The use of internet has increased over the past years. Many users may not have good intentions. Some people use the internet to gain access to the unauthorized information. Although absolute security of information is not possible for any network connected to the Internet however, firewalls make an important contribution to the network security. A firewall is a barrier placed between the network and the outside world to prevent the unwanted and potentially damaging intrusion of the network. This thesis compares the performance of Linux packet filtering firewalls, i.e. iptables and shorewall. The firewall performance testing helps in selecting the right firewall as needed. In addition, it highlights the strength and weakness of each firewall. Both firewalls were tested by using the identical parameters. During the experiments, recommended benchmarking methodology for firewall performance testing is taken into account as described in RFC 3511. The comparison process includes experiments which are performed by using different tools. To validate the effectiveness of firewalls, several performance metrics such as throughput, latency, connection establishment and teardown rate, HTTP transfer rate and system resource consumption are used. The experimental results indicate that the performance of Iptables firewall decreases as compared to shorewall in all the aspects taken into account. All the selected metrics show that large numbers of filtering rules have a negative impact on the performance of both firewalls. However, UDP throughput is not affected by the number of filtering rules. The experimental results also indicate that traffic sent with different packet sizes do not affect the performance of firewalls.


This thesis explores the prospect of a design science of technology enhanced mathematics education
(TEME), on three levels: epistemological, methodological and pedagogical. Its primary domain is the
identification of scientific tools for design research in TEME. The outputs of this enquiry are
evaluated by a demonstrator study in the domain of secondary school mathematics.
A review of existing literature establishes a need for a design perspective in TEME research, but at
the same time suggests a need for a consensual epistemic infrastructure for the field: a shared set of
rules, processes and representations which bound and support its scientific discourse. Three
constructs are proposed towards such an infrastructure: design narratives, design patterns, and the
cycles of design research in which they are embedded. The first two are representations of domain
design knowledge; the latter is a description of a design-centred scientific process.
The three constructs identified at the epistemological level are operationalised as a methodological
framework by projecting them into a specific research setting of the demonstrator study.
Appropriate methods and procedures are identified for collecting data, organising and interpreting
them as design narratives, and extracting design patterns from these narratives.
The methodological framework is applied in the demonstrator domain to the question of learning
about number sequences. A review of the educational research on number sequences identifies
challenges in this area related to the tension between learners' intuitive concept of sequences and
the dominant curricular form. The former appears to be recursive in nature and narrative in form,
whereas the latter is a function of index expressed in algebraic notation. The chosen design
approach combines construction, collaboration and communication. It highlights the need for
representations and activities which lead learners from intuitive concepts to formal mathematical
structures.
Three interleaved themes connect the primary and the demonstrator domains: narrative,
systematisation and representation. Narrative emerges as a key element in the process of deriving
knowledge from experience. Systemisation concerns the structured organisation of knowledge. The
tension between the two calls for representations which support a trajectory from the intuitive to
the structural.
The main outcome of this study is a methodological framework for design science of TEME which
combines design narratives and design patterns into structured cycles of enquiry. This framework is
supported both theoretically and empirically. Inter alia, it is used to derive a contribution towards a
pedagogical pattern language of construction, communication and collaboration in TEME.


The benefits of exercise extend far beyond weight management. Research shows that regular physical activity can help reduce the risk for several diseases and health conditions and improve overall quality of life. Regular physical activity can help protect us from various health problems. Exercises are the bodily activities which enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. These are performed for various reasons, including strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, and merely enjoyment. Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system and helps prevent the "diseases of affluence" such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, and obesity. It may also help prevent depression, help to promote or maintain positive self-esteem, improve mental health generally, and can augment an individual's sex appeal or body image, which has been found to be linked with higher levels of self-esteem. Childhood obesity is a growing global concern, and physical exercise may help decrease some of the effects of childhood and adult obesity. Health care providers often call exercise the "miracle" or "wonder" drug-alluding to the wide variety of proven benefits that it can provide.


The newly-introduced Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information represent the first systematic national privacy protections of health information. Flowing from a Congressional mandate in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the regulations protect the privacy of individually-identifiable health records in any form (including electronic, paper and oral) through disclosure and use limitations, fair information practices, and privacy and security policies that apply to "covered entities" (health providers, health insurance plans and health care clearinghouses) and their business associates. Privacy safeguards are needed because of the personal nature of health data, the rapid shift from paper to electronic records, and actual and perceived risks of unwarranted disclosures. Existing health information privacy legal protections at the federal and state levels are fragmented, inconsistent, and variable. The new standards endeavor to protect patient privacy by limiting disclosures of individually-identifiable medical information (or "protected health information" (PHI)). Disclosure and use of PHI can only occur upon patient consent, subject to several exceptions outside the health care transaction setting. The regulations also implement fair information practices, which have long been a feature of existing federal laws. Fair information practices allow patients to (1) inspect and amend their records, (2) receive notice of covered entities' privacy practices and potential uses and disclosures of health information, and (3) request confidential communications and an accounting of actual disclosure. Through the regulations, HHS attempts to set a "floor" for protections that, it suggests, "balance[s] the needs of the individual with the needs of society." Reaching this balance, however, is precarious. The national privacy rule does not always achieve a fair and reasonable allocation of benefits and burdens for patients and the community. We suggest a framework for balancing that values privacy and common goods, without a priori favoring either. We instead seek to maximize privacy interests where they matter most to the individual and maximize communal interests where they are likely to achieve the greatest public good. Thus, where the potential for public benefit is high and the risk of harm to individuals is low, we suggest that public entities should have discretion to use data for important public purposes. Provided that the data are used only for the public good (e.g., research or public health), and the potential for harmful disclosures are negligible, there are good reasons for permitting data sharing. Conversely, if data are disclosed in ways that are unlikely to achieve a strong public benefit, and the personal risks are high, individual interests in autonomy should prevail. Consequently, for these kinds of disclosures, the law should strictly prohibit the release of information without the patient's consent. Through this framework we attempt to maximize individual and communal interests in the handling of identifiable health data.


In this article, we first discuss traditional deterrence theory as applied to optimal criminal antitrust penalties. Then we evaluate both the U.S. and EU experience with ever-increasing corporate fines and the available empirical evidence on the deterrent value of cartel sanctions. In the next part we turn to our claim that the conventional wisdom of ever-increasing corporate fines to solve the problem of under-deterrence is misguided. The determination of the optimal sanction for price-fixing should be guided by two principles: (1) the total sanction must be great enough, but no greater than necessary, to take the profit out of price-fixing; and (2) the individuals responsible for the price-fixing should be given a sufficient disincentive to discourage them from engaging in the activity. We propose altering the distribution of criminal sanctions for corporations and the individuals who fix prices on their behalf, and introducing sanctions for negligent officers and directors consistent with our two fundamental principles. Finally, we discuss the experience with debarment as a sanction in other contexts, and how it might operate in the context of U.S. antitrust enforcement.


The story of the Arab Revolt and the Hashemite princes who led it during the First World War is inextricably linked in modern eyes to the legend of "Lawrence of Arabia" as portrayed in David Lean's 1962 film. But behind this romantic image lies a harsher reality of wartime expediency, double-dealing and dynastic ambition, which shaped the modern Middle East and laid the foundations of many of the conflicts that rack the region to this day. Arab nationalists claim that British instigation for the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire was a commitment to independence for the Arab people, but in this book Robert McNamara shows how the British cultivated the Hashemite Sherifs of Mecca more as an alternative focus during the First World War for Muslim loyalty from the Ottoman Sultan, who as Caliph had declared a jihad against the Allies when the Turks joined the Central Powers, than a leader of an independent and united Arabia. At the same time, the Sykes-Picot Agreement divided up the Middle East between British and French spheres of influence. The sense of betrayal that this caused has coloured Arab nationalists' views of the West ever since. The main countries of the Middle East Jordan, Syria and Iraq are all the creations of the post-First World War settlement worked out at the Paris Peace Conference. The story of the Hashemite dynasty at the Paris Peace Conference is the story of the birth of the modern history of a region that is now more than ever at the centre of world affairs.


CONTEXT
The relationship between rising body mass index (BMI) and prospective risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is virtually absent.

OBJECTIVE
Determine the extent of the association between BMI and risk of future NAFLD diagnosis, stratifying by sex and diabetes.

DESIGN
Two prospective studies using Humedica and Health Improvement Network (THIN) with 1.54 and 4.96 years of follow-up, respectively.

SETTING
Electronic health record databases.

PARTICIPANTS
Patients with a recorded BMI measurement between 15 and 60 kg/m(2), and smoking status, and 1 year of active status before baseline BMI. Patients with a diagnosis or history of chronic diseases were excluded.

INTERVENTIONS
None.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Recorded diagnosis of NAFLD/NASH during follow-up (Humedica International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code 571.8, and read codes for NAFLD and NASH in THIN).

RESULTS
Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated across BMI categories using BMI of 20-22.5 kg/m(2) as the reference category, adjusting for age, sex, and smoking status. Risk of recorded NAFLD/NASH increased linearly with BMI and was approximately 5-fold higher in Humedica (HR = 4.78; 95% confidence interval, 4.17-5.47) and 9-fold higher in THIN (HR = 8.93; 7.11-11.23) at a BMI of 30-32.5 kg/m(2) rising to around 10-fold higher in Humedica (HR = 9.80; 8.49-11.32) and 14-fold higher in THIN (HR = 14.32; 11.04-18.57) in the 37.5- to 40-kg/m(2) BMI category. Risk of NAFLD/NASH was approximately 50% higher in men and approximately double in those with diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS
These data quantify the consistent and strong relationships between BMI and prospectively recorded diagnoses of NAFLD/NASH and emphasize the importance of weight reduction strategies for prevention and management of NAFLD.


A family ${\cal A}$ of sets is said to be intersecting if any two sets in ${\cal A}$ intersect. Families ${\cal A}_1, ..., {\cal A}_p$ are said to be cross-intersecting if, for any $i, j \in \{1, ..., p\}$ such that $i \neq j$, any set in ${\cal A}_i$ intersects any set in ${\cal A}_j$. For ${\bf k} = (k_1, ..., k_n) \in {\Bbb N}^n$, $2 \leq k_1 \leq ... \leq k_n$, let ${\cal L}_{\bf{k}}$ be the family of labeled $n$-sets given by ${\cal L}_{\bf{k}} := \{\{(1,l_1), ..., (n,l_n)\} \colon l_i \in \{1, ..., k_i\}, i = 1, ..., n\}$. We point out a relationship between intersecting families and cross-intersecting families of labeled sets, and we show that, if ${\cal A}_1, ..., {\cal A}_p$ are cross-intersecting sub-families of ${\cal L}_{\bf{k}}$, then $$ \sum_{j = 1}^p |{\cal A}_j| \leq \left\{ \matrix{ k_1k_2...k_n & \hbox{if $p \leq k_1$};\cr pk_2...k_n & \hbox{if $p \geq k_1$}.\cr } \right. $$ We also determine the cases of equality. We then obtain a more general inequality, a special case of which is a sharp bound for cross-intersecting families of permutations .


The Energy Bus, an international best seller by Jon Gordon, takes readers on an enlightening and inspiring ride that reveals 10 secrets for approaching life and work with the kind of positive, forward thinking that leads to true accomplishment - at work and at home. Jon infuses this engaging story with keen insights as he provides a powerful roadmap to overcome adversity and bring out the best in yourself and your team. When you get on The Energy Bus you'll enjoy the ride of your life!


Numerical simulations and airborne measurements are used to evaluate the impact of physical processes on synoptically forced, midlatitude cirrus ice concentrations. The agreement within a factor of 2 between ice concentrations measured with independent techniques (replicators and optical imaging probes) provides confidence in the accuracy of the in situ measurements. We use a computationally efficient modeling approach that incorporates the key cirrus physical processes, such that thousands of cloud cases can be simulated and the model results can be statistically compared with observations. One‐dimensional simulations with detailed treatments of cloud microphysical processes are driven by temperatures and vertical winds extracted from meteorological analyses. Small‐scale temperature and vertical wind perturbations associated with mesoscale waves are superimposed on the analysis fields. We find that in simulations with only homogeneous freezing nucleation, ice concentration statistics are very sensitive to the specified mesoscale wave vertical wind perturbations. With the frequency distribution of vertical winds adjusted to agree with aircraft observations, we obtain good agreement between the simulated and observed ice concentration frequency distributions. Both the observations and simulations indicate that relatively high ice concentrations (≥1000 L−1) occur rarely in these clouds (less than 1% of the time). Simulations including both homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation indicate that even with moderate concentrations of ice nuclei (20 L−1), heterogeneous nucleation is an important ice production process, particularly for relatively low ice concentrations and warm temperatures. With enhanced ice nuclei concentrations (100 L−1), heterogeneous nucleation dominates ice production in the model. We find that it is critically important to include the impact of sedimentation on the evolution of ice concentrations when comparing model results with observations. Ice crystal collection efficiencies are poorly constrained at low temperatures, and we find that aggregation can significantly reduce ice concentrations. Sensitivity tests indicate that neither the agreement between observed and simulated ice crystal statistics nor the sensitivities indicated by the simulations are significantly affected by model assumptions such as the time periods simulated, geographic domain covered, trajectory paths calculated, or ice crystal habit assumed.


Summary 11β-hydroxylase deficiency (11β-OHD), an autosomal recessive inherited disorder, accounts for 5–8% of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. In Greece, no cases of 11β-OHD have been described so far. The patient presented at the age of 13 months with mild virilization of external genitalia and pubic hair development since the age of 3 months. Hormonal profile showed elevated 11-deoxycortisol, adrenal androgens and ACTH levels. ACTH stimulation test was compatible with 11β-OHD. DNA of the proband and her parents was isolated and genotyped for CYP11B1 gene coding cytochrome P450c11. The girl was found to be compound heterozygous for two CYP11B1 novel mutations, p.Ala386Glu (exon 7), inherited from the father and p.Leu471Argin (exon 9) from the mother. Hydrocortisone supplementation therapy was initiated. Four years after presentation she remains normotensive, her growth pattern is normal and the bone age remains advanced despite adequate suppression of adrenal androgens. Learning points 11β-hydroxylase (CYP11B1) deficiency (11OHD; OMIM +202010) is the second most common cause of CAH accounting for approximately 5–8% of cases with an incidence of 1:100 000–1:200 000 live births in non-consanguineous populations. Two CYP11B1 inactivating novel mutations, p.Ala386Glu and p.Leu471Arg are reported Regarding newborn females, in utero androgen excess results in ambiguous genitalia, whereas in the male newborn diagnosis may go undetected. In infancy and childhood adrenal androgen overproduction results in peripheral precocious puberty in boys and various degrees of virilization in girls. Accumulation of 11-deoxycorticosterone and its metabolites causes hypertension in about two thirds of patients. Diagnosis lies upon elevated 11-deoxycortisol and DOC plus upstream precursors, such as 17α-hydroxyprogesterone and Δ4-androstenedione. The established treatment of steroid 11β-OHD is similar to that of steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency and consists of glucocorticoid administration in order to reduce ACTH-driven DOC overproduction resulting in hypertension remission and improvement of the virilization symptoms.


Objectives To determine whether China's New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS), which aims to provide health insurance to 800 million rural citizens and to correct distortions in rural primary care, and the individual policy attributes have affected the operation and use of village health clinics. Design We performed a difference-in-difference analysis using multivariate linear regressions, controlling for clinic and individual attributes as well as village and year effects. Setting 100 villages within 25 rural counties across five Chinese provinces in 2004 and 2007. Participants 160 village primary care clinics and 8339 individuals. Main outcome measures Clinic outcomes were log average weekly patient flow, log average monthly gross income, log total annual net income, and the proportion of monthly gross income from medicine sales. Individual outcomes were probability of seeking medical care, log annual "out of pocket" health expenditure, and two measures of exposure to financial risk (probability of incurring out of pocket health expenditure above the 90th percentile of spending among the uninsured and probability of financing medical care by borrowing or selling assets). Results For village clinics, we found that NCMS was associated with a 26% increase in weekly patient flow and a 29% increase in monthly gross income, but no change in annual net revenue or the proportion of monthly income from drug revenue. For individuals, participation in NCMS was associated with a 5% increase in village clinic use, but no change in overall medical care use. Also, out of pocket medical spending fell by 19% and the two measures of exposure to financial risk declined by 24-63%. These changes occurred across heterogeneous county programmes, even in those with minimal benefit packages. Conclusions NCMS provides some financial risk protection for individuals in rural China and has partly corrected distortions in Chinese rural healthcare (reducing the oversupply of specialty services and prescription drugs). However, the scheme may have also shifted uncompensated new responsibilities to village clinics. Given renewed interest among Chinese policy makers in strengthening primary care, the effect of NCMS deserves greater attention.


Abstract The importance of radial (i.e. perpendicular to the magnetic surface) electric fields was already recognised early in the research on controlled thermonuclear fusion. An initial description of electric field effects in toroidal confinement was given by Budker. Such a configuration with combined magnetic and electric confinement ("magnetoelectric confinement", where the electric field provides a toroidal equilibrium configuration without rotational transform) was studied by Stix, who suggested that a reactor-grade plasma under magnetoelectric confinement (electric fields of order 1 MV/cm) may reach a quasi-steady-state with ambipolar loss of electrons and some suprathermal ions (e.g. 3.5 MeV α-particles). Experiments such as on the Electric Field Bumpy Torus EFBT provided quite favourable scaling for particle confinement. The possible importance of radial electric fields for transport was in the past repeatedly established. Since the early days the plasma potential has been measured in tokamaks such as ST, TM-4 and ISXB, but because no significant effects of the radial electric field Er on plasma transport were observed under the machine conditions at that time, no further research was conducted in tokamaks.


Multiway Quicksort, i.e., partitioning the input in one step around several pivots, has received much attention since Java 7's runtime library uses a new dual-pivot method that outperforms by far the old Quicksort implementation. The success of dual-pivot Quicksort is most likely due to more efficient usage of the memory hierarchy, which gives reason to believe that further improvements are possible with multiway Quicksort.

In this dissertation, I conduct a mathematical average-case analysis of multiway Quicksort including the important optimization to choose pivots from a sample of the input. I propose a parametric template algorithm that covers all practically relevant partitioning methods as special cases, and analyze this method in full generality. This allows me to analytically investigate in depth what effect the parameters of the generic Quicksort have on its performance. To model the memory-hierarchy costs, I also analyze the expected number of scanned elements, a measure for the amount of data transferred from memory that is known to also approximate the number of cache misses very well. The analysis unifies previous analyses of particular Quicksort variants under particular cost measures in one generic framework.

A main result is that multiway partitioning can reduce the number of scanned elements significantly, while it does not save many key comparisons; this explains why the earlier studies of multiway Quicksort did not find it promising. A highlight of this dissertation is the extension of the analysis to inputs with equal keys. I give the first analysis of Quicksort with pivot sampling and multiway partitioning on an input model with equal keys.


The dramatic moment when an eyewitness takes the stand and points to the defendant in the courtroom can be pivotal in a criminal trial. That piece of theater, however compelling to jurors, is staged: it is obvious where the defendant is sitting, and, importantly, the memory of the eyewitness should have been tested before trial using photo arrays or lineups. Such courtroom displays have been accepted for so long that their role in the U.S. Supreme Court's due process jurisprudence regulating eyewitness identifications has been neglected. The due process test that regulates tens of thousands of eyewitness identifications each year admits at-trial identifications that resulted from suggestive pretrial procedures — long known to increase the dangers that the innocent may be misidentified — if the judge decides that those identifications are otherwise "reliable." In this Article, I uncover an approach — use of an independent source rule — that has been adopted by the vast majority of courts, but whose importance has not been appreciated. This approach short-circuits the already malleable due process inquiry. Even if a prior lineup was suggestive and illegal, judges will nonetheless allow a subsequent courtroom identification by citing to its supposed "independent source." This approach to exclusion of eyewitness identifications has it backwards. It is the courtroom identification that should be excluded. In contrast, flaws in prior procedures used to test the eyewitness's memory should be fully aired before the jury. As efforts to improve eyewitness identification procedures gain traction in response to DNA exonerations and social science research establishing the fragility of eyewitness memory, lawmakers and judges should revisit the entrenched problem of the courtroom identification. If courtroom identifications are not per se excluded in cases with a prior identification, judges may circumvent crucial efforts to safeguard the accuracy of eyewitness procedures.


The conversion efficiency of laser energy into kinetic ion energy in a laser produced plasma has been investigated for two quite different targets: graphite and tantalum. The laser energy (intensity) varied from several mJ to 200 mJ (109 to 7*1010 W cm-2) which is appropriate to many applications of a laser produced ion source. The conversion efficiency as a function of the laser energy was directly determined by differential measurements of the charge, kinetic energy and angular emission distribution of the plasma ions in absolute units. Whilst for the Ta target a nearly constant efficiency of about 30% was observed, the graphite result shows an unexpectedly strong enhancement of the transfer efficiency of up to 80% in the laser intensity range around 1.5*1010 W cm-2. It is assumed that the results are related to the difference in the surface roughness of the targets.


We construct a self-consistent model which describes a black hole from formation to evaporation including the backreaction from the Hawking radiation. In the case where a null shell collapses, at the beginning the evaporation occurs, but it stops eventually, and a horizon and singularity appear. On the other hand, in the generic collapse process of a continuously distributed null matter, the black hole evaporates completely without forming a macroscopically large horizon nor singularity. We also find a stationary solution in the heat bath, which can be regarded as a normal thermodynamic object.


"This dissertation examines this back-and-forth dynamic between nineteenth-century American authors and their editors, showing the ways that a heterogeneous group of non-elite individuals collaborated and competed with editors from the cultured and educated white middle/upper classes to initiate and continue important, often controversial discussions of literature and its role in the projects of national reform and redemption. Each editor and writer pair I examine show a thorough engagement in various facets of these projects, whether focused on gender, class, race, or aesthetics. Clearly such partnerships, in which the editor provided a voice of authority, respectability, and authentication for the writer, were absolutely necessary for initial public acceptance and recognition of the new ideas each writer advances. Nevertheless, I show the ways that these individuals challenged the traditional hierarchies and chains of influence from editor to writer. I point to the (sometimes covert) competition for the reader, as each side claimed the ultimate voice of authority. As my chapters illustrate, writers often wrote back to and resisted the models, conventions, and assumptions their editors imposed on their works. Additionally, influence clearly worked both ways, as the editors responded to the authors' texts in their own writing in a continual tug-of-war over the reader's attention and loyalty. Ultimately, I argue for a new and more fluid definition of editorship in the nineteenth century - one that emphasizes a circular and dialogic model of influence and resistance, as writer and editor continually switch roles as they respond to each other in order to emerge as the voice of authority and authenticity to readers on the very issues that concerned the country throughout the nineteenth century, most importantly the questions of national reform and redemption. "--Abstract from author supplied metadata.


Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania have discovered that a low dose of the opioid antagonist naltrexone (LDN) has an extraordinarily potent antitumor effect on human ovarian cancer in tissue culture and xenografts established in nude mice. When LDN is combined with chemotherapy, there is an additive inhibitory action on tumorigenesis. This discovery, reported on page 883 of this issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, provides new insights into the pathogenesis and treatment of ovarian neoplasia, the fourth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women in the USA. The strategy of LDN therapy in repressing cancer was first reported over 30 years ago by Drs Zagon and McLaughlin (Science 221:671–3). Naltrexone (NTX) is a general opioid receptor antagonist devoid of intrinsic activity that results in a compensatory elevation in endogenous opioids and opioid receptors. The blockade of opioid peptides from opioid receptors for a short time each day (4–6 h) with LDN provides a sufficient window of time (18–20 h) for the elevated levels of endogenous opioids and opioid receptors to interact and elicit a response: inhibition of cell proliferation. Thus, LDN acts as a decoy to upregulate native opioids and opioid receptors. When NTX is metabolized and no longer present, an enhanced opioid-receptor effect is permitted to occur. The endogenous opioid peptide, opioid growth factor (OGF) (chemical term 1⁄4 [Met]-enkephalin) and its receptor (OGFr) is related to LDN action, and constitutes a tonically active inhibitory axis that suppresses cell proliferation through a depression in DNA synthesis by way of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitory pathways. In the case of human ovarian cancer, this laboratory (Am J Physiol 2009;296:R1716–25,) previously found that the OGF–OGFr axis is present and functional in human ovarian cancer. The present study addressed the question of whether modulation of the OGF–OGFr axis by LDN could alter the progression of established ovarian tumors. Moreover, the authors asked whether LDN can be combined with standard chemotherapy to invoke an even greater effect on ovarian cancer. A model of LDN in tissue culture was established that exposed human ovarian cancer cells to NTX for six hours every two days, resulting in reduced DNA synthesis and cell replication from vehicle-subjected controls. When a short-term exposure to NTX was combined with standard-of-care chemotherapeutic agents, taxol or cisplatin, an enhanced anticancer action relative to either drug was observed. The effects of LDN, but not taxol or cisplatin, could be reversed, indicating the non-toxic nature of LDN. Although favorable results with LDN alone and in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs were recorded in a tissue culture setting, this begged the question of whether LDN was effective on tumors transplanted into mice. Using nude mice with established xenografts of human ovarian cancer, LDN was found to repress tumor progression, reducing DNA synthesis and angiogenesis but not altering cell survival. LDN's repression of cancer progression was comparable with that of cisplatin or taxol. However, the combination of LDN with cisplatin, but not taxol, had an even greater antitumor effect than LDN or taxol alone. Moreover, cisplatin was toxic to the mice, as detected by weight loss. However, LDN in combination with cisplatin attenuated the toxicity of this chemotherapeutic agent, indicating that LDN was protective of the adverse events elicited by a chemotherapeutic drug. Finally, LDN was discovered to upregulate the expression of both OGF and OGFr, indicating that this endogenous opioid system, which inhibits cell proliferation, was activated by LDN. The research team was comprised of Dr Ian S Zagon, Distinguished University Professor, and Dr Patricia J McLaughlin, Professor, along with a doctoral student, Dr Renee N Donahue, in the Department of Neural & Behavioral Sciences. Drs Zagon and McLaughlin have extensive collaborations focused on demonstrating the remarkable properties of LDN and OGF in a variety of preclinical and clinical studies. LDN has proven successful in Phase I and II clinical trials in the treatment of Crohn's disease, and OGF has been found to be safe and efficacious for pancreatic cancer. Co-author Dr McLaughlin states: 'Given the extraordinary biological control of the OGF-OGFr axis with respect to cell proliferation, and the unique modulatory capability of LDN to enhance opioid-receptor response by way of native biological processes, this is particularly attractive as a biological-based treatment in arresting the progression of ovarian cancer'. Dr Zagon adds that 'More than 75% of women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer in advanced stages because of a lack of diagnostic biomarkers. Although the initial clinical response to cytoreductive surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy is excellent, nearly 65% of advancedstaged patients relapse within two years. All subsequent treatments are pallative. Thus, the clinical implications of our study speak to the urgency for initiating clinical trials using LDN in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer'. Steven Goodman, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Biology and Medicine said 'Zagon and colleagues have discovered that a low dose of the opioid antagonist naltrexone markedly suppresses progression of human ovarian cancer transplanted into mice. Low dose naltrexone combined with cisplatin, but not taxol, had an additive inhibitory action on tumorigenesis. Therefore low dose naltrexone offers a nontoxic and efficacious biologic pathway-related treatment that may benefit patients with this ovarian cancer'.


Information technology support for complex, dynamic, and distributed business processes as they occur in engineering domains requires an advanced process management system which enhances currently available workflow management services with respect to integration, flexibility, and adapt ation. We present an uniform and flexible framework for advanced process management on an a bstract level which uses and adapts agent technology from distributed artificial intelligence for both modelling and enacting of processes. We identify two different frameworks for applying agent tec hnology to process management: First, as a multi-agent system with the domain of process manag ement. Second, as a key infrastructure technology for building a process management system. We will then follow the latter approach and introduce different agent types for managing activities, products, and resources which capture specific views on the process.


We give a polynomial upper bound on the size of set systems with restricted $t$-wise intersections modulo prime powers. Let $t\geq 2$. Let $p$ be a prime and $q=p^{\alpha}$ be a prime power. Let ${\cal L}=\{l_1,l_2,\ldots,l_s\}$ be a subset of $\{0, 1, 2, \ldots, q-1\}$. If ${\cal F}$ is a family of subsets of an $n$ element set $X$ such that $|F_{1}\cap \cdots \cap F_{t}| \pmod{q} \in {\cal L}$ for any collection of $t$ distinct sets from ${\cal F}$ and $|F| \pmod{q} \notin {\cal L}$ for every $F\in {\cal F}$, then $$ |{\cal F}|\leq {t(t-1)\over2}\sum_{i=0}^{2^{s-1}}{n\choose i}. $$ Our result extends a theorem of Babai, Frankl, Kutin, and Stefankovic, who studied the $2$-wise case for prime power moduli, and also complements a result of Grolmusz that no polynomial upper bound holds for non-prime-power composite moduli.


This volume is aimed at readers who wish to move beyond debates about the existence of free will and the efficacy of consciousness and closer to appreciating how free will and consciousness might operate. It draws from philosophy and psychology, the two fields that have grappled most fundamentally with these issues. In this wide-ranging volume, the contributors explore such issues as how free will is connected to rational choice, planning, and self-control; roles for consciousness in decision making; the nature and power of conscious deciding; connections among free will, consciousness, and quantum mechanics; why free will and consciousness might have evolved; how consciousness develops in individuals; the experience of free will; effects on behavior of the belief that free will is an illusion; and connections between free will and moral responsibility in lay thinking. Collectively, these state-of-the-art chapters by accomplished psychologists and philosophers provide a glimpse into the future of research on free will and consciousness.


The marimba is an ancient instrument, although a newcomer to the concert stage. Paul Creston wrote his Concertino for Marimba, Op. 21 in 1940. Ruth Stuber Jeanne gave the premiere performance of this first marimba concerto on April 29, 1940 at Carnegie Chamber Music Hall with the Orchestrette Classique, Frederique Petrides, conductor. Creston later arranged his work for wind band, possibly understanding the increased performance venue possibilities. Since that time, composers have written hundreds of concerti for marimba and various ensembles. These concerti include accompaniments such as orchestra, percussion ensemble, piano reduction, wind ensemble/symphonic band, and chamber ensemble. Concerti for marimba and winds is a growing genre. Over twenty original works exist for marimba and winds dating from 1973 to 2008. A recent addition is Concerto No. 2 for Marimba by David R. Gillingham. Commissioned by a consortium of individuals and universities, the work is scored for solo marimba with full wind ensemble accompaniment. Professional and amateur marimbists may find difficulty in performing a concerto with the original accompaniment. Such large instrumental forces are not always easily accessible. Arrangements of concerti for smaller chamber ensembles may allow for more performance opportunities in a larger variety of venues. In examining the need for more accessible arrangements, a survey and description of existing works originally conceived for marimba and winds, which includes present versions of each work was incorporated. The purpose of this document was to provide a transcription of Gillingham's Concerto No. 2 for Marimba arranged for chamber winds. The document includes information concerning the procedures used for the transcription and suggestions for further research.


Blockchain frameworks enable the immutable storage of data. A still open practical question is the so called "oracle" problem, i.e. the way how real world data is actually transferred into and out of a blockchain while preserving its integrity. We present a case study that demonstrates how to use an existing industrial strength secure element for cryptographic software protection (Wibu CmDongle / the "dongle") to function as such a hardware-based oracle for the Hyperledger blockchain framework. Our scenario is that of a dentist having leased a 3D printer. This printer is initially supplied with an amount of x printing units. With each print action the local unit counter on the attached dongle is decreased and in parallel a unit counter is maintained in the Hyperledger-based blockchain. Once a threshold is met, the printer will stop working (by means of the cryptographically protected invocation of the local print method). The blockchain is configured in such a way that chaincode is executed to increase the units again automatically (and essentially trigger any payment processes). Once this has happened, the new unit counter value will be passed from the blockchain to the local dongle and thus allow for further execution of print jobs.


From the New York Timesbestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From and Everything Bad Is Good for You, a new look at the power and legacy of great ideas. In this illustrated history, Steven Johnson explores the history of innovation over centuries, tracing facets of modern life (refrigeration, clocks, and eyeglass lenses, to name a few) from theircreation by hobbyists, amateurs, and entrepreneurs to their unintended historical consequences. Filled with surprising stories of accidental genius and brilliant mistakesfrom the French publisher who invented the phonograph before Edison but forgot to include playback, to the Hollywood movie star who helped invent the technology behind Wi-Fi and Bluetooth How We Got to Now investigates the secret history behind the everyday objects of contemporary life. In his trademark style, Johnson examines unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated fields: how the invention ofair-conditioning enabled the largest migration of human beings in the history of the speciesto cities such as Dubai or Phoenix, which would otherwise be virtually uninhabitable; how pendulum clocks helped trigger the industrial revolution; and how clean water made it possible tomanufacture computer chips. Accompanied by a major six-part television series on PBS, How We Got to Now is the story of collaborative networks building the modern world, written in the provocative, informative, and engaging style that has earned Johnson fans around the globe.


By the time of Mozart and Da Ponte's collaboration on Don Giovanni, the Don Juan legend had been represented in musical entertainments and on the popular stage a number of times. Although it was an unusual topic for Viennese court opera, the retelling of the Don Juan story was immensely appealing for the Italian troupe in Prague. Don Giovanni did eventually make its way to Vienna, but the opera did not meet the same success it had received in Prague.


A new treatment facility project, as an extension of the existing HIMAC facility, has been initiated for the further development of carbon-ion therapy in NIRS. This new treatment facility will be equipped with a 3D irradiation system with pencil beam scanning. The challenge of this project is to realize treatment of a moving target by scanning irradiation. To accomplish practical moving target irradiation and to fix the final design, a prototype of the scanning irradiation system was constructed and installed into existing HIMAC experiment course. The system and the status of the beam test are described.


This book is the latest volume in the highly successful series Comprehensive Biochemistry. It provides a historical and autobiographical perspective of the developments in the field through the contributions of leading individuals who reflect on their careers and their impact on biochemistry. Volume 45 is essential reading for everyone from graduate student to professor, placing in context major advances not only in biochemical terms but in relation to historical and social developments. Readers will be delighted by the lively style and the insight into the lives and careers of leading scientists of their time. * Contributors are distinguished scientists in the field * Unique series of personal recollections * Presents scientific research in a historical perspective


Describes Autodesk's engagement in Integrated Project Delivery - a new model of risk management, inter-firm teamwork, and multi-objective (aesthetic, cost, and sustainability) optimization in building projects. In 2008, Autodesk, Inc. the world's largest design software company, decided to engage in Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) for the design and construction of its new Architecture, Engineering and Construction Solutions (AECS) Group headquarters, near Boston. Under IPD, the project's architect, builder, and client (Autodesk) entered a contractual agreement to share all project risks and profits. During the project, however, Autodesk was unsatisfied with the design progress, and asked the project team to introduce a three-story atrium in the headquarters' design. Logistically, it was not a good time to make changes as the team had already made significant design progress. The team was also working under a tight budget and delivery deadline. However, the aesthetics would appear to be greatly improved by changing the design. The project's architect and builder had to decide whether accommodating the atrium into the current schedule and work sequencing was an acceptable risk.


Context: Smartphone is gaining popularity due to its feasible mobility, computing capacity and efficient energy. Emails, text messaging, navigation and visualizing geo-spatial data through browsers are common features of smartphone. Display of geo-spatial data is collected in computing format and made publically available. Therefore the need of usability evaluation becomes important due to its increasing demand. Identifying usability requirements are important as conventional functional requirements in software engineering. Non-functional usability requirements are objectives and testable using measurable metrics. Objectives: Usability evaluation plays an important role in the interaction design process as well as identifying user needs and requirements. Comparative usability requirements are identified for the evaluation of a geographical information system (Google Maps) on personal computer (Laptop) and smartphone (iPhone). Methods: ISO 9241-11 guide on usability is used as an input model for identifying and specifying usability level of Google Maps on both personal computer and smartphone for intended output. Authors set target value for usability requirements of tasks and questionnaire on each device, such as acceptability level of tasks completion, rate of efficiency and participant's agreement of each measure through ISO 9241-11 respectively. The usability test is conducted using Co-discovery technique on six pairs of graduate students. Interviews are conducted for validation of test results and questionnaires are distributed to get feedback from participants. Results: The non-functional usability requirements were tested and used five metrics measured on user performance and satisfaction. Through usability test, the acceptability level of tasks completion and rate of efficiency was matched on personal computer but did not match on iPhone. Through questionnaire, both the devices did not match participant's agreement of each measure but only effectiveness matched on personal computer. Usability test, interview and questionnaire feedback are included in the results. Conclusions: The authors provided suggestions based on test results and identified usability issues for the improvement of Google Maps on personal computer and iPhone.


The 106th Congress considered a number of trade policy developments against a backdrop of weak foreign demand and large world supplies of agricultural commodities. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the value of U.S. agricultural exports fell between FY1996 (a record year) and FY1999 by almost $11 billion, to $49.2 billion. Agricultural exports did climb back to $50.9 billion in FY2000, and are now projected at $53 billion in FY2001. However, the pace of recovery concerned many agricultural groups and their supporters in Congress. Although they recognize that many world economic, farm production, political, and weather factors influence exports, many of these groups believe that the agricultural sector's future prosperity also depends upon such U.S. trade policies as: 1) encouraging China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), with its binding rules and responsibilities; 2) exempting agricultural exports from U.S. unilateral economic sanctions; 3) fully using export and food aid programs; and 4) aggressively battling foreign-imposed barriers to the movement of U.S. farm products. A few U.S. farm groups are wary of such approaches.


The Cloud Absorption Radiometer (CAR) was flown aboard the University of Washington Convair 580 (CV-580) research aircraft during the Chesapeake Lighthouse and Aircraft Measurements for Satellites (CLAMS) field campaign and obtained measurements of bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) of the ocean in July and August 2001 under different illumination conditions with solar zenith angles ranging from 15° to 46°. The BRDF measurements were accompanied by concurrent measurements of atmospheric aerosol optical thickness and column water vapor above the airplane. The method of spherical harmonics with Cox–Munk wave-slope distribution is used in a new algorithm developed for this study to solve the atmosphere–ocean radiative transfer problem and to remove the effects of the atmosphere from airborne measurements. The algorithm retrieves simultaneously the wind speed and full ocean BRDF (sun's glitter and water-leaving radiance) from CAR measurements and evaluates total albedo and equivalent albedo for the water-leaving radiance outside the glitter. Results show good overall agreement with other measurements and theoretical simulations, with the anisotropy of the water-leaving radiance clearly seen. However, the water-leaving radiance does not show a strong dependence on solar zenith angle as suggested by some theoretical studies. The spectral albedo was found to vary from 4.1%–5.1% at 0.472 m to 2.4%–3.5% for 0.682 m. The equivalent water-leaving albedo ranges from 1.0%–2.4% at 0.472 m to 0.1%–0.6% for 0.682 m and 0.1%–0.3% for 0.870 m. Results of the validation of the Cox–Munk model under the conditions measured show that although the model reproduces the shape of sun's glitter on average with an accuracy of better than 30%, it underestimates the center of the sun's glitter reflectance by about 30% for low wind speeds ( 2–3 ms 1 ). In cases of high wind speed, the model with Gram–Charlier expansion seems to provide the best fit.


From one of the leading historians of the Jewish past comes a stunning look into a previously unexamined dimension of Jewish life and culture: the calendar. In the late sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII instituted a momentous reform of Western timekeeping, and with it a period of great instability. Jews, like all minority cultures in Europe, had to realign their time-keeping to accord with the new Christian calendar. Elisheva Carlebach shows that the calendar is a complex and living system, constantly modified as new preoccupations emerge and old priorities fade. Calendars serve to structure time and activities and thus become mirrors of experience. Through this seemingly mundane and all-but-overlooked document, we can reimagine the quotidian world of early modern Jewry, of market days and sacred days, of times to avoid Christian gatherings and times to secure communal treasures. In calendars, we see one of the central paradoxes of Jewish existence: the need to encompass the culture of the other while retaining one's own unique culture. Carlebach reveals that Jews have always lived in multiple time scales, and demonstrates how their accounting for time, as much as any cultural monument, has shaped Jewish life. After exploring Judaica collections around the world, Carlebach brings to light these textually rich and beautifully designed repositories of Jewish life. With color illustrations throughout, this is an evocative illumination of how early modern Jewish men and women marked the rhythms and realities of time and filled it with anxieties and achievements.


This chapter discusses identification of common selection models of the labor market. We start with the classic Roy model and show how it can be identified with exclusion restrictions. We then extend the argument to the generalized Roy model, treatment effect models, duration models, search models, and dynamic discrete choice models. In all cases, key ingredients for identification are exclusion restrictions and support conditions.


This chapter presents an overview of economic globalization between the late Middle Ages and the last quarter of the twentieth century. The emphasis is on the exchange of products and people. The text shows that economic globalization has not been a uni-linear, straightforward process but one with major turning points, ups and downs and often very different timing, causes and consequences in different parts of the world. After an introduction and some comments on economic globalization before 'Columbus', the text discusses developments in the early modern era; the long nineteenth century; de-globalization between the First World War and the end of the Second World War, and finally the re-globalization that began after the Second World War. Without denying the fundamental importance of geographical and technological factors in constraining and enabling intercontinental exchange the author pays special attention to the importance of power and politics as factors that led to economic integration and disintegration.


The tropical Andes in southern Ecuador constitute a hotspot of plant (especially trees and bryophytes) and animal (especially birds, bats, arctiid and geometrid mothes) diversity. However, data on small animals such as testate amoebae as an important component of the soil and aboveground community are lacking. Variations in density, diversity and community structure of testate amoebae along altitudinal transects in tropical regions are largely unknown. Testate amoebae colonize almost any habitat but are most abundant and diverse in soils with high humidity, high organic content and slow rates of decomposition. They preferentially feed on certain bacteria thereby affecting the taxonomic composition and metabolic activity of microbial communities. By altering microbial activity testate amoebae affect nutrient cycling in particular in ecosystems where earthworm populations are depleted. The present thesis investigates the density and diversity of testate amoebae in litter, soil and aboveground habitats along an elevational gradient of tropical mountain rain forests in southern Ecuador, evaluates correlations with biotic and abiotic factors, and proves the role of nutrient limitation. The first part of the thesis evaluates if the diversity and density of testate amoebae in the studied tropical mountain rain forests (1) changes with altitude, (2) is as high as in respective forests of the temperate and boreal zone, and (3) is typical for tropical southern hemisphere locations. Species composition of testate amoebae is investigated at three altitudes (1000, 2000 and 3000 m) and two horizons (L and F/H/Ah). A total of 135 species and intraspecific taxa of testate amoebae were found. Rarefaction plots suggest that only few more species are to be expected. The results suggest that species richness of testate amoebae does not decrease continuously with elevation; rather, it peaks at intermediate levels. Further, the data suggest that diversity, but not density of testate amoebae in tropical forests exceeds that in temperate forests. The great majority of testate amoebae species of the studied tropical mountain rain forests are geographically widespread, including temperate regions; however nine of the species (6.7%) are considered tropical, some of these species likely represent Gondwana relicts. The second part of the thesis analyses altitudinal changes in microbial biomass and community composition and seeks relationships between microorganisms and testate amoebae. Microbial biomass, fungal biomass and microbial community structure at three altitudes (1000, 2000 and 3000 m) and in two soil layers [L/F layer (Layer I) and underlying H/Ah layer (Layer II)] was investigated. Basal respiration, microbial biomass and concentration of ergosterol generally declined from Layer I to Layer II and peaked at 2000 m. Compared to temperate forest ecosystems microbial biomass and ergosterol concentrations were generally low. Presumably, low microbial biomass in soils of tropical forest ecosystems is due to high temperatures associated with high respiration but also low litter quality, with the latter declining with altitude. These conclusions are supported by the fact that at higher altitudes the microbial community changed from a bacterial-dominated to a fungal-dominated system. Parallel to microbial biomass and ergosterol concentrations the density of testate amoebae peaked at 2000 m. However, compared to microbial parameters changes in testate amoebae communities between the two layers were less pronounced. The data suggest that density and community structure of testate amoebae are driven by the availability of food resources (bacteria and fungi) which at high altitude decrease with increasing moisture and decreasing pH. The third part of this thesis investigates if testate amoebae in soils of tropical montane rain forests are bottom-up regulated. To prove this hypothesis, carbon (C) and nutrients (N, P) were added to the soil and the response of microorganisms and testate amoebae to the additional resource supply was investigated. We assumed that microorganisms will benefit from the additional resources and that this will propagate to the next trophic level, i.e. protists represented by testate amoebae, since microorganisms are the major food resources for testate amoebae. The results indicate that saprotrophic fungi in tropical montane rain forests are mainly limited by carbon whereas gram positive and gram negative bacteria benefit from increased availability of P. Testate amoebae suffered from increased dominance of saprotrophic fungi in glucose treatments but benefited from increased supply of N presumably by increased availability of high quality detritus, certain bacteria and increased performance of endosymbiotic algae. The results show that testate amoebae of tropical montane rain forests are controlled by bottom-up forces relying on specific food resources rather than the amount of bacterial biomass with saprotrophic fungi functioning as major antagonists. Microbial food webs in soil therefore may be much more complex than previously assumed with trophic links being rather specific and antagonistic interactions potentially overriding trophic interactions. The fourth study of this thesis evaluates if testate amoebae from aboveground epiphytic communities respond to altitudinal gradients (macroscale) and to the height the epiphyte is located on the tree (microscale). Changes in diversity and density of testate amoebae in epiphytic microhabitats along tree height from 0 to 1 to 2 m and regional macrohabitats (forests at 1000, 2000 and 3000 m) were investigated. A total of 115 taxa of testate amoebae were found. The results suggest that species diversity and density peak at intermediate elevation. Furthermore, density in aboveground habitats was higher than that in litter and soil (weight based data). Density and diversity of testate amoebae significantly changed along both the micro- and macroscale, however, variations in density were more pronounced at the macroscale whereas variations in diversity were more pronounced at the microscale, suggesting that microhabitat characteristics are most decisive in selecting for testate amoebae species. Overall, the results document that with a total of 166 species determined in this study testate amoebae in Ecuador are highly divers compared with other tropical and temperate forests. Density and diversity of testate amoebae are controlled by bottom-up forces with their density depending on the availability of high quality detritus resources, certain bacterial groups, the performance of endosymbiotic algae and antagonistic interactions with saprotrophic fungi. The availability of food resources decreases with increasing elevation, with increasing moisture and with decreasing pH, resulting in maximum density and diversity at intermediate elevation.


On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of $\sim 1.7\,{\rm{s}}$ with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of ${40}_{-8}^{+8}$ Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 $\,{M}_{\odot }$. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at $\sim 40\,{\rm{Mpc}}$) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient's position $\sim 9$ and $\sim 16$ days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.


Abstract. The oldest ice core records are obtained from the East Antarctic
Plateau. Water isotopes are key proxies to reconstructing past climatic
conditions over the ice sheet and at the evaporation source. The accuracy of
climate reconstructions depends on knowledge of all processes affecting water
vapour, precipitation and snow isotopic compositions. Fractionation processes
are well understood and can be integrated in trajectory-based Rayleigh
distillation and isotope-enabled climate models. However, a quantitative
understanding of processes potentially altering snow isotopic composition
after deposition is still missing. In low-accumulation sites, such as those
found in East Antarctica, these poorly constrained processes are likely to
play a significant role and limit the interpretability of an ice core's
isotopic composition. By combining observations of isotopic composition in vapour, precipitation,
surface snow and buried snow from Dome C, a deep ice core site on the East
Antarctic Plateau, we found indications of a seasonal impact of
metamorphism on the surface snow isotopic signal when compared to the initial
precipitation. Particularly in summer, exchanges of water molecules between
vapour and snow are driven by the diurnal sublimation–condensation cycles.
Overall, we observe in between precipitation events modification of the
surface snow isotopic composition. Using high-resolution water isotopic
composition profiles from snow pits at five Antarctic sites with different
accumulation rates, we identified common patterns which cannot be attributed
to the seasonal variability of precipitation. These differences in the
precipitation, surface snow and buried snow isotopic composition provide
evidence of post-deposition processes affecting ice core records in low-accumulation areas.


For many centuries, women have been the designated cooks of domestic America. They have been the creators and sustainers of the American diet. But as the restaurant industry became a large force in the twentieth-century economy, the task of cooking was usurped by men in the public sphere. Socio-cultural and legal forces discouraged women from entering into a field that was traditionally familiar to them, while men were granted professional training and entrepreneurial freedom to take advantage of an expanding market. This resulted in male-dominated restaurant kitchens in America during the twentieth-century, while women remained the primary cooks in the home.
The investigation revealed that the gender behaviors that were cemented during the Victorian era carried over into the twentieth-century, establishing ideal patterns of behavior, as well as food tastes and preferences for men and women. While women entered the workforce in record numbers, only men were provided technical training in the culinary field, and men who cooked were continually reassured of their masculinity through media and prescriptive literature. Whether professional cook or not, men endeavored to disassociate themselves from the cooking performed by women, and gender-food associations helped pigeonhole women in the culinary field to less prominent positions.


After all the progress made since World War II in matters pertaining to race, why are we still conspiring to divide humanity into different identity groups based on skin color? Did all the good done by the Civil Rights Movement and the decolonization of the Third World have such little lasting effect? In this provocative book Paul Gilroy contends that race-thinking has distorted the finest promises of modern democracy. He compels us to see that fascism was the principal political innovation of the twentieth century--and that its power to seduce did not die in a bunker in Berlin. Aren't we in fact using the same devices the Nazis used in their movies and advertisements when we make spectacles of our identities and differences? Gilroy examines the ways in which media and commodity culture have become preeminent in our lives in the years since the 1960s and especially in the 1980s with the rise of hip-hop and other militancies. With this trend, he contends, much that was wonderful about black culture has been sacrificed in the service of corporate interests and new forms of cultural expression tied to visual technologies. He argues that the triumph of the image spells death to politics and reduces people to mere symbols. At its heart, Against Race is a utopian project calling for the renunciation of race. Gilroy champions a new humanism, global and cosmopolitan, and he offers a new political language and a new moral vision for what was once called anti-racism.


Paul Krugman, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in economics, shows how today's crisis parallels the events that caused the Great Depression - and explains what it will take to avoid catastrophe. In 1999, in "The Return of Depression Economics", Paul Krugman surveyed the economic crises that had swept across Asia and Latin America, and warned that those crises were a warning for all of us: like diseases that have become resistant to antibiotics, the economic maladies that caused the Great Depression were making a comeback. In the years that followed, as Wall Street boomed and financial wheeler-dealers made vast profits, the international crises of the 1990s faded from memory. But now depression economics has come to America: when the great housing bubble of the mid-2000s burst, the U.S. financial system proved as vulnerable as those of developing countries caught up in earlier crises - and a replay of the 1930s seems all too possible. In this new, greatly updated edition of "The Return of Depression Economics", Krugman shows how the failure of regulation to keep pace with an increasingly out-of-control financial system set the United States, and the world as a whole, up for the greatest financial crisis since the 1930s. He also lays out the steps that must be taken to contain the crisis, and turn around a world economy sliding into a deep recession. Brilliantly crafted in Krugman's trademark style-lucid, lively, and supremely informed - this new edition of "The Return of Depression Economics" will become an instant cornerstone of the debate over how to respond to the crisis.


The New York Times bestselling author heralds the future of business in Free. In his revolutionary bestseller, The Long Tail, Chris Anderson demonstrated how the online marketplace creates niche markets, allowing products and consumers to connect in a way that has never been possible before. Now, in Free, he makes the compelling case that in many instances businesses can profit more from giving things away than they can by charging for them. Far more than a promotional gimmick, Free is a business strategy that may well be essential to a company's survival. The costs associated with the growing online economy are trending toward zero at an incredible rate. Never in the course of human history have the primary inputs to an industrial economy fallen in price so fast and for so long. Just think that in 1961, a single transistor cost $10; now Intel's latest chip has two billion transistors and sells for $300 (or 0.000015 cents per transistor--effectively too cheap to price). The traditional economics of scarcity just don't apply to bandwidth, processing power, and hard-drive storage. Yet this is just one engine behind the new Free, a reality that goes beyond a marketing gimmick or a cross-subsidy. Anderson also points to the growth of the reputation economy; explains different models for unleashing the power of Free; and shows how to compete when your competitors are giving away what you're trying to sell. In Free, Chris Anderson explores this radical idea for the new global economy and demonstrates how this revolutionary price can be harnessed for the benefit of consumers and businesses alike.


This article considers the role of customary international law (CIL) in a world in which the treaty has become the predominant instrument of international legal cooperation. Far from rendering CIL irrelevant, the article argues that the increased use of more formal, institutionalized legal agreements to govern interstate relationships can actually increase the importance of CIL, both by increasing the credibility and clarity of customary rules and by relying on the interstitial nature of CIL to reduce the costs associated with contracting between states. We employ a functionalist theory of CIL, in which the beliefs of states are the only relevant criteria for determining whether a rule of CIL exists. In other forms of international law such as treaties, an explicit agreement and its associated bargaining and ratification procedures serve to clarify states' beliefs and expectations. The lack of procedure involved in the creation of CIL thus creates a problem of clarity. Where customary rules are vague in terms of content or application, their compliance pull is necessarily reduced. We argue that there are at least two ways states can employ "hard" legalization to increase the compliance pull of rules of CIL. First, the codification of custom can serve a signaling function. Because violations of treaties are generally more costly than violations of CIL in terms of both direct and reputational sanctions, codifying custom can send a costly signal to non-signatories about the legal beliefs of signatories. Using treaties as signaling devices thus allows signatories to increase the clarity of rules of CIL, and therefore the compliance pull of customary rules over all states, regardless of whether they accede to the treaty. Second, tribunals can be used to clarify the content of rules of CIL, as well as to create information about violations, both of which increase the compliance pull of CIL. Significantly, domestic tribunals with jurisdiction over causes of action predicated on customary rules may be more important in this respect than international tribunals. Domestic tribunals are more likely to be able to enforce judgments based on CIL against their own governments, and because they are more numerous, they create many additional fora in which claims based on CIL can be heard.


Bill is an IT manager at Parts Unlimited. It's Tuesday morning and on his drive into the office, Bill gets a call from the CEO. The company's new IT initiative, code named Phoenix Project, is critical to the future of Parts Unlimited, but the project is massively over budget and very late. The CEO wants Bill to report directly to him and fix the mess in ninety days or else Bill's entire department will be outsourced. With the help of a prospective board member and his mysterious philosophy of The Three Ways, Bill starts to see that IT work has more in common with manufacturing plant work than he ever imagined. With the clock ticking, Bill must organize work flow streamline interdepartmental communications, and effectively serve the other business functions at Parts Unlimited. In a fast-paced and entertaining style, three luminaries of the DevOps movement deliver a story that anyone who works in IT will recognize. Readers will not only learn how to improve their own IT organizations, they'll never view IT the same way again.


Child Safe Commitment Our school is committed to child safety. We want children to be safe, happy and empowered. We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers. We are committed to the safety, participation and empowerment of all children. We have zero tolerance of child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently with our robust policies and procedures. We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child's safety, which we follow rigorously. Our college is committed to preventing child abuse and identifying risks early, and removing and reducing these risks. Our college has robust human resources and recruitment practices for all staff and volunteers. Our college is committed to regularly training and educating our staff and volunteers on child abuse risks. We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers. We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, the cultural safety of children from a culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe environment for children with a disability. We have specific policies, procedures and training in place that support our leadership team, staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments.


This thesis researches the impact of the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) on academic bioarchaeological research in the southeastern United States and North Carolina. Scholarly journals, conference bulletins, and dissertations were evaluated to determine if there have been any shifts in the amount of research conducted since the law was passed. The percentage of bioarchaeological studies for each year between 1970 and 2009 was calculated and analyzed for any changes over time. Questionnaires were e-mailed to several archaeologists, bioarchaeologists, and leaders in the North Carolina Native American community to sample their opinion of NAGPRA and compare perceived impacts of the law to any impact indicated by the quantitative data. By examining trends in percentages, the data indicates that NAGPRA has had no long-term impact upon the amount of bioarchaeological research involving Native American skeletal remains throughout North Carolina and the Southeast.


Major law publishers have begun producing ebook versions of some of the legal treatises they own. Despite asserted advantages over both print and online versions of the same content, these represent a step back from what treatises have become within the major online services and even further from what they might become now that numerous sources of primary law are directly accessible via the Internet.The article traces the corporate and technological developments that have placed existing treatises in their present posture. Drawing upon the author's own work preparing a legal treatise designed for digital rather print delivery, it reviews a range of possible futures for this classic form of legal scholarship.The article argues (1) that electronic treatises that have been cut loose from print norms can offer major advantages in format and function over print treatises that have simply been ported to Westlaw, Lexis, or one of their competitors and (2) that strong reasons exist for treatise authors and those with a stake in their work to prefer publication on the open Web to inclusion in one of the large proprietary systems. It concludes with a description of Web-based utilities that might enable such treatises to be competitive with those held in the major online systems and with speculation about the institutional arrangements that might enable treatise-like works delivered in electronic format to survive and even thrive without being confined to a single comprehensive database.


This paper analyses fiscal policy for several economies in Latin America, from the early nineties to the 2009 crisis. We present original estimates of cyclically-adjusted public revenues for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay implementing the standardised OECD methodology and extending it to include commodity cycles, which have a direct and significant effect on the fiscal balance of several Latin American countries. Based on these estimates, we evaluate the size of automatic tax stabilisers and the cyclicality of discretionary fiscal policy. Additionally, we highlight the uncertainty stemming from the estimation of the output gap, due to large and simultaneous cyclical, temporary and permanent shocks in several Latin American economies.


Zoe Ellison and Alex Legendre have created a beautiful shopping and interiors experience with their unique store i gigi - a haven of beautiful gifts and unique pieces for your home. The muted, earthy colour palette is chic and modern and yet utterly timeless, allowing their pieces to fit seamlessly into any home. In this, their first book, they share their secrets and open their hearts as they describe the journey they have taken, what makes them tick, their philosophy, their friendship, their inspirations, ideas and interiors. i gigi is a destination store, selling the idea of a beautiful yet practical and achievable lifestyle. Their interiors feature reclaimed and revamped pieces and rooms that have been created on a shoestring. With stunning photography throughout, this is a truly fascinating look into their world.


There was a separate and unique code of honor and ethics for women living in Iceland during the Viking Age. What was female honor? Were Icelandic women expected to abide by a code of honor just like men? What were some main themes in this female code of honor? The aim of this thesis is to uncover the answers to these questions and present a new and informative contribution to the fields of medieval history, the history of Scandinavian women, and Icelandic literary history. This thesis limits the subjects of study to women within The Saga of the People of Laxardal, Njal's Saga, Graenlendinga Saga, Eirik's Saga, and The Saga of the Volsungs. These Icelandic sagas in the English translations and in the original Old Norse and the laws of early Iceland Gragas I and Gragas II are the major primary evidence in this research.
The female code of honor is different from the male code of honor in these sagas. Men gain honor in these sagas mostly by physical fighting, traveling abroad, and leading successful political and legal careers. The sagas rarely describe women as fighting or traveling, and they are never directly involved in political life. Kinship, marriage, and the supernatural are all realms that medieval Icelandic men took part in, but the sagas describe women as the main actors within these areas. Since women were the main focus in the areas of kinship, marriage, and the supernatural, they stood to gain more honor or dishonor from their actions within these realms than men.


It seems improbable that the theoretical and doctrinal framework of criminal procedure, developed mostly through a binary model of the individual and the state, would fit without modification in the tripartite model of the state, the firm, and the individual that characterizes the investigation and sanctioning of criminal conduct within legal entities. This intuition - which has been underexplored in spite of heated public debate about the state's practices in this area - proves correct. I develop some components of a framework for understanding procedure for individual cases of criminal wrongdoing within firms and generating insights to guide reform. The process of pursuing individual cases within firms (as opposed to firm cases against firms) is distinctive for at least three reasons: in terms of causation and incentives, the presence of an organization materially alters the incidence of individual misconduct ex ante and the efficiency and efficacy of investigating and prosecuting that conduct ex post; the nature of the applicable substantive criminal violations (white collar crimes) causes such cases to ripen into criminal cases more slowly than those outside business firms; and lawyers have multiple roles in such cases not only ex post but also ex ante. I evaluate two current practices in light of these structural differences: state use of the fruits of employer coercion of employees' waivers of the right to silence; and state negotiation with firms over the scope of firms' indemnification of their agents for litigation costs. I conclude that some reforms of current practices in these areas would be beneficial but that calls for abolition of those practices are misguided.


From the moment the first corporate university (CU) was created and the term was coined, the central metaphor of university has proved a double-edged sword. The emphasis on university has been a driving force in moving companies beyond a restricted and siloed approach to training, to a central vision for learning within the organization. On the other hand, there have been failures and many corporate universities have struggled to bring a business rigour to learning or to align their development with the key business and financial drivers of the organization.

Handbook of Corporate University Development draws on experience from around the world, to provide anyone responsible for strategy and learning – at senior levels in government, education and business – with a picture of current best practice. The Handbook is not a prescriptive 'how-to', rather an exploration of key issues such as:

• Who owns a corporate university initiative?
• How is the funding managed?
• How is the CU aligned with business strategy?
• How do CU directors and project managers deploy resources?
• How do they deal with suppliers?
• How do they report and measure CU performance?
• What are the processes and technologies needed to provide and support different forms of learning?
• How can you blend different media?
• How do you assess what learning has taken place?
• What are the future prospects and potential for corporate universities?

It is time for the corporate university to demonstrate how business rigour, handled deftly and with strong and perceptive leadership, can revolutionize learning both inside and outside the organization. Handbook of Corporate University Development is an important catalyst towards this process.


The purpose of this research was to explore the nature of child disclosure and the manner in which children's disclosure about peer relationships and activities with peers is shaped by the parental, child, and relational contexts within which parent-child communications are experienced. Twenty mother-child pairs participated in qualitative interviews about children's disclosure and nondisclosure concerning relationships with peers. Children were in 6th grade and evenly split between boys versus girls and African American versus European American. Three patterns of child disclosure were observed. Some children were unreserved in their disclosure. Other children screened the information given to their parents. A few withheld most information about their friends from their parents. Climates surrounding child disclosure were also identified. Most children identified climates within which disclosure was promoted more than discouraged. Some identified climates within which disclosure was discouraged more than promoted. A final group of children identified a balance between disclosure promotion and discouragement. How children choose to disclose and the disclosure climates they perceive were associated. Children who perceived disclosure promotion were most likely to disclose unreservedly or with some screening. Children who perceived a climate of disclosure discouragement were most likely to withhold disclosure or to screen their disclosure.


The purpose of this research is to examine how The Natural Step Framework, combined with Life Cycle Assessment and Ecological Footprint could help to manage the sustainability challenges of construction materials in China and to consider how these tools and concepts might inform each other in combination. Based on a literature review regarding the current reality of building materials in China and industry experience with use of existing sustainability concepts and tools, we build a conceptual model to integrate the three above concepts and attempt to analyse how they could work better together in the management of a sustainable transition. We then analyse the likely strengths and limitations of such an integrated model and finally use this to inform a vision of a sustainable future for building materials, discussing how the model may help China move towards sustainability.


Weekly literary magazine that contains articles and excerpts on various topics as well as advertisements; according the to the cover of other issues, it includes "Criticism, Biography, News, [and] Selected Readings." This issue is missing the front cover and table of contents.


"The Huang Di nei jing su wen", known familiarly as the "Su wen", is a seminal text of ancient Chinese medicine, yet until now there has been no comprehensive, detailed analysis of its development and contents. At last Paul U. Unschuld offers entry into this still - vital artifact of China's cultural and intellectual past. Unschuld traces the history of the "Su wen" to its origins in the final centuries B.C.E., when numerous authors wrote short medical essays to explain the foundations of human health and illness on the basis of the newly developed vessel theory. He examines the meaning of the title and the way the work has been received throughout Chinese medical history, both before and after the eleventh century when the text as it is known today emerged. Unschuld's survey of the contents includes illuminating discussions of the yin-yang and five-agents doctrines, the perception of the human body and its organs, qi and blood, pathogenic agents, concepts of disease and diagnosis, and a variety of therapies, including the new technique of acupuncture. An extensive appendix, furthermore, offers a detailed introduction to the complicated climatological theories of Wu yun liu qi ('five periods and six qi'), which were added to the "Su wen" by Wang Bing in the Tang era. In an epilogue, Unschuld writes about the break with tradition and innovative style of thought represented by the "Su wen". For the first time, health care took the form of 'medicine', in that it focused on environmental conditions, climatic agents, and behavior as causal in the emergence of disease and on the importance of natural laws in explaining illness. Unschuld points out that much of what we surmise about the human organism is simply a projection, reflecting dominant values and social goals, and he constructs a hypothesis to explain the formation and acceptance of basic notions of health and disease in a given society. Reading the "Su wen", he says, not only offers a better understanding of the roots of Chinese medicine as an integrated aspect of Chinese civilization; it also provides a much needed starting point for discussions of the differences and parallels between European and Chinese ways of dealing with illness and the risk of early death.


Water plays a key role in the development and functioning of society by serving as a basic resource for activities such as irrigation, livestock production, fisheries, aquaculture, and hydroelectric power. Adequate water use in house-holds, businesses and manufacturing is a prerequisite of economic growth. Since many of the world's diseases are waterborne, we need clean water and sanitation for reducing the incidence of these diseases. And, most significantly, water provides habitat and sustenance for a rich diversity of plant and animal species that make up aquatic and riparian ecosystems, providing the basis for many of the goods and services received by society. Society is forcing unprecedented changes on global water resources through worldwide abstraction and pollution of water. Society also has a pervasive indirect impact because anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are causing long-term global changes in weather extremes and climate. Changes in the global water system are difficult to understand with simple cause-effect relationships because of the intense and complex linkages and feedbacks between different parts of the system. These changes and linkages also sometimes lead to abrupt changes in water systems such as the eutrophication of coastal aquatic systems, loss of biodiversity, the exceedance of safe water supply in urban areas, or intense competition between different water sectors for remaining water resources.


Motivation: Timely identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) resistance to existing drugs is vital to decrease mortality and prevent the amplification of existing antibiotic resistance. Machine learning methods have been widely applied for timely predicting resistance of MTB given a specific drug and identifying resistance markers. However, they have been not validated on a large cohort of MTB samples from multi-centers across the world in terms of resistance prediction and resistance marker identification. Summary: Several machine learning classifiers and linear dimension reduction techniques were developed and compared for a cohort of 13402 isolates collected from 16 countries across six continents and tested 11 drugs. Results: Compared to conventional molecular diagnostic test, area under curve (AUC) of the best machine learning classifier increased for all drugs especially by 23.11%, 15.22%, and 10.14% for pyrazinamide (PZA), ciprofloxacin (CIP), and ofloxacin (OFX) respectively (p < 0.01). Logistic regression (LR) and gradient tree boosting (GBT) found to perform better than other techniques. Moreover, LR/GBT with a sparse principal component analysis/non-negative matrix factorisation step compared with the classifier alone enhanced the best performance in terms of F1-score by 12.54%, 4.61%, 7.45%, and 9.58% for amikacin (AK), moxifloxacin (MOX), OFX, and capreomycin (CAP) respectively, as well increasing AUC for AK and CAP. Results provided a comprehensive comparison of various techniques and confirmed the application of machine learning for better prediction of the large diverse TB data. Furthermore, mutation ranking showed the possibility of finding new resistance/susceptible markers. Availability: The source code can be found at http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/~davidc/code.php Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


Students demonstrate different levels of understanding of material which often coincide with how diligent the students are with their daily preparation for class. Having students attempt homework problems prior to class enables them to be better prepared to ask specific questions about concepts and to perform on exams, as well as to develop as self learners. This paper will introduce "phased-array homework" that is a flexible system of assigning homework. In addition, this paper discusses resources for students that provide a scaffold for completing this type of homework. As the name of the homework system implies, phased-array homework (PAH) allows an instructor to shape and steer student understanding in much the same way that a phased-array antenna allows for the shaping and steering of a transmitted electromagnetic signal to yield its subsequent effective radiation pattern. Implementation method and results will be presented as well as student perspective on the system.


In each of the three largest economies with dispersed ownership of public companies - the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan - hostile takeovers emerged under a common set of circumstances. Yet the national regulatory responses to these new market developments diverged substantially. In the United States, the Delaware judiciary became the principal source and enforcer of rules on hostile takeovers. These rules give substantial discretion to target company boards in responding to unsolicited bids. In the UK, by contrast, a private body consisting of market professionals was formed to adopt and enforce the rules on hostile bids and defenses. In contrast to those of the US, the UK rules give the shareholders primary decision making authority in responding to hostile takeover attempts. The hostile takeover regime in Japan, which developed recently and is still evolving, combines substantive rules with elements drawn from both the US (Delaware) and the UK, while adding distinctive elements, including an independent enforcement role for Japan's stock exchange. This Article provides an analytical framework for business law development to explain the diversity in hostile takeover regimes in these three countries. The framework focuses on the universal supply and demand dynamics that drive the evolution of business law in response to new market developments. It emphasizes the common role of subordinate lawmakers in filling the vacuum left by legislative inaction, and it highlights the prevalence of "preemptive lawmaking" to avoid legislation that may be contrary to the interests of important corporate governance players. Extrapolating from the analysis of developed economies, the framework also illuminates the current state and future trajectory of hostile takeover regulation in the important emerging markets of China, India, and Brazil, where corporate ownership structures may be changing. An important pattern revealed by the analysis is the ostensible adoption - and adaptation - of "best practices" for hostile takeover regulation derived from Delaware and the UK in ways that protect important interests within each emerging market's national corporate governance system.


Concepts embody our knowledge of the kinds of things there are in the world. Tying our past experiences to our present interactions with the environment, they enable us to recognize and understand new objects and events. Concepts are also relevant to understanding domains such as social situations, personality types, and even artistic styles. Yet like other phenomenologically simple cognitive processes such as walking or understanding speech, concept formation and use are maddeningly complex. Research since the 1970s and the decline of the "classical view" of concepts have greatly illuminated the psychology of concepts. But persistent theoretical disputes have sometimes obscured this progress. The Big Book of Concepts goes beyond those disputes to reveal the advances that have been made, focusing on the major empirical discoveries. By reviewing and evaluating research on diverse topics such as category learning, word meaning, conceptual development in infants and children, and the basic level of categorization, the book develops a much broader range of criteria than is usual for evaluating theories of concepts.


What does it mean to be out walking in the world, whether in a landscape or a metropolis, on a pilgrimage or a protest march? In this first general history of walking, Rebecca Solnit draws together many histories to create a range of possibilities for this most basic act. Arguing that walking as history means walking for pleasure and for political, aesthetic, and social meaning, Solnit homes in on the walkers whose everyday and extreme acts have shaped our culture, from the peripatetic philosophers of ancient Greece to the poets of the Romantic Age, from the perambulations of the Surrealists to the ascents of mountaineers. With profiles of some of the most significant walkers in history and fiction - from Wordsworth to Gary Snyder, from Rousseau to Argentina's Mother of the Plaza de Mayo, from Jane Austen's Elizabeth Bennet to Andre Breton's Nadja - "Wanderlust" offers a provocative and profound examination of the interplay between the body, the imagination, and the world around the walker.