Evolutionary theory is defended as an organizing axis for biology teaching, but there are difficulties to do so, including conflicts with some religious orientations that perform literal readings of the Bible, such as Pentecostalism. In this research, we sought to understand how the teaching of evolution is developed in contexts of great presence of Pentecostal students. For this purpose, we have investigated two schools with large numbers of Pentecostal students by means of observation, interviews and questionnaires. The results show that when teachers discuss evolution, they dismiss or show fear of students' religious ideas or introduce their own personal beliefs. We propose a model of dialogue, based on the Habermas's idea of discourse and France's idea of search space, where common ground can be found to promote the understanding of evolution without the intention of converting different views. We show the possibilities for the model applied to our data and point to future developments.


To investigate the effects of pyridoxamine (PM), a B6 vitamer and dicarbonyl scavenger, on glycation and a large panel of metabolic and vascular measurements in a randomized double‐blind placebo‐controlled trial in abdominally obese individuals.


The story of the interplay between science and espionage, morality and military necessity, which marked the German-bomb programme and the Allied response to it. It revolves round Werner Heisenberg, one of the century's greatest physicists and the only one of real stature to stay on during the war. The Allies knew the Germans had the materials to construct the bomb; in Heisenberg they also had the intellectual know-how. What role did he in fact play, and what were his aims and motives?


The conicept of androgyny, it has been suggested, offers a means of transcetiding the duality of gender differences imzposed bL> culture. And once getider polarities are reduced, traditional sex acnd getider differences can be broken dovvwn. What androgyny obscures, however, is the social context it is as if inidividuals can effortlessly balance traits adct be/ia viouir in a social vacuum. The greater individuail freedom itn certaini directions promised by the construct is of little help, therefore, in dealing with deep-seated structural gender inequalities.


Distributed generation resources have become significantly more prevalent in the electric power system over the past few years. This warrants reconsideration on how the coordination of generation resources is achieved. In this paper, we particularly focus on secondary frequency control and how to enhance it by exploiting peer-to-peer communication among the resources. We design a control framework based on a consensus-plus-global-innovation approach, which guarantees bringing the frequency back to its nominal value. The control signals of the distributed resources are updated in response to a global innovation corresponding to the ACE signal, and additional information exchanged via communication among neighboring resources. We show that such a distributed control scheme can be very well approximated by a PI controller and can stabilize the system. Moreover, since our control scheme takes advantage of both the ACE signal and peer-to-peer communication, simulation results demonstrate that our control scheme can stabilize the system significantly faster than the AGC framework. Also, an important feature of our scheme is that it performs $c\epsilon$-close to the centralized optimal economic dispatch, where $c$ is a positive constant depending only on the cost parameters and the communication topology and $\epsilon$ denotes the maximum rate of change of overall system.


The results of nerve conduction studies (Dr. R. S. Kocen) carried out 10 days after dialysis showed a motor-conduction velocity in the right lateral popliteal nerve of 51 m/sec (normal range 39 to 52 m/sec). Sensory nerve action potentials recorded with a needle electrode from the right lateral popliteal nerve at the knee in response to stimulation of the anterior tibial nerve at the ankle were normal. Caloric, optokinetic responses, and pure tone audiograms (Dr. M. R. Dix) were also normal at this time.On discharge from hospital, five weeks after the over- dose, he was symptom free and without evidence of cerebellar or other neurological deficiency. Psychiatric advice had been sought and attempts to achieve social rehabilitation were made. Anticonvulsant medication was restricted to 120 mg phenobarbitone/day.


Genomic analysis has attracted a lot of interest recently since it is the key to realizing precision medicine for diseases such as cancer. Among all the genomic analysis pipeline stages, Indel Realignment is the most time-consuming and induces intensive data movements. Thus, we propose RePAIR, the first ReRAM-based processing-in-memory accelerator targeting the Indel Realignment algorithm. To further increase the computation parallelism, we design several mapping and scheduling optimization schemes. RePAIR achieves 7443× speedup and is 27211× more energy efficient over the GATK3.8 running on a CPU server, significantly outperforming the state-of-the-art.


As the size and pitch of flip chip solder joint reducing, and the thickness of the package reduce simultaneously, the solder thermal reliability become more and more critical. In this study, thermal cycling test (TCT) was performed for 3 groups of FC-CSP samples to get the crack initiation and propagation life. FE simulation had been used to get the increment of the solder strain energy density. Base on the experiment and simulation data, new empirical constants of Darveaux model were got for the FC-CSP system. With the modified Darveaux model, the influence of design parameters including packaging geometry size and material properties were compared for FC-CSP solder reliability. For the packaging geometry, substrate thickness should to be considered firstly to increasing the solder fatigue life, then is die thickness. The solder joint standoff showed little influence on the solder fatigue life. For the material properties, the Tg of MUF material should to be higher than high temperature of TCT, which is 150 °C in this study. CTE of MUF material showed the high influential on solder fatigue life. The followed influence rank are CTE of substrate and flexural modulus of MUF material, which have little difference in the influence on solder fatigue life.


Perikanan dan Kelautan, Universitas Brawijaya3Dosen Fakultas Perikanan dan Ilmu Kelautan, Universitas Brawijaya.ABSTRACTAgricultural waste has problems on fiber and cellulose digestibility in its utilization foraquaculture. The ability of plant cellulose degrading bacteria to become a source ofenergy can increase the digestibility of feed by fish. The purpose of this study was toidentify the cellulolytic bacteria from the mangrove ecosystem, Tukak Sadai District,South Bangka Regency. This study was conducted in March until August 2017.Samples were taken from litter, mud and weathered wood and isolated usingCarboxymetyl Cellulosa (CMC) 1% media and found 22 bacterial isolates. Gramstaining results showed that 3 isolates (TSS 2, TSL 6 and TSK 4) were classified asgram positive and 19 other isolates were gram negative. Cellulolytic test results showed6 isolates had the ability to degrade cellulase, namely 3 isolates from mangrove mudsamples (TSS 1, TSL 7, TSL 1), 2 isolates from leaf litter (TSS 4, TSL 2) and 1 isolatefrom weathered wood (TSK 5) . Sequencing of 16S rRNA gene DNA showed proximityto Pseudomonas aeruginosa in TSL 7 and TSS isolates 4


Background: The prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) is increasing with an aging worldwide population, yet a comprehensive understanding of its causes and consequences remains limited. Objectives: To assess the causes and consequences of AF via a multi-directional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis scanning thousands of traits in a hypothesis-free approach. Methods: We used publicly available GWAS data centralised and harmonised by the IEU open GWAS database. We assessed the potential causal role of 5048 exposures on risk of AF and the causal role of genetic liability to AF on 10,308 outcomes via two-sample MR analysis. Multivariable MR analysis was further conducted to explore the comparative role of identified risk factors. Results: MR analysis suggested that 55 out of 5048 exposure traits, including four proteins, play a causal role in AF (P < 1e-5 allowing for multiple comparisons). Multivariable analysis suggested that higher body mass index, height, systolic blood pressure as well as genetic liability to coronary artery diseases independently cause AF. Three out of the four proteins (DUSP13, TNFSF12 and IL6R) had a drug prioritising score for atrial fibrillation of 0.26, 0.38 and 0.88, respectively (values closer to 1 indicating stronger evidence of the protein as a potential drug target). Genetic liability to AF was linked to a higher risk of cardioembolic ischemic stroke. Conclusions: Body mass index, height, systolic blood pressure and genetic liability to coronary artery diseases are independent causal risk factors for AF. Several proteins including DUSP13, IL-6R and TNFSF12 may represent therapeutic potential for preventing AF.


We present some results concerning transient brightenings on the quiet Sun, based on data from the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Histograms of intensity are found to be well fitted by χ2 distributions for small values of the intensity, while at high intensities power-law distributions are always observed. Also, the emission presents the same statistical properties when the resolution is downgraded by local averaging; i.e., it appears to be self-similar down to the resolution scale of the instruments. These properties are characteristic of the emission from a forced turbulent system whose dissipation scale is much smaller than the pixel dimension. On the basis of the data presented as well as other published results and our present theoretical understanding of MHD turbulence, we discuss the realism of the nanoflare scenario of coronal heating.


In this study, life story and the contributions of famous scientists in science and technology are examined by means of creative drama as a teaching method. For this purpose, 15 hours creative drama curriculum was designed and the designed program was applied. This program was applied 15 hours on pre service science teachers for 5 weeks during fall semester in 2005-2006 education year. This study was designed as a single group pretest posttest experimental model. The qualitative analysis of data collected through the data collection instruments demonstrated that the participants acquired knowledge about the life story and the contributions of famous scientists and had opportunities to learn by acting and internalizing the concepts by using creative drama as a teaching method. Keywords: Science education, creative drama curriculum, Archimedes, scientists, life story SUMMARY Purpose and significance: The purpose of the study is to design 15 hours curriculum lasting 5 weeks, regarding the life story of the famous scientist and their contributions to the field in science and technology and make pre-service teachers from the departments of science teacher education comprehend the topic. There is no research study about the life story of the scientist and their contributions to the field in Turkey. Therefore, conducting that kind of study seems to be beneficial for the field. This study will also be an example of using creative drama as a teaching method in science and technology lessons. Methods: The sample consisted of 21 science education pre-service teachers. In this study, a survey consisting of 3 open ended questions was administered to the participants as a pre and post test. In addition to this, the participants were required to keep journals during the creative drama activities in each lesson. Also interviews were conducted with the participants before and after the treatment. Before the study, a detailed literature review about Marie Curie, Gregor Mendel and Archimedes was conducted. This review was the basis for the creative drama based lesson plans. Informal interviews with the pre-service teachers from the departments of science teacher education were carried out in order to find out their previous knowledge and experience about the famous scientists. The whole implementation was video-recorded by another person with the permission of each participant. Results: The differences were detected for the responses of the pre and post surveys. Also according to the analysis of journals and interviews, it can be stated that the purpose of the study was achieved since the participants comprehended the life story of the scientists and their contributions into the field, they were curious about the science history, and they appreciated the scientistssacrifices. Discussion and Conclusions: This study and the other studies using the creative drama as a teaching method can be an example for the researchers in the related areas. As the use of creative drama in different subjects in different lessons has started to be used, pre-service teachers must be educated about the effective use of creative drama as a teaching method. Today, in many schools, there are wrong applications of the creative drama activities. Dramatization and creative drama concepts are confused by the teachers and educators. Therefore the studies based on the application of creative drama should be conducted and how it can be applied in an effective manner should be demonstrated for the teachers and educators.


Background:
 The prevalence of obesity among people of reproductive age has steadily increased. The rates of both maternal/parental and fetal adverse outcomes increased significantly with higher BMI. In this study, we examined the national estimates of adverse maternal/parental and fetal outcomes among pregnant individuals with pre-pregnancy obesity using a nationally representative database.

 Methods:
 This was a retrospective observational analysis of data retrieved from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database (2010-2014). The primary outcomes of this study were various adverse maternal/parental and fetal outcomes. Delivery related hospitalizations and all outcomes were identified using the ICD-9 codes. Additionally, propensity-score matching analysis was conducted.

 Results:
 There were a total of 18,687,217 delivery-related hospitalizations, of which 1,048,323 were among people with obesity. The mean age of pregnant persons with obesity was 28.5 years while among those without obesity was 28.0 years. Between both groups, most pregnant persons were White, followed by Hispanic and Black. Pregnant persons with obesity were more likely to have labor inductions (AOR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.42, 1.60), cesarean deliveries (1.70; 1.62, 1.79), and greater length of stay after both cesarean deliveries (1.14; 1.08, 1.36) and vaginal deliveries (1.48; 1.23, 1.77). They were also more likely to have risk factors for adverse obstetrical outcomes such as gestational hypertension (2.17; 2.06, 2.29), preeclampsia (2.06; 1.42, 2.99), gestational diabetes (2.75; 2.60, 2.90), premature rupture of membranes (1.17; 1.08, 1.27), chorioamnionitis (1.39; 1.25, 1.55), and venous thromboembolism (1.63; 1.34, 1.99). Additionally, pregnant persons with obesity were more likely to have adverse fetal outcomes such as excessive fetal growth (3.18; 2.96, 3.43) and fetal distress (1.28; 1.21, 1.35).

 Conclusion:
 Pregnant persons with obesity had significantly greater risk for adverse obstetrical outcomes. Risk stratification of pregnant individuals based on obesity can inform obstetrical providers' clinical decision-making and potentially improve patient outcomes and decrease costs. There is an opportunity to address these risks with pre-conception interventions. Future studies could examine the effect of pre-conception interventions such as counseling on pre-pregnancy weight management, lifestyle modifications addressing nutrition and activity, and pre-pregnancy bariatric surgery.


The article is devoted to the problem of perception of O. Wilde's poetry by national literatures of different countries. Based on the analysis of «The Ballad of Reading Gaol» by O. Wilde and its translation by K. Balmont, the correlation of ideological and philosophical views and poetics of English and Russian poets is traced. The problem of reproducing genre-forming features of the original, as well as recreating the unity of form and content on a new linguistic material is the subject of the research. The philosophical implication of the «Ballad» which is brought to the level of universal generalizations is of principal importance for Balmont. He reflects the basic structural characteristics of the «Ballad» – repetitions, color epithets; keeps the main elements of the form – the stanza, the size of the original. Analysis on the lexical level reveals the examples of «free» treatment of the original; Balmont's subjectivism mostly manifests itself in his reproducing stylistic features of the original. Focusing on the philosophical content of the «Ballad», Balmont often disregards the form of the original. Despite the fact that there are many examples of accurate, word for word translation, the main thing for Balmont as a translator is to recreate the poetic world of the original, poetic mood of O. Wilde. Key words: dialogue of cultures, national identity, author's style, typological features, ideological and philosophical content, genre-forming features.


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Recently, instance segmentation has made great progress with the rapid development of deep neural networks. However, there still exist two main challenges including discovering indistinguishable objects and modeling the relationship between instances. To deal with these difficulties, we propose a novel object mining framework for instance segmentation. In this framework, we first introduce the semantics perceiving subnetwork to capture pixels that may belong to an obvious instance from the bottom up. Then, we propose an object excavating mechanism to discover indistinguishable objects. In the mechanism, preliminary perceived semantics are regarded as original instances with classifications and locations, and then indistinguishable objects around these original instances are mined, which ensures that hard objects are fully excavated. Next, an instance purifying strategy is put forward to model the relationship between instances, which pulls the similar instances close and pushes away different instances to keep intra-instance similarity and inter-instance discrimination. In this manner, the same objects are combined as the one instance and different objects are distinguished as independent instances. Extensive experiments on the COCO dataset show that the proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods, which validates the effectiveness of the proposed object mining framework.


Insect larvae, such as black soldier fly larvae (BSFL: Hermetia illucens) are currently being considered as an alternative source of protein for poultry and aquaculture industry while in the same time apply as agent to manage organic wastes. In order to achieve both roles it is necessary to develop an appropriate farming methodology and understand the impact of different feeding source for the insect production. The study explored the effect of three local plant based organic wastes as feedstocks to growth of the black soldier fly larvae. Separate feeding trials on horse manure (HM), vegetable wastes (VW), and tofu dreg (TD) was done and their effect on BSF larvae growth rate, larvae weight and total prepupal yield in grams content analysed. The efficiency of the BSF larvae to consume and ability to reduce the waste load of the different substrates was also evaluated. The result showed all materials suitable as feeding material for black soldier fly. Difference on physical properties and chemical content affected the development time, harvested biomass, efficiency of digestivity, and efficiency of biomass production which is unique for each type of waste. This study provide base line information for future development of plant based organic waste management.


BACKGROUND
Accurate non-invasive biomarkers of fibrotic progression are important for HCV management, but commonly used modalities may have decreased efficacy in HIV/HCV-coinfected persons. The enhanced liver fibrosis (ELF)-index is a highly sensitive non-invasive marker of hepatic fibrosis that has had limited assessment in the HIV/HCV population. We compared ELF-index performance to FIB4 and APRI at different stages of liver fibrosis as determined by liver histology, and validated the efficacy of the three non-invasive biomarkers in HIV/HCV-coinfected versus HCV-monoinfected.

METHODS
The ELF-index was determined in 147 HIV/HCV-coinfected and 98 HCV-monoinfected persons using commercial ELISA assays for the component elements of the index. Area under the receiver-operator curve was used to validate ELF and to compare its performance to liver histology as well as to other non-invasive biomarkers of liver fibrosis, FIB4 and APRI.

RESULTS
The ELF-index increased with histological stage of liver fibrosis and exhibited a linear relationship with Metavir score in all subjects. ELF performance was comparable between HIV/HCV and HCV with advanced liver fibrosis/ cirrhosis. In the HIV/HCV cohort ELF cut-offs of 8.45 and 9.23 predicted mild and moderate fibrosis with 85% sensitivity, while the ELF cut-off of 9.8 had the highest specificity for advanced fibrosis and the cut-off of 10.4 was 99% specific for cirrhosis. ELF performance was superior to FIB4 and APRI in all subjects regardless of HIV status.

CONCLUSIONS
ELF-index demonstrated excellent characteristics towards accurate prediction of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis with superior performance to APRI and FIB4 in HIV/HCV infection. Applying this non-invasive biomarker index for diagnosis of liver fibrosis and progression in HIV/HCV is warranted.


Power consumption is a major concern for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) nodes, and it is often dominated by the power consumption of communication means. For such networks, devices are most of the time battery-powered and need to have very low power consumption. Moreover, for WSNs, limited amount of data are periodically sent and then the radio should be in idle or deep sleep mode most of the time. Thus using event-triggered radios is well suited and could lead to significant reduction of the overall power consumption of WSNs. Therefore this paper explores the design of an asynchronous module that can wake up the main receiver when another node is trying to send data. Furthermore, we implement the proposed solution in an FPGA to decrease the fabrication cost for low volume applications and make it easier to design, re-use and enhance. To decrease the static power consumption, we explore the possibility of reducing the supply voltage. The observed overall power consumption is under 5 lW at 250 kbps. Moreover, using a new asynchronous design technique, we observed that power consumption can be further reduced.


A world revision of the genus Limnephilus (Trichoptera: Integripalpia, Limnephilidae, Limnephilinae, Limnephilini) was undertaken as a part of an intensive taxonomic work on the family Limnephilidae. During this work, it became apparent that careful investigation of phylogenetic relationships of the whole family was necessary. Before character polarities can be determined for the species of Limnephilus, the constituent species of the genus must be decided as well as the relationships of the genus to other genera in Limnephilidae. The family and included taxa were analyzed with modern phylogenetic techniques. For phylogenetic analyses, morphological characters of adults and immature stages were used, including traditionally used characters and some that have been poorly investigated or never studied. As a result of the analysis, new hypotheses of relationships are proposed among Plenitentoria taxa. For the first time, monophyly is inferred for the following nominotypical taxa: superfamily Limnephiloidea, family Limnephilidae, subfamily Limnephilinae, tribe Limnephilini, and Limnephilus sensu stricto. Some other higher taxa are distinguished based on high bootstrap support, unreversed synapomorphies, and/or topography, including a new family-group category for Trichoptera, "Branch," more inclusive than the family category and less inclusive than the superfamily category. These new taxa in Limnephiloidea are as follows: Brachycentrida New Branch (including families Brachycentridae and Lepidostomatidae), Goerida New Branch (including families Apataniidae, Goeridae,


The bimodal acoustic-visual effect is of extreme importance in human face-to-face communication; it has been broadly investigated and the improvement in understanding when visual cues are integrated with speech has been clearly demonstrated, with particular emphasis in noisy environments. In this paper, we propose a novel synchronization procedure for speech and text, consisting of a neural network-based acoustic segmentation method for phoneme classes and a phonetic-acoustic time alignment algorithm which we call Segmental Time-Alignment (STA). The proposed algorithm is fast and speaker-independent since it uses neural networks trained to discriminate among broad phoneme classes. This technique has been used to animate the MPEG-4 compliant DIST face model.


We report on the first simultaneous measurement of high-order harmonics, relativistic electrons and low divergence proton beams generated from plasma mirrors driven at kHz repetition rate by relativistic-intensity milliJoule-energy femtosecond laser pulses. This setup enables detailed parametric studies of the particle and radiation spatio-spectral beam properties for a wide range of controlled interaction conditions, such as pulse duration and plasma density scale length. This versatile setup should aid in further understanding the collective laser absorption mechanisms at play during the laser-plasma interaction and in optimizing the secondary beam properties for potential applications.


Proximate composition, minerals content and functional properties of field cricket (Acheta spp) were analyzed using standard methods. The result of the proximate content (%) was as follows: crude protein (39.9′0.40), crude fibre (5.2′0.1), carbohydrate by difference (39.9′0.1) and energy (46.7Kcal). The predominant mineral was potassium and zinc was the least. The functional properties (%) ranged as follows: Water absorption capacity (100), oil absorption capacity (205.6), oil emulsion capacity (75), foaming capacity (28), least gelation capacity (10). Foaming stability was low and collapsed after 240 min. Emulsion stability was high. The result suggests that cricket is a good food formulation medium.


We treat the letter‐to‐sound problem as that of deriving all regularly inflected forms of English words from a dictionary of base forms. A computer program must perform all lexical operations a human might have to perform in using an abridged desk dictionary. Of course this includes addition of "s." "es," "d," "ed," "er," and "ing," with their accompanying sound changes, deletions of mate "e," and changes from "y"to "i." The program must also handle other forms. Stress‐neutral endings like "less" and "ness" are quite simple. Four other types of endings, exemplified by "ation," "ity," "ian," and "ency," are more complex—reordering stress within the base word, and causing vowel shifts and consonant sound change. The problems with these endings are much like those for straight letter‐to‐sound rules, but with pronunciations of base form and ending as available information. With prefixes and compounds, the relative stress of constituent parts will depend on the intended part of speech for the target word, and ...


55 Laguna adds critically needed affordable housing and is an effective model of safe and welcoming housing for LGBT elders.The need is clear. In 2015, the median monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco reached a record high of $3,530 (O'Brien, 2015). Using the usual measure of affordability that rent should not exceed 30 percent of income, the rent for a typical one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco calls for a gross household income of $140,000 or more per year. Only 25 percent of all households of all sizes, and 8 percent of older adult households in San Francisco enjoy that level of income (City-Data.com, 2016).Do the math-such rental prices add up to a housing crisis that is forcing people to leave the city in staggering numbers and threatens the culture of community that has defined San Francisco for decades.A New Design to Offer Affordable HousingThis fall, Openhouse and our co-general partner, Mercy Housing California, will open the first of two buildings that when completed in 2018 will include the following: 119 apartments of affordable housing-designed and marketed as an LGBT-welcoming senior community; and 10,000 square feet of space designated for a new Openhouse service center and program facility.The City of San Francisco approved LGBTwelcoming senior housing at 55 Laguna Street as part of its Nonprofit Affordable Rental Housing Program, in which nonprofit agencies like Openhouse own and operate the housing and lease it only to households of low income. Public funds cover costs to develop, design, and build the housing; rent payments and other available subsidies generate the income to operate and maintain it.No single housing developer could possibly build enough affordable housing in San Francisco to meet the skyrocketing demand. When fifty applicants typically apply for one unit of affordable housing, it is a legitimate question to ask if it is worth it for an organization like Openhouse to be in the housing business. The answer is a resounding "yes" and here's why: Housing is fundamental to healthy aging. And housing that meets the needs of our community is fundamental to the vision of Openhouse.A Vision-and Model-of Healthy AgingThree pillars of healthy aging form the core of the Openhouse vision: a secure place to live, access to trusted support services, and close relationships.Openhouse's objective with every initiative, program, and partnership is to make this threefold model work for the LGBT community by tailoring it to life experiences and family structures. A place to live means a place where an LGBT older adult feels safe to live authentically, with a support system that respects his or her family of choice and understands his or her relationships.Taking on the housing needs of our community generated a citywide response-an outpouring of community advocacy and a level of civic engagement that demonstrated the urgent need for change. Connecting housing, which everyone understands, to the lives of LGBT elders, which very few understand, continues to generate support for a broad and inclusive vision that drives us forward.Today's LGBT elders came to San Francisco to discover themselves, be themselves, and find a welcoming community. They wanted to live in a place that valued diversity and respected differences. Facing the challenges that inevitably come with age, the health and well-being of our community's older adults depends upon preserving as much of that community culture as is possible and adapting that culture to today's community needs."I live in the city because I like diversity" is a theme consistently reflected in market studies, focus groups, and community surveys of LGBT older adults in San Francisco. Equally consistent is the importance of community identity and the security and comfort that comes with it. As one participant in a 2013 Openhouse focus group said, "First, I had to overcome being black. …


Multinational military missions increasingly rely on the recruitment of host nation interpreters. The purpose of this research note is to explore the relationship between the soldiers and these local translators during the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation in Afghanistan. The findings suggest that more attention to the development of cross-cultural competencies among military personnel and a greater awareness of the precarious dynamics between the two parties may improve the cooperation between the soldiers and the local translators.


Based on the researches of domestic scholars concerning that the cause of rural high school students dropping out of school,this paper use the quali tative data to students and their parents in Xiaofan village,Yongji City,Shanxi province,and use the grounded theory to analyze these interview data.Results shows: the cause of rural high school students dropping out of school is very complicated,including households factors such as poverty,and individual factors such as unlike study,but also including the social reasons such as college students employment market is downturn and so on.


Through the test, the paper analyses the composition of the biofilm germ for intermittent artificial marsh. The result of separating, purifying and retrieving gets seven kinds of bacteria, five of them are good, two of them are compatible, The seven kinds of bacteria have strong ability to decompose the organic matter in the waste water. Meanwhile, according to physiological and physiochemical characteristics of bacteria, it should assurethe quantity of dissolving oxygen and the suitable environment.


This chapter provides an overview of the book, explains the context of the project, and introduces a feminist social justice framework based on anti-oppression and anti-exploitation. The chapter also outlines a feminist social justice approach drawn from a wide range of feminist work. One feature of this approach is the connection between theory and practice. The chapter discusses the participant action research that the book uses; interviews and observation of grassroots women's organizations in India engaged in political and social activism and grounded in economic justice projects informed the feminist social justice framework. This framework offers an alternative to the liberal paradigm of universal human rights, neoliberal economic projects, and cosmopolitanism for analyzing and pursuing global gender justice. The feminist social justice approach recognizes the importance of relationality, intersectionality, and power relations for analyzing the complex relations of oppression women face globally.


The time delay connected with the transmission of an electromagnetic wave across a barrier is investigated. The stationary phase method implies that the effective group velocity of the transmitted wave, inside the barrier, can exceed the velocity of light in vacuo. Consequently the transmission of a signal with a sharp front is studied to determine the upper bound for the signal velocity. The approximation employed does not yield a conclusive answer in general, while for the special case of critical incidence the proof is given that the effective signal velocity does not exceed the velocity of light in vacuo.


mark" (7). Readers familiar with Jean-Denis Bredin's L'Affaire (1983), Michel Drouin's L'Affaire Dreyfus: Dictionnaire (2006) and more recently Piers Paul Read's The Dreyfus Affair (2012) will be aware of the omission of Blacker and Wilde among these accounts of the subject. As Maguire comments "although their presence in the case has thus been known from the outset, owing in part to the obscurity of the official record [...] they have been all but ignored in the vast literature of the affair" (7). Maguire readdresses this omission and opens the door for further debate concerning others involved with the Dreyfus affair. This volume, however, has a number of weaknesses. Despite its title and aims, this book is extensively a biography of Blacker. There are a number of minor digressions throughout the entire volume, which are at times distracting. These issues aside, this study is informative and often thought-provoking. As a biography, Maguire provides a richly detailed, well-written and meticulously researched account of previously neglected associations. The transcribed copy of Blacker's "Private and Confidential Memorandum on the Dreyfus Affair" (178) is also a welcome and useful inclusion.


We have investigated several building stone materials, including minerals and rocks, using continuous flow hyperpolarized xenon (CF-HP) NMR spectroscopy to probe the surface composition and porosity. Chemical shift and line width values are consistent with petrographic information. Rare upfield shifts were measured and attributed to the presence of transition metal cations on the surface. The evolution of freshly cleaved rocks exposed to the atmosphere was also characterized. The CF-HP 129Xe NMR technique is non-destructive and it could complement currently used techniques, like porosimetry and microscopy, providing additional information on the chemical nature of the rock surface and its evolution.


With the increase of mobile recording technology more recordings are made in unconventional, acoustically uncontrolled environments. We designed an experiment to compare some of these spaces. At Lee College, we recorded the same song three times. The same musicians were recorded in three different spaces using different technology; in a large, controlled studio using ProTools, in a home studio setting using a laptop and in a living space using a mobile telephone application. Once the songs were mixed and mastered, college students were asked to rate the quality of the mixes.


Society is making increasing demands on companies and what information they have to report to the stakeholders. This has resulted that companies tend to disclose more and more information. The disc ...


The inconsistency of principal-agent utility function and the asymmetry of information,are the objective backgrounds of violation of distortion of accounting information,and moral hazard behaviors caused by asymmetric information are the subjective reasons.Therefore,the bail of the accounting information's lowest quality and the critical point of supply are effective ways to gavern the rule-violating distortion of distortion of accounting information.


The present invention is a handle for the mechanical assembly without the need to update the handle removed from the connector or the like, an electronic door handle the handle assembly. The handle assembly (100) having a surface mountable to the type of door. The handle (18 ') can be moved between a locked position and an unlocked position. A first housing for the mechanical locking of the handle in the handle assembly to the electronic version of the conversion from the mechanical release process can be replaced by a second housing (80). The handle (18 ') at least partially housed within said housing (80) and in the locking position substantially within the housing (80). In the unlocked position, the handle (18 ') projecting from the housing (80) and can be laterally rotated. When the handle (18 ') door is opened (in the locked position, preventing locking element 24) by a'. When the conversion to the electronic version, the lock member (24 ') can be retained, but can be unlocked by an electronic actuating device (44,78,82).


To appraise the quality of low back pain (LBP) clinical practice guidelines (CPG) that include interventional management recommendations and to associate their quality with characteristics including publication year and creating organization.


The first periderm of the stem in most trees is initiated superficially in the outer cortical layer (either first or second cortex), whereas in herbaceous and shrubby members it may originate from the outermost layer (epidermis) to deep-seated tissues. With the exception of Melaleuca leucadendra, the place of the origin of the first periderm appears in the same tissue along the entire cylinder. But the periderm of Melaleuca leucadendra develops in a curved or wavy band from the epidermis to the deep cortex.


Due to the insignificant share of inverter-based Renewable Energy Resources (RER) as well as the uncertainty concerning their integration impacts, the capability of RERs to regulate voltage or frequency has not been widely used. However, inverter-based voltage/frequency regulation is of interest due to the fast growth of distributed RERs, especially solar Photovoltaic (PV) resources. The IEEE 1547a standard relaxed some of the restrictions on utilization of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) in voltage/frequency regulation. Smart inverters may employ different control strategies, such as Fixed Power Factor, Volt-VAR, Volt-Watt, and Frequency-Watt. In this study, a comparison between fixed power factor and Volt-VAR control strategies is performed in terms of voltage regulation capability. One hour of quasi-steady-state simulation with one-second time steps is performed, where fast and frequent irradiance variations are occurring. Parametric studies involving controller settings are used to compare voltage regulation performance. The IEEE 13-bus test feeder, modified by adding two PV generators, is used as the case study. Simulation results show that the Volt-VAR control out performs the fixed power factor control when it comes to voltage regulation.


With the plethoric number of students in Cameroonian classrooms today, there is a common cry from teachers about the impracticability of creating interactional language lessons in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. The implication of this is that, if interactional lessons have been identified as cardinal in the process of language learning, our learners are not or are less likely to be learning English as a foreign language. This paper holds that no teacher will be able to create interactive lessons if they do not fully understand what it is and how it works. The paper therefore investigates student teachers' perception of interaction on a less theoretical stance to posit that their readiness to teach is governed by their perception of the concept of interaction and an understanding of how it works. Data were collected from two batches of 30 pre-students students from the Department of English at ENS Yaounde in 2018 and 2019. Upon completion of three semesters that qualify them to do practicum, they were asked to submit language lessons meant for interactive classrooms. The lessons were coded identifying trends related to interactive activities and later classified. Evidence from the data demonstrates significant recourse to previous learning culture of top-bottom lessons and high incidences of question–and-answer as a dominant pattern of interaction. In keeping with this, the paper questions the training approaches and argues that the inability of pre-service teachers to demonstrate practical understanding of classroom interaction is counterproductive to what potentially holds as language learning and that modules of training which allow teachers to seek patterns would be more productive than those which train them on classroom interaction.


This article employs a prosopographic method to explore the socio-economic background of persons who chose the term 'mozarab' for their personal name in high medieval Toledo. Mindful of the particularities of the Andalusian Arabic variety, this analysis also includes graphies of similar phonation that deviate from the standard form "musta'rib". In three cases the source material allows the reconstruction of a considerable portion of the familial and economic background.


This paper proposes a single-stage three-phase boost inverter for Photovoltaic (PV) applications. The proposed circuit topology is directly step-up the input low level DC voltage to a high-level output AC voltage in only one stage, using an inductor and six switches.  A new control methodology is introduced to regulate the AC output voltage and current and is suitable for grid-connected and stand-alone applications. The proposed circuit uses only six switches of a simple type of switches that achieve the desired objectives easily without additional antiparallel diodes. The circuit topology is extensively analysed and the overall performance including total harmonic distortion (THD) is obtained by computer simulation and presented under different conditions. A DSP-based laboratory model is built to assess the proposed single-stage three-phase boost inverter when fed from a PV source.  The experimental results confirm the simulation, illustrating the successful operation of the proposed circuit topology to produce three-phase AC output from the low DC voltage of the PV source.


Researchers have begun exploring the impact of societal culture on Covid-19 outcomes (morbidity and mortality). However, emerging findings need integration with prior literature on societal culture and infectious diseases. Moreover, accumulation of knowledge warrants an update while overcoming certain limitations of samples as well as construct validity concerns. Accordingly, hypotheses are derived based on extant evidence proposing the impact of certain cultural practices on Covid-19 outcomes across countries. These hypotheses are tested using the cultural practice scores from GLOBE studies after controlling for certain covariates identified in literature. Multiple regression results reveal that societal culture significantly explains Covid-19 outcomes beyond the explanation due to control variables. Specifically, power distance and institutional collectivism show negative association with both Covid-19 morbidity and mortality. Additionally, performance orientation shows negative association with Covid-19 morbidity. It appears that power distance may ensure conformity to prescribed behaviors and features of performance orientation may facilitate swift and effective containment of Covid-19 cases. The significance of institutional collectivism—but not in-group collectivism—emerging as the form of collectivism showing negative association with Covid-19 outcomes is also discussed.


The planning scope of this study is a section of the edge of the metropolitan area southwest of Madrid, comprising the townships of Alamo, Navalcarnero, Villamanta and Sevilla la Nueva, which falls in the region of the Rio Alberche. The characteristics of the natural environment, the peculiar morphology of population settlements, together with the unique organization and economic dynamics, increased immigration in recent times and the seasonal residence, has resulted in a pattern of relationships and flows that interrelate to municipalities each other and manifested in population movements daily for work and labor, and important phenomena of outsourcing, which gives the most singular and main feature, along with the role of backbone of the region of Alberche river basin. Through the case study, questioning the methodology, we approach the


The paper explores methods for decoupled linear parameter varying (LPV) control. The proposed approach seeks to benefit the multi-variable control of multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems with variable operating conditions, variable parameters or nonlinear behavior. The method can improve the performance and reduce the variability of such MIMO systems with significant coupling in the system dynamics. We design MIMO decoupled feedback LPV controllers to address coupling effects. In particular, the method uses a parameter-dependent static inversion or SVD decomposition of the system to minimize the effects of the off-diagonal terms in the MIMO system transfer function matrix. The parameter-dependent decoupling matrices are selected along with the appropriate LPV controller design to guarantee the closed-loop performance specifications. A new parameter-dependent interaction measure is also introduced based on SVD decomposition and static inversion and is examined for the adaptive control design purposes to address the variability and coupling of the multivariable systems.


Five years ago William Castle was the first to be named Distinguished Physician by the Veterans Administration. Now another prominent man of medicine, geographically a Bostonian but global in his influence as a teacher and an investigator, has received the same honor. Since he joined the Harvard Unit of the Boston City Hospital as a house officer in 1927, Maxwell Finland has supervised the treatment of over 20,000 patients (honest!) with pneumonia and other infections, has evaluated the effectiveness of roughly 75 antimicrobial agents, has been author, coauthor or editor of 700 papers and 20 books, and has trained 100 . . .


The development of one country's national culture has direct connection with its influence power in cultural globalization,therefore,it is a new demand for national culture to enhance its international influence power.It experiences a certain historical period to put forward the concept of international influence power of national culture which includes four aspects of meanings according to the degree of division.Strengthening the international cultural exchange,vigorously developing the cultural industry,greater publicity efforts,and maintaining the advanced nature of the national culture are four effective ways to enhance the international influence power of national culture.


We wanted to take a conservative approach when identifying transcribed regions to avoid erroneously labeling transcribed regions as 'novel'. Hence, we used the union of the RefSeq (71), UCSC (72) and Ensembl (73) annotations for both human and mouse. Our representation is such that each isoform is represented separately in the annotation and hence, many of the entries in our annotation will be mutually overlapping. To improve the coverage of the less well annotated ncRNAs, we decided to include two collections of long ncRNAs from mouse that have previously been reported in the literature: the macroRNAs (74) and the lincRNAs (75). In addition to protein-coding genes and ncRNAs, we also considered distal enhancers that had previously been defined experimentally. For mouse neurons, we used the list from Kim et al.(76) and for HeLa cells, we used the list from Heintzman et al.(77). Since the latter list contained many loci near annotated TSSs and close to H3K4me3 peaks, we first filtered the list to remove any peaks that were near either of those two elements. In the human and mouse genomes there are a few thousand very short (<100 bp) ncRNAs (sRNA, snRNA, rRNA, tRNA, snoRNAs) and some of them are expressed at extremely high levels. A complete list of these was obtained from the repeat masker (78). Many of these very short RNAs overlap much longer annotated genes and hence they will cause a spike in the read density profile which complicates the identification of transcribed regions. We address this issue by assigning reads to these regions prior to any further analyzes and then removing the reads overlapping these regions before running HaTriC. A summary of the statistics for this category can be found on the third line in Tab. 1 in the main text and Tab. S8. There are still a handful of short regions with very high read densities not just for the RNA-Seq data, but also for all of the ChIP-Seq data sets, including the negative control ChIP-Seq input. Closer inspection of the DNA sequences at these loci reveals that they are identical to mitochondrial DNA or that they code for enzymes that are exported to the mitochondria. We assume that these regions are experimental artifacts and the reads are removed altogether from the analysis. HaTriC algorithm for de novo transcript calling We have developed an iterative algorithm that can detect transcribed regions, i.e. regions with high …


Humanism is the essence of Marxist Philosophy, the reasons for which are as follows: Marxist Philosophy is selected continuation of Feuerbach' s humanistic philosophy; the starting point of Marxist Philosophy is specific and real persons; the standpoint of Marxist Philosophy is human society or socialized mankind; the world outlook of Marxist Philosophy is materialism which views the realistic social circumstances as a whole of human practice; the social historical view of Marxist Philosophy is scientific theory concerning real individuals and their historical development, namely, correct reflection on human practice and historical development of social relationships; the epistemology and values of Marxist Philosophy is scientific theory about human race realizing and verifying the human inclination towards the true, the good, the beautiful as well as the human power by nature; the purpose and destination of Marxist Philosophy is the liberation and free and overall development of the whole human being. Thus today, that our Party insists on "people oriented", whole-hearted devotion to public interests is to keep Marxist Philosophy as the guiding ideology radically in the process of building a well-off society in an all-round way and speeding up our modernization course.


A system of electronic analog computing is described in which current is used as the variable. The paper indicates that the circuit properties of transistors make them especially suitable for use in operational amplifiers for this computing technique. Experimental direct-coupled amplifiers are shown which have been built and evaluated using low- power, low-frequency transistors. The amplifiers have been employed under laboratory conditions to per form the operations of summation, scale-change, integration, and differentiation. The factors which determine computing accuracy are analyzed, and a new technique of error predic tion (based on square-wave output) is discussed. The paper concludes that the current-analog meth od promises to use transistors effectively.


In this paper, we examine how the system under which banks record loan losses, specifically, the timeliness of loan loss recognition, affects the borrower's debt choice. Using data from 55 countries, we find that more timely loan loss recognition reduces the preference for bank debt relative to public debt, consistent with borrowers relying less on bank debt to avoid costly monitoring due to timely loan loss recognition. Further analyses lend additional support to the costly monitoring avoidance channel. More specifically, we find an even lower preference for bank debt in countries with stringent bank supervision and for financially constrained and opaque firms. Our results are also robust to several endogeneity tests, including an instrumental variable approach and an exogenous shock to loan loss provision timeliness. Finally, in external validity tests we find that loan loss provision timeliness affects other aspects of debt structure, such as debt maturity and security. Overall, our study provides new insights into the real effects of banks' accounting on borrower behavior by highlighting a possibly unintended consequence of improving the timeliness of loan loss recognition on borrowers that can choose from alternative debt providers. November 2017 JEL Classifications: G21, G38, G32


details a case in which there was congenital dilatation of the urethra. The patient, a single woman of 24 years of age, had had partial incontinence of urine since her earliest recollection. She was able to hold urine when sitting; but was obliged to wear a napkin constantly. Menstruation normal. Urine normal. The meatus urinarius was situated somewhat posterior to its normal plane, was enlarged, livid, and had its mucous membrane somewhat protruding. There was a double opening in the hymen. The urethro-vaginal septum was very thin. The length of the urethra could not very well be determined, for it was impossible to tell where the urethra ended and the bladder began, there being no sphincteric action at the vesical neck. The vagina was short and small. An operation


Photographic activity schedules have been demonstrated to teach functional and social play to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Matrix training is an instructional format that teaches a subset of targets, additional targets in the matrix are then acquired without direct teaching. Dauphine et al. (2004) has demonstrated that matrix training delivered within an activity schedules format was effective at increasing schedule following behavior and promoted recombinative generalization of sociodramatic play skills. The present study extends previous literature by assessing the effects of matrix training within activity schedules on thematic play skills for two children with ASD. Researchers used an alternating treatment design embedded in a concurrent multiple baseline design to assess the percentage of correct schedule following, engagement, and frequency of varied play. Researchers found that the use of matrix training embedded in an activity schedule was effective for teaching thematic play skills as well as promoting recombinative generalization in all participants.


In one of the latest National State of the Environment Reports, it is stated that : "South Africa's available freshwater resources are already almost fully utilised and under stress. At the projected population growth and economic development rates, it is unlikely that the projected demand on water resources in South Africa will be sustainable. Water will become increasingly the limiting resource in South Africa, and supply will become a major restriction to the future socio-economic development of the country, in terms of both the amount of water available and the quality of what is available. At present, many water resources are polluted by industrial effluents, domestic and commercial sewage, acid mine drainage, agricultural run-off and litter."


Summary The technique of geometric programming is applied to the design of optimum aircraft wings in the multi-spar monolithic skin configuration. Both flat and corrugated web systems are considered and design examples are given based on contemporary wing data. The present report is confined to the consideration of minimum weight design of metallic structure and the constraints are those which arise naturally from consideration of allowable stress, buckling and in some instances geometric limitations on the layout. Most of the problems solved give rise to closed form solutions while more complex problems are readily solved by computer program.


1. The identification of easy to use and cheap biomarkers is important as a means of determining whether animals are developing under stressful environmental conditions. Previous studies have indicated that the variance about the mean esterase activity in toxic environments increases in the absence of a significant shift in the mean value, suggesting that variance levels may have potential as a biomarker of toxicant-stressed or otherwise stressful environments.

2. Several field and laboratory populations of the mosquito, Culex pipiens, were examined for esterase activities using a colorimetric assay and levels of polymorphism using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Some of these populations had been exposed to environmental toxicants (organophosphorus (OP) insecticides).

3. The OP-stressed field population had lower levels of polymorphism as indicated by fewer electromorphs than the populations that had not been exposed to OPs. However, the mean level of esterase activity was higher in the OP-stressed populations.

4. Despite having lower genetic variation, the OP-stressed populations showed much higher levels of variation about the mean enzyme activity, at least two orders of magnitude higher, than the unstressed populations. Knowledge of the genetics of OP resistance in these populations confirmed that the increase in variance was not due to the general switching on of genes in response to stress.

5. One field population that had been exposed to heavy metal pollution had similar levels of esterase activity and variation about the mean as the unstressed populations, suggesting that variation only increases in characters directly affected by the environmental pollutant.

6. The probable factors causing the increase in variance and the potential of this type of variation as a biomarker of stressful environments are discussed.


It is urgent to update the concept of grassland management to face serious grassland degradation throughout the China.Based on grassland degradation in China,This study proposed that the ecofeminism was a requirement of improvement the concept of grassland management.After discussion on enlightenment of the ecofeminism on natural resource management,some compatibilities between ecofeminism and grassland management were presented in this study,and then this study pointed out that introducing the ecofeminism into grassland management benefited the sustainable utilization of grassland in the northwest pastoral areas.


Annette Rawstrone discovers how the concept of enabling environments has flourished and has led to the development of an open-ended approach, prioritising 'real' resources and child-led play and learning.


Waardenburg Syndrome is an autosomal dominantly inherited disorder with variable penetrance (1–5). It is a rare disorder with an estimated frequency of 1:20,000 in Kenya (East Africa) and 1:40,000, in the Netherlands presenting with or without deafness. The frequency with deafness is lower, estimated at 1:50,000 to 1:212,000 (1, 2). The major characteristic features are as follows, with reported incidences in parenthesis: 1) Dystopia canthorum (99%); 2) synophrys (17%–69%); 3) broad nasal root (78%); 4) depigmentation of hair, skin, or both (17%–58% with white forelock); 5) heterochromic or hypochromic irides (greater than 20%); 6) congenital deafness (9%–38%) (1–7). Genetic heterogeneity has led to classification of affected families as type I, with dystopia canthorum, or type II, without dystopia canthorum (2, 6). Piebaldism and Woolf's Syndrome can present with pigmentary changes which are similar to Waardenburg Syndrome (2, 3, 8). Woolf's Syndrome also includes deafness (9). However, the distinguishing structural ophthomologic abnormalities of dystopia canthorum, broad nasal root, and synophrys are not found in either piebaldism or Woolf's Syndrome (2, 3, 8, 9). The congenital patterns of leukoderma in both piebaldism and Waardenburg Syndrome has been believed to be stable throughout the lifetime of the affected individuals (2, 10). We report an otherwise typical family with Waardenburg Syndrome, type I, in which 2 members atypically demonstrate spontaneous pigmentation and contraction of congenital leukodermic patches. To our knowledge, this has not been previously reported in Waardenburg Syndrome (1, 2, 6, 10).


The progress of new theories and technologies for onshore and offshore subtle clastic reservoir exploration in China is introduced,the theories include the continuous innovation of sequence stratigraphy,slope break theory,complicated pathways,sedimentary facies and fluid potential controlling on reservoir forming,three genetic factors controlling reservoir forming in China,these theories promote the subtle reservoir exploration from individual identification to qualitative and quantitative prediction,accelerate the subtle reservoir exploration in different tectonic places,different layer systems and different domains,the technologies include the high precision sequence stratigraphy,high resolution processing technology,inversion technology,visualization technology,AVO technology and frequency division technology.Nevertheless,there exist many problems,including lacking use of subtle reservoir exploration theory systematically or being difficult to evaluate the reservoir forming as a result of insufficient subtle reservoir forming mechanism,in addition,the ambiguity of the geophysic prediction can also result in wrong conclusion.Therefore,it is supposed high resolution seismic data and advanced prestack processing and inversion technology will be used to make clear of subtle reservoir forming mechanism and its main controlling factors.


The /sup 208,206,204/Pb(p,t)/sup 206,204,202/Pb reactions have been studied at an incident energy of 51.9 MeV. With the aid of distorted-wave Born approximation calculations a number of spin and parity assignments were made. Systematic trends were observed in the experimental excitation energy of individual levels in the residual nuclei and transition strengths for three reactions. These results are compared with predictions from the shell-model wave functions. The overall agreement is satisfactory.


The superconducting transition temperature T{sub c} of multilayers of electron-doped cuprates, composed of underdoped (or undoped) and overdoped La{sub 2-x}Ce{sub x}CuO{sub 4} (LCCO) and Pr{sub 2-x}Ce{sub x}CuO{sub 4} (PCCO) thin films, is found to increase significantly with respect to the T{sub c} of the corresponding single-phase films. By investigating the critical current density of superlattices with different doping levels and layer thicknesses, we find that the T{sub c} enhancement is caused by a redistribution of charge over an anomalously large distance.


A Ka-band gyrotron traveling wave amplifier operating in the TE11 circular mode has been presented. The effects of the parameters such as input power, driver frequency and velocity ratio on the performance of the gyro-TWT ares discussed. The simulation results show that the gain and the bandwidth of the designed Ka-band gyro-TWT is about 54.0dB and 2.5GHz with 3dB bandwidth respectively. The peak output power and the corresponding electron efficiency is about 94kW and 22.4% respectively with the voltage 70kV and the current 6A at the velocity ratio 1.0.


Objective To evaluate the clinical value of the levels of plasma D-dimer(D-D)、 urinary NAG and mAlb with early renal injury in type 2 diabetes.Methods Through large-scale social surveys,1437 cases of diabetic patients with urine protein negative were selected.They were detected urinary NAG and mAlb respectively.According to the results above,we selected 30 cases whose urinary NAG11.5 U/L and mAlb30mg/L,30 cases whose urinary NAG11.5U/L and mAlb30mg/L.Then plasma D-dimer of the above 60 cases were detected.30 healthy normal were selected as controls.Results Plasma D-D of the group with increased urinarg NAG,mAlb was 471.4±95.2 ng/L,that of the group with normal urinary NAG,mAlb was 284.7±74.8 ng/L,compared with control(150.2±57.8 ng/L),there were both statisticlly significant differences(P0.05).Combining urinary NAG and mAlb made the diagnostic sensitivity for diabetes up to 19.82%.Conclusion Combined detection of urinary NAG,mAlb and plasma D-dimer can detect diabetic renal injury in the early.This experiment can provide evidence for clinicians to take timely measures.


This paper analyzes the evolution of female working conditions in the last twenty years in Mexico City, using a survey applied in the metropolitan area. It describes labour conditions based on sectorial distribution, educational levels, kind of collective working contract, working day, salary and other factors. It also describes the effects of productive reestructuration on their jobs and the increasing importance of female labour for the commerce and services sectors.


Kopelson, Heather Miyano. 2014. Faithful Bodies: Performing Religion and Race in the Puritan Atlantic. Early American Places. New York: New York University Press. $45.00 hc $35.00 ebook. 416 pp.Faithful Bodies is an unsettling book. As such it is a success, given that it aims to unsettle familiar categories in the fields of early American history and literature. Heather Kopelson, an assistant professor of history at the University of Alabama, begins with the radically simple premise of refusing to accept the familiar narratives of English/Native contact as asymmetrical or unilateral, and instead conjures a colonial world where categories of faith and identity are evolving and contingent. A signature of this approach is Kopelson's disavowal of the typical language used to describe deities: she instead refers repeatedly to "other-than-human persons," which foregrounds "a parallel comparison between religions with and without extensive written theologies" (9). Over the course of the monograph, this perspective allows Kopelson to trace the gradual association of "white" with "Christian," and "negro" or "Indian" with "heathen." As Kopelson demonstrates, this transition is more historically inflected and later in emerging than scholars of the period usually assume.Making this argument is an ambitious task and, as Kopelson herself points out, requires working through and across various subfields of early American and Atlantic studies, including the "histor y of slavery and the slave trade, puritan studies, history and archaeology of northeastern Natives and of indigenous Caribbean peoples, and history of sexuality and the body" (6). As the title of the book implies, this last category, the body, is central to the work Kopelson does to unsettle familiar English/ Native religious categories, enabling instead the "cross-confessional and cross-cultural exploration of seventeenth-century worldviews" (7).The book's first section offers three case studies of faith communities: one community in Bermuda and then two communities in southern New England, one Native and one English. To return to the embodied material practices of New England puritanism and the notion of the church as one body in Christ via the practices of peoples of color in Bermuda and New England renders them simultaneously less familiar and more legible, and serves as one of this book's most striking interventions. From a methodological standpoint, too, Kopelson challenges those who balk at the difficulty posed by reconstructing the lives of seventeenth-century people of color from a "European-dominated archive that frames their lives as unknowable and unintelligible" (28). It is possible that some readers will be dissatisfied with Kopelson's more aggressive interpretations, but the effort is laudable.After establishing this framework, the book's middle section considers "how English puritans categorized physical difference and related those categories to inner characteristics," before turning to a series of "late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century performances that disrupted English puritan notions of faithful bodies" (104). Quakers, Catholics, Algonquians, and Bermudians of color, in various ways, offered "bodily performances [that] created alternate spaces that cut across English puritan definitions of the body of Christ and the body politic" (125). …


ABSTRACT This paper proposes a novel 5T1C pixel circuit to compensate for the threshold voltage variation of n-channel LTPS TFTs for high-ppi AMOLEDs. SmartSpice simulation is used to evaluate the compensation capability of the proposed pixel circuit, and layout is performed to check the pixel density in 1 inch. The simulation results show that the proposed pixel circuit can compensate for the threshold voltage variation of n-channel poly-Si TFTs, and the layout confirms that the proposed pixel circuit can be integrated into upto564-ppi AMOLED displays.


This article is so simple and clear ,  present the work of  a  school  principal in  the interests of  management  and commitment to education and learning . It  is necessary to establish , for  this , a  relationship between work and school  in  order to refer to the commitment of what historically has been seen  in  contemporary capitalist society ,  the formation of human  capital  to the  labor  market . In  seeking  a new  paradgm of  management, all committed to the educational process , it  is thought to  relate  the work of the school  principal  with the other actors of the educational process ,  including  it as  an employee education.


Wireless LANs (WLANs) are becoming increasingly popular for providing high data rate network access to mobile computers. Most of the currently deployed systems operate in the 2.4 GHz unlicensed frequency band. However, increasing demand for higher data rates and network capacities has led to new system standards for the 5 GHz band. We examine methods for obtaining a close-to-optimal positioning of WLAN access points (APs) and evaluate their performance in a typical downtown or campus environment. The system performance is evaluated using an objective function which aims to maximize both the coverage area and the overall signal quality. The optimization algorithms evaluate this objective function over a discrete search space, thereby considerably reducing the inherent complexity of the problem, while at the same time providing a reasonable approximation to the continuous optimization problem. Numerical results show that random search algorithms, such as simulated annealing, can yield very good solutions. However, the convergence speed of simulated annealing strongly depends on the fine-tuning of simulation parameters and a good choice of the initial set of transmitter positions. Successive removal algorithms, such as pruning, though usually producing sub-optimal solutions, converge in polynomial time. We therefore propose a combination of the two approaches - using pruning for obtaining an initial set of transmitter positions and refining these by using either neighborhood search or simulated annealing.


Our lab has previously shown that greater T regulatory cells (Tregs) in females attenuate deoxycorticosterone acetate salt (DOCA)‐induced increases in blood pressure (BP). Tregs do not contribute to BP control in male rats with DOCA hypertension. DOCA is a mineralocorticoid model of hypertension, and mineralocorticoid receptor activation alone can significantly increase fibrosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation, independent of an effect on BP. The goal of the current study was to test the hypothesis that direct mineralocorticoid effects, independent of increases in BP, drives sex differences in Tregs in DOCA‐salt rats.


This experiment was conducted using aerobic incubation to study the nitrification inhibition effect of dicyandiamide(DCD) on ammonium bicarbonate in red soils with different textures.The results indicated that adding DCD significantly increased ammonium content and decreased nitrate nitrogen content at the same time.The nitrification of ammonium bicarbonate took 7 weeks in sandy loam soil and 5 weeks in light clay soil.These processes were 2 weeks longer if dicyandiamide was applied in light clay soil.However,the content of ammonium was still high after aerobic incubation was over,no matter DCD was added or not,so more studies were needed to study the transformations of ammonium bicarbonate in light clay soil.Nitrification inhibition of dicyandiamide on ammonium bicarbonate in medium loam soil was better than that in sandy loam soil and light clay soil.It was concluded that DCD could significantly inhibit the nitrification of treatments with less NH+4-N rate in sandy loam soil and light clay soil,but had better effect on treatments with high NH+4-N rate in medium loam soil.


The idea of Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks is to support communication where readily available infrastructure is missing. Nodes are expected to forward each other messages to the final destination within a decentralized environment. In mobile communication, finding the best routing path is always been a problem. DSDV protocol is well-known for its packet dropping problem in the event of link breakages. Whereas, IDSDV protocol as its popular enhancement, assigned to address this specific issue. But, this also gives rise to a question whether IDSDV does not degrade other performance parameters of DSDV. In this paper, we investigate the performance of IDSDV against DSDV specific for UDP traffics, for parameters such as average end-to-end delay, routing overhead and normalized routing load. Simulation result reaffirms that IDSDV has to some degree resolved the stale route problem within DSDV. Moreover, IDSDV outclasses DSDV in most aspects notably within highly density and dynamic environment.


Molded underfill (MUF) process for system in package with WLCSP package with cu pillar bump would be the future application in SIP module assembly due to small form factor and low cost of WLCSP and good electrical, thermal performance, fine pitch and lower cost of cu pillar bump. However, higher stiffness of cu pillar could cause interface fracture between cu pillar and solder bump during SMT process and lower TCT reliability performance. In this work, finite element analyses were carried out to explore TCT reliability of a WLCSP with cu pillar bump in SIP module. Results indicate that a thin molding cap height, lower substrate flexural rigidity, large ratio of solder height over standoff, and a small ratio of cu pad diameter over under bump metallurgy (UBM) size are directions to follow in order to enhance cu pillar bump thermal cycling reliability.


In recent years, both the volume and the availability of urban data related to various social issues, such as real estate, crime and population are rapidly increasing. Analysing such urban data can help the government make evidence-based decisions leading


Recent work has focused on the problem of conducting linear regression when the number of covariates is very large, potentially greater than the sample size. To facilitate this, one useful tool is to assume that the model can be well approximated by a fit involving only a small number of covariates -- a so called sparsity assumption, which leads to the Lasso and other methods. In many situations, however, the covariates can be considered to be structured, in that the selection of some variables favours the selection of others -- with variables organised into groups entering or leaving the model simultaneously as a special case. This structure creates a different form of sparsity. In this paper, we suggest the Co-adaptive Lasso to fit models accommodating this form of `group sparsity'. The Co-adaptive Lasso is fast and simple to calculate, and we show that it holds theoretical advantages over the Lasso, performs well under a broad set of conclusions, and is very competitive in empirical simulations in comparison with previously suggested algorithms like the Group Lasso and the Adaptive Lasso.


Amidst the accelerated progression of contemporary scientific and technological advancements, the Internet has comprehensively permeated all sectors of society, offering manifold conveniences to both production and daily living. As the Internet continues its evolutionary trajectory, digital media emerges as one of its most emblematic outcomes. Predominantly, digital media leverages computer systems and network technologies to proffer more dynamic communications for enterprises and individuals, substantially catering to the information requisites of the populace. This paper embarks on an exhaustive analysis of the application strategies of digital media against the backdrop of the Internet.


The documents found in the archives of archaeologist K.M. Polikarpovich are put into circulation and analyzed, shedding light on the plans of the Desninskaya Complex Archaeological Expedition under the general guidance of M.V. Voevodsky (Moscow State University). The excavations of the Eliseevichi and Yudinovo sites on the Sudost River were supposed. The presented cost estimates give an idea of the cost of archaeological work and some features of the organization of expeditions in the pre-war USSR. The war that came to the territory of the USSR canceled out plans. The planned excavations were deployed by KM. In the post-war years, Polikarpovich was independently, with funding not from Moscow and Orel, but from the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR.


Determination of the second in the International System of Units (SI) and realization of international atomic time (TAI) are among the most precise measurements of any kind and have some of the greatest impacts on technology and research, largely because the careful physical measurements are complemented by well-established and tested theories. Reference [1] describes the theory of a frequency shift from which the author calculates "corrections" to various primary frequency standards: the laser-cooled atomic microwave fountain clocks that are used to determine TAI and the SI second. According to Ref. [1], the magnitude of this frequency shift (δf/f )i s on the order of the current frequency uncertainty of the best primary frequency standards df/f ∼ 1 × 10 −16 . Corrections for this shift (microwave lensing) are currently applied to some (but not all) of the primary frequency standards that help determine TAI and the SI second [2–4]. The frequency shift described in Ref. [1], thus introduces a significant bias in TAI compared to TAI realized without the proposed shift applied. Our group has performed independent theoretical investigations into the theory of a microwave frequency shift from lensing [5], and our theory shows significantly different results than those claimed in Ref. [1]. The effect described in Ref. [1] is the result of "clipping" of the atomic wave function by limiting apertures in a primary frequency standard (PFS). It is postulated that differential clipping of the two dressed states of the atomic wave function occurs as a result of a very small transverse force on the atoms caused by a gradient in the microwave field during microwave interrogation. This small transverse force generates a displacement between the wave functions of the two dressed states on the order of a few nanometers, which is much less


Objective:To assess the impact of TSENSE technique underwent various acceleration factors and free breathing in the accuracy of cardiac volumetric measurement and image quality.Methods:Fifteen patients underwent steady-state free precession (SSFP) cine MRI for short axis images of global heart scans.Pulse sequences used included true fast imaging with steady-state precession (trueFISP) combined with GRAPPA,true FISP with TSENSE of various acceleration factors ranged from R=2 to 4,single breathhold,and free breathing real time TSENSE (R=3).Volumetric assessment including ejection fraction (EF),end-diastolic volume (EDV) and end-systolic volume (ESV) was performed and measured in each sequence.Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the image at the position of papillary muscle was used to assess the imaging quality.Results:Compared with GRAPPA,no significant statistic difference of these TSENSE sequences in the measurement of EF,EDV and ESV was observed (P0.05).Images of all pulse sequences could be used for diagnosis,among which,the quality of GRAPPA and TSENSE (R=2) were the best.Conclusion:A single breathhold or free breathing SSFP cine-MRI with TSENSE can precisely evaluate the cardiac volumetry.SSFP cine MRI with TSENSE (R=3) was the optimal technique for routine clinical application.


The purpose of this study was to obtain tannin natural dyes from the sap of the fronds / stalks of kepok banana leaves, namely the percentage of yield, color intensity, time and good solvents for taking the most dyes in the sap of the banana tree. The extraction of dyes in various parts of banana trees was carried out by means of an extraction process using soxchlet, with a medium of distilled water, methanol, ethanol and ethylacetate. The raw material was sliced, dried to + 6.7% moisture content, ground powder made from size 60-80 mesh. The powder was weighed 50 grams and extracted with each medium solution in 500ml at each evaporation temperature, the results were evaporated to dryness. Test the tannin color intensity with a spectrophotometer. The results showed that the optimal amount of sap yield on the banana midrib was 16,248%, the color intensity of tannin obtained was 0.218 in methanol solvent products. The solvent which can provide the optimal yield in extracting tannins from banana leaf midrib was methanol. The time of the extraction process to the maximum out tannin was 4-4.5 hours


This paper reports the results of using graphene as a novel electrode material in the experiment of electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD). The device has a Teflon layer coated CVD graphene electrode which is patterned on transparent and flexible substrates such as PET films. By applying a potential difference between a liquid droplet and a graphene electrode, we observed a change in contact angle from 117° to 86° as the voltage is increased from 0V to 40V. We also demonstrated reversible electrowetting. By utilizing graphene as an electrode material we have achieved high breakdown voltage, transparency and flexibility, all of which will be beneficial for future applications such as flexible display technology and cell manipulation.


From the late 1960s to the mid-1990s, the basic drug-crime policy challenge was to manage social harms associated with the heroin and cocaine epidemics. As they ebbed, the crime-drug policy challenges changed. Alcohol receives greater attention as the leading criminogenic substance. Efforts are under way to improve and expand substance use disorder (SUD) treatment for criminally active populations. Model nontreatment interventions seek to monitor and deter use among individuals whose use endangers others. Two key issues are the continuing high rate of alcohol-related crime and violence and opportunities to expand SUD treatment for criminally active populations under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Alcohol taxes, regulation of alcohol venues, and model programs such as Dakota 24/7 are promising paths to reduced alcohol-related crime. Problem-solving courts can be made more pertinent to the broad range of drug-involved offenders. Existing treatment systems face many challenges in providing mental and behavioral health services mandated under the ACA. Properly implemented, ACA offers many opportunities to prevent offending through provision of appropriate services.


OBJECTIVE To study the absorption kinetics of vinpocetine(VIN) self-microemulsifying drug delivery system(VIN-SMEDDS) in rat's intestine.METHODS The tests were carried out with the use of in situ rat's intestine technique.The effects on absorption of different rat's intestine segments,concentration of VIN,pH,velocity of flow,and preparation factors were studied.RESULTS There were not significant differences among the absorption constants(Ka) of VIN-SMEDDS at the ileum,jejunum,duodenum and colon.The Ka of VIN-SMEDDS in jejunum was not apparently influenced by different concentration of VIN and PH,but increased with the acceleration of velocity of flow.Compared with vinpocetine powder and commercial tablets,the Ka(h-1) and Uptake percentage(%) of VIN-SMEDDS were apparently improved.CONCLUSION The absorption of VIN-SMEDDS in rat's intestine is a process mainly of the passive diffusion mechanism without specific absorption site.Self-microemulsifying drug delivery system can markedly improve the dissolution and absorption of vinpocetine.


The traditional mobile business value chain is based on linear thinking model mainly emphasizing technical guidance and enterprise sequence. Its characteristics constrain innovative thinking and innovative model of mobile commerce enterprises seriously. Under such a circumstance, the concept of value network was introduced into the mobile business field. By researching on documentation, the writer put in order relevant theories and models of mobile business value chain and value network, and further constructed mobile business value network model, which is formulated on the basis of value transmission perspective. The model enriched the prospective of research on mobile business value network, and provided scholars with theories for reference for further research.


Using Søren Kierkegaard's formative writing from The Concept of Anxiety as a catalyst for thinking about the multiplicity and complexity of anxiety, the preface of this Special Issue of Film Matters outlines how the editorial board at Chapman University thought
 about the topic "Generation Anxiety" throughout the editorial process. Considering anxiety as an embodied, sensuous, and ambiguous experience, this issue discusses films from varied genres, time periods, and countries, diverse perspectives and frameworks, and distinct explorations
 and experiences of anxiety. Finally, the preface acknowledges that there is no one definition of "Generation Anxiety," but that through undergraduate scholars' work, a contemporary perspectives on this ambiguous emotion emerges.


Mild and efficient method for the oxidative coupling of thiols by alumina supported trimethylammonium fluorochromate (TriMFC) and trimethylammonium chlorochromate (TriMCC) are reported.Alumina supported trimethylammonium fluorochromate and trimethylammonium chlorochromate are efficient and new reagents, which prepared easily and oxidized thiols to the corresponding disulfides quickly. The reactions performed cleanly and controlled to stop at the disulfide stage without overoxidation side products. The easy procedure, simple work-up, short reaction times, and excellent yields are another advantages of these reagents.


The United States congress and the past several administrations have dedicated considerable funding for incentives focused on accelerating the adoption by the healthcare industry of Health Information Technology (HIT) solutions. The most recent effort towards these objectives includes a focus on the creation of a National Health Information Network that will support large scale exchange of health information. This chapter explores the technical, security and privacy implications of the advent of such an integrated network and the steps towards its successful completion. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-174-4.ch004


Hyperlinks inside HTML pages contain a wealth of information about the relationships among Web pages. Given a set of Web pages, we can explore the hyperlink relationships among these pages. This paper first provides formal definitions of hyperlink relations. We then use the notations to define similarity between two Web pages and between two sets of Web pages. For each one of them, we provide several definitions of similarity using forward and backward links. The similarity measure gives us a number between 0 and 1. We also demonstrate how to use the similarity measure to study clustering within a set of pages and to determine the "diversity" of a set of Web pages.


Currently, light-cured composite resin is extensively used in dentistry, and the studies about the property of such materials are increasing. This article reviewes different properties and methods which were used to evaluate the polymerization efficiency of resin composites, and provides references for people to choose appropriate research methods to improve the integrated performance of resin composite.


As General Manager of the ScitechTower Place, Zhang Keping feels thepressure on her shoulders. Since thelate 1980s, Scitech, the first joint-ven-ture office building in Beijing, has at-tracted many foreign companies.Nowadays, more and more high-classoffice buildings have appeared inBeijing, and Scitech is finding it in-creasingly harder to maintain its place.


Background: Phytosiderophores are important metal chelators for graminaceous plants. Results: Repression of TOM2 causes severe growth defects. Conclusion: TOM2 is a crucial efflux transporter of phytosiderophores. Significance: TOM2 may enhance crop yield and nutritional quality. Iron is an essential metal element for all living organisms. Graminaceous plants produce and secrete mugineic acid family phytosiderophores from their roots to acquire iron in the soil. Phytosiderophores chelate and solubilize insoluble iron hydroxide in the soil. Subsequently, plants take up iron-phytosiderophore complexes through specific transporters on the root cell membrane. Phytosiderophores are also thought to be important for the internal transport of various transition metals, including iron. In this study, we analyzed TOM2 and TOM3, rice homologs of transporter of mugineic acid family phytosiderophores 1 (TOM1), a crucial efflux transporter directly involved in phytosiderophore secretion into the soil. Transgenic rice analysis using promoter-β-glucuronidase revealed that TOM2 was expressed in tissues involved in metal translocation, whereas TOM3 was expressed only in restricted parts of the plant. Strong TOM2 expression was observed in developing tissues during seed maturation and germination, whereas TOM3 expression was weak during seed maturation. Transgenic rice in which TOM2 expression was repressed by RNA interference showed growth defects compared with non-transformants and TOM3-repressed rice. Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing TOM2 released 14C-labeled deoxymugineic acid, the initial phytosiderophore compound in the biosynthetic pathway in rice. In onion epidermal and rice root cells, the TOM2-GFP fusion protein localized to the cell membrane, indicating that the TOM2 protein is a transporter for phytosiderophore efflux to the cell exterior. Our results indicate that TOM2 is involved in the internal transport of deoxymugineic acid, which is required for normal plant growth.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the quench sensitivity of the mechanical properties of 6061 and 6069 aluminum alloys. The relationship between mechanical properties and quench delay time at various temperatures between 200–500°C was determined. It was concluded that the 6069-T6 was somewhat more quench sensitive than 6061, which may be consistent with the composition difference. This study also provides increased data on the quench sensitivity of the traditional alloy, 6061-T6.


The biggest part of our self-image as human beings is determined by the unlimited function of our brain. This becomes obvious especially when we get older and physical shortcomings amplify. Unfortunately, some medical conditions not only augment physical shortcomings that are apparent on first sight, but also attack the function of the brain, an organ that has nothing or at least little to do with the primary disease.

Diabetes mellitus—a disease affecting millions of people worldwide—is the prototype of such a multiorgan dysfunction syndrome compromising neurocognitive function via poorly understood pathways (1). Not only long-term diabetes but also short-term dysregulations of blood glucose are linked to profound permanent neurocognitive impairment (e.g., when they are experienced during critical illness) (2). Is this an effect of glucose per se—too much or too little of it—or of insulin or both?

No doubt, brain cells largely rely on glucose as fuel and glycopenia is thus directly deleterious. Also, hyperglycemia is a hazard to our central …


Venda kingdom Ha Ramabulana, under the leadership of Makhado, and from 1895 under his successor Mphephu, continuously resisted land dispossession and eventually managed to keep a substantial power base. Braun gives a detailed account of a decades-long struggle in which the colonial power first aimed to deprive the king of his heartland, the Soutpansberg mountain range, and later to confine him to a small, delimited location on the mountain. Both Makhado and Mphephu particularly resisted colonial attempts at defining their power territorially, to limit it to a specific territory and the people living there. Instead, they insisted that their rule stretched wherever their followers were. Still, in the long run the Ha Ramabulana kings lost their independence and, by the end of the 19th century, their influence seemed more or less restricted to the boundaries of a surveyed location. The process of land alienation resulted in what Braun describes as a constellation of disconnected landscapes: 'notional land', which was surveyed and discernible as part of a landscape category within the geographical archive, and those lands that remained under African influence, among them Mphephu's location in the Soutpansberg, the boundaries of which were not defined nor surveyed until 1916. Even then they remained, in fact, cartographic illusions, since there was no fencing and almost no adjoining settler farms. Braun concludes the discussion of the Transvaal case study by arguing that Mphephu ultimately managed to create a kind of shadow state: places and social networks that became meaningful to Venda and conceptually sidestepped the restrictions imposed by new boundaries and white ownership of land. Overall, Braun's book is an unconventional social and political history of two rural areas in South Africa narrated along the lines of the colonial constitution of a seemingly hegemonic cadastral landscape. A particular strength of the book is the detailed reconstruction of the complex process of negotiation that produced idiosyncratic landscapes in the period up to 1913. Braun pays careful attention to details, and highlights the to and fro of surveying. While this approach conveys a textured sense of historical contingency and the specificities of time and place, it produces a cumbersome narrative that feels, at times, hard to read. The numerous maps reproduced in colour are helpful for orientation, particularly for readers who are less familiar with the regions discussed. It is deplorable, though, that the details of many maps, in particular the overview ones, cannot be deciphered, since they have been scaled down in order to fit one book page. Braun's work contributes to a history of cartography beyond positivism. Particularly commendable is his inclusion of maps that remained pure fantasy, given that they depict a territorial order that was never implemented. It reminds historians of the need to treat geographical archives with the utmost care and remain sceptical of maps as privileged archival objects.