This paper investigates spillovers from foreign economies to the U.S. through changes in longterm Treasury yields. We document a decline in the contribution of U.S. domestic news to the variance of long-term Treasury yields and an increased importance of overnight yield changes—a rough proxy for the contribution of foreign shocks to U.S. yields—over the past decades. Using a model that identifies U.S., Euro area, and U.K. shocks that move global yields, we estimate that foreign (non-U.S.) shocks account for at least 20 percent of the daily variation in long-term U.S. yields in recent years. We argue that spillovers occur in large part through bond term premia by showing that a low level of foreign yields relative to U.S. yields predicts a decline in distant forward U.S. yields and higher returns on a strategy that is long on a long-term Treasury security and short on a long-term foreign bond.


Concerted effort is currently ongoing to open up the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) ($z\sim$15-6) for studies with IR and radio telescopes. Whereas IR detections have been made of sources (Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters, quasars and drop-outs) in this redshift regime in relatively small fields of view, no direct detection of neutral hydrogen, via the redshifted 21-cm line, has yet been established. Such a direct detection is expected in the coming years, with ongoing surveys, and could open up the entire universe from $z\sim$6-200 for astrophysical and cosmological studies, opening not only the EoR, but also its preceding Cosmic Dawn ($z\sim$30-15) and possibly even the later phases of the Dark Ages ($z\sim$200-30). All currently ongoing experiments attempt statistical detections of the 21-cm signal during the EoR, with limited signal-to-noise. Direct imaging, except maybe on the largest (degree) scales at lower redshifts, as well as higher redshifts will remain out of reach. The Square Kilometre Array(SKA) will revolutionize the field, allowing direct imaging of neutral hydrogen from scales of arc-minutes to degrees over most of the redshift range $z\sim$6-28 with SKA1-LOW, and possibly even higher redshifts with the SKA2-LOW. In this SKA will be unique, and in parallel provide enormous potential of synergy with other upcoming facilities (e.g. JWST). In this chapter we summarize the physics of 21-cm emission, the different phases the universe is thought to go through, and the observables that the SKA can probe, referring where needed to detailed chapters in this volume (Abridged).


Numerous differences exist between the neoclassical and national development schools of economics on how an economy should develop. For example, should the state interfere in the market using state resources, and cultivate certain industries to achieve specific developmental goals? Although the automotive industries in both Thailand and Malaysia developed in the 1970s with considerable government involvement, they have evolved along very different lines. Can these differences be traced to different interactions between the state and industry in these two countries? This paper examines this issue and finds that although industries in developing countries need government assistance, the specific political and economic contexts of each country affect the policies adopted and their effectiveness. The choice between "autonomous development" (Malaysia) and "dependent development" (Thailand) is the first issue. The second issue is that politics in Malaysia has deterred the automotive industry from adopting a "market following" position. This paper finds that the choice of strategy and political interference are the two main reasons the automotive industry in Malaysia is less competitive than that in Thailand.


Remarkable progress in our ability to analyze diseased tissue has revolutionized our understanding of disease. From a simplistic understanding of abnormalities in bulk tissue, there is now increasing recognition that the heterogeneous and dynamically evolving disease microenvironment plays a crucial role in disease pathogenesis and progression as well as in the determination of therapeutic response. The disease microenvironment consists of multiple cell types as well as the various factors that these cells secrete. There is now immense interest in treatment strategies that target or modify the abnormal disease microenvironment, and a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that drive the formation, maintenance, and progression of the disease microenvironment is thus necessary. The advent of 3-dimensional (3D) cell culture technology has made possible the reconstitution of the disease microenvironment to a previously unimaginable extent in vitro. As an intermediate between traditional in vitro models based on 2-dimensional (2D) cell culture and in vivo models, 3D models of disease enable the in vitro reconstitution of complex interactions within the disease microenvironment which were unamenable in 2D while simultaneously allowing the mechanistic analysis of these interactions that would be difficult to perform in vivo. This symposium review aims to highlight the promise of using 3D cell culture technology to model and analyze the disease microenvironment using pancreatic cancer as an example.


Abstract Corporate Real Estate (CRE) is regarded as a part of strategic management in the organization. It is attempted to create awareness and highlight the important of implementing CRE in the educational institution. Educational institution is now facing a challenging task of producing quality human capital and providing students with condusive environment that will enhance their learning, becoming more creative and match the service delivery. Thus, to achive all this any educational institution has to adopt strategy that will help them to add values and enhance their competitiveness. This research is to investigate the components of CRE that create added value to the core business.


OBJECTIVES
Our aim was to corroborate the observed association between the deletion/deletion (DD) genotype of the insertion/deletion polymorphism in the alpha(2B)-adrenoceptor (AR) and increased risk for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and to study whether this genotype also confers an increased risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD).

BACKGROUND
Vasospasm has been suggested to play a role in AMI. Alpha(2)-AR mediate coronary vasoconstriction in humans, and studies on mice suggest the involvement of the alpha(2)-AR subtype B in vasoconstriction. A deletion variant of the human alpha(2B)-AR has been associated with impaired receptor desensitization in vitro. In a population-based prospective study of 912 middle-aged men, the DD genotype of the alpha(2B)-AR conferred an increased risk for AMI.

METHODS
A series of 700 unselected sudden out-of-hospital deaths of middle-aged white men subjected to medico-legal autopsy was analyzed.

RESULTS
Genotype information was obtained for 683 men (DD = 22%, insertion/deletion = 51%, insertion/insertion = 27%). Carriers of the DD genotype had an increased risk for SCD (n = 278, odds ratio [OR] = 2.0, p = 0.01) and fatal AMI (n = 84, OR = 2.1, p = 0.04) compared with the other two genotypes combined. The risks for SCD and fatal AMI were higher in carriers of the DD genotype who died before the age of 55 years (OR = 4.5 and 5.0, p < 0.001 for both).

CONCLUSIONS
Middle-aged white men carrying the DD genotype of the alpha(2B)-AR have a significantly increased risk for SCD and AMI, especially before the age of 55 years.


A company issuing an insurance will provide, in return for a monetary premium, acceptance of the liability to make certain payments to the insured person or company if some beforehand specified event occurs. There will always be a delay between occurrence of this event and actual payment from the insurance company. It is therefore necessary for the company to put aside money for this liability. This money is called the reserve. When a claim is reported, a claim handler will make an estimate of how much the company will have to pay to the claimant. This amount is booked as a liability. This type of reserve is called; "case reserve". When making the estimate, the claim handler has the option of giving the claim a standard reserve or a manual reserve. A standard reserve is a statistically calculated amount based on historical claim costs. This type of reserve is more often used in small claims. A manual reserve is a reserve subjectively decided by the claim handler. This type of reserve is more often used in large claims. This thesis propose a theory to model and calculate an optimal limit above which a claim should be considered large. An application of the method is also applied to some different types of claims.


We present a simple density theory based on first principles that predicts the shielding effectiveness of composite matrix materials at filler loadings near or above the percolation threshold. Such a model has practical applications in electromagnetic interference and radio frequency interference, and is validated here for Fortafil 243 carbon fiber within nylon 6,6. In brief, the theory predicts that the most important parameter on the shielding effectiveness of a sample is the carbon fiber volume percent. At very high filler loadings, experimental results show a weak dependence on the frequency of the wave to be shielded, which may be attributed to enhanced reflection from multiple, coherent scatterers (carbon fiber network). These effects are not considered in our model. Nevertheless, advantages of this model are ease of use and improved predictive capabilities when compared to models previously reported in the literature. Our model performs very well over an electrical resistivity range from 10 15 ohm-cm (at low filler loading levels below the percolation threshold) down to 10 -1 ohm-cm (at high filler loading levels well above the percolation threshold), and can be used to determine filler loadings needed to provide a certain level of shielding of electromagnetic waves. POLYM. COMPOS., 26: 671– 678, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers


Cervical cancer is one of the most frequent cancer that occur among reproductive women in the world. The main modality of treatment is chemoradiotherapy and surgery. But, its wide-ranged success therapy and various side effects are still remaind the issues. To solve this problem, ethanol extract of kenikir leaves (EEKL) and kenikir leaves ethyl acetate extract of kenikir leaves (EAKL) have been thought to contain various substrate that could promote anticancer activities. This study comprised qualitative and quantitative test. Qualitative test consists thin layer chromatography and phytochemistry analysis while the quantitative test, MTT assay was used. MTT assay has done by using eight variety of concentrations of EEKL and EAKL on HeLa cells. Qualitative test showed that EAKL and EEKL has at least 5 compounds, which are flavonoid, tanin, steroid, alkaloid, dan glycoside. MTT assay revealed that EEKL and EAKL has strong cytotoxicity activity with IC50 17,46 ppm dan 6,31 ppm, respectively. In addition, each extract exhibited significant difference in some variants of concentration.


Teaching people that corporations must exclusively maximize profits can reduce "winwins"—what is both profitable and good for society. If everyone believes that corporations must maximize profits only, nobody will protest when corporate pursuits of profits harm society—the firms were fulfilling their duty and meeting investor and consumer expectations. But what if people instead believed that corporations should consider their social impacts, even sometimes at the expense of profits? Consumers, employees, and investors might be more willing to object to corporate harms by changing their purchasing, job choice, and investing behaviors or by petitioning corporate leaders for redress. Those objections would change firm incentives. And in response to those tangible incentives, even purely profit-maximizing firms would try to do more good and less harm because doing so would be more profitable. This paper develops and empirically tests this theory of stakeholder expectations and corporate prosociality. Two preregistered studies with nearly 1300 participants provide initial empirical support for the idea that stakeholder expectations (of exclusive profit maximization or of the possibility of corporate prosociality) affect their protest decisions. Amazon Mechanical Turk workers had the opportunity to sign a real Greenpeace petition against Amazon, the platform that runs Mechanical Turk. Those randomly assigned to learn an exclusive profit maximization norm were less likely to sign the petition than those randomly assigned to learn that firms can and should care about society. Exclusive profit maximization led participants to believe it less appropriate and effective for employees to push for social change, and that fewer firms would care and fewer others would protest. Expecting corporate prosociality instead could thus plausibly make it easier for firms to do well by doing good. * [To add many acknowledgments] Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4282358 2 Expecting Corporate Prosociality [28-Oct-22


In this paper, a decentralised control strategy based on sliding mode techniques is proposed for a class of nonlinear interconnected systems. Both matched uncertainties in the isolated subsystems and mismatched uncertainties associated with the interconnections are considered. Under mild conditions, sliding mode controllers for each subsystem are designed in a decentralised manner by only employing local information. Conditions are determined which enable information on the interconnections to be employed in decentralised controller design to reduce conservatism. The developed results are applied to an automated highway system. Simulation results pertaining to a high-speed following system are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.


We present a suite of tools for visualizing the status and progress of branch-and-bound algorithms for mixed integer programming. By integrating these tools with the open-source codes CBC, SYMPHONY, and GLPK, we demonstrate the potential usefulness of visual representations in helping a user predict future progress of the algorithm or analyzing the algorithm's performance. We have also implemented a flexible toolkit, called the Branch and Cut Analysis Kit, that can be used in conjunction with any instrumented solver to create visual representations in the form of image files. The kit will be made available under an open-source license.


Abstract Introduction To study the impact on adult's fertility of serum inhibin B levels in adolescent patients with idiopathic varicocele after minimally invasive surgical correction and to compare fluctuation of pituitary-testis hormonal values and testicular volumes. Materials and Methods: A case-control study was carried out on a group adolescent patients (n=60) affected by idiopathic left varicocele (group V) and compared with control adolescents (n=40) in the Paediatric Surgery Section of Siena (from June 1993 till September 2013). Inhibin B levels and testicular volume before (T0) and after at 6 and 12 months from surgery (T1 and T2) were evaluated. Results: A positive correlation between testicular growth at T1 and T2 (P<0.001) was found. Linear regression analysis showed a positive correlation between inhibin B levels and testicular volume (expressed as the sum of the right and left values) (P<0.0001). Conclusions: Inhibin B levels are a valid marker for studying the effects of varicocele on the testicular function and confirm the necessity of early surgical correction for preventing the trophic testicular damage and male infertility.


Chemical insecticides have long, been considered as the primary method or insect control, but their use has been associated with suppression of non-target species, emergence of resistant strains, contamination of food crops and water. These concerns enhanced the enforcement of strict governmental regulations which limited the use of such chemicals and stimulated the search for alternative biological control methods. Entomopathogenic nematodes in the families Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae received a considerable attention. These nematodes seek and rapidly kill a wide range of insects, including the red palm weevil. They are safe to plants and mammals, exempt from registration requirements, easy to apply by sprayers or drip irrigation systems and compatible with many chemicals. Application of genetically enhanced strains of Steinemematids and Heterorhahditids to larvae of red palm weevils resulted in 95 – 100% mortalities in the laboratory and 50% in the field. Additional work is needed to improve virulence, mass production technologies, tolerance to adverse conditions, formulations, and release strategies of entomopathogenic nematodes before they can be commercialized as biological control agents for red palm weevils and other cryptic insects attacking aerial plant parts in the region.


: The distribution of the membrane-bound magnesium ions-dependent adenosine triphosphatase (Mg-ATPase) activity has been studied ultracytochemically in rat meninges by the method of Wachstein and Meisel (1957). A device specially constructed to avoid preparation artefacts has been used to obtain sections from the parietal region of the head. The meninges display an intense though irregularly distributed ATPase activity marked by depositions of electron-dense reaction product (RP) which is almost absent in the outer and middle dural layers. In the borderline zone between dura mater and the arachnoid the RP deposits are found at the outer surface of the inner dural cells and at the contact sites between these cells and the dural neurothelium. The intercellular cleft(s) between the neurothelium and the outer arachnoidal layer, occupied by an "electron-dense band", remains free of RP. The strongest accumulations of reactions granules are observed on the surface of the leptomeningeal cells of the arachnoidal space. In the contact region between the inner arachnoidal and the outer pial layers the distribution of the RP is similar to the one observed in the interface zone dura mater/arachnoid, while the pial cells themselves are definitely reaction-positive. In all meningeal vessels RP is found at the lumenal and abluminal aspects of the endothelium as well as at the cell membranes of the perivascular cells. These results emphasize the importance of the dural neurothelium for the functions of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-barrier between the dural blood vessels and the CSF.


Regional expences in Russia on state-related procurements such as delivering goods, doing different work and servises to meet the state needs, are so big, that effective price policy of state contracts, i.e. producing communal goods of high quality and at possibly minimal price, still remains very important. Thus, it is necessary to understand what the price setting of state contracts depends on, what can affect it. The authors of the article, analyzing the relative prices of state contracts on petrol and diesel fuel, came to the conclusion that the more transparent information about state procurements is, the lower prices of state contracts are going to be. Information transparency infl uences both the number of perspective participants of the auction and their stratigic behaviour during the auction, which,in its turn, impacts the amount of price. Both factors are considered in this article.


A series of 1-pyrenyl chalcones have been synthesized by Crossed-Aldol condensation of 1-acetylpyrene and substituted benzaldehydes. The purities of these chalcones have been checked by their physical constants, UV, IR, NMR and MASS spectral data. The spectral data of these chalcones have been correlated with Hammett sigma constants, F and R parameters using single and multi-linear regression analysis. From the results of statistical analysis, the effect of substituents on the spectral group frequencies have been discussed. The anti-microbial activities of these chalcones have been evaluated using Bauer-Kirby method.


The purpose of the paper is to identify the main factors that explain the profitability of the Italian companies operating in the tobacco industry - i.e. the Italian cigarette manufacturers as well as other firms operating at other levels of the tobacco filiere - in the period after the entry into force of the Legislative Decree 184/2003, which implements and transpose the First tobacco product directive. We run our investigation through a panel data regression, relying on AIDA financial data referred to years 2005-2014. In particular, fixed and random effects regressions were run for each of the three different specifications of the model adopted. Though some results are in line with the previous scientific literature, some others show new insights which deserve further research.


In this paper, we introduce firm heterogeneity in the context of a model of non-compliance with minimum wage legislation. The introduction of heterogeneity in the ease with which firms can be monitored for non compliance allows us to show that non-compliance will persist in sectors which are relatively difficult to monitor, despite the government implementing non stochastic monitoring. Moreover, we show that the incentive not to comply is an increasing function of the level of the minimum wage and increasing function of the gap between the minimum wage and the competitive wage rate.


Data on the carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of the carbonate sediments, limestones and calcite cements are compiled and reviewed, and an elementary exposition of the factors that control them is given. Typical compositions and diagenetic trends are displayed on δO18–δC13 scatter diagrams, and an attempt is made at an isotopic categorization of environments of carbonate lithification. Many limestones pass through several diagenetic environments, which are recorded isotopically by cement generations of distinct isotopic composition. Most limestones contain essentially 'marine' carbon, but extreme compositions can result from organic reactions, especially those involving methane; some of these may be important in petroleum exploration, but their volumetric abundance is probably quite small.


"Normal hearing" is typically defined by threshold audibility, even though everyday communication relies on extracting key features of easily audible sound, not on sound detection. Anecdotally, many normal-hearing listeners report difficulty communicating in settings where there are competing sound sources, but the reasons for such difficulties are debated: Do these difficulties originate from deficits in cognitive processing, or differences in peripheral, sensory encoding? Here we show that listeners with clinically normal thresholds exhibit very large individual differences on a task requiring them to focus spatial selective auditory attention to understand one speech stream when there are similar, competing speech streams coming from other directions. These individual differences in selective auditory attention ability are unrelated to age, reading span (a measure of cognitive function), and minor differences in absolute hearing threshold; however, selective attention ability correlates with the ability to detect simple frequency modulation in a clearly audible tone. Importantly, we also find that selective attention performance correlates with physiological measures of how well the periodic, temporal structure of sounds above the threshold of audibility are encoded in early, subcortical portions of the auditory pathway. These results suggest that the fidelity of early sensory encoding of the temporal structure in suprathreshold sounds influences the ability to communicate in challenging settings. Tests like these may help tease apart how peripheral and central deficits contribute to communication impairments, ultimately leading to new approaches to combat the social isolation that often ensues.


Valuable heritage buildings are the history of nations, and history forms the identities of these nations. Many of these buildings are exposed to deterioration, destruction and distortion. Therefore, it is essential to protect and maintain these buildings to protect history. Effective documentation of valuable buildings is necessary to guide and assist stakeholders in making decisions regarding valuable buildings. Documentation requires robust and scientific methods. Therefore, it is important to utilize new technology in general and geographic information system GIS in particular in documenting valuable buildings. GIS has the potential to contribute and deal with valuable buildings at various stages and levels, starting from the process of documentation passing through the process of analysis and preparation of outputs that contribute in supporting decision-makers and ends with managing implementation process, monitoring and follow-up. The purpose of this research is to develop a general framework for collecting data and establishing an applicable unified information system at the country level to document valuable buildings according to the Egyptian reality using geographic information systems to document, analyze and extrapolate the urban structure and determine its characteristics and components. The proposed information system will be applied to a study area to assess its applicability.


'In many organisations creativity is so often seen as the preserve of a small number of people with "artistic temperaments" but in my experience all sorts of people have creative abilities which can be used to the benefit of a "creative" organisation. The task of a manager is to find ways of exploiting this. This Handbook provides the reader with insights to help them and others to promote the kind of creativity that adds real value.'
– Greg Dyke, Chair, British Film Institute; Chair, Football Association; Chancellor, University of York, UK and Director-General of the BBC 2000–2004


Fidelity to foraging sites is potentially beneficial to individual animals utilising habitats characterised by patchily distributed resources, as in a number of marine mammal species. We assessed inter-annual and long term (up to eight year) patterns in spatial distribution and depth use for southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) instrumented with satellite-relay data loggers over multiple foraging migrations from Marion Island, southern Indian Ocean. Individual seals displayed very high levels of fidelity to spatial areas used during their at-sea migrations, with inter-annual home ranges overlapping on average by 72% (max. >90%). Patterns of spatial distribution remained similar for individuals tracked over longer time periods, where home ranges consistently overlapped by more than 50% between migrations, even after periods of up to seven years. Patterns of depth use were generally also consistent between migrations, with individuals mostly targeting similar depth layers between successive migrations. Furthermore, in situ water temperatures at the median dive depths of seals overlapped substantially between migrations, with overlap ranges between 49% and 70%. Our study is the first to show that elephant seals display high levels of foraging niche fidelity, as assessed by spatial areas used, vertical depth layers targeted, as well as in situ thermal conditions. While elephant seals are known to display substantial behavioural plasticity within migrations, inter-migration stability in habitat use patterns may confer long-term energetic advantages to individual seals. Such behavioural consistently likely also plays important roles in advancing patterns of resource partitioning and avoidance of intra-specific competition.


Information and communications technologies today are used in virtually any university course when students prepare their papers. ICT is also needed after people are graduated from university and enter the job market. This author is an instructor in the field of informatics related to health care and social sciences at the Riga Stradiņs University. In practice, he has found that after completing informatics courses (IC) at the university level, students and practicing specialists at various levels find it hard to decide on what data processing method to use in order to interpret extracted results in the relevant area of specialisation. There are various data processing methods in the literature, presented individually and without adequate linkages. The author has found in practice that when such assignments are handled, there is closer linkage among data processing methods than the literature would suggest. In this article, the authors deal with the following issues: (1) how assignments given during informatics courses at the university level can be integrated with the relevant area of specialisation by making use of professional standards, guidebooks to studies in other courses, descriptions and scholarly publications so as to help students and practicing specialists to take decisions on data processing methods, their use, and the interpretation of their results; (2) how to ensure that educational data related to the area of specialisation are obtained on the basis of statistics in scholarly publications; (3) what kind of content is to be used for students of health care and the social sciences; (4) how to choose methods to resolve data processing issues; (5) what are the recommended principles for evaluating the knowledge, skills and talents of students? The views that are presented in this paper are those of the authors or of other authors.


Background: Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) causes high morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs. There are national recommendations for minimal 14 days of IV antibiotics, repeat blood cultures and screen for endocarditis. Study was conducted in University Hospital Coventry (UHC). It is a most modern healthcare facility in Europe with 1,005 beds, 26 operating theatres and specialize in cardiology, neurosurgery, stroke, joint replacements, in vitro fertilization and maternal health, diabetes and kidney transplants. Management of SAB is continuously audited in UHC since 2007. The standard treatment pathway for the trust is underway. Objectives: This is to assess the standard of care in management of SAB comparing the results of past 3-years and looking forward for further development. Methods: Retrospective study conducted between June 2016 to December 2018. Electronic patient records were used. Results: Total 153 patients were identified with SAB. Majority were >60 years. There were 25 intravenous drug users in the group and 6 presented with recurrence. There were only 2% MRSAs. In majority (28%), the source of infection was skin and soft tissue infections. Surveillance blood cultures were done in 76% patients. It is improved form 67% in last audit which was conducted between June 2016 and May2018. Fifty one percent had undergone echocardiogram and 8% patients died before blood culture results are available. In 89% of patients appropriate treatment was started. More than 14 days of treatment was completed in 81% patients. Flucloxacillin, meropenem, ertapenem, daptomycin and other antibiotics were used for the completion of 14 days course. From total patients, 16% had complications and endocarditis was the commonest. The 60 days mortality rate was 21%. Conclusions: The mortality rate and complications of SAB is high disregard of the effective antibiotics and further improvement of the clinical management is essential.


Aim of the study is to determine connection between pseudoexfoliation (PEX) syndrome and symptoms and signs of ocular surface disease. Tear film break-up time test, Schirmer II test and assessment of lid parallel conjunctival folds were performed in 40 PEX syndrome patients and 40 controls. All data was statistically analyzed. Results show statistically significant difference in every component between groups, most prominent in tear film break up time test. We have concluded that patients with PEX syndrome have higher predisposition of tear function disorders and that both components of dry eye syndrome are present in PEX syndrome.


In "The Growth of the Liberal Soul, " David Walsh confronts a core difficulty of the liberal democratic tradition in explaining and justifying itself. Acknowledging the incompleteness of liberal order as a theoretical explication of its underlying beliefs, Walsh analyzes contemporary debates about the foundations of liberal democratic politics. The widespread abandonment of the search for foundations by John Rawls, Richard Rorty, Michael Oakeshott, and the deconstructionists has been interpreted as signifying the absence of any sustaining inner resources. The result has been the confusion of contemporary liberal democratic self-understanding, which cannot make sense of its own extraordinary historical success nor apparently prevent the evident unraveling of its own moral code. It is this state of crisis from which Walsh's study takes its point of departure. Unique in combining contemporary political relevance with historical depth, "The Growth of the Liberal Soul" brings together two approaches that are often treated separately. Walsh elaborates on the existential core of the liberal political tradition by way of an investigation of the historical sources and the raging contemporary debates. While many scholars have been content to call attention to the dependence of liberal politics on transcendent faith, Walsh studies the progress of experiential reality by which that connection is concretely effected in life. "The Growth of the Liberal Soul" will be of interest to all readers, especially those interested in the relationship between religion and politics.


This work is dedicated to the solar-stellar connection, i.e., the close similarity of the Sun and late-type stars; in particular, this work shows that stellar coronae can be composed of X-ray-emitting structures similar to those present in the solar corona. To this end we use a large set of ROSAT PSPC observations of late-type stars of all spectral types and activity levels and a large set of solar X-ray data collected with Yohkoh SXT. Solar data have been analyzed and formatted to study the Sun as an X-ray star; they include observations of the solar corona at various phases of the solar cycle and data on various kinds of X-ray coronal structures, from flares to the background corona, i.e., the most quiet regions. We use the X-ray surface flux (FX) versus spectral hardness ratio (HR) diagram as a fundamental tool for our study. We find that FX is strongly correlated to HR in stellar coronae, in the solar corona at all phases of the solar cycle, and in the individual solar coronal structures; all the above follow the same law. Schmitt found the same correlation in stellar coronae. We therefore claim that coronae of late-type stars are formed with X-ray structures very similar to those in the Sun, since their behavior is identical to that of the solar coronal structures and of the whole solar corona. The spatial location of the X-ray structures on the star, however, could be very different from those on the Sun. In this scenario, the fraction of the stellar surface covered with active regions and their bright cores increases with activity; the most active stars are brighter and hotter than if they were entirely covered with active regions, so they can be explained only with the additional presence of several flares (or flarelike structures) at any time. On the basis of the FX versus HR correlation, corresponding to FX ∝ T6, we then derive a set of new laws relating the temperature, pressure, volumetric heating, and characteristic loop length of the coronal plasma on all the late-type stars. In addition, individual solar coronal structures and the whole solar corona follow the same laws. These laws also agree with recent findings of higher plasma density at higher temperatures in stellar coronae. We claim that the strong correlation between surface flux and temperature and the laws mentioned above are just the effect of more fundamental physical mechanisms driving the coronal structures of all the late-type stars from the emergence of new magnetic structures to their dispersal and dissipation.


The purpose of the present study is to obtain a comprehension for the momentum and heat transfer developments in gravitational liquid film flow. Analytical study of stabilized heat transfer for turbulent film was performed. A calculation method of the local heat transfer coefficient for a turbulent film falling down a vertical convex surface was proposed. The dependence of heat flux variation upon the distance from the wetted surface has been established analytically. Experimental study of velocity profiles for turbulent liquid film flow in the entrance region is performed as well. Analysis of profiles allowed estimating the length of stabilization for turbulent film flow under different initial velocities.


For some years GEC-Plessey Telecommunications has run courses for new software engineering graduates to introduce them to the real life problems of programming in the real world. For two weeks the graduates work in groups on software project with each group in competition with the others. The course leader undertakes role play to give the groups experience of the customer, manager, technical consultant and quality auditor personnel. A few "dirty tricks" help to simulate the real world environment A "wash-up" session at the end reviews the lessons learned. The course is found to have advantages over corresponding undergraduate courses as the restricted hours and full supervision tend to highlight the problems that occur and ensure the lessons of the course are more effectively learned. It is concluded that benefits of realism and awareness gained by the graduates will mean the GPT course will continue to be a worthwhile course valued by company managers, and that other companies may find it useful to incorporate such a course into their own training programmes.


Ultrafast excited state processes of transition metal complexes (TMCs) are governed by complicated interplays between electronic and nuclear dynamics, which demand a detailed understanding to achieve optimal functionalities of photoactive TMC-based materials for many applications. In this work, we investigated a cyclometalated platinum(II) dimer known to undergo a Pt-Pt bond contraction in the metal-metal-to-ligand-charge-transfer (MMLCT) excited state using femtosecond broadband transient absorption (fs-BBTA) spectroscopy in combination with geometry optimization and normal mode calculations. Using a sub-20 fs pump and broadband probe pulses in fs-BBTA spectroscopy, we were able to correlate the coherent vibrational wavepacket (CVWP) evolution with the stimulated emission (SE) dynamics of the 1MMLCT state. The results demonstrated that the 145 cm-1 CVWP motions with the damping times of ∼0.9 ps and ∼2 ps originate from coherent Pt-Pt stretching vibrations in the singlet and triplet MMLCT states, respectively. On the basis of excited state potential energy surface calculations in our previous work, we rationalized that the CVWP transfer from the Franck-Condon (FC) state to the 3MMLCT state was mediated by a triplet ligand-centered (3LC) intermediate state through two step intersystem crossing (ISC) on a time scale shorter than a period of the Pt-Pt stretching wavepacket motions. Moreover, it was found that the CVWP motion had 110 cm-1 frequency decays with the damping time of ∼0.2 ps, matching the time constant of 0.253 ps, corresponding to a redshift in the SE feature at early times. This observation indicates that the Pt-Pt bond contraction changes the stretching frequency from 110 to 145 cm-1 and stabilizes the 1MMLCT state relative to the 3LC state with a ∼0.2 ps time scale. Thus, the ultrafast ISC from the 1MMLCT to the 3LC states occurs before the Pt-Pt bond shortening. The findings herein provide insight into understanding the impact of Pt-Pt bond contraction on the ultrafast branching of the 1MMLCT population into the direct (1MMLCT → 3MMLCT) and indirect ISC pathways (1MMLCT → 3LC → 3MMLCT) in the Pt(II) dimer. These results revealed intricate excited state electronic and nuclear motions that could steer the reaction pathways with a level of detail that has not been achieved before.


We develop a simple yet realistic model of income insurance, where the individual's ability and willingness to work is treated as a continuous variable. In this framework, income insurance not only provides income smoothing, it also relieves the individual from particularly burdensome work. As a result, the individual adjusts his labor supply in a continuous fashion to the implicit tax wedge of the insurance system. Moral hazard, in the sense that an individual receives insurance benefits without actually being fully qualified, also becomes a matter of degree. Moreover, our continuous framework makes it easy to analyze both the role of administrative rejection of claims, and the role of social norms, for the utilization of insurance.


Abstract Tissue injury by pathogens induces a stereotyped inflammatory response that alerts the innate immune system of the potential threat to host integrity. Here, we review knowledge emerging from investigations of the role of the kinin system in the mechanisms that link innate to the adaptive phase of immunity. Progress in this field started with results demonstrating that bradykinin is an endogenous danger signal that induces dendritic cell (DC) maturation via G protein-coupled bradykinin B2 receptors (B2R). The immunostimulatory role of kinins was recently confirmed in two different mouse models of Trypanosoma cruzi infection, a parasitic protozoan equipped with kinin-releasing cysteine proteases (cruzipain). Infection by the intraperitoneal route showed that DCs from B2R-/- mice (susceptible phenotype) failed to sense kinin 'danger' signals proteolytically released by parasites, explaining why these mutant mice display lower frequencies of interferon-γ-producing effector T-cells. Studies of the dynamics of inflammation in the subcutaneous model of infection revealed that the balance between cruzipain and angiotensin-converting enzyme, respectively acting as kinin-generating and degrading enzymes, governs extent of DC maturation and TH1 development via the B2R-dependent innate pathway. Studies of the kinin role in immunity may shed light on the relationship between proteolytic networks and the cytokine circuits that guide T-cell development.


Development sociology as a distinct area of study gained prominence in the post-world war era with the evolving interest in political and economic progression of the post-colonial world. The emerging discipline from the mainstream sociology have been particularly interested in development paths and strategies adopted in nations in the various regions of the world with greater emphasis in development trends among the third world nations. This paper chronicled strides in the sub discipline since inception and contributions by scholars towards the growth of the discipline as well as development descriptions, explanation and predictions with the relationship of the western rich nations and third world nations in mind. This paper, hold that the postulations of development sociology as regards global development trends, citizen's capacity building and citizen's freedom/access be encouraged by all stakeholders; as well as consciously addressing the issue of income inequality which currently is criminally wide.


We discuss a method of combining genome-wide transcription factor binding data, gene expression data, and genome sequence data for the purpose of motif discovery in S. cerevisiae. Within the word-counting algorithmic approach to motif discovery, we present a method of incorporating information from negative intergenic regions where a transcription factor is thought not to bind, and a statistical significance measure which account for intergenic regions of different lengths. Our results demonstrate that our method performs slightly better than other motif discovery algorithms. Finally, we present significant potential new motifs discovered by the algorithm.


Abstract Wales' high quality natural environment is a key attraction for tourists from more urban parts of the UK and this has provided opportunities for many farmers to diversify into tourism. This study provides a qualitative examination of the experience of six farm tourism operators, whose businesses are performing well. The study examines the farm tourism operators' resources and capabilities and how these have contributed towards the performance of their businesses in order to provide examples to other farmers. The study identifies the key resources that farmers have drawn on in creating their tourism products and found these to be: a favourable location, the working farm, farm land and buildings, farm produce, the farm family, the farmer's business ethos and the business's reputation. It also highlights the market appeal of these resources to different tourist markets. The research also finds that this group of farmers has demonstrated the necessary capabilities to transform their resources into tourism products that meet evolving market needs. The study highlights that farmers have identified market gaps, niches and trends to cater for in developing their businesses and that they have focused on maintaining the quality and utility of their tourism product. It found that these factors have influenced their business performance. The study also examines the extent to which agriculture (in this case the working farm and farm produce) features as part of the farm tourism product. It concludes that there is scope for a greater focus on agriculture in the farm tourism sector in Wales and that this could create a stronger farm tourism product.


The intention of this paper is to provide an up to date overview of the key legal, political and practical challenges arising from the proposal by Airtricity/Mainstream Renewable Power to construct a European offshore Supergrid, a super-structure of interconnected HVDC subsea electricity networks designed to span the coastal regions of the European continent. The paper takes a multi-disciplinary and comparative approach of the legal and policy positions in three core European offshore wind energy markets and is motivated by a firm belief that the Supergrid is an ``achievable'' energy infrastructure project. Two central objectives of the Europe Union's energy policy are rooted in the Supergrid proposal. In the first instance, the Supergrid would enhance the expansion of renewable electricity generation in Europe, thus acting as an implementation tool for the European Union's climate change obligations. At the same time, the proposal would also contribute to the achievement of the union's triple energy policy goals: Emission reductions, energy security and technical competitiveness. In its second capacity, by developing an interconnected offshore grid network, the Supergrid would duplicate the congested European onshore grid and serve as a vast interconnector between energy markets. By enabling for the first time the genuine competitive trading of electricity across the union's borders, the proposal would considerably contribute to the achievement of the single European electricity market.


The paper aims to highlight relative strengths and weaknesses of some of the recently proposed architectures for hardware implementation of analog-to-information converters based on Compressive Sensing. To do so, the most common architectures are analyzed when saturation of some building blocks is taken into account, and when measurements are subject to quantization to produce a digital stream. Furthermore, the signal reconstruction is performed by established and novel algorithms (one based on linear programming and the other based on iterative guessing of the support of the target signal), as well as their specialization to the particular architecture producing the measurements. Performance is assessed both as the probability of correct support reconstruction and as the final reconstruction error. Our results help highlighting pros and cons of various architectures and giving quantitative answers to some typical design-oriented questions. Among these, we show: 1) that the (Random Modulation Pre-Integration) RMPI architecture and its recently proposed adjustments are probably the most versatile approach though not always the most economic to implement; 2) that when 1-bit quantization is sought, dynamically mixing quantization and integration in a randomized ΔΣ architecture help bringing the performance much closer to that of multi-bit approaches; 3) for each architecture, the trade-off between number of measurements and number of bits per measurements (given a fixed bit-budget); and 4) pros and cons of the use of Gaussian versus binary random variables for signal acquisition.


Abstract. Oceanic melting beneath ice shelves is the main driver of the current mass loss of the Antarctic ice sheet and is mostly parameterised in stand-alone ice-sheet modelling. Parameterisations are crude representations of reality, and their response to ocean warming has not been compared to 3-D ocean–ice-sheet coupled models. Here, we assess various melting parameterisations ranging from simple scalings with far-field thermal driving to emulators of box and plume models, using a new coupling framework combining the ocean model NEMO and the ice-sheet model Elmer/Ice. We define six idealised one-century scenarios for the far-field ocean ranging from cold to warm, and representative of potential futures for typical Antarctic ice shelves. The scenarios are used to constrain an idealised geometry of the Pine Island glacier representative of a relatively small cavity. Melt rates and sea-level contributions obtained with the parameterised stand-alone ice-sheet model are compared to the coupled model results. The plume parameterisations give good results for cold scenarios but fail and underestimate sea level contribution by tens of percent for warm(ing) scenarios, which may be improved by adapting its empirical scaling. The box parameterisation with five boxes compares fairly well to the coupled results for almost all scenarios, but further work is needed to grasp the correct number of boxes. For simple scalings, the comparison to the coupled framework shows that a quadratic as opposed to linear dependency on thermal forcing is required. In addition, the quadratic dependency is improved when melting depends on both local and non-local, i.e. averaged over the ice shelf, thermal forcing. The results of both the box and the two quadratic parameterisations fall within or close to the coupled model uncertainty. All parameterisations overestimate melting for thin ice shelves while underestimating melting in deep water near the grounding line. Further work is therefore needed to assess the validity of these melting parameteriations in more realistic set-ups.


Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma IS characterised by a t(2;13)(q35;qI4) chromosome trartslocation, which leads to the fusion of the P AX3 artd the FKHR genes. The resulting fusion gene encodes a chimeric protein which has aberrant transcriptional activity. The data here describes the molecular definition of the genomic breakpoints on both derivative chromosomes in one case and the derivative chromosome 13 breakpoints in two other cases. The DNA sequences adjacent to the breakpoints on the derivative chromosome 13 are remarkable for their resemblartce to recognition sequences for the protein trartslin. Electrophoretic mobility shift studies (EMSA) confirm that these sequences bind translin. These findings suggest that translin may not only be important in the genesis of chromosomal trartslocations in lymphoid malignancy, but also in translocations found in solid tumours.

Mutation analysis of tumour samples and cell lines from patients with embryonal and alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma suggests that there are no subtle disease associated mutations within the P AX3 gene that could contribute towards the neoplastic state.


Building energy consumption is shaped by a variety of factors which prompts a
challenge of accurately predicting the building energy performance. Research findings
disclosed a significant gap between the building's predicted and actual energy performance.
One of the key factors behind this gap is the occupant's behavior during operation which
includes a set of dependent and independent parameters generating a greater level of
uncertainties. To accurately estimate the energy performance, we need to quantify the
impact of any observed parameters and further detect its correlation with other parameters.
Human behaviors are complex and quantifying the impact of all its interconnected
parameters can be error prone and costly.
To minimize the performance gap, more scalable and accurate prediction approaches, such
as supervised machine learning methods, should be considered.
This paper is devoted to investigate the most commonly used supervised learning methods
which, when intertwined with conventional building energy performance prediction model,
could potentially provide more accurate and reliable estimates. The paper will pinpoint the
best use of each studied method in the relation to energy prediction in general and
occupant's behavior in specific and how it can be implemented to better predict building
energy performance.


This article analyzes the pedagogical use of high-end computer graphics and low-and high-bandwidth Internet technology for international architectural education among numerous universities in the Americas. The findings can be applied to any discipline that involves a large number of participants within a design setting. The experiments have allowed design studios from seven schools of architecture in the U.S. and South America to work concurrently in a semesterlong design studio. Most of the collaboration was accomplished by using low-bandwidth Internet communication such as web publishing, chat, computerassisted design software and other technologies such as ISDN broadcasting. The author anticipates future experimentation with high-bandwidth technologies on the Internet2 Abilene Network.


This paper examines contract for deed activity across six Midwestern states to improve our understanding of this market and the places in which this activity occurs. Using contract for deed transaction data from ATTOM Data Solutions and block group level data from the U.S. Census, we examine neighborhood characteristics where contract for deed activity is prevalent and assess the differences between contract for deed sales and mortgaged sales on select transaction characteristics. We find contracts for deed tend to be more concentrated in neighborhoods with lower incomes, higher shares of non-White residents, higher rates of vacancy, and less access to traditional mortgage credit. When compared with mortgaged sales, contracts for deed are more likely to be entirely financed and have sales prices that fall below mortgaged sale prices. The strongest findings from this analysis indicate that contract for deed activity varies greatly by area and tends to concentrate in communities with weak housing market indicators.


Radical chemistry represents a powerful set of reactions in which unstable odd electron species can undergo rapid and spontaneous chemical rearrangements. These reactions have recently found analytical use in the dissociation of peptides and proteins in mass spectrometry. In this dissertation, the factors controlling radical migration and dissociation are explored in detail through examination of model peptides and proteins by mass spectrometry and quantum mechanical calculation. Understanding the behavior of radicals in proteins is key to being able to further enhance their analytical usefulness. Radicals already play an important role in electron capture dissociation (ECD) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD) mass spectrometry. When applied to peptides both gas phase dissociation methods yield nearly complete and uniform sequence coverage while retaining labile post-translational modifications (PTMs). In contrast, a recently developed technique, radical directed dissociation (RDD), induces fragmentation at very specific locations in derivatized peptides and proteins which has proven useful in a variety of applications including the facile identification of PTMs. RDD provides very specific fragmentation and is complimentary to the broad uniform fragmentation provided by ECD/ETD. Despite these differences in observed dissociation patterns, ECD, ETD, and RDD are all driven by radical chemistry. This disparity in observed fragmentation can be explained by radical conversion and migration.Radical migration in peptides typically occurs via hydrogen atom abstraction. In this manner radicals may travel to different sites within a molecule assuming the intermediate hydrogen atom transfer reactions are favorable both thermodynamically and kinetically. In this work, the thermodynamic factors, specifically the X-H bond dissociation energies (BDEs) of the 20 canonical amino acids, are determined by quantum mechanical calculation. These BDEs are then used to predict radical induced dissociation in peptides. UV-initiated gas phase peptide radicals are then used to examine radical migration experimentally. Radical induced fragmentation is observed at locations far from the initial radical site clearly indicating that radical migration occurs. Furthermore, good correlation exists between the BDE predicted and experimentally observed radical migration patterns, regardless of charge polarity. It is also shown that radical migration pathways that do not yield immediate dissociation products can be tracked via ion-molecule reactions, specifically the reaction between a carbon centered radical and molecular oxygen gas.The potential uses of radical chemistry in the examination of complex biomolecules such as proteins by mass spectrometry are numerous. The key to harnessing radicals for future analytical use lies in developing a deeper understanding of the thermodynamics and kinetics that control their behavior.


We show that asset prices behave very differently on days when important macroeconomic news is scheduled for announcement. In addition to significantly higher average returns for risky assets on announcement days, return patterns are much easier to reconcile with standard asset pricing theories, both cross-sectionally and over time. On such days, stock market beta is strongly related to average returns. This positive relation holds for individual stocks, for various test portfolios, and even for bonds and currencies, suggesting that beta is after all an important measure of systematic risk. Furthermore, a robust risk–return trade-off exists on announcement days. Expected variance is positively related to future aggregated quarterly announcement day returns, but not to aggregated non-announcement day returns. We explore the implications of our findings in the context of various asset pricing models.


In the present study we provided a morphological and transcriptomic comparison of adult porcine adipose- derived stem cells (ADSC) and bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMSC) as they differentiated in vitro towards the os- teogenic and adipogenic lineages for up to 4 weeks. The long term goal of this comparison is to assess the possibility of using ADSC as a potential alternative to BMSC as a source of autologous adult stem cells in human therapies. Our data indicated that ADSC can differentiate into osteocytes and adipocytes similar to BMSC but with some differ- ences. During the osteogenic differentiation both cell types went through morphological changes; however, while ADSC formed predominately osteogenic islands (nodules) in the culture dish, BMSC formed a continuous osteogenic sheet of small nodules. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that both cell types responded to the osteogenic induction. However, BGLAP mRNA expression did not increase in ADSC suggesting, together with the percentage area stained observed for Alizarin Red and von Kossa in ADSC, a lesser mineralization of bone matrix in this cell type compared to BMSC. During the adipogenic induction ADSC as well as BMSC were able to achieve the morphological and transcriptome changes characteristic of the adipogenic lineage. After 7 days of differentiation the expression patterns of DGAT2 and ADFP became greater in ADSC versus BMSC, which agreed with the larger lipid droplets formation observed in the ADSC by Oil Red O staining. Our findings represent an important step towards the assessment of using ADSC as an alternative to BMSC in therapeutic applications.


Tomato ringspot nepovirus (TomRSV) RNA-1 encodes a putative NTP-binding protein (NTB), a putative viral genome-linked protein (VPg), a putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (Pol) and a serine-like protease (Pro), which have been suggested to be involved in viral RNA replication. Proteolytic processing of protease precursors containing these proteins was studied in Escherichia coli and in vitro. The TomRSV protease could cleave the precursor proteins and release the predicted mature proteins or intermediate precursors. Although processing was detected at all three predicted cleavage sites (NTB-VPg, VPg-Pro and Pro-Pol), processing at the VPg-Pro cleavage site was inefficient, resulting in accumulation of the VPg-Pro intermediate precursor in E. coli and in vitro. In addition, the presence of the VPg sequence in the precursor resulted in increased cleavage at the Pro-Pol cleavage site in E. coli and in vitro. Direct N-terminal sequencing of the genomic RNA-linked VPg, of the mature protease purified from E. coli extracts and of radiolabelled mature polymerase purified from in vitro translation products revealed the sequences of the NTB-VPg, VPg-Pro and Pro-Pol dipeptide cleavage sites to be Q/S, Q/G and Q/S, respectively. In vitro processing at the NTB-VPg and Pro-Pol cleavage sites was not detected upon mutation or deletion of the conserved glutamine at the -1 position of the cleavage site. These results are discussed in light of the cleavage site specificity of the TomRSV protease.


On 4 May 2015, the Australian national broadcaster's current affairs programme Four Corners aired an episode titled 'Slaving Away: The dirty secrets behind Australia's fresh food', that provided revelations of labour exploitation of migrant workers on working holiday visas. The government reacted swiftly to these allegations with an 'operation' ostensibly designed to stop the exploitation. In reports of Operation Cloudburst, however, there was a shift in the media's definition of the problem: worker exploitation became visa violations and newspapers shortly reported the resulting action taken: the 'illegal workers' in Australia's food industry had been arrested. This paper tracks the competing discursive and visual representations of this case that ultimately made questions of labour rights become questions of immigration, making it plausible and acceptable that concern over exploitation of workers should be addressed by deportation of 'illegal immigrants'. Such discursive slippage is enabled by cultural amnesia over Australia's history of exploitation of racialised and migrant labourers, which allows 'slavery' to be represented as a 'foreign' problem that can be expelled in defence of the purity of the national domestic space.


ABSTRACT Many stoloniferous plant species have the ability to exploit resource-rich patches via plastic growth responses. The most efficient responses are shortened spacers and increased branching frequency. Here we experimentally investigate the ability of the stoloniferous plant Linnaea borealis to respond to patches of increased light intensity and reduced water availability in natural systems. The significance of contrasts between patches was also investigated. A three-level factorial design was used, with light, water availability, and site as the factors. Increased light intensity was achieved through mowing of the surrounding vegetation, and reduced water availability was achieved by placing wooden ledges under the stolons. The treatments were applied at three subarctic sites that differ in light conditions. Branching frequency, number of new meristems, average internode length, leaf area, and dry weight production were studied 14 months after the manipulations. Increased light intensity increased branching frequencies; the strongest effects were obtained at the site with a closed canopy. Average internode length decreased 19% in response to increased light intensity. Root:shoot ratios decreased under increased light intensity and reduced water availability. A reduction in water availability alone did not affect any other investigated traits. We conclude that ramets of L. borealis are able to respond efficiently to small-scale variations in light intensity in natural systems, an ability of great importance for the performance of a prostrate species on shady forest floors.


Nanoscale patterning of the hydrogen terminated Si(100)‐2×1 surface has been achieved with an ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscope. Patterning occurs when electrons field emitted from the probe locally desorb hydrogen, converting the surface into clean silicon. Linewidths of 1 nm on a 3 nm pitch are achieved by this technique. Local chemistry is also demonstrated by the selective oxidation of the patterned areas. During oxidation, the linewidth is preserved and the surrounding H‐passivated regions remain unaffected, indicating the potential use of this technique in multistep lithography processes.


Methods capable of measuring blood flow in a tissue‐specific manner are needed. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) using bolus injections of SonoVue® is an useful method for assessing postprandial changes in microvascular perfusion in the vastus lateralis muscle. Ten healthy, young subjects were recruited for this study. Six subjects participated in washout and reproducibility protocols to assess washout time of SonoVue® and the reproducibility of the method when measuring microvascular blood volume (MBV). Six subjects (two of which also participated in the washout and reproducibility protocols) participated in exercise and nutrition protocols, to assess the ability of the method to detect changes in MBV in response to these interventions. Intraday variation (coefficients of variation) for MBV indices, as assessed by peak signal intensity (PI) or mean plateau signal intensity (mPI), was high (PI: 19 ± 4·2%; mPI: 23 ± 3·3%). The exercise protocol induced significant increases in MBV indices (PI:+113%, P˂0·0001; mPI:+218%, P˂0·0001) acutely after exercise cessation. There were no changes in MBV indices in response to feeding during the nutrition protocol (PI: P = 0·51; mPI: P = 0·51). We conclude that CEUS using bolus injections of SonoVue® is not capable of detecting changes in MBV of vastus lateralis in response to feeding. This is probably due to the low reproducibility of the method. However, the method is capable of measuring changes in MBV in response to exercise. This method could therefore be used when investigating exercise‐induced changes in microvascular perfusion.


It is shown that the lower-hybrid turbulence produced by the lower-hybrid-drift wave instability at current sheets can heat electrons and ions in the solar corona. The waves heat the plasma particles by collisionless Landau damping. The waves resonate with electrons moving in the direction of the magnetic field, while they resonate with ions moving in the perpendicular direction.


Yoga originated from India and is becoming popular worldwide. Qigong originated from China and is less known outside China. Interestingly, both Indian Yoga and Chinese Qigong emphasize on three common components in their fundamental practices, viz. (i) stretching of muscles, tendons and ligaments when thousands of proprioceptive receptors which initiate the "gate theory" of neurological control of pain perception are stimulated; (ii) controlled breathing which harmonizes the somatic and autonomic systems of neurological activities; and (iii) the wonderful outcome after such simple voluntary efforts, a state of tranquility of the mind, which could be understood as Meditation. A comprehensive review on the reports on Yoga and Qigong practices affecting the important physiological processes and mental states of the practitioners is completed to provide reliable information about the value of the practices. Result of the review shows that there are sufficient evidences today, after many carefully planned research studies, on the supportive effects of both Yoga and Qigong on not only neuromuscular pathologies but also problems in cardiovas‐ cular, pulmonary and most remarkably, mental health. Yoga and Qigong practices are good for both the body and mind.


The Vulnerable Ili pika Ochotona iliensis (Lagomorpha: Ochotonidae) is a poorly known mammal species that inhabits a restricted geographic range in the Tian Shan Mountains, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. It was discovered in 1983, described in 1986, and subsequently investigated over the following decade. As no studies were conducted on this pika during the next 10 years, a comprehensive census was undertaken in the summers of 2002 and 2003, including all sites where it had previously been observed. Evidence of the Ili pika was found at only 6 of 14 sites censused, and was extinct in two of six regions, including the type and paratype localities (Jilimalale Mountain). Ili pika populations appear to have declined in three of six regions, and in only one region did the population appear to be comparable to a decade earlier. Like all rock-dwelling pikas, the Ili pika has a low population density and rate of reproduction. Additionally, populations on its preferred habitat of cliff faces are highly fragmented. Increased temperatures, possibly due to global warming, and increased grazing pressure may have interacted with the normal population dynamics of the Ili pika to contribute to its recent dramatic decline. We recommend that the Ili pika's Red List status be changed from Vulnerable to Endangered.


Situations in many fields of research, such as digital communications, nuclear physics and mathematical finance, can be modelled with random matrices. When the matrices get large, free probability theory is an invaluable tool for describing the asymptotic behaviour of many systems. It will be explained how free probability can be used to estimate covariance matrices. Multiplicative free deconvolution is shown to be a method which can aid in expressing limit eigenvalue distributions for sample covariance matrices, and to simplify estimators for eigenvalue distributions of covariance matrices.


The authors describe acute deterioration in facial and acoustic neuropathies following radiosurgery for acoustic neuromas. In May 1995, a 26-year-old man, who had no evidence of neurofibromatosis Type 2, was treated with gamma knife radiosurgery (GKS; maximum dose 20 Gy and margin dose 14 Gy) for a right-sided intracanalicular acoustic tumor. Two days after the treatment, he developed headache, vomiting, right-sided facial weakness, tinnitus, and right hearing loss. There was a deterioration of facial nerve function and hearing function from pretreatment values. The facial function worsened from House-Brackmann Grade 1 to 3. Hearing deteriorated from Grade 1 to 5. Magnetic resonance (MR) images, obtained at the same time revealed an obvious decrease in contrast enhancement of the tumor without any change in tumor size or peritumoral edema. Facial nerve function improved gradually and increased to House-Brackmann Grade 2 by 8 months post-GKS. The tumor has been unchanged in size for 5 years, and facial nerve function has also been maintained at Grade 2 with unchanged deafness. This is the first detailed report of immediate facial neuropathy after GKS for acoustic neuroma and MR imaging revealing early possibly toxic changes. Potential explanations for this phenomenon are presented.


IHG: An index for the hydro-geomorphological assessment of fluvial systems River dynamics are the key to fluvial systems not only in terms of how they work, but also with regard to the ecological, landscape, and environmental value of these systems. If a river is to be preserved as an ecosystem and an environmental corridor in the territory, it is mainly its hydro-geomorphological dynamics that have to be protected, because it is precisely them that will guarantee the protection of each and every element of the system and their relationships. This is the reason why the assessment of the hydro-geomorphological functioning of fluvial systems is essential to determine its environmental condition as well as its foreseeable trends. Thus, a hydro-geomorphological assessment index is proposed with the technical purpose of applying the Directive 2000/60/EU and the equally important scientific objective of improving the knowledge and diagnosis of fluvial systems, all this within the framework of the urgent and necessary search for solutions to its current environmental problems. The work presented includes methodological explanations for the application of the index, which is structured in three assessment parameters: 1) functional quality of the fluvial system, including a) naturalness of the discharge regime, b) sediment availability and mobility and, c) functionality of the floodplain; 2) channel quality, including a) naturalness of channel layout and morphology, b) continuity and naturalness of the riverbed and longitudinal and vertical processes and, c) naturalness of the riparian corridor and lateral mobility; and 3) quality of the riverbanks, including a) longitudinal continuity, b) width, structure, and naturalness and, c) cross-section interconnectivity.


Eukaryotic ribosomal RNA contains a considerable number of modified nucleotides. The most common types of modification are 2'-0-methylation and pseudouridylation. This thesis describes studies on pseudouridine in eukaryotic rRNA and its possible relationship to 2'-0-methylation. A simple two-dimensional chromatographic system was developed for separating Up and Up from digests of 32P- labelled RNA. This system was used to quantitate up in HeLa rRNA,. The number of pseudouridines was found to be very close to the number of 2'-0-methyl groups. HeLa 28S RNA contains some 62 2'-0--methyl groups and 60 pseudouridines whilst 18S RNA. contains approximately 38 2'-0-methylations and 37 up residues. The up content of rRNA from mouse L-cells, Xenopus laevis, and Dicty ostelium discoidium was also quantitated. The number of pseudouridines and the number of 2'0-methyl groups was approximately equal in L-cell rRNA and in Xenopus 28S RNA, There was an appreciable excess of pseudouridine over 2'-0-methylation in Xenopus 1 8S RNA, The up content of Dictyostelium rRNA was markedly lower than in vertebrate rRNA's. Data on the number of 2'-0-methyl groups in this species are not accurate but it appears that methylation is also lower than in vertebrates. The pseudouridine content of HeLa 32S and 45S r pre RNA's was investigated. Considerable numbers of up residues were present in both precursors. 32 S RNA was found to contain slightly more pseudouridines than 28S RNA, The estimated number of up residues in 45S RNA (70) was less than the sum of the numbers found in 1 8S and 28S RNA,'s. Possible alternative explanations for this are discussed. Techniques for RNA fingerprinting and sequence analysis were used to investigate the presence of pseudouridine in oligonucleotides from HeLa 1 8S rRNA.. Pseudouridine occurs only at specific sites in the rRNA. sequences. A. large RNA fragment was prepared by digestion of HeLa 28S rRNA with T1 ribonuclease under mild conditions, followed by separation of the products on sucrose gradients. Base composition analysis showed that the fragment had a very high G + C content (ca, 80%). Electrophoretic separation on neutral polyacrylamide gels suggested that preparations contained several fragments of comparable, but not identical size, Denaturation of fragments on 6M urea gels suggested that these various fragments have at least part of their primary sequence in common. Both pancreatic RNase fingerprints and electrophoresis under denaturing conditions demonstrated that the large fragments contain internal nicks. The integrity of the large fragment must, therefore, be maintained after partial digestion by secondary structural interactions. Low reactivity of the fragment to sodium bisulphite suggested that a high proportion of G-C base pairs is present. Electron microscopy in 80% formamide showed that the fragment contains a high degree of secondary structure which is resistant to denaturation. The presence of modified nucleotides in the fragment was investigated. Measurement of 14 C-methyl radioactivity showed that few methyl groups are present. This was confirmed by fingerprinting analysis which showed only one or two 2'-0-methylated oligonucleotides. Pseudouridine was also found to be relatively less abundant in G-C rich fragments than in 28S rRNA, as a whole. Not more than three pseudouridines were present in the fragment, which is several hundred nucleotides long.


In this paper we propose a functional architecture of billing system for Over the Top services. Since OTT services are very diverse provided over different access technologies, on different user devices, legacy billing systems designed for support of unique services in closed provider networks are no longer suitable for new OTT environment. So we propose more flexible approach in building billing systems. Key words: billing system; OTT services; video streaming REFERENCES: [1] Wowza Media Systems, https://www.wowza.com/. [2] Robert Tornkvist, Ralph Schubert: Ericsson convergent charging and billing, https://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/corpinfo/publications/review/2009_01/files/Charging.pdf. [3] Ericson White Paper: Prepaid postpaid convergent charging, http://www.idc-online.com/technical_referen-ces/pdfs/data_communications/PREPAID_POSTPAID_CONVERGENT.pdf [4] Xie Qingrui: Reshape your billing support system Huawei, Huawei Technologies, APR 2008, Issue 40, pp 43–46, http://www1.huawei.com/en/static/HW- 079821.pdf. [5] Cliff Lui, Hui Ka Yu, Richard Shi, Jacky Pang: Telecommunications Billing in the Competitive Wireline Arena, May 2007, http://www.viperfusion.com/word-press/wpcontent/uploads/2007/11/2007PaperTelecommunicationsBillingandStrategy.pdf [6] R. Kuhne, U. Reimer, M. Schlager, F. Dressler, C. Fan, A. Fessi, A. Klenk, G. Carle: Architecture for a ServiceOriented and Convergent Charging in 3G Mobile Networks and Beyond, 2005, https://www.net.in.tum.de/fileadmin/bibtex/publications/papers/kuehne05architecture.pdf [7] Verimatrix, http://www.verimatrix.com/


The main objective of this research is to study the economics of various food products being prepared by the value addition of maize in various food vendors of Raipur city. The specific objectives of the study were to find out the method of preparing those food products, their market demand and to estimate the cost and returns of those value-added food products of maize. The primary data was collected through a pre-tested structured interview schedule. Simple average and percentage methods were used for analysing the data. The major findings of this study revealed that the total variable cost for the making of 161.46 gm sweet corn soup was to be Rs. 59.07. The benefit-cost ratio was observed to be 1:0.69 and the input-output ratio was 1:1.69. The total variable cost for the making of 160gm baby corn chili was to be Rs. 47.46. The benefit-cost ratio was observed to be 1:1.74 and the input-output ratio was 1:2.74.


We analyzed HIV envelope diversity in 98 acute infections. The within-host genetic diversity, divergence from transmitted/founder (T/F) strain and the observed frequency of multiple T/F infections increased with Fiebig stage. These data identify rapid viral dynamics during acute infection with implications for clinical trials conducted in this setting.


To evaluate the veracity of models of the mere exposure effect and to understand the processes that moderate the effect, we conducted a meta-analysis of the influence of repeated exposure on liking, familiarity, recognition, among other evaluations. We estimated parameters from 268 curve estimates drawn from 81 articles and revealed that the mere exposure effect was characterized by a positive slope and negative quadratic effect consistent with an inverted-U shaped curve. In fact, such curves were associated with (a) all visual, but not auditory stimuli; (b) exposure durations shorter than 10 s and longer than 1 min; (c) both homogeneous and heterogeneous presentation types; and (d) ratings that were taken after all stimuli were presented. We conclude that existing models for the mere exposure effect do not adequately account for the findings, and we provide a framework to help guide future research.


Generally, the definition of illegal logging is all activity of logging, purchasing, or log trading without legal permission. Practically, illegal logging is conducted by logging in the area where it basically is prohibited to do such activity, but it becomes legal and perceives as collusion under the permission of local Official Illegal logging is illicitly committed by a criminal network the method used in this research is qualitative. Unstructured interviews and literature studies are used to complete the data. The result of this research shows that despite of the regulation pertaining to illegal logging activity, practically, the illegal activity still occurs in Indonesia with a certain pattern to avoid law administration. It is perceptible to conclude that illegal logging activity in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park or Taman Nasional Bukit Barisan (TNBBS) is the embody of organized crime involving clandestine network that causes complicated law enforcement for such crime to prevail.


Background
The extent to and mechanisms by which agricultural biodiversity may influence diet diversity and quality among women are not well understood.

Objectives
We aimed to 1) determine the association of farm-level agricultural biodiversity with diet diversity and quality among women of reproductive age in Peru and 2) determine the extent to which farm market orientation mediates or moderates this association.

Methods
We surveyed 600 households with the use of stratified random sampling across 3 study landscapes in the Peruvian Andes with diverse agroecological and market conditions. Diet diversity and quality among women were assessed by using quantitative 24-h dietary recalls with repeat recalls among 100 randomly selected women. We calculated a 10-food group diet diversity score (DDS), the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W) indicator, probability of adequacy (PA) of 9 micronutrients by using a measurement-error model approach, and mean PA (MPA; mean of PAs for all nutrients). Agricultural biodiversity was defined as a count of crop species cultivated by the household during the 2016-2017 agricultural season.

Results
In regression analyses adjusting for sociodemographic and agricultural characteristics, farm-level agricultural biodiversity was associated with a higher DDS (incidence rate ratio from Poisson regression: 1.03; P < 0.05) and MPA (ordinary least-squares β-coefficient: 0.65; P < 0.1) and higher odds of achieving a minimally diverse diet (MDD-W: OR from logistic regression: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.23) and a diet that met a minimum threshold for micronutrient adequacy (MPA >60%: OR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.35). Farm market orientation did not consistently moderate these associations, and in path analyses we observed no consistent evidence of mediation of these associations by farm market orientation.

Conclusions
Farm-level agricultural biodiversity was associated with moderately more diverse and more micronutrient-adequate diets among Peruvian women. This association was consistent across farms with varying levels of market orientation, although agricultural biodiversity likely contributed to diets principally through subsistence consumption.


The impact of Human Immune Deficiency/Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is evident in the rising numbers of those orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Apart from death, millions of children live in households with sick and dying members. These Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) affected by HIV/AIDS are stigmatized, isolated, discriminated against, disinherited and often deprived of basic education and care. This study was carried out in Kadibo Division, Kisumu District. Systematic random sampling was used. The sampling frame consisted of all the households with OVCs supported by various Community Based Organizations (CBOs) . A total of 111 households were interviewed and nutritional assessment for 322 children was done. The study was designed to assist CBOs improve their effectiveness in provision of optimal nutritional care for OVCs. Data collection applied both quantitative and qualitative methods. Pearson's product correlation moment was applied to determine the strength of association between independent and dependent variables. Probit regression model was developed from the independent and dependent dichotomous variables.


For obtaining small parts with complex shape, for which a finishing operation cannot be applied easily, injection forming can be used. For a successful applying of this procedure not only the conditions of the injection process deployment must be taken into consideration, but also the conditions of the binder removal. These conditions impose, in a big measure, the feedstock characteristics, especially the ones of the binder used. The characteristics of the binder mixed with powder influence the injection process, the debinding process and the quality of the injected and sintered parts. Regarding that the binders used are formed from many components, it is very important to know the measure that each of them determines the rheological characteristics of the mixture. In the research made, a binder was used formed from polyethylene, paraffin and stearic acid, a binder which is often used to obtain mixtures for injection. It was watched how these components influence the binder characteristics, the injection process deployment and the effect they have on the quality of the debinded parts.


An increasing number of HVDC lines are currently deployed all around the world. HVDC links are either based on line-commutated converters (LCC) or on voltage-source converters (VSC) technologies. This paper presents a fundamental study on the impact of HVDC links on the transient stability of power systems. Both, VSC and LCC HVDC links have been studied when applied to a two-area power system. Particular attention has been paid to the critical clearing time (CCT). It has been found that HVDC links generally improve transient stability by increasing the critical clearing time with respect to the case without HVDC link. Moreover, the impact on transient stability significantly depends on the supervisory control strategies applied to the LCCs and VSCs of the HVDC links. An inappropriate handling of current limits of VSC by reducing either active or reactive power can worsen transient stability.


The critical feminist thought in the spanish enlightenment shares certain features with all modern european enlightenments. This is hardly surprising, since they all – despite their different backgrounds – stem from a common source: the feminist thought that evolved in modern times in 17and 18-century France. This French feminist thought is itself entrenched in the entire political philosophy surrounding the construction of the modern state and the corresponding new social order. in fact, what takes place in europe (irst in France, and later everywhere else) is not so much "feminist" thought (an anachronistic expression), but a radically new chapter in the old "Women's question" (La querelle des femmes). however although the term feminism dates from the 19 century, i use it in this essay as a convenient shorthand to refer to this concept. There were several factors that contributed signiicant new developments to this age-old dispute, one of which was social; namely that the "dispute about women" was no longer in the hands of theologians. since the Renaissance, new social spaces had gradually been opened up where the women's question was debated both collectively and publicly. These were above all social spaces in which women themselves had a voice. in the 17 century, these were the salons


In the semiconductor chip manufacturing industry, a method of evaluating characteristics by applying a direct circuit edit at an already manufactured chip level is widely used in order to shorten the product development time and release the product to the market in a short time. [1] This is because, when the fab process is performed by modifying the mask to improve the characteristics as in the conventional method, it takes a lot of time and cost for feedback. Feedback of semiconductor characteristics through circuit edit can save 10-20 times in terms of cost and time. As the process becomes more complex and the pattern size becomes smaller, its benefits become even greater. However, when the chip level circuit edit is applied to the Chip Scale Package (CSP) IC, it is very difficult to apply a general method of the frontside circuit edit, so that the success rate of the circuit edit is lowered. In order to solve this problem, a circuit edit method in the backside direction of the chip has been attempted for many years. [2, 3] However, the backside circuit edit (BCE) has more difficulties than the frontside circuit edit. A typical issue is how to uniformly and precisely control and remove the backside Si of the circuit edit area. The following three points should be considered for this. First, the uniformity of the remaining silicon thickness should be high. Second, it is necessary to control the thickness of remaining silicon to an appropriate thickness in the process of removing backside silicon. Third, it is important not to damage the peripheral circuit during etching and deposition. In this paper, we propose a method to increase the backside circuit edit success rate of CSP IC using Al or Cu metal by controlling these three factors effectively.


A visible-light photocatalyst was prepared by calcination of the hydrolysis product of Ti(SO4)2 with ammonia as precipitator. The color of this photocatalyst was vivid yellow. It could absorb light under 550 nm wavelength. The crystal structure of anatase was characterized by XRD. The structure analysis result of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) shows that doped-nitrogen was presented in the sample. The photocatalytic activities were evaluated using methyl orange and phenol as model pollutants. The photocatalytic activities of samples were increasing gradually with calcination temperature from 400 degrees C to 700 degrees C under UV irradiation. It can be seen that the degradation of methyl orange follows zero-order kinetics. However, the calcination temperatures have no significant influence on the degradation of phenol under sunlight. The N-doped catalyst shows higher activity than the bare one under solar irradiation.


Unconstitutional changes of government (UCG) remain a constant challenge to democracy, governance and political stability on the African continent. These occurrences in the post-Cold War era have been characterized by the emergence of more subtle ways of accessing and maintaining power. To respond to the threat, the African Union (AU), supported by sub-regional entities, has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against UCGs. Such response includes the establishment of a sanctions regime to ensure a return to democratic and constitutional order in case of UCG in a given member state. Despite significant normative and practical gaps, the AU norm on UCG shows promise and remains a valuable tool to address anti-democratic coups on the continent. Moving forward, it is imperative to focus on improving the current legal and institutional framework against UCG to foster a more comprehensive and coordinated African-led response to these crises on the continent


The suckling period of rodents is accompanied by marked ketosis as a result of the high fat content of maternal milk. During this time, ketone bodies are the major source of energy for the brain. After weaning when the diet is mainly composed of carbohydrates, glucose becomes the major fuel for the brain. Here we could show that rearing mice on a ketogenic diet (KD) prolongs the metabolic state of ketosis in the brain seen during suckling. Reduced blood glucose concentration and increased s-hydroxybutyrate levels are characteristic for KD fed animals, thereby reflecting the metabolic situation of the neonatal period. Inducing altered substrate availability by KD resulted in increased expression of monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) in cortical tissue as well as increased abundance of the key ketolytic enzyme Succinyl-CoA:3-oxoacid-CoA transferase (SCOT). However, detailed mechanistical insight in vivo is lacking and studies did not take into account cell type specific adaptations. We therefore established a refined protocol of MACS-technology, enabling isolation of highly pure cell fractions from individual cortices of adult animals. By using proteomic or transcriptomic analysis of astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, endothelial cells and neurons, cell type specific metabolic adaptations in response to KD feeding were analyzed. Surprisingly, our data indicate that endothelial cells under ketosis support brain metabolism through transport of ketone bodies while they rely on glycolysis. In contrast, astrocytes shifted their metabolism from glucose utilization to ketolysis and s-oxidation thereby probably sparing glucose for neurons. Of note, oligodendrocytes largely remain metabolically unaltered and seem to support neuronal activity enhanced potassium buffering and potentially transport of ketone bodies. Interestingly, in addition to increased ketolysis neurons upregulated glycolytic enzymes. We speculate that increased utilization of KB and glucose leads to enhanced mitochondrial respiration. In turn, we hypothesize that enhanced mitochondrial respiration might support increased synaptic transmission in neurons and motor activity observed in KD fed mice. Taken together, our data highlight the compartmentalization of brain metabolism in different cell types under ketogenic conditions. Furthermore, these findings might build the basis to understand therapeutical effects of the KD on cellular level in vivo and underscore the need for future cell specific investigations.


The Patterson Lake corridor is situated along the SW margin of the Athabasca Basin and contains several basement-hosted uranium deposits and prospects. Drill core investigations during this study have determined that granite, granodiorite, mafic and alkali intrusive basement rocks are entrained in a deep-seated NE-striking subvertical heterogeneous high-strain zone defined by anastomosing ductile to semi-brittle shears and brittle faults. The earliest phases of ductile deformation (D1/D2), linked with Taltson (1.94–1.92 Ga) orogenesis, involved interference between early fold sets (F1/F2) and development of an associated ductile transposition foliation (S1/S2). During subsequent Snowbird (c. 1.91–1.90 Ga) tectonism, this composite foliation was re-folded (D3) by NE-trending buckle-style folds (F3), including a regional fold centred on the Clearwater aeromagnetic high. In continuum with D3, a network of dextral-reverse chloritic-graphitic shears, with C–S geometry, formed initially (D4a) and progressed to more discrete, spaced semi-brittle structures (D4b; c. 1.900–1.819 Ga). Basin development (D5a; <c. 1.819 Ga) was marked by a set of north-striking normal faults and related east- and NE-striking transfer faults that accommodated subsidence. Primary uranium mineralization (D5b; c. 1.45 Ga) was facilitated by brittle reactivation of NE-striking basement shears in response to WSW–ENE-directed compressional stress (σ1). Uraninite was emplaced along σ1-parallel extension fractures and dilational zones formed at linkages between NE- and ENE-striking dextral strike-slip faults. Uranium remobilization (D5c) occurred after σ1 shifted to WNW–ESE, giving rise to regional east- and SE-striking conjugate faults, along which mafic dykes (1.27 and 1.16 Ga) intruded. Thematic collection: This article is part of the Uranium Fluid Pathways collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/uranium-fluid-pathways


Arsenic concentrations in soil and water were examined at the European level via a literature review and data inventory in the first phase of the AgriAs European Water JPI project. Arsenic in soil can be derived from both natural and anthropogenic sources. At the European scale, the distribution of arsenic in agricultural topsoil can mostly be explained by geology. In the next step, the AgriAs project investigated arsenic concentrations in soil and water in two regions: Saxony in Germany and Verdun in France. The results were compared with arsenic data from a geogenic arsenic region around the city of Tampere in Finland. In Saxony, arsenic is partly natural and partly derived from the widespread mining and ore processing activities in the area that have lasted for centuries. Areas contaminated with As were found to cover 970 km2 in Saxony. The soil baseline for As is only 20–40 mg/kg but the highest concentrations in soil are up to 5000 mg/kg. The large number of investigations in Saxony has given a possibility to evaluate As transfer into plants, fodder and food and to develop guidelines for farmers. In Verdun, arsenic is derived from a former chemical ammunition destruction facility that operated in the interwar period. Today, there are hot spots of As in topsoil with concentrations ranging from 100 to 1000 mg/kg, while the baseline concentration in soil is 18 mg/kg. In the Tampere region, baseline concentrations of As in glacial till forest soils are relatively high (30 mg/kg) over an area of 7400 km2, with hot spots of 1050 mg/kg in topsoil. However, agricultural soils contain clearly lower As concentrations. In all three regions, As concentrations in surface waters and in groundwater were found to be relatively low, and the As concentration in topsoil could not be linked to irrigation with As-containing water. Fortunately, As transfer from soil into plants via root systems is generally low in aerated soil, but As-containing dust can affect fodder plants. Especially in the Freiberg area of Saxony, As is usually associated with Cd contamination in topsoil, and guidelines for farmers based on Cd concentrations are also a good risk management method for As.