format, the selling and service environment, and market communication – within three countries. These countries – Sweden, the UK and China – represent different cultural settings and are markets in which IKEA has been operating for different lengths of time. The data upon which the comparison is based

This article offers a complement to previous readings of Kertesz's Nobel-Prize win-ning novel Fateless and his other significant fiction The Failure. While previous critics of these key texts often read Kertesz's representation of the Holocaust experi-ence in the context of twentieth century European history or that of his personal bi-ography, and The Failure in the context of the author's own experience of author-ship in Hungary in the 1970s and 1980s, this essay argues for his indebtedness to the classic nineteenth century topos and genre of the Bildungsroman and to the genre of Künstlerroman. While in Fateless, the structural elements of the plot redeploy the elements of the Bildungsroman, its fundamental indebtedness to the modernist con-cept of the contingency of plot, action and character, and the essentially post-modernist contention about the futility of knowledge display a degree of tension in the text. The Failure also explores the well-known late-nineteenth century topos of the Künstlerroman and the representation of literary authorship. Studies about Kertesz's work, the article suggests, could be further expanded by exploring the re-lationship between Kertesz's work and different Hungarian literary traditions.

Using 54 years of US quarterly data and a VAR model underpinned by a theory of the relationship between stock prices and output, this paper considers the deviations of US stock prices from their fundamental value. To do this we derive the fundamental price-output ratio and the fundamental stock price under different assumptions regarding the time-variability of returns, and proceed to compare these to actual data. Despite differences between model results, all imply cyclical deviations of actual values from values warranted by the expected growth in output- these deviations being relatively large since 1996.

Gaussian processes provide an approach to nonparametric modelling which allows a straightforward combination of function and derivative observations in an empirical model. This is of particular importance in identification of nonlinear dynamic systems from experimental data. 1) It allows us to combine derivative information, and associated uncertainty with normal function observations into the learning and inference process. This derivative information can be in the form of priors specified by an expert or identified from perturbation data close to equilibrium. 2) It allows a seamless fusion of multiple local linear models in a consistent manner, inferring consistent models and ensuring that integrability constraints are met. 3) It improves dramatically the computational efficiency of Gaussian process models for dynamic system identification, by summarising large quantities of near-equilibrium data by a handful of linearisations, reducing the training set size – traditionally a problem for Gaussian process models. 1

4. Independent researcher

Student/system negotiation provides students with the opportunity to assume more responsibility for their own learning. This paper discusses the notion of targeted negotiation, an approach to providing negotiation for specific purposes in intelligent learning environments (ILEs). This targeted negotiation may potentially be aimed at a variety of aspects of ILEs; the object of negotiation will depend on what is appropriate for the particular learning environment. As examples we illustrate two approaches by referring to two systems which employ negotiation for different functions. In one, the object of negotiation is the application of domain knowledge, and the domain knowledge itself. In this system this is necessary because the domain is creative. In the second ILE it is the contents of the student model which are negotiable; here the process is aimed at increasing learner awareness and reflection, thus learning, rather than the domain, is the target of negotiation.

Foundation University

of activation-associated host cell gene expression by the apicomplexan parasite

Background: Recent studies have provided evidence that integrins play roles in rec-ognition of mechanical stimuli and its translation into a cellular response. Integrin signaling may be regulated by a number of mechanisms including accessory proteins such as CD98 (4F2 antigen). Objectives: To determine CD98 expression by human articular chondrocytes and its involvement in human articular mechanotransduction. Methods: CD98 expression was assessed by immunostaining of cryostat sections of snap frozen articular cartilage and in cultured cells by western blotting. Chondro-cytes enzymatically isolated from macroscopically normal and osteoarthritic (OA) articular cartilage were grown in short term, primary monolayer culture and used in a resting state or following mechanical stimulation at 0.33Hz. Results: Human articular chondrocytes express CD98 and immunoreactivity revealed a similar heterogeneous pattern of CD98 in both normal and osteoarthritic (OA) human articular cartilage. No role of CD98 was detected by electrophysiological study. Conclusion: It appears that CD98 is expressed in a similar pattern in both normal and osteoarthritic (OA) carti-lage. Although we detected no role for CD98 in chondrocyte mechanotransduction, it may be involved in other biological functions in chondrocyte intracellular signalling events.

Following presentation of options for CEH activities in Phase 2, by Andre Bationo at