans with a more pragmatic attitude to their situation. Interweaving these encounters with little-known stories of war and turmoil from Tibet's past, he reveals a more nuanced, fascinating and surprising picture of this complex place than any other book has done. "Mixes a compelling subject, magnificent prose and deep understanding". ("The Times"). "Inspired and heartfelt ...shows that Tibet was never the peace-loving paradise so many generations of well-wishers have longed for it to be". (Pico Iyer, "Los Angeles Times"). "Tibet, Tibet, so good they named it twice...French is a writer of generous talents". ("Sunday Times"). "French has produced something very different from what he calls "Tibetophile" literature, something greatly superior in its honesty and lack of false sentiment". ("Spectator"). "A gripping mix of history, travel writing and personal memoir ...vividly told". ("Observer"). Patrick French is the author of "Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer", which won the Somerset Maugham Award and the Royal Society of Literature W. H. Heinemann Prize, "Liberty or Death: India's Journey to Independence and Division", which won the "Sunday Times" Young Writer of the Year Award, "Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land" and, most recently, "The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V.S. Naipaul", which was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Hawthornden Prize.


Abstract This essay discusses the various architectural and design elements that helped define the communist-era landscape of Bulgaria. The conclusions presented here are based on observations made by the author while living in Bulgaria and research into the literature on communist architecture and design in the East Bloc. Bulgaria was the member of the East Bloc that most closely followed the architectural and design model established by the Soviet Union and exported to its satellite states following the Second World War. This didactic model was intended to present a certain image of communism and its achievements. Despite physical changes that came with the end of communism in Bulgaria, the country has retained a significant communist-era landscape. Bulgaria, therefore, presents an opportunity to examine many of the architectural and design elements typical of the East Bloc, both how the communists intended them to be interpreted and how these buildings and monuments made the transition to the postcommunist era.


CHARLES. W. WELLEIZ Abstract-An experimental and computer investigation of a !)-bit, 16-MHz binary rate multiplier (BRM) used in converting digital signals differential pulse-code modulation (DPCM) to analog signals (voice) is reported in this paper. The physical electronic circuitry was provided with a stream of real-time digital samples at a 32-kHz rate from a magnetic tape which had been generated by a computer simulation. The output power spectrum of the electronic circuit was observed and compared to that of the computer calculation. Before exciting the experimental circuit with the digital samples the circuit noise in absence of signal was measured at - 11 decibels above a reference noise using a C message weighting filter (dBrnC0). Three different input signals were used to probe the BRM. Two consisted of single sine waves at various levels and in one test ten arbitrary phase superimposed sine waves were used to simulate white noise. Experimental and theoretical results are in good agree- ment and together demonstrate that the BRM approach is a viable technique for digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion.


Most clustering techniques used in product positioning and market segmentation studies render mutually exclusive equivalence classes of the relevant products or subjects space. Such classificatory techniques are thus restricted to the extent that they preclude overlap between subsets or equivalence classes. An overlapping clustering model, ADCLUS, is described which can be used in marketing studies involving products/subjects that can belong to more than one group or cluster simultaneously. The authors provide theoretical justification for and an application of the approach, using the MAPCLUS algorithm for fitting the ADCLUS model.


NiTi/NiTiNb laminated alloys have been produced by vacuum brazing process using AgCu28 eutectic as a filler metal, and the stress-strain behavior have been researched with bending tests. The results show that the interface has a good mechanical property and no broken when the laminated alloys plate is bending tested. Differ from single shape memory alloy NiTi or NiTiNb specimen, the laminated composite show a very wide recovery temperature region, covering from -60 °C to 45 °C, within which the NiTi/NiTiNb laminated alloys show higher damping properties. This study will be useful in developing vibrating control materials.


The performance of tungstated zirconia catalysts with different tungsten loadings and calcination temperatures for liquid-phase Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime to e-caprolactam was studied and the relation of their activity with the structure of tungsten species on zirconia surface was investigated. Cyclohexanone was the major product when zirconia was used as the catalyst while e-caprolactam was formed in major amounts with tungstated zirconia. The relative amounts of these products depended on the W surface density, and the maximum selectivity to e-caprolactam was observed at tungsten loadings near that required for the formation of a monolayer. UV−visible absorption edge energies suggested that the surface contains polytungstate species at these loadings. These polytungstate domains create Bronsted acid centers on the surface, as suggested by acidity measurements using NH3 adsorption microcalorimetry and FTIR of adsorbed pyridine, thereby making the tungstated zirconia catalysts active fo...


We develop a systematic approach to the linear-noise approximation for stochastic reaction systems with distributed delays. Unlike most existing work our formalism does not rely on a master equation; instead it is based upon a dynamical generating functional describing the probability measure over all possible paths of the dynamics. We derive general expressions for the chemical Langevin equation for a broad class of non-Markovian systems with distributed delay. Exemplars of a model of gene regulation with delayed autoinhibition and a model of epidemic spread with delayed recovery provide evidence of the applicability of our results.


Electroluminescence (EL) spectroscopy and imaging can be useful techniques to analyze various loss mechanisms in solar cells, but the interpretation of the results is not trivial in solar cells made from disordered materials such as organic semiconductors. In this case the interpretation of EL measurements may be affected by the presence of a tail of localized states. Here, we study several polymer:fullerene systems and show that, despite the presence of tail states, the shape of the EL spectrum is insensitive to the applied voltage. This indicates that the emission originates mainly from mobile charges in higher lying states recombining at the polymer:fullerene interface and that most charges in deeper tail states do not contribute to the EL spectrum. The consequence of our finding is that simple models of EL emission in ideal semiconductors can be applied to polymer:fullerene solar cells and can therefore be used to evaluate the potential of different material systems in terms of recombination losses and to study resistive losses using luminescence imaging.


We discuss risk measures representing the minimum amount of capital a financial institution needs to raise and invest in a pre-specified eligible asset to ensure it is adequately capitalized. Most of the literature has focused on cash-additive risk measures, for which the eligible asset is a risk-free bond, on the grounds that the general case can be reduced to the cash-additive case by a change of numéraire. However, discounting does not work in all financially relevant situations, especially when the eligible asset is a defaultable bond. In this paper, we fill this gap by allowing general eligible assets. We provide a variety of finiteness and continuity results for the corresponding risk measures and apply them to risk measures based on value-at-risk and tail value-at-risk on Lp spaces, as well as to shortfall risk measures on Orlicz spaces. We pay special attention to the property of cash subadditivity, which has been recently proposed as an alternative to cash additivity to deal with defaultable bonds. For important examples, we provide characterizations of cash subadditivity and show that when the eligible asset is a defaultable bond, cash subadditivity is the exception rather than the rule. Finally, we consider the situation where the eligible asset is not liquidly traded and the pricing rule is no longer linear. We establish when the resulting risk measures are quasiconvex and show that cash subadditivity is only compatible with continuous pricing rules.


We apply the hedonic technique to specialty coffees traded at the Cup of Excellence electronic auction. The hedonic model includes sensory and reputation variables. We discuss the significance and value of the coefficient estimates in the context of this evolving industry.


Fibular intraneural cysts are a rare cause of fibular neuropathy. Echography and MRI are helpful in the detection of cysts of the knee. Surgical ablation of the cyst arising from the superior tibio-fibular joint is necessary for a good recovery.


This paper presents a literature survey on recent use of discrete-event simulation in real-world manufacturing logistics decision-making. The sample of the survey consists of 52 relevant application papers from recent Winter Simulation Conference proceedings. We investigated what decisions were supported by the applications, case company characteristics, some methodological issues, and the software tools used. We found that the majority of applications has been reported in production plant design and in the evaluation of production policies, lot sizes, WIP levels and production plans/schedules. Findings also suggest that general-purpose DES software tools are suitable in most of these cases. For different possible reasons, few applications for multi-echelon supply chain decision-making have been reported. Software requirements for supply chain simulations also seem to differ slightly from those for established application areas. The applications described were carried out in a variety of different industries, with a clear predominance in the semiconductor and automotive industries


Woodblock printed painting albums and manuals from early modern China sparked changes in the way some forms of art were produced in late Chosŏn Korea (1650–1800). Although such art books were firmly rooted in the middle-class public in China, most pictorial and literary evidence tells us that these same books were used exclusively by highly positioned artists and critics in early modern Korea. This disparity of readership points to inequalities in cultural exchange and communication between early modern China and Korea, in which misinformation gave rise to a new source of artistic inspiration.


The object of this paper is the uniqueness for a $d$-dimensional Fokker-Planck type equation with non-homogeneous (possibly degenerated) measurable not necessarily bounded coefficients. We provide an application to the probabilistic representation of the so called Barenblatt solution of the fast diffusion equation which is the partial differential equation $\partial_t u = \partial^2_{xx} u^m$ with $m\in(0,1)$. Together with the mentioned Fokker-Planck equation, we make use of small time density estimates uniformly with respect to the initial condition


ultrasound showed the cystic structure to be a vascular anomaly 20 × 16 mm in size. The lesion demonstrated high blood flow and the presumed diagnosis was that of Vein of Galen aneurysm. No other intracranial anomalies were found (with special attention to possible altered brain structure, edema or ventriculomegaly). The only associated finding was slight cardiomegaly, but there were no apparent signs of cardiac overload (normal ventricular function, no A-V regurgitation, and no pericardial effusion). Dopplers were normal. A fetal MRI was performed to confirm the character of the lesion, as well as the otherwise normal brain structure. The findings were consulted with the department of neurosurgery and radiology to plan appropriate management, and the high-risk character of the lesion and uncertain prognosis were explained to the parents. The patient was followed weekly to assess the growth of the lesion, cardiac function, and possible signs of worsening. An elective cesarean section was performed eight weeks after the diagnosis, leading to the delivery of a male infant, 2770 g, showing no signs of cardiopulmonary compromise immediately after birth. The infant soon underwent endovascular embolization with an uncomplicated postoperative course.


Comparing groups or sets is the main focal issue in statistics, and data mining research has also focused on automatically identifying values and instances that differ significantly across groups, known as contrast sets. Whether traditional statistics or the work on contrast sets, the comparison is made on nominal data. There is very little work on contrasting sets of event sequences. In this paper we introduce the notion of emerging sequences; sequences that when taken from a set of sequences A and put in a set of sequences B would be considered an abnormal outcast in B and thus distinguishes the set A from the set B. We present approaches for finding such emerging sequences efficiently and introduce an algorithm for discovering the top most emerging sequences.


Crowdfunding can be considered as an alternative to traditional fundraising, but it is also an instrument that could influence or be influenced by audience development and engagement (Buckingham 2015). The success of a campaign can be measured in many ways and according to different combinations of criteria (Buckingham 2015). The following study concerns the tactics that campaigners may use to influence people in order to achieve three main objectives: reach their funding goal, build a wider audience, and improve their reputation within an existing audience. For this research two participant groups had been organised in order to understand and gather opinions and reactions of seven 'millennials' who were observed and interviewed about theatre campaigns in crowdfunding. According to statistics millennials represent the largest group in crowdfunding (Art of the Kickstart 2016).
It must be clarified that the purpose of this research is not to deliver the 'right formula' to guarantee the success of a crowdfunding campaign but rather to give some recommendations on how to increase the chance to create a successful campaign. Considering that most of the findings are related to the importance of video and images and their ability to create emotions and increase the audience engagement, in this research 'tactics' is referred to an appropriate use of the tools within the website such as: videos (that includes storytelling and sounds), images and text. It must be underlined that crowdfunding videos and pictures alone do not guarantee the success but increase its probability (four times more) (Indiegogo 2015) of achieving the target (Balitski 2016). Unfortunately, crowdfunding is not as well-known as Facebook or Twitter. Although its popularity has been rapidly increasing in recent years (Taylor 2016), statistics show that around 36% of the population in America do not know about the existence of crowdfunding (Smith 2016). On the other hand, it was demonstrated that a crowdfunding campaign can gain visibility and catch people's attention (as well as friends and family) through the support of other online platforms (Lu et al. 2014). Therefore, this research will take for granted that there is an active crowdfunding community ready to explore new campaigns.
It must be also said that the crowdfunding campaigns which were selected are all related to theatres that adopted keep-it-all or all-or-nothing models. This means that debt and equity crowdfunding models will not being examined as in these two cases funders receive something 'in exchange' (Frydrych et al. 2014). Most of artists and creative projects ask for funds because they create an 'intangible product' that cannot be physically shared and most artists sell 'experience' such us exhibitions, performance or emotions etc (Irvine 2009).


Intervention The 14 primary healthcare centres in Södertälje were divided into 2 matched and balanced groups ("clusters") taking into account geographic location, physician numbers, physician relationships, patient volume, and the socioeconomic status of the patient populations. Subsequently, 1 group ("cluster") each was allocated to CML for GPs (26 GPs, n=43) or CPGs only (28 GPs, n=45). Guidelines on secondary prevention of coronary artery disease were presented and distributed at a local lecture to all GPs. GPs allocated to CML attended 3–4 CML seminars at their primary healthcare centres during a 2 year period.


The European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) is a 4-m class survey telescope for wide-field near-infrared imaging. VISTA is currently running a suite of six public surveys, which will shortly deliver their first Europe wide public data releases to ESO. The VISTA Kilo-degree Infrared Galaxy survey (VIKING) forms a natural intermediate between current wide shallow and deeper more concentrated surveys, by targeting two patches totalling 1500  deg2 in the Northern and Southern hemispheres with measured 5σ limiting depths of Z≃ 22.4,  Y≃ 21.4,  J≃ 20.9,  H≃ 19.9 and Ks≃ 19.3 (Vega). This architecture forms an ideal working parameter space for the discovery of a significant sample of 6.5 ≤ z ≤ 7.5 quasars. In the first data release, priority has been placed on small areas encompassing a number of fields well sampled at many wavelengths, thereby optimizing science gains and synergy whilst ensuring a timely release of the first products. For rare object searches, e.g. high-z quasars, this policy is not ideal since photometric selection strategies generally evolve considerably with the acquisition of data. Without a reasonably representative data set sampling many directions on the sky, it is not clear how a rare object search can be conducted in a highly complete and efficient manner.

In this paper, we alleviate this problem by supplementing initial data with a realistic model of the spatial, luminosity and colour distributions of sources known to heavily contaminate photometric quasar selection spaces, namely dwarf stars of spectral types M, L and T. We use this model along with a subset of available data to investigate contamination of quasar selection space by cool stars and galaxies and lay down a set of benchmark selection constraints that limit contamination to reasonable levels whilst maintaining high completeness as a function of both magnitude and redshift. We review recent follow-up imaging of the first VIKING high-z quasar candidates and find that the results lend considerable support for the choice of selection constraints. The methods outlined here are also applicable to rare object searches in a number of other ongoing and forthcoming projects.


In this study, we demonstrated that by merely prolonging the growth duration, the growth behavior and phase purity of GaAs nanowires can be manipulated in molecular beam epitaxy. Through careful morphological, structural and chemical characterization of the grown nanowires, it was found that in the group-III dominated regime, by increasing the growth duration, the Ga concentration in the catalysts increases due to the formation of nanowire shoulders, which provide sites for Ga diffusion towards the catalysts. This fact leads to the enhancement of the nanowire growth and improved phase purity. In particular, single-phase nanowire sections have been observed with prolonged nanowire growth duration. This study provides a new insight into the role of growth duration in III–V nanowire growth and a possible approach for nanowire phase purification, which is critical for nanowire applications.


In the study of molecular features like epigenetic marks, it is appealing to ascribe observed patterns to the action of natural selection. However, this conclusion requires a test for selection based on a well-defined notion of neutrality. Here, focusing on epigenetic marks at gene loci, we formalize what it means for an epigenetic mark to be neutral, and develop a test for selection. Our test respects the foundational aspect of epigenetics: trans-regulation by transcription factors and chromatin modifiers. It also enables adjustment for confounders. We establish that promoter DNA methylation, promoter H3K4me3 and exonic H3K36me3 are all under selection, and that this is unlikely to be a passive consequence of selection on gene expression. The effect of these epigenetic marks on fitness is arguably partly explained by a causal involvement in gene regulation. However, we also investigate the complementary explanation that DNA methylation and H3K36me3 are under selection in part because they modify the mutation rate of important genomic regions. We show that this explanation is consistent with empirical observations as well as population genetics theory, because of the trans-regulation. Exemplifying the protection of important regions from high mutability, we demonstrate that in humans the more intolerant to loss-of-function mutations a gene is, the lower its coding mutation rate is. Our framework for selection inference is simple but general, and we speculate that its core ideas will be useful for additional molecular features beyond epigenetic marks.


Teacher compensation schemes are often criticized for lacking a performance-based component. Proponents argue that teacher incentive pay can raise student achievement and stimulate system-wide innovation. We examine a group-based teacher incentive scheme implemented in New York City and investigate whether specific features of the program contributed to its ineffectiveness. Although overall the program had little effect on student achievement, we show that in schools where incentives to free ride were weakest, the program led to small increases in math achievement. Our results underscore the importance of carefully considering the design of teacher incentive pay programs.


Background A single patient recruitment site hospice and local university partnership has been established for a European Research Council funded research study. It aims to assess the validity of a supportive care measure in patients receiving end of life care, people close to them (CPs) and primary healthcare professionals (HCPs). The recruitment targets are 35 patients, 20 CPs and 20 HCPs. A hospice nurse (HN) identifies participants prior to recruitment by university researchers. Aim To establish successful patient recruitment in a hospice new to research. Approach Used The HN liaised with the multidisciplinary team (MDT) to identify eligible patients and provide support; she also approached all eligible patients in her own area of practice, day services. Facilities (e.g. interview rooms) were organised for researchers to recruit and interview participants. Outcomes To date, 22 patients have been introduced to the study by the HN and given a patient information leaflet. 6 patient follow-ups are pending and 3 interviews have been booked. 5 patients have been recruited from Day Hospice. With permission from patients, 2 CPs and 4 HCPs have been interviewed. Challenges affecting recruitment include environmental issues (moving hospice); ethical issues (amendment required); poor health status of patients and their cyclical involvement in daycare. Remedies include (i) dialogue with patients and staff reducing concerns about the research nurse's potential conflict in duties; (ii) communication reducing the reluctance of staff to "over-protect" patients and allow recruitment; (iii) extension of participants to community and IPU patients improving recruitment rates; (iv) adaptation of patient management system to administer interactions for research. Application to Hospice Practice Our study explored methods of recruitment of patients to research. Improvements include communication of goals with hospice colleagues and university researchers and a growing confidence in approaching patients. Recruitment experience will change practice in this and future studies.


In recent years, there is a trend towards the development of reconfigurable circuits where devices using them offer flexibility and performance. Different technologies are explored, such as threshold logic gates (TLGs), which are one of the most promising future technologies, and researchers are examining and improving different characteristics such as density, performance and power dissipation. This research presents a 4-bit arithmetic logic unit (ALU), which was designed using TLGs through reconfigurable logic blocks with a universal circuit configured with three stages based on a floating-gate metal oxide semiconductor transistor with more than one control gate, which was named neu-complementary metal oxide semiconductor (ν-CMOS). The main contribution is that this device is configured as a ν-CMOS inverter and has the ability to program the threshold voltage of its transfer curve by applying an external voltage to the additional control gates. The number of input bits and the magnitude of the weighted input capacitances related to control gates of the ν-CMOS inverters is obtained and analyzed by using the graphical method (floating-gate potential diagram). Finally, the proposed 4-bit ALU shows similar results as those measured from the ALUs implemented in the field programmable gate array evaluation kit and the Motorola chip MC14581B.


Introduction: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 has been heralded as one of the most important pieces of legislation geared toward bringing about full equality for blacks in America. It made it unlawful to discriminate or segregate persons on the basis of race and color. It is a biproduct of the Supreme Court ruling in the Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, on May 17, 1991 declaring null and void segregation in public facilities. It should be noted that this was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States reversed its earlier stand in its decision in the Plessy V. Ferguson case in 1896. In this case, the Jim Crow laws of "separate but equal won constitutional approval with the court ruling that "equal protection" of the laws clause as provided by the Fourteenth Amendment did not prevent state-enforced separation of the races. The passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 did not bring about significant relative equality among the races, nor did it significantly eliminate discrimination against blacks; guarantee equality of opportunity for blacks in pursuit of a utopian concept of "color blind" society. Hence, the government relied on affirmative action as an equalization criterion. It is a series of measures designed to correct past discrimination and unequal treatment of blacks and other minorities. These measures also have goals and timetable requirement attached to them. It calls for special consideration on the part of employers in recruitment, training and promotion of minorities--Blacks, Women and Hispanics. Members of groups not protected by this instrument of social policy have complained of inequality. They have demanded attention, as well as redress of their grievance. They think they have been deprived of equal opportunity. Many also worry about prospects of what they call "compensatory or reverse discrimination" But, the drive by government to establish equal employment opportunity in no way discriminates because it conformed to government's original goal not to institute a program designed or operated to offer special privileges to any one group of persons because of their race, sex, religion, ethnicity or nationality. Affirmative action programs, which are products of public bureaucracies, were required to measure progress by virtue of the number of blacks and other minorities hired, employed and promoted. The non-beneficiaries of the affirmative action are nonetheless, willing philosophically to see justice done; they resist all attempts to implement the program on the rationale that it denies them the opportunity to advance. The consequence has been the polarization of the races in public institutions. In this global village, where the cars we drive contain parts built in other parts of the world; world-wide web provides us with information superhighway that creates a virtual address where economic, political, social and cultural exchanges occur outside the limitations of time and space, affirmative action means many things to different people. The technological, economic and cultural dimensions of globalization drive economic integration as well as enable companies based in one country to operate around the globe. This brings their products and services to consumers regardless of cultural differentiation. As cultural exchanges take place, we tend to gain greater appreciation of multiculturalism and diversity in both the work place and our educational institutions. In order to cope with growing global challenge: global terrorism, drug and currency trafficking, labor and refugee migration, outsourcing and overseas business ventures, American colleges and universities have begun to pay special attention to strengthening curricula in social studies and languages to provide students the opportunity to develop into global citizens. Also, students will be enabled to acquire knowledge of international relations, foreign language competency, understanding of inter-cultural values and techniques in conflict management. …


Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a powerful magnetic field, radio waves and a computer to produce detailed pictures of the structures within and around the heart. Doctors use cardiac MRI to detect or monitor cardiac disease. They also use it to evaluate the heart's anatomy and function in patients with both heart disease present at birth and heart diseases that develop after birth. Cardiac MRI does not use radiation, and it may provide the best images of the heart for certain conditions.


In today's hyper-competitive global market there is an increasing focus on revenue growth. Analogously, shareholders and potential investors are interested in shareholder wealth and are also interested in predicted future growth if they were to invest their funds in a firm. This article expands on previous work that explored the variables that drive company wealth creation in the Miscellaneous Industrials sector of the Australian Stock Market. The authors previously studied how a company's growth and wealth creation changed in comparison to the changes in the Miscellaneous Industrial index, using traditional and artificial intelligence (AI) feature selection techniques. Multi-domain models were used to reduce the number of variables to a manageable number. The primary aim of this study is to observe the effect of including macroeconomic and firm-specific factors (general market factors) into the multi-domain models. Using these selected variables and factors to explore their abilities to predict out of sample values in shareholder wealth and relative shareholder wealth. They find that the variables selected, linked with the macroeconomic and firm-specific factors improves the understanding of the model. The newly formed multi-domain models are found to be useful to select both shareholder and relative shareholder wealth; however, they were more effective with regards to shareholder wealth.


Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disease that is usually accompanied by Staphylococcus aureus infection due to cutaneous barrier-function damage. Benzenoid compounds from Antrodia cinnamomea are known to exhibit antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities. This study sought to investigate the potential of benzenoids for treating bacteria-infected AD. The compounds were screened against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Coenzyme Q0 (CoQ0), a key ingredient in A. cinnamomea, showed the strongest MRSA growth inhibition. We further tested the inhibitory effect of CoQ0 on planktonic and biofilm MRSA. The work was also performed to explore the potential effectiveness of CoQ0 on AD using activated keratinocytes and in vivo experimental AD mice as the models. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of CoQ0 against MRSA were 7.81 μg/ml. CoQ0 was found to eradicate biofilm MRSA efficiently and reduce the biofilm thickness. CoQ0 killed MRSA by inhibiting DNA polymerase and topoisomerases. A proteomic assay showed that CoQ0 also reduced the ribosomal proteins. In the anti-inflammation study, CoQ0 was found to downregulate the expression of interleukin (IL)-6, chemokine (C-C motif) ligand (CCL)5, and CCL17 in HaCaT cells. CoQ0 at 0.5 μg/ml could recover the filaggrin decreased by HaCaT activation to the normal control. We established a bacteria-infected AD-like model in mice using ovalbumin (OVA) and topically applied MRSA. Topical CoQ0 delivery lessened the MRSA presence in the AD-like lesions by >90%. The erythema, barrier function, and epidermal thickness of the AD-like wounds were improved by CoQ0 through the reduction of IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, interferon (IFN)-γ, and by neutrophil infiltration in the lesional skin. CoQ0 is therefore regarded as effective in mitigating AD symptoms associated with bacterial load.


In many recent applications, data may take the form of continuous data streams, rather than finite stored data sets. Several aspects of data management need to be reconsidered in the presence of data streams, offering a new research direction for the database community. In this paper we focus primarily on the problem of query processing, specifically on how to define and evaluate continuous queries over data streams. We address semantic issues as well as efficiency concerns. Our main contributions are threefold. First, we specify a general and flexible architecture for query processing in the presence of data streams. Second, we use our basic architecture as a tool to clarify alternative semantics and processing techniques for continuous queries. The architecture also captures most previous work on continuous queries and data streams, as well as related concepts such as triggers and materialized views. Finally, we map out research topics in the area of query processing over data streams, showing where previous work is relevant and describing problems yet to be addressed.


: From 1986 to 1991 we treated 63 patients with subtrochanteric fracture of the femur. The etiology in 53 patients with 40 fractures mostly pedestrians, hit by a car; or motor vehicle accidents, in other words high velocity injuries that resulted in a significant number of multiply injured patients of whom 38 were polytraumatized, by our definition a multiply injured person with a life threatening injury of at least one of the following body parts: head, neck, thorax, abdomen, spine, extremities with neurovascular compromise and pelvic girdle.


The Magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized through a solvothermal route by using FeCl36H2O and NH4HCO3 as the starting materials. The as-prepared products are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer (SQUID) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The uniform size of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles can be well controlled from 10 to 90 nm by changing the surfactants or the inorganic salts in the solvothermal process. The experiment results reveal that the magnetic properties of magnetite nanoparticles can be tuned by changing the particles size. In addition, the solvents in this reaction system have an important influence on the composition and morphology of the final products.


Incontinentia pigmenti is a rare neurocutaneous disorder that may present with neurologic symptoms, in addition to a characteristic vesicular rash within the first days of life. We describe a neonate girl presenting with a rash and an encephalopathy who was first thought to suffer from a viral infection and was only later recognized as being affected by incontinentia pigmenti. Cerebral MR imaging showed extensive cortical necrosis in the acute period. Incontinentia pigmenti should be included in the differential diagnosis of encephalopathy and cutaneous involvement in neonates, after a viral infection has been ruled out.


The aim of the study is to present otocephaly, which is a rare congenital lethal malformation. Until this moment, only a little bit more than 100 cases worldwide were reported, and only 22 cases of prediagnosed otocephaly. Background: Otocephaly or agnathia-microstomia-synotia syndrome (SAMS) is characterized by agenesis of mandible (agnathia), disposition or fusion of the auricle (synotia), microstomia, and complete or partial lack of language (aglossia), which often ends up lethal. Case description: A 499.7 g male fetus was obtained after a therapeutic abortion during the 23rd gestational week at the Center for Maternity and Neonatology, Embryo-fetopathology Clinic, Tunis, Tunisia. The mother is an 18-year-old with close relative marriage with first-degree incest, primigravida. Examination of the fetus revealed microcephaly with craniosynostosis, hypertelorism, closed eyelid exophthalmos, one nostril, point microstomia, mandibular agenesis, bilateral, and auditory cysts of neck. The ears are located at the level of the neck. A study of the brain and the base of the skull revealed holoprosencephaly and sphenoid bone agenesis. There are no internal organ abnormalities. Conclusion: In cases where, at the end of the second trimester of pregnancy, polyhydramnios is detected, inability to visualize the mandible, and malposition of ears, otocephaly should be suspected. In these cases, the decision to interrupt pregnancy should be taken by a multidisciplinary team, after an magnetic resonance imaging, which is much better in visualizing location of the ears and other facial malformations and the presence of other associated anomalies. Clinical significance: Otocephaly (SAMS) is usually incompatible with life, which is why it is important to perform prenatal diagnosis in order to make prognosis for pregnancy.


Introduction: To provide food and meals in elderly care is a growing concern in the welfare state. Objective: Investigate and compare nutritional competence and its relation to different kind of food policies within elderly care in Swedish municipalities, in 2006 and 2013-14. Methodology: Web based questionnaires were distributed to all Swedish municipalities (N= 290) twice. Results: Access to clinical- and administrative dietitians differ between analyzed years and between sizes of municipalities. Nutritional competences correlated with local policies in 2006 and the national guideline (introduced in 2011) 2013-14. Conclusion: Municipal size and nutritional competence are central in strategic food provision work.


A new moving horizon model inversion method based on numerical optimization is presented to calculate the system input for a given system model and system output. It uses the moving horizon idea from Model Predictive Control (MPC) by using a moving and fixed-size window to inverse the data points in the current window using the initial states information (for the first window) or the last updated control point's states information in the previous window. The approach can handle both linear and nonlinear systems, and also the sudden changes in system dynamics. Another advantage of this approach is its high computational efficiency when you have a long data record. The model inversion approach can be used in iterative learning control to refine the input to make the response of the system match the reference trajectory as close as possible.


Objective: Kawasaki disease (KD) is the most common cause of coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) in children. The available risk scores to predict intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance and CAA were developed in Asian populations in whom their effectiveness has been proven, but data on non-Asian children are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of 5 risk scoring systems to predict IVIG resistance and CAA in Turkey patients with KD. Methods: Patients with KD were retrospectively evaluated with clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic findings. Data analyses were performed in 5 scoring systems (Harada, Kobayashi, Egami, Formosa, and Sano). Results: A total of 259 patients (Male: Female, 1.7) were treated for KD in our hospital. The mean age of diagnosis in patients with KD, CAA, and IVIG resistance were 3.31, 2.19, and 2.06, respectively. CAA development and IVIG resistance were seen in 11.6% and 12.3% of cases, respectively. IVIG resistance was detected in 35.6% of patients with CAA. In our study, 5 risk scoring systems were applied to our patients. ROC analysis results were found highest in Kobayashi scoring system for IVIG resistance (AUC, 0.864) and in Harada scoring system for CAA development (AUC, 0.727). Conclusion: Harada score was significant in predicting CAA risk, and Kobayashi score was significant in predicting the risk of developing IVIG resistance. It is necessary to determine more specific and sensitive risk scores that increase the risk of IVIG resistance and the development of CAA in Turkey.


Two experiments were completed with five subjects who have been implanted with the Mini System 22 cochlear implant. In the first experiment, 1000‐Hz pulse trains were modulated so that there were two high‐ and eight low‐current pulses in each 10‐ms period. Five stimuli were constructed with differing time intervals between the two high‐current pulses, and a further six stimuli were unmodulated pulse trains with rates between 100 and 250 Hz. All stimuli were loudness balanced and presented to the subjects in a single‐interval pitch ranking task. The unmodulated stimuli showed a monotonic increase in pitch with rate. The pitch of the modulated stimuli was mostly determined by the longer of the two intervals between the high currents. When the high currents were very close, the modulation period was also important in determining the pitch. The second experiment used constant‐current pulse trains with two pulses in every 20 ms. The effect on loudness of the interval between the two pulses was measured using loudness balancing. For interpulse intervals less than 4 ms the loudness increased as the interval decreased. This result implies that a facilitatory effect dominates over any refractory effect on loudness at short interpulse intervals.


This paper considers architecture design of mobile access coordinated wireless sensor networks (MC-WSN) for reliable and efficient information exchange. In sensor networks with mobile access points (SENMA), the mobile access points collect information directly from individual sensors as they traverse the network, such that no routing is needed in data transmission. While being energy efficient, a major limitation with SENMA is the large delay in data collection, making it undesirable for timesensitive applications. In the proposed MC-WSN architecture, the sensor network is coordinated by powerful mobile access points (MA), such that the number of hops from each sensor to the MA is minimized and limited to a prespecified number through active network deployment and network topology design. Unlike in SENMA, where the data collection delay depends on the physical speed of the MA, in MC-WSN, the delay depends on the number of hops and the electromagnetic wave speed, and is independent of the physical speed of the MA. This innovative architecture is energy efficient, resilient, fast reacting and can actively prolong the lifetime of sensor networks. Our simulations show that the proposed MC-WSN can achieve higher energy-efficiency and orders of magnitude lower delay over SENMA, especially for large-scale networks.


This paper examines an important topic about the performance of securitized real estate by estimating the expected equity risk premium for U.S. real estate investment trusts (REITs). By employing a novel methodology, explicitly incorporating REIT shareholders taxation for capital gains and ordinary income, the analysis demonstrates that the expected after-tax risk premiums for REITs generate and are consistent with a reasonable coefficient of relative risk aversion. This finding is contrary to much of the literature about the risk premium. We demonstrate that for a range of plausible stochastic tax burdens, the coefficient of relative risk aversion for REIT shareholders is likely to fall within the interval of 4.3–6.3, values significantly lower than those previously reported for real estate and other asset markets.


Natural products comprise a diverse array of molecules, many of which are biologically active. Most natural products are derived from combinations of polyketides, peptides, sugars, and fatty-acid building blocks. Peptidic macrocycles have attracted attention as potential therapeutics possessing cell permeability, stability, and easy-to-control variability. Here, we show that enzymes from the patellamide biosynthetic pathway can be harnessed to make macrocycles that are hybrids of amino acids and a variety of manmade chemical building blocks, including aryl rings, polyethers, and alkyl chains. We have made macrocycles with only three amino acids, one of which can be converted to a thiazoline or a thiazole ring. We report the synthesis of 18 peptide hybrid macrocycles, nine of which have been isolated and fully characterized.


Europe is increasingly multi-ethnic and multi-faith, as well as multi-cultural. Western democracies now comprise a plurality of fundamental opinions and inherited cultures; it is not clear how (or if!) they can be related to each other without involving either oppression or anarchy. This debate requires historical understanding and a contemporary grasp of the points at issue amongst different cultures. By virtue of their proximity and frequent historical interaction, Britain and France lend themselves to comparative study. The studies in this volume collectively demonstrate that the affairs of religious minorities in these two countries were not only of concern to themselves and their national established churches. Rather, over a long-term period, they had a sustained impact on many other issues. All chapters illustrate the problematic shift from a persecutory to a pluralistic mentality.


There are two main functions of gastrointestinal tract, digestion and absorption, and barrier function. The latter has an important defensive effect, which keeps the body away from the invading and damaging of bacteria and endotoxin. It maintains the systemic homeostasis. Intestinal dysfunction would happen when body suffers from diseases or harmful stimulations. The lesser dysfunction of GI tract manifests only disorder of digestion and absorption, whereas the more serious intestinal disorders would harm the intestinal protective mechanism, or intestinal barrier function, and bacterial/endotoxin translocation, of intestinal failure (IF) would ensue. This review discussed the theory of the intestinal failure, aiming at attracting recognition and valuable comments by clinicians.


Many uncertainties remain about the free-radical theory of ageing and the role of oxidative damage to DNA in cancer. The chemistry and biochemistry of radical-induced DNA damage are now well characterized in vitro, but the complexity of in-vivo systems leaves this area still largely unexplored. Measurement of thymine and thymidine glycols in urine may be a means of assaying background levels of radical-induced DNA damage in live organisms. Similar approaches may prove useful for testing some of the predictions of the free-radical theory of ageing and of the contribution of free radicals to cancer.


Learning and memory formation rely on the precise spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression, such as microRNA (miRNA)-associated silencing, to fine-tune gene expression for the induction and maintenance of synaptic plasticity. Much progress has been made in presenting direct evidence of miRNA regulation in learning and memory. Here, we summarize studies that have manipulated miRNA expression using various approaches in rodents, with changes in cognitive performance. Some of these are involved in well-known mechanisms, such as the CREB-dependent signaling pathway, and some of their roles are in fear- and stress-related disorders, particularly cognitive impairment. We also summarize extensive studies on miRNAs correlated with pathogenic tau and amyloid-β that drive the processes of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although altered miRNA profiles in human patients with AD and in mouse models have been well studied, little is known about their clinical applications and therapeutics. Studies on miRNAs as biomarkers still show inconsistencies, and more challenges need to be confronted in standardizing blood-based biomarkers for use in AD.


The effect of Pistacia lentiscus L. leaf extracts (aqueous, 30%ethanol and 70% ethanol) was studied on the rat isolated trachea. Pistacia lentiscus L. extracts induced a relaxation on basal tone and precontracted trachea. On the rat isolated trachea precontracted by acetylcholine 10-3M, Pistacia lenticus L. leaf extracts (aqueous, 30% ethanol and 70% ethanol) induced a relaxation. EC50 values for the 70% ethanol, 30% ethanol and aqueous extractswere respectively: 1.00.10-3 ± 0.11, (n = 15), 1.71.10-3 ± 0.09 (n = 8) and 1.75.10-3 ± 0.12 g/ml (n = 12). The relaxation to Pistacia lentiscusL. 70% ethanol extract was 182.14 ± 17.52%(n = 15) of the response to theophylline 3.10-3M.Atropine, propranolol, phentolamine (10-7M) and indomethacin (10-6M) did notmodifyPistacia lentiscus L. induced relaxation. Forskolin (10-6M) andmethylene blue (3.10-5M) respectively potentiated and antagonized Pistacia lentiscus L. relaxation. The studied extract (10-6 to 10-4 g/ml) did not affect theophylline, IBMX (3-isobutyl-1-methylxantine, nifedipine, dipyridamole, rolipramand siguazodamconcentration-response curves but caused in a dose dependent manner left shift to those of captopril, sodium nitroprussiate, 8 phenyltheophylline and enprofylline. Moreover, the extract induced total reversal of the zaprinast-induced relaxation. On precontracted rat trachea, adenosine induced contractile response and predominant relaxation. Pistacia lentiscus L. blocked adenosine contractile response and potentiated the purine nucleosie relaxation. It is suggested that the recorded relaxation induced by the studied drug involves several mechanisms of action including an inhibition of angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE), an interaction with phosphodiesterase (PDE) V and an interaction at adenosine receptors level.


A new method is developed to fabricate a refractive microlens array by etching ammonium dichromate gelatin (ADG) with enzyme solution. The light exposes ADG through a high contrast binary mask, then the exposed parts of ADG generate a cross-linking reaction. Usually, the relief achieved by water developing is very shallow (<1 ?m), so we compound a 0.2% concentration protein enzyme solution as the developer to develop ADG and deepen its relief. At 37°C, the biochemical reaction occurs between ADG and the enzyme solution, and because of surface tension, ADG turns to spherical structure after developing. The optimum technique parameters of this process are presented. The principle of etching ADG with an enzyme solution to achieve deep relief and the swelling of ADG are discussed in detail. The process of fabricating microlens array does not require the use of expensive equipment, and it is not sophisticated and time consuming. Results are presented for experiments and evaluated by a profile meter and an interference microscope.


This study aimed to examine the effect of budget feedback and budget evaluation both simultaneously and partially on the SKPA performance of the Aceh Provincial Government. The unit of analysis of this researchwere all institutions that exist in the Government of Aceh as much as 40 SKPA, while the research unit were the Head of Division and Head of sub-section, because all members of the population made respondents, then this study used the census method. Sources of data in this study used primary data, where the results of questionnaires obtained from respondents research. While the technique of collecting research data was done by documentation technique of collecting research questionnaires. The analysis method used was Multiple Linear Regression Analysis. The results showed that budgetary feedback and budget evaluation both simultaneously and partially affect the performance SKPA Provincial Government of Aceh. KEYWORDS : budget feedback, budget evaluation, performance


High-grade hematite mineralization is widely developed in banded iron formations (BIFs) worldwide. However, in the North China craton where Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic BIFs are abundant, economic high-grade hematite ores are scarce. High-grade hematite ores hosted in the Paleoproterozoic Yuanjiacun BIFs represent the largest occurrence of this type of ore in the North China craton. The orebodies are fault controlled and show sharp contacts with lower greenschist facies metamorphic BIFs. In situ U-Pb geochronology of monazite and xenotime intergrown with microplaty hematite and martite in high-grade ore established two episodes of metamorphic-hydrothermal monazite/xenotime growth after deposition of the BIFs. The earlier episode at ca. 1.94 Ga is interpreted as the timing of lower greenschist-facies metamorphism, and the later episode at 1.41 to 1.34 Ga represents the timing of high-grade hematite mineralization. Petrography and microthermometry of primary fluid inclusion assemblages indicate that the high-grade hematite ore formed from hot (313°–370°C), CO2-rich, and highly saline (~20 wt % NaCl equiv) hydrothermal fluids. These fluids channeled along faults, which concentrated iron through interaction with the BIFs—a process similar to typical hematite mineralization elsewhere. The deposition of hematite was probably related to tectonic extension in the North China craton related to the breakup of the Columbia/Nuna supercontinent. Our results challenge a previously proposed model ascribing the scarcity of high-grade hematite ores in the North China craton to the lack of prolonged weathering conditions. Rather, we argue that the high-grade ore formed in lower metamorphic-grade BIFs at shallower depths than magnetite mineralization and was largely eroded during later exhumation and uplift of the craton.


From February to July 1951, 8,000 New Zealand watersider workers were locked-out and 7,000 miners, seamen and freezing workers went on strike in support. These workers and those who were dependent on their income, had to survive without wages for five months. The dispute was a family event as well as an industrial event. The men were fathers, husbands, brothers and sons, and their lack of wages affected the family that they lived with and their wider kin networks. The thesis examines families in order to write a gendered social history of the 1951 waterfront dispute.  The discussion starts by exploring the relationship between waterfront work and watersiders' families before the lockout. Then it turns to examine the material support that families received and the survival strategies used during the dispute. It examines the decisions union branches made about relief and other activities through the lens of gender and explores the implications of those decisions for family members. The subsequent chapters examine the dispute's end and long-term costs on families. The study draws on a mixture of union material, state archives and oral sources. The defeat of the union has meant that union material has largely survived in personal collections, but the state's active involvement in the dispute generated significant records. The oral history of 1951 is rich; this thesis draws on over fifty existing oral history interviews with people involved in the dispute, and twenty interviews completed for this project.  The thesis both complicates and confirms existing understandings of 1950s New Zealand. It complicates the idea of a prosperous conformist society, while confirming and deepening our understanding of the role of the family and gender relationships in the period. It argues that union branches put considerable effort into maintaining the gender order during the dispute and set up relief as a simulacrum of the breadwinner wage. Centring workers' families opens the dispute outwards to the communities they were part of. Compared to previous historical accounts, the thesis describes a messier and less contained 1951 waterfront dispute. This study shows that homes were a site of the dispute. The domestic work of ensuring that a family managed without wages was largely women's and was as much part of the dispute as collective union work, which was often organised to exclude women. The thesis argues that homes and families were the sharp edges of the 1951 waterfront dispute, the site of both its costs and crises.


Abstract : During the Dredged Material Research Program, six wetland and three upland habitat development projects were established at seven sites to demonstrate the feasibility of creating productive habitat on dredged material deposits. Wetland sites were Windmall Point in the James River, Virginia; Buttermilk Sound near the Altamaha River, Georgia; Drake Wilson Island in Apalachicola Bay, Florida; Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston Bay, Texas; Salt Pond Number 3 in South San Francisco Bay, California; and Miller Sands Island in the Columbia River, Oregon. Sites were also located in upland areas at Nott Island in the Connecticut River, Connecticut; Bolivar Peninsula; and Miller Sands. These sites have continued to be monitored since their construction (1975-77) until the present time. In addition, three natural marsh upland reference sites have been selected for comparison to the man-made sites. Data and research results are presented in this report. Results over an 8-year period indicate that all of the sites have developed and stabilized, and that they have all been highly successful. Despite a complete lack of management since construction, the sites maintain plant communities generally comparable to or more productive than those on the reference areas. Wildlife use exceeds that occurring on reference areas, and the sites are compatible with and contributing to the ecosystems of which they are a part. (Author)


As work environments struggle to reopen during the current COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to establish practical decision-aiding tools. While a strong emphasis has been placed on determining generic guidelines to reduce the risk of airborne viral spread, there is a lack of free and easy-to-use simulation workflows to quantify indoor air quality and the risk of airborne pathogens indoors at a spatial resolution that can take into account floor-plan layouts, furniture, and ventilation inlet-outlet positions. This paper describes the development of a new, free, early design tool that allows designers and other stakeholders to simulate and compare airborne viral concentrations under different indoor conditions. The tool leverages OpenFOAM-based Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and a passive scalar simulation approach to allow architects and interior designers to quantify airborne pathogens' exposure. The tool is integrated into the popular Rhino3d & Grasshopper CAD environment to facilitate its application in fast-paced design processes. We demonstrate good agreement compared to a CFD benchmark test. Further, we validate newly developed COVID-19 capabilities by comparing our results to an existing restaurant case study that included tracer gas measurements and validation using Fluent (Ansys). We demonstrate applications of the tool in a comparative study of a restaurant that investigates how plan and furniture layout interventions, ventilation strategies can impact the movement of airborne pathogens in indoor environments. © International Building Performance Simulation Association, 2022


Background This presentation demonstrates the success of a Driveway Run over Campaign by using intersectoral collaboration to support the implementation of this child injury prevention initiative. Incorporating increased awareness, behaviour change, environmental change, and advocacy. Housing New Zealand Corporation (HNZC) is New Zealand's largest landlord, and houses over 200,000 people. HNZC customers are lower income households, and indigenous peoples are over-represented. Most HNZ households include children. Safekids and HNZC have a shared interest in increasing the safety of vulnerable children and their families. Since 2006, Safekids and HNZC have collaborated to reduce the risk of driveway run over injuries in HNZC properties. This presentation will describe the key components of the partnership, including the national context for this work, shared values frameworks, evaluation findings and key outcomes. Outcomes to date include changes in parental behaviour, changes to the physical environment of HNZC homes, and the development of design guidelines for vehicle access on high density housing sites. Problem Children living in areas of high socio-economic deprivation are more likely to reside in high household occupancy dwellings and are more likely to be at risk. Driveway run over injuries are disproportionately experienced by Indigenous children. Effective interventions to reduce the risk of driveway run over injuries need to target three key factors – human, vehicle and property design factors. Driveway run-over and low-speed injuries typically involve young children, the driver is often a family member, and injuries are usually severe and/or fatal. Results As a result of the collaboration, HNZC has commenced a multi-million dollar fencing and landscaping programme that utilises Safekids tools and messaging to reduce the risk of driveway run over injuries across 69,000 properties nationwide. In addition, a joint Safekids and HNZC nationwide public awareness campaign was developed and delivered in the spring-summer 2013. A further joint public awareness campaign was delivered in 2015–2016. Conclusion Key take away learnings from this presentation will include: Increased awareness of the burden of driveway runover injuries and opportunities for effective intervention Key concepts that support effective intersectoral collaboration between Safekids and Housing New Zealand Corporation to reduce the risk of driveway run over injuries for vulnerable children and their families Outcomes and key learnings from this initiative, and future opportunities for effective child injury prevention action


This paper seeks to present various levels of the Croatian-Slavonian Jews' experience of the First World War. To begin with, although several war memorials are known to have been preserved, the scope of Jewish casualties remains unknown, having been a controversial theme within the former Yugoslav framework. However, recent research has reconstructed the patriotic and social care activities of Jewish societies for the period of 1914–1918 ; this research additionally charts the life paths of various notable individuals, both Zionist and assimilationist. Furthermore, although various sources attest to an increase in the negative perception of Jews as a result of the war, which in turn contributed to the mass looting of 1918–1919, one can reach no simple conclusions about the character of this changed perception. Similarly, although Zionist representatives publicly vested great hopes in the emancipatory potential of the new Yugoslav state, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had for all intents and purposes shown itself to be not so deficient after all.


Dasgupta's essay revisits the long-standing debate about colonial continuity in postcolonial India's constitutional system. The Indian constitution makers sought to produce a system embodying a transformational constitutional vision—that is, a constitutional structure that could mediate a thoroughgoing transformation of social conditions in a controlled and deliberate manner. Therefore, they sought to maintain continuities with the executive apparatus of the colonial state for two reasons: one, to maintain a coherent state machinery that was capable of intervening and transforming the society; and two, to ensure that all contestation about the transformational project was channeled through constitutional paths, by repressing any extraconstitutional forms of agitation. Finally, the essay delineates the centrality of the administrator's point of view and proceduralism in the constituent imagination of India.


People know a lot about the perceivable properties of objects in their environments. We know, for example, that peacocks are colorful, ashtrays are smelly, and hammers are typically grasped in one hand. This study examines the extent to which several modality-specific object attribute ratings can account for performance in lexical and semantic decisions tasks. Seven continuously distributed variables from object attribute rating norms (smell intensity, color vividness, taste pleasantness, sound intensity, graspability, likelihood of motion, likelihood of pain) are used to predict decision latencies from three tasks varying in depth of semantic processing (living / nonliving; concrete / abstract; word / nonword). After controlling for standard word form and lexical variables, two modality-specific variables significantly predicted decision latencies in each task. Separate analyses were conducted for items denoting living things and items denoting nonliving things. In each task, modality-specific variables accounted for more variance in living thing latencies, and non-semantic variables accounted for more variance in nonliving thing latencies. These results suggest that modality-specific knowledge can be used flexibly to aid in lexical and semantic decision-making and are most consistent with "lexicon-free" models of word recognition.


Models, which represent in 3 dimensions the geometric elements of a city, are called 3D city models. Those models are used for an intended wide range of applications beyond mere visualization. Such uses are made possible by enriching the geometrical aspects with urban or environmental data that cannot be perceptible to a user without a visual abstraction. Using such models implies interacting with them in order to perform specific tasks related to the visualized data. Those data are potentially heterogeneous in terms of types, scales, issues, etc. When creating an enriched 3D city model, the designer faces the problem of choosing the most relevant visualization techniques for those heterogeneous data that have to be displayed within the same scene. In this paper we address the problem related to the visualization of enriched 3D city models by proposing a formal representation of existing visualization techniques in the form of an ontology of 3D visualization techniques. We also show how this ontology can be used for computational reasoning and help for the selection of visualization techniques by checking if a technique is compatible with a dataset to display or to a technique already selected and used in the same scene.


Using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism, we have prepared cell-free extracts which accurately transcribe cloned homologous 5S RNA genes in vitro. These extracts also transcribe cloned tRNA genes, and actively process the resulting products. Unlike tRNA genes, transcription of 5S DNA shows some species specificity: C. elegans extracts do not transcribe Xenopus 5S RNA genes, nor does a Xenopus extract efficiently transcribe the heterologous nematode 5S DNA. However, addition of limiting amounts of C. elegans fractions permits Xenopus extracts to transcribe nematode 5S RNA genes. This apparent biochemical "complementation" may provide an assay to purify 5S RNA gene-specific factors from C. elegans


An alarming aspect of the Indian economy during the recent past has been the deceleration in the growth of employment which accompanied the accelerated economic growth. This article systematically explores the employment potential in the rural areas with particular emphasis on agriculture and allied sectors. It attempts an analysis of trends in distribution of operational holdings on the basis of the available time series data. The employment potential of animal husbandry and allied activities and their spatial distribution are also discussed, and a later section deals with the irrigation resources of the country and their regional distribution. A detailed analysis of labour absorption in the crop sector on the basis of cost of cultivation data for all the major crops in the country is presented with a discussion of issues emerging from the present analysis which have a bearing on public policy planning for the current decade.


The chapter by Knijn, Martin and Ostner elaborates reforms in parenting support as a rather new public policy domain balancing between the public and the private domains as well as between surveillance and support. The focus is on reform trajectories in three European Union countries (France, Germany and the Netherlands) by exploring triggers and drivers of change. In an effort to understand public policy reforms, many authors refer to policy tracing and/or policy design strategy as an outcome of a given political economy. In this chapter, however, it is assumed that particular policies at the intersection of private and public domains such as those in the field of parenting support are first the expression of triggers of change, such as drastic changes of the global society, in terms of population trends, family composition, labour market developments, gender and social inequalities and so on. In addition, those policy reforms can be envisioned as a battlefield of ideas concerning parenthood and care (responsibilities, family culture, controversies about childhood) and actors (political actors, experts, professionals, interest groups or lobbies), defined as drivers of change. The authors explore this battlefield of ideas and assumptions by comparing the main reforms (and projects of reforms) in parenting support, and more widely on family policy in the three countries.


Since 2011 half of Syria's population has been forced to flee its homes. Much research has focused on the macro-level challenges and post-conflict reconstruction plans. In this article, I focus on the micro-level by examining the dialectic of "humiliation" and "dignity" as a dynamic that shapes and transforms Syrian refugees' identities through sustained interaction, and sometimes through struggle, with others, who can be pro-regime or pro-opposition Syrians, or pro-refugees or anti-refugees in hosting countries. Methodologically, I use an interpretive approach which focuses on context-specific meanings and their relation to power, seeking multifaceted understandings of refugees' lived-experience. This research is based on ethnographic fieldwork and ordinary language interviews conducted in the United States, and semi-structured, open-ended interviews with Syrians in Germany and Turkey. I show that researching participants' meaning-making in their own settings reveals the dynamics of humiliation and dignity as dialectically interwoven in specific situational contexts and shaped by refugees' lived-experience in both the country of origin (in the past) and the hosting country (in the present).


This paper proposes a technique for frequency-partitioned spectrum estimation (FPSE), which is used in the National Taiwan University Wireless Health Advanced Monitoring Bio-Diagnosis System for electrocardiogram analysis. A process for analyzing the RR interval (which is a time series formed by the heat-beat duration that represents heart-rate variations) in conjunction with the fuzzy clustering technique is proposed for arrhythmia recognition. FPSE helps reduce data transmission errors and allows the computational load to be moved to a remote server; however, it suffers from waveform deterioration during reconstruction of the signal power spectrum. To compensate for this problem, this paper proposes a modified FPSE approach that imposes an additional boundary constraint to ensure that the estimated spectrum is smooth. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is more effective at recovering the original frequency information and achieves a globally asymptotic trend. The proposed arrhythmia recognition procedure was applied to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Boston's Beth Israel Hospital (MIT-BIH) database (developed by MIT and Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center), which demonstrated that it is both very convenient and efficient.


The aging characteristics of stator bars, which have been subjected to accelerated aging tests in a three-phase model stator under simultaneously applied electrical, mechanical, and thermal stresses, have been evaluated using diagnostic test procedures. The ac breakdown test has been found to be the most effective means for assessing the extent of aging undergone by the stator bars. The results indicate that under multistress conditions relatively small increases in the magnitudes of the stress acceleration factors are sufficient to lead to significant increases in the aging rate of the insulating systems of stator bars.


This guide serves as a one-stop shop for PolyU researchers and postgraduate students to gain easy access to information pertinent to their research and publishing needs.


Fibula production can be proven in the case of several Pannonian bronze workshops and among these, Brigetio as well. Similar fibula variations from a close territory can refer to the production in a certain area but the archaeological finds which belong to the manufacturing process are more trustworthy evidences. Regarding the fibulae produced in Brigetio, I. Kovrig, E. Patek, É. B. Bónis, K. Szabó, M. Merczi and N. Sey have already published some more or less detailed parts of their research. During a research project, the author reinvestigated several archaeological finds which can be related to the fibula production of Brigetio. The main aim of this paper is the definition of the fibula variants and the examination of their regional distribution. Moreover, the dating of the locally manufactured fibula variants can be helpful to define the production period of the workshops.


Fifty percent of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients have pulmonary disease which can involve the lung parenchyma, the pleural space, and pulmonary vessels. The article reviews the causes of severe hypoxemia in a SLE patient who had pulmonary hypertension patent foramen ovale, a history of recreational drugs use, asthma, and possible antiphospholipid syndrome who presented with acute dyspnea and severe hypoxemia. Her chest x-ray revealed cardiomegaly, increased central pulmonary vessels, decreased lung volumes but no infiltrates or effusions. Severe hypoxemia without pulmonary infiltrates in SLE patients is an unusual presentation; possible explanations include pulmonary emboli, severe pulmonary hypertension, and shrinking lung syndrome.


Non-profit organizations (NPOs) enjoy more trust than most other modern institutions. That trust comes at a price, however. When allegations of unethical behaviour arise, public indignation is swift and can translate into decreased donations for several years. NPOs typically serve vulnerable populations and, consequently, individuals working in them are expected to put organizational and public interests above their own. Yet, increased pressure to perform efficiently to compete for decreasing government funds may lead to compromised values. As the sector grows and increases in importance as the "third sector" between government and the market[1], high-profile scandals worldwide suggest a need for ethics training for non-profit administrators.

Both government and the public have called for greater accountability in the non-profit sector, creating the current trend toward professionalism and a growing number of professional study programs. But is the post-secondary, non-profit administration program the best place for future professionals to learn what constitutes "right", or ethical, behaviour? Do ethics courses actually make a difference in the ethical decision-making process and the behaviour of practicing professionals? If so, how are they currently being taught and how should we teach these types of courses? This workshop examines these challenges within the context of a currently "fragmented" state of ethics pedagogy in non-profit management studies.

[1] As described by, for example: Brock, K. L. (2000). Sustaining a relationship: Insights from Canada on linking the government and the third sector. Working Paper 1, School of Policy Studies, Queen's University, Ontario. Retrieved from www.queensu.ca/sps/publications/workingpapers/01.pdf


This paper reports on work in progress on semiquantitative curve analyses of histograms of brain tumors. Separation of statistical groups of attenuation values obtained by computer calculation is done separately from scanning, using histogram printouts as the data input for a programmable calculator. This method is discussed together with its results in 50 cases of malignant gliomas. The detection of hidden tissue portions and the more accurate evaluation of partial enhancement effects have been the investigators' main concerns to the present time; however, this method may allow more specific diagnosis of malignancy and changes in tumor characteristics than visual assessment alone. This has not been proven by studies that have evaluated large numbers of cases, but seems to be worth pursuing as a new approach.


The current studies investigated the relationship between attitudes towards violence and violent behaviour. Violent attitudes have mostly been assessed with self-report measures. Within social psychology, implicit attitudes have also been assessed using response latency measures finding significance regarding these attitudes. The current studies examined implicit and self-report attitudes, as well as the relationship between attitudes and past/future violence, among three studies (one containing offenders). The effect of observing, or engaging in, violence on attitudes and whether this
affects the relationship with violent behaviour was also examined. No significant results were found involving implicit attitudes; however self-report attitudes were positively related to measures of violent behaviour and more positive self-report attitudes were found after observing, or engaging in, the violent task, as was a positive relationship between these attitudes and future violence. These results extend previous research and provide valuable information regarding the role of attitudes in the commission of violence.


Takes you back for another look at the mad Tudor monarchs and their suffering subjects, who just could not help losing their heads. Read on for information about the good times and the gory from the great goose fairs to the painful punishments and trickery of the ruthless royal family.


The homodimeric transmembrane receptor natriuretic peptide receptor B (NPR-B [also known as guanylate cyclase B, GC-B, and GUC2B]; gene name NPR2) produces cytoplasmic cyclic GMP from GTP on binding its extracellular ligand, C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP). CNP has previously been implicated in the regulation of skeletal growth in transgenic and knockout mice. The autosomal recessive skeletal dysplasia known as "acromesomelic dysplasia, type Maroteaux" (AMDM) maps to an interval that contains NPR2. We sequenced DNA from 21 families affected by AMDM and found 4 nonsense mutations, 4 frameshift mutations, 2 splice-site mutations, and 11 missense mutations. Molecular modeling was used to examine the putative protein change brought about by each missense mutation. Three missense mutations were tested in a functional assay and were found to have markedly deficient guanylyl cyclase activity. We also found that obligate carriers of NPR2 mutations have heights that are below the mean for matched controls. We conclude that, although NPR-B is expressed in a number of tissues, its major role is in the regulation of skeletal growth.


The modeling of porous medium has many applications whose techniques can be used in the fields of automotive, aerospace, oil exploration, and biomedical. This work concentrates on the Noise and Vibration (NV) development of automotive interiors but the ideas can be translated to the aforementioned areas. The NV development requires the setting of NV targets at dif-ferent levels. These targets are then translated to TL (Transmission Loss), IL (Insertion Loss), and Alpha (absorption) performance. Therefore, the ability to manage an efficient product development cycle, that entails analyzing vibro-acoustic environments, hinges on the premise that accurate TL, IL, or Alpha values pertaining to the different multi-layered porous materials can be calculated. Thus, there is a need to have a thorough understanding of the physics behind the energy dissipating mechanism that includes the effects of the fluid meandering through the pores of the material. The goal of this series is to model the acoustic and dynamic coupling via multi-scale and homogenizations techniques, thus subsequently understand where to incorporate the concepts of dynamic tortuosity, viscous and thermal permeability, as well as viscous and thermal lengths. This study will allow the ability to get a better understanding of the underlying processes and also provides tools to create practical concepts for determining the coefficients of the macroscopic equations. This will assist in attaining novel ideas for NV absorption and insulation.


As the United States is poised to enter a new era of nuclear power plant construction, it behooves us to revisit some of the controversies of the past and consider how best to deal with some of the major problems that arose once before and may confront us once again as we go down this path. A flurry of costly, protected, and complex disputes concerning the allocation of plant cancellation cost followed upon the collapse of the first boom in nuclear power plant construction during the 1970s and 1980s. These cases led to highly divergent results depending of the jurisdiction and the standards or review it applied. Such variation is almost always problematic. It can introduce problematic jurisdictional concerns into utility decisions that should be guided more by basic considerations of appropriately meeting energy demand. This article aims to take a step toward harmonizing the used and useful test with the prudent investment test by proposing that the latter can be updated through pursing an analogy to products liability law. By reconfiguring the concept of "prudence" away from its analogy to the business judgment rule toward products liability standards, this approach promises to provide a means both to respect precedent in those jurisdictions applying the prudent investment test and provide a more rational, consistent and equitable basis for allocating the costs of future nuclear plant cancellations.


What role the law should play in encouraging the growth of trade
unions is a matter of considerable controversy in Canada, the United
States, and the United Kingdom. Limits to growth in other sectors of the
economy coupled with heightened employer hostility to unionism have made
the extension of collective bargaining to the tertiary sector the most
pressing task for unions in the 1980s. In a limited way, the Canadian
procedure for certifying and recognizing unions is being considered as a
model for labour law reform. And there is much to recommend the Canadian
system. It is far more efficient than its American counterpart. There
are fewer delays, fewer unlawful interventions by employers, and a
substantially higher likelihood that newly organized unions will be
granted certification. Even so, unions have failed to break into the
trade, finance, and services industries that are so critical to their
future.
Taken as a whole, Canadian labour law tends to block rather than
promote the growth of unions in the unorganized sectors of the economy.
The certification procedure is only one aspect of a legal regime that has
as its primary purpose the preservation of industrial peace, not the
encouragement of union growth. By shaping bargaining structure and
regulating bargaining tactics, Canadian labour law tilts the balance of
power in favour of employers. Small, fragmented unions are frequently
pitted against large corporations and as there is nothing to stop anti-union
employers from using their overwhelming strength to frustrate the
collective bargaining process, efforts to organize the tertiary sector
have failed.


Food products claim to be healthy in many ways, but prior research has investigated these claims at either the macro level (using broad descriptions such as "healthy" or "tasty") or the micro level (using single claims such as "low fat"). The authors use a meso-level framework to examine whether these claims invoke natural or scientific arguments and whether they communicate about positive attributes present in the food or negative attributes absent from the food. They find that common front-of-packaging claims can be appropriately classified into (1) science- and absence-focused claims about "removing negatives," (2) science- and presence-focused claims about "adding positives," (3) nature- and absence-focused claims about "not adding negatives," and (4) nature- and presence-focused claims about "not removing positives." The authors conduct validation studies using breakfast cereals, a category for which nutrition quality varies but food claims are constant. They find that claim type is completely uncorrelated to actual nutrition quality yet influences inferences consumers make about taste, healthiness, and dieting. Claim type also helps predict the effects of hedonic eating, healthy eating, or weight loss goals on food choice.


By using radiometric techniques, it is now possible to measure mycobacterial growth, to identify organisms as part of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, and to perform drug susceptibility testing in a matter of days rather than weeks or months. The method is based on the elaboration of radiolabeled carbon dioxide (C14O2) by metabolically active mycobacteria that consume an exclusive carbohydrate substrate containing the labelled carbon. Field studies have shown the method to be sensitive and accurate; however, due to the expense of the system and some technical limitations, it is primarily suitable for use in large laboratories. The means by which it complements and strengthens a mycobacterial laboratory are discussed herein.


Neural mass models can simulate the generation of electroencephalography(EEG) signals with different rhythms,and therefore the observation of the states of these models plays a significant role in brain research. The structure of neural mass models is special in that they can be expressed as Lurie systems. The developed techniques in Lurie system theory are applicable to these models. We here provide a new observer design method for neural mass models by transforming these models and the corresponding error systems into nonlinear systems with Lurie form. The purpose is to establish appropriate conditions which ensure the convergence of the estimation error. The effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by numerical simulations.


I begin with some memories of Abdus Salam who was my PhD supervisor. After reviewing the theory of nonlinear realisations and Kac–Moody algebras, I explain how to construct the nonlinear realisation based on the Kac–Moody algebra E11 and its vector representation. I explain how this field theory leads to dynamical equations which contain an infinite number of fields defined on a space–time with an infinite number of coordinates. I then show that these unique dynamical equations, when truncated to low level fields and the usual coordinates of space–time, lead to precisely the equations of motion of 11-dimensional supergravity theory. By taking different group decompositions of E11 we find all the maximal supergravity theories, including the gauged maximal supergravities, and as a result the nonlinear realisation should be thought of as a unified theory that is the low energy effective action for type II strings and branes. These results essentially confirm the E11 conjecture given many years ago.