The 1995 FDRE Constitution and all statutes pertaining to the land law regime of Ethiopia either prohibited or strictly regulated transfer of rural land use rights. However, land transaction has been going on informally against prohibitions or strict requirements for transfer of rural land use rights. Thus, this study investigates nature, manner and status of informal rural land deals vis-à-vis formal statutes, court decisions, and expert views of key informants. The focus of this article is on peri-urban areas where transfer is made mainly for the construction of dwelling houses (squatting). In addition, acquiring land for other uses like farm land and small businesses (poultry, dairy farms, for planting perennials etc.) are considered. Consequently, informal rural land deals is defined in this paper as any transactions in land except those allowed by law. The nature of informal rural land deals include transferring land use rights through donation and inheritance without fulfilling legal conditions related to family member, minimum holding size, and willingness to live on agriculture by the transferee, and in a manner that does not displace the landholders. It also includes sale and mortgage in any manner, and rent without following preconditions such as: minimum holding size, rent period, consent of the family, registration and writing contract. Hence, informal land transition is found to be rife in the study area. The formal laws and institutions are unable or incapable to control it and in effect the rule of law is being undermined. The government is well advised to study the matter and bring order by paying attention to the realities on the ground.


The paper analyses the Brazilian agricultural trade with the European Union (EU), in the context of the negotiations for a commercial agreement between Mercosur and the EU. We calculate indexes of revealed comparative advantages (RCA) and regional orientation (RO), for the period from 1991 to 2001. We selected the following products: soybeans, orange juice, tobacco, chicken meat, bovine meat, sugar and coffee. Altogether, these products corresponded to more than 20% of total Brazilian exports in that period. The products that show the highest Brazilian participation in world trade are soybeans, orange juice and coffee. Except for sugar, all the analyzed products had the EU as an important destiny for the exports. The results indicate comparative advantages for the Brazilian products, showing stable or increasing indexes along the decade. Besides, there is a high orientation of Brazilian exports to the EU, except for chicken meat and sugar, but with no increases in the period. Thus, an agreement between the blocs, reducing or eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers, may result in a trade creation, in favor of Brazilian agricultural exports to the EU.


Circular epidemiology can be defined as the continuation of specific types of epidemiologic studies beyond the point of reasonable doubt of the true existence of an important association or the absence of such an association. Circular epidemiology is an extreme example of studies of the consistency of associations. A basic problem for epidemiology is the lack of a systematic approach to acquiring new knowledge to reach a goal of improving public health and preventive medicine. For epidemiologists, research support unfortunately is biased toward the continued study of already proven hypotheses. Circular epidemiology, however, freezes at one point in the evolution of epidemiologic studies, failing to move from descriptive to analytical case-control and longitudinal studies, for example, to experimental, clinical trials. Good epidemiology journals are filled with very well-conducted epidemiologic studies that primarily repeat the obvious or are variations on the theme.


Rectal prolapse be either partial or incomplete in nature and is defined as double layer evagination of the rectum through the anal canal. The common associated causations which can be seen in kittens are severe endoparasitism, enteritis, and associated tenesmus (Fossum, 2002). Rectal prolapse is the one of the most encountered surgical conditions involving the rectum in all domestic animal species (Tyagi and Singh, 1993). Surgical intervention is the most common treatment methodology adopted but however, in cases where surgery is not indicated, required, not opted by the owner, becomes a challenge to treat. Therefore, finding alternative therapies for clinical management is the need of hour. The objective of this study is to report successful management of rectal prolapse in a 5-month-old kitten having 4 episodes of prolapse in five days. The homeopathic medicines used in this case were Sepia 200C and Ruta g. 200C. The patient revealed a favourable response by 2nd day of the treatment and complete healing was observed on 7th day. This therapeutic protocol used was conclusive and it re-established the normal intake of food and energy level. Hence, homeopathic treatment can be considered as an alternative therapy for clinical management of rectal prolapse in a Felines and Canines.


Since its birth, a decade ago, the global administrative law (GAL) project has been criticized for the lack of elaboration of its normative foundations. GAL scholars either belittle the import ance of the "normative deficit" question, or they cautiously suggest that the GAL project is "normatively modest" and its constitutional ambition limited. The aim of this contribution is to challenge that modesty and suggest one way of reconciling GAL with constitutionalism. In the following, I argue that (a) GAL focuses on three functional dimensions—global regulation, global execution, and global adjudication—each involving a different legitimacy problem; (b) GAL scholarship proposes for each problem a specific recipe, that, despite its seemingly "neutral" administrative envelope, bears a normative content; (c) this normativity can be best conceptualized in constitutional terms, by relying on the theoretical framework offered by constitutional pluralism, in its cosmopolitan version.


This paper proposes an effective procedure to control the power systems during different emergency conditions using the fuzzy linear programming (FLP) technique. This procedure depends on the optimal preventive control action, which is prepared before the emergency occurrence. The multi-objective preventive control actions are: minimizing the generation cost function, maximizing the generation reserve at certain generation or at all generation system, and maximizing the preventive control actions for one or more critical transmission lines, while all the system constraints are satisfied. The results demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed procedure to generate well-controlled of emergency conditions. The comparison with conventional procedures, which hasn't prepared preventive actions, shows the superiority of the proposed procedure and confirms its potential to remove the effects of emergency problems.


Escherichia coli was found to grow on fructoselysine as an energetic substrate at a rate of about one-third of that observed with glucose. Extracts of cells grown on fructoselysine catalyzed in the presence of ATP the phosphorylation of fructoselysine and a delayed formation of glucose 6-phosphate from this substrate. Data base searches allowed us to identify an operon containing a putative kinase (YhfQ) belonging to the PfkB/ ribokinase family, a putative deglycase (YhfN), homologous to the isomerase domain of glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase, and a putative cationic amino acid transporter (YhfM). The proteins encoded by YhfQ and YhfN were overexpressed in E. coli, purified, and shown to catalyze the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of fructoselysine to a product identified as fructoselysine 6-phosphate by P NMR (YhfQ), and the reversible conversion of fructoselysine 6-phosphate and water to lysine and glucose 6-phosphate (YhfN). The Km of the kinase for fructoselysine amounted to 18 M, and the Km of the deglycase for fructoselysine 6-phosphate, to 0.4 mM. A value of 0.15 M was found for the equilibrium constant of the deglycase reaction. The kinase and the deglycase were both induced when E. coli was grown on fructoselysine and then reached activities sufficient to account for the rate of fructoselysine utilization.


A novel approach for the numerical simulation of the development of crystallinity, frozen‐in birefringence and anisotropic shrinkage in moldings of thermoplastics is proposed. The approach is based on the calculation of elastic recovery and crystalline and amorphous orientation functions frozen when the flow‐induced crystallization occurs. To model crystallization, the flow effect on the equilibrium melting temperature elevation due to the entropy reduction between the oriented and unoriented melts is incorporated. To find frozen‐in elastic recovery during crystallization and entropy change, a non‐linear viscoelastic constitutive equation is used. The crystalline and amorphous contributions to the overall birefringence were obtained from the crystalline orientation function and the flow birefringence, respectively. To calculate anisotropic shrinkage, the PVT equation of state and the dependence of the thermal expansion and compressibility on the frozen‐in orientation function are used. The skin layer thic...


In the framework of two nanosatellite projects with European Space Agency a versatile platform con-sisting of a powerful processor based on a system-on-chip-module with a large field-programmable array (FPGA) and a software-defined radio (SDR) front-end was developed by TU Graz and the SME UniTel. The SDR module covers a frequency range from 300 to 6000 MHz. These two units constitute a flexible transceiver for small LEO satellites, suitable both for LEO-to-ground links, but also for in-ter-satellite links for LEO constellations. Without extra converters S- and C-band can be accommodat-ed directly. The design was made flexible such that X-, Ku- and Ka-band can be utilised as well by using adapter boards containing the LNAs, SSPAs and frequency converters for these bands. Special care was taken in the PCB layouting to guarantee a very high performance and to minimise EMC ef-fects. UniTel recently developed an add-on module with special hardware encryption. Due to the optimised PCB layouting, the hardware is immune against side attacks. In the framework of the H2020 project EO-ALERT a direct space-ground link in S-band has been defined to transmit alerts generated on board of a novel generation of Earth observation satellites with minimum latency to hand-held ter-minals used by rescue teams. The size of the modules was chosen to comply with the CubeSat form factor. Industrial COTS electronic components are used in the transceiver. With the support of ESA the systems were extensively tested for total dose radiation at the Co60 test facility at ESTEC and for single-event upsets at the Paul-Scherrer Institute. It was verified that it is safe to operate this transceiver system in a LEO environment for at least two years. The paper describes the system design of the processor and radio front-end and gives insight in the hardware design criteria for optimised EMC performance. The concept for alert delivery in the EO-ALERT project is presented.


The contribution deals with the theme of the nullity of an administrative decision, illustrating its doctrinal and legal evolutionfrom form the idea that mathed nullity to non-existence to the codification of the declarative action of nullity by Art. 31 of the Code of Administrative Procedure. With reference to the system in force, the author intends to demonstrate that three different kinds of nullity are identifiable, each characterized by its own ratio and by particular procedural arrangements: nullity due to violation or elusion of res judicata conferred to exclusive jurisdiction of the administrative court, textual nullity conferred to the administrative court and ascertainable in the form of the declarative action of nullity pursuant to Art. 31 of the Code of Administrative Procedure, nullity/nonexistence owing to a lack of one of the essential elements and to an absolute defect of attribution, for the ascertainment of which the jurisdiction and the consequent procedural arrangements must be determined based on the nature of the complaint issued by the claimant.


Implementing sound natural resource management is a complex issue and a synergy of knowledge from all stakeholders, representing local and outside interests, is the only means to attain sustainable solutions. The results from interviews with a number of researchers in least developed countries have shown that although indigenous knowledge is acknowledged in the local sphere as site-specific, it is scientific knowledge that is considered universally valid and superior. In conflicting circumstances, local knowledge is often considered wrong without recognizing the existence of different contexts, world views or goals and the many examples of the fallibility of science. As researchers, reflecting upon and understanding one's own world view and perceptions of different sources of knowledge is important as it affects the way that knowledge held by local communities is treated and whether or not it is included in research and development projects and policy documents.


Context: Concurrent arterial aneurysms (AAs) occurring in 2.7-16.7% patients harboring an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) aggravate the risk of intracranial hemorrhage. Aim: We evaluate the variations of aneurysms simultaneously coexisting with AVMs. A classification-based management strategy and an abbreviated nomenclature that describes their radiological features is also proposed. Setting: Tertiary care academic institute. Statistics: Test of significance applied to determine the factors causing rebleeding in the groups of patients with concurrent AVM and aneurysm and those with only AVMs. Subjects and Methods: Sixteen patients (5 with subarachnoid hemorrhage and 11 with intracerebral/intraventricular hemorrhage; 10 with low flow [LF] and 6 with high flow [HF] AVMs) underwent radiological assessment of Spetzler Martin (SM) grading and flow status of AA + AVM. Their modified Rankin's score (mRS) at admission was compared with their follow-up (F/U) score. Results: Pre-operative mRS was 0 in 5, 2 in 6, 3 in 1, 4 in 3 and 5 in 1; and, SM grade I in 5, II in 3, III in 3, IV in 4 and V in 1 patients, respectively. AA associated AVMs were classified as: (I) Flow-related proximal (n = 2); (II) flow-related distal (n = 3); (III) intranidal (n = 5); (IV) extra-intranidal (n = 2); (V) remote major ipsilateral (n = 1); (VI) remote major contralateral (n = 1); (VII) deep perforator related (n = 1); (VIII) superficial (n = 1); and (IX) distal (n = 0). Their treatment strategy included: Flow related AA, SM I-III LF AVM: aneurysm clipping with AVM excision; nidal-extranidal AA, SM I-III LF AVM: Excision or embolization of both AA + AVM; nidal-extranidal and perforator-related AA, SM IV-V HF AVM: Only endovascular embolization or radiosurgery. Surgical decision-making for remote AA took into account their ipsilateral/contralateral filling status and vessel dominance; and, for AA associated with SM III HF AVM, it varied in each patient based on diffuseness of AVM nidus, flow across arteriovenous fistula and eloquence of cortex. Follow up (F/U) (23.29 months; range: 1.5-69 months) mRS scores were 0 in 12, 2 in 2, 3 in 1 and 6 in 1 patients, respectively. Conclusions: Patients with intracranial AVMs should be screened for concurrent AAs. Further grading, management protocols and prognostication should particularly "focus on the aneurysm."


Banking Industry has witnessed a lot of changes in all the of Liberalization. The advent of foreign banks into the country and the licensing of the private sector have created stiff competition within the business. E-CRM's role is more important for the healthy growth of the banking business and combats the competition from rivals. The objectives of the study are: to identify the benefits enjoyed by the customers while using e-CRM services. The data study is based on the primary data collected by way of a distributed, well-framed questionnaire. There are 120 questionnaires issued among the customers. Convenience sampling methods have been adopted in this study. Some of the findings of the studies are: Most of the consumers are belonging to the age group between 22-30years. Most of the consumers (66.67%) are female. The majority of the consumers (45.00%) are postgraduates. Most of the Consumers (49.16%) are married. The majority of the respondents (51.67%) are residing in the rural area. Some of the suggestions of the study are as follows: To improve user friendly, to secure customer personal information, and Awareness camp must be conducted to educate account holders about e-CRM service, To reduce the service charges and transaction charges. It is concluded that Customer satisfaction was found to be key advantages prove by the bankers while using e-CRM and the main benefit of this e-banking is convenience to the customers. Now a day's consumers mostly prefer to use online banking services because the consumers do not have time to go to the bank and withdraw money, for the consumers need more time.


Malignancy in the head and neck area is a disease that often gives high morbidity in functions like speech, eating, breathing and cosmetics. To ensure a treatment of high clinical standard these patients are presented for a multidisciplinary tumor-team at Sahlgren University hospital. The team usually involves ENT-surgeons (Ear, Nose and Throat), oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, plastic surgeon, general surgeon and oral surgeons. The aim of the presentation is to classificate the tumor and suggests a treatment. The patients presented are from the whole western region of Sweden, and therefore some patients have to travel long distances. To minimize travel telemedicine was introduced 1998 with success [1]. One concern, when presenting a patient with telemedicine, has been the lack of possibility to palpate the tumor and the tissue surrounding it. To address this problem a 3D model of the tumor visualizes the region and possibly allows haptic palpation. Based on a series of high resolution CT/MR scans, a model of the region around the patients tumor is created. Haptic properties are added to the skin and subcutaneous structures (including the tumor) of the model. Initially, the haptic tuning is done by an examining physician, but in the final telemedical application, the aim is to develop a sensory device for this purpose (e.g. a position sensitive glove, such as Virtual Technologies, Inc. CyberGlove [2] and a graded system for setting firmness of the tissue). The model with its haptic properties can then be examined visually and haptically, the latter using a haptic device such as the SensAble PHANToM [3]. The present system uses a 3D model in VRML format based on reconstructed structures in the ROI (which includes the jawbones, the vertebra, the throat, major muscles and the skin) from high resolution CT. Haptic properties are added using MAGMA 2.5 (ReachIn Technologies AB, Sweden) [4]. Haptic force feedback is provided using a PHANToM Desktop (SensAble Technologies Inc) [3]. Visual feedback can be either monoscopic or stereoscopic (StereoGraphic CrystalEyes) [5]. The system will be used for concept testing and for evaluating possible limitations and/or the need for a modified examination protocol. Once a reliable set of parameters has been generated (using both professionals and medical students at various levels), the remote components will be added.


India is experiencing power shortages both in terms of peaking and energy. There is acritical need for a vigorous demand side management (DSM) program to supplement capital-intensivesupply side options in bridging the demand and supply gap in the short run. Widespreadimplementation of DSM in Indian utilities is a major challenge facing both institutional andadministrative roadblocks. Government of India is making efforts through different policy measuresto encourage DSM. Despite the large energy saving potential and clear economic benefits, utilitiesare hesitating in widespread implementation of these programs. The most common barriers forimplementing DSM include non scientific tariff, lack of incentives, lack of information, and absenceof integrated planning approach, etc. Using the Rajasthan power sector as a case study, this paperidentifies and examines the major barriers through a series of in-depth interviews with the top utilityofficials of Rajasthan. Finally, the paper suggests suitable policy measures for removing thesebarriers.


Objectives Children with public insurance are less likely than children with private insurance to obtain follow-up care after emergency department (ED) care. This study aimed to determine if specific demographic and clinical factors are associated with aftercare compliance in a population of publicly insured pediatric ED patients with orthopedic injuries. Methods This was a retrospective case-control study of Washington, DC, children aged 0 to 17 years with public insurance discharged with isolated forearm fractures from the Children's National Medical Center ED from 2003 to 2006. Bivariable analyses and multivariable logistic regression were performed to measure the association between sociodemographic variables and failure to follow up. Results Six hundred children met the inclusion criteria. The overall cohort was 63.7% male and 81.7% African American, with a mean age of 8.8 (SE, 0.2) years. Overall, 85.7% of patients went to a follow-up orthopedic appointment, and 68.2% of patients had timely orthopedic follow-up, defined as 14 days or less after discharge from the ED. Treatment with orthopedic reduction (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 2.0 [1.33–2.93]) was positively associated with timely orthopedic follow-up, whereas older age (adjusted OR, 0.9 [0.88–0.97]) was significantly associated with failure to follow up. In the subset of patients who required orthopedic reduction in the ED, older age was significantly associated with failure to follow up (adjusted OR, 0.80 [0.74–0.94]). Conclusions Mild fracture severity is associated with lack of orthopedic follow-up for patients with public insurance. Older age was associated with lack of follow-up, even in the subgroup with severe fractures. Targeted interventions to improve orthopedic aftercare compliance should focus on older patients with severe forearm fractures.


Abstract Postosuchus kirkpatricki is a Late Triassic (Norian) 'rauisuchid' archosaur from North America. The initial description of the Postosuchus type material included elements from two poposaurids. This confusion has prevented adequate description of the material. Recent examination of the type material and other specimens of Postosuchus, and of related taxa, has helped clarify the osteology of Postosuchus. The type specimens represent c. 75% of the skeleton. Together with other referred material, Postosuchus remains one of the most completely known rauisuchids. The paratype skeleton, which is relatively complete, would have been c. 3.5–4 m in length, and the holotype would have been closer to 5–6 m. Analysis of the postcranial skeleton of Postosuchus suggests that it may have been an obligate biped (based in part on limb proportions, which are similar to some theropod dinosaurs, the size of the manus (30% of the size of the pes) and the highly reduced nature of the digits and vertebral measurements). Possible postcranial autapomorphies of Postosuchus include a large, rugose triangular supra-acetabular buttress confluent with the dorsal margin of the iliac blade, and a symmetrical pes with digits two and three being roughly equal in length.


This paper proposes a new high-speed driving method using the bipolar scan waveform with a scan width of 1 /spl mu/s in an ac-plasma display panel. The bipolar scan waveform in an address period consists of a two-step pulse with two different polarities, i.e., a forward scan pulse with a negative polarity and reverse scan pulse with a positive polarity, which can produce two address discharges, including a primary address discharge for generating wall charges and secondary address discharge for accumulating wall charges. To produce the fast address discharge stably using the bipolar scan pulse during an address period, a new reset waveform is designed based on a V/sub t/ close curve analysis, and the address discharge characteristics examined under various reset and address waveforms. As a result of adopting the proposed driving method, a high-speed address with a scan width of 1 /spl mu/s is successfully obtained when using a checkered pattern on a 4-in test panel.


But at other moments, the classroom is so lifeless or painful or confused -and I am so powerless to do anything about it -that my claim to be a teacher seems a transparent sham. Then the enemy is everywhere: in those students from some alien planet, in that subject I thought I knew, and in the personal pathology that keeps me earning my living this way. What a fool I was to imagine that I had mastered this occult art -harder to divine than tea leaves and impossible for mortals to do even passably well!


Iranian businesses like all others around the world need to survive and grow in the global marketplace. To facilitate this, they need true executive commitment to the provision of high quality products and services. An established way to begin this important development process is to implement Total Quality Management (TQM). By applying TQM in Iranian organisations they can begin to achieve a high standard of quality products and services at a cost that enables them to compete with their international competitors. The purpose of this research, a comparative study, was to investigate the effect of organisational culture on the successful implementation and sustainability of the operation of TQM within Iran. In the programme of research data was collected from 50 organisations in Iranian and 40 in the United Kingdom (UK). Senior executives, general managers and quality managers were interviewed. They also completed comprehensive questionnaires which identified the issues relating to the implementation and operation of TQM in their organisations. The research then focused upon problems and barriers to the introduction, implementation and sustained operation of TQM that were experienced in Iranian businesses. Specifically issues concerning the relationship between organisational culture and TQM at all levels of the organization are explored. The critical issues that this study set out to address relate to the relationships and interactions that exist within a Quality Management System, organisational culture and the changes that need to be instigated for success. In his investigations the researcher divided his study into two parts. Firstly the Hofestede national culture model (2002) was tested against the organisational culture variables established in work by Denison (2006). Secondly the Denison organisational variables were used to assess the implication of culture on the successful implementation and sustained operation of TQM. The research identified that the implementation and operation of TQM in the organisations studied in the UK was highly successful whilst in the Iranian organisations such success was identified to be low. In response to this, and based upon the knowledge and understanding gained from the investigation and analysis, the researcher presents a proposed framework to aid the successful introduction and implementation of TQM within an Iranian context.


The advances in computer processor technology have enabled the application of nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) to agile systems, such as quadrotors. These systems are characterized by their underactuation, nonlinearities, bounded inputs, and time-delays. Classical control solutions fall short in overcoming these difficulties and fully exploiting the capabilities offered by such platforms. This paper presents the design and implementation of an efficient position controller for quadrotors based on real-time NMPC with time-delay compensation and bounds enforcement on the actuators. To deal with the limited computational resources onboard, an offboard control architecture is proposed. It is implemented using the high-performance software package acadoff, which solves optimal control problems and implements a real-time iteration (RTI) variant of a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) scheme with Gauss-Newton Hessian approximation. The quadratic subproblems (QP) in the SQP scheme are solved with HPIPM, an interior-point method solver, built on top of the linear algebra library BLASFEO, finely tuned for multiple CPU architectures. Solution times are further reduced by reformulating the QPs using the efficient partial condensing algorithm implemented in HPIPM. We demonstrate the capabilities of our architecture using the Crazyflie 2.1 nano-quadrotor.


With the aim of studying the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Tuscany region of Italy during the first epidemic wave (February-June 2020), we define a compartmental model that accounts for both detected and undetected infections and assumes that only notified cases can die. We estimate the infection fatality rate, the case fatality rate, and the basic reproduction number, modeled as a time-varying function, by calibrating on the cumulative daily number of observed deaths and notified infected, after fixing to plausible values the other model parameters to assure identifiability. The confidence intervals are estimated by a parametric bootstrap procedure and a Global Sensitivity Analysis is performed to assess the sensitivity of the estimates to changes in the values of the fixed parameters. According to our results, the basic reproduction number drops from an initial value of 6.055 to 0 at the end of the national lockdown, then it grows again, but remaining under 1. At the beginning of the epidemic, the case and the infection fatality rates are estimated to be 13.1% and 2.3%, respectively. Among the parameters considered as fixed, the average time from infection to recovery for the not notified infected appears to be the most impacting one on the model estimates. The probability for an infected to be notified has a relevant impact on the infection fatality rate and on the shape of the epidemic curve. This stresses the need of collecting information on these parameters to better understand the phenomenon and get reliable predictions.


Identification of Fed monetary policy shocks is complex, in light of the distinct policymaking regimes before, during, and after the ZLB period of December 2008 to December 2015. We develop a heteroscedasticity-based partial least squares approach, combined with Fama-MacBeth style cross-section regressions, to identify a US monetary policy shock series that usefully bridges periods of conventional and unconventional policymaking and is effectively devoid of the central bank information effect. Our series has moderately high correlation with the shocks identified by Nakamura and Steinsson (2018), Swanson (2018), and Jarocinski and Karadi (2018), but has crucially important differences. Following both the Nakamura-Steinsson and Jarocinski-Karadi empirical tests, we find scant evidence of the information effect in our measure. We attribute the source of these different findings to our econometric procedure and our use of the full maturity spectrum of interest rate instrume nts in constructing our measure. We then present evidence confirming an hypothesis in the literature that the information effect can lead to the result that shocks to monetary policy have transmission effects with signs that differ from traditional theory. We find that shocks to series that are devoid of (embody) the information effect display conventionally-signed (perverse) impulse responses of output and inflation. This provides evidence of first-order importance to staff at central banks undertaking quantitative theoretical modeling of the effects of monetary policy.


In this paper, a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) is considered where the remote radio heads (RRHs) are separated from the baseband units (BBUs). The RRHs in the C-RAN are grouped in different clusters according to their capacity while the BBUs form a centralized pool of computational resource units. Each RRH services a finite number of mobile users, i.e., the call arrival process is the quasi-random process. A new call of a single service-class requires a radio and a computational resource unit in order to be accepted in the C-RAN for a generally distributed service time. If these resource units are unavailable, then the call is blocked and lost. To analyze the multi-cluster C-RAN, we model it as a single-rate loss system, show that a product form solution exists for the steady state probabilities and propose a convolution algorithm for the accurate determination of congestion probabilities. The accuracy of this algorithm is verified via simulation. The proposed model generalizes our recent model where the RRHs in the C-RAN are grouped in a single cluster and each RRH accommodates quasi-random traffic.


We describe the design and implementation of public key infrastructure for the Bristol University Cyberjacket and three initial applications. The first one removes the need for the user to remember passwords, the second application provides an authentic record that a meeting took place, the third provides an authentic record of a conversation. The wearable public key infrastructure (WPKI) we develop uses very small communication, whilst also providing a balanced and low computational overhead on both the 'client' and 'server' sides.


The goal of this work is the computation of very compact binary hashes for image instance retrieval. Our approach has two novel contributions. The first one is Nested Invariance Pooling (NIP), a method inspired from i-theory, a mathematical theory for computing group invariant transformations with feed-forward neural networks. NIP is able to produce compact and well-performing descriptors with visual representations extracted from convolutional neural networks. We specifically incorporate scale, translation and rotation invariances but the scheme can be extended to any arbitrary sets of transformations. We also show that using moments of increasing order throughout nesting is important. The NIP descriptors are then hashed to the target code size (32-256 bits) with a Restricted Boltzmann Machine with a novel batch-level regularization scheme specifically designed for the purpose of hashing (RBMH). A thorough empirical evaluation with state-of-the-art shows that the results obtained both with the NIP descriptors and the NIP+RBMH hashes are consistently outstanding across a wide range of datasets.


Idiopathic sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis (ISEP) is a rare cause of small intestinal obstruction. Histologically, ISEP is characterized by a thick fibrotic membrane encasing the small bowel without any apparent pathophysiological factors. While ISEP is predominantly present congenitally in female adolescents from subtropical region, it has been identified throughout the world. Evidence-based effective diagnostics and treatments are pitifully thin. We experienced six cases, four males and two females, which exhibited symptoms in their later thirties and forties. Five patients presented with acute and subacute intestinal obstruction, and one patient with cryptorchidism and seminoma was referred. Due to the limitation in distention and motility of bowel loops of ISEP, imaging exams may not be very reliable for accurate diagnosis and estimation of obstruction progress. They were successfully treated with the mesenteric plication and intraluminal splinting procedures. Two cases had an uneventful postoperative period, and the returns of normal bowel function were delayed in the other four patients. Two recurrences of small bowel obstructions were noted over a mean follow-up period of 33 months with mild symptoms. This article reviews the patterns of clinical presentations, diagnostic clues, and theories of potential risk factors of ISEP as well as its controversial surgical managements.


The investigation considered farmers' readiness to take part in crop insurance in the Dormaa municipality of the Bono Region, Ghana. Essential information from 167 respondents who were chosen through a multi-stage sampling method for the study was collected through a structured questionnaire. Elements influencing readiness to participate in crop protection by cocoa farmers was evaluated using probit regression model and lastly constraints of cocoa farmers were assessed utilizing Kendall's coefficient of concordance. The study found that the average amount farmers were eager to pay was GH₵215.59 per year for crop insurance. Majority 96.7% of the respondents were eager to participate in crop insurance but 3.3% of the respondents were not willing to take part. The important factors influencing readiness to join crop insurance by the farmers were age, marital status, access to extension service and experience in cocoa farming. Again, the foremost constraint affecting the farmers was pests and diseases. The study therefore recommends that agricultural extension agents and other agricultural insurance stakeholders should sensitize crop farmers on the significance of crop insurance policy. Insurance companies ought to give crop insurance to farmers at moderate rates of GH¢ 215.59 per year to encourage their participation.

 Key words: Crop insurance, cocoa, probit regression, Dormaa Municipal assembly, Ghana.


Despite the use of high dose chemoradiotherapy for the treatment of acute leukemia. relapse
continues to be a major cause of death in patients given an autologous bone marrow transplant. Further
augmentation of pretransplant chemotherapy causes life threatening toxicity to nonhematopoietic tissues
and the effectiveness of currently available ex vivo purging methods in reducing the relapse rate is unclear.
Recently, data from experimental models have suggested that bone marrow-derived lymphokine (IL-2)-activated
killer (BM-LAK) cells might be used to eliminate residual leukemic cells both in vivo and in vitro.
To evaluate this possibility clinically, a procedure was developed for culturing whole marrow harvests with
IL-2 prior to use as autografts, and a number of variables examined that might affect either the generation
of BM-LAK cells or the recovery of the primitive hematopoietic cells. The use of Dexter long term culture
(LTC) conditions, which expose the cells to horse serum and hydrocortisone. supported LAK cell generation
as effectively as fetal calf serum (FCS) -containing medium in seven-day cultures. Maintenance of BM-LAK
cell activity after a further seven days of culture in the presence of IL-2 was also tested. As in the clinical
setting. patients would receive IL-2 in vivo for an additional week immediately following infusion of the
cultured marrow autograft. Generation ofBM-LAK activity was dependent on the presence of IL-2 and could
be sustained by further incubation in medium containing IL-2. Primitive hematopoietic cells were
quantitated by measuring the number of in vitro colony-forming progenitors produced after five weeks in
secondary Dexter-type LTC. Maintenance of these 'LTC-initiating cells' was unaffected by lL-2 in the culture
medium. These results suggest that LAK cells can be generated efficien tly in seven-day marrow autograft
cultures containing IL-2 under conditions that allow the most primitive human hematopoietic cells
currently detectable to be maintained.


A great many American firms have organized workplace decision-making in new ways to get employees more involved in their jobs -- using policies like self-directed work teams, total equality management, quality circles, profit-sharing, and diverse other programs. This paper uses a firm-based data set and employee-based information to illuminate several aspects about the locus and economic impacts of employee involvement (EI). Having information from employees as well as from firms allows us to ask not only what EI does for firms, the principal question in the literature on the subject, but also what EI does for workers; and to examine EI from the bottom up' perspective of participants rather than managers. We find that EI practices are linked in an hierarchical structure that provides a natural scaling of EI activities and the intensity of the EI effort. Firms that have EI are also more likely to have profit-sharing and other forms of shared compensation. However, EI has a weak and poorly specified effect on output per worker, but it has a strong and positive impact on employee well-being.


This in vitro study compared the effects of visible light and argon laser polymerization of pit and fissure sealants on surface topography and the enamel-sealant interface. Twenty caries-free human molars and premolars underwent soft tissue debridement and a fluoride-free prophylaxis. Fluoride-releasing sealant (UltraSeal XT Plus, South Jordan, UT 84095) was placed on the occlusal surfaces per the manufacturer's instructions, but underwent either visible-light polymerization for 30s (n = 10), or argon laser polymerization (0.231 J/cm2) for 10s (n = 10). The sealed teeth were thermocycled (500 cycles, 5 degrees to 50 degrees C) in artificial saliva. Surface morphology was evaluated by SEM. The teeth were sectioned for polarized light and SEM evaluation of the enamel-sealant interface, with two sections per tooth prepared for SEM. Phosphoric acid was used to unmask the enamel-sealant interface with one section; while the other section was not exposed to the phosphoric acid. Surface morphology of the sealant material was similar with both visible light and argon laser polymerization; however, there was a tendency for occasional areas of mild, focal cratering of the sealant surface with laser-curing. The junction between sealant and adjacent unsealed enamel was a relatively smooth transition without gaps, microspaces, crazing, exfoliative changes, or microfractures with both visible light and laser cured sealants. Acid treatment of the sections revealed resin tags which extended into the adjacent enamel for a considerable distance on SEM examination. The resin tas were similar in length and morphology with both visible light and argon laser curing. The enamel-sealant interface with visible light and laser curing showed intimate contact between the sealant and etched occlusal enamel with close apposition of the sealant. No microspaces were identified between the sealant and the occlusal enamel. An intact, interdigitating interface between a sealant and the adjacent etched enamel provides the first line of defense against a cariogenic challenge. Visible-light and argon laser curing allows for an intimate enamel-sealant interface without microspaces and protects sealed enamel from cariogenic challenges. The benefit of argon laser polymerization, fluoride release and mechanical protection of sealant material may provide improved caries resistance in sealed pits and fissures and adjacent nonsealed enamel surfaces.


Enhanced protection of pedestrians and cyclists remains on the focus. Besides infrastructural and behavioral aspects it is necessary to exploit technical solutions placed on motorized vehicles. Accident research needs reliable data as well as national road accident statistics. Changing the view on seriously injured road users is one of the challenges which will substantially contribute to the optimization on future traffic safety. The missing accuracy in the definition of personal injury has a detrimental effect on making cost efficient road safety policy which is not only focused on fatal accidents. The European commission requested that, starting in 2015, all EU member states provide more detailed data on the injury status of road casualties, with special regard to the group of seriously injured. Conventional accident data will always be essential. But to obtain detailed data about driver behavior in real traffic situations further data sources are required. These could be EDR data, data from electronic control units, data from traffic surveys and traffic counting, naturalistic diving studies and field operational tests. Gaining insight into normal as well as critical driver behavior will enable accident researchers to deduct functions estimating the increase or decrease of accident risk associated with certain behaviors or vehicle functions. Also with view to the introduction of highly automated driving functions in the future such data is urgently needed. Computer simulation based tools to estimate the benefits of active safety systems are another step on the way towards the safety assessment of automated driving. It is now the duty of the scientific community to ask the right questions, to develop a methodology and to merge all these data sources into a common framework for the assessment of future traffic safety innovations.


Objectives To evaluate relations between occupational mechanical exposures and (1) carpal tunnel syndrome verified by ENG (ENG+CTS) and (2) CTS-like symptoms with normal ENG (ENG-CTS). Method We plan a triple-case referent study of 1000 ENG+CTS and 1000 ENG-CTS cases identified at a university department of clinical neurophysiology. For each case, two sex, age, and primary care centre matched controls will be sampled (risk set sampling). Both retrospectively and prospectively identified cases will be included with standardised clinical examination of the last-mentioned group. Conditional logistic regression analyses will be performed comparing the two case control sets, while unconditional logistic regression will be applied comparing ENG+CTS cases to ENG-CTS controls. Questionnaire information will be collected on job history, lifestyle, symptoms, and disability. Job titles will be linked to a job exposure matrix (JEM) based on measurements of hand-wrist movements (goniometer measurements) and expert ratings. Results The main hypothesis is that exposure-response relations will be found for ENG+CTS, but not for ENG-CTS with respect to forceful work and awkward wrist postures, while repetitive work will show exposure-response relations in both groups. The Danish Working Environment Research Fund has granted financial support for a 3-year PhD project starting January 2014. Conclusions The study will take advantage of specific and well documented case diagnoses and independent exposure assessment. The results are expected to produce new insights into exposure-response relations between occupational mechanical exposures and risk of CTS.


This paper analyzes how life-cycle unemployment of former apprentices depends on the size of the training firm. We start from the hypotheses that the size of training firms reduces long-run cumulated unemployment exposure, e.g. via differences in training quality and in the availability of internal labor markets, and that the access to large training firms depends positively on young workers' ability and their luck to live in a region with many large and medium-sized training firms. We test these hypotheses empirically by using a large administrative data set for Germany and find corroborative evidence.


The photodissociation dynamics of ammonia upon excitation of the out-of-plane bending mode (mode nu(2) with n(2)=0,[ellipsis (horizontal)],6 quanta of vibration) in the A electronic state is investigated by means of several mixed quantum/classical methods, and the calculated final-state properties are compared to experiments. Five mixed quantum/classical methods are tested: one mean-field approach (the coherent switching with decay of mixing method), two surface-hopping methods [the fewest switches with time uncertainty (FSTU) and FSTU with stochastic decay (FSTU/SD) methods], and two surface-hopping methods with zero-point energy (ZPE) maintenance [the FSTUSD+trajectory projection onto ZPE orbit (TRAPZ) and FSTUSD+minimal TRAPZ (mTRAPZ) methods]. We found a qualitative difference between final NH(2) internal energy distributions obtained for n(2)=0 and n(2)>1, as observed in experiments. Distributions obtained for n(2)=1 present an intermediate behavior between distributions obtained for smaller and larger n(2) values. The dynamics is found to be highly electronically nonadiabatic with all these methods. NH(2) internal energy distributions may have a negative energy tail when the ZPE is not maintained throughout the dynamics. The original TRAPZ method was designed to maintain ZPE in classical trajectories, but we find that it leads to unphysically high internal vibrational energies. The mTRAPZ method, which is new in this work and provides a general method for maintaining ZPE in either single-surface or multisurface trajectories, does not lead to unphysical results and is much less time consuming. The effect of maintaining ZPE in mixed quantum/classical dynamics is discussed in terms of agreement with experimental findings. The dynamics for n(2)=0 and n(2)=6 are also analyzed to reveal details not available from experiment, in particular, the time required for quenching of electronic excitation and the adiabatic energy gap and geometry at the time of quenching.


We acquire information from the outside world through our eyes which contain the retina, the photosensitive component of the central nervous system. Once the adult mammalian retina is damaged, the retinal neuronal death causes a severe loss of visual function. It has been believed that the adult mammalian retina had no regenerative capacity. However, the identification of neuronal progenitor cells in the retina sheds some light on cellular therapies for damaged retinal regeneration. In this review, we highlight three potential stem/progenitor cells in the eye, the ciliary body epithelium cells, the iris pigmented epithelium cells, and Müller glia. In order to make them prime candidates for the possible treatment of retinal diseases, it is important to understand their basic characters. In addition, we discuss the key signaling molecules that function extracellularly and determine whether neuronal progenitors remain quiescent, proliferate, or differentiate. Finally, we introduce a secreted protein, Tsukushi, which is a possible candidate as a niche molecule for retinal stem/progenitor cells.


Despite the prominence of the national news media, it is unclear whether elected officials are affected by the national news media in policy consequential ways because of the difficulty of disentangling the influence of the media on Congress from Congress's influence on the media. We use a unique opportunity to determine whether position taking behavior in Congress and the likelihood of re-election is affected by the national news media. Using the fact that the Fox News Channel spread gradually across the United States after being launched in October of 1996 in ways unrelated to the ideology of congressional districts and the incumbent representatives, we show that representatives become less supportive of President Clinton in districts where Fox News begins broadcasting than similar representatives in similar districts where Fox News was not broadcast. Moreover, the effects took a few years to be realized, and the entry of Fox News in a district did not appear to affect which representatives were re-elected. Consistent with theories emphasizing the anticipatory actions taken by elected officials to maximize their electoral security in the face of changing electoral conditions, our results suggest that the national media may slightly affect the prospects for policy change by altering representatives' expectations and the positions that they take.


Recommender systems are ubiquitous on the Internet for helping sell products - everything from automobiles to zebras (stuffed, anyway). Novel applications are emerging that use recommenders for non-Internet applications and that apply them to the problems of distributing content on the Internet and to developing online communities. Community-building is proving one of the most successful ways to create "stickiness" among customers. A vibrant community of practice around a company's products creates a powerful barrier to competition and enables consumers to help sell and support your products. We briefly survey eight principles of recommender systems, illuminated by examples from research and commerce. We use the principles to investigate the algorithms that underlie recommender systems, the interfaces for presenting the recommendations, the best practices for deploying them - and the easiest ways to get a recommender system badly wrong. Along the way, we consider issues of how to build a recommender community from scratch, group recommendations, and consumer privacy. We conclude with a look at some of the most important active research areas in recommender systems.


Apart from maximization of parametric yield, minimization of the spread in performance functions due to process variation is of extreme importance in very large scale integrated circuit design. To achieve efficient minimization of the spread, a novel algorithm based on the genetic algorithm and global approximation methods is proposed. The algorithm operates in two stages designated as coarse and fine optimization stages and adjusts design parameter set to simultaneously achieve the target performance and reduction in performance spread. The algorithm has distinctive features, such as global optimum design, subexponential complexity algorithm for N-P complete problem of global optimization, and simultaneous optimization of many functions. The algorithm is demonstrated using four design examples.


Most existing design and optimization methods treat the electromagnetic, thermal, and mechanical designs separately. As a result, the effects of power supply, machine control, load profile, thermal effects, and materials are not fully integrated and accounted for, which often leads to over- or underdesign. This paper proposes an innovative and computationally efficient approach which integrates the electromagnetic and thermo-mechanical design for surface mount permanent magnet machines. Particle swarm optimization is part of this integrated process to efficiently find design candidates which optimize certain requirements, such as weight, efficiency, etc. The effects of power supplies, machine controls, load profiles, thermal effects, and materials can thus all be considered systematically in the proposed multiphysics design approach. This results in a multiphysics design tool that can rapidly locate an optimal design candidate for further consideration.


GBRs (GABA(B) receptors; where GABA stands for gamma-aminobutyric acid) are G-protein-coupled receptors that mediate slow synaptic inhibition in the brain and spinal cord. In vitro assays have previously demonstrated that these receptors are heterodimers assembled from two homologous subunits, GBR1 and GBR2, neither of which is capable of producing functional GBR on their own. We have used co-immunoprecipitation in combination with bioluminescence and fluorescence resonance energy transfer approaches in living cells to assess directly the interaction between GBR subunits and determine their subcellular localization. The results show that, in addition to forming heterodimers, GBR1 and GBR2 can associate as stable homodimers. Confocal microscopy indicates that, while GBR1/GBR1 homodimers are retained in the endoplasmic reticulum and endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi intermediate compartment, both GBR2/GBR2 homodimers and GBR1/GBR2 heterodimers are present at the plasma membrane. Although these observations shed new light on the assembly of GBR complexes, they raise questions about the potential functional roles of GBR1 and GBR2 homodimers.


Chromosome aberration (CA) and micronucleus (MN) tests were applied to investigate peripheral blood lymphocytes in 56 people environmentally exposed to cadmium (Cd) for a period up to 30 years, and in 10 unexposed people as controls. As indicator of body-load of Cd, urinary Cd (UCd) concentrations were measured simultaneously. The people in polluted villages were divided into four groups according to various levels of UCd concentrations: -2.5, 2.5-, 5.0-, 10.0- (micrograms/l). There was significant difference in MN rates between the exposed and control groups (3.47, 5.06, 8.06, 12.75/1000 for the exposed groups respectively, and 3.10/1000 for the controls), and significant correlation between MN rates and UCd was observed. Although no marked difference in CA rates was noted between UCd 5.0- and 10.0- groups, there was significant difference in CA rates between the exposed and control groups (3.07, 5.21, 7.21, 8.50% for exposed groups respectively, and 2.33% for the controls) and significant correlation between CA rates and UCd. CA was presented mainly in the form of chromatid and chromosome gaps and breaks. Together with our another study "An Investigation on Human Health Effects by Environmental Cadmium Pollution", the results suggest that Cd may injure human chromosomes and that the damage appears to be concentrated on cytogenetic material and may happen earlier than renal disfunction.


Approximately one third of the patients with Alzheimer's disease have hallucinations and delusions. Delusions of persecution and delusions of stealing and visual hallucinations are frequently reported, while somatic delusions and hallucinations are rarely reported. In this article, an Alzheimer's disease patient with delusions of pregnancy will be discussed. A 71yearold, illiterate, female patient with Alzheimer's disease was admitted to the Geriatric Psychiatry clinic as she believed that she was pregnant and she requested termination of her pregnancy. She had been followed up for a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease with behavioral disturbances for the previous year. Her relatives reported several medical visits due to unexplained somatic symptoms like pain and numbness before the onset of dementia. In literature, only four dementia cases presenting with delusions of pregnancy were reported. Since there were no objective signs of pregnancy, this patient cannot be diagnosed as pseudocyesis which is classified under "somatoform disorders not otherwise specified" in DSM-IV-TR. The presence of somatization disorder in her history, might be associated with development of somatic delusions after the onset of dementia.


The number of laser iridotomies in 1982 was more than four times the annual rate of surgical iridectomies performed before the laser was in common use at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami. No single reason accounts for the increase. Only a minority of the increase is due to a 32% increase in our outpatient volume, a backlog of individuals with borderline indications who had not undergone surgery, or the number of iridotomies performed prophylactically for asymptomatic narrow angles. The proportion of eyes treated for each of several classic indications (acute attacks, chronic angle closure with pressure elevation or synechiae, aphakic pupillary block, etc) remained the same. However, eyes with acute attacks and their fellow eyes had iridotomy more promptly and more often with the availability of laser. In addition, the laser was applied earlier in the course of chronic angle closure. We believe that the increased use of an easy, low-risk procedure represents an improvement in the quality of care.


Abstract The Whitehorse trough is an Early to Middle Jurassic underexplored and undrilled sedimentary basin in the northern Canadian Cordillera that is prospective for oil and gas. It records deposition in a collapsing forearc that evolved to become a synorogenic piggyback basin within the nascent Cordilleran orogen. The basin developed atop the Triassic and older arc terranes of Stikinia and Quesnellia, and locally overlaps the Cache Creek accretionary complex. A regional seismic survey and bedrock mapping across the northern Whitehorse trough in Yukon indicate that Jurassic strata of the Laberge Group are up to 3000 m thick and were deformed by southwest-verging folds and thrust faults. These structures have an overall en echelon, sigmoidal pattern that is consistent with dextral transpression associated with strike-slip displacement along the Teslin and Braeburn faults. The structures likely began developing in Middle to Late Jurassic and were further enhanced during the mid-Cretaceous. Fold-and-thrust structures of the northern Whitehorse trough present suitable structural plays in areas where Jurassic strata with good source rock potential and adequate thermal maturity are most prospective.


Although magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is highly sensitive for the detection of abnormalities of the musculoskeletal system, changes in marrow and soft-tissue signal intensity are often nonspecific, and benign conditions may be mistaken for malignancy. In an effort to identify the cause of this type of misdiagnosis in MR examinations, the MR scans were reviewed of 30 patients whose images manifested bone and/or soft-tissue changes that were initially believed to be consistent with malignancy but were later found to represent benign conditions. Of the 30 patients, MR abnormalities were attributable to trauma in 11, benign tumors and tumorlike conditions in ten, infection in seven, and prior radiotherapy in two. In 24 cases, correlative imaging studies (14 patients), appropriate clinical history (six patients), and/or physical and laboratory examinations (four patients) would have avoided these misdiagnoses.


Have you encountered problems when you are unlocking a door? Perhaps you have had your hands full when you needed to unlock the door? Or, you might be suffering from a disease and have difficulties to put force on to small objects. To solve these problems there are different options. The most common alternative is a key button. With the key button, you do not need turn the pinion to unlock. However, many people experience that there are a lot of steps to follow, before you are through the door. The idea to decrease the amount of steps before exiting the door grew and the project team developed a new solution, Senceif. Senceif is a modern and innovative product that simplifies the unlocking and opening a door with an electric lock.


Deep convolutional neural networks have recently emerged as a state-of-the art tool in detection of seizures. Such models offer the ability to extract complex nonlinear representations of an electroencephalogram (EEG) signal which can improve accuracy over methods relying on hand-crafted features. However, neural networks are susceptible to confounding artifacts commonly present in EEG signals and are notoriously difficult to interpret. In this work, we present a neural-network based algorithm for seizure detection which leverages recent advances in information theory to construct a signal representation containing the minimal amount of information necessary to discriminate between seizure and normal brain activity. We show our approach automatically learns representations that ignore common signal artifacts and which encode medically relevant information from the raw signal.


This article discusses some general issues arising from the study of similarity in music, both human-conducted and computer-aided, and then progresses to a consideration of similarity relationships between patterns in a phrase by Beethoven, from the first movement of the Piano Sonata in A flat major op. 110 (1821), and various potential memetic precursors. This analysis is followed by a consideration of how the kinds of similarity identified in the Beethoven phrase might be understood in psychological/conceptual and then neurobiological terms, the latter by means of William Calvin's Hexagonal Cloning Theory. This theory offers a mechanism for the operation of David Cope's concept of the lexicon, conceived here as a museme allele-class. I conclude by attempting to correlate and map the various spaces within which memetic replication occurs.


Silver(I) complexes with 2-amino-4-phenyl-6-methylpyrimidine (L), [Ag3L2(H2O)0.55(NO3)3]n (1) and [Ag2L2(PPh3)2(NO3)2] (2), have been synthesized and structurally characterized. In the solid state the free ligand L demonstrates dual fluorescence: a high energy band at 375 nm is the emission of the monomer L while a low-energy band at 450 nm can be attributed to the emission of the tautomeric dimer, L2-imino, formed in the excited state double proton transfer (ESDPT) process. In the solid state the complexes demonstrate excitation wavelength dependent photoluminescence originating from three emission mechanisms (hereafter abbreviated as A, B and C for complex 1; A′, B′ and C′ for complex 2). The spectroscopic and computational results reveal that these emission mechanisms can be assigned to metal + nitrate anion to ligand L charge transfer phosphorescence (mechanisms A and A′), excimer 1π–π* fluorescence (mechanism B), fluorescence of L2-imino dimeric units formed due to ESDPT (mechanism B′) and ligand-centered 1π–π*/1n–π* fluorescence (mechanisms C and C′). The luminescence of complex 1 at λex = 340 nm shows thermochromic behavior; the emission color dramatically changes from blue-green at 77 K to yellowish green at 175 K and white at 300 K.


Rapid identification of a familiar face requires an image-invariant representation of person identity. A varying sample of familiar faces is necessary to disentangle image-level from person-level processing. We investigated the time course of face identity processing using a multivariate electroencephalography analysis. Participants saw ambient exemplars of celebrity faces that differed in pose, lighting, hairstyle, and so forth. A name prime preceded a face on half of the trials to preactivate person-specific information, whereas a neutral prime was used on the remaining half. This manipulation helped dissociate perceptual- and semantic-based identification. Two time intervals within the post-face onset electroencephalography epoch were sensitive to person identity. The early perceptual phase spanned 110–228 msec and was not modulated by the name prime. The late semantic phase spanned 252–1000 msec and was sensitive to person knowledge activated by the name prime. Within this late phase, the identity response occurred earlier in time (300–600 msec) for the name prime with a scalp topography similar to the FN400 ERP. This may reflect a matching of the person primed in memory with the face on the screen. Following a neutral prime, the identity response occurred later in time (500–800 msec) with a scalp topography similar to the P600f ERP. This may reflect activation of semantic knowledge associated with the identity. Our results suggest that processing of identity begins early (110 msec), with some tolerance to image-level variations, and then progresses in stages sensitive to perceptual and then to semantic features.


Due to the ever-increasing use of the Internet, information security has become a critical issue in society. This is especially the case for young adults who have different attitudes towards information security practices. In this research, we examine factors that motivate college students' information security behaviors. Based on the concept of fear arousal in the presence of a threatened event, a well-founded theory known as Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) is adopted in the research model. Social norms and habit factors are integrated to the model as a means to assess students' behaviors of information security. A survey of 202 responses is used to test the designed model using structural equation modeling to analyze relationships among variables. Results indicated that students are very motivated to practice information security if they perceive high levels of severity, response efficacy, response costs and self-efficacy. Their intentions, however, are not affected by perceived vulnerability or by social influence. Our findings suggest that PMT is a valuable model for predicting students' attitudes towards information security and that their motivation is influenced by education in security awareness and understanding severity of such issues.


In this paper, we analyze classical data compression with quantum side information (also known as the classical-quantum Slepian- Wolf protocol) in the so-called large and moderate deviation regimes. In the non-asymptotic setting, the protocol involves compressing classical sequences of finite length n and decoding them with the assistance of quantum side information. In the large deviation regime, the compression rate is fixed, and we obtain bounds on the error exponent function, which characterizes the minimal probability of error as a function of the rate. Devetak and Winter showed that the asymptotic data compression limit for this protocol is given by a conditional entropy. For any protocol with a rate below this quantity, the probability of error converges to one asymptotically and its speed of convergence is given by the strong converse exponent function. We obtain finite blocklength bounds on this function, and determine exactly its asymptotic value, thus improving on previous results by Tomamichel. In the moderate deviation regime for the compression rate, the latter is no longer considered to be fixed. It is allowed to depend on the blocklength n, but assumed to decay slowly to the asymptotic data compression limit. Starting from a rate above this limit, we determine the speed of convergence of the error probability to zero and show that it is given in terms of the conditional information variance. Our results complement earlier results obtained by Tomamichel and Hayashi, in which they analyzed the so-called small deviation regime of this protocol.


Abstract The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of trust in the performance of the sugar industry supply chain in Swaziland. The study utilized perceptions of 124 smallholder cane growers in the sugar industry in Swaziland. Items presented in a Likert type scale were used to measure cane growers' trust in the millers. Descriptive statistics involving cross tabulation were used to determine the impact of trust on the performance of the cane growers, which in turn has an influence on the performance of the whole sugar chain. The results indicate that farmers who have trust in the millers perform better than those without trust, and hence they contribute to the performance of the whole chain, in terms of more and good quality sugarcane supplied to the mill. This implies more sugar production and increased income to the industry as a whole. The results imply that a relationship founded on trust and mutual respect is more likely to succeed than a relationship of convenience supported by legal contingencies. Therefore, there is a need for honesty, fairness and absence of opportunistic behaviour between millers and cane growers for the industry to improve its performance.


One of the long term objectives of robotics and artificial cognitive systems is that robots will increasingly be capable of interacting in a cooperative and adaptive manner with their human counterparts in open-ended tasks that can change in real-time. In such situations, an important aspect of the robot behavior will be the ability to acquire new knowledge of the cooperative tasks by observing humans. At least two significant challenges can be identified in this context. The first challenge concerns development of methods to allow the characterization of human actions such that robotic systems can observe and learn new actions, and more complex behaviors made up of those actions. The second challenge is associated with the immense heterogeneity and diversity of robots and their perceptual and motor systems. The associated question is whether the identified methods for action perception can be generalized across the different perceptual systems inherent to distinct robot platforms. The current research addresses these two challenges. We present results from a cooperative human-robot interaction system that has been specifically developed for portability between different humanoid platforms. Within this architecture, the physical details of the perceptual system (e.g. video camera vs IR video with reflecting markers) are encapsulated at the lowest level. Actions are then automatically characterized in terms of perceptual primitives related to motion, contact and visibility. The resulting system is demonstrated to perform robust object and action learning and recognition on two distinct robotic platforms. Perhaps most interestingly, we demonstrate that knowledge acquired about action recognition with one robot can be directly imported and successfully used on a second distinct robot platform for action recognition. This will have interesting implications for the accumulation of shared knowledge between distinct heterogeneous robotic systems.


We propose a new approach to stormwater control, which we call The 10-25 Plan. The 10-25 Plan is a stormwater management framework whose goal is to prevent and mitigate the adverse economic and environmental impacts of stormwater. The framework sets a 10% threshold for impervious surfaces, above which stormwater fees are levied, with a second tier of fees that are imposed when impervious surfaces exceed 25%. Exceeding the 10% trigger would require active stormwater controls, such as the use of stormwater fees at the local level for stormwater prevention and mitigation, as well as onsite stormwater control for new and existing developments. An important priority is the establishment of Watershed Protection Areas (WPAs) in critical watersupply areas. WPAs could be acquired using stormwater fees or by using Transferable Stormwater Rights (TSRs), which are commodities that can be bought, sold, and traded providing flexibility in meeting stormwater management goals.


To be able to modularize crosscutting concerns, aspects introduce new programming language features, often in a new language, with a specific syntax. These new features lead to new needs for source code analysis tools, resulting in the requirement for a general-purpose aspectual source code analysis tool. Ignoring this requirement has led to a nontrivial duplication of effort in the aspect-oriented software development community. This is because all code analysis efforts that we are aware of have either built ad-hoc analysis tools or were performed manually. In this paper we present Gasr: a source code analysis tool in the tradition of logic program querying that reasons over AspectJ source code. By hooking into the IDE plugins for AspectJ, Gasr provides a library of predicates that can be used to query aspectual source code. We demonstrate the use of Gasr by automating the recognition of a number of previously identified aspectual source code assumptions. We then detect assumption instances on two well-known case studies that were manually investigated in the earlier work. In addition to finding the already known aspect assumptions, Gasr encounters assumption instances that were overlooked before.


We prove a conjecture raised by M. Goresky and W. Pardon, concerning the range of validity of the perverse degree of Steenrod squares in intersection cohomology. This answer turns out of importance for the definition of characteristic classes in the framework of intersection cohomology.
For this purpose, we present a construction of ${\rm cup}_{i}$-products on the cochain complex, built on the blow-up of some singular simplices and introduced in a previous work. We extend to this setting the classical properties of the associated Steenrod squares, including Adem and Cartan relations, for any generalized perversities. In the case of a pseudomanifold, we prove that our definition coincides with M. Goresky's definition.
Several examples of concrete computation of perverse Steenrod squares are given, including the case of isolated singularities and, more especially, we describe the Steenrod squares on the Thom space of a vector bundle, in function of the Steenrod squares of the basis and the Stiefel-Whitney classes. We detail also an example of a non trivial square, $\sq^2\colon H_{\ bar{p}}\to H_{\ bar{p}+2}$, whose information is lost if we consider it as values in $H_{2\ bar{p}}$, showing the interest of the Goresky and Pardon's conjecture.


Background: Previous studies have assessed the association between ankle-brachial index (ABI) and cognition, mainly using brief cognitive tests. We investigated whether ABI was associated with cognition independent of neuroimaging markers of cerebrovascular disease. Methods: Chinese subjects (n = 278, aged ≥60 years) were recruited from the ongoing Epidemiology of Dementia in Singapore (EDIS) Study. Ankle and brachial blood pressures were measured, and low ABI was defined as ≤0.9. A neuropsychological battery was utilized to determine cognition. Cognitive impairment no dementia (CIND) and dementia were diagnosed according to standard diagnostic criteria. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to obtain semiquantitative and quantitative markers of cerebrovascular disease and atrophy. Results: A low ABI was related to the presence of intracranial stenosis (odds ratio, OR = 1.71; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.13-2.59), but not with the presence of infarcts, microbleeds or grey matter, white matter and white matter lesion volumes. Furthermore, a low ABI was associated with poorer overall cognitive function and CIND-moderate/dementia (OR = 2.26; 95% CI: 1.11-4.59), independent of cardiovascular risk factors, and the MRI markers related to cerebrovascular disease and atrophy. Conclusion: We found an association between a low ABI and cognitive impairment, independent of any MRI marker of cerebral small vessel disease or large artery atherosclerotic disease.


Currently the discussion about power and right are very popular in law,politics,historical science and the study of agriculture,the countryside and farmers.Therefore,we list here three papers hoping to provide from anthropology a new reference and field of vision for the discussion.In terms of their own life experience and field research experience,the three writers approach power operation,government improvement and the corresponding social effect and influence from a deep level.By respecting the spirit of academic freedom,we publish their papers to arouse further attention to the issue.At present when the society changes greatly and many changes are,as respectable Mr.Fei said,the "planned social changes" under the leadership of the government,we should pay attention to their long-term influence on the society,show mercy for and care for the weak in the changes,which is the lowest demand of a scholar——whether he is confronted squarely with the society or what he concerns is just ivory tower,he should have the sympathy.


This paper critiques recent initiatives for deploying the Recovery Model in the Indian sub-continent. It traces the history and growth of the model, and questions its applicability for mental health care in the Indian sub-continent. The authors argue that mental health professionals in this region are at the crossroads of a familiar past: either to uncritically import and apply a Euro-American 'recovery' model or re-configure its fundamental premise such that it is embraced by the majority Indian population. The paper proposes a fundamental re-think of existing culturally incongruent 'Recovery Models' before application in India's public mental health and clinic settings. More crucially, policy makers, clinicians and researchers need to reconsider the local validity of what constitutes 'recovery' for the very people who place their trust in State mental health services. This critical reappraisal, together with essential culturally-sensitive research, is germane to prevent yet again the deployment of culture-blind programmes and practices. Addressing these uncontested issues has profound implications for public mental health in the Global South.


Abstract During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the College's library, learning center, & archives and the office of institutional research & training (OIRT), along with all departments of our college, shifted to working from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we continue to work from home, in this column we share with you a follow-up to our previous column, specifically what worked and didn't work in regards to the techniques and tools we continue to use to manage our staff remotely with communication tools (Slack, Zoom Calls, FlipGrid) and a project management tool (Notion) during the early stages of the pandemic. We added a new technique to the mix since our last publication—an Action Dashboard in Notion, and describe how we built it, and our plans for next steps using Notion as a comprehensive project management tool moving forward.


Motivated by old experiments on colloidal suspensions, we report molecular dynamics simulations of assemblies of hard spheres, addressing crystallization and glass formation. The simulations cover wide ranges of polydispersity s (standard deviation of the particle size distribution divided by its mean) and particle concentration. No crystallization is observed for s>0.07. For 0.02<s<0.07, we find that increasing the polydispersity at a given concentration slows down crystal nucleation. The main effect here is that polydispersity reduces the supersaturation since it tends to stabilize the fluid but to destabilize the crystal. At a given polydispersity (<0.07), we find three regimes of nucleation: standard nucleation and growth at concentrations in and slightly above the coexistence region; 'spinodal nucleation', where the free-energy barrier to nucleation appears to be negligible, at intermediate concentrations; and, at the highest concentrations, a new mechanism, still to be fully understood, which only requires small rearrangement of the particle positions. The cross-over between the second and third regimes occurs at a concentration, approximately 58 per cent by volume, where the colloid experiments show a marked change in the nature of the crystals formed and the particle dynamics indicate an 'ideal' glass transition.


In today's fast changing uncertain business environment several factors influence competitiveness of a manufacturing firm. There are several competing priorities such as cost, quality, delivery, flexibility and innovation on the basis of which firms compete with each other. Together with these competing priorities, technology plays a significant role in manufacturing competitiveness that ultimately leads to firm competitiveness. This paper explores different perspective of manufacturing strategy, different competing criteria of competitiveness and the role of innovation in manufacturing strategy for achieving competitiveness. Using the cases from Indian four wheeler passenger vehicle companies, the paper presents the use of innovation in gaining competitive positioning within Indian four wheeler passenger vehicle industries. By using case study and systematic review as a methodology this study outlines the role of manufacturing strategy and role of various forms of innovation in achieving competitiveness. The findings have important lessons for firms in their efforts towards innovation. It is seen from the various examples discussed in the study that there is a growing conviction that innovative practices ultimately contribute to the success of firms.


This thesis investigates the way English L2 learners of Spanish communicate face-to-face with other learners (NNS), and native speakers (NS) by means of communication strategies (CSs). The final aim is to examine the learners' strategic use of the target language as influenced by three variables: the proficiency level, the type of task and the type of dyad.
Learners with different proficiency levels interacted face-to-face when carrying out two types of tasks. 36 interactions with different combinations of dyad and task were elicited by means of video and audio recording, observation of participants' interactions and stimulated recall methodology. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted to investigate possible associations between CSs and tasks, dyads and proficiency levels in each setting.
The major findings in this study indicate a higher use of CSs in beginner levels, which was reflected in the lower level learners' concern for solving lexis-related problems, and their tendency to focus on less complex grammatical features of the language. The higher level learners, however, seemed to focus more on grammar-related problems, as well as on more complex aspects of the target language. A similar lexis-grammar distinction was observed for the task variable. The open task, a free-conversation activity, involved higher cognitive demands due to the lack of visual support and the linguistic freedom provided by the topics given. This pushed the learners to invest more in the conversation, by attempting to produce more L2 and more conceptually complex ideas, thus making it a more grammar-oriented activity. Conversely, the closed task, a jigsaw activity, resulted in a more linguistically demanding task due to its linguistic restrictions, through the visual context provided, posing more lexis-related problems. Finally, the NNS-NS's non-shared status was the major influence on the learners' CSs. The NS – through their linguistic expertise – did not only assist and guide the learners, when this help was elicited through the learners' CSs, but also triggered comprehension problems because of their more complex speech. The NNSs' similar status, on the other hand, although also triggered the learners' appeal for help – albeit to a lesser extent – the interlocutor was less likely to provide the assistance required, and just acknowledged their peer's message to avoid a communication breakdown and maintain the conversation. It seemed that the learners do not expect this assistance as much as when interacting with a NS, as they are aware of their mutual lack of L2 resources, and because their shared characteristics also promote a mutual, implicit understanding between them.


Necessary and sufficient conditions for existence of estimators and controllers meeting desired H/sub /spl infin// performance criterion are given for the case where the finite sensor delays exist. A complete characterization of such controllers is also presented. The necessary and sufficient conditions are computable and are framed in terms of two algebraic Riccati equations and one finite-horizon Riccati differential equation. The controllers and estimators that are obtained here have a linear periodic structure and are easily implementable. At the foundation of these results lies a modified Nehari problem, the state space solution for which may be of independent interest.


Uncontrolled urbanization and industrial development had put pressure on the air quality through the industrial emission and vehicular movements in Indian cities. Rain water is considered to be the purest form of water and it is being contaminated through anthropogenic source of emission. The present investigation is carried out to assess the air quality through rain events that occurred in Puducherry from October 2014 to January 2015. The rain water samples were collected from selected residential, commercial, industrial and rural areas to account the effects of air pollution. The rain water samples were analyzed for electro-conductivity, total dissolved solids, acidity, alkalinity, hardness, sulphate and chloride as per the standard methods(APHA,2005).On comparing the industrial, residential, commercial and rural area, the study had shown statistically significant difference (ANOVA, P<0.05) in total dissolved solids, chloride, carbon di-oxide, acidity and sulphate in rain water. The composition of the rain water differs from place to place due to interferences of local source of air contaminants. Thus the effect of air pollution can be assessed from the physico-chemical characterization of rainwater samples. There was higher concentration in the first rain of the season, after which the concentration decrease. This is due to wash out of the air pollutants in the subsequent rain. The lower concentration of parameters in water samples still indicates the contamination due to air pollution.


In her final note for the PJD 2009 second semester issue, Ms. Jennifer Liguton bids farewell as the Philippine Journal of Development`s (PJD) managing editor. Ms. Liguton has served as its managing editor for the past three decades of the Journal`s publication. She has been involved from its conception, helped nurture it, and seen it grow and metamorphosed into being a vehicle for scholarly articles that reflect thinking on issues and contributions for policy that sometimes go beyond the Philippine horizon. She has endeavored to ensure the continuing high quality of the articles, the diversity of subject areas, and the relevance of the issues tackled amid the challenges of a fast-changing world. In this note, she also introduces the new managing editor of the PJD, Dr. Josef Yap, currently the president of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).


In an effort to better understand occupational segregation by gender, scholars have begun to examine gender differences in preferences for job characteristics. We contend that a critical job characteristic has been overlooked to date: meaning at work; and in particular, meaning at work induced by job mission. We provide empirical evidence of the importance of gender differences in preferences for meaning at work using mixed methods. First, we demonstrate the universality of gender differences in preferences for meaning at work using a cross-country survey covering individuals in 47 countries. We show that these differences become more pronounced with greater levels of education and economic development, suggesting that their importance is likely to increase over time. To address potential social desirability bias in responses about job preferences and to examine whether differences in preferences translate into differences in important behavioral outcomes, we next conduct a conjoint analysis of a cohort of MBA students at a top US university and track their behavior over two years. We show show that preferences for meaning at work, particularly meaning induced by job mission, explain gender differences in not only types of courses taken, but also job industry placement during and after the MBA, thus helping to explain the under-representation of females in higher-paying industries. Overall, this research establishes that men and women differ in their preferences for meaning at work, with important implications for our understanding of the drivers of occupational segregation and of the consequences of corporate mission and purpose.


Specialist tissue viability nursing support in the UK is generally inadequate to meet the needs of people in care homes. Inspection agencies rightly use their country's legal acts and regulations along with care standards guidance as the basis for their assessments. Access to educational and clinical support on tissue viability will become increasingly important to ensure these standards are met. An initiative by Wounds UK in association with ConvaTec Ltd, the Care Home Support System (CHSS), aims to provide an affordable tissue viability education and includes materials for nurses and care assistants, tools to help managers, and web-based clinical support.


The paper discusses the politeness strategies conducted by teachers of autism centre in Surakarta. They are professionals who care and treat children with autism for their cognitive as well as psychomotoric development. Data were collected from four learning processes performed by four different female teachers with a different child for each. The analysis was carried out to see how politeness strategies selected by the teachers help them in performing effective assisting and learning process for the kids. The results show that politeness strategies were conducted by the teachers in two modes—verbally and non-verbally. They were exploited to accommodate the skill transfer to the children with autism effectively. The autism condition of each child governed each teacher to select the types of the politeness—in which bald on strategy dominated the exploitation, followed by positive and negative politeness. This exploitation is considered effective due to the exceptional condition of the children. Clear and direct utterances which encourage their self-esteem are good choice for them. Keywords : politeness strategy , children with autism, assisting, learning, interaction


An investigation into catalysed thermal decomposition of epoxy resin was carried out with the goal to improve the commercial viability of glass fibre reinforced plastic recycling. A variety of metal oxides were examined to find their ability at reducing current limitations associated with thermal recycling methods such as high operating temperatures and exposure time to such environments. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was utilised to determine the effect of copper (II) oxide (CuO), titanium (IV) oxide (TiO2) and cerium (IV) oxide (CeO2) on epoxy degradation. CuO and CeO2 provided a reduction in second stage degradation onset temperature of around 60°C under a nonisothermal heating rate of 10°C/min; however, TiO2 exhibited no such ability. Under isothermal heating conditions, at a temperature of 500°C, all metal oxides provided a reduction in full epoxy decomposition time. CuO yielded the fastest epoxy degradation, reducing it by 12 minutes compared to epoxy alone. The epoxy first and second degradation stage activation energies were found through a kinetic study; with and without the addition of the metal oxides. It was observed that CuO transformed the epoxy degradation into a one stage process at heating rates of 30°C/min and above. CeO2 lowered the second stage activation energy however TiO2 caused an increase in both cases. The reduction in epoxy thermal decomposition temperature and time presented by CeO2 and CuO is believed to be sufficient justification for further investigation. Future work will focus on how the improvement in recycling conditions can translate into recovered glass fibre strength retention.


In public perception (in particular in secular Europe), technosciences are often considered as something verifiable, neutral, and without any relation to the religious realm. Looking back at ancient times, however, powerful mythical figures like Prometheus suggest that technoscientific developments and insights have always been tied to the religious and transcendent realm. Prometheus' heritage is still influential, inspirational, and visible today in arts, philosophy, the technosciences, and religious communities. This paper analyzes the Catholic Church's position towards the technosciences and argues that it employs a binary approach in the evaluation of findings and developments in modern sciences and technology: advancements are either in line with religious worldviews (and their moral implications) and can thus be approved of ethically and theologically, or they (seem to) deny the existence of a higher being or (seem to be) contrary to religious ethics and are thus rejected. This paper, then, suggests that theology should advocate a methodological atheism to overcome this binary approach. Doing so would not mean to betray religious or theological convictions. Rather, it would pick up on an old and important tradition in theological reasoning of methodologically excluding the revelation in favor of reliance on reason alone to demonstrate the rationality and reasonability of faith.


AISI 304 type austenitic stainless steel samples were subjected to different thermomechanical treatments in order to investigate the effect of thermo-mechanical treatment on the grain boundary structure of the material. Electron back scatter diffraction measurements have been carried out in order to obtain information about the boundaries of the treated specimen. The measurements showed that achieving the same deformation with the same number of deformation cycles and same heat treatment temperature, the application of shorter heat treatment holding time was advantageous in aspect of grain boundary structure comparing to the thermo-mechanical treatments with longer holding time. The frequency of the special Σ3n type CSL-boundaries excluding coherent twin boundaries was significantly decreased by increasing the heat treatment holding time of the samples from the very short heat treatment periods. Extending the holding time further, the frequency of the special Σ3n type CSL-boundaries excluding coherent twin boundaries increased and reached the results applying the shorter heat treatment periods.


A recent rise in asphalt binder prices has led state agencies and contractors to use higher quantities of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP). Besides being economic, sustainable, and environmentally friendly, RAP can be replaced for a portion of aggregates in Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) where quality aggregates are scarce. In this project, the effect of increasing RAP percentage and using fractionated RAP (FRAP) in HMA mixture on moisture resistance, rutting, and fatigue cracking were evaluated. Mixtures with five different RAP and FRAP contents (20%, 30%, and 40% RAP, and 30% and 40% FRAP) were studied. The Hamburg Wheel Tracking Device (HWTD) Test (TEX-242-F), Kansas Standard Test Method KT-56 or modified Lottman Test, and Dynamic Modulus Test (AASHTO TP: 62-03) were used to predict moisture damage, rutting potential and fatigue cracking resistance of the mixes. HMA specimens were prepared based on Superpave HMA mix design criteria for 12.5 mm (1/2 inch) Nominal Maximum Aggregate Size (NMAS) and compacted using the Superpave gyratory compactor. Results of these tests showed that although mixture performance in the laboratory tests declined as the percentage of RAP increased in the mix, even mixtures with 40% RAP passed the minimum requirements in commonly used tests. When RAP is compared with FRAP, FRAP does not seem to improve performance of the HMA mixtures. This was largely confirmed by the statistical analysis. Mixtures with RAP performed more or less the same as or better than the mixtures with FRAP.